Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 February 1889 — KING SOLOMON'S MINES. [ARTICLE]

KING SOLOMON'S MINES.

BY H. RIDER HAGGARD.

CHAPTER VII.-Ooktikced. ON SOLOMON* BOAT). “I see that ye are spirits," he said, faltering]) - ; "did ever mao bortf of woman have hair on one side of his face and toot on the other, oi a round and transparent eye, or teeth which moved and indited away and grew again? Pardon ns, oh, my lords.” Here waa luck, indeed, and needless to say, 1 jumped at the chance “It is granted,” I said, with an imperial smile. “Sr.v, ye shall know the truth. We come from another world, though we are men such, as ye; wo come," I went on, “ rom the biggest star thst shines at night." ‘ On! ohl” groaned the chorus of astonished aborigines. 4 *Yes," I went on, “we do, indeed;" and I again smiled benignly as I uttered that amazing lie. “We come to stay with yon a little while, and bloss Su by oar sojourn. Ye will see, oh, ends, that I have prepared myself by learning your lauguage. ' ' *“lt is so, it is so,” said ths chorus. “On v, my lord,” p”t in the old gentleman, “thon hast learned it very badly." I cast, an indignant glance at him, and he. quailed, •'Now, my friend 6," I continued, “ye might think that after so long a journey we should find it in our hearts to avenge such a reception, mayhap to strike cold in death the impious hand that—that, in short—threw a knife at the head of him whose teeth come and go.” " “Spare him, my lords," said the old man in supplication, “he is the king’s son, and lam his uncle. If anything befalls him his blood will be required at iny bauds.” , '•’Yes,that is certainly so,” put in the young man with great emphasis. “You may perhaps doubt our power toavenge," I went on, heedless of this by-play. “Stay, I will show you. Here, ?ou dog and slave” (addressing Umbopa s a savage tone), give me the magic tube that peak-;” and I tipped a wink tovard my express iff*. - GY ml'Ooa rose to the occasion,and with something as nearly like a grin as I have eyei'seen on his dignified face, handed . me the rifle. “It is here, ob, lord of lords,’.’ he said, with a deep obeisance. Now, just before I asked for the rifle I had perceived a little klipspringer antelope standing on a mass of rock about seventy yards away, and determined to risk a shot at it. “Ye see that buck,” I said, pointing the animal out to the party before me. “Tell me, is it possible for man, born nt to kill it from here with a nfise?” "It is not possible, my lord,” answered the ojd man. “Yet shall I kiil it,” said I quietly. The old man smiled. “That my lord can not do,” he said. I raised the rifle, and covered the buck. It was a small animal, and one which one might well be excused for missing, but I knew that it would not do to miss. I drew a deep breath, and slowly pr» seed on the trigger. The back stood 6lill as stone. * Bang! thud!” The buck sprung into the air fnd fell on the rock dead as a door-nail. * A groan of terror burst from the group before us. - “It ye want»meat,” I remarked, cooly, “go fetch that buck.” The old man made a sign, and one of his followers departed, and presently returned bearing the klipspringer. 1 noticed, with satisfaction, that I had hit it fairly behind the shoulder. They' gathered round the poor body, gazing at the bullet hole in consternation. “You see," I said, “I do not speak empty words." There was no answer. “If ye yet doubt our power.” I went on,“let one of stand upon that rock thst I inav make him as this buck.” None of them seemed at all inclined to tAke tiie hint, till at last the king’s son spoke. “It is well said. Do thou, my uncle, go stand upon the rock. It is but a buck that the mQ»ie has killed. Surely it can not man.” The old gentleman did not take the suggestion in good part. Indeed, he Seemed huft. “No! no!” ejaculated, hastily, “my old eyes have seen enough. These are wizards, indeed. Let us bring them to the king. Yet if any should wish a further proof let him stand upon the rock, that the magic tube mav sneak with him.” ' ' Inhere was a most general and hasty expression of di-seat. • L-t not good migic be wasted on our poor Bo ties,” said one, “we are satisfied Ail-the witchcraft of our people can not 5 Sh'“i the like of this." “It is so,” remarked the old gentleman, in a tone oi .intense relief, ‘ without any doubt it is so. Listen, children of the stars children of the shining eve and the movable teeth, who roar out in thunder and slay from afar. . I am Infadooe, sen of Kaia, once King of the Kukuana people. This youth is Seragga.” “He nearly scragged me,” murmured Good. v ' * •Seragga, ton