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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cleopatra, 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: Cleopatra
+
+Author: H. Rider Haggard
+
+Release Date: March 28, 2006 [EBook #2769]
+[Last updated: November 19, 2020]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLEOPATRA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by John Bickers; Dagny; Emma Dudding
+
+
+
+
+
+CLEOPATRA
+
+by H. Rider Haggard
+
+
+
+
+DEDICATION
+
+My dear Mother,
+
+I have for a long while hoped to be allowed to dedicate some book
+of mine to you, and now I bring you this work, because whatever its
+shortcomings, and whatever judgment may be passed upon it by yourself
+and others, it is yet the one I should wish you to accept.
+
+I trust that you will receive from my romance of “Cleopatra” some such
+pleasure as lightened the labour of its building up; and that it
+may convey to your mind a picture, however imperfect, of the old and
+mysterious Egypt in whose lost glories you are so deeply interested.
+
+Your affectionate and dutiful Son,
+
+H. Rider Haggard.
+
+January 21, 1889.
+
+
+
+
+AUTHOR’S NOTE
+
+The history of the ruin of Antony and Cleopatra must have struck many
+students of the records of their age as one of the most inexplicable
+of tragic tales. What malign influence and secret hates were at work,
+continually sapping their prosperity and blinding their judgment? Why
+did Cleopatra fly at Actium, and why did Antony follow her, leaving his
+fleet and army to destruction? An attempt is made in this romance to
+suggest a possible answer to these and some other questions.
+
+The reader is asked to bear in mind, however, that the story is told,
+not from the modern point of view, but as from the broken heart and
+with the lips of an Egyptian patriot of royal blood; no mere
+beast-worshipper, but a priest instructed in the inmost mysteries, who
+believed firmly in the personal existence of the gods of Khem, in the
+possibility of communion with them, and in the certainty of immortal
+life with its rewards and punishments; to whom also the bewildering and
+often gross symbolism of the Osirian Faith was nothing but a veil woven
+to obscure secrets of the Sanctuary. Whatever proportion of truth there
+may have been in their spiritual claims and imaginings, if indeed there
+was any, such men as the Prince Harmachis have been told of in the
+annals of every great religion, and, as is shown by the testimony of
+monumental and sacred inscriptions, they were not unknown among the
+worshippers of the Egyptian Gods, and more especially of Isis.
+
+Unfortunately it is scarcely possible to write a book of this nature and
+period without introducing a certain amount of illustrative matter, for
+by no other means can the long dead past be made to live again before
+the reader’s eyes with all its accessories of faded pomp and forgotten
+mystery. To such students as seek a story only, and are not interested
+in the faith, ceremonies, or customs of the Mother of Religion and
+Civilisation, ancient Egypt, it is, however, respectfully suggested
+that they should exercise the art of skipping, and open this tale at its
+Second Book.
+
+That version of the death of Cleopatra has been preferred which
+attributes her end to poison. According to Plutarch its actual manner is
+very uncertain, though popular rumour ascribed it to the bite of an asp.
+She seems, however, to have carried out her design under the advice
+of that shadowy personage, her physician, Olympus, and it is more than
+doubtful if he would have resorted to such a fantastic and uncertain
+method of destroying life.
+
+It may be mentioned that so late as the reign of Ptolemy Epiphanes,
+pretenders of native blood, one of whom was named Harmachis, are known
+to have advanced their claims to the throne of Egypt. Moreover, there
+was a book of prophecy current among the priesthood which declared that
+after the nations of the Greeks the God Harsefi would create the “chief
+who is to come.” It will therefore be seen that, although it lacks
+historical confirmation, the story of the great plot formed to stamp out
+the dynasty of the Macedonian Lagidae and place Harmachis on the throne
+is not in itself improbable. Indeed, it is possible that many such plots
+were entered into by Egyptian patriots during the long ages of their
+country’s bondage. But ancient history tells us little of the abortive
+struggles of a fallen race.
+
+The Chant of Isis and the Song of Cleopatra, which appear in these
+pages, are done into verse from the writer’s prose by Mr. Andrew Lang,
+and the dirge sung by Charmion is translated by the same hand from the
+Greek of the Syrian Meleager.
+
+
+
+
+
+CLEOPATRA
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+In the recesses of the desolate Libyan mountains that lie behind the
+temple and city of Abydus, the supposed burying place of the holy
+Osiris, a tomb was recently discovered, among the contents of which were
+the papyrus rolls whereupon this history is written. The tomb itself is
+spacious, but otherwise remarkable only for the depth of the shaft which
+descends vertically from the rock-hewn cave, that once served as the
+mortuary chapel for the friends and relatives of the departed, to the
+coffin-chamber beneath. This shaft is no less than eighty-nine feet in
+depth. The chamber at its foot was found to contain three coffins only,
+though it is large enough for many more. Two of these, which in all
+probability inclosed the bodies of the High Priest, Amenemhat, and of
+his wife, father and mother of Harmachis, the hero of this history, the
+shameless Arabs who discovered them there and then broke up.
+
+The Arabs broke the bodies up. With unhallowed hands they tore the holy
+Amenemhat and the frame of her who had, as it is written, been filled
+with the spirit of the Hathors--tore them limb from limb, searching for
+treasure amidst their bones--perhaps, as is their custom, selling the
+very bones for a few piastres to the last ignorant tourist who came
+their way, seeking what he might destroy. For in Egypt the unhappy, the
+living find their bread in the tombs of the great men who were before
+them.
+
+But as it chanced, some little while afterwards, one who is known to
+this writer, and a doctor by profession, passed up the Nile to Abydus,
+and became acquainted with the men who had done this thing. They
+revealed to him the secret of the place, telling him that one coffin
+yet remained entombed. It seemed to be the coffin of a poor person,
+they said, and therefore, being pressed for time, they had left it
+unviolated. Moved by curiosity to explore the recesses of a tomb as yet
+unprofaned by tourists, my friend bribed the Arabs to show it to him.
+What ensued I will give in his own words, exactly as he wrote it to me:
+
+“I slept that night near the Temple of Seti, and started before daybreak
+on the following morning. With me were a cross-eyed rascal named
+Ali--Ali Baba I named him--the man from whom I got the ring which I am
+sending you, and a small but choice assortment of his fellow thieves.
+Within an hour after sunrise we reached the valley where the tomb is. It
+is a desolate place, into which the sun pours his scorching heat all
+the long day through, till the huge brown rocks which are strewn about
+become so hot that one can scarcely bear to touch them, and the sand
+scorches the feet. It was already too hot to walk, so we rode on
+donkeys, some way up the valley--where a vulture floating far in the
+blue overhead was the only other visitor--till we came to an enormous
+boulder polished by centuries of action of sun and sand. Here Ali
+halted, saying that the tomb was under the stone. Accordingly, we
+dismounted, and, leaving the donkeys in charge of a fellah boy, went up
+to the rock. Beneath it was a small hole, barely large enough for a man
+to creep through. Indeed it had been dug by jackals, for the doorway and
+some part of the cave were entirely silted up, and it was by means of
+this jackal hole that the tomb had been discovered. Ali crept in on his
+hands and knees, and I followed, to find myself in a place cold after
+the hot outside air, and, in contrast with the light, filled with a
+dazzling darkness. We lit our candles, and, the select body of thieves
+having arrived, I made an examination. We were in a cave the size of
+a large room, and hollowed by hand, the further part of the cave being
+almost free from drift-dust. On the walls are religious paintings of the
+usual Ptolemaic character, and among them one of a majestic old man with
+a long white beard, who is seated in a carved chair holding a wand in
+his hand.[*] Before him passes a procession of priests bearing sacred
+images. In the right hand corner of the tomb is the shaft of the
+mummy-pit, a square-mouthed well cut in the black rock. We had brought a
+beam of thorn-wood, and this was now laid across the pit and a rope
+made fast to it. Then Ali--who, to do him justice, is a courageous
+thief--took hold of the rope, and, putting some candles into the breast
+of his robe, placed his bare feet against the smooth sides of the well
+and began to descent with great rapidity. Very soon he had vanished into
+blackness, and the agitation of the cord alone told us that anything was
+going on below. At last the rope ceased shaking and a faint shout came
+rumbling up the well, announcing Ali’s safe arrival. Then, far below, a
+tiny star of light appeared. He had lit the candle, thereby disturbing
+hundreds of bats that flitted up in an endless stream and as silently as
+spirits. The rope was hauled up again, and now it was my turn; but, as
+I declined to trust my neck to the hand-over-hand method of descent, the
+end of the cord was made fast round my middle and I was lowered bodily
+into those sacred depths. Nor was it a pleasant journey, for, if the
+masters of the situation above had made any mistake, I should have been
+dashed to pieces. Also, the bats continually flew into my face and clung
+to my hair, and I have a great dislike of bats. At last, after some
+minutes of jerking and dangling, I found myself standing in a
+narrow passage by the side of the worthy Ali, covered with bats and
+perspiration, and with the skin rubbed off my knees and knuckles. Then
+another man came down, hand over hand like a sailor, and as the rest
+were told to stop above we were ready to go on. Ali went first with
+his candle--of course we each had a candle--leading the way down a long
+passage about five feet high. At length the passage widened out, and we
+were in the tomb-chamber: I think the hottest and most silent place that
+I ever entered. It was simply stifling. This chamber is a square room
+cut in the rock and totally devoid of paintings or sculpture. I held
+up the candles and looked round. About the place were strewn the coffin
+lids and the mummied remains of the two bodies that the Arabs had
+previously violated. The paintings on the former were, I noticed, of
+great beauty, though, having no knowledge of hieroglyphics, I could not
+decipher them. Beads and spicy wrappings lay around the remains, which,
+I saw, were those of a man and a woman.[+] The head had been broken off
+the body of the man. I took it up and looked at it. It had been closely
+shaved--after death, I should say, from the general indications--and the
+features were disfigured with gold leaf. But notwithstanding this,
+and the shrinkage of the flesh, I think the face was one of the most
+imposing and beautiful that I ever saw. It was that of a very old man,
+and his dead countenance still wore so calm and solemn, indeed, so awful
+a look, that I grew quite superstitious (though as you know, I am pretty
+well accustomed to dead people), and put the head down in a hurry. There
+were still some wrappings left upon the face of the second body, and I
+did not remove them; but she must have been a fine large woman in her
+day.
+
+     [*] This, I take it, is a portrait of Amenemhat himself.--
+     Editor.
+
+     [+] Doubtless Amenemhat and his wife.--Editor.
+
+“‘There the other mummy,’ said Ali, pointing to a large and solid case
+that seemed to have been carelessly thrown down in a corner, for it was
+lying on its side.
+
+“I went up to it and carefully examined it. It was well made, but of
+perfectly plain cedar-wood--not an inscription, not a solitary God on
+it.
+
+“‘Never see one like him before,’ said Ali. ‘Bury great hurry, he no
+“mafish,” no “fineesh.” Throw him down here on side.’
+
+“I looked at the plain case till at last my interest was thoroughly
+aroused. I was so shocked by the sight of the scattered dust of
+the departed that I had made up my mind not to touch the remaining
+coffin--but now my curiosity overcame me, and we set to work.
+
+“Ali had brought a mallet and a cold chisel with him, and, having
+set the coffin straight, he began upon it with all the zeal of an
+experienced tomb-breaker. And then he pointed out another thing. Most
+mummy-cases are fastened by four little tongues of wood, two on either
+side, which are fixed in the upper half, and, passing into mortices cut
+to receive them in the thickness of the lower half, are there held
+fast by pegs of hard wood. But this mummy case had eight such tongues.
+Evidently it had been thought well to secure it firmly. At last, with
+great difficulty, we raised the massive lid, which was nearly three
+inches thick, and there, covered over with a deep layer of loose spices
+(a very unusual thing), was the body.
+
+“Ali looked at it with open eyes--and no wonder. For this mummy was not
+as other mummies are. Mummies in general lie upon their backs, as stiff
+and calm as though they were cut from wood; but this mummy lay upon its
+side, and, the wrappings notwithstanding, its knees were slightly bent.
+More than that, indeed, the gold mask, which, after the fashion of the
+Ptolemaic period, had been set upon the face, had worked down, and was
+literally pounded up beneath the hooded head.
+
+“It was impossible, seeing these things, to avoid the conclusion that
+the mummy before us had moved with violence _since it was put in the
+coffin_.
+
+“‘Him very funny mummy. Him not “mafish” when him go in there,’ said
+Ali.
+
+“‘Nonsense!’ I said. ‘Who ever heard of a live mummy?’
+
+“We lifted the body out of the coffin, nearly choking ourselves with
+mummy dust in the process, and there beneath it half hidden among the
+spices, we made our first find. It was a roll of papyrus, carelessly
+fastened and wrapped in a piece of mummy cloth, having to all appearance
+been thrown into the coffin at the moment of closing.[*]
+
+     [*] This roll contained the third unfinished book of the
+     history. The other two rolls were neatly fastened in the
+     usual fashion. All three are written by one hand in the
+     Demotic character.--Editor.
+
+“Ali eyed the papyrus greedily, but I seized it and put it in my pocket,
+for it was agreed that I was to have all that might be discovered.
+Then we began to unwrap the body. It was covered with very broad strong
+bandages, thickly wound and roughly tied, sometimes by means of simple
+knots, the whole working the appearance of having been executed in
+great haste and with difficulty. Just over the head was a large lump.
+Presently, the bandages covering it were off, and there, on the face,
+lay a second roll of papyrus. I put down my hand to lift it, but it
+would not come away. It appeared to be fixed to the stout seamless
+shroud which was drawn over the whole body, and tied beneath the
+feet--as a farmer ties sacks. This shroud, which was also thickly waxed,
+was in one piece, being made to fit the form like a garment. I took a
+candle and examined the roll and then I saw why it was fast. The spices
+had congealed and glued it to the sack-like shroud. It was impossible to
+get it away without tearing the outer sheets of papyrus.[*]
+
+     [*] This accounts for the gaps in the last sheets of the
+     second roll. --Editor.
+
+“At last, however, I wrenched it loose and put it with the other in my
+pocket.
+
+“Then we went on with our dreadful task in silence. With much care we
+ripped loose the sack-like garment, and at last the body of a man lay
+before us. Between his knees was a third roll of papyrus. I secured it,
+then held down the light and looked at him. One glance at his face was
+enough to tell a doctor how he had died.
+
+“This body was not much dried up. Evidently it had not passed the
+allotted seventy days in natron, and therefore the expression and
+likeness were better preserved than is usual. Without entering into
+particulars, I will only say that I hope I shall never see such another
+look as that which was frozen on this dead man’s face. Even the Arabs
+recoiled from it in horror and began to mutter prayers.
+
+“For the rest, the usual opening on the left side through which the
+embalmers did their work was absent; the finely-cut features were those
+of a person of middle age, although the hair was already grey, and
+the frame was that of a very powerful man, the shoulders being of an
+extraordinary width. I had not time to examine very closely, however,
+for within a few seconds from its uncovering, the unembalmed body began
+to crumble now that it was exposed to the action of the air. In five or
+six minutes there was literally nothing left of it but a wisp of hair,
+the skull, and a few of the larger bones. I noticed that one of the
+tibiæ--I forget if it was the right or the left--had been fractured and
+very badly set. It must have been quite an inch shorter than the other.
+
+“Well, there was nothing more to find, and now that the excitement was
+over, what between the heat, the exertion, and the smell of mummy dust
+and spices, I felt more dead than alive.
+
+“I am tired of writing, and this ship rolls. This letter, of course,
+goes overland, and I am coming by ‘long sea,’ but I hope to be in London
+within ten days after you get it. Then I will tell you of my pleasing
+experiences in the course of the ascent from the tomb-chamber, and of
+how that prince of rascals, Ali Baba, and his thieves tried to frighten
+me into handing over the papyri, and how I worsted them. Then, too, we
+will get the rolls deciphered. I expect that they only contain the usual
+thing, copies of the ‘Book of the Dead,’ but there _may_ be something
+else in them. Needless to say, I did not narrate this little adventure
+in Egypt, or I should have had the Boulac Museum people on my track.
+Good-bye, ‘Mafish Fineesh,’ as Ali Baba always said.”
+
+
+In due course, my friend, the writer of the letter from which I have
+quoted, arrived in London, and on the very next day we paid a visit to
+a learned acquaintance well versed in Hieroglyphics and Demotic writing.
+The anxiety with which we watched him skilfully damping and unfolding
+one of the rolls and peering through his gold-rimmed glasses at the
+mysterious characters may well be imagined.
+
+“Hum,” he said, “whatever it is, this is _not_ a copy of the ‘Book of
+the Dead.’ By George, what’s this? Cle--Cleo--Cleopatra----Why, my dear
+Sirs, as I am a living man, this is the history of somebody who lived
+in the days of Cleopatra, _the_ Cleopatra, for here’s Antony’s name with
+hers! Well, there’s six months’ work before me here--six months, at
+the very least!” And in that joyful prospect he fairly lost control of
+himself, and skipped about the room, shaking hands with us at intervals,
+and saying “I’ll translate--I’ll translate it if it kills me, and
+we will publish it; and, by the living Osiris, it shall drive every
+Egyptologist in Europe mad with envy! Oh, what a find! what a most
+glorious find!”
+
+
+And O you whose eyes fall upon these pages, see, they have been
+translated, and they have been printed, and here they lie before you--an
+undiscovered land wherein you are free to travel!
+
+Harmachis speaks to you from his forgotten tomb. The walls of Time fall
+down, and, as at the lightning’s leap, a picture from the past starts
+upon your view, framed in the darkness of the ages.
+
+He shows you those two Egypts which the silent pyramids looked down upon
+long centuries ago--the Egypt of the Greek, the Roman, and the Ptolemy,
+and that other outworn Egypt of the Hierophant, hoary with years, heavy
+with the legends of antiquity and the memory of long-lost honours.
+
+He tells you how the smouldering loyalty of the land of Khem blazed
+up before it died, and how fiercely the old Time-consecrated Faith
+struggled against the conquering tide of Change that rose, like Nile at
+flood, and drowned the ancient Gods of Egypt.
+
+Here, in his pages, you shall learn the glory of Isis the Many-shaped,
+the Executrix of Decrees. Here you shall make acquaintance with the
+shade of Cleopatra, that “Thing of Flame,” whose passion-breathing
+beauty shaped the destiny of Empires. Here you shall read how the soul
+of Charmion was slain of the sword her vengeance smithied.
+
+Here Harmachis, the doomed Egyptian, being about to die, salutes you who
+follow on the path he trod. In the story of his broken years he shows to
+you what may in its degree be the story of your own. Crying aloud from
+that dim Amenti[*] where to-day he wears out his long atoning time, he
+tells, in the history of his fall, the fate of him who, however sorely
+tried, forgets his God, his Honour, and his Country.
+
+     [*] The Egyptian Hades or Purgatory.--Editor.
+
+
+
+
+
+BOOK I--THE PREPARATION OF HARMACHIS
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+OF THE BIRTH OF HARMACHIS; THE PROPHECY OF THE HATHORS; AND THE SLAYING
+OF THE INNOCENT CHILD
+
+By Osiris who sleeps at Abouthis, I write the truth.
+
+I, Harmachis, Hereditary Priest of the Temple, reared by the divine
+Sethi, aforetime a Pharaoh of Egypt, and now justified in Osiris and
+ruling in Amenti. I, Harmachis, by right Divine and by true descent of
+blood King of the Double Crown, and Pharaoh of the Upper and Lower Land.
+I, Harmachis, who cast aside the opening flower of our hope, who turned
+from the glorious path, who forgot the voice of God in hearkening to the
+voice of woman. I, Harmachis, the fallen, in whom are gathered up all
+woes as waters are gathered in a desert well, who have tasted of every
+shame, who through betrayal have betrayed, who in losing the glory that
+is here have lost the glory which is to be, who am utterly undone--I
+write, and, by Him who sleeps at Abouthis, I write the truth.
+
+O Egypt!--dear land of Khem, whose black soil nourished up my mortal
+part--land that I have betrayed--O Osiris!--Isis!--Horus!--ye Gods of
+Egypt whom I have betrayed!--O ye temples whose pylons strike the sky,
+whose faith I have betrayed!--O Royal blood of the Pharaohs of eld, that
+yet runs within these withered veins--whose virtue I have betrayed!--O
+Invisible Essence of all Good! and O Fate, whose balance rested on my
+hand--hear me; and, to the day of utter doom, bear me witness that I
+write the truth.
+
+
+
+Even while I write, beyond the fertile fields, the Nile is running red,
+as though with blood. Before me the sunlight beats upon the far Arabian
+hills, and falls upon the piles of Abouthis. Still the priests make
+orison within the temples at Abouthis that know me no more; still
+the sacrifice is offered, and the stony roofs echo back the people’s
+prayers. Still from this lone cell within my prison-tower, I, the Word
+of Shame, watch thy fluttering banners, Abouthis, flaunting from thy
+pylon walls, and hear the chants as the long procession winds from
+sanctuary to sanctuary.
+
+Abouthis, lost Abouthis! my heart goes out toward thee! For the day
+comes when the desert sands shall fill thy secret places! Thy Gods are
+doomed, O Abouthis! New Faiths shall make a mock of all thy Holies, and
+Centurion shall call upon Centurion across thy fortress-walls. I weep--I
+weep tears of blood: for mine is the sin that brought about these evils
+and mine for ever is their shame.
+
+Behold, it is written hereafter.
+
+
+
+Here in Abouthis I was born, I, Harmachis, and my father, the justified
+in Osiris, was High Priest of the Temple of Sethi. And on that same day
+of my birth Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt, was born also. I passed my
+youth in yonder fields watching the baser people at their labours and
+going in and out at will among the great courts of the temples. Of my
+mother I knew naught, for she died when I yet hung at the breast. But
+before she died in the reign of Ptolemy Aulêtes, who is named the Piper,
+so did the old wife, Atoua, told me, my mother took a golden uræus, the
+snake symbol of our Royalty of Egypt, from a coffer of ivory and laid
+it on my brow. And those who saw her do this believed that she was
+distraught of the Divinity, and in her madness foreshadowed that the day
+of the Macedonian Lagidæ was ended, and that Egypt’s sceptre should pass
+again to the hand of Egypt’s true and Royal race. But when my father,
+the old High Priest Amenemhat, whose only child I was, she who was his
+wife before my mother having been, for what crime I know not, cursed
+with barrenness by Sekhet: I say when my father came in and saw what the
+dying woman had done, he lifted up his hands towards the vault of heaven
+and adored the Invisible, because of the sign that had been sent. And
+as he adored, the Hathors[*] filled my dying mother with the Spirit of
+Prophecy, and she rose in strength from the couch and prostrated herself
+thrice before the cradle where I lay asleep, the Royal asp upon my brow,
+crying aloud:
+
+     [*] The Egyptian _Parcæ_ or _Fates_.--Editor.
+
+“Hail to thee, fruit of my womb! Hail to thee, Royal child! Hail to
+thee, Pharaoh that shalt be! Hail to thee, God that shalt purge the
+land, Divine seed of Nekt-nebf, the descended from Isis. Keep thee pure,
+and thou shalt rule and deliver Egypt and not be broken. But if thou
+dost fail in thy hour of trial, then may the curse of all the Gods
+of Egypt rest upon thee, and the curse of thy Royal forefathers, the
+justified, who ruled the land before thee from the age of Horus. Then in
+life mayst thou be wretched, and after death may Osiris refuse thee,
+and the judges of Amenti give judgment against thee, and Set and Sekhet
+torment thee, till such time as thy sin is purged, and the Gods of
+Egypt, called by strange names, are once more worshipped in the Temples
+of Egypt, and the staff of the Oppressor is broken, and the footsteps of
+the Foreigner are swept clean, and the thing is accomplished as thou in
+thy weakness shalt cause it to be done.”
+
+When she had spoken thus, the Spirit of Prophecy went out of her, and
+she fell dead across the cradle where I slept, so that I awoke with a
+cry.
+
+But my father, Amenemhat, the High Priest, trembled, and was very
+fearful, both because of the words which had been said by the Spirit of
+the Hathors through the mouth of my mother, and because what had been
+uttered was treason against Ptolemy. For he knew that, if the matter
+should come to the ears of Ptolemy, Pharaoh would send his guards
+to destroy the life of the child concerning whom such things were
+prophesied. Therefore, my father shut the doors, and caused all those
+who stood by to swear upon the holy symbol of his office, and by the
+name of the Divine Three, and by the Soul of her who lay dead upon the
+stones beside them, that nothing of what they had seen and heard should
+pass their lips.
+
+Now among the company was the old wife, Atoua, who had been the nurse of
+my mother, and loved her well; and in these days, though I know not how
+it had been in the past, nor how it shall be in the future, there is
+no oath that can bind a woman’s tongue. And so it came about that
+by-and-by, when the matter had become homely in her mind, and her fear
+had fallen from her, she spoke of the prophecy to her daughter, who
+nursed me at the breast now that my mother was dead. She did this as
+they walked together in the desert carrying food to the husband of the
+daughter, who was a sculptor, and shaped effigies of the holy Gods
+in the tombs that are fashioned in the rock--telling the daughter, my
+nurse, how great must be her care and love toward the child that
+should one day be Pharaoh, and drive the Ptolemies from Egypt. But the
+daughter, my nurse, was so filled with wonder at what she heard that she
+could not keep the tale locked within her breast, and in the night she
+awoke her husband, and, in her turn, whispered it to him, and thereby
+compassed her own destruction, and the destruction of her child, my
+foster-brother. For the man told his friend, and the friend was a spy of
+Ptolemy’s, and thus the tale came to Pharaoh’s ears.
+
+Now, Pharaoh was much troubled thereat, for though when he was full of
+wine he would make a mock of the God of the Egyptians, and swear that
+the Roman Senate was the only God to whom he bowed the knee, yet in his
+heart he was terribly afraid, as I have learned from one who was his
+physician. For when he was alone at night he would scream and cry aloud
+to the great Serapis, who indeed is no true God, and to other Gods,
+fearing lest he should be murdered and his soul handed over to the
+tormentors. Also, when he felt his throne tremble under him, he would
+send large presents to the temples, asking a message from the oracles,
+and more especially from the oracle that is at Philæ. Therefore, when
+it came to his ears that the wife of the High Priest of the great and
+ancient Temple of Abouthis had been filled with the Spirit of Prophecy
+before she died, and foretold that her son should be Pharaoh, he was
+much afraid, and summoning some trusty guards--who, being Greeks, did
+not fear to do sacrilege--he despatched them by boat up the Nile, with
+orders to come to Abouthis and cut off the head of the child of the High
+Priest and bring it to him in a basket.
+
+But, as it chanced, the boat in which the guards came was of deep
+draught, and, the time of their coming being at the lowest ebb of the
+river, it struck and remained fast upon a bank of mud that is opposite
+the mouth of the road running across the plains to Abouthis, and, as the
+north wind was blowing very fiercely, it was like to sink. Thereon
+the guards of Pharaoh called out to the common people, who laboured at
+lifting water along the banks of the river, to come with boats and take
+them off; but, seeing that they were Greeks of Alexandria, the people
+would not, for the Egyptians do not love the Greeks. Then the guards
+cried that they were on Pharaoh’s business, and still the people would
+not, asking what was their business. Whereon a eunuch among them who
+had made himself drunk in his fear, told them that they came to slay the
+child of Amenemhat, the High Priest, of whom it was prophesied that he
+should be Pharaoh and sweep the Greeks from Egypt. And then the people
+feared to stand longer in doubt, but brought boats, not knowing what
+might be meant by the man’s words. But there was one amongst them--a
+farmer and an overseer of canals--who was a kinsman of my mother’s and
+had been present when she prophesied; and he turned and ran swiftly for
+three parts of an hour, till he came to where I lay in the house that
+is without the north wall of the great Temple. Now, as it chanced, my
+father was away in that part of the Place of Tombs which is to the left
+of the large fortress, and Pharaoh’s guards, mounted on asses, were hard
+upon us. Then the messenger cried to the old wife, Atoua, whose tongue
+had brought about the evil, and told how the soldiers drew near to slay
+me. And they looked at each other, not knowing what to do; for, had they
+hid me, the guards would not have stayed their search till I was found.
+But the man, gazing through the doorway, saw a little child at play:
+
+“Woman,” he said, “whose is that child?”
+
+“It is my grandchild,” she answered, “the foster-brother of the Prince
+Harmachis; the child to whose mother we owe this evil case.”
+
+“Woman,” he said, “thou knowest thy duty, do it!” and he again pointed
+at the child. “I command thee, by the Holy Name!”
+
+Atoua trembled exceedingly, because the child was of her own blood; but,
+nevertheless, she took the boy and washed him and set a robe of silk
+upon him, and laid him on my cradle. And me she took and smeared with
+mud to make my fair skin darker, and, drawing my garment from me, set me
+to play in the dirt of the yard, which I did right gladly.
+
+Then the man hid himself, and presently the soldiers rode up and asked
+of the old wife if this were the dwelling of the High Priest Amenemhat?
+And she told them yea, and, bidding them enter, offered them honey and
+milk, for they were thirsty.
+
+When they had drunk, the eunuch who was with them asked if that were
+the son of Amenemhat who lay in the cradle; and she said “Yea--yea,”
+ and began to tell the guards how he would be great, for it had been
+prophesied of him that he should one day rule them all.
+
+But the Greek guards laughed, and one of them, seizing the child, smote
+off his head with a sword; and the eunuch drew forth the signet of
+Pharaoh as warrant for the deed and showed it to the old wife, Atoua,
+bidding her tell the High Priest that his son should be King without a
+head.
+
+And as they went one of their number saw me playing in the dirt and
+called out that there was more breeding in yonder brat than in the
+Prince Harmachis; and for a moment they wavered, thinking to slay
+me also, but in the end they passed on, bearing the head of my
+foster-brother, for they loved not to murder little children.
+
+After a while, the mother of the dead child returned from the
+market-place, and when she found what had been done, she and her husband
+would have killed Atoua the old wife, her mother, and given me up to the
+soldiers of Pharaoh. But my father came in also and learned the truth,
+and he caused the man and his wife to be seized by night and hidden away
+in the dark places of the temple, so that none saw them more.
+
+But I would to-day that it had been the will of the Gods that I had been
+slain of the soldiers and not the innocent child.
+
+
+
+Thereafter it was given out that the High Priest Amenemhat had taken me
+to be as a son to him in the place of that Harmachis who was slain of
+Pharaoh.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+OF THE DISOBEDIENCE OF HARMACHIS; OF THE SLAYING OF THE LION; AND OF THE
+SPEECH OF THE OLD WIFE, ATOUA
+
+And after these things Ptolemy the Piper troubled us no more, nor did he
+again send his soldiers to seek for him of whom it was prophesied that
+he should be Pharaoh. For the head of the child, my foster-brother,
+was brought to him by the eunuch as he sat in his palace of marble at
+Alexandria, flushed with Cyprian wine, and played upon the flute before
+his women. And at his bidding the eunuch lifted up the head by the hair
+for him to look on. Then he laughed and smote it on the cheek with his
+sandal, bidding one of the girls crown Pharaoh with flowers. And he
+bowed the knee, and mocked the head of the innocent child. But the girl,
+who was sharp of tongue--for all of this I heard in after years--said
+to him that “he did well to bow the knee, for this child was indeed
+Pharaoh, the greatest of Pharaohs, and his name was the _Osiris_ and his
+throne was _Death_.”
+
+Aulêtes was much troubled at these words, and trembled, for, being a
+wicked man, he greatly feared entering into Amenti. So he caused the
+girl to be slain because of the evil omen of her saying; crying that he
+would send her to worship that Pharaoh whom she had named. And the other
+women he sent away, and played no more upon the flute till he was once
+again drunk on the morrow. But the Alexandrians made a song on the
+matter, which is still sung about the streets. And this is the beginning
+of it--
+
+     Ptolemy the Piper played
+     Over dead and dying;
+     Piped and played he well.
+     Sure that flute of his was made
+     Of the dank reed sighing
+     O’er the streams of Hell.
+     There beneath the shadows grey,
+     With the sisters three,
+     Shall he pipe for many a day.
+     May the Frog his butler be!
+     And his wine the water of that countrie--
+     Ptolemy the Piper!
