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Show f : rEY "5ff10 I; I in THE SHADOW Of VESUVIUS H SYNOPSIS. j can of Scota-IrlHli dcsconW yiceiy y l glflcd with an uncommon mental ti. . possesses tlic unusual and uncanny v power of vividly rocalllny memories T s hi his ISso passed In former rein- v carnation's, centuries apart, "nclujl- y ;, -V ins? many strange -"'"res. b : .;. flood and field, some of them con- y H . ncotc.l with Ions-forgotten treo urc-v t .I- hoards, concerning which, by xir- . tuc of his unique sift, ho Is able y i . to Instance definite dates and e.v- y act localities. At the time when y v these connected narratives PpPin- Cortice happens to bo in owAon y 4- practically penniless. lllll0"?(1. ? V i,' tentially he commands sreat weaitn. y 1 .J. II 0 Is reaching ouL for someone of y H' . means and or Integrity who will y i evince enough faith m his strange y Il storv to ilnn nee him in a critical and y ML1 T- actual test. Such an "& P- T i pears In the person of t-ord "est- y l1 hurv Wayne, marquis 01 bearsdalc. y a vouni; peer of great wealth, who y i A Ik "eccentrically fond of bizarre nd- y 1. ventures. Kctta Cortice. Barton s y ' sister, dependent upon him, be- y 1 llcvcs implicitly In her brother, hav- y 'm ins acted as his amanuensis in set- y ,! tins down certain of his rccollcc-y R, tlonV. She and Scarsdalc eventually y M - -make a match of It."' as do also y L -a. Barton Cortlcc and the Lady y i Blanche, sister of Lord Wayne, y .r- This original quartette are rein- y forced by John Dare, an American y 1 newspaper man, who acts as narra- y tor. and Malcolm Forbes, a. British y l mining engineer. After somo sur- y H, prising adventures, connected with y v a forgotten gold mlno In the Andes y j. of rcru. some hidden jewels In y ! France. Hie lost treasure of King y H'i John, the vounp adventurer Is In- y ; - dticcil to reveal the mystery of an y m -I-old Scots family: then follows tho v it story of a forgotten pearl-fishery y ij under the Pacific, a rcmnrkablo air- y l.j ship adventure while re-visiting- an y Astro temple. the recovery of y .5. Xero's barge sunk in an Italian 1 . lake, the capture of the whole party I hv Arabs in the desert, and the con- -I- J .'..sequent idnlification of Pharaoh s mummv and the Quest of the Great j" i Buddha Tttiby. Next comes the v Ij J sequence of the former Italian ad- 1 1 venture.- in which Cortlcc romplotcs J J. the story of his former experiences y as a Roman legionary. The reader who lias followed thus Inr those vivid reminiscences of the an AVbo licninnibcrcd. will lutve Hj gathered that while in the main llicy Hr are clironoloL'ical i. c.. that t lie an- t-ounls of liis inoderu adventures oc-ur oc-ur in regular order, tliev do not jiecessarilv preserve the inoyressiou of Barton Cortice 's former leincar-nations. leincar-nations. As t!ie chief narrator and ebron-j ebron-j i.-ler of his wonderful remembrances tal;e it that, either liifi rceollcct.ious tame to him bv successive inspira-nyns. inspira-nyns. if I m:iv use the term, or that lie -ould Jiot always control their sequence. As to ibis matter Cortice 1 hinihclf. was perhaps necessarily a;ue l'erhaps. also, he exercised a I species of selection, tahini: up I hose ' :uheiitiire.s which appealed strongest 10 him a l a given lime. So it was wtlli I he experience which 1 am about to chronicle. It will be H. lecallcd by the reader that when ho j and 1 fit si went to Italy it was with the express intention that he should vtlol me over the routes which he. :is a Koman Jegionarv. had forpierly lollowc-d. The direct icmiM of that trip, iniiuc.cnt uf all adventurous in-tent in-tent at l lie outset, was the recovery of Xero's bargo from the bottom of La lie l'.olaena. lint our tour, was in-lernipted in-lernipted bv P.at ton's recall to Kng-land Kng-land through the illness of his sister. From Iheiicc a iiiddcn whim seems J to have seized hint, as he loparlej'l . -iloae for the wilds of western Amcri- i:i lo pruseetile a search, which he t liml lonir promised himself, for I ho secret of an ancient Aztec temple. In fact, owing as T suppose to his peculiar heredity, Cortice was not lo be .iinlf.'ed as to his actions by us ordinarv mortals. So. on consulting Hj niv memoranda. I find that ihe com- pleriou of our Italian tour was de-laved de-laved until after our somewhat excit-ing excit-ing Egyptian experiences. The fol-lowing fol-lowing year, however, he insisted on -aiiyiiig me off to "Rome once more. Warned In mauv previous occurrences occur-rences I was prepared for whatever might happen: indued. 