DEC. 8 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
377 
not Have a warfare dally with the woman I loved* 
“If he might, escape to some distant land,” I 
said. 
I arose, I took with me two mutes, and I went 
to the door of the dungeon. Between the bars I 
passed him my hand. 
“ Attlllus, draw the ring from my finger, and 
when the warder comes at dawn give him this 
signet, and demand fleet horses, then flee for thy 
life.” 
“ k 'ng! my brother# ” returned the cap¬ 
tive, “ what Is my life that thou shouidst save It? 
The queen—” 
“Name her not," I answered. “Take the 
ring quickly.” 
He put forth his shackled hand, and drew the 
signet from my finger ; and I, with lightened 
heart, returned to my couch and slept. I awoke 
to the noise or a tumult and the clash of swords 
The rest seemed to me like a dream. 
I was dethroned. I was a prisoner. I was to 
die. 
Attlllus reigned In my stead, and on the throne 
by his side sat the woman I had loved, 
PART TOR THIRD. 
They spared my life. 
“ Let him live," said the woman, as she placed 
the hand of Attlllus on her head. *• Death Is 
momentary; wo can make life harder to him 
than doath. Let him live In misery and Iron 
under scourge and torture; let him live, and 
pray to die,” 
“ f -ct him live,” repeated Attlllus. 
soldiery, I was brought to you in chalns-yours 
now by right of conquest, the captive or your 
bow and spear, it pleased you to put a crown 
upon my brow: It pleased you to lay your head 
upon my breast; but, had It heen your pleasure 
that I should wear the shackles or a slave, and 
boar tile Rcourge while I ground your corn, 1 
must have worn the yoke and bowed submissive 
to your tyranny. Now say. shall I bo grateful 
because you'futniied your pleasure ? Why with 
those gaunt eyes do you weep your own woes? 
If i tore you limb from Umb, I could not pay you 
back what you nave made me suffer. 
“ ^"°> 1 arn hot mad, There Is madness on this 
earth, too—a shape of pain more merciful than 
some. Oh, star, ethereal and pure, wherein I 
once wandered beautiful, look down upon my 
anguish, and It there be within thy rays forget¬ 
fulness, pour them on my scorched brain and 
wither It t ” 
Here she stayed the torrent of her words a 
moment, and looked out upon the starry night, 
whose deep blue shone calm above us. The sight, 
made her bosom heave, ami her small hands, 
clenched, tore at her white flesh. 
Then, turning to me, aho laughed; and this 
sudden laughter was horrible. 
“ And shall you escape the Judgment of the 
gods? Tyrant and sorcerer, I tell you no? In 
my womanly Impatience, l have hurried the, day 
of vengence. 1 should have waited. I prayed 
Attlllus to draw the signet from your finger, and 
kill you, and for reward I offered him my love; 
not that l loved him—slaves nover love. But he 
refused, and then I hated him, and asked his life. 
Then rising from her throne, she hastened to , “ n " UJeQ 1 hatefl " lm - an<1 asked his life, 
bow before Attlllus, with her fair face touching wllh teara and Importunity that night, 
the dust, and sweet tow words of thanks dron- ^cause I knew he bad resolved to break bla 
ping from her red Ups silence* and tell you of my treachery. That was 
•*«■» TO"*. * 
to make sport for them, as they sat together 
after their bridal feast. I heard her slavish 
words; i saw her kisses and her false smiles 
He was a sterner mau than I-a greater tyrant; 
to him she was not a queen, but a slave. A year 
passed thus, and I knew she wearied. I lived In 
a secret dungeon ; the people thought me dead 
none day when luxury, cruelty, power weighed 
heavy op her, she sent a slave to fetch me from 
my prison. 
“ Esar,” she said, and her proud lip shook 
“ <» 11 me the secret of my birth, and l will free 
you from your chains. You shall steep on a soft 
couch, and eat no more the bread of bitterness ” 
“ What have I to tell you ? ” I answ ered. 
Her face flushed, and her eyes filled with tears— 
those largo sad tears that 1 had seen among the 
stars* 
“ I have dreams, horrible dreams of what I 
was,” she said. “ At times, like one in a strange 
madness, I see abodes of crystal, wnere happi¬ 
ness was pure, not hot and cruel, as It Is here. 