of Jwalr. the great king V-'Twale. hu?bind of a thousand wives, chief and lord paramount of the Kukuauas, keeper of the great road, terror of his enemies, student of the Back Arts, leader of an hundred thousand warriors, Twala the One-eyed, the Black, the Terrible.” «»id I, superciliously, “lead us then to Twala We do not talk with low people and underling*. ” “It is well, ray lords, we will lead you, but tbe way is long. We are hunting three days’ journey from the place oi the king. But let my lords have patience, and w e will lead' them.” “It is wen,” said I carelessly, “all time is before ns, for we do not die. We are ready, lead on. But Infadoos. and thou -Seragga, beware! Play us no tricks, make for us no snares, for before your brains of mud have thought of them we shall know them and avenge them. The light from the transparent eye of him with tbe bare legs and the -half-haired face” t'Good) “shall destroy You, and go thiough your land; his vanishing teefn shall fix themselves fast in yoa s and eat yon op. you and your wives and children; the magic tubes shall talk with you loudly, aud make you as sieves. Beware! This * magnificent address did not fail of its effect; indeed, it was

hardly needed, so deeply 'were on* friends already impressed with oui powers. - ; - Tbo old man made a deep obeisance, and murmured the word “K,onm, Room, which I afterward discovered was their royal salute. corresponding to case lCiyete oi the Zulus, and turning, the dressed his folio were. These at ondproceedeti to lay hold of all our good’ and chattels, in order to bear them for ha excepting only the gun*, w hich they would on no account touch. They even seized Gobd’s clothes, which were, as the reader may remember neatly folded up beside hid*. He at once mjule a dive forthein, and a loiftl altercation ensued. “Let not m.v lord of the transparent eye and the mating teeth touch them," said (heold mam—“Surely hie slaves shall carry the thing*. "Bil£ 1 want to put ’em on!” roared Good, in faervous English. Umbopa translated. “Nay, my lord” put in Infadoes; “would mv lord cover up his beautiful white leg*'’ (although he was so lark Good had a singularly white skin) “from the eves of his servants? Have we offended my lord that he should do such a thing?” Here I nearly exploded with laughing; and meanwhile, one'ref the men started on with the garments. “Damn it!” roared Good, the black villain has got my trousers.” “Look here, Good,” said Sir Henry, “you have appeared in this country in a certain character, and you must live up to it. It will never do lor you to put on trousers again. Henceforth you must live m a flannel shirt, a pair of boqts and an eyeglass.” “Yes," 1 said, “and with whisker* on one side of your face and not on jthw other. If you change auy of these things they will tuinx that we are impostors. lam very sorry for you, but seriously, you must do it. If once they begin to suspect us our lives Will not be worth a brass farthing.” “Do you really think 8Q?” said Good, gloomily. “I do, indeed. Your ‘beautiful white legs’ and your eyeglasses are now the feature of our party, and as Sir Henry says, you must live up to them, lie thankful that you have got your berets on, and that the air is warm.” Good sighed, and said no more, bill it took him a fortnight to get accustomed to his attire, CHAPTER VIII. WE ENTER KUKUANAI,AND. All that afternoon we traveled on along the magnificent roadway; -Which headed steadily in a north-westerly direction. Infadoos and Seragga walked with us, but their fellows marched about one hundred paces ahead. “Infadoos,” I said at length, “who made this road?” “It was made, my lord, of old time, none know how or when, not even the wftse woman Gagool, who has lived for generations. We are not old enough to remold her its making. None can make such roads now, but the kings let no grass grow upon it.” “And whose are the writings on the walls of the caves through which we have passed on the road?” I asked, referring to the Egyptian-like sculptures we had seen. «■ “My lord, the hands . that made the road wrote the wonderful writings. We know not who wro e them,” “When did thejKukuana race come into this countrv?” “My lor l, tiie race came down here like tne oreath of a storm ten thousand muons ago, from-the great lands which lie tiure beyond,” and he pointed to the north. “They could travel no further, so say the old voices of our fathers that have come down to us, the children, and so says Gagool, the wise woman, the smeller out of Witches, because of the great mountains which ring ia the land,’ and he pointed to the snow-dad peaks. “The