1 rather looked 'forward to something out of the or dinary. Nor was I disappointed. We were in I?omc when the news came to us of the Mont Pclce crup tiou in the West Indies. To a miud as directly organizer, as that of Barton Bar-ton Cortice it may be posailbo that I the seismic conditions then prova- lent throughout the earthquake- belt I were peculiarly provocative ot excite-I mcnt. I. need not enter iuto details merely recording the fact that for several days he was excitable, and, as wo Americans say, "on edge." Consequently i was not surprised one morning to hear him say: "Do you miud it wo make a quick move?''" "I'm at your services, my dear follow," fol-low," J answered. "One place iu Italy is as good as the next to mo. My paper will prim niv letters from oho spot, as well as auothor." t That's fine." ho cxvlaimcd. "I waut to go to Naples. You'vo seen the papers. I suppose all about tbo Martinique disaster Well, to bo frank with yon J waut lo get inlo the earthquake zoue." One would have supposed that any normally saue man or woman would have been prompted to keep away, but you must remember that while Cor-tico Cor-tico was sane, ho was cerlniuly supcr-uormal. supcr-uormal. "Whcrovcr vou choose."" T said, nonchalantly. non-chalantly. "Where do- wc go?" "To "Naples." he answered, "and T'U tell von why when we get there. But no that's hardly fair to so loyal a comrade. T'll be frank, and say that for months past, ever since the Bolsena incident.. I've wanted p prove up something connected with Vesuvius and that memorable eruption of the vear 70. when two fair cities were engulfed and J lost my life!" Now T leave it to my safe and sane twentieth century American if that, was not. a streak of startling talk to hear a man living speak unconcernedly of the time wheu ho lost his life! But, then, of course. T was used to the vagaries va-garies of Barton Cortice. So T merely mere-ly remarked, as a matter of course: "Seventy -nine? Why, wasn't, that tho year when Pompeii aud llcrcula-nouin llcrcula-nouin were destroyed?" "Precisely," was the rejoinder. "This West Indian business Fccms to have brought tho whole horrid scene back to me again." "Then, if I am not mistaken, you were at that time a Roniau soldier, and Nero had not been dead more than a. few years." "Right again."' he exclaimed, do-lighted do-lighted that 1 should have followed him so closclv. "There's a certain point I want to verify. But I'll tell you the whole story when we arc ou the scene." I should have liked to question hint further then and there, but ho shut up tight as a clam. Nothing would serve but that we must follow -the old Kottian road from Rome to Nnplca, traveling by horses and carriage rather thau by train, iu order that Bartou might point out to me the route taken by many of the fugitives u early 1.000 years ago. Luckily Luck-ily Ihe journey was short, for f doubt if there is a" decent horse and carriage car-riage iu the whole of Italy. We arrived at Naples tibout sunset, and certainly my first view of the sweep of the immortal bay from the heights was all that one could ask one that, could not be secured on a first approach ap-proach by train, j Owing 'perhaps to sympathy with its West Indian brother, Vesuvius that year was decidedly uneasy. A great pillar of smoke arose from "the volcanic cone, mushrooming out by day, and at night rolloctiiig the hidden fires far down in the bowels of tho crater. The people were rather uneasy; those living on tli slopes and at the famous observatory observa-tory reporting steady rumblings and tremblings. But there was nothing portending any grave disaster. Doubtless Doubt-less the Titans at work within the womb of Mother Earth had expended their worst energies elsewhere for the time being. Next morning, without loss of lime, we crossed the bay where llcrculaueum i and Pompeii stood of old ero they were . engulfed by the deluge of mini, lava i niiTTTTTTTT-n ttti nrninmnil JrdJetoi? 'ir?& erect" and ashes, which in turn were cemented by torrents of rain. The town of Pompeii, with its 10,000 or 50,000 inhabitants, was in the year 70 A. D. the Atlantic City of the adjacent ad-jacent metropolis of Rome. Gayely. 