Evening Star Newspaper, April 2, 1898, Page 18

CHAPTER Xiil—Continued. | Having passed the gate, Azicl and Issa- char crept down the winding passages of stone, groping their path by such light as | fell from the narrow line of sky above them, till at length they reached the court of the sanctuary. Here the place was as silent as death, for the noise from the city without could not pierce the towering walls of massive granite. “It is the very pit of Tophet,” murmured Iesachar, peering through the dense shadows, “the house of Beelzebub, where his presence dwells. Whither now, Aziel?” The prince pointed te two objects that vere visible in the starlight, and answered: “Thither, at the foot of the pillar of El. “Ah, I remerber,” said Issachar, “where the accursed woman would have offered sacrifice, and the priests cut me down be- cause I prophesied to them of the wrath to come, and that 1s now at hand. An ill- omened spot, indeed, and an ill-omened tryst with the flends for witnesses. Well, lead on, ard I pray you be as brief as may be, fer this place weighs down my soul, end I feel danger in it—danger to the body and the spirit.” So they went forward. whispered Aziel presently. sacrifice is at your feet.” “Yes, yes,” he answered, “we walk upon the edge of the pit, and in truth I grow fearful, for at the threshold of such build- irgs the angel of the Lord deserts us. “There are none here to fear,” said Aziel, but even as he spoke, though he could not see it, a white face rose above the edge of the pit, like that of some ghost struggling from the tomb. watched them a moment with cold eyes, then disappeared again. Now they were near the greater pillar, end new from its shadows glided a black- led shape. Slissa,"” murmured Aziel. a s I,” whispered a soft voice, “but who comes with you?" “I, Issachar,” said the Levite, “who “Be careful,” “The pit of would not suffer that he of whom I am given cnarge should seek such company alore. Now, priestess, say your say with the prince yonder and let us be gone swift- ly from this blood-stained place.” “You speak harsh words to me, Issa- she said gently, “yet I am most g.ad yeu have come, for, believe me, I ecught no lovers’ meeting with Prince Aziel. Listen, both of you. You know that they have consecrated me high priestess of Baaltis against my will, but I tell you what I have already told Prince <Aziel, that I am no longer a worshiper of Baal- tis. Yes, here in her very temple I re- nounce her, even though she take my life in vengeance. O! since they made me priestess I have been forced to learn all her worship, and to see sights that would chill the blood to hear them, and I tell you, Prince Aziel and Issachar, that I will bear no more of it. From El and Baaltis I turn to him you worship, though, alas, little time is left to me in which to plead with him.” “Why Bec is little time left?” broke in Aziel. cause my death is very near me, prince, for, if I live, see what a fate 1s mine, either to remain high priestess of Baaltis and to her day by day to bow the knee and month by month to make sacrifice of what think you? Well, of the blood of maids and children, or, perhaps, should their fears overcome their scruples, to be given by the council as a peace offering to Tthobal. Well, I will bear neither of these burdens of blood or shame. They are too heavy for me, but as soon as you are gone i, toa shall leave this city, not in the body, but in the spirit, searching for peace or sleep. It was for this reason that I sought to speak with you in fareweli, for in my weakness I desired that ‘you should know the truth of the cause and manner of my end. And now, since for me there is no escape, farewell forever, Prince Aziel,whom I have loved, and whom I can scarce hope to meet again, even beyond the grave,” and with a little despairing motion of her hand she turned to go. “Stay,” said Aziel hoarsely, “for we can- rot be parted thus; since by your own act you can dare to leave the world, will you not dare fly with me?” “Perchance, prince,” she,answered with a little laugh. “But would you dare to take me, i, if so, would Issachar here suffer it? No, no; go your own path in life and leave me death—it is the easier way.” “In this matter I am master and not Is- r.”" sald Azicl, “though it is true that, 1 it please him, he can warn the 's of El. Listen, Elissa: Either you leave this city with me or I stay in it with you. You hear me. Issachar?” “I hear you,” said the Levite, “but per- chance before you throw more sharp words at my head you will suffer me to speak. Self-murder is a crime, yet I honor this woman, who would shed her own blood tather than the blood of the innocent in sacrifice to Baal, and who refuses to be given in marriage to one she hates; wh», m™moreover, has found strength and grace to trample on her devil worship, it so in truth she has. If, therefore, she will come with us, amd we can escape h her, why, let her come: only swear to me, Aziel, that you will make no wife of her till Solomon