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VOL. I.
For tlie Banner of the Sonth.
The Mysteries.
BY CARRIE.
0 mystery of mysteries is Life—
This constant tumult in the human breast,
Where passions wage their never ending strife,
And hearts still dream, but nothing know of rest! '
Moments of joy to every heart are known,
But moments only, so shadowy, so brief;
The diamond changes to the worthless stone,
And vanished joys but darken present grief.
0 mystery of mysteries is Lwe.
To know but one in this broad world of ours;
To feel one smile brighten the heaven above,
And yield new beauty to the fagrant flowers.
To know but one! To live but in one life,
And feel that gone, all happiness were fled,
The sunlight darken’d, the heart with anguish rife;
All joy, all hope lie buried with the dead!
0 mystery of mysteries is Death !
Ah, sad and strange, one moment to beheld,
The face we love, smile back the love we give;
The next perchance, in death’s embrace lie cold.
From the chill touch, to shrink in wondering awe—
Shrink from the casket where once our jewel lay;
Death's mystery is great! an angel spirit sings,
While we beneath Death's shadow, weep for our lost,
and pray!
(From Lippincott’s Magazine, for January, 1869.1
Soldea Breams*
A CHRISTMAS STORY,
The Kardouon, as every one knows,
is the brightest, liveliest, and most beau
tiful of all the lizards. The Kardouon\s
oout, of purple and gold is as resplendent
as that of an Eastern Monarch, yet he is,
withal, of a shy and retiring disposition,
and he lives quite alone; hence his repu
tation for great learning. The Kardouon
never hurts anybody; and, therefore,
everybody likes him. As he comes out
of the chinks of some old wall, displaying
in the dazzling sunshine, the glories of
his marvelous raiment, if a bevy of Hin
doo girls should come tripping along,
waking up, with laughter and song, the
silent and solitary path, how quickly he
stretches out his sapphire neck, studded
with rubies, and how softly and tenderly
are his sparkling eyes turned towards
the merry group, whilst each one keeps
saying to her neighbor: “The Kardouon
has noticed me to-day; he thinks T am
the prettiest, and wants me to understand
1 am his lady-love ”
The poor little harmless Kardouon,
however, has no such thoughts. What he
is looking for, here, there, everywhere,
isn’t the pretty girls—not he; it’s only
the nice fruits and the fragrant roots he
likes to regale himself with, and to spread
before his Karduon friends when he gives
them a feast upon some broad, shining
stone at noon-tide.
Wandering, one day, into the desert,
the Kardouon found in the sand a treasure
consisting of innumerable pieces of gold
coin, that looked as bright and polished
as if they had just leaped, with ringing
Dughter, from the stroke of the die. A
King, who was running’ away from his
s uhj( cts, had dropped the money there,
to go taster, when he found that his dis
loyal lieges were treading too closely
upon his heels.
“Mv goodness gracious 1” exclaimed
the Kardouon ; “either I am greatly
mistaken, or here is a welcome addition
ty ni) W inter store ! Oi all things in
t e wor.d, they do look like sliced carrots
a most savory and refreshing bite—
-ol|ly they seem to be a little dried up.”
And, as he spoke, the Kardouon glided
j 'Waid the treasure—not straightways,
I ' r lhat is not his custom, but in cautious
!' U 1 ves, like the little trembling, hesitat
palpitating, adventurous Kardouon
t.,a; he was. Having got, at last, within
ieach ot the treasure, he stood up on his
i ;‘ nti and fell with might and main
fT° n she first gold piece that came to
feetli, whereby lie nearly broke one of
them.
Kardouon thereupon heat a sudden
«< cat, tiieu returned with increased zig
za = motions, and took a more deliberate
survey of the glittering heap. “They are
awfully dry,” he remarked to himself;
“how foolish to undertake to keep sliced
roots in a dry place, where they are sure
to lose their nutritive properties ! The
Kardouon species, it must be acknow
ledged, has not kept pace with this pro
gressive age ! As for me, who dined
only last week, and who can, therefore,
afford to wait patiently for my next meal,
I shall carry this unlooked-for provender
to yonder oasis, under the protecting
shade of the great tree of the desert, and
leave it in the cool grass, whilst I am
lulled to sleep by the sweet murmur of
those springs that run along that sandy
mound, which the rays of the sun will
warm up for me as 1 get up in the morn
ing ; and when yonder bee I now see nest
ling into the bosom of this flower shall
come out at early dawn, drunk with sweet
odors, and cutting up all sorts of mad
capers around me, I shall sit down to as
princely a breakfast as ever Kardouon
partook of.”
