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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (May 3, 1908)
TIH5 OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 3 1 , '," " " hm,.,w,..,., , . jM.,,)!!.,,,!..; ,..,,.., -- j Mgg'' t.j ui ."TIT"" I I I I - 1 gjj. iWWIlWWWMWI.lIIWyl II ite,'.j:i!ia!hH 1 . 1 1 1 1 . . . . m .. . ' lil'Ili'iiAiiiilj liiifiiifi-ifr-rt!-" r,il'"'""1'""1 t'hifcMililiMliiiirtilBiMlliitliiiiiilMtlallitllilliiHitWMiiiiW iiwiMilMwwiwiMWMyiiwi wimwiw ... v, '-i7" . , by -r ,3 3 Samuel Scoville, Jr. CIRCUS-TIME. (THK EFFECT ON THE BOYS OF SOYVILLE) .MOP ; ox aiatta Mr Ibmest! IT was eourt-day in far-away Galatia,'. northern most ofall the Grecian provinces.- Before' -' the great' gatei of Ancyra, the capital, a -long line of accused and accuser passed the Ivory chair of the archon, of . ruler, Who Judged . every cause that touched not tht life of f freeman. Now, a thief was scourged, now a pledge redeemed, and case after case wat heard and passed upon In a few brief words."-- . .T "., vFC 77 . . Finally" a pathetic little group, that seetaed oddly out of place in the line of petty criminals, came' before the judgment-seat A tall woman, with the noble oval face that marked the highest type of Grecian beauty, leaned on the arm of a youth, while a little fair-haired boy clung to 'her klrt. IA the background stood a lame slave with eye fixed on the ground, while the edge of a ghastly icar run ning underneath his tunic gave a reason for the withered limb. t .f , ., ; The archon regarded the (our for a moment in silence, and then addressed them in a voice cold and impassive as' his face. Lad as and Nestor, chil dren' of him that was Mil 0, captain of the -soldiers, and Egeria, wife of the same, hither have you been Summoned at the instance of your creditors; Debts to the amount of the half of one talent are recorded against you. Your home is but a hovel, your land untitled and barren, and your one slave a worthless ' cripple. Therefore the city allows ohe year for the cancelation fif these lawful" debts. At the end of that time, the same remaining unpaid, this family shall be sold as slaves in the public mart for the benefit of its creditors. ' Thus aaith the law of Galatia." o '"Tis a hard law," cried the boy, facing, the archon - unflinchingly, while the mother sobbed aloud, "that enslaves the family of one who died in battle for his city, and whose friend are in exile 1" "Speak not evil of the law, boy!" responded the archon, sternly. "No fault of the law is it that thy father became surety for those who belonged to the accursed Athenian faction and were rightly driven into exile, or that the family of a man are liable for bis surety debts." It was a sad home-going for the little family. That night, after the little boy had fallen asleep, Ladas and his mother sat long In the wavering fire light before the hearth, that sacred heart of a Gre cian home. Back in the shadow sat their slave, Phraanes the Duinb; for never since the time that his wound had healed, leaving him with a shrunken limb, had he been heard to speak. Captured in some foray of the city against a tribe Of the desert, he had been assigned to Milo, the leader of the hop lites, irt the division of the spoil. For a long time Egeria gated at the fire with hot dry eyes. La das strove to console her, his heart nearly broken the while. "A year Is long," he said, striving to speak hope fully, "and 1 have a plan, mother mine. Before the time has gone come the great Olympic Games. By toiling- mightily, perchance 1 can gain enough to pay Timon the 'trainer to teach nie the lore of rac ing. For I am fleet of foot, and the family of hint who could win the race need, as thou Itnowest, never fear debt nor want throughout all Greece, even to the farthest province." - " Suddenly from out of the darkness came a voice unheard throughout long years the voice of the slave.. Into the circle of the firelight Strode Phra anes, no longer the Dumb. "Art sure of the words thou saidst, O Ladas, son of my lord?" slowly questioned the slave, in a voice hearse and faltering from long disuse. , Ladas was too startled by the transformation to do more than nod assent. "O nty Ladas, thou speakest of Timort the trainer. I say lo thee that to his mind' omen avail more than practice, and sacrifices thart speed. I, too, have Viewed the Olympic Games and the racers therein and have marveled that lueh running should win. Slower are the Grecians, in the Start than th Wild dog of the Wilderness, who must fol low his orev from sun to sun ere. wearied, it be o'ertaken. In the race they Wave their' arms and waste breath crying on the gods to grant them ' speed. To you Greeks running has been but a pastime; among my nation speed means life or death, for, as thou knowest, we desert-dwellers of the