country, too, was good. *'i they settled here and-grew strong and powerful, and now our numbers are tike the sea-sand, and w hen Twala the king calls up his regiments their plumes cover the plain as laras the eye oi man caii reach.” “And if the land is walled in with mountains, who is there ior the regiments to tight with?” “Nav, my lord, the country is open there,” and again he pointed toward tne north, “and now ana again warriors . sweep down upon us in clouds from a land we kn w not. and we slay them It is the third part of the life of a man since there was a war. Mmy thousands died in it, but wfe destroyed those who came to eat us up. So since then there has been no war.” “Your warriors must grow weary of resting on their spears.” “My lord, there was one war, jus after we destroyed the people t: at eatm, down upon us, but it was a civil war. dour eat dog.” ‘ How was that?” “Mv.lord,the king, my half-brother" had a brother born at the same birth, and of the same woman., It i 3 not oui custom, my lord, to let twins live, the weakest must always dm. But the mother of the king hid a\yay the weak est child, which was born the last, for her hesut yearned over it, and tli c;.i!d is t wala. the king. I ath his younger brother, born of another wife." “ Wcii?” “M> lord, Kafa, our father, died when .we c.une to manhood, aud my brother imotu was made king in his place, and for a space reigned, and had a sou by his favorite wife. Wlien the babe was three yaars old, just after the great war, drmt.g which no man could reap or sow, /a famine came upon the land, and the murmured because of the famine, jßid looked around like a starved lion for something to rend. ~Thep it was that Gogool, tiie wise woman, who doe 6 no; die, proclaimed to the people, saying, ‘The King Imotu is no king.’ And at the time imotu was sick with a wound, ami lay i:. his hut not able to move. T “Then Gagool went into a hut and led out Twala, my half-brother, and the twin brother of the king whom she had hidden since he was born among the caves and rocks, ami stripping the ‘moocha’ (waist-cloth) of his loins,showed the people of the Kukuauas the mark of the sacred snake coiled round his waist, wherewith the eldest son of tbe king is marked at birth, and cried out loud, ‘Behold, yourjking whom l have saved for you even To this day!’ And the people being mad with hunger, and altogether bereft of reason and the knowledge of truth, cried out, ‘The king! The king!’ but I knew that it was not so, ior Imotu, my brother, was the elder of tbe twins, and was the lawful king. And 1 just as*the tumult , was at its height Imotu the king, though he was very

Wk. came crawling from his hut holding ro*-«He by the hand, arid followed by his little aon lguosi (the lightning). “ ‘\Yh*t is thm noise?’ he asked; *w hy, cry ye “The king! the king?” ■■i “i'hen TvvaU. nis own brother, born of the same! woman and in the Bame bout, ran to him, and taking him by the hair stabbed him through the h<art with bis knife. And the people being fickle, and ever ready to worship the rising sun. clapped their hands aud cried ‘Twala is king! Now we know that Twain is king!’” “And what become of l\is wif» and her son Ignosi? Did Twala kill them too?” “Nay, my lord. When she saw that her lord was dead she siezed the child with a cry'aojl ran away. Two days afterward she came to a kraal verv hungry, and none wopld give her milk or food, m>w that her lord the king was dead, for tbe men hate the unfortunate. ’ But at nightfall a little child, a girl, brought her to eat., and she blessed the child, and went on toward the njp'un tains with her boy before the sun rose again, where she must have perished lor none have seen her since, Tftbr the child Ignosi.” “Then it this child Ignosi had lived lawould be the true king of the Kukuana people?’ 1 “That is so, my lord; the sacred snake is round his middle. If he lives he is the kitigyßnt alas! he is long dead.” “See. inv lord,” and he pointed to a vast collection of hut* surrounded -with a fence, which was in turn surrounded by a great ditch, that lay on the plain beneath us. “l'nisiathe kraal where the wife of Imotu was last seen with the child Ignosi. It is there that we shall sleep to-night, if, indeed,” he added. dnubtfnUv, “my lords sleep at all upon this earth.” t vY ‘ When we are among the Kukuanas my good friend Infadoos, we do a* the Kukuanas do.” I said, majestically, “ami I turned round suddenly -to address Good, who was tramping along sullenly' 4 behind, his mind fully occupied with unsatisfactory attempts to keep hi 3 flan nel shirt from flapping up in the evening breez