+
+After this the years passed on, nor did I, being very little, know
+anything of the great things that came to pass in Egypt; nor is it my
+purpose to set them out here. For I, Harmachis, having little time left
+to me, will only speak of those things with which I have been concerned.
+
+And as the time went on, my father and the teachers instructed me in the
+ancient learning of our people, and in such matters appertaining to
+the Gods as it is meet that children should know. So I grew strong and
+comely, for my hair was black as the hair of the divine Nout, and my
+eyes were blue as the blue lotus, and my skin was like the alabaster
+within the sanctuaries. For now that these glories have passed from me
+I may speak of them without shame. I was strong also. There was no youth
+of my years in Abouthis who could stand against me to wrestle with me,
+nor could any throw so far with the sling or spear. And I much yearned
+to hunt the lion; but he whom I called my father forbade me, telling me
+that my life was of too great worth to be so lightly hazarded. But when
+I bowed before him and prayed he would make his meaning clear to me,
+the old man frowned and answered that the Gods made all things clear in
+their own season. For my part, however, I went away in wroth, for there
+was a youth in Abouthis who with others had slain a lion which fell upon
+his father’s herds, and, being envious of my strength and beauty, he set
+it about that I was cowardly at heart, in that when I went out to hunt
+I only slew jackals and gazelles. Now, this was when I had reached my
+seventeenth year and was a man grown.
+
+It chanced, therefore, that as I went sore at heart from the presence
+of the High Priest, I met this youth, who called to me and mocked me,
+bidding me know the country people had told him that a great lion was
+down among the rushes by the banks of the canal which runs past the
+Temple, lying at a distance of thirty stadia from Abouthis. And, still
+mocking me, he asked me if I would come and help him slay this lion, or
+would I go and sit among the old women and bid them comb my side lock?
+This bitter word so angered me that I was near to falling on him; but
+in place therefore, forgetting my father’s saying, I answered that if he
+would come alone, I would go with him and seek this lion, and he should
+learn if I were indeed a coward. And at first he would not, for, as men
+know, it is our custom to hunt the lion in companies; so it was my hour
+to mock. Then he went and fetched his bow and arrows and a sharp knife.
+And I brought forth my heavy spear, which had a shaft of thorn-wood, and
+at its end a pomegranate in silver, to hold the hand from slipping; and,
+in silence, we went, side by side, to where the lion lay. When we
+came to the place, it was near sundown; and there, upon the mud of the
+canal-bank, we found the lion’s slot, which ran into a thick clump of
+reeds.
+
+“Now, thou boaster,” I said, “wilt thou lead the way into yonder reeds,
+or shall I?” And I made as though I would lead the way.
+
+“Nay, nay,” he answered, “be not so mad! The brute will spring upon
+thee and rend thee. See! I will shoot among the reeds. Perchance, if he
+sleeps, it will arouse him.” And he drew his bow at a venture.
+
+How it chanced I know not, but the arrow struck the sleeping lion, and,
+like a flash of light from the belly of a cloud, he bounded from the
+shelter of the reeds, and stood before us with bristling mane and yellow
+eyes, the arrow quivering in his flank. He roared aloud in fury, and the
+earth shook.
+
+“Shoot with the bow,” I cried, “shoot swiftly ere he spring!”
+
+But courage had left the breast of the boaster, his jaw dropped down and
+his fingers unloosed their hold so that the bow fell from them; then,
+with a loud cry he turned and fled behind me, leaving the lion in my
+path. But while I stood waiting my doom, for though I was sore afraid
+I would not fly, the lion crouched himself, and turning not aside, with
+one great bound swept over me, touching me not. He lit, and again he
+bounded full upon the boaster’s back, striking him such a blow with his
+great paw that his head was crushed as an egg thrown against a stone. He
+fell down dead, and the lion stood and roared over him. Then I was mad
+with horror, and, scarce knowing what I did, I grasped my spear and with
+a shout I charged. As I charged the lion lifted himself up above me.
+He smote at me with his paw; but with all my strength I drove the broad
+spear into his throat, and, shrinking from the agony of the steel, his
+blow fell short and did no more than rip my skin. Back he fell, the
+great spear far in his throat; then rising, he roared in pain and leapt
+twice the height of a man straight into the air, smiting at the spear
+with his forepaws. Twice he leapt thus, horrible to see, and twice he
+fell upon his back. Then his strength spent itself with his rushing
+blood, and, groaning like a bull, he died; while I, being but a lad,
+stood and trembled with fear now that all cause of fear had passed.
+
+But as I stood and gazed at the body of him who had taunted me, and at
+the carcass of the lion, a woman came running towards me, even the same
+old wife, Atoua, who, though I knew it not as yet, had offered up her
+flesh and blood that I might be saved alive. For she had been gathering
+simples, in which she had great skill, by the water’s edge, not knowing
+that there was a lion near (and, indeed, the lions, for the most part,
+are not found in the tilled land, but rather in the desert and the
+Libyan mountains), and had seen from a distance that which I have set
+down. Now, when she was come, she knew me for Harmachis, and, bending
+herself, she made obeisance to me, and saluted me, calling me Royal, and
+worthy of all honour, and beloved, and chosen of the Holy Three, ay, and
+by the name of the Pharaoh! the Deliverer!
+
+But I, thinking that terror had made her sick of mind, asked her of what
+she would speak.
+
+“Is it a great thing,” I asked, “that I should slay a lion? Is it a
+matter worthy of such talk as thine? There live, and have lived, men who
+have slain many lions. Did not the Divine Amen-hetep the Osirian slay
+with his own hand more than a hundred lions? Is it not written on the
+scarabæus that hangs within my father’s chamber, that he slew lions
+aforetime? And have not others done likewise? Why then, speakest thou
+thus, O foolish woman?”
+
+All of which I said, because, having now slain the lion, I was minded,
+after the manner of youth, to hold it as a thing of no account. But she
+did not cease to make obeisance, and to call me by names that are too
+high to be written.
+
+“O Royal One,” she cried, “wisely did thy mother prophecy. Surely the
+Holy Spirit, the Knepth, was in her, O thou conceived by a God! See the
+omen. The lion there--he growls within the Capitol at Rome--and the dead
+man, he is the Ptolemy--the Macedonian spawn that, like a foreign weed,
+hath overgrown the land of Nile; with the Macedonian Lagidæ thou shalt
+go to smite the lion of Rome. But the Macedonian cur shall fly, and the
+Roman lion shall strike him down, and thou shalt strike down the lion,
+and the land of Khem shall once more be free! free! Keep thyself but
+pure, according to the commandment of the Gods, O son of the Royal
+House; O hope of Khemi! be but ware of Woman the Destroyer, and as I
+have said, so shall it be. I am poor and wretched; yea, stricken with
+sorrow. I have sinned in speaking of what should be hid, and for my sin
+I have paid in the coin of that which was born of my womb; willingly
+have I paid for thee. But I have still of the wisdom of our people, nor
+do the Gods, in whose eyes all are equal, turn their countenance from
+the poor; the Divine Mother Isis hath spoken to me--but last night she
+spake--bidding me come hither to gather herbs, and read to thee the
+signs that I should see. And as I have said, so it shall come to pass,
+if thou canst but endure the weight of the great temptation. Come
+hither, Royal One!” and she led me to the edge of the canal, where the
+water was deep, and still and blue. “Now gaze upon that face as the
+water throws it back. Is not that brow fitted to bear the double crown?
+Do not those gentle eyes mirror the majesty of kings? Hath not the Ptah,
+the Creator, fashioned that form to fit the Imperial garb, and awe the
+glance of multitudes looking through thee to God?
+
+“Nay, nay!” she went on in another voice--a shrill old wife’s voice--“I
+will--be not so foolish, boy--the scratch of a lion is a venomous thing,
+a terrible thing; yea, as bad as the bite of an asp--it must be treated,
+else it will fester, and all thy days thou shalt dream of lions; ay, and
+snakes; and, also, it will break out in sores. But I know of it--I know.
+I am not crazed for nothing. For mark! everything has its balance--in
+madness is much wisdom, and in wisdom much madness. _La! la! la!_
+Pharaoh himself can’t say where the one begins and the other ends. Now,
+don’t stand gazing there, looking as silly as a cat in a crocus-coloured
+robe, as they say in Alexandria; but just let me stick these green
+things on the place, and in six days you’ll heal up as white as a
+three-year-child. Never mind the smart of it, lad. By Him who sleeps
+at Philæ, or at Abouthis, or at Abydus--as our divine masters have it
+now--or wherever He does sleep, which is a thing we shall all find out
+before we want to--by Osiris, I say, you’ll live to be as clean from
+scars as a sacrifice to Isis at the new moon, if you’ll but let me put
+it on.
+
+“Is it not so, good folk?”--and she turned to address some people who,
+while she prophesied, had assembled unseen by me--“I’ve been speaking a
+spell over him, just to make a way for the virtue of my medicine--_la!
+la!_ there’s nothing like a spell. If you don’t believe it, just you
+come to me next time your wives are barren; it’s better than scraping
+every pillar in the Temple of Osiris, I’ll warrant. I’ll make ‘em bear
+like a twenty-year-old palm. But then, you see, you must know what to
+say--that’s the point--everything comes to a point at last. _La! la!_”
+
+Now, when I heard all this, I, Harmachis, put my hand to my head, not
+knowing if I dreamed. But presently looking up, I saw a grey-haired
+man among those who were gathered together, who watched us sharply, and
+afterwards I learned that this man was the spy of Ptolemy, the very man,
+indeed, who had wellnigh caused me to be slain of Pharaoh when I was in
+my cradle. Then I understood why Atoua spoke so foolishly.
+
+“Thine are strange spells, old wife,” the spy said. “Thou didst speak of
+Pharaoh and the double crown and of the form fashioned by Ptah to bear
+it; is it not so?”
+
+“Yea, yea--part of the spell, thou fool; and what can one swear by
+better nowadays than by the Divine Pharaoh the Piper, whom, and whose
+music, may the Gods preserve to charm this happy land?--what better than
+by the double crown he wears--grace to great Alexander of Macedonia? By
+the way, you know about everything: have they got back his chlamys yet,
+which Mithridates took to Cos? Pompey wore it last, didn’t he?--in his
+triumph, too--just fancy Pompey in the cloak of Alexander!--a puppy-dog
+in a lion’s skin! And talking of lions--look what this lad hath
+done--slain a lion with his own spear; and right glad you village folks
+should be to see it, for it was a very fierce lion--just see his teeth
+and his claws--his claws!--they are enough to make a poor silly old
+woman like me shriek to look at them! And the body there, the dead
+body--the lion slew it. Alack! he’s an Osiris[*] now, the body--and to
+think of it, but an hour ago he was an everyday mortal like you or me!
+Well, away with him to the embalmers. He’ll soon swell in the sun and
+burst, and that will save them the trouble of cutting him open. Not
+that they will spend a talent of silver over him anyway. Seventy days in
+natron--that’s all he’s likely to get. _La! la!_ how my tongue does run,
+and it’s getting dark. Come, aren’t you going to take away the body of
+that poor lad, and the lion, too? There, my boy, you keep those herbs
+on, and you’ll never feel your scratches. I know a thing or two for all
+I’m crazy, and you, my own grandson! Dear, dear, I’m glad his Holiness
+the High Priest adopted you when Pharaoh--Osiris bless his holy
+name--made an end of his son; you look so bonny. I warrant the real
+Harmachis could not have killed a lion like that. Give me the common
+blood, I say--it’s so lusty.”
+
+     [*] The soul when it has been absorbed in the Godhead.--
+     Editor.
+
+“You know too much and talk too fast,” grumbled the spy, now quite
+deceived. “Well, he is a brave youth. Here, you men, bear this body back
+to Abouthis, and some of you stop and help me skin the lion. We’ll send
+the skin to you, young man,” he went on; “not that you deserve it: to
+attack a lion like that was the act of a fool, and a fool deserves what
+he gets--destruction. Never attack the strong until you are stronger.”
+
+But for my part I went home wondering.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+OF THE REBUKE OF AMENEMHAT; OF THE PRAYER OF HARMACHIS; AND OF THE SIGN
+GIVEN BY THE HOLY GODS
+
+For a while as I, Harmachis, went, the juice of the green herbs which
+the old wife, Atoua, had placed upon my wounds caused me much smart,
+but presently the pain ceased. And, of a truth, I believe that there was
+virtue in them, for within two days my flesh healed up, so that after a
+time no marks remained. But I bethought me that I had disobeyed the word
+of the old High Priest, Amenemhat, who was called my father. For till
+this day I knew not that he was in truth my father according to the
+flesh, having been taught that his own son was slain as I have written;
+and that he had been pleased, with the sanction of the Divine ones, to
+take me as an adopted son and rear me up, that I might in due season
+fulfil an office about the Temple. Therefore I was much troubled, for I
+feared the old man, who was very terrible in his anger, and ever spoke
+with the cold voice of Wisdom. Nevertheless, I determined to go in
+to him and confess my fault and bear such punishment as he should be
+pleased to put upon me. So with the red spear in my hand, and the red
+wounds on my breast, I passed through the outer court of the great
+temple and came to the door of the place where the High Priest dwelt. It
+is a great chamber, sculptured round about with the images of the solemn
+Gods, and the sunlight comes to it in the daytime by an opening cut
+through the stones of the massy roof. But at night it was lit by a
+swinging lamp of bronze. I passed in without noise, for the door was
+not altogether shut, and, pushing my way through the heavy curtains that
+were beyond, I stood with a beating heart within the chamber.
+
+The lamp was lit, for the darkness had fallen, and by its light I saw
+the old man seated in a chair of ivory and ebony at a table of stone on
+which were spread mystic writings of the words of Life and Death. But
+he read no more, for he slept, and his long white beard rested upon the
+table like the beard of a dead man. The soft light from the lamp fell
+on him, on the papyri and the gold ring upon his hand, where were graven
+the symbols of the Invisible One, but all around was shadow. It fell on
+the shaven head, on the white robe, on the cedar staff of priesthood
+at his side, and on the ivory of the lion-footed chair; it showed
+the mighty brow of power, the features cut in kingly mould, the white
+eyebrows, and the dark hollows of the deep-set eyes. I looked and
+trembled, for there was about him that which was more than the dignity
+of man. He had lived so long with the Gods, and so long kept company
+with them and with thoughts divine, he was so deeply versed in all those
+mysteries which we do but faintly discern, here in this upper air, that
+even now, before his time, he partook of the nature of the Osiris, and
+was a thing to shake humanity with fear.
+
+I stood and gazed, and as I stood he opened his dark eyes, but looked
+not on me, nor turned his head; and yet he saw me and spoke.
+
+“Why hast thou been disobedient to me, my son?” he said. “How came it
+that thou wentest forth against the lion when I bade thee not?”
+
+“How knowest thou, my father, that I went forth?” I asked in fear.
+
+“How know I? Are there, then, no other ways of knowledge than by the
+senses? Ah, ignorant child! was not my Spirit with thee when the lion
+sprang upon thy companion? Did I not pray Those set about thee to
+protect thee, to make sure thy thrust when thou didst drive the spear
+into the lion’s throat! How came it that thou wentest forth, my son?”
+
+“The boaster taunted me,” I answered, “and I went.”
+
+“Yes, I know it; and, because of the hot blood of youth, I forgive thee,
+Harmachis. But now listen to me, and let my words sink into thy
+heart like the waters of Sihor into the thirsty sand at the rising of
+Sirius.[*] Listen to me. The boaster was sent to thee as a temptation,
+he was sent as a trial of thy strength, and see! it has not been equal
+to the burden. Therefore thy hour is put back. Hadst thou been strong
+in this matter, the path had been made plain to thee even now. But thou
+hast failed, and therefore thy hour is put back.”
+
+     [*] The dog-star, whose appearance marked the commencement
+     of the overflow of the Nile.--Editor.
+
+“I understand thee not, my father,” I answered.
+
+“What was it, then, my son, that the old wife, Atoua, said to thee down
+by the bank of the canal?”
+
+Then I told him all that the old wife had said.
+
+“And thou believest, Harmachis, my son?”
+
+“Nay,” I answered; “how should I believe such tales? Surely she is mad.
+All the people know her for mad.”
+
+Now for the first time he looked towards me, who was standing in the
+shadow.
+
+“My son! my son!” he cried; “thou art wrong. She is not mad. The woman
+spoke the truth; she spoke not of herself, but of the voice within her
+that cannot lie. For this Atoua is a prophetess and holy. Now learn thou
+the destiny that the Gods of Egypt have given to thee to fulfil, and woe
+be unto thee if by any weakness thou dost fail therein! Listen: thou art
+no stranger adopted into my house and the worship of the Temple; thou
+art my very son, saved to me by this same woman. But, Harmachis, thou
+art more than this, for in thee and me alone yet flows the Imperial
+blood of Egypt. Thou and I alone of men alive are descended, without
+break or flaw, from that Pharaoh Nekt-nebf whom Ochus the Persian drove
+from Egypt. The Persian came and the Persian went, and after the Persian
+came the Macedonian, and now for nigh upon three hundred years the
+Lagidæ have usurped the double crown, defiling the land of Khem and
+corrupting the worship of its Gods. And mark thou this: but now, two
+weeks since, Ptolemy Neus Dionysus, Ptolemy Aulêtes the Piper, who would
+have slain thee, is dead; and but now hath the Eunuch Pothinus, that
+very eunuch who came hither, years ago, to cut thee off, set at naught
+the will of his master, the dead Aulêtes, and placed the boy Ptolemy
+upon the throne. And therefore his sister Cleopatra, that fierce and
+beautiful girl, has fled into Syria; and there, if I err not, she will
+gather her armies and make war upon her brother Ptolemy: for by her
+father’s will she was left joint-sovereign with him. And, meanwhile,
+mark thou this, my son: the Roman eagle hangs on high, waiting with
+ready talons till such time as he may fall upon the fat wether Egypt and
+rend him. And mark again: the people of Egypt are weary of the foreign
+yoke, they hate the memory of the Persians, and they are sick at heart
+of being named ‘Men of Macedonia’ in the markets of Alexandria. The
+whole land mutters and murmurs beneath the yoke of the Greek and the
+shadow of the Roman.
+
+“Have we not been oppressed? Have not our children been butchered and
+our gains wrung from us to fill the bottomless greed and lust of the
+Lagidæ? Have not the temples been forsaken?--ay, have not the majesties
+of the Eternal Gods been set at naught by these Grecian babblers, who
+have dared to meddle with the immortal truths, and name the Most High by
+another name--by the name of Serapis--confounding the substance of the
+Invisible? Does not Egypt cry aloud for freedom?--and shall she cry in
+vain? Nay, nay, for thou, my son, art the appointed way of deliverance.
+To thee, being sunk in eld, I have decreed my rights. Already thy name
+is whispered in many a sanctuary, from Abu to Athu; already priests and
+people swear allegiance, even by the sacred symbols, unto him who shall
+be declared to them. Still, the time is not yet; thou art too green a
+sapling to bear the weight of such a storm. But to-day thou wast tried
+and found wanting.
+
+“He who would serve the Gods, Harmachis, must put aside the failings of
+the flesh. Taunts must not move him, nor any lusts of man. Thine is a
+high mission, but this thou must learn. If thou learn it not, thou shalt
+fail therein; and then, my curse be on thee! and the curse of Egypt,
+and the curse of Egypt’s broken Gods! For know thou this, that even the
+Gods, who are immortal, may, in the interwoven scheme of things, lean
+upon the man who is their instrument, as a warrior on his sword. And woe
+be to the sword that snaps in the hour of battle, for it shall be thrown
+aside to rust or perchance be melted with fire! Therefore, make thy
+heart pure and high and strong; for thine is no common lot, and thine
+no mortal meed. Triumph, Harmachis, and in glory thou shalt go--in glory
+here and hereafter! Fail, and woe--woe be on thee!”
+
+He paused and bowed his head, and then went on:
+
+“Of these matters thou shalt hear more hereafter. Meanwhile, thou
+hast much to learn. To-morrow I will give thee letters, and thou shalt
+journey down the Nile, past white-walled Memphis to Annu. There thou
+shalt sojourn certain years, and learn more of our ancient wisdom
+beneath the shadow of those secret pyramids of which thou, too, art the
+Hereditary High Priest that is to be. And meanwhile, I will sit here and
+watch, for my hour is not yet, and, by the help of the Gods, spin the
+web of Death wherein thou shalt catch and hold the wasp of Macedonia.
+
+“Come hither, my son; come hither and kiss me on the brow, for thou art
+my hope, and all the hope of Egypt. Be but true, soar to the eagle crest
+of destiny, and thou shalt be glorious here and hereafter. Be false,
+fail, and I will spit upon thee, and thou shalt be accursed, and thy
+soul shall remain in bondage till that hour when, in the slow flight
+of time, the evil shall once more grow to good and Egypt shall again be
+free.”
+
+I drew near, trembling, and kissed him on the brow. “May all these
+things come upon me, and more,” I said, “if I fail thee, my father!”
+
+“Nay!” he cried, “not me, not me; but rather those whose will I do. And
+now go, my son, and ponder in thy heart, and in thy secret heart digest
+my words; mark what thou shalt see, and gather up the dew of wisdom,
+making thee ready for the battle. Fear not for thyself, thou art
+protected from all ill. No harm may touch thee from without; thyself
+alone can be thine own enemy. I have said.”
+
+Then I went forth with a full heart. The night was very still, and none
+were stirring in the temple courts. I hurried through them, and reached
+the entrance to the pylon that is at the outer gate. Then, seeking
+solitude, and, as it were, to draw near to heaven, I climbed the pylon’s
+two hundred steps, until at length I reached the massive roof. Here I
+leaned my breast against the parapet, and looked forth. As I looked,
+the red edge of the full moon floated up over the Arabian hills, and
+her rays fell upon the pylon where I stood and the temple walls beyond,
+lighting the visages of the carven Gods. Then the cold light struck the
+stretch of well-tilled lands, now whitening to the harvest, and as the
+heavenly lamp of Isis passed up to the sky, her rays crept slowly down
+to the valley, where Sihor, father of the land of Khem, rolls on toward
+the sea.
+
+Now the bright beams kissed the water that smiled an answer back, and
+now mountain and valley, river, temple, town, and plain were flooded
+with white light, for Mother Isis was arisen, and threw her gleaming
+robe across the bosom of the earth. It was beautiful, with the beauty
+of a dream, and solemn as the hour after death. Mightily, indeed, the
+temples towered up against the face of night. Never had they seemed so
+grand to me as in that hour--those eternal shrines, before whose walls
+Time himself shall wither. And it was to be mine to rule this moonlit
+land; mine to preserve those sacred shrines, and cherish the honour of
+their Gods; mine to cast out the Ptolemy and free Egypt from the foreign
+yoke! In my veins ran the blood of those great Kings who await the
+day of Resurrection, sleeping in the tombs of the valley of Thebes.
+My spirit swelled within me as I dreamed upon this glorious destiny,
+I closed my hands, and there, upon the pylon, I prayed as I had never
+prayed before to the Godhead, who is called by many names, and in many
+forms made manifest.
+
+“O Amen,” I prayed, “God of Gods, who hast been from the beginning; Lord
+of Truth, who art, and of whom all are, who givest out thy Godhead and
+gatherest it up again; in the circle of whom the Divine ones move
+and are, who wast from all time the Self-begot, and who shalt be till
+time--hearken unto me.[*]
+
+     [*] For a somewhat similar definition of the Godhead see the
+     funeral papyrus of Nesikhonsu, a Princess of the Twenty-
+     first Dynasty.--Editor.
+
+“O Amen--Osiris, the sacrifice by whom we are justified, Lord of the
+Region of the Winds, Ruler of the Ages, Dweller in the West, the Supreme
+in Amenti, hearken unto me.
+
+“O Isis, great Mother Goddess, mother of the Horus--mysterious Mother,
+Sister, Spouse, hearken unto me. If, indeed, I am the chosen of the Gods
+to carry out the purpose of the Gods, let a sign be given me, even now,
+to seal my life to the life above. Stretch out your arms towards me, O
+ye Gods, and uncover the glory of your countenance. Hear! ah, hear me!”
+ And I cast myself upon my knees and lifted up my eyes to heaven.
+
+And as I knelt, a cloud grew upon the face of the moon covering it up,
+so that the night became dark, and the silence deepened all around--even
+the dogs far below in the city ceased to howl, while the silence grew
+and grew till it was heavy as death. I felt my spirit lifted up within
+me, and my hair rose upon my head. Then of a sudden the mighty pylon
+seemed to rock beneath my feet, a great wind beat about my brows and a
+voice spoke within my heart:
+
+“Behold a sign! Possess thyself in patience, O Harmachis!”
+
+And as the voice spoke, a cold hand touched my hand, and left somewhat
+within it. Then the cloud rolled from the face of the moon, the wind
+passed, the pylon ceased to tremble, and the night was as the night had
+been.
+
+As the light came back, I gazed upon that which had been left within my
+hand. It was a bud of the holy lotus new breaking into bloom, and from
+it came a most sweet scent.
+
+And while I gazed behold! the lotus passed from my grasp and was gone,
+leaving me astonished.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+OF THE DEPARTURE OF HARMACHIS AND OF HIS MEETING WITH HIS UNCLE SEPA,
+THE HIGH PRIEST OF ANNU EL RA; OF HIS LIFE AT ANNU, AND OF THE WORDS OF
+SEPA
+
+At the dawning of the next day I was awakened by a priest of the temple,
+who brought word to me to make ready for the journey of which my father
+had spoken, inasmuch as there was an occasion for me to pass down the
+river to Annu el Ra. Now this is the Heliopolis of the Greeks, whither I
+should go in the company of some priests of Ptah at Memphis who had come
+hither to Abouthis to lay the body of one of their great men in the tomb
+that had been prepared near the resting place of the blessed Osiris.
+
+So I made ready, and the same evening, having received letters and
+embraced my father and those about the temple who were dear to me, I
+passed down the banks of Sihor, and we sailed with the south wind.
+As the pilot stood upon the prow and with a rod in his hand bade the
+sailor-men loosen the stakes by which the vessel was moored to the
+banks, the old wife, Atoua, hobbled up, her basket of simples in her
+hand, and, calling out farewell, threw a sandal after me for good
+chance, which sandal I kept for many years.
+
+So we sailed, and for six days passed down the wonderful river, making
+fast each night at some convenient spot. But when I lost sight of the
+familiar things that I had seen day by day since I had eyes to see, and
+found myself alone among strange faces, I felt very sore at heart, and
+would have wept had I not been ashamed. And of all the wonderful things
+I saw I will not write here, for, though they were new to me, have they
+not been known to men since such time as the Gods ruled in Egypt? But
+the priests who were with me showed me no little honour and expounded to
+me what were the things I saw.
+
+On the morning of the seventh day we came to Memphis, the city of
+the White Hall. Here, for three days I rested from my journey and was
+entertained of the priests of the wonderful Temple of Ptah the Creator,
+and shown the beauties of the great and marvellous city. Also I was led
+in secret by the High Priest and two others into the holy presence of
+the God Apis, the Ptah who deigns to dwell among men in the form of a
+bull. The God was black, and on his forehead there was a white square,
+on his back was a white mark shaped like an eagle, beneath his tongue
+was the likeness of a scarabæus, in his tail were double hairs, and a
+plate of pure gold hung between his horns. I entered the place of the
+God and worshipped, while the High Priest and those with him stood
+aside, watching earnestly. And when I had worshipped, saying the words
+which had been told me, the God knelt, and lay down before me. Then
+the High Priest and those with him, who, as I heard in after time, were
+great men of Upper Egypt, approached wondering, and, saying no word,
+made obeisance to me because of the omen. And many other things I saw in
+Memphis that are too long to write of here.
+
+On the fourth day some priests of Annu came to lead me to Sepa, my
+uncle, the High Priest of Annu. So, having bidden farewell to those of
+Memphis, we crossed the river and rode on asses two parts of a day’s
+journey through many villages, which we found in great poverty because
+of the oppression of the tax-gatherers. Also, as we went, I saw for
+the first time the great pyramids that are beyond the image of the God
+Horemkhu, that Sphinx whom the Greeks name Harmachis, and the Temples of
+the Divine Mother Isis, Queen of the Memnonia, and the God Osiris, Lord
+of Rosatou, of which temples, together with the Temple of the worship
+of the Divine Menkau-ra, I, Harmachis, am by right Divine the Hereditary
+High Priest. I saw them and marvelled at their greatness and the white
+carven limestone, and red granite of Syene, that flashed the sun’s rays
+back to heaven. But at this time I knew nothing of the treasure that was
+hid in _Her_, which is the third among the pyramids--would I had never
+known of it!
+
+And so at last we came within sight of Annu, which after Memphis has
+been seen is no large town, but stands on raised ground, before which
+are lakes fed by a canal. Behind the town is the inclosed field of the
+Temple of the God Ra.
+
+We dismounted at the pylon, and were met beneath the portico by a man
+not great of stature, but of noble aspect, having his head shaven, and
+with dark eyes that twinkled like the further stars.
+
+“Hold!” he cried, in a great voice which fitted his weak body but ill.
+“Hold! I am Sepa, who opens the mouth of the Gods!”
+
+“And I,” I said, “am Harmachis, son of Amenemhat, Hereditary High Priest
+and Ruler of the Holy City Abouthis; and I bear letters to thee, O
+Sepa!”
+
+“Enter,” he said. “Enter!” scanning me all the while with his twinkling
+eyes. “Enter, my son!” And he took me and led me to a chamber in the
+inner hall, closed to the door, and then, having glanced at the letters
+that I brought, of a sudden he fell upon my neck and embraced me.
+
+“Welcome,” he cried, “welcome, son of my own sister, and hope of Khem!
+Not in vain have I prayed the Gods that I might live to look upon thy
+face and impart to thee the wisdom which perchance I alone have mastered
+of those who are left alive in Egypt. There are few whom it is lawful
+that I should teach. But thine is the great destiny, and thine shall be
+the ears to hear the lessons of the Gods.”
+
+And he embraced me once more and bade me go bathe and eat, saying that
+on the morrow he would speak with me further.
+
+This of a truth he did, and at such length that I will forbear to set
+down all he said both then and afterwards, for if I did so there would
+be no papyrus left in Egypt when the task was ended. Therefore, having
+much to tell and but little time to tell it, I will pass over the events
+of the years that followed.
+
+For this was the manner of my life. I rose early, I attended the worship
+of the Temple, and I gave my days to study. I learnt of the rites of
+religion and their meaning, and of the beginning of the Gods and the
+beginning of the Upper World. I learnt of the mystery of the movements
+of the stars, and of how the earth rolls on among them. I was instructed
+in that ancient knowledge which is called magic, and in the way of
+interpretation of dreams, and of the drawing nigh to God. I was taught
+the language of symbols and their outer and inner secrets. I became
+acquainted with the eternal laws of Good and Evil, and with the mystery
+of that trust which is held of man; also I learnt the secrets of the
+pyramids--which I would that I had never known. Further, I read the
+records of the past, and of the acts and words of the ancient kings who
+were before me since the rule of Horus upon earth; and I was made to
+know all craft of state, the lore of earth, and with it the history of
+Greece and Rome. Also I learnt the Grecian and Roman tongues, of which
+indeed I already had some knowledge--and all this while, for five long
+years, I kept my hands clean and my heart pure, and did no evil in the
+sight of God or man; but laboured heavily to acquire all things, and to
+prepare myself for the destiny that awaited me.
+
+Twice every year greetings and letters came from my father Amenemhat,
+and twice every year I sent back my answers asking if the time had come
+to cease from labour. And so the days of my probation sped away till I
+grew faint and weary at heart, for being now a man, ay and learned, I
+longed to make a beginning of the life of men. And often I wondered if
+this talk and prophecy of the things that were to be was but a dream
+born of the brains of men whose wish ran before their thought. I was,
+indeed, of the Royal blood, that I knew: for my uncle, Sepa the Priest,
+showed me a secret record of the descent, traced without break from
+father to son, and graven in mystic symbols on a tablet of the stone
+of Syene. But of what avail was it to be Royal by right when Egypt, my
+heritage, was a slave--a slave to do the pleasure and minister to the
+luxury of the Macedonian Lagidæ--ay, and when she had been so long a
+serf that, perchance, she had forgotten how to put off the servile smile
+of Bondage and once more to look across the world with Freedom’s happy
+eyes?