has heard this tale and given judgment on it.” “That I will swear for him,” exclaimed 2; “is it not so, Aziel?” s you will, lady,” he answered. “Is- sachar, you will have my word that until then he shall be as my sister and no and I believe you,” said Issachar, ‘and the hour is good, for I shali net be missed until dawn.” So they turned to leave the temple, but although they reached the chambers of Az- fel in safety their hearts, which should have been light still, were heavy with the Presage of new sorrow to come. Scarcely could they have been heavier, had they seen a white-faced woman p from the pit of death and follow. them stealthily till they had passed thei> doors, then turn and run at full speed toward the college of the priests of El. In the chamber of Aziel they found Me- tem. “I rejoice to see you back again in safety, since it is more than 1 thought to do,” he said. as they entered, then added, as the black-veiled shape of Elissa fol- lowed them into the room, “but who is the third? Ah, I see, the Lady Elissa! es the Baaltis accompany us upon our journe: “Yes,” answered Aziel, shortly. “Then, with her on the one side and the holy Issachar on the other, it should not lack for blessings, since the evil must be great from which separately or together they are unable to defend us. But, lady, if 1 may ask it, have you bid farewell to your most honored father?” “Torment me not,” murmured Elissa. “Indeed, I did not wish to, though you may remember that not so long ago you threatened to silence me forever. Well, doubtless your departure is too burried for farewells, and, fortunately foreseeing it, 1 have provided spare mules, so that my deeds are kindller than my words. I g@ to see that all is prepared. Now, eat before you start. Presently I will return for you,” and he left the chamber. ‘When he had gone they gathered around the tables, on which stood food, but could touch little, for the hearts of all three of them were filled with sad foreboding. Soon they heard a noise of people talking excit- edly ouside the palace gates. It 1s Metem with the mules,” said Aziel. “I hope so,” answered Elissa. Again there was silence, which after a bay Baas broken by a loud knocking at “Metem comes for a “No, no!” cried Elissa, “it is Doo kkrocks, not Metem.” aos with them that priest of a false god who called down curses upon our city.” “You told us, indeed, daughter,” an- swered the Shadid. “Pardon us if. we were | leath to believe that such a thing could be.” Then with a cry of rage he added, “Seize them and away to the dungeons.” Now Aziel drew his sword and sprang in front of Elissa to protect her, but before he could strike a blow it was struck down from behind, and he was gripped by many han gagged, bound and blindfolded. Then, like a man in a dream, he felt him- self carried away through long passages till at length he reached an airless place, where the gag and bandages were re- moved. “Where am I?” he asked. “In the dungeons of the templ an- swered the priests, as they left the vault, barring the great door behind them. CHAPTER XI. The Sncrilege of Aziel. How long he lay In the dungeon, lost in bitter thought and tormented by fears ot Elissa, Aziel could rot tell, for 1.0 light came there to mark the passage of the hours. In the tumult of his mind one ter- rible thought grew clear; he and Elissa had been taken red-handed, and must pay the price of their sin against the religious cus- toms of the city. For the Baaltis to be “MAY HE WHOM I BLASPHEMB, FORGIVE ME bent over her to hear the message of the gods, but in place of it there came bab- blings of this stranger and of a meeting to be held with him one hour before moon- rise by the pillar of El in the courtyard of the temple. Thereafter for several nights, as was my duty, I hid myself in the pit of offerings in the courtyard and watched. Last night at an hour before moonrise the Lady Baaitis came, disguised, by the secret way, and waited at the pil- lar, where presently she was joined by the Jew, Aziel and the Levite, who spoke with her. “What they said I could not hear, be- cause they were too far from me, but at length they left the temple and I traced them to the chambers of the Jew, Aziel. Then, Shadid, I warned you and the priests, and yeu came with me and took them. Now, as mother of the priestesses, I demand that justice be done upon these wicked ones, according to the ancient cus- tom, lest the curse of Baaltis should fall upon this city.” When she had finished her evidence, with a cold stare of triumph and hate at her rival, Mesa stepped to one side. “You have heard,” sald the Shadid, ad- dressing his fellow judges. “Do you need further testimony?” “Nay,” answered their spokesman, “for with you we took them together in the chamber of the Prince Aziel. law of this matter, oh, Shadid, and let ‘Weill, she must could not be bought at such a “I cannot do it,” he gasped, with dry lips, thrusting aside the bowl. Now all looked astonished, for his re- fusal had not