The Nemesis: A Tale Of The Days Of Trajan.

ominous , terrifies me more than the still pallid face of death . Come forth , fair stars , you virgins pure appear in robes of silver , mystical , sublime . Dance forth ! The haughty sun has gone to sleep upon the billows of his bloody home . Dance

forth , and give me peace , while sweetly sound the timid Zephyrs on the Alban hills . Oh , this is grand ! Yon blue transparent sea , o ' er which the myriad midnight lamps are slung , whose lustre guides the wavering bark of man . Shine out , " ye

harbingers of peace ancl joy ! In you I feel a higher power than man / fixed on eternal bases and on truth , and still unchanging amid our change . You

have seen men come aud go , live ancl die , on through the countless days , since the dread hour you poured upon him from your crystal homes the pent-up water ' s power , and sivept him from the earth , as rivers siveep bridge , bank , and hut in

winter ' s angry mood . You , too , have seen the seed of serpents' teeth , the grain of warriors on Deucalion ' s field , and watched the bloody stain on Rome ' s first Avail . All have you seen , ancl yet you are unchanged ! All have you seen , but yet

you may nob tell the secret whose dread fire now chars my heart . NOAV can you give me peace , knowledge give , nor take the hungry tooth of knowledge from my heart . "

His meditations were broken in upon by the sound of approaching footsteps . He withdrew a feiv paces , as Sextus , the old Flamen , toiled up the steep to gaze upon the night , and pay his devotion to his god . White as SUOAV fell his hair

upon his shoulders , and his frame Avas bent beneath the weight of years . " Once more , " began the Flamen , in a quivering voice , raising his hoary head to heaven in reverence , " benignant night showers down the

deAV upon the thirsty earth to glad the floivers , ancl give soft repose to man , wearied and tired Avith ife and its dull toil . Down drops the blessed sleep to still the pain , AA'hich crushes from the heart a painful cry . Beneficent sleep , great boon

of Somnus , hail ! Spirit of Mercy ! come , and spread-thy wings upon the tortured hearts of men . Smooth out the iron wrinkles from their brows , the wrinkles from their hearts , ancl give them peace . "

'' Peace to the weary , " said Adrian advancing- , ff to the suffering peace . But Sextus , can this sleep give peace to doubt , to the fierce thirst for knoivledge , and the desire to know what yonder stars can tell of heaven ? Canst thou invoke a

poiver to teach me how each beat tells in the heart , the arm , or the wrist , and IIOAV the spirit comes at first within the breast . ' ' "Seventy long years , " replied the Flamen , " even from mine infant days , morning and night

I ' ve knelt before Jove's shrine , ancl prayed for wisdom of these things , but all in vain ! Jupiter alone can tell , and AVC may but guess the decrees of the stars . " " Then Jupiter is not lord of all ; each star has

an individual power , on earth aud man ?" ' * So taught the fathers of my early days . Each star fulfils its allotted part distinct Avithin its sphere . One rules the head , another sways the heart . Life and death , joy ancl love , have each a star ; each

passion has its star . " Who then commands the stars ? Our gods are not a feAv ! Is there no king among them , one to whom the others bow . On earth we have kings , why not among the gods ? Jove rules the

sky , and Neptune sways the sea , while hell belongs to Pluto . Each one great and powerful in his OAvn domain , but no one greater than his brother kings . One day I saw in Athens , as I paced its streets , an altar to * the unknown god . '" I asked

a citizen , who passed me at the time , why so strange a shrine should have been raised ? and he replied : ' Each clay we add a god to our wide roll , and still there may be one above them all , so him propitiate by leaving not his fame untempted ,

although Ave neither knoiv his lineage nor his name . '" He added , - Such an one there is , we know by faint report , but of him or his poAvers we know nothine- more . Who can this unknown

god be ?" " Can there be one ?'' " Aye , Sextus , this unknown god can never be Jupiter ! He slumbers , eats and drinks like puny man . God , to my mind , should be as free as the

air from every taint and failing of the flesh . His works beheld , but his presence unseen and unknown by man . There must , 0 Sextus , be such a hig her power . We come into the world not with our will : Ave go out from the world against

our will : a greater ivill than ours decrees the change . You tell me it is Jupiter . But * who is Jupiter ? ' I ask , who is this god to whom we lisp our early prayers , Avhose shrines reek with bullock's blood ? Our gods , see what a numerous roll they

are !" * "* " So are our powers , Adrian , " replied Sextus , " we have strength , wisdom , valour , and the