+
+Then I bethought me of my prayer upon the pylon tower of Abouthis and of
+the answer given to my prayer, and wondered if that, too, were a dream.
+
+And one night, as, weary with study, I walked within the sacred grove
+that is in the garden of the temple, and mused thus, I met my uncle
+Sepa, who also was walking and thinking.
+
+“Hold!” he cried in his great voice; “why is thy face so sad, Harmachis?
+Has the last problem that we studied overwhelmed thee?”
+
+“Nay, my uncle,” I answered, “I am overwhelmed indeed, but not of the
+problem; it was a light one. My heart is heavy, for I am weary of life
+within these cloisters, and the piled-up weight of knowledge crushes me.
+It is of no avail to store up force which cannot be used.”
+
+“Ah, thou art impatient, Harmachis,” he answered; “it is ever the way
+of foolish youth. Thou wouldst taste of the battle; thou dost tire of
+watching the breakers fall upon the beach, thou wouldst plunge into
+them and venture the desperate hazard of the war. And so thou wouldst be
+going, Harmachis? The bird would fly the nest as, when they are grown,
+the swallows fly from the eaves of the Temple. Well, it shall be as
+thou desirest; the hour is at hand. I have taught thee all that I have
+learned, and methinks that the pupil has outrun his master,” and he
+paused and wiped his bright black eyes, for he was very sad at the
+thought of my departure.
+
+“And whither shall I go, my uncle?” I asked rejoicing; “back to Abouthis
+to be initiated into the mysteries of the Gods?”
+
+“Ay, back to Abouthis, and from Abouthis to Alexandria, and from
+Alexandria to the Throne of thy fathers, Harmachis! Listen, now; things
+are thus: Thou knowest how Cleopatra, the Queen, fled into Syria when
+that false eunuch Pothinus set the will of her father Aulêtes at naught
+and raised her brother Ptolemy to the sole lordship of Egypt. Thou
+knowest also how she came back, like a Queen indeed, with a great army
+in her train, and lay at Pelusium, and how at this juncture the mighty
+Cæsar, that great man, that greatest of all men, sailed with a weak
+company hither to Alexandria from Pharsalia’s bloody field in hot
+pursuit of Pompey. But he found Pompey already dead, having been basely
+murdered by Achillas, the General, and Lucius Septimius, the chief of
+the Roman legions in Egypt, and thou knowest how the Alexandrians were
+troubled at his coming and would have slain his lictors. Then, as
+thou hast heard, Cæsar seized Ptolemy, the young King, and his sister
+Arsinoë, and bade the army of Cleopatra and the army of Ptolemy, under
+Achillas, which lay facing each other at Pelusium, disband and go
+their ways. And for answer Achillas marched on Cæsar, and besieged him
+straitly in the Bruchium at Alexandria, and so, for a while, things
+were, and none knew who should reign in Egypt. But then Cleopatra took
+up the dice, and threw them, and this was the throw she made--in truth,
+it was a bold one. For, leaving the army at Pelusium, she came at dusk
+to the harbour of Alexandria, and alone with the Sicilian Apollodorus
+entered and landed. Then Apollodorus bound her in a bale of rich rugs,
+such as are made in Syria, and sent the rugs as a present to Cæsar. And
+when the rugs were unbound in the palace, behold! within them was the
+fairest girl on all the earth--ay, and the most witty and the most
+learned. And she seduced the great Cæsar--even his weight of years did
+not avail to protect him from her charms--so that, as a fruit of his
+folly, he wellnigh lost his life, and all the glory he had gained in a
+hundred wars.”
+
+“The fool!” I broke in--“the fool! Thou callest him great; but how can
+the man be truly great who has no strength to stand against a woman’s
+wiles? Cæsar, with the world hanging on his word! Cæsar, at whose breath
+forty legions marched and changed the fate of peoples! Cæsar the cold!
+the far-seeing! the hero!--Cæsar to fall like a ripe fruit into a false
+girl’s lap! Why, in the issue, of what common clay was this Roman Cæsar,
+and how poor a thing!”
+
+But Sepa looked at me and shook his head. “Be not so rash, Harmachis,
+and talk not with so proud a voice. Knowest thou not that in every suit
+of mail there is a joint, and woe to him who wears the harness if the
+sword should search it out! For Woman, in her weakness, is yet the
+strongest force upon the earth. She is the helm of all things human; she
+comes in many shapes and knocks at many doors; she is quick and patient,
+and her passion is not ungovernable like that of man, but as a gentle
+steed that she can guide e’en where she will, and as occasion offers can
+now bit up and now give rein. She has a captain’s eye, and stout must be
+that fortress of the heart in which she finds no place of vantage. Does
+thy blood beat fast in youth? She will outrun it, nor will her kisses
+tire. Art thou set toward ambition? She will unlock thy inner heart,
+and show thee roads that lead to glory. Art thou worn and weary? She has
+comfort in her breast. Art thou fallen? She can lift thee up, and to the
+illusion of thy sense gild defeat with triumph. Ay, Harmachis, she can
+do these things, for Nature ever fights upon her side; and while she
+does them she can deceive and shape a secret end in which thou hast
+no part. And thus Woman rules the world. For her are wars; for her men
+spend their strength in gathering gains; for her they do well and ill,
+and seek for greatness, to find oblivion. But still she sits like yonder
+Sphinx, and smiles; and no man has ever read all the riddle of her
+smile, or known all the mystery of her heart. Mock not! mock not!
+Harmachis; for he must be great indeed who can defy the power of Woman,
+which, pressing round him like the invisible air, is often strongest
+when the senses least discover it.”
+
+I laughed aloud. “Thou speakest earnestly, my uncle Sepa,” I said;
+“one might almost think that thou hadst not come unscathed through this
+fierce fire of temptation. Well, for myself, I fear not woman and her
+wiles; I know naught of them, and naught do I wish to know; and I still
+hold that this Cæsar was a fool. Had I stood where Cæsar stood, to cool
+its wantonness that bale of rugs should have been rolled down the palace
+steps, into the harbour mud.”
+
+“Nay, cease! cease!” he cried aloud. “It is evil to speak thus; may the
+Gods avert the omen and preserve to thee this cold strength of which
+thou boastest. Oh! man, thou knowest not!--thou in thy strength and
+beauty that is without compare, in the power of thy learning and the
+sweetness of thy tongue--thou knowest not! The world where thou must mix
+is not a sanctuary as that of the Divine Isis. But there--it may be so!
+Pray that thy heart’s ice may never melt, so thou shalt be great and
+happy and Egypt shall be delivered. And now let me take up my tale--thou
+seest, Harmachis, even in so grave a story woman claims her place. The
+young Ptolemy, Cleopatra’s brother, being loosed of Cæsar, treacherously
+turned on him. Then Cæsar and Mithridates stormed the camp of Ptolemy,
+who took to flight across the river. But his boat was sunk by the
+fugitives who pressed upon it, and such was the miserable end of
+Ptolemy.
+
+“Thereon, the war being ended, though she had but then borne him a son,
+Cæsarion, Cæsar appointed the younger Ptolemy to rule with Cleopatra,
+and be her husband in name, and he himself departed for Rome, bearing
+with him the beautiful Princess Arsinoë to follow his triumph in her
+chains. But the great Cæsar is no more. He died as he had lived, in
+blood, and right royally. And but now Cleopatra, the Queen, if my
+tidings may be trusted, has slain Ptolemy, her brother and husband, by
+poison, and taken the child Cæsarion to be her fellow on the throne,
+which she holds by the help of the Roman legions, and, as they say,
+of young Sextus Pompeius, who has succeeded Cæsar in her love. But,
+Harmachis, the whole land boils and seethes against her. In every city
+the children of Khem talk of the deliverer who is to come--and thou art
+he, Harmachis. The time is almost ripe. The hour is nigh at hand. Go
+thou back to Abouthis and learn the last secrets of the Gods, and
+meet those who shall direct the bursting of the storm. Then act,
+Harmachis--act, I say, and strike home for Khem, rid the land of the
+Roman and the Greek, and take thy place upon the throne of thy divine
+fathers and be a King of men. For to this end thou wast born, O Prince!”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+OF THE RETURN OF HARMACHIS TO ABOUTHIS; OF THE CELEBRATION OF THE
+MYSTERIES; OF THE CHANT OF ISIS; AND OF THE WARNING OF AMENEMHAT
+
+On the next day I embraced my uncle Sepa, and with an eager heart
+departed from Annu back to Abouthis. To be short, I came thither in
+safety, having been absent five years and a month, being now no more
+a boy but a man full grown and having my mind well stocked with the
+knowledge of men and the ancient wisdom of Egypt. So once again I
+saw the old lands, and the known faces, though of these some few were
+wanting, having been gathered to Osiris. Now, as, riding across the
+fields, I came nigh to the enclosure of the Temple, the priests and
+people issued forth to bid me welcome, and with them the old wife,
+Atoua, who, but for a few added wrinkles that Time had cut upon her
+forehead, was just as she had been when she threw the sandal after me
+five long years before.
+
+“_La! la! la!_” she cried; “and there thou art, my bonny lad; more bonny
+even than thou wert! _La!_ what a man! what shoulders! and what a face
+and form! Ah, it does an old woman credit to have dandled thee! But
+thou art over-pale; those priests down there at Annu have starved thee,
+surely? Starve not thyself: the Gods love not a skeleton. ‘Empty stomach
+makes empty head’ as they say at Alexandria. But this is a glad hour;
+ay, a joyous hour. Come in--come in!” and as I lighted down she embraced
+me.
+
+But I thrust her aside. “My father! where is my father?” I cried; “I see
+him not!”
+
+“Nay, nay, have no fear,” she answered; “his Holiness is well; he waits
+thee in his chamber. There, pass on. O happy day! O happy Abouthis!”
+
+So I went, or rather ran, and reached the chamber of which I have
+written, and there at the table sat my father, Amenemhat, the same as he
+had been, but very old. I came to him and, kneeling before him, kissed
+his hand, and he blessed me.
+
+“Look up, my son,” he said, “let my old eyes gaze upon thy face, that I
+may read thy heart.”
+
+So I lifted up my head, and he looked upon me long and earnestly.
+
+“I read thee,” he said at length; “thou art pure and strong in wisdom;
+I have not been deceived in thee. Oh, the years have been lonely; but I
+did well to send thee hence. Now, tell me of thy life; for thy letters
+have told me little, and thou canst not know, my son, how hungry is a
+father’s heart.”
+
+And so I told him; we sat far into the night and talked together. And
+in the end he bade me know that I must now prepare to be initiated into
+those last mysteries that are learned of the chosen of the Gods.
+
+And so it came about that for a space of three months I prepared myself
+according to the holy customs. I ate no meat. I was constant in the
+sanctuaries, in the study of the secrets of the Great Sacrifice and of
+the woe of the Holy Mother. I watched and prayed before the altars. I
+lifted up my soul to God; ay, in dreams I communed with the Invisible,
+till at length earth and earth’s desires seemed to pass from me. I
+longed no more for the glory of this world, my heart hung above it as
+an eagle on his outstretched wings, and the voice of the world’s blame
+could not stir it, and the vision of its beauty brought no delight. For
+above me was the vast vault of heaven, where in unalterable procession
+the stars pass on, drawing after them the destinies of men; where the
+Holy Ones sit upon their burning thrones, and watch the chariot-wheels
+of Fate as they roll from sphere to sphere. O hours of holy
+contemplation! who, having once tasted of your joy could wish again to
+grovel on the earth? O vile flesh to drag us down! I would that thou
+hadst then altogether fallen from me, and left my spirit free to seek
+Osiris!
+
+The months of probation passed but too swiftly, and now the holy day
+drew near when I was in truth to be united to the universal Mother.
+Never hath Night so longed for the promise of the Dawn; never hath the
+heart of a lover so passionately desired the sweet coming of his bride,
+as I longed to see Thy glorious face, O Isis! Even now that I have been
+faithless to Thee, and Thou art far from me, O Divine! my soul goes out
+to Thee, and once more I know----But as it is bidden that I should
+draw the veil, and speak of things which have not been told since the
+beginning of this world, let me pass on and reverently set down the
+history of that holy morn.
+
+For seven days the great festival had been celebrated, the suffering of
+the Lord Osiris had been commemorated, the grief of the Mother Isis had
+been sung and glory had been done to the memory of the coming of the
+Divine Child Horus, the Son, the Avenger, the God-begot. All these
+things had been carried out according to the ancient rites. The boats
+had floated on the sacred lake, the priests had scourged themselves
+before the sanctuaries, and the images had been borne through the
+streets at night.
+
+And now, as the sun sank on the seventh day, once more the great
+procession gathered to chant the woes of Isis and tell how the evil was
+avenged. We went in silence from the temple, and passed through the city
+ways. First came those who clear the path, then my father Amenemhat in
+all his priestly robes, and the wand of cedar in his hand. Then, clad
+in pure linen, I, the neophyte, followed alone; and after me the
+white-robed priests, holding aloft banners and emblems of the Gods. Next
+came those who bear the sacred boat, and after them the singers and
+the mourners; while, stretching as far as the eye could reach, all the
+people marched, clad in melancholy black because Osiris was no more. We
+went in silence through the city streets till at length we came to the
+wall of the temple and passed in. And as my father, the High Priest,
+entered beneath the gateway of the outer pylon, a sweet-voiced woman
+singer began to sing the Holy Chant, and thus she sang:
+
+     “Sing we Osiris dead,
+     Lament the fallen head:
+     The light has left the world, the world is grey.
+     Athwart the starry skies
+     The web of Darkness flies,
+     And Isis weeps Osiris passed away.
+     Your tears, ye stars, ye fires, ye rivers, shed,
+     Weep, children of the Nile, weep for your Lord is dead!”
+
+She paused in her most sweet song, and the whole multitude took up the
+melancholy dirge:
+
+     “Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     ‘Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!’”
+
+The chorus ceased, and once again she sang:
+
+     “Within the court divine
+     The Sevenfold sacred shrine
+     We pass, while echoes of the Temple walls
+     Repeat the long lament
+     The sound of sorrow sent
+     Far up within the imperishable halls,
+     Where, each in the other’s arms, the Sisters weep,
+     Isis and Nephthys, o’er His unawaking sleep.”
+
+And then again rolled forth the solemn chorus of a thousand voices:
+
+     “Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     ‘Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!’”
+ It ceased, and sweetly she took up the song:
+
+     “O dweller in the West,
+     Lover and Lordliest,
+     Thy love, thy Sister Isis, calls thee home!
+     Come from thy chamber dun
+     Thou Master of the Sun,
+     Thy shadowy chamber far below the foam!
+     With weary wings and spent
+     Through all the firmament,
+     Through all the horror-haunted ways of Hell,
+     I seek thee near and far,
+     From star to wandering star,
+     Free with the dead that in Amenti dwell.
+     I search the height, the deep, the lands, the skies,
+     Rise from the dead and live, our Lord Osiris, rise!”
+
+     “Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     ‘Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!’”
+
+Now in a strain more high and glad the singer sang:
+
+     “He wakes--from forth the prison
+     We sing Osiris risen,
+     We sing the child that Nout conceived and bare.
+     Thine own love, Isis, waits
+     The Warden of the Gates,
+     She breathes the breath of Life on breast and hair,
+     And in her breast and breath
+     Behold! he waketh,
+     Behold! at length he riseth out of rest;
+     Touched with her holy hands,
+     The Lord of all the Lands,
+     He stirs, he rises from her breath, her breast!
+     But thou, fell Typhon, fly,
+     The judgment day drawn nigh,
+     Fleet on thy track as flame speeds Horus from the sky.”
+
+     “Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     ‘Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!’”
+
+Once more, as we bowed before the Holy, she sang, and sent the full
+breath of her glad music ringing up the everlasting walls till the
+silence quivered with her round notes of melody, and the hearts of those
+who hearkened stirred strangely in the breast. And thus, as we walked,
+she sang the song of Osiris risen, the song of Hope, the song of
+Victory:
+
+     “Sing we the Trinity,
+     Sing we the Holy Three,
+     Sing we, and praise we and worship the Throne,
+     Throne that our Lord hath set--
+     There peace and truth are met
+     There in the Halls of the Holy alone!
+     There in the shadowings
+     Faint of the folded wings,
+     There shall we dwell and rejoice in our rest,
+     We that thy servants are!
+     Horus drive ill afar!
+     Far in the folds of the dark of the West!”
+
+Again, as her notes died away, thundered forth the chorus of all the
+voices:
+
+     “Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     ‘Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!’”
+
+The chanting ceased, and as the sun sank the High Priest raised the
+statue of the living God and held it before the multitude that was now
+gathered in the court of the temple. Then, with a mighty and joyful
+shout of:
+
+“_Osiris our hope! Osiris! Osiris!_”
+
+the people tore their black wrappings from their dress, revealing the
+white robes they wore beneath, and, as one man, they bowed before the
+God, and the feast was ended.
+
+
+But for me the ceremony was only begun, for to-night was the night of my
+initiation. Leaving the inner court I bathed myself, and, clad in pure
+linen, passed, as it is ordained, into an inner, but not the inmost,
+sanctuary, and laid the accustomed offerings on the altar. Then,
+lifting my hands to heaven, I remained for many hours in contemplation,
+striving, by holy thoughts and prayer, to gather up my strength against
+the mighty moment of my trial.
+
+The hours sped slowly in the silence of the temple, till at length the
+door opened and my father Amenemhat, the High Priest, came in, clad
+in white, and leading by the hand the Priest of Isis. For, having been
+married, he did not himself enter into the mysteries of the Holy Mother.
+
+I rose to my feet and stood humbly before them.
+
+“Art thou ready?” said the priest, lifting the lamp he held so that its
+light fell upon my face. “O thou chosen one, art thou ready to see the
+glory of the Goddess face to face?”
+
+“I am ready,” I answered.
+
+“Behold thee,” he said again, in solemn tones, “it is no small thing. If
+thou wilt carry out this thy last desire, understand, royal Harmachis,
+that now this very night thou must die for a while in the flesh, what
+time thy soul shall look on spiritual things. And if thou diest and any
+evil shall be found within thy heart, when thou comest at last into that
+awful presence, woe unto thee, Harmachis, for the breath of life shall
+no more enter in at the gateway of thy mouth, thy body shall utterly
+perish, and what shall befall thy other parts, if I know, I may not
+say.[*] Art thou prepared to be taken to the breast of Her who Was and
+Is and Shall Be, and in all things to do Her holy will; for Her, while
+she shall so command, to put away the thought of earthly woman; and to
+labour always for Her glory till at the end thy life is gathered to Her
+eternal life?”
+
+     [*] According to the Egyptian religion the being Man is
+     composed of four parts: the body, the double or astral shape
+     (_ka_), the soul (_bi_), and the spark of life sprung from
+     the Godhead (_khou_).--Editor.
+
+“I am,” I answered; “lead on.”
+
+“It is well,” said the priest. “Noble Amenemhat, we go hence alone.”
+
+“Farewell, my son,” said my father; “be firm and triumph over things
+spiritual as thou shalt triumph over things earthly. He who would truly
+rule the world must first be lifted up above the world. He must be at
+one with God, for thus only shall he learn the secrets of the Divine.
+But beware! The Gods demand much of those who dare to enter the circle
+of their Divinity. If they go back therefrom, they shall be judged of a
+sharper law, and scourged with a heavier rod, for as their glory is, so
+shall their shame be. Therefore, make thy heart strong, royal Harmachis!
+And when thou speedest down the ways of Night and enterest the Holies,
+remember that from him to whom great gifts have been given shall gifts
+be required again. And now--if, indeed, thy mind be fixed--go whither it
+is not as yet given me to follow thee. Farewell!”
+
+For a moment as my heart weighed these heavy words, I wavered, as well
+as I might. But I was filled with longing to be gathered to the company
+of the Divine ones, and I knew that I had no evil in me, and desired to
+do only the thing that is just. Therefore, having with so much labour
+drawn the bowstring to my ear, I was fain to let fly the shaft. “Lead
+on,” I cried with a loud voice; “lead on, thou holy Priest! I follow
+thee!”
+
+And we went forth.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+OF THE INITIATION OF HARMACHIS; OF HIS VISIONS; OF HIS PASSING TO THE
+CITY THAT IS IN THE PLACE OF DEATH; AND OF THE DECLARATIONS OF ISIS, THE
+MESSENGER
+
+In silence we passed into the Shrine of Isis. It was dark and bare--only
+the feeble light from the lamp gleamed faintly upon the sculptured
+walls, where, in a hundred effigies, the Holy Mother suckled the Holy
+Child.
+
+The priest closed the doors and bolted them. “Once again,” he said, “art
+thou ready, Harmachis?”
+
+“Once again,” I answered, “I am ready.”
+
+He spoke no more; but, having lifted up his hands in prayer, led me to
+the centre of the Holy, and with a swift motion put out the lamp.
+
+“Look before thee, Harmachis!” he cried; and his voice sounded hollow in
+the solemn place.
+
+I gazed and saw nothing. But from the niche that is high in the wall,
+where is hid that sacred symbol of the Goddess on which few may look,
+there came a sound as of the rattling rods of the sistrum.[*] And as I
+listened, awestruck, behold! I saw the outline of the symbol drawn as
+with fire upon the blackness of the air. It hung above my head, and
+rattled while it hung. And, as it turned, I clearly saw the face of
+the Mother Isis that is graven on the one side, and signifies unending
+Birth, and the face of her holy sister, Nephthys, that is graven on the
+other, and signifies the ending of all birth in Death.
+
+     [*] A musical instrument peculiarly sacred to Isis of which
+     the shape and rods had a mystic significance.--Editor.
+
+Slowly it turned and swung as though some mystic dancer trod the air
+above me, and shook it in her hand. But at length the light went out,
+and the rattling ceased.
+
+Then of a sudden the end of the chamber became luminous, and in that
+white light I beheld picture after picture. I saw the ancient Nile
+rolling through deserts to the sea. There were no men upon its banks,
+nor any signs of man, nor any temples to the Gods. Only wild birds moved
+on Sihor’s lonely face, and monstrous brutes plunged and wallowed in his
+waters. The sun sank in majesty behind the Libyan Desert and stained
+the waters red; the mountains towered up towards the silent sky; but in
+mountain, desert, and river there was no sign of human life. Then I knew
+that I saw the world as it had been before man was, and a terror of its
+loneliness entered my soul.
+
+The picture passed and another rose up in its place. Once again I saw
+the banks of Sihor, and on them crowded wild-faced creatures, partaking
+of the nature of the ape more than of the nature of mankind. They fought
+and slew each other. The wild birds sprang up in affright as the fire
+leapt from reed huts given by foemen’s hands to flame and pillage. They
+stole and rent and murdered, dashing out the brains of children with
+axes of stone. And, though no voice told me, I knew that I saw man as
+he was tens of thousands of years ago, when first he marched across the
+earth.
+
+Yet another picture. Again I beheld the banks of Sihor; but on them fair
+cities bloomed like flowers. In and out their gates went men and women,
+passing to and fro from wide, well-tilled lands. But I saw no guards or
+armies, and no weapons of war. All was wisdom, prosperity, and peace.
+And while I wondered, a glorious Figure, clad in raiment that shone
+as flame, came from the gates of a shrine, and the sound of music went
+before and followed after him. He mounted an ivory throne which was set
+in a market-place facing the water: and as the sun sank called in
+all the multitudes to prayer. With one voice they prayed, bending in
+adoration. And I understood that herein was shown the reign of the Gods
+on earth, which was long before the days of Menes.
+
+A change came over the dream. Still the same fair city, but other
+men--men with greed and evil on their faces--who hated the bonds of
+righteous doing, and set their hearts on sin. The evening came; the
+glorious Figure mounted the throne and called to prayer, but none bowed
+themselves in adoration.
+
+“We are aweary of thee!” they cried. “Make Evil King! Slay him! slay
+him! and loose the bonds of Evil! Make Evil King!”
+
+The glorious Shape rose up, gazing with mild eyes upon those wicked men.
+
+“Ye know not what ye ask,” he cried; “but as ye will, so be it! For if
+I die, by me, after much travail, shall ye once again find a path to the
+Kingdom of Good!”
+
+Even as he spoke, a Form, foul and hideous to behold, leapt upon him,
+cursing, slew him, tore him limb from limb, and amidst the clamour of
+the people sat himself upon the throne and ruled. But a Shape whose
+face was veiled passed down from heaven on shadowy wings, and with
+lamentations gathered up the rent fragments of the Being. A moment she
+bent herself upon them, then lifted up her hands and wept. And as she
+wept, behold! from her side there sprang a warrior armed and with a
+face like the face of Ra at noon. He, the Avenger, hurled himself with
+a shout upon the Monster who had usurped the throne, and they closed in
+battle, and, struggling ever in a strait embrace, passed upward to the
+skies.
+
+Then came picture after picture. I saw Powers and Peoples clad in
+various robes and speaking many tongues. I saw them pass and pass in
+millions--loving, hating, struggling, dying. Some few were happy and
+some had woe stamped upon their faces; but most bore not the seal of
+happiness nor of woe, but rather that of patience. And ever as they
+passed from age to age, high above in the heavens the Avenger fought
+on with the Evil Thing, while the scale of victory swung now here now
+there. But neither conquered, nor was it given to me to know how the
+battle ended.
+
+And I understood that what I had beheld was the holy vision of the
+struggle between the Good and the Evil Powers. I saw that man was
+created vile, but Those who are above took pity on him, and came down
+to him to make him good and happy, for the two things are one thing. But
+man returned to his wicked way, and then the bright Spirit of Good, who
+is of us called Osiris, but who has many names, offered himself up for
+the evil-doing of the race that had dethroned him. And from him and the
+Divine Mother, of whom all nature is, sprang another spirit who is the
+Protector of us on earth, as Osiris is our justifier in Amenti.
+
+For this is the mystery of the Osiris.
+
+Of a sudden, as I saw the visions, these things became clear to me. The
+mummy cloths of symbol and of ceremony that wrap Osiris round fell from
+him, and I understood the secret of religion, which is Sacrifice.
+
+The pictures passed, and again the priest, my guide, spoke to me.
+
+“Hast thou understood, Harmachis, those things which it has been granted
+thee to see?”
+
+“I have,” I said. “Are the rites ended?”
+
+“Nay, they are but begun. That which follows thou must endure alone!
+Behold I leave thee, to return at the morning light. Once more I warn
+thee. That which thou shalt see, few may look upon and live. In all my
+days I have known but three who dared to face this dread hour, and of
+those three at dawn but one was found alive. Myself, I have not trod
+this path. It is too high for me.”
+
+“Depart,” I said; “my soul is athirst for knowledge. I will dare it.”
+
+He laid his hand upon my shoulder and blessed me. He went. I heard the
+door shut to behind him, the echoes of his footsteps slowly died away.
+
+Then I felt that I was alone, alone in the Holy Place with Things
+which are not of the earth. Silence fell--silence deep and black as the
+darkness which was around me. The silence fell, it gathered as the cloud
+gathered on the face of the moon that night when, a lad, I prayed upon
+the pylon towers. It gathered denser and yet more dense till it seemed
+to creep into my heart and call aloud therein; for utter silence has
+a voice that is more terrible than any cry. I spoke; the echoes of my
+words came back upon me from the walls and seemed to beat me down. The
+stillness was lighter to endure than an echo such as this. What was I
+about to see? Should I die, even now, in the fulness of my youth and
+strength? Terrible were the warnings that had been given to me. I was
+fear-stricken, and bethought me that I would fly. Fly!--fly whither? The
+temple door was barred; I could not fly. I was alone with the Godhead,
+alone with the Power that I had invoked. Nay, my heart was pure--my
+heart was pure. I would face the terror that was to come, ay, even
+though I died.
+
+“Isis, Holy Mother,” I prayed. “Isis, Spouse of Heaven, come unto me, be
+with me now; I faint! be with me now.”
+
+And then I knew that things were not as things had been. The air around
+me began to stir, it rustled as the wings of eagles rustle, it took
+life. Bright eyes gazed upon me, strange whispers shook my soul. Upon
+the darkness were bars of light. They changed and interchanged, they
+moved to and fro and wove mystic symbols which I could not read.
+Swifter and swifter flew that shuttle of the light: the symbols grouped,
+gathered, faded, gathered yet again, faster and still more fast, till my
+eyes could count them no more. Now I was afloat upon a sea of glory; it
+surged and rolled, as the ocean rolls; it tossed me high, it brought me
+low. Glory was piled on glory, splendour heaped on splendour’s head, and
+I rode above it all!
+
+Soon the lights began to pale in the rolling sea of air. Great shadows
+shot across it, lines of darkness pierced it and rushed together on its
+breast, till, at length, I was only a Shape of Flame set like a star on
+the bosom of immeasurable night. Bursts of awful music gathered from far
+away. Miles and miles away I heard them, thrilling faintly through the
+gloom. On they came, nearer and more near, louder and more loud, till
+they swept past, above, below, around me, swept on rushing pinions,
+terrifying and enchanting me. They floated by, ever growing fainter,
+till they died in space. Then others came, and no two were akin. Some
+rattled as ten thousand sistra shaken all to tune. Some rank from the
+brazen throats of unnumbered clarions. Some pealed with a loud, sweet
+chant of voices that were more than human; and some rolled along in the
+slow thunder of a million drums. They passed; their notes were lost in
+dying echoes; and the silence once more pressed in upon me and overcame
+me.
+
+The strength within me began to fail. I felt my life ebbing at its
+springs. Death drew near to me and his shape was _Silence_. He entered
+at my heart, entered with a sense of numbing cold, but my brain was
+still alive, I could yet think. I knew that I was drawing near the
+confines of the Dead. Nay, I was dying fast, and oh, the horror of it!
+I strove to pray and could not; there was no more time for prayer. One
+struggle and the stillness crept into my brain. The terror passed; an
+unfathomable weight of sleep pressed me down. I was dying, I was dying,
+and then--nothingness!
+
+_I was dead!_
+
+A change--life came back to me, but between the new life and the life
+that had been was a gulf and difference. Once again I stood in the
+darkness of the shrine, but it blinded me no more. It was clear as the
+light of day, although it still was black. I stood; and yet it was not
+I who stood, but rather my spiritual part, for at my feet lay my dead
+Self. There it lay, rigid and still, a stamp of awful calm sealed upon
+its face, while I gazed on it.
+
+And as I gazed, filled with wonder, I was caught up on the Wings of
+Flame and whirled away! away! faster than the lightnings flash. Down I
+fell, through depths of empty space set here and there with glittering
+crowns of stars. Down for ten million miles and ten times ten million,
+till at length I hovered over a place of soft, unchanging light, wherein
+were Temples, Palaces, and Abodes, such as no man ever saw in the
+visions of his sleep. They were built of Flame, and they were built of
+Blackness. Their spires pierced up and up; their great courts stretched
+around. Even as I hovered they changed continually to the eye; what was
+Flame became Blackness, what was Blackness became Flame. Here was the
+flash of crystal, and there the blaze of gems shone even through the
+glory that rolls around the city which is in the Place of Death. There
+were trees, and their voice as they rustled was the voice of music;
+there was air, and, as it blew, its breath was the sobbing notes of
+song.
+
+Shapes, changing, mysterious, wonderful, rushed up to meet me, and bore
+me down till I seemed to stand upon another earth.
+
+“Who comes?” cried a great Voice.
+
+“Harmachis,” answered the Shapes, that changed continually. “Harmachis
+who hath been summoned from the earth to look upon the face of Her that
+Was and Is and Shall Be. Harmachis, Child of Earth!”
+
+“Throw back the Gates and open wide the Doors!” pealed the awful Voice.
+“Throw back the Gates and open wide the Doors; seal up his lips in
+silence, lest his voice jar upon the harmonies of Heaven, take away his
+sight lest he see that which may not be seen, and let Harmachis, who
+hath been summoned, pass down the path that leads to the place of the
+Unchanging. Pass on, Child of Earth; but before thou goest, look up that
+thou mayest learn how far thou art removed from Earth.”
+
+I looked up. Beyond the glory that shone about the city was black night,
+and high on its bosom twinkled one tiny star.
+
+“Behold the world that thou hast left,” said the Voice, “behold and
+tremble.”
