The Glenwood post., 1924-02-28

to contrive the dance Of the Korred
he kept his mastery Of the Shedeem
who devastate, Of the Shehireem whe
terrify, and Of the Mazikeen who de
stroy. But such accomplishments, a.
he despairingly knew. were the stocb
In trade of any fairly competent sor.
cerer anywhere; and that supreme Sc
cret which had made Miramon Lluag0f
the master Of all dreams was gone
away from him completely.
He was very angry. "Accursed won.
AMI" he cried out, 'now indeed has
your common sense completed what
your nagging began This Is the doom
Of all artists that have to do with
well-conducted women. Truly has 1t
been said that the marriage bed is the
grave of art. Well, / have put ur
with much from you, but this settles
1t, and l wish you were in the middle
of next week"
With that he caught the soile6
securing rag from the hand Of Gisele,
and he slapped at one of the remain
ing bees, and brushed It from the black
cross. And this bee departed as the
other had Gone.
Toupan now moved his wings, exult-
ing, and by his moving the worlds In
that part of the universe were dis
lodged and ran melting down the sky;
Gauracy swept the fragments together
and formed sun immeasurably great
er than that which he had lost. And
the High Gods were frightened now
with reason, for in this intolerable
glare they showed as flimsy and In
credible inventions, and they knew
that If ever the last remaining bee
were freed from the cross, the dizain
of the Pleiades would be completed,
and their day would be over. and the
power would return to Toupan.
Yet Koshchel, lifting never a finger,
said only: "Eh, slrs, have patience !!
For made all things as they are, and
know now 1t is my safeguard that
have made them in two ways"
But Miramon, In his ivory tower
upon Vraidex, knew only that his wish
had been granted, for Gisele had gone
just as bubble breaks.
"And good riddance, too," says
Miramon. He turned to Ninzian, that
smiling fiend. "Why, did you ever see
the like Of such outrageousnessl"
"Oh. very often" replied this Mn
zian, who too was married. Then MIN
zian asked, But what will you do
next?"
Says Miramon, II shall wish to have
back the secret and the solace of my
art"
But to Ninzian this seemed less OBJ
vious. "You may do that by releas-
ing the third bee. Yes, Miramon, you
can get back your art, but you will be
left defenseless against the doom
which is appointed No, friend, by
my advice you will employ the can
trap as You at first intended, and will
secure for yourself eternal life by
wishing that Flamberge may vanish
from this world of men," And Ninzian
waved toward the sword with which
the Norns had foreordained that Mira
mon Lluagor must be killed by his
own son.
The fallen wizard answered.: "Of
what worth is life If 1t breed no more
dreams?" And Mlramon said also, II
wonder, Ninzlan, just where is the
middle of next week?"
Sleek Ninzian spoke, secure in his
Internal erudItion. "It will fall upon
a Wednesday. but nobody knows
whence. Olybrius states that it is
now In Aratu, where all that enter
are clothed like bird with wings, and
have only dust and clay to eat in the
unchanging twilight"
"She would not like that She had
always delicate digestion"
Whereas Asinius Polio suggests,
not unplausibly, that 1t waits beyond
Slid and Gjold In the blue house of
Nostrand. where Sereda herds the un-
born Wednesdays, under a roof of
plated serpents1
Dear me, now that would never
suit q woman who had an almost NOR
bid aversion to reptilesi"
But Sosicles declares It IL in
Nibalba, where Zipacna and Oabra.
kan play at handball and the earth
Quakes are at nurse"
"She would be none the happier
there. She does not care for babies,
she would not for one moment put up
with q fractious young earthquake,
and would make things most unpleas-
ant for everybody. Ninzian"-and
Airsmon coughed-"Ninsian, begin
to fear have been little hasty."
ut 10 the frailty Of all you artists, "
the iend replied. "In any event you
have one wish remaining, and no
more. You can At will desire to have
back again the control Of your lost
magics, or you can have back your
wife to control you"
Yes" says Miramon. forlornly.
"And indeed" the demon went ON,
with that GLIB optimism reserved for
the dilemmas Of ones friends, "in-
deed 1t is in many ways a splendid
thing for you to have the choice clear
cut. Nobody can succeed aIika ~ n.