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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of Moon of Israel, by H. Rider Haggard
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: Moon of Israel
+
+Author: H. Rider Haggard
+
+Release Date: October, 2001 [eBook #2856]
+[Most recently updated: January 23, 2022]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+Produced by: John Bickers, Dagny, Emma Dudding and David Widger
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOON OF ISRAEL ***
+
+
+
+
+Moon of Israel
+
+by H. Rider Haggard
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER I. SCRIBE ANA COMES TO TANIS
+CHAPTER II. THE BREAKING OF THE CUP
+CHAPTER III. USERTI
+CHAPTER IV. THE COURT OF BETROTHAL
+CHAPTER V. THE PROPHECY
+CHAPTER VI. THE LAND OF GOSHEN
+CHAPTER VII. THE AMBUSH
+CHAPTER VIII. SETI COUNSELS PHARAOH
+CHAPTER IX. THE SMITING OF AMON
+CHAPTER X. THE DEATH OF PHARAOH
+CHAPTER XI. THE CROWNING OF AMENMESES
+CHAPTER XII. THE MESSAGE OF JABEZ
+CHAPTER XIII. THE RED NILE
+CHAPTER XIV. KI COMES TO MEMPHIS
+CHAPTER XV. THE NIGHT OF FEAR
+CHAPTER XVI. JABEZ SELLS HORSES
+CHAPTER XVII. THE DREAM OF MERAPI
+CHAPTER XVIII. THE CROWNING OF MERAPI
+
+
+
+
+
+
+AUTHOR’S NOTE
+
+
+This book suggests that the real Pharaoh of the Exodus was not Meneptah
+or Merenptah, son of Rameses the Great, but the mysterious usurper,
+Amenmeses, who for a year or two occupied the throne between the death
+of Meneptah and the accession of his son the heir-apparent, the
+gentle-natured Seti II.
+
+Of the fate of Amenmeses history says nothing; he may well have perished
+in the Red Sea or rather the Sea of Reeds, for, unlike those of Meneptah
+and the second Seti, his body has not been found.
+
+Students of Egyptology will be familiar with the writings of the scribe
+and novelist Anana, or Ana as he is here called.
+
+It was the Author’s hope to dedicate this story to Sir Gaston Maspero,
+K.C.M.G., Director of the Cairo Museum, with whom on several occasions
+he discussed its plot some years ago. Unhappily, however, weighed down
+by one of the bereavements of the war, this great Egyptologist died in
+the interval between its writing and its publication. Still, since Lady
+Maspero informs him that such is the wish of his family, he adds the
+dedication which he had proposed to offer to that eminent writer and
+student of the past.
+
+
+
+Dear Sir Gaston Maspero,
+
+
+
+When you assured me as to a romance of mine concerning ancient Egypt,
+that it was so full of the “inner spirit of the old Egyptians”
+that, after kindred efforts of your own and a lifetime of study, you
+could not conceive how it had been possible for it to spring from the
+brain of a modern man, I thought your verdict, coming from such a
+judge, one of the greatest compliments that ever I received. It is this
+opinion of yours indeed which induces me to offer you another tale of a
+like complexion. Especially am I encouraged thereto by a certain
+conversation between us in Cairo, while we gazed at the majestic
+countenance of the Pharaoh Meneptah, for then it was, as you may
+recall, that you said you thought the plan of this book probable and
+that it commended itself to your knowledge of those dim days.
+
+With gratitude for your help and kindness and the sincerest homage to
+your accumulated lore concerning the most mysterious of all the
+perished peoples of the earth,
+
+Believe me to remain
+
+Your true admirer,
+
+H. Rider Haggard.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+SCRIBE ANA COMES TO TANIS
+
+
+This is the story of me, Ana the scribe, son of Meri, and of certain of
+the days that I have spent upon the earth. These things I have written
+down now that I am very old in the reign of Rameses, the third of that
+name, when Egypt is once more strong and as she was in the ancient
+time. I have written them before death takes me, that they may be
+buried with me in death, for as my spirit shall arise in the hour of
+resurrection, so also these my words may arise in their hour and tell
+to those who shall come after me upon the earth of what I knew upon the
+earth. Let it be as Those in heaven shall decree. At least I write and
+what I write is true.
+
+I tell of his divine Majesty whom I loved and love as my own soul, Seti
+Meneptah the second, whose day of birth was my day of birth, the Hawk
+who has flown to heaven before me; of Userti the Proud, his queen, she
+who afterwards married his divine Majesty, Saptah, whom I saw laid in
+her tomb at Thebes. I tell of Merapi, who was named Moon of Israel, and
+of her people, the Hebrews, who dwelt for long in Egypt and departed
+thence, having paid us back in loss and shame for all the good and ill
+we gave them. I tell of the war between the gods of Egypt and the god
+of Israel, and of much that befell therein.
+
+Also I, the King’s Companion, the great scribe, the beloved of the
+Pharaohs who have lived beneath the sun with me, tell of other men and
+matters. Behold! is it not written in this roll? Read, ye who shall
+find it in the days unborn, if your gods have given you skill. Read, O
+children of the future, and learn the secrets of that past which to you
+is so far away and yet in truth so near.
+
+As it chanced, although the Prince Seti and I were born upon the same
+day and therefore, like the other mothers of gentle rank whose children
+saw the light upon that day, my mother received Pharaoh’s gift and I
+received the title of Royal Twin in Ra, never did I set eyes upon the
+divine Prince Seti until the thirtieth birthday of both of us. All of
+which happened thus.
+
+In those days the great Pharaoh, Rameses the second, and after him his
+son Meneptah who succeeded when he was already old, since the mighty
+Rameses was taken to Osiris after he had counted one hundred risings of
+the Nile, dwelt for the most part at the city of Tanis in the desert,
+whereas I dwelt with my parents at the ancient, white-walled city of
+Memphis on the Nile. At times Meneptah and his court visited Memphis,
+as also they visited Thebes, where this king lies in his royal tomb
+to-day. But save on one occasion, the young Prince Seti, the
+heir-apparent, the Hope of Egypt, came not with them, because his
+mother, Asnefert, did not favour Memphis, where some trouble had
+befallen her in youth—they say it was a love matter that cost the
+lover his life and her a sore heart—and Seti stayed with his mother
+who would not suffer him out of sight of her eyes.
+
+Once he came indeed when he was fifteen years of age, to be proclaimed
+to the people as son of his father, as Son of the Sun, as the future
+wearer of the Double Crown, and then we, his twins in Ra—there were
+nineteen of us who were gently born—were called by name to meet him
+and to kiss his royal feet. I made ready to go in a fine new robe
+embroidered in purple with the name of Seti and my own. But on that
+very morning by the gift of some evil god I was smitten with spots all
+over my face and body, a common sickness that affects the young. So it
+happened that I did not see the Prince, for before I was well again he
+had left Memphis.
+
+Now my father Meri was a scribe of the great temple of Ptah, and I was
+brought up to his trade in the school of the temple, where I copied
+many rolls and also wrote out Books of the Dead which I adorned with
+paintings. Indeed, in this business I became so clever that, after my
+father went blind some years before his death, I earned enough to keep
+him, and my sisters also until they married. Mother I had none, for she
+was gathered to Osiris while I was still very little. So life went on
+from year to year, but in my heart I hated my lot. While I was still a
+boy there rose up in me a desire—not to copy what others had written,
+but to write what others should copy. I became a dreamer of dreams.
+Walking at night beneath the palm-trees upon the banks of the Nile I
+watched the moon shining upon the waters, and in its rays I seemed to
+see many beautiful things. Pictures appeared there which were different
+from any that I saw in the world of men, although in them were men and
+women and even gods.
+
+Of these pictures I made stories in my heart and at last, although that
+was not for some years, I began to write these stories down in my spare
+hours. My sisters found me doing so and told my father, who scolded me
+for such foolishness which he said would never furnish me with bread
+and beer. But still I wrote on in secret by the light of the lamp in my
+chamber at night. Then my sisters married, and one day my father died
+suddenly while he was reciting prayers in the temple. I caused him to
+be embalmed in the best fashion and buried with honour in the tomb he
+had made ready for himself, although to pay the costs I was obliged to
+copy Books of the Dead for nearly two years, working so hard that I
+found no time for the writing of stories.
+
+When at length I was free from debt I met a maiden from Thebes with a
+beautiful face that always seemed to smile, and she took my heart from
+my breast into her own. In the end, after I returned from fighting in
+the war against the Nine Bow Barbarians, to which I was summoned like
+other men, I married her. As for her name, let it be, I will not think
+of it even to myself. We had one child, a little girl which died within
+two years of her birth, and then I learned what sorrow can mean to man.
+At first my wife was sad, but her grief departed with time and she
+smiled again as she used to do. Only she said that she would bear no
+more children for the gods to take. Having little to do she began to go
+about the city and make friends whom I did not know, for of these, being
+a beautiful woman, she found many. The end of it was that she departed
+back to Thebes with a soldier whom I had never seen, for I was always
+working at home thinking of the babe who was dead and how happiness is
+a bird that no man can snare, though sometimes, of its own will, it
+flies in at his window-place.
+
+It was after this that my hair went white before I had counted thirty
+years.
+
+Now, as I had none to work for and my wants were few and simple, I found
+more time for the writing of stories which, for the most part, were
+somewhat sad. One of these stories a fellow scribe borrowed from me and
+read aloud to a company, whom it pleased so much that there were many
+who asked leave to copy it and publish it abroad. So by degrees I
+became known as a teller of tales, which tales I caused to be copied
+and sold, though out of them I made but little. Still my fame grew till
+on a day I received a message from the Prince Seti, my twin in Ra,
+saying that he had read certain of my writings which pleased him much
+and that it was his wish to look upon my face. I thanked him humbly by
+the messenger and answered that I would travel to Tanis and wait upon
+his Highness. First, however, I finished the longest story which I had
+yet written. It was called the Tale of Two Brothers, and told how the
+faithless wife of one of them brought trouble on the other, so that he
+was killed. Of how, also, the just gods brought him to life again, and
+many other matters. This story I dedicated to his Highness, the Prince
+Seti, and with it in the bosom of my robe I travelled to Tanis, having
+hidden about me a sum of gold that I had saved.
+
+So I came to Tanis at the beginning of winter and, walking to the palace
+of the Prince, boldly demanded an audience. But now my troubles began,
+for the guards and watchmen thrust me from the doors. In the end I
+bribed them and was admitted to the antechambers, where were merchants,
+jugglers, dancing-women, officers, and many others, all of them, it
+seemed, waiting to see the Prince; folk who, having nothing to do,
+pleased themselves by making mock of me, a stranger. When I had mixed
+with them for several days, I gained their friendship by telling to
+them one of my stories, after which I was always welcome among them.
+Still I could come no nearer to the Prince, and as my store of money
+was beginning to run low, I bethought me that I would return to
+Memphis.
+
+One day, however, a long-bearded old man, with a gold-tipped wand of
+office, who had a bull’s head embroidered on his robe, stopped in
+front of me and, calling me a white-headed crow, asked me what I was
+doing hopping day by day about the chambers of the palace. I told him
+my name and business and he told me his, which it seemed was Pambasa,
+one of the Prince’s chamberlains. When I asked him to take me to the
+Prince, he laughed in my face and said darkly that the road to his
+Highness’s presence was paved with gold. I understood what he meant
+and gave him a gift which he took as readily as a cock picks corn,
+saying that he would speak of me to his master and that I must come
+back again.
+
+I came thrice and each time that old cock picked more corn. At last I
+grew enraged and, forgetting where I was, began to shout at him and
+call him a thief, so that folks gathered round to listen. This seemed
+to frighten him. At first he looked towards the door as though to
+summon the guard to thrust me out; then changed his mind, and in a
+grumbling voice bade me follow him. We went down long passages, past
+soldiers who stood at watch in them still as mummies in their coffins,
+till at length we came to some broidered curtains. Here Pambasa
+whispered to me to wait, and passed through the curtains which he left
+not quite closed, so that I could see the room beyond and hear all that
+took place there.
+
+It was a small room like to that of any scribe, for on the tables were
+palettes, pens of reed, ink in alabaster vases, and sheets of papyrus
+pinned upon boards. The walls were painted, not as I was wont to paint
+the Books of the Dead, but after the fashion of an earlier time, such
+as I have seen in certain ancient tombs, with pictures of wild fowl
+rising from the swamps and of trees and plants as they grow. Against
+the walls hung racks in which were papyrus rolls, and on the hearth
+burned a fire of cedar-wood.
+
+By this fire stood the Prince, whom I knew from his statues. His years
+appeared fewer than mine although we were born upon the same day, and
+he was tall and thin, very fair also for one of our people, perhaps
+because of the Syrian blood that ran in his veins. His hair was
+straight and brown like to that of northern folk who come to trade in
+the markets of Egypt, and his eyes were grey rather than black, set
+beneath somewhat prominent brows such as those of his father, Meneptah.
+His face was sweet as a woman’s, but made curious by certain wrinkles
+which ran from the corners of the eyes towards the ears. I think that
+these came from the bending of the brow in thought, but others say that
+they were inherited from an ancestress on the female side. Bakenkhonsu
+my friend, the old prophet who served under the first Seti and died but
+the other day, having lived a hundred and twenty years, told me that he
+knew her before she was married, and that she and her descendant, Seti,
+might have been twins.
+
+In his hand the Prince held an open roll, a very ancient writing as I,
+who am skilled in such matters that have to do with my trade, knew from
+its appearance. Lifting his eyes suddenly from the study of this roll,
+he saw the chamberlain standing before him.
+
+“You came at a good time, Pambasa,” he said in a voice that was
+very soft and pleasant, and yet most manlike. “You are old and
+doubtless wise. Say, are you wise, Pambasa?”
+
+“Yes, your Highness. I am wise like your Highness’s uncle, Khaemuas
+the mighty magician, whose sandals I used to clean when I was young.”
+
+“Is it so? Then why are you so careful to hide your wisdom which
+should be open like a flower for us poor bees to suck at? Well, I am
+glad to learn that you are wise, for in this book of magic that I have
+been reading I find problems worthy of Khaemuas the departed, whom I
+only remember as a brooding, black-browed man much like my cousin,
+Amenmeses his son—save that no one can call Amenmeses wise.”
+
+“Why is your Highness glad?”
+
+“Because you, being by your own account his equal, can now interpret
+the matter as Khaemuas would have done. You know, Pambasa, that had he
+lived he would have been Pharaoh in place of my father. He died too
+soon, however, which proves to me that there was something in this tale
+of his wisdom, since no really wise man would ever wish to be Pharaoh
+of Egypt.”
+
+Pambasa stared with his mouth open.
+
+“Not wish to be Pharaoh!” he began—
+
+“Now, Pambasa the Wise,” went on the Prince as though he had not
+heard him. “Listen. This old book gives a charm ‘to empty the heart
+of its weariness,’ that it says is the oldest and most common sickness
+in the world from which only kittens, some children, and mad people are
+free. It appears that the cure for this sickness, so says the book, is
+to stand on the top of the pyramid of Khufu at midnight at that moment
+when the moon is largest in the whole year, and drink from the cup of
+dreams, reciting meanwhile a spell written here at length in language
+which I cannot read.”
+
+“There is no virtue in spells, Prince, if anyone can read them.”
+
+“And no use, it would seem, if they can be read by none.”
+
+“Moreover, how can any one climb the pyramid of Khufu, which is
+covered with polished marble, even in the day let alone at midnight,
+your Highness, and there drink of the cup of dreams?”
+
+“I do not know, Pambasa. All I know is that I weary of this
+foolishness, and of the world. Tell me of something that will lighten
+my heart, for it is heavy.”
+
+“There are jugglers without, Prince, one of whom says he can throw a
+rope into the air and climb up it until he vanishes into heaven.”
+
+“When he has done it in your sight, Pambasa, bring him to me, but not
+before. Death is the only rope by which we climb to heaven—or be
+lowered into hell. For remember there is a god called Set, after whom,
+like my great-grandfather, I am named by the way—the priests alone
+know why—as well as one called Osiris.”
+
+“Then there are the dancers, Prince, and among them some very finely
+made girls, for I saw them bathing in the palace lake, such as would
+have delighted the heart of your grandfather, the great Rameses.”
+
+“They do not delight my heart who want no naked women prancing here.
+Try again, Pambasa.”
+
+“I can think of nothing else, Prince. Yet, stay. There is a scribe
+without named Ana, a thin, sharp-nosed man who says he is your
+Highness’s twin in Ra.”
+
+“Ana!” said the Prince. “He of Memphis who writes stories?
+Why did you not say so before, you old fool? Let him enter at once, at
+once.”
+
+Now hearing this I, Ana, walked through the curtains and prostrated
+myself, saying,
+
+“I am that scribe, O Royal Son of the Sun.”
+
+“How dare you enter the Prince’s presence without being
+bidden——” began Pambasa, but Seti broke in with a stern
+voice, saying,
+
+“And how dare you, Pambasa, keep this learned man waiting at my door
+like a dog? Rise, Ana, and cease from giving me titles, for we are not
+at Court. Tell me, how long have you been in Tanis?”
+
+“Many days, O Prince,” I answered, “seeking your presence and
+in vain.”
+
+“And how did you win it at last?”
+
+“By payment, O Prince,” I answered innocently, “as it seems
+is usual. The doorkeepers——”
+
+“I understand,” said Seti, “the doorkeepers! Pambasa, you
+will ascertain what amount this learned scribe has disbursed to ‘the
+doorkeepers’ and refund him double. Begone now and see to the
+matter.”
+
+So Pambasa went, casting a piteous look at me out of the corner of his
+eye.
+
+“Tell me,” said Seti when he was gone, “you who must be wise
+in your fashion, why does a Court always breed thieves?”
+
+“I suppose for the same reason, O Prince, that a dog’s back breeds
+fleas. Fleas must live, and there is the dog.”
+
+“True,” he answered, “and these palace fleas are not paid
+enough. If ever I have power I will see to it. They shall be fewer but
+better fed. Now, Ana, be seated. I know you though you do not know me,
+and already I have learned to love you through your writings. Tell me
+of yourself.”
+
+So I told him all my simple tale, to which he listened without a word,
+and then asked me why I had come to see him. I replied that it was
+because he had sent for me, which he had forgotten; also because I
+brought him a story that I had dared to dedicate to him. Then I laid
+the roll before him on the table.
+
+“I am honoured,” he said in a pleased voice, “I am greatly
+honoured. If I like it well, your story shall go to the tomb with me for
+my Ka to read and re-read until the day of resurrection, though first I
+will study it in the flesh. Do you know this city of Tanis, Ana?”
+
+I answered that I knew little of it, who had spent my time here haunting
+the doors of his Highness.
+
+“Then with your leave I will be your guide through it this night, and
+afterwards we will sup and talk.”
+
+I bowed and he clapped his hands, whereon a servant appeared, not
+Pambasa, but another.
+
+“Bring two cloaks,” said the Prince, “I go abroad with the
+scribe, Ana. Let a guard of four Nubians, no more, follow us, but at a
+distance and disguised. Let them wait at the private entrance.”
+
+The man bowed and departed swiftly.
+
+Almost immediately a black slave appeared with two long hooded cloaks,
+such as camel-drivers wear, which he helped us to put on. Then, taking
+a lamp, he led us from the room through a doorway opposite to that by
+which I had entered, down passages and a narrow stair that ended in a
+courtyard. Crossing this we came to a wall, great and thick, in which
+were double doors sheathed with copper that opened mysteriously at our
+approach. Outside of these doors stood four tall men, also wrapped in
+cloaks, who seemed to take no note of us. Still, looking back when we
+had gone a little way, I observed that they were following us, as
+though by chance.
+
+How fine a thing, thought I to myself, it is to be a Prince who by
+lifting a finger can thus command service at any moment of the day or
+night.
+
+Just at that moment Seti said to me:
+
+“See, Ana, how sad a thing it is to be a Prince, who cannot even stir
+abroad without notice to his household and commanding the service of a
+secret guard to spy upon his every action, and doubtless to make report
+thereof to the police of Pharaoh.”
+
+There are two faces to everything, thought I to myself again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE BREAKING OF THE CUP
+
+
+We walked down a broad street bordered by trees, beyond which were
+lime-washed, flat-roofed houses built of sun-dried brick, standing,
+each of them, in its own garden, till at length we came to the great
+market-place just as the full moon rose above the palm-trees, making
+the world almost as light as day. Tanis, or Rameses as it is also
+called, was a very fine city then, if only half the size of Memphis,
+though now that the Court has left it I hear it is much deserted. About
+this market-place stood great temples of the gods, with pylons and
+avenues of sphinxes, also that wonder of the world, the colossal statue
+of the second Rameses, while to the north upon a mound was the glorious
+palace of Pharaoh. Other palaces there were also, inhabited by the
+nobles and officers of the Court, and between them ran long streets
+where dwelt the citizens, ending, some of them, on that branch of the
+Nile by which the ancient city stood.
+
+Seti halted to gaze at these wondrous buildings.
+
+“They are very old,” he said, “but most of them, like the
+walls and those temples of Amon and Ptah, have been rebuilt in the time
+of my grandfather or since his day by the labour of Israelitish slaves
+who dwell yonder in the rich land of Goshen.”
+
+“They must have cost much gold,” I answered.
+
+“The Kings of Egypt do not pay their slaves,” remarked the Prince
+shortly.
+
+Then we went on and mingled with the thousands of the people who were
+wandering to and fro seeking rest after the business of the day. Here
+on the frontier of Egypt were gathered folk of every race; Bedouins
+from the desert, Syrians from beyond the Red Sea, merchants from the
+rich Isle of Chittim, travellers from the coast, and traders from the
+land of Punt and from the unknown countries of the north. All were
+talking, laughing and making merry, save some who gathered in circles
+to listen to a teller of tales or wandering musicians, or to watch
+women who danced half naked for gifts.
+
+Now and again the crowd would part to let pass the chariot of some noble
+or lady before which went running footmen who shouted, “Make way,
+Make way!” and laid about them with their long wands. Then came a
+procession of white-robed priests of Isis travelling by moonlight as
+was fitting for the servants of the Lady of the Moon, and bearing aloft
+the holy image of the goddess before which all men bowed and for a
+little while were silent. After this followed the corpse of some great
+one newly dead, preceded by a troop of hired mourners who rent the air
+with their lamentations as they conducted it to the quarter of the
+embalmers. Lastly, from out of one of the side streets emerged a gang
+of several hundred hook-nosed and bearded men, among whom were a few
+women, loosely roped together and escorted by a company of armed guards.
+
+“Who are these?” I asked, for I had never seen their like.
+
+“Slaves of the people of Israel who return from their labour at the
+digging of the new canal which is to run to the Red Sea,” answered the
+Prince.
+
+We stood still to watch them go by, and I noted how proudly their eyes
+flashed and how fierce was their bearing although they were but men in
+bonds, very weary too and stained by toil in mud and water. Presently
+this happened. A white-bearded man lagged behind, dragging on the line
+and checking the march. Thereupon an overseer ran up and flogged him
+with a cruel whip cut from the hide of the sea-horse. The man turned
+and, lifting a wooden spade that he carried, struck the overseer such a
+blow that he cracked his skull so that he fell down dead. Other
+overseers rushed at the Hebrew, as these Israelites were called, and
+beat him till he also fell. Then a soldier appeared and, seeing what
+had happened, drew his bronze sword. From among the throng sprang out a
+girl, young and very lovely although she was but roughly clad.
+
+Since then I have seen Merapi, Moon of Israel, as she was called, clad
+in the proud raiment of a queen, and once even of a goddess, but never,
+I think, did she look more beauteous than in this hour of her slavery.
+Her large eyes, neither blue nor black, caught the light of the moon
+and were aswim with tears. Her plenteous bronze-hued hair flowed in
+great curls over the snow-white bosom that her rough robe revealed. Her
+delicate hands were lifted as though to ward off the blows which fell
+upon him whom she sought to protect. Her tall and slender shape stood
+out against a flare of light which burned upon some market stall. She
+was beauteous exceedingly, so beauteous that my heart stood still at
+the sight of her, yes, mine that for some years had held no thought of
+woman save such as were black and evil.
+
+She cried aloud. Standing over the fallen man she appealed to the
+soldier for mercy. Then, seeing that there was none to hope for from
+him, she cast her great eyes around until they fell upon the Prince
+Seti.
+
+“Oh! Sir,” she wailed, “you have a noble air. Will you stand
+by and see my father murdered for no fault?”
+
+“Drag her off, or I smite through her,” shouted the captain, for
+now she had thrown herself down upon the fallen Israelite. The overseers
+obeyed, tearing her away.
+
+“Hold, butcher!” cried the Prince.
+
+“Who are you, dog, that dare to teach Pharaoh’s officer his
+duty?” answered the captain, smiting the Prince in the face with his
+left hand.
+
+Then swiftly he struck downwards and I saw the bronze sword pass through
+the body of the Israelite who quivered and lay still. It was all done
+in an instant, and on the silence that followed rang out the sound of a
+woman’s wail. For a moment Seti choked—with rage, I think. Then he
+spoke a single word—“Guards!”
+
+The four Nubians, who, as ordered, had kept at a distance, burst through
+the gathered throng. Ere they reached us I, who till now had stood
+amazed, sprang at the captain and gripped him by the throat. He struck
+at me with his bloody sword, but the blow, falling on my long cloak,
+only bruised me on the left thigh. Then I, who was strong in those
+days, grappled with him and we rolled together on the ground.
+
+After this there was great tumult. The Hebrew slaves burst their rope
+and flung themselves upon the soldiers like dogs upon a jackal,
+battering them with their bare fists. The soldiers defended themselves
+with swords; the overseers plied their hide whips; women screamed, men
+shouted. The captain whom I had seized began to get the better of me;
+at least I saw his sword flash above me and thought that all was over.
+Doubtless it would have been, had not Seti himself dragged the man
+backwards and thus given the four Nubian guards time to seize him. Next
+I heard the Prince cry out in a ringing voice:
+
+“Hold! It is Seti, the son of Pharaoh, the Governor of Tanis, with
+whom you have to do. See,” and he threw back the hood of his cloak so
+that the moon shone upon his face.
+
+Instantly there was a great quiet. Now, first one and then another as
+the truth sunk into them, men began to fall upon their knees, and I
+heard one say in an awed voice:
+
+“The royal Son, the Prince of Egypt struck in the face by a soldier!
+Blood must pay for it.”
+
+“How is that officer named?” asked Seti, pointing to the man who
+had killed the Israelite and well-nigh killed me.
+
+Someone answered that he was named Khuaka.
+
+“Bring him to the steps of the temple of Amon,” said Seti to the
+Nubians who held him fast. “Follow me, friend Ana, if you have the
+strength. Nay, lean upon my shoulder.”
+
+So resting upon the shoulder of the Prince, for I was bruised and
+breathless, I walked with him a hundred paces or more to the steps of
+the great temple where we climbed to the platform at the head of the
+stairs. After us came the prisoner, and after him all the multitude, a
+very great number who stood upon the steps and on the flat ground
+beyond. The Prince, who was very white and quiet, sat himself down upon
+the low granite base of a tall obelisk which stood in front of the
+temple pylon, and said:
+
+“As Governor of Tanis, the City of Rameses, with power of life and
+death at all hours and in all places, I declare my Court open.”
+
+“The Royal Court is open!” cried the multitude in the accustomed
+form.
+
+“This is the case,” said the Prince. “Yonder man who is named
+Khuaka, by his dress a captain of Pharaoh’s army, is charged with the
+murder of a certain Hebrew, and with the attempted murder of Ana the
+scribe. Let witnesses be called. Bring the body of the dead man and lay
+it here before me. Bring the woman who strove to protect him, that she
+may speak.”
+
+The body was brought and laid upon the platform, its wide eyes staring
+up at the moon. Then soldiers who had gathered thrust forward the
+weeping girl.
+
+“Cease from tears,” said Seti, “and swear by Kephera the
+creator, and by Maat the goddess of truth and law, to speak nothing but
+the truth.”
+
+The girl looked up and said in a rich low voice that in some way
+reminded me of honey being poured from a jar, perhaps because it was
+thick with strangled sobs:
+
+“O Royal Son of Egypt, I cannot swear by those gods who am a daughter
+of Israel.”
+
+The Prince looked at her attentively and asked:
+
+“By what god then can you swear, O Daughter of Israel?”
+
+“By Jahveh, O Prince, whom we hold to be the one and only God, the
+Maker of the world and all that is therein.”
+
+“Then perhaps his other name is Kephera,” said the Prince with a
+little smile. “But have it as you will. Swear, then, by your god
+Jahveh.”
+
+Then she lifted both her hands above her head and said:
+
+“I, Merapi, daughter of Nathan of the tribe of Levi of the people of
+Israel, swear that I will speak the truth and all the truth in the name
+of Jahveh, the God of Israel.”
+
+“Tell us what you know of the matter of the death of this man, O
+Merapi.”
+
+“Nothing that you do not know yourself, O Prince. He who lies
+there,” and she swept her hand towards the corpse, turning her eyes
+away, “was my father, an elder of Israel. The captain Khuaka came
+when the corn was young to the Land of Goshen to choose those who
+should work for Pharaoh. He wished to take me into his house. My father
+refused because from my childhood I had been affianced to a man of
+Israel; also because it is not lawful under the law for our people to
+intermarry with your people. Then the captain Khuaka seized my father,
+although he was of high rank and beyond the age to work for Pharaoh,
+and he was taken away, as I think, because he would not suffer me to
+wed Khuaka. A while later I dreamed that my father was sick. Thrice I
+dreamed it and ran away to Tanis to visit him. But this morning I found
+him and, O Prince, you know the rest.”
+
+“Is there no more?” asked Seti.
+
+The girl hesitated, then answered:
+
+“Only this, O Prince. This man saw me with my father giving him food,
+for he was weak and overcome with the toil of digging the mud in the
+heat of the sun, he who being a noble of our people knew nothing of
+such labour from his youth. In my presence Khuaka asked my father if
+now he would give me to him. My father answered that sooner would he
+see me kissed by snakes and devoured by crocodiles. ‘I hear you,’
+answered Khuaka. ‘Learn, now, slave Nathan, before to-morrow’s sun
+arises, you shall be kissed by swords and devoured by crocodiles or
+jackals.’ ‘So be it,’ said my father, ‘but learn, O Khuaka,
+that if so, it is revealed to me who am a priest and a prophet of
+Jahveh, that before to-morrow’s sun you also shall be kissed by
+swords and of the rest we will talk at the foot of Jahveh’s
+throne.’
+
+“Afterwards, as you know, Prince, the overseer flogged my father as I
+heard Khuaka order him to do if he lagged through weariness, and then
+Khuaka killed him because my father in his madness struck the overseer
+with a mattock. I have no more to say, save that I pray that I may be
+sent back to my own people there to mourn my father according to our
+custom.”
+
+“To whom would you be sent? Your mother?”
+
+“Nay, O Prince, my mother, a lady of Syria, is dead. I will go to my
+uncle, Jabez the Levite.”
+
+“Stand aside,” said Seti. “The matter shall be seen to later.
+Appear, O Ana the Scribe. Swear the oath and tell us what you have seen
+of this man’s death, since two witnesses are needful.”
+
+So I swore and repeated all this story that I have written down.
+
+“Now, Khuaka,” said the Prince when I had finished, “have you
+aught to say?”
+
+“Only this, O Royal One,” answered the captain throwing himself
+upon his knees, “that I struck you by accident, not knowing that the
+person of your Highness was hidden in that long cloak. For this deed it
+is true that I am worthy of death, but I pray you to pardon me because
+I knew not what I did. The rest is nothing, since I only slew a
+mutinous slave of the Israelites, as such are slain every day.”
+
+“Tell me, O Khuaka, who are being tried for this man’s death and
+not for the striking of one of royal blood by chance, under which law it
+is lawful for you to kill an Israelite without trial before the
+appointed officers of Pharaoh.”
+
+“I am not learned. I do not know the law, O Prince. All that this
+woman said is false.”
+
+“At least it is not false that yonder man lies dead and that you slew
+him, as you yourself admit. Learn now, and let all Egypt learn, that
+even an Israelite may not be murdered for no offence save that of
+weariness and of paying back unearned blow with blow. Your blood shall
+answer for his blood. Soldiers! Strike off his head.”
+
+The Nubians leapt upon him, and when I looked again Khuaka’s headless
+corpse lay by the corpse of the Hebrew Nathan and their blood was
+mingled upon the steps of the temple.
+
+“The business of the Court is finished,” said the Prince.
+“Officers, see that this woman is escorted to her own people, and with
+her the body of her father for burial. See, too, upon your lives that no
+insult or harm is done to her. Scribe Ana, accompany me hence to my
+house where I would speak with you. Let guards precede and follow
+me.”
+
+He rose and all the people bowed. As he turned to go the lady Merapi
+stepped forward, and falling upon her knees, said:
+
+“O most just Prince, now and ever I am your servant.”
+
+Then we set out, and as we left the market-place on our way to the
+palace of the Prince, I heard a tumult of voices behind us, some in
+praise and some in blame of what had been done. We walked on in silence
+broken only by the measured tramp of the guards. Presently the moon
+passed behind a cloud and the world was dark. Then from the edge of the
+cloud sprang out a ray of light that lay straight and narrow above us
+on the heavens. Seti studied it a while and said:
+
+“Tell me, O Ana, of what does that moonbeam put you in mind?”
+
+“Of a sword, O Prince,” I answered, “stretched out over Egypt
+and held in the black hand of some mighty god or spirit. See, there is
+the blade from which fall little clouds like drops of blood, there is
+the hilt of gold, and look! there beneath is the face of the god. Fire
+streams from his eyebrows and his brow is black and awful. I am afraid,
+though what I fear I know not.”
+
+“You have a poet’s mind, Ana. Still, what you see I see and of this
+I am sure, that some sword of vengeance is indeed stretched out over
+Egypt because of its evil doings, whereof this light may be the symbol.
+Behold! it seems to fall upon the temples of the gods and the palace of
+Pharaoh, and to cleave them. Now it is gone and the night is as nights
+were from the beginning of the world. Come to my chamber and let us
+eat. I am weary, I need food and wine, as you must after struggling
+with that lustful murderer whom I have sent to his own place.”
+
+The guards saluted and were dismissed. We mounted to the Prince’s
+private chambers, in one of which his servants clad me in fine linen
+robes after a skilled physician of the household had doctored the
+bruises upon my thigh over which he tied a bandage spread with balm.
+Then I was led to a small dining-hall, where I found the Prince waiting
+for me as though I were some honoured guest and not a poor scribe who
+had wandered hence from Memphis with my wares. He caused me to sit down
+at his right hand and even drew up the chair for me himself, whereat I
+felt abashed. To this day I remember that leather-seated chair. The
+arms of it ended in ivory sphinxes and on its back of black wood in an
+oval was inlaid the name of the great Rameses, to whom indeed it had
+once belonged. Dishes were handed to us—only two of them and those
+quite simple, for Seti was no great eater—by a young Nubian slave of a
+ very merry face, and with them wine more delicious than any I had ever
+tasted.
+
+We ate and drank and the Prince talked to me of my business as a scribe
+and of the making of tales, which seemed to interest him very much.
+Indeed one might have thought that he was a pupil in the schools and I
+the teacher, so humbly and with such care did he weigh everything that
+I said about my art. Of matters of state or of the dreadful scene of
+blood through which we had just passed he spoke no word. At the end,
+however, after a little pause during which he held up a cup of
+alabaster as thin as an eggshell, studying the light playing through it
+on the rich red wine within, he said to me:
+
+“Friend Ana, we have passed a stirring hour together, the first
+perhaps of many, or mayhap the last. Also we were born upon the same
+day and therefore, unless the astrologers lie, as do other men—and
+women—beneath the same star. Lastly, if I may say it, I like you
+well, though I know not how you like me, and when you are in the room
+with me I feel at ease, which is strange, for I know of no other with
+whom it is so.
+
+“Now by a chance only this morning I found in some old records which I
+was studying, that the heir to the throne of Egypt a thousand years ago,
+had, and therefore, as nothing ever changes in Egypt, still has, a
+right to a private librarian for which the State, that is, the toilers
+of the land, must pay as in the end they pay for all. Some dynasties
+have gone by, it seems, since there was such a librarian, I think
+because most of the heirs to the throne could not, or did not, read.
+Also by chance I mentioned the matter to the Vizier Nehesi who grudges
+me every ounce of gold I spend, as though it were one taken out of his
+own pouch, which perhaps it is. He answered with that crooked smile of
+his:
+
+“‘Since I know well, Prince, that there is no scribe in Egypt whom
+you would suffer about you for a single month, I will set the cost of a
+librarian at the figure at which it stood in the Eleventh Dynasty upon
+the roll of your Highness’s household and defray it from the Royal
+Treasury until he is discharged.’
+
+“Therefore, Scribe Ana, I offer you this post for one month; that is
+all for which I can promise you will be paid whatever it may be, for I
+forget the sum.”
+
+“I thank you, O Prince,” I exclaimed.
+
+“Do not thank me. Indeed if you are wise you will refuse. You have met
+Pambasa. Well, Nehesi is Pambasa multiplied by ten, a rogue, a thief, a
+bully, and one who has Pharaoh’s ear. He will make your life a
+torment to you and clip every ring of gold that at length you wring out
+of his grip. Moreover the place is wearisome, and I am fanciful and
+often ill-humoured. Do not thank me, I say. Refuse; return to Memphis
+and write stories. Shun courts and their plottings. Pharaoh himself is
+but a face and a puppet through which other voices talk and other eyes
+shine, and the sceptre which he wields is pulled by strings. And if
+this is so with Pharaoh, what is the case with his son? Then there are
+the women, Ana. They will make love to you, Ana, they even do so to me,
+and I think you told me that you know something of women. Do not accept,
+go back to Memphis. I will send you some old manuscripts to copy and
+pay you whatever it is Nehesi allows for the librarian.”
+
+“Yet I accept, O Prince. As for Nehesi I fear him not at all, since at
+the worst I can write a story about him at which the world will laugh,
+and rather than that he will pay me my salary.”
+
+“You have more wisdom than I thought, Ana. It never came into my mind
+to put Nehesi in a story, though it is true I tell tales about him
+which is much the same thing.”
+
+He bent forward, leaning his head upon his hand, and ceasing from his
+bantering tone, looked me in the eyes and asked:
+
+“Why do you accept? Let me think now. It is not because you care for
+wealth if that is to be won here; nor for the pomp and show of courts;
+nor for the company of the great who really are so small. For all these
+things you, Ana, have no craving if I read your heart aright, you who
+are an artist, nothing less and nothing more. Tell me, then, why will
+you, a free man who can earn your living, linger round a throne and set
+your neck beneath the heel of princes to be crushed into the common
+mould of servitors and King’s Companions and Bearers of the
+Footstool?”
+
+“I will tell you, Prince. First, because thrones make history, as
+history makes thrones, and I think that great events are on foot in
+Egypt in which I would have my share. Secondly, because the gods bring
+gifts to men only once or twice in their lives and to refuse them is to
+offend the gods who gave them those lives to use to ends of which we
+know nothing. And thirdly”—here I hesitated.
+
+“And thirdly—out with the thirdly for, doubtless, it is the real
+reason.”
+
+“And thirdly, O Prince—well, the word sounds strangely upon a
+man’s lips—but thirdly because I love you. From the moment that my
+eyes fell upon your face I loved you as I never loved any other
+man—not even my father. I know not why. Certainly it is not because
+you are a prince.”
+
+When he heard these words Seti sat brooding and so silent that, fearing
+lest I, a humble scribe, had been too bold, I added hastily:
+
+“Let your Highness pardon his servant for his presumptuous words. It
+was his servant’s heart that spoke and not his lips.”
+
+He lifted his hand and I stopped.
+
+“Ana, my twin in Ra,” he said, “do you know that I never had
+a friend?”
+
+“A prince who has no friend!”
+
+“Never, none. Now I begin to think that I have found one. The thought
+is strange and warms me. Do you know also that when my eyes fell upon
+your face I loved you also, the gods know why. It was as though I had
+found one who was dear to me thousands of years ago but whom I had lost
+and forgotten. Perhaps this is but foolishness, or perhaps here we have
+the shadow of something great and beautiful which dwells elsewhere, in
+the place we call the Kingdom of Osiris, beyond the grave, Ana.”
+
+“Such thoughts have come to me at times, Prince. I mean that all we
+see is shadow; that we ourselves are shadows and that the realities who
+cast them live in a different home which is lit by some spirit sun that
+never sets.”
+
+The Prince nodded his head and again was silent for a while. Then he
+took his beautiful alabaster cup, and pouring wine into it, he drank a
+little and passed the cup to me.
+
+“Drink also, Ana,” he said, “and pledge me as I pledge you,
+in token that by decree of the Creator who made the hearts of men,
+henceforward our two hearts are as the same heart through good and ill,
+through triumph and defeat, till death takes one of us. Henceforward,
+Ana, unless you show yourself unworthy, I hide no thought from you.”
+
+Flushing with joy I took the cup, saying:
+
+“I add to your words, O Prince. We are one, not for this life alone
+but for all the lives to be. Death, O Prince, is, I think, but a single
+step in the pylon stair which leads at last to that dizzy height whence
+we see the face of God and hear his voice tell us what and why we
+are.”
+
+Then I pledged him, and drank, bowing, and he bowed back to me.
+
+“What shall we do with the cup, Ana, the sacred cup that has held this
+rich heart-wine? Shall I keep it? No, it no longer belongs to me. Shall
+I give it to you? No, it can never be yours alone. See, we will break
+the priceless thing.”
+
+Seizing it by its stem with all his strength he struck the cup upon the
+table. Then what seemed to me to be a marvel happened, for instead of
+shattering as I thought it surely would, it split in two from rim to
+foot. Whether this was by chance, or whether the artist who fashioned
+it in some bygone generation had worked the two halves separately and
+cunningly cemented them together, to this hour I do not know. At least
+so it befell.
+
+“This is fortunate, Ana,” said the Prince, laughing a little in his
+light way. “Now take you the half that lies nearest to you and I will
+take mine. If you die first I will lay my half upon your breast, and if
+I die first you shall do the same by me, or if the priests forbid it
+because I am royal and may not be profaned, cast the thing into my
+tomb. What should we have done had the alabaster shattered into
+fragments, Ana, and what omen should we have read in them?”
+
+“Why ask, O Prince, seeing that it has befallen otherwise?”
+
+Then I took my half, laid it against my forehead and hid it in the bosom
+of my robe, and as I did, so did Seti.
+
+So in this strange fashion the royal Seti and I sealed the holy compact
+of our brotherhood, as I think not for the first time or the last.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+USERTI
+
+
+Seti rose, stretching out his arms.
+
+“That is finished,” he said, “as everything finishes, and for
+once I am sorry. Now what next? Sleep, I suppose, in which all ends, or
+perhaps you would say all begins.”
+
+As he spoke the curtains at the end of the room were drawn and between
+them appeared the chamberlain, Pambasa, holding his gold-tipped wand
+ceremoniously before him.
+
+“What is it now, man?” asked Seti. “Can I not even sup in
+peace? Stay, before you answer tell me, do things end or begin in sleep?
+The learned Ana and I differ on the matter and would hear your wisdom.
+Bear in mind, Pambasa, that before we are born we must have slept,
+since of that time we remember nothing, and after we are dead we
+certainly seem to sleep, as any who have looked on mummies know. Now
+answer.”
+
+The chamberlain stared at the wine flask on the table as though he
+suspected his master of having drunk too much. Then in a hard official
+voice he said:
+
+“She comes! She comes! She comes, offering greetings and adoration to
+the Royal Son of Ra.”
+
+“Does she indeed?” asked Seti. “If so, why say it three
+times? And who comes?”
+
+“The high Princess, the heiress of Egypt, the daughter of Pharaoh,
+your Highness’s royal half-sister, the great lady Userti.”
+
+“Let her enter then. Ana, stand you behind me. If you grow weary and I
+give leave you can depart; the slaves will show you your
+sleeping-place.”
+
+Pambasa went, and presently through the curtain appeared a royal-looking
+lady splendidly apparelled. She was accompanied by four waiting women
+who fell back on the threshold and were no more seen. The Prince
+stepped forward, took both her hands in his and kissed her on the brow,
+then drew back again, after which they stood a moment looking at each
+other. While they remained thus I studied her who was known throughout
+the land as the “Beautiful Royal Daughter,” but whom till now I had
+never seen. In truth I did not think her beautiful, although even had
+she been clad in a peasant’s robe I should have been sure that she
+was royal. Her face was too hard for beauty and her black eyes, with a
+tinge of grey in them, were too small. Also her nose was too sharp and
+her lips were too thin. Indeed, had it not been for the delicately and
+finely-shaped woman’s form beneath, I might have thought that a
+prince and not a princess stood before me. For the rest in most ways she
+ resembled her half-brother Seti, though her countenance lacked the
+kindliness of his; or rather both of them resembled their father,
+Meneptah.
+
+“Greeting, Sister,” he said, eyeing her with a smile in which I
+caught a gleam of mockery. “Purple-bordered robes, emerald necklace
+and enamelled crown of gold, rings and pectoral, everything except a
+sceptre—why are you so royally arrayed to visit one so humble as your
+loving brother? You come like sunlight into the darkness of the
+hermit’s cell and dazzle the poor hermit, or rather hermits,” and
+he pointed to me.
+
+“Cease your jests, Seti,” she replied in a full, strong voice.
+“I wear these ornaments because they please me. Also I have supped
+with our father, and those who sit at Pharaoh’s table must be
+suitably arrayed, though I have noted that sometimes you think
+otherwise.”
+
+“Indeed. I trust that the good god, our divine parent, is well
+to-night as you leave him so early.”
+
+“I leave him because he sent me with a message to you.” She paused,
+looking at me sharply, then asked, “Who is that man? I do not know
+him.”
+
+“It is your misfortune, Userti, but one which can be mended. He is
+named Ana the Scribe, who writes strange stories of great interest
+which you would do well to read who dwell too much upon the outside of
+life. He is from Memphis and his father’s name was—I forget what.
+Ana, what was your father’s name?”
+
+“One too humble for royal ears, Prince,” I answered, “but my
+grandfather was Pentaur the poet who wrote of the deeds of the mighty
+Rameses.”
+
+“Is it so? Why did you not tell me that before? The descent should
+earn you a pension from the Court if you can extract it from Nehesi.
+Well, Userti, his grandfather’s name was Pentaur whose immortal
+verses you have doubtless read upon temple walls, where our grandfather
+was careful to publish them.”
+
+“I have—to my sorrow—and thought them poor, boastful
+stuff,” she answered coldly.
+
+“To be honest, if Ana will forgive me, so do I. I can assure you that
+his stories are a great improvement on them. Friend Ana, this is my
+sister, Userti, my father’s daughter though our mothers were not the
+same.”
+
+“I pray you, Seti, to be so good as to give me my rightful titles in
+speaking of me to scribes and other of your servants.”
+
+“Your pardon, Userti. This, Ana, is the first Lady of Egypt, the Royal
+Heiress, the Princess of the Two Lands, the High-priestess of Amon, the
+Cherished of the Gods, the half-sister of the Heir-apparent, the
+Daughter of Hathor, the Lotus Bloom of Love, the Queen to be
+of—Userti, whose queen will you be? Have you made up your mind? For
+myself I know no one worthy of so much beauty, excellence, learning
+and—what shall I add—sweetness, yes, sweetness.”
+
+“Seti,” she said stamping her foot, “if it pleases you to
+make a mock of me before a stranger, I suppose that I must submit. Send
+him away, I would speak with you.”
+
+“Make a mock of you! Oh! mine is a hard fate. When truth gushes from
+the well of my heart, I am told I mock, and when I mock, all say—he
+speaks truth. Be seated, Sister, and talk on freely. This Ana is my
+sworn friend who saved my life but now, for which deed perhaps he
+should be my enemy. His memory is excellent also and he will remember
+what you say and write it down afterwards, whereas I might forget.
+Therefore, with your leave, I will ask him to stay here.”
+
+“My Prince,” I broke in, “I pray you suffer me to go.”
+
+“My Secretary,” he answered with a note of command in his voice,
+“I pray you to remain where you are.”
+
+So I sat myself on the ground after the fashion of a scribe, having no
+choice, and the Princess sat herself on a couch at the end of the
+table, but Seti remained standing. Then the Princess said:
+
+“Since it is your will, Brother, that I should talk secrets into other
+ears than yours, I obey you. Still”—here she looked at me
+wrathfully—“let the tongue be careful that it does not repeat what
+the ears have heard, lest there should be neither ears nor tongue. My
+Brother, it has been reported to Pharaoh, while we ate together, that
+there is tumult in this town. It has been reported to him that because
+of a trouble about some base Israelite you caused one of his officers
+to be beheaded, after which there came a riot which still rages.”
+
+“Strange that truth should have come to the ears of Pharaoh so
+quickly. Now, my Sister, if he had heard it three moons hence I could
+have believed you—almost.”
+
+“Then you did behead the officer?”
+
+“Yes, I beheaded him about two hours ago.”
+
+“Pharaoh will demand an account of the matter.”
+
+“Pharaoh,” answered Seti lifting his eyes, “has no power to
+question the justice of the Governor of Tanis in the north.”
+
+“You are in error, Seti. Pharaoh has all power.”
+
+“Nay, Sister, Pharaoh is but one man among millions of other men, and
+though he speaks it is their spirit which bends his tongue, while above
+that spirit is a yet greater spirit who decrees what they shall think
+to ends of which we know nothing.”
+
+“I do not understand, Seti.”
+
+“I never thought you would, Userti, but when you have leisure, ask Ana
+here to explain the matter to you. I am sure that _he_ understands.”
+
+“Oh! I have borne enough,” exclaimed Userti rising. “Hearken
+to the command of Pharaoh, Prince Seti. It is that you wait upon him
+to-morrow in full council, at an hour before noon, there to talk with
+him of this question of the Israelitish slaves and the officer whom it
+has pleased you to kill. I came to speak other words to you also, but
+as they were for your private ear, these can bide a more fitting
+opportunity. Farewell, my Brother.”
+
+“What, are you going so soon, Sister? I wished to tell you the story
+about those Israelites, and especially of the maid whose name is—what
+was her name, Ana?”
+
+“Merapi, Moon of Israel, Prince,” I added with a groan.
+
+“About the maid called Merapi, Moon of Israel, I think the sweetest
+that ever I have looked upon, whose father the dead captain murdered in
+my sight.”
+
+“So there is a woman in the business? Well, I guessed it.”
+
+“In what business is there not a woman, Userti, even in that of a
+message from Pharaoh. Pambasa, Pambasa, escort the Princess and summon
+her servants, women everyone of them, unless my senses mock me.
+Good-night to you, O Sister and Lady of the Two Lands, and forgive
+me—that coronet of yours is somewhat awry.”
+
+At last she was gone and I rose, wiping my brow with a corner of my
+robe, and looking at the Prince who stood before the fire laughing
+softly.
+
+“Make a note of all this talk, Ana,” he said; “there is more
+in it than meets the ear.”
+
+“I need no note, Prince,” I answered; “every word is burnt
+upon my mind as a hot iron burns a tablet of wood. With reason too,
+since now her Highness will hate me for all her life.”
+
+“Much better so, Ana, than that she should pretend to love you, which
+she never would have done while you are my friend. Women oftimes
+respect those whom they hate and even will advance them because of
+policy, but let those whom they pretend to love beware. The time may
+come when you will yet be Userti’s most trusted councillor.”
+
+Now here I, Ana the Scribe, will state that in after days, when this
+same queen was the wife of Pharaoh Saptah, I did, as it chanced, become
+her most trusted councillor. Moreover, in those times, yes, and even in
+the hour of her death, she swore from the moment her eyes first fell on
+me she had known me to be true-hearted and held me in esteem as no
+self-seeker. More, I think she believed what she said, having forgotten
+that once she looked upon me as her enemy. This indeed I never was, who
+always held her in high regard and honour as a great lady who loved her
+country, though one who sometimes was not wise. But as I could not
+foresee these things on that night of long ago, I only stared at the
+Prince and said:
+
+“Oh! why did you not allow me to depart as your Highness said I might
+at the beginning? Soon or late my head will pay the price of this
+night’s work.”
+
+“Then she must take mine with it. Listen, Ana. I kept you here, not to
+vex the Princess or you, but for a good reason. You know that it is the
+custom of the royal dynasties of Egypt for kings, or those who will be
+kings, to wed their near kin in order that the blood may remain the
+purer.”
+
+“Yes, Prince, and not only among those who are royal. Still, I think
+it an evil custom.”
+
+“As I do, since the race wherein it is practised grows ever weaker in
+body and in mind; which is why, perhaps, my father is not what his
+father was and I am not what my father is.”
+
+“Also, Prince, it is hard to mingle the love of the sister and of the
+wife.”
+
+“Very hard, Ana; so hard that when it is attempted both are apt to
+vanish. Well, our mothers having been true royal wives, though hers died
+before mine was wedded by my father, Pharaoh desires that I should
+marry my half-sister, Userti, and what is worse, she desires it also.
+Moreover, the people, who fear trouble ahead in Egypt if we, who alone
+are left of the true royal race born of queens, remain apart and she
+takes another lord, or I take another wife, demand that it should be
+brought about, since they believe that whoever calls Userti the Strong
+his spouse will one day rule the land.”
+
+“Why does the Princess wish it—that she may be a queen?”
+
+“Yes, Ana, though were she to wed my cousin, Amenmeses, the son of
+Pharaoh’s elder brother Khaemuas, she might still be a queen, if I
+chose to stand aside as I would not be loth to do.”
+
+“Would Egypt suffer this, Prince?”
+
+“I do not know, nor does it matter since she hates Amenmeses, who is
+strong-willed and ambitious, and will have none of him. Also he is
+already married.”
+
+“Is there no other royal one whom she might take, Prince?”
+
+“None. Moreover she wishes me alone.”
+
+“Why, Prince?”
+
+“Because of ancient custom which she worships. Also because she knows
+me well and in her fashion is fond of me, whom she believes to be a
+gentle-minded dreamer that she can rule. Lastly, because I am the
+lawful heir to the Crown and without me to share it, she thinks that
+she would never be safe upon the Throne, especially if I should marry
+some other woman, of whom she would be jealous. It is the Throne she
+desires and would wed, not the Prince Seti, her half-brother, whom she
+takes with it to be in name her husband, as Pharaoh commands that she
+should do. Love plays no part in Userti’s breast, Ana, which makes
+her the more dangerous, since what she seeks with a cold heart of
+policy, that she will surely find.”
+
+“Then it would seem, Prince, that the cage is built about you. After
+all it is a very splendid cage and made of gold.”
+
+“Yes, Ana, yet not one in which I would live. Still, except by death
+how can I escape from the threefold chain of the will of Pharaoh, of
+Egypt, and of Userti? Oh!” he went on in a new voice, one that had in
+it both sorrow and passion, “this is a matter in which I would have
+chosen for myself who in all others must be a servant. And I may not
+choose!”
+
+“Is there perchance some other lady, Prince?”
+
+“None! By Hathor, none—at least I think not. Yet I would have been
+free to search for such a one and take her when I found her, if she were
+but a fishergirl.”
+
+“The Kings of Egypt can have large households, Prince.”
+
+“I know it. Are there not still scores whom I should call aunt and
+uncle? I think that my grandsire, Rameses, blessed Egypt with quite
+three hundred children, and in so doing in a way was wise, since thus
+he might be sure that, while the world endures, in it will flow some of
+the blood that once was his.”
+
+“Yet in life or death how will that help him, Prince? Some must beget
+the multitudes of the earth, what does it matter who these may have
+been?”
+
+“Nothing at all, Ana, since by good or evil fortune they are born.
+Therefore, why talk of large households? Though, like any man who can
+pay for it, Pharaoh may have a large household, I seek a queen who
+shall reign in my heart as well as on my throne, not a ‘large
+household,’ Ana. Oh! I am weary. Pambasa, come hither and conduct my
+secretary, Ana, to the empty room that is next to my own, the painted
+chamber which looks toward the north, and bid my slaves attend to all
+his wants as they would to mine.”
+
+“Why did you tell me you were a scribe, my lord Ana?” asked
+Pambasa, as he led me to my beautiful sleeping-place.
+
+“Because that is my trade, Chamberlain.”
+
+He looked at me, shaking his great head till the long white beard waved
+across his breast like a temple banner in the faint evening breeze, and
+answered:
+
+“You are no scribe, you are a magician who can win the love and favour
+of his Highness in an hour which others cannot do between two risings
+of the Nile. Had you said so at once, you would have been differently
+treated yonder in the hall of waiting. Forgive me therefore what I did
+in ignorance, and, my lord, I pray it may please you not to melt away
+in the night, lest my feet should answer for it beneath the sticks.”
+
+It was the fourth hour from sunrise of the following day that, for the
+first time in my life I found myself in the Court of Pharaoh standing
+with other members of his household in the train of his Highness, the
+Prince Seti. It was a very great place, for Pharaoh sat in the judgment
+hall, whereof the roof is upheld by round and sculptured columns,
+between which were set statues of Pharaohs who had been. Save at the
+throne end of the hall, where the light flowed down through
+clerestories, the vast chamber was dim almost to darkness; at least so
+it seemed to me entering there out of the brilliant sunshine. Through
+this gloom many folk moved like shadows; captains, nobles, and state
+officers who had been summoned to the Court, and among them white-robed
+and shaven priests. Also there were others of whom I took no count,
+such as Arab headmen from the desert, traders with jewels and other
+wares to sell, farmers and even peasants with petitions to present,
+lawyers and their clients, and I know not who besides, though of all
+these none were suffered to advance beyond a certain mark where the
+light began to fall. Speaking in whispers all of these folk flitted to
+and fro like bats in a tomb.
+
+We waited between two Hathor-headed pillars in one of the vestibules of
+the hall, the Prince Seti, who was clad in purple-broidered garments
+and wore upon his brow a fillet of gold from which rose the uræus or
+hooded snake, also of gold, that royal ones alone might wear, leaning
+against the base of a statue, while the rest of us stood silent behind
+him. For a time he was silent also, as a man might be whose thoughts
+were otherwhere. At length he turned and said to me:
+
+“This is weary work. Would I had asked you to bring that new tale of
+yours, Scribe Ana, that we might have read it together.”
+
+“Shall I tell you the plot of it, Prince?”
+
+“Yes. I mean, not now, lest I should forget my manners listening to
+you. Look,” and he pointed to a dark-browed, fierce-eyed man of
+middle age who passed up the hall as though he did not see us, “there
+goes my cousin, Amenmeses. You know him, do you not?”
+
+I shook my head.
+
+“Then tell me what you think of him, at once before the first judgment
+fades.”
+
+“I think he is a royal-looking lord, obstinate in mind and strong in
+body, handsome too in his way.”
+
+“All can see that, Ana. What else?”
+
+“I think,” I said in a low voice so that none might overhear,
+“that his heart is as black as his brow; that he has grown wicked with
+jealousy and hate and will do you evil.”
+
+“Can a man grow wicked, Ana? Is he not as he was born till the end? I
+do not know, nor do you. Still you are right, he is jealous and will do
+me evil if it brings him good. But tell me, which of us will triumph at
+the last?”
+
+While I hesitated what to answer I became aware that someone had joined
+us. Looking round I perceived a very ancient man clad in a white robe.
+He was broad-faced and bald-headed, and his eyes burned beneath his
+shaggy eyebrows like two coals in ashes. He supported himself on a
+staff of cedar-wood, gripping it with both hands that for thinness were
+like to those of a mummy. For a while he considered us both as though
+he were reading our souls, then said in a full and jovial voice:
+
+“Greeting, Prince.”
+
+Seti turned, looked at him, and answered:
+
+“Greeting, Bakenkhonsu. How comes it that you are still alive? When we
+parted at Thebes I made sure——”
+
+“That on your return you would find me in my tomb. Not so, Prince, it
+is I who shall live to look upon you in your tomb, yes, and on others
+who are yet to sit in the seat of Pharaoh. Why not? Ho! ho! Why not,
+seeing that I am but a hundred and seven, I who remember the first
+Rameses and have played with his grandson, your grandsire, as a boy?
+Why should I not live, Prince, to nurse your grandson—if the gods
+should grant you one who as yet have neither wife nor child?”
+
+“Because you will get tired of life, Bakenkhonsu, as I am already, and
+the gods will not be able to spare you much longer.”
+
+“The gods can endure yet a while without me, Prince, when so many are
+flocking to their table. Indeed it is their desire that one good priest
+should be left in Egypt. Ki the Magician told me so only this morning.
+He had it straight from Heaven in a dream last night.”
+
+“Why have you been to visit Ki?” asked Seti, looking at him
+sharply. “I should have thought that being both of a trade you would
+have hated each other.”
+
+“Not so, Prince. On the contrary we add up each other’s account; I
+mean, check and interpret each other’s visions, with which we are both
+of us much troubled just now. Is that young man a scribe from
+Memphis?”
+
+“Yes, and my friend. His grandsire was Pentaur the poet.”
+
+“Indeed. I knew Pentaur well. Often has he read me to sleep with his
+long poems, rank stuff that grew like coarse grass upon a deep but
+half-drained soil. Are you sure, young man, that Pentaur was your
+grandfather? You are not like him. Quite a different kind of herbage,
+and you know that it is a matter upon which we must take a woman’s
+word.”
+
+Seti burst out laughing and I looked at the old priest angrily, though
+now that I came to think of it my father always said that his mother
+was one of the biggest liars in Egypt.
+
+“Well, let it be,” went on Bakenkhonsu, “till we find out the
+truth before Thoth. Ki was speaking of you, young man. I did not pay
+much attention to him, but it was something about a sudden vow of
+friendship between you and the Prince here. There was a cup in the
+story too, an alabaster cup that seemed familiar to me. Ki said it was
+broken.”
+
+Seti started and I began angrily:
+
+“What do you know of that cup? Where were you hid, O Priest?”
+
+“Oh, in your souls, I suppose,” he answered dreamily, “or
+rather Ki was. But I know nothing, and am not curious. If you had broken
+the cup with a woman now, it would have been more interesting, even to
+an old man. Be so good as to answer the Prince’s question as to
+whether he or his cousin Amenmeses will triumph at the last, for on
+that matter both Ki and I are curious.”
+
+“Am I a seer,” I began again still more angrily, “that I
+should read the future?”
+
+“I think so, a little, but that is what I want to find out.”
+
+He hobbled towards me, laid one of his claw-like hands upon my arm, and
+said in a new voice of command:
+
+“Look now upon that throne and tell me what you see there.”
+
+I obeyed him because I must, staring up the hall at the empty throne. At
+first I saw nothing. Then figures seemed to flit around it. From among
+these figures emerged the shape of the Count Amenmeses. He sat upon the
+throne, looking about him proudly, and I noted that he was no longer
+clad as a prince but as Pharaoh himself. Presently hook-nosed men
+appeared who dragged him from his seat. He fell, as I thought, into
+water, for it seemed to splash up above him. Next Seti the Prince
+appeared to mount the throne, led thither by a woman, of whom I could
+only see the back. I saw him distinctly wearing the double crown and
+holding a sceptre in his hand. He also melted away and others came whom
+I did not know, though I thought that one of them was like to the
+Princess Userti.
+
+Now all were gone and I was telling Bakenkhonsu everything I had
+witnessed like a man who speaks in his sleep, not by his own will.
+Suddenly I woke up and laughed at my own foolishness. But the other two
+did not laugh; they regarded me very gravely.
+
+“I thought that you were something of a seer,” said the old priest,
+“or rather Ki thought it. I could not quite believe Ki, because he
+said that the young person whom I should find with the Prince here this
+morning would be one who loved him with all the heart, and it is only a
+woman who loves with all the heart, is it not? Or so the world
+believes. Well, I will talk the matter over with Ki. Hush! Pharaoh
+comes.”
+
+As he spoke from far away rose a cry of—
+
+“Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE COURT OF BETROTHAL
+
+
+“Life! Blood! Strength!” echoed everyone in the great hall, falling
+to their knees and bending their foreheads to the ground. Even the
+Prince and the aged Bakenkhonsu prostrated themselves thus as though
+before the presence of a god. And, indeed, Pharaoh Meneptah, passing
+through the patch of sunlight at the head of the hall, wearing the
+double crown upon his head and arrayed in royal robes and ornaments,
+looked like a god, no less, as the multitude of the people of Egypt
+held him to be. He was an old man with the face of one worn by years
+and care, but from his person majesty seemed to flow.
+
+With him, walking a step or two behind, went Nehesi his Vizier, a
+shrivelled, parchment-faced officer whose cunning eyes rolled about the
+place, and Roy the High-priest, and Hora the Chamberlain of the Table,
+and Meranu the Washer of the King’s Hands, and Yuy the private
+scribe, and many others whom Bakenkhonsu named to me as they appeared.
+Then there were fan-bearers and a gorgeous band of lords who were
+called King’s Companions and Head Butlers and I know not who besides,
+and after these guards with spears and helms that shone like gold, and
+black swordsmen from the southern land of Kesh.
+
+But one woman accompanied his Majesty, walking alone immediately behind
+him in front of the Vizier and the High-priest. She was the Royal
+Daughter, the Princess Userti, who looked, I thought, prouder and more
+splendid than any there, though somewhat pale and anxious.
+
+Pharaoh came to the steps of the throne. The Vizier and the High-priest
+advanced to help him up the steps, for he was feeble with age. He waved
+them aside, and beckoning to his daughter, rested his hand upon her
+shoulder and by her aid mounted the throne. I thought that there was
+meaning in this; it was as though he would show to all the assembly
+that this princess was the prop of Egypt.
+
+For a little while he stood still and Userti sat herself down on the
+topmost step, resting her chin upon her jewelled hand. There he stood
+searching the place with his eyes. He lifted his sceptre and all rose,
+hundreds and hundreds of them throughout the hall, their garments
+rustling as they rose like leaves in a sudden wind. He seated himself
+and once more from every throat went up the regal salutation that was
+the king’s alone, of—
+
+“Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!”
+
+In the silence that followed I heard him say, to the Princess, I think:
+
+“Amenmeses I see, and others of our kin, but where is my son Seti, the
+Prince of Egypt?”
+
+“Watching us no doubt from some vestibule. My brother loves not
+ceremonials,” answered Userti.
+
+Then, with a little sigh, Seti stepped forward, followed by Bakenkhonsu
+and myself, and at a distance by other members of his household. As he
+marched up the long hall all drew to this side or that, saluting him
+with low bows. Arriving in front of the throne he bent till his knee
+touched the ground, saying:
+
+“I give greeting, O King and Father.”
+
+“I give greeting, O Prince and Son. Be seated,” answered Meneptah.
+
+Seti seated himself in a chair that had been made ready for him at the
+foot of the throne, and on its right, and in another chair to the left,
+but set farther from the steps, Amenmeses seated himself also. At a
+motion from the Prince I took my stand behind his chair.
+
+The formal business of the Court began. At the beckoning of an usher
+people of all sorts appeared singly and handed in petitions written on
+rolled-up papyri, which the Vizier Nehesi took and threw into a
+leathern sack that was held open by a black slave. In some cases an
+answer to his petition, whereof this was only the formal delivery, was
+handed back to the suppliant, who touched his brow with the roll that
+perhaps meant everything to him, and bowed himself away to learn his
+fate. Then appeared sheiks of the desert tribes, and captains from
+fortresses in Syria, and traders who had been harmed by enemies, and
+even peasants who had suffered violence from officers, each to make his
+prayer. Of all of these supplications the scribes took notes, while to
+some the Vizier and councillors made answer. But as yet Pharaoh said
+nothing. There he sat silent on his splendid throne of ivory and gold,
+like a god of stone above the altar, staring down the long hall and
+through the open doors as though he would read the secrets of the skies
+beyond.
+
+“I told you that courts were wearisome, friend Ana,” whispered the
+Prince to me without turning his head. “Do you not already begin to
+wish that you were back writing tales at Memphis?”
+
+Before I could answer some movement in the throng at the end of the hall
+drew the eyes of the Prince and of all of us. I looked, and saw
+advancing towards the throne a tall, bearded man already old, although
+his black hair was but grizzled with grey. He was arrayed in a white
+linen robe, over which hung a woollen cloak such as shepherds wear, and
+he carried in his hand a long thornwood staff. His face was splendid
+and very handsome, and his black eyes flashed like fire. He walked
+forward slowly, looking neither to the left nor the right, and the
+throng made way for him as though he were a prince. Indeed, I thought
+that they showed more fear of him than of any prince, since they shrank
+from him as he came. Nor was he alone, for after him walked another man
+who was very like to him, but as I judged, still older, for his beard,
+which hung down to his middle, was snow-white as was the hair on his
+head. He also was dressed in a sheepskin cloak and carried a staff in
+his hand. Now a whisper rose among the people and the whisper said:
+
+“The prophets of the men of Israel! The prophets of the men of
+Israel!”
+
+The two stood before the throne and looked at Pharaoh, making no
+obeisance. Pharaoh looked at them and was silent. For a long space they
+stood thus in the midst of a great quiet, but Pharaoh would not speak,
+and none of his officers seemed to dare to open their mouths. At length
+the first of the prophets spoke in a clear, cold voice as some
+conqueror might do.
+
+“You know me, Pharaoh, and my errand.”
+
+“I know you,” answered Pharaoh slowly, “as well I may, seeing
+that we played together when we were little. You are that Hebrew whom my
+sister, she who sleeps in Osiris, took to be as a son to her, giving to
+you a name that means ‘drawn forth’ because she drew you forth as
+an infant from among the reeds of Nile. Aye, I know you and your
+brother also, but your errand I know not.”
+
+“This is my errand, Pharaoh, or rather the errand of Jahveh, God of
+Israel, for whom I speak. Have you not heard it before? It is that you
+should let his people go to do sacrifice to him in the wilderness.”
+
+“Who is Jahveh? I know not Jahveh who serve Amon and the gods of
+Egypt, and why should I let your people go?”
+
+“Jahveh is the God of Israel, the great God of all gods whose power
+you shall learn if you will not hearken, Pharaoh. As for why you should
+let the people go, ask it of the Prince your son who sits yonder. Ask
+him of what he saw in the streets of this city but last night, and of a
+certain judgment that he passed upon one of the officers of Pharaoh. Or
+if he will not tell you, learn it from the lips of the maiden who is
+named Merapi, Moon of Israel, the daughter of Nathan the Levite. Stand
+forward, Merapi, daughter of Nathan.”
+
+Then from the throng at the back of the hall came forward Merapi, clad
+in a white robe and with a black veil thrown about her head in token of
+mourning, but not so as to hide her face. Up the hall she glided and
+made obeisance to Pharaoh, as she did so, casting one swift look at
+Seti where he sat. Then she stood still, looking, as I thought,
+wonderfully beautiful in that simple robe of white and the veil of
+black.
+
+“Speak, woman,” said Pharaoh.
+
+She obeyed, telling all the tale in her low and honeyed voice, nor did
+any seem to think it long or wearisome. At length she ended, and
+Pharaoh said:
+
+“Say, Seti my son, is this truth?”
+
+“It is truth, O my Father. By virtue of my powers as Governor of this
+city I caused the captain Khuaka to be put to death for the crime of
+murder done by him before my eyes in the streets of the city.”
+
+“Perchance you did right and perchance you did wrong, Son Seti. At
+least you are the best judge, and because he struck your royal person,
+this Khuaka deserved to die.”
+
+Again he was silent for a while staring through the open doors at the
+sky beyond. Then he said:
+
+“What would ye more, Prophets of Jahveh? Justice has been done upon my
+officer who slew the man of your people. A life has been taken for a
+life according to the strict letter of the law. The matter is finished.
+Unless you have aught to say, get you gone.”
+
+“By the command of the Lord our God,” answered the prophet,
+“we have this to say to you, O Pharaoh. Lift the heavy yoke from off
+the neck of the people of Israel. Bid that they cease from the labour
+of the making of bricks to build your walls and cities.”
+
+“And if I refuse, what then?”
+
+“Then the curse of Jahveh shall be on you, Pharaoh, and with plague
+upon plague shall he smite this land of Egypt.”
+
+Now a sudden rage seized Meneptah.
+
+“What!” he cried. “Do you dare to threaten me in my own
+palace, and would ye cause all the multitude of the people of Israel who
+have grown fat in the land to cease from their labours? Hearken, my
+servants, and, scribes, write down my decree. Go ye to the country of
+Goshen and say to the Israelites that the bricks they made they shall
+make as aforetime and more work shall they do than aforetime in the
+days of my father, Rameses. Only no more straw shall be given to them
+for the making of the bricks. Because they are idle, let them go forth
+and gather the straw themselves; let them gather it from the face of
+the fields.”
+
+There was silence for a while. Then with one voice both the prophets
+spoke, pointing with their wands to Pharaoh:
+
+“In the Name of the Lord God we curse you, Pharaoh, who soon shall die
+and make answer for this sin. The people of Egypt we curse also. Ruin
+shall be their portion; death shall be their bread and blood shall they
+drink in a great darkness. Moreover, at the last Pharaoh shall let the
+people go.”
+
+Then, waiting no answer, they turned and strode away side by side, nor
+did any man hinder them in their goings. Again there was silence in the
+hall, the silence of fear, for these were awful words that the prophets
+had spoken. Pharaoh knew it, for his chin sank upon his breast and his
+face that had been red with rage turned white. Userti hid her eyes with
+her hand as though to shut out some evil vision, and even Seti seemed
+ill at ease as though that awful curse had found a home within his
+heart.
+
+At a motion of Pharaoh’s hand the Vizier Nehesi struck the ground
+thrice with his wand of office and pointed to the door, thus giving the
+accustomed sign that the Court was finished, whereon all the people
+turned and went away with bent heads speaking no words one to another.
+Presently the great hall was emptied save for the officers and guards
+and those who attended upon Pharaoh. When everyone had gone Seti the
+Prince rose and bowed before the throne.
+
+“O Pharaoh,” he said, “be pleased to hearken. We have heard
+very evil words spoken by these Hebrew men, words that threaten your
+divine life, O Pharaoh, and call down a curse upon the Upper and the
+Lower Land. Pharaoh, these people of Israel hold that they suffer wrong
+and are oppressed. Now give me, your son, a writing under your hand and
+seal, by virtue of which I shall have power to go down to the Land of
+Goshen and inquire of this matter, and afterwards make report of the
+truth to you. Then, if it seems to you that the People of Israel are
+unjustly dealt by, you may lighten their burden and bring the curse of
+their prophets to nothing. But if it seems to you that the tales they
+tell are idle then your words shall stand.”
+
+Now, listening, I, Ana, thought that Pharaoh would once more be angry.
+But it was not so, for when he spoke again it was in the voice of one
+who is crushed by grief or weariness.
+
+“Have your will, Son,” he said. “Only take with you a great
+guard of soldiers lest these hook-nosed dogs should do you mischief. I
+trust them not, who, like the Hyksos whose blood runs in many of them,
+were ever the foes of Egypt. Did they not conspire with the Ninebow
+Barbarians whom I crushed in the great battle, and do they not now
+threaten us in the name of their outland god? Still, let the writing be
+prepared and I will seal it. And stay. I think, Seti, that you, who
+were ever gentle-natured, have somewhat too soft a heart towards these
+shepherd slaves. Therefore I will not send you alone. Amenmeses your
+cousin shall go with you, but under your command. It is spoken.”
+
+“Life! Blood! Strength!” said both Seti and Amenmeses, thus
+acknowledging the king’s command.
+
+Now I thought that all was finished. But it was not so, for presently
+Pharaoh said:
+
+“Let the guards withdraw to the end of the hall and with them the
+servants. Let the King’s councillors and the officers of the household
+remain.”
+
+Instantly all saluted and withdrew out of hearing. I, too, made ready to
+go, but the Prince said to me:
+
+“Stay, that you may take note of what passes.”
+
+Pharaoh, watching, saw if he did not hear.
+
+“Who is that man, Son?” he asked.
+
+“He is Ana my private scribe and librarian, O Pharaoh, whom I trust.
+It was he who saved me from harm but last night.”
+
+“You say it, Son. Let him remain in attendance on you, knowing that if
+he betrays our council he dies.”
+
+Userti looked up frowning as though she were about to speak. If so, she
+changed her mind and was silent, perhaps because Pharaoh’s word once
+spoken could not be altered. Bakenkhonsu remained also as a Councillor
+of the King according to his right.
+
+When all had gone Pharaoh, who had been brooding, lifted his head and
+spoke slowly but in the voice of one who gives a judgment that may not
+be questioned, saying:
+
+“Prince Seti, you are my only son born of Queen Ast-Nefert, royal
+Sister, royal Mother, who sleeps in the bosom of Osiris. It is true
+that you are not my first-born son, since the Count Ramessu”—here
+he pointed to a stout mild-faced man of pleasing, rather foolish
+appearance—“is your elder by two years. But, as he knows well, his
+mother, who is still with us, is a Syrian by birth and of no royal
+blood, and therefore he can never sit upon the throne of Egypt. Is it
+not so, my son Ramessu?”
+
+“It is so, O Pharaoh,” answered the Count in a pleasant voice,
+“nor do I seek ever to sit upon that throne, who am well content with
+the offices and wealth that Pharaoh has been pleased to confer upon me,
+his first-born.”
+
+“Let the words of the Count Ramessu be written down,” said Pharaoh,
+“and placed in the temple of Ptah of this city, and in the temples of
+Ptah at Memphis and of Amon at Thebes, that hereafter they may never be
+questioned.”
+
+The scribes in attendance wrote down the words and, at a sign from the
+Prince Seti, I also wrote them down, setting the papyrus I had with me
+on my knee. When this was finished Pharaoh went on.
+
+“Therefore, O Prince Seti, you are the heir of Egypt and perhaps, as
+those Hebrew prophets said, will ere long be called upon to sit in my
+place on its throne.”
+
+“May the King live for ever!” exclaimed Seti, “for well he
+knows that I do not seek his crown and dignities.”
+
+“I do know it well, my son; so well that I wish you thought more of
+that crown and those dignities which, if the gods will, must come to
+you. If they will it not, next in the order of succession stands your
+cousin, the Count Amenmeses, who is also of royal blood both on his
+father’s and his mother’s side, and after him I know not who,
+unless it be my daughter and your half-sister, the royal Princess
+Userti, Lady of Egypt.”
+
+Now Userti spoke, very earnestly, saying:
+
+“O Pharaoh, surely my right in the succession, according to ancient
+precedent, precedes that of my cousin, the Count Amenmeses.”
+
+Amenmeses was about to answer, but Pharaoh lifted his hand and he was
+silent.
+
+“It is matter for those learned in such lore to discuss,” Meneptah
+replied in a somewhat hesitating voice. “I pray the gods that it may
+never be needful that this high question should be considered in the
+Council. Nevertheless, let the words of the royal Princess be written
+down. Now, Prince Seti,” he went on when this had been done, “you
+are still unmarried, and if you have children they are not royal.”
+
+“I have none, O Pharaoh,” said Seti.
+
+“Is it so?” answered Meneptah indifferently. “The Count
+Amenmeses has children I know, for I have seen them, but by his wife
+Unuri, who also is of the royal line, he has none.”
+
+Here I heard Amenmeses mutter, “Being my aunt that is not strange,”
+a saying at which Seti smiled.
+
+“My daughter, the Princess, is also unmarried. So it seems that the
+fountain of the royal blood is running dry——”
+
+“Now it is coming,” whispered Seti below his breath so that only I
+could hear.
+
+“Therefore,” continued Pharaoh, “as you know, Prince Seti,
+for the royal Princess of Egypt by my command went to speak to you of
+this matter last night, I make a decree——”
+
+“Pardon, O Pharaoh,” interrupted the Prince, “my sister spoke
+to me of no decree last night, save that I should attend at the court
+here to-day.”
+
+“Because I could not, Seti, seeing that another was present with you
+whom you refused to dismiss,” and she let her eyes rest on me.
+
+“It matters not,” said Pharaoh, “since now I will utter it
+with my own lips which perhaps is better. It is my will, Prince, that
+you forthwith wed the royal Princess Userti, that children of the true
+blood of the Ramessides may be born. Hear and obey.”
+
+Now Userti shifted her eyes from me to Seti, watching him very closely.
+Seated at his side upon the ground with my writing roll spread across
+my knee, I, too, watched him closely, and noted that his lips turned
+white and his face grew fixed and strange.
+
+“I hear the command of Pharaoh,” he said in a low voice making
+obeisance, and hesitated.
+
+“Have you aught to add?” asked Meneptah sharply.
+
+“Only, O Pharaoh, that though this would be a marriage decreed for
+reasons of the State, still there is a lady who must be given in
+marriage, and she my half-sister who heretofore has only loved me as a
+relative. Therefore, I would know from her lips if it is her will to
+take me as a husband.”
+
+Now all looked at Userti who replied in a cold voice:
+
+“In this matter, Prince, as in all others I have no will but that of
+Pharaoh.”
+
+“You have heard,” interrupted Meneptah impatiently, “and as
+in our House it has always been the custom for kin to marry kin, why
+should it not be her will? Also, who else should she marry? Amenmeses
+is already wed. There remains only Saptah his brother who is younger
+than herself——”
+
+“So am I,” murmured Seti, “by two long years,” but
+happily Userti did not hear him.
+
+“Nay, my father,” she said with decision, “never will I take
+a deformed man to husband.”
+
+Now from the shadow on the further side of the throne, where I could not
+see him, there hobbled forward a young noble, short in stature,
+light-haired like Seti, and with a sharp, clever face which put me in
+mind of that of a jackal (indeed for this reason he was named Thoth by
+the common people, after the jackal-headed god). He was very angry, for
+his cheeks were flushed and his small eyes flashed.
+
+“Must I listen, Pharaoh,” he said in a little voice, “while
+my cousin the Royal Princess reproaches me in public for my lame foot,
+which I have because my nurse let me fall when I was still in arms?”
+
+“Then his nurse let his grandfather fall also, for he too was
+club-footed, as I who have seen him naked in his cradle can bear
+witness,” whispered old Bakenkhonsu.
+
+“It seems so, Count Saptah, unless you stop your ears,” replied
+Pharaoh.
+
+“She says she will not marry me,” went on Saptah, “me who
+from childhood have been a slave to her and to no other woman.”
+
+“Not by my wish, Saptah. Indeed, I pray you to go and be a slave to
+any woman whom you will,” exclaimed Userti.
+
+“But I say,” continued Saptah, “that one day she shall marry
+me, for the Prince Seti will not live for ever.”
+
+“How do you know that, Cousin?” asked Seti. “The High-priest
+here will tell you a different story.”
+
+Now certain of those present turned their heads away to hide the smile
+upon their faces. Yet on this day some god spoke with Saptah’s voice
+making him a prophet, since in a year to come she did marry him, in
+order that she might stay upon the throne at a time of trouble when
+Egypt would not suffer that a woman should have sole rule over the
+land.
+
+But Pharaoh did not smile like the courtiers; indeed he grew angry.
+
+“Peace, Saptah!” he said. “Who are you that wrangle before
+me, talking of the death of kings and saying that you will wed the Royal
+princess? One more such word and you shall be driven into banishment.
+Hearken now. Almost am I minded to declare my daughter, the Royal
+Princess, sole heiress to the throne, seeing that in her there is more
+strength and wisdom than in any other of our House.”
+
+“If such be Pharaoh’s will, let Pharaoh’s will be
+done,” said Seti most humbly. “Well I know my own unworthiness to
+fill so high a station, and by all the gods I swear that my beloved
+sister will find no more faithful subject than myself.”
+
+“You mean, Seti,” interrupted Userti, “that rather than marry
+me you would abandon your right to the double crown. Truly I am
+honoured. Seti, whether you reign or I, I will not marry you.”
+
+“What words are these I hear?” cried Meneptah. “Is there
+indeed one in this land of Egypt who dares to say that Pharaoh’s
+decree shall be disobeyed? Write it down, Scribes, and you, O Officers,
+let it be proclaimed from Thebes to the sea, that on the third day from
+now at the hour of noon in the temple of Hathor in this city, the
+Prince, the Royal Heir, Seti Meneptah, Beloved of Ra, will wed the
+Royal Princess of Egypt, Lily of Love, Beloved of Hathor, Userti,
+Daughter of me, the god.”
+
+“Life! Blood! Strength!” called all the Court.
+
+Then, guided by some high officer, the Prince Seti was led before the
+throne and the Princess Userti was set beside him, or rather facing
+him. According to the ancient custom a great gold cup was brought and
+filled with red wine, to me it looked like blood. Userti took the cup
+and, kneeling, gave it to the Prince, who drank and gave it back to her
+that she might also drink in solemn token of their betrothal. Is not
+the scene graven on the broad bracelets of gold which in after days
+Seti wore when he sat upon the throne, those same bracelets that at a
+future time I with my own hands clasped about the wrists of dead Userti?
+
+Then he stretched out his hand which she touched with her lips, and
+bending down he kissed her on the brow. Lastly, Pharaoh, descending to
+the lowest step of the throne, laid his sceptre, first upon the head of
+the Prince, and next upon that of the Princess, blessing them both in
+the name of himself, of his Ka or Double, and of the spirits and Kas of
+all their forefathers, kings and queens of Egypt, thus appointing them
+to come after him when he had been gathered to the bosom of the gods.
+
+These things done, he departed in state, surrounded by his court,
+preceded and followed by his guards and leaning on the arm of the
+Princess Userti, whom he loved better than anyone in the world.
+
+A while later I stood alone with the Prince in his private chamber,
+where I had first seen him.
+
+“That is finished,” he said in a cheerful voice, “and I tell
+you, Ana, that I feel quite, quite happy. Have you ever shivered upon
+the bank of a river of a winter morning, fearing to enter, and yet,
+when you did enter, have you not been pleased to find that the icy
+water refreshed you and made you not cold but hot?”
+
+“Yes, Prince. It is when one comes out of the water, if the wind blows
+and no sun shines, that one feels colder than before.”
+
+“True, Ana, and therefore one must not come out. One should stop there
+till one—drowns or is eaten by a crocodile. But, say, did I do it
+well?”
+
+“Old Bakenkhonsu told me, Prince, that he had been present at many
+royal betrothals, I think he said eleven, and had never seen one
+conducted with more grace. He added that the way in which you kissed
+the brow of her Highness was perfect, as was all your demeanour after
+the first argument.”
+
+“And so it would remain, Ana, if I were never called upon to do more
+than kiss her brow, to which I have been accustomed from boyhood. Oh!
+Ana, Ana,” he added in a kind of cry, “already you are becoming a
+courtier like the rest of them, a courtier who cannot speak the truth.
+Well, nor can I, so why should I blame you? Tell me again all about
+your marriage, Ana, of how it began and how it ended.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE PROPHECY
+
+
+Whether or no the Prince Seti saw Userti again before the hour of his
+marriage with her I cannot say, because he never told me. Indeed I was
+not present at the marriage, for the reason that I had been granted
+leave to return to Memphis, there to settle my affairs and sell my
+house on entering upon my appointment as private scribe to his
+Highness. Thus it came about that fourteen full days went by from that
+of the holding of the Court of Betrothal before I found myself standing
+once more at the gate of the Prince’s palace, attended by a servant
+who led an ass on which were laden all my manuscripts and certain
+possessions that had descended to me from my ancestors with the
+title-deeds of their tombs. Different indeed was my reception on this my
+second coming. Even as I reached the steps the old chamberlain Pambasa
+appeared, running down them so fast that his white robes and beard
+streamed upon the air.
+
+“Greeting, most learned scribe, most honourable Ana,” he panted.
+“Glad indeed am I to see you, since every hour his Highness asks if
+you have returned, and blames me because you have not come. Verily I
+believe that if you had stayed upon the road another day I should have
+been sent to look for you, who have had sharp words said to me because
+I did not arrange that you should be accompanied by a guard, as though
+the Vizier Nehesi would have paid the costs of a guard without the
+direct order of Pharaoh. O most excellent Ana, give me of the charm
+which you have doubtless used to win the love of our royal master, and
+I will pay you well for it who find it easier to earn his wrath.”
+
+“I will, Pambasa. Here it is—write better stories than I do instead
+of telling them, and he will love you more than he does me. But
+say—how went the marriage? I have heard upon the way that it was very
+splendid.”
+
+“Splendid! Oh! it was ten times more than splendid. It was as though
+the god Osiris were once more wed to the goddess Isis in the very halls
+of heaven. Indeed his Highness, the bridegroom, was dressed as a god,
+yes, he wore the robes and the holy ornaments of Amon. And the
+procession! And the feast that Pharaoh gave! I tell you that the Prince
+was so overcome with joy and all this weight of glory that, before it
+was over, looking at him I saw that his eyes were closed, being dazzled
+by the gleam of gold and jewels and the loveliness of his royal bride.
+He told me that it was so himself, fearing perhaps lest I should have
+thought that he was asleep. Then there were the presents, something to
+everyone of us according to his degree. I got—well it matters not.
+And, learned Ana, I did not forget you. Knowing well that everything
+would be gone before you returned I spoke your name in the ear of his
+Highness, offering to keep your gift.”
+
+“Indeed, Pambasa, and what did he say?”
+
+“He said that he was keeping it himself. When I stared wondering what
+it might be, for I saw nothing on him, he added, ‘It is here,’ and
+touched the private signet guard that he has always worn, an ancient
+ring of gold, but of no great value I should say, with ‘Beloved of
+Thoth and of the King’ cut upon it. It seems that he must take it off
+to make room for another and much finer ring which her Highness has
+given him.”
+
+Now, by this time, the ass having been unloaded by the slaves and led
+away, we had passed through the hall where many were idling as ever,
+and were come to the private apartments of the palace.
+
+“This way,” said Pambasa. “The orders are that I am to take
+you to the Prince wherever he may be, and just now he is seated in the
+great apartment with her Highness, where they have been receiving
+homage and deputations from distant cities. The last left about half an
+hour ago.”
+
+“First I will prepare myself, worthy Pambasa,” I began.
+
+“No, no, the orders are instant, I dare not disobey them. Enter,”
+and with a courtly flourish he drew a rich curtain.
+
+“By Amon,” exclaimed a weary voice which I knew as that of the
+Prince, “here come more councillors or priests. Prepare, my sister,
+prepare!”
+
+“I pray you, Seti,” answered another voice, that of Userti,
+“to learn to call me by my right name, which is no longer sister. Nor,
+indeed, am I your full sister.”
+
+“I crave your pardon,” said Seti. “Prepare, Royal Wife,
+prepare!”
+
+By now the curtain was fully drawn and I stood, travel-stained, forlorn
+and, to tell the truth, trembling a little, for I feared her Highness,
+in the doorway, hesitating to pass the threshold. Beyond was a splendid
+chamber full of light, in the centre of which upon a carven and golden
+chair, one of two that were set there, sat her Highness magnificently
+apparelled, faultlessly beautiful and calm. She was engaged in studying
+a painted roll, left no doubt by the last deputation, for others
+similar to it were laid neatly side by side upon a table.
+
+The second chair was empty, for the Prince was walking restlessly up and
+down the chamber, his ceremonial robe somewhat disarrayed and the
+uræus circlet of gold which he wore, tilted back upon his head,
+because of his habit of running his fingers through his brown hair. As
+I still stood in the dark shadow, for Pambasa had left me, and thus
+remained unseen, the talk went on.
+
+“I am prepared, Husband. Pardon me, it is you who look otherwise. Why
+would you dismiss the scribes and the household before the ceremony was
+ended?”
+
+“Because they wearied me,” said Seti, “with their continual
+bowing and praising and formalities.”
+
+“In which I saw nothing unusual. Now they must be recalled.”
+
+“Let whoever it is enter,” he exclaimed.
+
+Then I stepped forward into the light, prostrating myself.
+
+“Why,” he cried, “it is Ana returned from Memphis! Draw near,
+Ana, and a thousand welcomes to you. Do you know I thought that you were
+another high-priest, or governor of some Nome of which I had never
+heard.”
+
+“Ana! Who is Ana?” asked the Princess. “Oh! I remember that
+scribe——. Well, it is plain that he has returned from
+Memphis,” and she eyed my dusty robe.
+
+“Royal One,” I murmured abashed, “do not blame me that I
+enter your presence thus. Pambasa led me here against my will by the
+direct order of the Prince.”
+
+“Is it so? Say, Seti, does this man bring tidings of import from
+Memphis that you needed his presence in such haste?”
+
+“Yes, Userti, at least I think so. You have the writings safe, have
+you not, Ana?”
+
+“Quite safe, your Highness,” I answered, though I knew not of what
+writings he spoke, unless they were the manuscripts of my stories.
+
+“Then, my Lord, I will leave you to talk of the tidings from Memphis
+and these writings,” said the Princess.
+
+“Yes, yes. We must talk of them, Userti. Also of the journey to the
+land of Goshen on which Ana starts with me to-morrow.”
+
+“To-morrow! Why this morning you told me it was fixed for three days
+hence.”
+
+“Did I, Sister—I mean Wife? If so, it was because I was not sure
+whether Ana, who is to be my chariot companion, would be back.”
+
+“A scribe your chariot companion! Surely it would be more fitting that
+your cousin Amenmeses——”
+
+“To Set with Amenmeses!” he exclaimed. “You know well,
+Userti, that the man is hateful to me with his cunning yet empty
+talk.”
+
+“Indeed! I grieve to hear it, for when you hate you show it, and
+Amenmeses may be a bad enemy. Then if not our cousin Amenmeses who is
+not hateful to me, there is Saptah.”
+
+“I thank you; I will not travel in a cage with a jackal.”
+
+“Jackal! I do not love Saptah, but one of the royal blood of Egypt a
+jackal! Then there is Nehesi the Vizier, or the General of the escort
+whose name I forget.”
+
+“Do you think, Userti, that I wish to talk about state economies with
+that old money-sack, or to listen to boastings of deeds he never did in
+war from a half-bred Nubian butcher?”
+
+“I do not know, Husband. Yet of what will you talk with this Ana? Of
+poems, I suppose, and silliness. Or will it be perchance of Merapi, Moon
+of Israel, whom I gather both of you think so beautiful. Well, have
+your way. You tell me that I am not to accompany you upon this journey,
+I your new-made wife, and now I find that it is because you wish my
+place to be filled by a writer of tales whom you picked up the other
+day—your ‘twin in Ra’ forsooth! Fare you well, my Lord,” and
+she rose from her seat, gathering up her robes with both hands.
+
+Then Seti grew angry.
+
+“Userti,” he said, stamping upon the floor, “you should not
+use such words. You know well that I do not take you with me because
+there may be danger yonder among the Hebrews. Moreover, it is not
+Pharaoh’s wish.”
+
+She turned and answered with cold courtesy:
+
+“Then I crave your pardon and thank you for your kind thought for the
+safety of my person. I knew not this mission was so dangerous. Be
+careful, Seti, that the scribe Ana comes to no harm.”
+
+So saying she bowed and vanished through the curtains.
+
+“Ana,” said Seti, “tell me, for I never was quick at figures,
+how many minutes is it from now till the fourth hour to-morrow morning
+when I shall order my chariot to be ready? Also, do you know whether it
+is possible to travel from Goshen across the marshes and to return by
+Syria? Or, failing that, to travel across the desert to Thebes and sail
+down the Nile in the spring?”
+
+“Oh! my Prince, my Prince,” I said, “I pray you to dismiss
+me. Let me go anywhere out of the reach of her Highness’s tongue.”
+
+“It is strange how alike we think upon every matter, Ana, even of
+Merapi and the tongues of royal ladies. Hearken to my command. You are
+not to go. If it is a question of going, there are others who will go
+first. Moreover, you cannot go, but must stay and bear your burdens as
+I bear mine. Remember the broken cup, Ana.”
+
+“I remember, my Prince, but sooner would I be scourged with rods than
+by such words as those to which I must listen.”
+
+Yet that very night, when I had left the Prince, I was destined to hear
+more pleasant words from this same changeful, or perchance politic,
+royal lady. She sent for me and I went, much afraid. I found her in a
+small chamber alone, save for one old lady of honour who sat at the end
+of the room and appeared to be deaf, which perhaps was why she was
+chosen. Userti bade me be seated before her very courteously, and spoke
+to me thus, whether because of some talk she had held with the Prince
+or not, I do not know.
+
+“Scribe Ana, I ask your pardon if, being vexed and wearied, I said to
+you and of you to-day what I now wish I had left unsaid. I know well
+that you, being of the gentle blood of Egypt, will make no report of
+what you heard outside these walls.”
+
+“May my tongue be cut out first,” I answered.
+
+“It seems, Scribe Ana, that my lord the Prince has taken a great love
+of you. How or why this came about so suddenly, you being a man, I do
+not understand, but I am sure that as it is so, it must be because
+there is much in you to love, since never did I know the Prince to show
+deep regard for one who was not most honourable and worthy. Now things
+being so, it is plain that you will become the favourite of his
+Highness, a man who does not change his mind in such matters, and that
+he will tell you all his secret thoughts, perhaps some that he hides
+from the Councillors of State, or even from me. In short you will grow
+into a power in the land and perhaps one day be the greatest in
+it—after Pharaoh—although you may still seem to be but a private
+scribe.
+
+“I do not pretend to you that I should have wished this to be so, who
+would rather that my husband had but one real councillor—myself. Yet
+seeing that it is so, I bow my head, hoping that it may be decreed for
+the best. If ever any jealousy should overcome me in this matter and I
+should speak sharply to you, as I did to-day, I ask your pardon in
+advance for that which has not happened, as I have asked it for that
+which has happened. I pray of you, Scribe Ana, that you will do your
+best to influence the mind of the Prince for good, since he is easily
+led by any whom he loves. I pray you also being quick and thoughtful,
+as I see you are, that you will make a study of statecraft, and of the
+policies of our royal House, coming to me, if it be needful, for
+instruction therein, so that you may be able to guide the feet of the
+Prince aright, should he turn to you for counsel.”
+
+“All of this I will do, your Highness, if by any chance it lies in my
+power, though who am I that I should hope to make a path for the feet of
+kings? Moreover, I would add this, although he is so gentle-natured, I
+think that in the end the Prince is one who will always choose his own
+path.”
+
+“It may be so Ana. At the least I thank you. I pray you to be sure
+also that in me you will always have a friend and not an enemy,
+although at times the quickness of my nature, which has never been
+controlled, may lead you to think otherwise. Now I will say one more
+thing that shall be secret between us. I know that the Prince loves me
+as a friend and relative rather than as a wife, and that he would not
+have sought this marriage of himself, as is perhaps natural. I know,
+too, that other women will come into his life, though these may be
+fewer than in the case of most kings, because he is more hard to please.
+ Of such I cannot complain, as this is according to the customs of our
+country. I fear only one thing—namely that some woman, ceasing to be
+his toy, may take Seti’s heart and make him altogether hers. In this
+matter, Scribe Ana, as in others I ask your help, since I would be
+queen of Egypt in all ways, not in name only.”
+
+“Your Highness, how can I say to the Prince—‘So much shall
+you love this or that woman and no more?’ Moreover, why do you fear
+that which has not and may never come about?”
+
+“I do not know how you can say such a thing, Scribe, still I ask you
+to say it if you can. As to why I fear, it is because I seem to feel
+the near shadow of some woman lying cold upon me and building a wall of
+blackness between his Highness and myself.”
+
+“It is but a dream, Princess.”
+
+“Mayhap. I hope so. Yet I think otherwise. Oh! Ana, cannot you, who
+study the hearts of men and women, understand my case? I have married
+where I can never hope to be loved as other women are, I who am a wife,
+yet not a wife. I read your thought; it is—why then did you marry?
+Since I have told you so much I will tell you that also. First, it is
+because the Prince is different to other men and in his own fashion
+above them, yes, far above any with whom I could have wed as royal
+heiress of Egypt. Secondly, because being cut off from love, what
+remains to me but ambition? At least I would be a great queen, as was
+Hatshepu in her day, and lift my country out of the many troubles in
+which it is sunk and write my name large upon the books of history,
+which I could only do by taking Pharaoh’s heir to husband, as is my
+duty.”
+
+She brooded a while, then added, “Now I have shown you all my thought.
+Whether I have been wise to do so the gods know alone and time will tell
+me.”
+
+“Princess,” I said, “I thank you for trusting me and I will
+help you if I may. Yet I am troubled. I, a humble man if of good blood,
+who a little while ago was but a scribe and a student, a dreamer who
+had known trouble also, have suddenly by chance, or some divine decree,
+been lifted high in the favour of the heir of Egypt, and it would seem
+have even won your trust. Now I wonder how I shall bear myself in this
+new place which in truth I never sought.”
+
+“I do not know, who find the present and its troubles enough to carry.
+But, doubtless, the decree of which you speak that set you there has
+also written down what will be the end of all. Meanwhile, I have a gift
+for you. Say, Scribe, have you ever handled any weapon besides a
+pen?”
+
+“Yes, your Highness, as a lad I was skilled in sword play. Moreover,
+though I do not love war and bloodshed, some years ago I fought in the
+great battle between the Ninebow Barbarians, when Pharaoh called upon
+the young men of Memphis to do their part. With my own hands I slew two
+in fair fight, though one nearly brought me to my end,” and I pointed
+to a scar which showed red through my grey hair where a spear had
+bitten deep.
+
+“It is well, or so I think, who love soldiers better than stainers of
+papyrus pith.”
+
+Then, going to a painted chest of reeds, she took from it a wonderful
+shirt of mail fashioned of bronze rings, and a short sword also of
+bronze, having a golden hilt of which the end was shaped to the
+likeness of the head of a lion, and with her own hands gave them to me,
+saying:
+
+“These are spoils that my grandsire, the great Rameses, took in his
+youth from a prince of the Khitah, whom he smote with his own hands in
+Syria in that battle whereof your grandfather made the poem. Wear the
+shirt, which no spear will pierce, beneath your robe and gird the sword
+about you when you go down yonder among the Israelites, whom I do not
+trust. I have given a like coat to the Prince. Let it be your duty to
+see that it is upon his sacred person day and night. Let it be your
+duty also, if need arises, with this sword to defend him to the death.
+Farewell.”
+
+“May all the gods reject me from the Fields of the Blessed if I fail
+in this trust,” I answered, and departed wondering, to seek sleep
+which, as it chanced, I was not to find for a while.
+
+For as I went down the corridor, led by one of the ladies of the
+household, whom should I find waiting at the end of it but old Pambasa
+to inform me with many bows that the Prince needed my presence. I asked
+how that could be seeing he had dismissed me for the night. He replied
+that he did not know, but he was commanded to conduct me to the private
+chamber, the same room in which I had first seen his Highness. Thither
+I went and found him warming himself at the fire, for the night was
+cold. Looking up he bade Pambasa admit those who were waiting, then
+noting the shirt of mail and the sword I carried in my hand, said:
+
+“You have been with the Princess, have you not, and she must have had
+much to say to you for your talk was long? Well, I think I can guess its
+purport who from a child have known her mind. She told you to watch me
+well, body and heart and all that comes from the heart—oh! and much
+else. Also she gave you that Syrian gear to wear among the Hebrews as
+she has given the like to me, being of a careful mind which foresees
+everything. Now, hearken, Ana; I grieve to keep you from your rest, who
+must be weary both with talk and travel. But old Bakenkhonsu, whom you
+know, waits without, and with him Ki the great magician, whom I think
+you have not seen. He is a man of wonderful lore and in some ways not
+altogether human. At least he does strange feats of magic, and at times
+both the past and the future seem to be open to his sight, though as we
+know neither the one nor the other, who can tell whether he reads them
+truly. Doubtless he has, or thinks he has, some message to me from the
+heavens, which I thought you might wish to hear.”
+
+“I wish it much, Prince, if I am worthy, and you will protect me from
+the anger of this magician whom I fear.”
+
+“Anger sometimes turns to trust, Ana. Did you not find it so just now
+in the case of her Highness, as I told you might very well happen?
+Hush! They come. Be seated and prepare your tablets to make record of
+what they say.”
+
+The curtains were drawn and through them came the aged Bakenkhonsu
+leaning upon his staff, and with him another man, Ki himself, clad in a
+white robe and having his head shaven, for he was an hereditary priest
+of Amon of Thebes and an initiate of Isis, Mother of Mysteries. Also
+his office was that of Kherheb, or chief magician of Egypt. At first
+sight there was nothing strange about this man. Indeed, he might well
+have been a middle-aged merchant by his looks; in body he was short and
+stout; in face fat and smiling. But in this jovial countenance were set
+two very strange eyes, grey-hued rather than black. While the rest of
+the face seemed to smile these eyes looked straight into nothingness as
+do those of a statue. Indeed they were like to the eyes or rather the
+eye-places of a stone statue, so deeply were they set into the head.
+For my part I can only say I thought them awful, and by their look
+judged that whatever Ki might be he was no cheat.
+
+This strange pair bowed to the Prince and seated themselves at a sign
+from him, Bakenkhonsu upon a stool because he found it difficult to
+rise, and Ki, who was younger, scribe fashion on the ground.
+
+“What did I tell you, Bakenkhonsu?” said Ki in a full, rich voice,
+ending the words with a curious chuckle.
+
+“You told me, Magician, that we should find the Prince in this chamber
+of which you described every detail to me as I see it now, although
+neither of us have entered it before. You said also that seated therein
+on the ground would be the scribe Ana, whom I know but you do not,
+having in his hands waxen tablets and a stylus and by him a coat of
+curious mail and a lion-hilted sword.”
+
+“That is strange,” interrupted the Prince, “but forgive me,
+Bakenkhonsu sees these things. If you, O Ki, would tell us what is
+written upon Ana’s tablets which neither of you can see, it would be
+stranger still, that is if anything is written.”
+
+Ki smiled and stared upwards at the ceiling. Presently he said:
+
+“The scribe Ana uses a shorthand of his own that is not easy to
+decipher. Yet I see written on the tablets the price he obtained for
+some house in a city that is not named—it is so much. Also I see the
+sums he disbursed for himself, a servant, and the food of an ass at two
+inns where he stopped upon a journey. They are so much and so much.
+Also there is a list of papyrus rolls and the words, ‘blue cloak,’
+and then an erasure.”
+
+“Is that right, Ana?” asked the Prince.
+
+“Quite right,” I answered with awe, “only the words
+‘blue cloak,’ which it is true I wrote upon the tablet, have also
+been erased.”
+
+Ki chuckled and turned his eyes from the ceiling to my face.
+
+“Would your Highness wish me to tell you anything of what is written
+upon the tablets of this scribe’s memory as well as upon those of wax
+which he holds in his hand? They are easier to decipher than the others
+and I see on them many things of interest. For instance, secret words
+that seem to have been said to him by some Great One within an hour,
+matters of high policy, I think. For instance, a certain saying, I
+think of your Highness’s, as to shivering upon the edge of water on a
+cold day, which when entered produced heat, and the answer thereto. For
+instance, words that were spoken in this palace when an alabaster cup
+was broke. By the way, Scribe, that was a very good place you chose in
+which to hide one half of the cup in the false bottom of a chest in
+your chamber, a chest that is fastened with a cord and sealed with a
+scarab of the time of the second Rameses. I think that the other half of
+ the cup is somewhat nearer at hand,” and turning, he stared at the
+wall where I could see nothing save slabs of alabaster.
+
+Now I sat open-mouthed, for how could this man know these things, and
+the Prince laughed outright, saying:
+
+“Ana, I begin to think you keep your counsel ill. At least I should
+think so, were it not that you have had no time to tell what the
+Princess yonder may have said to you, and can scarcely know the trick
+of the sliding panel in that wall which I have never shown to you.”
+
+Ki chuckled again and a smile grew on old Bakenkhonsu’s broad and
+wrinkled face.
+
+“O Prince,” I began, “I swear to you that never has one word
+passed my lips of aught——”
+
+“I know it, friend,” broke in the Prince, “but it seems there
+are some who do not wait for words but can read the Book of Thought.
+Therefore it is not well to meet them too often, since all have
+thoughts that should be known only to them and God. Magician, what is
+your business with me? Speak on as though we were alone.”
+
+“This, Prince. You go upon a journey among the Hebrews, as all have
+heard. Now, Bakenkhonsu and I, also two seers of my College, seeing that
+we all love you and that your welfare is much to Egypt, have separately
+sought out the future as regards the issue of this journey. Although
+what we have learned differs in some matters, on others it is the same.
+Therefore we thought it our duty to tell you what we have learned.”
+
+“Say on, Kherheb.”
+
+“First, then, that your Highness’s life will be in danger.”
+
+“Life is always in danger, Ki. Shall I lose it? If so, do not fear to
+tell me.”
+
+“We do not know, but we think not, because of the rest that is
+revealed to us. We learn that it is not your body only that will be in
+danger. Upon this journey you will see a woman whom you will come to
+love. This woman will, we think, bring you much sorrow and also much
+joy.”
+
+“Then perhaps the journey is worth making, Ki, since many travel far
+before they find aught they can love. Tell me, have I met this woman?”
+
+“There we are troubled, Prince, for it would seem—unless we are
+deceived—that you have met her often and often; that you have known
+her for thousands of years, as you have known that man at your side for
+thousands of years.”
+
+Seti’s face grew very interested.
+
+“What do you mean, Magician?” he asked, eyeing him keenly.
+“How can I who am still young have known a woman and a man for
+thousands of years?”
+
+Ki considered him with his strange eyes, and answered:
+
+“You have many titles, Prince. Is not one of them ‘Lord of
+Rebirths,’ and if so, how did you get it and what does it mean?”
+
+“It is. What it means I do not know, but it was given to me because of
+some dream that my mother had the night before I was born. Do _you_ tell
+_me_ what it means, since you seem to know so much.”
+
+“I cannot, Prince. The secret is not one that has been shown to me.
+Yet there was an aged man, a magician like myself from whom I learned
+much in my youth—Bakenkhonsu knew him well—who made a study of this
+matter. He told me he was sure, because it had been revealed to him,
+that men do not live once only and then depart hence for ever. He said
+that they live many times and in many shapes, though not always on this
+world, and that between each life there is a wall of darkness.”
+
+“If so, of what use are lives which we do not remember after death has
+shut the door of each of them?”
+
+“The doors may open again at last, Prince, and show us all the
+chambers through which our feet have wandered from the beginning.”
+
+“Our religion teaches us, Ki, that after death we live eternally
+elsewhere in our own bodies, which we find again on the day of
+resurrection. Now eternity, having no end, can have no beginning; it is
+a circle. Therefore if the one be true, namely that we live on, it
+would seem that the other must be true, namely that we have always
+lived.”
+
+“That is well reasoned, Prince. In the early days, before the priests
+froze the thought of man into blocks of stone and built of them shrines
+to a thousand gods, many held that this reasoning was true, as then
+they held that there was but one god.”
+
+“As do these Israelites whom I go to visit. What say you of their god,
+Ki?”
+
+“That _he_ is the same as our gods, Prince. To men’s eyes God
+has many faces, and each swears that the one he sees is the only true
+god. Yet they are wrong, for all are true.”
+
+“Or perchance false, Ki, unless even falsehood is a part of truth.
+Well, you have told me of two dangers, one to my body and one to my
+heart. Has any other been revealed to your wisdom?”
+
+“Yes, Prince. The third is that this journey may in the end cost you
+your throne.”
+
+“If I die certainly it will cost me my throne.”
+
+“No, Prince, if you live.”
+
+“Even so, Ki, I think that I could endure life seated more humbly than
+on a throne, though whether her Highness could endure it is another
+matter. Then you say that if I go upon this journey another will be
+Pharaoh in my place.”
+
+“We do not say that, Prince. It is true that our arts have shown us
+another filling your place in a time of wizardry and wonders and of the
+death of thousands. Yet when we look again we see not that other but
+you once more filling your own place.”
+
+Here I, Ana, bethought me of my vision in Pharaoh’s hall.
+
+“The matter is even worse than I thought, Ki, since having once left
+the crown behind me, I think that I should have no wish to wear it any
+more,” said Seti. “Who shows you all these things, and how?”
+
+“Our _Kas_, which are our secret selves, show them to us, Prince,
+and in many ways. Sometimes it is by dreams or visions, sometimes by
+pictures on water, sometimes by writings in the desert sand. In all
+these fashions, and by others, our _Kas_, drawing from the infinite
+well of wisdom that is hidden in the being of every man, give us
+glimpses of the truth, as they give us who are instructed power to work
+marvels.”
+
+“Of the truth. Then these things you tell me are true?”
+
+“We believe so, Prince.”
+
+“Then being true must happen. So what is the use of your warning me
+against what must happen? There cannot be two truths. What would you
+have me do? Not go upon this journey? Why have you told me that I must
+not go, since if I did not go the truth would become a lie, which it
+cannot? You say it is fated that I should go and because I go such and
+such things will come about. And yet you tell me not to go, for that is
+what you mean. Oh! Kherheb Ki and Bakenkhonsu, doubtless you are great
+magicians and strong in wisdom, but there are greater than you who rule
+the world, and there is a wisdom to which yours is but as a drop of
+water to the Nile. I thank you for your warnings, but to-morrow I go
+down to the land of Goshen to fulfil the commands of Pharaoh. If I come
+back again we will talk more of these matters here upon the earth. If I
+do not come back, perchance we will talk of them elsewhere. Farewell.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE LAND OF GOSHEN
+
+
+The Prince Seti and all his train, a very great company, came in safety
+to the land of Goshen, I, Ana, travelling with him in his chariot. It
+was then as now a rich land, quite flat after the last line of desert
+hills through which we travelled by a narrow, tortuous path. Everywhere
+it was watered by canals, between which lay the grain fields wherein
+the seed had just been sown. Also there were other fields of green
+fodder whereon were tethered beasts by the hundred, and beyond these,
+upon the drier soil, grazed flocks of sheep. The town Goshen, if so it
+could be called, was but a poor place, numbers of mud huts, no more, in
+the centre of which stood a building, also of mud, with two brick
+pillars in front of it, that we were told was the temple of this people,
+ into the inner parts of which none might enter save their High-priest.
+I laughed at the sight of it, but the Prince reproved me, saying that I
+should not judge the spirit by the body, or of the god by his house.
+
+We camped outside this town and soon learned that the people who dwelt
+in it or elsewhere in other towns must be numbered by the ten thousand,
+for more of them than I could count wandered round the camp to look at
+us. The men were fierce-eyed and hook-nosed; the young women
+well-shaped and pleasant to behold; the older women for the most part
+stout and somewhat unwieldy, and the children very beautiful. All were
+roughly clad in robes of loosely-woven, dark-coloured cloth, beneath
+which the women wore garments of white linen. Notwithstanding the
+wealth we saw about us in corn and cattle, their ornaments seemed to be
+few, or perhaps these were hidden from our sight.
+
+It was easy to see that they hated us Egyptians, and even dared to
+despise us. Hate shone in their glittering eyes, and I heard them
+calling us the ‘idol-worshippers’ one to the other, and asking
+where was our god, the Bull, for being ignorant they thought that we
+worshipped Apis (as mayhap some of the common people do) instead of
+looking upon the sacred beast as a symbol of the powers of Nature.
+Indeed they did more, for on the first night after our coming they
+slaughtered a bull marked much as Apis is, and in the morning we found
+it lying near the gate of the camp, and pinned to its hide with sharp
+thorns great numbers of the scarabæus beetle still living. For again
+they did not know that among us Egyptians this beetle is no god but an
+emblem of the Creator, because it rolls a ball of mud between its feet
+and sets therein its eggs to hatch, as the Creator rolls the world that
+seems to be round, and causes it to produce life.
+
+Now all were angry at these insults except the Prince, who laughed and
+said that he thought the jest coarse but clever. But worse was to
+happen. It seems that a soldier with wine in him had done insult to a
+Hebrew maiden who came alone to draw water at a canal. The news spread
+among the people and some thousands of them rushed to the camp,
+shouting and demanding vengeance in so threatening a manner that it was
+necessary to form up the regiments of guards.
+
+The Prince being summoned commanded that the girl and her kin should be
+admitted and state their case. She came, weeping and wailing and tearing
+her garments, throwing dust on her head also, though it appeared that
+she had taken no great harm from the soldier from whom she ran away.
+The Prince bade her point out the man if she could see him, and she
+showed us one of the bodyguard of the Count Amenmeses, whose face was
+scratched as though by a woman’s nails. On being questioned he said
+he could remember little of the matter, but confessed that he had seen
+the maiden by the canal at moonrise and jested with her.
+
+The kin of this girl clamoured that he should be killed, because he had
+offered insult to a high-born lady of Israel. This Seti refused, saying
+that the offence was not one of death, but that he would order him to
+be publicly beaten. Thereupon Amenmeses, who was fond of the soldier, a
+good man enough when not in his cups, sprang up in a rage, saying that
+no servant of his should be touched because he had offered to caress
+some light Israelitish woman who had no business to be wandering about
+alone at night. He added that if the man were flogged he and all those
+under his command would leave the camp and march back to make report to
+Pharaoh.
+
+Now the Prince, having consulted with the councillors, told the woman
+and her kin that as Pharaoh had been appealed to, he must judge of the
+matter, and commanded them to appear at his court within a month and
+state their case against the soldier. They went away very
+ill-satisfied, saying that Amenmeses had insulted their daughter even
+more than his servant had done. The end of this matter was that on the
+following night this soldier was discovered dead, pierced through and
+through with knife thrusts. The girl, her parents and brethren could
+not be found, having fled away into the desert, nor was there any
+evidence to show by whom the soldier had been murdered. Therefore
+nothing could be done in the business except bury the victim.
+
+On the following morning the Inquiry began with due ceremony, the Prince
+Seti and the Count Amenmeses taking their seats at the head of a large
+pavilion with the councillors behind them and the scribes, among whom I
+was, seated at their feet. Then we learned that the two prophets whom I
+had seen at Pharaoh’s court were not in the land of Goshen, having
+left before we arrived “to sacrifice to God in the wilderness,” nor
+did any know when they would return. Other elders and priests, however,
+appeared and began to set out their case, which they did at great
+length and in a fierce and turbulent fashion, speaking often all of
+them at once, thus making it difficult for the interpreters to render
+their words, since they pretended that they did not know the Egyptian
+tongue.
+
+Moreover they told their story from the very beginning, when they had
+entered Egypt hundreds of years before and were succoured by the vizier
+of the Pharaoh of that day, one Yusuf, a powerful and clever man of
+their race who stored corn in a time of famine and low Niles. This
+Pharaoh was of the Hyksos people, one of the Shepherd kings whom we
+Egyptians hated and after many wars drove out of Khem. Under these
+Shepherd kings, being joined by many of their own blood, the Israelites
+grew rich and powerful, so that the Pharaohs who came after and who
+loved them not, began to fear them.
+
+This was as far as the story was taken on the first day.
+
+On the second day began the tale of their oppression, under which,
+however, they still multiplied like gnats upon the Nile, and grew so
+strong and numerous that at length the great Rameses did a wicked
+thing, ordering that their male children should be put to death. This
+order was never carried out, because his daughter, she who found Moses
+among the reeds of the river, pleaded for them.
+
+At this point the Prince, wearied with the noise and heat in that
+crowded place, broke off the sitting until the morrow. Commanding me to
+accompany him, he ordered a chariot, not his own, to be made ready,
+and, although I prayed him not to do so, set out unguarded save for
+myself and the charioteer, saying that he would see how these people
+laboured with his own eyes.
+
+Taking a Hebrew lad to run before the horses as our guide, we drove to
+the banks of a canal where the Israelites made bricks of mud which,
+after drying in the sun, were laden into boats that waited for them on
+the canal and taken away to other parts of Egypt to be used on
+Pharaoh’s works. Thousands of men were engaged upon this labour,
+toiling in gangs under the command of Egyptian overseers who kept count
+of the bricks, cutting their number upon tally sticks, or sometimes
+writing them upon sherds. These overseers were brutal fellows, for the
+most part of the low class, who used vile language to the slaves. Nor
+were they content with words. Noting a crowd gathered at one place and
+hearing cries, we went to see what passed. Here we found a lad
+stretched upon the ground being cruelly beaten with hide whips, so that
+the blood ran down him. At a sign from the Prince I asked what he had
+done and was told roughly, for the overseers and their guards did not
+know who we were, that during the past six days he had only made half
+of his allotted tale of bricks.
+
+“Loose him,” said the Prince quietly.
+
+“Who are you that give me orders?” asked the head overseer, who was
+helping to hold the lad while the guards flogged him. “Begone, lest I
+serve you as I serve this idle fellow.”
+
+Seti looked at him, and as he looked his lips turned white.
+
+“Tell him,” he said to me.
+
+“You dog!” I gasped. “Do you know who it is to whom you dare
+to speak thus?”
+
+“No, nor care. Lay on, guard.”
+
+The Prince, whose robes were hidden by a wide-sleeved cloak of common
+stuff and make, threw the cloak open revealing beneath it the pectoral
+he had worn in the Court, a beautiful thing of gold whereon were
+inscribed his royal names and titles in black and red enamel. Also he
+held up his right hand on which was a signet of Pharaoh’s that he
+wore as his commissioner. The men stared, then one of them who was more
+learned than the rest cried:
+
+“By the gods! this is his Highness the Prince of Egypt!” at which
+words all of them fell upon their faces.
+
+“Rise,” said Seti to the lad who looked at him, forgetting his pain
+in his wonderment, “and tell me why you have not delivered your tale
+of bricks.”
+
+“Sir,” sobbed the boy in bad Egyptian, “for two reasons.
+First, because I am a cripple, see,” and he held up his left arm which
+was withered and thin as a mummy’s, “and therefore cannot work
+quickly. Secondly, because my mother, whose only child I am, is a widow
+and lies sick in bed, so that there are no women or children in our
+home who can go out to gather straw for me, as Pharaoh has commanded
+that we should do. Therefore I must spend many hours in searching for
+straw, since I have no means wherewith to pay others to do this for
+me.”
+
+“Ana,” said the Prince, “write down this youth’s name
+with the place of his abode, and if his tale prove true, see that his
+wants and those of his mother are relieved before we depart from
+Goshen. Write down also the names of this overseer and his fellows and
+command them to report themselves at my camp to-morrow at sunrise, when
+their case shall be considered. Say to the lad also that, being one
+afflicted by the gods, Pharaoh frees him from the making of bricks and
+all other labour of the State.”
+
+Now while I did these things the overseer and his companions beat their
+heads upon the ground and prayed for mercy, being cowards as the cruel
+always are. His Highness answered them never a word, but only looked at
+them with cold eyes, and I noted that his face which was so kind had
+grown terrible. So those men thought also, for that night they ran away
+to Syria, leaving their families and all their goods behind them, nor
+were they ever seen again in Egypt.
+
+When I had finished writing the Prince turned and, walking to where the
+chariot waited, bade the driver cross the canal by a bridge there was
+here. We drove on a while in silence, following a track which ran
+between the cultivated land and the desert. At length I pointed to the
+sinking sun and asked if it were not time to return.
+
+“Why?” replied the Prince. “The sun dies, but there rises the
+full moon to give us light, and what have we to fear with swords at our
+sides and her Highness Userti’s mail beneath our robes? Oh! Ana, I am
+weary of men with their cruelties and shouts and strugglings, and I
+find this wilderness a place of rest, for in it I seem to draw nearer
+to my own soul and the Heaven whence it came, or so I hope.”
+
+“Your Highness is fortunate to have a soul to which he cares to draw
+near; it is not so with all of us;” I answered laughing, for I sought
+to change the current of his thoughts by provoking argument of a sort
+that he loved.
+
+Just then, however, the horses, which were not of the best, came to a
+halt on a slope of heavy sand. Nor would Seti allow the driver to flog
+them, but commanded him to let them rest a space. While they did so we
+descended from the chariot and walked up the desert rise, he leaning on
+my arm. As we reached its crest we heard sobs and a soft voice speaking
+on the further side. Who it was that spoke and sobbed we could not see,
+because of a line of tamarisk shrubs which once had been a fence.
+
+“More cruelty, or at least more sorrow,” whispered Seti. “Let
+us look.”
+
+So we crept to the tamarisks, and peeping through their feathery tops,
+saw a very sweet sight in the pure rays of that desert moon. There, not
+five paces away, stood a woman clad in white, young and shapely in
+form. Her face we could not see because it was turned from us, also the
+long dark hair which streamed about her shoulders hid it. She was
+praying aloud, speaking now in Hebrew, of which both of us knew
+something, and now in Egyptian, as does one who is accustomed to think
+in either tongue, and stopping from time to time to sob.
+
+“O God of my people,” she said, “send me succour and bring me
+safe home, that Thy child may not be left alone in the wilderness to
+become the prey of wild beasts, or of men who are worse than beasts.”
+
+Then she sobbed, knelt down on a great bundle which I saw was stubble
+straw, and again began to pray. This time it was in Egyptian, as though
+she feared lest the Hebrew should be overheard and understood.
+
+“O God,” she said, “O God of my fathers, help my poor heart,
+help my poor heart!”
+
+We were about to withdraw, or rather to ask her what she ailed, when
+suddenly she turned her head, so that the light fell full upon her
+face. So lovely was it that I caught my breath and the Prince at my
+side started. Indeed it was more than lovely, for as a lamp shines
+through an alabaster vase or a shell of pearl so did the spirit within
+this woman shine through her tear-stained face, making it mysterious as
+the night. Then I understood, perhaps for the first time, that it is
+the spirit which gives true beauty both to maid and man and not the
+flesh. The white vase of alabaster, however shapely, is still a vase
+alone; it is the hidden lamp within that graces it with the glory of a
+star. And those eyes, those large, dreaming eyes aswim with tears and
+hued like richest lapis-lazuli, oh! what man could look on them and not
+be stirred?
+
+“Merapi!” I whispered.
+
+“Moon of Israel!” murmured Seti, “filled with the moon,
+lovely as the moon, mystic as the moon and worshipping the moon, her
+mother.”
+
+“She is in trouble; let us help her,” I said.
+
+“Nay, wait a while, Ana, for never again shall you and I see such a
+sight as this.”
+
+Low as we spoke beneath our breath, I think the lady heard us. At least
+her face changed and grew frightened. Hastily she rose, lifted the
+great bundle of straw upon which she had been kneeling and placed it on
+her head. She ran a few steps, then stumbled and sank down with a
+little moan of pain. In an instant we were at her side. She stared at
+us affrighted, for who we were she could not see because of the wide
+hoods of our common cloaks that made us look like midnight thieves, or
+slave-dealing Bedouin.
+
+“Oh! Sirs,” she babbled, “harm me not. I have nothing of
+value on me save this amulet.”
+
+“Who are you and what do you here?” asked the Prince disguising his
+voice.
+
+“Sirs, I am Merapi, the daughter of Nathan the Levite, he whom the
+accursed Egyptian captain, Khuaka, murdered at Tanis.”
+
+“How do you dare to call the Egyptians accursed?” asked Seti in
+tones made gruff to hide his laughter.
+
+“Oh! Sirs, because they are—I mean because I thought you were Arabs
+who hate them, as we do. At least this Egyptian was accursed, for the
+high Prince Seti, Pharaoh’s heir, caused him to be beheaded for that
+crime.”
+
+“And do you hate the high Prince Seti, Pharaoh’s heir, and call him
+accursed?”
+
+She hesitated, then in a doubtful voice said:
+
+“No, I do not hate him.”
+
+“Why not, seeing that you hate the Egyptians of whom he is one of the
+first and therefore twice worthy of hatred, being the son of your
+oppressor, Pharaoh?”
+
+“Because, although I have tried my best, I cannot. Also,” she added
+with the joy of one who has found a good reason, “he avenged my
+father.”
+
+“This is no cause, girl, seeing that he only did what the law forced
+him to do. They say that this dog of a Pharaoh’s son is here in
+Goshen upon some mission. Is it true, and have you seen him? Answer,
+for we of the desert folk desire to know.”
+
+“I believe it is true, Sir, but I have not seen him.”
+
+“Why not, if he is here?”
+
+“Because I do not wish to, Sir. Why should a daughter of Israel desire
+to look upon the face of a prince of Egypt?”
+
+“In truth I do not know,” replied Seti forgetting his feigned
+voice. Then, seeing that she glanced at him sharply, he added in gruff
+tones:
+
+“Brother, either this woman lies or she is none other than the maid
+they call Moon of Israel who dwells with old Jabez the Levite, her
+uncle. What think you?”
+
+“I think, Brother, that she lies, and for three reasons,” I
+answered, falling into the jest. “First, she is too fair to be of the
+black Hebrew blood.”
+
+“Oh! Sir,” moaned Merapi, “my mother was a Syrian lady of the
+mountains, with a skin as white as milk, and eyes blue as the
+heavens.”
+
+“Secondly,” I went on without heeding her, “if the great
+Prince Seti is really in Goshen and she dwells there, it is unnatural
+that she should not have gone to look upon him. Being a woman only two
+things would have kept her away, one—that she feared and hated him,
+which she denies, and the other—that she liked him too well, and,
+being prudent, thought it wisest not to look upon him more.”
+
+When she heard the first of these words, Merapi glanced up with her lips
+parted as though to answer. Instead, she dropped her eyes and suddenly
+seemed to choke, while even in the moonlight I saw the red blood pour
+to her brow and along her white arms.
+
+“Sir,” she gasped, “why should you affront me? I swear that
+never till this moment did I think such a thing. Surely it would be
+treason.”
+
+“Without doubt,” interrupted Seti, “yet one of a sort that
+kings might pardon.”
+
+“Thirdly,” I went on as though I had heard neither of them,
+“if this girl were what she declares, she would not be wandering alone
+in the desert at night, seeing that I have heard among the Arabs that
+Merapi, daughter of Nathan the Levite, is a lady of no mean blood among
+the Hebrews and that her family has wealth. Still, however much she
+lies, we can see for ourselves that she is beautiful.”
+
+“Yes, Brother, in that we are fortunate, since without doubt she will
+sell for a high price among the slave traders beyond the desert.”
+
+“Oh! Sir,” cried Merapi seizing the hem of his robe, “surely
+you who I feel, I know not why, are no evil thief, you who have a mother
+and, perchance, sisters, would not doom a maiden to such a fate.
+Misjudge me not because I am alone. Pharaoh has commanded that we must
+find straw for the making of bricks. This morning I came far to search
+for it on behalf of a neighbour whose wife is ill in childbed. But
+towards sundown I slipped and cut myself upon the edge of a sharp
+stone. See,” and holding up her foot she showed a wound beneath the
+instep from which the blood still dropped, a sight that moved both of
+us not a little, “and now I cannot walk and carry this heavy straw
+which I have been at such pains to gather.”
+
+“Perchance she speaks truth, Brother,” said the Prince, “and
+if we took her home we might earn no small reward from Jabez the Levite.
+But first tell me, Maiden, what was that prayer which you made to the
+moon, that Hathor should help your heart?”
+
+“Sir,” she answered, “only the idolatrous Egyptians pray to
+Hathor, the Lady of Love.”
+
+“I thought that all the world prayed to the Lady of Love, Maiden. But
+what of the prayer? Is there some man whom you desire?”
+
+“None,” she answered angrily.
+
+“Then why does your heart need so much help that you ask it of the
+air? Is there perchance someone whom you do _not_ desire?”
+
+She hung her head and made no answer.
+
+“Come, Brother,” said the Prince, “this lady is weary of us,
+and I think that if she were a true woman she would answer our questions
+more readily. Let us go and leave her. As she cannot walk we can take
+her later if we wish.”
+
+“Sirs,” she said, “I am glad that you are going, since the
+hyenas will be safer company than two men who can threaten to sell a
+helpless woman into slavery. Yet as we part to meet no more I will
+answer your question. In the prayer to which you were not ashamed to
+listen I did not pray for any lover, I prayed to be rid of one.”
+
+“Now, Ana,” said the Prince bursting into laughter and throwing
+back his dark cloak, “do you discover the name of that unhappy man of
+whom the lady Merapi wishes to be rid, for I dare not.”
+
+She gazed into his face and uttered a little cry.
+
+“Ah!” she said, “I thought I knew the voice again when once
+you forget your part. Prince Seti, does your Highness think that this
+was a kind jest to practise upon one alone and in fear?”
+
+“Lady Merapi,” he answered smiling, “be not wroth, for at
+least it was a good one and you have told us nothing that we did not
+know. You may remember that at Tanis you said that you were affianced
+and there was that in your voice——. Suffer me now to tend this
+wound of yours.”
+
+Then he knelt down, tore a strip from his ceremonial robe of fine linen,
+and began to bind up her foot, not unskilfully, being a man full of
+strange and unexpected knowledge. As he worked at the task, watching
+them, I saw their eyes meet, saw too that rich flood of colour creep
+once more to Merapi’s brow. Then I began to think it unseemly that
+the Prince of Egypt should play the leech to a woman’s hurts, and to
+wonder why he had not left that humble task to me.
+
+Presently the bandaging was done and made fast with a royal scarabæus
+mounted on a pin of gold, which the Prince wore in his garments. On it
+was cut the uræus crown and beneath it were the signs which read
+“Lord of the Lower and the Upper Land,” being Pharaoh’s style and
+title.
+
+“See now, Lady,” he said, “you have Egypt beneath your
+foot,” and when she asked him what he meant, he read her the writing
+upon the jewel, whereat for the third time she coloured to the eyes.
+Then he lifted her up, instructing her to rest her weight upon his
+shoulder, saying he feared lest the scarab, which he valued, should be
+broken.
+
+Thus we started, I bearing the bundle of straw behind as he bade me,
+since, he said, having been gathered with such toil, it must not be
+lost. On reaching the chariot, where we found the guide gone and the
+driver asleep, he sat her in it upon his cloak, and wrapped her in mine
+which he borrowed, saying I should not need it who must carry the
+straw. Then he mounted also and they drove away at a foot’s pace. As
+I walked after the chariot with the straw that fell about my ears, I
+heard nothing of their further talk, if indeed they talked at all
+which, the driver being present, perhaps they did not. Nor in truth did
+I listen who was engaged in thought as to the hard lot of these poor
+Hebrews, who must collect this dirty stuff and bear it so far, made
+heavy as it was by the clay that clung about the roots.
+
+Even now, as it chanced, we did not reach Goshen without further
+trouble. Just as we had crossed the bridge over the canal I, toiling
+behind, saw in the clear moonlight a young man running towards us. He
+was a Hebrew, tall, well-made and very handsome in his fashion. His
+eyes were dark and fierce, his nose was hooked, his teeth were regular
+and white, and his long, black hair hung down in a mass upon his
+shoulders. He held a wooden staff in his hand and a naked knife was
+girded about his middle. Seeing the chariot he halted and peered at it,
+then asked in Hebrew if those who travelled had seen aught of a young
+Israelitish lady who was lost.
+
+“If you seek me, Laban, I am here,” replied Merapi, speaking from
+the shadow of the cloak.
+
+“What do you there alone with an Egyptian, Merapi?” he said
+fiercely.
+
+What followed I do not know for they spoke so quickly in their
+unfamiliar tongue that I could not understand them. At length Merapi
+turned to the Prince, saying:
+
+“Lord, this is Laban my affianced, who commands me to descend from the
+chariot and accompany him as best I can.”
+
+“And I, Lady, command you to stay in it. Laban your affianced can
+accompany us.”
+
+Now at this Laban grew angry, as I could see he was prone to do, and
+stretched out his hand as though to push Seti aside and seize Merapi.
+
+“Have a care, man,’ said the Prince, while I, throwing down the
+straw, drew my sword and sprang between them, crying:
+
+“Slave, would you lay hands upon the Prince of Egypt?”
+
+“Prince of Egypt!” he said, drawing back astonished, then added
+sullenly, “Well what does the Prince of Egypt with my affianced?”
+
+“He helps her who is hurt to her home, having found her helpless in
+the desert with this accursed straw,” I answered.
+
+“Forward, driver,” said the Prince, and Merapi added, “Peace,
+Laban, and bear the straw which his Highness’s companion has carried
+such a weary way.”
+
+He hesitated a moment, then snatched up the bundle and set it on his
+head.
+
+As we walked side by side, his evil temper seemed to get the better of
+him. Without ceasing, he grumbled because Merapi was alone in the
+chariot with an Egyptian. At length I could bear it no longer.
+
+“Be silent, fellow,” I said. “Least of all men should you
+complain of what his Highness does, seeing that already he has avenged
+the killing of this lady’s father, and now has saved her from lying
+out all night among the wild beasts and men of the wilderness.”
+
+“Of the first I have heard more than enough,” he answered,
+“and of the second doubtless I shall hear more than enough also. Ever
+since my affianced met this prince, she has looked on me with different
+eyes and spoken to me with another voice. Yes, and when I press for
+marriage, she says it cannot be for a long while yet, because she is
+mourning for her father; her father forsooth, whom she never forgave
+because he betrothed her to me according to the custom of our
+people.”
+
+“Perhaps she loves some other man?” I queried, wishing to learn all
+I could about this lady.
+
+“She loves no man, or did not a while ago. She loves herself alone.”
+
+“One with so much beauty may look high in marriage.”
+
+“High!” he replied furiously. “How can she look higher than
+myself who am a lord of the line of Judah, and therefore greater far
+than an upstart prince or any other Egyptian, were he Pharaoh
+himself?”
+
+“Surely you must be trumpeter to your tribe,” I mocked, for my
+temper was rising.
+
+“Why?” he asked. “Are not the Hebrews greater than the
+Egyptians, as those oppressors soon shall learn, and is not a lord of
+Israel more than any idol-worshipper among your people?”
+
+I looked at the man clad in mean garments and foul from his labour in
+the brickfield, marvelling at his insolence. There was no doubt but
+that he believed what he said; I could see it in his proud eye and
+bearing. He thought that his tribe was of more import in the world than
+our great and ancient nation, and that he, an unknown youth, equalled
+or surpassed Pharaoh himself. Then, being enraged by these insults, I
+answered:
+
+“You say so, but let us put it to the proof. I am but a scribe, yet I
+have seen war. Linger a little that we may learn whether a lord of
+Israel is better than a scribe of Egypt.”
+
+“Gladly would I chastise you, Writer,” he answered, “did I
+not see your plot. You wish to delay me here, and perhaps to murder me
+by some foul means, while your master basks in the smiles of the Moon
+of Israel. Therefore I will not stay, but another time it shall be as
+you wish, and perhaps ere long.”
+
+Now I think that I should have struck him in the face, though I am not
+one of those who love brawling. But at this moment there appeared a
+company of Egyptian horse led by none other than the Count Amenmeses.
+Seeing the Prince in the Chariot, they halted and gave the salute.
+Amenmeses leapt to the ground.
+
+“We are come out to search for your Highness,” he said,
+“fearing lest some hurt had befallen you.”
+
+“I thank you, Cousin,” answered the Prince, “but the hurt has
+befallen another, not me.”
+
+“That is well, your Highness,” said the Count, studying Merapi with
+a smile. “Where is the lady wounded? Not in the breast, I trust.”
+
+“No, Cousin, in the foot, which is why she travels with me in this
+chariot.”
+
+“Your Highness was ever kind to the unfortunate. I pray you let me
+take your place, or suffer me to set this girl upon a horse.”
+
+“Drive on,” said Seti.
+
+So, escorted by the soldiers, whom I heard making jests to each other
+about the Prince and the lady, as I think did the Hebrew Laban also,
+for he glared about him and ground his teeth, we came at last to the
+town. Here, guided by Merapi, the chariot was halted at the house of
+Jabez her uncle, a white-bearded old Hebrew with a cunning eye, who
+rushed from the door of his mud-roofed dwelling crying he had done no
+harm that soldiers should come to take him.
+
+“It is not you whom the Egyptians wish to capture, it is your niece
+and my betrothed,” shouted Laban, whereat the soldiers laughed, as
+did some women who had gathered round. Meanwhile the Prince was helping
+Merapi to descend out of the chariot, from which indeed he lifted her.
+The sight seemed to madden Laban, who rushed forward to tear her from
+his arms, and in the attempt jostled his Highness. The captain of the
+soldiers—he was an officer of Pharaoh’s bodyguard—lifted his
+sword in a fury and struck Laban such a blow upon the head with the
+flat of the blade that he fell upon his face and lay there groaning.
+
+“Away with that Hebrew dog and scourge him!” cried the captain.
+“Is the royal blood of Egypt to be handled by such as he?”
+
+Soldiers sprang forward to do his bidding, but Seti said quietly:
+
+“Let the fellow be, friends; he lacks manners, that is all. Is he
+hurt?”
+
+As he spoke Laban leapt to his feet and, fearing worse things, fled away
+with a curse and a glare of hate at the Prince.
+
+“Farewell, Lady,” said Seti. “I wish you a quick
+recovery.”
+
+“I thank your Highness,” she answered, looking about her
+confusedly. “Be pleased to wait a little while that I may return to
+you your jewel.”
+
+“Nay, keep it, Lady, and if ever you are in need or trouble of any
+sort, send it to me who know it well and you shall not lack succour.”
+
+She glanced at him and burst into tears.
+
+“Why do you weep?” he asked.
+
+“Oh! your Highness, because I fear that trouble is near at hand. My
+affianced, Laban, has a revengeful heart. Help me to the house, my
+uncle.”
+
+“Listen, Hebrew,” said Seti, raising his voice; “if aught
+that is evil befalls this niece of yours, or if she is forced to walk
+whither she would not go, sorrow shall be your portion and that of all
+with whom you have to do. Do you hear?”
+
+“O my Lord, I hear, I hear. Fear nothing. She shall be guarded
+carefully as—as she will doubtless guard that trinket on her foot.”
+
+“Ana,” said the Prince to me that night, when I was talking with
+him before he went to rest, “I know not why, but I fear that man
+Laban; he has an evil eye.”
+
+“I too think it would have been better if your Highness had left him
+to be dealt with by the soldiers, after which there would have been
+nothing to fear from him in this world.”
+
+“Well, I did not, so there’s an end. Ana, she is a fair woman and a
+sweet.”
+
+“The fairest and the sweetest that ever I saw, my Prince.”
+
+“Be careful, Ana. I pray you be careful, lest you should fall in love
+with one who is already affianced.”
+
+I only looked at him in answer, and as I looked I bethought me of the
+words of Ki the Magician. So, I think, did the Prince; at least he
+laughed not unhappily and turned away.
+
+For my part I rested ill that night, and when at last I slept, it was to
+dream of Merapi making her prayer in the rays of the moon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE AMBUSH
+
+
+Eight full days went by before we left the land of Goshen. The story
+that the Israelites had to tell was long, sad also. Moreover, they gave
+evidence as to many cruel things that they had suffered, and when this
+was finished the testimony of the guards and others must be called, all
+of which it was necessary to write down. Lastly, the Prince seemed to
+be in no hurry to be gone, as he said because he hoped that the two
+prophets would return from the wilderness, which they never did. During
+all this time Seti saw no more of Merapi, nor indeed did he speak of
+her, even when the Count Amenmeses jested him as to his chariot
+companion and asked him if he had driven again in the desert by
+moonlight.
+
+I, however, saw her once. When I was wandering in the town one day
+towards sunset, I met her walking with her uncle Jabez upon one side
+and her lover, Laban, on the other, like a prisoner between two guards.
+I thought she looked unhappy, but her foot seemed to be well again; at
+least she moved without limping.
+
+I stopped to salute her, but Laban scowled and hurried her away. Jabez
+stayed behind and fell into talk with me. He told me that she was
+recovered of her hurt, but that there had been trouble between her and
+Laban because of all that happened on that evening when she came by it,
+ending in his encounter with the captain.
+
+“This young man seems to be of a jealous nature,” I said,
+“one who will make a harsh husband for any woman.”
+
+“Yes, learned scribe, jealousy has been his curse from youth as it is
+with so many of our people, and I thank God that I am not the woman whom
+he is to marry.”
+
+“Why, then, do you suffer her to marry him, Jabez?”
+
+“Because her father affianced her to this lion’s whelp when she was
+scarce more than a child, and among us that is a bond hard to break. For
+my own part,” he added, dropping his voice, and glancing round with
+shifting eyes, “I should like to see my niece in some different place
+to that of the wife of Laban. With her great beauty and wit, she might
+become anything—anything if she had opportunity. But under our laws,
+even if Laban died, as might happen to so violent a man, she could wed
+no one who is not a Hebrew.”
+
+“I thought she told us that her mother was a Syrian.”
+
+“That is so, Scribe Ana. She was a beautiful captive of war whom
+Nathan came to love and made his wife, and the daughter takes after
+her. Still she is Hebrew and of the Hebrew faith and congregation. Had
+it not been so, she might have shone like a star, nay, like the very
+moon after which she is named, perhaps in the court of Pharaoh
+himself.”
+
+“As the great queen Taia did, she who changed the religion of Egypt to
+the worship of one god in a bygone generation,” I suggested.
+
+“I have heard of her, Scribe Ana. She was a wondrous woman, beautiful
+too by her statues. Would that you Egyptians could find such another to
+turn your hearts to a purer faith and to soften them towards us poor
+aliens. When does his Highness leave the land of Goshen?”
+
+“At sunrise on the third day from this.”
+
+“Provision will be needed for the journey, much provision for so large
+a train. I deal in sheep and other foodstuffs, Scribe Ana.”
+
+“I will mention the matter to his Highness and to the Vizier,
+Jabez.”
+
+“I thank you, Scribe, and will be in waiting at the camp to-morrow
+morning. See, Laban returns with Merapi. One word, let his Highness
+beware of Laban. He is very revengeful and has not forgotten that
+sword-blow on the head.”
+
+“Let Laban be careful,” I answered. “Had it not been for his
+Highness the soldiers would have killed him the other night because he
+dared to offer affront to the royal blood. A second time he will not
+escape. Moreover, Pharaoh would avenge aught he did upon the people of
+Israel.”
+
+“I understand. It would be sad if Laban were killed, very sad. But the
+people of Israel have One who can protect them even against Pharaoh and
+all his hosts. Farewell, learned Scribe. If ever I come to Tanis, with
+your leave we will talk more together.”
+
+That night I told the Prince all that had passed. He listened, and said:
+
+“I grieve for the lady Merapi, for hers is like to be a hard fate.
+Yet,” he added laughing, “perhaps it is as well for you, friend,
+that you should see no more of her who is sure to bring trouble wherever
+she goes. That woman has a face which haunts the mind, as the Ka haunts
+the tomb, and for my part I do not wish to look upon it again.”
+
+“I am glad to hear it, Prince, and for my part, I have done with
+women, however sweet. I will tell this Jabez that the provisions for
+the journey will be bought elsewhere.”
+
+“Nay, buy them from him, and if Nehesi grumbles at the price, pay it
+on my account. The way to a Hebrew’s heart is through his treasure
+bags. If Jabez is well treated, it may make him kinder to his niece, of
+whom I shall always have a pleasant memory, for which I am grateful
+among this sour folk who hate us, and with reason.”
+
+So the sheep and all the foodstuffs for the journey were bought from
+Jabez at his own price, for which he thanked me much, and on the third
+day we started. At the last moment the Prince, whose mood seemed to be
+perverse that evening, refused to travel with the host upon the morrow
+because of the noise and dust. In vain did the Count Amenmeses reason
+with him, and Nehesi and the great officers implore him almost on their
+knees, saying that they must answer for his safety to Pharaoh and the
+Princess Userti. He bade them begone, replying that he would join them
+at their camp on the following night. I also prayed him to listen, but
+he told me sharply that what he said he had said, and that he and I
+would journey in his chariot alone, with two armed runners and no more,
+adding that if I thought there was danger I could go forward with the
+troops. Then I bit my lip and was silent, whereon, seeing that he had
+hurt me, he turned and craved my pardon humbly enough as his kind heart
+taught him to do.
+
+“I can bear no more of Amenmeses and those officers,” he said,
+“and I love to be in the desert alone. Last time we journeyed there we
+met with adventures that were pleasant, Ana, and at Tanis doubtless I
+shall find others that are not pleasant. Admit that Hebrew priest who
+is waiting to instruct me in the mysteries of his faith which I desire
+to understand.”
+
+So I bowed and left him to make report that I had failed to shake his
+will. Taking the risk of his wrath, however, I did this—for had I not
+sworn to the Princess that I would protect him? In place of the runners
+I chose two of the best and bravest soldiers to play their part.
+Moreover, I instructed that captain who smote down Laban to hide away
+with a score of picked men and enough chariots to carry them, and to
+follow after the Prince, keeping just out of sight.
+
+So on the morrow the troops, nobles, and officers went on at daybreak,
+together with the baggage carriers; nor did we follow them till many
+hours had gone by. Some of this time the Prince spent in driving about
+the town, taking note of the condition of the people. These, as I saw,
+looked on us sullenly enough, more so than before, I thought, perhaps
+because we were unguarded. Indeed, turning round I caught sight of a
+man shaking his fist and of an old hag spitting after us, and wished
+that we were out of the land of Goshen. But when I reported it to the
+Prince he only laughed and took no heed.
+
+“All can see that they hate us Egyptians,” he said. “Well,
+let it be our task to try to turn their hate to love.”
+
+“That you will never do, Prince, it is too deep-rooted in their
+hearts; for generations they have drunk it in with their mother’s
+milk. Moreover, this is a war of the gods of Egypt and of Israel, and
+men must go where their gods drive them.”
+
+“Do you think so, Ana? Then are men nothing but dust blown by the
+winds of heaven, blown from the darkness that is before the dawn to be
+gathered at last and for ever into the darkness of the grave of
+night?”
+
+He brooded a while, then went on.
+
+“Yet if I were Pharaoh I would let these people go, for without doubt
+their god has much power and I tell you that I fear them.”
+
+“Why will he not let them go?” I asked. “They are a weakness,
+not a strength to Egypt, as was shown at the time of the invasion of the
+Barbarians with whom they sided. Moreover, the value of this rich land
+of theirs, which they cannot take with them, is greater than that of
+all their labour.”
+
+“I do not know, friend. The matter is one upon which my father keeps
+his own counsel, even from the Princess Userti. Perhaps it is because
+he will not change the policy of his father, Rameses; perhaps because
+he is stiff-necked to those who cross his will. Or it may be that he is
+held in this path by a madness sent of some god to bring loss and shame
+on Egypt.”
+
+“Then, Prince, all the priests and nobles are mad also, from Count
+Amenmeses down.”
+
+“Where Pharaoh leads priests and nobles follow. The question is, who
+leads Pharaoh? Here is the temple of these Hebrews; let us enter.”
+
+So we descended from the chariot, where, for my part, I would have
+remained, and walked through the gateway in the surrounding mud wall
+into the outer court of the temple, which on this the holy seventh day
+of the Hebrews was full of praying women, who feigned not to see us yet
+watched us out of the corners of their eyes. Passing through them we
+came to a doorway, by which we entered another court that was roofed
+over. Here were many men who murmured as we appeared. They were engaged
+in listening to a preacher in a white robe, who wore a strange shaped
+cap and some ornaments on his breast. I knew the man; he was the priest
+Kohath who had instructed the Prince in so much of the mysteries of the
+Hebrew faith as he chose to reveal. On seeing us he ceased suddenly in
+his discourse, uttered some hasty blessing and advanced to greet us.
+
+I waited behind the Prince, thinking it well to watch his back among all
+those fierce men, and did not hear what the priest said to him, as he
+whispered in that holy place. Kohath led him forward, to free him from
+the throng, I thought, till they came to the head of the little temple
+that was marked by some steps, above which hung a thick and heavy
+curtain. The Prince, walking on, did not see the lowest of these steps
+in the gloom, which was deep. His foot caught on it; he fell forward,
+and to save himself grasped at the curtain where the two halves of it
+met, and dragged it open, revealing a chamber plain and small beyond,
+in which was an altar. That was all I had time to see, for next instant
+a roar of rage rent the air and knives flashed in the gloom.
+
+“The Egyptian defiles the tabernacle!” shouted one. “Drag him
+out and kill him!” screamed another.
+
+“Friends,” said Seti, turning as they surged towards him, “if
+I have done aught wrong it was by chance——”
+
+He could add no more, seeing that they were on him, or rather on me who
+had leapt in front of him. Already they had grasped my robes and my
+hand was on my sword-hilt, when the priest Kohath cried out:
+
+“Men of Israel, are you mad? Would you bring Pharaoh’s vengeance on
+us?”
+
+They halted a little and their spokesman shouted:
+
+“We defy Pharaoh! Our God will protect us from Pharaoh. Drag him forth
+and kill him beyond the wall!”
+
+Again they began to move, when a man, in whom I recognized Jabez, the
+uncle of Merapi, called aloud:
+
+“Cease! If this Prince of Egypt has done insult to Jahveh by will and
+not by chance, it is certain that he will avenge himself upon him.
+Shall men take the judgment of God into their own hands? Stand back and
+wait awhile. If Jahveh is affronted, the Egyptian will fall dead. If he
+does not fall dead, let him pass hence unharmed, for such is Jahveh’s
+will. Stand back, I say, while I count threescore.”
+
+They withdrew a space and slowly Jabez began to count.
+
+Although at that time I knew nothing of the power of the god of Israel,
+I will say that I was filled with fear as one by one he counted,
+pausing at each ten. The scene was very strange. There by the steps
+stood the Prince against the background of the curtain, his arms folded
+and a little smile of wonder mixed with contempt upon his face, but not
+a sign of fear. On one side of him was I, who knew well that I should
+share his fate whatever it might be, and indeed desired no other; and
+on the other the priest Kohath, whose hands shook and whose eyes
+started from his head. In front of us old Jabez counted, watching the
+fierce-faced congregation that in a dead silence waited for the issue.
+The count went on. Thirty. Forty. Fifty—oh! it seemed an age.
+
+At length sixty fell from his lips. He waited a while and all watched
+the Prince, not doubting but that he would fall dead. But instead he
+turned to Kohath and asked quietly if this ordeal was now finished, as
+he desired to make an offering to the temple, which he had been invited
+to visit, and begone.
+
+“Our God has given his answer,” said Jabez. “Accept it, men
+of Israel. What this Prince did he did by chance, not of design.”
+
+They turned and went without a word, and after I had laid the offering,
+no mean one, in the appointed place, we followed them.
+
+“It would seem that yours is no gentle god,” said the Prince to
+Kohath, when at length we were outside the temple.
+
+“At least he is just, your Highness. Had it been otherwise, you who
+had violated his sanctuary, although by chance, would ere now be
+dead.”
+
+“Then you hold, Priest, that Jahveh has power to slay us when he is
+angry?”
+
+“Without a doubt, your Highness—as, if our Prophets speak truth, I
+think that Egypt will learn ere all be done,” he added grimly.
+
+Seti looked at him and answered:
+
+“It may be so, but all gods, or their priests, claim the power to
+torment and slay those who worship other gods. It is not only women who
+are jealous, Kohath, or so it seems. Yet I think that you do your god
+injustice, seeing that even if this strength is his, he proved more
+merciful than his worshippers who knew well that I only grasped the
+veil to save myself from falling. If ever I visit your temple again it
+shall be in the company of those who can match might against might,
+whether of the spirit or the sword. Farewell.”
+
+So we reached the chariot, near to which stood Jabez, he who had saved
+us.
+
+“Prince,” he whispered, glancing at the crowd who lingered not far
+away, silent and glowering, “I pray you leave this land swiftly for
+here your life is not safe. I know it was by chance, but you have
+defiled the sanctuary and seen that upon which eyes may not look save
+those of the highest priests, an offence no Israelite can forgive.”
+
+“And you, or your people, Jabez, would have defiled this sanctuary of
+my life, spilling my heart’s blood and _not_ by chance. Surely you
+are a strange folk who seek to make an enemy of one who has tried to be
+your friend.”
+
+“I do not seek it,” exclaimed Jabez. “I would that we might
+have Pharaoh’s mouth and ear who soon will himself be Pharaoh upon our
+side. O Prince of Egypt, be not wroth with all the children of Israel
+because their wrongs have made some few of them stubborn and
+hard-hearted. Begone now, and of your goodness remember my words.”
+
+“I will remember,” said Seti, signing to the charioteer to drive on.
+
+Yet still the Prince lingered in the town, saying that he feared nothing
+and would learn all he could of this people and their ways that he
+might report the better of them to Pharaoh. For my part I believed that
+there was one face which he wished to see again before he left, but of
+this I thought it wise to say nothing.
+
+At length about midday we did depart, and drove eastwards on the track
+of Amenmeses and our company. All the afternoon we drove thus, preceded
+by the two soldiers disguised as runners and followed, as a distant
+cloud of dust told me, by the captain and his chariots, whom I had
+secretly commanded to keep us in sight.
+
+Towards evening we came to the pass in the stony hills which bounded the
+land of Goshen. Here Seti descended from the chariot, and we climbed,
+accompanied by the two soldiers whom I signed to follow us, to the
+crest of one of these hills that was strewn with huge boulders and
+lined with ridges of sandstone, between which gullies had been cut by
+the winds of thousands of years.
+
+Leaning against one of these ridges we looked back upon a wondrous
+sight. Far away across the fertile plain appeared the town that we had
+left, and behind it the sun sank. It would seem as though some storm
+had broken there, although the firmament above us was clear and blue.
+At least in front of the town two huge pillars of cloud stretched from
+earth to heaven like the columns of some mighty gateway. One of these
+pillars was as though it were made of black marble, and the other like
+to molten gold. Between them ran a road of light ending in a glory, and
+in the midst of the glory the round ball of Ra, the Sun, burned like
+the eye of God. The spectacle was as awesome as it was splendid.
+
+“Have you ever seen such a sky in Egypt, Prince?” I asked.
+
+“Never,” he answered, and although he spoke low, in that great
+stillness his voice sounded loud to me.
+
+For a while longer we watched, till suddenly the sun sank, and only the
+glory about it and above remained, which took shapes like to the
+palaces and temples of a city in the heavens, a far city that no mortal
+could reach except in dreams.
+
+“I know not why, Ana,” said Seti, “but for the first time
+since I was a man I feel afraid. It seems to me that there are omens in
+the sky and I cannot read them. Would that Ki were here to tell us what
+is signified by the pillar of blackness to the right and the pillar of
+fire to the left, and what god has his home in the city of glory
+behind, and how man’s feet may walk along the shining road which
+leads to its pylon gates. I tell you that I am afraid; it is as though
+Death were very near to me and all his wonders open to my mortal
+sight.”
+
+“I too am afraid,” I whispered. “Look! The pillars move. That
+of fire goes before; that of black cloud follows after, and between them
+I seem to see a countless multitude marching in unending companies. See
+how the light glitters on their spears! Surely the god of the Hebrews
+is afoot.”
+
+“He, or some other god, or no god at all, who knows? Come, Ana, let us
+be going if we would reach that camp ere dark.”
+
+So we descended from the ridge, and re-entering the chariot, drove on
+towards the neck of the pass. Now this neck was very narrow, not more
+than four paces wide for a certain distance, and, on either side of the
+roadway were tumbled sandstone boulders, between which grew desert
+plants, and gullies that had been cut by storm-water, while beyond
+these rose the sides of the mountain. Here the horses went at a walk
+towards a turn in the path, at which point the land began to fall
+again.
+
+When we were about half a spear’s throw from this turn of a sudden I
+heard a sound and, glancing to the right, perceived a woman leaping down
+the hillside towards us. The charioteer saw also and halted the horses,
+and the two runner guards turned and drew their swords. In less than
+half a minute the woman had reached us, coming out of the shadow so
+that the light fell upon her face.
+
+“Merapi!” exclaimed the Prince and I, speaking as though with one
+breath.
+
+Merapi it was indeed, but in evil case. Her long hair had broken loose
+and fell about her, the cloak she wore was torn, and there were blood
+and foam upon her lips. She stood gasping, since speak she could not
+for breathlessness, supporting herself with one hand upon the side of
+the chariot and with the other pointing to the bend in the road. At
+last a word came, one only. It was:
+
+“Murder!”
+
+“She means that she is going to be murdered,” said the Prince to me.
+
+“No,” she panted, “you—you! The Hebrews. Go back!”
+
+“Turn the horses!” I cried to the charioteer.
+
+He began to obey helped by the two guards, but because of the narrowness
+of the road and the steepness of the banks this was not easy. Indeed
+they were but half round in such fashion that they blocked the pathway
+from side to side, when a wild yell of ‘Jahveh’ broke upon our
+ears, and from round the bend, a few paces away, rushed a horde of
+fierce, hook-nosed men, brandishing knives and swords. Scarcely was
+there time for us to leap behind the shelter of the chariot and make
+ready, when they were on us.
+
+“Hearken,” I said to the charioteer as they came, “run as you
+never ran before, and bring up the guard behind!”
+
+He sprang away like an arrow.
+
+“Get back, Lady,” cried Seti. “This is no woman’s work,
+and see here comes Laban to seek you,” and he pointed with his sword
+at the leader of the murderers.
+
+She obeyed, staggering a few paces to a stone at the roadside, behind
+which she crouched. Afterwards she told me that she had no strength to
+go further, and indeed no will, since if we were killed, it were better
+that she who had warned us should be killed also.
+
+Now they had reached us, the whole flood of them, thirty or forty men.
+The first who came stabbed the frightened horses, and down they went
+against the bank, struggling. On the chariot leapt the Hebrews, seeking
+to come at us, and we met them as best we might, tearing off our cloaks
+and throwing them over our left arms to serve as shields.
+
+Oh! what a fight was that. In the open, or had we not been prepared, we
+must have been slain at once, but, as it was, the place and the barrier
+of the chariot gave us some advantage. So narrow was the roadway, the
+walls of which were here too steep to climb, that not more than four of
+the Hebrews could strike at us at once, which four must first surmount
+the chariot or the still living horses.
+
+But we also were four, and thanks to Userti, two of us were clad in mail
+beneath our robes—four strong men fighting for their lives. Against us
+came four of the Hebrews. One leapt from the chariot straight at Seti,
+who received him upon the point of his iron sword, whereof I heard the
+hilt ring against his breast-bone, that same famous iron sword which
+to-day lies buried with him in his grave.
+
+Down he came dead, throwing the Prince to the ground by the weight of
+his body. The Hebrew who attacked me caught his foot on the chariot
+pole and fell forward, so I killed him easily with a blow upon the
+head, which gave me time to drag the Prince to his feet again before
+another followed. The two guards also, sturdy fighters both of them,
+killed or mortally wounded their men. But others were pressing behind
+so thick and fast that I could keep no count of all that happened
+afterwards.
+
+Presently I saw one of the guards fall, slain by Laban. A stab on the
+breast sent me reeling backwards; had it not been for that mail I was
+sped. The other guard killed him who would have killed me, and then
+himself was killed by two who came on him at once.
+
+Now only the Prince and I were left, fighting back to back. He closed
+with one man, a very great fellow, and wounded him on the hand, so that
+he dropped his sword. This man gripped him round the middle and they
+rolled together on the ground. Laban appeared and stabbed the Prince in
+the back, but the curved knife he was using snapped on the Syrian mail.
+I struck at Laban and wounded him on the head, dazing him so that he
+staggered back and seemed to fall over the chariot. Then others rushed
+at me, and but for Userti’s armour three times at least I must have
+died. Fighting madly, I staggered against the rock, and whilst waiting
+for a new onset, saw that Seti, hurt by Laban’s thrust, was now
+beneath the great Hebrew who had him by the throat, and was choking the
+life out of him.
+
+I saw something else also—a woman holding a sword with both hands and
+stabbing downward, after which the grip of the Hebrew loosened from
+Seti’s throat.
+
+“Traitress!” cried one, and struck at her, so that she reeled back
+hurt. Then when all seemed finished, and beneath the rain of blows my
+senses were failing, I heard the thunder of horses’ hoofs and the
+shout of “_Egypt! Egypt!_” from the throats of soldiers. The flash
+of bronze caught my dazed eyes, and with the roar of battle in my ears
+I seemed to fall asleep just as the light of day departed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+SETI COUNSELS PHARAOH
+
+
+Dream upon dream. Dreams of voices, dreams of faces, dreams of sunlight
+and of moonlight and of myself being borne forward, always forward;
+dreams of shouting crowds, and, above all, dreams of Merapi’s eyes
+looking down on me like two watching stars from heaven. Then at last
+the awakening, and with it throbs of pain and qualms of sickness.
+
+At first I thought that I was dead and lying in a tomb. Then by degrees
+I saw that I was in no tomb but in a darkened room that was familiar to
+me, my own room in Seti’s palace at Tanis. It must be so, for there,
+near to the bed on which I lay, was my own chest filled with the
+manuscripts that I had brought from Memphis. I tried to lift my left
+hand, but could not, and looking down saw that the arm was bandaged
+like to that of a mummy, which made me think again that I must be dead,
+if the dead could suffer so much pain. I closed my eyes and thought or
+slept a while.
+
+As I lay thus I heard voices. One of them seemed to be that of a
+physician, who said, “Yes, he will live and ere long recover. The
+blow upon the head which has made him senseless for so many days was
+the worst of his wounds, but the bone was but bruised, not shattered or
+driven in upon the brain. The flesh cuts on his arms are healing well,
+and the mail he wore protected his vitals from being pierced.”
+
+“I am glad, physician,” answered a voice that I knew to be that of
+Userti, “since without a doubt, had it not been for Ana, his Highness
+would have perished. It is strange that one whom I thought to be nothing
+but a dreaming scribe should have shown himself so brave a warrior. The
+Prince says that this Ana killed three of those dogs with his own
+hands, and wounded others.”
+
+“It was well done, your Highness,” answered the physician,
+“but still better was his forethought in providing a rear-guard and in
+despatching the charioteer to call it up. It seems to have been the
+Hebrew lady who really saved the life of his Highness, when, forgetting
+her sex, she stabbed the murderer who had him by the throat.”
+
+“That is the Prince’s tale, or so I understand,” she answered
+coldly. “Yet it seems strange that a weak and worn-out girl could have
+pierced a giant through from back to breast.”
+
+“At least she warned him of the ambush, your Highness.”
+
+“So they say. Perhaps Ana here will soon tell us the truth about these
+matters. Tend him well, physician, and you shall not lack for your
+reward.”
+
+Then they went away, still talking, and I lay quiet, filled with
+thankfulness and wonder, for now everything came back to me.
+
+A while later, as I lay with my eyes still shut, for even that low light
+seemed to hurt them, I became aware of a woman’s soft step stealing
+round my bed and of a fragrance such as comes from a woman’s robes
+and hair. I looked and saw Merapi’s star-like eyes gazing down on me
+just as I had seen them in my dreams.
+
+“Greeting, Moon of Israel,” I said. “Of a truth we meet again
+in strange case.”
+
+“Oh!” she whispered, “are you awake at last? I thank God,
+Scribe Ana, who for three days thought that you must die.”
+
+“As, had it not been for you, Lady, surely I should have done—I and
+another. Now it seems that all three of us will live.”
+
+“Would that but two lived, the Prince and you, Ana. Would that _I_
+had died,” she answered, sighing heavily.
+
+“Why?”
+
+“Cannot you guess? Because I am an outcast who has betrayed my people.
+Because their blood flows between me and them. For I killed that man,
+and he was my own kinsman, for the sake of an Egyptian—I mean,
+Egyptians. Therefore the curse of Jahveh is on me, and as my kinsman
+died doubtless I shall die in a day to come, and afterwards—what?”
+
+“Afterwards peace and great reward, if there be justice in earth or
+heaven, O most noble among women.”
+
+“Would that I could think so! Hush, I hear steps. Drink this; I am the
+chief of your nurses, Scribe Ana, an honourable post, since to-day all
+Egypt loves and praises you.”
+
+“Surely it is you, lady Merapi, whom all Egypt should love and
+praise,” I answered.
+
+Then the Prince Seti entered. I strove to salute him by lifting my less
+injured arm, but he caught my hand and pressed it tenderly.
+
+“Hail to you, beloved of Menthu, god of war,” he said, with his
+pleasant laugh. “I thought I had hired a scribe, and lo! in this
+scribe I find a soldier who might be an army’s boast.”
+
+At this moment he caught sight of Merapi, who had moved back into the
+shadow.
+
+“Hail to you also, Moon of Israel,” he said bowing. “If I
+name Ana here a warrior of the best, what name can both of us find for
+you to whom we owe our lives? Nay, look not down, but answer.”
+
+“Prince of Egypt,” she replied confusedly, “I did but little.
+The plot came to my ears through Jabez my uncle, and I fled away and,
+knowing the short paths from childhood, was just in time. Had I stayed
+to think perchance I should not have dared.”
+
+“And what of the rest, Lady? What of the Hebrew who was choking me and
+of a certain sword thrust that loosed his hands for ever?”
+
+“Of that, your Highness, I can recall nothing, or very little,”
+then, doubtless remembering what she had just said to me, she made
+obeisance and passed from the chamber.
+
+“She can tell falsehoods as sweetly as she does all else,” said
+Seti, when he had watched her go. “Oh! what a woman have we here, Ana.
+Perfect in beauty, perfect in courage, perfect in mind. Where are her
+faults, I wonder? Let it be your part to search them out, since I find
+none.”
+
+“Ask them of Ki, O Prince. He is a very great magician, so great that
+perhaps his art may even avail to discover what a woman seeks to hide.
+Also you may remember that he gave you certain warnings before we
+journeyed to Goshen.”
+
+“Yes—he told me that my life would be in danger, as certainly it
+was. There he was right. He told me also that I should see a woman whom
+I should come to love. There he was wrong. I have seen no such woman.
+Oh! I know well what is passing in your mind. Because I hold the lady
+Merapi to be beautiful and brave, you think that I love her. But it is
+not so. I love no woman, except, of course, her Highness. Ana, you
+judge me by yourself.”
+
+“Ki said ‘come to love,’ Prince. There is yet time.”
+
+“Not so, Ana. If one loves, one loves at once. Soon I shall be old and
+she will be fat and ugly, and how can one love then? Get well quickly,
+Ana, for I wish you to help me with my report to Pharaoh. I shall tell
+him that I think these Israelites are much oppressed and that he should
+make them amends and let them go.”
+
+“What will Pharaoh say to that after they have just tried to kill his
+heir?”
+
+“I think Pharaoh will be angry, and so will the people of Egypt, who
+do not reason well. He will not see that, believing what they do, Laban
+and his band were right to try to kill me who, however unwittingly,
+desecrated the sanctuary of their god. Had they done otherwise they
+would have been no good Hebrews, and for my part I cannot bear them
+malice. Yet all Egypt is afire about this business and cries out that
+the Israelites should be destroyed.”
+
+“It seems to me, Prince, that whatever may be the case with Ki’s
+second prophecy, his third is in the way of fulfilment—namely that
+this journey to Goshen may cause you to risk your throne.”
+
+He shrugged his shoulders and answered:
+
+“Not even for that, Ana, will I say to Pharaoh what is not in my mind.
+But let that matter be till you are stronger.”
+
+“What chanced at the end of the fight, Prince, and how came I here?”
+
+“The guard killed most of the Hebrews who remained alive. Some few
+fled and escaped in the darkness, among them Laban their leader,
+although you had wounded him, and six were taken alive. They await
+their trial. I was but little hurt and you, whom we thought dead, were
+but senseless, and senseless or wandering you have remained till this
+hour. We carried you in a litter, and here you have been these three
+days.”
+
+“And the lady Merapi?”
+
+“We set her in a chariot and brought her to the city, since had we
+left her she would certainly have been murdered by her people. When
+Pharaoh heard what she had done, as I did not think it well that she
+should dwell here, he gave her the small house in this garden that she
+might be guarded, and with it slave women to attend upon her. So there
+she dwells, having the freedom of the palace, and all the while has
+filled the office of your nurse.”
+
+At this moment I grew faint and shut my eyes. When I opened them again,
+the Prince had gone. Six more days went by before I was allowed to
+leave my bed, and during this time I saw much of Merapi. She was very
+sad and lived in fear of being killed by the Hebrews. Also she was
+troubled in her heart because she thought she had betrayed her faith
+and people.
+
+“At least you are rid of Laban,” I said.
+
+“Never shall I be rid of him while we both live,” she answered.
+“I belong to him and he will not loose my bond, because his heart is
+set on me.”
+
+“And is your heart set on him?” I asked.
+
+Her beautiful eyes filled with tears.
+
+“A woman may not have a heart. Oh! Ana, I am unhappy,” she
+answered, and went away.
+
+Also I saw others. The Princess came to visit me. She thanked me much
+because I had fulfilled my promise to her and guarded the Prince.
+Moreover she brought me a gift of gold from Pharaoh, and other gifts of
+fine raiment from herself. She questioned me closely about Merapi, of
+whom I could see she was already jealous, and was glad when she learned
+that she was affianced to a Hebrew. Old Bakenkhonsu came too, and asked
+me many things about the Prince, the Hebrews and Merapi, especially
+Merapi, of whose deeds, he said, all Egypt was talking, questions that
+I answered as best I could.
+
+“Here we have that woman of whom Ki told us,” he said, “she
+who shall bring so much joy and so much sorrow to the Prince of
+Egypt.”
+
+“Why so?” I asked. “He has not taken her into his house, nor
+do I think that he means to do so.”
+
+“Yet he will, Ana, whether he means it or not. For his sake she
+betrayed her people, which among the Israelites is a deadly crime.
+Twice she saved his life, once by warning him of the ambush, and again
+by stabbing with her own hands one of her kinsmen who was murdering
+him. Is it not so? Tell me; you were there.”
+
+“It is so, but what then?”
+
+“This: that whatever she may say, she loves him; unless indeed, it is
+you whom she loves,” and he looked at me shrewdly.
+
+“When a woman has a prince, and such a prince to her hand, would she
+trouble herself to set snares to catch a scribe?” I asked, with some
+bitterness.
+
+“Oho!” he said, with one of his great laughs, “so things
+stand thus, do they? Well, I thought it, but, friend Ana, be warned in
+time. Do not try to conjure down the Moon to be your household lamp
+lest she should set, and the Sun, her lord, should grow wroth and burn
+you up. Well, she loves him, and therefore soon or late she will make
+him love her, being what she is.”
+
+“How, Bakenkhonsu?”
+
+“With most men, Ana, it would be simple. A sigh, some half-hidden
+tears at the right moment, and the thing is done, as I have known it
+done a thousand times. But this prince being what he is, it may be
+otherwise. She may show him that her name is gone for him; that because
+of him she is hated by her people, and rejected by her god, and thus
+stir his pity, which is Love’s own sister. Or mayhap, being also, as
+I am told, wise, she will give him counsel as to all these matters of
+the Israelites, and thus creep into his heart under the guise of
+friendship, and then her sweetness and her beauty will do the rest in
+Nature’s way. At least by this road or by that, upstream or
+downstream, thither she will come.”
+
+“If so, what of it? It is the custom of the kings of Egypt to have
+more wives than one.”
+
+“This, Ana; Seti, I think, is a man who in truth will have but one,
+and that one will be this Hebrew. Yes, a Hebrew woman will rule Egypt,
+and turn him to the worship of her god, for never will she worship
+ours. Indeed, when they see that she is lost to them, her people will
+use her thus. Or perchance her god himself will use her to fulfil his
+purpose, as already he may have used her.”
+
+“And afterwards, Bakenkhonsu?”
+
+“Afterwards—who knows? I am not a magician, at least not one of any
+account, ask it of Ki. But I am very, very old and I have watched the
+world, and I tell you that these things will happen, unless——”
+and he paused.
+
+“Unless what?”
+
+He dropped his voice.
+
+“Unless Userti is bolder than I think, and kills her first or, better
+still, procures some Hebrew to kill her—say, that cast-off lover of
+hers. If you would be a friend to Pharaoh and to Egypt, you might
+whisper it in her ear, Ana.”
+
+“Never!” I answered angrily.
+
+“I did not think you would, Ana, who also struggle in this net of
+moonbeams that is stronger and more real than any twisted out of palm or
+flax. Well, nor will I, who in my age love to watch such human sport
+and, being so near to them, fear to thwart the schemes of gods. Let
+this scroll unroll itself as it will, and when it is open, read it,
+Ana, and remember what I said to you this day. It will be a pretty
+tale, written at the end with blood for ink. Oho! O-ho-ho!” and,
+laughing, he hobbled from the room, leaving me frightened.
+
+Moreover the Prince visited me every day, and even before I left my bed
+began to dictate to me his report to Pharaoh, since he would employ no
+other scribe. The substance of it was what he had foreshadowed, namely
+that the people of Israel, having suffered much for generations at the
+hands of the Egyptians, should now be allowed to depart as their
+prophets demanded, and go whither they would unharmed. Of the attack
+upon us in the pass he made light, saying it was the evil work of a few
+zealots wrought on by fancied insult to their god, a deed for which the
+whole people should not be called upon to suffer. The last words of the
+report were:
+
+“Remember, O Pharaoh, I pray thee, that Amon, god of the Egyptians,
+and Jahveh, the god of the Israelites, cannot rule together in the same
+land. If both abide in Egypt there will be a war of the gods wherein
+mortals may be ground to dust. Therefore, I pray thee, let Israel
+go.”
+
+After I had risen and was recovered, I copied out this report in my
+fairest writing, refusing to tell any of its purport, although all
+asked, among them the Vizier Nehesi, who offered me a bribe to disclose
+its secret. This came to the ears of Seti, I know not how, and he was
+much pleased with me about the matter, saying he rejoiced to find that
+there was one scribe in Egypt who could not be bought. Userti also
+questioned me, and when I refused to answer, strange to say, was not
+angry, because, she declared, I only did my duty.
+
+At last the roll was finished and sealed, and the Prince with his own
+hand, but without speaking, laid it on the knees of Pharaoh at a public
+Court, for this he would trust no one else to do. Amenmeses also
+brought up his report, as did Nehesi the Vizier, and the Captain of the
+guard which saved us from death. Eight days later the Prince was
+summoned to a great Council of State, as were all others of the royal
+House, together with the high officers. I too received a summons, as
+one who had been concerned in these matters.
+
+The Prince, accompanied by the Princess, drove to the palace in
+Pharaoh’s golden chariot, drawn by two milk-white horses of the blood
+of those famous steeds that had saved the life of the great Rameses in
+the Syrian war. All down the streets, that were filled with thousands
+of the people, they were received with shouts of welcome.
+
+“See,” said the old councillor Bakenkhonsu, who was my companion in
+a second chariot, “Egypt is proud and glad. It thought that its Prince
+was but a dreamer of dreams. But now it has heard the tale of the ambush
+in the pass and learned that he is a man of war, a warrior who can
+fight with the best. Therefore it loves him and rejoices.”
+
+“Then, by the same rule, Bakenkhonsu, a butcher should be more great
+than the wisest of scribes.”
+
+“So he is, Ana, especially if the butcher be one of men. The writer
+creates, but the slayer kills, and in a world ruled of death he who
+kills has more honour than he who creates. Hearken, now they are
+shouting out your name. Is that because you are the author of certain
+writings? I tell you, No. It is because you killed three men yonder in
+the pass. If you would become famous and beloved, Ana, cease from the
+writing of books and take to the cutting of throats.”
+
+“Yet the writer still lives when he is dead.”
+
+“Oho!” laughed Bakenkhonsu, “you are even more foolish than I
+thought. How is a man advantaged by what happens when he is dead? Why,
+to-day that blind beggar whining on the temple steps means more to
+Egypt than all the mummies of all the Pharaohs, unless they can be
+robbed. Take what life can give you, Ana, and do not trouble about the
+offerings which are laid in the tombs for time to crumble.”
+
+“That is a mean faith, Bakenkhonsu.”
+
+“Very mean, Ana, like all else that we can taste and handle. A mean
+faith suited to mean hearts, among whom should be reckoned all save one
+in every thousand. Yet, if you would prosper, follow it, and when you
+are dead I will come and laugh upon your grave, and say, ‘Here lies
+one of whom I had hoped higher things, as I hope them of your
+master.’”
+
+“And not in vain, Bakenkhonsu, whatever may happen to the servant.”
+
+“That we shall learn, and ere long, I think. I wonder who will ride at
+his side before the next Nile flood. By then, perchance, he will have
+changed Pharaoh’s golden chariot for an ox-cart, and you will goad
+the oxen and talk to him of the stars—or, mayhap of the moon. Well,
+you might both be happier thus, and she of the moon is a jealous
+goddess who loves worship. Oho-ho! Here are the palace steps. Help me
+to descend, Priest of the Lady of the Moon.”
+
+We entered the palace and were led through the great hall to a smaller
+chamber where Pharaoh, who did not wear his robes of state, awaited us,
+seated in a cedar chair. Glancing at him I saw that his face was stern
+and troubled; also it seemed to me that he had grown older. The Prince
+and Princess made obeisance to him, as did we lesser folk, but he took
+no heed. When all were present and the doors had been shut, Pharaoh
+said:
+
+“I have read your report, Son Seti, concerning your visit to the
+Israelites, and all that chanced to you; and also the reports of you,
+nephew Amenmeses, and of you, Officers, who accompanied the Prince of
+Egypt. Before I speak of them, let the Scribe Ana, who was the chariot
+companion of his Highness when the Hebrews attacked him, stand forward
+and tell me all that passed.”
+
+So I advanced, and with bowed head repeated that tale, only leaving out
+so far as was possible any mention of myself. When I had finished,
+Pharaoh said:
+
+“He who speaks but half the truth is sometimes more mischievous than a
+liar. Did you then sit in the chariot, Scribe, doing nothing while the
+Prince battled for his life? Or did you run away? Speak, Seti, and say
+what part this man played for good or ill.”
+
+Then the Prince told of my share in the fight, with words that brought
+the blood to my brow. He told also how that it was I who, taking the
+risk of his wrath, had ordered the guard of twenty men to follow us
+unseen, had disguised two seasoned soldiers as chariot runners, and had
+thought to send back the driver to summon help at the commencement of
+the fray; how I had been hurt also, and was but lately recovered. When
+he had finished, Pharaoh said:
+
+“That this story is true I know from others. Scribe, you have done
+well. But for you to-day his Highness would lie upon the table of the
+embalmers, as indeed for his folly he deserves to do, and Egypt would
+mourn from Thebes to the mouths of Nile. Come hither.”
+
+I came with trembling steps, and knelt before his Majesty. Around his
+neck hung a beauteous chain of wrought gold. He took it, and cast it
+over my head, saying:
+
+“Because you have shown yourself both brave and wise, with this gold I
+give you the title of Councillor and King’s Companion, and the right
+to inscribe the same upon your funeral stele. Let it be noted. Retire,
+Scribe Ana, Councillor and King’s Companion.”
+
+So I withdrew confused, and as I passed Seti, he whispered in my ear:
+
+“I pray you, my lord, do not cease to be Prince’s Companion,
+because you have become that of the King.”
+
+Then Pharaoh ordered that the Captain of the guard should be advanced in
+rank, and that gifts should be given to each of the soldiers, and
+provision be made for the children of those who had been killed, with
+double allowance to the families of the two men whom I had disguised as
+runners.
+
+This done, once more Pharaoh spoke, slowly and with much meaning, having
+first ordered that all attendants and guards should leave the chamber.
+I was about to go also, but old Bakenkhonsu caught me by the robe,
+saying that in my new rank of Councillor I had the right to remain.
+
+“Prince Seti,” he said, “after all that I have heard, I find
+this report of yours strange reading. Moreover, the tenor of it is
+different indeed to that of those of the Count Amenmeses and the
+officers. You counsel me to let these Israelites go where they will,
+because of certain hardships that they have suffered in the past, which
+hardships, however, have left them many and rich. That counsel I am not
+minded to take. Rather am I minded to send an army to the land of
+Goshen with orders to despatch this people, who conspired to murder the
+Prince of Egypt, through the Gateway of the West, there to worship
+their god in heaven or in hell. Aye, to slay them all from the
+greybeard down to the suckling at the breast.”
+
+“I hear Pharaoh,” said Seti, quietly.
+
+“Such is my will,” went on Meneptah, “and those who
+accompanied you upon your business, and all my councillors think as I
+do, for truly Egypt cannot bear so hideous a treason. Yet, according to
+our law and custom it is needful, before such great acts of war and
+policy are undertaken, that he who stands next to the throne, and is
+destined to fill it, should give consent thereto. Do you consent,
+Prince of Egypt?”
+
+“I do not consent, Pharaoh. I think it would be a wicked deed that
+tens of thousands should be massacred for the reason that a few fools
+waylaid a man who chanced to be of royal blood, because by
+inadvertence, he had desecrated their sanctuary.”
+
+Now I saw that this answer made Pharaoh wroth, for never before had his
+will been crossed in such a fashion. Still he controlled himself, and
+asked:
+
+“Do you then consent, Prince, to a gentler sentence, namely that the
+Hebrew people should be broken up; that the more dangerous of them
+should be sent to labour in the desert mines and quarries, and the rest
+distributed throughout Egypt, there to live as slaves?”
+
+“I do not consent, Pharaoh. My poor counsel is written in yonder roll
+and cannot be changed.”
+
+Meneptah’s eyes flashed, but again he controlled himself, and asked:
+
+“If you should come to fill this place of mine, Prince Seti, tell us,
+here assembled, what policy will you pursue towards these Hebrews?”
+
+“That policy, O Pharaoh, which I have counselled in the roll. If ever
+I fill the throne, I shall let them go whither they will, taking their
+goods with them.”
+
+Now all those present stared at him and murmured. But Pharaoh rose,
+shaking with wrath. Seizing his robe where it was fastened at the
+breast, he rent it, and cried in a terrible voice:
+
+“Hear him, ye gods of Egypt! Hear this son of mine who defies me to my
+face and would set your necks beneath the heel of a stranger god. Prince
+Seti, in the presence of these royal ones, and these my councillors,
+I——”
+
+He said no more, for the Princess Userti, who till now had remained
+silent, ran to him, and throwing her arms about him, began to whisper
+in his ear. He hearkened to her, then sat himself down, and spoke
+again:
+
+“The Princess brings it to my mind that this is a great matter, one
+not to be dealt with hastily. It may happen that when the Prince has
+taken counsel with her, and with his own heart, and perchance has
+sought the wisdom of the gods, he will change the words which have
+passed his lips. I command you, Prince, to wait upon me here at this
+same hour on the third day from this. Meanwhile, I command all present,
+upon pain of death, to say nothing of what has passed within these
+walls.”
+
+“I hear Pharaoh,” said the Prince, bowing.
+
+Meneptah rose to show that the Council was discharged, when the Vizier
+Nehesi approached him, and asked:
+
+“What of the Hebrew prisoners, O Pharaoh, those murderers who were
+captured in the pass?”
+
+“Their guilt is proved. Let them be beaten with rods till they die,
+and if they have wives or children, let them be seized and sold as
+slaves.”
+
+“Pharaoh’s will be done!” said the Vizier.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE SMITING OF AMON
+
+
+That evening I sat ill at ease in my work-chamber in Seti’s palace,
+making pretence to write, I who felt that great evils threatened my lord
+the Prince, and knew not what to do to turn them from him. The door
+opened, and old Pambasa the chamberlain appeared and addressed me by my
+new titles, saying that the Hebrew lady Merapi, who had been my nurse
+in sickness, wished to speak with me. Presently she came and stood
+before me.
+
+“Scribe Ana,” she said, “I have but just seen my uncle Jabez,
+who has come, or been sent, with a message to me,” and she hesitated.
+
+“Why was he sent, Lady? To bring you news of Laban?”
+
+“Not so. Laban has fled away and none know where he is, and Jabez has
+only escaped much trouble as the uncle of a traitress by undertaking
+this mission.”
+
+“What is the mission?”
+
+“To pray me, if I would save myself from death and the vengeance of
+God, to work upon the heart of his Highness, which I know not how to
+do——”
+
+“Yet I think you might find means, Merapi.”
+
+“——save through you, his friend and counsellor,” she
+went on, turning away her face. “Jabez has learned that it is in the
+mind of Pharaoh utterly to destroy the people of Israel.”
+
+“How does he know that, Merapi?”
+
+“I cannot say, but I think all the Hebrews know. I knew it myself
+though none had told me. He has learned also that this cannot be done
+under the law of Egypt unless the Prince who is heir to the throne and
+of full age consents. Now I am come to pray you to pray the Prince not
+to consent.”
+
+“Why not pray to the Prince yourself, Merapi——” I
+began, when from the shadows behind me I heard the voice of Seti, who
+had entered by the private door bearing some writings in his hand,
+saying:
+
+“And what prayer has the lady Merapi to make to me? Nay, rise and
+speak, Moon of Israel.”
+
+“O Prince,” she pleaded, “my prayer is that you will save the
+Hebrews from death by the sword, as you alone have the power to do.”
+
+At this moment the doors opened and in swept the royal Userti.
+
+“What does this woman here?” she asked.
+
+“I think that she came to see Ana, wife, as I did, and as doubtless
+you do. Also being here she prays me to save her people from the
+sword.”
+
+“And I pray you, husband, to give her people to the sword, which they
+have earned, who would have murdered you.”
+
+“And been paid, everyone of them, Userti, unless some still linger
+beneath the rods,” he added with a shudder. “The rest are
+innocent—why should they die?”
+
+“Because your throne hangs upon it, Seti. I say that if you continue
+to thwart the will of Pharaoh, as by the law of Egypt you can do, he
+will disinherit you and set your cousin Amenmeses in your place, as by
+the law of Egypt he can do.”
+
+“I thought it, Userti. Yet why should I turn my back upon the right
+over a matter of my private fortunes? The question is—is it the
+right?”
+
+She stared at him in amazement, she who never understood Seti and could
+not dream that he would throw away the greatest throne in all the world
+to save a subject people, merely because he thought that they should
+not die. Still, warned by some instinct, she left the first question
+unanswered, dealing only with the second.
+
+“It is the right,” she said, “for many reasons whereof I need
+give but one, for in it lie all the others. The gods of Egypt are the
+true gods whom we must serve and obey, or perish here and hereafter.
+The god of the Israelites is a false god and those who worship him are
+heretics and by their heresy under sentence of death. Therefore it is
+most right that those whom the true gods have condemned should die by
+the swords of their servants.”
+
+“That is well argued, Userti, and if it be so, mayhap my mind will
+become as yours in this matter, so that I shall no longer stand between
+Pharaoh and his desire. But is it so? There’s the problem. I will not
+ask you why you say that the gods of the Egyptians are the true gods,
+because I know what you would answer, or rather that you could give no
+answer. But I will ask this lady whether her god is a false god, and if
+she replies that he is not, I will ask her to prove this to me if she
+can. If she is able to prove it, then I think that what I said to
+Pharaoh to-day I shall repeat three days hence. If she is not able to
+prove it, then I shall consider very earnestly of the matter. Answer
+now, Moon of Israel, remembering that many thousands of lives may hang
+on what you say.”
+
+“O your Highness,” began Merapi. Then she paused, clasped her hands
+and looked upwards. I think that she was praying, for her lips moved. As
+she stood thus I saw, and I think Seti saw also, a very wonderful light
+grow on her face and gather in her eyes, a kind of divine fire of
+inspiration and resolve.
+
+“How can I, a poor Hebrew maiden, prove to your Highness that my God
+is the true God and that the gods of Egypt are false gods? I know not,
+and yet, is there any one god among all the many whom you worship, whom
+you are prepared to set up against him?”
+
+“Of a surety, Israelite,” answered Userti. “There is Amon-Ra,
+Father of the gods, of whom all other gods have their being, and from
+whom they draw their strength. Yonder his statue sits in the sanctuary
+of his ancient temple. Let your god stir him from his place! But what
+will you bring forward against the majesty of Amon-Ra?”
+
+“My God has no statues, Princess, and his place is in the hearts of
+men, or so I have been taught by his prophets. I have nothing to bring
+forward in this war save that which must be offered in all wars—my
+life.”
+
+“What do you mean?” asked Seti, astounded.
+
+“I mean that I, unfriended and alone, will enter the presence of
+Amon-Ra in his chosen sanctuary, and in the name of my God will
+challenge him to kill me, if he can.”
+
+We stared at her, and Userti exclaimed:
+
+“If he can! Hearken now to this blasphemer, and do you, Seti, accept
+her challenge as hereditary high-priest of the god Amon? Let her life
+pay forfeit for her sacrilege.”
+
+“And if the great god Amon cannot, or does not deign to kill you,
+Lady, how will that prove that your god is greater than he?” asked
+the Prince. “Perhaps he might smile and in his pity, let the insult
+pass, as your god did by me.”
+
+“Thus it shall be proved, your Highness. If naught happens to me, or
+if I am protected from anything that does happen, then I will dare to
+call upon my god to work a sign and a wonder, and to humble Amon-Ra
+before your eyes.”
+
+“And if your god should also smile and let the matter pass, Lady, as
+he did by me the other day when his priests called upon him, what shall
+we have learned as to his strength, or as to that of Amon-Ra?”
+
+“O Prince, you will have learned nothing. Yet if I escape from the
+wrath of Amon and my God is deaf to my prayer, then I am ready to be
+delivered over into the hands of the priests of Amon that they may
+avenge my sacrilege upon me.”
+
+“There speaks a great heart,” said Seti; “yet I am not minded
+that this lady should set her life upon such an issue. I do not believe
+that either the high-god of Egypt or the god of the Israelites will
+stir, but I am quite sure that the priests of Amon will avenge the
+sacrilege, and that cruelly enough. The dice are loaded against you,
+Lady. You shall not prove your faith with blood.”
+
+“Why not?” asked Userti. “What is this girl to you, Seti,
+that you should stand between her and the fruit of her wickedness, you
+who at least in name are the high-priest of the god whom she blasphemes
+and who wear his robes at temple feasts? She believes in her god, leave
+it to her god to help her as she has dared to say he will.”
+
+“You believe in Amon, Userti. Are you prepared to stake your life
+against hers in this contest?”
+
+“I am not so mad and vain, Seti, as to believe that the god of all the
+world will descend from heaven to save me at my prayer, as this impious
+girl pretends that she believes.”
+
+“You refuse. Then, Ana, what say you, who are a loyal worshipper of
+Amon?”
+
+“I say, O Prince, that it would be presumptuous of me to take
+precedence of his high-priest in such a matter.”
+
+Seti smiled and answered:
+
+“And the high-priest says that it would be presumptuous of him to push
+so far the prerogative of a high office which he never sought.”
+
+“Your Highness,” broke in Merapi in her honeyed, pleading voice,
+“I pray you to be gracious to me, and to suffer me to make this trial,
+which I have sought, I know not why. Words such as I have spoken cannot
+be recalled. Already they are registered in the books of Eternity, and
+soon or late, in this way or in that, must be fulfilled. My life is
+staked, and I desire to learn at once if it be forfeit.”
+
+Now even Userti looked on her with admiration, but answered only:
+
+“Of a truth, Israelite, I trust that this courage will not forsake you
+when you are handed over to the mercies of Ki, the Sacrificer of Amon,
+and the priests, in the vaults of the temple you would profane.”
+
+“I also trust that it will not, your Highness, if such should be my
+fate. Your word, Prince of Egypt.”
+
+Seti looked at her standing before him so calmly with bowed head, and
+hands crossed upon her breast. Then he looked at Userti, who wore a
+mocking smile upon her face. She read the meaning of that smile as I
+did. It was that she did not believe that he would allow this beautiful
+woman, who had saved his life, to risk her life for the sake of any or
+all the powers of heaven or hell. For a little while he walked to and
+fro about the chamber, then he stopped and said suddenly addressing,
+not Merapi, but Userti:
+
+“Have your will, remembering that if this brave woman fails and dies,
+her blood is on your hands, and that if she triumphs and lives, I shall
+hold her to be one of the noblest of her sex, and shall make study of
+all this matter of religion. Moon of Israel, as titular high-priest of
+Amon-Ra, I accept your challenge on behalf of the god, though whether
+he will take note of it I do not know. The trial shall be made
+to-morrow night in the sanctuary of the temple, at an hour that will be
+communicated to you. I shall be present to make sure that you meet with
+justice, as will some others. Register my commands, Scribe Ana, and let
+the head-priest of Amon, Roi, and the sacrificer to Amon, Ki the
+Magician, be summoned, that I may speak with them. Farewell, Lady.”
+
+She went, but at the door turned and said:
+
+“I thank you, Prince, on my own behalf, and on that of my people.
+Whatever chances, I beseech you do not forget the prayer that I have
+made to you to save them, being innocent, from the sword. Now I ask
+that I may be left quite alone till I am summoned to the temple, who
+must make such preparation as I can to meet my fate, whatever it may
+be.”
+
+Userti departed also without a word.
+
+“Oh! friend, what have I done?” said Seti. “Are there any
+gods? Tell me, are there any gods?”
+
+“Perhaps we shall learn to-morrow night, Prince,” I answered.
+“At least Merapi thinks that there is a god, and doubtless has been
+commanded to put her faith to proof. This, as I believe, was the real
+message that Jabez her uncle has brought to her.”
+
+It was the hour before the dawn, just when the night is darkest. We
+stood in the sanctuary of the ancient temple of Amon-Ra, that was lit
+with many lamps. It was an awful place. On either side the great
+columns towered to the massive roof. At the head of the sanctuary sat
+the statue of Amon-Ra, thrice the size of a man. On his brow, rising
+from the crown, were two tall feathers of stone, and in his hands he
+held the Scourge of Rule and the symbols of Power and Everlastingness.
+The lamplight flickered upon his stern and terrible face staring
+towards the east. To his right was the statue of Mut, the Mother of all
+things. On her head was the double crown of Egypt and the uræus crest,
+and in her hand the looped cross, the sign of Life eternal. To his left
+sat Khonsu, the hawk-headed god of the moon. On his head was the
+crescent of the young moon carrying the disc of the full moon; in his
+right hand he also held the looped cross, the sign of Life eternal, and
+in his left the Staff of Strength. Such was this mighty triad, but of
+these the greatest was Amon-Ra, to whom the shrine was dedicated.
+Fearful they stood towering above us against the background of
+blackness.
+
+Gathered there were Seti the Prince, clothed in a priest’s white robe,
+and wearing a linen headdress, but no ornaments, and Userti the
+Princess, high-priestess of Hathor, Lady of the West, Goddess of Love
+and Nature. She wore Hathor’s vulture headdress, and on it the disc
+of the moon fashioned of silver. Also were present Roi the head-priest,
+clad in his sacerdotal robes, an old and wizened man with a strong,
+fierce face, Ki the Sacrificer and Magician, Bakenkhonsu the ancient,
+myself, and a company of the priests of Amon-Ra, Mut, and Khonsu. From
+behind the statues came the sound of solemn singing, though who sang we
+could not see.
+
+Presently from out of the darkness that lay beyond the lamps appeared a
+woman, led by two priestesses and wrapped in a long cloak. They brought
+her to an open place in front of the statue of Amon, took from her the
+cloak and departed, glancing back at her with eyes of hate and fear.
+There before us stood Merapi, clad in white, with a simple wimple about
+her head made fast beneath her chin with that scarabæus clasp which
+Seti had given to her in the city of Goshen, one spot of brightest blue
+amid a cloud of white. She looked neither to right nor left of her.
+Once only she glanced at the towering statue of the god that frowned
+above, then with a little shiver, fixed her eyes upon the pattern of
+the floor.
+
+“What does she look like?” whispered Bakenkhonsu to me.
+
+“A corpse made ready for the embalmers,” I answered.
+
+He shook his great head.
+
+“Then a bride made ready for her husband.”
+
+Again he shook his head.
+
+“Then a priestess about to read from the roll of Mysteries.”
+
+“Now you have it, Ana, and to understand what she reads, which few
+priestesses ever do. Also all three answers were right, for in this
+woman I seem to see doom that is Death, life that is Love, and spirit
+that is Power. She has a soul which both Heaven and Earth have
+kissed.”
+
+“Aye, but which of them will claim her in the end?”
+
+“That we may learn before the dawn, Ana. Hush! the fight begins.”
+
+The head-priest, Roi, advanced and, standing before the god, sprinkled
+his feet with water and with perfume. Then he stretched out his hands,
+whereon all present prostrated themselves, save Merapi only, who stood
+alone in that great place like the survivor of a battle.
+
+“Hail to thee, Amon-Ra,” he began, “Lord of Heaven,
+Establisher of all things, Maker of the gods, who unrolled the skies and
+built the foundations of the Earth. O god of gods, appears before thee
+this woman Merapi, daughter of Nathan, a child of the Hebrew race that
+owns thee not. This woman blasphemes thy might; this woman defies thee;
+this woman sets up her god above thee. Is it not so, woman?”
+
+“It is so,” answered Merapi in a low voice.
+
+“Thus does she defy thee, thou Only One of many Forms, saying ‘if
+the god Amon of the Egyptians be a greater god than my god, let him
+snatch me out of the arms of my god and here in this the shrine of Amon
+take the breath from out my lips and leave me a thing of clay.’ Are
+these thy words, O woman?”
+
+“They are my words,” she said in the same low voice, and oh! I
+shivered as I heard.
+
+The priest went on.
+
+“O Lord of Time, Lord of Life, Lord of Spirits and the Divinities of
+Heaven, Lord of Terror, come forth now in thy majesty and smite this
+blasphemer to the dust.”
+
+Roi withdrew and Seti stood forward.
+
+“Know, O god Amon,” he said, addressing the statue as though he wee
+speaking to a living man, “from the lips of me, thy high-priest, by
+birth the Prince and Heir of Egypt, that great things hang upon this
+matter here in the Land of Egypt, mayhap even who shall sit upon the
+throne that thou givest to its kings. This woman of Israel dares thee
+to thy face, saying that there is a greater god than thou art and that
+thou canst not harm her through the buckler of his strength. She says,
+moreover, that she will call upon her god to work a sign and a wonder
+upon thee. Lastly, she says that if thou dost not harm her and if her
+god works no sign upon thee, then she is ready to be handed over to thy
+priests and die the death of a blasphemer. Thy honour is set against her
+ life, O great God of Egypt, and we, thy worshippers, watch to see the
+balance turn.”
+
+“Well and justly put,” muttered Bakenkhonsu to me. “Now if
+Amon fails us, what will you think of Amon, Ana?”
+
+“I shall learn the high-priest’s mind and think what the
+high-priest thinks,” I answered darkly, though in my heart I was
+terribly afraid for Merapi, and, to speak truth, for myself also,
+because of the doubts which arose in me and would not be quenched.
+
+Seti withdrew, taking his stand by Userti, and Ki stood forward and
+said:
+
+“O Amon, I thy Sacrificer, I thy Magician, to whom thou givest power,
+I the priest and servant of Isis, Mother of Mysteries, Queen of the
+company of the gods, call upon thee. She who stands before thee is but
+a Hebrew woman. Yet, as thou knowest well, O Father, in this house she
+is more than woman, inasmuch as she is the Voice and Sword of thine
+enemy, Jahveh, god of the Israelites. She thinks, mayhap, that she has
+come here of her own will, but thou knowest, Father Amon, as I know,
+that she is sent by the great prophets of her people, those magicians
+who guide her soul with spells to work thee evil and to set thee, Amon,
+beneath the heel of Jahveh. The stake seems small, the life of this one
+maid, no more; yet it is very great. This is the stake, O Father: Shall
+Amon rule the world, or Jahveh. If thou fallest to-night, thou fallest
+for ever; if thou dost triumph to-night, thou dost triumph for ever. In
+yonder shape of stone hides thy spirit; in yonder shape of woman’s
+flesh hides the spirit of thy foe. Smite her, O Amon, smite her to
+small dust; let not the strength that is in her prevail against thy
+strength, lest thy name should be defiled and sorrows and loss should
+come upon the land which is thy throne; lest, too, the wizards of the
+Israelites should overcome us thy servants. Thus prayeth Ki thy
+magician, on whose soul it has pleased thee to pour strength and
+wisdom.”
+
+Then followed a great silence.
+
+Watching the statue of the god, presently I thought that it moved, and
+as I could see by the stir among them, so did the others. I thought
+that its stone eyes rolled, I thought that it lifted the Scourge of
+Power in its granite hand, though whether these things were done by
+some spirit or by some priest, or by the magic of Ki, I do not know. At
+the least, a great wind began to blow about the temple, stirring our
+robes and causing the lamps to flicker. Only the robes of Merapi did
+not stir. Yet she saw what I could not see, for suddenly her eyes grew
+frightened.
+
+“The god is awake,” whispered Bakenkhonsu. “Now good-bye to
+your fair Israelite. See, the Prince trembles, Ki smiles, and the face
+of Userti glows with triumph.”
+
+As he spoke the blue scarabæus was snatched from Merapi’s breast as
+though by a hand. It fell to the floor as did her wimple, so that now
+she appeared with her rich hair flowing down her robe. Then the eyes of
+the statue seemed to cease to roll, the wind ceased to blow, and again
+there was silence.
+
+Merapi stooped, lifted the wimple, replaced it on her head, found the
+scarabæus clasp, and very quietly, as a woman who was tiring herself
+might do, made it fast in its place again, a sight at which I heard
+Userti gasp.
+
+For a long while we waited. Watching the faces of the congregation, I
+saw amazement and doubt on those of the priests, rage on that of Ki,
+and on Seti’s the flicker of a little smile. Merapi’s eyes were
+closed as though she were asleep. At length she opened them, and
+turning her head towards the Prince said:
+
+“O high-priest of Amon-Ra, has your god worked his will on me, or must
+I wait longer before I call upon my God?”
+
+“Do what you will or can, woman, and make an end, for almost it is the
+moment of dawn when the temple worship opens.”
+
+Then Merapi clasped her hands, and looking upwards, prayed aloud very
+sweetly and simply, saying:
+
+“O God of my fathers, trusting in Thee, I, a poor maid of Thy people
+Israel, have set the life Thou gavest me in Thy Hand. If, as I believe,
+Thou art the God of gods, I pray Thee show a sign and a wonder upon
+this god of the Egyptians, and thereby declare Thine Honour and keep my
+breath within my breast. If it pleases Thee not, then let me die, as
+doubtless for my many sins I deserve to do. O God of my fathers, I have
+made my prayer. Hear it or reject it according to Thy Will.”
+
+So she ended, and listening to her, I felt the tears rising in my eyes,
+because she was so much alone, and I feared that this god of hers would
+never come to save her from the torments of the priests. Seti also
+turned his head away, and stared down the sanctuary at the sky over the
+open court where the lights of dawn were gathering.
+
+Once more there was silence. Then again that wind blew, very strongly,
+extinguishing the lamps, and, as it seemed to me, whirling away Merapi
+from where she was, so that now she stood to one side of the statue.
+The sanctuary was filled with gloom, till presently the first rays of
+the rising sun struck upon the roof. They fell down, down, as minute
+followed minute, till at length they rested like a sword of flame upon
+the statue of Amon-Ra. Once more that statue seemed to move. I thought
+that it lifted its stone arms to protect its head. Then in a moment
+with a rending noise, its mighty mass burst asunder, and fell in small
+dust about the throne, almost hiding it from sight.
+
+“Behold my God has answered me, the most humble of His servants,”
+said Merapi in the same sweet and gentle voice. “Behold the sign and
+the wonder!”
+
+“Witch!” screamed the head-priest Roi, and fled away, followed by
+his fellows.
+
+“Sorceress!” hissed Userti, and fled also, as did all the others,
+save the Prince, Bakenkhonsu, I Ana, and Ki the Magician.
+
+We stood amazed, and while we did so, Ki turned to Merapi and spoke. His
+face was terrible with fear and fury, and his eyes shone like lamps.
+Although he did but whisper, I who was nearest to them heard all that
+was said, which the others could not do.
+
+“Your magic is good, Israelite,” he muttered, “so good that
+it has overcome mine here in the temple where I serve.”
+
+“I have no magic,” she answered very low. “I obeyed a
+command, no more.”
+
+He laughed bitterly, and asked:
+
+“Should two of a trade waste time on foolishness? Listen now. Teach me
+your secrets, and I will teach you mine, and together we will drive
+Egypt like a chariot.”
+
+“I have no secrets, I have only faith,” said Merapi again.
+
+“Woman,” he went on, “woman or devil, will you take me for
+friend or foe? Here I have been shamed, since it was to me and not to
+their gods that the priests trusted to destroy you. Yet I can still
+forgive. Choose now, knowing that as my friendship will lead you to
+rule, to life and splendour, so my hate will drive you to shame and
+death.”
+
+“You are beside yourself, and know not what you say. I tell you that I
+have no magic to give or to withhold,” she answered, as one who did
+not understand or was indifferent, and turned away from him.
+
+Thereon he muttered some curse which I could not catch, bowed to the
+heap of dust that had been the statue of the god, and vanished away
+among the pillars of the sanctuary.
+
+“Oho-ho!” laughed Bakenkhonsu. “Not in vain have I lived to
+be so very old, for now it seems we have a new god in Egypt, and there
+stands his prophetess.”
+
+Merapi came to the prince.
+
+“O high-priest of Amon,” she said, “does it please you to let
+me go, for I am very weary?”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE DEATH OF PHARAOH
+
+
+It was the appointed day and hour. By command of the Prince I drove with
+him to the palace of Pharaoh, whither her Highness the Princess refused
+to be his companion, and for the first time we talked together of that
+which had passed in the temple.
+
+“Have you seen the lady Merapi?” he asked of me.
+
+I answered No, as I was told that she was sick within her house and lay
+abed suffering from weariness, or I knew not what.
+
+“She does well to keep there,” said Seti, “I think that if
+she came out those priests would murder her if they could. Also there
+are others,” and he glanced back at the chariot that bore Userti in
+state. “Say, Ana, can you interpret all this matter?”
+
+“Not I, Prince. I thought that perhaps your Highness, the high-priest
+of Amon, could give me light.”
+
+“The high-priest of Amon wanders in thick darkness. Ki and the rest
+swear that this Israelite is a sorceress who has outmatched their
+magic, but to me it seems more simple to believe that what she says is
+true; that her god is greater than Amon.”
+
+“And if this be true, Prince, what are we to do who are sworn to the
+gods of Egypt?”
+
+“Bow our heads and fall with them, I suppose, Ana, since honour will
+not suffer us to desert them.”
+
+“Even if they be false, Prince?”
+
+“I do not think that they are false, Ana, though mayhap they be less
+true. At least they are the gods of the Egyptians and we are
+Egyptians.” He paused and glanced at the crowded streets, then added,
+“See, when I passed this way three days ago I was received with
+shouts of welcome by the people. Now they are silent, every one.”
+
+“Perhaps they have heard of what passed in the temple.”
+
+“Doubtless, but it is not that which troubles them who think that the
+gods can guard themselves. They have heard also that I would befriend
+the Hebrews whom they hate, and therefore they begin to hate me. Why
+should I complain when Pharaoh shows them the way?”
+
+“Prince,” I whispered, “what will you say to Pharaoh?”
+
+“That depends on what Pharaoh says to me. Ana, if I will not desert
+our gods because they seem to be the weaker, though it should prove to
+my advantage, do you think that I would desert these Hebrews because
+they seem to be weaker, even to gain a throne?”
+
+“There greatness speaks,” I murmured, and as we descended from the
+chariot he thanked me with a look.
+
+We passed through the great hall to that same chamber where Pharaoh had
+given me the chain of gold. Already he was there seated at the head of
+the chamber and wearing on his head the double crown. About him were
+gathered all those of royal blood and the great officers of state. We
+made our obeisances, but of these he seemed to take no note. His eyes
+were almost closed, and to me he looked like a man who is very ill. The
+Princess Userti entered after us and to her he spoke some words of
+welcome, giving her his hand to kiss. Then he ordered the doors to be
+closed. As he did so, an officer of the household entered and said that
+a messenger had come from the Hebrews who desired speech with Pharaoh.
+
+“Let him enter,” said Meneptah, and presently he appeared.
+
+He was a wild-eyed man of middle age, with long hair that fell over his
+sheepskin robe. To me he looked like a soothsayer. He stood before
+Pharaoh, making no salutation.
+
+“Deliver your message and be gone,” said Nehesi the Vizier.
+
+“These are the words of the Fathers of Israel, spoken by my lips,”
+cried the man in a voice that rang all round the vaulted chamber. “It
+has come to our ears, O Pharaoh, that the woman Merapi, daughter of
+Nathan, who has refuged in your city, she who is named Moon of Israel,
+has shown herself to be a prophetess of power, one to whom our God has
+given strength, in that, standing alone amidst the priests and
+magicians of Amon of the Egyptians, she took no harm from their
+sorceries and was able with the sword of prayer to smite the idol of
+Amon to the dust. We demand that this prophetess be restored to us,
+making oath on our part that she shall be given over safely to her
+betrothed husband and that no harm shall come to her for any crimes or
+treasons she may have committed against her people.”
+
+“As to this matter,” replied Pharaoh quietly, “make your
+prayer to the Prince of Egypt, in whose household I understand the woman
+dwells. If it pleases him to surrender her who, I take it, is a witch or
+a cunning worker of tricks, to her betrothed and her kindred, let him
+do so. It is not for Pharaoh to judge of the fate of private slaves.”
+
+The man wheeled round and addressed Seti, saying:
+
+“You have heard, Son of the King. Will you deliver up this woman?”
+
+“Neither do I promise to deliver her up nor not to deliver her up,”
+answered Seti, “since the lady Merapi is no member of my household,
+nor have I any authority over her. She who saved my life dwells within
+my walls for safety’s sake. If it pleases her to go, she can go; if
+it pleases her to remain, she can remain. When this Court is finished I
+give you safe-conduct to appear and in my presence learn her pleasure
+from her lips.”
+
+“You have your answer; now be gone,” said Nehesi.
+
+“Nay,” cried the man, “I have more words to speak. Thus say
+the Fathers of Israel: We know the black counsel of your heart, O
+Pharaoh. It has been revealed to us that it is in your mind to put the
+Hebrews to the sword, as it is in the mind of the Prince of Egypt to
+save them from the sword. Change that mind of yours, O Pharaoh, and
+swiftly, lest death fall upon you from heaven above.”
+
+“Cease!” thundered Meneptah in a voice that stilled the murmurs of
+the court. “Dog of a Hebrew, do you dare to threaten Pharaoh on his
+own throne? I tell you that were you not a messenger, and therefore
+according to our ancient law safe till the sun sets, you should be hewn
+limb from limb. Away with him, and if he is found in this city after
+nightfall let him be slain!”
+
+Then certain of the councillors sprang upon the man and thrust him forth
+roughly. At the door he wrenched himself free and shouted:
+
+“Think upon my words, Pharaoh, before this sun has set. And you, great
+ones of Egypt, think on them also before it appears again.”
+
+They drove him out with blows and the doors were shut. Once more
+Meneptah began to speak, saying:
+
+“Now that this brawler is gone, what have you to say to me, Prince of
+Egypt? Do you still give me the counsel that you wrote in the roll? Do
+you still refuse, as heir of the Throne, to assent to my decree that
+these accursed Hebrews be destroyed with the sword of my justice?”
+
+Now all turned their eyes on Seti, who thought a while, and answered:
+
+“Let Pharaoh pardon me, but the counsel that I gave I still give; the
+assent that I refused I still refuse, because my heart tells me that so
+it is right to do, and so I think will Egypt be saved from many
+troubles.”
+
+When the scribes had finished writing down these words Pharaoh asked
+again:
+
+“Prince of Egypt, if in a day to come you should fill my place, is it
+still your intent to let this people of the Hebrews go unharmed, taking
+with them the wealth that they have gathered here?”
+
+“Let Pharaoh pardon me, that is still my intent.”
+
+Now at these fateful words there arose a sigh of astonishment from all
+that heard them. Before it had died away Pharaoh had turned to Userti
+and was asking:
+
+“Are these your counsel, your will, and your intent also, O Princess
+of Egypt?”
+
+“Let Pharaoh hear me,” answered Userti in a cold, clear voice,
+“they are not. In this great matter my lord the Prince walks one road
+and I walk another. My counsel, will, and intent are those of
+Pharaoh.”
+
+“Seti my son,” said Meneptah, more kindly than I had ever heard him
+speak before, “for the last time, not as your king but as your father,
+I pray you to consider. Remembering that as it lies in your power,
+being of full age and having been joined with me in many matters of
+government, to refuse your assent to a great act of state, so it lies
+in my power with the assent of the high-priests and of my ministers to
+remove you from my path. Seti, I can disinherit you and set another in
+your place, and if you persist, that and no less I shall do. Consider,
+therefore, my son.”
+
+In the midst of an intense silence Seti answered:
+
+“I have considered, O my Father, and whatever be the cost to me I
+cannot go back upon my words.”
+
+Then Pharaoh rose and cried:
+
+“Take note all you assembled here, and let it be proclaimed to the
+people of Egypt without the gates, that they take note also, that I
+depose Seti my son from his place as Prince of Egypt and declare that
+he is removed from the succession to the double Crown. Take note that
+my daughter Userti, Princess of Egypt, wife of the Prince Seti, I do
+not depose. Whatever rights and heritages are hers as heiress of Egypt
+let those rights and heritages remain to her, and if a child be born of
+her and Prince Seti, who lives, let that child be heir to the Throne of
+Egypt. Take note that, if no such child is born or until it is born, I
+name my nephew, the count Amenmeses, son of my brother Khaemuas, now
+gathered to Osiris, to fill the Throne of Egypt when I am no more. Come
+hither, Count Amenmeses.”
+
+He advanced and stood before him. Then Pharaoh lifted from his head the
+double crown he wore and for a moment set it on the brow of Amenmeses,
+saying as he replaced it on his own head:
+
+“By this act and token do I name and constitute you, Amenmeses, to be
+Royal Prince of Egypt in place of my son, Prince Seti, deposed.
+Withdraw, Royal Prince of Egypt. I have spoken.”
+
+“Life! Blood! Strength!” cried all the company bowing before
+Pharaoh, all save the Prince Seti who neither bowed nor stirred. Only he
+cried:
+
+“And I have heard. Will Pharaoh be pleased to declare whether with my
+royal heritage he takes my life? If so, let it be here and now. My
+cousin Amenmeses wears a sword.”
+
+“Nay, Son,” answered Meneptah sadly, “your life is left to
+you and with it all your private rank and your possessions whatsoever
+and wherever they may be.”
+
+“Let Pharaoh’s will be done,” replied Seti indifferently,
+“in this as in all things. Pharaoh spares my life until such time as
+Amenmeses his successor shall fill his place, when it shall be taken.”
+
+Meneptah started; this thought was new to him.
+
+“Stand forth, Amenmeses,” he cried, “and swear now the
+threefold oath that may not be broken. Swear by Amon, by Ptah, and by
+Osiris, god of death, that never will you attempt to harm the Prince
+Seti, your cousin, either in body or in such state and prerogative as
+remain to him. Let Roi, the head-priest of Amon, administer the oath
+now before us all.”
+
+So Roi spoke the oath in the ancient form, which was terrible even to
+hear, and Amenmeses, unwillingly enough as I thought, repeated it after
+him, adding however these words at the end, “All these things I swear
+and all these penalties in this world and the world to be I invoke upon
+my head, provided only that when the time comes the Prince Seti leaves
+me in peace upon the throne to which it has pleased Pharaoh to decree
+to me.”
+
+Now some there murmured that this was not enough, since in their hearts
+there were few who did not love Seti and grieve to see him thus
+stripped of his royal heritage because his judgment differed from that
+of Pharaoh over a matter of State policy. But Seti only laughed and
+said scornfully:
+
+“Let be, for of what value are such oaths? Pharaoh on the throne is
+above all oaths who must make answer to the gods only and from the
+hearts of some the gods are far away. Let Amenmeses not fear that I
+shall quarrel with him over this matter of a crown, I who in truth have
+never longed for the pomp and cares of royalty and who, deprived of
+these, still possess all that I can desire. I go my way henceforward as
+one of many, a noble of Egypt—no more, and if in a day to come it
+pleases the Pharaoh to be to shorten my wanderings, I am not sure that
+even then I shall grieve so very much, who am content to accept the
+judgment of the gods, as in the end he must do also. Yet, Pharaoh my
+father, before we part I ask leave to speak the thoughts that rise in
+me.”
+
+“Say on,” muttered Meneptah.
+
+“Pharaoh, having your leave, I tell you that I think you have done a
+very evil work this day, one that is unpleasing to those Powers which
+rule the world, whoever and whatsoever they may be, one too that will
+bring upon Egypt sorrows countless as the sand. I believe that these
+Hebrews whom you unjustly seek to slay worship a god as great or
+greater than our own, and that they and he will triumph over Egypt. I
+believe also that the mighty heritage which you have taken from me will
+bring neither joy nor honour to him by whom it has been received.”
+
+Here Amenmeses started forward, but Meneptah held up his hand, and he
+was silent.
+
+“I believe, Pharaoh—alas! that I must say it—that your days
+on earth are few and that for the last time we look on each other
+living. Farewell, Pharaoh my father, whom still I love mayhap more in
+this hour of parting than ever I did before. Farewell, Amenmeses,
+Prince of Egypt. Take from me this ornament which henceforth should be
+worn by you only,” and lifting from his headdress that royal circlet
+which marks the heir to the throne, he held it to Amenmeses, who took
+it and, with a smile of triumph, set it on his brow.
+
+“Farewell, Lords and Councillors; it is my hope that in yonder prince
+you will find a master more to your liking that ever I could have been.
+Come, Ana, my friend, if it still pleases you to cling to me for a
+little while, now that I have nothing left to give.”
+
+For a few moments he stood still looking very earnestly at his father,
+who looked back at him with tears in his deep-set, faded eyes.
+
+Then, though whether this was by chance I cannot say, taking no note of
+the Princess Userti, who gazed at him perplexed and wrathful, Seti drew
+himself up and cried in the ancient form:
+
+“Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!” and bowed
+almost to the ground.
+
+Meneptah heard. Muttering beneath his breath, “Oh! Seti, my son, my
+most beloved son!” he stretched out his arms as though to call him
+back or perhaps to clasp him. As he did so I saw his face change. Next
+instant he fell forward to the ground and lay there still. All the
+company stood struck with horror, only the royal physician ran to him,
+while Roi and others who were priests began to mutter prayers.
+
+“Has the good god been gathered to Osiris?” asked Amenmeses
+presently in a hoarse voice, “because if it be so, I am Pharaoh.”
+
+“Nay, Amenmeses,” exclaimed Userti, “the decrees have not yet
+been sealed or promulgated. They have neither strength nor weight.”
+
+Before he could answer the physician cried:
+
+“Peace! Pharaoh still lives, his heart beats. This is but a fit which
+may pass. Begone, every one, he must have quiet.”
+
+So we went, but first Seti knelt down and kissed his father on the brow.
+
+An hour later the Princess Userti broke into the room of his palace
+where the Prince and I were talking.
+
+“Seti,” she said, “Pharaoh still lives, but the physicians
+say he will be dead by dawn. There is yet time. Here I have a writing,
+sealed with his signet and witnessed, wherein he recalls all that he
+decreed in the Court to-day, and declares you, his son, to be the true
+and only heir of the throne of Egypt.”
+
+“Is it so, wife? Tell me now how did a dying man in a swoon command
+and seal this writing?” and he touched the scroll she held in her
+hand.
+
+“He recovered for a little while; Nehesi will tell you how,” she
+replied, looking him in the face with cold eyes. Then before he could
+speak, she added, “Waste no more breath in questions, but act and at
+once. The General of the guards waits below; he is your faithful
+servant. Through him I have promised a gift to every soldier on the day
+that you are crowned. Nehesi and most of the officers are on our side.
+Only the priests are against us because of that Hebrew witch whom you
+shelter, and of her tribe whom you befriend; but they have not had time
+to stir up the people nor will they attempt revolt. Act, Seti, act, for
+none will move without your express command. Moreover, no question will
+be raised afterwards, since from Thebes to the sea and throughout the
+world you are known to be the heir of Egypt.”
+
+“What would you have me do, wife?” asked Seti, when she paused for
+lack of breath.
+
+“Cannot you guess? Must I put statecraft into your head as well as a
+sword into your hand? Why that scribe of yours, who follows your heels
+like a favoured dog, would be more apt a pupil. Hearken then. Amenmeses
+has sent out to gather strength, but as yet there are not fifty men
+about him whom he can trust.” She leant forward and whispered
+fiercely, “Kill the traitor, Amenmeses—all will hold it a righteous
+act, and the General waits your word. Shall I summon him?”
+
+“I think not,” answered Seti. “Because Pharaoh, as he has a
+right to do, is pleased to name a certain man of royal blood to succeed
+him, how does this make that man a traitor to Pharaoh who still lives?
+But, traitor or none, I will not murder my cousin Amenmeses.”
+
+“Then he will murder you.”
+
+“Maybe. That is a matter between him and the gods which I leave them
+to settle. The oath he swore to-day is not one to be lightly broken.
+But whether he breaks it or not, I also swore an oath, at least in my
+heart, namely that I would not attempt to dispute the will of Pharaoh
+whom, after all, I love as my father and honour as my king, Pharaoh who
+still lives and may, as I hope, recover. What should I say to him if he
+recovered or, at the worst, when at last we meet elsewhere?”
+
+“Pharaoh never will recover; I have spoken to the physician and he
+told me so. Already they pierce his skull to let out the evil spirit of
+sickness, after which none of our family have lived for very long.”
+
+“Because, as I hold, thereby, whatever priests and physicians may say,
+they let in the good spirit of death. Ana, I pray you if I——”
+
+“Man,” she broke in, striking her hand upon the table by which she
+stood, “do you understand that while you muse and moralise your crown
+is passing from you?”
+
+“It has already passed, Lady. Did you not see me give it to
+Amenmeses?”
+
+“Do you understand that you who should be the greatest king in all the
+world, in some few hours if indeed you are allowed to live, will be
+nothing but a private citizen of Egypt, one at whom the very beggars
+may spit and take no harm?”
+
+“Surely, Wife. Moreover, there is little virtue in what I do, since on
+the whole I prefer that prospect and am willing to take the risk of
+being hurried from an evil world. Hearken,” he added, with a change
+of tone and gesture. “You think me a fool and a weakling; a dreamer
+also, you, the clear-eyed, hard-brained stateswoman who look to the
+glittering gain of the moment for which you are ready to pay in blood,
+and guess nothing of what lies beyond. I am none of these things,
+except, perchance, the last. I am only a man who strives to be just and
+to do right, as right seems to me, and if I dream, it is of good, not
+evil, as I understand good and evil. You are sure that this dreaming of
+mine will lead me to worldly loss and shame. Even of that _I_ am not
+sure. The thought comes to me that it may lead me to those very baubles
+on which you set your heart, but by a path strewn with spices and with
+flowers, not by one paved with the bones of men and reeking with their
+gore. Crowns that are bought with the promise of blood and held with
+cruelty are apt to be lost in blood, Userti.”
+
+She waved her hand. “I pray you keep the rest, Seti, till I have more
+time to listen. Moreover if I need prophecies, I think it better to turn
+to Ki and those who make them their life-study. For me this is a day of
+deeds, not dreams, and since you refuse my help, and behave as a sick
+girl lost in fancies, I must see to myself. As while you live I cannot
+reign alone or wage war in my own name only, I go to make terms with
+Amenmeses, who will pay me high for peace.”
+
+“You go—and do you return, Userti?”
+
+She drew herself to her full height, looking very royal, and answered
+slowly:
+
+“I do not return. I, the Princess of Egypt, cannot live as the wife of
+a common man who falls from a throne to set himself upon the earth, and
+smears his own brow with mud for a uræus crown. When your prophecies
+come true, Seti, and you crawl from your dust, then perhaps we may
+speak again.”
+
+“Aye, Userti, but the question is, what shall we say?”
+
+“Meanwhile,” she added, as she turned, “I leave you to your
+chosen counsellors—yonder scribe, whom foolishness, not wisdom, has
+whitened before his time, and perchance the Hebrew sorceress, who can
+give you moonbeams to drink from those false lips of hers. Farewell,
+Seti, once a prince and my husband.”
+
+“Farewell, Userti, who, I fear, must still remain my sister.”
+
+Then he watched her go, and turning to me, said:
+
+“To-day, Ana, I have lost both a crown and a wife, yet strange to tell
+I do not know which of these calamities grieves me least. Yet it is
+time that fortune turned. Or mayhap all the evils are not done. Would
+you not go also, Ana? Although she gibes at you in her anger, the
+Princess thinks well of you, and would keep you in her service.
+Remember, whoever falls in Egypt, she will be great till the last.”
+
+“Oh! Prince,” I answered, “have I not borne enough to-day
+that you must add insult to my load, you with whom I broke the cup and
+swore the oath?”
+
+“What!” he laughed. “Is there one in Egypt who remembers
+oaths to his own loss? I thank you, Ana,” and taking my hand he
+pressed it.
+
+At that moment the door opened, and old Pambasa entered, saying:
+
+“The Hebrew woman, Merapi, would see you; also two Hebrew men.”
+
+“Admit them,” said Seti. “Note, Ana, how yonder old
+time-server turns his face from the setting sun. This morning even it
+would have been ‘to see your Highness,’ uttered with bows so low
+that his beard swept the floor. Now it is ‘to see you’ and not so
+much as an inclination of the head in common courtesy. This, moreover,
+from one who has robbed me year by year and grown fat on bribes. It is
+the first of many bitter lessons, or rather the second—that of her
+Highness was the first; I pray that I may learn them with humility.”
+
+While he mused thus and, having no comfort to offer, I listened sad at
+heart, Merapi entered, and a moment after her the wide-eyed messenger
+whom we had seen in Pharaoh’s Court, and her uncle Jabez the cunning
+merchant. She bowed low to Seti, and smiled at me. Then the other two
+appeared, and with small salutation the messenger began to speak.
+
+“You know my demand, Prince,” he said. “It is that this woman
+should be returned to her people. Jabez, her uncle, will lead her
+away.”
+
+“And you know my answer, Israelite,” answered Seti. “It is
+that I have no power over the coming or the going of the lady Merapi, or
+at least wish to claim none. Address yourself to her.”
+
+“What is it you wish with me, Priest?” asked Merapi quickly.
+
+“That you should return to the town of Goshen, daughter of Nathan.
+Have you no ears to hear?”
+
+“I hear, but if I return, what will you of me?”
+
+“That you who have proved yourself a prophetess by your deeds in
+yonder temple should dedicate your powers to the service of your
+people, receiving in return full forgiveness for the evils you have
+wrought against them, which we swear to you in the name of God.”
+
+“I am no prophetess, and I have wrought no evils against my people,
+Priest. I have only saved them from the evil of murdering one who has
+shown himself their friend, even as I hear to the laying down of his
+crown for their sake.”
+
+“That is for the Fathers of Israel and not for you to judge, woman.
+Your answer?”
+
+“It is neither for them nor for me, but for God only.” She paused,
+then added, “Is this all you ask of me?”
+
+“It is all the Fathers ask, but Laban asks his affianced wife.”
+
+“And am I to be given in marriage to—this assassin?”
+
+“Without doubt you are to be given to this brave soldier, being
+already his.”
+
+“And if I refuse?”
+
+“Then, Daughter of Nathan, it is my part to curse you in the name of
+God, and to declare you cut off and outcast from the people of God. It
+is my part to announce to you further that your life is forfeit, and
+that any Hebrew may kill you when and how he can, and take no blame.”
+
+Merapi paled a little, then turning to Jabez, asked:
+
+“You have heard, my uncle. What say you?”
+
+Jabez looked round shiftily, and said in his unctuous voice:
+
+“My niece, surely you must obey the commands of the Elders of Israel
+who speak the will of Heaven, as you obeyed them when you matched
+yourself against the might of Amon.”
+
+“You gave me a different counsel yesterday, my uncle. Then you said I
+had better bide where I was.”
+
+The messenger turned and glared at him.
+
+“There is a great difference between yesterday and to-day,” went on
+Jabez hurriedly. “Yesterday you were protected by one who would soon
+be Pharaoh, and might have been able to move his mind in favour of your
+folk. To-day his greatness is stripped from him, and his will has no
+more weight in Egypt. A dead lion is not to be feared, my niece.”
+
+Seti smiled at this insult, but Merapi’s face, like my own, grew red,
+as though with anger.
+
+“Sleeping lions have been taken for dead ere now, my uncle, as those
+who would spurn them have discovered to their cost. Prince Seti, have
+you no word to help me in this strait?”
+
+“What is the strait, Lady? If you wish to go to your people and—to
+Laban, who, I understand, is recovered from his hurts, there is naught
+between you and me save my gratitude to you which gives me the right to
+say you shall not go. If, however, you wish to stay, then perhaps I am
+still not so powerless to shield or smite as this worthy Jabez thinks,
+who still remain the greatest lord in Egypt and one with those that
+love him. Therefore should you desire to remain, I think that you may
+do so unmolested of any, and least of all by that friend in whose
+shadow it pleases you to sojourn.”
+
+“Those are very gentle words,” murmured Merapi, “words that
+few would speak to a maid from whom naught is asked and who has naught
+to give.”
+
+“A truce to this talk,” snarled the messenger. “Do you obey
+or do you rebel? Your answer.”
+
+She turned and looked him full in the face, saying:
+
+“I do not return to Goshen and to Laban, of whose sword I have seen
+enough.”
+
+“Mayhap you will see more of it before all is done. For the last time,
+think ere the curse of your God and your people falls upon you, and
+after it, death. For fall I say it shall, I, who, as Pharaoh knows
+to-day, am no false prophet, and as that Prince knows also.”
+
+“I do not think that my God, who sees the hearts of those that he has
+made, will avenge himself upon a woman because she refuses to be wedded
+to a murderer whom of her own will she never chose, which, Priest, is
+the fate you offer me. Therefore I am content to leave judgment in the
+hands of the great Judge of all. For the rest I defy you and your
+commands. If I must be slaughtered, let me die, but at least let me die
+mistress of myself and free, who am no man’s love, or wife, or
+slave.”
+
+“Well spoken!” whispered Seti to me.
+
+Then this priest became terrible. Waving his arms and rolling his wild
+eyes, he poured out some hideous curse upon the head of this poor maid,
+much of which, as it was spoken rapidly in an ancient form of Hebrew,
+we did not understand. He cursed her living, dying, and after death. He
+cursed her in her love and hate, wedded or alone. He cursed her in
+child-bearing or in barrenness, and he cursed her children after her to
+all generations. Lastly, he declared her cut off from and rejected by
+the god she worshipped, and sentenced her to death at the hands of any
+who could slay her. So horrible was that curse that she shrank away
+from him, while Jabez crouched about the ground hiding his eyes with his
+ hands, and even I felt my blood turn cold.
+
+At length he paused, foaming at the lips. Then, suddenly, shouting,
+“After judgment, doom!” he drew a knife from his robe and sprang at
+her.
+
+She fled behind us. He followed, but Seti, crying, “Ah, I thought
+it,” leapt between them, as he did so drawing the iron sword which he
+wore with his ceremonial dress. At him he sprang and the next thing I
+saw was the red point of the sword standing out beyond the priest’s
+shoulders.
+
+Down he fell, babbling:
+
+“Is this how you show your love for Israel, Prince?”
+
+“It is how I show my hate of murderers,” answered Seti.
+
+Then the man died.
+
+“Oh!” cried Merapi wringing her hands, “once more I have
+caused Hebrew blood to flow and now all this curse will fall on me.”
+
+“Nay, on me, Lady, if there is anything in curses, which I doubt, for
+this deed was mine, and at the worst yonder mad brute’s knife did not
+fall on you.”
+
+“Yes, life is left if only for a little while. Had it not been for
+you, Prince, by now, I——” and she shuddered.
+
+“And had it not been for you, Moon of Israel, by now
+I——” and he smiled, adding, “Surely Fate weaves a
+strange web round you and me. First you save me from the sword; then I
+save you. I think, Lady, that in the end we ought to die together and
+give Ana here stuff for the best of all his stories. Friend Jabez,”
+he went on to the Israelite who was still crouching in the corner with
+the eyes starting from his head, “get you back to your gentle-hearted
+people and make it clear to them why the lady Merapi cannot companion
+you, taking with you that carrion to prove your tale. Tell them that if
+they send more men to molest your niece a like fate awaits them, but
+that now as before I do not turn my back upon them because of the deeds
+of a few madmen or evil-doers, as I have given them proof to-day. Ana,
+make ready, since soon I leave for Memphis. See that the Lady Merapi,
+who will travel alone, has fit escort for her journey, that is if it
+pleases her to depart from Tanis.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE CROWNING OF AMENMESES
+
+
+Now, notwithstanding all the woes that fell on Egypt and a certain
+secret sorrow of my own, began the happiest of the days which the gods
+have given me. We went to Mennefer or Memphis, the white-walled city
+where I was born, the city that I loved. Now no longer did I dwell in a
+little house near to the enclosure of the temple of Ptah, which is
+vaster and more splendid than all those of Thebes or Tanis. My home was
+in the beautiful palace of Seti, which he had inherited from his
+mother, the Great Royal Wife. It stood, and indeed still stands, on a
+piled-up mound without the walls near to the temple of the goddess
+Neit, who always has her habitation to the north of the wall, why I do
+not know, because even her priests cannot tell me. In front of this
+palace, facing to the north, is a great portico, whereof the roof is
+borne upon palm-headed, painted columns whence may be seen the most
+lovely prospect in Egypt. First the gardens, then the palm-groves, then
+the cultivated land, then the broad and gentle Nile and, far away, the
+desert.
+
+Here, then, we dwelt, keeping small state and almost unguarded, but in
+wealth and comfort, spending our time in the library of the palace, or
+in those of the temples, and when we wearied of work, in the lovely
+gardens or, perchance, sailing upon the bosom of the Nile. The lady
+Merapi dwelt there also, but in a separate wing of the palace, with
+certain slaves and servants whom Seti had given to her. Sometimes we
+met her in the gardens, where it pleased her to walk at the same hours
+that we did, namely before the sun grew hot, or in the cool of the
+evening, and now and again when the moon shone at night. Then the three
+of us would talk together, for Seti never sought her company alone or
+within walls.
+
+Those talks were very pleasant. Moreover they grew more frequent as time
+went on, since Merapi had a thirst for learning, and the Prince would
+bring her rolls to read in a little summer-house there was. Here we
+would sit, or if the heat was great, outside beneath the shadow of two
+spreading trees that stretched above the roof of the little
+pleasure-house, while Seti discoursed of the contents of the rolls and
+instructed her in the secrets of our writing. Sometimes, too, I read
+them stories of my making, to which it pleased them both to listen, or
+so they said, and I, in my vanity, believed. Also we would talk of the
+mystery and the wonder of the world and of the Hebrews and their fate,
+or of what passed in Egypt and the neighbouring lands.
+
+Nor was Merapi altogether lonesome, seeing that there dwelt in Memphis
+certain ladies who had Hebrew blood in their veins, or were born of the
+Israelites and had married Egyptians against their law. Among these she
+made friends, and together they worshipped in their own fashion with
+none to say them nay, since here no priests were allowed to trouble
+them.
+
+For our part we held intercourse with as many as we pleased, since few
+forgot that Seti was by blood the Prince of Egypt, that is, a man
+almost half divine, and all were eager to visit him. Also he was much
+beloved for his own sake and more particularly by the poor, whose wants
+it was his delight to relieve to the full limit of his wealth. Thus it
+came about that whenever he went abroad, although against his will, he
+was received with honours and homage that were almost royal, for though
+Pharaoh could rob him of the Crown he could not empty his veins of the
+blood of kings.
+
+It was on this account that I feared for his safety, since I was sure
+that through his spies Amenmeses knew all and would grow jealous of a
+dethroned prince who was still so much adored by those over whom of
+right he should have ruled. I told Seti of my doubts and that when he
+travelled the streets he should be guarded by armed men. But he only
+laughed and answered that, as the Hebrews had failed to kill him, he
+did not think that any others would succeed. Moreover he believed there
+were no Egyptians in the land who would lift a sword against him, or
+put poison in his drink, whoever bade them. Also he added these words:
+
+“The best way to escape death is to have no fear of death, for then
+Osiris shuns us.”
+
+Now I must tell of the happenings at Tanis. Pharaoh Meneptah lingered
+but a few hours and never found his mind again before his spirit flew
+to Heaven. Then there was great mourning in the land, for, if he was
+not loved, Meneptah was honoured and feared. Only among the Israelites
+there was open rejoicing, because he had been their enemy and their
+prophets had foretold that death was near to him. They gave it out that
+he had been smitten of their God, which caused the Egyptians to hate
+them more than ever. There was doubt, too, and bewilderment in Egypt,
+for though his proclamation disinheriting the Prince Seti had been
+published abroad, the people, and especially those who dwelt in the
+south, could not understand why this should have been done over a matter
+of the shepherd slaves who dwelt in Goshen. Indeed, had the Prince but
+held up his hand, tens of thousands would have rallied to his standard.
+Yet this he refused to do, which astonished all the world, who thought
+it marvellous that any man should refuse a throne which would have
+lifted him almost to the level of the gods. Indeed, to avoid their
+importunities he had set out at once for Memphis, and there remained
+hidden away during the period of mourning for his father. So it came
+about that Amenmeses succeeded with none to say him nay, since without
+her husband Userti could not or would not act.
+
+After the days of embalmment were accomplished the body of Pharaoh
+Meneptah was carried up the Nile to be laid in his eternal house, the
+splendid tomb that he had made ready for himself in the Valley of Dead
+Kings at Thebes. To this great ceremony the Prince Seti was not bidden,
+lest, as Bakenkhonsu told me afterwards, his presence should cause some
+rising in his favour, with or without his will. For this reason also
+the dead god, as he was named, was not suffered to rest at Memphis on
+his last journey up the Nile. Disguised as a man of the people the
+Prince watched his father’s body pass in the funeral barge guarded by
+shaven, white-robed priests, the centre of a splendid procession. In
+front went other barges filled with soldiers and officers of state,
+behind came the new Pharaoh and all the great ones of Egypt, while the
+sounds of lamentation floated far over the face of the waters. They
+appeared, they passed, they disappeared, and when they had vanished
+Seti wept a little, for in his own fashion he loved his father.
+
+“Of what use is it to be a king and named half-divine, Ana,” he
+said to me, “seeing that the end of such gods as these is the same as
+that of the beggar at the gate?”
+
+“This, Prince,” I answered, “that a king can do more good
+than a beggar while the breath is in his nostrils, and leave behind him
+a great example to others.”
+
+“Or more harm, Ana. Also the beggar can leave a great example, that of
+patience in affliction. Still, if I were sure that I should do nothing
+but good, then perhaps I would be a king. But I have noted that those
+who desire to do the most good often work the greatest harm.”
+
+“Which, if followed out, would be an argument for wishing to do evil,
+Prince.”
+
+“Not so,” he answered, “because good triumphs at the last.
+For good is truth and truth rules earth and heaven.”
+
+“Then it is clear, Prince, that you should seek to be a king.”
+
+“I will remember the argument, Ana, if ever time brings me an
+opportunity unstained by blood,” he answered.
+
+When the obsequies of Pharaoh were finished, Amenmeses returned to
+Tanis, and there was crowned as Pharaoh. I attended this great
+ceremony, bearing coronation gifts of certain royal ornaments which the
+Prince sent to Pharaoh, saying it was not fit that he, as a private
+person, should wear them any longer. These I presented to Pharaoh, who
+took them doubtfully, declaring that he did not understand the Prince
+Seti’s mind and actions.
+
+“They hide no snare, O Pharaoh,” I said. “As you rejoice in
+the glory that the gods have sent you, so the Prince my master rejoices
+in the rest and peace which the gods have given him, asking no more.”
+
+“It may be so, Scribe, but I find this so strange a thing, that
+sometimes I fear lest the rich flowers of this glory of mine should
+hide some deadly snake, whereof the Prince knows, if he did not set it
+there.”
+
+“I cannot say, O Pharaoh, but without doubt, although he could work no
+guile, the Prince is not as are other men. His mind is both wide and
+deep.”
+
+“Too deep for me,” muttered Amenmeses. “Nevertheless, say to
+my royal cousin that I thank him for his gifts, especially as some of
+them were worn, when he was heir to Egypt, by my father Khaemuas, who I
+would had left me his wisdom as well as his blood. Say to him also that
+while he refrains from working me harm upon the throne, as I know he
+has done up to the present, he may be sure that I will work him none in
+the station which he has chosen.”
+
+Also I saw the Princess Userti who questioned me closely concerning her
+lord. I told her everything, keeping naught back. She listened and
+asked:
+
+“What of that Hebrew woman, Moon of Israel? Without doubt she fills my
+place.”
+
+“Not so, Princess,” I answered. “The Prince lives alone.
+Neither she nor any other woman fills your place. She is a friend to
+him, no more.”
+
+“A friend! Well, at least we know the end of such friendships. Oh!
+surely the Prince must be stricken with madness from the gods!”
+
+“It may be so, your Highness, but I think that if the gods smote more
+men with such madness, the world would be better than it is.”
+
+“The world is the world, and the business of those who are born to
+greatness is to rule it as it is, not to hide away amongst books and
+flowers, and to talk folly with a beautiful outland woman, and a scribe
+however learned,” she answered bitterly, adding, “Oh! if the Prince
+is not mad, certainly he drives others to madness, and me, his spouse,
+among them. That throne is his, his; yet he suffers a cross-grained
+dolt to take his place, and sends him gifts and blessings.”
+
+“I think your Highness should wait till the end of the story before
+you judge of it.”
+
+She looked at me sharply, and asked:
+
+“Why do you say that? Is the Prince no fool after all? Do he and you,
+who both seem to be so simple, perchance play a great and hidden game,
+as I have known men feign folly in order to do with safety? Or has that
+witch of an Israelite some secret knowledge in which she instructs you,
+such as a woman who can shatter the statue of Amon to fine dust might
+well possess? You make believe not to know, which means that you will
+not answer. Oh! Scribe Ana, if only it were safe, I think I could find
+a way to wring the truth out of you, although you do pretend to be but
+a babe for innocence.”
+
+“It pleases your Highness to threaten and without cause.”
+
+“No,” she answered, changing her voice and manner, “I do not
+threaten; it is only the madness that I have caught from Seti. Would you
+not be mad if you knew that another woman was to be crowned to-morrow
+in your place, because—because——” and she began to weep, which
+frightened me more than all her rough words.
+
+Presently she dried her tears, and said:
+
+“Say to my lord that I rejoice to hear that he is well and send him
+greetings, but that never of my own wish will I look upon his living
+face again unless indeed he takes another counsel, and sets himself to
+win that which is his own. Say to him that though he has so little care
+for me, and pays no heed to my desires, still I watch over his welfare
+and his safety, as best I may.”
+
+“His safety, Princess! Pharaoh assured me not an hour ago that he had
+naught to fear, as indeed he fears naught.”
+
+“Oh! which of you is the more foolish,” she exclaimed stamping her
+foot, “the man or his master? You believe that the Prince has naught
+to fear because that usurper tells you so, and he believes it—well,
+because he fears naught. For a little while he may sleep in peace. But
+let him wait until troubles of this sort or of that arise in Egypt and,
+understanding that the gods send them on account of the great
+wickedness that my father wrought when death had him by the throat and
+his mind was clouded, the people begin to turn their eyes towards their
+lawful king. Then the usurper will grow jealous, and if he has his way,
+the Prince will sleep in peace—for ever. If his throat remains uncut,
+it will be for one reason only, that I hold back the murderer’s hand.
+Farewell, I can talk no more, for I say to you that my brain is
+afire—and to-morrow he should have been crowned, and I with him,”
+and she swept away, royal as ever, leaving me wondering what she meant
+when she spoke of troubles arising in Egypt, or if the words were but
+uttered at hazard.
+
+Afterwards Bakenkhonsu and I supped together at the college of the
+temple of Ptah, of which because of his age he was called the father,
+when I heard more of this matter.
+
+“Ana,” he said, “I tell you that such gloom hangs over Egypt
+as I have never known even when it was thought that the Ninebow
+Barbarians would conquer and enslave the land. Amenmeses will be the
+fifth Pharaoh whom I have seen crowned, the first of them when I was
+but a little child hanging to my mother’s robe, and not once have I
+known such joylessness.”
+
+“That may be because the crown passes to one who should not wear it,
+Bakenkhonsu.”
+
+He shook his head. “Not altogether. I think this darkness comes from
+the heavens as light does. Men are afraid they know not of what.”
+
+“The Israelites,” I suggested.
+
+“Now you are near to it, Ana, for doubtless they have much to do with
+the matter. Had it not been for them Seti and not Amenmeses would be
+crowned to-morrow. Also the tale of the marvel which the beautiful
+Hebrew woman wrought in the temple yonder has got abroad and is taken
+as an omen. Did I tell you that six days gone a fine new statue of the
+god was consecrated there and on the following morning was found lying
+on its side, or rather with its head resting on the breast of Mut?”
+
+“If so, Merapi is blameless, because she has gone away from this
+city.”
+
+“Of course she has gone away, for has not Seti gone also? But I think
+she left something behind her. However that may be, even our new divine
+lord is afraid. He dreams ill, Ana,” he added, dropping his voice,
+“so ill that he has called in Ki, the Kherheb,[1]
+to interpret his visions.”
+
+[1]“Kherheb” was the title of the chief official magician in ancient
+Egypt.
+
+“And what said Ki?”
+
+“Ki could say nothing or, rather, that the only answer vouchsafed to
+him and his company, when they made inquiry of their Kas, was that this
+god’s reign would be very short and that it and his life would end
+together.”
+
+“Which perhaps did not please the god Amenmeses, Bakenkhonsu?”
+
+“Which did not please the god at all. He threatened Ki. It is a
+foolish thing to threaten a great magician, Ana, as the Kherheb Ki,
+himself indeed told him, looking him in the eyes. Then he prayed his
+pardon and asked who would succeed him on the throne, but Ki said he
+did not know, as a Kherheb who had been threatened could never remember
+anything, which indeed he never can—except to pay back the
+threatener.”
+
+“And did he know, Bakenkhonsu?”
+
+By way of answer the old Councillor crumbled some bread fine upon the
+table, then with his finger traced among the crumbs the rough likeness
+of a jackal-headed god and of two feathers, after which with a swift
+movement he swept the crumbs onto the floor.
+
+“Seti!” I whispered, reading the hieroglyphs of the Prince’s
+name, and he nodded and laughed in his great fashion.
+
+“Men come to their own sometimes, Ana, especially if they do not seek
+their own,” he said. “But if so, much must happen first that is
+terrible. The new Pharaoh is not the only man who dreams, Ana. Of late
+years my sleep has been light and sometimes I dream, though I have no
+magic like to that of Ki.”
+
+“What did you dream?”
+
+“I dreamed of a great multitude marching like locusts over Egypt.
+Before them went a column of fire in which were two hands. One of these
+held Amon by the throat and one held the new Pharaoh by the throat.
+After them came a column of cloud, and in it a shape like to that of an
+unwrapped mummy, a shape of death standing upon water that was full of
+countless dead.”
+
+Now I bethought me of the picture that the Prince and I had seen in the
+skies yonder in the land of Goshen, but of it I said nothing. Yet I
+think that Bakenkhonsu saw into my mind, for he asked:
+
+“Do _you_ never dream, Friend? You see visions that come
+true—Amenmeses on the throne, for instance. Do you not also dream at
+times? No? Well, then, the Prince? You look like men who might, and the
+time is ripe and pregnant. Oh! I remember. You are both of you
+dreaming, not of the pictures that pass across the terrible eyes of Ki,
+but of those that the moon reflects upon the waters of Memphis, the
+Moon of Israel. Ana, be advised by me, put away the flesh and increase
+the spirit, for in it alone is happiness, whereof woman and all our
+joys are but earthly symbols, shadows thrown by that mortal cloud which
+lies between us and the Light Above. I see that you understand, because
+some of that light has struggled to your heart. Do you remember that
+you saw it shining in the hour when your little daughter died? Ah! I
+thought so. It was the gift she left you, a gift that will grow and grow
+ in such a breast as yours, if only you will put away the flesh and make
+room for it, Ana. Man, do not weep—laugh as I do, Oho-ho! Give me my
+staff, and good-night. Forget not that we sit together at the crowning
+to-morrow, for you are a King’s Companion and that rank once
+conferred is one which no new Pharaoh can take away. It is like the
+gift of the spirit, Ana, which is hard to win, but once won more
+eternal than the stars. Oh! why do I live so long who would bathe in
+it, as when a child I used to bathe in Nile?”
+
+On the following day at the appointed hour I went to the great hall of
+the palace, that in which I had first seen Meneptah, and took my stand
+in the place allotted to me. It was somewhat far back, perhaps because
+it was not wished that I, who was known to be the private scribe of
+Seti, should remind Egypt of him by appearing where all could see me.
+
+Great as was the hall the crowd filled it to its furthest corners.
+Moreover no common man was present there, but rather every noble and
+head-priest in Egypt, and with them their wives and daughters, so that
+all the dim courts shone with gold and precious gems set upon festal
+garments. While I was waiting old Bakenkhonsu hobbled towards me, the
+crowd making way for him, and I could see that there was laughter in
+his sunken eyes.
+
+“We are ill-placed, Ana,” he said. “Still if any of the many
+gods there are in Egypt should chance to rain fires on Pharaoh, we shall
+be the safer. Talking of gods,” he went on in a whisper, “have you
+heard what happened an hour ago in the temple of Ptah of Tanis whence I
+have just come? Pharaoh and all the Blood-royal—save one—walked
+according to custom before the statue of the god which, as you know,
+should bow its head to show that he chooses and accepts the king. In
+front of Amenmeses went the Princess Userti, and as she passed the head
+of the god bowed, for I saw it, though all pretended that they did not
+see. Then came Pharaoh and stood waiting, but it would not bow, though
+the priests called in the old formula, ‘The god greets the king.’
+
+“At length he went on, looking as black as night, and others of the
+blood of Rameses followed in their order. Last of all limped Saptah
+and, behold! the god bowed again.”
+
+“How and why does it do these things?” I asked, “and at the
+wrong time?”
+
+“Ask the priests, Ana, or Userti, or Saptah. Perhaps the divine neck
+has not been oiled of late, or too much oiled, or too little oiled, or
+prayers—or strings—may have gone wrong. Or Pharaoh may have been
+niggard in his gifts to that college of the great god of his House. Who
+am I that I should know the ways of gods? That in the temple where I
+served at Thebes fifty years ago did not pretend to bow or to trouble
+himself as to which of the royal race sat upon the throne. Hush! Here
+comes Pharaoh.”
+
+Then in a splendid procession, surrounded by princes, councillors,
+ladies, priests, and guards, Amenmeses and the Royal Wife, Urnure, a
+large woman who walked awkwardly, entered the hall, a glittering band.
+The high-priest, Roi, and the chancellor, Nehesi, received Pharaoh and
+led him to his throne. The multitude prostrated itself, trumpets blew
+and thrice the old salute of “Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh!
+Pharaoh! Pharaoh!” was cried aloud.
+
+Amenmeses rose and bowed, and I saw that his heavy face was troubled and
+looked older. Then he swore some oath to gods and men which Roi
+dictated to him, and before all the company put on the double crown and
+the other emblems, and took in his hands the scourge and golden sickle.
+Next homage was paid. The Princess Userti came first and kissed
+Pharaoh’s hand, but bent no knee. Indeed first she spoke with him a
+while. We could not hear what was said, but afterwards learned that she
+demanded that he should publicly repeat all the promises which her
+father Meneptah had made to her before him, confirming her in her place
+and rights. This in the end he did, though it seemed to me unwillingly
+enough.
+
+So with many forms and ancient celebrations the ceremony went on, till
+all grew weary waiting for that time when Pharaoh should make his
+speech to the people. That speech, however, was never made, for
+presently, thrusting past us, I saw those two prophets of the
+Israelites who had visited Meneptah in this same hall. Men shrank from
+them, so that they walked straight up to the throne, nor did even the
+guards strive to bar their way. What they said there I could not hear,
+but I believe that they demanded that their people should be allowed to
+go to worship their god in their own fashion, and that Amenmeses refused
+as Meneptah had done.
+
+Then one of them cast down a rod and it turned to a snake which hissed
+at Pharaoh, whereon the Kherheb Ki and his company also cast down rods
+that turned to snakes, though I could only hear the hissing. After this
+a great gloom fell upon the hall, so that men could not see each
+other’s faces and everyone began to call aloud till the company broke
+up in confusion. Bakenkhonsu and I were borne together to the doorway
+by the pressure of the people, whence we were glad enough to see the
+sky again.
+
+Thus ended the crowning of Amenmeses.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE MESSAGE OF JABEZ
+
+
+That night there were none who rejoiced in the streets of the city, and
+save in the palace and houses of those of the Court, none who feasted.
+I walked abroad in the market-place and noted the people going to and
+fro gloomily, or talking together in whispers. Presently a man whose
+face was hidden in a hood began to speak with me, saying that he had a
+message for my master, the Prince Seti. I answered that I took no
+messages from veiled strangers, whereon he threw back his hood, and I
+saw that it was Jabez, the uncle of Merapi. I asked him whether he had
+obeyed the Prince, and borne the body of that prophet back to Goshen and
+ told the elders of the manner of the man’s death.
+
+“Yes,” he answered, “nor were the Elders angry with the
+Prince over this matter. They said that their messenger had exceeded his
+authority, since they had never told him to curse Merapi, and much less
+attempt to kill her, and that the Prince did right to slay one who
+would have done murder before his royal eyes. Still they added that the
+curse, having once been spoken by this priest, would surely fall upon
+Merapi in this way or in that.”
+
+“What then should she do, Jabez?”
+
+“I do not know, Scribe. If she returns to her people, perchance she
+will be absolved, but then she must surely marry Laban. It is for her
+to judge.”
+
+“And what would you do if you were in her place, Jabez?”
+
+“I think that I should stay where I was, and make myself very dear to
+Seti, taking the chance that the curse may pass her by, since it was not
+lawfully decreed upon her. Whichever way she looks, trouble waits, and
+at the worst, a woman might wish to satisfy her heart before it falls,
+especially if that heart should happen to turn to one who will be
+Pharaoh.”
+
+“Why do you say ‘who will be Pharaoh,’ Jabez?” I asked,
+for we were standing in an empty place alone.
+
+“That I may not tell you,” he replied cunningly, “yet it will
+come about as I say. He who sits upon the throne is mad as Meneptah was
+mad, and will fight against a strength that is greater than his until
+it overwhelms him. In the Prince’s heart alone does the light of
+wisdom shine. That which you saw to-day is only the first of many
+miracles, Scribe Ana. I can say no more.”
+
+“What then is your message, Jabez?”
+
+“This: Because the Prince has striven to deal well with the people of
+Israel and for their sake has cast aside a crown, whatever may chance to
+others, let him fear nothing. No harm shall come to him, or to those
+about him, such as yourself, Scribe Ana, who also would deal justly by
+us. Yet it may happen that through my niece Merapi, on whose head the
+evil word has fallen, a great sorrow may come to both him and her.
+Therefore, perhaps, although setting this against that, she may be wise
+to stay in the house of Seti, he, on the balance, may be wise to turn
+her from his doors.”
+
+“What sorrow?” I asked, who grew bewildered with his dark talk, but
+there was no answer, for he had gone.
+
+Near to my lodging another man met me, and the moonlight shining on his
+face showed me the terrible eyes of Ki.
+
+“Scribe Ana,” he said, “you leave for Memphis to-morrow at
+the dawn, and not two days hence as you purposed.”
+
+“How do you know that, Magician Ki?” I answered, for I had told my
+change of plan to none, not even to Bakenkhonsu, having indeed only
+determined upon it since Jabez left me.
+
+“I know nothing, Ana, save that a faithful servant who has learned all
+you have learned to-day will hurry to make report of it to his master,
+especially if there is some other to whom he would also wish to make
+report, as Bakenkhonsu thinks.”
+
+“Bakenkhonsu talks too much, whatever he may think,” I exclaimed
+testily.
+
+“The aged grow garrulous. You were at the crowning to-day, were you
+not?”
+
+“Yes, and if I saw aright from far away, those Hebrew prophets seemed
+to worst you at your own trade there, Kherheb, which must grieve you,
+as you were grieved in the temple when Amon fell.”
+
+“It does not grieve me, Ana. If I have powers, there may be others who
+have greater powers, as I learned in the temple of Amon. Why therefore
+should I feel ashamed?”
+
+“Powers!” I replied with a laugh, for the strings of my mind seemed
+torn that night, “would not craft be a better word? How do you turn a
+stick into a snake, a thing which is impossible to man?”
+
+“Craft might be a better word, since craft means knowledge as well as
+trickery. ‘Impossible to man!’ After what you saw a while ago in
+the temple of Amon, do you hold that there is anything impossible to man
+or woman? Perhaps you could do as much yourself.”
+
+“Why do you mock me, Ki? I study books, not snake-charming.”
+
+He looked at me in his calm fashion, as though he were reading, not my
+face, but the thoughts behind it. Then he looked at the cedar wand in
+his hand and gave it to me, saying:
+
+“Study this, Ana, and tell me, what is it.”
+
+“Am I a child,” I answered angrily, “that I should not know a
+priest’s rod when I see one?”
+
+“I think that you are something of a child, Ana,” he murmured, all
+the while keeping those eyes of his fixed upon my face.
+
+Then a horror came about. For the rod began to twist in my hand and when
+I stared at it, lo! it was a long, yellow snake which I held by the
+tail. I threw the reptile down with a scream, for it was turning its
+head as though to strike me, and there in the dust it twisted and
+writhed away from me and towards Ki. Yet an instant later it was only a
+stick of yellow cedar-wood, though between me and Ki there was a
+snake’s track in the sand.
+
+“It is somewhat shameless of you, Ana,” said Ki, as he lifted the
+wand, “to reproach me with trickery while you yourself try to confound
+a poor juggler with such arts as these.”
+
+Then I know not what I said to him, save the end of it was that I
+supposed he would tell me next that I could fill a hall with darkness
+at noonday and cover a multitude with terror.
+
+“Let us have done with jests,” he said, “though these are
+well enough in their place. Will you take this rod again and point it to
+the moon? You refuse and you do well, for neither you nor I can cover
+up her face. Ana, because you are wise in your way and consort with one
+who is wiser, and were present in the temple when the statue of Amon
+was shattered by a certain witch who matched her strength against mine
+and conquered me, I, the great magician, have come to ask
+_you_—whence came that darkness in the hall to-day?”
+
+“From God, I think,” I answered in an awed whisper.
+
+“So I think also, Ana. But tell me, or ask Merapi, Moon of Israel, to
+tell me—from what god? Oh! I say to you that a terrible power is afoot
+in this land and that the Prince Seti did well to refuse the throne of
+Egypt and to fly to Memphis. Repeat it to him, Ana.”
+
+Then he too was gone.
+
+Now I returned in safety to Memphis and told all these tidings to the
+Prince, who listened to them eagerly. Once only was he greatly stirred;
+it was when I repeated to him the words of Userti, that never would she
+look upon his face again unless it pleased him to turn it towards the
+throne. On hearing this tears came into his eyes, and rising, he walked
+up and down the chamber.
+
+“The fallen must not look for gentleness,” he said, “and
+doubtless, Ana, you think it folly that I should grieve because I am
+thus deserted.”
+
+“Nay, Prince, for I too have been abandoned by a wife and the pain is
+unforgotten.”
+
+“It is not of the wife I think, Ana, since in truth her Highness is no
+wife to me. For whatever may be the ancient laws of Egypt, how could it
+happen otherwise, at any rate in my case and hers? It is of the sister.
+For though my mother was not hers, she and I were brought up together
+and in our way loved each other, though always it was her pleasure to
+lord it over me, as it was mine to submit and pay her back in jests.
+That is why she is so angry because now of a sudden I have thrown off
+her rule to follow my own will whereby she has lost the throne.”
+
+“It has always been the duty of the royal heiress of Egypt to marry
+the Pharaoh of Egypt, Prince, and having wed one who would be Pharaoh
+according to that duty, the blow cuts deep.”
+
+“Then she had best thrust aside that foolish wife of his and wed him
+who is Pharaoh. But that she will never do; Amenmeses she has always
+hated, so much that she loathed to be in the same place with him. Nor
+indeed would he wed her, who wishes to rule for himself, not through a
+woman whose title to the crown is better than his own. Well, she has
+put me away and there’s an end. Henceforth I must go lonely,
+unless—unless——Continue your story, friend. It is kind of her in
+her greatness to promise to protect one so humble. I should remember
+that, although it is true that fallen heads sometimes rise again,” he
+added bitterly.
+
+“So at least Jabez thinks, Prince,” and I told him how the
+Israelites were sure that he would be Pharaoh, whereat he laughed and
+said:
+
+“Perhaps, for they are good prophets. For my part I neither know or
+care. Or maybe Jabez sees advantage in talking thus, for as you know he
+is a clever trader.”
+
+“I do not think so,” I answered and stopped.
+
+“Had Jabez more to say of any other matter, Ana? Of the lady Merapi,
+for instance?”
+
+Now feeling it to be my duty, I told him every word that had passed
+between Jabez and myself, though somewhat shamefacedly.
+
+“This Hebrew takes much for granted, Ana, even as to whom the Moon of
+Israel would wish to shine upon. Why, friend, it might be you whom she
+desires to touch with her light, or some youth in Goshen—not
+Laban—or no one.”
+
+“Me, Prince, me!” I exclaimed.
+
+“Well, Ana, I am sure you would have it so. Be advised by me and ask
+her mind upon the matter. Look not so confused, man, for one who has
+been married you are too modest. Come tell me of this Crowning.”
+
+So glad enough to escape from the matter of Merapi, I spoke at length of
+all that had happened when Pharaoh Amenmeses took his seat upon the
+throne. When I described how the rod of the Hebrew prophet had been
+turned to a snake and how Ki and his company had done likewise, the
+Prince laughed and said that these were mere jugglers’ tricks. But
+when I told of the darkness that had seemed to gather in the hall and
+of the gloom that filled the hearts of all men and of the awesome dream
+of Bakenkhonsu, also of the words of Ki after he had clouded my mind
+and played his jest upon me, he listened with much earnestness and
+answered:
+
+“My mind is as Ki’s in this matter. I too think that a terrible
+power is afoot in Egypt, one that has its home in the land of Goshen,
+and that I did well to refuse the throne. But from what god these
+fortunes come I do not know. Perhaps time will tell us. Meanwhile if
+there is aught in the prophesies of these Hebrews, as interpreted by
+Jabez, at least you and I may sleep in peace, which is more than will
+chance to Pharaoh on the throne that Userti covets. If so, this play
+will be worth the watching. You have done your mission well, Ana. Go
+rest you while I think over all that you have said.”
+
+It was evening and as the palace was very hot I went into the garden and
+making my way to that little pleasure-house where Seti and I were wont
+to study, I sat myself down there and, being weary, fell asleep. When I
+awoke from a dream about some woman who was weeping, night had fallen
+and the full moon shone in the sky, so that its rays fell on the garden
+before me.
+
+Now in front of this little house, as I have said, grew trees that at
+this season of the year were covered with white and cup-like blossoms,
+and between these trees was a seat built up of sun-dried bricks. On
+this seat sat a woman whom I knew from her shape to be Merapi. Also she
+was sad, for although her head was bowed and her long hair hid her face
+I could hear her gentle sighs.
+
+The sight of her moved me very much and I remembered what the Prince had
+said to me, telling me that I should do well to ask this lady whether
+she had any mind my way. Therefore if I did so, surely I could not be
+blamed. Yet I was certain that it was not to me that her heart turned,
+though to speak the truth, much I wished it otherwise. Who would look
+at the ibis in the swamp when the wide-winged eagle floated in heaven
+above?
+
+An evil thought came into my mind, sent by Set. Suppose that this
+watcher’s eyes were fixed upon the eagle, lord of the air. Suppose
+that she worshipped this eagle; that she loved it because its home was
+heaven, because to her it was the king of all the birds. And suppose
+one told her that if she lured it down to earth from the glorious
+safety of the skies, she would bring it to captivity or death at the
+hand of the snarer. Then would not that loving watcher say: “Let it
+go free and happy, however much I long to look upon it,” and when it
+had sailed from sight, perhaps turn her eyes to the humble ibis in the
+mud?
+
+Jabez had told me that if this woman and the Prince grew dear to each
+other she would bring great sorrow on his head. If I repeated his words
+to her, she who had faith in the prophecies of her people would
+certainly believe them. Moreover, whatever her heart might prompt,
+being so high-natured, never would she consent to do what might bring
+trouble on Seti’s head, even if to refuse him should sink her soul in
+sorrow. Nor would she return to the Hebrews there to fall into the
+hands of one she hated. Then perhaps I——. Should I tell her? If
+Jabez had not meant that the matter must be brought to her ears, would
+he have spoken of it at all? In short was it not my duty to her, and
+perhaps also to the Prince who thereby might be saved from miseries to
+come, that is if this talk of future troubles were anything more than an
+idle story.
+
+Such was the evil reasoning with which Set assailed my spirit. How I
+beat it down I do not know. Not by my own goodness, I am sure, since at
+the moment I was aflame with love for the sweet and beautiful lady who
+sat before me and in my foolishness would, I think, have given my life
+to kiss her hand. Not altogether for her sake either, since passion is
+very selfish. No, I believe it was because the love that I bore the
+Prince was more deep and real than that which I could feel for any
+woman, and I knew well that were she not in my sight no such treachery
+would have overcome my heart. For I was sure, although he had never
+said so to me, that Seti loved Merapi and above all earthly things
+desired her as his companion, while if once I spoke those words,
+whatever my own gain or loss and whatever her secret wish, that she
+would never be.
+
+So I conquered, though the victory left me trembling like a child, and
+wishing that I had not been born to know the pangs of love denied. My
+reward was very swift, for just then Merapi unfastened a gem from the
+breast of her white robe and held it towards the moon, as though to
+study it. In an instant I knew it again. It was that royal scarab of
+lapis-lazuli with which in Goshen the Prince had made fast the bandage
+on her wounded foot, which also had been snatched from her breast by
+some power on that night when the statue of Amon was shattered in the
+temple.
+
+Long and earnestly she looked at it, then having glanced round to make
+sure she was alone, she pressed it to her lips and kissed it thrice
+with passion, muttering I know not what between the kisses. Now the
+scales fell from my eyes and I knew that she loved Seti, and oh! how I
+thanked my guardian god who had saved me from such useless shame.
+
+I wiped the cold damp from my brow and was about to flee away,
+discovering myself with as few words as might be, when, looking up, I
+saw standing behind Merapi the figure of a man, who was watching her
+replace the ornament in her robe. While I hesitated a moment the man
+spoke and I knew the voice for that of Seti. Then again I thought of
+flight, but being somewhat timid by nature, feared to show myself until
+it was too late, thinking that afterward the Prince would make me the
+target of his wit. So I sat close and still, hearing and seeing all
+despite myself.
+
+“What gem is that, Lady, which you admire and cherish so tenderly?”
+asked Seti in his slow voice that so often hid a hint of laughter.
+
+She uttered a little scream and springing up, saw him.
+
+“Oh! my lord,” she exclaimed, “pardon your servant. I was
+sitting here in the cool, as you gave me leave to do, and the moon was
+so bright—that—I wished to see if by it I could read the writing on
+this scarab.”
+
+Never before, thought I to myself, did I know one who read with her
+lips, though it is true that first she used her eyes.
+
+“And could you, Lady? Will you suffer me to try?”
+
+Very slowly and colouring, so that even the moonlight showed her
+blushes, she withdrew the ornament again and held it towards him.
+
+“Surely this is familiar to me? Have I not seen it before?” he
+asked.
+
+“Perhaps. I wore it that night in the temple, your Highness.”
+
+“You must not name me Highness, Lady. I have no longer any rank in
+Egypt.”
+
+“I know—because of—my people. Oh! it was noble.”
+
+“But about the scarabæus——” he broke in, with a wave
+of his hand. “Surely it is the same with which the bandage was made
+fast upon your hurt—oh! years ago?”
+
+“Yes, it is the same,” she answered, looking down.
+
+“I thought it. And when I gave it to you, I said some words that
+seemed to me well spoken at the time. What were they? I cannot
+remember. Have you also forgotten?”
+
+“Yes—I mean—no. You said that now I had all Egypt beneath my
+foot, speaking of the royal cartouche upon the scarab.”
+
+“Ah! I recall. How true, and yet how false the jest, or prophecy.”
+
+“How can anything be both true and false, Prince?”
+
+“That I could prove to you very easily, but it would take an hour or
+more, so it shall be for another time. This scarab is a poor thing, give
+it back to me and you shall have a better. Or would you choose this
+signet? As I am no longer Prince of Egypt it is useless to me.”
+
+“Keep the scarab, Prince. It is your own. But I will not take the ring
+because it is——”
+
+“——useless to me, and you would not have that which is
+without value to the giver. Oh! I string words ill, but they were not
+what I meant.”
+
+“No, Prince, because your royal ring is too large for one so small.”
+
+“How can you tell until you have tried? Also that is a fault which
+might perhaps be mended.”
+
+Then he laughed, and she laughed also, but as yet she did not take the
+ring.
+
+“Have you seen Ana?” he went on. “I believe he set out to
+search for you, in such a hurry indeed that he could scarcely finish his
+report to me.”
+
+“Did he say that?”
+
+“No, he only looked it. So much so that I suggested he should seek you
+at once. He answered that he was going to rest after his long journey,
+or perhaps I said that he ought to do so. I forget, as often one does,
+on so beauteous a night when other thoughts seem nearer.”
+
+“Why did Ana wish to see me, Prince?”
+
+“How can I tell? Why does a man who is still young—want to see a
+sweet and beautiful lady? Oh! I remember. He had met your uncle at Tanis
+who inquired as to your health. Perhaps that is why he wanted to see
+you.”
+
+“I do not wish to hear about my uncle at Tanis. He reminds me of too
+many things that give pain, and there are nights when one wishes to
+escape pain, which is sure to be found again on the morrow.”
+
+“Are you still of the same mind about returning to your people?” he
+asked, more earnestly.
+
+“Surely. Oh! do not say that you will send me hence
+to——”
+
+“Laban, Lady?”
+
+“Laban amongst others. Remember, Prince, that I am one under a curse.
+If I return to Goshen, in this way or in that, soon I shall die.”
+
+“Ana says that your uncle Jabez declares that the mad fellow who tried
+to murder you had no authority to curse and much less to kill you. You
+must ask him to tell you all.”
+
+“Yet the curse will cling and crush me at the last. How can I, one
+lonely woman, stand against the might of the people of Israel and their
+priests?”
+
+“Are you then lonely?”
+
+“How can it be otherwise with an outcast, Prince?”
+
+“No, it cannot be otherwise. I know it who am also an outcast.”
+
+“At least there is her Highness your wife, who doubtless will come to
+comfort you,” she said, looking down.
+
+“Her Highness will not come. If you had seen Ana, he would perhaps
+have told you that she has sworn not to look upon my face again, unless
+above it shines a crown.”
+
+“Oh! how can a woman be so cruel? Surely, Prince, such a stab must cut
+you to the heart,” she exclaimed, with a little cry of pity.
+
+“Her Highness is not only a woman; she is a Princess of Egypt which is
+different. For the rest it does cut me to the heart that my royal sister
+should have deserted me, for that which she loves better—power and
+pomp. But so it is, unless Ana dreams. It seems therefore that we are
+in the same case, both outcasts, you and I, is it not so?”
+
+She made no answer but continued to look upon the ground, and he went on
+very slowly:
+
+“A thought comes into my mind on which I would ask your judgment. If
+two who are forlorn came together they would be less forlorn by half,
+would they not?”
+
+“It would seem so, Prince—that is if they remained forlorn at all.
+But I do not understand the riddle.”
+
+“Yet you have answered it. If you are lonely and I am lonely apart, we
+should, you say, be less lonely together.”
+
+“Prince,” she murmured, shrinking away from him, “I spoke no
+such words.”
+
+“No, I spoke them for you. Hearken to me, Merapi. They think me a
+strange man in Egypt because I have held no woman dear, never having
+seen one whom I could hold dear.” Here she looked at him searchingly,
+and he went on, “A while ago, before I visited your land of
+Goshen—Ana can tell you about the matter, for I think he wrote it
+down—Ki and old Bakenkhonsu came to see me. Now, as you know, Ki is
+without doubt a great magician, though it would seem not so great as
+some of your prophets. He told me that he and others had been searching
+out my future and that in Goshen I should find a woman whom it was
+fated I must love. He added that this woman would bring me much joy.”
+Here Seti paused, doubtless remembering this was not all that Ki had
+said, or Jabez either. “Ki told me also,” he went on slowly,
+“that I had already known this woman for thousands of years.”
+
+She started and a strange look came into her face.
+
+“How can that be, Prince?”
+
+“That is what I asked him and got no good answer. Still he said it,
+not only of the woman but of my friend Ana as well, which indeed would
+explain much, and it would appear that the other magicians said it
+also. Then I went to the land of Goshen and there I saw a
+woman——”
+
+“For the first time, Prince?”
+
+“No, for the third time.”
+
+Here she sank upon the bench and covered her eyes with her hands.
+
+“——and loved her, and felt as though I had loved her for
+‘thousands of years.’”
+
+“It is not true. You mock me, it is not true!” she whispered.
+
+“It is true for if I did not know it then, I knew it afterwards,
+though never perhaps completely until to-day, when I learned that
+Userti had deserted me indeed. Moon of Israel, you are that woman. I
+will not tell you,” he went on passionately, “that you are fairer
+than all other women, or sweeter, or more wise, though these things you
+seem to me. I will only tell you that I love you, yes, love you,
+whatever you may be. I cannot offer you the Throne of Egypt, even if
+the law would suffer it, but I can offer you the throne of this heart
+of mine. Now, Lady Merapi, what have you to say? Before you speak,
+remember that although you seem to be my prisoner here at Memphis, you
+have naught to fear from me. Whatever you may answer, such shelter and
+such friendship as I can give will be yours while I live, and never
+shall I attempt to force myself upon you, however much it may pain me
+to pass you by. I know not the future. It may happen that I shall give
+you great place and power, it may happen that I shall give you nothing
+but poverty and exile, or even perhaps a share in my own death, but
+with either will go the worship of my body and my spirit. Now,
+speak.”
+
+She dropped her hands from her face, looking up at him, and there were
+tears shining in her beautiful eyes.
+
+“It cannot be, Prince,” she murmured.
+
+“You mean you do not wish it to be?”
+
+“I said that it cannot be. Such ties between an Egyptian and an
+Israelite are not lawful.”
+
+“Some in this city and elsewhere seem to find them so.”
+
+“And I am married, I mean perhaps I am married—at least in
+name.”
+
+“And I too am married, I mean——”
+
+“That is different. Also there is another reason, the greatest of all,
+I am under a curse, and should bring you, not joy as Ki said, but
+sorrow, or, at the least, sorrow with the joy.”
+
+He looked at her searchingly.
+
+“Has Ana——” he began, then continued, “if so what
+lives have you known that are not compounded of mingled joy and
+sorrow?”
+
+“None. But the woe I should bring would outweigh the joy—to you.
+The curse of my God rests upon me and I cannot learn to worship yours.
+The curse of my people rests upon me, the law of my people divides me
+from you as with a sword, and should I draw close to you these will be
+increased upon my head, which matters not, but also upon yours,” and
+she began to sob.
+
+“Tell me,” he said, taking her by the hand, “but one thing,
+and if the answer is No, I will trouble you no more. Is your heart
+mine?”
+
+“It is,” she sighed, “and has been ever since my eyes fell
+upon you yonder in the streets of Tanis. Oh! then a change came into me
+and I hated Laban, whom before I had only misliked. Moreover, I too
+felt that of which Ki spoke, as though I had known you for thousands of
+years. My heart is yours, my love is yours; all that makes me woman is
+yours, and never, never can turn from you to any other man. But still
+we must stay apart, for your sake, my Prince, for your sake.”
+
+“Then, were it not for me, you would be ready to run these hazards?”
+
+“Surely! Am I not a woman who loves?”
+
+“If that be so,” he said with a little laugh, “being of full
+age and of an understanding which some have thought good, by your leave
+I think I will run them also. Oh! foolish woman, do you not understand
+that there is but one good thing in the world, one thing in which self
+and its miseries can be forgot, and that thing is love? Mayhap troubles
+will come. Well, let them come, for what do they matter if only the
+love or its memory remains, if once we have picked that beauteous
+flower and for an hour worn it on our breasts. You talk of the
+difference between the gods we worship and maybe it exists, but all
+gods send their gifts of love upon the earth, without which it would
+cease to be. Moreover, my faith teaches me more clearly perhaps than
+yours, that life does not end with death and therefore that love, being
+life’s soul, must endure while it endures. Last of all, I think, as
+you think, that in some dim way there is truth in what the magicians
+said, and that long ago in the past we have been what once more we are
+about to be, and that the strength of this invisible tie has drawn us
+together out of the whole world and will bind us together long after
+the world is dead. It is not a matter of what we wish to do, Merapi, it
+is a matter of what Fate has decreed we shall do. Now, answer again.”
+
+But she made no answer, and when I looked up after a little moment she
+was in his arms and her lips were upon his lips.
+
+Thus did Prince Seti of Egypt and Merapi, Moon of Israel, come together
+at Memphis in Egypt.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE RED NILE
+
+
+On the morrow of this night I found the Prince alone for a little while,
+and put him in mind of certain ancient manuscripts that he wished to
+read, which could only be consulted at Thebes where I might copy them;
+also of others that were said to be for sale there. He answered that
+they could wait, but I replied that the latter might find some other
+purchaser if I did not go at once.
+
+“You are over fond of long journeys upon my business, Ana,” he
+said. Then he considered me curiously for a while, and since he could
+read my mind, as indeed I could his, saw that I knew all, and added in
+a gentle voice:
+
+“You should have done as I told you, and spoken first. If so, who
+knows——”
+
+“You do, Prince,” I answered, “you and another.”
+
+“Go, and the gods be with you, friend, but stay not too long copying
+those rolls, which any scribe can do. I think there is trouble at hand
+in Egypt, and I shall need you at my side. Another who holds you dear
+will need you also.”
+
+“I thank my lord and that other,” I said, bowing, and went.
+
+Moreover, while I was making some humble provision for my journey, I
+found that this was needless, since a slave came to tell me that the
+Prince’s barge was waiting to sail with the wind. So in that barge I
+travelled to Thebes like a great noble, or a royal mummy being borne to
+burial. Only instead of wailing priests, until I sent them back to
+Memphis, musicians sat upon the prow, and when I willed, dancing girls
+came to amuse my leisure and, veiled in golden nets, to serve at my
+table.
+
+So I journeyed as though I were the Prince himself, and as one who was
+known to have his ear was made much of by the governors of the Nomes,
+the chief men of the towns, and the high priests of the temples at
+every city where we moored. For, as I have said, although Amenmeses sat
+upon the throne, Seti still ruled in the hearts of the folk of Egypt.
+Moreover, as I sailed further up the Nile to districts where little was
+known of the Israelites, and the troubles they were bringing on the
+land, I found this to be so more and more. Why is it, the Great Ones
+would whisper in my ear, that his Highness the Prince Seti does not
+hold his father’s place? Then I would tell them of the Hebrews, and
+they would laugh and say:
+
+“Let the Prince unfurl his royal banner here, and we will show him
+what we think of the question of these Israelitish slaves. May not the
+Heir of Egypt form his own judgment on such a matter as to whether they
+should abide there in the north, or go away into that wilderness which
+they desire?”
+
+To all of which, and much like it, I would only answer that their words
+should be reported. More I did not, and indeed did not dare to say,
+since everywhere I found that I was being followed and watched by the
+spies of Pharaoh.
+
+At length I came to Thebes and took up my abode in a fine house that was
+the property of the Prince, which I found that a messenger had
+commanded should be made ready for me. It stood near by the entrance to
+the Avenue of Sphinxes, which leads to the greatest of all the Theban
+temples, where is that mighty columned hall built by the first Seti and
+his son, Rameses II, the Prince’s grandfather.
+
+Here, having entrance to the place, I would often wander at night, and
+in my spirit draw as near to heaven as ever it has been my lot to
+travel. Also, crossing the Nile to the western bank, I visited that
+desolate valley where the rulers of Egypt lie at rest. The tomb of
+Pharaoh Meneptah was still unsealed, and accompanied by a single priest
+with torches, I crept down its painted halls and looked upon the
+sarcophagus of him whom so lately I had seen seated in glory upon the
+throne, wondering, as I looked, how much or how little he knew of all
+that passed in Egypt to-day.
+
+Moreover, I copied the papyri that I had come to seek, in which there
+was nothing worth preserving, and some of real value that I discovered
+in the ancient libraries of the temples, and purchased others. One of
+these indeed told a very strange tale that has given me much cause for
+thought, especially of late years now when all my friends are dead.
+
+Thus I spent two months, and should have stayed longer had not
+messengers reached me from the Prince saying that he desired my return.
+Of these, one followed within three days of the other, and his words
+were:
+
+“Think you, Scribe Ana, that because I am no more Prince of Egypt I am
+no longer to be obeyed? If so, bear in mind that the gods may decree
+that one day I shall grow taller than ever I was before, and then be
+sure that I will remember your disobedience, and make you shorter by a
+head. Come swiftly, my friend, for I grow lonely, and need a man to
+talk with.”
+
+To which I replied, that I returned as fast as the barge would carry me,
+being so heavily laden with the manuscripts that I had copied and
+purchased.
+
+So I started, being, to tell truth, glad to get away, for this reason.
+Two nights before, when I was walking alone from the great temple of
+the house, a woman dressed in many colours appeared and accosted me as
+such lost ones do. I tried to shake her off, but she clung to me, and I
+saw that she had drunk more than enough of wine. Presently she asked,
+in a voice that I thought familiar, if I knew who was the officer that
+had come to Thebes on the business of some Royal One and abode in the
+dwelling that was known as House of the Prince. I answered that his
+name was Ana.
+
+“Once I knew an Ana very well,” she said, “but I left
+him.”
+
+“Why?” I asked, turning cold in my limbs, for although I could not
+see her face because of a hood she wore, now I began to be afraid.
+
+“Because he was a poor fool,” she answered, “no man at all,
+but one who was always thinking about writings and making them, and
+another came my way whom I liked better until he deserted me.”
+
+“And what happened to this Ana?” I asked.
+
+“I do not know. I suppose he went on dreaming, or perhaps he took
+another wife; if so, I am sorry for her. Only, if by chance it is the
+same that has come to Thebes, he must be wealthy now, and I shall go
+and claim him and make him keep me well.”
+
+“Had you any children?” I asked.
+
+“Only one, thank the gods, and that died—thank the gods again, for
+otherwise it might have lived to be such as I am,” and she sobbed once
+in a hard fashion and then fell to her vile endearments.
+
+As she did so, the hood slipped from her head and I saw that the face
+was that of my wife, still beauteous in a bold fashion, but grown
+dreadful with drink and sin. I trembled from head to foot, then said in
+the disguised voice that I had used to her.
+
+“Woman, I know this Ana. He is dead and you were his ruin. Still,
+because I was his friend, take this and go reform your ways,” and I
+drew from my robe and gave to her a bag containing no mean weight of
+gold.
+
+She snatched it as a hawk snatches, and seeing its contents by the
+starlight, thanked me, saying:
+
+“Surely Ana dead is worth more than Ana alive. Also it is well that he
+is dead, for he is gone where the child went, which he loved more than
+life, neglecting me for its sake and thereby making me what I am. Had
+he lived, too, being as I have said a fool, he would have had more
+ill-luck with women, whom he never understood. Farewell, friend of Ana,
+who have given me that which will enable me to find another husband,”
+and laughing wildly she reeled off behind a sphinx and vanished into
+the darkness.
+
+For this reason, then, I was glad to escape from Thebes. Moreover, that
+miserable one had hurt me sorely, making me sure of what I had only
+guessed, namely, that with women I was but a fool, so great a fool that
+then and there I swore by my guardian god that never would I look with
+love on one of them again, an oath which I have kept well whatever
+others I may have broken. Again she stabbed me through with the talk of
+our dead child, for it is true that when that sweet one took flight to
+Osiris my heart broke and in a fashion has never mended itself again.
+Lastly, I feared lest it might also be true that I had neglected the
+mother for the sake of this child which was the jewel of my worship,
+yes, and is, and thereby helped her on to shame. So much did this
+thought torment me that through an agent whom I trusted, who believed
+that I was but providing for one whom I had wronged, I caused enough to
+be paid to her to keep her in comfort.
+
+She did marry again, a merchant about whom she had cast her toils, and
+in due course spent his wealth and brought him to ruin, after which he
+ran away from her. As for her, she died of her evil habits in the third
+year of the reign of Seti II. But, the gods be thanked she never knew
+that the private scribe of Pharaoh’s chamber was that Ana who had
+been her husband. Here I will end her story.
+
+Now as I was passing down the Nile with a heart more heavy than the
+great stone that served as anchor on the barge, we moored at dusk on
+the third night by the side of a vessel that was sailing up Nile with a
+strong northerly wind. On board this boat was an officer whom I had
+known at the Court of Pharaoh Meneptah, travelling to Thebes on duty.
+This man seemed so much afraid that I asked him if anything weighed
+upon his mind. Then he took me aside into a palm grove upon the bank,
+and seating himself on the pole whereby oxen turned a waterwheel, told
+me that strange things were passing at Tanis.
+
+It seemed that the Hebrew prophets had once more appeared before
+Pharaoh, who since his accession had left the Israelites in peace, not
+attacking them with the sword as Meneptah had wished to do, it was
+thought through fear lest if he did so he should die as Meneptah died.
+As before, they had put up their prayer that the people of the Hebrews
+should be suffered to go to worship in the wilderness, and Pharaoh had
+refused them. Then when he went down to sail upon the river early in
+the morning of another day, they had met him and one of them struck the
+water with his rod, and it had turned to blood. Whereon Ki and Kherheb
+and his company also struck the water with their rods, and it turned to
+blood. That was six days ago, and now this officer swore to me that the
+blood was creeping up the Nile, a tale at which I laughed.
+
+“Come then and see,” he said, and led me back to his boat, where
+all the crew seemed as fearful as he was himself.
+
+He took me forward to a great water jar that stood upon the prow and,
+behold! it seemed to be full of blood, and in it was a fish dead,
+and—stinking.
+
+“This water,” said he, “I drew from the Nile with my own
+hands, not five hours sail to the north. But now we have outsped the
+blood, which follows after us,” and taking a lamp he held it over the
+prow of the boat and I saw that all its planks were splashed as though
+with blood.
+
+“Be advised by me, learned scribe,” he added, “and fill every
+jar and skin that you can gather with sweet water, lest to-morrow you
+and your company should go thirsty,” and he laughed a very dreary
+laugh.
+
+Then we parted without more words, for neither of us knew what to say,
+and about midnight he sailed on with the wind, taking his chance of
+grounding on the sandbanks in the darkness.
+
+For my part I did as he bade me, though my rowers who had not spoken
+with his men, thought that I was mad to load up the barge with so much
+water.
+
+At the first break of day I gave the order to start. Looking over the
+side of the barge it seemed to me as though the lights of dawn had
+fallen from the sky into the Nile whereof the water had become
+pink-hued. Moreover, this hue, which grew ever deeper, was travelling
+up stream, not down, against the course of nature, and could not
+therefore have been caused by red soil washed from the southern lands.
+The bargemen stared and muttered together. Then one of them, leaning
+over the side, scooped up water in the hollow of his hand and drew some
+into his mouth, only to spit it out again with a cry of fear.
+
+“’Tis blood,” he cried. “Blood! Osiris has been slain
+afresh, and his holy blood fills the banks of Nile.”
+
+So much were they afraid, indeed, that had I not forced them to hold to
+their course they would have turned and rowed up stream, or beached the
+boat and fled into the desert. But I cried to them to steer on
+northwards, for thus perhaps we should sooner be done with this horror,
+and they obeyed me. Ever as we went the hue of the water grew more red,
+almost to blackness, till at last it seemed as though we were
+travelling through a sea of gore in which dead fish floated by the
+thousand, or struggled dying on the surface. Also the stench was so
+dreadful that we must bind linen about our nostrils to strain the foetid
+air.
+
+We came abreast of a town, and from its streets one great wail of terror
+rose to heaven. Men stood staring as though they were drunken, looking
+at their red arms which they had dipped in the stream, and women ran to
+and fro upon the bank, tearing their hair and robes, and crying out
+such words as—
+
+“Wizard’s work! Bewitched! Accursed! The gods have slain each
+other, and men too must die!” and so forth.
+
+Also we saw peasants digging holes at a distance from the shore to see
+perchance if they might come to water that was sweet and wholesome. All
+day long we travelled thus through this horrible flood, while the spray
+driven by the strong north wind spotted our flesh and garments, till we
+were like butchers reeking from the shambles. Nor could we eat any food
+because of the stench from this spray, which made it to taste salt as
+does fresh blood, only we drank of the water which I had provided, and
+the rowers who had held me to be mad now named me the wisest of men;
+one who knew what would befall in the future.
+
+At length towards evening we noted that the water was growing much less
+red with every hour that passed, which was another marvel, seeing that
+above us, upstream, it was the colour of jasper, whereon we paused from
+our rowing and, all defiled as we were, sang a hymn and gave thanks to
+Hapi, god of Nile, the Great, the Secret, the Hidden. Before sunset,
+indeed, the river was clean again, save that on the bank where we made
+fast for the night the stones and rushes were all stained, and the dead
+fish lay in thousands polluting the air. To escape the stench we
+climbed a cliff that here rose quite close to Nile, in which we saw the
+mouths of ancient tombs that long ago had been robbed and left empty,
+purposing to sleep in one of them.
+
+A path worn by the feet of men ran to the largest of these tombs,
+whence, as we drew near, we heard the sound of wailing. Looking in, I
+saw a woman and some children crouched upon the floor of the tomb,
+their heads covered with dust who, when they perceived us, cried more
+loudly than before, though with harsh dry voices, thinking no doubt
+that we were robbers or perhaps ghosts because of our bloodstained
+garments. Also there was another child, a little one, that did not cry,
+because it was dead. I asked the woman what passed, but even when she
+understood that we were only men who meant her no harm, she could not
+speak or do more than gasp “Water! Water!” We gave her and the
+children to drink from the jars which we had brought with us, which
+they did greedily, after which I drew her story from her.
+
+She was the wife of a fisherman who made his home in this cave, and said
+that seven days before the Nile had turned to blood, so that they could
+not drink of it, and had no water save a little in a pot. Nor could
+they dig to find it, since here the ground was all rock. Nor could they
+escape, since when he saw the marvel, her husband in his fear had leapt
+from his boat and waded to land and the boat had floated away.
+
+I asked where was her husband, and she pointed behind her. I went to
+look, and there found a man hanging by his neck from a rope that was
+fixed to the capital of a pillar in the tomb, quite dead and cold.
+Returning sick at heart, I inquired of her how this had come about. She
+answered that when he saw that all the fish had perished, taking away
+his living, and that thirst had killed his youngest child, he went mad,
+and creeping to the back of the tomb, without her knowledge hung
+himself with a net rope. It was a dreadful story.
+
+Having given the widow of our food, we went to sleep in another tomb,
+not liking the company of those dead ones. Next morning at the dawn we
+took the woman and her children on board the barge, and rowed them
+three hours’ journey to a town where she had a sister, whom she
+found. The dead man and the child we left there in the tomb, since my
+men would not defile themselves by touching them.
+
+So, seeing much terror and misery on our journey, at last we came safe
+to Memphis. Leaving the boatmen to draw up the barge, I went to the
+palace, speaking with none, and was led at once to the Prince. I found
+him in a shaded chamber seated side by side with the lady Merapi, and
+holding her hand in such a fashion that they remind me of the
+life-sized Ka statues of a man and his wife, such as I have seen in the
+ancient tombs, cut when the sculptors knew how to fashion the perfect
+likenesses of men and women. This they no longer do to-day, I think
+because the priests have taught them that it is not lawful. He was
+talking to her in a low voice, while she listened, smiling sweetly as
+she ever did, but with eyes, fixed straight before her that were, as it
+seemed to me, filled with fear. I thought that she looked very
+beautiful with her hair outspread over her white robe, and held back
+from her temples by a little fillet of god. But as I looked, I rejoiced
+to find that my heart no longer yearned for her as it had upon that
+night when I had seen her seated beneath the trees without the
+pleasure-house. Now she was its friend, no more, and so she remained
+until all was finished, as both the Prince and she knew well enough.
+
+When he saw me Seti sprang from his seat and came to greet me, as a man
+does the friend whom he loves. I kissed his hand, and going to Merapi,
+kissed hers also noting that on it now shone that ring which once she
+had rejected as too large.
+
+“Tell me, Ana, all that has befallen you,” he said in his pleasant,
+eager voice.
+
+“Many things, Prince; one of them very strange and terrible,” I
+answered.
+
+“Strange and terrible things have happened here also,” broke in
+Merapi, “and, alas! this is but the beginning of woes.”
+
+So saying, she rose, as though she could trust herself to speak no more,
+bowed first to her lord and then to me, and left the chamber.
+
+I looked at the Prince and he answered the question in my eyes.
+
+“Jabez has been here,” he said, “and filled her heart with
+forebodings. If Pharaoh will not let the Israelites go, by Amon I wish
+he would let Jabez go to some place whence he never could return. But
+tell me, have you also met blood travelling against the stream of Nile?
+It would seem so,” and he glanced at the rusty stains that no washing
+would remove from my garments.
+
+I nodded and we talked together long and earnestly, but in the end were
+no wiser for all our talking. For neither of us knew how it came about
+that men by striking water with a rod could turn it into what seemed to
+be blood, as the Hebrew prophet and Ki both had done, or how that blood
+could travel up the Nile against the stream and everywhere endure for a
+space of seven days; yes, and spread too to all the canals in Egypt, so
+that men must dig holes for water and dig them fresh each day because
+the blood crept in and poisoned them. But both of us thought that this
+was the work of the gods, and most of all of that god whom the Hebrews
+worship.
+
+“You remember, Ana,” said the Prince, “the message which you
+brought to me from Jabez, namely that no harm should come to me because
+of these Israelites and their curses. Well, no harm has come as yet,
+except the harm of Jabez, for he came. On the day before the news of
+this blood plague reached us, Jabez appeared disguised as a merchant of
+Syrian stuffs, all of which he sold to me at three times their value.
+He obtained admission to the chambers of Merapi, where she is
+accustomed to see whom she wills, and under pretence of showing her his
+stuffs, spoke with her and, as I fear, told her what you and I were so
+careful to hide, that she would bring trouble on me. At the least she
+has never been quite the same since, and I have thought it wise to make
+her swear by an oath, which I know she will never break, that now we
+are one she will not attempt to separate herself from me while we both
+have life.”
+
+“Did he wish her to go away with him, Prince?”
+
+“I do not know. She never told me so. Still I am sure that had he come
+with his evil talk before that day when you returned from Tanis, she
+would have gone. Now I hope that there are reasons that will keep her
+where she is.”
+
+“What then did he say, Prince?”
+
+“Little beyond what he had already said to you, that great troubles
+were about to fall on Egypt. He added that he was sent to save me and
+mine from these troubles because I had been a friend to the Hebrews in
+so far as that was possible. Then he walked through this house and all
+round its gardens, as he went reciting something that was written on a
+roll, of which I could not understand the meaning, and now and again
+prostrating himself to pray to his god. Thus, where the canal enters
+the garden and where it leaves the garden he stayed to pray, as he did
+at the well whence drinking water is drawn. Moreover, led by Merapi, he
+visited all my cornlands and those where my cattle are herded, reciting
+and praying until the servants thought that he was mad. After this he
+returned with her and, as it chanced, I overheard their parting. She
+said to him:
+
+“‘The house you have blessed and it is safe; the fields you have
+blessed and they are safe; will you not bless me also, O my Uncle, and
+any that are born of me?’
+
+“He answered, shaking his head, ‘I have no command, my Niece,
+either to bless or to curse you, as did that fool whom the Prince slew.
+You have chosen your own path apart from your people. It may be well,
+or it may be ill, or perhaps both, and henceforth you must walk it
+alone to wherever it may lead. Farewell, for perhaps we shall meet no
+more.’
+
+“Thus speaking they passed out of earshot, but I could see that still
+she pleaded and still he shook his head. In the end, however, she gave
+him an offering, of all that she had I think, though whether this went
+to the temple of the Hebrews or into his own pouch I know not. At least
+it seemed to soften him, for he kissed her on the brow tenderly enough
+and departed with the air of a happy merchant who has sold his wares.
+But of all that passed between them Merapi would tell me nothing. Nor
+did I tell her of what I had overheard.”
+
+“And then?”
+
+“And then, Ana, came the story of the Hebrew prophet who made the
+water into blood, and of Ki and his disciples who did likewise. The
+latter I did not believe, because I said it would be more reasonable
+had Ki turned the blood back into water, instead of making more blood
+of which there was enough already.”
+
+“I think that magicians have no reason.”
+
+“Or can do mischief only, Ana. At any rate after the story came the
+blood itself and stayed with us seven whole days, leaving much sickness
+behind it because of the stench of the rotting fish. Now for the
+marvel—here about my house there was no blood, though above and below
+the canal was full of it. The water remained as it has always been and
+the fish swam in it as they have always done; also that of the well
+kept sweet and pure. When this came to be known thousands crowded to
+the place, clamouring for water; that is until they found that outside
+the gates it grew red in their vessels, after which, although some
+still came, they drank the water where they stood, which they must do
+quickly.”
+
+“And what tale do they tell of this in Memphis, Prince?” I asked
+astonished.
+
+“Certain of them say that not Ki but I am the greatest magician in
+Egypt—never, Ana, was fame more lightly earned. And certain say that
+Merapi, of whose doings in the temple at Tanis some tale has reached
+them, is the real magician, she being an Israelite of the tribe of the
+Hebrew prophets. Hush! She returns.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+KI COMES TO MEMPHIS
+
+
+Now of all the terrors of which this turning of the water into blood was
+the beginning in Egypt, I, Ana, the scribe, will not write, for if I
+did so, never in my life-days should I, who am old, find time to finish
+the story of them. Over a period of many, many moons they came, one by
+one, till the land grew mad with want and woe. Always the tale was the
+same. The Hebrew prophets would visit Pharaoh at Tanis and demand that
+he should let their people go, threatening him with vengeance if he
+refused. Yet he did refuse, for some madness had hold of him, or
+perhaps the god of the Israelites laid an enchantment on him, why I
+know not.
+
+Thus but a little while after the terror of blood came a plague of frogs
+that filled Egypt from north to south, and when these were taken away
+made the air to stink. This miracle Ki and his company worked also,
+sending the frogs into Goshen, where they plagued the Israelites. But
+however it came about, at Seti’s palace at Memphis and on the land
+that he owned around it there were no frogs, or at least but few of
+them, although at night from the fields about the sound of their
+croaking went up like the sound of beaten drums.
+
+Next came a plague of lice, and these Ki and his companions would have
+also called down upon the Hebrews, but they failed, and afterwards
+struggled no more against the magic of the Israelites. Then followed a
+plague of flies, so that the air was black with them and no food could
+be kept sweet. Only in Seti’s palace there were no flies, and in the
+garden but a few. After this a terrible pest began among the cattle,
+whereof thousands died. But of Seti’s great herd not one was even
+sick, nor, as we learned, was there a hoof the less in the land of
+Goshen.
+
+This plague struck Egypt but a little while after Merapi had given birth
+to a son, a very beautiful child with his mother’s eyes, that was
+named Seti after his father. Now the marvel of the escape of the Prince
+and his household and all that was his from these curses spread abroad
+and made much talk, so that many sent to inquire of it.
+
+Among the first came old Bakenkhonsu with a message from Pharaoh, and a
+private one to myself from the Princess Userti, whose pride would not
+suffer her to ask aught of Seti. We could tell him nothing except what
+I have written, which at first he did not believe. Having satisfied
+himself, however, that the thing was true, he said that he had fallen
+sick and could not travel back to Tanis. Therefore he asked leave of
+the Prince to rest a while in his house, he who had been the friend of
+his father, his grandfather, and his great-grandfather. Seti laughed,
+as indeed did the cunning old man himself, and there with us
+Bakenkhonsu remained till the end, to our great joy, for he was the most
+ pleasant of all companions and the most learned. As for his message,
+one of his servants took back the answer to Pharaoh and to Userti, with
+the news of his master’s grievous sickness.
+
+Some eight days or so later, as I stood one morning basking in the sun
+at that gate of the palace gardens which overlooks the temple of Ptah,
+idly watching the procession of priests passing through its courts and
+chanting as they went (for because of the many sicknesses at this time
+I left the palace but rarely), I saw a tall figure approaching me
+draped against the morning cold. The man drew near, and addressing me
+over the head of the guard, asked if he could see the lady Merapi. I
+answered No, as she was engaged in nursing her son.
+
+“And in other things, I think,” he said with meaning, in a voice
+that seemed familiar to me. “Well, can I see the Prince Seti?”
+
+I answered No, he was also engaged.
+
+“In nursing his own soul, studying the eyes of the lady Merapi, the
+smile of his infant, the wisdom of the scribe Ana, and the attributes
+of the hundred and one gods that are known to him, including that of
+Israel, I suppose,” said the familiar voice, adding, “Then can I
+see this scribe Ana, who I understand, being lucky, holds himself
+learned.”
+
+Now, angered at the scoffing of this stranger (though all the time I
+felt that he was none), I answered that the scribe Ana was striving to
+mend his luck by the pursuit of the goddess of learning in his study.
+
+“Let him pursue,” mocked the stranger, “since she is the only
+woman that he is ever likely to catch. Yet it is true that once one
+caught him. If you are of his acquaintance ask him of his talk with her
+in the avenue of the Sphinxes outside the great temple at Thebes and of
+what it cost him in gold and tears.”
+
+Hearing this I put my hand to my forehead and rubbed my eyes, thinking
+that I must have fallen into a dream there in the sunshine. When I
+lifted it again all was the same as before. There stood the sentry,
+indifferent to that which had no interest for him; the cock that had
+moulted its tail still scratched in the dirt; the crested hoopoe still
+sat spreading its wings on the head of one of the two great statues of
+Rameses which watched the gate; a water-seller in the distance still
+cried his wares, but the stranger was gone. Then I knew that I had been
+dreaming and turned to go also, to find myself face to face with him.
+
+“Man,” I said, indignantly, “how in the name of Ptah and all
+his priests did you pass a sentry and through that gate without my
+seeing you?”
+
+“Do not trouble yourself with a new problem when already you have so
+many to perplex you, friend Ana. Say, have you yet solved that of how a
+rod like this turned itself into a snake in your hand?” and he threw
+back his hood, revealing the shaved head and the glowing eyes of the
+Kherheb Ki.
+
+“No, I have not,” I answered, “and I thank you,” for
+here he proffered me the staff, “but I will not try the trick again.
+Next time the beast might bite. Well, Ki, as you can pass in here
+without my leave, why do you ask it? In short, what do you want with
+me, now that those Hebrew prophets have put you on your back?”
+
+“Hush, Ana. Never grow angry, it wastes strength, of which we have so
+little to spare, for you know, being so wise, or perhaps you do not
+know, that at birth the gods give us a certain store of it, and when
+that is used we die and have to go elsewhere to fetch more. At this
+rate your life will be short, Ana, for you squander it in emotions.”
+
+“What do you want?” I repeated, being too angry to dispute with him.
+
+“I want to find an answer to the question you asked so roughly: Why
+the Hebrew prophets have, as you say, put me on my back?”
+
+“Not being a magician, as you pretend you are, I can give you none,
+Ki.”
+
+“Never for one moment did I suppose that you could,” he replied
+blandly, stretching out his hands, and leaving the staff which had
+fallen from them standing in front of him. (It was not till afterwards
+that I remembered that this accursed bit of wood stood there of itself
+without visible support, for it rested on the paving-stone of the
+gateway.) “But, as it chances, you have in this house the master, or
+rather the mistress of all magicians, as every Egyptian knows to-day,
+the lady Merapi, and I would see her.”
+
+“Why do you say she is a mistress of magicians?” I asked
+indignantly.
+
+“Why does one bird know another of its own kind? Why does the water
+here remain pure, when all other water turns to blood? Why do not the
+frogs croak in Seti’s halls, and why do the flies avoid his meat?
+Why, also, did the statue of Amon melt before her glance, while all my
+magic fell back from her breast like arrows from a shirt of mail? Those
+are the questions that Egypt asks, and I would have an answer to them
+from the beloved of Seti, or of the god Set, she who is named Moon of
+Israel.”
+
+“Then why not go seek it for yourself, Ki? To you, doubtless, it would
+be a small matter to take the form of a snake or a rat, or a bird, and
+creep or run or fly into the presence of Merapi.”
+
+“Mayhap it would not be difficult, Ana. Or, better still, I might
+visit her in her sleep, as I visited you on a certain night at Thebes,
+when you told me of a talk you had held with a woman in the avenue of
+the Sphinxes, and of what it cost you in gold and tears. But, as it
+chances, I wish to appear as a man and a friend, and to stay a while.
+Bakenkhonsu tells me that he finds life here at Memphis very pleasant,
+free too from the sicknesses which just now seem to be so common in
+Egypt; so why should not I do the same, Ana?”
+
+I looked at his round, ripe face, on which was fixed a smile unchanging
+as that worn by the masks on mummy coffins, from which I think he must
+have copied it, and at the cold, deep eyes above, and shivered a
+little. To tell truth I feared this man, whom I felt to be in touch
+with presences and things that are not of our world, and thought it
+wisest to withstand him no more.
+
+“That is a question which you had best put to my master Seti who owns
+this house. Come, I will lead you to him,” I said.
+
+So we went to the great portico of the palace, passing in and out
+through the painted pillars, towards my own apartments, whence I
+purposed to send a message to the Prince. As it chanced this was
+needless, since presently we saw him seated in a little bay out of
+reach of the sun. By his side was Merapi, and on a woven rug between
+them lay their sleeping infant, at whom both of them gazed adoringly.
+
+“Strange that this mother’s heart should hide more might than can
+be boasted by all the gods of Egypt. Strange that those mother’s eyes
+can rive the ancient glory of Amon into dust!” Ki said to me in so
+low a voice that it almost seemed as though I heard his thought and not
+his words, which perhaps indeed I did.
+
+Now we stood in front of these three, and the sun being behind us, for
+it was still early, the shadow of the cloaked Ki fell upon a babe and
+lay there. A hateful fancy came to me. It looked like the evil form of
+an embalmer bending over one new dead. The babe felt it, opened its
+large eyes and wailed. Merapi saw it, and snatched up her child. Seti
+too rose from his seat, exclaiming, “Who comes?”
+
+Thereon, to my amazement, Ki prostrated himself and uttered the
+salutation which may only be given to the King of Egypt: “Life!
+Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!”
+
+“Who dares utter those words to me?” said Seti. “Ana, what
+madman do you bring here?”
+
+“May it please the Prince, _he_ brought _me_ here,” I
+replied faintly.
+
+“Fellow, tell me who bade you say such words, than which none were
+ever less welcome.”
+
+“Those whom I serve, Prince.”
+
+“And whom do you serve?”
+
+“The gods of Egypt.”
+
+“Then, man, I think the gods must need your company. Pharaoh does not
+sit at Memphis, and were he to hear of them——”
+
+“Pharaoh will never hear them, Prince, until he hears all things.”
+
+They stared at each other. Then, as I had done by the gate Seti rubbed
+his eyes, and said:
+
+“Surely this is Ki. Why, then, did you look otherwise just now?”
+
+“The gods can change the fashion of their messenger a thousand times
+in a flash, if so they will, O Prince.”
+
+Now Seti’s anger passed, and turned to laughter.
+
+“Ki, Ki,” he said, “you should keep these tricks for Court.
+But, since you are in the mood, what salutation have you for this lady
+by my side?”
+
+Ki considered her, till she who ever feared and hated him shrank before
+his gaze.
+
+“Crown of Hathor, I greet you. Beloved of Isis, shine on perfect in
+the sky, shedding light and wisdom ere you set.”
+
+Now this saying puzzled me. Indeed, I did not fully understand it until
+Bakenkhonsu reminded me that Merapi’s name was Moon of Israel, that
+Hathor, goddess of love, is crowned with the moon in all her statues,
+that Isis is the queen of mysteries and wisdom, and that Ki who thought
+Merapi perfect in love and beauty, also the greatest of all
+sorceresses, was likening her to these.
+
+“Yes,” I answered, “but what did he mean when he talked about
+her setting?”
+
+“Does not the moon always set, and is it not sometimes eclipsed?”
+he asked shortly.
+
+“So does the sun,” I answered.
+
+“True; so does the sun! You are growing wise, very wise indeed, friend
+Ana. Oho—ho!”
+
+To return: When Seti heard these words, he laughed again, and said:
+
+“I must think that saying over, but it is clear that you have a pretty
+turn for praise. Is it not so, Merapi, Crown of Hathor, and Holder of
+the wisdom of Isis?”