The Kardouon who thus spoke was a
Kardouon of action. What he said he
would do, he meant to do, and he did.
Toward night the whole treasure, carried
piece by piece, lay uselessly cooling upon
the thick, dewy grass, under the giant
tree, whose spreading branches and luxu
riant foliage and sweet-smelling blossoms
seemed to call upon all wayfarers to come
and rest under its inviting shade.
And there it was that the Karduon fell
into a gentle sleep, dreaming of fresh,
savory roots.
This is the story of the Kardouon.
The next day, came to the oasis tiie
poor woodman, Xlyon, who was then on
his way to the still distant forest; hut
who, as was his wont, was in no hurry to
get there, and whose natural idleness was
not proof against the melodious appeals
of the murmuring waters, and the rust
ling leaves of the great tree of the desert.
Xylon was one of those disinherited
children of Nature whom we have all
met, and who seem to glide through life
without being conscious that they are
more highly organized than the poor
dumb creatures of the animal world, liis
deformed body was hut. a too faithful re
flex of his weak, imbecile mind • a poor,
helpless creature who, though physically
strong, was as incapable of doing evil as
he was of understanding it—an eyesore
to his parents and relations, who lelt
ashamed of him whenever they saw him
in company with strangers; md the stand
ing butt of all the mischievous urchins of
his native village. The humiliating re
buffs which Xylon was thus constantly
undergoing, had inspired him early with
the love of a solitary life, a disposition
still enhanced by his following the occu
pation of a woodman—a profession well
suited to the weak faculties of poor
Xylon, who was known throughout the
whole neighbood as Xylou the fool.—
Whenever he happened to pass through
the village, the children ran after him,
laughing, shouting, and sometimes pelt
ing him with stones, whilst the village 1
crones nodded to each other, saying:
“Here goes Xylon the fool, to visit his wise
cousin, the Kardouon, who is waiting for
him in the woody glen, to talk about
matters of high import. () most wise
and worthy Xylon!”
And his brethren, as he passed, turned
aside, blushing with shame and anger,
But poor Xylon affected not to see
them, and as for thechhildren who follow
ed him, he laughed and screamed as
loudly and as merrily as the loudest aud
the merriest of them.
Simpleton though he was, Xylon hail
become impressed with the idea' that the
universal scorn anu the daily mockin'*'
to which he was constantly exposed, were
entirely owing to the poverty of his
dress—for no one ever thinks meanly of
his own wit; and when he gazed upon
the dazzling apparel of the Kardouon, as
he lay basking in the garish sunshine, lie
Ah|?WBTA, GA., DECEMBER 26, 1868.
bethought himself that if he was ever so
lucky as to secure the friendship of that
most beautiful of God’s creatures, he
might at some time or other become the
happy possessor of his cast-off garments,
and, returning thus arrayed to his native
village, secure at onee the good will and
admiration of all the good people who
were now so ready to make fun of them.
“Besides that,” he wonld say to him
self, reflecting as deeply upon the sub
ject as his very limited Xylon intellect
would allow him to do; “the Kardouon
is my cousin, so they all say; and I feel
it myself iu the strong sympathy that
draws me towards him. Since my breth
ren have discarded me, through contempt
of my miserable appearance, he is my
nearest male relative, and I would like to
live with him, if he will allow me, even if
L am of no other use than to makeup
his bed of dry leaves and moss every
night, to watch over him while he is
asleep, and to build him a bright crack
ling tire when the weather gets cold. The
Kardouon may grow old before I do,”
Xylon added, for he was already full
grown and beautiful to look at when 1
was only a child; and my mother used to
say to me: ‘See, here is thy fair cousin
the Kardouon!’ I know, thank heaven!
how to take care of the sick, and how to
amuse them when they lie helpless in
bed. How I would like to wait upon
him, and what a pity he is too proud to
associate with me!”