been foreseen, and unce more the woman Mesa appeared before the altar and seid in her cold voice: “The.Jew whom the Lady Baaltis has chosen as husband will not do homage to ‘hers-gods. Therefore, as mother of the priestess, I demand that Elissa, daughter of Sakon, be put to death and the throne of Baaltis be purged of one who has defiled It, lest the vengeance of the goddess should fall upon the city.” The motioned het to be silent and addressed jel. “We pray you to think a while,” he said, “before yap givg oné.to death whose sin is that, being theghigh priestess of our wor- ship, she gamed an unbeliever to fill the thronéof Efand be her husband. Out of pity for her we give you time to think.” Now, Sakon, taking advantage of the pause, rushed forward, and, throwing his arms about Aziel’s knees, implored him, in heart-broken accents, to eave his only child from so hcrrible a fate, saying that did he refuse because of his religious scruples he would be a dog and a coward and the scorn of all honest men forever, since it was for love of him that she had broken the priestly law, to ylolate which was death, and, although she had been warned of her danger, yet in his wickedness and folly. he had brought her to this pass. But Issachar thrust him aside and broke in with fiery words. ‘Harken not to this man, Aziel,” he said, “who strives to-work upon your weakness to the ruin of your soul. What! to save the life of one Woman, whose fair face has brought so much trouble upon us all, would you deny your God and become the thrall of Baal and Ashtoreth? Let her die, since die she must, and keep your own heart Fure, for be-essuréd, should you do other- wise, Jehovah, whom you renounce, -will swiftly be avenged on ycu and her. At the beginning I warned you and you would not listen; now, Aziel, I warn you again, and woe. woe, woe to you should you shut ycur ears to my message!” and, lifting his hond toward the skies, he began to pray Set out the | alcud. + Meanwhile Metem, who had been drawing found with any man who was not her hus- band meant death to her and to him, a dcom from which there was little chance of escape. To his own fate he was indif- ferent, but for Elissa and Issachar he mourned bitterly. Truly the Levite and Metem had been wise when they cautioned him, for her sake and for his own, to ha’ nothing to do with a priestess of Baal. But he hid not lisiened, his heart would not let him listen, and now in the fullness oz their youth and love the lives of both of them were forfeited. Worn out with sore and vain regrets, Aziel fell at length into a heavy sleep, from which he was awakened by the opening of the door of his dungeon and the entry of priests, grim and silent men, who seized and blindfolded him. Then they led him away up many stairs and along paths so steep that from time to time they paused to rest, till at length he knew, by the sound of voices, that he had reached some place where people were assembled. Here the bendage was removed from his eyes and he stepped backward, recoiled involuntarily from the glare of light, whereon, uttering an exclamation, those who stood near seized and held him. Presently he saw why they had done so, for he was standing on the brink of a great precipice at the back of and dominating the city, while far beneath him was a rocky rift along which ran the trade road to the coast. Here upon this dizzy spot was a wide space of rock, walled in upon three sides, the precipice forming the fourth side of the square, in which, seated upon stones that seemed to have been set there in semicircles, to serve as judgment chairs, were gathered the head priests and priestesses of El and Baaltis, clad in their sacerdotal robes. To the right and left of these were knots of spectators, among whom he _ recognized Metem end Sakon, while at his side, but separated from him by armed priests, were Elissa herself, wrapped in a dark veil, and Issachar. Lastly, in front of him a fire burned upon a little altar, and be- hind the altar stood a shrine containing a symbolical effigy of Baaltis fashioned of gold and ivory and wood in the shape of a wonian with a hundred breasts. Seeing all this, Aziel understood that they three had been brought here for trial and that the priests and priestesses before him were their judges. Indeed, he remembered that the place had been poimted out to him as that where those who had offended against the gods were carried for judgment, to be hurled, if found guilty, down the face of the precipice and left, a shapeless mass of broken bones, to crumble on the roadway at its foot. After a long and solemn pause, at a sign from the Shadid, he who had been tha hus- band of the dead Baaltis, the veil was re- moved from Elissa, who looked at Aziel and smiled sadly. “Do you know the fate that awaits us?” the prince asked of Issachar in Hebrew. “I know, and I am ready,” answered the old Levite, “for since my soul is safe 1 care little what these dogs do to my body: but, oh, my son, I weep for you, and