+
+But Merapi, who, I think, understood more than either of us, turned
+pale, and shrank further away, but outwards into the sunshine.
+
+“Well, Ki,” went on Seti, “finish your greetings. What for
+the babe?”
+
+Ki considered it also.
+
+“Now that it is no longer in the shadow, I see that this shoot from
+the royal root of Pharaoh grows so fast and tall that my eyes cannot
+reach its crest. He is too high and great for greetings, Prince.”
+
+Then Merapi uttered a little cry, and bore the child away.
+
+“She is afraid of magicians and their dark sayings,” said Seti,
+looking after her with a troubled smile.
+
+“That she should not be, Prince, seeing that she is the mistress of
+all our tribe.”
+
+“The lady Merapi a magician? Well, after a fashion, yes—where the
+hearts of men are concerned, do you not think so, Ana? But be more
+plain, Ki. It is still early, and I love riddles best at night.”
+
+“What other could have shattered the strong and holy house where the
+majesty of Amon dwells on earth? Not even those prophets of the Hebrews
+as I think. What other could fence this garden round against the curses
+that have fallen upon Egypt?” asked Ki earnestly, for now all his
+mocking manner had departed.
+
+“I do not think she does these things, Ki. I think some Power does
+them through her, and I know that she dared to face Amon in his temple
+because she was bidden so to do by the priests of her people.”
+
+“Prince,” he answered with a short laugh, “a while ago I sent
+you a message by Ana, which perhaps other thoughts may have driven from
+his memory. It was as to the nature of that Power of which you speak.
+In that message I said that you were wise, but now I perceive that you
+lack wisdom like the rest of us, for if you had it, you would know that
+the tool which carves is not the guiding hand, and the lightning which
+smites is not the sending strength. So with this fair love of yours,
+and so with me and all that work marvels. We do not the things we seem
+to do, who are but the tool and the lightning. What I would know is who
+or what guides her hand and gives her the might to shield or to
+destroy.”
+
+“The question is wide, Ki, or so it seems to me who, as you say, have
+little wisdom, and whoever can answer it holds the key of knowledge.
+Your magic is but a small thing which seems great because so few can
+handle it. What miracle is it that makes the flower to grow, the child
+to be born, the Nile to rise, and the sun and stars to shine in heaven?
+What causes man to be half a beast and half a god and to grow downward
+to the beast or upward to the god—or both? What is faith and what is
+unbelief? Who made these things, through them to declare the purposes
+of life, of death, and of eternity? You shake your head, you do not
+know; how then can I know who, as you point out, am but foolish? Go get
+your answer from the lady Merapi’s self, only mayhap you will find
+your questions countered.”
+
+“I’ll take my chance. Thanks to Merapi’s lord! A boon, O
+Prince, since you will not suffer that other name which comes easiest to
+the lips of one to whom the Present and the Future are sometimes much
+alike.”
+
+Seti looked at him keenly, and for the first time with a tinge of fear
+in his eyes.
+
+“Leave the Future to itself, Ki,” he exclaimed. “Whatever may
+be the mind of Egypt, just now I hold the Present enough for me,” and
+he glanced first at the chair in which Merapi had been seated and then
+at the cloth upon which his son had lain.
+
+“I take back my words. The Prince is wiser than I thought. Magicians
+know the future because at times it rushes down upon them and they
+must. It is that which makes them lonely, since what they know they
+cannot say. But only fools will seek it.”
+
+“Yet now and again they lift a corner of the veil, Ki. Thus I remember
+certain sayings of your own as to one who would find a great treasure in
+the land of Goshen and thereafter suffer some temporal loss, and—I
+forget the rest. Man, cease smiling at me with your face and piercing
+me through with your sword-like eyes. You can command all things, what
+boon then do you seek from me?”
+
+“To lodge here a little while, Prince, in the company of Ana and
+Bakenkhonsu. Hearken, I am no more Kherheb. I have quarrelled with
+Pharaoh, perhaps because a little breath from that great wind of the
+future blows through my soul; perhaps because he does not reward me
+according to my merits—what does it matter which? At least I have
+come to be of one mind with you, O Prince, and think that Pharaoh would
+do well to let the Hebrews go, and therefore no longer will I attempt
+to match my magic against theirs. But he refuses, so we have parted.”
+
+“Why does he refuse, Ki?”
+
+“Perhaps it is written that he must refuse. Or perhaps because,
+thinking himself the greatest of all kings instead of but a plaything
+of the gods, pride locks the doors of his heart that in a day to come
+the tempest of the Future, whereof I have spoken, may wreck the house
+which holds it. I do not know why he refuses, but her Highness Userti
+is much with him.”
+
+“For one who does not know, you have many reasons and all of them
+different, O instructed Ki,” said Seti.
+
+Then he paused, walking up and down the portico, and I who knew his mind
+guessed that he was wondering whether he would do well to suffer Ki,
+whom at times he feared because his objects were secret and never
+changed, to abide in his house, or whether he should send him away. Ki
+also shivered a little, as though he felt the shadow cold, and
+descended from the portico into the bright sunshine. Here he held out
+his hand and a great moth dropped from the roof and lit upon it,
+whereon he lifted it to his lips, which moved as though he were talking
+to the insect.
+
+“What shall I do?” muttered Seti, as he passed me.
+
+“I do not altogether like his company, nor, I think, does the lady
+Merapi, but he is an ill man to offend, Prince,” I answered. “Look,
+he is talking with his familiar.”
+
+Seti returned to his place, and shaking off the moth which seemed loth
+to leave him, for twice it settled on his head, Ki came back into the
+shadow.
+
+“Where is the use of your putting questions to me, Ki, when, according
+to your own showing, already you know the answer that I will give? What
+answer shall I give?” asked the Prince.
+
+“That painted creature which sat upon my hand just now, seemed to
+whisper to me that you would say, O Prince, ‘Stay, Ki, and be my
+faithful servant, and use any little lore you have to shield my house
+from ill.’”
+
+Then Seti laughed in his careless fashion, and replied:
+
+“Have your way, since it is a rule that none of the royal blood of
+Egypt may refuse hospitality to those who seek it, having been their
+friends, and I will not quote against your moth what a bat whispered in
+my ears last night. Nay, none of your salutations revealed to you by
+insects or by the future,” and he gave him his hand to kiss.
+
+When Ki was gone, I said:
+
+“I told you that night-haunting thing was his familiar.”
+
+“Then you told me folly, Ana. The knowledge that Ki has he does not
+get from moths or beetles. Yet now that it is too late I wish that I
+had asked the lady Merapi what her will was in this matter. You should
+have thought of that, Ana, instead of suffering your mind to be led
+astray by an insect sitting on his hand, which is just what he meant
+that you should do. Well, in punishment, day by day it shall be your
+lot to look upon a man with a countenance like—like what?”
+
+“Like that which I saw upon the coffin of the good god, your divine
+father, Meneptah, as it was prepared for him during his life in the
+embalmer’s shop at Tanis,” I answered.
+
+“Yes,” said the Prince, “a face smiling eternally at the
+Nothingness which is Life and Death, but in certain lights, with eyes of
+fire.”
+
+On the following day, by her invitation, I walked with the lady Merapi
+in the garden, the head nurse following us, bearing the royal child in
+her arms.
+
+“I wish to ask you about Ki, friend Ana,” she said. “You know
+he is my enemy, for you must have heard the words he spoke to me in the
+temple of Amon at Tanis. It seems that my lord has made him the guest
+of this house—oh look!” and she pointed before her.
+
+I looked, and there a few paces away, where the shadow of the
+overhanging palms was deepest, stood Ki. He was leaning on his staff,
+the same that had turned to a snake in my hand, and gazing upwards like
+one who is lost in thought, or listens to the singing of birds. Merapi
+turned as though to fly, but at that moment Ki saw us, although he
+still seemed to gaze upwards.
+
+“Greeting, O Moon of Israel,” he said bowing. “Greeting, O
+Conqueror of Ki!”
+
+She bowed back, and stood still, as a little bird stands when it sees a
+snake. There was a long silence, which he broke by asking:
+
+“Why seek that from Ana which Ki himself is eager to give? Ana is
+learned, but is his heart the heart of Ki? Above all, why tell him that
+Ki, the humblest of your servants, is your enemy?”
+
+Now Merapi straightened herself, looked into his eyes, and answered:
+
+“Have I told Ana aught that he did not know? Did not Ana hear the last
+words you said to me in the temple of Amon at Tanis?”
+
+“Doubtless he heard them, Lady, and therefore I am glad that he is
+here to hear their meaning. Lady Merapi, at that moment, I, the
+Sacrificer to Amon, was filled—not with my own spirit, but with the
+angry spirit of the god whom you had humbled as never before had
+befallen him in Egypt. The god through me demanded of you the secret of
+your magic, and promised you his hate, if you refused. Lady, you have
+his hate, but mine you have not, since I also have his hate because I,
+and he through me, have been worsted by your prophets. Lady, we are
+fellow-travellers in the Valley of Trouble.”
+
+She gazed at him steadily, and I could see that of all that passed his
+lips she believed no one word. Making no answer to him and his talk of
+Amon, she asked only:
+
+“Why do you come here to do me ill who have done you none?”
+
+“You are mistaken, Lady,” he replied. “I come here to refuge
+from Amon, and from his servant Pharaoh, whom Amon drives on to ruin. I
+know well that, if you will it, you can whisper in the ear of the
+Prince and presently he will put me forth. Only then——” and he
+looked over her head to where the nurse stood rocking the sleeping
+child.
+
+“Then what, Magician?”
+
+Giving no answer, he turned to me.
+
+“Learned Ana, do you remember meeting me at Tanis one night?”
+
+I shook my head, though I guessed well enough what night he meant.
+
+“Your memory weakens, learned Ana, or rather is confused, for we met
+often, did we not?”
+
+Then he stared at the staff in his hand. I stared also, because I could
+not help it, and saw, or thought I saw, the dead wood begin to swell
+and curve. This was enough for me and I said hastily:
+
+“If you mean the night of the Coronation, I do recall——”
+
+“Ah! I thought you would. You, learned Ana, who like all scribes
+observe so closely, will have noted how little things—such as the
+scent of a flower, or the passing of a bird, or even the writhing of a
+snake in the dust—often bring back to the mind events or words it has
+forgotten long ago.”
+
+“Well—what of our meeting?” I broke in hastily.
+
+“Nothing at all—or only this. Just before it you were talking with
+the Hebrew Jabez, the lady Merapi’s uncle, were you not?”
+
+“Yes, I was talking with him in an open place, alone.”
+
+“Not so, learned Scribe, for you know we are never alone—quite.
+Could you but see it, every grain of sand has an ear.”
+
+“Be pleased to explain, O Ki.”
+
+“Nay, Ana, it would be too long, and short jests are ever the best. As
+I have told you, you were not alone, for though there were some words
+that I did not catch, _I_ heard much of what passed between you and
+Jabez.”
+
+“What did you hear?” I asked wrathfully, and next instant wished
+that I had bitten through my tongue before it shaped the words.
+
+“Much, much. Let me think. You spoke about the lady Merapi, and
+whether she would do well to bide at Memphis in the shadow of the
+Prince, or to return to Goshen into the shadow of a certain—I forget
+the name. Jabez, a well-instructed man, said he thought that she might
+be happier at Memphis, though perhaps her presence there would bring a
+great sorrow upon herself and—another.”
+
+Here again he looked at the child, which seemed to feel his glance, for
+it woke up and beat the air with its little hands.
+
+The nurse felt it also, although her head was turned away, for she
+started and then took shelter behind the bole of one of the palm-trees.
+Now Merapi said in a low and shaken voice:
+
+“I know what you mean, Magician, for since then I have seen my uncle
+Jabez.”
+
+“As I have also, several times, Lady, which may explain to you what
+Ana here thinks so wonderful, namely that I should have learned what
+they said together when he thought they were alone, which, as I have
+told him, no one can ever be, at least in Egypt, the land of listening
+gods——”
+
+“And spying sorcerers,” I exclaimed.
+
+“——And spying sorcerers,” he repeated after me,
+“and scribes who take notes, and learn them by heart, and priests with
+ears as large as asses, and leaves that whisper—and many other
+things.”
+
+“Cease your gibes, and say what you have to say,” said Merapi, in
+the same broken voice.
+
+He made no answer, but only looked at the tree behind which the nurse
+and child had vanished.
+
+“Oh! I know, I know,” she exclaimed in tones that were like a cry.
+“My child is threatened! You threaten my child because you hate me.”
+
+“Your pardon, Lady. It is true that evil threatens this royal babe, or
+so I understood from Jabez, who knows so much. But it is not I that
+threaten it, any more than I hate you, in whom I acknowledge a fellow
+of my craft, but one greater than myself that it is my duty to obey.”
+
+“Have done! Why do you torment me?”
+
+“Can the priests of the Moon-goddess torment Isis, Mother of Magic,
+with their prayers and offerings? And can I who would make a prayer and
+an offering——”
+
+“What prayer, and what offering?”
+
+“The prayer that you will suffer me to shelter in this house from the
+many dangers that threaten me at the hands of Pharaoh and the prophets
+of your people, and an offering of such help as I can give by my arts
+and knowledge against blacker dangers which threaten—another.”
+
+Here once more he gazed at the trunk of the tree beyond which I heard
+the infant wail.
+
+“If I consent, what then?” she asked, hoarsely.
+
+“Then, Lady, I will strive to protect a certain little one against a
+curse which Jabez tells me threatens him and many others in whom runs
+the blood of Egypt. I will strive, if I am allowed to bide here—I do
+not say that I shall succeed, for as your lord has reminded me, and as
+you showed me in the temple of Amon, my strength is smaller than that
+of the prophets and prophetesses of Israel.”
+
+“And if I refuse?”
+
+“Then, Lady,” he answered in a voice that rang like iron, “I
+am sure that one whom you love—as mothers love—will shortly be
+rocked in the arms of the god whom we name Osiris.”
+
+“_Stay_,” she cried and, turning, fled away.
+
+“Why, Ana, she is gone,” he said, “and that before I could
+bargain for my reward. Well, this I must find in your company. How
+strange are women, Ana! Here you have one of the greatest of her sex,
+as you learned in the temple of Amon. And yet she opens beneath the sun
+of hope and shrivels beneath the shadow of fear, like the touched
+leaves of that tender plant which grows upon the banks of the river;
+she who, with her eyes set on the mystery that is beyond, whereof she
+hears the whispering winds, should tread both earthly hope and fear
+beneath her feet, or make of them stepping stones to glory. Were she a
+man she would do so, but her sex wrecks her, she who thinks more of the
+kiss of a babe than of all the splendours she might harbour in her
+breast. Yes, a babe, a single wretched little babe. You had one once,
+did you not, Ana?”
+
+“Oh! to Set and his fires with you and your evil talk,” I said, and
+left him.
+
+When I had gone a little way, I looked back and saw that he was
+laughing, throwing up his staff as he laughed, and catching it again.
+
+“Set and his fires,” he called after me. “I wonder what they
+are like, Ana. Perhaps one day we shall learn, you and I together,
+Scribe Ana.”
+
+So Ki took up his abode with us, in the same lodgings as Bakenkhonsu,
+and almost every day I would meet them walking in the garden, since I,
+who was of the Prince’s table, except when he ate with the lady
+Merapi, did not take my food with them. Then we would talk together
+about many subjects. On those which had to do with learning, or even
+religion, I had the better of Ki, who was no great scholar or master of
+theology. But always before we parted he would plant some arrow in my
+ribs, at which old Bakenkhonsu laughed, and laughed again, yet ever
+threw over me the shield of his venerable wisdom, just because he loved
+me I think.
+
+It was after this that the plague struck the cattle of Egypt, so that
+tens of thousands of them died, though not all as was reported. But, as
+I have said, of the herds of Seti none died, nor, as we were told, did
+any of those of the Israelites in the land of Goshen. Now there was
+great distress in Egypt, but Ki smiled and said that he knew it would
+be so, and that there was much worse to come, for which I could have
+smitten him over the head with his own staff, had I not feared that, if
+I did so, it might once more turn to a serpent in my hand.
+
+Old Bakenkhonsu looked upon the matter with another face. He said that
+since his last wife died, I think some fifty years before, he had found
+life very dull because he missed the exercises of her temper, and her
+habit of presenting things as these never had been nor could possibly
+ever be. Now, however, it grew interesting again, since the marvels
+which were happening in Egypt, being quite contrary to Nature, reminded
+him of his last wife and her arguments. All of which was his way of
+saying that in those years we lived in a new world, whereof for the
+Egyptians Set the Evil One seemed to be the king.
+
+But still Pharaoh would not let the Hebrews go, perhaps because he had
+vowed as much to Meneptah who set him on the throne, or perhaps for
+those other reasons, or one of them, which Ki had given to the Prince.
+
+Then came the curse of sores afflicting man, woman, and child throughout
+the land, save those who dwelt in the household of Seti. Thus the
+watchman and his family whose lodge was without the gates suffered, but
+the watchman and his family who lived within the gates, not twenty
+paces away, did not suffer, which caused bitterness between their
+women. In the same way Ki, who resided as a guest of the Prince at
+Memphis, suffered from no sores, whereas those of his College who
+remained at Tanis were more heavily smitten than any others, so that
+some of them died. When he heard this, Ki laughed and said that he had
+told them it would be so. Also Pharaoh himself and even her Highness
+Userti were smitten, the latter upon the cheek, which made her
+unsightly for a while. Indeed, Bakenkhonsu heard, I know not how, that
+so great was her rage that she even bethought her of returning to her
+lord Seti, in whose house she had learned people were safe, and the
+beauty of her successor, Moon of Israel, remained unscarred and was
+even greater than before, tidings that I think Bakenkhonsu himself
+conveyed to her. But in the end this her pride, or her jealousy,
+prevented her from doing.
+
+Now the heart of Egypt began to turn towards Seti in good earnest. The
+Prince, they said, had opposed the policy of the oppression of the
+Hebrews, and because he could not prevail had abandoned his right to
+the throne, which Pharaoh Amenmeses had purchased at the price of
+accepting that policy whereof the fruits had been proved to be
+destruction. Therefore, they reasoned, if Amenmeses were deposed, and
+the Prince reigned, their miseries would cease. So they sent
+deputations to him secretly, praying him to rise against Amenmeses and
+promising him support. But he would listen to none of them, telling them
+ that he was happy as he was and sought no other state. Still Pharaoh
+grew jealous, for all these things his spies reported to him, and set
+about plots to destroy Seti.
+
+Of the first of these Userti warned me by a messenger, but the second
+and worse Ki discovered in some strange way, so that the murderer was
+trapped at the gate and killed by the watchman, whereon Seti said that
+after all he had been wise to give hospitality to Ki, that is, if to
+continue to live were wisdom. The lady Merapi also said as much to me,
+but I noted that always she shunned Ki, whom she held in mistrust and
+fear.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE NIGHT OF FEAR
+
+
+Then came the hail, and some months after the hail the locusts, and
+Egypt went mad with woe and terror. It was known to us, for with Ki and
+Bakenkhonsu in the palace we knew everything, that the Hebrew prophets
+had promised this hail because Pharaoh would not listen to them.
+Therefore Seti caused it to be put about through all the land that the
+Egyptians should shelter their cattle, or such as were left to them, at
+the first sign of storm. But Pharaoh heard of it and issued a
+proclamation that this was not to be done, inasmuch as it would be an
+insult to the gods of Egypt. Still many did so and these saved their
+cattle. It was strange to see that wall of jagged ice stretching from
+earth to heaven and destroying all upon which it fell. The tall
+date-palms were stripped even of their bark; the soil was churned up;
+men and beasts if caught abroad were slain or shattered.
+
+I stood at the gate and watched it. There, not a yard away, fell the
+white hail, turning the world to wreck, while here within the gate
+there was not a single stone. Merapi watched also, and presently came
+Ki as well, and with him Bakenkhonsu, who for once had never seen
+anything like this in all his long life. But Ki watched Merapi more
+than he did the hail, for I saw him searching out her very soul with
+those merciless eyes of his.
+
+“Lady,” he said at length, “tell your servant, I beseech you,
+how you do this thing?” and he pointed first to the trees and flowers
+within the gate and then to the wreck without.
+
+At first I thought that she had not heard him because of the roar of the
+hail, for she stepped forward and opened the side wicket to admit a
+poor jackal that was scratching at the bars. Still this was not so, for
+presently she turned and said:
+
+“Does the Kherheb, the greatest magician in Egypt, ask an unlearned
+woman to teach him of marvels? Well, Ki, I cannot, because I neither do
+it nor know how it is done.”
+
+Bakenkhonsu laughed, and Ki’s painted smile grew as it were brighter
+than before.
+
+“That is not what they say in the land of Goshen, Lady,” he
+answered, “and not what the Hebrew women say here in Memphis. Nor is
+it what the priests of Amon say. These declare that you have more magic
+than all the sorcerers of the Nile. Here is the proof of it,” and he
+pointed to the ruin without and the peace within, adding, “Lady, if
+you can protect your own home, why cannot you protect the innocent
+people of Egypt?”
+
+“Because I cannot,” she answered angrily. “If ever I had such
+power it is gone from me, who am now the mother of an Egyptian’s
+child. But I have none. There in the temple of Amon some Strength
+worked through me, that is all, which never will visit me again because
+of my sin.”
+
+“What sin, Lady?”
+
+“The sin of taking the Prince Seti to lord. Now, if any god spoke
+through me it would be one of those of the Egyptians, since He of
+Israel has cast me out.”
+
+Ki started as though some new thought had come to him, and at this
+moment she turned and went away.
+
+“Would that she were high-priestess of Isis that she might work for us
+and not against us,” he said.
+
+Bakenkhonsu shook his head.
+
+“Let that be,” he answered. “Be sure that never will an
+Israelitish woman offer sacrifice to what she would call the abomination
+of the Egyptians.”
+
+“If she will not sacrifice to save the people, let her be careful lest
+the people sacrifice her to save themselves,” said Ki in a cold voice.
+
+Then he too went away.
+
+“I think that if ever that hour comes, then Ki will have his share in
+it,” laughed Bakenkhonsu. “What is the good of a shepherd who
+shelters here in comfort, while outside the sheep are dying, eh, Ana?”
+
+It was after the plague of locusts, which ate all there was left to eat
+in Egypt, so that the poor folk who had done no wrong and had naught to
+say to the dealings of Pharaoh with the Israelites starved by the
+thousand, and during that of the great darkness, that Laban came. Now
+this darkness lay upon the land like a thick cloud for three whole days
+and nights. Nevertheless, though the shadows were deep, there was no
+true darkness over the house of Seti at Memphis, which stood in a
+funnel of grey light stretching from earth to sky.
+
+Now the terror was increased tenfold, and it seemed to me that all the
+hundreds of thousands of Memphis were gathered outside our walls, so
+that they might look upon the light, such as it was, if they could do
+no more. Seti would have admitted as many as the place would hold, but
+Ki bade him not, saying, that if he did so the darkness would flow in
+with them. Only Merapi did admit some of the Israelitish women who were
+married to Egyptians in the city, though for her pains they only cursed
+her as a witch. For now most of the inhabitants of Memphis were certain
+that it was Merapi who, keeping herself safe, had brought these woes
+upon them because she was a worshipper of an alien god.
+
+“If she who is the love of Egypt’s heir would but sacrifice to
+Egypt’s gods, these horrors would pass from us,” said they, having,
+as I think, learned their lesson from the lips of Ki. Or perhaps the
+emissaries of Userti had taught them.
+
+Once more we stood by the gate watching the people flitting to and fro
+in the gloom without, for this sight fascinated Merapi, as a snake
+fascinates a bird. Then it was that Laban appeared. I knew his hooked
+nose and hawk-like eyes at once, and she knew him also.
+
+“Come away with me, Moon of Israel,” he cried, “and all shall
+yet be forgiven you. But if you will not come, then fearful things shall
+overtake you.”
+
+She stood staring at him, answering never a word, and just then the
+Prince Seti reached us and saw him.
+
+“Take that man,” he commanded, flushing with anger, and guards
+sprang into the darkness to do his bidding. But Laban was gone.
+
+On the second day of the darkness the tumult was great, on the third it
+was terrible. A crowd thrust the guard aside, broke down the gates and
+burst into the palace, humbly demanding that the lady Merapi would come
+to pray for them, yet showing by their mien that if she would not come
+they meant to take her.
+
+“What is to be done?” asked Seti of Ki and Bakenkhonsu.
+
+“That is for the Prince to judge,” said Ki, “though I do not
+see how it can harm the lady Merapi to pray for us in the open square of
+Memphis.”
+
+“Let her go,” said Bakenkhonsu, “lest presently we should all
+go further than we would.”
+
+“I do not wish to go,” cried Merapi, “not knowing for whom I
+am to pray or how.”
+
+“Be it as you will, Lady,” said Seti in his grave and gentle voice.
+“Only, hearken to the roar of the mob. If you refuse, I think that
+very soon every one of us will have reached a land where perhaps it is
+not needful to pray at all,” and he looked at the infant in her arms.
+
+“I will go,” she said.
+
+She went forth carrying the child and I walked behind her. So did the
+Prince, but in that darkness he was cut off by a rush of thousands of
+folk and I saw him no more till all was over. Bakenkhonsu was with me
+leaning on my arm, but Ki had gone on before us, for his own ends as I
+think. A huge mob moved through the dense darkness, in which here and
+there lights floated like lamps upon a quiet sea. I did not know where
+we were going until the light of one of these lamps shone upon the
+knees of the colossal statue of the great Rameses, revealing his
+cartouche. Then I knew that we were near the gateway of the vast temple
+of Memphis, the largest perhaps in the whole world.
+
+We went on through court after pillared court, priests leading us by the
+hand, till we came to a shrine commanding the biggest court of all,
+which was packed with men and women. It was that of Isis, who held at
+her breast the infant Horus.
+
+“O friend Ana,” cried Merapi, “give help. They are dressing
+me in strange garments.”
+
+I tried to get near to her but was thrust back, a voice, which I thought
+to be that of Ki, saying:
+
+“On your life, fool!”
+
+Presently a lamp was held up, and by the light of it I saw Merapi seated
+in a chair dressed like a goddess, in the sacerdotal robes of Isis and
+wearing the vulture cap headdress—beautiful exceedingly. In her arms
+was the child dressed as the infant Horus.
+
+“Pray for us, Mother Isis,” cried thousands of voices, “that
+the curse of blackness may be removed.”
+
+Then she prayed, saying:
+
+“O my God, take away this curse of blackness from these innocent
+people,” and all of those present, repeated her prayer.
+
+At that moment the sky began to lighten and in less than half an hour
+the sun shone out. When Merapi saw how she and the child were arrayed
+she screamed aloud and tore off her jewelled trappings, crying:
+
+“Woe! Woe! Woe! Great woe upon the people of Egypt!”
+
+But in their joy at the new found light few hearkened to her who they
+were sure had brought back the sun. Again Laban appeared for a moment.
+
+“Witch! Traitress!” he cried. “You have worn the robes of
+Isis and worshipped in the temple of the gods of the Egyptians. The
+curse of the God of Israel be on you and that which is born of you.”
+
+I sprang at him but he was gone. Then we bore Merapi home swooning.
+
+So this trouble passed by, but from that time forward Merapi would not
+suffer her son to be taken out of her sight.
+
+“Why do you make so much of him, Lady?” I asked one day.
+
+“Because I would love him well while he is here, Friend,” she
+answered, “but of this say nothing to his father.”
+
+A while went by and we heard that still Pharaoh would not let the
+Israelites go. Then the Prince Seti sent Bakenkhonsu and myself to
+Tanis to see Pharaoh and to say to him:
+
+“I seek nothing for myself and I forget those evils which you would
+have worked on me through jealousy. But I say unto you that if you will
+not let these strangers go great and terrible things shall befall you
+and all Egypt. Therefore, hear my prayer and let them go.”
+
+Now Bakenkhonsu and I came before Pharaoh and we saw that he was greatly
+aged, for his hair had gone grey about his temples and the flesh hung
+in bags beneath his eyes. Also not for one minute could he stay still.
+
+“Is your lord, and are you also of the servants of this Hebrew prophet
+whom the Egyptians worship as a god because he has done them so much
+ill?” he asked. “It may well be so, since I hear that my cousin
+Seti keeps an Israelitish witch in his house, who wards off from him all
+the plagues that have smitten the rest of Egypt, and that to him has
+fled also Ki the Kherheb, my magician. Moreover, I hear that in payment
+for these wizardries he has been promised the throne of Egypt by many
+fickle and fearful ones among my people. Let him be careful lest I lift
+him up higher than he hopes, who already have enough traitors in this
+land; and you two with him.”
+
+Now I said nothing, who saw that the man was mad, but Bakenkhonsu
+laughed out loud and answered:
+
+“O Pharaoh, I know little, but I know this although I be old, namely,
+that after men have ceased to speak your name I shall still hold
+converse with the wearer of the Double Crown in Egypt. Now will you let
+these Hebrews go, or will you bring death upon Egypt?”
+
+Pharaoh glared at him and answered, “I will not let them go.”
+
+“Why not, Pharaoh? Tell me, for I am curious.”
+
+“Because I cannot,” he answered with a groan. “Because
+something stronger than myself forces me to deny their prayer.
+Begone!”
+
+So we went, and this was the last time that I looked upon Amenmeses at
+Tanis.
+
+As we left the chamber I saw the Hebrew prophet entering the presence.
+Afterwards a rumour reached us that he had threatened to kill all the
+people in Egypt, but that still Pharaoh would not let the Israelites
+depart. Indeed, it was said that he had told the prophet that if he
+appeared before him any more he should be put to death.
+
+Now we journeyed back to Memphis with all these tidings and made report
+to Seti. When Merapi heard them she went half mad, weeping and wringing
+her hands. I asked her what she feared. She answered death, which was
+near to all of us. I said:
+
+“If so, there are worse things, Lady.”
+
+“For you mayhap who are faithful and good in your own fashion, but not
+for me. Do you not understand, friend Ana, that I am one who has broken
+the law of the God I was taught to worship?”
+
+“And which of us is there who has not broken the law of the god we
+were taught to worship, Lady? If in truth you have done anything of the
+sort by flying from a murderous villain to one who loves you well,
+which I do not believe, surely there is forgiveness for such sins as
+this.”
+
+“Aye, perhaps, but, alas! the thing is blacker far. Have you forgotten
+what I did? Dressed in the robes of Isis I worshipped in the temple of
+Isis with my boy playing the part of Horus on my bosom. It is a crime
+that can never be forgiven to a Hebrew woman, Ana, for my God is a
+jealous God. Yet it is true that Ki tricked me.”
+
+“If he had not, Lady, I think there would have been none of us left to
+trick, seeing that the people were crazed with the dread of the darkness
+and believed that it could be lifted by you alone, as indeed
+happened,” I added somewhat doubtfully.
+
+“More of Ki’s tricks! Oh! do you not understand that the lifting of
+the darkness at that moment was Ki’s work, because he wished the
+people to believe that I am indeed a sorceress.”
+
+“Why?” I asked.
+
+“I do not know. Perhaps that one day he may find a victim to bind to
+the altar in his place. At least I know well that it is I who must pay
+the price, I and my flesh and blood, whatever Ki may promise,” and
+she looked at the sleeping child.
+
+“Do not be afraid, Lady,” I said. “Ki has left the palace and
+you will see him no more.”
+
+“Yes, because the Prince was angry with him about the trick in the
+temple of Isis. Therefore suddenly he went, or pretended to go, for how
+can one tell where such a man may really be? But he will come back
+again. Bethink you, Ki was the greatest magician in Egypt; even old
+Bakenkhonsu can remember none like to him. Then he matches himself
+against the prophets of my people and fails.”
+
+“But did he fail, Lady? What they did he did, sending among the
+Israelites the plagues that your prophets had sent among us.”
+
+“Yes, some of them, but he was outpaced, or feared to be outpaced at
+last. Is Ki a man to forget that? And if Ki chances really to believe
+that I am his adversary and his master at this black work, as because
+of what happened in the temple of Amon thousands believe to-day, will
+he not mete me my own measure soon or late? Oh! I fear Ki, Ana, and I
+fear the people of Egypt, and were it not for my lord beloved, I would
+flee away into the wilderness with my son, and get me out of this
+haunted land! Hush! he wakes.”
+
+From this time forward until the sword fell there was great dread in
+Egypt. None seemed to know exactly what they dreaded, but all thought
+that it had to do with death. People went about mournfully looking over
+their shoulders as though someone were following them, and at night
+they gathered together in knots and talked in whispers. Only the
+Hebrews seemed to be glad and happy. Moreover, they were making
+preparations for something new and strange. Thus those Israelitish
+women who dwelt in Memphis began to sell what property they had and to
+borrow of the Egyptians. Especially did they ask for the loan of
+jewels, saying that they were about to celebrate a feast and wished to
+look fine in the eyes of their countrymen. None refused them what they
+asked because all were afraid of them. They even came to the palace and
+begged her ornaments from Merapi, although she was a countrywoman of
+their own who had showed them much kindness. Yes, and seeing that her
+son wore a little gold circlet on his hair, one of them begged that
+also, nor did she say her nay. But, as it chanced, the Prince entered,
+and seeing the woman with this royal badge in her hand, grew very angry
+and forced her to restore it.
+
+“What is the use of crowns without heads to wear them?” she
+sneered, and fled away laughing, with all that she had gathered.
+
+After she had heard that saying Merapi grew even sadder and more
+distraught than she was before, and from her the trouble crept to Seti.
+He too became sad and ill at ease, though when I asked him why he vowed
+he did not know, but supposed it was because some new plague drew near.
+
+“Yet,” he added, “as I have made shift to live through nine
+of them, I do not know why I should fear a tenth.”
+
+Still he did fear it, so much that he consulted Bakenkhonsu as to
+whether there were any means by which the anger of the gods could be
+averted.
+
+Bakenkhonsu laughed and said he thought not, since always if the gods
+were not angry about one thing they were angry about another. Having
+made the world they did nothing but quarrel with it, or with other gods
+who had a hand in its fashioning, and of these quarrels men were the
+victims.
+
+“Bear your woes, Prince,” he added, “if any come, for ere the
+Nile has risen another fifty times at most, whether they have or have
+not been, will be the same to you.”
+
+“Then you think that when we go west we die indeed, and that Osiris is
+but another name for the sunset, Bakenkhonsu.”
+
+The old Councillor shook his great head, and answered:
+
+“No. If ever you should lose one whom you greatly love, take comfort,
+Prince, for I do not think that life ends with death. Death is the nurse
+that puts it to sleep, no more, and in the morning it will wake again
+to travel through another day with those who have companioned it from
+the beginning.”
+
+“Where do all the days lead it to at last, Bakenkhonsu?”
+
+“Ask that of Ki; I do not know.”
+
+“To Set with Ki, I am angered with him,” said the Prince, and went
+away.
+
+“Not without reason, I think,” mused Bakenkhonsu, but when I asked
+him what he meant, he would not or could not tell me.
+
+So the gloom deepened and the palace, which had been merry in its way,
+became sad. None knew what was coming, but all knew that something was
+coming and stretched out their hands to strive to protect that which
+they loved best from the stroke of the warring gods. In the case of
+Seti and Merapi this was their son, now a beautiful little lad who
+could run and prattle, one too of a strange health and vigour for a
+child of the inbred race of the Ramessids. Never for a minute was this
+boy allowed to be out of the sight of one or other of his parents;
+indeed I saw little of Seti in those days and all our learned studies
+came to nothing, because he was ever concerned with Merapi in playing
+nurse to this son of his.
+
+When Userti was told of it, she said in the hearing of a friend of mine:
+
+“Without a doubt that is because he trains his bastard to fill the
+throne of Egypt.”
+
+But, alas! all that the little Seti was doomed to fill was a coffin.
+
+It was a still, hot evening, so hot that Merapi had bid the nurse bring
+the child’s bed and set it between two pillars of the great portico.
+There on the bed he slept, lovely as Horus the divine. She sat by his
+side in a chair that had feet shaped like to those of an antelope. Seti
+walked up and down the terrace beyond the portico leaning on my
+shoulder, and talking by snatches of this or that. Occasionally as he
+passed he would stay for a while to make sure by the bright moonlight
+that all was well with Merapi and the child, as of late it had become a
+habit with him to do. Then without speaking, for fear lest he should
+awake the boy, he would smile at Merapi, who sat there brooding, her
+head resting on her hand, and pass on.
+
+The night was very still. The palm leaves did not rustle, no jackals
+were stirring, and even the shrill-voiced insects had ceased their
+cries. Moreover, the great city below was quiet as a home of the dead.
+It was as though the presage of some advancing doom scared the world to
+silence. For without doubt doom was in the air. All felt it down to the
+nurse woman, who cowered close as she dared to the chair of her
+mistress, and even in that heat shivered from time to time.
+
+Presently little Seti awoke, and began to prattle about something he had
+dreamed.
+
+“What did you dream, my son?” asked his father.
+
+“I dreamed,” he answered in his baby talk, “that a woman,
+dressed as Mother was in the temple, took me by the hand and led me into
+the air. I looked down, and saw you and Mother with white faces and
+crying. I began to cry too, but the woman with the feather cap told me
+not as she was taking me to a beautiful big star where Mother would
+soon come to find me.”
+
+The Prince and I looked at each other and Merapi feigned to busy herself
+with hushing the child to sleep again. It drew towards midnight and
+still no one seemed minded to go to rest. Old Bakenkhonsu appeared and
+began to say something about the night being very strange and
+unrestful, when, suddenly, a little bat that was flitting to and fro
+above us fell upon his head and thence to the ground. We looked at it,
+and saw that it was dead.
+
+“Strange that the creature should have died thus,” said
+Bakenkhonsu, when, behold! another fell to the ground near by. The black
+kitten which belonged to Little Seti saw it fall and darted from beside
+his bed where it was sleeping. Before ever it reached the bat, the
+creature wheeled round, stood upon its hind legs, scratching at the air
+about it, then uttered one pitiful cry and fell over dead.
+
+We stared at it, when suddenly far away a dog howled in a very piercing
+fashion. Then a cow began to bale as these beasts do when they have lost
+their calves. Next, quite close at hand but without the gates, there
+arose the ear-curdling cry of a woman in agony, which on the instant
+seemed to be echoed from every quarter, till the air was full of
+wailing.
+
+“Oh, Seti! Seti!” exclaimed Merapi, in a voice that was rather a
+hiss than a whisper, “look at your son!”
+
+We sprang to where the babe lay, and looked. He had awakened and was
+staring upward with wide-opened eyes and frozen face. The fear, if such
+it were, passed from his features, though still he stared. He rose to
+his little feet, always looking upwards. Then a smile came upon his
+face, a most beautiful smile; he stretched out his arms, as though to
+clasp one who bent down towards him, and fell backwards—quite dead.
+
+Seti stood still as a statue; we all stood still, even Merapi. Then she
+bent down, and lifted the body of the boy.
+
+“Now, my lord,” she said, “there has fallen on you that
+sorrow which Jabez my uncle warned you would come, if ever you had aught
+to do with me. Now the curse of Israel has pierced my heart, and now
+our child, as Ki the evil prophesied, has grown too great for
+greetings, or even for farewells.”
+
+Thus she spoke in a cold and quiet voice, as one might speak of
+something long expected or foreseen, then made her reverence to the
+Prince, and departed, bearing the body of the child. Never, I think,
+did Merapi seem more beautiful to me than in this, her hour of
+bereavement, since now through her woman’s loveliness shone out some
+shadow of the soul within. Indeed, such were her eyes and such her
+movements that well might it have been a spirit and not a woman who
+departed from us with that which had been her son.
+
+Seti leaned on my shoulder looking at the empty bed, and at the scared
+nurse who still sat behind, and I felt a tear drop upon my hand. Old
+Bakenkhonsu lifted his massive face, and looked at him.
+
+“Grieve not over much, Prince,” he said, “since, ere as many
+years as I have lived out have come and gone, this child will be
+forgotten and his mother will be forgotten, and even you, O Prince,
+will live but as a name that once was great in Egypt. And then, O
+Prince, elsewhere the game will begin afresh, and what you have lost
+shall be found anew, and the sweeter for it sheltering from the vile
+breath of men. Ki’s magic is not all a lie, or if his is, mine holds
+some shadow of the truth, and when he said to you yonder in Tanis that
+not for nothing were you named ‘Lord of Rebirths,’ he spoke words
+that you should find comfortable to-night.”
+
+“I thank you, Councillor,” said Seti, and turning, followed Merapi.
+
+“Now I suppose we shall have more deaths,” I exclaimed, hardly
+knowing what I said in my sorrow.
+
+“I think not, Ana,” answered Bakenkhonsu, “since the shield
+of Jabez, or of his god, is over us. Always he foretold that trouble
+would come to Merapi, and to Seti through Merapi, but that is all.”
+
+I glanced at the kitten.
+
+“It strayed here from the town three days ago, Ana. And the bats also
+may have flown from the town. Hark to the wailing. Was ever such a
+sound heard before in Egypt?”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+JABEZ SELLS HORSES
+
+
+Bakenkhonsu was right. Save the son of Seti alone, none died who dwelt
+in or about his house, though elsewhere all the first-born of Egypt lay
+dead, and the first-born of the beasts also. When this came to be known
+throughout the land a rage seized the Egyptians against Merapi who,
+they remembered, had called down woe on Egypt after she had been forced
+to pray in the temple and, as they believed, to lift the darkness from
+Memphis.
+
+Bakenkhonsu and I and others who loved her pointed out that her own
+child had died with the rest. To this it was answered, and here I
+thought I saw the fingers of Userti and of Ki, that it was nothing,
+since witches did not love children. Moreover, they said she could have
+as many as she liked and when she liked, making them to look like
+children out of clay figures and to grow up into evil spirits to
+torment the land. Lastly, people swore that she had been heard to say
+that, although to do it she must kill her own lord’s son, she would
+not on that account forego her vengeance on the Egyptians, who once had
+treated her as a slave and murdered her father. Further, the Israelites
+themselves, or some of them, mayhap Laban among them, were reported to
+have told the Egyptians that it was the sorceress who had bewitched
+Prince Seti who brought such great troubles on them.
+
+So it happened that the Egyptians came to hate Merapi, who of all women
+was the sweetest and the most to be loved, and to her other supposed
+crimes, added this also, that by her witcheries she had stolen the
+heart of Seti away from his lawful wife and made him to turn that lady,
+the Royal Princess of Egypt, even from his gates, so that she was
+forced to dwell alone at Tanis. For in all these matters none blamed
+Seti, whom everyone in Egypt loved, because it was known that he would
+have dealt with the Israelites in a very different fashion, and thus
+averted all the woes that had desolated the ancient land of Khem. As
+for this matter of the Hebrew girl with the big eyes who chanced to have
+thrown a spell upon him, that was his ill-fortune, nothing more.
+Amongst the many women with whom they believed he filled his house, as
+was the way of princes, it was not strange that one favourite should be
+a witch. Indeed, I am certain that only because he was known to love
+her, was Merapi saved from death by poison or in some other secret
+fashion, at any rate for a while.
+
+Now came the glad tidings that the pride of Pharaoh was broken at last
+(for his first-born child had died with the others), or that the cloud
+of madness had lifted from his brain, whichever it might be, and that
+he had decreed that the Children of Israel might depart from Egypt when
+and whither they would. Then the people breathed again, seeing hope
+that their miseries might end.
+
+It was at this time that Jabez appeared once more at Memphis, driving a
+number of chariot horses, which he said he wished to sell to the
+Prince, as he did not desire them to pass into any other hands. He was
+admitted and stated the price of his horses, according to which they
+must have been beasts of great value.
+
+“Why do you wish to sell your horses?” asked Seti.
+
+“Because I go with my people into lands where there is little water
+and there they might die, O Prince.”
+
+“I will buy the horses. See to it, Ana,” said Seti, although I knew
+well that already he had more than he needed.
+
+The Prince rose to show that the interview was ended, whereon Jabez, who
+was bowing his thanks, said hurriedly:
+
+“I rejoice to learn, O Royal One, that things have befallen as I
+foretold, or rather was bidden to foretell, and that the troubles which
+have afflicted Egypt have passed by your dwelling.”
+
+“Then you rejoice to learn a falsehood, Hebrew, since the worst of
+those troubles has made its home here. My son is dead,” and he turned
+away.
+
+Jabez lifted his shifty eyes from the floor and glanced at him.
+
+“Prince,” he said, “I know and grieve because this loss has
+cut you to the heart. Yet it was no fault of mine or of my people. If
+you think, you will remember that both when I built a wall of
+protection about this place because of your good deeds to Israel, O
+Prince, and before, I warned, and caused you to be warned, that if you
+and my niece, Moon of Israel, came together a great trouble might fall
+on you through her who, having become the woman of an Egyptian in
+defiance of command, must bear the fate of Egyptian women.”
+
+“It may be so,” said the Prince. “The matter is not one of
+which I care to talk. If this death were wrought by the magic of your
+wizards I have only this to say—that it is an ill payment to me in
+return for all that I have striven to do on behalf of the Hebrews. Yet,
+what else could I expect from such a people in such a world?
+Farewell.”
+
+“One prayer, O Prince. I would ask your leave to speak with my niece,
+Merapi.”
+
+“She is veiled. Since the murder of her child by wizardry, she sees no
+man.”
+
+“Still I think she will see her uncle, O Prince.”
+
+“What then do you wish to say to her?”
+
+“O Prince, through the clemency of Pharaoh we poor slaves are about to
+leave the land of Egypt never to return. Therefore, if my niece remains
+behind, it is natural that I should wish to bid her farewell, and to
+confide to her certain matters connected with our race and family,
+which she might desire to pass on to her children.”
+
+Now when he heard this word “children” Seti softened.
+
+“I do not trust you,” he said. “You may be charged with more
+of your Hebrew curses against Merapi, or you may say words to her that
+will make her even unhappier than she is. Yet if you would wish to see
+her in my presence——”
+
+“My lord Prince, I will not trouble you so far. Farewell. Be pleased
+to convey——”
+
+“Or if that does not suit you,” interrupted Seti, “in the
+presence of Ana here you can do so, unless she refuses to receive
+you.”
+
+Jabez reflected for a moment, and answered:
+
+“Then in the presence of Ana let it be, since he is a man who knows
+when to be silent.”
+
+Jabez made obeisance and departed, and at a sign from the Prince I
+followed him. Presently we were ushered into the chamber of the lady
+Merapi, where she sat looking most sad and lonely, with a veil of black
+upon her head.
+
+“Greeting, my uncle,” she said, after glancing at me, whose
+presence I think she understood. “Are you the bearer of more
+prophecies? I pray not, since your last were overtrue,” and she
+touched the black veil with her finger.
+
+“I am the bearer of tidings, and of a prayer, Niece. The tidings are
+that the people of Israel are about to leave Egypt. The prayer, which
+is also a command, is—that you make ready to accompany them——”
+
+“To Laban?” she asked, looking up.
+
+“No, my niece. Laban would not wish as a wife one who has been the
+mistress of an Egyptian, but to play your part, however humble, in the
+fortunes of our people.”
+
+“I am glad that Laban does not wish what he never could obtain, my
+uncle. Tell me, I pray you, why should I hearken to this prayer, or
+this command?”
+
+“For a good reason, Niece—that your life hangs on it. Heretofore
+you have been suffered to take your heart’s desire. But if you bide in
+Egypt where you have no longer a mission to fulfil, having done all that
+was sought of you in keeping the mind of your lover, the Prince Seti,
+true to the cause of Israel, you will surely die.”
+
+“You mean that our people will kill me?”
+
+“No, not our people. Still you will die.”
+
+She took a step towards him, and looked him in the eyes.
+
+“You are certain that I shall die, my uncle?”
+
+“I am, or at least others are certain.”
+
+Now she laughed; it was the first time I had seen her laugh for several
+moons.
+
+“Then I will stay here,” she said.
+
+Jabez stared at her.
+
+“I thought that you loved this Egyptian, who indeed is worthy of any
+woman’s love,” he muttered into his beard.
+
+“Perhaps it is because I love him that I wish to die. I have given him
+all I have to give; there is nothing left of my poor treasure except
+what will bring trouble and misfortune on his head. Therefore the
+greater the love—and it is more great than all those pyramids massed
+to one—the greater the need that it should be buried for a while. Do
+you understand?”
+
+He shook his head.
+
+“I understand only that you are a very strange woman, different from
+any other that I have known.”
+
+“My child, who was slain with the rest, was all the world to me, and I
+would be where he is. Do you understand now?”
+
+“You would leave your life, in which, being young, you may have more
+children, to lie in a tomb with your dead son?” he asked slowly, like
+one astonished.
+
+“I only care for life while it can serve him whom I love, and if a day
+comes when he sits upon the throne how will a daughter of the hated
+Israelites serve him then? Also I do not wish for more children. Living
+or dead, he that is gone owns all my heart; there is no room in it for
+others. That love at least is pure and perfect, and having been
+embalmed by death, can never change. Moreover, it is not in a tomb that
+I shall lie with him, or so I believe. The faith of these Egyptians
+which we despise tells of a life eternal in the heavens, and thither I
+would go to seek that which is lost, and to wait that which is left
+behind awhile.”
+
+“Ah!” said Jabez. “For my part I do not trouble myself with
+these problems, who find in a life temporal on the earth enough to fill
+my thoughts and hands. Yet, Merapi, you are a rebel, and whether in
+heaven or on earth, how are rebels received by the king against whom
+they have rebelled?”
+
+“You say I am a rebel,” she said, turning on him with flashing
+eyes. “Why? Because I would not dishonour myself by marrying a man I
+hate, one also who is a murderer, and because while I live I will not
+desert a man whom I love to return to those who have done me naught but
+evil. Did God then make women to be sold like cattle of the field for
+the pleasure and the profit of him who can pay the highest?”
+
+“It seems so,” said Jabez, spreading out his hands.
+
+“It seems that you think so, who fashion God as you would wish him to
+be, but for my part I do not believe it, and if I did, I should seek
+another king. My uncle, I appeal from the priest and the elder to That
+which made both them and me, and by Its judgment I will stand or
+fall.”
+
+“Always a very dangerous thing to do,” reflected Jabez aloud,
+“since the priest is apt to take the law into his own hands before the
+cause can be pleaded elsewhere. Still, who am I that I should set up my
+reasonings against one who can grind Amon to powder in his own
+sanctuary, and who therefore may have warrant for all she thinks and
+does?”
+
+Merapi stamped her foot.
+
+“You know well it was you who brought me the command to dare the god
+Amon in his temple. It was not I——” she began.
+
+“I do know,” replied Jabez waving his hand. “I know also that
+is what every wizard says, whatever his nation or his gods, and what no
+one ever believes. Thus because, having faith, you obeyed the command
+and through you Amon was smitten, among both the Israelites and the
+Egyptians you are held to be the greatest sorceress that has looked
+upon the Nile, and that is a dangerous repute, my niece.”
+
+“One to which I lay no claim, and never sought.”
+
+“Just so, but which all the same has come to you. Well, knowing as
+without doubt you do all that will soon befall in Egypt, and having been
+warned, if you needed warning, of the danger with which you yourself are
+threatened, you still refuse to obey this second command which it is my
+duty to deliver to you?”
+
+“I refuse.”
+
+“Then on your own head be it, and farewell. Oh! I would add that there
+is a certain property in cattle, and the fruit of lands which descends
+to you from your father. In the event of your death——”
+
+“Take it all, uncle, and may it prosper you. Farewell.”
+
+“A great woman, friend Ana, and a beautiful,” said the old Hebrew,
+after he had watched her go. “I grieve that I shall never see her
+again, and, indeed, that no one will see her for very long; for,
+remember, she is my niece of whom I am fond. Now I too must be going,
+having completed my errand. All good fortune to you, Ana. You are no
+longer a soldier, are you? No? Believe me, it is as well, as you will
+learn. My homage to the Prince. Think of me at times, when you grow
+old, and not unkindly, seeing that I have served you as best I could,
+and your master also, who I hope will soon find again that which he
+lost awhile ago.”
+
+“Her Highness, Princess Userti,” I suggested.
+
+“The Princess Userti among other things, Ana. Tell the Prince, if he
+should deem them costly, that those horses which I sold him are really
+of the finest Syrian blood, and of a strain that my family has owned
+for generations. If you should chance to have any friend whose welfare
+you desire, let him not go into the desert soldiering during the next
+few moons, especially if Pharaoh be in command. Nay, I know nothing,
+but it is a season of great storm. Farewell, friend Ana, and again
+farewell.”
+
+“Now what did he mean by that?” thought I to myself, as I departed
+to make my report to Seti. But no answer to the question rose in my
+mind.
+
+Very soon I began to understand. It appeared that at length the
+Israelites were leaving Egypt, a vast horde of them, and with them tens
+of thousands of Arabs of various tribes who worshipped their god and
+were, some of them, descended from the people of the Hyksos, the
+shepherds who once ruled in Egypt. That this was true was proved to us
+by the tidings which reached us that all the Hebrew women who dwelt in
+Memphis, even those of them who were married to Egyptians, had departed
+from the city, leaving behind them their men and sometimes their
+children. Indeed, before these went, certain of them who had been
+friends visited Merapi, and asked her if she were not coming also. She
+shook her head as she replied:
+
+“Why do you go? Are you so fond of journeyings in the desert that for
+the sake of them you are ready never again to look upon the men you
+love and the children of your bodies?”
+
+“No, Lady,” they answered, weeping. “We are happy here in
+white-walled Memphis and here, listening to the murmur of the Nile, we
+would grow old and die, rather than strive to keep house in some desert
+tent with a stranger or alone. Yet fear drives us hence.”
+
+“Fear of what?”
+
+“Of the Egyptians who, when they come to understand all that they have
+suffered at our hands in return for the wealth and shelter which they
+have given us for many generations, whereby we have grown from a
+handful into a great people, will certainly kill any Israelite whom
+they find left among them. Also we fear the curses of our priests who
+bid us to depart.”
+
+“Then _I_ should fear these things also,” said Merapi.
+
+“Not so, Lady, seeing that being the only beloved of the Prince of
+Egypt who, rumour tells us, will soon be Pharaoh of Egypt, by him you
+will be protected from the anger of the Egyptians. And being, as we all
+know well, the greatest sorceress in the world, the overthrower of
+Amon-Ra the mighty, and one who by sacrificing her child was able to
+ward away every plague from the household where she dwelt, you have
+naught to fear from priests and their magic.”
+
+Then Merapi sprang up, bidding them to leave her to her fate and to be
+gone to their own, which they did hastily enough, fearing lest she
+should cast some spell upon them. So it came about that presently the
+fair Moon of Israel and certain children of mixed blood were all of the
+Hebrew race that were left in Egypt. Then, notwithstanding the miseries
+and misfortunes that during the past few years by terror, death, and
+famine had reduced them to perhaps one half of their number, the people
+of Egypt rejoiced with a great joy.
+
+In every temple of every god processions were held and offerings made by
+those who had anything left to offer, while the statues of the gods
+were dressed in fine new garments and hung about with garlandings of
+flowers. Moreover, on the Nile and on the sacred lakes boats floated to
+and fro, adorned with lanterns as at the feast of the Rising of Osiris.
+As titular high-priest of Amon, an office of which he could not be
+deprived while he lived, Prince Seti attended these demonstrations,
+which indeed he must do, in the great temple of Memphis, whither I
+accompanied him. When the ceremonies were over he led the procession
+through the masses of the worshippers, clad in his splendid sacerdotal
+robes, whereon every throat of the thousands present there greeted him
+in a shout of thunder as “Pharaoh!” or at least as Pharaoh’s
+heir.
+
+When at length the shouting died, he turned upon them and said:
+
+“Friends, if you would send me to be of the company that sits at the
+table of Osiris and not at Pharaoh’s feasts, you will repeat this
+foolish greeting, whereof our Lord Amenmeses will hear with little
+joy.”
+
+In the silence that followed a voice called out:
+
+“Have no fear, O Prince, while the Hebrew witch sleeps night by night
+upon your bosom. She who could smite Egypt with so many plagues can
+certainly shelter you from harm;” whereon the roars of acclamation
+went up again.
+
+It was on the following day that Bakenkhonsu the aged returned with more
+tidings from Tanis, where he had been upon a visit. It seemed that a
+great council had been held there in the largest hall of one of the
+largest temples. At this council, which was open to all the people,
+Amenmeses had given report on the matter of the Israelites who, he
+stated, were departing in their thousands. Also offerings were made to
+appease the angry gods of Egypt. When the ceremony was finished, but
+before the company broke up in a heavy mood, her Highness the Princess
+Userti rose in her place, and addressed Pharaoh:
+
+“By the spirits of our fathers,” she cried, “and more
+especially by that of the good god Meneptah, my begetter, I ask of you,
+Pharaoh, and I ask of you, O people, whether the affront that has been
+put upon us by these Hebrew slaves and their magicians is one that the
+proud land of Egypt should be called upon to bear? Our gods have been
+smitten and defied; woes great and terrible, such as history tells not
+of, have fallen upon us through magic; tens of thousands, from the
+first-born child of Pharaoh down, have perished in a single night. And
+now these Hebrews, who have murdered them by sorcery, for they are
+sorcerers all, men and women together, especially one of them who sits
+at Memphis, of whom I will not speak because she has wrought me private
+harm, by the decree of Pharaoh are to be suffered to leave the land.
+More, they are to take with them all their cattle, all their threshed
+corn, all the treasure they have hoarded for generations, and all the
+ornaments of price and wealth that they have wrung by terror from our
+own people, borrowing that which they never purpose to return.
+Therefore I, the Royal Princess of Egypt, would ask of Pharaoh, is this
+the decree of Pharaoh?”
+
+“Now,” said Bakenkhonsu, “Pharaoh sat with hanging head upon
+his throne and made no answer.”
+
+“Pharaoh does not speak,” went on Userti. “Then I ask, is
+this the decree of the Council of Pharaoh and of the people of Egypt?
+There is still a great army in Egypt, hundreds of chariots and
+thousands of footmen. Is this army to sit still while these slaves
+depart into the desert there to rouse our enemies of Syria against us
+and return with them to butcher us?”
+
+“At these words,” continued Bakenkhonsu, “from all that
+multitude there went up a shout of ‘No.’”
+
+“The people say No. What saith Pharaoh?” cried Userti.
+
+There followed a silence, till suddenly Amenmeses rose and spoke:
+
+“Have it as you will, Princess, and on your head and the heads of all
+these whom you have stirred up let the evil fall if evil comes, though I
+think it is your husband, the Prince Seti, who should stand where you
+stand and put up this prayer in your place.”
+
+“My husband, the Prince Seti, is tied to Memphis by a rope of
+witch’s hair, or so they tell me,” she sneered, while the people
+murmured in assent.
+
+“I know not,” went on Amenmeses, “but this I know that always
+the Prince would have let these Hebrews go from among us, and at times,
+as sorrow followed sorrow, I have thought that he was right. Truly more
+than once I also would have let them go, but ever some Strength, I know
+not what, descended on my heart, turning it to stone, and wrung from me
+words that I did not desire to utter. Even now I would let them go, but
+all of you are against me, and, perchance, if I withstand you, I shall
+pay for it with my life and throne. Captains, command that my armies be
+made ready, and let them assemble here at Tanis that I myself may lead
+them after the people of Israel and share their dangers.”
+
+Then with a mighty shouting the company broke up, so that at the last
+all were gone and only Pharaoh remained seated upon his throne, staring
+at the ground with the air, said Bakenkhonsu, rather of one who is dead
+than of a living king about to wage war upon his foes.
+
+To all these words the Prince listened in silence, but when they were
+finished he looked up and asked:
+
+“What think you, Bakenkhonsu?”
+
+“I think, O Prince,” answered the wise old man, “that her
+Highness did ill to stir up this matter, though doubtless she spoke with
+the voices of the priests and of the army, against which Pharaoh was
+not strong enough to stand.”
+
+“What you think, I think,” said Seti.
+
+At this moment the lady Merapi entered.
+
+“I hear, my lord,” she said, “that Pharaoh purposes to pursue
+the people of Israel with his host. I come to pray my lord that he will
+not join himself to the host of Pharaoh.”
+
+“It is but natural, Lady, that you should not wish me to make war upon
+your kin, and to speak truth I have no mind that way,” replied Seti,
+and, turning, left the chamber with her.
+
+“She is not thinking of her king but of her lover’s life,”
+said Bakenkhonsu. “She is not a witch as they declare, but it is true
+that she knows what we do not.”
+
+“Yes,” I answered, “it is true.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE DREAM OF MERAPI
+
+
+A while went by; it may have been fourteen days, during which we heard
+that the Israelites had started on their journey. They were a mighty
+multitude who bore with them the coffin and the mummy of their prophet,
+a man of their blood, Vizier, it is reported, to that Pharaoh who
+welcomed them to Egypt hundreds of years before. Some said they went
+this way and some that, but Bakenkhonsu, who knew everything, declared
+that they were heading for the Lake of Crocodiles, which others name
+Sea of Reeds, whereby they would cross into the desert beyond, and
+thence to Syria. I asked him how, seeing that at its narrowest part,
+this lake was six thousand paces in width, and that the depth of its mud
+ was unfathomable. He replied that he did not know, but that I might do
+well to inquire of the lady Merapi.
+
+“So you have changed your mind, and also think her a witch,” I
+said, to which he answered:
+
+“One must breathe the wind that blows, and Egypt is so full of
+witchcraft that it is difficult to say. Also it was she and no other
+who destroyed the ancient statue of Amon. Oh! yes, witch or no witch,
+it might be well to ask her how her people purpose to cross the Sea of
+Reeds, especially if Pharaoh’s chariots chance to be behind them.”
+
+So I did ask her, but she answered that she knew nothing of the matter,
+and wished to know nothing, seeing that she had separated from her
+people, and remained in Egypt.
+
+Then Ki came, I know not whence, and having made his peace with Seti as
+to the dressing of Merapi in the robes of Isis which, he vowed, was
+done by the priests against his wish, told us that Pharaoh and a great
+host had started to pursue the Israelites. The Prince asked him why he
+had not gone with the host, to which he replied that he was no soldier,
+also that Pharaoh hid his face from him. In return he asked the Prince
+why _he_ had not gone.
+
+Seti answered, because he had been deprived of his command with his
+other officers and had no wish to take share in this business as a
+private citizen.
+
+“You are wise, as always, Prince,” said Ki.
+
+It was on the following night, very late, while the Prince, Ki,
+Bakenkhonsu and I, Ana, sat talking, that suddenly the lady Merapi
+broke in upon us as she had risen from her bed, wild-eyed, and with her
+hair flowing down her robes.
+
+“I have dreamed a dream!” she cried. “I dreamed that I saw
+all the thousands of my people following after a flame that burned from
+earth to heaven. They came to the edge of a great water and behind them
+rushed Pharaoh and all the hosts of the Egyptians. Then my people ran
+on to the face of the water, and it bore them as though it were sound
+land. Now the soldiers of the Pharaoh were following, but the gods of
+Egypt appeared, Amon, Osiris, Horus, Isis, Hathor, and the rest, and
+would have turned them back. Still they refused to listen, and dragging
+the gods with them, rushed out upon the water. Then darkness fell, and
+in the darkness sounds of wailing and of a mighty laughter. It passed,
+the moon rose, shining upon emptiness. I awoke, trembling in my limbs.
+Interpret me this dream if you can, O Ki, Master of Magic.”
+
+“Where is the need, Lady,” he answered, awaking as though from
+sleep, “when the dreamer is also the seer? Shall the pupil venture to
+instruct the teacher, or the novice to make plain the mysteries to the
+high-priestess of the temple? Nay, Lady, I and all the magicians of
+Egypt are beneath your feet.”
+
+“Why will you ever mock me?” she said, and as she spoke, she
+shivered.
+
+Then Bakenkhonsu opened his lips, saying:
+
+“The wisdom of Ki has been buried in a cloud of late, and gives no
+light to us, his disciples. Yet the meaning of this dream is plain,
+though whether it be also true I do not know. It is that all the host
+of Egypt, and with it the gods of Egypt, are threatened with
+destruction because of the Israelites, unless one to whom they will
+hearken can be found to turn them from some purpose that I do not
+understand. But to whom will the mad hearken, oh! to whom will they
+hearken?” and lifting his great head, he looked straight at the
+Prince.
+
+“Not to me, I fear, who now am no one in Egypt,” said Seti.
+
+“Why not to you, O Prince, who to-morrow may be everyone in Egypt?”
+asked Bakenkhonsu. “Always you have pleaded the cause of the Hebrews,
+and said that naught but evil would befall Egypt because of them, as
+has happened. To whom, then, will the people and the army listen more
+readily?”
+
+“Moreover, O Prince,” broke in Ki, “a lady of your household
+has dreamed a very evil dream, of which, if naught be said, it might be
+held that it was no dream, but a spell of power aimed against the
+majesty of Egypt; such a spell as that which cast great Amon from his
+throne, such a spell as that which has set a magic fence around this
+house and field.”
+
+“Again I tell you that I weave no spells, O Ki, who with my own child
+have paid the price of them.”
+
+“Yet spells were woven, Lady, and as has been known from of old,
+strength is perfected in sacrifice alone,” Ki answered darkly.
+
+“Have done with your talk of spells, Magician,” exclaimed the
+Prince, “or if you must speak of them, speak of your own, which are
+many. It was Jabez who protected us here against the plagues, and the
+statue of Amon was shattered by some god.”
+
+“I ask your pardon, Prince,” said Ki bowing, “it was
+_not_ this lady but her uncle who fenced your house against the plagues
+which ravaged Egypt, and it was _not_ this lady but some god working in
+her which overthrew Amon of Tanis. The Prince has said it. Yet this lady
+has dreamed a certain dream which Bakenkhonsu has interpreted although
+I cannot, and I think that Pharaoh and his captains should be told of
+the dream, that on it they may form their own judgment.”
+
+“Then why do you not tell them, Ki?”
+
+“It has pleased Pharaoh, O Prince, to dismiss me from his service as
+one who failed and to give my office of Kherheb to another. If I appear
+before the face of Pharaoh I shall be killed.”
+
+Now I, Ana, listening, wished that Ki would appear before the face of
+Pharaoh, although I did not believe that he could be killed by him or
+by anybody else, since against death he had charms. For I was afraid of
+Ki, and felt in myself that again he was plotting evil to Merapi whom I
+knew to be innocent.
+
+The Prince walked up and down the chamber as was his fashion when lost
+in thought. Presently he stopped opposite to me and said:
+
+“Friend Ana, be pleased to command that my chariots be made ready with
+a general’s escort of a hundred men and spare horses to each chariot.
+We ride at dawn, you and I, to seek out the army of Pharaoh and pray
+audience of Pharaoh.”
+
+“My lord,” said Merapi in a kind of cry, “I pray you go not,
+leaving me alone.”
+
+“Why should I leave you, Lady? Come with me if you will.” She shook
+her head, saying:
+
+“I dare not. Prince, there has been some charm upon me of late that
+draws me back to my own people. Twice in the night I have awakened and
+found myself in the gardens with my face set towards the north, and
+heard a voice in my ears, even that of my father who is dead, saying:
+
+“‘Moon of Israel, thy people wander in the wilderness and need thy
+light.’
+
+“It is certain therefore that if I came near to them I should be
+dragged down as wood is dragged of an eddy, nor would Egypt see me any
+more.”
+
+“Then I pray you bide where you are, Merapi,” said the Prince,
+laughing a little, “since it is certain that where you go I must
+follow, who have no desire to wander in the wilderness with your Hebrew
+folk. Well, it seems that as you do not wish to leave Memphis and will
+not come with me, I must stay with you.”
+
+Ki fixed his piercing eyes upon the pair of them.
+
+“Let the Prince forgive me,” he said, “but I swear it by the
+gods that never did I think to live to hear the Prince Seti Meneptah set
+a woman’s whims before his honour.”
+
+“Your words are rough,” said Seti, drawing himself up, “and
+had they been spoken in other days, mayhap, Ki——”
+
+“Oh! my lord,” said Ki prostrating himself till his forehead
+touched the ground, “bethink you then how great must be the need which
+makes me dare to speak them. When first I came hither from the court of
+Tanis, the spirit that is within me speaking through my lips gave
+certain titles to your Highness, for which your Highness was pleased to
+reprove me. Yet the spirit in me cannot lie and I know well, and bid
+all here make record of my words, that to-night I stand in the presence
+of him who ere two moons have passed will be crowned Pharaoh.”
+
+“Truly you were ever a bearer of ill-tidings, Ki, but if so, what of
+it?”
+
+“This your Highness: Were it not that the spirits of Truth and Right
+compel me for their own reasons, should I, who have blood that can be
+shed or bones that can be broken, dare to hurl hard words at him who
+will be Pharaoh? Should I dare to cross the will of the sweet dove who
+nestles on his heart, the wise, white dove that murmurs the mysteries
+of heaven, whence she came, and is stronger than the vulture of Isis
+and swifter than the hawk of Ra; the dove that, were she angry, could
+rend me into more fragments than did Set Osiris?”
+
+Now I saw Bakenkhonsu begin to swell with inward laughter like a frog
+about to croak, but Seti answered in a weary voice:
+
+“By all the birds of Egypt with the sacred crocodiles thrown in, I do
+not know, since that mind of yours, Ki, is not an open writing which
+can be read by the passer-by. Still, if you would tell me what is the
+reason with which the goddesses of Truth and Justice have inspired
+you——”
+
+“The reason is, O Prince, that the fate of all Egypt’s army may be
+hidden in your hand. The time is short and I will be plain. Deny it as
+she will this lady here, who seems to be but a thing of love and
+beauty, is the greatest sorceress in Egypt, as I whom she has mastered
+know well. She matched herself against the high god of Egypt and smote
+him to the dust, and has paid back upon him, his prophets, and his
+worshippers the ills that he would have worked to her, as in the like
+case any of our fellowship would do. Now she has dreamed a dream, or
+her spirit has told her that the army of Egypt is in danger of
+destruction, and I know that this dream is true. Hasten then, O Prince,
+to save the hosts of Egypt, which you will surely need when you come to
+sit upon its throne.”
+
+“I am no sorceress,” cried Merapi, “and yet—alas! that
+I must say it—this smiling-featured, cold-eyed wizard’s words are
+true. _The sword of death hangs over the hosts of Egypt!_”
+
+“Command that the chariots be made ready,” said Seti again.
+
+Eight days had gone by. It was sunset and we drew rein over against the
+Sea of Reeds. Day and night we had followed the army of Pharaoh across
+the wilderness on a road beaten down by his chariot wheels and
+soldiers, and by the tens of thousands of the Israelites who had passed
+that way before them. Now from the ridge where we had halted we saw it
+encamped beneath us, a very great army. Moreover, stragglers told us
+that beyond, also encamped, was the countless horde of the Israelites,
+and beyond these the vast Sea of Reeds which barred their path. But we
+could not see them for a very strange reason. Between these and the
+army of Pharaoh rose a black wall of cloud, built as it were from earth
+to heaven. One of those stragglers of whom I have spoken, told us that
+this cloud travelled before the Israelites by day, but at night was
+turned into a pillar of fire. Only on this day, when the army of
+Pharaoh approached, it had moved round and come between the people of
+Israel and the army.
+
+Now when the Prince, Bakenkhonsu, and I heard these things we looked at
+each other and were silent. Only presently the Prince laughed a little,
+and said:
+
+“We should have brought Ki with us, even if we had to carry him bound,
+that he might interpret this marvel, for it is sure that no one else
+can.”
+
+“It would be hard to keep Ki bound, Prince, if he wished to go
+free,” answered Bakenkhonsu. “Moreover, before ever we entered the
+chariots at Memphis he had departed south for Thebes. I saw him go.”
+
+“And I gave orders that he should not be allowed to return, for I hold
+him an ill guest, or so thinks the lady Merapi,” replied Seti with a
+sigh.
+
+“Now that we are here what would the Prince do?” I asked.
+
+“Descend to the camp of Pharaoh and say what we have to say, Ana.”
+
+“And if he will not listen, Prince?”
+
+“Then cry our message aloud and return.”
+
+“And if he will not suffer us to return, Prince?”
+
+“Then stand still and live or die as the gods may decree.”
+
+“Truly our lord has a great heart!” exclaimed Bakenkhonsu,
+“and though I feel over young to die, I am minded to see the end of
+this matter with him,” and he laughed aloud.
+
+But I who was afraid thought that _O-ho-ho_ of his, which the sky seemed
+to echo back upon our heads, a strange and indeed a fearful sound.
+
+Then we put on robes of ceremony that we had brought with us, but
+neither swords nor armour, and having eaten some food, drove on with
+the half of our guard towards the place where we saw the banners of
+Pharaoh flying about his pavilion. The rest of our guard we left
+encamped, bidding them, if aught happened to us, to return and make
+report at Memphis and in the other great cities. As we drew near to the
+camp the outposts saw us and challenged. But when they perceived by the
+light of the setting sun who it was that they challenged, a murmur went
+through them, of:
+
+“The Prince of Egypt! The Prince of Egypt!” for so they had never
+ceased to name Seti, and they saluted with their spears and let us pass.
+
+So at length we came to the pavilion of Pharaoh, round about which a
+whole regiment stood on guard. The sides of it were looped up high
+because of the heat of the night which was great, and within sat
+Pharaoh, his captains, his councillors, his priests, his magicians, and
+many others at meat or serving food and drink. They sat at a table that
+was bent like a bow, with their faces towards the entrance, and Pharaoh
+was in the centre of the table with his fan-bearers and butlers behind
+him.
+
+We advanced into the pavilion, the Prince in the centre, Bakenkhonsu
+leaning on his staff on the right hand, and I, wearing the gold chain
+that Pharaoh Meneptah had given me, on the left, but those with us
+remained among the guard at the entrance.
+
+“Who are these?” asked Amenmeses, looking up, “who come here
+unbidden?”
+
+“Three citizens of Egypt who have a message for Pharaoh,” answered
+Seti in his quiet voice, “which we have travelled fast and far to
+speak in time.”
+
+“How are you named, citizens of Egypt, and who sends your message?”
+
+“We are named, Seti Meneptah aforetime Prince of Egypt, and heir to
+its crown; Bakenkhonsu the aged Councillor, and Ana the scribe and
+King’s Companion, and our message is from the gods.”
+
+“We have heard those names, who has not?” said Pharaoh, and as he
+spoke all, or very nearly all, the company rose, or half rose, and bowed
+towards the Prince. “Will you and your companions be seated and eat,
+Prince Seti Meneptah?”
+
+“We thank the divine Pharaoh, but we have already eaten. Have we
+Pharaoh’s leave to deliver our message?”
+
+“Speak on, Prince.”
+
+“O Pharaoh, many moons have gone by, since last we looked upon each
+other face to face, on that day when my father, the good god Meneptah,
+disinherited me, and afterwards fled hence to Osiris. Pharaoh will
+remember why I was thus cut off from the royal root of Egypt. It was
+because of the matter of these Israelites, who in my judgment had been
+evilly dealt by, and should be suffered to leave our land. The good god
+Meneptah, being so advised by you and others, O Pharaoh, would have
+smitten the Israelites with the sword, making an end of them, and to
+this he demanded my assent as the Heir of Egypt. I refused that assent
+and was cast out, and since then, you, O Pharaoh, have worn the double
+crown, while I have dwelt as a citizen of Memphis, living upon such
+lands and revenues as are my own. Between that hour and this, O
+Pharaoh, many griefs have smitten Egypt, and the last of them cost you
+your first-born, and me mine. Yet through them all, O Pharaoh, you have
+refused to let these Hebrews go, as I counselled should be done at the
+beginning. At length after the death of the first-born, your decree was
+issued that they might go. Yet now you follow them with a great army
+and purpose to do to them what my father, the good god Meneptah, would
+have done, had I consented, namely—to destroy them with the sword.
+Hear me, Pharaoh!”
+
+“I hear; also the case is well if briefly set. What else would the
+Prince Seti say?”
+
+“This, O Pharaoh. That I pray you to return with all your host from
+the following of these Hebrews, not to-morrow or the next day, but at
+once—this night.”
+
+“Why, O Prince?”
+
+“Because of a certain dream that a lady of my household who is Hebrew
+has dreamed, which dream foretells destruction to you and the army of
+Egypt, unless you hearken to these words of mine.”
+
+“I think that we know of this snake whom you have taken to dwell in
+your bosom, whence it may spit poison upon Egypt. It is named Merapi,
+Moon of Israel, is it not?”
+
+“That is the name of the lady who dreamed the dream,” replied Seti
+in a cold voice, though I felt him tremble with anger at my side, “the
+dream that if Pharaoh wills my companions here shall set out word for
+word to his magicians.”
+
+“Pharaoh does not will it,” shouted Amenmeses smiting the board
+with his fist, “because Pharaoh knows that it is but another trick to
+save these wizards and thieves from the doom that they have earned.”
+
+“Am I then a worker of tricks, O Pharaoh? If I had been such, why have
+I journeyed hither to give warning, when by sitting yonder at Memphis
+to-morrow, I might once more have become heir to the double crown? For
+if you will not hearken to me, I tell you that very soon you shall be
+dead, and with you these”—and he pointed to all those who sat at
+table—“and with them the great army that lies without. Ere you
+speak, tell me, what is that black cloud which stands before the camp of
+the Hebrews? Is there no answer? Then I will give you the answer. It is
+the pall that shall wrap the bones of every one of you.”
+
+Now the company shivered with fear, yes, even the priests and the
+magicians shivered. But Pharaoh went mad with rage. Springing from his
+seat, he snatched at the double crown upon his head, and hurled it to
+the ground, and I noted that the golden uræus band about it, rolled
+away, and rested upon Seti’s sandalled foot. He tore his robes and
+shouted:
+
+“At least our fate shall be your fate, Renegade, who have sold Egypt
+to the Hebrew witch in payment of her kisses. Seize this man and his
+companions, and when we go down to battle against these Israelites
+to-morrow after the darkness lifts, let them be set with the captains
+of the van. So shall the truth be known at last.”
+
+Thus Pharaoh commanded, and Seti, answering nothing, folded his arms
+upon his breast and waited.
+
+Men rose from their seats as though to obey Pharaoh and sank back to
+them again. Guards started forward and yet remained standing where they
+were. Then Bakenkhonsu burst into one of his great laughs.
+
+“O-ho-ho,” he laughed, “Pharaohs have I seen come and go, one
+and two and three, and four and five, but never yet have I seen a
+Pharaoh whom none of his councillors or guards could obey however much
+they willed it. When you are Pharaoh, Prince Seti, may your luck be
+better. Your arm, Ana, my friend, and lead on, Royal Heir of Egypt. The
+truth is shown to blind eyes that will not see. The word is spoken to
+deaf ears that will not hearken, and the duty done. Night falls. Sleep
+ye well, ye bidden of Osiris, sleep ye well!”
+
+Then we turned and walked from that pavilion. At its entrance I looked
+back, and in the low light that precedes the darkness, it seemed to me
+as though all seated there were already dead. Blue were their faces and
+hollow shone their eyes, and from their lips there came no word. Only
+they stared at us as we went, and stared and stared again.
+
+Without the door of the pavilion, by command of the Prince, I called
+aloud the substance of the lady Merapi’s dream, and warned all within
+earshot to cease from pursuing the people of Israel, if they would
+continue to live to look upon the sun. Yet even now, although to speak
+thus was treason against Pharaoh, none lifted a hand against the
+Prince, or against me his servant. Often since then I have wondered why
+this was so, and found no answer to my questionings. Mayhap it was
+because of the majesty of my master, whom all knew to be the true
+Pharaoh, and loved at heart. Mayhap it was because they were sure that
+he would not have travelled so far and placed himself in the power of
+Amenmeses save to work the armies of Egypt good, and not ill, and to
+bring them a message that had been spoken by the gods themselves.
+
+Or mayhap it was because he was still hedged about by that protection
+which the Hebrews had vowed to him through their prophets with the
+voice of Jabez. At least so it happened. Pharaoh might command, but his
+servants would not obey. Moreover, the story spread, and that night
+many deserted from the host of Pharaoh and encamped about us, or fled
+back towards the cities whence they came. Also with them were not a few
+councillors and priests who had talked secretly with Bakenkhonsu. So it
+chanced that even if Pharaoh desired to make an end of us, as perhaps
+he purposed to do in the midnight watches, he thought it wisest to let
+the matter lie until he had finished with the people of Israel.
+
+It was a very strange night, silent, with a heavy, stirless air. There
+were no stars, but the curtain of black cloud which seemed to hang
+beyond the camp of the Egyptians was alive with lightnings which
+appeared to shape themselves to letters that I could not read.
+
+“Behold the Book of Fate written in fire by the hand of God!” said
+Bakenkhonsu, as he watched.
+
+About midnight a mighty east wind began to blow, so strongly that we
+must lie upon our faces under the lea of the chariots. Then the wind
+died away and we heard tumult and shoutings, both from the camp of
+Egypt, and from the camp of Israel beyond the cloud. Next there came a
+shock as of earthquake, which threw those of us who were standing to
+the ground, and by a blood-red moon that now appeared we perceived that
+all the army of Pharaoh was beginning to move towards the sea.
+
+“Whither go they?” I asked of the Prince who clung to my arm.
+
+“To doom, I think,” he answered, “but to what doom I do not
+know.”
+
+After this we said no more, because we were too much afraid.
+
+Dawn came at last, showing the most awful sight that was ever beheld by
+the eye of man.
+
+The wall of cloud had disappeared, and in the clear light of the
+morning, we perceived that the deep waters of the Sea of Reeds had
+divided themselves, leaving a raised roadway that seemed to have been
+cleared by the wind, or perchance to have been thrown up by the
+earthquake. Who can say? Not I who never set foot upon that path of
+death. Along this wide road streamed the tens of thousands of the
+Israelites, passing between the water on the right hand, and the water
+on the left, and after them followed all the army of Pharaoh, save
+those who had deserted, and stood or lay around us, watching. We could
+even see the golden chariots that marked the presence of Pharaoh
+himself, and of his bodyguard, deep in the heart of the broken host
+that struggled forward without discipline or order.
+
+“What now? Oh! what now?” murmured Seti, and as he spoke there was
+a second shock of earthquake. Then to the west on the sea there arose a
+mighty wave, whereof the crest seemed to be high as a pyramid. It
+rolled forward with a curved and foaming head, and in the hollow of it
+for a moment, no more, we saw the army of Egypt. Yet in that moment I
+seemed to see mighty shapes fleeing landwards along the crest of the
+wave, which shapes I took to be the gods of Egypt, pursued by a form of
+light and glory that drove them as with a scourge. They came, they
+went, accompanied by a sound of wailing, and the wave fell.
+
+But beyond it, the hordes of Israel still marched—upon the further
+shore.
+
+Dense gloom followed, and through the gloom I saw, or thought I saw,
+Merapi, Moon of Israel, standing before us with a troubled face and
+heard or thought I heard her cry:
+
+“_Oh! help me, my lord Seti! Help me, my lord Seti!_”
+
+Then she too was gone.
+
+“Harness the chariots!” cried Seti, in a hollow voice.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE CROWNING OF MERAPI
+
+
+Fast as sped our horses, rumour, or rather the truth, carried by those
+who had gone before us, flew faster. Oh! that journey was as a dream
+begotten by the evil gods. On we galloped through the day and through
+the night and lo! at every town and village women rushed upon us
+crying:
+
+“Is it true, O travellers, is it true that Pharaoh and his host are
+perished in the sea?”
+
+Then old Bakenkhonsu would call in answer:
+
+“It is true that he who _was_ Pharaoh and his host are perished in
+the sea. But lo! here is he who _is_ Pharaoh,” and he pointed to the
+Prince, who took no heed and said nothing, save:
+
+“On! On!”
+
+Then forward we would plunge again till once more the sound of wailing
+died into silence.
+
+It was sunset, and at length we drew near to the gates of Memphis. The
+Prince turned to me and spoke.
+
+“Heretofore I have not dared to ask,” he said, “but tell me,
+Ana. In the gloom after the great cliff of water fell and the shapes of
+terror swept by, did you seem to see a woman stand before us and did
+you seem to hear her speak?”
+
+“I did, O Prince.”
+
+“Who was that woman and what did she say?”
+
+“She was one who bore a child to you, O Prince, which child is not,
+and she said, ‘Oh! help me, my lord Seti. Help me, my lord
+Seti!’”
+
+His face grew ashen even beneath its veil of dust, and he groaned.
+
+“Two who loved her have seen and two who loved her have heard,” he
+said. “There is no room for doubt. Ana, she is dead!”
+
+“I pray the gods——”
+
+“Pray not, for the gods of Egypt are also dead, slain by the god of
+Israel. Ana, who has murdered her?”
+
+With my finger I who am a draughtsman drew in the thick dust that lay on
+the board of the chariot the brows of a man and beneath them two deep
+eyes. The gilt on the board where the sun caught it looked like light
+in the eyes.
+
+The Prince nodded and said:
+
+“Now we shall learn whether great magicians such as Ki can die like
+other men. Yes, if need be, to learn that I will put on Pharaoh’s
+crown.”
+
+We halted at the gates of Memphis. They were shut and barred, but from
+within the vast city rose a sound of tumult.
+
+“Open!” cried the Prince to the guard.
+
+“Who bids me open?” answered the captain of the gate peering at us,
+for the low sun lay behind.
+
+“Pharaoh bids you open.”
+
+“Pharaoh!” said the man. “We have sure tidings that Pharaoh
+and his armies are slain by wizardry in the sea.”
+
+“Fool!” thundered the Prince, “Pharaoh never dies. Pharaoh
+Amenmeses is with Osiris but the good god Seti Meneptah who _is_ Pharaoh
+bids you open.”
+
+Then the bronze gates rolled back, and those who guarded them prostrated
+themselves in the dust.
+
+“Man,” I called to the captain, “what means yonder
+shouting?”
+
+“Sir,” he answered, “I do not know, but I am told that the
+witch who has brought woe on Egypt and by magic caused the death of
+Pharaoh Amenmeses and his armies, dies by fire in the place before the
+temple.”
+
+“By whose command?” I cried again as the charioteer flogged the
+horses, but no answer reached our ears.
+
+We rushed on up the wide street to the great place that was packed with
+tens of thousands of the people. We drove the horses at them.
+
+“Way for Pharaoh! Way for the Mighty One, the good god, Seti Meneptah,
+King of the Upper and the Lower Land!” shouted the escort.
+
+The people turned and saw the tall shape of the Prince still clad in the
+robes of state which he had worn when he stood before Amenmeses in the
+pavilion by the sea.
+
+“Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Hail to Pharaoh!” they cried, prostrating
+themselves, and the cry passed on through Memphis like a wind.
+
+Now we were come to the centre of the place, and there in front of the
+great gates of the temple burned a vast pyre of wood. Before the pyre
+moved figures, in one of whom I knew Ki dressed in his magician’s
+robe. Outside of these there was a double circle of soldiers who kept
+the people back, which these needed, for they raved like madmen and
+shook their fists. A group of priests near the fire separated, and I
+saw that among them stood a man and a woman, the latter with
+dishevelled hair and torn robes as though she had been roughly handled.
+At this moment her strength seemed to fail her and she sank to the
+ground, lifting her face as she did so. It was the face of Merapi, Moon
+of Israel.
+
+So she was not dead. The man at her side stooped as though to lift her
+up, but a stone thrown out of the shadow struck him in the back and
+caused him to straighten himself, which he did with a curse at the
+thrower. I knew the voice at once, although the speaker was disguised.
+
+It was that of Laban the Israelite, he who had been betrothed to Merapi,
+and had striven to murder us in the land of Goshen. What did he here? I
+wondered dimly.
+
+Ki was speaking. “Hark how the Hebrew cat spits,” he said.
+“Well, the cause has been tried and the verdict given, and I think
+that the familiar should feed the flames before the witch. Watch him
+now, and perhaps he will change into something else.”
+
+All this he said, smiling in his usual pleasant fashion, even when he
+made a sign to certain black temple slaves who stood near. They leapt
+forward, and I saw the firelight shone upon their copper armlets as
+they gripped Laban. He fought furiously, shouting:
+
+“Where are your armies, Egyptians, and where is your dog of a Pharaoh?
+Go dig them from the Sea of Reeds. Farewell, Moon of Israel. Look how
+your royal lover crowns you at the last, O faithless——”
+
+He said no more, for at this moment the slaves hurled him headlong into
+the heart of the great fire, which blackened for a little and burned
+bright again.
+
+Then it was that Merapi struggled to her feet and cried in a ringing
+voice those very words which the Prince and I had seemed to hear her
+speak far away by the Sea of Reeds—“_Oh! help me, my lord Seti!
+Help me, my lord Seti!_” Yes, the same words which had echoed in our
+ears days before they passed her lips, or so we believed.
+
+Now all this while our chariots had been forcing their way foot by foot
+through the wall of the watching crowd, perhaps while a man might count
+a hundred, no more. As the echoes of her cry died away at length we
+were through and leaping to the ground.
+
+“The witch calls on one who sups to-night at the board of Osiris with
+Pharaoh and his host,” sneered Ki. “Well, let her go to seek him
+there if the guardian gods will suffer it,” and again he made a sign
+to the black slaves.
+
+But Merapi had seen or felt Seti advancing from the shadows and seeing
+flung herself upon his breast. He kissed her on the brow before them
+all, then bade me hold her up and turned to face the people.
+
+“Bow down. Bow down. Bow down!” cried the deep voice of
+Bakenkhonsu. “Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!”
+and what he said the escort echoed.
+
+Then of a sudden the multitude understood. To their knees they fell and
+from every side rose the ancient salutation. Seti held up his hand and
+blessed them. Watching, I saw Ki slip towards the darkness, and
+whispered a word to the guards, who sprang upon him and brought him
+back.
+
+Then the Prince spoke:
+
+“Ye name me Pharaoh, people of Memphis, and Pharaoh I fear I am by
+descent of blood to-day, though whether I will consent to bear the
+burdens of government, should Egypt wish it of me, as yet I know not.
+Still he who wore the double crown is, I believe, dead in the midst of
+the sea; at the least I saw the waters overwhelm him and his army.
+Therefore, if only for an hour, I will be Pharaoh, that as Pharaoh I
+may judge of certain matters. Lady Merapi, tell me, I pray you, how
+came you to this pass?”
+
+“My lord,” she answered, in a low voice, “after you had gone
+to warn the army of Pharaoh because of that dream I dreamed, Ki, who
+departed on the same day, returned again. Through one of the women of
+the household, over whom he had power, or so I think, he obtained
+access to me when I was alone in my chamber. There he made me this
+offer:
+
+“‘Give me,’ he said, ‘the secret of your magic that I
+may be avenged upon the wizards of the Hebrews who have brought about my
+downfall, and upon the Hebrews themselves, and also upon all my other
+enemies, and thus once more become the greatest man in Egypt. In turn I
+will fulfil all your desires, and make you, and no other, Queen of
+Egypt, and be your faithful servant, and that of your lord Seti who
+shall be Pharaoh, until the end of your lives. Refuse, and I will stir
+up the people against you, and before ever the Prince returns, if he
+returns at all, they who believe you to be an evil sorceress shall mete
+out to you the fate of a sorceress.’
+
+“My lord, I answered to Ki what I have often told him before, that I
+had no magic to reveal to him, I who knew nothing of the black arts of
+sorcery, seeing that it was not I who destroyed the statue of Amon in
+the temple at Tanis, but that same Power which since then has brought
+all the plagues on Egypt. I said, too, that I cared nothing for the
+gifts he offered to me, as I had no wish to be Queen of Egypt. My lord,
+he laughed in my face, saying I should find that he was one ill to
+mock, as others had found before me. Then he pointed at me with his
+wand and muttered some spell over me, which seemed to numb my limbs and
+voice, holding me helpless till he had been gone a long while, and
+could not be found by your servants, whom I commanded in your name to
+seize, and keep him till your return.
+
+“From that hour the people began to threaten me. They crowded about
+the palace gates in thousands, crying day and night that they were
+going to kill me, the witch. I prayed for help, but from me, a sinner,
+heaven has grown so far away that my prayers seem to fall back unheard
+upon my head. Even the servants in the palace turned against me, and
+would not look upon my face. I grew mad with fear and loneliness, since
+all fled before me. At last one night towards the dawn I went on to the
+terrace, and since no god would hear me, I turned towards the north
+whither I knew that you had gone, and cried to you to help me in those
+same words which I cried again just now before you appeared.” (Here
+the Prince looked at me and I Ana looked at him.) “Then it was that
+from among the bushes of the garden appeared a man, hidden in a long,
+sheepskin cloak, so that I could not see his face, who said to me:
+
+“‘Moon of Israel, I have been sent by his Highness, the Prince
+Seti, to tell you that you are in danger of your life, as he is in
+danger of his, wherefore he cannot come to you. His command is that you
+come to him, that together you may flee away out of Egypt to a land
+where you will both be safe until all these troubles are finished.’
+
+“‘How know I that you of the veiled face are a true
+messenger?’ I asked. ‘Give me a sign.’
+
+“Then he held out to me that scarabæus of lapis-lazuli which your
+Highness gave to me far away in the land of Goshen, the same that you
+asked back from me as a love token when we plighted troth, and you gave
+me your royal ring, which scarabæus I had seen in your robe when you
+drove away with Ana.”
+
+“I lost it on our journey to the Sea of Reeds, but said nothing of it
+to you, Ana, because I thought the omen evil, having dreamed in the
+night that Ki appeared and stole it from me,” whispered the Prince to
+me.
+
+“‘It is not enough,’ I answered. ‘This jewel may have
+been thieved away, or snatched from the dead body of the Prince, or
+taken from him by magic.’
+
+“The cloaked man thought a while and said, ‘This night, not an hour
+ago, Pharaoh and his chariots were overwhelmed in the Sea of Reeds. Let
+that serve as a sign.’
+
+“‘How can this be?’ I answered, ‘since the Sea of Reeds
+is far away, and such tidings cannot travel thence in an hour. Get you
+gone, false tempter.’
+
+“‘Yet it is so,’ he answered.
+
+“‘When you prove it to me, I will believe, and come.’
+
+“‘Good,’ he said, and was gone.
+
+“Next day a rumour began to run that this awful thing had happened. It
+grew stronger and stronger, until all swore that it had happened. Now
+the fury of the people rose against me, and they ravened round the
+palace like lions of the desert, roaring for my blood. Yet it was as
+though they could not enter here, since whenever they rushed at the
+gates or walls, they fell back again, for some spirit seemed to protect
+the place. The days went by; the night came again and at the dawn, this
+dawn that is past, once more I stood upon the terrace, and once more
+the cloaked man appeared from among the trees.
+
+“‘Now you have heard, Moon of Israel,’ he said, ‘and
+now you must believe and come, although you think yourself safe because
+at the beginning of the plagues this, the home of Seti, was enchanted
+against evil, so that none within it can be harmed.’
+
+“‘I have heard, and I think that I believe, though how the tidings
+reached Memphis in an hour I do not understand. Yet, stranger, I say to
+you that it is not enough.’
+
+“Then the man drew a papyrus roll from his bosom and threw it at my
+feet. I opened it and read. The writing was the writing of Ana as I
+knew well, and the signature was the signature of you, my lord, and it
+was sealed with your seal, and with the seal of Bakenkhonsu as a
+witness. Here it is,” and from the breast of her garment, she drew
+out a roll and gave it to me upon whom she rested all this while.
+
+I opened it, and by the light of torches the Prince, Bakenkhonsu, and I
+read. It was as she had told us in what seemed to be my writing, and
+signed and sealed as she had said. The words ran:
+
+“To Merapi, Moon of Israel, in my house at Memphis.
+
+“Come, Lady, Flower of Love, to me your lord, to whom the bearer of
+this will guide you safely. Come at once, for I am in great danger, as
+you are, and together only can we be safe.”
+
+“Ana, what means this?” asked the Prince in a terrible voice.
+“If you have betrayed me and her——”
+
+“By the gods,” I began angrily, “am I a man that I should
+live to hear even your Highness speak thus to me, or am I but a dog of
+the desert?”
+
+I ceased, for at that moment Bakenkhonsu began to laugh.
+
+“Look at the letter!” he laughed. “Look at the letter.”
+
+We looked, and as we looked, behold the writing on it turned first to
+the colour of blood and then faded away, till presently there was
+nothing in my hand but a blank sheet of papyrus.
+
+“Oho-ho!” laughed Bakenkhonsu. “Truly, friend Ki, you are the
+first of magicians, save those prophets of the Israelites who have
+brought you—Whither have they brought you, friend Ki?”
+
+Then for the first time the painted smile left the face of Ki, and it
+became like a block of stone in which were set two angry jewels that
+were his eyes.
+
+“Continue, Lady,” said the Prince.
+
+“I obeyed the letter. I fled away with the man who said he had a
+chariot waiting. We passed out by the little gate.
+
+“‘Where is the chariot?’ I asked.
+
+“‘We go by boat,’ he answered, and led the way towards the
+river. As we threaded the big palm grove men appeared from between the
+trees.
+
+“‘You have betrayed me,’ I cried.
+
+“‘Nay,’ he answered, ‘I am myself betrayed.’
+
+“Then for the first time I knew his voice for that of Laban.
+
+“The men seized us; at the head of them was Ki.
+
+“‘This is the witch,’ he said, ‘who, her wickedness
+finished, flies with her Hebrew lover, who is also the familiar of her
+sorceries.’
+
+“They tore the cloak and the false beard from him and there before me
+stood Laban. I cursed him to his face. But all he answered was:
+
+“‘Merapi, what I have done I did for love of you. It was my purpose
+to take you away to our people, for here I knew that they would kill
+you. This magician promised you to me if I could tempt you from the
+safety of the palace, in return for certain tidings that I have given
+him.’
+
+“These were the only words that passed between us till the end. They
+dragged us to the secret prison of the great temple where we were
+separated. Here all day long Ki and the priests tormented me with
+questions, to which I gave no answer. Towards the evening they brought
+me out and led me here with Laban at my side. When the people saw me a
+great cry went up of ‘Sorceress! Hebrew witch!’ They broke through
+the guard; they seized me, threw me to the ground and beat me. Laban
+strove to protect me but was torn away. At length the people were
+driven off, and oh! my lord, you know the rest. I have spoken truth, I
+can no more.”
+
+So saying her knees loosened beneath her and she swooned. We bore her to
+the chariot.
+
+“You have heard, Ki,” said the Prince. “Now, what
+answer?”
+
+“None, O Pharaoh,” he replied coldly, “for Pharaoh you are,
+as I promised that you should be. My spirit has deserted me, those
+Hebrews have stolen it away. That writing should have faded from the
+scroll as soon as it was read by yonder lady, and then I would have
+told you another story; a story of secret love, of betrayal and
+attempted flight with her lover. But some evil god kept it there until
+you also had read, you who knew that you had not written what appeared
+before your eyes. Pharaoh, I am conquered. Do your will with me, and
+farewell. Beloved you shall always be as you have always been, but
+happy never in this world.”
+
+“O People,” cried Seti, “I will not be judge in my own cause.
+You have heard, do you judge. For this wizard, what reward?”
+
+Then there went up a great cry of “Death! Death by fire. The death he
+had made ready for the innocent!”
+
+That was the end, but they told me afterwards that, when the great pyre
+had burned out, in it was found the head of Ki looking like a red-hot
+stone. When the sunlight fell on it, however, it crumbled and faded
+away, as the writing had faded from the roll. If this be true I do not
+know, who was not present at the time.
+
+We bore Merapi to the palace. She lived but three days, she whose body
+and spirit were broken. The last time I saw her was when she sent for
+me not an hour before death came. She was lying in Seti’s arms
+babbling to him of their child and looking very sweet and happy. She
+thanked me for my friendship, smiling the while in a way which showed
+me that she knew it was more than friendship, and bade me tend my
+master well until we all met again elsewhere. Then she gave me her hand
+to kiss and I went away weeping.
+
+After she was dead a strange fancy took Seti. In the great hall of the
+palace he caused a golden throne to be put up, and on this throne he
+set her in regal garments, with pectoral and necklaces of gems, crowned
+like a queen of Egypt, and thus he showed her to the lords of Memphis.
+Then he caused her to be embalmed and buried in a secret sepulchre, the
+place of which I have sworn never to reveal, but without any rites
+because she was not of the faith of Egypt.
+
+There then she sleeps in her eternal house until the Day of
+Resurrection, and with her sleeps her little son.
+
+It was within a moon of this funeral that the great ones of Egypt came
+to Memphis to name the Prince as Pharaoh, and with them came her
+Highness, the Queen Userti. I was present at the ceremony, which to me
+was very strange. There was the Vizier Nehesi; there was the
+high-priest Roi and with him many other priests; and there was even the
+old chamberlain Pambasa, pompous yet grovelling as before, although he
+had deserted the household of the Prince after his disinheritance for
+that of the Pharaoh Amenmeses. His appearance with his wand of office
+and long white beard, of which he was so proud because it was his own,
+drew from Seti the only laugh I had heard him utter for many weeks.
+
+“So you are back again, Chamberlain Pambasa,” he said.
+
+“O most Holy, O most Royal,” answered the old knave, “has
+Pambasa, the grain of dust beneath your feet, ever deserted the House of
+Pharaoh, or that of him who will be Pharaoh?”
+
+“No,” replied Seti, “it is only when you think that he will
+not be Pharaoh that you desert. Well, get you to your duties, rogue, who
+perhaps at bottom are as honest as the rest.”
+
+Then followed the great and ancient ceremony of the Offering of the
+Crown, in which spoke priests disguised as gods and other priests
+disguised as mighty Pharaohs of the past; also the nobles of the Nomes
+and the chief men of cities. When all had finished Seti answered:
+
+“I take this, my heritage,” and he touched the double crown,
+“not because I desire it but because it is my duty, as I swore that I
+would to one who has departed. Blow upon blow have smitten Egypt which,
+I think, had my voice been listened to, would never have fallen. Egypt
+lies bleeding and well-nigh dead. Let it be your work and mine to try
+to nurse her back to life. For no long while am I with you, who also
+have been smitten, how it matters not, yet while I am here, I who seem
+to reign will be your servant and that of Egypt. It is my decree that
+no feasts or ceremonials shall mark this my accession, and that the
+wealth which would have been scattered upon them shall be distributed
+among the widows and children of those who perished in the Sea of
+Reeds. Depart!”
+
+They went, humble yet happy, since here was a Pharaoh who knew the needs
+of Egypt, one too who loved her and who alone had shown himself wise of
+heart while others were filled with madness. Then her Highness entered,
+splendidly apparelled, crowned and followed by her household, and made
+obeisance.
+
+“Greeting to Pharaoh,” she cried.
+
+“Greeting to the Royal Princess of Egypt,” he answered.
+
+“Nay, Pharaoh, the Queen of Egypt.”
+
+By Seti’s side there was another throne, that in which he had set dead
+Merapi with a crown upon her head. He turned and looked at it a while.
+Then, he said:
+
+“I see that this seat is empty. Let the Queen of Egypt take her place
+there if so she wills.”
+
+She stared at him as if she thought that he was mad, though doubtless
+she had heard something of that story, then swept up the steps and sat
+herself down in the royal chair.
+
+“Your Majesty has been long absent,” said Seti.
+
+“Yes,” she answered, “but as my Majesty promised she would
+do, she has returned to her lawful place at the side of Pharaoh—never
+to leave it more.”
+
+“Pharaoh thanks her Majesty,” said Seti, bowing low.
+
+Some six years had gone by, when one night I was seated with the Pharaoh
+Seti Meneptah in his palace at Memphis, for there he always chose to
+dwell when matters of State allowed.
+
+It was on the anniversary of the Death of the Firstborn, and of this
+matter it pleased him to talk to me. Up and down the chamber he walked
+and, watching him by the lamplight, I noted that of a sudden he seemed
+to have grown much older, and that his face had become sweeter even
+than it was before. He was more thin also, and his eyes had in them a
+look of one who stares at distances.
+
+“You remember that night, Friend, do you not,” he said;
+“perhaps the most terrible night the world has ever seen, at least in
+the little piece of it called Egypt.” He ceased, lifted a curtain,
+and pointed to a spot on the pillared portico without. “There she
+sat,” he went on; “there you stood; there lay the boy and there
+crouched his nurse—by the way, I grieve to hear that she is ill. You
+are caring for her, are you not, Ana? Say to her that Pharaoh will come
+to visit her—when he may, when he may.”
+
+“I remember it all, Pharaoh.”
+
+“Yes, of course you would remember, because you loved her, did you
+not, and the boy too, and even me, the father. And so you will love us
+always when we reach a land where sex with its walls and fires are
+forgotten, and love alone survives—as we shall love you.”
+
+“Yes,” I answered, “since love is the key of life, and those
+alone are accursed who have never learned to love.”
+
+“Why accursed, Ana, seeing that, if life continues, they still may
+learn?” He paused a while, then went on: “I am glad that he died,
+Ana, although had he lived, as the Queen will have no children, he might
+have become Pharaoh after me. But what is it to be Pharaoh? For six
+years now I have reigned, and I think that I am beloved; reigned over a
+broken land which I have striven to bind together, reigned over a sick
+land which I have striven to heal, reigned over a desolated land which
+I have striven to make forget. Oh! the curse of those Hebrews worked
+well. And I think that it was my fault, Ana, for had I been more of a
+man, instead of casting aside my burden, I should have stood up against
+my father Meneptah and his policy and, if need were, have raised the
+people. Then the Israelites would have gone, and no plagues would have
+smitten Egypt. Well, what I did, I did because I must, perhaps, and what
+ has happened, has happened. And now my time comes to an end, and I go
+hence to balance my account as best I may, praying that I may find
+judges who understand, and are gentle.”
+
+“Why does Pharaoh speak thus?” I asked.
+
+“I do not know, Ana, yet that Hebrew wife of mine has been much in my
+mind of late. She was wise in her way, as wise as loving, was she not,
+and if we could see her once again, perhaps she would answer the
+question. But although she seems so near to me, I never can see her,
+quite. Can you, Ana?”
+
+“No, Pharaoh, though one night old Bakenkhonsu vowed that he perceived
+her passing before us, and looking at me earnestly as she passed.”
+
+“Ah! Bakenkhonsu. Well, he is wise too, and loved her in his fashion.
+Also the flesh fades from him, though mayhap he will live to make
+offerings at both our tombs. Well, Bakenkhonsu is at Tanis, or is it at
+Thebes, with her Majesty, whom he ever loves to observe, as I do. So he
+can tell us nothing of what he thought he saw. This chamber is hot,
+Ana, let us stand without.”
+
+So we passed the curtain, and stood upon the portico, looking at the
+garden misty with moonlight, and talking of this and that—about the
+Israelites, I think, who, as we heard, were wandering in the deserts of
+Sinai. Then of a sudden we grew silent, both of us.
+
+A cloud floated over the face of the moon, leaving the world in
+darkness. It passed, and I became aware that we were no longer alone.
+There in front of us was a mat, and on the mat lay a dead child, the
+royal child named Seti; there by the mat stood a woman with agony in
+her eyes, looking at the dead child, the Hebrew woman named Moon of
+Israel.
+
+Seti touched me, and pointed to her, and I pointed to the child. We
+stood breathless. Then of a sudden, stooping down, Merapi lifted up the
+child and held it towards its father. But, lo! now no longer was it
+dead; nay, it laughed and laughed, and seeing him, seemed to throw its
+arms about his neck, and to kiss him on the lips. Moreover, the agony
+in the woman’s eyes turned to joy unspeakable, and she became more
+beautiful than a star. Then, laughing like the child, Merapi turned to
+Seti, beckoned, and was gone.
+
+“We have seen the dead,” he said to me presently, “and, oh!
+Ana, _the dead still live!_”
+
+That night, ere dawn, a cry rang through the palace, waking me from my
+sleep. This was the cry:
+
+“The good god Pharaoh is no more! The hawk Seti has flown to
+heaven!”
+
+At the burial of Pharaoh, I laid the halves of the broken cup upon his
+breast, that he might drink therefrom in the Day of Resurrection.
+
+Here ends the writing of the Scribe Ana, the Counsellor and Companion of
+the King, by him beloved.
+
+
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
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+<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Moon of Israel, by H. Rider Haggard</div>
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+</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Moon of Israel</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: H. Rider Haggard</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: October, 2001 [eBook #2856]<br />
+[Most recently updated: January 23, 2022]</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: John Bickers, Dagny, Emma Dudding and David Widger</div>
+<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOON OF ISRAEL ***</div>
+
+<h1>Moon of Israel</h1>
+
+<h2 class="no-break">by H. Rider Haggard</h2>
+
+<hr />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<table summary="" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto">
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap01">CHAPTER I. SCRIBE ANA COMES TO TANIS</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap02">CHAPTER II. THE BREAKING OF THE CUP</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap03">CHAPTER III. USERTI</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap04">CHAPTER IV. THE COURT OF BETROTHAL</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap05">CHAPTER V. THE PROPHECY</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap06">CHAPTER VI. THE LAND OF GOSHEN</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap07">CHAPTER VII. THE AMBUSH</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap08">CHAPTER VIII. SETI COUNSELS PHARAOH</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap09">CHAPTER IX. THE SMITING OF AMON</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap10">CHAPTER X. THE DEATH OF PHARAOH</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap11">CHAPTER XI. THE CROWNING OF AMENMESES</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap12">CHAPTER XII. THE MESSAGE OF JABEZ</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap13">CHAPTER XIII. THE RED NILE</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap14">CHAPTER XIV. KI COMES TO MEMPHIS</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap15">CHAPTER XV. THE NIGHT OF FEAR</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap16">CHAPTER XVI. JABEZ SELLS HORSES</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap17">CHAPTER XVII. THE DREAM OF MERAPI</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap18">CHAPTER XVIII. THE CROWNING OF MERAPI</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+</table>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p class="noindent">
+AUTHOR&rsquo;S NOTE<br />
+
+This book suggests that the real Pharaoh of the Exodus was not Meneptah or
+Merenptah, son of Rameses the Great, but the mysterious usurper,
+Amenmeses, who for a year or two occupied the throne between the death of
+Meneptah and the accession of his son the heir-apparent, the
+gentle-natured Seti II.<br /><br />
+
+Of the fate of Amenmeses history says nothing; he may well have perished
+in the Red Sea or rather the Sea of Reeds, for, unlike those of Meneptah
+and the second Seti, his body has not been found.<br /><br />
+
+Students of Egyptology will be familiar with the writings of the scribe
+and novelist Anana, or Ana as he is here called.<br /><br />
+
+It was the Author&rsquo;s hope to dedicate this story to Sir Gaston Maspero,
+K.C.M.G., Director of the Cairo Museum, with whom on several occasions he
+discussed its plot some years ago. Unhappily, however, weighed down by one
+of the bereavements of the war, this great Egyptologist died in the
+interval between its writing and its publication. Still, since Lady
+Maspero informs him that such is the wish of his family, he adds the
+dedication which he had proposed to offer to that eminent writer and
+student of the past.<br /><br /><br />
+
+Dear Sir Gaston Maspero,<br /><br />
+
+When you assured me as to a romance of mine concerning ancient Egypt, that
+it was so full of the &ldquo;inner spirit of the old Egyptians&rdquo; that, after
+kindred efforts of your own and a lifetime of study, you could not
+conceive how it had been possible for it to spring from the brain of a
+modern man, I thought your verdict, coming from such a judge, one of the
+greatest compliments that ever I received. It is this opinion of yours
+indeed which induces me to offer you another tale of a like complexion.
+Especially am I encouraged thereto by a certain conversation between us in
+Cairo, while we gazed at the majestic countenance of the Pharaoh Meneptah,
+for then it was, as you may recall, that you said you thought the plan of
+this book probable and that it commended itself to your knowledge of those
+dim days.<br /><br />
+
+With gratitude for your help and kindness and the sincerest homage to your
+accumulated lore concerning the most mysterious of all the perished
+peoples of the earth,<br /><br />
+
+Believe me to remain<br /><br />
+
+Your true admirer,<br /><br />
+
+H. Rider Haggard.<br /><br />
+</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I.<br />
+SCRIBE ANA COMES TO TANIS</h2>
+
+<p>
+This is the story of me, Ana the scribe, son of Meri, and of certain of the
+days that I have spent upon the earth. These things I have written down now
+that I am very old in the reign of Rameses, the third of that name, when Egypt
+is once more strong and as she was in the ancient time. I have written them
+before death takes me, that they may be buried with me in death, for as my
+spirit shall arise in the hour of resurrection, so also these my words may
+arise in their hour and tell to those who shall come after me upon the earth of
+what I knew upon the earth. Let it be as Those in heaven shall decree. At least
+I write and what I write is true.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I tell of his divine Majesty whom I loved and love as my own soul, Seti
+Meneptah the second, whose day of birth was my day of birth, the Hawk who has
+flown to heaven before me; of Userti the Proud, his queen, she who afterwards
+married his divine Majesty, Saptah, whom I saw laid in her tomb at Thebes. I
+tell of Merapi, who was named Moon of Israel, and of her people, the Hebrews,
+who dwelt for long in Egypt and departed thence, having paid us back in loss
+and shame for all the good and ill we gave them. I tell of the war between the
+gods of Egypt and the god of Israel, and of much that befell therein.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Also I, the King&rsquo;s Companion, the great scribe, the beloved of the
+Pharaohs who have lived beneath the sun with me, tell of other men and matters.
+Behold! is it not written in this roll? Read, ye who shall find it in the days
+unborn, if your gods have given you skill. Read, O children of the future, and
+learn the secrets of that past which to you is so far away and yet in truth so
+near.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+As it chanced, although the Prince Seti and I were born upon the same day and
+therefore, like the other mothers of gentle rank whose children saw the light
+upon that day, my mother received Pharaoh&rsquo;s gift and I received the title
+of Royal Twin in Ra, never did I set eyes upon the divine Prince Seti until the
+thirtieth birthday of both of us. All of which happened thus.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In those days the great Pharaoh, Rameses the second, and after him his son
+Meneptah who succeeded when he was already old, since the mighty Rameses was
+taken to Osiris after he had counted one hundred risings of the Nile, dwelt for
+the most part at the city of Tanis in the desert, whereas I dwelt with my
+parents at the ancient, white-walled city of Memphis on the Nile. At times
+Meneptah and his court visited Memphis, as also they visited Thebes, where this
+king lies in his royal tomb to-day. But save on one occasion, the young Prince
+Seti, the heir-apparent, the Hope of Egypt, came not with them, because his
+mother, Asnefert, did not favour Memphis, where some trouble had befallen her
+in youth&mdash;they say it was a love matter that cost the lover his life and
+her a sore heart&mdash;and Seti stayed with his mother who would not suffer him
+out of sight of her eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once he came indeed when he was fifteen years of age, to be proclaimed to the
+people as son of his father, as Son of the Sun, as the future wearer of the
+Double Crown, and then we, his twins in Ra&mdash;there were nineteen of us who
+were gently born&mdash;were called by name to meet him and to kiss his royal
+feet. I made ready to go in a fine new robe embroidered in purple with the name
+of Seti and my own. But on that very morning by the gift of some evil god I was
+smitten with spots all over my face and body, a common sickness that affects
+the young. So it happened that I did not see the Prince, for before I was well
+again he had left Memphis.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now my father Meri was a scribe of the great temple of Ptah, and I was brought
+up to his trade in the school of the temple, where I copied many rolls and also
+wrote out Books of the Dead which I adorned with paintings. Indeed, in this
+business I became so clever that, after my father went blind some years before
+his death, I earned enough to keep him, and my sisters also until they married.
+Mother I had none, for she was gathered to Osiris while I was still very
+little. So life went on from year to year, but in my heart I hated my lot.
+While I was still a boy there rose up in me a desire&mdash;not to copy what
+others had written, but to write what others should copy. I became a dreamer of
+dreams. Walking at night beneath the palm-trees upon the banks of the Nile I
+watched the moon shining upon the waters, and in its rays I seemed to see many
+beautiful things. Pictures appeared there which were different from any that I
+saw in the world of men, although in them were men and women and even gods.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of these pictures I made stories in my heart and at last, although that was not
+for some years, I began to write these stories down in my spare hours. My
+sisters found me doing so and told my father, who scolded me for such
+foolishness which he said would never furnish me with bread and beer. But still
+I wrote on in secret by the light of the lamp in my chamber at night. Then my
+sisters married, and one day my father died suddenly while he was reciting
+prayers in the temple. I caused him to be embalmed in the best fashion and
+buried with honour in the tomb he had made ready for himself, although to pay
+the costs I was obliged to copy Books of the Dead for nearly two years, working
+so hard that I found no time for the writing of stories.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When at length I was free from debt I met a maiden from Thebes with a beautiful
+face that always seemed to smile, and she took my heart from my breast into her
+own. In the end, after I returned from fighting in the war against the Nine Bow
+Barbarians, to which I was summoned like other men, I married her. As for her
+name, let it be, I will not think of it even to myself. We had one child, a
+little girl which died within two years of her birth, and then I learned what
+sorrow can mean to man. At first my wife was sad, but her grief departed with
+time and she smiled again as she used to do. Only she said that she would bear
+no more children for the gods to take. Having little to do she began to go
+about the city and make friends whom I did not know, for of these, being a
+beautiful woman, she found many. The end of it was that she departed back to
+Thebes with a soldier whom I had never seen, for I was always working at home
+thinking of the babe who was dead and how happiness is a bird that no man can
+snare, though sometimes, of its own will, it flies in at his window-place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was after this that my hair went white before I had counted thirty years.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now, as I had none to work for and my wants were few and simple, I found more
+time for the writing of stories which, for the most part, were somewhat sad.
+One of these stories a fellow scribe borrowed from me and read aloud to a
+company, whom it pleased so much that there were many who asked leave to copy
+it and publish it abroad. So by degrees I became known as a teller of tales,
+which tales I caused to be copied and sold, though out of them I made but
+little. Still my fame grew till on a day I received a message from the Prince
+Seti, my twin in Ra, saying that he had read certain of my writings which
+pleased him much and that it was his wish to look upon my face. I thanked him
+humbly by the messenger and answered that I would travel to Tanis and wait upon
+his Highness. First, however, I finished the longest story which I had yet
+written. It was called the Tale of Two Brothers, and told how the faithless
+wife of one of them brought trouble on the other, so that he was killed. Of
+how, also, the just gods brought him to life again, and many other matters.
+This story I dedicated to his Highness, the Prince Seti, and with it in the
+bosom of my robe I travelled to Tanis, having hidden about me a sum of gold
+that I had saved.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So I came to Tanis at the beginning of winter and, walking to the palace of the
+Prince, boldly demanded an audience. But now my troubles began, for the guards
+and watchmen thrust me from the doors. In the end I bribed them and was
+admitted to the antechambers, where were merchants, jugglers, dancing-women,
+officers, and many others, all of them, it seemed, waiting to see the Prince;
+folk who, having nothing to do, pleased themselves by making mock of me, a
+stranger. When I had mixed with them for several days, I gained their
+friendship by telling to them one of my stories, after which I was always
+welcome among them. Still I could come no nearer to the Prince, and as my store
+of money was beginning to run low, I bethought me that I would return to
+Memphis.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One day, however, a long-bearded old man, with a gold-tipped wand of office,
+who had a bull&rsquo;s head embroidered on his robe, stopped in front of me
+and, calling me a white-headed crow, asked me what I was doing hopping day by
+day about the chambers of the palace. I told him my name and business and he
+told me his, which it seemed was Pambasa, one of the Prince&rsquo;s
+chamberlains. When I asked him to take me to the Prince, he laughed in my face
+and said darkly that the road to his Highness&rsquo;s presence was paved with
+gold. I understood what he meant and gave him a gift which he took as readily
+as a cock picks corn, saying that he would speak of me to his master and that I
+must come back again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I came thrice and each time that old cock picked more corn. At last I grew
+enraged and, forgetting where I was, began to shout at him and call him a
+thief, so that folks gathered round to listen. This seemed to frighten him. At
+first he looked towards the door as though to summon the guard to thrust me
+out; then changed his mind, and in a grumbling voice bade me follow him. We
+went down long passages, past soldiers who stood at watch in them still as
+mummies in their coffins, till at length we came to some broidered curtains.
+Here Pambasa whispered to me to wait, and passed through the curtains which he
+left not quite closed, so that I could see the room beyond and hear all that
+took place there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a small room like to that of any scribe, for on the tables were
+palettes, pens of reed, ink in alabaster vases, and sheets of papyrus pinned
+upon boards. The walls were painted, not as I was wont to paint the Books of
+the Dead, but after the fashion of an earlier time, such as I have seen in
+certain ancient tombs, with pictures of wild fowl rising from the swamps and of
+trees and plants as they grow. Against the walls hung racks in which were
+papyrus rolls, and on the hearth burned a fire of cedar-wood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By this fire stood the Prince, whom I knew from his statues. His years appeared
+fewer than mine although we were born upon the same day, and he was tall and
+thin, very fair also for one of our people, perhaps because of the Syrian blood
+that ran in his veins. His hair was straight and brown like to that of northern
+folk who come to trade in the markets of Egypt, and his eyes were grey rather
+than black, set beneath somewhat prominent brows such as those of his father,
+Meneptah. His face was sweet as a woman&rsquo;s, but made curious by certain
+wrinkles which ran from the corners of the eyes towards the ears. I think that
+these came from the bending of the brow in thought, but others say that they
+were inherited from an ancestress on the female side. Bakenkhonsu my friend,
+the old prophet who served under the first Seti and died but the other day,
+having lived a hundred and twenty years, told me that he knew her before she
+was married, and that she and her descendant, Seti, might have been twins.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In his hand the Prince held an open roll, a very ancient writing as I, who am
+skilled in such matters that have to do with my trade, knew from its
+appearance. Lifting his eyes suddenly from the study of this roll, he saw the
+chamberlain standing before him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You came at a good time, Pambasa,&rdquo; he said in a voice that was
+very soft and pleasant, and yet most manlike. &ldquo;You are old and doubtless
+wise. Say, are you wise, Pambasa?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, your Highness. I am wise like your Highness&rsquo;s uncle, Khaemuas
+the mighty magician, whose sandals I used to clean when I was young.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is it so? Then why are you so careful to hide your wisdom which should
+be open like a flower for us poor bees to suck at? Well, I am glad to learn
+that you are wise, for in this book of magic that I have been reading I find
+problems worthy of Khaemuas the departed, whom I only remember as a brooding,
+black-browed man much like my cousin, Amenmeses his son&mdash;save that no one
+can call Amenmeses wise.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why is your Highness glad?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because you, being by your own account his equal, can now interpret the
+matter as Khaemuas would have done. You know, Pambasa, that had he lived he
+would have been Pharaoh in place of my father. He died too soon, however, which
+proves to me that there was something in this tale of his wisdom, since no
+really wise man would ever wish to be Pharaoh of Egypt.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pambasa stared with his mouth open.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not wish to be Pharaoh!&rdquo; he began&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now, Pambasa the Wise,&rdquo; went on the Prince as though he had not
+heard him. &ldquo;Listen. This old book gives a charm &lsquo;to empty the heart
+of its weariness,&rsquo; that it says is the oldest and most common sickness in
+the world from which only kittens, some children, and mad people are free. It
+appears that the cure for this sickness, so says the book, is to stand on the
+top of the pyramid of Khufu at midnight at that moment when the moon is largest
+in the whole year, and drink from the cup of dreams, reciting meanwhile a spell
+written here at length in language which I cannot read.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is no virtue in spells, Prince, if anyone can read them.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And no use, it would seem, if they can be read by none.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Moreover, how can any one climb the pyramid of Khufu, which is covered
+with polished marble, even in the day let alone at midnight, your Highness, and
+there drink of the cup of dreams?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not know, Pambasa. All I know is that I weary of this foolishness,
+and of the world. Tell me of something that will lighten my heart, for it is
+heavy.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There are jugglers without, Prince, one of whom says he can throw a rope
+into the air and climb up it until he vanishes into heaven.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When he has done it in your sight, Pambasa, bring him to me, but not
+before. Death is the only rope by which we climb to heaven&mdash;or be lowered
+into hell. For remember there is a god called Set, after whom, like my
+great-grandfather, I am named by the way&mdash;the priests alone know
+why&mdash;as well as one called Osiris.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then there are the dancers, Prince, and among them some very finely made
+girls, for I saw them bathing in the palace lake, such as would have delighted
+the heart of your grandfather, the great Rameses.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They do not delight my heart who want no naked women prancing here. Try
+again, Pambasa.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can think of nothing else, Prince. Yet, stay. There is a scribe
+without named Ana, a thin, sharp-nosed man who says he is your Highness&rsquo;s
+twin in Ra.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ana!&rdquo; said the Prince. &ldquo;He of Memphis who writes stories?
+Why did you not say so before, you old fool? Let him enter at once, at
+once.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now hearing this I, Ana, walked through the curtains and prostrated myself,
+saying,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am that scribe, O Royal Son of the Sun.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How dare you enter the Prince&rsquo;s presence without being
+bidden&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo; began Pambasa, but Seti broke in with a stern
+voice, saying,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And how dare you, Pambasa, keep this learned man waiting at my door like
+a dog? Rise, Ana, and cease from giving me titles, for we are not at Court.
+Tell me, how long have you been in Tanis?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Many days, O Prince,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;seeking your presence and
+in vain.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And how did you win it at last?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By payment, O Prince,&rdquo; I answered innocently, &ldquo;as it seems
+is usual. The doorkeepers&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I understand,&rdquo; said Seti, &ldquo;the doorkeepers! Pambasa, you
+will ascertain what amount this learned scribe has disbursed to &lsquo;the
+doorkeepers&rsquo; and refund him double. Begone now and see to the
+matter.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So Pambasa went, casting a piteous look at me out of the corner of his eye.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell me,&rdquo; said Seti when he was gone, &ldquo;you who must be wise
+in your fashion, why does a Court always breed thieves?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I suppose for the same reason, O Prince, that a dog&rsquo;s back breeds
+fleas. Fleas must live, and there is the dog.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;True,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;and these palace fleas are not paid
+enough. If ever I have power I will see to it. They shall be fewer but better
+fed. Now, Ana, be seated. I know you though you do not know me, and already I
+have learned to love you through your writings. Tell me of yourself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So I told him all my simple tale, to which he listened without a word, and then
+asked me why I had come to see him. I replied that it was because he had sent
+for me, which he had forgotten; also because I brought him a story that I had
+dared to dedicate to him. Then I laid the roll before him on the table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am honoured,&rdquo; he said in a pleased voice, &ldquo;I am greatly
+honoured. If I like it well, your story shall go to the tomb with me for my Ka
+to read and re-read until the day of resurrection, though first I will study it
+in the flesh. Do you know this city of Tanis, Ana?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I answered that I knew little of it, who had spent my time here haunting the
+doors of his Highness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then with your leave I will be your guide through it this night, and
+afterwards we will sup and talk.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I bowed and he clapped his hands, whereon a servant appeared, not Pambasa, but
+another.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Bring two cloaks,&rdquo; said the Prince, &ldquo;I go abroad with the
+scribe, Ana. Let a guard of four Nubians, no more, follow us, but at a distance
+and disguised. Let them wait at the private entrance.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man bowed and departed swiftly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Almost immediately a black slave appeared with two long hooded cloaks, such as
+camel-drivers wear, which he helped us to put on. Then, taking a lamp, he led
+us from the room through a doorway opposite to that by which I had entered,
+down passages and a narrow stair that ended in a courtyard. Crossing this we
+came to a wall, great and thick, in which were double doors sheathed with
+copper that opened mysteriously at our approach. Outside of these doors stood
+four tall men, also wrapped in cloaks, who seemed to take no note of us. Still,
+looking back when we had gone a little way, I observed that they were following
+us, as though by chance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How fine a thing, thought I to myself, it is to be a Prince who by lifting a
+finger can thus command service at any moment of the day or night.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Just at that moment Seti said to me:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;See, Ana, how sad a thing it is to be a Prince, who cannot even stir
+abroad without notice to his household and commanding the service of a secret
+guard to spy upon his every action, and doubtless to make report thereof to the
+police of Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There are two faces to everything, thought I to myself again.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II.<br />
+THE BREAKING OF THE CUP</h2>
+
+<p>
+We walked down a broad street bordered by trees, beyond which were lime-washed,
+flat-roofed houses built of sun-dried brick, standing, each of them, in its own
+garden, till at length we came to the great market-place just as the full moon
+rose above the palm-trees, making the world almost as light as day. Tanis, or
+Rameses as it is also called, was a very fine city then, if only half the size
+of Memphis, though now that the Court has left it I hear it is much deserted.
+About this market-place stood great temples of the gods, with pylons and
+avenues of sphinxes, also that wonder of the world, the colossal statue of the
+second Rameses, while to the north upon a mound was the glorious palace of
+Pharaoh. Other palaces there were also, inhabited by the nobles and officers of
+the Court, and between them ran long streets where dwelt the citizens, ending,
+some of them, on that branch of the Nile by which the ancient city stood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seti halted to gaze at these wondrous buildings.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They are very old,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but most of them, like the
+walls and those temples of Amon and Ptah, have been rebuilt in the time of my
+grandfather or since his day by the labour of Israelitish slaves who dwell
+yonder in the rich land of Goshen.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They must have cost much gold,&rdquo; I answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Kings of Egypt do not pay their slaves,&rdquo; remarked the Prince
+shortly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we went on and mingled with the thousands of the people who were wandering
+to and fro seeking rest after the business of the day. Here on the frontier of
+Egypt were gathered folk of every race; Bedouins from the desert, Syrians from
+beyond the Red Sea, merchants from the rich Isle of Chittim, travellers from
+the coast, and traders from the land of Punt and from the unknown countries of
+the north. All were talking, laughing and making merry, save some who gathered
+in circles to listen to a teller of tales or wandering musicians, or to watch
+women who danced half naked for gifts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now and again the crowd would part to let pass the chariot of some noble or
+lady before which went running footmen who shouted, &ldquo;Make way, Make
+way!&rdquo; and laid about them with their long wands. Then came a procession
+of white-robed priests of Isis travelling by moonlight as was fitting for the
+servants of the Lady of the Moon, and bearing aloft the holy image of the
+goddess before which all men bowed and for a little while were silent. After
+this followed the corpse of some great one newly dead, preceded by a troop of
+hired mourners who rent the air with their lamentations as they conducted it to
+the quarter of the embalmers. Lastly, from out of one of the side streets
+emerged a gang of several hundred hook-nosed and bearded men, among whom were a
+few women, loosely roped together and escorted by a company of armed guards.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who are these?&rdquo; I asked, for I had never seen their like.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Slaves of the people of Israel who return from their labour at the
+digging of the new canal which is to run to the Red Sea,&rdquo; answered the
+Prince.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We stood still to watch them go by, and I noted how proudly their eyes flashed
+and how fierce was their bearing although they were but men in bonds, very
+weary too and stained by toil in mud and water. Presently this happened. A
+white-bearded man lagged behind, dragging on the line and checking the march.
+Thereupon an overseer ran up and flogged him with a cruel whip cut from the
+hide of the sea-horse. The man turned and, lifting a wooden spade that he
+carried, struck the overseer such a blow that he cracked his skull so that he
+fell down dead. Other overseers rushed at the Hebrew, as these Israelites were
+called, and beat him till he also fell. Then a soldier appeared and, seeing
+what had happened, drew his bronze sword. From among the throng sprang out a
+girl, young and very lovely although she was but roughly clad.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Since then I have seen Merapi, Moon of Israel, as she was called, clad in the
+proud raiment of a queen, and once even of a goddess, but never, I think, did
+she look more beauteous than in this hour of her slavery. Her large eyes,
+neither blue nor black, caught the light of the moon and were aswim with tears.
+Her plenteous bronze-hued hair flowed in great curls over the snow-white bosom
+that her rough robe revealed. Her delicate hands were lifted as though to ward
+off the blows which fell upon him whom she sought to protect. Her tall and
+slender shape stood out against a flare of light which burned upon some market
+stall. She was beauteous exceedingly, so beauteous that my heart stood still at
+the sight of her, yes, mine that for some years had held no thought of woman
+save such as were black and evil.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She cried aloud. Standing over the fallen man she appealed to the soldier for
+mercy. Then, seeing that there was none to hope for from him, she cast her
+great eyes around until they fell upon the Prince Seti.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! Sir,&rdquo; she wailed, &ldquo;you have a noble air. Will you stand
+by and see my father murdered for no fault?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Drag her off, or I smite through her,&rdquo; shouted the captain, for
+now she had thrown herself down upon the fallen Israelite. The overseers
+obeyed, tearing her away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hold, butcher!&rdquo; cried the Prince.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who are you, dog, that dare to teach Pharaoh&rsquo;s officer his
+duty?&rdquo; answered the captain, smiting the Prince in the face with his left
+hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then swiftly he struck downwards and I saw the bronze sword pass through the
+body of the Israelite who quivered and lay still. It was all done in an
+instant, and on the silence that followed rang out the sound of a woman&rsquo;s
+wail. For a moment Seti choked&mdash;with rage, I think. Then he spoke a single
+word&mdash;&ldquo;Guards!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The four Nubians, who, as ordered, had kept at a distance, burst through the
+gathered throng. Ere they reached us I, who till now had stood amazed, sprang
+at the captain and gripped him by the throat. He struck at me with his bloody
+sword, but the blow, falling on my long cloak, only bruised me on the left
+thigh. Then I, who was strong in those days, grappled with him and we rolled
+together on the ground.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After this there was great tumult. The Hebrew slaves burst their rope and flung
+themselves upon the soldiers like dogs upon a jackal, battering them with their
+bare fists. The soldiers defended themselves with swords; the overseers plied
+their hide whips; women screamed, men shouted. The captain whom I had seized
+began to get the better of me; at least I saw his sword flash above me and
+thought that all was over. Doubtless it would have been, had not Seti himself
+dragged the man backwards and thus given the four Nubian guards time to seize
+him. Next I heard the Prince cry out in a ringing voice:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hold! It is Seti, the son of Pharaoh, the Governor of Tanis, with whom
+you have to do. See,&rdquo; and he threw back the hood of his cloak so that the
+moon shone upon his face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Instantly there was a great quiet. Now, first one and then another as the truth
+sunk into them, men began to fall upon their knees, and I heard one say in an
+awed voice:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The royal Son, the Prince of Egypt struck in the face by a soldier!
+Blood must pay for it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How is that officer named?&rdquo; asked Seti, pointing to the man who
+had killed the Israelite and well-nigh killed me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Someone answered that he was named Khuaka.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Bring him to the steps of the temple of Amon,&rdquo; said Seti to the
+Nubians who held him fast. &ldquo;Follow me, friend Ana, if you have the
+strength. Nay, lean upon my shoulder.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So resting upon the shoulder of the Prince, for I was bruised and breathless, I
+walked with him a hundred paces or more to the steps of the great temple where
+we climbed to the platform at the head of the stairs. After us came the
+prisoner, and after him all the multitude, a very great number who stood upon
+the steps and on the flat ground beyond. The Prince, who was very white and
+quiet, sat himself down upon the low granite base of a tall obelisk which stood
+in front of the temple pylon, and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As Governor of Tanis, the City of Rameses, with power of life and death
+at all hours and in all places, I declare my Court open.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Royal Court is open!&rdquo; cried the multitude in the accustomed
+form.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This is the case,&rdquo; said the Prince. &ldquo;Yonder man who is named
+Khuaka, by his dress a captain of Pharaoh&rsquo;s army, is charged with the
+murder of a certain Hebrew, and with the attempted murder of Ana the scribe.
+Let witnesses be called. Bring the body of the dead man and lay it here before
+me. Bring the woman who strove to protect him, that she may speak.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The body was brought and laid upon the platform, its wide eyes staring up at
+the moon. Then soldiers who had gathered thrust forward the weeping girl.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Cease from tears,&rdquo; said Seti, &ldquo;and swear by Kephera the
+creator, and by Maat the goddess of truth and law, to speak nothing but the
+truth.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The girl looked up and said in a rich low voice that in some way reminded me of
+honey being poured from a jar, perhaps because it was thick with strangled sobs:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Royal Son of Egypt, I cannot swear by those gods who am a daughter of
+Israel.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Prince looked at her attentively and asked:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By what god then can you swear, O Daughter of Israel?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By Jahveh, O Prince, whom we hold to be the one and only God, the Maker
+of the world and all that is therein.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then perhaps his other name is Kephera,&rdquo; said the Prince with a
+little smile. &ldquo;But have it as you will. Swear, then, by your god
+Jahveh.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then she lifted both her hands above her head and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I, Merapi, daughter of Nathan of the tribe of Levi of the people of
+Israel, swear that I will speak the truth and all the truth in the name of
+Jahveh, the God of Israel.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell us what you know of the matter of the death of this man, O
+Merapi.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing that you do not know yourself, O Prince. He who lies
+there,&rdquo; and she swept her hand towards the corpse, turning her eyes away,
+&ldquo;was my father, an elder of Israel. The captain Khuaka came when the corn
+was young to the Land of Goshen to choose those who should work for Pharaoh. He
+wished to take me into his house. My father refused because from my childhood I
+had been affianced to a man of Israel; also because it is not lawful under the
+law for our people to intermarry with your people. Then the captain Khuaka
+seized my father, although he was of high rank and beyond the age to work for
+Pharaoh, and he was taken away, as I think, because he would not suffer me to
+wed Khuaka. A while later I dreamed that my father was sick. Thrice I dreamed
+it and ran away to Tanis to visit him. But this morning I found him and, O
+Prince, you know the rest.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is there no more?&rdquo; asked Seti.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The girl hesitated, then answered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Only this, O Prince. This man saw me with my father giving him food, for
+he was weak and overcome with the toil of digging the mud in the heat of the
+sun, he who being a noble of our people knew nothing of such labour from his
+youth. In my presence Khuaka asked my father if now he would give me to him. My
+father answered that sooner would he see me kissed by snakes and devoured by
+crocodiles. &lsquo;I hear you,&rsquo; answered Khuaka. &lsquo;Learn, now, slave
+Nathan, before to-morrow&rsquo;s sun arises, you shall be kissed by swords and
+devoured by crocodiles or jackals.&rsquo; &lsquo;So be it,&rsquo; said my
+father, &lsquo;but learn, O Khuaka, that if so, it is revealed to me who am a
+priest and a prophet of Jahveh, that before to-morrow&rsquo;s sun you also
+shall be kissed by swords and of the rest we will talk at the foot of
+Jahveh&rsquo;s throne.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Afterwards, as you know, Prince, the overseer flogged my father as I
+heard Khuaka order him to do if he lagged through weariness, and then Khuaka
+killed him because my father in his madness struck the overseer with a mattock.
+I have no more to say, save that I pray that I may be sent back to my own
+people there to mourn my father according to our custom.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To whom would you be sent? Your mother?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, O Prince, my mother, a lady of Syria, is dead. I will go to my
+uncle, Jabez the Levite.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Stand aside,&rdquo; said Seti. &ldquo;The matter shall be seen to later.
+Appear, O Ana the Scribe. Swear the oath and tell us what you have seen of this
+man&rsquo;s death, since two witnesses are needful.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So I swore and repeated all this story that I have written down.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now, Khuaka,&rdquo; said the Prince when I had finished, &ldquo;have you
+aught to say?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Only this, O Royal One,&rdquo; answered the captain throwing himself
+upon his knees, &ldquo;that I struck you by accident, not knowing that the
+person of your Highness was hidden in that long cloak. For this deed it is true
+that I am worthy of death, but I pray you to pardon me because I knew not what
+I did. The rest is nothing, since I only slew a mutinous slave of the
+Israelites, as such are slain every day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell me, O Khuaka, who are being tried for this man&rsquo;s death and
+not for the striking of one of royal blood by chance, under which law it is
+lawful for you to kill an Israelite without trial before the appointed officers
+of Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am not learned. I do not know the law, O Prince. All that this woman
+said is false.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At least it is not false that yonder man lies dead and that you slew
+him, as you yourself admit. Learn now, and let all Egypt learn, that even an
+Israelite may not be murdered for no offence save that of weariness and of
+paying back unearned blow with blow. Your blood shall answer for his blood.
+Soldiers! Strike off his head.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Nubians leapt upon him, and when I looked again Khuaka&rsquo;s headless
+corpse lay by the corpse of the Hebrew Nathan and their blood was mingled upon
+the steps of the temple.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The business of the Court is finished,&rdquo; said the Prince.
+&ldquo;Officers, see that this woman is escorted to her own people, and with
+her the body of her father for burial. See, too, upon your lives that no insult
+or harm is done to her. Scribe Ana, accompany me hence to my house where I
+would speak with you. Let guards precede and follow me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He rose and all the people bowed. As he turned to go the lady Merapi stepped
+forward, and falling upon her knees, said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O most just Prince, now and ever I am your servant.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we set out, and as we left the market-place on our way to the palace of
+the Prince, I heard a tumult of voices behind us, some in praise and some in
+blame of what had been done. We walked on in silence broken only by the
+measured tramp of the guards. Presently the moon passed behind a cloud and the
+world was dark. Then from the edge of the cloud sprang out a ray of light that
+lay straight and narrow above us on the heavens. Seti studied it a while and
+said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell me, O Ana, of what does that moonbeam put you in mind?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of a sword, O Prince,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;stretched out over Egypt
+and held in the black hand of some mighty god or spirit. See, there is the
+blade from which fall little clouds like drops of blood, there is the hilt of
+gold, and look! there beneath is the face of the god. Fire streams from his
+eyebrows and his brow is black and awful. I am afraid, though what I fear I
+know not.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have a poet&rsquo;s mind, Ana. Still, what you see I see and of this
+I am sure, that some sword of vengeance is indeed stretched out over Egypt
+because of its evil doings, whereof this light may be the symbol. Behold! it
+seems to fall upon the temples of the gods and the palace of Pharaoh, and to
+cleave them. Now it is gone and the night is as nights were from the beginning
+of the world. Come to my chamber and let us eat. I am weary, I need food and
+wine, as you must after struggling with that lustful murderer whom I have sent
+to his own place.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The guards saluted and were dismissed. We mounted to the Prince&rsquo;s private
+chambers, in one of which his servants clad me in fine linen robes after a
+skilled physician of the household had doctored the bruises upon my thigh over
+which he tied a bandage spread with balm. Then I was led to a small
+dining-hall, where I found the Prince waiting for me as though I were some
+honoured guest and not a poor scribe who had wandered hence from Memphis with
+my wares. He caused me to sit down at his right hand and even drew up the chair
+for me himself, whereat I felt abashed. To this day I remember that
+leather-seated chair. The arms of it ended in ivory sphinxes and on its back of
+black wood in an oval was inlaid the name of the great Rameses, to whom indeed
+it had once belonged. Dishes were handed to us&mdash;only two of them and those
+quite simple, for Seti was no great eater&mdash;by a young Nubian slave of a
+very merry face, and with them wine more delicious than any I had ever tasted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We ate and drank and the Prince talked to me of my business as a scribe and of
+the making of tales, which seemed to interest him very much. Indeed one might
+have thought that he was a pupil in the schools and I the teacher, so humbly
+and with such care did he weigh everything that I said about my art. Of matters
+of state or of the dreadful scene of blood through which we had just passed he
+spoke no word. At the end, however, after a little pause during which he held
+up a cup of alabaster as thin as an eggshell, studying the light playing
+through it on the rich red wine within, he said to me:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Friend Ana, we have passed a stirring hour together, the first perhaps
+of many, or mayhap the last. Also we were born upon the same day and therefore,
+unless the astrologers lie, as do other men&mdash;and women&mdash;beneath the
+same star. Lastly, if I may say it, I like you well, though I know not how you
+like me, and when you are in the room with me I feel at ease, which is strange,
+for I know of no other with whom it is so.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now by a chance only this morning I found in some old records which I
+was studying, that the heir to the throne of Egypt a thousand years ago, had,
+and therefore, as nothing ever changes in Egypt, still has, a right to a
+private librarian for which the State, that is, the toilers of the land, must
+pay as in the end they pay for all. Some dynasties have gone by, it seems,
+since there was such a librarian, I think because most of the heirs to the
+throne could not, or did not, read. Also by chance I mentioned the matter to
+the Vizier Nehesi who grudges me every ounce of gold I spend, as though it were
+one taken out of his own pouch, which perhaps it is. He answered with that
+crooked smile of his:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Since I know well, Prince, that there is no scribe in Egypt whom
+you would suffer about you for a single month, I will set the cost of a
+librarian at the figure at which it stood in the Eleventh Dynasty upon the roll
+of your Highness&rsquo;s household and defray it from the Royal Treasury until
+he is discharged.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Therefore, Scribe Ana, I offer you this post for one month; that is all
+for which I can promise you will be paid whatever it may be, for I forget the
+sum.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thank you, O Prince,&rdquo; I exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do not thank me. Indeed if you are wise you will refuse. You have met
+Pambasa. Well, Nehesi is Pambasa multiplied by ten, a rogue, a thief, a bully,
+and one who has Pharaoh&rsquo;s ear. He will make your life a torment to you
+and clip every ring of gold that at length you wring out of his grip. Moreover
+the place is wearisome, and I am fanciful and often ill-humoured. Do not thank
+me, I say. Refuse; return to Memphis and write stories. Shun courts and their
+plottings. Pharaoh himself is but a face and a puppet through which other
+voices talk and other eyes shine, and the sceptre which he wields is pulled by
+strings. And if this is so with Pharaoh, what is the case with his son? Then
+there are the women, Ana. They will make love to you, Ana, they even do so to
+me, and I think you told me that you know something of women. Do not accept, go
+back to Memphis. I will send you some old manuscripts to copy and pay you
+whatever it is Nehesi allows for the librarian.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet I accept, O Prince. As for Nehesi I fear him not at all, since at
+the worst I can write a story about him at which the world will laugh, and
+rather than that he will pay me my salary.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have more wisdom than I thought, Ana. It never came into my mind to
+put Nehesi in a story, though it is true I tell tales about him which is much
+the same thing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He bent forward, leaning his head upon his hand, and ceasing from his bantering
+tone, looked me in the eyes and asked:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why do you accept? Let me think now. It is not because you care for
+wealth if that is to be won here; nor for the pomp and show of courts; nor for
+the company of the great who really are so small. For all these things you,
+Ana, have no craving if I read your heart aright, you who are an artist,
+nothing less and nothing more. Tell me, then, why will you, a free man who can
+earn your living, linger round a throne and set your neck beneath the heel of
+princes to be crushed into the common mould of servitors and King&rsquo;s
+Companions and Bearers of the Footstool?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will tell you, Prince. First, because thrones make history, as history
+makes thrones, and I think that great events are on foot in Egypt in which I
+would have my share. Secondly, because the gods bring gifts to men only once or
+twice in their lives and to refuse them is to offend the gods who gave them
+those lives to use to ends of which we know nothing. And
+thirdly&rdquo;&mdash;here I hesitated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And thirdly&mdash;out with the thirdly for, doubtless, it is the real
+reason.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And thirdly, O Prince&mdash;well, the word sounds strangely upon a
+man&rsquo;s lips&mdash;but thirdly because I love you. From the moment that my
+eyes fell upon your face I loved you as I never loved any other man&mdash;not
+even my father. I know not why. Certainly it is not because you are a
+prince.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When he heard these words Seti sat brooding and so silent that, fearing lest I,
+a humble scribe, had been too bold, I added hastily:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let your Highness pardon his servant for his presumptuous words. It was
+his servant&rsquo;s heart that spoke and not his lips.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He lifted his hand and I stopped.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ana, my twin in Ra,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;do you know that I never had
+a friend?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A prince who has no friend!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never, none. Now I begin to think that I have found one. The thought is
+strange and warms me. Do you know also that when my eyes fell upon your face I
+loved you also, the gods know why. It was as though I had found one who was
+dear to me thousands of years ago but whom I had lost and forgotten. Perhaps
+this is but foolishness, or perhaps here we have the shadow of something great
+and beautiful which dwells elsewhere, in the place we call the Kingdom of
+Osiris, beyond the grave, Ana.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such thoughts have come to me at times, Prince. I mean that all we see
+is shadow; that we ourselves are shadows and that the realities who cast them
+live in a different home which is lit by some spirit sun that never sets.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Prince nodded his head and again was silent for a while. Then he took his
+beautiful alabaster cup, and pouring wine into it, he drank a little and passed
+the cup to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Drink also, Ana,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and pledge me as I pledge you,
+in token that by decree of the Creator who made the hearts of men, henceforward
+our two hearts are as the same heart through good and ill, through triumph and
+defeat, till death takes one of us. Henceforward, Ana, unless you show yourself
+unworthy, I hide no thought from you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Flushing with joy I took the cup, saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I add to your words, O Prince. We are one, not for this life alone but
+for all the lives to be. Death, O Prince, is, I think, but a single step in the
+pylon stair which leads at last to that dizzy height whence we see the face of
+God and hear his voice tell us what and why we are.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I pledged him, and drank, bowing, and he bowed back to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What shall we do with the cup, Ana, the sacred cup that has held this
+rich heart-wine? Shall I keep it? No, it no longer belongs to me. Shall I give
+it to you? No, it can never be yours alone. See, we will break the priceless
+thing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seizing it by its stem with all his strength he struck the cup upon the table.
+Then what seemed to me to be a marvel happened, for instead of shattering as I
+thought it surely would, it split in two from rim to foot. Whether this was by
+chance, or whether the artist who fashioned it in some bygone generation had
+worked the two halves separately and cunningly cemented them together, to this
+hour I do not know. At least so it befell.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This is fortunate, Ana,&rdquo; said the Prince, laughing a little in his
+light way. &ldquo;Now take you the half that lies nearest to you and I will
+take mine. If you die first I will lay my half upon your breast, and if I die
+first you shall do the same by me, or if the priests forbid it because I am
+royal and may not be profaned, cast the thing into my tomb. What should we have
+done had the alabaster shattered into fragments, Ana, and what omen should we
+have read in them?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why ask, O Prince, seeing that it has befallen otherwise?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I took my half, laid it against my forehead and hid it in the bosom of my
+robe, and as I did, so did Seti.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So in this strange fashion the royal Seti and I sealed the holy compact of our
+brotherhood, as I think not for the first time or the last.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III.<br />
+USERTI</h2>
+
+<p>
+Seti rose, stretching out his arms.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is finished,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;as everything finishes, and for
+once I am sorry. Now what next? Sleep, I suppose, in which all ends, or perhaps
+you would say all begins.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As he spoke the curtains at the end of the room were drawn and between them
+appeared the chamberlain, Pambasa, holding his gold-tipped wand ceremoniously
+before him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is it now, man?&rdquo; asked Seti. &ldquo;Can I not even sup in
+peace? Stay, before you answer tell me, do things end or begin in sleep? The
+learned Ana and I differ on the matter and would hear your wisdom. Bear in
+mind, Pambasa, that before we are born we must have slept, since of that time
+we remember nothing, and after we are dead we certainly seem to sleep, as any
+who have looked on mummies know. Now answer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The chamberlain stared at the wine flask on the table as though he suspected
+his master of having drunk too much. Then in a hard official voice he said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She comes! She comes! She comes, offering greetings and adoration to the
+Royal Son of Ra.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Does she indeed?&rdquo; asked Seti. &ldquo;If so, why say it three
+times? And who comes?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The high Princess, the heiress of Egypt, the daughter of Pharaoh, your
+Highness&rsquo;s royal half-sister, the great lady Userti.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let her enter then. Ana, stand you behind me. If you grow weary and I
+give leave you can depart; the slaves will show you your sleeping-place.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pambasa went, and presently through the curtain appeared a royal-looking lady
+splendidly apparelled. She was accompanied by four waiting women who fell back
+on the threshold and were no more seen. The Prince stepped forward, took both
+her hands in his and kissed her on the brow, then drew back again, after which
+they stood a moment looking at each other. While they remained thus I studied
+her who was known throughout the land as the &ldquo;Beautiful Royal
+Daughter,&rdquo; but whom till now I had never seen. In truth I did not think
+her beautiful, although even had she been clad in a peasant&rsquo;s robe I
+should have been sure that she was royal. Her face was too hard for beauty and
+her black eyes, with a tinge of grey in them, were too small. Also her nose was
+too sharp and her lips were too thin. Indeed, had it not been for the
+delicately and finely-shaped woman&rsquo;s form beneath, I might have thought
+that a prince and not a princess stood before me. For the rest in most ways she
+resembled her half-brother Seti, though her countenance lacked the kindliness
+of his; or rather both of them resembled their father, Meneptah.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Greeting, Sister,&rdquo; he said, eyeing her with a smile in which I
+caught a gleam of mockery. &ldquo;Purple-bordered robes, emerald necklace and
+enamelled crown of gold, rings and pectoral, everything except a
+sceptre&mdash;why are you so royally arrayed to visit one so humble as your
+loving brother? You come like sunlight into the darkness of the hermit&rsquo;s
+cell and dazzle the poor hermit, or rather hermits,&rdquo; and he pointed to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Cease your jests, Seti,&rdquo; she replied in a full, strong voice.
+&ldquo;I wear these ornaments because they please me. Also I have supped with
+our father, and those who sit at Pharaoh&rsquo;s table must be suitably
+arrayed, though I have noted that sometimes you think otherwise.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Indeed. I trust that the good god, our divine parent, is well to-night
+as you leave him so early.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I leave him because he sent me with a message to you.&rdquo; She paused,
+looking at me sharply, then asked, &ldquo;Who is that man? I do not know
+him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is your misfortune, Userti, but one which can be mended. He is named
+Ana the Scribe, who writes strange stories of great interest which you would do
+well to read who dwell too much upon the outside of life. He is from Memphis
+and his father&rsquo;s name was&mdash;I forget what. Ana, what was your
+father&rsquo;s name?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;One too humble for royal ears, Prince,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;but my
+grandfather was Pentaur the poet who wrote of the deeds of the mighty
+Rameses.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is it so? Why did you not tell me that before? The descent should earn
+you a pension from the Court if you can extract it from Nehesi. Well, Userti,
+his grandfather&rsquo;s name was Pentaur whose immortal verses you have
+doubtless read upon temple walls, where our grandfather was careful to publish
+them.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have&mdash;to my sorrow&mdash;and thought them poor, boastful
+stuff,&rdquo; she answered coldly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To be honest, if Ana will forgive me, so do I. I can assure you that his
+stories are a great improvement on them. Friend Ana, this is my sister, Userti,
+my father&rsquo;s daughter though our mothers were not the same.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I pray you, Seti, to be so good as to give me my rightful titles in
+speaking of me to scribes and other of your servants.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your pardon, Userti. This, Ana, is the first Lady of Egypt, the Royal
+Heiress, the Princess of the Two Lands, the High-priestess of Amon, the
+Cherished of the Gods, the half-sister of the Heir-apparent, the Daughter of
+Hathor, the Lotus Bloom of Love, the Queen to be of&mdash;Userti, whose queen
+will you be? Have you made up your mind? For myself I know no one worthy of so
+much beauty, excellence, learning and&mdash;what shall I add&mdash;sweetness,
+yes, sweetness.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Seti,&rdquo; she said stamping her foot, &ldquo;if it pleases you to
+make a mock of me before a stranger, I suppose that I must submit. Send him
+away, I would speak with you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Make a mock of you! Oh! mine is a hard fate. When truth gushes from the
+well of my heart, I am told I mock, and when I mock, all say&mdash;he speaks
+truth. Be seated, Sister, and talk on freely. This Ana is my sworn friend who
+saved my life but now, for which deed perhaps he should be my enemy. His memory
+is excellent also and he will remember what you say and write it down
+afterwards, whereas I might forget. Therefore, with your leave, I will ask him
+to stay here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My Prince,&rdquo; I broke in, &ldquo;I pray you suffer me to go.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My Secretary,&rdquo; he answered with a note of command in his voice,
+&ldquo;I pray you to remain where you are.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So I sat myself on the ground after the fashion of a scribe, having no choice,
+and the Princess sat herself on a couch at the end of the table, but Seti
+remained standing. Then the Princess said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Since it is your will, Brother, that I should talk secrets into other
+ears than yours, I obey you. Still&rdquo;&mdash;here she looked at me
+wrathfully&mdash;&ldquo;let the tongue be careful that it does not repeat what
+the ears have heard, lest there should be neither ears nor tongue. My Brother,
+it has been reported to Pharaoh, while we ate together, that there is tumult in
+this town. It has been reported to him that because of a trouble about some
+base Israelite you caused one of his officers to be beheaded, after which there
+came a riot which still rages.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Strange that truth should have come to the ears of Pharaoh so quickly.
+Now, my Sister, if he had heard it three moons hence I could have believed
+you&mdash;almost.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then you did behead the officer?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, I beheaded him about two hours ago.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Pharaoh will demand an account of the matter.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Pharaoh,&rdquo; answered Seti lifting his eyes, &ldquo;has no power to
+question the justice of the Governor of Tanis in the north.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are in error, Seti. Pharaoh has all power.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, Sister, Pharaoh is but one man among millions of other men, and
+though he speaks it is their spirit which bends his tongue, while above that
+spirit is a yet greater spirit who decrees what they shall think to ends of
+which we know nothing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not understand, Seti.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I never thought you would, Userti, but when you have leisure, ask Ana
+here to explain the matter to you. I am sure that <i>he</i> understands.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! I have borne enough,&rdquo; exclaimed Userti rising. &ldquo;Hearken
+to the command of Pharaoh, Prince Seti. It is that you wait upon him to-morrow
+in full council, at an hour before noon, there to talk with him of this
+question of the Israelitish slaves and the officer whom it has pleased you to
+kill. I came to speak other words to you also, but as they were for your
+private ear, these can bide a more fitting opportunity. Farewell, my
+Brother.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What, are you going so soon, Sister? I wished to tell you the story
+about those Israelites, and especially of the maid whose name is&mdash;what was
+her name, Ana?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Merapi, Moon of Israel, Prince,&rdquo; I added with a groan.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;About the maid called Merapi, Moon of Israel, I think the sweetest that
+ever I have looked upon, whose father the dead captain murdered in my
+sight.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So there is a woman in the business? Well, I guessed it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In what business is there not a woman, Userti, even in that of a message
+from Pharaoh. Pambasa, Pambasa, escort the Princess and summon her servants,
+women everyone of them, unless my senses mock me. Good-night to you, O Sister
+and Lady of the Two Lands, and forgive me&mdash;that coronet of yours is
+somewhat awry.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At last she was gone and I rose, wiping my brow with a corner of my robe, and
+looking at the Prince who stood before the fire laughing softly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Make a note of all this talk, Ana,&rdquo; he said; &ldquo;there is more
+in it than meets the ear.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I need no note, Prince,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;every word is burnt
+upon my mind as a hot iron burns a tablet of wood. With reason too, since now
+her Highness will hate me for all her life.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Much better so, Ana, than that she should pretend to love you, which she
+never would have done while you are my friend. Women oftimes respect those whom
+they hate and even will advance them because of policy, but let those whom they
+pretend to love beware. The time may come when you will yet be Userti&rsquo;s
+most trusted councillor.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now here I, Ana the Scribe, will state that in after days, when this same queen
+was the wife of Pharaoh Saptah, I did, as it chanced, become her most trusted
+councillor. Moreover, in those times, yes, and even in the hour of her death,
+she swore from the moment her eyes first fell on me she had known me to be
+true-hearted and held me in esteem as no self-seeker. More, I think she
+believed what she said, having forgotten that once she looked upon me as her
+enemy. This indeed I never was, who always held her in high regard and honour
+as a great lady who loved her country, though one who sometimes was not wise.
+But as I could not foresee these things on that night of long ago, I only
+stared at the Prince and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! why did you not allow me to depart as your Highness said I might at
+the beginning? Soon or late my head will pay the price of this night&rsquo;s
+work.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then she must take mine with it. Listen, Ana. I kept you here, not to
+vex the Princess or you, but for a good reason. You know that it is the custom
+of the royal dynasties of Egypt for kings, or those who will be kings, to wed
+their near kin in order that the blood may remain the purer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, Prince, and not only among those who are royal. Still, I think it
+an evil custom.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As I do, since the race wherein it is practised grows ever weaker in
+body and in mind; which is why, perhaps, my father is not what his father was
+and I am not what my father is.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Also, Prince, it is hard to mingle the love of the sister and of the
+wife.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very hard, Ana; so hard that when it is attempted both are apt to
+vanish. Well, our mothers having been true royal wives, though hers died before
+mine was wedded by my father, Pharaoh desires that I should marry my
+half-sister, Userti, and what is worse, she desires it also. Moreover, the
+people, who fear trouble ahead in Egypt if we, who alone are left of the true
+royal race born of queens, remain apart and she takes another lord, or I take
+another wife, demand that it should be brought about, since they believe that
+whoever calls Userti the Strong his spouse will one day rule the land.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why does the Princess wish it&mdash;that she may be a queen?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, Ana, though were she to wed my cousin, Amenmeses, the son of
+Pharaoh&rsquo;s elder brother Khaemuas, she might still be a queen, if I chose
+to stand aside as I would not be loth to do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Would Egypt suffer this, Prince?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not know, nor does it matter since she hates Amenmeses, who is
+strong-willed and ambitious, and will have none of him. Also he is already
+married.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is there no other royal one whom she might take, Prince?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;None. Moreover she wishes me alone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, Prince?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because of ancient custom which she worships. Also because she knows me
+well and in her fashion is fond of me, whom she believes to be a gentle-minded
+dreamer that she can rule. Lastly, because I am the lawful heir to the Crown
+and without me to share it, she thinks that she would never be safe upon the
+Throne, especially if I should marry some other woman, of whom she would be
+jealous. It is the Throne she desires and would wed, not the Prince Seti, her
+half-brother, whom she takes with it to be in name her husband, as Pharaoh
+commands that she should do. Love plays no part in Userti&rsquo;s breast, Ana,
+which makes her the more dangerous, since what she seeks with a cold heart of
+policy, that she will surely find.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then it would seem, Prince, that the cage is built about you. After all
+it is a very splendid cage and made of gold.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, Ana, yet not one in which I would live. Still, except by death how
+can I escape from the threefold chain of the will of Pharaoh, of Egypt, and of
+Userti? Oh!&rdquo; he went on in a new voice, one that had in it both sorrow
+and passion, &ldquo;this is a matter in which I would have chosen for myself
+who in all others must be a servant. And I may not choose!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is there perchance some other lady, Prince?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;None! By Hathor, none&mdash;at least I think not. Yet I would have been
+free to search for such a one and take her when I found her, if she were but a
+fishergirl.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Kings of Egypt can have large households, Prince.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know it. Are there not still scores whom I should call aunt and uncle?
+I think that my grandsire, Rameses, blessed Egypt with quite three hundred
+children, and in so doing in a way was wise, since thus he might be sure that,
+while the world endures, in it will flow some of the blood that once was
+his.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet in life or death how will that help him, Prince? Some must beget the
+multitudes of the earth, what does it matter who these may have been?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing at all, Ana, since by good or evil fortune they are born.
+Therefore, why talk of large households? Though, like any man who can pay for
+it, Pharaoh may have a large household, I seek a queen who shall reign in my
+heart as well as on my throne, not a &lsquo;large household,&rsquo; Ana. Oh! I
+am weary. Pambasa, come hither and conduct my secretary, Ana, to the empty room
+that is next to my own, the painted chamber which looks toward the north, and
+bid my slaves attend to all his wants as they would to mine.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+&ldquo;Why did you tell me you were a scribe, my lord Ana?&rdquo; asked
+Pambasa, as he led me to my beautiful sleeping-place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because that is my trade, Chamberlain.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He looked at me, shaking his great head till the long white beard waved across
+his breast like a temple banner in the faint evening breeze, and answered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are no scribe, you are a magician who can win the love and favour of
+his Highness in an hour which others cannot do between two risings of the Nile.
+Had you said so at once, you would have been differently treated yonder in the
+hall of waiting. Forgive me therefore what I did in ignorance, and, my lord, I
+pray it may please you not to melt away in the night, lest my feet should
+answer for it beneath the sticks.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was the fourth hour from sunrise of the following day that, for the first
+time in my life I found myself in the Court of Pharaoh standing with other
+members of his household in the train of his Highness, the Prince Seti. It was
+a very great place, for Pharaoh sat in the judgment hall, whereof the roof is
+upheld by round and sculptured columns, between which were set statues of
+Pharaohs who had been. Save at the throne end of the hall, where the light
+flowed down through clerestories, the vast chamber was dim almost to darkness;
+at least so it seemed to me entering there out of the brilliant sunshine.
+Through this gloom many folk moved like shadows; captains, nobles, and state
+officers who had been summoned to the Court, and among them white-robed and
+shaven priests. Also there were others of whom I took no count, such as Arab
+headmen from the desert, traders with jewels and other wares to sell, farmers
+and even peasants with petitions to present, lawyers and their clients, and I
+know not who besides, though of all these none were suffered to advance beyond
+a certain mark where the light began to fall. Speaking in whispers all of these
+folk flitted to and fro like bats in a tomb.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We waited between two Hathor-headed pillars in one of the vestibules of the
+hall, the Prince Seti, who was clad in purple-broidered garments and wore upon
+his brow a fillet of gold from which rose the uræus or hooded snake, also of
+gold, that royal ones alone might wear, leaning against the base of a statue,
+while the rest of us stood silent behind him. For a time he was silent also, as
+a man might be whose thoughts were otherwhere. At length he turned and said to
+me:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This is weary work. Would I had asked you to bring that new tale of
+yours, Scribe Ana, that we might have read it together.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Shall I tell you the plot of it, Prince?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes. I mean, not now, lest I should forget my manners listening to you.
+Look,&rdquo; and he pointed to a dark-browed, fierce-eyed man of middle age who
+passed up the hall as though he did not see us, &ldquo;there goes my cousin,
+Amenmeses. You know him, do you not?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I shook my head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then tell me what you think of him, at once before the first judgment
+fades.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think he is a royal-looking lord, obstinate in mind and strong in
+body, handsome too in his way.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;All can see that, Ana. What else?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think,&rdquo; I said in a low voice so that none might overhear,
+&ldquo;that his heart is as black as his brow; that he has grown wicked with
+jealousy and hate and will do you evil.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Can a man grow wicked, Ana? Is he not as he was born till the end? I do
+not know, nor do you. Still you are right, he is jealous and will do me evil if
+it brings him good. But tell me, which of us will triumph at the last?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+While I hesitated what to answer I became aware that someone had joined us.
+Looking round I perceived a very ancient man clad in a white robe. He was
+broad-faced and bald-headed, and his eyes burned beneath his shaggy eyebrows
+like two coals in ashes. He supported himself on a staff of cedar-wood,
+gripping it with both hands that for thinness were like to those of a mummy.
+For a while he considered us both as though he were reading our souls, then
+said in a full and jovial voice:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Greeting, Prince.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seti turned, looked at him, and answered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Greeting, Bakenkhonsu. How comes it that you are still alive? When we
+parted at Thebes I made sure&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That on your return you would find me in my tomb. Not so, Prince, it is
+I who shall live to look upon you in your tomb, yes, and on others who are yet
+to sit in the seat of Pharaoh. Why not? Ho! ho! Why not, seeing that I am but a
+hundred and seven, I who remember the first Rameses and have played with his
+grandson, your grandsire, as a boy? Why should I not live, Prince, to nurse
+your grandson&mdash;if the gods should grant you one who as yet have neither
+wife nor child?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because you will get tired of life, Bakenkhonsu, as I am already, and
+the gods will not be able to spare you much longer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The gods can endure yet a while without me, Prince, when so many are
+flocking to their table. Indeed it is their desire that one good priest should
+be left in Egypt. Ki the Magician told me so only this morning. He had it
+straight from Heaven in a dream last night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why have you been to visit Ki?&rdquo; asked Seti, looking at him
+sharply. &ldquo;I should have thought that being both of a trade you would have
+hated each other.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not so, Prince. On the contrary we add up each other&rsquo;s account; I
+mean, check and interpret each other&rsquo;s visions, with which we are both of
+us much troubled just now. Is that young man a scribe from Memphis?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, and my friend. His grandsire was Pentaur the poet.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Indeed. I knew Pentaur well. Often has he read me to sleep with his long
+poems, rank stuff that grew like coarse grass upon a deep but half-drained
+soil. Are you sure, young man, that Pentaur was your grandfather? You are not
+like him. Quite a different kind of herbage, and you know that it is a matter
+upon which we must take a woman&rsquo;s word.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seti burst out laughing and I looked at the old priest angrily, though now that
+I came to think of it my father always said that his mother was one of the
+biggest liars in Egypt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, let it be,&rdquo; went on Bakenkhonsu, &ldquo;till we find out the
+truth before Thoth. Ki was speaking of you, young man. I did not pay much
+attention to him, but it was something about a sudden vow of friendship between
+you and the Prince here. There was a cup in the story too, an alabaster cup
+that seemed familiar to me. Ki said it was broken.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seti started and I began angrily:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do you know of that cup? Where were you hid, O Priest?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, in your souls, I suppose,&rdquo; he answered dreamily, &ldquo;or
+rather Ki was. But I know nothing, and am not curious. If you had broken the
+cup with a woman now, it would have been more interesting, even to an old man.
+Be so good as to answer the Prince&rsquo;s question as to whether he or his
+cousin Amenmeses will triumph at the last, for on that matter both Ki and I are
+curious.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Am I a seer,&rdquo; I began again still more angrily, &ldquo;that I
+should read the future?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think so, a little, but that is what I want to find out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He hobbled towards me, laid one of his claw-like hands upon my arm, and said in
+a new voice of command:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Look now upon that throne and tell me what you see there.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I obeyed him because I must, staring up the hall at the empty throne. At first
+I saw nothing. Then figures seemed to flit around it. From among these figures
+emerged the shape of the Count Amenmeses. He sat upon the throne, looking about
+him proudly, and I noted that he was no longer clad as a prince but as Pharaoh
+himself. Presently hook-nosed men appeared who dragged him from his seat. He
+fell, as I thought, into water, for it seemed to splash up above him. Next Seti
+the Prince appeared to mount the throne, led thither by a woman, of whom I
+could only see the back. I saw him distinctly wearing the double crown and
+holding a sceptre in his hand. He also melted away and others came whom I did
+not know, though I thought that one of them was like to the Princess Userti.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now all were gone and I was telling Bakenkhonsu everything I had witnessed like
+a man who speaks in his sleep, not by his own will. Suddenly I woke up and
+laughed at my own foolishness. But the other two did not laugh; they regarded
+me very gravely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thought that you were something of a seer,&rdquo; said the old priest,
+&ldquo;or rather Ki thought it. I could not quite believe Ki, because he said
+that the young person whom I should find with the Prince here this morning
+would be one who loved him with all the heart, and it is only a woman who loves
+with all the heart, is it not? Or so the world believes. Well, I will talk the
+matter over with Ki. Hush! Pharaoh comes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As he spoke from far away rose a cry of&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap04"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br />
+THE COURT OF BETROTHAL</h2>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Life! Blood! Strength!&rdquo; echoed everyone in the great hall, falling
+to their knees and bending their foreheads to the ground. Even the Prince and
+the aged Bakenkhonsu prostrated themselves thus as though before the presence
+of a god. And, indeed, Pharaoh Meneptah, passing through the patch of sunlight
+at the head of the hall, wearing the double crown upon his head and arrayed in
+royal robes and ornaments, looked like a god, no less, as the multitude of the
+people of Egypt held him to be. He was an old man with the face of one worn by
+years and care, but from his person majesty seemed to flow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With him, walking a step or two behind, went Nehesi his Vizier, a shrivelled,
+parchment-faced officer whose cunning eyes rolled about the place, and Roy the
+High-priest, and Hora the Chamberlain of the Table, and Meranu the Washer of
+the King&rsquo;s Hands, and Yuy the private scribe, and many others whom
+Bakenkhonsu named to me as they appeared. Then there were fan-bearers and a
+gorgeous band of lords who were called King&rsquo;s Companions and Head Butlers
+and I know not who besides, and after these guards with spears and helms that
+shone like gold, and black swordsmen from the southern land of Kesh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But one woman accompanied his Majesty, walking alone immediately behind him in
+front of the Vizier and the High-priest. She was the Royal Daughter, the
+Princess Userti, who looked, I thought, prouder and more splendid than any
+there, though somewhat pale and anxious.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pharaoh came to the steps of the throne. The Vizier and the High-priest
+advanced to help him up the steps, for he was feeble with age. He waved them
+aside, and beckoning to his daughter, rested his hand upon her shoulder and by
+her aid mounted the throne. I thought that there was meaning in this; it was as
+though he would show to all the assembly that this princess was the prop of
+Egypt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For a little while he stood still and Userti sat herself down on the topmost
+step, resting her chin upon her jewelled hand. There he stood searching the
+place with his eyes. He lifted his sceptre and all rose, hundreds and hundreds
+of them throughout the hall, their garments rustling as they rose like leaves
+in a sudden wind. He seated himself and once more from every throat went up the
+regal salutation that was the king&rsquo;s alone, of&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the silence that followed I heard him say, to the Princess, I think:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Amenmeses I see, and others of our kin, but where is my son Seti, the
+Prince of Egypt?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Watching us no doubt from some vestibule. My brother loves not
+ceremonials,&rdquo; answered Userti.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, with a little sigh, Seti stepped forward, followed by Bakenkhonsu and
+myself, and at a distance by other members of his household. As he marched up
+the long hall all drew to this side or that, saluting him with low bows.
+Arriving in front of the throne he bent till his knee touched the ground,
+saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I give greeting, O King and Father.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I give greeting, O Prince and Son. Be seated,&rdquo; answered Meneptah.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seti seated himself in a chair that had been made ready for him at the foot of
+the throne, and on its right, and in another chair to the left, but set farther
+from the steps, Amenmeses seated himself also. At a motion from the Prince I
+took my stand behind his chair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The formal business of the Court began. At the beckoning of an usher people of
+all sorts appeared singly and handed in petitions written on rolled-up papyri,
+which the Vizier Nehesi took and threw into a leathern sack that was held open
+by a black slave. In some cases an answer to his petition, whereof this was
+only the formal delivery, was handed back to the suppliant, who touched his
+brow with the roll that perhaps meant everything to him, and bowed himself away
+to learn his fate. Then appeared sheiks of the desert tribes, and captains from
+fortresses in Syria, and traders who had been harmed by enemies, and even
+peasants who had suffered violence from officers, each to make his prayer. Of
+all of these supplications the scribes took notes, while to some the Vizier and
+councillors made answer. But as yet Pharaoh said nothing. There he sat silent
+on his splendid throne of ivory and gold, like a god of stone above the altar,
+staring down the long hall and through the open doors as though he would read
+the secrets of the skies beyond.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I told you that courts were wearisome, friend Ana,&rdquo; whispered the
+Prince to me without turning his head. &ldquo;Do you not already begin to wish
+that you were back writing tales at Memphis?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before I could answer some movement in the throng at the end of the hall drew
+the eyes of the Prince and of all of us. I looked, and saw advancing towards
+the throne a tall, bearded man already old, although his black hair was but
+grizzled with grey. He was arrayed in a white linen robe, over which hung a
+woollen cloak such as shepherds wear, and he carried in his hand a long
+thornwood staff. His face was splendid and very handsome, and his black eyes
+flashed like fire. He walked forward slowly, looking neither to the left nor
+the right, and the throng made way for him as though he were a prince. Indeed,
+I thought that they showed more fear of him than of any prince, since they
+shrank from him as he came. Nor was he alone, for after him walked another man
+who was very like to him, but as I judged, still older, for his beard, which
+hung down to his middle, was snow-white as was the hair on his head. He also
+was dressed in a sheepskin cloak and carried a staff in his hand. Now a whisper
+rose among the people and the whisper said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The prophets of the men of Israel! The prophets of the men of
+Israel!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The two stood before the throne and looked at Pharaoh, making no obeisance.
+Pharaoh looked at them and was silent. For a long space they stood thus in the
+midst of a great quiet, but Pharaoh would not speak, and none of his officers
+seemed to dare to open their mouths. At length the first of the prophets spoke
+in a clear, cold voice as some conqueror might do.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You know me, Pharaoh, and my errand.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know you,&rdquo; answered Pharaoh slowly, &ldquo;as well I may, seeing
+that we played together when we were little. You are that Hebrew whom my
+sister, she who sleeps in Osiris, took to be as a son to her, giving to you a
+name that means &lsquo;drawn forth&rsquo; because she drew you forth as an
+infant from among the reeds of Nile. Aye, I know you and your brother also, but
+your errand I know not.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This is my errand, Pharaoh, or rather the errand of Jahveh, God of
+Israel, for whom I speak. Have you not heard it before? It is that you should
+let his people go to do sacrifice to him in the wilderness.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who is Jahveh? I know not Jahveh who serve Amon and the gods of Egypt,
+and why should I let your people go?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Jahveh is the God of Israel, the great God of all gods whose power you
+shall learn if you will not hearken, Pharaoh. As for why you should let the
+people go, ask it of the Prince your son who sits yonder. Ask him of what he
+saw in the streets of this city but last night, and of a certain judgment that
+he passed upon one of the officers of Pharaoh. Or if he will not tell you,
+learn it from the lips of the maiden who is named Merapi, Moon of Israel, the
+daughter of Nathan the Levite. Stand forward, Merapi, daughter of Nathan.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then from the throng at the back of the hall came forward Merapi, clad in a
+white robe and with a black veil thrown about her head in token of mourning,
+but not so as to hide her face. Up the hall she glided and made obeisance to
+Pharaoh, as she did so, casting one swift look at Seti where he sat. Then she
+stood still, looking, as I thought, wonderfully beautiful in that simple robe
+of white and the veil of black.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Speak, woman,&rdquo; said Pharaoh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She obeyed, telling all the tale in her low and honeyed voice, nor did any seem
+to think it long or wearisome. At length she ended, and Pharaoh said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Say, Seti my son, is this truth?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is truth, O my Father. By virtue of my powers as Governor of this
+city I caused the captain Khuaka to be put to death for the crime of murder
+done by him before my eyes in the streets of the city.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perchance you did right and perchance you did wrong, Son Seti. At least
+you are the best judge, and because he struck your royal person, this Khuaka
+deserved to die.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again he was silent for a while staring through the open doors at the sky
+beyond. Then he said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What would ye more, Prophets of Jahveh? Justice has been done upon my
+officer who slew the man of your people. A life has been taken for a life
+according to the strict letter of the law. The matter is finished. Unless you
+have aught to say, get you gone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By the command of the Lord our God,&rdquo; answered the prophet,
+&ldquo;we have this to say to you, O Pharaoh. Lift the heavy yoke from off the
+neck of the people of Israel. Bid that they cease from the labour of the making
+of bricks to build your walls and cities.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And if I refuse, what then?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then the curse of Jahveh shall be on you, Pharaoh, and with plague upon
+plague shall he smite this land of Egypt.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now a sudden rage seized Meneptah.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What!&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;Do you dare to threaten me in my own
+palace, and would ye cause all the multitude of the people of Israel who have
+grown fat in the land to cease from their labours? Hearken, my servants, and,
+scribes, write down my decree. Go ye to the country of Goshen and say to the
+Israelites that the bricks they made they shall make as aforetime and more work
+shall they do than aforetime in the days of my father, Rameses. Only no more
+straw shall be given to them for the making of the bricks. Because they are
+idle, let them go forth and gather the straw themselves; let them gather it
+from the face of the fields.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was silence for a while. Then with one voice both the prophets spoke,
+pointing with their wands to Pharaoh:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In the Name of the Lord God we curse you, Pharaoh, who soon shall die
+and make answer for this sin. The people of Egypt we curse also. Ruin shall be
+their portion; death shall be their bread and blood shall they drink in a great
+darkness. Moreover, at the last Pharaoh shall let the people go.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, waiting no answer, they turned and strode away side by side, nor did any
+man hinder them in their goings. Again there was silence in the hall, the
+silence of fear, for these were awful words that the prophets had spoken.
+Pharaoh knew it, for his chin sank upon his breast and his face that had been
+red with rage turned white. Userti hid her eyes with her hand as though to shut
+out some evil vision, and even Seti seemed ill at ease as though that awful
+curse had found a home within his heart.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At a motion of Pharaoh&rsquo;s hand the Vizier Nehesi struck the ground thrice
+with his wand of office and pointed to the door, thus giving the accustomed
+sign that the Court was finished, whereon all the people turned and went away
+with bent heads speaking no words one to another. Presently the great hall was
+emptied save for the officers and guards and those who attended upon Pharaoh.
+When everyone had gone Seti the Prince rose and bowed before the throne.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Pharaoh,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;be pleased to hearken. We have heard
+very evil words spoken by these Hebrew men, words that threaten your divine
+life, O Pharaoh, and call down a curse upon the Upper and the Lower Land.
+Pharaoh, these people of Israel hold that they suffer wrong and are oppressed.
+Now give me, your son, a writing under your hand and seal, by virtue of which I
+shall have power to go down to the Land of Goshen and inquire of this matter,
+and afterwards make report of the truth to you. Then, if it seems to you that
+the People of Israel are unjustly dealt by, you may lighten their burden and
+bring the curse of their prophets to nothing. But if it seems to you that the
+tales they tell are idle then your words shall stand.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now, listening, I, Ana, thought that Pharaoh would once more be angry. But it
+was not so, for when he spoke again it was in the voice of one who is crushed
+by grief or weariness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have your will, Son,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Only take with you a great
+guard of soldiers lest these hook-nosed dogs should do you mischief. I trust
+them not, who, like the Hyksos whose blood runs in many of them, were ever the
+foes of Egypt. Did they not conspire with the Ninebow Barbarians whom I crushed
+in the great battle, and do they not now threaten us in the name of their
+outland god? Still, let the writing be prepared and I will seal it. And stay. I
+think, Seti, that you, who were ever gentle-natured, have somewhat too soft a
+heart towards these shepherd slaves. Therefore I will not send you alone.
+Amenmeses your cousin shall go with you, but under your command. It is
+spoken.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Life! Blood! Strength!&rdquo; said both Seti and Amenmeses, thus
+acknowledging the king&rsquo;s command.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I thought that all was finished. But it was not so, for presently Pharaoh
+said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let the guards withdraw to the end of the hall and with them the
+servants. Let the King&rsquo;s councillors and the officers of the household
+remain.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Instantly all saluted and withdrew out of hearing. I, too, made ready to go,
+but the Prince said to me:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Stay, that you may take note of what passes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pharaoh, watching, saw if he did not hear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who is that man, Son?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He is Ana my private scribe and librarian, O Pharaoh, whom I trust. It
+was he who saved me from harm but last night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You say it, Son. Let him remain in attendance on you, knowing that if he
+betrays our council he dies.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Userti looked up frowning as though she were about to speak. If so, she changed
+her mind and was silent, perhaps because Pharaoh&rsquo;s word once spoken could
+not be altered. Bakenkhonsu remained also as a Councillor of the King according
+to his right.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When all had gone Pharaoh, who had been brooding, lifted his head and spoke
+slowly but in the voice of one who gives a judgment that may not be questioned,
+saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Prince Seti, you are my only son born of Queen Ast-Nefert, royal Sister,
+royal Mother, who sleeps in the bosom of Osiris. It is true that you are not my
+first-born son, since the Count Ramessu&rdquo;&mdash;here he pointed to a stout
+mild-faced man of pleasing, rather foolish appearance&mdash;&ldquo;is your
+elder by two years. But, as he knows well, his mother, who is still with us, is
+a Syrian by birth and of no royal blood, and therefore he can never sit upon
+the throne of Egypt. Is it not so, my son Ramessu?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is so, O Pharaoh,&rdquo; answered the Count in a pleasant voice,
+&ldquo;nor do I seek ever to sit upon that throne, who am well content with the
+offices and wealth that Pharaoh has been pleased to confer upon me, his
+first-born.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let the words of the Count Ramessu be written down,&rdquo; said Pharaoh,
+&ldquo;and placed in the temple of Ptah of this city, and in the temples of
+Ptah at Memphis and of Amon at Thebes, that hereafter they may never be
+questioned.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The scribes in attendance wrote down the words and, at a sign from the Prince
+Seti, I also wrote them down, setting the papyrus I had with me on my knee.
+When this was finished Pharaoh went on.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Therefore, O Prince Seti, you are the heir of Egypt and perhaps, as
+those Hebrew prophets said, will ere long be called upon to sit in my place on
+its throne.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;May the King live for ever!&rdquo; exclaimed Seti, &ldquo;for well he
+knows that I do not seek his crown and dignities.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do know it well, my son; so well that I wish you thought more of that
+crown and those dignities which, if the gods will, must come to you. If they
+will it not, next in the order of succession stands your cousin, the Count
+Amenmeses, who is also of royal blood both on his father&rsquo;s and his
+mother&rsquo;s side, and after him I know not who, unless it be my daughter and
+your half-sister, the royal Princess Userti, Lady of Egypt.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now Userti spoke, very earnestly, saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Pharaoh, surely my right in the succession, according to ancient
+precedent, precedes that of my cousin, the Count Amenmeses.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Amenmeses was about to answer, but Pharaoh lifted his hand and he was silent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is matter for those learned in such lore to discuss,&rdquo; Meneptah
+replied in a somewhat hesitating voice. &ldquo;I pray the gods that it may
+never be needful that this high question should be considered in the Council.
+Nevertheless, let the words of the royal Princess be written down. Now, Prince
+Seti,&rdquo; he went on when this had been done, &ldquo;you are still
+unmarried, and if you have children they are not royal.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have none, O Pharaoh,&rdquo; said Seti.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is it so?&rdquo; answered Meneptah indifferently. &ldquo;The Count
+Amenmeses has children I know, for I have seen them, but by his wife Unuri, who
+also is of the royal line, he has none.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here I heard Amenmeses mutter, &ldquo;Being my aunt that is not strange,&rdquo;
+a saying at which Seti smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My daughter, the Princess, is also unmarried. So it seems that the
+fountain of the royal blood is running dry&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now it is coming,&rdquo; whispered Seti below his breath so that only I
+could hear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Therefore,&rdquo; continued Pharaoh, &ldquo;as you know, Prince Seti,
+for the royal Princess of Egypt by my command went to speak to you of this
+matter last night, I make a decree&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Pardon, O Pharaoh,&rdquo; interrupted the Prince, &ldquo;my sister spoke
+to me of no decree last night, save that I should attend at the court here
+to-day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because I could not, Seti, seeing that another was present with you whom
+you refused to dismiss,&rdquo; and she let her eyes rest on me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It matters not,&rdquo; said Pharaoh, &ldquo;since now I will utter it
+with my own lips which perhaps is better. It is my will, Prince, that you
+forthwith wed the royal Princess Userti, that children of the true blood of the
+Ramessides may be born. Hear and obey.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now Userti shifted her eyes from me to Seti, watching him very closely. Seated
+at his side upon the ground with my writing roll spread across my knee, I, too,
+watched him closely, and noted that his lips turned white and his face grew
+fixed and strange.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I hear the command of Pharaoh,&rdquo; he said in a low voice making
+obeisance, and hesitated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have you aught to add?&rdquo; asked Meneptah sharply.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Only, O Pharaoh, that though this would be a marriage decreed for
+reasons of the State, still there is a lady who must be given in marriage, and
+she my half-sister who heretofore has only loved me as a relative. Therefore, I
+would know from her lips if it is her will to take me as a husband.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now all looked at Userti who replied in a cold voice:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In this matter, Prince, as in all others I have no will but that of
+Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have heard,&rdquo; interrupted Meneptah impatiently, &ldquo;and as
+in our House it has always been the custom for kin to marry kin, why should it
+not be her will? Also, who else should she marry? Amenmeses is already wed.
+There remains only Saptah his brother who is younger than
+herself&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So am I,&rdquo; murmured Seti, &ldquo;by two long years,&rdquo; but
+happily Userti did not hear him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, my father,&rdquo; she said with decision, &ldquo;never will I take
+a deformed man to husband.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now from the shadow on the further side of the throne, where I could not see
+him, there hobbled forward a young noble, short in stature, light-haired like
+Seti, and with a sharp, clever face which put me in mind of that of a jackal
+(indeed for this reason he was named Thoth by the common people, after the
+jackal-headed god). He was very angry, for his cheeks were flushed and his
+small eyes flashed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Must I listen, Pharaoh,&rdquo; he said in a little voice, &ldquo;while
+my cousin the Royal Princess reproaches me in public for my lame foot, which I
+have because my nurse let me fall when I was still in arms?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then his nurse let his grandfather fall also, for he too was
+club-footed, as I who have seen him naked in his cradle can bear
+witness,&rdquo; whispered old Bakenkhonsu.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It seems so, Count Saptah, unless you stop your ears,&rdquo; replied
+Pharaoh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She says she will not marry me,&rdquo; went on Saptah, &ldquo;me who
+from childhood have been a slave to her and to no other woman.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not by my wish, Saptah. Indeed, I pray you to go and be a slave to any
+woman whom you will,&rdquo; exclaimed Userti.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But I say,&rdquo; continued Saptah, &ldquo;that one day she shall marry
+me, for the Prince Seti will not live for ever.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How do you know that, Cousin?&rdquo; asked Seti. &ldquo;The High-priest
+here will tell you a different story.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now certain of those present turned their heads away to hide the smile upon
+their faces. Yet on this day some god spoke with Saptah&rsquo;s voice making
+him a prophet, since in a year to come she did marry him, in order that she
+might stay upon the throne at a time of trouble when Egypt would not suffer
+that a woman should have sole rule over the land.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But Pharaoh did not smile like the courtiers; indeed he grew angry.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Peace, Saptah!&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Who are you that wrangle before
+me, talking of the death of kings and saying that you will wed the Royal
+princess? One more such word and you shall be driven into banishment. Hearken
+now. Almost am I minded to declare my daughter, the Royal Princess, sole
+heiress to the throne, seeing that in her there is more strength and wisdom
+than in any other of our House.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If such be Pharaoh&rsquo;s will, let Pharaoh&rsquo;s will be
+done,&rdquo; said Seti most humbly. &ldquo;Well I know my own unworthiness to
+fill so high a station, and by all the gods I swear that my beloved sister will
+find no more faithful subject than myself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You mean, Seti,&rdquo; interrupted Userti, &ldquo;that rather than marry
+me you would abandon your right to the double crown. Truly I am honoured. Seti,
+whether you reign or I, I will not marry you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What words are these I hear?&rdquo; cried Meneptah. &ldquo;Is there
+indeed one in this land of Egypt who dares to say that Pharaoh&rsquo;s decree
+shall be disobeyed? Write it down, Scribes, and you, O Officers, let it be
+proclaimed from Thebes to the sea, that on the third day from now at the hour
+of noon in the temple of Hathor in this city, the Prince, the Royal Heir, Seti
+Meneptah, Beloved of Ra, will wed the Royal Princess of Egypt, Lily of Love,
+Beloved of Hathor, Userti, Daughter of me, the god.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Life! Blood! Strength!&rdquo; called all the Court.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, guided by some high officer, the Prince Seti was led before the throne
+and the Princess Userti was set beside him, or rather facing him. According to
+the ancient custom a great gold cup was brought and filled with red wine, to me
+it looked like blood. Userti took the cup and, kneeling, gave it to the Prince,
+who drank and gave it back to her that she might also drink in solemn token of
+their betrothal. Is not the scene graven on the broad bracelets of gold which
+in after days Seti wore when he sat upon the throne, those same bracelets that
+at a future time I with my own hands clasped about the wrists of dead Userti?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then he stretched out his hand which she touched with her lips, and bending
+down he kissed her on the brow. Lastly, Pharaoh, descending to the lowest step
+of the throne, laid his sceptre, first upon the head of the Prince, and next
+upon that of the Princess, blessing them both in the name of himself, of his Ka
+or Double, and of the spirits and Kas of all their forefathers, kings and
+queens of Egypt, thus appointing them to come after him when he had been
+gathered to the bosom of the gods.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These things done, he departed in state, surrounded by his court, preceded and
+followed by his guards and leaning on the arm of the Princess Userti, whom he
+loved better than anyone in the world.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A while later I stood alone with the Prince in his private chamber, where I had
+first seen him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is finished,&rdquo; he said in a cheerful voice, &ldquo;and I tell
+you, Ana, that I feel quite, quite happy. Have you ever shivered upon the bank
+of a river of a winter morning, fearing to enter, and yet, when you did enter,
+have you not been pleased to find that the icy water refreshed you and made you
+not cold but hot?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, Prince. It is when one comes out of the water, if the wind blows
+and no sun shines, that one feels colder than before.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;True, Ana, and therefore one must not come out. One should stop there
+till one&mdash;drowns or is eaten by a crocodile. But, say, did I do it
+well?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Old Bakenkhonsu told me, Prince, that he had been present at many royal
+betrothals, I think he said eleven, and had never seen one conducted with more
+grace. He added that the way in which you kissed the brow of her Highness was
+perfect, as was all your demeanour after the first argument.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And so it would remain, Ana, if I were never called upon to do more than
+kiss her brow, to which I have been accustomed from boyhood. Oh! Ana,
+Ana,&rdquo; he added in a kind of cry, &ldquo;already you are becoming a
+courtier like the rest of them, a courtier who cannot speak the truth. Well,
+nor can I, so why should I blame you? Tell me again all about your marriage,
+Ana, of how it began and how it ended.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V.<br />
+THE PROPHECY</h2>
+
+<p>
+Whether or no the Prince Seti saw Userti again before the hour of his marriage
+with her I cannot say, because he never told me. Indeed I was not present at
+the marriage, for the reason that I had been granted leave to return to
+Memphis, there to settle my affairs and sell my house on entering upon my
+appointment as private scribe to his Highness. Thus it came about that fourteen
+full days went by from that of the holding of the Court of Betrothal before I
+found myself standing once more at the gate of the Prince&rsquo;s palace,
+attended by a servant who led an ass on which were laden all my manuscripts and
+certain possessions that had descended to me from my ancestors with the
+title-deeds of their tombs. Different indeed was my reception on this my second
+coming. Even as I reached the steps the old chamberlain Pambasa appeared,
+running down them so fast that his white robes and beard streamed upon the air.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Greeting, most learned scribe, most honourable Ana,&rdquo; he panted.
+&ldquo;Glad indeed am I to see you, since every hour his Highness asks if you
+have returned, and blames me because you have not come. Verily I believe that
+if you had stayed upon the road another day I should have been sent to look for
+you, who have had sharp words said to me because I did not arrange that you
+should be accompanied by a guard, as though the Vizier Nehesi would have paid
+the costs of a guard without the direct order of Pharaoh. O most excellent Ana,
+give me of the charm which you have doubtless used to win the love of our royal
+master, and I will pay you well for it who find it easier to earn his
+wrath.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will, Pambasa. Here it is&mdash;write better stories than I do instead
+of telling them, and he will love you more than he does me. But say&mdash;how
+went the marriage? I have heard upon the way that it was very splendid.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Splendid! Oh! it was ten times more than splendid. It was as though the
+god Osiris were once more wed to the goddess Isis in the very halls of heaven.
+Indeed his Highness, the bridegroom, was dressed as a god, yes, he wore the
+robes and the holy ornaments of Amon. And the procession! And the feast that
+Pharaoh gave! I tell you that the Prince was so overcome with joy and all this
+weight of glory that, before it was over, looking at him I saw that his eyes
+were closed, being dazzled by the gleam of gold and jewels and the loveliness
+of his royal bride. He told me that it was so himself, fearing perhaps lest I
+should have thought that he was asleep. Then there were the presents, something
+to everyone of us according to his degree. I got&mdash;well it matters not.
+And, learned Ana, I did not forget you. Knowing well that everything would be
+gone before you returned I spoke your name in the ear of his Highness, offering
+to keep your gift.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Indeed, Pambasa, and what did he say?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He said that he was keeping it himself. When I stared wondering what it
+might be, for I saw nothing on him, he added, &lsquo;It is here,&rsquo; and
+touched the private signet guard that he has always worn, an ancient ring of
+gold, but of no great value I should say, with &lsquo;Beloved of Thoth and of
+the King&rsquo; cut upon it. It seems that he must take it off to make room for
+another and much finer ring which her Highness has given him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now, by this time, the ass having been unloaded by the slaves and led away, we
+had passed through the hall where many were idling as ever, and were come to
+the private apartments of the palace.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This way,&rdquo; said Pambasa. &ldquo;The orders are that I am to take
+you to the Prince wherever he may be, and just now he is seated in the great
+apartment with her Highness, where they have been receiving homage and
+deputations from distant cities. The last left about half an hour ago.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;First I will prepare myself, worthy Pambasa,&rdquo; I began.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, no, the orders are instant, I dare not disobey them. Enter,&rdquo;
+and with a courtly flourish he drew a rich curtain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By Amon,&rdquo; exclaimed a weary voice which I knew as that of the
+Prince, &ldquo;here come more councillors or priests. Prepare, my sister,
+prepare!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I pray you, Seti,&rdquo; answered another voice, that of Userti,
+&ldquo;to learn to call me by my right name, which is no longer sister. Nor,
+indeed, am I your full sister.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I crave your pardon,&rdquo; said Seti. &ldquo;Prepare, Royal Wife,
+prepare!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By now the curtain was fully drawn and I stood, travel-stained, forlorn and, to
+tell the truth, trembling a little, for I feared her Highness, in the doorway,
+hesitating to pass the threshold. Beyond was a splendid chamber full of light,
+in the centre of which upon a carven and golden chair, one of two that were set
+there, sat her Highness magnificently apparelled, faultlessly beautiful and
+calm. She was engaged in studying a painted roll, left no doubt by the last
+deputation, for others similar to it were laid neatly side by side upon a table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The second chair was empty, for the Prince was walking restlessly up and down
+the chamber, his ceremonial robe somewhat disarrayed and the uræus circlet of
+gold which he wore, tilted back upon his head, because of his habit of running
+his fingers through his brown hair. As I still stood in the dark shadow, for
+Pambasa had left me, and thus remained unseen, the talk went on.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am prepared, Husband. Pardon me, it is you who look otherwise. Why
+would you dismiss the scribes and the household before the ceremony was
+ended?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because they wearied me,&rdquo; said Seti, &ldquo;with their continual
+bowing and praising and formalities.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In which I saw nothing unusual. Now they must be recalled.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let whoever it is enter,&rdquo; he exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I stepped forward into the light, prostrating myself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why,&rdquo; he cried, &ldquo;it is Ana returned from Memphis! Draw near,
+Ana, and a thousand welcomes to you. Do you know I thought that you were
+another high-priest, or governor of some Nome of which I had never heard.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ana! Who is Ana?&rdquo; asked the Princess. &ldquo;Oh! I remember that
+scribe&mdash;&mdash;. Well, it is plain that he has returned from
+Memphis,&rdquo; and she eyed my dusty robe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Royal One,&rdquo; I murmured abashed, &ldquo;do not blame me that I
+enter your presence thus. Pambasa led me here against my will by the direct
+order of the Prince.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is it so? Say, Seti, does this man bring tidings of import from Memphis
+that you needed his presence in such haste?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, Userti, at least I think so. You have the writings safe, have you
+not, Ana?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite safe, your Highness,&rdquo; I answered, though I knew not of what
+writings he spoke, unless they were the manuscripts of my stories.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then, my Lord, I will leave you to talk of the tidings from Memphis and
+these writings,&rdquo; said the Princess.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, yes. We must talk of them, Userti. Also of the journey to the land
+of Goshen on which Ana starts with me to-morrow.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To-morrow! Why this morning you told me it was fixed for three days
+hence.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Did I, Sister&mdash;I mean Wife? If so, it was because I was not sure
+whether Ana, who is to be my chariot companion, would be back.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A scribe your chariot companion! Surely it would be more fitting that
+your cousin Amenmeses&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To Set with Amenmeses!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;You know well,
+Userti, that the man is hateful to me with his cunning yet empty talk.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Indeed! I grieve to hear it, for when you hate you show it, and
+Amenmeses may be a bad enemy. Then if not our cousin Amenmeses who is not
+hateful to me, there is Saptah.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thank you; I will not travel in a cage with a jackal.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Jackal! I do not love Saptah, but one of the royal blood of Egypt a
+jackal! Then there is Nehesi the Vizier, or the General of the escort whose
+name I forget.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you think, Userti, that I wish to talk about state economies with
+that old money-sack, or to listen to boastings of deeds he never did in war
+from a half-bred Nubian butcher?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not know, Husband. Yet of what will you talk with this Ana? Of
+poems, I suppose, and silliness. Or will it be perchance of Merapi, Moon of
+Israel, whom I gather both of you think so beautiful. Well, have your way. You
+tell me that I am not to accompany you upon this journey, I your new-made wife,
+and now I find that it is because you wish my place to be filled by a writer of
+tales whom you picked up the other day&mdash;your &lsquo;twin in Ra&rsquo;
+forsooth! Fare you well, my Lord,&rdquo; and she rose from her seat, gathering
+up her robes with both hands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then Seti grew angry.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Userti,&rdquo; he said, stamping upon the floor, &ldquo;you should not
+use such words. You know well that I do not take you with me because there may
+be danger yonder among the Hebrews. Moreover, it is not Pharaoh&rsquo;s
+wish.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She turned and answered with cold courtesy:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then I crave your pardon and thank you for your kind thought for the
+safety of my person. I knew not this mission was so dangerous. Be careful,
+Seti, that the scribe Ana comes to no harm.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So saying she bowed and vanished through the curtains.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ana,&rdquo; said Seti, &ldquo;tell me, for I never was quick at figures,
+how many minutes is it from now till the fourth hour to-morrow morning when I
+shall order my chariot to be ready? Also, do you know whether it is possible to
+travel from Goshen across the marshes and to return by Syria? Or, failing that,
+to travel across the desert to Thebes and sail down the Nile in the
+spring?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! my Prince, my Prince,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;I pray you to dismiss
+me. Let me go anywhere out of the reach of her Highness&rsquo;s tongue.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is strange how alike we think upon every matter, Ana, even of Merapi
+and the tongues of royal ladies. Hearken to my command. You are not to go. If
+it is a question of going, there are others who will go first. Moreover, you
+cannot go, but must stay and bear your burdens as I bear mine. Remember the
+broken cup, Ana.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I remember, my Prince, but sooner would I be scourged with rods than by
+such words as those to which I must listen.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yet that very night, when I had left the Prince, I was destined to hear more
+pleasant words from this same changeful, or perchance politic, royal lady. She
+sent for me and I went, much afraid. I found her in a small chamber alone, save
+for one old lady of honour who sat at the end of the room and appeared to be
+deaf, which perhaps was why she was chosen. Userti bade me be seated before her
+very courteously, and spoke to me thus, whether because of some talk she had
+held with the Prince or not, I do not know.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Scribe Ana, I ask your pardon if, being vexed and wearied, I said to you
+and of you to-day what I now wish I had left unsaid. I know well that you,
+being of the gentle blood of Egypt, will make no report of what you heard
+outside these walls.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;May my tongue be cut out first,&rdquo; I answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It seems, Scribe Ana, that my lord the Prince has taken a great love of
+you. How or why this came about so suddenly, you being a man, I do not
+understand, but I am sure that as it is so, it must be because there is much in
+you to love, since never did I know the Prince to show deep regard for one who
+was not most honourable and worthy. Now things being so, it is plain that you
+will become the favourite of his Highness, a man who does not change his mind
+in such matters, and that he will tell you all his secret thoughts, perhaps
+some that he hides from the Councillors of State, or even from me. In short you
+will grow into a power in the land and perhaps one day be the greatest in
+it&mdash;after Pharaoh&mdash;although you may still seem to be but a private
+scribe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not pretend to you that I should have wished this to be so, who
+would rather that my husband had but one real councillor&mdash;myself. Yet
+seeing that it is so, I bow my head, hoping that it may be decreed for the
+best. If ever any jealousy should overcome me in this matter and I should speak
+sharply to you, as I did to-day, I ask your pardon in advance for that which
+has not happened, as I have asked it for that which has happened. I pray of
+you, Scribe Ana, that you will do your best to influence the mind of the Prince
+for good, since he is easily led by any whom he loves. I pray you also being
+quick and thoughtful, as I see you are, that you will make a study of
+statecraft, and of the policies of our royal House, coming to me, if it be
+needful, for instruction therein, so that you may be able to guide the feet of
+the Prince aright, should he turn to you for counsel.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;All of this I will do, your Highness, if by any chance it lies in my
+power, though who am I that I should hope to make a path for the feet of kings?
+Moreover, I would add this, although he is so gentle-natured, I think that in
+the end the Prince is one who will always choose his own path.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It may be so Ana. At the least I thank you. I pray you to be sure also
+that in me you will always have a friend and not an enemy, although at times
+the quickness of my nature, which has never been controlled, may lead you to
+think otherwise. Now I will say one more thing that shall be secret between us.
+I know that the Prince loves me as a friend and relative rather than as a wife,
+and that he would not have sought this marriage of himself, as is perhaps
+natural. I know, too, that other women will come into his life, though these
+may be fewer than in the case of most kings, because he is more hard to please.
+Of such I cannot complain, as this is according to the customs of our country.
+I fear only one thing&mdash;namely that some woman, ceasing to be his toy, may
+take Seti&rsquo;s heart and make him altogether hers. In this matter, Scribe
+Ana, as in others I ask your help, since I would be queen of Egypt in all ways,
+not in name only.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your Highness, how can I say to the Prince&mdash;&lsquo;So much shall
+you love this or that woman and no more?&rsquo; Moreover, why do you fear that
+which has not and may never come about?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not know how you can say such a thing, Scribe, still I ask you to
+say it if you can. As to why I fear, it is because I seem to feel the near
+shadow of some woman lying cold upon me and building a wall of blackness
+between his Highness and myself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is but a dream, Princess.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mayhap. I hope so. Yet I think otherwise. Oh! Ana, cannot you, who study
+the hearts of men and women, understand my case? I have married where I can
+never hope to be loved as other women are, I who am a wife, yet not a wife. I
+read your thought; it is&mdash;why then did you marry? Since I have told you so
+much I will tell you that also. First, it is because the Prince is different to
+other men and in his own fashion above them, yes, far above any with whom I
+could have wed as royal heiress of Egypt. Secondly, because being cut off from
+love, what remains to me but ambition? At least I would be a great queen, as
+was Hatshepu in her day, and lift my country out of the many troubles in which
+it is sunk and write my name large upon the books of history, which I could
+only do by taking Pharaoh&rsquo;s heir to husband, as is my duty.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She brooded a while, then added, &ldquo;Now I have shown you all my thought.
+Whether I have been wise to do so the gods know alone and time will tell
+me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Princess,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;I thank you for trusting me and I will
+help you if I may. Yet I am troubled. I, a humble man if of good blood, who a
+little while ago was but a scribe and a student, a dreamer who had known
+trouble also, have suddenly by chance, or some divine decree, been lifted high
+in the favour of the heir of Egypt, and it would seem have even won your trust.
+Now I wonder how I shall bear myself in this new place which in truth I never
+sought.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not know, who find the present and its troubles enough to carry.
+But, doubtless, the decree of which you speak that set you there has also
+written down what will be the end of all. Meanwhile, I have a gift for you.
+Say, Scribe, have you ever handled any weapon besides a pen?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, your Highness, as a lad I was skilled in sword play. Moreover,
+though I do not love war and bloodshed, some years ago I fought in the great
+battle between the Ninebow Barbarians, when Pharaoh called upon the young men
+of Memphis to do their part. With my own hands I slew two in fair fight, though
+one nearly brought me to my end,&rdquo; and I pointed to a scar which showed
+red through my grey hair where a spear had bitten deep.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is well, or so I think, who love soldiers better than stainers of
+papyrus pith.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, going to a painted chest of reeds, she took from it a wonderful shirt of
+mail fashioned of bronze rings, and a short sword also of bronze, having a
+golden hilt of which the end was shaped to the likeness of the head of a lion,
+and with her own hands gave them to me, saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;These are spoils that my grandsire, the great Rameses, took in his youth
+from a prince of the Khitah, whom he smote with his own hands in Syria in that
+battle whereof your grandfather made the poem. Wear the shirt, which no spear
+will pierce, beneath your robe and gird the sword about you when you go down
+yonder among the Israelites, whom I do not trust. I have given a like coat to
+the Prince. Let it be your duty to see that it is upon his sacred person day
+and night. Let it be your duty also, if need arises, with this sword to defend
+him to the death. Farewell.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;May all the gods reject me from the Fields of the Blessed if I fail in
+this trust,&rdquo; I answered, and departed wondering, to seek sleep which, as
+it chanced, I was not to find for a while.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For as I went down the corridor, led by one of the ladies of the household,
+whom should I find waiting at the end of it but old Pambasa to inform me with
+many bows that the Prince needed my presence. I asked how that could be seeing
+he had dismissed me for the night. He replied that he did not know, but he was
+commanded to conduct me to the private chamber, the same room in which I had
+first seen his Highness. Thither I went and found him warming himself at the
+fire, for the night was cold. Looking up he bade Pambasa admit those who were
+waiting, then noting the shirt of mail and the sword I carried in my hand, said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have been with the Princess, have you not, and she must have had
+much to say to you for your talk was long? Well, I think I can guess its
+purport who from a child have known her mind. She told you to watch me well,
+body and heart and all that comes from the heart&mdash;oh! and much else. Also
+she gave you that Syrian gear to wear among the Hebrews as she has given the
+like to me, being of a careful mind which foresees everything. Now, hearken,
+Ana; I grieve to keep you from your rest, who must be weary both with talk and
+travel. But old Bakenkhonsu, whom you know, waits without, and with him Ki the
+great magician, whom I think you have not seen. He is a man of wonderful lore
+and in some ways not altogether human. At least he does strange feats of magic,
+and at times both the past and the future seem to be open to his sight, though
+as we know neither the one nor the other, who can tell whether he reads them
+truly. Doubtless he has, or thinks he has, some message to me from the heavens,
+which I thought you might wish to hear.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wish it much, Prince, if I am worthy, and you will protect me from the
+anger of this magician whom I fear.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Anger sometimes turns to trust, Ana. Did you not find it so just now in
+the case of her Highness, as I told you might very well happen? Hush! They
+come. Be seated and prepare your tablets to make record of what they say.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The curtains were drawn and through them came the aged Bakenkhonsu leaning upon
+his staff, and with him another man, Ki himself, clad in a white robe and
+having his head shaven, for he was an hereditary priest of Amon of Thebes and
+an initiate of Isis, Mother of Mysteries. Also his office was that of Kherheb,
+or chief magician of Egypt. At first sight there was nothing strange about this
+man. Indeed, he might well have been a middle-aged merchant by his looks; in
+body he was short and stout; in face fat and smiling. But in this jovial
+countenance were set two very strange eyes, grey-hued rather than black. While
+the rest of the face seemed to smile these eyes looked straight into
+nothingness as do those of a statue. Indeed they were like to the eyes or
+rather the eye-places of a stone statue, so deeply were they set into the head.
+For my part I can only say I thought them awful, and by their look judged that
+whatever Ki might be he was no cheat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This strange pair bowed to the Prince and seated themselves at a sign from him,
+Bakenkhonsu upon a stool because he found it difficult to rise, and Ki, who was
+younger, scribe fashion on the ground.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What did I tell you, Bakenkhonsu?&rdquo; said Ki in a full, rich voice,
+ending the words with a curious chuckle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You told me, Magician, that we should find the Prince in this chamber of
+which you described every detail to me as I see it now, although neither of us
+have entered it before. You said also that seated therein on the ground would
+be the scribe Ana, whom I know but you do not, having in his hands waxen
+tablets and a stylus and by him a coat of curious mail and a lion-hilted
+sword.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is strange,&rdquo; interrupted the Prince, &ldquo;but forgive me,
+Bakenkhonsu sees these things. If you, O Ki, would tell us what is written upon
+Ana&rsquo;s tablets which neither of you can see, it would be stranger still,
+that is if anything is written.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ki smiled and stared upwards at the ceiling. Presently he said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The scribe Ana uses a shorthand of his own that is not easy to decipher.
+Yet I see written on the tablets the price he obtained for some house in a city
+that is not named&mdash;it is so much. Also I see the sums he disbursed for
+himself, a servant, and the food of an ass at two inns where he stopped upon a
+journey. They are so much and so much. Also there is a list of papyrus rolls
+and the words, &lsquo;blue cloak,&rsquo; and then an erasure.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is that right, Ana?&rdquo; asked the Prince.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quite right,&rdquo; I answered with awe, &ldquo;only the words
+&lsquo;blue cloak,&rsquo; which it is true I wrote upon the tablet, have also
+been erased.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ki chuckled and turned his eyes from the ceiling to my face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Would your Highness wish me to tell you anything of what is written upon
+the tablets of this scribe&rsquo;s memory as well as upon those of wax which he
+holds in his hand? They are easier to decipher than the others and I see on
+them many things of interest. For instance, secret words that seem to have been
+said to him by some Great One within an hour, matters of high policy, I think.
+For instance, a certain saying, I think of your Highness&rsquo;s, as to
+shivering upon the edge of water on a cold day, which when entered produced
+heat, and the answer thereto. For instance, words that were spoken in this
+palace when an alabaster cup was broke. By the way, Scribe, that was a very
+good place you chose in which to hide one half of the cup in the false bottom
+of a chest in your chamber, a chest that is fastened with a cord and sealed
+with a scarab of the time of the second Rameses. I think that the other half of
+the cup is somewhat nearer at hand,&rdquo; and turning, he stared at the wall
+where I could see nothing save slabs of alabaster.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I sat open-mouthed, for how could this man know these things, and the
+Prince laughed outright, saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ana, I begin to think you keep your counsel ill. At least I should think
+so, were it not that you have had no time to tell what the Princess yonder may
+have said to you, and can scarcely know the trick of the sliding panel in that
+wall which I have never shown to you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ki chuckled again and a smile grew on old Bakenkhonsu&rsquo;s broad and
+wrinkled face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Prince,&rdquo; I began, &ldquo;I swear to you that never has one word
+passed my lips of aught&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know it, friend,&rdquo; broke in the Prince, &ldquo;but it seems there
+are some who do not wait for words but can read the Book of Thought. Therefore
+it is not well to meet them too often, since all have thoughts that should be
+known only to them and God. Magician, what is your business with me? Speak on
+as though we were alone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This, Prince. You go upon a journey among the Hebrews, as all have
+heard. Now, Bakenkhonsu and I, also two seers of my College, seeing that we all
+love you and that your welfare is much to Egypt, have separately sought out the
+future as regards the issue of this journey. Although what we have learned
+differs in some matters, on others it is the same. Therefore we thought it our
+duty to tell you what we have learned.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Say on, Kherheb.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;First, then, that your Highness&rsquo;s life will be in danger.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Life is always in danger, Ki. Shall I lose it? If so, do not fear to
+tell me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We do not know, but we think not, because of the rest that is revealed
+to us. We learn that it is not your body only that will be in danger. Upon this
+journey you will see a woman whom you will come to love. This woman will, we
+think, bring you much sorrow and also much joy.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then perhaps the journey is worth making, Ki, since many travel far
+before they find aught they can love. Tell me, have I met this woman?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There we are troubled, Prince, for it would seem&mdash;unless we are
+deceived&mdash;that you have met her often and often; that you have known her
+for thousands of years, as you have known that man at your side for thousands
+of years.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seti&rsquo;s face grew very interested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do you mean, Magician?&rdquo; he asked, eyeing him keenly.
+&ldquo;How can I who am still young have known a woman and a man for thousands
+of years?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ki considered him with his strange eyes, and answered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have many titles, Prince. Is not one of them &lsquo;Lord of
+Rebirths,&rsquo; and if so, how did you get it and what does it mean?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is. What it means I do not know, but it was given to me because of
+some dream that my mother had the night before I was born. Do <i>you</i> tell
+<i>me</i> what it means, since you seem to know so much.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I cannot, Prince. The secret is not one that has been shown to me. Yet
+there was an aged man, a magician like myself from whom I learned much in my
+youth&mdash;Bakenkhonsu knew him well&mdash;who made a study of this matter. He
+told me he was sure, because it had been revealed to him, that men do not live
+once only and then depart hence for ever. He said that they live many times and
+in many shapes, though not always on this world, and that between each life
+there is a wall of darkness.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If so, of what use are lives which we do not remember after death has
+shut the door of each of them?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The doors may open again at last, Prince, and show us all the chambers
+through which our feet have wandered from the beginning.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Our religion teaches us, Ki, that after death we live eternally
+elsewhere in our own bodies, which we find again on the day of resurrection.
+Now eternity, having no end, can have no beginning; it is a circle. Therefore
+if the one be true, namely that we live on, it would seem that the other must
+be true, namely that we have always lived.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is well reasoned, Prince. In the early days, before the priests
+froze the thought of man into blocks of stone and built of them shrines to a
+thousand gods, many held that this reasoning was true, as then they held that
+there was but one god.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As do these Israelites whom I go to visit. What say you of their god,
+Ki?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That <i>he</i> is the same as our gods, Prince. To men&rsquo;s eyes God
+has many faces, and each swears that the one he sees is the only true god. Yet
+they are wrong, for all are true.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Or perchance false, Ki, unless even falsehood is a part of truth. Well,
+you have told me of two dangers, one to my body and one to my heart. Has any
+other been revealed to your wisdom?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, Prince. The third is that this journey may in the end cost you your
+throne.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If I die certainly it will cost me my throne.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, Prince, if you live.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Even so, Ki, I think that I could endure life seated more humbly than on
+a throne, though whether her Highness could endure it is another matter. Then
+you say that if I go upon this journey another will be Pharaoh in my
+place.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We do not say that, Prince. It is true that our arts have shown us
+another filling your place in a time of wizardry and wonders and of the death
+of thousands. Yet when we look again we see not that other but you once more
+filling your own place.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here I, Ana, bethought me of my vision in Pharaoh&rsquo;s hall.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The matter is even worse than I thought, Ki, since having once left the
+crown behind me, I think that I should have no wish to wear it any more,&rdquo;
+said Seti. &ldquo;Who shows you all these things, and how?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Our <i>Kas</i>, which are our secret selves, show them to us, Prince,
+and in many ways. Sometimes it is by dreams or visions, sometimes by pictures
+on water, sometimes by writings in the desert sand. In all these fashions, and
+by others, our <i>Kas</i>, drawing from the infinite well of wisdom that is
+hidden in the being of every man, give us glimpses of the truth, as they give
+us who are instructed power to work marvels.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of the truth. Then these things you tell me are true?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We believe so, Prince.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then being true must happen. So what is the use of your warning me
+against what must happen? There cannot be two truths. What would you have me
+do? Not go upon this journey? Why have you told me that I must not go, since if
+I did not go the truth would become a lie, which it cannot? You say it is fated
+that I should go and because I go such and such things will come about. And yet
+you tell me not to go, for that is what you mean. Oh! Kherheb Ki and
+Bakenkhonsu, doubtless you are great magicians and strong in wisdom, but there
+are greater than you who rule the world, and there is a wisdom to which yours
+is but as a drop of water to the Nile. I thank you for your warnings, but
+to-morrow I go down to the land of Goshen to fulfil the commands of Pharaoh. If
+I come back again we will talk more of these matters here upon the earth. If I
+do not come back, perchance we will talk of them elsewhere. Farewell.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap06"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br />
+THE LAND OF GOSHEN</h2>
+
+<p>
+The Prince Seti and all his train, a very great company, came in safety to the
+land of Goshen, I, Ana, travelling with him in his chariot. It was then as now
+a rich land, quite flat after the last line of desert hills through which we
+travelled by a narrow, tortuous path. Everywhere it was watered by canals,
+between which lay the grain fields wherein the seed had just been sown. Also
+there were other fields of green fodder whereon were tethered beasts by the
+hundred, and beyond these, upon the drier soil, grazed flocks of sheep. The
+town Goshen, if so it could be called, was but a poor place, numbers of mud
+huts, no more, in the centre of which stood a building, also of mud, with two
+brick pillars in front of it, that we were told was the temple of this people,
+into the inner parts of which none might enter save their High-priest. I
+laughed at the sight of it, but the Prince reproved me, saying that I should
+not judge the spirit by the body, or of the god by his house.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We camped outside this town and soon learned that the people who dwelt in it or
+elsewhere in other towns must be numbered by the ten thousand, for more of them
+than I could count wandered round the camp to look at us. The men were
+fierce-eyed and hook-nosed; the young women well-shaped and pleasant to behold;
+the older women for the most part stout and somewhat unwieldy, and the children
+very beautiful. All were roughly clad in robes of loosely-woven, dark-coloured
+cloth, beneath which the women wore garments of white linen. Notwithstanding
+the wealth we saw about us in corn and cattle, their ornaments seemed to be
+few, or perhaps these were hidden from our sight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was easy to see that they hated us Egyptians, and even dared to despise us.
+Hate shone in their glittering eyes, and I heard them calling us the
+&lsquo;idol-worshippers&rsquo; one to the other, and asking where was our god,
+the Bull, for being ignorant they thought that we worshipped Apis (as mayhap
+some of the common people do) instead of looking upon the sacred beast as a
+symbol of the powers of Nature. Indeed they did more, for on the first night
+after our coming they slaughtered a bull marked much as Apis is, and in the
+morning we found it lying near the gate of the camp, and pinned to its hide
+with sharp thorns great numbers of the scarabæus beetle still living. For
+again they did not know that among us Egyptians this beetle is no god but an
+emblem of the Creator, because it rolls a ball of mud between its feet and sets
+therein its eggs to hatch, as the Creator rolls the world that seems to be
+round, and causes it to produce life.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now all were angry at these insults except the Prince, who laughed and said
+that he thought the jest coarse but clever. But worse was to happen. It seems
+that a soldier with wine in him had done insult to a Hebrew maiden who came
+alone to draw water at a canal. The news spread among the people and some
+thousands of them rushed to the camp, shouting and demanding vengeance in so
+threatening a manner that it was necessary to form up the regiments of guards.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Prince being summoned commanded that the girl and her kin should be
+admitted and state their case. She came, weeping and wailing and tearing her
+garments, throwing dust on her head also, though it appeared that she had taken
+no great harm from the soldier from whom she ran away. The Prince bade her
+point out the man if she could see him, and she showed us one of the bodyguard
+of the Count Amenmeses, whose face was scratched as though by a woman&rsquo;s
+nails. On being questioned he said he could remember little of the matter, but
+confessed that he had seen the maiden by the canal at moonrise and jested with
+her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The kin of this girl clamoured that he should be killed, because he had offered
+insult to a high-born lady of Israel. This Seti refused, saying that the
+offence was not one of death, but that he would order him to be publicly
+beaten. Thereupon Amenmeses, who was fond of the soldier, a good man enough
+when not in his cups, sprang up in a rage, saying that no servant of his should
+be touched because he had offered to caress some light Israelitish woman who
+had no business to be wandering about alone at night. He added that if the man
+were flogged he and all those under his command would leave the camp and march
+back to make report to Pharaoh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now the Prince, having consulted with the councillors, told the woman and her
+kin that as Pharaoh had been appealed to, he must judge of the matter, and
+commanded them to appear at his court within a month and state their case
+against the soldier. They went away very ill-satisfied, saying that Amenmeses
+had insulted their daughter even more than his servant had done. The end of
+this matter was that on the following night this soldier was discovered dead,
+pierced through and through with knife thrusts. The girl, her parents and
+brethren could not be found, having fled away into the desert, nor was there
+any evidence to show by whom the soldier had been murdered. Therefore nothing
+could be done in the business except bury the victim.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the following morning the Inquiry began with due ceremony, the Prince Seti
+and the Count Amenmeses taking their seats at the head of a large pavilion with
+the councillors behind them and the scribes, among whom I was, seated at their
+feet. Then we learned that the two prophets whom I had seen at Pharaoh&rsquo;s
+court were not in the land of Goshen, having left before we arrived &ldquo;to
+sacrifice to God in the wilderness,&rdquo; nor did any know when they would
+return. Other elders and priests, however, appeared and began to set out their
+case, which they did at great length and in a fierce and turbulent fashion,
+speaking often all of them at once, thus making it difficult for the
+interpreters to render their words, since they pretended that they did not know
+the Egyptian tongue.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Moreover they told their story from the very beginning, when they had entered
+Egypt hundreds of years before and were succoured by the vizier of the Pharaoh
+of that day, one Yusuf, a powerful and clever man of their race who stored corn
+in a time of famine and low Niles. This Pharaoh was of the Hyksos people, one
+of the Shepherd kings whom we Egyptians hated and after many wars drove out of
+Khem. Under these Shepherd kings, being joined by many of their own blood, the
+Israelites grew rich and powerful, so that the Pharaohs who came after and who
+loved them not, began to fear them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was as far as the story was taken on the first day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the second day began the tale of their oppression, under which, however,
+they still multiplied like gnats upon the Nile, and grew so strong and numerous
+that at length the great Rameses did a wicked thing, ordering that their male
+children should be put to death. This order was never carried out, because his
+daughter, she who found Moses among the reeds of the river, pleaded for them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this point the Prince, wearied with the noise and heat in that crowded
+place, broke off the sitting until the morrow. Commanding me to accompany him,
+he ordered a chariot, not his own, to be made ready, and, although I prayed him
+not to do so, set out unguarded save for myself and the charioteer, saying that
+he would see how these people laboured with his own eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Taking a Hebrew lad to run before the horses as our guide, we drove to the
+banks of a canal where the Israelites made bricks of mud which, after drying in
+the sun, were laden into boats that waited for them on the canal and taken away
+to other parts of Egypt to be used on Pharaoh&rsquo;s works. Thousands of men
+were engaged upon this labour, toiling in gangs under the command of Egyptian
+overseers who kept count of the bricks, cutting their number upon tally sticks,
+or sometimes writing them upon sherds. These overseers were brutal fellows, for
+the most part of the low class, who used vile language to the slaves. Nor were
+they content with words. Noting a crowd gathered at one place and hearing
+cries, we went to see what passed. Here we found a lad stretched upon the
+ground being cruelly beaten with hide whips, so that the blood ran down him. At
+a sign from the Prince I asked what he had done and was told roughly, for the
+overseers and their guards did not know who we were, that during the past six
+days he had only made half of his allotted tale of bricks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Loose him,&rdquo; said the Prince quietly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who are you that give me orders?&rdquo; asked the head overseer, who was
+helping to hold the lad while the guards flogged him. &ldquo;Begone, lest I
+serve you as I serve this idle fellow.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seti looked at him, and as he looked his lips turned white.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell him,&rdquo; he said to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You dog!&rdquo; I gasped. &ldquo;Do you know who it is to whom you dare
+to speak thus?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, nor care. Lay on, guard.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Prince, whose robes were hidden by a wide-sleeved cloak of common stuff and
+make, threw the cloak open revealing beneath it the pectoral he had worn in the
+Court, a beautiful thing of gold whereon were inscribed his royal names and
+titles in black and red enamel. Also he held up his right hand on which was a
+signet of Pharaoh&rsquo;s that he wore as his commissioner. The men stared,
+then one of them who was more learned than the rest cried:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By the gods! this is his Highness the Prince of Egypt!&rdquo; at which
+words all of them fell upon their faces.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Rise,&rdquo; said Seti to the lad who looked at him, forgetting his pain
+in his wonderment, &ldquo;and tell me why you have not delivered your tale of
+bricks.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sir,&rdquo; sobbed the boy in bad Egyptian, &ldquo;for two reasons.
+First, because I am a cripple, see,&rdquo; and he held up his left arm which
+was withered and thin as a mummy&rsquo;s, &ldquo;and therefore cannot work
+quickly. Secondly, because my mother, whose only child I am, is a widow and
+lies sick in bed, so that there are no women or children in our home who can go
+out to gather straw for me, as Pharaoh has commanded that we should do.
+Therefore I must spend many hours in searching for straw, since I have no means
+wherewith to pay others to do this for me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ana,&rdquo; said the Prince, &ldquo;write down this youth&rsquo;s name
+with the place of his abode, and if his tale prove true, see that his wants and
+those of his mother are relieved before we depart from Goshen. Write down also
+the names of this overseer and his fellows and command them to report
+themselves at my camp to-morrow at sunrise, when their case shall be
+considered. Say to the lad also that, being one afflicted by the gods, Pharaoh
+frees him from the making of bricks and all other labour of the State.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now while I did these things the overseer and his companions beat their heads
+upon the ground and prayed for mercy, being cowards as the cruel always are.
+His Highness answered them never a word, but only looked at them with cold
+eyes, and I noted that his face which was so kind had grown terrible. So those
+men thought also, for that night they ran away to Syria, leaving their families
+and all their goods behind them, nor were they ever seen again in Egypt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When I had finished writing the Prince turned and, walking to where the chariot
+waited, bade the driver cross the canal by a bridge there was here. We drove on
+a while in silence, following a track which ran between the cultivated land and
+the desert. At length I pointed to the sinking sun and asked if it were not
+time to return.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why?&rdquo; replied the Prince. &ldquo;The sun dies, but there rises the
+full moon to give us light, and what have we to fear with swords at our sides
+and her Highness Userti&rsquo;s mail beneath our robes? Oh! Ana, I am weary of
+men with their cruelties and shouts and strugglings, and I find this wilderness
+a place of rest, for in it I seem to draw nearer to my own soul and the Heaven
+whence it came, or so I hope.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your Highness is fortunate to have a soul to which he cares to draw
+near; it is not so with all of us;&rdquo; I answered laughing, for I sought to
+change the current of his thoughts by provoking argument of a sort that he
+loved.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Just then, however, the horses, which were not of the best, came to a halt on a
+slope of heavy sand. Nor would Seti allow the driver to flog them, but
+commanded him to let them rest a space. While they did so we descended from the
+chariot and walked up the desert rise, he leaning on my arm. As we reached its
+crest we heard sobs and a soft voice speaking on the further side. Who it was
+that spoke and sobbed we could not see, because of a line of tamarisk shrubs
+which once had been a fence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;More cruelty, or at least more sorrow,&rdquo; whispered Seti. &ldquo;Let
+us look.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So we crept to the tamarisks, and peeping through their feathery tops, saw a
+very sweet sight in the pure rays of that desert moon. There, not five paces
+away, stood a woman clad in white, young and shapely in form. Her face we could
+not see because it was turned from us, also the long dark hair which streamed
+about her shoulders hid it. She was praying aloud, speaking now in Hebrew, of
+which both of us knew something, and now in Egyptian, as does one who is
+accustomed to think in either tongue, and stopping from time to time to sob.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O God of my people,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;send me succour and bring me
+safe home, that Thy child may not be left alone in the wilderness to become the
+prey of wild beasts, or of men who are worse than beasts.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then she sobbed, knelt down on a great bundle which I saw was stubble straw,
+and again began to pray. This time it was in Egyptian, as though she feared
+lest the Hebrew should be overheard and understood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O God,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;O God of my fathers, help my poor heart,
+help my poor heart!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were about to withdraw, or rather to ask her what she ailed, when suddenly
+she turned her head, so that the light fell full upon her face. So lovely was
+it that I caught my breath and the Prince at my side started. Indeed it was
+more than lovely, for as a lamp shines through an alabaster vase or a shell of
+pearl so did the spirit within this woman shine through her tear-stained face,
+making it mysterious as the night. Then I understood, perhaps for the first
+time, that it is the spirit which gives true beauty both to maid and man and
+not the flesh. The white vase of alabaster, however shapely, is still a vase
+alone; it is the hidden lamp within that graces it with the glory of a star.
+And those eyes, those large, dreaming eyes aswim with tears and hued like
+richest lapis-lazuli, oh! what man could look on them and not be stirred?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Merapi!&rdquo; I whispered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Moon of Israel!&rdquo; murmured Seti, &ldquo;filled with the moon,
+lovely as the moon, mystic as the moon and worshipping the moon, her
+mother.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She is in trouble; let us help her,&rdquo; I said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, wait a while, Ana, for never again shall you and I see such a sight
+as this.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Low as we spoke beneath our breath, I think the lady heard us. At least her
+face changed and grew frightened. Hastily she rose, lifted the great bundle of
+straw upon which she had been kneeling and placed it on her head. She ran a few
+steps, then stumbled and sank down with a little moan of pain. In an instant we
+were at her side. She stared at us affrighted, for who we were she could not
+see because of the wide hoods of our common cloaks that made us look like
+midnight thieves, or slave-dealing Bedouin.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! Sirs,&rdquo; she babbled, &ldquo;harm me not. I have nothing of
+value on me save this amulet.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who are you and what do you here?&rdquo; asked the Prince disguising his
+voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sirs, I am Merapi, the daughter of Nathan the Levite, he whom the
+accursed Egyptian captain, Khuaka, murdered at Tanis.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How do you dare to call the Egyptians accursed?&rdquo; asked Seti in
+tones made gruff to hide his laughter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! Sirs, because they are&mdash;I mean because I thought you were Arabs
+who hate them, as we do. At least this Egyptian was accursed, for the high
+Prince Seti, Pharaoh&rsquo;s heir, caused him to be beheaded for that
+crime.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And do you hate the high Prince Seti, Pharaoh&rsquo;s heir, and call him
+accursed?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She hesitated, then in a doubtful voice said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, I do not hate him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why not, seeing that you hate the Egyptians of whom he is one of the
+first and therefore twice worthy of hatred, being the son of your oppressor,
+Pharaoh?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because, although I have tried my best, I cannot. Also,&rdquo; she added
+with the joy of one who has found a good reason, &ldquo;he avenged my
+father.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This is no cause, girl, seeing that he only did what the law forced him
+to do. They say that this dog of a Pharaoh&rsquo;s son is here in Goshen upon
+some mission. Is it true, and have you seen him? Answer, for we of the desert
+folk desire to know.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I believe it is true, Sir, but I have not seen him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why not, if he is here?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because I do not wish to, Sir. Why should a daughter of Israel desire to
+look upon the face of a prince of Egypt?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In truth I do not know,&rdquo; replied Seti forgetting his feigned
+voice. Then, seeing that she glanced at him sharply, he added in gruff tones:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Brother, either this woman lies or she is none other than the maid they
+call Moon of Israel who dwells with old Jabez the Levite, her uncle. What think
+you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think, Brother, that she lies, and for three reasons,&rdquo; I
+answered, falling into the jest. &ldquo;First, she is too fair to be of the
+black Hebrew blood.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! Sir,&rdquo; moaned Merapi, &ldquo;my mother was a Syrian lady of the
+mountains, with a skin as white as milk, and eyes blue as the heavens.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Secondly,&rdquo; I went on without heeding her, &ldquo;if the great
+Prince Seti is really in Goshen and she dwells there, it is unnatural that she
+should not have gone to look upon him. Being a woman only two things would have
+kept her away, one&mdash;that she feared and hated him, which she denies, and
+the other&mdash;that she liked him too well, and, being prudent, thought it
+wisest not to look upon him more.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When she heard the first of these words, Merapi glanced up with her lips parted
+as though to answer. Instead, she dropped her eyes and suddenly seemed to
+choke, while even in the moonlight I saw the red blood pour to her brow and
+along her white arms.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sir,&rdquo; she gasped, &ldquo;why should you affront me? I swear that
+never till this moment did I think such a thing. Surely it would be
+treason.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Without doubt,&rdquo; interrupted Seti, &ldquo;yet one of a sort that
+kings might pardon.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thirdly,&rdquo; I went on as though I had heard neither of them,
+&ldquo;if this girl were what she declares, she would not be wandering alone in
+the desert at night, seeing that I have heard among the Arabs that Merapi,
+daughter of Nathan the Levite, is a lady of no mean blood among the Hebrews and
+that her family has wealth. Still, however much she lies, we can see for
+ourselves that she is beautiful.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, Brother, in that we are fortunate, since without doubt she will
+sell for a high price among the slave traders beyond the desert.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! Sir,&rdquo; cried Merapi seizing the hem of his robe, &ldquo;surely
+you who I feel, I know not why, are no evil thief, you who have a mother and,
+perchance, sisters, would not doom a maiden to such a fate. Misjudge me not
+because I am alone. Pharaoh has commanded that we must find straw for the
+making of bricks. This morning I came far to search for it on behalf of a
+neighbour whose wife is ill in childbed. But towards sundown I slipped and cut
+myself upon the edge of a sharp stone. See,&rdquo; and holding up her foot she
+showed a wound beneath the instep from which the blood still dropped, a sight
+that moved both of us not a little, &ldquo;and now I cannot walk and carry this
+heavy straw which I have been at such pains to gather.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perchance she speaks truth, Brother,&rdquo; said the Prince, &ldquo;and
+if we took her home we might earn no small reward from Jabez the Levite. But
+first tell me, Maiden, what was that prayer which you made to the moon, that
+Hathor should help your heart?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sir,&rdquo; she answered, &ldquo;only the idolatrous Egyptians pray to
+Hathor, the Lady of Love.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thought that all the world prayed to the Lady of Love, Maiden. But
+what of the prayer? Is there some man whom you desire?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;None,&rdquo; she answered angrily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then why does your heart need so much help that you ask it of the air?
+Is there perchance someone whom you do <i>not</i> desire?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She hung her head and made no answer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Come, Brother,&rdquo; said the Prince, &ldquo;this lady is weary of us,
+and I think that if she were a true woman she would answer our questions more
+readily. Let us go and leave her. As she cannot walk we can take her later if
+we wish.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sirs,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;I am glad that you are going, since the
+hyenas will be safer company than two men who can threaten to sell a helpless
+woman into slavery. Yet as we part to meet no more I will answer your question.
+In the prayer to which you were not ashamed to listen I did not pray for any
+lover, I prayed to be rid of one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now, Ana,&rdquo; said the Prince bursting into laughter and throwing
+back his dark cloak, &ldquo;do you discover the name of that unhappy man of
+whom the lady Merapi wishes to be rid, for I dare not.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She gazed into his face and uttered a little cry.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;I thought I knew the voice again when once
+you forget your part. Prince Seti, does your Highness think that this was a
+kind jest to practise upon one alone and in fear?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Lady Merapi,&rdquo; he answered smiling, &ldquo;be not wroth, for at
+least it was a good one and you have told us nothing that we did not know. You
+may remember that at Tanis you said that you were affianced and there was that
+in your voice&mdash;&mdash;. Suffer me now to tend this wound of yours.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then he knelt down, tore a strip from his ceremonial robe of fine linen, and
+began to bind up her foot, not unskilfully, being a man full of strange and
+unexpected knowledge. As he worked at the task, watching them, I saw their eyes
+meet, saw too that rich flood of colour creep once more to Merapi&rsquo;s brow.
+Then I began to think it unseemly that the Prince of Egypt should play the
+leech to a woman&rsquo;s hurts, and to wonder why he had not left that humble
+task to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently the bandaging was done and made fast with a royal scarabæus mounted
+on a pin of gold, which the Prince wore in his garments. On it was cut the
+uræus crown and beneath it were the signs which read &ldquo;Lord of the Lower
+and the Upper Land,&rdquo; being Pharaoh&rsquo;s style and title.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;See now, Lady,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you have Egypt beneath your
+foot,&rdquo; and when she asked him what he meant, he read her the writing upon
+the jewel, whereat for the third time she coloured to the eyes. Then he lifted
+her up, instructing her to rest her weight upon his shoulder, saying he feared
+lest the scarab, which he valued, should be broken.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus we started, I bearing the bundle of straw behind as he bade me, since, he
+said, having been gathered with such toil, it must not be lost. On reaching the
+chariot, where we found the guide gone and the driver asleep, he sat her in it
+upon his cloak, and wrapped her in mine which he borrowed, saying I should not
+need it who must carry the straw. Then he mounted also and they drove away at a
+foot&rsquo;s pace. As I walked after the chariot with the straw that fell about
+my ears, I heard nothing of their further talk, if indeed they talked at all
+which, the driver being present, perhaps they did not. Nor in truth did I
+listen who was engaged in thought as to the hard lot of these poor Hebrews, who
+must collect this dirty stuff and bear it so far, made heavy as it was by the
+clay that clung about the roots.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Even now, as it chanced, we did not reach Goshen without further trouble. Just
+as we had crossed the bridge over the canal I, toiling behind, saw in the clear
+moonlight a young man running towards us. He was a Hebrew, tall, well-made and
+very handsome in his fashion. His eyes were dark and fierce, his nose was
+hooked, his teeth were regular and white, and his long, black hair hung down in
+a mass upon his shoulders. He held a wooden staff in his hand and a naked knife
+was girded about his middle. Seeing the chariot he halted and peered at it,
+then asked in Hebrew if those who travelled had seen aught of a young
+Israelitish lady who was lost.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you seek me, Laban, I am here,&rdquo; replied Merapi, speaking from
+the shadow of the cloak.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do you there alone with an Egyptian, Merapi?&rdquo; he said
+fiercely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What followed I do not know for they spoke so quickly in their unfamiliar
+tongue that I could not understand them. At length Merapi turned to the Prince,
+saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Lord, this is Laban my affianced, who commands me to descend from the
+chariot and accompany him as best I can.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And I, Lady, command you to stay in it. Laban your affianced can
+accompany us.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now at this Laban grew angry, as I could see he was prone to do, and stretched
+out his hand as though to push Seti aside and seize Merapi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have a care, man,&rsquo; said the Prince, while I, throwing down the
+straw, drew my sword and sprang between them, crying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Slave, would you lay hands upon the Prince of Egypt?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Prince of Egypt!&rdquo; he said, drawing back astonished, then added
+sullenly, &ldquo;Well what does the Prince of Egypt with my affianced?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He helps her who is hurt to her home, having found her helpless in the
+desert with this accursed straw,&rdquo; I answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Forward, driver,&rdquo; said the Prince, and Merapi added, &ldquo;Peace,
+Laban, and bear the straw which his Highness&rsquo;s companion has carried such
+a weary way.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He hesitated a moment, then snatched up the bundle and set it on his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we walked side by side, his evil temper seemed to get the better of him.
+Without ceasing, he grumbled because Merapi was alone in the chariot with an
+Egyptian. At length I could bear it no longer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Be silent, fellow,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Least of all men should you
+complain of what his Highness does, seeing that already he has avenged the
+killing of this lady&rsquo;s father, and now has saved her from lying out all
+night among the wild beasts and men of the wilderness.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of the first I have heard more than enough,&rdquo; he answered,
+&ldquo;and of the second doubtless I shall hear more than enough also. Ever
+since my affianced met this prince, she has looked on me with different eyes
+and spoken to me with another voice. Yes, and when I press for marriage, she
+says it cannot be for a long while yet, because she is mourning for her father;
+her father forsooth, whom she never forgave because he betrothed her to me
+according to the custom of our people.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps she loves some other man?&rdquo; I queried, wishing to learn all
+I could about this lady.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She loves no man, or did not a while ago. She loves herself alone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;One with so much beauty may look high in marriage.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;High!&rdquo; he replied furiously. &ldquo;How can she look higher than
+myself who am a lord of the line of Judah, and therefore greater far than an
+upstart prince or any other Egyptian, were he Pharaoh himself?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Surely you must be trumpeter to your tribe,&rdquo; I mocked, for my
+temper was rising.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why?&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;Are not the Hebrews greater than the
+Egyptians, as those oppressors soon shall learn, and is not a lord of Israel
+more than any idol-worshipper among your people?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I looked at the man clad in mean garments and foul from his labour in the
+brickfield, marvelling at his insolence. There was no doubt but that he
+believed what he said; I could see it in his proud eye and bearing. He thought
+that his tribe was of more import in the world than our great and ancient
+nation, and that he, an unknown youth, equalled or surpassed Pharaoh himself.
+Then, being enraged by these insults, I answered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You say so, but let us put it to the proof. I am but a scribe, yet I
+have seen war. Linger a little that we may learn whether a lord of Israel is
+better than a scribe of Egypt.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Gladly would I chastise you, Writer,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;did I
+not see your plot. You wish to delay me here, and perhaps to murder me by some
+foul means, while your master basks in the smiles of the Moon of Israel.
+Therefore I will not stay, but another time it shall be as you wish, and
+perhaps ere long.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I think that I should have struck him in the face, though I am not one of
+those who love brawling. But at this moment there appeared a company of
+Egyptian horse led by none other than the Count Amenmeses. Seeing the Prince in
+the Chariot, they halted and gave the salute. Amenmeses leapt to the ground.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We are come out to search for your Highness,&rdquo; he said,
+&ldquo;fearing lest some hurt had befallen you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thank you, Cousin,&rdquo; answered the Prince, &ldquo;but the hurt has
+befallen another, not me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is well, your Highness,&rdquo; said the Count, studying Merapi with
+a smile. &ldquo;Where is the lady wounded? Not in the breast, I trust.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, Cousin, in the foot, which is why she travels with me in this
+chariot.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your Highness was ever kind to the unfortunate. I pray you let me take
+your place, or suffer me to set this girl upon a horse.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Drive on,&rdquo; said Seti.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So, escorted by the soldiers, whom I heard making jests to each other about the
+Prince and the lady, as I think did the Hebrew Laban also, for he glared about
+him and ground his teeth, we came at last to the town. Here, guided by Merapi,
+the chariot was halted at the house of Jabez her uncle, a white-bearded old
+Hebrew with a cunning eye, who rushed from the door of his mud-roofed dwelling
+crying he had done no harm that soldiers should come to take him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is not you whom the Egyptians wish to capture, it is your niece and
+my betrothed,&rdquo; shouted Laban, whereat the soldiers laughed, as did some
+women who had gathered round. Meanwhile the Prince was helping Merapi to
+descend out of the chariot, from which indeed he lifted her. The sight seemed
+to madden Laban, who rushed forward to tear her from his arms, and in the
+attempt jostled his Highness. The captain of the soldiers&mdash;he was an
+officer of Pharaoh&rsquo;s bodyguard&mdash;lifted his sword in a fury and
+struck Laban such a blow upon the head with the flat of the blade that he fell
+upon his face and lay there groaning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Away with that Hebrew dog and scourge him!&rdquo; cried the captain.
+&ldquo;Is the royal blood of Egypt to be handled by such as he?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Soldiers sprang forward to do his bidding, but Seti said quietly:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let the fellow be, friends; he lacks manners, that is all. Is he
+hurt?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As he spoke Laban leapt to his feet and, fearing worse things, fled away with a
+curse and a glare of hate at the Prince.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Farewell, Lady,&rdquo; said Seti. &ldquo;I wish you a quick
+recovery.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thank your Highness,&rdquo; she answered, looking about her
+confusedly. &ldquo;Be pleased to wait a little while that I may return to you
+your jewel.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, keep it, Lady, and if ever you are in need or trouble of any sort,
+send it to me who know it well and you shall not lack succour.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She glanced at him and burst into tears.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why do you weep?&rdquo; he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! your Highness, because I fear that trouble is near at hand. My
+affianced, Laban, has a revengeful heart. Help me to the house, my uncle.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Listen, Hebrew,&rdquo; said Seti, raising his voice; &ldquo;if aught
+that is evil befalls this niece of yours, or if she is forced to walk whither
+she would not go, sorrow shall be your portion and that of all with whom you
+have to do. Do you hear?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O my Lord, I hear, I hear. Fear nothing. She shall be guarded carefully
+as&mdash;as she will doubtless guard that trinket on her foot.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+&ldquo;Ana,&rdquo; said the Prince to me that night, when I was talking with
+him before he went to rest, &ldquo;I know not why, but I fear that man Laban;
+he has an evil eye.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I too think it would have been better if your Highness had left him to
+be dealt with by the soldiers, after which there would have been nothing to
+fear from him in this world.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, I did not, so there&rsquo;s an end. Ana, she is a fair woman and a
+sweet.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The fairest and the sweetest that ever I saw, my Prince.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Be careful, Ana. I pray you be careful, lest you should fall in love
+with one who is already affianced.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I only looked at him in answer, and as I looked I bethought me of the words of
+Ki the Magician. So, I think, did the Prince; at least he laughed not unhappily
+and turned away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For my part I rested ill that night, and when at last I slept, it was to dream
+of Merapi making her prayer in the rays of the moon.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap07"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br />
+THE AMBUSH</h2>
+
+<p>
+Eight full days went by before we left the land of Goshen. The story that the
+Israelites had to tell was long, sad also. Moreover, they gave evidence as to
+many cruel things that they had suffered, and when this was finished the
+testimony of the guards and others must be called, all of which it was
+necessary to write down. Lastly, the Prince seemed to be in no hurry to be
+gone, as he said because he hoped that the two prophets would return from the
+wilderness, which they never did. During all this time Seti saw no more of
+Merapi, nor indeed did he speak of her, even when the Count Amenmeses jested
+him as to his chariot companion and asked him if he had driven again in the
+desert by moonlight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I, however, saw her once. When I was wandering in the town one day towards
+sunset, I met her walking with her uncle Jabez upon one side and her lover,
+Laban, on the other, like a prisoner between two guards. I thought she looked
+unhappy, but her foot seemed to be well again; at least she moved without
+limping.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I stopped to salute her, but Laban scowled and hurried her away. Jabez stayed
+behind and fell into talk with me. He told me that she was recovered of her
+hurt, but that there had been trouble between her and Laban because of all that
+happened on that evening when she came by it, ending in his encounter with the
+captain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This young man seems to be of a jealous nature,&rdquo; I said,
+&ldquo;one who will make a harsh husband for any woman.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, learned scribe, jealousy has been his curse from youth as it is
+with so many of our people, and I thank God that I am not the woman whom he is
+to marry.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, then, do you suffer her to marry him, Jabez?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because her father affianced her to this lion&rsquo;s whelp when she was
+scarce more than a child, and among us that is a bond hard to break. For my own
+part,&rdquo; he added, dropping his voice, and glancing round with shifting
+eyes, &ldquo;I should like to see my niece in some different place to that of
+the wife of Laban. With her great beauty and wit, she might become
+anything&mdash;anything if she had opportunity. But under our laws, even if
+Laban died, as might happen to so violent a man, she could wed no one who is
+not a Hebrew.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thought she told us that her mother was a Syrian.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is so, Scribe Ana. She was a beautiful captive of war whom Nathan
+came to love and made his wife, and the daughter takes after her. Still she is
+Hebrew and of the Hebrew faith and congregation. Had it not been so, she might
+have shone like a star, nay, like the very moon after which she is named,
+perhaps in the court of Pharaoh himself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As the great queen Taia did, she who changed the religion of Egypt to
+the worship of one god in a bygone generation,&rdquo; I suggested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have heard of her, Scribe Ana. She was a wondrous woman, beautiful too
+by her statues. Would that you Egyptians could find such another to turn your
+hearts to a purer faith and to soften them towards us poor aliens. When does
+his Highness leave the land of Goshen?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At sunrise on the third day from this.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Provision will be needed for the journey, much provision for so large a
+train. I deal in sheep and other foodstuffs, Scribe Ana.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will mention the matter to his Highness and to the Vizier,
+Jabez.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thank you, Scribe, and will be in waiting at the camp to-morrow
+morning. See, Laban returns with Merapi. One word, let his Highness beware of
+Laban. He is very revengeful and has not forgotten that sword-blow on the
+head.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let Laban be careful,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;Had it not been for his
+Highness the soldiers would have killed him the other night because he dared to
+offer affront to the royal blood. A second time he will not escape. Moreover,
+Pharaoh would avenge aught he did upon the people of Israel.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I understand. It would be sad if Laban were killed, very sad. But the
+people of Israel have One who can protect them even against Pharaoh and all his
+hosts. Farewell, learned Scribe. If ever I come to Tanis, with your leave we
+will talk more together.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That night I told the Prince all that had passed. He listened, and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I grieve for the lady Merapi, for hers is like to be a hard fate.
+Yet,&rdquo; he added laughing, &ldquo;perhaps it is as well for you, friend,
+that you should see no more of her who is sure to bring trouble wherever she
+goes. That woman has a face which haunts the mind, as the Ka haunts the tomb,
+and for my part I do not wish to look upon it again.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am glad to hear it, Prince, and for my part, I have done with women,
+however sweet. I will tell this Jabez that the provisions for the journey will
+be bought elsewhere.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, buy them from him, and if Nehesi grumbles at the price, pay it on
+my account. The way to a Hebrew&rsquo;s heart is through his treasure bags. If
+Jabez is well treated, it may make him kinder to his niece, of whom I shall
+always have a pleasant memory, for which I am grateful among this sour folk who
+hate us, and with reason.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So the sheep and all the foodstuffs for the journey were bought from Jabez at
+his own price, for which he thanked me much, and on the third day we started.
+At the last moment the Prince, whose mood seemed to be perverse that evening,
+refused to travel with the host upon the morrow because of the noise and dust.
+In vain did the Count Amenmeses reason with him, and Nehesi and the great
+officers implore him almost on their knees, saying that they must answer for
+his safety to Pharaoh and the Princess Userti. He bade them begone, replying
+that he would join them at their camp on the following night. I also prayed him
+to listen, but he told me sharply that what he said he had said, and that he
+and I would journey in his chariot alone, with two armed runners and no more,
+adding that if I thought there was danger I could go forward with the troops.
+Then I bit my lip and was silent, whereon, seeing that he had hurt me, he
+turned and craved my pardon humbly enough as his kind heart taught him to do.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can bear no more of Amenmeses and those officers,&rdquo; he said,
+&ldquo;and I love to be in the desert alone. Last time we journeyed there we
+met with adventures that were pleasant, Ana, and at Tanis doubtless I shall
+find others that are not pleasant. Admit that Hebrew priest who is waiting to
+instruct me in the mysteries of his faith which I desire to understand.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So I bowed and left him to make report that I had failed to shake his will.
+Taking the risk of his wrath, however, I did this&mdash;for had I not sworn to
+the Princess that I would protect him? In place of the runners I chose two of
+the best and bravest soldiers to play their part. Moreover, I instructed that
+captain who smote down Laban to hide away with a score of picked men and enough
+chariots to carry them, and to follow after the Prince, keeping just out of
+sight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So on the morrow the troops, nobles, and officers went on at daybreak, together
+with the baggage carriers; nor did we follow them till many hours had gone by.
+Some of this time the Prince spent in driving about the town, taking note of
+the condition of the people. These, as I saw, looked on us sullenly enough,
+more so than before, I thought, perhaps because we were unguarded. Indeed,
+turning round I caught sight of a man shaking his fist and of an old hag
+spitting after us, and wished that we were out of the land of Goshen. But when
+I reported it to the Prince he only laughed and took no heed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;All can see that they hate us Egyptians,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Well,
+let it be our task to try to turn their hate to love.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That you will never do, Prince, it is too deep-rooted in their hearts;
+for generations they have drunk it in with their mother&rsquo;s milk. Moreover,
+this is a war of the gods of Egypt and of Israel, and men must go where their
+gods drive them.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you think so, Ana? Then are men nothing but dust blown by the winds
+of heaven, blown from the darkness that is before the dawn to be gathered at
+last and for ever into the darkness of the grave of night?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He brooded a while, then went on.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet if I were Pharaoh I would let these people go, for without doubt
+their god has much power and I tell you that I fear them.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why will he not let them go?&rdquo; I asked. &ldquo;They are a weakness,
+not a strength to Egypt, as was shown at the time of the invasion of the
+Barbarians with whom they sided. Moreover, the value of this rich land of
+theirs, which they cannot take with them, is greater than that of all their
+labour.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not know, friend. The matter is one upon which my father keeps his
+own counsel, even from the Princess Userti. Perhaps it is because he will not
+change the policy of his father, Rameses; perhaps because he is stiff-necked to
+those who cross his will. Or it may be that he is held in this path by a
+madness sent of some god to bring loss and shame on Egypt.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then, Prince, all the priests and nobles are mad also, from Count
+Amenmeses down.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Where Pharaoh leads priests and nobles follow. The question is, who
+leads Pharaoh? Here is the temple of these Hebrews; let us enter.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So we descended from the chariot, where, for my part, I would have remained,
+and walked through the gateway in the surrounding mud wall into the outer court
+of the temple, which on this the holy seventh day of the Hebrews was full of
+praying women, who feigned not to see us yet watched us out of the corners of
+their eyes. Passing through them we came to a doorway, by which we entered
+another court that was roofed over. Here were many men who murmured as we
+appeared. They were engaged in listening to a preacher in a white robe, who
+wore a strange shaped cap and some ornaments on his breast. I knew the man; he
+was the priest Kohath who had instructed the Prince in so much of the mysteries
+of the Hebrew faith as he chose to reveal. On seeing us he ceased suddenly in
+his discourse, uttered some hasty blessing and advanced to greet us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I waited behind the Prince, thinking it well to watch his back among all those
+fierce men, and did not hear what the priest said to him, as he whispered in
+that holy place. Kohath led him forward, to free him from the throng, I
+thought, till they came to the head of the little temple that was marked by
+some steps, above which hung a thick and heavy curtain. The Prince, walking on,
+did not see the lowest of these steps in the gloom, which was deep. His foot
+caught on it; he fell forward, and to save himself grasped at the curtain where
+the two halves of it met, and dragged it open, revealing a chamber plain and
+small beyond, in which was an altar. That was all I had time to see, for next
+instant a roar of rage rent the air and knives flashed in the gloom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Egyptian defiles the tabernacle!&rdquo; shouted one. &ldquo;Drag him
+out and kill him!&rdquo; screamed another.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Friends,&rdquo; said Seti, turning as they surged towards him, &ldquo;if
+I have done aught wrong it was by chance&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He could add no more, seeing that they were on him, or rather on me who had
+leapt in front of him. Already they had grasped my robes and my hand was on my
+sword-hilt, when the priest Kohath cried out:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Men of Israel, are you mad? Would you bring Pharaoh&rsquo;s vengeance on
+us?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They halted a little and their spokesman shouted:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We defy Pharaoh! Our God will protect us from Pharaoh. Drag him forth
+and kill him beyond the wall!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again they began to move, when a man, in whom I recognized Jabez, the uncle of
+Merapi, called aloud:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Cease! If this Prince of Egypt has done insult to Jahveh by will and not
+by chance, it is certain that he will avenge himself upon him. Shall men take
+the judgment of God into their own hands? Stand back and wait awhile. If Jahveh
+is affronted, the Egyptian will fall dead. If he does not fall dead, let him
+pass hence unharmed, for such is Jahveh&rsquo;s will. Stand back, I say, while
+I count threescore.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They withdrew a space and slowly Jabez began to count.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Although at that time I knew nothing of the power of the god of Israel, I will
+say that I was filled with fear as one by one he counted, pausing at each ten.
+The scene was very strange. There by the steps stood the Prince against the
+background of the curtain, his arms folded and a little smile of wonder mixed
+with contempt upon his face, but not a sign of fear. On one side of him was I,
+who knew well that I should share his fate whatever it might be, and indeed
+desired no other; and on the other the priest Kohath, whose hands shook and
+whose eyes started from his head. In front of us old Jabez counted, watching
+the fierce-faced congregation that in a dead silence waited for the issue. The
+count went on. Thirty. Forty. Fifty&mdash;oh! it seemed an age.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length sixty fell from his lips. He waited a while and all watched the
+Prince, not doubting but that he would fall dead. But instead he turned to
+Kohath and asked quietly if this ordeal was now finished, as he desired to make
+an offering to the temple, which he had been invited to visit, and begone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Our God has given his answer,&rdquo; said Jabez. &ldquo;Accept it, men
+of Israel. What this Prince did he did by chance, not of design.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They turned and went without a word, and after I had laid the offering, no mean
+one, in the appointed place, we followed them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It would seem that yours is no gentle god,&rdquo; said the Prince to
+Kohath, when at length we were outside the temple.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At least he is just, your Highness. Had it been otherwise, you who had
+violated his sanctuary, although by chance, would ere now be dead.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then you hold, Priest, that Jahveh has power to slay us when he is
+angry?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Without a doubt, your Highness&mdash;as, if our Prophets speak truth, I
+think that Egypt will learn ere all be done,&rdquo; he added grimly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seti looked at him and answered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It may be so, but all gods, or their priests, claim the power to torment
+and slay those who worship other gods. It is not only women who are jealous,
+Kohath, or so it seems. Yet I think that you do your god injustice, seeing that
+even if this strength is his, he proved more merciful than his worshippers who
+knew well that I only grasped the veil to save myself from falling. If ever I
+visit your temple again it shall be in the company of those who can match might
+against might, whether of the spirit or the sword. Farewell.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So we reached the chariot, near to which stood Jabez, he who had saved us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Prince,&rdquo; he whispered, glancing at the crowd who lingered not far
+away, silent and glowering, &ldquo;I pray you leave this land swiftly for here
+your life is not safe. I know it was by chance, but you have defiled the
+sanctuary and seen that upon which eyes may not look save those of the highest
+priests, an offence no Israelite can forgive.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And you, or your people, Jabez, would have defiled this sanctuary of my
+life, spilling my heart&rsquo;s blood and <i>not</i> by chance. Surely you are
+a strange folk who seek to make an enemy of one who has tried to be your
+friend.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not seek it,&rdquo; exclaimed Jabez. &ldquo;I would that we might
+have Pharaoh&rsquo;s mouth and ear who soon will himself be Pharaoh upon our
+side. O Prince of Egypt, be not wroth with all the children of Israel because
+their wrongs have made some few of them stubborn and hard-hearted. Begone now,
+and of your goodness remember my words.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will remember,&rdquo; said Seti, signing to the charioteer to drive on.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yet still the Prince lingered in the town, saying that he feared nothing and
+would learn all he could of this people and their ways that he might report the
+better of them to Pharaoh. For my part I believed that there was one face which
+he wished to see again before he left, but of this I thought it wise to say
+nothing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length about midday we did depart, and drove eastwards on the track of
+Amenmeses and our company. All the afternoon we drove thus, preceded by the two
+soldiers disguised as runners and followed, as a distant cloud of dust told me,
+by the captain and his chariots, whom I had secretly commanded to keep us in
+sight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Towards evening we came to the pass in the stony hills which bounded the land
+of Goshen. Here Seti descended from the chariot, and we climbed, accompanied by
+the two soldiers whom I signed to follow us, to the crest of one of these hills
+that was strewn with huge boulders and lined with ridges of sandstone, between
+which gullies had been cut by the winds of thousands of years.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Leaning against one of these ridges we looked back upon a wondrous sight. Far
+away across the fertile plain appeared the town that we had left, and behind it
+the sun sank. It would seem as though some storm had broken there, although the
+firmament above us was clear and blue. At least in front of the town two huge
+pillars of cloud stretched from earth to heaven like the columns of some mighty
+gateway. One of these pillars was as though it were made of black marble, and
+the other like to molten gold. Between them ran a road of light ending in a
+glory, and in the midst of the glory the round ball of Ra, the Sun, burned like
+the eye of God. The spectacle was as awesome as it was splendid.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have you ever seen such a sky in Egypt, Prince?&rdquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never,&rdquo; he answered, and although he spoke low, in that great
+stillness his voice sounded loud to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For a while longer we watched, till suddenly the sun sank, and only the glory
+about it and above remained, which took shapes like to the palaces and temples
+of a city in the heavens, a far city that no mortal could reach except in
+dreams.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know not why, Ana,&rdquo; said Seti, &ldquo;but for the first time
+since I was a man I feel afraid. It seems to me that there are omens in the sky
+and I cannot read them. Would that Ki were here to tell us what is signified by
+the pillar of blackness to the right and the pillar of fire to the left, and
+what god has his home in the city of glory behind, and how man&rsquo;s feet may
+walk along the shining road which leads to its pylon gates. I tell you that I
+am afraid; it is as though Death were very near to me and all his wonders open
+to my mortal sight.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I too am afraid,&rdquo; I whispered. &ldquo;Look! The pillars move. That
+of fire goes before; that of black cloud follows after, and between them I seem
+to see a countless multitude marching in unending companies. See how the light
+glitters on their spears! Surely the god of the Hebrews is afoot.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He, or some other god, or no god at all, who knows? Come, Ana, let us be
+going if we would reach that camp ere dark.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So we descended from the ridge, and re-entering the chariot, drove on towards
+the neck of the pass. Now this neck was very narrow, not more than four paces
+wide for a certain distance, and, on either side of the roadway were tumbled
+sandstone boulders, between which grew desert plants, and gullies that had been
+cut by storm-water, while beyond these rose the sides of the mountain. Here the
+horses went at a walk towards a turn in the path, at which point the land began
+to fall again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When we were about half a spear&rsquo;s throw from this turn of a sudden I
+heard a sound and, glancing to the right, perceived a woman leaping down the
+hillside towards us. The charioteer saw also and halted the horses, and the two
+runner guards turned and drew their swords. In less than half a minute the
+woman had reached us, coming out of the shadow so that the light fell upon her
+face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Merapi!&rdquo; exclaimed the Prince and I, speaking as though with one
+breath.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Merapi it was indeed, but in evil case. Her long hair had broken loose and fell
+about her, the cloak she wore was torn, and there were blood and foam upon her
+lips. She stood gasping, since speak she could not for breathlessness,
+supporting herself with one hand upon the side of the chariot and with the
+other pointing to the bend in the road. At last a word came, one only. It was:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Murder!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She means that she is going to be murdered,&rdquo; said the Prince to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No,&rdquo; she panted, &ldquo;you&mdash;you! The Hebrews. Go back!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Turn the horses!&rdquo; I cried to the charioteer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He began to obey helped by the two guards, but because of the narrowness of the
+road and the steepness of the banks this was not easy. Indeed they were but
+half round in such fashion that they blocked the pathway from side to side,
+when a wild yell of &lsquo;Jahveh&rsquo; broke upon our ears, and from round
+the bend, a few paces away, rushed a horde of fierce, hook-nosed men,
+brandishing knives and swords. Scarcely was there time for us to leap behind
+the shelter of the chariot and make ready, when they were on us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hearken,&rdquo; I said to the charioteer as they came, &ldquo;run as you
+never ran before, and bring up the guard behind!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He sprang away like an arrow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Get back, Lady,&rdquo; cried Seti. &ldquo;This is no woman&rsquo;s work,
+and see here comes Laban to seek you,&rdquo; and he pointed with his sword at
+the leader of the murderers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She obeyed, staggering a few paces to a stone at the roadside, behind which she
+crouched. Afterwards she told me that she had no strength to go further, and
+indeed no will, since if we were killed, it were better that she who had warned
+us should be killed also.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now they had reached us, the whole flood of them, thirty or forty men. The
+first who came stabbed the frightened horses, and down they went against the
+bank, struggling. On the chariot leapt the Hebrews, seeking to come at us, and
+we met them as best we might, tearing off our cloaks and throwing them over our
+left arms to serve as shields.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Oh! what a fight was that. In the open, or had we not been prepared, we must
+have been slain at once, but, as it was, the place and the barrier of the
+chariot gave us some advantage. So narrow was the roadway, the walls of which
+were here too steep to climb, that not more than four of the Hebrews could
+strike at us at once, which four must first surmount the chariot or the still
+living horses.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But we also were four, and thanks to Userti, two of us were clad in mail
+beneath our robes&mdash;four strong men fighting for their lives. Against us
+came four of the Hebrews. One leapt from the chariot straight at Seti, who
+received him upon the point of his iron sword, whereof I heard the hilt ring
+against his breast-bone, that same famous iron sword which to-day lies buried
+with him in his grave.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Down he came dead, throwing the Prince to the ground by the weight of his body.
+The Hebrew who attacked me caught his foot on the chariot pole and fell
+forward, so I killed him easily with a blow upon the head, which gave me time
+to drag the Prince to his feet again before another followed. The two guards
+also, sturdy fighters both of them, killed or mortally wounded their men. But
+others were pressing behind so thick and fast that I could keep no count of all
+that happened afterwards.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently I saw one of the guards fall, slain by Laban. A stab on the breast
+sent me reeling backwards; had it not been for that mail I was sped. The other
+guard killed him who would have killed me, and then himself was killed by two
+who came on him at once.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now only the Prince and I were left, fighting back to back. He closed with one
+man, a very great fellow, and wounded him on the hand, so that he dropped his
+sword. This man gripped him round the middle and they rolled together on the
+ground. Laban appeared and stabbed the Prince in the back, but the curved knife
+he was using snapped on the Syrian mail. I struck at Laban and wounded him on
+the head, dazing him so that he staggered back and seemed to fall over the
+chariot. Then others rushed at me, and but for Userti&rsquo;s armour three
+times at least I must have died. Fighting madly, I staggered against the rock,
+and whilst waiting for a new onset, saw that Seti, hurt by Laban&rsquo;s
+thrust, was now beneath the great Hebrew who had him by the throat, and was
+choking the life out of him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I saw something else also&mdash;a woman holding a sword with both hands and
+stabbing downward, after which the grip of the Hebrew loosened from
+Seti&rsquo;s throat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Traitress!&rdquo; cried one, and struck at her, so that she reeled back
+hurt. Then when all seemed finished, and beneath the rain of blows my senses
+were failing, I heard the thunder of horses&rsquo; hoofs and the shout of
+&ldquo;<i>Egypt! Egypt!</i>&rdquo; from the throats of soldiers. The flash of
+bronze caught my dazed eyes, and with the roar of battle in my ears I seemed to
+fall asleep just as the light of day departed.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap08"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br />
+SETI COUNSELS PHARAOH</h2>
+
+<p>
+Dream upon dream. Dreams of voices, dreams of faces, dreams of sunlight and of
+moonlight and of myself being borne forward, always forward; dreams of shouting
+crowds, and, above all, dreams of Merapi&rsquo;s eyes looking down on me like
+two watching stars from heaven. Then at last the awakening, and with it throbs
+of pain and qualms of sickness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At first I thought that I was dead and lying in a tomb. Then by degrees I saw
+that I was in no tomb but in a darkened room that was familiar to me, my own
+room in Seti&rsquo;s palace at Tanis. It must be so, for there, near to the bed
+on which I lay, was my own chest filled with the manuscripts that I had brought
+from Memphis. I tried to lift my left hand, but could not, and looking down saw
+that the arm was bandaged like to that of a mummy, which made me think again
+that I must be dead, if the dead could suffer so much pain. I closed my eyes
+and thought or slept a while.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As I lay thus I heard voices. One of them seemed to be that of a physician, who
+said, &ldquo;Yes, he will live and ere long recover. The blow upon the head
+which has made him senseless for so many days was the worst of his wounds, but
+the bone was but bruised, not shattered or driven in upon the brain. The flesh
+cuts on his arms are healing well, and the mail he wore protected his vitals
+from being pierced.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am glad, physician,&rdquo; answered a voice that I knew to be that of
+Userti, &ldquo;since without a doubt, had it not been for Ana, his Highness
+would have perished. It is strange that one whom I thought to be nothing but a
+dreaming scribe should have shown himself so brave a warrior. The Prince says
+that this Ana killed three of those dogs with his own hands, and wounded
+others.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It was well done, your Highness,&rdquo; answered the physician,
+&ldquo;but still better was his forethought in providing a rear-guard and in
+despatching the charioteer to call it up. It seems to have been the Hebrew lady
+who really saved the life of his Highness, when, forgetting her sex, she
+stabbed the murderer who had him by the throat.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is the Prince&rsquo;s tale, or so I understand,&rdquo; she answered
+coldly. &ldquo;Yet it seems strange that a weak and worn-out girl could have
+pierced a giant through from back to breast.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At least she warned him of the ambush, your Highness.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So they say. Perhaps Ana here will soon tell us the truth about these
+matters. Tend him well, physician, and you shall not lack for your
+reward.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then they went away, still talking, and I lay quiet, filled with thankfulness
+and wonder, for now everything came back to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A while later, as I lay with my eyes still shut, for even that low light seemed
+to hurt them, I became aware of a woman&rsquo;s soft step stealing round my bed
+and of a fragrance such as comes from a woman&rsquo;s robes and hair. I looked
+and saw Merapi&rsquo;s star-like eyes gazing down on me just as I had seen them
+in my dreams.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Greeting, Moon of Israel,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Of a truth we meet again
+in strange case.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; she whispered, &ldquo;are you awake at last? I thank God,
+Scribe Ana, who for three days thought that you must die.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As, had it not been for you, Lady, surely I should have done&mdash;I and
+another. Now it seems that all three of us will live.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Would that but two lived, the Prince and you, Ana. Would that <i>I</i>
+had died,&rdquo; she answered, sighing heavily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Cannot you guess? Because I am an outcast who has betrayed my people.
+Because their blood flows between me and them. For I killed that man, and he
+was my own kinsman, for the sake of an Egyptian&mdash;I mean, Egyptians.
+Therefore the curse of Jahveh is on me, and as my kinsman died doubtless I
+shall die in a day to come, and afterwards&mdash;what?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Afterwards peace and great reward, if there be justice in earth or
+heaven, O most noble among women.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Would that I could think so! Hush, I hear steps. Drink this; I am the
+chief of your nurses, Scribe Ana, an honourable post, since to-day all Egypt
+loves and praises you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Surely it is you, lady Merapi, whom all Egypt should love and
+praise,&rdquo; I answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then the Prince Seti entered. I strove to salute him by lifting my less injured
+arm, but he caught my hand and pressed it tenderly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hail to you, beloved of Menthu, god of war,&rdquo; he said, with his
+pleasant laugh. &ldquo;I thought I had hired a scribe, and lo! in this scribe I
+find a soldier who might be an army&rsquo;s boast.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this moment he caught sight of Merapi, who had moved back into the shadow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hail to you also, Moon of Israel,&rdquo; he said bowing. &ldquo;If I
+name Ana here a warrior of the best, what name can both of us find for you to
+whom we owe our lives? Nay, look not down, but answer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Prince of Egypt,&rdquo; she replied confusedly, &ldquo;I did but little.
+The plot came to my ears through Jabez my uncle, and I fled away and, knowing
+the short paths from childhood, was just in time. Had I stayed to think
+perchance I should not have dared.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And what of the rest, Lady? What of the Hebrew who was choking me and of
+a certain sword thrust that loosed his hands for ever?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of that, your Highness, I can recall nothing, or very little,&rdquo;
+then, doubtless remembering what she had just said to me, she made obeisance
+and passed from the chamber.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She can tell falsehoods as sweetly as she does all else,&rdquo; said
+Seti, when he had watched her go. &ldquo;Oh! what a woman have we here, Ana.
+Perfect in beauty, perfect in courage, perfect in mind. Where are her faults, I
+wonder? Let it be your part to search them out, since I find none.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ask them of Ki, O Prince. He is a very great magician, so great that
+perhaps his art may even avail to discover what a woman seeks to hide. Also you
+may remember that he gave you certain warnings before we journeyed to
+Goshen.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes&mdash;he told me that my life would be in danger, as certainly it
+was. There he was right. He told me also that I should see a woman whom I
+should come to love. There he was wrong. I have seen no such woman. Oh! I know
+well what is passing in your mind. Because I hold the lady Merapi to be
+beautiful and brave, you think that I love her. But it is not so. I love no
+woman, except, of course, her Highness. Ana, you judge me by yourself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ki said &lsquo;come to love,&rsquo; Prince. There is yet time.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not so, Ana. If one loves, one loves at once. Soon I shall be old and
+she will be fat and ugly, and how can one love then? Get well quickly, Ana, for
+I wish you to help me with my report to Pharaoh. I shall tell him that I think
+these Israelites are much oppressed and that he should make them amends and let
+them go.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What will Pharaoh say to that after they have just tried to kill his
+heir?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think Pharaoh will be angry, and so will the people of Egypt, who do
+not reason well. He will not see that, believing what they do, Laban and his
+band were right to try to kill me who, however unwittingly, desecrated the
+sanctuary of their god. Had they done otherwise they would have been no good
+Hebrews, and for my part I cannot bear them malice. Yet all Egypt is afire
+about this business and cries out that the Israelites should be
+destroyed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It seems to me, Prince, that whatever may be the case with Ki&rsquo;s
+second prophecy, his third is in the way of fulfilment&mdash;namely that this
+journey to Goshen may cause you to risk your throne.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He shrugged his shoulders and answered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not even for that, Ana, will I say to Pharaoh what is not in my mind.
+But let that matter be till you are stronger.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What chanced at the end of the fight, Prince, and how came I here?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The guard killed most of the Hebrews who remained alive. Some few fled
+and escaped in the darkness, among them Laban their leader, although you had
+wounded him, and six were taken alive. They await their trial. I was but little
+hurt and you, whom we thought dead, were but senseless, and senseless or
+wandering you have remained till this hour. We carried you in a litter, and
+here you have been these three days.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And the lady Merapi?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We set her in a chariot and brought her to the city, since had we left
+her she would certainly have been murdered by her people. When Pharaoh heard
+what she had done, as I did not think it well that she should dwell here, he
+gave her the small house in this garden that she might be guarded, and with it
+slave women to attend upon her. So there she dwells, having the freedom of the
+palace, and all the while has filled the office of your nurse.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this moment I grew faint and shut my eyes. When I opened them again, the
+Prince had gone. Six more days went by before I was allowed to leave my bed,
+and during this time I saw much of Merapi. She was very sad and lived in fear
+of being killed by the Hebrews. Also she was troubled in her heart because she
+thought she had betrayed her faith and people.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At least you are rid of Laban,&rdquo; I said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never shall I be rid of him while we both live,&rdquo; she answered.
+&ldquo;I belong to him and he will not loose my bond, because his heart is set
+on me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And is your heart set on him?&rdquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her beautiful eyes filled with tears.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A woman may not have a heart. Oh! Ana, I am unhappy,&rdquo; she
+answered, and went away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Also I saw others. The Princess came to visit me. She thanked me much because I
+had fulfilled my promise to her and guarded the Prince. Moreover she brought me
+a gift of gold from Pharaoh, and other gifts of fine raiment from herself. She
+questioned me closely about Merapi, of whom I could see she was already
+jealous, and was glad when she learned that she was affianced to a Hebrew. Old
+Bakenkhonsu came too, and asked me many things about the Prince, the Hebrews
+and Merapi, especially Merapi, of whose deeds, he said, all Egypt was talking,
+questions that I answered as best I could.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Here we have that woman of whom Ki told us,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;she
+who shall bring so much joy and so much sorrow to the Prince of Egypt.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why so?&rdquo; I asked. &ldquo;He has not taken her into his house, nor
+do I think that he means to do so.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet he will, Ana, whether he means it or not. For his sake she betrayed
+her people, which among the Israelites is a deadly crime. Twice she saved his
+life, once by warning him of the ambush, and again by stabbing with her own
+hands one of her kinsmen who was murdering him. Is it not so? Tell me; you were
+there.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is so, but what then?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This: that whatever she may say, she loves him; unless indeed, it is you
+whom she loves,&rdquo; and he looked at me shrewdly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When a woman has a prince, and such a prince to her hand, would she
+trouble herself to set snares to catch a scribe?&rdquo; I asked, with some
+bitterness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oho!&rdquo; he said, with one of his great laughs, &ldquo;so things
+stand thus, do they? Well, I thought it, but, friend Ana, be warned in time. Do
+not try to conjure down the Moon to be your household lamp lest she should set,
+and the Sun, her lord, should grow wroth and burn you up. Well, she loves him,
+and therefore soon or late she will make him love her, being what she is.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How, Bakenkhonsu?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;With most men, Ana, it would be simple. A sigh, some half-hidden tears
+at the right moment, and the thing is done, as I have known it done a thousand
+times. But this prince being what he is, it may be otherwise. She may show him
+that her name is gone for him; that because of him she is hated by her people,
+and rejected by her god, and thus stir his pity, which is Love&rsquo;s own
+sister. Or mayhap, being also, as I am told, wise, she will give him counsel as
+to all these matters of the Israelites, and thus creep into his heart under the
+guise of friendship, and then her sweetness and her beauty will do the rest in
+Nature&rsquo;s way. At least by this road or by that, upstream or downstream,
+thither she will come.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If so, what of it? It is the custom of the kings of Egypt to have more
+wives than one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This, Ana; Seti, I think, is a man who in truth will have but one, and
+that one will be this Hebrew. Yes, a Hebrew woman will rule Egypt, and turn him
+to the worship of her god, for never will she worship ours. Indeed, when they
+see that she is lost to them, her people will use her thus. Or perchance her
+god himself will use her to fulfil his purpose, as already he may have used
+her.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And afterwards, Bakenkhonsu?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Afterwards&mdash;who knows? I am not a magician, at least not one of any
+account, ask it of Ki. But I am very, very old and I have watched the world,
+and I tell you that these things will happen, unless&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo; and
+he paused.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Unless what?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He dropped his voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Unless Userti is bolder than I think, and kills her first or, better
+still, procures some Hebrew to kill her&mdash;say, that cast-off lover of hers.
+If you would be a friend to Pharaoh and to Egypt, you might whisper it in her
+ear, Ana.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never!&rdquo; I answered angrily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I did not think you would, Ana, who also struggle in this net of
+moonbeams that is stronger and more real than any twisted out of palm or flax.
+Well, nor will I, who in my age love to watch such human sport and, being so
+near to them, fear to thwart the schemes of gods. Let this scroll unroll itself
+as it will, and when it is open, read it, Ana, and remember what I said to you
+this day. It will be a pretty tale, written at the end with blood for ink. Oho!
+O-ho-ho!&rdquo; and, laughing, he hobbled from the room, leaving me frightened.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Moreover the Prince visited me every day, and even before I left my bed began
+to dictate to me his report to Pharaoh, since he would employ no other scribe.
+The substance of it was what he had foreshadowed, namely that the people of
+Israel, having suffered much for generations at the hands of the Egyptians,
+should now be allowed to depart as their prophets demanded, and go whither they
+would unharmed. Of the attack upon us in the pass he made light, saying it was
+the evil work of a few zealots wrought on by fancied insult to their god, a
+deed for which the whole people should not be called upon to suffer. The last
+words of the report were:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Remember, O Pharaoh, I pray thee, that Amon, god of the Egyptians, and
+Jahveh, the god of the Israelites, cannot rule together in the same land. If
+both abide in Egypt there will be a war of the gods wherein mortals may be
+ground to dust. Therefore, I pray thee, let Israel go.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After I had risen and was recovered, I copied out this report in my fairest
+writing, refusing to tell any of its purport, although all asked, among them
+the Vizier Nehesi, who offered me a bribe to disclose its secret. This came to
+the ears of Seti, I know not how, and he was much pleased with me about the
+matter, saying he rejoiced to find that there was one scribe in Egypt who could
+not be bought. Userti also questioned me, and when I refused to answer, strange
+to say, was not angry, because, she declared, I only did my duty.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At last the roll was finished and sealed, and the Prince with his own hand, but
+without speaking, laid it on the knees of Pharaoh at a public Court, for this
+he would trust no one else to do. Amenmeses also brought up his report, as did
+Nehesi the Vizier, and the Captain of the guard which saved us from death.
+Eight days later the Prince was summoned to a great Council of State, as were
+all others of the royal House, together with the high officers. I too received
+a summons, as one who had been concerned in these matters.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Prince, accompanied by the Princess, drove to the palace in Pharaoh&rsquo;s
+golden chariot, drawn by two milk-white horses of the blood of those famous
+steeds that had saved the life of the great Rameses in the Syrian war. All down
+the streets, that were filled with thousands of the people, they were received
+with shouts of welcome.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;See,&rdquo; said the old councillor Bakenkhonsu, who was my companion in
+a second chariot, &ldquo;Egypt is proud and glad. It thought that its Prince
+was but a dreamer of dreams. But now it has heard the tale of the ambush in the
+pass and learned that he is a man of war, a warrior who can fight with the
+best. Therefore it loves him and rejoices.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then, by the same rule, Bakenkhonsu, a butcher should be more great than
+the wisest of scribes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So he is, Ana, especially if the butcher be one of men. The writer
+creates, but the slayer kills, and in a world ruled of death he who kills has
+more honour than he who creates. Hearken, now they are shouting out your name.
+Is that because you are the author of certain writings? I tell you, No. It is
+because you killed three men yonder in the pass. If you would become famous and
+beloved, Ana, cease from the writing of books and take to the cutting of
+throats.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet the writer still lives when he is dead.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oho!&rdquo; laughed Bakenkhonsu, &ldquo;you are even more foolish than I
+thought. How is a man advantaged by what happens when he is dead? Why, to-day
+that blind beggar whining on the temple steps means more to Egypt than all the
+mummies of all the Pharaohs, unless they can be robbed. Take what life can give
+you, Ana, and do not trouble about the offerings which are laid in the tombs
+for time to crumble.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is a mean faith, Bakenkhonsu.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very mean, Ana, like all else that we can taste and handle. A mean faith
+suited to mean hearts, among whom should be reckoned all save one in every
+thousand. Yet, if you would prosper, follow it, and when you are dead I will
+come and laugh upon your grave, and say, &lsquo;Here lies one of whom I had
+hoped higher things, as I hope them of your master.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And not in vain, Bakenkhonsu, whatever may happen to the servant.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That we shall learn, and ere long, I think. I wonder who will ride at
+his side before the next Nile flood. By then, perchance, he will have changed
+Pharaoh&rsquo;s golden chariot for an ox-cart, and you will goad the oxen and
+talk to him of the stars&mdash;or, mayhap of the moon. Well, you might both be
+happier thus, and she of the moon is a jealous goddess who loves worship.
+Oho-ho! Here are the palace steps. Help me to descend, Priest of the Lady of
+the Moon.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We entered the palace and were led through the great hall to a smaller chamber
+where Pharaoh, who did not wear his robes of state, awaited us, seated in a
+cedar chair. Glancing at him I saw that his face was stern and troubled; also
+it seemed to me that he had grown older. The Prince and Princess made obeisance
+to him, as did we lesser folk, but he took no heed. When all were present and
+the doors had been shut, Pharaoh said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have read your report, Son Seti, concerning your visit to the
+Israelites, and all that chanced to you; and also the reports of you, nephew
+Amenmeses, and of you, Officers, who accompanied the Prince of Egypt. Before I
+speak of them, let the Scribe Ana, who was the chariot companion of his
+Highness when the Hebrews attacked him, stand forward and tell me all that
+passed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So I advanced, and with bowed head repeated that tale, only leaving out so far
+as was possible any mention of myself. When I had finished, Pharaoh said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He who speaks but half the truth is sometimes more mischievous than a
+liar. Did you then sit in the chariot, Scribe, doing nothing while the Prince
+battled for his life? Or did you run away? Speak, Seti, and say what part this
+man played for good or ill.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then the Prince told of my share in the fight, with words that brought the
+blood to my brow. He told also how that it was I who, taking the risk of his
+wrath, had ordered the guard of twenty men to follow us unseen, had disguised
+two seasoned soldiers as chariot runners, and had thought to send back the
+driver to summon help at the commencement of the fray; how I had been hurt
+also, and was but lately recovered. When he had finished, Pharaoh said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That this story is true I know from others. Scribe, you have done well.
+But for you to-day his Highness would lie upon the table of the embalmers, as
+indeed for his folly he deserves to do, and Egypt would mourn from Thebes to
+the mouths of Nile. Come hither.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I came with trembling steps, and knelt before his Majesty. Around his neck hung
+a beauteous chain of wrought gold. He took it, and cast it over my head, saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because you have shown yourself both brave and wise, with this gold I
+give you the title of Councillor and King&rsquo;s Companion, and the right to
+inscribe the same upon your funeral stele. Let it be noted. Retire, Scribe Ana,
+Councillor and King&rsquo;s Companion.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So I withdrew confused, and as I passed Seti, he whispered in my ear:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I pray you, my lord, do not cease to be Prince&rsquo;s Companion,
+because you have become that of the King.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then Pharaoh ordered that the Captain of the guard should be advanced in rank,
+and that gifts should be given to each of the soldiers, and provision be made
+for the children of those who had been killed, with double allowance to the
+families of the two men whom I had disguised as runners.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This done, once more Pharaoh spoke, slowly and with much meaning, having first
+ordered that all attendants and guards should leave the chamber. I was about to
+go also, but old Bakenkhonsu caught me by the robe, saying that in my new rank
+of Councillor I had the right to remain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Prince Seti,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;after all that I have heard, I find
+this report of yours strange reading. Moreover, the tenor of it is different
+indeed to that of those of the Count Amenmeses and the officers. You counsel me
+to let these Israelites go where they will, because of certain hardships that
+they have suffered in the past, which hardships, however, have left them many
+and rich. That counsel I am not minded to take. Rather am I minded to send an
+army to the land of Goshen with orders to despatch this people, who conspired
+to murder the Prince of Egypt, through the Gateway of the West, there to
+worship their god in heaven or in hell. Aye, to slay them all from the
+greybeard down to the suckling at the breast.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I hear Pharaoh,&rdquo; said Seti, quietly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Such is my will,&rdquo; went on Meneptah, &ldquo;and those who
+accompanied you upon your business, and all my councillors think as I do, for
+truly Egypt cannot bear so hideous a treason. Yet, according to our law and
+custom it is needful, before such great acts of war and policy are undertaken,
+that he who stands next to the throne, and is destined to fill it, should give
+consent thereto. Do you consent, Prince of Egypt?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not consent, Pharaoh. I think it would be a wicked deed that tens
+of thousands should be massacred for the reason that a few fools waylaid a man
+who chanced to be of royal blood, because by inadvertence, he had desecrated
+their sanctuary.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I saw that this answer made Pharaoh wroth, for never before had his will
+been crossed in such a fashion. Still he controlled himself, and asked:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you then consent, Prince, to a gentler sentence, namely that the
+Hebrew people should be broken up; that the more dangerous of them should be
+sent to labour in the desert mines and quarries, and the rest distributed
+throughout Egypt, there to live as slaves?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not consent, Pharaoh. My poor counsel is written in yonder roll and
+cannot be changed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Meneptah&rsquo;s eyes flashed, but again he controlled himself, and asked:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you should come to fill this place of mine, Prince Seti, tell us,
+here assembled, what policy will you pursue towards these Hebrews?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That policy, O Pharaoh, which I have counselled in the roll. If ever I
+fill the throne, I shall let them go whither they will, taking their goods with
+them.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now all those present stared at him and murmured. But Pharaoh rose, shaking
+with wrath. Seizing his robe where it was fastened at the breast, he rent it,
+and cried in a terrible voice:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hear him, ye gods of Egypt! Hear this son of mine who defies me to my
+face and would set your necks beneath the heel of a stranger god. Prince Seti,
+in the presence of these royal ones, and these my councillors,
+I&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He said no more, for the Princess Userti, who till now had remained silent, ran
+to him, and throwing her arms about him, began to whisper in his ear. He
+hearkened to her, then sat himself down, and spoke again:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Princess brings it to my mind that this is a great matter, one not
+to be dealt with hastily. It may happen that when the Prince has taken counsel
+with her, and with his own heart, and perchance has sought the wisdom of the
+gods, he will change the words which have passed his lips. I command you,
+Prince, to wait upon me here at this same hour on the third day from this.
+Meanwhile, I command all present, upon pain of death, to say nothing of what
+has passed within these walls.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I hear Pharaoh,&rdquo; said the Prince, bowing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Meneptah rose to show that the Council was discharged, when the Vizier Nehesi
+approached him, and asked:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What of the Hebrew prisoners, O Pharaoh, those murderers who were
+captured in the pass?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Their guilt is proved. Let them be beaten with rods till they die, and
+if they have wives or children, let them be seized and sold as slaves.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Pharaoh&rsquo;s will be done!&rdquo; said the Vizier.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap09"></a>CHAPTER IX.<br />
+THE SMITING OF AMON</h2>
+
+<p>
+That evening I sat ill at ease in my work-chamber in Seti&rsquo;s palace,
+making pretence to write, I who felt that great evils threatened my lord the
+Prince, and knew not what to do to turn them from him. The door opened, and old
+Pambasa the chamberlain appeared and addressed me by my new titles, saying that
+the Hebrew lady Merapi, who had been my nurse in sickness, wished to speak with
+me. Presently she came and stood before me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Scribe Ana,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;I have but just seen my uncle Jabez,
+who has come, or been sent, with a message to me,&rdquo; and she hesitated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why was he sent, Lady? To bring you news of Laban?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not so. Laban has fled away and none know where he is, and Jabez has
+only escaped much trouble as the uncle of a traitress by undertaking this
+mission.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is the mission?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To pray me, if I would save myself from death and the vengeance of God,
+to work upon the heart of his Highness, which I know not how to
+do&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet I think you might find means, Merapi.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&mdash;&mdash;save through you, his friend and counsellor,&rdquo; she
+went on, turning away her face. &ldquo;Jabez has learned that it is in the mind
+of Pharaoh utterly to destroy the people of Israel.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How does he know that, Merapi?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I cannot say, but I think all the Hebrews know. I knew it myself though
+none had told me. He has learned also that this cannot be done under the law of
+Egypt unless the Prince who is heir to the throne and of full age consents. Now
+I am come to pray you to pray the Prince not to consent.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why not pray to the Prince yourself, Merapi&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo; I
+began, when from the shadows behind me I heard the voice of Seti, who had
+entered by the private door bearing some writings in his hand, saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And what prayer has the lady Merapi to make to me? Nay, rise and speak,
+Moon of Israel.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Prince,&rdquo; she pleaded, &ldquo;my prayer is that you will save the
+Hebrews from death by the sword, as you alone have the power to do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this moment the doors opened and in swept the royal Userti.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What does this woman here?&rdquo; she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think that she came to see Ana, wife, as I did, and as doubtless you
+do. Also being here she prays me to save her people from the sword.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And I pray you, husband, to give her people to the sword, which they
+have earned, who would have murdered you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And been paid, everyone of them, Userti, unless some still linger
+beneath the rods,&rdquo; he added with a shudder. &ldquo;The rest are
+innocent&mdash;why should they die?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because your throne hangs upon it, Seti. I say that if you continue to
+thwart the will of Pharaoh, as by the law of Egypt you can do, he will
+disinherit you and set your cousin Amenmeses in your place, as by the law of
+Egypt he can do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thought it, Userti. Yet why should I turn my back upon the right over
+a matter of my private fortunes? The question is&mdash;is it the right?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She stared at him in amazement, she who never understood Seti and could not
+dream that he would throw away the greatest throne in all the world to save a
+subject people, merely because he thought that they should not die. Still,
+warned by some instinct, she left the first question unanswered, dealing only
+with the second.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is the right,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;for many reasons whereof I need
+give but one, for in it lie all the others. The gods of Egypt are the true gods
+whom we must serve and obey, or perish here and hereafter. The god of the
+Israelites is a false god and those who worship him are heretics and by their
+heresy under sentence of death. Therefore it is most right that those whom the
+true gods have condemned should die by the swords of their servants.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is well argued, Userti, and if it be so, mayhap my mind will become
+as yours in this matter, so that I shall no longer stand between Pharaoh and
+his desire. But is it so? There&rsquo;s the problem. I will not ask you why you
+say that the gods of the Egyptians are the true gods, because I know what you
+would answer, or rather that you could give no answer. But I will ask this lady
+whether her god is a false god, and if she replies that he is not, I will ask
+her to prove this to me if she can. If she is able to prove it, then I think
+that what I said to Pharaoh to-day I shall repeat three days hence. If she is
+not able to prove it, then I shall consider very earnestly of the matter.
+Answer now, Moon of Israel, remembering that many thousands of lives may hang
+on what you say.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O your Highness,&rdquo; began Merapi. Then she paused, clasped her hands
+and looked upwards. I think that she was praying, for her lips moved. As she
+stood thus I saw, and I think Seti saw also, a very wonderful light grow on her
+face and gather in her eyes, a kind of divine fire of inspiration and resolve.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How can I, a poor Hebrew maiden, prove to your Highness that my God is
+the true God and that the gods of Egypt are false gods? I know not, and yet, is
+there any one god among all the many whom you worship, whom you are prepared to
+set up against him?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of a surety, Israelite,&rdquo; answered Userti. &ldquo;There is Amon-Ra,
+Father of the gods, of whom all other gods have their being, and from whom they
+draw their strength. Yonder his statue sits in the sanctuary of his ancient
+temple. Let your god stir him from his place! But what will you bring forward
+against the majesty of Amon-Ra?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My God has no statues, Princess, and his place is in the hearts of men,
+or so I have been taught by his prophets. I have nothing to bring forward in
+this war save that which must be offered in all wars&mdash;my life.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do you mean?&rdquo; asked Seti, astounded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I mean that I, unfriended and alone, will enter the presence of Amon-Ra
+in his chosen sanctuary, and in the name of my God will challenge him to kill
+me, if he can.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We stared at her, and Userti exclaimed:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If he can! Hearken now to this blasphemer, and do you, Seti, accept her
+challenge as hereditary high-priest of the god Amon? Let her life pay forfeit
+for her sacrilege.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And if the great god Amon cannot, or does not deign to kill you, Lady,
+how will that prove that your god is greater than he?&rdquo; asked the Prince.
+&ldquo;Perhaps he might smile and in his pity, let the insult pass, as your god
+did by me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thus it shall be proved, your Highness. If naught happens to me, or if I
+am protected from anything that does happen, then I will dare to call upon my
+god to work a sign and a wonder, and to humble Amon-Ra before your eyes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And if your god should also smile and let the matter pass, Lady, as he
+did by me the other day when his priests called upon him, what shall we have
+learned as to his strength, or as to that of Amon-Ra?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Prince, you will have learned nothing. Yet if I escape from the wrath
+of Amon and my God is deaf to my prayer, then I am ready to be delivered over
+into the hands of the priests of Amon that they may avenge my sacrilege upon
+me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There speaks a great heart,&rdquo; said Seti; &ldquo;yet I am not minded
+that this lady should set her life upon such an issue. I do not believe that
+either the high-god of Egypt or the god of the Israelites will stir, but I am
+quite sure that the priests of Amon will avenge the sacrilege, and that cruelly
+enough. The dice are loaded against you, Lady. You shall not prove your faith
+with blood.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why not?&rdquo; asked Userti. &ldquo;What is this girl to you, Seti,
+that you should stand between her and the fruit of her wickedness, you who at
+least in name are the high-priest of the god whom she blasphemes and who wear
+his robes at temple feasts? She believes in her god, leave it to her god to
+help her as she has dared to say he will.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You believe in Amon, Userti. Are you prepared to stake your life against
+hers in this contest?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am not so mad and vain, Seti, as to believe that the god of all the
+world will descend from heaven to save me at my prayer, as this impious girl
+pretends that she believes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You refuse. Then, Ana, what say you, who are a loyal worshipper of
+Amon?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I say, O Prince, that it would be presumptuous of me to take precedence
+of his high-priest in such a matter.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seti smiled and answered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And the high-priest says that it would be presumptuous of him to push so
+far the prerogative of a high office which he never sought.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your Highness,&rdquo; broke in Merapi in her honeyed, pleading voice,
+&ldquo;I pray you to be gracious to me, and to suffer me to make this trial,
+which I have sought, I know not why. Words such as I have spoken cannot be
+recalled. Already they are registered in the books of Eternity, and soon or
+late, in this way or in that, must be fulfilled. My life is staked, and I
+desire to learn at once if it be forfeit.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now even Userti looked on her with admiration, but answered only:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of a truth, Israelite, I trust that this courage will not forsake you
+when you are handed over to the mercies of Ki, the Sacrificer of Amon, and the
+priests, in the vaults of the temple you would profane.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I also trust that it will not, your Highness, if such should be my fate.
+Your word, Prince of Egypt.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seti looked at her standing before him so calmly with bowed head, and hands
+crossed upon her breast. Then he looked at Userti, who wore a mocking smile
+upon her face. She read the meaning of that smile as I did. It was that she did
+not believe that he would allow this beautiful woman, who had saved his life,
+to risk her life for the sake of any or all the powers of heaven or hell. For a
+little while he walked to and fro about the chamber, then he stopped and said
+suddenly addressing, not Merapi, but Userti:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have your will, remembering that if this brave woman fails and dies, her
+blood is on your hands, and that if she triumphs and lives, I shall hold her to
+be one of the noblest of her sex, and shall make study of all this matter of
+religion. Moon of Israel, as titular high-priest of Amon-Ra, I accept your
+challenge on behalf of the god, though whether he will take note of it I do not
+know. The trial shall be made to-morrow night in the sanctuary of the temple,
+at an hour that will be communicated to you. I shall be present to make sure
+that you meet with justice, as will some others. Register my commands, Scribe
+Ana, and let the head-priest of Amon, Roi, and the sacrificer to Amon, Ki the
+Magician, be summoned, that I may speak with them. Farewell, Lady.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She went, but at the door turned and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thank you, Prince, on my own behalf, and on that of my people.
+Whatever chances, I beseech you do not forget the prayer that I have made to
+you to save them, being innocent, from the sword. Now I ask that I may be left
+quite alone till I am summoned to the temple, who must make such preparation as
+I can to meet my fate, whatever it may be.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Userti departed also without a word.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! friend, what have I done?&rdquo; said Seti. &ldquo;Are there any
+gods? Tell me, are there any gods?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps we shall learn to-morrow night, Prince,&rdquo; I answered.
+&ldquo;At least Merapi thinks that there is a god, and doubtless has been
+commanded to put her faith to proof. This, as I believe, was the real message
+that Jabez her uncle has brought to her.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+It was the hour before the dawn, just when the night is darkest. We stood in
+the sanctuary of the ancient temple of Amon-Ra, that was lit with many lamps.
+It was an awful place. On either side the great columns towered to the massive
+roof. At the head of the sanctuary sat the statue of Amon-Ra, thrice the size
+of a man. On his brow, rising from the crown, were two tall feathers of stone,
+and in his hands he held the Scourge of Rule and the symbols of Power and
+Everlastingness. The lamplight flickered upon his stern and terrible face
+staring towards the east. To his right was the statue of Mut, the Mother of all
+things. On her head was the double crown of Egypt and the uræus crest, and in
+her hand the looped cross, the sign of Life eternal. To his left sat Khonsu,
+the hawk-headed god of the moon. On his head was the crescent of the young moon
+carrying the disc of the full moon; in his right hand he also held the looped
+cross, the sign of Life eternal, and in his left the Staff of Strength. Such
+was this mighty triad, but of these the greatest was Amon-Ra, to whom the
+shrine was dedicated. Fearful they stood towering above us against the
+background of blackness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gathered there were Seti the Prince, clothed in a priest&rsquo;s white robe,
+and wearing a linen headdress, but no ornaments, and Userti the Princess,
+high-priestess of Hathor, Lady of the West, Goddess of Love and Nature. She
+wore Hathor&rsquo;s vulture headdress, and on it the disc of the moon fashioned
+of silver. Also were present Roi the head-priest, clad in his sacerdotal robes,
+an old and wizened man with a strong, fierce face, Ki the Sacrificer and
+Magician, Bakenkhonsu the ancient, myself, and a company of the priests of
+Amon-Ra, Mut, and Khonsu. From behind the statues came the sound of solemn
+singing, though who sang we could not see.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently from out of the darkness that lay beyond the lamps appeared a woman,
+led by two priestesses and wrapped in a long cloak. They brought her to an open
+place in front of the statue of Amon, took from her the cloak and departed,
+glancing back at her with eyes of hate and fear. There before us stood Merapi,
+clad in white, with a simple wimple about her head made fast beneath her chin
+with that scarabæus clasp which Seti had given to her in the city of Goshen,
+one spot of brightest blue amid a cloud of white. She looked neither to right
+nor left of her. Once only she glanced at the towering statue of the god that
+frowned above, then with a little shiver, fixed her eyes upon the pattern of
+the floor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What does she look like?&rdquo; whispered Bakenkhonsu to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A corpse made ready for the embalmers,&rdquo; I answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He shook his great head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then a bride made ready for her husband.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again he shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then a priestess about to read from the roll of Mysteries.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now you have it, Ana, and to understand what she reads, which few
+priestesses ever do. Also all three answers were right, for in this woman I
+seem to see doom that is Death, life that is Love, and spirit that is Power.
+She has a soul which both Heaven and Earth have kissed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Aye, but which of them will claim her in the end?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That we may learn before the dawn, Ana. Hush! the fight begins.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The head-priest, Roi, advanced and, standing before the god, sprinkled his feet
+with water and with perfume. Then he stretched out his hands, whereon all
+present prostrated themselves, save Merapi only, who stood alone in that great
+place like the survivor of a battle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hail to thee, Amon-Ra,&rdquo; he began, &ldquo;Lord of Heaven,
+Establisher of all things, Maker of the gods, who unrolled the skies and built
+the foundations of the Earth. O god of gods, appears before thee this woman
+Merapi, daughter of Nathan, a child of the Hebrew race that owns thee not. This
+woman blasphemes thy might; this woman defies thee; this woman sets up her god
+above thee. Is it not so, woman?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is so,&rdquo; answered Merapi in a low voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thus does she defy thee, thou Only One of many Forms, saying &lsquo;if
+the god Amon of the Egyptians be a greater god than my god, let him snatch me
+out of the arms of my god and here in this the shrine of Amon take the breath
+from out my lips and leave me a thing of clay.&rsquo; Are these thy words, O
+woman?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They are my words,&rdquo; she said in the same low voice, and oh! I
+shivered as I heard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The priest went on.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Lord of Time, Lord of Life, Lord of Spirits and the Divinities of
+Heaven, Lord of Terror, come forth now in thy majesty and smite this blasphemer
+to the dust.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Roi withdrew and Seti stood forward.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Know, O god Amon,&rdquo; he said, addressing the statue as though he wee
+speaking to a living man, &ldquo;from the lips of me, thy high-priest, by birth
+the Prince and Heir of Egypt, that great things hang upon this matter here in
+the Land of Egypt, mayhap even who shall sit upon the throne that thou givest
+to its kings. This woman of Israel dares thee to thy face, saying that there is
+a greater god than thou art and that thou canst not harm her through the
+buckler of his strength. She says, moreover, that she will call upon her god to
+work a sign and a wonder upon thee. Lastly, she says that if thou dost not harm
+her and if her god works no sign upon thee, then she is ready to be handed over
+to thy priests and die the death of a blasphemer. Thy honour is set against her
+life, O great God of Egypt, and we, thy worshippers, watch to see the balance
+turn.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well and justly put,&rdquo; muttered Bakenkhonsu to me. &ldquo;Now if
+Amon fails us, what will you think of Amon, Ana?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I shall learn the high-priest&rsquo;s mind and think what the
+high-priest thinks,&rdquo; I answered darkly, though in my heart I was terribly
+afraid for Merapi, and, to speak truth, for myself also, because of the doubts
+which arose in me and would not be quenched.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seti withdrew, taking his stand by Userti, and Ki stood forward and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Amon, I thy Sacrificer, I thy Magician, to whom thou givest power, I
+the priest and servant of Isis, Mother of Mysteries, Queen of the company of
+the gods, call upon thee. She who stands before thee is but a Hebrew woman.
+Yet, as thou knowest well, O Father, in this house she is more than woman,
+inasmuch as she is the Voice and Sword of thine enemy, Jahveh, god of the
+Israelites. She thinks, mayhap, that she has come here of her own will, but
+thou knowest, Father Amon, as I know, that she is sent by the great prophets of
+her people, those magicians who guide her soul with spells to work thee evil
+and to set thee, Amon, beneath the heel of Jahveh. The stake seems small, the
+life of this one maid, no more; yet it is very great. This is the stake, O
+Father: Shall Amon rule the world, or Jahveh. If thou fallest to-night, thou
+fallest for ever; if thou dost triumph to-night, thou dost triumph for ever. In
+yonder shape of stone hides thy spirit; in yonder shape of woman&rsquo;s flesh
+hides the spirit of thy foe. Smite her, O Amon, smite her to small dust; let
+not the strength that is in her prevail against thy strength, lest thy name
+should be defiled and sorrows and loss should come upon the land which is thy
+throne; lest, too, the wizards of the Israelites should overcome us thy
+servants. Thus prayeth Ki thy magician, on whose soul it has pleased thee to
+pour strength and wisdom.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then followed a great silence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Watching the statue of the god, presently I thought that it moved, and as I
+could see by the stir among them, so did the others. I thought that its stone
+eyes rolled, I thought that it lifted the Scourge of Power in its granite hand,
+though whether these things were done by some spirit or by some priest, or by
+the magic of Ki, I do not know. At the least, a great wind began to blow about
+the temple, stirring our robes and causing the lamps to flicker. Only the robes
+of Merapi did not stir. Yet she saw what I could not see, for suddenly her eyes
+grew frightened.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The god is awake,&rdquo; whispered Bakenkhonsu. &ldquo;Now good-bye to
+your fair Israelite. See, the Prince trembles, Ki smiles, and the face of
+Userti glows with triumph.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As he spoke the blue scarabæus was snatched from Merapi&rsquo;s breast as
+though by a hand. It fell to the floor as did her wimple, so that now she
+appeared with her rich hair flowing down her robe. Then the eyes of the statue
+seemed to cease to roll, the wind ceased to blow, and again there was silence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Merapi stooped, lifted the wimple, replaced it on her head, found the
+scarabæus clasp, and very quietly, as a woman who was tiring herself might do,
+made it fast in its place again, a sight at which I heard Userti gasp.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For a long while we waited. Watching the faces of the congregation, I saw
+amazement and doubt on those of the priests, rage on that of Ki, and on
+Seti&rsquo;s the flicker of a little smile. Merapi&rsquo;s eyes were closed as
+though she were asleep. At length she opened them, and turning her head towards
+the Prince said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O high-priest of Amon-Ra, has your god worked his will on me, or must I
+wait longer before I call upon my God?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do what you will or can, woman, and make an end, for almost it is the
+moment of dawn when the temple worship opens.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then Merapi clasped her hands, and looking upwards, prayed aloud very sweetly
+and simply, saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O God of my fathers, trusting in Thee, I, a poor maid of Thy people
+Israel, have set the life Thou gavest me in Thy Hand. If, as I believe, Thou
+art the God of gods, I pray Thee show a sign and a wonder upon this god of the
+Egyptians, and thereby declare Thine Honour and keep my breath within my
+breast. If it pleases Thee not, then let me die, as doubtless for my many sins
+I deserve to do. O God of my fathers, I have made my prayer. Hear it or reject
+it according to Thy Will.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So she ended, and listening to her, I felt the tears rising in my eyes, because
+she was so much alone, and I feared that this god of hers would never come to
+save her from the torments of the priests. Seti also turned his head away, and
+stared down the sanctuary at the sky over the open court where the lights of
+dawn were gathering.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once more there was silence. Then again that wind blew, very strongly,
+extinguishing the lamps, and, as it seemed to me, whirling away Merapi from
+where she was, so that now she stood to one side of the statue. The sanctuary
+was filled with gloom, till presently the first rays of the rising sun struck
+upon the roof. They fell down, down, as minute followed minute, till at length
+they rested like a sword of flame upon the statue of Amon-Ra. Once more that
+statue seemed to move. I thought that it lifted its stone arms to protect its
+head. Then in a moment with a rending noise, its mighty mass burst asunder, and
+fell in small dust about the throne, almost hiding it from sight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Behold my God has answered me, the most humble of His servants,&rdquo;
+said Merapi in the same sweet and gentle voice. &ldquo;Behold the sign and the
+wonder!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Witch!&rdquo; screamed the head-priest Roi, and fled away, followed by
+his fellows.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sorceress!&rdquo; hissed Userti, and fled also, as did all the others,
+save the Prince, Bakenkhonsu, I Ana, and Ki the Magician.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We stood amazed, and while we did so, Ki turned to Merapi and spoke. His face
+was terrible with fear and fury, and his eyes shone like lamps. Although he did
+but whisper, I who was nearest to them heard all that was said, which the
+others could not do.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your magic is good, Israelite,&rdquo; he muttered, &ldquo;so good that
+it has overcome mine here in the temple where I serve.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have no magic,&rdquo; she answered very low. &ldquo;I obeyed a
+command, no more.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He laughed bitterly, and asked:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Should two of a trade waste time on foolishness? Listen now. Teach me
+your secrets, and I will teach you mine, and together we will drive Egypt like
+a chariot.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have no secrets, I have only faith,&rdquo; said Merapi again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Woman,&rdquo; he went on, &ldquo;woman or devil, will you take me for
+friend or foe? Here I have been shamed, since it was to me and not to their
+gods that the priests trusted to destroy you. Yet I can still forgive. Choose
+now, knowing that as my friendship will lead you to rule, to life and
+splendour, so my hate will drive you to shame and death.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are beside yourself, and know not what you say. I tell you that I
+have no magic to give or to withhold,&rdquo; she answered, as one who did not
+understand or was indifferent, and turned away from him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thereon he muttered some curse which I could not catch, bowed to the heap of
+dust that had been the statue of the god, and vanished away among the pillars
+of the sanctuary.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oho-ho!&rdquo; laughed Bakenkhonsu. &ldquo;Not in vain have I lived to
+be so very old, for now it seems we have a new god in Egypt, and there stands
+his prophetess.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Merapi came to the prince.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O high-priest of Amon,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;does it please you to let
+me go, for I am very weary?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap10"></a>CHAPTER X.<br />
+THE DEATH OF PHARAOH</h2>
+
+<p>
+It was the appointed day and hour. By command of the Prince I drove with him to
+the palace of Pharaoh, whither her Highness the Princess refused to be his
+companion, and for the first time we talked together of that which had passed
+in the temple.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have you seen the lady Merapi?&rdquo; he asked of me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I answered No, as I was told that she was sick within her house and lay abed
+suffering from weariness, or I knew not what.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She does well to keep there,&rdquo; said Seti, &ldquo;I think that if
+she came out those priests would murder her if they could. Also there are
+others,&rdquo; and he glanced back at the chariot that bore Userti in state.
