desire, greed, hatred, envy, jealousy, all others. Thou breedst them
all, O love, thou art all-potent, all-wise, infinite, eternal! Thy power
is felt by mortals in all ages, all climes, all conditions. Behold!

A picture came into the maiden's eye: a broad and fertile plain, tender
verdure, soft blue sky overhead, with white billowy clouds nearing the
horizon like great airy, snow-capped mountains. The soft warm breeze
from the south whispered faintly through the tall, slender palms and
sent a thrill of joy through the frisky lambkins, who capered by the
sides of their graver dams. And there among the riches of the flock
stood Laban, haughty, stern, yet withal a kindly gleam in the glance
which rested upon the group about him. Hoary the beard that rested upon
his breast, but steady the hand that stretched in blessing. Leah, the
tender-eyed, the slighted, is there; and Rachel, young and beautiful and
blushing beneath the ardent gaze of her handsome lover. "And Jacob loved
Rachel, and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel, thy younger
daughter."

How different the next scene! Heaven's wrath burst loose upon a single
community. Fire, the red-winged demon with brazen throat wide opened,
hangs his brooding wings upon an erstwhile happy city. Hades has climbed
through the crater of Vesuvius, and leaps in fiendish waves along the
land. Few the souls escaping, and God have mercy upon those who stumble
through the blinding darkness, made more torturingly hideous by the
intermittent flashes of lurid light. And yet there come three, whom the
darkness seems not to deter, nor obstacles impede. Only a blind person,
accustomed to constant darkness, and familiarized with these streets
could walk that way. Nearer they come, a burst of flames thrown into the
inky firmament by impish hands, reveals Glaucus, supporting the
half-fainting Ione, following Nydia, frail, blind, flower-loving Nydia,