cursed be the hour when first you saw that woman's face.” “Spare to reproach me in my misfor- tune,” murmured Elissa. ‘“‘Have_ I not encugh to bear, knowing that I have brought death upon him I love? Oh, curse me not, but pray that my sins may be for- given me.” “That I will do gladly, daughter,” res plied Issachar, more gently, “seeing that, although you seem to be the cause of them, these things can have happened only by the will of God, and therefore I was wrong toe revile you.” Before she could answer the Shadid com- manded silence, and at the same moment the woman Mesa stepped from behind the effigy of the goddess. > “Who are you and what do you here?” asked the Shadid, as though he did not know her. “I am Mesa, the daughter of her who was the Lady Baaltis,” she answered, “and my rank {s that of mother of the priest- esses of Baal. I appear to give true evi- dence against her who is the Lady Baaltis, against the Israelitish stranger named Aziel and the priest of the Gog of the Jews.” “Speak on and beware what you speak.” the Shadid. justice be done according to the strict let- ter of the law—justice without fear or favor.” “Hearken,” said the Shadid. “Last night this woman, the daughter of Sakon, being the Lady Baaltis only elected, met men se- cretily In the courts of the temple, and ac- companied them, or one of them, to the chamber of Aziel, a prince of Israel, the guest of Sakon. Whether or no she was about to fly with him from the city, which he should have left last night, we cannot tell, and it is needless to inquire. At least, she was with him. This, however, is sure, that they did not sin in ignorance of our law, since with my own mouth I warned them both that if the Lady Baaltis con- sorts with any man not her husband duly named by her according to her right, she must die, and her accomplice with her. Therefore, Aziel, the Israelite, we give you to death, hurled from the edge of yonder precipice.” “I am in your power,” said the prince, proudly, “‘and you can murder me if you will, because, forsooth, I have offended against some law of Baal, but I tel! you, priest, that there are kings in Jerusalem and Egypt who will demand my blood at your hands. I have nothing more to say, except to beseech you to spare the life of the Lady Elissa, since the fault of that meeting was not hers, but mine.” “Prince,” answered ‘the Shadid, gravely, ‘we know your rank and we know also that your blood will be required at our hands, but we who serve our gods cannot betray their law for tho fear of any kings. Yet, for so says this same law, it is not needful that you should die, since for you there is a way of escape that leads to safe- ty and great honcr, and she who was the cause of your sin is the mistress of its gate. Elissa, holder of the spirit of Baal- tis upon earth, if it be your pleasure to name this man husband before us all, then as the spouse of Baaltis he goes free, for he whom the Baaltis chooses cannot refuse her gift of love, but for so long as she shall live must rufe with her as Shadid of El. But if you name him not, then, as I have said, he must die, and now. Speak.” “It seems that my choice is small,” said Elissa, with a faint smile. “Praying you to pardon me for the deed, to save your Ife, Prince Aziel, I name you my hus- band.” Now, Aziel was about to answer her When the Shadid broke in hurriedly. “So be it,” he said. ‘Lady, w2 hear your choice, and we accept it as we must, but not yet, Prince Aziel, can you take your wife und with her my place and power. Your life is safe, indeed, for since the Baaltis, being unwed, names you as her mate, you have done no sin. Yet she has sinned, and doom awaits her, for against the law she has chosen as husband one who worships a ‘Strange god, and of all crimes that is the greatest. Therefore, either you must take incense and before us all make offering to El and Baaltis upon yonder altar, thus renouncing your faith and entering into ours, or she must die, and you, your rank having passed from you, will be expelled the city.” Now Aziel understood the trap that had been laid for him, and ¢aw in it the handi- work of Sakon and Metem. Elissa having flagrantly violated the religious law, and he being the cause of her crime, even the authority of the governor of the city could not prevent his daughter and his guest from being put upon their trial, Therefore he had arranged this farce, for so it would seem to him, whereby both of them might escape the legal consequences of their erlme, trusting, doubtless, to accident and che future to unravel this web of forced marriage, and to free Aziel from an ecclesiastical rank which he had _ not sought. It was only necessary that ilissa should formally choose him as her hus- band, and that Aziel should go through the rite of throwing a few grains of incense upon an altar, and, the law satisfied, they would be both free and safe. What he and those who worked with him had forgotten ‘was that this offering of incense to Baal would be the