+&ldquo;Say, Ana, can you interpret all this matter?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not I, Prince. I thought that perhaps your Highness, the high-priest of
+Amon, could give me light.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The high-priest of Amon wanders in thick darkness. Ki and the rest swear
+that this Israelite is a sorceress who has outmatched their magic, but to me it
+seems more simple to believe that what she says is true; that her god is
+greater than Amon.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And if this be true, Prince, what are we to do who are sworn to the gods
+of Egypt?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Bow our heads and fall with them, I suppose, Ana, since honour will not
+suffer us to desert them.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Even if they be false, Prince?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not think that they are false, Ana, though mayhap they be less
+true. At least they are the gods of the Egyptians and we are Egyptians.&rdquo;
+He paused and glanced at the crowded streets, then added, &ldquo;See, when I
+passed this way three days ago I was received with shouts of welcome by the
+people. Now they are silent, every one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps they have heard of what passed in the temple.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Doubtless, but it is not that which troubles them who think that the
+gods can guard themselves. They have heard also that I would befriend the
+Hebrews whom they hate, and therefore they begin to hate me. Why should I
+complain when Pharaoh shows them the way?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Prince,&rdquo; I whispered, &ldquo;what will you say to Pharaoh?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That depends on what Pharaoh says to me. Ana, if I will not desert our
+gods because they seem to be the weaker, though it should prove to my
+advantage, do you think that I would desert these Hebrews because they seem to
+be weaker, even to gain a throne?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There greatness speaks,&rdquo; I murmured, and as we descended from the
+chariot he thanked me with a look.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We passed through the great hall to that same chamber where Pharaoh had given
+me the chain of gold. Already he was there seated at the head of the chamber
+and wearing on his head the double crown. About him were gathered all those of
+royal blood and the great officers of state. We made our obeisances, but of
+these he seemed to take no note. His eyes were almost closed, and to me he
+looked like a man who is very ill. The Princess Userti entered after us and to
+her he spoke some words of welcome, giving her his hand to kiss. Then he
+ordered the doors to be closed. As he did so, an officer of the household
+entered and said that a messenger had come from the Hebrews who desired speech
+with Pharaoh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let him enter,&rdquo; said Meneptah, and presently he appeared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was a wild-eyed man of middle age, with long hair that fell over his
+sheepskin robe. To me he looked like a soothsayer. He stood before Pharaoh,
+making no salutation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Deliver your message and be gone,&rdquo; said Nehesi the Vizier.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;These are the words of the Fathers of Israel, spoken by my lips,&rdquo;
+cried the man in a voice that rang all round the vaulted chamber. &ldquo;It has
+come to our ears, O Pharaoh, that the woman Merapi, daughter of Nathan, who has
+refuged in your city, she who is named Moon of Israel, has shown herself to be
+a prophetess of power, one to whom our God has given strength, in that,
+standing alone amidst the priests and magicians of Amon of the Egyptians, she
+took no harm from their sorceries and was able with the sword of prayer to
+smite the idol of Amon to the dust. We demand that this prophetess be restored
+to us, making oath on our part that she shall be given over safely to her
+betrothed husband and that no harm shall come to her for any crimes or treasons
+she may have committed against her people.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As to this matter,&rdquo; replied Pharaoh quietly, &ldquo;make your
+prayer to the Prince of Egypt, in whose household I understand the woman
+dwells. If it pleases him to surrender her who, I take it, is a witch or a
+cunning worker of tricks, to her betrothed and her kindred, let him do so. It
+is not for Pharaoh to judge of the fate of private slaves.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man wheeled round and addressed Seti, saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have heard, Son of the King. Will you deliver up this woman?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Neither do I promise to deliver her up nor not to deliver her up,&rdquo;
+answered Seti, &ldquo;since the lady Merapi is no member of my household, nor
+have I any authority over her. She who saved my life dwells within my walls for
+safety&rsquo;s sake. If it pleases her to go, she can go; if it pleases her to
+remain, she can remain. When this Court is finished I give you safe-conduct to
+appear and in my presence learn her pleasure from her lips.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have your answer; now be gone,&rdquo; said Nehesi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; cried the man, &ldquo;I have more words to speak. Thus say
+the Fathers of Israel: We know the black counsel of your heart, O Pharaoh. It
+has been revealed to us that it is in your mind to put the Hebrews to the
+sword, as it is in the mind of the Prince of Egypt to save them from the sword.
+Change that mind of yours, O Pharaoh, and swiftly, lest death fall upon you
+from heaven above.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Cease!&rdquo; thundered Meneptah in a voice that stilled the murmurs of
+the court. &ldquo;Dog of a Hebrew, do you dare to threaten Pharaoh on his own
+throne? I tell you that were you not a messenger, and therefore according to
+our ancient law safe till the sun sets, you should be hewn limb from limb. Away
+with him, and if he is found in this city after nightfall let him be
+slain!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then certain of the councillors sprang upon the man and thrust him forth
+roughly. At the door he wrenched himself free and shouted:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Think upon my words, Pharaoh, before this sun has set. And you, great
+ones of Egypt, think on them also before it appears again.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They drove him out with blows and the doors were shut. Once more Meneptah began
+to speak, saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now that this brawler is gone, what have you to say to me, Prince of
+Egypt? Do you still give me the counsel that you wrote in the roll? Do you
+still refuse, as heir of the Throne, to assent to my decree that these accursed
+Hebrews be destroyed with the sword of my justice?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now all turned their eyes on Seti, who thought a while, and answered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let Pharaoh pardon me, but the counsel that I gave I still give; the
+assent that I refused I still refuse, because my heart tells me that so it is
+right to do, and so I think will Egypt be saved from many troubles.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the scribes had finished writing down these words Pharaoh asked again:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Prince of Egypt, if in a day to come you should fill my place, is it
+still your intent to let this people of the Hebrews go unharmed, taking with
+them the wealth that they have gathered here?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let Pharaoh pardon me, that is still my intent.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now at these fateful words there arose a sigh of astonishment from all that
+heard them. Before it had died away Pharaoh had turned to Userti and was asking:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Are these your counsel, your will, and your intent also, O Princess of
+Egypt?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let Pharaoh hear me,&rdquo; answered Userti in a cold, clear voice,
+&ldquo;they are not. In this great matter my lord the Prince walks one road and
+I walk another. My counsel, will, and intent are those of Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Seti my son,&rdquo; said Meneptah, more kindly than I had ever heard him
+speak before, &ldquo;for the last time, not as your king but as your father, I
+pray you to consider. Remembering that as it lies in your power, being of full
+age and having been joined with me in many matters of government, to refuse
+your assent to a great act of state, so it lies in my power with the assent of
+the high-priests and of my ministers to remove you from my path. Seti, I can
+disinherit you and set another in your place, and if you persist, that and no
+less I shall do. Consider, therefore, my son.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the midst of an intense silence Seti answered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have considered, O my Father, and whatever be the cost to me I cannot
+go back upon my words.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then Pharaoh rose and cried:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Take note all you assembled here, and let it be proclaimed to the people
+of Egypt without the gates, that they take note also, that I depose Seti my son
+from his place as Prince of Egypt and declare that he is removed from the
+succession to the double Crown. Take note that my daughter Userti, Princess of
+Egypt, wife of the Prince Seti, I do not depose. Whatever rights and heritages
+are hers as heiress of Egypt let those rights and heritages remain to her, and
+if a child be born of her and Prince Seti, who lives, let that child be heir to
+the Throne of Egypt. Take note that, if no such child is born or until it is
+born, I name my nephew, the count Amenmeses, son of my brother Khaemuas, now
+gathered to Osiris, to fill the Throne of Egypt when I am no more. Come hither,
+Count Amenmeses.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He advanced and stood before him. Then Pharaoh lifted from his head the double
+crown he wore and for a moment set it on the brow of Amenmeses, saying as he
+replaced it on his own head:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By this act and token do I name and constitute you, Amenmeses, to be
+Royal Prince of Egypt in place of my son, Prince Seti, deposed. Withdraw, Royal
+Prince of Egypt. I have spoken.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Life! Blood! Strength!&rdquo; cried all the company bowing before
+Pharaoh, all save the Prince Seti who neither bowed nor stirred. Only he cried:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And I have heard. Will Pharaoh be pleased to declare whether with my
+royal heritage he takes my life? If so, let it be here and now. My cousin
+Amenmeses wears a sword.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, Son,&rdquo; answered Meneptah sadly, &ldquo;your life is left to
+you and with it all your private rank and your possessions whatsoever and
+wherever they may be.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let Pharaoh&rsquo;s will be done,&rdquo; replied Seti indifferently,
+&ldquo;in this as in all things. Pharaoh spares my life until such time as
+Amenmeses his successor shall fill his place, when it shall be taken.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Meneptah started; this thought was new to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Stand forth, Amenmeses,&rdquo; he cried, &ldquo;and swear now the
+threefold oath that may not be broken. Swear by Amon, by Ptah, and by Osiris,
+god of death, that never will you attempt to harm the Prince Seti, your cousin,
+either in body or in such state and prerogative as remain to him. Let Roi, the
+head-priest of Amon, administer the oath now before us all.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So Roi spoke the oath in the ancient form, which was terrible even to hear, and
+Amenmeses, unwillingly enough as I thought, repeated it after him, adding
+however these words at the end, &ldquo;All these things I swear and all these
+penalties in this world and the world to be I invoke upon my head, provided
+only that when the time comes the Prince Seti leaves me in peace upon the
+throne to which it has pleased Pharaoh to decree to me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now some there murmured that this was not enough, since in their hearts there
+were few who did not love Seti and grieve to see him thus stripped of his royal
+heritage because his judgment differed from that of Pharaoh over a matter of
+State policy. But Seti only laughed and said scornfully:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let be, for of what value are such oaths? Pharaoh on the throne is above
+all oaths who must make answer to the gods only and from the hearts of some the
+gods are far away. Let Amenmeses not fear that I shall quarrel with him over
+this matter of a crown, I who in truth have never longed for the pomp and cares
+of royalty and who, deprived of these, still possess all that I can desire. I
+go my way henceforward as one of many, a noble of Egypt&mdash;no more, and if
+in a day to come it pleases the Pharaoh to be to shorten my wanderings, I am
+not sure that even then I shall grieve so very much, who am content to accept
+the judgment of the gods, as in the end he must do also. Yet, Pharaoh my
+father, before we part I ask leave to speak the thoughts that rise in me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Say on,&rdquo; muttered Meneptah.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Pharaoh, having your leave, I tell you that I think you have done a very
+evil work this day, one that is unpleasing to those Powers which rule the
+world, whoever and whatsoever they may be, one too that will bring upon Egypt
+sorrows countless as the sand. I believe that these Hebrews whom you unjustly
+seek to slay worship a god as great or greater than our own, and that they and
+he will triumph over Egypt. I believe also that the mighty heritage which you
+have taken from me will bring neither joy nor honour to him by whom it has been
+received.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here Amenmeses started forward, but Meneptah held up his hand, and he was
+silent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I believe, Pharaoh&mdash;alas! that I must say it&mdash;that your days
+on earth are few and that for the last time we look on each other living.
+Farewell, Pharaoh my father, whom still I love mayhap more in this hour of
+parting than ever I did before. Farewell, Amenmeses, Prince of Egypt. Take from
+me this ornament which henceforth should be worn by you only,&rdquo; and
+lifting from his headdress that royal circlet which marks the heir to the
+throne, he held it to Amenmeses, who took it and, with a smile of triumph, set
+it on his brow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Farewell, Lords and Councillors; it is my hope that in yonder prince you
+will find a master more to your liking that ever I could have been. Come, Ana,
+my friend, if it still pleases you to cling to me for a little while, now that
+I have nothing left to give.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For a few moments he stood still looking very earnestly at his father, who
+looked back at him with tears in his deep-set, faded eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, though whether this was by chance I cannot say, taking no note of the
+Princess Userti, who gazed at him perplexed and wrathful, Seti drew himself up
+and cried in the ancient form:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!&rdquo; and bowed
+almost to the ground.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Meneptah heard. Muttering beneath his breath, &ldquo;Oh! Seti, my son, my most
+beloved son!&rdquo; he stretched out his arms as though to call him back or
+perhaps to clasp him. As he did so I saw his face change. Next instant he fell
+forward to the ground and lay there still. All the company stood struck with
+horror, only the royal physician ran to him, while Roi and others who were
+priests began to mutter prayers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Has the good god been gathered to Osiris?&rdquo; asked Amenmeses
+presently in a hoarse voice, &ldquo;because if it be so, I am Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, Amenmeses,&rdquo; exclaimed Userti, &ldquo;the decrees have not yet
+been sealed or promulgated. They have neither strength nor weight.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before he could answer the physician cried:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Peace! Pharaoh still lives, his heart beats. This is but a fit which may
+pass. Begone, every one, he must have quiet.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So we went, but first Seti knelt down and kissed his father on the brow.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+An hour later the Princess Userti broke into the room of his palace where the
+Prince and I were talking.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Seti,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;Pharaoh still lives, but the physicians
+say he will be dead by dawn. There is yet time. Here I have a writing, sealed
+with his signet and witnessed, wherein he recalls all that he decreed in the
+Court to-day, and declares you, his son, to be the true and only heir of the
+throne of Egypt.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is it so, wife? Tell me now how did a dying man in a swoon command and
+seal this writing?&rdquo; and he touched the scroll she held in her hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He recovered for a little while; Nehesi will tell you how,&rdquo; she
+replied, looking him in the face with cold eyes. Then before he could speak,
+she added, &ldquo;Waste no more breath in questions, but act and at once. The
+General of the guards waits below; he is your faithful servant. Through him I
+have promised a gift to every soldier on the day that you are crowned. Nehesi
+and most of the officers are on our side. Only the priests are against us
+because of that Hebrew witch whom you shelter, and of her tribe whom you
+befriend; but they have not had time to stir up the people nor will they
+attempt revolt. Act, Seti, act, for none will move without your express
+command. Moreover, no question will be raised afterwards, since from Thebes to
+the sea and throughout the world you are known to be the heir of Egypt.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What would you have me do, wife?&rdquo; asked Seti, when she paused for
+lack of breath.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Cannot you guess? Must I put statecraft into your head as well as a
+sword into your hand? Why that scribe of yours, who follows your heels like a
+favoured dog, would be more apt a pupil. Hearken then. Amenmeses has sent out
+to gather strength, but as yet there are not fifty men about him whom he can
+trust.&rdquo; She leant forward and whispered fiercely, &ldquo;Kill the
+traitor, Amenmeses&mdash;all will hold it a righteous act, and the General
+waits your word. Shall I summon him?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think not,&rdquo; answered Seti. &ldquo;Because Pharaoh, as he has a
+right to do, is pleased to name a certain man of royal blood to succeed him,
+how does this make that man a traitor to Pharaoh who still lives? But, traitor
+or none, I will not murder my cousin Amenmeses.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then he will murder you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Maybe. That is a matter between him and the gods which I leave them to
+settle. The oath he swore to-day is not one to be lightly broken. But whether
+he breaks it or not, I also swore an oath, at least in my heart, namely that I
+would not attempt to dispute the will of Pharaoh whom, after all, I love as my
+father and honour as my king, Pharaoh who still lives and may, as I hope,
+recover. What should I say to him if he recovered or, at the worst, when at
+last we meet elsewhere?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Pharaoh never will recover; I have spoken to the physician and he told
+me so. Already they pierce his skull to let out the evil spirit of sickness,
+after which none of our family have lived for very long.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because, as I hold, thereby, whatever priests and physicians may say,
+they let in the good spirit of death. Ana, I pray you if I&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Man,&rdquo; she broke in, striking her hand upon the table by which she
+stood, &ldquo;do you understand that while you muse and moralise your crown is
+passing from you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It has already passed, Lady. Did you not see me give it to
+Amenmeses?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you understand that you who should be the greatest king in all the
+world, in some few hours if indeed you are allowed to live, will be nothing but
+a private citizen of Egypt, one at whom the very beggars may spit and take no
+harm?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Surely, Wife. Moreover, there is little virtue in what I do, since on
+the whole I prefer that prospect and am willing to take the risk of being
+hurried from an evil world. Hearken,&rdquo; he added, with a change of tone and
+gesture. &ldquo;You think me a fool and a weakling; a dreamer also, you, the
+clear-eyed, hard-brained stateswoman who look to the glittering gain of the
+moment for which you are ready to pay in blood, and guess nothing of what lies
+beyond. I am none of these things, except, perchance, the last. I am only a man
+who strives to be just and to do right, as right seems to me, and if I dream,
+it is of good, not evil, as I understand good and evil. You are sure that this
+dreaming of mine will lead me to worldly loss and shame. Even of that <i>I</i>
+am not sure. The thought comes to me that it may lead me to those very baubles
+on which you set your heart, but by a path strewn with spices and with flowers,
+not by one paved with the bones of men and reeking with their gore. Crowns that
+are bought with the promise of blood and held with cruelty are apt to be lost
+in blood, Userti.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She waved her hand. &ldquo;I pray you keep the rest, Seti, till I have more
+time to listen. Moreover if I need prophecies, I think it better to turn to Ki
+and those who make them their life-study. For me this is a day of deeds, not
+dreams, and since you refuse my help, and behave as a sick girl lost in
+fancies, I must see to myself. As while you live I cannot reign alone or wage
+war in my own name only, I go to make terms with Amenmeses, who will pay me
+high for peace.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You go&mdash;and do you return, Userti?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She drew herself to her full height, looking very royal, and answered slowly:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not return. I, the Princess of Egypt, cannot live as the wife of a
+common man who falls from a throne to set himself upon the earth, and smears
+his own brow with mud for a uræus crown. When your prophecies come true, Seti,
+and you crawl from your dust, then perhaps we may speak again.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Aye, Userti, but the question is, what shall we say?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Meanwhile,&rdquo; she added, as she turned, &ldquo;I leave you to your
+chosen counsellors&mdash;yonder scribe, whom foolishness, not wisdom, has
+whitened before his time, and perchance the Hebrew sorceress, who can give you
+moonbeams to drink from those false lips of hers. Farewell, Seti, once a prince
+and my husband.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Farewell, Userti, who, I fear, must still remain my sister.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then he watched her go, and turning to me, said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To-day, Ana, I have lost both a crown and a wife, yet strange to tell I
+do not know which of these calamities grieves me least. Yet it is time that
+fortune turned. Or mayhap all the evils are not done. Would you not go also,
+Ana? Although she gibes at you in her anger, the Princess thinks well of you,
+and would keep you in her service. Remember, whoever falls in Egypt, she will
+be great till the last.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! Prince,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;have I not borne enough to-day
+that you must add insult to my load, you with whom I broke the cup and swore
+the oath?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What!&rdquo; he laughed. &ldquo;Is there one in Egypt who remembers
+oaths to his own loss? I thank you, Ana,&rdquo; and taking my hand he pressed
+it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At that moment the door opened, and old Pambasa entered, saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Hebrew woman, Merapi, would see you; also two Hebrew men.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Admit them,&rdquo; said Seti. &ldquo;Note, Ana, how yonder old
+time-server turns his face from the setting sun. This morning even it would
+have been &lsquo;to see your Highness,&rsquo; uttered with bows so low that his
+beard swept the floor. Now it is &lsquo;to see you&rsquo; and not so much as an
+inclination of the head in common courtesy. This, moreover, from one who has
+robbed me year by year and grown fat on bribes. It is the first of many bitter
+lessons, or rather the second&mdash;that of her Highness was the first; I pray
+that I may learn them with humility.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+While he mused thus and, having no comfort to offer, I listened sad at heart,
+Merapi entered, and a moment after her the wide-eyed messenger whom we had seen
+in Pharaoh&rsquo;s Court, and her uncle Jabez the cunning merchant. She bowed
+low to Seti, and smiled at me. Then the other two appeared, and with small
+salutation the messenger began to speak.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You know my demand, Prince,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It is that this woman
+should be returned to her people. Jabez, her uncle, will lead her away.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And you know my answer, Israelite,&rdquo; answered Seti. &ldquo;It is
+that I have no power over the coming or the going of the lady Merapi, or at
+least wish to claim none. Address yourself to her.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is it you wish with me, Priest?&rdquo; asked Merapi quickly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That you should return to the town of Goshen, daughter of Nathan. Have
+you no ears to hear?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I hear, but if I return, what will you of me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That you who have proved yourself a prophetess by your deeds in yonder
+temple should dedicate your powers to the service of your people, receiving in
+return full forgiveness for the evils you have wrought against them, which we
+swear to you in the name of God.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am no prophetess, and I have wrought no evils against my people,
+Priest. I have only saved them from the evil of murdering one who has shown
+himself their friend, even as I hear to the laying down of his crown for their
+sake.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is for the Fathers of Israel and not for you to judge, woman. Your
+answer?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is neither for them nor for me, but for God only.&rdquo; She paused,
+then added, &ldquo;Is this all you ask of me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is all the Fathers ask, but Laban asks his affianced wife.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And am I to be given in marriage to&mdash;this assassin?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Without doubt you are to be given to this brave soldier, being already
+his.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And if I refuse?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then, Daughter of Nathan, it is my part to curse you in the name of God,
+and to declare you cut off and outcast from the people of God. It is my part to
+announce to you further that your life is forfeit, and that any Hebrew may kill
+you when and how he can, and take no blame.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Merapi paled a little, then turning to Jabez, asked:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have heard, my uncle. What say you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jabez looked round shiftily, and said in his unctuous voice:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My niece, surely you must obey the commands of the Elders of Israel who
+speak the will of Heaven, as you obeyed them when you matched yourself against
+the might of Amon.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You gave me a different counsel yesterday, my uncle. Then you said I had
+better bide where I was.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The messenger turned and glared at him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There is a great difference between yesterday and to-day,&rdquo; went on
+Jabez hurriedly. &ldquo;Yesterday you were protected by one who would soon be
+Pharaoh, and might have been able to move his mind in favour of your folk.
+To-day his greatness is stripped from him, and his will has no more weight in
+Egypt. A dead lion is not to be feared, my niece.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seti smiled at this insult, but Merapi&rsquo;s face, like my own, grew red, as
+though with anger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sleeping lions have been taken for dead ere now, my uncle, as those who
+would spurn them have discovered to their cost. Prince Seti, have you no word
+to help me in this strait?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is the strait, Lady? If you wish to go to your people and&mdash;to
+Laban, who, I understand, is recovered from his hurts, there is naught between
+you and me save my gratitude to you which gives me the right to say you shall
+not go. If, however, you wish to stay, then perhaps I am still not so powerless
+to shield or smite as this worthy Jabez thinks, who still remain the greatest
+lord in Egypt and one with those that love him. Therefore should you desire to
+remain, I think that you may do so unmolested of any, and least of all by that
+friend in whose shadow it pleases you to sojourn.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Those are very gentle words,&rdquo; murmured Merapi, &ldquo;words that
+few would speak to a maid from whom naught is asked and who has naught to
+give.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A truce to this talk,&rdquo; snarled the messenger. &ldquo;Do you obey
+or do you rebel? Your answer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She turned and looked him full in the face, saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not return to Goshen and to Laban, of whose sword I have seen
+enough.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mayhap you will see more of it before all is done. For the last time,
+think ere the curse of your God and your people falls upon you, and after it,
+death. For fall I say it shall, I, who, as Pharaoh knows to-day, am no false
+prophet, and as that Prince knows also.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not think that my God, who sees the hearts of those that he has
+made, will avenge himself upon a woman because she refuses to be wedded to a
+murderer whom of her own will she never chose, which, Priest, is the fate you
+offer me. Therefore I am content to leave judgment in the hands of the great
+Judge of all. For the rest I defy you and your commands. If I must be
+slaughtered, let me die, but at least let me die mistress of myself and free,
+who am no man&rsquo;s love, or wife, or slave.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well spoken!&rdquo; whispered Seti to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then this priest became terrible. Waving his arms and rolling his wild eyes, he
+poured out some hideous curse upon the head of this poor maid, much of which,
+as it was spoken rapidly in an ancient form of Hebrew, we did not understand.
+He cursed her living, dying, and after death. He cursed her in her love and
+hate, wedded or alone. He cursed her in child-bearing or in barrenness, and he
+cursed her children after her to all generations. Lastly, he declared her cut
+off from and rejected by the god she worshipped, and sentenced her to death at
+the hands of any who could slay her. So horrible was that curse that she shrank
+away from him, while Jabez crouched about the ground hiding his eyes with his
+hands, and even I felt my blood turn cold.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length he paused, foaming at the lips. Then, suddenly, shouting,
+&ldquo;After judgment, doom!&rdquo; he drew a knife from his robe and sprang at
+her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She fled behind us. He followed, but Seti, crying, &ldquo;Ah, I thought
+it,&rdquo; leapt between them, as he did so drawing the iron sword which he
+wore with his ceremonial dress. At him he sprang and the next thing I saw was
+the red point of the sword standing out beyond the priest&rsquo;s shoulders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Down he fell, babbling:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is this how you show your love for Israel, Prince?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is how I show my hate of murderers,&rdquo; answered Seti.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then the man died.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; cried Merapi wringing her hands, &ldquo;once more I have
+caused Hebrew blood to flow and now all this curse will fall on me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, on me, Lady, if there is anything in curses, which I doubt, for
+this deed was mine, and at the worst yonder mad brute&rsquo;s knife did not
+fall on you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, life is left if only for a little while. Had it not been for you,
+Prince, by now, I&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo; and she shuddered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And had it not been for you, Moon of Israel, by now
+I&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo; and he smiled, adding, &ldquo;Surely Fate weaves a
+strange web round you and me. First you save me from the sword; then I save
+you. I think, Lady, that in the end we ought to die together and give Ana here
+stuff for the best of all his stories. Friend Jabez,&rdquo; he went on to the
+Israelite who was still crouching in the corner with the eyes starting from his
+head, &ldquo;get you back to your gentle-hearted people and make it clear to
+them why the lady Merapi cannot companion you, taking with you that carrion to
+prove your tale. Tell them that if they send more men to molest your niece a
+like fate awaits them, but that now as before I do not turn my back upon them
+because of the deeds of a few madmen or evil-doers, as I have given them proof
+to-day. Ana, make ready, since soon I leave for Memphis. See that the Lady
+Merapi, who will travel alone, has fit escort for her journey, that is if it
+pleases her to depart from Tanis.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap11"></a>CHAPTER XI.<br />
+THE CROWNING OF AMENMESES</h2>
+
+<p>
+Now, notwithstanding all the woes that fell on Egypt and a certain secret
+sorrow of my own, began the happiest of the days which the gods have given me.
+We went to Mennefer or Memphis, the white-walled city where I was born, the
+city that I loved. Now no longer did I dwell in a little house near to the
+enclosure of the temple of Ptah, which is vaster and more splendid than all
+those of Thebes or Tanis. My home was in the beautiful palace of Seti, which he
+had inherited from his mother, the Great Royal Wife. It stood, and indeed still
+stands, on a piled-up mound without the walls near to the temple of the goddess
+Neit, who always has her habitation to the north of the wall, why I do not
+know, because even her priests cannot tell me. In front of this palace, facing
+to the north, is a great portico, whereof the roof is borne upon palm-headed,
+painted columns whence may be seen the most lovely prospect in Egypt. First the
+gardens, then the palm-groves, then the cultivated land, then the broad and
+gentle Nile and, far away, the desert.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here, then, we dwelt, keeping small state and almost unguarded, but in wealth
+and comfort, spending our time in the library of the palace, or in those of the
+temples, and when we wearied of work, in the lovely gardens or, perchance,
+sailing upon the bosom of the Nile. The lady Merapi dwelt there also, but in a
+separate wing of the palace, with certain slaves and servants whom Seti had
+given to her. Sometimes we met her in the gardens, where it pleased her to walk
+at the same hours that we did, namely before the sun grew hot, or in the cool
+of the evening, and now and again when the moon shone at night. Then the three
+of us would talk together, for Seti never sought her company alone or within
+walls.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Those talks were very pleasant. Moreover they grew more frequent as time went
+on, since Merapi had a thirst for learning, and the Prince would bring her
+rolls to read in a little summer-house there was. Here we would sit, or if the
+heat was great, outside beneath the shadow of two spreading trees that
+stretched above the roof of the little pleasure-house, while Seti discoursed of
+the contents of the rolls and instructed her in the secrets of our writing.
+Sometimes, too, I read them stories of my making, to which it pleased them both
+to listen, or so they said, and I, in my vanity, believed. Also we would talk
+of the mystery and the wonder of the world and of the Hebrews and their fate,
+or of what passed in Egypt and the neighbouring lands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nor was Merapi altogether lonesome, seeing that there dwelt in Memphis certain
+ladies who had Hebrew blood in their veins, or were born of the Israelites and
+had married Egyptians against their law. Among these she made friends, and
+together they worshipped in their own fashion with none to say them nay, since
+here no priests were allowed to trouble them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For our part we held intercourse with as many as we pleased, since few forgot
+that Seti was by blood the Prince of Egypt, that is, a man almost half divine,
+and all were eager to visit him. Also he was much beloved for his own sake and
+more particularly by the poor, whose wants it was his delight to relieve to the
+full limit of his wealth. Thus it came about that whenever he went abroad,
+although against his will, he was received with honours and homage that were
+almost royal, for though Pharaoh could rob him of the Crown he could not empty
+his veins of the blood of kings.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was on this account that I feared for his safety, since I was sure that
+through his spies Amenmeses knew all and would grow jealous of a dethroned
+prince who was still so much adored by those over whom of right he should have
+ruled. I told Seti of my doubts and that when he travelled the streets he
+should be guarded by armed men. But he only laughed and answered that, as the
+Hebrews had failed to kill him, he did not think that any others would succeed.
+Moreover he believed there were no Egyptians in the land who would lift a sword
+against him, or put poison in his drink, whoever bade them. Also he added these
+words:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The best way to escape death is to have no fear of death, for then
+Osiris shuns us.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Now I must tell of the happenings at Tanis. Pharaoh Meneptah lingered but a few
+hours and never found his mind again before his spirit flew to Heaven. Then
+there was great mourning in the land, for, if he was not loved, Meneptah was
+honoured and feared. Only among the Israelites there was open rejoicing,
+because he had been their enemy and their prophets had foretold that death was
+near to him. They gave it out that he had been smitten of their God, which
+caused the Egyptians to hate them more than ever. There was doubt, too, and
+bewilderment in Egypt, for though his proclamation disinheriting the Prince
+Seti had been published abroad, the people, and especially those who dwelt in
+the south, could not understand why this should have been done over a matter of
+the shepherd slaves who dwelt in Goshen. Indeed, had the Prince but held up his
+hand, tens of thousands would have rallied to his standard. Yet this he refused
+to do, which astonished all the world, who thought it marvellous that any man
+should refuse a throne which would have lifted him almost to the level of the
+gods. Indeed, to avoid their importunities he had set out at once for Memphis,
+and there remained hidden away during the period of mourning for his father. So
+it came about that Amenmeses succeeded with none to say him nay, since without
+her husband Userti could not or would not act.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After the days of embalmment were accomplished the body of Pharaoh Meneptah was
+carried up the Nile to be laid in his eternal house, the splendid tomb that he
+had made ready for himself in the Valley of Dead Kings at Thebes. To this great
+ceremony the Prince Seti was not bidden, lest, as Bakenkhonsu told me
+afterwards, his presence should cause some rising in his favour, with or
+without his will. For this reason also the dead god, as he was named, was not
+suffered to rest at Memphis on his last journey up the Nile. Disguised as a man
+of the people the Prince watched his father&rsquo;s body pass in the funeral
+barge guarded by shaven, white-robed priests, the centre of a splendid
+procession. In front went other barges filled with soldiers and officers of
+state, behind came the new Pharaoh and all the great ones of Egypt, while the
+sounds of lamentation floated far over the face of the waters. They appeared,
+they passed, they disappeared, and when they had vanished Seti wept a little,
+for in his own fashion he loved his father.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of what use is it to be a king and named half-divine, Ana,&rdquo; he
+said to me, &ldquo;seeing that the end of such gods as these is the same as
+that of the beggar at the gate?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This, Prince,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;that a king can do more good
+than a beggar while the breath is in his nostrils, and leave behind him a great
+example to others.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Or more harm, Ana. Also the beggar can leave a great example, that of
+patience in affliction. Still, if I were sure that I should do nothing but
+good, then perhaps I would be a king. But I have noted that those who desire to
+do the most good often work the greatest harm.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Which, if followed out, would be an argument for wishing to do evil,
+Prince.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not so,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;because good triumphs at the last.
+For good is truth and truth rules earth and heaven.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then it is clear, Prince, that you should seek to be a king.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will remember the argument, Ana, if ever time brings me an opportunity
+unstained by blood,&rdquo; he answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the obsequies of Pharaoh were finished, Amenmeses returned to Tanis, and
+there was crowned as Pharaoh. I attended this great ceremony, bearing
+coronation gifts of certain royal ornaments which the Prince sent to Pharaoh,
+saying it was not fit that he, as a private person, should wear them any
+longer. These I presented to Pharaoh, who took them doubtfully, declaring that
+he did not understand the Prince Seti&rsquo;s mind and actions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They hide no snare, O Pharaoh,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;As you rejoice in
+the glory that the gods have sent you, so the Prince my master rejoices in the
+rest and peace which the gods have given him, asking no more.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It may be so, Scribe, but I find this so strange a thing, that sometimes
+I fear lest the rich flowers of this glory of mine should hide some deadly
+snake, whereof the Prince knows, if he did not set it there.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I cannot say, O Pharaoh, but without doubt, although he could work no
+guile, the Prince is not as are other men. His mind is both wide and
+deep.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Too deep for me,&rdquo; muttered Amenmeses. &ldquo;Nevertheless, say to
+my royal cousin that I thank him for his gifts, especially as some of them were
+worn, when he was heir to Egypt, by my father Khaemuas, who I would had left me
+his wisdom as well as his blood. Say to him also that while he refrains from
+working me harm upon the throne, as I know he has done up to the present, he
+may be sure that I will work him none in the station which he has chosen.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Also I saw the Princess Userti who questioned me closely concerning her lord. I
+told her everything, keeping naught back. She listened and asked:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What of that Hebrew woman, Moon of Israel? Without doubt she fills my
+place.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not so, Princess,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;The Prince lives alone.
+Neither she nor any other woman fills your place. She is a friend to him, no
+more.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A friend! Well, at least we know the end of such friendships. Oh! surely
+the Prince must be stricken with madness from the gods!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It may be so, your Highness, but I think that if the gods smote more men
+with such madness, the world would be better than it is.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The world is the world, and the business of those who are born to
+greatness is to rule it as it is, not to hide away amongst books and flowers,
+and to talk folly with a beautiful outland woman, and a scribe however
+learned,&rdquo; she answered bitterly, adding, &ldquo;Oh! if the Prince is not
+mad, certainly he drives others to madness, and me, his spouse, among them.
+That throne is his, his; yet he suffers a cross-grained dolt to take his place,
+and sends him gifts and blessings.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think your Highness should wait till the end of the story before you
+judge of it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked at me sharply, and asked:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why do you say that? Is the Prince no fool after all? Do he and you, who
+both seem to be so simple, perchance play a great and hidden game, as I have
+known men feign folly in order to do with safety? Or has that witch of an
+Israelite some secret knowledge in which she instructs you, such as a woman who
+can shatter the statue of Amon to fine dust might well possess? You make
+believe not to know, which means that you will not answer. Oh! Scribe Ana, if
+only it were safe, I think I could find a way to wring the truth out of you,
+although you do pretend to be but a babe for innocence.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It pleases your Highness to threaten and without cause.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No,&rdquo; she answered, changing her voice and manner, &ldquo;I do not
+threaten; it is only the madness that I have caught from Seti. Would you not be
+mad if you knew that another woman was to be crowned to-morrow in your place,
+because&mdash;because&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo; and she began to weep, which
+frightened me more than all her rough words.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently she dried her tears, and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Say to my lord that I rejoice to hear that he is well and send him
+greetings, but that never of my own wish will I look upon his living face again
+unless indeed he takes another counsel, and sets himself to win that which is
+his own. Say to him that though he has so little care for me, and pays no heed
+to my desires, still I watch over his welfare and his safety, as best I
+may.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;His safety, Princess! Pharaoh assured me not an hour ago that he had
+naught to fear, as indeed he fears naught.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! which of you is the more foolish,&rdquo; she exclaimed stamping her
+foot, &ldquo;the man or his master? You believe that the Prince has naught to
+fear because that usurper tells you so, and he believes it&mdash;well, because
+he fears naught. For a little while he may sleep in peace. But let him wait
+until troubles of this sort or of that arise in Egypt and, understanding that
+the gods send them on account of the great wickedness that my father wrought
+when death had him by the throat and his mind was clouded, the people begin to
+turn their eyes towards their lawful king. Then the usurper will grow jealous,
+and if he has his way, the Prince will sleep in peace&mdash;for ever. If his
+throat remains uncut, it will be for one reason only, that I hold back the
+murderer&rsquo;s hand. Farewell, I can talk no more, for I say to you that my
+brain is afire&mdash;and to-morrow he should have been crowned, and I with
+him,&rdquo; and she swept away, royal as ever, leaving me wondering what she
+meant when she spoke of troubles arising in Egypt, or if the words were but
+uttered at hazard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Afterwards Bakenkhonsu and I supped together at the college of the temple of
+Ptah, of which because of his age he was called the father, when I heard more
+of this matter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ana,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I tell you that such gloom hangs over Egypt
+as I have never known even when it was thought that the Ninebow Barbarians
+would conquer and enslave the land. Amenmeses will be the fifth Pharaoh whom I
+have seen crowned, the first of them when I was but a little child hanging to
+my mother&rsquo;s robe, and not once have I known such joylessness.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That may be because the crown passes to one who should not wear it,
+Bakenkhonsu.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He shook his head. &ldquo;Not altogether. I think this darkness comes from the
+heavens as light does. Men are afraid they know not of what.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Israelites,&rdquo; I suggested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now you are near to it, Ana, for doubtless they have much to do with the
+matter. Had it not been for them Seti and not Amenmeses would be crowned
+to-morrow. Also the tale of the marvel which the beautiful Hebrew woman wrought
+in the temple yonder has got abroad and is taken as an omen. Did I tell you
+that six days gone a fine new statue of the god was consecrated there and on
+the following morning was found lying on its side, or rather with its head
+resting on the breast of Mut?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If so, Merapi is blameless, because she has gone away from this
+city.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of course she has gone away, for has not Seti gone also? But I think she
+left something behind her. However that may be, even our new divine lord is
+afraid. He dreams ill, Ana,&rdquo; he added, dropping his voice, &ldquo;so ill
+that he has called in Ki, the Kherheb,<a href="#fn1" name="fnref1" id="fnref1"><sup>[1]</sup></a>
+to interpret his visions.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+<a name="fn1" id="fn1"></a> <a href="#fnref1">[1]</a>
+&ldquo;Kherheb&rdquo; was the title of the chief official magician in ancient Egypt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And what said Ki?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ki could say nothing or, rather, that the only answer vouchsafed to him
+and his company, when they made inquiry of their Kas, was that this god&rsquo;s
+reign would be very short and that it and his life would end together.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Which perhaps did not please the god Amenmeses, Bakenkhonsu?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Which did not please the god at all. He threatened Ki. It is a foolish
+thing to threaten a great magician, Ana, as the Kherheb Ki, himself indeed told
+him, looking him in the eyes. Then he prayed his pardon and asked who would
+succeed him on the throne, but Ki said he did not know, as a Kherheb who had
+been threatened could never remember anything, which indeed he never
+can&mdash;except to pay back the threatener.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And did he know, Bakenkhonsu?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By way of answer the old Councillor crumbled some bread fine upon the table,
+then with his finger traced among the crumbs the rough likeness of a
+jackal-headed god and of two feathers, after which with a swift movement he
+swept the crumbs onto the floor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Seti!&rdquo; I whispered, reading the hieroglyphs of the Prince&rsquo;s
+name, and he nodded and laughed in his great fashion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Men come to their own sometimes, Ana, especially if they do not seek
+their own,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But if so, much must happen first that is
+terrible. The new Pharaoh is not the only man who dreams, Ana. Of late years my
+sleep has been light and sometimes I dream, though I have no magic like to that
+of Ki.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What did you dream?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I dreamed of a great multitude marching like locusts over Egypt. Before
+them went a column of fire in which were two hands. One of these held Amon by
+the throat and one held the new Pharaoh by the throat. After them came a column
+of cloud, and in it a shape like to that of an unwrapped mummy, a shape of
+death standing upon water that was full of countless dead.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I bethought me of the picture that the Prince and I had seen in the skies
+yonder in the land of Goshen, but of it I said nothing. Yet I think that
+Bakenkhonsu saw into my mind, for he asked:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do <i>you</i> never dream, Friend? You see visions that come
+true&mdash;Amenmeses on the throne, for instance. Do you not also dream at
+times? No? Well, then, the Prince? You look like men who might, and the time is
+ripe and pregnant. Oh! I remember. You are both of you dreaming, not of the
+pictures that pass across the terrible eyes of Ki, but of those that the moon
+reflects upon the waters of Memphis, the Moon of Israel. Ana, be advised by me,
+put away the flesh and increase the spirit, for in it alone is happiness,
+whereof woman and all our joys are but earthly symbols, shadows thrown by that
+mortal cloud which lies between us and the Light Above. I see that you
+understand, because some of that light has struggled to your heart. Do you
+remember that you saw it shining in the hour when your little daughter died?
+Ah! I thought so. It was the gift she left you, a gift that will grow and grow
+in such a breast as yours, if only you will put away the flesh and make room
+for it, Ana. Man, do not weep&mdash;laugh as I do, Oho-ho! Give me my staff,
+and good-night. Forget not that we sit together at the crowning to-morrow, for
+you are a King&rsquo;s Companion and that rank once conferred is one which no
+new Pharaoh can take away. It is like the gift of the spirit, Ana, which is
+hard to win, but once won more eternal than the stars. Oh! why do I live so
+long who would bathe in it, as when a child I used to bathe in Nile?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+On the following day at the appointed hour I went to the great hall of the
+palace, that in which I had first seen Meneptah, and took my stand in the place
+allotted to me. It was somewhat far back, perhaps because it was not wished
+that I, who was known to be the private scribe of Seti, should remind Egypt of
+him by appearing where all could see me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Great as was the hall the crowd filled it to its furthest corners. Moreover no
+common man was present there, but rather every noble and head-priest in Egypt,
+and with them their wives and daughters, so that all the dim courts shone with
+gold and precious gems set upon festal garments. While I was waiting old
+Bakenkhonsu hobbled towards me, the crowd making way for him, and I could see
+that there was laughter in his sunken eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We are ill-placed, Ana,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Still if any of the many
+gods there are in Egypt should chance to rain fires on Pharaoh, we shall be the
+safer. Talking of gods,&rdquo; he went on in a whisper, &ldquo;have you heard
+what happened an hour ago in the temple of Ptah of Tanis whence I have just
+come? Pharaoh and all the Blood-royal&mdash;save one&mdash;walked according to
+custom before the statue of the god which, as you know, should bow its head to
+show that he chooses and accepts the king. In front of Amenmeses went the
+Princess Userti, and as she passed the head of the god bowed, for I saw it,
+though all pretended that they did not see. Then came Pharaoh and stood
+waiting, but it would not bow, though the priests called in the old formula,
+&lsquo;The god greets the king.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At length he went on, looking as black as night, and others of the blood
+of Rameses followed in their order. Last of all limped Saptah and, behold! the
+god bowed again.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How and why does it do these things?&rdquo; I asked, &ldquo;and at the
+wrong time?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ask the priests, Ana, or Userti, or Saptah. Perhaps the divine neck has
+not been oiled of late, or too much oiled, or too little oiled, or
+prayers&mdash;or strings&mdash;may have gone wrong. Or Pharaoh may have been
+niggard in his gifts to that college of the great god of his House. Who am I
+that I should know the ways of gods? That in the temple where I served at
+Thebes fifty years ago did not pretend to bow or to trouble himself as to which
+of the royal race sat upon the throne. Hush! Here comes Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then in a splendid procession, surrounded by princes, councillors, ladies,
+priests, and guards, Amenmeses and the Royal Wife, Urnure, a large woman who
+walked awkwardly, entered the hall, a glittering band. The high-priest, Roi,
+and the chancellor, Nehesi, received Pharaoh and led him to his throne. The
+multitude prostrated itself, trumpets blew and thrice the old salute of
+&ldquo;Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!&rdquo; was cried aloud.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Amenmeses rose and bowed, and I saw that his heavy face was troubled and looked
+older. Then he swore some oath to gods and men which Roi dictated to him, and
+before all the company put on the double crown and the other emblems, and took
+in his hands the scourge and golden sickle. Next homage was paid. The Princess
+Userti came first and kissed Pharaoh&rsquo;s hand, but bent no knee. Indeed
+first she spoke with him a while. We could not hear what was said, but
+afterwards learned that she demanded that he should publicly repeat all the
+promises which her father Meneptah had made to her before him, confirming her
+in her place and rights. This in the end he did, though it seemed to me
+unwillingly enough.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So with many forms and ancient celebrations the ceremony went on, till all grew
+weary waiting for that time when Pharaoh should make his speech to the people.
+That speech, however, was never made, for presently, thrusting past us, I saw
+those two prophets of the Israelites who had visited Meneptah in this same
+hall. Men shrank from them, so that they walked straight up to the throne, nor
+did even the guards strive to bar their way. What they said there I could not
+hear, but I believe that they demanded that their people should be allowed to
+go to worship their god in their own fashion, and that Amenmeses refused as
+Meneptah had done.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then one of them cast down a rod and it turned to a snake which hissed at
+Pharaoh, whereon the Kherheb Ki and his company also cast down rods that turned
+to snakes, though I could only hear the hissing. After this a great gloom fell
+upon the hall, so that men could not see each other&rsquo;s faces and everyone
+began to call aloud till the company broke up in confusion. Bakenkhonsu and I
+were borne together to the doorway by the pressure of the people, whence we
+were glad enough to see the sky again.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Thus ended the crowning of Amenmeses.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap12"></a>CHAPTER XII.<br />
+THE MESSAGE OF JABEZ</h2>
+
+<p>
+That night there were none who rejoiced in the streets of the city, and save in
+the palace and houses of those of the Court, none who feasted. I walked abroad
+in the market-place and noted the people going to and fro gloomily, or talking
+together in whispers. Presently a man whose face was hidden in a hood began to
+speak with me, saying that he had a message for my master, the Prince Seti. I
+answered that I took no messages from veiled strangers, whereon he threw back
+his hood, and I saw that it was Jabez, the uncle of Merapi. I asked him whether
+he had obeyed the Prince, and borne the body of that prophet back to Goshen and
+told the elders of the manner of the man&rsquo;s death.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;nor were the Elders angry with the
+Prince over this matter. They said that their messenger had exceeded his
+authority, since they had never told him to curse Merapi, and much less attempt
+to kill her, and that the Prince did right to slay one who would have done
+murder before his royal eyes. Still they added that the curse, having once been
+spoken by this priest, would surely fall upon Merapi in this way or in
+that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What then should she do, Jabez?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not know, Scribe. If she returns to her people, perchance she will
+be absolved, but then she must surely marry Laban. It is for her to
+judge.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And what would you do if you were in her place, Jabez?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think that I should stay where I was, and make myself very dear to
+Seti, taking the chance that the curse may pass her by, since it was not
+lawfully decreed upon her. Whichever way she looks, trouble waits, and at the
+worst, a woman might wish to satisfy her heart before it falls, especially if
+that heart should happen to turn to one who will be Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why do you say &lsquo;who will be Pharaoh,&rsquo; Jabez?&rdquo; I asked,
+for we were standing in an empty place alone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That I may not tell you,&rdquo; he replied cunningly, &ldquo;yet it will
+come about as I say. He who sits upon the throne is mad as Meneptah was mad,
+and will fight against a strength that is greater than his until it overwhelms
+him. In the Prince&rsquo;s heart alone does the light of wisdom shine. That
+which you saw to-day is only the first of many miracles, Scribe Ana. I can say
+no more.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What then is your message, Jabez?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This: Because the Prince has striven to deal well with the people of
+Israel and for their sake has cast aside a crown, whatever may chance to
+others, let him fear nothing. No harm shall come to him, or to those about him,
+such as yourself, Scribe Ana, who also would deal justly by us. Yet it may
+happen that through my niece Merapi, on whose head the evil word has fallen, a
+great sorrow may come to both him and her. Therefore, perhaps, although setting
+this against that, she may be wise to stay in the house of Seti, he, on the
+balance, may be wise to turn her from his doors.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What sorrow?&rdquo; I asked, who grew bewildered with his dark talk, but
+there was no answer, for he had gone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Near to my lodging another man met me, and the moonlight shining on his face
+showed me the terrible eyes of Ki.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Scribe Ana,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you leave for Memphis to-morrow at
+the dawn, and not two days hence as you purposed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How do you know that, Magician Ki?&rdquo; I answered, for I had told my
+change of plan to none, not even to Bakenkhonsu, having indeed only determined
+upon it since Jabez left me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know nothing, Ana, save that a faithful servant who has learned all
+you have learned to-day will hurry to make report of it to his master,
+especially if there is some other to whom he would also wish to make report, as
+Bakenkhonsu thinks.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Bakenkhonsu talks too much, whatever he may think,&rdquo; I exclaimed
+testily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The aged grow garrulous. You were at the crowning to-day, were you
+not?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, and if I saw aright from far away, those Hebrew prophets seemed to
+worst you at your own trade there, Kherheb, which must grieve you, as you were
+grieved in the temple when Amon fell.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It does not grieve me, Ana. If I have powers, there may be others who
+have greater powers, as I learned in the temple of Amon. Why therefore should I
+feel ashamed?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Powers!&rdquo; I replied with a laugh, for the strings of my mind seemed
+torn that night, &ldquo;would not craft be a better word? How do you turn a
+stick into a snake, a thing which is impossible to man?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Craft might be a better word, since craft means knowledge as well as
+trickery. &lsquo;Impossible to man!&rsquo; After what you saw a while ago in
+the temple of Amon, do you hold that there is anything impossible to man or
+woman? Perhaps you could do as much yourself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why do you mock me, Ki? I study books, not snake-charming.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He looked at me in his calm fashion, as though he were reading, not my face,
+but the thoughts behind it. Then he looked at the cedar wand in his hand and
+gave it to me, saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Study this, Ana, and tell me, what is it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Am I a child,&rdquo; I answered angrily, &ldquo;that I should not know a
+priest&rsquo;s rod when I see one?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think that you are something of a child, Ana,&rdquo; he murmured, all
+the while keeping those eyes of his fixed upon my face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then a horror came about. For the rod began to twist in my hand and when I
+stared at it, lo! it was a long, yellow snake which I held by the tail. I threw
+the reptile down with a scream, for it was turning its head as though to strike
+me, and there in the dust it twisted and writhed away from me and towards Ki.
+Yet an instant later it was only a stick of yellow cedar-wood, though between
+me and Ki there was a snake&rsquo;s track in the sand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is somewhat shameless of you, Ana,&rdquo; said Ki, as he lifted the
+wand, &ldquo;to reproach me with trickery while you yourself try to confound a
+poor juggler with such arts as these.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I know not what I said to him, save the end of it was that I supposed he
+would tell me next that I could fill a hall with darkness at noonday and cover
+a multitude with terror.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let us have done with jests,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;though these are
+well enough in their place. Will you take this rod again and point it to the
+moon? You refuse and you do well, for neither you nor I can cover up her face.
+Ana, because you are wise in your way and consort with one who is wiser, and
+were present in the temple when the statue of Amon was shattered by a certain
+witch who matched her strength against mine and conquered me, I, the great
+magician, have come to ask <i>you</i>&mdash;whence came that darkness in the
+hall to-day?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;From God, I think,&rdquo; I answered in an awed whisper.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So I think also, Ana. But tell me, or ask Merapi, Moon of Israel, to
+tell me&mdash;from what god? Oh! I say to you that a terrible power is afoot in
+this land and that the Prince Seti did well to refuse the throne of Egypt and
+to fly to Memphis. Repeat it to him, Ana.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then he too was gone.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Now I returned in safety to Memphis and told all these tidings to the Prince,
+who listened to them eagerly. Once only was he greatly stirred; it was when I
+repeated to him the words of Userti, that never would she look upon his face
+again unless it pleased him to turn it towards the throne. On hearing this
+tears came into his eyes, and rising, he walked up and down the chamber.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The fallen must not look for gentleness,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and
+doubtless, Ana, you think it folly that I should grieve because I am thus
+deserted.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, Prince, for I too have been abandoned by a wife and the pain is
+unforgotten.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is not of the wife I think, Ana, since in truth her Highness is no
+wife to me. For whatever may be the ancient laws of Egypt, how could it happen
+otherwise, at any rate in my case and hers? It is of the sister. For though my
+mother was not hers, she and I were brought up together and in our way loved
+each other, though always it was her pleasure to lord it over me, as it was
+mine to submit and pay her back in jests. That is why she is so angry because
+now of a sudden I have thrown off her rule to follow my own will whereby she
+has lost the throne.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It has always been the duty of the royal heiress of Egypt to marry the
+Pharaoh of Egypt, Prince, and having wed one who would be Pharaoh according to
+that duty, the blow cuts deep.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then she had best thrust aside that foolish wife of his and wed him who
+is Pharaoh. But that she will never do; Amenmeses she has always hated, so much
+that she loathed to be in the same place with him. Nor indeed would he wed her,
+who wishes to rule for himself, not through a woman whose title to the crown is
+better than his own. Well, she has put me away and there&rsquo;s an end.
+Henceforth I must go lonely, unless&mdash;unless&mdash;&mdash;Continue your
+story, friend. It is kind of her in her greatness to promise to protect one so
+humble. I should remember that, although it is true that fallen heads sometimes
+rise again,&rdquo; he added bitterly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So at least Jabez thinks, Prince,&rdquo; and I told him how the
+Israelites were sure that he would be Pharaoh, whereat he laughed and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps, for they are good prophets. For my part I neither know or care.
+Or maybe Jabez sees advantage in talking thus, for as you know he is a clever
+trader.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not think so,&rdquo; I answered and stopped.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Had Jabez more to say of any other matter, Ana? Of the lady Merapi, for
+instance?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now feeling it to be my duty, I told him every word that had passed between
+Jabez and myself, though somewhat shamefacedly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This Hebrew takes much for granted, Ana, even as to whom the Moon of
+Israel would wish to shine upon. Why, friend, it might be you whom she desires
+to touch with her light, or some youth in Goshen&mdash;not Laban&mdash;or no
+one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Me, Prince, me!&rdquo; I exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, Ana, I am sure you would have it so. Be advised by me and ask her
+mind upon the matter. Look not so confused, man, for one who has been married
+you are too modest. Come tell me of this Crowning.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So glad enough to escape from the matter of Merapi, I spoke at length of all
+that had happened when Pharaoh Amenmeses took his seat upon the throne. When I
+described how the rod of the Hebrew prophet had been turned to a snake and how
+Ki and his company had done likewise, the Prince laughed and said that these
+were mere jugglers&rsquo; tricks. But when I told of the darkness that had
+seemed to gather in the hall and of the gloom that filled the hearts of all men
+and of the awesome dream of Bakenkhonsu, also of the words of Ki after he had
+clouded my mind and played his jest upon me, he listened with much earnestness
+and answered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My mind is as Ki&rsquo;s in this matter. I too think that a terrible
+power is afoot in Egypt, one that has its home in the land of Goshen, and that
+I did well to refuse the throne. But from what god these fortunes come I do not
+know. Perhaps time will tell us. Meanwhile if there is aught in the prophesies
+of these Hebrews, as interpreted by Jabez, at least you and I may sleep in
+peace, which is more than will chance to Pharaoh on the throne that Userti
+covets. If so, this play will be worth the watching. You have done your mission
+well, Ana. Go rest you while I think over all that you have said.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+It was evening and as the palace was very hot I went into the garden and making
+my way to that little pleasure-house where Seti and I were wont to study, I sat
+myself down there and, being weary, fell asleep. When I awoke from a dream
+about some woman who was weeping, night had fallen and the full moon shone in
+the sky, so that its rays fell on the garden before me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now in front of this little house, as I have said, grew trees that at this
+season of the year were covered with white and cup-like blossoms, and between
+these trees was a seat built up of sun-dried bricks. On this seat sat a woman
+whom I knew from her shape to be Merapi. Also she was sad, for although her
+head was bowed and her long hair hid her face I could hear her gentle sighs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sight of her moved me very much and I remembered what the Prince had said
+to me, telling me that I should do well to ask this lady whether she had any
+mind my way. Therefore if I did so, surely I could not be blamed. Yet I was
+certain that it was not to me that her heart turned, though to speak the truth,
+much I wished it otherwise. Who would look at the ibis in the swamp when the
+wide-winged eagle floated in heaven above?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+An evil thought came into my mind, sent by Set. Suppose that this
+watcher&rsquo;s eyes were fixed upon the eagle, lord of the air. Suppose that
+she worshipped this eagle; that she loved it because its home was heaven,
+because to her it was the king of all the birds. And suppose one told her that
+if she lured it down to earth from the glorious safety of the skies, she would
+bring it to captivity or death at the hand of the snarer. Then would not that
+loving watcher say: &ldquo;Let it go free and happy, however much I long to
+look upon it,&rdquo; and when it had sailed from sight, perhaps turn her eyes
+to the humble ibis in the mud?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jabez had told me that if this woman and the Prince grew dear to each other she
+would bring great sorrow on his head. If I repeated his words to her, she who
+had faith in the prophecies of her people would certainly believe them.
+Moreover, whatever her heart might prompt, being so high-natured, never would
+she consent to do what might bring trouble on Seti&rsquo;s head, even if to
+refuse him should sink her soul in sorrow. Nor would she return to the Hebrews
+there to fall into the hands of one she hated. Then perhaps I&mdash;&mdash;.
+Should I tell her? If Jabez had not meant that the matter must be brought to
+her ears, would he have spoken of it at all? In short was it not my duty to
+her, and perhaps also to the Prince who thereby might be saved from miseries to
+come, that is if this talk of future troubles were anything more than an idle
+story.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Such was the evil reasoning with which Set assailed my spirit. How I beat it
+down I do not know. Not by my own goodness, I am sure, since at the moment I
+was aflame with love for the sweet and beautiful lady who sat before me and in
+my foolishness would, I think, have given my life to kiss her hand. Not
+altogether for her sake either, since passion is very selfish. No, I believe it
+was because the love that I bore the Prince was more deep and real than that
+which I could feel for any woman, and I knew well that were she not in my sight
+no such treachery would have overcome my heart. For I was sure, although he had
+never said so to me, that Seti loved Merapi and above all earthly things
+desired her as his companion, while if once I spoke those words, whatever my
+own gain or loss and whatever her secret wish, that she would never be.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So I conquered, though the victory left me trembling like a child, and wishing
+that I had not been born to know the pangs of love denied. My reward was very
+swift, for just then Merapi unfastened a gem from the breast of her white robe
+and held it towards the moon, as though to study it. In an instant I knew it
+again. It was that royal scarab of lapis-lazuli with which in Goshen the Prince
+had made fast the bandage on her wounded foot, which also had been snatched
+from her breast by some power on that night when the statue of Amon was
+shattered in the temple.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Long and earnestly she looked at it, then having glanced round to make sure she
+was alone, she pressed it to her lips and kissed it thrice with passion,
+muttering I know not what between the kisses. Now the scales fell from my eyes
+and I knew that she loved Seti, and oh! how I thanked my guardian god who had
+saved me from such useless shame.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I wiped the cold damp from my brow and was about to flee away, discovering
+myself with as few words as might be, when, looking up, I saw standing behind
+Merapi the figure of a man, who was watching her replace the ornament in her
+robe. While I hesitated a moment the man spoke and I knew the voice for that of
+Seti. Then again I thought of flight, but being somewhat timid by nature,
+feared to show myself until it was too late, thinking that afterward the Prince
+would make me the target of his wit. So I sat close and still, hearing and
+seeing all despite myself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What gem is that, Lady, which you admire and cherish so tenderly?&rdquo;
+asked Seti in his slow voice that so often hid a hint of laughter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She uttered a little scream and springing up, saw him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! my lord,&rdquo; she exclaimed, &ldquo;pardon your servant. I was
+sitting here in the cool, as you gave me leave to do, and the moon was so
+bright&mdash;that&mdash;I wished to see if by it I could read the writing on
+this scarab.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Never before, thought I to myself, did I know one who read with her lips,
+though it is true that first she used her eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And could you, Lady? Will you suffer me to try?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Very slowly and colouring, so that even the moonlight showed her blushes, she
+withdrew the ornament again and held it towards him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Surely this is familiar to me? Have I not seen it before?&rdquo; he
+asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps. I wore it that night in the temple, your Highness.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You must not name me Highness, Lady. I have no longer any rank in
+Egypt.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know&mdash;because of&mdash;my people. Oh! it was noble.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But about the scarabæus&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo; he broke in, with a wave
+of his hand. &ldquo;Surely it is the same with which the bandage was made fast
+upon your hurt&mdash;oh! years ago?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, it is the same,&rdquo; she answered, looking down.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thought it. And when I gave it to you, I said some words that seemed
+to me well spoken at the time. What were they? I cannot remember. Have you also
+forgotten?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes&mdash;I mean&mdash;no. You said that now I had all Egypt beneath my
+foot, speaking of the royal cartouche upon the scarab.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah! I recall. How true, and yet how false the jest, or prophecy.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How can anything be both true and false, Prince?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That I could prove to you very easily, but it would take an hour or
+more, so it shall be for another time. This scarab is a poor thing, give it
+back to me and you shall have a better. Or would you choose this signet? As I
+am no longer Prince of Egypt it is useless to me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Keep the scarab, Prince. It is your own. But I will not take the ring
+because it is&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&mdash;&mdash;useless to me, and you would not have that which is
+without value to the giver. Oh! I string words ill, but they were not what I
+meant.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, Prince, because your royal ring is too large for one so small.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How can you tell until you have tried? Also that is a fault which might
+perhaps be mended.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then he laughed, and she laughed also, but as yet she did not take the ring.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have you seen Ana?&rdquo; he went on. &ldquo;I believe he set out to
+search for you, in such a hurry indeed that he could scarcely finish his report
+to me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Did he say that?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, he only looked it. So much so that I suggested he should seek you at
+once. He answered that he was going to rest after his long journey, or perhaps
+I said that he ought to do so. I forget, as often one does, on so beauteous a
+night when other thoughts seem nearer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why did Ana wish to see me, Prince?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How can I tell? Why does a man who is still young&mdash;want to see a
+sweet and beautiful lady? Oh! I remember. He had met your uncle at Tanis who
+inquired as to your health. Perhaps that is why he wanted to see you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not wish to hear about my uncle at Tanis. He reminds me of too many
+things that give pain, and there are nights when one wishes to escape pain,
+which is sure to be found again on the morrow.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Are you still of the same mind about returning to your people?&rdquo; he
+asked, more earnestly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Surely. Oh! do not say that you will send me hence
+to&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Laban, Lady?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Laban amongst others. Remember, Prince, that I am one under a curse. If
+I return to Goshen, in this way or in that, soon I shall die.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ana says that your uncle Jabez declares that the mad fellow who tried to
+murder you had no authority to curse and much less to kill you. You must ask
+him to tell you all.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet the curse will cling and crush me at the last. How can I, one lonely
+woman, stand against the might of the people of Israel and their priests?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Are you then lonely?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How can it be otherwise with an outcast, Prince?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, it cannot be otherwise. I know it who am also an outcast.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At least there is her Highness your wife, who doubtless will come to
+comfort you,&rdquo; she said, looking down.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Her Highness will not come. If you had seen Ana, he would perhaps have
+told you that she has sworn not to look upon my face again, unless above it
+shines a crown.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! how can a woman be so cruel? Surely, Prince, such a stab must cut
+you to the heart,&rdquo; she exclaimed, with a little cry of pity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Her Highness is not only a woman; she is a Princess of Egypt which is
+different. For the rest it does cut me to the heart that my royal sister should
+have deserted me, for that which she loves better&mdash;power and pomp. But so
+it is, unless Ana dreams. It seems therefore that we are in the same case, both
+outcasts, you and I, is it not so?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She made no answer but continued to look upon the ground, and he went on very
+slowly:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A thought comes into my mind on which I would ask your judgment. If two
+who are forlorn came together they would be less forlorn by half, would they
+not?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It would seem so, Prince&mdash;that is if they remained forlorn at all.
+But I do not understand the riddle.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet you have answered it. If you are lonely and I am lonely apart, we
+should, you say, be less lonely together.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Prince,&rdquo; she murmured, shrinking away from him, &ldquo;I spoke no
+such words.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, I spoke them for you. Hearken to me, Merapi. They think me a strange
+man in Egypt because I have held no woman dear, never having seen one whom I
+could hold dear.&rdquo; Here she looked at him searchingly, and he went on,
+&ldquo;A while ago, before I visited your land of Goshen&mdash;Ana can tell you
+about the matter, for I think he wrote it down&mdash;Ki and old Bakenkhonsu
+came to see me. Now, as you know, Ki is without doubt a great magician, though
+it would seem not so great as some of your prophets. He told me that he and
+others had been searching out my future and that in Goshen I should find a
+woman whom it was fated I must love. He added that this woman would bring me
+much joy.&rdquo; Here Seti paused, doubtless remembering this was not all that
+Ki had said, or Jabez either. &ldquo;Ki told me also,&rdquo; he went on slowly,
+&ldquo;that I had already known this woman for thousands of years.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She started and a strange look came into her face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How can that be, Prince?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is what I asked him and got no good answer. Still he said it, not
+only of the woman but of my friend Ana as well, which indeed would explain
+much, and it would appear that the other magicians said it also. Then I went to
+the land of Goshen and there I saw a woman&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;For the first time, Prince?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, for the third time.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here she sank upon the bench and covered her eyes with her hands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&mdash;&mdash;and loved her, and felt as though I had loved her for
+&lsquo;thousands of years.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is not true. You mock me, it is not true!&rdquo; she whispered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is true for if I did not know it then, I knew it afterwards, though
+never perhaps completely until to-day, when I learned that Userti had deserted
+me indeed. Moon of Israel, you are that woman. I will not tell you,&rdquo; he
+went on passionately, &ldquo;that you are fairer than all other women, or
+sweeter, or more wise, though these things you seem to me. I will only tell you
+that I love you, yes, love you, whatever you may be. I cannot offer you the
+Throne of Egypt, even if the law would suffer it, but I can offer you the
+throne of this heart of mine. Now, Lady Merapi, what have you to say? Before
+you speak, remember that although you seem to be my prisoner here at Memphis,
+you have naught to fear from me. Whatever you may answer, such shelter and such
+friendship as I can give will be yours while I live, and never shall I attempt
+to force myself upon you, however much it may pain me to pass you by. I know
+not the future. It may happen that I shall give you great place and power, it
+may happen that I shall give you nothing but poverty and exile, or even perhaps
+a share in my own death, but with either will go the worship of my body and my
+spirit. Now, speak.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She dropped her hands from her face, looking up at him, and there were tears
+shining in her beautiful eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It cannot be, Prince,&rdquo; she murmured.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You mean you do not wish it to be?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I said that it cannot be. Such ties between an Egyptian and an Israelite
+are not lawful.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Some in this city and elsewhere seem to find them so.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And I am married, I mean perhaps I am married&mdash;at least in
+name.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And I too am married, I mean&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is different. Also there is another reason, the greatest of all, I
+am under a curse, and should bring you, not joy as Ki said, but sorrow, or, at
+the least, sorrow with the joy.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He looked at her searchingly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Has Ana&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo; he began, then continued, &ldquo;if so what
+lives have you known that are not compounded of mingled joy and sorrow?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;None. But the woe I should bring would outweigh the joy&mdash;to you.
+The curse of my God rests upon me and I cannot learn to worship yours. The
+curse of my people rests upon me, the law of my people divides me from you as
+with a sword, and should I draw close to you these will be increased upon my
+head, which matters not, but also upon yours,&rdquo; and she began to sob.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell me,&rdquo; he said, taking her by the hand, &ldquo;but one thing,
+and if the answer is No, I will trouble you no more. Is your heart mine?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is,&rdquo; she sighed, &ldquo;and has been ever since my eyes fell
+upon you yonder in the streets of Tanis. Oh! then a change came into me and I
+hated Laban, whom before I had only misliked. Moreover, I too felt that of
+which Ki spoke, as though I had known you for thousands of years. My heart is
+yours, my love is yours; all that makes me woman is yours, and never, never can
+turn from you to any other man. But still we must stay apart, for your sake, my
+Prince, for your sake.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then, were it not for me, you would be ready to run these hazards?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Surely! Am I not a woman who loves?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If that be so,&rdquo; he said with a little laugh, &ldquo;being of full
+age and of an understanding which some have thought good, by your leave I think
+I will run them also. Oh! foolish woman, do you not understand that there is
+but one good thing in the world, one thing in which self and its miseries can
+be forgot, and that thing is love? Mayhap troubles will come. Well, let them
+come, for what do they matter if only the love or its memory remains, if once
+we have picked that beauteous flower and for an hour worn it on our breasts.
+You talk of the difference between the gods we worship and maybe it exists, but
+all gods send their gifts of love upon the earth, without which it would cease
+to be. Moreover, my faith teaches me more clearly perhaps than yours, that life
+does not end with death and therefore that love, being life&rsquo;s soul, must
+endure while it endures. Last of all, I think, as you think, that in some dim
+way there is truth in what the magicians said, and that long ago in the past we
+have been what once more we are about to be, and that the strength of this
+invisible tie has drawn us together out of the whole world and will bind us
+together long after the world is dead. It is not a matter of what we wish to
+do, Merapi, it is a matter of what Fate has decreed we shall do. Now, answer
+again.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But she made no answer, and when I looked up after a little moment she was in
+his arms and her lips were upon his lips.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Thus did Prince Seti of Egypt and Merapi, Moon of Israel, come together at
+Memphis in Egypt.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap13"></a>CHAPTER XIII.<br />
+THE RED NILE</h2>
+
+<p>
+On the morrow of this night I found the Prince alone for a little while, and
+put him in mind of certain ancient manuscripts that he wished to read, which
+could only be consulted at Thebes where I might copy them; also of others that
+were said to be for sale there. He answered that they could wait, but I replied
+that the latter might find some other purchaser if I did not go at once.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are over fond of long journeys upon my business, Ana,&rdquo; he
+said. Then he considered me curiously for a while, and since he could read my
+mind, as indeed I could his, saw that I knew all, and added in a gentle voice:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You should have done as I told you, and spoken first. If so, who
+knows&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You do, Prince,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;you and another.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Go, and the gods be with you, friend, but stay not too long copying
+those rolls, which any scribe can do. I think there is trouble at hand in
+Egypt, and I shall need you at my side. Another who holds you dear will need
+you also.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thank my lord and that other,&rdquo; I said, bowing, and went.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Moreover, while I was making some humble provision for my journey, I found that
+this was needless, since a slave came to tell me that the Prince&rsquo;s barge
+was waiting to sail with the wind. So in that barge I travelled to Thebes like
+a great noble, or a royal mummy being borne to burial. Only instead of wailing
+priests, until I sent them back to Memphis, musicians sat upon the prow, and
+when I willed, dancing girls came to amuse my leisure and, veiled in golden
+nets, to serve at my table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So I journeyed as though I were the Prince himself, and as one who was known to
+have his ear was made much of by the governors of the Nomes, the chief men of
+the towns, and the high priests of the temples at every city where we moored.
+For, as I have said, although Amenmeses sat upon the throne, Seti still ruled
+in the hearts of the folk of Egypt. Moreover, as I sailed further up the Nile
+to districts where little was known of the Israelites, and the troubles they
+were bringing on the land, I found this to be so more and more. Why is it, the
+Great Ones would whisper in my ear, that his Highness the Prince Seti does not
+hold his father&rsquo;s place? Then I would tell them of the Hebrews, and they
+would laugh and say:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let the Prince unfurl his royal banner here, and we will show him what
+we think of the question of these Israelitish slaves. May not the Heir of Egypt
+form his own judgment on such a matter as to whether they should abide there in
+the north, or go away into that wilderness which they desire?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To all of which, and much like it, I would only answer that their words should
+be reported. More I did not, and indeed did not dare to say, since everywhere I
+found that I was being followed and watched by the spies of Pharaoh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length I came to Thebes and took up my abode in a fine house that was the
+property of the Prince, which I found that a messenger had commanded should be
+made ready for me. It stood near by the entrance to the Avenue of Sphinxes,
+which leads to the greatest of all the Theban temples, where is that mighty
+columned hall built by the first Seti and his son, Rameses II, the
+Prince&rsquo;s grandfather.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here, having entrance to the place, I would often wander at night, and in my
+spirit draw as near to heaven as ever it has been my lot to travel. Also,
+crossing the Nile to the western bank, I visited that desolate valley where the
+rulers of Egypt lie at rest. The tomb of Pharaoh Meneptah was still unsealed,
+and accompanied by a single priest with torches, I crept down its painted halls
+and looked upon the sarcophagus of him whom so lately I had seen seated in
+glory upon the throne, wondering, as I looked, how much or how little he knew
+of all that passed in Egypt to-day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Moreover, I copied the papyri that I had come to seek, in which there was
+nothing worth preserving, and some of real value that I discovered in the
+ancient libraries of the temples, and purchased others. One of these indeed
+told a very strange tale that has given me much cause for thought, especially
+of late years now when all my friends are dead.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus I spent two months, and should have stayed longer had not messengers
+reached me from the Prince saying that he desired my return. Of these, one
+followed within three days of the other, and his words were:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Think you, Scribe Ana, that because I am no more Prince of Egypt I am no
+longer to be obeyed? If so, bear in mind that the gods may decree that one day
+I shall grow taller than ever I was before, and then be sure that I will
+remember your disobedience, and make you shorter by a head. Come swiftly, my
+friend, for I grow lonely, and need a man to talk with.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To which I replied, that I returned as fast as the barge would carry me, being
+so heavily laden with the manuscripts that I had copied and purchased.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So I started, being, to tell truth, glad to get away, for this reason. Two
+nights before, when I was walking alone from the great temple of the house, a
+woman dressed in many colours appeared and accosted me as such lost ones do. I
+tried to shake her off, but she clung to me, and I saw that she had drunk more
+than enough of wine. Presently she asked, in a voice that I thought familiar,
+if I knew who was the officer that had come to Thebes on the business of some
+Royal One and abode in the dwelling that was known as House of the Prince. I
+answered that his name was Ana.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Once I knew an Ana very well,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;but I left
+him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why?&rdquo; I asked, turning cold in my limbs, for although I could not
+see her face because of a hood she wore, now I began to be afraid.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because he was a poor fool,&rdquo; she answered, &ldquo;no man at all,
+but one who was always thinking about writings and making them, and another
+came my way whom I liked better until he deserted me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And what happened to this Ana?&rdquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not know. I suppose he went on dreaming, or perhaps he took another
+wife; if so, I am sorry for her. Only, if by chance it is the same that has
+come to Thebes, he must be wealthy now, and I shall go and claim him and make
+him keep me well.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Had you any children?&rdquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Only one, thank the gods, and that died&mdash;thank the gods again, for
+otherwise it might have lived to be such as I am,&rdquo; and she sobbed once in
+a hard fashion and then fell to her vile endearments.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As she did so, the hood slipped from her head and I saw that the face was that
+of my wife, still beauteous in a bold fashion, but grown dreadful with drink
+and sin. I trembled from head to foot, then said in the disguised voice that I
+had used to her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Woman, I know this Ana. He is dead and you were his ruin. Still, because
+I was his friend, take this and go reform your ways,&rdquo; and I drew from my
+robe and gave to her a bag containing no mean weight of gold.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She snatched it as a hawk snatches, and seeing its contents by the starlight,
+thanked me, saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Surely Ana dead is worth more than Ana alive. Also it is well that he is
+dead, for he is gone where the child went, which he loved more than life,
+neglecting me for its sake and thereby making me what I am. Had he lived, too,
+being as I have said a fool, he would have had more ill-luck with women, whom
+he never understood. Farewell, friend of Ana, who have given me that which will
+enable me to find another husband,&rdquo; and laughing wildly she reeled off
+behind a sphinx and vanished into the darkness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For this reason, then, I was glad to escape from Thebes. Moreover, that
+miserable one had hurt me sorely, making me sure of what I had only guessed,
+namely, that with women I was but a fool, so great a fool that then and there I
+swore by my guardian god that never would I look with love on one of them
+again, an oath which I have kept well whatever others I may have broken. Again
+she stabbed me through with the talk of our dead child, for it is true that
+when that sweet one took flight to Osiris my heart broke and in a fashion has
+never mended itself again. Lastly, I feared lest it might also be true that I
+had neglected the mother for the sake of this child which was the jewel of my
+worship, yes, and is, and thereby helped her on to shame. So much did this
+thought torment me that through an agent whom I trusted, who believed that I
+was but providing for one whom I had wronged, I caused enough to be paid to her
+to keep her in comfort.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She did marry again, a merchant about whom she had cast her toils, and in due
+course spent his wealth and brought him to ruin, after which he ran away from
+her. As for her, she died of her evil habits in the third year of the reign of
+Seti II. But, the gods be thanked she never knew that the private scribe of
+Pharaoh&rsquo;s chamber was that Ana who had been her husband. Here I will end
+her story.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now as I was passing down the Nile with a heart more heavy than the great stone
+that served as anchor on the barge, we moored at dusk on the third night by the
+side of a vessel that was sailing up Nile with a strong northerly wind. On
+board this boat was an officer whom I had known at the Court of Pharaoh
+Meneptah, travelling to Thebes on duty. This man seemed so much afraid that I
+asked him if anything weighed upon his mind. Then he took me aside into a palm
+grove upon the bank, and seating himself on the pole whereby oxen turned a
+waterwheel, told me that strange things were passing at Tanis.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It seemed that the Hebrew prophets had once more appeared before Pharaoh, who
+since his accession had left the Israelites in peace, not attacking them with
+the sword as Meneptah had wished to do, it was thought through fear lest if he
+did so he should die as Meneptah died. As before, they had put up their prayer
+that the people of the Hebrews should be suffered to go to worship in the
+wilderness, and Pharaoh had refused them. Then when he went down to sail upon
+the river early in the morning of another day, they had met him and one of them
+struck the water with his rod, and it had turned to blood. Whereon Ki and
+Kherheb and his company also struck the water with their rods, and it turned to
+blood. That was six days ago, and now this officer swore to me that the blood
+was creeping up the Nile, a tale at which I laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Come then and see,&rdquo; he said, and led me back to his boat, where
+all the crew seemed as fearful as he was himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He took me forward to a great water jar that stood upon the prow and, behold!
+it seemed to be full of blood, and in it was a fish dead, and&mdash;stinking.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This water,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;I drew from the Nile with my own
+hands, not five hours sail to the north. But now we have outsped the blood,
+which follows after us,&rdquo; and taking a lamp he held it over the prow of
+the boat and I saw that all its planks were splashed as though with blood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Be advised by me, learned scribe,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;and fill every
+jar and skin that you can gather with sweet water, lest to-morrow you and your
+company should go thirsty,&rdquo; and he laughed a very dreary laugh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we parted without more words, for neither of us knew what to say, and
+about midnight he sailed on with the wind, taking his chance of grounding on
+the sandbanks in the darkness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For my part I did as he bade me, though my rowers who had not spoken with his
+men, thought that I was mad to load up the barge with so much water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the first break of day I gave the order to start. Looking over the side of
+the barge it seemed to me as though the lights of dawn had fallen from the sky
+into the Nile whereof the water had become pink-hued. Moreover, this hue, which
+grew ever deeper, was travelling up stream, not down, against the course of
+nature, and could not therefore have been caused by red soil washed from the
+southern lands. The bargemen stared and muttered together. Then one of them,
+leaning over the side, scooped up water in the hollow of his hand and drew some
+into his mouth, only to spit it out again with a cry of fear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&rsquo;Tis blood,&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;Blood! Osiris has been slain
+afresh, and his holy blood fills the banks of Nile.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So much were they afraid, indeed, that had I not forced them to hold to their
+course they would have turned and rowed up stream, or beached the boat and fled
+into the desert. But I cried to them to steer on northwards, for thus perhaps
+we should sooner be done with this horror, and they obeyed me. Ever as we went
+the hue of the water grew more red, almost to blackness, till at last it seemed
+as though we were travelling through a sea of gore in which dead fish floated
+by the thousand, or struggled dying on the surface. Also the stench was so
+dreadful that we must bind linen about our nostrils to strain the foetid air.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We came abreast of a town, and from its streets one great wail of terror rose
+to heaven. Men stood staring as though they were drunken, looking at their red
+arms which they had dipped in the stream, and women ran to and fro upon the
+bank, tearing their hair and robes, and crying out such words as&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Wizard&rsquo;s work! Bewitched! Accursed! The gods have slain each
+other, and men too must die!&rdquo; and so forth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Also we saw peasants digging holes at a distance from the shore to see
+perchance if they might come to water that was sweet and wholesome. All day
+long we travelled thus through this horrible flood, while the spray driven by
+the strong north wind spotted our flesh and garments, till we were like
+butchers reeking from the shambles. Nor could we eat any food because of the
+stench from this spray, which made it to taste salt as does fresh blood, only
+we drank of the water which I had provided, and the rowers who had held me to
+be mad now named me the wisest of men; one who knew what would befall in the
+future.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length towards evening we noted that the water was growing much less red
+with every hour that passed, which was another marvel, seeing that above us,
+upstream, it was the colour of jasper, whereon we paused from our rowing and,
+all defiled as we were, sang a hymn and gave thanks to Hapi, god of Nile, the
+Great, the Secret, the Hidden. Before sunset, indeed, the river was clean
+again, save that on the bank where we made fast for the night the stones and
+rushes were all stained, and the dead fish lay in thousands polluting the air.
+To escape the stench we climbed a cliff that here rose quite close to Nile, in
+which we saw the mouths of ancient tombs that long ago had been robbed and left
+empty, purposing to sleep in one of them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A path worn by the feet of men ran to the largest of these tombs, whence, as we
+drew near, we heard the sound of wailing. Looking in, I saw a woman and some
+children crouched upon the floor of the tomb, their heads covered with dust
+who, when they perceived us, cried more loudly than before, though with harsh
+dry voices, thinking no doubt that we were robbers or perhaps ghosts because of
+our bloodstained garments. Also there was another child, a little one, that did
+not cry, because it was dead. I asked the woman what passed, but even when she
+understood that we were only men who meant her no harm, she could not speak or
+do more than gasp &ldquo;Water! Water!&rdquo; We gave her and the children to
+drink from the jars which we had brought with us, which they did greedily,
+after which I drew her story from her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She was the wife of a fisherman who made his home in this cave, and said that
+seven days before the Nile had turned to blood, so that they could not drink of
+it, and had no water save a little in a pot. Nor could they dig to find it,
+since here the ground was all rock. Nor could they escape, since when he saw
+the marvel, her husband in his fear had leapt from his boat and waded to land
+and the boat had floated away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I asked where was her husband, and she pointed behind her. I went to look, and
+there found a man hanging by his neck from a rope that was fixed to the capital
+of a pillar in the tomb, quite dead and cold. Returning sick at heart, I
+inquired of her how this had come about. She answered that when he saw that all
+the fish had perished, taking away his living, and that thirst had killed his
+youngest child, he went mad, and creeping to the back of the tomb, without her
+knowledge hung himself with a net rope. It was a dreadful story.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having given the widow of our food, we went to sleep in another tomb, not
+liking the company of those dead ones. Next morning at the dawn we took the
+woman and her children on board the barge, and rowed them three hours&rsquo;
+journey to a town where she had a sister, whom she found. The dead man and the
+child we left there in the tomb, since my men would not defile themselves by
+touching them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So, seeing much terror and misery on our journey, at last we came safe to
+Memphis. Leaving the boatmen to draw up the barge, I went to the palace,
+speaking with none, and was led at once to the Prince. I found him in a shaded
+chamber seated side by side with the lady Merapi, and holding her hand in such
+a fashion that they remind me of the life-sized Ka statues of a man and his
+wife, such as I have seen in the ancient tombs, cut when the sculptors knew how
+to fashion the perfect likenesses of men and women. This they no longer do
+to-day, I think because the priests have taught them that it is not lawful. He
+was talking to her in a low voice, while she listened, smiling sweetly as she
+ever did, but with eyes, fixed straight before her that were, as it seemed to
+me, filled with fear. I thought that she looked very beautiful with her hair
+outspread over her white robe, and held back from her temples by a little
+fillet of god. But as I looked, I rejoiced to find that my heart no longer
+yearned for her as it had upon that night when I had seen her seated beneath
+the trees without the pleasure-house. Now she was its friend, no more, and so
+she remained until all was finished, as both the Prince and she knew well
+enough.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When he saw me Seti sprang from his seat and came to greet me, as a man does
+the friend whom he loves. I kissed his hand, and going to Merapi, kissed hers
+also noting that on it now shone that ring which once she had rejected as too
+large.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell me, Ana, all that has befallen you,&rdquo; he said in his pleasant,
+eager voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Many things, Prince; one of them very strange and terrible,&rdquo; I
+answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Strange and terrible things have happened here also,&rdquo; broke in
+Merapi, &ldquo;and, alas! this is but the beginning of woes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So saying, she rose, as though she could trust herself to speak no more, bowed
+first to her lord and then to me, and left the chamber.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I looked at the Prince and he answered the question in my eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Jabez has been here,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and filled her heart with
+forebodings. If Pharaoh will not let the Israelites go, by Amon I wish he would
+let Jabez go to some place whence he never could return. But tell me, have you
+also met blood travelling against the stream of Nile? It would seem so,&rdquo;
+and he glanced at the rusty stains that no washing would remove from my
+garments.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I nodded and we talked together long and earnestly, but in the end were no
+wiser for all our talking. For neither of us knew how it came about that men by
+striking water with a rod could turn it into what seemed to be blood, as the
+Hebrew prophet and Ki both had done, or how that blood could travel up the Nile
+against the stream and everywhere endure for a space of seven days; yes, and
+spread too to all the canals in Egypt, so that men must dig holes for water and
+dig them fresh each day because the blood crept in and poisoned them. But both
+of us thought that this was the work of the gods, and most of all of that god
+whom the Hebrews worship.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You remember, Ana,&rdquo; said the Prince, &ldquo;the message which you
+brought to me from Jabez, namely that no harm should come to me because of
+these Israelites and their curses. Well, no harm has come as yet, except the
+harm of Jabez, for he came. On the day before the news of this blood plague
+reached us, Jabez appeared disguised as a merchant of Syrian stuffs, all of
+which he sold to me at three times their value. He obtained admission to the
+chambers of Merapi, where she is accustomed to see whom she wills, and under
+pretence of showing her his stuffs, spoke with her and, as I fear, told her
+what you and I were so careful to hide, that she would bring trouble on me. At
+the least she has never been quite the same since, and I have thought it wise
+to make her swear by an oath, which I know she will never break, that now we
+are one she will not attempt to separate herself from me while we both have
+life.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Did he wish her to go away with him, Prince?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not know. She never told me so. Still I am sure that had he come
+with his evil talk before that day when you returned from Tanis, she would have
+gone. Now I hope that there are reasons that will keep her where she is.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What then did he say, Prince?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Little beyond what he had already said to you, that great troubles were
+about to fall on Egypt. He added that he was sent to save me and mine from
+these troubles because I had been a friend to the Hebrews in so far as that was
+possible. Then he walked through this house and all round its gardens, as he
+went reciting something that was written on a roll, of which I could not
+understand the meaning, and now and again prostrating himself to pray to his
+god. Thus, where the canal enters the garden and where it leaves the garden he
+stayed to pray, as he did at the well whence drinking water is drawn. Moreover,
+led by Merapi, he visited all my cornlands and those where my cattle are
+herded, reciting and praying until the servants thought that he was mad. After
+this he returned with her and, as it chanced, I overheard their parting. She
+said to him:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;The house you have blessed and it is safe; the fields you have
+blessed and they are safe; will you not bless me also, O my Uncle, and any that
+are born of me?&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He answered, shaking his head, &lsquo;I have no command, my Niece,
+either to bless or to curse you, as did that fool whom the Prince slew. You
+have chosen your own path apart from your people. It may be well, or it may be
+ill, or perhaps both, and henceforth you must walk it alone to wherever it may
+lead. Farewell, for perhaps we shall meet no more.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thus speaking they passed out of earshot, but I could see that still she
+pleaded and still he shook his head. In the end, however, she gave him an
+offering, of all that she had I think, though whether this went to the temple
+of the Hebrews or into his own pouch I know not. At least it seemed to soften
+him, for he kissed her on the brow tenderly enough and departed with the air of
+a happy merchant who has sold his wares. But of all that passed between them
+Merapi would tell me nothing. Nor did I tell her of what I had overheard.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And then?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And then, Ana, came the story of the Hebrew prophet who made the water
+into blood, and of Ki and his disciples who did likewise. The latter I did not
+believe, because I said it would be more reasonable had Ki turned the blood
+back into water, instead of making more blood of which there was enough
+already.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think that magicians have no reason.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Or can do mischief only, Ana. At any rate after the story came the blood
+itself and stayed with us seven whole days, leaving much sickness behind it
+because of the stench of the rotting fish. Now for the marvel&mdash;here about
+my house there was no blood, though above and below the canal was full of it.
+The water remained as it has always been and the fish swam in it as they have
+always done; also that of the well kept sweet and pure. When this came to be
+known thousands crowded to the place, clamouring for water; that is until they
+found that outside the gates it grew red in their vessels, after which,
+although some still came, they drank the water where they stood, which they
+must do quickly.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And what tale do they tell of this in Memphis, Prince?&rdquo; I asked
+astonished.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Certain of them say that not Ki but I am the greatest magician in
+Egypt&mdash;never, Ana, was fame more lightly earned. And certain say that
+Merapi, of whose doings in the temple at Tanis some tale has reached them, is
+the real magician, she being an Israelite of the tribe of the Hebrew prophets.
+Hush! She returns.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap14"></a>CHAPTER XIV.<br />
+KI COMES TO MEMPHIS</h2>
+
+<p>
+Now of all the terrors of which this turning of the water into blood was the
+beginning in Egypt, I, Ana, the scribe, will not write, for if I did so, never
+in my life-days should I, who am old, find time to finish the story of them.
+Over a period of many, many moons they came, one by one, till the land grew mad
+with want and woe. Always the tale was the same. The Hebrew prophets would
+visit Pharaoh at Tanis and demand that he should let their people go,
+threatening him with vengeance if he refused. Yet he did refuse, for some
+madness had hold of him, or perhaps the god of the Israelites laid an
+enchantment on him, why I know not.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus but a little while after the terror of blood came a plague of frogs that
+filled Egypt from north to south, and when these were taken away made the air
+to stink. This miracle Ki and his company worked also, sending the frogs into
+Goshen, where they plagued the Israelites. But however it came about, at
+Seti&rsquo;s palace at Memphis and on the land that he owned around it there
+were no frogs, or at least but few of them, although at night from the fields
+about the sound of their croaking went up like the sound of beaten drums.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Next came a plague of lice, and these Ki and his companions would have also
+called down upon the Hebrews, but they failed, and afterwards struggled no more
+against the magic of the Israelites. Then followed a plague of flies, so that
+the air was black with them and no food could be kept sweet. Only in
+Seti&rsquo;s palace there were no flies, and in the garden but a few. After
+this a terrible pest began among the cattle, whereof thousands died. But of
+Seti&rsquo;s great herd not one was even sick, nor, as we learned, was there a
+hoof the less in the land of Goshen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This plague struck Egypt but a little while after Merapi had given birth to a
+son, a very beautiful child with his mother&rsquo;s eyes, that was named Seti
+after his father. Now the marvel of the escape of the Prince and his household
+and all that was his from these curses spread abroad and made much talk, so
+that many sent to inquire of it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Among the first came old Bakenkhonsu with a message from Pharaoh, and a private
+one to myself from the Princess Userti, whose pride would not suffer her to ask
+aught of Seti. We could tell him nothing except what I have written, which at
+first he did not believe. Having satisfied himself, however, that the thing was
+true, he said that he had fallen sick and could not travel back to Tanis.
+Therefore he asked leave of the Prince to rest a while in his house, he who had
+been the friend of his father, his grandfather, and his great-grandfather. Seti
+laughed, as indeed did the cunning old man himself, and there with us
+Bakenkhonsu remained till the end, to our great joy, for he was the most
+pleasant of all companions and the most learned. As for his message, one of his
+servants took back the answer to Pharaoh and to Userti, with the news of his
+master&rsquo;s grievous sickness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Some eight days or so later, as I stood one morning basking in the sun at that
+gate of the palace gardens which overlooks the temple of Ptah, idly watching
+the procession of priests passing through its courts and chanting as they went
+(for because of the many sicknesses at this time I left the palace but rarely),
+I saw a tall figure approaching me draped against the morning cold. The man
+drew near, and addressing me over the head of the guard, asked if he could see
+the lady Merapi. I answered No, as she was engaged in nursing her son.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And in other things, I think,&rdquo; he said with meaning, in a voice
+that seemed familiar to me. &ldquo;Well, can I see the Prince Seti?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I answered No, he was also engaged.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In nursing his own soul, studying the eyes of the lady Merapi, the smile
+of his infant, the wisdom of the scribe Ana, and the attributes of the hundred
+and one gods that are known to him, including that of Israel, I suppose,&rdquo;
+said the familiar voice, adding, &ldquo;Then can I see this scribe Ana, who I
+understand, being lucky, holds himself learned.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now, angered at the scoffing of this stranger (though all the time I felt that
+he was none), I answered that the scribe Ana was striving to mend his luck by
+the pursuit of the goddess of learning in his study.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let him pursue,&rdquo; mocked the stranger, &ldquo;since she is the only
+woman that he is ever likely to catch. Yet it is true that once one caught him.
+If you are of his acquaintance ask him of his talk with her in the avenue of
+the Sphinxes outside the great temple at Thebes and of what it cost him in gold
+and tears.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hearing this I put my hand to my forehead and rubbed my eyes, thinking that I
+must have fallen into a dream there in the sunshine. When I lifted it again all
+was the same as before. There stood the sentry, indifferent to that which had
+no interest for him; the cock that had moulted its tail still scratched in the
+dirt; the crested hoopoe still sat spreading its wings on the head of one of
+the two great statues of Rameses which watched the gate; a water-seller in the
+distance still cried his wares, but the stranger was gone. Then I knew that I
+had been dreaming and turned to go also, to find myself face to face with him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Man,&rdquo; I said, indignantly, &ldquo;how in the name of Ptah and all
+his priests did you pass a sentry and through that gate without my seeing
+you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do not trouble yourself with a new problem when already you have so many
+to perplex you, friend Ana. Say, have you yet solved that of how a rod like
+this turned itself into a snake in your hand?&rdquo; and he threw back his
+hood, revealing the shaved head and the glowing eyes of the Kherheb Ki.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, I have not,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;and I thank you,&rdquo; for
+here he proffered me the staff, &ldquo;but I will not try the trick again. Next
+time the beast might bite. Well, Ki, as you can pass in here without my leave,
+why do you ask it? In short, what do you want with me, now that those Hebrew
+prophets have put you on your back?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hush, Ana. Never grow angry, it wastes strength, of which we have so
+little to spare, for you know, being so wise, or perhaps you do not know, that
+at birth the gods give us a certain store of it, and when that is used we die
+and have to go elsewhere to fetch more. At this rate your life will be short,
+Ana, for you squander it in emotions.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do you want?&rdquo; I repeated, being too angry to dispute with him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I want to find an answer to the question you asked so roughly: Why the
+Hebrew prophets have, as you say, put me on my back?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not being a magician, as you pretend you are, I can give you none,
+Ki.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never for one moment did I suppose that you could,&rdquo; he replied
+blandly, stretching out his hands, and leaving the staff which had fallen from
+them standing in front of him. (It was not till afterwards that I remembered
+that this accursed bit of wood stood there of itself without visible support,
+for it rested on the paving-stone of the gateway.) &ldquo;But, as it chances,
+you have in this house the master, or rather the mistress of all magicians, as
+every Egyptian knows to-day, the lady Merapi, and I would see her.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why do you say she is a mistress of magicians?&rdquo; I asked
+indignantly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why does one bird know another of its own kind? Why does the water here
+remain pure, when all other water turns to blood? Why do not the frogs croak in
+Seti&rsquo;s halls, and why do the flies avoid his meat? Why, also, did the
+statue of Amon melt before her glance, while all my magic fell back from her
+breast like arrows from a shirt of mail? Those are the questions that Egypt
+asks, and I would have an answer to them from the beloved of Seti, or of the
+god Set, she who is named Moon of Israel.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then why not go seek it for yourself, Ki? To you, doubtless, it would be
+a small matter to take the form of a snake or a rat, or a bird, and creep or
+run or fly into the presence of Merapi.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mayhap it would not be difficult, Ana. Or, better still, I might visit
+her in her sleep, as I visited you on a certain night at Thebes, when you told
+me of a talk you had held with a woman in the avenue of the Sphinxes, and of
+what it cost you in gold and tears. But, as it chances, I wish to appear as a
+man and a friend, and to stay a while. Bakenkhonsu tells me that he finds life
+here at Memphis very pleasant, free too from the sicknesses which just now seem
+to be so common in Egypt; so why should not I do the same, Ana?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I looked at his round, ripe face, on which was fixed a smile unchanging as that
+worn by the masks on mummy coffins, from which I think he must have copied it,
+and at the cold, deep eyes above, and shivered a little. To tell truth I feared
+this man, whom I felt to be in touch with presences and things that are not of
+our world, and thought it wisest to withstand him no more.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is a question which you had best put to my master Seti who owns
+this house. Come, I will lead you to him,&rdquo; I said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So we went to the great portico of the palace, passing in and out through the
+painted pillars, towards my own apartments, whence I purposed to send a message
+to the Prince. As it chanced this was needless, since presently we saw him
+seated in a little bay out of reach of the sun. By his side was Merapi, and on
+a woven rug between them lay their sleeping infant, at whom both of them gazed
+adoringly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Strange that this mother&rsquo;s heart should hide more might than can
+be boasted by all the gods of Egypt. Strange that those mother&rsquo;s eyes can
+rive the ancient glory of Amon into dust!&rdquo; Ki said to me in so low a
+voice that it almost seemed as though I heard his thought and not his words,
+which perhaps indeed I did.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now we stood in front of these three, and the sun being behind us, for it was
+still early, the shadow of the cloaked Ki fell upon a babe and lay there. A
+hateful fancy came to me. It looked like the evil form of an embalmer bending
+over one new dead. The babe felt it, opened its large eyes and wailed. Merapi
+saw it, and snatched up her child. Seti too rose from his seat, exclaiming,
+&ldquo;Who comes?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thereon, to my amazement, Ki prostrated himself and uttered the salutation
+which may only be given to the King of Egypt: &ldquo;Life! Blood! Strength!
+Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who dares utter those words to me?&rdquo; said Seti. &ldquo;Ana, what
+madman do you bring here?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;May it please the Prince, <i>he</i> brought <i>me</i> here,&rdquo; I
+replied faintly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Fellow, tell me who bade you say such words, than which none were ever
+less welcome.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Those whom I serve, Prince.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And whom do you serve?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The gods of Egypt.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then, man, I think the gods must need your company. Pharaoh does not sit
+at Memphis, and were he to hear of them&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Pharaoh will never hear them, Prince, until he hears all things.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They stared at each other. Then, as I had done by the gate Seti rubbed his
+eyes, and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Surely this is Ki. Why, then, did you look otherwise just now?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The gods can change the fashion of their messenger a thousand times in a
+flash, if so they will, O Prince.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now Seti&rsquo;s anger passed, and turned to laughter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ki, Ki,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you should keep these tricks for Court.
+But, since you are in the mood, what salutation have you for this lady by my
+side?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ki considered her, till she who ever feared and hated him shrank before his
+gaze.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Crown of Hathor, I greet you. Beloved of Isis, shine on perfect in the
+sky, shedding light and wisdom ere you set.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now this saying puzzled me. Indeed, I did not fully understand it until
+Bakenkhonsu reminded me that Merapi&rsquo;s name was Moon of Israel, that
+Hathor, goddess of love, is crowned with the moon in all her statues, that Isis
+is the queen of mysteries and wisdom, and that Ki who thought Merapi perfect in
+love and beauty, also the greatest of all sorceresses, was likening her to
+these.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;but what did he mean when he talked about
+her setting?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Does not the moon always set, and is it not sometimes eclipsed?&rdquo;
+he asked shortly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So does the sun,&rdquo; I answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;True; so does the sun! You are growing wise, very wise indeed, friend
+Ana. Oho&mdash;ho!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To return: When Seti heard these words, he laughed again, and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I must think that saying over, but it is clear that you have a pretty
+turn for praise. Is it not so, Merapi, Crown of Hathor, and Holder of the
+wisdom of Isis?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But Merapi, who, I think, understood more than either of us, turned pale, and
+shrank further away, but outwards into the sunshine.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, Ki,&rdquo; went on Seti, &ldquo;finish your greetings. What for
+the babe?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ki considered it also.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now that it is no longer in the shadow, I see that this shoot from the
+royal root of Pharaoh grows so fast and tall that my eyes cannot reach its
+crest. He is too high and great for greetings, Prince.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then Merapi uttered a little cry, and bore the child away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She is afraid of magicians and their dark sayings,&rdquo; said Seti,
+looking after her with a troubled smile.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That she should not be, Prince, seeing that she is the mistress of all
+our tribe.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The lady Merapi a magician? Well, after a fashion, yes&mdash;where the
+hearts of men are concerned, do you not think so, Ana? But be more plain, Ki.
+It is still early, and I love riddles best at night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What other could have shattered the strong and holy house where the
+majesty of Amon dwells on earth? Not even those prophets of the Hebrews as I
+think. What other could fence this garden round against the curses that have
+fallen upon Egypt?&rdquo; asked Ki earnestly, for now all his mocking manner
+had departed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not think she does these things, Ki. I think some Power does them
+through her, and I know that she dared to face Amon in his temple because she
+was bidden so to do by the priests of her people.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Prince,&rdquo; he answered with a short laugh, &ldquo;a while ago I sent
+you a message by Ana, which perhaps other thoughts may have driven from his
+memory. It was as to the nature of that Power of which you speak. In that
+message I said that you were wise, but now I perceive that you lack wisdom like
+the rest of us, for if you had it, you would know that the tool which carves is
+not the guiding hand, and the lightning which smites is not the sending
+strength. So with this fair love of yours, and so with me and all that work
+marvels. We do not the things we seem to do, who are but the tool and the
+lightning. What I would know is who or what guides her hand and gives her the
+might to shield or to destroy.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The question is wide, Ki, or so it seems to me who, as you say, have
+little wisdom, and whoever can answer it holds the key of knowledge. Your magic
+is but a small thing which seems great because so few can handle it. What
+miracle is it that makes the flower to grow, the child to be born, the Nile to
+rise, and the sun and stars to shine in heaven? What causes man to be half a
+beast and half a god and to grow downward to the beast or upward to the
+god&mdash;or both? What is faith and what is unbelief? Who made these things,
+through them to declare the purposes of life, of death, and of eternity? You
+shake your head, you do not know; how then can I know who, as you point out, am
+but foolish? Go get your answer from the lady Merapi&rsquo;s self, only mayhap
+you will find your questions countered.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll take my chance. Thanks to Merapi&rsquo;s lord! A boon, O
+Prince, since you will not suffer that other name which comes easiest to the
+lips of one to whom the Present and the Future are sometimes much alike.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seti looked at him keenly, and for the first time with a tinge of fear in his
+eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Leave the Future to itself, Ki,&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;Whatever may
+be the mind of Egypt, just now I hold the Present enough for me,&rdquo; and he
+glanced first at the chair in which Merapi had been seated and then at the
+cloth upon which his son had lain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I take back my words. The Prince is wiser than I thought. Magicians know
+the future because at times it rushes down upon them and they must. It is that
+which makes them lonely, since what they know they cannot say. But only fools
+will seek it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet now and again they lift a corner of the veil, Ki. Thus I remember
+certain sayings of your own as to one who would find a great treasure in the
+land of Goshen and thereafter suffer some temporal loss, and&mdash;I forget the
+rest. Man, cease smiling at me with your face and piercing me through with your
+sword-like eyes. You can command all things, what boon then do you seek from
+me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To lodge here a little while, Prince, in the company of Ana and
+Bakenkhonsu. Hearken, I am no more Kherheb. I have quarrelled with Pharaoh,
+perhaps because a little breath from that great wind of the future blows
+through my soul; perhaps because he does not reward me according to my
+merits&mdash;what does it matter which? At least I have come to be of one mind
+with you, O Prince, and think that Pharaoh would do well to let the Hebrews go,
+and therefore no longer will I attempt to match my magic against theirs. But he
+refuses, so we have parted.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why does he refuse, Ki?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps it is written that he must refuse. Or perhaps because, thinking
+himself the greatest of all kings instead of but a plaything of the gods, pride
+locks the doors of his heart that in a day to come the tempest of the Future,
+whereof I have spoken, may wreck the house which holds it. I do not know why he
+refuses, but her Highness Userti is much with him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;For one who does not know, you have many reasons and all of them
+different, O instructed Ki,&rdquo; said Seti.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then he paused, walking up and down the portico, and I who knew his mind
+guessed that he was wondering whether he would do well to suffer Ki, whom at
+times he feared because his objects were secret and never changed, to abide in
+his house, or whether he should send him away. Ki also shivered a little, as
+though he felt the shadow cold, and descended from the portico into the bright
+sunshine. Here he held out his hand and a great moth dropped from the roof and
+lit upon it, whereon he lifted it to his lips, which moved as though he were
+talking to the insect.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What shall I do?&rdquo; muttered Seti, as he passed me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not altogether like his company, nor, I think, does the lady
+Merapi, but he is an ill man to offend, Prince,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;Look,
+he is talking with his familiar.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seti returned to his place, and shaking off the moth which seemed loth to leave
+him, for twice it settled on his head, Ki came back into the shadow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Where is the use of your putting questions to me, Ki, when, according to
+your own showing, already you know the answer that I will give? What answer
+shall I give?&rdquo; asked the Prince.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That painted creature which sat upon my hand just now, seemed to whisper
+to me that you would say, O Prince, &lsquo;Stay, Ki, and be my faithful
+servant, and use any little lore you have to shield my house from
+ill.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then Seti laughed in his careless fashion, and replied:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have your way, since it is a rule that none of the royal blood of Egypt
+may refuse hospitality to those who seek it, having been their friends, and I
+will not quote against your moth what a bat whispered in my ears last night.
+Nay, none of your salutations revealed to you by insects or by the
+future,&rdquo; and he gave him his hand to kiss.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Ki was gone, I said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I told you that night-haunting thing was his familiar.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then you told me folly, Ana. The knowledge that Ki has he does not get
+from moths or beetles. Yet now that it is too late I wish that I had asked the
+lady Merapi what her will was in this matter. You should have thought of that,
+Ana, instead of suffering your mind to be led astray by an insect sitting on
+his hand, which is just what he meant that you should do. Well, in punishment,
+day by day it shall be your lot to look upon a man with a countenance
+like&mdash;like what?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Like that which I saw upon the coffin of the good god, your divine
+father, Meneptah, as it was prepared for him during his life in the
+embalmer&rsquo;s shop at Tanis,&rdquo; I answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said the Prince, &ldquo;a face smiling eternally at the
+Nothingness which is Life and Death, but in certain lights, with eyes of
+fire.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+On the following day, by her invitation, I walked with the lady Merapi in the
+garden, the head nurse following us, bearing the royal child in her arms.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wish to ask you about Ki, friend Ana,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;You know
+he is my enemy, for you must have heard the words he spoke to me in the temple
+of Amon at Tanis. It seems that my lord has made him the guest of this
+house&mdash;oh look!&rdquo; and she pointed before her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I looked, and there a few paces away, where the shadow of the overhanging palms
+was deepest, stood Ki. He was leaning on his staff, the same that had turned to
+a snake in my hand, and gazing upwards like one who is lost in thought, or
+listens to the singing of birds. Merapi turned as though to fly, but at that
+moment Ki saw us, although he still seemed to gaze upwards.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Greeting, O Moon of Israel,&rdquo; he said bowing. &ldquo;Greeting, O
+Conqueror of Ki!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She bowed back, and stood still, as a little bird stands when it sees a snake.
+There was a long silence, which he broke by asking:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why seek that from Ana which Ki himself is eager to give? Ana is
+learned, but is his heart the heart of Ki? Above all, why tell him that Ki, the
+humblest of your servants, is your enemy?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now Merapi straightened herself, looked into his eyes, and answered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have I told Ana aught that he did not know? Did not Ana hear the last
+words you said to me in the temple of Amon at Tanis?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Doubtless he heard them, Lady, and therefore I am glad that he is here
+to hear their meaning. Lady Merapi, at that moment, I, the Sacrificer to Amon,
+was filled&mdash;not with my own spirit, but with the angry spirit of the god
+whom you had humbled as never before had befallen him in Egypt. The god through
+me demanded of you the secret of your magic, and promised you his hate, if you
+refused. Lady, you have his hate, but mine you have not, since I also have his
+hate because I, and he through me, have been worsted by your prophets. Lady, we
+are fellow-travellers in the Valley of Trouble.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She gazed at him steadily, and I could see that of all that passed his lips she
+believed no one word. Making no answer to him and his talk of Amon, she asked
+only:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why do you come here to do me ill who have done you none?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are mistaken, Lady,&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;I come here to refuge
+from Amon, and from his servant Pharaoh, whom Amon drives on to ruin. I know
+well that, if you will it, you can whisper in the ear of the Prince and
+presently he will put me forth. Only then&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo; and he looked
+over her head to where the nurse stood rocking the sleeping child.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then what, Magician?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Giving no answer, he turned to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Learned Ana, do you remember meeting me at Tanis one night?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I shook my head, though I guessed well enough what night he meant.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your memory weakens, learned Ana, or rather is confused, for we met
+often, did we not?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then he stared at the staff in his hand. I stared also, because I could not
+help it, and saw, or thought I saw, the dead wood begin to swell and curve.
+This was enough for me and I said hastily:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you mean the night of the Coronation, I do recall&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah! I thought you would. You, learned Ana, who like all scribes observe
+so closely, will have noted how little things&mdash;such as the scent of a
+flower, or the passing of a bird, or even the writhing of a snake in the
+dust&mdash;often bring back to the mind events or words it has forgotten long
+ago.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well&mdash;what of our meeting?&rdquo; I broke in hastily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nothing at all&mdash;or only this. Just before it you were talking with
+the Hebrew Jabez, the lady Merapi&rsquo;s uncle, were you not?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, I was talking with him in an open place, alone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not so, learned Scribe, for you know we are never alone&mdash;quite.
+Could you but see it, every grain of sand has an ear.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Be pleased to explain, O Ki.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, Ana, it would be too long, and short jests are ever the best. As I
+have told you, you were not alone, for though there were some words that I did
+not catch, <i>I</i> heard much of what passed between you and Jabez.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What did you hear?&rdquo; I asked wrathfully, and next instant wished
+that I had bitten through my tongue before it shaped the words.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Much, much. Let me think. You spoke about the lady Merapi, and whether
+she would do well to bide at Memphis in the shadow of the Prince, or to return
+to Goshen into the shadow of a certain&mdash;I forget the name. Jabez, a
+well-instructed man, said he thought that she might be happier at Memphis,
+though perhaps her presence there would bring a great sorrow upon herself
+and&mdash;another.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here again he looked at the child, which seemed to feel his glance, for it woke
+up and beat the air with its little hands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The nurse felt it also, although her head was turned away, for she started and
+then took shelter behind the bole of one of the palm-trees. Now Merapi said in
+a low and shaken voice:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know what you mean, Magician, for since then I have seen my uncle
+Jabez.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As I have also, several times, Lady, which may explain to you what Ana
+here thinks so wonderful, namely that I should have learned what they said
+together when he thought they were alone, which, as I have told him, no one can
+ever be, at least in Egypt, the land of listening gods&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And spying sorcerers,&rdquo; I exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&mdash;&mdash;And spying sorcerers,&rdquo; he repeated after me,
+&ldquo;and scribes who take notes, and learn them by heart, and priests with
+ears as large as asses, and leaves that whisper&mdash;and many other
+things.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Cease your gibes, and say what you have to say,&rdquo; said Merapi, in
+the same broken voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He made no answer, but only looked at the tree behind which the nurse and child
+had vanished.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! I know, I know,&rdquo; she exclaimed in tones that were like a cry.
+&ldquo;My child is threatened! You threaten my child because you hate me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your pardon, Lady. It is true that evil threatens this royal babe, or so
+I understood from Jabez, who knows so much. But it is not I that threaten it,
+any more than I hate you, in whom I acknowledge a fellow of my craft, but one
+greater than myself that it is my duty to obey.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have done! Why do you torment me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Can the priests of the Moon-goddess torment Isis, Mother of Magic, with
+their prayers and offerings? And can I who would make a prayer and an
+offering&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What prayer, and what offering?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The prayer that you will suffer me to shelter in this house from the
+many dangers that threaten me at the hands of Pharaoh and the prophets of your
+people, and an offering of such help as I can give by my arts and knowledge
+against blacker dangers which threaten&mdash;another.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here once more he gazed at the trunk of the tree beyond which I heard the
+infant wail.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If I consent, what then?&rdquo; she asked, hoarsely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then, Lady, I will strive to protect a certain little one against a
+curse which Jabez tells me threatens him and many others in whom runs the blood
+of Egypt. I will strive, if I am allowed to bide here&mdash;I do not say that I
+shall succeed, for as your lord has reminded me, and as you showed me in the
+temple of Amon, my strength is smaller than that of the prophets and
+prophetesses of Israel.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And if I refuse?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then, Lady,&rdquo; he answered in a voice that rang like iron, &ldquo;I
+am sure that one whom you love&mdash;as mothers love&mdash;will shortly be
+rocked in the arms of the god whom we name Osiris.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;<i>Stay</i>,&rdquo; she cried and, turning, fled away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, Ana, she is gone,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and that before I could
+bargain for my reward. Well, this I must find in your company. How strange are
+women, Ana! Here you have one of the greatest of her sex, as you learned in the
+temple of Amon. And yet she opens beneath the sun of hope and shrivels beneath
+the shadow of fear, like the touched leaves of that tender plant which grows
+upon the banks of the river; she who, with her eyes set on the mystery that is
+beyond, whereof she hears the whispering winds, should tread both earthly hope
+and fear beneath her feet, or make of them stepping stones to glory. Were she a
+man she would do so, but her sex wrecks her, she who thinks more of the kiss of
+a babe than of all the splendours she might harbour in her breast. Yes, a babe,
+a single wretched little babe. You had one once, did you not, Ana?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! to Set and his fires with you and your evil talk,&rdquo; I said, and
+left him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When I had gone a little way, I looked back and saw that he was laughing,
+throwing up his staff as he laughed, and catching it again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Set and his fires,&rdquo; he called after me. &ldquo;I wonder what they
+are like, Ana. Perhaps one day we shall learn, you and I together, Scribe
+Ana.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So Ki took up his abode with us, in the same lodgings as Bakenkhonsu, and
+almost every day I would meet them walking in the garden, since I, who was of
+the Prince&rsquo;s table, except when he ate with the lady Merapi, did not take
+my food with them. Then we would talk together about many subjects. On those
+which had to do with learning, or even religion, I had the better of Ki, who
+was no great scholar or master of theology. But always before we parted he
+would plant some arrow in my ribs, at which old Bakenkhonsu laughed, and
+laughed again, yet ever threw over me the shield of his venerable wisdom, just
+because he loved me I think.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was after this that the plague struck the cattle of Egypt, so that tens of
+thousands of them died, though not all as was reported. But, as I have said, of
+the herds of Seti none died, nor, as we were told, did any of those of the
+Israelites in the land of Goshen. Now there was great distress in Egypt, but Ki
+smiled and said that he knew it would be so, and that there was much worse to
+come, for which I could have smitten him over the head with his own staff, had
+I not feared that, if I did so, it might once more turn to a serpent in my hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Old Bakenkhonsu looked upon the matter with another face. He said that since
+his last wife died, I think some fifty years before, he had found life very
+dull because he missed the exercises of her temper, and her habit of presenting
+things as these never had been nor could possibly ever be. Now, however, it
+grew interesting again, since the marvels which were happening in Egypt, being
+quite contrary to Nature, reminded him of his last wife and her arguments. All
+of which was his way of saying that in those years we lived in a new world,
+whereof for the Egyptians Set the Evil One seemed to be the king.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But still Pharaoh would not let the Hebrews go, perhaps because he had vowed as
+much to Meneptah who set him on the throne, or perhaps for those other reasons,
+or one of them, which Ki had given to the Prince.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then came the curse of sores afflicting man, woman, and child throughout the
+land, save those who dwelt in the household of Seti. Thus the watchman and his
+family whose lodge was without the gates suffered, but the watchman and his
+family who lived within the gates, not twenty paces away, did not suffer, which
+caused bitterness between their women. In the same way Ki, who resided as a
+guest of the Prince at Memphis, suffered from no sores, whereas those of his
+College who remained at Tanis were more heavily smitten than any others, so
+that some of them died. When he heard this, Ki laughed and said that he had
+told them it would be so. Also Pharaoh himself and even her Highness Userti
+were smitten, the latter upon the cheek, which made her unsightly for a while.
+Indeed, Bakenkhonsu heard, I know not how, that so great was her rage that she
+even bethought her of returning to her lord Seti, in whose house she had
+learned people were safe, and the beauty of her successor, Moon of Israel,
+remained unscarred and was even greater than before, tidings that I think
+Bakenkhonsu himself conveyed to her. But in the end this her pride, or her
+jealousy, prevented her from doing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now the heart of Egypt began to turn towards Seti in good earnest. The Prince,
+they said, had opposed the policy of the oppression of the Hebrews, and because
+he could not prevail had abandoned his right to the throne, which Pharaoh
+Amenmeses had purchased at the price of accepting that policy whereof the
+fruits had been proved to be destruction. Therefore, they reasoned, if
+Amenmeses were deposed, and the Prince reigned, their miseries would cease. So
+they sent deputations to him secretly, praying him to rise against Amenmeses
+and promising him support. But he would listen to none of them, telling them
+that he was happy as he was and sought no other state. Still Pharaoh grew
+jealous, for all these things his spies reported to him, and set about plots to
+destroy Seti.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of the first of these Userti warned me by a messenger, but the second and worse
+Ki discovered in some strange way, so that the murderer was trapped at the gate
+and killed by the watchman, whereon Seti said that after all he had been wise
+to give hospitality to Ki, that is, if to continue to live were wisdom. The
+lady Merapi also said as much to me, but I noted that always she shunned Ki,
+whom she held in mistrust and fear.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap15"></a>CHAPTER XV.<br />
+THE NIGHT OF FEAR</h2>
+
+<p>
+Then came the hail, and some months after the hail the locusts, and Egypt went
+mad with woe and terror. It was known to us, for with Ki and Bakenkhonsu in the
+palace we knew everything, that the Hebrew prophets had promised this hail
+because Pharaoh would not listen to them. Therefore Seti caused it to be put
+about through all the land that the Egyptians should shelter their cattle, or
+such as were left to them, at the first sign of storm. But Pharaoh heard of it
+and issued a proclamation that this was not to be done, inasmuch as it would be
+an insult to the gods of Egypt. Still many did so and these saved their cattle.
+It was strange to see that wall of jagged ice stretching from earth to heaven
+and destroying all upon which it fell. The tall date-palms were stripped even
+of their bark; the soil was churned up; men and beasts if caught abroad were
+slain or shattered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I stood at the gate and watched it. There, not a yard away, fell the white
+hail, turning the world to wreck, while here within the gate there was not a
+single stone. Merapi watched also, and presently came Ki as well, and with him
+Bakenkhonsu, who for once had never seen anything like this in all his long
+life. But Ki watched Merapi more than he did the hail, for I saw him searching
+out her very soul with those merciless eyes of his.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Lady,&rdquo; he said at length, &ldquo;tell your servant, I beseech you,
+how you do this thing?&rdquo; and he pointed first to the trees and flowers
+within the gate and then to the wreck without.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At first I thought that she had not heard him because of the roar of the hail,
+for she stepped forward and opened the side wicket to admit a poor jackal that
+was scratching at the bars. Still this was not so, for presently she turned and
+said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Does the Kherheb, the greatest magician in Egypt, ask an unlearned woman
+to teach him of marvels? Well, Ki, I cannot, because I neither do it nor know
+how it is done.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bakenkhonsu laughed, and Ki&rsquo;s painted smile grew as it were brighter than
+before.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is not what they say in the land of Goshen, Lady,&rdquo; he
+answered, &ldquo;and not what the Hebrew women say here in Memphis. Nor is it
+what the priests of Amon say. These declare that you have more magic than all
+the sorcerers of the Nile. Here is the proof of it,&rdquo; and he pointed to
+the ruin without and the peace within, adding, &ldquo;Lady, if you can protect
+your own home, why cannot you protect the innocent people of Egypt?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because I cannot,&rdquo; she answered angrily. &ldquo;If ever I had such
+power it is gone from me, who am now the mother of an Egyptian&rsquo;s child.
+But I have none. There in the temple of Amon some Strength worked through me,
+that is all, which never will visit me again because of my sin.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What sin, Lady?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The sin of taking the Prince Seti to lord. Now, if any god spoke through
+me it would be one of those of the Egyptians, since He of Israel has cast me
+out.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ki started as though some new thought had come to him, and at this moment she
+turned and went away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Would that she were high-priestess of Isis that she might work for us
+and not against us,&rdquo; he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bakenkhonsu shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let that be,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;Be sure that never will an
+Israelitish woman offer sacrifice to what she would call the abomination of the
+Egyptians.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If she will not sacrifice to save the people, let her be careful lest
+the people sacrifice her to save themselves,&rdquo; said Ki in a cold voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then he too went away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think that if ever that hour comes, then Ki will have his share in
+it,&rdquo; laughed Bakenkhonsu. &ldquo;What is the good of a shepherd who
+shelters here in comfort, while outside the sheep are dying, eh, Ana?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was after the plague of locusts, which ate all there was left to eat in
+Egypt, so that the poor folk who had done no wrong and had naught to say to the
+dealings of Pharaoh with the Israelites starved by the thousand, and during
+that of the great darkness, that Laban came. Now this darkness lay upon the
+land like a thick cloud for three whole days and nights. Nevertheless, though
+the shadows were deep, there was no true darkness over the house of Seti at
+Memphis, which stood in a funnel of grey light stretching from earth to sky.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now the terror was increased tenfold, and it seemed to me that all the hundreds
+of thousands of Memphis were gathered outside our walls, so that they might
+look upon the light, such as it was, if they could do no more. Seti would have
+admitted as many as the place would hold, but Ki bade him not, saying, that if
+he did so the darkness would flow in with them. Only Merapi did admit some of
+the Israelitish women who were married to Egyptians in the city, though for her
+pains they only cursed her as a witch. For now most of the inhabitants of
+Memphis were certain that it was Merapi who, keeping herself safe, had brought
+these woes upon them because she was a worshipper of an alien god.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If she who is the love of Egypt&rsquo;s heir would but sacrifice to
+Egypt&rsquo;s gods, these horrors would pass from us,&rdquo; said they, having,
+as I think, learned their lesson from the lips of Ki. Or perhaps the emissaries
+of Userti had taught them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once more we stood by the gate watching the people flitting to and fro in the
+gloom without, for this sight fascinated Merapi, as a snake fascinates a bird.
+Then it was that Laban appeared. I knew his hooked nose and hawk-like eyes at
+once, and she knew him also.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Come away with me, Moon of Israel,&rdquo; he cried, &ldquo;and all shall
+yet be forgiven you. But if you will not come, then fearful things shall
+overtake you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She stood staring at him, answering never a word, and just then the Prince Seti
+reached us and saw him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Take that man,&rdquo; he commanded, flushing with anger, and guards
+sprang into the darkness to do his bidding. But Laban was gone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the second day of the darkness the tumult was great, on the third it was
+terrible. A crowd thrust the guard aside, broke down the gates and burst into
+the palace, humbly demanding that the lady Merapi would come to pray for them,
+yet showing by their mien that if she would not come they meant to take her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is to be done?&rdquo; asked Seti of Ki and Bakenkhonsu.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is for the Prince to judge,&rdquo; said Ki, &ldquo;though I do not
+see how it can harm the lady Merapi to pray for us in the open square of
+Memphis.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let her go,&rdquo; said Bakenkhonsu, &ldquo;lest presently we should all
+go further than we would.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not wish to go,&rdquo; cried Merapi, &ldquo;not knowing for whom I
+am to pray or how.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Be it as you will, Lady,&rdquo; said Seti in his grave and gentle voice.
+&ldquo;Only, hearken to the roar of the mob. If you refuse, I think that very
+soon every one of us will have reached a land where perhaps it is not needful
+to pray at all,&rdquo; and he looked at the infant in her arms.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will go,&rdquo; she said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She went forth carrying the child and I walked behind her. So did the Prince,
+but in that darkness he was cut off by a rush of thousands of folk and I saw
+him no more till all was over. Bakenkhonsu was with me leaning on my arm, but
+Ki had gone on before us, for his own ends as I think. A huge mob moved through
+the dense darkness, in which here and there lights floated like lamps upon a
+quiet sea. I did not know where we were going until the light of one of these
+lamps shone upon the knees of the colossal statue of the great Rameses,
+revealing his cartouche. Then I knew that we were near the gateway of the vast
+temple of Memphis, the largest perhaps in the whole world.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We went on through court after pillared court, priests leading us by the hand,
+till we came to a shrine commanding the biggest court of all, which was packed
+with men and women. It was that of Isis, who held at her breast the infant
+Horus.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O friend Ana,&rdquo; cried Merapi, &ldquo;give help. They are dressing
+me in strange garments.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I tried to get near to her but was thrust back, a voice, which I thought to be
+that of Ki, saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;On your life, fool!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently a lamp was held up, and by the light of it I saw Merapi seated in a
+chair dressed like a goddess, in the sacerdotal robes of Isis and wearing the
+vulture cap headdress&mdash;beautiful exceedingly. In her arms was the child
+dressed as the infant Horus.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Pray for us, Mother Isis,&rdquo; cried thousands of voices, &ldquo;that
+the curse of blackness may be removed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then she prayed, saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O my God, take away this curse of blackness from these innocent
+people,&rdquo; and all of those present, repeated her prayer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At that moment the sky began to lighten and in less than half an hour the sun
+shone out. When Merapi saw how she and the child were arrayed she screamed
+aloud and tore off her jewelled trappings, crying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Woe! Woe! Woe! Great woe upon the people of Egypt!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But in their joy at the new found light few hearkened to her who they were sure
+had brought back the sun. Again Laban appeared for a moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Witch! Traitress!&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;You have worn the robes of
+Isis and worshipped in the temple of the gods of the Egyptians. The curse of
+the God of Israel be on you and that which is born of you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I sprang at him but he was gone. Then we bore Merapi home swooning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So this trouble passed by, but from that time forward Merapi would not suffer
+her son to be taken out of her sight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why do you make so much of him, Lady?&rdquo; I asked one day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because I would love him well while he is here, Friend,&rdquo; she
+answered, &ldquo;but of this say nothing to his father.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A while went by and we heard that still Pharaoh would not let the Israelites
+go. Then the Prince Seti sent Bakenkhonsu and myself to Tanis to see Pharaoh
+and to say to him:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I seek nothing for myself and I forget those evils which you would have
+worked on me through jealousy. But I say unto you that if you will not let
+these strangers go great and terrible things shall befall you and all Egypt.
+Therefore, hear my prayer and let them go.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now Bakenkhonsu and I came before Pharaoh and we saw that he was greatly aged,
+for his hair had gone grey about his temples and the flesh hung in bags beneath
+his eyes. Also not for one minute could he stay still.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is your lord, and are you also of the servants of this Hebrew prophet
+whom the Egyptians worship as a god because he has done them so much
+ill?&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;It may well be so, since I hear that my cousin
+Seti keeps an Israelitish witch in his house, who wards off from him all the
+plagues that have smitten the rest of Egypt, and that to him has fled also Ki
+the Kherheb, my magician. Moreover, I hear that in payment for these wizardries
+he has been promised the throne of Egypt by many fickle and fearful ones among
+my people. Let him be careful lest I lift him up higher than he hopes, who
+already have enough traitors in this land; and you two with him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I said nothing, who saw that the man was mad, but Bakenkhonsu laughed out
+loud and answered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Pharaoh, I know little, but I know this although I be old, namely,
+that after men have ceased to speak your name I shall still hold converse with
+the wearer of the Double Crown in Egypt. Now will you let these Hebrews go, or
+will you bring death upon Egypt?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pharaoh glared at him and answered, &ldquo;I will not let them go.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why not, Pharaoh? Tell me, for I am curious.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because I cannot,&rdquo; he answered with a groan. &ldquo;Because
+something stronger than myself forces me to deny their prayer. Begone!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So we went, and this was the last time that I looked upon Amenmeses at Tanis.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we left the chamber I saw the Hebrew prophet entering the presence.
+Afterwards a rumour reached us that he had threatened to kill all the people in
+Egypt, but that still Pharaoh would not let the Israelites depart. Indeed, it
+was said that he had told the prophet that if he appeared before him any more
+he should be put to death.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now we journeyed back to Memphis with all these tidings and made report to
+Seti. When Merapi heard them she went half mad, weeping and wringing her hands.
+I asked her what she feared. She answered death, which was near to all of us. I
+said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If so, there are worse things, Lady.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;For you mayhap who are faithful and good in your own fashion, but not
+for me. Do you not understand, friend Ana, that I am one who has broken the law
+of the God I was taught to worship?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And which of us is there who has not broken the law of the god we were
+taught to worship, Lady? If in truth you have done anything of the sort by
+flying from a murderous villain to one who loves you well, which I do not
+believe, surely there is forgiveness for such sins as this.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Aye, perhaps, but, alas! the thing is blacker far. Have you forgotten
+what I did? Dressed in the robes of Isis I worshipped in the temple of Isis
+with my boy playing the part of Horus on my bosom. It is a crime that can never
+be forgiven to a Hebrew woman, Ana, for my God is a jealous God. Yet it is true
+that Ki tricked me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If he had not, Lady, I think there would have been none of us left to
+trick, seeing that the people were crazed with the dread of the darkness and
+believed that it could be lifted by you alone, as indeed happened,&rdquo; I
+added somewhat doubtfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;More of Ki&rsquo;s tricks! Oh! do you not understand that the lifting of
+the darkness at that moment was Ki&rsquo;s work, because he wished the people
+to believe that I am indeed a sorceress.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why?&rdquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not know. Perhaps that one day he may find a victim to bind to the
+altar in his place. At least I know well that it is I who must pay the price, I
+and my flesh and blood, whatever Ki may promise,&rdquo; and she looked at the
+sleeping child.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do not be afraid, Lady,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Ki has left the palace and
+you will see him no more.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, because the Prince was angry with him about the trick in the temple
+of Isis. Therefore suddenly he went, or pretended to go, for how can one tell
+where such a man may really be? But he will come back again. Bethink you, Ki
+was the greatest magician in Egypt; even old Bakenkhonsu can remember none like
+to him. Then he matches himself against the prophets of my people and
+fails.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But did he fail, Lady? What they did he did, sending among the
+Israelites the plagues that your prophets had sent among us.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, some of them, but he was outpaced, or feared to be outpaced at
+last. Is Ki a man to forget that? And if Ki chances really to believe that I am
+his adversary and his master at this black work, as because of what happened in
+the temple of Amon thousands believe to-day, will he not mete me my own measure
+soon or late? Oh! I fear Ki, Ana, and I fear the people of Egypt, and were it
+not for my lord beloved, I would flee away into the wilderness with my son, and
+get me out of this haunted land! Hush! he wakes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From this time forward until the sword fell there was great dread in Egypt.
+None seemed to know exactly what they dreaded, but all thought that it had to
+do with death. People went about mournfully looking over their shoulders as
+though someone were following them, and at night they gathered together in
+knots and talked in whispers. Only the Hebrews seemed to be glad and happy.
+Moreover, they were making preparations for something new and strange. Thus
+those Israelitish women who dwelt in Memphis began to sell what property they
+had and to borrow of the Egyptians. Especially did they ask for the loan of
+jewels, saying that they were about to celebrate a feast and wished to look
+fine in the eyes of their countrymen. None refused them what they asked because
+all were afraid of them. They even came to the palace and begged her ornaments
+from Merapi, although she was a countrywoman of their own who had showed them
+much kindness. Yes, and seeing that her son wore a little gold circlet on his
+hair, one of them begged that also, nor did she say her nay. But, as it
+chanced, the Prince entered, and seeing the woman with this royal badge in her
+hand, grew very angry and forced her to restore it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is the use of crowns without heads to wear them?&rdquo; she
+sneered, and fled away laughing, with all that she had gathered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After she had heard that saying Merapi grew even sadder and more distraught
+than she was before, and from her the trouble crept to Seti. He too became sad
+and ill at ease, though when I asked him why he vowed he did not know, but
+supposed it was because some new plague drew near.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;as I have made shift to live through nine
+of them, I do not know why I should fear a tenth.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Still he did fear it, so much that he consulted Bakenkhonsu as to whether there
+were any means by which the anger of the gods could be averted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bakenkhonsu laughed and said he thought not, since always if the gods were not
+angry about one thing they were angry about another. Having made the world they
+did nothing but quarrel with it, or with other gods who had a hand in its
+fashioning, and of these quarrels men were the victims.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Bear your woes, Prince,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;if any come, for ere the
+Nile has risen another fifty times at most, whether they have or have not been,
+will be the same to you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then you think that when we go west we die indeed, and that Osiris is
+but another name for the sunset, Bakenkhonsu.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The old Councillor shook his great head, and answered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No. If ever you should lose one whom you greatly love, take comfort,
+Prince, for I do not think that life ends with death. Death is the nurse that
+puts it to sleep, no more, and in the morning it will wake again to travel
+through another day with those who have companioned it from the
+beginning.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Where do all the days lead it to at last, Bakenkhonsu?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ask that of Ki; I do not know.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To Set with Ki, I am angered with him,&rdquo; said the Prince, and went
+away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not without reason, I think,&rdquo; mused Bakenkhonsu, but when I asked
+him what he meant, he would not or could not tell me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So the gloom deepened and the palace, which had been merry in its way, became
+sad. None knew what was coming, but all knew that something was coming and
+stretched out their hands to strive to protect that which they loved best from
+the stroke of the warring gods. In the case of Seti and Merapi this was their
+son, now a beautiful little lad who could run and prattle, one too of a strange
+health and vigour for a child of the inbred race of the Ramessids. Never for a
+minute was this boy allowed to be out of the sight of one or other of his
+parents; indeed I saw little of Seti in those days and all our learned studies
+came to nothing, because he was ever concerned with Merapi in playing nurse to
+this son of his.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Userti was told of it, she said in the hearing of a friend of mine:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Without a doubt that is because he trains his bastard to fill the throne
+of Egypt.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But, alas! all that the little Seti was doomed to fill was a coffin.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+It was a still, hot evening, so hot that Merapi had bid the nurse bring the
+child&rsquo;s bed and set it between two pillars of the great portico. There on
+the bed he slept, lovely as Horus the divine. She sat by his side in a chair
+that had feet shaped like to those of an antelope. Seti walked up and down the
+terrace beyond the portico leaning on my shoulder, and talking by snatches of
+this or that. Occasionally as he passed he would stay for a while to make sure
+by the bright moonlight that all was well with Merapi and the child, as of late
+it had become a habit with him to do. Then without speaking, for fear lest he
+should awake the boy, he would smile at Merapi, who sat there brooding, her
+head resting on her hand, and pass on.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The night was very still. The palm leaves did not rustle, no jackals were
+stirring, and even the shrill-voiced insects had ceased their cries. Moreover,
+the great city below was quiet as a home of the dead. It was as though the
+presage of some advancing doom scared the world to silence. For without doubt
+doom was in the air. All felt it down to the nurse woman, who cowered close as
+she dared to the chair of her mistress, and even in that heat shivered from
+time to time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently little Seti awoke, and began to prattle about something he had
+dreamed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What did you dream, my son?&rdquo; asked his father.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I dreamed,&rdquo; he answered in his baby talk, &ldquo;that a woman,
+dressed as Mother was in the temple, took me by the hand and led me into the
+air. I looked down, and saw you and Mother with white faces and crying. I began
+to cry too, but the woman with the feather cap told me not as she was taking me
+to a beautiful big star where Mother would soon come to find me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Prince and I looked at each other and Merapi feigned to busy herself with
+hushing the child to sleep again. It drew towards midnight and still no one
+seemed minded to go to rest. Old Bakenkhonsu appeared and began to say
+something about the night being very strange and unrestful, when, suddenly, a
+little bat that was flitting to and fro above us fell upon his head and thence
+to the ground. We looked at it, and saw that it was dead.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Strange that the creature should have died thus,&rdquo; said
+Bakenkhonsu, when, behold! another fell to the ground near by. The black kitten
+which belonged to Little Seti saw it fall and darted from beside his bed where
+it was sleeping. Before ever it reached the bat, the creature wheeled round,
+stood upon its hind legs, scratching at the air about it, then uttered one
+pitiful cry and fell over dead.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We stared at it, when suddenly far away a dog howled in a very piercing
+fashion. Then a cow began to bale as these beasts do when they have lost their
+calves. Next, quite close at hand but without the gates, there arose the
+ear-curdling cry of a woman in agony, which on the instant seemed to be echoed
+from every quarter, till the air was full of wailing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, Seti! Seti!&rdquo; exclaimed Merapi, in a voice that was rather a
+hiss than a whisper, &ldquo;look at your son!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We sprang to where the babe lay, and looked. He had awakened and was staring
+upward with wide-opened eyes and frozen face. The fear, if such it were, passed
+from his features, though still he stared. He rose to his little feet, always
+looking upwards. Then a smile came upon his face, a most beautiful smile; he
+stretched out his arms, as though to clasp one who bent down towards him, and
+fell backwards&mdash;quite dead.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seti stood still as a statue; we all stood still, even Merapi. Then she bent
+down, and lifted the body of the boy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now, my lord,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;there has fallen on you that
+sorrow which Jabez my uncle warned you would come, if ever you had aught to do
+with me. Now the curse of Israel has pierced my heart, and now our child, as Ki
+the evil prophesied, has grown too great for greetings, or even for
+farewells.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus she spoke in a cold and quiet voice, as one might speak of something long
+expected or foreseen, then made her reverence to the Prince, and departed,
+bearing the body of the child. Never, I think, did Merapi seem more beautiful
+to me than in this, her hour of bereavement, since now through her
+woman&rsquo;s loveliness shone out some shadow of the soul within. Indeed, such
+were her eyes and such her movements that well might it have been a spirit and
+not a woman who departed from us with that which had been her son.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seti leaned on my shoulder looking at the empty bed, and at the scared nurse
+who still sat behind, and I felt a tear drop upon my hand. Old Bakenkhonsu
+lifted his massive face, and looked at him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Grieve not over much, Prince,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;since, ere as many
+years as I have lived out have come and gone, this child will be forgotten and
+his mother will be forgotten, and even you, O Prince, will live but as a name
+that once was great in Egypt. And then, O Prince, elsewhere the game will begin
+afresh, and what you have lost shall be found anew, and the sweeter for it
+sheltering from the vile breath of men. Ki&rsquo;s magic is not all a lie, or
+if his is, mine holds some shadow of the truth, and when he said to you yonder
+in Tanis that not for nothing were you named &lsquo;Lord of Rebirths,&rsquo; he
+spoke words that you should find comfortable to-night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thank you, Councillor,&rdquo; said Seti, and turning, followed Merapi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now I suppose we shall have more deaths,&rdquo; I exclaimed, hardly
+knowing what I said in my sorrow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think not, Ana,&rdquo; answered Bakenkhonsu, &ldquo;since the shield
+of Jabez, or of his god, is over us. Always he foretold that trouble would come
+to Merapi, and to Seti through Merapi, but that is all.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I glanced at the kitten.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It strayed here from the town three days ago, Ana. And the bats also may
+have flown from the town. Hark to the wailing. Was ever such a sound heard
+before in Egypt?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap16"></a>CHAPTER XVI.<br />
+JABEZ SELLS HORSES</h2>
+
+<p>
+Bakenkhonsu was right. Save the son of Seti alone, none died who dwelt in or
+about his house, though elsewhere all the first-born of Egypt lay dead, and the
+first-born of the beasts also. When this came to be known throughout the land a
+rage seized the Egyptians against Merapi who, they remembered, had called down
+woe on Egypt after she had been forced to pray in the temple and, as they
+believed, to lift the darkness from Memphis.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bakenkhonsu and I and others who loved her pointed out that her own child had
+died with the rest. To this it was answered, and here I thought I saw the
+fingers of Userti and of Ki, that it was nothing, since witches did not love
+children. Moreover, they said she could have as many as she liked and when she
+liked, making them to look like children out of clay figures and to grow up
+into evil spirits to torment the land. Lastly, people swore that she had been
+heard to say that, although to do it she must kill her own lord&rsquo;s son,
+she would not on that account forego her vengeance on the Egyptians, who once
+had treated her as a slave and murdered her father. Further, the Israelites
+themselves, or some of them, mayhap Laban among them, were reported to have
+told the Egyptians that it was the sorceress who had bewitched Prince Seti who
+brought such great troubles on them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So it happened that the Egyptians came to hate Merapi, who of all women was the
+sweetest and the most to be loved, and to her other supposed crimes, added this
+also, that by her witcheries she had stolen the heart of Seti away from his
+lawful wife and made him to turn that lady, the Royal Princess of Egypt, even
+from his gates, so that she was forced to dwell alone at Tanis. For in all
+these matters none blamed Seti, whom everyone in Egypt loved, because it was
+known that he would have dealt with the Israelites in a very different fashion,
+and thus averted all the woes that had desolated the ancient land of Khem. As
+for this matter of the Hebrew girl with the big eyes who chanced to have thrown
+a spell upon him, that was his ill-fortune, nothing more. Amongst the many
+women with whom they believed he filled his house, as was the way of princes,
+it was not strange that one favourite should be a witch. Indeed, I am certain
+that only because he was known to love her, was Merapi saved from death by
+poison or in some other secret fashion, at any rate for a while.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now came the glad tidings that the pride of Pharaoh was broken at last (for his
+first-born child had died with the others), or that the cloud of madness had
+lifted from his brain, whichever it might be, and that he had decreed that the
+Children of Israel might depart from Egypt when and whither they would. Then
+the people breathed again, seeing hope that their miseries might end.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was at this time that Jabez appeared once more at Memphis, driving a number
+of chariot horses, which he said he wished to sell to the Prince, as he did not
+desire them to pass into any other hands. He was admitted and stated the price
+of his horses, according to which they must have been beasts of great value.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why do you wish to sell your horses?&rdquo; asked Seti.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because I go with my people into lands where there is little water and
+there they might die, O Prince.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will buy the horses. See to it, Ana,&rdquo; said Seti, although I knew
+well that already he had more than he needed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Prince rose to show that the interview was ended, whereon Jabez, who was
+bowing his thanks, said hurriedly:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I rejoice to learn, O Royal One, that things have befallen as I
+foretold, or rather was bidden to foretell, and that the troubles which have
+afflicted Egypt have passed by your dwelling.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then you rejoice to learn a falsehood, Hebrew, since the worst of those
+troubles has made its home here. My son is dead,&rdquo; and he turned away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jabez lifted his shifty eyes from the floor and glanced at him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Prince,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I know and grieve because this loss has
+cut you to the heart. Yet it was no fault of mine or of my people. If you
+think, you will remember that both when I built a wall of protection about this
+place because of your good deeds to Israel, O Prince, and before, I warned, and
+caused you to be warned, that if you and my niece, Moon of Israel, came
+together a great trouble might fall on you through her who, having become the
+woman of an Egyptian in defiance of command, must bear the fate of Egyptian
+women.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It may be so,&rdquo; said the Prince. &ldquo;The matter is not one of
+which I care to talk. If this death were wrought by the magic of your wizards I
+have only this to say&mdash;that it is an ill payment to me in return for all
+that I have striven to do on behalf of the Hebrews. Yet, what else could I
+expect from such a people in such a world? Farewell.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;One prayer, O Prince. I would ask your leave to speak with my niece,
+Merapi.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She is veiled. Since the murder of her child by wizardry, she sees no
+man.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Still I think she will see her uncle, O Prince.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What then do you wish to say to her?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Prince, through the clemency of Pharaoh we poor slaves are about to
+leave the land of Egypt never to return. Therefore, if my niece remains behind,
+it is natural that I should wish to bid her farewell, and to confide to her
+certain matters connected with our race and family, which she might desire to
+pass on to her children.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now when he heard this word &ldquo;children&rdquo; Seti softened.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not trust you,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You may be charged with more
+of your Hebrew curses against Merapi, or you may say words to her that will
+make her even unhappier than she is. Yet if you would wish to see her in my
+presence&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My lord Prince, I will not trouble you so far. Farewell. Be pleased to
+convey&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Or if that does not suit you,&rdquo; interrupted Seti, &ldquo;in the
+presence of Ana here you can do so, unless she refuses to receive you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jabez reflected for a moment, and answered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then in the presence of Ana let it be, since he is a man who knows when
+to be silent.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jabez made obeisance and departed, and at a sign from the Prince I followed
+him. Presently we were ushered into the chamber of the lady Merapi, where she
+sat looking most sad and lonely, with a veil of black upon her head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Greeting, my uncle,&rdquo; she said, after glancing at me, whose
+presence I think she understood. &ldquo;Are you the bearer of more prophecies?
+I pray not, since your last were overtrue,&rdquo; and she touched the black
+veil with her finger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am the bearer of tidings, and of a prayer, Niece. The tidings are that
+the people of Israel are about to leave Egypt. The prayer, which is also a
+command, is&mdash;that you make ready to accompany them&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To Laban?&rdquo; she asked, looking up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, my niece. Laban would not wish as a wife one who has been the
+mistress of an Egyptian, but to play your part, however humble, in the fortunes
+of our people.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am glad that Laban does not wish what he never could obtain, my uncle.
+Tell me, I pray you, why should I hearken to this prayer, or this
+command?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;For a good reason, Niece&mdash;that your life hangs on it. Heretofore
+you have been suffered to take your heart&rsquo;s desire. But if you bide in
+Egypt where you have no longer a mission to fulfil, having done all that was
+sought of you in keeping the mind of your lover, the Prince Seti, true to the
+cause of Israel, you will surely die.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You mean that our people will kill me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, not our people. Still you will die.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She took a step towards him, and looked him in the eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are certain that I shall die, my uncle?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am, or at least others are certain.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now she laughed; it was the first time I had seen her laugh for several moons.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then I will stay here,&rdquo; she said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jabez stared at her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thought that you loved this Egyptian, who indeed is worthy of any
+woman&rsquo;s love,&rdquo; he muttered into his beard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps it is because I love him that I wish to die. I have given him
+all I have to give; there is nothing left of my poor treasure except what will
+bring trouble and misfortune on his head. Therefore the greater the
+love&mdash;and it is more great than all those pyramids massed to one&mdash;the
+greater the need that it should be buried for a while. Do you understand?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I understand only that you are a very strange woman, different from any
+other that I have known.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My child, who was slain with the rest, was all the world to me, and I
+would be where he is. Do you understand now?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You would leave your life, in which, being young, you may have more
+children, to lie in a tomb with your dead son?&rdquo; he asked slowly, like one
+astonished.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I only care for life while it can serve him whom I love, and if a day
+comes when he sits upon the throne how will a daughter of the hated Israelites
+serve him then? Also I do not wish for more children. Living or dead, he that
+is gone owns all my heart; there is no room in it for others. That love at
+least is pure and perfect, and having been embalmed by death, can never change.
+Moreover, it is not in a tomb that I shall lie with him, or so I believe. The
+faith of these Egyptians which we despise tells of a life eternal in the
+heavens, and thither I would go to seek that which is lost, and to wait that
+which is left behind awhile.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; said Jabez. &ldquo;For my part I do not trouble myself with
+these problems, who find in a life temporal on the earth enough to fill my
+thoughts and hands. Yet, Merapi, you are a rebel, and whether in heaven or on
+earth, how are rebels received by the king against whom they have
+rebelled?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You say I am a rebel,&rdquo; she said, turning on him with flashing
+eyes. &ldquo;Why? Because I would not dishonour myself by marrying a man I
+hate, one also who is a murderer, and because while I live I will not desert a
+man whom I love to return to those who have done me naught but evil. Did God
+then make women to be sold like cattle of the field for the pleasure and the
+profit of him who can pay the highest?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It seems so,&rdquo; said Jabez, spreading out his hands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It seems that you think so, who fashion God as you would wish him to be,
+but for my part I do not believe it, and if I did, I should seek another king.
+My uncle, I appeal from the priest and the elder to That which made both them
+and me, and by Its judgment I will stand or fall.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Always a very dangerous thing to do,&rdquo; reflected Jabez aloud,
+&ldquo;since the priest is apt to take the law into his own hands before the
+cause can be pleaded elsewhere. Still, who am I that I should set up my
+reasonings against one who can grind Amon to powder in his own sanctuary, and
+who therefore may have warrant for all she thinks and does?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Merapi stamped her foot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You know well it was you who brought me the command to dare the god Amon
+in his temple. It was not I&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo; she began.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do know,&rdquo; replied Jabez waving his hand. &ldquo;I know also that
+is what every wizard says, whatever his nation or his gods, and what no one
+ever believes. Thus because, having faith, you obeyed the command and through
+you Amon was smitten, among both the Israelites and the Egyptians you are held
+to be the greatest sorceress that has looked upon the Nile, and that is a
+dangerous repute, my niece.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;One to which I lay no claim, and never sought.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Just so, but which all the same has come to you. Well, knowing as
+without doubt you do all that will soon befall in Egypt, and having been
+warned, if you needed warning, of the danger with which you yourself are
+threatened, you still refuse to obey this second command which it is my duty to
+deliver to you?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I refuse.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then on your own head be it, and farewell. Oh! I would add that there is
+a certain property in cattle, and the fruit of lands which descends to you from
+your father. In the event of your death&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Take it all, uncle, and may it prosper you. Farewell.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A great woman, friend Ana, and a beautiful,&rdquo; said the old Hebrew,
+after he had watched her go. &ldquo;I grieve that I shall never see her again,
+and, indeed, that no one will see her for very long; for, remember, she is my
+niece of whom I am fond. Now I too must be going, having completed my errand.
+All good fortune to you, Ana. You are no longer a soldier, are you? No? Believe
+me, it is as well, as you will learn. My homage to the Prince. Think of me at
+times, when you grow old, and not unkindly, seeing that I have served you as
+best I could, and your master also, who I hope will soon find again that which
+he lost awhile ago.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Her Highness, Princess Userti,&rdquo; I suggested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Princess Userti among other things, Ana. Tell the Prince, if he
+should deem them costly, that those horses which I sold him are really of the
+finest Syrian blood, and of a strain that my family has owned for generations.
+If you should chance to have any friend whose welfare you desire, let him not
+go into the desert soldiering during the next few moons, especially if Pharaoh
+be in command. Nay, I know nothing, but it is a season of great storm.
+Farewell, friend Ana, and again farewell.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now what did he mean by that?&rdquo; thought I to myself, as I departed
+to make my report to Seti. But no answer to the question rose in my mind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Very soon I began to understand. It appeared that at length the Israelites were
+leaving Egypt, a vast horde of them, and with them tens of thousands of Arabs
+of various tribes who worshipped their god and were, some of them, descended
+from the people of the Hyksos, the shepherds who once ruled in Egypt. That this
+was true was proved to us by the tidings which reached us that all the Hebrew
+women who dwelt in Memphis, even those of them who were married to Egyptians,
+had departed from the city, leaving behind them their men and sometimes their
+children. Indeed, before these went, certain of them who had been friends
+visited Merapi, and asked her if she were not coming also. She shook her head
+as she replied:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why do you go? Are you so fond of journeyings in the desert that for the
+sake of them you are ready never again to look upon the men you love and the
+children of your bodies?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, Lady,&rdquo; they answered, weeping. &ldquo;We are happy here in
+white-walled Memphis and here, listening to the murmur of the Nile, we would
+grow old and die, rather than strive to keep house in some desert tent with a
+stranger or alone. Yet fear drives us hence.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Fear of what?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of the Egyptians who, when they come to understand all that they have
+suffered at our hands in return for the wealth and shelter which they have
+given us for many generations, whereby we have grown from a handful into a
+great people, will certainly kill any Israelite whom they find left among them.
+Also we fear the curses of our priests who bid us to depart.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then <i>I</i> should fear these things also,&rdquo; said Merapi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not so, Lady, seeing that being the only beloved of the Prince of Egypt
+who, rumour tells us, will soon be Pharaoh of Egypt, by him you will be
+protected from the anger of the Egyptians. And being, as we all know well, the
+greatest sorceress in the world, the overthrower of Amon-Ra the mighty, and one
+who by sacrificing her child was able to ward away every plague from the
+household where she dwelt, you have naught to fear from priests and their
+magic.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then Merapi sprang up, bidding them to leave her to her fate and to be gone to
+their own, which they did hastily enough, fearing lest she should cast some
+spell upon them. So it came about that presently the fair Moon of Israel and
+certain children of mixed blood were all of the Hebrew race that were left in
+Egypt. Then, notwithstanding the miseries and misfortunes that during the past
+few years by terror, death, and famine had reduced them to perhaps one half of
+their number, the people of Egypt rejoiced with a great joy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In every temple of every god processions were held and offerings made by those
+who had anything left to offer, while the statues of the gods were dressed in
+fine new garments and hung about with garlandings of flowers. Moreover, on the
+Nile and on the sacred lakes boats floated to and fro, adorned with lanterns as
+at the feast of the Rising of Osiris. As titular high-priest of Amon, an office
+of which he could not be deprived while he lived, Prince Seti attended these
+demonstrations, which indeed he must do, in the great temple of Memphis,
+whither I accompanied him. When the ceremonies were over he led the procession
+through the masses of the worshippers, clad in his splendid sacerdotal robes,
+whereon every throat of the thousands present there greeted him in a shout of
+thunder as &ldquo;Pharaoh!&rdquo; or at least as Pharaoh&rsquo;s heir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When at length the shouting died, he turned upon them and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Friends, if you would send me to be of the company that sits at the
+table of Osiris and not at Pharaoh&rsquo;s feasts, you will repeat this foolish
+greeting, whereof our Lord Amenmeses will hear with little joy.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the silence that followed a voice called out:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have no fear, O Prince, while the Hebrew witch sleeps night by night
+upon your bosom. She who could smite Egypt with so many plagues can certainly
+shelter you from harm;&rdquo; whereon the roars of acclamation went up again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was on the following day that Bakenkhonsu the aged returned with more
+tidings from Tanis, where he had been upon a visit. It seemed that a great
+council had been held there in the largest hall of one of the largest temples.
+At this council, which was open to all the people, Amenmeses had given report
+on the matter of the Israelites who, he stated, were departing in their
+thousands. Also offerings were made to appease the angry gods of Egypt. When
+the ceremony was finished, but before the company broke up in a heavy mood, her
+Highness the Princess Userti rose in her place, and addressed Pharaoh:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By the spirits of our fathers,&rdquo; she cried, &ldquo;and more
+especially by that of the good god Meneptah, my begetter, I ask of you,
+Pharaoh, and I ask of you, O people, whether the affront that has been put upon
+us by these Hebrew slaves and their magicians is one that the proud land of
+Egypt should be called upon to bear? Our gods have been smitten and defied;
+woes great and terrible, such as history tells not of, have fallen upon us
+through magic; tens of thousands, from the first-born child of Pharaoh down,
+have perished in a single night. And now these Hebrews, who have murdered them
+by sorcery, for they are sorcerers all, men and women together, especially one
+of them who sits at Memphis, of whom I will not speak because she has wrought
+me private harm, by the decree of Pharaoh are to be suffered to leave the land.
+More, they are to take with them all their cattle, all their threshed corn, all
+the treasure they have hoarded for generations, and all the ornaments of price
+and wealth that they have wrung by terror from our own people, borrowing that
+which they never purpose to return. Therefore I, the Royal Princess of Egypt,
+would ask of Pharaoh, is this the decree of Pharaoh?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now,&rdquo; said Bakenkhonsu, &ldquo;Pharaoh sat with hanging head upon
+his throne and made no answer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Pharaoh does not speak,&rdquo; went on Userti. &ldquo;Then I ask, is
+this the decree of the Council of Pharaoh and of the people of Egypt? There is
+still a great army in Egypt, hundreds of chariots and thousands of footmen. Is
+this army to sit still while these slaves depart into the desert there to rouse
+our enemies of Syria against us and return with them to butcher us?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At these words,&rdquo; continued Bakenkhonsu, &ldquo;from all that
+multitude there went up a shout of &lsquo;No.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The people say No. What saith Pharaoh?&rdquo; cried Userti.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There followed a silence, till suddenly Amenmeses rose and spoke:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have it as you will, Princess, and on your head and the heads of all
+these whom you have stirred up let the evil fall if evil comes, though I think
+it is your husband, the Prince Seti, who should stand where you stand and put
+up this prayer in your place.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My husband, the Prince Seti, is tied to Memphis by a rope of
+witch&rsquo;s hair, or so they tell me,&rdquo; she sneered, while the people
+murmured in assent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know not,&rdquo; went on Amenmeses, &ldquo;but this I know that always
+the Prince would have let these Hebrews go from among us, and at times, as
+sorrow followed sorrow, I have thought that he was right. Truly more than once
+I also would have let them go, but ever some Strength, I know not what,
+descended on my heart, turning it to stone, and wrung from me words that I did
+not desire to utter. Even now I would let them go, but all of you are against
+me, and, perchance, if I withstand you, I shall pay for it with my life and
+throne. Captains, command that my armies be made ready, and let them assemble
+here at Tanis that I myself may lead them after the people of Israel and share
+their dangers.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then with a mighty shouting the company broke up, so that at the last all were
+gone and only Pharaoh remained seated upon his throne, staring at the ground
+with the air, said Bakenkhonsu, rather of one who is dead than of a living king
+about to wage war upon his foes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To all these words the Prince listened in silence, but when they were finished
+he looked up and asked:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What think you, Bakenkhonsu?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think, O Prince,&rdquo; answered the wise old man, &ldquo;that her
+Highness did ill to stir up this matter, though doubtless she spoke with the
+voices of the priests and of the army, against which Pharaoh was not strong
+enough to stand.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What you think, I think,&rdquo; said Seti.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this moment the lady Merapi entered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I hear, my lord,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;that Pharaoh purposes to pursue
+the people of Israel with his host. I come to pray my lord that he will not
+join himself to the host of Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is but natural, Lady, that you should not wish me to make war upon
+your kin, and to speak truth I have no mind that way,&rdquo; replied Seti, and,
+turning, left the chamber with her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She is not thinking of her king but of her lover&rsquo;s life,&rdquo;
+said Bakenkhonsu. &ldquo;She is not a witch as they declare, but it is true
+that she knows what we do not.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;it is true.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap17"></a>CHAPTER XVII.<br />
+THE DREAM OF MERAPI</h2>
+
+<p>
+A while went by; it may have been fourteen days, during which we heard that the
+Israelites had started on their journey. They were a mighty multitude who bore
+with them the coffin and the mummy of their prophet, a man of their blood,
+Vizier, it is reported, to that Pharaoh who welcomed them to Egypt hundreds of
+years before. Some said they went this way and some that, but Bakenkhonsu, who
+knew everything, declared that they were heading for the Lake of Crocodiles,
+which others name Sea of Reeds, whereby they would cross into the desert
+beyond, and thence to Syria. I asked him how, seeing that at its narrowest
+part, this lake was six thousand paces in width, and that the depth of its mud
+was unfathomable. He replied that he did not know, but that I might do well to
+inquire of the lady Merapi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So you have changed your mind, and also think her a witch,&rdquo; I
+said, to which he answered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;One must breathe the wind that blows, and Egypt is so full of witchcraft
+that it is difficult to say. Also it was she and no other who destroyed the
+ancient statue of Amon. Oh! yes, witch or no witch, it might be well to ask her
+how her people purpose to cross the Sea of Reeds, especially if Pharaoh&rsquo;s
+chariots chance to be behind them.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So I did ask her, but she answered that she knew nothing of the matter, and
+wished to know nothing, seeing that she had separated from her people, and
+remained in Egypt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then Ki came, I know not whence, and having made his peace with Seti as to the
+dressing of Merapi in the robes of Isis which, he vowed, was done by the
+priests against his wish, told us that Pharaoh and a great host had started to
+pursue the Israelites. The Prince asked him why he had not gone with the host,
+to which he replied that he was no soldier, also that Pharaoh hid his face from
+him. In return he asked the Prince why <i>he</i> had not gone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seti answered, because he had been deprived of his command with his other
+officers and had no wish to take share in this business as a private citizen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are wise, as always, Prince,&rdquo; said Ki.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was on the following night, very late, while the Prince, Ki, Bakenkhonsu and
+I, Ana, sat talking, that suddenly the lady Merapi broke in upon us as she had
+risen from her bed, wild-eyed, and with her hair flowing down her robes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have dreamed a dream!&rdquo; she cried. &ldquo;I dreamed that I saw
+all the thousands of my people following after a flame that burned from earth
+to heaven. They came to the edge of a great water and behind them rushed
+Pharaoh and all the hosts of the Egyptians. Then my people ran on to the face
+of the water, and it bore them as though it were sound land. Now the soldiers
+of the Pharaoh were following, but the gods of Egypt appeared, Amon, Osiris,
+Horus, Isis, Hathor, and the rest, and would have turned them back. Still they
+refused to listen, and dragging the gods with them, rushed out upon the water.
+Then darkness fell, and in the darkness sounds of wailing and of a mighty
+laughter. It passed, the moon rose, shining upon emptiness. I awoke, trembling
+in my limbs. Interpret me this dream if you can, O Ki, Master of Magic.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Where is the need, Lady,&rdquo; he answered, awaking as though from
+sleep, &ldquo;when the dreamer is also the seer? Shall the pupil venture to
+instruct the teacher, or the novice to make plain the mysteries to the
+high-priestess of the temple? Nay, Lady, I and all the magicians of Egypt are
+beneath your feet.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why will you ever mock me?&rdquo; she said, and as she spoke, she
+shivered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then Bakenkhonsu opened his lips, saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The wisdom of Ki has been buried in a cloud of late, and gives no light
+to us, his disciples. Yet the meaning of this dream is plain, though whether it
+be also true I do not know. It is that all the host of Egypt, and with it the
+gods of Egypt, are threatened with destruction because of the Israelites,
+unless one to whom they will hearken can be found to turn them from some
+purpose that I do not understand. But to whom will the mad hearken, oh! to whom
+will they hearken?&rdquo; and lifting his great head, he looked straight at the
+Prince.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not to me, I fear, who now am no one in Egypt,&rdquo; said Seti.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why not to you, O Prince, who to-morrow may be everyone in Egypt?&rdquo;
+asked Bakenkhonsu. &ldquo;Always you have pleaded the cause of the Hebrews, and
+said that naught but evil would befall Egypt because of them, as has happened.
+To whom, then, will the people and the army listen more readily?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Moreover, O Prince,&rdquo; broke in Ki, &ldquo;a lady of your household
+has dreamed a very evil dream, of which, if naught be said, it might be held
+that it was no dream, but a spell of power aimed against the majesty of Egypt;
+such a spell as that which cast great Amon from his throne, such a spell as
+that which has set a magic fence around this house and field.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Again I tell you that I weave no spells, O Ki, who with my own child
+have paid the price of them.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet spells were woven, Lady, and as has been known from of old, strength
+is perfected in sacrifice alone,&rdquo; Ki answered darkly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have done with your talk of spells, Magician,&rdquo; exclaimed the
+Prince, &ldquo;or if you must speak of them, speak of your own, which are many.
+It was Jabez who protected us here against the plagues, and the statue of Amon
+was shattered by some god.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I ask your pardon, Prince,&rdquo; said Ki bowing, &ldquo;it was
+<i>not</i> this lady but her uncle who fenced your house against the plagues
+which ravaged Egypt, and it was <i>not</i> this lady but some god working in
+her which overthrew Amon of Tanis. The Prince has said it. Yet this lady has
+dreamed a certain dream which Bakenkhonsu has interpreted although I cannot,
+and I think that Pharaoh and his captains should be told of the dream, that on
+it they may form their own judgment.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then why do you not tell them, Ki?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It has pleased Pharaoh, O Prince, to dismiss me from his service as one
+who failed and to give my office of Kherheb to another. If I appear before the
+face of Pharaoh I shall be killed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I, Ana, listening, wished that Ki would appear before the face of Pharaoh,
+although I did not believe that he could be killed by him or by anybody else,
+since against death he had charms. For I was afraid of Ki, and felt in myself
+that again he was plotting evil to Merapi whom I knew to be innocent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Prince walked up and down the chamber as was his fashion when lost in
+thought. Presently he stopped opposite to me and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Friend Ana, be pleased to command that my chariots be made ready with a
+general&rsquo;s escort of a hundred men and spare horses to each chariot. We
+ride at dawn, you and I, to seek out the army of Pharaoh and pray audience of
+Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My lord,&rdquo; said Merapi in a kind of cry, &ldquo;I pray you go not,
+leaving me alone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why should I leave you, Lady? Come with me if you will.&rdquo; She shook
+her head, saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I dare not. Prince, there has been some charm upon me of late that draws
+me back to my own people. Twice in the night I have awakened and found myself
+in the gardens with my face set towards the north, and heard a voice in my
+ears, even that of my father who is dead, saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Moon of Israel, thy people wander in the wilderness and need thy
+light.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is certain therefore that if I came near to them I should be dragged
+down as wood is dragged of an eddy, nor would Egypt see me any more.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then I pray you bide where you are, Merapi,&rdquo; said the Prince,
+laughing a little, &ldquo;since it is certain that where you go I must follow,
+who have no desire to wander in the wilderness with your Hebrew folk. Well, it
+seems that as you do not wish to leave Memphis and will not come with me, I
+must stay with you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ki fixed his piercing eyes upon the pair of them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let the Prince forgive me,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but I swear it by the
+gods that never did I think to live to hear the Prince Seti Meneptah set a
+woman&rsquo;s whims before his honour.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your words are rough,&rdquo; said Seti, drawing himself up, &ldquo;and
+had they been spoken in other days, mayhap, Ki&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! my lord,&rdquo; said Ki prostrating himself till his forehead
+touched the ground, &ldquo;bethink you then how great must be the need which
+makes me dare to speak them. When first I came hither from the court of Tanis,
+the spirit that is within me speaking through my lips gave certain titles to
+your Highness, for which your Highness was pleased to reprove me. Yet the
+spirit in me cannot lie and I know well, and bid all here make record of my
+words, that to-night I stand in the presence of him who ere two moons have
+passed will be crowned Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Truly you were ever a bearer of ill-tidings, Ki, but if so, what of
+it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This your Highness: Were it not that the spirits of Truth and Right
+compel me for their own reasons, should I, who have blood that can be shed or
+bones that can be broken, dare to hurl hard words at him who will be Pharaoh?
+Should I dare to cross the will of the sweet dove who nestles on his heart, the
+wise, white dove that murmurs the mysteries of heaven, whence she came, and is
+stronger than the vulture of Isis and swifter than the hawk of Ra; the dove
+that, were she angry, could rend me into more fragments than did Set
+Osiris?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now I saw Bakenkhonsu begin to swell with inward laughter like a frog about to
+croak, but Seti answered in a weary voice:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By all the birds of Egypt with the sacred crocodiles thrown in, I do not
+know, since that mind of yours, Ki, is not an open writing which can be read by
+the passer-by. Still, if you would tell me what is the reason with which the
+goddesses of Truth and Justice have inspired you&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The reason is, O Prince, that the fate of all Egypt&rsquo;s army may be
+hidden in your hand. The time is short and I will be plain. Deny it as she will
+this lady here, who seems to be but a thing of love and beauty, is the greatest
+sorceress in Egypt, as I whom she has mastered know well. She matched herself
+against the high god of Egypt and smote him to the dust, and has paid back upon
+him, his prophets, and his worshippers the ills that he would have worked to
+her, as in the like case any of our fellowship would do. Now she has dreamed a
+dream, or her spirit has told her that the army of Egypt is in danger of
+destruction, and I know that this dream is true. Hasten then, O Prince, to save
+the hosts of Egypt, which you will surely need when you come to sit upon its
+throne.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am no sorceress,&rdquo; cried Merapi, &ldquo;and yet&mdash;alas! that
+I must say it&mdash;this smiling-featured, cold-eyed wizard&rsquo;s words are
+true. <i>The sword of death hangs over the hosts of Egypt!</i>&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Command that the chariots be made ready,&rdquo; said Seti again.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Eight days had gone by. It was sunset and we drew rein over against the Sea of
+Reeds. Day and night we had followed the army of Pharaoh across the wilderness
+on a road beaten down by his chariot wheels and soldiers, and by the tens of
+thousands of the Israelites who had passed that way before them. Now from the
+ridge where we had halted we saw it encamped beneath us, a very great army.
+Moreover, stragglers told us that beyond, also encamped, was the countless
+horde of the Israelites, and beyond these the vast Sea of Reeds which barred
+their path. But we could not see them for a very strange reason. Between these
+and the army of Pharaoh rose a black wall of cloud, built as it were from earth
+to heaven. One of those stragglers of whom I have spoken, told us that this
+cloud travelled before the Israelites by day, but at night was turned into a
+pillar of fire. Only on this day, when the army of Pharaoh approached, it had
+moved round and come between the people of Israel and the army.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now when the Prince, Bakenkhonsu, and I heard these things we looked at each
+other and were silent. Only presently the Prince laughed a little, and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We should have brought Ki with us, even if we had to carry him bound,
+that he might interpret this marvel, for it is sure that no one else can.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It would be hard to keep Ki bound, Prince, if he wished to go
+free,&rdquo; answered Bakenkhonsu. &ldquo;Moreover, before ever we entered the
+chariots at Memphis he had departed south for Thebes. I saw him go.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And I gave orders that he should not be allowed to return, for I hold
+him an ill guest, or so thinks the lady Merapi,&rdquo; replied Seti with a sigh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now that we are here what would the Prince do?&rdquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Descend to the camp of Pharaoh and say what we have to say, Ana.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And if he will not listen, Prince?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then cry our message aloud and return.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And if he will not suffer us to return, Prince?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then stand still and live or die as the gods may decree.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Truly our lord has a great heart!&rdquo; exclaimed Bakenkhonsu,
+&ldquo;and though I feel over young to die, I am minded to see the end of this
+matter with him,&rdquo; and he laughed aloud.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But I who was afraid thought that <i>O-ho-ho</i> of his, which the sky seemed
+to echo back upon our heads, a strange and indeed a fearful sound.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we put on robes of ceremony that we had brought with us, but neither
+swords nor armour, and having eaten some food, drove on with the half of our
+guard towards the place where we saw the banners of Pharaoh flying about his
+pavilion. The rest of our guard we left encamped, bidding them, if aught
+happened to us, to return and make report at Memphis and in the other great
+cities. As we drew near to the camp the outposts saw us and challenged. But
+when they perceived by the light of the setting sun who it was that they
+challenged, a murmur went through them, of:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Prince of Egypt! The Prince of Egypt!&rdquo; for so they had never
+ceased to name Seti, and they saluted with their spears and let us pass.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So at length we came to the pavilion of Pharaoh, round about which a whole
+regiment stood on guard. The sides of it were looped up high because of the
+heat of the night which was great, and within sat Pharaoh, his captains, his
+councillors, his priests, his magicians, and many others at meat or serving
+food and drink. They sat at a table that was bent like a bow, with their faces
+towards the entrance, and Pharaoh was in the centre of the table with his
+fan-bearers and butlers behind him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We advanced into the pavilion, the Prince in the centre, Bakenkhonsu leaning on
+his staff on the right hand, and I, wearing the gold chain that Pharaoh
+Meneptah had given me, on the left, but those with us remained among the guard
+at the entrance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who are these?&rdquo; asked Amenmeses, looking up, &ldquo;who come here
+unbidden?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Three citizens of Egypt who have a message for Pharaoh,&rdquo; answered
+Seti in his quiet voice, &ldquo;which we have travelled fast and far to speak
+in time.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How are you named, citizens of Egypt, and who sends your message?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We are named, Seti Meneptah aforetime Prince of Egypt, and heir to its
+crown; Bakenkhonsu the aged Councillor, and Ana the scribe and King&rsquo;s
+Companion, and our message is from the gods.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We have heard those names, who has not?&rdquo; said Pharaoh, and as he
+spoke all, or very nearly all, the company rose, or half rose, and bowed
+towards the Prince. &ldquo;Will you and your companions be seated and eat,
+Prince Seti Meneptah?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We thank the divine Pharaoh, but we have already eaten. Have we
+Pharaoh&rsquo;s leave to deliver our message?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Speak on, Prince.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Pharaoh, many moons have gone by, since last we looked upon each other
+face to face, on that day when my father, the good god Meneptah, disinherited
+me, and afterwards fled hence to Osiris. Pharaoh will remember why I was thus
+cut off from the royal root of Egypt. It was because of the matter of these
+Israelites, who in my judgment had been evilly dealt by, and should be suffered
+to leave our land. The good god Meneptah, being so advised by you and others, O
+Pharaoh, would have smitten the Israelites with the sword, making an end of
+them, and to this he demanded my assent as the Heir of Egypt. I refused that
+assent and was cast out, and since then, you, O Pharaoh, have worn the double
+crown, while I have dwelt as a citizen of Memphis, living upon such lands and
+revenues as are my own. Between that hour and this, O Pharaoh, many griefs have
+smitten Egypt, and the last of them cost you your first-born, and me mine. Yet
+through them all, O Pharaoh, you have refused to let these Hebrews go, as I
+counselled should be done at the beginning. At length after the death of the
+first-born, your decree was issued that they might go. Yet now you follow them
+with a great army and purpose to do to them what my father, the good god
+Meneptah, would have done, had I consented, namely&mdash;to destroy them with
+the sword. Hear me, Pharaoh!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I hear; also the case is well if briefly set. What else would the Prince
+Seti say?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This, O Pharaoh. That I pray you to return with all your host from the
+following of these Hebrews, not to-morrow or the next day, but at
+once&mdash;this night.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, O Prince?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Because of a certain dream that a lady of my household who is Hebrew has
+dreamed, which dream foretells destruction to you and the army of Egypt, unless
+you hearken to these words of mine.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think that we know of this snake whom you have taken to dwell in your
+bosom, whence it may spit poison upon Egypt. It is named Merapi, Moon of
+Israel, is it not?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is the name of the lady who dreamed the dream,&rdquo; replied Seti
+in a cold voice, though I felt him tremble with anger at my side, &ldquo;the
+dream that if Pharaoh wills my companions here shall set out word for word to
+his magicians.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Pharaoh does not will it,&rdquo; shouted Amenmeses smiting the board
+with his fist, &ldquo;because Pharaoh knows that it is but another trick to
+save these wizards and thieves from the doom that they have earned.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Am I then a worker of tricks, O Pharaoh? If I had been such, why have I
+journeyed hither to give warning, when by sitting yonder at Memphis to-morrow,
+I might once more have become heir to the double crown? For if you will not
+hearken to me, I tell you that very soon you shall be dead, and with you
+these&rdquo;&mdash;and he pointed to all those who sat at
+table&mdash;&ldquo;and with them the great army that lies without. Ere you
+speak, tell me, what is that black cloud which stands before the camp of the
+Hebrews? Is there no answer? Then I will give you the answer. It is the pall
+that shall wrap the bones of every one of you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now the company shivered with fear, yes, even the priests and the magicians
+shivered. But Pharaoh went mad with rage. Springing from his seat, he snatched
+at the double crown upon his head, and hurled it to the ground, and I noted
+that the golden uræus band about it, rolled away, and rested upon Seti&rsquo;s
+sandalled foot. He tore his robes and shouted:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At least our fate shall be your fate, Renegade, who have sold Egypt to
+the Hebrew witch in payment of her kisses. Seize this man and his companions,
+and when we go down to battle against these Israelites to-morrow after the
+darkness lifts, let them be set with the captains of the van. So shall the
+truth be known at last.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus Pharaoh commanded, and Seti, answering nothing, folded his arms upon his
+breast and waited.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Men rose from their seats as though to obey Pharaoh and sank back to them
+again. Guards started forward and yet remained standing where they were. Then
+Bakenkhonsu burst into one of his great laughs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O-ho-ho,&rdquo; he laughed, &ldquo;Pharaohs have I seen come and go, one
+and two and three, and four and five, but never yet have I seen a Pharaoh whom
+none of his councillors or guards could obey however much they willed it. When
+you are Pharaoh, Prince Seti, may your luck be better. Your arm, Ana, my
+friend, and lead on, Royal Heir of Egypt. The truth is shown to blind eyes that
+will not see. The word is spoken to deaf ears that will not hearken, and the
+duty done. Night falls. Sleep ye well, ye bidden of Osiris, sleep ye
+well!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we turned and walked from that pavilion. At its entrance I looked back,
+and in the low light that precedes the darkness, it seemed to me as though all
+seated there were already dead. Blue were their faces and hollow shone their
+eyes, and from their lips there came no word. Only they stared at us as we
+went, and stared and stared again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Without the door of the pavilion, by command of the Prince, I called aloud the
+substance of the lady Merapi&rsquo;s dream, and warned all within earshot to
+cease from pursuing the people of Israel, if they would continue to live to
+look upon the sun. Yet even now, although to speak thus was treason against
+Pharaoh, none lifted a hand against the Prince, or against me his servant.
+Often since then I have wondered why this was so, and found no answer to my
+questionings. Mayhap it was because of the majesty of my master, whom all knew
+to be the true Pharaoh, and loved at heart. Mayhap it was because they were
+sure that he would not have travelled so far and placed himself in the power of
+Amenmeses save to work the armies of Egypt good, and not ill, and to bring them
+a message that had been spoken by the gods themselves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Or mayhap it was because he was still hedged about by that protection which the
+Hebrews had vowed to him through their prophets with the voice of Jabez. At
+least so it happened. Pharaoh might command, but his servants would not obey.
+Moreover, the story spread, and that night many deserted from the host of
+Pharaoh and encamped about us, or fled back towards the cities whence they
+came. Also with them were not a few councillors and priests who had talked
+secretly with Bakenkhonsu. So it chanced that even if Pharaoh desired to make
+an end of us, as perhaps he purposed to do in the midnight watches, he thought
+it wisest to let the matter lie until he had finished with the people of Israel.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+It was a very strange night, silent, with a heavy, stirless air. There were no
+stars, but the curtain of black cloud which seemed to hang beyond the camp of
+the Egyptians was alive with lightnings which appeared to shape themselves to
+letters that I could not read.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Behold the Book of Fate written in fire by the hand of God!&rdquo; said
+Bakenkhonsu, as he watched.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+About midnight a mighty east wind began to blow, so strongly that we must lie
+upon our faces under the lea of the chariots. Then the wind died away and we
+heard tumult and shoutings, both from the camp of Egypt, and from the camp of
+Israel beyond the cloud. Next there came a shock as of earthquake, which threw
+those of us who were standing to the ground, and by a blood-red moon that now
+appeared we perceived that all the army of Pharaoh was beginning to move
+towards the sea.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Whither go they?&rdquo; I asked of the Prince who clung to my arm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To doom, I think,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;but to what doom I do not
+know.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After this we said no more, because we were too much afraid.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Dawn came at last, showing the most awful sight that was ever beheld by the eye
+of man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The wall of cloud had disappeared, and in the clear light of the morning, we
+perceived that the deep waters of the Sea of Reeds had divided themselves,
+leaving a raised roadway that seemed to have been cleared by the wind, or
+perchance to have been thrown up by the earthquake. Who can say? Not I who
+never set foot upon that path of death. Along this wide road streamed the tens
+of thousands of the Israelites, passing between the water on the right hand,
+and the water on the left, and after them followed all the army of Pharaoh,
+save those who had deserted, and stood or lay around us, watching. We could
+even see the golden chariots that marked the presence of Pharaoh himself, and
+of his bodyguard, deep in the heart of the broken host that struggled forward
+without discipline or order.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What now? Oh! what now?&rdquo; murmured Seti, and as he spoke there was
+a second shock of earthquake. Then to the west on the sea there arose a mighty
+wave, whereof the crest seemed to be high as a pyramid. It rolled forward with
+a curved and foaming head, and in the hollow of it for a moment, no more, we
+saw the army of Egypt. Yet in that moment I seemed to see mighty shapes fleeing
+landwards along the crest of the wave, which shapes I took to be the gods of
+Egypt, pursued by a form of light and glory that drove them as with a scourge.
+They came, they went, accompanied by a sound of wailing, and the wave fell.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But beyond it, the hordes of Israel still marched&mdash;upon the further shore.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dense gloom followed, and through the gloom I saw, or thought I saw, Merapi,
+Moon of Israel, standing before us with a troubled face and heard or thought I
+heard her cry:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;<i>Oh! help me, my lord Seti! Help me, my lord Seti!</i>&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then she too was gone.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+&ldquo;Harness the chariots!&rdquo; cried Seti, in a hollow voice.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap18"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.<br />
+THE CROWNING OF MERAPI</h2>
+
+<p>
+Fast as sped our horses, rumour, or rather the truth, carried by those who had
+gone before us, flew faster. Oh! that journey was as a dream begotten by the
+evil gods. On we galloped through the day and through the night and lo! at
+every town and village women rushed upon us crying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is it true, O travellers, is it true that Pharaoh and his host are
+perished in the sea?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then old Bakenkhonsu would call in answer:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is true that he who <i>was</i> Pharaoh and his host are perished in
+the sea. But lo! here is he who <i>is</i> Pharaoh,&rdquo; and he pointed to the
+Prince, who took no heed and said nothing, save:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;On! On!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then forward we would plunge again till once more the sound of wailing died
+into silence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was sunset, and at length we drew near to the gates of Memphis. The Prince
+turned to me and spoke.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Heretofore I have not dared to ask,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but tell me,
+Ana. In the gloom after the great cliff of water fell and the shapes of terror
+swept by, did you seem to see a woman stand before us and did you seem to hear
+her speak?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I did, O Prince.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who was that woman and what did she say?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She was one who bore a child to you, O Prince, which child is not, and
+she said, &lsquo;Oh! help me, my lord Seti. Help me, my lord Seti!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His face grew ashen even beneath its veil of dust, and he groaned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Two who loved her have seen and two who loved her have heard,&rdquo; he
+said. &ldquo;There is no room for doubt. Ana, she is dead!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I pray the gods&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Pray not, for the gods of Egypt are also dead, slain by the god of
+Israel. Ana, who has murdered her?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With my finger I who am a draughtsman drew in the thick dust that lay on the
+board of the chariot the brows of a man and beneath them two deep eyes. The
+gilt on the board where the sun caught it looked like light in the eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Prince nodded and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now we shall learn whether great magicians such as Ki can die like other
+men. Yes, if need be, to learn that I will put on Pharaoh&rsquo;s crown.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We halted at the gates of Memphis. They were shut and barred, but from within
+the vast city rose a sound of tumult.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Open!&rdquo; cried the Prince to the guard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who bids me open?&rdquo; answered the captain of the gate peering at us,
+for the low sun lay behind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Pharaoh bids you open.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Pharaoh!&rdquo; said the man. &ldquo;We have sure tidings that Pharaoh
+and his armies are slain by wizardry in the sea.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Fool!&rdquo; thundered the Prince, &ldquo;Pharaoh never dies. Pharaoh
+Amenmeses is with Osiris but the good god Seti Meneptah who <i>is</i> Pharaoh
+bids you open.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then the bronze gates rolled back, and those who guarded them prostrated
+themselves in the dust.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Man,&rdquo; I called to the captain, &ldquo;what means yonder
+shouting?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sir,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;I do not know, but I am told that the
+witch who has brought woe on Egypt and by magic caused the death of Pharaoh
+Amenmeses and his armies, dies by fire in the place before the temple.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By whose command?&rdquo; I cried again as the charioteer flogged the
+horses, but no answer reached our ears.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We rushed on up the wide street to the great place that was packed with tens of
+thousands of the people. We drove the horses at them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Way for Pharaoh! Way for the Mighty One, the good god, Seti Meneptah,
+King of the Upper and the Lower Land!&rdquo; shouted the escort.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The people turned and saw the tall shape of the Prince still clad in the robes
+of state which he had worn when he stood before Amenmeses in the pavilion by
+the sea.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Hail to Pharaoh!&rdquo; they cried, prostrating
+themselves, and the cry passed on through Memphis like a wind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now we were come to the centre of the place, and there in front of the great
+gates of the temple burned a vast pyre of wood. Before the pyre moved figures,
+in one of whom I knew Ki dressed in his magician&rsquo;s robe. Outside of these
+there was a double circle of soldiers who kept the people back, which these
+needed, for they raved like madmen and shook their fists. A group of priests
+near the fire separated, and I saw that among them stood a man and a woman, the
+latter with dishevelled hair and torn robes as though she had been roughly
+handled. At this moment her strength seemed to fail her and she sank to the
+ground, lifting her face as she did so. It was the face of Merapi, Moon of
+Israel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So she was not dead. The man at her side stooped as though to lift her up, but
+a stone thrown out of the shadow struck him in the back and caused him to
+straighten himself, which he did with a curse at the thrower. I knew the voice
+at once, although the speaker was disguised.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was that of Laban the Israelite, he who had been betrothed to Merapi, and
+had striven to murder us in the land of Goshen. What did he here? I wondered
+dimly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ki was speaking. &ldquo;Hark how the Hebrew cat spits,&rdquo; he said.
+&ldquo;Well, the cause has been tried and the verdict given, and I think that
+the familiar should feed the flames before the witch. Watch him now, and
+perhaps he will change into something else.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All this he said, smiling in his usual pleasant fashion, even when he made a
+sign to certain black temple slaves who stood near. They leapt forward, and I
+saw the firelight shone upon their copper armlets as they gripped Laban. He
+fought furiously, shouting:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Where are your armies, Egyptians, and where is your dog of a Pharaoh? Go
+dig them from the Sea of Reeds. Farewell, Moon of Israel. Look how your royal
+lover crowns you at the last, O faithless&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He said no more, for at this moment the slaves hurled him headlong into the
+heart of the great fire, which blackened for a little and burned bright again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then it was that Merapi struggled to her feet and cried in a ringing voice
+those very words which the Prince and I had seemed to hear her speak far away
+by the Sea of Reeds&mdash;&ldquo;<i>Oh! help me, my lord Seti! Help me, my lord
+Seti!</i>&rdquo; Yes, the same words which had echoed in our ears days before
+they passed her lips, or so we believed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now all this while our chariots had been forcing their way foot by foot through
+the wall of the watching crowd, perhaps while a man might count a hundred, no
+more. As the echoes of her cry died away at length we were through and leaping
+to the ground.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The witch calls on one who sups to-night at the board of Osiris with
+Pharaoh and his host,&rdquo; sneered Ki. &ldquo;Well, let her go to seek him
+there if the guardian gods will suffer it,&rdquo; and again he made a sign to
+the black slaves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But Merapi had seen or felt Seti advancing from the shadows and seeing flung
+herself upon his breast. He kissed her on the brow before them all, then bade
+me hold her up and turned to face the people.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Bow down. Bow down. Bow down!&rdquo; cried the deep voice of
+Bakenkhonsu. &ldquo;Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!&rdquo;
+and what he said the escort echoed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then of a sudden the multitude understood. To their knees they fell and from
+every side rose the ancient salutation. Seti held up his hand and blessed them.
+Watching, I saw Ki slip towards the darkness, and whispered a word to the
+guards, who sprang upon him and brought him back.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then the Prince spoke:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ye name me Pharaoh, people of Memphis, and Pharaoh I fear I am by
+descent of blood to-day, though whether I will consent to bear the burdens of
+government, should Egypt wish it of me, as yet I know not. Still he who wore
+the double crown is, I believe, dead in the midst of the sea; at the least I
+saw the waters overwhelm him and his army. Therefore, if only for an hour, I
+will be Pharaoh, that as Pharaoh I may judge of certain matters. Lady Merapi,
+tell me, I pray you, how came you to this pass?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My lord,&rdquo; she answered, in a low voice, &ldquo;after you had gone
+to warn the army of Pharaoh because of that dream I dreamed, Ki, who departed
+on the same day, returned again. Through one of the women of the household,
+over whom he had power, or so I think, he obtained access to me when I was
+alone in my chamber. There he made me this offer:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Give me,&rsquo; he said, &lsquo;the secret of your magic that I
+may be avenged upon the wizards of the Hebrews who have brought about my
+downfall, and upon the Hebrews themselves, and also upon all my other enemies,
+and thus once more become the greatest man in Egypt. In turn I will fulfil all
+your desires, and make you, and no other, Queen of Egypt, and be your faithful
+servant, and that of your lord Seti who shall be Pharaoh, until the end of your
+lives. Refuse, and I will stir up the people against you, and before ever the
+Prince returns, if he returns at all, they who believe you to be an evil
+sorceress shall mete out to you the fate of a sorceress.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My lord, I answered to Ki what I have often told him before, that I had
+no magic to reveal to him, I who knew nothing of the black arts of sorcery,
+seeing that it was not I who destroyed the statue of Amon in the temple at
+Tanis, but that same Power which since then has brought all the plagues on
+Egypt. I said, too, that I cared nothing for the gifts he offered to me, as I
+had no wish to be Queen of Egypt. My lord, he laughed in my face, saying I
+should find that he was one ill to mock, as others had found before me. Then he
+pointed at me with his wand and muttered some spell over me, which seemed to
+numb my limbs and voice, holding me helpless till he had been gone a long
+while, and could not be found by your servants, whom I commanded in your name
+to seize, and keep him till your return.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;From that hour the people began to threaten me. They crowded about the
+palace gates in thousands, crying day and night that they were going to kill
+me, the witch. I prayed for help, but from me, a sinner, heaven has grown so
+far away that my prayers seem to fall back unheard upon my head. Even the
+servants in the palace turned against me, and would not look upon my face. I
+grew mad with fear and loneliness, since all fled before me. At last one night
+towards the dawn I went on to the terrace, and since no god would hear me, I
+turned towards the north whither I knew that you had gone, and cried to you to
+help me in those same words which I cried again just now before you
+appeared.&rdquo; (Here the Prince looked at me and I Ana looked at him.)
+&ldquo;Then it was that from among the bushes of the garden appeared a man,
+hidden in a long, sheepskin cloak, so that I could not see his face, who said
+to me:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Moon of Israel, I have been sent by his Highness, the Prince
+Seti, to tell you that you are in danger of your life, as he is in danger of
+his, wherefore he cannot come to you. His command is that you come to him, that
+together you may flee away out of Egypt to a land where you will both be safe
+until all these troubles are finished.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;How know I that you of the veiled face are a true
+messenger?&rsquo; I asked. &lsquo;Give me a sign.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then he held out to me that scarabæus of lapis-lazuli which your
+Highness gave to me far away in the land of Goshen, the same that you asked
+back from me as a love token when we plighted troth, and you gave me your royal
+ring, which scarabæus I had seen in your robe when you drove away with
+Ana.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I lost it on our journey to the Sea of Reeds, but said nothing of it to
+you, Ana, because I thought the omen evil, having dreamed in the night that Ki
+appeared and stole it from me,&rdquo; whispered the Prince to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;It is not enough,&rsquo; I answered. &lsquo;This jewel may have
+been thieved away, or snatched from the dead body of the Prince, or taken from
+him by magic.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The cloaked man thought a while and said, &lsquo;This night, not an hour
+ago, Pharaoh and his chariots were overwhelmed in the Sea of Reeds. Let that
+serve as a sign.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;How can this be?&rsquo; I answered, &lsquo;since the Sea of Reeds
+is far away, and such tidings cannot travel thence in an hour. Get you gone,
+false tempter.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Yet it is so,&rsquo; he answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;When you prove it to me, I will believe, and come.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Good,&rsquo; he said, and was gone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Next day a rumour began to run that this awful thing had happened. It
+grew stronger and stronger, until all swore that it had happened. Now the fury
+of the people rose against me, and they ravened round the palace like lions of
+the desert, roaring for my blood. Yet it was as though they could not enter
+here, since whenever they rushed at the gates or walls, they fell back again,
+for some spirit seemed to protect the place. The days went by; the night came
+again and at the dawn, this dawn that is past, once more I stood upon the
+terrace, and once more the cloaked man appeared from among the trees.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Now you have heard, Moon of Israel,&rsquo; he said, &lsquo;and
+now you must believe and come, although you think yourself safe because at the
+beginning of the plagues this, the home of Seti, was enchanted against evil, so
+that none within it can be harmed.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;I have heard, and I think that I believe, though how the tidings
+reached Memphis in an hour I do not understand. Yet, stranger, I say to you
+that it is not enough.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then the man drew a papyrus roll from his bosom and threw it at my feet.
+I opened it and read. The writing was the writing of Ana as I knew well, and
+the signature was the signature of you, my lord, and it was sealed with your
+seal, and with the seal of Bakenkhonsu as a witness. Here it is,&rdquo; and
+from the breast of her garment, she drew out a roll and gave it to me upon whom
+she rested all this while.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I opened it, and by the light of torches the Prince, Bakenkhonsu, and I read.
+It was as she had told us in what seemed to be my writing, and signed and
+sealed as she had said. The words ran:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To Merapi, Moon of Israel, in my house at Memphis.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Come, Lady, Flower of Love, to me your lord, to whom the bearer of this
+will guide you safely. Come at once, for I am in great danger, as you are, and
+together only can we be safe.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ana, what means this?&rdquo; asked the Prince in a terrible voice.
+&ldquo;If you have betrayed me and her&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By the gods,&rdquo; I began angrily, &ldquo;am I a man that I should
+live to hear even your Highness speak thus to me, or am I but a dog of the
+desert?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I ceased, for at that moment Bakenkhonsu began to laugh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Look at the letter!&rdquo; he laughed. &ldquo;Look at the letter.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We looked, and as we looked, behold the writing on it turned first to the
+colour of blood and then faded away, till presently there was nothing in my
+hand but a blank sheet of papyrus.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oho-ho!&rdquo; laughed Bakenkhonsu. &ldquo;Truly, friend Ki, you are the
+first of magicians, save those prophets of the Israelites who have brought
+you&mdash;Whither have they brought you, friend Ki?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then for the first time the painted smile left the face of Ki, and it became
+like a block of stone in which were set two angry jewels that were his eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Continue, Lady,&rdquo; said the Prince.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I obeyed the letter. I fled away with the man who said he had a chariot
+waiting. We passed out by the little gate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Where is the chariot?&rsquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;We go by boat,&rsquo; he answered, and led the way towards the
+river. As we threaded the big palm grove men appeared from between the trees.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;You have betrayed me,&rsquo; I cried.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Nay,&rsquo; he answered, &lsquo;I am myself betrayed.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then for the first time I knew his voice for that of Laban.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The men seized us; at the head of them was Ki.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;This is the witch,&rsquo; he said, &lsquo;who, her wickedness
+finished, flies with her Hebrew lover, who is also the familiar of her
+sorceries.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They tore the cloak and the false beard from him and there before me
+stood Laban. I cursed him to his face. But all he answered was:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Merapi, what I have done I did for love of you. It was my purpose
+to take you away to our people, for here I knew that they would kill you. This
+magician promised you to me if I could tempt you from the safety of the palace,
+in return for certain tidings that I have given him.&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;These were the only words that passed between us till the end. They
+dragged us to the secret prison of the great temple where we were separated.
+Here all day long Ki and the priests tormented me with questions, to which I
+gave no answer. Towards the evening they brought me out and led me here with
+Laban at my side. When the people saw me a great cry went up of
+&lsquo;Sorceress! Hebrew witch!&rsquo; They broke through the guard; they
+seized me, threw me to the ground and beat me. Laban strove to protect me but
+was torn away. At length the people were driven off, and oh! my lord, you know
+the rest. I have spoken truth, I can no more.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So saying her knees loosened beneath her and she swooned. We bore her to the
+chariot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have heard, Ki,&rdquo; said the Prince. &ldquo;Now, what
+answer?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;None, O Pharaoh,&rdquo; he replied coldly, &ldquo;for Pharaoh you are,
+as I promised that you should be. My spirit has deserted me, those Hebrews have
+stolen it away. That writing should have faded from the scroll as soon as it
+was read by yonder lady, and then I would have told you another story; a story
+of secret love, of betrayal and attempted flight with her lover. But some evil
+god kept it there until you also had read, you who knew that you had not
+written what appeared before your eyes. Pharaoh, I am conquered. Do your will
+with me, and farewell. Beloved you shall always be as you have always been, but
+happy never in this world.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O People,&rdquo; cried Seti, &ldquo;I will not be judge in my own cause.
+You have heard, do you judge. For this wizard, what reward?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then there went up a great cry of &ldquo;Death! Death by fire. The death he had
+made ready for the innocent!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That was the end, but they told me afterwards that, when the great pyre had
+burned out, in it was found the head of Ki looking like a red-hot stone. When
+the sunlight fell on it, however, it crumbled and faded away, as the writing
+had faded from the roll. If this be true I do not know, who was not present at
+the time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We bore Merapi to the palace. She lived but three days, she whose body and
+spirit were broken. The last time I saw her was when she sent for me not an
+hour before death came. She was lying in Seti&rsquo;s arms babbling to him of
+their child and looking very sweet and happy. She thanked me for my friendship,
+smiling the while in a way which showed me that she knew it was more than
+friendship, and bade me tend my master well until we all met again elsewhere.
+Then she gave me her hand to kiss and I went away weeping.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After she was dead a strange fancy took Seti. In the great hall of the palace
+he caused a golden throne to be put up, and on this throne he set her in regal
+garments, with pectoral and necklaces of gems, crowned like a queen of Egypt,
+and thus he showed her to the lords of Memphis. Then he caused her to be
+embalmed and buried in a secret sepulchre, the place of which I have sworn
+never to reveal, but without any rites because she was not of the faith of
+Egypt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There then she sleeps in her eternal house until the Day of Resurrection, and
+with her sleeps her little son.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+It was within a moon of this funeral that the great ones of Egypt came to
+Memphis to name the Prince as Pharaoh, and with them came her Highness, the
+Queen Userti. I was present at the ceremony, which to me was very strange.
+There was the Vizier Nehesi; there was the high-priest Roi and with him many
+other priests; and there was even the old chamberlain Pambasa, pompous yet
+grovelling as before, although he had deserted the household of the Prince
+after his disinheritance for that of the Pharaoh Amenmeses. His appearance with
+his wand of office and long white beard, of which he was so proud because it
+was his own, drew from Seti the only laugh I had heard him utter for many weeks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;So you are back again, Chamberlain Pambasa,&rdquo; he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O most Holy, O most Royal,&rdquo; answered the old knave, &ldquo;has
+Pambasa, the grain of dust beneath your feet, ever deserted the House of
+Pharaoh, or that of him who will be Pharaoh?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No,&rdquo; replied Seti, &ldquo;it is only when you think that he will
+not be Pharaoh that you desert. Well, get you to your duties, rogue, who
+perhaps at bottom are as honest as the rest.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then followed the great and ancient ceremony of the Offering of the Crown, in
+which spoke priests disguised as gods and other priests disguised as mighty
+Pharaohs of the past; also the nobles of the Nomes and the chief men of cities.
+When all had finished Seti answered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I take this, my heritage,&rdquo; and he touched the double crown,
+&ldquo;not because I desire it but because it is my duty, as I swore that I
+would to one who has departed. Blow upon blow have smitten Egypt which, I
+think, had my voice been listened to, would never have fallen. Egypt lies
+bleeding and well-nigh dead. Let it be your work and mine to try to nurse her
+back to life. For no long while am I with you, who also have been smitten, how
+it matters not, yet while I am here, I who seem to reign will be your servant
+and that of Egypt. It is my decree that no feasts or ceremonials shall mark
+this my accession, and that the wealth which would have been scattered upon
+them shall be distributed among the widows and children of those who perished
+in the Sea of Reeds. Depart!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They went, humble yet happy, since here was a Pharaoh who knew the needs of
+Egypt, one too who loved her and who alone had shown himself wise of heart
+while others were filled with madness. Then her Highness entered, splendidly
+apparelled, crowned and followed by her household, and made obeisance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Greeting to Pharaoh,&rdquo; she cried.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Greeting to the Royal Princess of Egypt,&rdquo; he answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, Pharaoh, the Queen of Egypt.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By Seti&rsquo;s side there was another throne, that in which he had set dead
+Merapi with a crown upon her head. He turned and looked at it a while. Then, he
+said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I see that this seat is empty. Let the Queen of Egypt take her place
+there if so she wills.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She stared at him as if she thought that he was mad, though doubtless she had
+heard something of that story, then swept up the steps and sat herself down in
+the royal chair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your Majesty has been long absent,&rdquo; said Seti.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; she answered, &ldquo;but as my Majesty promised she would
+do, she has returned to her lawful place at the side of Pharaoh&mdash;never to
+leave it more.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Pharaoh thanks her Majesty,&rdquo; said Seti, bowing low.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Some six years had gone by, when one night I was seated with the Pharaoh Seti
+Meneptah in his palace at Memphis, for there he always chose to dwell when
+matters of State allowed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was on the anniversary of the Death of the Firstborn, and of this matter it
+pleased him to talk to me. Up and down the chamber he walked and, watching him
+by the lamplight, I noted that of a sudden he seemed to have grown much older,
+and that his face had become sweeter even than it was before. He was more thin
+also, and his eyes had in them a look of one who stares at distances.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You remember that night, Friend, do you not,&rdquo; he said;
+&ldquo;perhaps the most terrible night the world has ever seen, at least in the
+little piece of it called Egypt.&rdquo; He ceased, lifted a curtain, and
+pointed to a spot on the pillared portico without. &ldquo;There she sat,&rdquo;
+he went on; &ldquo;there you stood; there lay the boy and there crouched his
+nurse&mdash;by the way, I grieve to hear that she is ill. You are caring for
+her, are you not, Ana? Say to her that Pharaoh will come to visit
+her&mdash;when he may, when he may.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I remember it all, Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, of course you would remember, because you loved her, did you not,
+and the boy too, and even me, the father. And so you will love us always when
+we reach a land where sex with its walls and fires are forgotten, and love
+alone survives&mdash;as we shall love you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;since love is the key of life, and those
+alone are accursed who have never learned to love.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why accursed, Ana, seeing that, if life continues, they still may
+learn?&rdquo; He paused a while, then went on: &ldquo;I am glad that he died,
+Ana, although had he lived, as the Queen will have no children, he might have
+become Pharaoh after me. But what is it to be Pharaoh? For six years now I have
+reigned, and I think that I am beloved; reigned over a broken land which I have
+striven to bind together, reigned over a sick land which I have striven to
+heal, reigned over a desolated land which I have striven to make forget. Oh!
+the curse of those Hebrews worked well. And I think that it was my fault, Ana,
+for had I been more of a man, instead of casting aside my burden, I should have
+stood up against my father Meneptah and his policy and, if need were, have
+raised the people. Then the Israelites would have gone, and no plagues would
+have smitten Egypt. Well, what I did, I did because I must, perhaps, and what
+has happened, has happened. And now my time comes to an end, and I go hence to
+balance my account as best I may, praying that I may find judges who
+understand, and are gentle.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why does Pharaoh speak thus?&rdquo; I asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not know, Ana, yet that Hebrew wife of mine has been much in my
+mind of late. She was wise in her way, as wise as loving, was she not, and if
+we could see her once again, perhaps she would answer the question. But
+although she seems so near to me, I never can see her, quite. Can you,
+Ana?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, Pharaoh, though one night old Bakenkhonsu vowed that he perceived
+her passing before us, and looking at me earnestly as she passed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah! Bakenkhonsu. Well, he is wise too, and loved her in his fashion.
+Also the flesh fades from him, though mayhap he will live to make offerings at
+both our tombs. Well, Bakenkhonsu is at Tanis, or is it at Thebes, with her
+Majesty, whom he ever loves to observe, as I do. So he can tell us nothing of
+what he thought he saw. This chamber is hot, Ana, let us stand without.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So we passed the curtain, and stood upon the portico, looking at the garden
+misty with moonlight, and talking of this and that&mdash;about the Israelites,
+I think, who, as we heard, were wandering in the deserts of Sinai. Then of a
+sudden we grew silent, both of us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A cloud floated over the face of the moon, leaving the world in darkness. It
+passed, and I became aware that we were no longer alone. There in front of us
+was a mat, and on the mat lay a dead child, the royal child named Seti; there
+by the mat stood a woman with agony in her eyes, looking at the dead child, the
+Hebrew woman named Moon of Israel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Seti touched me, and pointed to her, and I pointed to the child. We stood
+breathless. Then of a sudden, stooping down, Merapi lifted up the child and
+held it towards its father. But, lo! now no longer was it dead; nay, it laughed
+and laughed, and seeing him, seemed to throw its arms about his neck, and to
+kiss him on the lips. Moreover, the agony in the woman&rsquo;s eyes turned to
+joy unspeakable, and she became more beautiful than a star. Then, laughing like
+the child, Merapi turned to Seti, beckoned, and was gone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We have seen the dead,&rdquo; he said to me presently, &ldquo;and, oh!
+Ana, <i>the dead still live!</i>&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+That night, ere dawn, a cry rang through the palace, waking me from my sleep.
+This was the cry:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The good god Pharaoh is no more! The hawk Seti has flown to
+heaven!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+At the burial of Pharaoh, I laid the halves of the broken cup upon his breast,
+that he might drink therefrom in the Day of Resurrection.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Here ends the writing of the Scribe Ana, the Counsellor and Companion of the
+King, by him beloved.
+</p>
+
+<p class="finis">
+THE END
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
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+eBook #2856 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2856)
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Moon of Israel, by H. Rider Haggard
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Moon of Israel
+
+Author: H. Rider Haggard
+
+Release Date: April 3, 2006 [EBook #2856]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOON OF ISRAEL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by John Bickers; Dagny; Emma Dudding; David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+MOON OF ISRAEL
+
+A TALE OF THE EXODUS
+
+
+by H. Rider Haggard
+
+
+
+
+AUTHOR'S NOTE
+
+This book suggests that the real Pharaoh of the Exodus was not Meneptah
+or Merenptah, son of Rameses the Great, but the mysterious usurper,
+Amenmeses, who for a year or two occupied the throne between the
+death of Meneptah and the accession of his son the heir-apparent, the
+gentle-natured Seti II.
+
+Of the fate of Amenmeses history says nothing; he may well have perished
+in the Red Sea or rather the Sea of Reeds, for, unlike those of Meneptah
+and the second Seti, his body has not been found.
+
+Students of Egyptology will be familiar with the writings of the scribe
+and novelist Anana, or Ana as he is here called.
+
+
+
+It was the Author's hope to dedicate this story to Sir Gaston Maspero,
+K.C.M.G., Director of the Cairo Museum, with whom on several occasions
+he discussed its plot some years ago. Unhappily, however, weighed down
+by one of the bereavements of the war, this great Egyptologist died in
+the interval between its writing and its publication. Still, since Lady
+Maspero informs him that such is the wish of his family, he adds the
+dedication which he had proposed to offer to that eminent writer and
+student of the past.
+
+
+
+Dear Sir Gaston Maspero,
+
+When you assured me as to a romance of mine concerning ancient Egypt,
+that it was so full of the "inner spirit of the old Egyptians" that,
+after kindred efforts of your own and a lifetime of study, you could not
+conceive how it had been possible for it to spring from the brain of a
+modern man, I thought your verdict, coming from such a judge, one of the
+greatest compliments that ever I received. It is this opinion of yours
+indeed which induces me to offer you another tale of a like complexion.
+Especially am I encouraged thereto by a certain conversation between
+us in Cairo, while we gazed at the majestic countenance of the Pharaoh
+Meneptah, for then it was, as you may recall, that you said you thought
+the plan of this book probable and that it commended itself to your
+knowledge of those dim days.
+
+With gratitude for your help and kindness and the sincerest homage to
+your accumulated lore concerning the most mysterious of all the perished
+peoples of the earth,
+
+Believe me to remain
+
+Your true admirer,
+
+H. Rider Haggard.
+
+
+
+
+MOON OF ISRAEL
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+SCRIBE ANA COMES TO TANIS
+
+This is the story of me, Ana the scribe, son of Meri, and of certain of
+the days that I have spent upon the earth. These things I have written
+down now that I am very old in the reign of Rameses, the third of that
+name, when Egypt is once more strong and as she was in the ancient time.
+I have written them before death takes me, that they may be buried with
+me in death, for as my spirit shall arise in the hour of resurrection,
+so also these my words may arise in their hour and tell to those who
+shall come after me upon the earth of what I knew upon the earth. Let it
+be as Those in heaven shall decree. At least I write and what I write is
+true.
+
+I tell of his divine Majesty whom I loved and love as my own soul, Seti
+Meneptah the second, whose day of birth was my day of birth, the Hawk
+who has flown to heaven before me; of Userti the Proud, his queen, she
+who afterwards married his divine Majesty, Saptah, whom I saw laid in
+her tomb at Thebes. I tell of Merapi, who was named Moon of Israel, and
+of her people, the Hebrews, who dwelt for long in Egypt and departed
+thence, having paid us back in loss and shame for all the good and ill
+we gave them. I tell of the war between the gods of Egypt and the god of
+Israel, and of much that befell therein.
+
+Also I, the King's Companion, the great scribe, the beloved of the
+Pharaohs who have lived beneath the sun with me, tell of other men and
+matters. Behold! is it not written in this roll? Read, ye who shall find
+in the days unborn, if your gods have given you skill. Read, O children
+of the future, and learn the secrets of that past which to you is so far
+away and yet in truth so near.
+
+
+
+As it chanced, although the Prince Seti and I were born upon the same
+day and therefore, like the other mothers of gentle rank whose children
+saw the light upon that day, my mother received Pharaoh's gift and I
+received the title of Royal Twin in Ra, never did I set eyes upon the
+divine Prince Seti until the thirtieth birthday of both of us. All of
+which happened thus.
+
+In those days the great Pharaoh, Rameses the second, and after him his
+son Meneptah who succeeded when he was already old, since the mighty
+Rameses was taken to Osiris after he had counted one hundred risings of
+the Nile, dwelt for the most part at the city of Tanis in the desert,
+whereas I dwelt with my parents at the ancient, white-walled city of
+Memphis on the Nile. At times Meneptah and his court visited Memphis, as
+also they visited Thebes, where this king lies in his royal tomb to-day.
+But save on one occasion, the young Prince Seti, the heir-apparent, the
+Hope of Egypt, came not with them, because his mother, Asnefert, did not
+favour Memphis, where some trouble had befallen her in youth--they
+say it was a love matter that cost the lover his life and her a sore
+heart--and Seti stayed with his mother who would not suffer him out of
+sight of her eyes.
+
+Once he came indeed when he was fifteen years of age, to be proclaimed
+to the people as son of his father, as Son of the Sun, as the future
+wearer of the Double Crown, and then we, his twins in Ra--there were
+nineteen of us who were gently born--were called by name to meet him
+and to kiss his royal feet. I made ready to go in a fine new robe
+embroidered in purple with the name of Seti and my own. But on that very
+morning by the gift of some evil god I was smitten with spots all
+over my face and body, a common sickness that affects the young. So it
+happened that I did not see the Prince, for before I was well again he
+had left Memphis.
+
+Now my father Meri was a scribe of the great temple of Ptah, and I was
+brought up to his trade in the school of the temple, where I copied
+many rolls and also wrote out Books of the Dead which I adorned with
+paintings. Indeed, in this business I became so clever that, after my
+father went blind some years before his death, I earned enough to keep
+him, and my sisters also until they married. Mother I had none, for she
+was gathered to Osiris while I was still very little. So life went on
+from year to year, but in my heart I hated my lot. While I was still a
+boy there rose up in me a desire--not to copy what others had written,
+but to write what others should copy. I became a dreamer of dreams.
+Walking at night beneath the palm-trees upon the banks of the Nile I
+watched the moon shining upon the waters, and in its rays I seemed to
+see many beautiful things. Pictures appeared there which were different
+from any that I saw in the world of men, although in them were men and
+women and even gods.
+
+Of these pictures I made stories in my heart and at last, although that
+was not for some years, I began to write these stories down in my spare
+hours. My sisters found me doing so and told my father, who scolded me
+for such foolishness which he said would never furnish me with bread
+and beer. But still I wrote on in secret by the light of the lamp in my
+chamber at night. Then my sisters married, and one day my father died
+suddenly while he was reciting prayers in the temple. I caused him to be
+embalmed in the best fashion and buried with honour in the tomb he had
+made ready for himself, although to pay the costs I was obliged to copy
+Books of the Dead for nearly two years, working so hard that I found no
+time for the writing of stories.
+
+When at length I was free from debt I met a maiden from Thebes with a
+beautiful face that always seemed to smile, and she took my heart from
+my breast into her own. In the end, after I returned from fighting in
+the war against the Nine Bow Barbarians, to which I was summoned like
+other men, I married her. As for her name, let it be, I will not think
+of it even to myself. We had one child, a little girl which died within
+two years of her birth, and then I learned what sorrow can mean to
+man. At first my wife was sad, but her grief departed with time and she
+smiled again as she used to do. Only she said that she would bear no
+more children for the gods to take. Having little to do she began to go
+about the city and make friends whom I did not know, for of these, being
+a beautiful woman, she found many. The end of it was that she departed
+back to Thebes with a soldier whom I had never seen, for I was always
+working at home thinking of the babe who was dead and how happiness is a
+bird that no man can snare, though sometimes, of its own will, it flies
+in at his window-place.
+
+It was after this that my hair went white before I had counted thirty
+years.
+
+Now, as I had none to work for and my wants were few and simple, I found
+more time for the writing of stories which, for the most part, were
+somewhat sad. One of these stories a fellow scribe borrowed from me and
+read aloud to a company, whom it pleased so much that there were many
+who asked leave to copy it and publish it abroad. So by degrees I became
+known as a teller of tales, which tales I caused to be copied and sold,
+though out of them I made but little. Still my fame grew till on a day
+I received a message from the Prince Seti, my twin in Ra, saying that he
+had read certain of my writings which pleased him much and that it was
+his wish to look upon my face. I thanked him humbly by the messenger and
+answered that I would travel to Tanis and wait upon his Highness. First,
+however, I finished the longest story which I had yet written. It was
+called the Tale of Two Brothers, and told how the faithless wife of one
+of them brought trouble on the other, so that he was killed. Of how,
+also, the just gods brought him to life again, and many other matters.
+This story I dedicated to his Highness, the Prince Seti, and with it in
+the bosom of my robe I travelled to Tanis, having hidden about me a sum
+of gold that I had saved.
+
+So I came to Tanis at the beginning of winter and, walking to the palace
+of the Prince, boldly demanded an audience. But now my troubles began,
+for the guards and watchmen thrust me from the doors. In the end I
+bribed them and was admitted to the antechambers, where were merchants,
+jugglers, dancing-women, officers, and many others, all of them, it
+seemed, waiting to see the Prince; folk who, having nothing to do,
+pleased themselves by making mock of me, a stranger. When I had mixed
+with them for several days, I gained their friendship by telling to them
+one of my stories, after which I was always welcome among them. Still
+I could come no nearer to the Prince, and as my store of money was
+beginning to run low, I bethought me that I would return to Memphis.
+
+One day, however, a long-bearded old man, with a gold-tipped wand of
+office, who had a bull's head embroidered on his robe, stopped in front
+of me and, calling me a white-headed crow, asked me what I was doing
+hopping day by day about the chambers of the palace. I told him my name
+and business and he told me his, which it seemed was Pambasa, one of
+the Prince's chamberlains. When I asked him to take me to the Prince,
+he laughed in my face and said darkly that the road to his Highness's
+presence was paved with gold. I understood what he meant and gave him a
+gift which he took as readily as a cock picks corn, saying that he would
+speak of me to his master and that I must come back again.
+
+I came thrice and each time that old cock picked more corn. At last I
+grew enraged and, forgetting where I was, began to shout at him and
+call him a thief, so that folks gathered round to listen. This seemed
+to frighten him. At first he looked towards the door as though to summon
+the guard to thrust me out; then changed his mind, and in a grumbling
+voice bade me follow him. We went down long passages, past soldiers who
+stood at watch in them still as mummies in their coffins, till at length
+we came to some broidered curtains. Here Pambasa whispered to me to
+wait, and passed through the curtains which he left not quite closed, so
+that I could see the room beyond and hear all that took place there.
+
+It was a small room like to that of any scribe, for on the tables were
+palettes, pens of reed, ink in alabaster vases, and sheets of papyrus
+pinned upon boards. The walls were painted, not as I was wont to paint
+the Books of the Dead, but after the fashion of an earlier time, such as
+I have seen in certain ancient tombs, with pictures of wild fowl rising
+from the swamps and of trees and plants as they grow. Against the walls
+hung racks in which were papyrus rolls, and on the hearth burned a fire
+of cedar-wood.
+
+By this fire stood the Prince, whom I knew from his statues. His years
+appeared fewer than mine although we were born upon the same day, and he
+was tall and thin, very fair also for one of our people, perhaps because
+of the Syrian blood that ran in his veins. His hair was straight and
+brown like to that of northern folk who come to trade in the markets of
+Egypt, and his eyes were grey rather than black, set beneath somewhat
+prominent brows such as those of his father, Meneptah. His face was
+sweet as a woman's, but made curious by certain wrinkles which ran from
+the corners of the eyes towards the ears. I think that these came
+from the bending of the brow in thought, but others say that they were
+inherited from an ancestress on the female side. Bakenkhonsu my friend,
+the old prophet who served under the first Seti and died but the other
+day, having lived a hundred and twenty years, told me that he knew her
+before she was married, and that she and her descendant, Seti, might
+have been twins.
+
+In his hand the Prince held an open roll, a very ancient writing as I,
+who am skilled in such matters that have to do with my trade, knew from
+its appearance. Lifting his eyes suddenly from the study of this roll,
+he saw the chamberlain standing before him.
+
+"You came at a good time, Pambasa," he said in a voice that was very
+soft and pleasant, and yet most manlike. "You are old and doubtless
+wise. Say, are you wise, Pambasa?"
+
+"Yes, your Highness. I am wise like your Highness's uncle, Khaemuas the
+mighty magician, whose sandals I used to clean when I was young."
+
+"Is it so? Then why are you so careful to hide your wisdom which should
+be open like a flower for us poor bees to suck at? Well, I am glad to
+learn that you are wise, for in this book of magic that I have been
+reading I find problems worthy of Khaemuas the departed, whom I only
+remember as a brooding, black-browed man much like my cousin, Amenmeses
+his son--save that no one can call Amenmeses wise."
+
+"Why is your Highness glad?"
+
+"Because you, being by your own account his equal, can now interpret the
+matter as Khaemuas would have done. You know, Pambasa, that had he lived
+he would have been Pharaoh in place of my father. He died too soon,
+however, which proves to me that there was something in this tale of
+his wisdom, since no really wise man would ever wish to be Pharaoh of
+Egypt."
+
+Pambasa stared with his mouth open.
+
+"Not wish to be Pharaoh!" he began--
+
+"Now, Pambasa the Wise," went on the Prince as though he had not heard
+him. "Listen. This old book gives a charm 'to empty the heart of its
+weariness,' that it says is the oldest and most common sickness in the
+world from which only kittens, some children, and mad people are free.
+It appears that the cure for this sickness, so says the book, is to
+stand on the top of the pyramid of Khufu at midnight at that moment when
+the moon is largest in the whole year, and drink from the cup of dreams,
+reciting meanwhile a spell written here at length in language which I
+cannot read."
+
+"There is no virtue in spells, Prince, if anyone can read them."
+
+"And no use, it would seem, if they can be read by none."
+
+"Moreover, how can any one climb the pyramid of Khufu, which is covered
+with polished marble, even in the day let alone at midnight, your
+Highness, and there drink of the cup of dreams?"
+
+"I do not know, Pambasa. All I know is that I weary of this foolishness,
+and of the world. Tell me of something that will lighten my heart, for
+it is heavy."
+
+"There are jugglers without, Prince, one of whom says he can throw a
+rope into the air and climb up it until he vanishes into heaven."
+
+"When he has done it in your sight, Pambasa, bring him to me, but
+not before. Death is the only rope by which we climb to heaven--or be
+lowered into hell. For remember there is a god called Set, after whom,
+like my great-grandfather, I am named by the way--the priests alone know
+why--as well as one called Osiris."
+
+"Then there are the dancers, Prince, and among them some very finely
+made girls, for I saw them bathing in the palace lake, such as would
+have delighted the heart of your grandfather, the great Rameses."
+
+"They do not delight my heart who want no naked women prancing here. Try
+again, Pambasa."
+
+"I can think of nothing else, Prince. Yet, stay. There is a scribe
+without named Ana, a thin, sharp-nosed man who says he is your
+Highness's twin in Ra."
+
+"Ana!" said the Prince. "He of Memphis who writes stories? Why did you
+not say so before, you old fool? Let him enter at once, at once."
+
+Now hearing this I, Ana, walked through the curtains and prostrated
+myself, saying,
+
+"I am that scribe, O Royal Son of the Sun."
+
+"How dare you enter the Prince's presence without being bidden----"
+began Pambasa, but Seti broke in with a stern voice, saying,
+
+"And how dare you, Pambasa, keep this learned man waiting at my door
+like a dog? Rise, Ana, and cease from giving me titles, for we are not
+at Court. Tell me, how long have you been in Tanis?"
+
+"Many days, O Prince," I answered, "seeking your presence and in vain."
+
+"And how did you win it at last?"
+
+"By payment, O Prince," I answered innocently, "as it seems is usual.
+The doorkeepers----"
+
+"I understand," said Seti, "the doorkeepers! Pambasa, you will ascertain
+what amount this learned scribe has disbursed to 'the doorkeepers' and
+refund him double. Begone now and see to the matter."
+
+So Pambasa went, casting a piteous look at me out of the corner of his
+eye.
+
+"Tell me," said Seti when he was gone, "you who must be wise in your
+fashion, why does a Court always breed thieves?"
+
+"I suppose for the same reason, O Prince, that a dog's back breeds
+fleas. Fleas must live, and there is the dog."
+
+"True," he answered, "and these palace fleas are not paid enough. If
+ever I have power I will see to it. They shall be fewer but better fed.
+Now, Ana, be seated. I know you though you do not know me, and already I
+have learned to love you through your writings. Tell me of yourself."
+
+So I told him all my simple tale, to which he listened without a word,
+and then asked me why I had come to see him. I replied that it was
+because he had sent for me, which he had forgotten; also because I
+brought him a story that I had dared to dedicate to him. Then I laid the
+roll before him on the table.
+
+"I am honoured," he said in a pleased voice, "I am greatly honoured.
+If I like it well, your story shall go to the tomb with me for my Ka
+to read and re-read until the day of resurrection, though first I will
+study it in the flesh. Do you know this city of Tanis, Ana?"
+
+I answered that I knew little of it, who had spent my time here haunting
+the doors of his Highness.
+
+"Then with your leave I will be your guide through it this night, and
+afterwards we will sup and talk."
+
+I bowed and he clapped his hands, whereon a servant appeared, not
+Pambasa, but another.
+
+"Bring two cloaks," said the Prince, "I go abroad with the scribe, Ana.
+Let a guard of four Nubians, no more, follow us, but at a distance and
+disguised. Let them wait at the private entrance."
+
+The man bowed and departed swiftly.
+
+Almost immediately a black slave appeared with two long hooded cloaks,
+such as camel-drivers wear, which he helped us to put on. Then, taking
+a lamp, he led us from the room through a doorway opposite to that by
+which I had entered, down passages and a narrow stair that ended in a
+courtyard. Crossing this we came to a wall, great and thick, in which
+were double doors sheathed with copper that opened mysteriously at our
+approach. Outside of these doors stood four tall men, also wrapped in
+cloaks, who seemed to take no note of us. Still, looking back when we
+had gone a little way, I observed that they were following us, as though
+by chance.
+
+How fine a thing, thought I to myself, it is to be a Prince who by
+lifting a finger can thus command service at any moment of the day or
+night.
+
+Just at that moment Seti said to me:
+
+"See, Ana, how sad a thing it is to be a Prince, who cannot even stir
+abroad without notice to his household and commanding the service of a
+secret guard to spy upon his every action, and doubtless to make report
+thereof to the police of Pharaoh."
+
+There are two faces to everything, thought I to myself again.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE BREAKING OF THE CUP
+
+We walked down a broad street bordered by trees, beyond which were
+lime-washed, flat-roofed houses built of sun-dried brick, standing,
+each of them, in its own garden, till at length we came to the great
+market-place just as the full moon rose above the palm-trees, making the
+world almost as light as day. Tanis, or Rameses as it is also called,
+was a very fine city then, if only half the size of Memphis, though
+now that the Court has left it I hear it is much deserted. About this
+market-place stood great temples of the gods, with pylons and avenues
+of sphinxes, also that wonder of the world, the colossal statue of the
+second Rameses, while to the north upon a mound was the glorious palace
+of Pharaoh. Other palaces there were also, inhabited by the nobles and
+officers of the Court, and between them ran long streets where dwelt the
+citizens, ending, some of them, on that branch of the Nile by which the
+ancient city stood.
+
+Seti halted to gaze at these wondrous buildings.
+
+"They are very old," he said, "but most of them, like the walls and
+those temples of Amon and Ptah, have been rebuilt in the time of my
+grandfather or since his day by the labour of Israelitish slaves who
+dwell yonder in the rich land of Goshen."
+
+"They must have cost much gold," I answered.
+
+"The Kings of Egypt do not pay their slaves," remarked the Prince
+shortly.
+
+Then we went on and mingled with the thousands of the people who were
+wandering to and fro seeking rest after the business of the day. Here
+on the frontier of Egypt were gathered folk of every race; Bedouins from
+the desert, Syrians from beyond the Red Sea, merchants from the rich
+Isle of Chittim, travellers from the coast, and traders from the land
+of Punt and from the unknown countries of the north. All were talking,
+laughing and making merry, save some who gathered in circles to listen
+to a teller of tales or wandering musicians, or to watch women who
+danced half naked for gifts.
+
+Now and again the crowd would part to let pass the chariot of some noble
+or lady before which went running footmen who shouted, "Make way, Make
+way!" and laid about them with their long wands. Then came a procession
+of white-robed priests of Isis travelling by moonlight as was fitting
+for the servants of the Lady of the Moon, and bearing aloft the holy
+image of the goddess before which all men bowed and for a little while
+were silent. After this followed the corpse of some great one newly
+dead, preceded by a troop of hired mourners who rent the air with their
+lamentations as they conducted it to the quarter of the embalmers.
+Lastly, from out of one of the side streets emerged a gang of several
+hundred hook-nosed and bearded men, among whom were a few women, loosely
+roped together and escorted by a company of armed guards.
+
+"Who are these?" I asked, for I had never seen their like.
+
+"Slaves of the people of Israel who return from their labour at the
+digging of the new canal which is to run to the Red Sea," answered the
+Prince.
+
+We stood still to watch them go by, and I noted how proudly their eyes
+flashed and how fierce was their bearing although they were but men in
+bonds, very weary too and stained by toil in mud and water. Presently
+this happened. A white-bearded man lagged behind, dragging on the line
+and checking the march. Thereupon an overseer ran up and flogged him
+with a cruel whip cut from the hide of the sea-horse. The man turned
+and, lifting a wooden spade that he carried, struck the overseer such
+a blow that he cracked his skull so that he fell down dead. Other
+overseers rushed at the Hebrew, as these Israelites were called, and
+beat him till he also fell. Then a soldier appeared and, seeing what
+had happened, drew his bronze sword. From among the throng sprang out a
+girl, young and very lovely although she was but roughly clad.
+
+Since then I have seen Merapi, Moon of Israel, as she was called, clad
+in the proud raiment of a queen, and once even of a goddess, but never,
+I think, did she look more beauteous than in this hour of her slavery.
+Her large eyes, neither blue nor black, caught the light of the moon and
+were aswim with tears. Her plenteous bronze-hued hair flowed in great
+curls over the snow-white bosom that her rough robe revealed. Her
+delicate hands were lifted as though to ward off the blows which fell
+upon him whom she sought to protect. Her tall and slender shape stood
+out against a flare of light which burned upon some market stall. She
+was beauteous exceedingly, so beauteous that my heart stood still at the
+sight of her, yes, mine that for some years had held no thought of woman
+save such as were black and evil.
+
+She cried aloud. Standing over the fallen man she appealed to the
+soldier for mercy. Then, seeing that there was none to hope for from
+him, she cast her great eyes around until they fell upon the Prince
+Seti.
+
+"Oh! Sir," she wailed, "you have a noble air. Will you stand by and see
+my father murdered for no fault?"
+
+"Drag her off, or I smite through her," shouted the captain, for now she
+had thrown herself down upon the fallen Israelite. The overseers obeyed,
+tearing her away.
+
+"Hold, butcher!" cried the Prince.
+
+"Who are you, dog, that dare to teach Pharaoh's officer his duty?"
+answered the captain, smiting the Prince in the face with his left hand.
+
+Then swiftly he struck downwards and I saw the bronze sword pass through
+the body of the Israelite who quivered and lay still. It was all done
+in an instant, and on the silence that followed rang out the sound of
+a woman's wail. For a moment Seti choked--with rage, I think. Then he
+spoke a single word--"Guards!"
+
+The four Nubians, who, as ordered, had kept at a distance, burst through
+the gathered throng. Ere they reached us I, who till now had stood
+amazed, sprang at the captain and gripped him by the throat. He struck
+at me with his bloody sword, but the blow, falling on my long cloak,
+only bruised me on the left thigh. Then I, who was strong in those days,
+grappled with him and we rolled together on the ground.
+
+After this there was great tumult. The Hebrew slaves burst their
+rope and flung themselves upon the soldiers like dogs upon a jackal,
+battering them with their bare fists. The soldiers defended themselves
+with swords; the overseers plied their hide whips; women screamed, men
+shouted. The captain whom I had seized began to get the better of me;
+at least I saw his sword flash above me and thought that all was over.
+Doubtless it would have been, had not Seti himself dragged the man
+backwards and thus given the four Nubian guards time to seize him. Next
+I heard the Prince cry out in a ringing voice:
+
+"Hold! It is Seti, the son of Pharaoh, the Governor of Tanis, with whom
+you have to do. See," and he threw back the hood of his cloak so that
+the moon shone upon his face.
+
+Instantly there was a great quiet. Now, first one and then another as
+the truth sunk into them, men began to fall upon their knees, and I
+heard one say in an awed voice:
+
+"The royal Son, the Prince of Egypt struck in the face by a soldier!
+Blood must pay for it."
+
+"How is that officer named?" asked Seti, pointing to the man who had
+killed the Israelite and well-nigh killed me.
+
+Someone answered that he was named Khuaka.
+
+"Bring him to the steps of the temple of Amon," said Seti to the Nubians
+who held him fast. "Follow me, friend Ana, if you have the strength.
+Nay, lean upon my shoulder."
+
+So resting upon the shoulder of the Prince, for I was bruised and
+breathless, I walked with him a hundred paces or more to the steps of
+the great temple where we climbed to the platform at the head of the
+stairs. After us came the prisoner, and after him all the multitude,
+a very great number who stood upon the steps and on the flat ground
+beyond. The Prince, who was very white and quiet, sat himself down
+upon the low granite base of a tall obelisk which stood in front of the
+temple pylon, and said:
+
+"As Governor of Tanis, the City of Rameses, with power of life and death
+at all hours and in all places, I declare my Court open."
+
+"The Royal Court is open!" cried the multitude in the accustomed form.
+
+"This is the case," said the Prince. "Yonder man who is named Khuaka, by
+his dress a captain of Pharaoh's army, is charged with the murder of
+a certain Hebrew, and with the attempted murder of Ana the scribe. Let
+witnesses be called. Bring the body of the dead man and lay it here
+before me. Bring the woman who strove to protect him, that she may
+speak."
+
+The body was brought and laid upon the platform, its wide eyes staring
+up at the moon. Then soldiers who had gathered thrust forward the
+weeping girl.
+
+"Cease from tears," said Seti, "and swear by Kephera the creator, and by
+Maat the goddess of truth and law, to speak nothing but the truth."
+
+The girl looked up and said in a rich low voice that in some way
+reminded me of honey being poured from a jar, perhaps because it was
+thick with strangled sobs:
+
+"O Royal Son of Egypt, I cannot swear by those gods who am a daughter of
+Israel."
+
+The Prince looked at her attentively and asked:
+
+"By what god then can you swear, O Daughter of Israel?"
+
+"By Jahveh, O Prince, whom we hold to be the one and only God, the Maker
+of the world and all that is therein."
+
+"Then perhaps his other name is Kephera," said the Prince with a little
+smile. "But have it as you will. Swear, then, by your god Jahveh."
+
+Then she lifted both her hands above her head and said:
+
+"I, Merapi, daughter of Nathan of the tribe of Levi of the people of
+Israel, swear that I will speak the truth and all the truth in the name
+of Jahveh, the God of Israel."
+
+"Tell us what you know of the matter of the death of this man, O
+Merapi."
+
+"Nothing that you do not know yourself, O Prince. He who lies there,"
+and she swept her hand towards the corpse, turning her eyes away, "was
+my father, an elder of Israel. The captain Khuaka came when the corn was
+young to the Land of Goshen to choose those who should work for Pharaoh.
+He wished to take me into his house. My father refused because from my
+childhood I had been affianced to a man of Israel; also because it is
+not lawful under the law for our people to intermarry with your people.
+Then the captain Khuaka seized my father, although he was of high rank
+and beyond the age to work for Pharaoh, and he was taken away, as I
+think, because he would not suffer me to wed Khuaka. A while later I
+dreamed that my father was sick. Thrice I dreamed it and ran away to
+Tanis to visit him. But this morning I found him and, O Prince, you know
+the rest."
+
+"Is there no more?" asked Seti.
+
+The girl hesitated, then answered:
+
+"Only this, O Prince. This man saw me with my father giving him food,
+for he was weak and overcome with the toil of digging the mud in the
+heat of the sun, he who being a noble of our people knew nothing of such
+labour from his youth. In my presence Khuaka asked my father if now he
+would give me to him. My father answered that sooner would he see me
+kissed by snakes and devoured by crocodiles. 'I hear you,' answered
+Khuaka. 'Learn, now, slave Nathan, before to-morrow's sun arises, you
+shall be kissed by swords and devoured by crocodiles or jackals.' 'So be
+it,' said my father, 'but learn, O Khuaka, that if so, it is revealed to
+me who am a priest and a prophet of Jahveh, that before to-morrow's sun
+you also shall be kissed by swords and of the rest we will talk at the
+foot of Jahveh's throne.'
+
+"Afterwards, as you know, Prince, the overseer flogged my father as I
+heard Khuaka order him to do if he lagged through weariness, and then
+Khuaka killed him because my father in his madness struck the overseer
+with a mattock. I have no more to say, save that I pray that I may be
+sent back to my own people there to mourn my father according to our
+custom."
+
+"To whom would you be sent? Your mother?"
+
+"Nay, O Prince, my mother, a lady of Syria, is dead. I will go to my
+uncle, Jabez the Levite."
+
+"Stand aside," said Seti. "The matter shall be seen to later. Appear,
+O Ana the Scribe. Swear the oath and tell us what you have seen of this
+man's death, since two witnesses are needful."
+
+So I swore and repeated all this story that I have written down.
+
+"Now, Khuaka," said the Prince when I had finished, "have you aught to
+say?"
+
+"Only this, O Royal One," answered the captain throwing himself upon his
+knees, "that I struck you by accident, not knowing that the person of
+your Highness was hidden in that long cloak. For this deed it is true
+that I am worthy of death, but I pray you to pardon me because I knew
+not what I did. The rest is nothing, since I only slew a mutinous slave
+of the Israelites, as such are slain every day."
+
+"Tell me, O Khuaka, who are being tried for this man's death and not
+for the striking of one of royal blood by chance, under which law it is
+lawful for you to kill an Israelite without trial before the appointed
+officers of Pharaoh."
+
+"I am not learned. I do not know the law, O Prince. All that this woman
+said is false."
+
+"At least it is not false that yonder man lies dead and that you slew
+him, as you yourself admit. Learn now, and let all Egypt learn, that
+even an Israelite may not be murdered for no offence save that of
+weariness and of paying back unearned blow with blow. Your blood shall
+answer for his blood. Soldiers! Strike off his head."
+
+The Nubians leapt upon him, and when I looked again Khuaka's headless
+corpse lay by the corpse of the Hebrew Nathan and their blood was
+mingled upon the steps of the temple.
+
+"The business of the Court is finished," said the Prince. "Officers, see
+that this woman is escorted to her own people, and with her the body of
+her father for burial. See, too, upon your lives that no insult or harm
+is done to her. Scribe Ana, accompany me hence to my house where I would
+speak with you. Let guards precede and follow me."
+
+He rose and all the people bowed. As he turned to go the lady Merapi
+stepped forward, and falling upon her knees, said:
+
+"O most just Prince, now and ever I am your servant."
+
+Then we set out, and as we left the market-place on our way to the
+palace of the Prince, I heard a tumult of voices behind us, some in
+praise and some in blame of what had been done. We walked on in silence
+broken only by the measured tramp of the guards. Presently the moon
+passed behind a cloud and the world was dark. Then from the edge of the
+cloud sprang out a ray of light that lay straight and narrow above us on
+the heavens. Seti studied it a while and said:
+
+"Tell me, O Ana, of what does that moonbeam put you in mind?"
+
+"Of a sword, O Prince," I answered, "stretched out over Egypt and held
+in the black hand of some mighty god or spirit. See, there is the blade
+from which fall little clouds like drops of blood, there is the hilt of
+gold, and look! there beneath is the face of the god. Fire streams from
+his eyebrows and his brow is black and awful. I am afraid, though what I
+fear I know not."
+
+"You have a poet's mind, Ana. Still, what you see I see and of this I
+am sure, that some sword of vengeance is indeed stretched out over
+Egypt because of its evil doings, whereof this light may be the symbol.
+Behold! it seems to fall upon the temples of the gods and the palace of
+Pharaoh, and to cleave them. Now it is gone and the night is as nights
+were from the beginning of the world. Come to my chamber and let us eat.
+I am weary, I need food and wine, as you must after struggling with that
+lustful murderer whom I have sent to his own place."
+
+The guards saluted and were dismissed. We mounted to the Prince's
+private chambers, in one of which his servants clad me in fine linen
+robes after a skilled physician of the household had doctored the
+bruises upon my thigh over which he tied a bandage spread with balm.
+Then I was led to a small dining-hall, where I found the Prince waiting
+for me as though I were some honoured guest and not a poor scribe who
+had wondered hence from Memphis with my wares. He caused me to sit down
+at his right hand and even drew up the chair for me himself, whereat I
+felt abashed. To this day I remember that leather-seated chair. The arms
+of it ended in ivory sphinxes and on its back of black wood in an oval
+was inlaid the name of the great Rameses, to whom indeed it had once
+belonged. Dishes were handed to us--only two of them and those quite
+simple, for Seti was no great eater--by a young Nubian slave of a
+very merry face, and with them wine more delicious than any I had ever
+tasted.
+
+We ate and drank and the Prince talked to me of my business as a scribe
+and of the making of tales, which seemed to interest him very much.
+Indeed one might have thought that he was a pupil in the schools and I
+the teacher, so humbly and with such care did he weigh everything that I
+said about my art. Of matters of state or of the dreadful scene of blood
+through which we had just passed he spoke no word. At the end, however,
+after a little pause during which he held up a cup of alabaster as thin
+as an eggshell, studying the light playing through it on the rich red
+wine within, he said to me:
+
+"Friend Ana, we have passed a stirring hour together, the first perhaps
+of many, or mayhap the last. Also we were born upon the same day
+and therefore, unless the astrologers lie, as do other men--and
+women--beneath the same star. Lastly, if I may say it, I like you well,
+though I know not how you like me, and when you are in the room with me
+I feel at ease, which is strange, for I know of no other with whom it is
+so.
+
+"Now by a chance only this morning I found in some old records which I
+was studying, that the heir to the throne of Egypt a thousand years ago,
+had, and therefore, as nothing ever changes in Egypt, still has, a right
+to a private librarian for which the State, that is, the toilers of the
+land, must pay as in the end they pay for all. Some dynasties have gone
+by, it seems, since there was such a librarian, I think because most of
+the heirs to the throne could not, or did not, read. Also by chance I
+mentioned the matter to the Vizier Nehesi who grudges me every ounce of
+gold I spend, as though it were one taken out of his own pouch, which
+perhaps it is. He answered with that crooked smile of his:
+
+"'Since I know well, Prince, that there is no scribe in Egypt whom you
+would suffer about you for a single month, I will set the cost of a
+librarian at the figure at which it stood in the Eleventh Dynasty upon
+the roll of your Highness's household and defray it from the Royal
+Treasury until he is discharged.'
+
+"Therefore, Scribe Ana, I offer you this post for one month; that is
+all for which I can promise you will be paid whatever it may be, for I
+forget the sum."
+
+"I thank you, O Prince," I exclaimed.
+
+"Do not thank me. Indeed if you are wise you will refuse. You have met
+Pambasa. Well, Nehesi is Pambasa multiplied by ten, a rogue, a thief, a
+bully, and one who has Pharaoh's ear. He will make your life a torment
+to you and clip every ring of gold that at length you wring out of
+his grip. Moreover the place is wearisome, and I am fanciful and often
+ill-humoured. Do not thank me, I say. Refuse; return to Memphis and
+write stories. Shun courts and their plottings. Pharaoh himself is but a
+face and a puppet through which other voices talk and other eyes shine,
+and the sceptre which he wields is pulled by strings. And if this is so
+with Pharaoh, what is the case with his son? Then there are the women,
+Ana. They will make love to you, Ana, they even do so to me, and I think
+you told me that you know something of women. Do not accept, go back
+to Memphis. I will send you some old manuscripts to copy and pay you
+whatever it is Nehesi allows for the librarian."
+
+"Yet I accept, O Prince. As for Nehesi I fear him not at all, since at
+the worst I can write a story about him at which the world will laugh,
+and rather than that he will pay me my salary."
+
+"You have more wisdom than I thought, Ana. It never came into my mind to
+put Nehesi in a story, though it is true I tell tales about him which is
+much the same thing."
+
+He bend forward, leaning his head upon his hand, and ceasing from his
+bantering tone, looked me in the eyes and asked:
+
+"Why do you accept? Let me think now. It is not because you care for
+wealth if that is to be won here; nor for the pomp and show of courts;
+nor for the company of the great who really are so small. For all these
+things you, Ana, have no craving if I read your heart aright, you who
+are an artist, nothing less and nothing more. Tell me, then, why will
+you, a free man who can earn your living, linger round a throne and
+set your neck beneath the heel of princes to be crushed into the common
+mould of servitors and King's Companions and Bearers of the Footstool?"
+
+"I will tell you, Prince. First, because thrones make history, as
+history makes thrones, and I think that great events are on foot in
+Egypt in which I would have my share. Secondly, because the gods bring
+gifts to men only once or twice in their lives and to refuse them is
+to offend the gods who gave them those lives to use to ends of which we
+know nothing. And thirdly"--here I hesitated.
+
+"And thirdly--out with the thirdly for, doubtless, it is the real
+reason."
+
+"And thirdly, O Prince--well, the word sounds strangely upon a man's
+lips--but thirdly because I love you. From the moment that my eyes fell
+upon your face I loved you as I never loved any other man--not even my
+father. I know not why. Certainly it is not because you are a prince."
+
+When he heard these words Seti sat brooding and so silent that, fearing
+lest I, a humble scribe, had been too bold, I added hastily:
+
+"Let your Highness pardon his servant for his presumptuous words. It was
+his servant's heart that spoke and not his lips."
+
+He lifted his hand and I stopped.
+
+"Ana, my twin in Ra," he said, "do you know that I never had a friend?"
+
+"A prince who has no friend!"
+
+"Never, none. Now I begin to think that I have found one. The thought is
+strange and warms me. Do you know also that when my eyes fell upon your
+face I loved you also, the gods know why. It was as though I had found
+one who was dear to me thousands of years ago but whom I had lost and
+forgotten. Perhaps this is but foolishness, or perhaps here we have the
+shadow of something great and beautiful which dwells elsewhere, in the
+place we call the Kingdom of Osiris, beyond the grave, Ana."
+
+"Such thoughts have come to me at times, Prince. I mean that all we see
+is shadow; that we ourselves are shadows and that the realities who cast
+them live in a different home which is lit by some spirit sun that never
+sets."
+
+The Prince nodded his head and again was silent for a while. Then he
+took his beautiful alabaster cup, and pouring wine into it, he drank a
+little and passed the cup to me.
+
+"Drink also, Ana," he said, "and pledge me as I pledge you, in token
+that by decree of the Creator who made the hearts of men, henceforward
+our two hearts are as the same heart through good and ill, through
+triumph and defeat, till death takes one of us. Henceforward, Ana,
+unless you show yourself unworthy, I hide no thought from you."
+
+Flushing with joy I took the cup, saying:
+
+"I add to your words, O Prince. We are one, not for this life alone but
+for all the lives to be. Death, O Prince, is, I think, but a single step
+in the pylon stair which leads at last to that dizzy height whence we
+see the face of God and hear his voice tell us what and why we are."
+
+Then I pledged him, and drank, bowing, and he bowed back to me.
+
+"What shall we do with the cup, Ana, the sacred cup that has held this
+rich heart-wine? Shall I keep it? No, it no longer belongs to me. Shall
+I give it to you? No, it can never be yours alone. See, we will break
+the priceless thing."
+
+Seizing it by its stem with all his strength he struck the cup upon the
+table. Then what seemed to be to me a marvel happened, for instead of
+shattering as I thought it surely would, it split in two from rim to
+foot. Whether this was by chance, or whether the artist who fashioned
+it in some bygone generation had worked the two halves separately and
+cunningly cemented them together, to this hour I do not know. At least
+so it befell.
+
+"This is fortunate, Ana," said the Prince, laughing a little in his
+light way. "Now take you the half that lies nearest to you and I will
+take mine. If you die first I will lay my half upon your breast, and
+if I die first you shall do the same by me, or if the priests forbid it
+because I am royal and may not be profaned, cast the thing into my tomb.
+What should we have done had the alabaster shattered into fragments,
+Ana, and what omen should we have read in them?"
+
+"Why ask, O Prince, seeing that it has befallen otherwise?"
+
+Then I took my half, laid it against my forehead and hid it in the bosom
+of my robe, and as I did, so did Seti.
+
+So in this strange fashion the royal Seti and I sealed the holy compact
+of our brotherhood, as I think not for the first time or the last.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+USERTI
+
+Seti rose, stretching out his arms.
+
+"That is finished," he said, "as everything finishes, and for once I am
+sorry. Now what next? Sleep, I suppose, in which all ends, or perhaps
+you would say all begins."
+
+As he spoke the curtains at the end of the room were drawn and between
+them appeared the chamberlain, Pambasa, holding his gold-tipped wand
+ceremoniously before him.
+
+"What is it now, man?" asked Seti. "Can I not even sup in peace? Stay,
+before you answer tell me, do things end or begin in sleep? The learned
+Ana and I differ on the matter and would hear your wisdom. Bear in mind,
+Pambasa, that before we are born we must have slept, since of that time
+we remember nothing, and after we are dead we certainly seem to sleep,
+as any who have looked on mummies know. Now answer."
+
+The chamberlain stared at the wine flask on the table as though he
+suspected his master of having drunk too much. Then in a hard official
+voice he said:
+
+"She comes! She comes! She comes, offering greetings and adoration to
+the Royal Son of Ra."
+
+"Does she indeed?" asked Seti. "If so, why say it three times? And who
+comes?"
+
+"The high Princess, the heiress of Egypt, the daughter of Pharaoh, your
+Highness's royal half-sister, the great lady Userti."
+
+"Let her enter then. Ana, stand you behind me. If you grow weary and
+I give leave you can depart; the slaves will show you your
+sleeping-place."
+
+Pambasa went, and presently through the curtain appeared a royal-looking
+lady splendidly apparelled. She was accompanied by four waiting women
+who fell back on the threshold and were no more seen. The Prince stepped
+forward, took both her hands in his and kissed her on the brow, then
+drew back again, after which they stood a moment looking at each other.
+While they remained thus I studied her who was known throughout the land
+as the "Beautiful Royal Daughter," but whom till now I had never seen.
+In truth I did not think her beautiful, although even had she been clad
+in a peasant's robe I should have been sure that she was royal. Her
+face was too hard for beauty and her black eyes, with a tinge of grey in
+them, were too small. Also her nose was too sharp and her lips were
+too thin. Indeed, had it not been for the delicately and finely-shaped
+woman's form beneath, I might have thought that a prince and not a
+princess stood before me. For the rest in most ways she resembled her
+half-brother Seti, though her countenance lacked the kindliness of his;
+or rather both of them resembled their father, Meneptah.
+
+"Greeting, Sister," he said, eyeing her with a smile in which I caught a
+gleam of mockery. "Purple-bordered robes, emerald necklace and enamelled
+crown of gold, rings and pectoral, everything except a sceptre--why are
+you so royally arrayed to visit one so humble as your loving brother?
+You come like sunlight into the darkness of the hermit's cell and dazzle
+the poor hermit, or rather hermits," and he pointed to me.
+
+"Cease your jests, Seti," she replied in a full, strong voice. "I wear
+these ornaments because they please me. Also I have supped with our
+father, and those who sit at Pharaoh's table must be suitably arrayed,
+though I have noted that sometimes you think otherwise."
+
+"Indeed. I trust that the good god, our divine parent, is well to-night
+as you leave him so early."
+
+"I leave him because he sent me with a message to you." She paused,
+looking at me sharply, then asked, "Who is that man? I do not know him."
+
+"It is your misfortune, Userti, but one which can be mended. He is named
+Ana the Scribe, who writes strange stories of great interest which you
+would do well to read who dwell too much upon the outside of life. He
+is from Memphis and his father's name was--I forget what. Ana, what was
+your father's name?"
+
+"One too humble for royal ears, Prince," I answered, "but my grandfather
+was Pentaur the poet who wrote of the deeds of the mighty Rameses."
+
+"Is it so? Why did you not tell me that before? The descent should earn
+you a pension from the Court if you can extract it from Nehesi. Well,
+Userti, his grandfather's name was Pentaur whose immortal verses you
+have doubtless read upon temple walls, where our grandfather was careful
+to publish them."
+
+"I have--to my sorrow--and thought them poor, boastful stuff," she
+answered coldly.
+
+"To be honest, if Ana will forgive me, so do I. I can assure you that
+his stories are a great improvement on them. Friend Ana, this is my
+sister, Userti, my father's daughter though our mothers were not the
+same."
+
+"I pray you, Seti, to be so good as to give me my rightful titles in
+speaking of me to scribes and other of your servants."
+
+"Your pardon, Userti. This, Ana, is the first Lady of Egypt, the Royal
+Heiress, the Princess of the Two Lands, the High-priestess of Amon,
+the Cherished of the Gods, the half-sister of the Heir-apparent, the
+Daughter of Hathor, the Lotus Bloom of Love, the Queen to be of--Userti,
+whose queen will you be? Have you made up your mind? For myself I know
+no one worthy of so much beauty, excellence, learning and--what shall I
+add--sweetness, yes, sweetness."
+
+"Seti," she said stamping her foot, "if it pleases you to make a mock
+of me before a stranger, I suppose that I must submit. Send him away, I
+would speak with you."
+
+"Make a mock of you! Oh! mine is a hard fate. When truth gushes from the
+well of my heart, I am told I mock, and when I mock, all say--he speaks
+truth. Be seated, Sister, and talk on freely. This Ana is my sworn
+friend who saved my life but now, for which deed perhaps he should be
+my enemy. His memory is excellent also and he will remember what you say
+and write it down afterwards, whereas I might forget. Therefore, with
+your leave, I will ask him to stay here."
+
+"My Prince," I broke in, "I pray you suffer me to go."
+
+"My Secretary," he answered with a note of command in his voice, "I pray
+you to remain where you are."
+
+So I sat myself on the ground after the fashion of a scribe, having no
+choice, and the Princess sat herself on a couch at the end of the table,
+but Seti remained standing. Then the Princess said:
+
+"Since it is your will, Brother, that I should talk secrets into
+other ears than yours, I obey you. Still"--here she looked at me
+wrathfully--"let the tongue be careful that it does not repeat what
+the ears have heard, lest there should be neither ears nor tongue. My
+Brother, it has been reported to Pharaoh, while we ate together, that
+there is tumult in this town. It has been reported to him that because
+of a trouble about some base Israelite you caused one of his officers to
+be beheaded, after which there came a riot which still rages."
+
+"Strange that truth should have come to the ears of Pharaoh so quickly.
+Now, my Sister, if he had heard it three moons hence I could have
+believed you--almost."
+
+"Then you did behead the officer?"
+
+"Yes, I beheaded him about two hours ago."
+
+"Pharaoh will demand an account of the matter."
+
+"Pharaoh," answered Seti lifting his eyes, "has no power to question the
+justice of the Governor of Tanis in the north."
+
+"You are in error, Seti. Pharaoh has all power."
+
+"Nay, Sister, Pharaoh is but one man among millions of other men, and
+though he speaks it is their spirit which bends his tongue, while above
+that spirit is a great greater spirit who decrees what they shall think
+to ends of which we know nothing."
+
+"I do not understand, Seti."
+
+"I never thought you would, Userti, but when you have leisure, ask Ana
+here to explain the matter to you. I am sure that _he_ understands."
+
+"Oh! I have borne enough," exclaimed Userti rising. "Hearken to the
+command of Pharaoh, Prince Seti. It is that you wait upon him to-morrow
+in full council, at an hour before noon, there to talk with him of this
+question of the Israelitish slaves and the officer whom it has pleased
+you to kill. I came to speak other words to you also, but as they
+were for your private ear, these can bide a more fitting opportunity.
+Farewell, my Brother."
+
+"What, are you going so soon, Sister? I wished to tell you the story
+about those Israelites, and especially of the maid whose name is--what
+was her name, Ana?"
+
+"Merapi, Moon of Israel, Prince," I added with a groan.
+
+"About the maid called Merapi, Moon of Israel, I think the sweetest that
+ever I have looked upon, whose father the dead captain murdered in my
+sight."
+
+"So there is a woman in the business? Well, I guessed it."
+
+"In what business is there not a woman, Userti, even in that of a
+message from Pharaoh. Pambasa, Pambasa, escort the Princess and
+summon her servants, women everyone of them, unless my senses mock
+me. Good-night to you, O Sister and Lady of the Two Lands, and forgive
+me--that coronet of yours is somewhat awry."
+
+At last she was gone and I rose, wiping my brow with a corner of my
+robe, and looking at the Prince who stood before the fire laughing
+softly.
+
+"Make a note of all this talk, Ana," he said; "there is more in it than
+meets the ear."
+
+"I need no note, Prince," I answered; "every word is burnt upon my mind
+as a hot iron burns a tablet of wood. With reason too, since now her
+Highness will hate me for all her life."
+
+"Much better so, Ana, than that she should pretend to love you, which
+she never would have done while you are my friend. Women oftimes respect
+those whom they hate and even will advance them because of policy, but
+let those whom they pretend to love beware. The time may come when you
+will yet be Userti's most trusted councillor."
+
+Now here I, Ana the Scribe, will state that in after days, when this
+same queen was the wife of Pharaoh Saptah, I did, as it chanced, become
+her most trusted councillor. Moreover, in those times, yes, and even in
+the hour of her death, she swore from the moment her eyes first fell
+on me she had known me to be true-hearted and held me in esteem as no
+self-seeker. More, I think she believed what she said, having forgotten
+that once she looked upon me as her enemy. This indeed I never was, who
+always held her in high regard and honour as a great lady who loved
+her country, though one who sometimes was not wise. But as I could not
+foresee these things on that night of long ago, I only stared at the
+Prince and said:
+
+"Oh! why did you not allow me to depart as your Highness said I might at
+the beginning? Soon or late my head will pay the price of this night's
+work."
+
+"Then she must take mine with it. Listen, Ana. I kept you here, not to
+vex the Princess or you, but for a good reason. You know that it is the
+custom of the royal dynasties of Egypt for kings, or those who will
+be kings, to wed their near kin in order that the blood may remain the
+purer."
+
+"Yes, Prince, and not only among those who are royal. Still, I think it
+an evil custom."
+
+"As I do, since the race wherein it is practised grows ever weaker
+in body and in mind; which is why, perhaps, my father is not what his
+father was and I am not what my father is."
+
+"Also, Prince, it is hard to mingle the love of the sister and of the
+wife."
+
+"Very hard, Ana; so hard that when it is attempted both are apt to
+vanish. Well, our mothers having been true royal wives, though hers died
+before mine was wedded by my father, Pharaoh desires that I should
+marry my half-sister, Userti, and what is worse, she desires it also.
+Moreover, the people, who fear trouble ahead in Egypt if we, who alone
+are left of the true royal race born of queens, remain apart and she
+takes another lord, or I take another wife, demand that it should be
+brought about, since they believe that whoever calls Userti the Strong
+his spouse will one day rule the land."
+
+"Why does the Princess wish it--that she may be a queen?"
+
+"Yes, Ana, though were she to wed my cousin, Amenmeses, the son of
+Pharaoh's elder brother Khaemuas, she might still be a queen, if I chose
+to stand aside as I would not be loth to do."
+
+"Would Egypt suffer this, Prince?"
+
+"I do not know, nor does it matter since she hates Amenmeses, who is
+strong-willed and ambitious, and will have none of him. Also he is
+already married."
+
+"Is there no other royal one whom she might take, Prince?"
+
+"None. Moreover she wishes me alone."
+
+"Why, Prince?"
+
+"Because of ancient custom which she worships. Also because she knows
+me well and in her fashion is fond of me, whom she believes to be a
+gentle-minded dreamer that she can rule. Lastly, because I am the lawful
+heir to the Crown and without me to share it, she thinks that she would
+never be safe upon the Throne, especially if I should marry some other
+woman, of whom she would be jealous. It is the Throne she desires and
+would wed, not the Prince Seti, her half-brother, whom she takes with it
+to be in name her husband, as Pharaoh commands that she should do.
+Love plays no part in Userti's breast, Ana, which makes her the more
+dangerous, since what she seeks with a cold heart of policy, that she
+will surely find."
+
+"Then it would seem, Prince, that the cage is built about you. After all
+it is a very splendid cage and made of gold."
+
+"Yes, Ana, yet not one in which I would live. Still, except by death how
+can I escape from the threefold chain of the will of Pharaoh, of Egypt,
+and of Userti? Oh!" he went on in a new voice, one that had in it both
+sorrow and passion, "this is a matter in which I would have chosen for
+myself who in all others must be a servant. And I may not choose!"
+
+"Is there perchance some other lady, Prince?"
+
+"None! By Hathor, none--at least I think not. Yet I would have been free
+to search for such a one and take her when I found her, if she were but
+a fishergirl."
+
+"The Kings of Egypt can have large households, Prince."
+
+"I know it. Are there not still scores whom I should call aunt and
+uncle? I think that my grandsire, Rameses, blessed Egypt with quite
+three hundred children, and in so doing in a way was wise, since thus
+he might be sure that, while the world endures, in it will flow some the
+blood that once was his."
+
+"Yet in life or death how will that help him, Prince? Some must beget
+the multitudes of the earth, what does it matter who these may have
+been?"
+
+"Nothing at all, Ana, since by good or evil fortune they are born.
+Therefore, why talk of large households? Though, like any man who can
+pay for it, Pharaoh may have a large household, I seek a queen who shall
+reign in my heart as well as on my throne, not a 'large household,' Ana.
+Oh! I am weary. Pambasa, come hither and conduct my secretary, Ana, to
+the empty room that is next to my own, the painted chamber which looks
+toward the north, and bid my slaves attend to all his wants as they
+would to mine."
+
+
+
+"Why did you tell me you were a scribe, my lord Ana?" asked Pambasa, as
+he led me to my beautiful sleeping-place.
+
+"Because that is my trade, Chamberlain."
+
+He looked at me, shaking his great head till the long white beard waved
+across his breast like a temple banner in the faint evening breeze, and
+answered:
+
+"You are no scribe, you are a magician who can win the love and favour
+of his Highness in an hour which others cannot do between two risings
+of the Nile. Had you said so at once, you would have been differently
+treated yonder in the hall of waiting. Forgive me therefore what I did
+in ignorance, and, my lord, I pray it may please you not to melt away in
+the night, lest my feet should answer for it beneath the sticks."
+
+It was the fourth hour from sunrise of the following day that, for the
+first time in my life I found myself in the Court of Pharaoh standing
+with other members of his household in the train of his Highness, the
+Prince Seti. It was a very great place, for Pharaoh sat in the judgment
+hall, whereof the roof is upheld by round and sculptured columns,
+between which were set statues of Pharaohs who had been. Save at
+the throne end of the hall, where the light flowed down through
+clerestories, the vast chamber was dim almost to darkness; at least so
+it seemed to me entering there out of the brilliant sunshine. Through
+this gloom many folk moved like shadows; captains, nobles, and state
+officers who had been summoned to the Court, and among them white-robed
+and shaven priests. Also there were others of whom I took no count, such
+as Arab headmen from the desert, traders with jewels and other wares to
+sell, farmers and even peasants with petitions to present, lawyers and
+their clients, and I know not who besides, through which of all these
+none were suffered to advance beyond a certain mark where the light
+began to fall. Speaking in whispers all of these folk flitted to and fro
+like bats in a tomb.
+
+We waited between two Hathor-headed pillars in one of the vestibules of
+the hall, the Prince Seti, who was clad in purple-broidered garments and
+wore upon his brow a fillet of gold from which rose the ur�us or hooded
+snake, also of gold, that royal ones alone might wear, leaning against
+the base of a statue, while the rest of us stood silent behind him.
+For a time he was silent also, as a man might be whose thoughts were
+otherwhere. At length he turned and said to me:
+
+"This is weary work. Would I had asked you to bring that new tale of
+yours, Scribe Ana, that we might have read it together."
+
+"Shall I tell you the plot of it, Prince?"
+
+"Yes. I mean, not now, lest I should forget my manners listening to you.
+Look," and he pointed to a dark-browed, fierce-eyed man of middle age
+who passed up the hall as though he did not see us, "there goes my
+cousin, Amenmeses. You know him, do you not?"
+
+I shook my head.
+
+"Then tell me what you think of him, at once before the first judgment
+fades."
+
+"I think he is a royal-looking lord, obstinate in mind and strong in
+body, handsome too in his way."
+
+"All can see that, Ana. What else?"
+
+"I think," I said in a low voice so that none might overhear, "that his
+heart is as black as his brow; that he has grown wicked with jealousy
+and hate and will do you evil."
+
+"Can a man grow wicked, Ana? Is he not as he was born till the end? I do
+not know, nor do you. Still you are right, he is jealous and will do me
+evil if it brings him good. But tell me, which of us will triumph at the
+last?"
+
+While I hesitated what to answer I became aware that someone had joined
+us. Looking round I perceived a very ancient man clad in a white robe.
+He was broad-faced and bald-headed, and his eyes burned beneath his
+shaggy eyebrows like two coals in ashes. He supported himself on a staff
+of cedar-wood, gripping it with both hands that for thinness were like
+to those of a mummy. For a while he considered us both as though he were
+reading our souls, then said in a full and jovial voice:
+
+"Greeting, Prince."
+
+Seti turned, looked at him, and answered:
+
+"Greeting, Bakenkhonsu. How comes it that you are still alive? When we
+parted at Thebes I made sure----"
+
+"That on your return you would find me in my tomb. Not so, Prince, it is
+I who shall live to look upon you in your tomb, yes, and on others who
+are yet to sit in the seat of Pharaoh. Why not? Ho! ho! Why not, seeing
+that I am but a hundred and seven, I who remember the first Rameses and
+have played with his grandson, your grandsire, as a boy? Why should I
+not live, Prince, to nurse your grandson--if the gods should grant you
+one who as yet have neither wife nor child?"
+
+"Because you will get tired of life, Bakenkhonsu, as I am already, and
+the gods will not be able to spare you much longer."
+
+"The gods can endure yet a while without me, Prince, when so many are
+flocking to their table. Indeed it is their desire that one good priest
+should be left in Egypt. Ki the Magician told me so only this morning.
+He had it straight from Heaven in a dream last night."
+
+"Why have you been to visit Ki?" asked Seti, looking at him sharply. "I
+should have thought that being both of a trade you would have hated each
+other."
+
+"Not so, Prince. On the contrary we add up each other's account; I mean,
+check and interpret each other's visions, with which we are both of us
+much troubled just now. Is that young man a scribe from Memphis?"
+
+"Yes, and my friend. His grandsire was Pentaur the poet."
+
+"Indeed. I knew Pentaur well. Often has he read me to sleep with his
+long poems, rank stuff that grew like coarse grass upon a deep but
+half-drained soil. Are you sure, young man, that Pentaur was your
+grandfather? You are not like him. Quite a different kind of herbage,
+and you know that it is a matter upon which we must take a woman's
+word."
+
+Seti burst out laughing and I looked at the old priest angrily, though
+now that I came to think of it my father always said that his mother was
+one of the biggest liars in Egypt.
+
+"Well, let it be," went on Bakenkhonsu, "till we find out the truth
+before Thoth. Ki was speaking of you, young man. I did not pay much
+attention to him, but it was something about a sudden vow of friendship
+between you and the Prince here. There was a cup in the story too, an
+alabaster cup that seemed familiar to me. Ki said it was broken."
+
+Seti started and I began angrily:
+
+"What do you know of that cup? Where were you hid, O Priest?"
+
+"Oh, in your souls, I suppose," he answered dreamily, "or rather Ki was.
+But I know nothing, and am not curious. If you had broken the cup with
+a woman now, it would have been more interesting, even to an old man.
+Be so good as to answer the Prince's question as to whether he or his
+cousin Amenmeses will triumph at the last, for on that matter both Ki
+and I are curious."
+
+"Am I a seer," I began again still more angrily, "that I should read the
+future?"
+
+"I think so, a little, but that is what I want to find out."
+
+He hobbled towards me, laid one of his claw-like hands upon my arm, and
+said in a new voice of command:
+
+"Look now upon that throne and tell me what you see there."
+
+I obeyed him because I must, staring up the hall at the empty throne. At
+first I saw nothing. Then figures seemed to flit around it. From among
+these figures emerged the shape of the Count Amenmeses. He sat upon the
+throne, looking about him proudly, and I noted that he was no longer
+clad as a prince but as Pharaoh himself. Presently hook-nosed men
+appeared who dragged him from his seat. He fell, as I thought, into
+water, for it seemed to splash up above him. Next Seti the Prince
+appeared to mount the throne, led thither by a woman, of whom I could
+only see the back. I saw him distinctly wearing the double crown and
+holding a sceptre in his hand. He also melted away and others came
+whom I did not know, though I thought that one of them was like to the
+Princess Userti.
+
+Now all were gone and I was telling Bakenkhonsu everything I had
+witnessed like a man who speaks in his sleep, not by his own will.
+Suddenly I woke up and laughed at my own foolishness. But the other two
+did not laugh; they regarded me very gravely.
+
+"I thought that you were something of a seer," said the old priest, "or
+rather Ki thought it. I could not quite believe Ki, because he said that
+the young person whom I should find with the Prince here this morning
+would be one who loved him with all the heart, and it is only a woman
+who loves with all the heart, is it not? Or so the world believes. Well,
+I will talk the matter over with Ki. Hush! Pharaoh comes."
+
+As he spoke from far away rose a cry of--
+
+"Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE COURT OF BETROTHAL
+
+"Life! Blood! Strength!" echoed everyone in the great hall, falling to
+their knees and bending their foreheads to the ground. Even the Prince
+and the aged Bakenkhonsu prostrated themselves thus as though before the
+presence of a god. And, indeed, Pharaoh Meneptah, passing through the
+patch of sunlight at the head of the hall, wearing the double crown upon
+his head and arrayed in royal robes and ornaments, looked like a god, no
+less, as the multitude of the people of Egypt held him to be. He was an
+old man with the face of one worn by years and care, but from his person
+majesty seemed to flow.
+
+With him, walking a step or two behind, went Nehesi his Vizier, a
+shrivelled, parchment-faced officer whose cunning eyes rolled about the
+place, and Roy the High-priest, and Hora the Chamberlain of the Table,
+and Meranu the Washer of the King's Hands, and Yuy the private scribe,
+and many others whom Bakenkhonsu named to me as they appeared. Then
+there were fan-bearers and a gorgeous band of lords who were called
+King's Companions and Head Butlers and I know not who besides, and
+after these guards with spears and helms that shone like god, and black
+swordsmen from the southern land of Kesh.
+
+But one woman accompanied his Majesty, walking alone immediately behind
+him in front of the Vizier and the High-priest. She was the Royal
+Daughter, the Princess Userti, who looked, I thought, prouder and more
+splendid than any there, though somewhat pale and anxious.
+
+Pharaoh came to the steps of the throne. The Vizier and the High-priest
+advanced to help him up the steps, for he was feeble with age. He waved
+them aside, and beckoning to his daughter, rested his hand upon her
+shoulder and by her aid mounted the throne. I thought that there was
+meaning in this; it was as though he would show to all the assembly that
+this princess was the prop of Egypt.
+
+For a little while he stood still and Userti sat herself down on the
+topmost step, resting her chin upon her jewelled hand. There he stood
+searching the place with his eyes. He lifted his sceptre and all rose,
+hundreds and hundreds of them throughout the hall, their garments
+rustling as they rose like leaves in a sudden wind. He seated himself
+and once more from every throat went up the regal salutation that was
+the king's alone, of--
+
+"Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!"
+
+In the silence that followed I heard him say, to the Princess, I think:
+
+"Amenmeses I see, and others of our kin, but where is my son Seti, the
+Prince of Egypt?"
+
+"Watching us no doubt from some vestibule. My brother loves not
+ceremonials," answered Userti.
+
+Then, with a little sigh, Seti stepped forward, followed by Bakenkhonsu
+and myself, and at a distance by other members of his household. As he
+marched up the long hall all drew to this side or that, saluting him
+with low bows. Arriving in front of the throne he bent till his knee
+touched the ground, saying:
+
+"I give greeting, O King and Father."
+
+"I give greeting, O Prince and Son. Be seated," answered Meneptah.
+
+Seti seated himself in a chair that had been made ready for him at the
+foot of the throne, and on its right, and in another chair to the left,
+but set farther from the steps, Amenmeses seated himself also. At a
+motion from the Prince I took my stand behind his chair.
+
+The formal business of the Court began. At the beckoning of an usher
+people of all sorts appeared singly and handed in petitions written on
+rolled-up papyri, which the Vizier Nehesi took and threw into a leathern
+sack that was held open by a black slave. In some cases an answer to his
+petition, whereof this was only the formal delivery, was handed back
+to the suppliant, who touched his brow with the roll that perhaps
+meant everything to him, and bowed himself away to learn his fate. Then
+appeared sheiks of the desert tribes, and captains from fortresses in
+Syria, and traders who had been harmed by enemies, and even peasants who
+had suffered violence from officers, each to make his prayer. Of all of
+these supplications the scribes took notes, while to some the Vizier and
+councillors made answer. But as yet Pharaoh said nothing. There he sat
+silent on his splendid throne of ivory and gold, like a god of stone
+above the altar, staring down the long hall and through the open doors
+as though he would read the secrets of the skies beyond.
+
+"I told you that courts were wearisome, friend Ana," whispered the
+Prince to me without turning his head. "Do you not already begin to wish
+that you were back writing tales at Memphis?"
+
+Before I could answer some movement in the throng at the end of the
+hall drew the eyes of the Prince and of all of us. I looked, and saw
+advancing towards the throne a tall, bearded man already old, although
+his black hair was but grizzled with grey. He was arrayed in a white
+linen robe, over which hung a woollen cloak such as shepherds wear, and
+he carried in his hand a long thornwood staff. His face was splendid and
+very handsome, and his black eyes flashed like fire. He walked forward
+slowly, looking neither to the left nor the right, and the throng made
+way for him as though he were a prince. Indeed, I thought that they
+showed more fear of him than of any prince, since they shrank from him
+as he came. Nor was he alone, for after him walked another man who was
+very like to him, but as I judged, still older, for his beard, which
+hung down to his middle, was snow-white as was the hair on his head. He
+also was dressed in a sheepskin cloak and carried a staff in his hand.
+Now a whisper rose among the people and the whisper said:
+
+"The prophets of the men of Israel! The prophets of the men of Israel!"
+
+The two stood before the throne and looked at Pharaoh, making no
+obeisance. Pharaoh looked at them and was silent. For a long space they
+stood thus in the midst of a great quiet, but Pharaoh would not speak,
+and none of his officers seemed to dare to open their mouths. At length
+the first of the prophets spoke in a clear, cold voice as some conqueror
+might do.
+
+"You know me, Pharaoh, and my errand."
+
+"I know you," answered Pharaoh slowly, "as well I may, seeing that we
+played together when we were little. You are that Hebrew whom my sister,
+she who sleeps in Osiris, took to be as a son to her, giving to you a
+name that means 'drawn forth' because she drew you forth as an infant
+from among the reeds of Nile. Aye, I know you and your brother also, but
+your errand I know not."
+
+"This is my errand, Pharaoh, or rather the errand of Jahveh, God of
+Israel, for whom I speak. Have you not heard it before? It is that you
+should let his people go to do sacrifice to him in the wilderness."
+
+"Who is Jahveh? I know not Jahveh who serve Amon and the gods of Egypt,
+and why should I let your people go?"
+
+"Jahveh is the God of Israel, the great God of all gods whose power you
+shall learn if you will not hearken, Pharaoh. As for why you should let
+the people go, ask it of the Prince your son who sits yonder. Ask him of
+what he saw in the streets of this city but last night, and of a certain
+judgment that he passed upon one of the officers of Pharaoh. Or if he
+will not tell you, learn it from the lips of the maiden who is named
+Merapi, Moon of Israel, the daughter of Nathan the Levite. Stand
+forward, Merapi, daughter of Nathan."
+
+Then from the throng at the back of the hall came forward Merapi, clad
+in a white robe and with a black veil thrown about her head in token
+of mourning, but not so as to hide her face. Up the hall she glided and
+made obeisance to Pharaoh, as she did so, casting one swift look at Seti
+where he sat. Then she stood still, looking, as I thought, wonderfully
+beautiful in that simple robe of white and the evil of black.
+
+"Speak, woman," said Pharaoh.
+
+She obeyed, telling all the tale in her low and honeyed voice, nor did
+any seem to think it long or wearisome. At length she ended, and Pharaoh
+said:
+
+"Say, Seti my son, is this truth?"
+
+"It is truth, O my Father. By virtue of my powers as Governor of this
+city I caused the captain Khuaka to be put to death for the crime of
+murder done by him before my eyes in the streets of the city."
+
+"Perchance you did right and perchance you did wrong, Son Seti. At least
+you are the best judge, and because he struck your royal person, this
+Khuaka deserved to die."
+
+Again he was silent for a while staring through the open doors at the
+sky beyond. Then he said:
+
+"What would ye more, Prophets of Jahveh? Justice has been done upon my
+officer who slew the man of your people. A life has been taken for a
+life according to the strict letter of the law. The matter is finished.
+Unless you have aught to say, get you gone."
+
+"By the command of the Lord our God," answered the prophet, "we have
+this to say to you, O Pharaoh. Lift the heavy yoke from off the neck of
+the people of Israel. Bid that they cease from the labour of the making
+of bricks to build your walls and cities."
+
+"And if I refuse, what then?"
+
+"Then the curse of Jahveh shall be on you, Pharaoh, and with plague upon
+plague shall he smite this land of Egypt."
+
+Now a sudden rage seized Meneptah.
+
+"What!" he cried. "Do you dare to threaten me in my own palace, and
+would ye cause all the multitude of the people of Israel who have grown
+fat in the land to cease from their labours? Hearken, my servants, and,
+scribes, write down my decree. Go ye to the country of Goshen and say
+to the Israelites that the bricks they made they shall make as aforetime
+and more work shall they do than aforetime in the days of my father,
+Rameses. Only no more straw shall be given to them for the making of the
+bricks. Because they are idle, let them go forth and gather the straw
+themselves; let them gather it from the face of the fields."
+
+There was silence for a while. Then with one voice both the prophets
+spoke, pointing with their wands to Pharaoh:
+
+"In the Name of the Lord God we curse you, Pharaoh, who soon shall die
+and make answer for this sin. The people of Egypt we curse also. Ruin
+shall be their portion; death shall be their bread and blood shall they
+drink in a great darkness. Moreover, at the last Pharaoh shall let the
+people go."
+
+Then, waiting no answer, they turned and strode away side by side, nor
+did any man hinder them in their goings. Again there was silence in the
+hall, the silence of fear, for these were awful words that the prophets
+had spoken. Pharaoh knew it, for his chin sank upon his breast and his
+face that had been red with rage turned white. Userti hid her eyes with
+her hand as though to shut out some evil vision, and even Seti seemed
+ill at ease as though that awful curse had found a home within his
+heart.
+
+At a motion of Pharaoh's hand the Vizier Nehesi struck the ground
+thrice with his wand of office and pointed to the door, thus giving
+the accustomed sign that the Court was finished, whereon all the people
+turned and went away with bent heads speaking no words one to another.
+Presently the great hall was emptied save for the officers and guards
+and those who attended upon Pharaoh. When everyone had gone Seti the
+Prince rose and bowed before the throne.
+
+"O Pharaoh," he said, "be pleased to hearken. We have heard very evil
+words spoken by these Hebrew men, words that threaten your divine life,
+O Pharaoh, and call down a curse upon the Upper and the Lower Land.
+Pharaoh, these people of Israel hold that they suffer wrong and are
+oppressed. Now give me, your son, a writing under your hand and seal, by
+virtue of which I shall have power to go down to the Land of Goshen and
+inquire of this matter, and afterwards make report of the truth to you.
+Then, if it seems to you that the People of Israel are unjustly dealt
+by, you may lighten their burden and bring the curse of their prophets
+to nothing. But if it seems to you that the tales they tell are idle
+then your words shall stand."
+
+Now, listening, I, Ana, thought that Pharaoh would once more be angry.
+But it was not so, for when he spoke again it was in the voice of one
+who is crushed by grief or weariness.
+
+"Have your will, Son," he said. "Only take with you a great guard of
+soldiers lest these hook-nosed dogs should do you mischief. I trust them
+not, who, like the Hyksos whose blood runs in many of them, were ever
+the foes of Egypt. Did they not conspire with the Ninebow Barbarians
+whom I crushed in the great battle, and do they not now threaten us in
+the name of their outland god? Still, let the writing be prepared and
+I will seal it. And stay. I think, Seti, that you, who were ever
+gentle-natured, have somewhat too soft a heart towards these shepherd
+slaves. Therefore I will not send you alone. Amenmeses your cousin shall
+go with you, but under your command. It is spoken."
+
+"Life! Blood! Strength!" said both Seti and Amenmeses, thus
+acknowledging the king's command.
+
+Now I thought that all was finished. But it was not so, for presently
+Pharaoh said:
+
+"Let the guards withdraw to the end of the hall and with them the
+servants. Let the King's councillors and the officers of the household
+remain."
+
+Instantly all saluted and withdrew out of hearing. I, too, made ready to
+go, but the Prince said to me:
+
+"Stay, that you may take note of what passes."
+
+Pharaoh, watching, saw if he did not hear.
+
+"Who is that man, Son?" he asked.
+
+"He is Ana my private scribe and librarian, O Pharaoh, whom I trust. It
+was he who saved me from harm but last night."
+
+"You say it, Son. Let him remain in attendance on you, knowing that if
+he betrays our council he dies."
+
+Userti looked up frowning as though she were about to speak. If so, she
+changed her mind and was silent, perhaps because Pharaoh's word once
+spoken could not be altered. Bakenkhonsu remained also as a Councillor
+of the King according to his right.
+
+When all had gone Pharaoh, who had been brooding, lifted his head and
+spoke slowly but in the voice of one who gives a judgment that may not
+be questioned, saying:
+
+"Prince Seti, you are my only son born of Queen Ast-Nefert, royal
+Sister, royal Mother, who sleeps in the bosom of Osiris. It is true that
+you are not my first-born son, since the Count Ramessu"--here he pointed
+to a stout mild-faced man of pleasing, rather foolish appearance--"is
+your elder by two years. But, as he knows well, his mother, who is still
+with us, is a Syrian by birth and of no royal blood, and therefore he
+can never sit upon the throne of Egypt. Is it not so, my son Ramessu?"
+
+"It is so, O Pharaoh," answered the Count in a pleasant voice, "not do I
+seek ever to sit upon that throne, who am well content with the
+offices and wealth that Pharaoh has been pleased to confer upon me, his
+first-born."
+
+"Let the words of the Count Ramessu be written down," said Pharaoh, "and
+placed in the temple of Ptah of this city, and in the temples of Ptah
+at Memphis and of Amon at Thebes, that hereafter they may never be
+questioned."
+
+The scribes in attendance wrote down the words and, at a sign from the
+Prince Seti, I also wrote them down, setting the papyrus I had with me
+on my knee. When this was finished Pharaoh went on.
+
+"Therefore, O Prince Seti, you are the heir of Egypt and perhaps, as
+those Hebrew prophets said, will ere long be called upon to sit in my
+place on its throne."
+
+"May the King live for ever!" exclaimed Seti, "for well he knows that I
+do not seek his crown and dignities."
+
+"I do know it well, my son; so well that I wish you thought more of that
+crown and those dignities which, if the gods will, must come to you. If
+they will it not, next in the order of succession stands your cousin,
+the Count Amenmeses, who is also of royal blood both on his father's
+and his mother's side, and after him I know not who, unless it be
+my daughter and your half-sister, the royal Princess Userti, Lady of
+Egypt."
+
+Now Userti spoke, very earnestly, saying:
+
+"O Pharaoh, surely my right in the succession, according to ancient
+precedent, precedes that of my cousin, the Count Amenmeses."
+
+Amenmeses was about to answer, but Pharaoh lifted his hand and he was
+silent.
+
+"It is matter for those learned in such lore to discuss," Meneptah
+replied in a somewhat hesitating voice. "I pray the gods that it may
+never be needful that this high question should be considered in the
+Council. Nevertheless, let the words of the royal Princess be written
+down. Now, Prince Seti," he went on when this had been done, "you are
+still unmarried, and if you have children they are not royal."
+
+"I have none, O Pharaoh," said Seti.
+
+"Is it so?" answered Meneptah indifferently. "The Count Amenmeses has
+children I know, for I have seen them, but by his wife Unuri, who also
+is of the royal line, he has none."
+
+Here I heard Amenmeses mutter, "Being my aunt that is not strange," a
+saying at which Seti smiled.
+
+"My daughter, the Princess, is also unmarried. So it seems that the
+fountain of the royal blood is running dry----"
+
+"Now it is coming," whispered Seti below his breath so that only I could
+hear.
+
+"Therefore," continued Pharaoh, "as you know, Prince Seti, for the royal
+Princess of Egypt by my command went to speak to you of this matter last
+night, I make a decree----"
+
+"Pardon, O Pharaoh," interrupted the Prince, "my sister spoke to me
+of no decree last night, save that I should attend at the court here
+to-day."
+
+"Because I could not, Seti, seeing that another was present with you
+whom you refused to dismiss," and she let her eyes rest on me.
+
+"It matters not," said Pharaoh, "since now I will utter it with my own
+lips which perhaps is better. It is my will, Prince, that you forthwith
+wed the royal Princess Userti, that children of the true blood of the
+Ramessides may be born. Hear and obey."
+
+Now Userti shifted her eyes from me to Seti, watching him very closely.
+Seated at his side upon the ground with my writing roll spread across my
+knee, I, too, watched him closely, and noted that his lips turned white
+and his face grew fixed and strange.
+
+"I hear the command of Pharaoh," he said in a low voice making
+obeisance, and hesitated.
+
+"Have you aught to add?" asked Meneptah sharply.
+
+"Only, O Pharaoh, that though this would be a marriage decreed for
+reasons of the State, still there is a lady who must be given in
+marriage, and she my half-sister who heretofore has only loved me as
+a relative. Therefore, I would know from her lips if it is her will to
+take me as a husband."
+
+Now all looked at Userti who replied in a cold voice:
+
+"In this matter, Prince, as in all others I have no will but that of
+Pharaoh."
+
+"You have heard," interrupted Meneptah impatiently, "and as in our House
+it has always been the custom for kin to marry kin, why should it not
+be her will? Also, who else should she marry? Amenmeses is already wed.
+There remains only Saptah his brother who is younger than herself----"
+
+"So am I," murmured Seti, "by two long years," but happily Userti did
+not hear him.
+
+"Nay, my father," she said with decision, "never will I take a deformed
+man to husband."
+
+Now from the shadow on the further side of the throne, where I could
+not see him, there hobbled forward a young noble, short in stature,
+light-haired like Seti, and with a sharp, clever face which put me in
+mind of that of a jackal (indeed for this reason he was named Thoth by
+the common people, after the jackal-headed god). He was very angry, for
+his cheeks were flushed and his small eyes flashed.
+
+"Must I listen, Pharaoh," he said in a little voice, "while my cousin
+the Royal Princess reproaches me in public for my lame foot, which I
+have because my nurse let me fall when I was still in arms?"
+
+"Then his nurse let his grandfather fall also, for he too was
+club-footed, as I who have seen him naked in his cradle can bear
+witness," whispered old Bakenkhonsu.
+
+"It seems so, Count Saptah, unless you stop your ears," replied Pharaoh.
+
+"She says she will not marry me," went on Saptah, "me who from childhood
+have been a slave to her and to no other woman."
+
+"Not by my wish, Saptah. Indeed, I pray you to go and be a slave to any
+woman whom you will," exclaimed Userti.
+
+"But I say," continued Saptah, "that one day she shall marry me, for the
+Prince Seti will not live for ever."
+
+"How do you know that, Cousin?" asked Seti. "The High-priest here will
+tell you a different story."
+
+Now certain of those present turned their heads away to hide the smile
+upon their faces. Yet on this day some god spoke with Saptah's voice
+making him a prophet, since in a year to come she did marry him, in
+order that she might stay upon the throne at a time of trouble when
+Egypt would not suffer that a woman should have sole rule over the land.
+
+But Pharaoh did not smile like the courtiers; indeed he grew angry.
+
+"Peace, Saptah!" he said. "Who are you that wrangle before me, talking
+of the death of kings and saying that you will wed the Royal princess?
+One more such word and you shall be driven into banishment. Hearken
+now. Almost am I minded to declare my daughter, the Royal Princess, sole
+heiress to the throne, seeing that in her there is more strength and
+wisdom than in any other of our House."
+
+"If such be Pharaoh's will, let Pharaoh's will be done," said Seti most
+humbly. "Well I know my own unworthiness to fill so high a station,
+and by all the gods I swear that my beloved sister will find no more
+faithful subject than myself."
+
+"You mean, Seti," interrupted Userti, "that rather than marry me you
+would abandon your right to the double crown. Truly I am honoured. Seti,
+whether you reign or I, I will not marry you."
+
+"What words are these I hear?" cried Meneptah. "Is there indeed one
+in this land of Egypt who dares to say that Pharaoh's decree shall
+be disobeyed? Write it down, Scribes, and you, O Officers, let it be
+proclaimed from Thebes to the sea, that on the third day from now at the
+hour of noon in the temple of Hathor in this city, the Prince, the
+Royal Heir, Seti Meneptah, Beloved of Ra, will wed the Royal Princess
+of Egypt, Lily of Love, Beloved of Hathor, Userti, Daughter of me, the
+god."
+
+"Life! Blood! Strength!" called all the Court.
+
+Then, guided by some high officer, the Prince Seti was led before the
+throne and the Princess Userti was set beside him, or rather facing him.
+According to the ancient custom a great gold cup was brought and filled
+with red wine, to me it looked like blood. Userti took the cup and,
+kneeling, gave it to the Prince, who drank and gave it back to her that
+she might also drink in solemn token of their betrothal. Is not the
+scene graven on the broad bracelets of gold which in after days Seti
+wore when he sat upon the throne, those same bracelets that at a future
+time I with my own hands clasped about the wrists of dead Userti?
+
+Then he stretched out his hand which she touched with her lips, and
+bending down he kissed her on the brow. Lastly, Pharaoh, descending to
+the lowest step of the throne, laid his sceptre, first upon the head of
+the Prince, and next upon that of the Princess, blessing them both in
+the name of himself, of his Ka or Double, and of the spirits and Kas of
+all their forefathers, kings and queens of Egypt, thus appointing them
+to come after him when he had been gathered to the bosom of the gods.
+
+These things done, he departed in state, surrounded by his court,
+preceded and followed by his guards and leaning on the arm of the
+Princess Userti, whom he loved better than anyone in the world.
+
+A while later I stood alone with the Prince in his private chamber,
+where I had first seen him.
+
+"That is finished," he said in a cheerful voice, "and I tell you, Ana,
+that I feel quite, quite happy. Have you ever shivered upon the bank
+of a river of a winter morning, fearing to enter, and yet, when you did
+enter, have you not been pleased to find that the icy water refreshed
+you and made you not cold but hot?"
+
+"Yes, Prince. It is when one comes out of the water, if the wind blows
+and no sun shines, that one feels colder than before."
+
+"True, Ana, and therefore one must not come out. One should stop there
+till one--drowns or is eaten by a crocodile. But, say, did I do it
+well?"
+
+"Old Bakenkhonsu told me, Prince, that he had been present at many royal
+betrothals, I think he said eleven, and had never seen one conducted
+with more grace. He added that the way in which you kissed the brow
+of her Highness was perfect, as was all your demeanour after the first
+argument."
+
+"And so it would remain, Ana, if I were never called upon to do more
+than kiss her brow, to which I have been accustomed from boyhood.
+Oh! Ana, Ana," he added in a kind of cry, "already you are becoming a
+courtier like the rest of them, a courtier who cannot speak the truth.
+Well, nor can I, so why should I blame you? Tell me again all about your
+marriage, Ana, of how it began and how it ended."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE PROPHECY
+
+Whether or no the Prince Seti saw Userti again before the hour of his
+marriage with her I cannot say, because he never told me. Indeed I was
+not present at the marriage, for the reason that I had been granted
+leave to return to Memphis, there to settle my affairs and sell my house
+on entering upon my appointment as private scribe to his Highness. Thus
+it came about that fourteen full days went by from that of the holding
+of the Court of Betrothal before I found myself standing once more at
+the gate of the Prince's palace, attended by a servant who led an ass
+on which were laden all my manuscripts and certain possessions that had
+descended to me from my ancestors with the title-deeds of their tombs.
+Different indeed was my reception on this my second coming. Even as I
+reached the steps the old chamberlain Pambasa appeared, running down
+them so fast that his white robes and beard streamed upon the air.
+
+"Greeting, most learned scribe, most honourable Ana," he panted. "Glad
+indeed am I to see you, since very hour his Highness asks if you have
+returned, and blames me because you have not come. Verily I believe that
+if you had stayed upon the road another day I should have been sent
+to look for you, who have had sharp words said to me because I did not
+arrange that you should be accompanied by a guard, as though the Vizier
+Nehesi would have paid the costs of a guard without the direct order
+of Pharaoh. O most excellent Ana, give me of the charm which you have
+doubtless used to win the love of our royal master, and I will pay you
+well for it who find it easier to earn his wrath."
+
+"I will, Pambasa. Here it is--write better stories than I do instead of
+telling them, and he will love you more than he does me. But say--how
+went the marriage? I have heard upon the way that it was very splendid."
+
+"Splendid! Oh! it was ten times more than splendid. It was as though the
+god Osiris were once more wed to the goddess Isis in the very halls of
+heaven. Indeed his Highness, the bridegroom, was dressed as a god, yes,
+he wore the robes and the holy ornaments of Amon. And the procession!
+And the feast that Pharaoh gave! I tell you that the Prince was so
+overcome with joy and all this weight of glory that, before it was over,
+looking at him I saw that his eyes were closed, being dazzled by the
+gleam of gold and jewels and the loveliness of his royal bride. He told
+me that it was so himself, fearing perhaps lest I should have thought
+that he was asleep. Then there were the presents, something to everyone
+of us according to his degree. I got--well it matters not. And, learned
+Ana, I did not forget you. Knowing well that everything would be gone
+before you returned I spoke your name in the ear of his Highness,
+offering to keep your gift."
+
+"Indeed, Pambasa, and what did he say?"
+
+"He said that he was keeping it himself. When I stared wondering what it
+might be, for I saw nothing on him, he added, 'It is here,' and touched
+the private signet guard that he has always worn, an ancient ring of
+gold, but of no great value I should say, with 'Beloved of Thoth and of
+the King' cut upon it. It seems that he must take it off to make room
+for another and much finer ring which her Highness has given him."
+
+Now, by this time, the ass having been unloaded by the slaves and led
+away, we had passed through the hall where many were idling as ever, and
+were come to the private apartments of the palace.
+
+"This way," said Pambasa. "The orders are that I am to take you to
+the Prince wherever he may be, and just now he is seated in the great
+apartment with her Highness, where they have been receiving homage and
+deputations from distant cities. The last left about half an hour ago."
+
+"First I will prepare myself, worthy Pambasa," I began.
+
+"No, no, the orders are instant, I dare not disobey them. Enter," and
+with a courtly flourish he drew a rich curtain.
+
+"By Amon," exclaimed a weary voice which I knew as that of the Prince,
+"here come more councillors or priests. Prepare, my sister, prepare!"
+
+"I pray you, Seti," answered another voice, that of Userti, "to learn to
+call me by my right name, which is no longer sister. Nor, indeed, am I
+your full sister."
+
+"I crave your pardon," said Seti. "Prepare, Royal Wife, prepare!"
+
+By now the curtain was fully drawn and I stood, travel-stained, forlorn
+and, to tell the truth, trembling a little, for I feared her Highness,
+in the doorway, hesitating to pass the threshold. Beyond was a splendid
+chamber full of light, in the centre of which upon a carven and golden
+chair, one of two that were set there, sat her Highness magnificently
+apparelled, faultlessly beautiful and calm. She was engaged in studying
+a painted roll, left no doubt by the last deputation, for others similar
+to it were laid neatly side by side upon a table.
+
+The second chair was empty, for the Prince was walking restlessly up and
+down the chamber, his ceremonial robe somewhat disarrayed and the ur�us
+circlet of gold which he wore, tilted back upon his head, because of his
+habit of running his fingers through his brown hair. As I still stood in
+the dark shadow, for Pambasa had left me, and thus remained unseen, the
+talk went on.
+
+"I am prepared, Husband. Pardon me, it is you who look otherwise. Why
+would you dismiss the scribes and the household before the ceremony was
+ended?"
+
+"Because they wearied me," said Seti, "with their continual bowing and
+praising and formalities."
+
+"In which I saw nothing unusual. Now they must be recalled."
+
+"Let whoever it is enter," he exclaimed.
+
+Then I stepped forward into the light, prostrating myself.
+
+"Why," he cried, "it is Ana returned from Memphis! Draw near, Ana, and
+a thousand welcomes to you. Do you know I thought that you were another
+high-priest, or governor of some Nome of which I had never heard."
+
+"Ana! Who is Ana?" asked the Princess. "Oh! I remember that scribe----.
+Well, it is plain that he has returned from Memphis," and she eyed my
+dusty robe.
+
+"Royal One," I murmured abashed, "do not blame me that I enter your
+presence thus. Pambasa led me here against my will by the direct order
+of the Prince."
+
+"Is it so? Say, Seti, does this man bring tidings of import from Memphis
+that you needed his presence in such haste?"
+
+"Yes, Userti, at least I think so. You have the writings safe, have you
+not, Ana?"
+
+"Quite safe, your Highness," I answered, though I knew not of what
+writings he spoke, unless they were the manuscripts of my stories.
+
+"Then, my Lord, I will leave you to talk of the tidings from Memphis and
+these writings," said the Princess.
+
+"Yes, yes. We must talk of them, Userti. Also of the journey to the land
+of Goshen on which Ana starts with me to-morrow."
+
+"To-morrow! Why this morning you told me it was fixed for three days
+hence."
+
+"Did I, Sister--I mean Wife? If so, it was because I was not sure
+whether Ana, who is to be my chariot companion, would be back."
+
+"A scribe your chariot companion! Surely it would be more fitting that
+your cousin Amenmeses----"
+
+"To Set with Amenmeses!" he exclaimed. "You know well, Userti, that the
+man is hateful to me with his cunning yet empty talk."
+
+"Indeed! I grieve to hear it, for when you hate you show it, and
+Amenmeses may be a bad enemy. Then if not our cousin Amenmeses who is
+not hateful to me, there is Saptah."
+
+"I thank you; I will not travel in a cage with a jackal."
+
+"Jackal! I do not love Saptah, but one of the royal blood of Egypt a
+jackal! Then there is Nehesi the Vizier, or the General of the escort
+whose name I forget."
+
+"Do you think, Userti, that I wish to talk about state economies with
+that old money-sack, or to listen to boastings of deeds he never did in
+war from a half-bred Nubian butcher?"
+
+"I do not know, Husband. Yet of what will you talk with this Ana? Of
+poems, I suppose, and silliness. Or will it be perchance of Merapi, Moon
+of Israel, whom I gather both of you think so beautiful. Well, have your
+way. You tell me that I am not to accompany you upon this journey, I
+your new-made wife, and now I find that it is because you wish my place
+to be filled by a writer of tales whom you picked up the other day--your
+'twin in Ra' forsooth! Fare you well, my Lord," and she rose from her
+seat, gathering up her robes with both hands.
+
+Then Seti grew angry.
+
+"Userti," he said, stamping upon the floor, "you should not use such
+words. You know well that I do not take you with me because there may be
+danger yonder among the Hebrews. Moreover, it is not Pharaoh's wish."
+
+She turned and answered with cold courtesy:
+
+"Then I crave your pardon and thank you for your kind thought for
+the safety of my person. I knew not this mission was so dangerous. Be
+careful, Seti, that the scribe Ana comes to no harm."
+
+So saying she bowed and vanished through the curtains.
+
+"Ana," said Seti, "tell me, for I never was quick at figures, how many
+minutes is it from now till the fourth hour to-morrow morning when I
+shall order my chariot to be ready? Also, do you know whether it is
+possible to travel from Goshen across the marshes and to return by
+Syria? Or, failing that, to travel across the desert to Thebes and sail
+down the Nile in the spring?"
+
+"Oh! my Prince, my Prince," I said, "I pray you to dismiss me. Let me go
+anywhere out of the reach of her Highness's tongue."
+
+"It is strange how alike we think upon every matter, Ana, even of Merapi
+and the tongues of royal ladies. Hearken to my command. You are not to
+go. If it is a question of going, there are others who will go first.
+Moreover, you cannot go, but must stay and bear your burdens as I bear
+mine. Remember the broken cup, Ana."
+
+"I remember, my Prince, but sooner would I be scourged with rods than by
+such words as those to which I must listen."
+
+Yet that very night, when I had left the Prince, I was destined to hear
+more pleasant words from this same changeful, or perchance politic,
+royal lady. She sent for me and I went, much afraid. I found her in a
+small chamber alone, save for one old lady of honour who sat the end of
+the room and appeared to be deaf, which perhaps was why she was chosen.
+Userti bade me be seated before her very courteously, and spoke to me
+thus, whether because of some talk she had held with the Prince or not,
+I do not know.
+
+"Scribe Ana, I ask your pardon if, being vexed and wearied, I said to
+you and of you to-day what I now wish I had left unsaid. I know well
+that you, being of the gentle blood of Egypt, will make no report of
+what you heard outside these walls."
+
+"May my tongue be cut out first," I answered.
+
+"It seems, Scribe Ana, that my lord the Prince has taken a great love of
+you. How or why this came about so suddenly, you being a man, I do not
+understand, but I am sure that as it is so, it must be because there
+is much in you to love, since never did I know the Prince to show deep
+regard for one who was not most honourable and worthy. Now things being
+so, it is plain that you will become the favourite of his Highness, a
+man who does not change his mind in such matters, and that he will
+tell you all his secret thoughts, perhaps some that he hides from the
+Councillors of State, or even from me. In short you will grow into
+a power in the land and perhaps one day be the greatest in it--after
+Pharaoh--although you may still seem to be but a private scribe.
+
+"I do not pretend to you that I should have wished this to be so, who
+would rather that my husband had but one real councillor--myself. Yet
+seeing that it is so, I bow my head, hoping that it may be decreed for
+the best. If ever any jealousy should overcome me in this matter and
+I should speak sharply to you, as I did to-day, I ask your pardon in
+advance for that which has not happened, as I have asked it for that
+which has happened. I pray of you, Scribe Ana, that you will do your
+best to influence the mind of the Prince for good, since he is easily
+led by any whom he loves. I pray you also being quick and thoughtful,
+as I see you are, that you will make a study of statecraft, and of
+the policies of our royal House, coming to me, if it be needful, for
+instruction therein, so that you may be able to guide the feet of the
+Prince aright, should he turn to you for counsel."
+
+"All of this I will do, your Highness, if by any chance it lies in my
+power, though who am I that I should hope to make a path for the feet of
+kings? Moreover, I would add this, although he is so gentle-natured, I
+think that in the end the Prince is one who will always choose his own
+path."
+
+"It may be so Ana. At the least I thank you. I pray you to be sure also
+that in me you will always have a friend and not an enemy, although at
+times the quickness of my nature, which has never been controlled, may
+lead you to think otherwise. Now I will say one more thing that shall
+be secret between us. I know that the Prince loves me as a friend and
+relative rather than as a wife, and that he would not have sought this
+marriage of himself, as is perhaps natural. I know, too, that other
+women will come into his life, though these may be fewer than in the
+case of most kings, because he is more hard to please. Of such I cannot
+complain, as this is according to the customs of our country. I fear
+only one thing--namely that some woman, ceasing to be his toy, may take
+Seti's heart and make him altogether hers. In this matter, Scribe Ana,
+as in others I ask your help, since I would be queen of Egypt in all
+ways, not in name only."
+
+"Your Highness, how can I say to the Prince--'So much shall you love
+this or that woman and no more?' Moreover, why do you fear that which
+has not and may never come about?"
+
+"I do not know how you can say such a thing, Scribe, still I ask you to
+say it if you can. As to why I fear, it is because I seem to feel the
+near shadow of some woman lying cold upon me and building a wall of
+blackness between his Highness and myself."
+
+"It is but a dream, Princess."
+
+"Mayhap. I hope so. Yet I think otherwise. Oh! Ana, cannot you, who
+study the hearts of men and women, understand my case? I have married
+where I can never hope to be loved as other women are, I who am a wife,
+yet not a wife. I read your thought; it is--why then did you marry?
+Since I have told you so much I will tell you that also. First, it is
+because the Prince is different to other men and in his own fashion
+above them, yes, far above any with whom I could have wed as royal
+heiress of Egypt. Secondly, because being cut off from love, what
+remains to me but ambition? At least I would be a great queen, as was
+Hatshepu in her day, and lift my country out of the many troubles in
+which it is sunk and write my name large upon the books of history,
+which I could only do by taking Pharaoh's heir to husband, as is my
+duty."
+
+She brooded a while, then added, "Now I have shown you all my thought.
+Whether I have been wise to do so the gods know alone and time will tell
+me."
+
+"Princess," I said, "I thank you for trusting me and I will help you if
+I may. Yet I am troubled. I, a humble man if of good blood, who a
+little while ago was but a scribe and a student, a dreamer who had
+known trouble also, have suddenly by chance, or some divine decree, been
+lifted high in the favour of the heir of Egypt, and it would seem have
+even won your trust. Now I wonder how I shall bear myself in this new
+place which in truth I never sought."
+
+"I do not know, who find the present and its troubles enough to carry.
+But, doubtless, the decree of which you speak that set you there has
+also written down what will be the end of all. Meanwhile, I have a gift
+for you. Say, Scribe, have you ever handled any weapon besides a pen?"
+
+"Yes, your Highness, as a lad I was skilled in sword play. Moreover,
+though I do not love war and bloodshed, some years ago I fought in the
+great battle between the Ninebow Barbarians, when Pharaoh called upon
+the young men of Memphis to do their part. With my own hands I slew two
+in fair fight, though one nearly brought me to my end," and I pointed
+to a scar which showed red through my grey hair where a spear had bitten
+deep.
+
+"It is well, or so I think, who love soldiers better than stainers of
+papyrus pith."
+
+Then, going to a painted chest of reeds, she took from it a wonderful
+shirt of mail fashioned of bronze rings, and a short sword also of
+bronze, having a golden hilt of which the end was shaped to the likeness
+of the head of a lion, and with her own hands gave them to me, saying:
+
+"These are spoils that my grandsire, the great Rameses, took in his
+youth from a prince of the Khitah, whom he smote with his own hands in
+Syria in that battle whereof your grandfather made the poem. Wear the
+shirt, which no spear will pierce, beneath your robe and gird the sword
+about you when you go down yonder among the Israelites, whom I do not
+trust. I have given a like coat to the Prince. Let it be your duty to
+see that it is upon his sacred person day and night. Let it be your
+duty also, if need arises, with this sword to defend him to the death.
+Farewell."
+
+"May all the gods reject me from the Fields of the Blessed if I fail in
+this trust," I answered, and departed wondering, to seek sleep which, as
+it chanced, I was not to find for a while.
+
+For as I went down the corridor, led by one of the ladies of the
+household, whom should I find waiting at the end of it but old Pambasa
+to inform me with many bows that the Prince needed my presence. I asked
+how that could be seeing he had dismissed me for the night. He replied
+that he did not know, but he was commanded to conduct me to the private
+chamber, the same room in which I had first seen his Highness. Thither I
+went and found him warming himself at the fire, for the night was cold.
+Looking up he bade Pambasa admit those who were waiting, then noting the
+shirt of mail and the sword I carried in my hand, said:
+
+"You have been with the Princess, have you not, and she must have had
+much to say to you for your talk was long? Well, I think I can guess its
+purport who from a child have known her mind. She told you to watch me
+well, body and heart and all that comes from the heart--oh! and much
+else. Also she gave you that Syrian gear to wear among the Hebrews as
+she has given the like to me, being of a careful mind which foresees
+everything. Now, hearken, Ana; I grieve to keep you from your rest, who
+must be weary both with talk and travel. But old Bakenkhonsu, whom you
+know, waits without, and with him Ki the great magician, whom I think
+you have not seen. He is a man of wonderful lore and in some ways not
+altogether human. At least he does strange feats of magic, and at times
+both the past and the future seem to be open to his sight, though as we
+know neither the one nor the other, who can tell whether he reads them
+truly. Doubtless he has, or thinks he has, some message to me from the
+heavens, which I thought you might wish to hear."
+
+"I wish it much, Prince, if I am worthy, and you will protect me from
+the anger of this magician whom I fear."
+
+"Anger sometimes turns to trust, Ana. Did you not find it so just now
+in the case of her Highness, as I told you might very well happen? Hush!
+They come. Be seated and prepare your tablets to make record of what
+they say."
+
+The curtains were drawn and through them came the aged Bakenkhonsu
+leaning upon his staff, and with him another man, Ki himself, clad in a
+white robe and having his head shaven, for he was an hereditary priest
+of Amon of Thebes and an initiate of Isis, Mother of Mysteries. Also his
+office was that of Kherheb, or chief magician of Egypt. At first sight
+there was nothing strange about this man. Indeed, he might well have
+been a middle-aged merchant by his looks; in body he was short and
+stout; in face fat and smiling. But in this jovial countenance were set
+two very strange eyes, grey-hued rather than black. While the rest of
+the face seemed to smile these eyes looked straight into nothingness as
+do those of a statue. Indeed they were like to the eyes or rather the
+eye-places of a stone statue, so deeply were they set into the head. For
+my part I can only say I thought them awful, and by their look judged
+that whatever Ki might be he was no cheat.
+
+This strange pair bowed to the Prince and seated themselves at a sign
+from him, Bakenkhonsu upon a stool because he found it difficult to
+rise, and Ki, who was younger, scribe fashion on the ground.
+
+"What did I tell you, Bakenkhonsu?" said Ki in a full, rich voice,
+ending the words with a curious chuckle.
+
+"You told me, Magician, that we should find the Prince in this chamber
+of which you described every detail to me as I see it now, although
+neither of us have entered it before. You said also that seated therein
+on the ground would be the scribe Ana, whom I know but you do not,
+having in his hands waxen tablets and a stylus and by him a coat of
+curious mail and a lion-hilted sword."
+
+"That is strange," interrupted the Prince, "but forgive me, Bakenkhonsu
+sees these things. If you, O Ki, would tell us what is written upon
+Ana's tablets which neither of you can see, it would be stranger still,
+that is if anything is written."
+
+Ki smiled and stared upwards at the ceiling. Presently he said:
+
+"The scribe Ana uses a shorthand of his own that is not easy to
+decipher. Yet I see written on the tablets the price he obtained for
+some house in a city that is not named--it is so much. Also I see the
+sums he disbursed for himself, a servant, and the food of an ass at two
+inns where he stopped upon a journey. They are so much and so much. Also
+there is a list of papyrus rolls and the words, 'blue cloak,' and then
+an erasure."
+
+"Is that right, Ana?" asked the Prince.
+
+"Quite right," I answered with awe, "only the words 'blue cloak,' which
+it is true I wrote upon the tablet, have also been erased."
+
+Ki chuckled and turned his eyes from the ceiling to my face.
+
+"Would your Highness wish me to tell you anything of what is written
+upon the tablets of this scribe's memory as well as upon those of wax
+which he holds in his hand? They are easier to decipher than the others
+and I see on them many things of interest. For instance, secret words
+that seem to have been said to him by some Great One within an hour,
+matters of high policy, I think. For instance, a certain saying, I think
+of your Highness's, as to shivering upon the edge of water on a cold
+day, which when entered produced heat, and the answer thereto. For
+instance, words that were spoken in this palace when an alabaster cup
+was broke. By the way, Scribe, that was a very good place you chose in
+which to hide one half of the cup in the false bottom of a chest in your
+chamber, a chest that is fastened with a cord and sealed with a scarab
+of the time of the second Rameses. I think that the other half of the
+cup is somewhat nearer at hand," and turning, he stared at the wall
+where I could see nothing save slabs of alabaster.
+
+Now I sat open-mouthed, for how could this man know these things, and
+the Prince laughed outright, saying:
+
+"Ana, I begin to think you keep your counsel ill. At least I should
+think so, were it not that you have had no time to tell what the
+Princess yonder may have said to you, and can scarcely know the trick of
+the sliding panel in that wall which I have never shown to you."
+
+Ki chuckled again and a smile grew on old Bakenkhonsu's broad and
+wrinkled face.
+
+"O Prince," I began, "I swear to you that never has one word passed my
+lips of aught----"
+
+"I know it, friend," broke in the Prince, "but it seems there are some
+who do not wait for words but can read the Book of Thought. Therefore it
+is not well to meet them too often, since all have thoughts that should
+be known only to them and God. Magician, what is your business with me?
+Speak on as though we were alone."