In truth, the Kurd.,non answered hut
poorly the advances of Xylon. At his
approach he would dart like a flash of
lightning into the sand, or, prudently en
trenching himself behind a mound or
a stone, would cast upon him sidelong
glances from his quick, sparkling eyes,
whilst Xylan, with clasped hands ami in
the most malting accents, addressed him
th&s:
“Alas, dear cousin, why do you. fly
away from your friend and comrade ? All
I ask is to he allowed to follow ymz, to
wait upon you as I wonld upon my breth
ren, for whom I would cheerfully yield
up my life, but who appear to me less
beautiful and less amiable titan you. Do
not repulse me as they da.; and if, per
chance, you are in want .of a good ser
vant, remember your faithful Xylon!”
But the Kardouon always went away,
and Xylon would return to his mother
weeping, because his cousin the Kardouon,
would not speak to him.
On that very morning his .mother, after
beating him severely, had pushed him
•out of doors, saying:
“Go, thou wretch!—go te thy cousin,
the Kardouon, for thou are net worthy to
claim any other relatives!”
Xylon had meekly submitted, as he
always did, and he was just looking for
his cousin, the Kardouon, when lie arrived
under the widespreadmg tree cf the
desert.
“Oh! oh!” said he, “here is some
thing new! My fair cousin has gone to
sleep under the trcM? where all the springs
meet —a very unusual thing for him to
do, and a fine chance, if ever there was
one, for me to talk business with him
when he wakes up! But what the deuce
is he keeping here, and what does he in
tend to do with those little, round,yellow
pieces of lead ? Perhaps he is going to
a wedding, and wants to brighten up his
coet, although I must say I would rather
have one of his old suits than a thousand
such pieces of useless metal. I shall
wait here till he wakes up, and, perhaps,
lie may feel better disposed to talk, and
then 1 shall hear all abou it. I can sleep
very comfortably here in the meanwhile,
and, as I sleep very light, I am sure to
wake up as soon as lie does.”
And Xylon was about to lie down,
when he was struck with an idea.
“The nights are cool,” he remarked,
“and my cousin the Kardouon is not
used, like myself, to sleep on the edge of
the springs and under the shelter of the
the trees of the forest. The morning
air is not good for him.”
O
Xylon then took off his cloak and I
spread it softly and tenderly over the
Kardouon, taking every precaution not
to disturb him in his sleep. The Kar
douon did not wake up.
After doing this, Xylon, stretching
himself upon the grass, soon fell into a
deep slumber, dreaming that he had be
come the sworn friend of the Kardouon.
This is the story of Xylon.
ill.
The next day came to the same spot
the Fakir Abhoc, pretending to be on a
pilgrimage, while in truth lie was only
looking for some good chance to better
his condition.
As he came near the spring to cool
himself, his eyes fell upon the glittering
heap, and embraced its value at one single
glance.
“T nlooked-for blessing,” he exclaimed,
“which the all-powerful and all-merciful
Deity vouchsafes to me after so many
years of trial, and which He has deigned
to place, to render its acquisition easier
to me, under the simple keeping’ of an
innocent wall-lizard and a poor idiot!”
You must bear in mind that the Fakir
Abhoc knew perfectly well Xylon and
the Kardouon.
“Heaven be praised in all things !” he
added, sitting down under the tree and
reckoning upon his fingers the amount
of tine treasure. “Fairwell the Fakir’s
robe, the long fasts and the hard mortifi
cations ot the flesh! I shall begin anew
life m anew country, and buy in the
first kingdom that suits me a comfortable
province, that will yield me a handsome
revenue. Once settled in my palace, I
shall have nothing else to do but to en
joy myself, and to sip the choicest wines
from the largest of gold cups, surround
ed with flowers and perfumes, and beau
slaves performing sweet music on
every kind of musical instruments. I
am growing old, and good wine, they
say cheers the heart of old age. This
treasure, however, must be very heavy
to carry, and it would ill become me, the
■lord of countless acres, and possessing a
multitude of servants and innumerable
soldiers, to run the risk of befog mis
taken foe a common street porter. A
prince of tlie people should always com
mand the respect of his subject*;, and in
•order to do so he should begin by respect
ing himself. It would seem its if this
boor had been sent here expressly to
serve me; and as he is as strong as an
ox, he can easily carry all my gold to the
next town when I shall present him with
my cast-es clothes and a few pieces of
eopper for his trouble.”