most deadly of crimes in the dooming you presently to be; near, spoke in a low voice. “Prince,”“he said, “I am not chicken- hearted am there are so many young women in the world that one more or Jess can scarcely matter; still, although she threatened to murder me three days ago, I cannot beat to See this one come to an end.” Prinee, do‘not heed the how! of that old fanatic, but remember, t after all yau are the cause of this lad plight, and be a man. Can you for the seke of your own scruples, however worthy, doom a woman to such an end?” and he nodded toward the precipice and shuddered. “Is there no other way?” Aziel asked him, hoarsely. “None, I swear it. They did not wish to kill her, except that wildcat Mesa, who seeks her place, but having put her on her trial, if you _persist, they must, because this is one of the laws that cannot be broken for favor or for gold. Perhaps we might have found some other plan, but none of us dreamed that you would refuse so small a thing for the sake of a woman whom you swore you loved. Remember, this offering of incense is but a form to which you are forced against your will— you can do penance for it afterward, when I have arranged for both of you to escape the city. If your God can be angry with you for burning a pinch of dust to save a woman, who at the least has dared much then give me Baal, for he is less Now Aziel looked toward him who held the bowl of incense, when Elissa, who all this while had stood silent, stepped for- ward and spoke. “Prince Aziel,” she said, in a calm and quiet voice, “I named you husband to save your life, but with all my strength I pray of yon do not this thing to save mine, which is of little value and perhaps best ended. Remember, Prince Aziel, that be- ing what you are, a Jew, this act of offer- ing, however smal! it seems, is yet the greatest of sins, and one with which you should not dare to stain your soul for the sake of a woman who has chanced to love you to your sorrow. Be guidéd, therefore, by the true wisdom of Issachar, and by my humble prayer. Make an end of your doubts and let me die, knowing that we do but part a while, since in the gates of death I shall wait for you, Prince Aziel.” Before Aziel could answer the Shadid, either beca his patience was worn or because he wished to put him to a sharper trial, uttered a command. Thereupon four priests seized Elissa by the wrists and ankles, and, carrying her to the edge of the prectpice, thrust her back till she hung over it, her long hair streaming on the wind, and her white and ghastly face turned upward. to the sky. Then they paused, waiting for the signal to let her go. The Shadid raised his wand. and said: “Is {it your pleasure that this woman should die or live, Prince Aziel? Decide swiftly, for my arm is weal ind when the wand falls opportunity wfll have passed from you.” Now all eyes were fixed upon the wand, and the intense silence was broken only by Sakon’s cry of despair. Metem wrung his hands ‘ grief, Issachar veiled his eyes with his e ta. shut out the sight of dread, and_the.pfiest with the bowl of in- cense thrugt it taward Aziel imploringly. For some, gecoms, three perhaps, though to him it sgpmed,an age, the heart'of Aziel was racked,and,torn in this terrific con- test. Then she glanced at the agonized face of the a oman, and just as the ward began to Pity conquered. 4. “May He, whom I blaspheme forgive me!” he m , then added atoud, “I will do sacHficesfand taking the incense he cast it into. the fiames on the altar, re- peating ai the Shadid, “By this act ft give mysif yoy and worship you, Bl and Baaltis, thg.only, true gods,” The echo;pf Agjel’s voice died away and aie Zumes, b eapeycen es @ dense column 1 a ir. To tormented | mind it though took the in its nd his human love and WHENNOTHINGSUITS Some of the Joys of Hunting a New Home. WOMAN IS THEN AT HER BEST Helpless Man Must Trail Along as Best He Can. IT’S A HARD PROPOSITION Written for The Evening Star. HIs IS ABOUT THE season when the Washingtonian and wife set out in search of a three-story, nine-room, green- stone-trimmed re- naissance- front hous, “with a.m. i.” —Delft wall paper, tiled bath rooms and porcelain tubs, gas ranges, open grate in hall, etc., etc.—locat- ed between 11th and 20th and H and § streets, for about $25 a month. This is, consequently, about the season when the Washingtonian and his wife, severally and collectively, stack up against a hard proposition, to borrow a Phras2 from the pugilistic column. A sharp on Egyptology recently decipher2d some crumbling tablets, many centuries qld, and made out from the hieroglyphs that the funny men of old Thebes and Memphis regaled thir audiences by mak- ing merry over the woes of Louse hunters— which is humanly interesting in other re- spects than its mere establishment of the g2rminology of a joke that has long been under suspicion. The Washington house hunter of today may at least have the so- lece of reflecting that time shall one day write a period to his