Then waking, I loathe myself and you. Surely 
It Is your power, your sorceries, that have dragl 
fifed me through shame and misery. Those hands 
that In Elysian riel<ls gathered piles, have worn 
chains; and 1, who have visions of gods who 
loved me, have learned to bow down to swine In 
human shape. Have 1 not lain with my face to 
the earth before the slave Attlllus ? And know- 
est thou tlut at times ho falls to hold out the 
golden sceptre that bids me rise, and l kneel 
trembling, knowing not if I shall live. T fear 
death, because a voice within me says that I have 
fallen, and must fall still lower, Into sonic worse 
pain than this. Oh, that death were freedom 1 
for 1 hate I hate this life. Oae sole pleasure 
has been mine ; 1 have drunk blood like water • 
it has done me goed to see men die. Thee i hate 
too much to kill. Thlnkest thou 1 over loved ? 
Ah, no; but the roan woo wears that tallsmanle 
ring makes mo Ms slave. 1 was yours; you gave 
It to Attlllus, and 1 was his. I cannot pluck It 
from him ; 1 am withheld by pangs not human 
when I would put forth my hand and take it 
from his finger. Alas! what have T not suffered 
since lured from some greal hlght I woke 
to weep on the edge of the wilderness ! Scorn 
and shame and chains have been mine—I who 
hud come from gardens of lilies, where perfume 
and music are our breath, awoke in the desert 
amlil sand that scorched, and rocks that cm the 
flesh. And ua I wept, strangers came to me 
Did they give me succor ? No ; because I was 1 
defenceless. I was a prey ; and because I was a 
woman, I was a slave. They put chains upon mo 1 
and sold me ; and you who bought me looked for 
thanks, i gave them, for you wore a gem whose > 
slightest flash thrilled through my flesh in an an- ! 
gulsh that, subdued, as the lash subdues the tiger 
This Is the secret or the talisman ; let any man 1 
wear it hating me. and l die; such flesh as mine 
could not bear that pain and live. < 
“ Nay, stop me not; J finish quickly, i, who 1 
had been so great, came to you In chains—chains 
worn for you; for my heart tells me It was you 1 
whose wicked Incantations lured me from 1 
some far world to this star of death and sin. Was 
that enough ? No; you yielded me to a cold Ly- t 
rant, who would have cut ray veins In pieces to 8 
learn the secrets my dumb lips could not speak. 11 
He early found the secret of my nature, and b 
ruled through cruelty, with chains and dark- e 
ness he drew from me those dltn memories that I n 
would fain have kept sealed up forever. And 1 
having in my soul this half-formed sense of « 
beauty and or glory, from which I had fallen l Is 
suffered to these low tortures a depth of pain n 
your grosser clay can never feel. What are your w 
chains to mine ? Do you marvel now that I iiate 
yon? Tnen listen—the catalogue of your sins b 
against me Is not done. When your armies came, ai 
the old man. who through my woe, Loped to learn e< 
the mysteries of the stars, hid mo in the temple at 
of his god. Thence, scarcely escaping the rude w 
n be treachery ; but m a slave It Is revenge, lie 
•r would have died, but you gave him the fatal rl ng, 
h and from that moment I was his slave, and he 
*■ ' vaa mine. Llketae call I had heard In the stars, 
; his voice reached me In the night, and I arose 
r and set him free. I placed him on your throne, 
n and you awoke to a dungeon and to chains, i 
have finished.” 
i "And wherefore tell me this, o queen?” I 
a asked, us I shifted the heavy chains that hung 
upon my aching arms. 
“ Because I am weary. Poison me this man 
a Attlllus, and take thy crown again. Draw the 
t ring from his finger while ho sleeps. I will make 
him sleep upon my knees. 1 would liefer be thy 
slave than his, for his hand Is crueller to me than 
. thine. Kill him, and thou art king again; refuse, 
) and my slaves shall carry thee back to the dun¬ 
geon, and scourge thee till thoudlest.” ; 
[ “Whyshould I refuse7” l answered" “Bring 
i mo to the feast to-night, und thou shalt see my 
hand Is ateady w hen it, stn kes, ” 
I came. 1 knelt before them In my chains, 
while Attlllus, the barbarian, flung tho wine ices 
on my prison garment, and required of tne a song. 
I sang or his greatness, his honor, his glory, while 
the queen with dainty Ungers boat time upon tho 
board. But being heavy ana with wine, the song 
lulled Attlllus, and as lie sat upon the velvet 
cuslilons that lay plied upon the floor, lie roughly 
bade the queen draw near, and take Ms head upon 
her knees, and let him sleep. I sang on, a sweet 
low song, murmuringof summer life, and slumber 
among the flowers In the gardens of Babylon. 