+
+Then my lips and eyes were sealed with silence and with darkness, so
+that I was dumb and blind. The Gates rolled back, the Doors swung wide,
+and I was swept into the city that is in the Place of Death. I was swept
+swiftly I know not whither, till at length I stood upon my feet. Again
+the great Voice pealed:
+
+“Draw the veil of blackness from his eyes, unseal the silence on his
+lips, that Harmachis, Child of Earth, may see, hear, and understand, and
+make adoration at the Shrine of Her that Was and Is and Shall Be.”
+
+And my lips and eyes were touched once more, so that my sight and speech
+came back.
+
+Behold! I stood within a hall of blackest marble, so lofty that even
+in the rosy light scarce could my vision reach the great groins of the
+roof. Music wailed about its spaces, and all adown its length stood
+winged Spirits fashioned in living fire, and such was the brightness of
+their forms that I could not look on them. In its centre was an altar,
+small and square, and I stood before the empty altar. Then again the
+Voice cried:
+
+“O Thou that hast been, art, and shalt be; Thou who, having many names,
+art yet without a name; Measurer of Time; Messenger of God; Guardian of
+the Worlds and the Races that dwell thereon; Universal Mother born of
+Nothingness; Creatix uncreated; Living Splendour without Form, Living
+Form without Substance; Servant of the Invisible; Child of Law; Holder
+of the Scales and Sword of Fate; Vessel of Life, through whom all Life
+flows, to whom it again is gathered; Recorder of Things Done; Executrix
+of Decrees--_Hear!_
+
+“Harmachis the Egyptian, who by Thy will hath been summoned from
+the earth, waits before Thine Altar, with ears unstopped, with
+eyes unsealed, and with an open heart. Hear and descend! Descend, O
+Many-shaped! Descend in Flame! Descend in Sound! Descend in Spirit! Hear
+and descend!”
+
+
+
+The Voice ceased and there was silence. Then through the silence came
+a sound like the booming of the sea. It passed and presently, moved
+thereto by I know not what, I raised my eyes from my hands with which I
+had covered them, and saw a small dark cloud hanging over the Altar in
+and out of which a fiery Serpent climbed.
+
+Then all the Spirits clad in light fell upon the marble floor, and with
+a loud voice adored; but what they said I could not understand. Behold!
+the dark cloud came down and rested on the Altar, the Serpent of fire
+stretched itself towards me, touched me on the forehead with its forky
+tongue and was gone. From within the cloud a Voice sweet and low and
+clear spoke in heavenly accents:
+
+“Depart, ye Ministers, leave Me with my son whom I have summoned.”
+
+Then like arrows rushing from a bow the flame-clad Spirits leapt from
+the ground and sped away.
+
+“O Harmachis,” said the Voice, “be not afraid, I am She whom thou dost
+know as Isis of the Egyptians; but what else I am strive not thou
+to learn, it is beyond thy strength. For I am all things, Life is my
+spirit, and Nature is my raiment. I am the laughter of the babe, I am
+the maiden’s love, I am the mother’s kiss. I am the Child and Servant of
+the Invisible that is God, that is Law, that is Fate--though myself I be
+not God and Fate and Law. When winds blow and oceans roar upon the
+face of the Earth thou hearest my voice; when thou gazest on the starry
+firmament thou seest my countenance; when the spring blooms out in
+flowers, that is my smile, Harmachis. For I am Nature’s self, and all
+her shapes are shapes of Me. I breathe in all that breathes. I wax and
+wane in the changeful moon: I grow and gather in the tides: I rise with
+the suns: I flash with the lightning and thunder in the storms. Nothing
+is too great for the measure of my majesty, nothing is so small that
+I cannot find a home therein. I am in thee and thou art in Me, O
+Harmachis. That which bade thee be bade Me also be. Therefore, though I
+am great and thou art little, have no fear. For we are bound together
+by the common bond of life--that life which flows through suns and stars
+and spaces, through Spirits and the souls of men, welding all Nature to
+a whole that, changing ever, is yet eternally the same.”
+
+I bowed my head--I could not speak, for I was afraid.
+
+“Faithfully hast thou served Me, O my son,” went on the low sweet Voice;
+“greatly thou hast longed to be brought face to face with Me here in
+Amenti; and greatly hast thou dared to accomplish thy desire. For it is
+no small thing to cast off the tabernacle of the Flesh and before the
+appointed time, if only for an hour, put on the raiment of the Spirit.
+And greatly, O my servant and my son, have I, too, desired to look on
+thee there where I am. For the Gods love those who love them, but with a
+wider and deeper love, and under One who is as far from Me as I am from
+thee, mortal, I am a God of Gods. Therefore I have caused thee to be
+brought hither, Harmachis; and therefore I speak to thee, my son, and
+bid thee commune with Me now face to face, as thou didst commune that
+night upon the temple towers of Abouthis. For I was there with thee,
+Harmachis, as I was in ten thousand other worlds. It was I, O Harmachis,
+who laid the lotus in thy hand, giving thee the sign which thou didst
+seek. For thou art of the kingly blood of my children who served Me from
+age to age. And if thou dost not fail thou shalt sit upon that kingly
+throne and restore my ancient worship in its purity, and sweep my
+temples from their defilements. But if thou dost fail, then shall the
+eternal Spirit Isis become but a memory in Egypt.”
+
+The Voice paused; and, gathering up my strength, at length I spoke
+aloud:
+
+“Tell me, O Holy,” I said, “shall I then fail?”
+
+“Ask Me not,” answered the Voice, “that which it is not lawful that I
+should answer thee. Perchance I can read that which shall befall thee,
+perchance it doth not please Me so to read. What can it profit the
+Divine, that hath all time wherein to await the issues, to be eager to
+look upon the blossom that is not blown, but which, lying a seed in the
+bosom of the earth, shall blow in its season? Know, Harmachis, that I
+do not shape the Future; the Future is to thee and not to Me; for it is
+born of Law and of the rule ordained of the Invisible. Yet thou art free
+to act therein, and thou shalt win or thou shalt fail according to thy
+strength and the measure of thy heart’s purity. Thine be the burden,
+Harmachis, as thine in the event shall be the glory or the shame. Little
+do I reck of the issue, I who am but the Minister of what is written.
+Now hear me: I will always be with thee, my son, for my love once
+given can never be taken away, though by sin it may seem lost to thee.
+Remember then this: if thou dost triumph, thy guerdon shall be great; if
+thou dost fail, heavy indeed shall be thy punishment both in the flesh
+and in the land that thou callest Amenti. Yet this for thy comfort:
+shame and agony shall not be eternal. For however deep the fall from
+righteousness, if but repentance holds the heart, there is a path--a
+stony and a cruel path--whereby the height may be climbed again. Let it
+not be thy lot to follow it, Harmachis!
+
+“And now, because thou hast loved Me, my son, and, wandering through the
+maze of fable, wherein men lose themselves upon the earth, mistaking the
+substance for the Spirit, and the Altar for the God, hast yet grasped a
+clue of Truth the Many-faced; and because I love thee and look on to
+the day that, perchance, shall come when thou shalt dwell blessed in my
+light and in the doing of my tasks: because of this, I say, it shall be
+given to thee, O Harmachis, to hear the Word whereby I may be summoned
+from the Uttermost, by one who hath communed with Me, and to look upon
+the face of Isis--even into the eyes of the Messenger, and not die the
+death.
+
+“_Behold!_”
+
+The sweet Voice ceased; the dark cloud upon the altar changed and
+changed--it grew white, it shone, and seemed at length to take the
+shrouded shape of a woman. Then the golden Snake crept from its heart
+once more, and, like a living diadem, twined itself about the cloudy
+brows.
+
+Now suddenly a Voice called aloud the awful Word, then the vapours burst
+and melted, and with my eyes I saw that Glory, at the very thought of
+which my spirit faints. But what I saw it is not lawful to utter. For,
+though I have been bidden to write what I have written of this matter,
+perchance that a record may remain, thereon I have been warned--ay, even
+now, after these many years. I saw, and what I saw cannot be imagined;
+for there are Glories and there are Shapes which are beyond the reach
+of man’s imagination. I saw--then, with the echo of that Word, and the
+memory of that sight stamped for ever on my heart, my spirit failed me,
+and I sank down before the Glory.
+
+And, as I fell, it seemed that the great hall burst open and crumbled
+into flakes of fire round me. Then a great wind blew: there was a sound
+as the sound of Worlds rushing down the flood of Time--and I knew no
+more!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+OF THE AWAKING OF HARMACHIS; OF THE CEREMONY OF HIS CROWNING AS PHARAOH
+OF THE UPPER AND THE LOWER LAND; AND OF THE OFFERINGS MADE TO PHARAOH
+
+Once again I woke--to find myself stretched at length upon the stone
+flooring of the Holy Place of Isis that is at Abouthis. By me stood the
+old Priest of the Mysteries, and in his hand was a lamp. He bent over
+me, and gazed earnestly upon my face.
+
+“It is day--the day of thy new birth, and thou hast lived to see
+it, Harmachis!” he said at length. “I give thanks. Arise, royal
+Harmachis--nay, tell me naught of that which has befallen thee. Arise,
+beloved of the Holy Mother. Come forth, thou who hast passed the fire
+and learned what lies behind the darkness--come forth, O newly-born!”
+
+I rose and, walking faintly, went with him, and, passing out of the
+darkness of the Shrines filled with thought and wonder, came once more
+into the pure light of the morning. And then I went to my own chamber
+and slept; nor did any dreams come to trouble me. But no man--not even
+my father--asked me aught of what I saw upon that dread night, or after
+what fashion I had communed with the Goddess.
+
+After these things which have been written, I applied myself for a
+space to the worship of the Mother Isis, and to the further study of the
+outward forms of those mysteries to which I now held the key. Moreover,
+I was instructed in matters politic, for many great men of our following
+came secretly to see me from all quarters of Egypt, and told me much
+of the hatred of the people towards Cleopatra, the Queen, and of other
+things. At last the hour drew nigh; it was three months and ten days
+from the night when, for a while, I left the flesh, and yet living with
+our life, was gathered to the breast of Isis, on which it was agreed
+that with due and customary rites, although in utter secrecy, I should
+be called to the throne of the Upper and the Lower Land. So it came
+about that, as the solemn time drew nigh, great men of the party of
+Egypt gathered to the number of thirty-seven from every nome, and each
+great city of their nome, meeting together at Abouthis. They came in
+every guise--some as priests, some as pilgrims to the Shrine, and some
+as beggars. Among them was my uncle, Sepa, who, though he clad himself
+as a travelling doctor, had much ado to keep his loud voice from
+betraying him. Indeed, I myself knew him by it, meeting him as I walked
+in thought upon the banks of the canal, although it was then dusk and
+the great cape, which, after the fashion of such doctors, he had thrown
+about his head, half hid his face.
+
+“A pest on thee!” he cried, when I greeted him by his name. “Cannot a
+man cease to be himself for a single hour? Didst thou but know the pains
+that it has cost me to learn to play this part--and now thou readest who
+I am even in the dark!”
+
+And then, still talking in his loud voice, he told me how he had
+travelled hither on foot, the better to escape the spies who ply to and
+fro upon the river. But he said he should return by the water, or take
+another guise; for since he had come as a doctor he had been forced to
+play a doctor’s part, knowing but little of the arts of medicine; and,
+as he greatly feared, there were many between Annu and Abouthis who had
+suffered from it.[*] And he laughed loudly and embraced me, forgetting
+his part. For he was too whole at heart to be an actor and other than
+himself, and would have entered Abouthis with me holding my hand, had I
+not chid him for his folly.
+
+     [*] In Ancient Egypt an unskilful or negligent physician was
+     liable to very heavy penalties.--Editor.
+
+At length all were gathered.
+
+It was night, and the gates of the temple were shut. None were left
+within them, except the thirty-seven; my father, the High Priest
+Amenemhat; that aged priest who had led me to the Shrine of Isis; the
+old wife, Atoua, who, according to ancient custom, was to prepare me
+for the anointing; and some five other priests, sworn to secrecy by that
+oath which none may break. They gathered in the second hall of the great
+temple; but I remained alone, clad in my white robe, in the passage
+where are the names of six-and-seventy ancient Kings, who were before
+the day of the divine Sethi. There I rested in darkness, till at length
+my father, Amenemhat, came, bearing a lamp, and, bowing low before me,
+led me by the hand forth into the great hall. Here and there, between
+its mighty pillars, lights were burning that dimly showed the sculptured
+images upon the walls, and dimly fell upon the long line of the
+seven-and-thirty Lords, Priests, and Princes, who, seated upon carven
+chairs, awaited my coming in silence. Before them, facing away from
+the seven Sanctuaries, a throne was set, around which stood the priests
+holding the sacred images and banners. As I came into the dim and holy
+place, the Dignitaries rose, and bowed before me, speaking no word;
+while my father led me to the steps of the throne, and in a low voice
+bade me stand before it.
+
+Then he spoke:
+
+“Lords, Priests, and Princes of the ancient orders of the land of
+Khem--Nobles from the Upper and the Lower Country, have gathered
+in answer to my summons, hear me: I present to you, with such scant
+formality as the occasion can afford, the Prince Harmachis, by right and
+true descent of blood the descendant and heir of the ancient Pharaohs
+of our most unhappy land. He is priest of the inmost circle of the
+Mysteries of the Divine Isis, Master of the Mysteries--Hereditary Priest
+of the Pyramids, which are by Memphis, Instructed in the Solemn Rites
+of the Holy Osiris. Is there any among you who has aught to urge against
+the true line of his blood?”
+
+He paused, and my uncle Sepa, rising from his chair, spoke: “We have
+made examination of the records and there is none, O Amenemhat. He is of
+the Royal blood, his descent is true.”
+
+“Is there any among you,” went on my father, “who can deny that this
+royal Harmachis, by sanction of the very Gods, has been gathered
+to Isis, been shown the way of the Osiris, been admitted to be the
+Hereditary High Priest of the Pyramids which are by Memphis, and of the
+Temples of the Pyramids?”
+
+Then that old priest rose who had been my guide in the Sanctuary of the
+Mother and made answer: “There is none; O Amenemhat; I know these things
+of my own knowledge.”
+
+Once more my father spoke: “Is there any among you who has aught to urge
+against this royal Harmachis, in that by wickedness of heart or life, by
+uncleanliness or falsity, it is not fit or meet that we should crown him
+Lord of all the Lands?”
+
+Then an aged Prince of Memphis arose and made answer:
+
+“We have inquired of these matters: there is none, O Amenemhat.”
+
+“It is well,” said my father; “then naught is wanting in the Prince
+Harmachis, seed of Nekt-nebf, the Osirian. Let the woman Atoua stand
+forth and tell this company those things that came to pass when, at
+the hour of her death, she who was my wife prophesied over this Prince,
+being filled with the Spirit of the Hathors.”
+
+Thereon old Atoua crept forward from the shadow of the columns, and
+earnestly told those things that have been written.
+
+“Ye have heard,” said my father: “do you believe that the woman who was
+my wife spake with the Divine voice?”
+
+“We do,” they answered.
+
+Now my uncle Sepa rose and spoke:
+
+“Royal Harmachis, thou hast heard. Know now that we are gathered here
+to crown thee King of the Upper and the Lower Lands--thy holy father,
+Amenemhat, renouncing all his right on thy behalf. We are met, not,
+indeed, in that pomp and ceremony which is due to the occasion--for what
+we do must be done in secret, lest our lives, and the cause that is more
+dear to us than life, should pay the forfeit--but yet with such dignity
+and observance of the ancient rites as our circumstance may command.
+Learn, now, how this matter hangs, and if, after learning, thy mind
+consents thereto, then mount thy throne, O Pharaoh--and swear the oath!
+
+“Long has Khemi groaned beneath the mailed heel of the Greek, and
+trembled at the shadow of the Roman’s spear; long has the ancient
+worship of its Gods been desecrated, and its people crushed with
+oppression. But we believe that the hour of deliverance is at hand,
+and with the solemn voice of Egypt and by the ancient Gods of Egypt, to
+whose cause thou art of all men bound, we call upon thee, Prince, to be
+the sword of our deliverance. Hearken! Twenty thousand good and leal men
+are sworn to wait upon thy word, and at thy signal to rise as one, to
+put the Grecian to the sword, and with their blood and substance to
+build thee a throne set more surely on the soil of Khem than are its
+ancient pyramids--such a throne as shall even roll the Roman legions
+back. And for the signal, it shall be the death of that bold harlot,
+Cleopatra. Thou must compass her death, Harmachis, in such fashion as
+shall be shown to thee, and with her blood anoint the Royal throne of
+Egypt.
+
+“Canst thou refuse, O our Hope? Doth not the holy love of country swell
+within thy heart? Canst thou dash the cup of Freedom from thy lips and
+bear to drink the bitter draught of slaves? The emprise is great; maybe
+it shall fail, and thou with thy life, as we with ours, shalt pay the
+price of our endeavour. But what of it, Harmachis? Is life, then,
+so sweet? Are we so softly cushioned on the stony bed of earth? Is
+bitterness and sorrow in its sum so small and scant a thing? Do we here
+breathe so divine an air that we should fear to face the passage of
+our breath? What have we here but hope and memory? What see we here but
+shadows? Shall we then fear to pass pure-handed where Fulfilment is and
+memory is lost in its own source, and shadows die in the light which
+cast them? O Harmachis, that man alone is truly blest who crowns his
+life with Fame’s most splendid wreath. For, since to all the Brood of
+Earth Death hands his poppy-flowers, he indeed is happy to whom there is
+occasion given to weave them in a crown of glory. And how can a man die
+better than in a great endeavour to strike the gyves from his Country’s
+limbs so that she again may stand in the face of Heaven and raise the
+shrill shout of Freedom, and, clad once more in a panoply of strength,
+trample under foot the fetters of her servitude, defying the tyrant
+nations of the earth to set their seal upon her brow?
+
+“Khem calls thee, Harmachis. Come then, thou Deliverer; leap like Horus
+from the firmament, break her chains, scatter her foes, and rule a
+Pharaoh on Pharaoh’s Throne----”
+
+“Enough, enough!” I cried, while the long murmur of applause swept about
+the columns and up the massy walls. “Enough; is there any need to adjure
+me thus? Had I a hundred lives, would I not most gladly lay them down
+for Egypt?”
+
+“Well said, well said!” answered Sepa. “Now go forth with the woman
+yonder, that she may make thy hands clean before they touch the sacred
+emblems, and anoint thy brow before it is encircled of the diadem.”
+
+And so I went into a chamber apart with the old wife, Atoua. There,
+muttering prayers, she poured pure water over my hands into a ewer of
+gold, and having dipped a fine cloth into oil wiped my brow with it.
+
+“O happy Egypt!” she said; “O happy Prince, that art come to rule in
+Egypt! O Royal youth!--too Royal to be a priest--so shall many a fair
+woman think; but, perchance, for thee they will relax the priestly rule,
+else how shall the race of Pharaoh be carried on? O happy I, who dandled
+thee and gave my flesh and blood to save thee! O royal and beautiful
+Harmachis, born for splendour, happiness, and love!”
+
+“Cease, cease,” I said, for her talk jarred upon me; “call me not happy
+till thou knowest my end, and speak not to me of love, for with love
+comes sorrow, and mine is another and a higher way.”
+
+“Ay, ay, so thou sayest--and joy, too, that comes with love! Never talk
+lightly of love, my King, for it brought thee here! _La! la!_ but it is
+always the way--‘The goose on the wing laughs at crocodiles,’ so goes
+their saying down at Alexandria; ‘but when the goose is asleep on the
+water, it is the crocodiles that laugh.’ Not but what women are pretty
+crocodiles. Men worship the crocodiles at Anthribis--Crocodilopolis they
+call it now, don’t they?--but they worship women all the world over!
+_La!_ how my tongue runs on, and thou about to be crowned Pharaoh! Did I
+not prophesy it to thee? Well, thou art clean, Lord of the Double Crown.
+Go forth!”
+
+So I went from the chamber with the old wife’s foolish talk ringing in
+my ears, though of a truth her folly had ever a grain of wit in it.
+
+As I came, the Dignitaries rose once more and bowed before me. Then my
+father, without delay, drew near me, and placed in my hands a golden
+image of the divine Ma, the Goddess of Truth, and golden images of the
+arks of the God Amen-Ra, of the divine Mout, and the divine Khons, and
+spoke solemnly:
+
+“Thou swearest by the living majesty of Ma, by the majesty of Amen-Ra,
+of Mout, and of Khons?”
+
+“I swear,” I said.
+
+“Thou swearest by the holy land of Khem, by Sihor’s flood, by the
+Temples of the Gods and the eternal Pyramids?”
+
+“I swear.”
+
+“Remembering thy hideous doom if thou shouldst fail therein, thou
+swearest that thou wilt in all things govern Egypt according to its
+ancient laws, that thou wilt preserve the worship of its Gods, that thou
+wilt do equal justice, that thou wilt not oppress, that thou wilt not
+betray, that thou wilt make no alliance with the Roman or the Greek,
+that thou wilt cast out the foreign Idols, that thou wilt devote thy
+life to the liberty of the land of Khem?”
+
+“I swear.”
+
+“It is well. Mount, then, the throne, that in the presence of these thy
+subjects, I may name thee Pharaoh.”
+
+I mounted upon the throne, of which the footstool is a Sphinx, and the
+canopy the overshadowing wings of Ma. Then Amenemhat drew nigh once
+again and placed the Pshent upon my brow, and on my head the Double
+Crown, and the Royal Robe about my shoulders, and in my hands the
+Sceptre and the Scourge.
+
+“Royal Harmachis,” he cried, “by these outward signs and tokens, I, the
+High Priest of the Temple of Ra-Men-Ma at Abouthis, crown thee Pharaoh
+of the Upper and Lower Land. Reign and prosper, O Hope of Khemi!”
+
+“Reign and prosper, Pharaoh!” echoed the Dignitaries, bowing down before
+me.
+
+Then, one by one, they swore allegiance, till all had sworn. And, having
+sworn, my father took me by the hand; he led me in solemn procession
+into each of the seven Sanctuaries that are in this Temple of Ra-Men-Ma,
+and in each I made offerings, swung incense, and officiated as priest.
+Clad in the Royal robes I made offerings in the Shrine of Horus, in the
+Shrine of Isis, in the Shrine of Osiris, in the Shrine of Amen-Ra, in
+the Shrine of Horemku, in the Shrine of Ptah, till at length I reached
+the Shrine of the King’s Chamber.
+
+Here they made their offering to me, as the Divine Pharaoh, and left me
+very weary--but a King.
+
+[Here the first and smallest of the papyrus rolls comes to an end.]
+
+
+
+
+BOOK II--THE FALL OF HARMACHIS
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+OF THE FAREWELL OF AMENEMHAT TO HARMACHIS; OF THE COMING OF HARMACHIS
+TO ALEXANDRIA; OF THE EXHORTATION OF SEPA; OF THE PASSING OF CLEOPATRA
+ROBED AS ISIS; AND OF THE OVERTHROW OF THE GLADIATOR BY HARMACHIS
+
+Now the long days of preparation had passed, and the time was at hand. I
+was initiated, and I was crowned; so that although the common folk knew
+me not, or knew me only as Priest of Isis, there were in Egypt thousands
+who at heart bowed down to me as Pharaoh. The hour was at hand, and my
+soul went forth to meet it. For I longed to overthrow the foreigner, to
+set Egypt free, to mount the throne that was my heritage, and cleanse
+the temples of my Gods. I was fain for the struggle, and I never doubted
+of its end. I looked into the mirror, and saw triumph written on my
+brows. The future stretched a path of glory from my feet--ay, glittering
+with glory like Sihor in the sun. I communed with my Mother Isis; I sat
+within my chamber and took counsel with my heart; I planned new temples;
+I revolved great laws that I would put forth for my people’s weal; and
+in my ears rang the shouts of exultation which should greet victorious
+Pharaoh on his throne.
+
+But still I tarried a little while at Abouthis, and, having been
+commanded to do so, let my hair, that had been shorn, grow again long
+and black as the raven’s wing, instructing myself meanwhile in all manly
+exercises and feats of arms. Also, for a purpose which shall be seen, I
+perfected myself in the magic art of the Egyptians, and in the reading
+of the stars, in which things, indeed, I already have great skill.
+
+Now, this was the plan that had been built up. My uncle Sepa had, for
+a while, left the Temple of Annu, giving out that his health had failed
+him. Thence he had moved down to a house in Alexandria, to gather
+strength, as he said, from the breath of the sea, and also to learn for
+himself the wonders of the great Museum and the glory of Cleopatra’s
+Court. There it was planned that I should join him, for there, at
+Alexandria, the egg of the plot was hatching. Accordingly, when at
+last the summons came, all things being prepared, I made ready for the
+journey, and passed into my father’s chamber to receive his blessing
+before I went. There sat the old man, as once before he sat when he had
+rebuked me because I went out to slay the lion, his long white beard
+resting on the table of stone and sacred writings in his hand. When I
+came in he rose from his seat and would have knelt before me, crying
+“Hail, Pharaoh!” but I caught him by the hand.
+
+“It is not meet, my father,” I said.
+
+“It is meet,” he answered, “it is meet that I should bow before my King;
+but be it as thou wilt. And so thou goest, Harmachis; my blessings go
+with thee, O my son! And may Those whom I serve grant to me that my
+old eyes may, indeed, behold thee on the throne! I have searched long,
+striving, Harmachis, to read the future that shall be; but I can learn
+naught by all my wisdom. It is hid from me, and at times my heart fails.
+But hear this, there is danger in thy path, and it comes in the form of
+Woman. I have known it long, and therefore thou hast been called to the
+worship of the heavenly Isis, who bids her votaries put away the thought
+of woman till such time as she shall think well to slacken the rule.
+Oh, my son, I would that thou wert not so strong and fair--stronger and
+fairer, indeed, than any man in Egypt, as a King should be--for in that
+strength and beauty may lie a cause of stumbling. Beware, then, of those
+witches of Alexandria, lest, like a worm, some one of them creep into my
+heart and eat its secret out.”
+
+“Have no fear, my father,” I answered, frowning, “my thought is set on
+other things than red lips and smiling eyes.”
+
+“It is good,” he answered; “so may it befall. And now farewell. When
+next we meet, may it be in that happy hour when, with all the priests of
+the Upper Land, I move down from Abouthis to do my homage to Pharaoh on
+his throne.”
+
+So I embraced him, and went. Alas! I little thought how we should meet
+again.
+
+
+
+Thus it came about that once more I passed down the Nile travelling as a
+man of no estate. And to such as were curious about me it was given out
+that I was the adopted son of the High Priest of Abouthis, having been
+brought up to the priesthood, and that I had at the last refused the
+service of the Gods, and chosen to go to Alexandria, to seek my fortune.
+For, be it remembered, I was still held to be the grandson of the old
+wife, Atoua, by all those who did not know the truth.
+
+On the tenth night, sailing with the wind, we reached the mighty city
+of Alexandria, the city of a thousand lights. Above them all towered the
+white Pharos, that wonder of the world, from the crown of which a light
+like the light of the sun blazed out across the waters of the harbour
+to guide mariners on their way across the sea. The vessel having been
+cautiously made fast to the quay, for it was night, I disembarked and
+stood wondering at the vast mass of houses, and confused by the clamour
+of many tongues. For here all peoples seemed to be gathered together,
+each speaking after the fashion of his own land. And as I stood a
+young man came and touched me on the shoulder, asking me if I was from
+Abouthis and named Harmachis. I said “Yea.” Then, bending over me,
+he whispered the secret pass-word into my ear, and, beckoning to
+two slaves, bade them bring my baggage from the ship. This they did,
+fighting their way through the crowd of porters who were clamouring
+for hire. Then I followed him down the quay, which was bordered with
+drinking-places, where all sorts of men were gathered, tippling wine and
+watching the dancing of women, some of whom were but scantily arrayed,
+and some not arrayed at all.
+
+And so we went through the lamp-lit houses till at last we reached the
+shore of the great harbour, and turned to the right along a wide way
+paved with granite and bordered by strong houses, having cloisters in
+front of them, the like of which I had never seen. Turning once more to
+the right we came to a quieter portion of the city, where, except for
+parties of strolling revellers, the streets were still. Presently
+my guide halted at a house built of white stone. We passed in, and,
+crossing a small courtyard, entered a chamber where there was a light.
+And here, at last, I found my uncle Sepa, most glad to see me safe.
+
+When I had washed and eaten, he told me that all things went well, and
+that as yet there was no thought of evil at the Court. Further, he said,
+it having come to the ears of the Queen that the Priest of Annu was
+sojourning at Alexandria, she sent for him and closely questioned
+him--not as to any plot, for of that she never thought, but as to the
+rumour which had reached her, that there was treasure hid in the Great
+Pyramid which is by Annu. For, being ever wasteful, she was ever in want
+of money, and had bethought her of opening the Pyramid. But he laughed
+at her, telling her the Pyramid was the burying-place of the divine
+Khufu, and that he knew nothing of its secrets. Then she was angered,
+and swore that so surely as she ruled in Egypt she would tear it down,
+stone by stone, and discover the secret at its heart. Again he laughed,
+and, in the words of the proverb which they have at Alexandria, told her
+that “Mountains live longer than Kings.” Thereon she smiled at his ready
+answer, and let him go. Also my uncle Sepa told me that on the morrow I
+should see this Cleopatra. For it was her birthday (as, indeed, it was
+also mine), and, dressed in the robes of the Holy Isis, she would pass
+in state from her palace on the Lochias to the Serapeum to offer a
+sacrifice at the Shrine of the false God who sits in the Temple. And he
+said that thereafter the fashion by which I should gain entrance to the
+household of the Queen should be contrived.
+
+Then, being very weary, I went to rest, but could sleep little for the
+strangeness of the place, the noises in the streets, and the thought of
+the morrow. While it was yet dark, I rose, climbed the stair to the
+roof of the house, and waited. Presently, the sun’s rays shot out like
+arrows, and lit upon the white wonder of the marble Pharos, whose light
+instantly sank and died, as though, indeed, the sun had killed it. Now
+the rays fell upon the palaces of the Lochias where Cleopatra lay, and
+lit them up till they flamed like a jewel set on the dark, cool bosom
+of the sea. Away the light flew, kissing the Soma’s sacred dome, beneath
+which Alexander sleeps, touching the high tops of a thousand palaces
+and temples; past the porticoes of the great museum that loomed near at
+hand, striking the lofty Shrine, where, carved of ivory, is the image
+of the false God Serapis, and at last seeming to lose itself in the vast
+and gloomy Necropolis. Then, as the dawn gathered into day, the flood of
+brightness, overbrimming the bowl of night, flowed into the lower lands
+and streets, and showed Alexandria red in the sunrise as the mantle of
+a king, and shaped as a mantle. The Etesian wind came up from the north,
+and swept away the vapour from the harbours, so that I saw their blue
+waters rocking a thousand ships. I saw, too, that mighty mole the
+Heptastadium; I saw the hundreds of streets, the countless houses, the
+innumerable wealth and splendour of Alexandria set like a queen between
+lake Mareotis and the ocean, and dominating both, and I was filled with
+wonder. This, then, was one city in my heritage of lands and cities!
+Well, it was worth the grasping. And having looked my full and fed my
+heart, as it were, with the sight of splendour, I communed with the Holy
+Isis and came down from the roof.
+
+In the chamber beneath was my uncle Sepa. I told him that I had been
+watching the sun rise over the city of Alexandria.
+
+“So!” he said, looking at me from beneath his shaggy eyebrows; “and what
+thinkest thou of Alexandria?”
+
+“I think it is like some city of the Gods,” I answered.
+
+“Ay!” he replied fiercely, “a city of the infernal Gods--a sink of
+corruption, a bubbling well of iniquity, a home of false faith springing
+from false hearts. I would that not one stone of it was left upon
+another stone, and that its wealth lay deep beneath yonder waters! I
+would that the gulls were screaming across its site, and that the wind,
+untainted by a Grecian breath, swept through its ruins from the ocean to
+Mareotis! O royal Harmachis, let not the luxury and beauty of Alexandria
+poison thy sense; for in their deadly air, Faith perishes, and Religion
+cannot spread her heavenly wings. When the hour comes for thee to rule,
+Harmachis, cast down this accursed city and, as thy fathers did, set
+up thy throne in the white walls of Memphis. For I tell thee that, for
+Egypt, Alexandria is but a splendid gate of ruin, and, while it endures,
+all nations of the earth shall march through it, to the plunder of the
+land, and all false Faiths shall nestle in it and breed the overthrow of
+Egypt’s Gods.”