+
+"This, Prince. You go upon a journey among the Hebrews, as all have
+heard. Now, Bakenkhonsu and I, also two seers of my College, seeing that
+we all love you and that your welfare is much to Egypt, have separately
+sought out the future as regards the issue of this journey. Although
+what we have learned differs in some matters, on others it is the same.
+Therefore we thought it our duty to tell you what we have learned."
+
+"Say on, Kherheb."
+
+"First, then, that your Highness's life will be in danger."
+
+"Life is always in danger, Ki. Shall I lose it? If so, do not fear to
+tell me."
+
+"We do not know, but we think not, because of the rest that is revealed
+to us. We learn that it is not your body only that will be in danger.
+Upon this journey you will see a woman whom you will come to love. This
+woman will, we think, bring you much sorrow and also much joy."
+
+"Then perhaps the journey is worth making, Ki, since many travel far
+before they find aught they can love. Tell me, have I met this woman?"
+
+"There we are troubled, Prince, for it would seem--unless we are
+deceived--that you have met her often and often; that you have known
+her for thousands of years, as you have known that man at your side for
+thousands of years."
+
+Seti's face grew very interested.
+
+"What do you mean, Magician?" he asked, eyeing him keenly. "How can I
+who am still young have known a woman and a man for thousands of years?"
+
+Ki considered him with his strange eyes, and answered:
+
+"You have many titles, Prince. Is not one of them 'Lord of Rebirths,'
+and if so, how did you get it and what does it mean?"
+
+"It is. What it means I do not know, but it was given to me because of
+some dream that my mother had the night before I was born. Do _you_ tell
+_me_ what it means, since you seem to know so much."
+
+"I cannot, Prince. The secret is not one that has been shown to me. Yet
+there was an aged man, a magician like myself from whom I learned much
+in my youth--Bakenkhonsu knew him well--who made a study of this matter.
+He told me he was sure, because it had been revealed to him, that men
+do not live once only and then depart hence for ever. He said that they
+live many times and in many shapes, though not always on this world, and
+that between each life there is a wall of darkness."
+
+"If so, of what use are lives which we do not remember after death has
+shut the door of each of them?"
+
+"The doors may open again at last, Prince, and show us all the chambers
+through which our feet have wandered from the beginning."
+
+"Our religion teaches us, Ki, that after death we live eternally
+elsewhere in our own bodies, which we find again on the day of
+resurrection. Now eternity, having no end, can have no beginning; it is
+a circle. Therefore if the one be true, namely that we live on, it would
+seem that the other must be true, namely that we have always lived."
+
+"That is well reasoned, Prince. In the early days, before the priests
+froze the thought of man into blocks of stone and built of them shrines
+to a thousand gods, many held that this reasoning was true, as then they
+held that there was but one god."
+
+"As do these Israelites whom I go to visit. What say you of their god,
+Ki?"
+
+"That _he_ is the same as our gods, Prince. To men's eyes God has many
+faces, and each swears that the one he sees is the only true god. Yet
+they are wrong, for all are true."
+
+"Or perchance false, Ki, unless even falsehood is a part of truth. Well,
+you have told me of two dangers, one to my body and one to my heart. Has
+any other been revealed to your wisdom?"
+
+"Yes, Prince. The third is that this journey may in the end cost you
+your throne."
+
+"If I die certainly it will cost me my throne."
+
+"No, Prince, if you live."
+
+"Even so, Ki, I think that I could endure life seated more humbly than
+on a throne, though whether her Highness could endure it is another
+matter. Then you say that if I go upon this journey another will be
+Pharaoh in my place."
+
+"We do not say that, Prince. It is true that our arts have shown us
+another filling your place in a time of wizardry and wonders and of the
+death of thousands. Yet when we look again we see not that other but you
+once more filling your own place."
+
+Here I, Ana, bethought me of my vision in Pharaoh's hall.
+
+"The matter is even worse than I thought, Ki, since having once left
+the crown behind me, I think that I should have no wish to wear it any
+more," said Seti. "Who shows you all these things, and how?"
+
+"Our _Kas_, which are our secret selves, show them to us, Prince, and in
+many ways. Sometimes it is by dreams or visions, sometimes by pictures
+on water, sometimes by writings in the desert sand. In all these
+fashions, and by others, our _Kas_, drawing from the infinite well of
+wisdom that is hidden in the being of every man, give us glimpses of the
+truth, as they give us who are instructed power to work marvels."
+
+"Of the truth. Then these things you tell me are true?"
+
+"We believe so, Prince."
+
+"Then being true must happen. So what is the use of your warning me
+against what must happen? There cannot be two truths. What would you
+have me do? Not go upon this journey? Why have you told me that I must
+not go, since if I did not go the truth would become a lie, which it
+cannot? You say it is fated that I should go and because I go such and
+such things will come about. And yet you tell me not to go, for that is
+what you mean. Oh! Kherheb Ki and Bakenkhonsu, doubtless you are great
+magicians and strong in wisdom, but there are greater than you who rule
+the world, and there is a wisdom to which yours is but as a drop of
+water to the Nile. I thank you for your warnings, but to-morrow I go
+down to the land of Goshen to fulfil the commands of Pharaoh. If I come
+back again we will talk more of these matters here upon the earth. If I
+do not come back, perchance we will talk of them elsewhere. Farewell."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE LAND OF GOSHEN
+
+The Prince Seti and all his train, a very great company, came in safety
+to the land of Goshen, I, Ana, travelling with him in his chariot. It
+was then as now a rich land, quite flat after the last line of desert
+hills through which we travelled by a narrow, tortuous path. Everywhere
+it was watered by canals, between which lay the grain fields wherein the
+seed had just been sown. Also there were other fields of green fodder
+whereon were tethered beasts by the hundred, and beyond these, upon the
+drier soil, grazed flocks of sheep. The town Goshen, if so it could
+be called, was but a poor place, numbers of mud huts, no more, in the
+centre of which stood a building, also of mud, with two brick pillars in
+front of it, that we were told was the temple of this people, into the
+inner parts of which none might enter save their High-priest. I laughed
+at the sight of it, but the Prince reproved me, saying that I should not
+judge the spirit by the body, or of the god by his house.
+
+We camped outside this town and soon learned that the people who dwelt
+in it or elsewhere in other towns must be numbered by the ten thousand,
+for more of them than I could count wandered round the camp to look at
+us. The men were fierce-eyed and hook-nosed; the young women well-shaped
+and pleasant to behold; the older women for the most part stout and
+somewhat unwieldy, and the children very beautiful. All were roughly
+clad in robes of loosely-woven, dark-coloured cloth, beneath which the
+women wore garments of white linen. Notwithstanding the wealth we
+saw about us in corn and cattle, their ornaments seemed to be few, or
+perhaps these were hidden from our sight.
+
+It was easy to see that they hated us Egyptians, and even dared to
+despise us. Hate shone in their glittering eyes, and I heard them
+calling us the 'idol-worshippers' one to the other, and asking where was
+our god, the Bull, for being ignorant they thought that we worshipped
+Apis (as mayhap some of the common people do) instead of looking upon
+the sacred beast as a symbol of the powers of Nature. Indeed they did
+more, for on the first night after our coming they slaughtered a bull
+marked much as Apis is, and in the morning we found it lying near the
+gate of the camp, and pinned to its hide with sharp thorns great numbers
+of the scarab�us beetle still living. For again they did not know that
+among us Egyptians this beetle is no god but an emblem of the Creator,
+because it rolls a ball of mud between its feet and sets therein its
+eggs to hatch, as the Creator rolls the world that seems to be round,
+and causes it to produce life.
+
+Now all were angry at these insults except the Prince, who laughed
+and said that he thought the jest coarse but clever. But worse was to
+happen. It seems that a soldier with wine in him had done insult to a
+Hebrew maiden who came alone to draw water at a canal. The news spread
+among the people and some thousands of them rushed to the camp, shouting
+and demanding vengeance in so threatening a manner that it was necessary
+to form up the regiments of guards.
+
+The Prince being summoned commanded that the girl and her kin should be
+admitted and state their case. She came, weeping and wailing and tearing
+her garments, throwing dust on her head also, though it appeared that
+she had taken no great harm from the soldier from whom she ran away. The
+Prince bade her point out the man if she could see him, and she showed
+us one of the bodyguard of the Count Amenmeses, whose face was scratched
+as though by a woman's nails. On being questioned he said he could
+remember little of the matter, but confessed that he had seen the maiden
+by the canal at moonrise and jested with her.
+
+The kin of this girl clamoured that he should be killed, because he had
+offered insult to a high-born lady of Israel. This Seti refused, saying
+that the offence was not one of death, but that he would order him to
+be publicly beaten. Thereupon Amenmeses, who was fond of the soldier, a
+good man enough when not in his cups, sprang up in a rage, saying that
+no servant of his should be touched because he had offered to caress
+some light Israelitish woman who had no business to be wandering about
+alone at night. He added that if the man were flogged he and all those
+under his command would leave the camp and march back to make report to
+Pharaoh.
+
+Now the Prince, having consulted with the councillors, told the woman
+and her kin that as Pharaoh had been appealed to, he must judge of the
+matter, and commanded them to appear at his court within a month and
+state their case against the soldier. They went away very ill-satisfied,
+saying that Amenmeses had insulted their daughter even more than his
+servant had done. The end of this matter was that on the following night
+this soldier was discovered dead, pierced through and through with knife
+thrusts. The girl, her parents and brethren could not be found, having
+fled away into the desert, nor was there any evidence to show by whom
+the soldier had been murdered. Therefore nothing could be done in the
+business except bury the victim.
+
+On the following morning the Inquiry began with due ceremony, the Prince
+Seti and the Count Amenmeses taking their seats at the head of a large
+pavilion with the councillors behind them and the scribes, among whom I
+was, seated at their feet. Then we learned that the two prophets whom I
+had seen at Pharaoh's court were not in the land of Goshen, having left
+before we arrived "to sacrifice to God in the wilderness," nor did any
+know when they would return. Other elders and priests, however, appeared
+and began to set out their case, which they did at great length and in
+a fierce and turbulent fashion, speaking often all of them at once, thus
+making it difficult for the interpreters to render their words, since
+they pretended that they did not know the Egyptian tongue.
+
+Moreover they told their story from the very beginning, when they had
+entered Egypt hundreds of years before and were succoured by the vizier
+of the Pharaoh of that day, one Yusuf, a powerful and clever man of
+their race who stored corn in a time of famine and low Niles. This
+Pharaoh was of the Hyksos people, one of the Shepherd kings whom we
+Egyptians hated and after many wars drove out of Khem. Under these
+Shepherd kings, being joined by many of their own blood, the Israelites
+grew rich and powerful, so that the Pharaohs who came after and who
+loved them not, began to fear them.
+
+This was as far as the story was taken on the first day.
+
+On the second day began the tale of their oppression, under which,
+however, they still multiplied like gnats upon the Nile, and grew so
+strong and numerous that at length the great Rameses did a wicked thing,
+ordering that their male children should be put to death. This order was
+never carried out, because his daughter, she who found Moses among the
+reeds of the river, pleaded for them.
+
+At this point the Prince, wearied with the noise and heat in that
+crowded place, broke off the sitting until the morrow. Commanding me to
+accompany him, he ordered a chariot, not his own, to be made ready, and,
+although I prayed him not to do so, set out unguarded save for myself
+and the charioteer, saying that he would see how these people laboured
+with his own eyes.
+
+Taking a Hebrew lad to run before the horses as our guide, we drove
+to the banks of a canal where the Israelites made bricks of mud which,
+after drying in the sun, were laden into boats that waited for them on
+the canal and taken away to other parts of Egypt to be used on Pharaoh's
+works. Thousands of men were engaged upon this labour, toiling in gangs
+under the command of Egyptian overseers who kept count of the bricks,
+cutting their number upon tally sticks, or sometimes writing them upon
+sherds. These overseers were brutal fellows, for the most part of the
+low class, who used vile language to the slaves. Nor were they content
+with words. Noting a crowd gathered at one place and hearing cries, we
+went to see what passed. Here we found a lad stretched upon the ground
+being cruelly beaten with hide whips, so that the blood ran down him.
+At a sign from the Prince I asked what he had done and was told roughly,
+for the overseers and their guards did not know who we were, that during
+the past six days he had only made half of his allotted tale of bricks.
+
+"Loose him," said the Prince quietly.
+
+"Who are you that give me orders?" asked the head overseer, who was
+helping to hold the lad while the guards flogged him. "Begone, lest I
+serve you as I serve this idle fellow."
+
+Seti looked at him, and as he looked his lips turned white.
+
+"Tell him," he said to me.
+
+"You dog!" I gasped. "Do you know who it is to whom you dare to speak
+thus?"
+
+"No, nor care. Lay on, guard."
+
+The Prince, whose robes were hidden by a wide-sleeved cloak of common
+stuff and make, threw the cloak open revealing beneath it the pectoral
+he had worn in the Court, a beautiful thing of gold whereon were
+inscribed his royal names and titles in black and red enamel. Also he
+held up his right hand on which was a signet of Pharaoh's that he wore
+as his commissioner. The men stared, then one of them who was more
+learned than the rest cried:
+
+"By the gods! this is his Highness the Prince of Egypt!" at which words
+all of them fell upon their faces.
+
+"Rise," said Seti to the lad who looked at him, forgetting his pain in
+his wonderment, "and tell me why you have not delivered your tale of
+bricks."
+
+"Sir," sobbed the boy in bad Egyptian, "for two reasons. First, because
+I am a cripple, see," and he held up his left arm which was withered and
+thin as a mummy's, "and therefore cannot work quickly. Secondly, because
+my mother, whose only child I am, is a widow and lies sick in bed, so
+that there are no women or children in our home who can go out to gather
+straw for me, as Pharaoh has commanded that we should do. Therefore
+I must spend many hours in searching for straw, since I have no means
+wherewith to pay others to do this for me."
+
+"Ana," said the Prince, "write down this youth's name with the place of
+his abode, and if his tale prove true, see that his wants and those of
+his mother are relieved before we depart from Goshen. Write down also
+the names of this overseer and his fellows and command them to report
+themselves at my camp to-morrow at sunrise, when their case shall be
+considered. Say to the lad also that, being one afflicted by the gods,
+Pharaoh frees him from the making of bricks and all other labour of the
+State."
+
+Now while I did these things the overseer and his companions beat their
+heads upon the ground and prayed for mercy, being cowards as the cruel
+always are. His Highness answered them never a word, but only looked
+at them with cold eyes, and I noted that his face which was so kind had
+grown terrible. So those men thought also, for that night they ran away
+to Syria, leaving their families and all their goods behind them, nor
+were they ever seen again in Egypt.
+
+When I had finished writing the Prince turned and, walking to where the
+chariot waited, bade the driver cross the canal by a bridge there
+was here. We drove on a while in silence, following a track which ran
+between the cultivated land and the desert. At length I pointed to the
+sinking sun and asked if it were not time to return.
+
+"Why?" replied the Prince. "The sun dies, but there rises the full moon
+to give us light, and what have we to fear with swords at our sides and
+her Highness Userti's mail beneath our robes? Oh! Ana, I am weary of
+men with their cruelties and shouts and strugglings, and I find this
+wilderness a place of rest, for in it I seem to draw nearer to my own
+soul and the Heaven whence it came, or so I hope."
+
+"Your Highness is fortunate to have a soul to which he cares to draw
+near; it is not so with all of us;" I answered laughing, for I sought to
+change the current of his thoughts by provoking argument of a sort that
+he loved.
+
+Just then, however, the horses, which were not of the best, came to a
+halt on a slope of heavy sand. Nor would Seti allow the driver to flog
+them, but commanded him to let them rest a space. While they did so we
+descended from the chariot and walked up the desert rise, he leaning on
+my arm. As we reached its crest we heard sobs and a soft voice speaking
+on the further side. Who it was that spoke and sobbed we could not see,
+because of a line of tamarisk shrubs which once had been a fence.
+
+"More cruelty, or at least more sorrow," whispered Seti. "Let us look."
+
+So we crept to the tamarisks, and peeping through their feathery tops,
+saw a very sweet sight in the pure rays of that desert moon. There, not
+five paces away, stood a woman clad in white, young and shapely in form.
+Her face we could not see because it was turned from us, also the long
+dark hair which streamed about her shoulders hid it. She was praying
+aloud, speaking now in Hebrew, of which both of us knew something,
+and now in Egyptian, as does one who is accustomed to think in either
+tongue, and stopping from time to time to sob.
+
+"O God of my people," she said, "send me succour and bring me safe home,
+that Thy child may not be left alone in the wilderness to become the
+prey of wild beasts, or of men who are worse than beasts."
+
+Then she sobbed, knelt down on a great bundle which I saw was stubble
+straw, and again began to pray. This time it was in Egyptian, as though
+she feared lest the Hebrew should be overheard and understood.
+
+"O God," she said, "O God of my fathers, help my poor heart, help my
+poor heart!"
+
+We were about to withdraw, or rather to ask her what she ailed, when
+suddenly she turned her head, so that the light fell full upon her
+face. So lovely was it that I caught my breath and the Prince at my side
+started. Indeed it was more than lovely, for as a lamp shines through an
+alabaster vase or a shell of pearl so did the spirit within this woman
+shine through her tear-stained face, making it mysterious as the night.
+Then I understood, perhaps for the first time, that it is the spirit
+which gives true beauty both to maid and man and not the flesh. The
+white vase of alabaster, however shapely, is still a vase alone; it
+is the hidden lamp within that graces it with the glory of a star. And
+those eyes, those large, dreaming eyes aswim with tears and hued
+like richest lapis-lazuli, oh! what man could look on them and not be
+stirred?
+
+"Merapi!" I whispered.
+
+"Moon of Israel!" murmured Seti, "filled with the moon, lovely as the
+moon, mystic as the moon and worshipping the moon, her mother."
+
+"She is in trouble; let us help her," I said.
+
+"Nay, wait a while, Ana, for never again shall you and I see such a
+sight as this."
+
+Low as we spoke beneath our breath, I think the lady heard us. At least
+her face changed and grew frightened. Hastily she rose, lifted the great
+bundle of straw upon which she had been kneeling and placed it on her
+head. She ran a few steps, then stumbled and sank down with a little
+moan of pain. In an instant we were at her side. She stared at us
+affrighted, for who we were she could not see because of the wide
+hoods of our common cloaks that made us look like midnight thieves, or
+slave-dealing Bedouin.
+
+"Oh! Sirs," she babbled, "harm me not. I have nothing of value on me
+save this amulet."
+
+"Who are you and what do you here?" asked the Prince disguising his
+voice.
+
+"Sirs, I am Merapi, the daughter of Nathan the Levite, he whom the
+accursed Egyptian captain, Khuaka, murdered at Tanis."
+
+"How do you dare to call the Egyptians accursed?" asked Seti in tones
+made gruff to hide his laughter.
+
+"Oh! Sirs, because they are--I mean because I thought you were Arabs who
+hate them, as we do. At least this Egyptian was accursed, for the high
+Prince Seti, Pharaoh's heir, caused him to be beheaded for that crime."
+
+"And do you hate the high Prince Seti, Pharaoh's heir, and call him
+accursed?"
+
+She hesitated, then in a doubtful voice said:
+
+"No, I do not hate him."
+
+"Why not, seeing that you hate the Egyptians of whom he is one of
+the first and therefore twice worthy of hatred, being the son of your
+oppressor, Pharaoh?"
+
+"Because, although I have tried my best, I cannot. Also," she added with
+the joy of one who has found a good reason, "he avenged my father."
+
+"This is no cause, girl, seeing that he only did what the law forced him
+to do. They say that this dog of a Pharaoh's son is here in Goshen upon
+some mission. Is it true, and have you seen him? Answer, for we of the
+desert folk desire to know."
+
+"I believe it is true, Sir, but I have not seen him."
+
+"Why not, if he is here?"
+
+"Because I do not wish to, Sir. Why should a daughter of Israel desire
+to look upon the face of a prince of Egypt?"
+
+"In truth I do not know," replied Seti forgetting his feigned voice.
+Then, seeing that she glanced at him sharply, he added in gruff tones:
+
+"Brother, either this woman lies or she is none other than the maid they
+call Moon of Israel who dwells with old Jabez the Levite, her uncle.
+What think you?"
+
+"I think, Brother, that she lies, and for three reasons," I answered,
+falling into the jest. "First, she is too fair to be of the black Hebrew
+blood."
+
+"Oh! Sir," moaned Merapi, "my mother was a Syrian lady of the mountains,
+with a skin as white as milk, and eyes blue as the heavens."
+
+"Secondly," I went on without heeding her, "if the great Prince Seti is
+really in Goshen and she dwells there, it is unnatural that she should
+not have gone to look upon him. Being a woman only two things would have
+kept her away, one--that she feared and hated him, which she denies, and
+the other--that she liked him too well, and, being prudent, thought it
+wisest not to look upon him more."
+
+When she heard the first of these words, Merapi glanced up with her lips
+parted as though to answer. Instead, she dropped her eyes and suddenly
+seemed to choke, while even in the moonlight I saw the red blood pour to
+her brow and along her white arms.
+
+"Sir," she gasped, "why should you affront me? I swear that never till
+this moment did I think such a thing. Surely it would be treason."
+
+"Without doubt," interrupted Seti, "yet one of a sort that kings might
+pardon."
+
+"Thirdly," I went on as though I had heard neither of them, "if this
+girl were what she declares, she would not be wandering alone in the
+desert at night, seeing that I have heard among the Arabs that Merapi,
+daughter of Nathan the Levite, is a lady of no mean blood among the
+Hebrews and that her family has wealth. Still, however much she lies, we
+can see for ourselves that she is beautiful."
+
+"Yes, Brother, in that we are fortunate, since without doubt she will
+sell for a high price among the slave traders beyond the desert."
+
+"Oh! Sir," cried Merapi seizing the hem of his robe, "surely you who
+I feel, I know not why, are no evil thief, you who have a mother and,
+perchance, sisters, would not doom a maiden to such a fate. Misjudge me
+not because I am alone. Pharaoh has commanded that we must find straw
+for the making of bricks. This morning I came far to search for it on
+behalf of a neighbour whose wife is ill in childbed. But towards sundown
+I slipped and cut myself upon the edge of a sharp stone. See," and
+holding up her foot she showed a wound beneath the instep from which the
+blood still dropped, a sight that moved both of us not a little, "and
+now I cannot walk and carry this heavy straw which I have been at such
+pains to gather."
+
+"Perchance she speaks truth, Brother," said the Prince, "and if we took
+her home we might earn no small reward from Jabez the Levite. But first
+tell me, Maiden, what was that prayer which you made to the moon, that
+Hathor should help your heart?"
+
+"Sir," she answered, "only the idolatrous Egyptians pray to Hathor, the
+Lady of Love."
+
+"I thought that all the world prayed to the Lady of Love, Maiden. But
+what of the prayer? Is there some man whom you desire?"
+
+"None," she answered angrily.
+
+"Then why does your heart need so much help that you ask it of the air?
+Is there perchance someone whom you do _not_ desire?"
+
+She hung her head and made no answer.
+
+"Come, Brother," said the Prince, "this lady is weary of us, and I
+think that if she were a true woman she would answer our questions more
+readily. Let us go and leave her. As she cannot walk we can take her
+later if we wish."
+
+"Sirs," she said, "I am glad that you are going, since the hyenas will
+be safer company than two men who can threaten to sell a helpless
+woman into slavery. Yet as we part to meet no more I will answer your
+question. In the prayer to which you were not ashamed to listen I did
+not pray for any lover, I prayed to be rid of one."
+
+"Now, Ana," said the Prince bursting into laughter and throwing back his
+dark cloak, "do you discover the name of that unhappy man of whom the
+lady Merapi wishes to be rid, for I dare not."
+
+She gazed into his face and uttered a little cry.
+
+"Ah!" she said, "I thought I knew the voice again when once you forget
+your part. Prince Seti, does your Highness think that this was a kind
+jest to practise upon one alone and in fear?"
+
+"Lady Merapi," he answered smiling, "be not wroth, for at least it was
+a good one and you have told us nothing that we did not know. You may
+remember that at Tanis you said that you were affianced and there was
+that in your voice----. Suffer me now to tend this wound of yours."
+
+Then he knelt down, tore a strip from his ceremonial robe of fine linen,
+and began to bind up her foot, not unskilfully, being a man full of
+strange and unexpected knowledge. As he worked at the task, watching
+them, I saw their eyes meet, saw too that rich flood of colour creep
+once more to Merapi's brow. Then I began to think it unseemly that the
+Prince of Egypt should play the leech to a woman's hurts, and to wonder
+why he had not left that humble task to me.
+
+Presently the bandaging was done and made fast with a royal scarab�us
+mounted on a pin of gold, which the Prince wore in his garments. On it
+was cut the ur�us crown and beneath it were the signs which read "Lord
+of the Lower and the Upper Land," being Pharaoh's style and title.
+
+"See now, Lady," he said, "you have Egypt beneath your foot," and when
+she asked him what he meant, he read her the writing upon the jewel,
+whereat for the third time she coloured to the eyes. Then he lifted
+her up, instructing her to rest her weight upon his shoulder, saying he
+feared lest the scarab, which he valued, should be broken.
+
+Thus we started, I bearing the bundle of straw behind as he bade me,
+since, he said, having been gathered with such toil, it must not be
+lost. On reaching the chariot, where we found the guide gone and the
+driver asleep, he sat her in it upon his cloak, and wrapped her in mine
+which he borrowed, saying I should not need it who must carry the straw.
+Then he mounted also and they drove away at a foot's pace. As I walked
+after the chariot with the straw that fell about my ears, I heard
+nothing of their further talk, if indeed they talked at all which, the
+driver being present, perhaps they did not. Nor in truth did I listen
+who was engaged in thought as to the hard lot of these poor Hebrews, who
+must collect this dirty stuff and bear it so far, made heavy as it was
+by the clay that clung about the roots.
+
+Even now, as it chanced, we did not reach Goshen without further
+trouble. Just as we had crossed the bridge over the canal I, toiling
+behind, saw in the clear moonlight a young man running towards us. He
+was a Hebrew, tall, well-made and very handsome in his fashion. His eyes
+were dark and fierce, his nose was hooked, his teeth where regular and
+white, and his long, black hair hung down in a mass upon his shoulders.
+He held a wooden staff in his hand and a naked knife was girded about
+his middle. Seeing the chariot he halted and peered at it, then asked in
+Hebrew if those who travelled had seen aught of a young Israelitish lady
+who was lost.
+
+"If you seek me, Laban, I am here," replied Merapi, speaking from the
+shadow of the cloak.
+
+"What do you there alone with an Egyptian, Merapi?" he said fiercely.
+
+What followed I do not know for they spoke so quickly in their
+unfamiliar tongue that I could not understand them. At length Merapi
+turned to the Prince, saying:
+
+"Lord, this is Laban my affianced, who commands me to descend from the
+chariot and accompany him as best I can."
+
+"And I, Lady, command you to stay in it. Laban your affianced can
+accompany us."
+
+Now at this Laban grew angry, as I could see he was prone to do, and
+stretched out his hand as though to push Seti aside and seize Merapi.
+
+"Have a care, man,' said the Prince, while I, throwing down the straw,
+drew my sword and sprang between them, crying:
+
+"Slave, would you lay hands upon the Prince of Egypt?"
+
+"Prince of Egypt!" he said, drawing back astonished, then added
+sullenly, "Well what does the Prince of Egypt with my affianced?"
+
+"He helps her who is hurt to her home, having found her helpless in the
+desert with this accursed straw," I answered.
+
+"Forward, driver," said the Prince, and Merapi added, "Peace, Laban, and
+bear the straw which his Highness's companion has carried such a weary
+way."
+
+He hesitated a moment, then snatched up the bundle and set it on his
+head.
+
+As we walked side by side, his evil temper seemed to get the better
+of him. Without ceasing, he grumbled because Merapi was alone in the
+chariot with an Egyptian. At length I could bear it no longer.
+
+"Be silent, fellow," I said. "Least of all men should you complain of
+what his Highness does, seeing that already he has avenged the killing
+of this lady's father, and now has saved her from lying out all night
+among the wild beasts and men of the wilderness."
+
+"Of the first I have heard more than enough," he answered, "and of
+the second doubtless I shall hear more than enough also. Ever since my
+affianced met this prince, she has looked on me with different eyes and
+spoken to me with another voice. Yes, and when I press for marriage, she
+says it cannot be for a long while yet, because she is mourning for her
+father; her father forsooth, whom she never forgave because he betrothed
+her to me according to the custom of our people."
+
+"Perhaps she loves some other man?" I queried, wishing to learn all I
+could about this lady.
+
+"She loves no man, or did not a while ago. She loves herself alone."
+
+"One with so much beauty may look high in marriage."
+
+"High!" he replied furiously. "How can she look higher than myself
+who am a lord of the line of Judah, and therefore greater far than an
+upstart prince or any other Egyptian, were he Pharaoh himself?"
+
+"Surely you must be trumpeter to your tribe," I mocked, for my temper
+was rising.
+
+"Why?" he asked. "Are not the Hebrews greater than the Egyptians, as
+those oppressors soon shall learn, and is not a lord of Israel more than
+any idol-worshipper among your people?"
+
+I looked at the man clad in mean garments and foul from his labour in
+the brickfield, marvelling at his insolence. There was no doubt but that
+he believed what he said; I could see it in his proud eye and bearing.
+He thought that his tribe was of more import in the world than our great
+and ancient nation, and that he, an unknown youth, equalled or surpassed
+Pharaoh himself. Then, being enraged by these insults, I answered:
+
+"You say so, but let us put it to the proof. I am but a scribe, yet
+I have seen war. Linger a little that we may learn whether a lord of
+Israel is better than a scribe of Egypt."
+
+"Gladly would I chastise you, Writer," he answered, "did I not see your
+plot. You wish to delay me here, and perhaps to murder me by some foul
+means, while your master basks in the smiles of the Moon of Israel.
+Therefore I will not stay, but another time it shall be as you wish, and
+perhaps ere long."
+
+Now I think that I should have struck him in the face, though I am not
+one of those who love brawling. But at this moment there appeared a
+company of Egyptian horse led by none other than the Count Amenmeses.
+Seeing the Prince in the Chariot, they halted and gave the salute.
+Amenmeses leapt to the ground.
+
+"We are come out to search for your Highness," he said, "fearing lest
+some hurt had befallen you."
+
+"I thank you, Cousin," answered the Prince, "but the hurt has befallen
+another, not me."
+
+"That is well, your Highness," said the Count, studying Merapi with a
+smile. "Where is the lady wounded? Not in the breast, I trust."
+
+"No, Cousin, in the foot, which is why she travels with me in this
+chariot."
+
+"Your Highness was ever kind to the unfortunate. I pray you let me take
+your place, or suffer me to set this girl upon a horse."
+
+"Drive on," said Seti.
+
+So, escorted by the soldiers, whom I heard making jests to each other
+about the Prince and the lady, as I think did the Hebrew Laban also, for
+he glared about him and ground his teeth, we came at last to the town.
+Here, guided by Merapi, the chariot was halted at the house of Jabez her
+uncle, a white-bearded old Hebrew with a cunning eye, who rushed from
+the door of his mud-roofed dwelling crying he had done no harm that
+soldiers should come to take him.
+
+"It is not you whom the Egyptians wish to capture, it is your niece and
+my betrothed," shouted Laban, whereat the soldiers laughed, as did some
+women who had gathered round. Meanwhile the Prince was helping Merapi to
+descend out of the chariot, from which indeed he lifted her. The sight
+seemed to madden Laban, who rushed forward to tear her from his arms,
+and in the attempt jostled his Highness. The captain of the soldiers--he
+was an officer of Pharaoh's bodyguard--lifted his sword in a fury and
+struck Laban such a blow upon the head with the flat of the blade that
+he fell upon his face and lay there groaning.
+
+"Away with that Hebrew dog and scourge him!" cried the captain. "Is the
+royal blood of Egypt to be handled by such as he?"
+
+Soldiers sprang forward to do his bidding, but Seti said quietly:
+
+"Let the fellow be, friends; he lacks manners, that is all. Is he hurt?"
+
+As he spoke Laban leapt to his feet and, fearing worse things, fled away
+with a curse and a glare of hate at the Prince.
+
+"Farewell, Lady," said Seti. "I wish you a quick recovery."
+
+"I thank your Highness," she answered, looking about her confusedly. "Be
+pleased to wait a little while that I may return to you your jewel."
+
+"Nay, keep it, Lady, and if ever you are in need or trouble of any sort,
+send it to me who know it well and you shall not lack succour."
+
+She glanced at him and burst into tears.
+
+"Why do you weep?" he asked.
+
+"Oh! your Highness, because I fear that trouble is near at hand. My
+affianced, Laban, has a revengeful heart. Help me to the house, my
+uncle."
+
+"Listen, Hebrew," said Seti, raising his voice; "if aught that is evil
+befalls this niece of yours, or if she is forced to walk whither she
+would not go, sorrow shall be your portion and that of all with whom you
+have to do. Do you hear?"
+
+"O my Lord, I hear, I hear. Fear nothing. She shall be guarded carefully
+as--as she will doubtless guard that trinket on her foot."
+
+
+
+"Ana," said the Prince to me that night, when I was talking with him
+before he went to rest, "I know not why, but I fear that man Laban; he
+has an evil eye."
+
+"I too think it would have been better if your Highness had left him to
+be dealt with by the soldiers, after which there would have been nothing
+to fear from him in this world."
+
+"Well, I did not, so there's an end. Ana, she is a fair woman and a
+sweet."
+
+"The fairest and the sweetest that ever I saw, my Prince."
+
+"Be careful, Ana. I pray you be careful, lest you should fall in love
+with one who is already affianced."
+
+I only looked at him in answer, and as I looked I bethought me of the
+words of Ki the Magician. So, I think, did the Prince; at least he
+laughed not unhappily and turned away.
+
+For my part I rested ill that night, and when at last I slept, it was to
+dream of Merapi making her prayer in the rays of the moon.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE AMBUSH
+
+Eight full days went by before we left the land of Goshen. The story
+that the Israelites had to tell was long, sad also. Moreover, they gave
+evidence as to many cruel things that they had suffered, and when this
+was finished the testimony of the guards and others must be called, all
+of which it was necessary to write down. Lastly, the Prince seemed to
+be in no hurry to be gone, as he said because he hoped that the two
+prophets would return from the wilderness, which they never did. During
+all this time Seti saw no more of Merapi, nor indeed did he speak
+of her, even when the Count Amenmeses jested him as to his chariot
+companion and asked him if he had driven again in the desert by
+moonlight.
+
+I, however, saw her once. When I was wandering in the town one day
+towards sunset, I met her walking with her uncle Jabez upon one side and
+her lover, Laban, on the other, like a prisoner between two guards. I
+thought she looked unhappy, but her foot seemed to be well again; at
+least she moved without limping.
+
+I stopped to salute her, but Laban scowled and hurried her away. Jabez
+stayed behind and fell into talk with me. He told me that she was
+recovered of her hurt, but that there had been trouble between her and
+Laban because of all that happened on that evening when she came by it,
+ending in his encounter with the captain.
+
+"This young man seems to be of a jealous nature," I said, "one who will
+make a harsh husband for any woman."
+
+"Yes, learned scribe, jealousy has been his curse from youth as it is
+with so many of our people, and I thank God that I am not the woman whom
+he is to marry."
+
+"Why, then, do you suffer her to marry him, Jabez?"
+
+"Because her father affianced her to this lion's whelp when she was
+scarce more than a child, and among us that is a bond hard to break.
+For my own part," he added, dropping his voice, and glancing round with
+shifting eyes, "I should like to see my niece in some different place
+to that of the wife of Laban. With her great beauty and wit, she might
+become anything--anything if she had opportunity. But under our laws,
+even if Laban died, as might happen to so violent a man, she could wed
+no one who is not a Hebrew."
+
+"I thought she told us that her mother was a Syrian."
+
+"That is so, Scribe Ana. She was a beautiful captive of war whom Nathan
+came to love and made his wife, and the daughter takes after her. Still
+she is Hebrew and of the Hebrew faith and congregation. Had it not been
+so, she might have shone like a star, nay, like the very moon after
+which she is named, perhaps in the court of Pharaoh himself."
+
+"As the great queen Taia did, she who changed the religion of Egypt to
+the worship of one god in a bygone generation," I suggested.
+
+"I have heard of her, Scribe Ana. She was a wondrous woman, beautiful
+too by her statues. Would that you Egyptians could find such another
+to turn your hearts to a purer faith and to soften them towards us poor
+aliens. When does his Highness leave the land of Goshen?"
+
+"At sunrise on the third day from this."
+
+"Provision will be needed for the journey, much provision for so large a
+train. I deal in sheep and other foodstuffs, Scribe Ana."
+
+"I will mention the matter to his Highness and to the Vizier, Jabez."
+
+"I thank you, Scribe, and will in waiting at the camp to-morrow morning.
+See, Laban returns with Merapi. One word, let his Highness beware of
+Laban. He is very revengeful and has not forgotten that sword-blow on
+the head."
+
+"Let Laban be careful," I answered. "Had it not been for his Highness
+the soldiers would have killed him the other night because he dared
+to offer affront to the royal blood. A second time he will not escape.
+Moreover, Pharaoh would avenge aught he did upon the people of Israel."
+
+"I understand. It would be sad if Laban were killed, very sad. But the
+people of Israel have One who can protect them even against Pharaoh and
+all his hosts. Farewell, learned Scribe. If ever I come to Tanis, with
+your leave we will talk more together."
+
+That night I told the Prince all that had passed. He listened, and said:
+
+"I grieve for the lady Merapi, for hers is like to be a hard fate. Yet,"
+he added laughing, "perhaps it is as well for you, friend, that you
+should see no more of her who is sure to bring trouble wherever she
+goes. That woman has a face which haunts the mind, as the Ka haunts the
+tomb, and for my part I do not wish to look upon it again."
+
+"I am glad to hear it, Prince, and for my part, I have done with women,
+however sweet. I will tell this Jabez that the provisions for the
+journey will be bought elsewhere."
+
+"Nay, buy them from him, and if Nehesi grumbles at the price, pay it on
+my account. The way to a Hebrew's heart is through his treasure bags.
+If Jabez is well treated, it may make him kinder to his niece, of whom I
+shall always have a pleasant memory, for which I am grateful among this
+sour folk who hate us, and with reason."
+
+So the sheep and all the foodstuffs for the journey were bought from
+Jabez at his own price, for which he thanked me much, and on the third
+day we started. At the last moment the Prince, whose mood seemed to be
+perverse that evening, refused to travel with the host upon the morrow
+because of the noise and dust. In vain did the Count Amenmeses reason
+with him, and Nehesi and the great officers implore him almost on their
+knees, saying that they must answer for his safety to Pharaoh and the
+Princess Userti. He bade them begone, replying that he would join them
+at their camp on the following night. I also prayed him to listen, but
+he told me sharply that what he said he had said, and that he and I
+would journey in his chariot alone, with two armed runners and no more,
+adding that if I thought there was danger I could go forward with the
+troops. Then I bit my lip and was silent, whereon, seeing that he had
+hurt me, he turned and craved my pardon humbly enough as his kind heart
+taught him to do.
+
+"I can bear no more of Amenmeses and those officers," he said, "and I
+love to be in the desert alone. Last time we journeyed there we met with
+adventures that were pleasant, Ana, and at Tanis doubtless I shall find
+others that are not pleasant. Admit that Hebrew priest who is waiting to
+instruct me in the mysteries of his faith which I desire to understand."
+
+So I bowed and left him to make report that I had failed to shake his
+will. Taking the risk of his wrath, however, I did this--for had I not
+sworn to the Princess that I would protect him? In place of the runners
+I chose two of the best and bravest soldiers to play their part.
+Moreover, I instructed that captain who smote down Laban to hide away
+with a score of picked men and enough chariots to carry them, and to
+follow after the Prince, keeping just out of sight.
+
+So on the morrow the troops, nobles, and officers went on at daybreak,
+together with the baggage carriers; nor did we follow them till many
+hours had gone by. Some of this time the Prince spent in driving about
+the town, taking note of the condition of the people. These, as I saw,
+looked on us sullenly enough, more so than before, I thought, perhaps
+because we were unguarded. Indeed, turning round I caught sight of a man
+shaking his fist and of an old hag spitting after us, and wished that we
+were out of the land of Goshen. But when I reported it to the Prince he
+only laughed and took no heed.
+
+"All can see that they hate us Egyptians," he said. "Well, let it be our
+task to try to turn their hate to love."
+
+"That you will never do, Prince, it is too deep-rooted in their
+hearts; for generations they have drunk it in with their mother's milk.
+Moreover, this is a war of the gods of Egypt and of Israel, and men must
+go where their gods drive them."
+
+"Do you think so, Ana? Then are men nothing but dust blown by the
+winds of heaven, blown from the darkness that is before the dawn to be
+gathered at last and for ever into the darkness of the grave of night?"
+
+He brooded a while, then went on.
+
+"Yet if I were Pharaoh I would let these people go, for without doubt
+their god has much power and I tell you that I fear them."
+
+"Why will he not let them go?" I asked. "They are a weakness, not a
+strength to Egypt, as was shown at the time of the invasion of the
+Barbarians with whom they sided. Moreover, the value of this rich land
+of theirs, which they cannot take with them, is greater than that of all
+their labour."
+
+"I do not know, friend. The matter is one upon which my father keeps
+his own counsel, even from the Princess Userti. Perhaps it is because he
+will not change the policy of his father, Rameses; perhaps because he is
+stiff-necked to those who cross his will. Or it may be that he is held
+in this path by a madness sent of some god to bring loss and shame on
+Egypt."
+
+"Then, Prince, all the priests and nobles are mad also, from Count
+Amenmeses down."
+
+"Where Pharaoh leads priests and nobles follow. The question is, who
+leads Pharaoh? Here is the temple of these Hebrews; let us enter."
+
+So we descended from the chariot, where, for my part, I would have
+remained, and walked through the gateway in the surrounding mud wall
+into the outer court of the temple, which on this the holy seventh day
+of the Hebrews was full of praying women, who feigned not to see us yet
+watched us out of the corners of their eyes. Passing through them we
+came to a doorway, by which we entered another court that was roofed
+over. Here were many men who murmured as we appeared. They were engaged
+in listening to a preacher in a white robe, who wore a strange shaped
+cap and some ornaments on his breast. I knew the man; he was the priest
+Kohath who had instructed the Prince in so much of the mysteries of the
+Hebrew faith as he chose to reveal. On seeing us he ceased suddenly in
+his discourse, uttered some hasty blessing and advanced to greet us.
+
+I waited behind the Prince, thinking it well to watch his back among all
+those fierce men, and did not hear what the priest said to him, as he
+whispered in that holy place. Kohath led him forward, to free him from
+the throng, I thought, till they came to the head of the little temple
+that was marked by some steps, above which hung a thick and heavy
+curtain. The Prince, walking on, did not see the lowest of these steps
+in the gloom, which was deep. His foot caught on it; he fell forward,
+and to save himself grasped at the curtain where the two halves of it
+met, and dragged it open, revealing a chamber plain and small beyond, in
+which was an altar. That was all I had time to see, for next instant a
+roar of rage rent the air and knives flashed in the gloom.
+
+"The Egyptian defiles the tabernacle!" shouted one. "Drag him out and
+kill him!" screamed another.
+
+"Friends," said Seti, turning as they surged towards him, "if I have
+done aught wrong it was by chance----"
+
+He could add no more, seeing that they were on him, or rather on me who
+had leapt in front of him. Already they had grasped my robes and my hand
+was on my sword-hilt, when the priest Kohath cried out:
+
+"Men of Israel, are you mad? Would you bring Pharaoh's vengeance on us?"
+
+They halted a little and their spokesman shouted:
+
+"We defy Pharaoh! Our God will protect us from Pharaoh. Drag him forth
+and kill him beyond the wall!"
+
+Again they began to move, when a man, in whom I recognized Jabez, the
+uncle of Merapi, called aloud:
+
+"Cease! If this Prince of Egypt has done insult to Jahveh by will and
+not by chance, it is certain that he will avenge himself upon him. Shall
+men take the judgment of God into their own hands? Stand back and wait
+awhile. If Jahveh is affronted, the Egyptian will fall dead. If he does
+not fall dead, let him pass hence unharmed, for such is Jahveh's will.
+Stand back, I say, while I count threescore."
+
+They withdrew a space and slowly Jabez began to count.
+
+Although at that time I knew nothing of the power of the god of Israel,
+I will say that I was filled with fear as one by one he counted, pausing
+at each ten. The scene was very strange. There by the steps stood the
+Prince against the background of the curtain, his arms folded and a
+little smile of wonder mixed with contempt upon his face, but not a sign
+of fear. On one side of him was I, who knew well that I should share his
+fate whatever it might be, and indeed desired no other; and on the other
+the priest Kohath, whose hands shook and whose eyes started from his
+head. In front of us old Jabez counted, watching the fierce-faced
+congregation that in a dead silence waited for the issue. The count went
+on. Thirty. Forty. Fifty--oh! it seemed an age.
+
+At length sixty fell from his lips. He waited a while and all watched
+the Prince, not doubting but that he would fall dead. But instead he
+turned to Kohath and asked quietly if this ordeal was now finished, as
+he desired to make an offering to the temple, which he had been invited
+to visit, and begone.
+
+"Our God has given his answer," said Jabez. "Accept it, men of Israel.
+What this Prince did he did by chance, not of design."
+
+They turned and went without a word, and after I had laid the offering,
+no mean one, in the appointed place, we followed them.
+
+"It would seem that yours is no gentle god," said the Prince to Kohath,
+when at length we were outside the temple.
+
+"At least he is just, your Highness. Had it been otherwise, you who had
+violated his sanctuary, although by chance, would ere now be dead."
+
+"Then you hold, Priest, that Jahveh has power to slay us when he is
+angry?"
+
+"Without a doubt, your Highness--as, if our Prophets speak truth, I
+think that Egypt will learn ere all be done," he added grimly.
+
+Seti looked at him and answered:
+
+"It may be so, but all gods, or their priests, claim the power to
+torment and slay those who worship other gods. It is not only women who
+are jealous, Kohath, or so it seems. Yet I think that you do your god
+injustice, seeing that even if this strength is his, he proved more
+merciful than his worshippers who knew well that I only grasped the veil
+to save myself from falling. If ever I visit your temple again it shall
+be in the company of those who can match might against might, whether of
+the spirit or the sword. Farewell."
+
+So we reached the chariot, near to which stood Jabez, he who had saved
+us.
+
+"Prince," he whispered, glancing at the crowd who lingered not far away,
+silent and glowering, "I pray you leave this land swiftly for here your
+life is not safe. I know it was by chance, but you have defiled the
+sanctuary and seen that upon which eyes may not look save those of the
+highest priests, an offence no Israelite can forgive."
+
+"And you, or your people, Jabez, would have defiled this sanctuary of
+my life, spilling my heart's blood and _not_ by chance. Surely you are
+a strange folk who seek to make an enemy of one who has tried to be your
+friend."
+
+"I do not seek it," exclaimed Jabez. "I would that we might have
+Pharaoh's mouth and ear who soon will himself be Pharaoh upon our side.
+O Prince of Egypt, be not wroth with all the children of Israel because
+their wrongs have made some few of them stubborn and hard-hearted.
+Begone now, and of your goodness remember my words."
+
+"I will remember," said Seti, signing to the charioteer to drive on.
+
+Yet still the Prince lingered in the town, saying that he feared nothing
+and would learn all he could of this people and their ways that he might
+report the better of them to Pharaoh. For my part I believed that there
+was one face which he wished to see again before he left, but of this I
+thought it wise to say nothing.
+
+At length about midday we did depart, and drove eastwards on the track
+of Amenmeses and our company. All the afternoon we drove thus, preceded
+by the two soldiers disguised as runners and followed, as a distant
+cloud of dust told me, by the captain and his chariots, whom I had
+secretly commanded to keep us in sight.
+
+Towards evening we came to the pass in the story hills which bounded the
+land of Goshen. Here Seti descended from the chariot, and we climbed,
+accompanied by the two soldiers whom I signed to follow us, to the crest
+of one of these hills that was strewn with huge boulders and lined with
+ridges of sandstone, between which gullies had been cut by the winds of
+thousands of years.
+
+Leaning against one of these ridges we looked back upon a wondrous
+sight. Far away across the fertile plain appeared the town that we had
+left, and behind it the sun sank. It would seem as though some storm
+had broken there, although the firmament above us was clear and blue.
+At least in front of the town two huge pillars of cloud stretched from
+earth to heaven like the columns of some mighty gateway. One of these
+pillars was as though it were made of black marble, and the other like
+to molten gold. Between them ran a road of light ending in a glory, and
+in the midst of the glory the round ball of Ra, the Sun, burned like the
+eye of God. The spectacle was as awesome as it was splendid.
+
+"Have you ever seen such a sky in Egypt, Prince?" I asked.
+
+"Never," he answered, and although he spoke low, in that great stillness
+his voice sounded loud to me.
+
+For a while longer we watched, till suddenly the sun sank, and only the
+glory about it and above remained, which took shapes like to the palaces
+and temples of a city in the heavens, a far city that no mortal could
+reach except in dreams.
+
+"I know not why, Ana," said Seti, "but for the first time since I was a
+man I feel afraid. It seems to me that there are omens in the sky and I
+cannot read them. Would that Ki were here to tell us what is signified
+by the pillar of blackness to the right and the pillar of fire to the
+left, and what god has his home in the city of glory behind, and how
+man's feet may walk along the shining road which leads to its pylon
+gates. I tell you that I am afraid; it is as though Death were very near
+to me and all his wonders open to my mortal sight."
+
+"I too am afraid," I whispered. "Look! The pillars move. That of fire
+goes before; that of black cloud follows after, and between them I seem
+to see a countless multitude marching in unending companies. See how the
+light glitters on their spears! Surely the god of the Hebrews is afoot."
+
+"He, or some other god, or no god at all, who knows? Come, Ana, let us
+be going if we would reach that camp ere dark."
+
+So we descended from the ridge, and re-entering the chariot, drove on
+towards the neck of the pass. Now this neck was very narrow, not more
+than four paces wide for a certain distance, and, on either side of
+the roadway were tumbled sandstone boulders, between which grew desert
+plants, and gullies that had been cut by storm-water, while beyond these
+rose the sides of the mountain. Here the horses went at a walk towards a
+turn in the path, at which point the land began to fall again.
+
+When we were about half a spear's throw from this turn of a sudden I
+heard a sound and, glancing to the right, perceived a woman leaping down
+the hillside towards us. The charioteer saw also and halted the horses,
+and the two runner guards turned and drew their swords. In less than
+half a minute the woman had reached us, coming out of the shadow so that
+the light fell upon her face.
+
+"Merapi!" exclaimed the Prince and I, speaking as though with one
+breath.
+
+Merapi it was indeed, but in evil case. Her long hair had broken loose
+and fell about her, the cloak she wore was torn, and there were blood
+and foam upon her lips. She stood gasping, since speak she could not for
+breathlessness, supporting herself with one hand upon the side of the
+chariot and with the other pointing to the bend in the road. At last a
+word came, one only. It was:
+
+"Murder!"
+
+"She means that she is going to be murdered," said the Prince to me.
+
+"No," she panted, "you--you! The Hebrews. Go back!"
+
+"Turn the horses!" I cried to the charioteer.
+
+He began to obey helped by the two guards, but because of the narrowness
+of the road and the steepness of the banks this was not easy. Indeed
+they were but half round in such fashion that they blocked the pathway
+from side to side, when a wild yell of 'Jahveh' broke upon our ears,
+and from round the bend, a few paces away, rushed a horde of fierce,
+hook-nosed men, brandishing knives and swords. Scarcely was there time
+for us to leap behind the shelter of the chariot and make ready, when
+they were on us.
+
+"Hearken," I said to the charioteer as they came, "run as you never ran
+before, and bring up the guard behind!"
+
+He sprang away like an arrow.
+
+"Get back, Lady," cried Seti. "This is no woman's work, and see here
+comes Laban to seek you," and he pointed with his sword at the leader of
+the murderers.
+
+She obeyed, staggering a few paces to a stone at the roadside, behind
+which she crouched. Afterwards she told me that she had no strength to
+go further, and indeed no will, since if we were killed, it were better
+that she who had warned us should be killed also.
+
+Now they had reached us, the whole flood of them, thirty or forty men.
+The first who came stabbed the frightened horses, and down they went
+against the bank, struggling. On the chariot leapt the Hebrews, seeking
+to come at us, and we met them as best we might, tearing off our cloaks
+and throwing them over our left arms to serve as shields.
+
+Oh! what a fight was that. In the open, or had we not been prepared, we
+must have been slain at once, but, as it was, the place and the barrier
+of the chariot gave us some advantage. So narrow was the roadway, the
+walls of which were here too steep to climb, that not more than four of
+the Hebrews could strike at us at once, which four must first surmount
+the chariot or the still living horses.
+
+But we also were four, and thanks to Userti, two of us were clad in mail
+beneath our robes--four strong men fighting for their lives. Against us
+came four of the Hebrews. One leapt from the chariot straight at Seti,
+who received him upon the point of his iron sword, whereof I heard the
+hilt ring against his breast-bone, that same famous iron sword which
+to-day lies buried with him in his grave.
+
+Down he came dead, throwing the Prince to the ground by the weight of
+his body. The Hebrew who attacked me caught his foot on the chariot
+pole and fell forward, so I killed him easily with a blow upon the head,
+which gave me time to drag the Prince to his feet again before another
+followed. The two guards also, sturdy fighters both of them, killed or
+mortally wounded their men. But others were pressing behind so thick and
+fast that I could keep no count of all that happened afterwards.
+
+Presently I saw one of the guards fall, slain by Laban. A stab on the
+breast sent me reeling backwards; had it not been for that mail I was
+sped. The other guard killed him who would have killed me, and then
+himself was killed by two who came on him at once.
+
+Now only the Prince and I were left, fighting back to back. He closed
+with one man, a very great fellow, and wounded him on the hand, so that
+he dropped his sword. This man gripped him round the middle and they
+rolled together on the ground. Laban appeared and stabbed the Prince in
+the back, but the curved knife he was using snapped on the Syrian mail.
+I struck at Laban and wounded him on the head, dazing him so that he
+staggered back and seemed to fall over the chariot. Then others rushed
+at me, and but for Userti's armour three times at least I must have
+died. Fighting madly, I staggered against the rock, and whilst waiting
+for a new onset, saw that Seti, hurt by Laban's thrust, was now beneath
+the great Hebrew who had him by the throat, and was choking the life out
+of him.
+
+I saw something else also--a woman holding a sword with both hands and
+stabbing downward, after which the grip of the Hebrew loosened from
+Seti's throat.
+
+"Traitress!" cried one, and struck at her, so that she reeled back hurt.
+Then when all seemed finished, and beneath the rain of blows my senses
+were failing, I heard the thunder of horses' hoofs and the shout of
+"_Egypt! Egypt!_" from the throats of soldiers. The flash of bronze
+caught my dazed eyes, and with the roar of battle in my ears I seemed to
+fall asleep just as the light of day departed.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+SETI COUNSELS PHARAOH
+
+Dream upon dream. Dreams of voices, dreams of faces, dreams of sunlight
+and of moonlight and of myself being borne forward, always forward;
+dreams of shouting crowds, and, above all, dreams of Merapi's eyes
+looking down on me like two watching stars from heaven. Then at last the
+awakening, and with it throbs of pain and qualms of sickness.
+
+At first I thought that I was dead and lying in a tomb. Then by degrees
+I saw that I was in no tomb but in a darkened room that was familiar
+to me, my own room in Seti's palace at Tanis. It must be so, for
+there, near to the bed on which I lay, was my own chest filled with the
+manuscripts that I had brought from Memphis. I tried to lift my left
+hand, but could not, and looking down saw that the arm was bandaged like
+to that of a mummy, which made me think again that I must be dead, if
+the dead could suffer so much pain. I closed my eyes and thought or
+slept a while.
+
+As I lay thus I heard voices. One of them seemed to be that of a
+physician, who said, "Yes, he will live and ere long recover. The blow
+upon the head which has made him senseless for so many days was the
+worst of his wounds, but the bone was but bruised, not shattered or
+driven in upon the brain. The flesh cuts on his arms are healing well,
+and the mail he wore protected his vitals from being pierced."
+
+"I am glad, physician," answered a voice that I knew to be that of
+Userti, "since without a doubt, had it not been for Ana, his Highness
+would have perished. It is strange that one whom I thought to be nothing
+but a dreaming scribe should have shown himself so brave a warrior. The
+Prince says that this Ana killed three of those dogs with his own hands,
+and wounded others."
+
+"It was well done, your Highness," answered the physician, "but still
+better was his forethought in providing a rear-guard and in despatching
+the charioteer to call it up. It seems to have been the Hebrew lady who
+really saved the life of his Highness, when, forgetting her sex, she
+stabbed the murderer who had him by the throat."
+
+"That is the Prince's tale, or so I understand," she answered coldly.
+"Yet it seems strange that a weak and worn-out girl could have pierced a
+giant through from back to breast."
+
+"At least she warned him of the ambush, your Highness."
+
+"So they say. Perhaps Ana here will soon tell us the truth about these
+matters. Tend him well, physician, and you shall not lack for your
+reward."
+
+Then they went away, still talking, and I lay quiet, filled with
+thankfulness and wonder, for now everything came back to me.
+
+A while later, as I lay with my eyes still shut, for even that low light
+seemed to hurt them, I became aware of a woman's soft step stealing
+round my bed and of a fragrance such as comes from a woman's robes and
+hair. I looked and saw Merapi's star-like eyes gazing down on me just as
+I had seen them in my dreams.
+
+"Greeting, Moon of Israel," I said. "Of a truth we meet again in strange
+case."
+
+"Oh!" she whispered, "are you awake at last? I thank God, Scribe Ana,
+who for three days thought that you must die."
+
+"As, had it not been for you, Lady, surely I should have done--I and
+another. Now it seems that all three of us will live."
+
+"Would that but two lived, the Prince and you, Ana. Would that _I_ had
+died," she answered, sighing heavily.
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Cannot you guess? Because I am outcast who has betrayed my people.
+Because their blood flows between me and them. For I killed that
+man, and he was my own kinsman, for the sake of an Egyptian--I mean,
+Egyptians. Therefore the curse of Jahveh is on me, and as my kinsman
+died doubtless I shall die in a day to come, and afterwards--what?"
+
+"Afterwards peace and great reward, if there be justice in earth or
+heaven, O most noble among women."
+
+"Would that I could think so! Hush, I hear steps. Drink this; I am the
+chief of your nurses, Scribe Ana, an honourable post, since to-day all
+Egypt loves and praises you."
+
+"Surely it is you, lady Merapi, whom all Egypt should love and praise,"
+I answered.
+
+Then the Prince Seti entered. I strove to salute him by lifting my less
+injured arm, but he caught my hand and pressed it tenderly.
+
+"Hail to you, beloved of Menthu, god of war," he said, with his pleasant
+laugh. "I thought I had hired a scribe, and lo! in this scribe I find a
+soldier who might be an army's boast."
+
+At this moment he caught sight of Merapi, who had moved back into the
+shadow.
+
+"Hail to you also, Moon of Israel," he said bowing. "If I name Ana here
+a warrior of the best, what name can both of us find for you to whom we
+owe our lives? Nay, look not down, but answer."
+
+"Prince of Egypt," she replied confusedly, "I did but little. The plot
+came to my ears through Jabez my uncle, and I fled away and, knowing
+the short paths from childhood, was just in time. Had I stayed to think
+perchance I should not have dared."
+
+"And what of the rest, Lady? What of the Hebrew who was choking me and
+of a certain sword thrust that loosed his hands for ever?"
+
+"Of that, your Highness, I can recall nothing, or very little," then,
+doubtless remembering what she had just said to me, she made obeisance
+and passed from the chamber.
+
+"She can tell falsehoods as sweetly as she does all else," said Seti,
+when he had watched her go. "Oh! what a woman have we here, Ana. Perfect
+in beauty, perfect in courage, perfect in mind. Where are her faults, I
+wonder? Let it be your part to search them out, since I find none."
+
+"Ask them of Ki, O Prince. He is a very great magician, so great that
+perhaps his art may even avail to discover what a woman seeks to hide.
+Also you may remember that he gave you certain warnings before we
+journeyed to Goshen."
+
+"Yes--he told me that my life would be in danger, as certainly it was.
+There he was right. He told me also that I should see a woman whom I
+should come to love. There he was wrong. I have seen no such woman. Oh!
+I know well what is passing in your mind. Because I hold the lady Merapi
+to be beautiful and brave, you think that I love her. But it is not so.
+I love no woman, except, of course, her Highness. Ana, you judge me by
+yourself."
+
+"Ki said 'come to love,' Prince. There is yet time."
+
+"Not so, Ana. If one loves, one loves at once. Soon I shall be old and
+she will be fat and ugly, and how can one love then? Get well quickly,
+Ana, for I wish you to help me with my report to Pharaoh. I shall tell
+him that I think these Israelites are much oppressed and that he should
+make them amends and let them go."
+
+"What will Pharaoh say to that after they have just tried to kill his
+heir?"
+
+"I think Pharaoh will be angry, and so will the people of Egypt, who do
+not reason well. He will not see that, believing what they do, Laban
+and his band were right to try to kill me who, however unwittingly,
+desecrated the sanctuary of their god. Had they done otherwise they
+would have been no good Hebrews, and for my part I cannot bear them
+malice. Yet all Egypt is afire about this business and cries out that
+the Israelites should be destroyed."
+
+"It seems to me, Prince, that whatever may be the case with Ki's second
+prophecy, his third is in the way of fulfilment--namely that this
+journey to Goshen may cause you to risk your throne."
+
+He shrugged his shoulders and answered:
+
+"Not even for that, Ana, will I say to Pharaoh what is not in my mind.
+But let that matter be till you are stronger."
+
+"What chanced at the end of the fight, Prince, and how came I here?"
+
+"The guard killed most of the Hebrews who remained alive. Some few fled
+and escaped in the darkness, among them Laban their leader, although you
+had wounded him, and six were taken alive. They await their trial. I was
+but little hurt and you, whom we thought dead, were but senseless, and
+senseless or wandering you have remained till this hour. We carried you
+in a litter, and here you have been these three days."
+
+"And the lady Merapi?"
+
+"We set her in a chariot and brought her to the city, since had we left
+her she would certainly have been murdered by her people. When Pharaoh
+heard what she had done, as I did not think it well that she should
+dwell here, he gave her the small house in this garden that she might
+be guarded, and with it slave women to attend upon her. So there she
+dwells, having the freedom of the palace, and all the while has filled
+the office of your nurse."
+
+At this moment I grew faint and shut my eyes. When I opened them again,
+the Prince had gone. Six more days went by before I was allowed to leave
+my bed, and during this time I saw much of Merapi. She was very sad and
+lived in fear of being killed by the Hebrews. Also she was troubled in
+her heart because she thought she had betrayed her faith and people.
+
+"At least you are rid of Laban," I said.
+
+"Never shall I be rid of him while we both live," she answered. "I
+belong to him and he will not loose my bond, because his heart is set on
+me."
+
+"And is your heart set on him?" I asked.
+
+Her beautiful eyes filled with tears.
+
+"A woman may not have a heart. Oh! Ana, I am unhappy," she answered, and
+went away.
+
+Also I saw others. The Princess came to visit me. She thanked me much
+because I had fulfilled my promise to her and guarded the Prince.
+Moreover she brought me a gift of gold from Pharaoh, and other gifts of
+fine raiment from herself. She questioned me closely about Merapi, of
+whom I could see she was already jealous, and was glad when she learned
+that she was affianced to a Hebrew. Old Bakenkhonsu came too, and asked
+me many things about the Prince, the Hebrews and Merapi, especially
+Merapi, of whose deeds, he said, all Egypt was talking, questions that I
+answered as best I could.
+
+"Here we have that woman of whom Ki told us," he said, "she who shall
+bring so much joy and so much sorrow to the Prince of Egypt."
+
+"Why so?" I asked. "He has not taken her into his house, nor do I think
+that he means to do so."
+
+"Yet he will, Ana, whether he means it or not. For his sake she betrayed
+her people, which among the Israelites is a deadly crime. Twice she
+saved his life, once by warning him of the ambush, and again by stabbing
+with her own hands one of her kinsmen who was murdering him. Is it not
+so? Tell me; you were there."
+
+"It is so, but what then?"
+
+"This: that whatever she may say, she loves him; unless indeed, it is
+you whom she loves," and he looked at me shrewdly.
+
+"When a woman has a prince, and such a prince to her hand, would she
+trouble herself to set snares to catch a scribe?" I asked, with some
+bitterness.
+
+"Oho!" he said, with one of his great laughs, "so things stand thus, do
+they? Well, I thought it, but, friend Ana, be warned in time. Do not try
+to conjure down the Moon to be your household lamp lest she should set,
+and the Sun, her lord, should grow wroth and burn you up. Well, she
+loves him, and therefore soon or late she will make him love her, being
+what she is."
+
+"How, Bakenkhonsu?"
+
+"With most men, Ana, it would be simple. A sigh, some half-hidden tears
+at the right moment, and the thing is done, as I have known it done a
+thousand times. But this prince being what he is, it may be otherwise.
+She may show him that her name is gone from him; that because of him she
+is hated by her people, and rejected by her god, and thus stir his pity,
+which is Love's own sister. Or mayhap, being also, as I am told, wise,
+she will give him counsel as to all these matters of the Israelites, and
+thus creep into his heart under the guise of friendship, and then her
+sweetness and her beauty will do the rest in Nature's way. At least by
+this road or by that, upstream or downstream, thither she will come."
+
+"If so, what of it? It is the custom of the kings of Egypt to have more
+wives than one."
+
+"This, Ana; Seti, I think, is a man who in truth will have but one, and
+that one will be this Hebrew. Yes, a Hebrew woman will rule Egypt, and
+turn him to the worship of her god, for never will she worship ours.
+Indeed, when they see that she is lost to them, her people will use her
+thus. Or perchance her god himself will use her to fulfil his purpose,
+as already he may have used her."
+
+"And afterwards, Bakenkhonsu?"
+
+"Afterwards--who knows? I am not a magician, at least not one of any
+account, ask it of Ki. But I am very, very old and I have watched the
+world, and I tell you that these things will happen, unless----" and he
+paused.
+
+"Unless what?"
+
+He dropped his voice.
+
+"Unless Userti is bolder than I think, and kills her first or, better
+still, procures some Hebrew to kill her--say, that cast-off lover
+of hers. If you would be a friend to Pharaoh and to Egypt, you might
+whisper it in her ear, Ana."
+
+"Never!" I answered angrily.
+
+"I did not think you would, Ana, who also struggle in this net of
+moonbeams that is stronger and more real than any twisted out of palm
+or flax. Well, nor will I, who in my age love to watch such human sport
+and, being so near to them, fear to thwart the schemes of gods. Let this
+scroll unroll itself as it will, and when it is open, read it, Ana, and
+remember what I said to you this day. It will be a pretty tale, written
+at the end with blood for ink. Oho! O-ho-ho!" and, laughing, he hobbled
+from the room, leaving me frightened.
+
+Moreover the Prince visited me every day, and even before I left my bed
+began to dictate to me his report to Pharaoh, since he would employ no
+other scribe. The substance of it was what he had foreshadowed, namely
+that the people of Israel, having suffered much for generations at
+the hands of the Egyptians, should now be allowed to depart as their
+prophets demanded, and go whither they would unharmed. Of the attack
+upon us in the pass he made light, saying it was the evil work of a few
+zealots wrought on by fancied insult to their god, a deed for which the
+whole people should not be called upon to suffer. The last words of the
+report were:
+
+"Remember, O Pharaoh, I pray thee, that Amon, god of the Egyptians,
+and Jahveh, the god of the Israelites, cannot rule together in the same
+land. If both abide in Egypt there will be a war of the gods wherein
+mortals may be ground to dust. Therefore, I pray thee, let Israel go."
+
+After I had risen and was recovered, I copied out this report in my
+fairest writing, refusing to tell any of its purport, although all
+asked, among them the Vizier Nehesi, who offered me a bribe to disclose
+its secret. This came to the ears of Seti, I know not how, and he was
+much pleased with me about the matter, saying he rejoiced to find that
+there was one scribe in Egypt who could not be bought. Userti also
+questioned me, and when I refused to answer, strange to say, was not
+angry, because, she declared, I only did my duty.
+
+At last the roll was finished and sealed, and the Prince with his own
+hand, but without speaking, laid it on the knees of Pharaoh at a public
+Court, for this he would trust no one else to do. Amenmeses also brought
+up his report, as did Nehesi the Vizier, and the Captain of the guard
+which saved us from death. Eight days later the Prince was summoned to a
+great Council of State, as were all others of the royal House, together
+with the high officers. I too received a summons, as one who had been
+concerned in these matters.
+
+The Prince, accompanied by the Princess, drove to the palace in
+Pharaoh's golden chariot, drawn by two milk-white horses of the blood of
+those famous steeds that had saved the life of the great Rameses in the
+Syrian war. All down the streets, that were filled with thousands of the
+people, they were received with shouts of welcome.
+
+"See," said the old councillor Bakenkhonsu, who was my companion in a
+second chariot, "Egypt is proud and glad. It thought that its Prince was
+but a dreamer of dreams. But now it has heard the tale of the ambush in
+the pass and learned that he is a man of war, a warrior who can fight
+with the best. Therefore it loves him and rejoices."
+
+"Then, by the same rule, Bakenkhonsu, a butcher should be more great
+than the wisest of scribes."
+
+"So he is, Ana, especially if the butcher be one of men. The writer
+creates, but the slayer kills, and in a world ruled of death he who
+kills has more honour than he who creates. Hearken, now they are
+shouting out your name. Is that because you are the author of certain
+writings? I tell you, No. It is because you killed three men yonder in
+the pass. If you would become famous and beloved, Ana, cease from the
+writing of books and take to the cutting of throats."
+
+"Yet the writer still lives when he is dead."
+
+"Oho!" laughed Bakenkhonsu, "you are even more foolish than I thought.
+How is a man advantaged by what happens when he is dead? Why, to-day
+that blind beggar whining on the temple steps means more to Egypt than
+all the mummies of all the Pharaohs, unless they can be robbed. Take
+what life can give you, Ana, and do not trouble about the offerings
+which are laid in the tombs for time to crumble."
+
+"That is a mean faith, Bakenkhonsu."
+
+"Very mean, Ana, like all else that we can taste and handle. A mean
+faith suited to mean hearts, among whom should be reckoned all save one
+in every thousand. Yet, if you would prosper, follow it, and when you
+are dead I will come and laugh upon your grave, and say, 'Here lies one
+of whom I had hoped higher things, as I hope them of your master.'"
+
+"And not in vain, Bakenkhonsu, whatever may happen to the servant."
+
+"That we shall learn, and ere long, I think. I wonder who will ride at
+his side before the next Nile flood. By then, perchance, he will have
+changed Pharaoh's golden chariot for an ox-cart, and you will goad the
+oxen and talk to him of the stars--or, mayhap of the moon. Well, you
+might both be happier thus, and she of the moon is a jealous goddess who
+loves worship. Oho-ho! Here are the palace steps. Help me to descend,
+Priest of the Lady of the Moon."
+
+We entered the palace and were led through the great hall to a smaller
+chamber where Pharaoh, who did not wear his robes of state, awaited us,
+seated in a cedar chair. Glancing at him I saw that his face was stern
+and troubled; also it seemed to me that he had grown older. The Prince
+and Princess made obeisance to him, as did we lesser folk, but he took
+no heed. When all were present and the doors had been shut, Pharaoh
+said:
+
+"I have read your report, Son Seti, concerning your visit to the
+Israelites, and all that chanced to you; and also the reports of you,
+nephew Amenmeses, and of you, Officers, who accompanied the Prince of
+Egypt. Before I speak of them, let the Scribe Ana, who was the chariot
+companion of his Highness when the Hebrews attacked him, stand forward
+and tell me all that passed."
+
+So I advanced, and with bowed head repeated that tale, only leaving
+out so far as was possible any mention of myself. When I had finished,
+Pharaoh said:
+
+"He who speaks but half the truth is sometimes more mischievous than a
+liar. Did you then sit in the chariot, Scribe, doing nothing while the
+Prince battled for his life? Or did you run away? Speak, Seti, and say
+what part this man played for good or ill."
+
+Then the Prince told of my share in the fight, with words that brought
+the blood to my brow. He told also how that it was I who, taking the
+risk of his wrath, had ordered the guard of twenty men to follow us
+unseen, had disguised two seasoned soldiers as chariot runners, and had
+thought to send back the driver to summon help at the commencement of
+the fray; how I had been hurt also, and was but lately recovered. When
+he had finished, Pharaoh said:
+
+"That this story is true I know from others. Scribe, you have done
+well. But for you to-day his Highness would lie upon the table of the
+embalmers, as indeed for his folly he deserves to do, and Egypt would
+mourn from Thebes to the mouths of Nile. Come hither."
+
+I came with trembling steps, and knelt before his Majesty. Around his
+neck hung a beauteous chain of wrought gold. He took it, and cast it
+over my head, saying:
+
+"Because you have shown yourself both brave and wise, with this gold I
+give you the title of Councillor and King's Companion, and the right
+to inscribe the same upon your funeral stele. Let it be noted. Retire,
+Scribe Ana, Councillor and King's Companion."
+
+So I withdrew confused, and as I passed Seti, he whispered in my ear:
+
+"I pray you, my lord, do not cease to be Prince's Companion, because you
+have become that of the King."
+
+Then Pharaoh ordered that the Captain of the guard should be advanced
+in rank, and that gifts should be given to each of the soldiers, and
+provision be made for the children of those who had been killed, with
+double allowance to the families of the two men whom I had disguised as
+runners.
+
+This done, once more Pharaoh spoke, slowly and with much meaning, having
+first ordered that all attendants and guards should leave the chamber. I
+was about to go also, but old Bakenkhonsu caught me by the robe, saying
+that in my new rank of Councillor I had the right to remain.
+
+"Prince Seti," he said, "after all that I have heard, I find this report
+of yours strange reading. Moreover, the tenor of it is different indeed
+to that of those of the Count Amenmeses and the officers. You counsel me
+to let these Israelites go where they will, because of certain hardships
+that they have suffered in the past, which hardships, however, have left
+them many and rich. That counsel I am not minded to take. Rather am I
+minded to send an army to the land of Goshen with orders to despatch
+this people, who conspired to murder the Prince of Egypt, through the
+Gateway of the West, there to worship their god in heaven or in hell.
+Aye, to slay them all from the greybeard down to the suckling at the
+breast."
+
+"I hear Pharaoh," said Seti, quietly.
+
+"Such is my will," went on Meneptah, "and those who accompanied you upon
+your business, and all my councillors think as I do, for truly Egypt
+cannot bear so hideous a treason. Yet, according to our law and custom
+it is needful, before such great acts of war and policy are undertaken,
+that he who stands next to the throne, and is destined to fill it,
+should give consent thereto. Do you consent, Prince of Egypt?"
+
+"I do not consent, Pharaoh. I think it would be a wicked deed that tens
+of thousands should be massacred for the reason that a few fools waylaid
+a man who chanced to be of royal blood, because by inadvertence, he had
+desecrated their sanctuary."
+
+Now I saw that this answer made Pharaoh wroth, for never before had his
+will been crossed in such a fashion. Still he controlled himself, and
+asked:
+
+"Do you then consent, Prince, to a gentler sentence, namely that the
+Hebrew people should be broken up; that the more dangerous of them
+should be sent to labour in the desert mines and quarries, and the rest
+distributed throughout Egypt, there to live as slaves?"
+
+"I do not consent, Pharaoh. My poor counsel is written in yonder roll
+and cannot be changed."
+
+Meneptah's eyes flashed, but again he controlled himself, and asked:
+
+"If you should come to fill this place of mine, Prince Seti, tell us,
+here assembled, what policy will you pursue towards these Hebrews?"
+
+"That policy, O Pharaoh, which I have counselled in the roll. If ever
+I fill the throne, I shall let them go whither they will, taking their
+goods with them."
+
+Now all those present stared at him and murmured. But Pharaoh rose,
+shaking with wrath. Seizing his robe where it was fastened at the
+breast, he rent it, and cried in a terrible voice:
+
+"Hear him, ye gods of Egypt! Hear this son of mine who defies me to my
+face and would set your necks beneath the heel of a stranger god. Prince
+Seti, in the presence of these royal ones, and these my councillors,
+I----"
+
+He said no more, for the Princess Userti, who till now had remained
+silent, ran to him, and throwing her arms about him, began to whisper in
+his ear. He hearkened to her, then sat himself down, and spoke again:
+
+"The Princess brings it to my mind that this is a great matter, one not
+to be dealt with hastily. It may happen that when the Prince has taken
+counsel with her, and with his own heart, and perchance has sought the
+wisdom of the gods, he will change the words which have passed his lips.
+I command you, Prince, to wait upon me here at this same hour on the
+third day from this. Meanwhile, I command all present, upon pain of
+death, to say nothing of what has passed within these walls."
+
+"I hear Pharaoh," said the Prince, bowing.
+
+Meneptah rose to show that the Council was discharged, when the Vizier
+Nehesi approached him, and asked:
+
+"What of the Hebrew prisoners, O Pharaoh, those murderers who were
+captured in the pass?"
+
+"Their guilt is proved. Let them be beaten with rods till they die, and
+if they have wives or children, let them be seized and sold as slaves."
+
+"Pharaoh's will be done!" said the Vizier.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE SMITING OF AMON
+
+That evening I sat ill at ease in my work-chamber in Seti's palace,
+making pretence to write, I who felt that great evils threatened my
+lord the Prince, and knew not what to do to turn them from him. The door
+opened, and old Pambasa the chamberlain appeared and addressed me by my
+new titles, saying that the Hebrew lady Merapi, who had been my nurse in
+sickness, wished to speak with me. Presently she came and stood before
+me.
+
+"Scribe Ana," she said, "I have but just seen my uncle Jabez, who has
+come, or been sent, with a message to me," and she hesitated.
+
+"Why was he sent, Lady? To bring you news of Laban?"
+
+"Not so. Laban has fled away and none know where he is, and Jabez has
+only escaped much trouble as the uncle of a traitress by undertaking
+this mission."
+
+"What is the mission?"
+
+"To pray me, if I would save myself from death and the vengeance of God,
+to work upon the heart of his Highness, which I know not how to do----"
+
+"Yet I think you might find means, Merapi."
+
+"----save through you, his friend and counsellor," she went on, turning
+away her face. "Jabez has learned that it is in the mind of Pharaoh
+utterly to destroy the people of Israel."
+
+"How does he know that, Merapi?"
+
+"I cannot say, but I think all the Hebrews know. I knew it myself though
+none had told me. He has learned also that this cannot be done under the
+law of Egypt unless the Prince who is heir to the throne and of full age
+consents. Now I am come to pray you to pray the Prince not to consent."
+
+"Why not pray to the Prince yourself, Merapi----" I began, when from
+the shadows behind me I heard the voice of Seti, who had entered by the
+private door bearing some writings in his hand, saying:
+
+"And what prayer has the lady Merapi to make to me? Nay, rise and speak,
+Moon of Israel."
+
+"O Prince," she pleaded, "my prayer is that you will save the Hebrews
+from death by the sword, as you alone have the power to do."
+
+At this moment the doors opened and in swept the royal Userti.
+
+"What does this woman here?" she asked.
+
+"I think that she came to see Ana, wife, as I did, and as doubtless you
+do. Also being here she prays me to save her people from the sword."
+
+"And I pray you, husband, to give her people to the sword, which they
+have earned, who would have murdered you."
+
+"And been paid, everyone of them, Userti, unless some still linger
+beneath the rods," he added with a shudder. "The rest are innocent--why
+should they die?"
+
+"Because your throne hangs upon it, Seti. I say that if you continue to
+thwart the will of Pharaoh, as by the law of Egypt you can do, he will
+disinherit you and set your cousin Amenmeses in your place, as by the
+law of Egypt he can do."
+
+"I thought it, Userti. Yet why should I turn my back upon the right over
+a matter of my private fortunes? The question is--is it the right?"
+
+She stared at him in amazement, she who never understood Seti and could
+not dream that he would throw away the greatest throne in all the world
+to save a subject people, merely because he thought that they should
+not die. Still, warned by some instinct, she left the first question
+unanswered, dealing only with the second.
+
+"It is the right," she said, "for many reasons whereof I need give but
+one, for in it lie all the others. The gods of Egypt are the true gods
+whom we must serve and obey, or perish here and hereafter. The god of
+the Israelites is a false god and those who worship him are heretics and
+by their heresy under sentence of death. Therefore it is most right
+that those whom the true gods have condemned should die by the swords of
+their servants."
+
+"That is well argued, Userti, and if it be so, mayhap my mind will
+become as yours in this matter, so that I shall no longer stand between
+Pharaoh and his desire. But is it so? There's the problem. I will not
+ask you why you say that the gods of the Egyptians are the true gods,
+because I know what you would answer, or rather that you could give no
+answer. But I will ask this lady whether her god is a false god, and if
+she replies that he is not, I will ask her to prove this to me if
+she can. If she is able to prove it, then I think that what I said to
+Pharaoh to-day I shall repeat three days hence. If she is not able to
+prove it, then I shall consider very earnestly of the matter. Answer
+now, Moon of Israel, remembering that many thousands of lives may hang
+on what you say."
+
+"O your Highness," began Merapi. Then she paused, clasped her hands and
+looked upwards. I think that she was praying, for her lips moved. As she
+stood thus I saw, and I think Seti saw also, a very wonderful light grow
+on her face and gather in her eyes, a kind of divine fire of inspiration
+and resolve.
+
+"How can I, a poor Hebrew maiden, prove to your Highness that my God is
+the true God and that the gods of Egypt are false gods? I know not, and
+yet, is there any one god among all the many whom you worship, whom you
+are prepared to set up against him?"
+
+"Of a surety, Israelite," answered Userti. "There is Amon-Ra, Father of
+the gods, of whom all other gods have their being, and from whom they
+draw their strength. Yonder his statue sits in the sanctuary of his
+ancient temple. Let your god stir him from his place! But what will you
+bring forward against the majesty of Amon-Ra?"
+
+"My God has no statues, Princess, and his place is in the hearts of
+men, or so I have been taught by his prophets. I have nothing to bring
+forward in this war save that which must be offered in all wars--my
+life."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Seti, astounded.
+
+"I mean that I, unfriended and alone, will enter the presence of Amon-Ra
+in his chosen sanctuary, and in the name of my God will challenge him to
+kill me, if he can."
+
+We stared at her, and Userti exclaimed:
+
+"If he can! Hearken now to this blasphemer, and do you, Seti, accept her
+challenge as hereditary high-priest of the god Amon? Let her life pay
+forfeit for her sacrilege."
+
+"And if the great god Amon cannot, or does not deign to kill you, Lady,
+how will that prove that your god is greater than he?" asked the Prince.
+"Perhaps he might smile and in his pity, let the insult pass, as your
+god did by me."
+
+"Thus it shall be proved, your Highness. If naught happens to me, or if
+I am protected from anything that does happen, then I will dare to call
+upon my god to work a sign and a wonder, and to humble Amon-Ra before
+your eyes."
+
+"And if your god should also smile and let the matter pass, Lady, as he
+did by me the other day when his priests called upon him, what shall we
+have learned as to his strength, or as to that of Amon-Ra?"
+
+"O Prince, you will have learned nothing. Yet if I escape from the wrath
+of Amon and my God is deaf to my prayer, then I am ready to be delivered
+over into the hands of the priests of Amon that they may avenge my
+sacrilege upon me."
+
+"There speaks a great heart," said Seti; "yet I am not minded that
+this lady should set her life upon such an issue. I do not believe that
+either the high-god of Egypt or the god of the Israelites will stir, but
+I am quite sure that the priests of Amon will avenge the sacrilege, and
+that cruelly enough. The dice are loaded against you, Lady. You shall
+not prove your faith with blood."
+
+"Why not?" asked Userti. "What is this girl to you, Seti, that you
+should stand between her and the fruit of her wickedness, you who at
+least in name are the high-priest of the god whom she blasphemes and who
+wear his robes at temple feasts? She believes in her god, leave it to
+her god to help her as she has dared to say he will."
+
+"You believe in Amon, Userti. Are you prepared to stake your life
+against hers in this contest?"
+
+"I am not so mad and vain, Seti, as to believe that the god of all the
+world will descend from heaven to save me at my prayer, as this impious
+girl pretends that she believes."
+
+"You refuse. Then, Ana, what say you, who are a loyal worshipper of
+Amon?"
+
+"I say, O Prince, that it would be presumptuous of me to take precedence
+of his high-priest in such a matter."
+
+Seti smiled and answered:
+
+"And the high-priest says that it would be presumptuous of him to push
+so far the prerogative of a high office which he never sought."
+
+"Your Highness," broke in Merapi in her honeyed, pleading voice, "I pray
+you to be gracious to me, and to suffer me to make this trial, which
+I have sought, I know not why. Words such as I have spoken cannot be
+recalled. Already they are registered in the books of Eternity, and soon
+or late, in this way or in that, must be fulfilled. My life is staked,
+and I desire to learn at once if it be forfeit."
+
+Now even Userti looked on her with admiration, but answered only:
+
+"Of a truth, Israelite, I trust that this courage will not forsake you
+when you are handed over to the mercies of Ki, the Sacrificer of Amon,
+and the priests, in the vaults of the temple you would profane."
+
+"I also trust that it will not, your Highness, if such should be my
+fate. Your word, Prince of Egypt."
+
+Seti looked at her standing before him so calmly with bowed head, and
+hands crossed upon her breast. Then he looked at Userti, who wore a
+mocking smile upon her face. She read the meaning of that smile as I
+did. It was that she did not believe that he would allow this beautiful
+woman, who had saved his life, to risk her life for the sake of any or
+all the powers of heaven or hell. For a little while he walked to and
+fro about the chamber, then he stopped and said suddenly addressing, not
+Merapi, but Userti:
+
+"Have your will, remembering that if this brave woman fails and dies,
+her blood is on your hands, and that if she triumphs and lives, I shall
+hold her to be one of the noblest of her sex, and shall make study of
+all this matter of religion. Moon of Israel, as titular high-priest of
+Amon-Ra, I accept your challenge on behalf of the god, though whether
+he will take note of it I do not know. The trial shall be made
+to-morrow night in the sanctuary of the temple, at an hour that will be
+communicated to you. I shall be present to make sure that you meet with
+justice, as will some others. Register my commands, Scribe Ana, and
+let the head-priest of Amon, Roi, and the sacrificer to Amon, Ki the
+Magician, be summoned, that I may speak with them. Farewell, Lady."
+
+She went, but at the door turned and said:
+
+"I thank you, Prince, on my own behalf, and on that of my people.
+Whatever chances, I beseech you do not forget the prayer that I have
+made to you to save them, being innocent, from the sword. Now I ask that
+I may be left quite alone till I am summoned to the temple, who must
+make such preparation as I can to meet my fate, whatever it may be."
+
+Userti departed also without a word.
+
+"Oh! friend, what have I done?" said Seti. "Are there any gods? Tell me,
+are there any gods?"
+
+"Perhaps we shall learn to-morrow night, Prince," I answered. "At least
+Merapi thinks that there is a god, and doubtless has been commanded to
+put her faith to proof. This, as I believe, was the real message that
+Jabez her uncle has brought to her."
+
+
+
+It was the hour before the dawn, just when the night is darkest. We
+stood in the sanctuary of the ancient temple of Amon-Ra, that was lit
+with many lamps. It was an awful place. On either side the great columns
+towered to the massive roof. At the head of the sanctuary sat the statue
+of Amon-Ra, thrice the size of a man. On his brow, rising from the
+crown, were two tall feathers of stone, and in his hands he held the
+Scourge of Rule and the symbols of Power and Everlastingness. The
+lamplight flickered upon his stern and terrible face staring towards the
+east. To his right was the statue of Mut, the Mother of all things. On
+her head was the double crown of Egypt and the ur�us crest, and in her
+hand the looped cross, the sign of Life eternal. To his left sat Khonsu,
+the hawk-headed god of the moon. On his head was the crescent of the
+young moon carrying the disc of the full moon; in his right hand he also
+held the looped cross, the sign of Life eternal, and in his left the
+Staff of Strength. Such was this mighty triad, but of these the greatest
+was Amon-Ra, to whom the shrine was dedicated. Fearful they stood
+towering above us against the background of blackness.
+
+Gathered there were Seti the Prince, clothed in a priest's white
+robe, and wearing a linen headdress, but no ornaments, and Userti the
+Princess, high-priestess of Hathor, Lady of the West, Goddess of Love
+and Nature. She wore Hathor's vulture headdress, and on it the disc of
+the moon fashioned of silver. Also were present Roi the head-priest,
+clad in his sacerdotal robes, an old and wizened man with a strong,
+fierce face, Ki the Sacrificer and Magician, Bakenkhonsu the ancient,
+myself, and a company of the priests of Amon-Ra, Mut, and Khonsu. From
+behind the statues came the sound of solemn singing, though who sang we
+could not see.
+
+Presently from out of the darkness that lay beyond the lamps appeared a
+woman, led by two priestesses and wrapped in a long cloak. They brought
+her to an open place in front of the statue of Amon, took from her the
+cloak and departed, glancing back at her with eyes of hate and fear.
+There before us stood Merapi, clad in white, with a simple wimple about
+her head made fast beneath her chin with that scarab�us clasp which Seti
+had given to her in the city of Goshen, one spot of brightest blue amid
+a cloud of white. She looked neither to right nor left of her. Once only
+she glanced at the towering statue of the god that frowned above, then
+with a little shiver, fixed her eyes upon the pattern of the floor.
+
+"What does she look like?" whispered Bakenkhonsu to me.
+
+"A corpse made ready for the embalmers," I answered.
+
+He shook his great head.
+
+"Then a bride made ready for her husband."
+
+Again he shook his head.
+
+"Then a priestess about to read from the roll of Mysteries."
+
+"Now you have it, Ana, and to understand what she reads, which few
+priestesses ever do. Also all three answers were right, for in this
+woman I seem to see doom that is Death, life that is Love, and spirit
+that is Power. She has a soul which both Heaven and Earth have kissed."
+
+"Aye, but which of them will claim her in the end?"
+
+"That we may learn before the dawn, Ana. Hush! the fight begins."
+
+The head-priest, Roi, advanced and, standing before the god, sprinkled
+his feet with water and with perfume. Then he stretched out his hands,
+whereon all present prostrated themselves, save Merapi only, who stood
+alone in that great place like the survivor of a battle.
+
+"Hail to thee, Amon-Ra," he began, "Lord of Heaven, Establisher of
+all things, Maker of the gods, who unrolled the skies and built the
+foundations of the Earth. O god of gods, appears before thee this woman
+Merapi, daughter of Nathan, a child of the Hebrew race that owns thee
+not. This woman blasphemes thy might; this woman defies thee; this woman
+sets up her god above thee. Is it not so, woman?"
+
+"It is so," answered Merapi in a low voice.
+
+"Thus does she defy thee, thou Only One of many Forms, saying 'if the
+god Amon of the Egyptians be a greater god than my god, let him snatch
+me out of the arms of my god and here in this the shrine of Amon take
+the breath from out my lips and leave me a thing of clay.' Are these thy
+words, O woman?"
+
+"They are my words," she said in the same low voice, and oh! I shivered
+as I heard.
+
+The priest went on.
+
+"O Lord of Time, Lord of Life, Lord of Spirits and the Divinities of
+Heaven, Lord of Terror, come forth now in thy majesty and smite this
+blasphemer to the dust."
+
+Roi withdrew and Seti stood forward.
+
+"Know, O god Amon," he said, addressing the statue as though he wee
+speaking to a living man, "from the lips of me, thy high-priest, by
+birth the Prince and Heir of Egypt, that great things hang upon this
+matter here in the Land of Egypt, mayhap even who shall sit upon the
+throne that thou givest to its kings. This woman of Israel dares thee to
+thy face, saying that there is a greater god than thou art and that
+thou canst not harm her through the buckler of his strength. She says,
+moreover, that she will call upon her god to work a sign and a wonder
+upon thee. Lastly, she says that if thou dost not harm her and if her
+god works no sign upon thee, then she is ready to be handed over to thy
+priests and die the death of a blasphemer. Thy honour is set against her
+life, O great God of Egypt, and we, thy worshippers, watch to see the
+balance turn."
+
+"Well and justly put," muttered Bakenkhonsu to me. "Now if Amon fails
+us, what will you think of Amon, Ana?"
+
+"I shall learn the high-priest's mind and think what the high-priest
+thinks," I answered darkly, though in my heart I was terribly afraid
+for Merapi, and, to speak truth, for myself also, because of the doubts
+which arose in me and would not be quenched.
+
+Seti withdrew, taking his stand by Userti, and Ki stood forward and
+said:
+
+"O Amon, I thy Sacrificer, I thy Magician, to whom thou givest power,
+I the priest and servant of Isis, Mother of Mysteries, Queen of the
+company of the gods, call upon thee. She who stands before thee is but a
+Hebrew woman. Yet, as thou knowest well, O Father, in this house she is
+more than woman, inasmuch as she is the Voice and Sword of thine enemy,
+Jahveh, god of the Israelites. She thinks, mayhap, that she has come
+here of her own will, but thou knowest, Father Amon, as I know, that she
+is sent by the great prophets of her people, those magicians who guide
+her soul with spells to work thee evil and to set thee, Amon, beneath
+the heel of Jahveh. The stake seems small, the life of this one maid, no
+more; yet it is very great. This is the stake, O Father: Shall Amon rule
+the world, or Jahveh. If thou fallest to-night, thou fallest for ever;
+if thou dost triumph to-night, thou dost triumph for ever. In yonder
+shape of stone hides thy spirit; in yonder shape of woman's flesh hides
+the spirit of thy foe. Smite her, O Amon, smite her to small dust; let
+not the strength that is in her prevail against thy strength, lest thy
+name should be defiled and sorrows and loss should come upon the land
+which is thy throne; lest, too, the wizards of the Israelites should
+overcome us thy servants. Thus prayeth Ki thy magician, on whose soul it
+has pleased thee to pour strength and wisdom."
+
+Then followed a great silence.
+
+Watching the statue of the god, presently I thought that it moved, and
+as I could see by the stir among them, so did the others. I thought that
+its stone eyes rolled, I thought that it lifted the Scourge of Power in
+its granite hand, though whether these things were done by some spirit
+or by some priest, or by the magic of Ki, I do not know. At the least,
+a great wind began to blow about the temple, stirring our robes and
+causing the lamps to flicker. Only the robes of Merapi did not stir. Yet
+she saw what I could not see, for suddenly her eyes grew frightened.
+
+"The god is awake," whispered Bakenkhonsu. "Now good-bye to your fair
+Israelite. See, the Prince trembles, Ki smiles, and the face of Userti
+glows with triumph."
+
+As he spoke the blue scarab�us was snatched from Merapi's breast as
+though by a hand. It fell to the floor as did her wimple, so that now
+she appeared with her rich hair flowing down her robe. Then the eyes of
+the statue seemed to cease to roll, the wind ceased to blow, and again
+there was silence.
+
+Merapi stooped, lifted the wimple, replaced it on her head, found the
+scarab�us clasp, and very quietly, as a woman who was tiring herself
+might do, made it fast in its place again, a sight at which I heard
+Userti gasp.
+
+For a long while we waited. Watching the faces of the congregation, I
+saw amazement and doubt on those of the priests, rage on that of Ki, and
+on Seti's the flicker of a little smile. Merapi's eyes were closed as
+though she were asleep. At length she opened them, and turning her head
+towards the Prince said:
+
+"O high-priest of Amon-Ra, has your god worked his will on me, or must I
+wait longer before I call upon my God?"
+
+"Do what you will or can, woman, and make an end, for almost it is the
+moment of dawn when the temple worship opens."
+
+Then Merapi clasped her hands, and looking upwards, prayed aloud very
+sweetly and simply, saying:
+
+"O God of my fathers, trusting in Thee, I, a poor maid of Thy people
+Israel, have set the life Thou gavest me in Thy Hand. If, as I believe,
+Thou art the God of gods, I pray Thee show a sign and a wonder upon
+this god of the Egyptians, and thereby declare Thine Honour and keep
+my breath within my breast. If it pleases Thee not, then let me die, as
+doubtless for my many sins I deserve to do. O God of my fathers, I have
+made my prayer. Hear it or reject it according to Thy Will."
+
+So she ended, and listening to her, I felt the tears rising in my eyes,
+because she was so much alone, and I feared that this god of hers would
+never come to save her from the torments of the priests. Seti also
+turned his head away, and stared down the sanctuary at the sky over the
+open court where the lights of dawn were gathering.
+
+Once more there was silence. Then again that wind blew, very strongly,
+extinguishing the lamps, and, as it seemed to me, whirling away Merapi
+from where she was, so that now she stood to one side of the statue. The
+sanctuary was filled with gloom, till presently the first rays of
+the rising sun struck upon the roof. They fell down, down, as minute
+followed minute, till at length they rested like a sword of flame upon
+the statue of Amon-Ra. Once more that statue seemed to move. I thought
+that it lifted its stone arms to protect its head. Then in a moment with
+a rending noise, its mighty mass burst asunder, and fell in small dust
+about the throne, almost hiding it from sight.
+
+"Behold my God has answered me, the most humble of His servants," said
+Merapi in the same sweet and gentle voice. "Behold the sign and the
+wonder!"
+
+"Witch!" screamed the head-priest Roi, and fled away, followed by his
+fellows.
+
+"Sorceress!" hissed Userti, and fled also, as did all the others, save
+the Prince, Bakenkhonsu, I Ana, and Ki the Magician.
+
+We stood amazed, and while we did so, Ki turned to Merapi and spoke.
+His face was terrible with fear and fury, and his eyes shone like lamps.
+Although he did but whisper, I who was nearest to them heard all that
+was said, which the others could not do.
+
+"Your magic is good, Israelite," he muttered, "so good that it has
+overcome mine here in the temple where I serve."
+
+"I have no magic," she answered very low. "I obeyed a command, no more."
+
+He laughed bitterly, and asked:
+
+"Should two of a trade waste time on foolishness? Listen now. Teach
+me your secrets, and I will teach you mine, and together we will drive
+Egypt like a chariot."
+
+"I have no secrets, I have only faith," said Merapi again.
+
+"Woman," he went on, "woman or devil, will you take me for friend or
+foe? Here I have been shamed, since it was to me and not to their gods
+that the priests trusted to destroy you. Yet I can still forgive. Choose
+now, knowing that as my friendship will lead you to rule, to life and
+splendour, so my hate will drive you to shame and death."
+
+"You are beside yourself, and know not what you say. I tell you that I
+have no magic to give or to withhold," she answered, as one who did not
+understand or was indifferent, and turned away from him.
+
+Thereon he muttered some curse which I could not catch, bowed to the
+heap of dust that had been the statue of the god, and vanished away
+among the pillars of the sanctuary.
+
+"Oho-ho!" laughed Bakenkhonsu. "Not in vain have I lived to be so very
+old, for now it seems we have a new god in Egypt, and there stands his
+prophetess."
+
+Merapi came to the prince.
+
+"O high-priest of Amon," she said, "does it please you to let me go, for
+I am very weary?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE DEATH OF PHARAOH
+
+It was the appointed day and hour. By command of the Prince I drove with
+him to the palace of Pharaoh, whither her Highness the Princess refused
+to be his companion, and for the first time we talked together of that
+which had passed in the temple.
+
+"Have you seen the lady Merapi?" he asked of me.
+
+I answered No, as I was told that she was sick within her house and lay
+abed suffering from weariness, or I knew not what.
+
+"She does well to keep there," said Seti, "I think that if she came out
+those priests would murder her if they could. Also there are others,"
+and he glanced back at the chariot that bore Userti in state. "Say, Ana,
+can you interpret all this matter?"
+
+"Not I, Prince. I thought that perhaps your Highness, the high-priest of
+Anon, could give me light."
+
+"The high-priest of Amon wanders in thick darkness. Ki and the rest
+swear that this Israelite is a sorceress who has outmatched their magic,
+but to me it seems more simple to believe that what she says is true;
+that her god is greater than Amon."
+
+"And if this be true, Prince, what are we to do who are sworn to the
+gods of Egypt?"
+
+"Bow our heads and fall with them, I suppose, Ana, since honour will not
+suffer us to desert them."
+
+"Even if they be false, Prince?"
+
+"I do not think that they are false, Ana, though mayhap they be less
+true. At least they are the gods of the Egyptians and we are Egyptians."
+He paused and glanced at the crowded streets, then added, "See, when I
+passed this way three days ago I was received with shouts of welcome by
+the people. Now they are silent, every one."
+
+"Perhaps they have heard of what passed in the temple."
+
+"Doubtless, but it is not that which troubles them who think that the
+gods can guard themselves. They have heard also that I would befriend
+the Hebrews whom they hate, and therefore they begin to hate me. Why
+should I complain when Pharaoh shows them the way?"
+
+"Prince," I whispered, "what will you say to Pharaoh?"
+
+"That depends on what Pharaoh says to me. Ana, if I will not desert our
+gods because they seem to be the weaker, though it should prove to my
+advantage, do you think that I would desert these Hebrews because they
+seem to be weaker, even to gain a throne?"
+
+"There greatness speaks," I murmured, and as we descended from the
+chariot he thanked me with a look.
+
+We passed through the great hall to that same chamber where Pharaoh had
+given me the chain of gold. Already he was there seated at the head of
+the chamber and wearing on his head the double crown. About him were
+gathered all those of royal blood and the great officers of state. We
+made our obeisances, but of these he seemed to take no note. His eyes
+were almost closed, and to me he looked like a man who is very ill.
+The Princess Userti entered after us and to her he spoke some words of
+welcome, giving her his hand to kiss. Then he ordered the doors to be
+closed. As he did so, an officer of the household entered and said that
+a messenger had come from the Hebrews who desired speech with Pharaoh.
+
+"Let him enter," said Meneptah, and presently he appeared.
+
+He was a wild-eyed man of middle age, with long hair that fell over
+his sheepskin robe. To me he looked like a soothsayer. He stood before
+Pharaoh, making no salutation.
+
+"Deliver your message and be gone," said Nehesi the Vizier.
+
+"These are the words of the Fathers of Israel, spoken by my lips," cried
+the man in a voice that rang all round the vaulted chamber. "It has come
+to our ears, O Pharaoh, that the woman Merapi, daughter of Nathan, who
+has refuged in your city, she who is named Moon of Israel, has shown
+herself to be a prophetess of power, one to whom our God has given
+strength, in that, standing alone amidst the priests and magicians of
+Amon of the Egyptians, she took no harm from their sorceries and was
+able with the sword of prayer to smite the idol of Amon to the dust. We
+demand that this prophetess be restored to us, making oath on our part
+that she shall be given over safely to her betrothed husband and that no
+harm shall come to her for any crimes or treasons she may have committed
+against her people."
+
+"As to this matter," replied Pharaoh quietly, "make your prayer to the
+Prince of Egypt, in whose household I understand the woman dwells. If
+it pleases him to surrender her who, I take it, is a witch or a cunning
+worker of tricks, to her betrothed and her kindred, let him do so. It is
+not for Pharaoh to judge of the fate of private slaves."
+
+The man wheeled round and addressed Seti, saying:
+
+"You have heard, Son of the King. Will you deliver up this woman?"
+
+"Neither do I promise to deliver her up nor not to deliver her up,"
+answered Seti, "since the lady Merapi is no member of my household, nor
+have I any authority over her. She who saved my life dwells within my
+walls for safety's sake. If it pleases her to go, she can go; if it
+pleases her to remain, she can remain. When this Court is finished I
+give you safe-conduct to appear and in my presence learn her pleasure
+from her lips."
+
+"You have your answer; now be gone," said Nehesi.
+
+"Nay," cried the man, "I have more words to speak. Thus say the Fathers
+of Israel: We know the black counsel of your heart, O Pharaoh. It has
+been revealed to us that it is in your mind to put the Hebrews to the
+sword, as it is in the mind of the Prince of Egypt to save them from
+the sword. Change that mind of yours, O Pharaoh, and swiftly, lest death
+fall upon you from heaven above."
+
+"Cease!" thundered Meneptah in a voice that stilled the murmurs of the
+court. "Dog of a Hebrew, do you dare to threaten Pharaoh on his
+own throne? I tell you that were you not a messenger, and therefore
+according to our ancient law safe till the sun sets, you should be hewn
+limb from limb. Away with him, and if he is found in this city after
+nightfall let him be slain!"
+
+Then certain of the councillors sprang upon the man and thrust him forth
+roughly. At the door he wrenched himself free and shouted:
+
+"Think upon my words, Pharaoh, before this sun has set. And you, great
+ones of Egypt, think on them also before it appears again."
+
+They drove him out with blows and the doors were shut. Once more
+Meneptah began to speak, saying:
+
+"Now that this brawler is gone, what have you to say to me, Prince of
+Egypt? Do you still give me the counsel that you wrote in the roll? Do
+you still refuse, as heir of the Throne, to assent to my decree that
+these accursed Hebrews be destroyed with the sword of my justice?"
+
+Now all turned their eyes on Seti, who thought a while, and answered:
+
+"Let Pharaoh pardon me, but the counsel that I gave I still give; the
+assent that I refused I still refuse, because my heart tells me that
+so it is right to do, and so I think will Egypt be saved from many
+troubles."
+
+When the scribes had finished writing down these words Pharaoh asked
+again:
+
+"Prince of Egypt, if in a day to come you should fill my place, is it
+still your intent to let this people of the Hebrews go unharmed, taking
+with them the wealth that they have gathered here?"
+
+"Let Pharaoh pardon me, that is still my intent."
+
+Now at these fateful words there arose a sigh of astonishment from all
+that heard them. Before it had died away Pharaoh had turned to Userti
+and was asking:
+
+"Are these your counsel, your will, and your intent also, O Princess of
+Egypt?"
+
+"Let Pharaoh hear me," answered Userti in a cold, clear voice, "they are
+not. In this great matter my lord the Prince walks one road and I walk
+another. My counsel, will, and intent are those of Pharaoh."
+
+"Seti my son," said Meneptah, more kindly than I had ever heard him
+speak before, "for the last time, not as your king but as your father,
+I pray you to consider. Remembering that as it lies in your power,
+being of full age and having been joined with me in many matters of
+government, to refuse your assent to a great act of state, so it lies
+in my power with the assent of the high-priests and of my ministers to
+remove you from my path. Seti, I can disinherit you and set another in
+your place, and if you persist, that and no less I shall do. Consider,
+therefore, my son."
+
+In the midst of an intense silence Seti answered:
+
+"I have considered, O my Father, and whatever be the cost to me I cannot
+go back upon my words."
+
+Then Pharaoh rose and cried:
+
+"Take note all you assembled here, and let it be proclaimed to the
+people of Egypt without the gates, that they take note also, that I
+depose Seti my son from his place as Prince of Egypt and declare that
+he is removed from the succession to the double Crown. Take note that
+my daughter Userti, Princess of Egypt, wife of the Prince Seti, I do not
+depose. Whatever rights and heritages are hers as heiress of Egypt let
+those rights and heritages remain to her, and if a child be born of
+her and Prince Seti, who lives, let that child be heir to the Throne of
+Egypt. Take note that, if no such child is born or until it is born,
+I name my nephew, the count Amenmeses, son of by brother Khaemuas, now
+gathered to Osiris, to fill the Throne of Egypt when I am no more. Come
+hither, Count Amenmeses."
+
+He advanced and stood before him. Then Pharaoh lifted from his head the
+double crown he wore and for a moment set it on the brow of Amenmeses,
+saying as he replaced it on his own head:
+
+"By this act and token do I name and constitute you, Amenmeses, to
+be Royal Prince of Egypt in place of my son, Prince Seti, deposed.
+Withdraw, Royal Prince of Egypt. I have spoken."
+
+"Life! Blood! Strength!" cried all the company bowing before Pharaoh,
+all save the Prince Seti who neither bowed nor stirred. Only he cried:
+
+"And I have heard. Will Pharaoh be pleased to declare whether with
+my royal heritage he takes my life? If so, let it be here and now. My
+cousin Amenmeses wears a sword."
+
+"Nay, Son," answered Meneptah sadly, "your life is left to you and with
+it all your private rank and your possessions whatsoever and wherever
+they may be."
+
+"Let Pharaoh's will be done," replied Seti indifferently, "in this as
+in all things. Pharaoh spares my life until such time as Amenmeses his
+successor shall fill his place, when it shall be taken."
+
+Meneptah started; this thought was new to him.
+
+"Stand forth, Amenmeses," he cried, "and swear now the threefold oath
+that may not be broken. Swear by Amon, by Ptah, and by Osiris, god of
+death, that never will you attempt to harm the Prince Seti, your cousin,
+either in body or in such state and prerogative as remain to him. Let
+Roi, the head-priest of Amon, administer the oath now before us all."
+
+So Roi spoke the oath in the ancient form, which was terrible even to
+hear, and Amenmeses, unwillingly enough as I thought, repeated it after
+him, adding however these words at the end, "All these things I swear
+and all these penalties in this world and the world to be I invoke upon
+my head, provided only that when the time comes the Prince Seti leaves
+me in peace upon the throne to which it has pleased Pharaoh to decree to
+me."
+
+Now some there murmured that this was not enough, since in their hearts
+there were few who did not love Seti and grieve to see him thus stripped
+of his royal heritage because his judgment differed from that of
+Pharaoh over a matter of State policy. But Seti only laughed and said
+scornfully:
+
+"Let be, for of what value are such oaths? Pharaoh on the throne is
+above all oaths who must make answer to the gods only and from the
+hearts of some the gods are far away. Let Amenmeses not fear that I
+shall quarrel with him over this matter of a crown, I who in truth have
+never longed for the pomp and cares of royalty and who, deprived of
+these, still possess all that I can desire. I go my way henceforward
+as one of many, a noble of Egypt--no more, and if in a day to come it
+pleases the Pharaoh to be to shorten my wanderings, I am not sure that
+even then I shall grieve so very much, who am content to accept the
+judgment of the gods, as in the end he must do also. Yet, Pharaoh my
+father, before we part I ask leave to speak the thoughts that rise in
+me."
+
+"Say on," muttered Meneptah.
+
+"Pharaoh, having your leave, I tell you that I think you have done a
+very evil work this day, one that is unpleasing to those Powers which
+rule the world, whoever and whatsoever they may be, one too that will
+bring upon Egypt sorrows countless as the sand. I believe that these
+Hebrews whom you unjustly seek to slay worship a god as great or greater
+than our own, and that they and he will triumph over Egypt. I believe
+also that the mighty heritage which you have taken from me will bring
+neither joy nor honour to him by whom it has been received."
+
+Here Amenmeses started forward, but Meneptah held up his hand, and he
+was silent.
+
+"I believe, Pharaoh--alas! that I must say it--that your days on
+earth are few and that for the last time we look on each other living.
+Farewell, Pharaoh my father, whom still I love mayhap more in this hour
+of parting than ever I did before. Farewell, Amenmeses, Prince of Egypt.
+Take from me this ornament which henceforth should be worn by you only,"
+and lifting from his headdress that royal circlet which marks the heir
+to the throne, he held it to Amenmeses, who took it and, with a smile of
+triumph, set it on his brow.
+
+"Farewell, Lords and Councillors; it is my hope that in yonder prince
+you will find a master more to your liking that ever I could have been.
+Come, Ana, my friend, if it still pleases you to cling to me for a
+little while, now that I have nothing left to give."
+
+For a few moments he stood still looking very earnestly at his father,
+who looked back at him with tears in his deep-set, faded eyes.
+
+Then, though whether this was by chance I cannot say, taking no note of
+the Princess Userti, who gazed at him perplexed and wrathful, Seti drew
+himself up and cried in the ancient form:
+
+"Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!" and bowed almost to
+the ground.
+
+Meneptah heard. Muttering beneath his breath, "Oh! Seti, my son, my most
+beloved son!" he stretched out his arms as though to call him back or
+perhaps to clasp him. As he did so I saw his face change. Next instant
+he fell forward to the ground and lay there still. All the company stood
+struck with horror, only the royal physician ran to him, while Roi and
+others who were priests began to mutter prayers.
+
+"Has the good god been gathered to Osiris?" asked Amenmeses presently in
+a hoarse voice, "because if it be so, I am Pharaoh."
+
+"Nay, Amenmeses," exclaimed Userti, "the decrees have not yet been
+sealed or promulgated. They have neither strength nor weight."
+
+Before he could answer the physician cried:
+
+"Peace! Pharaoh still lives, his heart beats. This is but a fit which
+may pass. Begone, every one, he must have quiet."
+
+So we went, but first Seti knelt down and kissed his father on the brow.
+
+
+
+An hour later the Princess Userti broke into the room of his palace
+where the Prince and I were talking.
+
+"Seti," she said, "Pharaoh still lives, but the physicians say he will
+be dead by dawn. There is yet time. Here I have a writing, sealed with
+his signet and witnessed, wherein he recalls all that he decreed in the
+Court to-day, and declares you, his son, to be the true and only heir of
+the throne of Egypt."
+
+"Is it so, wife? Tell me now how did a dying man in a swoon command and
+seal this writing?" and he touched the scroll she held in her hand.
+
+"He recovered for a little while; Nehesi will tell you how," she
+replied, looking him in the face with cold eyes. Then before he could
+speak, she added, "Waste no more breath in questions, but act and
+at once. The General of the guards waits below; he is your faithful
+servant. Through him I have promised a gift to every soldier on the day
+that you are crowned. Nehesi and most of the officers are on our side.
+Only the priests are against us because of that Hebrew witch whom you
+shelter, and of her tribe whom you befriend; but they have not had time
+to stir up the people nor will they attempt revolt. Act, Seti, act, for
+none will move without your express command. Moreover, no question will
+be raised afterwards, since from Thebes to the sea and throughout the
+world you are known to be the heir of Egypt."
+
+"What would you have me do, wife?" asked Seti, when she paused for lack
+of breath.
+
+"Cannot you guess? Must I put statecraft into your head as well as a
+sword into your hand? Why that scribe of yours, who follows your heels
+like a favoured dog, would be more apt a pupil. Hearken then. Amenmeses
+has sent out to gather strength, but as yet there are not fifty men
+about him whom he can trust." She leant forward and whispered fiercely,
+"Kill the traitor, Amenmeses--all will hold it a righteous act, and the
+General waits your word. Shall I summon him?"
+
+"I think not," answered Seti. "Because Pharaoh, as he has a right to do,
+is pleased to name a certain man of royal blood to succeed him, how does
+this make that man a traitor to Pharaoh who still lives? But, traitor or
+none, I will not murder my cousin Amenmeses."
+
+"Then he will murder you."
+
+"Maybe. That is a matter between him and the gods which I leave them to
+settle. The oath he swore to-day is not one to be lightly broken. But
+whether he breaks it or not, I also swore an oath, at least in my heart,
+namely that I would not attempt to dispute the will of Pharaoh whom,
+after all, I love as my father and honour as my king, Pharaoh who
+still lives and may, as I hope, recover. What should I say to him if he
+recovered or, at the worst, when at last we meet elsewhere?"
+
+"Pharaoh never will recover; I have spoken to the physician and he
+told me so. Already they pierce his skull to let out the evil spirit of
+sickness, after which none of our family have lived for very long."
+
+"Because, as I hold, thereby, whatever priests and physicians may say,
+they let in the good spirit of death. Ana, I pray you if I----"
+
+"Man," she broke in, striking her hand upon the table by which she
+stood, "do you understand that while you muse and moralise your crown is
+passing from you?"
+
+"It has already passed, Lady. Did you not see me give it to Amenmeses?"
+
+"Do you understand that you who should be the greatest king in all the
+world, in some few hours if indeed you are allowed to live, will be
+nothing but a private citizen of Egypt, one at whom the very beggars may
+spit and take no harm?"
+
+"Surely, Wife. Moreover, there is little virtue in what I do, since
+on the whole I prefer that prospect and am willing to take the risk of
+being hurried from an evil world. Hearken," he added, with a change of
+tone and gesture. "You think me a fool and a weakling; a dreamer also,
+you, the clear-eyed, hard-brained stateswoman who look to the glittering
+gain of the moment for which you are ready to pay in blood, and
+guess nothing of what lies beyond. I am none of these things, except,
+perchance, the last. I am only a man who strives to be just and to do
+right, as right seems to me, and if I dream, it is of good, not evil, as
+I understand good and evil. You are sure that this dreaming of mine will
+lead me to worldly loss and shame. Even of that _I_ am not sure. The
+thought comes to me that it may lead me to those very baubles on which
+you set your heart, but by a path strewn with spices and with flowers,
+not by one paved with the bones of men and reeking with their gore.
+Crowns that are bought with the promise of blood and held with cruelty
+are apt to be lost in blood, Userti."
+
+She waved her hand. "I pray you keep the rest, Seti, till I have more
+time to listen. Moreover if I need prophecies, I think it better to turn
+to Ki and those who make them their life-study. For me this is a day of
+deeds, not dreams, and since you refuse my help, and behave as a sick
+girl lost in fancies, I must see to myself. As while you live I cannot
+reign alone or wage war in my own name only, I go to make terms with
+Amenmeses, who will pay me high for peace."
+
+"You go--and do you return, Userti?"
+
+She drew herself to her full height, looking very royal, and answered
+slowly:
+
+"I do not return. I, the Princess of Egypt, cannot live as the wife of
+a common man who falls from a throne to set himself upon the earth, and
+smears his own brow with mud for a ur�us crown. When your prophecies
+come true, Seti, and you crawl from your dust, then perhaps we may speak
+again."
+
+"Aye, Userti, but the question is, what shall we say?"
+
+"Meanwhile," she added, as she turned, "I leave you to your chosen
+counsellors--yonder scribe, whom foolishness, not wisdom, has whitened
+before his time, and perchance the Hebrew sorceress, who can give you
+moonbeams to drink from those false lips of hers. Farewell, Seti, once a
+prince and my husband."
+
+"Farewell, Userti, who, I fear, must still remain my sister."
+
+Then he watched her go, and turning to me, said:
+
+"To-day, Ana, I have lost both a crown and a wife, yet strange to tell
+I do not know which of these calamities grieves me least. Yet it is time
+that fortune turned. Or mayhap all the evils are not done. Would you
+not go also, Ana? Although she gibes at you in her anger, the Princess
+thinks well of you, and would keep you in her service. Remember, whoever
+falls in Egypt, she will be great till the last."
+
+"Oh! Prince," I answered, "have I not borne enough to-day that you
+must add insult to my load, you with whom I broke the cup and swore the
+oath?"
+
+"What!" he laughed. "Is there one in Egypt who remembers oaths to his
+own loss? I thank you, Ana," and taking my hand he pressed it.
+
+At that moment the door opened, and old Pambasa entered, saying:
+
+"The Hebrew woman, Merapi, would see you; also two Hebrew men."
+
+"Admit them," said Seti. "Note, Ana, how yonder old time-server turns
+his face from the setting sun. This morning even it would have been 'to
+see your Highness,' uttered with bows so low that his beard swept the
+floor. Now it is 'to see you' and not so much as an inclination of the
+head in common courtesy. This, moreover, from one who has robbed me year
+by year and grown fat on bribes. It is the first of many bitter lessons,
+or rather the second--that of her Highness was the first; I pray that I
+may learn them with humility."
+
+While he mused thus and, having no comfort to offer, I listened sad at
+heart, Merapi entered, and a moment after her the wide-eyed messenger
+whom we had seen in Pharaoh's Court, and her uncle Jabez the cunning
+merchant. She bowed low to Seti, and smiled at me. Then the other two
+appeared, and with small salutation the messenger began to speak.
+
+"You know my demand, Prince," he said. "It is that this woman should be
+returned to her people. Jabez, her uncle, will lead her away."
+
+"And you know my answer, Israelite," answered Seti. "It is that I have
+no power over the coming or the going of the lady Merapi, or at least
+wish to claim none. Address yourself to her."
+
+"What is it you wish with me, Priest?" asked Merapi quickly.
+
+"That you should return to the town of Goshen, daughter of Nathan. Have
+you no ears to hear?"
+
+"I hear, but if I return, what will you of me?"
+
+"That you who have proved yourself a prophetess by your deeds in yonder
+temple should dedicate your powers to the service of your people,
+receiving in return full forgiveness for the evils you have wrought
+against them, which we swear to you in the name of God."
+
+"I am no prophetess, and I have wrought no evils against my people,
+Priest. I have only saved them from the evil of murdering one who has
+shown himself their friend, even as I hear to the laying down of his
+crown for their sake."
+
+"That is for the Fathers of Israel and not for you to judge, woman. Your
+answer?"
+
+"It is neither for them nor for me, but for God only." She paused, then
+added, "Is this all you ask of me?"
+
+"It is all the Fathers ask, but Laban asks his affianced wife."
+
+"And am I to be given in marriage to--this assassin?"
+
+"Without doubt you are to be given to this brave soldier, being already
+his."
+
+"And if I refuse?"
+
+"Then, Daughter of Nathan, it is my part to curse you in the name of
+God, and to declare you cut off and outcast from the people of God. It
+is my part to announce to you further that your life is forfeit, and
+that any Hebrew may kill you when and how he can, and take no blame."
+
+Merapi paled a little, then turning to Jabez, asked:
+
+"You have heard, my uncle. What say you?"
+
+Jabez looked round shiftily, and said in his unctuous voice:
+
+"My niece, surely you must obey the commands of the Elders of Israel who
+speak the will of Heaven, as you obeyed them when you matched yourself
+against the might of Amon."
+
+"You gave me a different counsel yesterday, my uncle. Then you said I
+had better bide where I was."
+
+The messenger turned and glared at him.
+
+"There is a great difference between yesterday and to-day," went on
+Jabez hurriedly. "Yesterday you were protected by one who would soon
+be Pharaoh, and might have been able to move his mind in favour of your
+folk. To-day his greatness is stripped from him, and his will has no
+more weight in Egypt. A dead lion is not to be feared, my niece."
+
+Seti smiled at this insult, but Merapi's face, like my own, grew red, as
+though with anger.
+
+"Sleeping lions have been taken for dead ere now, my uncle, as those who
+would spurn them have discovered to their cost. Prince Seti, have you no
+word to help me in this strait?"
+
+"What is the strait, Lady? If you wish to go to your people and--to
+Laban, who, I understand, is recovered from his hurts, there is naught
+between you and me save my gratitude to you which gives me the right to
+say you shall not go. If, however, you wish to stay, then perhaps I am
+still not so powerless to shield or smite as this worthy Jabez thinks,
+who still remain the greatest lord in Egypt and one with those that love
+him. Therefore should you desire to remain, I think that you may do so
+unmolested of any, and least of all by that friend in whose shadow it
+pleases you to sojourn."
+
+"Those are very gentle words," murmured Merapi, "words that few would
+speak to a maid from whom naught is asked and who has naught to give."
+
+"A truce to this talk," snarled the messenger. "Do you obey or do you
+rebel? Your answer."
+
+She turned and looked him full in the face, saying:
+
+"I do not return to Goshen and to Laban, of whose sword I have seen
+enough."
+
+"Mayhap you will see more of it before all is done. For the last time,
+think ere the curse of your God and your people falls upon you, and
+after it, death. For fall I say it shall, I, who, as Pharaoh knows
+to-day, am no false prophet, and as that Prince knows also."
+
+"I do not think that my God, who sees the hearts of those that he has
+made, will avenge himself upon a woman because she refuses to be wedded
+to a murderer whom of her own will she never chose, which, Priest, is
+the fate you offer me. Therefore I am content to leave judgment in
+the hands of the great Judge of all. For the rest I defy you and your
+commands. If I must be slaughtered, let me die, but at least let me die
+mistress of myself and free, who am no man's love, or wife, or slave."
+
+"Well spoken!" whispered Seti to me.
+
+Then this priest became terrible. Waving his arms and rolling his wild
+eyes, he poured out some hideous curse upon the head of this poor maid,
+much of which, as it was spoken rapidly in an ancient form of Hebrew,
+we did not understand. He cursed her living, dying, and after death.
+He cursed her in her love and hate, wedded or alone. He cursed her in
+child-bearing or in barrenness, and he cursed her children after her to
+all generations. Lastly, he declared her cut off from and rejected by
+the god she worshipped, and sentenced her to death at the hands of any
+who could slay her. So horrible was that curse that she shrank away
+from him, while Jabez crouched about the ground hiding his eyes with his
+hands, and even I felt my blood turn cold.
+
+At length he paused, foaming at the lips. Then, suddenly, shouting,
+"After judgment, doom!" he drew a knife from his robe and sprang at her.
+
+She fled behind us. He followed, but Seti, crying, "Ah, I thought it,"
+leapt between them, as he did so drawing the iron sword which he wore
+with his ceremonial dress. At him he sprang and the next thing I saw was
+the red point of the sword standing out beyond the priest's shoulders.
+
+Down he fell, babbling:
+
+"Is this how you show your love for Israel, Prince?"
+
+"It is how I show my hate of murderers," answered Seti.
+
+Then the man died.
+
+"Oh!" cried Merapi wringing her hands, "once more I have caused Hebrew
+blood to flow and now all this curse will fall on me."
+
+"Nay, on me, Lady, if there is anything in curses, which I doubt, for
+this deed was mine, and at the worst yonder mad brute's knife did not
+fall on you."
+
+"Yes, life is left if only for a little while. Had it not been for you,
+Prince, by now, I----" and she shuddered.
+
+"And had it not been for you, Moon of Israel, by now I----" and he
+smiled, adding, "Surely Fate weaves a strange web round you and me.
+First you save me from the sword; then I save you. I think, Lady, that
+in the end we ought to die together and give Ana here stuff for the best
+of all his stories. Friend Jabez," he went on to the Israelite who was
+still crouching in the corner with the eyes starting from his head, "get
+you back to your gentle-hearted people and make it clear to them why the
+lady Merapi cannot companion you, taking with you that carrion to prove
+your tale. Tell them that if they send more men to molest your niece a
+like fate awaits them, but that now as before I do not turn my back upon
+them because of the deeds of a few madmen or evil-doers, as I have given
+them proof to-day. Ana, make ready, since soon I leave for Memphis.
+See that the Lady Merapi, who will travel alone, has fit escort for her
+journey, that is if it pleases her to depart from Tanis."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE CROWNING OF AMENMESES
+
+Now, notwithstanding all the woes that fell on Egypt and a certain
+secret sorrow of my own, began the happiest of the days which the gods
+have given me. We went to Mennefer or Memphis, the white-walled city
+where I was born, the city that I loved. Now no longer did I dwell in
+a little house near to the enclosure of the temple of Ptah, which is
+vaster and more splendid than all those of Thebes or Tanis. My home was
+in the beautiful palace of Seti, which he had inherited from his mother,
+the Great Royal Wife. It stood, and indeed still stands, on a piled-up
+mound without the walls near to the temple of the goddess Neit, who
+always has her habitation to the north of the wall, why I do not know,
+because even her priests cannot tell me. In front of this palace,
+facing to the north, is a great portico, whereof the roof is borne upon
+palm-headed, painted columns whence may be seen the most lovely prospect
+in Egypt. First the gardens, then the palm-groves, then the cultivated
+land, then the broad and gentle Nile and, far away, the desert.
+
+Here, then, we dwelt, keeping small state and almost unguarded, but in
+wealth and comfort, spending our time in the library of the palace,
+or in those of the temples, and when we wearied of work, in the lovely
+gardens or, perchance, sailing upon the bosom of the Nile. The lady
+Merapi dwelt there also, but in a separate wing of the palace, with
+certain slaves and servants whom Seti had given to her. Sometimes we met
+her in the gardens, where it pleased her to walk at the same hours that
+we did, namely before the sun grew hot, or in the cool of the evening,
+and now and again when the moon shone at night. Then the three of us
+would talk together, for Seti never sought her company alone or within
+walls.
+
+Those talks were very pleasant. Moreover they grew more frequent as time
+went on, since Merapi had a thirst for learning, and the Prince would
+bring her rolls to read in a little summer-house there was. Here we
+would sit, or if the heat was great, outside beneath the shadow of
+two spreading trees that stretched above the roof of the little
+pleasure-house, while Seti discoursed of the contents of the rolls and
+instructed her in the secrets of our writing. Sometimes, too, I read
+them stories of my making, to which it pleased them both to listen, or
+so they said, and I, in my vanity, believed. Also we would talk of the
+mystery and the wonder of the world and of the Hebrews and their fate,
+or of what passed in Egypt and the neighbouring lands.
+
+Nor was Merapi altogether lonesome, seeing that there dwelt in Memphis
+certain ladies who had Hebrew blood in their veins, or were born of the
+Israelites and had married Egyptians against their law. Among these she
+made friends, and together they worshipped in their own fashion with
+none to say them nay, since here no priests were allowed to trouble
+them.
+
+For our part we held intercourse with as many as we pleased, since few
+forgot that Seti was by blood the Prince of Egypt, that is, a man almost
+half divine, and all were eager to visit him. Also he was much beloved
+for his own sake and more particularly by the poor, whose wants it was
+his delight to relieve to the full limit of his wealth. Thus it came
+about that whenever he went abroad, although against his will, he was
+received with honours and homage that were almost royal, for though
+Pharaoh could rob him of the Crown he could not empty his veins of the
+blood of kings.
+
+It was on this account that I feared for his safety, since I was sure
+that through his spies Amenmeses knew all and would grow jealous of
+a dethroned prince who was still so much adored by those over whom of
+right he should have ruled. I told Seti of my doubts and that when he
+travelled the streets he should be guarded by armed men. But he only
+laughed and answered that, as the Hebrews had failed to kill him, he did
+not think that any others would succeed. Moreover he believed there
+were no Egyptians in the land who would lift a sword against him, or put
+poison in his drink, whoever bade them. Also he added these words:
+
+"The best way to escape death is to have no fear of death, for then
+Osiris shuns us."
+
+
+
+Now I must tell of the happenings at Tanis. Pharaoh Meneptah lingered
+but a few hours and never found his mind again before his spirit flew
+to Heaven. Then there was great mourning in the land, for, if he was not
+loved, Meneptah was honoured and feared. Only among the Israelites there
+was open rejoicing, because he had been their enemy and their prophets
+had foretold that death was near to him. They gave it out that he had
+been smitten of their God, which caused the Egyptians to hate them more
+than ever. There was doubt, too, and bewilderment in Egypt, for though
+his proclamation disinheriting the Prince Seti had been published
+abroad, the people, and especially those who dwelt in the south, could
+not understand why this should have been done over a matter of the
+shepherd slaves who dwelt in Goshen. Indeed, had the Prince but held up
+his hand, tens of thousands would have rallied to his standard. Yet
+this he refused to do, which astonished all the world, who thought it
+marvellous that any man should refuse a throne which would have
+lifted him almost to the level of the gods. Indeed, to avoid their
+importunities he had set out at once for Memphis, and there remained
+hidden away during the period of mourning for his father. So it came
+about that Amenmeses succeeded with none to say him nay, since without
+her husband Userti could not or would not act.
+
+After the days of embalmment were accomplished the body of Pharaoh
+Meneptah was carried up the Nile to be laid in his eternal house, the
+splendid tomb that he had made ready for himself in the Valley of Dead
+Kings at Thebes. To this great ceremony the Prince Seti was not bidden,
+lest, as Bakenkhonsu told me afterwards, his presence should cause some
+rising in his favour, with or without his will. For this reason also the
+dead god, as he was named, was not suffered to rest at Memphis on his
+last journey up the Nile. Disguised as a man of the people the Prince
+watched his father's body pass in the funeral barge guarded by shaven,
+white-robed priests, the centre of a splendid procession. In front went
+other barges filled with soldiers and officers of state, behind came
+the new Pharaoh and all the great ones of Egypt, while the sounds of
+lamentation floated far over the face of the waters. They appeared, they
+passed, they disappeared, and when they had vanished Seti wept a little,
+for in his own fashion he loved his father.
+
+"Of what use is it to be a king and named half-divine, Ana," he said to
+me, "seeing that the end of such gods as these is the same as that of
+the beggar at the gate?"
+
+"This, Prince," I answered, "that a king can do more good than a beggar
+while the breath is in his nostrils, and leave behind him a great
+example to others."
+
+"Or more harm, Ana. Also the beggar can leave a great example, that of
+patience in affliction. Still, if I were sure that I should do nothing
+but good, then perhaps I would be a king. But I have noted that those
+who desire to do the most good often work the greatest harm."
+
+"Which, if followed out, would be an argument for wishing to do evil,
+Prince."
+
+"Not so," he answered, "because good triumphs at the last. For good is
+truth and truth rules earth and heaven."
+
+"Then it is clear, Prince, that you should seek to be a king."
+
+"I will remember the argument, Ana, if ever time brings me an
+opportunity unstained by blood," he answered.
+
+When the obsequies of Pharaoh were finished, Amenmeses returned to
+Tanis, and there was crowned as Pharaoh. I attended this great ceremony,
+bearing coronation gifts of certain royal ornaments which the Prince
+sent to Pharaoh, saying it was not fit that he, as a private person,
+should wear them any longer. These I presented to Pharaoh, who took them
+doubtfully, declaring that he did not understand the Prince Seti's mind
+and actions.
+
+"They hide no snare, O Pharaoh," I said. "As you rejoice in the glory
+that the gods have sent you, so the Prince my master rejoices in the
+rest and peace which the gods have given him, asking no more."
+
+"It may be so, Scribe, but I find this so strange a thing, that
+sometimes I fear lest the rich flowers of this glory of mine should
+hide some deadly snake, whereof the Prince knows, if he did not set it
+there."
+
+"I cannot say, O Pharaoh, but without doubt, although he could work no
+guile, the Prince is not as are other men. His mind is both wide and
+deep."
+
+"Too deep for me," muttered Amenmeses. "Nevertheless, say to my royal
+cousin that I thank him for his gifts, especially as some of them were
+worn, when he was heir to Egypt, by my father Khaemuas, who I would had
+left me his wisdom as well as his blood. Say to him also that while he
+refrains from working me harm upon the throne, as I know he has done up
+to the present, he may be sure that I will work him none in the station
+which he has chosen."
+
+Also I saw the Princess Userti who questioned me closely concerning
+her lord. I told her everything, keeping naught back. She listened and
+asked:
+
+"What of that Hebrew woman, Moon of Israel? Without doubt she fills my
+place."
+
+"Not so, Princess," I answered. "The Prince lives alone. Neither she nor
+any other woman fills your place. She is a friend to him, no more."
+
+"A friend! Well, at least we know the end of such friendships. Oh!
+surely the Prince must be stricken with madness from the gods!"
+
+"It may be so, your Highness, but I think that if the gods smote more
+men with such madness, the world would be better than it is."
+
+"The world is the world, and the business of those who are born to
+greatness is to rule it as it is, not to hide away amongst books and
+flowers, and to talk folly with a beautiful outland woman, and a scribe
+however learned," she answered bitterly, adding, "Oh! if the Prince
+is not mad, certainly he drives others to madness, and me, his spouse,
+among them. That throne is his, his; yet he suffers a cross-grained dolt
+to take his place, and sends him gifts and blessings."
+
+"I think your Highness should wait till the end of the story before you
+judge of it."
+
+She looked at me sharply, and asked:
+
+"Why do you say that? Is the Prince no fool after all? Do he and you,
+who both seem to be so simple, perchance play a great and hidden game,
+as I have known men feign folly in order to do with safety? Or has that
+witch of an Israelite some secret knowledge in which she instructs you,
+such as a woman who can shatter the statue of Amon to fine dust might
+well possess? You make believe not to know, which means that you will
+not answer. Oh! Scribe Ana, if only it were safe, I think I could find
+a way to wring the truth out of you, although you do pretend to be but a
+babe for innocence."
+
+"It pleases your Highness to threaten and without cause."
+
+"No," she answered, changing her voice and manner, "I do not threaten;
+it is only the madness that I have caught from Seti. Would you not be
+mad if you knew that another woman was to be crowned to-morrow in your
+place, because--because----" and she began to weep, which frightened me
+more than all her rough words.
+
+Presently she dried her tears, and said:
+
+"Say to my lord that I rejoice to hear that he is well and send him
+greetings, but that never of my own wish will I look upon his living
+face again unless indeed he takes another counsel, and sets himself to
+win that which is his own. Say to him that though he has so little care
+for me, and pays no heed to my desires, still I watch over his welfare
+and his safety, as best I may."
+
+"His safety, Princess! Pharaoh assured me not an hour ago that he had
+naught to fear, as indeed he fears naught."
+
+"Oh! which of you is the more foolish," she exclaimed stamping her foot,
+"the man or his master? You believe that the Prince has naught to fear
+because that usurper tells you so, and he believes it--well, because he
+fears naught. For a little while he may sleep in peace. But let him wait
+until troubles of this sort or of that arise in Egypt and, understanding
+that the gods send them on account of the great wickedness that my
+father wrought when death had him by the throat and his mind was
+clouded, the people begin to turn their eyes towards their lawful king.
+Then the usurper will grow jealous, and if he has his way, the Prince
+will sleep in peace--for ever. If his throat remains uncut, it will be
+for one reason only, that I hold back the murderer's hand. Farewell, I
+can talk no more, for I say to you that my brain is afire--and to-morrow
+he should have been crowned, and I with him," and she swept away, royal
+as ever, leaving me wondering what she meant when she spoke of troubles
+arising in Egypt, or if the words were but uttered at hazard.
+
+Afterwards Bakenkhonsu and I supped together at the college of the
+temple of Ptah, of which because of his age he was called the father,
+when I heard more of this matter.
+
+"Ana," he said, "I tell you that such gloom hangs over Egypt as I have
+never known even when it was thought that the Ninebow Barbarians would
+conquer and enslave the land. Amenmeses will be the fifth Pharaoh whom
+I have seen crowned, the first of them when I was but a little
+child hanging to my mother's robe, and not once have I known such
+joylessness."
+
+"That may be because the crown passes to one who should not wear it,
+Bakenkhonsu."
+
+He shook his head. "Not altogether. I think this darkness comes from the
+heavens as light does. Men are afraid they know not of what."
+
+"The Israelites," I suggested.
+
+"Now you are near to it, Ana, for doubtless they have much to do with
+the matter. Had it not been for them Seti and not Amenmeses would be
+crowned to-morrow. Also the tale of the marvel which the beautiful
+Hebrew woman wrought in the temple yonder has got abroad and is taken as
+an omen. Did I tell you that six days gone a fine new statue of the god
+was consecrated there and on the following morning was found lying on
+its side, or rather with its head resting on the breast of Mut?"
+
+"If so, Merapi is blameless, because she has gone away from this city."
+
+"Of course she has gone away, for has not Seti gone also? But I think
+she left something behind her. However that may be, even our new divine
+lord is afraid. He dreams ill, Ana," he added, dropping his voice, "so
+ill that he has called in Ki, the Kherheb,[*] to interpret his visions."
+
+     [*] "Kherheb" was the title of the chief official magician
+     in ancient Egypt.
+
+"And what said Ki?"
+
+"Ki could say nothing or, rather, that the only answer vouchsafed to
+him and his company, when they made inquiry of their Kas, was that
+this god's reign would be very short and that it and his life would end
+together."
+
+"Which perhaps did not please the god Amenmeses, Bakenkhonsu?"
+
+"Which did not please the god at all. He threatened Ki. It is a foolish
+thing to threaten a great magician, Ana, as the Kherheb Ki, himself
+indeed told him, looking him in the eyes. Then he prayed his pardon and
+asked who would succeed him on the throne, but Ki said he did not know,
+as a Kherheb who had been threatened could never remember anything,
+which indeed he never can--except to pay back the threatener."
+
+"And did he know, Bakenkhonsu?"
+
+By way of answer the old Councillor crumbled some bread fine upon the
+table, then with his finger traced among the crumbs the rough likeness
+of a jackal-headed god and of two feathers, after which with a swift
+movement he swept the crumbs onto the floor.
+
+"Seti!" I whispered, reading the hieroglyphs of the Prince's name, and
+he nodded and laughed in his great fashion.
+
+"Men come to their own sometimes, Ana, especially if they do not
+seek their own," he said. "But if so, much must happen first that is
+terrible. The new Pharaoh is not the only man who dreams, Ana. Of late
+years my sleep has been light and sometimes I dream, though I have no
+magic like to that of Ki."
+
+"What did you dream?"
+
+"I dreamed of a great multitude marching like locusts over Egypt. Before
+them went a column of fire in which were two hands. One of these held
+Amon by the throat and one held the new Pharaoh by the throat. After
+them came a column of cloud, and in it a shape like to that of an
+unwrapped mummy, a shape of death standing upon water that was full of
+countless dead."
+
+Now I bethought me of the picture that the Prince and I had seen in
+the skies yonder in the land of Goshen, but of it I said nothing. Yet I
+think that Bakenkhonsu saw into my mind, for he asked:
+
+"Do _you_ never dream, Friend? You see visions that come true--Amenmeses
+on the throne, for instance. Do you not also dream at times? No? Well,
+then, the Prince? You look like men who might, and the time is ripe
+and pregnant. Oh! I remember. You are both of you dreaming, not of the
+pictures that pass across the terrible eyes of Ki, but of those that the
+moon reflects upon the waters of Memphis, the Moon of Israel. Ana, be
+advised by me, put away the flesh and increase the spirit, for in it
+alone is happiness, whereof woman and all our joys are but earthly
+symbols, shadows thrown by that mortal cloud which lies between us and
+the Light Above. I see that you understand, because some of that light
+has struggled to your heart. Do you remember that you saw it shining in
+the hour when your little daughter died? Ah! I thought so. It was the
+gift she left you, a gift that will grow and grow in such a breast as
+yours, if only you will put away the flesh and make room for it,
+Ana. Man, do not weep--laugh as I do, Oho-ho! Give me my staff, and
+good-night. Forget not that we sit together at the crowning to-morrow,
+for you are a King's Companion and that rank once conferred is one which
+no new Pharaoh can take away. It is like the gift of the spirit, Ana,
+which is hard to win, but once won more eternal than the stars. Oh! why
+do I live so long who would bathe in it, as when a child I used to bathe
+in Nile?"
+
+
+
+On the following day at the appointed hour I went to the great hall of
+the palace, that in which I had first seen Meneptah, and took my stand
+in the place allotted to me. It was somewhat far back, perhaps because
+it was not wished that I, who was known to be the private scribe of
+Seti, should remind Egypt of him by appearing where all could see me.
+
+Great as was the hall the crowd filled it to its furthest corners.
+Moreover no common man was present there, but rather every noble and
+head-priest in Egypt, and with them their wives and daughters, so that
+all the dim courts shone with gold and precious gems set upon festal
+garments. While I was waiting old Bakenkhonsu hobbled towards me, the
+crowd making way for him, and I could see that there was laughter in his
+sunken eyes.
+
+"We are ill-placed, Ana," he said. "Still if any of the many gods there
+are in Egypt should chance to rain fires on Pharaoh, we shall be the
+safer. Talking of gods," he went on in a whisper, "have you heard what
+happened an hour ago in the temple of Ptah of Tanis whence I have just
+come? Pharaoh and all the Blood-royal--save one--walked according to
+custom before the statue of the god which, as you know, should bow its
+head to show that he chooses and accepts the king. In front of Amenmeses
+went the Princess Userti, and as she passed the head of the god bowed,
+for I saw it, though all pretended that they did not see. Then came
+Pharaoh and stood waiting, but it would not bow, though the priests
+called in the old formula, 'The god greets the king.'
+
+"At length he went on, looking as black as night, and others of the
+blood of Rameses followed in their order. Last of all limped Saptah and,
+behold! the god bowed again."
+
+"How and why does it do these things?" I asked, "and at the wrong time?"
+
+"Ask the priests, Ana, or Userti, or Saptah. Perhaps the divine neck
+has not been oiled of late, or too much oiled, or too little oiled,
+or prayers--or strings--may have gone wrong. Or Pharaoh may have been
+niggard in his gifts to that college of the great god of his House. Who
+am I that I should know the ways of gods? That in the temple where I
+served at Thebes fifty years ago did not pretend to bow or to trouble
+himself as to which of the royal race sat upon the throne. Hush! Here
+comes Pharaoh."
+
+Then in a splendid procession, surrounded by princes, councillors,
+ladies, priests, and guards, Amenmeses and the Royal Wife, Urnure, a
+large woman who walked awkwardly, entered the hall, a glittering band.
+The high-priest, Roi, and the chancellor, Nehesi, received Pharaoh and
+led him to his throne. The multitude prostrated itself, trumpets blew
+and thrice the old salute of "Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!
+Pharaoh!" was cried aloud.
+
+Amenmeses rose and bowed, and I saw that his heavy face was troubled and
+looked older. Then he swore some oath to gods and men which Roi dictated
+to him, and before all the company put on the double crown and the
+other emblems, and took in his hands the scourge and golden sickle. Next
+homage was paid. The Princess Userti came first and kissed Pharaoh's
+hand, but bent no knee. Indeed first she spoke with him a while. We
+could not hear what was said, but afterwards learned that she demanded
+that he should publicly repeat all the promises which her father
+Meneptah had made to her before him, confirming her in her place and
+rights. This in the end he did, though it seemed to me unwillingly
+enough.
+
+So with many forms and ancient celebrations the ceremony went on, till
+all grew weary waiting for that time when Pharaoh should make his speech
+to the people. That speech, however, was never made, for presently,
+thrusting past us, I saw those two prophets of the Israelites who had
+visited Meneptah in this same hall. Men shrank from them, so that they
+walked straight up to the throne, nor did even the guards strive to bar
+their way. What they said there I could not hear, but I believe that
+they demanded that their people should be allowed to go to worship their
+god in their own fashion, and that Amenmeses refused as Meneptah had
+done.
+
+Then one of them cast down a rod and it turned to a snake which hissed
+at Pharaoh, whereon the Kherheb Ki and his company also cast down rods
+that turned to snakes, though I could only hear the hissing. After this
+a great gloom fell upon the hall, so that men could not see each other's
+faces and everyone began to call aloud till the company broke up in
+confusion. Bakenkhonsu and I were borne together to the doorway by the
+pressure of the people, whence we were glad enough to see the sky again.
+
+
+
+Thus ended the crowning of Amenmeses.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE MESSAGE OF JABEZ
+
+That night there were none who rejoiced in the streets of the city, and
+save in the palace and houses of those of the Court, none who feasted. I
+walked abroad in the market-place and noted the people going to and fro
+gloomily, or talking together in whispers. Presently a man whose face
+was hidden in a hood began to speak with me, saying that he had a
+message for my master, the Prince Seti. I answered that I took no
+messages from veiled strangers, whereon he threw back his hood, and I
+saw that it was Jabez, the uncle of Merapi. I asked him whether he had
+obeyed the Prince, and borne the body of that prophet back to Goshen and
+told the elders of the manner of the man's death.
+
+"Yes," he answered, "nor were the Elders angry with the Prince over this
+matter. They said that their messenger had exceeded his authority, since
+they had never told him to curse Merapi, and much less attempt to kill
+her, and that the Prince did right to slay one who would have done
+murder before his royal eyes. Still they added that the curse, having
+once been spoken by this priest, would surely fall upon Merapi in this
+way or in that."
+
+"What then should she do, Jabez?"
+
+"I do not know, Scribe. If she returns to her people, perchance she
+will be absolved, but then she must surely marry Laban. It is for her to
+judge."
+
+"And what would you do if you were in her place, Jabez?"
+
+"I think that I should stay where I was, and make myself very dear to
+Seti, taking the chance that the curse may pass her by, since it was not
+lawfully decreed upon her. Whichever way she looks, trouble waits, and
+at the worst, a woman might wish to satisfy her heart before it falls,
+especially if that heart should happen to turn to one who will be
+Pharaoh."
+
+"Why do you say 'who will be Pharaoh,' Jabez?" I asked, for we were
+standing in an empty place alone.
+
+"That I may not tell you," he replied cunningly, "yet it will come about
+as I say. He who sits upon the throne is mad as Meneptah was mad,
+and will fight against a strength that is greater than his until it
+overwhelms him. In the Prince's heart alone does the light of wisdom
+shine. That which you saw to-day is only the first of many miracles,
+Scribe Ana. I can say no more."
+
+"What then is your message, Jabez?"
+
+"This: Because the Prince has striven to deal well with the people of
+Israel and for their sake has cast aside a crown, whatever may chance
+to others, let him fear nothing. No harm shall come to him, or to those
+about him, such as yourself, Scribe Ana, who also would deal justly by
+us. Yet it may happen that through my niece Merapi, on whose head the
+evil word has fallen, a great sorrow may come to both him and her.
+Therefore, perhaps, although setting this against that, she may be wise
+to stay in the house of Seti, he, on the balance, may be wise to turn
+her from his doors."
+
+"What sorrow?" I asked, who grew bewildered with his dark talk, but
+there was no answer, for he had gone.
+
+Near to my lodging another man met me, and the moonlight shining on his
+face showed me the terrible eyes of Ki.
+
+"Scribe Ana," he said, "you leave for Memphis to-morrow at the dawn, and
+not two days hence as you purposed."
+
+"How do you know that, Magician Ki?" I answered, for I had told my
+change of plan to none, not even to Bakenkhonsu, having indeed only
+determined upon it since Jabez left me.
+
+"I know nothing, Ana, save that a faithful servant who has learned all
+you have learned to-day will hurry to make report of it to his master,
+especially if there is some other to whom he would also wish to make
+report, as Bakenkhonsu thinks."
+
+"Bakenkhonsu talks too much, whatever he may think," I exclaimed
+testily.
+
+"The aged grow garrulous. You were at the crowning to-day, were you
+not?"
+
+"Yes, and if I saw aright from far away, those Hebrew prophets seemed
+to worst you at your own trade there, Kherheb, which must grieve you, as
+you were grieved in the temple when Amon fell."
+
+"It does not grieve me, Ana. If I have powers, there may be others who
+have greater powers, as I learned in the temple of Amon. Why therefore
+should I feel ashamed?"
+
+"Powers!" I replied with a laugh, for the strings of my mind seemed torn
+that night, "would not craft be a better word? How do you turn a stick
+into a snake, a thing which is impossible to man?"
+
+"Craft might be a better word, since craft means knowledge as well as
+trickery. 'Impossible to man!' After what you saw a while ago in the
+temple of Amon, do you hold that there is anything impossible to man or
+woman? Perhaps you could do as much yourself."
+
+"Why do you mock me, Ki? I study books, not snake-charming."
+
+He looked at me in his calm fashion, as though he were reading, not my
+face, but the thoughts behind it. Then he looked at the cedar wand in
+his hand and gave it to me, saying:
+
+"Study this, Ana, and tell me, what is it."
+
+"Am I a child," I answered angrily, "that I should not know a priest's
+rod when I see one?"
+
+"I think that you are something of a child, Ana," he murmured, all the
+while keeping those eyes of his fixed upon my face.
+
+Then a horror came about. For the rod began to twist in my hand and
+when I stared at it, lo! it was a long, yellow snake which I held by
+the tail. I threw the reptile down with a scream, for it was turning
+its head as though to strike me, and there in the dust it twisted and
+writhed away from me and towards Ki. Yet an instant later it was only a
+stick of yellow cedar-wood, though between me and Ki there was a snake's
+track in the sand.
+
+"It is somewhat shameless of you, Ana," said Ki, as he lifted the wand,
+"to reproach me with trickery while you yourself try to confound a poor
+juggler with such arts as these."
+
+Then I know not what I said to him, save the end of it was that I
+supposed he would tell me next that I could fill a hall with darkness at
+noonday and cover a multitude with terror.
+
+"Let us have done with jests," he said, "though these are well enough in
+their place. Will you take this rod again and point it to the moon? You
+refuse and you do well, for neither you nor I can cover up her face.
+Ana, because you are wise in your way and consort with one who is wiser,
+and were present in the temple when the statue of Amon was shattered by
+a certain witch who matched her strength against mine and conquered me,
+I, the great magician, have come to ask _you_--whence came that darkness
+in the hall to-day?"
+
+"From God, I think," I answered in an awed whisper.
+
+"So I think also, Ana. But tell me, or ask Merapi, Moon of Israel, to
+tell me--from what god? Oh! I say to you that a terrible power is afoot
+in this land and that the Prince Seti did well to refuse the throne of
+Egypt and to fly to Memphis. Repeat it to him, Ana."
+
+Then he too was gone.
+
+
+
+Now I returned in safety to Memphis and told all these tidings to the
+Prince, who listened to them eagerly. Once only was he greatly stirred;
+it was when I repeated to him the words of Userti, that never would she
+look upon his face again unless it pleased him to turn it towards the
+throne. On hearing this tears came into his eyes, and rising, he walked
+up and down the chamber.
+
+"The fallen must not look for gentleness," he said, "and doubtless, Ana,
+you think it folly that I should grieve because I am thus deserted."
+
+"Nay, Prince, for I too have been abandoned by a wife and the pain is
+unforgotten."
+
+"It is not of the wife I think, Ana, since in truth her Highness is no
+wife to me. For whatever may be the ancient laws of Egypt, how could it
+happen otherwise, at any rate in my case and hers? It is of the sister.
+For though my mother was not hers, she and I were brought up together
+and in our way loved each other, though always it was her pleasure to
+lord it over me, as it was mine to submit and pay her back in jests.
+That is why she is so angry because now of a sudden I have thrown off
+her rule to follow my own will whereby she has lost the throne."
+
+"It has always been the duty of the royal heiress of Egypt to marry
+the Pharaoh of Egypt, Prince, and having wed one who would be Pharaoh
+according to that duty, the blow cuts deep."
+
+"Then she had best thrust aside that foolish wife of his and wed him who
+is Pharaoh. But that she will never do; Amenmeses she has always hated,
+so much that she loathed to be in the same place with him. Nor indeed
+would he wed her, who wishes to rule for himself, not through a woman
+whose title to the crown is better than his own. Well, she has put
+me away and there's an end. Henceforth I must go lonely,
+unless--unless----Continue your story, friend. It is kind of her in her
+greatness to promise to protect one so humble. I should remember that,
+although it is true that fallen heads sometimes rise again," he added
+bitterly.
+
+"So at least Jabez thinks, Prince," and I told him how the Israelites
+were sure that he would be Pharaoh, whereat he laughed and said:
+
+"Perhaps, for they are good prophets. For my part I neither know or
+care. Or maybe Jabez sees advantage in talking thus, for as you know he
+is a clever trader."
+
+"I do not think so," I answered and stopped.
+
+"Had Jabez more to say of any other matter, Ana? Of the lady Merapi, for
+instance?"
+
+Now feeling it to be my duty, I told him every word that had passed
+between Jabez and myself, though somewhat shamefacedly.
+
+"This Hebrew takes much for granted, Ana, even as to whom the Moon of
+Israel would wish to shine upon. Why, friend, it might be you whom she
+desires to touch with her light, or some youth in Goshen--not Laban--or
+no one."
+
+"Me, Prince, me!" I exclaimed.
+
+"Well, Ana, I am sure you would have it so. Be advised by me and ask her
+mind upon the matter. Look not so confused, man, for one who has been
+married you are too modest. Come tell me of this Crowning."
+
+So glad enough to escape from the matter of Merapi, I spoke at length
+of all that had happened when Pharaoh Amenmeses took his seat upon the
+throne. When I described how the rod of the Hebrew prophet had been
+turned to a snake and how Ki and his company had done likewise, the
+Prince laughed and said that these were mere jugglers' tricks. But when
+I told of the darkness that had seemed to gather in the hall and of
+the gloom that filled the hearts of all men and of the awesome dream of
+Bakenkhonsu, also of the words of Ki after he had clouded my mind and
+played his jest upon me, he listened with much earnestness and answered:
+
+"My mind is as Ki's in this matter. I too think that a terrible power is
+afoot in Egypt, one that has its home in the land of Goshen, and that I
+did well to refuse the throne. But from what god these fortunes come I
+do not know. Perhaps time will tell us. Meanwhile if there is aught in
+the prophesies of these Hebrews, as interpreted by Jabez, at least you
+and I may sleep in peace, which is more than will chance to Pharaoh
+on the throne that Userti covets. If so, this play will be worth the
+watching. You have done your mission well, Ana. Go rest you while I
+think over all that you have said."
+
+
+
+It was evening and as the palace was very hot I went into the garden and
+making my way to that little pleasure-house where Seti and I were wont
+to study, I sat myself down there and, being weary, fell asleep. When
+I awoke from a dream about some woman who was weeping, night had fallen
+and the full moon shone in the sky, so that its rays fell on the garden
+before me.
+
+Now in front of this little house, as I have said, grew trees that at
+this season of the year were covered with white and cup-like blossoms,
+and between these trees was a seat built up of sun-dried bricks. On this
+seat sat a woman whom I knew from her shape to be Merapi. Also she was
+sad, for although her head was bowed and her long hair hid her face I
+could hear her gentle sighs.
+
+The sight of her moved me very much and I remembered what the Prince had
+said to me, telling me that I should do well to ask this lady whether
+she had any mind my way. Therefore if I did so, surely I could not be
+blamed. Yet I was certain that it was not to me that her heart turned,
+though to speak the truth, much I wished it otherwise. Who would look
+at the ibis in the swamp when the wide-winged eagle floated in heaven
+above?
+
+An evil thought came into my mind, sent by Set. Suppose that this
+watcher's eyes were fixed upon the eagle, lord of the air. Suppose
+that she worshipped this eagle; that she loved it because its home was
+heaven, because to her it was the king of all the birds. And suppose one
+told her that if she lured it down to earth from the glorious safety of
+the skies, she would bring it to captivity or death at the hand of the
+snarer. Then would not that loving watcher say: "Let it go free and
+happy, however much I long to look upon it," and when it had sailed from
+sight, perhaps turn her eyes to the humble ibis in the mud?
+
+Jabez had told me that if this woman and the Prince grew dear to each
+other she would bring great sorrow on his head. If I repeated his
+words to her, she who had faith in the prophecies of her people would
+certainly believe them. Moreover, whatever her heart might prompt, being
+so high-natured, never would she consent to do what might bring trouble
+on Seti's head, even if to refuse him should sink her soul in sorrow.
+Nor would she return to the Hebrews there to fall into the hands of one
+she hated. Then perhaps I----. Should I tell her? If Jabez had not meant
+that the matter must be brought to her ears, would he have spoken of
+it at all? In short was it not my duty to her, and perhaps also to the
+Prince who thereby might be saved from miseries to come, that is if this
+talk of future troubles were anything more than an idle story.
+
+Such was the evil reasoning with which Set assailed my spirit. How I
+beat it down I do not know. Not by my own goodness, I am sure, since at
+the moment I was aflame with love for the sweet and beautiful lady who
+sat before me and in my foolishness would, I think, have given my life
+to kiss her hand. Not altogether for her sake either, since passion
+is very selfish. No, I believe it was because the love that I bore
+the Prince was more deep and real than that which I could feel for any
+woman, and I knew well that were she not in my sight no such treachery
+would have overcome my heart. For I was sure, although he had never said
+so to me, that Seti loved Merapi and above all earthly things desired
+her as his companion, while if once I spoke those words, whatever my own
+gain or loss and whatever her secret wish, that she would never be.
+
+So I conquered, though the victory left me trembling like a child, and
+wishing that I had not been born to know the pangs of love denied. My
+reward was very swift, for just then Merapi unfastened a gem from the
+breast of her white robe and held it towards the moon, as though to
+study it. In an instant I knew it again. It was that royal scarab of
+lapis-lazuli with which in Goshen the Prince had made fast the bandage
+on her wounded food, which also had been snatched from her breast by
+some power on that night when the statue of Amon was shattered in the
+temple.
+
+Long and earnestly she looked at it, then having glanced round to make
+sure she was alone, she pressed it to her lips and kissed it thrice with
+passion, muttering I know not what between the kisses. Now the scales
+fell from my eyes and I knew that she loved Seti, and oh! how I thanked
+my guardian god who had saved me from such useless shame.
+
+I wiped the cold damp from my brow and was about to flee away,
+discovering myself with as few words as might be, when, looking up, I
+saw standing behind Merapi the figure of a man, who was watching her
+replace the ornament in her robe. While I hesitated a moment the man
+spoke and I knew the voice for that of Seti. Then again I thought of
+flight, but being somewhat timid by nature, feared to show myself until
+it was too late, thinking that afterward the Prince would make me the
+target of his wit. So I sat close and still, hearing and seeing all
+despite myself.
+
+"What gem is that, Lady, which you admire and cherish so tenderly?"
+asked Seti in his slow voice that so often hid a hint of laughter.
+
+She uttered a little scream and springing up, saw him.
+
+"Oh! my lord," she exclaimed, "pardon your servant. I was sitting
+here in the cool, as you gave me leave to do, and the moon was so
+bright--that--I wished to be see if by it I could read the writing on
+this scarab."
+
+Never before, thought I to myself, did I know one who read with her
+lips, though it is true that first she used her eyes.
+
+"And could you, Lady? Will you suffer me to try?"
+
+Very slowly and colouring, so that even the moonlight showed her
+blushes, she withdrew the ornament again and held it towards him.
+
+"Surely this is familiar to me? Have I not seen it before?" he asked.
+
+"Perhaps. I wore it that night in the temple, your Highness."
+
+"You must not name me Highness, Lady. I have no longer any rank in
+Egypt."
+
+"I know--because of--my people. Oh! it was noble."
+
+"But about the scarab�us----" he broke in, with a wave of his hand.
+"Surely it is the same with which the bandage was made fast upon your
+hurt--oh! years ago?"
+
+"Yes, it is the same," she answered, looking down.
+
+"I thought it. And when I gave it to you, I said some words that seemed
+to me well spoken at the time. What were they? I cannot remember. Have
+you also forgotten?"
+
+"Yes--I mean--no. You said that now I had all Egypt beneath my foot,
+speaking of the royal cartouche upon the scarab."
+
+"Ah! I recall. How true, and yet how false the jest, or prophecy."
+
+"How can anything be both true and false, Prince?"
+
+"That I could prove to you very easily, but it would take an hour or
+more, so it shall be for another time. This scarab is a poor thing,
+give it back to me and you shall have a better. Or would you choose this
+signet? As I am no longer Prince of Egypt it is useless to me."
+
+"Keep the scarab, Prince. It is your own. But I will not take the ring
+because it is----"
+
+"----useless to me, and you would not have that which is without value
+to the giver. Oh! I string words ill, but they were not what I meant."
+
+"No, Prince, because your royal ring is too large for one so small."
+
+"How can you tell until you have tried? Also that is a fault which might
+perhaps be mended."
+
+Then he laughed, and she laughed also, but as yet she did not take the
+ring.
+
+"Have you seen Ana?" he went on. "I believe he set out to search for
+you, in such a hurry indeed that he could scarcely finish his report to
+me."
+
+"Did he say that?"
+
+"No, he only looked it. So much so that I suggested he should seek you
+at once. He answered that he was going to rest after his long journey,
+or perhaps I said that he ought to do so. I forget, as often one does,
+on so beauteous a night when other thoughts seem nearer."
+
+"Why did Ana wish to see me, Prince?"
+
+"How can I tell? Why does a man who is still young--want to see a sweet
+and beautiful lady? Oh! I remember. He had met your uncle at Tanis who
+inquired as to your health. Perhaps that is why he wanted to see you."
+
+"I do not wish to hear about my uncle at Tanis. He reminds me of too
+many things that give pain, and there are nights when one wishes to
+escape pain, which is sure to be found again on the morrow."
+
+"Are you still of the same mind about returning to your people?" he
+asked, more earnestly.
+
+"Surely. Oh! do not say that you will send me hence to----"
+
+"Laban, Lady?"
+
+"Laban amongst others. Remember, Prince, that I am one under a curse. If
+I return to Goshen, in this way or in that, soon I shall die."
+
+"Ana says that your uncle Jabez declares that the mad fellow who tried
+to murder you had no authority to curse and much less to kill you. You
+must ask him to tell you all."
+
+"Yet the curse will cling and crush me at the last. How can I, one
+lonely woman, stand against the might of the people of Israel and their
+priests?"
+
+"Are you then lonely?"
+
+"How can it be otherwise with an outcast, Prince?"
+
+"No, it cannot be otherwise. I know it who am also an outcast."
+
+"At least there is her Highness your wife, who doubtless will come to
+comfort you," she said, looking down.
+
+"Her Highness will not come. If you had seen Ana, he would perhaps have
+told you that she has sworn not to look upon my face again, unless above
+it shines a crown."
+
+"Oh! how can a woman be so cruel? Surely, Prince, such a stab must cut
+you to the heart," she exclaimed, with a little cry of pity.
+
+"Her Highness is not only a woman; she is a Princess of Egypt which is
+different. For the rest it does cut me to the heart that my royal sister
+should have deserted me, for that which she loves better--power and
+pomp. But so it is, unless Ana dreams. It seems therefore that we are in
+the same case, both outcasts, you and I, is it not so?"
+
+She made no answer but continued to look upon the ground, and he went on
+very slowly:
+
+"A thought comes into my mind on which I would ask your judgment. If two
+who are forlorn came together they would be less forlorn by half, would
+they not?"
+
+"It would seem so, Prince--that is if they remained forlorn at all. But
+I do not understand the riddle."
+
+"Yet you have answered it. If you are lonely and I am lonely apart, we
+should, you say, be less lonely together."
+
+"Prince," she murmured, shrinking away from him, "I spoke no such
+words."
+
+"No, I spoke them for you. Hearken to me, Merapi. They think me a
+strange man in Egypt because I have held no woman dear, never having
+seen one whom I could hold dear." Here she looked at him searchingly,
+and he went on, "A while ago, before I visited your land of Goshen--Ana
+can tell you about the matter, for I think he wrote it down--Ki and
+old Bakenkhonsu came to see me. Now, as you know, Ki is without doubt
+a great magician, though it would seem not so great as some of your
+prophets. He told me that he and others had been searching out my future
+and that in Goshen I should find a woman whom it was fated I must love.
+He added that this woman would bring me much joy." Here Seti paused,
+doubtless remembering this was not all that Ki had said, or Jabez
+either. "Ki told me also," he went on slowly, "that I had already known
+this woman for thousands of years."
+
+She started and a strange look came into her face.
+
+"How can that be, Prince?"
+
+"That is what I asked him and got no good answer. Still he said it,
+not only of the woman but of my friend Ana as well, which indeed would
+explain much, and it would appear that the other magicians said it also.
+Then I went to the land of Goshen and there I saw a woman----"
+
+"For the first time, Prince?"
+
+"No, for the third time."
+
+Here she sank upon the bench and covered her eyes with her hands.
+
+"----and loved her, and felt as though I had loved her for 'thousands of
+years.'"
+
+"It is not true. You mock me, it is not true!" she whispered.
+
+"It is true for if I did not know it then, I knew it afterwards, though
+never perhaps completely until to-day, when I learned that Userti had
+deserted me indeed. Moon of Israel, you are that woman. I will not
+tell you," he went on passionately, "that you are fairer than all other
+women, or sweeter, or more wise, though these things you seem to me. I
+will only tell you that I love you, yes, love you, whatever you may be.
+I cannot offer you the Throne of Egypt, even if the law would suffer it,
+but I can offer you the throne of this heart of mine. Now, Lady Merapi,
+what have you to say? Before you speak, remember that although you seem
+to be my prisoner here at Memphis, you have naught to fear from me.
+Whatever you may answer, such shelter and such friendship as I can give
+will be yours while I live, and never shall I attempt to force myself
+upon you, however much it may pain me to pass you by. I know not the
+future. It may happen that I shall give you great place and power, it
+may happen that I shall give you nothing but poverty and exile, or even
+perhaps a share in my own death, but with either will go the worship of
+my body and my spirit. Now, speak."
+
+She dropped her hands from her face, looking up at him, and there were
+tears shining in her beautiful eyes.
+
+"It cannot be, Prince," she murmured.
+
+"You mean you do not wish it to be?"
+
+"I said that it cannot be. Such ties between an Egyptian and an
+Israelite are not lawful."
+
+"Some in this city and elsewhere seem to find them so."
+
+"And I am married, I mean perhaps I am married--at least in name."
+
+"And I too am married, I mean----"
+
+"That is different. Also there is another reason, the greatest of all, I
+am under a curse, and should bring you, not joy as Ki said, but sorrow,
+or, at the least, sorrow with the joy."
+
+He looked at her searchingly.
+
+"Has Ana----" he began, then continued, "if so what lives have you known
+that are not compounded of mingled joy and sorrow?"
+
+"None. But the woe I should bring would outweigh the joy--to you. The
+curse of my God rests upon me and I cannot learn to worship yours. The
+curse of my people rests upon me, the law of my people divides me
+from you as with a sword, and should I draw close to you these will be
+increased upon my head, which matters not, but also upon yours," and she
+began to sob.
+
+"Tell me," he said, taking her by the hand, "but one thing, and if the
+answer is No, I will trouble you no more. Is your heart mine?"
+
+"It is," she sighed, "and has been ever since my eyes fell upon you
+yonder in the streets of Tanis. Oh! then a change came into me and I
+hated Laban, whom before I had only misliked. Moreover, I too felt that
+of which Ki spoke, as though I had known you for thousands of years. My
+heart is yours, my love is yours; all that makes me woman is yours, and
+never, never can turn from you to any other man. But still we must stay
+apart, for your sake, my Prince, for your sake."
+
+"Then, were it not for me, you would be ready to run these hazards?"
+
+"Surely! Am I not a woman who loves?"
+
+"If that be so," he said with a little laugh, "being of full age and of
+an understanding which some have thought good, by your leave I think I
+will run them also. Oh! foolish woman, do you not understand that there
+is but one good thing in the world, one thing in which self and its
+miseries can be forgot, and that thing is love? Mayhap troubles will
+come. Well, let them come, for what do they matter if only the love or
+its memory remains, if once we have picked that beauteous flower and for
+an hour worn it on our breasts. You talk of the difference between the
+gods we worship and maybe it exists, but all gods send their gifts of
+love upon the earth, without which it would cease to be. Moreover, my
+faith teaches me more clearly perhaps than yours, that life does not end
+with death and therefore that love, being life's soul, must endure while
+it endures. Last of all, I think, as you think, that in some dim way
+there is truth in what the magicians said, and that long ago in the past
+we have been what once more we are about to be, and that the strength of
+this invisible tie has drawn us together out of the whole world and will
+bind us together long after the world is dead. It is not a matter of
+what we wish to do, Merapi, it is a matter of what Fate has decreed we
+shall do. Now, answer again."
+
+But she made no answer, and when I looked up after a little moment she
+was in his arms and her lips were upon his lips.
+
+
+
+Thus did Prince Seti of Egypt and Merapi, Moon of Israel, come
+together at Memphis in Egypt.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE RED NILE
+
+On the morrow of this night I found the Prince alone for a little while,
+and put him in mind of certain ancient manuscripts that he wished to
+read, which could only be consulted at Thebes where I might copy them;
+also of others that were said to be for sale there. He answered that
+they could wait, but I replied that the latter might find some other
+purchaser if I did not go at once.
+
+"You are over fond of long journeys upon my business, Ana," he said.
+Then he considered me curiously for a while, and since he could read my
+mind, as indeed I could his, saw that I knew all, and added in a gentle
+voice:
+
+"You should have done as I told you, and spoken first. If so, who
+knows----"
+
+"You do, Prince," I answered, "you and another."
+
+"Go, and the gods be with you, friend, but stay not too long copying
+those rolls, which any scribe can do. I think there is trouble at hand
+in Egypt, and I shall need you at my side. Another who holds you dear
+will need you also."
+
+"I thank my lord and that other," I said, bowing, and went.
+
+Moreover, while I was making some humble provision for my journey, I
+found that this was needless, since a slave came to tell me that the
+Prince's barge was waiting to sail with the wind. So in that barge I
+travelled to Thebes like a great noble, or a royal mummy being borne
+to burial. Only instead of wailing priests, until I sent them back to
+Memphis, musicians sat upon the prow, and when I willed, dancing girls
+came to amuse my leisure and, veiled in golden nets, to serve at my
+table.
+
+So I journeyed as though I were the Prince himself, and as one who was
+known to have his ear was made much of by the governors of the Nomes,
+the chief men of the towns, and the high priests of the temples at every
+city where we moored. For, as I have said, although Amenmeses sat
+upon the throne, Seti still ruled in the hearts of the folk of Egypt.
+Moreover, as I sailed further up the Nile to districts where little
+was known of the Israelites, and the troubles they were bringing on the
+land, I found this to be so more and more. Why is it, the Great Ones
+would whisper in my ear, that his Highness the Prince Seti does not
+hold his father's place? Then I would tell them of the Hebrews, and they
+would laugh and say:
+
+"Let the Prince unfurl his royal banner here, and we will show him what
+we think of the question of these Israelitish slaves. May not the Heir
+of Egypt form his own judgment on such a matter as to whether they
+should abide there in the north, or go away into that wilderness which
+they desire?"
+
+To all of which, and much like it, I would only answer that their words
+should be reported. More I did not, and indeed did not dare to say,
+since everywhere I found that I was being followed and watched by the
+spies of Pharaoh.
+
+At length I came to Thebes and took up my abode in a fine house that was
+the property of the Prince, which I found that a messenger had commanded
+should be made ready for me. It stood near by the entrance to the Avenue
+of Sphinxes, which leads to the greatest of all the Theban temples,
+where is that mighty columned hall built by the first Seti and his son,
+Rameses II, the Prince's grandfather.
+
+Here, having entrance to the place, I would often wander at night,
+and in my spirit draw as near to heaven as ever it has been my lot to
+travel. Also, crossing the Nile to the western bank, I visited that
+desolate valley where the rulers of Egypt lie at rest. The tomb of
+Pharaoh Meneptah was still unsealed, and accompanied by a single
+priest with torches, I crept down its painted halls and looked upon the
+sarcophagus of him whom so lately I had seen seated in glory upon the
+throne, wondering, as I looked, how much or how little he knew of all
+that passed in Egypt to-day.
+
+Moreover, I copied the papyri that I had come to seek, in which there
+was nothing worth preserving, and some of real value that I discovered
+in the ancient libraries of the temples, and purchased others. One of
+these indeed told a very strange tale that has given me much cause for
+thought, especially of late years now when all my friends are dead.
+
+Thus I spent two months, and should have stayed longer had not
+messengers reached me from the Prince saying that he desired my return.
+Of these, one followed within three days of the other, and his words
+were:
+
+"Think you, Scribe Ana, that because I am no more Prince of Egypt I am
+no longer to be obeyed? If so, bear in mind that the gods may decree
+that one day I shall grow taller than ever I was before, and then be
+sure that I will remember your disobedience, and make you shorter by a
+head. Come swiftly, my friend, for I grow lonely, and need a man to talk
+with."
+
+To which I replied, that I returned as fast as the barge would carry
+me, being so heavily laden with the manuscripts that I had copied and
+purchased.
+
+So I started, being, to tell truth, glad to get away, for this reason.
+Two nights before, when I was walking alone from the great temple of the
+house, a woman dressed in many colours appeared and accosted me as such
+lost ones do. I tried to shake her off, but she clung to me, and I saw
+that she had drunk more than enough of wine. Presently she asked, in a
+voice that I thought familiar, if I knew who was the officer that
+had come to Thebes on the business of some Royal One and abode in the
+dwelling that was known as House of the Prince. I answered that his name
+was Ana.
+
+"Once I knew an Ana very well," she said, "but I left him."
+
+"Why?" I asked, turning cold in my limbs, for although I could not see
+her face because of a hood she wore, now I began to be afraid.
+
+"Because he was a poor fool," she answered, "no man at all, but one who
+was always thinking about writings and making them, and another came my
+way whom I liked better until he deserted me."
+
+"And what happened to this Ana?" I asked.
+
+"I do not know. I suppose he went on dreaming, or perhaps he took
+another wife; if so, I am sorry for her. Only, if by chance it is the
+same that has come to Thebes, he must be wealthy now, and I shall go and
+claim him and make him keep me well."
+
+"Had you any children?" I asked.
+
+"Only one, thank the gods, and that died--thank the gods again, for
+otherwise it might have lived to be such as I am," and she sobbed once
+in a hard fashion and then fell to her vile endearments.
+
+As she did so, the hood slipped from her head and I saw that the face
+was that of my wife, still beauteous in a bold fashion, but grown
+dreadful with drink and sin. I trembled from head to foot, then said in
+the disguised voice that I had used to her.
+
+"Woman, I know this Ana. He is dead and you were his ruin. Still,
+because I was his friend, take this and go reform your ways," and I drew
+from my robe and gave to her a bag containing no mean weight of gold.
+
+She snatched it as a hawk snatches, and seeing its contents by the
+starlight, thanked me, saying:
+
+"Surely Ana dead is worth more than Ana alive. Also it is well that he
+is dead, for he is gone where the child went, which he loved more than
+life, neglecting me for its sake and thereby making me what I am. Had he
+lived, too, being as I have said a fool, he would have had more ill-luck
+with women, whom he never understood. Farewell, friend of Ana, who
+have given me that which will enable me to find another husband," and
+laughing wildly she reeled off behind a sphinx and vanished into the
+darkness.
+
+For this reason, then, I was glad to escape from Thebes. Moreover, that
+miserable one had hurt me sorely, making me sure of what I had only
+guessed, namely, that with women I was but a fool, so great a fool that
+then and there I swore by my guardian god that never would I look with
+love on one of them again, an oath which I have kept well whatever
+others I may have broken. Again she stabbed me through with the talk of
+our dead child, for it is true that when that sweet one took flight to
+Osiris my heart broke and in a fashion has never mended itself again.
+Lastly, I feared lest it might also be true that I had neglected the
+mother for the sake of this child which was the jewel of my worship,
+yes, and is, and thereby helped her on to shame. So much did this
+thought torment me that through an agent whom I trusted, who believed
+that I was but providing for one whom I had wronged, I caused enough to
+be paid to her to keep her in comfort.
+
+She did marry again, a merchant about whom she had cast her toils, and
+in due course spent his wealth and brought him to ruin, after which he
+ran away from her. As for her, she died of her evil habits in the third
+year of the reign of Seti II. But, the gods be thanked she never knew
+that the private scribe of Pharaoh's chamber was that Ana who had been
+her husband. Here I will end her story.
+
+Now as I was passing down the Nile with a heart more heavy than the
+great stone that served as anchor on the barge, we moored at dusk on
+the third night by the side of a vessel that was sailing up Nile with
+a strong northerly wind. On board this boat was an officer whom I had
+known at the Court of Pharaoh Meneptah, travelling to Thebes on duty.
+This man seemed so much afraid that I asked him if anything weighed upon
+his mind. Then he took me aside into a palm grove upon the bank, and
+seating himself on the pole whereby oxen turned a waterwheel, told me
+that strange things were passing at Tanis.
+
+It seemed that the Hebrew prophets had once more appeared before
+Pharaoh, who since his accession had left the Israelites in peace,
+not attacking them with the sword as Meneptah had wished to do, it was
+thought through fear lest if he did so he should die as Meneptah died.
+As before, they had put up their prayer that the people of the Hebrews
+should be suffered to go to worship in the wilderness, and Pharaoh had
+refused them. Then when he went down to sail upon the river early in
+the morning of another day, they had met him and one of them struck the
+water with his rod, and it had turned to blood. Whereon Ki and Kherheb
+and his company also struck the water with their rods, and it turned to
+blood. That was six days ago, and now this officer swore to me that the
+blood was creeping up the Nile, a tale at which I laughed.
+
+"Come then and see," he said, and led me back to his boat, where all the
+crew seemed as fearful as he was himself.
+
+He took me forward to a great water jar that stood upon the prow and,
+behold! it seemed to be full of blood, and in it was a fish dead,
+and--stinking.
+
+"This water," said he, "I drew from the Nile with my own hands, not
+five hours sail to the north. But now we have outsped the blood, which
+follows after us," and taking a lamp he held it over the prow of the
+boat and I saw that all its planks were splashed as though with blood.
+
+"Be advised by me, learned scribe," he added, "and fill every jar and
+skin that you can gather with sweet water, lest to-morrow you and your
+company should go thirsty," and he laughed a very dreary laugh.
+
+Then we parted without more words, for neither of us knew what to say,
+and about midnight he sailed on with the wind, taking his chance of
+grounding on the sandbanks in the darkness.
+
+For my part I did as he bade me, though my rowers who had not spoken
+with his men, thought that I was mad to load up the barge with so much
+water.
+
+At the first break of day I gave the order to start. Looking over the
+side of the barge it seemed to me as though the lights of dawn
+had fallen from the sky into the Nile whereof the water had become
+pink-hued. Moreover, this hue, which grew ever deeper, was travelling up
+stream, not down, against the course of nature, and could not therefore
+have been caused by red soil washed from the southern lands. The
+bargemen stared and muttered together. Then one of them, leaning over
+the side, scooped up water in the hollow of his hand and drew some into
+his mouth, only to spit it out again with a cry of fear.
+
+"'Tis blood," he cried. "Blood! Osiris has been slain afresh, and his
+holy blood fills the banks of Nile."
+
+So much were they afraid, indeed, that had I not forced them to hold to
+their course they would have turned and rowed up stream, or beached
+the boat and fled into the desert. But I cried to them to steer on
+northwards, for thus perhaps we should sooner be done with this horror,
+and they obeyed me. Ever as we went the hue of the water grew more red,
+almost to blackness, till at last it seemed as though we were travelling
+through a sea of gore in which dead fish floated by the thousand, or
+struggled dying on the surface. Also the stench was so dreadful that we
+must bind linen about our nostrils to strain the foetid air.
+
+We came abreast of a town, and from its streets one great wail of terror
+rose to heaven. Men stood staring as though they were drunken, looking
+at their red arms which they had dipped in the stream, and women ran to
+and fro upon the bank, tearing their hair and robes, and crying out such
+words as--
+
+"Wizard's work! Bewitched! Accursed! The gods have slain each other, and
+men too must die!" and so forth.
+
+Also we saw peasants digging holes at a distance from the shore to see
+perchance if they might come to water that was sweet and wholesome. All
+day long we travelled thus through this horrible flood, while the spray
+driven by the strong north wind spotted our flesh and garments, till we
+were like butchers reeking from the shambles. Nor could we eat any food
+because of the stench from this spray, which made it to taste salt as
+does fresh blood, only we drank of the water which I had provided, and
+the rowers who had held me to be mad now named me the wisest of men; one
+who knew what would befall in the future.
+
+At length towards evening we noted that the water was growing much less
+red with every hour that passed, which was another marvel, seeing that
+above us, upstream, it was the colour of jasper, whereon we paused from
+our rowing and, all defiled as we were, sang a hymn and gave thanks to
+Hapi, god of Nile, the Great, the Secret, the Hidden. Before sunset,
+indeed, the river was clean again, save that on the bank where we made
+fast for the night the stones and rushes were all stained, and the dead
+fish lay in thousands polluting the air. To escape the stench we climbed
+a cliff that here rose quite close to Nile, in which we saw the mouths
+of ancient tombs that long ago had been robbed and left empty, purposing
+to sleep in one of them.
+
+A path worn by the feet of men ran to the largest of these tombs,
+whence, as we drew near, we heard the sound of wailing. Looking in, I
+saw a woman and some children crouched upon the floor of the tomb, their
+heads covered with dust who, when they perceived us, cried more loudly
+than before, though with harsh dry voices, thinking no doubt that we
+were robbers or perhaps ghosts because of our bloodstained garments.
+Also there was another child, a little one, that did not cry, because
+it was dead. I asked the woman what passed, but even when she understood
+that we were only men who meant her no harm, she could not speak or do
+more than gasp "Water! Water!" We gave her and the children to drink
+from the jars which we had brought with us, which they did greedily,
+after which I drew her story from her.
+
+She was the wife of a fisherman who made his home in this cave, and said
+that seven days before the Nile had turned to blood, so that they could
+not drink of it, and had no water save a little in a pot. Nor could
+they dig to find it, since here the ground was all rock. Nor could they
+escape, since when he saw the marvel, her husband in his fear had leapt
+from his boat and waded to land and the boat had floated away.
+
+I asked where was her husband, and she pointed behind her. I went to
+look, and there found a man hanging by his neck from a rope that was
+fixed to the capital of a pillar in the tomb, quite dead and cold.
+Returning sick at heart, I inquired of her how this had come about. She
+answered that when he saw that all the fish had perished, taking away
+his living, and that thirst had killed his youngest child, he went mad,
+and creeping to the back of the tomb, without her knowledge hung himself
+with a net rope. It was a dreadful story.
+
+Having given the widow of our food, we went to sleep in another tomb,
+not liking the company of those dead ones. Next morning at the dawn we
+took the woman and her children on board the barge, and rowed them three
+hours' journey to a town where she had a sister, whom she found. The
+dead man and the child we left there in the tomb, since my men would not
+defile themselves by touching them.
+
+So, seeing much terror and misery on our journey, at last we came safe
+to Memphis. Leaving the boatmen to draw up the barge, I went to the
+palace, speaking with none, and was led at once to the Prince. I found
+him in a shaded chamber seated side by side with the lady Merapi, and
+holding her hand in such a fashion that they remind me of the life-sized
+Ka statues of a man and his wife, such as I have seen in the ancient
+tombs, cut when the sculptors knew how to fashion the perfect likenesses
+of men and women. This they no longer do to-day, I think because the
+priests have taught them that it is not lawful. He was talking to her
+in a low voice, while she listened, smiling sweetly as she ever did,
+but with eyes, fixed straight before her that were, as it seemed to me,
+filled with fear. I thought that she looked very beautiful with her
+hair outspread over her white robe, and held back from her temples by a
+little fillet of god. But as I looked, I rejoiced to find that my heart
+no longer yearned for her as it had upon that night when I had seen her
+seated beneath the trees without the pleasure-house. Now she was its
+friend, no more, and so she remained until all was finished, as both the
+Prince and she knew well enough.
+
+When he saw me Seti sprang from his seat and came to greet me, as a man
+does the friend whom he loves. I kissed his hand, and going to Merapi,
+kissed hers also noting that on it now shone that ring which once she
+had rejected as too large.
+
+"Tell me, Ana, all that has befallen you," he said in his pleasant,
+eager voice.
+
+"Many things, Prince; one of them very strange and terrible," I
+answered.
+
+"Strange and terrible things have happened here also," broke in Merapi,
+"and, alas! this is but the beginning of woes."
+
+So saying, she rose, as though she could trust herself to speak no more,
+bowed first to her lord and then to me, and left the chamber.
+
+I looked at the Prince and he answered the question in my eyes.
+
+"Jabez has been here," he said, "and filled her heart with forebodings.
+If Pharaoh will not let the Israelites go, by Amon I wish he would let
+Jabez go to some place whence he never could return. But tell me, have
+you also met blood travelling against the stream of Nile? It would seem
+so," and he glanced at the rusty stains that no washing would remove
+from my garments.
+
+I nodded and we talked together long and earnestly, but in the end were
+no wiser for all our talking. For neither of us knew how it came about
+that men by striking water with a rod could turn it into what seemed to
+be blood, as the Hebrew prophet and Ki both had done, or how that blood
+could travel up the Nile against the stream and everywhere endure for a
+space of seven days; yes, and spread too to all the canals in Egypt, so
+that men must dig holes for water and dig them fresh each day because
+the blood crept in and poisoned them. But both of us thought that this
+was the work of the gods, and most of all of that god whom the Hebrews
+worship.
+
+"You remember, Ana," said the Prince, "the message which you brought to
+me from Jabez, namely that no harm should come to me because of these
+Israelites and their curses. Well, no harm as come as yet, except the
+harm of Jabez, for he came. On the day before the news of this blood
+plague reached us, Jabez appeared disguised as a merchant of Syrian
+stuffs, all of which he sold to me at three times their value. He
+obtained admission to the chambers of Merapi, where she is accustomed to
+see whom she wills, and under pretence of showing her his stuffs, spoke
+with her and, as I fear, told her what you and I were so careful to
+hide, that she would bring trouble on me. At the least she has never
+been quite the same since, and I have thought it wise to make her swear
+by an oath, which I know she will never break, that now we are one she
+will not attempt to separate herself from me while we both have life."
+
+"Did he wish her to go away with him, Prince?"
+
+"I do not know. She never told me so. Still I am sure that had he come
+with his evil talk before that day when you returned from Tanis, she
+would have gone. Now I hope that there are reasons that will keep her
+where she is."
+
+"What then did he say, Prince?"
+
+"Little beyond what he had already said to you, that great troubles were
+about to fall on Egypt. He added that he was sent to save me and mine
+from these troubles because I had been a friend to the Hebrews in so far
+as that was possible. Then he walked through this house and all round
+its gardens, as he went reciting something that was written on a
+roll, of which I could not understand the meaning, and now and again
+prostrating himself to pray to his god. Thus, where the canal enters the
+garden and where it leaves the garden he stayed to pray, as he did at
+the well whence drinking water is drawn. Moreover, led by Merapi, he
+visited all my cornlands and those where my cattle are herded, reciting
+and praying until the servants thought that he was mad. After this he
+returned with her and, as it chanced, I overheard their parting. She
+said to him:
+
+"'The house you have blessed and it is safe; the fields you have blessed
+and they are safe; will you not bless me also, O my Uncle, and any that
+are born of me?'
+
+"He answered, shaking his head, 'I have no command, my Niece, either to
+bless or to curse you, as did that fool whom the Prince slew. You have
+chosen your own path apart from your people. It may be well, or it
+may be ill, or perhaps both, and henceforth you must walk it alone to
+wherever it may lead. Farewell, for perhaps we shall meet no more.'
+
+"Thus speaking they passed out of earshot, but I could see that still
+she pleaded and still he shook his head. In the end, however, she gave
+him an offering, of all that she had I think, though whether this went
+to the temple of the Hebrews or into his own pouch I know not. At least
+it seemed to soften him, for he kissed her on the brow tenderly enough
+and departed with the air of a happy merchant who has sold his wares.
+But of all that passed between them Merapi would tell me nothing. Nor
+did I tell her of what I had overheard."
+
+"And then?"
+
+"And then, Ana, came the story of the Hebrew prophet who made the water
+into blood, and of Ki and his disciples who did likewise. The latter
+I did not believe, because I said it would be more reasonable had Ki
+turned the blood back into water, instead of making more blood of which
+there was enough already."
+
+"I think that magicians have no reason."
+
+"Or can do mischief only, Ana. At any rate after the story came the
+blood itself and stayed with us seven whole days, leaving much sickness
+behind it because of the stench of the rotting fish. Now for the
+marvel--here about my house there was no blood, though above and below
+the canal was full of it. The water remained as it has always been and
+the fish swam in it as they have always done; also that of the well
+kept sweet and pure. When this came to be known thousands crowded to the
+place, clamouring for water; that is until they found that outside the
+gates it grew red in their vessels, after which, although some still
+came, they drank the water where they stood, which they must do
+quickly."
+
+"And what tale do they tell of this in Memphis, Prince?" I asked
+astonished.
+
+"Certain of them say that not Ki but I am the greatest magician in
+Egypt--never, Ana, was fame more lightly earned. And certain say that
+Merapi, of whose doings in the temple at Tanis some tale has reached
+them, is the real magician, she being an Israelite of the tribe of the
+Hebrew prophets. Hush! She returns."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+KI COMES TO MEMPHIS
+
+Now of all the terrors of which this turning of the water into blood was
+the beginning in Egypt, I, Ana, the scribe, will not write, for if I did
+so, never in my life-days should I, who am old, find time to finish the
+story of them. Over a period of many, many moons they came, one by one,
+till the land grew mad with want and woe. Always the tale was the same.
+The Hebrew prophets would visit Pharaoh at Tanis and demand that
+he should led their people go, threatening him with vengeance if he
+refused. Yet he did refuse, for some madness had hold of him, or perhaps
+the god of the Israelites laid an enchantment on him, why I know not.
+
+Thus but a little while after the terror of blood came a plague of frogs
+that filled Egypt from north to south, and when these were taken away
+made the air to stink. This miracle Ki and his company worked also,
+sending the frogs into Goshen, where they plagued the Israelites. But
+however it came about, at Seti's palace at Memphis and on the land that
+he owned around it there were no frogs, or at least but few of them,
+although at night from the fields about the sound of their croaking went
+up like the sound of beaten drums.
+
+Next came a plague of lice, and these Ki and his companions would have
+also called down upon the Hebrews, but they failed, and afterwards
+struggled no more against the magic of the Israelites. Then followed a
+plague of flies, so that the air was black with them and no food could
+be kept sweet. Only in Seti's palace there were no flies, and in the
+garden but a few. After this a terrible pest began among the cattle,
+whereof thousands died. But of Seti's great herd not one was even sick,
+nor, as we learned, was there a hoof the less in the land of Goshen.
+
+This plague struck Egypt but a little while after Merapi had given birth
+to a son, a very beautiful child with his mother's eyes, that was named
+Seti after his father. Now the marvel of the escape of the Prince and
+his household and all that was his from these curses spread abroad and
+made much talk, so that many sent to inquire of it.
+
+Among the first came old Bakenkhonsu with a message from Pharaoh, and
+a private one to myself from the Princess Userti, whose pride would not
+suffer her to ask aught of Seti. We could tell him nothing except what
+I have written, which at first he did not believe. Having satisfied
+himself, however, that the thing was true, he said that he had fallen
+sick and could not travel back to Tanis. Therefore he asked leave of the
+Prince to rest a while in his house, he who had been the friend of his
+father, his grandfather, and his great-grandfather. Seti laughed, as
+indeed did the cunning old man himself, and there with us Bakenkhonsu
+remained till the end, to our great joy, for he was the most pleasant
+of all companions and the most learned. As for his message, one of his
+servants took back the answer to Pharaoh and to Userti, with the news of
+his master's grievous sickness.
+
+Some eight days or so later, as I stood one morning basking in the sun
+at that gate of the palace gardens which overlooks the temple of Ptah,
+idly watching the procession of priests passing through its courts and
+chanting as they went (for because of the many sicknesses at this time
+I left the palace but rarely), I saw a tall figure approaching me draped
+against the morning cold. The man drew near, and addressing me over the
+head of the guard, asked if he could see the lady Merapi. I answered No,
+as she was engaged in nursing her son.
+
+"And in other things, I think," he said with meaning, in a voice that
+seemed familiar to me. "Well, can I see the Prince Seti?"
+
+I answered No, he was also engaged.
+
+"In nursing his own soul, studying the eyes of the lady Merapi, the
+smile of his infant, the wisdom of the scribe Ana, and the attributes
+of the hundred and one gods that are known to him, including that of
+Israel, I suppose," said the familiar voice, adding, "Then can I see
+this scribe Ana, who I understand, being lucky, holds himself learned."
+
+Now, angered at the scoffing of this stranger (though all the time I
+felt that he was none), I answered that the scribe Ana was striving to
+mend his luck by the pursuit of the goddess of learning in his study.
+
+"Let him pursue," mocked the stranger, "since she is the only woman that
+he is ever likely to catch. Yet it is true that once one caught him. If
+you are of his acquaintance ask him of his talk with her in the avenue
+of the Sphinxes outside the great temple at Thebes and of what it cost
+him in gold and tears."
+
+Hearing this I put my hand to my forehead and rubbed my eyes, thinking
+that I must have fallen into a dream there in the sunshine. When I
+lifted it again all was the same as before. There stood the sentry,
+indifferent to that which had no interest for him; the cock that had
+moulted its tail still scratched in the dirt; the crested hoopoe still
+sat spreading its wings on the head of one of the two great statues of
+Rameses which watched the gate; a water-seller in the distance still
+cried his wares, but the stranger was gone. Then I knew that I had been
+dreaming and turned to go also, to find myself face to face with him.
+
+"Man," I said, indignantly, "how in the name of Ptah and all his priests
+did you pass a sentry and through that gate without my seeing you?"
+
+"Do not trouble yourself with a new problem when already you have so
+many to perplex you, friend Ana. Say, have you yet solved that of how
+a rod like this turned itself into a snake in your hand?" and he threw
+back his hood, revealing the shaved head and the glowing eyes of the
+Kherheb Ki.
+
+"No, I have not," I answered, "and I thank you," for here he proffered
+me the staff, "but I will not try the trick again. Next time the beast
+might bite. Well, Ki, as you can pass in here without my leave, why do
+you ask it? In short, what do you want with me, now that those Hebrew
+prophets have put you on your back?"
+
+"Hush, Ana. Never grow angry, it wastes strength, of which we have so
+little to spare, for you know, being so wise, or perhaps you do not
+know, that at birth the gods give us a certain store of it, and when
+that is used we die and have to go elsewhere to fetch more. At this rate
+your life will be short, Ana, for you squander it in emotions."
+
+"What do you want?" I repeated, being too angry to dispute with him.
+
+"I want to find an answer to the question you asked so roughly: Why the
+Hebrew prophets have, as you say, put me on my back?"
+
+"Not being a magician, as you pretend you are, I can give you none, Ki."
+
+"Never for one moment did I suppose that you could," he replied blandly,
+stretching out his hands, and leaving the staff which had fallen from
+them standing in front of him. (It was not till afterwards that I
+remembered that this accursed bit of wood stood there of itself without
+visible support, for it rested on the paving-stone of the gateway.)
+"But, as it chances, you have in this house the master, or rather the
+mistress of all magicians, as every Egyptian knows to-day, the lady
+Merapi, and I would see her."
+
+"Why do you say she is a mistress of magicians?" I asked indignantly.
+
+"Why does one bird know another of its own kind? Why does the water here
+remain pure, when all other water turns to blood? Why do not the frogs
+croak in Seti's halls, and why do the flies avoid his meat? Why, also,
+did the statue of Amon melt before her glance, while all my magic fell
+back from her breast like arrows from a shirt of mail? Those are the
+questions that Egypt asks, and I would have an answer to them from the
+beloved of Seti, or of the god Set, she who is named Moon of Israel."
+
+"Then why not go seek it for yourself, Ki? To you, doubtless, it would
+be a small matter to take the form of a snake or a rat, or a bird, and
+creep or run or fly into the presence of Merapi."
+
+"Mayhap it would not be difficult, Ana. Or, better still, I might visit
+her in her sleep, as I visited you on a certain night at Thebes, when
+you told me of a talk you had held with a woman in the avenue of the
+Sphinxes, and of what it cost you in gold and tears. But, as it chances,
+I wish to appear as a man and a friend, and to stay a while. Bakenkhonsu
+tells me that he finds life here at Memphis very pleasant, free too
+from the sicknesses which just now seem to be so common in Egypt; so why
+should not I do the same, Ana?"
+
+I looked at his round, ripe face, on which was fixed a smile unchanging
+as that worn by the masks on mummy coffins, from which I think he must
+have copied it, and at the cold, deep eyes above, and shivered a
+little. To tell truth I feared this man, whom I felt to be in touch with
+presences and things that are not of our world, and thought it wisest to
+withstand him no more.
+
+"That is a question which you had best put to my master Seti who owns
+this house. Come, I will lead you to him," I said.
+
+So we went to the great portico of the palace, passing in and out
+through the painted pillars, towards my own apartments, whence I
+purposed to send a message to the Prince. As it chanced this was
+needless, since presently we saw him seated in a little bay out of reach
+of the sun. By his side was Merapi, and on a woven rug between them lay
+their sleeping infant, at whom both of them gazed adoringly.
+
+"Strange that this mother's heart should hide more might than can be
+boasted by all the gods of Egypt. Strange that those mother's eyes can
+rive the ancient glory of Amon into dust!" Ki said to me in so low a
+voice that it almost seemed as though I heard his thought and not his
+words, which perhaps indeed I did.
+
+Now we stood in front of these three, and the sun being behind us, for
+it was still early, the shadow of the cloaked Ki fell upon a babe and
+lay there. A hateful fancy came to me. It looked like the evil form
+of an embalmer bending over one new dead. The babe felt it, opened its
+large eyes and wailed. Merapi saw it, and snatched up her child. Seti
+too rose from his seat, exclaiming, "Who comes?"
+
+Thereon, to my amazement, Ki prostrated himself and uttered the
+salutation which may only be given to the King of Egypt: "Life! Blood!
+Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!"
+
+"Who dares utter those words to me?" said Seti. "Ana, what madman do you
+bring here?"
+
+"May it please the Prince, _he_ brought _me_ here," I replied faintly.
+
+"Fellow, tell me who bade you say such words, than which none were ever
+less welcome."
+
+"Those whom I serve, Prince."
+
+"And whom do you serve?"
+
+"The gods of Egypt."
+
+"Then, man, I think the gods must need your company. Pharaoh does not
+sit at Memphis, and were he to hear of them----"
+
+"Pharaoh will never hear them, Prince, until he hears all things."
+
+They stared at each other. Then, as I had done by the gate Seti rubbed
+his eyes, and said:
+
+"Surely this is Ki. Why, then, did you look otherwise just now?"
+
+"The gods can change the fashion of their messenger a thousand times in
+a flash, if so they will, O Prince."
+
+Now Seti's anger passed, and turned to laughter.
+
+"Ki, Ki," he said, "you should keep these tricks for Court. But, since
+you are in the mood, what salutation have you for this lady by my side?"
+
+Ki considered her, till she who ever feared and hated him shrank before
+his gaze.
+
+"Crown of Hathor, I greet you. Beloved of Isis, shine on perfect in the
+sky, shedding light and wisdom ere you set."
+
+Now this saying puzzled me. Indeed, I did not fully understand it until
+Bakenkhonsu reminded me that Merapi's name was Moon of Israel, that
+Hathor, goddess of love, is crowned with the moon in all her statues,
+that Isis is the queen of mysteries and wisdom, and that Ki who thought
+Merapi perfect in love and beauty, also the greatest of all sorceresses,
+was likening her to these.
+
+"Yes," I answered, "but what did he mean when he talked about her
+setting?"
+
+"Does not the moon always set, and is it not sometimes eclipsed?" he
+asked shortly.
+
+"So does the sun," I answered.
+
+"True; so does the sun! You are growing wise, very wise indeed, friend
+Ana. Oho--ho!"
+
+To return: When Seti heard these words, he laughed again, and said:
+
+"I must think that saying over, but it is clear that you have a pretty
+turn for praise. Is it not so, Merapi, Crown of Hathor, and Holder of
+the wisdom of Isis?"
+
+But Merapi, who, I think, understood more than either of us, turned
+pale, and shrank further away, but outwards into the sunshine.
+
+"Well, Ki," went on Seti, "finish your greetings. What for the babe?"
+
+Ki considered it also.
+
+"Now that it is no longer in the shadow, I see that this shoot from the
+royal root of Pharaoh grows so fast and tall that my eyes cannot reach
+its crest. He is too high and great for greetings, Prince."
+
+Then Merapi uttered a little cry, and bore the child away.
+
+"She is afraid of magicians and their dark sayings," said Seti, looking
+after her with a troubled smile.
+
+"That she should not be, Prince, seeing that she is the mistress of all
+our tribe."
+
+"The lady Merapi a magician? Well, after a fashion, yes--where the
+hearts of men are concerned, do you not think so, Ana? But be more
+plain, Ki. It is still early, and I love riddles best at night."
+
+"What other could have shattered the strong and holy house where the
+majesty of Amon dwells on earth? Not even those prophets of the Hebrews
+as I think. What other could fence this garden round against the curses
+that have fallen upon Egypt?" asked Ki earnestly, for now all his
+mocking manner had departed.
+
+"I do not think she does these things, Ki. I think some Power does
+them through her, and I know that she dared to face Amon in his temple
+because she was bidden so to do by the priests of her people."
+
+"Prince," he answered with a short laugh, "a while ago I sent you a
+message by Ana, which perhaps other thoughts may have driven from his
+memory. It was as to the nature of that Power of which you speak. In
+that message I said that you were wise, but now I perceive that you lack
+wisdom like the rest of us, for if you had it, you would know that
+the tool which carves is not the guiding hand, and the lightning which
+smites is not the sending strength. So with this fair love of yours, and
+so with me and all that work marvels. We do not the things we seem to
+do, who are but the tool and the lightning. What I would know is who or
+what guides her hand and gives her the might to shield or to destroy."
+
+"The question is wide, Ki, or so it seems to me who, as you say, have
+little wisdom, and whoever can answer it holds the key of knowledge.
+Your magic is but a small thing which seems great because so few can
+handle it. What miracle is it that makes the flower to grow, the child
+to be born, the Nile to rise, and the sun and stars to shine in heaven?
+What causes man to be half a beast and half a god and to grow downward
+to the beast or upward to the god--or both? What is faith and what is
+unbelief? Who made these things, through them to declare the purposes of
+life, of death, and of eternity? You shake your head, you do not know;
+how then can I know who, as you point out, am but foolish? Go get your
+answer from the lady Merapi's self, only mayhap you will find your
+questions countered."
+
+"I'll take my chance. Thanks to Merapi's lord! A boon, O Prince, since
+you will not suffer that other name which comes easiest to the lips of
+one to whom the Present and the Future are sometimes much alike."
+
+Seti looked at him keenly, and for the first time with a tinge of fear
+in his eyes.
+
+"Leave the Future to itself, Ki," he exclaimed. "Whatever may be the
+mind of Egypt, just now I hold the Present enough for me," and he
+glanced first at the chair in which Merapi had been seated and then at
+the cloth upon which his son had lain.
+
+"I take back my words. The Prince is wiser than I thought. Magicians
+know the future because at times it rushes down upon them and they must.
+It is that which makes them lonely, since what they know they cannot
+say. But only fools will seek it."
+
+"Yet now and again they lift a corner of the veil, Ki. Thus I remember
+certain sayings of your own as to one who would find a great treasure
+in the land of Goshen and thereafter suffer some temporal loss, and--I
+forget the rest. Man, cease smiling at me with your face and piercing me
+through with your sword-like eyes. You can command all things, what boon
+then do you seek from me?"
+
+"To lodge here a little while, Prince, in the company of Ana and
+Bakenkhonsu. Hearken, I am no more Kherheb. I have quarrelled with
+Pharaoh, perhaps because a little breath from that great wind of the
+future blows through my soul; perhaps because he does not reward me
+according to my merits--what does it matter which? At least I have come
+to be of one mind with you, O Prince, and think that Pharaoh would do
+well to let the Hebrews go, and therefore no longer will I attempt to
+match my magic against theirs. But he refuses, so we have parted."
+
+"Why does he refuse, Ki?"
+
+"Perhaps it is written that he must refuse. Or perhaps because, thinking
+himself the greatest of all kings instead of but a plaything of the
+gods, pride locks the doors of his heart that in a day to come the
+tempest of the Future, whereof I have spoken, may wreck the house which
+holds it. I do not know why he refuses, but her Highness Userti is much
+with him."
+
+"For one who does not know, you have many reasons and all of them
+different, O instructed Ki," said Seti.
+
+Then he paused, walking up and down the portico, and I who knew his mind
+guessed that he was wondering whether he would do well to suffer Ki,
+whom at times he feared because his objects were secret and never
+changed, to abide in his house, or whether he should send him away. Ki
+also shivered a little, as though he felt the shadow cold, and descended
+from the portico into the bright sunshine. Here he held out his hand and
+a great moth dropped from the roof and lit upon it, whereon it lifted it
+to his lips, which moved as though he were talking to the insect.
+
+"What shall I do?" muttered Seti, as he passed me.
+
+"I do not altogether like his company, nor, I think, does the lady
+Merapi, but he is an ill man to offend, Prince," I answered. "Look, he
+is talking with his familiar."
+
+Seti returned to his place, and shaking off the moth which seemed loth
+to leave him, for twice it settled on his head, Ki came back into the
+shadow.
+
+"Where is the use of your putting questions to me, Ki, when, according
+to your own showing, already you know the answer that I will give? What
+answer shall I give?" asked the Prince.
+
+"That painted creature which sat upon my hand just now, seemed to
+whisper to me that you would say, O Prince, 'Stay, Ki, and be my
+faithful servant, and use any little lore you have to shield my house
+from ill.'"
+
+Then Seti laughed in his careless fashion, and replied:
+
+"Have your way, since it is a rule that none of the royal blood of Egypt
+may refuse hospitality to those who seek it, having been their friends,
+and I will not quote against your moth what a bat whispered in my ears
+last night. Nay, none of your salutations revealed to you by insects or
+by the future," and he gave him his hand to kiss.
+
+When Ki was gone, I said:
+
+"I told you that night-haunting thing was his familiar."
+
+"Then you told me folly, Ana. The knowledge that Ki has he does not get
+from moths or beetles. Yet now that it is too late I wish that I had
+asked the lady Merapi what her will was in this matter. You should have
+thought of that, Ana, instead of suffering your mind to be led astray
+by an insect sitting on his hand, which is just what he meant that you
+should do. Well, in punishment, day by day it shall be your lot to look
+upon a man with a countenance like--like what?"
+
+"Like that which I saw upon the coffin of the good god, your divine
+father, Meneptah, as it was prepared for him during his life in the
+embalmer's shop at Tanis," I answered.
+
+"Yes," said the Prince, "a face smiling eternally at the Nothingness
+which is Life and Death, but in certain lights, with eyes of fire."
+
+
+
+On the following day, by her invitation, I walked with the lady Merapi
+in the garden, the head nurse following us, bearing the royal child in
+her arms.
+
+"I wish to ask you about Ki, friend Ana," she said. "You know he is my
+enemy, for you must have heard the words he spoke to me in the temple
+of Amon at Tanis. It seems that my lord has made him the guest of this
+house--oh look!" and she pointed before her.
+
+I looked, and there a few paces away, where the shadow of the
+overhanging palms was deepest, stood Ki. He was leaning on his staff,
+the same that had turned to a snake in my hand, and gazing upwards like
+one who is lost in thought, or listens to the singing of birds. Merapi
+turned as though to fly, but at that moment Ki saw us, although he still
+seemed to gaze upwards.
+
+"Greeting, O Moon of Israel," he said bowing. "Greeting, O Conqueror of
+Ki!"
+
+She bowed back, and stood still, as a little bird stands when it sees a
+snake. There was a long silence, which he broke by asking:
+
+"Why seek that from Ana which Ki himself is eager to give? Ana is
+learned, but is his heart the heart of Ki? Above all, why tell him that
+Ki, the humblest of your servants, is your enemy?"
+
+Now Merapi straightened herself, looked into his eyes, and answered:
+
+"Have I told Ana aught that he did not know? Did not Ana hear the last
+words you said to me in the temple of Amon at Tanis?"
+
+"Doubtless he heard them, Lady, and therefore I am glad that he is here
+to hear their meaning. Lady Merapi, at that moment, I, the Sacrificer to
+Amon, was filled--not with my own spirit, but with the angry spirit of
+the god whom you had humbled as never before had befallen him in
+Egypt. The god through me demanded of you the secret of your magic, and
+promised you his hate, if you refused. Lady, you have his hate, but mine
+you have not, since I also have his hate because I, and he through me,
+have been worsted by your prophets. Lady, we are fellow-travellers in
+the Valley of Trouble."
+
+She gazed at him steadily, and I could see that of all that passed his
+lips she believed no one word. Making no answer to him and his talk of
+Amon, she asked only:
+
+"Why do you come here to do me ill who have done you none?"
+
+"You are mistaken, Lady," he replied. "I come here to refuge from Amon,
+and from his servant Pharaoh, whom Amon drives on to ruin. I know well
+that, if you will it, you can whisper in the ear of the Prince and
+presently he will put me forth. Only then----" and he looked over her
+head to where the nurse stood rocking the sleeping child.
+
+"Then what, Magician?"
+
+Giving no answer, he turned to me.
+
+"Learned Ana, to you remember meeting me at Tanis one night?"
+
+I shook my head, though I guessed well enough what night he meant.
+
+"Your memory weakens, learned Ana, or rather is confused, for we met
+often, did we not?"
+
+Then he stared at the staff in his hand. I stared also, because I could
+not help it, and saw, or thought I saw, the dead wood begin to swell and
+curve. This was enough for me and I said hastily:
+
+"If you mean the night of the Coronation, I do recall----"
+
+"Ah! I thought you would. You, learned Ana, who like all scribes observe
+so closely, will have noted how little things--such as the scent of a
+flower, or the passing of a bird, or even the writhing of a snake in the
+dust--often bring back to the mind events or words it has forgotten long
+ago."
+
+"Well--what of our meeting?" I broke in hastily.
+
+"Nothing at all--or only this. Just before it you were talking with the
+Hebrew Jabez, the lady Merapi's uncle, were you not?"
+
+"Yes, I was talking with him in an open place, alone."
+
+"Not so, learned Scribe, for you know we are never alone--quite. Could
+you but see it, every grain of sand has an ear."
+
+"Be pleased to explain, O Ki."
+
+"Nay, Ana, it would be too long, and short jests are ever the best. As I
+have told you, you were not alone, for though there were some words that
+I did not catch, _I_ heard much of what passed between you and Jabez."
+
+"What did you hear?" I asked wrathfully, and next instant wished that I
+had bitten through my tongue before it shaped the words.
+
+"Much, much. Let me think. You spoke about the lady Merapi, and whether
+she would do well to bide at Memphis in the shadow of the Prince, or to
+return to Goshen into the shadow of a certain--I forget the name. Jabez,
+a well-instructed man, said he thought that she might be happier at
+Memphis, though perhaps her presence there would bring a great sorrow
+upon herself and--another."
+
+Here again he looked at the child, which seemed to feel his glance, for
+it woke up and beat the air with its little hands.
+
+The nurse felt it also, although her head was turned away, for she
+started and then took shelter behind the bole of one of the palm-trees.
+Now Merapi said in a low and shaken voice:
+
+"I know what you mean, Magician, for since then I have seen my uncle
+Jabez."
+
+"As I have also, several times, Lady, which may explain to you what Ana
+here thinks so wonderful, namely that I should have learned what they
+said together when he thought they were alone, which, as I have told
+him, no one can ever be, at least in Egypt, the land of listening
+gods----"
+
+"And spying sorcerers," I exclaimed.
+
+"----And spying sorcerers," he repeated after me, "and scribes who take
+notes, and learn them by heart, and priests with ears as large as asses,
+and leaves that whisper--and many other things."
+
+"Cease your gibes, and say what you have to say," said Merapi, in the
+same broken voice.
+
+He made no answer, but only looked at the tree behind which the nurse
+and child had vanished.
+
+"Oh! I know, I know," she exclaimed in tones that were like a cry. "My
+child is threatened! You threaten my child because you hate me."
+
+"Your pardon, Lady. It is true that evil threatens this royal babe,
+or so I understood from Jabez, who knows so much. But it is not I that
+threaten it, any more than I hate you, in whom I acknowledge a fellow of
+my craft, but one greater than myself that it is my duty to obey."
+
+"Have done! Why do you torment me?"
+
+"Can the priests of the Moon-goddess torment Isis, Mother of Magic, with
+their prayers and offerings? And can I who would make a prayer and an
+offering----"
+
+"What prayer, and what offering?"
+
+"The prayer that you will suffer me to shelter in this house from the
+many dangers that threaten me at the hands of Pharaoh and the prophets
+of your people, and an offering of such help as I can give by my arts
+and knowledge against blacker dangers which threaten--another."
+
+Here once more he gazed at the trunk of the tree beyond which I heard
+the infant wail.
+
+"If I consent, what then?" she asked, hoarsely.
+
+"Then, Lady, I will strive to protect a certain little one against a
+curse which Jabez tells me threatens him and many others in whom runs
+the blood of Egypt. I will strive, if I am allowed to bide here--I do
+not say that I shall succeed, for as your lord has reminded me, and as
+you showed me in the temple of Amon, my strength is smaller than that of
+the prophets and prophetesses of Israel."
+
+"And if I refuse?"
+
+"Then, Lady," he answered in a voice that rang like iron, "I am sure
+that one whom you love--as mothers love--will shortly be rocked in the
+arms of the god whom we name Osiris."
+
+"_Stay_," she cried and, turning, fled away.
+
+"Why, Ana, she is gone," he said, "and that before I could bargain
+for my reward. Well, this I must find in your company. How strange are
+women, Ana! Here you have one of the greatest of her sex, as you learned
+in the temple of Amon. And yet she opens beneath the sun of hope and
+shrivels beneath the shadow of fear, like the touched leaves of that
+tender plant which grows upon the banks of the river; she who, with her
+eyes set on the mystery that is beyond, whereof she hears the whispering
+winds, should tread both earthly hope and fear beneath her feet, or make
+of them stepping stones to glory. Were she a man she would do so, but
+her sex wrecks her, she who thinks more of the kiss of a babe than
+of all the splendours she might harbour in her breast. Yes, a babe, a
+single wretched little babe. You had one once, did you not, Ana?"
+
+"Oh! to Set and his fires with you and your evil talk," I said, and left
+him.
+
+When I had gone a little way, I looked back and saw that he was
+laughing, throwing up his staff as he laughed, and catching it again.
+
+"Set and his fires," he called after me. "I wonder what they are like,
+Ana. Perhaps one day we shall learn, you and I together, Scribe Ana."
+
+So Ki took up his abode with us, in the same lodgings as Bakenkhonsu,
+and almost every day I would meet them walking in the garden, since I,
+who was of the Prince's table, except when he ate with the lady Merapi,
+did not take my food with them. Then we would talk together about many
+subjects. On those which had to do with learning, or even religion, I
+had the better of Ki, who was no great scholar or master of theology.
+But always before we parted he would plant some arrow in my ribs, at
+which old Bakenkhonsu laughed, and laughed again, yet ever threw over me
+the shield of his venerable wisdom, just because he loved me I think.
+
+It was after this that the plague struck the cattle of Egypt, so that
+tens of thousands of them died, though not all as was reported. But, as
+I have said, of the herds of Seti none died, nor, as we were told, did
+any of those of the Israelites in the land of Goshen. Now there was
+great distress in Egypt, but Ki smiled and said that he knew it would
+be so, and that there was much worse to come, for which I could have
+smitten him over the head with his own staff, had I not feared that, if
+I did so, it might once more turn to a serpent in my hand.
+
+Old Bakenkhonsu looked upon the matter with another face. He said that
+since his last wife died, I think some fifty years before, he had found
+life very dull because he missed the exercises of her temper, and her
+habit of presenting things as these never had been nor could possibly
+ever be. Now, however, it grew interesting again, since the marvels
+which were happening in Egypt, being quite contrary to Nature, reminded
+him of his last wife and her arguments. All of which was his way of
+saying that in those years we lived in a new world, whereof for the
+Egyptians Set the Evil One seemed to be the king.
+
+But still Pharaoh would not let the Hebrews go, perhaps because he had
+vowed as much to Meneptah who set him on the throne, or perhaps for
+those other reasons, or one of them, which Ki had given to the Prince.
+
+Then came the curse of sores afflicting man, woman, and child throughout
+the land, save those who dwelt in the household of Seti. Thus the
+watchman and his family whose lodge was without the gates suffered, but
+the watchman and his family who lived within the gates, not twenty paces
+away, did not suffer, which caused bitterness between their women.
+In the same way Ki, who resided as a guest of the Prince at Memphis,
+suffered from no sores, whereas those of his College who remained at
+Tanis were more heavily smitten than any others, so that some of them
+died. When he heard this, Ki laughed and said that he had told them
+it would be so. Also Pharaoh himself and even her Highness Userti were
+smitten, the latter upon the cheek, which made her unsightly for a
+while. Indeed, Bakenkhonsu heard, I know not how, that so great was her
+rage that she even bethought her of returning to her lord Seti, in whose
+house she had learned people were safe, and the beauty of her successor,
+Moon of Israel, remained unscarred and was even greater than before,
+tidings that I think Bakenkhonsu himself conveyed to her. But in the end
+this her pride, or her jealousy, prevented her from doing.
+
+Now the heart of Egypt began to turn towards Seti in good earnest.
+The Prince, they said, had opposed the policy of the oppression of the
+Hebrews, and because he could not prevail had abandoned his right to the
+throne, which Pharaoh Amenmeses had purchased at the price of accepting
+that policy whereof the fruits had been proved to be destruction.
+Therefore, they reasoned, if Amenmeses were deposed, and the Prince
+reigned, their miseries would cease. So they sent deputations to him
+secretly, praying him to rise against Amenmeses and promising him
+support. But he would listen to none of them, telling them that he was
+happy as he was and sought no other state. Still Pharaoh grew jealous,
+for all these things his spies reported to him, and set about plots to
+destroy Seti.
+
+Of the first of these Userti warned me by a messenger, but the second
+and worse Ki discovered in some strange way, so that the murderer was
+trapped at the gate and killed by the watchman, whereon Seti said that
+after all he had been wise to give hospitality to Ki, that is, if to
+continue to live were wisdom. The lady Merapi also said as much to me,
+but I noted that always she shunned Ki, whom she held in mistrust and
+fear.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE NIGHT OF FEAR
+
+Then came the hail, and some months after the hail the locusts, and
+Egypt went mad with woe and terror. It was known to us, for with Ki and
+Bakenkhonsu in the palace we knew everything, that the Hebrew prophets
+had promised this hail because Pharaoh would not listen to them.
+Therefore Seti caused it to be put about through all the land that the
+Egyptians should shelter their cattle, or such as were left to them,
+at the first sign of storm. But Pharaoh heard of it and issued a
+proclamation that this was not to be done, inasmuch as it would be an
+insult to the gods of Egypt. Still many did so and these saved their
+cattle. It was strange to see that wall of jagged ice stretching
+from earth to heaven and destroying all upon which it fell. The tall
+date-palms were stripped even of their bark; the soil was churned up;
+men and beasts if caught abroad were slain or shattered.
+
+I stood at the gate and watched it. There, not a yard away, fell the
+white hail, turning the world to wreck, while here within the gate there
+was not a single stone. Merapi watched also, and presently came Ki as
+well, and with him Bakenkhonsu, who for once had never seen anything
+like this in all his long life. But Ki watched Merapi more than he did
+the hail, for I saw him searching out her very soul with those merciless
+eyes of his.
+
+"Lady," he said at length, "tell your servant, I beseech you, how you
+do this thing?" and he pointed first to the trees and flowers within the
+gate and then to the wreck without.
+
+At first I thought that she had not heard him because of the roar of the
+hail, for she stepped forward and opened the side wicket to admit a
+poor jackal that was scratching at the bars. Still this was not so, for
+presently she turned and said:
+
+"Does the Kherheb, the greatest magician in Egypt, ask an unlearned
+woman to teach him of marvels? Well, Ki, I cannot, because I neither do
+it nor know how it is done."
+
+Bakenkhonsu laughed, and Ki's painted smile grew as it were brighter
+than before.
+
+"That is not what they say in the land of Goshen, Lady," he answered,
+"and not what the Hebrew women say here in Memphis. Nor is it what the
+priests of Amon say. These declare that you have more magic than all the
+sorcerers of the Nile. Here is the proof of it," and he pointed to the
+ruin without and the peace within, adding, "Lady, if you can protect
+your own home, why cannot you protect the innocent people of Egypt?"
+
+"Because I cannot," she answered angrily. "If ever I had such power it
+is gone from me, who am now the mother of an Egyptian's child. But I
+have none. There in the temple of Amon some Strength worked through me,
+that is all, which never will visit me again because of my sin."
+
+"What sin, Lady?"
+
+"The sin of taking the Prince Seti to lord. Now, if any god spoke
+through me it would be one of those of the Egyptians, since He of Israel
+has cast me out."
+
+Ki started as though some new thought had come to him, and at this
+moment she turned and went away.
+
+"Would that she were high-priestess of Isis that she might work for us
+and not against us," he said.
+
+Bakenkhonsu shook his head.
+
+"Let that be," he answered. "Be sure that never will an Israelitish
+woman offer sacrifice to what she would call the abomination of the
+Egyptians."
+
+"If she will not sacrifice to save the people, let her be careful lest
+the people sacrifice her to save themselves," said Ki in a cold voice.
+
+Then he too went away.
+
+"I think that if ever that hour comes, then Ki will have his share in
+it," laughed Bakenkhonsu. "What is the good of a shepherd who shelters
+here in comfort, while outside the sheep are dying, eh, Ana?"
+
+It was after the plague of locusts, which ate all there was left to eat
+in Egypt, so that the poor folk who had done no wrong and had naught
+to say to the dealings of Pharaoh with the Israelites starved by the
+thousand, and during that of the great darkness, that Laban came. Now
+this darkness lay upon the land like a thick cloud for three whole days
+and nights. Nevertheless, though the shadows were deep, there was no
+true darkness over the house of Seti at Memphis, which stood in a funnel
+of grey light stretching from earth to sky.
+
+Now the terror was increased tenfold, and it seemed to me that all the
+hundreds of thousands of Memphis were gathered outside our walls, so
+that they might look upon the light, such as it was, if they could do no
+more. Seti would have admitted as many as the place would hold, but Ki
+bade him not, saying, that if he did so the darkness would flow in
+with them. Only Merapi did admit some of the Israelitish women who were
+married to Egyptians in the city, though for her pains they only cursed
+her as a witch. For now most of the inhabitants of Memphis were certain
+that it was Merapi who, keeping herself safe, had brought these woes
+upon them because she was a worshipper of an alien god.
+
+"If she who is the love of Egypt's heir would but sacrifice to Egypt's
+gods, these horrors would pass from us," said they, having, as I think,
+learned their lesson from the lips of Ki. Or perhaps the emissaries of
+Userti had taught them.
+
+Once more we stood by the gate watching the people flitting to and
+fro in the gloom without, for this sight fascinated Merapi, as a snake
+fascinates a bird. Then it was that Laban appeared. I knew his hooked
+nose and hawk-like eyes at once, and she knew him also.
+
+"Come away with me, Moon of Israel," he cried, "and all shall yet
+be forgiven you. But if you will not come, then fearful things shall
+overtake you."
+
+She stood staring at him, answering never a word, and just then the
+Prince Seti reached us and saw him.
+
+"Take that man," he commanded, flushing with anger, and guards sprang
+into the darkness to do his bidding. But Laban was gone.
+
+On the second day of the darkness the tumult was great, on the third it
+was terrible. A crowd thrust the guard aside, broke down the gates and
+burst into the palace, humbly demanding that the lady Merapi would come
+to pray for them, yet showing by their mien that if she would not come
+they meant to take her.
+
+"What is to be done?" asked Seti of Ki and Bakenkhonsu.
+
+"That is for the Prince to judge," said Ki, "though I do not see how it
+can harm the lady Merapi to pray for us in the open square of Memphis."
+
+"Let her go," said Bakenkhonsu, "lest presently we should all go further
+than we would."
+
+"I do not wish to go," cried Merapi, "not knowing for whom I am to pray
+or how."
+
+"Be it as you will, Lady," said Seti in his grave and gentle voice.
+"Only, hearken to the roar of the mob. If you refuse, I think that very
+soon every one of us will have reached a land where perhaps it is not
+needful to pray at all," and he looked at the infant in her arms.
+
+"I will go," she said.
+
+She went forth carrying the child and I walked behind her. So did the
+Prince, but in that darkness he was cut off by a rush of thousands of
+folk and I saw him no more till all was over. Bakenkhonsu was with me
+leaning on my arm, but Ki had gone on before us, for his own ends as I
+think. A huge mob moved through the dense darkness, in which here and
+there lights floated like lamps upon a quiet sea. I did not know where
+we were going until the light of one of these lamps shone upon the knees
+of the colossal statue of the great Rameses, revealing his cartouche.
+Then I knew that we were near the gateway of the vast temple of Memphis,
+the largest perhaps in the whole world.
+
+We went on through court after pillared court, priests leading us by
+the hand, till we came to a shrine commanding the biggest court of all,
+which was packed with men and women. It was that of Isis, who held at
+her breast the infant Horus.
+
+"O friend Ana," cried Merapi, "give help. They are dressing me in
+strange garments."
+
+I tried to get near to her but was thrust back, a voice, which I thought
+to be that of Ki, saying:
+
+"On your life, fool!"
+
+Presently a lamp was held up, and by the light of it I saw Merapi seated
+in a chair dressed like a goddess, in the sacerdotal robes of Isis and
+wearing the vulture cap headdress--beautiful exceedingly. In her arms
+was the child dressed as the infant Horus.
+
+"Pray for us, Mother Isis," cried thousands of voices, "that the curse
+of blackness may be removed."
+
+Then she prayed, saying:
+
+"O my God, take away this curse of blackness from these innocent
+people," and all of those present, repeated her prayer.
+
+At that moment the sky began to lighten and in less than half an hour
+the sun shone out. When Merapi saw how she and the child were arrayed
+she screamed aloud and tore off her jewelled trappings, crying:
+
+"Woe! Woe! Woe! Great woe upon the people of Egypt!"
+
+But in their joy at the new found light few hearkened to her who they
+were sure had brought back the sun. Again Laban appeared for a moment.
+
+"Witch! Traitress!" he cried. "You have worn the robes of Isis and
+worshipped in the temple of the gods of the Egyptians. The curse of the
+God of Israel be on you and that which is born of you."
+
+I sprang at him but he was gone. Then we bore Merapi home swooning.
+
+So this trouble passed by, but from that time forward Merapi would not
+suffer her son to be taken out of her sight.
+
+"Why do you make so much of him, Lady?" I asked one day.
+
+"Because I would love him well while he is here, Friend," she answered,
+"but of this say nothing to his father."
+
+A while went by and we heard that still Pharaoh would not let the
+Israelites go. Then the Prince Seti sent Bakenkhonsu and myself to Tanis
+to see Pharaoh and to say to him:
+
+"I seek nothing for myself and I forget those evils which you would have
+worked on me through jealousy. But I say unto you that if you will not
+let these strangers go great and terrible things shall befall you and
+all Egypt. Therefore, hear my prayer and let them go."
+
+Now Bakenkhonsu and I came before Pharaoh and we saw that he was greatly
+aged, for his hair had gone grey about his temples and the flesh hung in
+bags beneath his eyes. Also not for one minute could he stay still.
+
+"Is your lord, and are you also of the servants of this Hebrew prophet
+whom the Egyptians worship as a god because he has done them so much
+ill?" he asked. "It may well be so, since I hear that my cousin Seti
+keeps an Israelitish witch in his house, who wards off from him all the
+plagues that have smitten the rest of Egypt, and that to him has fled
+also Ki the Kherheb, my magician. Moreover, I hear that in payment for
+these wizardries he has been promised the throne of Egypt by many fickle
+and fearful ones among my people. Let him be careful lest I lift him up
+higher than he hopes, who already have enough traitors in this land; and
+you two with him."
+
+Now I said nothing, who saw that the man was mad, but Bakenkhonsu
+laughed out loud and answered:
+
+"O Pharaoh, I know little, but I know this although I be old, namely,
+that after men have ceased to speak your name I shall still hold
+converse with the wearer of the Double Crown in Egypt. Now will you let
+these Hebrews go, or will you bring death upon Egypt?"
+
+Pharaoh glared at him and answered, "I will not let them go."
+
+"Why not, Pharaoh? Tell me, for I am curious."
+
+"Because I cannot," he answered with a groan. "Because something
+stronger than myself forces me to deny their prayer. Begone!"
+
+So we went, and this was the last time that I looked upon Amenmeses at
+Tanis.
+
+As we left the chamber I saw the Hebrew prophet entering the presence.
+Afterwards a rumour reached us that he had threatened to kill all the
+people in Egypt, but that still Pharaoh would not let the Israelites
+depart. Indeed, it was said that he had told the prophet that if he
+appeared before him any more he should be put to death.
+
+Now we journeyed back to Memphis with all these tidings and made report
+to Seti. When Merapi heard them she went half mad, weeping and wringing
+her hands. I asked her what she feared. She answered death, which was
+near to all of us. I said:
+
+"If so, there are worse things, Lady."
+
+"For you mayhap you are faithful and good in your own fashion, but not
+for me. Do you not understand, friend Ana, that I am one who has broken
+the law of the God I was taught to worship?"
+
+"And which of us is there who has not broken the law of the god we were
+taught to worship, Lady? If in truth you have done anything of the sort
+by flying from a murderous villain to one who loves you well, which I do
+not believe, surely there is forgiveness for such sins as this."
+
+"Aye, perhaps, but, alas! the thing is blacker far. Have you forgotten
+what I did? Dressed in the robes of Isis I worshipped in the temple of
+Isis with my boy playing the part of Horus on my bosom. It is a crime
+that can never be forgiven to a Hebrew woman, Ana, for my God is a
+jealous God. Yet it is true that Ki tricked me."
+
+"If he had not, Lady, I think there would have been none of us left to
+trick, seeing that the people were crazed with the dread of the darkness
+and believed that it could be lifted by you alone, as indeed happened,"
+I added somewhat doubtfully.
+
+"More of Ki's tricks! Oh! do you not understand that the lifting of the
+darkness at that moment was Ki's work, because he wished the people to
+believe that I am indeed a sorceress."
+
+"Why?" I asked.
+
+"I do not know. Perhaps that one day he may find a victim to bind to the
+altar in his place. At least I know well that it is I who must pay
+the price, I and my flesh and blood, whatever Ki may promise," and she
+looked at the sleeping child.
+
+"Do not be afraid, Lady," I said. "Ki has left the palace and you will
+see him no more."
+
+"Yes, because the Prince was angry with him about the trick in the
+temple of Isis. Therefore suddenly he went, or pretended to go, for
+how can one tell where such a man may really be? But he will come back
+again. Bethink you, Ki was the greatest magician in Egypt; even old
+Bakenkhonsu can remember none like to him. Then he matches himself
+against the prophets of my people and fails."
+
+"But did he fail, Lady? What they did he did, sending among the
+Israelites the plagues that your prophets had sent among us."
+
+"Yes, some of them, but he was outpaced, or feared to be outpaced at
+last. Is Ki a man to forget that? And if Ki chances really to believe
+that I am his adversary and his master at this black work, as because
+of what happened in the temple of Amon thousands believe to-day, will he
+not mete me my own measure soon or late? Oh! I fear Ki, Ana, and I fear
+the people of Egypt, and were it not for my lord beloved, I would flee
+away into the wilderness with my son, and get me out of this haunted
+land! Hush! he wakes."
+
+From this time forward until the sword fell there was great dread in
+Egypt. None seemed to know exactly what they dreaded, but all thought
+that it had to do with death. People went about mournfully looking over
+their shoulders as though someone were following them, and at night
+they gathered together in knots and talked in whispers. Only the Hebrews
+seemed to be glad and happy. Moreover, they were making preparations
+for something new and strange. Thus those Israelitish women who dwelt
+in Memphis began to sell what property they had and to borrow of the
+Egyptians. Especially did they ask for the loan of jewels, saying that
+they were about to celebrate a feast and wished to look fine in the eyes
+of their countrymen. None refused them what they asked because all were
+afraid of them. They even came to the palace and begged her ornaments
+from Merapi, although she was a countrywoman of their own who had showed
+them much kindness. Yes, and seeing that her son wore a little gold
+circlet on his hair, one of them begged that also, nor did she say her
+nay. But, as it chanced, the Prince entered, and seeing the woman with
+this royal badge in her hand, grew very angry and forced her to restore
+it.
+
+"What is the use of crowns without heads to wear them?" she sneered, and
+fled away laughing, with all that she had gathered.
+
+After she had heard that saying Merapi grew even sadder and more
+distraught than she was before, and from her the trouble crept to Seti.
+He too became sad and ill at ease, though when I asked him why he vowed
+he did not know, but supposed it was because some new plague drew near.
+
+"Yet," he added, "as I have made shift to live through nine of them, I
+do not know why I should fear a tenth."
+
+Still he did fear it, so much that he consulted Bakenkhonsu as to
+whether there were any means by which the anger of the gods could be
+averted.
+
+Bakenkhonsu laughed and said he thought not, since always if the gods
+were not angry about one thing they were angry about another. Having
+made the world they did nothing but quarrel with it, or with other gods
+who had a hand in its fashioning, and of these quarrels men were the
+victims.
+
+"Bear your woes, Prince," he added, "if any come, for ere the Nile has
+risen another fifty times at most, whether they have or have not been,
+will be the same to you."
+
+"Then you think that when we go west we die indeed, and that Osiris is
+but another name for the sunset, Bakenkhonsu."
+
+The old Councillor shook his great head, and answered:
+
+"No. If ever you should lose one whom you greatly love, take comfort,
+Prince, for I do not think that life ends with death. Death is the nurse
+that puts it to sleep, no more, and in the morning it will wake again to
+travel through another day with those who have companioned it from the
+beginning."
+
+"Where do all the days lead it to at last, Bakenkhonsu?"
+
+"Ask that of Ki; I do not know."
+
+"To Set with Ki, I am angered with him," said the Prince, and went away.
+
+"Not without reason, I think," mused Bakenkhonsu, but when I asked him
+what he meant, he would not or could not tell me.
+
+So the gloom deepened and the palace, which had been merry in its way,
+became sad. None knew what was coming, but all knew that something was
+coming and stretched out their hands to strive to protect that which
+they loved best from the stroke of the warring gods. In the case of Seti
+and Merapi this was their son, now a beautiful little lad who could run
+and prattle, one too of a strange health and vigour for a child of the
+inbred race of the Ramessids. Never for a minute was this boy allowed to
+be out of the sight of one or other of his parents; indeed I saw little
+of Seti in those days and all our learned studies came to nothing,
+because he was ever concerned with Merapi in playing nurse to this son
+of his.
+
+When Userti was told of it, she said in the hearing of a friend of mine:
+
+"Without a doubt that is because he trains his bastard to fill the
+throne of Egypt."
+
+But, alas! all that the little Seti was doomed to fill was a coffin.
+
+
+
+It was a still, hot evening, so hot that Merapi had bid the nurse bring
+the child's bed and set it between two pillars of the great portico.
+There on the bed he slept, lovely as Horus the divine. She sat by his
+side in a chair that had feet shaped like to those of an antelope.
+Seti walked up and down the terrace beyond the portico leaning on my
+shoulder, and talking by snatches of this or that. Occasionally as he
+passed he would stay for a while to make sure by the bright moonlight
+that all was well with Merapi and the child, as of late it had become
+a habit with him to do. Then without speaking, for fear lest he should
+awake the boy, he would smile at Merapi, who sat there brooding, her
+head resting on her hand, and pass on.
+
+The night was very still. The palm leaves did not rustle, no jackals
+were stirring, and even the shrill-voiced insects had ceased their
+cries. Moreover, the great city below was quiet as a home of the dead.
+It was as though the presage of some advancing doom scared the world to
+silence. For without doubt doom was in the air. All felt it down to
+the nurse woman, who cowered close as she dared to the chair of her
+mistress, and even in that heat shivered from time to time.
+
+Presently little Seti awoke, and began to prattle about something he had
+dreamed.
+
+"What did you dream, my son?" asked his father.
+
+"I dreamed," he answered in his baby talk, "that a woman, dressed as
+Mother was in the temple, took me by the hand and led me into the air. I
+looked down, and saw you and Mother with white faces and crying. I began
+to cry too, but the woman with the feather cap told me not as she was
+taking me to a beautiful big star where Mother would soon come to find
+me."
+
+The Prince and I looked at each other and Merapi feigned to busy herself
+with hushing the child to sleep again. It drew towards midnight and
+still no one seemed minded to go to rest. Old Bakenkhonsu appeared and
+began to say something about the night being very strange and unrestful,
+when, suddenly, a little bat that was flitting to and fro above us fell
+upon his head and thence to the ground. We looked at it, and saw that it
+was dead.
+
+"Strange that the creature should have died thus," said Bakenkhonsu,
+when, behold! another fell to the ground near by. The black kitten which
+belonged to Little Seti saw it fall and darted from beside his bed where
+it was sleeping. Before ever it reached the bat, the creature wheeled
+round, stood upon its hind legs, scratching at the air about it, then
+uttered one pitiful cry and fell over dead.
+
+We stared at it, when suddenly far away a dog howled in a very piercing
+fashion. Then a cow began to bale as these beasts do when they have lost
+their calves. Next, quite close at hand but without the gates, there
+arose the ear-curdling cry of a woman in agony, which on the instant
+seemed to be echoed from every quarter, till the air was full of
+wailing.
+
+"Oh, Seti! Seti!" exclaimed Merapi, in a voice that was rather a hiss
+than a whisper, "look at your son!"
+
+We sprang to where the babe lay, and looked. He had awakened and was
+staring upward with wide-opened eyes and frozen face. The fear, if such
+it were, passed from his features, though still he stared. He rose to
+his little feet, always looking upwards. Then a smile came upon his
+face, a most beautiful smile; he stretched out his arms, as though to
+clasp one who bent down towards him, and fell backwards--quite dead.
+
+Seti stood still as a statue; we all stood still, even Merapi. Then she
+bend down, and lifted the body of the boy.
+
+"Now, my lord," she said, "there has fallen on you that sorrow which
+Jabez my uncle warned you would come, if ever you had aught to do with
+me. Now the curse of Israel has pierced my heart, and now our child, as
+Ki the evil prophesied, has grown too great for greetings, or even for
+farewells."
+
+Thus she spoke in a cold and quiet voice, as one might speak of
+something long expected or foreseen, then made her reverence to the
+Prince, and departed, bearing the body of the child. Never, I think, did
+Merapi seem more beautiful to me than in this, her hour of bereavement,
+since now through her woman's loveliness shone out some shadow of the
+soul within. Indeed, such were her eyes and such her movements that well
+might have been a spirit and not a woman who departed from us with that
+which had been her son.
+
+Seti leaned on my shoulder looking at the empty bed, and at the scared
+nurse who still sat behind, and I felt a tear drop upon my hand. Old
+Bakenkhonsu lifted his massive face, and looked at him.
+
+"Grieve not over much, Prince," he said, "since, ere as many years as I
+have lived out have come and gone, this child will be forgotten and his
+mother will be forgotten, and even you, O Prince, will live but as a
+name that once was great in Egypt. And then, O Prince, elsewhere the
+game will begin afresh, and what you have lost shall be found anew, and
+the sweeter for it sheltering from the vile breath of men. Ki's magic
+is not all a lie, or if his is, mine holds some shadow of the truth, and
+when he said to you yonder in Tanis that not for nothing were you named
+'Lord of Rebirths,' he spoke words that you should find comfortable
+to-night."
+
+"I thank you, Councillor," said Seti, and turning, followed Merapi.
+
+"Now I suppose we shall have more deaths," I exclaimed, hardly knowing
+what I said in my sorrow.
+
+"I think not, Ana," answered Bakenkhonsu, "since the shield of Jabez,
+or of his god, is over us. Always he foretold that trouble would come to
+Merapi, and to Seti through Merapi, but that is all."
+
+I glanced at the kitten.
+
+"It strayed here from the town three days ago, Ana. And the bats also
+may have flown from the town. Hark to the wailing. Was ever such a sound
+heard before in Egypt?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+JABEZ SELLS HORSES
+
+Bakenkhonsu was right. Save the son of Seti alone, none died who dwelt
+in or about his house, though elsewhere all the first-born of Egypt lay
+dead, and the first-born of the beasts also. When this came to be known
+throughout the land a rage seized the Egyptians against Merapi who, they
+remembered, had called down woe on Egypt after she had been forced to
+pray in the temple and, as they believed, to lift the darkness from
+Memphis.
+
+Bakenkhonsu and I and others who loved her pointed out that her own
+child had died with the rest. To this it was answered, and here I
+thought I saw the fingers of Userti and of Ki, that it was nothing,
+since witches did not love children. Moreover, they said she could
+have as many as she liked and when she liked, making them to look like
+children out of clay figures and to grow up into evil spirits to torment
+the land. Lastly, people swore that she had been heard to say that,
+although to do it she must kill her own lord's son, she would not on
+that account forego her vengeance on the Egyptians, who once had
+treated her as a slave and murdered her father. Further, the Israelites
+themselves, or some of them, mayhap Laban among them, were reported
+to have told the Egyptians that it was the sorceress who had bewitched
+Prince Seti who brought such great troubles on them.
+
+So it happened that the Egyptians came to hate Merapi, who of all women
+was the sweetest and the most to be loved, and to her other supposed
+crimes, added this also, that by her witcheries she had stolen the heart
+of Seti away from his lawful wife and made him to turn that lady, the
+Royal Princess of Egypt, even from his gates, so that she was forced to
+dwell alone at Tanis. For in all these matters none blamed Seti, whom
+everyone in Egypt loved, because it was known that he would have dealt
+with the Israelites in a very different fashion, and thus averted all
+the woes that had desolated the ancient land of Khem. As for this matter
+of the Hebrew girl with the big eyes who chanced to have thrown a spell
+upon him, that was his ill-fortune, nothing more. Amongst the many women
+with whom they believed he filled his house, as was the way of princes,
+it was not strange that one favourite should be a witch. Indeed, I am
+certain that only because he was known to love her, was Merapi saved
+from death by poison or in some other secret fashion, at any rate for a
+while.
+
+Now came the glad tidings that the pride of Pharaoh was broken at last
+(for his first-born child had died with the others), or that the cloud
+of madness had lifted from his brain, whichever it might be, and that he
+had decreed that the Children of Israel might depart from Egypt when
+and whither they would. Then the people breathed again, seeing hope that
+their miseries might end.
+
+It was at this time that Jabez appeared once more at Memphis, driving a
+number of chariot horses, which he said he wished to sell to the Prince,
+as he did not desire them to pass into any other hands. He was admitted
+and stated the price of his horses, according to which they must have
+been beasts of great value.
+
+"Why do you wish to sell your horses?" asked Seti.
+
+"Because I go with my people into lands where there is little water and
+there they might die, O Prince."
+
+"I will buy the horses. See to it, Ana," said Seti, although I knew well
+that already he had more than he needed.
+
+The Prince rose to show that the interview was ended, whereon Jabez, who
+was bowing his thanks, said hurriedly:
+
+"I rejoice to learn, O Royal One, that things have befallen as I
+foretold, or rather was bidden to foretell, and that the troubles which
+have afflicted Egypt have passed by your dwelling."
+
+"Then you rejoice to learn a falsehood, Hebrew, since the worst of those
+troubles has made its home here. My son is dead," and he turned away.
+
+Jabez lifted his shifty eyes from the floor and glanced at him.
+
+"Prince," he said, "I know and grieve because this loss has cut you to
+the heart. Yet it was no fault of mine or of my people. If you think,
+you will remember that both when I built a wall of protection about
+this place because of your good deeds to Israel, O Prince, and before,
+I warned, and caused you to be warned, that if you and my niece, Moon of
+Israel, came together a great trouble might fall on you through her who,
+having become the woman of an Egyptian in defiance of command, must bear
+the fate of Egyptian women."
+
+"It may be so," said the Prince. "The matter is not one of which I care
+to talk. If this death were wrought by the magic of your wizards I have
+only this to say--that it is an ill payment to me in return for all that
+I have striven to do on behalf of the Hebrews. Yet, what else could I
+expect from such a people in such a world? Farewell."
+
+"One prayer, O Prince. I would ask your leave to speak with my niece,
+Merapi."
+
+"She is veiled. Since the murder of her child by wizardry, she sees no
+man."
+
+"Still I think she will see her uncle, O Prince."
+
+"What then do you wish to say to her?"
+
+"O Prince, through the clemency of Pharaoh we poor slaves are about to
+leave the land of Egypt never to return. Therefore, if my niece remains
+behind, it is natural that I should wish to bid her farewell, and to
+confide to her certain matters connected with our race and family, which
+she might desire to pass on to her children."
+
+Now when he heard this word "children" Seti softened.
+
+"I do not trust you," he said. "You may be charged with more of your
+Hebrew curses against Merapi, or you may say words to her that will make
+her even unhappier than she is. Yet if you would wish to see her in my
+presence----"
+
+"My lord Prince, I will not trouble you so far. Farewell. Be pleased to
+convey----"
+
+"Or if that does not suit you," interrupted Seti, "in the presence of
+Ana here you can do so, unless she refuses to receive you."
+
+Jabez reflected for a moment, and answered:
+
+"Then in the presence of Ana let it be, since he is a man who knows when
+to be silent."
+
+Jabez made obeisance and departed, and at a sign from the Prince I
+followed him. Presently we were ushered into the chamber of the lady
+Merapi, where she sat looking most sad and lonely, with a veil of black
+upon her head.
+
+"Greeting, my uncle," she said, after glancing at me, whose presence
+I think she understood. "Are you the bearer of more prophecies? I pray
+not, since your last were overtrue," and she touched the black veil with
+her finger.
+
+"I am the bearer of tidings, and of a prayer, Niece. The tidings are
+that the people of Israel are about to leave Egypt. The prayer, which is
+also a command, is--that you make ready to accompany them----"
+
+"To Laban?" she asked, looking up.
+
+"No, my niece. Laban would not wish as a wife one who has been the
+mistress of an Egyptian, but to play your part, however humble, in the
+fortunes of our people."
+
+"I am glad that Laban does not wish what he never could obtain, my
+uncle. Tell me, I pray you, why should I hearken to this prayer, or this
+command?"
+
+"For a good reason, Niece--that your life hangs on it. Heretofore you
+have been suffered to take your heart's desire. But if you bide in Egypt
+where you have no longer a mission to fulfil, having done all that was
+sought of you in keeping with the mind of your lover, the Prince Seti,
+true to the cause of Israel, you will surely die."
+
+"You mean that our people will kill me?"
+
+"No, not our people. Still you will die."
+
+She took a step towards him, and looked him in the eyes.
+
+"You are certain that I shall die, my uncle?"
+
+"I am, or at least others are certain."
+
+Now she laughed; it was the first time I had seen her laugh for several
+moons.
+
+"Then I will stay here," she said.
+
+Jabez stared at her.
+
+"I thought that you loved this Egyptian, who indeed is worthy of any
+woman's love," he muttered into his beard.
+
+"Perhaps it is because I love him that I wish to die. I have given him
+all I have to give; there is nothing left of my poor treasure except
+what will bring trouble and misfortune on his head. Therefore the
+greater the love--and it is more great than all those pyramids massed to
+one--the greater the need that it should be buried for a while. Do you
+understand?"
+
+He shook his head.
+
+"I understand only that you are a very strange woman, different from any
+other that I have known."
+
+"My child, who was slain with the rest, was all the world to me, and I
+would be where he is. Do you understand now?"
+
+"You would leave your life, in which, being young, you may have more
+children, to lie in a tomb with your dead son?" he asked slowly, like
+one astonished.
+
+"I only care for life while it can serve him whom I love, and if a day
+comes when he sits upon the throne how will a daughter of the hated
+Israelites serve him then? Also I do not wish for more children. Living
+or dead, he that is gone owns all my heart; there is no room in it for
+others. That love at least is pure and perfect, and having been embalmed
+by death, can never change. Moreover, it is not in a tomb that I shall
+lie with him, or so I believe. The faith of these Egyptians which we
+despise tells of a life eternal in the heavens, and thither I would
+go to seek that which is lost, and to wait that which is left behind
+awhile."
+
+"Ah!" said Jabez. "For my part I do not trouble myself with these
+problems, who find in a life temporal on the earth enough to fill my
+thoughts and hands. Yet, Merapi, you are a rebel, and whether in heaven
+or on earth, how are rebels received by the king against whom they have
+rebelled?"
+
+"You say I am rebel," she said, turning on him with flashing eyes. "Why?
+Because I would not dishonour myself by marrying a man I hate, one also
+who is a murderer, and because while I live I will not desert a man whom
+I love to return to those who have done me naught but evil. Did God then
+make women to be sold like cattle of the field for the pleasure and the
+profit of him who can pay the highest?"
+
+"It seems so," said Jabez, spreading out his hands.
+
+"It seems that you think so, who fashion God as you would wish him to
+be, but for my part I do not believe it, and if I did, I should seek
+another king. My uncle, I appeal from the priest and the elder to That
+which made both them and me, and by Its judgment I will stand or fall."
+
+"Always a very dangerous thing to do," reflected Jabez aloud, "since the
+priest is apt to take the law into his own hands before the cause can
+be pleaded elsewhere. Still, who am I that I should set up my reasonings
+against one who can grind Amon to powder in his own sanctuary, and who
+therefore may have warrant for all she thinks and does?"
+
+Merapi stamped her foot.
+
+"You know well it was you who brought me the command to dare the god
+Amon in his temple. It was not I----" she began.
+
+"I do know," replied Jabez waving his hand. "I know also that is what
+every wizard says, whatever his nation or his gods, and what no one ever
+believes. Thus because, having faith, you obeyed the command and through
+you Amon was smitten, among both the Israelites and the Egyptians you
+are held to be the greatest sorceress that has looked upon the Nile, and
+that is a dangerous repute, my niece."
+
+"One to which I lay no claim, and never sought."
+
+"Just so, but which all the same has come to you. Well, knowing as
+without doubt you do all that will soon befall in Egypt, and having been
+warned, if you needed warning, of the danger with which you yourself are
+threatened, you still refuse to obey this second command which it is my
+duty to deliver to you?"
+
+"I refuse."
+
+"Then on your own head be it, and farewell. Oh! I would add that there
+is a certain property in cattle, and the fruit of lands which descends
+to you from your father. In the event of your death----"
+
+"Take it all, uncle, and may it prosper you. Farewell."
+
+"A great woman, friend Ana, and a beautiful," said the old Hebrew, after
+he had watched her go. "I grieve that I shall never see her again, and,
+indeed, that no one will see her for very long; for, remember, she is
+my niece of whom I am fond. Now I too must be going, having completed my
+errand. All good fortune to you, Ana. You are no longer a soldier, are
+you? No? Believe me, it is as well, as you will learn. My homage to
+the Prince. Think of me at times, when you grow old, and not unkindly,
+seeing that I have served you as best I could, and your master also, who
+I hope will soon find again that which he lost awhile ago."
+
+"Her Highness, Princess Userti," I suggested.
+
+"The Princess Userti among other things, Ana. Tell the Prince, if he
+should deem them costly, that those horses which I sold him are really
+of the finest Syrian blood, and of a strain that my family has owned for
+generations. If you should chance to have any friend whose welfare you
+desire, let him not go into the desert soldiering during the next few
+moons, especially if Pharaoh be in command. Nay, I know nothing, but it
+is a season of great storm. Farewell, friend Ana, and again farewell."
+
+"Now what did he mean by that?" thought I to myself, as I departed to
+make my report to Seti. But no answer to the question rose in my mind.
+
+Very soon I began to understand. It appeared that at length the
+Israelites were leaving Egypt, a vast horde of them, and with them tens
+of thousands of Arabs of various tribes who worshipped their god
+and were, some of them, descended from the people of the Hyksos, the
+shepherds who once ruled in Egypt. That this was true was proved to us
+by the tidings which reached us that all the Hebrew women who dwelt in
+Memphis, even those of them who were married to Egyptians, had departed
+from the city, leaving behind them their men and sometimes their
+children. Indeed, before these went, certain of them who had been
+friends visited Merapi, and asked her if she were not coming also. She
+shook her head as she replied:
+
+"Why do you go? Are you so fond of journeyings in the desert that for
+the sake of them you are ready never again to look upon the men you love
+and the children of your bodies?"
+
+"No, Lady," they answered, weeping. "We are happy here in white-walled
+Memphis and here, listening to the murmur of the Nile, we would grow
+old and die, rather than strive to keep house in some desert tent with a
+stranger or alone. Yet fear drives us hence."
+
+"Fear of what?"
+
+"Of the Egyptians who, when they come to understand all that they have
+suffered at our hands in return for the wealth and shelter which they
+have given us for many generations, whereby we have grown from a handful
+into a great people, will certainly kill any Israelite whom they find
+left among them. Also we fear the curses of our priests who bid us to
+depart."
+
+"Then _I_ should fear these things also," said Merapi.
+
+"Not so, Lady, seeing that being the only beloved of the Prince of Egypt
+who, rumour tells us, will soon be Pharaoh of Egypt, by him you will
+be protected from the anger of the Egyptians. And being, as we all know
+well, the greatest sorceress in the world, the overthrower of Amon-Ra
+the mighty, and one who by sacrificing her child was able to ward away
+every plague from the household where she dwelt, you have naught to fear
+from priests and their magic."
+
+Then Merapi sprang up, bidding them to leave her to her fate and to
+be gone to their own, which they did hastily enough, fearing lest she
+should cast some spell upon them. So it came about that presently the
+fair Moon of Israel and certain children of mixed blood were all of the
+Hebrew race that were left in Egypt. Then, notwithstanding the miseries
+and misfortunes that during the past few years by terror, death, and
+famine had reduced them to perhaps one half of their number, the people
+of Egypt rejoiced with a great joy.
+
+In every temple of every god processions were held and offerings made by
+those who had anything left to offer, while the statues of the gods were
+dressed in fine new garments and hung about with garlandings of flowers.
+Moreover, on the Nile and on the sacred lakes boats floated to and
+fro, adorned with lanterns as at the feast of the Rising of Osiris. As
+titular high-priest of Amon, an office of which he could not be deprived
+while he lived, Prince Seti attended these demonstrations, which indeed
+he must do, in the great temple of Memphis, whither I accompanied him.
+When the ceremonies were over he led the procession through the masses
+of the worshippers, clad in his splendid sacerdotal robes, whereon every
+throat of the thousands present there greeted him in a shout of thunder
+as "Pharaoh!" or at least as Pharaoh's heir.
+
+When at length the shouting died, he turned upon them and said:
+
+"Friends, if you would send me to be of the company that sits at the
+table of Osiris and not at Pharaoh's feasts, you will repeat this
+foolish greeting, whereof our Lord Amenmeses will hear with little joy."
+
+In the silence that followed a voice called out:
+
+"Have no fear, O Prince, while the Hebrew witch sleeps night by night
+upon your bosom. She who could smite Egypt with so many plagues can
+certainly shelter you from harm;" whereon the roars of acclamation went
+up again.
+
+It was on the following day that Bakenkhonsu the aged returned with more
+tidings from Tanis, where he had been upon a visit. It seemed that a
+great council had been held there in the largest hall of one of the
+largest temples. At this council, which was open to all the people,
+Amenmeses had given report on the matter of the Israelites who, he
+stated, were departing in their thousands. Also offerings were made to
+appease the angry gods of Egypt. When the ceremony was finished, but
+before the company broke up in a heavy mood, her Highness the Princess
+Userti rose in her place, and addressed Pharaoh:
+
+"By the spirits of our fathers," she cried, "and more especially by that
+of the good god Meneptah, my begetter, I ask of you, Pharaoh, and I ask
+of you, O people, whether the affront that has been put upon us by these
+Hebrew slaves and their magicians is one that the proud land of Egypt
+should be called upon to bear? Our gods have been smitten and defied;
+woes great and terrible, such as history tells not of, have fallen
+upon us through magic; tens of thousands, from the first-born child of
+Pharaoh down, have perished in a single night. And now these Hebrews,
+who have murdered them by sorcery, for they are sorcerers all, men and
+women together, especially one of them who sits at Memphis, of whom I
+will not speak because she has wrought me private harm, by the decree
+of Pharaoh are to be suffered to leave the land. More, they are to take
+with them all their cattle, all their threshed corn, all the treasure
+they have hoarded for generations, and all the ornaments of price and
+wealth that they have wrung by terror from our own people, borrowing
+that which they never purpose to return. Therefore I, the Royal Princess
+of Egypt, would ask of Pharaoh, is this the decree of Pharaoh?"
+
+"Now," said Bakenkhonsu, "Pharaoh sat with hanging head upon his throne
+and made no answer."
+
+"Pharaoh does not speak," went on Userti. "Then I ask, is this the
+decree of the Council of Pharaoh and of the people of Egypt? There
+is still a great army in Egypt, hundreds of chariots and thousands of
+footmen. Is this army to sit still while these slaves depart into the
+desert there to rouse our enemies of Syria against us and return with
+them to butcher us?"
+
+"At these words," continued Bakenkhonsu, "from all that multitude there
+went up a shout of 'No.'"
+
+"The people say No. What saith Pharaoh?" cried Userti.
+
+There followed a silence, till suddenly Amenmeses rose and spoke:
+
+"Have it as you will, Princess, and on your head and the heads of all
+these whom you have stirred up let the evil fall if evil comes, though
+I think it is your husband, the Prince Seti, who should stand where you
+stand and put up this prayer in your place."
+
+"My husband, the Prince Seti, is tied to Memphis by a rope of witch's
+hair, or so they tell me," she sneered, while the people murmured in
+assent.
+
+"I know not," went on Amenmeses, "but this I know that always the Prince
+would have let these Hebrews go from among us, and at times, as sorrow
+followed sorrow, I have thought that he was right. Truly more than once
+I also would have let them go, but ever some Strength, I know not what,
+descended on my heart, turning it to stone, and wrung from me words that
+I did not desire to utter. Even now I would let them go, but all of you
+are against me, and, perchance, if I withstand you, I shall pay for it
+with my life and throne. Captains, command that my armies be made ready,
+and let them assemble here at Tanis that I myself may lead them after
+the people of Israel and share their dangers."
+
+Then with a mighty shouting the company broke up, so that at the last
+all were gone and only Pharaoh remained seated upon his throne, staring
+at the ground with the air, said Bakenkhonsu, rather of one who is dead
+than of a living king about to wage war upon his foes.
+
+To all these words the Prince listened in silence, but when they were
+finished he looked up and asked:
+
+"What think you, Bakenkhonsu?"
+
+"I think, O Prince," answered the wise old man, "that her Highness did
+ill to stir up this matter, though doubtless she spoke with the voices
+of the priests and of the army, against which Pharaoh was not strong
+enough to stand."
+
+"What you think, I think," said Seti.
+
+At this moment the lady Merapi entered.
+
+"I hear, my lord," she said, "that Pharaoh purposes to pursue the people
+of Israel with his host. I come to pray my lord that he will not join
+himself to the host of Pharaoh."
+
+"It is but natural, Lady, that you should not wish me to make war upon
+your kin, and to speak truth I have no mind that way," replied Seti,
+and, turning, left the chamber with her.
+
+"She is not thinking of her king but of her lover's life," said
+Bakenkhonsu. "She is not a witch as they declare, but it is true that
+she knows what we do not."
+
+"Yes," I answered, "it is true."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE DREAM OF MERAPI
+
+A while went by; it may have been fourteen days, during which we heard
+that the Israelites had started on their journey. They were a mighty
+multitude who bore with them the coffin and the mummy of their prophet,
+a man of their blood, Vizier, it is reported, to that Pharaoh who
+welcomed them to Egypt hundreds of years before. Some said they went
+this way and some that, but Bakenkhonsu, who knew everything, declared
+that they were heading for the Lake of Crocodiles, which others name Sea
+of Reeds, whereby they would cross into the desert beyond, and thence to
+Syria. I asked him how, seeing that at its narrowest part, this lake
+was six thousand paces in width, and that the depth of its mud was
+unfathomable. He replied that he did not know, but that I might do well
+to inquire of the lady Merapi.
+
+"So you have changed your mind, and also think her a witch," I said, to
+which he answered:
+
+"One must breathe the wind that blows, and Egypt is so full of
+witchcraft that it is difficult to say. Also it was she and no other
+who destroyed the ancient statue of Amon. Oh! yes, witch or no witch,
+it might be well to ask her how her people purpose to cross the Sea of
+Reeds, especially if Pharaoh's chariots chance to be behind them."
+
+So I did ask her, but she answered that she knew nothing of the matter,
+and wished to know nothing, seeing that she had separated from her
+people, and remained in Egypt.
+
+Then Ki came, I know not whence, and having made his peace with Seti as
+to the dressing of Merapi in the robes of Isis which, he vowed, was done
+by the priests against his wish, told us that Pharaoh and a great host
+had started to pursue the Israelites. The Prince asked him why he had
+not gone with the host, to which he replied that he was no soldier, also
+that Pharaoh hid his face from him. In return he asked the Prince why
+_he_ had not gone.
+
+Seti answered, because had been deprived of his command with his other
+officers and had no wish to take share in this business as a private
+citizen.
+
+"You are wise, as always, Prince," said Ki.
+
+It was on the following night, very late, while the Prince, Ki,
+Bakenkhonsu and I, Ana, sat talking, that suddenly the lady Merapi broke
+in upon us as she had risen from her bed, wild-eyed, and with her hair
+flowing down her robes.
+
+"I have dreamed a dream!" she cried. "I dreamed that I saw all the
+thousands of my people following after a flame that burned from earth
+to heaven. They came to the edge of a great water and behind them rushed
+Pharaoh and all the hosts of the Egyptians. Then my people ran on to the
+face of the water, and it bore them as though it were sound land.
+Now the soldiers of the Pharaoh were following, but the gods of Egypt
+appeared, Amon, Osiris, Horus, Isis, Hathor, and the rest, and would
+have turned them back. Still they refused to listen, and dragging the
+gods with them, rushed out upon the water. Then darkness fell, and in
+the darkness sounds of wailing and of a mighty laughter. It passed,
+the moon rose, shining upon emptiness. I awoke, trembling in my limbs.
+Interpret me this dream if you can, O Ki, Master of Magic."
+
+"Where is the need, Lady," he answered, awaking as though from sleep,
+"when the dreamer is also the seer? Shall the pupil venture to
+instruct the teacher, or the novice to make plain the mysteries to the
+high-priestess of the temple? Nay, Lady, I and all the magicians of
+Egypt are beneath your feet."
+
+"Why will you ever mock me?" she said, and as she spoke, she shivered.
+
+Then Bakenkhonsu opened his lips, saying:
+
+"The wisdom of Ki has been buried in a cloud of late, and gives no light
+to us, his disciples. Yet the meaning of this dream is plain, though
+whether it be also true I do not know. It is that all the host of Egypt,
+and with it the gods of Egypt, are threatened with destruction because
+of the Israelites, unless one to whom they will hearken can be found to
+turn them from some purpose that I do not understand. But to whom will
+the mad hearken, oh! to whom will they hearken?" and lifting his great
+head, he looked straight at the Prince.
+
+"Not to me, I fear, who now am no one in Egypt," said Seti.
+
+"Why not to you, O Prince, who to-morrow may be everyone in Egypt?"
+asked Bakenkhonsu. "Always you have pleaded the cause of the Hebrews,
+and said that naught but evil would befall Egypt because of them, as
+has happened. To whom, then, will the people and the army listen more
+readily?"
+
+"Moreover, O Prince," broke in Ki, "a lady of your household has dreamed
+a very evil dream, of which, if naught be said, it might be held that it
+was no dream, but a spell of power aimed against the majesty of Egypt;
+such a spell as that which cast great Amon from his throne, such a spell
+as that which has set a magic fence around this house and field."
+
+"Again I tell you that I weave no spells, O Ki, who with my own child
+have paid the price of them."
+
+"Yet spells were woven, Lady, and has been known from of old, strength
+is perfected in sacrifice alone," Ki answered darkly.
+
+"Have done with your talk of spells, Magician," exclaimed the Prince,
+"or if you must speak of them, speak of your own, which are many. It was
+Jabez who protected us here against the plagues, and the statue of Amon
+was shattered by some god."
+
+"I ask your pardon, Prince," said Ki bowing, "it was _not_ this lady but
+her uncle who fenced your house against the plagues which ravaged Egypt,
+and it was _not_ this lady but some god working in her which overthrew
+Amon of Tanis. The Prince has said it. Yet this lady has dreamed a
+certain dream which Bakenkhonsu has interpreted although I cannot, and I
+think that Pharaoh and his captains should be told of the dream, that on
+it they may form their own judgment."
+
+"Then why do you not tell them, Ki?"
+
+"It has pleased Pharaoh, O Prince, to dismiss me from his service as
+one who failed and to give my office of Kherheb to another. If I appear
+before the face of Pharaoh I shall be killed."
+
+Now I, Ana, listening, wished that Ki would appear before the face of
+Pharaoh, although I did not believe that he could be killed by him or by
+anybody else, since against death he had charms. For I was afraid of Ki,
+and felt in myself that again he was plotting evil to Merapi whom I knew
+to be innocent.
+
+The Prince walked up and down the chamber as was his fashion when lost
+in thought. Presently he stopped opposite to me and said:
+
+"Friend Ana, be pleased to command that my chariots be made ready with
+a general's escort of a hundred men and spare horses to each chariot.
+We ride at dawn, you and I, to seek out the army of Pharaoh and pray
+audience of Pharaoh."
+
+"My lord," said Merapi in a kind of cry, "I pray you go not, leaving me
+alone."
+
+"Why should I leave you, Lady? Come with me if you will." She shook her
+head, saying:
+
+"I dare not. Prince, there has been some charm upon me of late that
+draws me back to my own people. Twice in the night I have awakened and
+found myself in the gardens with my face set towards the north, and
+heard a voice in my ears, even that of my father who is dead, saying:
+
+"'Moon of Israel, thy people wander in the wilderness and need thy
+light.'
+
+"It is certain therefore that if I came near to them I should be dragged
+down as wood is dragged of an eddy, nor would Egypt see me any more."
+
+"Then I pray you bide where you are, Merapi," said the Prince, laughing
+a little, "since it is certain that where you go I must follow, who have
+no desire to wander in the wilderness with your Hebrew folk. Well, it
+seems that as you do not wish to leave Memphis and will not come with
+me, I must stay with you."
+
+Ki fixed his piercing eyes upon the pair of them.
+
+"Let the Prince forgive me," he said, "but I swear it by the gods that
+never did I think to live to hear the Prince Seti Meneptah set a woman's
+whims before his honour."
+
+"Your words are rough," said Seti, drawing himself up, "and had they
+been spoken in other days, mayhap, Ki----"
+
+"Oh! my lord," said Ki prostrating himself till his forehead touched the
+ground, "bethink you then how great must be the need which makes me dare
+to speak them. When first I came hither from the court of Tanis, the
+spirit that is within me speaking through my lips gave certain titles
+to your Highness, for which your Highness was pleased to reprove me.
+Yet the spirit in me cannot lie and I know well, and bid all here make
+record of my words, that to-night I stand in the presence of him who ere
+two moons have passed will be crowned Pharaoh."
+
+"Truly you were ever a bearer of ill-tidings, Ki, but if so, what of
+it?"
+
+"This your Highness: Were it not that the spirits of Truth and Right
+compel me for their own reasons, should I, who have blood that can be
+shed or bones that can be broken, dare to hurl hard words at him who
+will be Pharaoh? Should I dare to cross the will of the sweet dove who
+nestles on his heart, the wise, white dove that murmurs the mysteries
+of heaven, whence she came, and is stronger than the vulture of Isis and
+swifter than the hawk of Ra; the dove that, were she angry, could rend
+me into more fragments than did Set Osiris?"
+
+Now I saw Bakenkhonsu begin to swell with inward laughter like a frog
+about to croak, but Seti answered in a weary voice:
+
+"By all the birds of Egypt with the sacred crocodiles thrown in, I do
+not know, since that mind of yours, Ki, is not an open writing which can
+be read by the passer-by. Still, if you would tell me what is the reason
+with which the goddesses of Truth and Justice have inspired you----"
+
+"The reason is, O Prince, that the fate of all Egypt's army may be
+hidden in your hand. The time is short and I will be plain. Deny it as
+she will this lady here, who seems to be but a thing of love and beauty,
+is the greatest sorceress in Egypt, as I whom she has mastered know
+well. She matched herself against the high god of Egypt and smote him to
+the dust, and has paid back upon him, his prophets, and his worshippers
+the ills that he would have worked to her, as in the like case any of
+our fellowship would do. Now she has dreamed a dream, or her spirit has
+told her that the army of Egypt is in danger of destruction, and I know
+that this dream is true. Hasten then, O Prince, to save the hosts of
+Egypt, which you will surely need when you come to sit upon its throne."
+
+"I am no sorceress," cried Merapi, "and yet--alas! that I must say
+it--this smiling-featured, cold-eyed wizard's words are true. _The sword
+of death hangs over the hosts of Egypt!_"
+
+"Command that the chariots be made ready," said Seti again.
+
+
+
+Eight days had gone by. It was sunset and we drew rein over against the
+Sea of Reeds. Day and night we had followed the army of Pharaoh across
+the wilderness on a road beaten down by his chariot wheels and soldiers,
+and by the tens of thousands of the Israelites who had passed that way
+before them. Now from the ridge where we had halted we saw it encamped
+beneath us, a very great army. Moreover, stragglers told us that beyond,
+also encamped, was the countless horde of the Israelites, and beyond
+these the vast Sea of Reeds which barred their path. But we could
+not see them for a very strange reason. Between these and the army
+of Pharaoh rose a black wall of cloud, built as it were from earth to
+heaven. One of those stragglers of whom I have spoken, told us that this
+cloud travelled before the Israelites by day, but at night was turned
+into a pillar of fire. Only on this day, when the army of Pharaoh
+approached, it had moved round and come between the people of Israel and
+the army.
+
+Now when the Prince, Bakenkhonsu, and I heard these things we looked at
+each other and were silent. Only presently the Prince laughed a little,
+and said:
+
+"We should have brought Ki with us, even if we had to carry him bound,
+that he might interpret this marvel, for it is sure that no one else
+can."
+
+"It would be hard to keep Ki bound, Prince, if he wished to go free,"
+answered Bakenkhonsu. "Moreover, before ever we entered the chariots at
+Memphis he had departed south for Thebes. I saw him go."
+
+"And I gave orders that he should not be allowed to return, for I hold
+him an ill guest, or so thinks the lady Merapi," replied Seti with a
+sigh.
+
+"Now that we are here what would the Prince do?" I asked.
+
+"Descend to the camp of Pharaoh and say what we have to say, Ana."
+
+"And if he will not listen, Prince?"
+
+"Then cry our message aloud and return."
+
+"And if he will not suffer us to return, Prince?"
+
+"Then stand still and live or die as the gods may decree."
+
+"Truly our lord has a great heart!" exclaimed Bakenkhonsu, "and though
+I feel over young to die, I am minded to see the end of this matter with
+him," and he laughed aloud.
+
+But I who was afraid thought that _O-ho-ho_ of his, which the sky seemed
+to echo back upon our heads, a strange and indeed a fearful sound.
+
+Then we put on robes of ceremony that we had brought with us, but
+neither swords nor armour, and having eaten some food, drove on with the
+half of our guard towards the place where we saw the banners of Pharaoh
+flying about his pavilion. The rest of our guard we left encamped,
+bidding them, if aught happened to us, to return and make report at
+Memphis and in the other great cities. As we drew near to the camp the
+outposts saw us and challenged. But when they perceived by the light of
+the setting sun who it was that they challenged, a murmur went through
+them, of:
+
+"The Prince of Egypt! The Prince of Egypt!" for so they had never ceased
+to name Seti, and they saluted with their spears and let us pass.
+
+So at length we came to the pavilion of Pharaoh, round about which
+a whole regiment stood on guard. The sides of it were looped up high
+because of the heat of the night which was great, and within sat
+Pharaoh, his captains, his councillors, his priests, his magicians, and
+many others at meat or serving food and drink. They sat at a table that
+was bent like a bow, with their faces towards the entrance, and Pharaoh
+was in the centre of the table with his fan-bearers and butlers behind
+him.
+
+We advanced into the pavilion, the Prince in the centre, Bakenkhonsu
+leaning on his staff on the right hand, and I, wearing the gold chain
+that Pharaoh Meneptah had given me, on the left, but those with us
+remained among the guard at the entrance.
+
+"Who are these?" asked Amenmeses, looking up, "who come here unbidden?"
+
+"Three citizens of Egypt who have a message for Pharaoh," answered Seti
+in his quiet voice, "which we have travelled fast and far to speak in
+time."
+
+"How are you named, citizens of Egypt, and who sends your message?"
+
+"We are named, Seti Meneptah aforetime Prince of Egypt, and heir to its
+crown; Bakenkhonsu the aged Councillor, and Ana the scribe and King's
+Companion, and our message is from the gods."
+
+"We have heard those names, who has not?" said Pharaoh, and as he spoke
+all, or very nearly all, the company rose, or half rose, and bowed
+towards the Prince. "Will you and your companions be seated and eat,
+Prince Seti Meneptah?"
+
+"We thank the divine Pharaoh, but we have already eaten. Have we
+Pharaoh's leave to deliver our message?"
+
+"Speak on, Prince."
+
+"O Pharaoh, many moons have gone by, since last we looked upon each
+other face to face, on that day when my father, the good god Meneptah,
+disinherited me, and afterwards fled hence to Osiris. Pharaoh will
+remember why I was thus cut off from the royal root of Egypt. It was
+because of the matter of these Israelites, who in my judgment had been
+evilly dealt by, and should be suffered to leave our land. The good
+god Meneptah, being so advised by you and others, O Pharaoh, would have
+smitten the Israelites with the sword, making an end of them, and to
+this he demanded my assent as the Heir of Egypt. I refused that assent
+and was cast out, and since then, you, O Pharaoh, have worn the double
+crown, while I have dwelt as a citizen of Memphis, living upon such
+lands and revenues as are my own. Between that hour and this, O Pharaoh,
+many griefs have smitten Egypt, and the last of them cost you your
+first-born, and me mine. Yet through them all, O Pharaoh, you have
+refused to let these Hebrews go, as I counselled should be done at the
+beginning. At length after the death of the first-born, your decree was
+issued that they might go. Yet now you follow them with a great army and
+purpose to do to them what my father, the good god Meneptah, would have
+done, had I consented, namely--to destroy them with the sword. Hear me,
+Pharaoh!"
+
+"I hear; also the case is well if briefly set. What else would the
+Prince Seti say?"
+
+"This, O Pharaoh. That I pray you to return with all your host from
+the following of these Hebrews, not to-morrow or the next day, but at
+once--this night."
+
+"Why, O Prince?"
+
+"Because of a certain dream that a lady of my household who is Hebrew
+has dreamed, which dream foretells destruction to you and the army of
+Egypt, unless you hearken to these words of mine."
+
+"I think that we know of this snake whom you have taken to dwell in your
+bosom, whence it may spit poison upon Egypt. It is named Merapi, Moon of
+Israel, is it not?"
+
+"That is the name of the lady who dreamed the dream," replied Seti in a
+cold voice, though I felt him tremble with anger at my side, "the dream
+that if Pharaoh wills my companions here shall set out word for word to
+his magicians."
+
+"Pharaoh does not will it," shouted Amenmeses smiting the board with his
+fist, "because Pharaoh knows that it is but another trick to save these
+wizards and thieves from the doom that they have earned."
+
+"Am I then a worker of tricks, O Pharaoh? If I had been such, why have
+I journeyed hither to give warning, when by sitting yonder at Memphis
+to-morrow, I might once more have become heir to the double crown? For
+if you will not hearken to me, I tell you that very soon you shall
+be dead, and with you these"--and he pointed to all those who sat at
+table--"and with them the great army that lies without. Ere you speak,
+tell me, what is that black cloud which stands before the camp of the
+Hebrews? Is there no answer? Then I will give you the answer. It is the
+pall that shall wrap the bones of every one of you."
+
+Now the company shivered with fear, yes, even the priests and the
+magicians shivered. But Pharaoh went mad with rage. Springing from his
+seat, he snatched at the double crown upon his head, and hurled it to
+the ground, and I noted that the golden ur�us band about it, rolled
+away, and rested upon Seti's sandalled foot. He tore his robes and
+shouted:
+
+"At least our fate shall be your fate, Renegade, who have sold Egypt
+to the Hebrew witch in payment of her kisses. Seize this man and his
+companions, and when we go down to battle against these Israelites
+to-morrow after the darkness lifts, let them be set with the captains of
+the van. So shall the truth be known at last."
+
+Thus Pharaoh commanded, and Seti, answering nothing, folded his arms
+upon his breast and waited.
+
+Men rose from their seats as though to obey Pharaoh and sank back to
+them again. Guards started forward and yet remained standing where they
+were. Then Bakenkhonsu burst into one of his great laughs.
+
+"O-ho-ho," he laughed, "Pharaohs have I seen come and go, one and two
+and three, and four and five, but never yet have I seen a Pharaoh whom
+none of his councillors or guards could obey however much they willed
+it. When you are Pharaoh, Prince Seti, may your luck be better. Your
+arm, Ana, my friend, and lead on, Royal Heir of Egypt. The truth is
+shown to blind eyes that will not see. The word is spoken to deaf ears
+that will not hearken, and the duty done. Night falls. Sleep ye well, ye
+bidden of Osiris, sleep ye well!"
+
+Then we turned and walked from that pavilion. At its entrance I looked
+back, and in the low light that precedes the darkness, it seemed to me
+as though all seated there were already dead. Blue were their faces and
+hollow shone their eyes, and from their lips there came no word. Only
+they stared at us as we went, and stared and stared again.
+
+Without the door of the pavilion, by command of the Prince, I called
+aloud the substance of the lady Merapi's dream, and warned all within
+earshot to cease from pursuing the people of Israel, if they would
+continue to live to look upon the sun. Yet even now, although to speak
+thus was treason against Pharaoh, none lifted a hand against the Prince,
+or against me his servant. Often since then I have wondered why this was
+so, and found no answer to my questionings. Mayhap it was because of the
+majesty of my master, whom all knew to be the true Pharaoh, and loved
+at heart. Mayhap it was because they were sure that he would not have
+travelled so far and placed himself in the power of Amenmeses save to
+work the armies of Egypt good, and not ill, and to bring them a message
+that had been spoken by the gods themselves.
+
+Or mayhap it was because he was still hedged about by that protection
+which the Hebrews had vowed to him through their prophets with the
+voice of Jabez. At least so it happened. Pharaoh might command, but his
+servants would not obey. Moreover, the story spread, and that night many
+deserted from the host of Pharaoh and encamped about us, or fled back
+towards the cities whence they came. Also with them were not a few
+councillors and priests who had talked secretly with Bakenkhonsu. So it
+chanced that even if Pharaoh desired to make an end of us, as perhaps he
+purposed to do in the midnight watches, he thought it wisest to let the
+matter lie until he had finished with the people of Israel.
+
+
+
+It was a very strange night, silent, with a heavy, stirless air. There
+were no stars, but the curtain of black cloud which seemed to hang
+beyond the camp of the Egyptians was alive with lightnings which
+appeared to shape themselves to letters that I could not read.
+
+"Behold the Book of Fate written in fire by the hand of God!" said
+Bakenkhonsu, as he watched.
+
+About midnight a mighty east wind began to blow, so strongly that we
+must lie upon our faces under the lea of the chariots. Then the wind
+died away and we heard tumult and shoutings, both from the camp of
+Egypt, and from the camp of Israel beyond the cloud. Next there came a
+shock as of earthquake, which threw those of us who were standing to the
+ground, and by a blood-red moon that now appeared we perceived that all
+the army of Pharaoh was beginning to move towards the sea.
+
+"Whither go they?" I asked of the Prince who clung to my arm.
+
+"To doom, I think," he answered, "but to what doom I do not know."
+
+After this we said no more, because we were too much afraid.
+
+
+
+Dawn came at last, showing the most awful sight that was ever beheld by
+the eye of man.
+
+The wall of cloud had disappeared, and in the clear light of the
+morning, we perceived that the deep waters of the Sea of Reeds had
+divided themselves, leaving a raised roadway that seemed to have
+been cleared by the wind, or perchance to have been thrown up by the
+earthquake. Who can say? Not I who never set foot upon that path of
+death. Along this wide road streamed the tens of thousands of the
+Israelites, passing between the water on the right hand, and the water
+on the left, and after them followed all the army of Pharaoh, save those
+who had deserted, and stood or lay around us, watching. We could even
+see the golden chariots that marked the presence of Pharaoh himself, and
+of his bodyguard, deep in the heart of the broken host that struggled
+forward without discipline or order.
+
+"What now? Oh! what now?" murmured Seti, and as he spoke there was a
+second shock of earthquake. Then to the west on the sea there arose a
+mighty wave, whereof the crest seemed to be high as a pyramid. It rolled
+forward with a curved and foaming head, and in the hollow of it for a
+moment, no more, we saw the army of Egypt. Yet in that moment I seemed
+to see mighty shapes fleeing landwards along the crest of the wave,
+which shapes I took to be the gods of Egypt, pursued by a form of light
+and glory that drove them as with a scourge. They came, they went,
+accompanied by a sound of wailing, and the wave fell.
+
+But beyond it, the hordes of Israel still marched--upon the further
+shore.
+
+Dense gloom followed, and through the gloom I saw, or thought I saw,
+Merapi, Moon of Israel, standing before us with a troubled face and
+heard or thought I heard her cry:
+
+"_Oh! help me, my lord Seti! Help me, my lord Seti!_"
+
+Then she too was gone.
+
+
+"Harness the chariots!" cried Seti, in a hollow voice.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THE CROWNING OF MERAPI
+
+Fast as sped our horses, rumour, or rather the truth, carried by those
+who had gone before us, flew faster. Oh! that journey was as a dream
+begotten by the evil gods. On we galloped through the day and through
+the night and lo! at every town and village women rushed upon us crying:
+
+"Is it true, O travellers, is it true that Pharaoh and his host are
+perished in the sea?"
+
+Then old Bakenkhonsu would call in answer:
+
+"It is true that he who _was_ Pharaoh and his host are perished in the
+sea. But lo! here is he who _is_ Pharaoh," and he pointed to the Prince,
+who took no heed and said nothing, save:
+
+"On! On!"
+
+Then forward we would plunge again till once more the sound of wailing
+died into silence.
+
+It was sunset, and at length we drew near to the gates of Memphis. The
+Prince turned to me and spoke.
+
+"Heretofore I have not dared to ask," he said, "but tell me, Ana. In the
+gloom after the great cliff of water fell and the shapes of terror swept
+by, did you seem to see a woman stand before us and did you seem to hear
+her speak?"
+
+"I did, O Prince."
+
+"Who was that woman and what did she say?"
+
+"She was one who bore a child to you, O Prince, which child is not, and
+she said, 'Oh! help me, my lord Seti. Help me, my lord Seti!'"
+
+His face grew ashen even beneath its veil of dust, and he groaned.
+
+"Two who loved her have seen and two who loved her have heard," he said.
+"There is no room for doubt. Ana, she is dead!"
+
+"I pray the gods----"
+
+"Pray not, for the gods of Egypt are also dead, slain by the god of
+Israel. Ana, who has murdered her?"
+
+With my finger I who am a draughtsman drew in the thick dust that lay
+on the board of the chariot the brows of a man and beneath them two deep
+eyes. The gilt on the board where the sun caught it looked like light in
+the eyes.
+
+The Prince nodded and said:
+
+"Now we shall learn whether great magicians such as Ki can die like
+other men. Yes, if need be, to learn that I will put on Pharaoh's
+crown."
+
+We halted at the gates of Memphis. They were shut and barred, but from
+within the vast city rose a sound of tumult.
+
+"Open!" cried the Prince to the guard.
+
+"Who bids me open?" answered the captain of the gate peering at us, for
+the low sun lay behind.
+
+"Pharaoh bids you open."
+
+"Pharaoh!" said the man. "We have sure tidings that Pharaoh and his
+armies are slain by wizardry in the sea."
+
+"Fool!" thundered the Prince, "Pharaoh never dies. Pharaoh Amenmeses
+is with Osiris but the good god Seti Meneptah who _is_ Pharaoh bids you
+open."
+
+Then the bronze gates rolled back, and those who guarded them prostrated
+themselves in the dust.
+
+"Man," I called to the captain, "what means yonder shouting?"
+
+"Sir," he answered, "I do not know, but I am told that the witch who has
+brought woe on Egypt and by magic caused the death of Pharaoh Amenmeses
+and his armies, dies by fire in the place before the temple."
+
+"By whose command?" I cried again as the charioteer flogged the horses,
+but no answer reached our ears.
+
+We rushed on up the wide street to the great place that was packed with
+tens of thousands of the people. We drove the horses at them.
+
+"Way for Pharaoh! Way for the Mighty One, the good god, Seti Meneptah,
+King of the Upper and the Lower Land!" shouted the escort.
+
+The people turned and saw the tall shape of the Prince still clad in the
+robes of state which he had worn when he stood before Amenmeses in the
+pavilion by the sea.
+
+"Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Hail to Pharaoh!" they cried, prostrating themselves,
+and the cry passed on through Memphis like a wind.
+
+Now we were come to the centre of the place, and there in front of the
+great gates of the temple burned a vast pyre of wood. Before the pyre
+moved figures, in one of whom I knew Ki dressed in his magician's robe.
+Outside of these there was a double circle of soldiers who kept the
+people back, which these needed, for they raved like madmen and shook
+their fists. A group of priests near the fire separated, and I saw that
+among them stood a man and a woman, the latter with dishevelled hair and
+torn robes as though she had been roughly handled. At this moment her
+strength seemed to fail her and she sank to the ground, lifting her face
+as she did so. It was the face of Merapi, Moon of Israel.
+
+So she was not dead. The man at her side stooped as though to lift her
+up, but a stone thrown out of the shadow struck him in the back and
+caused him to straighten himself, which he did with a curse at the
+thrower. I knew the voice at once, although the speaker was disguised.
+
+It was that of Laban the Israelite, he who had been betrothed to Merapi,
+and had striven to murder us in the land of Goshen. What did he here? I
+wondered dimly.
+
+Ki was speaking. "Hark how the Hebrew cat spits," he said. "Well,
+the cause has been tried and the verdict given, and I think that the
+familiar should feed the flames before the witch. Watch him now, and
+perhaps he will change into something else."
+
+All this he said, smiling in his usual pleasant fashion, even when he
+made a sign to certain black temple slaves who stood near. They leapt
+forward, and I saw the firelight shone upon their copper armlets as they
+gripped Laban. He fought furiously, shouting:
+
+"Where are your armies, Egyptians, and where is your dog of a Pharaoh?
+Go dig them from the Sea of Reeds. Farewell, Moon of Israel. Look how
+your royal lover crowns you at the last, O faithless----"
+
+He said no more, for at this moment the slaves hurled him headlong into
+the heart of the great fire, which blackened for a little and burned
+bright again.
+
+Then it was that Merapi struggled to her feet and cried in a ringing
+voice those very words which the Prince and I had seemed to hear her
+speak far away by the Sea of Reeds--"_Oh! help me my lord Seti! Help me,
+my lord Seti!_" Yes, the same words which had echoed in our ears days
+before they passed her lips, or so we believed.
+
+Now all this while our chariots had been forcing their way foot by foot
+through the wall of the watching crowd, perhaps while a man might count
+a hundred, no more. As the echoes of her cry died away at length we were
+through and leaping to the ground.
+
+"The witch calls on one who sups to-night at the board of Osiris with
+Pharaoh and his host," sneered Ki. "Well, let her go to seek him there
+if the guardian gods will suffer it," and again he made a sign to the
+black slaves.
+
+But Merapi had seen or felt Seti advancing from the shadows and seeing
+flung herself upon his breast. He kissed her on the brow before them
+all, then bade me hold her up and turned to face the people.
+
+"Bow down. Bow down. Bow down!" cried the deep voice of Bakenkhonsu.
+"Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!" and what he said the
+escort echoed.
+
+Then of a sudden the multitude understood. To their knees they fell and
+from every side rose the ancient salutation. Seti held up his hand
+and blessed them. Watching, I saw Ki slip towards the darkness, and
+whispered a word to the guards, who sprang upon him and brought him
+back.
+
+Then the Prince spoke:
+
+"Ye name me Pharaoh, people of Memphis, and Pharaoh I fear I am by
+descent of blood to-day, though whether I will consent to bear the
+burdens of government, should Egypt wish it of me, as yet I know not.
+Still he who wore the double crown is, I believe, dead in the midst
+of the sea; at the least I saw the waters overwhelm him and his army.
+Therefore, if only for an hour, I will be Pharaoh, that as Pharaoh I may
+judge of certain matters. Lady Merapi, tell me, I pray you, how came you
+to this pass?"
+
+"My lord," she answered, in a low voice, "after you had gone to warn the
+army of Pharaoh because of that dream I dreamed, Ki, who departed on
+the same day, returned again. Through one of the women of the household,
+over whom he had power, or so I think, he obtained access to me when I
+was alone in my chamber. There he made me this offer:
+
+"'Give me,' he said, 'the secret of your magic that I may be avenged
+upon the wizards of the Hebrews who have brought about my downfall, and
+upon the Hebrews themselves, and also upon all my other enemies, and
+thus once more become the greatest man in Egypt. In turn I will fulfil
+all your desires, and make you, and no other, Queen of Egypt, and be
+your faithful servant, and that of your lord Seti who shall be Pharaoh,
+until the end of your lives. Refuse, and I will stir up the people
+against you, and before ever the Prince returns, if he returns at all,
+they who believe you to be an evil sorceress shall mete out to you the
+fate of a sorceress.'
+
+"My lord, I answered to Ki what I have often told him before, that I
+had no magic to reveal to him, I who knew nothing of the black arts of
+sorcery, seeing that it was not I who destroyed the statue of Amon in
+the temple at Tanis, but that same Power which since then has brought
+all the plagues on Egypt. I said, too, that I cared nothing for the
+gifts he offered to me, as I had no wish to be Queen of Egypt. My lord,
+he laughed in my face, saying I should find that he was one ill to mock,
+as others had found before me. Then he pointed at me with his wand and
+muttered some spell over me, which seemed to numb my limbs and voice,
+holding me helpless till he had been gone a long while, and could not be
+found by your servants, whom I commanded in your name to seize, and keep
+him till your return.
+
+"From that hour the people began to threaten me. They crowded about the
+palace gates in thousands, crying day and night that they were going to
+kill me, the witch. I prayed for help, but from me, a sinner, heaven
+has grown so far away that my prayers seem to fall back unheard upon my
+head. Even the servants in the palace turned against me, and would not
+look upon my face. I grew mad with fear and loneliness, since all fled
+before me. At last one night towards the dawn I went on to the terrace,
+and since no god would hear me, I turned towards the north whither I
+knew that you had gone, and cried to you to help me in those same words
+which I cried again just now before you appeared." (Here the Prince
+looked at me and I Ana looked at him.) "Then it was that from among the
+bushes of the garden appeared a man, hidden in a long, sheepskin cloak,
+so that I could not see his face, who said to me:
+
+"'Moon of Israel, I have been sent by his Highness, the Prince Seti, to
+tell you that you are in danger of your life, as he is in danger of his,
+wherefore he cannot come to you. His command is that you come to him,
+that together you may flee away out of Egypt to a land where you will
+both be safe until all these troubles are finished.'
+
+"'How know I that you of the veiled face are a true messenger?' I asked.
+'Give me a sign.'
+
+"Then he held out to me that scarab�us of lapis-lazuli which your
+Highness gave to me far away in the land of Goshen, the same that you
+asked back from me as a love token when we plighted troth, and you gave
+me your royal ring, which scarab�us I had seen in your robe when you
+drove away with Ana."
+
+"I lost it on our journey to the Sea of Reeds, but said nothing of it to
+you, Ana, because I thought the omen evil, having dreamed in the night
+that Ki appeared and stole it from me," whispered the Prince to me.
+
+"'It is not enough,' I answered. 'This jewel may have been thieved
+away, or snatched from the dead body of the Prince, or taken from him by
+magic.'
+
+"The cloaked man thought a while and said, 'This night, not an hour ago,
+Pharaoh and his chariots were overwhelmed in the Sea of Reeds. Let that
+serve as a sign.'
+
+"'How can this be?' I answered, 'since the Sea of Reeds is far away,
+and such tidings cannot travel thence in an hour. Get you gone, false
+tempter.'
+
+"'Yet it is so,' he answered.
+
+"'When you prove it to me, I will believe, and come.'
+
+"'Good,' he said, and was gone.
+
+"Next day a rumour began to run that this awful thing had happened. It
+grew stronger and stronger, until all swore that it had happened. Now
+the fury of the people rose against me, and they ravened round the
+palace like lions of the desert, roaring for my blood. Yet it was as
+though they could not enter here, since whenever they rushed at the
+gates or walls, they fell back again, for some spirit seemed to protect
+the place. The days went by; the night came again and at the dawn, this
+dawn that is past, once more I stood upon the terrace, and once more the
+cloaked man appeared from among the trees.
+
+"'Now you have heard, Moon of Israel,' he said, 'and now you must
+believe and come, although you think yourself safe because at the
+beginning of the plagues this, the home of Seti, was enchanted against
+evil, so that none within it can be harmed.'
+
+"'I have heard, and I think that I believe, though how the tidings
+reached Memphis in an hour I do not understand. Yet, stranger, I say to
+you that it is not enough.'
+
+"Then the man drew a papyrus roll from his bosom and threw it at my
+feet. I opened it and read. The writing was the writing of Ana as I knew
+well, and the signature was the signature of you, my lord, and it was
+sealed with your seal, and with the seal of Bakenkhonsu as a witness.
+Here it is," and from the breast of her garment, she drew out a roll and
+gave it to me upon whom she rested all this while.
+
+I opened it, and by the light of torches the Prince, Bakenkhonsu, and
+I read. It was as she had told us in what seemed to be my writing, and
+signed and sealed as she had said. The words ran:
+
+"To Merapi, Moon of Israel, in my house at Memphis.
+
+"Come, Lady, Flower of Love, to me your lord, to whom the bearer of this
+will guide you safely. Come at once, for I am in great danger, as you
+are, and together only can we be safe."
+
+"Ana, what means this?" asked the Prince in a terrible voice. "If you
+have betrayed me and her----"
+
+"By the gods," I began angrily, "am I a man that I should live to hear
+even your Highness speak thus to me, or am I but a dog of the desert?"
+
+I ceased, for at that moment Bakenkhonsu began to laugh.
+
+"Look at the letter!" he laughed. "Look at the letter."
+
+We looked, and as we looked, behold the writing on it turned first
+to the colour of blood and then faded away, till presently there was
+nothing in my hand but a blank sheet of papyrus.
+
+"Oho-ho!" laughed Bakenkhonsu. "Truly, friend Ki, you are the first
+of magicians, save those prophets of the Israelites who have brought
+you--Whither have they brought you, friend Ki?"
+
+Then for the first time the painted smile left the face of Ki, and it
+became like a block of stone in which were set two angry jewels that
+were his eyes.
+
+"Continue, Lady," said the Prince.
+
+"I obeyed the letter. I fled away with the man who said he had a chariot
+waiting. We passed out by the little gate.
+
+"'Where is the chariot?' I asked.
+
+"'We go by boat,' he answered, and led the way towards the river. As we
+threaded the big palm grove men appeared from between the trees.
+
+"'You have betrayed me,' I cried.
+
+"'Nay,' he answered, 'I am myself betrayed.'
+
+"Then for the first time I knew his voice for that of Laban.
+
+"The men seized us; at the head of them was Ki.
+
+"'This is the witch,' he said, 'who, her wickedness finished, flies with
+her Hebrew lover, who is also the familiar of her sorceries.'
+
+"They tore the cloak and the false beard from him and there before me
+stood Laban. I cursed him to his face. But all he answered was:
+
+"'Merapi, what I have done I did for love of you. It was my purpose to
+take you away to our people, for here I knew that they would kill you.
+This magician promised you to me if I could tempt you from the safety of
+the palace, in return for certain tidings that I have given him.'
+
+"These were the only words that passed between us till the end. They
+dragged us to the secret prison of the great temple where we were
+separated. Here all day long Ki and the priests tormented me with
+questions, to which I gave no answer. Towards the evening they brought
+me out and led me here with Laban at my side. When the people saw me a
+great cry went up of 'Sorceress! Hebrew witch!' They broke through the
+guard; they seized me, threw me to the ground and beat me. Laban strove
+to protect me but was torn away. At length the people were driven off,
+and oh! my lord, you know the rest. I have spoken truth, I can no more."
+
+So saying her knees loosened beneath her and she swooned. We bore her to
+the chariot.
+
+"You have heard, Ki," said the Prince. "Now, what answer?"
+
+"None, O Pharaoh," he replied coldly, "for Pharaoh you are, as I
+promised that you should be. My spirit has deserted me, those Hebrews
+have stolen it away. That writing should have faded from the scroll
+as soon as it was read by yonder lady, and then I would have told you
+another story; a story of secret love, of betrayal and attempted flight
+with her lover. But some evil god kept it there until you also had read,
+you who knew that you had not written what appeared before your eyes.
+Pharaoh, I am conquered. Do your will with me, and farewell. Beloved you
+shall always be as you have always been, but happy never in this world."
+
+"O People," cried Seti, "I will not be judge in my own cause. You have
+heard, do you judge. For this wizard, what reward?"
+
+Then there went up a great cry of "Death! Death by fire. The death he
+had made ready for the innocent!"
+
+That was the end, but they told me afterwards that, when the great pyre
+had burned out, in it was found the head of Ki looking like a red-hot
+stone. When the sunlight fell on it, however, it crumbled and faded
+away, as the writing had faded from the roll. If this be true I do not
+know, who was not present at the time.
+
+
+We bore Merapi to the palace. She lived but three days, she whose body
+and spirit were broken. The last time I saw her was when she sent for me
+not an hour before death came. She was lying in Seti's arms babbling to
+him of their child and looking very sweet and happy. She thanked me for
+my friendship, smiling the while in a way which showed me that she knew
+it was more than friendship, and bade me tend my master well until we
+all met again elsewhere. Then she gave me her hand to kiss and I went
+away weeping.
+
+After she was dead a strange fancy took Seti. In the great hall of the
+palace he caused a golden throne to be put up, and on this throne he set
+her in regal garments, with pectoral and necklaces of gems, crowned like
+a queen of Egypt, and thus he showed her to the lords of Memphis. Then
+he caused her to be embalmed and buried in a secret sepulchre, the place
+of which I have sworn never to reveal, but without any rites because she
+was not of the faith of Egypt.
+
+There then she sleeps in her eternal house until the Day of
+Resurrection, and with her sleeps her little son.
+
+
+It was within a moon of this funeral that the great ones of Egypt
+came to Memphis to name the Prince as Pharaoh, and with them came her
+Highness, the Queen Userti. I was present at the ceremony, which to me
+was very strange. There was the Vizier Nehesi; there was the high-priest
+Roi and with him many other priests; and there was even the old
+chamberlain Pambasa, pompous yet grovelling as before, although he had
+deserted the household of the Prince after his disinheritance for that
+of the Pharaoh Amenmeses. His appearance with his wand of office and
+long white beard, of which he was so proud because it was his own, drew
+from Seti the only laugh I had heard him utter for many weeks.
+
+"So you are back again, Chamberlain Pambasa," he said.
+
+"O most Holy, O most Royal," answered the old knave, "has Pambasa, the
+grain of dust beneath your feet, ever deserted the House of Pharaoh, or
+that of him who will be Pharaoh?"
+
+"No," replied Seti, "it is only when you think that he will not be
+Pharaoh that you desert. Well, get you to your duties, rogue, who
+perhaps at bottom are as honest as the rest."
+
+Then followed the great and ancient ceremony of the Offering of the
+Crown, in which spoke priests disguised as gods and other priests
+disguised as mighty Pharaohs of the past; also the nobles of the Nomes
+and the chief men of cities. When all had finished Seti answered:
+
+"I take this, my heritage," and he touched the double crown, "not
+because I desire it but because it is my duty, as I swore that I would
+to one who has departed. Blow upon blow have smitten Egypt which, I
+think, had my voice been listened to, would never have fallen. Egypt
+lies bleeding and well-nigh dead. Let it be your work and mine to try to
+nurse her back to life. For no long while am I with you, who also have
+been smitten, how it matters not, yet while I am here, I who seem to
+reign will be your servant and that of Egypt. It is my decree that no
+feasts or ceremonials shall mark this my accession, and that the wealth
+which would have been scattered upon them shall be distributed among the
+widows and children of those who perished in the Sea of Reeds. Depart!"
+
+They went, humble yet happy, since here was a Pharaoh who knew the needs
+of Egypt, one too who loved her and who alone had shown himself wise of
+heart while others were filled with madness. Then her Highness entered,
+splendidly apparelled, crowned and followed by her household, and made
+obeisance.
+
+"Greeting to Pharaoh," she cried.
+
+"Greeting to the Royal Princess of Egypt," he answered.
+
+"Nay, Pharaoh, the Queen of Egypt."
+
+By Seti's side there was another throne, that in which he had set dead
+Merapi with a crown upon her head. He turned and looked at it a while.
+Then, he said:
+
+"I see that this seat is empty. Let the Queen of Egypt take her place
+there if so she wills."
+
+She stared at him as if she thought that he was mad, though doubtless
+she had heard something of that story, then swept up the steps and sat
+herself down in the royal chair.
+
+"Your Majesty has been long absent," said Seti.
+
+"Yes," she answered, "but as my Majesty promised she would do, she has
+returned to her lawful place at the side of Pharaoh--never to leave it
+more."
+
+"Pharaoh thanks her Majesty," said Seti, bowing low.
+
+
+Some six years had gone by, when one night I was seated with the Pharaoh
+Seti Meneptah in his palace at Memphis, for there he always chose to
+dwell when matters of State allowed.
+
+It was on the anniversary of the Death of the Firstborn, and of this
+matter it pleased him to talk to me. Up and down the chamber he walked
+and, watching him by the lamplight, I noted that of a sudden he seemed
+to have grown much older, and that his face had become sweeter even than
+it was before. He was more thin also, and his eyes had in them a look of
+one who stares at distances.
+
+"You remember that night, Friend, do you not," he said; "perhaps the
+most terrible night the world has ever seen, at least in the little
+piece of it called Egypt." He ceased, lifted a curtain, and pointed to
+a spot on the pillared portico without. "There she sat," he went on;
+"there you stood; there lay the boy and there crouched his nurse--by the
+way, I grieve to hear that she is ill. You are caring for her, are you
+not, Ana? Say to her that Pharaoh will come to visit her--when he may,
+when he may."
+
+"I remember it all, Pharaoh."
+
+"Yes, of course you would remember, because you loved her, did you not,
+and the boy too, and even me, the father. And so you will love us always
+when we reach a land where sex with its walls and fires are forgotten,
+and love alone survives--as we shall love you."
+
+"Yes," I answered, "since love is the key of life, and those alone are
+accursed who have never learned to love."
+
+"Why accursed, Ana, seeing that, if life continues, they still may
+learn?" He paused a while, then went on: "I am glad that he died, Ana,
+although had he lived, as the Queen will have no children, he might have
+become Pharaoh after me. But what is it to be Pharaoh? For six years
+now I have reigned, and I think that I am beloved; reigned over a broken
+land which I have striven to bind together, reigned over a sick land
+which I have striven to heal, reigned over a desolated land which I have
+striven to make forget. Oh! the curse of those Hebrews worked well. And
+I think that it was my fault, Ana, for had I been more of a man, instead
+of casting aside my burden, I should have stood up against my father
+Meneptah and his policy and, if need were, have raised the people. Then
+the Israelites would have gone, and no plagues would have smitten Egypt.
+Well, what I did, I did because I must, perhaps, and what has happened,
+has happened. And now my time comes to an end, and I go hence to balance
+my account as best I may, praying that I may find judges who understand,
+and are gentle."
+
+"Why does Pharaoh speak thus?" I asked.
+
+"I do not know, Ana, yet that Hebrew wife of mine has been much in my
+mind of late. She was wise in her way, as wise as loving, was she
+not, and if we could see her once again, perhaps she would answer the
+question. But although she seems so near to me, I never can see her,
+quite. Can you, Ana?"
+
+"No, Pharaoh, though one night old Bakenkhonsu vowed that he perceived
+her passing before us, and looking at me earnestly as she passed."
+
+"Ah! Bakenkhonsu. Well, he is wise too, and loved her in his fashion.
+Also the flesh fades from him, though mayhap he will live to make
+offerings at both our tombs. Well, Bakenkhonsu is at Tanis, or is it at
+Thebes, with her Majesty, whom he ever loves to observe, as I do. So he
+can tell us nothing of what he thought he saw. This chamber is hot, Ana,
+let us stand without."
+
+So we passed the curtain, and stood upon the portico, looking at the
+garden misty with moonlight, and talking of this and that--about the
+Israelites, I think, who, as we heard, were wandering in the deserts of
+Sinai. Then of a sudden we grew silent, both of us.
+
+A cloud floated over the face of the moon, leaving the world in
+darkness. It passed, and I became aware that we were no longer alone.
+There in front of us was a mat, and on the mat lay a dead child, the
+royal child named Seti; there by the mat stood a woman with agony in her
+eyes, looking at the dead child, the Hebrew woman named Moon of Israel.
+
+Seti touched me, and pointed to her, and I pointed to the child. We
+stood breathless. Then of a sudden, stooping down, Merapi lifted up
+the child and held it towards its father. But, lo! now no longer was it
+dead; nay, it laughed and laughed, and seeing him, seemed to throw its
+arms about his neck, and to kiss him on the lips. Moreover, the agony
+in the woman's eyes turned to joy unspeakable, and she became more
+beautiful than a star. Then, laughing like the child, Merapi turned to
+Seti, beckoned, and was gone.
+
+"We have seen the dead," he said to me presently, "and, oh! Ana, _the
+dead still live!_"
+
+
+That night, ere dawn, a cry rang through the palace, waking me from my
+sleep. This was the cry:
+
+"The good god Pharaoh is no more! The hawk Seti has flown to heaven!"
+
+
+At the burial of Pharaoh, I laid the halves of the broken cup upon his
+breast, that he might drink therefrom in the Day of Resurrection.
+
+
+Here ends the writing of the Scribe Ana, the Counsellor and Companion of
+the King, by him beloved.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Moon of Israel, by H. Rider Haggard
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOON OF ISRAEL ***
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diff --git a/old/2856-8.zip b/old/2856-8.zip
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+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+
+<!DOCTYPE html
+   PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+   "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" >
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <title>
+      Moon of Israel, by H. Rider Haggard
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve">
+
+    body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify}
+    P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; }
+    H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; }
+    hr  { width: 50%; text-align: center;}
+    .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; }
+    blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;}
+    .mynote    {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;}
+    .toc       { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;}
+    .toc2      { margin-left: 20%;}
+    div.fig    { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; }
+    div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; }
+    .figleft   {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;}
+    .figright  {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;}
+    .pagenum   {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal;
+               margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%;
+               text-align: right;}
+    pre        { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;}
+
+</style>
+  </head>
+  <body>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Moon of Israel, by H. Rider Haggard
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Moon of Israel
+
+Author: H. Rider Haggard
+
+Release Date: April 3, 2006 [EBook #2856]
+Last Updated: September 23, 2016
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOON OF ISRAEL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by John Bickers; Dagny; Emma Dudding; David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h1>
+      MOON OF ISRAEL
+    </h1>
+    <h2>
+      A TALE OF THE EXODUS <br /> <br /> by H. Rider Haggard
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <blockquote>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> AUTHOR&rsquo;S NOTE </a><br /> <br /> <a
+        href="#link2H_4_0002"> <big><b>MOON OF ISRAEL</b></big> </a> <br /> <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER XVIII </a>
+      </p>
+    </blockquote>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      AUTHOR&rsquo;S NOTE
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      This book suggests that the real Pharaoh of the Exodus was not Meneptah or
+      Merenptah, son of Rameses the Great, but the mysterious usurper,
+      Amenmeses, who for a year or two occupied the throne between the death of
+      Meneptah and the accession of his son the heir-apparent, the
+      gentle-natured Seti II.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Of the fate of Amenmeses history says nothing; he may well have perished
+      in the Red Sea or rather the Sea of Reeds, for, unlike those of Meneptah
+      and the second Seti, his body has not been found.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Students of Egyptology will be familiar with the writings of the scribe
+      and novelist Anana, or Ana as he is here called.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was the Author&rsquo;s hope to dedicate this story to Sir Gaston Maspero,
+      K.C.M.G., Director of the Cairo Museum, with whom on several occasions he
+      discussed its plot some years ago. Unhappily, however, weighed down by one
+      of the bereavements of the war, this great Egyptologist died in the
+      interval between its writing and its publication. Still, since Lady
+      Maspero informs him that such is the wish of his family, he adds the
+      dedication which he had proposed to offer to that eminent writer and
+      student of the past.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Dear Sir Gaston Maspero,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When you assured me as to a romance of mine concerning ancient Egypt, that
+      it was so full of the &ldquo;inner spirit of the old Egyptians&rdquo; that, after
+      kindred efforts of your own and a lifetime of study, you could not
+      conceive how it had been possible for it to spring from the brain of a
+      modern man, I thought your verdict, coming from such a judge, one of the
+      greatest compliments that ever I received. It is this opinion of yours
+      indeed which induces me to offer you another tale of a like complexion.