And the king slept. The great doors were closed 
softly, tho silken lunging rustled lathe perfumed 
air, and every footstep In distant corridor and hall 
died into silence. 
Then rrom beneath |her eyelids a look stole 
forth, u look of death, that, beckoned me; and 
creeping towards her on the thick carpets, I bent 
to hear her whispered words. 
She drew a key from his Jewelled belt, and 
placed It. in my hand. 
“ Unlock your chains," she whispered. The 
shackles fell, startling the king, who frowned in 
hla sleep, and I, with my eyes fixed on him, 
drained a goblet of rich wine, for my throat was 
parched. Then stretching forth my hand 1 took 
the dagger that the traitress held above the 
sleeping face of Attutus, and stooping, I stabbed 
ldm to ..he heart. I rose rrom that blow a king, 
and a„ 1 drew the mysllo insignia of royalty rrom 
the lead man’s hand, I felt myself a king again. 
Then hastily arraying myself In royal apparel and 
with the crown upon my head, I went forth to 
the soldiers and the people. 
Acclamations rent tne air. Nobles, counsellors, 
and prlnceB rushed to my side, und my majesty 
and my glory were strengthened to me, because 
secretly the people had chafed at the rule of the 
barbarian. 
And Attlllus’ friends, their wives, their chil¬ 
dren, their klndrea and their slaves, I caused to 
be cast to the lions. 
As morning broke, I returned to my palace, and 
In the inner hall Lhe queen met me, and bowed 
herself before me to tho earth. 
“Forgive me my madness,” she said. “My 
tongue has spoken wildly, for when the stars 
shine upon rny brain, I am us one who knoweth 
not Ms right hand fmrn ids left. Now let me lie 
In the dust till 1 am pardoned, tor the king Is ( 
even as the sun to revive the fainting heat of the 
miserable. And who Is this dead dog Attlllus 
that his sin and nis rebellion should take from me 
the favor of my lord the king 7 Thine handmaid T 
Is but a slave, and when he was master, I bowed J 
myseir before him, though my heart wont not 
with It; for had ho not my life In Ills hands 7 ” 
With quivering lips, she said this on her knees, 
before me, with forehead touching the ground 8 
and when I answered her not a word, she cover¬ 
ed my feet with tears and kisses. Then l 
stretched out my hand above her, the hand that 
wore the ring; and as she trembled, her kisses 
8 kffcvv hot and quivering, and a cry of fear broke 
r from ber Ups. 
x “Pardon, pardoul” she murmured faintly. 
1 1 he anguish In her voice thrilled through my 
• veins, and mode my heart leap up for Joy. Again 
i 1 saw her as I had seen her among the stars: 
l and It seemed to mo a Joy worthy of a king to 
bring a being once glorious and lovely Into this 
I abject shape, into this breathing beautiful slave 
i at my feet. 
I raised her, I clasped her in my arms, 1 kissed 
her once, twice, thrice,—the last kiss these Ups 
have ever given—the last Joy r ever knew on earth 
—the last proof of my weakness and my love. 
Then,as the flush over her cheeks died into leaden 
paleness, as the flash of triumph In her eye 
changed to fear, I thrust her from me, and In a 
whisper that thrilled through every ear I aakl to 
ray Ethiopians,” 
“ Cover her face.” 
1 could not look upon its beauty and condemn 
her to die. 
veiled In the coarse sackcloth which scarcely 
stifled her cry, and held In the strong hands of 
tho guard, she heard her sentence: 
To bo clothed iu a slave’s garmont, and bare¬ 
footed and face uncovered, holding the head of 
tho traitor Attlllus In her hands, and with 
shackles upon her wrists, she was to be led throe 
days through tho streets of the grout city, while 
heralds proclaimed before her: “Thus shall It 
he done to the slave that, rebels against her mas¬ 
ter:'’ And for these three days no man, upon 
pain of death, should give her food or water. 
I looked,not out from the pulace windows to 
sen that, sad procession; but spectators shudder¬ 
ing told me that on the second day her eyes were 
dry and bloodshot, her lips cracked, her foot torn 
and bleeding; and on the third day It was only 
the thongs of the slaves that forced her along. 
1 heard the sharp crackle of the whips as she 
passed the palace, and t wondered if her thought* 
went back to tho wlne-feasta and the early days 
of ray love, or whether, further still, they wan¬ 
dered to that dim time when she lived, glorious 
and free, In some bright world where sin and 
death enter not. 
AG the palace gate she fell, and with a shriek 
that, rang from out, her lips In a curse upon my 
race, she died. 