north have no horsemen, and the fate of battles must turn on the swiftness of our warriors feet. Among a nation of runners my father, Alsnax, was swiftest. "To me, rhraftnes, his son, he told all the wile and wisdom of the track, and the traditions of our tribe, until it came to pass that in the races I wa3 ever at his Shoulder. And. O tny master, all this within the year can I teach to thee, and thou shalt win the race, and thou; Wilt take old Phraanes as a trainer." Months after this, speaking of Phraanes came the day, long proclaimed by a herald throughout the length and breadth of the province, when every athlete of Galatia met in the games of the city: The winners of each event would be sent with their trainers to Olympia, there to contend in the -great quadrennial game for the glory .,- of the . Each runner, as he took his place, was greeted with .shouts of applause from his friends, save one alone, who, attended only by a 'limping slave, came to the line almost unnoticed. Only when, at the second word of tbt Starter, the long rank of run ners stiffened into position, did he attract any at tention. All th others bent forward, one foot oil the Starting-line," one irm outstretched, the other back the regulation starting position of a Greciart runner, 1 The last youth alone crouched, and, with both hands on the line and .muscles all tense, awaited the final signal. , .'-:' - M . At the first sound of the word he was off, and yards ahead of the rest before they fairly earne Into their stride, the, fleetest J-Unners-of the province heretofore, they strained every- mtiscte . to overtake the flying body that flashed along ahead of them, gleaming in the sunlight. Sut In vain In vain, do they cry W Hermes of the winged feet, god of runners, r on the swift ApbllO; Like the Smooth movement' of a coursing, houml is the long, even stride of Ladas. while the white arms swinging al ternately and the lithe and even poise of the body show the effects of Phraanes s training., As theJboy xrossed the line marking the finish; easily . winner, the s-pectators thronged about him, and inquiries s to his' name and blood -were on every tongue. The ' Elders', the member of the Council,' and all the notables of the city pressed up ti congratulate one whose speed surpassed any ever seen on a Galatian course.-.. '" Long months passed irtonths to Ladas of the sternest training and the most rigorous practice. 7 At last came the eve of the one hundred and thirty first Olvmpiad, and the little city of Olympia, ' usually so quiet, that stood near the sacred groves ' and famed course, in a lonely corner of Hellas, was,. alive With the vast cfowd of visitors, who were thronging its streets, during the-tracettf God'!--that heralds had. proclaimed throuehout the Gre- clan " w3rld, the sacred month of the Olympic Games. , the dim dawn would summon Ladas and Phraanes waited in light for the trumpet-note which the former to the stadium. ; " "Thou art drawn in the third heat," said Phraanes, laying his arm. across the boy's shoulders, all atremble under the terrible strain of suspense. "Run f At the first throb of sound on the air, Ladas, with a panther-like spring, is off and into his stride an instant before his startled opponents.. A third of the way down the course he is leading by over his own length. AS the warm blood tushes through the veins' of the Galatian boy, it carries away all the fear, all the oppression, that has weighed upon him. , , Little by little he slackens his speed to spare himself for what is to be the final struggle with ' i'haedoj and now the mad rush of the two on the right brings them up beside 1 Ladas. But soon the straining effort of the two on the right begin to tell, and slovJyhey draw away from the boy until there is a clear space between. . Ladas holds the same pace, watching only that the little gap shall not widen. Still Phaedo makes no sign. though near enough for Ladas to hear his rapid hrpathiho- close at his shoulder: nor. thou eh the , boy lags all that he dares, wilt Phaedo draw tip side thou that with the ordinarv uDricht start such as ail iby side: and Ladas knows that to-day the. race is will use. There are none against thee save new men between Athens and Galatia, for already his prac rom distant provinces; but in the last heat Phaedo tised eyes see the tiny fatal falter in the stride of 1 . . V? .J ' 1 fl i t -. . v V'4' -f.Vi - r :'' : th 1 7 I A 1 1 t 4 . t V'- tjh ' 1) , 1". '. t jt ? ! i 1 4 "ITS A HARD LAW." CRlED THE HOY FACING THR ARCHON UNFLINCHINGLY of Athens will push thee hard, for thi is but thy first year, and-sixteen wreaths has he won at gamesOlympic. Pythian, Nenieart and IsHmian. Thou must needs remember every wile that I have taught thee to touch the marble at the finish in front of him. See to it that" The great voice