+      Especially am I encouraged thereto by a certain conversation between us in
+      Cairo, while we gazed at the majestic countenance of the Pharaoh Meneptah,
+      for then it was, as you may recall, that you said you thought the plan of
+      this book probable and that it commended itself to your knowledge of those
+      dim days.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With gratitude for your help and kindness and the sincerest homage to your
+      accumulated lore concerning the most mysterious of all the perished
+      peoples of the earth,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Believe me to remain
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Your true admirer,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      H. Rider Haggard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h1>
+      MOON OF ISRAEL
+    </h1>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER I
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      SCRIBE ANA COMES TO TANIS
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      This is the story of me, Ana the scribe, son of Meri, and of certain of
+      the days that I have spent upon the earth. These things I have written
+      down now that I am very old in the reign of Rameses, the third of that
+      name, when Egypt is once more strong and as she was in the ancient time. I
+      have written them before death takes me, that they may be buried with me
+      in death, for as my spirit shall arise in the hour of resurrection, so
+      also these my words may arise in their hour and tell to those who shall
+      come after me upon the earth of what I knew upon the earth. Let it be as
+      Those in heaven shall decree. At least I write and what I write is true.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I tell of his divine Majesty whom I loved and love as my own soul, Seti
+      Meneptah the second, whose day of birth was my day of birth, the Hawk who
+      has flown to heaven before me; of Userti the Proud, his queen, she who
+      afterwards married his divine Majesty, Saptah, whom I saw laid in her tomb
+      at Thebes. I tell of Merapi, who was named Moon of Israel, and of her
+      people, the Hebrews, who dwelt for long in Egypt and departed thence,
+      having paid us back in loss and shame for all the good and ill we gave
+      them. I tell of the war between the gods of Egypt and the god of Israel,
+      and of much that befell therein.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Also I, the King&rsquo;s Companion, the great scribe, the beloved of the
+      Pharaohs who have lived beneath the sun with me, tell of other men and
+      matters. Behold! is it not written in this roll? Read, ye who shall find
+      in the days unborn, if your gods have given you skill. Read, O children of
+      the future, and learn the secrets of that past which to you is so far away
+      and yet in truth so near.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As it chanced, although the Prince Seti and I were born upon the same day
+      and therefore, like the other mothers of gentle rank whose children saw
+      the light upon that day, my mother received Pharaoh&rsquo;s gift and I received
+      the title of Royal Twin in Ra, never did I set eyes upon the divine Prince
+      Seti until the thirtieth birthday of both of us. All of which happened
+      thus.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In those days the great Pharaoh, Rameses the second, and after him his son
+      Meneptah who succeeded when he was already old, since the mighty Rameses
+      was taken to Osiris after he had counted one hundred risings of the Nile,
+      dwelt for the most part at the city of Tanis in the desert, whereas I
+      dwelt with my parents at the ancient, white-walled city of Memphis on the
+      Nile. At times Meneptah and his court visited Memphis, as also they
+      visited Thebes, where this king lies in his royal tomb to-day. But save on
+      one occasion, the young Prince Seti, the heir-apparent, the Hope of Egypt,
+      came not with them, because his mother, Asnefert, did not favour Memphis,
+      where some trouble had befallen her in youth&mdash;they say it was a love
+      matter that cost the lover his life and her a sore heart&mdash;and Seti
+      stayed with his mother who would not suffer him out of sight of her eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Once he came indeed when he was fifteen years of age, to be proclaimed to
+      the people as son of his father, as Son of the Sun, as the future wearer
+      of the Double Crown, and then we, his twins in Ra&mdash;there were
+      nineteen of us who were gently born&mdash;were called by name to meet him
+      and to kiss his royal feet. I made ready to go in a fine new robe
+      embroidered in purple with the name of Seti and my own. But on that very
+      morning by the gift of some evil god I was smitten with spots all over my
+      face and body, a common sickness that affects the young. So it happened
+      that I did not see the Prince, for before I was well again he had left
+      Memphis.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now my father Meri was a scribe of the great temple of Ptah, and I was
+      brought up to his trade in the school of the temple, where I copied many
+      rolls and also wrote out Books of the Dead which I adorned with paintings.
+      Indeed, in this business I became so clever that, after my father went
+      blind some years before his death, I earned enough to keep him, and my
+      sisters also until they married. Mother I had none, for she was gathered
+      to Osiris while I was still very little. So life went on from year to
+      year, but in my heart I hated my lot. While I was still a boy there rose
+      up in me a desire&mdash;not to copy what others had written, but to write
+      what others should copy. I became a dreamer of dreams. Walking at night
+      beneath the palm-trees upon the banks of the Nile I watched the moon
+      shining upon the waters, and in its rays I seemed to see many beautiful
+      things. Pictures appeared there which were different from any that I saw
+      in the world of men, although in them were men and women and even gods.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Of these pictures I made stories in my heart and at last, although that
+      was not for some years, I began to write these stories down in my spare
+      hours. My sisters found me doing so and told my father, who scolded me for
+      such foolishness which he said would never furnish me with bread and beer.
+      But still I wrote on in secret by the light of the lamp in my chamber at
+      night. Then my sisters married, and one day my father died suddenly while
+      he was reciting prayers in the temple. I caused him to be embalmed in the
+      best fashion and buried with honour in the tomb he had made ready for
+      himself, although to pay the costs I was obliged to copy Books of the Dead
+      for nearly two years, working so hard that I found no time for the writing
+      of stories.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When at length I was free from debt I met a maiden from Thebes with a
+      beautiful face that always seemed to smile, and she took my heart from my
+      breast into her own. In the end, after I returned from fighting in the war
+      against the Nine Bow Barbarians, to which I was summoned like other men, I
+      married her. As for her name, let it be, I will not think of it even to
+      myself. We had one child, a little girl which died within two years of her
+      birth, and then I learned what sorrow can mean to man. At first my wife
+      was sad, but her grief departed with time and she smiled again as she used
+      to do. Only she said that she would bear no more children for the gods to
+      take. Having little to do she began to go about the city and make friends
+      whom I did not know, for of these, being a beautiful woman, she found
+      many. The end of it was that she departed back to Thebes with a soldier
+      whom I had never seen, for I was always working at home thinking of the
+      babe who was dead and how happiness is a bird that no man can snare,
+      though sometimes, of its own will, it flies in at his window-place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was after this that my hair went white before I had counted thirty
+      years.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now, as I had none to work for and my wants were few and simple, I found
+      more time for the writing of stories which, for the most part, were
+      somewhat sad. One of these stories a fellow scribe borrowed from me and
+      read aloud to a company, whom it pleased so much that there were many who
+      asked leave to copy it and publish it abroad. So by degrees I became known
+      as a teller of tales, which tales I caused to be copied and sold, though
+      out of them I made but little. Still my fame grew till on a day I received
+      a message from the Prince Seti, my twin in Ra, saying that he had read
+      certain of my writings which pleased him much and that it was his wish to
+      look upon my face. I thanked him humbly by the messenger and answered that
+      I would travel to Tanis and wait upon his Highness. First, however, I
+      finished the longest story which I had yet written. It was called the Tale
+      of Two Brothers, and told how the faithless wife of one of them brought
+      trouble on the other, so that he was killed. Of how, also, the just gods
+      brought him to life again, and many other matters. This story I dedicated
+      to his Highness, the Prince Seti, and with it in the bosom of my robe I
+      travelled to Tanis, having hidden about me a sum of gold that I had saved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So I came to Tanis at the beginning of winter and, walking to the palace
+      of the Prince, boldly demanded an audience. But now my troubles began, for
+      the guards and watchmen thrust me from the doors. In the end I bribed them
+      and was admitted to the antechambers, where were merchants, jugglers,
+      dancing-women, officers, and many others, all of them, it seemed, waiting
+      to see the Prince; folk who, having nothing to do, pleased themselves by
+      making mock of me, a stranger. When I had mixed with them for several
+      days, I gained their friendship by telling to them one of my stories,
+      after which I was always welcome among them. Still I could come no nearer
+      to the Prince, and as my store of money was beginning to run low, I
+      bethought me that I would return to Memphis.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One day, however, a long-bearded old man, with a gold-tipped wand of
+      office, who had a bull&rsquo;s head embroidered on his robe, stopped in front of
+      me and, calling me a white-headed crow, asked me what I was doing hopping
+      day by day about the chambers of the palace. I told him my name and
+      business and he told me his, which it seemed was Pambasa, one of the
+      Prince&rsquo;s chamberlains. When I asked him to take me to the Prince, he
+      laughed in my face and said darkly that the road to his Highness&rsquo;s
+      presence was paved with gold. I understood what he meant and gave him a
+      gift which he took as readily as a cock picks corn, saying that he would
+      speak of me to his master and that I must come back again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I came thrice and each time that old cock picked more corn. At last I grew
+      enraged and, forgetting where I was, began to shout at him and call him a
+      thief, so that folks gathered round to listen. This seemed to frighten
+      him. At first he looked towards the door as though to summon the guard to
+      thrust me out; then changed his mind, and in a grumbling voice bade me
+      follow him. We went down long passages, past soldiers who stood at watch
+      in them still as mummies in their coffins, till at length we came to some
+      broidered curtains. Here Pambasa whispered to me to wait, and passed
+      through the curtains which he left not quite closed, so that I could see
+      the room beyond and hear all that took place there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was a small room like to that of any scribe, for on the tables were
+      palettes, pens of reed, ink in alabaster vases, and sheets of papyrus
+      pinned upon boards. The walls were painted, not as I was wont to paint the
+      Books of the Dead, but after the fashion of an earlier time, such as I
+      have seen in certain ancient tombs, with pictures of wild fowl rising from
+      the swamps and of trees and plants as they grow. Against the walls hung
+      racks in which were papyrus rolls, and on the hearth burned a fire of
+      cedar-wood.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      By this fire stood the Prince, whom I knew from his statues. His years
+      appeared fewer than mine although we were born upon the same day, and he
+      was tall and thin, very fair also for one of our people, perhaps because
+      of the Syrian blood that ran in his veins. His hair was straight and brown
+      like to that of northern folk who come to trade in the markets of Egypt,
+      and his eyes were grey rather than black, set beneath somewhat prominent
+      brows such as those of his father, Meneptah. His face was sweet as a
+      woman&rsquo;s, but made curious by certain wrinkles which ran from the corners
+      of the eyes towards the ears. I think that these came from the bending of
+      the brow in thought, but others say that they were inherited from an
+      ancestress on the female side. Bakenkhonsu my friend, the old prophet who
+      served under the first Seti and died but the other day, having lived a
+      hundred and twenty years, told me that he knew her before she was married,
+      and that she and her descendant, Seti, might have been twins.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In his hand the Prince held an open roll, a very ancient writing as I, who
+      am skilled in such matters that have to do with my trade, knew from its
+      appearance. Lifting his eyes suddenly from the study of this roll, he saw
+      the chamberlain standing before him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You came at a good time, Pambasa,&rdquo; he said in a voice that was very soft
+      and pleasant, and yet most manlike. &ldquo;You are old and doubtless wise. Say,
+      are you wise, Pambasa?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, your Highness. I am wise like your Highness&rsquo;s uncle, Khaemuas the
+      mighty magician, whose sandals I used to clean when I was young.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it so? Then why are you so careful to hide your wisdom which should be
+      open like a flower for us poor bees to suck at? Well, I am glad to learn
+      that you are wise, for in this book of magic that I have been reading I
+      find problems worthy of Khaemuas the departed, whom I only remember as a
+      brooding, black-browed man much like my cousin, Amenmeses his son&mdash;save
+      that no one can call Amenmeses wise.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why is your Highness glad?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Because you, being by your own account his equal, can now interpret the
+      matter as Khaemuas would have done. You know, Pambasa, that had he lived
+      he would have been Pharaoh in place of my father. He died too soon,
+      however, which proves to me that there was something in this tale of his
+      wisdom, since no really wise man would ever wish to be Pharaoh of Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Pambasa stared with his mouth open.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not wish to be Pharaoh!&rdquo; he began&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, Pambasa the Wise,&rdquo; went on the Prince as though he had not heard
+      him. &ldquo;Listen. This old book gives a charm &lsquo;to empty the heart of its
+      weariness,&rsquo; that it says is the oldest and most common sickness in the
+      world from which only kittens, some children, and mad people are free. It
+      appears that the cure for this sickness, so says the book, is to stand on
+      the top of the pyramid of Khufu at midnight at that moment when the moon
+      is largest in the whole year, and drink from the cup of dreams, reciting
+      meanwhile a spell written here at length in language which I cannot read.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There is no virtue in spells, Prince, if anyone can read them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And no use, it would seem, if they can be read by none.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Moreover, how can any one climb the pyramid of Khufu, which is covered
+      with polished marble, even in the day let alone at midnight, your
+      Highness, and there drink of the cup of dreams?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not know, Pambasa. All I know is that I weary of this foolishness,
+      and of the world. Tell me of something that will lighten my heart, for it
+      is heavy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There are jugglers without, Prince, one of whom says he can throw a rope
+      into the air and climb up it until he vanishes into heaven.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When he has done it in your sight, Pambasa, bring him to me, but not
+      before. Death is the only rope by which we climb to heaven&mdash;or be
+      lowered into hell. For remember there is a god called Set, after whom,
+      like my great-grandfather, I am named by the way&mdash;the priests alone
+      know why&mdash;as well as one called Osiris.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then there are the dancers, Prince, and among them some very finely made
+      girls, for I saw them bathing in the palace lake, such as would have
+      delighted the heart of your grandfather, the great Rameses.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They do not delight my heart who want no naked women prancing here. Try
+      again, Pambasa.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I can think of nothing else, Prince. Yet, stay. There is a scribe without
+      named Ana, a thin, sharp-nosed man who says he is your Highness&rsquo;s twin in
+      Ra.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ana!&rdquo; said the Prince. &ldquo;He of Memphis who writes stories? Why did you not
+      say so before, you old fool? Let him enter at once, at once.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now hearing this I, Ana, walked through the curtains and prostrated
+      myself, saying,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am that scribe, O Royal Son of the Sun.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How dare you enter the Prince&rsquo;s presence without being bidden&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+       began Pambasa, but Seti broke in with a stern voice, saying,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And how dare you, Pambasa, keep this learned man waiting at my door like
+      a dog? Rise, Ana, and cease from giving me titles, for we are not at
+      Court. Tell me, how long have you been in Tanis?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Many days, O Prince,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;seeking your presence and in vain.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And how did you win it at last?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By payment, O Prince,&rdquo; I answered innocently, &ldquo;as it seems is usual. The
+      doorkeepers&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I understand,&rdquo; said Seti, &ldquo;the doorkeepers! Pambasa, you will ascertain
+      what amount this learned scribe has disbursed to &lsquo;the doorkeepers&rsquo; and
+      refund him double. Begone now and see to the matter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So Pambasa went, casting a piteous look at me out of the corner of his
+      eye.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell me,&rdquo; said Seti when he was gone, &ldquo;you who must be wise in your
+      fashion, why does a Court always breed thieves?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I suppose for the same reason, O Prince, that a dog&rsquo;s back breeds fleas.
+      Fleas must live, and there is the dog.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;True,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;and these palace fleas are not paid enough. If ever
+      I have power I will see to it. They shall be fewer but better fed. Now,
+      Ana, be seated. I know you though you do not know me, and already I have
+      learned to love you through your writings. Tell me of yourself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So I told him all my simple tale, to which he listened without a word, and
+      then asked me why I had come to see him. I replied that it was because he
+      had sent for me, which he had forgotten; also because I brought him a
+      story that I had dared to dedicate to him. Then I laid the roll before him
+      on the table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am honoured,&rdquo; he said in a pleased voice, &ldquo;I am greatly honoured. If I
+      like it well, your story shall go to the tomb with me for my Ka to read
+      and re-read until the day of resurrection, though first I will study it in
+      the flesh. Do you know this city of Tanis, Ana?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I answered that I knew little of it, who had spent my time here haunting
+      the doors of his Highness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then with your leave I will be your guide through it this night, and
+      afterwards we will sup and talk.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I bowed and he clapped his hands, whereon a servant appeared, not Pambasa,
+      but another.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bring two cloaks,&rdquo; said the Prince, &ldquo;I go abroad with the scribe, Ana.
+      Let a guard of four Nubians, no more, follow us, but at a distance and
+      disguised. Let them wait at the private entrance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The man bowed and departed swiftly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Almost immediately a black slave appeared with two long hooded cloaks,
+      such as camel-drivers wear, which he helped us to put on. Then, taking a
+      lamp, he led us from the room through a doorway opposite to that by which
+      I had entered, down passages and a narrow stair that ended in a courtyard.
+      Crossing this we came to a wall, great and thick, in which were double
+      doors sheathed with copper that opened mysteriously at our approach.
+      Outside of these doors stood four tall men, also wrapped in cloaks, who
+      seemed to take no note of us. Still, looking back when we had gone a
+      little way, I observed that they were following us, as though by chance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      How fine a thing, thought I to myself, it is to be a Prince who by lifting
+      a finger can thus command service at any moment of the day or night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Just at that moment Seti said to me:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See, Ana, how sad a thing it is to be a Prince, who cannot even stir
+      abroad without notice to his household and commanding the service of a
+      secret guard to spy upon his every action, and doubtless to make report
+      thereof to the police of Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There are two faces to everything, thought I to myself again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER II
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE BREAKING OF THE CUP
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      We walked down a broad street bordered by trees, beyond which were
+      lime-washed, flat-roofed houses built of sun-dried brick, standing, each
+      of them, in its own garden, till at length we came to the great
+      market-place just as the full moon rose above the palm-trees, making the
+      world almost as light as day. Tanis, or Rameses as it is also called, was
+      a very fine city then, if only half the size of Memphis, though now that
+      the Court has left it I hear it is much deserted. About this market-place
+      stood great temples of the gods, with pylons and avenues of sphinxes, also
+      that wonder of the world, the colossal statue of the second Rameses, while
+      to the north upon a mound was the glorious palace of Pharaoh. Other
+      palaces there were also, inhabited by the nobles and officers of the
+      Court, and between them ran long streets where dwelt the citizens, ending,
+      some of them, on that branch of the Nile by which the ancient city stood.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Seti halted to gaze at these wondrous buildings.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They are very old,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but most of them, like the walls and those
+      temples of Amon and Ptah, have been rebuilt in the time of my grandfather
+      or since his day by the labour of Israelitish slaves who dwell yonder in
+      the rich land of Goshen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They must have cost much gold,&rdquo; I answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Kings of Egypt do not pay their slaves,&rdquo; remarked the Prince shortly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then we went on and mingled with the thousands of the people who were
+      wandering to and fro seeking rest after the business of the day. Here on
+      the frontier of Egypt were gathered folk of every race; Bedouins from the
+      desert, Syrians from beyond the Red Sea, merchants from the rich Isle of
+      Chittim, travellers from the coast, and traders from the land of Punt and
+      from the unknown countries of the north. All were talking, laughing and
+      making merry, save some who gathered in circles to listen to a teller of
+      tales or wandering musicians, or to watch women who danced half naked for
+      gifts.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now and again the crowd would part to let pass the chariot of some noble
+      or lady before which went running footmen who shouted, &ldquo;Make way, Make
+      way!&rdquo; and laid about them with their long wands. Then came a procession of
+      white-robed priests of Isis travelling by moonlight as was fitting for the
+      servants of the Lady of the Moon, and bearing aloft the holy image of the
+      goddess before which all men bowed and for a little while were silent.
+      After this followed the corpse of some great one newly dead, preceded by a
+      troop of hired mourners who rent the air with their lamentations as they
+      conducted it to the quarter of the embalmers. Lastly, from out of one of
+      the side streets emerged a gang of several hundred hook-nosed and bearded
+      men, among whom were a few women, loosely roped together and escorted by a
+      company of armed guards.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who are these?&rdquo; I asked, for I had never seen their like.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Slaves of the people of Israel who return from their labour at the
+      digging of the new canal which is to run to the Red Sea,&rdquo; answered the
+      Prince.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We stood still to watch them go by, and I noted how proudly their eyes
+      flashed and how fierce was their bearing although they were but men in
+      bonds, very weary too and stained by toil in mud and water. Presently this
+      happened. A white-bearded man lagged behind, dragging on the line and
+      checking the march. Thereupon an overseer ran up and flogged him with a
+      cruel whip cut from the hide of the sea-horse. The man turned and, lifting
+      a wooden spade that he carried, struck the overseer such a blow that he
+      cracked his skull so that he fell down dead. Other overseers rushed at the
+      Hebrew, as these Israelites were called, and beat him till he also fell.
+      Then a soldier appeared and, seeing what had happened, drew his bronze
+      sword. From among the throng sprang out a girl, young and very lovely
+      although she was but roughly clad.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Since then I have seen Merapi, Moon of Israel, as she was called, clad in
+      the proud raiment of a queen, and once even of a goddess, but never, I
+      think, did she look more beauteous than in this hour of her slavery. Her
+      large eyes, neither blue nor black, caught the light of the moon and were
+      aswim with tears. Her plenteous bronze-hued hair flowed in great curls
+      over the snow-white bosom that her rough robe revealed. Her delicate hands
+      were lifted as though to ward off the blows which fell upon him whom she
+      sought to protect. Her tall and slender shape stood out against a flare of
+      light which burned upon some market stall. She was beauteous exceedingly,
+      so beauteous that my heart stood still at the sight of her, yes, mine that
+      for some years had held no thought of woman save such as were black and
+      evil.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She cried aloud. Standing over the fallen man she appealed to the soldier
+      for mercy. Then, seeing that there was none to hope for from him, she cast
+      her great eyes around until they fell upon the Prince Seti.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! Sir,&rdquo; she wailed, &ldquo;you have a noble air. Will you stand by and see my
+      father murdered for no fault?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Drag her off, or I smite through her,&rdquo; shouted the captain, for now she
+      had thrown herself down upon the fallen Israelite. The overseers obeyed,
+      tearing her away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hold, butcher!&rdquo; cried the Prince.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who are you, dog, that dare to teach Pharaoh&rsquo;s officer his duty?&rdquo;
+       answered the captain, smiting the Prince in the face with his left hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then swiftly he struck downwards and I saw the bronze sword pass through
+      the body of the Israelite who quivered and lay still. It was all done in
+      an instant, and on the silence that followed rang out the sound of a
+      woman&rsquo;s wail. For a moment Seti choked&mdash;with rage, I think. Then he
+      spoke a single word&mdash;&ldquo;Guards!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The four Nubians, who, as ordered, had kept at a distance, burst through
+      the gathered throng. Ere they reached us I, who till now had stood amazed,
+      sprang at the captain and gripped him by the throat. He struck at me with
+      his bloody sword, but the blow, falling on my long cloak, only bruised me
+      on the left thigh. Then I, who was strong in those days, grappled with him
+      and we rolled together on the ground.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After this there was great tumult. The Hebrew slaves burst their rope and
+      flung themselves upon the soldiers like dogs upon a jackal, battering them
+      with their bare fists. The soldiers defended themselves with swords; the
+      overseers plied their hide whips; women screamed, men shouted. The captain
+      whom I had seized began to get the better of me; at least I saw his sword
+      flash above me and thought that all was over. Doubtless it would have
+      been, had not Seti himself dragged the man backwards and thus given the
+      four Nubian guards time to seize him. Next I heard the Prince cry out in a
+      ringing voice:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hold! It is Seti, the son of Pharaoh, the Governor of Tanis, with whom
+      you have to do. See,&rdquo; and he threw back the hood of his cloak so that the
+      moon shone upon his face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Instantly there was a great quiet. Now, first one and then another as the
+      truth sunk into them, men began to fall upon their knees, and I heard one
+      say in an awed voice:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The royal Son, the Prince of Egypt struck in the face by a soldier! Blood
+      must pay for it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How is that officer named?&rdquo; asked Seti, pointing to the man who had
+      killed the Israelite and well-nigh killed me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Someone answered that he was named Khuaka.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bring him to the steps of the temple of Amon,&rdquo; said Seti to the Nubians
+      who held him fast. &ldquo;Follow me, friend Ana, if you have the strength. Nay,
+      lean upon my shoulder.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So resting upon the shoulder of the Prince, for I was bruised and
+      breathless, I walked with him a hundred paces or more to the steps of the
+      great temple where we climbed to the platform at the head of the stairs.
+      After us came the prisoner, and after him all the multitude, a very great
+      number who stood upon the steps and on the flat ground beyond. The Prince,
+      who was very white and quiet, sat himself down upon the low granite base
+      of a tall obelisk which stood in front of the temple pylon, and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As Governor of Tanis, the City of Rameses, with power of life and death
+      at all hours and in all places, I declare my Court open.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Royal Court is open!&rdquo; cried the multitude in the accustomed form.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is the case,&rdquo; said the Prince. &ldquo;Yonder man who is named Khuaka, by
+      his dress a captain of Pharaoh&rsquo;s army, is charged with the murder of a
+      certain Hebrew, and with the attempted murder of Ana the scribe. Let
+      witnesses be called. Bring the body of the dead man and lay it here before
+      me. Bring the woman who strove to protect him, that she may speak.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The body was brought and laid upon the platform, its wide eyes staring up
+      at the moon. Then soldiers who had gathered thrust forward the weeping
+      girl.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cease from tears,&rdquo; said Seti, &ldquo;and swear by Kephera the creator, and by
+      Maat the goddess of truth and law, to speak nothing but the truth.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl looked up and said in a rich low voice that in some way reminded
+      me of honey being poured from a jar, perhaps because it was thick with
+      strangled sobs:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Royal Son of Egypt, I cannot swear by those gods who am a daughter of
+      Israel.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince looked at her attentively and asked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By what god then can you swear, O Daughter of Israel?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By Jahveh, O Prince, whom we hold to be the one and only God, the Maker
+      of the world and all that is therein.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then perhaps his other name is Kephera,&rdquo; said the Prince with a little
+      smile. &ldquo;But have it as you will. Swear, then, by your god Jahveh.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then she lifted both her hands above her head and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I, Merapi, daughter of Nathan of the tribe of Levi of the people of
+      Israel, swear that I will speak the truth and all the truth in the name of
+      Jahveh, the God of Israel.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell us what you know of the matter of the death of this man, O Merapi.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nothing that you do not know yourself, O Prince. He who lies there,&rdquo; and
+      she swept her hand towards the corpse, turning her eyes away, &ldquo;was my
+      father, an elder of Israel. The captain Khuaka came when the corn was
+      young to the Land of Goshen to choose those who should work for Pharaoh.
+      He wished to take me into his house. My father refused because from my
+      childhood I had been affianced to a man of Israel; also because it is not
+      lawful under the law for our people to intermarry with your people. Then
+      the captain Khuaka seized my father, although he was of high rank and
+      beyond the age to work for Pharaoh, and he was taken away, as I think,
+      because he would not suffer me to wed Khuaka. A while later I dreamed that
+      my father was sick. Thrice I dreamed it and ran away to Tanis to visit
+      him. But this morning I found him and, O Prince, you know the rest.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is there no more?&rdquo; asked Seti.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl hesitated, then answered:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Only this, O Prince. This man saw me with my father giving him food, for
+      he was weak and overcome with the toil of digging the mud in the heat of
+      the sun, he who being a noble of our people knew nothing of such labour
+      from his youth. In my presence Khuaka asked my father if now he would give
+      me to him. My father answered that sooner would he see me kissed by snakes
+      and devoured by crocodiles. &lsquo;I hear you,&rsquo; answered Khuaka. &lsquo;Learn, now,
+      slave Nathan, before to-morrow&rsquo;s sun arises, you shall be kissed by swords
+      and devoured by crocodiles or jackals.&rsquo; &lsquo;So be it,&rsquo; said my father, &lsquo;but
+      learn, O Khuaka, that if so, it is revealed to me who am a priest and a
+      prophet of Jahveh, that before to-morrow&rsquo;s sun you also shall be kissed by
+      swords and of the rest we will talk at the foot of Jahveh&rsquo;s throne.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Afterwards, as you know, Prince, the overseer flogged my father as I
+      heard Khuaka order him to do if he lagged through weariness, and then
+      Khuaka killed him because my father in his madness struck the overseer
+      with a mattock. I have no more to say, save that I pray that I may be sent
+      back to my own people there to mourn my father according to our custom.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To whom would you be sent? Your mother?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, O Prince, my mother, a lady of Syria, is dead. I will go to my
+      uncle, Jabez the Levite.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stand aside,&rdquo; said Seti. &ldquo;The matter shall be seen to later. Appear, O
+      Ana the Scribe. Swear the oath and tell us what you have seen of this
+      man&rsquo;s death, since two witnesses are needful.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So I swore and repeated all this story that I have written down.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, Khuaka,&rdquo; said the Prince when I had finished, &ldquo;have you aught to
+      say?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Only this, O Royal One,&rdquo; answered the captain throwing himself upon his
+      knees, &ldquo;that I struck you by accident, not knowing that the person of your
+      Highness was hidden in that long cloak. For this deed it is true that I am
+      worthy of death, but I pray you to pardon me because I knew not what I
+      did. The rest is nothing, since I only slew a mutinous slave of the
+      Israelites, as such are slain every day.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell me, O Khuaka, who are being tried for this man&rsquo;s death and not for
+      the striking of one of royal blood by chance, under which law it is lawful
+      for you to kill an Israelite without trial before the appointed officers
+      of Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am not learned. I do not know the law, O Prince. All that this woman
+      said is false.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At least it is not false that yonder man lies dead and that you slew him,
+      as you yourself admit. Learn now, and let all Egypt learn, that even an
+      Israelite may not be murdered for no offence save that of weariness and of
+      paying back unearned blow with blow. Your blood shall answer for his
+      blood. Soldiers! Strike off his head.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Nubians leapt upon him, and when I looked again Khuaka&rsquo;s headless
+      corpse lay by the corpse of the Hebrew Nathan and their blood was mingled
+      upon the steps of the temple.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The business of the Court is finished,&rdquo; said the Prince. &ldquo;Officers, see
+      that this woman is escorted to her own people, and with her the body of
+      her father for burial. See, too, upon your lives that no insult or harm is
+      done to her. Scribe Ana, accompany me hence to my house where I would
+      speak with you. Let guards precede and follow me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He rose and all the people bowed. As he turned to go the lady Merapi
+      stepped forward, and falling upon her knees, said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O most just Prince, now and ever I am your servant.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then we set out, and as we left the market-place on our way to the palace
+      of the Prince, I heard a tumult of voices behind us, some in praise and
+      some in blame of what had been done. We walked on in silence broken only
+      by the measured tramp of the guards. Presently the moon passed behind a
+      cloud and the world was dark. Then from the edge of the cloud sprang out a
+      ray of light that lay straight and narrow above us on the heavens. Seti
+      studied it a while and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell me, O Ana, of what does that moonbeam put you in mind?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of a sword, O Prince,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;stretched out over Egypt and held in
+      the black hand of some mighty god or spirit. See, there is the blade from
+      which fall little clouds like drops of blood, there is the hilt of gold,
+      and look! there beneath is the face of the god. Fire streams from his
+      eyebrows and his brow is black and awful. I am afraid, though what I fear
+      I know not.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You have a poet&rsquo;s mind, Ana. Still, what you see I see and of this I am
+      sure, that some sword of vengeance is indeed stretched out over Egypt
+      because of its evil doings, whereof this light may be the symbol. Behold!
+      it seems to fall upon the temples of the gods and the palace of Pharaoh,
+      and to cleave them. Now it is gone and the night is as nights were from
+      the beginning of the world. Come to my chamber and let us eat. I am weary,
+      I need food and wine, as you must after struggling with that lustful
+      murderer whom I have sent to his own place.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The guards saluted and were dismissed. We mounted to the Prince&rsquo;s private
+      chambers, in one of which his servants clad me in fine linen robes after a
+      skilled physician of the household had doctored the bruises upon my thigh
+      over which he tied a bandage spread with balm. Then I was led to a small
+      dining-hall, where I found the Prince waiting for me as though I were some
+      honoured guest and not a poor scribe who had wondered hence from Memphis
+      with my wares. He caused me to sit down at his right hand and even drew up
+      the chair for me himself, whereat I felt abashed. To this day I remember
+      that leather-seated chair. The arms of it ended in ivory sphinxes and on
+      its back of black wood in an oval was inlaid the name of the great
+      Rameses, to whom indeed it had once belonged. Dishes were handed to us&mdash;only
+      two of them and those quite simple, for Seti was no great eater&mdash;by a
+      young Nubian slave of a very merry face, and with them wine more delicious
+      than any I had ever tasted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We ate and drank and the Prince talked to me of my business as a scribe
+      and of the making of tales, which seemed to interest him very much. Indeed
+      one might have thought that he was a pupil in the schools and I the
+      teacher, so humbly and with such care did he weigh everything that I said
+      about my art. Of matters of state or of the dreadful scene of blood
+      through which we had just passed he spoke no word. At the end, however,
+      after a little pause during which he held up a cup of alabaster as thin as
+      an eggshell, studying the light playing through it on the rich red wine
+      within, he said to me:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Friend Ana, we have passed a stirring hour together, the first perhaps of
+      many, or mayhap the last. Also we were born upon the same day and
+      therefore, unless the astrologers lie, as do other men&mdash;and women&mdash;beneath
+      the same star. Lastly, if I may say it, I like you well, though I know not
+      how you like me, and when you are in the room with me I feel at ease,
+      which is strange, for I know of no other with whom it is so.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now by a chance only this morning I found in some old records which I was
+      studying, that the heir to the throne of Egypt a thousand years ago, had,
+      and therefore, as nothing ever changes in Egypt, still has, a right to a
+      private librarian for which the State, that is, the toilers of the land,
+      must pay as in the end they pay for all. Some dynasties have gone by, it
+      seems, since there was such a librarian, I think because most of the heirs
+      to the throne could not, or did not, read. Also by chance I mentioned the
+      matter to the Vizier Nehesi who grudges me every ounce of gold I spend, as
+      though it were one taken out of his own pouch, which perhaps it is. He
+      answered with that crooked smile of his:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Since I know well, Prince, that there is no scribe in Egypt whom you
+      would suffer about you for a single month, I will set the cost of a
+      librarian at the figure at which it stood in the Eleventh Dynasty upon the
+      roll of your Highness&rsquo;s household and defray it from the Royal Treasury
+      until he is discharged.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Therefore, Scribe Ana, I offer you this post for one month; that is all
+      for which I can promise you will be paid whatever it may be, for I forget
+      the sum.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thank you, O Prince,&rdquo; I exclaimed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do not thank me. Indeed if you are wise you will refuse. You have met
+      Pambasa. Well, Nehesi is Pambasa multiplied by ten, a rogue, a thief, a
+      bully, and one who has Pharaoh&rsquo;s ear. He will make your life a torment to
+      you and clip every ring of gold that at length you wring out of his grip.
+      Moreover the place is wearisome, and I am fanciful and often ill-humoured.
+      Do not thank me, I say. Refuse; return to Memphis and write stories. Shun
+      courts and their plottings. Pharaoh himself is but a face and a puppet
+      through which other voices talk and other eyes shine, and the sceptre
+      which he wields is pulled by strings. And if this is so with Pharaoh, what
+      is the case with his son? Then there are the women, Ana. They will make
+      love to you, Ana, they even do so to me, and I think you told me that you
+      know something of women. Do not accept, go back to Memphis. I will send
+      you some old manuscripts to copy and pay you whatever it is Nehesi allows
+      for the librarian.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet I accept, O Prince. As for Nehesi I fear him not at all, since at the
+      worst I can write a story about him at which the world will laugh, and
+      rather than that he will pay me my salary.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You have more wisdom than I thought, Ana. It never came into my mind to
+      put Nehesi in a story, though it is true I tell tales about him which is
+      much the same thing.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He bend forward, leaning his head upon his hand, and ceasing from his
+      bantering tone, looked me in the eyes and asked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why do you accept? Let me think now. It is not because you care for
+      wealth if that is to be won here; nor for the pomp and show of courts; nor
+      for the company of the great who really are so small. For all these things
+      you, Ana, have no craving if I read your heart aright, you who are an
+      artist, nothing less and nothing more. Tell me, then, why will you, a free
+      man who can earn your living, linger round a throne and set your neck
+      beneath the heel of princes to be crushed into the common mould of
+      servitors and King&rsquo;s Companions and Bearers of the Footstool?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will tell you, Prince. First, because thrones make history, as history
+      makes thrones, and I think that great events are on foot in Egypt in which
+      I would have my share. Secondly, because the gods bring gifts to men only
+      once or twice in their lives and to refuse them is to offend the gods who
+      gave them those lives to use to ends of which we know nothing. And
+      thirdly&rdquo;&mdash;here I hesitated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And thirdly&mdash;out with the thirdly for, doubtless, it is the real
+      reason.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And thirdly, O Prince&mdash;well, the word sounds strangely upon a man&rsquo;s
+      lips&mdash;but thirdly because I love you. From the moment that my eyes
+      fell upon your face I loved you as I never loved any other man&mdash;not
+      even my father. I know not why. Certainly it is not because you are a
+      prince.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      When he heard these words Seti sat brooding and so silent that, fearing
+      lest I, a humble scribe, had been too bold, I added hastily:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let your Highness pardon his servant for his presumptuous words. It was
+      his servant&rsquo;s heart that spoke and not his lips.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He lifted his hand and I stopped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ana, my twin in Ra,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;do you know that I never had a friend?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A prince who has no friend!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never, none. Now I begin to think that I have found one. The thought is
+      strange and warms me. Do you know also that when my eyes fell upon your
+      face I loved you also, the gods know why. It was as though I had found one
+      who was dear to me thousands of years ago but whom I had lost and
+      forgotten. Perhaps this is but foolishness, or perhaps here we have the
+      shadow of something great and beautiful which dwells elsewhere, in the
+      place we call the Kingdom of Osiris, beyond the grave, Ana.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Such thoughts have come to me at times, Prince. I mean that all we see is
+      shadow; that we ourselves are shadows and that the realities who cast them
+      live in a different home which is lit by some spirit sun that never sets.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince nodded his head and again was silent for a while. Then he took
+      his beautiful alabaster cup, and pouring wine into it, he drank a little
+      and passed the cup to me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Drink also, Ana,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and pledge me as I pledge you, in token that
+      by decree of the Creator who made the hearts of men, henceforward our two
+      hearts are as the same heart through good and ill, through triumph and
+      defeat, till death takes one of us. Henceforward, Ana, unless you show
+      yourself unworthy, I hide no thought from you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Flushing with joy I took the cup, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I add to your words, O Prince. We are one, not for this life alone but
+      for all the lives to be. Death, O Prince, is, I think, but a single step
+      in the pylon stair which leads at last to that dizzy height whence we see
+      the face of God and hear his voice tell us what and why we are.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I pledged him, and drank, bowing, and he bowed back to me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What shall we do with the cup, Ana, the sacred cup that has held this
+      rich heart-wine? Shall I keep it? No, it no longer belongs to me. Shall I
+      give it to you? No, it can never be yours alone. See, we will break the
+      priceless thing.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Seizing it by its stem with all his strength he struck the cup upon the
+      table. Then what seemed to be to me a marvel happened, for instead of
+      shattering as I thought it surely would, it split in two from rim to foot.
+      Whether this was by chance, or whether the artist who fashioned it in some
+      bygone generation had worked the two halves separately and cunningly
+      cemented them together, to this hour I do not know. At least so it befell.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is fortunate, Ana,&rdquo; said the Prince, laughing a little in his light
+      way. &ldquo;Now take you the half that lies nearest to you and I will take mine.
+      If you die first I will lay my half upon your breast, and if I die first
+      you shall do the same by me, or if the priests forbid it because I am
+      royal and may not be profaned, cast the thing into my tomb. What should we
+      have done had the alabaster shattered into fragments, Ana, and what omen
+      should we have read in them?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why ask, O Prince, seeing that it has befallen otherwise?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I took my half, laid it against my forehead and hid it in the bosom
+      of my robe, and as I did, so did Seti.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So in this strange fashion the royal Seti and I sealed the holy compact of
+      our brotherhood, as I think not for the first time or the last.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER III
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      USERTI
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      Seti rose, stretching out his arms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is finished,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;as everything finishes, and for once I am
+      sorry. Now what next? Sleep, I suppose, in which all ends, or perhaps you
+      would say all begins.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      As he spoke the curtains at the end of the room were drawn and between
+      them appeared the chamberlain, Pambasa, holding his gold-tipped wand
+      ceremoniously before him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is it now, man?&rdquo; asked Seti. &ldquo;Can I not even sup in peace? Stay,
+      before you answer tell me, do things end or begin in sleep? The learned
+      Ana and I differ on the matter and would hear your wisdom. Bear in mind,
+      Pambasa, that before we are born we must have slept, since of that time we
+      remember nothing, and after we are dead we certainly seem to sleep, as any
+      who have looked on mummies know. Now answer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The chamberlain stared at the wine flask on the table as though he
+      suspected his master of having drunk too much. Then in a hard official
+      voice he said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She comes! She comes! She comes, offering greetings and adoration to the
+      Royal Son of Ra.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Does she indeed?&rdquo; asked Seti. &ldquo;If so, why say it three times? And who
+      comes?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The high Princess, the heiress of Egypt, the daughter of Pharaoh, your
+      Highness&rsquo;s royal half-sister, the great lady Userti.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let her enter then. Ana, stand you behind me. If you grow weary and I
+      give leave you can depart; the slaves will show you your sleeping-place.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Pambasa went, and presently through the curtain appeared a royal-looking
+      lady splendidly apparelled. She was accompanied by four waiting women who
+      fell back on the threshold and were no more seen. The Prince stepped
+      forward, took both her hands in his and kissed her on the brow, then drew
+      back again, after which they stood a moment looking at each other. While
+      they remained thus I studied her who was known throughout the land as the
+      &ldquo;Beautiful Royal Daughter,&rdquo; but whom till now I had never seen. In truth I
+      did not think her beautiful, although even had she been clad in a
+      peasant&rsquo;s robe I should have been sure that she was royal. Her face was
+      too hard for beauty and her black eyes, with a tinge of grey in them, were
+      too small. Also her nose was too sharp and her lips were too thin. Indeed,
+      had it not been for the delicately and finely-shaped woman&rsquo;s form beneath,
+      I might have thought that a prince and not a princess stood before me. For
+      the rest in most ways she resembled her half-brother Seti, though her
+      countenance lacked the kindliness of his; or rather both of them resembled
+      their father, Meneptah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Greeting, Sister,&rdquo; he said, eyeing her with a smile in which I caught a
+      gleam of mockery. &ldquo;Purple-bordered robes, emerald necklace and enamelled
+      crown of gold, rings and pectoral, everything except a sceptre&mdash;why
+      are you so royally arrayed to visit one so humble as your loving brother?
+      You come like sunlight into the darkness of the hermit&rsquo;s cell and dazzle
+      the poor hermit, or rather hermits,&rdquo; and he pointed to me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cease your jests, Seti,&rdquo; she replied in a full, strong voice. &ldquo;I wear
+      these ornaments because they please me. Also I have supped with our
+      father, and those who sit at Pharaoh&rsquo;s table must be suitably arrayed,
+      though I have noted that sometimes you think otherwise.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Indeed. I trust that the good god, our divine parent, is well to-night as
+      you leave him so early.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I leave him because he sent me with a message to you.&rdquo; She paused,
+      looking at me sharply, then asked, &ldquo;Who is that man? I do not know him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is your misfortune, Userti, but one which can be mended. He is named
+      Ana the Scribe, who writes strange stories of great interest which you
+      would do well to read who dwell too much upon the outside of life. He is
+      from Memphis and his father&rsquo;s name was&mdash;I forget what. Ana, what was
+      your father&rsquo;s name?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One too humble for royal ears, Prince,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;but my grandfather
+      was Pentaur the poet who wrote of the deeds of the mighty Rameses.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it so? Why did you not tell me that before? The descent should earn
+      you a pension from the Court if you can extract it from Nehesi. Well,
+      Userti, his grandfather&rsquo;s name was Pentaur whose immortal verses you have
+      doubtless read upon temple walls, where our grandfather was careful to
+      publish them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have&mdash;to my sorrow&mdash;and thought them poor, boastful stuff,&rdquo;
+       she answered coldly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To be honest, if Ana will forgive me, so do I. I can assure you that his
+      stories are a great improvement on them. Friend Ana, this is my sister,
+      Userti, my father&rsquo;s daughter though our mothers were not the same.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you, Seti, to be so good as to give me my rightful titles in
+      speaking of me to scribes and other of your servants.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your pardon, Userti. This, Ana, is the first Lady of Egypt, the Royal
+      Heiress, the Princess of the Two Lands, the High-priestess of Amon, the
+      Cherished of the Gods, the half-sister of the Heir-apparent, the Daughter
+      of Hathor, the Lotus Bloom of Love, the Queen to be of&mdash;Userti, whose
+      queen will you be? Have you made up your mind? For myself I know no one
+      worthy of so much beauty, excellence, learning and&mdash;what shall I add&mdash;sweetness,
+      yes, sweetness.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Seti,&rdquo; she said stamping her foot, &ldquo;if it pleases you to make a mock of
+      me before a stranger, I suppose that I must submit. Send him away, I would
+      speak with you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Make a mock of you! Oh! mine is a hard fate. When truth gushes from the
+      well of my heart, I am told I mock, and when I mock, all say&mdash;he
+      speaks truth. Be seated, Sister, and talk on freely. This Ana is my sworn
+      friend who saved my life but now, for which deed perhaps he should be my
+      enemy. His memory is excellent also and he will remember what you say and
+      write it down afterwards, whereas I might forget. Therefore, with your
+      leave, I will ask him to stay here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My Prince,&rdquo; I broke in, &ldquo;I pray you suffer me to go.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My Secretary,&rdquo; he answered with a note of command in his voice, &ldquo;I pray
+      you to remain where you are.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So I sat myself on the ground after the fashion of a scribe, having no
+      choice, and the Princess sat herself on a couch at the end of the table,
+      but Seti remained standing. Then the Princess said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Since it is your will, Brother, that I should talk secrets into other
+      ears than yours, I obey you. Still&rdquo;&mdash;here she looked at me wrathfully&mdash;&ldquo;let
+      the tongue be careful that it does not repeat what the ears have heard,
+      lest there should be neither ears nor tongue. My Brother, it has been
+      reported to Pharaoh, while we ate together, that there is tumult in this
+      town. It has been reported to him that because of a trouble about some
+      base Israelite you caused one of his officers to be beheaded, after which
+      there came a riot which still rages.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Strange that truth should have come to the ears of Pharaoh so quickly.
+      Now, my Sister, if he had heard it three moons hence I could have believed
+      you&mdash;almost.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then you did behead the officer?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I beheaded him about two hours ago.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pharaoh will demand an account of the matter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pharaoh,&rdquo; answered Seti lifting his eyes, &ldquo;has no power to question the
+      justice of the Governor of Tanis in the north.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are in error, Seti. Pharaoh has all power.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Sister, Pharaoh is but one man among millions of other men, and
+      though he speaks it is their spirit which bends his tongue, while above
+      that spirit is a great greater spirit who decrees what they shall think to
+      ends of which we know nothing.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not understand, Seti.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I never thought you would, Userti, but when you have leisure, ask Ana
+      here to explain the matter to you. I am sure that <i>he</i> understands.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! I have borne enough,&rdquo; exclaimed Userti rising. &ldquo;Hearken to the
+      command of Pharaoh, Prince Seti. It is that you wait upon him to-morrow in
+      full council, at an hour before noon, there to talk with him of this
+      question of the Israelitish slaves and the officer whom it has pleased you
+      to kill. I came to speak other words to you also, but as they were for
+      your private ear, these can bide a more fitting opportunity. Farewell, my
+      Brother.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What, are you going so soon, Sister? I wished to tell you the story about
+      those Israelites, and especially of the maid whose name is&mdash;what was
+      her name, Ana?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Merapi, Moon of Israel, Prince,&rdquo; I added with a groan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;About the maid called Merapi, Moon of Israel, I think the sweetest that
+      ever I have looked upon, whose father the dead captain murdered in my
+      sight.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So there is a woman in the business? Well, I guessed it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In what business is there not a woman, Userti, even in that of a message
+      from Pharaoh. Pambasa, Pambasa, escort the Princess and summon her
+      servants, women everyone of them, unless my senses mock me. Good-night to
+      you, O Sister and Lady of the Two Lands, and forgive me&mdash;that coronet
+      of yours is somewhat awry.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At last she was gone and I rose, wiping my brow with a corner of my robe,
+      and looking at the Prince who stood before the fire laughing softly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Make a note of all this talk, Ana,&rdquo; he said; &ldquo;there is more in it than
+      meets the ear.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I need no note, Prince,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;every word is burnt upon my mind as
+      a hot iron burns a tablet of wood. With reason too, since now her Highness
+      will hate me for all her life.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Much better so, Ana, than that she should pretend to love you, which she
+      never would have done while you are my friend. Women oftimes respect those
+      whom they hate and even will advance them because of policy, but let those
+      whom they pretend to love beware. The time may come when you will yet be
+      Userti&rsquo;s most trusted councillor.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now here I, Ana the Scribe, will state that in after days, when this same
+      queen was the wife of Pharaoh Saptah, I did, as it chanced, become her
+      most trusted councillor. Moreover, in those times, yes, and even in the
+      hour of her death, she swore from the moment her eyes first fell on me she
+      had known me to be true-hearted and held me in esteem as no self-seeker.
+      More, I think she believed what she said, having forgotten that once she
+      looked upon me as her enemy. This indeed I never was, who always held her
+      in high regard and honour as a great lady who loved her country, though
+      one who sometimes was not wise. But as I could not foresee these things on
+      that night of long ago, I only stared at the Prince and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! why did you not allow me to depart as your Highness said I might at
+      the beginning? Soon or late my head will pay the price of this night&rsquo;s
+      work.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then she must take mine with it. Listen, Ana. I kept you here, not to vex
+      the Princess or you, but for a good reason. You know that it is the custom
+      of the royal dynasties of Egypt for kings, or those who will be kings, to
+      wed their near kin in order that the blood may remain the purer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, Prince, and not only among those who are royal. Still, I think it an
+      evil custom.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As I do, since the race wherein it is practised grows ever weaker in body
+      and in mind; which is why, perhaps, my father is not what his father was
+      and I am not what my father is.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Also, Prince, it is hard to mingle the love of the sister and of the
+      wife.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Very hard, Ana; so hard that when it is attempted both are apt to vanish.
+      Well, our mothers having been true royal wives, though hers died before
+      mine was wedded by my father, Pharaoh desires that I should marry my
+      half-sister, Userti, and what is worse, she desires it also. Moreover, the
+      people, who fear trouble ahead in Egypt if we, who alone are left of the
+      true royal race born of queens, remain apart and she takes another lord,
+      or I take another wife, demand that it should be brought about, since they
+      believe that whoever calls Userti the Strong his spouse will one day rule
+      the land.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why does the Princess wish it&mdash;that she may be a queen?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, Ana, though were she to wed my cousin, Amenmeses, the son of
+      Pharaoh&rsquo;s elder brother Khaemuas, she might still be a queen, if I chose
+      to stand aside as I would not be loth to do.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Would Egypt suffer this, Prince?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not know, nor does it matter since she hates Amenmeses, who is
+      strong-willed and ambitious, and will have none of him. Also he is already
+      married.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is there no other royal one whom she might take, Prince?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;None. Moreover she wishes me alone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, Prince?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Because of ancient custom which she worships. Also because she knows me
+      well and in her fashion is fond of me, whom she believes to be a
+      gentle-minded dreamer that she can rule. Lastly, because I am the lawful
+      heir to the Crown and without me to share it, she thinks that she would
+      never be safe upon the Throne, especially if I should marry some other
+      woman, of whom she would be jealous. It is the Throne she desires and
+      would wed, not the Prince Seti, her half-brother, whom she takes with it
+      to be in name her husband, as Pharaoh commands that she should do. Love
+      plays no part in Userti&rsquo;s breast, Ana, which makes her the more dangerous,
+      since what she seeks with a cold heart of policy, that she will surely
+      find.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then it would seem, Prince, that the cage is built about you. After all
+      it is a very splendid cage and made of gold.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, Ana, yet not one in which I would live. Still, except by death how
+      can I escape from the threefold chain of the will of Pharaoh, of Egypt,
+      and of Userti? Oh!&rdquo; he went on in a new voice, one that had in it both
+      sorrow and passion, &ldquo;this is a matter in which I would have chosen for
+      myself who in all others must be a servant. And I may not choose!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is there perchance some other lady, Prince?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;None! By Hathor, none&mdash;at least I think not. Yet I would have been
+      free to search for such a one and take her when I found her, if she were
+      but a fishergirl.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Kings of Egypt can have large households, Prince.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know it. Are there not still scores whom I should call aunt and uncle?
+      I think that my grandsire, Rameses, blessed Egypt with quite three hundred
+      children, and in so doing in a way was wise, since thus he might be sure
+      that, while the world endures, in it will flow some the blood that once
+      was his.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet in life or death how will that help him, Prince? Some must beget the
+      multitudes of the earth, what does it matter who these may have been?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nothing at all, Ana, since by good or evil fortune they are born.
+      Therefore, why talk of large households? Though, like any man who can pay
+      for it, Pharaoh may have a large household, I seek a queen who shall reign
+      in my heart as well as on my throne, not a &lsquo;large household,&rsquo; Ana. Oh! I
+      am weary. Pambasa, come hither and conduct my secretary, Ana, to the empty
+      room that is next to my own, the painted chamber which looks toward the
+      north, and bid my slaves attend to all his wants as they would to mine.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why did you tell me you were a scribe, my lord Ana?&rdquo; asked Pambasa, as he
+      led me to my beautiful sleeping-place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Because that is my trade, Chamberlain.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He looked at me, shaking his great head till the long white beard waved
+      across his breast like a temple banner in the faint evening breeze, and
+      answered:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are no scribe, you are a magician who can win the love and favour of
+      his Highness in an hour which others cannot do between two risings of the
+      Nile. Had you said so at once, you would have been differently treated
+      yonder in the hall of waiting. Forgive me therefore what I did in
+      ignorance, and, my lord, I pray it may please you not to melt away in the
+      night, lest my feet should answer for it beneath the sticks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was the fourth hour from sunrise of the following day that, for the
+      first time in my life I found myself in the Court of Pharaoh standing with
+      other members of his household in the train of his Highness, the Prince
+      Seti. It was a very great place, for Pharaoh sat in the judgment hall,
+      whereof the roof is upheld by round and sculptured columns, between which
+      were set statues of Pharaohs who had been. Save at the throne end of the
+      hall, where the light flowed down through clerestories, the vast chamber
+      was dim almost to darkness; at least so it seemed to me entering there out
+      of the brilliant sunshine. Through this gloom many folk moved like
+      shadows; captains, nobles, and state officers who had been summoned to the
+      Court, and among them white-robed and shaven priests. Also there were
+      others of whom I took no count, such as Arab headmen from the desert,
+      traders with jewels and other wares to sell, farmers and even peasants
+      with petitions to present, lawyers and their clients, and I know not who
+      besides, through which of all these none were suffered to advance beyond a
+      certain mark where the light began to fall. Speaking in whispers all of
+      these folk flitted to and fro like bats in a tomb.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We waited between two Hathor-headed pillars in one of the vestibules of
+      the hall, the Prince Seti, who was clad in purple-broidered garments and
+      wore upon his brow a fillet of gold from which rose the uræus or hooded
+      snake, also of gold, that royal ones alone might wear, leaning against the
+      base of a statue, while the rest of us stood silent behind him. For a time
+      he was silent also, as a man might be whose thoughts were otherwhere. At
+      length he turned and said to me:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is weary work. Would I had asked you to bring that new tale of
+      yours, Scribe Ana, that we might have read it together.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shall I tell you the plot of it, Prince?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. I mean, not now, lest I should forget my manners listening to you.
+      Look,&rdquo; and he pointed to a dark-browed, fierce-eyed man of middle age who
+      passed up the hall as though he did not see us, &ldquo;there goes my cousin,
+      Amenmeses. You know him, do you not?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I shook my head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then tell me what you think of him, at once before the first judgment
+      fades.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think he is a royal-looking lord, obstinate in mind and strong in body,
+      handsome too in his way.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All can see that, Ana. What else?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think,&rdquo; I said in a low voice so that none might overhear, &ldquo;that his
+      heart is as black as his brow; that he has grown wicked with jealousy and
+      hate and will do you evil.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Can a man grow wicked, Ana? Is he not as he was born till the end? I do
+      not know, nor do you. Still you are right, he is jealous and will do me
+      evil if it brings him good. But tell me, which of us will triumph at the
+      last?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      While I hesitated what to answer I became aware that someone had joined
+      us. Looking round I perceived a very ancient man clad in a white robe. He
+      was broad-faced and bald-headed, and his eyes burned beneath his shaggy
+      eyebrows like two coals in ashes. He supported himself on a staff of
+      cedar-wood, gripping it with both hands that for thinness were like to
+      those of a mummy. For a while he considered us both as though he were
+      reading our souls, then said in a full and jovial voice:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Greeting, Prince.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Seti turned, looked at him, and answered:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Greeting, Bakenkhonsu. How comes it that you are still alive? When we
+      parted at Thebes I made sure&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That on your return you would find me in my tomb. Not so, Prince, it is I
+      who shall live to look upon you in your tomb, yes, and on others who are
+      yet to sit in the seat of Pharaoh. Why not? Ho! ho! Why not, seeing that I
+      am but a hundred and seven, I who remember the first Rameses and have
+      played with his grandson, your grandsire, as a boy? Why should I not live,
+      Prince, to nurse your grandson&mdash;if the gods should grant you one who
+      as yet have neither wife nor child?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Because you will get tired of life, Bakenkhonsu, as I am already, and the
+      gods will not be able to spare you much longer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The gods can endure yet a while without me, Prince, when so many are
+      flocking to their table. Indeed it is their desire that one good priest
+      should be left in Egypt. Ki the Magician told me so only this morning. He
+      had it straight from Heaven in a dream last night.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why have you been to visit Ki?&rdquo; asked Seti, looking at him sharply. &ldquo;I
+      should have thought that being both of a trade you would have hated each
+      other.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not so, Prince. On the contrary we add up each other&rsquo;s account; I mean,
+      check and interpret each other&rsquo;s visions, with which we are both of us
+      much troubled just now. Is that young man a scribe from Memphis?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, and my friend. His grandsire was Pentaur the poet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Indeed. I knew Pentaur well. Often has he read me to sleep with his long
+      poems, rank stuff that grew like coarse grass upon a deep but half-drained
+      soil. Are you sure, young man, that Pentaur was your grandfather? You are
+      not like him. Quite a different kind of herbage, and you know that it is a
+      matter upon which we must take a woman&rsquo;s word.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Seti burst out laughing and I looked at the old priest angrily, though now
+      that I came to think of it my father always said that his mother was one
+      of the biggest liars in Egypt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, let it be,&rdquo; went on Bakenkhonsu, &ldquo;till we find out the truth before
+      Thoth. Ki was speaking of you, young man. I did not pay much attention to
+      him, but it was something about a sudden vow of friendship between you and
+      the Prince here. There was a cup in the story too, an alabaster cup that
+      seemed familiar to me. Ki said it was broken.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Seti started and I began angrily:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do you know of that cup? Where were you hid, O Priest?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, in your souls, I suppose,&rdquo; he answered dreamily, &ldquo;or rather Ki was.
+      But I know nothing, and am not curious. If you had broken the cup with a
+      woman now, it would have been more interesting, even to an old man. Be so
+      good as to answer the Prince&rsquo;s question as to whether he or his cousin
+      Amenmeses will triumph at the last, for on that matter both Ki and I are
+      curious.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Am I a seer,&rdquo; I began again still more angrily, &ldquo;that I should read the
+      future?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think so, a little, but that is what I want to find out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He hobbled towards me, laid one of his claw-like hands upon my arm, and
+      said in a new voice of command:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Look now upon that throne and tell me what you see there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I obeyed him because I must, staring up the hall at the empty throne. At
+      first I saw nothing. Then figures seemed to flit around it. From among
+      these figures emerged the shape of the Count Amenmeses. He sat upon the
+      throne, looking about him proudly, and I noted that he was no longer clad
+      as a prince but as Pharaoh himself. Presently hook-nosed men appeared who
+      dragged him from his seat. He fell, as I thought, into water, for it
+      seemed to splash up above him. Next Seti the Prince appeared to mount the
+      throne, led thither by a woman, of whom I could only see the back. I saw
+      him distinctly wearing the double crown and holding a sceptre in his hand.
+      He also melted away and others came whom I did not know, though I thought
+      that one of them was like to the Princess Userti.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now all were gone and I was telling Bakenkhonsu everything I had witnessed
+      like a man who speaks in his sleep, not by his own will. Suddenly I woke
+      up and laughed at my own foolishness. But the other two did not laugh;
+      they regarded me very gravely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thought that you were something of a seer,&rdquo; said the old priest, &ldquo;or
+      rather Ki thought it. I could not quite believe Ki, because he said that
+      the young person whom I should find with the Prince here this morning
+      would be one who loved him with all the heart, and it is only a woman who
+      loves with all the heart, is it not? Or so the world believes. Well, I
+      will talk the matter over with Ki. Hush! Pharaoh comes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      As he spoke from far away rose a cry of&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IV
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE COURT OF BETROTHAL
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Life! Blood! Strength!&rdquo; echoed everyone in the great hall, falling to
+      their knees and bending their foreheads to the ground. Even the Prince and
+      the aged Bakenkhonsu prostrated themselves thus as though before the
+      presence of a god. And, indeed, Pharaoh Meneptah, passing through the
+      patch of sunlight at the head of the hall, wearing the double crown upon
+      his head and arrayed in royal robes and ornaments, looked like a god, no
+      less, as the multitude of the people of Egypt held him to be. He was an
+      old man with the face of one worn by years and care, but from his person
+      majesty seemed to flow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With him, walking a step or two behind, went Nehesi his Vizier, a
+      shrivelled, parchment-faced officer whose cunning eyes rolled about the
+      place, and Roy the High-priest, and Hora the Chamberlain of the Table, and
+      Meranu the Washer of the King&rsquo;s Hands, and Yuy the private scribe, and
+      many others whom Bakenkhonsu named to me as they appeared. Then there were
+      fan-bearers and a gorgeous band of lords who were called King&rsquo;s Companions
+      and Head Butlers and I know not who besides, and after these guards with
+      spears and helms that shone like god, and black swordsmen from the
+      southern land of Kesh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But one woman accompanied his Majesty, walking alone immediately behind
+      him in front of the Vizier and the High-priest. She was the Royal
+      Daughter, the Princess Userti, who looked, I thought, prouder and more
+      splendid than any there, though somewhat pale and anxious.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Pharaoh came to the steps of the throne. The Vizier and the High-priest
+      advanced to help him up the steps, for he was feeble with age. He waved
+      them aside, and beckoning to his daughter, rested his hand upon her
+      shoulder and by her aid mounted the throne. I thought that there was
+      meaning in this; it was as though he would show to all the assembly that
+      this princess was the prop of Egypt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a little while he stood still and Userti sat herself down on the
+      topmost step, resting her chin upon her jewelled hand. There he stood
+      searching the place with his eyes. He lifted his sceptre and all rose,
+      hundreds and hundreds of them throughout the hall, their garments rustling
+      as they rose like leaves in a sudden wind. He seated himself and once more
+      from every throat went up the regal salutation that was the king&rsquo;s alone,
+      of&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In the silence that followed I heard him say, to the Princess, I think:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Amenmeses I see, and others of our kin, but where is my son Seti, the
+      Prince of Egypt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Watching us no doubt from some vestibule. My brother loves not
+      ceremonials,&rdquo; answered Userti.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, with a little sigh, Seti stepped forward, followed by Bakenkhonsu
+      and myself, and at a distance by other members of his household. As he
+      marched up the long hall all drew to this side or that, saluting him with
+      low bows. Arriving in front of the throne he bent till his knee touched
+      the ground, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I give greeting, O King and Father.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I give greeting, O Prince and Son. Be seated,&rdquo; answered Meneptah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Seti seated himself in a chair that had been made ready for him at the
+      foot of the throne, and on its right, and in another chair to the left,
+      but set farther from the steps, Amenmeses seated himself also. At a motion
+      from the Prince I took my stand behind his chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The formal business of the Court began. At the beckoning of an usher
+      people of all sorts appeared singly and handed in petitions written on
+      rolled-up papyri, which the Vizier Nehesi took and threw into a leathern
+      sack that was held open by a black slave. In some cases an answer to his
+      petition, whereof this was only the formal delivery, was handed back to
+      the suppliant, who touched his brow with the roll that perhaps meant
+      everything to him, and bowed himself away to learn his fate. Then appeared
+      sheiks of the desert tribes, and captains from fortresses in Syria, and
+      traders who had been harmed by enemies, and even peasants who had suffered
+      violence from officers, each to make his prayer. Of all of these
+      supplications the scribes took notes, while to some the Vizier and
+      councillors made answer. But as yet Pharaoh said nothing. There he sat
+      silent on his splendid throne of ivory and gold, like a god of stone above
+      the altar, staring down the long hall and through the open doors as though
+      he would read the secrets of the skies beyond.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I told you that courts were wearisome, friend Ana,&rdquo; whispered the Prince
+      to me without turning his head. &ldquo;Do you not already begin to wish that you
+      were back writing tales at Memphis?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Before I could answer some movement in the throng at the end of the hall
+      drew the eyes of the Prince and of all of us. I looked, and saw advancing
+      towards the throne a tall, bearded man already old, although his black
+      hair was but grizzled with grey. He was arrayed in a white linen robe,
+      over which hung a woollen cloak such as shepherds wear, and he carried in
+      his hand a long thornwood staff. His face was splendid and very handsome,
+      and his black eyes flashed like fire. He walked forward slowly, looking
+      neither to the left nor the right, and the throng made way for him as
+      though he were a prince. Indeed, I thought that they showed more fear of
+      him than of any prince, since they shrank from him as he came. Nor was he
+      alone, for after him walked another man who was very like to him, but as I
+      judged, still older, for his beard, which hung down to his middle, was
+      snow-white as was the hair on his head. He also was dressed in a sheepskin
+      cloak and carried a staff in his hand. Now a whisper rose among the people
+      and the whisper said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The prophets of the men of Israel! The prophets of the men of Israel!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The two stood before the throne and looked at Pharaoh, making no
+      obeisance. Pharaoh looked at them and was silent. For a long space they
+      stood thus in the midst of a great quiet, but Pharaoh would not speak, and
+      none of his officers seemed to dare to open their mouths. At length the
+      first of the prophets spoke in a clear, cold voice as some conqueror might
+      do.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You know me, Pharaoh, and my errand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know you,&rdquo; answered Pharaoh slowly, &ldquo;as well I may, seeing that we
+      played together when we were little. You are that Hebrew whom my sister,
+      she who sleeps in Osiris, took to be as a son to her, giving to you a name
+      that means &lsquo;drawn forth&rsquo; because she drew you forth as an infant from
+      among the reeds of Nile. Aye, I know you and your brother also, but your
+      errand I know not.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is my errand, Pharaoh, or rather the errand of Jahveh, God of
+      Israel, for whom I speak. Have you not heard it before? It is that you
+      should let his people go to do sacrifice to him in the wilderness.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who is Jahveh? I know not Jahveh who serve Amon and the gods of Egypt,
+      and why should I let your people go?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Jahveh is the God of Israel, the great God of all gods whose power you
+      shall learn if you will not hearken, Pharaoh. As for why you should let
+      the people go, ask it of the Prince your son who sits yonder. Ask him of
+      what he saw in the streets of this city but last night, and of a certain
+      judgment that he passed upon one of the officers of Pharaoh. Or if he will
+      not tell you, learn it from the lips of the maiden who is named Merapi,
+      Moon of Israel, the daughter of Nathan the Levite. Stand forward, Merapi,
+      daughter of Nathan.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then from the throng at the back of the hall came forward Merapi, clad in
+      a white robe and with a black veil thrown about her head in token of
+      mourning, but not so as to hide her face. Up the hall she glided and made
+      obeisance to Pharaoh, as she did so, casting one swift look at Seti where
+      he sat. Then she stood still, looking, as I thought, wonderfully beautiful
+      in that simple robe of white and the evil of black.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Speak, woman,&rdquo; said Pharaoh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She obeyed, telling all the tale in her low and honeyed voice, nor did any
+      seem to think it long or wearisome. At length she ended, and Pharaoh said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Say, Seti my son, is this truth?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is truth, O my Father. By virtue of my powers as Governor of this city
+      I caused the captain Khuaka to be put to death for the crime of murder
+      done by him before my eyes in the streets of the city.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perchance you did right and perchance you did wrong, Son Seti. At least
+      you are the best judge, and because he struck your royal person, this
+      Khuaka deserved to die.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Again he was silent for a while staring through the open doors at the sky
+      beyond. Then he said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What would ye more, Prophets of Jahveh? Justice has been done upon my
+      officer who slew the man of your people. A life has been taken for a life
+      according to the strict letter of the law. The matter is finished. Unless
+      you have aught to say, get you gone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By the command of the Lord our God,&rdquo; answered the prophet, &ldquo;we have this
+      to say to you, O Pharaoh. Lift the heavy yoke from off the neck of the
+      people of Israel. Bid that they cease from the labour of the making of
+      bricks to build your walls and cities.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And if I refuse, what then?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then the curse of Jahveh shall be on you, Pharaoh, and with plague upon
+      plague shall he smite this land of Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now a sudden rage seized Meneptah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What!&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;Do you dare to threaten me in my own palace, and would
+      ye cause all the multitude of the people of Israel who have grown fat in
+      the land to cease from their labours? Hearken, my servants, and, scribes,
+      write down my decree. Go ye to the country of Goshen and say to the
+      Israelites that the bricks they made they shall make as aforetime and more
+      work shall they do than aforetime in the days of my father, Rameses. Only
+      no more straw shall be given to them for the making of the bricks. Because
+      they are idle, let them go forth and gather the straw themselves; let them
+      gather it from the face of the fields.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There was silence for a while. Then with one voice both the prophets
+      spoke, pointing with their wands to Pharaoh:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In the Name of the Lord God we curse you, Pharaoh, who soon shall die and
+      make answer for this sin. The people of Egypt we curse also. Ruin shall be
+      their portion; death shall be their bread and blood shall they drink in a
+      great darkness. Moreover, at the last Pharaoh shall let the people go.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, waiting no answer, they turned and strode away side by side, nor did
+      any man hinder them in their goings. Again there was silence in the hall,
+      the silence of fear, for these were awful words that the prophets had
+      spoken. Pharaoh knew it, for his chin sank upon his breast and his face
+      that had been red with rage turned white. Userti hid her eyes with her
+      hand as though to shut out some evil vision, and even Seti seemed ill at
+      ease as though that awful curse had found a home within his heart.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At a motion of Pharaoh&rsquo;s hand the Vizier Nehesi struck the ground thrice
+      with his wand of office and pointed to the door, thus giving the
+      accustomed sign that the Court was finished, whereon all the people turned
+      and went away with bent heads speaking no words one to another. Presently
+      the great hall was emptied save for the officers and guards and those who
+      attended upon Pharaoh. When everyone had gone Seti the Prince rose and
+      bowed before the throne.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Pharaoh,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;be pleased to hearken. We have heard very evil
+      words spoken by these Hebrew men, words that threaten your divine life, O
+      Pharaoh, and call down a curse upon the Upper and the Lower Land. Pharaoh,
+      these people of Israel hold that they suffer wrong and are oppressed. Now
+      give me, your son, a writing under your hand and seal, by virtue of which
+      I shall have power to go down to the Land of Goshen and inquire of this
+      matter, and afterwards make report of the truth to you. Then, if it seems
+      to you that the People of Israel are unjustly dealt by, you may lighten
+      their burden and bring the curse of their prophets to nothing. But if it
+      seems to you that the tales they tell are idle then your words shall
+      stand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now, listening, I, Ana, thought that Pharaoh would once more be angry. But
+      it was not so, for when he spoke again it was in the voice of one who is
+      crushed by grief or weariness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have your will, Son,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Only take with you a great guard of
+      soldiers lest these hook-nosed dogs should do you mischief. I trust them
+      not, who, like the Hyksos whose blood runs in many of them, were ever the
+      foes of Egypt. Did they not conspire with the Ninebow Barbarians whom I
+      crushed in the great battle, and do they not now threaten us in the name
+      of their outland god? Still, let the writing be prepared and I will seal
+      it. And stay. I think, Seti, that you, who were ever gentle-natured, have
+      somewhat too soft a heart towards these shepherd slaves. Therefore I will
+      not send you alone. Amenmeses your cousin shall go with you, but under
+      your command. It is spoken.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Life! Blood! Strength!&rdquo; said both Seti and Amenmeses, thus acknowledging
+      the king&rsquo;s command.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now I thought that all was finished. But it was not so, for presently
+      Pharaoh said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let the guards withdraw to the end of the hall and with them the
+      servants. Let the King&rsquo;s councillors and the officers of the household
+      remain.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Instantly all saluted and withdrew out of hearing. I, too, made ready to
+      go, but the Prince said to me:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stay, that you may take note of what passes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Pharaoh, watching, saw if he did not hear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who is that man, Son?&rdquo; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He is Ana my private scribe and librarian, O Pharaoh, whom I trust. It
+      was he who saved me from harm but last night.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You say it, Son. Let him remain in attendance on you, knowing that if he
+      betrays our council he dies.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Userti looked up frowning as though she were about to speak. If so, she
+      changed her mind and was silent, perhaps because Pharaoh&rsquo;s word once
+      spoken could not be altered. Bakenkhonsu remained also as a Councillor of
+      the King according to his right.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When all had gone Pharaoh, who had been brooding, lifted his head and
+      spoke slowly but in the voice of one who gives a judgment that may not be
+      questioned, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Prince Seti, you are my only son born of Queen Ast-Nefert, royal Sister,
+      royal Mother, who sleeps in the bosom of Osiris. It is true that you are
+      not my first-born son, since the Count Ramessu&rdquo;&mdash;here he pointed to a
+      stout mild-faced man of pleasing, rather foolish appearance&mdash;&ldquo;is your
+      elder by two years. But, as he knows well, his mother, who is still with
+      us, is a Syrian by birth and of no royal blood, and therefore he can never
+      sit upon the throne of Egypt. Is it not so, my son Ramessu?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is so, O Pharaoh,&rdquo; answered the Count in a pleasant voice, &ldquo;not do I
+      seek ever to sit upon that throne, who am well content with the offices
+      and wealth that Pharaoh has been pleased to confer upon me, his
+      first-born.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let the words of the Count Ramessu be written down,&rdquo; said Pharaoh, &ldquo;and
+      placed in the temple of Ptah of this city, and in the temples of Ptah at
+      Memphis and of Amon at Thebes, that hereafter they may never be
+      questioned.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The scribes in attendance wrote down the words and, at a sign from the
+      Prince Seti, I also wrote them down, setting the papyrus I had with me on
+      my knee. When this was finished Pharaoh went on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Therefore, O Prince Seti, you are the heir of Egypt and perhaps, as those
+      Hebrew prophets said, will ere long be called upon to sit in my place on
+      its throne.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;May the King live for ever!&rdquo; exclaimed Seti, &ldquo;for well he knows that I do
+      not seek his crown and dignities.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do know it well, my son; so well that I wish you thought more of that
+      crown and those dignities which, if the gods will, must come to you. If
+      they will it not, next in the order of succession stands your cousin, the
+      Count Amenmeses, who is also of royal blood both on his father&rsquo;s and his
+      mother&rsquo;s side, and after him I know not who, unless it be my daughter and
+      your half-sister, the royal Princess Userti, Lady of Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now Userti spoke, very earnestly, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Pharaoh, surely my right in the succession, according to ancient
+      precedent, precedes that of my cousin, the Count Amenmeses.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Amenmeses was about to answer, but Pharaoh lifted his hand and he was
+      silent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is matter for those learned in such lore to discuss,&rdquo; Meneptah replied
+      in a somewhat hesitating voice. &ldquo;I pray the gods that it may never be
+      needful that this high question should be considered in the Council.
+      Nevertheless, let the words of the royal Princess be written down. Now,
+      Prince Seti,&rdquo; he went on when this had been done, &ldquo;you are still
+      unmarried, and if you have children they are not royal.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have none, O Pharaoh,&rdquo; said Seti.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it so?&rdquo; answered Meneptah indifferently. &ldquo;The Count Amenmeses has
+      children I know, for I have seen them, but by his wife Unuri, who also is
+      of the royal line, he has none.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Here I heard Amenmeses mutter, &ldquo;Being my aunt that is not strange,&rdquo; a
+      saying at which Seti smiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My daughter, the Princess, is also unmarried. So it seems that the
+      fountain of the royal blood is running dry&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now it is coming,&rdquo; whispered Seti below his breath so that only I could
+      hear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Therefore,&rdquo; continued Pharaoh, &ldquo;as you know, Prince Seti, for the royal
+      Princess of Egypt by my command went to speak to you of this matter last
+      night, I make a decree&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pardon, O Pharaoh,&rdquo; interrupted the Prince, &ldquo;my sister spoke to me of no
+      decree last night, save that I should attend at the court here to-day.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Because I could not, Seti, seeing that another was present with you whom
+      you refused to dismiss,&rdquo; and she let her eyes rest on me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It matters not,&rdquo; said Pharaoh, &ldquo;since now I will utter it with my own
+      lips which perhaps is better. It is my will, Prince, that you forthwith
+      wed the royal Princess Userti, that children of the true blood of the
+      Ramessides may be born. Hear and obey.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now Userti shifted her eyes from me to Seti, watching him very closely.
+      Seated at his side upon the ground with my writing roll spread across my
+      knee, I, too, watched him closely, and noted that his lips turned white
+      and his face grew fixed and strange.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I hear the command of Pharaoh,&rdquo; he said in a low voice making obeisance,
+      and hesitated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have you aught to add?&rdquo; asked Meneptah sharply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Only, O Pharaoh, that though this would be a marriage decreed for reasons
+      of the State, still there is a lady who must be given in marriage, and she
+      my half-sister who heretofore has only loved me as a relative. Therefore,
+      I would know from her lips if it is her will to take me as a husband.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now all looked at Userti who replied in a cold voice:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In this matter, Prince, as in all others I have no will but that of
+      Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You have heard,&rdquo; interrupted Meneptah impatiently, &ldquo;and as in our House
+      it has always been the custom for kin to marry kin, why should it not be
+      her will? Also, who else should she marry? Amenmeses is already wed. There
+      remains only Saptah his brother who is younger than herself&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So am I,&rdquo; murmured Seti, &ldquo;by two long years,&rdquo; but happily Userti did not
+      hear him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, my father,&rdquo; she said with decision, &ldquo;never will I take a deformed
+      man to husband.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now from the shadow on the further side of the throne, where I could not
+      see him, there hobbled forward a young noble, short in stature,
+      light-haired like Seti, and with a sharp, clever face which put me in mind
+      of that of a jackal (indeed for this reason he was named Thoth by the
+      common people, after the jackal-headed god). He was very angry, for his
+      cheeks were flushed and his small eyes flashed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Must I listen, Pharaoh,&rdquo; he said in a little voice, &ldquo;while my cousin the
+      Royal Princess reproaches me in public for my lame foot, which I have
+      because my nurse let me fall when I was still in arms?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then his nurse let his grandfather fall also, for he too was club-footed,
+      as I who have seen him naked in his cradle can bear witness,&rdquo; whispered
+      old Bakenkhonsu.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It seems so, Count Saptah, unless you stop your ears,&rdquo; replied Pharaoh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She says she will not marry me,&rdquo; went on Saptah, &ldquo;me who from childhood
+      have been a slave to her and to no other woman.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not by my wish, Saptah. Indeed, I pray you to go and be a slave to any
+      woman whom you will,&rdquo; exclaimed Userti.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But I say,&rdquo; continued Saptah, &ldquo;that one day she shall marry me, for the
+      Prince Seti will not live for ever.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How do you know that, Cousin?&rdquo; asked Seti. &ldquo;The High-priest here will
+      tell you a different story.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now certain of those present turned their heads away to hide the smile
+      upon their faces. Yet on this day some god spoke with Saptah&rsquo;s voice
+      making him a prophet, since in a year to come she did marry him, in order
+      that she might stay upon the throne at a time of trouble when Egypt would
+      not suffer that a woman should have sole rule over the land.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Pharaoh did not smile like the courtiers; indeed he grew angry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Peace, Saptah!&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Who are you that wrangle before me, talking of
+      the death of kings and saying that you will wed the Royal princess? One
+      more such word and you shall be driven into banishment. Hearken now.
+      Almost am I minded to declare my daughter, the Royal Princess, sole
+      heiress to the throne, seeing that in her there is more strength and
+      wisdom than in any other of our House.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If such be Pharaoh&rsquo;s will, let Pharaoh&rsquo;s will be done,&rdquo; said Seti most
+      humbly. &ldquo;Well I know my own unworthiness to fill so high a station, and by
+      all the gods I swear that my beloved sister will find no more faithful
+      subject than myself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You mean, Seti,&rdquo; interrupted Userti, &ldquo;that rather than marry me you would
+      abandon your right to the double crown. Truly I am honoured. Seti, whether
+      you reign or I, I will not marry you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What words are these I hear?&rdquo; cried Meneptah. &ldquo;Is there indeed one in
+      this land of Egypt who dares to say that Pharaoh&rsquo;s decree shall be
+      disobeyed? Write it down, Scribes, and you, O Officers, let it be
+      proclaimed from Thebes to the sea, that on the third day from now at the
+      hour of noon in the temple of Hathor in this city, the Prince, the Royal
+      Heir, Seti Meneptah, Beloved of Ra, will wed the Royal Princess of Egypt,
+      Lily of Love, Beloved of Hathor, Userti, Daughter of me, the god.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Life! Blood! Strength!&rdquo; called all the Court.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, guided by some high officer, the Prince Seti was led before the
+      throne and the Princess Userti was set beside him, or rather facing him.
+      According to the ancient custom a great gold cup was brought and filled
+      with red wine, to me it looked like blood. Userti took the cup and,
+      kneeling, gave it to the Prince, who drank and gave it back to her that
+      she might also drink in solemn token of their betrothal. Is not the scene
+      graven on the broad bracelets of gold which in after days Seti wore when
+      he sat upon the throne, those same bracelets that at a future time I with
+      my own hands clasped about the wrists of dead Userti?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then he stretched out his hand which she touched with her lips, and
+      bending down he kissed her on the brow. Lastly, Pharaoh, descending to the
+      lowest step of the throne, laid his sceptre, first upon the head of the
+      Prince, and next upon that of the Princess, blessing them both in the name
+      of himself, of his Ka or Double, and of the spirits and Kas of all their
+      forefathers, kings and queens of Egypt, thus appointing them to come after
+      him when he had been gathered to the bosom of the gods.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      These things done, he departed in state, surrounded by his court, preceded
+      and followed by his guards and leaning on the arm of the Princess Userti,
+      whom he loved better than anyone in the world.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A while later I stood alone with the Prince in his private chamber, where
+      I had first seen him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is finished,&rdquo; he said in a cheerful voice, &ldquo;and I tell you, Ana,
+      that I feel quite, quite happy. Have you ever shivered upon the bank of a
+      river of a winter morning, fearing to enter, and yet, when you did enter,
+      have you not been pleased to find that the icy water refreshed you and
+      made you not cold but hot?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, Prince. It is when one comes out of the water, if the wind blows and
+      no sun shines, that one feels colder than before.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;True, Ana, and therefore one must not come out. One should stop there
+      till one&mdash;drowns or is eaten by a crocodile. But, say, did I do it
+      well?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Old Bakenkhonsu told me, Prince, that he had been present at many royal
+      betrothals, I think he said eleven, and had never seen one conducted with
+      more grace. He added that the way in which you kissed the brow of her
+      Highness was perfect, as was all your demeanour after the first argument.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And so it would remain, Ana, if I were never called upon to do more than
+      kiss her brow, to which I have been accustomed from boyhood. Oh! Ana,
+      Ana,&rdquo; he added in a kind of cry, &ldquo;already you are becoming a courtier like
+      the rest of them, a courtier who cannot speak the truth. Well, nor can I,
+      so why should I blame you? Tell me again all about your marriage, Ana, of
+      how it began and how it ended.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER V
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE PROPHECY
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      Whether or no the Prince Seti saw Userti again before the hour of his
+      marriage with her I cannot say, because he never told me. Indeed I was not
+      present at the marriage, for the reason that I had been granted leave to
+      return to Memphis, there to settle my affairs and sell my house on
+      entering upon my appointment as private scribe to his Highness. Thus it
+      came about that fourteen full days went by from that of the holding of the
+      Court of Betrothal before I found myself standing once more at the gate of
+      the Prince&rsquo;s palace, attended by a servant who led an ass on which were
+      laden all my manuscripts and certain possessions that had descended to me
+      from my ancestors with the title-deeds of their tombs. Different indeed
+      was my reception on this my second coming. Even as I reached the steps the
+      old chamberlain Pambasa appeared, running down them so fast that his white
+      robes and beard streamed upon the air.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Greeting, most learned scribe, most honourable Ana,&rdquo; he panted. &ldquo;Glad
+      indeed am I to see you, since very hour his Highness asks if you have
+      returned, and blames me because you have not come. Verily I believe that
+      if you had stayed upon the road another day I should have been sent to
+      look for you, who have had sharp words said to me because I did not
+      arrange that you should be accompanied by a guard, as though the Vizier
+      Nehesi would have paid the costs of a guard without the direct order of
+      Pharaoh. O most excellent Ana, give me of the charm which you have
+      doubtless used to win the love of our royal master, and I will pay you
+      well for it who find it easier to earn his wrath.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will, Pambasa. Here it is&mdash;write better stories than I do instead
+      of telling them, and he will love you more than he does me. But say&mdash;how
+      went the marriage? I have heard upon the way that it was very splendid.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Splendid! Oh! it was ten times more than splendid. It was as though the
+      god Osiris were once more wed to the goddess Isis in the very halls of
+      heaven. Indeed his Highness, the bridegroom, was dressed as a god, yes, he
+      wore the robes and the holy ornaments of Amon. And the procession! And the
+      feast that Pharaoh gave! I tell you that the Prince was so overcome with
+      joy and all this weight of glory that, before it was over, looking at him
+      I saw that his eyes were closed, being dazzled by the gleam of gold and
+      jewels and the loveliness of his royal bride. He told me that it was so
+      himself, fearing perhaps lest I should have thought that he was asleep.
+      Then there were the presents, something to everyone of us according to his
+      degree. I got&mdash;well it matters not. And, learned Ana, I did not
+      forget you. Knowing well that everything would be gone before you returned
+      I spoke your name in the ear of his Highness, offering to keep your gift.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Indeed, Pambasa, and what did he say?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He said that he was keeping it himself. When I stared wondering what it
+      might be, for I saw nothing on him, he added, &lsquo;It is here,&rsquo; and touched
+      the private signet guard that he has always worn, an ancient ring of gold,
+      but of no great value I should say, with &lsquo;Beloved of Thoth and of the
+      King&rsquo; cut upon it. It seems that he must take it off to make room for
+      another and much finer ring which her Highness has given him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now, by this time, the ass having been unloaded by the slaves and led
+      away, we had passed through the hall where many were idling as ever, and
+      were come to the private apartments of the palace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This way,&rdquo; said Pambasa. &ldquo;The orders are that I am to take you to the
+      Prince wherever he may be, and just now he is seated in the great
+      apartment with her Highness, where they have been receiving homage and
+      deputations from distant cities. The last left about half an hour ago.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;First I will prepare myself, worthy Pambasa,&rdquo; I began.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no, the orders are instant, I dare not disobey them. Enter,&rdquo; and with
+      a courtly flourish he drew a rich curtain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By Amon,&rdquo; exclaimed a weary voice which I knew as that of the Prince,
+      &ldquo;here come more councillors or priests. Prepare, my sister, prepare!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you, Seti,&rdquo; answered another voice, that of Userti, &ldquo;to learn to
+      call me by my right name, which is no longer sister. Nor, indeed, am I
+      your full sister.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I crave your pardon,&rdquo; said Seti. &ldquo;Prepare, Royal Wife, prepare!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      By now the curtain was fully drawn and I stood, travel-stained, forlorn
+      and, to tell the truth, trembling a little, for I feared her Highness, in
+      the doorway, hesitating to pass the threshold. Beyond was a splendid
+      chamber full of light, in the centre of which upon a carven and golden
+      chair, one of two that were set there, sat her Highness magnificently
+      apparelled, faultlessly beautiful and calm. She was engaged in studying a
+      painted roll, left no doubt by the last deputation, for others similar to
+      it were laid neatly side by side upon a table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The second chair was empty, for the Prince was walking restlessly up and
+      down the chamber, his ceremonial robe somewhat disarrayed and the uræus
+      circlet of gold which he wore, tilted back upon his head, because of his
+      habit of running his fingers through his brown hair. As I still stood in
+      the dark shadow, for Pambasa had left me, and thus remained unseen, the
+      talk went on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am prepared, Husband. Pardon me, it is you who look otherwise. Why
+      would you dismiss the scribes and the household before the ceremony was
+      ended?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Because they wearied me,&rdquo; said Seti, &ldquo;with their continual bowing and
+      praising and formalities.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In which I saw nothing unusual. Now they must be recalled.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let whoever it is enter,&rdquo; he exclaimed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I stepped forward into the light, prostrating myself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why,&rdquo; he cried, &ldquo;it is Ana returned from Memphis! Draw near, Ana, and a
+      thousand welcomes to you. Do you know I thought that you were another
+      high-priest, or governor of some Nome of which I had never heard.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ana! Who is Ana?&rdquo; asked the Princess. &ldquo;Oh! I remember that scribe&mdash;&mdash;.
+      Well, it is plain that he has returned from Memphis,&rdquo; and she eyed my
+      dusty robe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Royal One,&rdquo; I murmured abashed, &ldquo;do not blame me that I enter your
+      presence thus. Pambasa led me here against my will by the direct order of
+      the Prince.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it so? Say, Seti, does this man bring tidings of import from Memphis
+      that you needed his presence in such haste?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, Userti, at least I think so. You have the writings safe, have you
+      not, Ana?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Quite safe, your Highness,&rdquo; I answered, though I knew not of what
+      writings he spoke, unless they were the manuscripts of my stories.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then, my Lord, I will leave you to talk of the tidings from Memphis and
+      these writings,&rdquo; said the Princess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes. We must talk of them, Userti. Also of the journey to the land
+      of Goshen on which Ana starts with me to-morrow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To-morrow! Why this morning you told me it was fixed for three days
+      hence.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did I, Sister&mdash;I mean Wife? If so, it was because I was not sure
+      whether Ana, who is to be my chariot companion, would be back.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A scribe your chariot companion! Surely it would be more fitting that
+      your cousin Amenmeses&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To Set with Amenmeses!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;You know well, Userti, that the
+      man is hateful to me with his cunning yet empty talk.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Indeed! I grieve to hear it, for when you hate you show it, and Amenmeses
+      may be a bad enemy. Then if not our cousin Amenmeses who is not hateful to
+      me, there is Saptah.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thank you; I will not travel in a cage with a jackal.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Jackal! I do not love Saptah, but one of the royal blood of Egypt a
+      jackal! Then there is Nehesi the Vizier, or the General of the escort
+      whose name I forget.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you think, Userti, that I wish to talk about state economies with that
+      old money-sack, or to listen to boastings of deeds he never did in war
+      from a half-bred Nubian butcher?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not know, Husband. Yet of what will you talk with this Ana? Of
+      poems, I suppose, and silliness. Or will it be perchance of Merapi, Moon
+      of Israel, whom I gather both of you think so beautiful. Well, have your
+      way. You tell me that I am not to accompany you upon this journey, I your
+      new-made wife, and now I find that it is because you wish my place to be
+      filled by a writer of tales whom you picked up the other day&mdash;your
+      &lsquo;twin in Ra&rsquo; forsooth! Fare you well, my Lord,&rdquo; and she rose from her
+      seat, gathering up her robes with both hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Seti grew angry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Userti,&rdquo; he said, stamping upon the floor, &ldquo;you should not use such
+      words. You know well that I do not take you with me because there may be
+      danger yonder among the Hebrews. Moreover, it is not Pharaoh&rsquo;s wish.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She turned and answered with cold courtesy:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then I crave your pardon and thank you for your kind thought for the
+      safety of my person. I knew not this mission was so dangerous. Be careful,
+      Seti, that the scribe Ana comes to no harm.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So saying she bowed and vanished through the curtains.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ana,&rdquo; said Seti, &ldquo;tell me, for I never was quick at figures, how many
+      minutes is it from now till the fourth hour to-morrow morning when I shall
+      order my chariot to be ready? Also, do you know whether it is possible to
+      travel from Goshen across the marshes and to return by Syria? Or, failing
+      that, to travel across the desert to Thebes and sail down the Nile in the
+      spring?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! my Prince, my Prince,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;I pray you to dismiss me. Let me go
+      anywhere out of the reach of her Highness&rsquo;s tongue.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is strange how alike we think upon every matter, Ana, even of Merapi
+      and the tongues of royal ladies. Hearken to my command. You are not to go.
+      If it is a question of going, there are others who will go first.
+      Moreover, you cannot go, but must stay and bear your burdens as I bear
+      mine. Remember the broken cup, Ana.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I remember, my Prince, but sooner would I be scourged with rods than by
+      such words as those to which I must listen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Yet that very night, when I had left the Prince, I was destined to hear
+      more pleasant words from this same changeful, or perchance politic, royal
+      lady. She sent for me and I went, much afraid. I found her in a small
+      chamber alone, save for one old lady of honour who sat the end of the room
+      and appeared to be deaf, which perhaps was why she was chosen. Userti bade
+      me be seated before her very courteously, and spoke to me thus, whether
+      because of some talk she had held with the Prince or not, I do not know.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Scribe Ana, I ask your pardon if, being vexed and wearied, I said to you
+      and of you to-day what I now wish I had left unsaid. I know well that you,
+      being of the gentle blood of Egypt, will make no report of what you heard
+      outside these walls.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;May my tongue be cut out first,&rdquo; I answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It seems, Scribe Ana, that my lord the Prince has taken a great love of
+      you. How or why this came about so suddenly, you being a man, I do not
+      understand, but I am sure that as it is so, it must be because there is
+      much in you to love, since never did I know the Prince to show deep regard
+      for one who was not most honourable and worthy. Now things being so, it is
+      plain that you will become the favourite of his Highness, a man who does
+      not change his mind in such matters, and that he will tell you all his
+      secret thoughts, perhaps some that he hides from the Councillors of State,
+      or even from me. In short you will grow into a power in the land and
+      perhaps one day be the greatest in it&mdash;after Pharaoh&mdash;although
+      you may still seem to be but a private scribe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not pretend to you that I should have wished this to be so, who
+      would rather that my husband had but one real councillor&mdash;myself. Yet
+      seeing that it is so, I bow my head, hoping that it may be decreed for the
+      best. If ever any jealousy should overcome me in this matter and I should
+      speak sharply to you, as I did to-day, I ask your pardon in advance for
+      that which has not happened, as I have asked it for that which has
+      happened. I pray of you, Scribe Ana, that you will do your best to
+      influence the mind of the Prince for good, since he is easily led by any
+      whom he loves. I pray you also being quick and thoughtful, as I see you
+      are, that you will make a study of statecraft, and of the policies of our
+      royal House, coming to me, if it be needful, for instruction therein, so
+      that you may be able to guide the feet of the Prince aright, should he
+      turn to you for counsel.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All of this I will do, your Highness, if by any chance it lies in my
+      power, though who am I that I should hope to make a path for the feet of
+      kings? Moreover, I would add this, although he is so gentle-natured, I
+      think that in the end the Prince is one who will always choose his own
+      path.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It may be so Ana. At the least I thank you. I pray you to be sure also
+      that in me you will always have a friend and not an enemy, although at
+      times the quickness of my nature, which has never been controlled, may
+      lead you to think otherwise. Now I will say one more thing that shall be
+      secret between us. I know that the Prince loves me as a friend and
+      relative rather than as a wife, and that he would not have sought this
+      marriage of himself, as is perhaps natural. I know, too, that other women
+      will come into his life, though these may be fewer than in the case of
+      most kings, because he is more hard to please. Of such I cannot complain,
+      as this is according to the customs of our country. I fear only one thing&mdash;namely
+      that some woman, ceasing to be his toy, may take Seti&rsquo;s heart and make him
+      altogether hers. In this matter, Scribe Ana, as in others I ask your help,
+      since I would be queen of Egypt in all ways, not in name only.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your Highness, how can I say to the Prince&mdash;&lsquo;So much shall you love
+      this or that woman and no more?&rsquo; Moreover, why do you fear that which has
+      not and may never come about?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not know how you can say such a thing, Scribe, still I ask you to
+      say it if you can. As to why I fear, it is because I seem to feel the near
+      shadow of some woman lying cold upon me and building a wall of blackness
+      between his Highness and myself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is but a dream, Princess.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mayhap. I hope so. Yet I think otherwise. Oh! Ana, cannot you, who study
+      the hearts of men and women, understand my case? I have married where I
+      can never hope to be loved as other women are, I who am a wife, yet not a
+      wife. I read your thought; it is&mdash;why then did you marry? Since I
+      have told you so much I will tell you that also. First, it is because the
+      Prince is different to other men and in his own fashion above them, yes,
+      far above any with whom I could have wed as royal heiress of Egypt.
+      Secondly, because being cut off from love, what remains to me but
+      ambition? At least I would be a great queen, as was Hatshepu in her day,
+      and lift my country out of the many troubles in which it is sunk and write
+      my name large upon the books of history, which I could only do by taking
+      Pharaoh&rsquo;s heir to husband, as is my duty.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She brooded a while, then added, &ldquo;Now I have shown you all my thought.
+      Whether I have been wise to do so the gods know alone and time will tell
+      me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Princess,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;I thank you for trusting me and I will help you if I
+      may. Yet I am troubled. I, a humble man if of good blood, who a little
+      while ago was but a scribe and a student, a dreamer who had known trouble
+      also, have suddenly by chance, or some divine decree, been lifted high in
+      the favour of the heir of Egypt, and it would seem have even won your
+      trust. Now I wonder how I shall bear myself in this new place which in
+      truth I never sought.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not know, who find the present and its troubles enough to carry.
+      But, doubtless, the decree of which you speak that set you there has also
+      written down what will be the end of all. Meanwhile, I have a gift for
+      you. Say, Scribe, have you ever handled any weapon besides a pen?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, your Highness, as a lad I was skilled in sword play. Moreover,
+      though I do not love war and bloodshed, some years ago I fought in the
+      great battle between the Ninebow Barbarians, when Pharaoh called upon the
+      young men of Memphis to do their part. With my own hands I slew two in
+      fair fight, though one nearly brought me to my end,&rdquo; and I pointed to a
+      scar which showed red through my grey hair where a spear had bitten deep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well, or so I think, who love soldiers better than stainers of
+      papyrus pith.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, going to a painted chest of reeds, she took from it a wonderful
+      shirt of mail fashioned of bronze rings, and a short sword also of bronze,
+      having a golden hilt of which the end was shaped to the likeness of the
+      head of a lion, and with her own hands gave them to me, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These are spoils that my grandsire, the great Rameses, took in his youth
+      from a prince of the Khitah, whom he smote with his own hands in Syria in
+      that battle whereof your grandfather made the poem. Wear the shirt, which
+      no spear will pierce, beneath your robe and gird the sword about you when
+      you go down yonder among the Israelites, whom I do not trust. I have given
+      a like coat to the Prince. Let it be your duty to see that it is upon his
+      sacred person day and night. Let it be your duty also, if need arises,
+      with this sword to defend him to the death. Farewell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;May all the gods reject me from the Fields of the Blessed if I fail in
+      this trust,&rdquo; I answered, and departed wondering, to seek sleep which, as
+      it chanced, I was not to find for a while.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For as I went down the corridor, led by one of the ladies of the
+      household, whom should I find waiting at the end of it but old Pambasa to
+      inform me with many bows that the Prince needed my presence. I asked how
+      that could be seeing he had dismissed me for the night. He replied that he
+      did not know, but he was commanded to conduct me to the private chamber,
+      the same room in which I had first seen his Highness. Thither I went and
+      found him warming himself at the fire, for the night was cold. Looking up
+      he bade Pambasa admit those who were waiting, then noting the shirt of
+      mail and the sword I carried in my hand, said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You have been with the Princess, have you not, and she must have had much
+      to say to you for your talk was long? Well, I think I can guess its
+      purport who from a child have known her mind. She told you to watch me
+      well, body and heart and all that comes from the heart&mdash;oh! and much
+      else. Also she gave you that Syrian gear to wear among the Hebrews as she
+      has given the like to me, being of a careful mind which foresees
+      everything. Now, hearken, Ana; I grieve to keep you from your rest, who
+      must be weary both with talk and travel. But old Bakenkhonsu, whom you
+      know, waits without, and with him Ki the great magician, whom I think you
+      have not seen. He is a man of wonderful lore and in some ways not
+      altogether human. At least he does strange feats of magic, and at times
+      both the past and the future seem to be open to his sight, though as we
+      know neither the one nor the other, who can tell whether he reads them
+      truly. Doubtless he has, or thinks he has, some message to me from the
+      heavens, which I thought you might wish to hear.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wish it much, Prince, if I am worthy, and you will protect me from the
+      anger of this magician whom I fear.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Anger sometimes turns to trust, Ana. Did you not find it so just now in
+      the case of her Highness, as I told you might very well happen? Hush! They
+      come. Be seated and prepare your tablets to make record of what they say.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The curtains were drawn and through them came the aged Bakenkhonsu leaning
+      upon his staff, and with him another man, Ki himself, clad in a white robe
+      and having his head shaven, for he was an hereditary priest of Amon of
+      Thebes and an initiate of Isis, Mother of Mysteries. Also his office was
+      that of Kherheb, or chief magician of Egypt. At first sight there was
+      nothing strange about this man. Indeed, he might well have been a
+      middle-aged merchant by his looks; in body he was short and stout; in face
+      fat and smiling. But in this jovial countenance were set two very strange
+      eyes, grey-hued rather than black. While the rest of the face seemed to
+      smile these eyes looked straight into nothingness as do those of a statue.
+      Indeed they were like to the eyes or rather the eye-places of a stone
+      statue, so deeply were they set into the head. For my part I can only say
+      I thought them awful, and by their look judged that whatever Ki might be
+      he was no cheat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This strange pair bowed to the Prince and seated themselves at a sign from
+      him, Bakenkhonsu upon a stool because he found it difficult to rise, and
+      Ki, who was younger, scribe fashion on the ground.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What did I tell you, Bakenkhonsu?&rdquo; said Ki in a full, rich voice, ending
+      the words with a curious chuckle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You told me, Magician, that we should find the Prince in this chamber of
+      which you described every detail to me as I see it now, although neither
+      of us have entered it before. You said also that seated therein on the
+      ground would be the scribe Ana, whom I know but you do not, having in his
+      hands waxen tablets and a stylus and by him a coat of curious mail and a
+      lion-hilted sword.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is strange,&rdquo; interrupted the Prince, &ldquo;but forgive me, Bakenkhonsu
+      sees these things. If you, O Ki, would tell us what is written upon Ana&rsquo;s
+      tablets which neither of you can see, it would be stranger still, that is
+      if anything is written.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Ki smiled and stared upwards at the ceiling. Presently he said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The scribe Ana uses a shorthand of his own that is not easy to decipher.
+      Yet I see written on the tablets the price he obtained for some house in a
+      city that is not named&mdash;it is so much. Also I see the sums he
+      disbursed for himself, a servant, and the food of an ass at two inns where
+      he stopped upon a journey. They are so much and so much. Also there is a
+      list of papyrus rolls and the words, &lsquo;blue cloak,&rsquo; and then an erasure.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is that right, Ana?&rdquo; asked the Prince.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Quite right,&rdquo; I answered with awe, &ldquo;only the words &lsquo;blue cloak,&rsquo; which it
+      is true I wrote upon the tablet, have also been erased.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Ki chuckled and turned his eyes from the ceiling to my face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Would your Highness wish me to tell you anything of what is written upon
+      the tablets of this scribe&rsquo;s memory as well as upon those of wax which he
+      holds in his hand? They are easier to decipher than the others and I see
+      on them many things of interest. For instance, secret words that seem to
+      have been said to him by some Great One within an hour, matters of high
+      policy, I think. For instance, a certain saying, I think of your
+      Highness&rsquo;s, as to shivering upon the edge of water on a cold day, which
+      when entered produced heat, and the answer thereto. For instance, words
+      that were spoken in this palace when an alabaster cup was broke. By the
+      way, Scribe, that was a very good place you chose in which to hide one
+      half of the cup in the false bottom of a chest in your chamber, a chest
+      that is fastened with a cord and sealed with a scarab of the time of the
+      second Rameses. I think that the other half of the cup is somewhat nearer
+      at hand,&rdquo; and turning, he stared at the wall where I could see nothing
+      save slabs of alabaster.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now I sat open-mouthed, for how could this man know these things, and the
+      Prince laughed outright, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ana, I begin to think you keep your counsel ill. At least I should think
+      so, were it not that you have had no time to tell what the Princess yonder
+      may have said to you, and can scarcely know the trick of the sliding panel
+      in that wall which I have never shown to you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Ki chuckled again and a smile grew on old Bakenkhonsu&rsquo;s broad and wrinkled
+      face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Prince,&rdquo; I began, &ldquo;I swear to you that never has one word passed my
+      lips of aught&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know it, friend,&rdquo; broke in the Prince, &ldquo;but it seems there are some who
+      do not wait for words but can read the Book of Thought. Therefore it is
+      not well to meet them too often, since all have thoughts that should be
+      known only to them and God. Magician, what is your business with me? Speak
+      on as though we were alone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This, Prince. You go upon a journey among the Hebrews, as all have heard.
+      Now, Bakenkhonsu and I, also two seers of my College, seeing that we all
+      love you and that your welfare is much to Egypt, have separately sought
+      out the future as regards the issue of this journey. Although what we have
+      learned differs in some matters, on others it is the same. Therefore we
+      thought it our duty to tell you what we have learned.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Say on, Kherheb.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;First, then, that your Highness&rsquo;s life will be in danger.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Life is always in danger, Ki. Shall I lose it? If so, do not fear to tell
+      me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We do not know, but we think not, because of the rest that is revealed to
+      us. We learn that it is not your body only that will be in danger. Upon
+      this journey you will see a woman whom you will come to love. This woman
+      will, we think, bring you much sorrow and also much joy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then perhaps the journey is worth making, Ki, since many travel far
+      before they find aught they can love. Tell me, have I met this woman?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There we are troubled, Prince, for it would seem&mdash;unless we are
+      deceived&mdash;that you have met her often and often; that you have known
+      her for thousands of years, as you have known that man at your side for
+      thousands of years.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Seti&rsquo;s face grew very interested.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do you mean, Magician?&rdquo; he asked, eyeing him keenly. &ldquo;How can I who
+      am still young have known a woman and a man for thousands of years?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Ki considered him with his strange eyes, and answered:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You have many titles, Prince. Is not one of them &lsquo;Lord of Rebirths,&rsquo; and
+      if so, how did you get it and what does it mean?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is. What it means I do not know, but it was given to me because of
+      some dream that my mother had the night before I was born. Do <i>you</i>
+      tell <i>me</i> what it means, since you seem to know so much.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I cannot, Prince. The secret is not one that has been shown to me. Yet
+      there was an aged man, a magician like myself from whom I learned much in
+      my youth&mdash;Bakenkhonsu knew him well&mdash;who made a study of this
+      matter. He told me he was sure, because it had been revealed to him, that
+      men do not live once only and then depart hence for ever. He said that
+      they live many times and in many shapes, though not always on this world,
+      and that between each life there is a wall of darkness.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If so, of what use are lives which we do not remember after death has
+      shut the door of each of them?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The doors may open again at last, Prince, and show us all the chambers
+      through which our feet have wandered from the beginning.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Our religion teaches us, Ki, that after death we live eternally elsewhere
+      in our own bodies, which we find again on the day of resurrection. Now
+      eternity, having no end, can have no beginning; it is a circle. Therefore
+      if the one be true, namely that we live on, it would seem that the other
+      must be true, namely that we have always lived.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is well reasoned, Prince. In the early days, before the priests
+      froze the thought of man into blocks of stone and built of them shrines to
+      a thousand gods, many held that this reasoning was true, as then they held
+      that there was but one god.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As do these Israelites whom I go to visit. What say you of their god,
+      Ki?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That <i>he</i> is the same as our gods, Prince. To men&rsquo;s eyes God has
+      many faces, and each swears that the one he sees is the only true god. Yet
+      they are wrong, for all are true.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Or perchance false, Ki, unless even falsehood is a part of truth. Well,
+      you have told me of two dangers, one to my body and one to my heart. Has
+      any other been revealed to your wisdom?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, Prince. The third is that this journey may in the end cost you your
+      throne.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If I die certainly it will cost me my throne.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, Prince, if you live.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Even so, Ki, I think that I could endure life seated more humbly than on
+      a throne, though whether her Highness could endure it is another matter.
+      Then you say that if I go upon this journey another will be Pharaoh in my
+      place.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We do not say that, Prince. It is true that our arts have shown us
+      another filling your place in a time of wizardry and wonders and of the
+      death of thousands. Yet when we look again we see not that other but you
+      once more filling your own place.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Here I, Ana, bethought me of my vision in Pharaoh&rsquo;s hall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The matter is even worse than I thought, Ki, since having once left the
+      crown behind me, I think that I should have no wish to wear it any more,&rdquo;
+       said Seti. &ldquo;Who shows you all these things, and how?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Our <i>Kas</i>, which are our secret selves, show them to us, Prince, and
+      in many ways. Sometimes it is by dreams or visions, sometimes by pictures
+      on water, sometimes by writings in the desert sand. In all these fashions,
+      and by others, our <i>Kas</i>, drawing from the infinite well of wisdom
+      that is hidden in the being of every man, give us glimpses of the truth,
+      as they give us who are instructed power to work marvels.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of the truth. Then these things you tell me are true?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We believe so, Prince.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then being true must happen. So what is the use of your warning me
+      against what must happen? There cannot be two truths. What would you have
+      me do? Not go upon this journey? Why have you told me that I must not go,
+      since if I did not go the truth would become a lie, which it cannot? You
+      say it is fated that I should go and because I go such and such things
+      will come about. And yet you tell me not to go, for that is what you mean.
+      Oh! Kherheb Ki and Bakenkhonsu, doubtless you are great magicians and
+      strong in wisdom, but there are greater than you who rule the world, and
+      there is a wisdom to which yours is but as a drop of water to the Nile. I
+      thank you for your warnings, but to-morrow I go down to the land of Goshen
+      to fulfil the commands of Pharaoh. If I come back again we will talk more
+      of these matters here upon the earth. If I do not come back, perchance we
+      will talk of them elsewhere. Farewell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VI
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE LAND OF GOSHEN
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      The Prince Seti and all his train, a very great company, came in safety to
+      the land of Goshen, I, Ana, travelling with him in his chariot. It was
+      then as now a rich land, quite flat after the last line of desert hills
+      through which we travelled by a narrow, tortuous path. Everywhere it was
+      watered by canals, between which lay the grain fields wherein the seed had
+      just been sown. Also there were other fields of green fodder whereon were
+      tethered beasts by the hundred, and beyond these, upon the drier soil,
+      grazed flocks of sheep. The town Goshen, if so it could be called, was but
+      a poor place, numbers of mud huts, no more, in the centre of which stood a
+      building, also of mud, with two brick pillars in front of it, that we were
+      told was the temple of this people, into the inner parts of which none
+      might enter save their High-priest. I laughed at the sight of it, but the
+      Prince reproved me, saying that I should not judge the spirit by the body,
+      or of the god by his house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We camped outside this town and soon learned that the people who dwelt in
+      it or elsewhere in other towns must be numbered by the ten thousand, for
+      more of them than I could count wandered round the camp to look at us. The
+      men were fierce-eyed and hook-nosed; the young women well-shaped and
+      pleasant to behold; the older women for the most part stout and somewhat
+      unwieldy, and the children very beautiful. All were roughly clad in robes
+      of loosely-woven, dark-coloured cloth, beneath which the women wore
+      garments of white linen. Notwithstanding the wealth we saw about us in
+      corn and cattle, their ornaments seemed to be few, or perhaps these were
+      hidden from our sight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was easy to see that they hated us Egyptians, and even dared to despise
+      us. Hate shone in their glittering eyes, and I heard them calling us the
+      &lsquo;idol-worshippers&rsquo; one to the other, and asking where was our god, the
+      Bull, for being ignorant they thought that we worshipped Apis (as mayhap
+      some of the common people do) instead of looking upon the sacred beast as
+      a symbol of the powers of Nature. Indeed they did more, for on the first
+      night after our coming they slaughtered a bull marked much as Apis is, and
+      in the morning we found it lying near the gate of the camp, and pinned to
+      its hide with sharp thorns great numbers of the scarabæus beetle still
+      living. For again they did not know that among us Egyptians this beetle is
+      no god but an emblem of the Creator, because it rolls a ball of mud
+      between its feet and sets therein its eggs to hatch, as the Creator rolls
+      the world that seems to be round, and causes it to produce life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now all were angry at these insults except the Prince, who laughed and
+      said that he thought the jest coarse but clever. But worse was to happen.
+      It seems that a soldier with wine in him had done insult to a Hebrew
+      maiden who came alone to draw water at a canal. The news spread among the
+      people and some thousands of them rushed to the camp, shouting and
+      demanding vengeance in so threatening a manner that it was necessary to
+      form up the regiments of guards.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince being summoned commanded that the girl and her kin should be
+      admitted and state their case. She came, weeping and wailing and tearing
+      her garments, throwing dust on her head also, though it appeared that she
+      had taken no great harm from the soldier from whom she ran away. The
+      Prince bade her point out the man if she could see him, and she showed us
+      one of the bodyguard of the Count Amenmeses, whose face was scratched as
+      though by a woman&rsquo;s nails. On being questioned he said he could remember
+      little of the matter, but confessed that he had seen the maiden by the
+      canal at moonrise and jested with her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The kin of this girl clamoured that he should be killed, because he had
+      offered insult to a high-born lady of Israel. This Seti refused, saying
+      that the offence was not one of death, but that he would order him to be
+      publicly beaten. Thereupon Amenmeses, who was fond of the soldier, a good
+      man enough when not in his cups, sprang up in a rage, saying that no
+      servant of his should be touched because he had offered to caress some
+      light Israelitish woman who had no business to be wandering about alone at
+      night. He added that if the man were flogged he and all those under his
+      command would leave the camp and march back to make report to Pharaoh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now the Prince, having consulted with the councillors, told the woman and
+      her kin that as Pharaoh had been appealed to, he must judge of the matter,
+      and commanded them to appear at his court within a month and state their
+      case against the soldier. They went away very ill-satisfied, saying that
+      Amenmeses had insulted their daughter even more than his servant had done.
+      The end of this matter was that on the following night this soldier was
+      discovered dead, pierced through and through with knife thrusts. The girl,
+      her parents and brethren could not be found, having fled away into the
+      desert, nor was there any evidence to show by whom the soldier had been
+      murdered. Therefore nothing could be done in the business except bury the
+      victim.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the following morning the Inquiry began with due ceremony, the Prince
+      Seti and the Count Amenmeses taking their seats at the head of a large
+      pavilion with the councillors behind them and the scribes, among whom I
+      was, seated at their feet. Then we learned that the two prophets whom I
+      had seen at Pharaoh&rsquo;s court were not in the land of Goshen, having left
+      before we arrived &ldquo;to sacrifice to God in the wilderness,&rdquo; nor did any
+      know when they would return. Other elders and priests, however, appeared
+      and began to set out their case, which they did at great length and in a
+      fierce and turbulent fashion, speaking often all of them at once, thus
+      making it difficult for the interpreters to render their words, since they
+      pretended that they did not know the Egyptian tongue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Moreover they told their story from the very beginning, when they had
+      entered Egypt hundreds of years before and were succoured by the vizier of
+      the Pharaoh of that day, one Yusuf, a powerful and clever man of their
+      race who stored corn in a time of famine and low Niles. This Pharaoh was
+      of the Hyksos people, one of the Shepherd kings whom we Egyptians hated
+      and after many wars drove out of Khem. Under these Shepherd kings, being
+      joined by many of their own blood, the Israelites grew rich and powerful,
+      so that the Pharaohs who came after and who loved them not, began to fear
+      them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This was as far as the story was taken on the first day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the second day began the tale of their oppression, under which,
+      however, they still multiplied like gnats upon the Nile, and grew so
+      strong and numerous that at length the great Rameses did a wicked thing,
+      ordering that their male children should be put to death. This order was
+      never carried out, because his daughter, she who found Moses among the
+      reeds of the river, pleaded for them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At this point the Prince, wearied with the noise and heat in that crowded
+      place, broke off the sitting until the morrow. Commanding me to accompany
+      him, he ordered a chariot, not his own, to be made ready, and, although I
+      prayed him not to do so, set out unguarded save for myself and the
+      charioteer, saying that he would see how these people laboured with his
+      own eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Taking a Hebrew lad to run before the horses as our guide, we drove to the
+      banks of a canal where the Israelites made bricks of mud which, after
+      drying in the sun, were laden into boats that waited for them on the canal
+      and taken away to other parts of Egypt to be used on Pharaoh&rsquo;s works.
+      Thousands of men were engaged upon this labour, toiling in gangs under the
+      command of Egyptian overseers who kept count of the bricks, cutting their
+      number upon tally sticks, or sometimes writing them upon sherds. These
+      overseers were brutal fellows, for the most part of the low class, who
+      used vile language to the slaves. Nor were they content with words. Noting
+      a crowd gathered at one place and hearing cries, we went to see what
+      passed. Here we found a lad stretched upon the ground being cruelly beaten
+      with hide whips, so that the blood ran down him. At a sign from the Prince
+      I asked what he had done and was told roughly, for the overseers and their
+      guards did not know who we were, that during the past six days he had only
+      made half of his allotted tale of bricks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Loose him,&rdquo; said the Prince quietly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who are you that give me orders?&rdquo; asked the head overseer, who was
+      helping to hold the lad while the guards flogged him. &ldquo;Begone, lest I
+      serve you as I serve this idle fellow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Seti looked at him, and as he looked his lips turned white.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell him,&rdquo; he said to me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You dog!&rdquo; I gasped. &ldquo;Do you know who it is to whom you dare to speak
+      thus?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, nor care. Lay on, guard.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince, whose robes were hidden by a wide-sleeved cloak of common
+      stuff and make, threw the cloak open revealing beneath it the pectoral he
+      had worn in the Court, a beautiful thing of gold whereon were inscribed
+      his royal names and titles in black and red enamel. Also he held up his
+      right hand on which was a signet of Pharaoh&rsquo;s that he wore as his
+      commissioner. The men stared, then one of them who was more learned than
+      the rest cried:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By the gods! this is his Highness the Prince of Egypt!&rdquo; at which words
+      all of them fell upon their faces.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Rise,&rdquo; said Seti to the lad who looked at him, forgetting his pain in his
+      wonderment, &ldquo;and tell me why you have not delivered your tale of bricks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sir,&rdquo; sobbed the boy in bad Egyptian, &ldquo;for two reasons. First, because I
+      am a cripple, see,&rdquo; and he held up his left arm which was withered and
+      thin as a mummy&rsquo;s, &ldquo;and therefore cannot work quickly. Secondly, because
+      my mother, whose only child I am, is a widow and lies sick in bed, so that
+      there are no women or children in our home who can go out to gather straw
+      for me, as Pharaoh has commanded that we should do. Therefore I must spend
+      many hours in searching for straw, since I have no means wherewith to pay
+      others to do this for me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ana,&rdquo; said the Prince, &ldquo;write down this youth&rsquo;s name with the place of
+      his abode, and if his tale prove true, see that his wants and those of his
+      mother are relieved before we depart from Goshen. Write down also the
+      names of this overseer and his fellows and command them to report
+      themselves at my camp to-morrow at sunrise, when their case shall be
+      considered. Say to the lad also that, being one afflicted by the gods,
+      Pharaoh frees him from the making of bricks and all other labour of the
+      State.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now while I did these things the overseer and his companions beat their
+      heads upon the ground and prayed for mercy, being cowards as the cruel
+      always are. His Highness answered them never a word, but only looked at
+      them with cold eyes, and I noted that his face which was so kind had grown
+      terrible. So those men thought also, for that night they ran away to
+      Syria, leaving their families and all their goods behind them, nor were
+      they ever seen again in Egypt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When I had finished writing the Prince turned and, walking to where the
+      chariot waited, bade the driver cross the canal by a bridge there was
+      here. We drove on a while in silence, following a track which ran between
+      the cultivated land and the desert. At length I pointed to the sinking sun
+      and asked if it were not time to return.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why?&rdquo; replied the Prince. &ldquo;The sun dies, but there rises the full moon to
+      give us light, and what have we to fear with swords at our sides and her
+      Highness Userti&rsquo;s mail beneath our robes? Oh! Ana, I am weary of men with
+      their cruelties and shouts and strugglings, and I find this wilderness a
+      place of rest, for in it I seem to draw nearer to my own soul and the
+      Heaven whence it came, or so I hope.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your Highness is fortunate to have a soul to which he cares to draw near;
+      it is not so with all of us;&rdquo; I answered laughing, for I sought to change
+      the current of his thoughts by provoking argument of a sort that he loved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Just then, however, the horses, which were not of the best, came to a halt
+      on a slope of heavy sand. Nor would Seti allow the driver to flog them,
+      but commanded him to let them rest a space. While they did so we descended
+      from the chariot and walked up the desert rise, he leaning on my arm. As
+      we reached its crest we heard sobs and a soft voice speaking on the
+      further side. Who it was that spoke and sobbed we could not see, because
+      of a line of tamarisk shrubs which once had been a fence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;More cruelty, or at least more sorrow,&rdquo; whispered Seti. &ldquo;Let us look.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So we crept to the tamarisks, and peeping through their feathery tops, saw
+      a very sweet sight in the pure rays of that desert moon. There, not five
+      paces away, stood a woman clad in white, young and shapely in form. Her
+      face we could not see because it was turned from us, also the long dark
+      hair which streamed about her shoulders hid it. She was praying aloud,
+      speaking now in Hebrew, of which both of us knew something, and now in
+      Egyptian, as does one who is accustomed to think in either tongue, and
+      stopping from time to time to sob.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O God of my people,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;send me succour and bring me safe home,
+      that Thy child may not be left alone in the wilderness to become the prey
+      of wild beasts, or of men who are worse than beasts.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then she sobbed, knelt down on a great bundle which I saw was stubble
+      straw, and again began to pray. This time it was in Egyptian, as though
+      she feared lest the Hebrew should be overheard and understood.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O God,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;O God of my fathers, help my poor heart, help my poor
+      heart!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      We were about to withdraw, or rather to ask her what she ailed, when
+      suddenly she turned her head, so that the light fell full upon her face.
+      So lovely was it that I caught my breath and the Prince at my side
+      started. Indeed it was more than lovely, for as a lamp shines through an
+      alabaster vase or a shell of pearl so did the spirit within this woman
+      shine through her tear-stained face, making it mysterious as the night.
+      Then I understood, perhaps for the first time, that it is the spirit which
+      gives true beauty both to maid and man and not the flesh. The white vase
+      of alabaster, however shapely, is still a vase alone; it is the hidden
+      lamp within that graces it with the glory of a star. And those eyes, those
+      large, dreaming eyes aswim with tears and hued like richest lapis-lazuli,
+      oh! what man could look on them and not be stirred?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Merapi!&rdquo; I whispered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Moon of Israel!&rdquo; murmured Seti, &ldquo;filled with the moon, lovely as the
+      moon, mystic as the moon and worshipping the moon, her mother.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is in trouble; let us help her,&rdquo; I said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, wait a while, Ana, for never again shall you and I see such a sight
+      as this.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Low as we spoke beneath our breath, I think the lady heard us. At least
+      her face changed and grew frightened. Hastily she rose, lifted the great
+      bundle of straw upon which she had been kneeling and placed it on her
+      head. She ran a few steps, then stumbled and sank down with a little moan
+      of pain. In an instant we were at her side. She stared at us affrighted,
+      for who we were she could not see because of the wide hoods of our common
+      cloaks that made us look like midnight thieves, or slave-dealing Bedouin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! Sirs,&rdquo; she babbled, &ldquo;harm me not. I have nothing of value on me save
+      this amulet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who are you and what do you here?&rdquo; asked the Prince disguising his voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sirs, I am Merapi, the daughter of Nathan the Levite, he whom the
+      accursed Egyptian captain, Khuaka, murdered at Tanis.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How do you dare to call the Egyptians accursed?&rdquo; asked Seti in tones made
+      gruff to hide his laughter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! Sirs, because they are&mdash;I mean because I thought you were Arabs
+      who hate them, as we do. At least this Egyptian was accursed, for the high
+      Prince Seti, Pharaoh&rsquo;s heir, caused him to be beheaded for that crime.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And do you hate the high Prince Seti, Pharaoh&rsquo;s heir, and call him
+      accursed?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She hesitated, then in a doubtful voice said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, I do not hate him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why not, seeing that you hate the Egyptians of whom he is one of the
+      first and therefore twice worthy of hatred, being the son of your
+      oppressor, Pharaoh?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Because, although I have tried my best, I cannot. Also,&rdquo; she added with
+      the joy of one who has found a good reason, &ldquo;he avenged my father.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is no cause, girl, seeing that he only did what the law forced him
+      to do. They say that this dog of a Pharaoh&rsquo;s son is here in Goshen upon
+      some mission. Is it true, and have you seen him? Answer, for we of the
+      desert folk desire to know.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I believe it is true, Sir, but I have not seen him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why not, if he is here?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Because I do not wish to, Sir. Why should a daughter of Israel desire to
+      look upon the face of a prince of Egypt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In truth I do not know,&rdquo; replied Seti forgetting his feigned voice. Then,
+      seeing that she glanced at him sharply, he added in gruff tones:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Brother, either this woman lies or she is none other than the maid they
+      call Moon of Israel who dwells with old Jabez the Levite, her uncle. What
+      think you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think, Brother, that she lies, and for three reasons,&rdquo; I answered,
+      falling into the jest. &ldquo;First, she is too fair to be of the black Hebrew
+      blood.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! Sir,&rdquo; moaned Merapi, &ldquo;my mother was a Syrian lady of the mountains,
+      with a skin as white as milk, and eyes blue as the heavens.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Secondly,&rdquo; I went on without heeding her, &ldquo;if the great Prince Seti is
+      really in Goshen and she dwells there, it is unnatural that she should not
+      have gone to look upon him. Being a woman only two things would have kept
+      her away, one&mdash;that she feared and hated him, which she denies, and
+      the other&mdash;that she liked him too well, and, being prudent, thought
+      it wisest not to look upon him more.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      When she heard the first of these words, Merapi glanced up with her lips
+      parted as though to answer. Instead, she dropped her eyes and suddenly
+      seemed to choke, while even in the moonlight I saw the red blood pour to
+      her brow and along her white arms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sir,&rdquo; she gasped, &ldquo;why should you affront me? I swear that never till
+      this moment did I think such a thing. Surely it would be treason.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Without doubt,&rdquo; interrupted Seti, &ldquo;yet one of a sort that kings might
+      pardon.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thirdly,&rdquo; I went on as though I had heard neither of them, &ldquo;if this girl
+      were what she declares, she would not be wandering alone in the desert at
+      night, seeing that I have heard among the Arabs that Merapi, daughter of
+      Nathan the Levite, is a lady of no mean blood among the Hebrews and that
+      her family has wealth. Still, however much she lies, we can see for
+      ourselves that she is beautiful.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, Brother, in that we are fortunate, since without doubt she will sell
+      for a high price among the slave traders beyond the desert.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! Sir,&rdquo; cried Merapi seizing the hem of his robe, &ldquo;surely you who I
+      feel, I know not why, are no evil thief, you who have a mother and,
+      perchance, sisters, would not doom a maiden to such a fate. Misjudge me
+      not because I am alone. Pharaoh has commanded that we must find straw for
+      the making of bricks. This morning I came far to search for it on behalf
+      of a neighbour whose wife is ill in childbed. But towards sundown I
+      slipped and cut myself upon the edge of a sharp stone. See,&rdquo; and holding
+      up her foot she showed a wound beneath the instep from which the blood
+      still dropped, a sight that moved both of us not a little, &ldquo;and now I
+      cannot walk and carry this heavy straw which I have been at such pains to
+      gather.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perchance she speaks truth, Brother,&rdquo; said the Prince, &ldquo;and if we took
+      her home we might earn no small reward from Jabez the Levite. But first
+      tell me, Maiden, what was that prayer which you made to the moon, that
+      Hathor should help your heart?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sir,&rdquo; she answered, &ldquo;only the idolatrous Egyptians pray to Hathor, the
+      Lady of Love.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thought that all the world prayed to the Lady of Love, Maiden. But what
+      of the prayer? Is there some man whom you desire?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;None,&rdquo; she answered angrily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then why does your heart need so much help that you ask it of the air? Is
+      there perchance someone whom you do <i>not</i> desire?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She hung her head and made no answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come, Brother,&rdquo; said the Prince, &ldquo;this lady is weary of us, and I think
+      that if she were a true woman she would answer our questions more readily.
+      Let us go and leave her. As she cannot walk we can take her later if we
+      wish.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sirs,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;I am glad that you are going, since the hyenas will be
+      safer company than two men who can threaten to sell a helpless woman into
+      slavery. Yet as we part to meet no more I will answer your question. In
+      the prayer to which you were not ashamed to listen I did not pray for any
+      lover, I prayed to be rid of one.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, Ana,&rdquo; said the Prince bursting into laughter and throwing back his
+      dark cloak, &ldquo;do you discover the name of that unhappy man of whom the lady
+      Merapi wishes to be rid, for I dare not.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She gazed into his face and uttered a little cry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;I thought I knew the voice again when once you forget
+      your part. Prince Seti, does your Highness think that this was a kind jest
+      to practise upon one alone and in fear?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lady Merapi,&rdquo; he answered smiling, &ldquo;be not wroth, for at least it was a
+      good one and you have told us nothing that we did not know. You may
+      remember that at Tanis you said that you were affianced and there was that
+      in your voice&mdash;&mdash;. Suffer me now to tend this wound of yours.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then he knelt down, tore a strip from his ceremonial robe of fine linen,
+      and began to bind up her foot, not unskilfully, being a man full of
+      strange and unexpected knowledge. As he worked at the task, watching them,
+      I saw their eyes meet, saw too that rich flood of colour creep once more
+      to Merapi&rsquo;s brow. Then I began to think it unseemly that the Prince of
+      Egypt should play the leech to a woman&rsquo;s hurts, and to wonder why he had
+      not left that humble task to me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Presently the bandaging was done and made fast with a royal scarabæus
+      mounted on a pin of gold, which the Prince wore in his garments. On it was
+      cut the uræus crown and beneath it were the signs which read &ldquo;Lord of the
+      Lower and the Upper Land,&rdquo; being Pharaoh&rsquo;s style and title.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See now, Lady,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you have Egypt beneath your foot,&rdquo; and when she
+      asked him what he meant, he read her the writing upon the jewel, whereat
+      for the third time she coloured to the eyes. Then he lifted her up,
+      instructing her to rest her weight upon his shoulder, saying he feared
+      lest the scarab, which he valued, should be broken.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus we started, I bearing the bundle of straw behind as he bade me,
+      since, he said, having been gathered with such toil, it must not be lost.
+      On reaching the chariot, where we found the guide gone and the driver
+      asleep, he sat her in it upon his cloak, and wrapped her in mine which he
+      borrowed, saying I should not need it who must carry the straw. Then he
+      mounted also and they drove away at a foot&rsquo;s pace. As I walked after the
+      chariot with the straw that fell about my ears, I heard nothing of their
+      further talk, if indeed they talked at all which, the driver being
+      present, perhaps they did not. Nor in truth did I listen who was engaged
+      in thought as to the hard lot of these poor Hebrews, who must collect this
+      dirty stuff and bear it so far, made heavy as it was by the clay that
+      clung about the roots.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Even now, as it chanced, we did not reach Goshen without further trouble.
+      Just as we had crossed the bridge over the canal I, toiling behind, saw in
+      the clear moonlight a young man running towards us. He was a Hebrew, tall,
+      well-made and very handsome in his fashion. His eyes were dark and fierce,
+      his nose was hooked, his teeth where regular and white, and his long,
+      black hair hung down in a mass upon his shoulders. He held a wooden staff
+      in his hand and a naked knife was girded about his middle. Seeing the
+      chariot he halted and peered at it, then asked in Hebrew if those who
+      travelled had seen aught of a young Israelitish lady who was lost.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you seek me, Laban, I am here,&rdquo; replied Merapi, speaking from the
+      shadow of the cloak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do you there alone with an Egyptian, Merapi?&rdquo; he said fiercely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      What followed I do not know for they spoke so quickly in their unfamiliar
+      tongue that I could not understand them. At length Merapi turned to the
+      Prince, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lord, this is Laban my affianced, who commands me to descend from the
+      chariot and accompany him as best I can.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And I, Lady, command you to stay in it. Laban your affianced can
+      accompany us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now at this Laban grew angry, as I could see he was prone to do, and
+      stretched out his hand as though to push Seti aside and seize Merapi.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have a care, man,&rsquo; said the Prince, while I, throwing down the straw,
+      drew my sword and sprang between them, crying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Slave, would you lay hands upon the Prince of Egypt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Prince of Egypt!&rdquo; he said, drawing back astonished, then added sullenly,
+      &ldquo;Well what does the Prince of Egypt with my affianced?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He helps her who is hurt to her home, having found her helpless in the
+      desert with this accursed straw,&rdquo; I answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Forward, driver,&rdquo; said the Prince, and Merapi added, &ldquo;Peace, Laban, and
+      bear the straw which his Highness&rsquo;s companion has carried such a weary
+      way.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He hesitated a moment, then snatched up the bundle and set it on his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As we walked side by side, his evil temper seemed to get the better of
+      him. Without ceasing, he grumbled because Merapi was alone in the chariot
+      with an Egyptian. At length I could bear it no longer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be silent, fellow,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Least of all men should you complain of what
+      his Highness does, seeing that already he has avenged the killing of this
+      lady&rsquo;s father, and now has saved her from lying out all night among the
+      wild beasts and men of the wilderness.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of the first I have heard more than enough,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;and of the
+      second doubtless I shall hear more than enough also. Ever since my
+      affianced met this prince, she has looked on me with different eyes and
+      spoken to me with another voice. Yes, and when I press for marriage, she
+      says it cannot be for a long while yet, because she is mourning for her
+      father; her father forsooth, whom she never forgave because he betrothed
+      her to me according to the custom of our people.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps she loves some other man?&rdquo; I queried, wishing to learn all I
+      could about this lady.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She loves no man, or did not a while ago. She loves herself alone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One with so much beauty may look high in marriage.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;High!&rdquo; he replied furiously. &ldquo;How can she look higher than myself who am
+      a lord of the line of Judah, and therefore greater far than an upstart
+      prince or any other Egyptian, were he Pharaoh himself?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Surely you must be trumpeter to your tribe,&rdquo; I mocked, for my temper was
+      rising.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why?&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;Are not the Hebrews greater than the Egyptians, as those
+      oppressors soon shall learn, and is not a lord of Israel more than any
+      idol-worshipper among your people?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I looked at the man clad in mean garments and foul from his labour in the
+      brickfield, marvelling at his insolence. There was no doubt but that he
+      believed what he said; I could see it in his proud eye and bearing. He
+      thought that his tribe was of more import in the world than our great and
+      ancient nation, and that he, an unknown youth, equalled or surpassed
+      Pharaoh himself. Then, being enraged by these insults, I answered:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You say so, but let us put it to the proof. I am but a scribe, yet I have
+      seen war. Linger a little that we may learn whether a lord of Israel is
+      better than a scribe of Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gladly would I chastise you, Writer,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;did I not see your
+      plot. You wish to delay me here, and perhaps to murder me by some foul
+      means, while your master basks in the smiles of the Moon of Israel.
+      Therefore I will not stay, but another time it shall be as you wish, and
+      perhaps ere long.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now I think that I should have struck him in the face, though I am not one
+      of those who love brawling. But at this moment there appeared a company of
+      Egyptian horse led by none other than the Count Amenmeses. Seeing the
+      Prince in the Chariot, they halted and gave the salute. Amenmeses leapt to
+      the ground.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We are come out to search for your Highness,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;fearing lest some
+      hurt had befallen you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thank you, Cousin,&rdquo; answered the Prince, &ldquo;but the hurt has befallen
+      another, not me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is well, your Highness,&rdquo; said the Count, studying Merapi with a
+      smile. &ldquo;Where is the lady wounded? Not in the breast, I trust.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, Cousin, in the foot, which is why she travels with me in this
+      chariot.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your Highness was ever kind to the unfortunate. I pray you let me take
+      your place, or suffer me to set this girl upon a horse.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Drive on,&rdquo; said Seti.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So, escorted by the soldiers, whom I heard making jests to each other
+      about the Prince and the lady, as I think did the Hebrew Laban also, for
+      he glared about him and ground his teeth, we came at last to the town.
+      Here, guided by Merapi, the chariot was halted at the house of Jabez her
+      uncle, a white-bearded old Hebrew with a cunning eye, who rushed from the
+      door of his mud-roofed dwelling crying he had done no harm that soldiers
+      should come to take him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is not you whom the Egyptians wish to capture, it is your niece and my
+      betrothed,&rdquo; shouted Laban, whereat the soldiers laughed, as did some women
+      who had gathered round. Meanwhile the Prince was helping Merapi to descend
+      out of the chariot, from which indeed he lifted her. The sight seemed to
+      madden Laban, who rushed forward to tear her from his arms, and in the
+      attempt jostled his Highness. The captain of the soldiers&mdash;he was an
+      officer of Pharaoh&rsquo;s bodyguard&mdash;lifted his sword in a fury and struck
+      Laban such a blow upon the head with the flat of the blade that he fell
+      upon his face and lay there groaning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Away with that Hebrew dog and scourge him!&rdquo; cried the captain. &ldquo;Is the
+      royal blood of Egypt to be handled by such as he?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Soldiers sprang forward to do his bidding, but Seti said quietly:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let the fellow be, friends; he lacks manners, that is all. Is he hurt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      As he spoke Laban leapt to his feet and, fearing worse things, fled away
+      with a curse and a glare of hate at the Prince.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Farewell, Lady,&rdquo; said Seti. &ldquo;I wish you a quick recovery.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thank your Highness,&rdquo; she answered, looking about her confusedly. &ldquo;Be
+      pleased to wait a little while that I may return to you your jewel.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, keep it, Lady, and if ever you are in need or trouble of any sort,
+      send it to me who know it well and you shall not lack succour.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She glanced at him and burst into tears.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why do you weep?&rdquo; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! your Highness, because I fear that trouble is near at hand. My
+      affianced, Laban, has a revengeful heart. Help me to the house, my uncle.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Listen, Hebrew,&rdquo; said Seti, raising his voice; &ldquo;if aught that is evil
+      befalls this niece of yours, or if she is forced to walk whither she would
+      not go, sorrow shall be your portion and that of all with whom you have to
+      do. Do you hear?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O my Lord, I hear, I hear. Fear nothing. She shall be guarded carefully
+      as&mdash;as she will doubtless guard that trinket on her foot.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ana,&rdquo; said the Prince to me that night, when I was talking with him
+      before he went to rest, &ldquo;I know not why, but I fear that man Laban; he has
+      an evil eye.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I too think it would have been better if your Highness had left him to be
+      dealt with by the soldiers, after which there would have been nothing to
+      fear from him in this world.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I did not, so there&rsquo;s an end. Ana, she is a fair woman and a
+      sweet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The fairest and the sweetest that ever I saw, my Prince.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be careful, Ana. I pray you be careful, lest you should fall in love with
+      one who is already affianced.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I only looked at him in answer, and as I looked I bethought me of the
+      words of Ki the Magician. So, I think, did the Prince; at least he laughed
+      not unhappily and turned away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For my part I rested ill that night, and when at last I slept, it was to
+      dream of Merapi making her prayer in the rays of the moon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VII
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE AMBUSH
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      Eight full days went by before we left the land of Goshen. The story that
+      the Israelites had to tell was long, sad also. Moreover, they gave
+      evidence as to many cruel things that they had suffered, and when this was
+      finished the testimony of the guards and others must be called, all of
+      which it was necessary to write down. Lastly, the Prince seemed to be in
+      no hurry to be gone, as he said because he hoped that the two prophets
+      would return from the wilderness, which they never did. During all this
+      time Seti saw no more of Merapi, nor indeed did he speak of her, even when
+      the Count Amenmeses jested him as to his chariot companion and asked him
+      if he had driven again in the desert by moonlight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I, however, saw her once. When I was wandering in the town one day towards
+      sunset, I met her walking with her uncle Jabez upon one side and her
+      lover, Laban, on the other, like a prisoner between two guards. I thought
+      she looked unhappy, but her foot seemed to be well again; at least she
+      moved without limping.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I stopped to salute her, but Laban scowled and hurried her away. Jabez
+      stayed behind and fell into talk with me. He told me that she was
+      recovered of her hurt, but that there had been trouble between her and
+      Laban because of all that happened on that evening when she came by it,
+      ending in his encounter with the captain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This young man seems to be of a jealous nature,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;one who will
+      make a harsh husband for any woman.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, learned scribe, jealousy has been his curse from youth as it is with
+      so many of our people, and I thank God that I am not the woman whom he is
+      to marry.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, then, do you suffer her to marry him, Jabez?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Because her father affianced her to this lion&rsquo;s whelp when she was scarce
+      more than a child, and among us that is a bond hard to break. For my own
+      part,&rdquo; he added, dropping his voice, and glancing round with shifting
+      eyes, &ldquo;I should like to see my niece in some different place to that of
+      the wife of Laban. With her great beauty and wit, she might become
+      anything&mdash;anything if she had opportunity. But under our laws, even
+      if Laban died, as might happen to so violent a man, she could wed no one
+      who is not a Hebrew.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thought she told us that her mother was a Syrian.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is so, Scribe Ana. She was a beautiful captive of war whom Nathan
+      came to love and made his wife, and the daughter takes after her. Still
+      she is Hebrew and of the Hebrew faith and congregation. Had it not been
+      so, she might have shone like a star, nay, like the very moon after which
+      she is named, perhaps in the court of Pharaoh himself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As the great queen Taia did, she who changed the religion of Egypt to the
+      worship of one god in a bygone generation,&rdquo; I suggested.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have heard of her, Scribe Ana. She was a wondrous woman, beautiful too
+      by her statues. Would that you Egyptians could find such another to turn
+      your hearts to a purer faith and to soften them towards us poor aliens.
+      When does his Highness leave the land of Goshen?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At sunrise on the third day from this.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Provision will be needed for the journey, much provision for so large a
+      train. I deal in sheep and other foodstuffs, Scribe Ana.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will mention the matter to his Highness and to the Vizier, Jabez.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thank you, Scribe, and will in waiting at the camp to-morrow morning.
+      See, Laban returns with Merapi. One word, let his Highness beware of
+      Laban. He is very revengeful and has not forgotten that sword-blow on the
+      head.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let Laban be careful,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;Had it not been for his Highness the
+      soldiers would have killed him the other night because he dared to offer
+      affront to the royal blood. A second time he will not escape. Moreover,
+      Pharaoh would avenge aught he did upon the people of Israel.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I understand. It would be sad if Laban were killed, very sad. But the
+      people of Israel have One who can protect them even against Pharaoh and
+      all his hosts. Farewell, learned Scribe. If ever I come to Tanis, with
+      your leave we will talk more together.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      That night I told the Prince all that had passed. He listened, and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I grieve for the lady Merapi, for hers is like to be a hard fate. Yet,&rdquo;
+       he added laughing, &ldquo;perhaps it is as well for you, friend, that you should
+      see no more of her who is sure to bring trouble wherever she goes. That
+      woman has a face which haunts the mind, as the Ka haunts the tomb, and for
+      my part I do not wish to look upon it again.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am glad to hear it, Prince, and for my part, I have done with women,
+      however sweet. I will tell this Jabez that the provisions for the journey
+      will be bought elsewhere.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, buy them from him, and if Nehesi grumbles at the price, pay it on my
+      account. The way to a Hebrew&rsquo;s heart is through his treasure bags. If
+      Jabez is well treated, it may make him kinder to his niece, of whom I
+      shall always have a pleasant memory, for which I am grateful among this
+      sour folk who hate us, and with reason.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So the sheep and all the foodstuffs for the journey were bought from Jabez
+      at his own price, for which he thanked me much, and on the third day we
+      started. At the last moment the Prince, whose mood seemed to be perverse
+      that evening, refused to travel with the host upon the morrow because of
+      the noise and dust. In vain did the Count Amenmeses reason with him, and
+      Nehesi and the great officers implore him almost on their knees, saying
+      that they must answer for his safety to Pharaoh and the Princess Userti.
+      He bade them begone, replying that he would join them at their camp on the
+      following night. I also prayed him to listen, but he told me sharply that
+      what he said he had said, and that he and I would journey in his chariot
+      alone, with two armed runners and no more, adding that if I thought there
+      was danger I could go forward with the troops. Then I bit my lip and was
+      silent, whereon, seeing that he had hurt me, he turned and craved my
+      pardon humbly enough as his kind heart taught him to do.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I can bear no more of Amenmeses and those officers,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and I love
+      to be in the desert alone. Last time we journeyed there we met with
+      adventures that were pleasant, Ana, and at Tanis doubtless I shall find
+      others that are not pleasant. Admit that Hebrew priest who is waiting to
+      instruct me in the mysteries of his faith which I desire to understand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So I bowed and left him to make report that I had failed to shake his
+      will. Taking the risk of his wrath, however, I did this&mdash;for had I
+      not sworn to the Princess that I would protect him? In place of the
+      runners I chose two of the best and bravest soldiers to play their part.
+      Moreover, I instructed that captain who smote down Laban to hide away with
+      a score of picked men and enough chariots to carry them, and to follow
+      after the Prince, keeping just out of sight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So on the morrow the troops, nobles, and officers went on at daybreak,
+      together with the baggage carriers; nor did we follow them till many hours
+      had gone by. Some of this time the Prince spent in driving about the town,
+      taking note of the condition of the people. These, as I saw, looked on us
+      sullenly enough, more so than before, I thought, perhaps because we were
+      unguarded. Indeed, turning round I caught sight of a man shaking his fist
+      and of an old hag spitting after us, and wished that we were out of the
+      land of Goshen. But when I reported it to the Prince he only laughed and
+      took no heed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All can see that they hate us Egyptians,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Well, let it be our
+      task to try to turn their hate to love.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That you will never do, Prince, it is too deep-rooted in their hearts;
+      for generations they have drunk it in with their mother&rsquo;s milk. Moreover,
+      this is a war of the gods of Egypt and of Israel, and men must go where
+      their gods drive them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you think so, Ana? Then are men nothing but dust blown by the winds of
+      heaven, blown from the darkness that is before the dawn to be gathered at
+      last and for ever into the darkness of the grave of night?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He brooded a while, then went on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet if I were Pharaoh I would let these people go, for without doubt
+      their god has much power and I tell you that I fear them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why will he not let them go?&rdquo; I asked. &ldquo;They are a weakness, not a
+      strength to Egypt, as was shown at the time of the invasion of the
+      Barbarians with whom they sided. Moreover, the value of this rich land of
+      theirs, which they cannot take with them, is greater than that of all
+      their labour.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not know, friend. The matter is one upon which my father keeps his
+      own counsel, even from the Princess Userti. Perhaps it is because he will
+      not change the policy of his father, Rameses; perhaps because he is
+      stiff-necked to those who cross his will. Or it may be that he is held in
+      this path by a madness sent of some god to bring loss and shame on Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then, Prince, all the priests and nobles are mad also, from Count
+      Amenmeses down.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where Pharaoh leads priests and nobles follow. The question is, who leads
+      Pharaoh? Here is the temple of these Hebrews; let us enter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So we descended from the chariot, where, for my part, I would have
+      remained, and walked through the gateway in the surrounding mud wall into
+      the outer court of the temple, which on this the holy seventh day of the
+      Hebrews was full of praying women, who feigned not to see us yet watched
+      us out of the corners of their eyes. Passing through them we came to a
+      doorway, by which we entered another court that was roofed over. Here were
+      many men who murmured as we appeared. They were engaged in listening to a
+      preacher in a white robe, who wore a strange shaped cap and some ornaments
+      on his breast. I knew the man; he was the priest Kohath who had instructed
+      the Prince in so much of the mysteries of the Hebrew faith as he chose to
+      reveal. On seeing us he ceased suddenly in his discourse, uttered some
+      hasty blessing and advanced to greet us.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I waited behind the Prince, thinking it well to watch his back among all
+      those fierce men, and did not hear what the priest said to him, as he
+      whispered in that holy place. Kohath led him forward, to free him from the
+      throng, I thought, till they came to the head of the little temple that
+      was marked by some steps, above which hung a thick and heavy curtain. The
+      Prince, walking on, did not see the lowest of these steps in the gloom,
+      which was deep. His foot caught on it; he fell forward, and to save
+      himself grasped at the curtain where the two halves of it met, and dragged
+      it open, revealing a chamber plain and small beyond, in which was an
+      altar. That was all I had time to see, for next instant a roar of rage
+      rent the air and knives flashed in the gloom.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Egyptian defiles the tabernacle!&rdquo; shouted one. &ldquo;Drag him out and kill
+      him!&rdquo; screamed another.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Friends,&rdquo; said Seti, turning as they surged towards him, &ldquo;if I have done
+      aught wrong it was by chance&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He could add no more, seeing that they were on him, or rather on me who
+      had leapt in front of him. Already they had grasped my robes and my hand
+      was on my sword-hilt, when the priest Kohath cried out:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Men of Israel, are you mad? Would you bring Pharaoh&rsquo;s vengeance on us?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They halted a little and their spokesman shouted:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We defy Pharaoh! Our God will protect us from Pharaoh. Drag him forth and
+      kill him beyond the wall!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Again they began to move, when a man, in whom I recognized Jabez, the
+      uncle of Merapi, called aloud:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cease! If this Prince of Egypt has done insult to Jahveh by will and not
+      by chance, it is certain that he will avenge himself upon him. Shall men
+      take the judgment of God into their own hands? Stand back and wait awhile.
+      If Jahveh is affronted, the Egyptian will fall dead. If he does not fall
+      dead, let him pass hence unharmed, for such is Jahveh&rsquo;s will. Stand back,
+      I say, while I count threescore.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They withdrew a space and slowly Jabez began to count.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Although at that time I knew nothing of the power of the god of Israel, I
+      will say that I was filled with fear as one by one he counted, pausing at
+      each ten. The scene was very strange. There by the steps stood the Prince
+      against the background of the curtain, his arms folded and a little smile
+      of wonder mixed with contempt upon his face, but not a sign of fear. On
+      one side of him was I, who knew well that I should share his fate whatever
+      it might be, and indeed desired no other; and on the other the priest
+      Kohath, whose hands shook and whose eyes started from his head. In front
+      of us old Jabez counted, watching the fierce-faced congregation that in a
+      dead silence waited for the issue. The count went on. Thirty. Forty. Fifty&mdash;oh!
+      it seemed an age.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length sixty fell from his lips. He waited a while and all watched the
+      Prince, not doubting but that he would fall dead. But instead he turned to
+      Kohath and asked quietly if this ordeal was now finished, as he desired to
+      make an offering to the temple, which he had been invited to visit, and
+      begone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Our God has given his answer,&rdquo; said Jabez. &ldquo;Accept it, men of Israel.
+      What this Prince did he did by chance, not of design.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They turned and went without a word, and after I had laid the offering, no
+      mean one, in the appointed place, we followed them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It would seem that yours is no gentle god,&rdquo; said the Prince to Kohath,
+      when at length we were outside the temple.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At least he is just, your Highness. Had it been otherwise, you who had
+      violated his sanctuary, although by chance, would ere now be dead.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then you hold, Priest, that Jahveh has power to slay us when he is
+      angry?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Without a doubt, your Highness&mdash;as, if our Prophets speak truth, I
+      think that Egypt will learn ere all be done,&rdquo; he added grimly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Seti looked at him and answered:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It may be so, but all gods, or their priests, claim the power to torment
+      and slay those who worship other gods. It is not only women who are
+      jealous, Kohath, or so it seems. Yet I think that you do your god
+      injustice, seeing that even if this strength is his, he proved more
+      merciful than his worshippers who knew well that I only grasped the veil
+      to save myself from falling. If ever I visit your temple again it shall be
+      in the company of those who can match might against might, whether of the
+      spirit or the sword. Farewell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So we reached the chariot, near to which stood Jabez, he who had saved us.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Prince,&rdquo; he whispered, glancing at the crowd who lingered not far away,
+      silent and glowering, &ldquo;I pray you leave this land swiftly for here your
+      life is not safe. I know it was by chance, but you have defiled the
+      sanctuary and seen that upon which eyes may not look save those of the
+      highest priests, an offence no Israelite can forgive.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And you, or your people, Jabez, would have defiled this sanctuary of my
+      life, spilling my heart&rsquo;s blood and <i>not</i> by chance. Surely you are a
+      strange folk who seek to make an enemy of one who has tried to be your
+      friend.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not seek it,&rdquo; exclaimed Jabez. &ldquo;I would that we might have Pharaoh&rsquo;s
+      mouth and ear who soon will himself be Pharaoh upon our side. O Prince of
+      Egypt, be not wroth with all the children of Israel because their wrongs
+      have made some few of them stubborn and hard-hearted. Begone now, and of
+      your goodness remember my words.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will remember,&rdquo; said Seti, signing to the charioteer to drive on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Yet still the Prince lingered in the town, saying that he feared nothing
+      and would learn all he could of this people and their ways that he might
+      report the better of them to Pharaoh. For my part I believed that there
+      was one face which he wished to see again before he left, but of this I
+      thought it wise to say nothing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length about midday we did depart, and drove eastwards on the track of
+      Amenmeses and our company. All the afternoon we drove thus, preceded by
+      the two soldiers disguised as runners and followed, as a distant cloud of
+      dust told me, by the captain and his chariots, whom I had secretly
+      commanded to keep us in sight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Towards evening we came to the pass in the story hills which bounded the
+      land of Goshen. Here Seti descended from the chariot, and we climbed,
+      accompanied by the two soldiers whom I signed to follow us, to the crest
+      of one of these hills that was strewn with huge boulders and lined with
+      ridges of sandstone, between which gullies had been cut by the winds of
+      thousands of years.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Leaning against one of these ridges we looked back upon a wondrous sight.
+      Far away across the fertile plain appeared the town that we had left, and
+      behind it the sun sank. It would seem as though some storm had broken
+      there, although the firmament above us was clear and blue. At least in
+      front of the town two huge pillars of cloud stretched from earth to heaven
+      like the columns of some mighty gateway. One of these pillars was as
+      though it were made of black marble, and the other like to molten gold.
+      Between them ran a road of light ending in a glory, and in the midst of
+      the glory the round ball of Ra, the Sun, burned like the eye of God. The
+      spectacle was as awesome as it was splendid.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have you ever seen such a sky in Egypt, Prince?&rdquo; I asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never,&rdquo; he answered, and although he spoke low, in that great stillness
+      his voice sounded loud to me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a while longer we watched, till suddenly the sun sank, and only the
+      glory about it and above remained, which took shapes like to the palaces
+      and temples of a city in the heavens, a far city that no mortal could
+      reach except in dreams.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know not why, Ana,&rdquo; said Seti, &ldquo;but for the first time since I was a
+      man I feel afraid. It seems to me that there are omens in the sky and I
+      cannot read them. Would that Ki were here to tell us what is signified by
+      the pillar of blackness to the right and the pillar of fire to the left,
+      and what god has his home in the city of glory behind, and how man&rsquo;s feet
+      may walk along the shining road which leads to its pylon gates. I tell you
+      that I am afraid; it is as though Death were very near to me and all his
+      wonders open to my mortal sight.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I too am afraid,&rdquo; I whispered. &ldquo;Look! The pillars move. That of fire goes
+      before; that of black cloud follows after, and between them I seem to see
+      a countless multitude marching in unending companies. See how the light
+      glitters on their spears! Surely the god of the Hebrews is afoot.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He, or some other god, or no god at all, who knows? Come, Ana, let us be
+      going if we would reach that camp ere dark.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So we descended from the ridge, and re-entering the chariot, drove on
+      towards the neck of the pass. Now this neck was very narrow, not more than
+      four paces wide for a certain distance, and, on either side of the roadway
+      were tumbled sandstone boulders, between which grew desert plants, and
+      gullies that had been cut by storm-water, while beyond these rose the
+      sides of the mountain. Here the horses went at a walk towards a turn in
+      the path, at which point the land began to fall again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When we were about half a spear&rsquo;s throw from this turn of a sudden I heard
+      a sound and, glancing to the right, perceived a woman leaping down the
+      hillside towards us. The charioteer saw also and halted the horses, and
+      the two runner guards turned and drew their swords. In less than half a
+      minute the woman had reached us, coming out of the shadow so that the
+      light fell upon her face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Merapi!&rdquo; exclaimed the Prince and I, speaking as though with one breath.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Merapi it was indeed, but in evil case. Her long hair had broken loose and
+      fell about her, the cloak she wore was torn, and there were blood and foam
+      upon her lips. She stood gasping, since speak she could not for
+      breathlessness, supporting herself with one hand upon the side of the
+      chariot and with the other pointing to the bend in the road. At last a
+      word came, one only. It was:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Murder!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She means that she is going to be murdered,&rdquo; said the Prince to me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; she panted, &ldquo;you&mdash;you! The Hebrews. Go back!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Turn the horses!&rdquo; I cried to the charioteer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He began to obey helped by the two guards, but because of the narrowness
+      of the road and the steepness of the banks this was not easy. Indeed they
+      were but half round in such fashion that they blocked the pathway from
+      side to side, when a wild yell of &lsquo;Jahveh&rsquo; broke upon our ears, and from
+      round the bend, a few paces away, rushed a horde of fierce, hook-nosed
+      men, brandishing knives and swords. Scarcely was there time for us to leap
+      behind the shelter of the chariot and make ready, when they were on us.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hearken,&rdquo; I said to the charioteer as they came, &ldquo;run as you never ran
+      before, and bring up the guard behind!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He sprang away like an arrow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Get back, Lady,&rdquo; cried Seti. &ldquo;This is no woman&rsquo;s work, and see here comes
+      Laban to seek you,&rdquo; and he pointed with his sword at the leader of the
+      murderers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She obeyed, staggering a few paces to a stone at the roadside, behind
+      which she crouched. Afterwards she told me that she had no strength to go
+      further, and indeed no will, since if we were killed, it were better that
+      she who had warned us should be killed also.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now they had reached us, the whole flood of them, thirty or forty men. The
+      first who came stabbed the frightened horses, and down they went against
+      the bank, struggling. On the chariot leapt the Hebrews, seeking to come at
+      us, and we met them as best we might, tearing off our cloaks and throwing
+      them over our left arms to serve as shields.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Oh! what a fight was that. In the open, or had we not been prepared, we
+      must have been slain at once, but, as it was, the place and the barrier of
+      the chariot gave us some advantage. So narrow was the roadway, the walls
+      of which were here too steep to climb, that not more than four of the
+      Hebrews could strike at us at once, which four must first surmount the
+      chariot or the still living horses.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But we also were four, and thanks to Userti, two of us were clad in mail
+      beneath our robes&mdash;four strong men fighting for their lives. Against
+      us came four of the Hebrews. One leapt from the chariot straight at Seti,
+      who received him upon the point of his iron sword, whereof I heard the
+      hilt ring against his breast-bone, that same famous iron sword which
+      to-day lies buried with him in his grave.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Down he came dead, throwing the Prince to the ground by the weight of his
+      body. The Hebrew who attacked me caught his foot on the chariot pole and
+      fell forward, so I killed him easily with a blow upon the head, which gave
+      me time to drag the Prince to his feet again before another followed. The
+      two guards also, sturdy fighters both of them, killed or mortally wounded
+      their men. But others were pressing behind so thick and fast that I could
+      keep no count of all that happened afterwards.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Presently I saw one of the guards fall, slain by Laban. A stab on the
+      breast sent me reeling backwards; had it not been for that mail I was
+      sped. The other guard killed him who would have killed me, and then
+      himself was killed by two who came on him at once.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now only the Prince and I were left, fighting back to back. He closed with
+      one man, a very great fellow, and wounded him on the hand, so that he
+      dropped his sword. This man gripped him round the middle and they rolled
+      together on the ground. Laban appeared and stabbed the Prince in the back,
+      but the curved knife he was using snapped on the Syrian mail. I struck at
+      Laban and wounded him on the head, dazing him so that he staggered back
+      and seemed to fall over the chariot. Then others rushed at me, and but for
+      Userti&rsquo;s armour three times at least I must have died. Fighting madly, I
+      staggered against the rock, and whilst waiting for a new onset, saw that
+      Seti, hurt by Laban&rsquo;s thrust, was now beneath the great Hebrew who had him
+      by the throat, and was choking the life out of him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I saw something else also&mdash;a woman holding a sword with both hands
+      and stabbing downward, after which the grip of the Hebrew loosened from
+      Seti&rsquo;s throat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Traitress!&rdquo; cried one, and struck at her, so that she reeled back hurt.
+      Then when all seemed finished, and beneath the rain of blows my senses
+      were failing, I heard the thunder of horses&rsquo; hoofs and the shout of &ldquo;<i>Egypt!
+      Egypt!</i>&rdquo; from the throats of soldiers. The flash of bronze caught my
+      dazed eyes, and with the roar of battle in my ears I seemed to fall asleep
+      just as the light of day departed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VIII
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      SETI COUNSELS PHARAOH
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      Dream upon dream. Dreams of voices, dreams of faces, dreams of sunlight
+      and of moonlight and of myself being borne forward, always forward; dreams
+      of shouting crowds, and, above all, dreams of Merapi&rsquo;s eyes looking down
+      on me like two watching stars from heaven. Then at last the awakening, and
+      with it throbs of pain and qualms of sickness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At first I thought that I was dead and lying in a tomb. Then by degrees I
+      saw that I was in no tomb but in a darkened room that was familiar to me,
+      my own room in Seti&rsquo;s palace at Tanis. It must be so, for there, near to
+      the bed on which I lay, was my own chest filled with the manuscripts that
+      I had brought from Memphis. I tried to lift my left hand, but could not,
+      and looking down saw that the arm was bandaged like to that of a mummy,
+      which made me think again that I must be dead, if the dead could suffer so
+      much pain. I closed my eyes and thought or slept a while.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As I lay thus I heard voices. One of them seemed to be that of a
+      physician, who said, &ldquo;Yes, he will live and ere long recover. The blow
+      upon the head which has made him senseless for so many days was the worst
+      of his wounds, but the bone was but bruised, not shattered or driven in
+      upon the brain. The flesh cuts on his arms are healing well, and the mail
+      he wore protected his vitals from being pierced.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am glad, physician,&rdquo; answered a voice that I knew to be that of Userti,
+      &ldquo;since without a doubt, had it not been for Ana, his Highness would have
+      perished. It is strange that one whom I thought to be nothing but a
+      dreaming scribe should have shown himself so brave a warrior. The Prince
+      says that this Ana killed three of those dogs with his own hands, and
+      wounded others.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was well done, your Highness,&rdquo; answered the physician, &ldquo;but still
+      better was his forethought in providing a rear-guard and in despatching
+      the charioteer to call it up. It seems to have been the Hebrew lady who
+      really saved the life of his Highness, when, forgetting her sex, she
+      stabbed the murderer who had him by the throat.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is the Prince&rsquo;s tale, or so I understand,&rdquo; she answered coldly. &ldquo;Yet
+      it seems strange that a weak and worn-out girl could have pierced a giant
+      through from back to breast.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At least she warned him of the ambush, your Highness.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So they say. Perhaps Ana here will soon tell us the truth about these
+      matters. Tend him well, physician, and you shall not lack for your
+      reward.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then they went away, still talking, and I lay quiet, filled with
+      thankfulness and wonder, for now everything came back to me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A while later, as I lay with my eyes still shut, for even that low light
+      seemed to hurt them, I became aware of a woman&rsquo;s soft step stealing round
+      my bed and of a fragrance such as comes from a woman&rsquo;s robes and hair. I
+      looked and saw Merapi&rsquo;s star-like eyes gazing down on me just as I had
+      seen them in my dreams.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Greeting, Moon of Israel,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Of a truth we meet again in strange
+      case.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; she whispered, &ldquo;are you awake at last? I thank God, Scribe Ana, who
+      for three days thought that you must die.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As, had it not been for you, Lady, surely I should have done&mdash;I and
+      another. Now it seems that all three of us will live.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Would that but two lived, the Prince and you, Ana. Would that <i>I</i>
+      had died,&rdquo; she answered, sighing heavily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cannot you guess? Because I am outcast who has betrayed my people.
+      Because their blood flows between me and them. For I killed that man, and
+      he was my own kinsman, for the sake of an Egyptian&mdash;I mean,
+      Egyptians. Therefore the curse of Jahveh is on me, and as my kinsman died
+      doubtless I shall die in a day to come, and afterwards&mdash;what?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Afterwards peace and great reward, if there be justice in earth or
+      heaven, O most noble among women.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Would that I could think so! Hush, I hear steps. Drink this; I am the
+      chief of your nurses, Scribe Ana, an honourable post, since to-day all
+      Egypt loves and praises you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Surely it is you, lady Merapi, whom all Egypt should love and praise,&rdquo; I
+      answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then the Prince Seti entered. I strove to salute him by lifting my less
+      injured arm, but he caught my hand and pressed it tenderly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hail to you, beloved of Menthu, god of war,&rdquo; he said, with his pleasant
+      laugh. &ldquo;I thought I had hired a scribe, and lo! in this scribe I find a
+      soldier who might be an army&rsquo;s boast.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At this moment he caught sight of Merapi, who had moved back into the
+      shadow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hail to you also, Moon of Israel,&rdquo; he said bowing. &ldquo;If I name Ana here a
+      warrior of the best, what name can both of us find for you to whom we owe
+      our lives? Nay, look not down, but answer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Prince of Egypt,&rdquo; she replied confusedly, &ldquo;I did but little. The plot
+      came to my ears through Jabez my uncle, and I fled away and, knowing the
+      short paths from childhood, was just in time. Had I stayed to think
+      perchance I should not have dared.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And what of the rest, Lady? What of the Hebrew who was choking me and of
+      a certain sword thrust that loosed his hands for ever?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of that, your Highness, I can recall nothing, or very little,&rdquo; then,
+      doubtless remembering what she had just said to me, she made obeisance and
+      passed from the chamber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She can tell falsehoods as sweetly as she does all else,&rdquo; said Seti, when
+      he had watched her go. &ldquo;Oh! what a woman have we here, Ana. Perfect in
+      beauty, perfect in courage, perfect in mind. Where are her faults, I
+      wonder? Let it be your part to search them out, since I find none.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ask them of Ki, O Prince. He is a very great magician, so great that
+      perhaps his art may even avail to discover what a woman seeks to hide.
+      Also you may remember that he gave you certain warnings before we
+      journeyed to Goshen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes&mdash;he told me that my life would be in danger, as certainly it
+      was. There he was right. He told me also that I should see a woman whom I
+      should come to love. There he was wrong. I have seen no such woman. Oh! I
+      know well what is passing in your mind. Because I hold the lady Merapi to
+      be beautiful and brave, you think that I love her. But it is not so. I
+      love no woman, except, of course, her Highness. Ana, you judge me by
+      yourself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ki said &lsquo;come to love,&rsquo; Prince. There is yet time.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not so, Ana. If one loves, one loves at once. Soon I shall be old and she
+      will be fat and ugly, and how can one love then? Get well quickly, Ana,
+      for I wish you to help me with my report to Pharaoh. I shall tell him that
+      I think these Israelites are much oppressed and that he should make them
+      amends and let them go.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What will Pharaoh say to that after they have just tried to kill his
+      heir?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think Pharaoh will be angry, and so will the people of Egypt, who do
+      not reason well. He will not see that, believing what they do, Laban and
+      his band were right to try to kill me who, however unwittingly, desecrated
+      the sanctuary of their god. Had they done otherwise they would have been
+      no good Hebrews, and for my part I cannot bear them malice. Yet all Egypt
+      is afire about this business and cries out that the Israelites should be
+      destroyed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It seems to me, Prince, that whatever may be the case with Ki&rsquo;s second
+      prophecy, his third is in the way of fulfilment&mdash;namely that this
+      journey to Goshen may cause you to risk your throne.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He shrugged his shoulders and answered:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not even for that, Ana, will I say to Pharaoh what is not in my mind. But
+      let that matter be till you are stronger.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What chanced at the end of the fight, Prince, and how came I here?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The guard killed most of the Hebrews who remained alive. Some few fled
+      and escaped in the darkness, among them Laban their leader, although you
+      had wounded him, and six were taken alive. They await their trial. I was
+      but little hurt and you, whom we thought dead, were but senseless, and
+      senseless or wandering you have remained till this hour. We carried you in
+      a litter, and here you have been these three days.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And the lady Merapi?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We set her in a chariot and brought her to the city, since had we left
+      her she would certainly have been murdered by her people. When Pharaoh
+      heard what she had done, as I did not think it well that she should dwell
+      here, he gave her the small house in this garden that she might be
+      guarded, and with it slave women to attend upon her. So there she dwells,
+      having the freedom of the palace, and all the while has filled the office
+      of your nurse.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At this moment I grew faint and shut my eyes. When I opened them again,
+      the Prince had gone. Six more days went by before I was allowed to leave
+      my bed, and during this time I saw much of Merapi. She was very sad and
+      lived in fear of being killed by the Hebrews. Also she was troubled in her
+      heart because she thought she had betrayed her faith and people.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At least you are rid of Laban,&rdquo; I said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never shall I be rid of him while we both live,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;I belong
+      to him and he will not loose my bond, because his heart is set on me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And is your heart set on him?&rdquo; I asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her beautiful eyes filled with tears.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A woman may not have a heart. Oh! Ana, I am unhappy,&rdquo; she answered, and
+      went away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Also I saw others. The Princess came to visit me. She thanked me much
+      because I had fulfilled my promise to her and guarded the Prince. Moreover
+      she brought me a gift of gold from Pharaoh, and other gifts of fine
+      raiment from herself. She questioned me closely about Merapi, of whom I
+      could see she was already jealous, and was glad when she learned that she
+      was affianced to a Hebrew. Old Bakenkhonsu came too, and asked me many
+      things about the Prince, the Hebrews and Merapi, especially Merapi, of
+      whose deeds, he said, all Egypt was talking, questions that I answered as
+      best I could.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here we have that woman of whom Ki told us,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;she who shall
+      bring so much joy and so much sorrow to the Prince of Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why so?&rdquo; I asked. &ldquo;He has not taken her into his house, nor do I think
+      that he means to do so.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet he will, Ana, whether he means it or not. For his sake she betrayed
+      her people, which among the Israelites is a deadly crime. Twice she saved
+      his life, once by warning him of the ambush, and again by stabbing with
+      her own hands one of her kinsmen who was murdering him. Is it not so? Tell
+      me; you were there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is so, but what then?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This: that whatever she may say, she loves him; unless indeed, it is you
+      whom she loves,&rdquo; and he looked at me shrewdly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When a woman has a prince, and such a prince to her hand, would she
+      trouble herself to set snares to catch a scribe?&rdquo; I asked, with some
+      bitterness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oho!&rdquo; he said, with one of his great laughs, &ldquo;so things stand thus, do
+      they? Well, I thought it, but, friend Ana, be warned in time. Do not try
+      to conjure down the Moon to be your household lamp lest she should set,
+      and the Sun, her lord, should grow wroth and burn you up. Well, she loves
+      him, and therefore soon or late she will make him love her, being what she
+      is.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How, Bakenkhonsu?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;With most men, Ana, it would be simple. A sigh, some half-hidden tears at
+      the right moment, and the thing is done, as I have known it done a
+      thousand times. But this prince being what he is, it may be otherwise. She
+      may show him that her name is gone from him; that because of him she is
+      hated by her people, and rejected by her god, and thus stir his pity,
+      which is Love&rsquo;s own sister. Or mayhap, being also, as I am told, wise, she
+      will give him counsel as to all these matters of the Israelites, and thus
+      creep into his heart under the guise of friendship, and then her sweetness
+      and her beauty will do the rest in Nature&rsquo;s way. At least by this road or
+      by that, upstream or downstream, thither she will come.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If so, what of it? It is the custom of the kings of Egypt to have more
+      wives than one.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This, Ana; Seti, I think, is a man who in truth will have but one, and
+      that one will be this Hebrew. Yes, a Hebrew woman will rule Egypt, and
+      turn him to the worship of her god, for never will she worship ours.
+      Indeed, when they see that she is lost to them, her people will use her
+      thus. Or perchance her god himself will use her to fulfil his purpose, as
+      already he may have used her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And afterwards, Bakenkhonsu?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Afterwards&mdash;who knows? I am not a magician, at least not one of any
+      account, ask it of Ki. But I am very, very old and I have watched the
+      world, and I tell you that these things will happen, unless&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+       and he paused.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Unless what?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He dropped his voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Unless Userti is bolder than I think, and kills her first or, better
+      still, procures some Hebrew to kill her&mdash;say, that cast-off lover of
+      hers. If you would be a friend to Pharaoh and to Egypt, you might whisper
+      it in her ear, Ana.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never!&rdquo; I answered angrily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I did not think you would, Ana, who also struggle in this net of
+      moonbeams that is stronger and more real than any twisted out of palm or
+      flax. Well, nor will I, who in my age love to watch such human sport and,
+      being so near to them, fear to thwart the schemes of gods. Let this scroll
+      unroll itself as it will, and when it is open, read it, Ana, and remember
+      what I said to you this day. It will be a pretty tale, written at the end
+      with blood for ink. Oho! O-ho-ho!&rdquo; and, laughing, he hobbled from the
+      room, leaving me frightened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Moreover the Prince visited me every day, and even before I left my bed
+      began to dictate to me his report to Pharaoh, since he would employ no
+      other scribe. The substance of it was what he had foreshadowed, namely
+      that the people of Israel, having suffered much for generations at the
+      hands of the Egyptians, should now be allowed to depart as their prophets
+      demanded, and go whither they would unharmed. Of the attack upon us in the
+      pass he made light, saying it was the evil work of a few zealots wrought
+      on by fancied insult to their god, a deed for which the whole people
+      should not be called upon to suffer. The last words of the report were:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Remember, O Pharaoh, I pray thee, that Amon, god of the Egyptians, and
+      Jahveh, the god of the Israelites, cannot rule together in the same land.
+      If both abide in Egypt there will be a war of the gods wherein mortals may
+      be ground to dust. Therefore, I pray thee, let Israel go.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      After I had risen and was recovered, I copied out this report in my
+      fairest writing, refusing to tell any of its purport, although all asked,
+      among them the Vizier Nehesi, who offered me a bribe to disclose its
+      secret. This came to the ears of Seti, I know not how, and he was much
+      pleased with me about the matter, saying he rejoiced to find that there
+      was one scribe in Egypt who could not be bought. Userti also questioned
+      me, and when I refused to answer, strange to say, was not angry, because,
+      she declared, I only did my duty.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At last the roll was finished and sealed, and the Prince with his own
+      hand, but without speaking, laid it on the knees of Pharaoh at a public
+      Court, for this he would trust no one else to do. Amenmeses also brought
+      up his report, as did Nehesi the Vizier, and the Captain of the guard
+      which saved us from death. Eight days later the Prince was summoned to a
+      great Council of State, as were all others of the royal House, together
+      with the high officers. I too received a summons, as one who had been
+      concerned in these matters.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince, accompanied by the Princess, drove to the palace in Pharaoh&rsquo;s
+      golden chariot, drawn by two milk-white horses of the blood of those
+      famous steeds that had saved the life of the great Rameses in the Syrian
+      war. All down the streets, that were filled with thousands of the people,
+      they were received with shouts of welcome.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See,&rdquo; said the old councillor Bakenkhonsu, who was my companion in a
+      second chariot, &ldquo;Egypt is proud and glad. It thought that its Prince was
+      but a dreamer of dreams. But now it has heard the tale of the ambush in
+      the pass and learned that he is a man of war, a warrior who can fight with
+      the best. Therefore it loves him and rejoices.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then, by the same rule, Bakenkhonsu, a butcher should be more great than
+      the wisest of scribes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So he is, Ana, especially if the butcher be one of men. The writer
+      creates, but the slayer kills, and in a world ruled of death he who kills
+      has more honour than he who creates. Hearken, now they are shouting out
+      your name. Is that because you are the author of certain writings? I tell
+      you, No. It is because you killed three men yonder in the pass. If you
+      would become famous and beloved, Ana, cease from the writing of books and
+      take to the cutting of throats.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet the writer still lives when he is dead.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oho!&rdquo; laughed Bakenkhonsu, &ldquo;you are even more foolish than I thought. How
+      is a man advantaged by what happens when he is dead? Why, to-day that
+      blind beggar whining on the temple steps means more to Egypt than all the
+      mummies of all the Pharaohs, unless they can be robbed. Take what life can
+      give you, Ana, and do not trouble about the offerings which are laid in
+      the tombs for time to crumble.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is a mean faith, Bakenkhonsu.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Very mean, Ana, like all else that we can taste and handle. A mean faith
+      suited to mean hearts, among whom should be reckoned all save one in every
+      thousand. Yet, if you would prosper, follow it, and when you are dead I
+      will come and laugh upon your grave, and say, &lsquo;Here lies one of whom I had
+      hoped higher things, as I hope them of your master.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And not in vain, Bakenkhonsu, whatever may happen to the servant.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That we shall learn, and ere long, I think. I wonder who will ride at his
+      side before the next Nile flood. By then, perchance, he will have changed
+      Pharaoh&rsquo;s golden chariot for an ox-cart, and you will goad the oxen and
+      talk to him of the stars&mdash;or, mayhap of the moon. Well, you might
+      both be happier thus, and she of the moon is a jealous goddess who loves
+      worship. Oho-ho! Here are the palace steps. Help me to descend, Priest of
+      the Lady of the Moon.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      We entered the palace and were led through the great hall to a smaller
+      chamber where Pharaoh, who did not wear his robes of state, awaited us,
+      seated in a cedar chair. Glancing at him I saw that his face was stern and
+      troubled; also it seemed to me that he had grown older. The Prince and
+      Princess made obeisance to him, as did we lesser folk, but he took no
+      heed. When all were present and the doors had been shut, Pharaoh said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have read your report, Son Seti, concerning your visit to the
+      Israelites, and all that chanced to you; and also the reports of you,
+      nephew Amenmeses, and of you, Officers, who accompanied the Prince of
+      Egypt. Before I speak of them, let the Scribe Ana, who was the chariot
+      companion of his Highness when the Hebrews attacked him, stand forward and
+      tell me all that passed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So I advanced, and with bowed head repeated that tale, only leaving out so
+      far as was possible any mention of myself. When I had finished, Pharaoh
+      said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He who speaks but half the truth is sometimes more mischievous than a
+      liar. Did you then sit in the chariot, Scribe, doing nothing while the
+      Prince battled for his life? Or did you run away? Speak, Seti, and say
+      what part this man played for good or ill.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then the Prince told of my share in the fight, with words that brought the
+      blood to my brow. He told also how that it was I who, taking the risk of
+      his wrath, had ordered the guard of twenty men to follow us unseen, had
+      disguised two seasoned soldiers as chariot runners, and had thought to
+      send back the driver to summon help at the commencement of the fray; how I
+      had been hurt also, and was but lately recovered. When he had finished,
+      Pharaoh said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That this story is true I know from others. Scribe, you have done well.
+      But for you to-day his Highness would lie upon the table of the embalmers,
+      as indeed for his folly he deserves to do, and Egypt would mourn from
+      Thebes to the mouths of Nile. Come hither.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I came with trembling steps, and knelt before his Majesty. Around his neck
+      hung a beauteous chain of wrought gold. He took it, and cast it over my
+      head, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Because you have shown yourself both brave and wise, with this gold I
+      give you the title of Councillor and King&rsquo;s Companion, and the right to
+      inscribe the same upon your funeral stele. Let it be noted. Retire, Scribe
+      Ana, Councillor and King&rsquo;s Companion.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So I withdrew confused, and as I passed Seti, he whispered in my ear:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray you, my lord, do not cease to be Prince&rsquo;s Companion, because you
+      have become that of the King.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Pharaoh ordered that the Captain of the guard should be advanced in
+      rank, and that gifts should be given to each of the soldiers, and
+      provision be made for the children of those who had been killed, with
+      double allowance to the families of the two men whom I had disguised as
+      runners.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This done, once more Pharaoh spoke, slowly and with much meaning, having
+      first ordered that all attendants and guards should leave the chamber. I
+      was about to go also, but old Bakenkhonsu caught me by the robe, saying
+      that in my new rank of Councillor I had the right to remain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Prince Seti,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;after all that I have heard, I find this report
+      of yours strange reading. Moreover, the tenor of it is different indeed to
+      that of those of the Count Amenmeses and the officers. You counsel me to
+      let these Israelites go where they will, because of certain hardships that
+      they have suffered in the past, which hardships, however, have left them
+      many and rich. That counsel I am not minded to take. Rather am I minded to
+      send an army to the land of Goshen with orders to despatch this people,
+      who conspired to murder the Prince of Egypt, through the Gateway of the
+      West, there to worship their god in heaven or in hell. Aye, to slay them
+      all from the greybeard down to the suckling at the breast.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I hear Pharaoh,&rdquo; said Seti, quietly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Such is my will,&rdquo; went on Meneptah, &ldquo;and those who accompanied you upon
+      your business, and all my councillors think as I do, for truly Egypt
+      cannot bear so hideous a treason. Yet, according to our law and custom it
+      is needful, before such great acts of war and policy are undertaken, that
+      he who stands next to the throne, and is destined to fill it, should give
+      consent thereto. Do you consent, Prince of Egypt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not consent, Pharaoh. I think it would be a wicked deed that tens of
+      thousands should be massacred for the reason that a few fools waylaid a
+      man who chanced to be of royal blood, because by inadvertence, he had
+      desecrated their sanctuary.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now I saw that this answer made Pharaoh wroth, for never before had his
+      will been crossed in such a fashion. Still he controlled himself, and
+      asked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you then consent, Prince, to a gentler sentence, namely that the
+      Hebrew people should be broken up; that the more dangerous of them should
+      be sent to labour in the desert mines and quarries, and the rest
+      distributed throughout Egypt, there to live as slaves?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not consent, Pharaoh. My poor counsel is written in yonder roll and
+      cannot be changed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Meneptah&rsquo;s eyes flashed, but again he controlled himself, and asked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you should come to fill this place of mine, Prince Seti, tell us, here
+      assembled, what policy will you pursue towards these Hebrews?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That policy, O Pharaoh, which I have counselled in the roll. If ever I
+      fill the throne, I shall let them go whither they will, taking their goods
+      with them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now all those present stared at him and murmured. But Pharaoh rose,
+      shaking with wrath. Seizing his robe where it was fastened at the breast,
+      he rent it, and cried in a terrible voice:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hear him, ye gods of Egypt! Hear this son of mine who defies me to my
+      face and would set your necks beneath the heel of a stranger god. Prince
+      Seti, in the presence of these royal ones, and these my councillors, I&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He said no more, for the Princess Userti, who till now had remained
+      silent, ran to him, and throwing her arms about him, began to whisper in
+      his ear. He hearkened to her, then sat himself down, and spoke again:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Princess brings it to my mind that this is a great matter, one not to
+      be dealt with hastily. It may happen that when the Prince has taken
+      counsel with her, and with his own heart, and perchance has sought the
+      wisdom of the gods, he will change the words which have passed his lips. I
+      command you, Prince, to wait upon me here at this same hour on the third
+      day from this. Meanwhile, I command all present, upon pain of death, to
+      say nothing of what has passed within these walls.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I hear Pharaoh,&rdquo; said the Prince, bowing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Meneptah rose to show that the Council was discharged, when the Vizier
+      Nehesi approached him, and asked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What of the Hebrew prisoners, O Pharaoh, those murderers who were
+      captured in the pass?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Their guilt is proved. Let them be beaten with rods till they die, and if
+      they have wives or children, let them be seized and sold as slaves.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pharaoh&rsquo;s will be done!&rdquo; said the Vizier.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IX
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE SMITING OF AMON
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      That evening I sat ill at ease in my work-chamber in Seti&rsquo;s palace, making
+      pretence to write, I who felt that great evils threatened my lord the
+      Prince, and knew not what to do to turn them from him. The door opened,
+      and old Pambasa the chamberlain appeared and addressed me by my new
+      titles, saying that the Hebrew lady Merapi, who had been my nurse in
+      sickness, wished to speak with me. Presently she came and stood before me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Scribe Ana,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;I have but just seen my uncle Jabez, who has
+      come, or been sent, with a message to me,&rdquo; and she hesitated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why was he sent, Lady? To bring you news of Laban?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not so. Laban has fled away and none know where he is, and Jabez has only
+      escaped much trouble as the uncle of a traitress by undertaking this
+      mission.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is the mission?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To pray me, if I would save myself from death and the vengeance of God,
+      to work upon the heart of his Highness, which I know not how to do&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet I think you might find means, Merapi.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&mdash;&mdash;save through you, his friend and counsellor,&rdquo; she went on,
+      turning away her face. &ldquo;Jabez has learned that it is in the mind of
+      Pharaoh utterly to destroy the people of Israel.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How does he know that, Merapi?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I cannot say, but I think all the Hebrews know. I knew it myself though
+      none had told me. He has learned also that this cannot be done under the
+      law of Egypt unless the Prince who is heir to the throne and of full age
+      consents. Now I am come to pray you to pray the Prince not to consent.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why not pray to the Prince yourself, Merapi&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo; I began, when
+      from the shadows behind me I heard the voice of Seti, who had entered by
+      the private door bearing some writings in his hand, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And what prayer has the lady Merapi to make to me? Nay, rise and speak,
+      Moon of Israel.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Prince,&rdquo; she pleaded, &ldquo;my prayer is that you will save the Hebrews from
+      death by the sword, as you alone have the power to do.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At this moment the doors opened and in swept the royal Userti.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What does this woman here?&rdquo; she asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think that she came to see Ana, wife, as I did, and as doubtless you
+      do. Also being here she prays me to save her people from the sword.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And I pray you, husband, to give her people to the sword, which they have
+      earned, who would have murdered you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And been paid, everyone of them, Userti, unless some still linger beneath
+      the rods,&rdquo; he added with a shudder. &ldquo;The rest are innocent&mdash;why
+      should they die?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Because your throne hangs upon it, Seti. I say that if you continue to
+      thwart the will of Pharaoh, as by the law of Egypt you can do, he will
+      disinherit you and set your cousin Amenmeses in your place, as by the law
+      of Egypt he can do.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thought it, Userti. Yet why should I turn my back upon the right over a
+      matter of my private fortunes? The question is&mdash;is it the right?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She stared at him in amazement, she who never understood Seti and could
+      not dream that he would throw away the greatest throne in all the world to
+      save a subject people, merely because he thought that they should not die.
+      Still, warned by some instinct, she left the first question unanswered,
+      dealing only with the second.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is the right,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;for many reasons whereof I need give but
+      one, for in it lie all the others. The gods of Egypt are the true gods
+      whom we must serve and obey, or perish here and hereafter. The god of the
+      Israelites is a false god and those who worship him are heretics and by
+      their heresy under sentence of death. Therefore it is most right that
+      those whom the true gods have condemned should die by the swords of their
+      servants.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is well argued, Userti, and if it be so, mayhap my mind will become
+      as yours in this matter, so that I shall no longer stand between Pharaoh
+      and his desire. But is it so? There&rsquo;s the problem. I will not ask you why
+      you say that the gods of the Egyptians are the true gods, because I know
+      what you would answer, or rather that you could give no answer. But I will
+      ask this lady whether her god is a false god, and if she replies that he
+      is not, I will ask her to prove this to me if she can. If she is able to
+      prove it, then I think that what I said to Pharaoh to-day I shall repeat
+      three days hence. If she is not able to prove it, then I shall consider
+      very earnestly of the matter. Answer now, Moon of Israel, remembering that
+      many thousands of lives may hang on what you say.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O your Highness,&rdquo; began Merapi. Then she paused, clasped her hands and
+      looked upwards. I think that she was praying, for her lips moved. As she
+      stood thus I saw, and I think Seti saw also, a very wonderful light grow
+      on her face and gather in her eyes, a kind of divine fire of inspiration
+      and resolve.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How can I, a poor Hebrew maiden, prove to your Highness that my God is
+      the true God and that the gods of Egypt are false gods? I know not, and
+      yet, is there any one god among all the many whom you worship, whom you
+      are prepared to set up against him?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of a surety, Israelite,&rdquo; answered Userti. &ldquo;There is Amon-Ra, Father of
+      the gods, of whom all other gods have their being, and from whom they draw
+      their strength. Yonder his statue sits in the sanctuary of his ancient
+      temple. Let your god stir him from his place! But what will you bring
+      forward against the majesty of Amon-Ra?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My God has no statues, Princess, and his place is in the hearts of men,
+      or so I have been taught by his prophets. I have nothing to bring forward
+      in this war save that which must be offered in all wars&mdash;my life.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do you mean?&rdquo; asked Seti, astounded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I mean that I, unfriended and alone, will enter the presence of Amon-Ra
+      in his chosen sanctuary, and in the name of my God will challenge him to
+      kill me, if he can.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      We stared at her, and Userti exclaimed:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If he can! Hearken now to this blasphemer, and do you, Seti, accept her
+      challenge as hereditary high-priest of the god Amon? Let her life pay
+      forfeit for her sacrilege.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And if the great god Amon cannot, or does not deign to kill you, Lady,
+      how will that prove that your god is greater than he?&rdquo; asked the Prince.
+      &ldquo;Perhaps he might smile and in his pity, let the insult pass, as your god
+      did by me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thus it shall be proved, your Highness. If naught happens to me, or if I
+      am protected from anything that does happen, then I will dare to call upon
+      my god to work a sign and a wonder, and to humble Amon-Ra before your
+      eyes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And if your god should also smile and let the matter pass, Lady, as he
+      did by me the other day when his priests called upon him, what shall we
+      have learned as to his strength, or as to that of Amon-Ra?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Prince, you will have learned nothing. Yet if I escape from the wrath
+      of Amon and my God is deaf to my prayer, then I am ready to be delivered
+      over into the hands of the priests of Amon that they may avenge my
+      sacrilege upon me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There speaks a great heart,&rdquo; said Seti; &ldquo;yet I am not minded that this
+      lady should set her life upon such an issue. I do not believe that either
+      the high-god of Egypt or the god of the Israelites will stir, but I am
+      quite sure that the priests of Amon will avenge the sacrilege, and that
+      cruelly enough. The dice are loaded against you, Lady. You shall not prove
+      your faith with blood.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why not?&rdquo; asked Userti. &ldquo;What is this girl to you, Seti, that you should
+      stand between her and the fruit of her wickedness, you who at least in
+      name are the high-priest of the god whom she blasphemes and who wear his
+      robes at temple feasts? She believes in her god, leave it to her god to
+      help her as she has dared to say he will.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You believe in Amon, Userti. Are you prepared to stake your life against
+      hers in this contest?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am not so mad and vain, Seti, as to believe that the god of all the
+      world will descend from heaven to save me at my prayer, as this impious
+      girl pretends that she believes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You refuse. Then, Ana, what say you, who are a loyal worshipper of Amon?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I say, O Prince, that it would be presumptuous of me to take precedence
+      of his high-priest in such a matter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Seti smiled and answered:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And the high-priest says that it would be presumptuous of him to push so
+      far the prerogative of a high office which he never sought.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your Highness,&rdquo; broke in Merapi in her honeyed, pleading voice, &ldquo;I pray
+      you to be gracious to me, and to suffer me to make this trial, which I
+      have sought, I know not why. Words such as I have spoken cannot be
+      recalled. Already they are registered in the books of Eternity, and soon
+      or late, in this way or in that, must be fulfilled. My life is staked, and
+      I desire to learn at once if it be forfeit.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now even Userti looked on her with admiration, but answered only:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of a truth, Israelite, I trust that this courage will not forsake you
+      when you are handed over to the mercies of Ki, the Sacrificer of Amon, and
+      the priests, in the vaults of the temple you would profane.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I also trust that it will not, your Highness, if such should be my fate.
+      Your word, Prince of Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Seti looked at her standing before him so calmly with bowed head, and
+      hands crossed upon her breast. Then he looked at Userti, who wore a
+      mocking smile upon her face. She read the meaning of that smile as I did.
+      It was that she did not believe that he would allow this beautiful woman,
+      who had saved his life, to risk her life for the sake of any or all the
+      powers of heaven or hell. For a little while he walked to and fro about
+      the chamber, then he stopped and said suddenly addressing, not Merapi, but
+      Userti:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have your will, remembering that if this brave woman fails and dies, her
+      blood is on your hands, and that if she triumphs and lives, I shall hold
+      her to be one of the noblest of her sex, and shall make study of all this
+      matter of religion. Moon of Israel, as titular high-priest of Amon-Ra, I
+      accept your challenge on behalf of the god, though whether he will take
+      note of it I do not know. The trial shall be made to-morrow night in the
+      sanctuary of the temple, at an hour that will be communicated to you. I
+      shall be present to make sure that you meet with justice, as will some
+      others. Register my commands, Scribe Ana, and let the head-priest of Amon,
+      Roi, and the sacrificer to Amon, Ki the Magician, be summoned, that I may
+      speak with them. Farewell, Lady.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She went, but at the door turned and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thank you, Prince, on my own behalf, and on that of my people. Whatever
+      chances, I beseech you do not forget the prayer that I have made to you to
+      save them, being innocent, from the sword. Now I ask that I may be left
+      quite alone till I am summoned to the temple, who must make such
+      preparation as I can to meet my fate, whatever it may be.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Userti departed also without a word.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! friend, what have I done?&rdquo; said Seti. &ldquo;Are there any gods? Tell me,
+      are there any gods?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps we shall learn to-morrow night, Prince,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;At least
+      Merapi thinks that there is a god, and doubtless has been commanded to put
+      her faith to proof. This, as I believe, was the real message that Jabez
+      her uncle has brought to her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was the hour before the dawn, just when the night is darkest. We stood
+      in the sanctuary of the ancient temple of Amon-Ra, that was lit with many
+      lamps. It was an awful place. On either side the great columns towered to
+      the massive roof. At the head of the sanctuary sat the statue of Amon-Ra,
+      thrice the size of a man. On his brow, rising from the crown, were two
+      tall feathers of stone, and in his hands he held the Scourge of Rule and
+      the symbols of Power and Everlastingness. The lamplight flickered upon his
+      stern and terrible face staring towards the east. To his right was the
+      statue of Mut, the Mother of all things. On her head was the double crown
+      of Egypt and the uræus crest, and in her hand the looped cross, the sign
+      of Life eternal. To his left sat Khonsu, the hawk-headed god of the moon.
+      On his head was the crescent of the young moon carrying the disc of the
+      full moon; in his right hand he also held the looped cross, the sign of
+      Life eternal, and in his left the Staff of Strength. Such was this mighty
+      triad, but of these the greatest was Amon-Ra, to whom the shrine was
+      dedicated. Fearful they stood towering above us against the background of
+      blackness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Gathered there were Seti the Prince, clothed in a priest&rsquo;s white robe, and
+      wearing a linen headdress, but no ornaments, and Userti the Princess,
+      high-priestess of Hathor, Lady of the West, Goddess of Love and Nature.
+      She wore Hathor&rsquo;s vulture headdress, and on it the disc of the moon
+      fashioned of silver. Also were present Roi the head-priest, clad in his
+      sacerdotal robes, an old and wizened man with a strong, fierce face, Ki
+      the Sacrificer and Magician, Bakenkhonsu the ancient, myself, and a
+      company of the priests of Amon-Ra, Mut, and Khonsu. From behind the
+      statues came the sound of solemn singing, though who sang we could not
+      see.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Presently from out of the darkness that lay beyond the lamps appeared a
+      woman, led by two priestesses and wrapped in a long cloak. They brought
+      her to an open place in front of the statue of Amon, took from her the
+      cloak and departed, glancing back at her with eyes of hate and fear. There
+      before us stood Merapi, clad in white, with a simple wimple about her head
+      made fast beneath her chin with that scarabæus clasp which Seti had given
+      to her in the city of Goshen, one spot of brightest blue amid a cloud of
+      white. She looked neither to right nor left of her. Once only she glanced
+      at the towering statue of the god that frowned above, then with a little
+      shiver, fixed her eyes upon the pattern of the floor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What does she look like?&rdquo; whispered Bakenkhonsu to me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A corpse made ready for the embalmers,&rdquo; I answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He shook his great head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then a bride made ready for her husband.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Again he shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then a priestess about to read from the roll of Mysteries.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now you have it, Ana, and to understand what she reads, which few
+      priestesses ever do. Also all three answers were right, for in this woman
+      I seem to see doom that is Death, life that is Love, and spirit that is
+      Power. She has a soul which both Heaven and Earth have kissed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Aye, but which of them will claim her in the end?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That we may learn before the dawn, Ana. Hush! the fight begins.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The head-priest, Roi, advanced and, standing before the god, sprinkled his
+      feet with water and with perfume. Then he stretched out his hands, whereon
+      all present prostrated themselves, save Merapi only, who stood alone in
+      that great place like the survivor of a battle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hail to thee, Amon-Ra,&rdquo; he began, &ldquo;Lord of Heaven, Establisher of all
+      things, Maker of the gods, who unrolled the skies and built the
+      foundations of the Earth. O god of gods, appears before thee this woman
+      Merapi, daughter of Nathan, a child of the Hebrew race that owns thee not.
+      This woman blasphemes thy might; this woman defies thee; this woman sets
+      up her god above thee. Is it not so, woman?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is so,&rdquo; answered Merapi in a low voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thus does she defy thee, thou Only One of many Forms, saying &lsquo;if the god
+      Amon of the Egyptians be a greater god than my god, let him snatch me out
+      of the arms of my god and here in this the shrine of Amon take the breath
+      from out my lips and leave me a thing of clay.&rsquo; Are these thy words, O
+      woman?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They are my words,&rdquo; she said in the same low voice, and oh! I shivered as
+      I heard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The priest went on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Lord of Time, Lord of Life, Lord of Spirits and the Divinities of
+      Heaven, Lord of Terror, come forth now in thy majesty and smite this
+      blasphemer to the dust.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Roi withdrew and Seti stood forward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Know, O god Amon,&rdquo; he said, addressing the statue as though he wee
+      speaking to a living man, &ldquo;from the lips of me, thy high-priest, by birth
+      the Prince and Heir of Egypt, that great things hang upon this matter here
+      in the Land of Egypt, mayhap even who shall sit upon the throne that thou
+      givest to its kings. This woman of Israel dares thee to thy face, saying
+      that there is a greater god than thou art and that thou canst not harm her
+      through the buckler of his strength. She says, moreover, that she will
+      call upon her god to work a sign and a wonder upon thee. Lastly, she says
+      that if thou dost not harm her and if her god works no sign upon thee,
+      then she is ready to be handed over to thy priests and die the death of a
+      blasphemer. Thy honour is set against her life, O great God of Egypt, and
+      we, thy worshippers, watch to see the balance turn.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well and justly put,&rdquo; muttered Bakenkhonsu to me. &ldquo;Now if Amon fails us,
+      what will you think of Amon, Ana?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shall learn the high-priest&rsquo;s mind and think what the high-priest
+      thinks,&rdquo; I answered darkly, though in my heart I was terribly afraid for
+      Merapi, and, to speak truth, for myself also, because of the doubts which
+      arose in me and would not be quenched.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Seti withdrew, taking his stand by Userti, and Ki stood forward and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Amon, I thy Sacrificer, I thy Magician, to whom thou givest power, I
+      the priest and servant of Isis, Mother of Mysteries, Queen of the company
+      of the gods, call upon thee. She who stands before thee is but a Hebrew
+      woman. Yet, as thou knowest well, O Father, in this house she is more than
+      woman, inasmuch as she is the Voice and Sword of thine enemy, Jahveh, god
+      of the Israelites. She thinks, mayhap, that she has come here of her own
+      will, but thou knowest, Father Amon, as I know, that she is sent by the
+      great prophets of her people, those magicians who guide her soul with
+      spells to work thee evil and to set thee, Amon, beneath the heel of
+      Jahveh. The stake seems small, the life of this one maid, no more; yet it
+      is very great. This is the stake, O Father: Shall Amon rule the world, or
+      Jahveh. If thou fallest to-night, thou fallest for ever; if thou dost
+      triumph to-night, thou dost triumph for ever. In yonder shape of stone
+      hides thy spirit; in yonder shape of woman&rsquo;s flesh hides the spirit of thy
+      foe. Smite her, O Amon, smite her to small dust; let not the strength that
+      is in her prevail against thy strength, lest thy name should be defiled
+      and sorrows and loss should come upon the land which is thy throne; lest,
+      too, the wizards of the Israelites should overcome us thy servants. Thus
+      prayeth Ki thy magician, on whose soul it has pleased thee to pour
+      strength and wisdom.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then followed a great silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Watching the statue of the god, presently I thought that it moved, and as
+      I could see by the stir among them, so did the others. I thought that its
+      stone eyes rolled, I thought that it lifted the Scourge of Power in its
+      granite hand, though whether these things were done by some spirit or by
+      some priest, or by the magic of Ki, I do not know. At the least, a great
+      wind began to blow about the temple, stirring our robes and causing the
+      lamps to flicker. Only the robes of Merapi did not stir. Yet she saw what
+      I could not see, for suddenly her eyes grew frightened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The god is awake,&rdquo; whispered Bakenkhonsu. &ldquo;Now good-bye to your fair
+      Israelite. See, the Prince trembles, Ki smiles, and the face of Userti
+      glows with triumph.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      As he spoke the blue scarabæus was snatched from Merapi&rsquo;s breast as though
+      by a hand. It fell to the floor as did her wimple, so that now she
+      appeared with her rich hair flowing down her robe. Then the eyes of the
+      statue seemed to cease to roll, the wind ceased to blow, and again there
+      was silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Merapi stooped, lifted the wimple, replaced it on her head, found the
+      scarabæus clasp, and very quietly, as a woman who was tiring herself might
+      do, made it fast in its place again, a sight at which I heard Userti gasp.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a long while we waited. Watching the faces of the congregation, I saw
+      amazement and doubt on those of the priests, rage on that of Ki, and on
+      Seti&rsquo;s the flicker of a little smile. Merapi&rsquo;s eyes were closed as though
+      she were asleep. At length she opened them, and turning her head towards
+      the Prince said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O high-priest of Amon-Ra, has your god worked his will on me, or must I
+      wait longer before I call upon my God?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do what you will or can, woman, and make an end, for almost it is the
+      moment of dawn when the temple worship opens.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Merapi clasped her hands, and looking upwards, prayed aloud very
+      sweetly and simply, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O God of my fathers, trusting in Thee, I, a poor maid of Thy people
+      Israel, have set the life Thou gavest me in Thy Hand. If, as I believe,
+      Thou art the God of gods, I pray Thee show a sign and a wonder upon this
+      god of the Egyptians, and thereby declare Thine Honour and keep my breath
+      within my breast. If it pleases Thee not, then let me die, as doubtless
+      for my many sins I deserve to do. O God of my fathers, I have made my
+      prayer. Hear it or reject it according to Thy Will.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So she ended, and listening to her, I felt the tears rising in my eyes,
+      because she was so much alone, and I feared that this god of hers would
+      never come to save her from the torments of the priests. Seti also turned
+      his head away, and stared down the sanctuary at the sky over the open
+      court where the lights of dawn were gathering.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Once more there was silence. Then again that wind blew, very strongly,
+      extinguishing the lamps, and, as it seemed to me, whirling away Merapi
+      from where she was, so that now she stood to one side of the statue. The
+      sanctuary was filled with gloom, till presently the first rays of the
+      rising sun struck upon the roof. They fell down, down, as minute followed
+      minute, till at length they rested like a sword of flame upon the statue
+      of Amon-Ra. Once more that statue seemed to move. I thought that it lifted
+      its stone arms to protect its head. Then in a moment with a rending noise,
+      its mighty mass burst asunder, and fell in small dust about the throne,
+      almost hiding it from sight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Behold my God has answered me, the most humble of His servants,&rdquo; said
+      Merapi in the same sweet and gentle voice. &ldquo;Behold the sign and the
+      wonder!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Witch!&rdquo; screamed the head-priest Roi, and fled away, followed by his
+      fellows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sorceress!&rdquo; hissed Userti, and fled also, as did all the others, save the
+      Prince, Bakenkhonsu, I Ana, and Ki the Magician.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We stood amazed, and while we did so, Ki turned to Merapi and spoke. His
+      face was terrible with fear and fury, and his eyes shone like lamps.
+      Although he did but whisper, I who was nearest to them heard all that was
+      said, which the others could not do.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your magic is good, Israelite,&rdquo; he muttered, &ldquo;so good that it has
+      overcome mine here in the temple where I serve.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have no magic,&rdquo; she answered very low. &ldquo;I obeyed a command, no more.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He laughed bitterly, and asked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Should two of a trade waste time on foolishness? Listen now. Teach me
+      your secrets, and I will teach you mine, and together we will drive Egypt
+      like a chariot.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have no secrets, I have only faith,&rdquo; said Merapi again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Woman,&rdquo; he went on, &ldquo;woman or devil, will you take me for friend or foe?
+      Here I have been shamed, since it was to me and not to their gods that the
+      priests trusted to destroy you. Yet I can still forgive. Choose now,
+      knowing that as my friendship will lead you to rule, to life and
+      splendour, so my hate will drive you to shame and death.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are beside yourself, and know not what you say. I tell you that I
+      have no magic to give or to withhold,&rdquo; she answered, as one who did not
+      understand or was indifferent, and turned away from him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thereon he muttered some curse which I could not catch, bowed to the heap
+      of dust that had been the statue of the god, and vanished away among the
+      pillars of the sanctuary.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oho-ho!&rdquo; laughed Bakenkhonsu. &ldquo;Not in vain have I lived to be so very
+      old, for now it seems we have a new god in Egypt, and there stands his
+      prophetess.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Merapi came to the prince.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O high-priest of Amon,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;does it please you to let me go, for I
+      am very weary?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER X
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE DEATH OF PHARAOH
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      It was the appointed day and hour. By command of the Prince I drove with
+      him to the palace of Pharaoh, whither her Highness the Princess refused to
+      be his companion, and for the first time we talked together of that which
+      had passed in the temple.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have you seen the lady Merapi?&rdquo; he asked of me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I answered No, as I was told that she was sick within her house and lay
+      abed suffering from weariness, or I knew not what.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She does well to keep there,&rdquo; said Seti, &ldquo;I think that if she came out
+      those priests would murder her if they could. Also there are others,&rdquo; and
+      he glanced back at the chariot that bore Userti in state. &ldquo;Say, Ana, can
+      you interpret all this matter?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not I, Prince. I thought that perhaps your Highness, the high-priest of
+      Anon, could give me light.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The high-priest of Amon wanders in thick darkness. Ki and the rest swear
+      that this Israelite is a sorceress who has outmatched their magic, but to
+      me it seems more simple to believe that what she says is true; that her
+      god is greater than Amon.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And if this be true, Prince, what are we to do who are sworn to the gods
+      of Egypt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bow our heads and fall with them, I suppose, Ana, since honour will not
+      suffer us to desert them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Even if they be false, Prince?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not think that they are false, Ana, though mayhap they be less true.
+      At least they are the gods of the Egyptians and we are Egyptians.&rdquo; He
+      paused and glanced at the crowded streets, then added, &ldquo;See, when I passed
+      this way three days ago I was received with shouts of welcome by the
+      people. Now they are silent, every one.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps they have heard of what passed in the temple.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Doubtless, but it is not that which troubles them who think that the gods
+      can guard themselves. They have heard also that I would befriend the
+      Hebrews whom they hate, and therefore they begin to hate me. Why should I
+      complain when Pharaoh shows them the way?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Prince,&rdquo; I whispered, &ldquo;what will you say to Pharaoh?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That depends on what Pharaoh says to me. Ana, if I will not desert our
+      gods because they seem to be the weaker, though it should prove to my
+      advantage, do you think that I would desert these Hebrews because they
+      seem to be weaker, even to gain a throne?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There greatness speaks,&rdquo; I murmured, and as we descended from the chariot
+      he thanked me with a look.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We passed through the great hall to that same chamber where Pharaoh had
+      given me the chain of gold. Already he was there seated at the head of the
+      chamber and wearing on his head the double crown. About him were gathered
+      all those of royal blood and the great officers of state. We made our
+      obeisances, but of these he seemed to take no note. His eyes were almost
+      closed, and to me he looked like a man who is very ill. The Princess
+      Userti entered after us and to her he spoke some words of welcome, giving
+      her his hand to kiss. Then he ordered the doors to be closed. As he did
+      so, an officer of the household entered and said that a messenger had come
+      from the Hebrews who desired speech with Pharaoh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let him enter,&rdquo; said Meneptah, and presently he appeared.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was a wild-eyed man of middle age, with long hair that fell over his
+      sheepskin robe. To me he looked like a soothsayer. He stood before
+      Pharaoh, making no salutation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Deliver your message and be gone,&rdquo; said Nehesi the Vizier.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These are the words of the Fathers of Israel, spoken by my lips,&rdquo; cried
+      the man in a voice that rang all round the vaulted chamber. &ldquo;It has come
+      to our ears, O Pharaoh, that the woman Merapi, daughter of Nathan, who has
+      refuged in your city, she who is named Moon of Israel, has shown herself
+      to be a prophetess of power, one to whom our God has given strength, in
+      that, standing alone amidst the priests and magicians of Amon of the
+      Egyptians, she took no harm from their sorceries and was able with the
+      sword of prayer to smite the idol of Amon to the dust. We demand that this
+      prophetess be restored to us, making oath on our part that she shall be
+      given over safely to her betrothed husband and that no harm shall come to
+      her for any crimes or treasons she may have committed against her people.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As to this matter,&rdquo; replied Pharaoh quietly, &ldquo;make your prayer to the
+      Prince of Egypt, in whose household I understand the woman dwells. If it
+      pleases him to surrender her who, I take it, is a witch or a cunning
+      worker of tricks, to her betrothed and her kindred, let him do so. It is
+      not for Pharaoh to judge of the fate of private slaves.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The man wheeled round and addressed Seti, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You have heard, Son of the King. Will you deliver up this woman?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Neither do I promise to deliver her up nor not to deliver her up,&rdquo;
+       answered Seti, &ldquo;since the lady Merapi is no member of my household, nor
+      have I any authority over her. She who saved my life dwells within my
+      walls for safety&rsquo;s sake. If it pleases her to go, she can go; if it
+      pleases her to remain, she can remain. When this Court is finished I give
+      you safe-conduct to appear and in my presence learn her pleasure from her
+      lips.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You have your answer; now be gone,&rdquo; said Nehesi.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; cried the man, &ldquo;I have more words to speak. Thus say the Fathers of
+      Israel: We know the black counsel of your heart, O Pharaoh. It has been
+      revealed to us that it is in your mind to put the Hebrews to the sword, as
+      it is in the mind of the Prince of Egypt to save them from the sword.
+      Change that mind of yours, O Pharaoh, and swiftly, lest death fall upon
+      you from heaven above.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cease!&rdquo; thundered Meneptah in a voice that stilled the murmurs of the
+      court. &ldquo;Dog of a Hebrew, do you dare to threaten Pharaoh on his own
+      throne? I tell you that were you not a messenger, and therefore according
+      to our ancient law safe till the sun sets, you should be hewn limb from
+      limb. Away with him, and if he is found in this city after nightfall let
+      him be slain!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then certain of the councillors sprang upon the man and thrust him forth
+      roughly. At the door he wrenched himself free and shouted:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Think upon my words, Pharaoh, before this sun has set. And you, great
+      ones of Egypt, think on them also before it appears again.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They drove him out with blows and the doors were shut. Once more Meneptah
+      began to speak, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now that this brawler is gone, what have you to say to me, Prince of
+      Egypt? Do you still give me the counsel that you wrote in the roll? Do you
+      still refuse, as heir of the Throne, to assent to my decree that these
+      accursed Hebrews be destroyed with the sword of my justice?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now all turned their eyes on Seti, who thought a while, and answered:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let Pharaoh pardon me, but the counsel that I gave I still give; the
+      assent that I refused I still refuse, because my heart tells me that so it
+      is right to do, and so I think will Egypt be saved from many troubles.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      When the scribes had finished writing down these words Pharaoh asked
+      again:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Prince of Egypt, if in a day to come you should fill my place, is it
+      still your intent to let this people of the Hebrews go unharmed, taking
+      with them the wealth that they have gathered here?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let Pharaoh pardon me, that is still my intent.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now at these fateful words there arose a sigh of astonishment from all
+      that heard them. Before it had died away Pharaoh had turned to Userti and
+      was asking:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are these your counsel, your will, and your intent also, O Princess of
+      Egypt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let Pharaoh hear me,&rdquo; answered Userti in a cold, clear voice, &ldquo;they are
+      not. In this great matter my lord the Prince walks one road and I walk
+      another. My counsel, will, and intent are those of Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Seti my son,&rdquo; said Meneptah, more kindly than I had ever heard him speak
+      before, &ldquo;for the last time, not as your king but as your father, I pray
+      you to consider. Remembering that as it lies in your power, being of full
+      age and having been joined with me in many matters of government, to
+      refuse your assent to a great act of state, so it lies in my power with
+      the assent of the high-priests and of my ministers to remove you from my
+      path. Seti, I can disinherit you and set another in your place, and if you
+      persist, that and no less I shall do. Consider, therefore, my son.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In the midst of an intense silence Seti answered:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have considered, O my Father, and whatever be the cost to me I cannot
+      go back upon my words.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Pharaoh rose and cried:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Take note all you assembled here, and let it be proclaimed to the people
+      of Egypt without the gates, that they take note also, that I depose Seti
+      my son from his place as Prince of Egypt and declare that he is removed
+      from the succession to the double Crown. Take note that my daughter
+      Userti, Princess of Egypt, wife of the Prince Seti, I do not depose.
+      Whatever rights and heritages are hers as heiress of Egypt let those
+      rights and heritages remain to her, and if a child be born of her and
+      Prince Seti, who lives, let that child be heir to the Throne of Egypt.
+      Take note that, if no such child is born or until it is born, I name my
+      nephew, the count Amenmeses, son of by brother Khaemuas, now gathered to
+      Osiris, to fill the Throne of Egypt when I am no more. Come hither, Count
+      Amenmeses.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He advanced and stood before him. Then Pharaoh lifted from his head the
+      double crown he wore and for a moment set it on the brow of Amenmeses,
+      saying as he replaced it on his own head:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By this act and token do I name and constitute you, Amenmeses, to be
+      Royal Prince of Egypt in place of my son, Prince Seti, deposed. Withdraw,
+      Royal Prince of Egypt. I have spoken.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Life! Blood! Strength!&rdquo; cried all the company bowing before Pharaoh, all
+      save the Prince Seti who neither bowed nor stirred. Only he cried:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And I have heard. Will Pharaoh be pleased to declare whether with my
+      royal heritage he takes my life? If so, let it be here and now. My cousin
+      Amenmeses wears a sword.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Son,&rdquo; answered Meneptah sadly, &ldquo;your life is left to you and with it
+      all your private rank and your possessions whatsoever and wherever they
+      may be.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let Pharaoh&rsquo;s will be done,&rdquo; replied Seti indifferently, &ldquo;in this as in
+      all things. Pharaoh spares my life until such time as Amenmeses his
+      successor shall fill his place, when it shall be taken.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Meneptah started; this thought was new to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stand forth, Amenmeses,&rdquo; he cried, &ldquo;and swear now the threefold oath that
+      may not be broken. Swear by Amon, by Ptah, and by Osiris, god of death,
+      that never will you attempt to harm the Prince Seti, your cousin, either
+      in body or in such state and prerogative as remain to him. Let Roi, the
+      head-priest of Amon, administer the oath now before us all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So Roi spoke the oath in the ancient form, which was terrible even to
+      hear, and Amenmeses, unwillingly enough as I thought, repeated it after
+      him, adding however these words at the end, &ldquo;All these things I swear and
+      all these penalties in this world and the world to be I invoke upon my
+      head, provided only that when the time comes the Prince Seti leaves me in
+      peace upon the throne to which it has pleased Pharaoh to decree to me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now some there murmured that this was not enough, since in their hearts
+      there were few who did not love Seti and grieve to see him thus stripped
+      of his royal heritage because his judgment differed from that of Pharaoh
+      over a matter of State policy. But Seti only laughed and said scornfully:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let be, for of what value are such oaths? Pharaoh on the throne is above
+      all oaths who must make answer to the gods only and from the hearts of
+      some the gods are far away. Let Amenmeses not fear that I shall quarrel
+      with him over this matter of a crown, I who in truth have never longed for
+      the pomp and cares of royalty and who, deprived of these, still possess
+      all that I can desire. I go my way henceforward as one of many, a noble of
+      Egypt&mdash;no more, and if in a day to come it pleases the Pharaoh to be
+      to shorten my wanderings, I am not sure that even then I shall grieve so
+      very much, who am content to accept the judgment of the gods, as in the
+      end he must do also. Yet, Pharaoh my father, before we part I ask leave to
+      speak the thoughts that rise in me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Say on,&rdquo; muttered Meneptah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pharaoh, having your leave, I tell you that I think you have done a very
+      evil work this day, one that is unpleasing to those Powers which rule the
+      world, whoever and whatsoever they may be, one too that will bring upon
+      Egypt sorrows countless as the sand. I believe that these Hebrews whom you
+      unjustly seek to slay worship a god as great or greater than our own, and
+      that they and he will triumph over Egypt. I believe also that the mighty
+      heritage which you have taken from me will bring neither joy nor honour to
+      him by whom it has been received.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Here Amenmeses started forward, but Meneptah held up his hand, and he was
+      silent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I believe, Pharaoh&mdash;alas! that I must say it&mdash;that your days on
+      earth are few and that for the last time we look on each other living.
+      Farewell, Pharaoh my father, whom still I love mayhap more in this hour of
+      parting than ever I did before. Farewell, Amenmeses, Prince of Egypt. Take
+      from me this ornament which henceforth should be worn by you only,&rdquo; and
+      lifting from his headdress that royal circlet which marks the heir to the
+      throne, he held it to Amenmeses, who took it and, with a smile of triumph,
+      set it on his brow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Farewell, Lords and Councillors; it is my hope that in yonder prince you
+      will find a master more to your liking that ever I could have been. Come,
+      Ana, my friend, if it still pleases you to cling to me for a little while,
+      now that I have nothing left to give.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      For a few moments he stood still looking very earnestly at his father, who
+      looked back at him with tears in his deep-set, faded eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, though whether this was by chance I cannot say, taking no note of
+      the Princess Userti, who gazed at him perplexed and wrathful, Seti drew
+      himself up and cried in the ancient form:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!&rdquo; and bowed almost to
+      the ground.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Meneptah heard. Muttering beneath his breath, &ldquo;Oh! Seti, my son, my most
+      beloved son!&rdquo; he stretched out his arms as though to call him back or
+      perhaps to clasp him. As he did so I saw his face change. Next instant he
+      fell forward to the ground and lay there still. All the company stood
+      struck with horror, only the royal physician ran to him, while Roi and
+      others who were priests began to mutter prayers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Has the good god been gathered to Osiris?&rdquo; asked Amenmeses presently in a
+      hoarse voice, &ldquo;because if it be so, I am Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Amenmeses,&rdquo; exclaimed Userti, &ldquo;the decrees have not yet been sealed
+      or promulgated. They have neither strength nor weight.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Before he could answer the physician cried:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Peace! Pharaoh still lives, his heart beats. This is but a fit which may
+      pass. Begone, every one, he must have quiet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So we went, but first Seti knelt down and kissed his father on the brow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An hour later the Princess Userti broke into the room of his palace where
+      the Prince and I were talking.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Seti,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;Pharaoh still lives, but the physicians say he will be
+      dead by dawn. There is yet time. Here I have a writing, sealed with his
+      signet and witnessed, wherein he recalls all that he decreed in the Court
+      to-day, and declares you, his son, to be the true and only heir of the
+      throne of Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it so, wife? Tell me now how did a dying man in a swoon command and
+      seal this writing?&rdquo; and he touched the scroll she held in her hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He recovered for a little while; Nehesi will tell you how,&rdquo; she replied,
+      looking him in the face with cold eyes. Then before he could speak, she
+      added, &ldquo;Waste no more breath in questions, but act and at once. The
+      General of the guards waits below; he is your faithful servant. Through
+      him I have promised a gift to every soldier on the day that you are
+      crowned. Nehesi and most of the officers are on our side. Only the priests
+      are against us because of that Hebrew witch whom you shelter, and of her
+      tribe whom you befriend; but they have not had time to stir up the people
+      nor will they attempt revolt. Act, Seti, act, for none will move without
+      your express command. Moreover, no question will be raised afterwards,
+      since from Thebes to the sea and throughout the world you are known to be
+      the heir of Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What would you have me do, wife?&rdquo; asked Seti, when she paused for lack of
+      breath.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cannot you guess? Must I put statecraft into your head as well as a sword
+      into your hand? Why that scribe of yours, who follows your heels like a
+      favoured dog, would be more apt a pupil. Hearken then. Amenmeses has sent
+      out to gather strength, but as yet there are not fifty men about him whom
+      he can trust.&rdquo; She leant forward and whispered fiercely, &ldquo;Kill the
+      traitor, Amenmeses&mdash;all will hold it a righteous act, and the General
+      waits your word. Shall I summon him?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think not,&rdquo; answered Seti. &ldquo;Because Pharaoh, as he has a right to do,
+      is pleased to name a certain man of royal blood to succeed him, how does
+      this make that man a traitor to Pharaoh who still lives? But, traitor or
+      none, I will not murder my cousin Amenmeses.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then he will murder you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Maybe. That is a matter between him and the gods which I leave them to
+      settle. The oath he swore to-day is not one to be lightly broken. But
+      whether he breaks it or not, I also swore an oath, at least in my heart,
+      namely that I would not attempt to dispute the will of Pharaoh whom, after
+      all, I love as my father and honour as my king, Pharaoh who still lives
+      and may, as I hope, recover. What should I say to him if he recovered or,
+      at the worst, when at last we meet elsewhere?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pharaoh never will recover; I have spoken to the physician and he told me
+      so. Already they pierce his skull to let out the evil spirit of sickness,
+      after which none of our family have lived for very long.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Because, as I hold, thereby, whatever priests and physicians may say,
+      they let in the good spirit of death. Ana, I pray you if I&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Man,&rdquo; she broke in, striking her hand upon the table by which she stood,
+      &ldquo;do you understand that while you muse and moralise your crown is passing
+      from you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It has already passed, Lady. Did you not see me give it to Amenmeses?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you understand that you who should be the greatest king in all the
+      world, in some few hours if indeed you are allowed to live, will be
+      nothing but a private citizen of Egypt, one at whom the very beggars may
+      spit and take no harm?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Surely, Wife. Moreover, there is little virtue in what I do, since on the
+      whole I prefer that prospect and am willing to take the risk of being
+      hurried from an evil world. Hearken,&rdquo; he added, with a change of tone and
+      gesture. &ldquo;You think me a fool and a weakling; a dreamer also, you, the
+      clear-eyed, hard-brained stateswoman who look to the glittering gain of
+      the moment for which you are ready to pay in blood, and guess nothing of
+      what lies beyond. I am none of these things, except, perchance, the last.
+      I am only a man who strives to be just and to do right, as right seems to
+      me, and if I dream, it is of good, not evil, as I understand good and
+      evil. You are sure that this dreaming of mine will lead me to worldly loss
+      and shame. Even of that <i>I</i> am not sure. The thought comes to me that
+      it may lead me to those very baubles on which you set your heart, but by a
+      path strewn with spices and with flowers, not by one paved with the bones
+      of men and reeking with their gore. Crowns that are bought with the
+      promise of blood and held with cruelty are apt to be lost in blood,
+      Userti.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She waved her hand. &ldquo;I pray you keep the rest, Seti, till I have more time
+      to listen. Moreover if I need prophecies, I think it better to turn to Ki
+      and those who make them their life-study. For me this is a day of deeds,
+      not dreams, and since you refuse my help, and behave as a sick girl lost
+      in fancies, I must see to myself. As while you live I cannot reign alone
+      or wage war in my own name only, I go to make terms with Amenmeses, who
+      will pay me high for peace.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You go&mdash;and do you return, Userti?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She drew herself to her full height, looking very royal, and answered
+      slowly:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not return. I, the Princess of Egypt, cannot live as the wife of a
+      common man who falls from a throne to set himself upon the earth, and
+      smears his own brow with mud for a uræus crown. When your prophecies come
+      true, Seti, and you crawl from your dust, then perhaps we may speak
+      again.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Aye, Userti, but the question is, what shall we say?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Meanwhile,&rdquo; she added, as she turned, &ldquo;I leave you to your chosen
+      counsellors&mdash;yonder scribe, whom foolishness, not wisdom, has
+      whitened before his time, and perchance the Hebrew sorceress, who can give
+      you moonbeams to drink from those false lips of hers. Farewell, Seti, once
+      a prince and my husband.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Farewell, Userti, who, I fear, must still remain my sister.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then he watched her go, and turning to me, said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To-day, Ana, I have lost both a crown and a wife, yet strange to tell I
+      do not know which of these calamities grieves me least. Yet it is time
+      that fortune turned. Or mayhap all the evils are not done. Would you not
+      go also, Ana? Although she gibes at you in her anger, the Princess thinks
+      well of you, and would keep you in her service. Remember, whoever falls in
+      Egypt, she will be great till the last.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! Prince,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;have I not borne enough to-day that you must
+      add insult to my load, you with whom I broke the cup and swore the oath?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What!&rdquo; he laughed. &ldquo;Is there one in Egypt who remembers oaths to his own
+      loss? I thank you, Ana,&rdquo; and taking my hand he pressed it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At that moment the door opened, and old Pambasa entered, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Hebrew woman, Merapi, would see you; also two Hebrew men.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Admit them,&rdquo; said Seti. &ldquo;Note, Ana, how yonder old time-server turns his
+      face from the setting sun. This morning even it would have been &lsquo;to see
+      your Highness,&rsquo; uttered with bows so low that his beard swept the floor.
+      Now it is &lsquo;to see you&rsquo; and not so much as an inclination of the head in
+      common courtesy. This, moreover, from one who has robbed me year by year
+      and grown fat on bribes. It is the first of many bitter lessons, or rather
+      the second&mdash;that of her Highness was the first; I pray that I may
+      learn them with humility.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      While he mused thus and, having no comfort to offer, I listened sad at
+      heart, Merapi entered, and a moment after her the wide-eyed messenger whom
+      we had seen in Pharaoh&rsquo;s Court, and her uncle Jabez the cunning merchant.
+      She bowed low to Seti, and smiled at me. Then the other two appeared, and
+      with small salutation the messenger began to speak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You know my demand, Prince,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It is that this woman should be
+      returned to her people. Jabez, her uncle, will lead her away.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And you know my answer, Israelite,&rdquo; answered Seti. &ldquo;It is that I have no
+      power over the coming or the going of the lady Merapi, or at least wish to
+      claim none. Address yourself to her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is it you wish with me, Priest?&rdquo; asked Merapi quickly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That you should return to the town of Goshen, daughter of Nathan. Have
+      you no ears to hear?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I hear, but if I return, what will you of me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That you who have proved yourself a prophetess by your deeds in yonder
+      temple should dedicate your powers to the service of your people,
+      receiving in return full forgiveness for the evils you have wrought
+      against them, which we swear to you in the name of God.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am no prophetess, and I have wrought no evils against my people,
+      Priest. I have only saved them from the evil of murdering one who has
+      shown himself their friend, even as I hear to the laying down of his crown
+      for their sake.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is for the Fathers of Israel and not for you to judge, woman. Your
+      answer?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is neither for them nor for me, but for God only.&rdquo; She paused, then
+      added, &ldquo;Is this all you ask of me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is all the Fathers ask, but Laban asks his affianced wife.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And am I to be given in marriage to&mdash;this assassin?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Without doubt you are to be given to this brave soldier, being already
+      his.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And if I refuse?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then, Daughter of Nathan, it is my part to curse you in the name of God,
+      and to declare you cut off and outcast from the people of God. It is my
+      part to announce to you further that your life is forfeit, and that any
+      Hebrew may kill you when and how he can, and take no blame.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Merapi paled a little, then turning to Jabez, asked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You have heard, my uncle. What say you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Jabez looked round shiftily, and said in his unctuous voice:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My niece, surely you must obey the commands of the Elders of Israel who
+      speak the will of Heaven, as you obeyed them when you matched yourself
+      against the might of Amon.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You gave me a different counsel yesterday, my uncle. Then you said I had
+      better bide where I was.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The messenger turned and glared at him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There is a great difference between yesterday and to-day,&rdquo; went on Jabez
+      hurriedly. &ldquo;Yesterday you were protected by one who would soon be Pharaoh,
+      and might have been able to move his mind in favour of your folk. To-day
+      his greatness is stripped from him, and his will has no more weight in
+      Egypt. A dead lion is not to be feared, my niece.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Seti smiled at this insult, but Merapi&rsquo;s face, like my own, grew red, as
+      though with anger.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sleeping lions have been taken for dead ere now, my uncle, as those who
+      would spurn them have discovered to their cost. Prince Seti, have you no
+      word to help me in this strait?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is the strait, Lady? If you wish to go to your people and&mdash;to
+      Laban, who, I understand, is recovered from his hurts, there is naught
+      between you and me save my gratitude to you which gives me the right to
+      say you shall not go. If, however, you wish to stay, then perhaps I am
+      still not so powerless to shield or smite as this worthy Jabez thinks, who
+      still remain the greatest lord in Egypt and one with those that love him.
+      Therefore should you desire to remain, I think that you may do so
+      unmolested of any, and least of all by that friend in whose shadow it
+      pleases you to sojourn.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Those are very gentle words,&rdquo; murmured Merapi, &ldquo;words that few would
+      speak to a maid from whom naught is asked and who has naught to give.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A truce to this talk,&rdquo; snarled the messenger. &ldquo;Do you obey or do you
+      rebel? Your answer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She turned and looked him full in the face, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not return to Goshen and to Laban, of whose sword I have seen
+      enough.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mayhap you will see more of it before all is done. For the last time,
+      think ere the curse of your God and your people falls upon you, and after
+      it, death. For fall I say it shall, I, who, as Pharaoh knows to-day, am no
+      false prophet, and as that Prince knows also.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not think that my God, who sees the hearts of those that he has
+      made, will avenge himself upon a woman because she refuses to be wedded to
+      a murderer whom of her own will she never chose, which, Priest, is the
+      fate you offer me. Therefore I am content to leave judgment in the hands
+      of the great Judge of all. For the rest I defy you and your commands. If I
+      must be slaughtered, let me die, but at least let me die mistress of
+      myself and free, who am no man&rsquo;s love, or wife, or slave.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well spoken!&rdquo; whispered Seti to me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then this priest became terrible. Waving his arms and rolling his wild
+      eyes, he poured out some hideous curse upon the head of this poor maid,
+      much of which, as it was spoken rapidly in an ancient form of Hebrew, we
+      did not understand. He cursed her living, dying, and after death. He
+      cursed her in her love and hate, wedded or alone. He cursed her in
+      child-bearing or in barrenness, and he cursed her children after her to
+      all generations. Lastly, he declared her cut off from and rejected by the
+      god she worshipped, and sentenced her to death at the hands of any who
+      could slay her. So horrible was that curse that she shrank away from him,
+      while Jabez crouched about the ground hiding his eyes with his hands, and
+      even I felt my blood turn cold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length he paused, foaming at the lips. Then, suddenly, shouting, &ldquo;After
+      judgment, doom!&rdquo; he drew a knife from his robe and sprang at her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She fled behind us. He followed, but Seti, crying, &ldquo;Ah, I thought it,&rdquo;
+       leapt between them, as he did so drawing the iron sword which he wore with
+      his ceremonial dress. At him he sprang and the next thing I saw was the
+      red point of the sword standing out beyond the priest&rsquo;s shoulders.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Down he fell, babbling:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is this how you show your love for Israel, Prince?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is how I show my hate of murderers,&rdquo; answered Seti.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then the man died.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; cried Merapi wringing her hands, &ldquo;once more I have caused Hebrew
+      blood to flow and now all this curse will fall on me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, on me, Lady, if there is anything in curses, which I doubt, for this
+      deed was mine, and at the worst yonder mad brute&rsquo;s knife did not fall on
+      you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, life is left if only for a little while. Had it not been for you,
+      Prince, by now, I&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo; and she shuddered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And had it not been for you, Moon of Israel, by now I&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo; and
+      he smiled, adding, &ldquo;Surely Fate weaves a strange web round you and me.
+      First you save me from the sword; then I save you. I think, Lady, that in
+      the end we ought to die together and give Ana here stuff for the best of
+      all his stories. Friend Jabez,&rdquo; he went on to the Israelite who was still
+      crouching in the corner with the eyes starting from his head, &ldquo;get you
+      back to your gentle-hearted people and make it clear to them why the lady
+      Merapi cannot companion you, taking with you that carrion to prove your
+      tale. Tell them that if they send more men to molest your niece a like
+      fate awaits them, but that now as before I do not turn my back upon them
+      because of the deeds of a few madmen or evil-doers, as I have given them
+      proof to-day. Ana, make ready, since soon I leave for Memphis. See that
+      the Lady Merapi, who will travel alone, has fit escort for her journey,
+      that is if it pleases her to depart from Tanis.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XI
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE CROWNING OF AMENMESES
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      Now, notwithstanding all the woes that fell on Egypt and a certain secret
+      sorrow of my own, began the happiest of the days which the gods have given
+      me. We went to Mennefer or Memphis, the white-walled city where I was
+      born, the city that I loved. Now no longer did I dwell in a little house
+      near to the enclosure of the temple of Ptah, which is vaster and more
+      splendid than all those of Thebes or Tanis. My home was in the beautiful
+      palace of Seti, which he had inherited from his mother, the Great Royal
+      Wife. It stood, and indeed still stands, on a piled-up mound without the
+      walls near to the temple of the goddess Neit, who always has her
+      habitation to the north of the wall, why I do not know, because even her
+      priests cannot tell me. In front of this palace, facing to the north, is a
+      great portico, whereof the roof is borne upon palm-headed, painted columns
+      whence may be seen the most lovely prospect in Egypt. First the gardens,
+      then the palm-groves, then the cultivated land, then the broad and gentle
+      Nile and, far away, the desert.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here, then, we dwelt, keeping small state and almost unguarded, but in
+      wealth and comfort, spending our time in the library of the palace, or in
+      those of the temples, and when we wearied of work, in the lovely gardens
+      or, perchance, sailing upon the bosom of the Nile. The lady Merapi dwelt
+      there also, but in a separate wing of the palace, with certain slaves and
+      servants whom Seti had given to her. Sometimes we met her in the gardens,
+      where it pleased her to walk at the same hours that we did, namely before
+      the sun grew hot, or in the cool of the evening, and now and again when
+      the moon shone at night. Then the three of us would talk together, for
+      Seti never sought her company alone or within walls.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Those talks were very pleasant. Moreover they grew more frequent as time
+      went on, since Merapi had a thirst for learning, and the Prince would
+      bring her rolls to read in a little summer-house there was. Here we would
+      sit, or if the heat was great, outside beneath the shadow of two spreading
+      trees that stretched above the roof of the little pleasure-house, while
+      Seti discoursed of the contents of the rolls and instructed her in the
+      secrets of our writing. Sometimes, too, I read them stories of my making,
+      to which it pleased them both to listen, or so they said, and I, in my
+      vanity, believed. Also we would talk of the mystery and the wonder of the
+      world and of the Hebrews and their fate, or of what passed in Egypt and
+      the neighbouring lands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nor was Merapi altogether lonesome, seeing that there dwelt in Memphis
+      certain ladies who had Hebrew blood in their veins, or were born of the
+      Israelites and had married Egyptians against their law. Among these she
+      made friends, and together they worshipped in their own fashion with none
+      to say them nay, since here no priests were allowed to trouble them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For our part we held intercourse with as many as we pleased, since few
+      forgot that Seti was by blood the Prince of Egypt, that is, a man almost
+      half divine, and all were eager to visit him. Also he was much beloved for
+      his own sake and more particularly by the poor, whose wants it was his
+      delight to relieve to the full limit of his wealth. Thus it came about
+      that whenever he went abroad, although against his will, he was received
+      with honours and homage that were almost royal, for though Pharaoh could
+      rob him of the Crown he could not empty his veins of the blood of kings.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was on this account that I feared for his safety, since I was sure that
+      through his spies Amenmeses knew all and would grow jealous of a dethroned
+      prince who was still so much adored by those over whom of right he should
+      have ruled. I told Seti of my doubts and that when he travelled the
+      streets he should be guarded by armed men. But he only laughed and
+      answered that, as the Hebrews had failed to kill him, he did not think
+      that any others would succeed. Moreover he believed there were no
+      Egyptians in the land who would lift a sword against him, or put poison in
+      his drink, whoever bade them. Also he added these words:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The best way to escape death is to have no fear of death, for then Osiris
+      shuns us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now I must tell of the happenings at Tanis. Pharaoh Meneptah lingered but
+      a few hours and never found his mind again before his spirit flew to
+      Heaven. Then there was great mourning in the land, for, if he was not
+      loved, Meneptah was honoured and feared. Only among the Israelites there
+      was open rejoicing, because he had been their enemy and their prophets had
+      foretold that death was near to him. They gave it out that he had been
+      smitten of their God, which caused the Egyptians to hate them more than
+      ever. There was doubt, too, and bewilderment in Egypt, for though his
+      proclamation disinheriting the Prince Seti had been published abroad, the
+      people, and especially those who dwelt in the south, could not understand
+      why this should have been done over a matter of the shepherd slaves who
+      dwelt in Goshen. Indeed, had the Prince but held up his hand, tens of
+      thousands would have rallied to his standard. Yet this he refused to do,
+      which astonished all the world, who thought it marvellous that any man
+      should refuse a throne which would have lifted him almost to the level of
+      the gods. Indeed, to avoid their importunities he had set out at once for
+      Memphis, and there remained hidden away during the period of mourning for
+      his father. So it came about that Amenmeses succeeded with none to say him
+      nay, since without her husband Userti could not or would not act.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After the days of embalmment were accomplished the body of Pharaoh
+      Meneptah was carried up the Nile to be laid in his eternal house, the
+      splendid tomb that he had made ready for himself in the Valley of Dead
+      Kings at Thebes. To this great ceremony the Prince Seti was not bidden,
+      lest, as Bakenkhonsu told me afterwards, his presence should cause some
+      rising in his favour, with or without his will. For this reason also the
+      dead god, as he was named, was not suffered to rest at Memphis on his last
+      journey up the Nile. Disguised as a man of the people the Prince watched
+      his father&rsquo;s body pass in the funeral barge guarded by shaven, white-robed
+      priests, the centre of a splendid procession. In front went other barges
+      filled with soldiers and officers of state, behind came the new Pharaoh
+      and all the great ones of Egypt, while the sounds of lamentation floated
+      far over the face of the waters. They appeared, they passed, they
+      disappeared, and when they had vanished Seti wept a little, for in his own
+      fashion he loved his father.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of what use is it to be a king and named half-divine, Ana,&rdquo; he said to
+      me, &ldquo;seeing that the end of such gods as these is the same as that of the
+      beggar at the gate?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This, Prince,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;that a king can do more good than a beggar
+      while the breath is in his nostrils, and leave behind him a great example
+      to others.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Or more harm, Ana. Also the beggar can leave a great example, that of
+      patience in affliction. Still, if I were sure that I should do nothing but
+      good, then perhaps I would be a king. But I have noted that those who
+      desire to do the most good often work the greatest harm.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Which, if followed out, would be an argument for wishing to do evil,
+      Prince.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not so,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;because good triumphs at the last. For good is
+      truth and truth rules earth and heaven.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then it is clear, Prince, that you should seek to be a king.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will remember the argument, Ana, if ever time brings me an opportunity
+      unstained by blood,&rdquo; he answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the obsequies of Pharaoh were finished, Amenmeses returned to Tanis,
+      and there was crowned as Pharaoh. I attended this great ceremony, bearing
+      coronation gifts of certain royal ornaments which the Prince sent to
+      Pharaoh, saying it was not fit that he, as a private person, should wear
+      them any longer. These I presented to Pharaoh, who took them doubtfully,
+      declaring that he did not understand the Prince Seti&rsquo;s mind and actions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They hide no snare, O Pharaoh,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;As you rejoice in the glory that
+      the gods have sent you, so the Prince my master rejoices in the rest and
+      peace which the gods have given him, asking no more.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It may be so, Scribe, but I find this so strange a thing, that sometimes
+      I fear lest the rich flowers of this glory of mine should hide some deadly
+      snake, whereof the Prince knows, if he did not set it there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I cannot say, O Pharaoh, but without doubt, although he could work no
+      guile, the Prince is not as are other men. His mind is both wide and
+      deep.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Too deep for me,&rdquo; muttered Amenmeses. &ldquo;Nevertheless, say to my royal
+      cousin that I thank him for his gifts, especially as some of them were
+      worn, when he was heir to Egypt, by my father Khaemuas, who I would had
+      left me his wisdom as well as his blood. Say to him also that while he
+      refrains from working me harm upon the throne, as I know he has done up to
+      the present, he may be sure that I will work him none in the station which
+      he has chosen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Also I saw the Princess Userti who questioned me closely concerning her
+      lord. I told her everything, keeping naught back. She listened and asked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What of that Hebrew woman, Moon of Israel? Without doubt she fills my
+      place.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not so, Princess,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;The Prince lives alone. Neither she nor
+      any other woman fills your place. She is a friend to him, no more.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A friend! Well, at least we know the end of such friendships. Oh! surely
+      the Prince must be stricken with madness from the gods!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It may be so, your Highness, but I think that if the gods smote more men
+      with such madness, the world would be better than it is.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The world is the world, and the business of those who are born to
+      greatness is to rule it as it is, not to hide away amongst books and
+      flowers, and to talk folly with a beautiful outland woman, and a scribe
+      however learned,&rdquo; she answered bitterly, adding, &ldquo;Oh! if the Prince is not
+      mad, certainly he drives others to madness, and me, his spouse, among
+      them. That throne is his, his; yet he suffers a cross-grained dolt to take
+      his place, and sends him gifts and blessings.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think your Highness should wait till the end of the story before you
+      judge of it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She looked at me sharply, and asked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why do you say that? Is the Prince no fool after all? Do he and you, who
+      both seem to be so simple, perchance play a great and hidden game, as I
+      have known men feign folly in order to do with safety? Or has that witch
+      of an Israelite some secret knowledge in which she instructs you, such as
+      a woman who can shatter the statue of Amon to fine dust might well
+      possess? You make believe not to know, which means that you will not
+      answer. Oh! Scribe Ana, if only it were safe, I think I could find a way
+      to wring the truth out of you, although you do pretend to be but a babe
+      for innocence.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It pleases your Highness to threaten and without cause.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; she answered, changing her voice and manner, &ldquo;I do not threaten; it
+      is only the madness that I have caught from Seti. Would you not be mad if
+      you knew that another woman was to be crowned to-morrow in your place,
+      because&mdash;because&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo; and she began to weep, which
+      frightened me more than all her rough words.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Presently she dried her tears, and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Say to my lord that I rejoice to hear that he is well and send him
+      greetings, but that never of my own wish will I look upon his living face
+      again unless indeed he takes another counsel, and sets himself to win that
+      which is his own. Say to him that though he has so little care for me, and
+      pays no heed to my desires, still I watch over his welfare and his safety,
+      as best I may.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;His safety, Princess! Pharaoh assured me not an hour ago that he had
+      naught to fear, as indeed he fears naught.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! which of you is the more foolish,&rdquo; she exclaimed stamping her foot,
+      &ldquo;the man or his master? You believe that the Prince has naught to fear
+      because that usurper tells you so, and he believes it&mdash;well, because
+      he fears naught. For a little while he may sleep in peace. But let him
+      wait until troubles of this sort or of that arise in Egypt and,
+      understanding that the gods send them on account of the great wickedness
+      that my father wrought when death had him by the throat and his mind was
+      clouded, the people begin to turn their eyes towards their lawful king.
+      Then the usurper will grow jealous, and if he has his way, the Prince will
+      sleep in peace&mdash;for ever. If his throat remains uncut, it will be for
+      one reason only, that I hold back the murderer&rsquo;s hand. Farewell, I can
+      talk no more, for I say to you that my brain is afire&mdash;and to-morrow
+      he should have been crowned, and I with him,&rdquo; and she swept away, royal as
+      ever, leaving me wondering what she meant when she spoke of troubles
+      arising in Egypt, or if the words were but uttered at hazard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Afterwards Bakenkhonsu and I supped together at the college of the temple
+      of Ptah, of which because of his age he was called the father, when I
+      heard more of this matter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ana,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I tell you that such gloom hangs over Egypt as I have
+      never known even when it was thought that the Ninebow Barbarians would
+      conquer and enslave the land. Amenmeses will be the fifth Pharaoh whom I
+      have seen crowned, the first of them when I was but a little child hanging
+      to my mother&rsquo;s robe, and not once have I known such joylessness.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That may be because the crown passes to one who should not wear it,
+      Bakenkhonsu.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He shook his head. &ldquo;Not altogether. I think this darkness comes from the
+      heavens as light does. Men are afraid they know not of what.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Israelites,&rdquo; I suggested.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now you are near to it, Ana, for doubtless they have much to do with the
+      matter. Had it not been for them Seti and not Amenmeses would be crowned
+      to-morrow. Also the tale of the marvel which the beautiful Hebrew woman
+      wrought in the temple yonder has got abroad and is taken as an omen. Did I
+      tell you that six days gone a fine new statue of the god was consecrated
+      there and on the following morning was found lying on its side, or rather
+      with its head resting on the breast of Mut?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If so, Merapi is blameless, because she has gone away from this city.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of course she has gone away, for has not Seti gone also? But I think she
+      left something behind her. However that may be, even our new divine lord
+      is afraid. He dreams ill, Ana,&rdquo; he added, dropping his voice, &ldquo;so ill that
+      he has called in Ki, the Kherheb,[*] to interpret his visions.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] &ldquo;Kherheb&rdquo; was the title of the chief official magician
+     in ancient Egypt.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And what said Ki?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ki could say nothing or, rather, that the only answer vouchsafed to him
+      and his company, when they made inquiry of their Kas, was that this god&rsquo;s
+      reign would be very short and that it and his life would end together.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Which perhaps did not please the god Amenmeses, Bakenkhonsu?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Which did not please the god at all. He threatened Ki. It is a foolish
+      thing to threaten a great magician, Ana, as the Kherheb Ki, himself indeed
+      told him, looking him in the eyes. Then he prayed his pardon and asked who
+      would succeed him on the throne, but Ki said he did not know, as a Kherheb
+      who had been threatened could never remember anything, which indeed he
+      never can&mdash;except to pay back the threatener.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And did he know, Bakenkhonsu?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      By way of answer the old Councillor crumbled some bread fine upon the
+      table, then with his finger traced among the crumbs the rough likeness of
+      a jackal-headed god and of two feathers, after which with a swift movement
+      he swept the crumbs onto the floor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Seti!&rdquo; I whispered, reading the hieroglyphs of the Prince&rsquo;s name, and he
+      nodded and laughed in his great fashion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Men come to their own sometimes, Ana, especially if they do not seek
+      their own,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But if so, much must happen first that is terrible.
+      The new Pharaoh is not the only man who dreams, Ana. Of late years my
+      sleep has been light and sometimes I dream, though I have no magic like to
+      that of Ki.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What did you dream?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I dreamed of a great multitude marching like locusts over Egypt. Before
+      them went a column of fire in which were two hands. One of these held Amon
+      by the throat and one held the new Pharaoh by the throat. After them came
+      a column of cloud, and in it a shape like to that of an unwrapped mummy, a
+      shape of death standing upon water that was full of countless dead.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now I bethought me of the picture that the Prince and I had seen in the
+      skies yonder in the land of Goshen, but of it I said nothing. Yet I think
+      that Bakenkhonsu saw into my mind, for he asked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do <i>you</i> never dream, Friend? You see visions that come true&mdash;Amenmeses
+      on the throne, for instance. Do you not also dream at times? No? Well,
+      then, the Prince? You look like men who might, and the time is ripe and
+      pregnant. Oh! I remember. You are both of you dreaming, not of the
+      pictures that pass across the terrible eyes of Ki, but of those that the
+      moon reflects upon the waters of Memphis, the Moon of Israel. Ana, be
+      advised by me, put away the flesh and increase the spirit, for in it alone
+      is happiness, whereof woman and all our joys are but earthly symbols,
+      shadows thrown by that mortal cloud which lies between us and the Light
+      Above. I see that you understand, because some of that light has struggled
+      to your heart. Do you remember that you saw it shining in the hour when
+      your little daughter died? Ah! I thought so. It was the gift she left you,
+      a gift that will grow and grow in such a breast as yours, if only you will
+      put away the flesh and make room for it, Ana. Man, do not weep&mdash;laugh
+      as I do, Oho-ho! Give me my staff, and good-night. Forget not that we sit
+      together at the crowning to-morrow, for you are a King&rsquo;s Companion and
+      that rank once conferred is one which no new Pharaoh can take away. It is
+      like the gift of the spirit, Ana, which is hard to win, but once won more
+      eternal than the stars. Oh! why do I live so long who would bathe in it,
+      as when a child I used to bathe in Nile?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      On the following day at the appointed hour I went to the great hall of the
+      palace, that in which I had first seen Meneptah, and took my stand in the
+      place allotted to me. It was somewhat far back, perhaps because it was not
+      wished that I, who was known to be the private scribe of Seti, should
+      remind Egypt of him by appearing where all could see me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Great as was the hall the crowd filled it to its furthest corners.
+      Moreover no common man was present there, but rather every noble and
+      head-priest in Egypt, and with them their wives and daughters, so that all
+      the dim courts shone with gold and precious gems set upon festal garments.
+      While I was waiting old Bakenkhonsu hobbled towards me, the crowd making
+      way for him, and I could see that there was laughter in his sunken eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We are ill-placed, Ana,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Still if any of the many gods there
+      are in Egypt should chance to rain fires on Pharaoh, we shall be the
+      safer. Talking of gods,&rdquo; he went on in a whisper, &ldquo;have you heard what
+      happened an hour ago in the temple of Ptah of Tanis whence I have just
+      come? Pharaoh and all the Blood-royal&mdash;save one&mdash;walked
+      according to custom before the statue of the god which, as you know,
+      should bow its head to show that he chooses and accepts the king. In front
+      of Amenmeses went the Princess Userti, and as she passed the head of the
+      god bowed, for I saw it, though all pretended that they did not see. Then
+      came Pharaoh and stood waiting, but it would not bow, though the priests
+      called in the old formula, &lsquo;The god greets the king.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At length he went on, looking as black as night, and others of the blood
+      of Rameses followed in their order. Last of all limped Saptah and, behold!
+      the god bowed again.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How and why does it do these things?&rdquo; I asked, &ldquo;and at the wrong time?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ask the priests, Ana, or Userti, or Saptah. Perhaps the divine neck has
+      not been oiled of late, or too much oiled, or too little oiled, or prayers&mdash;or
+      strings&mdash;may have gone wrong. Or Pharaoh may have been niggard in his
+      gifts to that college of the great god of his House. Who am I that I
+      should know the ways of gods? That in the temple where I served at Thebes
+      fifty years ago did not pretend to bow or to trouble himself as to which
+      of the royal race sat upon the throne. Hush! Here comes Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then in a splendid procession, surrounded by princes, councillors, ladies,
+      priests, and guards, Amenmeses and the Royal Wife, Urnure, a large woman
+      who walked awkwardly, entered the hall, a glittering band. The
+      high-priest, Roi, and the chancellor, Nehesi, received Pharaoh and led him
+      to his throne. The multitude prostrated itself, trumpets blew and thrice
+      the old salute of &ldquo;Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!&rdquo; was
+      cried aloud.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Amenmeses rose and bowed, and I saw that his heavy face was troubled and
+      looked older. Then he swore some oath to gods and men which Roi dictated
+      to him, and before all the company put on the double crown and the other
+      emblems, and took in his hands the scourge and golden sickle. Next homage
+      was paid. The Princess Userti came first and kissed Pharaoh&rsquo;s hand, but
+      bent no knee. Indeed first she spoke with him a while. We could not hear
+      what was said, but afterwards learned that she demanded that he should
+      publicly repeat all the promises which her father Meneptah had made to her
+      before him, confirming her in her place and rights. This in the end he
+      did, though it seemed to me unwillingly enough.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So with many forms and ancient celebrations the ceremony went on, till all
+      grew weary waiting for that time when Pharaoh should make his speech to
+      the people. That speech, however, was never made, for presently, thrusting
+      past us, I saw those two prophets of the Israelites who had visited
+      Meneptah in this same hall. Men shrank from them, so that they walked
+      straight up to the throne, nor did even the guards strive to bar their
+      way. What they said there I could not hear, but I believe that they
+      demanded that their people should be allowed to go to worship their god in
+      their own fashion, and that Amenmeses refused as Meneptah had done.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then one of them cast down a rod and it turned to a snake which hissed at
+      Pharaoh, whereon the Kherheb Ki and his company also cast down rods that
+      turned to snakes, though I could only hear the hissing. After this a great
+      gloom fell upon the hall, so that men could not see each other&rsquo;s faces and
+      everyone began to call aloud till the company broke up in confusion.
+      Bakenkhonsu and I were borne together to the doorway by the pressure of
+      the people, whence we were glad enough to see the sky again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus ended the crowning of Amenmeses.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XII
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE MESSAGE OF JABEZ
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      That night there were none who rejoiced in the streets of the city, and
+      save in the palace and houses of those of the Court, none who feasted. I
+      walked abroad in the market-place and noted the people going to and fro
+      gloomily, or talking together in whispers. Presently a man whose face was
+      hidden in a hood began to speak with me, saying that he had a message for
+      my master, the Prince Seti. I answered that I took no messages from veiled
+      strangers, whereon he threw back his hood, and I saw that it was Jabez,
+      the uncle of Merapi. I asked him whether he had obeyed the Prince, and
+      borne the body of that prophet back to Goshen and told the elders of the
+      manner of the man&rsquo;s death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;nor were the Elders angry with the Prince over this
+      matter. They said that their messenger had exceeded his authority, since
+      they had never told him to curse Merapi, and much less attempt to kill
+      her, and that the Prince did right to slay one who would have done murder
+      before his royal eyes. Still they added that the curse, having once been
+      spoken by this priest, would surely fall upon Merapi in this way or in
+      that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What then should she do, Jabez?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not know, Scribe. If she returns to her people, perchance she will
+      be absolved, but then she must surely marry Laban. It is for her to
+      judge.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And what would you do if you were in her place, Jabez?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think that I should stay where I was, and make myself very dear to
+      Seti, taking the chance that the curse may pass her by, since it was not
+      lawfully decreed upon her. Whichever way she looks, trouble waits, and at
+      the worst, a woman might wish to satisfy her heart before it falls,
+      especially if that heart should happen to turn to one who will be
+      Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why do you say &lsquo;who will be Pharaoh,&rsquo; Jabez?&rdquo; I asked, for we were
+      standing in an empty place alone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That I may not tell you,&rdquo; he replied cunningly, &ldquo;yet it will come about
+      as I say. He who sits upon the throne is mad as Meneptah was mad, and will
+      fight against a strength that is greater than his until it overwhelms him.
+      In the Prince&rsquo;s heart alone does the light of wisdom shine. That which you
+      saw to-day is only the first of many miracles, Scribe Ana. I can say no
+      more.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What then is your message, Jabez?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This: Because the Prince has striven to deal well with the people of
+      Israel and for their sake has cast aside a crown, whatever may chance to
+      others, let him fear nothing. No harm shall come to him, or to those about
+      him, such as yourself, Scribe Ana, who also would deal justly by us. Yet
+      it may happen that through my niece Merapi, on whose head the evil word
+      has fallen, a great sorrow may come to both him and her. Therefore,
+      perhaps, although setting this against that, she may be wise to stay in
+      the house of Seti, he, on the balance, may be wise to turn her from his
+      doors.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What sorrow?&rdquo; I asked, who grew bewildered with his dark talk, but there
+      was no answer, for he had gone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Near to my lodging another man met me, and the moonlight shining on his
+      face showed me the terrible eyes of Ki.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Scribe Ana,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you leave for Memphis to-morrow at the dawn, and
+      not two days hence as you purposed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How do you know that, Magician Ki?&rdquo; I answered, for I had told my change
+      of plan to none, not even to Bakenkhonsu, having indeed only determined
+      upon it since Jabez left me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know nothing, Ana, save that a faithful servant who has learned all you
+      have learned to-day will hurry to make report of it to his master,
+      especially if there is some other to whom he would also wish to make
+      report, as Bakenkhonsu thinks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bakenkhonsu talks too much, whatever he may think,&rdquo; I exclaimed testily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The aged grow garrulous. You were at the crowning to-day, were you not?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, and if I saw aright from far away, those Hebrew prophets seemed to
+      worst you at your own trade there, Kherheb, which must grieve you, as you
+      were grieved in the temple when Amon fell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It does not grieve me, Ana. If I have powers, there may be others who
+      have greater powers, as I learned in the temple of Amon. Why therefore
+      should I feel ashamed?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Powers!&rdquo; I replied with a laugh, for the strings of my mind seemed torn
+      that night, &ldquo;would not craft be a better word? How do you turn a stick
+      into a snake, a thing which is impossible to man?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Craft might be a better word, since craft means knowledge as well as
+      trickery. &lsquo;Impossible to man!&rsquo; After what you saw a while ago in the
+      temple of Amon, do you hold that there is anything impossible to man or
+      woman? Perhaps you could do as much yourself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why do you mock me, Ki? I study books, not snake-charming.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He looked at me in his calm fashion, as though he were reading, not my
+      face, but the thoughts behind it. Then he looked at the cedar wand in his
+      hand and gave it to me, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Study this, Ana, and tell me, what is it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Am I a child,&rdquo; I answered angrily, &ldquo;that I should not know a priest&rsquo;s rod
+      when I see one?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think that you are something of a child, Ana,&rdquo; he murmured, all the
+      while keeping those eyes of his fixed upon my face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then a horror came about. For the rod began to twist in my hand and when I
+      stared at it, lo! it was a long, yellow snake which I held by the tail. I
+      threw the reptile down with a scream, for it was turning its head as
+      though to strike me, and there in the dust it twisted and writhed away
+      from me and towards Ki. Yet an instant later it was only a stick of yellow
+      cedar-wood, though between me and Ki there was a snake&rsquo;s track in the
+      sand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is somewhat shameless of you, Ana,&rdquo; said Ki, as he lifted the wand,
+      &ldquo;to reproach me with trickery while you yourself try to confound a poor
+      juggler with such arts as these.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I know not what I said to him, save the end of it was that I supposed
+      he would tell me next that I could fill a hall with darkness at noonday
+      and cover a multitude with terror.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let us have done with jests,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;though these are well enough in
+      their place. Will you take this rod again and point it to the moon? You
+      refuse and you do well, for neither you nor I can cover up her face. Ana,
+      because you are wise in your way and consort with one who is wiser, and
+      were present in the temple when the statue of Amon was shattered by a
+      certain witch who matched her strength against mine and conquered me, I,
+      the great magician, have come to ask <i>you</i>&mdash;whence came that
+      darkness in the hall to-day?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;From God, I think,&rdquo; I answered in an awed whisper.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So I think also, Ana. But tell me, or ask Merapi, Moon of Israel, to tell
+      me&mdash;from what god? Oh! I say to you that a terrible power is afoot in
+      this land and that the Prince Seti did well to refuse the throne of Egypt
+      and to fly to Memphis. Repeat it to him, Ana.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then he too was gone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now I returned in safety to Memphis and told all these tidings to the
+      Prince, who listened to them eagerly. Once only was he greatly stirred; it
+      was when I repeated to him the words of Userti, that never would she look
+      upon his face again unless it pleased him to turn it towards the throne.
+      On hearing this tears came into his eyes, and rising, he walked up and
+      down the chamber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The fallen must not look for gentleness,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and doubtless, Ana,
+      you think it folly that I should grieve because I am thus deserted.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Prince, for I too have been abandoned by a wife and the pain is
+      unforgotten.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is not of the wife I think, Ana, since in truth her Highness is no
+      wife to me. For whatever may be the ancient laws of Egypt, how could it
+      happen otherwise, at any rate in my case and hers? It is of the sister.
+      For though my mother was not hers, she and I were brought up together and
+      in our way loved each other, though always it was her pleasure to lord it
+      over me, as it was mine to submit and pay her back in jests. That is why
+      she is so angry because now of a sudden I have thrown off her rule to
+      follow my own will whereby she has lost the throne.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It has always been the duty of the royal heiress of Egypt to marry the
+      Pharaoh of Egypt, Prince, and having wed one who would be Pharaoh
+      according to that duty, the blow cuts deep.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then she had best thrust aside that foolish wife of his and wed him who
+      is Pharaoh. But that she will never do; Amenmeses she has always hated, so
+      much that she loathed to be in the same place with him. Nor indeed would
+      he wed her, who wishes to rule for himself, not through a woman whose
+      title to the crown is better than his own. Well, she has put me away and
+      there&rsquo;s an end. Henceforth I must go lonely, unless&mdash;unless&mdash;&mdash;Continue
+      your story, friend. It is kind of her in her greatness to promise to
+      protect one so humble. I should remember that, although it is true that
+      fallen heads sometimes rise again,&rdquo; he added bitterly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So at least Jabez thinks, Prince,&rdquo; and I told him how the Israelites were
+      sure that he would be Pharaoh, whereat he laughed and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps, for they are good prophets. For my part I neither know or care.
+      Or maybe Jabez sees advantage in talking thus, for as you know he is a
+      clever trader.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not think so,&rdquo; I answered and stopped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Had Jabez more to say of any other matter, Ana? Of the lady Merapi, for
+      instance?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now feeling it to be my duty, I told him every word that had passed
+      between Jabez and myself, though somewhat shamefacedly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This Hebrew takes much for granted, Ana, even as to whom the Moon of
+      Israel would wish to shine upon. Why, friend, it might be you whom she
+      desires to touch with her light, or some youth in Goshen&mdash;not Laban&mdash;or
+      no one.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Me, Prince, me!&rdquo; I exclaimed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, Ana, I am sure you would have it so. Be advised by me and ask her
+      mind upon the matter. Look not so confused, man, for one who has been
+      married you are too modest. Come tell me of this Crowning.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So glad enough to escape from the matter of Merapi, I spoke at length of
+      all that had happened when Pharaoh Amenmeses took his seat upon the
+      throne. When I described how the rod of the Hebrew prophet had been turned
+      to a snake and how Ki and his company had done likewise, the Prince
+      laughed and said that these were mere jugglers&rsquo; tricks. But when I told of
+      the darkness that had seemed to gather in the hall and of the gloom that
+      filled the hearts of all men and of the awesome dream of Bakenkhonsu, also
+      of the words of Ki after he had clouded my mind and played his jest upon
+      me, he listened with much earnestness and answered:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My mind is as Ki&rsquo;s in this matter. I too think that a terrible power is
+      afoot in Egypt, one that has its home in the land of Goshen, and that I
+      did well to refuse the throne. But from what god these fortunes come I do
+      not know. Perhaps time will tell us. Meanwhile if there is aught in the
+      prophesies of these Hebrews, as interpreted by Jabez, at least you and I
+      may sleep in peace, which is more than will chance to Pharaoh on the
+      throne that Userti covets. If so, this play will be worth the watching.
+      You have done your mission well, Ana. Go rest you while I think over all
+      that you have said.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was evening and as the palace was very hot I went into the garden and
+      making my way to that little pleasure-house where Seti and I were wont to
+      study, I sat myself down there and, being weary, fell asleep. When I awoke
+      from a dream about some woman who was weeping, night had fallen and the
+      full moon shone in the sky, so that its rays fell on the garden before me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now in front of this little house, as I have said, grew trees that at this
+      season of the year were covered with white and cup-like blossoms, and
+      between these trees was a seat built up of sun-dried bricks. On this seat
+      sat a woman whom I knew from her shape to be Merapi. Also she was sad, for
+      although her head was bowed and her long hair hid her face I could hear
+      her gentle sighs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sight of her moved me very much and I remembered what the Prince had
+      said to me, telling me that I should do well to ask this lady whether she
+      had any mind my way. Therefore if I did so, surely I could not be blamed.
+      Yet I was certain that it was not to me that her heart turned, though to
+      speak the truth, much I wished it otherwise. Who would look at the ibis in
+      the swamp when the wide-winged eagle floated in heaven above?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An evil thought came into my mind, sent by Set. Suppose that this
+      watcher&rsquo;s eyes were fixed upon the eagle, lord of the air. Suppose that
+      she worshipped this eagle; that she loved it because its home was heaven,
+      because to her it was the king of all the birds. And suppose one told her
+      that if she lured it down to earth from the glorious safety of the skies,
+      she would bring it to captivity or death at the hand of the snarer. Then
+      would not that loving watcher say: &ldquo;Let it go free and happy, however much
+      I long to look upon it,&rdquo; and when it had sailed from sight, perhaps turn
+      her eyes to the humble ibis in the mud?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Jabez had told me that if this woman and the Prince grew dear to each
+      other she would bring great sorrow on his head. If I repeated his words to
+      her, she who had faith in the prophecies of her people would certainly
+      believe them. Moreover, whatever her heart might prompt, being so
+      high-natured, never would she consent to do what might bring trouble on
+      Seti&rsquo;s head, even if to refuse him should sink her soul in sorrow. Nor
+      would she return to the Hebrews there to fall into the hands of one she
+      hated. Then perhaps I&mdash;&mdash;. Should I tell her? If Jabez had not
+      meant that the matter must be brought to her ears, would he have spoken of
+      it at all? In short was it not my duty to her, and perhaps also to the
+      Prince who thereby might be saved from miseries to come, that is if this
+      talk of future troubles were anything more than an idle story.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Such was the evil reasoning with which Set assailed my spirit. How I beat
+      it down I do not know. Not by my own goodness, I am sure, since at the
+      moment I was aflame with love for the sweet and beautiful lady who sat
+      before me and in my foolishness would, I think, have given my life to kiss
+      her hand. Not altogether for her sake either, since passion is very
+      selfish. No, I believe it was because the love that I bore the Prince was
+      more deep and real than that which I could feel for any woman, and I knew
+      well that were she not in my sight no such treachery would have overcome
+      my heart. For I was sure, although he had never said so to me, that Seti
+      loved Merapi and above all earthly things desired her as his companion,
+      while if once I spoke those words, whatever my own gain or loss and
+      whatever her secret wish, that she would never be.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So I conquered, though the victory left me trembling like a child, and
+      wishing that I had not been born to know the pangs of love denied. My
+      reward was very swift, for just then Merapi unfastened a gem from the
+      breast of her white robe and held it towards the moon, as though to study
+      it. In an instant I knew it again. It was that royal scarab of
+      lapis-lazuli with which in Goshen the Prince had made fast the bandage on
+      her wounded food, which also had been snatched from her breast by some
+      power on that night when the statue of Amon was shattered in the temple.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Long and earnestly she looked at it, then having glanced round to make
+      sure she was alone, she pressed it to her lips and kissed it thrice with
+      passion, muttering I know not what between the kisses. Now the scales fell
+      from my eyes and I knew that she loved Seti, and oh! how I thanked my
+      guardian god who had saved me from such useless shame.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I wiped the cold damp from my brow and was about to flee away, discovering
+      myself with as few words as might be, when, looking up, I saw standing
+      behind Merapi the figure of a man, who was watching her replace the
+      ornament in her robe. While I hesitated a moment the man spoke and I knew
+      the voice for that of Seti. Then again I thought of flight, but being
+      somewhat timid by nature, feared to show myself until it was too late,
+      thinking that afterward the Prince would make me the target of his wit. So
+      I sat close and still, hearing and seeing all despite myself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What gem is that, Lady, which you admire and cherish so tenderly?&rdquo; asked
+      Seti in his slow voice that so often hid a hint of laughter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She uttered a little scream and springing up, saw him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! my lord,&rdquo; she exclaimed, &ldquo;pardon your servant. I was sitting here in
+      the cool, as you gave me leave to do, and the moon was so bright&mdash;that&mdash;I
+      wished to be see if by it I could read the writing on this scarab.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Never before, thought I to myself, did I know one who read with her lips,
+      though it is true that first she used her eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And could you, Lady? Will you suffer me to try?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Very slowly and colouring, so that even the moonlight showed her blushes,
+      she withdrew the ornament again and held it towards him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Surely this is familiar to me? Have I not seen it before?&rdquo; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps. I wore it that night in the temple, your Highness.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You must not name me Highness, Lady. I have no longer any rank in Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know&mdash;because of&mdash;my people. Oh! it was noble.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But about the scarabæus&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo; he broke in, with a wave of his
+      hand. &ldquo;Surely it is the same with which the bandage was made fast upon
+      your hurt&mdash;oh! years ago?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, it is the same,&rdquo; she answered, looking down.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thought it. And when I gave it to you, I said some words that seemed to
+      me well spoken at the time. What were they? I cannot remember. Have you
+      also forgotten?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes&mdash;I mean&mdash;no. You said that now I had all Egypt beneath my
+      foot, speaking of the royal cartouche upon the scarab.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah! I recall. How true, and yet how false the jest, or prophecy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How can anything be both true and false, Prince?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That I could prove to you very easily, but it would take an hour or more,
+      so it shall be for another time. This scarab is a poor thing, give it back
+      to me and you shall have a better. Or would you choose this signet? As I
+      am no longer Prince of Egypt it is useless to me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Keep the scarab, Prince. It is your own. But I will not take the ring
+      because it is&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&mdash;&mdash;useless to me, and you would not have that which is without
+      value to the giver. Oh! I string words ill, but they were not what I
+      meant.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, Prince, because your royal ring is too large for one so small.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How can you tell until you have tried? Also that is a fault which might
+      perhaps be mended.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then he laughed, and she laughed also, but as yet she did not take the
+      ring.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have you seen Ana?&rdquo; he went on. &ldquo;I believe he set out to search for you,
+      in such a hurry indeed that he could scarcely finish his report to me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did he say that?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, he only looked it. So much so that I suggested he should seek you at
+      once. He answered that he was going to rest after his long journey, or
+      perhaps I said that he ought to do so. I forget, as often one does, on so
+      beauteous a night when other thoughts seem nearer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why did Ana wish to see me, Prince?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How can I tell? Why does a man who is still young&mdash;want to see a
+      sweet and beautiful lady? Oh! I remember. He had met your uncle at Tanis
+      who inquired as to your health. Perhaps that is why he wanted to see you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not wish to hear about my uncle at Tanis. He reminds me of too many
+      things that give pain, and there are nights when one wishes to escape
+      pain, which is sure to be found again on the morrow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you still of the same mind about returning to your people?&rdquo; he asked,
+      more earnestly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Surely. Oh! do not say that you will send me hence to&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Laban, Lady?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Laban amongst others. Remember, Prince, that I am one under a curse. If I
+      return to Goshen, in this way or in that, soon I shall die.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ana says that your uncle Jabez declares that the mad fellow who tried to
+      murder you had no authority to curse and much less to kill you. You must
+      ask him to tell you all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet the curse will cling and crush me at the last. How can I, one lonely
+      woman, stand against the might of the people of Israel and their priests?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you then lonely?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How can it be otherwise with an outcast, Prince?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, it cannot be otherwise. I know it who am also an outcast.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At least there is her Highness your wife, who doubtless will come to
+      comfort you,&rdquo; she said, looking down.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Her Highness will not come. If you had seen Ana, he would perhaps have
+      told you that she has sworn not to look upon my face again, unless above
+      it shines a crown.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! how can a woman be so cruel? Surely, Prince, such a stab must cut you
+      to the heart,&rdquo; she exclaimed, with a little cry of pity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Her Highness is not only a woman; she is a Princess of Egypt which is
+      different. For the rest it does cut me to the heart that my royal sister
+      should have deserted me, for that which she loves better&mdash;power and
+      pomp. But so it is, unless Ana dreams. It seems therefore that we are in
+      the same case, both outcasts, you and I, is it not so?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She made no answer but continued to look upon the ground, and he went on
+      very slowly:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A thought comes into my mind on which I would ask your judgment. If two
+      who are forlorn came together they would be less forlorn by half, would
+      they not?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It would seem so, Prince&mdash;that is if they remained forlorn at all.
+      But I do not understand the riddle.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet you have answered it. If you are lonely and I am lonely apart, we
+      should, you say, be less lonely together.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Prince,&rdquo; she murmured, shrinking away from him, &ldquo;I spoke no such words.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, I spoke them for you. Hearken to me, Merapi. They think me a strange
+      man in Egypt because I have held no woman dear, never having seen one whom
+      I could hold dear.&rdquo; Here she looked at him searchingly, and he went on, &ldquo;A
+      while ago, before I visited your land of Goshen&mdash;Ana can tell you
+      about the matter, for I think he wrote it down&mdash;Ki and old
+      Bakenkhonsu came to see me. Now, as you know, Ki is without doubt a great
+      magician, though it would seem not so great as some of your prophets. He
+      told me that he and others had been searching out my future and that in
+      Goshen I should find a woman whom it was fated I must love. He added that
+      this woman would bring me much joy.&rdquo; Here Seti paused, doubtless
+      remembering this was not all that Ki had said, or Jabez either. &ldquo;Ki told
+      me also,&rdquo; he went on slowly, &ldquo;that I had already known this woman for
+      thousands of years.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She started and a strange look came into her face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How can that be, Prince?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is what I asked him and got no good answer. Still he said it, not
+      only of the woman but of my friend Ana as well, which indeed would explain
+      much, and it would appear that the other magicians said it also. Then I
+      went to the land of Goshen and there I saw a woman&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For the first time, Prince?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, for the third time.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Here she sank upon the bench and covered her eyes with her hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&mdash;&mdash;and loved her, and felt as though I had loved her for
+      &lsquo;thousands of years.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is not true. You mock me, it is not true!&rdquo; she whispered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is true for if I did not know it then, I knew it afterwards, though
+      never perhaps completely until to-day, when I learned that Userti had
+      deserted me indeed. Moon of Israel, you are that woman. I will not tell
+      you,&rdquo; he went on passionately, &ldquo;that you are fairer than all other women,
+      or sweeter, or more wise, though these things you seem to me. I will only
+      tell you that I love you, yes, love you, whatever you may be. I cannot
+      offer you the Throne of Egypt, even if the law would suffer it, but I can
+      offer you the throne of this heart of mine. Now, Lady Merapi, what have
+      you to say? Before you speak, remember that although you seem to be my
+      prisoner here at Memphis, you have naught to fear from me. Whatever you
+      may answer, such shelter and such friendship as I can give will be yours
+      while I live, and never shall I attempt to force myself upon you, however
+      much it may pain me to pass you by. I know not the future. It may happen
+      that I shall give you great place and power, it may happen that I shall
+      give you nothing but poverty and exile, or even perhaps a share in my own
+      death, but with either will go the worship of my body and my spirit. Now,
+      speak.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She dropped her hands from her face, looking up at him, and there were
+      tears shining in her beautiful eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It cannot be, Prince,&rdquo; she murmured.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You mean you do not wish it to be?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I said that it cannot be. Such ties between an Egyptian and an Israelite
+      are not lawful.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Some in this city and elsewhere seem to find them so.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And I am married, I mean perhaps I am married&mdash;at least in name.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And I too am married, I mean&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is different. Also there is another reason, the greatest of all, I
+      am under a curse, and should bring you, not joy as Ki said, but sorrow,
+      or, at the least, sorrow with the joy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He looked at her searchingly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Has Ana&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo; he began, then continued, &ldquo;if so what lives have
+      you known that are not compounded of mingled joy and sorrow?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;None. But the woe I should bring would outweigh the joy&mdash;to you. The
+      curse of my God rests upon me and I cannot learn to worship yours. The
+      curse of my people rests upon me, the law of my people divides me from you
+      as with a sword, and should I draw close to you these will be increased
+      upon my head, which matters not, but also upon yours,&rdquo; and she began to
+      sob.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell me,&rdquo; he said, taking her by the hand, &ldquo;but one thing, and if the
+      answer is No, I will trouble you no more. Is your heart mine?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is,&rdquo; she sighed, &ldquo;and has been ever since my eyes fell upon you yonder
+      in the streets of Tanis. Oh! then a change came into me and I hated Laban,
+      whom before I had only misliked. Moreover, I too felt that of which Ki
+      spoke, as though I had known you for thousands of years. My heart is
+      yours, my love is yours; all that makes me woman is yours, and never,
+      never can turn from you to any other man. But still we must stay apart,
+      for your sake, my Prince, for your sake.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then, were it not for me, you would be ready to run these hazards?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Surely! Am I not a woman who loves?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If that be so,&rdquo; he said with a little laugh, &ldquo;being of full age and of an
+      understanding which some have thought good, by your leave I think I will
+      run them also. Oh! foolish woman, do you not understand that there is but
+      one good thing in the world, one thing in which self and its miseries can
+      be forgot, and that thing is love? Mayhap troubles will come. Well, let
+      them come, for what do they matter if only the love or its memory remains,
+      if once we have picked that beauteous flower and for an hour worn it on
+      our breasts. You talk of the difference between the gods we worship and
+      maybe it exists, but all gods send their gifts of love upon the earth,
+      without which it would cease to be. Moreover, my faith teaches me more
+      clearly perhaps than yours, that life does not end with death and
+      therefore that love, being life&rsquo;s soul, must endure while it endures. Last
+      of all, I think, as you think, that in some dim way there is truth in what
+      the magicians said, and that long ago in the past we have been what once
+      more we are about to be, and that the strength of this invisible tie has
+      drawn us together out of the whole world and will bind us together long
+      after the world is dead. It is not a matter of what we wish to do, Merapi,
+      it is a matter of what Fate has decreed we shall do. Now, answer again.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But she made no answer, and when I looked up after a little moment she was
+      in his arms and her lips were upon his lips.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus did Prince Seti of Egypt and Merapi, Moon of Israel, come together
+      at Memphis in Egypt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XIII
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE RED NILE
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      On the morrow of this night I found the Prince alone for a little while,
+      and put him in mind of certain ancient manuscripts that he wished to read,
+      which could only be consulted at Thebes where I might copy them; also of
+      others that were said to be for sale there. He answered that they could
+      wait, but I replied that the latter might find some other purchaser if I
+      did not go at once.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are over fond of long journeys upon my business, Ana,&rdquo; he said. Then
+      he considered me curiously for a while, and since he could read my mind,
+      as indeed I could his, saw that I knew all, and added in a gentle voice:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You should have done as I told you, and spoken first. If so, who knows&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You do, Prince,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;you and another.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Go, and the gods be with you, friend, but stay not too long copying those
+      rolls, which any scribe can do. I think there is trouble at hand in Egypt,
+      and I shall need you at my side. Another who holds you dear will need you
+      also.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thank my lord and that other,&rdquo; I said, bowing, and went.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Moreover, while I was making some humble provision for my journey, I found
+      that this was needless, since a slave came to tell me that the Prince&rsquo;s
+      barge was waiting to sail with the wind. So in that barge I travelled to
+      Thebes like a great noble, or a royal mummy being borne to burial. Only
+      instead of wailing priests, until I sent them back to Memphis, musicians
+      sat upon the prow, and when I willed, dancing girls came to amuse my
+      leisure and, veiled in golden nets, to serve at my table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So I journeyed as though I were the Prince himself, and as one who was
+      known to have his ear was made much of by the governors of the Nomes, the
+      chief men of the towns, and the high priests of the temples at every city
+      where we moored. For, as I have said, although Amenmeses sat upon the
+      throne, Seti still ruled in the hearts of the folk of Egypt. Moreover, as
+      I sailed further up the Nile to districts where little was known of the
+      Israelites, and the troubles they were bringing on the land, I found this
+      to be so more and more. Why is it, the Great Ones would whisper in my ear,
+      that his Highness the Prince Seti does not hold his father&rsquo;s place? Then I
+      would tell them of the Hebrews, and they would laugh and say:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let the Prince unfurl his royal banner here, and we will show him what we
+      think of the question of these Israelitish slaves. May not the Heir of
+      Egypt form his own judgment on such a matter as to whether they should
+      abide there in the north, or go away into that wilderness which they
+      desire?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      To all of which, and much like it, I would only answer that their words
+      should be reported. More I did not, and indeed did not dare to say, since
+      everywhere I found that I was being followed and watched by the spies of
+      Pharaoh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length I came to Thebes and took up my abode in a fine house that was
+      the property of the Prince, which I found that a messenger had commanded
+      should be made ready for me. It stood near by the entrance to the Avenue
+      of Sphinxes, which leads to the greatest of all the Theban temples, where
+      is that mighty columned hall built by the first Seti and his son, Rameses
+      II, the Prince&rsquo;s grandfather.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here, having entrance to the place, I would often wander at night, and in
+      my spirit draw as near to heaven as ever it has been my lot to travel.
+      Also, crossing the Nile to the western bank, I visited that desolate
+      valley where the rulers of Egypt lie at rest. The tomb of Pharaoh Meneptah
+      was still unsealed, and accompanied by a single priest with torches, I
+      crept down its painted halls and looked upon the sarcophagus of him whom
+      so lately I had seen seated in glory upon the throne, wondering, as I
+      looked, how much or how little he knew of all that passed in Egypt to-day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Moreover, I copied the papyri that I had come to seek, in which there was
+      nothing worth preserving, and some of real value that I discovered in the
+      ancient libraries of the temples, and purchased others. One of these
+      indeed told a very strange tale that has given me much cause for thought,
+      especially of late years now when all my friends are dead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus I spent two months, and should have stayed longer had not messengers
+      reached me from the Prince saying that he desired my return. Of these, one
+      followed within three days of the other, and his words were:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Think you, Scribe Ana, that because I am no more Prince of Egypt I am no
+      longer to be obeyed? If so, bear in mind that the gods may decree that one
+      day I shall grow taller than ever I was before, and then be sure that I
+      will remember your disobedience, and make you shorter by a head. Come
+      swiftly, my friend, for I grow lonely, and need a man to talk with.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      To which I replied, that I returned as fast as the barge would carry me,
+      being so heavily laden with the manuscripts that I had copied and
+      purchased.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So I started, being, to tell truth, glad to get away, for this reason. Two
+      nights before, when I was walking alone from the great temple of the
+      house, a woman dressed in many colours appeared and accosted me as such
+      lost ones do. I tried to shake her off, but she clung to me, and I saw
+      that she had drunk more than enough of wine. Presently she asked, in a
+      voice that I thought familiar, if I knew who was the officer that had come
+      to Thebes on the business of some Royal One and abode in the dwelling that
+      was known as House of the Prince. I answered that his name was Ana.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Once I knew an Ana very well,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;but I left him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why?&rdquo; I asked, turning cold in my limbs, for although I could not see her
+      face because of a hood she wore, now I began to be afraid.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Because he was a poor fool,&rdquo; she answered, &ldquo;no man at all, but one who
+      was always thinking about writings and making them, and another came my
+      way whom I liked better until he deserted me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And what happened to this Ana?&rdquo; I asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not know. I suppose he went on dreaming, or perhaps he took another
+      wife; if so, I am sorry for her. Only, if by chance it is the same that
+      has come to Thebes, he must be wealthy now, and I shall go and claim him
+      and make him keep me well.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Had you any children?&rdquo; I asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Only one, thank the gods, and that died&mdash;thank the gods again, for
+      otherwise it might have lived to be such as I am,&rdquo; and she sobbed once in
+      a hard fashion and then fell to her vile endearments.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As she did so, the hood slipped from her head and I saw that the face was
+      that of my wife, still beauteous in a bold fashion, but grown dreadful
+      with drink and sin. I trembled from head to foot, then said in the
+      disguised voice that I had used to her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Woman, I know this Ana. He is dead and you were his ruin. Still, because
+      I was his friend, take this and go reform your ways,&rdquo; and I drew from my
+      robe and gave to her a bag containing no mean weight of gold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She snatched it as a hawk snatches, and seeing its contents by the
+      starlight, thanked me, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Surely Ana dead is worth more than Ana alive. Also it is well that he is
+      dead, for he is gone where the child went, which he loved more than life,
+      neglecting me for its sake and thereby making me what I am. Had he lived,
+      too, being as I have said a fool, he would have had more ill-luck with
+      women, whom he never understood. Farewell, friend of Ana, who have given
+      me that which will enable me to find another husband,&rdquo; and laughing wildly
+      she reeled off behind a sphinx and vanished into the darkness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For this reason, then, I was glad to escape from Thebes. Moreover, that
+      miserable one had hurt me sorely, making me sure of what I had only
+      guessed, namely, that with women I was but a fool, so great a fool that
+      then and there I swore by my guardian god that never would I look with
+      love on one of them again, an oath which I have kept well whatever others
+      I may have broken. Again she stabbed me through with the talk of our dead
+      child, for it is true that when that sweet one took flight to Osiris my
+      heart broke and in a fashion has never mended itself again. Lastly, I
+      feared lest it might also be true that I had neglected the mother for the
+      sake of this child which was the jewel of my worship, yes, and is, and
+      thereby helped her on to shame. So much did this thought torment me that
+      through an agent whom I trusted, who believed that I was but providing for
+      one whom I had wronged, I caused enough to be paid to her to keep her in
+      comfort.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She did marry again, a merchant about whom she had cast her toils, and in
+      due course spent his wealth and brought him to ruin, after which he ran
+      away from her. As for her, she died of her evil habits in the third year
+      of the reign of Seti II. But, the gods be thanked she never knew that the
+      private scribe of Pharaoh&rsquo;s chamber was that Ana who had been her husband.
+      Here I will end her story.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now as I was passing down the Nile with a heart more heavy than the great
+      stone that served as anchor on the barge, we moored at dusk on the third
+      night by the side of a vessel that was sailing up Nile with a strong
+      northerly wind. On board this boat was an officer whom I had known at the
+      Court of Pharaoh Meneptah, travelling to Thebes on duty. This man seemed
+      so much afraid that I asked him if anything weighed upon his mind. Then he
+      took me aside into a palm grove upon the bank, and seating himself on the
+      pole whereby oxen turned a waterwheel, told me that strange things were
+      passing at Tanis.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It seemed that the Hebrew prophets had once more appeared before Pharaoh,
+      who since his accession had left the Israelites in peace, not attacking
+      them with the sword as Meneptah had wished to do, it was thought through
+      fear lest if he did so he should die as Meneptah died. As before, they had
+      put up their prayer that the people of the Hebrews should be suffered to
+      go to worship in the wilderness, and Pharaoh had refused them. Then when
+      he went down to sail upon the river early in the morning of another day,
+      they had met him and one of them struck the water with his rod, and it had
+      turned to blood. Whereon Ki and Kherheb and his company also struck the
+      water with their rods, and it turned to blood. That was six days ago, and
+      now this officer swore to me that the blood was creeping up the Nile, a
+      tale at which I laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come then and see,&rdquo; he said, and led me back to his boat, where all the
+      crew seemed as fearful as he was himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He took me forward to a great water jar that stood upon the prow and,
+      behold! it seemed to be full of blood, and in it was a fish dead, and&mdash;stinking.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This water,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;I drew from the Nile with my own hands, not five
+      hours sail to the north. But now we have outsped the blood, which follows
+      after us,&rdquo; and taking a lamp he held it over the prow of the boat and I
+      saw that all its planks were splashed as though with blood.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be advised by me, learned scribe,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;and fill every jar and skin
+      that you can gather with sweet water, lest to-morrow you and your company
+      should go thirsty,&rdquo; and he laughed a very dreary laugh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then we parted without more words, for neither of us knew what to say, and
+      about midnight he sailed on with the wind, taking his chance of grounding
+      on the sandbanks in the darkness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For my part I did as he bade me, though my rowers who had not spoken with
+      his men, thought that I was mad to load up the barge with so much water.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At the first break of day I gave the order to start. Looking over the side
+      of the barge it seemed to me as though the lights of dawn had fallen from
+      the sky into the Nile whereof the water had become pink-hued. Moreover,
+      this hue, which grew ever deeper, was travelling up stream, not down,
+      against the course of nature, and could not therefore have been caused by
+      red soil washed from the southern lands. The bargemen stared and muttered
+      together. Then one of them, leaning over the side, scooped up water in the
+      hollow of his hand and drew some into his mouth, only to spit it out again
+      with a cry of fear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Tis blood,&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;Blood! Osiris has been slain afresh, and his holy
+      blood fills the banks of Nile.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So much were they afraid, indeed, that had I not forced them to hold to
+      their course they would have turned and rowed up stream, or beached the
+      boat and fled into the desert. But I cried to them to steer on northwards,
+      for thus perhaps we should sooner be done with this horror, and they
+      obeyed me. Ever as we went the hue of the water grew more red, almost to
+      blackness, till at last it seemed as though we were travelling through a
+      sea of gore in which dead fish floated by the thousand, or struggled dying
+      on the surface. Also the stench was so dreadful that we must bind linen
+      about our nostrils to strain the foetid air.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We came abreast of a town, and from its streets one great wail of terror
+      rose to heaven. Men stood staring as though they were drunken, looking at
+      their red arms which they had dipped in the stream, and women ran to and
+      fro upon the bank, tearing their hair and robes, and crying out such words
+      as&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wizard&rsquo;s work! Bewitched! Accursed! The gods have slain each other, and
+      men too must die!&rdquo; and so forth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Also we saw peasants digging holes at a distance from the shore to see
+      perchance if they might come to water that was sweet and wholesome. All
+      day long we travelled thus through this horrible flood, while the spray
+      driven by the strong north wind spotted our flesh and garments, till we
+      were like butchers reeking from the shambles. Nor could we eat any food
+      because of the stench from this spray, which made it to taste salt as does
+      fresh blood, only we drank of the water which I had provided, and the
+      rowers who had held me to be mad now named me the wisest of men; one who
+      knew what would befall in the future.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length towards evening we noted that the water was growing much less
+      red with every hour that passed, which was another marvel, seeing that
+      above us, upstream, it was the colour of jasper, whereon we paused from
+      our rowing and, all defiled as we were, sang a hymn and gave thanks to
+      Hapi, god of Nile, the Great, the Secret, the Hidden. Before sunset,
+      indeed, the river was clean again, save that on the bank where we made
+      fast for the night the stones and rushes were all stained, and the dead
+      fish lay in thousands polluting the air. To escape the stench we climbed a
+      cliff that here rose quite close to Nile, in which we saw the mouths of
+      ancient tombs that long ago had been robbed and left empty, purposing to
+      sleep in one of them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A path worn by the feet of men ran to the largest of these tombs, whence,
+      as we drew near, we heard the sound of wailing. Looking in, I saw a woman
+      and some children crouched upon the floor of the tomb, their heads covered
+      with dust who, when they perceived us, cried more loudly than before,
+      though with harsh dry voices, thinking no doubt that we were robbers or
+      perhaps ghosts because of our bloodstained garments. Also there was
+      another child, a little one, that did not cry, because it was dead. I
+      asked the woman what passed, but even when she understood that we were
+      only men who meant her no harm, she could not speak or do more than gasp
+      &ldquo;Water! Water!&rdquo; We gave her and the children to drink from the jars which
+      we had brought with us, which they did greedily, after which I drew her
+      story from her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She was the wife of a fisherman who made his home in this cave, and said
+      that seven days before the Nile had turned to blood, so that they could
+      not drink of it, and had no water save a little in a pot. Nor could they
+      dig to find it, since here the ground was all rock. Nor could they escape,
+      since when he saw the marvel, her husband in his fear had leapt from his
+      boat and waded to land and the boat had floated away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I asked where was her husband, and she pointed behind her. I went to look,
+      and there found a man hanging by his neck from a rope that was fixed to
+      the capital of a pillar in the tomb, quite dead and cold. Returning sick
+      at heart, I inquired of her how this had come about. She answered that
+      when he saw that all the fish had perished, taking away his living, and
+      that thirst had killed his youngest child, he went mad, and creeping to
+      the back of the tomb, without her knowledge hung himself with a net rope.
+      It was a dreadful story.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Having given the widow of our food, we went to sleep in another tomb, not
+      liking the company of those dead ones. Next morning at the dawn we took
+      the woman and her children on board the barge, and rowed them three hours&rsquo;
+      journey to a town where she had a sister, whom she found. The dead man and
+      the child we left there in the tomb, since my men would not defile
+      themselves by touching them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So, seeing much terror and misery on our journey, at last we came safe to
+      Memphis. Leaving the boatmen to draw up the barge, I went to the palace,
+      speaking with none, and was led at once to the Prince. I found him in a
+      shaded chamber seated side by side with the lady Merapi, and holding her
+      hand in such a fashion that they remind me of the life-sized Ka statues of
+      a man and his wife, such as I have seen in the ancient tombs, cut when the
+      sculptors knew how to fashion the perfect likenesses of men and women.
+      This they no longer do to-day, I think because the priests have taught
+      them that it is not lawful. He was talking to her in a low voice, while
+      she listened, smiling sweetly as she ever did, but with eyes, fixed
+      straight before her that were, as it seemed to me, filled with fear. I
+      thought that she looked very beautiful with her hair outspread over her
+      white robe, and held back from her temples by a little fillet of god. But
+      as I looked, I rejoiced to find that my heart no longer yearned for her as
+      it had upon that night when I had seen her seated beneath the trees
+      without the pleasure-house. Now she was its friend, no more, and so she
+      remained until all was finished, as both the Prince and she knew well
+      enough.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When he saw me Seti sprang from his seat and came to greet me, as a man
+      does the friend whom he loves. I kissed his hand, and going to Merapi,
+      kissed hers also noting that on it now shone that ring which once she had
+      rejected as too large.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell me, Ana, all that has befallen you,&rdquo; he said in his pleasant, eager
+      voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Many things, Prince; one of them very strange and terrible,&rdquo; I answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Strange and terrible things have happened here also,&rdquo; broke in Merapi,
+      &ldquo;and, alas! this is but the beginning of woes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So saying, she rose, as though she could trust herself to speak no more,
+      bowed first to her lord and then to me, and left the chamber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I looked at the Prince and he answered the question in my eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Jabez has been here,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and filled her heart with forebodings. If
+      Pharaoh will not let the Israelites go, by Amon I wish he would let Jabez
+      go to some place whence he never could return. But tell me, have you also
+      met blood travelling against the stream of Nile? It would seem so,&rdquo; and he
+      glanced at the rusty stains that no washing would remove from my garments.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I nodded and we talked together long and earnestly, but in the end were no
+      wiser for all our talking. For neither of us knew how it came about that
+      men by striking water with a rod could turn it into what seemed to be
+      blood, as the Hebrew prophet and Ki both had done, or how that blood could
+      travel up the Nile against the stream and everywhere endure for a space of
+      seven days; yes, and spread too to all the canals in Egypt, so that men
+      must dig holes for water and dig them fresh each day because the blood
+      crept in and poisoned them. But both of us thought that this was the work
+      of the gods, and most of all of that god whom the Hebrews worship.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You remember, Ana,&rdquo; said the Prince, &ldquo;the message which you brought to me
+      from Jabez, namely that no harm should come to me because of these
+      Israelites and their curses. Well, no harm as come as yet, except the harm
+      of Jabez, for he came. On the day before the news of this blood plague
+      reached us, Jabez appeared disguised as a merchant of Syrian stuffs, all
+      of which he sold to me at three times their value. He obtained admission
+      to the chambers of Merapi, where she is accustomed to see whom she wills,
+      and under pretence of showing her his stuffs, spoke with her and, as I
+      fear, told her what you and I were so careful to hide, that she would
+      bring trouble on me. At the least she has never been quite the same since,
+      and I have thought it wise to make her swear by an oath, which I know she
+      will never break, that now we are one she will not attempt to separate
+      herself from me while we both have life.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did he wish her to go away with him, Prince?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not know. She never told me so. Still I am sure that had he come
+      with his evil talk before that day when you returned from Tanis, she would
+      have gone. Now I hope that there are reasons that will keep her where she
+      is.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What then did he say, Prince?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Little beyond what he had already said to you, that great troubles were
+      about to fall on Egypt. He added that he was sent to save me and mine from
+      these troubles because I had been a friend to the Hebrews in so far as
+      that was possible. Then he walked through this house and all round its
+      gardens, as he went reciting something that was written on a roll, of
+      which I could not understand the meaning, and now and again prostrating
+      himself to pray to his god. Thus, where the canal enters the garden and
+      where it leaves the garden he stayed to pray, as he did at the well whence
+      drinking water is drawn. Moreover, led by Merapi, he visited all my
+      cornlands and those where my cattle are herded, reciting and praying until
+      the servants thought that he was mad. After this he returned with her and,
+      as it chanced, I overheard their parting. She said to him:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;The house you have blessed and it is safe; the fields you have blessed
+      and they are safe; will you not bless me also, O my Uncle, and any that
+      are born of me?&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He answered, shaking his head, &lsquo;I have no command, my Niece, either to
+      bless or to curse you, as did that fool whom the Prince slew. You have
+      chosen your own path apart from your people. It may be well, or it may be
+      ill, or perhaps both, and henceforth you must walk it alone to wherever it
+      may lead. Farewell, for perhaps we shall meet no more.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thus speaking they passed out of earshot, but I could see that still she
+      pleaded and still he shook his head. In the end, however, she gave him an
+      offering, of all that she had I think, though whether this went to the
+      temple of the Hebrews or into his own pouch I know not. At least it seemed
+      to soften him, for he kissed her on the brow tenderly enough and departed
+      with the air of a happy merchant who has sold his wares. But of all that
+      passed between them Merapi would tell me nothing. Nor did I tell her of
+      what I had overheard.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And then?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And then, Ana, came the story of the Hebrew prophet who made the water
+      into blood, and of Ki and his disciples who did likewise. The latter I did
+      not believe, because I said it would be more reasonable had Ki turned the
+      blood back into water, instead of making more blood of which there was
+      enough already.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think that magicians have no reason.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Or can do mischief only, Ana. At any rate after the story came the blood
+      itself and stayed with us seven whole days, leaving much sickness behind
+      it because of the stench of the rotting fish. Now for the marvel&mdash;here
+      about my house there was no blood, though above and below the canal was
+      full of it. The water remained as it has always been and the fish swam in
+      it as they have always done; also that of the well kept sweet and pure.
+      When this came to be known thousands crowded to the place, clamouring for
+      water; that is until they found that outside the gates it grew red in
+      their vessels, after which, although some still came, they drank the water
+      where they stood, which they must do quickly.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And what tale do they tell of this in Memphis, Prince?&rdquo; I asked
+      astonished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Certain of them say that not Ki but I am the greatest magician in Egypt&mdash;never,
+      Ana, was fame more lightly earned. And certain say that Merapi, of whose
+      doings in the temple at Tanis some tale has reached them, is the real
+      magician, she being an Israelite of the tribe of the Hebrew prophets.
+      Hush! She returns.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XIV
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      KI COMES TO MEMPHIS
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      Now of all the terrors of which this turning of the water into blood was
+      the beginning in Egypt, I, Ana, the scribe, will not write, for if I did
+      so, never in my life-days should I, who am old, find time to finish the
+      story of them. Over a period of many, many moons they came, one by one,
+      till the land grew mad with want and woe. Always the tale was the same.
+      The Hebrew prophets would visit Pharaoh at Tanis and demand that he should
+      led their people go, threatening him with vengeance if he refused. Yet he
+      did refuse, for some madness had hold of him, or perhaps the god of the
+      Israelites laid an enchantment on him, why I know not.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus but a little while after the terror of blood came a plague of frogs
+      that filled Egypt from north to south, and when these were taken away made
+      the air to stink. This miracle Ki and his company worked also, sending the
+      frogs into Goshen, where they plagued the Israelites. But however it came
+      about, at Seti&rsquo;s palace at Memphis and on the land that he owned around it
+      there were no frogs, or at least but few of them, although at night from
+      the fields about the sound of their croaking went up like the sound of
+      beaten drums.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Next came a plague of lice, and these Ki and his companions would have
+      also called down upon the Hebrews, but they failed, and afterwards
+      struggled no more against the magic of the Israelites. Then followed a
+      plague of flies, so that the air was black with them and no food could be
+      kept sweet. Only in Seti&rsquo;s palace there were no flies, and in the garden
+      but a few. After this a terrible pest began among the cattle, whereof
+      thousands died. But of Seti&rsquo;s great herd not one was even sick, nor, as we
+      learned, was there a hoof the less in the land of Goshen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This plague struck Egypt but a little while after Merapi had given birth
+      to a son, a very beautiful child with his mother&rsquo;s eyes, that was named
+      Seti after his father. Now the marvel of the escape of the Prince and his
+      household and all that was his from these curses spread abroad and made
+      much talk, so that many sent to inquire of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Among the first came old Bakenkhonsu with a message from Pharaoh, and a
+      private one to myself from the Princess Userti, whose pride would not
+      suffer her to ask aught of Seti. We could tell him nothing except what I
+      have written, which at first he did not believe. Having satisfied himself,
+      however, that the thing was true, he said that he had fallen sick and
+      could not travel back to Tanis. Therefore he asked leave of the Prince to
+      rest a while in his house, he who had been the friend of his father, his
+      grandfather, and his great-grandfather. Seti laughed, as indeed did the
+      cunning old man himself, and there with us Bakenkhonsu remained till the
+      end, to our great joy, for he was the most pleasant of all companions and
+      the most learned. As for his message, one of his servants took back the
+      answer to Pharaoh and to Userti, with the news of his master&rsquo;s grievous
+      sickness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Some eight days or so later, as I stood one morning basking in the sun at
+      that gate of the palace gardens which overlooks the temple of Ptah, idly
+      watching the procession of priests passing through its courts and chanting
+      as they went (for because of the many sicknesses at this time I left the
+      palace but rarely), I saw a tall figure approaching me draped against the
+      morning cold. The man drew near, and addressing me over the head of the
+      guard, asked if he could see the lady Merapi. I answered No, as she was
+      engaged in nursing her son.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And in other things, I think,&rdquo; he said with meaning, in a voice that
+      seemed familiar to me. &ldquo;Well, can I see the Prince Seti?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I answered No, he was also engaged.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In nursing his own soul, studying the eyes of the lady Merapi, the smile
+      of his infant, the wisdom of the scribe Ana, and the attributes of the
+      hundred and one gods that are known to him, including that of Israel, I
+      suppose,&rdquo; said the familiar voice, adding, &ldquo;Then can I see this scribe
+      Ana, who I understand, being lucky, holds himself learned.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now, angered at the scoffing of this stranger (though all the time I felt
+      that he was none), I answered that the scribe Ana was striving to mend his
+      luck by the pursuit of the goddess of learning in his study.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let him pursue,&rdquo; mocked the stranger, &ldquo;since she is the only woman that
+      he is ever likely to catch. Yet it is true that once one caught him. If
+      you are of his acquaintance ask him of his talk with her in the avenue of
+      the Sphinxes outside the great temple at Thebes and of what it cost him in
+      gold and tears.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Hearing this I put my hand to my forehead and rubbed my eyes, thinking
+      that I must have fallen into a dream there in the sunshine. When I lifted
+      it again all was the same as before. There stood the sentry, indifferent
+      to that which had no interest for him; the cock that had moulted its tail
+      still scratched in the dirt; the crested hoopoe still sat spreading its
+      wings on the head of one of the two great statues of Rameses which watched
+      the gate; a water-seller in the distance still cried his wares, but the
+      stranger was gone. Then I knew that I had been dreaming and turned to go
+      also, to find myself face to face with him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Man,&rdquo; I said, indignantly, &ldquo;how in the name of Ptah and all his priests
+      did you pass a sentry and through that gate without my seeing you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do not trouble yourself with a new problem when already you have so many
+      to perplex you, friend Ana. Say, have you yet solved that of how a rod
+      like this turned itself into a snake in your hand?&rdquo; and he threw back his
+      hood, revealing the shaved head and the glowing eyes of the Kherheb Ki.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, I have not,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;and I thank you,&rdquo; for here he proffered me
+      the staff, &ldquo;but I will not try the trick again. Next time the beast might
+      bite. Well, Ki, as you can pass in here without my leave, why do you ask
+      it? In short, what do you want with me, now that those Hebrew prophets
+      have put you on your back?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hush, Ana. Never grow angry, it wastes strength, of which we have so
+      little to spare, for you know, being so wise, or perhaps you do not know,
+      that at birth the gods give us a certain store of it, and when that is
+      used we die and have to go elsewhere to fetch more. At this rate your life
+      will be short, Ana, for you squander it in emotions.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do you want?&rdquo; I repeated, being too angry to dispute with him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I want to find an answer to the question you asked so roughly: Why the
+      Hebrew prophets have, as you say, put me on my back?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not being a magician, as you pretend you are, I can give you none, Ki.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never for one moment did I suppose that you could,&rdquo; he replied blandly,
+      stretching out his hands, and leaving the staff which had fallen from them
+      standing in front of him. (It was not till afterwards that I remembered
+      that this accursed bit of wood stood there of itself without visible
+      support, for it rested on the paving-stone of the gateway.) &ldquo;But, as it
+      chances, you have in this house the master, or rather the mistress of all
+      magicians, as every Egyptian knows to-day, the lady Merapi, and I would
+      see her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why do you say she is a mistress of magicians?&rdquo; I asked indignantly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why does one bird know another of its own kind? Why does the water here
+      remain pure, when all other water turns to blood? Why do not the frogs
+      croak in Seti&rsquo;s halls, and why do the flies avoid his meat? Why, also, did
+      the statue of Amon melt before her glance, while all my magic fell back
+      from her breast like arrows from a shirt of mail? Those are the questions
+      that Egypt asks, and I would have an answer to them from the beloved of
+      Seti, or of the god Set, she who is named Moon of Israel.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then why not go seek it for yourself, Ki? To you, doubtless, it would be
+      a small matter to take the form of a snake or a rat, or a bird, and creep
+      or run or fly into the presence of Merapi.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mayhap it would not be difficult, Ana. Or, better still, I might visit
+      her in her sleep, as I visited you on a certain night at Thebes, when you
+      told me of a talk you had held with a woman in the avenue of the Sphinxes,
+      and of what it cost you in gold and tears. But, as it chances, I wish to
+      appear as a man and a friend, and to stay a while. Bakenkhonsu tells me
+      that he finds life here at Memphis very pleasant, free too from the
+      sicknesses which just now seem to be so common in Egypt; so why should not
+      I do the same, Ana?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I looked at his round, ripe face, on which was fixed a smile unchanging as
+      that worn by the masks on mummy coffins, from which I think he must have
+      copied it, and at the cold, deep eyes above, and shivered a little. To
+      tell truth I feared this man, whom I felt to be in touch with presences
+      and things that are not of our world, and thought it wisest to withstand
+      him no more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is a question which you had best put to my master Seti who owns this
+      house. Come, I will lead you to him,&rdquo; I said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So we went to the great portico of the palace, passing in and out through
+      the painted pillars, towards my own apartments, whence I purposed to send
+      a message to the Prince. As it chanced this was needless, since presently
+      we saw him seated in a little bay out of reach of the sun. By his side was
+      Merapi, and on a woven rug between them lay their sleeping infant, at whom
+      both of them gazed adoringly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Strange that this mother&rsquo;s heart should hide more might than can be
+      boasted by all the gods of Egypt. Strange that those mother&rsquo;s eyes can
+      rive the ancient glory of Amon into dust!&rdquo; Ki said to me in so low a voice
+      that it almost seemed as though I heard his thought and not his words,
+      which perhaps indeed I did.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now we stood in front of these three, and the sun being behind us, for it
+      was still early, the shadow of the cloaked Ki fell upon a babe and lay
+      there. A hateful fancy came to me. It looked like the evil form of an
+      embalmer bending over one new dead. The babe felt it, opened its large
+      eyes and wailed. Merapi saw it, and snatched up her child. Seti too rose
+      from his seat, exclaiming, &ldquo;Who comes?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Thereon, to my amazement, Ki prostrated himself and uttered the salutation
+      which may only be given to the King of Egypt: &ldquo;Life! Blood! Strength!
+      Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who dares utter those words to me?&rdquo; said Seti. &ldquo;Ana, what madman do you
+      bring here?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;May it please the Prince, <i>he</i> brought <i>me</i> here,&rdquo; I replied
+      faintly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fellow, tell me who bade you say such words, than which none were ever
+      less welcome.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Those whom I serve, Prince.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And whom do you serve?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The gods of Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then, man, I think the gods must need your company. Pharaoh does not sit
+      at Memphis, and were he to hear of them&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pharaoh will never hear them, Prince, until he hears all things.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They stared at each other. Then, as I had done by the gate Seti rubbed his
+      eyes, and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Surely this is Ki. Why, then, did you look otherwise just now?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The gods can change the fashion of their messenger a thousand times in a
+      flash, if so they will, O Prince.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now Seti&rsquo;s anger passed, and turned to laughter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ki, Ki,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you should keep these tricks for Court. But, since you
+      are in the mood, what salutation have you for this lady by my side?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Ki considered her, till she who ever feared and hated him shrank before
+      his gaze.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Crown of Hathor, I greet you. Beloved of Isis, shine on perfect in the
+      sky, shedding light and wisdom ere you set.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now this saying puzzled me. Indeed, I did not fully understand it until
+      Bakenkhonsu reminded me that Merapi&rsquo;s name was Moon of Israel, that
+      Hathor, goddess of love, is crowned with the moon in all her statues, that
+      Isis is the queen of mysteries and wisdom, and that Ki who thought Merapi
+      perfect in love and beauty, also the greatest of all sorceresses, was
+      likening her to these.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;but what did he mean when he talked about her
+      setting?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Does not the moon always set, and is it not sometimes eclipsed?&rdquo; he asked
+      shortly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So does the sun,&rdquo; I answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;True; so does the sun! You are growing wise, very wise indeed, friend
+      Ana. Oho&mdash;ho!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      To return: When Seti heard these words, he laughed again, and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I must think that saying over, but it is clear that you have a pretty
+      turn for praise. Is it not so, Merapi, Crown of Hathor, and Holder of the
+      wisdom of Isis?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Merapi, who, I think, understood more than either of us, turned pale,
+      and shrank further away, but outwards into the sunshine.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, Ki,&rdquo; went on Seti, &ldquo;finish your greetings. What for the babe?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Ki considered it also.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now that it is no longer in the shadow, I see that this shoot from the
+      royal root of Pharaoh grows so fast and tall that my eyes cannot reach its
+      crest. He is too high and great for greetings, Prince.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Merapi uttered a little cry, and bore the child away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is afraid of magicians and their dark sayings,&rdquo; said Seti, looking
+      after her with a troubled smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That she should not be, Prince, seeing that she is the mistress of all
+      our tribe.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The lady Merapi a magician? Well, after a fashion, yes&mdash;where the
+      hearts of men are concerned, do you not think so, Ana? But be more plain,
+      Ki. It is still early, and I love riddles best at night.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What other could have shattered the strong and holy house where the
+      majesty of Amon dwells on earth? Not even those prophets of the Hebrews as
+      I think. What other could fence this garden round against the curses that
+      have fallen upon Egypt?&rdquo; asked Ki earnestly, for now all his mocking
+      manner had departed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not think she does these things, Ki. I think some Power does them
+      through her, and I know that she dared to face Amon in his temple because
+      she was bidden so to do by the priests of her people.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Prince,&rdquo; he answered with a short laugh, &ldquo;a while ago I sent you a
+      message by Ana, which perhaps other thoughts may have driven from his
+      memory. It was as to the nature of that Power of which you speak. In that
+      message I said that you were wise, but now I perceive that you lack wisdom
+      like the rest of us, for if you had it, you would know that the tool which
+      carves is not the guiding hand, and the lightning which smites is not the
+      sending strength. So with this fair love of yours, and so with me and all
+      that work marvels. We do not the things we seem to do, who are but the
+      tool and the lightning. What I would know is who or what guides her hand
+      and gives her the might to shield or to destroy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The question is wide, Ki, or so it seems to me who, as you say, have
+      little wisdom, and whoever can answer it holds the key of knowledge. Your
+      magic is but a small thing which seems great because so few can handle it.