yaad. to my astonishment, butted into Uinbopop.vho was walking along immediately behind me, and had very evidently been listening with the greatest interest to my conversation with Infadoos. The expression on his face was mo it curious, and gave the idea of a man who was struggling with partial success to bring something iopg ago forgotten back in his mind. Ali this while we hail been pressing on at a good rate down toward the undulating plain beneath. The mountains we had crossed now loomed high above us, auddSheba’s Breasts were modestly veiled in diaphonous wrear,h3 of mist As we went on the country grew more and more lovely. The vegetation was luxuriant with being tropical, the sum was bright, and warm, but not burning, and a gracious breeze blew softly along the odopous slopes of the mountains. And. indeed, this new land was little less than an earthly paradise; in beauty in natural wealth, aud in climate 1 have never seen its like. The Trans vaa is a fine.country, but it is nothing to Kukuaoaiaud. t So soon as we started Infadoos had dipatched a runner on to warn the people of the kraal, which, by the way, was in his military command, of onr arrival. This man h d departed at an extraordinary speed, which Infadoos had in formed me he would keep up all the way as running l was an exercise much practiced among his people. The result of this message now became apparent. When we got within two mites of the kraal we could see company after company of men issuing from its gates and marching toward us. Sir Henry laid his hand upon my arm and remarked that, it looked as though we were going to meet with a warm reception. Something in his tone attr|cted Infadoos’ attention. “Let not my lords be afraid,” he said, hastily, “for in my breast there dwell* no guile. This regiment is one under rfav command and comes out by my orders to greet you. vl nodded easily, though T was not quite easy in my mind. About ball a mile from the gates of the kraal was a long stretch of rising ground sloping gently upward from the road, and on this the companies formed up. It was a Bplendid sight to see them, each company about three hundred strong, charging swiMv up the slope, with flashing spears and waving plumes, and taking their appointed place. By the time we had come to the slope twelve such companies, or in all three thousand six hundred men, had passed out. and taken up their positions along the road. , Presently we came to the fir 4 company, and were able to gaze in astonishment on the most magnificent set of men I have fever seen. They wfere all men of mature age, mostly veterans’ of about forty, and not one of them was under six feet in whilst many were six feet three or four. They wore upon their heads heavy black plumes of Sacaboola feathers, like those which adorned our guides. Round their waists and also beneath their right knee were bound circlets of white ox-tails, and in their left hands were round shields about twenty inches across These shields were very curious. The frame-work consisted of an iron plate beaten out thin, over which was stretched milk-white ox-hide. The weapous that each man bore were simple, but most effective, consisting of a short and very heavy two-edged spear with a wooden shaft, the blade being about six inches across at the widest part. These %pears were not used for throwing, but like Zulu stabbing assegai, were for close quarters only, when the wound inflicted by them was terrible. In addition to these bangwans each man also carried three large and heavy knives, each knife we : ghing about two pounds. One knife was fixed in the oxtail girdle, and tbe other two at the back ot the round shield. These knives, which are called “tollas” by the Kukuanas, take the place of the throwing assegai of the Zulus. A Kukuana warrior can throw them with great accuracy at a distance of fifty yards, and it is their custom on charging to hurl a volley of them at the enemy as they come to close quarters. Each company stood like a collection of bronze statues till we were opposite to it, when at a signal given by ita commanding officer Who, distinguished by a leopatd sxin cloak, stood some paces in front, every spear was raised into the air, and from three hundred throa s sprang forth with a sudden roar the roval salute lk “koom.” Then when we had passed the company formed up behind ns, and followed ns toward the