'debauchery and worse abounded, and it was at" the height of a fete of unusual un-usual license that the city w'as overwhelmed over-whelmed by a sudden eruption of the ever-menacing volcano which towered landward. The twiu cities were completely com-pletely buried and almost forgotten. Indeed, In-deed, the whole topography of the region re-gion was so changed that it was not until 17-tS that the first remains were uncovered. Thenceforth and up to the present excavations have steadily been coing on, until a ery large part of Pompeii has been dug out of the ashes and scoriae, with much if Ilerculaneum, giving us moderns an insight into the ancient life and customs, and also verifying ver-ifying the accounts of such historians as the younger Pliny. Now I'll, let Ijarlun i'ortke take up tho talc. lie had fortified himself with letters let-ters from fount Mario, aud these largely freed us from tho espionage of those in charge of tho excavations and from the professional guides. So we were frco lo roam at will through the. uncovered streets, houses and temples tem-ples of classic Pompeii. "The reason whj- we didn't waut lo be bothered with a circerone is that f n iu thu best guide you could have." was 13a rt on's first remark when we found ourselves alone, and pacing the Street, of Tombs. "Jluh. huh.' I grunted. I'd been i mixed up with too many of his adventures adven-tures to evince surprise at any re- ; mark like that. But all ho wanted was a listener, nut. a verbal anlag- I onbt. ' I had noticed, however, on the street orner of a house the letters "via nr." "What's thai stand for;.;" was my natural mrpiiiy. "Oh, merely that the Ponipciians ! numbered their avenues One, Two. I Three, and so on, just tho samo as iu little old New ork," was tho mat-j mat-j tcr-of-fnet reply. j A little further on we came to a .largo square building. I "What's this place? "; 1 asked. j "(Jur old barracks," Cortice an- swered. "A good many of the poor fellows never got awnv that night." "T fluttered the leaves of my guidebook, guide-book, and sure enough came lo tho entry: "Hero 01 skeletons were found, presumably those of soldiers on j guard.'-' "Quite right.'" I remarked. I' "Ah." he inquired. Then, seeing I Ihe book in niv hand, ejaculated I scornfully: "Of course I'm right. Wa&n't "I hero'". We tramped the silent streets, ouco deusely populated witli soldiers and senators, queens and .courtesans, for two or three, hours. On certain of the houses signs had been placed, such as: House of Sallust, House of the Tragic Poet. Tlo.use of tho Faun, and so ou. named thus by tho excavators excava-tors according to the objects found therein. Thc&e names gave Cortice unmitigated disgust. "Thev're all wrong!" he sputtered, "but they wouldn't believe me if 1 told tlien'i the truth, so what's the uso!" We tramped through the whecl-rut-tod streets, we visited the ancient Coliseum, the so-called Temple of Isis. and the Forum. In nil our peregrinations I Cortice seemed nei ecth sure of his route, and named' each site correctly. . as I found bv covert references to niv faithful Headeker. Hut still lie seemed i dissatisfied and somewhat at a loss. J Again and again he went oer a cer-I'taiu cer-I'taiu route, stoppiu: frcouenth . np- parentlv to get. his bearings. At length, ' when sunset was approaching, and tne time for departure at hand, he exclaimed, peevishly: " wish otta were here! she al-wavs al-wavs helps. J '11 have to leave it until tomorrow sleep may bring mo the exact touch I. want.'' So we went back to our hotel at Torre del Greco right in lite shadow of Vesuvius and within ten or twelve miles of the buried cit" Whether or not il was the "atmosphere" "at-mosphere" of his old haunts the lurid flSishes from the volcano cast "learns of fitful light on the walls of my room all night that helped Barton's Bar-ton's sub-conscious train of thought, the morning found him alert, clear-eyed, clear-eyed, and purposeful. "When I was here before," he remarked re-marked in that matter of fact lone which look your breath away if you didn't, know "the man and his past, "1 was on dulv in Pompeii the night ol Ihe great eruption. My detail was to guard the house of Vanudius, Ihe pro consul a villa replete with priceless statues, paintings, and what we nowadays nowa-days call objects of art. "Just whv a soldier of the Preto Irian Guard 'was needed I can t tell vou; perhaps the company was somewhat some-what mixed and would bear watching. Then, too, the manners of the time were licentious in Ihe extreme, and when the guests were filled with rich food and wine most anything avus like-lv like-lv to happen. However, there I Avas stationed in the atrium, the large in-nor in-nor court from .which all the living and sleeping rooms radiated. "Well, the revelrv was at its height when the trouble began lightnings, thiiiiderings. shocks of earthquake, and tornadoes' of wind, on which was borne showers of ashes anil molten lna Ahiih deluged everything. The atriunu as usual, was open to the sky, .