Reamer

“ Of course all the reapers came at night to the harvest-supper, and Parson Bowden to say the grace as well as to help to carve for us. And some help was needed there, I can well assure you; for the reapers had brave appetites, and most of their wives having babies were forced to eat as a duty. Neither failed they of this duty; cut and come again was the order of the evening, as it had been of the day ”

“ As they all repaired to their respective quarters they had very different thoughts in their minds. Reimers was full of admiration: "What a man is that," thought he, "who, with all his heavy duties, yet occupies himself with the insignificant destiny of a poor devil of a gunner!" ”

“ The positions in which Remus and Romulus stood in respect to each other, and the feelings which were naturally awakened in their hearts by the circumstances in which they found themselves placed, were such as did not tend to allay any rising asperity which accident might occasion, but rather to irritate and inflame it. In the first place, they were both ardent, impulsive, and imperious. Each was conscious of his strength, and eager to exercise it. ”

“ Scene 2— Before Nit, Gink of Gizeh, in East. Scene 3— Before Ta-Nefer, Prophet of Horns, in North. Persons— Set-Up, Priest of Apis; Nit, Gink of Gizeh; Ta-Nefer, Prophet of Horns; RekMara; Candidates.
SCENE 1.
Candidates are led by Rek-Mara before Set-Up in South; hoodwinks down.
Rek-Mara— O Set-Up, Priest of Ap's, the Sacred Bull, I lead an Egyptian — Set-Up— Another one! Rek-Mara ordered by the Council of Amenti to make search for the missing parts of the great Rameses. Set-Up— Does he know who I am? Rek-Mara—Not yet. Set-Up— How odd! Has he been seen by the Director of Offerings? ”

“ He might as well have spoken to a figure of bronze for aught that she was moved by it.
She scarcely heard him; she was thinking every moment of the fugitive hidden in the tombs of the rocks: was he safe? did he want for anything in her absence? might faintness overcome him and, without succour, pass into the endless swoon of death? if he were well, was he wondering why she was so long, was he doubting her? would the old man of Telamone talk of her and cause her refuge to be found? ”

“ The air, too, which gives 'distemper if not death' to the stranger, began to work its evil way on him. He began to lose strength, to feel chilly, to have a touch of fever; the burning suns on the rank soil began to pour their poison into his northern blood. She met him on the twelfth day of his stay at Telamone as she came home towards sunset with wild strawberries and blackberries as her afternoon's gleaning.
She looked at him and smiled a little.
'Maremma makes you ill,' she said with unconcealed contentment; 'you are very unwise to stay in it. The sun is always angry with strangers. ”

“ So intense a surprise seized him that he for the moment could say nothing, and did not move. They gazed into each other's faces.
'Will you swear it?' she said, her voice still low, but as fierce as a snake's hissing, 'If you will not, you shall not leave this place alive. You are a man and strong; but you are unarmed, and I can kill you.'
She kept her eyes fixed on him, and her hand clenched on the stiletto. She had no fear, nor any sense of sin; all conscience and all judgment was drowned in the flood of one passionate instinct—to save Este. ”

“ In the wild excitement of his passions, Learmont had walked onwards, heedless of whither he was going, and now that he had in some measure found the relief he sought for in fatigue, he glared anxiously round to find if possible what part of the town he had strayed to in his deep abstraction.
The night was very dark, not a star peeped forth from heaven to light with its small twinkling lustre the massive black arch of the firmament. No moon shed its silvery radiance on the gigantic city;—a darkness, so intense that sky, houses, trees,—all seemed merged into one chaotic mass. ”

“ Who bore life's stigma; "more than mortal light
Clothes thy bright limbs, and even as one of us
Thou seemest discarnate, though to eye and ear
Thou art all human, as a mortal dream
Is figured thought." "Love held me in his grace
And from my birth I sleep upon his breast;
To learn of him is life"; the Roamer said:
"I go to learn, treading the pilgrim's way
Through lands I know not of. His will be done!" ”