+      What miracle is it that makes the flower to grow, the child to be born,
+      the Nile to rise, and the sun and stars to shine in heaven? What causes
+      man to be half a beast and half a god and to grow downward to the beast or
+      upward to the god&mdash;or both? What is faith and what is unbelief? Who
+      made these things, through them to declare the purposes of life, of death,
+      and of eternity? You shake your head, you do not know; how then can I know
+      who, as you point out, am but foolish? Go get your answer from the lady
+      Merapi&rsquo;s self, only mayhap you will find your questions countered.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll take my chance. Thanks to Merapi&rsquo;s lord! A boon, O Prince, since you
+      will not suffer that other name which comes easiest to the lips of one to
+      whom the Present and the Future are sometimes much alike.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Seti looked at him keenly, and for the first time with a tinge of fear in
+      his eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Leave the Future to itself, Ki,&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;Whatever may be the mind
+      of Egypt, just now I hold the Present enough for me,&rdquo; and he glanced first
+      at the chair in which Merapi had been seated and then at the cloth upon
+      which his son had lain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I take back my words. The Prince is wiser than I thought. Magicians know
+      the future because at times it rushes down upon them and they must. It is
+      that which makes them lonely, since what they know they cannot say. But
+      only fools will seek it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet now and again they lift a corner of the veil, Ki. Thus I remember
+      certain sayings of your own as to one who would find a great treasure in
+      the land of Goshen and thereafter suffer some temporal loss, and&mdash;I
+      forget the rest. Man, cease smiling at me with your face and piercing me
+      through with your sword-like eyes. You can command all things, what boon
+      then do you seek from me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To lodge here a little while, Prince, in the company of Ana and
+      Bakenkhonsu. Hearken, I am no more Kherheb. I have quarrelled with
+      Pharaoh, perhaps because a little breath from that great wind of the
+      future blows through my soul; perhaps because he does not reward me
+      according to my merits&mdash;what does it matter which? At least I have
+      come to be of one mind with you, O Prince, and think that Pharaoh would do
+      well to let the Hebrews go, and therefore no longer will I attempt to
+      match my magic against theirs. But he refuses, so we have parted.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why does he refuse, Ki?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps it is written that he must refuse. Or perhaps because, thinking
+      himself the greatest of all kings instead of but a plaything of the gods,
+      pride locks the doors of his heart that in a day to come the tempest of
+      the Future, whereof I have spoken, may wreck the house which holds it. I
+      do not know why he refuses, but her Highness Userti is much with him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For one who does not know, you have many reasons and all of them
+      different, O instructed Ki,&rdquo; said Seti.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then he paused, walking up and down the portico, and I who knew his mind
+      guessed that he was wondering whether he would do well to suffer Ki, whom
+      at times he feared because his objects were secret and never changed, to
+      abide in his house, or whether he should send him away. Ki also shivered a
+      little, as though he felt the shadow cold, and descended from the portico
+      into the bright sunshine. Here he held out his hand and a great moth
+      dropped from the roof and lit upon it, whereon it lifted it to his lips,
+      which moved as though he were talking to the insect.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What shall I do?&rdquo; muttered Seti, as he passed me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not altogether like his company, nor, I think, does the lady Merapi,
+      but he is an ill man to offend, Prince,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;Look, he is talking
+      with his familiar.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Seti returned to his place, and shaking off the moth which seemed loth to
+      leave him, for twice it settled on his head, Ki came back into the shadow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where is the use of your putting questions to me, Ki, when, according to
+      your own showing, already you know the answer that I will give? What
+      answer shall I give?&rdquo; asked the Prince.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That painted creature which sat upon my hand just now, seemed to whisper
+      to me that you would say, O Prince, &lsquo;Stay, Ki, and be my faithful servant,
+      and use any little lore you have to shield my house from ill.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Seti laughed in his careless fashion, and replied:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have your way, since it is a rule that none of the royal blood of Egypt
+      may refuse hospitality to those who seek it, having been their friends,
+      and I will not quote against your moth what a bat whispered in my ears
+      last night. Nay, none of your salutations revealed to you by insects or by
+      the future,&rdquo; and he gave him his hand to kiss.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When Ki was gone, I said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I told you that night-haunting thing was his familiar.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then you told me folly, Ana. The knowledge that Ki has he does not get
+      from moths or beetles. Yet now that it is too late I wish that I had asked
+      the lady Merapi what her will was in this matter. You should have thought
+      of that, Ana, instead of suffering your mind to be led astray by an insect
+      sitting on his hand, which is just what he meant that you should do. Well,
+      in punishment, day by day it shall be your lot to look upon a man with a
+      countenance like&mdash;like what?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Like that which I saw upon the coffin of the good god, your divine
+      father, Meneptah, as it was prepared for him during his life in the
+      embalmer&rsquo;s shop at Tanis,&rdquo; I answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said the Prince, &ldquo;a face smiling eternally at the Nothingness which
+      is Life and Death, but in certain lights, with eyes of fire.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      On the following day, by her invitation, I walked with the lady Merapi in
+      the garden, the head nurse following us, bearing the royal child in her
+      arms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wish to ask you about Ki, friend Ana,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;You know he is my
+      enemy, for you must have heard the words he spoke to me in the temple of
+      Amon at Tanis. It seems that my lord has made him the guest of this house&mdash;oh
+      look!&rdquo; and she pointed before her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I looked, and there a few paces away, where the shadow of the overhanging
+      palms was deepest, stood Ki. He was leaning on his staff, the same that
+      had turned to a snake in my hand, and gazing upwards like one who is lost
+      in thought, or listens to the singing of birds. Merapi turned as though to
+      fly, but at that moment Ki saw us, although he still seemed to gaze
+      upwards.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Greeting, O Moon of Israel,&rdquo; he said bowing. &ldquo;Greeting, O Conqueror of
+      Ki!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She bowed back, and stood still, as a little bird stands when it sees a
+      snake. There was a long silence, which he broke by asking:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why seek that from Ana which Ki himself is eager to give? Ana is learned,
+      but is his heart the heart of Ki? Above all, why tell him that Ki, the
+      humblest of your servants, is your enemy?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now Merapi straightened herself, looked into his eyes, and answered:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have I told Ana aught that he did not know? Did not Ana hear the last
+      words you said to me in the temple of Amon at Tanis?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Doubtless he heard them, Lady, and therefore I am glad that he is here to
+      hear their meaning. Lady Merapi, at that moment, I, the Sacrificer to
+      Amon, was filled&mdash;not with my own spirit, but with the angry spirit
+      of the god whom you had humbled as never before had befallen him in Egypt.
+      The god through me demanded of you the secret of your magic, and promised
+      you his hate, if you refused. Lady, you have his hate, but mine you have
+      not, since I also have his hate because I, and he through me, have been
+      worsted by your prophets. Lady, we are fellow-travellers in the Valley of
+      Trouble.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She gazed at him steadily, and I could see that of all that passed his
+      lips she believed no one word. Making no answer to him and his talk of
+      Amon, she asked only:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why do you come here to do me ill who have done you none?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are mistaken, Lady,&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;I come here to refuge from Amon,
+      and from his servant Pharaoh, whom Amon drives on to ruin. I know well
+      that, if you will it, you can whisper in the ear of the Prince and
+      presently he will put me forth. Only then&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo; and he looked
+      over her head to where the nurse stood rocking the sleeping child.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then what, Magician?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Giving no answer, he turned to me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Learned Ana, to you remember meeting me at Tanis one night?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I shook my head, though I guessed well enough what night he meant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your memory weakens, learned Ana, or rather is confused, for we met
+      often, did we not?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then he stared at the staff in his hand. I stared also, because I could
+      not help it, and saw, or thought I saw, the dead wood begin to swell and
+      curve. This was enough for me and I said hastily:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you mean the night of the Coronation, I do recall&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah! I thought you would. You, learned Ana, who like all scribes observe
+      so closely, will have noted how little things&mdash;such as the scent of a
+      flower, or the passing of a bird, or even the writhing of a snake in the
+      dust&mdash;often bring back to the mind events or words it has forgotten
+      long ago.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well&mdash;what of our meeting?&rdquo; I broke in hastily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nothing at all&mdash;or only this. Just before it you were talking with
+      the Hebrew Jabez, the lady Merapi&rsquo;s uncle, were you not?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I was talking with him in an open place, alone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not so, learned Scribe, for you know we are never alone&mdash;quite.
+      Could you but see it, every grain of sand has an ear.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be pleased to explain, O Ki.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Ana, it would be too long, and short jests are ever the best. As I
+      have told you, you were not alone, for though there were some words that I
+      did not catch, <i>I</i> heard much of what passed between you and Jabez.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What did you hear?&rdquo; I asked wrathfully, and next instant wished that I
+      had bitten through my tongue before it shaped the words.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Much, much. Let me think. You spoke about the lady Merapi, and whether
+      she would do well to bide at Memphis in the shadow of the Prince, or to
+      return to Goshen into the shadow of a certain&mdash;I forget the name.
+      Jabez, a well-instructed man, said he thought that she might be happier at
+      Memphis, though perhaps her presence there would bring a great sorrow upon
+      herself and&mdash;another.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Here again he looked at the child, which seemed to feel his glance, for it
+      woke up and beat the air with its little hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The nurse felt it also, although her head was turned away, for she started
+      and then took shelter behind the bole of one of the palm-trees. Now Merapi
+      said in a low and shaken voice:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know what you mean, Magician, for since then I have seen my uncle
+      Jabez.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As I have also, several times, Lady, which may explain to you what Ana
+      here thinks so wonderful, namely that I should have learned what they said
+      together when he thought they were alone, which, as I have told him, no
+      one can ever be, at least in Egypt, the land of listening gods&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And spying sorcerers,&rdquo; I exclaimed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&mdash;&mdash;And spying sorcerers,&rdquo; he repeated after me, &ldquo;and scribes
+      who take notes, and learn them by heart, and priests with ears as large as
+      asses, and leaves that whisper&mdash;and many other things.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cease your gibes, and say what you have to say,&rdquo; said Merapi, in the same
+      broken voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He made no answer, but only looked at the tree behind which the nurse and
+      child had vanished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! I know, I know,&rdquo; she exclaimed in tones that were like a cry. &ldquo;My
+      child is threatened! You threaten my child because you hate me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your pardon, Lady. It is true that evil threatens this royal babe, or so
+      I understood from Jabez, who knows so much. But it is not I that threaten
+      it, any more than I hate you, in whom I acknowledge a fellow of my craft,
+      but one greater than myself that it is my duty to obey.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have done! Why do you torment me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Can the priests of the Moon-goddess torment Isis, Mother of Magic, with
+      their prayers and offerings? And can I who would make a prayer and an
+      offering&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What prayer, and what offering?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The prayer that you will suffer me to shelter in this house from the many
+      dangers that threaten me at the hands of Pharaoh and the prophets of your
+      people, and an offering of such help as I can give by my arts and
+      knowledge against blacker dangers which threaten&mdash;another.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Here once more he gazed at the trunk of the tree beyond which I heard the
+      infant wail.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If I consent, what then?&rdquo; she asked, hoarsely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then, Lady, I will strive to protect a certain little one against a curse
+      which Jabez tells me threatens him and many others in whom runs the blood
+      of Egypt. I will strive, if I am allowed to bide here&mdash;I do not say
+      that I shall succeed, for as your lord has reminded me, and as you showed
+      me in the temple of Amon, my strength is smaller than that of the prophets
+      and prophetesses of Israel.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And if I refuse?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then, Lady,&rdquo; he answered in a voice that rang like iron, &ldquo;I am sure that
+      one whom you love&mdash;as mothers love&mdash;will shortly be rocked in
+      the arms of the god whom we name Osiris.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>Stay</i>,&rdquo; she cried and, turning, fled away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, Ana, she is gone,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and that before I could bargain for my
+      reward. Well, this I must find in your company. How strange are women,
+      Ana! Here you have one of the greatest of her sex, as you learned in the
+      temple of Amon. And yet she opens beneath the sun of hope and shrivels
+      beneath the shadow of fear, like the touched leaves of that tender plant
+      which grows upon the banks of the river; she who, with her eyes set on the
+      mystery that is beyond, whereof she hears the whispering winds, should
+      tread both earthly hope and fear beneath her feet, or make of them
+      stepping stones to glory. Were she a man she would do so, but her sex
+      wrecks her, she who thinks more of the kiss of a babe than of all the
+      splendours she might harbour in her breast. Yes, a babe, a single wretched
+      little babe. You had one once, did you not, Ana?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! to Set and his fires with you and your evil talk,&rdquo; I said, and left
+      him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When I had gone a little way, I looked back and saw that he was laughing,
+      throwing up his staff as he laughed, and catching it again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Set and his fires,&rdquo; he called after me. &ldquo;I wonder what they are like,
+      Ana. Perhaps one day we shall learn, you and I together, Scribe Ana.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So Ki took up his abode with us, in the same lodgings as Bakenkhonsu, and
+      almost every day I would meet them walking in the garden, since I, who was
+      of the Prince&rsquo;s table, except when he ate with the lady Merapi, did not
+      take my food with them. Then we would talk together about many subjects.
+      On those which had to do with learning, or even religion, I had the better
+      of Ki, who was no great scholar or master of theology. But always before
+      we parted he would plant some arrow in my ribs, at which old Bakenkhonsu
+      laughed, and laughed again, yet ever threw over me the shield of his
+      venerable wisdom, just because he loved me I think.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was after this that the plague struck the cattle of Egypt, so that tens
+      of thousands of them died, though not all as was reported. But, as I have
+      said, of the herds of Seti none died, nor, as we were told, did any of
+      those of the Israelites in the land of Goshen. Now there was great
+      distress in Egypt, but Ki smiled and said that he knew it would be so, and
+      that there was much worse to come, for which I could have smitten him over
+      the head with his own staff, had I not feared that, if I did so, it might
+      once more turn to a serpent in my hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Old Bakenkhonsu looked upon the matter with another face. He said that
+      since his last wife died, I think some fifty years before, he had found
+      life very dull because he missed the exercises of her temper, and her
+      habit of presenting things as these never had been nor could possibly ever
+      be. Now, however, it grew interesting again, since the marvels which were
+      happening in Egypt, being quite contrary to Nature, reminded him of his
+      last wife and her arguments. All of which was his way of saying that in
+      those years we lived in a new world, whereof for the Egyptians Set the
+      Evil One seemed to be the king.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But still Pharaoh would not let the Hebrews go, perhaps because he had
+      vowed as much to Meneptah who set him on the throne, or perhaps for those
+      other reasons, or one of them, which Ki had given to the Prince.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then came the curse of sores afflicting man, woman, and child throughout
+      the land, save those who dwelt in the household of Seti. Thus the watchman
+      and his family whose lodge was without the gates suffered, but the
+      watchman and his family who lived within the gates, not twenty paces away,
+      did not suffer, which caused bitterness between their women. In the same
+      way Ki, who resided as a guest of the Prince at Memphis, suffered from no
+      sores, whereas those of his College who remained at Tanis were more
+      heavily smitten than any others, so that some of them died. When he heard
+      this, Ki laughed and said that he had told them it would be so. Also
+      Pharaoh himself and even her Highness Userti were smitten, the latter upon
+      the cheek, which made her unsightly for a while. Indeed, Bakenkhonsu
+      heard, I know not how, that so great was her rage that she even bethought
+      her of returning to her lord Seti, in whose house she had learned people
+      were safe, and the beauty of her successor, Moon of Israel, remained
+      unscarred and was even greater than before, tidings that I think
+      Bakenkhonsu himself conveyed to her. But in the end this her pride, or her
+      jealousy, prevented her from doing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now the heart of Egypt began to turn towards Seti in good earnest. The
+      Prince, they said, had opposed the policy of the oppression of the
+      Hebrews, and because he could not prevail had abandoned his right to the
+      throne, which Pharaoh Amenmeses had purchased at the price of accepting
+      that policy whereof the fruits had been proved to be destruction.
+      Therefore, they reasoned, if Amenmeses were deposed, and the Prince
+      reigned, their miseries would cease. So they sent deputations to him
+      secretly, praying him to rise against Amenmeses and promising him support.
+      But he would listen to none of them, telling them that he was happy as he
+      was and sought no other state. Still Pharaoh grew jealous, for all these
+      things his spies reported to him, and set about plots to destroy Seti.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Of the first of these Userti warned me by a messenger, but the second and
+      worse Ki discovered in some strange way, so that the murderer was trapped
+      at the gate and killed by the watchman, whereon Seti said that after all
+      he had been wise to give hospitality to Ki, that is, if to continue to
+      live were wisdom. The lady Merapi also said as much to me, but I noted
+      that always she shunned Ki, whom she held in mistrust and fear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XV
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE NIGHT OF FEAR
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      Then came the hail, and some months after the hail the locusts, and Egypt
+      went mad with woe and terror. It was known to us, for with Ki and
+      Bakenkhonsu in the palace we knew everything, that the Hebrew prophets had
+      promised this hail because Pharaoh would not listen to them. Therefore
+      Seti caused it to be put about through all the land that the Egyptians
+      should shelter their cattle, or such as were left to them, at the first
+      sign of storm. But Pharaoh heard of it and issued a proclamation that this
+      was not to be done, inasmuch as it would be an insult to the gods of
+      Egypt. Still many did so and these saved their cattle. It was strange to
+      see that wall of jagged ice stretching from earth to heaven and destroying
+      all upon which it fell. The tall date-palms were stripped even of their
+      bark; the soil was churned up; men and beasts if caught abroad were slain
+      or shattered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I stood at the gate and watched it. There, not a yard away, fell the white
+      hail, turning the world to wreck, while here within the gate there was not
+      a single stone. Merapi watched also, and presently came Ki as well, and
+      with him Bakenkhonsu, who for once had never seen anything like this in
+      all his long life. But Ki watched Merapi more than he did the hail, for I
+      saw him searching out her very soul with those merciless eyes of his.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lady,&rdquo; he said at length, &ldquo;tell your servant, I beseech you, how you do
+      this thing?&rdquo; and he pointed first to the trees and flowers within the gate
+      and then to the wreck without.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At first I thought that she had not heard him because of the roar of the
+      hail, for she stepped forward and opened the side wicket to admit a poor
+      jackal that was scratching at the bars. Still this was not so, for
+      presently she turned and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Does the Kherheb, the greatest magician in Egypt, ask an unlearned woman
+      to teach him of marvels? Well, Ki, I cannot, because I neither do it nor
+      know how it is done.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bakenkhonsu laughed, and Ki&rsquo;s painted smile grew as it were brighter than
+      before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is not what they say in the land of Goshen, Lady,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;and
+      not what the Hebrew women say here in Memphis. Nor is it what the priests
+      of Amon say. These declare that you have more magic than all the sorcerers
+      of the Nile. Here is the proof of it,&rdquo; and he pointed to the ruin without
+      and the peace within, adding, &ldquo;Lady, if you can protect your own home, why
+      cannot you protect the innocent people of Egypt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Because I cannot,&rdquo; she answered angrily. &ldquo;If ever I had such power it is
+      gone from me, who am now the mother of an Egyptian&rsquo;s child. But I have
+      none. There in the temple of Amon some Strength worked through me, that is
+      all, which never will visit me again because of my sin.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What sin, Lady?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The sin of taking the Prince Seti to lord. Now, if any god spoke through
+      me it would be one of those of the Egyptians, since He of Israel has cast
+      me out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Ki started as though some new thought had come to him, and at this moment
+      she turned and went away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Would that she were high-priestess of Isis that she might work for us and
+      not against us,&rdquo; he said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bakenkhonsu shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let that be,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;Be sure that never will an Israelitish woman
+      offer sacrifice to what she would call the abomination of the Egyptians.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If she will not sacrifice to save the people, let her be careful lest the
+      people sacrifice her to save themselves,&rdquo; said Ki in a cold voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then he too went away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think that if ever that hour comes, then Ki will have his share in it,&rdquo;
+       laughed Bakenkhonsu. &ldquo;What is the good of a shepherd who shelters here in
+      comfort, while outside the sheep are dying, eh, Ana?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was after the plague of locusts, which ate all there was left to eat in
+      Egypt, so that the poor folk who had done no wrong and had naught to say
+      to the dealings of Pharaoh with the Israelites starved by the thousand,
+      and during that of the great darkness, that Laban came. Now this darkness
+      lay upon the land like a thick cloud for three whole days and nights.
+      Nevertheless, though the shadows were deep, there was no true darkness
+      over the house of Seti at Memphis, which stood in a funnel of grey light
+      stretching from earth to sky.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now the terror was increased tenfold, and it seemed to me that all the
+      hundreds of thousands of Memphis were gathered outside our walls, so that
+      they might look upon the light, such as it was, if they could do no more.
+      Seti would have admitted as many as the place would hold, but Ki bade him
+      not, saying, that if he did so the darkness would flow in with them. Only
+      Merapi did admit some of the Israelitish women who were married to
+      Egyptians in the city, though for her pains they only cursed her as a
+      witch. For now most of the inhabitants of Memphis were certain that it was
+      Merapi who, keeping herself safe, had brought these woes upon them because
+      she was a worshipper of an alien god.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If she who is the love of Egypt&rsquo;s heir would but sacrifice to Egypt&rsquo;s
+      gods, these horrors would pass from us,&rdquo; said they, having, as I think,
+      learned their lesson from the lips of Ki. Or perhaps the emissaries of
+      Userti had taught them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Once more we stood by the gate watching the people flitting to and fro in
+      the gloom without, for this sight fascinated Merapi, as a snake fascinates
+      a bird. Then it was that Laban appeared. I knew his hooked nose and
+      hawk-like eyes at once, and she knew him also.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come away with me, Moon of Israel,&rdquo; he cried, &ldquo;and all shall yet be
+      forgiven you. But if you will not come, then fearful things shall overtake
+      you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She stood staring at him, answering never a word, and just then the Prince
+      Seti reached us and saw him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Take that man,&rdquo; he commanded, flushing with anger, and guards sprang into
+      the darkness to do his bidding. But Laban was gone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the second day of the darkness the tumult was great, on the third it
+      was terrible. A crowd thrust the guard aside, broke down the gates and
+      burst into the palace, humbly demanding that the lady Merapi would come to
+      pray for them, yet showing by their mien that if she would not come they
+      meant to take her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is to be done?&rdquo; asked Seti of Ki and Bakenkhonsu.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is for the Prince to judge,&rdquo; said Ki, &ldquo;though I do not see how it
+      can harm the lady Merapi to pray for us in the open square of Memphis.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let her go,&rdquo; said Bakenkhonsu, &ldquo;lest presently we should all go further
+      than we would.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not wish to go,&rdquo; cried Merapi, &ldquo;not knowing for whom I am to pray or
+      how.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be it as you will, Lady,&rdquo; said Seti in his grave and gentle voice. &ldquo;Only,
+      hearken to the roar of the mob. If you refuse, I think that very soon
+      every one of us will have reached a land where perhaps it is not needful
+      to pray at all,&rdquo; and he looked at the infant in her arms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will go,&rdquo; she said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She went forth carrying the child and I walked behind her. So did the
+      Prince, but in that darkness he was cut off by a rush of thousands of folk
+      and I saw him no more till all was over. Bakenkhonsu was with me leaning
+      on my arm, but Ki had gone on before us, for his own ends as I think. A
+      huge mob moved through the dense darkness, in which here and there lights
+      floated like lamps upon a quiet sea. I did not know where we were going
+      until the light of one of these lamps shone upon the knees of the colossal
+      statue of the great Rameses, revealing his cartouche. Then I knew that we
+      were near the gateway of the vast temple of Memphis, the largest perhaps
+      in the whole world.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We went on through court after pillared court, priests leading us by the
+      hand, till we came to a shrine commanding the biggest court of all, which
+      was packed with men and women. It was that of Isis, who held at her breast
+      the infant Horus.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O friend Ana,&rdquo; cried Merapi, &ldquo;give help. They are dressing me in strange
+      garments.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I tried to get near to her but was thrust back, a voice, which I thought
+      to be that of Ki, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;On your life, fool!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Presently a lamp was held up, and by the light of it I saw Merapi seated
+      in a chair dressed like a goddess, in the sacerdotal robes of Isis and
+      wearing the vulture cap headdress&mdash;beautiful exceedingly. In her arms
+      was the child dressed as the infant Horus.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pray for us, Mother Isis,&rdquo; cried thousands of voices, &ldquo;that the curse of
+      blackness may be removed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then she prayed, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O my God, take away this curse of blackness from these innocent people,&rdquo;
+       and all of those present, repeated her prayer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At that moment the sky began to lighten and in less than half an hour the
+      sun shone out. When Merapi saw how she and the child were arrayed she
+      screamed aloud and tore off her jewelled trappings, crying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Woe! Woe! Woe! Great woe upon the people of Egypt!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But in their joy at the new found light few hearkened to her who they were
+      sure had brought back the sun. Again Laban appeared for a moment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Witch! Traitress!&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;You have worn the robes of Isis and
+      worshipped in the temple of the gods of the Egyptians. The curse of the
+      God of Israel be on you and that which is born of you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I sprang at him but he was gone. Then we bore Merapi home swooning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So this trouble passed by, but from that time forward Merapi would not
+      suffer her son to be taken out of her sight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why do you make so much of him, Lady?&rdquo; I asked one day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Because I would love him well while he is here, Friend,&rdquo; she answered,
+      &ldquo;but of this say nothing to his father.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A while went by and we heard that still Pharaoh would not let the
+      Israelites go. Then the Prince Seti sent Bakenkhonsu and myself to Tanis
+      to see Pharaoh and to say to him:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I seek nothing for myself and I forget those evils which you would have
+      worked on me through jealousy. But I say unto you that if you will not let
+      these strangers go great and terrible things shall befall you and all
+      Egypt. Therefore, hear my prayer and let them go.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now Bakenkhonsu and I came before Pharaoh and we saw that he was greatly
+      aged, for his hair had gone grey about his temples and the flesh hung in
+      bags beneath his eyes. Also not for one minute could he stay still.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is your lord, and are you also of the servants of this Hebrew prophet
+      whom the Egyptians worship as a god because he has done them so much ill?&rdquo;
+       he asked. &ldquo;It may well be so, since I hear that my cousin Seti keeps an
+      Israelitish witch in his house, who wards off from him all the plagues
+      that have smitten the rest of Egypt, and that to him has fled also Ki the
+      Kherheb, my magician. Moreover, I hear that in payment for these
+      wizardries he has been promised the throne of Egypt by many fickle and
+      fearful ones among my people. Let him be careful lest I lift him up higher
+      than he hopes, who already have enough traitors in this land; and you two
+      with him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now I said nothing, who saw that the man was mad, but Bakenkhonsu laughed
+      out loud and answered:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Pharaoh, I know little, but I know this although I be old, namely, that
+      after men have ceased to speak your name I shall still hold converse with
+      the wearer of the Double Crown in Egypt. Now will you let these Hebrews
+      go, or will you bring death upon Egypt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Pharaoh glared at him and answered, &ldquo;I will not let them go.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why not, Pharaoh? Tell me, for I am curious.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Because I cannot,&rdquo; he answered with a groan. &ldquo;Because something stronger
+      than myself forces me to deny their prayer. Begone!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So we went, and this was the last time that I looked upon Amenmeses at
+      Tanis.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As we left the chamber I saw the Hebrew prophet entering the presence.
+      Afterwards a rumour reached us that he had threatened to kill all the
+      people in Egypt, but that still Pharaoh would not let the Israelites
+      depart. Indeed, it was said that he had told the prophet that if he
+      appeared before him any more he should be put to death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now we journeyed back to Memphis with all these tidings and made report to
+      Seti. When Merapi heard them she went half mad, weeping and wringing her
+      hands. I asked her what she feared. She answered death, which was near to
+      all of us. I said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If so, there are worse things, Lady.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For you mayhap you are faithful and good in your own fashion, but not for
+      me. Do you not understand, friend Ana, that I am one who has broken the
+      law of the God I was taught to worship?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And which of us is there who has not broken the law of the god we were
+      taught to worship, Lady? If in truth you have done anything of the sort by
+      flying from a murderous villain to one who loves you well, which I do not
+      believe, surely there is forgiveness for such sins as this.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Aye, perhaps, but, alas! the thing is blacker far. Have you forgotten
+      what I did? Dressed in the robes of Isis I worshipped in the temple of
+      Isis with my boy playing the part of Horus on my bosom. It is a crime that
+      can never be forgiven to a Hebrew woman, Ana, for my God is a jealous God.
+      Yet it is true that Ki tricked me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If he had not, Lady, I think there would have been none of us left to
+      trick, seeing that the people were crazed with the dread of the darkness
+      and believed that it could be lifted by you alone, as indeed happened,&rdquo; I
+      added somewhat doubtfully.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;More of Ki&rsquo;s tricks! Oh! do you not understand that the lifting of the
+      darkness at that moment was Ki&rsquo;s work, because he wished the people to
+      believe that I am indeed a sorceress.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why?&rdquo; I asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not know. Perhaps that one day he may find a victim to bind to the
+      altar in his place. At least I know well that it is I who must pay the
+      price, I and my flesh and blood, whatever Ki may promise,&rdquo; and she looked
+      at the sleeping child.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do not be afraid, Lady,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Ki has left the palace and you will see
+      him no more.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, because the Prince was angry with him about the trick in the temple
+      of Isis. Therefore suddenly he went, or pretended to go, for how can one
+      tell where such a man may really be? But he will come back again. Bethink
+      you, Ki was the greatest magician in Egypt; even old Bakenkhonsu can
+      remember none like to him. Then he matches himself against the prophets of
+      my people and fails.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But did he fail, Lady? What they did he did, sending among the Israelites
+      the plagues that your prophets had sent among us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, some of them, but he was outpaced, or feared to be outpaced at last.
+      Is Ki a man to forget that? And if Ki chances really to believe that I am
+      his adversary and his master at this black work, as because of what
+      happened in the temple of Amon thousands believe to-day, will he not mete
+      me my own measure soon or late? Oh! I fear Ki, Ana, and I fear the people
+      of Egypt, and were it not for my lord beloved, I would flee away into the
+      wilderness with my son, and get me out of this haunted land! Hush! he
+      wakes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      From this time forward until the sword fell there was great dread in
+      Egypt. None seemed to know exactly what they dreaded, but all thought that
+      it had to do with death. People went about mournfully looking over their
+      shoulders as though someone were following them, and at night they
+      gathered together in knots and talked in whispers. Only the Hebrews seemed
+      to be glad and happy. Moreover, they were making preparations for
+      something new and strange. Thus those Israelitish women who dwelt in
+      Memphis began to sell what property they had and to borrow of the
+      Egyptians. Especially did they ask for the loan of jewels, saying that
+      they were about to celebrate a feast and wished to look fine in the eyes
+      of their countrymen. None refused them what they asked because all were
+      afraid of them. They even came to the palace and begged her ornaments from
+      Merapi, although she was a countrywoman of their own who had showed them
+      much kindness. Yes, and seeing that her son wore a little gold circlet on
+      his hair, one of them begged that also, nor did she say her nay. But, as
+      it chanced, the Prince entered, and seeing the woman with this royal badge
+      in her hand, grew very angry and forced her to restore it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is the use of crowns without heads to wear them?&rdquo; she sneered, and
+      fled away laughing, with all that she had gathered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After she had heard that saying Merapi grew even sadder and more
+      distraught than she was before, and from her the trouble crept to Seti. He
+      too became sad and ill at ease, though when I asked him why he vowed he
+      did not know, but supposed it was because some new plague drew near.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;as I have made shift to live through nine of them, I do
+      not know why I should fear a tenth.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Still he did fear it, so much that he consulted Bakenkhonsu as to whether
+      there were any means by which the anger of the gods could be averted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bakenkhonsu laughed and said he thought not, since always if the gods were
+      not angry about one thing they were angry about another. Having made the
+      world they did nothing but quarrel with it, or with other gods who had a
+      hand in its fashioning, and of these quarrels men were the victims.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bear your woes, Prince,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;if any come, for ere the Nile has
+      risen another fifty times at most, whether they have or have not been,
+      will be the same to you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then you think that when we go west we die indeed, and that Osiris is but
+      another name for the sunset, Bakenkhonsu.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The old Councillor shook his great head, and answered:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No. If ever you should lose one whom you greatly love, take comfort,
+      Prince, for I do not think that life ends with death. Death is the nurse
+      that puts it to sleep, no more, and in the morning it will wake again to
+      travel through another day with those who have companioned it from the
+      beginning.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where do all the days lead it to at last, Bakenkhonsu?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ask that of Ki; I do not know.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To Set with Ki, I am angered with him,&rdquo; said the Prince, and went away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not without reason, I think,&rdquo; mused Bakenkhonsu, but when I asked him
+      what he meant, he would not or could not tell me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So the gloom deepened and the palace, which had been merry in its way,
+      became sad. None knew what was coming, but all knew that something was
+      coming and stretched out their hands to strive to protect that which they
+      loved best from the stroke of the warring gods. In the case of Seti and
+      Merapi this was their son, now a beautiful little lad who could run and
+      prattle, one too of a strange health and vigour for a child of the inbred
+      race of the Ramessids. Never for a minute was this boy allowed to be out
+      of the sight of one or other of his parents; indeed I saw little of Seti
+      in those days and all our learned studies came to nothing, because he was
+      ever concerned with Merapi in playing nurse to this son of his.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When Userti was told of it, she said in the hearing of a friend of mine:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Without a doubt that is because he trains his bastard to fill the throne
+      of Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But, alas! all that the little Seti was doomed to fill was a coffin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was a still, hot evening, so hot that Merapi had bid the nurse bring
+      the child&rsquo;s bed and set it between two pillars of the great portico. There
+      on the bed he slept, lovely as Horus the divine. She sat by his side in a
+      chair that had feet shaped like to those of an antelope. Seti walked up
+      and down the terrace beyond the portico leaning on my shoulder, and
+      talking by snatches of this or that. Occasionally as he passed he would
+      stay for a while to make sure by the bright moonlight that all was well
+      with Merapi and the child, as of late it had become a habit with him to
+      do. Then without speaking, for fear lest he should awake the boy, he would
+      smile at Merapi, who sat there brooding, her head resting on her hand, and
+      pass on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The night was very still. The palm leaves did not rustle, no jackals were
+      stirring, and even the shrill-voiced insects had ceased their cries.
+      Moreover, the great city below was quiet as a home of the dead. It was as
+      though the presage of some advancing doom scared the world to silence. For
+      without doubt doom was in the air. All felt it down to the nurse woman,
+      who cowered close as she dared to the chair of her mistress, and even in
+      that heat shivered from time to time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Presently little Seti awoke, and began to prattle about something he had
+      dreamed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What did you dream, my son?&rdquo; asked his father.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I dreamed,&rdquo; he answered in his baby talk, &ldquo;that a woman, dressed as
+      Mother was in the temple, took me by the hand and led me into the air. I
+      looked down, and saw you and Mother with white faces and crying. I began
+      to cry too, but the woman with the feather cap told me not as she was
+      taking me to a beautiful big star where Mother would soon come to find
+      me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince and I looked at each other and Merapi feigned to busy herself
+      with hushing the child to sleep again. It drew towards midnight and still
+      no one seemed minded to go to rest. Old Bakenkhonsu appeared and began to
+      say something about the night being very strange and unrestful, when,
+      suddenly, a little bat that was flitting to and fro above us fell upon his
+      head and thence to the ground. We looked at it, and saw that it was dead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Strange that the creature should have died thus,&rdquo; said Bakenkhonsu, when,
+      behold! another fell to the ground near by. The black kitten which
+      belonged to Little Seti saw it fall and darted from beside his bed where
+      it was sleeping. Before ever it reached the bat, the creature wheeled
+      round, stood upon its hind legs, scratching at the air about it, then
+      uttered one pitiful cry and fell over dead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We stared at it, when suddenly far away a dog howled in a very piercing
+      fashion. Then a cow began to bale as these beasts do when they have lost
+      their calves. Next, quite close at hand but without the gates, there arose
+      the ear-curdling cry of a woman in agony, which on the instant seemed to
+      be echoed from every quarter, till the air was full of wailing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, Seti! Seti!&rdquo; exclaimed Merapi, in a voice that was rather a hiss than
+      a whisper, &ldquo;look at your son!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      We sprang to where the babe lay, and looked. He had awakened and was
+      staring upward with wide-opened eyes and frozen face. The fear, if such it
+      were, passed from his features, though still he stared. He rose to his
+      little feet, always looking upwards. Then a smile came upon his face, a
+      most beautiful smile; he stretched out his arms, as though to clasp one
+      who bent down towards him, and fell backwards&mdash;quite dead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Seti stood still as a statue; we all stood still, even Merapi. Then she
+      bend down, and lifted the body of the boy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, my lord,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;there has fallen on you that sorrow which Jabez
+      my uncle warned you would come, if ever you had aught to do with me. Now
+      the curse of Israel has pierced my heart, and now our child, as Ki the
+      evil prophesied, has grown too great for greetings, or even for
+      farewells.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus she spoke in a cold and quiet voice, as one might speak of something
+      long expected or foreseen, then made her reverence to the Prince, and
+      departed, bearing the body of the child. Never, I think, did Merapi seem
+      more beautiful to me than in this, her hour of bereavement, since now
+      through her woman&rsquo;s loveliness shone out some shadow of the soul within.
+      Indeed, such were her eyes and such her movements that well might have
+      been a spirit and not a woman who departed from us with that which had
+      been her son.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Seti leaned on my shoulder looking at the empty bed, and at the scared
+      nurse who still sat behind, and I felt a tear drop upon my hand. Old
+      Bakenkhonsu lifted his massive face, and looked at him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Grieve not over much, Prince,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;since, ere as many years as I
+      have lived out have come and gone, this child will be forgotten and his
+      mother will be forgotten, and even you, O Prince, will live but as a name
+      that once was great in Egypt. And then, O Prince, elsewhere the game will
+      begin afresh, and what you have lost shall be found anew, and the sweeter
+      for it sheltering from the vile breath of men. Ki&rsquo;s magic is not all a
+      lie, or if his is, mine holds some shadow of the truth, and when he said
+      to you yonder in Tanis that not for nothing were you named &lsquo;Lord of
+      Rebirths,&rsquo; he spoke words that you should find comfortable to-night.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thank you, Councillor,&rdquo; said Seti, and turning, followed Merapi.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now I suppose we shall have more deaths,&rdquo; I exclaimed, hardly knowing
+      what I said in my sorrow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think not, Ana,&rdquo; answered Bakenkhonsu, &ldquo;since the shield of Jabez, or
+      of his god, is over us. Always he foretold that trouble would come to
+      Merapi, and to Seti through Merapi, but that is all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I glanced at the kitten.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It strayed here from the town three days ago, Ana. And the bats also may
+      have flown from the town. Hark to the wailing. Was ever such a sound heard
+      before in Egypt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XVI
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      JABEZ SELLS HORSES
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      Bakenkhonsu was right. Save the son of Seti alone, none died who dwelt in
+      or about his house, though elsewhere all the first-born of Egypt lay dead,
+      and the first-born of the beasts also. When this came to be known
+      throughout the land a rage seized the Egyptians against Merapi who, they
+      remembered, had called down woe on Egypt after she had been forced to pray
+      in the temple and, as they believed, to lift the darkness from Memphis.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bakenkhonsu and I and others who loved her pointed out that her own child
+      had died with the rest. To this it was answered, and here I thought I saw
+      the fingers of Userti and of Ki, that it was nothing, since witches did
+      not love children. Moreover, they said she could have as many as she liked
+      and when she liked, making them to look like children out of clay figures
+      and to grow up into evil spirits to torment the land. Lastly, people swore
+      that she had been heard to say that, although to do it she must kill her
+      own lord&rsquo;s son, she would not on that account forego her vengeance on the
+      Egyptians, who once had treated her as a slave and murdered her father.
+      Further, the Israelites themselves, or some of them, mayhap Laban among
+      them, were reported to have told the Egyptians that it was the sorceress
+      who had bewitched Prince Seti who brought such great troubles on them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So it happened that the Egyptians came to hate Merapi, who of all women
+      was the sweetest and the most to be loved, and to her other supposed
+      crimes, added this also, that by her witcheries she had stolen the heart
+      of Seti away from his lawful wife and made him to turn that lady, the
+      Royal Princess of Egypt, even from his gates, so that she was forced to
+      dwell alone at Tanis. For in all these matters none blamed Seti, whom
+      everyone in Egypt loved, because it was known that he would have dealt
+      with the Israelites in a very different fashion, and thus averted all the
+      woes that had desolated the ancient land of Khem. As for this matter of
+      the Hebrew girl with the big eyes who chanced to have thrown a spell upon
+      him, that was his ill-fortune, nothing more. Amongst the many women with
+      whom they believed he filled his house, as was the way of princes, it was
+      not strange that one favourite should be a witch. Indeed, I am certain
+      that only because he was known to love her, was Merapi saved from death by
+      poison or in some other secret fashion, at any rate for a while.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now came the glad tidings that the pride of Pharaoh was broken at last
+      (for his first-born child had died with the others), or that the cloud of
+      madness had lifted from his brain, whichever it might be, and that he had
+      decreed that the Children of Israel might depart from Egypt when and
+      whither they would. Then the people breathed again, seeing hope that their
+      miseries might end.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was at this time that Jabez appeared once more at Memphis, driving a
+      number of chariot horses, which he said he wished to sell to the Prince,
+      as he did not desire them to pass into any other hands. He was admitted
+      and stated the price of his horses, according to which they must have been
+      beasts of great value.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why do you wish to sell your horses?&rdquo; asked Seti.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Because I go with my people into lands where there is little water and
+      there they might die, O Prince.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will buy the horses. See to it, Ana,&rdquo; said Seti, although I knew well
+      that already he had more than he needed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince rose to show that the interview was ended, whereon Jabez, who
+      was bowing his thanks, said hurriedly:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I rejoice to learn, O Royal One, that things have befallen as I foretold,
+      or rather was bidden to foretell, and that the troubles which have
+      afflicted Egypt have passed by your dwelling.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then you rejoice to learn a falsehood, Hebrew, since the worst of those
+      troubles has made its home here. My son is dead,&rdquo; and he turned away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Jabez lifted his shifty eyes from the floor and glanced at him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Prince,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I know and grieve because this loss has cut you to the
+      heart. Yet it was no fault of mine or of my people. If you think, you will
+      remember that both when I built a wall of protection about this place
+      because of your good deeds to Israel, O Prince, and before, I warned, and
+      caused you to be warned, that if you and my niece, Moon of Israel, came
+      together a great trouble might fall on you through her who, having become
+      the woman of an Egyptian in defiance of command, must bear the fate of
+      Egyptian women.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It may be so,&rdquo; said the Prince. &ldquo;The matter is not one of which I care to
+      talk. If this death were wrought by the magic of your wizards I have only
+      this to say&mdash;that it is an ill payment to me in return for all that I
+      have striven to do on behalf of the Hebrews. Yet, what else could I expect
+      from such a people in such a world? Farewell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One prayer, O Prince. I would ask your leave to speak with my niece,
+      Merapi.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is veiled. Since the murder of her child by wizardry, she sees no
+      man.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Still I think she will see her uncle, O Prince.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What then do you wish to say to her?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Prince, through the clemency of Pharaoh we poor slaves are about to
+      leave the land of Egypt never to return. Therefore, if my niece remains
+      behind, it is natural that I should wish to bid her farewell, and to
+      confide to her certain matters connected with our race and family, which
+      she might desire to pass on to her children.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now when he heard this word &ldquo;children&rdquo; Seti softened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not trust you,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You may be charged with more of your
+      Hebrew curses against Merapi, or you may say words to her that will make
+      her even unhappier than she is. Yet if you would wish to see her in my
+      presence&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My lord Prince, I will not trouble you so far. Farewell. Be pleased to
+      convey&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Or if that does not suit you,&rdquo; interrupted Seti, &ldquo;in the presence of Ana
+      here you can do so, unless she refuses to receive you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Jabez reflected for a moment, and answered:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then in the presence of Ana let it be, since he is a man who knows when
+      to be silent.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Jabez made obeisance and departed, and at a sign from the Prince I
+      followed him. Presently we were ushered into the chamber of the lady
+      Merapi, where she sat looking most sad and lonely, with a veil of black
+      upon her head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Greeting, my uncle,&rdquo; she said, after glancing at me, whose presence I
+      think she understood. &ldquo;Are you the bearer of more prophecies? I pray not,
+      since your last were overtrue,&rdquo; and she touched the black veil with her
+      finger.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am the bearer of tidings, and of a prayer, Niece. The tidings are that
+      the people of Israel are about to leave Egypt. The prayer, which is also a
+      command, is&mdash;that you make ready to accompany them&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To Laban?&rdquo; she asked, looking up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, my niece. Laban would not wish as a wife one who has been the
+      mistress of an Egyptian, but to play your part, however humble, in the
+      fortunes of our people.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am glad that Laban does not wish what he never could obtain, my uncle.
+      Tell me, I pray you, why should I hearken to this prayer, or this
+      command?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For a good reason, Niece&mdash;that your life hangs on it. Heretofore you
+      have been suffered to take your heart&rsquo;s desire. But if you bide in Egypt
+      where you have no longer a mission to fulfil, having done all that was
+      sought of you in keeping with the mind of your lover, the Prince Seti,
+      true to the cause of Israel, you will surely die.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You mean that our people will kill me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, not our people. Still you will die.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She took a step towards him, and looked him in the eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are certain that I shall die, my uncle?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am, or at least others are certain.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now she laughed; it was the first time I had seen her laugh for several
+      moons.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then I will stay here,&rdquo; she said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Jabez stared at her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thought that you loved this Egyptian, who indeed is worthy of any
+      woman&rsquo;s love,&rdquo; he muttered into his beard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps it is because I love him that I wish to die. I have given him all
+      I have to give; there is nothing left of my poor treasure except what will
+      bring trouble and misfortune on his head. Therefore the greater the love&mdash;and
+      it is more great than all those pyramids massed to one&mdash;the greater
+      the need that it should be buried for a while. Do you understand?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I understand only that you are a very strange woman, different from any
+      other that I have known.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My child, who was slain with the rest, was all the world to me, and I
+      would be where he is. Do you understand now?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You would leave your life, in which, being young, you may have more
+      children, to lie in a tomb with your dead son?&rdquo; he asked slowly, like one
+      astonished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I only care for life while it can serve him whom I love, and if a day
+      comes when he sits upon the throne how will a daughter of the hated
+      Israelites serve him then? Also I do not wish for more children. Living or
+      dead, he that is gone owns all my heart; there is no room in it for
+      others. That love at least is pure and perfect, and having been embalmed
+      by death, can never change. Moreover, it is not in a tomb that I shall lie
+      with him, or so I believe. The faith of these Egyptians which we despise
+      tells of a life eternal in the heavens, and thither I would go to seek
+      that which is lost, and to wait that which is left behind awhile.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; said Jabez. &ldquo;For my part I do not trouble myself with these
+      problems, who find in a life temporal on the earth enough to fill my
+      thoughts and hands. Yet, Merapi, you are a rebel, and whether in heaven or
+      on earth, how are rebels received by the king against whom they have
+      rebelled?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You say I am rebel,&rdquo; she said, turning on him with flashing eyes. &ldquo;Why?
+      Because I would not dishonour myself by marrying a man I hate, one also
+      who is a murderer, and because while I live I will not desert a man whom I
+      love to return to those who have done me naught but evil. Did God then
+      make women to be sold like cattle of the field for the pleasure and the
+      profit of him who can pay the highest?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It seems so,&rdquo; said Jabez, spreading out his hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It seems that you think so, who fashion God as you would wish him to be,
+      but for my part I do not believe it, and if I did, I should seek another
+      king. My uncle, I appeal from the priest and the elder to That which made
+      both them and me, and by Its judgment I will stand or fall.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Always a very dangerous thing to do,&rdquo; reflected Jabez aloud, &ldquo;since the
+      priest is apt to take the law into his own hands before the cause can be
+      pleaded elsewhere. Still, who am I that I should set up my reasonings
+      against one who can grind Amon to powder in his own sanctuary, and who
+      therefore may have warrant for all she thinks and does?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Merapi stamped her foot.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You know well it was you who brought me the command to dare the god Amon
+      in his temple. It was not I&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo; she began.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do know,&rdquo; replied Jabez waving his hand. &ldquo;I know also that is what
+      every wizard says, whatever his nation or his gods, and what no one ever
+      believes. Thus because, having faith, you obeyed the command and through
+      you Amon was smitten, among both the Israelites and the Egyptians you are
+      held to be the greatest sorceress that has looked upon the Nile, and that
+      is a dangerous repute, my niece.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One to which I lay no claim, and never sought.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Just so, but which all the same has come to you. Well, knowing as without
+      doubt you do all that will soon befall in Egypt, and having been warned,
+      if you needed warning, of the danger with which you yourself are
+      threatened, you still refuse to obey this second command which it is my
+      duty to deliver to you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I refuse.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then on your own head be it, and farewell. Oh! I would add that there is
+      a certain property in cattle, and the fruit of lands which descends to you
+      from your father. In the event of your death&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Take it all, uncle, and may it prosper you. Farewell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A great woman, friend Ana, and a beautiful,&rdquo; said the old Hebrew, after
+      he had watched her go. &ldquo;I grieve that I shall never see her again, and,
+      indeed, that no one will see her for very long; for, remember, she is my
+      niece of whom I am fond. Now I too must be going, having completed my
+      errand. All good fortune to you, Ana. You are no longer a soldier, are
+      you? No? Believe me, it is as well, as you will learn. My homage to the
+      Prince. Think of me at times, when you grow old, and not unkindly, seeing
+      that I have served you as best I could, and your master also, who I hope
+      will soon find again that which he lost awhile ago.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Her Highness, Princess Userti,&rdquo; I suggested.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Princess Userti among other things, Ana. Tell the Prince, if he
+      should deem them costly, that those horses which I sold him are really of
+      the finest Syrian blood, and of a strain that my family has owned for
+      generations. If you should chance to have any friend whose welfare you
+      desire, let him not go into the desert soldiering during the next few
+      moons, especially if Pharaoh be in command. Nay, I know nothing, but it is
+      a season of great storm. Farewell, friend Ana, and again farewell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now what did he mean by that?&rdquo; thought I to myself, as I departed to make
+      my report to Seti. But no answer to the question rose in my mind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Very soon I began to understand. It appeared that at length the Israelites
+      were leaving Egypt, a vast horde of them, and with them tens of thousands
+      of Arabs of various tribes who worshipped their god and were, some of
+      them, descended from the people of the Hyksos, the shepherds who once
+      ruled in Egypt. That this was true was proved to us by the tidings which
+      reached us that all the Hebrew women who dwelt in Memphis, even those of
+      them who were married to Egyptians, had departed from the city, leaving
+      behind them their men and sometimes their children. Indeed, before these
+      went, certain of them who had been friends visited Merapi, and asked her
+      if she were not coming also. She shook her head as she replied:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why do you go? Are you so fond of journeyings in the desert that for the
+      sake of them you are ready never again to look upon the men you love and
+      the children of your bodies?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, Lady,&rdquo; they answered, weeping. &ldquo;We are happy here in white-walled
+      Memphis and here, listening to the murmur of the Nile, we would grow old
+      and die, rather than strive to keep house in some desert tent with a
+      stranger or alone. Yet fear drives us hence.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fear of what?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of the Egyptians who, when they come to understand all that they have
+      suffered at our hands in return for the wealth and shelter which they have
+      given us for many generations, whereby we have grown from a handful into a
+      great people, will certainly kill any Israelite whom they find left among
+      them. Also we fear the curses of our priests who bid us to depart.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then <i>I</i> should fear these things also,&rdquo; said Merapi.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not so, Lady, seeing that being the only beloved of the Prince of Egypt
+      who, rumour tells us, will soon be Pharaoh of Egypt, by him you will be
+      protected from the anger of the Egyptians. And being, as we all know well,
+      the greatest sorceress in the world, the overthrower of Amon-Ra the
+      mighty, and one who by sacrificing her child was able to ward away every
+      plague from the household where she dwelt, you have naught to fear from
+      priests and their magic.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Merapi sprang up, bidding them to leave her to her fate and to be
+      gone to their own, which they did hastily enough, fearing lest she should
+      cast some spell upon them. So it came about that presently the fair Moon
+      of Israel and certain children of mixed blood were all of the Hebrew race
+      that were left in Egypt. Then, notwithstanding the miseries and
+      misfortunes that during the past few years by terror, death, and famine
+      had reduced them to perhaps one half of their number, the people of Egypt
+      rejoiced with a great joy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In every temple of every god processions were held and offerings made by
+      those who had anything left to offer, while the statues of the gods were
+      dressed in fine new garments and hung about with garlandings of flowers.
+      Moreover, on the Nile and on the sacred lakes boats floated to and fro,
+      adorned with lanterns as at the feast of the Rising of Osiris. As titular
+      high-priest of Amon, an office of which he could not be deprived while he
+      lived, Prince Seti attended these demonstrations, which indeed he must do,
+      in the great temple of Memphis, whither I accompanied him. When the
+      ceremonies were over he led the procession through the masses of the
+      worshippers, clad in his splendid sacerdotal robes, whereon every throat
+      of the thousands present there greeted him in a shout of thunder as
+      &ldquo;Pharaoh!&rdquo; or at least as Pharaoh&rsquo;s heir.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When at length the shouting died, he turned upon them and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Friends, if you would send me to be of the company that sits at the table
+      of Osiris and not at Pharaoh&rsquo;s feasts, you will repeat this foolish
+      greeting, whereof our Lord Amenmeses will hear with little joy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In the silence that followed a voice called out:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have no fear, O Prince, while the Hebrew witch sleeps night by night upon
+      your bosom. She who could smite Egypt with so many plagues can certainly
+      shelter you from harm;&rdquo; whereon the roars of acclamation went up again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was on the following day that Bakenkhonsu the aged returned with more
+      tidings from Tanis, where he had been upon a visit. It seemed that a great
+      council had been held there in the largest hall of one of the largest
+      temples. At this council, which was open to all the people, Amenmeses had
+      given report on the matter of the Israelites who, he stated, were
+      departing in their thousands. Also offerings were made to appease the
+      angry gods of Egypt. When the ceremony was finished, but before the
+      company broke up in a heavy mood, her Highness the Princess Userti rose in
+      her place, and addressed Pharaoh:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By the spirits of our fathers,&rdquo; she cried, &ldquo;and more especially by that
+      of the good god Meneptah, my begetter, I ask of you, Pharaoh, and I ask of
+      you, O people, whether the affront that has been put upon us by these
+      Hebrew slaves and their magicians is one that the proud land of Egypt
+      should be called upon to bear? Our gods have been smitten and defied; woes
+      great and terrible, such as history tells not of, have fallen upon us
+      through magic; tens of thousands, from the first-born child of Pharaoh
+      down, have perished in a single night. And now these Hebrews, who have
+      murdered them by sorcery, for they are sorcerers all, men and women
+      together, especially one of them who sits at Memphis, of whom I will not
+      speak because she has wrought me private harm, by the decree of Pharaoh
+      are to be suffered to leave the land. More, they are to take with them all
+      their cattle, all their threshed corn, all the treasure they have hoarded
+      for generations, and all the ornaments of price and wealth that they have
+      wrung by terror from our own people, borrowing that which they never
+      purpose to return. Therefore I, the Royal Princess of Egypt, would ask of
+      Pharaoh, is this the decree of Pharaoh?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now,&rdquo; said Bakenkhonsu, &ldquo;Pharaoh sat with hanging head upon his throne
+      and made no answer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pharaoh does not speak,&rdquo; went on Userti. &ldquo;Then I ask, is this the decree
+      of the Council of Pharaoh and of the people of Egypt? There is still a
+      great army in Egypt, hundreds of chariots and thousands of footmen. Is
+      this army to sit still while these slaves depart into the desert there to
+      rouse our enemies of Syria against us and return with them to butcher us?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At these words,&rdquo; continued Bakenkhonsu, &ldquo;from all that multitude there
+      went up a shout of &lsquo;No.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The people say No. What saith Pharaoh?&rdquo; cried Userti.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There followed a silence, till suddenly Amenmeses rose and spoke:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have it as you will, Princess, and on your head and the heads of all
+      these whom you have stirred up let the evil fall if evil comes, though I
+      think it is your husband, the Prince Seti, who should stand where you
+      stand and put up this prayer in your place.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My husband, the Prince Seti, is tied to Memphis by a rope of witch&rsquo;s
+      hair, or so they tell me,&rdquo; she sneered, while the people murmured in
+      assent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know not,&rdquo; went on Amenmeses, &ldquo;but this I know that always the Prince
+      would have let these Hebrews go from among us, and at times, as sorrow
+      followed sorrow, I have thought that he was right. Truly more than once I
+      also would have let them go, but ever some Strength, I know not what,
+      descended on my heart, turning it to stone, and wrung from me words that I
+      did not desire to utter. Even now I would let them go, but all of you are
+      against me, and, perchance, if I withstand you, I shall pay for it with my
+      life and throne. Captains, command that my armies be made ready, and let
+      them assemble here at Tanis that I myself may lead them after the people
+      of Israel and share their dangers.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then with a mighty shouting the company broke up, so that at the last all
+      were gone and only Pharaoh remained seated upon his throne, staring at the
+      ground with the air, said Bakenkhonsu, rather of one who is dead than of a
+      living king about to wage war upon his foes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To all these words the Prince listened in silence, but when they were
+      finished he looked up and asked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What think you, Bakenkhonsu?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think, O Prince,&rdquo; answered the wise old man, &ldquo;that her Highness did ill
+      to stir up this matter, though doubtless she spoke with the voices of the
+      priests and of the army, against which Pharaoh was not strong enough to
+      stand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What you think, I think,&rdquo; said Seti.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At this moment the lady Merapi entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I hear, my lord,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;that Pharaoh purposes to pursue the people
+      of Israel with his host. I come to pray my lord that he will not join
+      himself to the host of Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is but natural, Lady, that you should not wish me to make war upon
+      your kin, and to speak truth I have no mind that way,&rdquo; replied Seti, and,
+      turning, left the chamber with her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is not thinking of her king but of her lover&rsquo;s life,&rdquo; said
+      Bakenkhonsu. &ldquo;She is not a witch as they declare, but it is true that she
+      knows what we do not.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;it is true.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XVII
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE DREAM OF MERAPI
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      A while went by; it may have been fourteen days, during which we heard
+      that the Israelites had started on their journey. They were a mighty
+      multitude who bore with them the coffin and the mummy of their prophet, a
+      man of their blood, Vizier, it is reported, to that Pharaoh who welcomed
+      them to Egypt hundreds of years before. Some said they went this way and
+      some that, but Bakenkhonsu, who knew everything, declared that they were
+      heading for the Lake of Crocodiles, which others name Sea of Reeds,
+      whereby they would cross into the desert beyond, and thence to Syria. I
+      asked him how, seeing that at its narrowest part, this lake was six
+      thousand paces in width, and that the depth of its mud was unfathomable.
+      He replied that he did not know, but that I might do well to inquire of
+      the lady Merapi.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So you have changed your mind, and also think her a witch,&rdquo; I said, to
+      which he answered:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One must breathe the wind that blows, and Egypt is so full of witchcraft
+      that it is difficult to say. Also it was she and no other who destroyed
+      the ancient statue of Amon. Oh! yes, witch or no witch, it might be well
+      to ask her how her people purpose to cross the Sea of Reeds, especially if
+      Pharaoh&rsquo;s chariots chance to be behind them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So I did ask her, but she answered that she knew nothing of the matter,
+      and wished to know nothing, seeing that she had separated from her people,
+      and remained in Egypt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Ki came, I know not whence, and having made his peace with Seti as to
+      the dressing of Merapi in the robes of Isis which, he vowed, was done by
+      the priests against his wish, told us that Pharaoh and a great host had
+      started to pursue the Israelites. The Prince asked him why he had not gone
+      with the host, to which he replied that he was no soldier, also that
+      Pharaoh hid his face from him. In return he asked the Prince why <i>he</i>
+      had not gone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Seti answered, because had been deprived of his command with his other
+      officers and had no wish to take share in this business as a private
+      citizen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are wise, as always, Prince,&rdquo; said Ki.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was on the following night, very late, while the Prince, Ki,
+      Bakenkhonsu and I, Ana, sat talking, that suddenly the lady Merapi broke
+      in upon us as she had risen from her bed, wild-eyed, and with her hair
+      flowing down her robes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have dreamed a dream!&rdquo; she cried. &ldquo;I dreamed that I saw all the
+      thousands of my people following after a flame that burned from earth to
+      heaven. They came to the edge of a great water and behind them rushed
+      Pharaoh and all the hosts of the Egyptians. Then my people ran on to the
+      face of the water, and it bore them as though it were sound land. Now the
+      soldiers of the Pharaoh were following, but the gods of Egypt appeared,
+      Amon, Osiris, Horus, Isis, Hathor, and the rest, and would have turned
+      them back. Still they refused to listen, and dragging the gods with them,
+      rushed out upon the water. Then darkness fell, and in the darkness sounds
+      of wailing and of a mighty laughter. It passed, the moon rose, shining
+      upon emptiness. I awoke, trembling in my limbs. Interpret me this dream if
+      you can, O Ki, Master of Magic.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where is the need, Lady,&rdquo; he answered, awaking as though from sleep,
+      &ldquo;when the dreamer is also the seer? Shall the pupil venture to instruct
+      the teacher, or the novice to make plain the mysteries to the
+      high-priestess of the temple? Nay, Lady, I and all the magicians of Egypt
+      are beneath your feet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why will you ever mock me?&rdquo; she said, and as she spoke, she shivered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Bakenkhonsu opened his lips, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The wisdom of Ki has been buried in a cloud of late, and gives no light
+      to us, his disciples. Yet the meaning of this dream is plain, though
+      whether it be also true I do not know. It is that all the host of Egypt,
+      and with it the gods of Egypt, are threatened with destruction because of
+      the Israelites, unless one to whom they will hearken can be found to turn
+      them from some purpose that I do not understand. But to whom will the mad
+      hearken, oh! to whom will they hearken?&rdquo; and lifting his great head, he
+      looked straight at the Prince.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not to me, I fear, who now am no one in Egypt,&rdquo; said Seti.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why not to you, O Prince, who to-morrow may be everyone in Egypt?&rdquo; asked
+      Bakenkhonsu. &ldquo;Always you have pleaded the cause of the Hebrews, and said
+      that naught but evil would befall Egypt because of them, as has happened.
+      To whom, then, will the people and the army listen more readily?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Moreover, O Prince,&rdquo; broke in Ki, &ldquo;a lady of your household has dreamed a
+      very evil dream, of which, if naught be said, it might be held that it was
+      no dream, but a spell of power aimed against the majesty of Egypt; such a
+      spell as that which cast great Amon from his throne, such a spell as that
+      which has set a magic fence around this house and field.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Again I tell you that I weave no spells, O Ki, who with my own child have
+      paid the price of them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet spells were woven, Lady, and has been known from of old, strength is
+      perfected in sacrifice alone,&rdquo; Ki answered darkly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have done with your talk of spells, Magician,&rdquo; exclaimed the Prince, &ldquo;or
+      if you must speak of them, speak of your own, which are many. It was Jabez
+      who protected us here against the plagues, and the statue of Amon was
+      shattered by some god.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I ask your pardon, Prince,&rdquo; said Ki bowing, &ldquo;it was <i>not</i> this lady
+      but her uncle who fenced your house against the plagues which ravaged
+      Egypt, and it was <i>not</i> this lady but some god working in her which
+      overthrew Amon of Tanis. The Prince has said it. Yet this lady has dreamed
+      a certain dream which Bakenkhonsu has interpreted although I cannot, and I
+      think that Pharaoh and his captains should be told of the dream, that on
+      it they may form their own judgment.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then why do you not tell them, Ki?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It has pleased Pharaoh, O Prince, to dismiss me from his service as one
+      who failed and to give my office of Kherheb to another. If I appear before
+      the face of Pharaoh I shall be killed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now I, Ana, listening, wished that Ki would appear before the face of
+      Pharaoh, although I did not believe that he could be killed by him or by
+      anybody else, since against death he had charms. For I was afraid of Ki,
+      and felt in myself that again he was plotting evil to Merapi whom I knew
+      to be innocent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince walked up and down the chamber as was his fashion when lost in
+      thought. Presently he stopped opposite to me and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Friend Ana, be pleased to command that my chariots be made ready with a
+      general&rsquo;s escort of a hundred men and spare horses to each chariot. We
+      ride at dawn, you and I, to seek out the army of Pharaoh and pray audience
+      of Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My lord,&rdquo; said Merapi in a kind of cry, &ldquo;I pray you go not, leaving me
+      alone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why should I leave you, Lady? Come with me if you will.&rdquo; She shook her
+      head, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I dare not. Prince, there has been some charm upon me of late that draws
+      me back to my own people. Twice in the night I have awakened and found
+      myself in the gardens with my face set towards the north, and heard a
+      voice in my ears, even that of my father who is dead, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Moon of Israel, thy people wander in the wilderness and need thy light.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is certain therefore that if I came near to them I should be dragged
+      down as wood is dragged of an eddy, nor would Egypt see me any more.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then I pray you bide where you are, Merapi,&rdquo; said the Prince, laughing a
+      little, &ldquo;since it is certain that where you go I must follow, who have no
+      desire to wander in the wilderness with your Hebrew folk. Well, it seems
+      that as you do not wish to leave Memphis and will not come with me, I must
+      stay with you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Ki fixed his piercing eyes upon the pair of them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let the Prince forgive me,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but I swear it by the gods that
+      never did I think to live to hear the Prince Seti Meneptah set a woman&rsquo;s
+      whims before his honour.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your words are rough,&rdquo; said Seti, drawing himself up, &ldquo;and had they been
+      spoken in other days, mayhap, Ki&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! my lord,&rdquo; said Ki prostrating himself till his forehead touched the
+      ground, &ldquo;bethink you then how great must be the need which makes me dare
+      to speak them. When first I came hither from the court of Tanis, the
+      spirit that is within me speaking through my lips gave certain titles to
+      your Highness, for which your Highness was pleased to reprove me. Yet the
+      spirit in me cannot lie and I know well, and bid all here make record of
+      my words, that to-night I stand in the presence of him who ere two moons
+      have passed will be crowned Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Truly you were ever a bearer of ill-tidings, Ki, but if so, what of it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This your Highness: Were it not that the spirits of Truth and Right
+      compel me for their own reasons, should I, who have blood that can be shed
+      or bones that can be broken, dare to hurl hard words at him who will be
+      Pharaoh? Should I dare to cross the will of the sweet dove who nestles on
+      his heart, the wise, white dove that murmurs the mysteries of heaven,
+      whence she came, and is stronger than the vulture of Isis and swifter than
+      the hawk of Ra; the dove that, were she angry, could rend me into more
+      fragments than did Set Osiris?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now I saw Bakenkhonsu begin to swell with inward laughter like a frog
+      about to croak, but Seti answered in a weary voice:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By all the birds of Egypt with the sacred crocodiles thrown in, I do not
+      know, since that mind of yours, Ki, is not an open writing which can be
+      read by the passer-by. Still, if you would tell me what is the reason with
+      which the goddesses of Truth and Justice have inspired you&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The reason is, O Prince, that the fate of all Egypt&rsquo;s army may be hidden
+      in your hand. The time is short and I will be plain. Deny it as she will
+      this lady here, who seems to be but a thing of love and beauty, is the
+      greatest sorceress in Egypt, as I whom she has mastered know well. She
+      matched herself against the high god of Egypt and smote him to the dust,
+      and has paid back upon him, his prophets, and his worshippers the ills
+      that he would have worked to her, as in the like case any of our
+      fellowship would do. Now she has dreamed a dream, or her spirit has told
+      her that the army of Egypt is in danger of destruction, and I know that
+      this dream is true. Hasten then, O Prince, to save the hosts of Egypt,
+      which you will surely need when you come to sit upon its throne.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am no sorceress,&rdquo; cried Merapi, &ldquo;and yet&mdash;alas! that I must say it&mdash;this
+      smiling-featured, cold-eyed wizard&rsquo;s words are true. <i>The sword of death
+      hangs over the hosts of Egypt!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Command that the chariots be made ready,&rdquo; said Seti again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Eight days had gone by. It was sunset and we drew rein over against the
+      Sea of Reeds. Day and night we had followed the army of Pharaoh across the
+      wilderness on a road beaten down by his chariot wheels and soldiers, and
+      by the tens of thousands of the Israelites who had passed that way before
+      them. Now from the ridge where we had halted we saw it encamped beneath
+      us, a very great army. Moreover, stragglers told us that beyond, also
+      encamped, was the countless horde of the Israelites, and beyond these the
+      vast Sea of Reeds which barred their path. But we could not see them for a
+      very strange reason. Between these and the army of Pharaoh rose a black
+      wall of cloud, built as it were from earth to heaven. One of those
+      stragglers of whom I have spoken, told us that this cloud travelled before
+      the Israelites by day, but at night was turned into a pillar of fire. Only
+      on this day, when the army of Pharaoh approached, it had moved round and
+      come between the people of Israel and the army.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now when the Prince, Bakenkhonsu, and I heard these things we looked at
+      each other and were silent. Only presently the Prince laughed a little,
+      and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We should have brought Ki with us, even if we had to carry him bound,
+      that he might interpret this marvel, for it is sure that no one else can.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It would be hard to keep Ki bound, Prince, if he wished to go free,&rdquo;
+       answered Bakenkhonsu. &ldquo;Moreover, before ever we entered the chariots at
+      Memphis he had departed south for Thebes. I saw him go.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And I gave orders that he should not be allowed to return, for I hold him
+      an ill guest, or so thinks the lady Merapi,&rdquo; replied Seti with a sigh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now that we are here what would the Prince do?&rdquo; I asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Descend to the camp of Pharaoh and say what we have to say, Ana.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And if he will not listen, Prince?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then cry our message aloud and return.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And if he will not suffer us to return, Prince?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then stand still and live or die as the gods may decree.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Truly our lord has a great heart!&rdquo; exclaimed Bakenkhonsu, &ldquo;and though I
+      feel over young to die, I am minded to see the end of this matter with
+      him,&rdquo; and he laughed aloud.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But I who was afraid thought that <i>O-ho-ho</i> of his, which the sky
+      seemed to echo back upon our heads, a strange and indeed a fearful sound.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then we put on robes of ceremony that we had brought with us, but neither
+      swords nor armour, and having eaten some food, drove on with the half of
+      our guard towards the place where we saw the banners of Pharaoh flying
+      about his pavilion. The rest of our guard we left encamped, bidding them,
+      if aught happened to us, to return and make report at Memphis and in the
+      other great cities. As we drew near to the camp the outposts saw us and
+      challenged. But when they perceived by the light of the setting sun who it
+      was that they challenged, a murmur went through them, of:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Prince of Egypt! The Prince of Egypt!&rdquo; for so they had never ceased
+      to name Seti, and they saluted with their spears and let us pass.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So at length we came to the pavilion of Pharaoh, round about which a whole
+      regiment stood on guard. The sides of it were looped up high because of
+      the heat of the night which was great, and within sat Pharaoh, his
+      captains, his councillors, his priests, his magicians, and many others at
+      meat or serving food and drink. They sat at a table that was bent like a
+      bow, with their faces towards the entrance, and Pharaoh was in the centre
+      of the table with his fan-bearers and butlers behind him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We advanced into the pavilion, the Prince in the centre, Bakenkhonsu
+      leaning on his staff on the right hand, and I, wearing the gold chain that
+      Pharaoh Meneptah had given me, on the left, but those with us remained
+      among the guard at the entrance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who are these?&rdquo; asked Amenmeses, looking up, &ldquo;who come here unbidden?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Three citizens of Egypt who have a message for Pharaoh,&rdquo; answered Seti in
+      his quiet voice, &ldquo;which we have travelled fast and far to speak in time.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How are you named, citizens of Egypt, and who sends your message?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We are named, Seti Meneptah aforetime Prince of Egypt, and heir to its
+      crown; Bakenkhonsu the aged Councillor, and Ana the scribe and King&rsquo;s
+      Companion, and our message is from the gods.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We have heard those names, who has not?&rdquo; said Pharaoh, and as he spoke
+      all, or very nearly all, the company rose, or half rose, and bowed towards
+      the Prince. &ldquo;Will you and your companions be seated and eat, Prince Seti
+      Meneptah?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We thank the divine Pharaoh, but we have already eaten. Have we Pharaoh&rsquo;s
+      leave to deliver our message?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Speak on, Prince.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Pharaoh, many moons have gone by, since last we looked upon each other
+      face to face, on that day when my father, the good god Meneptah,
+      disinherited me, and afterwards fled hence to Osiris. Pharaoh will
+      remember why I was thus cut off from the royal root of Egypt. It was
+      because of the matter of these Israelites, who in my judgment had been
+      evilly dealt by, and should be suffered to leave our land. The good god
+      Meneptah, being so advised by you and others, O Pharaoh, would have
+      smitten the Israelites with the sword, making an end of them, and to this
+      he demanded my assent as the Heir of Egypt. I refused that assent and was
+      cast out, and since then, you, O Pharaoh, have worn the double crown,
+      while I have dwelt as a citizen of Memphis, living upon such lands and
+      revenues as are my own. Between that hour and this, O Pharaoh, many griefs
+      have smitten Egypt, and the last of them cost you your first-born, and me
+      mine. Yet through them all, O Pharaoh, you have refused to let these
+      Hebrews go, as I counselled should be done at the beginning. At length
+      after the death of the first-born, your decree was issued that they might
+      go. Yet now you follow them with a great army and purpose to do to them
+      what my father, the good god Meneptah, would have done, had I consented,
+      namely&mdash;to destroy them with the sword. Hear me, Pharaoh!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I hear; also the case is well if briefly set. What else would the Prince
+      Seti say?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This, O Pharaoh. That I pray you to return with all your host from the
+      following of these Hebrews, not to-morrow or the next day, but at once&mdash;this
+      night.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, O Prince?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Because of a certain dream that a lady of my household who is Hebrew has
+      dreamed, which dream foretells destruction to you and the army of Egypt,
+      unless you hearken to these words of mine.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think that we know of this snake whom you have taken to dwell in your
+      bosom, whence it may spit poison upon Egypt. It is named Merapi, Moon of
+      Israel, is it not?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is the name of the lady who dreamed the dream,&rdquo; replied Seti in a
+      cold voice, though I felt him tremble with anger at my side, &ldquo;the dream
+      that if Pharaoh wills my companions here shall set out word for word to
+      his magicians.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pharaoh does not will it,&rdquo; shouted Amenmeses smiting the board with his
+      fist, &ldquo;because Pharaoh knows that it is but another trick to save these
+      wizards and thieves from the doom that they have earned.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Am I then a worker of tricks, O Pharaoh? If I had been such, why have I
+      journeyed hither to give warning, when by sitting yonder at Memphis
+      to-morrow, I might once more have become heir to the double crown? For if
+      you will not hearken to me, I tell you that very soon you shall be dead,
+      and with you these&rdquo;&mdash;and he pointed to all those who sat at table&mdash;&ldquo;and
+      with them the great army that lies without. Ere you speak, tell me, what
+      is that black cloud which stands before the camp of the Hebrews? Is there
+      no answer? Then I will give you the answer. It is the pall that shall wrap
+      the bones of every one of you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now the company shivered with fear, yes, even the priests and the
+      magicians shivered. But Pharaoh went mad with rage. Springing from his
+      seat, he snatched at the double crown upon his head, and hurled it to the
+      ground, and I noted that the golden uræus band about it, rolled away, and
+      rested upon Seti&rsquo;s sandalled foot. He tore his robes and shouted:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At least our fate shall be your fate, Renegade, who have sold Egypt to
+      the Hebrew witch in payment of her kisses. Seize this man and his
+      companions, and when we go down to battle against these Israelites
+      to-morrow after the darkness lifts, let them be set with the captains of
+      the van. So shall the truth be known at last.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus Pharaoh commanded, and Seti, answering nothing, folded his arms upon
+      his breast and waited.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Men rose from their seats as though to obey Pharaoh and sank back to them
+      again. Guards started forward and yet remained standing where they were.
+      Then Bakenkhonsu burst into one of his great laughs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O-ho-ho,&rdquo; he laughed, &ldquo;Pharaohs have I seen come and go, one and two and
+      three, and four and five, but never yet have I seen a Pharaoh whom none of
+      his councillors or guards could obey however much they willed it. When you
+      are Pharaoh, Prince Seti, may your luck be better. Your arm, Ana, my
+      friend, and lead on, Royal Heir of Egypt. The truth is shown to blind eyes
+      that will not see. The word is spoken to deaf ears that will not hearken,
+      and the duty done. Night falls. Sleep ye well, ye bidden of Osiris, sleep
+      ye well!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then we turned and walked from that pavilion. At its entrance I looked
+      back, and in the low light that precedes the darkness, it seemed to me as
+      though all seated there were already dead. Blue were their faces and
+      hollow shone their eyes, and from their lips there came no word. Only they
+      stared at us as we went, and stared and stared again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Without the door of the pavilion, by command of the Prince, I called aloud
+      the substance of the lady Merapi&rsquo;s dream, and warned all within earshot to
+      cease from pursuing the people of Israel, if they would continue to live
+      to look upon the sun. Yet even now, although to speak thus was treason
+      against Pharaoh, none lifted a hand against the Prince, or against me his
+      servant. Often since then I have wondered why this was so, and found no
+      answer to my questionings. Mayhap it was because of the majesty of my
+      master, whom all knew to be the true Pharaoh, and loved at heart. Mayhap
+      it was because they were sure that he would not have travelled so far and
+      placed himself in the power of Amenmeses save to work the armies of Egypt
+      good, and not ill, and to bring them a message that had been spoken by the
+      gods themselves.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Or mayhap it was because he was still hedged about by that protection
+      which the Hebrews had vowed to him through their prophets with the voice
+      of Jabez. At least so it happened. Pharaoh might command, but his servants
+      would not obey. Moreover, the story spread, and that night many deserted
+      from the host of Pharaoh and encamped about us, or fled back towards the
+      cities whence they came. Also with them were not a few councillors and
+      priests who had talked secretly with Bakenkhonsu. So it chanced that even
+      if Pharaoh desired to make an end of us, as perhaps he purposed to do in
+      the midnight watches, he thought it wisest to let the matter lie until he
+      had finished with the people of Israel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was a very strange night, silent, with a heavy, stirless air. There
+      were no stars, but the curtain of black cloud which seemed to hang beyond
+      the camp of the Egyptians was alive with lightnings which appeared to
+      shape themselves to letters that I could not read.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Behold the Book of Fate written in fire by the hand of God!&rdquo; said
+      Bakenkhonsu, as he watched.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      About midnight a mighty east wind began to blow, so strongly that we must
+      lie upon our faces under the lea of the chariots. Then the wind died away
+      and we heard tumult and shoutings, both from the camp of Egypt, and from
+      the camp of Israel beyond the cloud. Next there came a shock as of
+      earthquake, which threw those of us who were standing to the ground, and
+      by a blood-red moon that now appeared we perceived that all the army of
+      Pharaoh was beginning to move towards the sea.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whither go they?&rdquo; I asked of the Prince who clung to my arm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To doom, I think,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;but to what doom I do not know.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      After this we said no more, because we were too much afraid.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Dawn came at last, showing the most awful sight that was ever beheld by
+      the eye of man.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The wall of cloud had disappeared, and in the clear light of the morning,
+      we perceived that the deep waters of the Sea of Reeds had divided
+      themselves, leaving a raised roadway that seemed to have been cleared by
+      the wind, or perchance to have been thrown up by the earthquake. Who can
+      say? Not I who never set foot upon that path of death. Along this wide
+      road streamed the tens of thousands of the Israelites, passing between the
+      water on the right hand, and the water on the left, and after them
+      followed all the army of Pharaoh, save those who had deserted, and stood
+      or lay around us, watching. We could even see the golden chariots that
+      marked the presence of Pharaoh himself, and of his bodyguard, deep in the
+      heart of the broken host that struggled forward without discipline or
+      order.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What now? Oh! what now?&rdquo; murmured Seti, and as he spoke there was a
+      second shock of earthquake. Then to the west on the sea there arose a
+      mighty wave, whereof the crest seemed to be high as a pyramid. It rolled
+      forward with a curved and foaming head, and in the hollow of it for a
+      moment, no more, we saw the army of Egypt. Yet in that moment I seemed to
+      see mighty shapes fleeing landwards along the crest of the wave, which
+      shapes I took to be the gods of Egypt, pursued by a form of light and
+      glory that drove them as with a scourge. They came, they went, accompanied
+      by a sound of wailing, and the wave fell.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But beyond it, the hordes of Israel still marched&mdash;upon the further
+      shore.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Dense gloom followed, and through the gloom I saw, or thought I saw,
+      Merapi, Moon of Israel, standing before us with a troubled face and heard
+      or thought I heard her cry:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>Oh! help me, my lord Seti! Help me, my lord Seti!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then she too was gone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Harness the chariots!&rdquo; cried Seti, in a hollow voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XVIII
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE CROWNING OF MERAPI
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      Fast as sped our horses, rumour, or rather the truth, carried by those who
+      had gone before us, flew faster. Oh! that journey was as a dream begotten
+      by the evil gods. On we galloped through the day and through the night and
+      lo! at every town and village women rushed upon us crying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it true, O travellers, is it true that Pharaoh and his host are
+      perished in the sea?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then old Bakenkhonsu would call in answer:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is true that he who <i>was</i> Pharaoh and his host are perished in
+      the sea. But lo! here is he who <i>is</i> Pharaoh,&rdquo; and he pointed to the
+      Prince, who took no heed and said nothing, save:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;On! On!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then forward we would plunge again till once more the sound of wailing
+      died into silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was sunset, and at length we drew near to the gates of Memphis. The
+      Prince turned to me and spoke.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Heretofore I have not dared to ask,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but tell me, Ana. In the
+      gloom after the great cliff of water fell and the shapes of terror swept
+      by, did you seem to see a woman stand before us and did you seem to hear
+      her speak?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I did, O Prince.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who was that woman and what did she say?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She was one who bore a child to you, O Prince, which child is not, and
+      she said, &lsquo;Oh! help me, my lord Seti. Help me, my lord Seti!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His face grew ashen even beneath its veil of dust, and he groaned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Two who loved her have seen and two who loved her have heard,&rdquo; he said.
+      &ldquo;There is no room for doubt. Ana, she is dead!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I pray the gods&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pray not, for the gods of Egypt are also dead, slain by the god of
+      Israel. Ana, who has murdered her?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      With my finger I who am a draughtsman drew in the thick dust that lay on
+      the board of the chariot the brows of a man and beneath them two deep
+      eyes. The gilt on the board where the sun caught it looked like light in
+      the eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Prince nodded and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now we shall learn whether great magicians such as Ki can die like other
+      men. Yes, if need be, to learn that I will put on Pharaoh&rsquo;s crown.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      We halted at the gates of Memphis. They were shut and barred, but from
+      within the vast city rose a sound of tumult.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Open!&rdquo; cried the Prince to the guard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who bids me open?&rdquo; answered the captain of the gate peering at us, for
+      the low sun lay behind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pharaoh bids you open.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pharaoh!&rdquo; said the man. &ldquo;We have sure tidings that Pharaoh and his armies
+      are slain by wizardry in the sea.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fool!&rdquo; thundered the Prince, &ldquo;Pharaoh never dies. Pharaoh Amenmeses is
+      with Osiris but the good god Seti Meneptah who <i>is</i> Pharaoh bids you
+      open.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then the bronze gates rolled back, and those who guarded them prostrated
+      themselves in the dust.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Man,&rdquo; I called to the captain, &ldquo;what means yonder shouting?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sir,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;I do not know, but I am told that the witch who has
+      brought woe on Egypt and by magic caused the death of Pharaoh Amenmeses
+      and his armies, dies by fire in the place before the temple.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By whose command?&rdquo; I cried again as the charioteer flogged the horses,
+      but no answer reached our ears.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We rushed on up the wide street to the great place that was packed with
+      tens of thousands of the people. We drove the horses at them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Way for Pharaoh! Way for the Mighty One, the good god, Seti Meneptah,
+      King of the Upper and the Lower Land!&rdquo; shouted the escort.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The people turned and saw the tall shape of the Prince still clad in the
+      robes of state which he had worn when he stood before Amenmeses in the
+      pavilion by the sea.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Hail to Pharaoh!&rdquo; they cried, prostrating themselves,
+      and the cry passed on through Memphis like a wind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now we were come to the centre of the place, and there in front of the
+      great gates of the temple burned a vast pyre of wood. Before the pyre
+      moved figures, in one of whom I knew Ki dressed in his magician&rsquo;s robe.
+      Outside of these there was a double circle of soldiers who kept the people
+      back, which these needed, for they raved like madmen and shook their
+      fists. A group of priests near the fire separated, and I saw that among
+      them stood a man and a woman, the latter with dishevelled hair and torn
+      robes as though she had been roughly handled. At this moment her strength
+      seemed to fail her and she sank to the ground, lifting her face as she did
+      so. It was the face of Merapi, Moon of Israel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So she was not dead. The man at her side stooped as though to lift her up,
+      but a stone thrown out of the shadow struck him in the back and caused him
+      to straighten himself, which he did with a curse at the thrower. I knew
+      the voice at once, although the speaker was disguised.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was that of Laban the Israelite, he who had been betrothed to Merapi,
+      and had striven to murder us in the land of Goshen. What did he here? I
+      wondered dimly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Ki was speaking. &ldquo;Hark how the Hebrew cat spits,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Well, the
+      cause has been tried and the verdict given, and I think that the familiar
+      should feed the flames before the witch. Watch him now, and perhaps he
+      will change into something else.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      All this he said, smiling in his usual pleasant fashion, even when he made
+      a sign to certain black temple slaves who stood near. They leapt forward,
+      and I saw the firelight shone upon their copper armlets as they gripped
+      Laban. He fought furiously, shouting:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where are your armies, Egyptians, and where is your dog of a Pharaoh? Go
+      dig them from the Sea of Reeds. Farewell, Moon of Israel. Look how your
+      royal lover crowns you at the last, O faithless&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He said no more, for at this moment the slaves hurled him headlong into
+      the heart of the great fire, which blackened for a little and burned
+      bright again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then it was that Merapi struggled to her feet and cried in a ringing voice
+      those very words which the Prince and I had seemed to hear her speak far
+      away by the Sea of Reeds&mdash;&ldquo;<i>Oh! help me my lord Seti! Help me, my
+      lord Seti!</i>&rdquo; Yes, the same words which had echoed in our ears days
+      before they passed her lips, or so we believed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now all this while our chariots had been forcing their way foot by foot
+      through the wall of the watching crowd, perhaps while a man might count a
+      hundred, no more. As the echoes of her cry died away at length we were
+      through and leaping to the ground.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The witch calls on one who sups to-night at the board of Osiris with
+      Pharaoh and his host,&rdquo; sneered Ki. &ldquo;Well, let her go to seek him there if
+      the guardian gods will suffer it,&rdquo; and again he made a sign to the black
+      slaves.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Merapi had seen or felt Seti advancing from the shadows and seeing
+      flung herself upon his breast. He kissed her on the brow before them all,
+      then bade me hold her up and turned to face the people.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bow down. Bow down. Bow down!&rdquo; cried the deep voice of Bakenkhonsu.
+      &ldquo;Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!&rdquo; and what he said the
+      escort echoed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then of a sudden the multitude understood. To their knees they fell and
+      from every side rose the ancient salutation. Seti held up his hand and
+      blessed them. Watching, I saw Ki slip towards the darkness, and whispered
+      a word to the guards, who sprang upon him and brought him back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then the Prince spoke:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ye name me Pharaoh, people of Memphis, and Pharaoh I fear I am by descent
+      of blood to-day, though whether I will consent to bear the burdens of
+      government, should Egypt wish it of me, as yet I know not. Still he who
+      wore the double crown is, I believe, dead in the midst of the sea; at the
+      least I saw the waters overwhelm him and his army. Therefore, if only for
+      an hour, I will be Pharaoh, that as Pharaoh I may judge of certain
+      matters. Lady Merapi, tell me, I pray you, how came you to this pass?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My lord,&rdquo; she answered, in a low voice, &ldquo;after you had gone to warn the
+      army of Pharaoh because of that dream I dreamed, Ki, who departed on the
+      same day, returned again. Through one of the women of the household, over
+      whom he had power, or so I think, he obtained access to me when I was
+      alone in my chamber. There he made me this offer:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Give me,&rsquo; he said, &lsquo;the secret of your magic that I may be avenged upon
+      the wizards of the Hebrews who have brought about my downfall, and upon
+      the Hebrews themselves, and also upon all my other enemies, and thus once
+      more become the greatest man in Egypt. In turn I will fulfil all your
+      desires, and make you, and no other, Queen of Egypt, and be your faithful
+      servant, and that of your lord Seti who shall be Pharaoh, until the end of
+      your lives. Refuse, and I will stir up the people against you, and before
+      ever the Prince returns, if he returns at all, they who believe you to be
+      an evil sorceress shall mete out to you the fate of a sorceress.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My lord, I answered to Ki what I have often told him before, that I had
+      no magic to reveal to him, I who knew nothing of the black arts of
+      sorcery, seeing that it was not I who destroyed the statue of Amon in the
+      temple at Tanis, but that same Power which since then has brought all the
+      plagues on Egypt. I said, too, that I cared nothing for the gifts he
+      offered to me, as I had no wish to be Queen of Egypt. My lord, he laughed
+      in my face, saying I should find that he was one ill to mock, as others
+      had found before me. Then he pointed at me with his wand and muttered some
+      spell over me, which seemed to numb my limbs and voice, holding me
+      helpless till he had been gone a long while, and could not be found by
+      your servants, whom I commanded in your name to seize, and keep him till
+      your return.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;From that hour the people began to threaten me. They crowded about the
+      palace gates in thousands, crying day and night that they were going to
+      kill me, the witch. I prayed for help, but from me, a sinner, heaven has
+      grown so far away that my prayers seem to fall back unheard upon my head.
+      Even the servants in the palace turned against me, and would not look upon
+      my face. I grew mad with fear and loneliness, since all fled before me. At
+      last one night towards the dawn I went on to the terrace, and since no god
+      would hear me, I turned towards the north whither I knew that you had
+      gone, and cried to you to help me in those same words which I cried again
+      just now before you appeared.&rdquo; (Here the Prince looked at me and I Ana
+      looked at him.) &ldquo;Then it was that from among the bushes of the garden
+      appeared a man, hidden in a long, sheepskin cloak, so that I could not see
+      his face, who said to me:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Moon of Israel, I have been sent by his Highness, the Prince Seti, to
+      tell you that you are in danger of your life, as he is in danger of his,
+      wherefore he cannot come to you. His command is that you come to him, that
+      together you may flee away out of Egypt to a land where you will both be
+      safe until all these troubles are finished.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;How know I that you of the veiled face are a true messenger?&rsquo; I asked.
+      &lsquo;Give me a sign.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then he held out to me that scarabæus of lapis-lazuli which your Highness
+      gave to me far away in the land of Goshen, the same that you asked back
+      from me as a love token when we plighted troth, and you gave me your royal
+      ring, which scarabæus I had seen in your robe when you drove away with
+      Ana.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I lost it on our journey to the Sea of Reeds, but said nothing of it to
+      you, Ana, because I thought the omen evil, having dreamed in the night
+      that Ki appeared and stole it from me,&rdquo; whispered the Prince to me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;It is not enough,&rsquo; I answered. &lsquo;This jewel may have been thieved away,
+      or snatched from the dead body of the Prince, or taken from him by magic.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The cloaked man thought a while and said, &lsquo;This night, not an hour ago,
+      Pharaoh and his chariots were overwhelmed in the Sea of Reeds. Let that
+      serve as a sign.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;How can this be?&rsquo; I answered, &lsquo;since the Sea of Reeds is far away, and
+      such tidings cannot travel thence in an hour. Get you gone, false
+      tempter.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Yet it is so,&rsquo; he answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;When you prove it to me, I will believe, and come.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Good,&rsquo; he said, and was gone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Next day a rumour began to run that this awful thing had happened. It
+      grew stronger and stronger, until all swore that it had happened. Now the
+      fury of the people rose against me, and they ravened round the palace like
+      lions of the desert, roaring for my blood. Yet it was as though they could
+      not enter here, since whenever they rushed at the gates or walls, they
+      fell back again, for some spirit seemed to protect the place. The days
+      went by; the night came again and at the dawn, this dawn that is past,
+      once more I stood upon the terrace, and once more the cloaked man appeared
+      from among the trees.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Now you have heard, Moon of Israel,&rsquo; he said, &lsquo;and now you must believe
+      and come, although you think yourself safe because at the beginning of the
+      plagues this, the home of Seti, was enchanted against evil, so that none
+      within it can be harmed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;I have heard, and I think that I believe, though how the tidings reached
+      Memphis in an hour I do not understand. Yet, stranger, I say to you that
+      it is not enough.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then the man drew a papyrus roll from his bosom and threw it at my feet.
+      I opened it and read. The writing was the writing of Ana as I knew well,
+      and the signature was the signature of you, my lord, and it was sealed
+      with your seal, and with the seal of Bakenkhonsu as a witness. Here it
+      is,&rdquo; and from the breast of her garment, she drew out a roll and gave it
+      to me upon whom she rested all this while.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I opened it, and by the light of torches the Prince, Bakenkhonsu, and I
+      read. It was as she had told us in what seemed to be my writing, and
+      signed and sealed as she had said. The words ran:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To Merapi, Moon of Israel, in my house at Memphis.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come, Lady, Flower of Love, to me your lord, to whom the bearer of this
+      will guide you safely. Come at once, for I am in great danger, as you are,
+      and together only can we be safe.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ana, what means this?&rdquo; asked the Prince in a terrible voice. &ldquo;If you have
+      betrayed me and her&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By the gods,&rdquo; I began angrily, &ldquo;am I a man that I should live to hear
+      even your Highness speak thus to me, or am I but a dog of the desert?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I ceased, for at that moment Bakenkhonsu began to laugh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Look at the letter!&rdquo; he laughed. &ldquo;Look at the letter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      We looked, and as we looked, behold the writing on it turned first to the
+      colour of blood and then faded away, till presently there was nothing in
+      my hand but a blank sheet of papyrus.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oho-ho!&rdquo; laughed Bakenkhonsu. &ldquo;Truly, friend Ki, you are the first of
+      magicians, save those prophets of the Israelites who have brought you&mdash;Whither
+      have they brought you, friend Ki?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then for the first time the painted smile left the face of Ki, and it
+      became like a block of stone in which were set two angry jewels that were
+      his eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Continue, Lady,&rdquo; said the Prince.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I obeyed the letter. I fled away with the man who said he had a chariot
+      waiting. We passed out by the little gate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Where is the chariot?&rsquo; I asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;We go by boat,&rsquo; he answered, and led the way towards the river. As we
+      threaded the big palm grove men appeared from between the trees.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;You have betrayed me,&rsquo; I cried.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Nay,&rsquo; he answered, &lsquo;I am myself betrayed.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then for the first time I knew his voice for that of Laban.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The men seized us; at the head of them was Ki.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;This is the witch,&rsquo; he said, &lsquo;who, her wickedness finished, flies with
+      her Hebrew lover, who is also the familiar of her sorceries.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They tore the cloak and the false beard from him and there before me
+      stood Laban. I cursed him to his face. But all he answered was:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Merapi, what I have done I did for love of you. It was my purpose to
+      take you away to our people, for here I knew that they would kill you.
+      This magician promised you to me if I could tempt you from the safety of
+      the palace, in return for certain tidings that I have given him.&rsquo;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These were the only words that passed between us till the end. They
+      dragged us to the secret prison of the great temple where we were
+      separated. Here all day long Ki and the priests tormented me with
+      questions, to which I gave no answer. Towards the evening they brought me
+      out and led me here with Laban at my side. When the people saw me a great
+      cry went up of &lsquo;Sorceress! Hebrew witch!&rsquo; They broke through the guard;
+      they seized me, threw me to the ground and beat me. Laban strove to
+      protect me but was torn away. At length the people were driven off, and
+      oh! my lord, you know the rest. I have spoken truth, I can no more.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So saying her knees loosened beneath her and she swooned. We bore her to
+      the chariot.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You have heard, Ki,&rdquo; said the Prince. &ldquo;Now, what answer?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;None, O Pharaoh,&rdquo; he replied coldly, &ldquo;for Pharaoh you are, as I promised
+      that you should be. My spirit has deserted me, those Hebrews have stolen
+      it away. That writing should have faded from the scroll as soon as it was
+      read by yonder lady, and then I would have told you another story; a story
+      of secret love, of betrayal and attempted flight with her lover. But some
+      evil god kept it there until you also had read, you who knew that you had
+      not written what appeared before your eyes. Pharaoh, I am conquered. Do
+      your will with me, and farewell. Beloved you shall always be as you have
+      always been, but happy never in this world.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O People,&rdquo; cried Seti, &ldquo;I will not be judge in my own cause. You have
+      heard, do you judge. For this wizard, what reward?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then there went up a great cry of &ldquo;Death! Death by fire. The death he had
+      made ready for the innocent!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      That was the end, but they told me afterwards that, when the great pyre
+      had burned out, in it was found the head of Ki looking like a red-hot
+      stone. When the sunlight fell on it, however, it crumbled and faded away,
+      as the writing had faded from the roll. If this be true I do not know, who
+      was not present at the time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We bore Merapi to the palace. She lived but three days, she whose body and
+      spirit were broken. The last time I saw her was when she sent for me not
+      an hour before death came. She was lying in Seti&rsquo;s arms babbling to him of
+      their child and looking very sweet and happy. She thanked me for my
+      friendship, smiling the while in a way which showed me that she knew it
+      was more than friendship, and bade me tend my master well until we all met
+      again elsewhere. Then she gave me her hand to kiss and I went away
+      weeping.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After she was dead a strange fancy took Seti. In the great hall of the
+      palace he caused a golden throne to be put up, and on this throne he set
+      her in regal garments, with pectoral and necklaces of gems, crowned like a
+      queen of Egypt, and thus he showed her to the lords of Memphis. Then he
+      caused her to be embalmed and buried in a secret sepulchre, the place of
+      which I have sworn never to reveal, but without any rites because she was
+      not of the faith of Egypt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There then she sleeps in her eternal house until the Day of Resurrection,
+      and with her sleeps her little son.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was within a moon of this funeral that the great ones of Egypt came to
+      Memphis to name the Prince as Pharaoh, and with them came her Highness,
+      the Queen Userti. I was present at the ceremony, which to me was very
+      strange. There was the Vizier Nehesi; there was the high-priest Roi and
+      with him many other priests; and there was even the old chamberlain
+      Pambasa, pompous yet grovelling as before, although he had deserted the
+      household of the Prince after his disinheritance for that of the Pharaoh
+      Amenmeses. His appearance with his wand of office and long white beard, of
+      which he was so proud because it was his own, drew from Seti the only
+      laugh I had heard him utter for many weeks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So you are back again, Chamberlain Pambasa,&rdquo; he said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O most Holy, O most Royal,&rdquo; answered the old knave, &ldquo;has Pambasa, the
+      grain of dust beneath your feet, ever deserted the House of Pharaoh, or
+      that of him who will be Pharaoh?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; replied Seti, &ldquo;it is only when you think that he will not be Pharaoh
+      that you desert. Well, get you to your duties, rogue, who perhaps at
+      bottom are as honest as the rest.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then followed the great and ancient ceremony of the Offering of the Crown,
+      in which spoke priests disguised as gods and other priests disguised as
+      mighty Pharaohs of the past; also the nobles of the Nomes and the chief
+      men of cities. When all had finished Seti answered:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I take this, my heritage,&rdquo; and he touched the double crown, &ldquo;not because
+      I desire it but because it is my duty, as I swore that I would to one who
+      has departed. Blow upon blow have smitten Egypt which, I think, had my
+      voice been listened to, would never have fallen. Egypt lies bleeding and
+      well-nigh dead. Let it be your work and mine to try to nurse her back to
+      life. For no long while am I with you, who also have been smitten, how it
+      matters not, yet while I am here, I who seem to reign will be your servant
+      and that of Egypt. It is my decree that no feasts or ceremonials shall
+      mark this my accession, and that the wealth which would have been
+      scattered upon them shall be distributed among the widows and children of
+      those who perished in the Sea of Reeds. Depart!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They went, humble yet happy, since here was a Pharaoh who knew the needs
+      of Egypt, one too who loved her and who alone had shown himself wise of
+      heart while others were filled with madness. Then her Highness entered,
+      splendidly apparelled, crowned and followed by her household, and made
+      obeisance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Greeting to Pharaoh,&rdquo; she cried.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Greeting to the Royal Princess of Egypt,&rdquo; he answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Pharaoh, the Queen of Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      By Seti&rsquo;s side there was another throne, that in which he had set dead
+      Merapi with a crown upon her head. He turned and looked at it a while.
+      Then, he said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I see that this seat is empty. Let the Queen of Egypt take her place
+      there if so she wills.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She stared at him as if she thought that he was mad, though doubtless she
+      had heard something of that story, then swept up the steps and sat herself
+      down in the royal chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your Majesty has been long absent,&rdquo; said Seti.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; she answered, &ldquo;but as my Majesty promised she would do, she has
+      returned to her lawful place at the side of Pharaoh&mdash;never to leave
+      it more.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pharaoh thanks her Majesty,&rdquo; said Seti, bowing low.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Some six years had gone by, when one night I was seated with the Pharaoh
+      Seti Meneptah in his palace at Memphis, for there he always chose to dwell
+      when matters of State allowed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was on the anniversary of the Death of the Firstborn, and of this
+      matter it pleased him to talk to me. Up and down the chamber he walked
+      and, watching him by the lamplight, I noted that of a sudden he seemed to
+      have grown much older, and that his face had become sweeter even than it
+      was before. He was more thin also, and his eyes had in them a look of one
+      who stares at distances.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You remember that night, Friend, do you not,&rdquo; he said; &ldquo;perhaps the most
+      terrible night the world has ever seen, at least in the little piece of it
+      called Egypt.&rdquo; He ceased, lifted a curtain, and pointed to a spot on the
+      pillared portico without. &ldquo;There she sat,&rdquo; he went on; &ldquo;there you stood;
+      there lay the boy and there crouched his nurse&mdash;by the way, I grieve
+      to hear that she is ill. You are caring for her, are you not, Ana? Say to
+      her that Pharaoh will come to visit her&mdash;when he may, when he may.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I remember it all, Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, of course you would remember, because you loved her, did you not,
+      and the boy too, and even me, the father. And so you will love us always
+      when we reach a land where sex with its walls and fires are forgotten, and
+      love alone survives&mdash;as we shall love you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;since love is the key of life, and those alone are
+      accursed who have never learned to love.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why accursed, Ana, seeing that, if life continues, they still may learn?&rdquo;
+       He paused a while, then went on: &ldquo;I am glad that he died, Ana, although
+      had he lived, as the Queen will have no children, he might have become
+      Pharaoh after me. But what is it to be Pharaoh? For six years now I have
+      reigned, and I think that I am beloved; reigned over a broken land which I
+      have striven to bind together, reigned over a sick land which I have
+      striven to heal, reigned over a desolated land which I have striven to
+      make forget. Oh! the curse of those Hebrews worked well. And I think that
+      it was my fault, Ana, for had I been more of a man, instead of casting
+      aside my burden, I should have stood up against my father Meneptah and his
+      policy and, if need were, have raised the people. Then the Israelites
+      would have gone, and no plagues would have smitten Egypt. Well, what I
+      did, I did because I must, perhaps, and what has happened, has happened.
+      And now my time comes to an end, and I go hence to balance my account as
+      best I may, praying that I may find judges who understand, and are
+      gentle.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why does Pharaoh speak thus?&rdquo; I asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not know, Ana, yet that Hebrew wife of mine has been much in my mind
+      of late. She was wise in her way, as wise as loving, was she not, and if
+      we could see her once again, perhaps she would answer the question. But
+      although she seems so near to me, I never can see her, quite. Can you,
+      Ana?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, Pharaoh, though one night old Bakenkhonsu vowed that he perceived her
+      passing before us, and looking at me earnestly as she passed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah! Bakenkhonsu. Well, he is wise too, and loved her in his fashion. Also
+      the flesh fades from him, though mayhap he will live to make offerings at
+      both our tombs. Well, Bakenkhonsu is at Tanis, or is it at Thebes, with
+      her Majesty, whom he ever loves to observe, as I do. So he can tell us
+      nothing of what he thought he saw. This chamber is hot, Ana, let us stand
+      without.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So we passed the curtain, and stood upon the portico, looking at the
+      garden misty with moonlight, and talking of this and that&mdash;about the
+      Israelites, I think, who, as we heard, were wandering in the deserts of
+      Sinai. Then of a sudden we grew silent, both of us.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A cloud floated over the face of the moon, leaving the world in darkness.
+      It passed, and I became aware that we were no longer alone. There in front
+      of us was a mat, and on the mat lay a dead child, the royal child named
+      Seti; there by the mat stood a woman with agony in her eyes, looking at
+      the dead child, the Hebrew woman named Moon of Israel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Seti touched me, and pointed to her, and I pointed to the child. We stood
+      breathless. Then of a sudden, stooping down, Merapi lifted up the child
+      and held it towards its father. But, lo! now no longer was it dead; nay,
+      it laughed and laughed, and seeing him, seemed to throw its arms about his
+      neck, and to kiss him on the lips. Moreover, the agony in the woman&rsquo;s eyes
+      turned to joy unspeakable, and she became more beautiful than a star.
+      Then, laughing like the child, Merapi turned to Seti, beckoned, and was
+      gone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We have seen the dead,&rdquo; he said to me presently, &ldquo;and, oh! Ana, <i>the
+      dead still live!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      That night, ere dawn, a cry rang through the palace, waking me from my
+      sleep. This was the cry:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The good god Pharaoh is no more! The hawk Seti has flown to heaven!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At the burial of Pharaoh, I laid the halves of the broken cup upon his
+      breast, that he might drink therefrom in the Day of Resurrection.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here ends the writing of the Scribe Ana, the Counsellor and Companion of
+      the King, by him beloved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+
+
+
+
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+</pre>
+  </body>
+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Moon of Israel, by H. Rider Haggard
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Moon of Israel
+
+Author: H. Rider Haggard
+
+Release Date: April 3, 2006 [EBook #2856]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOON OF ISRAEL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by John Bickers; Dagny; Emma Dudding
+
+
+
+
+
+MOON OF ISRAEL
+
+A TALE OF THE EXODUS
+
+
+by H. Rider Haggard
+
+
+
+
+AUTHOR'S NOTE
+
+This book suggests that the real Pharaoh of the Exodus was not Meneptah
+or Merenptah, son of Rameses the Great, but the mysterious usurper,
+Amenmeses, who for a year or two occupied the throne between the
+death of Meneptah and the accession of his son the heir-apparent, the
+gentle-natured Seti II.
+
+Of the fate of Amenmeses history says nothing; he may well have perished
+in the Red Sea or rather the Sea of Reeds, for, unlike those of Meneptah
+and the second Seti, his body has not been found.
+
+Students of Egyptology will be familiar with the writings of the scribe
+and novelist Anana, or Ana as he is here called.
+
+
+
+It was the Author's hope to dedicate this story to Sir Gaston Maspero,
+K.C.M.G., Director of the Cairo Museum, with whom on several occasions
+he discussed its plot some years ago. Unhappily, however, weighed down
+by one of the bereavements of the war, this great Egyptologist died in
+the interval between its writing and its publication. Still, since Lady
+Maspero informs him that such is the wish of his family, he adds the
+dedication which he had proposed to offer to that eminent writer and
+student of the past.
+
+
+
+Dear Sir Gaston Maspero,
+
+When you assured me as to a romance of mine concerning ancient Egypt,
+that it was so full of the "inner spirit of the old Egyptians" that,
+after kindred efforts of your own and a lifetime of study, you could not
+conceive how it had been possible for it to spring from the brain of a
+modern man, I thought your verdict, coming from such a judge, one of the
+greatest compliments that ever I received. It is this opinion of yours
+indeed which induces me to offer you another tale of a like complexion.
+Especially am I encouraged thereto by a certain conversation between
+us in Cairo, while we gazed at the majestic countenance of the Pharaoh
+Meneptah, for then it was, as you may recall, that you said you thought
+the plan of this book probable and that it commended itself to your
+knowledge of those dim days.
+
+With gratitude for your help and kindness and the sincerest homage to
+your accumulated lore concerning the most mysterious of all the perished
+peoples of the earth,
+
+Believe me to remain
+
+Your true admirer,
+
+H. Rider Haggard.
+
+
+
+
+MOON OF ISRAEL
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+SCRIBE ANA COMES TO TANIS
+
+This is the story of me, Ana the scribe, son of Meri, and of certain of
+the days that I have spent upon the earth. These things I have written
+down now that I am very old in the reign of Rameses, the third of that
+name, when Egypt is once more strong and as she was in the ancient time.
+I have written them before death takes me, that they may be buried with
+me in death, for as my spirit shall arise in the hour of resurrection,
+so also these my words may arise in their hour and tell to those who
+shall come after me upon the earth of what I knew upon the earth. Let it
+be as Those in heaven shall decree. At least I write and what I write is
+true.
+
+I tell of his divine Majesty whom I loved and love as my own soul, Seti
+Meneptah the second, whose day of birth was my day of birth, the Hawk
+who has flown to heaven before me; of Userti the Proud, his queen, she
+who afterwards married his divine Majesty, Saptah, whom I saw laid in
+her tomb at Thebes. I tell of Merapi, who was named Moon of Israel, and
+of her people, the Hebrews, who dwelt for long in Egypt and departed
+thence, having paid us back in loss and shame for all the good and ill
+we gave them. I tell of the war between the gods of Egypt and the god of
+Israel, and of much that befell therein.
+
+Also I, the King's Companion, the great scribe, the beloved of the
+Pharaohs who have lived beneath the sun with me, tell of other men and
+matters. Behold! is it not written in this roll? Read, ye who shall find
+in the days unborn, if your gods have given you skill. Read, O children
+of the future, and learn the secrets of that past which to you is so far
+away and yet in truth so near.
+
+
+
+As it chanced, although the Prince Seti and I were born upon the same
+day and therefore, like the other mothers of gentle rank whose children
+saw the light upon that day, my mother received Pharaoh's gift and I
+received the title of Royal Twin in Ra, never did I set eyes upon the
+divine Prince Seti until the thirtieth birthday of both of us. All of
+which happened thus.
+
+In those days the great Pharaoh, Rameses the second, and after him his
+son Meneptah who succeeded when he was already old, since the mighty
+Rameses was taken to Osiris after he had counted one hundred risings of
+the Nile, dwelt for the most part at the city of Tanis in the desert,
+whereas I dwelt with my parents at the ancient, white-walled city of
+Memphis on the Nile. At times Meneptah and his court visited Memphis, as
+also they visited Thebes, where this king lies in his royal tomb to-day.
+But save on one occasion, the young Prince Seti, the heir-apparent, the
+Hope of Egypt, came not with them, because his mother, Asnefert, did not
+favour Memphis, where some trouble had befallen her in youth--they
+say it was a love matter that cost the lover his life and her a sore
+heart--and Seti stayed with his mother who would not suffer him out of
+sight of her eyes.
+
+Once he came indeed when he was fifteen years of age, to be proclaimed
+to the people as son of his father, as Son of the Sun, as the future
+wearer of the Double Crown, and then we, his twins in Ra--there were
+nineteen of us who were gently born--were called by name to meet him
+and to kiss his royal feet. I made ready to go in a fine new robe
+embroidered in purple with the name of Seti and my own. But on that very
+morning by the gift of some evil god I was smitten with spots all
+over my face and body, a common sickness that affects the young. So it
+happened that I did not see the Prince, for before I was well again he
+had left Memphis.
+
+Now my father Meri was a scribe of the great temple of Ptah, and I was
+brought up to his trade in the school of the temple, where I copied
+many rolls and also wrote out Books of the Dead which I adorned with
+paintings. Indeed, in this business I became so clever that, after my
+father went blind some years before his death, I earned enough to keep
+him, and my sisters also until they married. Mother I had none, for she
+was gathered to Osiris while I was still very little. So life went on
+from year to year, but in my heart I hated my lot. While I was still a
+boy there rose up in me a desire--not to copy what others had written,
+but to write what others should copy. I became a dreamer of dreams.
+Walking at night beneath the palm-trees upon the banks of the Nile I
+watched the moon shining upon the waters, and in its rays I seemed to
+see many beautiful things. Pictures appeared there which were different
+from any that I saw in the world of men, although in them were men and
+women and even gods.
+
+Of these pictures I made stories in my heart and at last, although that
+was not for some years, I began to write these stories down in my spare
+hours. My sisters found me doing so and told my father, who scolded me
+for such foolishness which he said would never furnish me with bread
+and beer. But still I wrote on in secret by the light of the lamp in my
+chamber at night. Then my sisters married, and one day my father died
+suddenly while he was reciting prayers in the temple. I caused him to be
+embalmed in the best fashion and buried with honour in the tomb he had
+made ready for himself, although to pay the costs I was obliged to copy
+Books of the Dead for nearly two years, working so hard that I found no
+time for the writing of stories.
+
+When at length I was free from debt I met a maiden from Thebes with a
+beautiful face that always seemed to smile, and she took my heart from
+my breast into her own. In the end, after I returned from fighting in
+the war against the Nine Bow Barbarians, to which I was summoned like
+other men, I married her. As for her name, let it be, I will not think
+of it even to myself. We had one child, a little girl which died within
+two years of her birth, and then I learned what sorrow can mean to
+man. At first my wife was sad, but her grief departed with time and she
+smiled again as she used to do. Only she said that she would bear no
+more children for the gods to take. Having little to do she began to go
+about the city and make friends whom I did not know, for of these, being
+a beautiful woman, she found many. The end of it was that she departed
+back to Thebes with a soldier whom I had never seen, for I was always
+working at home thinking of the babe who was dead and how happiness is a
+bird that no man can snare, though sometimes, of its own will, it flies
+in at his window-place.
+
+It was after this that my hair went white before I had counted thirty
+years.
+
+Now, as I had none to work for and my wants were few and simple, I found
+more time for the writing of stories which, for the most part, were
+somewhat sad. One of these stories a fellow scribe borrowed from me and
+read aloud to a company, whom it pleased so much that there were many
+who asked leave to copy it and publish it abroad. So by degrees I became
+known as a teller of tales, which tales I caused to be copied and sold,
+though out of them I made but little. Still my fame grew till on a day
+I received a message from the Prince Seti, my twin in Ra, saying that he
+had read certain of my writings which pleased him much and that it was
+his wish to look upon my face. I thanked him humbly by the messenger and
+answered that I would travel to Tanis and wait upon his Highness. First,
+however, I finished the longest story which I had yet written. It was
+called the Tale of Two Brothers, and told how the faithless wife of one
+of them brought trouble on the other, so that he was killed. Of how,
+also, the just gods brought him to life again, and many other matters.
+This story I dedicated to his Highness, the Prince Seti, and with it in
+the bosom of my robe I travelled to Tanis, having hidden about me a sum
+of gold that I had saved.
+
+So I came to Tanis at the beginning of winter and, walking to the palace
+of the Prince, boldly demanded an audience. But now my troubles began,
+for the guards and watchmen thrust me from the doors. In the end I
+bribed them and was admitted to the antechambers, where were merchants,
+jugglers, dancing-women, officers, and many others, all of them, it
+seemed, waiting to see the Prince; folk who, having nothing to do,
+pleased themselves by making mock of me, a stranger. When I had mixed
+with them for several days, I gained their friendship by telling to them
+one of my stories, after which I was always welcome among them. Still
+I could come no nearer to the Prince, and as my store of money was
+beginning to run low, I bethought me that I would return to Memphis.
+
+One day, however, a long-bearded old man, with a gold-tipped wand of
+office, who had a bull's head embroidered on his robe, stopped in front
+of me and, calling me a white-headed crow, asked me what I was doing
+hopping day by day about the chambers of the palace. I told him my name
+and business and he told me his, which it seemed was Pambasa, one of
+the Prince's chamberlains. When I asked him to take me to the Prince,
+he laughed in my face and said darkly that the road to his Highness's
+presence was paved with gold. I understood what he meant and gave him a
+gift which he took as readily as a cock picks corn, saying that he would
+speak of me to his master and that I must come back again.
+
+I came thrice and each time that old cock picked more corn. At last I
+grew enraged and, forgetting where I was, began to shout at him and
+call him a thief, so that folks gathered round to listen. This seemed
+to frighten him. At first he looked towards the door as though to summon
+the guard to thrust me out; then changed his mind, and in a grumbling
+voice bade me follow him. We went down long passages, past soldiers who
+stood at watch in them still as mummies in their coffins, till at length
+we came to some broidered curtains. Here Pambasa whispered to me to
+wait, and passed through the curtains which he left not quite closed, so
+that I could see the room beyond and hear all that took place there.
+
+It was a small room like to that of any scribe, for on the tables were
+palettes, pens of reed, ink in alabaster vases, and sheets of papyrus
+pinned upon boards. The walls were painted, not as I was wont to paint
+the Books of the Dead, but after the fashion of an earlier time, such as
+I have seen in certain ancient tombs, with pictures of wild fowl rising
+from the swamps and of trees and plants as they grow. Against the walls
+hung racks in which were papyrus rolls, and on the hearth burned a fire
+of cedar-wood.
+
+By this fire stood the Prince, whom I knew from his statues. His years
+appeared fewer than mine although we were born upon the same day, and he
+was tall and thin, very fair also for one of our people, perhaps because
+of the Syrian blood that ran in his veins. His hair was straight and
+brown like to that of northern folk who come to trade in the markets of
+Egypt, and his eyes were grey rather than black, set beneath somewhat
+prominent brows such as those of his father, Meneptah. His face was
+sweet as a woman's, but made curious by certain wrinkles which ran from
+the corners of the eyes towards the ears. I think that these came
+from the bending of the brow in thought, but others say that they were
+inherited from an ancestress on the female side. Bakenkhonsu my friend,
+the old prophet who served under the first Seti and died but the other
+day, having lived a hundred and twenty years, told me that he knew her
+before she was married, and that she and her descendant, Seti, might
+have been twins.
+
+In his hand the Prince held an open roll, a very ancient writing as I,
+who am skilled in such matters that have to do with my trade, knew from
+its appearance. Lifting his eyes suddenly from the study of this roll,
+he saw the chamberlain standing before him.
+
+"You came at a good time, Pambasa," he said in a voice that was very
+soft and pleasant, and yet most manlike. "You are old and doubtless
+wise. Say, are you wise, Pambasa?"
+
+"Yes, your Highness. I am wise like your Highness's uncle, Khaemuas the
+mighty magician, whose sandals I used to clean when I was young."
+
+"Is it so? Then why are you so careful to hide your wisdom which should
+be open like a flower for us poor bees to suck at? Well, I am glad to
+learn that you are wise, for in this book of magic that I have been
+reading I find problems worthy of Khaemuas the departed, whom I only
+remember as a brooding, black-browed man much like my cousin, Amenmeses
+his son--save that no one can call Amenmeses wise."
+
+"Why is your Highness glad?"
+
+"Because you, being by your own account his equal, can now interpret the
+matter as Khaemuas would have done. You know, Pambasa, that had he lived
+he would have been Pharaoh in place of my father. He died too soon,
+however, which proves to me that there was something in this tale of
+his wisdom, since no really wise man would ever wish to be Pharaoh of
+Egypt."
+
+Pambasa stared with his mouth open.
+
+"Not wish to be Pharaoh!" he began--
+
+"Now, Pambasa the Wise," went on the Prince as though he had not heard
+him. "Listen. This old book gives a charm 'to empty the heart of its
+weariness,' that it says is the oldest and most common sickness in the
+world from which only kittens, some children, and mad people are free.
+It appears that the cure for this sickness, so says the book, is to
+stand on the top of the pyramid of Khufu at midnight at that moment when
+the moon is largest in the whole year, and drink from the cup of dreams,
+reciting meanwhile a spell written here at length in language which I
+cannot read."
+
+"There is no virtue in spells, Prince, if anyone can read them."
+
+"And no use, it would seem, if they can be read by none."
+
+"Moreover, how can any one climb the pyramid of Khufu, which is covered
+with polished marble, even in the day let alone at midnight, your
+Highness, and there drink of the cup of dreams?"
+
+"I do not know, Pambasa. All I know is that I weary of this foolishness,
+and of the world. Tell me of something that will lighten my heart, for
+it is heavy."
+
+"There are jugglers without, Prince, one of whom says he can throw a
+rope into the air and climb up it until he vanishes into heaven."
+
+"When he has done it in your sight, Pambasa, bring him to me, but
+not before. Death is the only rope by which we climb to heaven--or be
+lowered into hell. For remember there is a god called Set, after whom,
+like my great-grandfather, I am named by the way--the priests alone know
+why--as well as one called Osiris."
+
+"Then there are the dancers, Prince, and among them some very finely
+made girls, for I saw them bathing in the palace lake, such as would
+have delighted the heart of your grandfather, the great Rameses."
+
+"They do not delight my heart who want no naked women prancing here. Try
+again, Pambasa."
+
+"I can think of nothing else, Prince. Yet, stay. There is a scribe
+without named Ana, a thin, sharp-nosed man who says he is your
+Highness's twin in Ra."
+
+"Ana!" said the Prince. "He of Memphis who writes stories? Why did you
+not say so before, you old fool? Let him enter at once, at once."
+
+Now hearing this I, Ana, walked through the curtains and prostrated
+myself, saying,
+
+"I am that scribe, O Royal Son of the Sun."
+
+"How dare you enter the Prince's presence without being bidden----"
+began Pambasa, but Seti broke in with a stern voice, saying,
+
+"And how dare you, Pambasa, keep this learned man waiting at my door
+like a dog? Rise, Ana, and cease from giving me titles, for we are not
+at Court. Tell me, how long have you been in Tanis?"
+
+"Many days, O Prince," I answered, "seeking your presence and in vain."
+
+"And how did you win it at last?"
+
+"By payment, O Prince," I answered innocently, "as it seems is usual.
+The doorkeepers----"
+
+"I understand," said Seti, "the doorkeepers! Pambasa, you will ascertain
+what amount this learned scribe has disbursed to 'the doorkeepers' and
+refund him double. Begone now and see to the matter."
+
+So Pambasa went, casting a piteous look at me out of the corner of his
+eye.
+
+"Tell me," said Seti when he was gone, "you who must be wise in your
+fashion, why does a Court always breed thieves?"
+
+"I suppose for the same reason, O Prince, that a dog's back breeds
+fleas. Fleas must live, and there is the dog."
+
+"True," he answered, "and these palace fleas are not paid enough. If
+ever I have power I will see to it. They shall be fewer but better fed.
+Now, Ana, be seated. I know you though you do not know me, and already I
+have learned to love you through your writings. Tell me of yourself."
+
+So I told him all my simple tale, to which he listened without a word,
+and then asked me why I had come to see him. I replied that it was
+because he had sent for me, which he had forgotten; also because I
+brought him a story that I had dared to dedicate to him. Then I laid the
+roll before him on the table.
+
+"I am honoured," he said in a pleased voice, "I am greatly honoured.
+If I like it well, your story shall go to the tomb with me for my Ka
+to read and re-read until the day of resurrection, though first I will
+study it in the flesh. Do you know this city of Tanis, Ana?"
+
+I answered that I knew little of it, who had spent my time here haunting
+the doors of his Highness.
+
+"Then with your leave I will be your guide through it this night, and
+afterwards we will sup and talk."
+
+I bowed and he clapped his hands, whereon a servant appeared, not
+Pambasa, but another.
+
+"Bring two cloaks," said the Prince, "I go abroad with the scribe, Ana.
+Let a guard of four Nubians, no more, follow us, but at a distance and
+disguised. Let them wait at the private entrance."
+
+The man bowed and departed swiftly.
+
+Almost immediately a black slave appeared with two long hooded cloaks,
+such as camel-drivers wear, which he helped us to put on. Then, taking
+a lamp, he led us from the room through a doorway opposite to that by
+which I had entered, down passages and a narrow stair that ended in a
+courtyard. Crossing this we came to a wall, great and thick, in which
+were double doors sheathed with copper that opened mysteriously at our
+approach. Outside of these doors stood four tall men, also wrapped in
+cloaks, who seemed to take no note of us. Still, looking back when we
+had gone a little way, I observed that they were following us, as though
+by chance.
+
+How fine a thing, thought I to myself, it is to be a Prince who by
+lifting a finger can thus command service at any moment of the day or
+night.
+
+Just at that moment Seti said to me:
+
+"See, Ana, how sad a thing it is to be a Prince, who cannot even stir
+abroad without notice to his household and commanding the service of a
+secret guard to spy upon his every action, and doubtless to make report
+thereof to the police of Pharaoh."
+
+There are two faces to everything, thought I to myself again.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE BREAKING OF THE CUP
+
+We walked down a broad street bordered by trees, beyond which were
+lime-washed, flat-roofed houses built of sun-dried brick, standing,
+each of them, in its own garden, till at length we came to the great
+market-place just as the full moon rose above the palm-trees, making the
+world almost as light as day. Tanis, or Rameses as it is also called,
+was a very fine city then, if only half the size of Memphis, though
+now that the Court has left it I hear it is much deserted. About this
+market-place stood great temples of the gods, with pylons and avenues
+of sphinxes, also that wonder of the world, the colossal statue of the
+second Rameses, while to the north upon a mound was the glorious palace
+of Pharaoh. Other palaces there were also, inhabited by the nobles and
+officers of the Court, and between them ran long streets where dwelt the
+citizens, ending, some of them, on that branch of the Nile by which the
+ancient city stood.
+
+Seti halted to gaze at these wondrous buildings.
+
+"They are very old," he said, "but most of them, like the walls and
+those temples of Amon and Ptah, have been rebuilt in the time of my
+grandfather or since his day by the labour of Israelitish slaves who
+dwell yonder in the rich land of Goshen."
+
+"They must have cost much gold," I answered.
+
+"The Kings of Egypt do not pay their slaves," remarked the Prince
+shortly.
+
+Then we went on and mingled with the thousands of the people who were
+wandering to and fro seeking rest after the business of the day. Here
+on the frontier of Egypt were gathered folk of every race; Bedouins from
+the desert, Syrians from beyond the Red Sea, merchants from the rich
+Isle of Chittim, travellers from the coast, and traders from the land
+of Punt and from the unknown countries of the north. All were talking,
+laughing and making merry, save some who gathered in circles to listen
+to a teller of tales or wandering musicians, or to watch women who
+danced half naked for gifts.
+
+Now and again the crowd would part to let pass the chariot of some noble
+or lady before which went running footmen who shouted, "Make way, Make
+way!" and laid about them with their long wands. Then came a procession
+of white-robed priests of Isis travelling by moonlight as was fitting
+for the servants of the Lady of the Moon, and bearing aloft the holy
+image of the goddess before which all men bowed and for a little while
+were silent. After this followed the corpse of some great one newly
+dead, preceded by a troop of hired mourners who rent the air with their
+lamentations as they conducted it to the quarter of the embalmers.
+Lastly, from out of one of the side streets emerged a gang of several
+hundred hook-nosed and bearded men, among whom were a few women, loosely
+roped together and escorted by a company of armed guards.
+
+"Who are these?" I asked, for I had never seen their like.
+
+"Slaves of the people of Israel who return from their labour at the
+digging of the new canal which is to run to the Red Sea," answered the
+Prince.
+
+We stood still to watch them go by, and I noted how proudly their eyes
+flashed and how fierce was their bearing although they were but men in
+bonds, very weary too and stained by toil in mud and water. Presently
+this happened. A white-bearded man lagged behind, dragging on the line
+and checking the march. Thereupon an overseer ran up and flogged him
+with a cruel whip cut from the hide of the sea-horse. The man turned
+and, lifting a wooden spade that he carried, struck the overseer such
+a blow that he cracked his skull so that he fell down dead. Other
+overseers rushed at the Hebrew, as these Israelites were called, and
+beat him till he also fell. Then a soldier appeared and, seeing what
+had happened, drew his bronze sword. From among the throng sprang out a
+girl, young and very lovely although she was but roughly clad.
+
+Since then I have seen Merapi, Moon of Israel, as she was called, clad
+in the proud raiment of a queen, and once even of a goddess, but never,
+I think, did she look more beauteous than in this hour of her slavery.
+Her large eyes, neither blue nor black, caught the light of the moon and
+were aswim with tears. Her plenteous bronze-hued hair flowed in great
+curls over the snow-white bosom that her rough robe revealed. Her
+delicate hands were lifted as though to ward off the blows which fell
+upon him whom she sought to protect. Her tall and slender shape stood
+out against a flare of light which burned upon some market stall. She
+was beauteous exceedingly, so beauteous that my heart stood still at the
+sight of her, yes, mine that for some years had held no thought of woman
+save such as were black and evil.
+
+She cried aloud. Standing over the fallen man she appealed to the
+soldier for mercy. Then, seeing that there was none to hope for from
+him, she cast her great eyes around until they fell upon the Prince
+Seti.
+
+"Oh! Sir," she wailed, "you have a noble air. Will you stand by and see
+my father murdered for no fault?"
+
+"Drag her off, or I smite through her," shouted the captain, for now she
+had thrown herself down upon the fallen Israelite. The overseers obeyed,
+tearing her away.
+
+"Hold, butcher!" cried the Prince.
+
+"Who are you, dog, that dare to teach Pharaoh's officer his duty?"
+answered the captain, smiting the Prince in the face with his left hand.
+
+Then swiftly he struck downwards and I saw the bronze sword pass through
+the body of the Israelite who quivered and lay still. It was all done
+in an instant, and on the silence that followed rang out the sound of
+a woman's wail. For a moment Seti choked--with rage, I think. Then he
+spoke a single word--"Guards!"
+
+The four Nubians, who, as ordered, had kept at a distance, burst through
+the gathered throng. Ere they reached us I, who till now had stood
+amazed, sprang at the captain and gripped him by the throat. He struck
+at me with his bloody sword, but the blow, falling on my long cloak,
+only bruised me on the left thigh. Then I, who was strong in those days,
+grappled with him and we rolled together on the ground.
+
+After this there was great tumult. The Hebrew slaves burst their
+rope and flung themselves upon the soldiers like dogs upon a jackal,
+battering them with their bare fists. The soldiers defended themselves
+with swords; the overseers plied their hide whips; women screamed, men
+shouted. The captain whom I had seized began to get the better of me;
+at least I saw his sword flash above me and thought that all was over.
+Doubtless it would have been, had not Seti himself dragged the man
+backwards and thus given the four Nubian guards time to seize him. Next
+I heard the Prince cry out in a ringing voice:
+
+"Hold! It is Seti, the son of Pharaoh, the Governor of Tanis, with whom
+you have to do. See," and he threw back the hood of his cloak so that
+the moon shone upon his face.
+
+Instantly there was a great quiet. Now, first one and then another as
+the truth sunk into them, men began to fall upon their knees, and I
+heard one say in an awed voice:
+
+"The royal Son, the Prince of Egypt struck in the face by a soldier!
+Blood must pay for it."
+
+"How is that officer named?" asked Seti, pointing to the man who had
+killed the Israelite and well-nigh killed me.
+
+Someone answered that he was named Khuaka.
+
+"Bring him to the steps of the temple of Amon," said Seti to the Nubians
+who held him fast. "Follow me, friend Ana, if you have the strength.
+Nay, lean upon my shoulder."
+
+So resting upon the shoulder of the Prince, for I was bruised and
+breathless, I walked with him a hundred paces or more to the steps of
+the great temple where we climbed to the platform at the head of the
+stairs. After us came the prisoner, and after him all the multitude,
+a very great number who stood upon the steps and on the flat ground
+beyond. The Prince, who was very white and quiet, sat himself down
+upon the low granite base of a tall obelisk which stood in front of the
+temple pylon, and said:
+
+"As Governor of Tanis, the City of Rameses, with power of life and death
+at all hours and in all places, I declare my Court open."
+
+"The Royal Court is open!" cried the multitude in the accustomed form.
+
+"This is the case," said the Prince. "Yonder man who is named Khuaka, by
+his dress a captain of Pharaoh's army, is charged with the murder of
+a certain Hebrew, and with the attempted murder of Ana the scribe. Let
+witnesses be called. Bring the body of the dead man and lay it here
+before me. Bring the woman who strove to protect him, that she may
+speak."
+
+The body was brought and laid upon the platform, its wide eyes staring
+up at the moon. Then soldiers who had gathered thrust forward the
+weeping girl.
+
+"Cease from tears," said Seti, "and swear by Kephera the creator, and by
+Maat the goddess of truth and law, to speak nothing but the truth."
+
+The girl looked up and said in a rich low voice that in some way
+reminded me of honey being poured from a jar, perhaps because it was
+thick with strangled sobs:
+
+"O Royal Son of Egypt, I cannot swear by those gods who am a daughter of
+Israel."
+
+The Prince looked at her attentively and asked:
+
+"By what god then can you swear, O Daughter of Israel?"
+
+"By Jahveh, O Prince, whom we hold to be the one and only God, the Maker
+of the world and all that is therein."
+
+"Then perhaps his other name is Kephera," said the Prince with a little
+smile. "But have it as you will. Swear, then, by your god Jahveh."
+
+Then she lifted both her hands above her head and said:
+
+"I, Merapi, daughter of Nathan of the tribe of Levi of the people of
+Israel, swear that I will speak the truth and all the truth in the name
+of Jahveh, the God of Israel."
+
+"Tell us what you know of the matter of the death of this man, O
+Merapi."
+
+"Nothing that you do not know yourself, O Prince. He who lies there,"
+and she swept her hand towards the corpse, turning her eyes away, "was
+my father, an elder of Israel. The captain Khuaka came when the corn was
+young to the Land of Goshen to choose those who should work for Pharaoh.
+He wished to take me into his house. My father refused because from my
+childhood I had been affianced to a man of Israel; also because it is
+not lawful under the law for our people to intermarry with your people.
+Then the captain Khuaka seized my father, although he was of high rank
+and beyond the age to work for Pharaoh, and he was taken away, as I
+think, because he would not suffer me to wed Khuaka. A while later I
+dreamed that my father was sick. Thrice I dreamed it and ran away to
+Tanis to visit him. But this morning I found him and, O Prince, you know
+the rest."
+
+"Is there no more?" asked Seti.
+
+The girl hesitated, then answered:
+
+"Only this, O Prince. This man saw me with my father giving him food,
+for he was weak and overcome with the toil of digging the mud in the
+heat of the sun, he who being a noble of our people knew nothing of such
+labour from his youth. In my presence Khuaka asked my father if now he
+would give me to him. My father answered that sooner would he see me
+kissed by snakes and devoured by crocodiles. 'I hear you,' answered
+Khuaka. 'Learn, now, slave Nathan, before to-morrow's sun arises, you
+shall be kissed by swords and devoured by crocodiles or jackals.' 'So be
+it,' said my father, 'but learn, O Khuaka, that if so, it is revealed to
+me who am a priest and a prophet of Jahveh, that before to-morrow's sun
+you also shall be kissed by swords and of the rest we will talk at the
+foot of Jahveh's throne.'
+
+"Afterwards, as you know, Prince, the overseer flogged my father as I
+heard Khuaka order him to do if he lagged through weariness, and then
+Khuaka killed him because my father in his madness struck the overseer
+with a mattock. I have no more to say, save that I pray that I may be
+sent back to my own people there to mourn my father according to our
+custom."
+
+"To whom would you be sent? Your mother?"
+
+"Nay, O Prince, my mother, a lady of Syria, is dead. I will go to my
+uncle, Jabez the Levite."
+
+"Stand aside," said Seti. "The matter shall be seen to later. Appear,
+O Ana the Scribe. Swear the oath and tell us what you have seen of this
+man's death, since two witnesses are needful."
+
+So I swore and repeated all this story that I have written down.
+
+"Now, Khuaka," said the Prince when I had finished, "have you aught to
+say?"
+
+"Only this, O Royal One," answered the captain throwing himself upon his
+knees, "that I struck you by accident, not knowing that the person of
+your Highness was hidden in that long cloak. For this deed it is true
+that I am worthy of death, but I pray you to pardon me because I knew
+not what I did. The rest is nothing, since I only slew a mutinous slave
+of the Israelites, as such are slain every day."
+
+"Tell me, O Khuaka, who are being tried for this man's death and not
+for the striking of one of royal blood by chance, under which law it is
+lawful for you to kill an Israelite without trial before the appointed
+officers of Pharaoh."
+
+"I am not learned. I do not know the law, O Prince. All that this woman
+said is false."
+
+"At least it is not false that yonder man lies dead and that you slew
+him, as you yourself admit. Learn now, and let all Egypt learn, that
+even an Israelite may not be murdered for no offence save that of
+weariness and of paying back unearned blow with blow. Your blood shall
+answer for his blood. Soldiers! Strike off his head."
+
+The Nubians leapt upon him, and when I looked again Khuaka's headless
+corpse lay by the corpse of the Hebrew Nathan and their blood was
+mingled upon the steps of the temple.
+
+"The business of the Court is finished," said the Prince. "Officers, see
+that this woman is escorted to her own people, and with her the body of
+her father for burial. See, too, upon your lives that no insult or harm
+is done to her. Scribe Ana, accompany me hence to my house where I would
+speak with you. Let guards precede and follow me."
+
+He rose and all the people bowed. As he turned to go the lady Merapi
+stepped forward, and falling upon her knees, said:
+
+"O most just Prince, now and ever I am your servant."
+
+Then we set out, and as we left the market-place on our way to the
+palace of the Prince, I heard a tumult of voices behind us, some in
+praise and some in blame of what had been done. We walked on in silence
+broken only by the measured tramp of the guards. Presently the moon
+passed behind a cloud and the world was dark. Then from the edge of the
+cloud sprang out a ray of light that lay straight and narrow above us on
+the heavens. Seti studied it a while and said:
+
+"Tell me, O Ana, of what does that moonbeam put you in mind?"
+
+"Of a sword, O Prince," I answered, "stretched out over Egypt and held
+in the black hand of some mighty god or spirit. See, there is the blade
+from which fall little clouds like drops of blood, there is the hilt of
+gold, and look! there beneath is the face of the god. Fire streams from
+his eyebrows and his brow is black and awful. I am afraid, though what I
+fear I know not."
+
+"You have a poet's mind, Ana. Still, what you see I see and of this I
+am sure, that some sword of vengeance is indeed stretched out over
+Egypt because of its evil doings, whereof this light may be the symbol.
+Behold! it seems to fall upon the temples of the gods and the palace of
+Pharaoh, and to cleave them. Now it is gone and the night is as nights
+were from the beginning of the world. Come to my chamber and let us eat.
+I am weary, I need food and wine, as you must after struggling with that
+lustful murderer whom I have sent to his own place."
+
+The guards saluted and were dismissed. We mounted to the Prince's
+private chambers, in one of which his servants clad me in fine linen
+robes after a skilled physician of the household had doctored the
+bruises upon my thigh over which he tied a bandage spread with balm.
+Then I was led to a small dining-hall, where I found the Prince waiting
+for me as though I were some honoured guest and not a poor scribe who
+had wondered hence from Memphis with my wares. He caused me to sit down
+at his right hand and even drew up the chair for me himself, whereat I
+felt abashed. To this day I remember that leather-seated chair. The arms
+of it ended in ivory sphinxes and on its back of black wood in an oval
+was inlaid the name of the great Rameses, to whom indeed it had once
+belonged. Dishes were handed to us--only two of them and those quite
+simple, for Seti was no great eater--by a young Nubian slave of a
+very merry face, and with them wine more delicious than any I had ever
+tasted.
+
+We ate and drank and the Prince talked to me of my business as a scribe
+and of the making of tales, which seemed to interest him very much.
+Indeed one might have thought that he was a pupil in the schools and I
+the teacher, so humbly and with such care did he weigh everything that I
+said about my art. Of matters of state or of the dreadful scene of blood
+through which we had just passed he spoke no word. At the end, however,
+after a little pause during which he held up a cup of alabaster as thin
+as an eggshell, studying the light playing through it on the rich red
+wine within, he said to me:
+
+"Friend Ana, we have passed a stirring hour together, the first perhaps
+of many, or mayhap the last. Also we were born upon the same day
+and therefore, unless the astrologers lie, as do other men--and
+women--beneath the same star. Lastly, if I may say it, I like you well,
+though I know not how you like me, and when you are in the room with me
+I feel at ease, which is strange, for I know of no other with whom it is
+so.
+
+"Now by a chance only this morning I found in some old records which I
+was studying, that the heir to the throne of Egypt a thousand years ago,
+had, and therefore, as nothing ever changes in Egypt, still has, a right
+to a private librarian for which the State, that is, the toilers of the
+land, must pay as in the end they pay for all. Some dynasties have gone
+by, it seems, since there was such a librarian, I think because most of
+the heirs to the throne could not, or did not, read. Also by chance I
+mentioned the matter to the Vizier Nehesi who grudges me every ounce of
+gold I spend, as though it were one taken out of his own pouch, which
+perhaps it is. He answered with that crooked smile of his:
+
+"'Since I know well, Prince, that there is no scribe in Egypt whom you
+would suffer about you for a single month, I will set the cost of a
+librarian at the figure at which it stood in the Eleventh Dynasty upon
+the roll of your Highness's household and defray it from the Royal
+Treasury until he is discharged.'
+
+"Therefore, Scribe Ana, I offer you this post for one month; that is
+all for which I can promise you will be paid whatever it may be, for I
+forget the sum."
+
+"I thank you, O Prince," I exclaimed.
+
+"Do not thank me. Indeed if you are wise you will refuse. You have met
+Pambasa. Well, Nehesi is Pambasa multiplied by ten, a rogue, a thief, a
+bully, and one who has Pharaoh's ear. He will make your life a torment
+to you and clip every ring of gold that at length you wring out of
+his grip. Moreover the place is wearisome, and I am fanciful and often
+ill-humoured. Do not thank me, I say. Refuse; return to Memphis and
+write stories. Shun courts and their plottings. Pharaoh himself is but a
+face and a puppet through which other voices talk and other eyes shine,
+and the sceptre which he wields is pulled by strings. And if this is so
+with Pharaoh, what is the case with his son? Then there are the women,
+Ana. They will make love to you, Ana, they even do so to me, and I think
+you told me that you know something of women. Do not accept, go back
+to Memphis. I will send you some old manuscripts to copy and pay you
+whatever it is Nehesi allows for the librarian."
+
+"Yet I accept, O Prince. As for Nehesi I fear him not at all, since at
+the worst I can write a story about him at which the world will laugh,
+and rather than that he will pay me my salary."
+
+"You have more wisdom than I thought, Ana. It never came into my mind to
+put Nehesi in a story, though it is true I tell tales about him which is
+much the same thing."
+
+He bend forward, leaning his head upon his hand, and ceasing from his
+bantering tone, looked me in the eyes and asked:
+
+"Why do you accept? Let me think now. It is not because you care for
+wealth if that is to be won here; nor for the pomp and show of courts;
+nor for the company of the great who really are so small. For all these
+things you, Ana, have no craving if I read your heart aright, you who
+are an artist, nothing less and nothing more. Tell me, then, why will
+you, a free man who can earn your living, linger round a throne and
+set your neck beneath the heel of princes to be crushed into the common
+mould of servitors and King's Companions and Bearers of the Footstool?"
+
+"I will tell you, Prince. First, because thrones make history, as
+history makes thrones, and I think that great events are on foot in
+Egypt in which I would have my share. Secondly, because the gods bring
+gifts to men only once or twice in their lives and to refuse them is
+to offend the gods who gave them those lives to use to ends of which we
+know nothing. And thirdly"--here I hesitated.
+
+"And thirdly--out with the thirdly for, doubtless, it is the real
+reason."
+
+"And thirdly, O Prince--well, the word sounds strangely upon a man's
+lips--but thirdly because I love you. From the moment that my eyes fell
+upon your face I loved you as I never loved any other man--not even my
+father. I know not why. Certainly it is not because you are a prince."
+
+When he heard these words Seti sat brooding and so silent that, fearing
+lest I, a humble scribe, had been too bold, I added hastily:
+
+"Let your Highness pardon his servant for his presumptuous words. It was
+his servant's heart that spoke and not his lips."
+
+He lifted his hand and I stopped.
+
+"Ana, my twin in Ra," he said, "do you know that I never had a friend?"
+
+"A prince who has no friend!"
+
+"Never, none. Now I begin to think that I have found one. The thought is
+strange and warms me. Do you know also that when my eyes fell upon your
+face I loved you also, the gods know why. It was as though I had found
+one who was dear to me thousands of years ago but whom I had lost and
+forgotten. Perhaps this is but foolishness, or perhaps here we have the
+shadow of something great and beautiful which dwells elsewhere, in the
+place we call the Kingdom of Osiris, beyond the grave, Ana."
+
+"Such thoughts have come to me at times, Prince. I mean that all we see
+is shadow; that we ourselves are shadows and that the realities who cast
+them live in a different home which is lit by some spirit sun that never
+sets."
+
+The Prince nodded his head and again was silent for a while. Then he
+took his beautiful alabaster cup, and pouring wine into it, he drank a
+little and passed the cup to me.
+
+"Drink also, Ana," he said, "and pledge me as I pledge you, in token
+that by decree of the Creator who made the hearts of men, henceforward
+our two hearts are as the same heart through good and ill, through
+triumph and defeat, till death takes one of us. Henceforward, Ana,
+unless you show yourself unworthy, I hide no thought from you."
+
+Flushing with joy I took the cup, saying:
+
+"I add to your words, O Prince. We are one, not for this life alone but
+for all the lives to be. Death, O Prince, is, I think, but a single step
+in the pylon stair which leads at last to that dizzy height whence we
+see the face of God and hear his voice tell us what and why we are."
+
+Then I pledged him, and drank, bowing, and he bowed back to me.
+
+"What shall we do with the cup, Ana, the sacred cup that has held this
+rich heart-wine? Shall I keep it? No, it no longer belongs to me. Shall
+I give it to you? No, it can never be yours alone. See, we will break
+the priceless thing."
+
+Seizing it by its stem with all his strength he struck the cup upon the
+table. Then what seemed to be to me a marvel happened, for instead of
+shattering as I thought it surely would, it split in two from rim to
+foot. Whether this was by chance, or whether the artist who fashioned
+it in some bygone generation had worked the two halves separately and
+cunningly cemented them together, to this hour I do not know. At least
+so it befell.
+
+"This is fortunate, Ana," said the Prince, laughing a little in his
+light way. "Now take you the half that lies nearest to you and I will
+take mine. If you die first I will lay my half upon your breast, and
+if I die first you shall do the same by me, or if the priests forbid it
+because I am royal and may not be profaned, cast the thing into my tomb.
+What should we have done had the alabaster shattered into fragments,
+Ana, and what omen should we have read in them?"
+
+"Why ask, O Prince, seeing that it has befallen otherwise?"
+
+Then I took my half, laid it against my forehead and hid it in the bosom
+of my robe, and as I did, so did Seti.
+
+So in this strange fashion the royal Seti and I sealed the holy compact
+of our brotherhood, as I think not for the first time or the last.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+USERTI
+
+Seti rose, stretching out his arms.
+
+"That is finished," he said, "as everything finishes, and for once I am
+sorry. Now what next? Sleep, I suppose, in which all ends, or perhaps
+you would say all begins."
+
+As he spoke the curtains at the end of the room were drawn and between
+them appeared the chamberlain, Pambasa, holding his gold-tipped wand
+ceremoniously before him.
+
+"What is it now, man?" asked Seti. "Can I not even sup in peace? Stay,
+before you answer tell me, do things end or begin in sleep? The learned
+Ana and I differ on the matter and would hear your wisdom. Bear in mind,
+Pambasa, that before we are born we must have slept, since of that time
+we remember nothing, and after we are dead we certainly seem to sleep,
+as any who have looked on mummies know. Now answer."
+
+The chamberlain stared at the wine flask on the table as though he
+suspected his master of having drunk too much. Then in a hard official
+voice he said:
+
+"She comes! She comes! She comes, offering greetings and adoration to
+the Royal Son of Ra."
+
+"Does she indeed?" asked Seti. "If so, why say it three times? And who
+comes?"
+
+"The high Princess, the heiress of Egypt, the daughter of Pharaoh, your
+Highness's royal half-sister, the great lady Userti."
+
+"Let her enter then. Ana, stand you behind me. If you grow weary and
+I give leave you can depart; the slaves will show you your
+sleeping-place."
+
+Pambasa went, and presently through the curtain appeared a royal-looking
+lady splendidly apparelled. She was accompanied by four waiting women
+who fell back on the threshold and were no more seen. The Prince stepped
+forward, took both her hands in his and kissed her on the brow, then
+drew back again, after which they stood a moment looking at each other.
+While they remained thus I studied her who was known throughout the land
+as the "Beautiful Royal Daughter," but whom till now I had never seen.
+In truth I did not think her beautiful, although even had she been clad
+in a peasant's robe I should have been sure that she was royal. Her
+face was too hard for beauty and her black eyes, with a tinge of grey in
+them, were too small. Also her nose was too sharp and her lips were
+too thin. Indeed, had it not been for the delicately and finely-shaped
+woman's form beneath, I might have thought that a prince and not a
+princess stood before me. For the rest in most ways she resembled her
+half-brother Seti, though her countenance lacked the kindliness of his;
+or rather both of them resembled their father, Meneptah.
+
+"Greeting, Sister," he said, eyeing her with a smile in which I caught a
+gleam of mockery. "Purple-bordered robes, emerald necklace and enamelled
+crown of gold, rings and pectoral, everything except a sceptre--why are
+you so royally arrayed to visit one so humble as your loving brother?
+You come like sunlight into the darkness of the hermit's cell and dazzle
+the poor hermit, or rather hermits," and he pointed to me.
+
+"Cease your jests, Seti," she replied in a full, strong voice. "I wear
+these ornaments because they please me. Also I have supped with our
+father, and those who sit at Pharaoh's table must be suitably arrayed,
+though I have noted that sometimes you think otherwise."
+
+"Indeed. I trust that the good god, our divine parent, is well to-night
+as you leave him so early."
+
+"I leave him because he sent me with a message to you." She paused,
+looking at me sharply, then asked, "Who is that man? I do not know him."
+
+"It is your misfortune, Userti, but one which can be mended. He is named
+Ana the Scribe, who writes strange stories of great interest which you
+would do well to read who dwell too much upon the outside of life. He
+is from Memphis and his father's name was--I forget what. Ana, what was
+your father's name?"
+
+"One too humble for royal ears, Prince," I answered, "but my grandfather
+was Pentaur the poet who wrote of the deeds of the mighty Rameses."
+
+"Is it so? Why did you not tell me that before? The descent should earn
+you a pension from the Court if you can extract it from Nehesi. Well,
+Userti, his grandfather's name was Pentaur whose immortal verses you
+have doubtless read upon temple walls, where our grandfather was careful
+to publish them."
+
+"I have--to my sorrow--and thought them poor, boastful stuff," she
+answered coldly.
+
+"To be honest, if Ana will forgive me, so do I. I can assure you that
+his stories are a great improvement on them. Friend Ana, this is my
+sister, Userti, my father's daughter though our mothers were not the
+same."
+
+"I pray you, Seti, to be so good as to give me my rightful titles in
+speaking of me to scribes and other of your servants."
+
+"Your pardon, Userti. This, Ana, is the first Lady of Egypt, the Royal
+Heiress, the Princess of the Two Lands, the High-priestess of Amon,
+the Cherished of the Gods, the half-sister of the Heir-apparent, the
+Daughter of Hathor, the Lotus Bloom of Love, the Queen to be of--Userti,
+whose queen will you be? Have you made up your mind? For myself I know
+no one worthy of so much beauty, excellence, learning and--what shall I
+add--sweetness, yes, sweetness."
+
+"Seti," she said stamping her foot, "if it pleases you to make a mock
+of me before a stranger, I suppose that I must submit. Send him away, I
+would speak with you."
+
+"Make a mock of you! Oh! mine is a hard fate. When truth gushes from the
+well of my heart, I am told I mock, and when I mock, all say--he speaks
+truth. Be seated, Sister, and talk on freely. This Ana is my sworn
+friend who saved my life but now, for which deed perhaps he should be
+my enemy. His memory is excellent also and he will remember what you say
+and write it down afterwards, whereas I might forget. Therefore, with
+your leave, I will ask him to stay here."
+
+"My Prince," I broke in, "I pray you suffer me to go."
+
+"My Secretary," he answered with a note of command in his voice, "I pray
+you to remain where you are."
+
+So I sat myself on the ground after the fashion of a scribe, having no
+choice, and the Princess sat herself on a couch at the end of the table,
+but Seti remained standing. Then the Princess said:
+
+"Since it is your will, Brother, that I should talk secrets into
+other ears than yours, I obey you. Still"--here she looked at me
+wrathfully--"let the tongue be careful that it does not repeat what
+the ears have heard, lest there should be neither ears nor tongue. My
+Brother, it has been reported to Pharaoh, while we ate together, that
+there is tumult in this town. It has been reported to him that because
+of a trouble about some base Israelite you caused one of his officers to
+be beheaded, after which there came a riot which still rages."
+
+"Strange that truth should have come to the ears of Pharaoh so quickly.
+Now, my Sister, if he had heard it three moons hence I could have
+believed you--almost."
+
+"Then you did behead the officer?"
+
+"Yes, I beheaded him about two hours ago."
+
+"Pharaoh will demand an account of the matter."
+
+"Pharaoh," answered Seti lifting his eyes, "has no power to question the
+justice of the Governor of Tanis in the north."
+
+"You are in error, Seti. Pharaoh has all power."
+
+"Nay, Sister, Pharaoh is but one man among millions of other men, and
+though he speaks it is their spirit which bends his tongue, while above
+that spirit is a great greater spirit who decrees what they shall think
+to ends of which we know nothing."
+
+"I do not understand, Seti."
+
+"I never thought you would, Userti, but when you have leisure, ask Ana
+here to explain the matter to you. I am sure that _he_ understands."
+
+"Oh! I have borne enough," exclaimed Userti rising. "Hearken to the
+command of Pharaoh, Prince Seti. It is that you wait upon him to-morrow
+in full council, at an hour before noon, there to talk with him of this
+question of the Israelitish slaves and the officer whom it has pleased
+you to kill. I came to speak other words to you also, but as they
+were for your private ear, these can bide a more fitting opportunity.
+Farewell, my Brother."
+
+"What, are you going so soon, Sister? I wished to tell you the story
+about those Israelites, and especially of the maid whose name is--what
+was her name, Ana?"
+
+"Merapi, Moon of Israel, Prince," I added with a groan.
+
+"About the maid called Merapi, Moon of Israel, I think the sweetest that
+ever I have looked upon, whose father the dead captain murdered in my
+sight."
+
+"So there is a woman in the business? Well, I guessed it."
+
+"In what business is there not a woman, Userti, even in that of a
+message from Pharaoh. Pambasa, Pambasa, escort the Princess and
+summon her servants, women everyone of them, unless my senses mock
+me. Good-night to you, O Sister and Lady of the Two Lands, and forgive
+me--that coronet of yours is somewhat awry."
+
+At last she was gone and I rose, wiping my brow with a corner of my
+robe, and looking at the Prince who stood before the fire laughing
+softly.
+
+"Make a note of all this talk, Ana," he said; "there is more in it than
+meets the ear."
+
+"I need no note, Prince," I answered; "every word is burnt upon my mind
+as a hot iron burns a tablet of wood. With reason too, since now her
+Highness will hate me for all her life."
+
+"Much better so, Ana, than that she should pretend to love you, which
+she never would have done while you are my friend. Women oftimes respect
+those whom they hate and even will advance them because of policy, but
+let those whom they pretend to love beware. The time may come when you
+will yet be Userti's most trusted councillor."
+
+Now here I, Ana the Scribe, will state that in after days, when this
+same queen was the wife of Pharaoh Saptah, I did, as it chanced, become
+her most trusted councillor. Moreover, in those times, yes, and even in
+the hour of her death, she swore from the moment her eyes first fell
+on me she had known me to be true-hearted and held me in esteem as no
+self-seeker. More, I think she believed what she said, having forgotten
+that once she looked upon me as her enemy. This indeed I never was, who
+always held her in high regard and honour as a great lady who loved
+her country, though one who sometimes was not wise. But as I could not
+foresee these things on that night of long ago, I only stared at the
+Prince and said:
+
+"Oh! why did you not allow me to depart as your Highness said I might at
+the beginning? Soon or late my head will pay the price of this night's
+work."
+
+"Then she must take mine with it. Listen, Ana. I kept you here, not to
+vex the Princess or you, but for a good reason. You know that it is the
+custom of the royal dynasties of Egypt for kings, or those who will
+be kings, to wed their near kin in order that the blood may remain the
+purer."
+
+"Yes, Prince, and not only among those who are royal. Still, I think it
+an evil custom."
+
+"As I do, since the race wherein it is practised grows ever weaker
+in body and in mind; which is why, perhaps, my father is not what his
+father was and I am not what my father is."
+
+"Also, Prince, it is hard to mingle the love of the sister and of the
+wife."
+
+"Very hard, Ana; so hard that when it is attempted both are apt to
+vanish. Well, our mothers having been true royal wives, though hers died
+before mine was wedded by my father, Pharaoh desires that I should
+marry my half-sister, Userti, and what is worse, she desires it also.
+Moreover, the people, who fear trouble ahead in Egypt if we, who alone
+are left of the true royal race born of queens, remain apart and she
+takes another lord, or I take another wife, demand that it should be
+brought about, since they believe that whoever calls Userti the Strong
+his spouse will one day rule the land."
+
+"Why does the Princess wish it--that she may be a queen?"
+
+"Yes, Ana, though were she to wed my cousin, Amenmeses, the son of
+Pharaoh's elder brother Khaemuas, she might still be a queen, if I chose
+to stand aside as I would not be loth to do."
+
+"Would Egypt suffer this, Prince?"
+
+"I do not know, nor does it matter since she hates Amenmeses, who is
+strong-willed and ambitious, and will have none of him. Also he is
+already married."
+
+"Is there no other royal one whom she might take, Prince?"
+
+"None. Moreover she wishes me alone."
+
+"Why, Prince?"
+
+"Because of ancient custom which she worships. Also because she knows
+me well and in her fashion is fond of me, whom she believes to be a
+gentle-minded dreamer that she can rule. Lastly, because I am the lawful
+heir to the Crown and without me to share it, she thinks that she would
+never be safe upon the Throne, especially if I should marry some other
+woman, of whom she would be jealous. It is the Throne she desires and
+would wed, not the Prince Seti, her half-brother, whom she takes with it
+to be in name her husband, as Pharaoh commands that she should do.
+Love plays no part in Userti's breast, Ana, which makes her the more
+dangerous, since what she seeks with a cold heart of policy, that she
+will surely find."
+
+"Then it would seem, Prince, that the cage is built about you. After all
+it is a very splendid cage and made of gold."
+
+"Yes, Ana, yet not one in which I would live. Still, except by death how
+can I escape from the threefold chain of the will of Pharaoh, of Egypt,
+and of Userti? Oh!" he went on in a new voice, one that had in it both
+sorrow and passion, "this is a matter in which I would have chosen for
+myself who in all others must be a servant. And I may not choose!"
+
+"Is there perchance some other lady, Prince?"
+
+"None! By Hathor, none--at least I think not. Yet I would have been free
+to search for such a one and take her when I found her, if she were but
+a fishergirl."
+
+"The Kings of Egypt can have large households, Prince."
+
+"I know it. Are there not still scores whom I should call aunt and
+uncle? I think that my grandsire, Rameses, blessed Egypt with quite
+three hundred children, and in so doing in a way was wise, since thus
+he might be sure that, while the world endures, in it will flow some the
+blood that once was his."
+
+"Yet in life or death how will that help him, Prince? Some must beget
+the multitudes of the earth, what does it matter who these may have
+been?"
+
+"Nothing at all, Ana, since by good or evil fortune they are born.
+Therefore, why talk of large households? Though, like any man who can
+pay for it, Pharaoh may have a large household, I seek a queen who shall
+reign in my heart as well as on my throne, not a 'large household,' Ana.
+Oh! I am weary. Pambasa, come hither and conduct my secretary, Ana, to
+the empty room that is next to my own, the painted chamber which looks
+toward the north, and bid my slaves attend to all his wants as they
+would to mine."
+
+
+
+"Why did you tell me you were a scribe, my lord Ana?" asked Pambasa, as
+he led me to my beautiful sleeping-place.
+
+"Because that is my trade, Chamberlain."
+
+He looked at me, shaking his great head till the long white beard waved
+across his breast like a temple banner in the faint evening breeze, and
+answered:
+
+"You are no scribe, you are a magician who can win the love and favour
+of his Highness in an hour which others cannot do between two risings
+of the Nile. Had you said so at once, you would have been differently
+treated yonder in the hall of waiting. Forgive me therefore what I did
+in ignorance, and, my lord, I pray it may please you not to melt away in
+the night, lest my feet should answer for it beneath the sticks."
+
+It was the fourth hour from sunrise of the following day that, for the
+first time in my life I found myself in the Court of Pharaoh standing
+with other members of his household in the train of his Highness, the
+Prince Seti. It was a very great place, for Pharaoh sat in the judgment
+hall, whereof the roof is upheld by round and sculptured columns,
+between which were set statues of Pharaohs who had been. Save at
+the throne end of the hall, where the light flowed down through
+clerestories, the vast chamber was dim almost to darkness; at least so
+it seemed to me entering there out of the brilliant sunshine. Through
+this gloom many folk moved like shadows; captains, nobles, and state
+officers who had been summoned to the Court, and among them white-robed
+and shaven priests. Also there were others of whom I took no count, such
+as Arab headmen from the desert, traders with jewels and other wares to
+sell, farmers and even peasants with petitions to present, lawyers and
+their clients, and I know not who besides, through which of all these
+none were suffered to advance beyond a certain mark where the light
+began to fall. Speaking in whispers all of these folk flitted to and fro
+like bats in a tomb.
+
+We waited between two Hathor-headed pillars in one of the vestibules of
+the hall, the Prince Seti, who was clad in purple-broidered garments and
+wore upon his brow a fillet of gold from which rose the uraeus or hooded
+snake, also of gold, that royal ones alone might wear, leaning against
+the base of a statue, while the rest of us stood silent behind him.
+For a time he was silent also, as a man might be whose thoughts were
+otherwhere. At length he turned and said to me:
+
+"This is weary work. Would I had asked you to bring that new tale of
+yours, Scribe Ana, that we might have read it together."
+
+"Shall I tell you the plot of it, Prince?"
+
+"Yes. I mean, not now, lest I should forget my manners listening to you.
+Look," and he pointed to a dark-browed, fierce-eyed man of middle age
+who passed up the hall as though he did not see us, "there goes my
+cousin, Amenmeses. You know him, do you not?"
+
+I shook my head.
+
+"Then tell me what you think of him, at once before the first judgment
+fades."
+
+"I think he is a royal-looking lord, obstinate in mind and strong in
+body, handsome too in his way."
+
+"All can see that, Ana. What else?"
+
+"I think," I said in a low voice so that none might overhear, "that his
+heart is as black as his brow; that he has grown wicked with jealousy
+and hate and will do you evil."
+
+"Can a man grow wicked, Ana? Is he not as he was born till the end? I do
+not know, nor do you. Still you are right, he is jealous and will do me
+evil if it brings him good. But tell me, which of us will triumph at the
+last?"
+
+While I hesitated what to answer I became aware that someone had joined
+us. Looking round I perceived a very ancient man clad in a white robe.
+He was broad-faced and bald-headed, and his eyes burned beneath his
+shaggy eyebrows like two coals in ashes. He supported himself on a staff
+of cedar-wood, gripping it with both hands that for thinness were like
+to those of a mummy. For a while he considered us both as though he were
+reading our souls, then said in a full and jovial voice:
+
+"Greeting, Prince."
+
+Seti turned, looked at him, and answered:
+
+"Greeting, Bakenkhonsu. How comes it that you are still alive? When we
+parted at Thebes I made sure----"
+
+"That on your return you would find me in my tomb. Not so, Prince, it is
+I who shall live to look upon you in your tomb, yes, and on others who
+are yet to sit in the seat of Pharaoh. Why not? Ho! ho! Why not, seeing
+that I am but a hundred and seven, I who remember the first Rameses and
+have played with his grandson, your grandsire, as a boy? Why should I
+not live, Prince, to nurse your grandson--if the gods should grant you
+one who as yet have neither wife nor child?"
+
+"Because you will get tired of life, Bakenkhonsu, as I am already, and
+the gods will not be able to spare you much longer."
+
+"The gods can endure yet a while without me, Prince, when so many are
+flocking to their table. Indeed it is their desire that one good priest
+should be left in Egypt. Ki the Magician told me so only this morning.
+He had it straight from Heaven in a dream last night."
+
+"Why have you been to visit Ki?" asked Seti, looking at him sharply. "I
+should have thought that being both of a trade you would have hated each
+other."
+
+"Not so, Prince. On the contrary we add up each other's account; I mean,
+check and interpret each other's visions, with which we are both of us
+much troubled just now. Is that young man a scribe from Memphis?"
+
+"Yes, and my friend. His grandsire was Pentaur the poet."
+
+"Indeed. I knew Pentaur well. Often has he read me to sleep with his
+long poems, rank stuff that grew like coarse grass upon a deep but
+half-drained soil. Are you sure, young man, that Pentaur was your
+grandfather? You are not like him. Quite a different kind of herbage,
+and you know that it is a matter upon which we must take a woman's
+word."
+
+Seti burst out laughing and I looked at the old priest angrily, though
+now that I came to think of it my father always said that his mother was
+one of the biggest liars in Egypt.
+
+"Well, let it be," went on Bakenkhonsu, "till we find out the truth
+before Thoth. Ki was speaking of you, young man. I did not pay much
+attention to him, but it was something about a sudden vow of friendship
+between you and the Prince here. There was a cup in the story too, an
+alabaster cup that seemed familiar to me. Ki said it was broken."
+
+Seti started and I began angrily:
+
+"What do you know of that cup? Where were you hid, O Priest?"
+
+"Oh, in your souls, I suppose," he answered dreamily, "or rather Ki was.
+But I know nothing, and am not curious. If you had broken the cup with
+a woman now, it would have been more interesting, even to an old man.
+Be so good as to answer the Prince's question as to whether he or his
+cousin Amenmeses will triumph at the last, for on that matter both Ki
+and I are curious."
+
+"Am I a seer," I began again still more angrily, "that I should read the
+future?"
+
+"I think so, a little, but that is what I want to find out."
+
+He hobbled towards me, laid one of his claw-like hands upon my arm, and
+said in a new voice of command:
+
+"Look now upon that throne and tell me what you see there."
+
+I obeyed him because I must, staring up the hall at the empty throne. At
+first I saw nothing. Then figures seemed to flit around it. From among
+these figures emerged the shape of the Count Amenmeses. He sat upon the
+throne, looking about him proudly, and I noted that he was no longer
+clad as a prince but as Pharaoh himself. Presently hook-nosed men
+appeared who dragged him from his seat. He fell, as I thought, into
+water, for it seemed to splash up above him. Next Seti the Prince
+appeared to mount the throne, led thither by a woman, of whom I could
+only see the back. I saw him distinctly wearing the double crown and
+holding a sceptre in his hand. He also melted away and others came
+whom I did not know, though I thought that one of them was like to the
+Princess Userti.
+
+Now all were gone and I was telling Bakenkhonsu everything I had
+witnessed like a man who speaks in his sleep, not by his own will.
+Suddenly I woke up and laughed at my own foolishness. But the other two
+did not laugh; they regarded me very gravely.
+
+"I thought that you were something of a seer," said the old priest, "or
+rather Ki thought it. I could not quite believe Ki, because he said that
+the young person whom I should find with the Prince here this morning
+would be one who loved him with all the heart, and it is only a woman
+who loves with all the heart, is it not? Or so the world believes. Well,
+I will talk the matter over with Ki. Hush! Pharaoh comes."
+
+As he spoke from far away rose a cry of--
+
+"Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE COURT OF BETROTHAL
+
+"Life! Blood! Strength!" echoed everyone in the great hall, falling to
+their knees and bending their foreheads to the ground. Even the Prince
+and the aged Bakenkhonsu prostrated themselves thus as though before the
+presence of a god. And, indeed, Pharaoh Meneptah, passing through the
+patch of sunlight at the head of the hall, wearing the double crown upon
+his head and arrayed in royal robes and ornaments, looked like a god, no
+less, as the multitude of the people of Egypt held him to be. He was an
+old man with the face of one worn by years and care, but from his person
+majesty seemed to flow.
+
+With him, walking a step or two behind, went Nehesi his Vizier, a
+shrivelled, parchment-faced officer whose cunning eyes rolled about the
+place, and Roy the High-priest, and Hora the Chamberlain of the Table,
+and Meranu the Washer of the King's Hands, and Yuy the private scribe,
+and many others whom Bakenkhonsu named to me as they appeared. Then
+there were fan-bearers and a gorgeous band of lords who were called
+King's Companions and Head Butlers and I know not who besides, and
+after these guards with spears and helms that shone like god, and black
+swordsmen from the southern land of Kesh.
+
+But one woman accompanied his Majesty, walking alone immediately behind
+him in front of the Vizier and the High-priest. She was the Royal
+Daughter, the Princess Userti, who looked, I thought, prouder and more
+splendid than any there, though somewhat pale and anxious.
+
+Pharaoh came to the steps of the throne. The Vizier and the High-priest
+advanced to help him up the steps, for he was feeble with age. He waved
+them aside, and beckoning to his daughter, rested his hand upon her
+shoulder and by her aid mounted the throne. I thought that there was
+meaning in this; it was as though he would show to all the assembly that
+this princess was the prop of Egypt.
+
+For a little while he stood still and Userti sat herself down on the
+topmost step, resting her chin upon her jewelled hand. There he stood
+searching the place with his eyes. He lifted his sceptre and all rose,
+hundreds and hundreds of them throughout the hall, their garments
+rustling as they rose like leaves in a sudden wind. He seated himself
+and once more from every throat went up the regal salutation that was
+the king's alone, of--
+
+"Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!"
+
+In the silence that followed I heard him say, to the Princess, I think:
+
+"Amenmeses I see, and others of our kin, but where is my son Seti, the
+Prince of Egypt?"
+
+"Watching us no doubt from some vestibule. My brother loves not
+ceremonials," answered Userti.
+
+Then, with a little sigh, Seti stepped forward, followed by Bakenkhonsu
+and myself, and at a distance by other members of his household. As he
+marched up the long hall all drew to this side or that, saluting him
+with low bows. Arriving in front of the throne he bent till his knee
+touched the ground, saying:
+
+"I give greeting, O King and Father."
+
+"I give greeting, O Prince and Son. Be seated," answered Meneptah.
+
+Seti seated himself in a chair that had been made ready for him at the
+foot of the throne, and on its right, and in another chair to the left,
+but set farther from the steps, Amenmeses seated himself also. At a
+motion from the Prince I took my stand behind his chair.
+
+The formal business of the Court began. At the beckoning of an usher
+people of all sorts appeared singly and handed in petitions written on
+rolled-up papyri, which the Vizier Nehesi took and threw into a leathern
+sack that was held open by a black slave. In some cases an answer to his
+petition, whereof this was only the formal delivery, was handed back
+to the suppliant, who touched his brow with the roll that perhaps
+meant everything to him, and bowed himself away to learn his fate. Then
+appeared sheiks of the desert tribes, and captains from fortresses in
+Syria, and traders who had been harmed by enemies, and even peasants who
+had suffered violence from officers, each to make his prayer. Of all of
+these supplications the scribes took notes, while to some the Vizier and
+councillors made answer. But as yet Pharaoh said nothing. There he sat
+silent on his splendid throne of ivory and gold, like a god of stone
+above the altar, staring down the long hall and through the open doors
+as though he would read the secrets of the skies beyond.
+
+"I told you that courts were wearisome, friend Ana," whispered the
+Prince to me without turning his head. "Do you not already begin to wish
+that you were back writing tales at Memphis?"
+
+Before I could answer some movement in the throng at the end of the
+hall drew the eyes of the Prince and of all of us. I looked, and saw
+advancing towards the throne a tall, bearded man already old, although
+his black hair was but grizzled with grey. He was arrayed in a white
+linen robe, over which hung a woollen cloak such as shepherds wear, and
+he carried in his hand a long thornwood staff. His face was splendid and
+very handsome, and his black eyes flashed like fire. He walked forward
+slowly, looking neither to the left nor the right, and the throng made
+way for him as though he were a prince. Indeed, I thought that they
+showed more fear of him than of any prince, since they shrank from him
+as he came. Nor was he alone, for after him walked another man who was
+very like to him, but as I judged, still older, for his beard, which
+hung down to his middle, was snow-white as was the hair on his head. He
+also was dressed in a sheepskin cloak and carried a staff in his hand.
+Now a whisper rose among the people and the whisper said:
+
+"The prophets of the men of Israel! The prophets of the men of Israel!"
+
+The two stood before the throne and looked at Pharaoh, making no
+obeisance. Pharaoh looked at them and was silent. For a long space they
+stood thus in the midst of a great quiet, but Pharaoh would not speak,
+and none of his officers seemed to dare to open their mouths. At length
+the first of the prophets spoke in a clear, cold voice as some conqueror
+might do.
+
+"You know me, Pharaoh, and my errand."
+
+"I know you," answered Pharaoh slowly, "as well I may, seeing that we
+played together when we were little. You are that Hebrew whom my sister,
+she who sleeps in Osiris, took to be as a son to her, giving to you a
+name that means 'drawn forth' because she drew you forth as an infant
+from among the reeds of Nile. Aye, I know you and your brother also, but
+your errand I know not."
+
+"This is my errand, Pharaoh, or rather the errand of Jahveh, God of
+Israel, for whom I speak. Have you not heard it before? It is that you
+should let his people go to do sacrifice to him in the wilderness."
+
+"Who is Jahveh? I know not Jahveh who serve Amon and the gods of Egypt,
+and why should I let your people go?"
+
+"Jahveh is the God of Israel, the great God of all gods whose power you
+shall learn if you will not hearken, Pharaoh. As for why you should let
+the people go, ask it of the Prince your son who sits yonder. Ask him of
+what he saw in the streets of this city but last night, and of a certain
+judgment that he passed upon one of the officers of Pharaoh. Or if he
+will not tell you, learn it from the lips of the maiden who is named
+Merapi, Moon of Israel, the daughter of Nathan the Levite. Stand
+forward, Merapi, daughter of Nathan."
+
+Then from the throng at the back of the hall came forward Merapi, clad
+in a white robe and with a black veil thrown about her head in token
+of mourning, but not so as to hide her face. Up the hall she glided and
+made obeisance to Pharaoh, as she did so, casting one swift look at Seti
+where he sat. Then she stood still, looking, as I thought, wonderfully
+beautiful in that simple robe of white and the evil of black.
+
+"Speak, woman," said Pharaoh.
+
+She obeyed, telling all the tale in her low and honeyed voice, nor did
+any seem to think it long or wearisome. At length she ended, and Pharaoh
+said:
+
+"Say, Seti my son, is this truth?"
+
+"It is truth, O my Father. By virtue of my powers as Governor of this
+city I caused the captain Khuaka to be put to death for the crime of
+murder done by him before my eyes in the streets of the city."
+
+"Perchance you did right and perchance you did wrong, Son Seti. At least
+you are the best judge, and because he struck your royal person, this
+Khuaka deserved to die."
+
+Again he was silent for a while staring through the open doors at the
+sky beyond. Then he said:
+
+"What would ye more, Prophets of Jahveh? Justice has been done upon my
+officer who slew the man of your people. A life has been taken for a
+life according to the strict letter of the law. The matter is finished.
+Unless you have aught to say, get you gone."
+
+"By the command of the Lord our God," answered the prophet, "we have
+this to say to you, O Pharaoh. Lift the heavy yoke from off the neck of
+the people of Israel. Bid that they cease from the labour of the making
+of bricks to build your walls and cities."
+
+"And if I refuse, what then?"
+
+"Then the curse of Jahveh shall be on you, Pharaoh, and with plague upon
+plague shall he smite this land of Egypt."
+
+Now a sudden rage seized Meneptah.
+
+"What!" he cried. "Do you dare to threaten me in my own palace, and
+would ye cause all the multitude of the people of Israel who have grown
+fat in the land to cease from their labours? Hearken, my servants, and,
+scribes, write down my decree. Go ye to the country of Goshen and say
+to the Israelites that the bricks they made they shall make as aforetime
+and more work shall they do than aforetime in the days of my father,
+Rameses. Only no more straw shall be given to them for the making of the
+bricks. Because they are idle, let them go forth and gather the straw
+themselves; let them gather it from the face of the fields."
+
+There was silence for a while. Then with one voice both the prophets
+spoke, pointing with their wands to Pharaoh:
+
+"In the Name of the Lord God we curse you, Pharaoh, who soon shall die
+and make answer for this sin. The people of Egypt we curse also. Ruin
+shall be their portion; death shall be their bread and blood shall they
+drink in a great darkness. Moreover, at the last Pharaoh shall let the
+people go."
+
+Then, waiting no answer, they turned and strode away side by side, nor
+did any man hinder them in their goings. Again there was silence in the
+hall, the silence of fear, for these were awful words that the prophets
+had spoken. Pharaoh knew it, for his chin sank upon his breast and his
+face that had been red with rage turned white. Userti hid her eyes with
+her hand as though to shut out some evil vision, and even Seti seemed
+ill at ease as though that awful curse had found a home within his
+heart.
+
+At a motion of Pharaoh's hand the Vizier Nehesi struck the ground
+thrice with his wand of office and pointed to the door, thus giving
+the accustomed sign that the Court was finished, whereon all the people
+turned and went away with bent heads speaking no words one to another.
+Presently the great hall was emptied save for the officers and guards
+and those who attended upon Pharaoh. When everyone had gone Seti the
+Prince rose and bowed before the throne.
+
+"O Pharaoh," he said, "be pleased to hearken. We have heard very evil
+words spoken by these Hebrew men, words that threaten your divine life,
+O Pharaoh, and call down a curse upon the Upper and the Lower Land.
+Pharaoh, these people of Israel hold that they suffer wrong and are
+oppressed. Now give me, your son, a writing under your hand and seal, by
+virtue of which I shall have power to go down to the Land of Goshen and
+inquire of this matter, and afterwards make report of the truth to you.
+Then, if it seems to you that the People of Israel are unjustly dealt
+by, you may lighten their burden and bring the curse of their prophets
+to nothing. But if it seems to you that the tales they tell are idle
+then your words shall stand."
+
+Now, listening, I, Ana, thought that Pharaoh would once more be angry.
+But it was not so, for when he spoke again it was in the voice of one
+who is crushed by grief or weariness.
+
+"Have your will, Son," he said. "Only take with you a great guard of
+soldiers lest these hook-nosed dogs should do you mischief. I trust them
+not, who, like the Hyksos whose blood runs in many of them, were ever
+the foes of Egypt. Did they not conspire with the Ninebow Barbarians
+whom I crushed in the great battle, and do they not now threaten us in
+the name of their outland god? Still, let the writing be prepared and
+I will seal it. And stay. I think, Seti, that you, who were ever
+gentle-natured, have somewhat too soft a heart towards these shepherd
+slaves. Therefore I will not send you alone. Amenmeses your cousin shall
+go with you, but under your command. It is spoken."
+
+"Life! Blood! Strength!" said both Seti and Amenmeses, thus
+acknowledging the king's command.
+
+Now I thought that all was finished. But it was not so, for presently
+Pharaoh said:
+
+"Let the guards withdraw to the end of the hall and with them the
+servants. Let the King's councillors and the officers of the household
+remain."
+
+Instantly all saluted and withdrew out of hearing. I, too, made ready to
+go, but the Prince said to me:
+
+"Stay, that you may take note of what passes."
+
+Pharaoh, watching, saw if he did not hear.
+
+"Who is that man, Son?" he asked.
+
+"He is Ana my private scribe and librarian, O Pharaoh, whom I trust. It
+was he who saved me from harm but last night."
+
+"You say it, Son. Let him remain in attendance on you, knowing that if
+he betrays our council he dies."
+
+Userti looked up frowning as though she were about to speak. If so, she
+changed her mind and was silent, perhaps because Pharaoh's word once
+spoken could not be altered. Bakenkhonsu remained also as a Councillor
+of the King according to his right.
+
+When all had gone Pharaoh, who had been brooding, lifted his head and
+spoke slowly but in the voice of one who gives a judgment that may not
+be questioned, saying:
+
+"Prince Seti, you are my only son born of Queen Ast-Nefert, royal
+Sister, royal Mother, who sleeps in the bosom of Osiris. It is true that
+you are not my first-born son, since the Count Ramessu"--here he pointed
+to a stout mild-faced man of pleasing, rather foolish appearance--"is
+your elder by two years. But, as he knows well, his mother, who is still
+with us, is a Syrian by birth and of no royal blood, and therefore he
+can never sit upon the throne of Egypt. Is it not so, my son Ramessu?"
+
+"It is so, O Pharaoh," answered the Count in a pleasant voice, "not do I
+seek ever to sit upon that throne, who am well content with the
+offices and wealth that Pharaoh has been pleased to confer upon me, his
+first-born."
+
+"Let the words of the Count Ramessu be written down," said Pharaoh, "and
+placed in the temple of Ptah of this city, and in the temples of Ptah
+at Memphis and of Amon at Thebes, that hereafter they may never be
+questioned."
+
+The scribes in attendance wrote down the words and, at a sign from the
+Prince Seti, I also wrote them down, setting the papyrus I had with me
+on my knee. When this was finished Pharaoh went on.
+
+"Therefore, O Prince Seti, you are the heir of Egypt and perhaps, as
+those Hebrew prophets said, will ere long be called upon to sit in my
+place on its throne."
+
+"May the King live for ever!" exclaimed Seti, "for well he knows that I
+do not seek his crown and dignities."
+
+"I do know it well, my son; so well that I wish you thought more of that
+crown and those dignities which, if the gods will, must come to you. If
+they will it not, next in the order of succession stands your cousin,
+the Count Amenmeses, who is also of royal blood both on his father's
+and his mother's side, and after him I know not who, unless it be
+my daughter and your half-sister, the royal Princess Userti, Lady of
+Egypt."
+
+Now Userti spoke, very earnestly, saying:
+
+"O Pharaoh, surely my right in the succession, according to ancient
+precedent, precedes that of my cousin, the Count Amenmeses."
+
+Amenmeses was about to answer, but Pharaoh lifted his hand and he was
+silent.
+
+"It is matter for those learned in such lore to discuss," Meneptah
+replied in a somewhat hesitating voice. "I pray the gods that it may
+never be needful that this high question should be considered in the
+Council. Nevertheless, let the words of the royal Princess be written
+down. Now, Prince Seti," he went on when this had been done, "you are
+still unmarried, and if you have children they are not royal."
+
+"I have none, O Pharaoh," said Seti.
+
+"Is it so?" answered Meneptah indifferently. "The Count Amenmeses has
+children I know, for I have seen them, but by his wife Unuri, who also
+is of the royal line, he has none."
+
+Here I heard Amenmeses mutter, "Being my aunt that is not strange," a
+saying at which Seti smiled.
+
+"My daughter, the Princess, is also unmarried. So it seems that the
+fountain of the royal blood is running dry----"
+
+"Now it is coming," whispered Seti below his breath so that only I could
+hear.
+
+"Therefore," continued Pharaoh, "as you know, Prince Seti, for the royal
+Princess of Egypt by my command went to speak to you of this matter last
+night, I make a decree----"
+
+"Pardon, O Pharaoh," interrupted the Prince, "my sister spoke to me
+of no decree last night, save that I should attend at the court here
+to-day."
+
+"Because I could not, Seti, seeing that another was present with you
+whom you refused to dismiss," and she let her eyes rest on me.
+
+"It matters not," said Pharaoh, "since now I will utter it with my own
+lips which perhaps is better. It is my will, Prince, that you forthwith
+wed the royal Princess Userti, that children of the true blood of the
+Ramessides may be born. Hear and obey."
+
+Now Userti shifted her eyes from me to Seti, watching him very closely.
+Seated at his side upon the ground with my writing roll spread across my
+knee, I, too, watched him closely, and noted that his lips turned white
+and his face grew fixed and strange.
+
+"I hear the command of Pharaoh," he said in a low voice making
+obeisance, and hesitated.
+
+"Have you aught to add?" asked Meneptah sharply.
+
+"Only, O Pharaoh, that though this would be a marriage decreed for
+reasons of the State, still there is a lady who must be given in
+marriage, and she my half-sister who heretofore has only loved me as
+a relative. Therefore, I would know from her lips if it is her will to
+take me as a husband."
+
+Now all looked at Userti who replied in a cold voice:
+
+"In this matter, Prince, as in all others I have no will but that of
+Pharaoh."
+
+"You have heard," interrupted Meneptah impatiently, "and as in our House
+it has always been the custom for kin to marry kin, why should it not
+be her will? Also, who else should she marry? Amenmeses is already wed.
+There remains only Saptah his brother who is younger than herself----"
+
+"So am I," murmured Seti, "by two long years," but happily Userti did
+not hear him.
+
+"Nay, my father," she said with decision, "never will I take a deformed
+man to husband."
+
+Now from the shadow on the further side of the throne, where I could
+not see him, there hobbled forward a young noble, short in stature,
+light-haired like Seti, and with a sharp, clever face which put me in
+mind of that of a jackal (indeed for this reason he was named Thoth by
+the common people, after the jackal-headed god). He was very angry, for
+his cheeks were flushed and his small eyes flashed.
+
+"Must I listen, Pharaoh," he said in a little voice, "while my cousin
+the Royal Princess reproaches me in public for my lame foot, which I
+have because my nurse let me fall when I was still in arms?"
+
+"Then his nurse let his grandfather fall also, for he too was
+club-footed, as I who have seen him naked in his cradle can bear
+witness," whispered old Bakenkhonsu.
+
+"It seems so, Count Saptah, unless you stop your ears," replied Pharaoh.
+
+"She says she will not marry me," went on Saptah, "me who from childhood
+have been a slave to her and to no other woman."
+
+"Not by my wish, Saptah. Indeed, I pray you to go and be a slave to any
+woman whom you will," exclaimed Userti.
+
+"But I say," continued Saptah, "that one day she shall marry me, for the
+Prince Seti will not live for ever."
+
+"How do you know that, Cousin?" asked Seti. "The High-priest here will
+tell you a different story."
+
+Now certain of those present turned their heads away to hide the smile
+upon their faces. Yet on this day some god spoke with Saptah's voice
+making him a prophet, since in a year to come she did marry him, in
+order that she might stay upon the throne at a time of trouble when
+Egypt would not suffer that a woman should have sole rule over the land.
+
+But Pharaoh did not smile like the courtiers; indeed he grew angry.
+
+"Peace, Saptah!" he said. "Who are you that wrangle before me, talking
+of the death of kings and saying that you will wed the Royal princess?
+One more such word and you shall be driven into banishment. Hearken
+now. Almost am I minded to declare my daughter, the Royal Princess, sole
+heiress to the throne, seeing that in her there is more strength and
+wisdom than in any other of our House."
+
+"If such be Pharaoh's will, let Pharaoh's will be done," said Seti most
+humbly. "Well I know my own unworthiness to fill so high a station,
+and by all the gods I swear that my beloved sister will find no more
+faithful subject than myself."
+
+"You mean, Seti," interrupted Userti, "that rather than marry me you
+would abandon your right to the double crown. Truly I am honoured. Seti,
+whether you reign or I, I will not marry you."
+
+"What words are these I hear?" cried Meneptah. "Is there indeed one
+in this land of Egypt who dares to say that Pharaoh's decree shall
+be disobeyed? Write it down, Scribes, and you, O Officers, let it be
+proclaimed from Thebes to the sea, that on the third day from now at the
+hour of noon in the temple of Hathor in this city, the Prince, the
+Royal Heir, Seti Meneptah, Beloved of Ra, will wed the Royal Princess
+of Egypt, Lily of Love, Beloved of Hathor, Userti, Daughter of me, the
+god."
+
+"Life! Blood! Strength!" called all the Court.
+
+Then, guided by some high officer, the Prince Seti was led before the
+throne and the Princess Userti was set beside him, or rather facing him.
+According to the ancient custom a great gold cup was brought and filled
+with red wine, to me it looked like blood. Userti took the cup and,
+kneeling, gave it to the Prince, who drank and gave it back to her that
+she might also drink in solemn token of their betrothal. Is not the
+scene graven on the broad bracelets of gold which in after days Seti
+wore when he sat upon the throne, those same bracelets that at a future
+time I with my own hands clasped about the wrists of dead Userti?
+
+Then he stretched out his hand which she touched with her lips, and
+bending down he kissed her on the brow. Lastly, Pharaoh, descending to
+the lowest step of the throne, laid his sceptre, first upon the head of
+the Prince, and next upon that of the Princess, blessing them both in
+the name of himself, of his Ka or Double, and of the spirits and Kas of
+all their forefathers, kings and queens of Egypt, thus appointing them
+to come after him when he had been gathered to the bosom of the gods.
+
+These things done, he departed in state, surrounded by his court,
+preceded and followed by his guards and leaning on the arm of the
+Princess Userti, whom he loved better than anyone in the world.
+
+A while later I stood alone with the Prince in his private chamber,
+where I had first seen him.
+
+"That is finished," he said in a cheerful voice, "and I tell you, Ana,
+that I feel quite, quite happy. Have you ever shivered upon the bank
+of a river of a winter morning, fearing to enter, and yet, when you did
+enter, have you not been pleased to find that the icy water refreshed
+you and made you not cold but hot?"
+
+"Yes, Prince. It is when one comes out of the water, if the wind blows
+and no sun shines, that one feels colder than before."
+
+"True, Ana, and therefore one must not come out. One should stop there
+till one--drowns or is eaten by a crocodile. But, say, did I do it
+well?"
+
+"Old Bakenkhonsu told me, Prince, that he had been present at many royal
+betrothals, I think he said eleven, and had never seen one conducted
+with more grace. He added that the way in which you kissed the brow
+of her Highness was perfect, as was all your demeanour after the first
+argument."
+
+"And so it would remain, Ana, if I were never called upon to do more
+than kiss her brow, to which I have been accustomed from boyhood.
+Oh! Ana, Ana," he added in a kind of cry, "already you are becoming a
+courtier like the rest of them, a courtier who cannot speak the truth.
+Well, nor can I, so why should I blame you? Tell me again all about your
+marriage, Ana, of how it began and how it ended."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE PROPHECY
+
+Whether or no the Prince Seti saw Userti again before the hour of his
+marriage with her I cannot say, because he never told me. Indeed I was
+not present at the marriage, for the reason that I had been granted
+leave to return to Memphis, there to settle my affairs and sell my house
+on entering upon my appointment as private scribe to his Highness. Thus
+it came about that fourteen full days went by from that of the holding
+of the Court of Betrothal before I found myself standing once more at
+the gate of the Prince's palace, attended by a servant who led an ass
+on which were laden all my manuscripts and certain possessions that had
+descended to me from my ancestors with the title-deeds of their tombs.
+Different indeed was my reception on this my second coming. Even as I
+reached the steps the old chamberlain Pambasa appeared, running down
+them so fast that his white robes and beard streamed upon the air.
+
+"Greeting, most learned scribe, most honourable Ana," he panted. "Glad
+indeed am I to see you, since very hour his Highness asks if you have
+returned, and blames me because you have not come. Verily I believe that
+if you had stayed upon the road another day I should have been sent
+to look for you, who have had sharp words said to me because I did not
+arrange that you should be accompanied by a guard, as though the Vizier
+Nehesi would have paid the costs of a guard without the direct order
+of Pharaoh. O most excellent Ana, give me of the charm which you have
+doubtless used to win the love of our royal master, and I will pay you
+well for it who find it easier to earn his wrath."
+
+"I will, Pambasa. Here it is--write better stories than I do instead of
+telling them, and he will love you more than he does me. But say--how
+went the marriage? I have heard upon the way that it was very splendid."
+
+"Splendid! Oh! it was ten times more than splendid. It was as though the
+god Osiris were once more wed to the goddess Isis in the very halls of
+heaven. Indeed his Highness, the bridegroom, was dressed as a god, yes,
+he wore the robes and the holy ornaments of Amon. And the procession!
+And the feast that Pharaoh gave! I tell you that the Prince was so
+overcome with joy and all this weight of glory that, before it was over,
+looking at him I saw that his eyes were closed, being dazzled by the
+gleam of gold and jewels and the loveliness of his royal bride. He told
+me that it was so himself, fearing perhaps lest I should have thought
+that he was asleep. Then there were the presents, something to everyone
+of us according to his degree. I got--well it matters not. And, learned
+Ana, I did not forget you. Knowing well that everything would be gone
+before you returned I spoke your name in the ear of his Highness,
+offering to keep your gift."
+
+"Indeed, Pambasa, and what did he say?"
+
+"He said that he was keeping it himself. When I stared wondering what it
+might be, for I saw nothing on him, he added, 'It is here,' and touched
+the private signet guard that he has always worn, an ancient ring of
+gold, but of no great value I should say, with 'Beloved of Thoth and of
+the King' cut upon it. It seems that he must take it off to make room
+for another and much finer ring which her Highness has given him."
+
+Now, by this time, the ass having been unloaded by the slaves and led
+away, we had passed through the hall where many were idling as ever, and
+were come to the private apartments of the palace.
+
+"This way," said Pambasa. "The orders are that I am to take you to
+the Prince wherever he may be, and just now he is seated in the great
+apartment with her Highness, where they have been receiving homage and
+deputations from distant cities. The last left about half an hour ago."
+
+"First I will prepare myself, worthy Pambasa," I began.
+
+"No, no, the orders are instant, I dare not disobey them. Enter," and
+with a courtly flourish he drew a rich curtain.
+
+"By Amon," exclaimed a weary voice which I knew as that of the Prince,
+"here come more councillors or priests. Prepare, my sister, prepare!"
+
+"I pray you, Seti," answered another voice, that of Userti, "to learn to
+call me by my right name, which is no longer sister. Nor, indeed, am I
+your full sister."
+
+"I crave your pardon," said Seti. "Prepare, Royal Wife, prepare!"
+
+By now the curtain was fully drawn and I stood, travel-stained, forlorn
+and, to tell the truth, trembling a little, for I feared her Highness,
+in the doorway, hesitating to pass the threshold. Beyond was a splendid
+chamber full of light, in the centre of which upon a carven and golden
+chair, one of two that were set there, sat her Highness magnificently
+apparelled, faultlessly beautiful and calm. She was engaged in studying
+a painted roll, left no doubt by the last deputation, for others similar
+to it were laid neatly side by side upon a table.
+
+The second chair was empty, for the Prince was walking restlessly up and
+down the chamber, his ceremonial robe somewhat disarrayed and the uraeus
+circlet of gold which he wore, tilted back upon his head, because of his
+habit of running his fingers through his brown hair. As I still stood in
+the dark shadow, for Pambasa had left me, and thus remained unseen, the
+talk went on.
+
+"I am prepared, Husband. Pardon me, it is you who look otherwise. Why
+would you dismiss the scribes and the household before the ceremony was
+ended?"
+
+"Because they wearied me," said Seti, "with their continual bowing and
+praising and formalities."
+
+"In which I saw nothing unusual. Now they must be recalled."
+
+"Let whoever it is enter," he exclaimed.
+
+Then I stepped forward into the light, prostrating myself.
+
+"Why," he cried, "it is Ana returned from Memphis! Draw near, Ana, and
+a thousand welcomes to you. Do you know I thought that you were another
+high-priest, or governor of some Nome of which I had never heard."
+
+"Ana! Who is Ana?" asked the Princess. "Oh! I remember that scribe----.
+Well, it is plain that he has returned from Memphis," and she eyed my
+dusty robe.
+
+"Royal One," I murmured abashed, "do not blame me that I enter your
+presence thus. Pambasa led me here against my will by the direct order
+of the Prince."
+
+"Is it so? Say, Seti, does this man bring tidings of import from Memphis
+that you needed his presence in such haste?"
+
+"Yes, Userti, at least I think so. You have the writings safe, have you
+not, Ana?"
+
+"Quite safe, your Highness," I answered, though I knew not of what
+writings he spoke, unless they were the manuscripts of my stories.
+
+"Then, my Lord, I will leave you to talk of the tidings from Memphis and
+these writings," said the Princess.
+
+"Yes, yes. We must talk of them, Userti. Also of the journey to the land
+of Goshen on which Ana starts with me to-morrow."
+
+"To-morrow! Why this morning you told me it was fixed for three days
+hence."
+
+"Did I, Sister--I mean Wife? If so, it was because I was not sure
+whether Ana, who is to be my chariot companion, would be back."
+
+"A scribe your chariot companion! Surely it would be more fitting that
+your cousin Amenmeses----"
+
+"To Set with Amenmeses!" he exclaimed. "You know well, Userti, that the
+man is hateful to me with his cunning yet empty talk."
+
+"Indeed! I grieve to hear it, for when you hate you show it, and
+Amenmeses may be a bad enemy. Then if not our cousin Amenmeses who is
+not hateful to me, there is Saptah."
+
+"I thank you; I will not travel in a cage with a jackal."
+
+"Jackal! I do not love Saptah, but one of the royal blood of Egypt a
+jackal! Then there is Nehesi the Vizier, or the General of the escort
+whose name I forget."
+
+"Do you think, Userti, that I wish to talk about state economies with
+that old money-sack, or to listen to boastings of deeds he never did in
+war from a half-bred Nubian butcher?"
+
+"I do not know, Husband. Yet of what will you talk with this Ana? Of
+poems, I suppose, and silliness. Or will it be perchance of Merapi, Moon
+of Israel, whom I gather both of you think so beautiful. Well, have your
+way. You tell me that I am not to accompany you upon this journey, I
+your new-made wife, and now I find that it is because you wish my place
+to be filled by a writer of tales whom you picked up the other day--your
+'twin in Ra' forsooth! Fare you well, my Lord," and she rose from her
+seat, gathering up her robes with both hands.
+
+Then Seti grew angry.
+
+"Userti," he said, stamping upon the floor, "you should not use such
+words. You know well that I do not take you with me because there may be
+danger yonder among the Hebrews. Moreover, it is not Pharaoh's wish."
+
+She turned and answered with cold courtesy:
+
+"Then I crave your pardon and thank you for your kind thought for
+the safety of my person. I knew not this mission was so dangerous. Be
+careful, Seti, that the scribe Ana comes to no harm."
+
+So saying she bowed and vanished through the curtains.
+
+"Ana," said Seti, "tell me, for I never was quick at figures, how many
+minutes is it from now till the fourth hour to-morrow morning when I
+shall order my chariot to be ready? Also, do you know whether it is
+possible to travel from Goshen across the marshes and to return by
+Syria? Or, failing that, to travel across the desert to Thebes and sail
+down the Nile in the spring?"
+
+"Oh! my Prince, my Prince," I said, "I pray you to dismiss me. Let me go
+anywhere out of the reach of her Highness's tongue."
+
+"It is strange how alike we think upon every matter, Ana, even of Merapi
+and the tongues of royal ladies. Hearken to my command. You are not to
+go. If it is a question of going, there are others who will go first.
+Moreover, you cannot go, but must stay and bear your burdens as I bear
+mine. Remember the broken cup, Ana."
+
+"I remember, my Prince, but sooner would I be scourged with rods than by
+such words as those to which I must listen."
+
+Yet that very night, when I had left the Prince, I was destined to hear
+more pleasant words from this same changeful, or perchance politic,
+royal lady. She sent for me and I went, much afraid. I found her in a
+small chamber alone, save for one old lady of honour who sat the end of
+the room and appeared to be deaf, which perhaps was why she was chosen.
+Userti bade me be seated before her very courteously, and spoke to me
+thus, whether because of some talk she had held with the Prince or not,
+I do not know.
+
+"Scribe Ana, I ask your pardon if, being vexed and wearied, I said to
+you and of you to-day what I now wish I had left unsaid. I know well
+that you, being of the gentle blood of Egypt, will make no report of
+what you heard outside these walls."
+
+"May my tongue be cut out first," I answered.
+
+"It seems, Scribe Ana, that my lord the Prince has taken a great love of
+you. How or why this came about so suddenly, you being a man, I do not
+understand, but I am sure that as it is so, it must be because there
+is much in you to love, since never did I know the Prince to show deep
+regard for one who was not most honourable and worthy. Now things being
+so, it is plain that you will become the favourite of his Highness, a
+man who does not change his mind in such matters, and that he will
+tell you all his secret thoughts, perhaps some that he hides from the
+Councillors of State, or even from me. In short you will grow into
+a power in the land and perhaps one day be the greatest in it--after
+Pharaoh--although you may still seem to be but a private scribe.
+
+"I do not pretend to you that I should have wished this to be so, who
+would rather that my husband had but one real councillor--myself. Yet
+seeing that it is so, I bow my head, hoping that it may be decreed for
+the best. If ever any jealousy should overcome me in this matter and
+I should speak sharply to you, as I did to-day, I ask your pardon in
+advance for that which has not happened, as I have asked it for that
+which has happened. I pray of you, Scribe Ana, that you will do your
+best to influence the mind of the Prince for good, since he is easily
+led by any whom he loves. I pray you also being quick and thoughtful,
+as I see you are, that you will make a study of statecraft, and of
+the policies of our royal House, coming to me, if it be needful, for
+instruction therein, so that you may be able to guide the feet of the
+Prince aright, should he turn to you for counsel."
+
+"All of this I will do, your Highness, if by any chance it lies in my
+power, though who am I that I should hope to make a path for the feet of
+kings? Moreover, I would add this, although he is so gentle-natured, I
+think that in the end the Prince is one who will always choose his own
+path."
+
+"It may be so Ana. At the least I thank you. I pray you to be sure also
+that in me you will always have a friend and not an enemy, although at
+times the quickness of my nature, which has never been controlled, may
+lead you to think otherwise. Now I will say one more thing that shall
+be secret between us. I know that the Prince loves me as a friend and
+relative rather than as a wife, and that he would not have sought this
+marriage of himself, as is perhaps natural. I know, too, that other
+women will come into his life, though these may be fewer than in the
+case of most kings, because he is more hard to please. Of such I cannot
+complain, as this is according to the customs of our country. I fear
+only one thing--namely that some woman, ceasing to be his toy, may take
+Seti's heart and make him altogether hers. In this matter, Scribe Ana,
+as in others I ask your help, since I would be queen of Egypt in all
+ways, not in name only."
+
+"Your Highness, how can I say to the Prince--'So much shall you love
+this or that woman and no more?' Moreover, why do you fear that which
+has not and may never come about?"
+
+"I do not know how you can say such a thing, Scribe, still I ask you to
+say it if you can. As to why I fear, it is because I seem to feel the
+near shadow of some woman lying cold upon me and building a wall of
+blackness between his Highness and myself."
+
+"It is but a dream, Princess."
+
+"Mayhap. I hope so. Yet I think otherwise. Oh! Ana, cannot you, who
+study the hearts of men and women, understand my case? I have married
+where I can never hope to be loved as other women are, I who am a wife,
+yet not a wife. I read your thought; it is--why then did you marry?
+Since I have told you so much I will tell you that also. First, it is
+because the Prince is different to other men and in his own fashion
+above them, yes, far above any with whom I could have wed as royal
+heiress of Egypt. Secondly, because being cut off from love, what
+remains to me but ambition? At least I would be a great queen, as was
+Hatshepu in her day, and lift my country out of the many troubles in
+which it is sunk and write my name large upon the books of history,
+which I could only do by taking Pharaoh's heir to husband, as is my
+duty."
+
+She brooded a while, then added, "Now I have shown you all my thought.
+Whether I have been wise to do so the gods know alone and time will tell
+me."
+
+"Princess," I said, "I thank you for trusting me and I will help you if
+I may. Yet I am troubled. I, a humble man if of good blood, who a
+little while ago was but a scribe and a student, a dreamer who had
+known trouble also, have suddenly by chance, or some divine decree, been
+lifted high in the favour of the heir of Egypt, and it would seem have
+even won your trust. Now I wonder how I shall bear myself in this new
+place which in truth I never sought."
+
+"I do not know, who find the present and its troubles enough to carry.
+But, doubtless, the decree of which you speak that set you there has
+also written down what will be the end of all. Meanwhile, I have a gift
+for you. Say, Scribe, have you ever handled any weapon besides a pen?"
+
+"Yes, your Highness, as a lad I was skilled in sword play. Moreover,
+though I do not love war and bloodshed, some years ago I fought in the
+great battle between the Ninebow Barbarians, when Pharaoh called upon
+the young men of Memphis to do their part. With my own hands I slew two
+in fair fight, though one nearly brought me to my end," and I pointed
+to a scar which showed red through my grey hair where a spear had bitten
+deep.
+
+"It is well, or so I think, who love soldiers better than stainers of
+papyrus pith."
+
+Then, going to a painted chest of reeds, she took from it a wonderful
+shirt of mail fashioned of bronze rings, and a short sword also of
+bronze, having a golden hilt of which the end was shaped to the likeness
+of the head of a lion, and with her own hands gave them to me, saying:
+
+"These are spoils that my grandsire, the great Rameses, took in his
+youth from a prince of the Khitah, whom he smote with his own hands in
+Syria in that battle whereof your grandfather made the poem. Wear the
+shirt, which no spear will pierce, beneath your robe and gird the sword
+about you when you go down yonder among the Israelites, whom I do not
+trust. I have given a like coat to the Prince. Let it be your duty to
+see that it is upon his sacred person day and night. Let it be your
+duty also, if need arises, with this sword to defend him to the death.
+Farewell."
+
+"May all the gods reject me from the Fields of the Blessed if I fail in
+this trust," I answered, and departed wondering, to seek sleep which, as
+it chanced, I was not to find for a while.
+
+For as I went down the corridor, led by one of the ladies of the
+household, whom should I find waiting at the end of it but old Pambasa
+to inform me with many bows that the Prince needed my presence. I asked
+how that could be seeing he had dismissed me for the night. He replied
+that he did not know, but he was commanded to conduct me to the private
+chamber, the same room in which I had first seen his Highness. Thither I
+went and found him warming himself at the fire, for the night was cold.
+Looking up he bade Pambasa admit those who were waiting, then noting the
+shirt of mail and the sword I carried in my hand, said:
+
+"You have been with the Princess, have you not, and she must have had
+much to say to you for your talk was long? Well, I think I can guess its
+purport who from a child have known her mind. She told you to watch me
+well, body and heart and all that comes from the heart--oh! and much
+else. Also she gave you that Syrian gear to wear among the Hebrews as
+she has given the like to me, being of a careful mind which foresees
+everything. Now, hearken, Ana; I grieve to keep you from your rest, who
+must be weary both with talk and travel. But old Bakenkhonsu, whom you
+know, waits without, and with him Ki the great magician, whom I think
+you have not seen. He is a man of wonderful lore and in some ways not
+altogether human. At least he does strange feats of magic, and at times
+both the past and the future seem to be open to his sight, though as we
+know neither the one nor the other, who can tell whether he reads them
+truly. Doubtless he has, or thinks he has, some message to me from the
+heavens, which I thought you might wish to hear."
+
+"I wish it much, Prince, if I am worthy, and you will protect me from
+the anger of this magician whom I fear."
+
+"Anger sometimes turns to trust, Ana. Did you not find it so just now
+in the case of her Highness, as I told you might very well happen? Hush!
+They come. Be seated and prepare your tablets to make record of what
+they say."
+
+The curtains were drawn and through them came the aged Bakenkhonsu
+leaning upon his staff, and with him another man, Ki himself, clad in a
+white robe and having his head shaven, for he was an hereditary priest
+of Amon of Thebes and an initiate of Isis, Mother of Mysteries. Also his
+office was that of Kherheb, or chief magician of Egypt. At first sight
+there was nothing strange about this man. Indeed, he might well have
+been a middle-aged merchant by his looks; in body he was short and
+stout; in face fat and smiling. But in this jovial countenance were set
+two very strange eyes, grey-hued rather than black. While the rest of
+the face seemed to smile these eyes looked straight into nothingness as
+do those of a statue. Indeed they were like to the eyes or rather the
+eye-places of a stone statue, so deeply were they set into the head. For
+my part I can only say I thought them awful, and by their look judged
+that whatever Ki might be he was no cheat.
+
+This strange pair bowed to the Prince and seated themselves at a sign
+from him, Bakenkhonsu upon a stool because he found it difficult to
+rise, and Ki, who was younger, scribe fashion on the ground.
+
+"What did I tell you, Bakenkhonsu?" said Ki in a full, rich voice,
+ending the words with a curious chuckle.
+
+"You told me, Magician, that we should find the Prince in this chamber
+of which you described every detail to me as I see it now, although
+neither of us have entered it before. You said also that seated therein
+on the ground would be the scribe Ana, whom I know but you do not,
+having in his hands waxen tablets and a stylus and by him a coat of
+curious mail and a lion-hilted sword."
+
+"That is strange," interrupted the Prince, "but forgive me, Bakenkhonsu
+sees these things. If you, O Ki, would tell us what is written upon
+Ana's tablets which neither of you can see, it would be stranger still,
+that is if anything is written."
+
+Ki smiled and stared upwards at the ceiling. Presently he said:
+
+"The scribe Ana uses a shorthand of his own that is not easy to
+decipher. Yet I see written on the tablets the price he obtained for
+some house in a city that is not named--it is so much. Also I see the
+sums he disbursed for himself, a servant, and the food of an ass at two
+inns where he stopped upon a journey. They are so much and so much. Also
+there is a list of papyrus rolls and the words, 'blue cloak,' and then
+an erasure."
+
+"Is that right, Ana?" asked the Prince.
+
+"Quite right," I answered with awe, "only the words 'blue cloak,' which
+it is true I wrote upon the tablet, have also been erased."
+
+Ki chuckled and turned his eyes from the ceiling to my face.
+
+"Would your Highness wish me to tell you anything of what is written
+upon the tablets of this scribe's memory as well as upon those of wax
+which he holds in his hand? They are easier to decipher than the others
+and I see on them many things of interest. For instance, secret words
+that seem to have been said to him by some Great One within an hour,
+matters of high policy, I think. For instance, a certain saying, I think
+of your Highness's, as to shivering upon the edge of water on a cold
+day, which when entered produced heat, and the answer thereto. For
+instance, words that were spoken in this palace when an alabaster cup
+was broke. By the way, Scribe, that was a very good place you chose in
+which to hide one half of the cup in the false bottom of a chest in your
+chamber, a chest that is fastened with a cord and sealed with a scarab
+of the time of the second Rameses. I think that the other half of the
+cup is somewhat nearer at hand," and turning, he stared at the wall
+where I could see nothing save slabs of alabaster.
+
+Now I sat open-mouthed, for how could this man know these things, and
+the Prince laughed outright, saying:
+
+"Ana, I begin to think you keep your counsel ill. At least I should
+think so, were it not that you have had no time to tell what the
+Princess yonder may have said to you, and can scarcely know the trick of
+the sliding panel in that wall which I have never shown to you."
+
+Ki chuckled again and a smile grew on old Bakenkhonsu's broad and
+wrinkled face.
+
+"O Prince," I began, "I swear to you that never has one word passed my
+lips of aught----"
+
+"I know it, friend," broke in the Prince, "but it seems there are some
+who do not wait for words but can read the Book of Thought. Therefore it
+is not well to meet them too often, since all have thoughts that should
+be known only to them and God. Magician, what is your business with me?
+Speak on as though we were alone."
+
+"This, Prince. You go upon a journey among the Hebrews, as all have
+heard. Now, Bakenkhonsu and I, also two seers of my College, seeing that
+we all love you and that your welfare is much to Egypt, have separately
+sought out the future as regards the issue of this journey. Although
+what we have learned differs in some matters, on others it is the same.
+Therefore we thought it our duty to tell you what we have learned."
+
+"Say on, Kherheb."
+
+"First, then, that your Highness's life will be in danger."
+
+"Life is always in danger, Ki. Shall I lose it? If so, do not fear to
+tell me."
+
+"We do not know, but we think not, because of the rest that is revealed
+to us. We learn that it is not your body only that will be in danger.
+Upon this journey you will see a woman whom you will come to love. This
+woman will, we think, bring you much sorrow and also much joy."
+
+"Then perhaps the journey is worth making, Ki, since many travel far
+before they find aught they can love. Tell me, have I met this woman?"
+
+"There we are troubled, Prince, for it would seem--unless we are
+deceived--that you have met her often and often; that you have known
+her for thousands of years, as you have known that man at your side for
+thousands of years."
+
+Seti's face grew very interested.
+
+"What do you mean, Magician?" he asked, eyeing him keenly. "How can I
+who am still young have known a woman and a man for thousands of years?"
+
+Ki considered him with his strange eyes, and answered:
+
+"You have many titles, Prince. Is not one of them 'Lord of Rebirths,'
+and if so, how did you get it and what does it mean?"
+
+"It is. What it means I do not know, but it was given to me because of
+some dream that my mother had the night before I was born. Do _you_ tell
+_me_ what it means, since you seem to know so much."
+
+"I cannot, Prince. The secret is not one that has been shown to me. Yet
+there was an aged man, a magician like myself from whom I learned much
+in my youth--Bakenkhonsu knew him well--who made a study of this matter.
+He told me he was sure, because it had been revealed to him, that men
+do not live once only and then depart hence for ever. He said that they
+live many times and in many shapes, though not always on this world, and
+that between each life there is a wall of darkness."
+
+"If so, of what use are lives which we do not remember after death has
+shut the door of each of them?"
+
+"The doors may open again at last, Prince, and show us all the chambers
+through which our feet have wandered from the beginning."
+
+"Our religion teaches us, Ki, that after death we live eternally
+elsewhere in our own bodies, which we find again on the day of
+resurrection. Now eternity, having no end, can have no beginning; it is
+a circle. Therefore if the one be true, namely that we live on, it would
+seem that the other must be true, namely that we have always lived."
+
+"That is well reasoned, Prince. In the early days, before the priests
+froze the thought of man into blocks of stone and built of them shrines
+to a thousand gods, many held that this reasoning was true, as then they
+held that there was but one god."
+
+"As do these Israelites whom I go to visit. What say you of their god,
+Ki?"
+
+"That _he_ is the same as our gods, Prince. To men's eyes God has many
+faces, and each swears that the one he sees is the only true god. Yet
+they are wrong, for all are true."
+
+"Or perchance false, Ki, unless even falsehood is a part of truth. Well,
+you have told me of two dangers, one to my body and one to my heart. Has
+any other been revealed to your wisdom?"
+
+"Yes, Prince. The third is that this journey may in the end cost you
+your throne."
+
+"If I die certainly it will cost me my throne."
+
+"No, Prince, if you live."
+
+"Even so, Ki, I think that I could endure life seated more humbly than
+on a throne, though whether her Highness could endure it is another
+matter. Then you say that if I go upon this journey another will be
+Pharaoh in my place."
+
+"We do not say that, Prince. It is true that our arts have shown us
+another filling your place in a time of wizardry and wonders and of the
+death of thousands. Yet when we look again we see not that other but you
+once more filling your own place."
+
+Here I, Ana, bethought me of my vision in Pharaoh's hall.
+
+"The matter is even worse than I thought, Ki, since having once left
+the crown behind me, I think that I should have no wish to wear it any
+more," said Seti. "Who shows you all these things, and how?"
+
+"Our _Kas_, which are our secret selves, show them to us, Prince, and in
+many ways. Sometimes it is by dreams or visions, sometimes by pictures
+on water, sometimes by writings in the desert sand. In all these
+fashions, and by others, our _Kas_, drawing from the infinite well of
+wisdom that is hidden in the being of every man, give us glimpses of the
+truth, as they give us who are instructed power to work marvels."
+
+"Of the truth. Then these things you tell me are true?"
+
+"We believe so, Prince."
+
+"Then being true must happen. So what is the use of your warning me
+against what must happen? There cannot be two truths. What would you
+have me do? Not go upon this journey? Why have you told me that I must
+not go, since if I did not go the truth would become a lie, which it
+cannot? You say it is fated that I should go and because I go such and
+such things will come about. And yet you tell me not to go, for that is
+what you mean. Oh! Kherheb Ki and Bakenkhonsu, doubtless you are great
+magicians and strong in wisdom, but there are greater than you who rule
+the world, and there is a wisdom to which yours is but as a drop of
+water to the Nile. I thank you for your warnings, but to-morrow I go
+down to the land of Goshen to fulfil the commands of Pharaoh. If I come
+back again we will talk more of these matters here upon the earth. If I
+do not come back, perchance we will talk of them elsewhere. Farewell."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE LAND OF GOSHEN
+
+The Prince Seti and all his train, a very great company, came in safety
+to the land of Goshen, I, Ana, travelling with him in his chariot. It
+was then as now a rich land, quite flat after the last line of desert
+hills through which we travelled by a narrow, tortuous path. Everywhere
+it was watered by canals, between which lay the grain fields wherein the
+seed had just been sown. Also there were other fields of green fodder
+whereon were tethered beasts by the hundred, and beyond these, upon the
+drier soil, grazed flocks of sheep. The town Goshen, if so it could
+be called, was but a poor place, numbers of mud huts, no more, in the
+centre of which stood a building, also of mud, with two brick pillars in
+front of it, that we were told was the temple of this people, into the
+inner parts of which none might enter save their High-priest. I laughed
+at the sight of it, but the Prince reproved me, saying that I should not
+judge the spirit by the body, or of the god by his house.
+
+We camped outside this town and soon learned that the people who dwelt
+in it or elsewhere in other towns must be numbered by the ten thousand,
+for more of them than I could count wandered round the camp to look at
+us. The men were fierce-eyed and hook-nosed; the young women well-shaped
+and pleasant to behold; the older women for the most part stout and
+somewhat unwieldy, and the children very beautiful. All were roughly
+clad in robes of loosely-woven, dark-coloured cloth, beneath which the
+women wore garments of white linen. Notwithstanding the wealth we
+saw about us in corn and cattle, their ornaments seemed to be few, or
+perhaps these were hidden from our sight.
+
+It was easy to see that they hated us Egyptians, and even dared to
+despise us. Hate shone in their glittering eyes, and I heard them
+calling us the 'idol-worshippers' one to the other, and asking where was
+our god, the Bull, for being ignorant they thought that we worshipped
+Apis (as mayhap some of the common people do) instead of looking upon
+the sacred beast as a symbol of the powers of Nature. Indeed they did
+more, for on the first night after our coming they slaughtered a bull
+marked much as Apis is, and in the morning we found it lying near the
+gate of the camp, and pinned to its hide with sharp thorns great numbers
+of the scarabaeus beetle still living. For again they did not know that
+among us Egyptians this beetle is no god but an emblem of the Creator,
+because it rolls a ball of mud between its feet and sets therein its
+eggs to hatch, as the Creator rolls the world that seems to be round,
+and causes it to produce life.
+
+Now all were angry at these insults except the Prince, who laughed
+and said that he thought the jest coarse but clever. But worse was to
+happen. It seems that a soldier with wine in him had done insult to a
+Hebrew maiden who came alone to draw water at a canal. The news spread
+among the people and some thousands of them rushed to the camp, shouting
+and demanding vengeance in so threatening a manner that it was necessary
+to form up the regiments of guards.
+
+The Prince being summoned commanded that the girl and her kin should be
+admitted and state their case. She came, weeping and wailing and tearing
+her garments, throwing dust on her head also, though it appeared that
+she had taken no great harm from the soldier from whom she ran away. The
+Prince bade her point out the man if she could see him, and she showed
+us one of the bodyguard of the Count Amenmeses, whose face was scratched
+as though by a woman's nails. On being questioned he said he could
+remember little of the matter, but confessed that he had seen the maiden
+by the canal at moonrise and jested with her.
+
+The kin of this girl clamoured that he should be killed, because he had
+offered insult to a high-born lady of Israel. This Seti refused, saying
+that the offence was not one of death, but that he would order him to
+be publicly beaten. Thereupon Amenmeses, who was fond of the soldier, a
+good man enough when not in his cups, sprang up in a rage, saying that
+no servant of his should be touched because he had offered to caress
+some light Israelitish woman who had no business to be wandering about
+alone at night. He added that if the man were flogged he and all those
+under his command would leave the camp and march back to make report to
+Pharaoh.
+
+Now the Prince, having consulted with the councillors, told the woman
+and her kin that as Pharaoh had been appealed to, he must judge of the
+matter, and commanded them to appear at his court within a month and
+state their case against the soldier. They went away very ill-satisfied,
+saying that Amenmeses had insulted their daughter even more than his
+servant had done. The end of this matter was that on the following night
+this soldier was discovered dead, pierced through and through with knife
+thrusts. The girl, her parents and brethren could not be found, having
+fled away into the desert, nor was there any evidence to show by whom
+the soldier had been murdered. Therefore nothing could be done in the
+business except bury the victim.
+
+On the following morning the Inquiry began with due ceremony, the Prince
+Seti and the Count Amenmeses taking their seats at the head of a large
+pavilion with the councillors behind them and the scribes, among whom I
+was, seated at their feet. Then we learned that the two prophets whom I
+had seen at Pharaoh's court were not in the land of Goshen, having left
+before we arrived "to sacrifice to God in the wilderness," nor did any
+know when they would return. Other elders and priests, however, appeared
+and began to set out their case, which they did at great length and in
+a fierce and turbulent fashion, speaking often all of them at once, thus
+making it difficult for the interpreters to render their words, since
+they pretended that they did not know the Egyptian tongue.
+
+Moreover they told their story from the very beginning, when they had
+entered Egypt hundreds of years before and were succoured by the vizier
+of the Pharaoh of that day, one Yusuf, a powerful and clever man of
+their race who stored corn in a time of famine and low Niles. This
+Pharaoh was of the Hyksos people, one of the Shepherd kings whom we
+Egyptians hated and after many wars drove out of Khem. Under these
+Shepherd kings, being joined by many of their own blood, the Israelites
+grew rich and powerful, so that the Pharaohs who came after and who
+loved them not, began to fear them.
+
+This was as far as the story was taken on the first day.
+
+On the second day began the tale of their oppression, under which,
+however, they still multiplied like gnats upon the Nile, and grew so
+strong and numerous that at length the great Rameses did a wicked thing,
+ordering that their male children should be put to death. This order was
+never carried out, because his daughter, she who found Moses among the
+reeds of the river, pleaded for them.
+
+At this point the Prince, wearied with the noise and heat in that
+crowded place, broke off the sitting until the morrow. Commanding me to
+accompany him, he ordered a chariot, not his own, to be made ready, and,
+although I prayed him not to do so, set out unguarded save for myself
+and the charioteer, saying that he would see how these people laboured
+with his own eyes.
+
+Taking a Hebrew lad to run before the horses as our guide, we drove
+to the banks of a canal where the Israelites made bricks of mud which,
+after drying in the sun, were laden into boats that waited for them on
+the canal and taken away to other parts of Egypt to be used on Pharaoh's
+works. Thousands of men were engaged upon this labour, toiling in gangs
+under the command of Egyptian overseers who kept count of the bricks,
+cutting their number upon tally sticks, or sometimes writing them upon
+sherds. These overseers were brutal fellows, for the most part of the
+low class, who used vile language to the slaves. Nor were they content
+with words. Noting a crowd gathered at one place and hearing cries, we
+went to see what passed. Here we found a lad stretched upon the ground
+being cruelly beaten with hide whips, so that the blood ran down him.
+At a sign from the Prince I asked what he had done and was told roughly,
+for the overseers and their guards did not know who we were, that during
+the past six days he had only made half of his allotted tale of bricks.
+
+"Loose him," said the Prince quietly.
+
+"Who are you that give me orders?" asked the head overseer, who was
+helping to hold the lad while the guards flogged him. "Begone, lest I
+serve you as I serve this idle fellow."
+
+Seti looked at him, and as he looked his lips turned white.
+
+"Tell him," he said to me.
+
+"You dog!" I gasped. "Do you know who it is to whom you dare to speak
+thus?"
+
+"No, nor care. Lay on, guard."
+
+The Prince, whose robes were hidden by a wide-sleeved cloak of common
+stuff and make, threw the cloak open revealing beneath it the pectoral
+he had worn in the Court, a beautiful thing of gold whereon were
+inscribed his royal names and titles in black and red enamel. Also he
+held up his right hand on which was a signet of Pharaoh's that he wore
+as his commissioner. The men stared, then one of them who was more
+learned than the rest cried:
+
+"By the gods! this is his Highness the Prince of Egypt!" at which words
+all of them fell upon their faces.
+
+"Rise," said Seti to the lad who looked at him, forgetting his pain in
+his wonderment, "and tell me why you have not delivered your tale of
+bricks."
+
+"Sir," sobbed the boy in bad Egyptian, "for two reasons. First, because
+I am a cripple, see," and he held up his left arm which was withered and
+thin as a mummy's, "and therefore cannot work quickly. Secondly, because
+my mother, whose only child I am, is a widow and lies sick in bed, so
+that there are no women or children in our home who can go out to gather
+straw for me, as Pharaoh has commanded that we should do. Therefore
+I must spend many hours in searching for straw, since I have no means
+wherewith to pay others to do this for me."
+
+"Ana," said the Prince, "write down this youth's name with the place of
+his abode, and if his tale prove true, see that his wants and those of
+his mother are relieved before we depart from Goshen. Write down also
+the names of this overseer and his fellows and command them to report
+themselves at my camp to-morrow at sunrise, when their case shall be
+considered. Say to the lad also that, being one afflicted by the gods,
+Pharaoh frees him from the making of bricks and all other labour of the
+State."
+
+Now while I did these things the overseer and his companions beat their
+heads upon the ground and prayed for mercy, being cowards as the cruel
+always are. His Highness answered them never a word, but only looked
+at them with cold eyes, and I noted that his face which was so kind had
+grown terrible. So those men thought also, for that night they ran away
+to Syria, leaving their families and all their goods behind them, nor
+were they ever seen again in Egypt.
+
+When I had finished writing the Prince turned and, walking to where the
+chariot waited, bade the driver cross the canal by a bridge there
+was here. We drove on a while in silence, following a track which ran
+between the cultivated land and the desert. At length I pointed to the
+sinking sun and asked if it were not time to return.
+
+"Why?" replied the Prince. "The sun dies, but there rises the full moon
+to give us light, and what have we to fear with swords at our sides and
+her Highness Userti's mail beneath our robes? Oh! Ana, I am weary of
+men with their cruelties and shouts and strugglings, and I find this
+wilderness a place of rest, for in it I seem to draw nearer to my own
+soul and the Heaven whence it came, or so I hope."
+
+"Your Highness is fortunate to have a soul to which he cares to draw
+near; it is not so with all of us;" I answered laughing, for I sought to
+change the current of his thoughts by provoking argument of a sort that
+he loved.
+
+Just then, however, the horses, which were not of the best, came to a
+halt on a slope of heavy sand. Nor would Seti allow the driver to flog
+them, but commanded him to let them rest a space. While they did so we
+descended from the chariot and walked up the desert rise, he leaning on
+my arm. As we reached its crest we heard sobs and a soft voice speaking
+on the further side. Who it was that spoke and sobbed we could not see,
+because of a line of tamarisk shrubs which once had been a fence.
+
+"More cruelty, or at least more sorrow," whispered Seti. "Let us look."
+
+So we crept to the tamarisks, and peeping through their feathery tops,
+saw a very sweet sight in the pure rays of that desert moon. There, not
+five paces away, stood a woman clad in white, young and shapely in form.
+Her face we could not see because it was turned from us, also the long
+dark hair which streamed about her shoulders hid it. She was praying
+aloud, speaking now in Hebrew, of which both of us knew something,
+and now in Egyptian, as does one who is accustomed to think in either
+tongue, and stopping from time to time to sob.
+
+"O God of my people," she said, "send me succour and bring me safe home,
+that Thy child may not be left alone in the wilderness to become the
+prey of wild beasts, or of men who are worse than beasts."
+
+Then she sobbed, knelt down on a great bundle which I saw was stubble
+straw, and again began to pray. This time it was in Egyptian, as though
+she feared lest the Hebrew should be overheard and understood.
+
+"O God," she said, "O God of my fathers, help my poor heart, help my
+poor heart!"
+
+We were about to withdraw, or rather to ask her what she ailed, when
+suddenly she turned her head, so that the light fell full upon her
+face. So lovely was it that I caught my breath and the Prince at my side
+started. Indeed it was more than lovely, for as a lamp shines through an
+alabaster vase or a shell of pearl so did the spirit within this woman
+shine through her tear-stained face, making it mysterious as the night.
+Then I understood, perhaps for the first time, that it is the spirit
+which gives true beauty both to maid and man and not the flesh. The
+white vase of alabaster, however shapely, is still a vase alone; it
+is the hidden lamp within that graces it with the glory of a star. And
+those eyes, those large, dreaming eyes aswim with tears and hued
+like richest lapis-lazuli, oh! what man could look on them and not be
+stirred?
+
+"Merapi!" I whispered.
+
+"Moon of Israel!" murmured Seti, "filled with the moon, lovely as the
+moon, mystic as the moon and worshipping the moon, her mother."
+
+"She is in trouble; let us help her," I said.
+
+"Nay, wait a while, Ana, for never again shall you and I see such a
+sight as this."
+
+Low as we spoke beneath our breath, I think the lady heard us. At least
+her face changed and grew frightened. Hastily she rose, lifted the great
+bundle of straw upon which she had been kneeling and placed it on her
+head. She ran a few steps, then stumbled and sank down with a little
+moan of pain. In an instant we were at her side. She stared at us
+affrighted, for who we were she could not see because of the wide
+hoods of our common cloaks that made us look like midnight thieves, or
+slave-dealing Bedouin.
+
+"Oh! Sirs," she babbled, "harm me not. I have nothing of value on me
+save this amulet."
+
+"Who are you and what do you here?" asked the Prince disguising his
+voice.
+
+"Sirs, I am Merapi, the daughter of Nathan the Levite, he whom the
+accursed Egyptian captain, Khuaka, murdered at Tanis."
+
+"How do you dare to call the Egyptians accursed?" asked Seti in tones
+made gruff to hide his laughter.
+
+"Oh! Sirs, because they are--I mean because I thought you were Arabs who
+hate them, as we do. At least this Egyptian was accursed, for the high
+Prince Seti, Pharaoh's heir, caused him to be beheaded for that crime."
+
+"And do you hate the high Prince Seti, Pharaoh's heir, and call him
+accursed?"
+
+She hesitated, then in a doubtful voice said:
+
+"No, I do not hate him."
+
+"Why not, seeing that you hate the Egyptians of whom he is one of
+the first and therefore twice worthy of hatred, being the son of your
+oppressor, Pharaoh?"
+
+"Because, although I have tried my best, I cannot. Also," she added with
+the joy of one who has found a good reason, "he avenged my father."
+
+"This is no cause, girl, seeing that he only did what the law forced him
+to do. They say that this dog of a Pharaoh's son is here in Goshen upon
+some mission. Is it true, and have you seen him? Answer, for we of the
+desert folk desire to know."
+
+"I believe it is true, Sir, but I have not seen him."
+
+"Why not, if he is here?"
+
+"Because I do not wish to, Sir. Why should a daughter of Israel desire
+to look upon the face of a prince of Egypt?"
+
+"In truth I do not know," replied Seti forgetting his feigned voice.
+Then, seeing that she glanced at him sharply, he added in gruff tones:
+
+"Brother, either this woman lies or she is none other than the maid they
+call Moon of Israel who dwells with old Jabez the Levite, her uncle.
+What think you?"
+
+"I think, Brother, that she lies, and for three reasons," I answered,
+falling into the jest. "First, she is too fair to be of the black Hebrew
+blood."
+
+"Oh! Sir," moaned Merapi, "my mother was a Syrian lady of the mountains,
+with a skin as white as milk, and eyes blue as the heavens."
+
+"Secondly," I went on without heeding her, "if the great Prince Seti is
+really in Goshen and she dwells there, it is unnatural that she should
+not have gone to look upon him. Being a woman only two things would have
+kept her away, one--that she feared and hated him, which she denies, and
+the other--that she liked him too well, and, being prudent, thought it
+wisest not to look upon him more."
+
+When she heard the first of these words, Merapi glanced up with her lips
+parted as though to answer. Instead, she dropped her eyes and suddenly
+seemed to choke, while even in the moonlight I saw the red blood pour to
+her brow and along her white arms.
+
+"Sir," she gasped, "why should you affront me? I swear that never till
+this moment did I think such a thing. Surely it would be treason."
+
+"Without doubt," interrupted Seti, "yet one of a sort that kings might
+pardon."
+
+"Thirdly," I went on as though I had heard neither of them, "if this
+girl were what she declares, she would not be wandering alone in the
+desert at night, seeing that I have heard among the Arabs that Merapi,
+daughter of Nathan the Levite, is a lady of no mean blood among the
+Hebrews and that her family has wealth. Still, however much she lies, we
+can see for ourselves that she is beautiful."
+
+"Yes, Brother, in that we are fortunate, since without doubt she will
+sell for a high price among the slave traders beyond the desert."
+
+"Oh! Sir," cried Merapi seizing the hem of his robe, "surely you who
+I feel, I know not why, are no evil thief, you who have a mother and,
+perchance, sisters, would not doom a maiden to such a fate. Misjudge me
+not because I am alone. Pharaoh has commanded that we must find straw
+for the making of bricks. This morning I came far to search for it on
+behalf of a neighbour whose wife is ill in childbed. But towards sundown
+I slipped and cut myself upon the edge of a sharp stone. See," and
+holding up her foot she showed a wound beneath the instep from which the
+blood still dropped, a sight that moved both of us not a little, "and
+now I cannot walk and carry this heavy straw which I have been at such
+pains to gather."
+
+"Perchance she speaks truth, Brother," said the Prince, "and if we took
+her home we might earn no small reward from Jabez the Levite. But first
+tell me, Maiden, what was that prayer which you made to the moon, that
+Hathor should help your heart?"
+
+"Sir," she answered, "only the idolatrous Egyptians pray to Hathor, the
+Lady of Love."
+
+"I thought that all the world prayed to the Lady of Love, Maiden. But
+what of the prayer? Is there some man whom you desire?"
+
+"None," she answered angrily.
+
+"Then why does your heart need so much help that you ask it of the air?
+Is there perchance someone whom you do _not_ desire?"
+
+She hung her head and made no answer.
+
+"Come, Brother," said the Prince, "this lady is weary of us, and I
+think that if she were a true woman she would answer our questions more
+readily. Let us go and leave her. As she cannot walk we can take her
+later if we wish."
+
+"Sirs," she said, "I am glad that you are going, since the hyenas will
+be safer company than two men who can threaten to sell a helpless
+woman into slavery. Yet as we part to meet no more I will answer your
+question. In the prayer to which you were not ashamed to listen I did
+not pray for any lover, I prayed to be rid of one."
+
+"Now, Ana," said the Prince bursting into laughter and throwing back his
+dark cloak, "do you discover the name of that unhappy man of whom the
+lady Merapi wishes to be rid, for I dare not."
+
+She gazed into his face and uttered a little cry.
+
+"Ah!" she said, "I thought I knew the voice again when once you forget
+your part. Prince Seti, does your Highness think that this was a kind
+jest to practise upon one alone and in fear?"
+
+"Lady Merapi," he answered smiling, "be not wroth, for at least it was
+a good one and you have told us nothing that we did not know. You may
+remember that at Tanis you said that you were affianced and there was
+that in your voice----. Suffer me now to tend this wound of yours."
+
+Then he knelt down, tore a strip from his ceremonial robe of fine linen,
+and began to bind up her foot, not unskilfully, being a man full of
+strange and unexpected knowledge. As he worked at the task, watching
+them, I saw their eyes meet, saw too that rich flood of colour creep
+once more to Merapi's brow. Then I began to think it unseemly that the
+Prince of Egypt should play the leech to a woman's hurts, and to wonder
+why he had not left that humble task to me.
+
+Presently the bandaging was done and made fast with a royal scarabaeus
+mounted on a pin of gold, which the Prince wore in his garments. On it
+was cut the uraeus crown and beneath it were the signs which read "Lord
+of the Lower and the Upper Land," being Pharaoh's style and title.
+
+"See now, Lady," he said, "you have Egypt beneath your foot," and when
+she asked him what he meant, he read her the writing upon the jewel,
+whereat for the third time she coloured to the eyes. Then he lifted
+her up, instructing her to rest her weight upon his shoulder, saying he
+feared lest the scarab, which he valued, should be broken.
+
+Thus we started, I bearing the bundle of straw behind as he bade me,
+since, he said, having been gathered with such toil, it must not be
+lost. On reaching the chariot, where we found the guide gone and the
+driver asleep, he sat her in it upon his cloak, and wrapped her in mine
+which he borrowed, saying I should not need it who must carry the straw.
+Then he mounted also and they drove away at a foot's pace. As I walked
+after the chariot with the straw that fell about my ears, I heard
+nothing of their further talk, if indeed they talked at all which, the
+driver being present, perhaps they did not. Nor in truth did I listen
+who was engaged in thought as to the hard lot of these poor Hebrews, who
+must collect this dirty stuff and bear it so far, made heavy as it was
+by the clay that clung about the roots.
+
+Even now, as it chanced, we did not reach Goshen without further
+trouble. Just as we had crossed the bridge over the canal I, toiling
+behind, saw in the clear moonlight a young man running towards us. He
+was a Hebrew, tall, well-made and very handsome in his fashion. His eyes
+were dark and fierce, his nose was hooked, his teeth where regular and
+white, and his long, black hair hung down in a mass upon his shoulders.
+He held a wooden staff in his hand and a naked knife was girded about
+his middle. Seeing the chariot he halted and peered at it, then asked in
+Hebrew if those who travelled had seen aught of a young Israelitish lady
+who was lost.
+
+"If you seek me, Laban, I am here," replied Merapi, speaking from the
+shadow of the cloak.
+
+"What do you there alone with an Egyptian, Merapi?" he said fiercely.
+
+What followed I do not know for they spoke so quickly in their
+unfamiliar tongue that I could not understand them. At length Merapi
+turned to the Prince, saying:
+
+"Lord, this is Laban my affianced, who commands me to descend from the
+chariot and accompany him as best I can."
+
+"And I, Lady, command you to stay in it. Laban your affianced can
+accompany us."
+
+Now at this Laban grew angry, as I could see he was prone to do, and
+stretched out his hand as though to push Seti aside and seize Merapi.
+
+"Have a care, man,' said the Prince, while I, throwing down the straw,
+drew my sword and sprang between them, crying:
+
+"Slave, would you lay hands upon the Prince of Egypt?"
+
+"Prince of Egypt!" he said, drawing back astonished, then added
+sullenly, "Well what does the Prince of Egypt with my affianced?"
+
+"He helps her who is hurt to her home, having found her helpless in the
+desert with this accursed straw," I answered.
+
+"Forward, driver," said the Prince, and Merapi added, "Peace, Laban, and
+bear the straw which his Highness's companion has carried such a weary
+way."
+
+He hesitated a moment, then snatched up the bundle and set it on his
+head.
+
+As we walked side by side, his evil temper seemed to get the better
+of him. Without ceasing, he grumbled because Merapi was alone in the
+chariot with an Egyptian. At length I could bear it no longer.
+
+"Be silent, fellow," I said. "Least of all men should you complain of
+what his Highness does, seeing that already he has avenged the killing
+of this lady's father, and now has saved her from lying out all night
+among the wild beasts and men of the wilderness."
+
+"Of the first I have heard more than enough," he answered, "and of
+the second doubtless I shall hear more than enough also. Ever since my
+affianced met this prince, she has looked on me with different eyes and
+spoken to me with another voice. Yes, and when I press for marriage, she
+says it cannot be for a long while yet, because she is mourning for her
+father; her father forsooth, whom she never forgave because he betrothed
+her to me according to the custom of our people."
+
+"Perhaps she loves some other man?" I queried, wishing to learn all I
+could about this lady.
+
+"She loves no man, or did not a while ago. She loves herself alone."
+
+"One with so much beauty may look high in marriage."
+
+"High!" he replied furiously. "How can she look higher than myself
+who am a lord of the line of Judah, and therefore greater far than an
+upstart prince or any other Egyptian, were he Pharaoh himself?"
+
+"Surely you must be trumpeter to your tribe," I mocked, for my temper
+was rising.
+
+"Why?" he asked. "Are not the Hebrews greater than the Egyptians, as
+those oppressors soon shall learn, and is not a lord of Israel more than
+any idol-worshipper among your people?"
+
+I looked at the man clad in mean garments and foul from his labour in
+the brickfield, marvelling at his insolence. There was no doubt but that
+he believed what he said; I could see it in his proud eye and bearing.
+He thought that his tribe was of more import in the world than our great
+and ancient nation, and that he, an unknown youth, equalled or surpassed
+Pharaoh himself. Then, being enraged by these insults, I answered:
+
+"You say so, but let us put it to the proof. I am but a scribe, yet
+I have seen war. Linger a little that we may learn whether a lord of
+Israel is better than a scribe of Egypt."
+
+"Gladly would I chastise you, Writer," he answered, "did I not see your
+plot. You wish to delay me here, and perhaps to murder me by some foul
+means, while your master basks in the smiles of the Moon of Israel.
+Therefore I will not stay, but another time it shall be as you wish, and
+perhaps ere long."
+
+Now I think that I should have struck him in the face, though I am not
+one of those who love brawling. But at this moment there appeared a
+company of Egyptian horse led by none other than the Count Amenmeses.
+Seeing the Prince in the Chariot, they halted and gave the salute.
+Amenmeses leapt to the ground.
+
+"We are come out to search for your Highness," he said, "fearing lest
+some hurt had befallen you."
+
+"I thank you, Cousin," answered the Prince, "but the hurt has befallen
+another, not me."
+
+"That is well, your Highness," said the Count, studying Merapi with a
+smile. "Where is the lady wounded? Not in the breast, I trust."
+
+"No, Cousin, in the foot, which is why she travels with me in this
+chariot."
+
+"Your Highness was ever kind to the unfortunate. I pray you let me take
+your place, or suffer me to set this girl upon a horse."
+
+"Drive on," said Seti.
+
+So, escorted by the soldiers, whom I heard making jests to each other
+about the Prince and the lady, as I think did the Hebrew Laban also, for
+he glared about him and ground his teeth, we came at last to the town.
+Here, guided by Merapi, the chariot was halted at the house of Jabez her
+uncle, a white-bearded old Hebrew with a cunning eye, who rushed from
+the door of his mud-roofed dwelling crying he had done no harm that
+soldiers should come to take him.
+
+"It is not you whom the Egyptians wish to capture, it is your niece and
+my betrothed," shouted Laban, whereat the soldiers laughed, as did some
+women who had gathered round. Meanwhile the Prince was helping Merapi to
+descend out of the chariot, from which indeed he lifted her. The sight
+seemed to madden Laban, who rushed forward to tear her from his arms,
+and in the attempt jostled his Highness. The captain of the soldiers--he
+was an officer of Pharaoh's bodyguard--lifted his sword in a fury and
+struck Laban such a blow upon the head with the flat of the blade that
+he fell upon his face and lay there groaning.
+
+"Away with that Hebrew dog and scourge him!" cried the captain. "Is the
+royal blood of Egypt to be handled by such as he?"
+
+Soldiers sprang forward to do his bidding, but Seti said quietly:
+
+"Let the fellow be, friends; he lacks manners, that is all. Is he hurt?"
+
+As he spoke Laban leapt to his feet and, fearing worse things, fled away
+with a curse and a glare of hate at the Prince.
+
+"Farewell, Lady," said Seti. "I wish you a quick recovery."
+
+"I thank your Highness," she answered, looking about her confusedly. "Be
+pleased to wait a little while that I may return to you your jewel."
+
+"Nay, keep it, Lady, and if ever you are in need or trouble of any sort,
+send it to me who know it well and you shall not lack succour."
+
+She glanced at him and burst into tears.
+
+"Why do you weep?" he asked.
+
+"Oh! your Highness, because I fear that trouble is near at hand. My
+affianced, Laban, has a revengeful heart. Help me to the house, my
+uncle."
+
+"Listen, Hebrew," said Seti, raising his voice; "if aught that is evil
+befalls this niece of yours, or if she is forced to walk whither she
+would not go, sorrow shall be your portion and that of all with whom you
+have to do. Do you hear?"
+
+"O my Lord, I hear, I hear. Fear nothing. She shall be guarded carefully
+as--as she will doubtless guard that trinket on her foot."
+
+
+
+"Ana," said the Prince to me that night, when I was talking with him
+before he went to rest, "I know not why, but I fear that man Laban; he
+has an evil eye."
+
+"I too think it would have been better if your Highness had left him to
+be dealt with by the soldiers, after which there would have been nothing
+to fear from him in this world."
+
+"Well, I did not, so there's an end. Ana, she is a fair woman and a
+sweet."
+
+"The fairest and the sweetest that ever I saw, my Prince."
+
+"Be careful, Ana. I pray you be careful, lest you should fall in love
+with one who is already affianced."
+
+I only looked at him in answer, and as I looked I bethought me of the
+words of Ki the Magician. So, I think, did the Prince; at least he
+laughed not unhappily and turned away.
+
+For my part I rested ill that night, and when at last I slept, it was to
+dream of Merapi making her prayer in the rays of the moon.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE AMBUSH
+
+Eight full days went by before we left the land of Goshen. The story
+that the Israelites had to tell was long, sad also. Moreover, they gave
+evidence as to many cruel things that they had suffered, and when this
+was finished the testimony of the guards and others must be called, all
+of which it was necessary to write down. Lastly, the Prince seemed to
+be in no hurry to be gone, as he said because he hoped that the two
+prophets would return from the wilderness, which they never did. During
+all this time Seti saw no more of Merapi, nor indeed did he speak
+of her, even when the Count Amenmeses jested him as to his chariot
+companion and asked him if he had driven again in the desert by
+moonlight.
+
+I, however, saw her once. When I was wandering in the town one day
+towards sunset, I met her walking with her uncle Jabez upon one side and
+her lover, Laban, on the other, like a prisoner between two guards. I
+thought she looked unhappy, but her foot seemed to be well again; at
+least she moved without limping.
+
+I stopped to salute her, but Laban scowled and hurried her away. Jabez
+stayed behind and fell into talk with me. He told me that she was
+recovered of her hurt, but that there had been trouble between her and
+Laban because of all that happened on that evening when she came by it,
+ending in his encounter with the captain.
+
+"This young man seems to be of a jealous nature," I said, "one who will
+make a harsh husband for any woman."
+
+"Yes, learned scribe, jealousy has been his curse from youth as it is
+with so many of our people, and I thank God that I am not the woman whom
+he is to marry."
+
+"Why, then, do you suffer her to marry him, Jabez?"
+
+"Because her father affianced her to this lion's whelp when she was
+scarce more than a child, and among us that is a bond hard to break.
+For my own part," he added, dropping his voice, and glancing round with
+shifting eyes, "I should like to see my niece in some different place
+to that of the wife of Laban. With her great beauty and wit, she might
+become anything--anything if she had opportunity. But under our laws,
+even if Laban died, as might happen to so violent a man, she could wed
+no one who is not a Hebrew."
+
+"I thought she told us that her mother was a Syrian."
+
+"That is so, Scribe Ana. She was a beautiful captive of war whom Nathan
+came to love and made his wife, and the daughter takes after her. Still
+she is Hebrew and of the Hebrew faith and congregation. Had it not been
+so, she might have shone like a star, nay, like the very moon after
+which she is named, perhaps in the court of Pharaoh himself."
+
+"As the great queen Taia did, she who changed the religion of Egypt to
+the worship of one god in a bygone generation," I suggested.
+
+"I have heard of her, Scribe Ana. She was a wondrous woman, beautiful
+too by her statues. Would that you Egyptians could find such another
+to turn your hearts to a purer faith and to soften them towards us poor
+aliens. When does his Highness leave the land of Goshen?"
+
+"At sunrise on the third day from this."
+
+"Provision will be needed for the journey, much provision for so large a
+train. I deal in sheep and other foodstuffs, Scribe Ana."
+
+"I will mention the matter to his Highness and to the Vizier, Jabez."
+
+"I thank you, Scribe, and will in waiting at the camp to-morrow morning.
+See, Laban returns with Merapi. One word, let his Highness beware of
+Laban. He is very revengeful and has not forgotten that sword-blow on
+the head."
+
+"Let Laban be careful," I answered. "Had it not been for his Highness
+the soldiers would have killed him the other night because he dared
+to offer affront to the royal blood. A second time he will not escape.
+Moreover, Pharaoh would avenge aught he did upon the people of Israel."
+
+"I understand. It would be sad if Laban were killed, very sad. But the
+people of Israel have One who can protect them even against Pharaoh and
+all his hosts. Farewell, learned Scribe. If ever I come to Tanis, with
+your leave we will talk more together."
+
+That night I told the Prince all that had passed. He listened, and said:
+
+"I grieve for the lady Merapi, for hers is like to be a hard fate. Yet,"
+he added laughing, "perhaps it is as well for you, friend, that you
+should see no more of her who is sure to bring trouble wherever she
+goes. That woman has a face which haunts the mind, as the Ka haunts the
+tomb, and for my part I do not wish to look upon it again."
+
+"I am glad to hear it, Prince, and for my part, I have done with women,
+however sweet. I will tell this Jabez that the provisions for the
+journey will be bought elsewhere."
+
+"Nay, buy them from him, and if Nehesi grumbles at the price, pay it on
+my account. The way to a Hebrew's heart is through his treasure bags.
+If Jabez is well treated, it may make him kinder to his niece, of whom I
+shall always have a pleasant memory, for which I am grateful among this
+sour folk who hate us, and with reason."
+
+So the sheep and all the foodstuffs for the journey were bought from
+Jabez at his own price, for which he thanked me much, and on the third
+day we started. At the last moment the Prince, whose mood seemed to be
+perverse that evening, refused to travel with the host upon the morrow
+because of the noise and dust. In vain did the Count Amenmeses reason
+with him, and Nehesi and the great officers implore him almost on their
+knees, saying that they must answer for his safety to Pharaoh and the
+Princess Userti. He bade them begone, replying that he would join them
+at their camp on the following night. I also prayed him to listen, but
+he told me sharply that what he said he had said, and that he and I
+would journey in his chariot alone, with two armed runners and no more,
+adding that if I thought there was danger I could go forward with the
+troops. Then I bit my lip and was silent, whereon, seeing that he had
+hurt me, he turned and craved my pardon humbly enough as his kind heart
+taught him to do.
+
+"I can bear no more of Amenmeses and those officers," he said, "and I
+love to be in the desert alone. Last time we journeyed there we met with
+adventures that were pleasant, Ana, and at Tanis doubtless I shall find
+others that are not pleasant. Admit that Hebrew priest who is waiting to
+instruct me in the mysteries of his faith which I desire to understand."
+
+So I bowed and left him to make report that I had failed to shake his
+will. Taking the risk of his wrath, however, I did this--for had I not
+sworn to the Princess that I would protect him? In place of the runners
+I chose two of the best and bravest soldiers to play their part.
+Moreover, I instructed that captain who smote down Laban to hide away
+with a score of picked men and enough chariots to carry them, and to
+follow after the Prince, keeping just out of sight.
+
+So on the morrow the troops, nobles, and officers went on at daybreak,
+together with the baggage carriers; nor did we follow them till many
+hours had gone by. Some of this time the Prince spent in driving about
+the town, taking note of the condition of the people. These, as I saw,
+looked on us sullenly enough, more so than before, I thought, perhaps
+because we were unguarded. Indeed, turning round I caught sight of a man
+shaking his fist and of an old hag spitting after us, and wished that we
+were out of the land of Goshen. But when I reported it to the Prince he
+only laughed and took no heed.
+
+"All can see that they hate us Egyptians," he said. "Well, let it be our
+task to try to turn their hate to love."
+
+"That you will never do, Prince, it is too deep-rooted in their
+hearts; for generations they have drunk it in with their mother's milk.
+Moreover, this is a war of the gods of Egypt and of Israel, and men must
+go where their gods drive them."
+
+"Do you think so, Ana? Then are men nothing but dust blown by the
+winds of heaven, blown from the darkness that is before the dawn to be
+gathered at last and for ever into the darkness of the grave of night?"
+
+He brooded a while, then went on.
+
+"Yet if I were Pharaoh I would let these people go, for without doubt
+their god has much power and I tell you that I fear them."
+
+"Why will he not let them go?" I asked. "They are a weakness, not a
+strength to Egypt, as was shown at the time of the invasion of the
+Barbarians with whom they sided. Moreover, the value of this rich land
+of theirs, which they cannot take with them, is greater than that of all
+their labour."
+
+"I do not know, friend. The matter is one upon which my father keeps
+his own counsel, even from the Princess Userti. Perhaps it is because he
+will not change the policy of his father, Rameses; perhaps because he is
+stiff-necked to those who cross his will. Or it may be that he is held
+in this path by a madness sent of some god to bring loss and shame on
+Egypt."
+
+"Then, Prince, all the priests and nobles are mad also, from Count
+Amenmeses down."
+
+"Where Pharaoh leads priests and nobles follow. The question is, who
+leads Pharaoh? Here is the temple of these Hebrews; let us enter."
+
+So we descended from the chariot, where, for my part, I would have
+remained, and walked through the gateway in the surrounding mud wall
+into the outer court of the temple, which on this the holy seventh day
+of the Hebrews was full of praying women, who feigned not to see us yet
+watched us out of the corners of their eyes. Passing through them we
+came to a doorway, by which we entered another court that was roofed
+over. Here were many men who murmured as we appeared. They were engaged
+in listening to a preacher in a white robe, who wore a strange shaped
+cap and some ornaments on his breast. I knew the man; he was the priest
+Kohath who had instructed the Prince in so much of the mysteries of the
+Hebrew faith as he chose to reveal. On seeing us he ceased suddenly in
+his discourse, uttered some hasty blessing and advanced to greet us.
+
+I waited behind the Prince, thinking it well to watch his back among all
+those fierce men, and did not hear what the priest said to him, as he
+whispered in that holy place. Kohath led him forward, to free him from
+the throng, I thought, till they came to the head of the little temple
+that was marked by some steps, above which hung a thick and heavy
+curtain. The Prince, walking on, did not see the lowest of these steps
+in the gloom, which was deep. His foot caught on it; he fell forward,
+and to save himself grasped at the curtain where the two halves of it
+met, and dragged it open, revealing a chamber plain and small beyond, in
+which was an altar. That was all I had time to see, for next instant a
+roar of rage rent the air and knives flashed in the gloom.
+
+"The Egyptian defiles the tabernacle!" shouted one. "Drag him out and
+kill him!" screamed another.
+
+"Friends," said Seti, turning as they surged towards him, "if I have
+done aught wrong it was by chance----"
+
+He could add no more, seeing that they were on him, or rather on me who
+had leapt in front of him. Already they had grasped my robes and my hand
+was on my sword-hilt, when the priest Kohath cried out:
+
+"Men of Israel, are you mad? Would you bring Pharaoh's vengeance on us?"
+
+They halted a little and their spokesman shouted:
+
+"We defy Pharaoh! Our God will protect us from Pharaoh. Drag him forth
+and kill him beyond the wall!"
+
+Again they began to move, when a man, in whom I recognized Jabez, the
+uncle of Merapi, called aloud:
+
+"Cease! If this Prince of Egypt has done insult to Jahveh by will and
+not by chance, it is certain that he will avenge himself upon him. Shall
+men take the judgment of God into their own hands? Stand back and wait
+awhile. If Jahveh is affronted, the Egyptian will fall dead. If he does
+not fall dead, let him pass hence unharmed, for such is Jahveh's will.
+Stand back, I say, while I count threescore."
+
+They withdrew a space and slowly Jabez began to count.
+
+Although at that time I knew nothing of the power of the god of Israel,
+I will say that I was filled with fear as one by one he counted, pausing
+at each ten. The scene was very strange. There by the steps stood the
+Prince against the background of the curtain, his arms folded and a
+little smile of wonder mixed with contempt upon his face, but not a sign
+of fear. On one side of him was I, who knew well that I should share his
+fate whatever it might be, and indeed desired no other; and on the other
+the priest Kohath, whose hands shook and whose eyes started from his
+head. In front of us old Jabez counted, watching the fierce-faced
+congregation that in a dead silence waited for the issue. The count went
+on. Thirty. Forty. Fifty--oh! it seemed an age.
+
+At length sixty fell from his lips. He waited a while and all watched
+the Prince, not doubting but that he would fall dead. But instead he
+turned to Kohath and asked quietly if this ordeal was now finished, as
+he desired to make an offering to the temple, which he had been invited
+to visit, and begone.
+
+"Our God has given his answer," said Jabez. "Accept it, men of Israel.
+What this Prince did he did by chance, not of design."
+
+They turned and went without a word, and after I had laid the offering,
+no mean one, in the appointed place, we followed them.
+
+"It would seem that yours is no gentle god," said the Prince to Kohath,
+when at length we were outside the temple.
+
+"At least he is just, your Highness. Had it been otherwise, you who had
+violated his sanctuary, although by chance, would ere now be dead."
+
+"Then you hold, Priest, that Jahveh has power to slay us when he is
+angry?"
+
+"Without a doubt, your Highness--as, if our Prophets speak truth, I
+think that Egypt will learn ere all be done," he added grimly.
+
+Seti looked at him and answered:
+
+"It may be so, but all gods, or their priests, claim the power to
+torment and slay those who worship other gods. It is not only women who
+are jealous, Kohath, or so it seems. Yet I think that you do your god
+injustice, seeing that even if this strength is his, he proved more
+merciful than his worshippers who knew well that I only grasped the veil
+to save myself from falling. If ever I visit your temple again it shall
+be in the company of those who can match might against might, whether of
+the spirit or the sword. Farewell."
+
+So we reached the chariot, near to which stood Jabez, he who had saved
+us.
+
+"Prince," he whispered, glancing at the crowd who lingered not far away,
+silent and glowering, "I pray you leave this land swiftly for here your
+life is not safe. I know it was by chance, but you have defiled the
+sanctuary and seen that upon which eyes may not look save those of the
+highest priests, an offence no Israelite can forgive."
+
+"And you, or your people, Jabez, would have defiled this sanctuary of
+my life, spilling my heart's blood and _not_ by chance. Surely you are
+a strange folk who seek to make an enemy of one who has tried to be your
+friend."
+
+"I do not seek it," exclaimed Jabez. "I would that we might have
+Pharaoh's mouth and ear who soon will himself be Pharaoh upon our side.
+O Prince of Egypt, be not wroth with all the children of Israel because
+their wrongs have made some few of them stubborn and hard-hearted.
+Begone now, and of your goodness remember my words."
+
+"I will remember," said Seti, signing to the charioteer to drive on.
+
+Yet still the Prince lingered in the town, saying that he feared nothing
+and would learn all he could of this people and their ways that he might
+report the better of them to Pharaoh. For my part I believed that there
+was one face which he wished to see again before he left, but of this I
+thought it wise to say nothing.
+
+At length about midday we did depart, and drove eastwards on the track
+of Amenmeses and our company. All the afternoon we drove thus, preceded
+by the two soldiers disguised as runners and followed, as a distant
+cloud of dust told me, by the captain and his chariots, whom I had
+secretly commanded to keep us in sight.
+
+Towards evening we came to the pass in the story hills which bounded the
+land of Goshen. Here Seti descended from the chariot, and we climbed,
+accompanied by the two soldiers whom I signed to follow us, to the crest
+of one of these hills that was strewn with huge boulders and lined with
+ridges of sandstone, between which gullies had been cut by the winds of
+thousands of years.
+
+Leaning against one of these ridges we looked back upon a wondrous
+sight. Far away across the fertile plain appeared the town that we had
+left, and behind it the sun sank. It would seem as though some storm
+had broken there, although the firmament above us was clear and blue.
+At least in front of the town two huge pillars of cloud stretched from
+earth to heaven like the columns of some mighty gateway. One of these
+pillars was as though it were made of black marble, and the other like
+to molten gold. Between them ran a road of light ending in a glory, and
+in the midst of the glory the round ball of Ra, the Sun, burned like the
+eye of God. The spectacle was as awesome as it was splendid.
+
+"Have you ever seen such a sky in Egypt, Prince?" I asked.
+
+"Never," he answered, and although he spoke low, in that great stillness
+his voice sounded loud to me.
+
+For a while longer we watched, till suddenly the sun sank, and only the
+glory about it and above remained, which took shapes like to the palaces
+and temples of a city in the heavens, a far city that no mortal could
+reach except in dreams.
+
+"I know not why, Ana," said Seti, "but for the first time since I was a
+man I feel afraid. It seems to me that there are omens in the sky and I
+cannot read them. Would that Ki were here to tell us what is signified
+by the pillar of blackness to the right and the pillar of fire to the
+left, and what god has his home in the city of glory behind, and how
+man's feet may walk along the shining road which leads to its pylon
+gates. I tell you that I am afraid; it is as though Death were very near
+to me and all his wonders open to my mortal sight."
+
+"I too am afraid," I whispered. "Look! The pillars move. That of fire
+goes before; that of black cloud follows after, and between them I seem
+to see a countless multitude marching in unending companies. See how the
+light glitters on their spears! Surely the god of the Hebrews is afoot."
+
+"He, or some other god, or no god at all, who knows? Come, Ana, let us
+be going if we would reach that camp ere dark."
+
+So we descended from the ridge, and re-entering the chariot, drove on
+towards the neck of the pass. Now this neck was very narrow, not more
+than four paces wide for a certain distance, and, on either side of
+the roadway were tumbled sandstone boulders, between which grew desert
+plants, and gullies that had been cut by storm-water, while beyond these
+rose the sides of the mountain. Here the horses went at a walk towards a
+turn in the path, at which point the land began to fall again.
+
+When we were about half a spear's throw from this turn of a sudden I
+heard a sound and, glancing to the right, perceived a woman leaping down
+the hillside towards us. The charioteer saw also and halted the horses,
+and the two runner guards turned and drew their swords. In less than
+half a minute the woman had reached us, coming out of the shadow so that
+the light fell upon her face.
+
+"Merapi!" exclaimed the Prince and I, speaking as though with one
+breath.
+
+Merapi it was indeed, but in evil case. Her long hair had broken loose
+and fell about her, the cloak she wore was torn, and there were blood
+and foam upon her lips. She stood gasping, since speak she could not for
+breathlessness, supporting herself with one hand upon the side of the
+chariot and with the other pointing to the bend in the road. At last a
+word came, one only. It was:
+
+"Murder!"
+
+"She means that she is going to be murdered," said the Prince to me.
+
+"No," she panted, "you--you! The Hebrews. Go back!"
+
+"Turn the horses!" I cried to the charioteer.
+
+He began to obey helped by the two guards, but because of the narrowness
+of the road and the steepness of the banks this was not easy. Indeed
+they were but half round in such fashion that they blocked the pathway
+from side to side, when a wild yell of 'Jahveh' broke upon our ears,
+and from round the bend, a few paces away, rushed a horde of fierce,
+hook-nosed men, brandishing knives and swords. Scarcely was there time
+for us to leap behind the shelter of the chariot and make ready, when
+they were on us.
+
+"Hearken," I said to the charioteer as they came, "run as you never ran
+before, and bring up the guard behind!"
+
+He sprang away like an arrow.
+
+"Get back, Lady," cried Seti. "This is no woman's work, and see here
+comes Laban to seek you," and he pointed with his sword at the leader of
+the murderers.
+
+She obeyed, staggering a few paces to a stone at the roadside, behind
+which she crouched. Afterwards she told me that she had no strength to
+go further, and indeed no will, since if we were killed, it were better
+that she who had warned us should be killed also.
+
+Now they had reached us, the whole flood of them, thirty or forty men.
+The first who came stabbed the frightened horses, and down they went
+against the bank, struggling. On the chariot leapt the Hebrews, seeking
+to come at us, and we met them as best we might, tearing off our cloaks
+and throwing them over our left arms to serve as shields.
+
+Oh! what a fight was that. In the open, or had we not been prepared, we
+must have been slain at once, but, as it was, the place and the barrier
+of the chariot gave us some advantage. So narrow was the roadway, the
+walls of which were here too steep to climb, that not more than four of
+the Hebrews could strike at us at once, which four must first surmount
+the chariot or the still living horses.
+
+But we also were four, and thanks to Userti, two of us were clad in mail
+beneath our robes--four strong men fighting for their lives. Against us
+came four of the Hebrews. One leapt from the chariot straight at Seti,
+who received him upon the point of his iron sword, whereof I heard the
+hilt ring against his breast-bone, that same famous iron sword which
+to-day lies buried with him in his grave.
+
+Down he came dead, throwing the Prince to the ground by the weight of
+his body. The Hebrew who attacked me caught his foot on the chariot
+pole and fell forward, so I killed him easily with a blow upon the head,
+which gave me time to drag the Prince to his feet again before another
+followed. The two guards also, sturdy fighters both of them, killed or
+mortally wounded their men. But others were pressing behind so thick and
+fast that I could keep no count of all that happened afterwards.
+
+Presently I saw one of the guards fall, slain by Laban. A stab on the
+breast sent me reeling backwards; had it not been for that mail I was
+sped. The other guard killed him who would have killed me, and then
+himself was killed by two who came on him at once.
+
+Now only the Prince and I were left, fighting back to back. He closed
+with one man, a very great fellow, and wounded him on the hand, so that
+he dropped his sword. This man gripped him round the middle and they
+rolled together on the ground. Laban appeared and stabbed the Prince in
+the back, but the curved knife he was using snapped on the Syrian mail.
+I struck at Laban and wounded him on the head, dazing him so that he
+staggered back and seemed to fall over the chariot. Then others rushed
+at me, and but for Userti's armour three times at least I must have
+died. Fighting madly, I staggered against the rock, and whilst waiting
+for a new onset, saw that Seti, hurt by Laban's thrust, was now beneath
+the great Hebrew who had him by the throat, and was choking the life out
+of him.
+
+I saw something else also--a woman holding a sword with both hands and
+stabbing downward, after which the grip of the Hebrew loosened from
+Seti's throat.
+
+"Traitress!" cried one, and struck at her, so that she reeled back hurt.
+Then when all seemed finished, and beneath the rain of blows my senses
+were failing, I heard the thunder of horses' hoofs and the shout of
+"_Egypt! Egypt!_" from the throats of soldiers. The flash of bronze
+caught my dazed eyes, and with the roar of battle in my ears I seemed to
+fall asleep just as the light of day departed.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+SETI COUNSELS PHARAOH
+
+Dream upon dream. Dreams of voices, dreams of faces, dreams of sunlight
+and of moonlight and of myself being borne forward, always forward;
+dreams of shouting crowds, and, above all, dreams of Merapi's eyes
+looking down on me like two watching stars from heaven. Then at last the
+awakening, and with it throbs of pain and qualms of sickness.
+
+At first I thought that I was dead and lying in a tomb. Then by degrees
+I saw that I was in no tomb but in a darkened room that was familiar
+to me, my own room in Seti's palace at Tanis. It must be so, for
+there, near to the bed on which I lay, was my own chest filled with the
+manuscripts that I had brought from Memphis. I tried to lift my left
+hand, but could not, and looking down saw that the arm was bandaged like
+to that of a mummy, which made me think again that I must be dead, if
+the dead could suffer so much pain. I closed my eyes and thought or
+slept a while.
+
+As I lay thus I heard voices. One of them seemed to be that of a
+physician, who said, "Yes, he will live and ere long recover. The blow
+upon the head which has made him senseless for so many days was the
+worst of his wounds, but the bone was but bruised, not shattered or
+driven in upon the brain. The flesh cuts on his arms are healing well,
+and the mail he wore protected his vitals from being pierced."
+
+"I am glad, physician," answered a voice that I knew to be that of
+Userti, "since without a doubt, had it not been for Ana, his Highness
+would have perished. It is strange that one whom I thought to be nothing
+but a dreaming scribe should have shown himself so brave a warrior. The
+Prince says that this Ana killed three of those dogs with his own hands,
+and wounded others."
+
+"It was well done, your Highness," answered the physician, "but still
+better was his forethought in providing a rear-guard and in despatching
+the charioteer to call it up. It seems to have been the Hebrew lady who
+really saved the life of his Highness, when, forgetting her sex, she
+stabbed the murderer who had him by the throat."
+
+"That is the Prince's tale, or so I understand," she answered coldly.
+"Yet it seems strange that a weak and worn-out girl could have pierced a
+giant through from back to breast."
+
+"At least she warned him of the ambush, your Highness."
+
+"So they say. Perhaps Ana here will soon tell us the truth about these
+matters. Tend him well, physician, and you shall not lack for your
+reward."
+
+Then they went away, still talking, and I lay quiet, filled with
+thankfulness and wonder, for now everything came back to me.
+
+A while later, as I lay with my eyes still shut, for even that low light
+seemed to hurt them, I became aware of a woman's soft step stealing
+round my bed and of a fragrance such as comes from a woman's robes and
+hair. I looked and saw Merapi's star-like eyes gazing down on me just as
+I had seen them in my dreams.
+
+"Greeting, Moon of Israel," I said. "Of a truth we meet again in strange
+case."
+
+"Oh!" she whispered, "are you awake at last? I thank God, Scribe Ana,
+who for three days thought that you must die."
+
+"As, had it not been for you, Lady, surely I should have done--I and
+another. Now it seems that all three of us will live."
+
+"Would that but two lived, the Prince and you, Ana. Would that _I_ had
+died," she answered, sighing heavily.
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Cannot you guess? Because I am outcast who has betrayed my people.
+Because their blood flows between me and them. For I killed that
+man, and he was my own kinsman, for the sake of an Egyptian--I mean,
+Egyptians. Therefore the curse of Jahveh is on me, and as my kinsman
+died doubtless I shall die in a day to come, and afterwards--what?"
+
+"Afterwards peace and great reward, if there be justice in earth or
+heaven, O most noble among women."
+
+"Would that I could think so! Hush, I hear steps. Drink this; I am the
+chief of your nurses, Scribe Ana, an honourable post, since to-day all
+Egypt loves and praises you."
+
+"Surely it is you, lady Merapi, whom all Egypt should love and praise,"
+I answered.
+
+Then the Prince Seti entered. I strove to salute him by lifting my less
+injured arm, but he caught my hand and pressed it tenderly.
+
+"Hail to you, beloved of Menthu, god of war," he said, with his pleasant
+laugh. "I thought I had hired a scribe, and lo! in this scribe I find a
+soldier who might be an army's boast."
+
+At this moment he caught sight of Merapi, who had moved back into the
+shadow.
+
+"Hail to you also, Moon of Israel," he said bowing. "If I name Ana here
+a warrior of the best, what name can both of us find for you to whom we
+owe our lives? Nay, look not down, but answer."
+
+"Prince of Egypt," she replied confusedly, "I did but little. The plot
+came to my ears through Jabez my uncle, and I fled away and, knowing
+the short paths from childhood, was just in time. Had I stayed to think
+perchance I should not have dared."
+
+"And what of the rest, Lady? What of the Hebrew who was choking me and
+of a certain sword thrust that loosed his hands for ever?"
+
+"Of that, your Highness, I can recall nothing, or very little," then,
+doubtless remembering what she had just said to me, she made obeisance
+and passed from the chamber.
+
+"She can tell falsehoods as sweetly as she does all else," said Seti,
+when he had watched her go. "Oh! what a woman have we here, Ana. Perfect
+in beauty, perfect in courage, perfect in mind. Where are her faults, I
+wonder? Let it be your part to search them out, since I find none."
+
+"Ask them of Ki, O Prince. He is a very great magician, so great that
+perhaps his art may even avail to discover what a woman seeks to hide.
+Also you may remember that he gave you certain warnings before we
+journeyed to Goshen."
+
+"Yes--he told me that my life would be in danger, as certainly it was.
+There he was right. He told me also that I should see a woman whom I
+should come to love. There he was wrong. I have seen no such woman. Oh!
+I know well what is passing in your mind. Because I hold the lady Merapi
+to be beautiful and brave, you think that I love her. But it is not so.
+I love no woman, except, of course, her Highness. Ana, you judge me by
+yourself."
+
+"Ki said 'come to love,' Prince. There is yet time."
+
+"Not so, Ana. If one loves, one loves at once. Soon I shall be old and
+she will be fat and ugly, and how can one love then? Get well quickly,
+Ana, for I wish you to help me with my report to Pharaoh. I shall tell
+him that I think these Israelites are much oppressed and that he should
+make them amends and let them go."
+
+"What will Pharaoh say to that after they have just tried to kill his
+heir?"
+
+"I think Pharaoh will be angry, and so will the people of Egypt, who do
+not reason well. He will not see that, believing what they do, Laban
+and his band were right to try to kill me who, however unwittingly,
+desecrated the sanctuary of their god. Had they done otherwise they
+would have been no good Hebrews, and for my part I cannot bear them
+malice. Yet all Egypt is afire about this business and cries out that
+the Israelites should be destroyed."
+
+"It seems to me, Prince, that whatever may be the case with Ki's second
+prophecy, his third is in the way of fulfilment--namely that this
+journey to Goshen may cause you to risk your throne."
+
+He shrugged his shoulders and answered:
+
+"Not even for that, Ana, will I say to Pharaoh what is not in my mind.
+But let that matter be till you are stronger."
+
+"What chanced at the end of the fight, Prince, and how came I here?"
+
+"The guard killed most of the Hebrews who remained alive. Some few fled
+and escaped in the darkness, among them Laban their leader, although you
+had wounded him, and six were taken alive. They await their trial. I was
+but little hurt and you, whom we thought dead, were but senseless, and
+senseless or wandering you have remained till this hour. We carried you
+in a litter, and here you have been these three days."
+
+"And the lady Merapi?"
+
+"We set her in a chariot and brought her to the city, since had we left
+her she would certainly have been murdered by her people. When Pharaoh
+heard what she had done, as I did not think it well that she should
+dwell here, he gave her the small house in this garden that she might
+be guarded, and with it slave women to attend upon her. So there she
+dwells, having the freedom of the palace, and all the while has filled
+the office of your nurse."
+
+At this moment I grew faint and shut my eyes. When I opened them again,
+the Prince had gone. Six more days went by before I was allowed to leave
+my bed, and during this time I saw much of Merapi. She was very sad and
+lived in fear of being killed by the Hebrews. Also she was troubled in
+her heart because she thought she had betrayed her faith and people.
+
+"At least you are rid of Laban," I said.
+
+"Never shall I be rid of him while we both live," she answered. "I
+belong to him and he will not loose my bond, because his heart is set on
+me."
+
+"And is your heart set on him?" I asked.
+
+Her beautiful eyes filled with tears.
+
+"A woman may not have a heart. Oh! Ana, I am unhappy," she answered, and
+went away.
+
+Also I saw others. The Princess came to visit me. She thanked me much
+because I had fulfilled my promise to her and guarded the Prince.
+Moreover she brought me a gift of gold from Pharaoh, and other gifts of
+fine raiment from herself. She questioned me closely about Merapi, of
+whom I could see she was already jealous, and was glad when she learned
+that she was affianced to a Hebrew. Old Bakenkhonsu came too, and asked
+me many things about the Prince, the Hebrews and Merapi, especially
+Merapi, of whose deeds, he said, all Egypt was talking, questions that I
+answered as best I could.
+
+"Here we have that woman of whom Ki told us," he said, "she who shall
+bring so much joy and so much sorrow to the Prince of Egypt."
+
+"Why so?" I asked. "He has not taken her into his house, nor do I think
+that he means to do so."
+
+"Yet he will, Ana, whether he means it or not. For his sake she betrayed
+her people, which among the Israelites is a deadly crime. Twice she
+saved his life, once by warning him of the ambush, and again by stabbing
+with her own hands one of her kinsmen who was murdering him. Is it not
+so? Tell me; you were there."
+
+"It is so, but what then?"
+
+"This: that whatever she may say, she loves him; unless indeed, it is
+you whom she loves," and he looked at me shrewdly.
+
+"When a woman has a prince, and such a prince to her hand, would she
+trouble herself to set snares to catch a scribe?" I asked, with some
+bitterness.
+
+"Oho!" he said, with one of his great laughs, "so things stand thus, do
+they? Well, I thought it, but, friend Ana, be warned in time. Do not try
+to conjure down the Moon to be your household lamp lest she should set,
+and the Sun, her lord, should grow wroth and burn you up. Well, she
+loves him, and therefore soon or late she will make him love her, being
+what she is."
+
+"How, Bakenkhonsu?"
+
+"With most men, Ana, it would be simple. A sigh, some half-hidden tears
+at the right moment, and the thing is done, as I have known it done a
+thousand times. But this prince being what he is, it may be otherwise.
+She may show him that her name is gone from him; that because of him she
+is hated by her people, and rejected by her god, and thus stir his pity,
+which is Love's own sister. Or mayhap, being also, as I am told, wise,
+she will give him counsel as to all these matters of the Israelites, and
+thus creep into his heart under the guise of friendship, and then her
+sweetness and her beauty will do the rest in Nature's way. At least by
+this road or by that, upstream or downstream, thither she will come."
+
+"If so, what of it? It is the custom of the kings of Egypt to have more
+wives than one."
+
+"This, Ana; Seti, I think, is a man who in truth will have but one, and
+that one will be this Hebrew. Yes, a Hebrew woman will rule Egypt, and
+turn him to the worship of her god, for never will she worship ours.
+Indeed, when they see that she is lost to them, her people will use her
+thus. Or perchance her god himself will use her to fulfil his purpose,
+as already he may have used her."
+
+"And afterwards, Bakenkhonsu?"
+
+"Afterwards--who knows? I am not a magician, at least not one of any
+account, ask it of Ki. But I am very, very old and I have watched the
+world, and I tell you that these things will happen, unless----" and he
+paused.
+
+"Unless what?"
+
+He dropped his voice.
+
+"Unless Userti is bolder than I think, and kills her first or, better
+still, procures some Hebrew to kill her--say, that cast-off lover
+of hers. If you would be a friend to Pharaoh and to Egypt, you might
+whisper it in her ear, Ana."
+
+"Never!" I answered angrily.
+
+"I did not think you would, Ana, who also struggle in this net of
+moonbeams that is stronger and more real than any twisted out of palm
+or flax. Well, nor will I, who in my age love to watch such human sport
+and, being so near to them, fear to thwart the schemes of gods. Let this
+scroll unroll itself as it will, and when it is open, read it, Ana, and
+remember what I said to you this day. It will be a pretty tale, written
+at the end with blood for ink. Oho! O-ho-ho!" and, laughing, he hobbled
+from the room, leaving me frightened.
+
+Moreover the Prince visited me every day, and even before I left my bed
+began to dictate to me his report to Pharaoh, since he would employ no
+other scribe. The substance of it was what he had foreshadowed, namely
+that the people of Israel, having suffered much for generations at
+the hands of the Egyptians, should now be allowed to depart as their
+prophets demanded, and go whither they would unharmed. Of the attack
+upon us in the pass he made light, saying it was the evil work of a few
+zealots wrought on by fancied insult to their god, a deed for which the
+whole people should not be called upon to suffer. The last words of the
+report were:
+
+"Remember, O Pharaoh, I pray thee, that Amon, god of the Egyptians,
+and Jahveh, the god of the Israelites, cannot rule together in the same
+land. If both abide in Egypt there will be a war of the gods wherein
+mortals may be ground to dust. Therefore, I pray thee, let Israel go."
+
+After I had risen and was recovered, I copied out this report in my
+fairest writing, refusing to tell any of its purport, although all
+asked, among them the Vizier Nehesi, who offered me a bribe to disclose
+its secret. This came to the ears of Seti, I know not how, and he was
+much pleased with me about the matter, saying he rejoiced to find that
+there was one scribe in Egypt who could not be bought. Userti also
+questioned me, and when I refused to answer, strange to say, was not
+angry, because, she declared, I only did my duty.
+
+At last the roll was finished and sealed, and the Prince with his own
+hand, but without speaking, laid it on the knees of Pharaoh at a public
+Court, for this he would trust no one else to do. Amenmeses also brought
+up his report, as did Nehesi the Vizier, and the Captain of the guard
+which saved us from death. Eight days later the Prince was summoned to a
+great Council of State, as were all others of the royal House, together
+with the high officers. I too received a summons, as one who had been
+concerned in these matters.
+
+The Prince, accompanied by the Princess, drove to the palace in
+Pharaoh's golden chariot, drawn by two milk-white horses of the blood of
+those famous steeds that had saved the life of the great Rameses in the
+Syrian war. All down the streets, that were filled with thousands of the
+people, they were received with shouts of welcome.
+
+"See," said the old councillor Bakenkhonsu, who was my companion in a
+second chariot, "Egypt is proud and glad. It thought that its Prince was
+but a dreamer of dreams. But now it has heard the tale of the ambush in
+the pass and learned that he is a man of war, a warrior who can fight
+with the best. Therefore it loves him and rejoices."
+
+"Then, by the same rule, Bakenkhonsu, a butcher should be more great
+than the wisest of scribes."
+
+"So he is, Ana, especially if the butcher be one of men. The writer
+creates, but the slayer kills, and in a world ruled of death he who
+kills has more honour than he who creates. Hearken, now they are
+shouting out your name. Is that because you are the author of certain
+writings? I tell you, No. It is because you killed three men yonder in
+the pass. If you would become famous and beloved, Ana, cease from the
+writing of books and take to the cutting of throats."
+
+"Yet the writer still lives when he is dead."
+
+"Oho!" laughed Bakenkhonsu, "you are even more foolish than I thought.
+How is a man advantaged by what happens when he is dead? Why, to-day
+that blind beggar whining on the temple steps means more to Egypt than
+all the mummies of all the Pharaohs, unless they can be robbed. Take
+what life can give you, Ana, and do not trouble about the offerings
+which are laid in the tombs for time to crumble."
+
+"That is a mean faith, Bakenkhonsu."
+
+"Very mean, Ana, like all else that we can taste and handle. A mean
+faith suited to mean hearts, among whom should be reckoned all save one
+in every thousand. Yet, if you would prosper, follow it, and when you
+are dead I will come and laugh upon your grave, and say, 'Here lies one
+of whom I had hoped higher things, as I hope them of your master.'"
+
+"And not in vain, Bakenkhonsu, whatever may happen to the servant."
+
+"That we shall learn, and ere long, I think. I wonder who will ride at
+his side before the next Nile flood. By then, perchance, he will have
+changed Pharaoh's golden chariot for an ox-cart, and you will goad the
+oxen and talk to him of the stars--or, mayhap of the moon. Well, you
+might both be happier thus, and she of the moon is a jealous goddess who
+loves worship. Oho-ho! Here are the palace steps. Help me to descend,
+Priest of the Lady of the Moon."
+
+We entered the palace and were led through the great hall to a smaller
+chamber where Pharaoh, who did not wear his robes of state, awaited us,
+seated in a cedar chair. Glancing at him I saw that his face was stern
+and troubled; also it seemed to me that he had grown older. The Prince
+and Princess made obeisance to him, as did we lesser folk, but he took
+no heed. When all were present and the doors had been shut, Pharaoh
+said:
+
+"I have read your report, Son Seti, concerning your visit to the
+Israelites, and all that chanced to you; and also the reports of you,
+nephew Amenmeses, and of you, Officers, who accompanied the Prince of
+Egypt. Before I speak of them, let the Scribe Ana, who was the chariot
+companion of his Highness when the Hebrews attacked him, stand forward
+and tell me all that passed."
+
+So I advanced, and with bowed head repeated that tale, only leaving
+out so far as was possible any mention of myself. When I had finished,
+Pharaoh said:
+
+"He who speaks but half the truth is sometimes more mischievous than a
+liar. Did you then sit in the chariot, Scribe, doing nothing while the
+Prince battled for his life? Or did you run away? Speak, Seti, and say
+what part this man played for good or ill."
+
+Then the Prince told of my share in the fight, with words that brought
+the blood to my brow. He told also how that it was I who, taking the
+risk of his wrath, had ordered the guard of twenty men to follow us
+unseen, had disguised two seasoned soldiers as chariot runners, and had
+thought to send back the driver to summon help at the commencement of
+the fray; how I had been hurt also, and was but lately recovered. When
+he had finished, Pharaoh said:
+
+"That this story is true I know from others. Scribe, you have done
+well. But for you to-day his Highness would lie upon the table of the
+embalmers, as indeed for his folly he deserves to do, and Egypt would
+mourn from Thebes to the mouths of Nile. Come hither."
+
+I came with trembling steps, and knelt before his Majesty. Around his
+neck hung a beauteous chain of wrought gold. He took it, and cast it
+over my head, saying:
+
+"Because you have shown yourself both brave and wise, with this gold I
+give you the title of Councillor and King's Companion, and the right
+to inscribe the same upon your funeral stele. Let it be noted. Retire,
+Scribe Ana, Councillor and King's Companion."
+
+So I withdrew confused, and as I passed Seti, he whispered in my ear:
+
+"I pray you, my lord, do not cease to be Prince's Companion, because you
+have become that of the King."
+
+Then Pharaoh ordered that the Captain of the guard should be advanced
+in rank, and that gifts should be given to each of the soldiers, and
+provision be made for the children of those who had been killed, with
+double allowance to the families of the two men whom I had disguised as
+runners.
+
+This done, once more Pharaoh spoke, slowly and with much meaning, having
+first ordered that all attendants and guards should leave the chamber. I
+was about to go also, but old Bakenkhonsu caught me by the robe, saying
+that in my new rank of Councillor I had the right to remain.
+
+"Prince Seti," he said, "after all that I have heard, I find this report
+of yours strange reading. Moreover, the tenor of it is different indeed
+to that of those of the Count Amenmeses and the officers. You counsel me
+to let these Israelites go where they will, because of certain hardships
+that they have suffered in the past, which hardships, however, have left
+them many and rich. That counsel I am not minded to take. Rather am I
+minded to send an army to the land of Goshen with orders to despatch
+this people, who conspired to murder the Prince of Egypt, through the
+Gateway of the West, there to worship their god in heaven or in hell.
+Aye, to slay them all from the greybeard down to the suckling at the
+breast."
+
+"I hear Pharaoh," said Seti, quietly.
+
+"Such is my will," went on Meneptah, "and those who accompanied you upon
+your business, and all my councillors think as I do, for truly Egypt
+cannot bear so hideous a treason. Yet, according to our law and custom
+it is needful, before such great acts of war and policy are undertaken,
+that he who stands next to the throne, and is destined to fill it,
+should give consent thereto. Do you consent, Prince of Egypt?"
+
+"I do not consent, Pharaoh. I think it would be a wicked deed that tens
+of thousands should be massacred for the reason that a few fools waylaid
+a man who chanced to be of royal blood, because by inadvertence, he had
+desecrated their sanctuary."
+
+Now I saw that this answer made Pharaoh wroth, for never before had his
+will been crossed in such a fashion. Still he controlled himself, and
+asked:
+
+"Do you then consent, Prince, to a gentler sentence, namely that the
+Hebrew people should be broken up; that the more dangerous of them
+should be sent to labour in the desert mines and quarries, and the rest
+distributed throughout Egypt, there to live as slaves?"
+
+"I do not consent, Pharaoh. My poor counsel is written in yonder roll
+and cannot be changed."
+
+Meneptah's eyes flashed, but again he controlled himself, and asked:
+
+"If you should come to fill this place of mine, Prince Seti, tell us,
+here assembled, what policy will you pursue towards these Hebrews?"
+
+"That policy, O Pharaoh, which I have counselled in the roll. If ever
+I fill the throne, I shall let them go whither they will, taking their
+goods with them."
+
+Now all those present stared at him and murmured. But Pharaoh rose,
+shaking with wrath. Seizing his robe where it was fastened at the
+breast, he rent it, and cried in a terrible voice:
+
+"Hear him, ye gods of Egypt! Hear this son of mine who defies me to my
+face and would set your necks beneath the heel of a stranger god. Prince
+Seti, in the presence of these royal ones, and these my councillors,
+I----"
+
+He said no more, for the Princess Userti, who till now had remained
+silent, ran to him, and throwing her arms about him, began to whisper in
+his ear. He hearkened to her, then sat himself down, and spoke again:
+
+"The Princess brings it to my mind that this is a great matter, one not
+to be dealt with hastily. It may happen that when the Prince has taken
+counsel with her, and with his own heart, and perchance has sought the
+wisdom of the gods, he will change the words which have passed his lips.
+I command you, Prince, to wait upon me here at this same hour on the
+third day from this. Meanwhile, I command all present, upon pain of
+death, to say nothing of what has passed within these walls."
+
+"I hear Pharaoh," said the Prince, bowing.
+
+Meneptah rose to show that the Council was discharged, when the Vizier
+Nehesi approached him, and asked:
+
+"What of the Hebrew prisoners, O Pharaoh, those murderers who were
+captured in the pass?"
+
+"Their guilt is proved. Let them be beaten with rods till they die, and
+if they have wives or children, let them be seized and sold as slaves."
+
+"Pharaoh's will be done!" said the Vizier.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE SMITING OF AMON
+
+That evening I sat ill at ease in my work-chamber in Seti's palace,
+making pretence to write, I who felt that great evils threatened my
+lord the Prince, and knew not what to do to turn them from him. The door
+opened, and old Pambasa the chamberlain appeared and addressed me by my
+new titles, saying that the Hebrew lady Merapi, who had been my nurse in
+sickness, wished to speak with me. Presently she came and stood before
+me.
+
+"Scribe Ana," she said, "I have but just seen my uncle Jabez, who has
+come, or been sent, with a message to me," and she hesitated.
+
+"Why was he sent, Lady? To bring you news of Laban?"
+
+"Not so. Laban has fled away and none know where he is, and Jabez has
+only escaped much trouble as the uncle of a traitress by undertaking
+this mission."
+
+"What is the mission?"
+
+"To pray me, if I would save myself from death and the vengeance of God,
+to work upon the heart of his Highness, which I know not how to do----"
+
+"Yet I think you might find means, Merapi."
+
+"----save through you, his friend and counsellor," she went on, turning
+away her face. "Jabez has learned that it is in the mind of Pharaoh
+utterly to destroy the people of Israel."
+
+"How does he know that, Merapi?"
+
+"I cannot say, but I think all the Hebrews know. I knew it myself though
+none had told me. He has learned also that this cannot be done under the
+law of Egypt unless the Prince who is heir to the throne and of full age
+consents. Now I am come to pray you to pray the Prince not to consent."
+
+"Why not pray to the Prince yourself, Merapi----" I began, when from
+the shadows behind me I heard the voice of Seti, who had entered by the
+private door bearing some writings in his hand, saying:
+
+"And what prayer has the lady Merapi to make to me? Nay, rise and speak,
+Moon of Israel."
+
+"O Prince," she pleaded, "my prayer is that you will save the Hebrews
+from death by the sword, as you alone have the power to do."
+
+At this moment the doors opened and in swept the royal Userti.
+
+"What does this woman here?" she asked.
+
+"I think that she came to see Ana, wife, as I did, and as doubtless you
+do. Also being here she prays me to save her people from the sword."
+
+"And I pray you, husband, to give her people to the sword, which they
+have earned, who would have murdered you."
+
+"And been paid, everyone of them, Userti, unless some still linger
+beneath the rods," he added with a shudder. "The rest are innocent--why
+should they die?"
+
+"Because your throne hangs upon it, Seti. I say that if you continue to
+thwart the will of Pharaoh, as by the law of Egypt you can do, he will
+disinherit you and set your cousin Amenmeses in your place, as by the
+law of Egypt he can do."
+
+"I thought it, Userti. Yet why should I turn my back upon the right over
+a matter of my private fortunes? The question is--is it the right?"
+
+She stared at him in amazement, she who never understood Seti and could
+not dream that he would throw away the greatest throne in all the world
+to save a subject people, merely because he thought that they should
+not die. Still, warned by some instinct, she left the first question
+unanswered, dealing only with the second.
+
+"It is the right," she said, "for many reasons whereof I need give but
+one, for in it lie all the others. The gods of Egypt are the true gods
+whom we must serve and obey, or perish here and hereafter. The god of
+the Israelites is a false god and those who worship him are heretics and
+by their heresy under sentence of death. Therefore it is most right
+that those whom the true gods have condemned should die by the swords of
+their servants."
+
+"That is well argued, Userti, and if it be so, mayhap my mind will
+become as yours in this matter, so that I shall no longer stand between
+Pharaoh and his desire. But is it so? There's the problem. I will not
+ask you why you say that the gods of the Egyptians are the true gods,
+because I know what you would answer, or rather that you could give no
+answer. But I will ask this lady whether her god is a false god, and if
+she replies that he is not, I will ask her to prove this to me if
+she can. If she is able to prove it, then I think that what I said to
+Pharaoh to-day I shall repeat three days hence. If she is not able to
+prove it, then I shall consider very earnestly of the matter. Answer
+now, Moon of Israel, remembering that many thousands of lives may hang
+on what you say."
+
+"O your Highness," began Merapi. Then she paused, clasped her hands and
+looked upwards. I think that she was praying, for her lips moved. As she
+stood thus I saw, and I think Seti saw also, a very wonderful light grow
+on her face and gather in her eyes, a kind of divine fire of inspiration
+and resolve.
+
+"How can I, a poor Hebrew maiden, prove to your Highness that my God is
+the true God and that the gods of Egypt are false gods? I know not, and
+yet, is there any one god among all the many whom you worship, whom you
+are prepared to set up against him?"
+
+"Of a surety, Israelite," answered Userti. "There is Amon-Ra, Father of
+the gods, of whom all other gods have their being, and from whom they
+draw their strength. Yonder his statue sits in the sanctuary of his
+ancient temple. Let your god stir him from his place! But what will you
+bring forward against the majesty of Amon-Ra?"
+
+"My God has no statues, Princess, and his place is in the hearts of
+men, or so I have been taught by his prophets. I have nothing to bring
+forward in this war save that which must be offered in all wars--my
+life."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Seti, astounded.
+
+"I mean that I, unfriended and alone, will enter the presence of Amon-Ra
+in his chosen sanctuary, and in the name of my God will challenge him to
+kill me, if he can."
+
+We stared at her, and Userti exclaimed:
+
+"If he can! Hearken now to this blasphemer, and do you, Seti, accept her
+challenge as hereditary high-priest of the god Amon? Let her life pay
+forfeit for her sacrilege."
+
+"And if the great god Amon cannot, or does not deign to kill you, Lady,
+how will that prove that your god is greater than he?" asked the Prince.
+"Perhaps he might smile and in his pity, let the insult pass, as your
+god did by me."
+
+"Thus it shall be proved, your Highness. If naught happens to me, or if
+I am protected from anything that does happen, then I will dare to call
+upon my god to work a sign and a wonder, and to humble Amon-Ra before
+your eyes."
+
+"And if your god should also smile and let the matter pass, Lady, as he
+did by me the other day when his priests called upon him, what shall we
+have learned as to his strength, or as to that of Amon-Ra?"
+
+"O Prince, you will have learned nothing. Yet if I escape from the wrath
+of Amon and my God is deaf to my prayer, then I am ready to be delivered
+over into the hands of the priests of Amon that they may avenge my
+sacrilege upon me."
+
+"There speaks a great heart," said Seti; "yet I am not minded that
+this lady should set her life upon such an issue. I do not believe that
+either the high-god of Egypt or the god of the Israelites will stir, but
+I am quite sure that the priests of Amon will avenge the sacrilege, and
+that cruelly enough. The dice are loaded against you, Lady. You shall
+not prove your faith with blood."
+
+"Why not?" asked Userti. "What is this girl to you, Seti, that you
+should stand between her and the fruit of her wickedness, you who at
+least in name are the high-priest of the god whom she blasphemes and who
+wear his robes at temple feasts? She believes in her god, leave it to
+her god to help her as she has dared to say he will."
+
+"You believe in Amon, Userti. Are you prepared to stake your life
+against hers in this contest?"
+
+"I am not so mad and vain, Seti, as to believe that the god of all the
+world will descend from heaven to save me at my prayer, as this impious
+girl pretends that she believes."
+
+"You refuse. Then, Ana, what say you, who are a loyal worshipper of
+Amon?"
+
+"I say, O Prince, that it would be presumptuous of me to take precedence
+of his high-priest in such a matter."
+
+Seti smiled and answered:
+
+"And the high-priest says that it would be presumptuous of him to push
+so far the prerogative of a high office which he never sought."
+
+"Your Highness," broke in Merapi in her honeyed, pleading voice, "I pray
+you to be gracious to me, and to suffer me to make this trial, which
+I have sought, I know not why. Words such as I have spoken cannot be
+recalled. Already they are registered in the books of Eternity, and soon
+or late, in this way or in that, must be fulfilled. My life is staked,
+and I desire to learn at once if it be forfeit."
+
+Now even Userti looked on her with admiration, but answered only:
+
+"Of a truth, Israelite, I trust that this courage will not forsake you
+when you are handed over to the mercies of Ki, the Sacrificer of Amon,
+and the priests, in the vaults of the temple you would profane."
+
+"I also trust that it will not, your Highness, if such should be my
+fate. Your word, Prince of Egypt."
+
+Seti looked at her standing before him so calmly with bowed head, and
+hands crossed upon her breast. Then he looked at Userti, who wore a
+mocking smile upon her face. She read the meaning of that smile as I
+did. It was that she did not believe that he would allow this beautiful
+woman, who had saved his life, to risk her life for the sake of any or
+all the powers of heaven or hell. For a little while he walked to and
+fro about the chamber, then he stopped and said suddenly addressing, not
+Merapi, but Userti:
+
+"Have your will, remembering that if this brave woman fails and dies,
+her blood is on your hands, and that if she triumphs and lives, I shall
+hold her to be one of the noblest of her sex, and shall make study of
+all this matter of religion. Moon of Israel, as titular high-priest of
+Amon-Ra, I accept your challenge on behalf of the god, though whether
+he will take note of it I do not know. The trial shall be made
+to-morrow night in the sanctuary of the temple, at an hour that will be
+communicated to you. I shall be present to make sure that you meet with
+justice, as will some others. Register my commands, Scribe Ana, and
+let the head-priest of Amon, Roi, and the sacrificer to Amon, Ki the
+Magician, be summoned, that I may speak with them. Farewell, Lady."
+
+She went, but at the door turned and said:
+
+"I thank you, Prince, on my own behalf, and on that of my people.
+Whatever chances, I beseech you do not forget the prayer that I have
+made to you to save them, being innocent, from the sword. Now I ask that
+I may be left quite alone till I am summoned to the temple, who must
+make such preparation as I can to meet my fate, whatever it may be."
+
+Userti departed also without a word.
+
+"Oh! friend, what have I done?" said Seti. "Are there any gods? Tell me,
+are there any gods?"
+
+"Perhaps we shall learn to-morrow night, Prince," I answered. "At least
+Merapi thinks that there is a god, and doubtless has been commanded to
+put her faith to proof. This, as I believe, was the real message that
+Jabez her uncle has brought to her."
+
+
+
+It was the hour before the dawn, just when the night is darkest. We
+stood in the sanctuary of the ancient temple of Amon-Ra, that was lit
+with many lamps. It was an awful place. On either side the great columns
+towered to the massive roof. At the head of the sanctuary sat the statue
+of Amon-Ra, thrice the size of a man. On his brow, rising from the
+crown, were two tall feathers of stone, and in his hands he held the
+Scourge of Rule and the symbols of Power and Everlastingness. The
+lamplight flickered upon his stern and terrible face staring towards the
+east. To his right was the statue of Mut, the Mother of all things. On
+her head was the double crown of Egypt and the uraeus crest, and in her
+hand the looped cross, the sign of Life eternal. To his left sat Khonsu,
+the hawk-headed god of the moon. On his head was the crescent of the
+young moon carrying the disc of the full moon; in his right hand he also
+held the looped cross, the sign of Life eternal, and in his left the
+Staff of Strength. Such was this mighty triad, but of these the greatest
+was Amon-Ra, to whom the shrine was dedicated. Fearful they stood
+towering above us against the background of blackness.
+
+Gathered there were Seti the Prince, clothed in a priest's white
+robe, and wearing a linen headdress, but no ornaments, and Userti the
+Princess, high-priestess of Hathor, Lady of the West, Goddess of Love
+and Nature. She wore Hathor's vulture headdress, and on it the disc of
+the moon fashioned of silver. Also were present Roi the head-priest,
+clad in his sacerdotal robes, an old and wizened man with a strong,
+fierce face, Ki the Sacrificer and Magician, Bakenkhonsu the ancient,
+myself, and a company of the priests of Amon-Ra, Mut, and Khonsu. From
+behind the statues came the sound of solemn singing, though who sang we
+could not see.
+
+Presently from out of the darkness that lay beyond the lamps appeared a
+woman, led by two priestesses and wrapped in a long cloak. They brought
+her to an open place in front of the statue of Amon, took from her the
+cloak and departed, glancing back at her with eyes of hate and fear.
+There before us stood Merapi, clad in white, with a simple wimple about
+her head made fast beneath her chin with that scarabaeus clasp which Seti
+had given to her in the city of Goshen, one spot of brightest blue amid
+a cloud of white. She looked neither to right nor left of her. Once only
+she glanced at the towering statue of the god that frowned above, then
+with a little shiver, fixed her eyes upon the pattern of the floor.
+
+"What does she look like?" whispered Bakenkhonsu to me.
+
+"A corpse made ready for the embalmers," I answered.
+
+He shook his great head.
+
+"Then a bride made ready for her husband."
+
+Again he shook his head.
+
+"Then a priestess about to read from the roll of Mysteries."
+
+"Now you have it, Ana, and to understand what she reads, which few
+priestesses ever do. Also all three answers were right, for in this
+woman I seem to see doom that is Death, life that is Love, and spirit
+that is Power. She has a soul which both Heaven and Earth have kissed."
+
+"Aye, but which of them will claim her in the end?"
+
+"That we may learn before the dawn, Ana. Hush! the fight begins."
+
+The head-priest, Roi, advanced and, standing before the god, sprinkled
+his feet with water and with perfume. Then he stretched out his hands,
+whereon all present prostrated themselves, save Merapi only, who stood
+alone in that great place like the survivor of a battle.
+
+"Hail to thee, Amon-Ra," he began, "Lord of Heaven, Establisher of
+all things, Maker of the gods, who unrolled the skies and built the
+foundations of the Earth. O god of gods, appears before thee this woman
+Merapi, daughter of Nathan, a child of the Hebrew race that owns thee
+not. This woman blasphemes thy might; this woman defies thee; this woman
+sets up her god above thee. Is it not so, woman?"
+
+"It is so," answered Merapi in a low voice.
+
+"Thus does she defy thee, thou Only One of many Forms, saying 'if the
+god Amon of the Egyptians be a greater god than my god, let him snatch
+me out of the arms of my god and here in this the shrine of Amon take
+the breath from out my lips and leave me a thing of clay.' Are these thy
+words, O woman?"
+
+"They are my words," she said in the same low voice, and oh! I shivered
+as I heard.
+
+The priest went on.
+
+"O Lord of Time, Lord of Life, Lord of Spirits and the Divinities of
+Heaven, Lord of Terror, come forth now in thy majesty and smite this
+blasphemer to the dust."
+
+Roi withdrew and Seti stood forward.
+
+"Know, O god Amon," he said, addressing the statue as though he wee
+speaking to a living man, "from the lips of me, thy high-priest, by
+birth the Prince and Heir of Egypt, that great things hang upon this
+matter here in the Land of Egypt, mayhap even who shall sit upon the
+throne that thou givest to its kings. This woman of Israel dares thee to
+thy face, saying that there is a greater god than thou art and that
+thou canst not harm her through the buckler of his strength. She says,
+moreover, that she will call upon her god to work a sign and a wonder
+upon thee. Lastly, she says that if thou dost not harm her and if her
+god works no sign upon thee, then she is ready to be handed over to thy
+priests and die the death of a blasphemer. Thy honour is set against her
+life, O great God of Egypt, and we, thy worshippers, watch to see the
+balance turn."
+
+"Well and justly put," muttered Bakenkhonsu to me. "Now if Amon fails
+us, what will you think of Amon, Ana?"
+
+"I shall learn the high-priest's mind and think what the high-priest
+thinks," I answered darkly, though in my heart I was terribly afraid
+for Merapi, and, to speak truth, for myself also, because of the doubts
+which arose in me and would not be quenched.
+
+Seti withdrew, taking his stand by Userti, and Ki stood forward and
+said:
+
+"O Amon, I thy Sacrificer, I thy Magician, to whom thou givest power,
+I the priest and servant of Isis, Mother of Mysteries, Queen of the
+company of the gods, call upon thee. She who stands before thee is but a
+Hebrew woman. Yet, as thou knowest well, O Father, in this house she is
+more than woman, inasmuch as she is the Voice and Sword of thine enemy,
+Jahveh, god of the Israelites. She thinks, mayhap, that she has come
+here of her own will, but thou knowest, Father Amon, as I know, that she
+is sent by the great prophets of her people, those magicians who guide
+her soul with spells to work thee evil and to set thee, Amon, beneath
+the heel of Jahveh. The stake seems small, the life of this one maid, no
+more; yet it is very great. This is the stake, O Father: Shall Amon rule
+the world, or Jahveh. If thou fallest to-night, thou fallest for ever;
+if thou dost triumph to-night, thou dost triumph for ever. In yonder
+shape of stone hides thy spirit; in yonder shape of woman's flesh hides
+the spirit of thy foe. Smite her, O Amon, smite her to small dust; let
+not the strength that is in her prevail against thy strength, lest thy
+name should be defiled and sorrows and loss should come upon the land
+which is thy throne; lest, too, the wizards of the Israelites should
+overcome us thy servants. Thus prayeth Ki thy magician, on whose soul it
+has pleased thee to pour strength and wisdom."
+
+Then followed a great silence.
+
+Watching the statue of the god, presently I thought that it moved, and
+as I could see by the stir among them, so did the others. I thought that
+its stone eyes rolled, I thought that it lifted the Scourge of Power in
+its granite hand, though whether these things were done by some spirit
+or by some priest, or by the magic of Ki, I do not know. At the least,
+a great wind began to blow about the temple, stirring our robes and
+causing the lamps to flicker. Only the robes of Merapi did not stir. Yet
+she saw what I could not see, for suddenly her eyes grew frightened.
+
+"The god is awake," whispered Bakenkhonsu. "Now good-bye to your fair
+Israelite. See, the Prince trembles, Ki smiles, and the face of Userti
+glows with triumph."
+
+As he spoke the blue scarabaeus was snatched from Merapi's breast as
+though by a hand. It fell to the floor as did her wimple, so that now
+she appeared with her rich hair flowing down her robe. Then the eyes of
+the statue seemed to cease to roll, the wind ceased to blow, and again
+there was silence.
+
+Merapi stooped, lifted the wimple, replaced it on her head, found the
+scarabaeus clasp, and very quietly, as a woman who was tiring herself
+might do, made it fast in its place again, a sight at which I heard
+Userti gasp.
+
+For a long while we waited. Watching the faces of the congregation, I
+saw amazement and doubt on those of the priests, rage on that of Ki, and
+on Seti's the flicker of a little smile. Merapi's eyes were closed as
+though she were asleep. At length she opened them, and turning her head
+towards the Prince said:
+
+"O high-priest of Amon-Ra, has your god worked his will on me, or must I
+wait longer before I call upon my God?"
+
+"Do what you will or can, woman, and make an end, for almost it is the
+moment of dawn when the temple worship opens."
+
+Then Merapi clasped her hands, and looking upwards, prayed aloud very
+sweetly and simply, saying:
+
+"O God of my fathers, trusting in Thee, I, a poor maid of Thy people
+Israel, have set the life Thou gavest me in Thy Hand. If, as I believe,
+Thou art the God of gods, I pray Thee show a sign and a wonder upon
+this god of the Egyptians, and thereby declare Thine Honour and keep
+my breath within my breast. If it pleases Thee not, then let me die, as
+doubtless for my many sins I deserve to do. O God of my fathers, I have
+made my prayer. Hear it or reject it according to Thy Will."
+
+So she ended, and listening to her, I felt the tears rising in my eyes,
+because she was so much alone, and I feared that this god of hers would
+never come to save her from the torments of the priests. Seti also
+turned his head away, and stared down the sanctuary at the sky over the
+open court where the lights of dawn were gathering.
+
+Once more there was silence. Then again that wind blew, very strongly,
+extinguishing the lamps, and, as it seemed to me, whirling away Merapi
+from where she was, so that now she stood to one side of the statue. The
+sanctuary was filled with gloom, till presently the first rays of
+the rising sun struck upon the roof. They fell down, down, as minute
+followed minute, till at length they rested like a sword of flame upon
+the statue of Amon-Ra. Once more that statue seemed to move. I thought
+that it lifted its stone arms to protect its head. Then in a moment with
+a rending noise, its mighty mass burst asunder, and fell in small dust
+about the throne, almost hiding it from sight.
+
+"Behold my God has answered me, the most humble of His servants," said
+Merapi in the same sweet and gentle voice. "Behold the sign and the
+wonder!"
+
+"Witch!" screamed the head-priest Roi, and fled away, followed by his
+fellows.
+
+"Sorceress!" hissed Userti, and fled also, as did all the others, save
+the Prince, Bakenkhonsu, I Ana, and Ki the Magician.
+
+We stood amazed, and while we did so, Ki turned to Merapi and spoke.
+His face was terrible with fear and fury, and his eyes shone like lamps.
+Although he did but whisper, I who was nearest to them heard all that
+was said, which the others could not do.
+
+"Your magic is good, Israelite," he muttered, "so good that it has
+overcome mine here in the temple where I serve."
+
+"I have no magic," she answered very low. "I obeyed a command, no more."
+
+He laughed bitterly, and asked:
+
+"Should two of a trade waste time on foolishness? Listen now. Teach
+me your secrets, and I will teach you mine, and together we will drive
+Egypt like a chariot."
+
+"I have no secrets, I have only faith," said Merapi again.
+
+"Woman," he went on, "woman or devil, will you take me for friend or
+foe? Here I have been shamed, since it was to me and not to their gods
+that the priests trusted to destroy you. Yet I can still forgive. Choose
+now, knowing that as my friendship will lead you to rule, to life and
+splendour, so my hate will drive you to shame and death."
+
+"You are beside yourself, and know not what you say. I tell you that I
+have no magic to give or to withhold," she answered, as one who did not
+understand or was indifferent, and turned away from him.
+
+Thereon he muttered some curse which I could not catch, bowed to the
+heap of dust that had been the statue of the god, and vanished away
+among the pillars of the sanctuary.
+
+"Oho-ho!" laughed Bakenkhonsu. "Not in vain have I lived to be so very
+old, for now it seems we have a new god in Egypt, and there stands his
+prophetess."
+
+Merapi came to the prince.
+
+"O high-priest of Amon," she said, "does it please you to let me go, for
+I am very weary?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE DEATH OF PHARAOH
+
+It was the appointed day and hour. By command of the Prince I drove with
+him to the palace of Pharaoh, whither her Highness the Princess refused
+to be his companion, and for the first time we talked together of that
+which had passed in the temple.
+
+"Have you seen the lady Merapi?" he asked of me.
+
+I answered No, as I was told that she was sick within her house and lay
+abed suffering from weariness, or I knew not what.
+
+"She does well to keep there," said Seti, "I think that if she came out
+those priests would murder her if they could. Also there are others,"
+and he glanced back at the chariot that bore Userti in state. "Say, Ana,
+can you interpret all this matter?"
+
+"Not I, Prince. I thought that perhaps your Highness, the high-priest of
+Anon, could give me light."
+
+"The high-priest of Amon wanders in thick darkness. Ki and the rest
+swear that this Israelite is a sorceress who has outmatched their magic,
+but to me it seems more simple to believe that what she says is true;
+that her god is greater than Amon."