miseries, as in the cese of the childr2n of the Nile. Sunday is house-hunting day in Wash- ington—that is, Sunday is house-hunting day for the Washingtonian and his wife in company. Every day is house-hunting day for the Washingtonian’s wife. Out of the scores of houses that she inspects dur- ing the week she sifts thr2e or four that do not come anywhere near suiting her, and on Sunday afternoon she drags the bread winner of her establishment out of his comfortable chair and away from his purest-2ssence-of-joy pipe, and hauls him eround town on street cars for the sake of letting him know how bitterly she disap- proves of each and every feature of th> for-rent houses she has picked out for his insp>ction. A Weakly Protest. “But if you don’t like ’em, what’s the use of my looking at ’em?” the labor-worn Weshingtonian sometimes protests when he is commanded immediately after din- ner on Sunday afternoon (before h> has had a chance to get a smoke) to don his hat and coat and start out on the toilsome TFouse hunt. ‘Will you come this minute, before it becomes too dark for us tu see our hands Lefor2 us?” is all the satisfaction he gets for his argument, ard for the preservation of autonomy in his household he starts. This explains the hitherto inexplicable fact that at this time of year the street cars of Washington are filled on Sundays with man (their wives, stern and uncompromis- ing, along with them), whose expressions of countenance do not denote much inter- est in existence, far less happiness. It is a queer thing that most of the for- rent hous2s the k to which have to be applied for ‘next door’ are situated in reighborhoods wherein all of the residents are dominated by a very strong sense of suspicion. It would be difficult to overes- timat> the size cf the sensation which the house hunter and his wife create when they heave in sight in such neighborhoods. The man usually lets his wife ring the bell of the house “next door,” wher? the key to the for-rent house is to be obtained, while he stands on the sidewalk, biting his nails and bearing a general appearance of humiliation, not to h> were nervously doing the bit of a burglars’ job, while his pals ran- acked a “erib’’ around the corner. He knows that all cf the residents of the houses four doors on either side of the for- rent house are inspecting the cut of his top. coat, for ha has furtively seen their A Trying Moment. heads bobbing behind the curtains, and he looks as if he momentarily expected a cop to come along and prod him in the ribs with a locust and admonish him to move on. When his wife finally, after what secms to him an age of waiting, joins him with the key in her hand the inan growls something about the nelghbors, to which his wife replies that he is too vain and self-conscious for any use in this world. Then the Washingtonian and his wife enter the for-rent house. Beyond the Portal. Once beyond the portal almost any old thing in the way of vituperation, scorn and sweeping condemnation is Hable to break out from one or both of the inspectors. The seance is invariably’ opened by the better- half's remark that “the people that lived here must have been awfully untidy.” She never fails, under any circumstances, to work in this criticism. No matter if the house seems to the man to have been scrubbed and polished from cellar to gar- ret before it was last vacated, her state- ment that the former occupants couldn’t have been other than the commonest kind of savages is bound to come out before the ee are been thirty seconds beyond tho intel. The man shakes himself out of his state of gloom long enough to observe that the carpets he has been sawing and splitting up and trying io pay for for the last sev- enteen years won’t come anywhere near fitting this front room. His wife meets him more than haif way in this by an- nouncing that she purposes getting entirely new carpets and rugs, anyhow. “Whenever you are prepared to build a house around those old, shabby, thread- bare carpets of ours, why, just let me know,” she says sweetly. It is idle for the man then to slip in the remark that he can't see anything the matter with the cellar, can't I? Have enough stuff iy, gun'l of the bath and this gives her another chance to dwell upon the disreputability of the former occupants of the house. The bath room is utterly out of the question, uniess the agent consents to completely revise the whole scheme. The second-story front room is next in- pected. The man thinks this is a pretty Teposing on the good bed room—roomy and comfortable— and he thinks, too, that his bed room car- pet'll just about fit it. “Do you think so, indeed?” his wife in- quires. “Well, when we move on May 1 we are going to put matting down in all the bed rooms ir the house. Its so much cooler, Then we'll have new bed room car- pets in the fall. This room'll be nice for Sister Gerti€ and her husband when they come to visit us next month.” “It will, hey?” says the man. “Where do we sleep then—on the