+
+I made no answer, for there was truth in his words. And yet to me the
+city seemed very fair to look on. After we had eaten, my uncle told me
+it was now time to set out to view the march of Cleopatra, as she went
+in triumph to the Shrine of Serapis. For although she would not pass
+till within two hours of the midday, yet these people of Alexandria have
+so great a love of shows and idling that had we not presently set forth,
+by no means could we have come through the press of the multitudes who
+were already gathering along the highways where the Queen must ride. So
+we went out to take our places upon a stand, built of timber, that had
+been set up at the side of the great road which pierces through the
+city, to the Canopic Gate. For my uncle had already purchased a right to
+enter there, and that dearly.
+
+We won our way with much struggle through the great crowds that were
+already gathered in the streets till we reached the scaffolding of
+timber, which was roofed in with an awning and gaily hung with scarlet
+cloths. Here we seated ourselves upon a bench and waited for some hours,
+watching the multitude press past shouting, singing, and talking loudly
+in many tongues. At length soldiers came to clear the road, clad, after
+the Roman fashion, in breast-plates of chain-armour. After them marched
+heralds enjoining silence (at which the population sung and shouted all
+the more loudly), and crying that Cleopatra, the Queen, was coming.
+Then followed a thousand Cilician skirmishers, a thousand Thracians, a
+thousand Macedonians, and a thousand Gauls, each armed after the fashion
+of their country. Then passed five hundred men of those who are called
+the Fenced Horsemen, for both men and horses were altogether covered
+with mail. Next came youths and maidens sumptuously draped and wearing
+golden crowns, and with them images symbolising Day and Night, Morning
+and Noon, the Heavens and the Earth. After these walked many fair women,
+pouring perfumes on the road, and others scattering blooming flowers.
+Now there rose a great shout of “Cleopatra! Cleopatra!” and I held my
+breath and bent forward to see her who dared to put on the robes of
+Isis.
+
+But at that moment the multitude so gathered and thickened in front of
+where I was that I could no longer clearly see. So in my eagerness
+I leapt over the barrier of the scaffolding, and, being very strong,
+pushed my way through the crowd till I reached the foremost rank. And
+as I did so, Nubian slaves armed with thick staves and crowned with
+ivy-leaves ran up, striking the people. One man I noted more especially,
+for he was a giant, and, being strong, was insolent beyond measure,
+smiting the people without cause, as, indeed, is the wont of low persons
+set in authority. For a woman stood near to me, an Egyptian by her face,
+bearing a child in her arms, whom the man, seeing that she was weak,
+struck on the head with his rod so that she fell prone, and the people
+murmured. But at the sight my blood rushed of a sudden through my veins
+and drowned my reason. I held in my hand a staff of olive-wood from
+Cyprus, and as the black brute laughed at the sight of the stricken
+woman and her babe rolling on the ground, I swung the staff aloft and
+smote. So shrewdly did I strike, that the tough rod split upon the
+giant’s shoulders and the blood spurted forth, staining his trailing
+leaves of ivy.
+
+Then, with a shriek of pain and fury--for those who smite love not that
+they be smitten--he turned and sprang at me! And all the people round
+gave back, save only the woman who could not rise, leaving us two in a
+ring as it were. On he came with a rush, and, as he came, being now mad,
+I smote him with my clenched fist between the eyes, having nothing else
+with which to smite, and he staggered like an ox beneath the first blow
+of the priest’s axe. Then the people shouted, for they love to see a
+fight, and the man was known to them as a gladiator victorious in the
+games. Gathering up his strength, the knave came on with an oath, and,
+whirling his heavy staff on high, struck me in such a fashion that, had
+I not avoided the blow by nimbleness, I had surely been slain. But, as
+it chanced, the staff hit upon the ground, and so heavily that it flew
+in fragments. Thereon the multitude shouted again, and the great man,
+blind with fury, rushed at me to smite me down. But with a cry I sprang
+straight at his throat--for he was so heavy a man that I knew I could
+not hope to throw him by strength--ay, and gripped it. There I clung,
+though his fists battered me like bludgeons, driving my thumbs into his
+throat. Round and round we turned, till at length he flung himself
+to the earth, trusting thus to shake me off. But I held on fast as we
+rolled over and over on the ground, till at last he grew faint for want
+of breath. Then I, being uppermost, drove my knee down upon his chest,
+and, as I believe, should thus have slain him in my rage had not my
+uncle, and others there gathered, fallen upon me and dragged me from
+him.
+
+And meanwhile, though I know it not, the chariot in which the Queen
+sat, with elephants going before and lions led after it, had reached the
+spot, and had been halted because of the tumult. I looked up, and thus
+torn, panting, my white garments stained with the blood that had rushed
+from the mouth and nostrils of the mighty Nubian, I for the first time
+saw Cleopatra face to face. Her chariot was all of gold, and drawn by
+milk-white steeds. She sat in it with two fair girls, clad in Greek
+attire, standing one on either side, fanning her with glittering fans.
+On her head was the covering of Isis, the golden horns between which
+rested the moon’s round disk and the emblem of Osiris’ throne, with the
+uræus twined around. Beneath this covering was the vulture cap of gold,
+the blue enamelled wings and the vulture head with gemmy eyes, under
+which her long dark tresses flowed towards her feet. About her rounded
+neck was a broad collar of gold studded with emeralds and coral. Round
+her arms and wrists were bracelets of gold studded with emeralds and
+coral, and in one hand she held the holy cross of Life fashioned of
+crystal, and in the other the golden rod of royalty. Her breast was
+bare, but under it was a garment that glistened like the scaly covering
+of a snake, everywhere sewn with gems. Beneath this robe was a skirt
+of golden cloth, half hidden by a scarf of the broidered silk of Cos,
+falling in folds to the sandals that, fastened with great pearls,
+adorned her white and tiny feet.
+
+All this I discerned at a glance, as it were. Then I looked upon the
+face--that face which seduced Cæsar, ruined Egypt, and was doomed to
+give Octavian the sceptre of the world. I looked upon the flawless
+Grecian features, the rounded chin, the full, rich lips, the chiselled
+nostrils, and the ears fashioned like delicate shells. I saw the
+forehead, low, broad, and lovely, the crisped, dark hair falling in
+heavy waves that sparkled in the sun, the arched eyebrows, and the long,
+bent lashes. There before me was the grandeur of her Imperial shape.
+There burnt the wonderful eyes, hued like the Cyprian violet--eyes that
+seemed to sleep and brood on secret things as night broods upon the
+desert, and yet as the night to shift, change, and be illumined by
+gleams of sudden splendour born within their starry depths. All those
+wonders I saw, though I have small skill in telling them. But even
+then I knew that it was not in these charms alone that the might of
+Cleopatra’s beauty lay. It was rather in a glory and a radiance cast
+through the fleshly covering from the fierce soul within. For she was a
+Thing of Flame like unto which no woman has ever been or ever will be.
+Even when she brooded, the fire of her quick heart shone through her.
+But when she woke, and the lightning leapt suddenly from her eyes, and
+the passion-laden music of her speech chimed upon her lips, ah! then,
+who can tell how Cleopatra seemed? For in her met all the splendours
+that have been given to woman for her glory, and all the genius which
+man has won from heaven. And with them dwelt every evil of that greater
+sort, which fearing nothing, and making a mock of laws, has taken
+empires for its place of play, and, smiling, watered the growth of
+its desires with the rich blood of men. In her breast they gathered,
+together fashioning that Cleopatra whom no man may draw, and yet whom
+no man, having seen, ever can forget. They fashioned her grand as the
+Spirit of Storm, lovely as Lightning, cruel as Pestilence, yet with a
+heart; and what she did is known. Woe to the world when such another
+comes to curse it!
+
+For a moment I met Cleopatra’s eyes as she idly bent herself to find the
+tumult’s cause. At first they were sombre and dark, as though they saw
+indeed, but the brain read nothing. Then they awoke, and their very
+colour seemed to change as the colour of the sea changes when the water
+is shaken. First, there was anger written in them; next an idle noting;
+then, when she looked upon the huge bulk of the man whom I had overcome,
+and knew him for the gladiator, something, perchance, that was not
+far from wonder. At the least they softened, though, indeed, her face
+changed no whit. But he who would read Cleopatra’s mind had need to
+watch her eyes, for her countenance varied but a little. Turning, she
+said some word to her guards. They came forward and led me to her, while
+all the multitude waited silently to see me slain.
+
+I stood before her, my arms folded on my breast. Overcome though I was
+by the wonder of her loveliness I hated her in my heart, this woman who
+dared to clothe herself in the dress of Isis, this usurper who sat upon
+my throne, this wanton squandering the wealth of Egypt in chariots and
+perfumes. When she had looked me over from head to the feet, she spake
+in a low full voice and in the tongue of Khemi which she alone had
+learned of all the Lagidæ:
+
+“And who and what art thou, Egyptian--for Egyptian I see thou art--who
+darest to smite my slave when I make progress through my city?”
+
+“I am Harmachis,” I answered boldly. “Harmachis, the astrologer, adopted
+son of the High Priest and Governor of Abouthis, who am come hither to
+seek my fortune. I smote thy slave, O Queen, because for no fault he
+struck down the woman yonder. Ask of those who saw, royal Egypt.”
+
+“Harmachis,” she said, “the name has a high sound--and thou hast a high
+look;” and then, speaking to a soldier who had seen all, she bade him
+tell her what had come to pass. This he did truthfully, being friendly
+disposed towards me because I had overcome the Nubian. Thereon she
+turned and spoke to the girl bearing the fan who stood beside her--a
+woman with curling hair and shy dark eyes, very beautiful to see. The
+girl answered somewhat. Then Cleopatra bade them bring the slave to her.
+So they led forward the giant, who had found his breath again, and with
+him the woman whom he had smitten down.
+
+“Thou dog!” she said, in the same low voice; “thou coward! who,
+being strong, didst smite down this woman, and, being a coward, wast
+overthrown of this young man. See, thou, I will teach thee manners.
+Henceforth, when thou smitest women it shall be with thy left arm. Ho,
+guards, seize this black slave and strike off his right hand.”
+
+Her command given, she sank back in her golden chariot, and again
+the cloud gathered in her eyes. But the guards seized the giant, and,
+notwithstanding his cries and prayers for mercy, struck off his hand
+with a sword upon the wood of the scaffolding and he was carried away
+groaning. Then the procession moved on again. As it went the fair woman
+with the fan turned her head, caught my eye, and smiled and nodded as
+though she rejoiced, at which I wondered somewhat.
+
+The people cheered also and made jests, saying that I should soon
+practice astrology in the palace. But, as soon as we might, I and my
+uncle escaped, and made our way back to the house. All the while he
+rated me for my rashness; but when we came to the chamber of the house
+he embraced me and rejoiced greatly, because I had overthrown the giant
+with so little hurt to myself.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+OF THE COMING OF CHARMION; AND OF THE WRATH OF SEPA
+
+That same night, while we sat at supper in the house, there came a knock
+upon the door. It was opened, and a woman passed in wrapped from head to
+foot in a large dark peplos or cloak in such fashion that her face could
+not be clearly seen.
+
+My uncle rose, and as he did so the woman uttered the secret word.
+
+“I am come, my father,” she said in a sweet clear voice, “though of a
+truth it was not easy to escape the revels at the palace yonder. But
+I told the Queen that the sun and the riot in the streets had made me
+sick, and she let me go.”
+
+“It is well,” he answered. “Unveil thyself; here thou art safe.”
+
+With a little sigh of weariness she unclasped the peplos and let it slip
+from her, giving to my sight the face and form of that beauteous girl
+who had stood to fan Cleopatra in the chariot. For she was very fair
+and pleasant to look upon, and her Grecian robes clung sweetly about her
+supple limbs and budding form. Her wayward hair, flowing in a hundred
+little curls, was bound in with a golden fillet, and on her feet were
+sandals fastened with studs of gold. Her cheeks blushed like a flower,
+and her dark soft eyes were downcast, as though with modesty, but smiles
+and dimples trembled about her lips.
+
+My uncle frowned when his eyes fell upon her dress.
+
+“Why comest thou in this garb, Charmion?” he asked sternly. “Is not the
+dress of thy mothers good enough for thee? This is no time or place for
+woman’s vanities. Thou art not here to conquer, but to obey.”
+
+“Nay, be not wroth, my father,” she answered softly; “perchance thou
+knowest not that she whom I serve will have none of our Egyptian
+dress; it is out of fashion. To wear it would have been to court
+suspicion--also I came in haste.” And as she spoke I saw that all the
+while she watched me covertly through the long lashes which fringed her
+modest eyes.
+
+“Well, well,” he said sharply, fixing his keen glance upon her face,
+“doubtless thou speakest truth, Charmion. Be ever mindful of thy oath,
+girl, and of the cause to which thou art sworn. Be not light-minded, and
+I charge thee forget the beauty with which thou hast been cursed. For
+mark thou this, Charmion: fail us but one jot, and vengeance shall fall
+on thee--the vengeance of man and the vengeance of the Gods! To this
+service,” he continued, lashing himself to anger as he went on till his
+great voice rang in the narrow room, “thou hast been bred; to this end
+thou hast been instructed and placed where thou art to gain the ear of
+that wicked wanton whom thou seemest to serve. See thou forget it not;
+see that the luxury of yonder Court does not corrupt thy purity and
+divert thy aim, Charmion,” and his eyes flashed and his small form
+seemed to grow till it attained to dignity--nay, almost to grandeur.
+
+“Charmion,” he went on, advancing towards her with outstretched finger,
+“I say that at times I do not trust thee. But two nights gone I dreamed
+I saw thee standing in the desert. I saw thee laugh and lift thy hand to
+heaven, and from it fell a rain of blood; then the sky sank down on the
+land of Khem and covered it. Whence came the dream, girl, and what is
+its meaning? I have naught against thee as yet; but hearken! On the
+moment that I have, though thou art of my kin, and I have loved thee--on
+that moment, I say, I will doom those delicate limbs, which thou lovest
+so much to show, to the kite and the jackal, and the soul within thee to
+all the tortures of the Gods! Unburied shalt thou lie, and bodiless and
+accursed shalt thou wander in Amenti!--ay, for ever and ever!”
+
+He paused, for his sudden burst of passion had spent itself. But by it,
+more clearly than before, I saw how deep a heart this man had beneath
+the cloak of his merriness and simplicity of mien, and how fiercely the
+mind within him was set upon his aim. As for the girl, she shrank from
+him terrified, and, placing her hands before her sweet face, began to
+weep.
+
+“Nay, speak not so, my father,” she said, between her sobs; “for what
+have I done? I know nothing of the evil wandering of thy dreams. I am no
+soothsayer that I should read dreams. Have I not carried out all things
+according to thy desire? Have I not been ever mindful of that dread
+oath?”--and she trembled. “Have I not played the spy and told thee all?
+Have I not won the heart of the Queen, so that she loves me as a sister,
+refusing me nothing--ay, and the hearts of those about her? Why dost
+thou affright me thus with thy words and threats?” and she wept afresh,
+looking even more beautiful in her sorrow than she was before.
+
+“Enough, enough,” he answered; “what I have said, I have said. Be
+warned, and affront our sight no more with this wanton dress. Thinkest
+thou that we would feed our eyes upon those rounded arms--we whose stake
+is Egypt and who are dedicated to the Gods of Egypt? Girl, behold thy
+cousin and thy King!”
+
+She ceased weeping, wiping her eyes with her chiton, and I saw that they
+seemed but the softer for her tears.
+
+“Methinks, most royal Harmachis, and beloved Cousin,” she said, as she
+bent before me, “that we are already made acquainted.”
+
+“Yea, Cousin,” I answered, not without shamefacedness, for I had
+never before spoken to so fair a maid; “thou wert in the chariot with
+Cleopatra this day when I struggled with the Nubian?”
+
+“Assuredly,” she said, with a smile and a sudden lighting of the eyes,
+“it was a gallant fight and gallantly didst thou overthrow that black
+brute. I saw the fray and, though I knew thee not, I greatly feared for
+one so brave. But I paid him for my fright, for it was I who put it
+into the mind of Cleopatra to bid the guards strike off his hand--now,
+knowing who thou art, I would I had said his head.” And she looked up
+shooting a glance at me and then smiled.
+
+“Enough,” put in my uncle Sepa, “the time draws on. Tell thou thy
+mission, Charmion, and be gone.”
+
+Then her manner changed; she folded her hands meekly before her and
+spoke:
+
+“Let Pharaoh hearken to his handmaiden. I am the daughter of Pharaoh’s
+uncle, the brother of his father, who is now long dead, and therefore in
+my veins also flows the Royal blood of Egypt. Also I am of the ancient
+Faith, and hate these Greeks, and to see thee set upon the throne has
+been my dearest hope now for many years. To this end I, Charmion, have
+put aside my rank and become serving-woman to Cleopatra, that I might
+cut a notch in which thou couldst set thy foot when the hour came for
+thee to climb the throne. And, Pharaoh, the notch is cut.
+
+“This then is our plot, royal Cousin. Thou must gain an entrance to the
+Household and learn its ways and secrets, and, so far as may be, suborn
+the eunuchs and captains, some of whom I have already tempted. This
+done, and all things being prepared without, thou must slay Cleopatra,
+and, aided by me with those whom I control, in the confusion that shall
+ensue, throw wide the gates, and, admitting those of our party who are
+in waiting, put such of the troops as remain faithful to the sword and
+seize the Bruchium. Which being finished, within two days thou shalt
+hold this fickle Alexandria. At the same time those who are sworn to
+thee in every city of Egypt shall rise in arms, and in ten days from
+the death of Cleopatra thou shalt indeed be Pharaoh. This is the counsel
+which has been taken, and thou seest, royal Cousin, that, though our
+uncle yonder thinks so ill of me, I have learned my part--ay, and played
+it.”
+
+“I hear thee, Cousin,” I answered, marvelling that so young a woman--she
+had but twenty years--could weave so bold a plot, for in its origin the
+scheme was hers. But in those days I little knew Charmion. “Go on; how
+then shall I gain entrance to the palace of Cleopatra?”
+
+“Nay, Cousin, as things are it is easy. Thus: Cleopatra loves to look
+upon a man, and--give me pardon--thy face and form are fair. To-day
+she noted them, and twice she said she would she had asked where that
+astrologer might be found, for she held that an astrologer who could
+wellnigh slay a Nubian gladiator with his bare hands, must indeed be a
+master of the fortunate stars. I answered her that I would cause inquiry
+to be made. So hearken, royal Harmachis. At midday Cleopatra sleeps in
+her inner hall which looks over the gardens to the harbour. At that hour
+to-morrow, then, I will meet thee at the gates of the palace, whither
+thou shalt come boldly asking for the Lady Charmion. I will make
+appointment for thee with Cleopatra, so that she shall see thee alone
+when she wakes, and the rest shall be for thee, Harmachis. For much she
+loves to play with the mysteries of magic, and I have known her stand
+whole nights watching the stars and making a pretence to read them. And
+but lately she has sent away Dioscorides the physician, because, poor
+fool! he ventured on a prophecy from the conjunction of the stars, that
+Cassius would defeat Mark Antony. Thereon Cleopatra sent orders to the
+General Allienus, bidding him add the legions she had sent to Syria
+to help Antony to the army of Cassius, whose victory, forsooth,
+was--according to Dioscorides--written on the stars. But, as it chanced,
+Antony beat Cassius first and Brutus afterwards, and so Dioscorides has
+departed, and now he lectures on herbs in the museum for his bread, and
+hates the name of stars. But his place is empty, and thou shalt fill it,
+and then we will work in secret and in the shadow of the sceptre. Ay,
+we will work like the worm at the heart of a fruit, till the time of
+plucking comes, and at thy dagger’s touch, royal Cousin, the fabric of
+this Grecian throne crumbles to nothingness, and the worm that rotted it
+bursts his servile covering, and, in the sight of empires, spreads his
+royal wings o’er Egypt.”
+
+I gazed at this strange girl once more astonished, and saw that her face
+was lit up with such a light as I had never seen in the eyes of woman.
+
+“Ah,” broke in my uncle, who was watching her, “ah, I love to see thee
+so, girl; there is the Charmion that I knew and I bred up--not the Court
+girl whom I like not, draped in silks of Cos and fragrant with essences.
+Let thy heart harden in this mould--ay, stamp it with the fervid zeal
+of patriot faith, and thy reward shall find thee. And now cover up that
+shameless dress of thine and leave us, for it grows late. To-morrow
+Harmachis shall come, as thou hast said, and so farewell.”
+
+Charmion bowed her head, and, turning, wrapped her dark-hued peplos
+round her. Then, taking my hand, she touched it with her lips and went
+without any further word.
+
+“A strange woman!” said Sepa, when she had gone; “a most strange woman,
+and an uncertain!”
+
+“Methought, my uncle,” I said, “that thou wast somewhat harsh with her.”
+
+“Ay,” he answered, “but not without a cause. Look thou, Harmachis;
+beware of this Charmion. She is too wayward, and, I fear me, may be led
+away. In truth, she is a very woman; and, like a restive horse, will
+take the path that pleases her. She has brain and fire, and she loves
+our cause; but I pray that the cause come not face to face with her
+desires, for what her heart is set on that will she do, at any cost she
+will do it. Therefore I frightened her now while I may: for who can know
+but that she will pass beyond my power? I tell thee, that in this one
+girl’s hand lie all our lives: and if she play us false, what then?
+Alas! and alas! that we must use such tools as these! But it was
+needful: there was no other way; and yet I misdoubted me. I pray that it
+may be well; still, at times, I fear my niece Charmion--she is too fair,
+and the blood of youth runs too warm in those blue veins of hers.
+
+“Ah, woe to the cause that builds its strength upon a woman’s faith;
+for women are faithful only where they love, and when they love their
+faithlessness becomes their faith. They are not fixed as men are fixed:
+they rise more high and sink more low--they are strong and changeful as
+the sea. Harmachis, beware of this Charmion: for, like the ocean, she
+may float thee home; or, like the ocean, she may wreck thee, and, with
+thee, the hope of Egypt!”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+OF THE COMING OF HARMACHIS TO THE PALACE; OF HOW HE DREW PAULUS THROUGH
+THE GATES; OF CLEOPATRA SLEEPING; AND OF THE MAGIC OF HARMACHIS WHICH HE
+SHOWED HER
+
+Thus it came to pass that on the next day I arrayed myself in a long and
+flowing robe, after the fashion of a magician or astrologer. I placed a
+cap on my head, about which were broidered images of the stars, and in
+my belt a scribe’s palette and a roll of papyrus written over with magic
+spells and signs. In my hand I held a wand of ebony, tipped with ivory,
+such as is used by priests and masters of magic. Among these, indeed,
+I took high rank, filling my knowledge of their secrets which I had
+learned at Annu what I lacked in that skill which comes from use. And so
+with no small shame, for I love not such play and hold this common
+magic in contempt, I set forth through the Bruchium to the palace on the
+Lochias, being guided on my way by my uncle Sepa. At length, passing
+up the avenue of sphinxes, we came to the great marble gateway and the
+gates of bronze, within which is the guard-house. Here my uncle left me,
+breathing many prayers for my safety and success. But I advanced with
+an easy air to the gate, where I was roughly challenged by the Gallic
+sentries, and asked of my name, following, and business. I gave my name,
+Harmachis, the astrologer, saying that my business was with the Lady
+Charmion, the Queen’s lady. Thereon the man made as though to let me
+pass in, when a captain of the guard, a Roman named Paulus, came forward
+and forbade it. Now, this Paulus was a large limbed man, with a woman’s
+face, and a hand that shook from wine-bibbing. Still he knew me again.
+
+“Why,” he cried, in the Latin tongue, to one who came with him, “this is
+the fellow who wrestled yesterday with the Nubian gladiator, that same
+who now howls for his lost hand underneath my window. Curses on the
+black brute! I had a bet upon him for the games! I have backed him
+against Caius, and now he’ll never fight again, and I must lose my
+money, all through this astrologer. What is it thou sayest?--thou hast
+business with the Lady Charmion? Nay, then, that settles it. I will
+not let thee through. Fellow, I worship the Lady Charmion--ay, we all
+worship her, though she gives us more slaps than sighs. And dost thou
+think that we will suffer an astrologer with such eyes and such a chest
+as thine to cut in the game?--by Bacchus, no! She must come out to keep
+the tryst, for in thou shalt not go.”
+
+“Sir,” I said humbly and yet with dignity, “I pray that a message may be
+sent to the Lady Charmion, for my business will not brook delay.”
+
+“Ye Gods!” answered the fool, “whom have we here that he cannot wait? A
+Cæsar in disguise? Nay, be off--be off! if thou wouldst not learn how a
+spear-prick feels behind.”
+
+“Nay,” put in the other officer, “he is an astrologer; make him
+prophesy--make him play tricks.”
+
+“Ay,” cried the others who had sauntered up, “let the fellow show his
+art. If he is a magician he can pass the gates, Paulus or no Paulus.”
+
+“Right willingly, good Sirs,” I answered; for I saw no other means of
+entering. “Wilt thou, my young and noble Lord”--and I addressed him who
+was with Paulus--“suffer that I look thee in the eyes; perhaps I may
+read what is written there?”
+
+“Right,” answered the youth; “but I wish that the Lady Charmion was the
+sorceress. I would stare her out of countenance, I warrant.”
+
+I took him by the hand and gazed deep into his eyes. “I see,” I said, “a
+field of battle at night, and about it bodies stretched--among them is
+_thy_ body, and a hyena tears its throat. Most noble Sir, thou shalt die
+by sword-thrusts within a year.”
+
+“By Bacchus!” said the youth, turning white to the gills, “thou art
+an ill-omened sorcerer!” And he slunk off--shortly afterwards, as it
+chanced, to meet this very fate. For he was sent on service and slain in
+Cyprus.
+
+“Now for thee, great Captain!” I said, speaking to Paulus. “I will show
+thee how I will pass those gates without thy leave--ay, and draw thee
+through them after me. Be pleased to fix thy princely gaze upon the
+point of this wand in my hand.”
+
+Being urged by his comrades he did this, unwillingly; and I let him
+gaze till I saw his eyes grow empty as an owl’s eyes in the sun. Then I
+suddenly withdrew the wand, and, shifting my countenance into the place
+of it, I seized him with my will and stare, and, beginning to turn round
+and round, drew him after me, his fierce face drawn fixed, as it were,
+almost to my own. Then I moved slowly backwards till I had passed the
+gates, still drawing him after me, and suddenly jerked my head away. He
+fell to the ground, to rise wiping his brow and looking very foolish.
+
+“Art thou content, most noble Captain?” I said. “Thou seest we have
+passed the gates. Would any other noble Sir wish that I should show more
+of my skill?”
+
+“By Taranis, Lord of Thunder, and all the Gods of Olympus thrown in,
+no!” growled an old Centurion, a Gaul named Brennus, “I like thee not,
+I say. The man who could drag our Paulus through those gates by the eye,
+as it were, is not a man to play with. Paulus, too, who always goes the
+way you don’t want him--backwards, like an ass--Paulus! Why, sirrah,
+thou needst must have a woman in one eye and a wine-cup in the other to
+draw our Paulus thus.”
+
+At this moment the talk was broken, for Charmion herself came down the
+marble path, followed by an armed slave. She walked calm and carelessly,
+her hands folded behind her, and her eyes gazing at nothingness, as it
+were. But it was when Charmion thus looked upon nothing that she saw
+most. And as she came the officers and men of the guard made way for
+her bowing, for, as I learned afterwards, this girl, next to Cleopatra’s
+self, wielded more power than anyone about the palace.
+
+“What is this tumult, Brennus?” she said, speaking to the Centurion, and
+making as if she saw me not; “knowest thou not that the Queen sleeps at
+this hour, and if she be awakened it is thou who must answer for it, and
+that dearly?”
+
+“Nay, Lady,” said the Centurion, humbly; “but it is thus. We have
+here”--and he jerked his thumb towards me--“a magician of the most
+pestilent--um, I crave his pardon--of the very best sort, for he hath
+but just now, only by placing his eyes close to the nose of the worthy
+Captain Paulus, dragged him, the said Paulus, through the gates that
+Paulus swore the magician should not pass. By the same token, lady, the
+magician says that he has business with you--which grieves me for your
+sake.”
+
+Charmion turned and looked at me carelessly. “Ay, I remember,” she said;
+“and so he has--at least, the Queen would see his tricks; but if he can
+do none better than cause a sot”--here she cast a glance of scorn at the
+wondering Paulus--“to follow his nose through the gates he guards, he
+had better go whence he came. Follow me, Sir Magician; and for thee,
+Brennus, I say, keep thy riotous crew more quiet. For thee, most
+honourable Paulus, get thee sober, and next time I am asked for at the
+gates give him who asks a hearing.” And, with a queenly nod of her small
+head, she turned and led the way, followed at a distance by myself and
+the armed slave.
+
+We passed up the marble walk which runs through the garden grounds, and
+is set on either side with marble statues, for the most part of heathen
+Gods and Goddesses, with which these Lagidæ were not ashamed to defile
+their royal dwellings. At length we came to a beautiful portico with
+fluted columns of the Grecian style of art, where we found more guards,
+who made way for the Lady Charmion. Crossing the portico we reached a
+marble vestibule where a fountain splashed softly, and thence by a low
+doorway a second chamber, known as the Alabaster Hall, most beautiful to
+see. Its roof was upheld by light columns of black marble, but all
+its walls were panelled with alabaster, on which Grecian legends were
+engraved. Its floor was of rich and many-hued mosaic that told the tale
+of the passion of Psyche for the Grecian God of Love, and about it were
+set chairs of ivory and gold. Charmion bade the armed slave stay at the
+doorway of this chamber, so that we passed in alone, for the place was
+empty except for two eunuchs who stood with drawn swords before the
+curtain at the further end.
+
+“I am vexed, my Lord,” she said, speaking very low and shyly, “that thou
+shouldst have met with such affronts at the gate; but the guard there
+served a double watch, and I had given my commands to the officer of
+the company that should have relieved it. Those Roman officers are ever
+insolent, who, though they seem to serve, know well that Egypt is
+their plaything. But it is not amiss, for these rough soldiers are
+superstitious, and will fear thee. Now bide thou here while I go into
+Cleopatra’s chamber, where she sleeps. I have but just sung her to
+sleep, and if she be awake I will call thee, for she waits thy coming.”
+ And without more words she glided from my side.
+
+In a little time she returned, and coming to me spoke:
+
+“Wouldst see the fairest woman in all the world, asleep?” she whispered;
+“if so, follow me. Nay, fear not; when she awakes she will but laugh,
+for she bade me be sure to bring thee instantly, whether she slept or
+woke. See, I have her signet.”
+
+So we passed up the beautiful chamber till we came to where the eunuchs
+stood with drawn swords, and these would have barred my entry. But
+Charmion frowned, and drawing the signet from her bosom held it before
+their eyes. Having examined the writing that was on the ring, they
+bowed, dropping their sword points and we passed through the heavy
+curtains broidered with gold into the resting-place of Cleopatra. It was
+beautiful beyond imagining--beautiful with many coloured marbles, with
+gold and ivory, gems and flowers--all art can furnish and all luxury
+can dream of were here. Here were pictures so real that birds might
+have pecked the painted fruits; here were statues of woman’s loveliness
+frozen into stone; here were draperies fine as softest silk, but woven
+of a web of gold; here were couches and carpets such as I never saw. The
+air, too, was sweet with perfume, while through the open window places
+came the far murmur of the sea. And at the further end of the chamber,
+on a couch of gleaming silk and sheltered by a net of finest gauze,
+Cleopatra lay asleep. There she lay--the fairest thing that man ever
+saw--fairer than a dream, and the web of her dark hair flowed all about
+her. One white, rounded arm made a pillow for her head, and one hung
+down towards the ground. Her rich lips were parted in a smile, showing
+the ivory lines of teeth; and her rosy limbs were draped in so thin a
+robe of the silk of Cos, held about her by a jewelled girdle, that the
+white gleam of flesh shone through it. I stood astonished, and though
+my thoughts had little bent that way, the sight of her beauty struck me
+like a blow, so that for a moment I lost myself as it were in the vision
+of its power, and was grieved at heart because I must slay so fair a
+thing.
