San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1925-11-22

1t was one of the four beautiful
demons who spoke.
'Down, down. breathed Sid
onia, leaning forward and again
twisting her hands in the lavish
blue-black name. The mad up
rush instantaneously ceased. The
horse hung for a second on pulse
less wings, and then plunged earth
ward down the dizzy lapis lazuli
precipice of the night.
1t was heart-stopping-a scoop
of utter horror if grain of fear
remained. But Sidonia shrieked
with the pure joy of it.
Oh, the wind of the cloven air.
Now the shingled roofs rushed
up to meet them, and the church
spires were like cross-tipped jave-
Inns thrown at them from the earth.
Now they swept with train of at
tendant sylphs, spectres and globu-
lar, will-o'- the-wisp-like flames over
the gables and the winding clefts
of the streets. Weathercocks
crowed shrilly at them. Gargoyles
yelped like dogs. A stone griffin
clasping a stone coat of arms be-.
tween its. claws Kissed out fire and
dashed its forked tail, unable to
join the flight. Cats clinging to
thatch or shingles glowered with
flattened ears. But one-a black
were-cat-leaped into the air with
a NEW of joy and followed the
fleeing rout.
The figures of saints enshrined
in inches along the front of the
cathedral glowed with soft blush
light. The were-cat sheered widely
away from them, its fur bristling,
its swollen tail as stiff as a RAM
rod. But Sidonia felt only the in
nocent interest of a kitten in
church. She was elemental, and
therefore in perfect accord with
Typhurgus, Aplestus, Philokreus
and Miastor, who might harry the
soul that feared them in sheer
sport, but were the strong play
mates of their own kind.
A red-haired young woman
astride of a bearded he-goat,
whose horns she gripped, came
hurting over the roofs. She
wave, to Sidonia, and in moment
was flying with her. Her green
eyes were elfish and had an ire
sistible sidelong shine. Her mouth,
wide and laughing, was of ripe
animal fulness.
You're newr she said. 81 often
fly, but / haven't seen you before.
Do you live in this town."
EYES," said Sidonia. Near the
Street of the Martyrs"
"How funny Ny father is the
head of the Goldsmiths' Guild and
we have a house that faces the
Church of st. Saviour. Yet you
and | are really good friends be-
cause we do the same thing"
There was something infectious
in the sidelong twinkle of her. She
was bubbling with life-joy and ut
terly candid. But several of the
creatures that followed her were
unpalatable. There was a hog,
leering faun with furry ears, and
thick-lipped beast with a woman's
body and the headquarters of a
dog.
"Up! Up! Let's see the world
and then dance with the others at
the DEVILS ballp' cried the red
haired daughter of the master
goldsmith.
Lets see the worldr' echoed
Sidonia. She was wild with the
excitement of speed and freedom.
The winged horse and the he
goat, with their clinging riders,
shot upward. The unhindered moon
drenched them with its arctic silver.
Forests unrolled below them like
the undulations of a sable cloak,
rivers resembled dropped, SHIN
mering girdles, mountains lifted
their snowfields like peaked cano-
pies of blue-white satin, and the
blue shadows of the fliers fitted
across the printless snow. Contin-
ually they were joined by others
solitary beldames with thinly
streaming white hair whizzing on
broomsticks, young girls riding
COWS or goats, students of the for
hidden sciences mounted on hay
forks, slaves or black dogs. One
man-an aged wizard-rode a
dragon with peacock-colored scales.
The company was mixed, indeed
but scarcely more so than that
of the Thieves Kitchen. Sidonia
was so interested that she wanted
to look two ways at once. The
red-haired girl cried shrilly to this
or that one, with whom it seemed
that she was acquainted.
Now the moonlit sea glittered
beneath them. Huge sable shapes
lowered and weltered, spasmodi-
cally shutting out the moon
cloud-giants. A hurricane wind
arose; thunder beloved, lightning
glared, and to the right and left
Of them the thunderous torches of
volcanoes painted the rolling va