After soliloquizing thus, the Fakir
Abhoc, feeling well assured that as far
as the treasure was concerned, he had
nothing to fear from the Kardouon or
from poor Xylon (who was as incapable
as the Kardouon himself of knowing its
true value,) yielded unresistingly to the
drowsy influences of the place, and went
to sleep dreaming of his provence, his
guards, his harem filled with the fairest
beauties of the East, and his exquisite
Schiraz wine foaming in gold cups orna
mented with rubies and pearls.
This is the story of the Fakir Abhoc.
IV.
The next day came to the same spot
the learned Doctor Abliac, a man deeply
versed in the law, who had lost his way
while meditating on an obscure text, of
which the jurists already gave one hun
dred and thirty-two different interpreta
! tions. He was just on the point of grasp
! ing the one hundred and thirty-third, when
the discovery of the treasure made him
lose sight of it altogether, and knocked it
out of his head so completely and absol
utely that lie could not have found it
again in a hundred years —a great and
irreparable loss for the science of juris
prudence !
“It appeareth,” said the learned Doc
toc Abliac, that the Kardouon hath dis
covered this treasure, hut as he cannot, bv
reason of his being a mere animal, avail
himself of bis rights, the said Kardouon is,
therefore ipso facto debarred from all
title, claim, or interest, in the legal ad
judication and partition of the same. As
to the royalties which might be demand
ed on the part of the public exchequer,
this spot, I hold, is waste, indeterminate,
common, proper to each and to all; so
that neither the State nor the individual
hath anything to allege in reference
thereto, which is a happy contingency in
the present occurrence—this confluence
of streams marking, if I mistake not, a
litigious delimitation of territory between
warlike nations, whereby a possible con
flict of jurisdiction might arise, leading to
long and bloody wars. I shall then per
form an innocent, legitimate, and even
providential act iu carrying away this
treasure, if the same can he accomplish
ed without too great peril to myself. As
for these two adventurers, of whom the
first seems to he a country bumpkin, and
the other a poor wretch of a Fakir, and
who are unquestiably mere vagrants, with
out name, weight, or profession, they doubt
less have gone to sleep here with a view of
making to-morrow an amicable partition,
knowing neither text nor argument of
commentators, and esteeming each other
of equal corporeal strength. Hut they
shall not settle this matter without a law
suit, I warrant them, or I shall lose my
reputation as a learned doctor of Juris
prudence. Only, asl feel that sleep is
creeping over me, in consequence of the
great contention and tribulation of mind
this business hath given me, I shall es
tablish my eo-equal right to the matter in
dispute by placing in my turban a few of
these pieces of money, that the anteriori
ty of possession may he shown in court
clearly and peremptorily in my favor
whenever the cause isjevoked, lie who
hath possession by appetence of having,
tradition of having had, and primary occu
pancy, being presumed to be the true and
legitimate owner, as it is written.”
And the learned Doctor Abliac placed
so many pieces of gold in his turban that
lie had to take it off and lie down for the
night without any covering to his head.
\ “I fear not to oversleep myself,” said he
as he rested his freshly-shaven occiput
upon the swollen turban which served him
as a pillow. “These two fellows will
commence to quarrel the moment they
wake up, and they will only be too hap
py to have at hand a doctor of laws to
accommodate matters, which secures to
me a double fee, besides the share to
which 1 am legitimately entitled.”
After which comforting reflection the
| learned Doctor Abliac went decorously
| to sleep, dreaming of partitions, lawsuits,
j and turbans overflowing with gold.
I 1 his is the storv of the learned Doctor
Abliac.
v.
The next day, about nightfall, came ro
the same spot a famous robber, whose
real name history has not preserved, but
who was throughout that region the ter
ror of all the caravans, upon which lie
levied enormous tribute, and who was
nicknamed for that reason the “King of
the Desert,” if we arc to believe the me
moirs of that remote period. He had
wandered farther than usual into his do
minions, this place being but little re
sorted to by travelers, and the sight of
the spreading tree and the bubbling wa
ters gladdened his heart and induced
him, though ordinarily insensible to the
beauties of Nature, to halt for a while in
the inviting spot.
| “Truly, not a bad idea that 1 had,” he
! muttered between his teeth, on perceiving
the treasure. Here is the Kardouon
watching, as is the immemorial custom of
lizards and dragons, over this gold, which
can he of no use to him; and here are
three unmistakable rascals, who have
come here together to divide it among
themselves. If I load myself with all
this booty whilst they are asleep, I shall
certainly wake up the Kardouon (for he
No. 41.