. The sorceress of Rome. Book the Second he Sorceress 199 As I came through the desert, thus it wasAs I came through the desert: I was twain;Two selves distinct, that cannot join stood apart and knew but could not stir,And watched the other stark in swoon and her;And she came on and never turned aside,Between such sun and moon and roaring tide:And as she came more near,My soul grew mad with fear. —-James Thomson, 200 CHAPTER I THE MEETING. OT many days after, in the stillnoontide of mellow autumn, asmall band of horsemen drewtowards Rome. They rode alongthe Via Appia, between theanci
. The sorceress of Rome. Book the Second he Sorceress 199 As I came through the desert, thus it wasAs I came through the desert: I was twain;Two selves distinct, that cannot join stood apart and knew but could not stir,And watched the other stark in swoon and her;And she came on and never turned aside,Between such sun and moon and roaring tide:And as she came more near,My soul grew mad with fear. —-James Thomson, 200 CHAPTER I THE MEETING. OT many days after, in the stillnoontide of mellow autumn, asmall band of horsemen drewtowards Rome. They rode alongthe Via Appia, between theancient tombs; all about them,undulant to the far horizon,stretched a brown wildernessdotted with ruins. Ruins ofvillas, of farms, of temples,with here and there a church or a monastery, that told of thenewer time. Olives in scant patches, a lost vineyard, a speckof tilled soil, proved that men still laboured amid this vast andawful silence, but rarely did a human figure meet the groimd and stagnant poots lay on either hand, causingthem to glance sadly at those great aqueducts, which had inbygone ages carried water from the hills into Rome. They rode in silence, tired with their journey, occupied withheavy or anxious thoughts. Otto, King of the Germans,impatient to arrive, was generally a little ahead of the rest ofthe company. The pallor of his smooth and classic face wasenhanced by the coarse military cloak, dark and travel-stained,
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