256 The Tulor-Fiend and his Three Pupils. [^Sept. 



Ccarth ransacked for iron for locks and bars, and swords and bayonets. 

 Palaces arose — then an inquisition, halls of justice, and a school of ana- 

 tomy. There were several prisons, and some admirable powder-manu- 

 factories. There were likewise tax-gatherers and executioners. The 

 people were civilized. 



At length the seeming divinity of the task-masters became a question. 

 Some brave hearts spoke out — " What !" said they, " are millions to be 

 fools and wretches, that some two or three may be idlers and knaves }" 



At length King Rapax — for king he was — approached the crisis of 

 mortality. He ordered his riches to be displayed about his chamber, 

 and his blood-shot eye gleamed with hoiuible delight, as he beheld the 

 glittering heaps to which his soul was yet adhering ; and he gi*asped a 

 handful of gold even whilst its tinkling was responded to by the con- 

 vulsive rattle in the miser's throat. When death gave the last charge, 

 Rapax screamed and groaned, as though he would fight him still ; and, 

 in the agony, he crushed the metal in his hand till the blood started 

 from the withered flesh. Tearing away his vestments, he threw him- 

 self amidst a heap of gold, as though llicre he could defy his follower ; 

 and as he writhed among the ore, he scrambled for the jewels and the 

 vessels that were about him, supplicating the assistance of the beholders 

 to stand before him and his foe. A terrific laugh of triumph extended 

 his jaws, as he stretched fortli his hand to seize a massive piece of gold 

 to hide his head from the attack. Just as, Avith almost supernatural 

 force, he poised the weight above him, his eyes start — his tongue works 

 in his mouth — the ore rattles with the struggle of his limbs — and the 

 uplifted mass, falling with a crash, thunders the knell of the miser ! 



The ministers paused not a moment. The ghastly corse, heaped 

 round about by gold, appalled them not. Each was rushing on to take 

 possession — when shouts were heard — then the trample of multitudes. 

 The doors were burst open, and the people, thronging onward, recoiled 

 as they beheld the naked body of their dead enslaver. The pupils, one 

 and all, pounced upon a small casket still held in the gripe of the corse. 

 Scowl was master of the prize, and, in an instant, eluding the vigilance 

 of the populace, disappeared. Topaz and Blitheheart likewise escaped. 

 The streets were empty — the houses deserted : the old men, Avomen, and 

 children had been removed, under a strong guard, to a secure retreat, 

 whilst the attack was made upon Rapax and the younger despots. Scowl, 

 with two or three of his minions, tossed burning brands into the im- 

 guarded habitation : the winds rose, the flames raged, and destruction 

 seemed to hover over the devoted city. Again Scowl led on his mer- 

 cenai-ies — again he was defeated. The dwellings consecrated to the fair 

 stranger-deities (for such Rapax and his pupils had been deemed) were 

 consumed to ashes — nearly all who fought for the bad cause, relentlessly 

 slaughtered. A few, faithful in adversity, by Scowl's orders launched 

 the boat which had first touched the island, and Avhich had been vene- 

 rated as something little less than sacred. There was no other refuge 

 save the howling sea for the gold-worshipper. All day he lay hidden ; 

 and, when night came, he hurried timidly to the spot where, in an 

 obscure creek, lay the boat. His attendants were waiting his arrival. 

 Scowl, unwilling to venture with such a number in so fragile a bark, 

 despatched all, save one, to his late hiding-place, in tlie excuse of having 

 left there a treasure of great value. No sooner had the party (juittcd 

 him, than he leapt into a boat, and, bidding the man follow, was 