+
+Turning suddenly from the sight, I found Charmion watching me with her
+quick eyes--watching as though she would search my heart. And, indeed,
+something of my thought must have been written on my face in a language
+that she could read, for she whispered in my ear:
+
+“Ay, it is pity, is it not? Harmachis, being but a man, methinks that
+thou wilt need all thy ghostly strength to nerve thee to the deed!”
+
+I frowned, but before I could frame an answer she touched me lightly on
+the arm and pointed to the Queen. A change had come upon her: her hands
+were clenched, and about her face, all rosy with the hue of sleep,
+gathered a cloud of fear. Her breath came quick, she raised her arms as
+though to ward away a blow, then with a stifled moan sat up and opened
+the windows of her eyes. They were dark, dark as night; but when
+the light found them they grew blue as the sky grows blue before the
+blushing of the dawn.
+
+“Cæsarion?” she said; “where is my son Cæsarion?--Was it then a dream?
+I dreamed that Julius--Julius who is dead--came to me, a bloody toga
+wrapped about his face, and having thrown his arms about his child led
+him away. Then I dreamed I died--died in blood and agony; and one I
+might not see mocked me as I died. _Ah!_ who is that man?”
+
+“Peace, Madam! peace!” said Charmion. “It is but the magician Harmachis,
+whom thou didst bid me bring to thee at this hour.”
+
+“Ah! the magician--that Harmachis who overthrew the giant? I remember
+now. He is welcome. Tell me, Sir Magician, can thy magic mirror call
+forth an answer to this dream? Nay, how strange a thing is Sleep, that
+wrapping the mind in a web of darkness, straightly compels it to its
+will! Whence, then, come those images of fear rising on the horizon
+of the soul like some untimely moon upon a midday sky? Who grants them
+power to stalk so lifelike from Memory’s halls, and, pointing to
+their wounds, thus confront the Present with the Past? Are they, then,
+messengers? Does the half-death of sleep give them foothold in our
+brains, and thus upknit the cut thread of human kinship? That was
+Cæsar’s self, I tell thee, who but now stood at my side and murmured
+through his muffled robe warning words of which the memory is lost to
+me. Read me this riddle, thou Egyptian Sphinx,[*] and I’ll show thee a
+rosier path to fortune than all thy stars can point. Thou hast brought
+the omen, solve thou its problem.”
+
+     [*] Alluding to his name. Harmachis was the Grecian title of
+     the divinity of the Sphinx, as Horemkhu was the Egyptian.--
+     Editor.
+
+“I come in a good hour, most mighty Queen,” I answered, “for I have some
+skill in the mysteries of Sleep, that is, as thou hast rightly guessed,
+a stair by which those who are gathered to Osiris may from time to time
+enter at the gateways of our living sense, and, by signs and words that
+can be read of instructed mortals, repeat the echoes of that Hall of
+Truth which is their habitation. Yes, Sleep is a stair by which the
+messengers of the guardian Gods may descend in many shapes upon the
+spirit of their choice. For, O Queen, to those who hold the key,
+the madness of our dreams can show a clearer purpose and speak more
+certainly than all the acted wisdom of our waking life, which is a dream
+indeed. Thou didst see great Cæsar in his bloody robe, and he threw his
+arms about the Prince Cæsarion and led him hence. Hearken now to the
+secret of thy vision. It was Cæsar’s self thou sawest coming to thy side
+from Amenti in such a guise as might not be mistaken. When he embraced
+the child Cæsarion he did it for a sign that to him, and him alone, had
+passed his greatness and his love. When he seemed to lead him hence
+he led him forth from Egypt to be crowned in the Capitol, crowned the
+Emperor of Rome and Lord of all the Lands. For the rest, I know not. It
+is hid from me.”
+
+Thus, then, I read the vision, though to my sense it had a darker
+meaning. But it is not well to prophesy evil unto Kings.
+
+Meanwhile Cleopatra had risen, and, having thrown back the gnat gauze,
+was seated upon the edge of her couch, her eyes fixed upon my face,
+while her fingers played with her girdle’s jewelled ends.
+
+“Of a truth,” she cried, “thou art the best of all magicians, for thou
+readest my heart, and drawest a hidden sweet out of the rough shell of
+evil omen!”
+
+“Ay, O Queen,” said Charmion, who stood by with downcast eyes, and I
+thought that there was bitter meaning in her soft tones; “may no rougher
+words ever affront thy ears, and no evil presage tread less closely upon
+its happy sense.”
+
+Cleopatra placed her hands behind her head and, leaning back, looked at
+me with half-shut eyes.
+
+“Come, show us of thy magic, Egyptian,” she said. “It is yet hot abroad,
+and I am weary of those Hebrew Ambassadors and their talk of Herod and
+Jerusalem. I hate that Herod, as he shall find--and will have none of
+the Ambassadors to-day, though I yearn a little to try my Hebrew on
+them. What canst thou do? Hast thou no new trick? By Serapis! if thou
+canst conjure as well as thou canst prophesy, thou shalt have a place
+at Court, with pay and perquisites to boot, if thy lofty soul does not
+scorn perquisites.”
+
+“Nay,” I answered, “all tricks are old; but there are some forms of
+magic to be rarely used, and with discretion, that may be new to thee, O
+Queen! Art thou afraid to venture on the charm?”
+
+“I fear nothing; go on and do thy worst. Come, Charmion, and sit by me.
+But, stay, where are all the girls?--Iras and Merira?--they, too, love
+magic.”
+
+“Not so,” I said; “the charms work ill before so many. Now behold!”
+ and, gazing at the twain, I cast my wand upon the marble and murmured
+a spell. For a moment it was still, and then, as I muttered, the rod
+slowly began to writhe. It bent itself, it stood on end, and moved of
+its own motion. Next it put on scales, and behold it was a serpent that
+crawled and fiercely hissed.
+
+“Fie on thee!” cried Cleopatra, clapping her hands; “callest thou that
+magic? Why, it is an old trick that any wayside conjurer can do. I have
+seen it a score of times.”
+
+“Wait, O Queen,” I answered, “thou hast not seen all.” And, as I spoke,
+the serpent seemed to break in fragments, and from each fragment grew a
+new serpent. And these, too, broke in fragments and bred others, till in
+a little while the place, to their glamoured sight, was a seething sea
+of snakes, that crawled, hissed, and knotted themselves in knots. Then
+I made a sign, and the serpents gathered themselves round me, and seemed
+slowly to twine themselves about my body and my limbs, till, save my
+face, I was wreathed thick with hissing snakes.
+
+“Oh, horrible! horrible!” cried Charmion, hiding her countenance in the
+skirt of the Queen’s garment.
+
+“Nay, enough, Magician, enough!” said the Queen: “thy magic overwhelms
+us.”
+
+I waved my snake-wrapped arms, and all was gone. There at my feet lay
+the black wand tipped with ivory, and naught beside.
+
+The two women looked upon each other and gasped with wonder. But I took
+up the wand and stood with folded arms before them.
+
+“Is the Queen content with my poor art?” I asked most humbly.
+
+“Ay, that I am, Egyptian; never did I see its like! Thou art Court
+astronomer from this day forward, with right of access to the Queen’s
+presence. Hast thou more of such magic at thy call?”
+
+“Yea, royal Egypt; suffer that the chamber be a little darkened, and I
+will show thee one more thing.”
+
+“Half am I afraid,” she answered; “nevertheless do thou as this
+Harmachis says, Charmion.”
+
+So the curtains were drawn and the chamber made as though the twilight
+were at hand. I came forward, and stood beside Cleopatra. “Gaze thou
+there!” I said sternly, pointing with my wand to the empty space where I
+had been, “and thou shalt behold that which is in thy mind.”
+
+Then for a little space was silence, while the two women gazed fixedly
+and half fearful at the spot.
+
+And as they gazed a cloud gathered before them. Very slowly it took
+shape and form, and the form it took was the form of a man, though as
+yet he was but vaguely mapped upon the twilight, and seemed now to grow
+and now to melt away.
+
+Then I cried with a loud voice:
+
+“Spirit, I conjure thee, _appear!_”
+
+And as I cried the Thing, perfect in every part, leapt into form before
+us, suddenly as the flash of day. His shape was the shape of royal
+Cæsar, the toga thrown about his face, and on his form a vestment bloody
+from a hundred wounds. An instant so he stood, then I waved my wand and
+he was gone.
+
+I turned to the two women on the couch, and saw Cleopatra’s lovely face
+all clothed in terror. Her lips were ashy white, her eyes stared wide,
+and all the flesh was shaking on her bones.
+
+“Man!” she gasped; “man! who and what art thou who canst bring the dead
+before our eyes?”
+
+“I am the Queen’s astronomer, magician, servant--what the Queen wills,”
+ I answered, laughing. “Was this the form that was on the Queen’s mind?”
+
+She made no answer, but, rising, left the chamber by another door.
+
+Then Charmion rose also and took her hands from her face, for she, too,
+had been stricken with dread.
+
+“How dost thou these things, royal Harmachis?” she said. “Tell me; for
+of a truth I fear thee.”
+
+“Be not afraid,” I answered. “Perchance thou didst see nothing but what
+was in my mind. All things are shadows. How canst thou, then, know their
+nature, or what is and what only seems to be? But how goes it? Remember,
+Charmion, this sport is played to an end.”
+
+“It goes well,” she said. “By to-morrow morning’s dawn these tales
+will have gone round, and thou wilt be more feared than any man in
+Alexandria. Follow me, I pray thee.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+OF THE WAYS OF CHARMION; AND OF THE CROWNING OF HARMACHIS AS THE KING OF
+LOVE
+
+On the following day I received the writing of my appointment as
+Astrologer and Magician-in-Chief to the Queen, with the pay and
+perquisites of that office, which were not small. Rooms were given me
+in the palace, also, through which I passed at night to the high
+watch-tower, whence I looked on the stars and drew their auguries. For
+at this time Cleopatra was much troubled about matters political, and
+not knowing how the great struggle among the Roman factions would end,
+but being very desirous to side with the strongest, she took constant
+counsel with me as to the warnings of the stars. These I read to her
+in such manner as best seemed to fit the high interest of my ends. For
+Antony, the Roman Triumvir, was now in Asia Minor, and, rumour ran, very
+wroth because it had been told him that Cleopatra was hostile to the
+Triumvirate, in that her General, Serapion, had aided Cassius. But
+Cleopatra protested loudly to me and others that Serapion had acted
+against her will. Yet Charmion told me that, as with Allienus, it was
+because of a prophecy of Dioscorides the unlucky that the Queen herself
+had secretly ordered Serapion so to do. Still, this did not save
+Serapion, for to prove to Antony that she was innocent she dragged the
+General from the sanctuary and slew him. Woe be to those who carry
+out the will of tyrants if the scale should rise against them! And so
+Serapion perished.
+
+Meanwhile all things went well with us, for the minds of Cleopatra and
+those about her were so set upon affairs abroad that neither she nor
+they thought of revolt at home. But day by day our party gathered
+strength in the cities of Egypt, and even in Alexandria, which is to
+Egypt as another land, all things being foreign there. Day by day, those
+who doubted were won over and sworn to the cause by that oath which
+cannot be broken, and our plans of action more firmly laid. And every
+other day I went forth from the palace to take counsel with my uncle
+Sepa, and there at his house met the Nobles and the great priests who
+were for the party of Khem.
+
+I saw much of Cleopatra, the Queen, and I was ever more astonished at
+the wealth and splendour of her mind, that for richness and variety
+was as a woven cloth of gold throwing back all lights from its changing
+face. She feared me somewhat, and therefore wished to make a friend of
+me, asking me of many matters that seemed to be beyond the province of
+my office. I saw much of the Lady Charmion also--indeed, she was ever at
+my side, so that I scarce knew when she came and when she went. For she
+would draw nigh with that soft step of hers, and I would turn to find
+her at hand and watching me beneath the long lashes of her downcast
+eyes. There was no service that was too hard for her, and no task too
+long; for day and night she laboured for me and for our cause.
+
+But when I thanked her for her loyalty, and said it should be had in
+mind in that time which was at hand, she stamped her foot, and pouted
+with her lips, like an angry child, saying that, among all the things
+which I had learned, this had I not learned--that Love’s service asked
+no payment, and was its own guerdon. And I, being innocent in such
+matters, and, foolish that I was, holding the ways of women as of small
+account, read her sayings in the sense that her services to the cause
+of Khem, which she loved, brought with them their own reward. But when
+I praised so fine a spirit, she burst into angry tears and left me
+wondering. For I knew nothing of the trouble at her heart. I knew not
+then that, unsought, this woman had given me her love, and that she was
+rent and torn by pangs of passion fixed like arrows in her breast. I did
+not know--how should I know it, who never looked upon her otherwise than
+as an instrument of our joint and holy cause? Her beauty never stirred
+me--no, not even when she leaned over me and breathed upon my hair, I
+never thought of it otherwise than as a man thinks of the beauty of a
+statue. What had I to do with such delights, I who was sworn to Isis
+and dedicate to the cause of Egypt? O ye Gods, bear me witness that I am
+innocent of this thing which was the source of all my woe and the woe of
+Khem!
+
+How strange a thing is this love of woman, that is so small in its
+beginning and in its ends so great! See, at the first it is as the
+little spring of water welling from a mountain’s heart. And at the last
+what is it? It is a mighty river that floats argosies of joy and makes
+wide lands to smile. Or, perchance, it is a torrent to wash in a flood
+of ruin across the fields of Hope, bursting in the barriers of design,
+and bringing to tumbled nothingness the tenement of man’s purity and the
+temples of his faith. For when the Invisible conceived the order of the
+universe He set this seed of woman’s love within its plan, that by its
+most unequal growth is doomed to bring about equality of law. For now
+it lifts the low to heights untold, and now it brings the noble to the
+level of the dust. And thus, while Woman, that great surprise of nature,
+is, Good and Evil can never grow apart. For still She stands, and, blind
+with love, shoots the shuttle of our fate, and pours sweet water into
+the cup of bitterness, and poisons the wholesome breath of life with the
+doom of her desire. Turn this way and turn that, She is at hand to meet
+thee. Her weakness is thy strength, her might is thy undoing. Of her
+thou art, to her thou goest. She is thy slave, yet holds thee captive;
+at her touch honour withers, locks open, and barriers fall. She is
+infinite as ocean, she is variable as heaven, and her name is the
+Unforeseen. Man, strive not to escape from Woman and the love of
+woman; for, fly where thou wilt, She is yet thy fate, and whate’er thou
+buildest thou buildest it for her!
+
+And thus it came to pass that I, Harmachis, who had put such matters far
+from me, was yet doomed to fall by the thing I held of no account. For,
+see, this Charmion: she loved me--why, I know not. Of her own thought
+she learned to love me, and of her love came what shall be told. But I,
+knowing naught, treated her like a sister, walking as it were hand in
+hand with her towards our common end.
+
+And so the time passed on, till, at length, all things were made ready.
+
+It was the night before the night when the blow should fall, and there
+were revellings in the palace. That very day I had seen Sepa, and with
+him the captains of a band of five hundred men, who should burst into
+the palace at midnight on the morrow, when I had slain Cleopatra the
+Queen, and put the Roman and the Gallic legionaries to the sword. That
+very day I had suborned the Captain Paulus who, since I drew him through
+the gates, was my will’s slave. Half by fear and half by promises of
+great reward I had prevailed upon him, for the watch was his, to unbar
+that small gate which faces to the East at the signal on the morrow
+night.
+
+All was made ready--the flower of Freedom that had been five-and-twenty
+years in growth was on the point of bloom. Armed companies were
+gathering in every city from Abu to Athu, and spies looked out from
+their walls, awaiting the coming of the messenger who should bring
+tidings that Cleopatra was no more and that Harmachis, the royal
+Egyptian, had seized the throne.
+
+All was prepared, triumph hung in my hand as a ripe fruit to the hand of
+the plucker. Yet as I sat at the royal feast my heart was heavy, and a
+shadow of coming woe lay cold within my mind. I sat there in a place
+of honour, near the majesty of Cleopatra, and looked down the lines of
+guests, bright with gems and garlanded with flowers, marking those whom
+I had doomed to die. There before me lay Cleopatra in all her beauty,
+which thrilled the beholder as he is thrilled by the rushing of the
+midnight gale, or by the sight of stormy waters. I gazed on her as she
+touched her lips with wine and toyed with the chaplet of roses on her
+brow, thinking of the dagger beneath my robe that I had sworn to bury in
+her breast. Again, and yet again, I gazed and strove to hate her,
+strove to rejoice that she must die--and could not. There, too, behind
+her--watching me now, as ever, with her deep-fringed eyes--was the
+lovely Lady Charmion. Who, to look at her innocent face, would believe
+that she was the setter of that snare in which the Queen who loved her
+should miserably perish? Who would dream that the secret of so much
+death was locked in her girlish breast? I gazed, and grew sick at heart
+because I must anoint my throne with blood, and by evil sweep away the
+evil of the land. At that hour I wished, indeed, that I was nothing
+but some humble husbandman, who in its season grows and in its season
+garners the golden grain! Alas! the seed that I had been doomed to sow
+was the seed of Death, and now I must reap the red fruit of the harvest!
+
+“Why, Harmachis, what ails thee?” said Cleopatra, smiling her slow
+smile. “Has the golden skein of stars got tangled, my astronomer? or
+dost thou plan some new feat of magic? Say what is it that thou dost so
+poorly grace our feast? Nay, now, did I not know, having made inquiry,
+that things so low as we poor women are far beneath thy gaze, why, I
+should swear that Eros had found thee out, Harmachis!”
+
+“Nay, that I am spared, O Queen,” I answered. “The servant of the stars
+marks not the smaller light of woman’s eyes, and therein is he happy!”
+
+Cleopatra leaned herself towards me, looking on me long and steadily in
+such fashion that, despite my will, the blood fluttered at my heart.
+
+“Boast not, thou proud Egyptian,” she said in a low voice which none but
+I and Charmion could hear, “lest perchance thou dost tempt me to match
+my magic against thine. What woman can forgive that a man should push
+us by as things of no account? It is an insult to our sex which Nature’s
+self abhors,” and she leaned back again and laughed most musically. But,
+glancing up, I saw Charmion, her teeth on her lip and an angry frown
+upon her brow.
+
+“Pardon, royal Egypt,” I answered coldly, but with such wit as I could
+summon, “before the Queen of Heaven even stars grow pale!” This I said
+of the moon, which is the sign of the Holy Mother whom Cleopatra dared
+to rival, naming herself Isis come to earth.
+
+“Happily said,” she answered, clapping her white hands. “Why, here’s an
+astronomer who has wit and can shape a compliment! Nay, such a wonder
+must not pass unnoted, lest the Gods resent it. Charmion, take this
+rose-chaplet from my hair and set it upon the learned brow of our
+Harmachis. He shall be crowned _King of Love_, whether he will it or
+not.”
+
+Charmion lifted the chaplet from Cleopatra’s brows and, bearing it to
+where I was, with a smile set it upon my head yet warm and fragrant from
+the Queen’s hair, but so roughly that she pained me somewhat. She
+did this because she was wroth, although she smiled with her lips and
+whispered, “An omen, royal Harmachis.” For though she was so very much
+a woman, yet, when she was angered or suffered jealousy, Charmion had a
+childish way.
+
+Having thus fixed the chaplet, she curtsied low before me, and with the
+softest tone of mockery named me, in the Greek tongue, “Harmachis, King
+of Love.” Then Cleopatra laughed and pledged me as “King of Love,” and
+so did all the company, finding the jest a merry one. For in Alexandria
+they love not those who live straitly and turn aside from women.
+
+But I sat there, a smile upon my lips, and black wrath in my heart. For,
+knowing who and what I was, it irked me to think myself a jest for the
+frivolous nobles and light beauties of Cleopatra’s Court. But I was
+chiefly angered against Charmion, because she laughed the loudest, and I
+did not then know that laughter and bitterness are often the veils with
+which a sore heart wraps its weakness from the world. “An omen” she said
+it was--that crown of flowers--and so it proved indeed. For I was fated
+to barter the Double Diadem of the Upper and the Lower Land for a wreath
+of passion’s roses that fade before they fully bloom, and Pharaoh’s
+ivory bed of state for the pillow of a faithless woman’s breast.
+
+“_King of Love!_” they crowned me in their mockery; ay, and King of
+Shame! And I, with the perfumed roses on my brow--I, by descent and
+ordination the Pharaoh of Egypt--thought of the imperishable halls
+of Abouthis and of that other crowning which on the morrow should be
+consummate.
+
+But still smiling, I pledged them back, and answered with a jest. For
+rising, I bowed before Cleopatra and craved leave to go. “Venus,” I
+said, speaking of the planet that we know as Donaou in the morning and
+Bonou in the evening, “was in the ascendant. Therefore, as new-crowned
+King of Love, I must now pass to do my homage to its Queen.” For these
+barbarians name Venus Queen of Love.
+
+And so amidst their laughter I withdrew to my watch-tower, and, dashing
+that shameful chaplet down amidst the instruments of my craft, made
+pretence to note the rolling of the stars. There I waited, thinking on
+many things that were to be, until Charmion should come with the last
+lists of the doomed and the messages of my uncle Sepa, whom she had seen
+that evening.
+
+At length the door opened softly, and she came jewelled and clad in her
+white robes, as she had left the feast.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+OF THE COMING OF CLEOPATRA TO THE CHAMBER OF HARMACHIS; OF THE THROWING
+FORTH OF THE KERCHIEF OF CHARMION; OF THE STARS; AND OF THE GIFT BY
+CLEOPATRA OF HER FRIENDSHIP TO HER SERVANT HARMACHIS
+
+“At length thou art come, Charmion,” I said. “It is over-late.”
+
+“Yea, my Lord; but by no means could I escape Cleopatra. Her mood is
+strangely crossed to-night. I know not what it may portend. Strange
+whims and fancies blow across it like light and contrary airs upon a
+summer sea, and I cannot read her purpose.”
+
+“Well, well; enough of Cleopatra. Hast thou seen our uncle?”
+
+“Yes, royal Harmachis.”
+
+“And hast thou the last lists?”
+
+“Yes; here they are,” and she drew them from her bosom. “Here is the
+list of those who, after the Queen, must certainly be put to the sword.
+Among them thou wilt note is the name of that old Gaul Brennus. I grieve
+for him, for we are friends; but it must be. It is a heavy list.”
+
+“It is so,” I answered conning it; “when men write out their count they
+forget no item, and our count is long. What must be must be. Now for the
+next.”
+
+“Here is the list of those to be spared, as friendly or uncertain;
+and here that of the towns which will certainly rise as soon as the
+messenger reaches their gates with tidings of the death of Cleopatra.”
+
+“Good. And now”--and I paused--“and now as to the manner of Cleopatra’s
+death. How hast thou settled it? Must it be by my own hand?”
+
+“Yea, my Lord,” she answered, and again I caught that note of bitterness
+in her voice. “Doubtless Pharaoh will rejoice that his should be the
+hand to rid the land of this false Queen and wanton woman, and at one
+blow break the chains which gall the neck of Egypt.”
+
+“Talk not thus, girl,” I said; “thou knowest well that I do not rejoice,
+being but driven to the act by deep necessity and the pressure of my
+vows. Can she not, then, be poisoned? Or can no one of the eunuchs be
+suborned to slay her? My soul turns from this bloody work! Indeed, I
+marvel, however heavy be her crimes, that thou canst speak so lightly of
+the death by treachery of one who loves thee!”
+
+“Surely Pharaoh is over-tender, forgetting the greatness of the moment
+and all that hangs upon this dagger-stroke that shall cut the thread of
+Cleopatra’s life. Listen, Harmachis. _Thou_ must do the deed, and _thou_
+alone! Myself I would do it, had my arm the strength; but it has not.
+It cannot be done by poison, for every drop she drinks and every morsel
+that shall touch her lips is strictly tasted by three separate tasters,
+who cannot be suborned. Nor may the eunuchs of the guard be trusted.
+Two, indeed, are sworn to us; but the third cannot be come at. He must
+be cut down afterwards; and, indeed, when so many men must fall, what
+matters a eunuch more or less? Thus it shall be, then. To-morrow night,
+at three hours before midnight thou dost cast the final augury of the
+issue of the war. And then thou wilt, as is agreed, descend alone with
+me, having the signet, to the outer chamber of the Queen’s apartment.
+For the vessel bearing orders to the Legions sails from Alexandria at
+the following dawn; and alone with Cleopatra, since she wills that
+the thing be kept secret as the sea, thou wilt read the message of the
+stars. And as she pores over the papyrus, then must thou stab her in
+the back, so that she dies; and see thou that thy will and arm fail thee
+not! The deed being done--and indeed it will be easy--thou wilt take
+the signet and pass out to where the eunuch is--for the others will be
+wanting. If by any chance there is trouble with him--but there will be
+no trouble, for he dare not enter the private rooms, and the sounds
+of death cannot reach so far--thou must cut him down. Then I will meet
+thee; and, passing on, we will come to Paulus, and it shall be my care
+to see that he is neither drunk nor backward, for I know how to hold him
+to the task. And he and those with him shall throw open the side gate,
+when Sepa and the five hundred chosen men who are in waiting shall pour
+in and cast themselves upon the sleeping legionaries, putting them to
+the sword. Why, the thing is easy so thou rest true to thyself, and let
+no womanish fears creep into thy heart. What is this dagger’s thrust? It
+is nothing, and yet upon it hang the destinies of Egypt and the world.”
+
+“Hush!” I said. “What is that?--I hear a sound.”
+
+Charmion ran to the door, and, gazing down the long, dark passage,
+listened. In a moment she came back, her finger on her lips. “It is the
+Queen,” she whispered hurriedly; “the Queen who mounts the stair alone.
+I heard her bid Iras to leave her. I may not be found alone with thee
+at this hour; it has a strange look, and she may suspect. What wants she
+here? Where can I hide?”
+
+I glanced round. At the further end of the chamber was a heavy curtain
+that hid a little place built in the thickness of the wall which I used
+for the storage of rolls and instruments.
+
+“Haste thee--there!” I said, and she glided behind the curtain, which
+swung back and covered her. Then I thrust the fatal scroll of death into
+the bosom of my robe and bent over the mystic chart. Presently I heard
+the sweep of woman’s robes and there came a low knock upon the door.
+
+“Enter, whoever thou art,” I said.
+
+The latch lifted, and Cleopatra swept in, royally arrayed, her dark
+hair hanging about her and the sacred snake of royalty glistening on her
+brow.
+
+“Of a truth, Harmachis,” she said with a sigh, as she sank into a seat,
+“the path to heaven is hard to climb! Ah! I am weary, for those stairs
+are many. But I was minded, my astronomer, to see thee in thy haunts.”
+
+“I am honoured overmuch, O Queen!” I said, bowing low before her.
+
+“Art thou now? And yet that dark face of thine has a somewhat angry
+look--thou art too young and handsome for this dry trade, Harmachis.
+Why, I vow thou hast cast my wreath of roses down amidst thy rusty
+tools! Kings would have cherished that wreath along with their choicest
+diadems, Harmachis! and thou dost throw it away as a thing of no
+account! Why, what a man art thou! But stay; what is this? A lady’s
+kerchief, by Isis! Nay, now, my Harmachis, how came _this_ here? Are our
+poor kerchiefs also instruments of thy high art? Oh, fie, fie!--have I
+caught thee, then? Art thou indeed a fox?”
+
+“Nay, most royal Cleopatra, nay!” I said, turning; for the kerchief
+which had fallen from Charmion’s neck had an awkward look. “I know not,
+indeed, how the frippery came here. Perhaps, some one of the women who
+keeps the chamber may have let it fall.”
+
+“Ah! so--so!” she said dryly, and still laughing like a rippling brook.
+“Yes, surely, the slave-women who keep chambers own such toys as this,
+of the very finest silk, worth twice its weight in gold, and broidered,
+too, in many colours. Why, myself I should not shame to wear it! Of a
+truth it seems familiar to my sight.” And she threw it round her neck
+and smoothed the ends with her white hand. “But there; doubtless, it is
+a thing unholy in thine eyes that the scarf of thy beloved should rest
+upon my poor breast. Take it, Harmachis; take it, and hide it in thy
+bosom--nigh thy heart indeed!”
+
+I took the accursed thing, and, muttering what I may not write, stepped
+on to the giddy platform whence I watched the stars. Then, crushing it
+into a ball, I threw it to the winds of heaven.
+
+At this the lovely Queen laughed once more.
+
+“Nay, think now,” she cried; “what would the lady say could she see her
+love-gauge thus cast to all the world? Mayhap, Harmachis, thou wouldst
+deal thus with my wreath also? See, the roses fade; cast it forth,” and,
+stooping, she took up the wreath and gave it to me.
+
+For a moment, so vexed was I, I had a mind to take her at her word and
+send the wreath to join the kerchief. But I thought better of it.
+
+“Nay,” I said more softly, “it is a Queen’s gift, and I will keep it,”
+ and, as I spoke, I saw the curtain shake. Often since that night I have
+sorrowed over those simple words.
+
+“Gracious thanks be to the King of Love for this small mercy,” she
+answered, looking at me strangely. “Now, enough of wit; come forth upon
+this balcony--tell me of the mystery of those stars of thine. For I
+always loved the stars, that are so pure and bright and cold, and so far
+away from our fevered troubling. There I would wish to dwell, rocked on
+the dark bosom of the night, and losing the little sense of self as I
+gazed for ever on the countenance of yon sweet-eyed space. Nay--who can
+tell, Harmachis?--perhaps those stars partake of our very substance,
+and, linked to us by Nature’s invisible chain, do, indeed, draw our
+destiny with them as they roll. What says the Greek fable of him who
+became a star? Perchance it has truth, for yonder tiny sparks may be the
+souls of men, but grown more purely bright and placed in happy rest to
+illume the turmoil of their mother-earth. Or are they lamps hung high
+in the heavenly vault that night by night some Godhead, whose wings
+are Darkness, touches with his immortal fire so that they leap out in
+answering flame? Give me of thy wisdom and open these wonders to me, my
+servant, for I have little knowledge. Yet my heart is large, and I would
+fill it, for I have the wit, could I but find the teacher.”
+
+Thereon, being glad to find footing on a safer shore, and marvelling
+somewhat to learn that Cleopatra had a place for lofty thoughts, I spoke
+and willingly told her such things as are lawful. I told her how the
+sky is a liquid mass pressing round the earth and resting on the elastic
+pillars of the air, and how above is the heavenly ocean Nout, in which
+the planets float like ships as they rush upon their radiant way. I told
+her many things, and amongst them how, through the certain never-ceasing
+movement of the orbs of light, the planet Venus, that was called Donaou
+when she showed as the Morning Star, became the planet Bonou when she
+came as the sweet Star of Eve. And while I stood and spoke watching the
+stars, she sat, her hands clasped upon her knee, and watched my face.
+
+“Ah!” she broke in at length, “and so Venus is to be seen both in the
+morning and the evening sky. Well, of a truth, she is everywhere, though
+she best loves the night. But thou lovest not that I should use these
+Latin names to thee. Come, we will talk in the ancient tongue of Khem,
+which I know well; I am the first, mark thou, of all the Lagidæ who know
+it. And now,” she went on, speaking in my own tongue, but with a little
+foreign accent that did but make her talk more sweet, “enough of stars,
+for, when all is said, they are but fickle things, and perhaps may
+even now be storing up an evil hour for thee or me, or for both of us
+together. Not but what I love to hear thee speak of them, for then thy
+face loses that gloomy cloud of thought which mars it and grows quick
+and human. Harmachis, thou art too young for such a solemn trade;
+methinks that I must find thee a better. Youth comes but once; why waste
+it in these musings? It is time to think when we can no longer act. Tell
+me how old art thou, Harmachis?”
+
+“I have six-and-twenty years, O Queen,” I answered, “for I was born in
+the first month of Shomou, in the summer season, and on the third day of
+the month.”
+
+“Why, then, we are of an age even to a day,” she cried, “for I too have
+six-and-twenty years, and I too was born on the third day of the first
+month of Shomou. Well, this may we say: those who begot us need have no
+shame. For if I be the fairest woman in Egypt, methinks, Harmachis, that
+there is in Egypt no man more fair and strong than thou, ay, or more
+learned. Born of the same day, why, ‘tis manifest that we were destined
+to stand together, I, as the Queen, and thou, perchance, Harmachis, as
+one of the chief pillars of my throne, and thus to work each other’s
+weal.”
