Page:The Diothas, or, A far look ahead (IA diothasorfarlook01macn).pdf/330

 from about the middle of the third chiliad; that is, for about sixty centuries. Some could go a few centuries farther back, but none, with any certainty, beyond the beginning of the second chiliad. This chiliad was regarded as the ultima Thule of accurate research, a region enveloped in the misleading mists of uncertainty, and beset with the reefs and quicksands of genealogical myth.

Deuro Frilaz was one of those adventurous spirits that sometimes carried research into these misty centuries. Through him I became acquainted with the history of the Diothas, and the difficulty of tracing the line for more than two generations beyond the famous Esna. This was largely owing to the change of name in the female line at every generation before that epoch. I insensibly caught some of my informant's enthusiasm. Guided by his hints as to the proper line of research, I entered upon an investigation for which I possessed peculiar advantages. Favored by a lucky accident, I was so fortunate as to light upon a clew that, carefully followed up, with the aid of Deuro, enabled me to carry back the line of Diotha for nearly two centuries more.

Deuro was delighted. What was far more precious to me, however, was the proud delight expressed by Reva at my success in the solution of a problem that had baffled the zeal and acuteness of so many before me. After giving me an account of a gathering of all the Diothas of the neighborhood at their house, to bear read the phonographic transcript of Deuro's report, she went on to say,—

"Ulmene, Ialma, and I, by the vote of all present,