kraal, till at last tbe whole regiment of tbe “Grays" (so called from their white shields,) the crack corps of tbe Kukuana people, was marching behind us with a tread that shook the ground. At length, branching off from Solomon's Great Road, we came to the wide fosse surrounding .the kraal, which was at least a mile ronnd, and fenced with a strong palisade of pifes formed of the j trunks of trees. At the gate-way this fosse was spanned by a primitive drawbridge which was let down by the guard to allow us to pass in. The kraal was exceedingly Wei 1 laid out. Through the center ran a wide pathway intersected at right angles ' y other pathways so arranged as to cut the huts into square blocks, each block being the quarters of a company. The huts were domeshaped, and built, like those of the Zulus, of a frame-work of wattle, beautifully thatched with grass; but unlike the Zulu hut*, they had door-ways through which one could walk. Also they were much larger, and surrounded with a veranda about six feet wide, beautifully paved with powdered lime, trodden hard. Afi along each side of iho wide pathway that pierced the kraal were ranged hundreds of women, brought out by curiosity to look at us. These women are for a native race, exceedingly handsome. They are tall and graceful, and their figures are wonderfully fine. The hair, though short, is rather curly than wooly, the features are frequently aquiline, and the lips are not unpleasantly thick as is the care in most African races. But what struct us most was their exceedingly quiet dignified air. They were as well-bred in »heir way as the habitues of a fashionable <Jrawing-«oom. and in this respe t differ from the Zulu women, and their cousins the Masai who inhabit the district behind Zanzibar Their curiosity had brought them out to see us, but they allowed no rude expression of wonder or savage criticism to pass their lips as we trudged wearily in front of them. Not even when oid Inifadooß with a surreptitious motion of the hand pointed out the crowning wonder of poor '••ood’s “beautiful white legs,” did they allo,w the feeling ref intense admiration whifcb evidently mastered their minds io find expression. They ,fixed their dark eyes upon their 6nowy loveliness i Good’s skin is exceedingly white), and that was ali. But this was quite enough for Good, who is modest by nature. When we got to the center of the kraal, Infadoos halted at the door of a large hut, which was surrounded at a distance by a circle Of sftlattgr ones. “Enter, sons of the stars," he said, in a magniloquent voice, “and deign to rest awhile in ouy humble habitations. A little food shall be brougt to you, so that ye shall have no netd to draw your belts tight from hunger; some honey and some milk and an ox two, and a few sheep; not much, my lords, but still a little food.” ' “It ,s good,” said I, “Infadoos, we are weary with traveling through realms of air; now let us rest.” Accordingly we entered into the hut, which we found amply prepared for our comfort. Couches of tanned skins were spread for us to rest on, and water was placed for us to wash in. Presently weheardiji shouting outside, and stepping to the door, saw a line of damsels bearing milk and roasted mealies, and honey in a pot. Behind these were some youthsdriving a fat young ox. We received the gifts, anil "then one of the young men took the knife from his girdle and dexterously cut the ox’s throat. In ten minutes it was dead, skinned, and cut up The best of the me it was then cut off for us, and the rest I, in the name of our party, presented to the warriors round us, who took it off and distributed the “white men’s

Umbopa set to work, with the assistance of an -extremely prepossessing young woman, to boil our portion in a large earlhenware pot over a fire which was built outside toe hut, and when it waa nearly ready we sent a message to Infadoos, and asked him. and Seragga, tbe king’s sont,4o join us. Presently they came, and sitting down upon little’ stools, of which there were several about the hut (for the Kukuanas do not. in general squat upon their hauncites like the Z ilus), helped us to gfit through our dinner. The old gentleman was most affable and polite, but it Btruck us that the yoirog one regarded us with suspicion. He had,together with the rest of the party,been overawed by our whit* appearance and by our magic properties; but it*seemed to me that on discovering that we eat, drank, and slept like other mortals, his awe was.beginning to wear off and be replaced by a sullen suspicion—which made us feei rather uncomfortable. In the course of our meal Sir Henry suggested to me that it might be well to try and discover if our hosts knew auvthing of his brother’s fate, or if they had ever seen;or heard of him; Ibut, on the whole, I thought that it woulu be wiser to sav nothing of the matter at that time.

