Under the Witches' Moon: A Romantic Tale of Mediaeval Rome
deadly pallor alternating in her beautiful face, terrible in its set
calm. "And--though I may not possess you--that other shall not! See!"
Maddened beyond all human endurance at the sight that met his eyes
Tristan hurled Theodora aside as she attempted to bar his way, as if
she had been a toy. Rushing straight through the press towards the
spot, where the scarlet man, his arms still about the drooping form of
Hellayne, had stopped in dismay at the sudden inrush of the guards,
Tristan pierced the Grand Chamberlain through and through. Almost
dragging the woman with him he fell beside the devil's altar. His head
struck the flagstones and he lay still.
The Prefect himself dashed up the steps of the ebony shrine and hurled
the High Priest of Satan on the flagstones below. Bessarion's neck was
broken and, with the squeak of a bat, his black soul went out.
While the guards, giving no quarter, were mowing down all those of
the devil's congregation who did not seek salvation in flight or
concealment, Tristan caught the swooning form of Hellayne in his arms,
calling her name in despairing accents, as he stroked the silken hair
back from the white clammy brow. She was breathing, but her eyes were
closed.
Then he summoned two men-at-arms to his side, and between them they
carried her to the world of light above.
CHAPTER XII
SUNRISE
The thunder clouds had rolled away to eastward.
A rosy glow was creeping over the sky. The air was fresh with the
coming of dawn. Softly they laid Hellayne by the side of a marble
fountain and splashed the cooling drops upon her pale face. After a
time she opened her eyes.
The first object they encountered was Tristan who was bending over her,
fear and anxiety in his face.
Her colorless lips parted in a whisper, as her arms encircled his neck.
"You are with me!" she said, and the transparent lids drooped again.
Those who had not been slain of the congregation of Hell had been bound
in chains. Among the dead was Theodora. The contents of a phial she
carried on her person had done its work instantaneously.
Suddenly alarums resounded from the region of Castel San Angelo. There
was a great stir and buzz, as of an awakened bee hive. There were
shouts at the Flaminian gate, the martial tread of mailed feet and,
as the sun's first ray kissed the golden Archangel on the summit of
the Flavian Emperor's mausoleum, a horseman, followed by a glittering
retinue, dashed up the path, dismounted and raised his visor.
Before the astounded assembly stood Alberic, the Senator of Rome.
Just then they brought the body of Theodora from the subterranean
chapel and laid it silently on the greensward, beside that of Basil,
the Grand Chamberlain.
The Cardinal-Archbishop of Ravenna was the first to speak.
"My lord, we hardly trust our eyes. All Rome is mourning you for dead."
Alberic turned to the speaker.
"With the aid of the saint I have prevailed against the foulest treason
ever committed by a subject against his trusting lord. The bribed hosts
of Hassan Abdullah, which were to sack Rome, are scattered in flight.
The attempt upon my own life has been prevented by a miracle from
Heaven. But--what of these dead?"
Odo of Cluny approached the Senator of Rome.
"The awful horror which has gripped the city is passed. Christ rules
once more and Satan is vanquished. This is a matter for your private
ear, my lord."
Odo pointed to the kneeling form of Tristan, who was supporting
Hellayne in his arms, trying to soothe her troubled spirit, to dispel
the memory of the black horrors which held her trembling soul in thrall.
Approaching Tristan, Alberic laid his hand upon his head.
"We knew where to trust, and we shall know how to reward! My lords and
prelates of the Church! Matters of grave import await you. We meet
again in the Emperor's Tomb."
Beckoning to his retinue, Alberic remounted his steed, as company upon
company of men-at-arms filed past--a host, such as the city of Rome had
not beheld in decades, with drums and trumpets, pennants and banderols,
long lines of glittering spears, gorgeous surcoats, and splendid suits
of mail.
The forces of the Holy Roman Empire were passing into the Eternal City.
At their head the Senator of Rome was returning into his own.
At last they were alone, Tristan and Hellayne.
His companions had departed. With them they had taken their dead.
Hellayne opened her eyes. They were sombre, yet at peace.
"Tristan!"
He bent over her.
"My own Hellayne!"
"It is beautiful to be loved," she whispered. "I have never been loved
before."
"You shall be," he replied, "now and forever, before God and the world!"
The old shadow came again into her eyes.
"What of the Lord Roger?"
She read the answer in his silence.
A tear trickled from the violet pools of her eyes.
Then she raised herself in his arms.
"I thought I should go mad," she crooned. "But I knew you would come.
And you are here--here--with me,--Tristan."
He took her hands in his, his soul in his eyes.
The sun had risen higher through the gold bars of the east, dispelling
the grey chill of dawn.
She nestled closer to him.
"Take me back to Avalon, to my rose garden," she crooned. "Life is
before us--yonder--where first we loved."
He took her in his arms and kissed her eyes and the small sweet mouth.
A lark began to sing in the silence.
THE END
WHAT ALLAH WILLS
_By Irwin L. Gordon_
_Author of "The Log of The Ark"_
_Illustrated, net, $1.35; carriage paid, $1.50_
Take Morocco for a background--that quaint and mysterious land of
mosques and minarets, where the _muezzin_ still calls to prayer at
sundown the faithful.
Imagine a story written with power and intensity and the thrill of
adventure in the midst of fanatical Moslems. Add to this a wealthy
young medical student, a red-blooded American, who gives up his life to
helping the lepers of Arzilla, and the presence of a beautiful American
girl who, despite her love for the hero, is induced to take up the
Mohammedan faith, and you have some idea of what this remarkable story
presents.