roof? And, by the way, don’t you think that Sister Gertie and that husband of hers are about going the ‘mit on this visiti.g game,” etc., ete. This leads off into @ stock subject of discussion that has no essential connection with house-hunting. Minor Details. The second-story back room is found to be a fairish sort of bed room for the chil- dren (“they’re not going to have the room next to ours, pulling hair, slamming pil- lows and kicking up the Cickens at 5 o'clock every morning, Sundays and holi- days,” says the man), with the exception, as the better half points out, that the wall paper is enough to make any one of ‘em crcss-eyed, and would have to be changed if they took the house. “Um-m,” mutters the man. “I s’pose you ‘expect the chap that owns this house, whoever be is, to rig you up a miniature Versailles palace for $27.50 a month?” “I expect him to make the house fit for decent human beings to live in,” is the crushing reply. The better half next discovers that the halls are of Cimmerian darkn2ss. have the agent stick arc Mghts in 's the man, and gets himself sat down upon again. The ceilings of all the rooms oa the third floor are so low, says the Washingionian’s Bath Room Evidence. wife, that a three-year-old child couldn't stand up straight in them. She says this regardless of the fact that she and ker husband are standing erect in the third- story front room while she is »peaking. “We'll have the top knocked off and make a roof garden out of the shack,” puts in the man. “We'll have beer and frank- furters and sardine sandwiches for sale up here, hire a few dancers and knockabout ccmedians, charge an admission fee of two bits, and maybe I'll be able to haul in enough out of the scheme to pay for all the carpets and matting you're going to have me buy.” His wife deems this talk unworthy of her attention, and devotes her criticism to the lack of plumbness of all of the windows and doors on the top floor. “Of course,” says the man, “the house is made of paper, and it shrinks, lke all houses for rent. wken there’s a good, heavy dew. We'd ke up some morning and find ourselves wedged in as if a folding had closed up on us.” His humor, how ever, doesn’t make any sort of a hit with the wife of his bosom. In Calinary Department. Then the Washingtonian and his wife descend to the main floor. The better half gces straight aft to the kitchen. Us about the size of a dry goods box,” she says, “and I can just tell by looking at it that that range would spoil everything I'd try to bake in it. And I’m perfectly certain that that not water boiler belongs to the non-working kind, and that it would explode and blow the whole house into kingdom come the first time we lighted the fire in the range. And of all the old-timey, before-the-flood sinks—well, did you eve ‘Say, this kitchen just suits you, don’t it?” puts in the husband. ‘And not a shelf in the kitche: goes on. = “What do you call that half-dozen row of boards ranged along the starboard side?” he inquizes. “Why, I call them boarés!” she an- swers with asperity, and he’s trying yet to study out the difference between shelves ves. she exclaims, going to the back door. “ALout five-by- eeven. And I had it all arranged that you were to plant a lovely litle vegetable gar- den_this spring, tco.” “Who? Me?” replies the man. ‘Me plant a vegetable den? You had that all fixed, did you? Well, you've got another fix a-coming, I can tell you those. D’ye ex- fect me to work lke a slave for the carry- she as a stoke hole, and the sideboard to be stained and varnished white pine. “Matches our china,” says he, thereby precipitating an argument on the relative value of his wife’s heirloom set of dishes. The Piano Problem. “There's one thing about the parlor,” says the man when they finally arrive there for a reinspection. “It's big enough to hold that haif-acre square piano of ours. It’s the only room I've ever seen that I can recall that ‘ud take in that prehistoric musical instrument without making ail of us practically walk around it on our hands and knees, like idiots, illustr: version to ancestral types. can get the piano in, anyho’ “My dear,” replied his wife, “I'm really glad you happened to mention the p! We're not going to have that old pian: yw, wherever we may move. It rattly, and it would spoil the children’s music. I was walking on the avenue yes- terday when I saw a perfect love of an oak piaro, an upright grand, and just too cheap for anything. it has hardly been played on at all, and the man said it’s for sale be- cause the owner has just lost bis position as chief cf divisioa in one of the depart- ments, and must sell right away. So I arranged to exchange our old piano for the perfectly lovely upright grend. The man's going to allow us 328 on the old piano, and you'll only have to pay, in addition, oom unnered and umpty dollars” (any figure of large size will do here) “in installments to make the exchange. Now, isn't that lovely?” (The conversation that ensned for the next five