+
+“Or maybe each other’s woe,” I answered, looking up; for her sweet
+speeches stung my ears and brought more colour to my face than I loved
+that she should see there.
+
+“Nay, never talk of woe. Be seated here by me, Harmachis, and let us
+talk, not as Queen and subject, but as friend to friend. Thou wast
+angered with me at the feast to-night because I mocked thee with yonder
+wreath--was it not so? Nay, it was but a jest. Didst thou know how heavy
+is the task of monarchs and how wearisome are their hours, thou wouldst
+not be wroth because I lit my dulness with a jest. Oh, they weary me,
+those princes and those nobles, and those stiff-necked pompous Romans.
+To my face they vow themselves my slaves, and behind my back they mock
+me and proclaim me the servant of their Triumvirate, or their Empire,
+or their Republic, as the wheel of Fortune turns, and each rises on its
+round! There is never a man among them--nothing but fools, parasites,
+and puppets--never a man since with their coward daggers they slew that
+Cæsar whom all the world in arms was not strong enough to tame. And I
+must play off one against the other, if maybe, by so doing, I can
+keep Egypt from their grip. And for reward, what? Why, this is my
+reward--that all men speak ill of me--and, I know it, my subjects hate
+me! Yes, I believe that, woman though I am, they would murder me could
+they find a means!”
+
+She paused, covering her eyes with her hand, and it was well, for her
+words pierced me so that I shrank upon the seat beside her.
+
+“They think ill of me, I know it; and call me wanton, who have never
+stepped aside save once, when I loved the greatest man of all the world,
+and at the touch of love my passion flamed indeed, but burnt a hallowed
+flame. These ribald Alexandrians swear that I poisoned Ptolemy, my
+brother--whom the Roman Senate would, most unnaturally, have forced on
+me, his sister, as a husband! But it is false: he sickened and died of
+fever. And even so they say that I would slay Arsinoë, my sister--who,
+indeed, would slay me!--but that, too, is false! Though she will have
+none of me, I love my sister. Yes, they all think ill of me without a
+cause; even thou dost think ill of me, Harmachis.
+
+“O Harmachis, before thou judgest, remember what a thing is envy!--that
+foul sickness of the mind which makes the jaundiced eye of pettiness
+to see all things distraught--to read Evil written on the open face of
+Good, and find impurity in the whitest virgin’s soul! Think what a thing
+it is, Harmachis, to be set on high above the gaping crowd of knaves who
+hate thee for thy fortune and thy wit; who gnash their teeth and shoot
+the arrows of their lies from the cover of their own obscureness, whence
+they have no wings to soar; and whose hearts’ quest it is to drag down
+thy nobility to the level of the groundling and the fool!
+
+“Be not, then, swift to think evil of the Great, whose every word and
+act is searched for error by a million angry eyes, and whose most tiny
+fault is trumpeted by a thousand throats, till the world shakes with
+echoes of their sin! Say not: ‘It is thus, ‘tis certainly thus’--say,
+rather: ‘May it not be otherwise? Have we heard aright? Did she this
+thing of her own will?’ Judge gently, Harmachis, as wert thou I thou
+wouldst be judged. Remember that a Queen is never free. She is, indeed,
+but the point and instrument of those forces politic with which the iron
+books of history are graved. O Harmachis! be thou my friend--my friend
+and counsellor!--my friend whom I can trust indeed!--for here, in this
+crowded Court, I am more utterly alone than any soul that breathes about
+its corridors. But _thee_ I trust; there is faith written in those quiet
+eyes, and I am minded to lift thee high, Harmachis. I can no longer bear
+my solitude of mind--I must find one with whom I may commune and speak
+that which lies within my heart. I have faults, I know it; but I am not
+all unworthy of thy faith, for there is good grain among the evil seed.
+Say, Harmachis, wilt thou take pity on my loneliness and befriend me,
+who have lovers, courtiers, slaves, dependents, more thick than I
+can count, but never one single _friend_?” and she leant towards me,
+touching me lightly, and gazed on me with her wonderful blue eyes.
+
+I was overcome; thinking of the morrow night, shame and sorrow smote me.
+_I_, her friend!--_I_, whose assassin dagger lay against my breast! I
+bent my head, and a sob or a groan, I know not which, burst from the
+agony of my heart.
+
+But Cleopatra, thinking only that I was moved beyond myself by the
+surprise of her graciousness, smiled sweetly, and said:
+
+“It grows late; to-morrow night when thou bringest the auguries we will
+speak again, O my friend Harmachis, and thou shalt answer me.” And she
+gave me her hand to kiss. Scarce knowing what I did, I kissed it, and in
+another moment she was gone.
+
+But I stood in the chamber, gazing after her like one asleep.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+OF THE WORDS AND JEALOUSY OF CHARMION; OF THE LAUGHTER OF HARMACHIS; OF
+THE MAKING READY FOR THE DEED OF BLOOD; AND OF THE MESSAGE OF THE OLD WIFE, ATOUA
+
+I stood still, plunged in thought. Then by hazard as it were I took up
+the wreath of roses and looked on it. How long I stood so I know not,
+but when next I lifted up my eyes they fell upon the form of Charmion,
+whom, indeed, I had altogether forgotten. And though at the moment I
+thought but little of it, I noted vaguely that she was flushed as though
+with anger, and beat her foot upon the floor.
+
+“Oh, it is thou, Charmion!” I said. “What ails thee? Art thou cramped
+with standing so long in thy hiding-place? Why didst not thou slip hence
+when Cleopatra led me to the balcony?”
+
+“Where is my kerchief?” she asked, shooting an angry glance at me. “I
+let fall my broidered kerchief.”
+
+“Thy kerchief!--why, didst thou not see? Cleopatra twitted me about it,
+and I flung it from the balcony.”
+
+“Yes, I saw,” answered the girl, “I saw but too well. Thou didst fling
+away my kerchief, but the wreath of roses--that thou wouldst not
+fling away. It was ‘a Queen’s gift,’ forsooth, and therefore the royal
+Harmachis, the Priest of Isis, the chosen of the Gods, the crowned
+Pharaoh wed to the weal of Khem, cherished it and saved it. But my
+kerchief, stung by the laughter of that light Queen, he cast away!”
+
+“What meanest thou?” I asked, astonished at her bitter tone. “I cannot
+read thy riddles.”
+
+“What mean I?” she answered, tossing up her head and showing the white
+curves of her throat. “Nay, I mean naught, or all; take it as thou wilt.
+Wouldst know what I mean, Harmachis, my cousin and my Lord?” she went on
+in a hard, low voice. “Then I will tell thee--thou art in danger of the
+great offence. This Cleopatra has cast her fatal wiles about thee, and
+thou goest near to loving her, Harmachis--to loving her whom to-morrow
+thou must slay! Ay, stand and stare at that wreath in thy hand--the
+wreath thou couldst not send to join my kerchief--sure Cleopatra wore it
+but to-night! The perfume of the hair of Cæsar’s mistress--Cæsar’s
+and others’--yet mingles with the odour of its roses! Now, prithee,
+Harmachis, how far didst thou carry the matter on yonder balcony? for in
+that hole where I lay hid I could not hear or see. ‘Tis a sweet spot for
+lovers, is it not?--ay, and a sweet hour, too? Venus surely rules the
+stars to-night?”
+
+All of this she said so quietly and in so soft and modest a way, though
+her words were not modest, and yet so bitterly, that every syllable cut
+me to the heart, and angered me till I could find no speech.
+
+“Of a truth thou hast a wise economy,” she went on, seeing her
+advantage: “to-night thou dost kiss the lips that to-morrow thou shalt
+still for ever! It is frugal dealing with the occasion of the moment;
+ay, worthy and honourable dealing!”
+
+Then at last I broke forth. “Girl,” I cried, “how darest thou speak
+thus to me? Mindest thou who and what I am that thou loosest thy peevish
+gibes upon me?”
+
+“I mind what it behoves thee to be,” she answered quick. “What thou art,
+that I mind not now. Surely thou knowest alone--thou and Cleopatra!”
+
+“What meanest thou?” I said. “Am I to blame if the Queen----”
+
+“The Queen! What have we here? Pharaoh owns a Queen!”
+
+“If Cleopatra wills to come hither of a night and talk----”
+
+“Of stars, Harmachis--surely of stars and roses, and naught beside!”
+
+After that I know not what I said; for, troubled as I was, the girl’s
+bitter tongue and quiet way drove me wellnigh to madness. But this I
+know: I spoke so fiercely that she cowered before me as she had cowered
+before my uncle Sepa when he rated her because of her Grecian garb. And
+as she wept then, so she wept now, only more passionately and with great
+sobs.
+
+At length I ceased, half-shamed but still angry and smarting sorely.
+For even while she wept she could find a tongue to answer with--and a
+woman’s shafts are sharp.
+
+“Thou shouldst not speak to me thus!” she sobbed; “it is cruel--it is
+unmanly! But I forget thou art but a priest, not a man--except, mayhap,
+for Cleopatra!”
+
+“What right hast thou?” I said. “What canst thou mean?”
+
+“What right have I?” she asked, looking up, her dark eyes all aflood
+with tears that ran down her sweet face like the dew of morning down
+a lily’s heart. “What right have I? O Harmachis! art thou blind? Didst
+thou not know by what right I speak thus to thee? Then I must tell thee.
+Well, it is the fashion in Alexandria! By that first and holy right of
+woman--by the right of the great love I bear thee, and which, it seems,
+thou hast no eyes to see--by the right of my glory and my shame. Oh,
+be not wroth with me, Harmachis, nor set me down as light, because the
+truth at last has burst from me; for I am not so. I am what thou wilt
+make me. I am the wax within the moulder’s hands, and as thou dost
+fashion me so I shall be. There breathes within me now a breath of
+glory, blowing across the waters of my soul, that can waft me to ends
+more noble than ever I have dreamed afore, if thou wilt be my pilot
+and my guide. But if I lose thee, then I lose all that holds me from my
+worse self--and let shipwreck come! Thou knowest me not, Harmachis! thou
+canst not see how big a spirit struggles in this frail form of mine! To
+thee I am a girl, clever, wayward, shallow. But I am more! Show me thy
+loftiest thought and I will match it, the deepest puzzle of thy mind
+and I will make it clear. Of one blood we are, and love can ravel up our
+little difference and make us grow one indeed. One end we have, one land
+we love, one vow binds us both. Take me to thy heart, Harmachis, set me
+by thee on the Double Throne, and I swear that I will lift thee higher
+than ever man has climbed. Reject me, and beware lest I pull thee down!
+And now, putting aside the cold delicacy of custom, stung to it by what
+I saw of the arts of that lovely living falsehood, Cleopatra, which
+for pastime she practises on thy folly, I have spoken out my heart, and
+answer thou!” And she clasped her hands and, drawing one pace nearer,
+gazed, all white and trembling, on my face.
+
+For a moment I stood struck dumb, for the magic of her voice and the
+power of her speech, despite myself, stirred me like the rush of music.
+Had I loved the woman, doubtless she might have fired me with her flame;
+but I loved her not, and I could not play at passion. And so thought
+came, and with thought that laughing mood, which is ever apt to fashion
+upon nerves strained to the point of breaking. In a flash, as it were,
+I bethought me of the way in which she had that very night forced the
+wreath of roses on my head, I thought of the kerchief and how I had
+flung it forth. I thought of Charmion in the little chamber watching
+what she held to be the arts of Cleopatra, and of her bitter speeches.
+Lastly, I thought of what my uncle Sepa would say of her could he see
+her now, and of the strange and tangled skein in which I was inmeshed.
+And I laughed aloud--the fool’s laughter that was my knell of ruin!
+
+She turned whiter yet--white as the dead--and a look grew upon her face
+that checked my foolish mirth. “Thou findest, then, Harmachis,” she
+said in a low, choked voice, and dropping the level of her eyes, “thou
+findest cause of merriment in what I have said?”
+
+“Nay,” I answered; “nay, Charmion; forgive me if I laughed. It was
+rather a laugh of despair; for what am I to say to thee? Thou hast
+spoken high words of all thou mightest be: is it left for me to tell
+thee what thou art?”
+
+She shrank, and I paused.
+
+“Speak,” she said.
+
+“Thou knowest--none so well!--who I am and what my mission is: thou
+knowest--none so well!--that I am sworn to Isis, and may, by law Divine,
+have naught to do with thee.”
+
+“Ay,” she broke in, in her low voice, and with her eyes still fixed upon
+the ground--“ay, and I know that thy vows are broken in spirit, if not
+in form--broken like wreaths of cloud; for, Harmachis--_thou lovest
+Cleopatra!_”
+
+“It is a lie!” I cried. “Thou wanton girl, who wouldst seduce me from my
+duty and put me to an open shame!--who, led by passion or ambition, or
+the love of evil, hast not shamed to break the barriers of thy sex and
+speak as thou hast spoken--beware lest thou go too far! And if thou wilt
+have an answer, here it is, put straightly, as thy question. Charmion,
+outside the matter of my duty and my vows, thou art _naught_ to me!--nor
+for all thy tender glances will my heart beat one pulse more fast!
+Hardly art thou now my friend--for, of a truth, I scarce can trust thee.
+But, once more: beware! To me thou mayest do thy worst; but if thou dost
+dare to lift a finger against our cause, that day thou diest! And now,
+is this play done?”
+
+And as, wild with anger, I spoke thus, she shrank back, and yet further
+back, till at length she rested against the wall, her eyes covered with
+her hand. But when I ceased she dropped her hand, glancing up, and her
+face was as the face of a statue, in which the great eyes glowed like
+embers, and round them was a ring of purple shadow.
+
+“Not altogether done,” she answered gently; “the arena must yet be
+sanded!” This she said having reference to the covering up of the
+bloodstains at the gladiatorial shows with fine sand. “Well,” she went
+on, “waste not thine anger on a thing so vile. I have thrown my throw
+and I have lost. _Væ victis!_--ah! _Væ victis!_ Wilt thou not lend me
+the dagger in thy robe, that here and now I may end my shame? No? Then
+one word more, most royal Harmachis: if thou canst, forget my folly;
+but, at the least, have no fear from me. I am now, as ever, thy servant
+and the servant of our cause. Farewell!”
+
+And she went, leaning her hand against the wall. But I, passing to
+my chamber, flung myself upon my couch, and groaned in bitterness of
+spirit. Alas! we shape our plans, and by slow degrees build up our house
+of Hope, never counting on the guests that time shall bring to lodge
+therein. For who can guard against--the Unforeseen?
+
+At length I slept, and my dreams were evil. When I woke the light of
+the day which should see the red fulfilment of the plot was streaming
+through the casement, and the birds sang merrily among the garden palms.
+I woke, and as I woke the sense of trouble pressed in upon me, for I
+remembered that before this day was gathered to the past I must dip
+my hands in blood--yes, in the blood of Cleopatra, who trusted me! Why
+could I not hate her as I should? There had been a time when I looked on
+to this act of vengeance with somewhat of a righteous glow of zeal. And
+now--and now--why, I would frankly give my royal birthright to be free
+from its necessity! But, alas! I knew that there was no escape. I
+must drain this cup or be for ever cast away. I felt the eyes of Egypt
+watching me, and the eyes of Egypt’s Gods. I prayed to my Mother Isis
+to give me strength to do this deed, and prayed as I had never prayed
+before; and oh, wonder! no answer came. Nay, how was this? What, then,
+had loosed the link between us that, for the first time, the Goddess
+deigned no reply to her son and chosen servant? Could it be that I
+had sinned in heart against her? What had Charmion said--that I loved
+Cleopatra? Was this sickness love? Nay! a thousand times nay!--it was
+but the revolt of Nature against an act of treachery and blood. The
+Goddess did but try my strength, or perchance she also turned her holy
+countenance from murder?
+
+I rose filled with terror and despair, and went about my task like a man
+without a soul. I conned the fatal lists and noted all the plans--ay, in
+my brain I gathered up the very words of that proclamation of my Royalty
+which, on the morrow, I should issue to the startled world.
+
+“Citizens of Alexandria and dwellers in the land of Egypt,” it began,
+“Cleopatra the Macedonian hath, by the command of the Gods, suffered
+justice for her crimes----”
+
+All these and other things I did, but I did them as a man without a
+soul--as a man moved by a force from without and not from within. And so
+the minutes wore away. In the third hour of the afternoon I went as by
+appointment fixed to the house where my uncle Sepa lodged, that same
+house to which I had been brought some three months gone when I entered
+Alexandria for the first time. And here I found the leaders of the
+revolt in the city assembled in secret conclave to the number of
+seven. When I had entered, and the doors were barred, they prostrated
+themselves, and cried, “Hail, Pharaoh!” but I bade them rise, saying
+that I was not yet Pharaoh, for the chicken was still in the egg.
+
+“Yea, Prince,” said my uncle, “but his beak shows through. Not in
+vain hath Egypt brooded all these years, if thou fail not with that
+dagger-stroke of thine to-night; and how canst thou fail? Nothing can
+now stop our course to victory!”
+
+“It is on the knees of the Gods,” I answered.
+
+“Nay,” he said, “the Gods have placed the issue in the hands of a
+mortal--in thy hands, Harmachis!--and there it is safe. See: here are
+the last lists. Thirty-one thousand men who bear arms are sworn to rise
+when the tidings come to them. Within five days every citadel in Egypt
+will be in our hands, and then what have we to fear? From Rome but
+little, for her hands are full; and, besides, we will make alliance with
+the Triumvirate, and, if need be, buy them off. For of money there is
+plenty in the land, and if more be wanted thou, Harmachis, knowest where
+it is stored against the need of Khem, and outside the Roman’s reach
+of arm. Who is there to harm us? There is none. Perchance, in this
+turbulent city, there may be struggle, and a counter-plot to bring
+Arsinoë to Egypt and set her on the throne. Therefore Alexandria must
+be severely dealt with--ay, even to destruction, if need be. As for
+Arsinoë, those go forth to-morrow on the news of the Queen’s death who
+shall slay her secretly.”
+
+“There remains the lad Cæsarion,” I said. “Rome might claim through
+Cæsar’s son, and the child of Cleopatra inherits Cleopatra’s rights.
+Here is a double danger.”
+
+“Fear not,” said my uncle; “to-morrow Cæsarion joins those who begat him
+in Amenti. I have made provision. The Ptolemies must be stamped out,
+so that no shoot shall ever spring from that root blasted by Heaven’s
+vengeance.”
+
+“Is there no other means?” I asked sadly. “My heart is sick at the
+promise of this red rain of blood. I know the child well; he has
+Cleopatra’s fire and beauty and great Cæsar’s wit. It were shame to
+murder him.”
+
+“Nay, be not so chicken-hearted, Harmachis,” said my uncle, sternly.
+“What ails thee, then? If the lad is thus, the more reason that he
+should die. Wouldst thou nurse up a young lion to tear thee from the
+throne?”
+
+“Be it so,” I answered, sighing. “At least he is spared much, and will
+go hence innocent of evil. Now for the plans.”
+
+We sat long taking counsel, till at length, in face of the great
+emergency and our high emprise, I felt something of the spirit of
+former days flow back into my heart. At the last all was ordered, and so
+ordered that it could scarce miscarry, for it was fixed that if by any
+chance I could not come to slay Cleopatra on this night, then the plot
+should hang in the scale till the morrow, when the deed must be done
+upon occasion. For the death of Cleopatra was the signal. These matters
+being finished, once more we stood and, our hands upon the sacred
+symbol, swore the oath that may not be written. And then my uncle
+kissed me with tears of hope and joy standing in his keen black eyes. He
+blessed me, saying that he would gladly give his life, ay, and a hundred
+lives, if they were his, if he might but live to see Egypt once more
+a nation, and me, Harmachis, the descendant of its royal and ancient
+blood, seated on the throne. For he was a patriot indeed, asking nothing
+for himself, and giving all things to his cause. And I kissed him in
+turn, and thus we parted. Nor did I ever see him more in the flesh who
+has earned the rest that as yet is denied to me.
+
+So I went, and, there being yet time, walked swiftly from place to place
+in the great city, taking note of the positions of the gates and of the
+places where our forces must be gathered. At length I came to that quay
+where I had landed, and saw a vessel sailing for the open sea. I looked,
+and in my heaviness of heart longed that I were aboard of her, to be
+borne by her white wings to some far shore where I might live obscure
+and die forgotten. Also I saw another vessel that had dropped down the
+Nile, from whose deck the passengers were streaming. For a moment I
+stood watching them, idly wondering if they were from Abouthis, when
+suddenly I heard a familiar voice beside me.
+
+“_La! la!_” said the voice. “Why, what a city is this for an old woman
+to seek her fortune in! And how shall I find those to whom I am known?
+As well look for the rush in the papyrus-roll.[*] Begone! thou knave!
+and let my basket of simples lie; or, by the Gods, I’ll doctor thee with
+them!”
+
+     [*] Papyrus was manufactured from the pith of rushes. Hence
+     Atoua’s saying.--Editor.
+
+I turned, wondering, and found myself face to face with my foster-nurse,
+Atoua. She knew me instantly, for I saw her start, but in the presence
+of the people she checked her surprise.
+
+“Good Sir,” she whined, lifting her withered countenance towards me, and
+at the same time making the secret sign. “By thy dress thou shouldst be
+an astronomer, and I was specially told to avoid astronomers as a pack
+of lying tricksters who worship their own star only; and, therefore, I
+speak to thee, acting on the principle of contraries, which is law to us
+women. For surely in this Alexandria, where all things are upside
+down, the astronomers may be the honest men, since the rest are clearly
+knaves.” And then, being by now out of earshot of the press, “royal
+Harmachis, I am come charged with a message to thee from thy father
+Amenemhat.”
+
+“Is he well?” I asked.
+
+“Yes, he is well, though waiting for the moment tries him sorely.”
+
+“And his message?”
+
+“It is this. He sends greeting to thee and with it warning that a great
+danger threatens thee, though he cannot read it. These are his words:
+‘Be steadfast and prosper.’”
+
+I bowed my head and the words struck a new chill of fear into my soul.
+
+“When is the time?” she asked.
+
+“This very night. Where goest thou?”
+
+“To the house of the honourable Sepa, Priest of Annu. Canst thou guide
+me thither?”
+
+“Nay, I may not stay; nor is it wise that I should be seen with thee.
+Hold!” and I called a porter who was idling on the quay, and, giving him
+a piece of money, bade him guide the old wife to the house.
+
+“Farewell,” she whispered; “farewell till to-morrow. Be steadfast and
+prosper.”
+
+Then I turned and went my way through the crowded streets, where the
+people made place for me, the astronomer of Cleopatra, for my fame had
+spread abroad.
+
+And even as I went my footsteps seemed to beat _Be steadfast, Be
+steadfast, Be steadfast_, till at last it was as though the very ground
+cried out its warning to me.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+OF THE VEILED WORDS OF CHARMION; OF THE PASSING OF HARMACHIS INTO THE
+PRESENCE OF CLEOPATRA; AND OF THE OVERTHROW OF HARMACHIS
+
+It was night, and I sat alone in my chamber, waiting the moment when,
+as it was agreed, Charmion should summon me to pass down to Cleopatra. I
+sat alone, and there before me lay the dagger that was to pierce her. It
+was long and keen, and the handle was formed of a sphinx of solid gold.
+I sat alone, questioning the future, but no answer came. At length I
+looked up, and Charmion stood before me--Charmion, no longer gay and
+bright, but pale of face and hollow-eyed.
+
+“Royal Harmachis,” she said, “Cleopatra summons thee, presently to
+declare to her the voices of the stars.”
+
+So the hour had fallen!
+
+“It is well, Charmion,” I answered. “Are all things in order?”
+
+“Yea, my Lord; all things are in order: well primed with wine, Paulus
+guards the gates, the eunuchs are withdrawn save one, the legionaries
+sleep, and already Sepa and his force lie hid without. Nothing has
+been neglected, and no lamb skipping at the shamble doors can be more
+innocent of its doom than is Queen Cleopatra.”
+
+“It is well,” I said again; “let us be going,” and rising, I placed the
+dagger in the bosom of my robe. Taking a cup of wine that stood near, I
+drank deep of it, for I had scarce tasted food all that day.
+
+“One word,” Charmion said hurriedly, “for it is not yet time: last
+night--ah, last night--” and her bosom heaved, “I dreamed a dream that
+haunts me strangely, and perchance thou also didst dream a dream. It was
+all a dream and ‘tis forgotten: is it not so, my Lord?”
+
+“Yes, yes,” I said; “why troublest thou me thus at such an hour?”
+
+“Nay, I know not; but to-night, Harmachis, Fate is in labour of a great
+event, and in her painful throes mayhap she’ll crush me in her grip--me
+or thee, or the twain of us, Harmachis. And if that be so--well, I would
+hear from thee, before it is done, that ‘twas naught but a dream, and
+that dream forgot----”
+
+“Yes, it is all a dream,” I said idly; “thou and I, and the solid earth,
+and this heavy night of terror, ay, and this keen knife--what are these
+but dreams, and with what face shall the waking come?”
+
+“So now, thou fallest in my humour, royal Harmachis. As thou sayest, we
+dream; and while we dream yet can the vision change. For the phantasies
+of dreams are wonderful, seeing that they have no stability, but vary
+like the vaporous edge of sunset clouds, building now this thing, and
+now that; being now dark and heavy, and now alight with splendour.
+Therefore, before we wake to-morrow tell me one word. Is that vision of
+last night, wherein I _seemed_ to be quite shamed, and thou didst _seem_
+to laugh upon my shame, a fixed phantasy, or can it, perchance, yet
+change its countenance? For remember, when that waking comes, the
+vagaries of our sleep will be more unalterable and more enduring than
+are the pyramids. Then they will be gathered into that changeless
+region of the past where all things, great and small--ay, even dreams,
+Harmachis, are, each in its own semblance, frozen to stone and built
+into the Tomb of Time immortal.”
+
+“Nay, Charmion,” I replied, “I grieve if I did pain thee; but over that
+vision comes no change. I said what was in my heart and there’s an end.
+Thou art my cousin and my friend, I can never be more to thee.”
+
+“It is well--‘tis very well,” she said; “let it be forgotten. And now on
+from dream--to dream,” and she smiled with such a smile as I had never
+seen her wear before; it was sadder and more fateful than any stamp that
+grief can set upon the brow.
+
+For, though being blinded by my own folly and the trouble at my heart I
+knew it not, with that smile, the happiness of youth died for Charmion
+the Egyptian; the hope of love fled; and the holy links of duty burst
+asunder. With that smile she consecrated herself to Evil, she renounced
+her Country and her Gods, and trampled on her oath. Ay, that smile marks
+the moment when the stream of history changed its course. For had I
+never seen it on her face Octavianus had not bestridden the world, and
+Egypt had once more been free and great.
+
+And yet it was but a woman’s smile!
+
+“Why lookest thou thus strangely, girl?” I asked.
+
+“In dreams we smile,” she answered. “And now it is time; follow thou me.
+Be firm and prosper, royal Harmachis!” and bending forward she took my
+hand and kissed it. Then, with one strange last look, she turned and led
+the way down the stair and through the empty halls.
+
+In the chamber that is called the Alabaster Hall, the roof of which
+is upborne by columns of black marble, we stayed. For beyond was the
+private chamber of Cleopatra, the same in which I had seen her sleeping.
+
+“Abide thou here,” she said, “while I tell Cleopatra of thy coming,” and
+she glided from my side.
+
+I stood for long, mayhap in all the half of an hour, counting my own
+heart-beats, and, as in a dream, striving to gather up my strength to
+that which lay before me.
+
+At length Charmion came back, her head held low and walking heavily.
+
+“Cleopatra waits thee,” she said: “pass on, there is no guard.”
+
+“Where do I meet thee when what must be done is done?” I asked hoarsely.
+
+“Thou meetest me here, and then to Paulus. Be firm and prosper.
+Harmachis, fare thee well!”
+
+And so I went; but at the curtain I turned suddenly, and there in the
+midst of that lonely lamplit hall I saw a strange sight. Far away, in
+such a fashion that the light struck full upon her, stood Charmion, her
+head thrown back, her white arms outstretched as though to clasp, and on
+her girlish face a stamp of anguished passion so terrible to see that,
+indeed, I cannot tell it! For she believed that I, whom she loved, was
+passing to my death, and this was her last farewell to me.
+
+But I knew naught of this matter; so with another passing pang of wonder
+I drew aside the curtains, gained the doorway, and stood in Cleopatra’s
+chamber. And there, upon a silken couch at the far end of the perfumed
+chamber, clad in wonderful white attire, rested Cleopatra. In her hand
+was a jewelled fan of ostrich plumes, with which she gently fanned
+herself, and by her side was her harp of ivory, and a little table
+whereon were figs and goblets and a flask of ruby-coloured wine. I drew
+near slowly through the soft dim light to where the Wonder of the World
+lay in all her glowing beauty. And, indeed, I have never seen her look
+so fair as she did upon that fatal night. Couched in her amber cushions,
+she seemed to shine as a star on the twilight’s glow. Perfume came from
+her hair and robes, music fell from her lips, and in her heavenly eyes
+all lights changed and gathered as in the ominous opal’s disc.
+
+And this was the woman whom, presently, I must slay!
+
+Slowly I drew near, bowing as I came; but she took no heed. She lay
+there, and the jewelled fan floated to and fro like the bright wing of
+some hovering bird.
+
+At length I stood before her, and she glanced up, the ostrich-plumes
+pressed against her breast as though to hide its beauty.
+
+“What! friend; art thou come?” she said. “It is well; for I grew lonely
+here. Nay; ‘tis a weary world! We know so many faces, and there are so
+few whom we love to see again. Well, stand not there so mute, but be
+seated.” And she pointed with her fan to a carven chair that was placed
+near her feet.
+
+Once more I bowed and took the seat.
+
+“I have obeyed the Queen’s desire,” I said, “and with much care and
+skill worked out the lessons of the stars; and here is the record of my
+labour. If the Queen permits, I will expound it to her.” And I rose, in
+order that I might pass round the couch and, as she read, stab her in
+the back.
+
+“Nay, Harmachis,” she said quietly, and with a slow and lovely smile.
+“Bide thou where thou art, and give me the writing. By Serapis! thy face
+is too comely for me to wish to lose the sight of it!”
+
+Checked in this design, I could do nothing but hand her the papyrus,
+thinking to myself that while she read I would arise suddenly and plunge
+the dagger to her heart. She took it, and as she did so touched my hand.
+Then she made pretence to read. But she read no word, for I saw that her
+eyes were fixed upon me over the edge of the scroll.
+
+“Why placest thou thy hand within thy robe?” she asked presently; for,
+indeed, I clutched the dagger’s hilt. “Is thy heart stirred?”
+
+“Yea, O Queen,” I said; “it beats high.”
+
+She gave no answer, but once more made pretence to read, and the while
+she watched me.
+
+I took counsel with myself. How should I do the hateful deed? If I flung
+myself upon her now she would see me and scream and struggle. Nay, I
+must wait a chance.
+
+“The auguries are favourable, then, Harmachis?” she said at length,
+though this she must have guessed.
+
+“Yes, O Queen,” I answered.
+
+“It is well,” and she cast the writing on the marble. “The ships shall
+sail. For, good or bad, I am weary of weighing chances.”
+
+“This is a heavy matter, O Queen,” I said. “I had wished to show upon
+what circumstance I base my forecast.”
+
+“Nay, not so, Harmachis; I have wearied of the ways of stars. Thou hast
+prophesied; that is enough for me; for, doubtless, being honest, thou
+hast written honestly. Therefore, save thou thy reasons and we’ll be
+merry. What shall we do? I could dance to thee--there are none who can
+dance so well!--but it would scarce be queenly. Nay, I have it. I will
+sing.” And, leaning forward, she raised herself, and, bending the harp
+towards her, struck some wandering chords. Then her low voice broke out
+in perfect and most sweet song.
+
+And thus she sang:
+
+     “Night on the sea, and night upon the sky,
+     And music in our hearts, we floated there,
+     Lulled by the low sea voices, thou and I,
+     And the wind’s kisses in my cloudy hair:
+     And thou didst gaze on me and call me fair--
+     Enfolded by the starry robe of night--
+     And then thy singing thrilled upon the air,
+     Voice of the heart’s desire and Love’s delight.
