TIH5 OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 3
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Samuel Scoville, Jr.
CIRCUS-TIME.
(THK EFFECT ON THE BOYS OF SOYVILLE)
.MOP ; ox
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Mr
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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
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"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
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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
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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.
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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