My kingdom was established, my power 
stregthened; I reigned from India to tho Bed Sea. 
All the treasures of the earth are mine, and men- 
slaves and women-slaves bow down before me • 
but my sorrow Is greater than i can bear, and 
oven as 1 speak 1 perish. For at night, In my 
sleep, there fastens upon my heart a vamplro 
who lives upon my blood. 
I have called togother my physicians and rny 
Soothsayers, and oven from Egypt have r brought 
magicians; but, their skill availoth not. Idle; 
and I know tills vampire Is the woman I loved. 
No hand can touch her. She fleeth like a shad¬ 
ow, she osoapeth every net, every toll, and every 
weapon, in vain slaves watch my sleep, and sol¬ 
diers guard it. She comes Silently, like the shades 
or the (lead come, and with cold Ups she draws 
away my life* 
1 loved her; in this dread 8leop I love her still* 
and ;as she drains my blood, I cover her with 
kisses of love, and tears that cry for pardon I 
awake with a start of anguish, the death-dropH 
upon my brow, and, lo, she Is gone I Then 1 
through my palace there rings a low cry of pain 1 
and a whisper of fear passes from lip to Up : Dpi 1 
abbatb grafting, 
RESPITE FROM PUNI8HMENT. 
ir. SAMtrEr. xxiv-26, 
Sknt for swift vengenco to Israel's land, 
Tho angel of doath waved his glittering brand 
O’er city and .town. Its stroke in deep anguish 
To David's sad heart still more keenly is driven. 
As loudly he cries for the people that languish, 
" Gh, why to those sheep is the punishment given,_ 
I am the sinner to feel the sharp rod,— 
But merciful prove to my kingdom, o God." 
Now o'r Jerusalem darkly outspread 
The sword Of the angel they fearfully dread 
Flashed in tip dr ! amid sorrow ami wailing 
Suspended the 1 , low that must speedily fall, 
D' meroy Iw <lhiul and sweet love unavailing. 
The horror of darkness o’erhangs lilm a pall 
Kiug and his nobles in sackcloth attired 
Who make tho confession Jehovah required. 
Quick to its sheath in the weapon returned, 
And quenched is tho anger that, fiercely had burned, 
Lifted the cloud that so heavily' bondlng 
Had threatened to darken all homes with Its blight, 
t contritely earnest this prayer was ascending,— 
"May weeping endured through the bitterest night 
1' now il riiflpHtj ruturiiiu^ at morn* 
And costliest gilts shall Thine altars adorn,’’ 
•Softly tho angel then folded the wing 
Whoso darkening shadow deep sorrow would bring 
Borne on the air to the bright realms of glory 
Is wafted the tribute of praise from glad hearts 
It Who Joyously toll tin? thrice wonderful mory- 
With morning’s return, lo ! the darkness dopartsl 
Bountiful mercy unmeasured and free, 
Jehovah! thus comes, with Its blessing from the." 
Rev. J. II. Beale. 
GOLDEN MAXIMS. 
Dko. s. Prayer, like tho precious metal, comes 
most pure from tho heated furnace.— Blckersteth. 
Dko. 9.—There Is no state so low as to bo be¬ 
neath tho everlasting arms. 
Dko. 10. Riches aro nut like the leaves of a tree 
beautirul for a season; but when wiutor storms 
arise, they f ill off, and aro blown away._ Bp 
Reynolds. 
Dko. 11 . our present frail existence Is the un¬ 
substantial basis upon which too many aro build¬ 
ing the fabric or their happiness; but It Is build¬ 
ing a nest upon tho wave. 
Dko.pa Wisdom la mighty; meekness is 
mighty ; but the meekness of wisdom Is almighty. 
— Hr. A. Reed. 
Dkc. 13. Tho closet Is a nursery for piety ; and 
wherever there Is a declension In Its duties, there 
will be a declension of rellglou In the heart — 
J. R. Bond. 
Dkc. 14. Let “deserved ” be written on the door 
Of hell, but on the door of heaven and life, “the 
Tree gift.”- Ba r .rhr. 
•-*~*~*.- 
TRUE ZEAL. 
BY A. M. W. 
Truk religious zeal is a chronic reeling, always 
red-hot. It is a most Important quality for every 
worker In the Lord’s vineyard to be possessed of. 
ft Lm not what the world likes to see; rather Is it 
on the heart, of the king there lleth a vamplro, I what the world dreads. SensuoiiH life and sin can 
and hla day goeth down In darkness.” 