“ She had lost her buoyant vigour of movement; she had felt unwell the last few weeks and did not know what ailed her; but she summoned her courage and her strength, walked to the coast, and there set sail in her little boat, that had the pine-bough at its prow. The morning was fine and calm; the sea was blue and so were the skies; there was no chance of foul weather. It would have been nearer to have crossed the country on foot to Telamone; but she did not feel as strong as usual, and the linen she had spun and the matting she had made were heavy to carry. ”

“ Go up, either of you, to the top of one of these mountains, and look abroad upon the earth and sky, and the gods shall send a sign whereby ye may know who is chosen king."
So Romulus and Remus went each to the top of one of the hills by the Tiber, and they looked abroad upon the earth and sky, all fair and bright in the sunny April weather.
Remus first came back to his grandfather, and he was flushed with triumph.
"Victory!" he cried. "The gods have chosen me as king, for I have seen six vultures flying in the sky."
"Wait," said King Numitor; "do nothing rashly ”

“ In my own heart, which is the heart of man."
"Allah il Allah! wonderful his works!"
Intoned the Moslem; but the Roamer hid
The words within his heart, and well he marked
The soft light dwelling in the other's eyes,
The ray of love, bright beaming, as he spoke.
"Life is the only comment on the heart
That speaks within us, eloquent of love,"
The Roamer said; "God grant us so to live,
With others' lives commingling and involved
Until the larger self takes form in us
Whereby we rise to perfect charity,
One with mankind." "And dost thou live?" ”

“ It was with her as when the moor-hen was shot on the waters, as when the woodlark was trapped in the net. No one cared. There was no 'angiolin' beside the stars!
She was now almost numb with cold. The water drenched her, rain and salt water both poured over her, and the night had grown bitterly cold. She supposed it was night, she could not tell. ”

“ Leroux stood up; Cumberly forced him back.
“Stay where you are, Leroux; it is elementary strategy to operate from a fixed base. This study shall be the base. Ready, Exel?”
Exel nodded, and the search commenced. Leroux sat rigidly upon the settee, his hands resting upon his knees, watching and listening. Save for the merry ticking of the table-clock, and the movements of the searchers from room to room, nothing disturbed the silence. From the table, and that which lay near to it, he kept his gaze obstinately averted. ”

“ CHAPTER II The Mystery of Angkor
When you are dead, the little demons gather and make merry. They will not let you rest. Huddled about your weary soul they chatter in bee-thin voices; they lift your head and force open your lips and pour molten fire down your throat, a liquid fire that chokes and strangles.
Ramey strangled on liquid fire, and opened his eyes. He—he was not dead, after all, but alive! The sweetness of native brandy was on his lips, the far voices waxed nearer as consciousness returned, and he was surrounded by the familiar figures of not scarlet imps but human beings! ”

“ Learmont walked on slowly, for he knew not but he might be in some dangerous quarter of the city, and his suspicions that the locality in which he was did not possess any great claims to fashion or respectability were much increased by a door suddenly opening in a house some dozen yards in advance of him, and a man being flung from it with considerable force into the centre of the street, while a loud voice, exclaimed:—
“Go to the devil, an’ you will. Are we to sit up all night to attend to one sot? ”

“ Poor lonely Remus was set in the window to enjoy the fun, but on their return the globe was tenantless. The toy-woman below saw the dismayed little faces peeping over the window sill, and called up to say that she had picked up a dead fish on the cold marble step. The basket went down once more, and was drawn up slowly and sadly with poor Remus's body.
We buried him, too, under the peach-tree on the house-top, and set up the little bronze wolves for a double monument; but the twins have never wanted any more goldfish. ”

“ Grey, if the exchange could be made, I would not only willingly, but gladly, thankfully, lie down here in this coffin, and give your sister back to your arms. The Reaper, Death, has cut down the perfect, golden grain, and left the tares to shiver in the coming winter. Some who are useless and life-weary bend forward, hoping to meet the sickle, but it sweeps above them, and they wither slowly among the stubble. ”

“ In vain the Lord of Learmont battled with his own feelings. They would not be resisted; and, at length, half mad with the mental struggle he was enduring, he rose from the chair on which he had been sitting and stood up to his full height, in the centre of the saloon, while one deep groan burst from his heart, sounding strangely awful in the midst of all that glitter and display.
Then his dark eye flashed fire, and he made a great effort to rouse himself from the deep dejection that had stolen over him. ”