+
+"And if this be true, Prince, what are we to do who are sworn to the
+gods of Egypt?"
+
+"Bow our heads and fall with them, I suppose, Ana, since honour will not
+suffer us to desert them."
+
+"Even if they be false, Prince?"
+
+"I do not think that they are false, Ana, though mayhap they be less
+true. At least they are the gods of the Egyptians and we are Egyptians."
+He paused and glanced at the crowded streets, then added, "See, when I
+passed this way three days ago I was received with shouts of welcome by
+the people. Now they are silent, every one."
+
+"Perhaps they have heard of what passed in the temple."
+
+"Doubtless, but it is not that which troubles them who think that the
+gods can guard themselves. They have heard also that I would befriend
+the Hebrews whom they hate, and therefore they begin to hate me. Why
+should I complain when Pharaoh shows them the way?"
+
+"Prince," I whispered, "what will you say to Pharaoh?"
+
+"That depends on what Pharaoh says to me. Ana, if I will not desert our
+gods because they seem to be the weaker, though it should prove to my
+advantage, do you think that I would desert these Hebrews because they
+seem to be weaker, even to gain a throne?"
+
+"There greatness speaks," I murmured, and as we descended from the
+chariot he thanked me with a look.
+
+We passed through the great hall to that same chamber where Pharaoh had
+given me the chain of gold. Already he was there seated at the head of
+the chamber and wearing on his head the double crown. About him were
+gathered all those of royal blood and the great officers of state. We
+made our obeisances, but of these he seemed to take no note. His eyes
+were almost closed, and to me he looked like a man who is very ill.
+The Princess Userti entered after us and to her he spoke some words of
+welcome, giving her his hand to kiss. Then he ordered the doors to be
+closed. As he did so, an officer of the household entered and said that
+a messenger had come from the Hebrews who desired speech with Pharaoh.
+
+"Let him enter," said Meneptah, and presently he appeared.
+
+He was a wild-eyed man of middle age, with long hair that fell over
+his sheepskin robe. To me he looked like a soothsayer. He stood before
+Pharaoh, making no salutation.
+
+"Deliver your message and be gone," said Nehesi the Vizier.
+
+"These are the words of the Fathers of Israel, spoken by my lips," cried
+the man in a voice that rang all round the vaulted chamber. "It has come
+to our ears, O Pharaoh, that the woman Merapi, daughter of Nathan, who
+has refuged in your city, she who is named Moon of Israel, has shown
+herself to be a prophetess of power, one to whom our God has given
+strength, in that, standing alone amidst the priests and magicians of
+Amon of the Egyptians, she took no harm from their sorceries and was
+able with the sword of prayer to smite the idol of Amon to the dust. We
+demand that this prophetess be restored to us, making oath on our part
+that she shall be given over safely to her betrothed husband and that no
+harm shall come to her for any crimes or treasons she may have committed
+against her people."
+
+"As to this matter," replied Pharaoh quietly, "make your prayer to the
+Prince of Egypt, in whose household I understand the woman dwells. If
+it pleases him to surrender her who, I take it, is a witch or a cunning
+worker of tricks, to her betrothed and her kindred, let him do so. It is
+not for Pharaoh to judge of the fate of private slaves."
+
+The man wheeled round and addressed Seti, saying:
+
+"You have heard, Son of the King. Will you deliver up this woman?"
+
+"Neither do I promise to deliver her up nor not to deliver her up,"
+answered Seti, "since the lady Merapi is no member of my household, nor
+have I any authority over her. She who saved my life dwells within my
+walls for safety's sake. If it pleases her to go, she can go; if it
+pleases her to remain, she can remain. When this Court is finished I
+give you safe-conduct to appear and in my presence learn her pleasure
+from her lips."
+
+"You have your answer; now be gone," said Nehesi.
+
+"Nay," cried the man, "I have more words to speak. Thus say the Fathers
+of Israel: We know the black counsel of your heart, O Pharaoh. It has
+been revealed to us that it is in your mind to put the Hebrews to the
+sword, as it is in the mind of the Prince of Egypt to save them from
+the sword. Change that mind of yours, O Pharaoh, and swiftly, lest death
+fall upon you from heaven above."
+
+"Cease!" thundered Meneptah in a voice that stilled the murmurs of the
+court. "Dog of a Hebrew, do you dare to threaten Pharaoh on his
+own throne? I tell you that were you not a messenger, and therefore
+according to our ancient law safe till the sun sets, you should be hewn
+limb from limb. Away with him, and if he is found in this city after
+nightfall let him be slain!"
+
+Then certain of the councillors sprang upon the man and thrust him forth
+roughly. At the door he wrenched himself free and shouted:
+
+"Think upon my words, Pharaoh, before this sun has set. And you, great
+ones of Egypt, think on them also before it appears again."
+
+They drove him out with blows and the doors were shut. Once more
+Meneptah began to speak, saying:
+
+"Now that this brawler is gone, what have you to say to me, Prince of
+Egypt? Do you still give me the counsel that you wrote in the roll? Do
+you still refuse, as heir of the Throne, to assent to my decree that
+these accursed Hebrews be destroyed with the sword of my justice?"
+
+Now all turned their eyes on Seti, who thought a while, and answered:
+
+"Let Pharaoh pardon me, but the counsel that I gave I still give; the
+assent that I refused I still refuse, because my heart tells me that
+so it is right to do, and so I think will Egypt be saved from many
+troubles."
+
+When the scribes had finished writing down these words Pharaoh asked
+again:
+
+"Prince of Egypt, if in a day to come you should fill my place, is it
+still your intent to let this people of the Hebrews go unharmed, taking
+with them the wealth that they have gathered here?"
+
+"Let Pharaoh pardon me, that is still my intent."
+
+Now at these fateful words there arose a sigh of astonishment from all
+that heard them. Before it had died away Pharaoh had turned to Userti
+and was asking:
+
+"Are these your counsel, your will, and your intent also, O Princess of
+Egypt?"
+
+"Let Pharaoh hear me," answered Userti in a cold, clear voice, "they are
+not. In this great matter my lord the Prince walks one road and I walk
+another. My counsel, will, and intent are those of Pharaoh."
+
+"Seti my son," said Meneptah, more kindly than I had ever heard him
+speak before, "for the last time, not as your king but as your father,
+I pray you to consider. Remembering that as it lies in your power,
+being of full age and having been joined with me in many matters of
+government, to refuse your assent to a great act of state, so it lies
+in my power with the assent of the high-priests and of my ministers to
+remove you from my path. Seti, I can disinherit you and set another in
+your place, and if you persist, that and no less I shall do. Consider,
+therefore, my son."
+
+In the midst of an intense silence Seti answered:
+
+"I have considered, O my Father, and whatever be the cost to me I cannot
+go back upon my words."
+
+Then Pharaoh rose and cried:
+
+"Take note all you assembled here, and let it be proclaimed to the
+people of Egypt without the gates, that they take note also, that I
+depose Seti my son from his place as Prince of Egypt and declare that
+he is removed from the succession to the double Crown. Take note that
+my daughter Userti, Princess of Egypt, wife of the Prince Seti, I do not
+depose. Whatever rights and heritages are hers as heiress of Egypt let
+those rights and heritages remain to her, and if a child be born of
+her and Prince Seti, who lives, let that child be heir to the Throne of
+Egypt. Take note that, if no such child is born or until it is born,
+I name my nephew, the count Amenmeses, son of by brother Khaemuas, now
+gathered to Osiris, to fill the Throne of Egypt when I am no more. Come
+hither, Count Amenmeses."
+
+He advanced and stood before him. Then Pharaoh lifted from his head the
+double crown he wore and for a moment set it on the brow of Amenmeses,
+saying as he replaced it on his own head:
+
+"By this act and token do I name and constitute you, Amenmeses, to
+be Royal Prince of Egypt in place of my son, Prince Seti, deposed.
+Withdraw, Royal Prince of Egypt. I have spoken."
+
+"Life! Blood! Strength!" cried all the company bowing before Pharaoh,
+all save the Prince Seti who neither bowed nor stirred. Only he cried:
+
+"And I have heard. Will Pharaoh be pleased to declare whether with
+my royal heritage he takes my life? If so, let it be here and now. My
+cousin Amenmeses wears a sword."
+
+"Nay, Son," answered Meneptah sadly, "your life is left to you and with
+it all your private rank and your possessions whatsoever and wherever
+they may be."
+
+"Let Pharaoh's will be done," replied Seti indifferently, "in this as
+in all things. Pharaoh spares my life until such time as Amenmeses his
+successor shall fill his place, when it shall be taken."
+
+Meneptah started; this thought was new to him.
+
+"Stand forth, Amenmeses," he cried, "and swear now the threefold oath
+that may not be broken. Swear by Amon, by Ptah, and by Osiris, god of
+death, that never will you attempt to harm the Prince Seti, your cousin,
+either in body or in such state and prerogative as remain to him. Let
+Roi, the head-priest of Amon, administer the oath now before us all."
+
+So Roi spoke the oath in the ancient form, which was terrible even to
+hear, and Amenmeses, unwillingly enough as I thought, repeated it after
+him, adding however these words at the end, "All these things I swear
+and all these penalties in this world and the world to be I invoke upon
+my head, provided only that when the time comes the Prince Seti leaves
+me in peace upon the throne to which it has pleased Pharaoh to decree to
+me."
+
+Now some there murmured that this was not enough, since in their hearts
+there were few who did not love Seti and grieve to see him thus stripped
+of his royal heritage because his judgment differed from that of
+Pharaoh over a matter of State policy. But Seti only laughed and said
+scornfully:
+
+"Let be, for of what value are such oaths? Pharaoh on the throne is
+above all oaths who must make answer to the gods only and from the
+hearts of some the gods are far away. Let Amenmeses not fear that I
+shall quarrel with him over this matter of a crown, I who in truth have
+never longed for the pomp and cares of royalty and who, deprived of
+these, still possess all that I can desire. I go my way henceforward
+as one of many, a noble of Egypt--no more, and if in a day to come it
+pleases the Pharaoh to be to shorten my wanderings, I am not sure that
+even then I shall grieve so very much, who am content to accept the
+judgment of the gods, as in the end he must do also. Yet, Pharaoh my
+father, before we part I ask leave to speak the thoughts that rise in
+me."
+
+"Say on," muttered Meneptah.
+
+"Pharaoh, having your leave, I tell you that I think you have done a
+very evil work this day, one that is unpleasing to those Powers which
+rule the world, whoever and whatsoever they may be, one too that will
+bring upon Egypt sorrows countless as the sand. I believe that these
+Hebrews whom you unjustly seek to slay worship a god as great or greater
+than our own, and that they and he will triumph over Egypt. I believe
+also that the mighty heritage which you have taken from me will bring
+neither joy nor honour to him by whom it has been received."
+
+Here Amenmeses started forward, but Meneptah held up his hand, and he
+was silent.
+
+"I believe, Pharaoh--alas! that I must say it--that your days on
+earth are few and that for the last time we look on each other living.
+Farewell, Pharaoh my father, whom still I love mayhap more in this hour
+of parting than ever I did before. Farewell, Amenmeses, Prince of Egypt.
+Take from me this ornament which henceforth should be worn by you only,"
+and lifting from his headdress that royal circlet which marks the heir
+to the throne, he held it to Amenmeses, who took it and, with a smile of
+triumph, set it on his brow.
+
+"Farewell, Lords and Councillors; it is my hope that in yonder prince
+you will find a master more to your liking that ever I could have been.
+Come, Ana, my friend, if it still pleases you to cling to me for a
+little while, now that I have nothing left to give."
+
+For a few moments he stood still looking very earnestly at his father,
+who looked back at him with tears in his deep-set, faded eyes.
+
+Then, though whether this was by chance I cannot say, taking no note of
+the Princess Userti, who gazed at him perplexed and wrathful, Seti drew
+himself up and cried in the ancient form:
+
+"Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!" and bowed almost to
+the ground.
+
+Meneptah heard. Muttering beneath his breath, "Oh! Seti, my son, my most
+beloved son!" he stretched out his arms as though to call him back or
+perhaps to clasp him. As he did so I saw his face change. Next instant
+he fell forward to the ground and lay there still. All the company stood
+struck with horror, only the royal physician ran to him, while Roi and
+others who were priests began to mutter prayers.
+
+"Has the good god been gathered to Osiris?" asked Amenmeses presently in
+a hoarse voice, "because if it be so, I am Pharaoh."
+
+"Nay, Amenmeses," exclaimed Userti, "the decrees have not yet been
+sealed or promulgated. They have neither strength nor weight."
+
+Before he could answer the physician cried:
+
+"Peace! Pharaoh still lives, his heart beats. This is but a fit which
+may pass. Begone, every one, he must have quiet."
+
+So we went, but first Seti knelt down and kissed his father on the brow.
+
+
+
+An hour later the Princess Userti broke into the room of his palace
+where the Prince and I were talking.
+
+"Seti," she said, "Pharaoh still lives, but the physicians say he will
+be dead by dawn. There is yet time. Here I have a writing, sealed with
+his signet and witnessed, wherein he recalls all that he decreed in the
+Court to-day, and declares you, his son, to be the true and only heir of
+the throne of Egypt."
+
+"Is it so, wife? Tell me now how did a dying man in a swoon command and
+seal this writing?" and he touched the scroll she held in her hand.
+
+"He recovered for a little while; Nehesi will tell you how," she
+replied, looking him in the face with cold eyes. Then before he could
+speak, she added, "Waste no more breath in questions, but act and
+at once. The General of the guards waits below; he is your faithful
+servant. Through him I have promised a gift to every soldier on the day
+that you are crowned. Nehesi and most of the officers are on our side.
+Only the priests are against us because of that Hebrew witch whom you
+shelter, and of her tribe whom you befriend; but they have not had time
+to stir up the people nor will they attempt revolt. Act, Seti, act, for
+none will move without your express command. Moreover, no question will
+be raised afterwards, since from Thebes to the sea and throughout the
+world you are known to be the heir of Egypt."
+
+"What would you have me do, wife?" asked Seti, when she paused for lack
+of breath.
+
+"Cannot you guess? Must I put statecraft into your head as well as a
+sword into your hand? Why that scribe of yours, who follows your heels
+like a favoured dog, would be more apt a pupil. Hearken then. Amenmeses
+has sent out to gather strength, but as yet there are not fifty men
+about him whom he can trust." She leant forward and whispered fiercely,
+"Kill the traitor, Amenmeses--all will hold it a righteous act, and the
+General waits your word. Shall I summon him?"
+
+"I think not," answered Seti. "Because Pharaoh, as he has a right to do,
+is pleased to name a certain man of royal blood to succeed him, how does
+this make that man a traitor to Pharaoh who still lives? But, traitor or
+none, I will not murder my cousin Amenmeses."
+
+"Then he will murder you."
+
+"Maybe. That is a matter between him and the gods which I leave them to
+settle. The oath he swore to-day is not one to be lightly broken. But
+whether he breaks it or not, I also swore an oath, at least in my heart,
+namely that I would not attempt to dispute the will of Pharaoh whom,
+after all, I love as my father and honour as my king, Pharaoh who
+still lives and may, as I hope, recover. What should I say to him if he
+recovered or, at the worst, when at last we meet elsewhere?"
+
+"Pharaoh never will recover; I have spoken to the physician and he
+told me so. Already they pierce his skull to let out the evil spirit of
+sickness, after which none of our family have lived for very long."
+
+"Because, as I hold, thereby, whatever priests and physicians may say,
+they let in the good spirit of death. Ana, I pray you if I----"
+
+"Man," she broke in, striking her hand upon the table by which she
+stood, "do you understand that while you muse and moralise your crown is
+passing from you?"
+
+"It has already passed, Lady. Did you not see me give it to Amenmeses?"
+
+"Do you understand that you who should be the greatest king in all the
+world, in some few hours if indeed you are allowed to live, will be
+nothing but a private citizen of Egypt, one at whom the very beggars may
+spit and take no harm?"
+
+"Surely, Wife. Moreover, there is little virtue in what I do, since
+on the whole I prefer that prospect and am willing to take the risk of
+being hurried from an evil world. Hearken," he added, with a change of
+tone and gesture. "You think me a fool and a weakling; a dreamer also,
+you, the clear-eyed, hard-brained stateswoman who look to the glittering
+gain of the moment for which you are ready to pay in blood, and
+guess nothing of what lies beyond. I am none of these things, except,
+perchance, the last. I am only a man who strives to be just and to do
+right, as right seems to me, and if I dream, it is of good, not evil, as
+I understand good and evil. You are sure that this dreaming of mine will
+lead me to worldly loss and shame. Even of that _I_ am not sure. The
+thought comes to me that it may lead me to those very baubles on which
+you set your heart, but by a path strewn with spices and with flowers,
+not by one paved with the bones of men and reeking with their gore.
+Crowns that are bought with the promise of blood and held with cruelty
+are apt to be lost in blood, Userti."
+
+She waved her hand. "I pray you keep the rest, Seti, till I have more
+time to listen. Moreover if I need prophecies, I think it better to turn
+to Ki and those who make them their life-study. For me this is a day of
+deeds, not dreams, and since you refuse my help, and behave as a sick
+girl lost in fancies, I must see to myself. As while you live I cannot
+reign alone or wage war in my own name only, I go to make terms with
+Amenmeses, who will pay me high for peace."
+
+"You go--and do you return, Userti?"
+
+She drew herself to her full height, looking very royal, and answered
+slowly:
+
+"I do not return. I, the Princess of Egypt, cannot live as the wife of
+a common man who falls from a throne to set himself upon the earth, and
+smears his own brow with mud for a uraeus crown. When your prophecies
+come true, Seti, and you crawl from your dust, then perhaps we may speak
+again."
+
+"Aye, Userti, but the question is, what shall we say?"
+
+"Meanwhile," she added, as she turned, "I leave you to your chosen
+counsellors--yonder scribe, whom foolishness, not wisdom, has whitened
+before his time, and perchance the Hebrew sorceress, who can give you
+moonbeams to drink from those false lips of hers. Farewell, Seti, once a
+prince and my husband."
+
+"Farewell, Userti, who, I fear, must still remain my sister."
+
+Then he watched her go, and turning to me, said:
+
+"To-day, Ana, I have lost both a crown and a wife, yet strange to tell
+I do not know which of these calamities grieves me least. Yet it is time
+that fortune turned. Or mayhap all the evils are not done. Would you
+not go also, Ana? Although she gibes at you in her anger, the Princess
+thinks well of you, and would keep you in her service. Remember, whoever
+falls in Egypt, she will be great till the last."
+
+"Oh! Prince," I answered, "have I not borne enough to-day that you
+must add insult to my load, you with whom I broke the cup and swore the
+oath?"
+
+"What!" he laughed. "Is there one in Egypt who remembers oaths to his
+own loss? I thank you, Ana," and taking my hand he pressed it.
+
+At that moment the door opened, and old Pambasa entered, saying:
+
+"The Hebrew woman, Merapi, would see you; also two Hebrew men."
+
+"Admit them," said Seti. "Note, Ana, how yonder old time-server turns
+his face from the setting sun. This morning even it would have been 'to
+see your Highness,' uttered with bows so low that his beard swept the
+floor. Now it is 'to see you' and not so much as an inclination of the
+head in common courtesy. This, moreover, from one who has robbed me year
+by year and grown fat on bribes. It is the first of many bitter lessons,
+or rather the second--that of her Highness was the first; I pray that I
+may learn them with humility."
+
+While he mused thus and, having no comfort to offer, I listened sad at
+heart, Merapi entered, and a moment after her the wide-eyed messenger
+whom we had seen in Pharaoh's Court, and her uncle Jabez the cunning
+merchant. She bowed low to Seti, and smiled at me. Then the other two
+appeared, and with small salutation the messenger began to speak.
+
+"You know my demand, Prince," he said. "It is that this woman should be
+returned to her people. Jabez, her uncle, will lead her away."
+
+"And you know my answer, Israelite," answered Seti. "It is that I have
+no power over the coming or the going of the lady Merapi, or at least
+wish to claim none. Address yourself to her."
+
+"What is it you wish with me, Priest?" asked Merapi quickly.
+
+"That you should return to the town of Goshen, daughter of Nathan. Have
+you no ears to hear?"
+
+"I hear, but if I return, what will you of me?"
+
+"That you who have proved yourself a prophetess by your deeds in yonder
+temple should dedicate your powers to the service of your people,
+receiving in return full forgiveness for the evils you have wrought
+against them, which we swear to you in the name of God."
+
+"I am no prophetess, and I have wrought no evils against my people,
+Priest. I have only saved them from the evil of murdering one who has
+shown himself their friend, even as I hear to the laying down of his
+crown for their sake."
+
+"That is for the Fathers of Israel and not for you to judge, woman. Your
+answer?"
+
+"It is neither for them nor for me, but for God only." She paused, then
+added, "Is this all you ask of me?"
+
+"It is all the Fathers ask, but Laban asks his affianced wife."
+
+"And am I to be given in marriage to--this assassin?"
+
+"Without doubt you are to be given to this brave soldier, being already
+his."
+
+"And if I refuse?"
+
+"Then, Daughter of Nathan, it is my part to curse you in the name of
+God, and to declare you cut off and outcast from the people of God. It
+is my part to announce to you further that your life is forfeit, and
+that any Hebrew may kill you when and how he can, and take no blame."
+
+Merapi paled a little, then turning to Jabez, asked:
+
+"You have heard, my uncle. What say you?"
+
+Jabez looked round shiftily, and said in his unctuous voice:
+
+"My niece, surely you must obey the commands of the Elders of Israel who
+speak the will of Heaven, as you obeyed them when you matched yourself
+against the might of Amon."
+
+"You gave me a different counsel yesterday, my uncle. Then you said I
+had better bide where I was."
+
+The messenger turned and glared at him.
+
+"There is a great difference between yesterday and to-day," went on
+Jabez hurriedly. "Yesterday you were protected by one who would soon
+be Pharaoh, and might have been able to move his mind in favour of your
+folk. To-day his greatness is stripped from him, and his will has no
+more weight in Egypt. A dead lion is not to be feared, my niece."
+
+Seti smiled at this insult, but Merapi's face, like my own, grew red, as
+though with anger.
+
+"Sleeping lions have been taken for dead ere now, my uncle, as those who
+would spurn them have discovered to their cost. Prince Seti, have you no
+word to help me in this strait?"
+
+"What is the strait, Lady? If you wish to go to your people and--to
+Laban, who, I understand, is recovered from his hurts, there is naught
+between you and me save my gratitude to you which gives me the right to
+say you shall not go. If, however, you wish to stay, then perhaps I am
+still not so powerless to shield or smite as this worthy Jabez thinks,
+who still remain the greatest lord in Egypt and one with those that love
+him. Therefore should you desire to remain, I think that you may do so
+unmolested of any, and least of all by that friend in whose shadow it
+pleases you to sojourn."
+
+"Those are very gentle words," murmured Merapi, "words that few would
+speak to a maid from whom naught is asked and who has naught to give."
+
+"A truce to this talk," snarled the messenger. "Do you obey or do you
+rebel? Your answer."
+
+She turned and looked him full in the face, saying:
+
+"I do not return to Goshen and to Laban, of whose sword I have seen
+enough."
+
+"Mayhap you will see more of it before all is done. For the last time,
+think ere the curse of your God and your people falls upon you, and
+after it, death. For fall I say it shall, I, who, as Pharaoh knows
+to-day, am no false prophet, and as that Prince knows also."
+
+"I do not think that my God, who sees the hearts of those that he has
+made, will avenge himself upon a woman because she refuses to be wedded
+to a murderer whom of her own will she never chose, which, Priest, is
+the fate you offer me. Therefore I am content to leave judgment in
+the hands of the great Judge of all. For the rest I defy you and your
+commands. If I must be slaughtered, let me die, but at least let me die
+mistress of myself and free, who am no man's love, or wife, or slave."
+
+"Well spoken!" whispered Seti to me.
+
+Then this priest became terrible. Waving his arms and rolling his wild
+eyes, he poured out some hideous curse upon the head of this poor maid,
+much of which, as it was spoken rapidly in an ancient form of Hebrew,
+we did not understand. He cursed her living, dying, and after death.
+He cursed her in her love and hate, wedded or alone. He cursed her in
+child-bearing or in barrenness, and he cursed her children after her to
+all generations. Lastly, he declared her cut off from and rejected by
+the god she worshipped, and sentenced her to death at the hands of any
+who could slay her. So horrible was that curse that she shrank away
+from him, while Jabez crouched about the ground hiding his eyes with his
+hands, and even I felt my blood turn cold.
+
+At length he paused, foaming at the lips. Then, suddenly, shouting,
+"After judgment, doom!" he drew a knife from his robe and sprang at her.
+
+She fled behind us. He followed, but Seti, crying, "Ah, I thought it,"
+leapt between them, as he did so drawing the iron sword which he wore
+with his ceremonial dress. At him he sprang and the next thing I saw was
+the red point of the sword standing out beyond the priest's shoulders.
+
+Down he fell, babbling:
+
+"Is this how you show your love for Israel, Prince?"
+
+"It is how I show my hate of murderers," answered Seti.
+
+Then the man died.
+
+"Oh!" cried Merapi wringing her hands, "once more I have caused Hebrew
+blood to flow and now all this curse will fall on me."
+
+"Nay, on me, Lady, if there is anything in curses, which I doubt, for
+this deed was mine, and at the worst yonder mad brute's knife did not
+fall on you."
+
+"Yes, life is left if only for a little while. Had it not been for you,
+Prince, by now, I----" and she shuddered.
+
+"And had it not been for you, Moon of Israel, by now I----" and he
+smiled, adding, "Surely Fate weaves a strange web round you and me.
+First you save me from the sword; then I save you. I think, Lady, that
+in the end we ought to die together and give Ana here stuff for the best
+of all his stories. Friend Jabez," he went on to the Israelite who was
+still crouching in the corner with the eyes starting from his head, "get
+you back to your gentle-hearted people and make it clear to them why the
+lady Merapi cannot companion you, taking with you that carrion to prove
+your tale. Tell them that if they send more men to molest your niece a
+like fate awaits them, but that now as before I do not turn my back upon
+them because of the deeds of a few madmen or evil-doers, as I have given
+them proof to-day. Ana, make ready, since soon I leave for Memphis.
+See that the Lady Merapi, who will travel alone, has fit escort for her
+journey, that is if it pleases her to depart from Tanis."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE CROWNING OF AMENMESES
+
+Now, notwithstanding all the woes that fell on Egypt and a certain
+secret sorrow of my own, began the happiest of the days which the gods
+have given me. We went to Mennefer or Memphis, the white-walled city
+where I was born, the city that I loved. Now no longer did I dwell in
+a little house near to the enclosure of the temple of Ptah, which is
+vaster and more splendid than all those of Thebes or Tanis. My home was
+in the beautiful palace of Seti, which he had inherited from his mother,
+the Great Royal Wife. It stood, and indeed still stands, on a piled-up
+mound without the walls near to the temple of the goddess Neit, who
+always has her habitation to the north of the wall, why I do not know,
+because even her priests cannot tell me. In front of this palace,
+facing to the north, is a great portico, whereof the roof is borne upon
+palm-headed, painted columns whence may be seen the most lovely prospect
+in Egypt. First the gardens, then the palm-groves, then the cultivated
+land, then the broad and gentle Nile and, far away, the desert.
+
+Here, then, we dwelt, keeping small state and almost unguarded, but in
+wealth and comfort, spending our time in the library of the palace,
+or in those of the temples, and when we wearied of work, in the lovely
+gardens or, perchance, sailing upon the bosom of the Nile. The lady
+Merapi dwelt there also, but in a separate wing of the palace, with
+certain slaves and servants whom Seti had given to her. Sometimes we met
+her in the gardens, where it pleased her to walk at the same hours that
+we did, namely before the sun grew hot, or in the cool of the evening,
+and now and again when the moon shone at night. Then the three of us
+would talk together, for Seti never sought her company alone or within
+walls.
+
+Those talks were very pleasant. Moreover they grew more frequent as time
+went on, since Merapi had a thirst for learning, and the Prince would
+bring her rolls to read in a little summer-house there was. Here we
+would sit, or if the heat was great, outside beneath the shadow of
+two spreading trees that stretched above the roof of the little
+pleasure-house, while Seti discoursed of the contents of the rolls and
+instructed her in the secrets of our writing. Sometimes, too, I read
+them stories of my making, to which it pleased them both to listen, or
+so they said, and I, in my vanity, believed. Also we would talk of the
+mystery and the wonder of the world and of the Hebrews and their fate,
+or of what passed in Egypt and the neighbouring lands.
+
+Nor was Merapi altogether lonesome, seeing that there dwelt in Memphis
+certain ladies who had Hebrew blood in their veins, or were born of the
+Israelites and had married Egyptians against their law. Among these she
+made friends, and together they worshipped in their own fashion with
+none to say them nay, since here no priests were allowed to trouble
+them.
+
+For our part we held intercourse with as many as we pleased, since few
+forgot that Seti was by blood the Prince of Egypt, that is, a man almost
+half divine, and all were eager to visit him. Also he was much beloved
+for his own sake and more particularly by the poor, whose wants it was
+his delight to relieve to the full limit of his wealth. Thus it came
+about that whenever he went abroad, although against his will, he was
+received with honours and homage that were almost royal, for though
+Pharaoh could rob him of the Crown he could not empty his veins of the
+blood of kings.
+
+It was on this account that I feared for his safety, since I was sure
+that through his spies Amenmeses knew all and would grow jealous of
+a dethroned prince who was still so much adored by those over whom of
+right he should have ruled. I told Seti of my doubts and that when he
+travelled the streets he should be guarded by armed men. But he only
+laughed and answered that, as the Hebrews had failed to kill him, he did
+not think that any others would succeed. Moreover he believed there
+were no Egyptians in the land who would lift a sword against him, or put
+poison in his drink, whoever bade them. Also he added these words:
+
+"The best way to escape death is to have no fear of death, for then
+Osiris shuns us."
+
+
+
+Now I must tell of the happenings at Tanis. Pharaoh Meneptah lingered
+but a few hours and never found his mind again before his spirit flew
+to Heaven. Then there was great mourning in the land, for, if he was not
+loved, Meneptah was honoured and feared. Only among the Israelites there
+was open rejoicing, because he had been their enemy and their prophets
+had foretold that death was near to him. They gave it out that he had
+been smitten of their God, which caused the Egyptians to hate them more
+than ever. There was doubt, too, and bewilderment in Egypt, for though
+his proclamation disinheriting the Prince Seti had been published
+abroad, the people, and especially those who dwelt in the south, could
+not understand why this should have been done over a matter of the
+shepherd slaves who dwelt in Goshen. Indeed, had the Prince but held up
+his hand, tens of thousands would have rallied to his standard. Yet
+this he refused to do, which astonished all the world, who thought it
+marvellous that any man should refuse a throne which would have
+lifted him almost to the level of the gods. Indeed, to avoid their
+importunities he had set out at once for Memphis, and there remained
+hidden away during the period of mourning for his father. So it came
+about that Amenmeses succeeded with none to say him nay, since without
+her husband Userti could not or would not act.
+
+After the days of embalmment were accomplished the body of Pharaoh
+Meneptah was carried up the Nile to be laid in his eternal house, the
+splendid tomb that he had made ready for himself in the Valley of Dead
+Kings at Thebes. To this great ceremony the Prince Seti was not bidden,
+lest, as Bakenkhonsu told me afterwards, his presence should cause some
+rising in his favour, with or without his will. For this reason also the
+dead god, as he was named, was not suffered to rest at Memphis on his
+last journey up the Nile. Disguised as a man of the people the Prince
+watched his father's body pass in the funeral barge guarded by shaven,
+white-robed priests, the centre of a splendid procession. In front went
+other barges filled with soldiers and officers of state, behind came
+the new Pharaoh and all the great ones of Egypt, while the sounds of
+lamentation floated far over the face of the waters. They appeared, they
+passed, they disappeared, and when they had vanished Seti wept a little,
+for in his own fashion he loved his father.
+
+"Of what use is it to be a king and named half-divine, Ana," he said to
+me, "seeing that the end of such gods as these is the same as that of
+the beggar at the gate?"
+
+"This, Prince," I answered, "that a king can do more good than a beggar
+while the breath is in his nostrils, and leave behind him a great
+example to others."
+
+"Or more harm, Ana. Also the beggar can leave a great example, that of
+patience in affliction. Still, if I were sure that I should do nothing
+but good, then perhaps I would be a king. But I have noted that those
+who desire to do the most good often work the greatest harm."
+
+"Which, if followed out, would be an argument for wishing to do evil,
+Prince."
+
+"Not so," he answered, "because good triumphs at the last. For good is
+truth and truth rules earth and heaven."
+
+"Then it is clear, Prince, that you should seek to be a king."
+
+"I will remember the argument, Ana, if ever time brings me an
+opportunity unstained by blood," he answered.
+
+When the obsequies of Pharaoh were finished, Amenmeses returned to
+Tanis, and there was crowned as Pharaoh. I attended this great ceremony,
+bearing coronation gifts of certain royal ornaments which the Prince
+sent to Pharaoh, saying it was not fit that he, as a private person,
+should wear them any longer. These I presented to Pharaoh, who took them
+doubtfully, declaring that he did not understand the Prince Seti's mind
+and actions.
+
+"They hide no snare, O Pharaoh," I said. "As you rejoice in the glory
+that the gods have sent you, so the Prince my master rejoices in the
+rest and peace which the gods have given him, asking no more."
+
+"It may be so, Scribe, but I find this so strange a thing, that
+sometimes I fear lest the rich flowers of this glory of mine should
+hide some deadly snake, whereof the Prince knows, if he did not set it
+there."
+
+"I cannot say, O Pharaoh, but without doubt, although he could work no
+guile, the Prince is not as are other men. His mind is both wide and
+deep."
+
+"Too deep for me," muttered Amenmeses. "Nevertheless, say to my royal
+cousin that I thank him for his gifts, especially as some of them were
+worn, when he was heir to Egypt, by my father Khaemuas, who I would had
+left me his wisdom as well as his blood. Say to him also that while he
+refrains from working me harm upon the throne, as I know he has done up
+to the present, he may be sure that I will work him none in the station
+which he has chosen."
+
+Also I saw the Princess Userti who questioned me closely concerning
+her lord. I told her everything, keeping naught back. She listened and
+asked:
+
+"What of that Hebrew woman, Moon of Israel? Without doubt she fills my
+place."
+
+"Not so, Princess," I answered. "The Prince lives alone. Neither she nor
+any other woman fills your place. She is a friend to him, no more."
+
+"A friend! Well, at least we know the end of such friendships. Oh!
+surely the Prince must be stricken with madness from the gods!"
+
+"It may be so, your Highness, but I think that if the gods smote more
+men with such madness, the world would be better than it is."
+
+"The world is the world, and the business of those who are born to
+greatness is to rule it as it is, not to hide away amongst books and
+flowers, and to talk folly with a beautiful outland woman, and a scribe
+however learned," she answered bitterly, adding, "Oh! if the Prince
+is not mad, certainly he drives others to madness, and me, his spouse,
+among them. That throne is his, his; yet he suffers a cross-grained dolt
+to take his place, and sends him gifts and blessings."
+
+"I think your Highness should wait till the end of the story before you
+judge of it."
+
+She looked at me sharply, and asked:
+
+"Why do you say that? Is the Prince no fool after all? Do he and you,
+who both seem to be so simple, perchance play a great and hidden game,
+as I have known men feign folly in order to do with safety? Or has that
+witch of an Israelite some secret knowledge in which she instructs you,
+such as a woman who can shatter the statue of Amon to fine dust might
+well possess? You make believe not to know, which means that you will
+not answer. Oh! Scribe Ana, if only it were safe, I think I could find
+a way to wring the truth out of you, although you do pretend to be but a
+babe for innocence."
+
+"It pleases your Highness to threaten and without cause."
+
+"No," she answered, changing her voice and manner, "I do not threaten;
+it is only the madness that I have caught from Seti. Would you not be
+mad if you knew that another woman was to be crowned to-morrow in your
+place, because--because----" and she began to weep, which frightened me
+more than all her rough words.
+
+Presently she dried her tears, and said:
+
+"Say to my lord that I rejoice to hear that he is well and send him
+greetings, but that never of my own wish will I look upon his living
+face again unless indeed he takes another counsel, and sets himself to
+win that which is his own. Say to him that though he has so little care
+for me, and pays no heed to my desires, still I watch over his welfare
+and his safety, as best I may."
+
+"His safety, Princess! Pharaoh assured me not an hour ago that he had
+naught to fear, as indeed he fears naught."
+
+"Oh! which of you is the more foolish," she exclaimed stamping her foot,
+"the man or his master? You believe that the Prince has naught to fear
+because that usurper tells you so, and he believes it--well, because he
+fears naught. For a little while he may sleep in peace. But let him wait
+until troubles of this sort or of that arise in Egypt and, understanding
+that the gods send them on account of the great wickedness that my
+father wrought when death had him by the throat and his mind was
+clouded, the people begin to turn their eyes towards their lawful king.
+Then the usurper will grow jealous, and if he has his way, the Prince
+will sleep in peace--for ever. If his throat remains uncut, it will be
+for one reason only, that I hold back the murderer's hand. Farewell, I
+can talk no more, for I say to you that my brain is afire--and to-morrow
+he should have been crowned, and I with him," and she swept away, royal
+as ever, leaving me wondering what she meant when she spoke of troubles
+arising in Egypt, or if the words were but uttered at hazard.
+
+Afterwards Bakenkhonsu and I supped together at the college of the
+temple of Ptah, of which because of his age he was called the father,
+when I heard more of this matter.
+
+"Ana," he said, "I tell you that such gloom hangs over Egypt as I have
+never known even when it was thought that the Ninebow Barbarians would
+conquer and enslave the land. Amenmeses will be the fifth Pharaoh whom
+I have seen crowned, the first of them when I was but a little
+child hanging to my mother's robe, and not once have I known such
+joylessness."
+
+"That may be because the crown passes to one who should not wear it,
+Bakenkhonsu."
+
+He shook his head. "Not altogether. I think this darkness comes from the
+heavens as light does. Men are afraid they know not of what."
+
+"The Israelites," I suggested.
+
+"Now you are near to it, Ana, for doubtless they have much to do with
+the matter. Had it not been for them Seti and not Amenmeses would be
+crowned to-morrow. Also the tale of the marvel which the beautiful
+Hebrew woman wrought in the temple yonder has got abroad and is taken as
+an omen. Did I tell you that six days gone a fine new statue of the god
+was consecrated there and on the following morning was found lying on
+its side, or rather with its head resting on the breast of Mut?"
+
+"If so, Merapi is blameless, because she has gone away from this city."
+
+"Of course she has gone away, for has not Seti gone also? But I think
+she left something behind her. However that may be, even our new divine
+lord is afraid. He dreams ill, Ana," he added, dropping his voice, "so
+ill that he has called in Ki, the Kherheb,[*] to interpret his visions."
+
+     [*] "Kherheb" was the title of the chief official magician
+     in ancient Egypt.
+
+"And what said Ki?"
+
+"Ki could say nothing or, rather, that the only answer vouchsafed to
+him and his company, when they made inquiry of their Kas, was that
+this god's reign would be very short and that it and his life would end
+together."
+
+"Which perhaps did not please the god Amenmeses, Bakenkhonsu?"
+
+"Which did not please the god at all. He threatened Ki. It is a foolish
+thing to threaten a great magician, Ana, as the Kherheb Ki, himself
+indeed told him, looking him in the eyes. Then he prayed his pardon and
+asked who would succeed him on the throne, but Ki said he did not know,
+as a Kherheb who had been threatened could never remember anything,
+which indeed he never can--except to pay back the threatener."
+
+"And did he know, Bakenkhonsu?"
+
+By way of answer the old Councillor crumbled some bread fine upon the
+table, then with his finger traced among the crumbs the rough likeness
+of a jackal-headed god and of two feathers, after which with a swift
+movement he swept the crumbs onto the floor.
+
+"Seti!" I whispered, reading the hieroglyphs of the Prince's name, and
+he nodded and laughed in his great fashion.
+
+"Men come to their own sometimes, Ana, especially if they do not
+seek their own," he said. "But if so, much must happen first that is
+terrible. The new Pharaoh is not the only man who dreams, Ana. Of late
+years my sleep has been light and sometimes I dream, though I have no
+magic like to that of Ki."
+
+"What did you dream?"
+
+"I dreamed of a great multitude marching like locusts over Egypt. Before
+them went a column of fire in which were two hands. One of these held
+Amon by the throat and one held the new Pharaoh by the throat. After
+them came a column of cloud, and in it a shape like to that of an
+unwrapped mummy, a shape of death standing upon water that was full of
+countless dead."
+
+Now I bethought me of the picture that the Prince and I had seen in
+the skies yonder in the land of Goshen, but of it I said nothing. Yet I
+think that Bakenkhonsu saw into my mind, for he asked:
+
+"Do _you_ never dream, Friend? You see visions that come true--Amenmeses
+on the throne, for instance. Do you not also dream at times? No? Well,
+then, the Prince? You look like men who might, and the time is ripe
+and pregnant. Oh! I remember. You are both of you dreaming, not of the
+pictures that pass across the terrible eyes of Ki, but of those that the
+moon reflects upon the waters of Memphis, the Moon of Israel. Ana, be
+advised by me, put away the flesh and increase the spirit, for in it
+alone is happiness, whereof woman and all our joys are but earthly
+symbols, shadows thrown by that mortal cloud which lies between us and
+the Light Above. I see that you understand, because some of that light
+has struggled to your heart. Do you remember that you saw it shining in
+the hour when your little daughter died? Ah! I thought so. It was the
+gift she left you, a gift that will grow and grow in such a breast as
+yours, if only you will put away the flesh and make room for it,
+Ana. Man, do not weep--laugh as I do, Oho-ho! Give me my staff, and
+good-night. Forget not that we sit together at the crowning to-morrow,
+for you are a King's Companion and that rank once conferred is one which
+no new Pharaoh can take away. It is like the gift of the spirit, Ana,
+which is hard to win, but once won more eternal than the stars. Oh! why
+do I live so long who would bathe in it, as when a child I used to bathe
+in Nile?"
+
+
+
+On the following day at the appointed hour I went to the great hall of
+the palace, that in which I had first seen Meneptah, and took my stand
+in the place allotted to me. It was somewhat far back, perhaps because
+it was not wished that I, who was known to be the private scribe of
+Seti, should remind Egypt of him by appearing where all could see me.
+
+Great as was the hall the crowd filled it to its furthest corners.
+Moreover no common man was present there, but rather every noble and
+head-priest in Egypt, and with them their wives and daughters, so that
+all the dim courts shone with gold and precious gems set upon festal
+garments. While I was waiting old Bakenkhonsu hobbled towards me, the
+crowd making way for him, and I could see that there was laughter in his
+sunken eyes.
+
+"We are ill-placed, Ana," he said. "Still if any of the many gods there
+are in Egypt should chance to rain fires on Pharaoh, we shall be the
+safer. Talking of gods," he went on in a whisper, "have you heard what
+happened an hour ago in the temple of Ptah of Tanis whence I have just
+come? Pharaoh and all the Blood-royal--save one--walked according to
+custom before the statue of the god which, as you know, should bow its
+head to show that he chooses and accepts the king. In front of Amenmeses
+went the Princess Userti, and as she passed the head of the god bowed,
+for I saw it, though all pretended that they did not see. Then came
+Pharaoh and stood waiting, but it would not bow, though the priests
+called in the old formula, 'The god greets the king.'
+
+"At length he went on, looking as black as night, and others of the
+blood of Rameses followed in their order. Last of all limped Saptah and,
+behold! the god bowed again."
+
+"How and why does it do these things?" I asked, "and at the wrong time?"
+
+"Ask the priests, Ana, or Userti, or Saptah. Perhaps the divine neck
+has not been oiled of late, or too much oiled, or too little oiled,
+or prayers--or strings--may have gone wrong. Or Pharaoh may have been
+niggard in his gifts to that college of the great god of his House. Who
+am I that I should know the ways of gods? That in the temple where I
+served at Thebes fifty years ago did not pretend to bow or to trouble
+himself as to which of the royal race sat upon the throne. Hush! Here
+comes Pharaoh."
+
+Then in a splendid procession, surrounded by princes, councillors,
+ladies, priests, and guards, Amenmeses and the Royal Wife, Urnure, a
+large woman who walked awkwardly, entered the hall, a glittering band.
+The high-priest, Roi, and the chancellor, Nehesi, received Pharaoh and
+led him to his throne. The multitude prostrated itself, trumpets blew
+and thrice the old salute of "Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!
+Pharaoh!" was cried aloud.
+
+Amenmeses rose and bowed, and I saw that his heavy face was troubled and
+looked older. Then he swore some oath to gods and men which Roi dictated
+to him, and before all the company put on the double crown and the
+other emblems, and took in his hands the scourge and golden sickle. Next
+homage was paid. The Princess Userti came first and kissed Pharaoh's
+hand, but bent no knee. Indeed first she spoke with him a while. We
+could not hear what was said, but afterwards learned that she demanded
+that he should publicly repeat all the promises which her father
+Meneptah had made to her before him, confirming her in her place and
+rights. This in the end he did, though it seemed to me unwillingly
+enough.
+
+So with many forms and ancient celebrations the ceremony went on, till
+all grew weary waiting for that time when Pharaoh should make his speech
+to the people. That speech, however, was never made, for presently,
+thrusting past us, I saw those two prophets of the Israelites who had
+visited Meneptah in this same hall. Men shrank from them, so that they
+walked straight up to the throne, nor did even the guards strive to bar
+their way. What they said there I could not hear, but I believe that
+they demanded that their people should be allowed to go to worship their
+god in their own fashion, and that Amenmeses refused as Meneptah had
+done.
+
+Then one of them cast down a rod and it turned to a snake which hissed
+at Pharaoh, whereon the Kherheb Ki and his company also cast down rods
+that turned to snakes, though I could only hear the hissing. After this
+a great gloom fell upon the hall, so that men could not see each other's
+faces and everyone began to call aloud till the company broke up in
+confusion. Bakenkhonsu and I were borne together to the doorway by the
+pressure of the people, whence we were glad enough to see the sky again.
+
+
+
+Thus ended the crowning of Amenmeses.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE MESSAGE OF JABEZ
+
+That night there were none who rejoiced in the streets of the city, and
+save in the palace and houses of those of the Court, none who feasted. I
+walked abroad in the market-place and noted the people going to and fro
+gloomily, or talking together in whispers. Presently a man whose face
+was hidden in a hood began to speak with me, saying that he had a
+message for my master, the Prince Seti. I answered that I took no
+messages from veiled strangers, whereon he threw back his hood, and I
+saw that it was Jabez, the uncle of Merapi. I asked him whether he had
+obeyed the Prince, and borne the body of that prophet back to Goshen and
+told the elders of the manner of the man's death.
+
+"Yes," he answered, "nor were the Elders angry with the Prince over this
+matter. They said that their messenger had exceeded his authority, since
+they had never told him to curse Merapi, and much less attempt to kill
+her, and that the Prince did right to slay one who would have done
+murder before his royal eyes. Still they added that the curse, having
+once been spoken by this priest, would surely fall upon Merapi in this
+way or in that."
+
+"What then should she do, Jabez?"
+
+"I do not know, Scribe. If she returns to her people, perchance she
+will be absolved, but then she must surely marry Laban. It is for her to
+judge."
+
+"And what would you do if you were in her place, Jabez?"
+
+"I think that I should stay where I was, and make myself very dear to
+Seti, taking the chance that the curse may pass her by, since it was not
+lawfully decreed upon her. Whichever way she looks, trouble waits, and
+at the worst, a woman might wish to satisfy her heart before it falls,
+especially if that heart should happen to turn to one who will be
+Pharaoh."
+
+"Why do you say 'who will be Pharaoh,' Jabez?" I asked, for we were
+standing in an empty place alone.
+
+"That I may not tell you," he replied cunningly, "yet it will come about
+as I say. He who sits upon the throne is mad as Meneptah was mad,
+and will fight against a strength that is greater than his until it
+overwhelms him. In the Prince's heart alone does the light of wisdom
+shine. That which you saw to-day is only the first of many miracles,
+Scribe Ana. I can say no more."
+
+"What then is your message, Jabez?"
+
+"This: Because the Prince has striven to deal well with the people of
+Israel and for their sake has cast aside a crown, whatever may chance
+to others, let him fear nothing. No harm shall come to him, or to those
+about him, such as yourself, Scribe Ana, who also would deal justly by
+us. Yet it may happen that through my niece Merapi, on whose head the
+evil word has fallen, a great sorrow may come to both him and her.
+Therefore, perhaps, although setting this against that, she may be wise
+to stay in the house of Seti, he, on the balance, may be wise to turn
+her from his doors."
+
+"What sorrow?" I asked, who grew bewildered with his dark talk, but
+there was no answer, for he had gone.
+
+Near to my lodging another man met me, and the moonlight shining on his
+face showed me the terrible eyes of Ki.
+
+"Scribe Ana," he said, "you leave for Memphis to-morrow at the dawn, and
+not two days hence as you purposed."
+
+"How do you know that, Magician Ki?" I answered, for I had told my
+change of plan to none, not even to Bakenkhonsu, having indeed only
+determined upon it since Jabez left me.
+
+"I know nothing, Ana, save that a faithful servant who has learned all
+you have learned to-day will hurry to make report of it to his master,
+especially if there is some other to whom he would also wish to make
+report, as Bakenkhonsu thinks."
+
+"Bakenkhonsu talks too much, whatever he may think," I exclaimed
+testily.
+
+"The aged grow garrulous. You were at the crowning to-day, were you
+not?"
+
+"Yes, and if I saw aright from far away, those Hebrew prophets seemed
+to worst you at your own trade there, Kherheb, which must grieve you, as
+you were grieved in the temple when Amon fell."
+
+"It does not grieve me, Ana. If I have powers, there may be others who
+have greater powers, as I learned in the temple of Amon. Why therefore
+should I feel ashamed?"
+
+"Powers!" I replied with a laugh, for the strings of my mind seemed torn
+that night, "would not craft be a better word? How do you turn a stick
+into a snake, a thing which is impossible to man?"
+
+"Craft might be a better word, since craft means knowledge as well as
+trickery. 'Impossible to man!' After what you saw a while ago in the
+temple of Amon, do you hold that there is anything impossible to man or
+woman? Perhaps you could do as much yourself."
+
+"Why do you mock me, Ki? I study books, not snake-charming."
+
+He looked at me in his calm fashion, as though he were reading, not my
+face, but the thoughts behind it. Then he looked at the cedar wand in
+his hand and gave it to me, saying:
+
+"Study this, Ana, and tell me, what is it."
+
+"Am I a child," I answered angrily, "that I should not know a priest's
+rod when I see one?"
+
+"I think that you are something of a child, Ana," he murmured, all the
+while keeping those eyes of his fixed upon my face.
+
+Then a horror came about. For the rod began to twist in my hand and
+when I stared at it, lo! it was a long, yellow snake which I held by
+the tail. I threw the reptile down with a scream, for it was turning
+its head as though to strike me, and there in the dust it twisted and
+writhed away from me and towards Ki. Yet an instant later it was only a
+stick of yellow cedar-wood, though between me and Ki there was a snake's
+track in the sand.
+
+"It is somewhat shameless of you, Ana," said Ki, as he lifted the wand,
+"to reproach me with trickery while you yourself try to confound a poor
+juggler with such arts as these."
+
+Then I know not what I said to him, save the end of it was that I
+supposed he would tell me next that I could fill a hall with darkness at
+noonday and cover a multitude with terror.
+
+"Let us have done with jests," he said, "though these are well enough in
+their place. Will you take this rod again and point it to the moon? You
+refuse and you do well, for neither you nor I can cover up her face.
+Ana, because you are wise in your way and consort with one who is wiser,
+and were present in the temple when the statue of Amon was shattered by
+a certain witch who matched her strength against mine and conquered me,
+I, the great magician, have come to ask _you_--whence came that darkness
+in the hall to-day?"
+
+"From God, I think," I answered in an awed whisper.
+
+"So I think also, Ana. But tell me, or ask Merapi, Moon of Israel, to
+tell me--from what god? Oh! I say to you that a terrible power is afoot
+in this land and that the Prince Seti did well to refuse the throne of
+Egypt and to fly to Memphis. Repeat it to him, Ana."
+
+Then he too was gone.
+
+
+
+Now I returned in safety to Memphis and told all these tidings to the
+Prince, who listened to them eagerly. Once only was he greatly stirred;
+it was when I repeated to him the words of Userti, that never would she
+look upon his face again unless it pleased him to turn it towards the
+throne. On hearing this tears came into his eyes, and rising, he walked
+up and down the chamber.
+
+"The fallen must not look for gentleness," he said, "and doubtless, Ana,
+you think it folly that I should grieve because I am thus deserted."
+
+"Nay, Prince, for I too have been abandoned by a wife and the pain is
+unforgotten."
+
+"It is not of the wife I think, Ana, since in truth her Highness is no
+wife to me. For whatever may be the ancient laws of Egypt, how could it
+happen otherwise, at any rate in my case and hers? It is of the sister.
+For though my mother was not hers, she and I were brought up together
+and in our way loved each other, though always it was her pleasure to
+lord it over me, as it was mine to submit and pay her back in jests.
+That is why she is so angry because now of a sudden I have thrown off
+her rule to follow my own will whereby she has lost the throne."
+
+"It has always been the duty of the royal heiress of Egypt to marry
+the Pharaoh of Egypt, Prince, and having wed one who would be Pharaoh
+according to that duty, the blow cuts deep."
+
+"Then she had best thrust aside that foolish wife of his and wed him who
+is Pharaoh. But that she will never do; Amenmeses she has always hated,
+so much that she loathed to be in the same place with him. Nor indeed
+would he wed her, who wishes to rule for himself, not through a woman
+whose title to the crown is better than his own. Well, she has put
+me away and there's an end. Henceforth I must go lonely,
+unless--unless----Continue your story, friend. It is kind of her in her
+greatness to promise to protect one so humble. I should remember that,
+although it is true that fallen heads sometimes rise again," he added
+bitterly.
+
+"So at least Jabez thinks, Prince," and I told him how the Israelites
+were sure that he would be Pharaoh, whereat he laughed and said:
+
+"Perhaps, for they are good prophets. For my part I neither know or
+care. Or maybe Jabez sees advantage in talking thus, for as you know he
+is a clever trader."
+
+"I do not think so," I answered and stopped.
+
+"Had Jabez more to say of any other matter, Ana? Of the lady Merapi, for
+instance?"
+
+Now feeling it to be my duty, I told him every word that had passed
+between Jabez and myself, though somewhat shamefacedly.
+
+"This Hebrew takes much for granted, Ana, even as to whom the Moon of
+Israel would wish to shine upon. Why, friend, it might be you whom she
+desires to touch with her light, or some youth in Goshen--not Laban--or
+no one."
+
+"Me, Prince, me!" I exclaimed.
+
+"Well, Ana, I am sure you would have it so. Be advised by me and ask her
+mind upon the matter. Look not so confused, man, for one who has been
+married you are too modest. Come tell me of this Crowning."
+
+So glad enough to escape from the matter of Merapi, I spoke at length
+of all that had happened when Pharaoh Amenmeses took his seat upon the
+throne. When I described how the rod of the Hebrew prophet had been
+turned to a snake and how Ki and his company had done likewise, the
+Prince laughed and said that these were mere jugglers' tricks. But when
+I told of the darkness that had seemed to gather in the hall and of
+the gloom that filled the hearts of all men and of the awesome dream of
+Bakenkhonsu, also of the words of Ki after he had clouded my mind and
+played his jest upon me, he listened with much earnestness and answered:
+
+"My mind is as Ki's in this matter. I too think that a terrible power is
+afoot in Egypt, one that has its home in the land of Goshen, and that I
+did well to refuse the throne. But from what god these fortunes come I
+do not know. Perhaps time will tell us. Meanwhile if there is aught in
+the prophesies of these Hebrews, as interpreted by Jabez, at least you
+and I may sleep in peace, which is more than will chance to Pharaoh
+on the throne that Userti covets. If so, this play will be worth the
+watching. You have done your mission well, Ana. Go rest you while I
+think over all that you have said."
+
+
+
+It was evening and as the palace was very hot I went into the garden and
+making my way to that little pleasure-house where Seti and I were wont
+to study, I sat myself down there and, being weary, fell asleep. When
+I awoke from a dream about some woman who was weeping, night had fallen
+and the full moon shone in the sky, so that its rays fell on the garden
+before me.
+
+Now in front of this little house, as I have said, grew trees that at
+this season of the year were covered with white and cup-like blossoms,
+and between these trees was a seat built up of sun-dried bricks. On this
+seat sat a woman whom I knew from her shape to be Merapi. Also she was
+sad, for although her head was bowed and her long hair hid her face I
+could hear her gentle sighs.
+
+The sight of her moved me very much and I remembered what the Prince had
+said to me, telling me that I should do well to ask this lady whether
+she had any mind my way. Therefore if I did so, surely I could not be
+blamed. Yet I was certain that it was not to me that her heart turned,
+though to speak the truth, much I wished it otherwise. Who would look
+at the ibis in the swamp when the wide-winged eagle floated in heaven
+above?
+
+An evil thought came into my mind, sent by Set. Suppose that this
+watcher's eyes were fixed upon the eagle, lord of the air. Suppose
+that she worshipped this eagle; that she loved it because its home was
+heaven, because to her it was the king of all the birds. And suppose one
+told her that if she lured it down to earth from the glorious safety of
+the skies, she would bring it to captivity or death at the hand of the
+snarer. Then would not that loving watcher say: "Let it go free and
+happy, however much I long to look upon it," and when it had sailed from
+sight, perhaps turn her eyes to the humble ibis in the mud?
+
+Jabez had told me that if this woman and the Prince grew dear to each
+other she would bring great sorrow on his head. If I repeated his
+words to her, she who had faith in the prophecies of her people would
+certainly believe them. Moreover, whatever her heart might prompt, being
+so high-natured, never would she consent to do what might bring trouble
+on Seti's head, even if to refuse him should sink her soul in sorrow.
+Nor would she return to the Hebrews there to fall into the hands of one
+she hated. Then perhaps I----. Should I tell her? If Jabez had not meant
+that the matter must be brought to her ears, would he have spoken of
+it at all? In short was it not my duty to her, and perhaps also to the
+Prince who thereby might be saved from miseries to come, that is if this
+talk of future troubles were anything more than an idle story.
+
+Such was the evil reasoning with which Set assailed my spirit. How I
+beat it down I do not know. Not by my own goodness, I am sure, since at
+the moment I was aflame with love for the sweet and beautiful lady who
+sat before me and in my foolishness would, I think, have given my life
+to kiss her hand. Not altogether for her sake either, since passion
+is very selfish. No, I believe it was because the love that I bore
+the Prince was more deep and real than that which I could feel for any
+woman, and I knew well that were she not in my sight no such treachery
+would have overcome my heart. For I was sure, although he had never said
+so to me, that Seti loved Merapi and above all earthly things desired
+her as his companion, while if once I spoke those words, whatever my own
+gain or loss and whatever her secret wish, that she would never be.
+
+So I conquered, though the victory left me trembling like a child, and
+wishing that I had not been born to know the pangs of love denied. My
+reward was very swift, for just then Merapi unfastened a gem from the
+breast of her white robe and held it towards the moon, as though to
+study it. In an instant I knew it again. It was that royal scarab of
+lapis-lazuli with which in Goshen the Prince had made fast the bandage
+on her wounded food, which also had been snatched from her breast by
+some power on that night when the statue of Amon was shattered in the
+temple.
+
+Long and earnestly she looked at it, then having glanced round to make
+sure she was alone, she pressed it to her lips and kissed it thrice with
+passion, muttering I know not what between the kisses. Now the scales
+fell from my eyes and I knew that she loved Seti, and oh! how I thanked
+my guardian god who had saved me from such useless shame.
+
+I wiped the cold damp from my brow and was about to flee away,
+discovering myself with as few words as might be, when, looking up, I
+saw standing behind Merapi the figure of a man, who was watching her
+replace the ornament in her robe. While I hesitated a moment the man
+spoke and I knew the voice for that of Seti. Then again I thought of
+flight, but being somewhat timid by nature, feared to show myself until
+it was too late, thinking that afterward the Prince would make me the
+target of his wit. So I sat close and still, hearing and seeing all
+despite myself.
+
+"What gem is that, Lady, which you admire and cherish so tenderly?"
+asked Seti in his slow voice that so often hid a hint of laughter.
+
+She uttered a little scream and springing up, saw him.
+
+"Oh! my lord," she exclaimed, "pardon your servant. I was sitting
+here in the cool, as you gave me leave to do, and the moon was so
+bright--that--I wished to be see if by it I could read the writing on
+this scarab."
+
+Never before, thought I to myself, did I know one who read with her
+lips, though it is true that first she used her eyes.
+
+"And could you, Lady? Will you suffer me to try?"
+
+Very slowly and colouring, so that even the moonlight showed her
+blushes, she withdrew the ornament again and held it towards him.
+
+"Surely this is familiar to me? Have I not seen it before?" he asked.
+
+"Perhaps. I wore it that night in the temple, your Highness."
+
+"You must not name me Highness, Lady. I have no longer any rank in
+Egypt."
+
+"I know--because of--my people. Oh! it was noble."
+
+"But about the scarabaeus----" he broke in, with a wave of his hand.
+"Surely it is the same with which the bandage was made fast upon your
+hurt--oh! years ago?"
+
+"Yes, it is the same," she answered, looking down.
+
+"I thought it. And when I gave it to you, I said some words that seemed
+to me well spoken at the time. What were they? I cannot remember. Have
+you also forgotten?"
+
+"Yes--I mean--no. You said that now I had all Egypt beneath my foot,
+speaking of the royal cartouche upon the scarab."
+
+"Ah! I recall. How true, and yet how false the jest, or prophecy."
+
+"How can anything be both true and false, Prince?"
+
+"That I could prove to you very easily, but it would take an hour or
+more, so it shall be for another time. This scarab is a poor thing,
+give it back to me and you shall have a better. Or would you choose this
+signet? As I am no longer Prince of Egypt it is useless to me."
+
+"Keep the scarab, Prince. It is your own. But I will not take the ring
+because it is----"
+
+"----useless to me, and you would not have that which is without value
+to the giver. Oh! I string words ill, but they were not what I meant."
+
+"No, Prince, because your royal ring is too large for one so small."
+
+"How can you tell until you have tried? Also that is a fault which might
+perhaps be mended."
+
+Then he laughed, and she laughed also, but as yet she did not take the
+ring.
+
+"Have you seen Ana?" he went on. "I believe he set out to search for
+you, in such a hurry indeed that he could scarcely finish his report to
+me."
+
+"Did he say that?"
+
+"No, he only looked it. So much so that I suggested he should seek you
+at once. He answered that he was going to rest after his long journey,
+or perhaps I said that he ought to do so. I forget, as often one does,
+on so beauteous a night when other thoughts seem nearer."
+
+"Why did Ana wish to see me, Prince?"
+
+"How can I tell? Why does a man who is still young--want to see a sweet
+and beautiful lady? Oh! I remember. He had met your uncle at Tanis who
+inquired as to your health. Perhaps that is why he wanted to see you."
+
+"I do not wish to hear about my uncle at Tanis. He reminds me of too
+many things that give pain, and there are nights when one wishes to
+escape pain, which is sure to be found again on the morrow."
+
+"Are you still of the same mind about returning to your people?" he
+asked, more earnestly.
+
+"Surely. Oh! do not say that you will send me hence to----"
+
+"Laban, Lady?"
+
+"Laban amongst others. Remember, Prince, that I am one under a curse. If
+I return to Goshen, in this way or in that, soon I shall die."
+
+"Ana says that your uncle Jabez declares that the mad fellow who tried
+to murder you had no authority to curse and much less to kill you. You
+must ask him to tell you all."
+
+"Yet the curse will cling and crush me at the last. How can I, one
+lonely woman, stand against the might of the people of Israel and their
+priests?"
+
+"Are you then lonely?"
+
+"How can it be otherwise with an outcast, Prince?"
+
+"No, it cannot be otherwise. I know it who am also an outcast."
+
+"At least there is her Highness your wife, who doubtless will come to
+comfort you," she said, looking down.
+
+"Her Highness will not come. If you had seen Ana, he would perhaps have
+told you that she has sworn not to look upon my face again, unless above
+it shines a crown."
+
+"Oh! how can a woman be so cruel? Surely, Prince, such a stab must cut
+you to the heart," she exclaimed, with a little cry of pity.
+
+"Her Highness is not only a woman; she is a Princess of Egypt which is
+different. For the rest it does cut me to the heart that my royal sister
+should have deserted me, for that which she loves better--power and
+pomp. But so it is, unless Ana dreams. It seems therefore that we are in
+the same case, both outcasts, you and I, is it not so?"
+
+She made no answer but continued to look upon the ground, and he went on
+very slowly:
+
+"A thought comes into my mind on which I would ask your judgment. If two
+who are forlorn came together they would be less forlorn by half, would
+they not?"
+
+"It would seem so, Prince--that is if they remained forlorn at all. But
+I do not understand the riddle."
+
+"Yet you have answered it. If you are lonely and I am lonely apart, we
+should, you say, be less lonely together."
+
+"Prince," she murmured, shrinking away from him, "I spoke no such
+words."
+
+"No, I spoke them for you. Hearken to me, Merapi. They think me a
+strange man in Egypt because I have held no woman dear, never having
+seen one whom I could hold dear." Here she looked at him searchingly,
+and he went on, "A while ago, before I visited your land of Goshen--Ana
+can tell you about the matter, for I think he wrote it down--Ki and
+old Bakenkhonsu came to see me. Now, as you know, Ki is without doubt
+a great magician, though it would seem not so great as some of your
+prophets. He told me that he and others had been searching out my future
+and that in Goshen I should find a woman whom it was fated I must love.
+He added that this woman would bring me much joy." Here Seti paused,
+doubtless remembering this was not all that Ki had said, or Jabez
+either. "Ki told me also," he went on slowly, "that I had already known
+this woman for thousands of years."
+
+She started and a strange look came into her face.
+
+"How can that be, Prince?"
+
+"That is what I asked him and got no good answer. Still he said it,
+not only of the woman but of my friend Ana as well, which indeed would
+explain much, and it would appear that the other magicians said it also.
+Then I went to the land of Goshen and there I saw a woman----"
+
+"For the first time, Prince?"
+
+"No, for the third time."
+
+Here she sank upon the bench and covered her eyes with her hands.
+
+"----and loved her, and felt as though I had loved her for 'thousands of
+years.'"
+
+"It is not true. You mock me, it is not true!" she whispered.
+
+"It is true for if I did not know it then, I knew it afterwards, though
+never perhaps completely until to-day, when I learned that Userti had
+deserted me indeed. Moon of Israel, you are that woman. I will not
+tell you," he went on passionately, "that you are fairer than all other
+women, or sweeter, or more wise, though these things you seem to me. I
+will only tell you that I love you, yes, love you, whatever you may be.
+I cannot offer you the Throne of Egypt, even if the law would suffer it,
+but I can offer you the throne of this heart of mine. Now, Lady Merapi,
+what have you to say? Before you speak, remember that although you seem
+to be my prisoner here at Memphis, you have naught to fear from me.
+Whatever you may answer, such shelter and such friendship as I can give
+will be yours while I live, and never shall I attempt to force myself
+upon you, however much it may pain me to pass you by. I know not the
+future. It may happen that I shall give you great place and power, it
+may happen that I shall give you nothing but poverty and exile, or even
+perhaps a share in my own death, but with either will go the worship of
+my body and my spirit. Now, speak."
+
+She dropped her hands from her face, looking up at him, and there were
+tears shining in her beautiful eyes.
+
+"It cannot be, Prince," she murmured.
+
+"You mean you do not wish it to be?"
+
+"I said that it cannot be. Such ties between an Egyptian and an
+Israelite are not lawful."
+
+"Some in this city and elsewhere seem to find them so."
+
+"And I am married, I mean perhaps I am married--at least in name."
+
+"And I too am married, I mean----"
+
+"That is different. Also there is another reason, the greatest of all, I
+am under a curse, and should bring you, not joy as Ki said, but sorrow,
+or, at the least, sorrow with the joy."
+
+He looked at her searchingly.
+
+"Has Ana----" he began, then continued, "if so what lives have you known
+that are not compounded of mingled joy and sorrow?"
+
+"None. But the woe I should bring would outweigh the joy--to you. The
+curse of my God rests upon me and I cannot learn to worship yours. The
+curse of my people rests upon me, the law of my people divides me
+from you as with a sword, and should I draw close to you these will be
+increased upon my head, which matters not, but also upon yours," and she
+began to sob.
+
+"Tell me," he said, taking her by the hand, "but one thing, and if the
+answer is No, I will trouble you no more. Is your heart mine?"
+
+"It is," she sighed, "and has been ever since my eyes fell upon you
+yonder in the streets of Tanis. Oh! then a change came into me and I
+hated Laban, whom before I had only misliked. Moreover, I too felt that
+of which Ki spoke, as though I had known you for thousands of years. My
+heart is yours, my love is yours; all that makes me woman is yours, and
+never, never can turn from you to any other man. But still we must stay
+apart, for your sake, my Prince, for your sake."
+
+"Then, were it not for me, you would be ready to run these hazards?"
+
+"Surely! Am I not a woman who loves?"
+
+"If that be so," he said with a little laugh, "being of full age and of
+an understanding which some have thought good, by your leave I think I
+will run them also. Oh! foolish woman, do you not understand that there
+is but one good thing in the world, one thing in which self and its
+miseries can be forgot, and that thing is love? Mayhap troubles will
+come. Well, let them come, for what do they matter if only the love or
+its memory remains, if once we have picked that beauteous flower and for
+an hour worn it on our breasts. You talk of the difference between the
+gods we worship and maybe it exists, but all gods send their gifts of
+love upon the earth, without which it would cease to be. Moreover, my
+faith teaches me more clearly perhaps than yours, that life does not end
+with death and therefore that love, being life's soul, must endure while
+it endures. Last of all, I think, as you think, that in some dim way
+there is truth in what the magicians said, and that long ago in the past
+we have been what once more we are about to be, and that the strength of
+this invisible tie has drawn us together out of the whole world and will
+bind us together long after the world is dead. It is not a matter of
+what we wish to do, Merapi, it is a matter of what Fate has decreed we
+shall do. Now, answer again."
+
+But she made no answer, and when I looked up after a little moment she
+was in his arms and her lips were upon his lips.
+
+
+
+Thus did Prince Seti of Egypt and Merapi, Moon of Israel, come
+together at Memphis in Egypt.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE RED NILE
+
+On the morrow of this night I found the Prince alone for a little while,
+and put him in mind of certain ancient manuscripts that he wished to
+read, which could only be consulted at Thebes where I might copy them;
+also of others that were said to be for sale there. He answered that
+they could wait, but I replied that the latter might find some other
+purchaser if I did not go at once.
+
+"You are over fond of long journeys upon my business, Ana," he said.
+Then he considered me curiously for a while, and since he could read my
+mind, as indeed I could his, saw that I knew all, and added in a gentle
+voice:
+
+"You should have done as I told you, and spoken first. If so, who
+knows----"
+
+"You do, Prince," I answered, "you and another."
+
+"Go, and the gods be with you, friend, but stay not too long copying
+those rolls, which any scribe can do. I think there is trouble at hand
+in Egypt, and I shall need you at my side. Another who holds you dear
+will need you also."
+
+"I thank my lord and that other," I said, bowing, and went.
+
+Moreover, while I was making some humble provision for my journey, I
+found that this was needless, since a slave came to tell me that the
+Prince's barge was waiting to sail with the wind. So in that barge I
+travelled to Thebes like a great noble, or a royal mummy being borne
+to burial. Only instead of wailing priests, until I sent them back to
+Memphis, musicians sat upon the prow, and when I willed, dancing girls
+came to amuse my leisure and, veiled in golden nets, to serve at my
+table.
+
+So I journeyed as though I were the Prince himself, and as one who was
+known to have his ear was made much of by the governors of the Nomes,
+the chief men of the towns, and the high priests of the temples at every
+city where we moored. For, as I have said, although Amenmeses sat
+upon the throne, Seti still ruled in the hearts of the folk of Egypt.
+Moreover, as I sailed further up the Nile to districts where little
+was known of the Israelites, and the troubles they were bringing on the
+land, I found this to be so more and more. Why is it, the Great Ones
+would whisper in my ear, that his Highness the Prince Seti does not
+hold his father's place? Then I would tell them of the Hebrews, and they
+would laugh and say:
+
+"Let the Prince unfurl his royal banner here, and we will show him what
+we think of the question of these Israelitish slaves. May not the Heir
+of Egypt form his own judgment on such a matter as to whether they
+should abide there in the north, or go away into that wilderness which
+they desire?"
+
+To all of which, and much like it, I would only answer that their words
+should be reported. More I did not, and indeed did not dare to say,
+since everywhere I found that I was being followed and watched by the
+spies of Pharaoh.
+
+At length I came to Thebes and took up my abode in a fine house that was
+the property of the Prince, which I found that a messenger had commanded
+should be made ready for me. It stood near by the entrance to the Avenue
+of Sphinxes, which leads to the greatest of all the Theban temples,
+where is that mighty columned hall built by the first Seti and his son,
+Rameses II, the Prince's grandfather.
+
+Here, having entrance to the place, I would often wander at night,
+and in my spirit draw as near to heaven as ever it has been my lot to
+travel. Also, crossing the Nile to the western bank, I visited that
+desolate valley where the rulers of Egypt lie at rest. The tomb of
+Pharaoh Meneptah was still unsealed, and accompanied by a single
+priest with torches, I crept down its painted halls and looked upon the
+sarcophagus of him whom so lately I had seen seated in glory upon the
+throne, wondering, as I looked, how much or how little he knew of all
+that passed in Egypt to-day.
+
+Moreover, I copied the papyri that I had come to seek, in which there
+was nothing worth preserving, and some of real value that I discovered
+in the ancient libraries of the temples, and purchased others. One of
+these indeed told a very strange tale that has given me much cause for
+thought, especially of late years now when all my friends are dead.
+
+Thus I spent two months, and should have stayed longer had not
+messengers reached me from the Prince saying that he desired my return.
+Of these, one followed within three days of the other, and his words
+were:
+
+"Think you, Scribe Ana, that because I am no more Prince of Egypt I am
+no longer to be obeyed? If so, bear in mind that the gods may decree
+that one day I shall grow taller than ever I was before, and then be
+sure that I will remember your disobedience, and make you shorter by a
+head. Come swiftly, my friend, for I grow lonely, and need a man to talk
+with."
+
+To which I replied, that I returned as fast as the barge would carry
+me, being so heavily laden with the manuscripts that I had copied and
+purchased.
+
+So I started, being, to tell truth, glad to get away, for this reason.
+Two nights before, when I was walking alone from the great temple of the
+house, a woman dressed in many colours appeared and accosted me as such
+lost ones do. I tried to shake her off, but she clung to me, and I saw
+that she had drunk more than enough of wine. Presently she asked, in a
+voice that I thought familiar, if I knew who was the officer that
+had come to Thebes on the business of some Royal One and abode in the
+dwelling that was known as House of the Prince. I answered that his name
+was Ana.
+
+"Once I knew an Ana very well," she said, "but I left him."
+
+"Why?" I asked, turning cold in my limbs, for although I could not see
+her face because of a hood she wore, now I began to be afraid.
+
+"Because he was a poor fool," she answered, "no man at all, but one who
+was always thinking about writings and making them, and another came my
+way whom I liked better until he deserted me."
+
+"And what happened to this Ana?" I asked.
+
+"I do not know. I suppose he went on dreaming, or perhaps he took
+another wife; if so, I am sorry for her. Only, if by chance it is the
+same that has come to Thebes, he must be wealthy now, and I shall go and
+claim him and make him keep me well."
+
+"Had you any children?" I asked.
+
+"Only one, thank the gods, and that died--thank the gods again, for
+otherwise it might have lived to be such as I am," and she sobbed once
+in a hard fashion and then fell to her vile endearments.
+
+As she did so, the hood slipped from her head and I saw that the face
+was that of my wife, still beauteous in a bold fashion, but grown
+dreadful with drink and sin. I trembled from head to foot, then said in
+the disguised voice that I had used to her.
+
+"Woman, I know this Ana. He is dead and you were his ruin. Still,
+because I was his friend, take this and go reform your ways," and I drew
+from my robe and gave to her a bag containing no mean weight of gold.
+
+She snatched it as a hawk snatches, and seeing its contents by the
+starlight, thanked me, saying:
+
+"Surely Ana dead is worth more than Ana alive. Also it is well that he
+is dead, for he is gone where the child went, which he loved more than
+life, neglecting me for its sake and thereby making me what I am. Had he
+lived, too, being as I have said a fool, he would have had more ill-luck
+with women, whom he never understood. Farewell, friend of Ana, who
+have given me that which will enable me to find another husband," and
+laughing wildly she reeled off behind a sphinx and vanished into the
+darkness.
+
+For this reason, then, I was glad to escape from Thebes. Moreover, that
+miserable one had hurt me sorely, making me sure of what I had only
+guessed, namely, that with women I was but a fool, so great a fool that
+then and there I swore by my guardian god that never would I look with
+love on one of them again, an oath which I have kept well whatever
+others I may have broken. Again she stabbed me through with the talk of
+our dead child, for it is true that when that sweet one took flight to
+Osiris my heart broke and in a fashion has never mended itself again.
+Lastly, I feared lest it might also be true that I had neglected the
+mother for the sake of this child which was the jewel of my worship,
+yes, and is, and thereby helped her on to shame. So much did this
+thought torment me that through an agent whom I trusted, who believed
+that I was but providing for one whom I had wronged, I caused enough to
+be paid to her to keep her in comfort.
+
+She did marry again, a merchant about whom she had cast her toils, and
+in due course spent his wealth and brought him to ruin, after which he
+ran away from her. As for her, she died of her evil habits in the third
+year of the reign of Seti II. But, the gods be thanked she never knew
+that the private scribe of Pharaoh's chamber was that Ana who had been
+her husband. Here I will end her story.
+
+Now as I was passing down the Nile with a heart more heavy than the
+great stone that served as anchor on the barge, we moored at dusk on
+the third night by the side of a vessel that was sailing up Nile with
+a strong northerly wind. On board this boat was an officer whom I had
+known at the Court of Pharaoh Meneptah, travelling to Thebes on duty.
+This man seemed so much afraid that I asked him if anything weighed upon
+his mind. Then he took me aside into a palm grove upon the bank, and
+seating himself on the pole whereby oxen turned a waterwheel, told me
+that strange things were passing at Tanis.
+
+It seemed that the Hebrew prophets had once more appeared before
+Pharaoh, who since his accession had left the Israelites in peace,
+not attacking them with the sword as Meneptah had wished to do, it was
+thought through fear lest if he did so he should die as Meneptah died.
+As before, they had put up their prayer that the people of the Hebrews
+should be suffered to go to worship in the wilderness, and Pharaoh had
+refused them. Then when he went down to sail upon the river early in
+the morning of another day, they had met him and one of them struck the
+water with his rod, and it had turned to blood. Whereon Ki and Kherheb
+and his company also struck the water with their rods, and it turned to
+blood. That was six days ago, and now this officer swore to me that the
+blood was creeping up the Nile, a tale at which I laughed.
+
+"Come then and see," he said, and led me back to his boat, where all the
+crew seemed as fearful as he was himself.
+
+He took me forward to a great water jar that stood upon the prow and,
+behold! it seemed to be full of blood, and in it was a fish dead,
+and--stinking.
+
+"This water," said he, "I drew from the Nile with my own hands, not
+five hours sail to the north. But now we have outsped the blood, which
+follows after us," and taking a lamp he held it over the prow of the
+boat and I saw that all its planks were splashed as though with blood.
+
+"Be advised by me, learned scribe," he added, "and fill every jar and
+skin that you can gather with sweet water, lest to-morrow you and your
+company should go thirsty," and he laughed a very dreary laugh.
+
+Then we parted without more words, for neither of us knew what to say,
+and about midnight he sailed on with the wind, taking his chance of
+grounding on the sandbanks in the darkness.
+
+For my part I did as he bade me, though my rowers who had not spoken
+with his men, thought that I was mad to load up the barge with so much
+water.
+
+At the first break of day I gave the order to start. Looking over the
+side of the barge it seemed to me as though the lights of dawn
+had fallen from the sky into the Nile whereof the water had become
+pink-hued. Moreover, this hue, which grew ever deeper, was travelling up
+stream, not down, against the course of nature, and could not therefore
+have been caused by red soil washed from the southern lands. The
+bargemen stared and muttered together. Then one of them, leaning over
+the side, scooped up water in the hollow of his hand and drew some into
+his mouth, only to spit it out again with a cry of fear.
+
+"'Tis blood," he cried. "Blood! Osiris has been slain afresh, and his
+holy blood fills the banks of Nile."
+
+So much were they afraid, indeed, that had I not forced them to hold to
+their course they would have turned and rowed up stream, or beached
+the boat and fled into the desert. But I cried to them to steer on
+northwards, for thus perhaps we should sooner be done with this horror,
+and they obeyed me. Ever as we went the hue of the water grew more red,
+almost to blackness, till at last it seemed as though we were travelling
+through a sea of gore in which dead fish floated by the thousand, or
+struggled dying on the surface. Also the stench was so dreadful that we
+must bind linen about our nostrils to strain the foetid air.
+
+We came abreast of a town, and from its streets one great wail of terror
+rose to heaven. Men stood staring as though they were drunken, looking
+at their red arms which they had dipped in the stream, and women ran to
+and fro upon the bank, tearing their hair and robes, and crying out such
+words as--
+
+"Wizard's work! Bewitched! Accursed! The gods have slain each other, and
+men too must die!" and so forth.
+
+Also we saw peasants digging holes at a distance from the shore to see
+perchance if they might come to water that was sweet and wholesome. All
+day long we travelled thus through this horrible flood, while the spray
+driven by the strong north wind spotted our flesh and garments, till we
+were like butchers reeking from the shambles. Nor could we eat any food
+because of the stench from this spray, which made it to taste salt as
+does fresh blood, only we drank of the water which I had provided, and
+the rowers who had held me to be mad now named me the wisest of men; one
+who knew what would befall in the future.
+
+At length towards evening we noted that the water was growing much less
+red with every hour that passed, which was another marvel, seeing that
+above us, upstream, it was the colour of jasper, whereon we paused from
+our rowing and, all defiled as we were, sang a hymn and gave thanks to
+Hapi, god of Nile, the Great, the Secret, the Hidden. Before sunset,
+indeed, the river was clean again, save that on the bank where we made
+fast for the night the stones and rushes were all stained, and the dead
+fish lay in thousands polluting the air. To escape the stench we climbed
+a cliff that here rose quite close to Nile, in which we saw the mouths
+of ancient tombs that long ago had been robbed and left empty, purposing
+to sleep in one of them.
+
+A path worn by the feet of men ran to the largest of these tombs,
+whence, as we drew near, we heard the sound of wailing. Looking in, I
+saw a woman and some children crouched upon the floor of the tomb, their
+heads covered with dust who, when they perceived us, cried more loudly
+than before, though with harsh dry voices, thinking no doubt that we
+were robbers or perhaps ghosts because of our bloodstained garments.
+Also there was another child, a little one, that did not cry, because
+it was dead. I asked the woman what passed, but even when she understood
+that we were only men who meant her no harm, she could not speak or do
+more than gasp "Water! Water!" We gave her and the children to drink
+from the jars which we had brought with us, which they did greedily,
+after which I drew her story from her.
+
+She was the wife of a fisherman who made his home in this cave, and said
+that seven days before the Nile had turned to blood, so that they could
+not drink of it, and had no water save a little in a pot. Nor could
+they dig to find it, since here the ground was all rock. Nor could they
+escape, since when he saw the marvel, her husband in his fear had leapt
+from his boat and waded to land and the boat had floated away.
+
+I asked where was her husband, and she pointed behind her. I went to
+look, and there found a man hanging by his neck from a rope that was
+fixed to the capital of a pillar in the tomb, quite dead and cold.
+Returning sick at heart, I inquired of her how this had come about. She
+answered that when he saw that all the fish had perished, taking away
+his living, and that thirst had killed his youngest child, he went mad,
+and creeping to the back of the tomb, without her knowledge hung himself
+with a net rope. It was a dreadful story.
+
+Having given the widow of our food, we went to sleep in another tomb,
+not liking the company of those dead ones. Next morning at the dawn we
+took the woman and her children on board the barge, and rowed them three
+hours' journey to a town where she had a sister, whom she found. The
+dead man and the child we left there in the tomb, since my men would not
+defile themselves by touching them.
+
+So, seeing much terror and misery on our journey, at last we came safe
+to Memphis. Leaving the boatmen to draw up the barge, I went to the
+palace, speaking with none, and was led at once to the Prince. I found
+him in a shaded chamber seated side by side with the lady Merapi, and
+holding her hand in such a fashion that they remind me of the life-sized
+Ka statues of a man and his wife, such as I have seen in the ancient
+tombs, cut when the sculptors knew how to fashion the perfect likenesses
+of men and women. This they no longer do to-day, I think because the
+priests have taught them that it is not lawful. He was talking to her
+in a low voice, while she listened, smiling sweetly as she ever did,
+but with eyes, fixed straight before her that were, as it seemed to me,
+filled with fear. I thought that she looked very beautiful with her
+hair outspread over her white robe, and held back from her temples by a
+little fillet of god. But as I looked, I rejoiced to find that my heart
+no longer yearned for her as it had upon that night when I had seen her
+seated beneath the trees without the pleasure-house. Now she was its
+friend, no more, and so she remained until all was finished, as both the
+Prince and she knew well enough.
+
+When he saw me Seti sprang from his seat and came to greet me, as a man
+does the friend whom he loves. I kissed his hand, and going to Merapi,
+kissed hers also noting that on it now shone that ring which once she
+had rejected as too large.
+
+"Tell me, Ana, all that has befallen you," he said in his pleasant,
+eager voice.
+
+"Many things, Prince; one of them very strange and terrible," I
+answered.
+
+"Strange and terrible things have happened here also," broke in Merapi,
+"and, alas! this is but the beginning of woes."
+
+So saying, she rose, as though she could trust herself to speak no more,
+bowed first to her lord and then to me, and left the chamber.
+
+I looked at the Prince and he answered the question in my eyes.
+
+"Jabez has been here," he said, "and filled her heart with forebodings.
+If Pharaoh will not let the Israelites go, by Amon I wish he would let
+Jabez go to some place whence he never could return. But tell me, have
+you also met blood travelling against the stream of Nile? It would seem
+so," and he glanced at the rusty stains that no washing would remove
+from my garments.
+
+I nodded and we talked together long and earnestly, but in the end were
+no wiser for all our talking. For neither of us knew how it came about
+that men by striking water with a rod could turn it into what seemed to
+be blood, as the Hebrew prophet and Ki both had done, or how that blood
+could travel up the Nile against the stream and everywhere endure for a
+space of seven days; yes, and spread too to all the canals in Egypt, so
+that men must dig holes for water and dig them fresh each day because
+the blood crept in and poisoned them. But both of us thought that this
+was the work of the gods, and most of all of that god whom the Hebrews
+worship.
+
+"You remember, Ana," said the Prince, "the message which you brought to
+me from Jabez, namely that no harm should come to me because of these
+Israelites and their curses. Well, no harm as come as yet, except the
+harm of Jabez, for he came. On the day before the news of this blood
+plague reached us, Jabez appeared disguised as a merchant of Syrian
+stuffs, all of which he sold to me at three times their value. He
+obtained admission to the chambers of Merapi, where she is accustomed to
+see whom she wills, and under pretence of showing her his stuffs, spoke
+with her and, as I fear, told her what you and I were so careful to
+hide, that she would bring trouble on me. At the least she has never
+been quite the same since, and I have thought it wise to make her swear
+by an oath, which I know she will never break, that now we are one she
+will not attempt to separate herself from me while we both have life."
+
+"Did he wish her to go away with him, Prince?"
+
+"I do not know. She never told me so. Still I am sure that had he come
+with his evil talk before that day when you returned from Tanis, she
+would have gone. Now I hope that there are reasons that will keep her
+where she is."
+
+"What then did he say, Prince?"
+
+"Little beyond what he had already said to you, that great troubles were
+about to fall on Egypt. He added that he was sent to save me and mine
+from these troubles because I had been a friend to the Hebrews in so far
+as that was possible. Then he walked through this house and all round
+its gardens, as he went reciting something that was written on a
+roll, of which I could not understand the meaning, and now and again
+prostrating himself to pray to his god. Thus, where the canal enters the
+garden and where it leaves the garden he stayed to pray, as he did at
+the well whence drinking water is drawn. Moreover, led by Merapi, he
+visited all my cornlands and those where my cattle are herded, reciting
+and praying until the servants thought that he was mad. After this he
+returned with her and, as it chanced, I overheard their parting. She
+said to him:
+
+"'The house you have blessed and it is safe; the fields you have blessed
+and they are safe; will you not bless me also, O my Uncle, and any that
+are born of me?'
+
+"He answered, shaking his head, 'I have no command, my Niece, either to
+bless or to curse you, as did that fool whom the Prince slew. You have
+chosen your own path apart from your people. It may be well, or it
+may be ill, or perhaps both, and henceforth you must walk it alone to
+wherever it may lead. Farewell, for perhaps we shall meet no more.'
+
+"Thus speaking they passed out of earshot, but I could see that still
+she pleaded and still he shook his head. In the end, however, she gave
+him an offering, of all that she had I think, though whether this went
+to the temple of the Hebrews or into his own pouch I know not. At least
+it seemed to soften him, for he kissed her on the brow tenderly enough
+and departed with the air of a happy merchant who has sold his wares.
+But of all that passed between them Merapi would tell me nothing. Nor
+did I tell her of what I had overheard."
+
+"And then?"
+
+"And then, Ana, came the story of the Hebrew prophet who made the water
+into blood, and of Ki and his disciples who did likewise. The latter
+I did not believe, because I said it would be more reasonable had Ki
+turned the blood back into water, instead of making more blood of which
+there was enough already."
+
+"I think that magicians have no reason."
+
+"Or can do mischief only, Ana. At any rate after the story came the
+blood itself and stayed with us seven whole days, leaving much sickness
+behind it because of the stench of the rotting fish. Now for the
+marvel--here about my house there was no blood, though above and below
+the canal was full of it. The water remained as it has always been and
+the fish swam in it as they have always done; also that of the well
+kept sweet and pure. When this came to be known thousands crowded to the
+place, clamouring for water; that is until they found that outside the
+gates it grew red in their vessels, after which, although some still
+came, they drank the water where they stood, which they must do
+quickly."
+
+"And what tale do they tell of this in Memphis, Prince?" I asked
+astonished.
+
+"Certain of them say that not Ki but I am the greatest magician in
+Egypt--never, Ana, was fame more lightly earned. And certain say that
+Merapi, of whose doings in the temple at Tanis some tale has reached
+them, is the real magician, she being an Israelite of the tribe of the
+Hebrew prophets. Hush! She returns."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+KI COMES TO MEMPHIS
+
+Now of all the terrors of which this turning of the water into blood was
+the beginning in Egypt, I, Ana, the scribe, will not write, for if I did
+so, never in my life-days should I, who am old, find time to finish the
+story of them. Over a period of many, many moons they came, one by one,
+till the land grew mad with want and woe. Always the tale was the same.
+The Hebrew prophets would visit Pharaoh at Tanis and demand that
+he should led their people go, threatening him with vengeance if he
+refused. Yet he did refuse, for some madness had hold of him, or perhaps
+the god of the Israelites laid an enchantment on him, why I know not.
+
+Thus but a little while after the terror of blood came a plague of frogs
+that filled Egypt from north to south, and when these were taken away
+made the air to stink. This miracle Ki and his company worked also,
+sending the frogs into Goshen, where they plagued the Israelites. But
+however it came about, at Seti's palace at Memphis and on the land that
+he owned around it there were no frogs, or at least but few of them,
+although at night from the fields about the sound of their croaking went
+up like the sound of beaten drums.
+
+Next came a plague of lice, and these Ki and his companions would have
+also called down upon the Hebrews, but they failed, and afterwards
+struggled no more against the magic of the Israelites. Then followed a
+plague of flies, so that the air was black with them and no food could
+be kept sweet. Only in Seti's palace there were no flies, and in the
+garden but a few. After this a terrible pest began among the cattle,
+whereof thousands died. But of Seti's great herd not one was even sick,
+nor, as we learned, was there a hoof the less in the land of Goshen.
+
+This plague struck Egypt but a little while after Merapi had given birth
+to a son, a very beautiful child with his mother's eyes, that was named
+Seti after his father. Now the marvel of the escape of the Prince and
+his household and all that was his from these curses spread abroad and
+made much talk, so that many sent to inquire of it.
+
+Among the first came old Bakenkhonsu with a message from Pharaoh, and
+a private one to myself from the Princess Userti, whose pride would not
+suffer her to ask aught of Seti. We could tell him nothing except what
+I have written, which at first he did not believe. Having satisfied
+himself, however, that the thing was true, he said that he had fallen
+sick and could not travel back to Tanis. Therefore he asked leave of the
+Prince to rest a while in his house, he who had been the friend of his
+father, his grandfather, and his great-grandfather. Seti laughed, as
+indeed did the cunning old man himself, and there with us Bakenkhonsu
+remained till the end, to our great joy, for he was the most pleasant
+of all companions and the most learned. As for his message, one of his
+servants took back the answer to Pharaoh and to Userti, with the news of
+his master's grievous sickness.
+
+Some eight days or so later, as I stood one morning basking in the sun
+at that gate of the palace gardens which overlooks the temple of Ptah,
+idly watching the procession of priests passing through its courts and
+chanting as they went (for because of the many sicknesses at this time
+I left the palace but rarely), I saw a tall figure approaching me draped
+against the morning cold. The man drew near, and addressing me over the
+head of the guard, asked if he could see the lady Merapi. I answered No,
+as she was engaged in nursing her son.
+
+"And in other things, I think," he said with meaning, in a voice that
+seemed familiar to me. "Well, can I see the Prince Seti?"
+
+I answered No, he was also engaged.
+
+"In nursing his own soul, studying the eyes of the lady Merapi, the
+smile of his infant, the wisdom of the scribe Ana, and the attributes
+of the hundred and one gods that are known to him, including that of
+Israel, I suppose," said the familiar voice, adding, "Then can I see
+this scribe Ana, who I understand, being lucky, holds himself learned."
+
+Now, angered at the scoffing of this stranger (though all the time I
+felt that he was none), I answered that the scribe Ana was striving to
+mend his luck by the pursuit of the goddess of learning in his study.
+
+"Let him pursue," mocked the stranger, "since she is the only woman that
+he is ever likely to catch. Yet it is true that once one caught him. If
+you are of his acquaintance ask him of his talk with her in the avenue
+of the Sphinxes outside the great temple at Thebes and of what it cost
+him in gold and tears."
+
+Hearing this I put my hand to my forehead and rubbed my eyes, thinking
+that I must have fallen into a dream there in the sunshine. When I
+lifted it again all was the same as before. There stood the sentry,
+indifferent to that which had no interest for him; the cock that had
+moulted its tail still scratched in the dirt; the crested hoopoe still
+sat spreading its wings on the head of one of the two great statues of
+Rameses which watched the gate; a water-seller in the distance still
+cried his wares, but the stranger was gone. Then I knew that I had been
+dreaming and turned to go also, to find myself face to face with him.
+
+"Man," I said, indignantly, "how in the name of Ptah and all his priests
+did you pass a sentry and through that gate without my seeing you?"
+
+"Do not trouble yourself with a new problem when already you have so
+many to perplex you, friend Ana. Say, have you yet solved that of how
+a rod like this turned itself into a snake in your hand?" and he threw
+back his hood, revealing the shaved head and the glowing eyes of the
+Kherheb Ki.
+
+"No, I have not," I answered, "and I thank you," for here he proffered
+me the staff, "but I will not try the trick again. Next time the beast
+might bite. Well, Ki, as you can pass in here without my leave, why do
+you ask it? In short, what do you want with me, now that those Hebrew
+prophets have put you on your back?"
+
+"Hush, Ana. Never grow angry, it wastes strength, of which we have so
+little to spare, for you know, being so wise, or perhaps you do not
+know, that at birth the gods give us a certain store of it, and when
+that is used we die and have to go elsewhere to fetch more. At this rate
+your life will be short, Ana, for you squander it in emotions."
+
+"What do you want?" I repeated, being too angry to dispute with him.
+
+"I want to find an answer to the question you asked so roughly: Why the
+Hebrew prophets have, as you say, put me on my back?"
+
+"Not being a magician, as you pretend you are, I can give you none, Ki."
+
+"Never for one moment did I suppose that you could," he replied blandly,
+stretching out his hands, and leaving the staff which had fallen from
+them standing in front of him. (It was not till afterwards that I
+remembered that this accursed bit of wood stood there of itself without
+visible support, for it rested on the paving-stone of the gateway.)
+"But, as it chances, you have in this house the master, or rather the
+mistress of all magicians, as every Egyptian knows to-day, the lady
+Merapi, and I would see her."
+
+"Why do you say she is a mistress of magicians?" I asked indignantly.
+
+"Why does one bird know another of its own kind? Why does the water here
+remain pure, when all other water turns to blood? Why do not the frogs
+croak in Seti's halls, and why do the flies avoid his meat? Why, also,
+did the statue of Amon melt before her glance, while all my magic fell
+back from her breast like arrows from a shirt of mail? Those are the
+questions that Egypt asks, and I would have an answer to them from the
+beloved of Seti, or of the god Set, she who is named Moon of Israel."
+
+"Then why not go seek it for yourself, Ki? To you, doubtless, it would
+be a small matter to take the form of a snake or a rat, or a bird, and
+creep or run or fly into the presence of Merapi."
+
+"Mayhap it would not be difficult, Ana. Or, better still, I might visit
+her in her sleep, as I visited you on a certain night at Thebes, when
+you told me of a talk you had held with a woman in the avenue of the
+Sphinxes, and of what it cost you in gold and tears. But, as it chances,
+I wish to appear as a man and a friend, and to stay a while. Bakenkhonsu
+tells me that he finds life here at Memphis very pleasant, free too
+from the sicknesses which just now seem to be so common in Egypt; so why
+should not I do the same, Ana?"
+
+I looked at his round, ripe face, on which was fixed a smile unchanging
+as that worn by the masks on mummy coffins, from which I think he must
+have copied it, and at the cold, deep eyes above, and shivered a
+little. To tell truth I feared this man, whom I felt to be in touch with
+presences and things that are not of our world, and thought it wisest to
+withstand him no more.
+
+"That is a question which you had best put to my master Seti who owns
+this house. Come, I will lead you to him," I said.
+
+So we went to the great portico of the palace, passing in and out
+through the painted pillars, towards my own apartments, whence I
+purposed to send a message to the Prince. As it chanced this was
+needless, since presently we saw him seated in a little bay out of reach
+of the sun. By his side was Merapi, and on a woven rug between them lay
+their sleeping infant, at whom both of them gazed adoringly.
+
+"Strange that this mother's heart should hide more might than can be
+boasted by all the gods of Egypt. Strange that those mother's eyes can
+rive the ancient glory of Amon into dust!" Ki said to me in so low a
+voice that it almost seemed as though I heard his thought and not his
+words, which perhaps indeed I did.
+
+Now we stood in front of these three, and the sun being behind us, for
+it was still early, the shadow of the cloaked Ki fell upon a babe and
+lay there. A hateful fancy came to me. It looked like the evil form
+of an embalmer bending over one new dead. The babe felt it, opened its
+large eyes and wailed. Merapi saw it, and snatched up her child. Seti
+too rose from his seat, exclaiming, "Who comes?"
+
+Thereon, to my amazement, Ki prostrated himself and uttered the
+salutation which may only be given to the King of Egypt: "Life! Blood!
+Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!"
+
+"Who dares utter those words to me?" said Seti. "Ana, what madman do you
+bring here?"
+
+"May it please the Prince, _he_ brought _me_ here," I replied faintly.
+
+"Fellow, tell me who bade you say such words, than which none were ever
+less welcome."
+
+"Those whom I serve, Prince."
+
+"And whom do you serve?"
+
+"The gods of Egypt."
+
+"Then, man, I think the gods must need your company. Pharaoh does not
+sit at Memphis, and were he to hear of them----"
+
+"Pharaoh will never hear them, Prince, until he hears all things."
+
+They stared at each other. Then, as I had done by the gate Seti rubbed
+his eyes, and said:
+
+"Surely this is Ki. Why, then, did you look otherwise just now?"
+
+"The gods can change the fashion of their messenger a thousand times in
+a flash, if so they will, O Prince."
+
+Now Seti's anger passed, and turned to laughter.
+
+"Ki, Ki," he said, "you should keep these tricks for Court. But, since
+you are in the mood, what salutation have you for this lady by my side?"
+
+Ki considered her, till she who ever feared and hated him shrank before
+his gaze.
+
+"Crown of Hathor, I greet you. Beloved of Isis, shine on perfect in the
+sky, shedding light and wisdom ere you set."
+
+Now this saying puzzled me. Indeed, I did not fully understand it until
+Bakenkhonsu reminded me that Merapi's name was Moon of Israel, that
+Hathor, goddess of love, is crowned with the moon in all her statues,
+that Isis is the queen of mysteries and wisdom, and that Ki who thought
+Merapi perfect in love and beauty, also the greatest of all sorceresses,
+was likening her to these.
+
+"Yes," I answered, "but what did he mean when he talked about her
+setting?"
+
+"Does not the moon always set, and is it not sometimes eclipsed?" he
+asked shortly.
+
+"So does the sun," I answered.
+
+"True; so does the sun! You are growing wise, very wise indeed, friend
+Ana. Oho--ho!"
+
+To return: When Seti heard these words, he laughed again, and said:
+
+"I must think that saying over, but it is clear that you have a pretty
+turn for praise. Is it not so, Merapi, Crown of Hathor, and Holder of
+the wisdom of Isis?"
+
+But Merapi, who, I think, understood more than either of us, turned
+pale, and shrank further away, but outwards into the sunshine.
+
+"Well, Ki," went on Seti, "finish your greetings. What for the babe?"
+
+Ki considered it also.
+
+"Now that it is no longer in the shadow, I see that this shoot from the
+royal root of Pharaoh grows so fast and tall that my eyes cannot reach
+its crest. He is too high and great for greetings, Prince."
+
+Then Merapi uttered a little cry, and bore the child away.
+
+"She is afraid of magicians and their dark sayings," said Seti, looking
+after her with a troubled smile.
+
+"That she should not be, Prince, seeing that she is the mistress of all
+our tribe."
+
+"The lady Merapi a magician? Well, after a fashion, yes--where the
+hearts of men are concerned, do you not think so, Ana? But be more
+plain, Ki. It is still early, and I love riddles best at night."
+
+"What other could have shattered the strong and holy house where the
+majesty of Amon dwells on earth? Not even those prophets of the Hebrews
+as I think. What other could fence this garden round against the curses
+that have fallen upon Egypt?" asked Ki earnestly, for now all his
+mocking manner had departed.
+
+"I do not think she does these things, Ki. I think some Power does
+them through her, and I know that she dared to face Amon in his temple
+because she was bidden so to do by the priests of her people."
+
+"Prince," he answered with a short laugh, "a while ago I sent you a
+message by Ana, which perhaps other thoughts may have driven from his
+memory. It was as to the nature of that Power of which you speak. In
+that message I said that you were wise, but now I perceive that you lack
+wisdom like the rest of us, for if you had it, you would know that
+the tool which carves is not the guiding hand, and the lightning which
+smites is not the sending strength. So with this fair love of yours, and
+so with me and all that work marvels. We do not the things we seem to
+do, who are but the tool and the lightning. What I would know is who or
+what guides her hand and gives her the might to shield or to destroy."
+
+"The question is wide, Ki, or so it seems to me who, as you say, have
+little wisdom, and whoever can answer it holds the key of knowledge.
+Your magic is but a small thing which seems great because so few can
+handle it. What miracle is it that makes the flower to grow, the child
+to be born, the Nile to rise, and the sun and stars to shine in heaven?
+What causes man to be half a beast and half a god and to grow downward
+to the beast or upward to the god--or both? What is faith and what is
+unbelief? Who made these things, through them to declare the purposes of
+life, of death, and of eternity? You shake your head, you do not know;
+how then can I know who, as you point out, am but foolish? Go get your
+answer from the lady Merapi's self, only mayhap you will find your
+questions countered."
+
+"I'll take my chance. Thanks to Merapi's lord! A boon, O Prince, since
+you will not suffer that other name which comes easiest to the lips of
+one to whom the Present and the Future are sometimes much alike."
+
+Seti looked at him keenly, and for the first time with a tinge of fear
+in his eyes.
+
+"Leave the Future to itself, Ki," he exclaimed. "Whatever may be the
+mind of Egypt, just now I hold the Present enough for me," and he
+glanced first at the chair in which Merapi had been seated and then at
+the cloth upon which his son had lain.
+
+"I take back my words. The Prince is wiser than I thought. Magicians
+know the future because at times it rushes down upon them and they must.
+It is that which makes them lonely, since what they know they cannot
+say. But only fools will seek it."
+
+"Yet now and again they lift a corner of the veil, Ki. Thus I remember
+certain sayings of your own as to one who would find a great treasure
+in the land of Goshen and thereafter suffer some temporal loss, and--I
+forget the rest. Man, cease smiling at me with your face and piercing me
+through with your sword-like eyes. You can command all things, what boon
+then do you seek from me?"
+
+"To lodge here a little while, Prince, in the company of Ana and
+Bakenkhonsu. Hearken, I am no more Kherheb. I have quarrelled with
+Pharaoh, perhaps because a little breath from that great wind of the
+future blows through my soul; perhaps because he does not reward me
+according to my merits--what does it matter which? At least I have come
+to be of one mind with you, O Prince, and think that Pharaoh would do
+well to let the Hebrews go, and therefore no longer will I attempt to
+match my magic against theirs. But he refuses, so we have parted."
+
+"Why does he refuse, Ki?"
+
+"Perhaps it is written that he must refuse. Or perhaps because, thinking
+himself the greatest of all kings instead of but a plaything of the
+gods, pride locks the doors of his heart that in a day to come the
+tempest of the Future, whereof I have spoken, may wreck the house which
+holds it. I do not know why he refuses, but her Highness Userti is much
+with him."
+
+"For one who does not know, you have many reasons and all of them
+different, O instructed Ki," said Seti.
+
+Then he paused, walking up and down the portico, and I who knew his mind
+guessed that he was wondering whether he would do well to suffer Ki,
+whom at times he feared because his objects were secret and never
+changed, to abide in his house, or whether he should send him away. Ki
+also shivered a little, as though he felt the shadow cold, and descended
+from the portico into the bright sunshine. Here he held out his hand and
+a great moth dropped from the roof and lit upon it, whereon it lifted it
+to his lips, which moved as though he were talking to the insect.
+
+"What shall I do?" muttered Seti, as he passed me.
+
+"I do not altogether like his company, nor, I think, does the lady
+Merapi, but he is an ill man to offend, Prince," I answered. "Look, he
+is talking with his familiar."
+
+Seti returned to his place, and shaking off the moth which seemed loth
+to leave him, for twice it settled on his head, Ki came back into the
+shadow.
+
+"Where is the use of your putting questions to me, Ki, when, according
+to your own showing, already you know the answer that I will give? What
+answer shall I give?" asked the Prince.
+
+"That painted creature which sat upon my hand just now, seemed to
+whisper to me that you would say, O Prince, 'Stay, Ki, and be my
+faithful servant, and use any little lore you have to shield my house
+from ill.'"
+
+Then Seti laughed in his careless fashion, and replied:
+
+"Have your way, since it is a rule that none of the royal blood of Egypt
+may refuse hospitality to those who seek it, having been their friends,
+and I will not quote against your moth what a bat whispered in my ears
+last night. Nay, none of your salutations revealed to you by insects or
+by the future," and he gave him his hand to kiss.
+
+When Ki was gone, I said:
+
+"I told you that night-haunting thing was his familiar."
+
+"Then you told me folly, Ana. The knowledge that Ki has he does not get
+from moths or beetles. Yet now that it is too late I wish that I had
+asked the lady Merapi what her will was in this matter. You should have
+thought of that, Ana, instead of suffering your mind to be led astray
+by an insect sitting on his hand, which is just what he meant that you
+should do. Well, in punishment, day by day it shall be your lot to look
+upon a man with a countenance like--like what?"
+
+"Like that which I saw upon the coffin of the good god, your divine
+father, Meneptah, as it was prepared for him during his life in the
+embalmer's shop at Tanis," I answered.
+
+"Yes," said the Prince, "a face smiling eternally at the Nothingness
+which is Life and Death, but in certain lights, with eyes of fire."
+
+
+
+On the following day, by her invitation, I walked with the lady Merapi
+in the garden, the head nurse following us, bearing the royal child in
+her arms.
+
+"I wish to ask you about Ki, friend Ana," she said. "You know he is my
+enemy, for you must have heard the words he spoke to me in the temple
+of Amon at Tanis. It seems that my lord has made him the guest of this
+house--oh look!" and she pointed before her.
+
+I looked, and there a few paces away, where the shadow of the
+overhanging palms was deepest, stood Ki. He was leaning on his staff,
+the same that had turned to a snake in my hand, and gazing upwards like
+one who is lost in thought, or listens to the singing of birds. Merapi
+turned as though to fly, but at that moment Ki saw us, although he still
+seemed to gaze upwards.
+
+"Greeting, O Moon of Israel," he said bowing. "Greeting, O Conqueror of
+Ki!"
+
+She bowed back, and stood still, as a little bird stands when it sees a
+snake. There was a long silence, which he broke by asking:
+
+"Why seek that from Ana which Ki himself is eager to give? Ana is
+learned, but is his heart the heart of Ki? Above all, why tell him that
+Ki, the humblest of your servants, is your enemy?"
+
+Now Merapi straightened herself, looked into his eyes, and answered:
+
+"Have I told Ana aught that he did not know? Did not Ana hear the last
+words you said to me in the temple of Amon at Tanis?"
+
+"Doubtless he heard them, Lady, and therefore I am glad that he is here
+to hear their meaning. Lady Merapi, at that moment, I, the Sacrificer to
+Amon, was filled--not with my own spirit, but with the angry spirit of
+the god whom you had humbled as never before had befallen him in
+Egypt. The god through me demanded of you the secret of your magic, and
+promised you his hate, if you refused. Lady, you have his hate, but mine
+you have not, since I also have his hate because I, and he through me,
+have been worsted by your prophets. Lady, we are fellow-travellers in
+the Valley of Trouble."
+
+She gazed at him steadily, and I could see that of all that passed his
+lips she believed no one word. Making no answer to him and his talk of
+Amon, she asked only:
+
+"Why do you come here to do me ill who have done you none?"
+
+"You are mistaken, Lady," he replied. "I come here to refuge from Amon,
+and from his servant Pharaoh, whom Amon drives on to ruin. I know well
+that, if you will it, you can whisper in the ear of the Prince and
+presently he will put me forth. Only then----" and he looked over her
+head to where the nurse stood rocking the sleeping child.
+
+"Then what, Magician?"
+
+Giving no answer, he turned to me.
+
+"Learned Ana, to you remember meeting me at Tanis one night?"
+
+I shook my head, though I guessed well enough what night he meant.
+
+"Your memory weakens, learned Ana, or rather is confused, for we met
+often, did we not?"
+
+Then he stared at the staff in his hand. I stared also, because I could
+not help it, and saw, or thought I saw, the dead wood begin to swell and
+curve. This was enough for me and I said hastily:
+
+"If you mean the night of the Coronation, I do recall----"
+
+"Ah! I thought you would. You, learned Ana, who like all scribes observe
+so closely, will have noted how little things--such as the scent of a
+flower, or the passing of a bird, or even the writhing of a snake in the
+dust--often bring back to the mind events or words it has forgotten long
+ago."
+
+"Well--what of our meeting?" I broke in hastily.
+
+"Nothing at all--or only this. Just before it you were talking with the
+Hebrew Jabez, the lady Merapi's uncle, were you not?"
+
+"Yes, I was talking with him in an open place, alone."
+
+"Not so, learned Scribe, for you know we are never alone--quite. Could
+you but see it, every grain of sand has an ear."
+
+"Be pleased to explain, O Ki."
+
+"Nay, Ana, it would be too long, and short jests are ever the best. As I
+have told you, you were not alone, for though there were some words that
+I did not catch, _I_ heard much of what passed between you and Jabez."
+
+"What did you hear?" I asked wrathfully, and next instant wished that I
+had bitten through my tongue before it shaped the words.
+
+"Much, much. Let me think. You spoke about the lady Merapi, and whether
+she would do well to bide at Memphis in the shadow of the Prince, or to
+return to Goshen into the shadow of a certain--I forget the name. Jabez,
+a well-instructed man, said he thought that she might be happier at
+Memphis, though perhaps her presence there would bring a great sorrow
+upon herself and--another."
+
+Here again he looked at the child, which seemed to feel his glance, for
+it woke up and beat the air with its little hands.
+
+The nurse felt it also, although her head was turned away, for she
+started and then took shelter behind the bole of one of the palm-trees.
+Now Merapi said in a low and shaken voice:
+
+"I know what you mean, Magician, for since then I have seen my uncle
+Jabez."
+
+"As I have also, several times, Lady, which may explain to you what Ana
+here thinks so wonderful, namely that I should have learned what they
+said together when he thought they were alone, which, as I have told
+him, no one can ever be, at least in Egypt, the land of listening
+gods----"
+
+"And spying sorcerers," I exclaimed.
+
+"----And spying sorcerers," he repeated after me, "and scribes who take
+notes, and learn them by heart, and priests with ears as large as asses,
+and leaves that whisper--and many other things."
+
+"Cease your gibes, and say what you have to say," said Merapi, in the
+same broken voice.
+
+He made no answer, but only looked at the tree behind which the nurse
+and child had vanished.
+
+"Oh! I know, I know," she exclaimed in tones that were like a cry. "My
+child is threatened! You threaten my child because you hate me."
+
+"Your pardon, Lady. It is true that evil threatens this royal babe,
+or so I understood from Jabez, who knows so much. But it is not I that
+threaten it, any more than I hate you, in whom I acknowledge a fellow of
+my craft, but one greater than myself that it is my duty to obey."
+
+"Have done! Why do you torment me?"
+
+"Can the priests of the Moon-goddess torment Isis, Mother of Magic, with
+their prayers and offerings? And can I who would make a prayer and an
+offering----"
+
+"What prayer, and what offering?"
+
+"The prayer that you will suffer me to shelter in this house from the
+many dangers that threaten me at the hands of Pharaoh and the prophets
+of your people, and an offering of such help as I can give by my arts
+and knowledge against blacker dangers which threaten--another."
+
+Here once more he gazed at the trunk of the tree beyond which I heard
+the infant wail.
+
+"If I consent, what then?" she asked, hoarsely.
+
+"Then, Lady, I will strive to protect a certain little one against a
+curse which Jabez tells me threatens him and many others in whom runs
+the blood of Egypt. I will strive, if I am allowed to bide here--I do
+not say that I shall succeed, for as your lord has reminded me, and as
+you showed me in the temple of Amon, my strength is smaller than that of
+the prophets and prophetesses of Israel."
+
+"And if I refuse?"
+
+"Then, Lady," he answered in a voice that rang like iron, "I am sure
+that one whom you love--as mothers love--will shortly be rocked in the
+arms of the god whom we name Osiris."
+
+"_Stay_," she cried and, turning, fled away.
+
+"Why, Ana, she is gone," he said, "and that before I could bargain
+for my reward. Well, this I must find in your company. How strange are
+women, Ana! Here you have one of the greatest of her sex, as you learned
+in the temple of Amon. And yet she opens beneath the sun of hope and
+shrivels beneath the shadow of fear, like the touched leaves of that
+tender plant which grows upon the banks of the river; she who, with her
+eyes set on the mystery that is beyond, whereof she hears the whispering
+winds, should tread both earthly hope and fear beneath her feet, or make
+of them stepping stones to glory. Were she a man she would do so, but
+her sex wrecks her, she who thinks more of the kiss of a babe than
+of all the splendours she might harbour in her breast. Yes, a babe, a
+single wretched little babe. You had one once, did you not, Ana?"
+
+"Oh! to Set and his fires with you and your evil talk," I said, and left
+him.
+
+When I had gone a little way, I looked back and saw that he was
+laughing, throwing up his staff as he laughed, and catching it again.
+
+"Set and his fires," he called after me. "I wonder what they are like,
+Ana. Perhaps one day we shall learn, you and I together, Scribe Ana."
+
+So Ki took up his abode with us, in the same lodgings as Bakenkhonsu,
+and almost every day I would meet them walking in the garden, since I,
+who was of the Prince's table, except when he ate with the lady Merapi,
+did not take my food with them. Then we would talk together about many
+subjects. On those which had to do with learning, or even religion, I
+had the better of Ki, who was no great scholar or master of theology.
+But always before we parted he would plant some arrow in my ribs, at
+which old Bakenkhonsu laughed, and laughed again, yet ever threw over me
+the shield of his venerable wisdom, just because he loved me I think.
+
+It was after this that the plague struck the cattle of Egypt, so that
+tens of thousands of them died, though not all as was reported. But, as
+I have said, of the herds of Seti none died, nor, as we were told, did
+any of those of the Israelites in the land of Goshen. Now there was
+great distress in Egypt, but Ki smiled and said that he knew it would
+be so, and that there was much worse to come, for which I could have
+smitten him over the head with his own staff, had I not feared that, if
+I did so, it might once more turn to a serpent in my hand.
+
+Old Bakenkhonsu looked upon the matter with another face. He said that
+since his last wife died, I think some fifty years before, he had found
+life very dull because he missed the exercises of her temper, and her
+habit of presenting things as these never had been nor could possibly
+ever be. Now, however, it grew interesting again, since the marvels
+which were happening in Egypt, being quite contrary to Nature, reminded
+him of his last wife and her arguments. All of which was his way of
+saying that in those years we lived in a new world, whereof for the
+Egyptians Set the Evil One seemed to be the king.
+
+But still Pharaoh would not let the Hebrews go, perhaps because he had
+vowed as much to Meneptah who set him on the throne, or perhaps for
+those other reasons, or one of them, which Ki had given to the Prince.
+
+Then came the curse of sores afflicting man, woman, and child throughout
+the land, save those who dwelt in the household of Seti. Thus the
+watchman and his family whose lodge was without the gates suffered, but
+the watchman and his family who lived within the gates, not twenty paces
+away, did not suffer, which caused bitterness between their women.
+In the same way Ki, who resided as a guest of the Prince at Memphis,
+suffered from no sores, whereas those of his College who remained at
+Tanis were more heavily smitten than any others, so that some of them
+died. When he heard this, Ki laughed and said that he had told them
+it would be so. Also Pharaoh himself and even her Highness Userti were
+smitten, the latter upon the cheek, which made her unsightly for a
+while. Indeed, Bakenkhonsu heard, I know not how, that so great was her
+rage that she even bethought her of returning to her lord Seti, in whose
+house she had learned people were safe, and the beauty of her successor,
+Moon of Israel, remained unscarred and was even greater than before,
+tidings that I think Bakenkhonsu himself conveyed to her. But in the end
+this her pride, or her jealousy, prevented her from doing.
+
+Now the heart of Egypt began to turn towards Seti in good earnest.
+The Prince, they said, had opposed the policy of the oppression of the
+Hebrews, and because he could not prevail had abandoned his right to the
+throne, which Pharaoh Amenmeses had purchased at the price of accepting
+that policy whereof the fruits had been proved to be destruction.
+Therefore, they reasoned, if Amenmeses were deposed, and the Prince
+reigned, their miseries would cease. So they sent deputations to him
+secretly, praying him to rise against Amenmeses and promising him
+support. But he would listen to none of them, telling them that he was
+happy as he was and sought no other state. Still Pharaoh grew jealous,
+for all these things his spies reported to him, and set about plots to
+destroy Seti.
+
+Of the first of these Userti warned me by a messenger, but the second
+and worse Ki discovered in some strange way, so that the murderer was
+trapped at the gate and killed by the watchman, whereon Seti said that
+after all he had been wise to give hospitality to Ki, that is, if to
+continue to live were wisdom. The lady Merapi also said as much to me,
+but I noted that always she shunned Ki, whom she held in mistrust and
+fear.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE NIGHT OF FEAR
+
+Then came the hail, and some months after the hail the locusts, and
+Egypt went mad with woe and terror. It was known to us, for with Ki and
+Bakenkhonsu in the palace we knew everything, that the Hebrew prophets
+had promised this hail because Pharaoh would not listen to them.
+Therefore Seti caused it to be put about through all the land that the
+Egyptians should shelter their cattle, or such as were left to them,
+at the first sign of storm. But Pharaoh heard of it and issued a
+proclamation that this was not to be done, inasmuch as it would be an
+insult to the gods of Egypt. Still many did so and these saved their
+cattle. It was strange to see that wall of jagged ice stretching
+from earth to heaven and destroying all upon which it fell. The tall
+date-palms were stripped even of their bark; the soil was churned up;
+men and beasts if caught abroad were slain or shattered.
+
+I stood at the gate and watched it. There, not a yard away, fell the
+white hail, turning the world to wreck, while here within the gate there
+was not a single stone. Merapi watched also, and presently came Ki as
+well, and with him Bakenkhonsu, who for once had never seen anything
+like this in all his long life. But Ki watched Merapi more than he did
+the hail, for I saw him searching out her very soul with those merciless
+eyes of his.
+
+"Lady," he said at length, "tell your servant, I beseech you, how you
+do this thing?" and he pointed first to the trees and flowers within the
+gate and then to the wreck without.
+
+At first I thought that she had not heard him because of the roar of the
+hail, for she stepped forward and opened the side wicket to admit a
+poor jackal that was scratching at the bars. Still this was not so, for
+presently she turned and said:
+
+"Does the Kherheb, the greatest magician in Egypt, ask an unlearned
+woman to teach him of marvels? Well, Ki, I cannot, because I neither do
+it nor know how it is done."
+
+Bakenkhonsu laughed, and Ki's painted smile grew as it were brighter
+than before.
+
+"That is not what they say in the land of Goshen, Lady," he answered,
+"and not what the Hebrew women say here in Memphis. Nor is it what the
+priests of Amon say. These declare that you have more magic than all the
+sorcerers of the Nile. Here is the proof of it," and he pointed to the
+ruin without and the peace within, adding, "Lady, if you can protect
+your own home, why cannot you protect the innocent people of Egypt?"
+
+"Because I cannot," she answered angrily. "If ever I had such power it
+is gone from me, who am now the mother of an Egyptian's child. But I
+have none. There in the temple of Amon some Strength worked through me,
+that is all, which never will visit me again because of my sin."
+
+"What sin, Lady?"
+
+"The sin of taking the Prince Seti to lord. Now, if any god spoke
+through me it would be one of those of the Egyptians, since He of Israel
+has cast me out."
+
+Ki started as though some new thought had come to him, and at this
+moment she turned and went away.
+
+"Would that she were high-priestess of Isis that she might work for us
+and not against us," he said.
+
+Bakenkhonsu shook his head.
+
+"Let that be," he answered. "Be sure that never will an Israelitish
+woman offer sacrifice to what she would call the abomination of the
+Egyptians."
+
+"If she will not sacrifice to save the people, let her be careful lest
+the people sacrifice her to save themselves," said Ki in a cold voice.
+
+Then he too went away.
+
+"I think that if ever that hour comes, then Ki will have his share in
+it," laughed Bakenkhonsu. "What is the good of a shepherd who shelters
+here in comfort, while outside the sheep are dying, eh, Ana?"
+
+It was after the plague of locusts, which ate all there was left to eat
+in Egypt, so that the poor folk who had done no wrong and had naught
+to say to the dealings of Pharaoh with the Israelites starved by the
+thousand, and during that of the great darkness, that Laban came. Now
+this darkness lay upon the land like a thick cloud for three whole days
+and nights. Nevertheless, though the shadows were deep, there was no
+true darkness over the house of Seti at Memphis, which stood in a funnel
+of grey light stretching from earth to sky.
+
+Now the terror was increased tenfold, and it seemed to me that all the
+hundreds of thousands of Memphis were gathered outside our walls, so
+that they might look upon the light, such as it was, if they could do no
+more. Seti would have admitted as many as the place would hold, but Ki
+bade him not, saying, that if he did so the darkness would flow in
+with them. Only Merapi did admit some of the Israelitish women who were
+married to Egyptians in the city, though for her pains they only cursed
+her as a witch. For now most of the inhabitants of Memphis were certain
+that it was Merapi who, keeping herself safe, had brought these woes
+upon them because she was a worshipper of an alien god.
+
+"If she who is the love of Egypt's heir would but sacrifice to Egypt's
+gods, these horrors would pass from us," said they, having, as I think,
+learned their lesson from the lips of Ki. Or perhaps the emissaries of
+Userti had taught them.
+
+Once more we stood by the gate watching the people flitting to and
+fro in the gloom without, for this sight fascinated Merapi, as a snake
+fascinates a bird. Then it was that Laban appeared. I knew his hooked
+nose and hawk-like eyes at once, and she knew him also.
+
+"Come away with me, Moon of Israel," he cried, "and all shall yet
+be forgiven you. But if you will not come, then fearful things shall
+overtake you."
+
+She stood staring at him, answering never a word, and just then the
+Prince Seti reached us and saw him.
+
+"Take that man," he commanded, flushing with anger, and guards sprang
+into the darkness to do his bidding. But Laban was gone.
+
+On the second day of the darkness the tumult was great, on the third it
+was terrible. A crowd thrust the guard aside, broke down the gates and
+burst into the palace, humbly demanding that the lady Merapi would come
+to pray for them, yet showing by their mien that if she would not come
+they meant to take her.
+
+"What is to be done?" asked Seti of Ki and Bakenkhonsu.
+
+"That is for the Prince to judge," said Ki, "though I do not see how it
+can harm the lady Merapi to pray for us in the open square of Memphis."
+
+"Let her go," said Bakenkhonsu, "lest presently we should all go further
+than we would."
+
+"I do not wish to go," cried Merapi, "not knowing for whom I am to pray
+or how."
+
+"Be it as you will, Lady," said Seti in his grave and gentle voice.
+"Only, hearken to the roar of the mob. If you refuse, I think that very
+soon every one of us will have reached a land where perhaps it is not
+needful to pray at all," and he looked at the infant in her arms.
+
+"I will go," she said.
+
+She went forth carrying the child and I walked behind her. So did the
+Prince, but in that darkness he was cut off by a rush of thousands of
+folk and I saw him no more till all was over. Bakenkhonsu was with me
+leaning on my arm, but Ki had gone on before us, for his own ends as I
+think. A huge mob moved through the dense darkness, in which here and
+there lights floated like lamps upon a quiet sea. I did not know where
+we were going until the light of one of these lamps shone upon the knees
+of the colossal statue of the great Rameses, revealing his cartouche.
+Then I knew that we were near the gateway of the vast temple of Memphis,
+the largest perhaps in the whole world.
+
+We went on through court after pillared court, priests leading us by
+the hand, till we came to a shrine commanding the biggest court of all,
+which was packed with men and women. It was that of Isis, who held at
+her breast the infant Horus.
+
+"O friend Ana," cried Merapi, "give help. They are dressing me in
+strange garments."
+
+I tried to get near to her but was thrust back, a voice, which I thought
+to be that of Ki, saying:
+
+"On your life, fool!"
+
+Presently a lamp was held up, and by the light of it I saw Merapi seated
+in a chair dressed like a goddess, in the sacerdotal robes of Isis and
+wearing the vulture cap headdress--beautiful exceedingly. In her arms
+was the child dressed as the infant Horus.
+
+"Pray for us, Mother Isis," cried thousands of voices, "that the curse
+of blackness may be removed."
+
+Then she prayed, saying:
+
+"O my God, take away this curse of blackness from these innocent
+people," and all of those present, repeated her prayer.
+
+At that moment the sky began to lighten and in less than half an hour
+the sun shone out. When Merapi saw how she and the child were arrayed
+she screamed aloud and tore off her jewelled trappings, crying:
+
+"Woe! Woe! Woe! Great woe upon the people of Egypt!"
+
+But in their joy at the new found light few hearkened to her who they
+were sure had brought back the sun. Again Laban appeared for a moment.
+
+"Witch! Traitress!" he cried. "You have worn the robes of Isis and
+worshipped in the temple of the gods of the Egyptians. The curse of the
+God of Israel be on you and that which is born of you."
+
+I sprang at him but he was gone. Then we bore Merapi home swooning.
+
+So this trouble passed by, but from that time forward Merapi would not
+suffer her son to be taken out of her sight.
+
+"Why do you make so much of him, Lady?" I asked one day.
+
+"Because I would love him well while he is here, Friend," she answered,
+"but of this say nothing to his father."
+
+A while went by and we heard that still Pharaoh would not let the
+Israelites go. Then the Prince Seti sent Bakenkhonsu and myself to Tanis
+to see Pharaoh and to say to him:
+
+"I seek nothing for myself and I forget those evils which you would have
+worked on me through jealousy. But I say unto you that if you will not
+let these strangers go great and terrible things shall befall you and
+all Egypt. Therefore, hear my prayer and let them go."
+
+Now Bakenkhonsu and I came before Pharaoh and we saw that he was greatly
+aged, for his hair had gone grey about his temples and the flesh hung in
+bags beneath his eyes. Also not for one minute could he stay still.
+
+"Is your lord, and are you also of the servants of this Hebrew prophet
+whom the Egyptians worship as a god because he has done them so much
+ill?" he asked. "It may well be so, since I hear that my cousin Seti
+keeps an Israelitish witch in his house, who wards off from him all the
+plagues that have smitten the rest of Egypt, and that to him has fled
+also Ki the Kherheb, my magician. Moreover, I hear that in payment for
+these wizardries he has been promised the throne of Egypt by many fickle
+and fearful ones among my people. Let him be careful lest I lift him up
+higher than he hopes, who already have enough traitors in this land; and
+you two with him."
+
+Now I said nothing, who saw that the man was mad, but Bakenkhonsu
+laughed out loud and answered:
+
+"O Pharaoh, I know little, but I know this although I be old, namely,
+that after men have ceased to speak your name I shall still hold
+converse with the wearer of the Double Crown in Egypt. Now will you let
+these Hebrews go, or will you bring death upon Egypt?"
+
+Pharaoh glared at him and answered, "I will not let them go."
+
+"Why not, Pharaoh? Tell me, for I am curious."
+
+"Because I cannot," he answered with a groan. "Because something
+stronger than myself forces me to deny their prayer. Begone!"
+
+So we went, and this was the last time that I looked upon Amenmeses at
+Tanis.
+
+As we left the chamber I saw the Hebrew prophet entering the presence.
+Afterwards a rumour reached us that he had threatened to kill all the
+people in Egypt, but that still Pharaoh would not let the Israelites
+depart. Indeed, it was said that he had told the prophet that if he
+appeared before him any more he should be put to death.
+
+Now we journeyed back to Memphis with all these tidings and made report
+to Seti. When Merapi heard them she went half mad, weeping and wringing
+her hands. I asked her what she feared. She answered death, which was
+near to all of us. I said:
+
+"If so, there are worse things, Lady."
+
+"For you mayhap you are faithful and good in your own fashion, but not
+for me. Do you not understand, friend Ana, that I am one who has broken
+the law of the God I was taught to worship?"
+
+"And which of us is there who has not broken the law of the god we were
+taught to worship, Lady? If in truth you have done anything of the sort
+by flying from a murderous villain to one who loves you well, which I do
+not believe, surely there is forgiveness for such sins as this."
+
+"Aye, perhaps, but, alas! the thing is blacker far. Have you forgotten
+what I did? Dressed in the robes of Isis I worshipped in the temple of
+Isis with my boy playing the part of Horus on my bosom. It is a crime
+that can never be forgiven to a Hebrew woman, Ana, for my God is a
+jealous God. Yet it is true that Ki tricked me."
+
+"If he had not, Lady, I think there would have been none of us left to
+trick, seeing that the people were crazed with the dread of the darkness
+and believed that it could be lifted by you alone, as indeed happened,"
+I added somewhat doubtfully.
+
+"More of Ki's tricks! Oh! do you not understand that the lifting of the
+darkness at that moment was Ki's work, because he wished the people to
+believe that I am indeed a sorceress."
+
+"Why?" I asked.
+
+"I do not know. Perhaps that one day he may find a victim to bind to the
+altar in his place. At least I know well that it is I who must pay
+the price, I and my flesh and blood, whatever Ki may promise," and she
+looked at the sleeping child.
+
+"Do not be afraid, Lady," I said. "Ki has left the palace and you will
+see him no more."
+
+"Yes, because the Prince was angry with him about the trick in the
+temple of Isis. Therefore suddenly he went, or pretended to go, for
+how can one tell where such a man may really be? But he will come back
+again. Bethink you, Ki was the greatest magician in Egypt; even old
+Bakenkhonsu can remember none like to him. Then he matches himself
+against the prophets of my people and fails."
+
+"But did he fail, Lady? What they did he did, sending among the
+Israelites the plagues that your prophets had sent among us."
+
+"Yes, some of them, but he was outpaced, or feared to be outpaced at
+last. Is Ki a man to forget that? And if Ki chances really to believe
+that I am his adversary and his master at this black work, as because
+of what happened in the temple of Amon thousands believe to-day, will he
+not mete me my own measure soon or late? Oh! I fear Ki, Ana, and I fear
+the people of Egypt, and were it not for my lord beloved, I would flee
+away into the wilderness with my son, and get me out of this haunted
+land! Hush! he wakes."
+
+From this time forward until the sword fell there was great dread in
+Egypt. None seemed to know exactly what they dreaded, but all thought
+that it had to do with death. People went about mournfully looking over
+their shoulders as though someone were following them, and at night
+they gathered together in knots and talked in whispers. Only the Hebrews
+seemed to be glad and happy. Moreover, they were making preparations
+for something new and strange. Thus those Israelitish women who dwelt
+in Memphis began to sell what property they had and to borrow of the
+Egyptians. Especially did they ask for the loan of jewels, saying that
+they were about to celebrate a feast and wished to look fine in the eyes
+of their countrymen. None refused them what they asked because all were
+afraid of them. They even came to the palace and begged her ornaments
+from Merapi, although she was a countrywoman of their own who had showed
+them much kindness. Yes, and seeing that her son wore a little gold
+circlet on his hair, one of them begged that also, nor did she say her
+nay. But, as it chanced, the Prince entered, and seeing the woman with
+this royal badge in her hand, grew very angry and forced her to restore
+it.
+
+"What is the use of crowns without heads to wear them?" she sneered, and
+fled away laughing, with all that she had gathered.
+
+After she had heard that saying Merapi grew even sadder and more
+distraught than she was before, and from her the trouble crept to Seti.
+He too became sad and ill at ease, though when I asked him why he vowed
+he did not know, but supposed it was because some new plague drew near.
+
+"Yet," he added, "as I have made shift to live through nine of them, I
+do not know why I should fear a tenth."
+
+Still he did fear it, so much that he consulted Bakenkhonsu as to
+whether there were any means by which the anger of the gods could be
+averted.
+
+Bakenkhonsu laughed and said he thought not, since always if the gods
+were not angry about one thing they were angry about another. Having
+made the world they did nothing but quarrel with it, or with other gods
+who had a hand in its fashioning, and of these quarrels men were the
+victims.
+
+"Bear your woes, Prince," he added, "if any come, for ere the Nile has
+risen another fifty times at most, whether they have or have not been,
+will be the same to you."
+
+"Then you think that when we go west we die indeed, and that Osiris is
+but another name for the sunset, Bakenkhonsu."
+
+The old Councillor shook his great head, and answered:
+
+"No. If ever you should lose one whom you greatly love, take comfort,
+Prince, for I do not think that life ends with death. Death is the nurse
+that puts it to sleep, no more, and in the morning it will wake again to
+travel through another day with those who have companioned it from the
+beginning."
+
+"Where do all the days lead it to at last, Bakenkhonsu?"
+
+"Ask that of Ki; I do not know."
+
+"To Set with Ki, I am angered with him," said the Prince, and went away.
+
+"Not without reason, I think," mused Bakenkhonsu, but when I asked him
+what he meant, he would not or could not tell me.
+
+So the gloom deepened and the palace, which had been merry in its way,
+became sad. None knew what was coming, but all knew that something was
+coming and stretched out their hands to strive to protect that which
+they loved best from the stroke of the warring gods. In the case of Seti
+and Merapi this was their son, now a beautiful little lad who could run
+and prattle, one too of a strange health and vigour for a child of the
+inbred race of the Ramessids. Never for a minute was this boy allowed to
+be out of the sight of one or other of his parents; indeed I saw little
+of Seti in those days and all our learned studies came to nothing,
+because he was ever concerned with Merapi in playing nurse to this son
+of his.
+
+When Userti was told of it, she said in the hearing of a friend of mine:
+
+"Without a doubt that is because he trains his bastard to fill the
+throne of Egypt."
+
+But, alas! all that the little Seti was doomed to fill was a coffin.
+
+
+
+It was a still, hot evening, so hot that Merapi had bid the nurse bring
+the child's bed and set it between two pillars of the great portico.
+There on the bed he slept, lovely as Horus the divine. She sat by his
+side in a chair that had feet shaped like to those of an antelope.
+Seti walked up and down the terrace beyond the portico leaning on my
+shoulder, and talking by snatches of this or that. Occasionally as he
+passed he would stay for a while to make sure by the bright moonlight
+that all was well with Merapi and the child, as of late it had become
+a habit with him to do. Then without speaking, for fear lest he should
+awake the boy, he would smile at Merapi, who sat there brooding, her
+head resting on her hand, and pass on.
+
+The night was very still. The palm leaves did not rustle, no jackals
+were stirring, and even the shrill-voiced insects had ceased their
+cries. Moreover, the great city below was quiet as a home of the dead.
+It was as though the presage of some advancing doom scared the world to
+silence. For without doubt doom was in the air. All felt it down to
+the nurse woman, who cowered close as she dared to the chair of her
+mistress, and even in that heat shivered from time to time.
+
+Presently little Seti awoke, and began to prattle about something he had
+dreamed.
+
+"What did you dream, my son?" asked his father.
+
+"I dreamed," he answered in his baby talk, "that a woman, dressed as
+Mother was in the temple, took me by the hand and led me into the air. I
+looked down, and saw you and Mother with white faces and crying. I began
+to cry too, but the woman with the feather cap told me not as she was
+taking me to a beautiful big star where Mother would soon come to find
+me."
+
+The Prince and I looked at each other and Merapi feigned to busy herself
+with hushing the child to sleep again. It drew towards midnight and
+still no one seemed minded to go to rest. Old Bakenkhonsu appeared and
+began to say something about the night being very strange and unrestful,
+when, suddenly, a little bat that was flitting to and fro above us fell
+upon his head and thence to the ground. We looked at it, and saw that it
+was dead.
+
+"Strange that the creature should have died thus," said Bakenkhonsu,
+when, behold! another fell to the ground near by. The black kitten which
+belonged to Little Seti saw it fall and darted from beside his bed where
+it was sleeping. Before ever it reached the bat, the creature wheeled
+round, stood upon its hind legs, scratching at the air about it, then
+uttered one pitiful cry and fell over dead.
+
+We stared at it, when suddenly far away a dog howled in a very piercing
+fashion. Then a cow began to bale as these beasts do when they have lost
+their calves. Next, quite close at hand but without the gates, there
+arose the ear-curdling cry of a woman in agony, which on the instant
+seemed to be echoed from every quarter, till the air was full of
+wailing.
+
+"Oh, Seti! Seti!" exclaimed Merapi, in a voice that was rather a hiss
+than a whisper, "look at your son!"
+
+We sprang to where the babe lay, and looked. He had awakened and was
+staring upward with wide-opened eyes and frozen face. The fear, if such
+it were, passed from his features, though still he stared. He rose to
+his little feet, always looking upwards. Then a smile came upon his
+face, a most beautiful smile; he stretched out his arms, as though to
+clasp one who bent down towards him, and fell backwards--quite dead.
+
+Seti stood still as a statue; we all stood still, even Merapi. Then she
+bend down, and lifted the body of the boy.
+
+"Now, my lord," she said, "there has fallen on you that sorrow which
+Jabez my uncle warned you would come, if ever you had aught to do with
+me. Now the curse of Israel has pierced my heart, and now our child, as
+Ki the evil prophesied, has grown too great for greetings, or even for
+farewells."
+
+Thus she spoke in a cold and quiet voice, as one might speak of
+something long expected or foreseen, then made her reverence to the
+Prince, and departed, bearing the body of the child. Never, I think, did
+Merapi seem more beautiful to me than in this, her hour of bereavement,
+since now through her woman's loveliness shone out some shadow of the
+soul within. Indeed, such were her eyes and such her movements that well
+might have been a spirit and not a woman who departed from us with that
+which had been her son.
+
+Seti leaned on my shoulder looking at the empty bed, and at the scared
+nurse who still sat behind, and I felt a tear drop upon my hand. Old
+Bakenkhonsu lifted his massive face, and looked at him.
+
+"Grieve not over much, Prince," he said, "since, ere as many years as I
+have lived out have come and gone, this child will be forgotten and his
+mother will be forgotten, and even you, O Prince, will live but as a
+name that once was great in Egypt. And then, O Prince, elsewhere the
+game will begin afresh, and what you have lost shall be found anew, and
+the sweeter for it sheltering from the vile breath of men. Ki's magic
+is not all a lie, or if his is, mine holds some shadow of the truth, and
+when he said to you yonder in Tanis that not for nothing were you named
+'Lord of Rebirths,' he spoke words that you should find comfortable
+to-night."
+
+"I thank you, Councillor," said Seti, and turning, followed Merapi.
+
+"Now I suppose we shall have more deaths," I exclaimed, hardly knowing
+what I said in my sorrow.
+
+"I think not, Ana," answered Bakenkhonsu, "since the shield of Jabez,
+or of his god, is over us. Always he foretold that trouble would come to
+Merapi, and to Seti through Merapi, but that is all."
+
+I glanced at the kitten.
+
+"It strayed here from the town three days ago, Ana. And the bats also
+may have flown from the town. Hark to the wailing. Was ever such a sound
+heard before in Egypt?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+JABEZ SELLS HORSES
+
+Bakenkhonsu was right. Save the son of Seti alone, none died who dwelt
+in or about his house, though elsewhere all the first-born of Egypt lay
+dead, and the first-born of the beasts also. When this came to be known
+throughout the land a rage seized the Egyptians against Merapi who, they
+remembered, had called down woe on Egypt after she had been forced to
+pray in the temple and, as they believed, to lift the darkness from
+Memphis.
+
+Bakenkhonsu and I and others who loved her pointed out that her own
+child had died with the rest. To this it was answered, and here I
+thought I saw the fingers of Userti and of Ki, that it was nothing,
+since witches did not love children. Moreover, they said she could
+have as many as she liked and when she liked, making them to look like
+children out of clay figures and to grow up into evil spirits to torment
+the land. Lastly, people swore that she had been heard to say that,
+although to do it she must kill her own lord's son, she would not on
+that account forego her vengeance on the Egyptians, who once had
+treated her as a slave and murdered her father. Further, the Israelites
+themselves, or some of them, mayhap Laban among them, were reported
+to have told the Egyptians that it was the sorceress who had bewitched
+Prince Seti who brought such great troubles on them.
+
+So it happened that the Egyptians came to hate Merapi, who of all women
+was the sweetest and the most to be loved, and to her other supposed
+crimes, added this also, that by her witcheries she had stolen the heart
+of Seti away from his lawful wife and made him to turn that lady, the
+Royal Princess of Egypt, even from his gates, so that she was forced to
+dwell alone at Tanis. For in all these matters none blamed Seti, whom
+everyone in Egypt loved, because it was known that he would have dealt
+with the Israelites in a very different fashion, and thus averted all
+the woes that had desolated the ancient land of Khem. As for this matter
+of the Hebrew girl with the big eyes who chanced to have thrown a spell
+upon him, that was his ill-fortune, nothing more. Amongst the many women
+with whom they believed he filled his house, as was the way of princes,
+it was not strange that one favourite should be a witch. Indeed, I am
+certain that only because he was known to love her, was Merapi saved
+from death by poison or in some other secret fashion, at any rate for a
+while.
+
+Now came the glad tidings that the pride of Pharaoh was broken at last
+(for his first-born child had died with the others), or that the cloud
+of madness had lifted from his brain, whichever it might be, and that he
+had decreed that the Children of Israel might depart from Egypt when
+and whither they would. Then the people breathed again, seeing hope that
+their miseries might end.
+
+It was at this time that Jabez appeared once more at Memphis, driving a
+number of chariot horses, which he said he wished to sell to the Prince,
+as he did not desire them to pass into any other hands. He was admitted
+and stated the price of his horses, according to which they must have
+been beasts of great value.
+
+"Why do you wish to sell your horses?" asked Seti.
+
+"Because I go with my people into lands where there is little water and
+there they might die, O Prince."
+
+"I will buy the horses. See to it, Ana," said Seti, although I knew well
+that already he had more than he needed.
+
+The Prince rose to show that the interview was ended, whereon Jabez, who
+was bowing his thanks, said hurriedly:
+
+"I rejoice to learn, O Royal One, that things have befallen as I
+foretold, or rather was bidden to foretell, and that the troubles which
+have afflicted Egypt have passed by your dwelling."
+
+"Then you rejoice to learn a falsehood, Hebrew, since the worst of those
+troubles has made its home here. My son is dead," and he turned away.
+
+Jabez lifted his shifty eyes from the floor and glanced at him.
+
+"Prince," he said, "I know and grieve because this loss has cut you to
+the heart. Yet it was no fault of mine or of my people. If you think,
+you will remember that both when I built a wall of protection about
+this place because of your good deeds to Israel, O Prince, and before,
+I warned, and caused you to be warned, that if you and my niece, Moon of
+Israel, came together a great trouble might fall on you through her who,
+having become the woman of an Egyptian in defiance of command, must bear
+the fate of Egyptian women."
+
+"It may be so," said the Prince. "The matter is not one of which I care
+to talk. If this death were wrought by the magic of your wizards I have
+only this to say--that it is an ill payment to me in return for all that
+I have striven to do on behalf of the Hebrews. Yet, what else could I
+expect from such a people in such a world? Farewell."
+
+"One prayer, O Prince. I would ask your leave to speak with my niece,
+Merapi."
+
+"She is veiled. Since the murder of her child by wizardry, she sees no
+man."
+
+"Still I think she will see her uncle, O Prince."
+
+"What then do you wish to say to her?"
+
+"O Prince, through the clemency of Pharaoh we poor slaves are about to
+leave the land of Egypt never to return. Therefore, if my niece remains
+behind, it is natural that I should wish to bid her farewell, and to
+confide to her certain matters connected with our race and family, which
+she might desire to pass on to her children."
+
+Now when he heard this word "children" Seti softened.
+
+"I do not trust you," he said. "You may be charged with more of your
+Hebrew curses against Merapi, or you may say words to her that will make
+her even unhappier than she is. Yet if you would wish to see her in my
+presence----"
+
+"My lord Prince, I will not trouble you so far. Farewell. Be pleased to
+convey----"
+
+"Or if that does not suit you," interrupted Seti, "in the presence of
+Ana here you can do so, unless she refuses to receive you."
+
+Jabez reflected for a moment, and answered:
+
+"Then in the presence of Ana let it be, since he is a man who knows when
+to be silent."
+
+Jabez made obeisance and departed, and at a sign from the Prince I
+followed him. Presently we were ushered into the chamber of the lady
+Merapi, where she sat looking most sad and lonely, with a veil of black
+upon her head.
+
+"Greeting, my uncle," she said, after glancing at me, whose presence
+I think she understood. "Are you the bearer of more prophecies? I pray
+not, since your last were overtrue," and she touched the black veil with
+her finger.
+
+"I am the bearer of tidings, and of a prayer, Niece. The tidings are
+that the people of Israel are about to leave Egypt. The prayer, which is
+also a command, is--that you make ready to accompany them----"
+
+"To Laban?" she asked, looking up.
+
+"No, my niece. Laban would not wish as a wife one who has been the
+mistress of an Egyptian, but to play your part, however humble, in the
+fortunes of our people."
+
+"I am glad that Laban does not wish what he never could obtain, my
+uncle. Tell me, I pray you, why should I hearken to this prayer, or this
+command?"
+
+"For a good reason, Niece--that your life hangs on it. Heretofore you
+have been suffered to take your heart's desire. But if you bide in Egypt
+where you have no longer a mission to fulfil, having done all that was
+sought of you in keeping with the mind of your lover, the Prince Seti,
+true to the cause of Israel, you will surely die."
+
+"You mean that our people will kill me?"
+
+"No, not our people. Still you will die."
+
+She took a step towards him, and looked him in the eyes.
+
+"You are certain that I shall die, my uncle?"
+
+"I am, or at least others are certain."
+
+Now she laughed; it was the first time I had seen her laugh for several
+moons.
+
+"Then I will stay here," she said.
+
+Jabez stared at her.
+
+"I thought that you loved this Egyptian, who indeed is worthy of any
+woman's love," he muttered into his beard.
+
+"Perhaps it is because I love him that I wish to die. I have given him
+all I have to give; there is nothing left of my poor treasure except
+what will bring trouble and misfortune on his head. Therefore the
+greater the love--and it is more great than all those pyramids massed to
+one--the greater the need that it should be buried for a while. Do you
+understand?"
+
+He shook his head.
+
+"I understand only that you are a very strange woman, different from any
+other that I have known."
+
+"My child, who was slain with the rest, was all the world to me, and I
+would be where he is. Do you understand now?"
+
+"You would leave your life, in which, being young, you may have more
+children, to lie in a tomb with your dead son?" he asked slowly, like
+one astonished.
+
+"I only care for life while it can serve him whom I love, and if a day
+comes when he sits upon the throne how will a daughter of the hated
+Israelites serve him then? Also I do not wish for more children. Living
+or dead, he that is gone owns all my heart; there is no room in it for
+others. That love at least is pure and perfect, and having been embalmed
+by death, can never change. Moreover, it is not in a tomb that I shall
+lie with him, or so I believe. The faith of these Egyptians which we
+despise tells of a life eternal in the heavens, and thither I would
+go to seek that which is lost, and to wait that which is left behind
+awhile."
+
+"Ah!" said Jabez. "For my part I do not trouble myself with these
+problems, who find in a life temporal on the earth enough to fill my
+thoughts and hands. Yet, Merapi, you are a rebel, and whether in heaven
+or on earth, how are rebels received by the king against whom they have
+rebelled?"
+
+"You say I am rebel," she said, turning on him with flashing eyes. "Why?
+Because I would not dishonour myself by marrying a man I hate, one also
+who is a murderer, and because while I live I will not desert a man whom
+I love to return to those who have done me naught but evil. Did God then
+make women to be sold like cattle of the field for the pleasure and the
+profit of him who can pay the highest?"
+
+"It seems so," said Jabez, spreading out his hands.
+
+"It seems that you think so, who fashion God as you would wish him to
+be, but for my part I do not believe it, and if I did, I should seek
+another king. My uncle, I appeal from the priest and the elder to That
+which made both them and me, and by Its judgment I will stand or fall."
+
+"Always a very dangerous thing to do," reflected Jabez aloud, "since the
+priest is apt to take the law into his own hands before the cause can
+be pleaded elsewhere. Still, who am I that I should set up my reasonings
+against one who can grind Amon to powder in his own sanctuary, and who
+therefore may have warrant for all she thinks and does?"
+
+Merapi stamped her foot.
+
+"You know well it was you who brought me the command to dare the god
+Amon in his temple. It was not I----" she began.
+
+"I do know," replied Jabez waving his hand. "I know also that is what
+every wizard says, whatever his nation or his gods, and what no one ever
+believes. Thus because, having faith, you obeyed the command and through
+you Amon was smitten, among both the Israelites and the Egyptians you
+are held to be the greatest sorceress that has looked upon the Nile, and
+that is a dangerous repute, my niece."
+
+"One to which I lay no claim, and never sought."
+
+"Just so, but which all the same has come to you. Well, knowing as
+without doubt you do all that will soon befall in Egypt, and having been
+warned, if you needed warning, of the danger with which you yourself are
+threatened, you still refuse to obey this second command which it is my
+duty to deliver to you?"
+
+"I refuse."
+
+"Then on your own head be it, and farewell. Oh! I would add that there
+is a certain property in cattle, and the fruit of lands which descends
+to you from your father. In the event of your death----"
+
+"Take it all, uncle, and may it prosper you. Farewell."
+
+"A great woman, friend Ana, and a beautiful," said the old Hebrew, after
+he had watched her go. "I grieve that I shall never see her again, and,
+indeed, that no one will see her for very long; for, remember, she is
+my niece of whom I am fond. Now I too must be going, having completed my
+errand. All good fortune to you, Ana. You are no longer a soldier, are
+you? No? Believe me, it is as well, as you will learn. My homage to
+the Prince. Think of me at times, when you grow old, and not unkindly,
+seeing that I have served you as best I could, and your master also, who
+I hope will soon find again that which he lost awhile ago."
+
+"Her Highness, Princess Userti," I suggested.
+
+"The Princess Userti among other things, Ana. Tell the Prince, if he
+should deem them costly, that those horses which I sold him are really
+of the finest Syrian blood, and of a strain that my family has owned for
+generations. If you should chance to have any friend whose welfare you
+desire, let him not go into the desert soldiering during the next few
+moons, especially if Pharaoh be in command. Nay, I know nothing, but it
+is a season of great storm. Farewell, friend Ana, and again farewell."
+
+"Now what did he mean by that?" thought I to myself, as I departed to
+make my report to Seti. But no answer to the question rose in my mind.
+
+Very soon I began to understand. It appeared that at length the
+Israelites were leaving Egypt, a vast horde of them, and with them tens
+of thousands of Arabs of various tribes who worshipped their god
+and were, some of them, descended from the people of the Hyksos, the
+shepherds who once ruled in Egypt. That this was true was proved to us
+by the tidings which reached us that all the Hebrew women who dwelt in
+Memphis, even those of them who were married to Egyptians, had departed
+from the city, leaving behind them their men and sometimes their
+children. Indeed, before these went, certain of them who had been
+friends visited Merapi, and asked her if she were not coming also. She
+shook her head as she replied:
+
+"Why do you go? Are you so fond of journeyings in the desert that for
+the sake of them you are ready never again to look upon the men you love
+and the children of your bodies?"
+
+"No, Lady," they answered, weeping. "We are happy here in white-walled
+Memphis and here, listening to the murmur of the Nile, we would grow
+old and die, rather than strive to keep house in some desert tent with a
+stranger or alone. Yet fear drives us hence."
+
+"Fear of what?"
+
+"Of the Egyptians who, when they come to understand all that they have
+suffered at our hands in return for the wealth and shelter which they
+have given us for many generations, whereby we have grown from a handful
+into a great people, will certainly kill any Israelite whom they find
+left among them. Also we fear the curses of our priests who bid us to
+depart."
+
+"Then _I_ should fear these things also," said Merapi.
+
+"Not so, Lady, seeing that being the only beloved of the Prince of Egypt
+who, rumour tells us, will soon be Pharaoh of Egypt, by him you will
+be protected from the anger of the Egyptians. And being, as we all know
+well, the greatest sorceress in the world, the overthrower of Amon-Ra
+the mighty, and one who by sacrificing her child was able to ward away
+every plague from the household where she dwelt, you have naught to fear
+from priests and their magic."
+
+Then Merapi sprang up, bidding them to leave her to her fate and to
+be gone to their own, which they did hastily enough, fearing lest she
+should cast some spell upon them. So it came about that presently the
+fair Moon of Israel and certain children of mixed blood were all of the
+Hebrew race that were left in Egypt. Then, notwithstanding the miseries
+and misfortunes that during the past few years by terror, death, and
+famine had reduced them to perhaps one half of their number, the people
+of Egypt rejoiced with a great joy.
+
+In every temple of every god processions were held and offerings made by
+those who had anything left to offer, while the statues of the gods were
+dressed in fine new garments and hung about with garlandings of flowers.
+Moreover, on the Nile and on the sacred lakes boats floated to and
+fro, adorned with lanterns as at the feast of the Rising of Osiris. As
+titular high-priest of Amon, an office of which he could not be deprived
+while he lived, Prince Seti attended these demonstrations, which indeed
+he must do, in the great temple of Memphis, whither I accompanied him.
+When the ceremonies were over he led the procession through the masses
+of the worshippers, clad in his splendid sacerdotal robes, whereon every
+throat of the thousands present there greeted him in a shout of thunder
+as "Pharaoh!" or at least as Pharaoh's heir.
+
+When at length the shouting died, he turned upon them and said:
+
+"Friends, if you would send me to be of the company that sits at the
+table of Osiris and not at Pharaoh's feasts, you will repeat this
+foolish greeting, whereof our Lord Amenmeses will hear with little joy."
+
+In the silence that followed a voice called out:
+
+"Have no fear, O Prince, while the Hebrew witch sleeps night by night
+upon your bosom. She who could smite Egypt with so many plagues can
+certainly shelter you from harm;" whereon the roars of acclamation went
+up again.
+
+It was on the following day that Bakenkhonsu the aged returned with more
+tidings from Tanis, where he had been upon a visit. It seemed that a
+great council had been held there in the largest hall of one of the
+largest temples. At this council, which was open to all the people,
+Amenmeses had given report on the matter of the Israelites who, he
+stated, were departing in their thousands. Also offerings were made to
+appease the angry gods of Egypt. When the ceremony was finished, but
+before the company broke up in a heavy mood, her Highness the Princess
+Userti rose in her place, and addressed Pharaoh:
+
+"By the spirits of our fathers," she cried, "and more especially by that
+of the good god Meneptah, my begetter, I ask of you, Pharaoh, and I ask
+of you, O people, whether the affront that has been put upon us by these
+Hebrew slaves and their magicians is one that the proud land of Egypt
+should be called upon to bear? Our gods have been smitten and defied;
+woes great and terrible, such as history tells not of, have fallen
+upon us through magic; tens of thousands, from the first-born child of
+Pharaoh down, have perished in a single night. And now these Hebrews,
+who have murdered them by sorcery, for they are sorcerers all, men and
+women together, especially one of them who sits at Memphis, of whom I
+will not speak because she has wrought me private harm, by the decree
+of Pharaoh are to be suffered to leave the land. More, they are to take
+with them all their cattle, all their threshed corn, all the treasure
+they have hoarded for generations, and all the ornaments of price and
+wealth that they have wrung by terror from our own people, borrowing
+that which they never purpose to return. Therefore I, the Royal Princess
+of Egypt, would ask of Pharaoh, is this the decree of Pharaoh?"
+
+"Now," said Bakenkhonsu, "Pharaoh sat with hanging head upon his throne
+and made no answer."
+
+"Pharaoh does not speak," went on Userti. "Then I ask, is this the
+decree of the Council of Pharaoh and of the people of Egypt? There
+is still a great army in Egypt, hundreds of chariots and thousands of
+footmen. Is this army to sit still while these slaves depart into the
+desert there to rouse our enemies of Syria against us and return with
+them to butcher us?"
+
+"At these words," continued Bakenkhonsu, "from all that multitude there
+went up a shout of 'No.'"
+
+"The people say No. What saith Pharaoh?" cried Userti.
+
+There followed a silence, till suddenly Amenmeses rose and spoke:
+
+"Have it as you will, Princess, and on your head and the heads of all
+these whom you have stirred up let the evil fall if evil comes, though
+I think it is your husband, the Prince Seti, who should stand where you
+stand and put up this prayer in your place."
+
+"My husband, the Prince Seti, is tied to Memphis by a rope of witch's
+hair, or so they tell me," she sneered, while the people murmured in
+assent.
+
+"I know not," went on Amenmeses, "but this I know that always the Prince
+would have let these Hebrews go from among us, and at times, as sorrow
+followed sorrow, I have thought that he was right. Truly more than once
+I also would have let them go, but ever some Strength, I know not what,
+descended on my heart, turning it to stone, and wrung from me words that
+I did not desire to utter. Even now I would let them go, but all of you
+are against me, and, perchance, if I withstand you, I shall pay for it
+with my life and throne. Captains, command that my armies be made ready,
+and let them assemble here at Tanis that I myself may lead them after
+the people of Israel and share their dangers."
+
+Then with a mighty shouting the company broke up, so that at the last
+all were gone and only Pharaoh remained seated upon his throne, staring
+at the ground with the air, said Bakenkhonsu, rather of one who is dead
+than of a living king about to wage war upon his foes.
+
+To all these words the Prince listened in silence, but when they were
+finished he looked up and asked:
+
+"What think you, Bakenkhonsu?"
+
+"I think, O Prince," answered the wise old man, "that her Highness did
+ill to stir up this matter, though doubtless she spoke with the voices
+of the priests and of the army, against which Pharaoh was not strong
+enough to stand."
+
+"What you think, I think," said Seti.
+
+At this moment the lady Merapi entered.
+
+"I hear, my lord," she said, "that Pharaoh purposes to pursue the people
+of Israel with his host. I come to pray my lord that he will not join
+himself to the host of Pharaoh."
+
+"It is but natural, Lady, that you should not wish me to make war upon
+your kin, and to speak truth I have no mind that way," replied Seti,
+and, turning, left the chamber with her.
+
+"She is not thinking of her king but of her lover's life," said
+Bakenkhonsu. "She is not a witch as they declare, but it is true that
+she knows what we do not."
+
+"Yes," I answered, "it is true."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE DREAM OF MERAPI
+
+A while went by; it may have been fourteen days, during which we heard
+that the Israelites had started on their journey. They were a mighty
+multitude who bore with them the coffin and the mummy of their prophet,
+a man of their blood, Vizier, it is reported, to that Pharaoh who
+welcomed them to Egypt hundreds of years before. Some said they went
+this way and some that, but Bakenkhonsu, who knew everything, declared
+that they were heading for the Lake of Crocodiles, which others name Sea
+of Reeds, whereby they would cross into the desert beyond, and thence to
+Syria. I asked him how, seeing that at its narrowest part, this lake
+was six thousand paces in width, and that the depth of its mud was
+unfathomable. He replied that he did not know, but that I might do well
+to inquire of the lady Merapi.
+
+"So you have changed your mind, and also think her a witch," I said, to
+which he answered:
+
+"One must breathe the wind that blows, and Egypt is so full of
+witchcraft that it is difficult to say. Also it was she and no other
+who destroyed the ancient statue of Amon. Oh! yes, witch or no witch,
+it might be well to ask her how her people purpose to cross the Sea of
+Reeds, especially if Pharaoh's chariots chance to be behind them."
+
+So I did ask her, but she answered that she knew nothing of the matter,
+and wished to know nothing, seeing that she had separated from her
+people, and remained in Egypt.
+
+Then Ki came, I know not whence, and having made his peace with Seti as
+to the dressing of Merapi in the robes of Isis which, he vowed, was done
+by the priests against his wish, told us that Pharaoh and a great host
+had started to pursue the Israelites. The Prince asked him why he had
+not gone with the host, to which he replied that he was no soldier, also
+that Pharaoh hid his face from him. In return he asked the Prince why
+_he_ had not gone.
+
+Seti answered, because had been deprived of his command with his other
+officers and had no wish to take share in this business as a private
+citizen.
+
+"You are wise, as always, Prince," said Ki.
+
+It was on the following night, very late, while the Prince, Ki,
+Bakenkhonsu and I, Ana, sat talking, that suddenly the lady Merapi broke
+in upon us as she had risen from her bed, wild-eyed, and with her hair
+flowing down her robes.
+
+"I have dreamed a dream!" she cried. "I dreamed that I saw all the
+thousands of my people following after a flame that burned from earth
+to heaven. They came to the edge of a great water and behind them rushed
+Pharaoh and all the hosts of the Egyptians. Then my people ran on to the
+face of the water, and it bore them as though it were sound land.
+Now the soldiers of the Pharaoh were following, but the gods of Egypt
+appeared, Amon, Osiris, Horus, Isis, Hathor, and the rest, and would
+have turned them back. Still they refused to listen, and dragging the
+gods with them, rushed out upon the water. Then darkness fell, and in
+the darkness sounds of wailing and of a mighty laughter. It passed,
+the moon rose, shining upon emptiness. I awoke, trembling in my limbs.
+Interpret me this dream if you can, O Ki, Master of Magic."
+
+"Where is the need, Lady," he answered, awaking as though from sleep,
+"when the dreamer is also the seer? Shall the pupil venture to
+instruct the teacher, or the novice to make plain the mysteries to the
+high-priestess of the temple? Nay, Lady, I and all the magicians of
+Egypt are beneath your feet."
+
+"Why will you ever mock me?" she said, and as she spoke, she shivered.
+
+Then Bakenkhonsu opened his lips, saying:
+
+"The wisdom of Ki has been buried in a cloud of late, and gives no light
+to us, his disciples. Yet the meaning of this dream is plain, though
+whether it be also true I do not know. It is that all the host of Egypt,
+and with it the gods of Egypt, are threatened with destruction because
+of the Israelites, unless one to whom they will hearken can be found to
+turn them from some purpose that I do not understand. But to whom will
+the mad hearken, oh! to whom will they hearken?" and lifting his great
+head, he looked straight at the Prince.
+
+"Not to me, I fear, who now am no one in Egypt," said Seti.
+
+"Why not to you, O Prince, who to-morrow may be everyone in Egypt?"
+asked Bakenkhonsu. "Always you have pleaded the cause of the Hebrews,
+and said that naught but evil would befall Egypt because of them, as
+has happened. To whom, then, will the people and the army listen more
+readily?"
+
+"Moreover, O Prince," broke in Ki, "a lady of your household has dreamed
+a very evil dream, of which, if naught be said, it might be held that it
+was no dream, but a spell of power aimed against the majesty of Egypt;
+such a spell as that which cast great Amon from his throne, such a spell
+as that which has set a magic fence around this house and field."
+
+"Again I tell you that I weave no spells, O Ki, who with my own child
+have paid the price of them."
+
+"Yet spells were woven, Lady, and has been known from of old, strength
+is perfected in sacrifice alone," Ki answered darkly.
+
+"Have done with your talk of spells, Magician," exclaimed the Prince,
+"or if you must speak of them, speak of your own, which are many. It was
+Jabez who protected us here against the plagues, and the statue of Amon
+was shattered by some god."
+
+"I ask your pardon, Prince," said Ki bowing, "it was _not_ this lady but
+her uncle who fenced your house against the plagues which ravaged Egypt,
+and it was _not_ this lady but some god working in her which overthrew
+Amon of Tanis. The Prince has said it. Yet this lady has dreamed a
+certain dream which Bakenkhonsu has interpreted although I cannot, and I
+think that Pharaoh and his captains should be told of the dream, that on
+it they may form their own judgment."
+
+"Then why do you not tell them, Ki?"
+
+"It has pleased Pharaoh, O Prince, to dismiss me from his service as
+one who failed and to give my office of Kherheb to another. If I appear
+before the face of Pharaoh I shall be killed."
+
+Now I, Ana, listening, wished that Ki would appear before the face of
+Pharaoh, although I did not believe that he could be killed by him or by
+anybody else, since against death he had charms. For I was afraid of Ki,
+and felt in myself that again he was plotting evil to Merapi whom I knew
+to be innocent.
+
+The Prince walked up and down the chamber as was his fashion when lost
+in thought. Presently he stopped opposite to me and said:
+
+"Friend Ana, be pleased to command that my chariots be made ready with
+a general's escort of a hundred men and spare horses to each chariot.
+We ride at dawn, you and I, to seek out the army of Pharaoh and pray
+audience of Pharaoh."
+
+"My lord," said Merapi in a kind of cry, "I pray you go not, leaving me
+alone."
+
+"Why should I leave you, Lady? Come with me if you will." She shook her
+head, saying:
+
+"I dare not. Prince, there has been some charm upon me of late that
+draws me back to my own people. Twice in the night I have awakened and
+found myself in the gardens with my face set towards the north, and
+heard a voice in my ears, even that of my father who is dead, saying:
+
+"'Moon of Israel, thy people wander in the wilderness and need thy
+light.'
+
+"It is certain therefore that if I came near to them I should be dragged
+down as wood is dragged of an eddy, nor would Egypt see me any more."
+
+"Then I pray you bide where you are, Merapi," said the Prince, laughing
+a little, "since it is certain that where you go I must follow, who have
+no desire to wander in the wilderness with your Hebrew folk. Well, it
+seems that as you do not wish to leave Memphis and will not come with
+me, I must stay with you."
+
+Ki fixed his piercing eyes upon the pair of them.
+
+"Let the Prince forgive me," he said, "but I swear it by the gods that
+never did I think to live to hear the Prince Seti Meneptah set a woman's
+whims before his honour."
+
+"Your words are rough," said Seti, drawing himself up, "and had they
+been spoken in other days, mayhap, Ki----"
+
+"Oh! my lord," said Ki prostrating himself till his forehead touched the
+ground, "bethink you then how great must be the need which makes me dare
+to speak them. When first I came hither from the court of Tanis, the
+spirit that is within me speaking through my lips gave certain titles
+to your Highness, for which your Highness was pleased to reprove me.
+Yet the spirit in me cannot lie and I know well, and bid all here make
+record of my words, that to-night I stand in the presence of him who ere
+two moons have passed will be crowned Pharaoh."
+
+"Truly you were ever a bearer of ill-tidings, Ki, but if so, what of
+it?"
+
+"This your Highness: Were it not that the spirits of Truth and Right
+compel me for their own reasons, should I, who have blood that can be
+shed or bones that can be broken, dare to hurl hard words at him who
+will be Pharaoh? Should I dare to cross the will of the sweet dove who
+nestles on his heart, the wise, white dove that murmurs the mysteries
+of heaven, whence she came, and is stronger than the vulture of Isis and
+swifter than the hawk of Ra; the dove that, were she angry, could rend
+me into more fragments than did Set Osiris?"
+
+Now I saw Bakenkhonsu begin to swell with inward laughter like a frog
+about to croak, but Seti answered in a weary voice:
+
+"By all the birds of Egypt with the sacred crocodiles thrown in, I do
+not know, since that mind of yours, Ki, is not an open writing which can
+be read by the passer-by. Still, if you would tell me what is the reason
+with which the goddesses of Truth and Justice have inspired you----"
+
+"The reason is, O Prince, that the fate of all Egypt's army may be
+hidden in your hand. The time is short and I will be plain. Deny it as
+she will this lady here, who seems to be but a thing of love and beauty,
+is the greatest sorceress in Egypt, as I whom she has mastered know
+well. She matched herself against the high god of Egypt and smote him to
+the dust, and has paid back upon him, his prophets, and his worshippers
+the ills that he would have worked to her, as in the like case any of
+our fellowship would do. Now she has dreamed a dream, or her spirit has
+told her that the army of Egypt is in danger of destruction, and I know
+that this dream is true. Hasten then, O Prince, to save the hosts of
+Egypt, which you will surely need when you come to sit upon its throne."
+
+"I am no sorceress," cried Merapi, "and yet--alas! that I must say
+it--this smiling-featured, cold-eyed wizard's words are true. _The sword
+of death hangs over the hosts of Egypt!_"
+
+"Command that the chariots be made ready," said Seti again.
+
+
+
+Eight days had gone by. It was sunset and we drew rein over against the
+Sea of Reeds. Day and night we had followed the army of Pharaoh across
+the wilderness on a road beaten down by his chariot wheels and soldiers,
+and by the tens of thousands of the Israelites who had passed that way
+before them. Now from the ridge where we had halted we saw it encamped
+beneath us, a very great army. Moreover, stragglers told us that beyond,
+also encamped, was the countless horde of the Israelites, and beyond
+these the vast Sea of Reeds which barred their path. But we could
+not see them for a very strange reason. Between these and the army
+of Pharaoh rose a black wall of cloud, built as it were from earth to
+heaven. One of those stragglers of whom I have spoken, told us that this
+cloud travelled before the Israelites by day, but at night was turned
+into a pillar of fire. Only on this day, when the army of Pharaoh
+approached, it had moved round and come between the people of Israel and
+the army.
+
+Now when the Prince, Bakenkhonsu, and I heard these things we looked at
+each other and were silent. Only presently the Prince laughed a little,
+and said:
+
+"We should have brought Ki with us, even if we had to carry him bound,
+that he might interpret this marvel, for it is sure that no one else
+can."
+
+"It would be hard to keep Ki bound, Prince, if he wished to go free,"
+answered Bakenkhonsu. "Moreover, before ever we entered the chariots at
+Memphis he had departed south for Thebes. I saw him go."
+
+"And I gave orders that he should not be allowed to return, for I hold
+him an ill guest, or so thinks the lady Merapi," replied Seti with a
+sigh.
+
+"Now that we are here what would the Prince do?" I asked.
+
+"Descend to the camp of Pharaoh and say what we have to say, Ana."
+
+"And if he will not listen, Prince?"
+
+"Then cry our message aloud and return."
+
+"And if he will not suffer us to return, Prince?"
+
+"Then stand still and live or die as the gods may decree."
+
+"Truly our lord has a great heart!" exclaimed Bakenkhonsu, "and though
+I feel over young to die, I am minded to see the end of this matter with
+him," and he laughed aloud.
+
+But I who was afraid thought that _O-ho-ho_ of his, which the sky seemed
+to echo back upon our heads, a strange and indeed a fearful sound.
+
+Then we put on robes of ceremony that we had brought with us, but
+neither swords nor armour, and having eaten some food, drove on with the
+half of our guard towards the place where we saw the banners of Pharaoh
+flying about his pavilion. The rest of our guard we left encamped,
+bidding them, if aught happened to us, to return and make report at
+Memphis and in the other great cities. As we drew near to the camp the
+outposts saw us and challenged. But when they perceived by the light of
+the setting sun who it was that they challenged, a murmur went through
+them, of:
+
+"The Prince of Egypt! The Prince of Egypt!" for so they had never ceased
+to name Seti, and they saluted with their spears and let us pass.
+
+So at length we came to the pavilion of Pharaoh, round about which
+a whole regiment stood on guard. The sides of it were looped up high
+because of the heat of the night which was great, and within sat
+Pharaoh, his captains, his councillors, his priests, his magicians, and
+many others at meat or serving food and drink. They sat at a table that
+was bent like a bow, with their faces towards the entrance, and Pharaoh
+was in the centre of the table with his fan-bearers and butlers behind
+him.
+
+We advanced into the pavilion, the Prince in the centre, Bakenkhonsu
+leaning on his staff on the right hand, and I, wearing the gold chain
+that Pharaoh Meneptah had given me, on the left, but those with us
+remained among the guard at the entrance.
+
+"Who are these?" asked Amenmeses, looking up, "who come here unbidden?"
+
+"Three citizens of Egypt who have a message for Pharaoh," answered Seti
+in his quiet voice, "which we have travelled fast and far to speak in
+time."
+
+"How are you named, citizens of Egypt, and who sends your message?"
+
+"We are named, Seti Meneptah aforetime Prince of Egypt, and heir to its
+crown; Bakenkhonsu the aged Councillor, and Ana the scribe and King's
+Companion, and our message is from the gods."
+
+"We have heard those names, who has not?" said Pharaoh, and as he spoke
+all, or very nearly all, the company rose, or half rose, and bowed
+towards the Prince. "Will you and your companions be seated and eat,
+Prince Seti Meneptah?"
+
+"We thank the divine Pharaoh, but we have already eaten. Have we
+Pharaoh's leave to deliver our message?"
+
+"Speak on, Prince."
+
+"O Pharaoh, many moons have gone by, since last we looked upon each
+other face to face, on that day when my father, the good god Meneptah,
+disinherited me, and afterwards fled hence to Osiris. Pharaoh will
+remember why I was thus cut off from the royal root of Egypt. It was
+because of the matter of these Israelites, who in my judgment had been
+evilly dealt by, and should be suffered to leave our land. The good
+god Meneptah, being so advised by you and others, O Pharaoh, would have
+smitten the Israelites with the sword, making an end of them, and to
+this he demanded my assent as the Heir of Egypt. I refused that assent
+and was cast out, and since then, you, O Pharaoh, have worn the double
+crown, while I have dwelt as a citizen of Memphis, living upon such
+lands and revenues as are my own. Between that hour and this, O Pharaoh,
+many griefs have smitten Egypt, and the last of them cost you your
+first-born, and me mine. Yet through them all, O Pharaoh, you have
+refused to let these Hebrews go, as I counselled should be done at the
+beginning. At length after the death of the first-born, your decree was
+issued that they might go. Yet now you follow them with a great army and
+purpose to do to them what my father, the good god Meneptah, would have
+done, had I consented, namely--to destroy them with the sword. Hear me,
+Pharaoh!"
+
+"I hear; also the case is well if briefly set. What else would the
+Prince Seti say?"
+
+"This, O Pharaoh. That I pray you to return with all your host from
+the following of these Hebrews, not to-morrow or the next day, but at
+once--this night."
+
+"Why, O Prince?"
+
+"Because of a certain dream that a lady of my household who is Hebrew
+has dreamed, which dream foretells destruction to you and the army of
+Egypt, unless you hearken to these words of mine."
+
+"I think that we know of this snake whom you have taken to dwell in your
+bosom, whence it may spit poison upon Egypt. It is named Merapi, Moon of
+Israel, is it not?"
+
+"That is the name of the lady who dreamed the dream," replied Seti in a
+cold voice, though I felt him tremble with anger at my side, "the dream
+that if Pharaoh wills my companions here shall set out word for word to
+his magicians."
+
+"Pharaoh does not will it," shouted Amenmeses smiting the board with his
+fist, "because Pharaoh knows that it is but another trick to save these
+wizards and thieves from the doom that they have earned."
+
+"Am I then a worker of tricks, O Pharaoh? If I had been such, why have
+I journeyed hither to give warning, when by sitting yonder at Memphis
+to-morrow, I might once more have become heir to the double crown? For
+if you will not hearken to me, I tell you that very soon you shall
+be dead, and with you these"--and he pointed to all those who sat at
+table--"and with them the great army that lies without. Ere you speak,
+tell me, what is that black cloud which stands before the camp of the
+Hebrews? Is there no answer? Then I will give you the answer. It is the
+pall that shall wrap the bones of every one of you."
+
+Now the company shivered with fear, yes, even the priests and the
+magicians shivered. But Pharaoh went mad with rage. Springing from his
+seat, he snatched at the double crown upon his head, and hurled it to
+the ground, and I noted that the golden uraeus band about it, rolled
+away, and rested upon Seti's sandalled foot. He tore his robes and
+shouted:
+
+"At least our fate shall be your fate, Renegade, who have sold Egypt
+to the Hebrew witch in payment of her kisses. Seize this man and his
+companions, and when we go down to battle against these Israelites
+to-morrow after the darkness lifts, let them be set with the captains of
+the van. So shall the truth be known at last."
+
+Thus Pharaoh commanded, and Seti, answering nothing, folded his arms
+upon his breast and waited.
+
+Men rose from their seats as though to obey Pharaoh and sank back to
+them again. Guards started forward and yet remained standing where they
+were. Then Bakenkhonsu burst into one of his great laughs.
+
+"O-ho-ho," he laughed, "Pharaohs have I seen come and go, one and two
+and three, and four and five, but never yet have I seen a Pharaoh whom
+none of his councillors or guards could obey however much they willed
+it. When you are Pharaoh, Prince Seti, may your luck be better. Your
+arm, Ana, my friend, and lead on, Royal Heir of Egypt. The truth is
+shown to blind eyes that will not see. The word is spoken to deaf ears
+that will not hearken, and the duty done. Night falls. Sleep ye well, ye
+bidden of Osiris, sleep ye well!"
+
+Then we turned and walked from that pavilion. At its entrance I looked
+back, and in the low light that precedes the darkness, it seemed to me
+as though all seated there were already dead. Blue were their faces and
+hollow shone their eyes, and from their lips there came no word. Only
+they stared at us as we went, and stared and stared again.
+
+Without the door of the pavilion, by command of the Prince, I called
+aloud the substance of the lady Merapi's dream, and warned all within
+earshot to cease from pursuing the people of Israel, if they would
+continue to live to look upon the sun. Yet even now, although to speak
+thus was treason against Pharaoh, none lifted a hand against the Prince,
+or against me his servant. Often since then I have wondered why this was
+so, and found no answer to my questionings. Mayhap it was because of the
+majesty of my master, whom all knew to be the true Pharaoh, and loved
+at heart. Mayhap it was because they were sure that he would not have
+travelled so far and placed himself in the power of Amenmeses save to
+work the armies of Egypt good, and not ill, and to bring them a message
+that had been spoken by the gods themselves.
+
+Or mayhap it was because he was still hedged about by that protection
+which the Hebrews had vowed to him through their prophets with the
+voice of Jabez. At least so it happened. Pharaoh might command, but his
+servants would not obey. Moreover, the story spread, and that night many
+deserted from the host of Pharaoh and encamped about us, or fled back
+towards the cities whence they came. Also with them were not a few
+councillors and priests who had talked secretly with Bakenkhonsu. So it
+chanced that even if Pharaoh desired to make an end of us, as perhaps he
+purposed to do in the midnight watches, he thought it wisest to let the
+matter lie until he had finished with the people of Israel.
+
+
+
+It was a very strange night, silent, with a heavy, stirless air. There
+were no stars, but the curtain of black cloud which seemed to hang
+beyond the camp of the Egyptians was alive with lightnings which
+appeared to shape themselves to letters that I could not read.
+
+"Behold the Book of Fate written in fire by the hand of God!" said
+Bakenkhonsu, as he watched.
+
+About midnight a mighty east wind began to blow, so strongly that we
+must lie upon our faces under the lea of the chariots. Then the wind
+died away and we heard tumult and shoutings, both from the camp of
+Egypt, and from the camp of Israel beyond the cloud. Next there came a
+shock as of earthquake, which threw those of us who were standing to the
+ground, and by a blood-red moon that now appeared we perceived that all
+the army of Pharaoh was beginning to move towards the sea.
+
+"Whither go they?" I asked of the Prince who clung to my arm.
+
+"To doom, I think," he answered, "but to what doom I do not know."
+
+After this we said no more, because we were too much afraid.
+
+
+
+Dawn came at last, showing the most awful sight that was ever beheld by
+the eye of man.
+
+The wall of cloud had disappeared, and in the clear light of the
+morning, we perceived that the deep waters of the Sea of Reeds had
+divided themselves, leaving a raised roadway that seemed to have
+been cleared by the wind, or perchance to have been thrown up by the
+earthquake. Who can say? Not I who never set foot upon that path of
+death. Along this wide road streamed the tens of thousands of the
+Israelites, passing between the water on the right hand, and the water
+on the left, and after them followed all the army of Pharaoh, save those
+who had deserted, and stood or lay around us, watching. We could even
+see the golden chariots that marked the presence of Pharaoh himself, and
+of his bodyguard, deep in the heart of the broken host that struggled
+forward without discipline or order.
+
+"What now? Oh! what now?" murmured Seti, and as he spoke there was a
+second shock of earthquake. Then to the west on the sea there arose a
+mighty wave, whereof the crest seemed to be high as a pyramid. It rolled
+forward with a curved and foaming head, and in the hollow of it for a
+moment, no more, we saw the army of Egypt. Yet in that moment I seemed
+to see mighty shapes fleeing landwards along the crest of the wave,
+which shapes I took to be the gods of Egypt, pursued by a form of light
+and glory that drove them as with a scourge. They came, they went,
+accompanied by a sound of wailing, and the wave fell.
+
+But beyond it, the hordes of Israel still marched--upon the further
+shore.
+
+Dense gloom followed, and through the gloom I saw, or thought I saw,
+Merapi, Moon of Israel, standing before us with a troubled face and
+heard or thought I heard her cry:
+
+"_Oh! help me, my lord Seti! Help me, my lord Seti!_"
+
+Then she too was gone.
+
+
+"Harness the chariots!" cried Seti, in a hollow voice.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THE CROWNING OF MERAPI
+
+Fast as sped our horses, rumour, or rather the truth, carried by those
+who had gone before us, flew faster. Oh! that journey was as a dream
+begotten by the evil gods. On we galloped through the day and through
+the night and lo! at every town and village women rushed upon us crying:
+
+"Is it true, O travellers, is it true that Pharaoh and his host are
+perished in the sea?"
+
+Then old Bakenkhonsu would call in answer:
+
+"It is true that he who _was_ Pharaoh and his host are perished in the
+sea. But lo! here is he who _is_ Pharaoh," and he pointed to the Prince,
+who took no heed and said nothing, save:
+
+"On! On!"
+
+Then forward we would plunge again till once more the sound of wailing
+died into silence.
+
+It was sunset, and at length we drew near to the gates of Memphis. The
+Prince turned to me and spoke.
+
+"Heretofore I have not dared to ask," he said, "but tell me, Ana. In the
+gloom after the great cliff of water fell and the shapes of terror swept
+by, did you seem to see a woman stand before us and did you seem to hear
+her speak?"
+
+"I did, O Prince."
+
+"Who was that woman and what did she say?"
+
+"She was one who bore a child to you, O Prince, which child is not, and
+she said, 'Oh! help me, my lord Seti. Help me, my lord Seti!'"
+
+His face grew ashen even beneath its veil of dust, and he groaned.
+
+"Two who loved her have seen and two who loved her have heard," he said.
+"There is no room for doubt. Ana, she is dead!"
+
+"I pray the gods----"
+
+"Pray not, for the gods of Egypt are also dead, slain by the god of
+Israel. Ana, who has murdered her?"
+
+With my finger I who am a draughtsman drew in the thick dust that lay
+on the board of the chariot the brows of a man and beneath them two deep
+eyes. The gilt on the board where the sun caught it looked like light in
+the eyes.
+
+The Prince nodded and said:
+
+"Now we shall learn whether great magicians such as Ki can die like
+other men. Yes, if need be, to learn that I will put on Pharaoh's
+crown."
+
+We halted at the gates of Memphis. They were shut and barred, but from
+within the vast city rose a sound of tumult.
+
+"Open!" cried the Prince to the guard.
+
+"Who bids me open?" answered the captain of the gate peering at us, for
+the low sun lay behind.
+
+"Pharaoh bids you open."
+
+"Pharaoh!" said the man. "We have sure tidings that Pharaoh and his
+armies are slain by wizardry in the sea."
+
+"Fool!" thundered the Prince, "Pharaoh never dies. Pharaoh Amenmeses
+is with Osiris but the good god Seti Meneptah who _is_ Pharaoh bids you
+open."
+
+Then the bronze gates rolled back, and those who guarded them prostrated
+themselves in the dust.
+
+"Man," I called to the captain, "what means yonder shouting?"
+
+"Sir," he answered, "I do not know, but I am told that the witch who has
+brought woe on Egypt and by magic caused the death of Pharaoh Amenmeses
+and his armies, dies by fire in the place before the temple."
+
+"By whose command?" I cried again as the charioteer flogged the horses,
+but no answer reached our ears.
+
+We rushed on up the wide street to the great place that was packed with
+tens of thousands of the people. We drove the horses at them.
+
+"Way for Pharaoh! Way for the Mighty One, the good god, Seti Meneptah,
+King of the Upper and the Lower Land!" shouted the escort.
+
+The people turned and saw the tall shape of the Prince still clad in the
+robes of state which he had worn when he stood before Amenmeses in the
+pavilion by the sea.
+
+"Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Hail to Pharaoh!" they cried, prostrating themselves,
+and the cry passed on through Memphis like a wind.
+
+Now we were come to the centre of the place, and there in front of the
+great gates of the temple burned a vast pyre of wood. Before the pyre
+moved figures, in one of whom I knew Ki dressed in his magician's robe.
+Outside of these there was a double circle of soldiers who kept the
+people back, which these needed, for they raved like madmen and shook
+their fists. A group of priests near the fire separated, and I saw that
+among them stood a man and a woman, the latter with dishevelled hair and
+torn robes as though she had been roughly handled. At this moment her
+strength seemed to fail her and she sank to the ground, lifting her face
+as she did so. It was the face of Merapi, Moon of Israel.
+
+So she was not dead. The man at her side stooped as though to lift her
+up, but a stone thrown out of the shadow struck him in the back and
+caused him to straighten himself, which he did with a curse at the
+thrower. I knew the voice at once, although the speaker was disguised.
+
+It was that of Laban the Israelite, he who had been betrothed to Merapi,
+and had striven to murder us in the land of Goshen. What did he here? I
+wondered dimly.
+
+Ki was speaking. "Hark how the Hebrew cat spits," he said. "Well,
+the cause has been tried and the verdict given, and I think that the
+familiar should feed the flames before the witch. Watch him now, and
+perhaps he will change into something else."
+
+All this he said, smiling in his usual pleasant fashion, even when he
+made a sign to certain black temple slaves who stood near. They leapt
+forward, and I saw the firelight shone upon their copper armlets as they
+gripped Laban. He fought furiously, shouting:
+
+"Where are your armies, Egyptians, and where is your dog of a Pharaoh?
+Go dig them from the Sea of Reeds. Farewell, Moon of Israel. Look how
+your royal lover crowns you at the last, O faithless----"
+
+He said no more, for at this moment the slaves hurled him headlong into
+the heart of the great fire, which blackened for a little and burned
+bright again.
+
+Then it was that Merapi struggled to her feet and cried in a ringing
+voice those very words which the Prince and I had seemed to hear her
+speak far away by the Sea of Reeds--"_Oh! help me my lord Seti! Help me,
+my lord Seti!_" Yes, the same words which had echoed in our ears days
+before they passed her lips, or so we believed.
+
+Now all this while our chariots had been forcing their way foot by foot
+through the wall of the watching crowd, perhaps while a man might count
+a hundred, no more. As the echoes of her cry died away at length we were
+through and leaping to the ground.
+
+"The witch calls on one who sups to-night at the board of Osiris with
+Pharaoh and his host," sneered Ki. "Well, let her go to seek him there
+if the guardian gods will suffer it," and again he made a sign to the
+black slaves.
+
+But Merapi had seen or felt Seti advancing from the shadows and seeing
+flung herself upon his breast. He kissed her on the brow before them
+all, then bade me hold her up and turned to face the people.
+
+"Bow down. Bow down. Bow down!" cried the deep voice of Bakenkhonsu.
+"Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!" and what he said the
+escort echoed.
+
+Then of a sudden the multitude understood. To their knees they fell and
+from every side rose the ancient salutation. Seti held up his hand
+and blessed them. Watching, I saw Ki slip towards the darkness, and
+whispered a word to the guards, who sprang upon him and brought him
+back.
+
+Then the Prince spoke:
+
+"Ye name me Pharaoh, people of Memphis, and Pharaoh I fear I am by
+descent of blood to-day, though whether I will consent to bear the
+burdens of government, should Egypt wish it of me, as yet I know not.
+Still he who wore the double crown is, I believe, dead in the midst
+of the sea; at the least I saw the waters overwhelm him and his army.
+Therefore, if only for an hour, I will be Pharaoh, that as Pharaoh I may
+judge of certain matters. Lady Merapi, tell me, I pray you, how came you
+to this pass?"
+
+"My lord," she answered, in a low voice, "after you had gone to warn the
+army of Pharaoh because of that dream I dreamed, Ki, who departed on
+the same day, returned again. Through one of the women of the household,
+over whom he had power, or so I think, he obtained access to me when I
+was alone in my chamber. There he made me this offer:
+
+"'Give me,' he said, 'the secret of your magic that I may be avenged
+upon the wizards of the Hebrews who have brought about my downfall, and
+upon the Hebrews themselves, and also upon all my other enemies, and
+thus once more become the greatest man in Egypt. In turn I will fulfil
+all your desires, and make you, and no other, Queen of Egypt, and be
+your faithful servant, and that of your lord Seti who shall be Pharaoh,
+until the end of your lives. Refuse, and I will stir up the people
+against you, and before ever the Prince returns, if he returns at all,
+they who believe you to be an evil sorceress shall mete out to you the
+fate of a sorceress.'
+
+"My lord, I answered to Ki what I have often told him before, that I
+had no magic to reveal to him, I who knew nothing of the black arts of
+sorcery, seeing that it was not I who destroyed the statue of Amon in
+the temple at Tanis, but that same Power which since then has brought
+all the plagues on Egypt. I said, too, that I cared nothing for the
+gifts he offered to me, as I had no wish to be Queen of Egypt. My lord,
+he laughed in my face, saying I should find that he was one ill to mock,
+as others had found before me. Then he pointed at me with his wand and
+muttered some spell over me, which seemed to numb my limbs and voice,
+holding me helpless till he had been gone a long while, and could not be
+found by your servants, whom I commanded in your name to seize, and keep
+him till your return.
+
+"From that hour the people began to threaten me. They crowded about the
+palace gates in thousands, crying day and night that they were going to
+kill me, the witch. I prayed for help, but from me, a sinner, heaven
+has grown so far away that my prayers seem to fall back unheard upon my
+head. Even the servants in the palace turned against me, and would not
+look upon my face. I grew mad with fear and loneliness, since all fled
+before me. At last one night towards the dawn I went on to the terrace,
+and since no god would hear me, I turned towards the north whither I
+knew that you had gone, and cried to you to help me in those same words
+which I cried again just now before you appeared." (Here the Prince
+looked at me and I Ana looked at him.) "Then it was that from among the
+bushes of the garden appeared a man, hidden in a long, sheepskin cloak,
+so that I could not see his face, who said to me:
+
+"'Moon of Israel, I have been sent by his Highness, the Prince Seti, to
+tell you that you are in danger of your life, as he is in danger of his,
+wherefore he cannot come to you. His command is that you come to him,
+that together you may flee away out of Egypt to a land where you will
+both be safe until all these troubles are finished.'
+
+"'How know I that you of the veiled face are a true messenger?' I asked.
+'Give me a sign.'
+
+"Then he held out to me that scarabaeus of lapis-lazuli which your
+Highness gave to me far away in the land of Goshen, the same that you
+asked back from me as a love token when we plighted troth, and you gave
+me your royal ring, which scarabaeus I had seen in your robe when you
+drove away with Ana."
+
+"I lost it on our journey to the Sea of Reeds, but said nothing of it to
+you, Ana, because I thought the omen evil, having dreamed in the night
+that Ki appeared and stole it from me," whispered the Prince to me.
+
+"'It is not enough,' I answered. 'This jewel may have been thieved
+away, or snatched from the dead body of the Prince, or taken from him by
+magic.'
+
+"The cloaked man thought a while and said, 'This night, not an hour ago,
+Pharaoh and his chariots were overwhelmed in the Sea of Reeds. Let that
+serve as a sign.'
+
+"'How can this be?' I answered, 'since the Sea of Reeds is far away,
+and such tidings cannot travel thence in an hour. Get you gone, false
+tempter.'
+
+"'Yet it is so,' he answered.
+
+"'When you prove it to me, I will believe, and come.'
+
+"'Good,' he said, and was gone.
+
+"Next day a rumour began to run that this awful thing had happened. It
+grew stronger and stronger, until all swore that it had happened. Now
+the fury of the people rose against me, and they ravened round the
+palace like lions of the desert, roaring for my blood. Yet it was as
+though they could not enter here, since whenever they rushed at the
+gates or walls, they fell back again, for some spirit seemed to protect
+the place. The days went by; the night came again and at the dawn, this
+dawn that is past, once more I stood upon the terrace, and once more the
+cloaked man appeared from among the trees.
+
+"'Now you have heard, Moon of Israel,' he said, 'and now you must
+believe and come, although you think yourself safe because at the
+beginning of the plagues this, the home of Seti, was enchanted against
+evil, so that none within it can be harmed.'
+
+"'I have heard, and I think that I believe, though how the tidings
+reached Memphis in an hour I do not understand. Yet, stranger, I say to
+you that it is not enough.'
+
+"Then the man drew a papyrus roll from his bosom and threw it at my
+feet. I opened it and read. The writing was the writing of Ana as I knew
+well, and the signature was the signature of you, my lord, and it was
+sealed with your seal, and with the seal of Bakenkhonsu as a witness.
+Here it is," and from the breast of her garment, she drew out a roll and
+gave it to me upon whom she rested all this while.
+
+I opened it, and by the light of torches the Prince, Bakenkhonsu, and
+I read. It was as she had told us in what seemed to be my writing, and
+signed and sealed as she had said. The words ran:
+
+"To Merapi, Moon of Israel, in my house at Memphis.
+
+"Come, Lady, Flower of Love, to me your lord, to whom the bearer of this
+will guide you safely. Come at once, for I am in great danger, as you
+are, and together only can we be safe."
+
+"Ana, what means this?" asked the Prince in a terrible voice. "If you
+have betrayed me and her----"
+
+"By the gods," I began angrily, "am I a man that I should live to hear
+even your Highness speak thus to me, or am I but a dog of the desert?"
+
+I ceased, for at that moment Bakenkhonsu began to laugh.
+
+"Look at the letter!" he laughed. "Look at the letter."
+
+We looked, and as we looked, behold the writing on it turned first
+to the colour of blood and then faded away, till presently there was
+nothing in my hand but a blank sheet of papyrus.
+
+"Oho-ho!" laughed Bakenkhonsu. "Truly, friend Ki, you are the first
+of magicians, save those prophets of the Israelites who have brought
+you--Whither have they brought you, friend Ki?"
+
+Then for the first time the painted smile left the face of Ki, and it
+became like a block of stone in which were set two angry jewels that
+were his eyes.
+
+"Continue, Lady," said the Prince.
+
+"I obeyed the letter. I fled away with the man who said he had a chariot
+waiting. We passed out by the little gate.
+
+"'Where is the chariot?' I asked.
+
+"'We go by boat,' he answered, and led the way towards the river. As we
+threaded the big palm grove men appeared from between the trees.
+
+"'You have betrayed me,' I cried.
+
+"'Nay,' he answered, 'I am myself betrayed.'
+
+"Then for the first time I knew his voice for that of Laban.
+
+"The men seized us; at the head of them was Ki.
+
+"'This is the witch,' he said, 'who, her wickedness finished, flies with
+her Hebrew lover, who is also the familiar of her sorceries.'
+
+"They tore the cloak and the false beard from him and there before me
+stood Laban. I cursed him to his face. But all he answered was:
+
+"'Merapi, what I have done I did for love of you. It was my purpose to
+take you away to our people, for here I knew that they would kill you.
+This magician promised you to me if I could tempt you from the safety of
+the palace, in return for certain tidings that I have given him.'
+
+"These were the only words that passed between us till the end. They
+dragged us to the secret prison of the great temple where we were
+separated. Here all day long Ki and the priests tormented me with
+questions, to which I gave no answer. Towards the evening they brought
+me out and led me here with Laban at my side. When the people saw me a
+great cry went up of 'Sorceress! Hebrew witch!' They broke through the
+guard; they seized me, threw me to the ground and beat me. Laban strove
+to protect me but was torn away. At length the people were driven off,
+and oh! my lord, you know the rest. I have spoken truth, I can no more."
+
+So saying her knees loosened beneath her and she swooned. We bore her to
+the chariot.
+
+"You have heard, Ki," said the Prince. "Now, what answer?"
+
+"None, O Pharaoh," he replied coldly, "for Pharaoh you are, as I
+promised that you should be. My spirit has deserted me, those Hebrews
+have stolen it away. That writing should have faded from the scroll
+as soon as it was read by yonder lady, and then I would have told you
+another story; a story of secret love, of betrayal and attempted flight
+with her lover. But some evil god kept it there until you also had read,
+you who knew that you had not written what appeared before your eyes.
+Pharaoh, I am conquered. Do your will with me, and farewell. Beloved you
+shall always be as you have always been, but happy never in this world."
+
+"O People," cried Seti, "I will not be judge in my own cause. You have
+heard, do you judge. For this wizard, what reward?"
+
+Then there went up a great cry of "Death! Death by fire. The death he
+had made ready for the innocent!"
+
+That was the end, but they told me afterwards that, when the great pyre
+had burned out, in it was found the head of Ki looking like a red-hot
+stone. When the sunlight fell on it, however, it crumbled and faded
+away, as the writing had faded from the roll. If this be true I do not
+know, who was not present at the time.
+
+
+We bore Merapi to the palace. She lived but three days, she whose body
+and spirit were broken. The last time I saw her was when she sent for me
+not an hour before death came. She was lying in Seti's arms babbling to
+him of their child and looking very sweet and happy. She thanked me for
+my friendship, smiling the while in a way which showed me that she knew
+it was more than friendship, and bade me tend my master well until we
+all met again elsewhere. Then she gave me her hand to kiss and I went
+away weeping.
+
+After she was dead a strange fancy took Seti. In the great hall of the
+palace he caused a golden throne to be put up, and on this throne he set
+her in regal garments, with pectoral and necklaces of gems, crowned like
+a queen of Egypt, and thus he showed her to the lords of Memphis. Then
+he caused her to be embalmed and buried in a secret sepulchre, the place
+of which I have sworn never to reveal, but without any rites because she
+was not of the faith of Egypt.
+
+There then she sleeps in her eternal house until the Day of
+Resurrection, and with her sleeps her little son.
+
+
+It was within a moon of this funeral that the great ones of Egypt
+came to Memphis to name the Prince as Pharaoh, and with them came her
+Highness, the Queen Userti. I was present at the ceremony, which to me
+was very strange. There was the Vizier Nehesi; there was the high-priest
+Roi and with him many other priests; and there was even the old
+chamberlain Pambasa, pompous yet grovelling as before, although he had
+deserted the household of the Prince after his disinheritance for that
+of the Pharaoh Amenmeses. His appearance with his wand of office and
+long white beard, of which he was so proud because it was his own, drew
+from Seti the only laugh I had heard him utter for many weeks.
+
+"So you are back again, Chamberlain Pambasa," he said.
+
+"O most Holy, O most Royal," answered the old knave, "has Pambasa, the
+grain of dust beneath your feet, ever deserted the House of Pharaoh, or
+that of him who will be Pharaoh?"
+
+"No," replied Seti, "it is only when you think that he will not be
+Pharaoh that you desert. Well, get you to your duties, rogue, who
+perhaps at bottom are as honest as the rest."
+
+Then followed the great and ancient ceremony of the Offering of the
+Crown, in which spoke priests disguised as gods and other priests
+disguised as mighty Pharaohs of the past; also the nobles of the Nomes
+and the chief men of cities. When all had finished Seti answered:
+
+"I take this, my heritage," and he touched the double crown, "not
+because I desire it but because it is my duty, as I swore that I would
+to one who has departed. Blow upon blow have smitten Egypt which, I
+think, had my voice been listened to, would never have fallen. Egypt
+lies bleeding and well-nigh dead. Let it be your work and mine to try to
+nurse her back to life. For no long while am I with you, who also have
+been smitten, how it matters not, yet while I am here, I who seem to
+reign will be your servant and that of Egypt. It is my decree that no
+feasts or ceremonials shall mark this my accession, and that the wealth
+which would have been scattered upon them shall be distributed among the
+widows and children of those who perished in the Sea of Reeds. Depart!"
+
+They went, humble yet happy, since here was a Pharaoh who knew the needs
+of Egypt, one too who loved her and who alone had shown himself wise of
+heart while others were filled with madness. Then her Highness entered,
+splendidly apparelled, crowned and followed by her household, and made
+obeisance.
+
+"Greeting to Pharaoh," she cried.
+
+"Greeting to the Royal Princess of Egypt," he answered.
+
+"Nay, Pharaoh, the Queen of Egypt."
+
+By Seti's side there was another throne, that in which he had set dead
+Merapi with a crown upon her head. He turned and looked at it a while.
+Then, he said:
+
+"I see that this seat is empty. Let the Queen of Egypt take her place
+there if so she wills."
+
+She stared at him as if she thought that he was mad, though doubtless
+she had heard something of that story, then swept up the steps and sat
+herself down in the royal chair.
+
+"Your Majesty has been long absent," said Seti.
+
+"Yes," she answered, "but as my Majesty promised she would do, she has
+returned to her lawful place at the side of Pharaoh--never to leave it
+more."
+
+"Pharaoh thanks her Majesty," said Seti, bowing low.
+
+
+Some six years had gone by, when one night I was seated with the Pharaoh
+Seti Meneptah in his palace at Memphis, for there he always chose to
+dwell when matters of State allowed.
+
+It was on the anniversary of the Death of the Firstborn, and of this
+matter it pleased him to talk to me. Up and down the chamber he walked
+and, watching him by the lamplight, I noted that of a sudden he seemed
+to have grown much older, and that his face had become sweeter even than
+it was before. He was more thin also, and his eyes had in them a look of
+one who stares at distances.
+
+"You remember that night, Friend, do you not," he said; "perhaps the
+most terrible night the world has ever seen, at least in the little
+piece of it called Egypt." He ceased, lifted a curtain, and pointed to
+a spot on the pillared portico without. "There she sat," he went on;
+"there you stood; there lay the boy and there crouched his nurse--by the
+way, I grieve to hear that she is ill. You are caring for her, are you
+not, Ana? Say to her that Pharaoh will come to visit her--when he may,
+when he may."
+
+"I remember it all, Pharaoh."
+
+"Yes, of course you would remember, because you loved her, did you not,
+and the boy too, and even me, the father. And so you will love us always
+when we reach a land where sex with its walls and fires are forgotten,
+and love alone survives--as we shall love you."
+
+"Yes," I answered, "since love is the key of life, and those alone are
+accursed who have never learned to love."
+
+"Why accursed, Ana, seeing that, if life continues, they still may
+learn?" He paused a while, then went on: "I am glad that he died, Ana,
+although had he lived, as the Queen will have no children, he might have
+become Pharaoh after me. But what is it to be Pharaoh? For six years
+now I have reigned, and I think that I am beloved; reigned over a broken
+land which I have striven to bind together, reigned over a sick land
+which I have striven to heal, reigned over a desolated land which I have
+striven to make forget. Oh! the curse of those Hebrews worked well. And
+I think that it was my fault, Ana, for had I been more of a man, instead
+of casting aside my burden, I should have stood up against my father
+Meneptah and his policy and, if need were, have raised the people. Then
+the Israelites would have gone, and no plagues would have smitten Egypt.
+Well, what I did, I did because I must, perhaps, and what has happened,
+has happened. And now my time comes to an end, and I go hence to balance
+my account as best I may, praying that I may find judges who understand,
+and are gentle."
+
+"Why does Pharaoh speak thus?" I asked.
+
+"I do not know, Ana, yet that Hebrew wife of mine has been much in my
+mind of late. She was wise in her way, as wise as loving, was she
+not, and if we could see her once again, perhaps she would answer the
+question. But although she seems so near to me, I never can see her,
+quite. Can you, Ana?"
+
+"No, Pharaoh, though one night old Bakenkhonsu vowed that he perceived
+her passing before us, and looking at me earnestly as she passed."
+
+"Ah! Bakenkhonsu. Well, he is wise too, and loved her in his fashion.
+Also the flesh fades from him, though mayhap he will live to make
+offerings at both our tombs. Well, Bakenkhonsu is at Tanis, or is it at
+Thebes, with her Majesty, whom he ever loves to observe, as I do. So he
+can tell us nothing of what he thought he saw. This chamber is hot, Ana,
+let us stand without."
+
+So we passed the curtain, and stood upon the portico, looking at the
+garden misty with moonlight, and talking of this and that--about the
+Israelites, I think, who, as we heard, were wandering in the deserts of
+Sinai. Then of a sudden we grew silent, both of us.
+
+A cloud floated over the face of the moon, leaving the world in
+darkness. It passed, and I became aware that we were no longer alone.
+There in front of us was a mat, and on the mat lay a dead child, the
+royal child named Seti; there by the mat stood a woman with agony in her
+eyes, looking at the dead child, the Hebrew woman named Moon of Israel.
+
+Seti touched me, and pointed to her, and I pointed to the child. We
+stood breathless. Then of a sudden, stooping down, Merapi lifted up
+the child and held it towards its father. But, lo! now no longer was it
+dead; nay, it laughed and laughed, and seeing him, seemed to throw its
+arms about his neck, and to kiss him on the lips. Moreover, the agony
+in the woman's eyes turned to joy unspeakable, and she became more
+beautiful than a star. Then, laughing like the child, Merapi turned to
+Seti, beckoned, and was gone.
+
+"We have seen the dead," he said to me presently, "and, oh! Ana, _the
+dead still live!_"
+
+
+That night, ere dawn, a cry rang through the palace, waking me from my
+sleep. This was the cry:
+
+"The good god Pharaoh is no more! The hawk Seti has flown to heaven!"
+
+
+At the burial of Pharaoh, I laid the halves of the broken cup upon his
+breast, that he might drink therefrom in the Day of Resurrection.
+
+
+Here ends the writing of the Scribe Ana, the Counsellor and Companion of
+the King, by him beloved.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Moon of Israel, by H. Rider Haggard
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+Project Gutenberg Etext of Moon of Israel, by H. Rider Haggard
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+Title:  Moon of Israel
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+Author:  H. Rider Haggard
+
+Release Date:  October, 2001  [Etext #2856]
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+Etext prepared by John Bickers, jbickers@ihug.co.nz
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+
+
+
+MOON OF ISRAEL
+A Tale of the Exodus
+
+by H. Rider Haggard
+
+
+
+
+AUTHOR'S NOTE
+
+This book suggests that the real Pharaoh of the Exodus was not
+Meneptah or Merenptah, son of Rameses the Great, but the mysterious
+usurper, Amenmeses, who for a year or two occupied the throne between
+the death of Meneptah and the accession of his son the heir-apparent,
+the gentle-natured Seti II.
+
+Of the fate of Amenmeses history says nothing; he may well have
+perished in the Red Sea or rather the Sea of Reeds, for, unlike those
+of Meneptah and the second Seti, his body has not been found.
+
+Students of Egyptology will be familiar with the writings of the
+scribe and novelist Anana, or Ana as he is here called.
+
+
+
+It was the Author's hope to dedicate this story to Sir Gaston Maspero,
+K.C.M.G., Director of the Cairo Museum, with whom on several occasions
+he discussed its plot some years ago. Unhappily, however, weighed down
+by one of the bereavements of the war, this great Egyptologist died in
+the interval between its writing and its publication. Still, since
+Lady Maspero informs him that such is the wish of his family, he adds
+the dedication which he had proposed to offer to that eminent writer
+and student of the past.
+
+
+
+  Dear Sir Gaston Maspero,
+
+  When you assured me as to a romance of mine concerning ancient
+  Egypt, that it was so full of the "inner spirit of the old
+  Egyptians" that, after kindred efforts of your own and a lifetime
+  of study, you could not conceive how it had been possible for it
+  to spring from the brain of a modern man, I thought your verdict,
+  coming from such a judge, one of the greatest compliments that
+  ever I received. It is this opinion of yours indeed which induces
+  me to offer you another tale of a like complexion. Especially am
+  I encouraged thereto by a certain conversation between us in
+  Cairo, while we gazed at the majestic countenance of the Pharaoh
+  Meneptah, for then it was, as you may recall, that you said you
+  thought the plan of this book probable and that it commended
+  itself to your knowledge of those dim days.
+
+  With gratitude for your help and kindness and the sincerest homage
+  to your accumulated lore concerning the most mysterious of all the
+  perished peoples of the earth,
+Believe me to remain
+Your true admirer,
+H. Rider Haggard.
+
+
+
+
+MOON OF ISRAEL
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+SCRIBE ANA COMES TO TANIS
+
+This is the story of me, Ana the scribe, son of Meri, and of certain
+of the days that I have spent upon the earth. These things I have
+written down now that I am very old in the reign of Rameses, the third
+of that name, when Egypt is once more strong and as she was in the
+ancient time. I have written them before death takes me, that they may
+be buried with me in death, for as my spirit shall arise in the hour
+of resurrection, so also these my words may arise in their hour and
+tell to those who shall come after me upon the earth of what I knew
+upon the earth. Let it be as Those in heaven shall decree. At least I
+write and what I write is true.
+
+I tell of his divine Majesty whom I loved and love as my own soul,
+Seti Meneptah the second, whose day of birth was my day of birth, the
+Hawk who has flown to heaven before me; of Userti the Proud, his
+queen, she who afterwards married his divine Majesty, Saptah, whom I
+saw laid in her tomb at Thebes. I tell of Merapi, who was named Moon
+of Israel, and of her people, the Hebrews, who dwelt for long in Egypt
+and departed thence, having paid us back in loss and shame for all the
+good and ill we gave them. I tell of the war between the gods of Egypt
+and the god of Israel, and of much that befell therein.
+
+Also I, the King's Companion, the great scribe, the beloved of the
+Pharaohs who have lived beneath the sun with me, tell of other men and
+matters. Behold! is it not written in this roll? Read, ye who shall
+find in the days unborn, if your gods have given you skill. Read, O
+children of the future, and learn the secrets of that past which to
+you is so far away and yet in truth so near.
+
+
+
+As it chanced, although the Prince Seti and I were born upon the same
+day and therefore, like the other mothers of gentle rank whose
+children saw the light upon that day, my mother received Pharaoh's
+gift and I received the title of Royal Twin in Ra, never did I set
+eyes upon the divine Prince Seti until the thirtieth birthday of both
+of us. All of which happened thus.
+
+In those days the great Pharaoh, Rameses the second, and after him his
+son Meneptah who succeeded when he was already old, since the mighty
+Rameses was taken to Osiris after he had counted one hundred risings
+of the Nile, dwelt for the most part at the city of Tanis in the
+desert, whereas I dwelt with my parents at the ancient, white-walled
+city of Memphis on the Nile. At times Meneptah and his court visited
+Memphis, as also they visited Thebes, where this king lies in his
+royal tomb to-day. But save on one occasion, the young Prince Seti,
+the heir-apparent, the Hope of Egypt, came not with them, because his
+mother, Asnefert, did not favour Memphis, where some trouble had
+befallen her in youth--they say it was a love matter that cost the
+lover his life and her a sore heart--and Seti stayed with his mother
+who would not suffer him out of sight of her eyes.
+
+Once he came indeed when he was fifteen years of age, to be proclaimed
+to the people as son of his father, as Son of the Sun, as the future
+wearer of the Double Crown, and then we, his twins in Ra--there were
+nineteen of us who were gently born--were called by name to meet him
+and to kiss his royal feet. I made ready to go in a fine new robe
+embroidered in purple with the name of Seti and my own. But on that
+very morning by the gift of some evil god I was smitten with spots all
+over my face and body, a common sickness that affects the young. So it
+happened that I did not see the Prince, for before I was well again he
+had left Memphis.
+
+Now my father Meri was a scribe of the great temple of Ptah, and I was
+brought up to his trade in the school of the temple, where I copied
+many rolls and also wrote out Books of the Dead which I adorned with
+paintings. Indeed, in this business I became so clever that, after my
+father went blind some years before his death, I earned enough to keep
+him, and my sisters also until they married. Mother I had none, for
+she was gathered to Osiris while I was still very little. So life went
+on from year to year, but in my heart I hated my lot. While I was
+still a boy there rose up in me a desire--not to copy what others had
+written, but to write what others should copy. I became a dreamer of
+dreams. Walking at night beneath the palm-trees upon the banks of the
+Nile I watched the moon shining upon the waters, and in its rays I
+seemed to see many beautiful things. Pictures appeared there which
+were different from any that I saw in the world of men, although in
+them were men and women and even gods.
+
+Of these pictures I made stories in my heart and at last, although
+that was not for some years, I began to write these stories down in my
+spare hours. My sisters found me doing so and told my father, who
+scolded me for such foolishness which he said would never furnish me
+with bread and beer. But still I wrote on in secret by the light of
+the lamp in my chamber at night. Then my sisters married, and one day
+my father died suddenly while he was reciting prayers in the temple. I
+caused him to be embalmed in the best fashion and buried with honour
+in the tomb he had made ready for himself, although to pay the costs I
+was obliged to copy Books of the Dead for nearly two years, working so
+hard that I found no time for the writing of stories.
+
+When at length I was free from debt I met a maiden from Thebes with a
+beautiful face that always seemed to smile, and she took my heart from
+my breast into her own. In the end, after I returned from fighting in
+the war against the Nine Bow Barbarians, to which I was summoned like
+other men, I married her. As for her name, let it be, I will not think
+of it even to myself. We had one child, a little girl which died
+within two years of her birth, and then I learned what sorrow can mean
+to man. At first my wife was sad, but her grief departed with time and
+she smiled again as she used to do. Only she said that she would bear
+no more children for the gods to take. Having little to do she began
+to go about the city and make friends whom I did not know, for of
+these, being a beautiful woman, she found many. The end of it was that
+she departed back to Thebes with a soldier whom I had never seen, for
+I was always working at home thinking of the babe who was dead and how
+happiness is a bird that no man can snare, though sometimes, of its
+own will, it flies in at his window-place.
+
+It was after this that my hair went white before I had counted thirty
+years.
+
+Now, as I had none to work for and my wants were few and simple, I
+found more time for the writing of stories which, for the most part,
+were somewhat sad. One of these stories a fellow scribe borrowed from
+me and read aloud to a company, whom it pleased so much that there
+were many who asked leave to copy it and publish it abroad. So by
+degrees I became known as a teller of tales, which tales I caused to
+be copied and sold, though out of them I made but little. Still my
+fame grew till on a day I received a message from the Prince Seti, my
+twin in Ra, saying that he had read certain of my writings which
+pleased him much and that it was his wish to look upon my face. I
+thanked him humbly by the messenger and answered that I would travel
+to Tanis and wait upon his Highness. First, however, I finished the
+longest story which I had yet written. It was called the Tale of Two
+Brothers, and told how the faithless wife of one of them brought
+trouble on the other, so that he was killed. Of how, also, the just
+gods brought him to life again, and many other matters. This story I
+dedicated to his Highness, the Prince Seti, and with it in the bosom
+of my robe I travelled to Tanis, having hidden about me a sum of gold
+that I had saved.
+
+So I came to Tanis at the beginning of winter and, walking to the
+palace of the Prince, boldly demanded an audience. But now my troubles
+began, for the guards and watchmen thrust me from the doors. In the
+end I bribed them and was admitted to the antechambers, where were
+merchants, jugglers, dancing-women, officers, and many others, all of
+them, it seemed, waiting to see the Prince; folk who, having nothing
+to do, pleased themselves by making mock of me, a stranger. When I had
+mixed with them for several days, I gained their friendship by telling
+to them one of my stories, after which I was always welcome among
+them. Still I could come no nearer to the Prince, and as my store of
+money was beginning to run low, I bethought me that I would return to
+Memphis.
+
+One day, however, a long-bearded old man, with a gold-tipped wand of
+office, who had a bull's head embroidered on his robe, stopped in
+front of me and, calling me a white-headed crow, asked me what I was
+doing hopping day by day about the chambers of the palace. I told him
+my name and business and he told me his, which it seemed was Pambasa,
+one of the Prince's chamberlains. When I asked him to take me to the
+Prince, he laughed in my face and said darkly that the road to his
+Highness's presence was paved with gold. I understood what he meant
+and gave him a gift which he took as readily as a cock picks corn,
+saying that he would speak of me to his master and that I must come
+back again.
+
+I came thrice and each time that old cock picked more corn. At last I
+grew enraged and, forgetting where I was, began to shout at him and
+call him a thief, so that folks gathered round to listen. This seemed
+to frighten him. At first he looked towards the door as though to
+summon the guard to thrust me out; then changed his mind, and in a
+grumbling voice bade me follow him. We went down long passages, past
+soldiers who stood at watch in them still as mummies in their coffins,
+till at length we came to some broidered curtains. Here Pambasa
+whispered to me to wait, and passed through the curtains which he left
+not quite closed, so that I could see the room beyond and hear all
+that took place there.
+
+It was a small room like to that of any scribe, for on the tables were
+palettes, pens of reed, ink in alabaster vases, and sheets of papyrus
+pinned upon boards. The walls were painted, not as I was wont to paint
+the Books of the Dead, but after the fashion of an earlier time, such
+as I have seen in certain ancient tombs, with pictures of wild fowl
+rising from the swamps and of trees and plants as they grow. Against
+the walls hung racks in which were papyrus rolls, and on the hearth
+burned a fire of cedar-wood.
+
+By this fire stood the Prince, whom I knew from his statues. His years
+appeared fewer than mine although we were born upon the same day, and
+he was tall and thin, very fair also for one of our people, perhaps
+because of the Syrian blood that ran in his veins. His hair was
+straight and brown like to that of northern folk who come to trade in
+the markets of Egypt, and his eyes were grey rather than black, set
+beneath somewhat prominent brows such as those of his father,
+Meneptah. His face was sweet as a woman's, but made curious by certain
+wrinkles which ran from the corners of the eyes towards the ears. I
+think that these came from the bending of the brow in thought, but
+others say that they were inherited from an ancestress on the female
+side. Bakenkhonsu my friend, the old prophet who served under the
+first Seti and died but the other day, having lived a hundred and
+twenty years, told me that he knew her before she was married, and
+that she and her descendant, Seti, might have been twins.
+
+In his hand the Prince held an open roll, a very ancient writing as I,
+who am skilled in such matters that have to do with my trade, knew
+from its appearance. Lifting his eyes suddenly from the study of this
+roll, he saw the chamberlain standing before him.
+
+"You came at a good time, Pambasa," he said in a voice that was very
+soft and pleasant, and yet most manlike. "You are old and doubtless
+wise. Say, are you wise, Pambasa?"
+
+"Yes, your Highness. I am wise like your Highness's uncle, Khaemuas
+the mighty magician, whose sandals I used to clean when I was young."
+
+"Is it so? Then why are you so careful to hide your wisdom which
+should be open like a flower for us poor bees to suck at? Well, I am
+glad to learn that you are wise, for in this book of magic that I have
+been reading I find problems worthy of Khaemuas the departed, whom I
+only remember as a brooding, black-browed man much like my cousin,
+Amenmeses his son--save that no one can call Amenmeses wise."
+
+"Why is your Highness glad?"
+
+"Because you, being by your own account his equal, can now interpret
+the matter as Khaemuas would have done. You know, Pambasa, that had he
+lived he would have been Pharaoh in place of my father. He died too
+soon, however, which proves to me that there was something in this
+tale of his wisdom, since no really wise man would ever wish to be
+Pharaoh of Egypt."
+
+Pambasa stared with his mouth open.
+
+"Not wish to be Pharaoh!" he began--
+
+"Now, Pambasa the Wise," went on the Prince as though he had not heard
+him. "Listen. This old book gives a charm 'to empty the heart of its
+weariness,' that it says is the oldest and most common sickness in the
+world from which only kittens, some children, and mad people are free.
+It appears that the cure for this sickness, so says the book, is to
+stand on the top of the pyramid of Khufu at midnight at that moment
+when the moon is largest in the whole year, and drink from the cup of
+dreams, reciting meanwhile a spell written here at length in language
+which I cannot read."
+
+"There is no virtue in spells, Prince, if anyone can read them."
+
+"And no use, it would seem, if they can be read by none."
+
+"Moreover, how can any one climb the pyramid of Khufu, which is
+covered with polished marble, even in the day let alone at midnight,
+your Highness, and there drink of the cup of dreams?"
+
+"I do not know, Pambasa. All I know is that I weary of this
+foolishness, and of the world. Tell me of something that will lighten
+my heart, for it is heavy."
+
+"There are jugglers without, Prince, one of whom says he can throw a
+rope into the air and climb up it until he vanishes into heaven."
+
+"When he has done it in your sight, Pambasa, bring him to me, but not
+before. Death is the only rope by which we climb to heaven--or be
+lowered into hell. For remember there is a god called Set, after whom,
+like my great-grandfather, I am named by the way--the priests alone
+know why--as well as one called Osiris."
+
+"Then there are the dancers, Prince, and among them some very finely
+made girls, for I saw them bathing in the palace lake, such as would
+have delighted the heart of your grandfather, the great Rameses."
+
+"They do not delight my heart who want no naked women prancing here.
+Try again, Pambasa."
+
+"I can think of nothing else, Prince. Yet, stay. There is a scribe
+without named Ana, a thin, sharp-nosed man who says he is your
+Highness's twin in Ra."
+
+"Ana!" said the Prince. "He of Memphis who writes stories? Why did you
+not say so before, you old fool? Let him enter at once, at once."
+
+Now hearing this I, Ana, walked through the curtains and prostrated
+myself, saying,
+
+"I am that scribe, O Royal Son of the Sun."
+
+"How dare you enter the Prince's presence without being bidden----"
+began Pambasa, but Seti broke in with a stern voice, saying,
+
+"And how dare you, Pambasa, keep this learned man waiting at my door
+like a dog? Rise, Ana, and cease from giving me titles, for we are not
+at Court. Tell me, how long have you been in Tanis?"
+
+"Many days, O Prince," I answered, "seeking your presence and in
+vain."
+
+"And how did you win it at last?"
+
+"By payment, O Prince," I answered innocently, "as it seems is usual.
+The doorkeepers----"
+
+"I understand," said Seti, "the doorkeepers! Pambasa, you will
+ascertain what amount this learned scribe has disbursed to 'the
+doorkeepers' and refund him double. Begone now and see to the matter."
+
+So Pambasa went, casting a piteous look at me out of the corner of his
+eye.
+
+"Tell me," said Seti when he was gone, "you who must be wise in your
+fashion, why does a Court always breed thieves?"
+
+"I suppose for the same reason, O Prince, that a dog's back breeds
+fleas. Fleas must live, and there is the dog."
+
+"True," he answered, "and these palace fleas are not paid enough. If
+ever I have power I will see to it. They shall be fewer but better
+fed. Now, Ana, be seated. I know you though you do not know me, and
+already I have learned to love you through your writings. Tell me of
+yourself."
+
+So I told him all my simple tale, to which he listened without a word,
+and then asked me why I had come to see him. I replied that it was
+because he had sent for me, which he had forgotten; also because I
+brought him a story that I had dared to dedicate to him. Then I laid
+the roll before him on the table.
+
+"I am honoured," he said in a pleased voice, "I am greatly honoured.
+If I like it well, your story shall go to the tomb with me for my Ka
+to read and re-read until the day of resurrection, though first I will
+study it in the flesh. Do you know this city of Tanis, Ana?"
+
+I answered that I knew little of it, who had spent my time here
+haunting the doors of his Highness.
+
+"Then with your leave I will be your guide through it this night, and
+afterwards we will sup and talk."
+
+I bowed and he clapped his hands, whereon a servant appeared, not
+Pambasa, but another.
+
+"Bring two cloaks," said the Prince, "I go abroad with the scribe,
+Ana. Let a guard of four Nubians, no more, follow us, but at a
+distance and disguised. Let them wait at the private entrance."
+
+The man bowed and departed swiftly.
+
+Almost immediately a black slave appeared with two long hooded cloaks,
+such as camel-drivers wear, which he helped us to put on. Then, taking
+a lamp, he led us from the room through a doorway opposite to that by
+which I had entered, down passages and a narrow stair that ended in a
+courtyard. Crossing this we came to a wall, great and thick, in which
+were double doors sheathed with copper that opened mysteriously at our
+approach. Outside of these doors stood four tall men, also wrapped in
+cloaks, who seemed to take no note of us. Still, looking back when we
+had gone a little way, I observed that they were following us, as
+though by chance.
+
+How fine a thing, thought I to myself, it is to be a Prince who by
+lifting a finger can thus command service at any moment of the day or
+night.
+
+Just at that moment Seti said to me:
+
+"See, Ana, how sad a thing it is to be a Prince, who cannot even stir
+abroad without notice to his household and commanding the service of a
+secret guard to spy upon his every action, and doubtless to make
+report thereof to the police of Pharaoh."
+
+There are two faces to everything, thought I to myself again.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE BREAKING OF THE CUP
+
+We walked down a broad street bordered by trees, beyond which were
+lime-washed, flat-roofed houses built of sun-dried brick, standing,
+each of them, in its own garden, till at length we came to the great
+market-place just as the full moon rose above the palm-trees, making
+the world almost as light as day. Tanis, or Rameses as it is also
+called, was a very fine city then, if only half the size of Memphis,
+though now that the Court has left it I hear it is much deserted.
+About this market-place stood great temples of the gods, with pylons
+and avenues of sphinxes, also that wonder of the world, the colossal
+statue of the second Rameses, while to the north upon a mound was the
+glorious palace of Pharaoh. Other palaces there were also, inhabited
+by the nobles and officers of the Court, and between them ran long
+streets where dwelt the citizens, ending, some of them, on that branch
+of the Nile by which the ancient city stood.
+
+Seti halted to gaze at these wondrous buildings.
+
+"They are very old," he said, "but most of them, like the walls and
+those temples of Amon and Ptah, have been rebuilt in the time of my
+grandfather or since his day by the labour of Israelitish slaves who
+dwell yonder in the rich land of Goshen."
+
+"They must have cost much gold," I answered.
+
+"The Kings of Egypt do not pay their slaves," remarked the Prince
+shortly.
+
+Then we went on and mingled with the thousands of the people who were
+wandering to and fro seeking rest after the business of the day. Here
+on the frontier of Egypt were gathered folk of every race; Bedouins
+from the desert, Syrians from beyond the Red Sea, merchants from the
+rich Isle of Chittim, travellers from the coast, and traders from the
+land of Punt and from the unknown countries of the north. All were
+talking, laughing and making merry, save some who gathered in circles
+to listen to a teller of tales or wandering musicians, or to watch
+women who danced half naked for gifts.
+
+Now and again the crowd would part to let pass the chariot of some
+noble or lady before which went running footmen who shouted, "Make
+way, Make way!" and laid about them with their long wands. Then came a
+procession of white-robed priests of Isis travelling by moonlight as
+was fitting for the servants of the Lady of the Moon, and bearing
+aloft the holy image of the goddess before which all men bowed and for
+a little while were silent. After this followed the corpse of some
+great one newly dead, preceded by a troop of hired mourners who rent
+the air with their lamentations as they conducted it to the quarter of
+the embalmers. Lastly, from out of one of the side streets emerged a
+gang of several hundred hook-nosed and bearded men, among whom were a
+few women, loosely roped together and escorted by a company of armed
+guards.
+
+"Who are these?" I asked, for I had never seen their like.
+
+"Slaves of the people of Israel who return from their labour at the
+digging of the new canal which is to run to the Red Sea," answered the
+Prince.
+
+We stood still to watch them go by, and I noted how proudly their eyes
+flashed and how fierce was their bearing although they were but men in
+bonds, very weary too and stained by toil in mud and water. Presently
+this happened. A white-bearded man lagged behind, dragging on the line
+and checking the march. Thereupon an overseer ran up and flogged him
+with a cruel whip cut from the hide of the sea-horse. The man turned
+and, lifting a wooden spade that he carried, struck the overseer such
+a blow that he cracked his skull so that he fell down dead. Other
+overseers rushed at the Hebrew, as these Israelites were called, and
+beat him till he also fell. Then a soldier appeared and, seeing what
+had happened, drew his bronze sword. From among the throng sprang out
+a girl, young and very lovely although she was but roughly clad.
+
+Since then I have seen Merapi, Moon of Israel, as she was called, clad
+in the proud raiment of a queen, and once even of a goddess, but
+never, I think, did she look more beauteous than in this hour of her
+slavery. Her large eyes, neither blue nor black, caught the light of
+the moon and were aswim with tears. Her plenteous bronze-hued hair
+flowed in great curls over the snow-white bosom that her rough robe
+revealed. Her delicate hands were lifted as though to ward off the
+blows which fell upon him whom she sought to protect. Her tall and
+slender shape stood out against a flare of light which burned upon
+some market stall. She was beauteous exceedingly, so beauteous that my
+heart stood still at the sight of her, yes, mine that for some years
+had held no thought of woman save such as were black and evil.
+
+She cried aloud. Standing over the fallen man she appealed to the
+soldier for mercy. Then, seeing that there was none to hope for from
+him, she cast her great eyes around until they fell upon the Prince
+Seti.
+
+"Oh! Sir," she wailed, "you have a noble air. Will you stand by and
+see my father murdered for no fault?"
+
+"Drag her off, or I smite through her," shouted the captain, for now
+she had thrown herself down upon the fallen Israelite. The overseers
+obeyed, tearing her away.
+
+"Hold, butcher!" cried the Prince.
+
+"Who are you, dog, that dare to teach Pharaoh's officer his duty?"
+answered the captain, smiting the Prince in the face with his left
+hand.
+
+Then swiftly he struck downwards and I saw the bronze sword pass
+through the body of the Israelite who quivered and lay still. It was
+all done in an instant, and on the silence that followed rang out the
+sound of a woman's wail. For a moment Seti choked--with rage, I think.
+Then he spoke a single word--"Guards!"
+
+The four Nubians, who, as ordered, had kept at a distance, burst
+through the gathered throng. Ere they reached us I, who till now had
+stood amazed, sprang at the captain and gripped him by the throat. He
+struck at me with his bloody sword, but the blow, falling on my long
+cloak, only bruised me on the left thigh. Then I, who was strong in
+those days, grappled with him and we rolled together on the ground.
+
+After this there was great tumult. The Hebrew slaves burst their rope
+and flung themselves upon the soldiers like dogs upon a jackal,
+battering them with their bare fists. The soldiers defended themselves
+with swords; the overseers plied their hide whips; women screamed, men
+shouted. The captain whom I had seized began to get the better of me;
+at least I saw his sword flash above me and thought that all was over.
+Doubtless it would have been, had not Seti himself dragged the man
+backwards and thus given the four Nubian guards time to seize him.
+Next I heard the Prince cry out in a ringing voice:
+
+"Hold! It is Seti, the son of Pharaoh, the Governor of Tanis, with
+whom you have to do. See," and he threw back the hood of his cloak so
+that the moon shone upon his face.
+
+Instantly there was a great quiet. Now, first one and then another as
+the truth sunk into them, men began to fall upon their knees, and I
+heard one say in an awed voice:
+
+"The royal Son, the Prince of Egypt struck in the face by a soldier!
+Blood must pay for it."
+
+"How is that officer named?" asked Seti, pointing to the man who had
+killed the Israelite and well-nigh killed me.
+
+Someone answered that he was named Khuaka.
+
+"Bring him to the steps of the temple of Amon," said Seti to the
+Nubians who held him fast. "Follow me, friend Ana, if you have the
+strength. Nay, lean upon my shoulder."
+
+So resting upon the shoulder of the Prince, for I was bruised and
+breathless, I walked with him a hundred paces or more to the steps of
+the great temple where we climbed to the platform at the head of the
+stairs. After us came the prisoner, and after him all the multitude, a
+very great number who stood upon the steps and on the flat ground
+beyond. The Prince, who was very white and quiet, sat himself down
+upon the low granite base of a tall obelisk which stood in front of
+the temple pylon, and said:
+
+"As Governor of Tanis, the City of Rameses, with power of life and
+death at all hours and in all places, I declare my Court open."
+
+"The Royal Court is open!" cried the multitude in the accustomed form.
+
+"This is the case," said the Prince. "Yonder man who is named Khuaka,
+by his dress a captain of Pharaoh's army, is charged with the murder
+of a certain Hebrew, and with the attempted murder of Ana the scribe.
+Let witnesses be called. Bring the body of the dead man and lay it
+here before me. Bring the woman who strove to protect him, that she
+may speak."
+
+The body was brought and laid upon the platform, its wide eyes staring
+up at the moon. Then soldiers who had gathered thrust forward the
+weeping girl.
+
+"Cease from tears," said Seti, "and swear by Kephera the creator, and
+by Maat the goddess of truth and law, to speak nothing but the truth."
+
+The girl looked up and said in a rich low voice that in some way
+reminded me of honey being poured from a jar, perhaps because it was
+thick with strangled sobs:
+
+"O Royal Son of Egypt, I cannot swear by those gods who am a daughter
+of Israel."
+
+The Prince looked at her attentively and asked:
+
+"By what god then can you swear, O Daughter of Israel?"
+
+"By Jahveh, O Prince, whom we hold to be the one and only God, the
+Maker of the world and all that is therein."
+
+"Then perhaps his other name is Kephera," said the Prince with a
+little smile. "But have it as you will. Swear, then, by your god
+Jahveh."
+
+Then she lifted both her hands above her head and said:
+
+"I, Merapi, daughter of Nathan of the tribe of Levi of the people of
+Israel, swear that I will speak the truth and all the truth in the
+name of Jahveh, the God of Israel."
+
+"Tell us what you know of the matter of the death of this man, O
+Merapi."
+
+"Nothing that you do not know yourself, O Prince. He who lies there,"
+and she swept her hand towards the corpse, turning her eyes away, "was
+my father, an elder of Israel. The captain Khuaka came when the corn
+was young to the Land of Goshen to choose those who should work for
+Pharaoh. He wished to take me into his house. My father refused
+because from my childhood I had been affianced to a man of Israel;
+also because it is not lawful under the law for our people to
+intermarry with your people. Then the captain Khuaka seized my father,
+although he was of high rank and beyond the age to work for Pharaoh,
+and he was taken away, as I think, because he would not suffer me to
+wed Khuaka. A while later I dreamed that my father was sick. Thrice I
+dreamed it and ran away to Tanis to visit him. But this morning I
+found him and, O Prince, you know the rest."
+
+"Is there no more?" asked Seti.
+
+The girl hesitated, then answered:
+
+"Only this, O Prince. This man saw me with my father giving him food,
+for he was weak and overcome with the toil of digging the mud in the
+heat of the sun, he who being a noble of our people knew nothing of
+such labour from his youth. In my presence Khuaka asked my father if
+now he would give me to him. My father answered that sooner would he
+see me kissed by snakes and devoured by crocodiles. 'I hear you,'
+answered Khuaka. 'Learn, now, slave Nathan, before to-morrow's sun
+arises, you shall be kissed by swords and devoured by crocodiles or
+jackals.' 'So be it,' said my father, 'but learn, O Khuaka, that if
+so, it is revealed to me who am a priest and a prophet of Jahveh, that
+before to-morrow's sun you also shall be kissed by swords and of the
+rest we will talk at the foot of Jahveh's throne.'
+
+"Afterwards, as you know, Prince, the overseer flogged my father as I
+heard Khuaka order him to do if he lagged through weariness, and then
+Khuaka killed him because my father in his madness struck the overseer
+with a mattock. I have no more to say, save that I pray that I may be
+sent back to my own people there to mourn my father according to our
+custom."
+
+"To whom would you be sent? Your mother?"
+
+"Nay, O Prince, my mother, a lady of Syria, is dead. I will go to my
+uncle, Jabez the Levite."
+
+"Stand aside," said Seti. "The matter shall be seen to later. Appear,
+O Ana the Scribe. Swear the oath and tell us what you have seen of
+this man's death, since two witnesses are needful."
+
+So I swore and repeated all this story that I have written down.
+
+"Now, Khuaka," said the Prince when I had finished, "have you aught to
+say?"
+
+"Only this, O Royal One," answered the captain throwing himself upon
+his knees, "that I struck you by accident, not knowing that the person
+of your Highness was hidden in that long cloak. For this deed it is
+true that I am worthy of death, but I pray you to pardon me because I
+knew not what I did. The rest is nothing, since I only slew a mutinous
+slave of the Israelites, as such are slain every day."
+
+"Tell me, O Khuaka, who are being tried for this man's death and not
+for the striking of one of royal blood by chance, under which law it
+is lawful for you to kill an Israelite without trial before the
+appointed officers of Pharaoh."
+
+"I am not learned. I do not know the law, O Prince. All that this
+woman said is false."
+
+"At least it is not false that yonder man lies dead and that you slew
+him, as you yourself admit. Learn now, and let all Egypt learn, that
+even an Israelite may not be murdered for no offence save that of
+weariness and of paying back unearned blow with blow. Your blood shall
+answer for his blood. Soldiers! Strike off his head."
+
+The Nubians leapt upon him, and when I looked again Khuaka's headless
+corpse lay by the corpse of the Hebrew Nathan and their blood was
+mingled upon the steps of the temple.
+
+"The business of the Court is finished," said the Prince. "Officers,
+see that this woman is escorted to her own people, and with her the
+body of her father for burial. See, too, upon your lives that no
+insult or harm is done to her. Scribe Ana, accompany me hence to my
+house where I would speak with you. Let guards precede and follow me."
+
+He rose and all the people bowed. As he turned to go the lady Merapi
+stepped forward, and falling upon her knees, said:
+
+"O most just Prince, now and ever I am your servant."
+
+Then we set out, and as we left the market-place on our way to the
+palace of the Prince, I heard a tumult of voices behind us, some in
+praise and some in blame of what had been done. We walked on in
+silence broken only by the measured tramp of the guards. Presently the
+moon passed behind a cloud and the world was dark. Then from the edge
+of the cloud sprang out a ray of light that lay straight and narrow
+above us on the heavens. Seti studied it a while and said:
+
+"Tell me, O Ana, of what does that moonbeam put you in mind?"
+
+"Of a sword, O Prince," I answered, "stretched out over Egypt and held
+in the black hand of some mighty god or spirit. See, there is the
+blade from which fall little clouds like drops of blood, there is the
+hilt of gold, and look! there beneath is the face of the god. Fire
+streams from his eyebrows and his brow is black and awful. I am
+afraid, though what I fear I know not."
+
+"You have a poet's mind, Ana. Still, what you see I see and of this I
+am sure, that some sword of vengeance is indeed stretched out over
+Egypt because of its evil doings, whereof this light may be the
+symbol. Behold! it seems to fall upon the temples of the gods and the
+palace of Pharaoh, and to cleave them. Now it is gone and the night is
+as nights were from the beginning of the world. Come to my chamber and
+let us eat. I am weary, I need food and wine, as you must after
+struggling with that lustful murderer whom I have sent to his own
+place."
+
+The guards saluted and were dismissed. We mounted to the Prince's
+private chambers, in one of which his servants clad me in fine linen
+robes after a skilled physician of the household had doctored the
+bruises upon my thigh over which he tied a bandage spread with balm.
+Then I was led to a small dining-hall, where I found the Prince
+waiting for me as though I were some honoured guest and not a poor
+scribe who had wondered hence from Memphis with my wares. He caused me
+to sit down at his right hand and even drew up the chair for me
+himself, whereat I felt abashed. To this day I remember that leather-
+seated chair. The arms of it ended in ivory sphinxes and on its back
+of black wood in an oval was inlaid the name of the great Rameses, to
+whom indeed it had once belonged. Dishes were handed to us--only two
+of them and those quite simple, for Seti was no great eater--by a
+young Nubian slave of a very merry face, and with them wine more
+delicious than any I had ever tasted.
+
+We ate and drank and the Prince talked to me of my business as a
+scribe and of the making of tales, which seemed to interest him very
+much. Indeed one might have thought that he was a pupil in the schools
+and I the teacher, so humbly and with such care did he weigh
+everything that I said about my art. Of matters of state or of the
+dreadful scene of blood through which we had just passed he spoke no
+word. At the end, however, after a little pause during which he held
+up a cup of alabaster as thin as an eggshell, studying the light
+playing through it on the rich red wine within, he said to me:
+
+"Friend Ana, we have passed a stirring hour together, the first
+perhaps of many, or mayhap the last. Also we were born upon the same
+day and therefore, unless the astrologers lie, as do other men--and
+women--beneath the same star. Lastly, if I may say it, I like you
+well, though I know not how you like me, and when you are in the room
+with me I feel at ease, which is strange, for I know of no other with
+whom it is so.
+
+"Now by a chance only this morning I found in some old records which I
+was studying, that the heir to the throne of Egypt a thousand years
+ago, had, and therefore, as nothing ever changes in Egypt, still has,
+a right to a private librarian for which the State, that is, the
+toilers of the land, must pay as in the end they pay for all. Some
+dynasties have gone by, it seems, since there was such a librarian, I
+think because most of the heirs to the throne could not, or did not,
+read. Also by chance I mentioned the matter to the Vizier Nehesi who
+grudges me every ounce of gold I spend, as though it were one taken
+out of his own pouch, which perhaps it is. He answered with that
+crooked smile of his:
+
+"'Since I know well, Prince, that there is no scribe in Egypt whom you
+would suffer about you for a single month, I will set the cost of a
+librarian at the figure at which it stood in the Eleventh Dynasty upon
+the roll of your Highness's household and defray it from the Royal
+Treasury until he is discharged.'
+
+"Therefore, Scribe Ana, I offer you this post for one month; that is
+all for which I can promise you will be paid whatever it may be, for I
+forget the sum."
+
+"I thank you, O Prince," I exclaimed.
+
+"Do not thank me. Indeed if you are wise you will refuse. You have met
+Pambasa. Well, Nehesi is Pambasa multiplied by ten, a rogue, a thief,
+a bully, and one who has Pharaoh's ear. He will make your life a
+torment to you and clip every ring of gold that at length you wring
+out of his grip. Moreover the place is wearisome, and I am fanciful
+and often ill-humoured. Do not thank me, I say. Refuse; return to
+Memphis and write stories. Shun courts and their plottings. Pharaoh
+himself is but a face and a puppet through which other voices talk and
+other eyes shine, and the sceptre which he wields is pulled by
+strings. And if this is so with Pharaoh, what is the case with his
+son? Then there are the women, Ana. They will make love to you, Ana,
+they even do so to me, and I think you told me that you know something
+of women. Do not accept, go back to Memphis. I will send you some old
+manuscripts to copy and pay you whatever it is Nehesi allows for the
+librarian."
+
+"Yet I accept, O Prince. As for Nehesi I fear him not at all, since at
+the worst I can write a story about him at which the world will laugh,
+and rather than that he will pay me my salary."
+
+"You have more wisdom than I thought, Ana. It never came into my mind
+to put Nehesi in a story, though it is true I tell tales about him
+which is much the same thing."
+
+He bend forward, leaning his head upon his hand, and ceasing from his
+bantering tone, looked me in the eyes and asked:
+
+"Why do you accept? Let me think now. It is not because you care for
+wealth if that is to be won here; nor for the pomp and show of courts;
+nor for the company of the great who really are so small. For all
+these things you, Ana, have no craving if I read your heart aright,
+you who are an artist, nothing less and nothing more. Tell me, then,
+why will you, a free man who can earn your living, linger round a
+throne and set your neck beneath the heel of princes to be crushed
+into the common mould of servitors and King's Companions and Bearers
+of the Footstool?"
+
+"I will tell you, Prince. First, because thrones make history, as
+history makes thrones, and I think that great events are on foot in
+Egypt in which I would have my share. Secondly, because the gods bring
+gifts to men only once or twice in their lives and to refuse them is
+to offend the gods who gave them those lives to use to ends of which
+we know nothing. And thirdly"--here I hesitated.
+
+"And thirdly--out with the thirdly for, doubtless, it is the real
+reason."
+
+"And thirdly, O Prince--well, the word sounds strangely upon a man's
+lips--but thirdly because I love you. From the moment that my eyes
+fell upon your face I loved you as I never loved any other man--not
+even my father. I know not why. Certainly it is not because you are a
+prince."
+
+When he heard these words Seti sat brooding and so silent that,
+fearing lest I, a humble scribe, had been too bold, I added hastily:
+
+"Let your Highness pardon his servant for his presumptuous words. It
+was his servant's heart that spoke and not his lips."
+
+He lifted his hand and I stopped.
+
+"Ana, my twin in Ra," he said, "do you know that I never had a
+friend?"
+
+"A prince who has no friend!"
+
+"Never, none. Now I begin to think that I have found one. The thought
+is strange and warms me. Do you know also that when my eyes fell upon
+your face I loved you also, the gods know why. It was as though I had
+found one who was dear to me thousands of years ago but whom I had
+lost and forgotten. Perhaps this is but foolishness, or perhaps here
+we have the shadow of something great and beautiful which dwells
+elsewhere, in the place we call the Kingdom of Osiris, beyond the
+grave, Ana."
+
+"Such thoughts have come to me at times, Prince. I mean that all we
+see is shadow; that we ourselves are shadows and that the realities
+who cast them live in a different home which is lit by some spirit sun
+that never sets."
+
+The Prince nodded his head and again was silent for a while. Then he
+took his beautiful alabaster cup, and pouring wine into it, he drank a
+little and passed the cup to me.
+
+"Drink also, Ana," he said, "and pledge me as I pledge you, in token
+that by decree of the Creator who made the hearts of men, henceforward
+our two hearts are as the same heart through good and ill, through
+triumph and defeat, till death takes one of us. Henceforward, Ana,
+unless you show yourself unworthy, I hide no thought from you."
+
+Flushing with joy I took the cup, saying:
+
+"I add to your words, O Prince. We are one, not for this life alone
+but for all the lives to be. Death, O Prince, is, I think, but a
+single step in the pylon stair which leads at last to that dizzy
+height whence we see the face of God and hear his voice tell us what
+and why we are."
+
+Then I pledged him, and drank, bowing, and he bowed back to me.
+
+"What shall we do with the cup, Ana, the sacred cup that has held this
+rich heart-wine? Shall I keep it? No, it no longer belongs to me.
+Shall I give it to you? No, it can never be yours alone. See, we will
+break the priceless thing."
+
+Seizing it by its stem with all his strength he struck the cup upon
+the table. Then what seemed to be to me a marvel happened, for instead
+of shattering as I thought it surely would, it split in two from rim
+to foot. Whether this was by chance, or whether the artist who
+fashioned it in some bygone generation had worked the two halves
+separately and cunningly cemented them together, to this hour I do not
+know. At least so it befell.
+
+"This is fortunate, Ana," said the Prince, laughing a little in his
+light way. "Now take you the half that lies nearest to you and I will
+take mine. If you die first I will lay my half upon your breast, and
+if I die first you shall do the same by me, or if the priests forbid
+it because I am royal and may not be profaned, cast the thing into my
+tomb. What should we have done had the alabaster shattered into
+fragments, Ana, and what omen should we have read in them?"
+
+"Why ask, O Prince, seeing that it has befallen otherwise?"
+
+Then I took my half, laid it against my forehead and hid it in the
+bosom of my robe, and as I did, so did Seti.
+
+So in this strange fashion the royal Seti and I sealed the holy
+compact of our brotherhood, as I think not for the first time or the
+last.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+USERTI
+
+Seti rose, stretching out his arms.
+
+"That is finished," he said, "as everything finishes, and for once I
+am sorry. Now what next? Sleep, I suppose, in which all ends, or
+perhaps you would say all begins."
+
+As he spoke the curtains at the end of the room were drawn and between
+them appeared the chamberlain, Pambasa, holding his gold-tipped wand
+ceremoniously before him.
+
+"What is it now, man?" asked Seti. "Can I not even sup in peace? Stay,
+before you answer tell me, do things end or begin in sleep? The
+learned Ana and I differ on the matter and would hear your wisdom.
+Bear in mind, Pambasa, that before we are born we must have slept,
+since of that time we remember nothing, and after we are dead we
+certainly seem to sleep, as any who have looked on mummies know. Now
+answer."
+
+The chamberlain stared at the wine flask on the table as though he
+suspected his master of having drunk too much. Then in a hard official
+voice he said:
+
+"She comes! She comes! She comes, offering greetings and adoration to
+the Royal Son of Ra."
+
+"Does she indeed?" asked Seti. "If so, why say it three times? And who
+comes?"
+
+"The high Princess, the heiress of Egypt, the daughter of Pharaoh,
+your Highness's royal half-sister, the great lady Userti."
+
+"Let her enter then. Ana, stand you behind me. If you grow weary and I
+give leave you can depart; the slaves will show you your sleeping-
+place."
+
+Pambasa went, and presently through the curtain appeared a royal-
+looking lady splendidly apparelled. She was accompanied by four
+waiting women who fell back on the threshold and were no more seen.
+The Prince stepped forward, took both her hands in his and kissed her
+on the brow, then drew back again, after which they stood a moment
+looking at each other. While they remained thus I studied her who was
+known throughout the land as the "Beautiful Royal Daughter," but whom
+till now I had never seen. In truth I did not think her beautiful,
+although even had she been clad in a peasant's robe I should have been
+sure that she was royal. Her face was too hard for beauty and her
+black eyes, with a tinge of grey in them, were too small. Also her
+nose was too sharp and her lips were too thin. Indeed, had it not been
+for the delicately and finely-shaped woman's form beneath, I might
+have thought that a prince and not a princess stood before me. For the
+rest in most ways she resembled her half-brother Seti, though her
+countenance lacked the kindliness of his; or rather both of them
+resembled their father, Meneptah.
+
+"Greeting, Sister," he said, eyeing her with a smile in which I caught
+a gleam of mockery. "Purple-bordered robes, emerald necklace and
+enamelled crown of gold, rings and pectoral, everything except a
+sceptre--why are you so royally arrayed to visit one so humble as your
+loving brother? You come like sunlight into the darkness of the
+hermit's cell and dazzle the poor hermit, or rather hermits," and he
+pointed to me.
+
+"Cease your jests, Seti," she replied in a full, strong voice. "I wear
+these ornaments because they please me. Also I have supped with our
+father, and those who sit at Pharaoh's table must be suitably arrayed,
+though I have noted that sometimes you think otherwise."
+
+"Indeed. I trust that the good god, our divine parent, is well
+to-night as you leave him so early."
+
+"I leave him because he sent me with a message to you." She paused,
+looking at me sharply, then asked, "Who is that man? I do not know
+him."
+
+"It is your misfortune, Userti, but one which can be mended. He is
+named Ana the Scribe, who writes strange stories of great interest
+which you would do well to read who dwell too much upon the outside of
+life. He is from Memphis and his father's name was--I forget what.
+Ana, what was your father's name?"
+
+"One too humble for royal ears, Prince," I answered, "but my
+grandfather was Pentaur the poet who wrote of the deeds of the mighty
+Rameses."
+
+"Is it so? Why did you not tell me that before? The descent should
+earn you a pension from the Court if you can extract it from Nehesi.
+Well, Userti, his grandfather's name was Pentaur whose immortal verses
+you have doubtless read upon temple walls, where our grandfather was
+careful to publish them."
+
+"I have--to my sorrow--and thought them poor, boastful stuff," she
+answered coldly.
+
+"To be honest, if Ana will forgive me, so do I. I can assure you that
+his stories are a great improvement on them. Friend Ana, this is my
+sister, Userti, my father's daughter though our mothers were not the
+same."
+
+"I pray you, Seti, to be so good as to give me my rightful titles in
+speaking of me to scribes and other of your servants."
+
+"Your pardon, Userti. This, Ana, is the first Lady of Egypt, the Royal
+Heiress, the Princess of the Two Lands, the High-priestess of Amon,
+the Cherished of the Gods, the half-sister of the Heir-apparent, the
+Daughter of Hathor, the Lotus Bloom of Love, the Queen to be of--
+Userti, whose queen will you be? Have you made up your mind? For
+myself I know no one worthy of so much beauty, excellence, learning
+and--what shall I add--sweetness, yes, sweetness."
+
+"Seti," she said stamping her foot, "if it pleases you to make a mock
+of me before a stranger, I suppose that I must submit. Send him away,
+I would speak with you."
+
+"Make a mock of you! Oh! mine is a hard fate. When truth gushes from
+the well of my heart, I am told I mock, and when I mock, all say--he
+speaks truth. Be seated, Sister, and talk on freely. This Ana is my
+sworn friend who saved my life but now, for which deed perhaps he
+should be my enemy. His memory is excellent also and he will remember
+what you say and write it down afterwards, whereas I might forget.
+Therefore, with your leave, I will ask him to stay here."
+
+"My Prince," I broke in, "I pray you suffer me to go."
+
+"My Secretary," he answered with a note of command in his voice, "I
+pray you to remain where you are."
+
+So I sat myself on the ground after the fashion of a scribe, having no
+choice, and the Princess sat herself on a couch at the end of the
+table, but Seti remained standing. Then the Princess said:
+
+"Since it is your will, Brother, that I should talk secrets into other
+ears than yours, I obey you. Still"--here she looked at me wrathfully
+--"let the tongue be careful that it does not repeat what the ears
+have heard, lest there should be neither ears nor tongue. My Brother,
+it has been reported to Pharaoh, while we ate together, that there is
+tumult in this town. It has been reported to him that because of a
+trouble about some base Israelite you caused one of his officers to be
+beheaded, after which there came a riot which still rages."
+
+"Strange that truth should have come to the ears of Pharaoh so
+quickly. Now, my Sister, if he had heard it three moons hence I could
+have believed you--almost."
+
+"Then you did behead the officer?"
+
+"Yes, I beheaded him about two hours ago."
+
+"Pharaoh will demand an account of the matter."
+
+"Pharaoh," answered Seti lifting his eyes, "has no power to question
+the justice of the Governor of Tanis in the north."
+
+"You are in error, Seti. Pharaoh has all power."
+
+"Nay, Sister, Pharaoh is but one man among millions of other men, and
+though he speaks it is their spirit which bends his tongue, while
+above that spirit is a great greater spirit who decrees what they
+shall think to ends of which we know nothing."
+
+"I do not understand, Seti."
+
+"I never thought you would, Userti, but when you have leisure, ask Ana
+here to explain the matter to you. I am sure that /he/ understands."
+
+"Oh! I have borne enough," exclaimed Userti rising. "Hearken to the
+command of Pharaoh, Prince Seti. It is that you wait upon him
+to-morrow in full council, at an hour before noon, there to talk with
+him of this question of the Israelitish slaves and the officer whom it
+has pleased you to kill. I came to speak other words to you also, but
+as they were for your private ear, these can bide a more fitting
+opportunity. Farewell, my Brother."
+
+"What, are you going so soon, Sister? I wished to tell you the story
+about those Israelites, and especially of the maid whose name is--what
+was her name, Ana?"
+
+"Merapi, Moon of Israel, Prince," I added with a groan.
+
+"About the maid called Merapi, Moon of Israel, I think the sweetest
+that ever I have looked upon, whose father the dead captain murdered
+in my sight."
+
+"So there is a woman in the business? Well, I guessed it."
+
+"In what business is there not a woman, Userti, even in that of a
+message from Pharaoh. Pambasa, Pambasa, escort the Princess and summon
+her servants, women everyone of them, unless my senses mock me. Good-
+night to you, O Sister and Lady of the Two Lands, and forgive me--that
+coronet of yours is somewhat awry."
+
+At last she was gone and I rose, wiping my brow with a corner of my
+robe, and looking at the Prince who stood before the fire laughing
+softly.
+
+"Make a note of all this talk, Ana," he said; "there is more in it
+than meets the ear."
+
+"I need no note, Prince," I answered; "every word is burnt upon my
+mind as a hot iron burns a tablet of wood. With reason too, since now
+her Highness will hate me for all her life."
+
+"Much better so, Ana, than that she should pretend to love you, which
+she never would have done while you are my friend. Women oftimes
+respect those whom they hate and even will advance them because of
+policy, but let those whom they pretend to love beware. The time may
+come when you will yet be Userti's most trusted councillor."
+
+Now here I, Ana the Scribe, will state that in after days, when this
+same queen was the wife of Pharaoh Saptah, I did, as it chanced,
+become her most trusted councillor. Moreover, in those times, yes, and
+even in the hour of her death, she swore from the moment her eyes
+first fell on me she had known me to be true-hearted and held me in
+esteem as no self-seeker. More, I think she believed what she said,
+having forgotten that once she looked upon me as her enemy. This
+indeed I never was, who always held her in high regard and honour as a
+great lady who loved her country, though one who sometimes was not
+wise. But as I could not foresee these things on that night of long
+ago, I only stared at the Prince and said:
+
+"Oh! why did you not allow me to depart as your Highness said I might
+at the beginning? Soon or late my head will pay the price of this
+night's work."
+
+"Then she must take mine with it. Listen, Ana. I kept you here, not to
+vex the Princess or you, but for a good reason. You know that it is
+the custom of the royal dynasties of Egypt for kings, or those who
+will be kings, to wed their near kin in order that the blood may
+remain the purer."
+
+"Yes, Prince, and not only among those who are royal. Still, I think
+it an evil custom."
+
+"As I do, since the race wherein it is practised grows ever weaker in
+body and in mind; which is why, perhaps, my father is not what his
+father was and I am not what my father is."
+
+"Also, Prince, it is hard to mingle the love of the sister and of the
+wife."
+
+"Very hard, Ana; so hard that when it is attempted both are apt to
+vanish. Well, our mothers having been true royal wives, though hers
+died before mine was wedded by my father, Pharaoh desires that I
+should marry my half-sister, Userti, and what is worse, she desires it
+also. Moreover, the people, who fear trouble ahead in Egypt if we, who
+alone are left of the true royal race born of queens, remain apart and
+she takes another lord, or I take another wife, demand that it should
+be brought about, since they believe that whoever calls Userti the
+Strong his spouse will one day rule the land."
+
+"Why does the Princess wish it--that she may be a queen?"
+
+"Yes, Ana, though were she to wed my cousin, Amenmeses, the son of
+Pharaoh's elder brother Khaemuas, she might still be a queen, if I
+chose to stand aside as I would not be loth to do."
+
+"Would Egypt suffer this, Prince?"
+
+"I do not know, nor does it matter since she hates Amenmeses, who is
+strong-willed and ambitious, and will have none of him. Also he is
+already married."
+
+"Is there no other royal one whom she might take, Prince?"
+
+"None. Moreover she wishes me alone."
+
+"Why, Prince?"
+
+"Because of ancient custom which she worships. Also because she knows
+me well and in her fashion is fond of me, whom she believes to be a
+gentle-minded dreamer that she can rule. Lastly, because I am the
+lawful heir to the Crown and without me to share it, she thinks that
+she would never be safe upon the Throne, especially if I should marry
+some other woman, of whom she would be jealous. It is the Throne she
+desires and would wed, not the Prince Seti, her half-brother, whom she
+takes with it to be in name her husband, as Pharaoh commands that she
+should do. Love plays no part in Userti's breast, Ana, which makes her
+the more dangerous, since what she seeks with a cold heart of policy,
+that she will surely find."
+
+"Then it would seem, Prince, that the cage is built about you. After
+all it is a very splendid cage and made of gold."
+
+"Yes, Ana, yet not one in which I would live. Still, except by death
+how can I escape from the threefold chain of the will of Pharaoh, of
+Egypt, and of Userti? Oh!" he went on in a new voice, one that had in
+it both sorrow and passion, "this is a matter in which I would have
+chosen for myself who in all others must be a servant. And I may not
+choose!"
+
+"Is there perchance some other lady, Prince?"
+
+"None! By Hathor, none--at least I think not. Yet I would have been
+free to search for such a one and take her when I found her, if she
+were but a fishergirl."
+
+"The Kings of Egypt can have large households, Prince."
+
+"I know it. Are there not still scores whom I should call aunt and
+uncle? I think that my grandsire, Rameses, blessed Egypt with quite
+three hundred children, and in so doing in a way was wise, since thus
+he might be sure that, while the world endures, in it will flow some
+the blood that once was his."
+
+"Yet in life or death how will that help him, Prince? Some must beget
+the multitudes of the earth, what does it matter who these may have
+been?"
+
+"Nothing at all, Ana, since by good or evil fortune they are born.
+Therefore, why talk of large households? Though, like any man who can
+pay for it, Pharaoh may have a large household, I seek a queen who
+shall reign in my heart as well as on my throne, not a "large
+household," Ana. Oh! I am weary. Pambasa, come hither and conduct my
+secretary, Ana, to the empty room that is next to my own, the painted
+chamber which looks toward the north, and bid my slaves attend to all
+his wants as they would to mine."
+
+
+
+"Why did you tell me you were a scribe, my lord Ana?" asked Pambasa,
+as he led me to my beautiful sleeping-place.
+
+"Because that is my trade, Chamberlain."
+
+He looked at me, shaking his great head till the long white beard
+waved across his breast like a temple banner in the faint evening
+breeze, and answered:
+
+"You are no scribe, you are a magician who can win the love and favour
+of his Highness in an hour which others cannot do between two risings
+of the Nile. Had you said so at once, you would have been differently
+treated yonder in the hall of waiting. Forgive me therefore what I did
+in ignorance, and, my lord, I pray it may please you not to melt away
+in the night, lest my feet should answer for it beneath the sticks."
+
+It was the fourth hour from sunrise of the following day that, for the
+first time in my life I found myself in the Court of Pharaoh standing
+with other members of his household in the train of his Highness, the
+Prince Seti. It was a very great place, for Pharaoh sat in the
+judgment hall, whereof the roof is upheld by round and sculptured
+columns, between which were set statues of Pharaohs who had been. Save
+at the throne end of the hall, where the light flowed down through
+clerestories, the vast chamber was dim almost to darkness; at least so
+it seemed to me entering there out of the brilliant sunshine. Through
+this gloom many folk moved like shadows; captains, nobles, and state
+officers who had been summoned to the Court, and among them white-
+robed and shaven priests. Also there were others of whom I took no
+count, such as Arab headmen from the desert, traders with jewels and
+other wares to sell, farmers and even peasants with petitions to
+present, lawyers and their clients, and I know not who besides,
+through which of all these none were suffered to advance beyond a
+certain mark where the light began to fall. Speaking in whispers all
+of these folk flitted to and fro like bats in a tomb.
+
+We waited between two Hathor-headed pillars in one of the vestibules
+of the hall, the Prince Seti, who was clad in purple-broidered
+garments and wore upon his brow a fillet of gold from which rose the
+ur�us or hooded snake, also of gold, that royal ones alone might wear,
+leaning against the base of a statue, while the rest of us stood
+silent behind him. For a time he was silent also, as a man might be
+whose thoughts were otherwhere. At length he turned and said to me:
+
+"This is weary work. Would I had asked you to bring that new tale of
+yours, Scribe Ana, that we might have read it together."
+
+"Shall I tell you the plot of it, Prince?"
+
+"Yes. I mean, not now, lest I should forget my manners listening to
+you. Look," and he pointed to a dark-browed, fierce-eyed man of middle
+age who passed up the hall as though he did not see us, "there goes my
+cousin, Amenmeses. You know him, do you not?"
+
+I shook my head.
+
+"Then tell me what you think of him, at once before the first judgment
+fades."
+
+"I think he is a royal-looking lord, obstinate in mind and strong in
+body, handsome too in his way."
+
+"All can see that, Ana. What else?"
+
+"I think," I said in a low voice so that none might overhear, "that
+his heart is as black as his brow; that he has grown wicked with
+jealousy and hate and will do you evil."
+
+"Can a man grow wicked, Ana? Is he not as he was born till the end? I
+do not know, nor do you. Still you are right, he is jealous and will
+do me evil if it brings him good. But tell me, which of us will
+triumph at the last?"
+
+While I hesitated what to answer I became aware that someone had
+joined us. Looking round I perceived a very ancient man clad in a
+white robe. He was broad-faced and bald-headed, and his eyes burned
+beneath his shaggy eyebrows like two coals in ashes. He supported
+himself on a staff of cedar-wood, gripping it with both hands that for
+thinness were like to those of a mummy. For a while he considered us
+both as though he were reading our souls, then said in a full and
+jovial voice:
+
+"Greeting, Prince."
+
+Seti turned, looked at him, and answered:
+
+"Greeting, Bakenkhonsu. How comes it that you are still alive? When we
+parted at Thebes I made sure----"
+
+"That on your return you would find me in my tomb. Not so, Prince, it
+is I who shall live to look upon you in your tomb, yes, and on others
+who are yet to sit in the seat of Pharaoh. Why not? Ho! ho! Why not,
+seeing that I am but a hundred and seven, I who remember the first
+Rameses and have played with his grandson, your grandsire, as a boy?
+Why should I not live, Prince, to nurse your grandson--if the gods
+should grant you one who as yet have neither wife nor child?"
+
+"Because you will get tired of life, Bakenkhonsu, as I am already, and
+the gods will not be able to spare you much longer."
+
+"The gods can endure yet a while without me, Prince, when so many are
+flocking to their table. Indeed it is their desire that one good
+priest should be left in Egypt. Ki the Magician told me so only this
+morning. He had it straight from Heaven in a dream last night."
+
+"Why have you been to visit Ki?" asked Seti, looking at him sharply.
+"I should have thought that being both of a trade you would have hated
+each other."
+
+"Not so, Prince. On the contrary we add up each other's account; I
+mean, check and interpret each other's visions, with which we are both
+of us much troubled just now. Is that young man a scribe from
+Memphis?"
+
+"Yes, and my friend. His grandsire was Pentaur the poet."
+
+"Indeed. I knew Pentaur well. Often has he read me to sleep with his
+long poems, rank stuff that grew like coarse grass upon a deep but
+half-drained soil. Are you sure, young man, that Pentaur was your
+grandfather? You are not like him. Quite a different kind of herbage,
+and you know that it is a matter upon which we must take a woman's
+word."
+
+Seti burst out laughing and I looked at the old priest angrily, though
+now that I came to think of it my father always said that his mother
+was one of the biggest liars in Egypt.
+
+"Well, let it be," went on Bakenkhonsu, "till we find out the truth
+before Thoth. Ki was speaking of you, young man. I did not pay much
+attention to him, but it was something about a sudden vow of
+friendship between you and the Prince here. There was a cup in the
+story too, an alabaster cup that seemed familiar to me. Ki said it was
+broken."
+
+Seti started and I began angrily:
+
+"What do you know of that cup? Where were you hid, O Priest?"
+
+"Oh, in your souls, I suppose," he answered dreamily, "or rather Ki
+was. But I know nothing, and am not curious. If you had broken the cup
+with a woman now, it would have been more interesting, even to an old
+man. Be so good as to answer the Prince's question as to whether he or
+his cousin Amenmeses will triumph at the last, for on that matter both
+Ki and I are curious."
+
+"Am I a seer," I began again still more angrily, "that I should read
+the future?"
+
+"I think so, a little, but that is what I want to find out."
+
+He hobbled towards me, laid one of his claw-like hands upon my arm,
+and said in a new voice of command:
+
+"Look now upon that throne and tell me what you see there."
+
+I obeyed him because I must, staring up the hall at the empty throne.
+At first I saw nothing. Then figures seemed to flit around it. From
+among these figures emerged the shape of the Count Amenmeses. He sat
+upon the throne, looking about him proudly, and I noted that he was no
+longer clad as a prince but as Pharaoh himself. Presently hook-nosed
+men appeared who dragged him from his seat. He fell, as I thought,
+into water, for it seemed to splash up above him. Next Seti the Prince
+appeared to mount the throne, led thither by a woman, of whom I could
+only see the back. I saw him distinctly wearing the double crown and
+holding a sceptre in his hand. He also melted away and others came
+whom I did not know, though I thought that one of them was like to the
+Princess Userti.
+
+Now all were gone and I was telling Bakenkhonsu everything I had
+witnessed like a man who speaks in his sleep, not by his own will.
+Suddenly I woke up and laughed at my own foolishness. But the other
+two did not laugh; they regarded me very gravely.
+
+"I thought that you were something of a seer," said the old priest,
+"or rather Ki thought it. I could not quite believe Ki, because he
+said that the young person whom I should find with the Prince here
+this morning would be one who loved him with all the heart, and it is
+only a woman who loves with all the heart, is it not? Or so the world
+believes. Well, I will talk the matter over with Ki. Hush! Pharaoh
+comes."
+
+As he spoke from far away rose a cry of--
+
+"Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE COURT OF BETROTHAL
+
+"Life! Blood! Strength!" echoed everyone in the great hall, falling to
+their knees and bending their foreheads to the ground. Even the Prince
+and the aged Bakenkhonsu prostrated themselves thus as though before
+the presence of a god. And, indeed, Pharaoh Meneptah, passing through
+the patch of sunlight at the head of the hall, wearing the double
+crown upon his head and arrayed in royal robes and ornaments, looked
+like a god, no less, as the multitude of the people of Egypt held him
+to be. He was an old man with the face of one worn by years and care,
+but from his person majesty seemed to flow.
+
+With him, walking a step or two behind, went Nehesi his Vizier, a
+shrivelled, parchment-faced officer whose cunning eyes rolled about
+the place, and Roy the High-priest, and Hora the Chamberlain of the
+Table, and Meranu the Washer of the King's Hands, and Yuy the private
+scribe, and many others whom Bakenkhonsu named to me as they appeared.
+Then there were fan-bearers and a gorgeous band of lords who were
+called King's Companions and Head Butlers and I know not who besides,
+and after these guards with spears and helms that shone like god, and
+black swordsmen from the southern land of Kesh.
+
+But one woman accompanied his Majesty, walking alone immediately
+behind him in front of the Vizier and the High-priest. She was the
+Royal Daughter, the Princess Userti, who looked, I thought, prouder
+and more splendid than any there, though somewhat pale and anxious.
+
+Pharaoh came to the steps of the throne. The Vizier and the High-
+priest advanced to help him up the steps, for he was feeble with age.
+He waved them aside, and beckoning to his daughter, rested his hand
+upon her shoulder and by her aid mounted the throne. I thought that
+there was meaning in this; it was as though he would show to all the
+assembly that this princess was the prop of Egypt.
+
+For a little while he stood still and Userti sat herself down on the
+topmost step, resting her chin upon her jewelled hand. There he stood
+searching the place with his eyes. He lifted his sceptre and all rose,
+hundreds and hundreds of them throughout the hall, their garments
+rustling as they rose like leaves in a sudden wind. He seated himself
+and once more from every throat went up the regal salutation that was
+the king's alone, of--
+
+"Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!"
+
+In the silence that followed I heard him say, to the Princess, I
+think:
+
+"Amenmeses I see, and others of our kin, but where is my son Seti, the
+Prince of Egypt?"
+
+"Watching us no doubt from some vestibule. My brother loves not
+ceremonials," answered Userti.
+
+Then, with a little sigh, Seti stepped forward, followed by
+Bakenkhonsu and myself, and at a distance by other members of his
+household. As he marched up the long hall all drew to this side or
+that, saluting him with low bows. Arriving in front of the throne he
+bent till his knee touched the ground, saying:
+
+"I give greeting, O King and Father."
+
+"I give greeting, O Prince and Son. Be seated," answered Meneptah.
+
+Seti seated himself in a chair that had been made ready for him at the
+foot of the throne, and on its right, and in another chair to the
+left, but set farther from the steps, Amenmeses seated himself also.
+At a motion from the Prince I took my stand behind his chair.
+
+The formal business of the Court began. At the beckoning of an usher
+people of all sorts appeared singly and handed in petitions written on
+rolled-up papyri, which the Vizier Nehesi took and threw into a
+leathern sack that was held open by a black slave. In some cases an
+answer to his petition, whereof this was only the formal delivery, was
+handed back to the suppliant, who touched his brow with the roll that
+perhaps meant everything to him, and bowed himself away to learn his
+fate. Then appeared sheiks of the desert tribes, and captains from
+fortresses in Syria, and traders who had been harmed by enemies, and
+even peasants who had suffered violence from officers, each to make
+his prayer. Of all of these supplications the scribes took notes,
+while to some the Vizier and councillors made answer. But as yet
+Pharaoh said nothing. There he sat silent on his splendid throne of
+ivory and gold, like a god of stone above the altar, staring down the
+long hall and through the open doors as though he would read the
+secrets of the skies beyond.
+
+"I told you that courts were wearisome, friend Ana," whispered the
+Prince to me without turning his head. "Do you not already begin to
+wish that you were back writing tales at Memphis?"
+
+Before I could answer some movement in the throng at the end of the
+hall drew the eyes of the Prince and of all of us. I looked, and saw
+advancing towards the throne a tall, bearded man already old, although
+his black hair was but grizzled with grey. He was arrayed in a white
+linen robe, over which hung a woollen cloak such as shepherds wear,
+and he carried in his hand a long thornwood staff. His face was
+splendid and very handsome, and his black eyes flashed like fire. He
+walked forward slowly, looking neither to the left nor the right, and
+the throng made way for him as though he were a prince. Indeed, I
+thought that they showed more fear of him than of any prince, since
+they shrank from him as he came. Nor was he alone, for after him
+walked another man who was very like to him, but as I judged, still
+older, for his beard, which hung down to his middle, was snow-white as
+was the hair on his head. He also was dressed in a sheepskin cloak and
+carried a staff in his hand. Now a whisper rose among the people and
+the whisper said:
+
+"The prophets of the men of Israel! The prophets of the men of
+Israel!"
+
+The two stood before the throne and looked at Pharaoh, making no
+obeisance. Pharaoh looked at them and was silent. For a long space
+they stood thus in the midst of a great quiet, but Pharaoh would not
+speak, and none of his officers seemed to dare to open their mouths.
+At length the first of the prophets spoke in a clear, cold voice as
+some conqueror might do.
+
+"You know me, Pharaoh, and my errand."
+
+"I know you," answered Pharaoh slowly, "as well I may, seeing that we
+played together when we were little. You are that Hebrew whom my
+sister, she who sleeps in Osiris, took to be as a son to her, giving
+to you a name that means 'drawn forth' because she drew you forth as
+an infant from among the reeds of Nile. Aye, I know you and your
+brother also, but your errand I know not."
+
+"This is my errand, Pharaoh, or rather the errand of Jahveh, God of
+Israel, for whom I speak. Have you not heard it before? It is that you
+should let his people go to do sacrifice to him in the wilderness."
+
+"Who is Jahveh? I know not Jahveh who serve Amon and the gods of
+Egypt, and why should I let your people go?"
+
+"Jahveh is the God of Israel, the great God of all gods whose power
+you shall learn if you will not hearken, Pharaoh. As for why you
+should let the people go, ask it of the Prince your son who sits
+yonder. Ask him of what he saw in the streets of this city but last
+night, and of a certain judgment that he passed upon one of the
+officers of Pharaoh. Or if he will not tell you, learn it from the
+lips of the maiden who is named Merapi, Moon of Israel, the daughter
+of Nathan the Levite. Stand forward, Merapi, daughter of Nathan."
+
+Then from the throng at the back of the hall came forward Merapi, clad
+in a white robe and with a black veil thrown about her head in token
+of mourning, but not so as to hide her face. Up the hall she glided
+and made obeisance to Pharaoh, as she did so, casting one swift look
+at Seti where he sat. Then she stood still, looking, as I thought,
+wonderfully beautiful in that simple robe of white and the evil of
+black.
+
+"Speak, woman," said Pharaoh.
+
+She obeyed, telling all the tale in her low and honeyed voice, nor did
+any seem to think it long or wearisome. At length she ended, and
+Pharaoh said:
+
+"Say, Seti my son, is this truth?"
+
+"It is truth, O my Father. By virtue of my powers as Governor of this
+city I caused the captain Khuaka to be put to death for the crime of
+murder done by him before my eyes in the streets of the city."
+
+"Perchance you did right and perchance you did wrong, Son Seti. At
+least you are the best judge, and because he struck your royal person,
+this Khuaka deserved to die."
+
+Again he was silent for a while staring through the open doors at the
+sky beyond. Then he said:
+
+"What would ye more, Prophets of Jahveh? Justice has been done upon my
+officer who slew the man of your people. A life has been taken for a
+life according to the strict letter of the law. The matter is
+finished. Unless you have aught to say, get you gone."
+
+"By the command of the Lord our God," answered the prophet, "we have
+this to say to you, O Pharaoh. Lift the heavy yoke from off the neck
+of the people of Israel. Bid that they cease from the labour of the
+making of bricks to build your walls and cities."
+
+"And if I refuse, what then?"
+
+"Then the curse of Jahveh shall be on you, Pharaoh, and with plague
+upon plague shall he smite this land of Egypt."
+
+Now a sudden rage seized Meneptah.
+
+"What!" he cried. "Do you dare to threaten me in my own palace, and
+would ye cause all the multitude of the people of Israel who have
+grown fat in the land to cease from their labours? Hearken, my
+servants, and, scribes, write down my decree. Go ye to the country of
+Goshen and say to the Israelites that the bricks they made they shall
+make as aforetime and more work shall they do than aforetime in the
+days of my father, Rameses. Only no more straw shall be given to them
+for the making of the bricks. Because they are idle, let them go forth
+and gather the straw themselves; let them gather it from the face of
+the fields."
+
+There was silence for a while. Then with one voice both the prophets
+spoke, pointing with their wands to Pharaoh:
+
+"In the Name of the Lord God we curse you, Pharaoh, who soon shall die
+and make answer for this sin. The people of Egypt we curse also. Ruin
+shall be their portion; death shall be their bread and blood shall
+they drink in a great darkness. Moreover, at the last Pharaoh shall
+let the people go."
+
+Then, waiting no answer, they turned and strode away side by side, nor
+did any man hinder them in their goings. Again there was silence in
+the hall, the silence of fear, for these were awful words that the
+prophets had spoken. Pharaoh knew it, for his chin sank upon his
+breast and his face that had been red with rage turned white. Userti
+hid her eyes with her hand as though to shut out some evil vision, and
+even Seti seemed ill at ease as though that awful curse had found a
+home within his heart.
+
+At a motion of Pharaoh's hand the Vizier Nehesi struck the ground
+thrice with his wand of office and pointed to the door, thus giving
+the accustomed sign that the Court was finished, whereon all the
+people turned and went away with bent heads speaking no words one to
+another. Presently the great hall was emptied save for the officers
+and guards and those who attended upon Pharaoh. When everyone had gone
+Seti the Prince rose and bowed before the throne.
+
+"O Pharaoh," he said, "be pleased to hearken. We have heard very evil
+words spoken by these Hebrew men, words that threaten your divine
+life, O Pharaoh, and call down a curse upon the Upper and the Lower
+Land. Pharaoh, these people of Israel hold that they suffer wrong and
+are oppressed. Now give me, your son, a writing under your hand and
+seal, by virtue of which I shall have power to go down to the Land of
+Goshen and inquire of this matter, and afterwards make report of the
+truth to you. Then, if it seems to you that the People of Israel are
+unjustly dealt by, you may lighten their burden and bring the curse of
+their prophets to nothing. But if it seems to you that the tales they
+tell are idle then your words shall stand."
+
+Now, listening, I, Ana, thought that Pharaoh would once more be angry.
+But it was not so, for when he spoke again it was in the voice of one
+who is crushed by grief or weariness.
+
+"Have your will, Son," he said. "Only take with you a great guard of
+soldiers lest these hook-nosed dogs should do you mischief. I trust
+them not, who, like the Hyksos whose blood runs in many of them, were
+ever the foes of Egypt. Did they not conspire with the Ninebow
+Barbarians whom I crushed in the great battle, and do they not now
+threaten us in the name of their outland god? Still, let the writing
+be prepared and I will seal it. And stay. I think, Seti, that you, who
+were ever gentle-natured, have somewhat too soft a heart towards these
+shepherd slaves. Therefore I will not send you alone. Amenmeses your
+cousin shall go with you, but under your command. It is spoken."
+
+"Life! Blood! Strength!" said both Seti and Amenmeses, thus
+acknowledging the king's command.
+
+Now I thought that all was finished. But it was not so, for presently
+Pharaoh said:
+
+"Let the guards withdraw to the end of the hall and with them the
+servants. Let the King's councillors and the officers of the household
+remain."
+
+Instantly all saluted and withdrew out of hearing. I, too, made ready
+to go, but the Prince said to me:
+
+"Stay, that you may take note of what passes."
+
+Pharaoh, watching, saw if he did not hear.
+
+"Who is that man, Son?" he asked.
+
+"He is Ana my private scribe and librarian, O Pharaoh, whom I trust.
+It was he who saved me from harm but last night."
+
+"You say it, Son. Let him remain in attendance on you, knowing that if
+he betrays our council he dies."
+
+Userti looked up frowning as though she were about to speak. If so,
+she changed her mind and was silent, perhaps because Pharaoh's word
+once spoken could not be altered. Bakenkhonsu remained also as a
+Councillor of the King according to his right.
+
+When all had gone Pharaoh, who had been brooding, lifted his head and
+spoke slowly but in the voice of one who gives a judgment that may not
+be questioned, saying:
+
+"Prince Seti, you are my only son born of Queen Ast-Nefert, royal
+Sister, royal Mother, who sleeps in the bosom of Osiris. It is true
+that you are not my first-born son, since the Count Ramessu"--here he
+pointed to a stout mild-faced man of pleasing, rather foolish
+appearance--"is your elder by two years. But, as he knows well, his
+mother, who is still with us, is a Syrian by birth and of no royal
+blood, and therefore he can never sit upon the throne of Egypt. Is it
+not so, my son Ramessu?"
+
+"It is so, O Pharaoh," answered the Count in a pleasant voice, "not do
+I seek ever to sit upon that throne, who am well content with the
+offices and wealth that Pharaoh has been pleased to confer upon me,
+his first-born."
+
+"Let the words of the Count Ramessu be written down," said Pharaoh,
+"and placed in the temple of Ptah of this city, and in the temples of
+Ptah at Memphis and of Amon at Thebes, that hereafter they may never
+be questioned."
+
+The scribes in attendance wrote down the words and, at a sign from the
+Prince Seti, I also wrote them down, setting the papyrus I had with me
+on my knee. When this was finished Pharaoh went on.
+
+"Therefore, O Prince Seti, you are the heir of Egypt and perhaps, as
+those Hebrew prophets said, will ere long be called upon to sit in my
+place on its throne."
+
+"May the King live for ever!" exclaimed Seti, "for well he knows that
+I do not seek his crown and dignities."
+
+"I do know it well, my son; so well that I wish you thought more of
+that crown and those dignities which, if the gods will, must come to
+you. If they will it not, next in the order of succession stands your
+cousin, the Count Amenmeses, who is also of royal blood both on his
+father's and his mother's side, and after him I know not who, unless
+it be my daughter and your half-sister, the royal Princess Userti,
+Lady of Egypt."
+
+Now Userti spoke, very earnestly, saying:
+
+"O Pharaoh, surely my right in the succession, according to ancient
+precedent, precedes that of my cousin, the Count Amenmeses."
+
+Amenmeses was about to answer, but Pharaoh lifted his hand and he was
+silent.
+
+"It is matter for those learned in such lore to discuss," Meneptah
+replied in a somewhat hesitating voice. "I pray the gods that it may
+never be needful that this high question should be considered in the
+Council. Nevertheless, let the words of the royal Princess be written
+down. Now, Prince Seti," he went on when this had been done, "you are
+still unmarried, and if you have children they are not royal."
+
+"I have none, O Pharaoh," said Seti.
+
+"Is it so?" answered Meneptah indifferently. "The Count Amenmeses has
+children I know, for I have seen them, but by his wife Unuri, who also
+is of the royal line, he has none."
+
+Here I heard Amenmeses mutter, "Being my aunt that is not strange," a
+saying at which Seti smiled.
+
+"My daughter, the Princess, is also unmarried. So it seems that the
+fountain of the royal blood is running dry----"
+
+"Now it is coming," whispered Seti below his breath so that only I
+could hear.
+
+"Therefore," continued Pharaoh, "as you know, Prince Seti, for the
+royal Princess of Egypt by my command went to speak to you of this
+matter last night, I make a decree----"
+
+"Pardon, O Pharaoh," interrupted the Prince, "my sister spoke to me of
+no decree last night, save that I should attend at the court here
+to-day."
+
+"Because I could not, Seti, seeing that another was present with you
+whom you refused to dismiss," and she let her eyes rest on me.
+
+"It matters not," said Pharaoh, "since now I will utter it with my own
+lips which perhaps is better. It is my will, Prince, that you
+forthwith wed the royal Princess Userti, that children of the true
+blood of the Ramessides may be born. Hear and obey."
+
+Now Userti shifted her eyes from me to Seti, watching him very
+closely. Seated at his side upon the ground with my writing roll
+spread across my knee, I, too, watched him closely, and noted that his
+lips turned white and his face grew fixed and strange.
+
+"I hear the command of Pharaoh," he said in a low voice making
+obeisance, and hesitated.
+
+"Have you aught to add?" asked Meneptah sharply.
+
+"Only, O Pharaoh, that though this would be a marriage decreed for
+reasons of the State, still there is a lady who must be given in
+marriage, and she my half-sister who heretofore has only loved me as a
+relative. Therefore, I would know from her lips if it is her will to
+take me as a husband."
+
+Now all looked at Userti who replied in a cold voice:
+
+"In this matter, Prince, as in all others I have no will but that of
+Pharaoh."
+
+"You have heard," interrupted Meneptah impatiently, "and as in our
+House it has always been the custom for kin to marry kin, why should
+it not be her will? Also, who else should she marry? Amenmeses is
+already wed. There remains only Saptah his brother who is younger than
+herself----"
+
+"So am I," murmured Seti, "by two long years," but happily Userti did
+not hear him.
+
+"Nay, my father," she said with decision, "never will I take a
+deformed man to husband."
+
+Now from the shadow on the further side of the throne, where I could
+not see him, there hobbled forward a young noble, short in stature,
+light-haired like Seti, and with a sharp, clever face which put me in
+mind of that of a jackal (indeed for this reason he was named Thoth by
+the common people, after the jackal-headed god). He was very angry,
+for his cheeks were flushed and his small eyes flashed.
+
+"Must I listen, Pharaoh," he said in a little voice, "while my cousin
+the Royal Princess reproaches me in public for my lame foot, which I
+have because my nurse let me fall when I was still in arms?"
+
+"Then his nurse let his grandfather fall also, for he too was club-
+footed, as I who have seen him naked in his cradle can bear witness,"
+whispered old Bakenkhonsu.
+
+"It seems so, Count Saptah, unless you stop your ears," replied
+Pharaoh.
+
+"She says she will not marry me," went on Saptah, "me who from
+childhood have been a slave to her and to no other woman."
+
+"Not by my wish, Saptah. Indeed, I pray you to go and be a slave to
+any woman whom you will," exclaimed Userti.
+
+"But I say," continued Saptah, "that one day she shall marry me, for
+the Prince Seti will not live for ever."
+
+"How do you know that, Cousin?" asked Seti. "The High-priest here will
+tell you a different story."
+
+Now certain of those present turned their heads away to hide the smile
+upon their faces. Yet on this day some god spoke with Saptah's voice
+making him a prophet, since in a year to come she did marry him, in
+order that she might stay upon the throne at a time of trouble when
+Egypt would not suffer that a woman should have sole rule over the
+land.
+
+But Pharaoh did not smile like the courtiers; indeed he grew angry.
+
+"Peace, Saptah!" he said. "Who are you that wrangle before me, talking
+of the death of kings and saying that you will wed the Royal princess?
+One more such word and you shall be driven into banishment. Hearken
+now. Almost am I minded to declare my daughter, the Royal Princess,
+sole heiress to the throne, seeing that in her there is more strength
+and wisdom than in any other of our House."
+
+"If such be Pharaoh's will, let Pharaoh's will be done," said Seti
+most humbly. "Well I know my own unworthiness to fill so high a
+station, and by all the gods I swear that my beloved sister will find
+no more faithful subject than myself."
+
+"You mean, Seti," interrupted Userti, "that rather than marry me you
+would abandon your right to the double crown. Truly I am honoured.
+Seti, whether you reign or I, I will not marry you."
+
+"What words are these I hear?" cried Meneptah. "Is there indeed one in
+this land of Egypt who dares to say that Pharaoh's decree shall be
+disobeyed? Write it down, Scribes, and you, O Officers, let it be
+proclaimed from Thebes to the sea, that on the third day from now at
+the hour of noon in the temple of Hathor in this city, the Prince, the
+Royal Heir, Seti Meneptah, Beloved of Ra, will wed the Royal Princess
+of Egypt, Lily of Love, Beloved of Hathor, Userti, Daughter of me, the
+god."
+
+"Life! Blood! Strength!" called all the Court.
+
+Then, guided by some high officer, the Prince Seti was led before the
+throne and the Princess Userti was set beside him, or rather facing
+him. According to the ancient custom a great gold cup was brought and
+filled with red wine, to me it looked like blood. Userti took the cup
+and, kneeling, gave it to the Prince, who drank and gave it back to
+her that she might also drink in solemn token of their betrothal. Is
+not the scene graven on the broad bracelets of gold which in after
+days Seti wore when he sat upon the throne, those same bracelets that
+at a future time I with my own hands clasped about the wrists of dead
+Userti?
+
+Then he stretched out his hand which she touched with her lips, and
+bending down he kissed her on the brow. Lastly, Pharaoh, descending to
+the lowest step of the throne, laid his sceptre, first upon the head
+of the Prince, and next upon that of the Princess, blessing them both
+in the name of himself, of his Ka or Double, and of the spirits and
+Kas of all their forefathers, kings and queens of Egypt, thus
+appointing them to come after him when he had been gathered to the
+bosom of the gods.
+
+These things done, he departed in state, surrounded by his court,
+preceded and followed by his guards and leaning on the arm of the
+Princess Userti, whom he loved better than anyone in the world.
+
+A while later I stood alone with the Prince in his private chamber,
+where I had first seen him.
+
+"That is finished," he said in a cheerful voice, "and I tell you, Ana,
+that I feel quite, quite happy. Have you ever shivered upon the bank
+of a river of a winter morning, fearing to enter, and yet, when you
+did enter, have you not been pleased to find that the icy water
+refreshed you and made you not cold but hot?"
+
+"Yes, Prince. It is when one comes out of the water, if the wind blows
+and no sun shines, that one feels colder than before."
+
+"True, Ana, and therefore one must not come out. One should stop there
+till one--drowns or is eaten by a crocodile. But, say, did I do it
+well?"
+
+"Old Bakenkhonsu told me, Prince, that he had been present at many
+royal betrothals, I think he said eleven, and had never seen one
+conducted with more grace. He added that the way in which you kissed
+the brow of her Highness was perfect, as was all your demeanour after
+the first argument."
+
+"And so it would remain, Ana, if I were never called upon to do more
+than kiss her brow, to which I have been accustomed from boyhood. Oh!
+Ana, Ana," he added in a kind of cry, "already you are becoming a
+courtier like the rest of them, a courtier who cannot speak the truth.
+Well, nor can I, so why should I blame you? Tell me again all about
+your marriage, Ana, of how it began and how it ended."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE PROPHECY
+
+Whether or no the Prince Seti saw Userti again before the hour of his
+marriage with her I cannot say, because he never told me. Indeed I was
+not present at the marriage, for the reason that I had been granted
+leave to return to Memphis, there to settle my affairs and sell my
+house on entering upon my appointment as private scribe to his
+Highness. Thus it came about that fourteen full days went by from that
+of the holding of the Court of Betrothal before I found myself
+standing once more at the gate of the Prince's palace, attended by a
+servant who led an ass on which were laden all my manuscripts and
+certain possessions that had descended to me from my ancestors with
+the title-deeds of their tombs. Different indeed was my reception on
+this my second coming. Even as I reached the steps the old chamberlain
+Pambasa appeared, running down them so fast that his white robes and
+beard streamed upon the air.
+
+"Greeting, most learned scribe, most honourable Ana," he panted. "Glad
+indeed am I to see you, since very hour his Highness asks if you have
+returned, and blames me because you have not come. Verily I believe
+that if you had stayed upon the road another day I should have been
+sent to look for you, who have had sharp words said to me because I
+did not arrange that you should be accompanied by a guard, as though
+the Vizier Nehesi would have paid the costs of a guard without the
+direct order of Pharaoh. O most excellent Ana, give me of the charm
+which you have doubtless used to win the love of our royal master, and
+I will pay you well for it who find it easier to earn his wrath."
+
+"I will, Pambasa. Here it is--write better stories than I do instead
+of telling them, and he will love you more than he does me. But say--
+how went the marriage? I have heard upon the way that it was very
+splendid."
+
+"Splendid! Oh! it was ten times more than splendid. It was as though
+the god Osiris were once more wed to the goddess Isis in the very
+halls of heaven. Indeed his Highness, the bridegroom, was dressed as a
+god, yes, he wore the robes and the holy ornaments of Amon. And the
+procession! And the feast that Pharaoh gave! I tell you that the
+Prince was so overcome with joy and all this weight of glory that,
+before it was over, looking at him I saw that his eyes were closed,
+being dazzled by the gleam of gold and jewels and the loveliness of
+his royal bride. He told me that it was so himself, fearing perhaps
+lest I should have thought that he was asleep. Then there were the
+presents, something to everyone of us according to his degree. I got--
+well it matters not. And, learned Ana, I did not forget you. Knowing
+well that everything would be gone before you returned I spoke your
+name in the ear of his Highness, offering to keep your gift."
+
+"Indeed, Pambasa, and what did he say?"
+
+"He said that he was keeping it himself. When I stared wondering what
+it might be, for I saw nothing on him, he added, 'It is here,' and
+touched the private signet guard that he has always worn, an ancient
+ring of gold, but of no great value I should say, with 'Beloved of
+Thoth and of the King' cut upon it. It seems that he must take it off
+to make room for another and much finer ring which her Highness has
+given him."
+
+Now, by this time, the ass having been unloaded by the slaves and led
+away, we had passed through the hall where many were idling as ever,
+and were come to the private apartments of the palace.
+
+"This way," said Pambasa. "The orders are that I am to take you to the
+Prince wherever he may be, and just now he is seated in the great
+apartment with her Highness, where they have been receiving homage and
+deputations from distant cities. The last left about half an hour
+ago."
+
+"First I will prepare myself, worthy Pambasa," I began.
+
+"No, no, the orders are instant, I dare not disobey them. Enter," and
+with a courtly flourish he drew a rich curtain.
+
+"By Amon," exclaimed a weary voice which I knew as that of the Prince,
+"here come more councillors or priests. Prepare, my sister, prepare!"
+
+"I pray you, Seti," answered another voice, that of Userti, "to learn
+to call me by my right name, which is no longer sister. Nor, indeed,
+am I your full sister."
+
+"I crave your pardon," said Seti. "Prepare, Royal Wife, prepare!"
+
+By now the curtain was fully drawn and I stood, travel-stained,
+forlorn and, to tell the truth, trembling a little, for I feared her
+Highness, in the doorway, hesitating to pass the threshold. Beyond was
+a splendid chamber full of light, in the centre of which upon a carven
+and golden chair, one of two that were set there, sat her Highness
+magnificently apparelled, faultlessly beautiful and calm. She was
+engaged in studying a painted roll, left no doubt by the last
+deputation, for others similar to it were laid neatly side by side
+upon a table.
+
+The second chair was empty, for the Prince was walking restlessly up
+and down the chamber, his ceremonial robe somewhat disarrayed and the
+ur�us circlet of gold which he wore, tilted back upon his head,
+because of his habit of running his fingers through his brown hair. As
+I still stood in the dark shadow, for Pambasa had left me, and thus
+remained unseen, the talk went on.
+
+"I am prepared, Husband. Pardon me, it is you who look otherwise. Why
+would you dismiss the scribes and the household before the ceremony
+was ended?"
+
+"Because they wearied me," said Seti, "with their continual bowing and
+praising and formalities."
+
+"In which I saw nothing unusual. Now they must be recalled."
+
+"Let whoever it is enter," he exclaimed.
+
+Then I stepped forward into the light, prostrating myself.
+
+"Why," he cried, "it is Ana returned from Memphis! Draw near, Ana, and
+a thousand welcomes to you. Do you know I thought that you were
+another high-priest, or governor of some Nome of which I had never
+heard."
+
+"Ana! Who is Ana?" asked the Princess. "Oh! I remember that scribe
+----. Well, it is plain that he has returned from Memphis," and she
+eyed my dusty robe.
+
+"Royal One," I murmured abashed, "do not blame me that I enter your
+presence thus. Pambasa led me here against my will by the direct order
+of the Prince."
+
+"Is it so? Say, Seti, does this man bring tidings of import from
+Memphis that you needed his presence in such haste?"
+
+"Yes, Userti, at least I think so. You have the writings safe, have
+you not, Ana?"
+
+"Quite safe, your Highness," I answered, though I knew not of what
+writings he spoke, unless they were the manuscripts of my stories.
+
+"Then, my Lord, I will leave you to talk of the tidings from Memphis
+and these writings," said the Princess.
+
+"Yes, yes. We must talk of them, Userti. Also of the journey to the
+land of Goshen on which Ana starts with me to-morrow."
+
+"To-morrow! Why this morning you told me it was fixed for three days
+hence."
+
+"Did I, Sister--I mean Wife? If so, it was because I was not sure
+whether Ana, who is to be my chariot companion, would be back."
+
+"A scribe your chariot companion! Surely it would be more fitting that
+your cousin Amenmeses----"
+
+"To Set with Amenmeses!" he exclaimed. "You know well, Userti, that
+the man is hateful to me with his cunning yet empty talk."
+
+"Indeed! I grieve to hear it, for when you hate you show it, and
+Amenmeses may be a bad enemy. Then if not our cousin Amenmeses who is
+not hateful to me, there is Saptah."
+
+"I thank you; I will not travel in a cage with a jackal."
+
+"Jackal! I do not love Saptah, but one of the royal blood of Egypt a
+jackal! Then there is Nehesi the Vizier, or the General of the escort
+whose name I forget."
+
+"Do you think, Userti, that I wish to talk about state economies with
+that old money-sack, or to listen to boastings of deeds he never did
+in war from a half-bred Nubian butcher?"
+
+"I do not know, Husband. Yet of what will you talk with this Ana? Of
+poems, I suppose, and silliness. Or will it be perchance of Merapi,
+Moon of Israel, whom I gather both of you think so beautiful. Well,
+have your way. You tell me that I am not to accompany you upon this
+journey, I your new-made wife, and now I find that it is because you
+wish my place to be filled by a writer of tales whom you picked up the
+other day--your 'twin in Ra' forsooth! Fare you well, my Lord," and
+she rose from her seat, gathering up her robes with both hands.
+
+Then Seti grew angry.
+
+"Userti," he said, stamping upon the floor, "you should not use such
+words. You know well that I do not take you with me because there may
+be danger yonder among the Hebrews. Moreover, it is not Pharaoh's
+wish."
+
+She turned and answered with cold courtesy:
+
+"Then I crave your pardon and thank you for your kind thought for the
+safety of my person. I knew not this mission was so dangerous. Be
+careful, Seti, that the scribe Ana comes to no harm."
+
+So saying she bowed and vanished through the curtains.
+
+"Ana," said Seti, "tell me, for I never was quick at figures, how many
+minutes is it from now till the fourth hour to-morrow morning when I
+shall order my chariot to be ready? Also, do you know whether it is
+possible to travel from Goshen across the marshes and to return by
+Syria? Or, failing that, to travel across the desert to Thebes and
+sail down the Nile in the spring?"
+
+"Oh! my Prince, my Prince," I said, "I pray you to dismiss me. Let me
+go anywhere out of the reach of her Highness's tongue."
+
+"It is strange how alike we think upon every matter, Ana, even of
+Merapi and the tongues of royal ladies. Hearken to my command. You are
+not to go. If it is a question of going, there are others who will go
+first. Moreover, you cannot go, but must stay and bear your burdens as
+I bear mine. Remember the broken cup, Ana."
+
+"I remember, my Prince, but sooner would I be scourged with rods than
+by such words as those to which I must listen."
+
+Yet that very night, when I had left the Prince, I was destined to
+hear more pleasant words from this same changeful, or perchance
+politic, royal lady. She sent for me and I went, much afraid. I found
+her in a small chamber alone, save for one old lady of honour who sat
+the end of the room and appeared to be deaf, which perhaps was why she
+was chosen. Userti bade me be seated before her very courteously, and
+spoke to me thus, whether because of some talk she had held with the
+Prince or not, I do not know.
+
+"Scribe Ana, I ask your pardon if, being vexed and wearied, I said to
+you and of you to-day what I now wish I had left unsaid. I know well
+that you, being of the gentle blood of Egypt, will make no report of
+what you heard outside these walls."
+
+"May my tongue be cut out first," I answered.
+
+"It seems, Scribe Ana, that my lord the Prince has taken a great love
+of you. How or why this came about so suddenly, you being a man, I do
+not understand, but I am sure that as it is so, it must be because
+there is much in you to love, since never did I know the Prince to
+show deep regard for one who was not most honourable and worthy. Now
+things being so, it is plain that you will become the favourite of his
+Highness, a man who does not change his mind in such matters, and that
+he will tell you all his secret thoughts, perhaps some that he hides
+from the Councillors of State, or even from me. In short you will grow
+into a power in the land and perhaps one day be the greatest in it--
+after Pharaoh--although you may still seem to be but a private scribe.
+
+"I do not pretend to you that I should have wished this to be so, who
+would rather that my husband had but one real councillor--myself. Yet
+seeing that it is so, I bow my head, hoping that it may be decreed for
+the best. If ever any jealousy should overcome me in this matter and I
+should speak sharply to you, as I did to-day, I ask your pardon in
+advance for that which has not happened, as I have asked it for that
+which has happened. I pray of you, Scribe Ana, that you will do your
+best to influence the mind of the Prince for good, since he is easily
+led by any whom he loves. I pray you also being quick and thoughtful,
+as I see you are, that you will make a study of statecraft, and of the
+policies of our royal House, coming to me, if it be needful, for
+instruction therein, so that you may be able to guide the feet of the
+Prince aright, should he turn to you for counsel."
+
+"All of this I will do, your Highness, if by any chance it lies in my
+power, though who am I that I should hope to make a path for the feet
+of kings? Moreover, I would add this, although he is so gentle-
+natured, I think that in the end the Prince is one who will always
+choose his own path."
+
+"It may be so Ana. At the least I thank you. I pray you to be sure
+also that in me you will always have a friend and not an enemy,
+although at times the quickness of my nature, which has never been
+controlled, may lead you to think otherwise. Now I will say one more
+thing that shall be secret between us. I know that the Prince loves me
+as a friend and relative rather than as a wife, and that he would not
+have sought this marriage of himself, as is perhaps natural. I know,
+too, that other women will come into his life, though these may be
+fewer than in the case of most kings, because he is more hard to
+please. Of such I cannot complain, as this is according to the customs
+of our country. I fear only one thing--namely that some woman, ceasing
+to be his toy, may take Seti's heart and make him altogether hers. In
+this matter, Scribe Ana, as in others I ask your help, since I would
+be queen of Egypt in all ways, not in name only."
+
+"Your Highness, how can I say to the Prince--'So much shall you love
+this or that woman and no more?' Moreover, why do you fear that which
+has not and may never come about?"
+
+"I do not know how you can say such a thing, Scribe, still I ask you
+to say it if you can. As to why I fear, it is because I seem to feel
+the near shadow of some woman lying cold upon me and building a wall
+of blackness between his Highness and myself."
+
+"It is but a dream, Princess."
+
+"Mayhap. I hope so. Yet I think otherwise. Oh! Ana, cannot you, who
+study the hearts of men and women, understand my case? I have married
+where I can never hope to be loved as other women are, I who am a
+wife, yet not a wife. I read your thought; it is--why then did you
+marry? Since I have told you so much I will tell you that also. First,
+it is because the Prince is different to other men and in his own
+fashion above them, yes, far above any with whom I could have wed as
+royal heiress of Egypt. Secondly, because being cut off from love,
+what remains to me but ambition? At least I would be a great queen, as
+was Hatshepu in her day, and lift my country out of the many troubles
+in which it is sunk and write my name large upon the books of history,
+which I could only do by taking Pharaoh's heir to husband, as is my
+duty."
+
+She brooded a while, then added, "Now I have shown you all my thought.
+Whether I have been wise to do so the gods know alone and time will
+tell me."
+
+"Princess," I said, "I thank you for trusting me and I will help you
+if I may. Yet I am troubled. I, a humble man if of good blood, who a
+little while ago was but a scribe and a student, a dreamer who had
+known trouble also, have suddenly by chance, or some divine decree,
+been lifted high in the favour of the heir of Egypt, and it would seem
+have even won your trust. Now I wonder how I shall bear myself in this
+new place which in truth I never sought."
+
+"I do not know, who find the present and its troubles enough to carry.
+But, doubtless, the decree of which you speak that set you there has
+also written down what will be the end of all. Meanwhile, I have a
+gift for you. Say, Scribe, have you ever handled any weapon besides a
+pen?"
+
+"Yes, your Highness, as a lad I was skilled in sword play. Moreover,
+though I do not love war and bloodshed, some years ago I fought in the
+great battle between the Ninebow Barbarians, when Pharaoh called upon
+the young men of Memphis to do their part. With my own hands I slew
+two in fair fight, though one nearly brought me to my end," and I
+pointed to a scar which showed red through my grey hair where a spear
+had bitten deep.
+
+"It is well, or so I think, who love soldiers better than stainers of
+papyrus pith."
+
+Then, going to a painted chest of reeds, she took from it a wonderful
+shirt of mail fashioned of bronze rings, and a short sword also of
+bronze, having a golden hilt of which the end was shaped to the
+likeness of the head of a lion, and with her own hands gave them to
+me, saying:
+
+"These are spoils that my grandsire, the great Rameses, took in his
+youth from a prince of the Khitah, whom he smote with his own hands in
+Syria in that battle whereof your grandfather made the poem. Wear the
+shirt, which no spear will pierce, beneath your robe and gird the
+sword about you when you go down yonder among the Israelites, whom I
+do not trust. I have given a like coat to the Prince. Let it be your
+duty to see that it is upon his sacred person day and night. Let it be
+your duty also, if need arises, with this sword to defend him to the
+death. Farewell."
+
+"May all the gods reject me from the Fields of the Blessed if I fail
+in this trust," I answered, and departed wondering, to seek sleep
+which, as it chanced, I was not to find for a while.
+
+For as I went down the corridor, led by one of the ladies of the
+household, whom should I find waiting at the end of it but old Pambasa
+to inform me with many bows that the Prince needed my presence. I
+asked how that could be seeing he had dismissed me for the night. He
+replied that he did not know, but he was commanded to conduct me to
+the private chamber, the same room in which I had first seen his
+Highness. Thither I went and found him warming himself at the fire,
+for the night was cold. Looking up he bade Pambasa admit those who
+were waiting, then noting the shirt of mail and the sword I carried in
+my hand, said:
+
+"You have been with the Princess, have you not, and she must have had
+much to say to you for your talk was long? Well, I think I can guess
+its purport who from a child have known her mind. She told you to
+watch me well, body and heart and all that comes from the heart--oh!
+and much else. Also she gave you that Syrian gear to wear among the
+Hebrews as she has given the like to me, being of a careful mind which
+foresees everything. Now, hearken, Ana; I grieve to keep you from your
+rest, who must be weary both with talk and travel. But old
+Bakenkhonsu, whom you know, waits without, and with him Ki the great
+magician, whom I think you have not seen. He is a man of wonderful
+lore and in some ways not altogether human. At least he does strange
+feats of magic, and at times both the past and the future seem to be
+open to his sight, though as we know neither the one nor the other,
+who can tell whether he reads them truly. Doubtless he has, or thinks
+he has, some message to me from the heavens, which I thought you might
+wish to hear."
+
+"I wish it much, Prince, if I am worthy, and you will protect me from
+the anger of this magician whom I fear."
+
+"Anger sometimes turns to trust, Ana. Did you not find it so just now
+in the case of her Highness, as I told you might very well happen?
+Hush! They come. Be seated and prepare your tablets to make record of
+what they say."
+
+The curtains were drawn and through them came the aged Bakenkhonsu
+leaning upon his staff, and with him another man, Ki himself, clad in
+a white robe and having his head shaven, for he was an hereditary
+priest of Amon of Thebes and an initiate of Isis, Mother of Mysteries.
+Also his office was that of Kherheb, or chief magician of Egypt. At
+first sight there was nothing strange about this man. Indeed, he might
+well have been a middle-aged merchant by his looks; in body he was
+short and stout; in face fat and smiling. But in this jovial
+countenance were set two very strange eyes, grey-hued rather than
+black. While the rest of the face seemed to smile these eyes looked
+straight into nothingness as do those of a statue. Indeed they were
+like to the eyes or rather the eye-places of a stone statue, so deeply
+were they set into the head. For my part I can only say I thought them
+awful, and by their look judged that whatever Ki might be he was no
+cheat.
+
+This strange pair bowed to the Prince and seated themselves at a sign
+from him, Bakenkhonsu upon a stool because he found it difficult to
+rise, and Ki, who was younger, scribe fashion on the ground.
+
+"What did I tell you, Bakenkhonsu?" said Ki in a full, rich voice,
+ending the words with a curious chuckle.
+
+"You told me, Magician, that we should find the Prince in this chamber
+of which you described every detail to me as I see it now, although
+neither of us have entered it before. You said also that seated
+therein on the ground would be the scribe Ana, whom I know but you do
+not, having in his hands waxen tablets and a stylus and by him a coat
+of curious mail and a lion-hilted sword."