-gjfounlain playing in the center. I can hear this very minute thu sputter of the red hot. lava and ashes as they fell inlo that fountain, hissing and causing clouds of steam. "In an instant panic reigned from one end of the city' to the othor. The mcphilic vapors put out all the lights and a hellish darkness surrounded everything, ev-erything, which was, however, perpct-ua'llv perpct-ua'llv lanced by the belching Humes from old Vesuvius. The guesMs poured past me helter-skelter into the street, whore most of them doubtless met their death by falling rocks. "The" pro-consul had two very beautiful beau-tiful daughters, Doris and Nad inc. They took refuge in ono of the cubicula tiny rooms opening off the atrium. From thence J could hear their shrieks for rescue. .and seeing that; to save any valuables was out of the question, f rushed to their assistance. I recall enveloping each of them from head lo foot in .some heavy woolen garments, leaving just, a tiny aperture for nose and eye's. Then 1 led them to the gate, iind set their faces toward the harbor, bidding them keep to the middle mid-dle of the street and follow the other fugitives. "Then I returned to sec if perchance others had been left, pushing my way, short sword in hand, into the most private apartments, 3Jut not a soul remained. I was left alone. Now. it was the rule of the Roman service that a sentinel once placed ou guard, might not denarl. until relieved. So, although ilea th stared mo in the face, T chose to remain at my post. "The atrium was by uoav half filled with ashes and lava, and still the hot rain descended, being whirled in drifts bv the tornado of wind. So T betook nivself for shelter to the small est ciibiculum T could find little bigger big-ger than my sentry-box, and there i I awaited what the gods might send, ro-i ro-i solved to die at the post of duly. The last I. could remember is sotting Imy brazen holmel. on my head, ttght-.jening ttght-.jening my harness, and' grasping my I good sword firmly. Then oblivion!" ; By any listener lo this vivid ac-I ac-I count of the last hours of this brave i Roman soldier, perishing at the post of duty, it vas impossible lo doubt j that Burton Cortice had been that , very man. ; "And Avhat now?" I queried. "You'll soon sec," he remarked, , with a oniet: smile. Then: "All day veslerdav 1 was trying to j locate Vanadius' house among those uncovered, but I could not even find he thoroughfare. Avhich in those days bore tho fanciful name of Street of I the Doves. But today all is different. T am going to take you there and we shall see what wc shall sec." Vvcll, we Avcnt perhaps ta hundred yards outside the excavated area, and groped about a certain spot. J was ama.od to see at least a. hundred Italian laborers armed Avith pick, shovel nnd basket, besides a gold-larcd gold-larcd official Avhom Cortice iiitro- duccd me lo as Signor Mattco Mattel, one of the government experts entrusted en-trusted Avith Ihe dutv of oversecinp the uncovering of long-buried l'om-peii. l'om-peii. Doubtless. I reflected, Count Mario's credentials had not been without with-out effect, although 1 did not. believe that Cortice had confided in Mallei to the extent of revealing his peculiar past. . Cortice took the bearings from the intersection of two streets you will understand that the spot where wo stood Avas considerably higher, over the low roofs of the old city, m fact, and that tho surface soil Avas rough and barren, looking like nothing so much as a bed of light-gray ashes not very closely compacted together. "Here 1 judge, will bo about .tho spot," said Cortice at. length, indicating indicat-ing a certain place. , In a jiffv those Italians 1 oil to work with the aforesaid pick ami shovel and basket. And how Ihey did mnko tho dirt flv! First they opened up a wide- trench, and i?n u,u.1 dug lateral trenches, the light aan nnd scoriae being shoveled into an endless line of bushel baskets and carried away to the dumping-place outside the eilv a ancient ovai w.iu. Bv