minutes had no connection what- soever with house selecting). After the better half had decided that the hallway was altogether too narrow to per- mit the passage of anybody but living skeletons, the Washingtonian buttoned up his coat, adjusted his hat, and said: “Well, this shack’s off our list.” “How?” she inquired. “Well, if we're going to look over any more, we'd better be moving.” “We're not going to look over any more, We're going to take th ’ shouts. been tearing it to plec “Why, it a perfect little beauty, and I'm going right down to the agent's the first thing in the morning and take it.” From which it probably may be inferred that the Washington woman's criticism of a for-rent house is purely theoretical. This especial Washingtonian, however, had more luclthan his kind ordinarily does. —_—__— AT THE NORTH POLE. the way From the Nautical Magazine. Just as the magnet always turns to ths pole, 80 human endeavor for centuriss past has been similarly directed. Whether at any future time it will be vouchsafed to mortals to reach the pole is a matter as to which, for various reasons, consid-rab’ doubt may be entertained. But would such an achievement be desirable? I assert the contrary quite seriously. If any one really got to the pole h> wo: in common parlance, be utterly “at simply because at the pole there is no p sibility of ascertaining one’s whereabout A rerson arriving there would find an al- together different world before him. Like a Diind man he would grope about and vain- ly endeavor to get back to whence he came. ‘This by no means enviabl> siiuatioa is cal- culated to thoroughly destroy the illusions which he may have cherished when start- ing on his polar expedition. His completely changed situation would be accounted for by the fact that when station*d at the pole the direction to the north would be found to coincide with the line of the zenith is to say, the point exactly above us. opposite point—viz., the nadir—would cot cide with the dirzetion to the south. The longitudinal circles, and hence also the mo- ridian of the locality, wouid coincide wi the circles of latitude; an eyuator would ce incide with the horizon. Hence an astro- nomical determination of the locality, ac- cording to latitude and longitude, is alio- ecther precluded. The same may be sald as regaris deter- mining one’s bearings in any direction. The compats, too, will fail thera, because its horizontal intensity is so slight as to preclude the possibility of {ts action. The only criterion for judging that one has a rived at the pole is that the observed a titude of the sua, after having be2n co! rected to altitude above the true horizon, is found to coincide with the value of the declination of the sun for the day in ques- tion. Moreover, in those regions there is scarcely a day on which dense fogs Go not prevail, and 60 or more degrees (C.) of cold, such as mostly exist there, will enhance the difficulties of observ extent that it can only epproximate estima‘es. Such conditions are by no means enviatle, and are scarcely cal- culated to induce us to long for them wiih all our hearts. But these are not the oniy things which er? likely to make a sojoura at the pole a never-ending torment. Worse than all the rest, one cannot count the passing hours there; in other words, there is no eritericn for determining the time of day. During a period of six months the sun will neither rise ner set, but during the whole of the time will always remain either above or be- low the horizon. As the earth revolves around its axis in twenty-four hours, the sun apparently describes, during the same interval, a circuit of 360 degrees round the sky, being visible at an altitude equal to the declination whenever declination is of the same name as th3 pole at which the ob- server is stationed. The numerous attempts hitherto made reach the pole have, a3 a matter of cou: been by wat2r—that is to say. by shi; sledges. The idea that one might by an aerial passage has not gained gr until recently, but if we consider that ha loons are not navigable, and hence are li- able to be carried away in any direction by any air currents that may accidentally pre- vail, and in the most anlikely event only to the pole, no one possessed of but a moider- ata allowance of common sense will cx prehend how success could have beon ex- pected from such an enterprise. Moreover, ceterminations of locality cannot possibly be made from a balloon with any approxi- mate d2gree of accuracy. coe ing Them a Chan 4, G From the Chicago Record. “Then you don’t believe in prestige de ed Trom ancestors?” “Not a bit; I believe in fixing things se ry my ancestors will derive prestige from m were magnificent manhood. This was due, of physical acti door life. ha, egy ive out- life. had the wisdom to know that an active li! in the open air alone, would not keep a man healthy. They had their medicine- men, who herbs from field and forest and decoctions to assist the matural processes of the various vital