+
+"That is strange," interrupted the Prince, "but forgive me,
+Bakenkhonsu sees these things. If you, O Ki, would tell us what is
+written upon Ana's tablets which neither of you can see, it would be
+stranger still, that is if anything is written."
+
+Ki smiled and stared upwards at the ceiling. Presently he said:
+
+"The scribe Ana uses a shorthand of his own that is not easy to
+decipher. Yet I see written on the tablets the price he obtained for
+some house in a city that is not named--it is so much. Also I see the
+sums he disbursed for himself, a servant, and the food of an ass at
+two inns where he stopped upon a journey. They are so much and so
+much. Also there is a list of papyrus rolls and the words, 'blue
+cloak,' and then an erasure."
+
+"Is that right, Ana?" asked the Prince.
+
+"Quite right," I answered with awe, "only the words 'blue cloak,'
+which it is true I wrote upon the tablet, have also been erased."
+
+Ki chuckled and turned his eyes from the ceiling to my face.
+
+"Would your Highness wish me to tell you anything of what is written
+upon the tablets of this scribe's memory as well as upon those of wax
+which he holds in his hand? They are easier to decipher than the
+others and I see on them many things of interest. For instance, secret
+words that seem to have been said to him by some Great One within an
+hour, matters of high policy, I think. For instance, a certain saying,
+I think of your Highness's, as to shivering upon the edge of water on
+a cold day, which when entered produced heat, and the answer thereto.
+For instance, words that were spoken in this palace when an alabaster
+cup was broke. By the way, Scribe, that was a very good place you
+chose in which to hide one half of the cup in the false bottom of a
+chest in your chamber, a chest that is fastened with a cord and sealed
+with a scarab of the time of the second Rameses. I think that the
+other half of the cup is somewhat nearer at hand," and turning, he
+stared at the wall where I could see nothing save slabs of alabaster.
+
+Now I sat open-mouthed, for how could this man know these things, and
+the Prince laughed outright, saying:
+
+"Ana, I begin to think you keep your counsel ill. At least I should
+think so, were it not that you have had no time to tell what the
+Princess yonder may have said to you, and can scarcely know the trick
+of the sliding panel in that wall which I have never shown to you."
+
+Ki chuckled again and a smile grew on old Bakenkhonsu's broad and
+wrinkled face.
+
+"O Prince," I began, "I swear to you that never has one word passed my
+lips of aught----"
+
+"I know it, friend," broke in the Prince, "but it seems there are some
+who do not wait for words but can read the Book of Thought. Therefore
+it is not well to meet them too often, since all have thoughts that
+should be known only to them and God. Magician, what is your business
+with me? Speak on as though we were alone."
+
+"This, Prince. You go upon a journey among the Hebrews, as all have
+heard. Now, Bakenkhonsu and I, also two seers of my College, seeing
+that we all love you and that your welfare is much to Egypt, have
+separately sought out the future as regards the issue of this journey.
+Although what we have learned differs in some matters, on others it is
+the same. Therefore we thought it our duty to tell you what we have
+learned."
+
+"Say on, Kherheb."
+
+"First, then, that your Highness's life will be in danger."
+
+"Life is always in danger, Ki. Shall I lose it? If so, do not fear to
+tell me."
+
+"We do not know, but we think not, because of the rest that is
+revealed to us. We learn that it is not your body only that will be in
+danger. Upon this journey you will see a woman whom you will come to
+love. This woman will, we think, bring you much sorrow and also much
+joy."
+
+"Then perhaps the journey is worth making, Ki, since many travel far
+before they find aught they can love. Tell me, have I met this woman?"
+
+"There we are troubled, Prince, for it would seem--unless we are
+deceived--that you have met her often and often; that you have known
+her for thousands of years, as you have known that man at your side
+for thousands of years."
+
+Seti's face grew very interested.
+
+"What do you mean, Magician?" he asked, eyeing him keenly. "How can I
+who am still young have known a woman and a man for thousands of
+years?"
+
+Ki considered him with his strange eyes, and answered:
+
+"You have many titles, Prince. Is not one of them 'Lord of Rebirths,'
+and if so, how did you get it and what does it mean?"
+
+"It is. What it means I do not know, but it was given to me because of
+some dream that my mother had the night before I was born. Do /you/
+tell /me/ what it means, since you seem to know so much."
+
+"I cannot, Prince. The secret is not one that has been shown to me.
+Yet there was an aged man, a magician like myself from whom I learned
+much in my youth--Bakenkhonsu knew him well--who made a study of this
+matter. He told me he was sure, because it had been revealed to him,
+that men do not live once only and then depart hence for ever. He said
+that they live many times and in many shapes, though not always on
+this world, and that between each life there is a wall of darkness."
+
+"If so, of what use are lives which we do not remember after death has
+shut the door of each of them?"
+
+"The doors may open again at last, Prince, and show us all the
+chambers through which our feet have wandered from the beginning."
+
+"Our religion teaches us, Ki, that after death we live eternally
+elsewhere in our own bodies, which we find again on the day of
+resurrection. Now eternity, having no end, can have no beginning; it
+is a circle. Therefore if the one be true, namely that we live on, it
+would seem that the other must be true, namely that we have always
+lived."
+
+"That is well reasoned, Prince. In the early days, before the priests
+froze the thought of man into blocks of stone and built of them
+shrines to a thousand gods, many held that this reasoning was true, as
+then they held that there was but one god."
+
+"As do these Israelites whom I go to visit. What say you of their god,
+Ki?"
+
+"That /he/ is the same as our gods, Prince. To men's eyes God has many
+faces, and each swears that the one he sees is the only true god. Yet
+they are wrong, for all are true."
+
+"Or perchance false, Ki, unless even falsehood is a part of truth.
+Well, you have told me of two dangers, one to my body and one to my
+heart. Has any other been revealed to your wisdom?"
+
+"Yes, Prince. The third is that this journey may in the end cost you
+your throne."
+
+"If I die certainly it will cost me my throne."
+
+"No, Prince, if you live."
+
+"Even so, Ki, I think that I could endure life seated more humbly than
+on a throne, though whether her Highness could endure it is another
+matter. Then you say that if I go upon this journey another will be
+Pharaoh in my place."
+
+"We do not say that, Prince. It is true that our arts have shown us
+another filling your place in a time of wizardry and wonders and of
+the death of thousands. Yet when we look again we see not that other
+but you once more filling your own place."
+
+Here I, Ana, bethought me of my vision in Pharaoh's hall.
+
+"The matter is even worse than I thought, Ki, since having once left
+the crown behind me, I think that I should have no wish to wear it any
+more," said Seti. "Who shows you all these things, and how?"
+
+"Our /Kas/, which are our secret selves, show them to us, Prince, and
+in many ways. Sometimes it is by dreams or visions, sometimes by
+pictures on water, sometimes by writings in the desert sand. In all
+these fashions, and by others, our /Kas/, drawing from the infinite
+well of wisdom that is hidden in the being of every man, give us
+glimpses of the truth, as they give us who are instructed power to
+work marvels."
+
+"Of the truth. Then these things you tell me are true?"
+
+"We believe so, Prince."
+
+"Then being true must happen. So what is the use of your warning me
+against what must happen? There cannot be two truths. What would you
+have me do? Not go upon this journey? Why have you told me that I must
+not go, since if I did not go the truth would become a lie, which it
+cannot? You say it is fated that I should go and because I go such and
+such things will come about. And yet you tell me not to go, for that
+is what you mean. Oh! Kherheb Ki and Bakenkhonsu, doubtless you are
+great magicians and strong in wisdom, but there are greater than you
+who rule the world, and there is a wisdom to which yours is but as a
+drop of water to the Nile. I thank you for your warnings, but
+to-morrow I go down to the land of Goshen to fulfil the commands of
+Pharaoh. If I come back again we will talk more of these matters here
+upon the earth. If I do not come back, perchance we will talk of them
+elsewhere. Farewell."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE LAND OF GOSHEN
+
+The Prince Seti and all his train, a very great company, came in
+safety to the land of Goshen, I, Ana, travelling with him in his
+chariot. It was then as now a rich land, quite flat after the last
+line of desert hills through which we travelled by a narrow, tortuous
+path. Everywhere it was watered by canals, between which lay the grain
+fields wherein the seed had just been sown. Also there were other
+fields of green fodder whereon were tethered beasts by the hundred,
+and beyond these, upon the drier soil, grazed flocks of sheep. The
+town Goshen, if so it could be called, was but a poor place, numbers
+of mud huts, no more, in the centre of which stood a building, also of
+mud, with two brick pillars in front of it, that we were told was the
+temple of this people, into the inner parts of which none might enter
+save their High-priest. I laughed at the sight of it, but the Prince
+reproved me, saying that I should not judge the spirit by the body, or
+of the god by his house.
+
+We camped outside this town and soon learned that the people who dwelt
+in it or elsewhere in other towns must be numbered by the ten
+thousand, for more of them than I could count wandered round the camp
+to look at us. The men were fierce-eyed and hook-nosed; the young
+women well-shaped and pleasant to behold; the older women for the most
+part stout and somewhat unwieldy, and the children very beautiful. All
+were roughly clad in robes of loosely-woven, dark-coloured cloth,
+beneath which the women wore garments of white linen. Notwithstanding
+the wealth we saw about us in corn and cattle, their ornaments seemed
+to be few, or perhaps these were hidden from our sight.
+
+It was easy to see that they hated us Egyptians, and even dared to
+despise us. Hate shone in their glittering eyes, and I heard them
+calling us the 'idol-worshippers' one to the other, and asking where
+was our god, the Bull, for being ignorant they thought that we
+worshipped Apis (as mayhap some of the common people do) instead of
+looking upon the sacred beast as a symbol of the powers of Nature.
+Indeed they did more, for on the first night after our coming they
+slaughtered a bull marked much as Apis is, and in the morning we found
+it lying near the gate of the camp, and pinned to its hide with sharp
+thorns great numbers of the scarab�us beetle still living. For again
+they did not know that among us Egyptians this beetle is no god but an
+emblem of the Creator, because it rolls a ball of mud between its feet
+and sets therein its eggs to hatch, as the Creator rolls the world
+that seems to be round, and causes it to produce life.
+
+Now all were angry at these insults except the Prince, who laughed and
+said that he thought the jest coarse but clever. But worse was to
+happen. It seems that a soldier with wine in him had done insult to a
+Hebrew maiden who came alone to draw water at a canal. The news spread
+among the people and some thousands of them rushed to the camp,
+shouting and demanding vengeance in so threatening a manner that it
+was necessary to form up the regiments of guards.
+
+The Prince being summoned commanded that the girl and her kin should
+be admitted and state their case. She came, weeping and wailing and
+tearing her garments, throwing dust on her head also, though it
+appeared that she had taken no great harm from the soldier from whom
+she ran away. The Prince bade her point out the man if she could see
+him, and she showed us one of the bodyguard of the Count Amenmeses,
+whose face was scratched as though by a woman's nails. On being
+questioned he said he could remember little of the matter, but
+confessed that he had seen the maiden by the canal at moonrise and
+jested with her.
+
+The kin of this girl clamoured that he should be killed, because he
+had offered insult to a high-born lady of Israel. This Seti refused,
+saying that the offence was not one of death, but that he would order
+him to be publicly beaten. Thereupon Amenmeses, who was fond of the
+soldier, a good man enough when not in his cups, sprang up in a rage,
+saying that no servant of his should be touched because he had offered
+to caress some light Israelitish woman who had no business to be
+wandering about alone at night. He added that if the man were flogged
+he and all those under his command would leave the camp and march back
+to make report to Pharaoh.
+
+Now the Prince, having consulted with the councillors, told the woman
+and her kin that as Pharaoh had been appealed to, he must judge of the
+matter, and commanded them to appear at his court within a month and
+state their case against the soldier. They went away very ill-
+satisfied, saying that Amenmeses had insulted their daughter even more
+than his servant had done. The end of this matter was that on the
+following night this soldier was discovered dead, pierced through and
+through with knife thrusts. The girl, her parents and brethren could
+not be found, having fled away into the desert, nor was there any
+evidence to show by whom the soldier had been murdered. Therefore
+nothing could be done in the business except bury the victim.
+
+On the following morning the Inquiry began with due ceremony, the
+Prince Seti and the Count Amenmeses taking their seats at the head of
+a large pavilion with the councillors behind them and the scribes,
+among whom I was, seated at their feet. Then we learned that the two
+prophets whom I had seen at Pharaoh's court were not in the land of
+Goshen, having left before we arrived "to sacrifice to God in the
+wilderness," nor did any know when they would return. Other elders and
+priests, however, appeared and began to set out their case, which they
+did at great length and in a fierce and turbulent fashion, speaking
+often all of them at once, thus making it difficult for the
+interpreters to render their words, since they pretended that they did
+not know the Egyptian tongue.
+
+Moreover they told their story from the very beginning, when they had
+entered Egypt hundreds of years before and were succoured by the
+vizier of the Pharaoh of that day, one Yusuf, a powerful and clever
+man of their race who stored corn in a time of famine and low Niles.
+This Pharaoh was of the Hyksos people, one of the Shepherd kings whom
+we Egyptians hated and after many wars drove out of Khem. Under these
+Shepherd kings, being joined by many of their own blood, the
+Israelites grew rich and powerful, so that the Pharaohs who came after
+and who loved them not, began to fear them.
+
+This was as far as the story was taken on the first day.
+
+On the second day began the tale of their oppression, under which,
+however, they still multiplied like gnats upon the Nile, and grew so
+strong and numerous that at length the great Rameses did a wicked
+thing, ordering that their male children should be put to death. This
+order was never carried out, because his daughter, she who found Moses
+among the reeds of the river, pleaded for them.
+
+At this point the Prince, wearied with the noise and heat in that
+crowded place, broke off the sitting until the morrow. Commanding me
+to accompany him, he ordered a chariot, not his own, to be made ready,
+and, although I prayed him not to do so, set out unguarded save for
+myself and the charioteer, saying that he would see how these people
+laboured with his own eyes.
+
+Taking a Hebrew lad to run before the horses as our guide, we drove to
+the banks of a canal where the Israelites made bricks of mud which,
+after drying in the sun, were laden into boats that waited for them on
+the canal and taken away to other parts of Egypt to be used on
+Pharaoh's works. Thousands of men were engaged upon this labour,
+toiling in gangs under the command of Egyptian overseers who kept
+count of the bricks, cutting their number upon tally sticks, or
+sometimes writing them upon sherds. These overseers were brutal
+fellows, for the most part of the low class, who used vile language to
+the slaves. Nor were they content with words. Noting a crowd gathered
+at one place and hearing cries, we went to see what passed. Here we
+found a lad stretched upon the ground being cruelly beaten with hide
+whips, so that the blood ran down him. At a sign from the Prince I
+asked what he had done and was told roughly, for the overseers and
+their guards did not know who we were, that during the past six days
+he had only made half of his allotted tale of bricks.
+
+"Loose him," said the Prince quietly.
+
+"Who are you that give me orders?" asked the head overseer, who was
+helping to hold the lad while the guards flogged him. "Begone, lest I
+serve you as I serve this idle fellow."
+
+Seti looked at him, and as he looked his lips turned white.
+
+"Tell him," he said to me.
+
+"You dog!" I gasped. "Do you know who it is to whom you dare to speak
+thus?"
+
+"No, nor care. Lay on, guard."
+
+The Prince, whose robes were hidden by a wide-sleeved cloak of common
+stuff and make, threw the cloak open revealing beneath it the pectoral
+he had worn in the Court, a beautiful thing of gold whereon were
+inscribed his royal names and titles in black and red enamel. Also he
+held up his right hand on which was a signet of Pharaoh's that he wore
+as his commissioner. The men stared, then one of them who was more
+learned than the rest cried:
+
+"By the gods! this is his Highness the Prince of Egypt!" at which
+words all of them fell upon their faces.
+
+"Rise," said Seti to the lad who looked at him, forgetting his pain in
+his wonderment, "and tell me why you have not delivered your tale of
+bricks."
+
+"Sir," sobbed the boy in bad Egyptian, 'for two reasons. First,
+because I am a cripple, see," and he held up his left arm which was
+withered and thin as a mummy's, "and therefore cannot work quickly.
+Secondly, because my mother, whose only child I am, is a widow and
+lies sick in bed, so that there are no women or children in our home
+who can go out to gather straw for me, as Pharaoh has commanded that
+we should do. Therefore I must spend many hours in searching for
+straw, since I have no means wherewith to pay others to do this for
+me."
+
+"Ana," said the Prince, "write down this youth's name with the place
+of his abode, and if his tale prove true, see that his wants and those
+of his mother are relieved before we depart from Goshen. Write down
+also the names of this overseer and his fellows and command them to
+report themselves at my camp to-morrow at sunrise, when their case
+shall be considered. Say to the lad also that, being one afflicted by
+the gods, Pharaoh frees him from the making of bricks and all other
+labour of the State."
+
+Now while I did these things the overseer and his companions beat
+their heads upon the ground and prayed for mercy, being cowards as the
+cruel always are. His Highness answered them never a word, but only
+looked at them with cold eyes, and I noted that his face which was so
+kind had grown terrible. So those men thought also, for that night
+they ran away to Syria, leaving their families and all their goods
+behind them, nor were they ever seen again in Egypt.
+
+When I had finished writing the Prince turned and, walking to where
+the chariot waited, bade the driver cross the canal by a bridge there
+was here. We drove on a while in silence, following a track which ran
+between the cultivated land and the desert. At length I pointed to the
+sinking sun and asked if it were not time to return.
+
+"Why?" replied the Prince. "The sun dies, but there rises the full
+moon to give us light, and what have we to fear with swords at our
+sides and her Highness Userti's mail beneath our robes? Oh! Ana, I am
+weary of men with their cruelties and shouts and strugglings, and I
+find this wilderness a place of rest, for in it I seem to draw nearer
+to my own soul and the Heaven whence it came, or so I hope."
+
+"Your Highness is fortunate to have a soul to which he cares to draw
+near; it is not so with all of us"; I answered laughing, for I sought
+to change the current of his thoughts by provoking argument of a sort
+that he loved.
+
+Just then, however, the horses, which were not of the best, came to a
+halt on a slope of heavy sand. Nor would Seti allow the driver to flog
+them, but commanded him to let them rest a space. While they did so we
+descended from the chariot and walked up the desert rise, he leaning
+on my arm. As we reached its crest we heard sobs and a soft voice
+speaking on the further side. Who it was that spoke and sobbed we
+could not see, because of a line of tamarisk shrubs which once had
+been a fence.
+
+"More cruelty, or at least more sorrow," whispered Seti. "Let us
+look."
+
+So we crept to the tamarisks, and peeping through their feathery tops,
+saw a very sweet sight in the pure rays of that desert moon. There,
+not five paces away, stood a woman clad in white, young and shapely in
+form. Her face we could not see because it was turned from us, also
+the long dark hair which streamed about her shoulders hid it. She was
+praying aloud, speaking now in Hebrew, of which both of us knew
+something, and now in Egyptian, as does one who is accustomed to think
+in either tongue, and stopping from time to time to sob.
+
+"O God of my people," she said, "send me succour and bring me safe
+home, that Thy child may not be left alone in the wilderness to become
+the prey of wild beasts, or of men who are worse than beasts."
+
+Then she sobbed, knelt down on a great bundle which I saw was stubble
+straw, and again began to pray. This time it was in Egyptian, as
+though she feared lest the Hebrew should be overheard and understood.
+
+"O God," she said, "O God of my fathers, help my poor heart, help my
+poor heart!"
+
+We were about to withdraw, or rather to ask her what she ailed, when
+suddenly she turned her head, so that the light fell full upon her
+face. So lovely was it that I caught my breath and the Prince at my
+side started. Indeed it was more than lovely, for as a lamp shines
+through an alabaster vase or a shell of pearl so did the spirit within
+this woman shine through her tear-stained face, making it mysterious
+as the night. Then I understood, perhaps for the first time, that it
+is the spirit which gives true beauty both to maid and man and not the
+flesh. The white vase of alabaster, however shapely, is still a vase
+alone; it is the hidden lamp within that graces it with the glory of a
+star. And those eyes, those large, dreaming eyes aswim with tears and
+hued like richest lapis-lazuli, oh! what man could look on them and
+not be stirred?
+
+"Merapi!" I whispered.
+
+"Moon of Israel!" murmured Seti, "filled with the moon, lovely as the
+moon, mystic as the moon and worshipping the moon, her mother."
+
+"She is in trouble; let us help her," I said.
+
+"Nay, wait a while, Ana, for never again shall you and I see such a
+sight as this."
+
+Low as we spoke beneath our breath, I think the lady heard us. At
+least her face changed and grew frightened. Hastily she rose, lifted
+the great bundle of straw upon which she had been kneeling and placed
+it on her head. She ran a few steps, then stumbled and sank down with
+a little moan of pain. In an instant we were at her side. She stared
+at us affrighted, for who we were she could not see because of the
+wide hoods of our common cloaks that made us look like midnight
+thieves, or slave-dealing Bedouin.
+
+"Oh! Sirs," she babbled, "harm me not. I have nothing of value on me
+save this amulet."
+
+"Who are you and what do you here?" asked the Prince disguising his
+voice.
+
+"Sirs, I am Merapi, the daughter of Nathan the Levite, he whom the
+accursed Egyptian captain, Khuaka, murdered at Tanis."
+
+"How do you dare to call the Egyptians accursed?" asked Seti in tones
+made gruff to hide his laughter.
+
+"Oh! Sirs, because they are--I mean because I thought you were Arabs
+who hate them, as we do. At least this Egyptian was accursed, for the
+high Prince Seti, Pharaoh's heir, caused him to be beheaded for that
+crime."
+
+"And do you hate the high Prince Seti, Pharaoh's heir, and call him
+accursed?"
+
+She hesitated, then in a doubtful voice said:
+
+"No, I do not hate him."
+
+"Why not, seeing that you hate the Egyptians of whom he is one of the
+first and therefore twice worthy of hatred, being the son of your
+oppressor, Pharaoh?"
+
+"Because, although I have tried my best, I cannot. Also," she added
+with the joy of one who has found a good reason, "he avenged my
+father."
+
+"This is no cause, girl, seeing that he only did what the law forced
+him to do. They say that this dog of a Pharaoh's son is here in Goshen
+upon some mission. Is it true, and have you seen him? Answer, for we
+of the desert folk desire to know."
+
+"I believe it is true, Sir, but I have not seen him."
+
+"Why not, if he is here?"
+
+"Because I do not wish to, Sir. Why should a daughter of Israel desire
+to look upon the face of a prince of Egypt?"
+
+"In truth I do not know," replied Seti forgetting his feigned voice.
+Then, seeing that she glanced at him sharply, he added in gruff tones:
+
+"Brother, either this woman lies or she is none other than the maid
+they call Moon of Israel who dwells with old Jabez the Levite, her
+uncle. What think you?"
+
+"I think, Brother, that she lies, and for three reasons," I answered,
+falling into the jest. "First, she is too fair to be of the black
+Hebrew blood."
+
+"Oh! Sir," moaned Merapi, "my mother was a Syrian lady of the
+mountains, with a skin as white as milk, and eyes blue as the
+heavens."
+
+"Secondly," I went on without heeding her, "if the great Prince Seti
+is really in Goshen and she dwells there, it is unnatural that she
+should not have gone to look upon him. Being a woman only two things
+would have kept her away, one--that she feared and hated him, which
+she denies, and the other--that she liked him too well, and, being
+prudent, thought it wisest not to look upon him more."
+
+When she heard the first of these words, Merapi glanced up with her
+lips parted as though to answer. Instead, she dropped her eyes and
+suddenly seemed to choke, while even in the moonlight I saw the red
+blood pour to her brow and along her white arms.
+
+"Sir," she gasped, "why should you affront me? I swear that never till
+this moment did I think such a thing. Surely it would be treason."
+
+"Without doubt," interrupted Seti, "yet one of a sort that kings might
+pardon."
+
+"Thirdly," I went on as though I had heard neither of them, "if this
+girl were what she declares, she would not be wandering alone in the
+desert at night, seeing that I have heard among the Arabs that Merapi,
+daughter of Nathan the Levite, is a lady of no mean blood among the
+Hebrews and that her family has wealth. Still, however much she lies,
+we can see for ourselves that she is beautiful."
+
+"Yes, Brother, in that we are fortunate, since without doubt she will
+sell for a high price among the slave traders beyond the desert."
+
+"Oh! Sir," cried Merapi seizing the hem of his robe, "surely you who I
+feel, I know not why, are no evil thief, you who have a mother and,
+perchance, sisters, would not doom a maiden to such a fate. Misjudge
+me not because I am alone. Pharaoh has commanded that we must find
+straw for the making of bricks. This morning I came far to search for
+it on behalf of a neighbour whose wife is ill in childbed. But towards
+sundown I slipped and cut myself upon the edge of a sharp stone. See,"
+and holding up her foot she showed a wound beneath the instep from
+which the blood still dropped, a sight that moved both of us not a
+little, "and now I cannot walk and carry this heavy straw which I have
+been at such pains to gather."
+
+"Perchance she speaks truth, Brother," said the Prince, "and if we
+took her home we might earn no small reward from Jabez the Levite. But
+first tell me, Maiden, what was that prayer which you made to the
+moon, that Hathor should help your heart?"
+
+"Sir," she answered, "only the idolatrous Egyptians pray to Hathor,
+the Lady of Love."
+
+"I thought that all the world prayed to the Lady of Love, Maiden. But
+what of the prayer? Is there some man whom you desire?"
+
+"None," she answered angrily.
+
+"Then why does your heart need so much help that you ask it of the
+air? Is there perchance someone whom you do /not/ desire?"
+
+She hung her head and made no answer.
+
+"Come, Brother," said the Prince, "this lady is weary of us, and I
+think that if she were a true woman she would answer our questions
+more readily. Let us go and leave her. As she cannot walk we can take
+her later if we wish."
+
+"Sirs," she said, "I am glad that you are going, since the hyenas will
+be safer company than two men who can threaten to sell a helpless
+woman into slavery. Yet as we part to meet no more I will answer your
+question. In the prayer to which you were not ashamed to listen I did
+not pray for any lover, I prayed to be rid of one."
+
+"Now, Ana," said the Prince bursting into laughter and throwing back
+his dark cloak, "do you discover the name of that unhappy man of whom
+the lady Merapi wishes to be rid, for I dare not."
+
+She gazed into his face and uttered a little cry.
+
+"Ah!" she said, "I thought I knew the voice again when once you forget
+your part. Prince Seti, does your Highness think that this was a kind
+jest to practise upon one alone and in fear?"
+
+"Lady Merapi," he answered smiling, "be not wroth, for at least it was
+a good one and you have told us nothing that we did not know. You may
+remember that at Tanis you said that you were affianced and there was
+that in your voice----. Suffer me now to tend this wound of yours."
+
+Then he knelt down, tore a strip from his ceremonial robe of fine
+linen, and began to bind up her foot, not unskilfully, being a man
+full of strange and unexpected knowledge. As he worked at the task,
+watching them, I saw their eyes meet, saw too that rich flood of
+colour creep once more to Merapi's brow. Then I began to think it
+unseemly that the Prince of Egypt should play the leech to a woman's
+hurts, and to wonder why he had not left that humble task to me.
+
+Presently the bandaging was done and made fast with a royal scarab�us
+mounted on a pin of gold, which the Prince wore in his garments. On it
+was cut the ur�us crown and beneath it were the signs which read "Lord
+of the Lower and the Upper Land," being Pharaoh's style and title.
+
+"See now, Lady," he said, "you have Egypt beneath your foot," and when
+she asked him what he meant, he read her the writing upon the jewel,
+whereat for the third time she coloured to the eyes. Then he lifted
+her up, instructing her to rest her weight upon his shoulder, saying
+he feared lest the scarab, which he valued, should be broken.
+
+Thus we started, I bearing the bundle of straw behind as he bade me,
+since, he said, having been gathered with such toil, it must not be
+lost. On reaching the chariot, where we found the guide gone and the
+driver asleep, he sat her in it upon his cloak, and wrapped her in
+mine which he borrowed, saying I should not need it who must carry the
+straw. Then he mounted also and they drove away at a foot's pace. As I
+walked after the chariot with the straw that fell about my ears, I
+heard nothing of their further talk, if indeed they talked at all
+which, the driver being present, perhaps they did not. Nor in truth
+did I listen who was engaged in thought as to the hard lot of these
+poor Hebrews, who must collect this dirty stuff and bear it so far,
+made heavy as it was by the clay that clung about the roots.
+
+Even now, as it chanced, we did not reach Goshen without further
+trouble. Just as we had crossed the bridge over the canal I, toiling
+behind, saw in the clear moonlight a young man running towards us. He
+was a Hebrew, tall, well-made and very handsome in his fashion. His
+eyes were dark and fierce, his nose was hooked, his teeth where
+regular and white, and his long, black hair hung down in a mass upon
+his shoulders. He held a wooden staff in his hand and a naked knife
+was girded about his middle. Seeing the chariot he halted and peered
+at it, then asked in Hebrew if those who travelled had seen aught of a
+young Israelitish lady who was lost.
+
+"If you seek me, Laban, I am here," replied Merapi, speaking from the
+shadow of the cloak.
+
+"What do you there alone with an Egyptian, Merapi?" he said fiercely.
+
+What followed I do not know for they spoke so quickly in their
+unfamiliar tongue that I could not understand them. At length Merapi
+turned to the Prince, saying:
+
+"Lord, this is Laban my affianced, who commands me to descend from the
+chariot and accompany him as best I can."
+
+"And I, Lady, command you to stay in it. Laban your affianced can
+accompany us."
+
+Now at this Laban grew angry, as I could see he was prone to do, and
+stretched out his hand as though to push Seti aside and seize Merapi.
+
+"Have a care, man,' said the Prince, while I, throwing down the straw,
+drew my sword and sprang between them, crying:
+
+"Slave, would you lay hands upon the Prince of Egypt?"
+
+"Prince of Egypt!" he said, drawing back astonished, then added
+sullenly, "Well what does the Prince of Egypt with my affianced?"
+
+"He helps her who is hurt to her home, having found her helpless in
+the desert with this accursed straw," I answered.
+
+"Forward, driver," said the Prince, and Merapi added, "Peace, Laban,
+and bear the straw which his Highness's companion has carried such a
+weary way."
+
+He hesitated a moment, then snatched up the bundle and set it on his
+head.
+
+As we walked side by side, his evil temper seemed to get the better of
+him. Without ceasing, he grumbled because Merapi was alone in the
+chariot with an Egyptian. At length I could bear it no longer.
+
+"Be silent, fellow," I said. "Least of all men should you complain of
+what his Highness does, seeing that already he has avenged the killing
+of this lady's father, and now has saved her from lying out all night
+among the wild beasts and men of the wilderness."
+
+"Of the first I have heard more than enough," he answered, "and of the
+second doubtless I shall hear more than enough also. Ever since my
+affianced met this prince, she has looked on me with different eyes
+and spoken to me with another voice. Yes, and when I press for
+marriage, she says it cannot be for a long while yet, because she is
+mourning for her father; her father forsooth, whom she never forgave
+because he betrothed her to me according to the custom of our people."
+
+"Perhaps she loves some other man?" I queried, wishing to learn all I
+could about this lady.
+
+"She loves no man, or did not a while ago. She loves herself alone."
+
+"One with so much beauty may look high in marriage."
+
+"High!" he replied furiously. "How can she look higher than myself who
+am a lord of the line of Judah, and therefore greater far than an
+upstart prince or any other Egyptian, were he Pharaoh himself?"
+
+"Surely you must be trumpeter to your tribe," I mocked, for my temper
+was rising.
+
+"Why?" he asked. "Are not the Hebrews greater than the Egyptians, as
+those oppressors soon shall learn, and is not a lord of Israel more
+than any idol-worshipper among your people?"
+
+I looked at the man clad in mean garments and foul from his labour in
+the brickfield, marvelling at his insolence. There was no doubt but
+that he believed what he said; I could see it in his proud eye and
+bearing. He thought that his tribe was of more import in the world
+than our great and ancient nation, and that he, an unknown youth,
+equalled or surpassed Pharaoh himself. Then, being enraged by these
+insults, I answered:
+
+"You say so, but let us put it to the proof. I am but a scribe, yet I
+have seen war. Linger a little that we may learn whether a lord of
+Israel is better than a scribe of Egypt."
+
+"Gladly would I chastise you, Writer," he answered, "did I not see
+your plot. You wish to delay me here, and perhaps to murder me by some
+foul means, while your master basks in the smiles of the Moon of
+Israel. Therefore I will not stay, but another time it shall be as you
+wish, and perhaps ere long."
+
+Now I think that I should have struck him in the face, though I am not
+one of those who love brawling. But at this moment there appeared a
+company of Egyptian horse led by none other than the Count Amenmeses.
+Seeing the Prince in the Chariot, they halted and gave the salute.
+Amenmeses leapt to the ground.
+
+"We are come out to search for your Highness," he said, "fearing lest
+some hurt had befallen you."
+
+"I thank you, Cousin," answered the Prince, "but the hurt has befallen
+another, not me."
+
+"That is well, your Highness," said the Count, studying Merapi with a
+smile. "Where is the lady wounded? Not in the breast, I trust."
+
+"No, Cousin, in the foot, which is why she travels with me in this
+chariot."
+
+"Your Highness was ever kind to the unfortunate. I pray you let me
+take your place, or suffer me to set this girl upon a horse."
+
+"Drive on," said Seti.
+
+So, escorted by the soldiers, whom I heard making jests to each other
+about the Prince and the lady, as I think did the Hebrew Laban also,
+for he glared about him and ground his teeth, we came at last to the
+town. Here, guided by Merapi, the chariot was halted at the house of
+Jabez her uncle, a white-bearded old Hebrew with a cunning eye, who
+rushed from the door of his mud-roofed dwelling crying he had done no
+harm that soldiers should come to take him.
+
+"It is not you whom the Egyptians wish to capture, it is your niece
+and my betrothed," shouted Laban, whereat the soldiers laughed, as did
+some women who had gathered round. Meanwhile the Prince was helping
+Merapi to descend out of the chariot, from which indeed he lifted her.
+The sight seemed to madden Laban, who rushed forward to tear her from
+his arms, and in the attempt jostled his Highness. The captain of the
+soldiers--he was an officer of Pharaoh's bodyguard--lifted his sword
+in a fury and struck Laban such a blow upon the head with the flat of
+the blade that he fell upon his face and lay there groaning.
+
+"Away with that Hebrew dog and scourge him!" cried the captain. "Is
+the royal blood of Egypt to be handled by such as he?"
+
+Soldiers sprang forward to do his bidding, but Seti said quietly:
+
+"Let the fellow be, friends; he lacks manners, that is all. Is he
+hurt?"
+
+As he spoke Laban leapt to his feet and, fearing worse things, fled
+away with a curse and a glare of hate at the Prince.
+
+"Farewell, Lady," said Seti. "I wish you a quick recovery."
+
+"I thank your Highness," she answered, looking about her confusedly.
+"Be pleased to wait a little while that I may return to you your
+jewel."
+
+"Nay, keep it, Lady, and if ever you are in need or trouble of any
+sort, send it to me who know it well and you shall not lack succour."
+
+She glanced at him and burst into tears.
+
+"Why do you weep?" he asked.
+
+"Oh! your Highness, because I fear that trouble is near at hand. My
+affianced, Laban, has a revengeful heart. Help me to the house, my
+uncle."
+
+"Listen, Hebrew," said Seti, raising his voice; "if aught that is evil
+befalls this niece of yours, or if she is forced to walk whither she
+would not go, sorrow shall be your portion and that of all with whom
+you have to do. Do you hear?"
+
+"O my Lord, I hear, I hear. Fear nothing. She shall be guarded
+carefully as--as she will doubtless guard that trinket on her foot."
+
+
+
+"Ana," said the Prince to me that night, when I was talking with him
+before he went to rest, "I know not why, but I fear that man Laban; he
+has an evil eye."
+
+"I too think it would have been better if your Highness had left him
+to be dealt with by the soldiers, after which there would have been
+nothing to fear from him in this world."
+
+"Well, I did not, so there's an end. Ana, she is a fair woman and a
+sweet."
+
+"The fairest and the sweetest that ever I saw, my Prince."
+
+"Be careful, Ana. I pray you be careful, lest you should fall in love
+with one who is already affianced."
+
+I only looked at him in answer, and as I looked I bethought me of the
+words of Ki the Magician. So, I think, did the Prince; at least he
+laughed not unhappily and turned away.
+
+For my part I rested ill that night, and when at last I slept, it was
+to dream of Merapi making her prayer in the rays of the moon.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE AMBUSH
+
+Eight full days went by before we left the land of Goshen. The story
+that the Israelites had to tell was long, sad also. Moreover, they
+gave evidence as to many cruel things that they had suffered, and when
+this was finished the testimony of the guards and others must be
+called, all of which it was necessary to write down. Lastly, the
+Prince seemed to be in no hurry to be gone, as he said because he
+hoped that the two prophets would return from the wilderness, which
+they never did. During all this time Seti saw no more of Merapi, nor
+indeed did he speak of her, even when the Count Amenmeses jested him
+as to his chariot companion and asked him if he had driven again in
+the desert by moonlight.
+
+I, however, saw her once. When I was wandering in the town one day
+towards sunset, I met her walking with her uncle Jabez upon one side
+and her lover, Laban, on the other, like a prisoner between two
+guards. I thought she looked unhappy, but her foot seemed to be well
+again; at least she moved without limping.
+
+I stopped to salute her, but Laban scowled and hurried her away. Jabez
+stayed behind and fell into talk with me. He told me that she was
+recovered of her hurt, but that there had been trouble between her and
+Laban because of all that happened on that evening when she came by
+it, ending in his encounter with the captain.
+
+"This young man seems to be of a jealous nature," I said, "one who
+will make a harsh husband for any woman."
+
+"Yes, learned scribe, jealousy has been his curse from youth as it is
+with so many of our people, and I thank God that I am not the woman
+whom he is to marry."
+
+"Why, then, do you suffer her to marry him, Jabez?"
+
+"Because her father affianced her to this lion's whelp when she was
+scarce more than a child, and among us that is a bond hard to break.
+For my own part," he added, dropping his voice, and glancing round
+with shifting eyes, "I should like to see my niece in some different
+place to that of the wife of Laban. With her great beauty and wit, she
+might become anything--anything if she had opportunity. But under our
+laws, even if Laban died, as might happen to so violent a man, she
+could wed no one who is not a Hebrew."
+
+"I thought she told us that her mother was a Syrian."
+
+"That is so, Scribe Ana. She was a beautiful captive of war whom
+Nathan came to love and made his wife, and the daughter takes after
+her. Still she is Hebrew and of the Hebrew faith and congregation. Had
+it not been so, she might have shone like a star, nay, like the very
+moon after which she is named, perhaps in the court of Pharaoh
+himself."
+
+"As the great queen Taia did, she who changed the religion of Egypt to
+the worship of one god in a bygone generation," I suggested.
+
+"I have heard of her, Scribe Ana. She was a wondrous woman, beautiful
+too by her statues. Would that you Egyptians could find such another
+to turn your hearts to a purer faith and to soften them towards us
+poor aliens. When does his Highness leave the land of Goshen?"
+
+"At sunrise on the third day from this."
+
+"Provision will be needed for the journey, much provision for so large
+a train. I deal in sheep and other foodstuffs, Scribe Ana."
+
+"I will mention the matter to his Highness and to the Vizier, Jabez."
+
+"I thank you, Scribe, and will in waiting at the camp to-morrow
+morning. See, Laban returns with Merapi. One word, let his Highness
+beware of Laban. He is very revengeful and has not forgotten that
+sword-blow on the head."
+
+"Let Laban be careful," I answered. "Had it not been for his Highness
+the soldiers would have killed him the other night because he dared to
+offer affront to the royal blood. A second time he will not escape.
+Moreover, Pharaoh would avenge aught he did upon the people of
+Israel."
+
+"I understand. It would be sad if Laban were killed, very sad. But the
+people of Israel have One who can protect them even against Pharaoh
+and all his hosts. Farewell, learned Scribe. If ever I come to Tanis,
+with your leave we will talk more together."
+
+That night I told the Prince all that had passed. He listened, and
+said:
+
+"I grieve for the lady Merapi, for hers is like to be a hard fate.
+Yet," he added laughing, "perhaps it is as well for you, friend, that
+you should see no more of her who is sure to bring trouble wherever
+she goes. That woman has a face which haunts the mind, as the Ka
+haunts the tomb, and for my part I do not wish to look upon it again."
+
+"I am glad to hear it, Prince, and for my part, I have done with
+women, however sweet. I will tell this Jabez that the provisions for
+the journey will be bought elsewhere."
+
+"Nay, buy them from him, and if Nehesi grumbles at the price, pay it
+on my account. The way to a Hebrew's heart is through his treasure
+bags. If Jabez is well treated, it may make him kinder to his niece,
+of whom I shall always have a pleasant memory, for which I am grateful
+among this sour folk who hate us, and with reason."
+
+So the sheep and all the foodstuffs for the journey were bought from
+Jabez at his own price, for which he thanked me much, and on the third
+day we started. At the last moment the Prince, whose mood seemed to be
+perverse that evening, refused to travel with the host upon the morrow
+because of the noise and dust. In vain did the Count Amenmeses reason
+with him, and Nehesi and the great officers implore him almost on
+their knees, saying that they must answer for his safety to Pharaoh
+and the Princess Userti. He bade them begone, replying that he would
+join them at their camp on the following night. I also prayed him to
+listen, but he told me sharply that what he said he had said, and that
+he and I would journey in his chariot alone, with two armed runners
+and no more, adding that if I thought there was danger I could go
+forward with the troops. Then I bit my lip and was silent, whereon,
+seeing that he had hurt me, he turned and craved my pardon humbly
+enough as his kind heart taught him to do.
+
+"I can bear no more of Amenmeses and those officers," he said, "and I
+love to be in the desert alone. Last time we journeyed there we met
+with adventures that were pleasant, Ana, and at Tanis doubtless I
+shall find others that are not pleasant. Admit that Hebrew priest who
+is waiting to instruct me in the mysteries of his faith which I desire
+to understand."
+
+So I bowed and left him to make report that I had failed to shake his
+will. Taking the risk of his wrath, however, I did this--for had I not
+sworn to the Princess that I would protect him? In place of the
+runners I chose two of the best and bravest soldiers to play their
+part. Moreover, I instructed that captain who smote down Laban to hide
+away with a score of picked men and enough chariots to carry them, and
+to follow after the Prince, keeping just out of sight.
+
+So on the morrow the troops, nobles, and officers went on at daybreak,
+together with the baggage carriers; nor did we follow them till many
+hours had gone by. Some of this time the Prince spent in driving about
+the town, taking note of the condition of the people. These, as I saw,
+looked on us sullenly enough, more so than before, I thought, perhaps
+because we were unguarded. Indeed, turning round I caught sight of a
+man shaking his fist and of an old hag spitting after us, and wished
+that we were out of the land of Goshen. But when I reported it to the
+Prince he only laughed and took no heed.
+
+"All can see that they hate us Egyptians," he said. "Well, let it be
+our task to try to turn their hate to love."
+
+"That you will never do, Prince, it is too deep-rooted in their
+hearts; for generations they have drunk it in with their mother's
+milk. Moreover, this is a war of the gods of Egypt and of Israel, and
+men must go where their gods drive them."
+
+"Do you think so, Ana? Then are men nothing but dust blown by the
+winds of heaven, blown from the darkness that is before the dawn to be
+gathered at last and for ever into the darkness of the grave of
+night?"
+
+He brooded a while, then went on.
+
+"Yet if I were Pharaoh I would let these people go, for without doubt
+their god has much power and I tell you that I fear them."
+
+"Why will he not let them go?" I asked. "They are a weakness, not a
+strength to Egypt, as was shown at the time of the invasion of the
+Barbarians with whom they sided. Moreover, the value of this rich land
+of theirs, which they cannot take with them, is greater than that of
+all their labour."
+
+"I do not know, friend. The matter is one upon which my father keeps
+his own counsel, even from the Princess Userti. Perhaps it is because
+he will not change the policy of his father, Rameses; perhaps because
+he is stiff-necked to those who cross his will. Or it may be that he
+is held in this path by a madness sent of some god to bring loss and
+shame on Egypt."
+
+"Then, Prince, all the priests and nobles are mad also, from Count
+Amenmeses down."
+
+"Where Pharaoh leads priests and nobles follow. The question is, who
+leads Pharaoh? Here is the temple of these Hebrews; let us enter."
+
+So we descended from the chariot, where, for my part, I would have
+remained, and walked through the gateway in the surrounding mud wall
+into the outer court of the temple, which on this the holy seventh day
+of the Hebrews was full of praying women, who feigned not to see us
+yet watched us out of the corners of their eyes. Passing through them
+we came to a doorway, by which we entered another court that was
+roofed over. Here were many men who murmured as we appeared. They were
+engaged in listening to a preacher in a white robe, who wore a strange
+shaped cap and some ornaments on his breast. I knew the man; he was
+the priest Kohath who had instructed the Prince in so much of the
+mysteries of the Hebrew faith as he chose to reveal. On seeing us he
+ceased suddenly in his discourse, uttered some hasty blessing and
+advanced to greet us.
+
+I waited behind the Prince, thinking it well to watch his back among
+all those fierce men, and did not hear what the priest said to him, as
+he whispered in that holy place. Kohath led him forward, to free him
+from the throng, I thought, till they came to the head of the little
+temple that was marked by some steps, above which hung a thick and
+heavy curtain. The Prince, walking on, did not see the lowest of these
+steps in the gloom, which was deep. His foot caught on it; he fell
+forward, and to save himself grasped at the curtain where the two
+halves of it met, and dragged it open, revealing a chamber plain and
+small beyond, in which was an altar. That was all I had time to see,
+for next instant a roar of rage rent the air and knives flashed in the
+gloom.
+
+"The Egyptian defiles the tabernacle!" shouted one. "Drag him out and
+kill him!" screamed another.
+
+"Friends," said Seti, turning as they surged towards him, "if I have
+done aught wrong it was by chance----"
+
+He could add no more, seeing that they were on him, or rather on me
+who had leapt in front of him. Already they had grasped my robes and
+my hand was on my sword-hilt, when the priest Kohath cried out:
+
+"Men of Israel, are you mad? Would you bring Pharaoh's vengeance on
+us?"
+
+They halted a little and their spokesman shouted:
+
+"We defy Pharaoh! Our God will protect us from Pharaoh. Drag him forth
+and kill him beyond the wall!"
+
+Again they began to move, when a man, in whom I recognized Jabez, the
+uncle of Merapi, called aloud:
+
+"Cease! If this Prince of Egypt has done insult to Jahveh by will and
+not by chance, it is certain that he will avenge himself upon him.
+Shall men take the judgment of God into their own hands? Stand back
+and wait awhile. If Jahveh is affronted, the Egyptian will fall dead.
+If he does not fall dead, let him pass hence unharmed, for such is
+Jahveh's will. Stand back, I say, while I count threescore."
+
+They withdrew a space and slowly Jabez began to count.
+
+Although at that time I knew nothing of the power of the god of
+Israel, I will say that I was filled with fear as one by one he
+counted, pausing at each ten. The scene was very strange. There by the
+steps stood the Prince against the background of the curtain, his arms
+folded and a little smile of wonder mixed with contempt upon his face,
+but not a sign of fear. On one side of him was I, who knew well that I
+should share his fate whatever it might be, and indeed desired no
+other; and on the other the priest Kohath, whose hands shook and whose
+eyes started from his head. In front of us old Jabez counted, watching
+the fierce-faced congregation that in a dead silence waited for the
+issue. The count went on. Thirty. Forty. Fifty--oh! it seemed an age.
+
+At length sixty fell from his lips. He waited a while and all watched
+the Prince, not doubting but that he would fall dead. But instead he
+turned to Kohath and asked quietly if this ordeal was now finished, as
+he desired to make an offering to the temple, which he had been
+invited to visit, and begone.
+
+"Our God has given his answer," said Jabez. "Accept it, men of Israel.
+What this Prince did he did by chance, not of design."
+
+They turned and went without a word, and after I had laid the
+offering, no mean one, in the appointed place, we followed them.
+
+"It would seem that yours is no gentle god," said the Prince to
+Kohath, when at length we were outside the temple.
+
+"At least he is just, your Highness. Had it been otherwise, you who
+had violated his sanctuary, although by chance, would ere now be
+dead."
+
+"Then you hold, Priest, that Jahveh has power to slay us when he is
+angry?"
+
+"Without a doubt, your Highness--as, if our Prophets speak truth, I
+think that Egypt will learn ere all be done," he added grimly.
+
+Seti looked at him and answered:
+
+"It may be so, but all gods, or their priests, claim the power to
+torment and slay those who worship other gods. It is not only women
+who are jealous, Kohath, or so it seems. Yet I think that you do your
+god injustice, seeing that even if this strength is his, he proved
+more merciful than his worshippers who knew well that I only grasped
+the veil to save myself from falling. If ever I visit your temple
+again it shall be in the company of those who can match might against
+might, whether of the spirit or the sword. Farewell."
+
+So we reached the chariot, near to which stood Jabez, he who had saved
+us.
+
+"Prince," he whispered, glancing at the crowd who lingered not far
+away, silent and glowering, "I pray you leave this land swiftly for
+here your life is not safe. I know it was by chance, but you have
+defiled the sanctuary and seen that upon which eyes may not look save
+those of the highest priests, an offence no Israelite can forgive."
+
+"And you, or your people, Jabez, would have defiled this sanctuary of
+my life, spilling my heart's blood and /not/ by chance. Surely you are
+a strange folk who seek to make an enemy of one who has tried to be
+your friend."
+
+"I do not seek it," exclaimed Jabez. "I would that we might have
+Pharaoh's mouth and ear who soon will himself be Pharaoh upon our
+side. O Prince of Egypt, be not wroth with all the children of Israel
+because their wrongs have made some few of them stubborn and hard-
+hearted. Begone now, and of your goodness remember my words."
+
+"I will remember," said Seti, signing to the charioteer to drive on.
+
+Yet still the Prince lingered in the town, saying that he feared
+nothing and would learn all he could of this people and their ways
+that he might report the better of them to Pharaoh. For my part I
+believed that there was one face which he wished to see again before
+he left, but of this I thought it wise to say nothing.
+
+At length about midday we did depart, and drove eastwards on the track
+of Amenmeses and our company. All the afternoon we drove thus,
+preceded by the two soldiers disguised as runners and followed, as a
+distant cloud of dust told me, by the captain and his chariots, whom I
+had secretly commanded to keep us in sight.
+
+Towards evening we came to the pass in the story hills which bounded
+the land of Goshen. Here Seti descended from the chariot, and we
+climbed, accompanied by the two soldiers whom I signed to follow us,
+to the crest of one of these hills that was strewn with huge boulders
+and lined with ridges of sandstone, between which gullies had been cut
+by the winds of thousands of years.
+
+Leaning against one of these ridges we looked back upon a wondrous
+sight. Far away across the fertile plain appeared the town that we had
+left, and behind it the sun sank. It would seem as though some storm
+had broken there, although the firmament above us was clear and blue.
+At least in front of the town two huge pillars of cloud stretched from
+earth to heaven like the columns of some mighty gateway. One of these
+pillars was as though it were made of black marble, and the other like
+to molten gold. Between them ran a road of light ending in a glory,
+and in the midst of the glory the round ball of Ra, the Sun, burned
+like the eye of God. The spectacle was as awesome as it was splendid.
+
+"Have you ever seen such a sky in Egypt, Prince?" I asked.
+
+"Never," he answered, and although he spoke low, in that great
+stillness his voice sounded loud to me.
+
+For a while longer we watched, till suddenly the sun sank, and only
+the glory about it and above remained, which took shapes like to the
+palaces and temples of a city in the heavens, a far city that no
+mortal could reach except in dreams.
+
+"I know not why, Ana," said Seti, "but for the first time since I was
+a man I feel afraid. It seems to me that there are omens in the sky
+and I cannot read them. Would that Ki were here to tell us what is
+signified by the pillar of blackness to the right and the pillar of
+fire to the left, and what god has his home in the city of glory
+behind, and how man's feet may walk along the shining road which leads
+to its pylon gates. I tell you that I am afraid; it is as though Death
+were very near to me and all his wonders open to my mortal sight."
+
+"I too am afraid," I whispered. "Look! The pillars move. That of fire
+goes before; that of black cloud follows after, and between them I
+seem to see a countless multitude marching in unending companies. See
+how the light glitters on their spears! Surely the god of the Hebrews
+is afoot."
+
+"He, or some other god, or no god at all, who knows? Come, Ana, let us
+be going if we would reach that camp ere dark."
+
+So we descended from the ridge, and re-entering the chariot, drove on
+towards the neck of the pass. Now this neck was very narrow, not more
+than four paces wide for a certain distance, and, on either side of
+the roadway were tumbled sandstone boulders, between which grew desert
+plants, and gullies that had been cut by storm-water, while beyond
+these rose the sides of the mountain. Here the horses went at a walk
+towards a turn in the path, at which point the land began to fall
+again.
+
+When we were about half a spear's throw from this turn of a sudden I
+heard a sound and, glancing to the right, perceived a woman leaping
+down the hillside towards us. The charioteer saw also and halted the
+horses, and the two runner guards turned and drew their swords. In
+less than half a minute the woman had reached us, coming out of the
+shadow so that the light fell upon her face.
+
+"Merapi!" exclaimed the Prince and I, speaking as though with one
+breath.
+
+Merapi it was indeed, but in evil case. Her long hair had broken loose
+and fell about her, the cloak she wore was torn, and there were blood
+and foam upon her lips. She stood gasping, since speak she could not
+for breathlessness, supporting herself with one hand upon the side of
+the chariot and with the other pointing to the bend in the road. At
+last a word came, one only. It was:
+
+"Murder!"
+
+"She means that she is going to be murdered," said the Prince to me.
+
+"No," she panted, "you--you! The Hebrews. Go back!"
+
+"Turn the horses!" I cried to the charioteer.
+
+He began to obey helped by the two guards, but because of the
+narrowness of the road and the steepness of the banks this was not
+easy. Indeed they were but half round in such fashion that they
+blocked the pathway from side to side, when a wild yell of 'Jahveh'
+broke upon our ears, and from round the bend, a few paces away, rushed
+a horde of fierce, hook-nosed men, brandishing knives and swords.
+Scarcely was there time for us to leap behind the shelter of the
+chariot and make ready, when they were on us.
+
+"Hearken," I said to the charioteer as they came, "run as you never
+ran before, and bring up the guard behind!"
+
+He sprang away like an arrow.
+
+"Get back, Lady," cried Seti. "This is no woman's work, and see here
+comes Laban to seek you," and he pointed with his sword at the leader
+of the murderers.
+
+She obeyed, staggering a few paces to a stone at the roadside, behind
+which she crouched. Afterwards she told me that she had no strength to
+go further, and indeed no will, since if we were killed, it were
+better that she who had warned us should be killed also.
+
+Now they had reached us, the whole flood of them, thirty or forty men.
+The first who came stabbed the frightened horses, and down they went
+against the bank, struggling. On the chariot leapt the Hebrews,
+seeking to come at us, and we met them as best we might, tearing off
+our cloaks and throwing them over our left arms to serve as shields.
+
+Oh! what a fight was that. In the open, or had we not been prepared,
+we must have been slain at once, but, as it was, the place and the
+barrier of the chariot gave us some advantage. So narrow was the
+roadway, the walls of which were here too steep to climb, that not
+more than four of the Hebrews could strike at us at once, which four
+must first surmount the chariot or the still living horses.
+
+But we also were four, and thanks to Userti, two of us were clad in
+mail beneath our robes--four strong men fighting for their lives.
+Against us came four of the Hebrews. One leapt from the chariot
+straight at Seti, who received him upon the point of his iron sword,
+whereof I heard the hilt ring against his breast-bone, that same
+famous iron sword which to-day lies buried with him in his grave.
+
+Down he came dead, throwing the Prince to the ground by the weight of
+his body. The Hebrew who attacked me caught his foot on the chariot
+pole and fell forward, so I killed him easily with a blow upon the
+head, which gave me time to drag the Prince to his feet again before
+another followed. The two guards also, sturdy fighters both of them,
+killed or mortally wounded their men. But others were pressing behind
+so thick and fast that I could keep no count of all that happened
+afterwards.
+
+Presently I saw one of the guards fall, slain by Laban. A stab on the
+breast sent me reeling backwards; had it not been for that mail I was
+sped. The other guard killed him who would have killed me, and then
+himself was killed by two who came on him at once.
+
+Now only the Prince and I were left, fighting back to back. He closed
+with one man, a very great fellow, and wounded him on the hand, so
+that he dropped his sword. This man gripped him round the middle and
+they rolled together on the ground. Laban appeared and stabbed the
+Prince in the back, but the curved knife he was using snapped on the
+Syrian mail. I struck at Laban and wounded him on the head, dazing him
+so that he staggered back and seemed to fall over the chariot. Then
+others rushed at me, and but for Userti's armour three times at least
+I must have died. Fighting madly, I staggered against the rock, and
+whilst waiting for a new onset, saw that Seti, hurt by Laban's thrust,
+was now beneath the great Hebrew who had him by the throat, and was
+choking the life out of him.
+
+I saw something else also--a woman holding a sword with both hands and
+stabbing downward, after which the grip of the Hebrew loosened from
+Seti's throat.
+
+"Traitress!" cried one, and struck at her, so that she reeled back
+hurt. Then when all seemed finished, and beneath the rain of blows my
+senses were failing, I heard the thunder of horses' hoofs and the
+shout of "/Egypt! Egypt!/" from the throats of soldiers. The flash of
+bronze caught my dazed eyes, and with the roar of battle in my ears I
+seemed to fall asleep just as the light of day departed.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+SETI COUNSELS PHARAOH
+
+Dream upon dream. Dreams of voices, dreams of faces, dreams of
+sunlight and of moonlight and of myself being borne forward, always
+forward; dreams of shouting crowds, and, above all, dreams of Merapi's
+eyes looking down on me like two watching stars from heaven. Then at
+last the awakening, and with it throbs of pain and qualms of sickness.
+
+At first I thought that I was dead and lying in a tomb. Then by
+degrees I saw that I was in no tomb but in a darkened room that was
+familiar to me, my own room in Seti's palace at Tanis. It must be so,
+for there, near to the bed on which I lay, was my own chest filled
+with the manuscripts that I had brought from Memphis. I tried to lift
+my left hand, but could not, and looking down saw that the arm was
+bandaged like to that of a mummy, which made me think again that I
+must be dead, if the dead could suffer so much pain. I closed my eyes
+and thought or slept a while.
+
+As I lay thus I heard voices. One of them seemed to be that of a
+physician, who said, "Yes, he will live and ere long recover. The blow
+upon the head which has made him senseless for so many days was the
+worst of his wounds, but the bone was but bruised, not shattered or
+driven in upon the brain. The flesh cuts on his arms are healing well,
+and the mail he wore protected his vitals from being pierced."
+
+"I am glad, physician," answered a voice that I knew to be that of
+Userti, "since without a doubt, had it not been for Ana, his Highness
+would have perished. It is strange that one whom I thought to be
+nothing but a dreaming scribe should have shown himself so brave a
+warrior. The Prince says that this Ana killed three of those dogs with
+his own hands, and wounded others."
+
+"It was well done, your Highness," answered the physician, "but still
+better was his forethought in providing a rear-guard and in
+despatching the charioteer to call it up. It seems to have been the
+Hebrew lady who really saved the life of his Highness, when,
+forgetting her sex, she stabbed the murderer who had him by the
+throat."
+
+"That is the Prince's tale, or so I understand," she answered coldly.
+"Yet it seems strange that a weak and worn-out girl could have pierced
+a giant through from back to breast."
+
+"At least she warned him of the ambush, your Highness."
+
+"So they say. Perhaps Ana here will soon tell us the truth about these
+matters. Tend him well, physician, and you shall not lack for your
+reward."
+
+Then they went away, still talking, and I lay quiet, filled with
+thankfulness and wonder, for now everything came back to me.
+
+A while later, as I lay with my eyes still shut, for even that low
+light seemed to hurt them, I became aware of a woman's soft step
+stealing round my bed and of a fragrance such as comes from a woman's
+robes and hair. I looked and saw Merapi's star-like eyes gazing down
+on me just as I had seen them in my dreams.
+
+"Greeting, Moon of Israel," I said. "Of a truth we meet again in
+strange case."
+
+"Oh!" she whispered, "are you awake at last? I thank God, Scribe Ana,
+who for three days thought that you must die."
+
+"As, had it not been for you, Lady, surely I should have done--I and
+another. Now it seems that all three of us will live."
+
+"Would that but two lived, the Prince and you, Ana. Would that /I/ had
+died," she answered, sighing heavily.
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Cannot you guess? Because I am outcast who has betrayed my people.
+Because their blood flows between me and them. For I killed that man,
+and he was my own kinsman, for the sake of an Egyptian--I mean,
+Egyptians. Therefore the curse of Jahveh is on me, and as my kinsman
+died doubtless I shall die in a day to come, and afterwards--what?"
+
+"Afterwards peace and great reward, if there be justice in earth or
+heaven, O most noble among women."
+
+"Would that I could think so! Hush, I hear steps. Drink this; I am the
+chief of your nurses, Scribe Ana, an honourable post, since to-day all
+Egypt loves and praises you."
+
+"Surely it is you, lady Merapi, whom all Egypt should love and
+praise," I answered.
+
+Then the Prince Seti entered. I strove to salute him by lifting my
+less injured arm, but he caught my hand and pressed it tenderly.
+
+"Hail to you, beloved of Menthu, god of war," he said, with his
+pleasant laugh. "I thought I had hired a scribe, and lo! in this
+scribe I find a soldier who might be an army's boast."
+
+At this moment he caught sight of Merapi, who had moved back into the
+shadow.
+
+"Hail to you also, Moon of Israel," he said bowing. "If I name Ana
+here a warrior of the best, what name can both of us find for you to
+whom we owe our lives? Nay, look not down, but answer."
+
+"Prince of Egypt," she replied confusedly, "I did but little. The plot
+came to my ears through Jabez my uncle, and I fled away and, knowing
+the short paths from childhood, was just in time. Had I stayed to
+think perchance I should not have dared."
+
+"And what of the rest, Lady? What of the Hebrew who was choking me and
+of a certain sword thrust that loosed his hands for ever?"
+
+"Of that, your Highness, I can recall nothing, or very little," then,
+doubtless remembering what she had just said to me, she made obeisance
+and passed from the chamber.
+
+"She can tell falsehoods as sweetly as she does all else," said Seti,
+when he had watched her go. "Oh! what a woman have we here, Ana.
+Perfect in beauty, perfect in courage, perfect in mind. Where are her
+faults, I wonder? Let it be your part to search them out, since I find
+none."
+
+"Ask them of Ki, O Prince. He is a very great magician, so great that
+perhaps his art may even avail to discover what a woman seeks to hide.
+Also you may remember that he gave you certain warnings before we
+journeyed to Goshen."
+
+"Yes--he told me that my life would be in danger, as certainly it was.
+There he was right. He told me also that I should see a woman whom I
+should come to love. There he was wrong. I have seen no such woman.
+Oh! I know well what is passing in your mind. Because I hold the lady
+Merapi to be beautiful and brave, you think that I love her. But it is
+not so. I love no woman, except, of course, her Highness. Ana, you
+judge me by yourself."
+
+"Ki said 'come to love,' Prince. There is yet time."
+
+"Not so, Ana. If one loves, one loves at once. Soon I shall be old and
+she will be fat and ugly, and how can one love then? Get well quickly,
+Ana, for I wish you to help me with my report to Pharaoh. I shall tell
+him that I think these Israelites are much oppressed and that he
+should make them amends and let them go."
+
+"What will Pharaoh say to that after they have just tried to kill his
+heir?"
+
+"I think Pharaoh will be angry, and so will the people of Egypt, who
+do not reason well. He will not see that, believing what they do,
+Laban and his band were right to try to kill me who, however
+unwittingly, desecrated the sanctuary of their god. Had they done
+otherwise they would have been no good Hebrews, and for my part I
+cannot bear them malice. Yet all Egypt is afire about this business
+and cries out that the Israelites should be destroyed."
+
+"It seems to me, Prince, that whatever may be the case with Ki's
+second prophecy, his third is in the way of fulfilment--namely that
+this journey to Goshen may cause you to risk your throne."
+
+He shrugged his shoulders and answered:
+
+"Not even for that, Ana, will I say to Pharaoh what is not in my mind.
+But let that matter be till you are stronger."
+
+"What chanced at the end of the fight, Prince, and how came I here?"
+
+"The guard killed most of the Hebrews who remained alive. Some few
+fled and escaped in the darkness, among them Laban their leader,
+although you had wounded him, and six were taken alive. They await
+their trial. I was but little hurt and you, whom we thought dead, were
+but senseless, and senseless or wandering you have remained till this
+hour. We carried you in a litter, and here you have been these three
+days."
+
+"And the lady Merapi?"
+
+"We set her in a chariot and brought her to the city, since had we
+left her she would certainly have been murdered by her people. When
+Pharaoh heard what she had done, as I did not think it well that she
+should dwell here, he gave her the small house in this garden that she
+might be guarded, and with it slave women to attend upon her. So there
+she dwells, having the freedom of the palace, and all the while has
+filled the office of your nurse."
+
+At this moment I grew faint and shut my eyes. When I opened them
+again, the Prince had gone. Six more days went by before I was allowed
+to leave my bed, and during this time I saw much of Merapi. She was
+very sad and lived in fear of being killed by the Hebrews. Also she
+was troubled in her heart because she thought she had betrayed her
+faith and people.
+
+"At least you are rid of Laban," I said.
+
+"Never shall I be rid of him while we both live," she answered. "I
+belong to him and he will not loose my bond, because his heart is set
+on me."
+
+"And is your heart set on him?" I asked.
+
+Her beautiful eyes filled with tears.
+
+"A woman may not have a heart. Oh! Ana, I am unhappy," she answered,
+and went away.
+
+Also I saw others. The Princess came to visit me. She thanked me much
+because I had fulfilled my promise to her and guarded the Prince.
+Moreover she brought me a gift of gold from Pharaoh, and other gifts
+of fine raiment from herself. She questioned me closely about Merapi,
+of whom I could see she was already jealous, and was glad when she
+learned that she was affianced to a Hebrew. Old Bakenkhonsu came too,
+and asked me many things about the Prince, the Hebrews and Merapi,
+especially Merapi, of whose deeds, he said, all Egypt was talking,
+questions that I answered as best I could.
+
+"Here we have that woman of whom Ki told us," he said, "she who shall
+bring so much joy and so much sorrow to the Prince of Egypt."
+
+"Why so?" I asked. "He has not taken her into his house, nor do I
+think that he means to do so."
+
+"Yet he will, Ana, whether he means it or not. For his sake she
+betrayed her people, which among the Israelites is a deadly crime.
+Twice she saved his life, once by warning him of the ambush, and again
+by stabbing with her own hands one of her kinsmen who was murdering
+him. Is it not so? Tell me; you were there."
+
+"It is so, but what then?"
+
+"This: that whatever she may say, she loves him; unless indeed, it is
+you whom she loves," and he looked at me shrewdly.
+
+"When a woman has a prince, and such a prince to her hand, would she
+trouble herself to set snares to catch a scribe?" I asked, with some
+bitterness.
+
+"Oho!" he said, with one of his great laughs, "so things stand thus,
+do they? Well, I thought it, but, friend Ana, be warned in time. Do
+not try to conjure down the Moon to be your household lamp lest she
+should set, and the Sun, her lord, should grow wroth and burn you up.
+Well, she loves him, and therefore soon or late she will make him love
+her, being what she is."
+
+"How, Bakenkhonsu?"
+
+"With most men, Ana, it would be simple. A sigh, some half-hidden
+tears at the right moment, and the thing is done, as I have known it
+done a thousand times. But this prince being what he is, it may be
+otherwise. She may show him that her name is gone from him; that
+because of him she is hated by her people, and rejected by her god,
+and thus stir his pity, which is Love's own sister. Or mayhap, being
+also, as I am told, wise, she will give him counsel as to all these
+matters of the Israelites, and thus creep into his heart under the
+guise of friendship, and then her sweetness and her beauty will do the
+rest in Nature's way. At least by this road or by that, upstream or
+downstream, thither she will come."
+
+"If so, what of it? It is the custom of the kings of Egypt to have
+more wives than one."
+
+"This, Ana; Seti, I think, is a man who in truth will have but one,
+and that one will be this Hebrew. Yes, a Hebrew woman will rule Egypt,
+and turn him to the worship of her god, for never will she worship
+ours. Indeed, when they see that she is lost to them, her people will
+use her thus. Or perchance her god himself will use her to fulfil his
+purpose, as already he may have used her."
+
+"And afterwards, Bakenkhonsu?"
+
+"Afterwards--who knows? I am not a magician, at least not one of any
+account, ask it of Ki. But I am very, very old and I have watched the
+world, and I tell you that these things will happen, unless----" and
+he paused.
+
+"Unless what?"
+
+He dropped his voice.
+
+"Unless Userti is bolder than I think, and kills her first or, better
+still, procures some Hebrew to kill her--say, that cast-off lover of
+hers. If you would be a friend to Pharaoh and to Egypt, you might
+whisper it in her ear, Ana."
+
+"Never!" I answered angrily.
+
+"I did not think you would, Ana, who also struggle in this net of
+moonbeams that is stronger and more real than any twisted out of palm
+or flax. Well, nor will I, who in my age love to watch such human
+sport and, being so near to them, fear to thwart the schemes of gods.
+Let this scroll unroll itself as it will, and when it is open, read
+it, Ana, and remember what I said to you this day. It will be a pretty
+tale, written at the end with blood for ink. Oho! O-ho-ho!" and,
+laughing, he hobbled from the room, leaving me frightened.
+
+Moreover the Prince visited me every day, and even before I left my
+bed began to dictate to me his report to Pharaoh, since he would
+employ no other scribe. The substance of it was what he had
+foreshadowed, namely that the people of Israel, having suffered much
+for generations at the hands of the Egyptians, should now be allowed
+to depart as their prophets demanded, and go whither they would
+unharmed. Of the attack upon us in the pass he made light, saying it
+was the evil work of a few zealots wrought on by fancied insult to
+their god, a deed for which the whole people should not be called upon
+to suffer. The last words of the report were:
+
+"Remember, O Pharaoh, I pray thee, that Amon, god of the Egyptians,
+and Jahveh, the god of the Israelites, cannot rule together in the
+same land. If both abide in Egypt there will be a war of the gods
+wherein mortals may be ground to dust. Therefore, I pray thee, let
+Israel go."
+
+After I had risen and was recovered, I copied out this report in my
+fairest writing, refusing to tell any of its purport, although all
+asked, among them the Vizier Nehesi, who offered me a bribe to
+disclose its secret. This came to the ears of Seti, I know not how,
+and he was much pleased with me about the matter, saying he rejoiced
+to find that there was one scribe in Egypt who could not be bought.
+Userti also questioned me, and when I refused to answer, strange to
+say, was not angry, because, she declared, I only did my duty.
+
+At last the roll was finished and sealed, and the Prince with his own
+hand, but without speaking, laid it on the knees of Pharaoh at a
+public Court, for this he would trust no one else to do. Amenmeses
+also brought up his report, as did Nehesi the Vizier, and the Captain
+of the guard which saved us from death. Eight days later the Prince
+was summoned to a great Council of State, as were all others of the
+royal House, together with the high officers. I too received a
+summons, as one who had been concerned in these matters.
+
+The Prince, accompanied by the Princess, drove to the palace in
+Pharaoh's golden chariot, drawn by two milk-white horses of the blood
+of those famous steeds that had saved the life of the great Rameses in
+the Syrian war. All down the streets, that were filled with thousands
+of the people, they were received with shouts of welcome.
+
+"See," said the old councillor Bakenkhonsu, who was my companion in a
+second chariot, "Egypt is proud and glad. It thought that its Prince
+was but a dreamer of dreams. But now it has heard the tale of the
+ambush in the pass and learned that he is a man of war, a warrior who
+can fight with the best. Therefore it loves him and rejoices."
+
+"Then, by the same rule, Bakenkhonsu, a butcher should be more great
+than the wisest of scribes."
+
+"So he is, Ana, especially if the butcher be one of men. The writer
+creates, but the slayer kills, and in a world ruled of death he who
+kills has more honour than he who creates. Hearken, now they are
+shouting out your name. Is that because you are the author of certain
+writings? I tell you, No. It is because you killed three men yonder in
+the pass. If you would become famous and beloved, Ana, cease from the
+writing of books and take to the cutting of throats."
+
+"Yet the writer still lives when he is dead."
+
+"Oho!" laughed Bakenkhonsu, "you are even more foolish than I thought.
+How is a man advantaged by what happens when he is dead? Why, to-day
+that blind beggar whining on the temple steps means more to Egypt than
+all the mummies of all the Pharaohs, unless they can be robbed. Take
+what life can give you, Ana, and do not trouble about the offerings
+which are laid in the tombs for time to crumble."
+
+"That is a mean faith, Bakenkhonsu."
+
+"Very mean, Ana, like all else that we can taste and handle. A mean
+faith suited to mean hearts, among whom should be reckoned all save
+one in every thousand. Yet, if you would prosper, follow it, and when
+you are dead I will come and laugh upon your grave, and say, 'Here
+lies one of whom I had hoped higher things, as I hope them of your
+master.'"
+
+"And not in vain, Bakenkhonsu, whatever may happen to the servant."
+
+"That we shall learn, and ere long, I think. I wonder who will ride at
+his side before the next Nile flood. By then, perchance, he will have
+changed Pharaoh's golden chariot for an ox-cart, and you will goad the
+oxen and talk to him of the stars--or, mayhap of the moon. Well, you
+might both be happier thus, and she of the moon is a jealous goddess
+who loves worship. Oho-ho! Here are the palace steps. Help me to
+descend, Priest of the Lady of the Moon."
+
+We entered the palace and were led through the great hall to a smaller
+chamber where Pharaoh, who did not wear his robes of state, awaited
+us, seated in a cedar chair. Glancing at him I saw that his face was
+stern and troubled; also it seemed to me that he had grown older. The
+Prince and Princess made obeisance to him, as did we lesser folk, but
+he took no heed. When all were present and the doors had been shut,
+Pharaoh said:
+
+"I have read your report, Son Seti, concerning your visit to the
+Israelites, and all that chanced to you; and also the reports of you,
+nephew Amenmeses, and of you, Officers, who accompanied the Prince of
+Egypt. Before I speak of them, let the Scribe Ana, who was the chariot
+companion of his Highness when the Hebrews attacked him, stand forward
+and tell me all that passed."
+
+So I advanced, and with bowed head repeated that tale, only leaving
+out so far as was possible any mention of myself. When I had finished,
+Pharaoh said:
+
+"He who speaks but half the truth is sometimes more mischievous than a
+liar. Did you then sit in the chariot, Scribe, doing nothing while the
+Prince battled for his life? Or did you run away? Speak, Seti, and say
+what part this man played for good or ill."
+
+Then the Prince told of my share in the fight, with words that brought
+the blood to my brow. He told also how that it was I who, taking the
+risk of his wrath, had ordered the guard of twenty men to follow us
+unseen, had disguised two seasoned soldiers as chariot runners, and
+had thought to send back the driver to summon help at the commencement
+of the fray; how I had been hurt also, and was but lately recovered.
+When he had finished, Pharaoh said:
+
+"That this story is true I know from others. Scribe, you have done
+well. But for you to-day his Highness would lie upon the table of the
+embalmers, as indeed for his folly he deserves to do, and Egypt would
+mourn from Thebes to the mouths of Nile. Come hither."
+
+I came with trembling steps, and knelt before his Majesty. Around his
+neck hung a beauteous chain of wrought gold. He took it, and cast it
+over my head, saying:
+
+"Because you have shown yourself both brave and wise, with this gold I
+give you the title of Councillor and King's Companion, and the right
+to inscribe the same upon your funeral stele. Let it be noted. Retire,
+Scribe Ana, Councillor and King's Companion."
+
+So I withdrew confused, and as I passed Seti, he whispered in my ear:
+
+"I pray you, my lord, do not cease to be Prince's Companion, because
+you have become that of the King."
+
+Then Pharaoh ordered that the Captain of the guard should be advanced
+in rank, and that gifts should be given to each of the soldiers, and
+provision be made for the children of those who had been killed, with
+double allowance to the families of the two men whom I had disguised
+as runners.
+
+This done, once more Pharaoh spoke, slowly and with much meaning,
+having first ordered that all attendants and guards should leave the
+chamber. I was about to go also, but old Bakenkhonsu caught me by the
+robe, saying that in my new rank of Councillor I had the right to
+remain.
+
+"Prince Seti," he said, "after all that I have heard, I find this
+report of yours strange reading. Moreover, the tenor of it is
+different indeed to that of those of the Count Amenmeses and the
+officers. You counsel me to let these Israelites go where they will,
+because of certain hardships that they have suffered in the past,
+which hardships, however, have left them many and rich. That counsel I
+am not minded to take. Rather am I minded to send an army to the land
+of Goshen with orders to despatch this people, who conspired to murder
+the Prince of Egypt, through the Gateway of the West, there to worship
+their god in heaven or in hell. Aye, to slay them all from the
+greybeard down to the suckling at the breast."
+
+"I hear Pharaoh," said Seti, quietly.
+
+"Such is my will," went on Meneptah, "and those who accompanied you
+upon your business, and all my councillors think as I do, for truly
+Egypt cannot bear so hideous a treason. Yet, according to our law and
+custom it is needful, before such great acts of war and policy are
+undertaken, that he who stands next to the throne, and is destined to
+fill it, should give consent thereto. Do you consent, Prince of
+Egypt?"
+
+"I do not consent, Pharaoh. I think it would be a wicked deed that
+tens of thousands should be massacred for the reason that a few fools
+waylaid a man who chanced to be of royal blood, because by
+inadvertence, he had desecrated their sanctuary."
+
+Now I saw that this answer made Pharaoh wroth, for never before had
+his will been crossed in such a fashion. Still he controlled himself,
+and asked:
+
+"Do you then consent, Prince, to a gentler sentence, namely that the
+Hebrew people should be broken up; that the more dangerous of them
+should be sent to labour in the desert mines and quarries, and the
+rest distributed throughout Egypt, there to live as slaves?"
+
+"I do not consent, Pharaoh. My poor counsel is written in yonder roll
+and cannot be changed."
+
+Meneptah's eyes flashed, but again he controlled himself, and asked:
+
+"If you should come to fill this place of mine, Prince Seti, tell us,
+here assembled, what policy will you pursue towards these Hebrews?"
+
+"That policy, O Pharaoh, which I have counselled in the roll. If ever
+I fill the throne, I shall let them go whither they will, taking their
+goods with them."
+
+Now all those present stared at him and murmured. But Pharaoh rose,
+shaking with wrath. Seizing his robe where it was fastened at the
+breast, he rent it, and cried in a terrible voice:
+
+"Hear him, ye gods of Egypt! Hear this son of mine who defies me to my
+face and would set your necks beneath the heel of a stranger god.
+Prince Seti, in the presence of these royal ones, and these my
+councillors, I----"
+
+He said no more, for the Princess Userti, who till now had remained
+silent, ran to him, and throwing her arms about him, began to whisper
+in his ear. He hearkened to her, then sat himself down, and spoke
+again:
+
+"The Princess brings it to my mind that this is a great matter, one
+not to be dealt with hastily. It may happen that when the Prince has
+taken counsel with her, and with his own heart, and perchance has
+sought the wisdom of the gods, he will change the words which have
+passed his lips. I command you, Prince, to wait upon me here at this
+same hour on the third day from this. Meanwhile, I command all
+present, upon pain of death, to say nothing of what has passed within
+these walls."
+
+"I hear Pharaoh," said the Prince, bowing.
+
+Meneptah rose to show that the Council was discharged, when the Vizier
+Nehesi approached him, and asked:
+
+"What of the Hebrew prisoners, O Pharaoh, those murderers who were
+captured in the pass?"
+
+"Their guilt is proved. Let them be beaten with rods till they die,
+and if they have wives or children, let them be seized and sold as
+slaves."
+
+"Pharaoh's will be done!" said the Vizier.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE SMITING OF AMON
+
+That evening I sat ill at ease in my work-chamber in Seti's palace,
+making pretence to write, I who felt that great evils threatened my
+lord the Prince, and knew not what to do to turn them from him. The
+door opened, and old Pambasa the chamberlain appeared and addressed me
+by my new titles, saying that the Hebrew lady Merapi, who had been my
+nurse in sickness, wished to speak with me. Presently she came and
+stood before me.
+
+"Scribe Ana," she said, "I have but just seen my uncle Jabez, who has
+come, or been sent, with a message to me," and she hesitated.
+
+"Why was he sent, Lady? To bring you news of Laban?"
+
+"Not so. Laban has fled away and none know where he is, and Jabez has
+only escaped much trouble as the uncle of a traitress by undertaking
+this mission."
+
+"What is the mission?"
+
+"To pray me, if I would save myself from death and the vengeance of
+God, to work upon the heart of his Highness, which I know not how to
+do----"
+
+"Yet I think you might find means, Merapi."
+
+"----save through you, his friend and counsellor," she went on,
+turning away her face. "Jabez has learned that it is in the mind of
+Pharaoh utterly to destroy the people of Israel."
+
+"How does he know that, Merapi?"
+
+"I cannot say, but I think all the Hebrews know. I knew it myself
+though none had told me. He has learned also that this cannot be done
+under the law of Egypt unless the Prince who is heir to the throne and
+of full age consents. Now I am come to pray you to pray the Prince not
+to consent."
+
+"Why not pray to the Prince yourself, Merapi----" I began, when from
+the shadows behind me I heard the voice of Seti, who had entered by
+the private door bearing some writings in his hand, saying:
+
+"And what prayer has the lady Merapi to make to me? Nay, rise and
+speak, Moon of Israel."
+
+"O Prince," she pleaded, "my prayer is that you will save the Hebrews
+from death by the sword, as you alone have the power to do."
+
+At this moment the doors opened and in swept the royal Userti.
+
+"What does this woman here?" she asked.
+
+"I think that she came to see Ana, wife, as I did, and as doubtless
+you do. Also being here she prays me to save her people from the
+sword."
+
+"And I pray you, husband, to give her people to the sword, which they
+have earned, who would have murdered you."
+
+"And been paid, everyone of them, Userti, unless some still linger
+beneath the rods," he added with a shudder. "The rest are innocent--
+why should they die?"
+
+"Because your throne hangs upon it, Seti. I say that if you continue
+to thwart the will of Pharaoh, as by the law of Egypt you can do, he
+will disinherit you and set your cousin Amenmeses in your place, as by
+the law of Egypt he can do."
+
+"I thought it, Userti. Yet why should I turn my back upon the right
+over a matter of my private fortunes? The question is--is it the
+right?"
+
+She stared at him in amazement, she who never understood Seti and
+could not dream that he would throw away the greatest throne in all
+the world to save a subject people, merely because he thought that
+they should not die. Still, warned by some instinct, she left the
+first question unanswered, dealing only with the second.
+
+"It is the right," she said, "for many reasons whereof I need give but
+one, for in it lie all the others. The gods of Egypt are the true gods
+whom we must serve and obey, or perish here and hereafter. The god of
+the Israelites is a false god and those who worship him are heretics
+and by their heresy under sentence of death. Therefore it is most
+right that those whom the true gods have condemned should die by the
+swords of their servants."
+
+"That is well argued, Userti, and if it be so, mayhap my mind will
+become as yours in this matter, so that I shall no longer stand
+between Pharaoh and his desire. But is it so? There's the problem. I
+will not ask you why you say that the gods of the Egyptians are the
+true gods, because I know what you would answer, or rather that you
+could give no answer. But I will ask this lady whether her god is a
+false god, and if she replies that he is not, I will ask her to prove
+this to me if she can. If she is able to prove it, then I think that
+what I said to Pharaoh to-day I shall repeat three days hence. If she
+is not able to prove it, then I shall consider very earnestly of the
+matter. Answer now, Moon of Israel, remembering that many thousands of
+lives may hang on what you say."
+
+"O your Highness," began Merapi. Then she paused, clasped her hands
+and looked upwards. I think that she was praying, for her lips moved.
+As she stood thus I saw, and I think Seti saw also, a very wonderful
+light grow on her face and gather in her eyes, a kind of divine fire
+of inspiration and resolve.
+
+"How can I, a poor Hebrew maiden, prove to your Highness that my God
+is the true God and that the gods of Egypt are false gods? I know not,
+and yet, is there any one god among all the many whom you worship,
+whom you are prepared to set up against him?"
+
+"Of a surety, Israelite," answered Userti. "There is Amon-Ra, Father
+of the gods, of whom all other gods have their being, and from whom
+they draw their strength. Yonder his statue sits in the sanctuary of
+his ancient temple. Let your god stir him from his place! But what
+will you bring forward against the majesty of Amon-Ra?"
+
+"My God has no statues, Princess, and his place is in the hearts of
+men, or so I have been taught by his prophets. I have nothing to bring
+forward in this war save that which must be offered in all wars--my
+life."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Seti, astounded.
+
+"I mean that I, unfriended and alone, will enter the presence of Amon-
+Ra in his chosen sanctuary, and in the name of my God will challenge
+him to kill me, if he can."
+
+We stared at her, and Userti exclaimed:
+
+"If he can! Hearken now to this blasphemer, and do you, Seti, accept
+her challenge as hereditary high-priest of the god Amon? Let her life
+pay forfeit for her sacrilege."
+
+"And if the great god Amon cannot, or does not deign to kill you,
+Lady, how will that prove that your god is greater than he?" asked the
+Prince. "Perhaps he might smile and in his pity, let the insult pass,
+as your god did by me."
+
+"Thus it shall be proved, your Highness. If naught happens to me, or
+if I am protected from anything that does happen, then I will dare to
+call upon my god to work a sign and a wonder, and to humble Amon-Ra
+before your eyes."
+
+"And if your god should also smile and let the matter pass, Lady, as
+he did by me the other day when his priests called upon him, what
+shall we have learned as to his strength, or as to that of Amon-Ra?"
+
+"O Prince, you will have learned nothing. Yet if I escape from the
+wrath of Amon and my God is deaf to my prayer, then I am ready to be
+delivered over into the hands of the priests of Amon that they may
+avenge my sacrilege upon me."
+
+"There speaks a great heart," said Seti; "yet I am not minded that
+this lady should set her life upon such an issue. I do not believe
+that either the high-god of Egypt or the god of the Israelites will
+stir, but I am quite sure that the priests of Amon will avenge the
+sacrilege, and that cruelly enough. The dice are loaded against you,
+Lady. You shall not prove your faith with blood."
+
+"Why not?" asked Userti. "What is this girl to you, Seti, that you
+should stand between her and the fruit of her wickedness, you who at
+least in name are the high-priest of the god whom she blasphemes and
+who wear his robes at temple feasts? She believes in her god, leave it
+to her god to help her as she has dared to say he will."
+
+"You believe in Amon, Userti. Are you prepared to stake your life
+against hers in this contest?"
+
+"I am not so mad and vain, Seti, as to believe that the god of all the
+world will descend from heaven to save me at my prayer, as this
+impious girl pretends that she believes."
+
+"You refuse. Then, Ana, what say you, who are a loyal worshipper of
+Amon?"
+
+"I say, O Prince, that it would be presumptuous of me to take
+precedence of his high-priest in such a matter."
+
+Seti smiled and answered:
+
+"And the high-priest says that it would be presumptuous of him to push
+so far the prerogative of a high office which he never sought."
+
+"Your Highness," broke in Merapi in her honeyed, pleading voice, "I
+pray you to be gracious to me, and to suffer me to make this trial,
+which I have sought, I know not why. Words such as I have spoken
+cannot be recalled. Already they are registered in the books of
+Eternity, and soon or late, in this way or in that, must be fulfilled.
+My life is staked, and I desire to learn at once if it be forfeit."
+
+Now even Userti looked on her with admiration, but answered only:
+
+"Of a truth, Israelite, I trust that this courage will not forsake you
+when you are handed over to the mercies of Ki, the Sacrificer of Amon,
+and the priests, in the vaults of the temple you would profane."
+
+"I also trust that it will not, your Highness, if such should be my
+fate. Your word, Prince of Egypt."
+
+Seti looked at her standing before him so calmly with bowed head, and
+hands crossed upon her breast. Then he looked at Userti, who wore a
+mocking smile upon her face. She read the meaning of that smile as I
+did. It was that she did not believe that he would allow this
+beautiful woman, who had saved his life, to risk her life for the sake
+of any or all the powers of heaven or hell. For a little while he
+walked to and fro about the chamber, then he stopped and said suddenly
+addressing, not Merapi, but Userti:
+
+"Have your will, remembering that if this brave woman fails and dies,
+her blood is on your hands, and that if she triumphs and lives, I
+shall hold her to be one of the noblest of her sex, and shall make
+study of all this matter of religion. Moon of Israel, as titular high-
+priest of Amon-Ra, I accept your challenge on behalf of the god,
+though whether he will take note of it I do not know. The trial shall
+be made to-morrow night in the sanctuary of the temple, at an hour
+that will be communicated to you. I shall be present to make sure that
+you meet with justice, as will some others. Register my commands,
+Scribe Ana, and let the head-priest of Amon, Roi, and the sacrificer
+to Amon, Ki the Magician, be summoned, that I may speak with them.
+Farewell, Lady."
+
+She went, but at the door turned and said:
+
+"I thank you, Prince, on my own behalf, and on that of my people.
+Whatever chances, I beseech you do not forget the prayer that I have
+made to you to save them, being innocent, from the sword. Now I ask
+that I may be left quite alone till I am summoned to the temple, who
+must make such preparation as I can to meet my fate, whatever it may
+be."
+
+Userti departed also without a word.
+
+"Oh! friend, what have I done?" said Seti. "Are there any gods? Tell
+me, are there any gods?"
+
+"Perhaps we shall learn to-morrow night, Prince," I answered. "At
+least Merapi thinks that there is a god, and doubtless has been
+commanded to put her faith to proof. This, as I believe, was the real
+message that Jabez her uncle has brought to her."
+
+
+
+It was the hour before the dawn, just when the night is darkest. We
+stood in the sanctuary of the ancient temple of Amon-Ra, that was lit
+with many lamps. It was an awful place. On either side the great
+columns towered to the massive roof. At the head of the sanctuary sat
+the statue of Amon-Ra, thrice the size of a man. On his brow, rising
+from the crown, were two tall feathers of stone, and in his hands he
+held the Scourge of Rule and the symbols of Power and Everlastingness.
+The lamplight flickered upon his stern and terrible face staring
+towards the east. To his right was the statue of Mut, the Mother of
+all things. On her head was the double crown of Egypt and the ur�us
+crest, and in her hand the looped cross, the sign of Life eternal. To
+his left sat Khonsu, the hawk-headed god of the moon. On his head was
+the crescent of the young moon carrying the disc of the full moon; in
+his right hand he also held the looped cross, the sign of Life
+eternal, and in his left the Staff of Strength. Such was this mighty
+triad, but of these the greatest was Amon-Ra, to whom the shrine was
+dedicated. Fearful they stood towering above us against the background
+of blackness.
+
+Gathered there were Seti the Prince, clothed in a priest's white robe,
+and wearing a linen headdress, but no ornaments, and Userti the
+Princess, high-priestess of Hathor, Lady of the West, Goddess of Love
+and Nature. She wore Hathor's vulture headdress, and on it the disc of
+the moon fashioned of silver. Also were present Roi the head-priest,
+clad in his sacerdotal robes, an old and wizened man with a strong,
+fierce face, Ki the Sacrificer and Magician, Bakenkhonsu the ancient,
+myself, and a company of the priests of Amon-Ra, Mut, and Khonsu. From
+behind the statues came the sound of solemn singing, though who sang
+we could not see.
+
+Presently from out of the darkness that lay beyond the lamps appeared
+a woman, led by two priestesses and wrapped in a long cloak. They
+brought her to an open place in front of the statue of Amon, took from
+her the cloak and departed, glancing back at her with eyes of hate and
+fear. There before us stood Merapi, clad in white, with a simple
+wimple about her head made fast beneath her chin with that scarab�us
+clasp which Seti had given to her in the city of Goshen, one spot of
+brightest blue amid a cloud of white. She looked neither to right nor
+left of her. Once only she glanced at the towering statue of the god
+that frowned above, then with a little shiver, fixed her eyes upon the
+pattern of the floor.
+
+"What does she look like?" whispered Bakenkhonsu to me.
+
+"A corpse made ready for the embalmers," I answered.
+
+He shook his great head.
+
+"Then a bride made ready for her husband."
+
+Again he shook his head.
+
+"Then a priestess about to read from the roll of Mysteries."
+
+"Now you have it, Ana, and to understand what she reads, which few
+priestesses ever do. Also all three answers were right, for in this
+woman I seem to see doom that is Death, life that is Love, and spirit
+that is Power. She has a soul which both Heaven and Earth have
+kissed."
+
+"Aye, but which of them will claim her in the end?"
+
+"That we may learn before the dawn, Ana. Hush! the fight begins."
+
+The head-priest, Roi, advanced and, standing before the god, sprinkled
+his feet with water and with perfume. Then he stretched out his hands,
+whereon all present prostrated themselves, save Merapi only, who stood
+alone in that great place like the survivor of a battle.
+
+"Hail to thee, Amon-Ra," he began, "Lord of Heaven, Establisher of all
+things, Maker of the gods, who unrolled the skies and built the
+foundations of the Earth. O god of gods, appears before thee this
+woman Merapi, daughter of Nathan, a child of the Hebrew race that owns
+thee not. This woman blasphemes thy might; this woman defies thee;
+this woman sets up her god above thee. Is it not so, woman?"
+
+"It is so," answered Merapi in a low voice.
+
+"Thus does she defy thee, thou Only One of many Forms, saying 'if the
+god Amon of the Egyptians be a greater god than my god, let him snatch
+me out of the arms of my god and here in this the shrine of Amon take
+the breath from out my lips and leave me a thing of clay.' Are these
+thy words, O woman?"
+
+"They are my words," she said in the same low voice, and oh! I
+shivered as I heard.
+
+The priest went on.
+
+"O Lord of Time, Lord of Life, Lord of Spirits and the Divinities of
+Heaven, Lord of Terror, come forth now in thy majesty and smite this
+blasphemer to the dust."
+
+Roi withdrew and Seti stood forward.
+
+"Know, O god Amon," he said, addressing the statue as though he wee
+speaking to a living man, "from the lips of me, thy high-priest, by
+birth the Prince and Heir of Egypt, that great things hang upon this
+matter here in the Land of Egypt, mayhap even who shall sit upon the
+throne that thou givest to its kings. This woman of Israel dares thee
+to thy face, saying that there is a greater god than thou art and that
+thou canst not harm her through the buckler of his strength. She says,
+moreover, that she will call upon her god to work a sign and a wonder
+upon thee. Lastly, she says that if thou dost not harm her and if her
+god works no sign upon thee, then she is ready to be handed over to
+thy priests and die the death of a blasphemer. Thy honour is set
+against her life, O great God of Egypt, and we, thy worshippers, watch
+to see the balance turn."
+
+"Well and justly put," muttered Bakenkhonsu to me. "Now if Amon fails
+us, what will you think of Amon, Ana?"
+
+"I shall learn the high-priest's mind and think what the high-priest
+thinks," I answered darkly, though in my heart I was terribly afraid
+for Merapi, and, to speak truth, for myself also, because of the
+doubts which arose in me and would not be quenched.
+
+Seti withdrew, taking his stand by Userti, and Ki stood forward and
+said:
+
+"O Amon, I thy Sacrificer, I thy Magician, to whom thou givest power,
+I the priest and servant of Isis, Mother of Mysteries, Queen of the
+company of the gods, call upon thee. She who stands before thee is but
+a Hebrew woman. Yet, as thou knowest well, O Father, in this house she
+is more than woman, inasmuch as she is the Voice and Sword of thine
+enemy, Jahveh, god of the Israelites. She thinks, mayhap, that she has
+come here of her own will, but thou knowest, Father Amon, as I know,
+that she is sent by the great prophets of her people, those magicians
+who guide her soul with spells to work thee evil and to set thee,
+Amon, beneath the heel of Jahveh. The stake seems small, the life of
+this one maid, no more; yet it is very great. This is the stake, O
+Father: Shall Amon rule the world, or Jahveh. If thou fallest
+to-night, thou fallest for ever; if thou dost triumph to-night, thou
+dost triumph for ever. In yonder shape of stone hides thy spirit; in
+yonder shape of woman's flesh hides the spirit of thy foe. Smite her,
+O Amon, smite her to small dust; let not the strength that is in her
+prevail against thy strength, lest thy name should be defiled and
+sorrows and loss should come upon the land which is thy throne; lest,
+too, the wizards of the Israelites should overcome us thy servants.
+Thus prayeth Ki thy magician, on whose soul it has pleased thee to
+pour strength and wisdom."
+
+Then followed a great silence.
+
+Watching the statue of the god, presently I thought that it moved, and
+as I could see by the stir among them, so did the others. I thought
+that its stone eyes rolled, I thought that it lifted the Scourge of
+Power in its granite hand, though whether these things were done by
+some spirit or by some priest, or by the magic of Ki, I do not know.
+At the least, a great wind began to blow about the temple, stirring
+our robes and causing the lamps to flicker. Only the robes of Merapi
+did not stir. Yet she saw what I could not see, for suddenly her eyes
+grew frightened.
+
+"The god is awake," whispered Bakenkhonsu. "Now good-bye to your fair
+Israelite. See, the Prince trembles, Ki smiles, and the face of Userti
+glows with triumph."
+
+As he spoke the blue scarab�us was snatched from Merapi's breast as
+though by a hand. It fell to the floor as did her wimple, so that now
+she appeared with her rich hair flowing down her robe. Then the eyes
+of the statue seemed to cease to roll, the wind ceased to blow, and
+again there was silence.
+
+Merapi stooped, lifted the wimple, replaced it on her head, found the
+scarab�us clasp, and very quietly, as a woman who was tiring herself
+might do, made it fast in its place again, a sight at which I heard
+Userti gasp.
+
+For a long while we waited. Watching the faces of the congregation, I
+saw amazement and doubt on those of the priests, rage on that of Ki,
+and on Seti's the flicker of a little smile. Merapi's eyes were closed
+as though she were asleep. At length she opened them, and turning her
+head towards the Prince said:
+
+"O high-priest of Amon-Ra, has your god worked his will on me, or must
+I wait longer before I call upon my God?"
+
+"Do what you will or can, woman, and make an end, for almost it is the
+moment of dawn when the temple worship opens."
+
+Then Merapi clasped her hands, and looking upwards, prayed aloud very
+sweetly and simply, saying:
+
+"O God of my fathers, trusting in Thee, I, a poor maid of Thy people
+Israel, have set the life Thou gavest me in Thy Hand. If, as I
+believe, Thou art the God of gods, I pray Thee show a sign and a
+wonder upon this god of the Egyptians, and thereby declare Thine
+Honour and keep my breath within my breast. If it pleases Thee not,
+then let me die, as doubtless for my many sins I deserve to do. O God
+of my fathers, I have made my prayer. Hear it or reject it according
+to Thy Will."
+
+So she ended, and listening to her, I felt the tears rising in my
+eyes, because she was so much alone, and I feared that this god of
+hers would never come to save her from the torments of the priests.
+Seti also turned his head away, and stared down the sanctuary at the
+sky over the open court where the lights of dawn were gathering.
+
+Once more there was silence. Then again that wind blew, very strongly,
+extinguishing the lamps, and, as it seemed to me, whirling away Merapi
+from where she was, so that now she stood to one side of the statue.
+The sanctuary was filled with gloom, till presently the first rays of
+the rising sun struck upon the roof. They fell down, down, as minute
+followed minute, till at length they rested like a sword of flame upon
+the statue of Amon-Ra. Once more that statue seemed to move. I thought
+that it lifted its stone arms to protect its head. Then in a moment
+with a rending noise, its mighty mass burst asunder, and fell in small
+dust about the throne, almost hiding it from sight.
+
+"Behold my God has answered me, the most humble of His servants," said
+Merapi in the same sweet and gentle voice. "Behold the sign and the
+wonder!"
+
+"Witch!" screamed the head-priest Roi, and fled away, followed by his
+fellows.
+
+"Sorceress!" hissed Userti, and fled also, as did all the others, save
+the Prince, Bakenkhonsu, I Ana, and Ki the Magician.
+
+We stood amazed, and while we did so, Ki turned to Merapi and spoke.
+His face was terrible with fear and fury, and his eyes shone like
+lamps. Although he did but whisper, I who was nearest to them heard
+all that was said, which the others could not do.
+
+"Your magic is good, Israelite," he muttered, "so good that it has
+overcome mine here in the temple where I serve."
+
+"I have no magic," she answered very low. "I obeyed a command, no
+more."
+
+He laughed bitterly, and asked:
+
+"Should two of a trade waste time on foolishness? Listen now. Teach me
+your secrets, and I will teach you mine, and together we will drive
+Egypt like a chariot."
+
+"I have no secrets, I have only faith," said Merapi again.
+
+"Woman," he went on, "woman or devil, will you take me for friend or
+foe? Here I have been shamed, since it was to me and not to their gods
+that the priests trusted to destroy you. Yet I can still forgive.
+Choose now, knowing that as my friendship will lead you to rule, to
+life and splendour, so my hate will drive you to shame and death."
+
+"You are beside yourself, and know not what you say. I tell you that I
+have no magic to give or to withhold," she answered, as one who did
+not understand or was indifferent, and turned away from him.
+
+Thereon he muttered some curse which I could not catch, bowed to the
+heap of dust that had been the statue of the god, and vanished away
+among the pillars of the sanctuary.
+
+"Oho-ho!" laughed Bakenkhonsu. "Not in vain have I lived to be so very
+old, for now it seems we have a new god in Egypt, and there stands his
+prophetess."
+
+Merapi came to the prince.
+
+"O high-priest of Amon," she said, "does it please you to let me go,
+for I am very weary?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE DEATH OF PHARAOH
+
+It was the appointed day and hour. By command of the Prince I drove
+with him to the palace of Pharaoh, whither her Highness the Princess
+refused to be his companion, and for the first time we talked together
+of that which had passed in the temple.
+
+"Have you seen the lady Merapi?" he asked of me.
+
+I answered No, as I was told that she was sick within her house and
+lay abed suffering from weariness, or I knew not what.
+
+"She does well to keep there," said Seti, "I think that if she came
+out those priests would murder her if they could. Also there are
+others," and he glanced back at the chariot that bore Userti in state.
+"Say, Ana, can you interpret all this matter?"
+
+"Not I, Prince. I thought that perhaps your Highness, the high-priest
+of Anon, could give me light."
+
+"The high-priest of Amon wanders in thick darkness. Ki and the rest
+swear that this Israelite is a sorceress who has outmatched their
+magic, but to me it seems more simple to believe that what she says is
+true; that her god is greater than Amon."
+
+"And if this be true, Prince, what are we to do who are sworn to the
+gods of Egypt?"
+
+"Bow our heads and fall with them, I suppose, Ana, since honour will
+not suffer us to desert them."
+
+"Even if they be false, Prince?"
+
+"I do not think that they are false, Ana, though mayhap they be less
+true. At least they are the gods of the Egyptians and we are
+Egyptians." He paused and glanced at the crowded streets, then added,
+"See, when I passed this way three days ago I was received with shouts
+of welcome by the people. Now they are silent, every one."
+
+"Perhaps they have heard of what passed in the temple."
+
+"Doubtless, but it is not that which troubles them who think that the
+gods can guard themselves. They have heard also that I would befriend
+the Hebrews whom they hate, and therefore they begin to hate me. Why
+should I complain when Pharaoh shows them the way?"
+
+"Prince," I whispered, "what will you say to Pharaoh?"
+
+"That depends on what Pharaoh says to me. Ana, if I will not desert
+our gods because they seem to be the weaker, though it should prove to
+my advantage, do you think that I would desert these Hebrews because
+they seem to be weaker, even to gain a throne?"
+
+"There greatness speaks," I murmured, and as we descended from the
+chariot he thanked me with a look.
+
+We passed through the great hall to that same chamber where Pharaoh
+had given me the chain of gold. Already he was there seated at the
+head of the chamber and wearing on his head the double crown. About
+him were gathered all those of royal blood and the great officers of
+state. We made our obeisances, but of these he seemed to take no note.
+His eyes were almost closed, and to me he looked like a man who is
+very ill. The Princess Userti entered after us and to her he spoke
+some words of welcome, giving her his hand to kiss. Then he ordered
+the doors to be closed. As he did so, an officer of the household
+entered and said that a messenger had come from the Hebrews who
+desired speech with Pharaoh.
+
+"Let him enter," said Meneptah, and presently he appeared.
+
+He was a wild-eyed man of middle age, with long hair that fell over
+his sheepskin robe. To me he looked like a soothsayer. He stood before
+Pharaoh, making no salutation.
+
+"Deliver your message and be gone," said Nehesi the Vizier.
+
+"These are the words of the Fathers of Israel, spoken by my lips,"
+cried the man in a voice that rang all round the vaulted chamber. "It
+has come to our ears, O Pharaoh, that the woman Merapi, daughter of
+Nathan, who has refuged in your city, she who is named Moon of Israel,
+has shown herself to be a prophetess of power, one to whom our God has
+given strength, in that, standing alone amidst the priests and
+magicians of Amon of the Egyptians, she took no harm from their
+sorceries and was able with the sword of prayer to smite the idol of
+Amon to the dust. We demand that this prophetess be restored to us,
+making oath on our part that she shall be given over safely to her
+betrothed husband and that no harm shall come to her for any crimes or
+treasons she may have committed against her people."
+
+"As to this matter," replied Pharaoh quietly, "make your prayer to the
+Prince of Egypt, in whose household I understand the woman dwells. If
+it pleases him to surrender her who, I take it, is a witch or a
+cunning worker of tricks, to her betrothed and her kindred, let him do
+so. It is not for Pharaoh to judge of the fate of private slaves."
+
+The man wheeled round and addressed Seti, saying:
+
+"You have heard, Son of the King. Will you deliver up this woman?"
+
+"Neither do I promise to deliver her up nor not to deliver her up,"
+answered Seti, "since the lady Merapi is no member of my household,
+nor have I any authority over her. She who saved my life dwells within
+my walls for safety's sake. If it pleases her to go, she can go; if it
+pleases her to remain, she can remain. When this Court is finished I
+give you safe-conduct to appear and in my presence learn her pleasure
+from her lips."
+
+"You have your answer; now be gone," said Nehesi.
+
+"Nay," cried the man, "I have more words to speak. Thus say the
+Fathers of Israel: We know the black counsel of your heart, O Pharaoh.
+It has been revealed to us that it is in your mind to put the Hebrews
+to the sword, as it is in the mind of the Prince of Egypt to save them
+from the sword. Change that mind of yours, O Pharaoh, and swiftly,
+lest death fall upon you from heaven above."
+
+"Cease!" thundered Meneptah in a voice that stilled the murmurs of the
+court. "Dog of a Hebrew, do you dare to threaten Pharaoh on his own
+throne? I tell you that were you not a messenger, and therefore
+according to our ancient law safe till the sun sets, you should be
+hewn limb from limb. Away with him, and if he is found in this city
+after nightfall let him be slain!"
+
+Then certain of the councillors sprang upon the man and thrust him
+forth roughly. At the door he wrenched himself free and shouted:
+
+"Think upon my words, Pharaoh, before this sun has set. And you, great
+ones of Egypt, think on them also before it appears again."
+
+They drove him out with blows and the doors were shut. Once more
+Meneptah began to speak, saying:
+
+"Now that this brawler is gone, what have you to say to me, Prince of
+Egypt? Do you still give me the counsel that you wrote in the roll? Do
+you still refuse, as heir of the Throne, to assent to my decree that
+these accursed Hebrews be destroyed with the sword of my justice?"
+
+Now all turned their eyes on Seti, who thought a while, and answered:
+
+"Let Pharaoh pardon me, but the counsel that I gave I still give; the
+assent that I refused I still refuse, because my heart tells me that
+so it is right to do, and so I think will Egypt be saved from many
+troubles."
+
+When the scribes had finished writing down these words Pharaoh asked
+again:
+
+"Prince of Egypt, if in a day to come you should fill my place, is it
+still your intent to let this people of the Hebrews go unharmed,
+taking with them the wealth that they have gathered here?"
+
+"Let Pharaoh pardon me, that is still my intent."
+
+Now at these fateful words there arose a sigh of astonishment from all
+that heard them. Before it had died away Pharaoh had turned to Userti
+and was asking:
+
+"Are these your counsel, your will, and your intent also, O Princess
+of Egypt?"
+
+"Let Pharaoh hear me," answered Userti in a cold, clear voice, "they
+are not. In this great matter my lord the Prince walks one road and I
+walk another. My counsel, will, and intent are those of Pharaoh."
+
+"Seti my son," said Meneptah, more kindly than I had ever heard him
+speak before, "for the last time, not as your king but as your father,
+I pray you to consider. Remembering that as it lies in your power,
+being of full age and having been joined with me in many matters of
+government, to refuse your assent to a great act of state, so it lies
+in my power with the assent of the high-priests and of my ministers to
+remove you from my path. Seti, I can disinherit you and set another in
+your place, and if you persist, that and no less I shall do. Consider,
+therefore, my son."
+
+In the midst of an intense silence Seti answered:
+
+"I have considered, O my Father, and whatever be the cost to me I
+cannot go back upon my words."
+
+Then Pharaoh rose and cried:
+
+"Take note all you assembled here, and let it be proclaimed to the
+people of Egypt without the gates, that they take note also, that I
+depose Seti my son from his place as Prince of Egypt and declare that
+he is removed from the succession to the double Crown. Take note that
+my daughter Userti, Princess of Egypt, wife of the Prince Seti, I do
+not depose. Whatever rights and heritages are hers as heiress of Egypt
+let those rights and heritages remain to her, and if a child be born
+of her and Prince Seti, who lives, let that child be heir to the
+Throne of Egypt. Take note that, if no such child is born or until
+it is born, I name my nephew, the count Amenmeses, son of by brother
+Khaemuas, now gathered to Osiris, to fill the Throne of Egypt when I
+am no more. Come hither, Count Amenmeses."
+
+He advanced and stood before him. Then Pharaoh lifted from his head
+the double crown he wore and for a moment set it on the brow of
+Amenmeses, saying as he replaced it on his own head:
+
+"By this act and token do I name and constitute you, Amenmeses, to be
+Royal Prince of Egypt in place of my son, Prince Seti, deposed.
+Withdraw, Royal Prince of Egypt. I have spoken."
+
+"Life! Blood! Strength!" cried all the company bowing before Pharaoh,
+all save the Prince Seti who neither bowed nor stirred. Only he cried:
+
+"And I have heard. Will Pharaoh be pleased to declare whether with my
+royal heritage he takes my life? If so, let it be here and now. My
+cousin Amenmeses wears a sword."
+
+"Nay, Son," answered Meneptah sadly, "your life is left to you and
+with it all your private rank and your possessions whatsoever and
+wherever they may be."
+
+"Let Pharaoh's will be done," replied Seti indifferently, "in this as
+in all things. Pharaoh spares my life until such time as Amenmeses his
+successor shall fill his place, when it shall be taken."
+
+Meneptah started; this thought was new to him.
+
+"Stand forth, Amenmeses," he cried, "and swear now the threefold oath
+that may not be broken. Swear by Amon, by Ptah, and by Osiris, god of
+death, that never will you attempt to harm the Prince Seti, your
+cousin, either in body or in such state and prerogative as remain to
+him. Let Roi, the head-priest of Amon, administer the oath now before
+us all."
+
+So Roi spoke the oath in the ancient form, which was terrible even to
+hear, and Amenmeses, unwillingly enough as I thought, repeated it
+after him, adding however these words at the end, "All these things I
+swear and all these penalties in this world and the world to be I
+invoke upon my head, provided only that when the time comes the Prince
+Seti leaves me in peace upon the throne to which it has pleased
+Pharaoh to decree to me."
+
+Now some there murmured that this was not enough, since in their
+hearts there were few who did not love Seti and grieve to see him thus
+stripped of his royal heritage because his judgment differed from that
+of Pharaoh over a matter of State policy. But Seti only laughed and
+said scornfully:
+
+"Let be, for of what value are such oaths? Pharaoh on the throne is
+above all oaths who must make answer to the gods only and from the
+hearts of some the gods are far away. Let Amenmeses not fear that I
+shall quarrel with him over this matter of a crown, I who in truth
+have never longed for the pomp and cares of royalty and who, deprived
+of these, still possess all that I can desire. I go my way
+henceforward as one of many, a noble of Egypt--no more, and if in a
+day to come it pleases the Pharaoh to be to shorten my wanderings, I
+am not sure that even then I shall grieve so very much, who am content
+to accept the judgment of the gods, as in the end he must do also.
+Yet, Pharaoh my father, before we part I ask leave to speak the
+thoughts that rise in me."
+
+"Say on," muttered Meneptah.
+
+"Pharaoh, having your leave, I tell you that I think you have done a
+very evil work this day, one that is unpleasing to those Powers which
+rule the world, whoever and whatsoever they may be, one too that will
+bring upon Egypt sorrows countless as the sand. I believe that these
+Hebrews whom you unjustly seek to slay worship a god as great or
+greater than our own, and that they and he will triumph over Egypt. I
+believe also that the mighty heritage which you have taken from me
+will bring neither joy nor honour to him by whom it has been
+received."
+
+Here Amenmeses started forward, but Meneptah held up his hand, and he
+was silent.
+
+"I believe, Pharaoh--alas! that I must say it--that your days on earth
+are few and that for the last time we look on each other living.
+Farewell, Pharaoh my father, whom still I love mayhap more in this
+hour of parting than ever I did before. Farewell, Amenmeses, Prince of
+Egypt. Take from me this ornament which henceforth should be worn by
+you only," and lifting from his headdress that royal circlet which
+marks the heir to the throne, he held it to Amenmeses, who took it
+and, with a smile of triumph, set it on his brow.
+
+"Farewell, Lords and Councillors; it is my hope that in yonder prince
+you will find a master more to your liking that ever I could have
+been. Come, Ana, my friend, if it still pleases you to cling to me for
+a little while, now that I have nothing left to give."
+
+For a few moments he stood still looking very earnestly at his father,
+who looked back at him with tears in his deep-set, faded eyes.
+
+Then, though whether this was by chance I cannot say, taking no note
+of the Princess Userti, who gazed at him perplexed and wrathful, Seti
+drew himself up and cried in the ancient form:
+
+"Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!" and bowed almost
+to the ground.
+
+Meneptah heard. Muttering beneath his breath, "Oh! Seti, my son, my
+most beloved son!" he stretched out his arms as though to call him
+back or perhaps to clasp him. As he did so I saw his face change. Next
+instant he fell forward to the ground and lay there still. All the
+company stood struck with horror, only the royal physician ran to him,
+while Roi and others who were priests began to mutter prayers.
+
+"Has the good god been gathered to Osiris?" asked Amenmeses presently
+in a hoarse voice, "because if it be so, I am Pharaoh."
+
+"Nay, Amenmeses," exclaimed Userti, "the decrees have not yet been
+sealed or promulgated. They have neither strength nor weight."
+
+Before he could answer the physician cried:
+
+"Peace! Pharaoh still lives, his heart beats. This is but a fit which
+may pass. Begone, every one, he must have quiet."
+
+So we went, but first Seti knelt down and kissed his father on the
+brow.
+
+
+
+An hour later the Princess Userti broke into the room of his palace
+where the Prince and I were talking.
+
+"Seti," she said, "Pharaoh still lives, but the physicians say he will
+be dead by dawn. There is yet time. Here I have a writing, sealed with
+his signet and witnessed, wherein he recalls all that he decreed in
+the Court to-day, and declares you, his son, to be the true and only
+heir of the throne of Egypt."
+
+"Is it so, wife? Tell me now how did a dying man in a swoon command
+and seal this writing?" and he touched the scroll she held in her
+hand.
+
+"He recovered for a little while; Nehesi will tell you how," she
+replied, looking him in the face with cold eyes. Then before he could
+speak, she added, "Waste no more breath in questions, but act and at
+once. The General of the guards waits below; he is your faithful
+servant. Through him I have promised a gift to every soldier on the
+day that you are crowned. Nehesi and most of the officers are on our
+side. Only the priests are against us because of that Hebrew witch
+whom you shelter, and of her tribe whom you befriend; but they have
+not had time to stir up the people nor will they attempt revolt. Act,
+Seti, act, for none will move without your express command. Moreover,
+no question will be raised afterwards, since from Thebes to the sea
+and throughout the world you are known to be the heir of Egypt."
+
+"What would you have me do, wife?" asked Seti, when she paused for
+lack of breath.
+
+"Cannot you guess? Must I put statecraft into your head as well as a
+sword into your hand? Why that scribe of yours, who follows your heels
+like a favoured dog, would be more apt a pupil. Hearken then.
+Amenmeses has sent out to gather strength, but as yet there are not
+fifty men about him whom he can trust." She leant forward and
+whispered fiercely, "Kill the traitor, Amenmeses--all will hold it a
+righteous act, and the General waits your word. Shall I summon him?"
+
+"I think not," answered Seti. "Because Pharaoh, as he has a right to
+do, is pleased to name a certain man of royal blood to succeed him,
+how does this make that man a traitor to Pharaoh who still lives? But,
+traitor or none, I will not murder my cousin Amenmeses."
+
+"Then he will murder you."
+
+"Maybe. That is a matter between him and the gods which I leave them
+to settle. The oath he swore to-day is not one to be lightly broken.
+But whether he breaks it or not, I also swore an oath, at least in my
+heart, namely that I would not attempt to dispute the will of Pharaoh
+whom, after all, I love as my father and honour as my king, Pharaoh
+who still lives and may, as I hope, recover. What should I say to him
+if he recovered or, at the worst, when at last we meet elsewhere?"
+
+"Pharaoh never will recover; I have spoken to the physician and he
+told me so. Already they pierce his skull to let out the evil spirit
+of sickness, after which none of our family have lived for very long."
+
+"Because, as I hold, thereby, whatever priests and physicians may say,
+they let in the good spirit of death. Ana, I pray you if I----"
+
+"Man," she broke in, striking her hand upon the table by which she
+stood, "do you understand that while you muse and moralise your crown
+is passing from you?"
+
+"It has already passed, Lady. Did you not see me give it to
+Amenmeses?"
+
+"Do you understand that you who should be the greatest king in all the
+world, in some few hours if indeed you are allowed to live, will be
+nothing but a private citizen of Egypt, one at whom the very beggars
+may spit and take no harm?"
+
+"Surely, Wife. Moreover, there is little virtue in what I do, since on
+the whole I prefer that prospect and am willing to take the risk of
+being hurried from an evil world. Hearken," he added, with a change of
+tone and gesture. "You think me a fool and a weakling; a dreamer also,
+you, the clear-eyed, hard-brained stateswoman who look to the
+glittering gain of the moment for which you are ready to pay in blood,
+and guess nothing of what lies beyond. I am none of these things,
+except, perchance, the last. I am only a man who strives to be just
+and to do right, as right seems to me, and if I dream, it is of good,
+not evil, as I understand good and evil. You are sure that this
+dreaming of mine will lead me to worldly loss and shame. Even of that
+/I/ am not sure. The thought comes to me that it may lead me to those
+very baubles on which you set your heart, but by a path strewn with
+spices and with flowers, not by one paved with the bones of men and
+reeking with their gore. Crowns that are bought with the promise of
+blood and held with cruelty are apt to be lost in blood, Userti."
+
+She waved her hand. "I pray you keep the rest, Seti, till I have more
+time to listen. Moreover if I need prophecies, I think it better to
+turn to Ki and those who make them their life-study. For me this is a
+day of deeds, not dreams, and since you refuse my help, and behave as
+a sick girl lost in fancies, I must see to myself. As while you live I
+cannot reign alone or wage war in my own name only, I go to make terms
+with Amenmeses, who will pay me high for peace."
+
+"You go--and do you return, Userti?"
+
+She drew herself to her full height, looking very royal, and answered
+slowly:
+
+"I do not return. I, the Princess of Egypt, cannot live as the wife of
+a common man who falls from a throne to set himself upon the earth,
+and smears his own brow with mud for a ur�us crown. When your
+prophecies come true, Seti, and you crawl from your dust, then perhaps
+we may speak again."
+
+"Aye, Userti, but the question is, what shall we say?"
+
+"Meanwhile," she added, as she turned, "I leave you to your chosen
+counsellors--yonder scribe, whom foolishness, not wisdom, has whitened
+before his time, and perchance the Hebrew sorceress, who can give you
+moonbeams to drink from those false lips of hers. Farewell, Seti, once
+a prince and my husband."
+
+"Farewell, Userti, who, I fear, must still remain my sister."
+
+Then he watched her go, and turning to me, said:
+
+"To-day, Ana, I have lost both a crown and a wife, yet strange to tell
+I do not know which of these calamities grieves me least. Yet it is
+time that fortune turned. Or mayhap all the evils are not done. Would
+you not go also, Ana? Although she gibes at you in her anger, the
+Princess thinks well of you, and would keep you in her service.
+Remember, whoever falls in Egypt, she will be great till the last."
+
+"Oh! Prince," I answered, "have I not borne enough to-day that you
+must add insult to my load, you with whom I broke the cup and swore
+the oath?"
+
+"What!" he laughed. "Is there one in Egypt who remembers oaths to his
+own loss? I thank you, Ana," and taking my hand he pressed it.
+
+At that moment the door opened, and old Pambasa entered, saying:
+
+"The Hebrew woman, Merapi, would see you; also two Hebrew men."
+
+"Admit them," said Seti. "Note, Ana, how yonder old time-server turns
+his face from the setting sun. This morning even it would have been
+'to see your Highness,' uttered with bows so low that his beard swept
+the floor. Now it is 'to see you' and not so much as an inclination of
+the head in common courtesy. This, moreover, from one who has robbed
+me year by year and grown fat on bribes. It is the first of many
+bitter lessons, or rather the second--that of her Highness was the
+first; I pray that I may learn them with humility."
+
+While he mused thus and, having no comfort to offer, I listened sad at
+heart, Merapi entered, and a moment after her the wide-eyed messenger
+whom we had seen in Pharaoh's Court, and her uncle Jabez the cunning
+merchant. She bowed low to Seti, and smiled at me. Then the other two
+appeared, and with small salutation the messenger began to speak.
+
+"You know my demand, Prince," he said. "It is that this woman should
+be returned to her people. Jabez, her uncle, will lead her away."
+
+"And you know my answer, Israelite," answered Seti. "It is that I have
+no power over the coming or the going of the lady Merapi, or at least
+wish to claim none. Address yourself to her."
+
+"What is it you wish with me, Priest?" asked Merapi quickly.
+
+"That you should return to the town of Goshen, daughter of Nathan.
+Have you no ears to hear?"
+
+"I hear, but if I return, what will you of me?"
+
+"That you who have proved yourself a prophetess by your deeds in
+yonder temple should dedicate your powers to the service of your
+people, receiving in return full forgiveness for the evils you have
+wrought against them, which we swear to you in the name of God."
+
+"I am no prophetess, and I have wrought no evils against my people,
+Priest. I have only saved them from the evil of murdering one who has
+shown himself their friend, even as I hear to the laying down of his
+crown for their sake."
+
+"That is for the Fathers of Israel and not for you to judge, woman.
+Your answer?"
+
+"It is neither for them nor for me, but for God only." She paused,
+then added, "Is this all you ask of me?"
+
+"It is all the Fathers ask, but Laban asks his affianced wife."
+
+"And am I to be given in marriage to--this assassin?"
+
+"Without doubt you are to be given to this brave soldier, being
+already his."
+
+"And if I refuse?"
+
+"Then, Daughter of Nathan, it is my part to curse you in the name of
+God, and to declare you cut off and outcast from the people of God. It
+is my part to announce to you further that your life is forfeit, and
+that any Hebrew may kill you when and how he can, and take no blame."
+
+Merapi paled a little, then turning to Jabez, asked:
+
+"You have heard, my uncle. What say you?"
+
+Jabez looked round shiftily, and said in his unctuous voice:
+
+"My niece, surely you must obey the commands of the Elders of Israel
+who speak the will of Heaven, as you obeyed them when you matched
+yourself against the might of Amon."
+
+"You gave me a different counsel yesterday, my uncle. Then you said I
+had better bide where I was."
+
+The messenger turned and glared at him.
+
+"There is a great difference between yesterday and to-day," went on
+Jabez hurriedly. "Yesterday you were protected by one who would soon
+be Pharaoh, and might have been able to move his mind in favour of
+your folk. To-day his greatness is stripped from him, and his will has
+no more weight in Egypt. A dead lion is not to be feared, my niece."
+
+Seti smiled at this insult, but Merapi's face, like my own, grew red,
+as though with anger.
+
+"Sleeping lions have been taken for dead ere now, my uncle, as those
+who would spurn them have discovered to their cost. Prince Seti, have
+you no word to help me in this strait?"
+
+"What is the strait, Lady? If you wish to go to your people and--to
+Laban, who, I understand, is recovered from his hurts, there is naught
+between you and me save my gratitude to you which gives me the right
+to say you shall not go. If, however, you wish to stay, then perhaps I
+am still not so powerless to shield or smite as this worthy Jabez
+thinks, who still remain the greatest lord in Egypt and one with those
+that love him. Therefore should you desire to remain, I think that you
+may do so unmolested of any, and least of all by that friend in whose
+shadow it pleases you to sojourn."
+
+"Those are very gentle words," murmured Merapi, "words that few would
+speak to a maid from whom naught is asked and who has naught to give."
+
+"A truce to this talk," snarled the messenger. "Do you obey or do you
+rebel? Your answer."
+
+She turned and looked him full in the face, saying:
+
+"I do not return to Goshen and to Laban, of whose sword I have seen
+enough."
+
+"Mayhap you will see more of it before all is done. For the last time,
+think ere the curse of your God and your people falls upon you, and
+after it, death. For fall I say it shall, I, who, as Pharaoh knows
+to-day, am no false prophet, and as that Prince knows also."
+
+"I do not think that my God, who sees the hearts of those that he has
+made, will avenge himself upon a woman because she refuses to be
+wedded to a murderer whom of her own will she never chose, which,
+Priest, is the fate you offer me. Therefore I am content to leave
+judgment in the hands of the great Judge of all. For the rest I defy
+you and your commands. If I must be slaughtered, let me die, but at
+least let me die mistress of myself and free, who am no man's love, or
+wife, or slave."
+
+"Well spoken!" whispered Seti to me.
+
+Then this priest became terrible. Waving his arms and rolling his wild
+eyes, he poured out some hideous curse upon the head of this poor
+maid, much of which, as it was spoken rapidly in an ancient form of
+Hebrew, we did not understand. He cursed her living, dying, and after
+death. He cursed her in her love and hate, wedded or alone. He cursed
+her in child-bearing or in barrenness, and he cursed her children
+after her to all generations. Lastly, he declared her cut off from and
+rejected by the god she worshipped, and sentenced her to death at the
+hands of any who could slay her. So horrible was that curse that she
+shrank away from him, while Jabez crouched about the ground hiding his
+eyes with his hands, and even I felt my blood turn cold.
+
+At length he paused, foaming at the lips. Then, suddenly, shouting,
+"After judgment, doom!" he drew a knife from his robe and sprang at
+her.
+
+She fled behind us. He followed, but Seti, crying, "Ah, I thought it,"
+leapt between them, as he did so drawing the iron sword which he wore
+with his ceremonial dress. At him he sprang and the next thing I saw
+was the red point of the sword standing out beyond the priest's
+shoulders.
+
+Down he fell, babbling:
+
+"Is this how you show your love for Israel, Prince?"
+
+"It is how I show my hate of murderers," answered Seti.
+
+Then the man died.
+
+"Oh!" cried Merapi wringing her hands, "once more I have caused Hebrew
+blood to flow and now all this curse will fall on me."
+
+"Nay, on me, Lady, if there is anything in curses, which I doubt, for
+this deed was mine, and at the worst yonder mad brute's knife did not
+fall on you."
+
+"Yes, life is left if only for a little while. Had it not been for
+you, Prince, by now, I----" and she shuddered.
+
+"And had it not been for you, Moon of Israel, by now I----" and he
+smiled, adding, "Surely Fate weaves a strange web round you and me.
+First you save me from the sword; then I save you. I think, Lady, that
+in the end we ought to die together and give Ana here stuff for the
+best of all his stories. Friend Jabez," he went on to the Israelite
+who was still crouching in the corner with the eyes starting from his
+head, "get you back to your gentle-hearted people and make it clear to
+them why the lady Merapi cannot companion you, taking with you that
+carrion to prove your tale. Tell them that if they send more men to
+molest your niece a like fate awaits them, but that now as before I do
+not turn my back upon them because of the deeds of a few madmen or
+evil-doers, as I have given them proof to-day. Ana, make ready, since
+soon I leave for Memphis. See that the Lady Merapi, who will travel
+alone, has fit escort for her journey, that is if it pleases her to
+depart from Tanis."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE CROWNING OF AMENMESES
+
+Now, notwithstanding all the woes that fell on Egypt and a certain
+secret sorrow of my own, began the happiest of the days which the gods
+have given me. We went to Mennefer or Memphis, the white-walled city
+where I was born, the city that I loved. Now no longer did I dwell in
+a little house near to the enclosure of the temple of Ptah, which is
+vaster and more splendid than all those of Thebes or Tanis. My home
+was in the beautiful palace of Seti, which he had inherited from his
+mother, the Great Royal Wife. It stood, and indeed still stands, on a
+piled-up mound without the walls near to the temple of the goddess
+Neit, who always has her habitation to the north of the wall, why I do
+not know, because even her priests cannot tell me. In front of this
+palace, facing to the north, is a great portico, whereof the roof is
+borne upon palm-headed, painted columns whence may be seen the most
+lovely prospect in Egypt. First the gardens, then the palm-groves,
+then the cultivated land, then the broad and gentle Nile and, far
+away, the desert.
+
+Here, then, we dwelt, keeping small state and almost unguarded, but in
+wealth and comfort, spending our time in the library of the palace, or
+in those of the temples, and when we wearied of work, in the lovely
+gardens or, perchance, sailing upon the bosom of the Nile. The lady
+Merapi dwelt there also, but in a separate wing of the palace, with
+certain slaves and servants whom Seti had given to her. Sometimes we
+met her in the gardens, where it pleased her to walk at the same hours
+that we did, namely before the sun grew hot, or in the cool of the
+evening, and now and again when the moon shone at night. Then the
+three of us would talk together, for Seti never sought her company
+alone or within walls.
+
+Those talks were very pleasant. Moreover they grew more frequent as
+time went on, since Merapi had a thirst for learning, and the Prince
+would bring her rolls to read in a little summer-house there was. Here
+we would sit, or if the heat was great, outside beneath the shadow of
+two spreading trees that stretched above the roof of the little
+pleasure-house, while Seti discoursed of the contents of the rolls and
+instructed her in the secrets of our writing. Sometimes, too, I read
+them stories of my making, to which it pleased them both to listen, or
+so they said, and I, in my vanity, believed. Also we would talk of the
+mystery and the wonder of the world and of the Hebrews and their fate,
+or of what passed in Egypt and the neighbouring lands.
+
+Nor was Merapi altogether lonesome, seeing that there dwelt in Memphis
+certain ladies who had Hebrew blood in their veins, or were born of
+the Israelites and had married Egyptians against their law. Among
+these she made friends, and together they worshipped in their own
+fashion with none to say them nay, since here no priests were allowed
+to trouble them.
+
+For our part we held intercourse with as many as we pleased, since few
+forgot that Seti was by blood the Prince of Egypt, that is, a man
+almost half divine, and all were eager to visit him. Also he was much
+beloved for his own sake and more particularly by the poor, whose
+wants it was his delight to relieve to the full limit of his wealth.
+Thus it came about that whenever he went abroad, although against his
+will, he was received with honours and homage that were almost royal,
+for though Pharaoh could rob him of the Crown he could not empty his
+veins of the blood of kings.
+
+It was on this account that I feared for his safety, since I was sure
+that through his spies Amenmeses knew all and would grow jealous of a
+dethroned prince who was still so much adored by those over whom of
+right he should have ruled. I told Seti of my doubts and that when he
+travelled the streets he should be guarded by armed men. But he only
+laughed and answered that, as the Hebrews had failed to kill him, he
+did not think that any others would succeed. Moreover he believed
+there were no Egyptians in the land who would lift a sword against
+him, or put poison in his drink, whoever bade them. Also he added
+these words:
+
+"The best way to escape death is to have no fear of death, for then
+Osiris shuns us."
+
+
+
+Now I must tell of the happenings at Tanis. Pharaoh Meneptah lingered
+but a few hours and never found his mind again before his spirit flew
+to Heaven. Then there was great mourning in the land, for, if he was
+not loved, Meneptah was honoured and feared. Only among the Israelites
+there was open rejoicing, because he had been their enemy and their
+prophets had foretold that death was near to him. They gave it out
+that he had been smitten of their God, which caused the Egyptians to
+hate them more than ever. There was doubt, too, and bewilderment in
+Egypt, for though his proclamation disinheriting the Prince Seti had
+been published abroad, the people, and especially those who dwelt in
+the south, could not understand why this should have been done over a
+matter of the shepherd slaves who dwelt in Goshen. Indeed, had the
+Prince but held up his hand, tens of thousands would have rallied to
+his standard. Yet this he refused to do, which astonished all the
+world, who thought it marvellous that any man should refuse a throne
+which would have lifted him almost to the level of the gods. Indeed,
+to avoid their importunities he had set out at once for Memphis, and
+there remained hidden away during the period of mourning for his
+father. So it came about that Amenmeses succeeded with none to say him
+nay, since without her husband Userti could not or would not act.
+
+After the days of embalmment were accomplished the body of Pharaoh
+Meneptah was carried up the Nile to be laid in his eternal house, the
+splendid tomb that he had made ready for himself in the Valley of Dead
+Kings at Thebes. To this great ceremony the Prince Seti was not
+bidden, lest, as Bakenkhonsu told me afterwards, his presence should
+cause some rising in his favour, with or without his will. For this
+reason also the dead god, as he was named, was not suffered to rest at
+Memphis on his last journey up the Nile. Disguised as a man of the
+people the Prince watched his father's body pass in the funeral barge
+guarded by shaven, white-robed priests, the centre of a splendid
+procession. In front went other barges filled with soldiers and
+officers of state, behind came the new Pharaoh and all the great ones
+of Egypt, while the sounds of lamentation floated far over the face of
+the waters. They appeared, they passed, they disappeared, and when
+they had vanished Seti wept a little, for in his own fashion he loved
+his father.
+
+"Of what use is it to be a king and named half-divine, Ana," he said
+to me, "seeing that the end of such gods as these is the same as that
+of the beggar at the gate?"
+
+"This, Prince," I answered, "that a king can do more good than a
+beggar while the breath is in his nostrils, and leave behind him a
+great example to others."
+
+"Or more harm, Ana. Also the beggar can leave a great example, that of
+patience in affliction. Still, if I were sure that I should do nothing
+but good, then perhaps I would be a king. But I have noted that those
+who desire to do the most good often work the greatest harm."
+
+"Which, if followed out, would be an argument for wishing to do evil,
+Prince."
+
+"Not so," he answered, "because good triumphs at the last. For good is
+truth and truth rules earth and heaven."
+
+"Then it is clear, Prince, that you should seek to be a king."
+
+"I will remember the argument, Ana, if ever time brings me an
+opportunity unstained by blood," he answered.
+
+When the obsequies of Pharaoh were finished, Amenmeses returned to
+Tanis, and there was crowned as Pharaoh. I attended this great
+ceremony, bearing coronation gifts of certain royal ornaments which
+the Prince sent to Pharaoh, saying it was not fit that he, as a
+private person, should wear them any longer. These I presented to
+Pharaoh, who took them doubtfully, declaring that he did not
+understand the Prince Seti's mind and actions.
+
+"They hide no snare, O Pharaoh," I said. "As you rejoice in the glory
+that the gods have sent you, so the Prince my master rejoices in the
+rest and peace which the gods have given him, asking no more."
+
+"It may be so, Scribe, but I find this so strange a thing, that
+sometimes I fear lest the rich flowers of this glory of mine should
+hide some deadly snake, whereof the Prince knows, if he did not set it
+there."
+
+"I cannot say, O Pharaoh, but without doubt, although he could work no
+guile, the Prince is not as are other men. His mind is both wide and
+deep."
+
+"Too deep for me," muttered Amenmeses. "Nevertheless, say to my royal
+cousin that I thank him for his gifts, especially as some of them were
+worn, when he was heir to Egypt, by my father Khaemuas, who I would
+had left me his wisdom as well as his blood. Say to him also that
+while he refrains from working me harm upon the throne, as I know he
+has done up to the present, he may be sure that I will work him none
+in the station which he has chosen."
+
+Also I saw the Princess Userti who questioned me closely concerning
+her lord. I told her everything, keeping naught back. She listened and
+asked:
+
+"What of that Hebrew woman, Moon of Israel? Without doubt she fills my
+place."
+
+"Not so, Princess," I answered. "The Prince lives alone. Neither she
+nor any other woman fills your place. She is a friend to him, no
+more."
+
+"A friend! Well, at least we know the end of such friendships. Oh!
+surely the Prince must be stricken with madness from the gods!"
+
+"It may be so, your Highness, but I think that if the gods smote more
+men with such madness, the world would be better than it is."
+
+"The world is the world, and the business of those who are born to
+greatness is to rule it as it is, not to hide away amongst books and
+flowers, and to talk folly with a beautiful outland woman, and a
+scribe however learned," she answered bitterly, adding, "Oh! if the
+Prince is not mad, certainly he drives others to madness, and me, his
+spouse, among them. That throne is his, his; yet he suffers a cross-
+grained dolt to take his place, and sends him gifts and blessings."
+
+"I think your Highness should wait till the end of the story before
+you judge of it."
+
+She looked at me sharply, and asked:
+
+"Why do you say that? Is the Prince no fool after all? Do he and you,
+who both seem to be so simple, perchance play a great and hidden game,
+as I have known men feign folly in order to do with safety? Or has
+that witch of an Israelite some secret knowledge in which she
+instructs you, such as a woman who can shatter the statue of Amon to
+fine dust might well possess? You make believe not to know, which
+means that you will not answer. Oh! Scribe Ana, if only it were safe,
+I think I could find a way to wring the truth out of you, although you
+do pretend to be but a babe for innocence."
+
+"It pleases your Highness to threaten and without cause."
+
+"No," she answered, changing her voice and manner, "I do not threaten;
+it is only the madness that I have caught from Seti. Would you not be
+mad if you knew that another woman was to be crowned to-morrow in your
+place, because--because----" and she began to weep, which frightened
+me more than all her rough words.
+
+Presently she dried her tears, and said:
+
+"Say to my lord that I rejoice to hear that he is well and send him
+greetings, but that never of my own wish will I look upon his living
+face again unless indeed he takes another counsel, and sets himself to
+win that which is his own. Say to him that though he has so little
+care for me, and pays no heed to my desires, still I watch over his
+welfare and his safety, as best I may."
+
+"His safety, Princess! Pharaoh assured me not an hour ago that he had
+naught to fear, as indeed he fears naught."
+
+"Oh! which of you is the more foolish," she exclaimed stamping her
+foot, "the man or his master? You believe that the Prince has naught
+to fear because that usurper tells you so, and he believes it--well,
+because he fears naught. For a little while he may sleep in peace. But
+let him wait until troubles of this sort or of that arise in Egypt
+and, understanding that the gods send them on account of the great
+wickedness that my father wrought when death had him by the throat and
+his mind was clouded, the people begin to turn their eyes towards
+their lawful king. Then the usurper will grow jealous, and if he has
+his way, the Prince will sleep in peace--for ever. If his throat
+remains uncut, it will be for one reason only, that I hold back the
+murderer's hand. Farewell, I can talk no more, for I say to you that
+my brain is afire--and to-morrow he should have been crowned, and I
+with him," and she swept away, royal as ever, leaving me wondering
+what she meant when she spoke of troubles arising in Egypt, or if the
+words were but uttered at hazard.
+
+Afterwards Bakenkhonsu and I supped together at the college of the
+temple of Ptah, of which because of his age he was called the father,
+when I heard more of this matter.
+
+"Ana," he said, "I tell you that such gloom hangs over Egypt as I have
+never known even when it was thought that the Ninebow Barbarians would
+conquer and enslave the land. Amenmeses will be the fifth Pharaoh whom
+I have seen crowned, the first of them when I was but a little child
+hanging to my mother's robe, and not once have I known such
+joylessness."
+
+"That may be because the crown passes to one who should not wear it,
+Bakenkhonsu."
+
+He shook his head. "Not altogether. I think this darkness comes from
+the heavens as light does. Men are afraid they know not of what."
+
+"The Israelites," I suggested.
+
+"Now you are near to it, Ana, for doubtless they have much to do with
+the matter. Had it not been for them Seti and not Amenmeses would be
+crowned to-morrow. Also the tale of the marvel which the beautiful
+Hebrew woman wrought in the temple yonder has got abroad and is taken
+as an omen. Did I tell you that six days gone a fine new statue of the
+god was consecrated there and on the following morning was found lying
+on its side, or rather with its head resting on the breast of Mut?"
+
+"If so, Merapi is blameless, because she has gone away from this
+city."
+
+"Of course she has gone away, for has not Seti gone also? But I think
+she left something behind her. However that may be, even our new
+divine lord is afraid. He dreams ill, Ana," he added, dropping his
+voice, "so ill that he has called in Ki, the Kherheb,[*] to interpret
+his visions."
+
+[*] "Kherheb" was the title of the chief official magician in ancient
+    Egypt.
+
+"And what said Ki?"
+
+"Ki could say nothing or, rather, that the only answer vouchsafed to
+him and his company, when they made inquiry of their Kas, was that
+this god's reign would be very short and that it and his life would
+end together."
+
+"Which perhaps did not please the god Amenmeses, Bakenkhonsu?"
+
+"Which did not please the god at all. He threatened Ki. It is a
+foolish thing to threaten a great magician, Ana, as the Kherheb Ki,
+himself indeed told him, looking him in the eyes. Then he prayed his
+pardon and asked who would succeed him on the throne, but Ki said he
+did not know, as a Kherheb who had been threatened could never
+remember anything, which indeed he never can--except to pay back the
+threatener."
+
+"And did he know, Bakenkhonsu?"
+
+By way of answer the old Councillor crumbled some bread fine upon the
+table, then with his finger traced among the crumbs the rough likeness
+of a jackal-headed god and of two feathers, after which with a swift
+movement he swept the crumbs onto the floor.
+
+"Seti!" I whispered, reading the hieroglyphs of the Prince's name, and
+he nodded and laughed in his great fashion.
+
+"Men come to their own sometimes, Ana, especially if they do not seek
+their own," he said. "But if so, much must happen first that is
+terrible. The new Pharaoh is not the only man who dreams, Ana. Of late
+years my sleep has been light and sometimes I dream, though I have no
+magic like to that of Ki."
+
+"What did you dream?"
+
+"I dreamed of a great multitude marching like locusts over Egypt.
+Before them went a column of fire in which were two hands. One of
+these held Amon by the throat and one held the new Pharaoh by the
+throat. After them came a column of cloud, and in it a shape like to
+that of an unwrapped mummy, a shape of death standing upon water that
+was full of countless dead."
+
+Now I bethought me of the picture that the Prince and I had seen in
+the skies yonder in the land of Goshen, but of it I said nothing. Yet
+I think that Bakenkhonsu saw into my mind, for he asked:
+
+"Do /you/ never dream, Friend? You see visions that come true--
+Amenmeses on the throne, for instance. Do you not also dream at times?
+No? Well, then, the Prince? You look like men who might, and the time
+is ripe and pregnant. Oh! I remember. You are both of you dreaming,
+not of the pictures that pass across the terrible eyes of Ki, but of
+those that the moon reflects upon the waters of Memphis, the Moon of
+Israel. Ana, be advised by me, put away the flesh and increase the
+spirit, for in it alone is happiness, whereof woman and all our joys
+are but earthly symbols, shadows thrown by that mortal cloud which
+lies between us and the Light Above. I see that you understand,
+because some of that light has struggled to your heart. Do you
+remember that you saw it shining in the hour when your little daughter
+died? Ah! I thought so. It was the gift she left you, a gift that will
+grow and grow in such a breast as yours, if only you will put away the
+flesh and make room for it, Ana. Man, do not weep--laugh as I do, Oho-
+ho! Give me my staff, and good-night. Forget not that we sit together
+at the crowning to-morrow, for you are a King's Companion and that
+rank once conferred is one which no new Pharaoh can take away. It is
+like the gift of the spirit, Ana, which is hard to win, but once won
+more eternal than the stars. Oh! why do I live so long who would bathe
+in it, as when a child I used to bathe in Nile?"
+
+
+
+On the following day at the appointed hour I went to the great hall of
+the palace, that in which I had first seen Meneptah, and took my stand
+in the place allotted to me. It was somewhat far back, perhaps because
+it was not wished that I, who was known to be the private scribe of
+Seti, should remind Egypt of him by appearing where all could see me.
+
+Great as was the hall the crowd filled it to its furthest corners.
+Moreover no common man was present there, but rather every noble and
+head-priest in Egypt, and with them their wives and daughters, so that
+all the dim courts shone with gold and precious gems set upon festal
+garments. While I was waiting old Bakenkhonsu hobbled towards me, the
+crowd making way for him, and I could see that there was laughter in
+his sunken eyes.
+
+"We are ill-placed, Ana," he said. "Still if any of the many gods
+there are in Egypt should chance to rain fires on Pharaoh, we shall be
+the safer. Talking of gods," he went on in a whisper, "have you heard
+what happened an hour ago in the temple of Ptah of Tanis whence I have
+just come? Pharaoh and all the Blood-royal--save one--walked according
+to custom before the statue of the god which, as you know, should bow
+its head to show that he chooses and accepts the king. In front of
+Amenmeses went the Princess Userti, and as she passed the head of the
+god bowed, for I saw it, though all pretended that they did not see.
+Then came Pharaoh and stood waiting, but it would not bow, though the
+priests called in the old formula, 'The god greets the king.'
+
+"At length he went on, looking as black as night, and others of the
+blood of Rameses followed in their order. Last of all limped Saptah
+and, behold! the god bowed again."
+
+"How and why does it do these things?" I asked, "and at the wrong
+time?"
+
+"Ask the priests, Ana, or Userti, or Saptah. Perhaps the divine neck
+has not been oiled of late, or too much oiled, or too little oiled, or
+prayers--or strings--may have gone wrong. Or Pharaoh may have been
+niggard in his gifts to that college of the great god of his House.
+Who am I that I should know the ways of gods? That in the temple where
+I served at Thebes fifty years ago did not pretend to bow or to
+trouble himself as to which of the royal race sat upon the throne.
+Hush! Here comes Pharaoh."
+
+Then in a splendid procession, surrounded by princes, councillors,
+ladies, priests, and guards, Amenmeses and the Royal Wife, Urnure, a
+large woman who walked awkwardly, entered the hall, a glittering band.
+The high-priest, Roi, and the chancellor, Nehesi, received Pharaoh and
+led him to his throne. The multitude prostrated itself, trumpets blew
+and thrice the old salute of "Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!
+Pharaoh!" was cried aloud.
+
+Amenmeses rose and bowed, and I saw that his heavy face was troubled
+and looked older. Then he swore some oath to gods and men which Roi
+dictated to him, and before all the company put on the double crown
+and the other emblems, and took in his hands the scourge and golden
+sickle. Next homage was paid. The Princess Userti came first and
+kissed Pharaoh's hand, but bent no knee. Indeed first she spoke with
+him a while. We could not hear what was said, but afterwards learned
+that she demanded that he should publicly repeat all the promises
+which her father Meneptah had made to her before him, confirming her
+in her place and rights. This in the end he did, though it seemed to
+me unwillingly enough.
+
+So with many forms and ancient celebrations the ceremony went on, till
+all grew weary waiting for that time when Pharaoh should make his
+speech to the people. That speech, however, was never made, for
+presently, thrusting past us, I saw those two prophets of the
+Israelites who had visited Meneptah in this same hall. Men shrank from
+them, so that they walked straight up to the throne, nor did even the
+guards strive to bar their way. What they said there I could not hear,
+but I believe that they demanded that their people should be allowed
+to go to worship their god in their own fashion, and that Amenmeses
+refused as Meneptah had done.
+
+Then one of them cast down a rod and it turned to a snake which hissed
+at Pharaoh, whereon the Kherheb Ki and his company also cast down rods
+that turned to snakes, though I could only hear the hissing. After
+this a great gloom fell upon the hall, so that men could not see each
+other's faces and everyone began to call aloud till the company broke
+up in confusion. Bakenkhonsu and I were borne together to the doorway
+by the pressure of the people, whence we were glad enough to see the
+sky again.
+
+
+
+Thus ended the crowning of Amenmeses.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE MESSAGE OF JABEZ
+
+That night there were none who rejoiced in the streets of the city,
+and save in the palace and houses of those of the Court, none who
+feasted. I walked abroad in the market-place and noted the people
+going to and fro gloomily, or talking together in whispers. Presently
+a man whose face was hidden in a hood began to speak with me, saying
+that he had a message for my master, the Prince Seti. I answered that
+I took no messages from veiled strangers, whereon he threw back his
+hood, and I saw that it was Jabez, the uncle of Merapi. I asked him
+whether he had obeyed the Prince, and borne the body of that prophet
+back to Goshen and told the elders of the manner of the man's death.
+
+"Yes," he answered, "nor were the Elders angry with the Prince over
+this matter. They said that their messenger had exceeded his
+authority, since they had never told him to curse Merapi, and much
+less attempt to kill her, and that the Prince did right to slay one
+who would have done murder before his royal eyes. Still they added
+that the curse, having once been spoken by this priest, would surely
+fall upon Merapi in this way or in that."
+
+"What then should she do, Jabez?"
+
+"I do not know, Scribe. If she returns to her people, perchance she
+will be absolved, but then she must surely marry Laban. It is for her
+to judge."
+
+"And what would you do if you were in her place, Jabez?"
+
+"I think that I should stay where I was, and make myself very dear to
+Seti, taking the chance that the curse may pass her by, since it was
+not lawfully decreed upon her. Whichever way she looks, trouble waits,
+and at the worst, a woman might wish to satisfy her heart before it
+falls, especially if that heart should happen to turn to one who will
+be Pharaoh."
+
+"Why do you say 'who will be Pharaoh,' Jabez?" I asked, for we were
+standing in an empty place alone.
+
+"That I may not tell you," he replied cunningly, "yet it will come
+about as I say. He who sits upon the throne is mad as Meneptah was
+mad, and will fight against a strength that is greater than his until
+it overwhelms him. In the Prince's heart alone does the light of
+wisdom shine. That which you saw to-day is only the first of many
+miracles, Scribe Ana. I can say no more."
+
+"What then is your message, Jabez?"
+
+"This: Because the Prince has striven to deal well with the people of
+Israel and for their sake has cast aside a crown, whatever may chance
+to others, let him fear nothing. No harm shall come to him, or to
+those about him, such as yourself, Scribe Ana, who also would deal
+justly by us. Yet it may happen that through my niece Merapi, on whose
+head the evil word has fallen, a great sorrow may come to both him and
+her. Therefore, perhaps, although setting this against that, she may
+be wise to stay in the house of Seti, he, on the balance, may be wise
+to turn her from his doors."
+
+"What sorrow?" I asked, who grew bewildered with his dark talk, but
+there was no answer, for he had gone.
+
+Near to my lodging another man met me, and the moonlight shining on
+his face showed me the terrible eyes of Ki.
+
+"Scribe Ana," he said, "you leave for Memphis to-morrow at the dawn,
+and not two days hence as you purposed."
+
+"How do you know that, Magician Ki?" I answered, for I had told my
+change of plan to none, not even to Bakenkhonsu, having indeed only
+determined upon it since Jabez left me.
+
+"I know nothing, Ana, save that a faithful servant who has learned all
+you have learned to-day will hurry to make report of it to his master,
+especially if there is some other to whom he would also wish to make
+report, as Bakenkhonsu thinks."
+
+"Bakenkhonsu talks too much, whatever he may think," I exclaimed
+testily.
+
+"The aged grow garrulous. You were at the crowning to-day, were you
+not?"
+
+"Yes, and if I saw aright from far away, those Hebrew prophets seemed
+to worst you at your own trade there, Kherheb, which must grieve you,
+as you were grieved in the temple when Amon fell."
+
+"It does not grieve me, Ana. If I have powers, there may be others who
+have greater powers, as I learned in the temple of Amon. Why therefore
+should I feel ashamed?"
+
+"Powers!" I replied with a laugh, for the strings of my mind seemed
+torn that night, "would not craft be a better word? How do you turn a
+stick into a snake, a thing which is impossible to man?"
+
+"Craft might be a better word, since craft means knowledge as well as
+trickery. 'Impossible to man!' After what you saw a while ago in the
+temple of Amon, do you hold that there is anything impossible to man
+or woman? Perhaps you could do as much yourself."
+
+"Why do you mock me, Ki? I study books, not snake-charming."
+
+He looked at me in his calm fashion, as though he were reading, not my
+face, but the thoughts behind it. Then he looked at the cedar wand in
+his hand and gave it to me, saying:
+
+"Study this, Ana, and tell me, what is it."
+
+"Am I a child," I answered angrily, "that I should not know a priest's
+rod when I see one?"
+
+"I think that you are something of a child, Ana," he murmured, all the
+while keeping those eyes of his fixed upon my face.
+
+Then a horror came about. For the rod began to twist in my hand and
+when I stared at it, lo! it was a long, yellow snake which I held by
+the tail. I threw the reptile down with a scream, for it was turning
+its head as though to strike me, and there in the dust it twisted and
+writhed away from me and towards Ki. Yet an instant later it was only
+a stick of yellow cedar-wood, though between me and Ki there was a
+snake's track in the sand.
+
+"It is somewhat shameless of you, Ana," said Ki, as he lifted the
+wand, "to reproach me with trickery while you yourself try to confound
+a poor juggler with such arts as these."
+
+Then I know not what I said to him, save the end of it was that I
+supposed he would tell me next that I could fill a hall with darkness
+at noonday and cover a multitude with terror.
+
+"Let us have done with jests," he said, "though these are well enough
+in their place. Will you take this rod again and point it to the moon?
+You refuse and you do well, for neither you nor I can cover up her
+face. Ana, because you are wise in your way and consort with one who
+is wiser, and were present in the temple when the statue of Amon was
+shattered by a certain witch who matched her strength against mine and
+conquered me, I, the great magician, have come to ask /you/--whence
+came that darkness in the hall to-day?"
+
+"From God, I think," I answered in an awed whisper.
+
+"So I think also, Ana. But tell me, or ask Merapi, Moon of Israel, to
+tell me--from what god? Oh! I say to you that a terrible power is
+afoot in this land and that the Prince Seti did well to refuse the
+throne of Egypt and to fly to Memphis. Repeat it to him, Ana."
+
+Then he too was gone.
+
+
+
+Now I returned in safety to Memphis and told all these tidings to the
+Prince, who listened to them eagerly. Once only was he greatly
+stirred; it was when I repeated to him the words of Userti, that never
+would she look upon his face again unless it pleased him to turn it
+towards the throne. On hearing this tears came into his eyes, and
+rising, he walked up and down the chamber.
+
+"The fallen must not look for gentleness," he said, "and doubtless,
+Ana, you think it folly that I should grieve because I am thus
+deserted."
+
+"Nay, Prince, for I too have been abandoned by a wife and the pain is
+unforgotten."
+
+"It is not of the wife I think, Ana, since in truth her Highness is no
+wife to me. For whatever may be the ancient laws of Egypt, how could
+it happen otherwise, at any rate in my case and hers? It is of the
+sister. For though my mother was not hers, she and I were brought up
+together and in our way loved each other, though always it was her
+pleasure to lord it over me, as it was mine to submit and pay her back
+in jests. That is why she is so angry because now of a sudden I have
+thrown off her rule to follow my own will whereby she has lost the
+throne."
+
+"It has always been the duty of the royal heiress of Egypt to marry
+the Pharaoh of Egypt, Prince, and having wed one who would be Pharaoh
+according to that duty, the blow cuts deep."
+
+"Then she had best thrust aside that foolish wife of his and wed him
+who is Pharaoh. But that she will never do; Amenmeses she has always
+hated, so much that she loathed to be in the same place with him. Nor
+indeed would he wed her, who wishes to rule for himself, not through a
+woman whose title to the crown is better than his own. Well, she has
+put me away and there's an end. Henceforth I must go lonely, unless--
+unless---- Continue your story, friend. It is kind of her in her
+greatness to promise to protect one so humble. I should remember that,
+although it is true that fallen heads sometimes rise again," he added
+bitterly.
+
+"So at least Jabez thinks, Prince," and I told him how the Israelites
+were sure that he would be Pharaoh, whereat he laughed and said:
+
+"Perhaps, for they are good prophets. For my part I neither know or
+care. Or maybe Jabez sees advantage in talking thus, for as you know
+he is a clever trader."
+
+"I do not think so," I answered and stopped.
+
+"Had Jabez more to say of any other matter, Ana? Of the lady Merapi,
+for instance?"
+
+Now feeling it to be my duty, I told him every word that had passed
+between Jabez and myself, though somewhat shamefacedly.
+
+"This Hebrew takes much for granted, Ana, even as to whom the Moon of
+Israel would wish to shine upon. Why, friend, it might be you whom she
+desires to touch with her light, or some youth in Goshen--not Laban--
+or no one."
+
+"Me, Prince, me!" I exclaimed.
+
+"Well, Ana, I am sure you would have it so. Be advised by me and ask
+her mind upon the matter. Look not so confused, man, for one who has
+been married you are too modest. Come tell me of this Crowning."
+
+So glad enough to escape from the matter of Merapi, I spoke at length
+of all that had happened when Pharaoh Amenmeses took his seat upon the
+throne. When I described how the rod of the Hebrew prophet had been
+turned to a snake and how Ki and his company had done likewise, the
+Prince laughed and said that these were mere jugglers' tricks. But
+when I told of the darkness that had seemed to gather in the hall and
+of the gloom that filled the hearts of all men and of the awesome
+dream of Bakenkhonsu, also of the words of Ki after he had clouded my
+mind and played his jest upon me, he listened with much earnestness
+and answered:
+
+"My mind is as Ki's in this matter. I too think that a terrible power
+is afoot in Egypt, one that has its home in the land of Goshen, and
+that I did well to refuse the throne. But from what god these fortunes
+come I do not know. Perhaps time will tell us. Meanwhile if there is
+aught in the prophesies of these Hebrews, as interpreted by Jabez, at
+least you and I may sleep in peace, which is more than will chance to
+Pharaoh on the throne that Userti covets. If so, this play will be
+worth the watching. You have done your mission well, Ana. Go rest you
+while I think over all that you have said."
+
+
+
+It was evening and as the palace was very hot I went into the garden
+and making my way to that little pleasure-house where Seti and I were
+wont to study, I sat myself down there and, being weary, fell asleep.
+When I awoke from a dream about some woman who was weeping, night had
+fallen and the full moon shone in the sky, so that its rays fell on
+the garden before me.
+
+Now in front of this little house, as I have said, grew trees that at
+this season of the year were covered with white and cup-like blossoms,
+and between these trees was a seat built up of sun-dried bricks. On
+this seat sat a woman whom I knew from her shape to be Merapi. Also
+she was sad, for although her head was bowed and her long hair hid her
+face I could hear her gentle sighs.
+
+The sight of her moved me very much and I remembered what the Prince
+had said to me, telling me that I should do well to ask this lady
+whether she had any mind my way. Therefore if I did so, surely I could
+not be blamed. Yet I was certain that it was not to me that her heart
+turned, though to speak the truth, much I wished it otherwise. Who
+would look at the ibis in the swamp when the wide-winged eagle floated
+in heaven above?
+
+An evil thought came into my mind, sent by Set. Suppose that this
+watcher's eyes were fixed upon the eagle, lord of the air. Suppose
+that she worshipped this eagle; that she loved it because its home was
+heaven, because to her it was the king of all the birds. And suppose
+one told her that if she lured it down to earth from the glorious
+safety of the skies, she would bring it to captivity or death at the
+hand of the snarer. Then would not that loving watcher say: "Let it go
+free and happy, however much I long to look upon it," and when it had
+sailed from sight, perhaps turn her eyes to the humble ibis in the
+mud?
+
+Jabez had told me that if this woman and the Prince grew dear to each
+other she would bring great sorrow on his head. If I repeated his
+words to her, she who had faith in the prophecies of her people would
+certainly believe them. Moreover, whatever her heart might prompt,
+being so high-natured, never would she consent to do what might bring
+trouble on Seti's head, even if to refuse him should sink her soul in
+sorrow. Nor would she return to the Hebrews there to fall into the
+hands of one she hated. Then perhaps I----. Should I tell her? If
+Jabez had not meant that the matter must be brought to her ears, would
+he have spoken of it at all? In short was it not my duty to her, and
+perhaps also to the Prince who thereby might be saved from miseries to
+come, that is if this talk of future troubles were anything more than
+an idle story.
+
+Such was the evil reasoning with which Set assailed my spirit. How I
+beat it down I do not know. Not by my own goodness, I am sure, since
+at the moment I was aflame with love for the sweet and beautiful lady
+who sat before me and in my foolishness would, I think, have given my
+life to kiss her hand. Not altogether for her sake either, since
+passion is very selfish. No, I believe it was because the love that I
+bore the Prince was more deep and real than that which I could feel
+for any woman, and I knew well that were she not in my sight no such
+treachery would have overcome my heart. For I was sure, although he
+had never said so to me, that Seti loved Merapi and above all earthly
+things desired her as his companion, while if once I spoke those
+words, whatever my own gain or loss and whatever her secret wish, that
+she would never be.
+
+So I conquered, though the victory left me trembling like a child, and
+wishing that I had not been born to know the pangs of love denied. My
+reward was very swift, for just then Merapi unfastened a gem from the
+breast of her white robe and held it towards the moon, as though to
+study it. In an instant I knew it again. It was that royal scarab of
+lapis-lazuli with which in Goshen the Prince had made fast the bandage
+on her wounded food, which also had been snatched from her breast by
+some power on that night when the statue of Amon was shattered in the
+temple.
+
+Long and earnestly she looked at it, then having glanced round to make
+sure she was alone, she pressed it to her lips and kissed it thrice
+with passion, muttering I know not what between the kisses. Now the
+scales fell from my eyes and I knew that she loved Seti, and oh! how I
+thanked my guardian god who had saved me from such useless shame.
+
+I wiped the cold damp from my brow and was about to flee away,
+discovering myself with as few words as might be, when, looking up, I
+saw standing behind Merapi the figure of a man, who was watching her
+replace the ornament in her robe. While I hesitated a moment the man
+spoke and I knew the voice for that of Seti. Then again I thought of
+flight, but being somewhat timid by nature, feared to show myself
+until it was too late, thinking that afterward the Prince would make
+me the target of his wit. So I sat close and still, hearing and seeing
+all despite myself.
+
+"What gem is that, Lady, which you admire and cherish so tenderly?"
+asked Seti in his slow voice that so often hid a hint of laughter.
+
+She uttered a little scream and springing up, saw him.
+
+"Oh! my lord," she exclaimed, "pardon your servant. I was sitting here
+in the cool, as you gave me leave to do, and the moon was so bright--
+that--I wished to be see if by it I could read the writing on this
+scarab."
+
+Never before, thought I to myself, did I know one who read with her
+lips, though it is true that first she used her eyes.
+
+"And could you, Lady? Will you suffer me to try?"
+
+Very slowly and colouring, so that even the moonlight showed her
+blushes, she withdrew the ornament again and held it towards him.
+
+"Surely this is familiar to me? Have I not seen it before?" he asked.
+
+"Perhaps. I wore it that night in the temple, your Highness."
+
+"You must not name me Highness, Lady. I have no longer any rank in
+Egypt."
+
+"I know--because of--my people. Oh! it was noble."
+
+"But about the scarab�us----" he broke in, with a wave of his hand.
+"Surely it is the same with which the bandage was made fast upon your
+hurt--oh! years ago?"
+
+"Yes, it is the same," she answered, looking down.
+
+"I thought it. And when I gave it to you, I said some words that
+seemed to me well spoken at the time. What were they? I cannot
+remember. Have you also forgotten?"
+
+"Yes--I mean--no. You said that now I had all Egypt beneath my foot,
+speaking of the royal cartouche upon the scarab."
+
+"Ah! I recall. How true, and yet how false the jest, or prophecy."
+
+"How can anything be both true and false, Prince?"
+
+"That I could prove to you very easily, but it would take an hour or
+more, so it shall be for another time. This scarab is a poor thing,
+give it back to me and you shall have a better. Or would you choose
+this signet? As I am no longer Prince of Egypt it is useless to me."
+
+"Keep the scarab, Prince. It is your own. But I will not take the ring
+because it is----"
+
+"----useless to me, and you would not have that which is without value
+to the giver. Oh! I string words ill, but they were not what I meant."
+
+"No, Prince, because your royal ring is too large for one so small."
+
+"How can you tell until you have tried? Also that is a fault which
+might perhaps be mended."
+
+Then he laughed, and she laughed also, but as yet she did not take the
+ring.
+
+"Have you seen Ana?" he went on. "I believe he set out to search for
+you, in such a hurry indeed that he could scarcely finish his report
+to me."
+
+"Did he say that?"
+
+"No, he only looked it. So much so that I suggested he should seek you
+at once. He answered that he was going to rest after his long journey,
+or perhaps I said that he ought to do so. I forget, as often one does,
+on so beauteous a night when other thoughts seem nearer."
+
+"Why did Ana wish to see me, Prince?"
+
+"How can I tell? Why does a man who is still young--want to see a
+sweet and beautiful lady? Oh! I remember. He had met your uncle at
+Tanis who inquired as to your health. Perhaps that is why he wanted to
+see you."
+
+"I do not wish to hear about my uncle at Tanis. He reminds me of too
+many things that give pain, and there are nights when one wishes to
+escape pain, which is sure to be found again on the morrow."
+
+"Are you still of the same mind about returning to your people?" he
+asked, more earnestly.
+
+"Surely. Oh! do not say that you will send me hence to----"
+
+"Laban, Lady?"
+
+"Laban amongst others. Remember, Prince, that I am one under a curse.
+If I return to Goshen, in this way or in that, soon I shall die."
+
+"Ana says that your uncle Jabez declares that the mad fellow who tried
+to murder you had no authority to curse and much less to kill you. You
+must ask him to tell you all."
+
+"Yet the curse will cling and crush me at the last. How can I, one
+lonely woman, stand against the might of the people of Israel and
+their priests?"
+
+"Are you then lonely?"
+
+"How can it be otherwise with an outcast, Prince?"
+
+"No, it cannot be otherwise. I know it who am also an outcast."
+
+"At least there is her Highness your wife, who doubtless will come to
+comfort you," she said, looking down.
+
+"Her Highness will not come. If you had seen Ana, he would perhaps
+have told you that she has sworn not to look upon my face again,
+unless above it shines a crown."
+
+"Oh! how can a woman be so cruel? Surely, Prince, such a stab must cut
+you to the heart," she exclaimed, with a little cry of pity.
+
+"Her Highness is not only a woman; she is a Princess of Egypt which is
+different. For the rest it does cut me to the heart that my royal
+sister should have deserted me, for that which she loves better--power
+and pomp. But so it is, unless Ana dreams. It seems therefore that we
+are in the same case, both outcasts, you and I, is it not so?"
+
+She made no answer but continued to look upon the ground, and he went
+on very slowly:
+
+"A thought comes into my mind on which I would ask your judgment. If
+two who are forlorn came together they would be less forlorn by half,
+would they not?"
+
+"It would seem so, Prince--that is if they remained forlorn at all.
+But I do not understand the riddle."
+
+"Yet you have answered it. If you are lonely and I am lonely apart, we
+should, you say, be less lonely together."
+
+"Prince," she murmured, shrinking away from him, "I spoke no such
+words."
+
+"No, I spoke them for you. Hearken to me, Merapi. They think me a
+strange man in Egypt because I have held no woman dear, never having
+seen one whom I could hold dear." Here she looked at him searchingly,
+and he went on, "A while ago, before I visited your land of Goshen--
+Ana can tell you about the matter, for I think he wrote it down--Ki
+and old Bakenkhonsu came to see me. Now, as you know, Ki is without
+doubt a great magician, though it would seem not so great as some of
+your prophets. He told me that he and others had been searching out my
+future and that in Goshen I should find a woman whom it was fated I
+must love. He added that this woman would bring me much joy." Here
+Seti paused, doubtless remembering this was not all that Ki had said,
+or Jabez either. "Ki told me also," he went on slowly, "that I had
+already known this woman for thousands of years."
+
+She started and a strange look came into her face.
+
+"How can that be, Prince?"
+
+"That is what I asked him and got no good answer. Still he said it,
+not only of the woman but of my friend Ana as well, which indeed would
+explain much, and it would appear that the other magicians said it
+also. Then I went to the land of Goshen and there I saw a woman----"
+
+"For the first time, Prince?"
+
+"No, for the third time."
+
+Here she sank upon the bench and covered her eyes with her hands.
+
+"----and loved her, and felt as though I had loved her for 'thousands
+of years.'"
+
+"It is not true. You mock me, it is not true!" she whispered.
+
+"It is true for if I did not know it then, I knew it afterwards,
+though never perhaps completely until to-day, when I learned that
+Userti had deserted me indeed. Moon of Israel, you are that woman. I
+will not tell you," he went on passionately, "that you are fairer than
+all other women, or sweeter, or more wise, though these things you
+seem to me. I will only tell you that I love you, yes, love you,
+whatever you may be. I cannot offer you the Throne of Egypt, even if
+the law would suffer it, but I can offer you the throne of this heart
+of mine. Now, Lady Merapi, what have you to say? Before you speak,
+remember that although you seem to be my prisoner here at Memphis, you
+have naught to fear from me. Whatever you may answer, such shelter and
+such friendship as I can give will be yours while I live, and never
+shall I attempt to force myself upon you, however much it may pain me
+to pass you by. I know not the future. It may happen that I shall give
+you great place and power, it may happen that I shall give you nothing
+but poverty and exile, or even perhaps a share in my own death, but
+with either will go the worship of my body and my spirit. Now, speak."
+
+She dropped her hands from her face, looking up at him, and there were
+tears shining in her beautiful eyes.
+
+"It cannot be, Prince," she murmured.
+
+"You mean you do not wish it to be?"
+
+"I said that it cannot be. Such ties between an Egyptian and an
+Israelite are not lawful."
+
+"Some in this city and elsewhere seem to find them so."
+
+"And I am married, I mean perhaps I am married--at least in name."
+
+"And I too am married, I mean----"
+
+"That is different. Also there is another reason, the greatest of all,
+I am under a curse, and should bring you, not joy as Ki said, but
+sorrow, or, at the least, sorrow with the joy."
+
+He looked at her searchingly.
+
+"Has Ana----" he began, then continued, "if so what lives have you
+known that are not compounded of mingled joy and sorrow?"
+
+"None. But the woe I should bring would outweigh the joy--to you. The
+curse of my God rests upon me and I cannot learn to worship yours. The
+curse of my people rests upon me, the law of my people divides me from
+you as with a sword, and should I draw close to you these will be
+increased upon my head, which matters not, but also upon yours," and
+she began to sob.
+
+"Tell me," he said, taking her by the hand, "but one thing, and if the
+answer is No, I will trouble you no more. Is your heart mine?"
+
+"It is," she sighed, "and has been ever since my eyes fell upon you
+yonder in the streets of Tanis. Oh! then a change came into me and I
+hated Laban, whom before I had only misliked. Moreover, I too felt
+that of which Ki spoke, as though I had known you for thousands of
+years. My heart is yours, my love is yours; all that makes me woman is
+yours, and never, never can turn from you to any other man. But still
+we must stay apart, for your sake, my Prince, for your sake."
+
+"Then, were it not for me, you would be ready to run these hazards?"
+
+"Surely! Am I not a woman who loves?"
+
+"If that be so," he said with a little laugh, "being of full age and
+of an understanding which some have thought good, by your leave I
+think I will run them also. Oh! foolish woman, do you not understand
+that there is but one good thing in the world, one thing in which self
+and its miseries can be forgot, and that thing is love? Mayhap
+troubles will come. Well, let them come, for what do they matter if
+only the love or its memory remains, if once we have picked that
+beauteous flower and for an hour worn it on our breasts. You talk of
+the difference between the gods we worship and maybe it exists, but
+all gods send their gifts of love upon the earth, without which it
+would cease to be. Moreover, my faith teaches me more clearly perhaps
+than yours, that life does not end with death and therefore that love,
+being life's soul, must endure while it endures. Last of all, I think,
+as you think, that in some dim way there is truth in what the
+magicians said, and that long ago in the past we have been what once
+more we are about to be, and that the strength of this invisible tie
+has drawn us together out of the whole world and will bind us together
+long after the world is dead. It is not a matter of what we wish to
+do, Merapi, it is a matter of what Fate has decreed we shall do. Now,
+answer again."
+
+But she made no answer, and when I looked up after a little moment she
+was in his arms and her lips were upon his lips.
+
+
+
+Thus did Prince Seti of England and Merapi, Moon of Israel, come
+together at Memphis in Egypt.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE RED NILE
+
+On the morrow of this night I found the Prince alone for a little
+while, and put him in mind of certain ancient manuscripts that he
+wished to read, which could only be consulted at Thebes where I might
+copy them; also of others that were said to be for sale there. He
+answered that they could wait, but I replied that the latter might
+find some other purchaser if I did not go at once.
+
+"You are over fond of long journeys upon my business, Ana," he said.
+Then he considered me curiously for a while, and since he could read
+my mind, as indeed I could his, saw that I knew all, and added in a
+gentle voice:
+
+"You should have done as I told you, and spoken first. If so, who
+knows----"
+
+"You do, Prince," I answered, "you and another."
+
+"Go, and the gods be with you, friend, but stay not too long copying
+those rolls, which any scribe can do. I think there is trouble at hand
+in Egypt, and I shall need you at my side. Another who holds you dear
+will need you also."
+
+"I thank my lord and that other," I said, bowing, and went.
+
+Moreover, while I was making some humble provision for my journey, I
+found that this was needless, since a slave came to tell me that the
+Prince's barge was waiting to sail with the wind. So in that barge I
+travelled to Thebes like a great noble, or a royal mummy being borne
+to burial. Only instead of wailing priests, until I sent them back to
+Memphis, musicians sat upon the prow, and when I willed, dancing girls
+came to amuse my leisure and, veiled in golden nets, to serve at my
+table.
+
+So I journeyed as though I were the Prince himself, and as one who was
+known to have his ear was made much of by the governors of the Nomes,
+the chief men of the towns, and the high priests of the temples at
+every city where we moored. For, as I have said, although Amenmeses
+sat upon the throne, Seti still ruled in the hearts of the folk of
+Egypt. Moreover, as I sailed further up the Nile to districts where
+little was known of the Israelites, and the troubles they were
+bringing on the land, I found this to be so more and more. Why is it,
+the Great Ones would whisper in my ear, that his Highness the Prince
+Seti does not hold his father's place? Then I would tell them of the
+Hebrews, and they would laugh and say:
+
+"Let the Prince unfurl his royal banner here, and we will show him
+what we think of the question of these Israelitish slaves. May not the
+Heir of Egypt form his own judgment on such a matter as to whether
+they should abide there in the north, or go away into that wilderness
+which they desire?"
+
+To all of which, and much like it, I would only answer that their
+words should be reported. More I did not, and indeed did not dare to
+say, since everywhere I found that I was being followed and watched by
+the spies of Pharaoh.
+
+At length I came to Thebes and took up my abode in a fine house that
+was the property of the Prince, which I found that a messenger had
+commanded should be made ready for me. It stood near by the entrance
+to the Avenue of Sphinxes, which leads to the greatest of all the
+Theban temples, where is that mighty columned hall built by the first
+Seti and his son, Rameses II, the Prince's grandfather.
+
+Here, having entrance to the place, I would often wander at night, and
+in my spirit draw as near to heaven as ever it has been my lot to
+travel. Also, crossing the Nile to the western bank, I visited that
+desolate valley where the rulers of Egypt lie at rest. The tomb of
+Pharaoh Meneptah was still unsealed, and accompanied by a single
+priest with torches, I crept down its painted halls and looked upon
+the sarcophagus of him whom so lately I had seen seated in glory upon
+the throne, wondering, as I looked, how much or how little he knew of
+all that passed in Egypt to-day.
+
+Moreover, I copied the papyri that I had come to seek, in which there
+was nothing worth preserving, and some of real value that I discovered
+in the ancient libraries of the temples, and purchased others. One of
+these indeed told a very strange tale that has given me much cause for
+thought, especially of late years now when all my friends are dead.
+
+Thus I spent two months, and should have stayed longer had not
+messengers reached me from the Prince saying that he desired my
+return. Of these, one followed within three days of the other, and his
+words were:
+
+"Think you, Scribe Ana, that because I am no more Prince of Egypt I am
+no longer to be obeyed? If so, bear in mind that the gods may decree
+that one day I shall grow taller than ever I was before, and then be
+sure that I will remember your disobedience, and make you shorter by a
+head. Come swiftly, my friend, for I grow lonely, and need a man to
+talk with."
+
+To which I replied, that I returned as fast as the barge would carry
+me, being so heavily laden with the manuscripts that I had copied and
+purchased.
+
+So I started, being, to tell truth, glad to get away, for this reason.
+Two nights before, when I was walking alone from the great temple of
+the house, a woman dressed in many colours appeared and accosted me as
+such lost ones do. I tried to shake her off, but she clung to me, and
+I saw that she had drunk more than enough of wine. Presently she
+asked, in a voice that I thought familiar, if I knew who was the
+officer that had come to Thebes on the business of some Royal One and
+abode in the dwelling that was known as House of the Prince. I
+answered that his name was Ana.
+
+"Once I knew an Ana very well," she said, "but I left him."
+
+"Why?" I asked, turning cold in my limbs, for although I could not see
+her face because of a hood she wore, now I began to be afraid.
+
+"Because he was a poor fool," she answered, "no man at all, but one
+who was always thinking about writings and making them, and another
+came my way whom I liked better until he deserted me."
+
+"And what happened to this Ana?" I asked.
+
+"I do not know. I suppose he went on dreaming, or perhaps he took
+another wife; if so, I am sorry for her. Only, if by chance it is the
+same that has come to Thebes, he must be wealthy now, and I shall go
+and claim him and make him keep me well."
+
+"Had you any children?" I asked.
+
+"Only one, thank the gods, and that died--thank the gods again, for
+otherwise it might have lived to be such as I am," and she sobbed once
+in a hard fashion and then fell to her vile endearments.
+
+As she did so, the hood slipped from her head and I saw that the face
+was that of my wife, still beauteous in a bold fashion, but grown
+dreadful with drink and sin. I trembled from head to foot, then said
+in the disguised voice that I had used to her.
+
+"Woman, I know this Ana. He is dead and you were his ruin. Still,
+because I was his friend, take this and go reform your ways," and I
+drew from my robe and gave to her a bag containing no mean weight of
+gold.
+
+She snatched it as a hawk snatches, and seeing its contents by the
+starlight, thanked me, saying:
+
+"Surely Ana dead is worth more than Ana alive. Also it is well that he
+is dead, for he is gone where the child went, which he loved more than
+life, neglecting me for its sake and thereby making me what I am. Had
+he lived, too, being as I have said a fool, he would have had more
+ill-luck with women, whom he never understood. Farewell, friend of
+Ana, who have given me that which will enable me to find another
+husband," and laughing wildly she reeled off behind a sphinx and
+vanished into the darkness.
+
+For this reason, then, I was glad to escape from Thebes. Moreover,
+that miserable one had hurt me sorely, making me sure of what I had
+only guessed, namely, that with women I was but a fool, so great a
+fool that then and there I swore by my guardian god that never would I
+look with love on one of them again, an oath which I have kept well
+whatever others I may have broken. Again she stabbed me through with
+the talk of our dead child, for it is true that when that sweet one
+took flight to Osiris my heart broke and in a fashion has never mended
+itself again. Lastly, I feared lest it might also be true that I had
+neglected the mother for the sake of this child which was the jewel of
+my worship, yes, and is, and thereby helped her on to shame. So much
+did this thought torment me that through an agent whom I trusted, who
+believed that I was but providing for one whom I had wronged, I caused
+enough to be paid to her to keep her in comfort.
+
+She did marry again, a merchant about whom she had cast her toils, and
+in due course spent his wealth and brought him to ruin, after which he
+ran away from her. As for her, she died of her evil habits in the
+third year of the reign of Seti II. But, the gods be thanked she never
+knew that the private scribe of Pharaoh's chamber was that Ana who had
+been her husband. Here I will end her story.
+
+Now as I was passing down the Nile with a heart more heavy than the
+great stone that served as anchor on the barge, we moored at dusk on
+the third night by the side of a vessel that was sailing up Nile with
+a strong northerly wind. On board this boat was an officer whom I had
+known at the Court of Pharaoh Meneptah, travelling to Thebes on duty.
+This man seemed so much afraid that I asked him if anything weighed
+upon his mind. Then he took me aside into a palm grove upon the bank,
+and seating himself on the pole whereby oxen turned a waterwheel, told
+me that strange things were passing at Tanis.
+
+It seemed that the Hebrew prophets had once more appeared before
+Pharaoh, who since his accession had left the Israelites in peace, not
+attacking them with the sword as Meneptah had wished to do, it was
+thought through fear lest if he did so he should die as Meneptah died.
+As before, they had put up their prayer that the people of the Hebrews
+should be suffered to go to worship in the wilderness, and Pharaoh had
+refused them. Then when he went down to sail upon the river early in
+the morning of another day, they had met him and one of them struck
+the water with his rod, and it had turned to blood. Whereon Ki and
+Kherheb and his company also struck the water with their rods, and it
+turned to blood. That was six days ago, and now this officer swore to
+me that the blood was creeping up the Nile, a tale at which I laughed.
+
+"Come then and see," he said, and led me back to his boat, where all
+the crew seemed as fearful as he was himself.
+
+He took me forward to a great water jar that stood upon the prow and,
+behold! it seemed to be full of blood, and in it was a fish dead, and
+--stinking.
+
+"This water," said he, "I drew from the Nile with my own hands, not
+five hours sail to the north. But now we have outsped the blood, which
+follows after us," and taking a lamp he held it over the prow of the
+boat and I saw that all its planks were splashed as though with blood.
+
+"Be advised by me, learned scribe," he added, "and fill every jar and
+skin that you can gather with sweet water, lest to-morrow you and your
+company should go thirsty," and he laughed a very dreary laugh.
+
+Then we parted without more words, for neither of us knew what to say,
+and about midnight he sailed on with the wind, taking his chance of
+grounding on the sandbanks in the darkness.
+
+For my part I did as he bade me, though my rowers who had not spoken
+with his men, thought that I was mad to load up the barge with so much
+water.
+
+At the first break of day I gave the order to start. Looking over the
+side of the barge it seemed to me as though the lights of dawn had
+fallen from the sky into the Nile whereof the water had become pink-
+hued. Moreover, this hue, which grew ever deeper, was travelling up
+stream, not down, against the course of nature, and could not
+therefore have been caused by red soil washed from the southern lands.
+The bargemen stared and muttered together. Then one of them, leaning
+over the side, scooped up water in the hollow of his hand and drew
+some into his mouth, only to spit it out again with a cry of fear.
+
+"'Tis blood," he cried. "Blood! Osiris has been slain afresh, and his
+holy blood fills the banks of Nile."
+
+So much were they afraid, indeed, that had I not forced them to hold
+to their course they would have turned and rowed up stream, or beached
+the boat and fled into the desert. But I cried to them to steer on
+northwards, for thus perhaps we should sooner be done with this
+horror, and they obeyed me. Ever as we went the hue of the water grew
+more red, almost to blackness, till at last it seemed as though we
+were travelling through a sea of gore in which dead fish floated by
+the thousand, or struggled dying on the surface. Also the stench was
+so dreadful that we must bind linen about our nostrils to strain the
+f�tid air.
+
+We came abreast of a town, and from its streets one great wail of
+terror rose to heaven. Men stood staring as though they were drunken,
+looking at their red arms which they had dipped in the stream, and
+women ran to and fro upon the bank, tearing their hair and robes, and
+crying out such words as--
+
+"Wizard's work! Bewitched! Accursed! The gods have slain each other,
+and men too must die!" and so forth.
+
+Also we saw peasants digging holes at a distance from the shore to see
+perchance if they might come to water that was sweet and wholesome.
+All day long we travelled thus through this horrible flood, while the
+spray driven by the strong north wind spotted our flesh and garments,
+till we were like butchers reeking from the shambles. Nor could we eat
+any food because of the stench from this spray, which made it to taste
+salt as does fresh blood, only we drank of the water which I had
+provided, and the rowers who had held me to be mad now named me the
+wisest of men; one who knew what would befall in the future.
+
+At length towards evening we noted that the water was growing much
+less red with every hour that passed, which was another marvel, seeing
+that above us, upstream, it was the colour of jasper, whereon we
+paused from our rowing and, all defiled as we were, sang a hymn and
+gave thanks to Hapi, god of Nile, the Great, the Secret, the Hidden.
+Before sunset, indeed, the river was clean again, save that on the
+bank where we made fast for the night the stones and rushes were all
+stained, and the dead fish lay in thousands polluting the air. To
+escape the stench we climbed a cliff that here rose quite close to
+Nile, in which we saw the mouths of ancient tombs that long ago had
+been robbed and left empty, purposing to sleep in one of them.
+
+A path worn by the feet of men ran to the largest of these tombs,
+whence, as we drew near, we heard the sound of wailing. Looking in, I
+saw a woman and some children crouched upon the floor of the tomb,
+their heads covered with dust who, when they perceived us, cried more
+loudly than before, though with harsh dry voices, thinking no doubt
+that we were robbers or perhaps ghosts because of our bloodstained
+garments. Also there was another child, a little one, that did not
+cry, because it was dead. I asked the woman what passed, but even when
+she understood that we were only men who meant her no harm, she could
+not speak or do more than gasp "Water! Water!" We gave her and the
+children to drink from the jars which we had brought with us, which
+they did greedily, after which I drew her story from her.
+
+She was the wife of a fisherman who made his home in this cave, and
+said that seven days before the Nile had turned to blood, so that they
+could not drink of it, and had no water save a little in a pot. Nor
+could they dig to find it, since here the ground was all rock. Nor
+could they escape, since when he saw the marvel, her husband in his
+fear had leapt from his boat and waded to land and the boat had
+floated away.
+
+I asked where was her husband, and she pointed behind her. I went to
+look, and there found a man hanging by his neck from a rope that was
+fixed to the capital of a pillar in the tomb, quite dead and cold.
+Returning sick at heart, I inquired of her how this had come about.
+She answered that when he saw that all the fish had perished, taking
+away his living, and that thirst had killed his youngest child, he
+went mad, and creeping to the back of the tomb, without her knowledge
+hung himself with a net rope. It was a dreadful story.
+
+Having given the widow of our food, we went to sleep in another tomb,
+not liking the company of those dead ones. Next morning at the dawn we
+took the woman and her children on board the barge, and rowed them
+three hours' journey to a town where she had a sister, whom she found.
+The dead man and the child we left there in the tomb, since my men
+would not defile themselves by touching them.
+
+So, seeing much terror and misery on our journey, at last we came safe
+to Memphis. Leaving the boatmen to draw up the barge, I went to the
+palace, speaking with none, and was led at once to the Prince. I found
+him in a shaded chamber seated side by side with the lady Merapi, and
+holding her hand in such a fashion that they remind me of the life-
+sized Ka statues of a man and his wife, such as I have seen in the
+ancient tombs, cut when the sculptors knew how to fashion the perfect
+likenesses of men and women. This they no longer do to-day, I think
+because the priests have taught them that it is not lawful. He was
+talking to her in a low voice, while she listened, smiling sweetly as
+she ever did, but with eyes, fixed straight before her that were, as
+it seemed to me, filled with fear. I thought that she looked very
+beautiful with her hair outspread over her white robe, and held back
+from her temples by a little fillet of god. But as I looked, I
+rejoiced to find that my heart no longer yearned for her as it had
+upon that night when I had seen her seated beneath the trees without
+the pleasure-house. Now she was its friend, no more, and so she
+remained until all was finished, as both the Prince and she knew well
+enough.
+
+When he saw me Seti sprang from his seat and came to greet me, as a
+man does the friend whom he loves. I kissed his hand, and going to
+Merapi, kissed hers also noting that on it now shone that ring which
+once she had rejected as too large.
+
+"Tell me, Ana, all that has befallen you," he said in his pleasant,
+eager voice.
+
+"Many things, Prince; one of them very strange and terrible," I
+answered.
+
+"Strange and terrible things have happened here also," broke in
+Merapi, "and, alas! this is but the beginning of woes."
+
+So saying, she rose, as though she could trust herself to speak no
+more, bowed first to her lord and then to me, and left the chamber.
+
+I looked at the Prince and he answered the question in my eyes.
+
+"Jabez has been here," he said, "and filled her heart with
+forebodings. If Pharaoh will not let the Israelites go, by Amon I wish
+he would let Jabez go to some place whence he never could return. But
+tell me, have you also met blood travelling against the stream of
+Nile? It would seem so," and he glanced at the rusty stains that no
+washing would remove from my garments.
+
+I nodded and we talked together long and earnestly, but in the end
+were no wiser for all our talking. For neither of us knew how it came
+about that men by striking water with a rod could turn it into what
+seemed to be blood, as the Hebrew prophet and Ki both had done, or how
+that blood could travel up the Nile against the stream and everywhere
+endure for a space of seven days; yes, and spread too to all the
+canals in Egypt, so that men must dig holes for water and dig them
+fresh each day because the blood crept in and poisoned them. But both
+of us thought that this was the work of the gods, and most of all of
+that god whom the Hebrews worship.
+
+"You remember, Ana," said the Prince, "the message which you brought
+to me from Jabez, namely that no harm should come to me because of
+these Israelites and their curses. Well, no harm as come as yet,
+except the harm of Jabez, for he came. On the day before the news of
+this blood plague reached us, Jabez appeared disguised as a merchant
+of Syrian stuffs, all of which he sold to me at three times their
+value. He obtained admission to the chambers of Merapi, where she is
+accustomed to see whom she wills, and under pretence of showing her
+his stuffs, spoke with her and, as I fear, told her what you and I
+were so careful to hide, that she would bring trouble on me. At the
+least she has never been quite the same since, and I have thought it
+wise to make her swear by an oath, which I know she will never break,
+that now we are one she will not attempt to separate herself from me
+while we both have life."
+
+"Did he wish her to go away with him, Prince?"
+
+"I do not know. She never told me so. Still I am sure that had he come
+with his evil talk before that day when you returned from Tanis, she
+would have gone. Now I hope that there are reasons that will keep her
+where she is."
+
+"What then did he say, Prince?"
+
+"Little beyond what he had already said to you, that great troubles
+were about to fall on Egypt. He added that he was sent to save me and
+mine from these troubles because I had been a friend to the Hebrews
+in so far as that was possible. Then he walked through this house and
+all round its gardens, as he went reciting something that was written
+on a roll, of which I could not understand the meaning, and now and
+again prostrating himself to pray to his god. Thus, where the canal
+enters the garden and where it leaves the garden he stayed to pray, as
+he did at the well whence drinking water is drawn. Moreover, led by
+Merapi, he visited all my cornlands and those where my cattle are
+herded, reciting and praying until the servants thought that he was
+mad. After this he returned with her and, as it chanced, I overheard
+their parting. She said to him:
+
+"'The house you have blessed and it is safe; the fields you have
+blessed and they are safe; will you not bless me also, O my Uncle, and
+any that are born of me?'
+
+"He answered, shaking his head, 'I have no command, my Niece, either
+to bless or to curse you, as did that fool whom the Prince slew. You
+have chosen your own path apart from your people. It may be well, or
+it may be ill, or perhaps both, and henceforth you must walk it alone
+to wherever it may lead. Farewell, for perhaps we shall meet no more.'
+
+"Thus speaking they passed out of earshot, but I could see that still
+she pleaded and still he shook his head. In the end, however, she gave
+him an offering, of all that she had I think, though whether this went
+to the temple of the Hebrews or into his own pouch I know not. At
+least it seemed to soften him, for he kissed her on the brow tenderly
+enough and departed with the air of a happy merchant who has sold his
+wares. But of all that passed between them Merapi would tell me
+nothing. Nor did I tell her of what I had overheard."
+
+"And then?"
+
+"And then, Ana, came the story of the Hebrew prophet who made the
+water into blood, and of Ki and his disciples who did likewise. The
+latter I did not believe, because I said it would be more reasonable
+had Ki turned the blood back into water, instead of making more blood
+of which there was enough already."
+
+"I think that magicians have no reason."
+
+"Or can do mischief only, Ana. At any rate after the story came the
+blood itself and stayed with us seven whole days, leaving much
+sickness behind it because of the stench of the rotting fish. Now for
+the marvel--here about my house there was no blood, though above and
+below the canal was full of it. The water remained as it has always
+been and the fish swam in it as they have always done; also that of
+the well kept sweet and pure. When this came to be known thousands
+crowded to the place, clamouring for water; that is until they found
+that outside the gates it grew red in their vessels, after which,
+although some still came, they drank the water where they stood, which
+they must do quickly."
+
+"And what tale do they tell of this in Memphis, Prince?" I asked
+astonished.
+
+"Certain of them say that not Ki but I am the greatest magician in
+Egypt--never, Ana, was fame more lightly earned. And certain say that
+Merapi, of whose doings in the temple at Tanis some tale has reached
+them, is the real magician, she being an Israelite of the tribe of the
+Hebrew prophets. Hush! She returns."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+KI COMES TO MEMPHIS
+
+Now of all the terrors of which this turning of the water into blood
+was the beginning in Egypt, I, Ana, the scribe, will not write, for if
+I did so, never in my life-days should I, who am old, find time to
+finish the story of them. Over a period of many, many moons they came,
+one by one, till the land grew mad with want and woe. Always the tale
+was the same. The Hebrew prophets would visit Pharaoh at Tanis and
+demand that he should led their people go, threatening him with
+vengeance if he refused. Yet he did refuse, for some madness had hold
+of him, or perhaps the god of the Israelites laid an enchantment on
+him, why I know not.
+
+Thus but a little while after the terror of blood came a plague of
+frogs that filled Egypt from north to south, and when these were taken
+away made the air to stink. This miracle Ki and his company worked
+also, sending the frogs into Goshen, where they plagued the
+Israelites. But however it came about, at Seti's palace at Memphis and
+on the land that he owned around it there were no frogs, or at least
+but few of them, although at night from the fields about the sound of
+their croaking went up like the sound of beaten drums.
+
+Next came a plague of lice, and these Ki and his companions would have
+also called down upon the Hebrews, but they failed, and afterwards
+struggled no more against the magic of the Israelites. Then followed a
+plague of flies, so that the air was black with them and no food could
+be kept sweet. Only in Seti's palace there were no flies, and in the
+garden but a few. After this a terrible pest began among the cattle,
+whereof thousands died. But of Seti's great herd not one was even
+sick, nor, as we learned, was there a hoof the less in the land of
+Goshen.
+
+This plague struck Egypt but a little while after Merapi had given
+birth to a son, a very beautiful child with his mother's eyes, that
+was named Seti after his father. Now the marvel of the escape of the
+Prince and his household and all that was his from these curses spread
+abroad and made much talk, so that many sent to inquire of it.
+
+Among the first came old Bakenkhonsu with a message from Pharaoh, and
+a private one to myself from the Princess Userti, whose pride would
+not suffer her to ask aught of Seti. We could tell him nothing except
+what I have written, which at first he did not believe. Having
+satisfied himself, however, that the thing was true, he said that he
+had fallen sick and could not travel back to Tanis. Therefore he asked
+leave of the Prince to rest a while in his house, he who had been the
+friend of his father, his grandfather, and his great-grandfather. Seti
+laughed, as indeed did the cunning old man himself, and there with us
+Bakenkhonsu remained till the end, to our great joy, for he was the
+most pleasant of all companions and the most learned. As for his
+message, one of his servants took back the answer to Pharaoh and to
+Userti, with the news of his master's grievous sickness.
+
+Some eight days or so later, as I stood one morning basking in the sun
+at that gate of the palace gardens which overlooks the temple of Ptah,
+idly watching the procession of priests passing through its courts and
+chanting as they went (for because of the many sicknesses at this time
+I left the palace but rarely), I saw a tall figure approaching me
+draped against the morning cold. The man drew near, and addressing me
+over the head of the guard, asked if he could see the lady Merapi. I
+answered No, as she was engaged in nursing her son.
+
+"And in other things, I think," he said with meaning, in a voice that
+seemed familiar to me. "Well, can I see the Prince Seti?"
+
+I answered No, he was also engaged.
+
+"In nursing his own soul, studying the eyes of the lady Merapi, the
+smile of his infant, the wisdom of the scribe Ana, and the attributes
+of the hundred and one gods that are known to him, including that of
+Israel, I suppose," said the familiar voice, adding, "Then can I see
+this scribe Ana, who I understand, being lucky, holds himself
+learned."
+
+Now, angered at the scoffing of this stranger (though all the time I
+felt that he was none), I answered that the scribe Ana was striving to
+mend his luck by the pursuit of the goddess of learning in his study.
+
+"Let him pursue," mocked the stranger, "since she is the only woman
+that he is ever likely to catch. Yet it is true that once one caught
+him. If you are of his acquaintance ask him of his talk with her in
+the avenue of the Sphinxes outside the great temple at Thebes and of
+what it cost him in gold and tears."
+
+Hearing this I put my hand to my forehead and rubbed my eyes, thinking
+that I must have fallen into a dream there in the sunshine. When I
+lifted it again all was the same as before. There stood the sentry,
+indifferent to that which had no interest for him; the cock that had
+moulted its tail still scratched in the dirt; the crested hoopoe still
+sat spreading its wings on the head of one of the two great statues of
+Rameses which watched the gate; a water-seller in the distance still
+cried his wares, but the stranger was gone. Then I knew that I had
+been dreaming and turned to go also, to find myself face to face with
+him.
+
+"Man," I said, indignantly, "how in the name of Ptah and all his
+priests did you pass a sentry and through that gate without my seeing
+you?"
+
+"Do not trouble yourself with a new problem when already you have so
+many to perplex you, friend Ana. Say, have you yet solved that of how
+a rod like this turned itself into a snake in your hand?" and he threw
+back his hood, revealing the shaved head and the glowing eyes of the
+Kherheb Ki.
+
+"No, I have not," I answered, "and I thank you," for here he proffered
+me the staff, "but I will not try the trick again. Next time the beast
+might bite. Well, Ki, as you can pass in here without my leave, why do
+you ask it? In short, what do you want with me, now that those Hebrew
+prophets have put you on your back?"
+
+"Hush, Ana. Never grow angry, it wastes strength, of which we have so
+little to spare, for you know, being so wise, or perhaps you do not
+know, that at birth the gods give us a certain store of it, and when
+that is used we die and have to go elsewhere to fetch more. At this
+rate your life will be short, Ana, for you squander it in emotions."
+
+"What do you want?" I repeated, being too angry to dispute with him.
+
+"I want to find an answer to the question you asked so roughly: Why
+the Hebrew prophets have, as you say, put me on my back?"
+
+"Not being a magician, as you pretend you are, I can give you none,
+Ki."
+
+"Never for one moment did I suppose that you could," he replied
+blandly, stretching out his hands, and leaving the staff which had
+fallen from them standing in front of him. (It was not till afterwards
+that I remembered that this accursed bit of wood stood there of itself
+without visible support, for it rested on the paving-stone of the
+gateway.) "But, as it chances, you have in this house the master, or
+rather the mistress of all magicians, as every Egyptian knows to-day,
+the lady Merapi, and I would see her."
+
+"Why do you say she is a mistress of magicians?" I asked indignantly.
+
+"Why does one bird know another of its own kind? Why does the water
+here remain pure, when all other water turns to blood? Why do not the
+frogs croak in Seti's halls, and why do the flies avoid his meat? Why,
+also, did the statue of Amon melt before her glance, while all my
+magic fell back from her breast like arrows from a shirt of mail?
+Those are the questions that Egypt asks, and I would have an answer to
+them from the beloved of Seti, or of the god Set, she who is named
+Moon of Israel."
+
+"Then why not go seek it for yourself, Ki? To you, doubtless, it would
+be a small matter to take the form of a snake or a rat, or a bird, and
+creep or run or fly into the presence of Merapi."
+
+"Mayhap it would not be difficult, Ana. Or, better still, I might
+visit her in her sleep, as I visited you on a certain night at Thebes,
+when you told me of a talk you had held with a woman in the avenue of
+the Sphinxes, and of what it cost you in gold and tears. But, as it
+chances, I wish to appear as a man and a friend, and to stay a while.
+Bakenkhonsu tells me that he finds life here at Memphis very pleasant,
+free too from the sicknesses which just now seem to be so common in
+Egypt; so why should not I do the same, Ana?"
+
+I looked at his round, ripe face, on which was fixed a smile
+unchanging as that worn by the masks on mummy coffins, from which I
+think he must have copied it, and at the cold, deep eyes above, and
+shivered a little. To tell truth I feared this man, whom I felt to be
+in touch with presences and things that are not of our world, and
+thought it wisest to withstand him no more.
+
+"That is a question which you had best put to my master Seti who owns
+this house. Come, I will lead you to him," I said.
+
+So we went to the great portico of the palace, passing in and out
+through the painted pillars, towards my own apartments, whence I
+purposed to send a message to the Prince. As it chanced this was
+needless, since presently we saw him seated in a little bay out of
+reach of the sun. By his side was Merapi, and on a woven rug between
+them lay their sleeping infant, at whom both of them gazed adoringly.
+
+"Strange that this mother's heart should hide more might than can be
+boasted by all the gods of Egypt. Strange that those mother's eyes can
+rive the ancient glory of Amon into dust!" Ki said to me in so low a
+voice that it almost seemed as though I heard his thought and not his
+words, which perhaps indeed I did.
+
+Now we stood in front of these three, and the sun being behind us, for
+it was still early, the shadow of the cloaked Ki fell upon a babe and
+lay there. A hateful fancy came to me. It looked like the evil form of
+an embalmer bending over one new dead. The babe felt it, opened its
+large eyes and wailed. Merapi saw it, and snatched up her child. Seti
+too rose from his seat, exclaiming, "Who comes?"
+
+Thereon, to my amazement, Ki prostrated himself and uttered the
+salutation which may only be given to the King of Egypt: "Life! Blood!
+Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!"
+
+"Who dares utter those words to me?" said Seti. "Ana, what madman do
+you bring here?"
+
+"May it please the Prince, /he/ brought /me/ here," I replied faintly.
+
+"Fellow, tell me who bade you say such words, than which none were
+ever less welcome."
+
+"Those whom I serve, Prince."
+
+"And whom do you serve?"
+
+"The gods of Egypt."
+
+"Then, man, I think the gods must need your company. Pharaoh does not
+sit at Memphis, and were he to hear of them----"
+
+"Pharaoh will never hear them, Prince, until he hears all things."
+
+They stared at each other. Then, as I had done by the gate Seti rubbed
+his eyes, and said:
+
+"Surely this is Ki. Why, then, did you look otherwise just now?"
+
+"The gods can change the fashion of their messenger a thousand times
+in a flash, if so they will, O Prince."
+
+Now Seti's anger passed, and turned to laughter.
+
+"Ki, Ki,' he said, "you should keep these tricks for Court. But, since
+you are in the mood, what salutation have you for this lady by my
+side?"
+
+Ki considered her, till she who ever feared and hated him shrank
+before his gaze.
+
+"Crown of Hathor, I greet you. Beloved of Isis, shine on perfect in
+the sky, shedding light and wisdom ere you set."
+
+Now this saying puzzled me. Indeed, I did not fully understand it
+until Bakenkhonsu reminded me that Merapi's name was Moon of Israel,
+that Hathor, goddess of love, is crowned with the moon in all her
+statues, that Isis is the queen of mysteries and wisdom, and that Ki
+who thought Merapi perfect in love and beauty, also the greatest of
+all sorceresses, was likening her to these.
+
+"Yes," I answered, "but what did he mean when he talked about her
+setting?"
+
+"Does not the moon always set, and is it not sometimes eclipsed?" he
+asked shortly.
+
+"So does the sun," I answered.
+
+"True; so does the sun! You are growing wise, very wise indeed, friend
+Ana. Oho--ho!"
+
+To return: When Seti heard these words, he laughed again, and said:
+
+"I must think that saying over, but it is clear that you have a pretty
+turn for praise. Is it not so, Merapi, Crown of Hathor, and Holder of
+the wisdom of Isis?"
+
+But Merapi, who, I think, understood more than either of us, turned
+pale, and shrank further away, but outwards into the sunshine.
+
+"Well, Ki," went on Seti, "finish your greetings. What for the babe?"
+
+Ki considered it also.
+
+"Now that it is no longer in the shadow, I see that this shoot from
+the royal root of Pharaoh grows so fast and tall that my eyes cannot
+reach its crest. He is too high and great for greetings, Prince."
+
+Then Merapi uttered a little cry, and bore the child away.
+
+"She is afraid of magicians and their dark sayings," said Seti,
+looking after her with a troubled smile.
+
+"That she should not be, Prince, seeing that she is the mistress of
+all our tribe."
+
+"The lady Merapi a magician? Well, after a fashion, yes--where the
+hearts of men are concerned, do you not think so, Ana? But be more
+plain, Ki. It is still early, and I love riddles best at night."
+
+"What other could have shattered the strong and holy house where the
+majesty of Amon dwells on earth? Not even those prophets of the
+Hebrews as I think. What other could fence this garden round against
+the curses that have fallen upon Egypt?" asked Ki earnestly, for now
+all his mocking manner had departed.
+
+"I do not think she does these things, Ki. I think some Power does
+them through her, and I know that she dared to face Amon in his temple
+because she was bidden so to do by the priests of her people."
+
+"Prince," he answered with a short laugh, "a while ago I sent you a
+message by Ana, which perhaps other thoughts may have driven from his
+memory. It was as to the nature of that Power of which you speak. In
+that message I said that you were wise, but now I perceive that you
+lack wisdom like the rest of us, for if you had it, you would know
+that the tool which carves is not the guiding hand, and the lightning
+which smites is not the sending strength. So with this fair love of
+yours, and so with me and all that work marvels. We do not the things
+we seem to do, who are but the tool and the lightning. What I would
+know is who or what guides her hand and gives her the might to shield
+or to destroy."
+
+"The question is wide, Ki, or so it seems to me who, as you say, have
+little wisdom, and whoever can answer it holds the key of knowledge.
+Your magic is but a small thing which seems great because so few can
+handle it. What miracle is it that makes the flower to grow, the child
+to be born, the Nile to rise, and the sun and stars to shine in
+heaven? What causes man to be half a beast and half a god and to grow
+downward to the beast or upward to the god--or both? What is faith and
+what is unbelief? Who made these things, through them to declare the
+purposes of life, of death, and of eternity? You shake your head, you
+do not know; how then can I know who, as you point out, am but
+foolish? Go get your answer from the lady Merapi's self, only mayhap
+you will find your questions countered."
+
+"I'll take my chance. Thanks to Merapi's lord! A boon, O Prince, since
+you will not suffer that other name which comes easiest to the lips of
+one to whom the Present and the Future are sometimes much alike."
+
+Seti looked at him keenly, and for the first time with a tinge of fear
+in his eyes.
+
+"Leave the Future to itself, Ki," he exclaimed. "Whatever may be the
+mind of Egypt, just now I hold the Present enough for me," and he
+glanced first at the chair in which Merapi had been seated and then at
+the cloth upon which his son had lain.
+
+"I take back my words. The Prince is wiser than I thought. Magicians
+know the future because at times it rushes down upon them and they
+must. It is that which makes them lonely, since what they know they
+cannot say. But only fools will seek it."
+
+"Yet now and again they lift a corner of the veil, Ki. Thus I remember
+certain sayings of your own as to one who would find a great treasure
+in the land of Goshen and thereafter suffer some temporal loss, and--I
+forget the rest. Man, cease smiling at me with your face and piercing
+me through with your sword-like eyes. You can command all things, what
+boon then do you seek from me?"
+
+"To lodge here a little while, Prince, in the company of Ana and
+Bakenkhonsu. Hearken, I am no more Kherheb. I have quarrelled with
+Pharaoh, perhaps because a little breath from that great wind of the
+future blows through my soul; perhaps because he does not reward me
+according to my merits--what does it matter which? At least I have
+come to be of one mind with you, O Prince, and think that Pharaoh
+would do well to let the Hebrews go, and therefore no longer will I
+attempt to match my magic against theirs. But he refuses, so we have
+parted."
+
+"Why does he refuse, Ki?"
+
+"Perhaps it is written that he must refuse. Or perhaps because,
+thinking himself the greatest of all kings instead of but a plaything
+of the gods, pride locks the doors of his heart that in a day to come
+the tempest of the Future, whereof I have spoken, may wreck the house
+which holds it. I do not know why he refuses, but her Highness Userti
+is much with him."
+
+"For one who does not know, you have many reasons and all of them
+different, O instructed Ki," said Seti.
+
+Then he paused, walking up and down the portico, and I who knew his
+mind guessed that he was wondering whether he would do well to suffer
+Ki, whom at times he feared because his objects were secret and never
+changed, to abide in his house, or whether he should send him away. Ki
+also shivered a little, as though he felt the shadow cold, and
+descended from the portico into the bright sunshine. Here he held out
+his hand and a great moth dropped from the roof and lit upon it,
+whereon it lifted it to his lips, which moved as though he were
+talking to the insect.
+
+"What shall I do?" muttered Seti, as he passed me.
+
+"I do not altogether like his company, nor, I think, does the lady
+Merapi, but he is an ill man to offend, Prince," I answered. "Look, he
+is talking with his familiar."
+
+Seti returned to his place, and shaking off the moth which seemed loth
+to leave him, for twice it settled on his head, Ki came back into the
+shadow.
+
+"Where is the use of your putting questions to me, Ki, when, according
+to your own showing, already you know the answer that I will give?
+What answer shall I give?" asked the Prince.
+
+"That painted creature which sat upon my hand just now, seemed to
+whisper to me that you would say, O Prince, 'Stay, Ki, and be my
+faithful servant, and use any little lore you have to shield my house
+from ill.'"
+
+Then Seti laughed in his careless fashion, and replied:
+
+"Have your way, since it is a rule that none of the royal blood of
+Egypt may refuse hospitality to those who seek it, having been their
+friends, and I will not quote against your moth what a bat whispered
+in my ears last night. Nay, none of your salutations revealed to you
+by insects or by the future," and he gave him his hand to kiss.
+
+When Ki was gone, I said:
+
+"I told you that night-haunting thing was his familiar."
+
+"Then you told me folly, Ana. The knowledge that Ki has he does not
+get from moths or beetles. Yet now that it is too late I wish that I
+had asked the lady Merapi what her will was in this matter. You should
+have thought of that, Ana, instead of suffering your mind to be led
+astray by an insect sitting on his hand, which is just what he meant
+that you should do. Well, in punishment, day by day it shall be your
+lot to look upon a man with a countenance like--like what?"
+
+"Like that which I saw upon the coffin of the good god, your divine
+father, Meneptah, as it was prepared for him during his life in the
+embalmer's shop at Tanis," I answered.
+
+"Yes," said the Prince, "a face smiling eternally at the Nothingness
+which is Life and Death, but in certain lights, with eyes of fire."
+
+
+
+On the following day, by her invitation, I walked with the lady Merapi
+in the garden, the head nurse following us, bearing the royal child in
+her arms.
+
+"I wish to ask you about Ki, friend Ana," she said. "You know he is my
+enemy, for you must have heard the words he spoke to me in the temple
+of Amon at Tanis. It seems that my lord has made him the guest of this
+house--oh look!" and she pointed before her.
+
+I looked, and there a few paces away, where the shadow of the
+overhanging palms was deepest, stood Ki. He was leaning on his staff,
+the same that had turned to a snake in my hand, and gazing upwards
+like one who is lost in thought, or listens to the singing of birds.
+Merapi turned as though to fly, but at that moment Ki saw us, although
+he still seemed to gaze upwards.
+
+"Greeting, O Moon of Israel," he said bowing. "Greeting, O Conqueror
+of Ki!"
+
+She bowed back, and stood still, as a little bird stands when it sees
+a snake. There was a long silence, which he broke by asking:
+
+"Why seek that from Ana which Ki himself is eager to give? Ana is
+learned, but is his heart the heart of Ki? Above all, why tell him
+that Ki, the humblest of your servants, is your enemy?"
+
+Now Merapi straightened herself, looked into his eyes, and answered:
+
+"Have I told Ana aught that he did not know? Did not Ana hear the last
+words you said to me in the temple of Amon at Tanis?"
+
+"Doubtless he heard them, Lady, and therefore I am glad that he is
+here to hear their meaning. Lady Merapi, at that moment, I, the
+Sacrificer to Amon, was filled--not with my own spirit, but with the
+angry spirit of the god whom you had humbled as never before had
+befallen him in Egypt. The god through me demanded of you the secret
+of your magic, and promised you his hate, if you refused. Lady, you
+have his hate, but mine you have not, since I also have his hate
+because I, and he through me, have been worsted by your prophets.
+Lady, we are fellow-travellers in the Valley of Trouble."
+
+She gazed at him steadily, and I could see that of all that passed his
+lips she believed no one word. Making no answer to him and his talk of
+Amon, she asked only:
+
+"Why do you come here to do me ill who have done you none?"
+
+"You are mistaken, Lady," he replied. "I come here to refuge from
+Amon, and from his servant Pharaoh, whom Amon drives on to ruin. I
+know well that, if you will it, you can whisper in the ear of the
+Prince and presently he will put me forth. Only then----" and he
+looked over her head to where the nurse stood rocking the sleeping
+child.
+
+"Then what, Magician?"
+
+Giving no answer, he turned to me.
+
+"Learned Ana, to you remember meeting me at Tanis one night?"
+
+I shook my head, though I guessed well enough what night he meant.
+
+"Your memory weakens, learned Ana, or rather is confused, for we met
+often, did we not?"
+
+Then he stared at the staff in his hand. I stared also, because I
+could not help it, and saw, or thought I saw, the dead wood begin to
+swell and curve. This was enough for me and I said hastily:
+
+"If you mean the night of the Coronation, I do recall----"
+
+"Ah! I thought you would. You, learned Ana, who like all scribes
+observe so closely, will have noted how little things--such as the
+scent of a flower, or the passing of a bird, or even the writhing of a
+snake in the dust--often bring back to the mind events or words it has
+forgotten long ago."
+
+"Well--what of our meeting?" I broke in hastily.
+
+"Nothing at all--or only this. Just before it you were talking with
+the Hebrew Jabez, the lady Merapi's uncle, were you not?"
+
+"Yes, I was talking with him in an open place, alone."
+
+"Not so, learned Scribe, for you know we are never alone--quite. Could
+you but see it, every grain of sand has an ear."
+
+"Be pleased to explain, O Ki."
+
+"Nay, Ana, it would be too long, and short jests are ever the best. As
+I have told you, you were not alone, for though there were some words
+that I did not catch, /I/ heard much of what passed between you and
+Jabez."
+
+"What did you hear?" I asked wrathfully, and next instant wished that
+I had bitten through my tongue before it shaped the words.
+
+"Much, much. Let me think. You spoke about the lady Merapi, and
+whether she would do well to bide at Memphis in the shadow of the
+Prince, or to return to Goshen into the shadow of a certain--I forget
+the name. Jabez, a well-instructed man, said he thought that she might
+be happier at Memphis, though perhaps her presence there would bring a
+great sorrow upon herself and--another."
+
+Here again he looked at the child, which seemed to feel his glance,
+for it woke up and beat the air with its little hands.
+
+The nurse felt it also, although her head was turned away, for she
+started and then took shelter behind the bole of one of the palm-
+trees. Now Merapi said in a low and shaken voice:
+
+"I know what you mean, Magician, for since then I have seen my uncle
+Jabez."
+
+"As I have also, several times, Lady, which may explain to you what
+Ana here thinks so wonderful, namely that I should have learned what
+they said together when he thought they were alone, which, as I have
+told him, no one can ever be, at least in Egypt, the land of listening
+gods----"
+
+"And spying sorcerers," I exclaimed.
+
+"----And spying sorcerers," he repeated after me, "and scribes who
+take notes, and learn them by heart, and priests with ears as large as
+asses, and leaves that whisper--and many other things."
+
+"Cease your gibes, and say what you have to say," said Merapi, in the
+same broken voice.
+
+He made no answer, but only looked at the tree behind which the nurse
+and child had vanished.
+
+"Oh! I know, I know," she exclaimed in tones that were like a cry. "My
+child is threatened! You threaten my child because you hate me."
+
+"Your pardon, Lady. It is true that evil threatens this royal babe, or
+so I understood from Jabez, who knows so much. But it is not I that
+threaten it, any more than I hate you, in whom I acknowledge a fellow
+of my craft, but one greater than myself that it is my duty to obey."
+
+"Have done! Why do you torment me?"
+
+"Can the priests of the Moon-goddess torment Isis, Mother of Magic,
+with their prayers and offerings? And can I who would make a prayer
+and an offering----"
+
+"What prayer, and what offering?"
+
+"The prayer that you will suffer me to shelter in this house from the
+many dangers that threaten me at the hands of Pharaoh and the prophets
+of your people, and an offering of such help as I can give by my arts
+and knowledge against blacker dangers which threaten--another."
+
+Here once more he gazed at the trunk of the tree beyond which I heard
+the infant wail.
+
+"If I consent, what then?" she asked, hoarsely.
+
+"Then, Lady, I will strive to protect a certain little one against a
+curse which Jabez tells me threatens him and many others in whom runs
+the blood of Egypt. I will strive, if I am allowed to bide here--I do
+not say that I shall succeed, for as your lord has reminded me, and as
+you showed me in the temple of Amon, my strength is smaller than that
+of the prophets and prophetesses of Israel."
+
+"And if I refuse?"
+
+"Then, Lady," he answered in a voice that rang like iron, "I am sure
+that one whom you love--as mothers love--will shortly be rocked in the
+arms of the god whom we name Osiris."
+
+"/Stay/," she cried and, turning, fled away.
+
+"Why, Ana, she is gone," he said, "and that before I could bargain for
+my reward. Well, this I must find in your company. How strange are
+women, Ana! Here you have one of the greatest of her sex, as you
+learned in the temple of Amon. And yet she opens beneath the sun of
+hope and shrivels beneath the shadow of fear, like the touched leaves
+of that tender plant which grows upon the banks of the river; she who,
+with her eyes set on the mystery that is beyond, whereof she hears the
+whispering winds, should tread both earthly hope and fear beneath her
+feet, or make of them stepping stones to glory. Were she a man she
+would do so, but her sex wrecks her, she who thinks more of the kiss
+of a babe than of all the splendours she might harbour in her breast.
+Yes, a babe, a single wretched little babe. You had one once, did you
+not, Ana?"
+
+"Oh! to Set and his fires with you and your evil talk," I said, and
+left him.
+
+When I had gone a little way, I looked back and saw that he was
+laughing, throwing up his staff as he laughed, and catching it again.
+
+"Set and his fires," he called after me. "I wonder what they are like,
+Ana. Perhaps one day we shall learn, you and I together, Scribe Ana."
+
+So Ki took up his abode with us, in the same lodgings as Bakenkhonsu,
+and almost every day I would meet them walking in the garden, since I,
+who was of the Prince's table, except when he ate with the lady
+Merapi, did not take my food with them. Then we would talk together
+about many subjects. On those which had to do with learning, or even
+religion, I had the better of Ki, who was no great scholar or master
+of theology. But always before we parted he would plant some arrow in
+my ribs, at which old Bakenkhonsu laughed, and laughed again, yet ever
+threw over me the shield of his venerable wisdom, just because he
+loved me I think.
+
+It was after this that the plague struck the cattle of Egypt, so that
+tens of thousands of them died, though not all as was reported. But,
+as I have said, of the herds of Seti none died, nor, as we were told,
+did any of those of the Israelites in the land of Goshen. Now there
+was great distress in Egypt, but Ki smiled and said that he knew it
+would be so, and that there was much worse to come, for which I could
+have smitten him over the head with his own staff, had I not feared
+that, if I did so, it might once more turn to a serpent in my hand.
+
+Old Bakenkhonsu looked upon the matter with another face. He said that
+since his last wife died, I think some fifty years before, he had
+found life very dull because he missed the exercises of her temper,
+and her habit of presenting things as these never had been nor could
+possibly ever be. Now, however, it grew interesting again, since the
+marvels which were happening in Egypt, being quite contrary to Nature,
+reminded him of his last wife and her arguments. All of which was his
+way of saying that in those years we lived in a new world, whereof for
+the Egyptians Set the Evil One seemed to be the king.
+
+But still Pharaoh would not let the Hebrews go, perhaps because he had
+vowed as much to Meneptah who set him on the throne, or perhaps for
+those other reasons, or one of them, which Ki had given to the Prince.
+
+Then came the curse of sores afflicting man, woman, and child
+throughout the land, save those who dwelt in the household of Seti.
+Thus the watchman and his family whose lodge was without the gates
+suffered, but the watchman and his family who lived within the gates,
+not twenty paces away, did not suffer, which caused bitterness between
+their women. In the same way Ki, who resided as a guest of the Prince
+at Memphis, suffered from no sores, whereas those of his College who
+remained at Tanis were more heavily smitten than any others, so that
+some of them died. When he heard this, Ki laughed and said that he had
+told them it would be so. Also Pharaoh himself and even her Highness
+Userti were smitten, the latter upon the cheek, which made her
+unsightly for a while. Indeed, Bakenkhonsu heard, I know not how, that
+so great was her rage that she even bethought her of returning to her
+lord Seti, in whose house she had learned people were safe, and the
+beauty of her successor, Moon of Israel, remained unscarred and was
+even greater than before, tidings that I think Bakenkhonsu himself
+conveyed to her. But in the end this her pride, or her jealousy,
+prevented her from doing.
+
+Now the heart of Egypt began to turn towards Seti in good earnest. The
+Prince, they said, had opposed the policy of the oppression of the
+Hebrews, and because he could not prevail had abandoned his right to
+the throne, which Pharaoh Amenmeses had purchased at the price of
+accepting that policy whereof the fruits had been proved to be
+destruction. Therefore, they reasoned, if Amenmeses were deposed, and
+the Prince reigned, their miseries would cease. So they sent
+deputations to him secretly, praying him to rise against Amenmeses and
+promising him support. But he would listen to none of them, telling
+them that he was happy as he was and sought no other state. Still
+Pharaoh grew jealous, for all these things his spies reported to him,
+and set about plots to destroy Seti.
+
+Of the first of these Userti warned me by a messenger, but the second
+and worse Ki discovered in some strange way, so that the murderer was
+trapped at the gate and killed by the watchman, whereon Seti said that
+after all he had been wise to give hospitality to Ki, that is, if to
+continue to live were wisdom. The lady Merapi also said as much to me,
+but I noted that always she shunned Ki, whom she held in mistrust and
+fear.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE NIGHT OF FEAR
+
+Then came the hail, and some months after the hail the locusts, and
+Egypt went mad with woe and terror. It was known to us, for with Ki
+and Bakenkhonsu in the palace we knew everything, that the Hebrew
+prophets had promised this hail because Pharaoh would not listen to
+them. Therefore Seti caused it to be put about through all the land
+that the Egyptians should shelter their cattle, or such as were left
+to them, at the first sign of storm. But Pharaoh heard of it and
+issued a proclamation that this was not to be done, inasmuch as it
+would be an insult to the gods of Egypt. Still many did so and these
+saved their cattle. It was strange to see that wall of jagged ice
+stretching from earth to heaven and destroying all upon which it fell.
+The tall date-palms were stripped even of their bark; the soil was
+churned up; men and beasts if caught abroad were slain or shattered.
+
+I stood at the gate and watched it. There, not a yard away, fell the
+white hail, turning the world to wreck, while here within the gate
+there was not a single stone. Merapi watched also, and presently came
+Ki as well, and with him Bakenkhonsu, who for once had never seen
+anything like this in all his long life. But Ki watched Merapi more
+than he did the hail, for I saw him searching out her very soul with
+those merciless eyes of his.
+
+"Lady," he said at length, "tell your servant, I beseech you, how you
+do this thing?" and he pointed first to the trees and flowers within
+the gate and then to the wreck without.
+
+At first I thought that she had not heard him because of the roar of
+the hail, for she stepped forward and opened the side wicket to admit
+a poor jackal that was scratching at the bars. Still this was not so,
+for presently she turned and said:
+
+"Does the Kherheb, the greatest magician in Egypt, ask an unlearned
+woman to teach him of marvels? Well, Ki, I cannot, because I neither
+do it nor know how it is done."
+
+Bakenkhonsu laughed, and Ki's painted smile grew as it were brighter
+than before.
+
+"That is not what they say in the land of Goshen, Lady," he answered,
+"and not what the Hebrew women say here in Memphis. Nor is it what the
+priests of Amon say. These declare that you have more magic than all
+the sorcerers of the Nile. Here is the proof of it," and he pointed to
+the ruin without and the peace within, adding, "Lady, if you can
+protect your own home, why cannot you protect the innocent people of
+Egypt?"
+
+"Because I cannot," she answered angrily. "If ever I had such power it
+is gone from me, who am now the mother of an Egyptian's child. But I
+have none. There in the temple of Amon some Strength worked through
+me, that is all, which never will visit me again because of my sin."
+
+"What sin, Lady?"
+
+"The sin of taking the Prince Seti to lord. Now, if any god spoke
+through me it would be one of those of the Egyptians, since He of
+Israel has cast me out."
+
+Ki started as though some new thought had come to him, and at this
+moment she turned and went away.
+
+"Would that she were high-priestess of Isis that she might work for us
+and not against us," he said.
+
+Bakenkhonsu shook his head.
+
+"Let that be," he answered. "Be sure that never will an Israelitish
+woman offer sacrifice to what she would call the abomination of the
+Egyptians."
+
+"If she will not sacrifice to save the people, let her be careful lest
+the people sacrifice her to save themselves," said Ki in a cold voice.
+
+Then he too went away.
+
+"I think that if ever that hour comes, then Ki will have his share in
+it," laughed Bakenkhonsu. "What is the good of a shepherd who shelters
+here in comfort, while outside the sheep are dying, eh, Ana?"
+
+It was after the plague of locusts, which ate all there was left to
+eat in Egypt, so that the poor folk who had done no wrong and had
+naught to say to the dealings of Pharaoh with the Israelites starved
+by the thousand, and during that of the great darkness, that Laban
+came. Now this darkness lay upon the land like a thick cloud for three
+whole days and nights. Nevertheless, though the shadows were deep,
+there was no true darkness over the house of Seti at Memphis, which
+stood in a funnel of grey light stretching from earth to sky.
+
+Now the terror was increased tenfold, and it seemed to me that all the
+hundreds of thousands of Memphis were gathered outside our walls, so
+that they might look upon the light, such as it was, if they could do
+no more. Seti would have admitted as many as the place would hold, but
+Ki bade him not, saying, that if he did so the darkness would flow in
+with them. Only Merapi did admit some of the Israelitish women who
+were married to Egyptians in the city, though for her pains they only
+cursed her as a witch. For now most of the inhabitants of Memphis were
+certain that it was Merapi who, keeping herself safe, had brought
+these woes upon them because she was a worshipper of an alien god.
+
+"If she who is the love of Egypt's heir would but sacrifice to Egypt's
+gods, these horrors would pass from us," said they, having, as I
+think, learned their lesson from the lips of Ki. Or perhaps the
+emissaries of Userti had taught them.
+
+Once more we stood by the gate watching the people flitting to and fro
+in the gloom without, for this sight fascinated Merapi, as a snake
+fascinates a bird. Then it was that Laban appeared. I knew his hooked
+nose and hawk-like eyes at once, and she knew him also.
+
+"Come away with me, Moon of Israel," he cried, "and all shall yet be
+forgiven you. But if you will not come, then fearful things shall
+overtake you."
+
+She stood staring at him, answering never a word, and just then the
+Prince Seti reached us and saw him.
+
+"Take that man," he commanded, flushing with anger, and guards sprang
+into the darkness to do his bidding. But Laban was gone.
+
+On the second day of the darkness the tumult was great, on the third
+it was terrible. A crowd thrust the guard aside, broke down the gates
+and burst into the palace, humbly demanding that the lady Merapi would
+come to pray for them, yet showing by their mien that if she would not
+come they meant to take her.
+
+"What is to be done?" asked Seti of Ki and Bakenkhonsu.
+
+"That is for the Prince to judge," said Ki, "though I do not see how
+it can harm the lady Merapi to pray for us in the open square of
+Memphis."
+
+"Let her go," said Bakenkhonsu, "lest presently we should all go
+further than we would."
+
+"I do not wish to go," cried Merapi, "not knowing for whom I am to
+pray or how."
+
+"Be it as you will, Lady," said Seti in his grave and gentle voice.
+"Only, hearken to the roar of the mob. If you refuse, I think that
+very soon every one of us will have reached a land where perhaps it is
+not needful to pray at all," and he looked at the infant in her arms.
+
+"I will go," she said.
+
+She went forth carrying the child and I walked behind her. So did the
+Prince, but in that darkness he was cut off by a rush of thousands of
+folk and I saw him no more till all was over. Bakenkhonsu was with me
+leaning on my arm, but Ki had gone on before us, for his own ends as I
+think. A huge mob moved through the dense darkness, in which here and
+there lights floated like lamps upon a quiet sea. I did not know where
+we were going until the light of one of these lamps shone upon the
+knees of the colossal statue of the great Rameses, revealing his
+cartouche. Then I knew that we were near the gateway of the vast
+temple of Memphis, the largest perhaps in the whole world.
+
+We went on through court after pillared court, priests leading us by
+the hand, till we came to a shrine commanding the biggest court of
+all, which was packed with men and women. It was that of Isis, who
+held at her breast the infant Horus.
+
+"O friend Ana," cried Merapi, "give help. They are dressing me in
+strange garments."
+
+I tried to get near to her but was thrust back, a voice, which I
+thought to be that of Ki, saying:
+
+"On your life, fool!"
+
+Presently a lamp was held up, and by the light of it I saw Merapi
+seated in a chair dressed like a goddess, in the sacerdotal robes of
+Isis and wearing the vulture cap headdress--beautiful exceedingly. In
+her arms was the child dressed as the infant Horus.
+
+"Pray for us, Mother Isis," cried thousands of voices, "that the curse
+of blackness may be removed."
+
+Then she prayed, saying:
+
+"O my God, take away this curse of blackness from these innocent
+people," and all of those present, repeated her prayer.
+
+At that moment the sky began to lighten and in less than half an hour
+the sun shone out. When Merapi saw how she and the child were arrayed
+she screamed aloud and tore off her jewelled trappings, crying:
+
+"Woe! Woe! Woe! Great woe upon the people of Egypt!"
+
+But in their joy at the new found light few hearkened to her who they
+were sure had brought back the sun. Again Laban appeared for a moment.
+
+"Witch! Traitress!" he cried. "You have worn the robes of Isis and
+worshipped in the temple of the gods of the Egyptians. The curse of
+the God of Israel be on you and that which is born of you."
+
+I sprang at him but he was gone. Then we bore Merapi home swooning.
+
+So this trouble passed by, but from that time forward Merapi would not
+suffer her son to be taken out of her sight.
+
+"Why do you make so much of him, Lady?" I asked one day.
+
+"Because I would love him well while he is here, Friend," she
+answered, "but of this say nothing to his father."
+
+A while went by and we heard that still Pharaoh would not let the
+Israelites go. Then the Prince Seti sent Bakenkhonsu and myself to
+Tanis to see Pharaoh and to say to him:
+
+"I seek nothing for myself and I forget those evils which you would
+have worked on me through jealousy. But I say unto you that if you
+will not let these strangers go great and terrible things shall befall
+you and all Egypt. Therefore, hear my prayer and let them go."
+
+Now Bakenkhonsu and I came before Pharaoh and we saw that he was
+greatly aged, for his hair had gone grey about his temples and the
+flesh hung in bags beneath his eyes. Also not for one minute could he
+stay still.
+
+"Is your lord, and are you also of the servants of this Hebrew prophet
+whom the Egyptians worship as a god because he has done them so much
+ill?" he asked. "It may well be so, since I hear that my cousin Seti
+keeps an Israelitish witch in his house, who wards off from him all
+the plagues that have smitten the rest of Egypt, and that to him has
+fled also Ki the Kherheb, my magician. Moreover, I hear that in
+payment for these wizardries he has been promised the throne of Egypt
+by many fickle and fearful ones among my people. Let him be careful
+lest I lift him up higher than he hopes, who already have enough
+traitors in this land; and you two with him."
+
+Now I said nothing, who saw that the man was mad, but Bakenkhonsu
+laughed out loud and answered:
+
+"O Pharaoh, I know little, but I know this although I be old, namely,
+that after men have ceased to speak your name I shall still hold
+converse with the wearer of the Double Crown in Egypt. Now will you
+let these Hebrews go, or will you bring death upon Egypt?"
+
+Pharaoh glared at him and answered, "I will not let them go."
+
+"Why not, Pharaoh? Tell me, for I am curious."
+
+"Because I cannot," he answered with a groan. "Because something
+stronger than myself forces me to deny their prayer. Begone!"
+
+So we went, and this was the last time that I looked upon Amenmeses at
+Tanis.
+
+As we left the chamber I saw the Hebrew prophet entering the presence.
+Afterwards a rumour reached us that he had threatened to kill all the
+people in Egypt, but that still Pharaoh would not let the Israelites
+depart. Indeed, it was said that he had told the prophet that if he
+appeared before him any more he should be put to death.
+
+Now we journeyed back to Memphis with all these tidings and made
+report to Seti. When Merapi heard them she went half mad, weeping and
+wringing her hands. I asked her what she feared. She answered death,
+which was near to all of us. I said:
+
+"If so, there are worse things, Lady."
+
+"For you mayhap you are faithful and good in your own fashion, but not
+for me. Do you not understand, friend Ana, that I am one who has
+broken the law of the God I was taught to worship?"
+
+"And which of us is there who has not broken the law of the god we
+were taught to worship, Lady? If in truth you have done anything of
+the sort by flying from a murderous villain to one who loves you well,
+which I do not believe, surely there is forgiveness for such sins as
+this."
+
+"Aye, perhaps, but, alas! the thing is blacker far. Have you forgotten
+what I did? Dressed in the robes of Isis I worshipped in the temple of
+Isis with my boy playing the part of Horus on my bosom. It is a crime
+that can never be forgiven to a Hebrew woman, Ana, for my God is a
+jealous God. Yet it is true that Ki tricked me."
+
+"If he had not, Lady, I think there would have been none of us left to
+trick, seeing that the people were crazed with the dread of the
+darkness and believed that it could be lifted by you alone, as indeed
+happened," I added somewhat doubtfully.
+
+"More of Ki's tricks! Oh! do you not understand that the lifting of
+the darkness at that moment was Ki's work, because he wished the
+people to believe that I am indeed a sorceress."
+
+"Why?" I asked.
+
+"I do not know. Perhaps that one day he may find a victim to bind to
+the altar in his place. At least I know well that it is I who must pay
+the price, I and my flesh and blood, whatever Ki may promise," and she
+looked at the sleeping child.
+
+"Do not be afraid, Lady," I said. "Ki has left the palace and you will
+see him no more."
+
+"Yes, because the Prince was angry with him about the trick in the
+temple of Isis. Therefore suddenly he went, or pretended to go, for
+how can one tell where such a man may really be? But he will come back
+again. Bethink you, Ki was the greatest magician in Egypt; even old
+Bakenkhonsu can remember none like to him. Then he matches himself
+against the prophets of my people and fails."
+
+"But did he fail, Lady? What they did he did, sending among the
+Israelites the plagues that your prophets had sent among us."
+
+"Yes, some of them, but he was outpaced, or feared to be outpaced at
+last. Is Ki a man to forget that? And if Ki chances really to believe
+that I am his adversary and his master at this black work, as because
+of what happened in the temple of Amon thousands believe to-day, will
+he not mete me my own measure soon or late? Oh! I fear Ki, Ana, and I
+fear the people of Egypt, and were it not for my lord beloved, I would
+flee away into the wilderness with my son, and get me out of this
+haunted land! Hush! he wakes."
+
+From this time forward until the sword fell there was great dread in
+Egypt. None seemed to know exactly what they dreaded, but all thought
+that it had to do with death. People went about mournfully looking
+over their shoulders as though someone were following them, and at
+night they gathered together in knots and talked in whispers. Only the
+Hebrews seemed to be glad and happy. Moreover, they were making
+preparations for something new and strange. Thus those Israelitish
+women who dwelt in Memphis began to sell what property they had and to
+borrow of the Egyptians. Especially did they ask for the loan of
+jewels, saying that they were about to celebrate a feast and wished to
+look fine in the eyes of their countrymen. None refused them what they
+asked because all were afraid of them. They even came to the palace
+and begged her ornaments from Merapi, although she was a countrywoman
+of their own who had showed them much kindness. Yes, and seeing that
+her son wore a little gold circlet on his hair, one of them begged
+that also, nor did she say her nay. But, as it chanced, the Prince
+entered, and seeing the woman with this royal badge in her hand, grew
+very angry and forced her to restore it.
+
+"What is the use of crowns without heads to wear them?" she sneered,
+and fled away laughing, with all that she had gathered.
+
+After she had heard that saying Merapi grew even sadder and more
+distraught than she was before, and from her the trouble crept to
+Seti. He too became sad and ill at ease, though when I asked him why
+he vowed he did not know, but supposed it was because some new plague
+drew near.
+
+"Yet," he added, "as I have made shift to live through nine of them, I
+do not know why I should fear a tenth."
+
+Still he did fear it, so much that he consulted Bakenkhonsu as to
+whether there were any means by which the anger of the gods could be
+averted.
+
+Bakenkhonsu laughed and said he thought not, since always if the gods
+were not angry about one thing they were angry about another. Having
+made the world they did nothing but quarrel with it, or with other
+gods who had a hand in its fashioning, and of these quarrels men were
+the victims.
+
+"Bear your woes, Prince," he added, "if any come, for ere the Nile has
+risen another fifty times at most, whether they have or have not been,
+will be the same to you."
+
+"Then you think that when we go west we die indeed, and that Osiris is
+but another name for the sunset, Bakenkhonsu."
+
+The old Councillor shook his great head, and answered:
+
+"No. If ever you should lose one whom you greatly love, take comfort,
+Prince, for I do not think that life ends with death. Death is the
+nurse that puts it to sleep, no more, and in the morning it will wake
+again to travel through another day with those who have companioned it
+from the beginning."
+
+"Where do all the days lead it to at last, Bakenkhonsu?"
+
+"Ask that of Ki; I do not know."
+
+"To Set with Ki, I am angered with him," said the Prince, and went
+away.
+
+"Not without reason, I think," mused Bakenkhonsu, but when I asked him
+what he meant, he would not or could not tell me.
+
+So the gloom deepened and the palace, which had been merry in its way,
+became sad. None knew what was coming, but all knew that something was
+coming and stretched out their hands to strive to protect that which
+they loved best from the stroke of the warring gods. In the case of
+Seti and Merapi this was their son, now a beautiful little lad who
+could run and prattle, one too of a strange health and vigour for a
+child of the inbred race of the Ramessids. Never for a minute was this
+boy allowed to be out of the sight of one or other of his parents;
+indeed I saw little of Seti in those days and all our learned studies
+came to nothing, because he was ever concerned with Merapi in playing
+nurse to this son of his.
+
+When Userti was told of it, she said in the hearing of a friend of
+mine:
+
+"Without a doubt that is because he trains his bastard to fill the
+throne of Egypt."
+
+But, alas! all that the little Seti was doomed to fill was a coffin.
+
+
+
+It was a still, hot evening, so hot that Merapi had bid the nurse
+bring the child's bed and set it between two pillars of the great
+portico. There on the bed he slept, lovely as Horus the divine. She
+sat by his side in a chair that had feet shaped like to those of an
+antelope. Seti walked up and down the terrace beyond the portico
+leaning on my shoulder, and talking by snatches of this or that.
+Occasionally as he passed he would stay for a while to make sure by
+the bright moonlight that all was well with Merapi and the child, as
+of late it had become a habit with him to do. Then without speaking,
+for fear lest he should awake the boy, he would smile at Merapi, who
+sat there brooding, her head resting on her hand, and pass on.
+
+The night was very still. The palm leaves did not rustle, no jackals
+were stirring, and even the shrill-voiced insects had ceased their
+cries. Moreover, the great city below was quiet as a home of the dead.
+It was as though the presage of some advancing doom scared the world
+to silence. For without doubt doom was in the air. All felt it down to
+the nurse woman, who cowered close as she dared to the chair of her
+mistress, and even in that heat shivered from time to time.
+
+Presently little Seti awoke, and began to prattle about something he
+had dreamed.
+
+"What did you dream, my son?" asked his father.
+
+"I dreamed," he answered in his baby talk, "that a woman, dressed as
+Mother was in the temple, took me by the hand and led me into the air.
+I looked down, and saw you and Mother with white faces and crying. I
+began to cry too, but the woman with the feather cap told me not as
+she was taking me to a beautiful big star where Mother would soon come
+to find me."
+
+The Prince and I looked at each other and Merapi feigned to busy
+herself with hushing the child to sleep again. It drew towards
+midnight and still no one seemed minded to go to rest. Old Bakenkhonsu
+appeared and began to say something about the night being very strange
+and unrestful, when, suddenly, a little bat that was flitting to and
+fro above us fell upon his head and thence to the ground. We looked at
+it, and saw that it was dead.
+
+"Strange that the creature should have died thus," said Bakenkhonsu,
+when, behold! another fell to the ground near by. The black kitten
+which belonged to Little Seti saw it fall and darted from beside his
+bed where it was sleeping. Before ever it reached the bat, the
+creature wheeled round, stood upon its hind legs, scratching at the
+air about it, then uttered one pitiful cry and fell over dead.
+
+We stared at it, when suddenly far away a dog howled in a very
+piercing fashion. Then a cow began to bale as these beasts do when
+they have lost their calves. Next, quite close at hand but without the
+gates, there arose the ear-curdling cry of a woman in agony, which on
+the instant seemed to be echoed from every quarter, till the air was
+full of wailing.
+
+"Oh, Seti! Seti!" exclaimed Merapi, in a voice that was rather a hiss
+than a whisper, "look at your son!"
+
+We sprang to where the babe lay, and looked. He had awakened and was
+staring upward with wide-opened eyes and frozen face. The fear, if
+such it were, passed from his features, though still he stared. He
+rose to his little feet, always looking upwards. Then a smile came
+upon his face, a most beautiful smile; he stretched out his arms, as
+though to clasp one who bent down towards him, and fell backwards--
+quite dead.
+
+Seti stood still as a statue; we all stood still, even Merapi. Then
+she bend down, and lifted the body of the boy.
+
+"Now, my lord," she said, "there has fallen on you that sorrow which
+Jabez my uncle warned you would come, if ever you had aught to do with
+me. Now the curse of Israel has pierced my heart, and now our child,
+as Ki the evil prophesied, has grown too great for greetings, or even
+for farewells."
+
+Thus she spoke in a cold and quiet voice, as one might speak of
+something long expected or foreseen, then made her reverence to the
+Prince, and departed, bearing the body of the child. Never, I think,
+did Merapi seem more beautiful to me than in this, her hour of
+bereavement, since now through her woman's loveliness shone out some
+shadow of the soul within. Indeed, such were her eyes and such her
+movements that well might have been a spirit and not a woman who
+departed from us with that which had been her son.
+
+Seti leaned on my shoulder looking at the empty bed, and at the scared
+nurse who still sat behind, and I felt a tear drop upon my hand. Old
+Bakenkhonsu lifted his massive face, and looked at him.
+
+"Grieve not over much, Prince," he said, "since, ere as many years as
+I have lived out have come and gone, this child will be forgotten and
+his mother will be forgotten, and even you, O Prince, will live but as
+a name that once was great in Egypt. And then, O Prince, elsewhere the
+game will begin afresh, and what you have lost shall be found anew,
+and the sweeter for it sheltering from the vile breath of men. Ki's
+magic is not all a lie, or if his is, mine holds some shadow of the
+truth, and when he said to you yonder in Tanis that not for nothing
+were you named 'Lord of Rebirths,' he spoke words that you should find
+comfortable to-night."
+
+"I thank you, Councillor," said Seti, and turning, followed Merapi.
+
+"Now I suppose we shall have more deaths," I exclaimed, hardly knowing
+what I said in my sorrow.
+
+"I think not, Ana," answered Bakenkhonsu, "since the shield of Jabez,
+or of his god, is over us. Always he foretold that trouble would come
+to Merapi, and to Seti through Merapi, but that is all."
+
+I glanced at the kitten.
+
+"It strayed here from the town three days ago, Ana. And the bats also
+may have flown from the town. Hark to the wailing. Was ever such a
+sound heard before in Egypt?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+JABEZ SELLS HORSES
+
+Bakenkhonsu was right. Save the son of Seti alone, none died who dwelt
+in or about his house, though elsewhere all the first-born of Egypt
+lay dead, and the first-born of the beasts also. When this came to be
+known throughout the land a rage seized the Egyptians against Merapi
+who, they remembered, had called down woe on Egypt after she had been
+forced to pray in the temple and, as they believed, to lift the
+darkness from Memphis.
+
+Bakenkhonsu and I and others who loved her pointed out that her own
+child had died with the rest. To this it was answered, and here I
+thought I saw the fingers of Userti and of Ki, that it was nothing,
+since witches did not love children. Moreover, they said she could
+have as many as she liked and when she liked, making them to look like
+children out of clay figures and to grow up into evil spirits to
+torment the land. Lastly, people swore that she had been heard to say
+that, although to do it she must kill her own lord's son, she would
+not on that account forego her vengeance on the Egyptians, who once
+had treated her as a slave and murdered her father. Further, the
+Israelites themselves, or some of them, mayhap Laban among them, were
+reported to have told the Egyptians that it was the sorceress who had
+bewitched Prince Seti who brought such great troubles on them.
+
+So it happened that the Egyptians came to hate Merapi, who of all
+women was the sweetest and the most to be loved, and to her other
+supposed crimes, added this also, that by her witcheries she had
+stolen the heart of Seti away from his lawful wife and made him to
+turn that lady, the Royal Princess of Egypt, even from his gates, so
+that she was forced to dwell alone at Tanis. For in all these matters
+none blamed Seti, whom everyone in Egypt loved, because it was known
+that he would have dealt with the Israelites in a very different
+fashion, and thus averted all the woes that had desolated the ancient
+land of Khem. As for this matter of the Hebrew girl with the big eyes
+who chanced to have thrown a spell upon him, that was his ill-fortune,
+nothing more. Amongst the many women with whom they believed he filled
+his house, as was the way of princes, it was not strange that one
+favourite should be a witch. Indeed, I am certain that only because he
+was known to love her, was Merapi saved from death by poison or in
+some other secret fashion, at any rate for a while.
+
+Now came the glad tidings that the pride of Pharaoh was broken at last
+(for his first-born child had died with the others), or that the cloud
+of madness had lifted from his brain, whichever it might be, and that
+he had decreed that the Children of Israel might depart from Egypt
+when and whither they would. Then the people breathed again, seeing
+hope that their miseries might end.
+
+It was at this time that Jabez appeared once more at Memphis, driving
+a number of chariot horses, which he said he wished to sell to the
+Prince, as he did not desire them to pass into any other hands. He was
+admitted and stated the price of his horses, according to which they
+must have been beasts of great value.
+
+"Why do you wish to sell your horses?" asked Seti.
+
+"Because I go with my people into lands where there is little water
+and there they might die, O Prince."
+
+"I will buy the horses. See to it, Ana," said Seti, although I knew
+well that already he had more than he needed.
+
+The Prince rose to show that the interview was ended, whereon Jabez,
+who was bowing his thanks, said hurriedly:
+
+"I rejoice to learn, O Royal One, that things have befallen as I
+foretold, or rather was bidden to foretell, and that the troubles
+which have afflicted Egypt have passed by your dwelling."
+
+"Then you rejoice to learn a falsehood, Hebrew, since the worst of
+those troubles has made its home here. My son is dead," and he turned
+away.
+
+Jabez lifted his shifty eyes from the floor and glanced at him.
+
+"Prince," he said, "I know and grieve because this loss has cut you to
+the heart. Yet it was no fault of mine or of my people. If you think,
+you will remember that both when I built a wall of protection about
+this place because of your good deeds to Israel, O Prince, and before,
+I warned, and caused you to be warned, that if you and my niece, Moon
+of Israel, came together a great trouble might fall on you through her
+who, having become the woman of an Egyptian in defiance of command,
+must bear the fate of Egyptian women."
+
+"It may be so," said the Prince. "The matter is not one of which I
+care to talk. If this death were wrought by the magic of your wizards
+I have only this to say--that it is an ill payment to me in return for
+all that I have striven to do on behalf of the Hebrews. Yet, what else
+could I expect from such a people in such a world? Farewell."
+
+"One prayer, O Prince. I would ask your leave to speak with my niece,
+Merapi."
+
+"She is veiled. Since the murder of her child by wizardry, she sees no
+man."
+
+"Still I think she will see her uncle, O Prince."
+
+"What then do you wish to say to her?"
+
+"O Prince, through the clemency of Pharaoh we poor slaves are about to
+leave the land of Egypt never to return. Therefore, if my niece
+remains behind, it is natural that I should wish to bid her farewell,
+and to confide to her certain matters connected with our race and
+family, which she might desire to pass on to her children."
+
+Now when he heard this word "children" Seti softened.
+
+"I do not trust you," he said. "You may be charged with more of your
+Hebrew curses against Merapi, or you may say words to her that will
+make her even unhappier than she is. Yet if you would wish to see her
+in my presence----"
+
+"My lord Prince, I will not trouble you so far. Farewell. Be pleased
+to convey----"
+
+"Or if that does not suit you," interrupted Seti, "in the presence of
+Ana here you can do so, unless she refuses to receive you."
+
+Jabez reflected for a moment, and answered:
+
+"Then in the presence of Ana let it be, since he is a man who knows
+when to be silent."
+
+Jabez made obeisance and departed, and at a sign from the Prince I
+followed him. Presently we were ushered into the chamber of the lady
+Merapi, where she sat looking most sad and lonely, with a veil of
+black upon her head.
+
+"Greeting, my uncle," she said, after glancing at me, whose presence I
+think she understood. "Are you the bearer of more prophecies? I pray
+not, since your last were overtrue," and she touched the black veil
+with her finger.
+
+"I am the bearer of tidings, and of a prayer, Niece. The tidings are
+that the people of Israel are about to leave Egypt. The prayer, which
+is also a command, is--that you make ready to accompany them----"
+
+"To Laban?" she asked, looking up.
+
+"No, my niece. Laban would not wish as a wife one who has been the
+mistress of an Egyptian, but to play your part, however humble, in the
+fortunes of our people."
+
+"I am glad that Laban does not wish what he never could obtain, my
+uncle. Tell me, I pray you, why should I hearken to this prayer, or
+this command?"
+
+"For a good reason, Niece--that your life hangs on it. Heretofore you
+have been suffered to take your heart's desire. But if you bide in
+Egypt where you have no longer a mission to fulfil, having done all
+that was sought of you in keeping with the mind of your lover, the
+Prince Seti, true to the cause of Israel, you will surely die."
+
+"You mean that our people will kill me?"
+
+"No, not our people. Still you will die."
+
+She took a step towards him, and looked him in the eyes.
+
+"You are certain that I shall die, my uncle?"
+
+"I am, or at least others are certain."
+
+Now she laughed; it was the first time I had seen her laugh for
+several moons.
+
+"Then I will stay here," she said.
+
+Jabez stared at her.
+
+"I thought that you loved this Egyptian, who indeed is worthy of any
+woman's love," he muttered into his beard.
+
+"Perhaps it is because I love him that I wish to die. I have given him
+all I have to give; there is nothing left of my poor treasure except
+what will bring trouble and misfortune on his head. Therefore the
+greater the love--and it is more great than all those pyramids massed
+to one--the greater the need that it should be buried for a while. Do
+you understand?"
+
+He shook his head.
+
+"I understand only that you are a very strange woman, different from
+any other that I have known."
+
+"My child, who was slain with the rest, was all the world to me, and I
+would be where he is. Do you understand now?"
+
+"You would leave your life, in which, being young, you may have more
+children, to lie in a tomb with your dead son?" he asked slowly, like
+one astonished.
+
+"I only care for life while it can serve him whom I love, and if a day
+comes when he sits upon the throne how will a daughter of the hated
+Israelites serve him then? Also I do not wish for more children.
+Living or dead, he that is gone owns all my heart; there is no room in
+it for others. That love at least is pure and perfect, and having been
+embalmed by death, can never change. Moreover, it is not in a tomb
+that I shall lie with him, or so I believe. The faith of these
+Egyptians which we despise tells of a life eternal in the heavens, and
+thither I would go to seek that which is lost, and to wait that which
+is left behind awhile."
+
+"Ah!" said Jabez. "For my part I do not trouble myself with these
+problems, who find in a life temporal on the earth enough to fill my
+thoughts and hands. Yet, Merapi, you are a rebel, and whether in
+heaven or on earth, how are rebels received by the king against whom
+they have rebelled?"
+
+"You say I am rebel," she said, turning on him with flashing eyes.
+"Why? Because I would not dishonour myself by marrying a man I hate,
+one also who is a murderer, and because while I live I will not desert
+a man whom I love to return to those who have done me naught but evil.
+Did God then make women to be sold like cattle of the field for the
+pleasure and the profit of him who can pay the highest?"
+
+"It seems so," said Jabez, spreading out his hands.
+
+"It seems that you think so, who fashion God as you would wish him to
+be, but for my part I do not believe it, and if I did, I should seek
+another king. My uncle, I appeal from the priest and the elder to That
+which made both them and me, and by Its judgment I will stand or
+fall."
+
+"Always a very dangerous thing to do," reflected Jabez aloud, "since
+the priest is apt to take the law into his own hands before the cause
+can be pleaded elsewhere. Still, who am I that I should set up my
+reasonings against one who can grind Amon to powder in his own
+sanctuary, and who therefore may have warrant for all she thinks and
+does?"
+
+Merapi stamped her foot.
+
+"You know well it was you who brought me the command to dare the god
+Amon in his temple. It was not I----" she began.
+
+"I do know," replied Jabez waving his hand. "I know also that is what
+every wizard says, whatever his nation or his gods, and what no one
+ever believes. Thus because, having faith, you obeyed the command and
+through you Amon was smitten, among both the Israelites and the
+Egyptians you are held to be the greatest sorceress that has looked
+upon the Nile, and that is a dangerous repute, my niece."
+
+"One to which I lay no claim, and never sought."
+
+"Just so, but which all the same has come to you. Well, knowing as
+without doubt you do all that will soon befall in Egypt, and having
+been warned, if you needed warning, of the danger with which you
+yourself are threatened, you still refuse to obey this second command
+which it is my duty to deliver to you?"
+
+"I refuse."
+
+"Then on your own head be it, and farewell. Oh! I would add that there
+is a certain property in cattle, and the fruit of lands which descends
+to you from your father. In the event of your death----"
+
+"Take it all, uncle, and may it prosper you. Farewell."
+
+"A great woman, friend Ana, and a beautiful," said the old Hebrew,
+after he had watched her go. "I grieve that I shall never see her
+again, and, indeed, that no one will see her for very long; for,
+remember, she is my niece of whom I am fond. Now I too must be going,
+having completed my errand. All good fortune to you, Ana. You are no
+longer a soldier, are you? No? Believe me, it is as well, as you will
+learn. My homage to the Prince. Think of me at times, when you grow
+old, and not unkindly, seeing that I have served you as best I could,
+and your master also, who I hope will soon find again that which he
+lost awhile ago."
+
+"Her Highness, Princess Userti," I suggested.
+
+"The Princess Userti among other things, Ana. Tell the Prince, if he
+should deem them costly, that those horses which I sold him are really
+of the finest Syrian blood, and of a strain that my family has owned
+for generations. If you should chance to have any friend whose welfare
+you desire, let him not go into the desert soldiering during the next
+few moons, especially if Pharaoh be in command. Nay, I know nothing,
+but it is a season of great storm. Farewell, friend Ana, and again
+farewell."
+
+"Now what did he mean by that?" thought I to myself, as I departed to
+make my report to Seti. But no answer to the question rose in my mind.
+
+Very soon I began to understand. It appeared that at length the
+Israelites were leaving Egypt, a vast horde of them, and with them
+tens of thousands of Arabs of various tribes who worshipped their god
+and were, some of them, descended from the people of the Hyksos, the
+shepherds who once ruled in Egypt. That this was true was proved to us
+by the tidings which reached us that all the Hebrew women who dwelt in
+Memphis, even those of them who were married to Egyptians, had
+departed from the city, leaving behind them their men and sometimes
+their children. Indeed, before these went, certain of them who had
+been friends visited Merapi, and asked her if she were not coming
+also. She shook her head as she replied:
+
+"Why do you go? Are you so fond of journeyings in the desert that for
+the sake of them you are ready never again to look upon the men you
+love and the children of your bodies?"
+
+"No, Lady," they answered, weeping. "We are happy here in white-walled
+Memphis and here, listening to the murmur of the Nile, we would grow
+old and die, rather than strive to keep house in some desert tent with
+a stranger or alone. Yet fear drives us hence."
+
+"Fear of what?"
+
+"Of the Egyptians who, when they come to understand all that they have
+suffered at our hands in return for the wealth and shelter which they
+have given us for many generations, whereby we have grown from a
+handful into a great people, will certainly kill any Israelite whom
+they find left among them. Also we fear the curses of our priests who
+bid us to depart."
+
+"Then /I/ should fear these things also," said Merapi.
+
+"Not so, Lady, seeing that being the only beloved of the Prince of
+Egypt who, rumour tells us, will soon be Pharaoh of Egypt, by him you
+will be protected from the anger of the Egyptians. And being, as we
+all know well, the greatest sorceress in the world, the overthrower of
+Amon-Ra the mighty, and one who by sacrificing her child was able to
+ward away every plague from the household where she dwelt, you have
+naught to fear from priests and their magic."
+
+Then Merapi sprang up, bidding them to leave her to her fate and to be
+gone to their own, which they did hastily enough, fearing lest she
+should cast some spell upon them. So it came about that presently the
+fair Moon of Israel and certain children of mixed blood were all of
+the Hebrew race that were left in Egypt. Then, notwithstanding the
+miseries and misfortunes that during the past few years by terror,
+death, and famine had reduced them to perhaps one half of their
+number, the people of Egypt rejoiced with a great joy.
+
+In every temple of every god processions were held and offerings made
+by those who had anything left to offer, while the statues of the gods
+were dressed in fine new garments and hung about with garlandings of
+flowers. Moreover, on the Nile and on the sacred lakes boats floated
+to and fro, adorned with lanterns as at the feast of the Rising of
+Osiris. As titular high-priest of Amon, an office of which he could
+not be deprived while he lived, Prince Seti attended these
+demonstrations, which indeed he must do, in the great temple of
+Memphis, whither I accompanied him. When the ceremonies were over he
+led the procession through the masses of the worshippers, clad in his
+splendid sacerdotal robes, whereon every throat of the thousands
+present there greeted him in a shout of thunder as "Pharaoh!" or at
+least as Pharaoh's heir.
+
+When at length the shouting died, he turned upon them and said:
+
+"Friends, if you would send me to be of the company that sits at the
+table of Osiris and not at Pharaoh's feasts, you will repeat this
+foolish greeting, whereof our Lord Amenmeses will hear with little
+joy."
+
+In the silence that followed a voice called out:
+
+"Have no fear, O Prince, while the Hebrew witch sleeps night by night
+upon your bosom. She who could smite Egypt with so many plagues can
+certainly shelter you from harm;" whereon the roars of acclamation
+went up again.
+
+It was on the following day that Bakenkhonsu the aged returned with
+more tidings from Tanis, where he had been upon a visit. It seemed
+that a great council had been held there in the largest hall of one of
+the largest temples. At this council, which was open to all the
+people, Amenmeses had given report on the matter of the Israelites
+who, he stated, were departing in their thousands. Also offerings were
+made to appease the angry gods of Egypt. When the ceremony was
+finished, but before the company broke up in a heavy mood, her
+Highness the Princess Userti rose in her place, and addressed Pharaoh:
+
+"By the spirits of our fathers," she cried, "and more especially by
+that of the good god Meneptah, my begetter, I ask of you, Pharaoh, and
+I ask of you, O people, whether the affront that has been put upon us
+by these Hebrew slaves and their magicians is one that the proud land
+of Egypt should be called upon to bear? Our gods have been smitten and
+defied; woes great and terrible, such as history tells not of, have
+fallen upon us through magic; tens of thousands, from the first-born
+child of Pharaoh down, have perished in a single night. And now these
+Hebrews, who have murdered them by sorcery, for they are sorcerers
+all, men and women together, especially one of them who sits at
+Memphis, of whom I will not speak because she has wrought me private
+harm, by the decree of Pharaoh are to be suffered to leave the land.
+More, they are to take with them all their cattle, all their threshed
+corn, all the treasure they have hoarded for generations, and all the
+ornaments of price and wealth that they have wrung by terror from our
+own people, borrowing that which they never purpose to return.
+Therefore I, the Royal Princess of Egypt, would ask of Pharaoh, is
+this the decree of Pharaoh?"
+
+"Now," said Bakenkhonsu, "Pharaoh sat with hanging head upon his
+throne and made no answer."
+
+"Pharaoh does not speak," went on Userti. "Then I ask, is this the
+decree of the Council of Pharaoh and of the people of Egypt? There is
+still a great army in Egypt, hundreds of chariots and thousands of
+footmen. Is this army to sit still while these slaves depart into the
+desert there to rouse our enemies of Syria against us and return with
+them to butcher us?"
+
+"At these words," continued Bakenkhonsu, "from all that multitude
+there went up a shout of 'No.'"
+
+"The people say No. What saith Pharaoh?" cried Userti.
+
+There followed a silence, till suddenly Amenmeses rose and spoke:
+
+"Have it as you will, Princess, and on your head and the heads of all
+these whom you have stirred up let the evil fall if evil comes, though
+I think it is your husband, the Prince Seti, who should stand where
+you stand and put up this prayer in your place."
+
+"My husband, the Prince Seti, is tied to Memphis by a rope of witch's
+hair, or so they tell me," she sneered, while the people murmured in
+assent.
+
+"I know not," went on Amenmeses, "but this I know that always the
+Prince would have let these Hebrews go from among us, and at times, as
+sorrow followed sorrow, I have thought that he was right. Truly more
+than once I also would have let them go, but ever some Strength, I
+know not what, descended on my heart, turning it to stone, and wrung
+from me words that I did not desire to utter. Even now I would let
+them go, but all of you are against me, and, perchance, if I withstand
+you, I shall pay for it with my life and throne. Captains, command
+that my armies be made ready, and let them assemble here at Tanis that
+I myself may lead them after the people of Israel and share their
+dangers."
+
+Then with a mighty shouting the company broke up, so that at the last
+all were gone and only Pharaoh remained seated upon his throne,
+staring at the ground with the air, said Bakenkhonsu, rather of one
+who is dead than of a living king about to wage war upon his foes.
+
+To all these words the Prince listened in silence, but when they were
+finished he looked up and asked:
+
+"What think you, Bakenkhonsu?"
+
+"I think, O Prince," answered the wise old man, "that her Highness did
+ill to stir up this matter, though doubtless she spoke with the voices
+of the priests and of the army, against which Pharaoh was not strong
+enough to stand."
+
+"What you think, I think," said Seti.
+
+At this moment the lady Merapi entered.
+
+"I hear, my lord," she said, "that Pharaoh purposes to pursue the
+people of Israel with his host. I come to pray my lord that he will
+not join himself to the host of Pharaoh."
+
+"It is but natural, Lady, that you should not wish me to make war upon
+your kin, and to speak truth I have no mind that way," replied Seti,
+and, turning, left the chamber with her.
+
+"She is not thinking of her king but of her lover's life," said
+Bakenkhonsu. "She is not a witch as they declare, but it is true that
+she knows what we do not."
+
+"Yes," I answered, "it is true."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE DREAM OF MERAPI
+
+A while went by; it may have been fourteen days, during which we heard
+that the Israelites had started on their journey. They were a mighty
+multitude who bore with them the coffin and the mummy of their
+prophet, a man of their blood, Vizier, it is reported, to that Pharaoh
+who welcomed them to Egypt hundreds of years before. Some said they
+went this way and some that, but Bakenkhonsu, who knew everything,
+declared that they were heading for the Lake of Crocodiles, which
+others name Sea of Reeds, whereby they would cross into the desert
+beyond, and thence to Syria. I asked him how, seeing that at its
+narrowest part, this lake was six thousand paces in width, and that
+the depth of its mud was unfathomable. He replied that he did not
+know, but that I might do well to inquire of the lady Merapi.
+
+"So you have changed your mind, and also think her a witch," I said,
+to which he answered:
+
+"One must breathe the wind that blows, and Egypt is so full of
+witchcraft that it is difficult to say. Also it was she and no other
+who destroyed the ancient statue of Amon. Oh! yes, witch or no witch,
+it might be well to ask her how her people purpose to cross the Sea of
+Reeds, especially if Pharaoh's chariots chance to be behind them."
+
+So I did ask her, but she answered that she knew nothing of the
+matter, and wished to know nothing, seeing that she had separated from
+her people, and remained in Egypt.
+
+Then Ki came, I know not whence, and having made his peace with Seti
+as to the dressing of Merapi in the robes of Isis which, he vowed, was
+done by the priests against his wish, told us that Pharaoh and a great
+host had started to pursue the Israelites. The Prince asked him why he
+had not gone with the host, to which he replied that he was no
+soldier, also that Pharaoh hid his face from him. In return he asked
+the Prince why /he/ had not gone.
+
+Seti answered, because had been deprived of his command with his other
+officers and had no wish to take share in this business as a private
+citizen.
+
+"You are wise, as always, Prince," said Ki.
+
+It was on the following night, very late, while the Prince, Ki,
+Bakenkhonsu and I, Ana, sat talking, that suddenly the lady Merapi
+broke in upon us as she had risen from her bed, wild-eyed, and with
+her hair flowing down her robes.
+
+"I have dreamed a dream!" she cried. "I dreamed that I saw all the
+thousands of my people following after a flame that burned from earth
+to heaven. They came to the edge of a great water and behind them
+rushed Pharaoh and all the hosts of the Egyptians. Then my people ran
+on to the face of the water, and it bore them as though it were sound
+land. Now the soldiers of the Pharaoh were following, but the gods of
+Egypt appeared, Amon, Osiris, Horus, Isis, Hathor, and the rest, and
+would have turned them back. Still they refused to listen, and
+dragging the gods with them, rushed out upon the water. Then darkness
+fell, and in the darkness sounds of wailing and of a mighty laughter.
+It passed, the moon rose, shining upon emptiness. I awoke, trembling
+in my limbs. Interpret me this dream if you can, O Ki, Master of
+Magic."
+
+"Where is the need, Lady," he answered, awaking as though from sleep,
+"when the dreamer is also the seer? Shall the pupil venture to
+instruct the teacher, or the novice to make plain the mysteries to the
+high-priestess of the temple? Nay, Lady, I and all the magicians of
+Egypt are beneath your feet."
+
+"Why will you ever mock me?" she said, and as she spoke, she shivered.
+
+Then Bakenkhonsu opened his lips, saying:
+
+"The wisdom of Ki has been buried in a cloud of late, and gives no
+light to us, his disciples. Yet the meaning of this dream is plain,
+though whether it be also true I do not know. It is that all the host
+of Egypt, and with it the gods of Egypt, are threatened with
+destruction because of the Israelites, unless one to whom they will
+hearken can be found to turn them from some purpose that I do not
+understand. But to whom will the mad hearken, oh! to whom will they
+hearken?" and lifting his great head, he looked straight at the
+Prince.
+
+"Not to me, I fear, who now am no one in Egypt," said Seti.
+
+"Why not to you, O Prince, who to-morrow may be everyone in Egypt?"
+asked Bakenkhonsu. "Always you have pleaded the cause of the Hebrews,
+and said that naught but evil would befall Egypt because of them, as
+has happened. To whom, then, will the people and the army listen more
+readily?"
+
+"Moreover, O Prince," broke in Ki, "a lady of your household has
+dreamed a very evil dream, of which, if naught be said, it might be
+held that it was no dream, but a spell of power aimed against the
+majesty of Egypt; such a spell as that which cast great Amon from his
+throne, such a spell as that which has set a magic fence around this
+house and field."
+
+"Again I tell you that I weave no spells, O Ki, who with my own child
+have paid the price of them."
+
+"Yet spells were woven, Lady, and has been known from of old, strength
+is perfected in sacrifice alone," Ki answered darkly.
+
+"Have done with your talk of spells, Magician," exclaimed the Prince,
+"or if you must speak of them, speak of your own, which are many. It
+was Jabez who protected us here against the plagues, and the statue of
+Amon was shattered by some god."
+
+"I ask your pardon, Prince," said Ki bowing, "it was /not/ this lady
+but her uncle who fenced your house against the plagues which ravaged
+Egypt, and it was /not/ this lady but some god working in her which
+overthrew Amon of Tanis. The Prince has said it. Yet this lady has
+dreamed a certain dream which Bakenkhonsu has interpreted although I
+cannot, and I think that Pharaoh and his captains should be told of
+the dream, that on it they may form their own judgment."
+
+"Then why do you not tell them, Ki?"
+
+"It has pleased Pharaoh, O Prince, to dismiss me from his service as
+one who failed and to give my office of Kherheb to another. If I
+appear before the face of Pharaoh I shall be killed."
+
+Now I, Ana, listening, wished that Ki would appear before the face of
+Pharaoh, although I did not believe that he could be killed by him or
+by anybody else, since against death he had charms. For I was afraid
+of Ki, and felt in myself that again he was plotting evil to Merapi
+whom I knew to be innocent.
+
+The Prince walked up and down the chamber as was his fashion when lost
+in thought. Presently he stopped opposite to me and said:
+
+"Friend Ana, be pleased to command that my chariots be made ready with
+a general's escort of a hundred men and spare horses to each chariot.
+We ride at dawn, you and I, to seek out the army of Pharaoh and pray
+audience of Pharaoh."
+
+"My lord," said Merapi in a kind of cry, "I pray you go not, leaving
+me alone."
+
+"Why should I leave you, Lady? Come with me if you will." She shook
+her head, saying:
+
+"I dare not. Prince, there has been some charm upon me of late that
+draws me back to my own people. Twice in the night I have awakened and
+found myself in the gardens with my face set towards the north, and
+heard a voice in my ears, even that of my father who is dead, saying:
+
+"'Moon of Israel, thy people wander in the wilderness and need thy
+light.'
+
+"It is certain therefore that if I came near to them I should be
+dragged down as wood is dragged of an eddy, nor would Egypt see me any
+more."
+
+"Then I pray you bide where you are, Merapi," said the Prince,
+laughing a little, "since it is certain that where you go I must
+follow, who have no desire to wander in the wilderness with your
+Hebrew folk. Well, it seems that as you do not wish to leave Memphis
+and will not come with me, I must stay with you."
+
+Ki fixed his piercing eyes upon the pair of them.
+
+"Let the Prince forgive me," he said, "but I swear it by the gods that
+never did I think to live to hear the Prince Seti Meneptah set a
+woman's whims before his honour."
+
+"Your words are rough," said Seti, drawing himself up, "and had they
+been spoken in other days, mayhap, Ki----"
+
+"Oh! my lord," said Ki prostrating himself till his forehead touched
+the ground, "bethink you then how great must be the need which makes
+me dare to speak them. When first I came hither from the court of
+Tanis, the spirit that is within me speaking through my lips gave
+certain titles to your Highness, for which your Highness was pleased
+to reprove me. Yet the spirit in me cannot lie and I know well, and
+bid all here make record of my words, that to-night I stand in the
+presence of him who ere two moons have passed will be crowned
+Pharaoh."
+
+"Truly you were ever a bearer of ill-tidings, Ki, but if so, what of
+it?"
+
+"This your Highness: Were it not that the spirits of Truth and Right
+compel me for their own reasons, should I, who have blood that can be
+shed or bones that can be broken, dare to hurl hard words at him who
+will be Pharaoh? Should I dare to cross the will of the sweet dove who
+nestles on his heart, the wise, white dove that murmurs the mysteries
+of heaven, whence she came, and is stronger than the vulture of Isis
+and swifter than the hawk of Ra; the dove that, were she angry, could
+rend me into more fragments than did Set Osiris?"
+
+Now I saw Bakenkhonsu begin to swell with inward laughter like a frog
+about to croak, but Seti answered in a weary voice:
+
+"By all the birds of Egypt with the sacred crocodiles thrown in, I do
+not know, since that mind of yours, Ki, is not an open writing which
+can be read by the passer-by. Still, if you would tell me what is the
+reason with which the goddesses of Truth and Justice have inspired
+you----"
+
+"The reason is, O Prince, that the fate of all Egypt's army may be
+hidden in your hand. The time is short and I will be plain. Deny it as
+she will this lady here, who seems to be but a thing of love and
+beauty, is the greatest sorceress in Egypt, as I whom she has mastered
+know well. She matched herself against the high god of Egypt and smote
+him to the dust, and has paid back upon him, his prophets, and his
+worshippers the ills that he would have worked to her, as in the like
+case any of our fellowship would do. Now she has dreamed a dream, or
+her spirit has told her that the army of Egypt is in danger of
+destruction, and I know that this dream is true. Hasten then, O
+Prince, to save the hosts of Egypt, which you will surely need when
+you come to sit upon its throne."
+
+"I am no sorceress," cried Merapi, "and yet--alas! that I must say it
+--this smiling-featured, cold-eyed wizard's words are true. /The sword
+of death hangs over the hosts of Egypt!/"
+
+"Command that the chariots be made ready," said Seti again.
+
+
+
+Eight days had gone by. It was sunset and we drew rein over against
+the Sea of Reeds. Day and night we had followed the army of Pharaoh
+across the wilderness on a road beaten down by his chariot wheels and
+soldiers, and by the tens of thousands of the Israelites who had
+passed that way before them. Now from the ridge where we had halted we
+saw it encamped beneath us, a very great army. Moreover, stragglers
+told us that beyond, also encamped, was the countless horde of the
+Israelites, and beyond these the vast Sea of Reeds which barred their
+path. But we could not see them for a very strange reason. Between
+these and the army of Pharaoh rose a black wall of cloud, built as it
+were from earth to heaven. One of those stragglers of whom I have
+spoken, told us that this cloud travelled before the Israelites by
+day, but at night was turned into a pillar of fire. Only on this day,
+when the army of Pharaoh approached, it had moved round and come
+between the people of Israel and the army.
+
+Now when the Prince, Bakenkhonsu, and I heard these things we looked
+at each other and were silent. Only presently the Prince laughed a
+little, and said:
+
+"We should have brought Ki with us, even if we had to carry him bound,
+that he might interpret this marvel, for it is sure that no one else
+can."
+
+"It would be hard to keep Ki bound, Prince, if he wished to go free,"
+answered Bakenkhonsu. "Moreover, before ever we entered the chariots
+at Memphis he had departed south for Thebes. I saw him go."
+
+"And I gave orders that he should not be allowed to return, for I hold
+him an ill guest, or so thinks the lady Merapi," replied Seti with a
+sigh.
+
+"Now that we are here what would the Prince do?" I asked.
+
+"Descend to the camp of Pharaoh and say what we have to say, Ana."
+
+"And if he will not listen, Prince?"
+
+"Then cry our message aloud and return."
+
+"And if he will not suffer us to return, Prince?"
+
+"Then stand still and live or die as the gods may decree."
+
+"Truly our lord has a great heart!" exclaimed Bakenkhonsu, "and though
+I feel over young to die, I am minded to see the end of this matter
+with him," and he laughed aloud.
+
+But I who was afraid thought that /O-ho-ho/ of his, which the sky
+seemed to echo back upon our heads, a strange and indeed a fearful
+sound.
+
+Then we put on robes of ceremony that we had brought with us, but
+neither swords nor armour, and having eaten some food, drove on with
+the half of our guard towards the place where we saw the banners of
+Pharaoh flying about his pavilion. The rest of our guard we left
+encamped, bidding them, if aught happened to us, to return and make
+report at Memphis and in the other great cities. As we drew near to
+the camp the outposts saw us and challenged. But when they perceived
+by the light of the setting sun who it was that they challenged, a
+murmur went through them, of:
+
+"The Prince of Egypt! The Prince of Egypt!" for so they had never
+ceased to name Seti, and they saluted with their spears and let us
+pass.
+
+So at length we came to the pavilion of Pharaoh, round about which a
+whole regiment stood on guard. The sides of it were looped up high
+because of the heat of the night which was great, and within sat
+Pharaoh, his captains, his councillors, his priests, his magicians,
+and many others at meat or serving food and drink. They sat at a table
+that was bent like a bow, with their faces towards the entrance, and
+Pharaoh was in the centre of the table with his fan-bearers and
+butlers behind him.
+
+We advanced into the pavilion, the Prince in the centre, Bakenkhonsu
+leaning on his staff on the right hand, and I, wearing the gold chain
+that Pharaoh Meneptah had given me, on the left, but those with us
+remained among the guard at the entrance.
+
+"Who are these?" asked Amenmeses, looking up, "who come here
+unbidden?"
+
+"Three citizens of Egypt who have a message for Pharaoh," answered
+Seti in his quiet voice, "which we have travelled fast and far to
+speak in time."
+
+"How are you named, citizens of Egypt, and who sends your message?"
+
+"We are named, Seti Meneptah aforetime Prince of Egypt, and heir to
+its crown; Bakenkhonsu the aged Councillor, and Ana the scribe and
+King's Companion, and our message is from the gods."
+
+"We have heard those names, who has not?" said Pharaoh, and as he
+spoke all, or very nearly all, the company rose, or half rose, and
+bowed towards the Prince. "Will you and your companions be seated and
+eat, Prince Seti Meneptah?"
+
+"We thank the divine Pharaoh, but we have already eaten. Have we
+Pharaoh's leave to deliver our message?"
+
+"Speak on, Prince."
+
+"O Pharaoh, many moons have gone by, since last we looked upon each
+other face to face, on that day when my father, the good god Meneptah,
+disinherited me, and afterwards fled hence to Osiris. Pharaoh will
+remember why I was thus cut off from the royal root of Egypt. It was
+because of the matter of these Israelites, who in my judgment had been
+evilly dealt by, and should be suffered to leave our land. The good
+god Meneptah, being so advised by you and others, O Pharaoh, would
+have smitten the Israelites with the sword, making an end of them, and
+to this he demanded my assent as the Heir of Egypt. I refused that
+assent and was cast out, and since then, you, O Pharaoh, have worn the
+double crown, while I have dwelt as a citizen of Memphis, living upon
+such lands and revenues as are my own. Between that hour and this, O
+Pharaoh, many griefs have smitten Egypt, and the last of them cost you
+your first-born, and me mine. Yet through them all, O Pharaoh, you
+have refused to let these Hebrews go, as I counselled should be done
+at the beginning. At length after the death of the first-born, your
+decree was issued that they might go. Yet now you follow them with a
+great army and purpose to do to them what my father, the good god
+Meneptah, would have done, had I consented, namely--to destroy them
+with the sword. Hear me, Pharaoh!"
+
+"I hear; also the case is well if briefly set. What else would the
+Prince Seti say?"
+
+"This, O Pharaoh. That I pray you to return with all your host from
+the following of these Hebrews, not to-morrow or the next day, but at
+once--this night."
+
+"Why, O Prince?"
+
+"Because of a certain dream that a lady of my household who is Hebrew
+has dreamed, which dream foretells destruction to you and the army of
+Egypt, unless you hearken to these words of mine."
+
+"I think that we know of this snake whom you have taken to dwell in
+your bosom, whence it may spit poison upon Egypt. It is named Merapi,
+Moon of Israel, is it not?"
+
+"That is the name of the lady who dreamed the dream," replied Seti in
+a cold voice, though I felt him tremble with anger at my side, "the
+dream that if Pharaoh wills my companions here shall set out word for
+word to his magicians."
+
+"Pharaoh does not will it," shouted Amenmeses smiting the board with
+his fist, "because Pharaoh knows that it is but another trick to save
+these wizards and thieves from the doom that they have earned."
+
+"Am I then a worker of tricks, O Pharaoh? If I had been such, why have
+I journeyed hither to give warning, when by sitting yonder at Memphis
+to-morrow, I might once more have become heir to the double crown? For
+if you will not hearken to me, I tell you that very soon you shall be
+dead, and with you these"--and he pointed to all those who sat at
+table--"and with them the great army that lies without. Ere you speak,
+tell me, what is that black cloud which stands before the camp of the
+Hebrews? Is there no answer? Then I will give you the answer. It is
+the pall that shall wrap the bones of every one of you."
+
+Now the company shivered with fear, yes, even the priests and the
+magicians shivered. But Pharaoh went mad with rage. Springing from his
+seat, he snatched at the double crown upon his head, and hurled it to
+the ground, and I noted that the golden ur�us band about it, rolled
+away, and rested upon Seti's sandalled foot. He tore his robes and
+shouted:
+
+"At least our fate shall be your fate, Renegade, who have sold Egypt
+to the Hebrew witch in payment of her kisses. Seize this man and his
+companions, and when we go down to battle against these Israelites
+to-morrow after the darkness lifts, let them be set with the captains
+of the van. So shall the truth be known at last."
+
+Thus Pharaoh commanded, and Seti, answering nothing, folded his arms
+upon his breast and waited.
+
+Men rose from their seats as though to obey Pharaoh and sank back to
+them again. Guards started forward and yet remained standing where
+they were. Then Bakenkhonsu burst into one of his great laughs.
+
+"O-ho-ho," he laughed, "Pharaohs have I seen come and go, one and two
+and three, and four and five, but never yet have I seen a Pharaoh whom
+none of his councillors or guards could obey however much they willed
+it. When you are Pharaoh, Prince Seti, may your luck be better. Your
+arm, Ana, my friend, and lead on, Royal Heir of Egypt. The truth is
+shown to blind eyes that will not see. The word is spoken to deaf ears
+that will not hearken, and the duty done. Night falls. Sleep ye well,
+ye bidden of Osiris, sleep ye well!"
+
+Then we turned and walked from that pavilion. At its entrance I looked
+back, and in the low light that precedes the darkness, it seemed to me
+as though all seated there were already dead. Blue were their faces
+and hollow shone their eyes, and from their lips there came no word.
+Only they stared at us as we went, and stared and stared again.
+
+Without the door of the pavilion, by command of the Prince, I called
+aloud the substance of the lady Merapi's dream, and warned all within
+earshot to cease from pursuing the people of Israel, if they would
+continue to live to look upon the sun. Yet even now, although to speak
+thus was treason against Pharaoh, none lifted a hand against the
+Prince, or against me his servant. Often since then I have wondered
+why this was so, and found no answer to my questionings. Mayhap it was
+because of the majesty of my master, whom all knew to be the true
+Pharaoh, and loved at heart. Mayhap it was because they were sure that
+he would not have travelled so far and placed himself in the power of
+Amenmeses save to work the armies of Egypt good, and not ill, and to
+bring them a message that had been spoken by the gods themselves.
+
+Or mayhap it was because he was still hedged about by that protection
+which the Hebrews had vowed to him through their prophets with the
+voice of Jabez. At least so it happened. Pharaoh might command, but
+his servants would not obey. Moreover, the story spread, and that
+night many deserted from the host of Pharaoh and encamped about us, or
+fled back towards the cities whence they came. Also with them were not
+a few councillors and priests who had talked secretly with
+Bakenkhonsu. So it chanced that even if Pharaoh desired to make an end
+of us, as perhaps he purposed to do in the midnight watches, he
+thought it wisest to let the matter lie until he had finished with the
+people of Israel.
+
+
+
+It was a very strange night, silent, with a heavy, stirless air. There
+were no stars, but the curtain of black cloud which seemed to hang
+beyond the camp of the Egyptians was alive with lightnings which
+appeared to shape themselves to letters that I could not read.
+
+"Behold the Book of Fate written in fire by the hand of God!" said
+Bakenkhonsu, as he watched.
+
+About midnight a mighty east wind began to blow, so strongly that we
+must lie upon our faces under the lea of the chariots. Then the wind
+died away and we heard tumult and shoutings, both from the camp of
+Egypt, and from the camp of Israel beyond the cloud. Next there came a
+shock as of earthquake, which threw those of us who were standing to
+the ground, and by a blood-red moon that now appeared we perceived
+that all the army of Pharaoh was beginning to move towards the sea.
+
+"Whither go they?" I asked of the Prince who clung to my arm.
+
+"To doom, I think," he answered, "but to what doom I do not know."
+
+After this we said no more, because we were too much afraid.
+
+
+
+Dawn came at last, showing the most awful sight that was ever beheld
+by the eye of man.
+
+The wall of cloud had disappeared, and in the clear light of the
+morning, we perceived that the deep waters of the Sea of Reeds had
+divided themselves, leaving a raised roadway that seemed to have been
+cleared by the wind, or perchance to have been thrown up by the
+earthquake. Who can say? Not I who never set foot upon that path of
+death. Along this wide road streamed the tens of thousands of the
+Israelites, passing between the water on the right hand, and the water
+on the left, and after them followed all the army of Pharaoh, save
+those who had deserted, and stood or lay around us, watching. We could
+even see the golden chariots that marked the presence of Pharaoh
+himself, and of his bodyguard, deep in the heart of the broken host
+that struggled forward without discipline or order.
+
+"What now? Oh! what now?" murmured Seti, and as he spoke there was a
+second shock of earthquake. Then to the west on the sea there arose a
+mighty wave, whereof the crest seemed to be high as a pyramid. It
+rolled forward with a curved and foaming head, and in the hollow of it
+for a moment, no more, we saw the army of Egypt. Yet in that moment I
+seemed to see mighty shapes fleeing landwards along the crest of the
+wave, which shapes I took to be the gods of Egypt, pursued by a form
+of light and glory that drove them as with a scourge. They came, they
+went, accompanied by a sound of wailing, and the wave fell.
+
+But beyond it, the hordes of Israel still marched--upon the further
+shore.
+
+Dense gloom followed, and through the gloom I saw, or thought I saw,
+Merapi, Moon of Israel, standing before us with a troubled face and
+heard or thought I heard her cry:
+
+"/Oh! help me, my lord Seti! Help me, my lord Seti!/"
+
+Then she too was gone.
+
+
+
+"Harness the chariots!" cried Seti, in a hollow voice.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THE CROWNING OF MERAPI
+
+Fast as sped our horses, rumour, or rather the truth, carried by those
+who had gone before us, flew faster. Oh! that journey was as a dream
+begotten by the evil gods. On we galloped through the day and through
+the night and lo! at every town and village women rushed upon us
+crying:
+
+"Is it true, O travellers, is it true that Pharaoh and his host are
+perished in the sea?"
+
+Then old Bakenkhonsu would call in answer:
+
+"It is true that he who /was/ Pharaoh and his host are perished in the
+sea. But lo! here is he who /is/ Pharaoh," and he pointed to the
+Prince, who took no heed and said nothing, save:
+
+"On! On!"
+
+Then forward we would plunge again till once more the sound of wailing
+died into silence.
+
+It was sunset, and at length we drew near to the gates of Memphis. The
+Prince turned to me and spoke.
+
+"Heretofore I have not dared to ask," he said, "but tell me, Ana. In
+the gloom after the great cliff of water fell and the shapes of terror
+swept by, did you seem to see a woman stand before us and did you seem
+to hear her speak?"
+
+"I did, O Prince."
+
+"Who was that woman and what did she say?"
+
+"She was one who bore a child to you, O Prince, which child is not,
+and she said, 'Oh! help me, my lord Seti. Help me, my lord Seti!'"
+
+His face grew ashen even beneath its veil of dust, and he groaned.
+
+"Two who loved her have seen and two who loved her have heard," he
+said. "There is no room for doubt. Ana, she is dead!"
+
+"I pray the gods----"
+
+"Pray not, for the gods of Egypt are also dead, slain by the god of
+Israel. Ana, who has murdered her?"
+
+With my finger I who am a draughtsman drew in the thick dust that lay
+on the board of the chariot the brows of a man and beneath them two
+deep eyes. The gilt on the board where the sun caught it looked like
+light in the eyes.
+
+The Prince nodded and said:
+
+"Now we shall learn whether great magicians such as Ki can die like
+other men. Yes, if need be, to learn that I will put on Pharaoh's
+crown."
+
+We halted at the gates of Memphis. They were shut and barred, but from
+within the vast city rose a sound of tumult.
+
+"Open!" cried the Prince to the guard.
+
+"Who bids me open?" answered the captain of the gate peering at us,
+for the low sun lay behind.
+
+"Pharaoh bids you open."
+
+"Pharaoh!" said the man. "We have sure tidings that Pharaoh and his
+armies are slain by wizardry in the sea."
+
+"Fool!" thundered the Prince, "Pharaoh never dies. Pharaoh Amenmeses
+is with Osiris but the good god Seti Meneptah who /is/ Pharaoh bids
+you open."
+
+Then the bronze gates rolled back, and those who guarded them
+prostrated themselves in the dust.
+
+"Man," I called to the captain, "what means yonder shouting?"
+
+"Sir," he answered, "I do not know, but I am told that the witch who
+has brought woe on Egypt and by magic caused the death of Pharaoh
+Amenmeses and his armies, dies by fire in the place before the
+temple."
+
+"By whose command?" I cried again as the charioteer flogged the
+horses, but no answer reached our ears.
+
+We rushed on up the wide street to the great place that was packed
+with tens of thousands of the people. We drove the horses at them.
+
+"Way for Pharaoh! Way for the Mighty One, the good god, Seti Meneptah,
+King of the Upper and the Lower Land!" shouted the escort.
+
+The people turned and saw the tall shape of the Prince still clad in
+the robes of state which he had worn when he stood before Amenmeses in
+the pavilion by the sea.
+
+"Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Hail to Pharaoh!" they cried, prostrating
+themselves, and the cry passed on through Memphis like a wind.
+
+Now we were come to the centre of the place, and there in front of the
+great gates of the temple burned a vast pyre of wood. Before the pyre
+moved figures, in one of whom I knew Ki dressed in his magician's
+robe. Outside of these there was a double circle of soldiers who kept
+the people back, which these needed, for they raved like madmen and
+shook their fists. A group of priests near the fire separated, and I
+saw that among them stood a man and a woman, the latter with
+dishevelled hair and torn robes as though she had been roughly
+handled. At this moment her strength seemed to fail her and she sank
+to the ground, lifting her face as she did so. It was the face of
+Merapi, Moon of Israel.
+
+So she was not dead. The man at her side stooped as though to lift her
+up, but a stone thrown out of the shadow struck him in the back and
+caused him to straighten himself, which he did with a curse at the
+thrower. I knew the voice at once, although the speaker was disguised.
+
+It was that of Laban the Israelite, he who had been betrothed to
+Merapi, and had striven to murder us in the land of Goshen. What did
+he here? I wondered dimly.
+
+Ki was speaking. "Hark how the Hebrew cat spits," he said. "Well, the
+cause has been tried and the verdict given, and I think that the
+familiar should feed the flames before the witch. Watch him now, and
+perhaps he will change into something else."
+
+All this he said, smiling in his usual pleasant fashion, even when he
+made a sign to certain black temple slaves who stood near. They leapt
+forward, and I saw the firelight shone upon their copper armlets as
+they gripped Laban. He fought furiously, shouting:
+
+"Where are your armies, Egyptians, and where is your dog of a Pharaoh?
+Go dig them from the Sea of Reeds. Farewell, Moon of Israel. Look how
+your royal lover crowns you at the last, O faithless----"
+
+He said no more, for at this moment the slaves hurled him headlong
+into the heart of the great fire, which blackened for a little and
+burned bright again.
+
+Then it was that Merapi struggled to her feet and cried in a ringing
+voice those very words which the Prince and I had seemed to hear her
+speak far away by the Sea of Reeds--"/Oh! help me my lord Seti! Help
+me, my lord Seti!/" Yes, the same words which had echoed in our ears
+days before they passed her lips, or so we believed.
+
+Now all this while our chariots had been forcing their way foot by
+foot through the wall of the watching crowd, perhaps while a man might
+count a hundred, no more. As the echoes of her cry died away at length
+we were through and leaping to the ground.
+
+"The witch calls on one who sups to-night at the board of Osiris with
+Pharaoh and his host," sneered Ki. "Well, let her go to seek him there
+if the guardian gods will suffer it," and again he made a sign to the
+black slaves.
+
+But Merapi had seen or felt Seti advancing from the shadows and seeing
+flung herself upon his breast. He kissed her on the brow before them
+all, then bade me hold her up and turned to face the people.
+
+"Bow down. Bow down. Bow down!" cried the deep voice of Bakenkhonsu.
+"Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!" and what he said
+the escort echoed.
+
+Then of a sudden the multitude understood. To their knees they fell
+and from every side rose the ancient salutation. Seti held up his hand
+and blessed them. Watching, I saw Ki slip towards the darkness, and
+whispered a word to the guards, who sprang upon him and brought him
+back.
+
+Then the Prince spoke:
+
+"Ye name me Pharaoh, people of Memphis, and Pharaoh I fear I am by
+descent of blood to-day, though whether I will consent to bear the
+burdens of government, should Egypt wish it of me, as yet I know not.
+Still he who wore the double crown is, I believe, dead in the midst of
+the sea; at the least I saw the waters overwhelm him and his army.
+Therefore, if only for an hour, I will be Pharaoh, that as Pharaoh I
+may judge of certain matters. Lady Merapi, tell me, I pray you, how
+came you to this pass?"
+
+"My lord," she answered, in a low voice, "after you had gone to warn
+the army of Pharaoh because of that dream I dreamed, Ki, who departed
+on the same day, returned again. Through one of the women of the
+household, over whom he had power, or so I think, he obtained access
+to me when I was alone in my chamber. There he made me this offer:
+
+"'Give me,' he said, 'the secret of your magic that I may be avenged
+upon the wizards of the Hebrews who have brought about my downfall,
+and upon the Hebrews themselves, and also upon all my other enemies,
+and thus once more become the greatest man in Egypt. In turn I will
+fulfil all your desires, and make you, and no other, Queen of Egypt,
+and be your faithful servant, and that of your lord Seti who shall be
+Pharaoh, until the end of your lives. Refuse, and I will stir up the
+people against you, and before ever the Prince returns, if he returns
+at all, they who believe you to be an evil sorceress shall mete out to
+you the fate of a sorceress.'
+
+"My lord, I answered to Ki what I have often told him before, that I
+had no magic to reveal to him, I who knew nothing of the black arts of
+sorcery, seeing that it was not I who destroyed the statue of Amon in
+the temple at Tanis, but that same Power which since then has brought
+all the plagues on Egypt. I said, too, that I cared nothing for the
+gifts he offered to me, as I had no wish to be Queen of Egypt. My
+lord, he laughed in my face, saying I should find that he was one ill
+to mock, as others had found before me. Then he pointed at me with his
+wand and muttered some spell over me, which seemed to numb my limbs
+and voice, holding me helpless till he had been gone a long while, and
+could not be found by your servants, whom I commanded in your name to
+seize, and keep him till your return.
+
+"From that hour the people began to threaten me. They crowded about
+the palace gates in thousands, crying day and night that they were
+going to kill me, the witch. I prayed for help, but from me, a sinner,
+heaven has grown so far away that my prayers seem to fall back unheard
+upon my head. Even the servants in the palace turned against me, and
+would not look upon my face. I grew mad with fear and loneliness,
+since all fled before me. At last one night towards the dawn I went on
+to the terrace, and since no god would hear me, I turned towards the
+north whither I knew that you had gone, and cried to you to help me in
+those same words which I cried again just now before you appeared."
+(Here the Prince looked at me and I Ana looked at him.) "Then it was
+that from among the bushes of the garden appeared a man, hidden in a
+long, sheepskin cloak, so that I could not see his face, who said to
+me:
+
+"'Moon of Israel, I have been sent by his Highness, the Prince Seti,
+to tell you that you are in danger of your life, as he is in danger of
+his, wherefore he cannot come to you. His command is that you come to
+him, that together you may flee away out of Egypt to a land where you
+will both be safe until all these troubles are finished.'
+
+"'How know I that you of the veiled face are a true messenger?' I
+asked. 'Give me a sign.'
+
+"Then he held out to me that scarab�us of lapis-lazuli which your
+Highness gave to me far away in the land of Goshen, the same that you
+asked back from me as a love token when we plighted troth, and you
+gave me your royal ring, which scarab�us I had seen in your robe when
+you drove away with Ana."
+
+"I lost it on our journey to the Sea of Reeds, but said nothing of it
+to you, Ana, because I thought the omen evil, having dreamed in the
+night that Ki appeared and stole it from me," whispered the Prince to
+me.
+
+"'It is not enough,' I answered. 'This jewel may have been thieved
+away, or snatched from the dead body of the Prince, or taken from him
+by magic.'
+
+"The cloaked man thought a while and said, 'This night, not an hour
+ago, Pharaoh and his chariots were overwhelmed in the Sea of Reeds.
+Let that serve as a sign.'
+
+"'How can this be?' I answered, 'since the Sea of Reeds is far away,
+and such tidings cannot travel thence in an hour. Get you gone, false
+tempter.'
+
+"'Yet it is so,' he answered.
+
+"'When you prove it to me, I will believe, and come.'
+
+"'Good,' he said, and was gone.
+
+"Next day a rumour began to run that this awful thing had happened. It
+grew stronger and stronger, until all swore that it had happened. Now
+the fury of the people rose against me, and they ravened round the
+palace like lions of the desert, roaring for my blood. Yet it was as
+though they could not enter here, since whenever they rushed at the
+gates or walls, they fell back again, for some spirit seemed to
+protect the place. The days went by; the night came again and at the
+dawn, this dawn that is past, once more I stood upon the terrace, and
+once more the cloaked man appeared from among the trees.
+
+"'Now you have heard, Moon of Israel,' he said, 'and now you must
+believe and come, although you think yourself safe because at the
+beginning of the plagues this, the home of Seti, was enchanted against
+evil, so that none within it can be harmed.'
+
+"'I have heard, and I think that I believe, though how the tidings
+reached Memphis in an hour I do not understand. Yet, stranger, I say
+to you that it is not enough.'
+
+"Then the man drew a papyrus roll from his bosom and threw it at my
+feet. I opened it and read. The writing was the writing of Ana as I
+knew well, and the signature was the signature of you, my lord, and it
+was sealed with your seal, and with the seal of Bakenkhonsu as a
+witness. Here it is," and from the breast of her garment, she drew out
+a roll and gave it to me upon whom she rested all this while.
+
+I opened it, and by the light of torches the Prince, Bakenkhonsu, and
+I read. It was as she had told us in what seemed to be my writing, and
+signed and sealed as she had said. The words ran:
+
+ "To Merapi, Moon of Israel, in my house at Memphis.
+
+ "Come, Lady, Flower of Love, to me your lord, to whom the bearer of
+  this will guide you safely. Come at once, for I am in great
+  danger, as you are, and together only can we be safe."
+
+"Ana, what means this?" asked the Prince in a terrible voice. "If you
+have betrayed me and her----"
+
+"By the gods," I began angrily, "am I a man that I should live to hear
+even your Highness speak thus to me, or am I but a dog of the desert?"
+
+I ceased, for at that moment Bakenkhonsu began to laugh.
+
+"Look at the letter!" he laughed. "Look at the letter."
+
+We looked, and as we looked, behold the writing on it turned first to
+the colour of blood and then faded away, till presently there was
+nothing in my hand but a blank sheet of papyrus.
+
+"Oho-ho!" laughed Bakenkhonsu. "Truly, friend Ki, you are the first of
+magicians, save those prophets of the Israelites who have brought you
+--Whither have they brought you, friend Ki?"
+
+Then for the first time the painted smile left the face of Ki, and it
+became like a block of stone in which were set two angry jewels that
+were his eyes.
+
+"Continue, Lady," said the Prince.
+
+"I obeyed the letter. I fled away with the man who said he had a
+chariot waiting. We passed out by the little gate.
+
+"'Where is the chariot?' I asked.
+
+"'We go by boat,' he answered, and led the way towards the river. As
+we threaded the big palm grove men appeared from between the trees.
+
+"'You have betrayed me,' I cried.
+
+"'Nay,' he answered, 'I am myself betrayed.'
+
+"Then for the first time I knew his voice for that of Laban.
+
+"The men seized us; at the head of them was Ki.
+
+"'This is the witch,' he said, 'who, her wickedness finished, flies
+with her Hebrew lover, who is also the familiar of her sorceries.'
+
+"They tore the cloak and the false beard from him and there before me
+stood Laban. I cursed him to his face. But all he answered was:
+
+"'Merapi, what I have done I did for love of you. It was my purpose to
+take you away to our people, for here I knew that they would kill you.
+This magician promised you to me if I could tempt you from the safety
+of the palace, in return for certain tidings that I have given him.'
+
+"These were the only words that passed between us till the end. They
+dragged us to the secret prison of the great temple where we were
+separated. Here all day long Ki and the priests tormented me with
+questions, to which I gave no answer. Towards the evening they brought
+me out and led me here with Laban at my side. When the people saw me a
+great cry went up of 'Sorceress! Hebrew witch!' They broke through the
+guard; they seized me, threw me to the ground and beat me. Laban
+strove to protect me but was torn away. At length the people were
+driven off, and oh! my lord, you know the rest. I have spoken truth, I
+can no more."
+
+So saying her knees loosened beneath her and she swooned. We bore her
+to the chariot.
+
+"You have heard, Ki," said the Prince. "Now, what answer?"
+
+"None, O Pharaoh," he replied coldly, "for Pharaoh you are, as I
+promised that you should be. My spirit has deserted me, those Hebrews
+have stolen it away. That writing should have faded from the scroll as
+soon as it was read by yonder lady, and then I would have told you
+another story; a story of secret love, of betrayal and attempted
+flight with her lover. But some evil god kept it there until you also
+had read, you who knew that you had not written what appeared before
+your eyes. Pharaoh, I am conquered. Do your will with me, and
+farewell. Beloved you shall always be as you have always been, but
+happy never in this world."
+
+"O People," cried Seti, "I will not be judge in my own cause. You have
+heard, do you judge. For this wizard, what reward?"
+
+Then there went up a great cry of "Death! Death by fire. The death he
+had made ready for the innocent!"
+
+That was the end, but they told me afterwards that, when the great
+pyre had burned out, in it was found the head of Ki looking like a
+red-hot stone. When the sunlight fell on it, however, it crumbled and
+faded away, as the writing had faded from the roll. If this be true I
+do not know, who was not present at the time.
+
+
+
+We bore Merapi to the palace. She lived but three days, she whose body
+and spirit were broken. The last time I saw her was when she sent for
+me not an hour before death came. She was lying in Seti's arms
+babbling to him of their child and looking very sweet and happy. She
+thanked me for my friendship, smiling the while in a way which showed
+me that she knew it was more than friendship, and bade me tend my
+master well until we all met again elsewhere. Then she gave me her
+hand to kiss and I went away weeping.
+
+After she was dead a strange fancy took Seti. In the great hall of the
+palace he caused a golden throne to be put up, and on this throne he
+set her in regal garments, with pectoral and necklaces of gems,
+crowned like a queen of Egypt, and thus he showed her to the lords of
+Memphis. Then he caused her to be embalmed and buried in a secret
+sepulchre, the place of which I have sworn never to reveal, but
+without any rites because she was not of the faith of Egypt.
+
+There then she sleeps in her eternal house until the Day of
+Resurrection, and with her sleeps her little son.
+
+
+
+It was within a moon of this funeral that the great ones of Egypt came
+to Memphis to name the Prince as Pharaoh, and with them came her
+Highness, the Queen Userti. I was present at the ceremony, which to me
+was very strange. There was the Vizier Nehesi; there was the high-
+priest Roi and with him many other priests; and there was even the old
+chamberlain Pambasa, pompous yet grovelling as before, although he had
+deserted the household of the Prince after his disinheritance for that
+of the Pharaoh Amenmeses. His appearance with his wand of office and
+long white beard, of which he was so proud because it was his own,
+drew from Seti the only laugh I had heard him utter for many weeks.
+
+"So you are back again, Chamberlain Pambasa," he said.
+
+"O most Holy, O most Royal," answered the old knave, "has Pambasa, the
+grain of dust beneath your feet, ever deserted the House of Pharaoh,
+or that of him who will be Pharaoh?"
+
+"No," replied Seti, "it is only when you think that he will not be
+Pharaoh that you desert. Well, get you to your duties, rogue, who
+perhaps at bottom are as honest as the rest."
+
+Then followed the great and ancient ceremony of the Offering of the
+Crown, in which spoke priests disguised as gods and other priests
+disguised as mighty Pharaohs of the past; also the nobles of the Nomes
+and the chief men of cities. When all had finished Seti answered:
+
+"I take this, my heritage," and he touched the double crown, "not
+because I desire it but because it is my duty, as I swore that I would
+to one who has departed. Blow upon blow have smitten Egypt which, I
+think, had my voice been listened to, would never have fallen. Egypt
+lies bleeding and well-nigh dead. Let it be your work and mine to try
+to nurse her back to life. For no long while am I with you, who also
+have been smitten, how it matters not, yet while I am here, I who seem
+to reign will be your servant and that of Egypt. It is my decree that
+no feasts or ceremonials shall mark this my accession, and that the
+wealth which would have been scattered upon them shall be distributed
+among the widows and children of those who perished in the Sea of
+Reeds. Depart!"
+
+They went, humble yet happy, since here was a Pharaoh who knew the
+needs of Egypt, one too who loved her and who alone had shown himself
+wise of heart while others were filled with madness. Then her Highness
+entered, splendidly apparelled, crowned and followed by her household,
+and made obeisance.
+
+"Greeting to Pharaoh," she cried.
+
+"Greeting to the Royal Princess of Egypt," he answered.
+
+"Nay, Pharaoh, the Queen of Egypt."
+
+By Seti's side there was another throne, that in which he had set dead
+Merapi with a crown upon her head. He turned and looked at it a while.
+Then, he said:
+
+"I see that this seat is empty. Let the Queen of Egypt take her place
+there if so she wills."
+
+She stared at him as if she thought that he was mad, though doubtless
+she had heard something of that story, then swept up the steps and sat
+herself down in the royal chair.
+
+"Your Majesty has been long absent," said Seti.
+
+"Yes," she answered, "but as my Majesty promised she would do, she has
+returned to her lawful place at the side of Pharaoh--never to leave it
+more."
+
+"Pharaoh thanks her Majesty," said Seti, bowing low.
+
+
+
+Some six years had gone by, when one night I was seated with the
+Pharaoh Seti Meneptah in his palace at Memphis, for there he always
+chose to dwell when matters of State allowed.
+
+It was on the anniversary of the Death of the Firstborn, and of this
+matter it pleased him to talk to me. Up and down the chamber he walked
+and, watching him by the lamplight, I noted that of a sudden he seemed
+to have grown much older, and that his face had become sweeter even
+than it was before. He was more thin also, and his eyes had in them a
+look of one who stares at distances.
+
+"You remember that night, Friend, do you not," he said; "perhaps the
+most terrible night the world has ever seen, at least in the little
+piece of it called Egypt." He ceased, lifted a curtain, and pointed to
+a spot on the pillared portico without. "There she sat," he went on;
+"there you stood; there lay the boy and there crouched his nurse--by
+the way, I grieve to hear that she is ill. You are caring for her, are
+you not, Ana? Say to her that Pharaoh will come to visit her--when he
+may, when he may."
+
+"I remember it all, Pharaoh."
+
+"Yes, of course you would remember, because you loved her, did you
+not, and the boy too, and even me, the father. And so you will love us
+always when we reach a land where sex with its walls and fires are
+forgotten, and love alone survives--as we shall love you."
+
+"Yes," I answered, "since love is the key of life, and those alone are
+accursed who have never learned to love."
+
+"Why accursed, Ana, seeing that, if life continues, they still may
+learn?" He paused a while, then went on: "I am glad that he died, Ana,
+although had he lived, as the Queen will have no children, he might
+have become Pharaoh after me. But what is it to be Pharaoh? For six
+years now I have reigned, and I think that I am beloved; reigned over
+a broken land which I have striven to bind together, reigned over a
+sick land which I have striven to heal, reigned over a desolated land
+which I have striven to make forget. Oh! the curse of those Hebrews
+worked well. And I think that it was my fault, Ana, for had I been
+more of a man, instead of casting aside my burden, I should have stood
+up against my father Meneptah and his policy and, if need were, have
+raised the people. Then the Israelites would have gone, and no plagues
+would have smitten Egypt. Well, what I did, I did because I must,
+perhaps, and what has happened, has happened. And now my time comes to
+an end, and I go hence to balance my account as best I may, praying
+that I may find judges who understand, and are gentle."
+
+"Why does Pharaoh speak thus?" I asked.
+
+"I do not know, Ana, yet that Hebrew wife of mine has been much in my
+mind of late. She was wise in her way, as wise as loving, was she not,
+and if we could see her once again, perhaps she would answer the
+question. But although she seems so near to me, I never can see her,
+quite. Can you, Ana?"
+
+"No, Pharaoh, though one night old Bakenkhonsu vowed that he perceived
+her passing before us, and looking at me earnestly as she passed."
+
+"Ah! Bakenkhonsu. Well, he is wise too, and loved her in his fashion.
+Also the flesh fades from him, though mayhap he will live to make
+offerings at both our tombs. Well, Bakenkhonsu is at Tanis, or is it
+at Thebes, with her Majesty, whom he ever loves to observe, as I do.
+So he can tell us nothing of what he thought he saw. This chamber is
+hot, Ana, let us stand without."
+
+So we passed the curtain, and stood upon the portico, looking at the
+garden misty with moonlight, and talking of this and that--about the
+Israelites, I think, who, as we heard, were wandering in the deserts
+of Sinai. Then of a sudden we grew silent, both of us.
+
+A cloud floated over the face of the moon, leaving the world in
+darkness. It passed, and I became aware that we were no longer alone.
+There in front of us was a mat, and on the mat lay a dead child, the
+royal child named Seti; there by the mat stood a woman with agony in
+her eyes, looking at the dead child, the Hebrew woman named Moon of
+Israel.
+
+Seti touched me, and pointed to her, and I pointed to the child. We
+stood breathless. Then of a sudden, stooping down, Merapi lifted up
+the child and held it towards its father. But, lo! now no longer was
+it dead; nay, it laughed and laughed, and seeing him, seemed to throw
+its arms about his neck, and to kiss him on the lips. Moreover, the
+agony in the woman's eyes turned to joy unspeakable, and she became
+more beautiful than a star. Then, laughing like the child, Merapi
+turned to Seti, beckoned, and was gone.
+
+"We have seen the dead," he said to me presently, "and, oh! Ana, /the
+dead still live!/"
+
+
+
+That night, ere dawn, a cry rang through the palace, waking me from my
+sleep. This was the cry:
+
+"The good god Pharaoh is no more! The hawk Seti has flown to heaven!"
+
+
+
+At the burial of Pharaoh, I laid the halves of the broken cup upon his
+breast, that he might drink therefrom in the Day of Resurrection.
+
+
+
+Here ends the writing of the Scribe Ana, the Counsellor and Companion
+of the King, by him beloved.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg Etext of Moon of Israel, by H. Rider Haggard
+
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