“ In the meanwhile Learmont was lighted by his wondering domestics to his own chamber. They had never before this seen him in such a state of physical prostration; and, but that they were in too great fear of his violence to offer him even a kindness they would have assisted him up the staircase, for they saw that he was scarcely capable of ascending alone, and had to clutch to the banisters nervously for support.
When he reached his chamber, he sank into a chair, and after a few moments, he said,—
“More lights—more lights! Let me have more lights here. The place is dark. ”

“ When the priest with trembling hand had administered the dire medicine to him, Rameses drank it, as one parched with thirst drinks a cup of water; then he called unto him the most renowned astrologer of Thebes, and commanded him to relate what the stars revealed, without dissembling aught.
"Saturn is in conjunction with the Moon," replied the sage, "and that betokens the death of some member of thy dynasty, O Rameses. Thou hast done ill in drinking the medicine to-day, for empty are human plans before the decrees that the Omnipotent inscribes upon the heavens." ”

“ Oh, God! If you want revenge against me, let me live, for life to me is horrible enough. Yet I dare not die. Learmont, if you have one lingering hope of grace hereafter, spare me now. I am beaten—conquered—I admit all—you shall triumph over me as you may, but do not—oh, do not kill me.”
“The confession—the confession,” was Learmont’s only reply.
Gray then wrung his hands and wept hysterically, and Learmont let go his hold of him, for he saw he was incapable of resistance. ”

“ When you knock a fellow on the head with a cleaver, you do for him at once, and all you get out of him is a kick or two. Come this way and don’t be shaking here. Come and have some brandy—d—n water, I’m as thirsty as I can be, and water always makes me worse. Come on—oh! You are a beauty, Master Learmont—you used not to be such a fool. ”

“ Said the lord En-lil, addressing his son Ramman: 'O son, spirit of wisdom, with all-seeing eyes and high vision, full of knowledge as the Pleiades, may thy sonorous voice give forth its utterance. Go forth, go up, who can strive with thee? The father is with thee against the cunning foe. Thou art cunning in wielding the hail-stones great and small. Oh, with thy right hand destroy the enemy and root him up!' Ramman hearkened to the words of his father and took his way from the dwelling, the youthful lion, the spirit of counsel. ”

“ He kept his eyes fixed on her as he spoke; what he thought was that she sheltered Saturnino. She did not change colour or give any sign of the intense agitation that was in her.
'Very well, then; think so,' she said between her shut teeth. 'Think anything you please; but leave me to myself.'
'I cannot promise that. I should feel a coward if I did. I cannot leave you to yourself, for you are your own worst enemy.'
She was silent; she was thinking sternly and unflinchingly, as her father had often thought of his foes, how she was to be rid of this man who would be Este's ruin. ”

“ Lili, white as death, drew closer to him.
"My René, your heart has chosen," she murmured through her dry and quivering lips. "You cannot buy honour by a fraud."
René lifted his head and looked straight in the eyes of the man who held the scales of his fate, and could weigh out for his whole life's portion either fame and fortune or obscurity and famine.
"Sir," he said slowly, with a bitter tranquil smile about his month, "my garret is empty, but it is clean. ”

“ So about the year 1800 inventors in Europe and in America took up the task of inventing a new kind of reaper. The first attempts were made in England where population was increasing very fast and where large quantities of grain were needed to feed the people. The first hints for a reaper were from a machine which was used in Gaul nearly 2,000 years ago. ”

“ I myself, I myself am come here to build thy temple near to that of Unnefer, [48] the eternal king.’
Rameses proceeds to tell of all his gifts and rich endowments, and then addresses his father thus:—
‘Thou hast entered into the realm of heaven. Thou art in the company of Ra. Thou art united with the moon and stars. Thou restest in the deep like those who dwell with Unnefer the eternal king. When the sun ariseth thou dost behold its splendour: when he sinketh down to rest, thou art in his train. Thou enterest within the secret house, and remainest in the company of the gods. ”