Tho pen with which I write ror Ksar the king 
drops from my weary fingers, and with my hand 
resting upon this dry heap l look across the 
dreary waste and see the phantoms oi my brain 
vanish. The gorgeous palace, the temples, the 
kingly streets, the hanglug gardens, Uo beneath 
my hand la this mound. Upon tho arid plain 
I see only these heaps crumbling in the shadew- 
less sun; and the crown of Ksar, his glory, his 
power, and his might, fall from my fingers, as l 
shake them from the dust I gathered up on the 
plains of Babylon. 
BOOKS RECEIVED. 
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That Wlfo of Mine; by the author of That 
Husband of Mine. Cloth—pp. 228 . Paper 
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Thi <■'-Booms at Brantley; or, The Great 
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The Big Brother *tco-The Signal Boys, or 
Captain Sam’s Cd ny. By George Cary 
Eggleston. Cloth; I pp.218; $1.60. 
C 1 , ax ton, Rkmhkn & Haffki.pinoku, Phlla. 
Two Years Behind the Plow; or, The Experi¬ 
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Jas. r. 08oood <fcCo., Boston, Mass.: 
Being a Boy. By Charles Dudley Warner. Il¬ 
lustrated by “ Oharnp.” (Cloth; lemo.-pp. 
944. Price $ 1 . 60 .) 
Scribnkr, Armstrong & C'o., New York: 
About Old Story Tellers: of now and When 
they Lived, and what Stories they Told. By 
Donald G. Mitchell. Illustr ,tod. (Cloth — 
pp. 236. Price $».) 
be comfortable In contact with a rormal and re¬ 
spectable religion, but they are miserable when 
they come In contact with the genuine zeal of 
holiness. 
It Is very true that young hypocrisy often Imi¬ 
tates the zeal of age. The fervor which Is very 
thin and lacks the massive backing which will 
withstand the heaviest shots of tho world, It Is 
true, very often does a grievous Injury to the 
we 8erv( Jl but, it Should not, for a 
moment, hinder or halt any sincere soul in Its 
ilh Master sLate ,n wh,cU ,ie Cun beat serve 
u WlJ ma f avoid the false and attain the true, 
ii llR S' 0,nakft domedtscitmlnatlons. Look 
at. the elements ot true zeal. 
on^u 011 ', thing, li. liua (,’hrlsUan knowledge for 
an Important part of Its basis. The Hcrliitures 
erirm tl,at ,s no1 ' according to knowl- 
a , ver y important point for dtscrlm- 
ibatlon. Christian knowledge Is a very clear and 
trtuh w 1 0l i ‘‘brihilan truth—Of that 
, ' ' , (, v a H aH Ktvnn as tho sole and Infalli¬ 
ble standurd to IDs Church. “To the law and 
the testimony,” is the command. This gives us 
point for distinction. The 
H born or uod Is the Berean zeal, which 
begins by searching the Scriptures, oven though 
th, kflvcnthem hla deliverances. Where 
there Is Heaven-born zeal In a < fhurcb. there will 
Word W r0,lly,atf for tlie sUl(| y o< ibu inspired 
o’ 81, c i uta f,rr a,< oooe all those who join 
theWiWlvea to a man rather than Join themselves 
nr ^ r , 1 r ,.‘r 5 a n f 1 s( -' Il u r (J 1 1 . If, outs off those who 
au, perpetually dragging In something else as a 
standard, rather thafl the living oracles. 
ne&M effp u rpoHc hl nS ’ trUU /0al ou s * a E 1 e- 
hh'Bt 'zealous saint that, ever lived said, 
Tills om thing I do,” There was Just one thing 
he always kept at, tho head of his list or things to 
b® ( wno. Whenever he begun his course or active 
r -! at wt . 1 ? Nj® thing of which he first 
, -t wus the first thing to which he pln- 
nert all Ills resolntloas. It, was the first thing on 
his mind, when he went forth Into the activities 
of life- It was to think of others, plan tor oth- 
ers, act for and upon others, and always In view 
of their souls’ eternal tot-crests. 
eye be stogie,” says the Master, “thy 
whole body sbalLbe lull ot light." Notice tho re- 
latloh bBtweQQ zeal as to singleness of purpose 
and tne degree of Divine illumination. Many 
complain of doubt, and darkness, and mental dis¬ 
tress. they have too little of that oneness of 
purpose t hat can say with Paul, “ This one thing 
I do, or with Christ, " I have a single eye.” They 
carry one eye upon the world and One upon the 
kingdom, and thus become painfully oblique of 
vision, and walk painfully at cross purposes. 