After supper we filled our pipes and lit them; a proceeding wnich filled Infadoos and Seragga witu astonishment. The Kukuanas were evidently unacquainted with the divine uses of tobacco smoke. The. herb was grown among them extensively; but, like the. Zulus, they onlvusedit for snuff, and quite failed to identify it in its new form. Presently I asked Infadoos when vte were to proceed on our journey, and was delighted to learn that preparations had bfeen made for us to leave on the following morniog, messengers having already left to inform Twala the king of our coming. It appeared That Twala wras at his principal place, known as Loo, making ready for the great annual feast which was held in the first week in Jane. At this gathering all the regiments,with the exception ofeertain detachments left behind for garrison purposes, were brought up and paraded before the king; and -the grand annual witch-hunt, of which more by and by, washed. We were to start at dawn, and Infadoos, who was to accompany us,expected that we should, unless we were detained by accident or by swollen rivers, reach Loo on the night of the second day. When they had given ua this information our visitors bade Us good night; and, having arranged to watch turn and turn about, three of us flung onreelves down and slept the sweet sleep of the weaiy, whilst the fourth sat up on ihe lookout for possible treachery. CHAPTER IX. TWALA THB KINO, It will not be necessary for me to detail at length the incidents ot onr journey to Loo. It took t i*o good days’ vrav-

eling along Solomon’s Great Road, which parahed its even 'course right iiito the heart ref KukuanalandL Suffice it to Bay that as we went the country seemed to grow richer and richer, and the kraals, u with their wide surrounding belts of cultivation, more and more numerous. They were all built upon tbe same principles as tbe {first one we had reached, and were guarded by ample garrison of troops. Indeed, in Kukuanaiand, as among the Germans, the Z lus. and the Masai, every able-bodied man is a soldier, so that tbe whole force of tbe nation is available for its Wars, offensive or defensive. As we traveled along wfe were overtaken by thousands of warriors hurrying up to Loo to be present at the great annual review and festival, and a grander set of troop 3 L never saw. At sunset omthe second day we stopoed to rest awhile upon the summit of some heights over which the road ran, and there on a beautiful aud fertile plain before us was Loo itself. For a native town it was an enormous quite five miles around I should Bay, with ou - lying kraatarjutting out from it. whh h serve on grand occasions as cantonments for the regiments, and a curious horse-shoe-shaped hill, with which we were destined to become better acquainted, about two miles to the north. It was beautifully situated and tnrough the center of the kraal, dividing it into two portions, rafi a river, w hich appeared to be bridged at several places, the same perhaps that we had seen from the slopes of Sheba’s Breasts. Sixty or seventy miles away three great snow-capped mountains, placed like tne points of a triangle, started up out of the level plain. The conformation of these 1 mountains was uulike that of Sheba’s Breasts, being sheer and precipitous, instead of smooth and rouaded. Infadoos saw us looking at them and volunteered a remark “The road ends there,” he said, pointing to the mountains known among the Kukuanasas the “Three Witches." “ Wtiy dots it end?" I asked. “Who knows?” he answered with a shrug; “the mountains are full of caves, and there is a great pit between them. It is there that the wise men of old used to go to get whatever it was they came to this country for, aud it is there now that our kings are buried in the Place of Death.” “What ia it they came for?” I asked eagerly. ' “Nay. I know not. My lords who come from the stars should know,” he answered with a quick look. Evidently he knew more than he those to say. “Yes,” I went on, “you are right, in the stars we know many things. I have heard, for instance, that the wise men of old came to those’ mountains to get bright stones, pretty playthings, and jellow iron.” “My lord is wise," he answered coldly, “I am but a child and can not talk with my lord on such things, My lord must speak with Gagool the god at the king’s place, who is wise even as my lord,” and he turned away. As soon as he was gone, 1 turned to the others and pointed out mountains. are SolomonVreiamond mines,” I said. Umbopa was standing with them, apparently plunged in one of the fits of abstraction which are common to him, and caught my words “Yes, Macumazhn,” he put in, in Zulu, “the diamonds are surely there, aud you shall have them since you white men are so fond of toys and money.” “How do you know that, Umbopa?” I asked sharply, for I did not like his mysterious vays.

He laughed; “I dreamed 4 in the night, white men,” and then he too turned upon his heel and went. “Now what,” said Sir Henry, “is our black friend ats He knows more than he chooses to say, that is clear. By the way, Qnatermain, has he heard anything of—of my brother?” “Nothing; he has asked every one he has got friendly with, but they all declare no white man has ever been seen in the country before.” “Do you suppose be ever got here at all?” suggested Good; “we have onlyreached the place by a’miracle; is it likely t.e could have reached it at all without the map?” “I don’t know,” said "Sir Henry, gloomily, “but somehow I think that I Bhali find him.” Slowly the sun sunk and then suddenly darkness lushed down on the land like a tangible thing. There was no breathing space between the day and the night, no soft transformation scene, for in these latitudes twilight does not exist. The change from day to night is as quick and as absolute as the change from life to death. The sun sunk and the world was wreathed in shadows. But not for long, for see in the east there is a glow, then a bent edge of silver light, and at last the lull bow of the crescent moon peeps above the plain and shoots its elreming arrows far and wide, filling the earth with a faint of refulgence, as the glow of a good man’s deeds shines for awhile upon h’s little world after his sun has set, lighting the traveler to a fuller dawn. Continued next week.