noon thev had uncovered a u area of perhaps half an acre. J'irst some roofs appeared about two feet from the surface: then upright walls; after that tho laborers, who were experts ex-perts in their way. simply followed the wail. That they were digging out the ancient Street of the Dovca became apparent when on f. of the wall appeared a beaut h 1 painting of two doves billing, the colors col-ors as fresh as when laid on 2,000 vears before. . . " When wc returned from lunch avc found they were actually d'gg'"C n ho atrium of tho house of Vanadius It, should bo said that the l''n! Pompeii wore never more than one itory i height-about eight or ten feci, from pavement to cornice, run-sequentlv. run-sequentlv. the labor was not as great as might at first sight appear. Thus far Cortice had contented himself him-self with general directions, but now hat we were really within tho bouse where he met his tragic death, b Licit consent of Signor Maltel ho nwunicj charge, massing the lorcc of laborcis at one corner of the. atrium Now, the Poinpenans did not use I doors within their dwellings; the entrances en-trances to tho cubicula or sleeping places were masked by curtains sin -1 ,lv. This particular corner, it seemed, I had been protected somewhat from the : rain of ashes by a slight projection 1 froni the roof or cornice above. Oon-isequcntly Oon-isequcntly the stuff to be shovelc. away was much lighter and not so tight 1 'packed as elsewhere. 1 Cortice had .-pimped on to the pile ! of ashes the instant rho opening into I the ciibiculum appeared, and even seized !a. shovel himself. When three tcet I had been dug away he stopped and peered within; then resumed digging harder than ever, his example ncrv-ing ncrv-ing the gaug to redoubled eflorts. tor I his excitement was contagious. They I just pitched the stun fov the present into the center of the atrium. In half an hour at most the entire narrow doorwav was clear, and there was besides a small space in tront. where four or five of us could crowd together. Aud this is what we saw: V narrow roam perhaps eight feet deep by Hvc or six wide, bare of lur-uiiure lur-uiiure save a Avn.ter-.jar, a curved mclal stool or bancal, and a shelf on which still stood somo small statuettes. I he walls Avorc decorated with figures ot flviug birds, fishes, flowers a:id some rather unconventional female figures, all exquisitely drawn and colored, the , latter as vivid as though the artist had but lately left. . But our eves took in these minor details at one unconcerned savccp - Pompeii abounded in such. What caught our gac and held us spellbound was ;i skeleton standing erect at the far end. the brass helm dropped low over tho sightless eyes, aiA ilf.Jl.s.tr a cuirass, round shiM' Ipt : H sword. In life it had u WvA M W a stalwart. .Roman soldir' i'S :' feet tall, for the poalir, 9ml inT'V ' a Avarrior at, attention, ffll Siili stood nameless, forgolAaR'", r i, blematic of two thinga-fB y Rome and of that stem di WWi(-' K caused the fic?h-nnd-b1oo, cj, S main unrelieved 'at his po- i: 5r 7 , C had overtaken him. P, Wc stood there with 1 -vn v ; KJ doing silent, homage to ti j hero. I stole a glance at fifiw gt noticed a curious little sk -jilj r! D5 around the corners of bin Va4 swv t" silence he stopped towaritvfi b -r W cton and picked up the m ing short Roman sword. VI 4w ,iT U: he addressed Mattel, sayini?-! i "Is it permitted thnt lffireui,- & as a cr souvcuicr of the ric,?1 Zs Of course it. was again! jt7t T P rules everything ot valucM hp H! id I Ilerculaneum and Pompeii flmt$ 4 museum iu Naples. But tVSeiif,,jD doubtless thought it wotiliij U , u cioua to refuse, in view 0' idji & J& lice had accomplished, JMlT ifi tacit, if not verbal, con.5Sf -d bow and a wave of tbchl ht 1 0 ing: J i iiei ' ' My congratnlalions, 3sJrSr r 1' u tico he pronounced tnc MiliT : Italian tasluon. CortccchcefJ't- ''? tuitions wcro singularly corfe TIA W have the honor of writing J1 ? f? leaguc thnt at Pompeii, MfaS 4 been of great and disinAjBS tJ ice.' ftlt- Cortice muttered some brii'f tAj li edgment and turned awav.l (j,, t; buttoned uudcr his coat" J VTit), $ achievement of his point li5 ,UJJ & seemed to cease. As wo iM " cleared Street of the ToSlffftg d a long breath .and rctuarkk S cally. Avith a gnu: a,aj , Voll John Dare, E rAthcr ri Sfti that's the first timo on rctord f t a man lived to look on his 0t fU 1 cton ! " ' W: (Next week: "Tbc ArmsOt m & Icon.') |