of the herald sounded along the hillside for the third heat, and the first name was "Ladas of the province of Galatia." lie faced up the stadium as the starter cave the first word, and assumed the position for the Gre-, flan start, in accordance with Phraanes's direction. Bending lithely forward, he darted off at the 'last signal a little ahead of the other runners, despite the unfamiliar method of starting. Before he had taken half a score of strides, by that indefinable In stinct that comes to a runner, he knew, without glancing back, that he was easily drawing away from the others. . Imperceptibly he slackened his pace when once assured that his opponents were running at the limit of their speed, and foot by foot they crept up. The awkward fling, tooi of their limb he imitated some what, disguised the smooth, rhythmic beat of his feet by , clumsy .iflovements, ran as if greatly ex hausted, and finaU staggered in, a winner by a few inohssi .... ' f Now came a brief interval pf rest, while the trainers with supple hands and limpid oil rubbed out the last vestige of fatigue from limbs on whose speed that day depended the honor of a city. . As the mighty-voiced herald called forth the names and citiet of the heat-wirtners they ranged them selves at the start In the order of their names. First was a Thessalian, a heavy-featured sturdily Jiuilt mountaineer; next to him stood a Cretan, s1y aced and treacherous-eyed; Slow runners both, who .chanced to ; be the swiftest in their heats. Then came Ladas, with Phaedo of 'Athens next. Side by side With Phaedo was the Wolf Of Sparta, As the runners -ranged themselves in line there sounded the trumpet-note that warned, the runners, to take their' positions, . Instantly the line bent for i tarMiKrl MA 11 ftA ilia jtrl.! 1an41 ivat naif iv ia i mc tUHUCl Ui ValdUfl cutu vw j - to stride forth at the last trumoet-call. Ladas'alone crouched at the feet of, the Other, both hands white to the knuckles withrthe pressitie on the starting llne. 'aild eVery trtiiscle lit his lithe body tense tr - 1 u:. r- .i i . - -- , t ... . . nw" iiiui i"i wiu a i c nrsi souna 01 incirumpci. slant that .teems hours of struggling, the two Waver side by side, and there with a last desperate-effort the -boy of Galatia draws ahead and touches the goal-slab even while the foot of the Athenian hangs above itv V - - - x. With themightyhout of an assembled world be- gins the '-Olympiad of Ladas. Ccfyrt'zkl bjt Tht Century Cotntonjr. li I I li how l J ti'&tr v, THE HUMAN PYRAMID. the leaders. , That desperate struggling from the very start Is beginning to tell, and the life and dash at the finish which wins a race has gone. " - And now the last third of the race is at hand. Scarcely have they swung by it when, with a , mad rush, Phaedo shoots past Ladas, running a Ladas never saw man run before, eyes fixed on the goal, flaminR under his heavy brows like altar-coals, but right at his heel comes the rapid footfall of the Galatian boy. Clearer and clearer it sounds, run as he will. Every faculty and fiber in Ladas's mind and body .is concf ntrated on keeping unbroken the long, swift Stride that Phraanes has taught him, which eats up the ground like fire. With elbows held well in. and swinging arms that lengthen every stride, he wastes no breath shouting invocations. A single slip or falter will be fatal now, with the goal distant but a few short lengths, and as his !imb weaken under the terrible strain, the strength of his will sustains hi flagging muscles, and still the flying feet spurn the loose sand with never a break in their motion. " ' Deep down within himself Ladas feels yet remain ing an iota of reserve power. The temptation is al most irresistible to make his effort now, ,now to end the suspense and decide the race; but his mind come the words of crafty old Phraanes: "With a stout heart and cool head the race can be won in the very last stride," and the supreme moment is delayed. And now a mad shout from the crowded seats of the Athenians roars forth across the stadium. as they see Phaedo in the lead at the very finish. "Athene! Athene!" they shout. "Pallas Athene gives us the race!" The cheers of the little group of Galatians are Swallowed up in the great cry, but Ladas heed ho applause to nerve him on. Now, at the yery last, the wan, beautiful face of his mother is before him, and he remembers the two, lonely at home, waiting, waiting for the outcome of this day. for their clorv or for their fim ai. readyj the goal is scarce three strides away, and Phaedo . laughs with triumph, when ' suddenly the .... A. T aJ.. -1 . , ... a . , J . envois up even witn nis. jfor an tn- OH, THIS IS EASY t OH, LOOK AT THOSE CLOWNS I HEY, STOP YOUR PUSHING THERE 1 : NOW, SOMEBODY MAKE HIM CO ! .CONCLUSION; A SEE-SAW PERFORMANCE BY THE ENTIRE COSir 1N7
