A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder James De Mille

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that I felt.
"It was honor to those brave men," said she.
"Honor!" said I. "What! to kill them?"
"Yes," said she; "it is so with these people; with them death is the
highest blessing. They all love death and seek after it. To die for
another is immortal glory. To kill the wounded was to show that they
had died for others. The wounded wished it themselves. You saw how
they all sought after death. These people were too generous and
kind-hearted to refuse to kill them after they had received wounds."
At this my perplexity grew deeper than ever, for such an
explanation as this only served to make the mystery greater.
"Here," said she, "no one understands what it is to fear death.
They all love it and long for it; but everyone wishes above all to
die for others. This is their highest blessing. To die a natural
death in bed is avoided if possible."
All this was incomprehensible.
"Tell me, Almah," I said--"you hate darkness as I do--do you not
fear death?"
"I fear it above all things," said Almah. "To me it is the horror
of life; it is the chief of terrors."
"So it is with me," said I. "In my country we call death the King
of Terrors."
"Here," said Almah, "they call death the Lord of Joy."
Not long after, the Kohen came in, looking as quiet, as gentle,
and as amiable as ever. He showed some curiosity about my rifle,
which he called a sepet-ram, or "rod of thunder." Almah also
showed curiosity. I did not care to explain the process of loading
it to the Kohen, though Almah had seen me load it in the galley,
and I left him to suppose that it was used in some mysterious way.
I cautioned him not to handle it carelessly, but found that this