WHAT ALLAH WILLS is a big story of love and adventure. Mr. Gordon is
the author of two notable non-fiction successes, but he scores heavily
in this, his first work of fiction.
UNDER THE WITCHES' MOON
_By Nathan Gallizier_
_Author of "The Sorceress of Rome," "The Court of
Lucifer," "The Hill of Venus," etc._
_Illustrated by The Kinneys, cloth 12mo, net, $1.50;
carriage paid, $1.65_
This romantic tale of tenth-century Rome concerns itself with the
fortunes and adventures of Tristan of Avalon while in the Eternal City
on a pilgrimage to do penance for his love of Hellayne, the wife of his
liege lord, Count Roger de Laval.
Tristan's meeting with the Queen Courtesan of the Aventine; her
infatuation for the pilgrim; Tristan's rounds of obediences, cut short
by his appointment as Captain of Sant' Angelo by Alberic, Senator
of Rome; the intrigues of Basil, the Grand Chamberlain, who aspires
to the dominion of Rome and the love of Theodora; the trials of
Hellayne, who alternately falls into the power of Basil and Theodora;
the scene between the Grand Chamberlain and Bessarion in the ruins
of the Coliseum; the great feud between Roxana and Theodora and the
final overthrow of the latter's regime constitute some of the dramatic
episodes of the romance.
"This new book adds greater weight to the claim that Mr.
Gallizier is the greatest writer of historical novels in America
today."--_Cincinnati Times-Star._
"In many respects we consider Mr. Gallizier the most versatile and
interesting writer of the day."--_Saxby's Magazine._
_A third CHEERFUL BOOK_
Trade--------Mark
SYLVIA ARDEN DECIDES
By Margaret R. Piper
_A Sequel to "Sylvia's Experiment: The Cheerful Book"_
Trade--------Mark
_and "Sylvia of the Hill Top"_
_Illustrated, decorative jacket, net, $1.35; carriage paid,
$1.50_
In the original CHEERFUL BOOK, with its rippling play of incident,
Sylvia proved herself a bringer of tidings of great joy to many people.
In the second book devoted to her adventures, she was a charming
heroine--urbane, resourceful and vivacious--with an added shade of
picturesqueness due to her environment. In this third story Sylvia
is a little older grown, deep in the problem of just-out-of-college
adjustment to the conditions of the "wide, wide world," and in the
process of learning, as she puts it, "to live as deep and quick as
I can." The scene of the new story is laid partly at Arden Hall and
partly in New York and, in her sincere effort to find herself, Sylvia
finds love in real fairy tale fashion.
"There is a world of human nature, and neighborhood contentment and
quaint, quiet humor in Margaret R. Piper's books of good cheer. Her
tales are well proportioned and subtly strong in their literary aspects
and quality."--_North American, Philadelphia._
A PLACE IN THE SUN
_By Mrs. Henry Backus_
_Author of "The Career of Dr. Weaver," "The Rose
of Roses," etc._
_12mo, cloth, illustrated by Wm. Van Dresser, net, $1.35;
carriage paid, $1.50_
Gunda Karoli is a very much alive young person with a zest for life and
looking-forward philosophy which helps her through every trial. She is
sustained in her struggles against the disadvantage of her birth by
a burning faith in the great American ideal--that here in the United
States every one has a chance to win for himself a place in the sun.
Gunda takes for her gospel the Declaration of Independence, only
to find that, although this democratic doctrine is embodied in the
constitution of the country, it does not manifest itself outwardly in
its social life. Nevertheless, she succeeds in mounting step by step
in the social scale, from the time she first appears at Skyland on the
Knobs as a near-governess, to her brief season in the metropolis as a
danseuse.
How she wins the interest of Justin Arnold, the fastidious descendant
of a fine old family, and brings into his self-centered existence a new
life and fresh charm, provides a double interest to the plot.
VIRGINIA OF ELK CREEK
VALLEY
_By Mary Ellen Chase_
_12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated by R. Farrington
Elwell, net, $1.35; carriage paid, $1.50_
A sequel to last year's success, THE GIRL FROM THE BIG HORN COUNTRY
(sixth printing). This new story is more western in flavor than the
first book--since practically all of the action occurs back in the Big
Horn country, at Virginia's home, to which she invites her eastern
friends for a summer vacation. The vacation in the West proves "the
best ever" for the Easterners, and in recounting their pleasures they
tell of the hundreds of miles of horseback riding, how they climbed
mountains, trapped a bear, shot gophers, fished, camped, homesteaded,
and of the delightful hospitality of Virginia and her friends.
"The story is full of life and movement and presents a variety of
interesting characters."--_St. Paul Despatch._
"This is most gladsome reading to all who love healthfulness of mind,
heart and body."--_Boston Ideas._
Selections from
The Page Company's
List of Fiction
WORKS OF
ELEANOR H. PORTER
POLLYANNA: The GLAD Book (360,000)
Trade Mark Trade----Mark
Cloth decorative, illustrated by Stockton Mulford.
_Net_, $1.35; _carriage paid_, $1.50
Mr. Leigh Mitchell Hodges, The Optimist, in an editorial for the
_Philadelphia North American_, says: "And when, after Pollyanna has
gone away, you get her letter saying she is going to take 'eight steps'
to-morrow--well, I don't know just what you may do, but I know of one