Three short works
The Dance of Death, The Legend of Saint Julian the Hospitaller, A Simple Soul
NERO.
Die! I have scarce begun to live! Oh, what great deeds I should accomplish--deeds that should make Olympus tremble! I would fill up the bed of hoary ocean and speed across it in a triumphal car. I would still live--would see the sun once more, the Tiber, the Campagna, the Circus on the golden sands. Ah! let me live!
DEATH.
I will give thee a mantle for the tomb, and an eternal bed that shall be softer and more peaceful than the Imperial couch.
NERO.
Yet, I am loth to die.
DEATH.
Die, then!
[He gathers up the shroud, lying beside him on the ground, and bears away Nero--wrapped in its folds.]
THE LEGEND OF SAINT JULIAN THE HOSPITALLER
CHAPTER I
THE CURSE
Julian's father and mother dwelt in a castle built on the slope of a hill, in the heart of the woods.
The towers at its four corners had pointed roofs covered with leaden tiles, and the foundation rested upon