+
+     ‘Adrift, with starlit skies above,
+     With starlit seas below,
+     We move with all the suns that move,
+     With all the seas that flow;
+     For bond or free, Earth, Sky, and Sea,
+     Wheel with one circling will,
+     And thy heart drifteth on to me,
+     And only time stands still.
+
+     Between two shores of Death we drift,
+     Behind are things forgot:
+     Before the tide is driving swift
+     To lands beholden not.
+     Above, the sky is far and cold;
+     Below, the moaning sea
+     Sweeps o’er the loves that were of old,
+     But, oh, Love! kiss thou me.
+
+     Ah, lonely are the ocean ways,
+     And dangerous the deep,
+     And frail the fairy barque that strays
+     Above the seas asleep!
+     Ah, toil no more at sail nor oar,
+     We drift, or bond or free;
+     On yon far shore the breakers roar,
+     But, oh, Love! kiss thou me.’
+
+     “And ever as thou sangest I drew near,
+     Then sudden silence heard our hearts that beat,
+     For now there was an end of doubt and fear,
+     Now passion filled my soul and led my feet;
+     Then silent didst thou rise thy love to meet,
+     Who, sinking on thy breast, knew naught but thee,
+     And in the happy night I kissed thee, Sweet;
+     Ah, Sweet! between the starlight and the sea.”
+
+The last echoes of her rich notes floated down the chamber, and slowly
+died away; but in my heart they rolled on and on. I have heard among
+the women-singers at Abouthis voices more perfect than the voice of
+Cleopatra, but never have I heard one so thrilling or so sweet with
+passion’s honey-notes. And indeed it was not the voice alone, it was the
+perfumed chamber in which was set all that could move the sense; it
+was the passion of the thought and words, and the surpassing grace and
+loveliness of that most royal woman who sang them. For, as she sang, I
+seemed to think that we twain were indeed floating alone with the night,
+upon the starlit summer sea. And when she ceased to touch the harp, and,
+rising, suddenly stretched out her arms towards me, and with the last
+low notes of song yet quivering upon her lips, let fall the wonder of
+her eyes upon my eyes, she almost drew me to her. But I remembered, and
+would not.
+
+“Hast thou, then, no word of thanks for my poor singing, Harmachis?” she
+said at length.
+
+“Yea, O Queen,” I answered, speaking very low, for my voice was choked;
+“but thy songs are not good for the sons of men to hear--of a truth they
+overwhelm me!”
+
+“Nay, Harmachis; there is no fear for thee,” she said laughing softly,
+“seeing that I know how far thy thoughts are set from woman’s beauty and
+the common weakness of thy sex. With cold iron we may safely toy.”
+
+I thought within myself that coldest iron can be brought to whitest heat
+if the fire be fierce enough. But I said nothing, and, though my hand
+trembled, I once more grasped the dagger’s hilt, and, wild with fear
+at my own weakness, set myself to find a means to slay her while yet my
+sense remained.
+
+“Come hither, Harmachis,” she went on, in her softest voice. “Come, sit
+by me, and we will talk together; for I have much to tell thee,” and she
+made place for me at her side upon the silken seat.
+
+And I, thinking that I might so more swiftly strike, rose and seated
+myself some little way from her on the couch, while, flinging back her
+head, she gazed on me with her slumbrous eyes.
+
+Now was my occasion, for her throat and breast were bare, and, with a
+mighty effort, once again I lifted my hand to clutch the dagger-hilt.
+But, more quick than thought, she caught my fingers with her own and
+gently held them.
+
+“Why lookest thou so wildly, Harmachis?” she said. “Art sick?”
+
+“Ay, sick indeed!” I gasped.
+
+“Then lean thou on the cushions and rest thee,” she answered, still
+holding my hand, from which the strength had fled. “The fit will surely
+pass. Too long hast thou laboured with thy stars. How soft is the night
+air that flows from yonder casement heavy with the breath of lilies!
+Hark to the whisper of the sea lapping against the rocks, that, though
+it is faint, yet, being so strong, doth almost drown the quick cool fall
+of yonder fountain. List to Philomel; how sweet from a full heart of
+love she sings her message to her dear! Indeed it is a lovely night, and
+most beautiful is Nature’s music, sung with a hundred voices from wind
+and trees and birds and ocean’s wrinkled lips, and yet sung all to tune.
+Listen, Harmachis: I have guessed something concerning thee. Thou, too,
+art of a royal race; no humble blood pours in those veins of thine.
+Surely such a shoot could spring but from the stock of Princes? What!
+gazest thou at the leafmark on my breast? It was pricked there in honour
+of great Osiris, whom with thee I worship. See!”
+
+“Let me hence,” I groaned, striving to rise; but all my strength had
+gone.
+
+“Nay, not yet awhile. Thou wouldst not leave me yet? thou _canst_ not
+leave me yet. Harmachis, hast thou never loved?”
+
+“Nay, nay, O Queen! What have I to do with love? Let me hence!--I am
+faint--I am fordone!”
+
+“Never to have loved--‘tis strange! Never to have known some woman-heart
+beat all in tune to thine--never to have seen the eyes of thy
+adored aswim with passion’s tears, as she sighed her vows upon thy
+breast!--Never to have loved!--never to have lost thyself in the mystery
+of another’s soul; nor to have learned how Nature can overcome our naked
+loneliness, and with the golden web of love of twain weave one identity!
+Why, it is never to have lived, Harmachis!”
+
+And ever as she murmured she drew nearer to me, till at last, with a
+long, sweet sigh, she flung one arm about my neck, and gazed upon me
+with blue, unfathomable eyes, and smiled her dark, slow smile, that,
+like an opening flower, revealed beauty within beauty hidden. Nearer
+she bent her queenly form, and still more near--now her perfumed breath
+played upon my hair, and now her lips met mine.
+
+And woe is me! In that kiss, more deadly and more strong than the
+embrace of Death, were forgotten Isis, my heavenly Hope, Oaths, Honour,
+Country, Friends, all things--all things save that Cleopatra clasped me
+in her arms, and called me Love and Lord.
+
+“Now pledge me,” she sighed; “pledge me one cup of wine in token of thy
+love.”
+
+I took the draught, and I drank deep; then too late I knew that it was
+drugged.
+
+I fell upon the couch, and, though my senses still were with me, I could
+neither speak nor rise.
+
+But Cleopatra, bending over me, drew the dagger from my robe.
+
+“_I’ve won!_” she cried, shaking back her long hair. “I’ve won, and for
+the stake of Egypt, why, ‘twas a game worth playing! With this dagger,
+then, thou wouldst have slain me, O my royal Rival, whose myrmidons even
+now are gathered at my palace gate? Art still awake? Now what hinders me
+that I should not plunge it to _thy_ heart?”
+
+I heard and feebly pointed to my breast, for I was fain to die. She
+drew herself to the full of her imperial height, and the great knife
+glittered in her hand. Down it came till its edge pricked my flesh.
+
+“Nay,” she cried again, and cast it from her, “too well I like thee.
+It were pity to slay such a man! I give thee thy life. Live on, lost
+Pharaoh! Live on, poor fallen Prince, blasted by a woman’s wit! Live on,
+Harmachis--to adorn my triumph!”
+
+
+
+Then sight left me; and in my ears I only heard the song of the
+nightingale, the murmur of the sea, and the music of Cleopatra’s laugh
+of victory. And as I sank away, the sound of that low laugh still
+followed me into the land of sleep, and still it follows me through life
+to death.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+OF THE AWAKING OF HARMACHIS; OF THE SIGHT OF DEATH; OF THE COMING OF
+CLEOPATRA; AND OF HER COMFORTABLE WORDS
+
+Once more I woke; it was to find myself in my own chamber. I started up.
+Surely, I, too, had dreamed a dream? It could be nothing but a dream?
+It could not be that I woke to know myself a _traitor!_ That the
+opportunity had gone for ever! That I had betrayed the cause, and that
+last night those brave men, headed by my uncle, had waited in vain
+at the outer gate! That Egypt from Abu to Athu was even now
+waiting--waiting in vain! Nay, whatever else might be, this could not
+be! Oh, it was an awful dream which I had dreamed! a second such would
+slay a man. It were better to die than face such another vision sent
+from hell. But, though the thing was naught but a hateful phantasy of a
+mind o’er-strained, where was I now? Where was I now? I should be in the
+Alabaster Hall, waiting till Charmion came forth.
+
+Where was I? and O ye Gods! what was that dreadful thing, whose shape
+was the shape of a man?--that thing draped in bloodstained white and
+huddled in a hideous heap at the foot of the couch on which I seemed to
+lie?
+
+I sprang at it with a shriek, as a lion springs, and struck with all my
+strength. The blow fell heavily, and beneath its weight the thing
+rolled over upon its side. Half mad with terror, I rent away the white
+covering; and there, his knees bound beneath his hanging jaw, was the
+naked body of a man--and that man the Roman Captain Paulus! There he
+lay, through his heart a dagger--my dagger, handled with the sphinx of
+gold!--and pinned by its blade to his broad breast a scroll, and on the
+scroll, writing in the Roman character. I drew near and read, and this
+was the writing:
+
+HARMACHIDI.SALVERE.EGO.SUM.QUEM.SUBDERE.NORAS
+PAULUS.ROMANUS.DISCE.HINC.QUID.PRODERE.PROSIT.
+
+“Greeting, Harmachis! I was that Roman Paulus whom thou didst suborn.
+Learn now how blessed are traitors!”
+
+Sick and faint I staggered back from the sight of that white corpse
+stained with its own blood. Sick and faint I staggered back, till the
+wall stayed me, while without the birds sang a merry greeting to the
+day. So it was no dream, and I was lost! lost!
+
+I thought of my aged father, Amenemhat. Yes, the vision of him flashed
+into my mind, as he would be, when they came to tell him his son’s shame
+and the ruin of all his hopes. I thought of that patriot priest, my
+uncle Sepa, waiting the long night through for the signal which never
+came. Ah, and another thought followed swift! How would it go with
+them? I was not the only traitor. I, too, had been betrayed. By whom? By
+yonder Paulus, perchance. If it were Paulus, he knew but little of
+those who conspired with me. But the secret lists had been in my robe. O
+Osiris! they were gone! and the fate of Paulus would be the fate of all
+the patriots in Egypt. And at this thought my mind gave way. I sank and
+swooned even where I stood.
+
+My sense came back to me, and the lengthening shadows told me that it
+was afternoon. I staggered to my feet; the corpse of Paulus was still
+there, keeping its awful watch above me. I ran desperately to the door.
+It was barred, and without I heard the tramp of sentinels. As I stood
+they challenged and grounded their spears. Then the bolts were shot
+back, the door opened, and radiant, clad in royal attire, came the
+conquering Cleopatra. She came alone, and the door was shut behind her.
+I stood like one distraught; but she swept on till she was face to face
+with me.
+
+“Greeting, Harmachis,” she said, smiling sweetly. “So, my messenger has
+found thee!” and she pointed to the corpse of Paulus. “Pah! he has an
+ugly look. Ho! guards!”
+
+The door was opened, and two armed Gauls stepped across the threshold.
+
+“Take away this carrion,” said Cleopatra, “and fling it to the kites.
+Stay, draw that dagger from his traitor breast.” The men bowed low, and
+the knife, rusted red with blood, was dragged from the heart of Paulus
+and laid upon the table. Then they seized him by the head and body and
+staggered thence, and I heard their heavy footfalls as they bore him
+down the stairs.
+
+“Methinks, Harmachis, thou art in an evil case,” she said, when the
+sound of the footfalls had died away. “How strangely the wheel of
+Fortune turns! But for that traitor,” and she nodded towards the door
+through which the corpse of Paulus had been carried, “I should now be as
+ill a thing to look on as he is, and the red rust on yonder knife would
+have been gathered from _my_ heart.”
+
+So it was Paulus who had betrayed me.
+
+“Ay,” she went on, “and when thou camest to me last night, I _knew_ that
+thou camest to slay. When, time upon time, thou didst place thy hand
+within thy robe, I knew that it grasped a dagger hilt, and that thou
+wast gathering thy courage to the deed which thou didst little love
+to do. Oh! it was a strange wild hour, well worth the living, and
+I wondered greatly, from moment to moment, which of us twain would
+conquer, as we matched guile with guile and force to force!
+
+“Yea, Harmachis, the guards tramp before thy door, but be not deceived.
+Did I not know that I hold thee to me by bonds more strong than prison
+chains--did I not know that I am hedged from ill at thy hands by a fence
+of honour harder for thee to pass than all the spears of all my legions,
+thou hadst been dead ere now, Harmachis. See, here is thy knife,” and
+she handed me the dagger; “now slay me if thou canst,” and she drew
+near, tore open the bosom of her robe, and stood waiting with calm eyes.
+
+“Thou canst not slay me,” she went on; “for there are things, as I know
+well, that no man--no man such as thou art--may do and live: and this is
+the chief of them--to slay the woman who is all his own. Nay, stay thy
+hand! Turn not that dagger against thy breast, for if thou mayst not
+slay me, by how much more mayst thou not slay thyself, O thou forsworn
+Priest of Isis! Art thou, then, so eager to face that outraged Majesty
+in Amenti? With what eyes, thinkest thou, will the Heavenly Mother look
+upon Her son, who, shamed in all things and false to his most sacred
+vow, comes to greet Her, his life-blood on his hands? Where, then, will
+be the space for thy atonement?--if, indeed, thou mayest atone!”
+
+Then I could bear no more, for my heart was broken. Alas! it was too
+true--I dared not die! I was come to such a pass that I did not even
+dare to die! I flung myself upon the couch and wept--wept tears of blood
+and anguish.
+
+But Cleopatra came to me, and, seating herself beside me, she strove to
+comfort me, throwing her arms about my neck.
+
+“Nay, love, look up,” she said; “all is not lost for thee, nor am I
+angered against thee. We did play a mighty game; but, as I warned thee,
+I matched my woman’s magic against thine, and I have conquered. But I
+will be open with thee. Both as Queen and woman thou hast my pity--ay,
+and more; nor do I love to see thee plunged in sorrow. It was well
+and right that thou shouldst strive to win back that throne my fathers
+seized, and the ancient liberty of Egypt. Myself as lawful Queen had
+done the same, nor shrunk from the deed of darkness to which I was
+sworn. Therein, then, thou hast my sympathy, that ever goes out to what
+is great and bold. It is well also that thou shouldst grieve over the
+greatness of thy fall. Therein, then, as woman--as loving woman--thou
+hast my sympathy. Nor is all lost. Thy plan was foolish--for, as I hold,
+Egypt could never have stood alone--for though thou hadst won the crown
+and country--as without a doubt thou must have done--yet there was the
+Roman to be reckoned with. And for thy hope learn this: I am little
+known. There is no heart in this wide land that beats with a truer
+love for ancient Khem than does this heart of mine--nay, not thine
+own, Harmachis. Yet I have been heavily shackled heretofore--for wars,
+rebellions, envies, plots, have hemmed me in on every side, so that I
+might not serve my people as I would. But thou, Harmachis, shalt show
+me how. Thou shalt be my counsellor and my love. Is it a little thing,
+Harmachis, to have won the heart of Cleopatra; that heart--fie on
+thee!--that thou wouldst have stilled? Yes, _thou_ shalt unite me to my
+people and we will reign together, thus linking in one the new kingdom
+and the old and the new thought and the old. So do all things work for
+good--ay, for the very best: and thus, by another and a gentler road,
+thou shalt climb to Pharaoh’s throne.
+
+“See thou this, Harmachis: thy treachery shall be cloaked about as
+much as may be. Was it, then, thy fault that a Roman knave betrayed thy
+plans? that, thereon, thou wast drugged, thy secret papers stolen and
+their key guessed? Will it, then, be a blame to thee, the great plot
+being broken and those who built it scattered, that thou, still faithful
+to thy trust, didst serve thee of such means as Nature gave thee, and
+win the heart of Egypt’s Queen, that, through her gentle love, thou
+mightest yet attain thy ends and spread thy wings of power across the
+land of Nile? Am I an ill-counsellor, thinkest thou, Harmachis?”
+
+I lifted my head, and a ray of hope crept into the darkness of my heart;
+for when men fall they grasp at feathers. Then, I spoke for the first
+time:
+
+“And those with me--those who trusted me--what of them?”
+
+“Ay,” she answered, “Amenemhat, thy father, the aged Priest of Abouthis;
+and Sepa, thy uncle, that fiery patriot, whose great heart is hid
+beneath so common a shell of form; and----”
+
+I thought she would have said Charmion, but she named her not.
+
+“And many others--oh, I know them all!”
+
+“Ay!” I said, “what of them?”
+
+“Hear now, Harmachis,” she answered, rising and placing her hand upon
+my arm, “for thy sake I will show mercy to them. I will do no more than
+must be done. I swear by my throne and by all the Gods of Egypt that not
+one hair of thy aged father’s head shall be harmed by me; and, if it be
+not too late, I will also spare thy uncle Sepa, ay, and the others. I
+will not do as did my forefather, Epiphanes, who, when the Egyptians
+rose against him, dragged Athinis, Pausiras, Chesuphus, and Irobasthus,
+bound to his chariot--not as Achilles dragged Hector, but yet
+living--round the city walls. I will spare them all, save the Hebrews,
+if there be any Hebrews; for the Jews I hate.”
+
+“There are no Hebrews,” I said.
+
+“It is well,” she said, “for no Hebrew will I ever spare. Am I then,
+indeed, so cruel a woman as they say? In thy list, Harmachis, were
+many doomed to die; and I have but taken the life of one Roman knave,
+a double traitor, for he betrayed both me and thee. Art thou not
+overwhelmed, Harmachis, with the weight of mercy which I give thee,
+because--such are a woman’s reasons--thou pleasest me, Harmachis? Nay,
+by Serapis!” she added with a little laugh, “I’ll change my mind; I will
+not give thee so much for nothing. Thou shalt buy it from me, and the
+price shall be a heavy one--it shall be a kiss, Harmachis.”
+
+“Nay,” I said, turning from that fair temptress, “the price is too
+heavy; I kiss no more.”
+
+“Bethink thee,” she answered, with a heavy frown. “Bethink thee and
+choose. I am but a woman, Harmachis, and one who is not wont to sue to
+men. Do as thou wilt; but this I say to thee--if thou dost put me away,
+I will gather up the mercy I have meted out. Therefore, most virtuous
+priest, choose thou between the heavy burden of my love and the swift
+death of thy aged father and of all those who plotted with him.”
+
+I glanced at her and saw that she was angered, for her eyes shone and
+her bosom heaved. So, I sighed and kissed her, thereby setting the seal
+upon my shame and bondage. Then, smiling like the triumphant Aphrodité
+of the Greeks, she went thence, bearing the dagger with her.
+
+I knew not yet how deeply I was betrayed; or why I was still left to
+draw the breath of life; or why Cleopatra, the tiger-hearted, had grown
+merciful. I did not know that she feared to slay me, lest, so strong was
+the plot and so feeble her hold upon the Double Crown, the tumult that
+might tread hard upon the tidings of my murder should shake her from the
+throne--even when I was no more. I did not know that because of fear
+and the weight of policy only she showed scant mercy to those whom I
+had betrayed, or that because of cunning and not for the holy sake of
+woman’s love--though, in truth, she liked me well enough--she chose
+rather to bind me to her by the fibres of my heart. And yet I will say
+this in her behalf: even when the danger-cloud had melted from her
+sky she kept faith, nor, save Paulus and one other, did any suffer
+the utmost penalty of death for their part in the great plot against
+Cleopatra’s crown and dynasty. But they suffered many other things.
+
+And so she went, leaving the vision of her glory to strive with the
+shame and sorrow in my heart. Oh, bitter were the hours that could not
+now be made light with prayer. For the link between me and the Divine
+was snapped, and Isis communed with Her Priest no more. Bitter were the
+hours and dark, but ever through their darkness shone the starry eyes of
+Cleopatra, and came the echo of her whispered love. For not yet was the
+cup of sorrow full. Hope still lingered in my heart, and I could almost
+think that I had failed to some higher end, and that in the depths of
+ruin I should find another and more flowery path to triumph.
+
+For thus those who sin deceive themselves, striving to lay the burden
+of their evil deeds upon the back of Fate, striving to believe their
+wickedness may compass good, and to murder Conscience with the sharp
+plea of Necessity. But it can avail nothing, for hand in hand down the
+path of sin rush Remorse and Ruin, and woe to him they follow! Ay, and
+woe to me who of all sinners am the chief!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+OF THE IMPRISONMENT OF HARMACHIS; OF THE SCORN OF CHARMION; OF THE
+SETTING FREE OF HARMACHIS; AND OF THE COMING OF QUINTUS DELLIUS
+
+For a space of eleven days I was thus kept prisoned in my chamber; nor
+did I see anyone except the sentries at my doors, the slaves who in
+silence brought me food and drink, and Cleopatra’s self, who came
+continually. But, though her words of love were many, she would tell me
+nothing of how things went without. She came in many moods--now gay and
+laughing, now full of wise thoughts and speech, and now passionate only,
+and to every mood she gave some new-found charm. She was full of talk as
+to how I should help her make Egypt great, and lessen the burdens on
+the people, and fright the Roman eagles back. And, though at first I
+listened heavily when she spoke thus, by slow advance as she wrapped
+me closer and yet more close in her magic web, from which there was no
+escape, my mind fell in time with hers. Then I, too, opened something
+of my heart, and somewhat also of the plans that I had formed for Egypt.
+She seemed to listen gladly, weighing them all, and spoke of means
+and methods, telling me how she would purify the Faith and repair the
+ancient temples--ay, and build new ones to the Gods. And ever she crept
+deeper into my heart, till at length, now that every other thing had
+gone from me, I learned to love her with all the unspent passion of my
+aching soul. I had naught left to me but Cleopatra’s love, and I twined
+my life about it, and brooded on it as a widow over her only babe. And
+thus the very author of my shame became my all, my dearest dear, and
+I loved her with a strong love that grew and grew, till it seemed to
+swallow up the past and make the present a dream. For she had conquered
+me, she had robbed me of my honour, and steeped me to the lips in shame,
+and I, poor fallen, blinded wretch, I kissed the rod that smote me, and
+was her very slave.
+
+Ay, even now, in those dreams which still come when Sleep unlocks the
+secret heart, and sets its terrors free to roam through the opened halls
+of Thought, I seem to see her royal form, as erst I saw it, come with
+arms outstretched and Love’s own light shining in her eyes, with lips
+apart and flowing locks, and stamped upon her face the look of utter
+tenderness that she alone could wear. Ay, still, after all the years, I
+seem to see her come as erst she came, and still I wake to know her an
+unutterable lie!
+
+And thus one day she came. She had fled in haste, she said, from some
+great council summoned concerning the wars of Antony in Syria, and
+she came, as she had left the council, in all her robes of state, the
+sceptre in her hand, and on her brow the uræus diadem of gold. There she
+sat before me, laughing; for, wearying of them, she had told the envoys
+to whom she gave audience in the council that she was called from their
+presence by a sudden message come from Rome; and the jest seemed merry
+to her. Suddenly she rose, took the diadem from her brow, and set it
+on my hair, and on my shoulders her royal mantle, and in my hand the
+sceptre, and bowed the knee before me. Then, laughing again, she kissed
+me on the lips, and said I was indeed her King. But, remembering how
+I had been crowned in the halls of Abouthis, and remembering also that
+wreath of roses of which the odour haunts me yet, I rose, pale with
+wrath, and cast the trinkets from me, asking how she dared to mock
+me--her caged bird. And I think there was that about me which startled
+her, for she fell back.
+
+“Nay, Harmachis,” she said, “be not wroth! How knowest thou that I mock
+thee? How knowest thou that thou shalt not be Pharaoh in fact and deed?”
+
+“What meanest thou?” I said. “Wilt thou, then, wed me before Egypt? How
+else can I be Pharaoh now?”
+
+She cast down her eyes. “Perchance, love, it is in my mind to wed thee,”
+ she said gently. “Listen,” she went on: “Thou growest pale, here, in
+this prison, and thou dost eat little. Gainsay me not! I know it from
+the slaves. I have kept thee here, Harmachis, for thy own sake, that is
+so dear to me; and for thy own sake, and thy honour’s sake, thou must
+still seem to be my prisoner. Else wouldst thou be shamed and slain--ay,
+murdered secretly. But I can meet thee here no more! therefore to-morrow
+I shall free thee in all, save in the name, and thou shalt once more be
+seen at Court as my astronomer. And I will give this reason--that thou
+hast cleared thyself; and, moreover, that thy auguries as regards the
+war have been auguries of truth--as, indeed, they have, though for
+this I have no cause to thank thee, seeing that thou didst suit thy
+prophecies to fit thy cause. Now, farewell; for I must return to those
+heavy-browed ambassadors; and grow not so sudden wroth, Harmachis, for
+who knows what may come to pass betwixt thee and me?”
+
+And, with a little nod, she went, leaving it on my mind that she had it
+in her heart to wed me openly. And of a truth, I believe that, at this
+hour, such was her thought. For, if she loved me not, still she held me
+dear, and as yet she had not wearied of me.
+
+On the morrow Cleopatra came not, but Charmion came--Charmion, whom
+I had not seen since that fatal night of ruin. She entered and stood
+before me, with pale face and downcast eyes, and her first words were
+words of bitterness.
+
+“Pardon me,” she said, in her gentle voice, “in that I dare to come to
+thee in Cleopatra’s place. Thy joy is not delayed for long, for thou
+shalt see her presently.”
+
+I shrank at her words, as well I might, and, seeing her vantage, she
+seized it.
+
+“I come, Harmachis--royal no more!--I come to say that thou art free!
+Thou art free to face thine own infamy, and see it thrown back from
+every eye which trusted thee, as shadows are from water. I come to tell
+thee that the great plot--the plot of twenty years and more--is at its
+utter end. None have been slain, indeed, unless it is Sepa, who has
+vanished. But all the leaders have been seized and put in chains, or
+driven from the land, and their party is broken and scattered. The storm
+has melted before it burst. Egypt is lost, and lost for ever, for her
+last hope is gone! No longer may she struggle--now for all time she
+must bow her neck to the yoke, and bare her back to the rod of the
+oppressor!”
+
+I groaned aloud. “Alas, I was betrayed!” I said. “Paulus betrayed us.”
+
+“Thou wast betrayed? Nay, thou thyself wast the betrayer! How came it
+that thou didst not slay Cleopatra when thou wast alone with her? Speak,
+thou forsworn!”
+
+“She drugged me,” I said again.
+
+“O Harmachis!” answered the pitiless girl, “how low art thou fallen from
+that Prince whom once I knew!--thou who dost not scorn to be a liar!
+Yea, thou wast drugged--drugged with a love-philtre! Yea, thou didst
+sell Egypt and thy cause for the price of a wanton’s kiss! Thou Sorrow
+and thou Shame!” she went on, pointing her finger at me and lifting her
+eyes to my face, “thou Scorn!--thou Outcast!--and thou Contempt! Deny
+it if thou canst. Ay, shrink from me--knowing what thou art, well mayst
+thou shrink! Crawl to Cleopatra’s feet, and kiss her sandals till such
+time as it pleases her to trample thee in thy kindred dirt; but from all
+honest folk _shrink!_--_shrink!_”
+
+My soul quivered beneath the lash of her bitter scorn and hate, but I
+had no words to answer.
+
+“How comes it,” I said at last in a heavy voice, “that thou, too, art
+not betrayed, but art still here to taunt me, thou who once didst
+swear that thou didst love me? Being a woman, hast thou no pity for the
+frailty of man?”
+
+“My name was not on the lists,” she said, dropping her dark eyes. “Here
+is an opportunity: betray me also, Harmachis! Ay, it is because I once
+loved thee--dost thou, indeed, remember it?--that I feel thy fall the
+more. The shame of one whom we have loved must in some sort become our
+shame, and must ever cling to us, because we blindly held a thing so
+base close to our inmost heart. Art thou also, then, a fool? Wouldst
+thou, fresh from thy royal wanton’s arms, come to me for comfort--to
+_me_ of all the world?”
+
+“How know I,” I said, “that it was not thou who, in thy jealous anger,
+didst betray our plans? Charmion, long ago Sepa warned me against thee,
+and of a truth now that I recall----”
+
+“It is like a traitor,” she broke in, reddening to her brow, “to think
+that all are of his family, and hold a common mind! Nay, I betrayed thee
+not; it was that poor knave, Paulus, whose heart failed him at the last,
+and who is rightly served. Nor will I stay to hear thoughts so base.
+Harmachis--royal no more!--Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, bids me say that
+thou art free, and that she waits thee in the Alabaster Hall.”
+
+And shooting one swift glance through her long lashes she curtsied and
+was gone.
+
+
+
+So once more I came and went about the Court, though but sparingly, for
+my heart was full of shame and terror, and on every face I feared to see
+the scorn of those who knew me for what I was. But I saw nothing, for
+all those who had knowledge of the plot had fled, and Charmion had
+spoken no word, for her own sake. Also, Cleopatra had put it about that
+I was innocent. But my guilt lay heavy on me, and made me thin and wore
+away the beauty of my countenance. And though I was free in name, yet I
+was ever watched; nor might I stir beyond the palace grounds.
+
+And at length came the day which brought with it Quintus Dellius, that
+false Roman knight who ever served the rising star. He bore letters
+to Cleopatra from Marcus Antonius, the Triumvir, who, fresh from the
+victory of Philippi, was now in Asia wringing gold from the subject
+kings with which to satisfy the greed of his legionaries.
+
+Well I mind me of the day. Cleopatra, clad in her robes of state,
+attended by the officers of her Court, among whom I stood, sat in
+the great hall on her throne of gold, and bade the heralds admit the
+Ambassador of Antony, the Triumvir. The great doors were thrown wide,
+and amidst the blare of trumpets and salutes of the Gallic guards the
+Roman came in, clad in glittering golden armour and a scarlet cloak of
+silk, and followed by his suite of officers. He was smooth-faced and
+fair to look upon, and with a supple form; but his mouth was cold, and
+false were his shifting eyes. And while the heralds called out his name,
+titles, and offices, he fixed his gaze on Cleopatra--who sat idly on her
+throne all radiant with beauty--as a man who is amazed. Then when
+the heralds had made an end, and he still stood thus, not stirring,
+Cleopatra spoke in the Latin tongue:
+
+“Greeting to thee, noble Dellius, envoy of the most mighty Antony, whose
+shadow lies across the world as though Mars himself now towered up above
+us petty Princes--greeting and welcome to our poor city of Alexandria.
+Unfold, we pray thee, the purpose of thy coming.”
+
+Still the crafty Dellius made no answer, but stood as a man amazed.
+
+“What ails thee, noble Dellius, that thou dost not speak?” asked
+Cleopatra. “Hast thou, then, wandered so long in Asia that the doors of
+Roman speech are shut to thee? What tongue hast thou? Name it, and We
+will speak in it--for all tongues are known to Us.”
+
+Then at last he spoke in a soft full voice: “Oh, pardon me, most lovely
+Egypt, if I have thus been stricken dumb before thee: but too great
+beauty, like Death himself, doth paralyse the tongue and steal our sense
+away. The eyes of him who looks upon the fires of the mid-day sun are
+blind to all beside, and thus this sudden vision of thy glory, royal
+Egypt, overwhelmed my mind, and left me helpless and unwitting of all
+things else.”
+
+“Of a truth, noble Dellius,” answered Cleopatra, “they teach a pretty
+school of flattery yonder in Cilicia.”
+
+“How goes the saying here in Alexandria?” replied the courtly Roman:
+“‘The breath of flattery cannot waft a cloud,’ [*] does it not? But to
+my task. Here, royal Egypt, are letters under the hand and seal of
+the noble Antony treating of certain matters of the State. Is it thy
+pleasure that I should read them openly?”
+
+     [*] In other words, what is Divine is beyond the reach of
+     human praise.--Editor.
+
+“Break the seals and read,” she answered.
+
+Then bowing, he broke the seals and read:
+
+“The _Triumviri Reipublicæ Constituendæ_, by the mouth of Marcus
+Antonius, the Triumvir, to Cleopatra, by grace of the Roman People Queen
+of Upper and Lower Egypt, send greeting. Whereas it has come to our
+knowledge that thou, Cleopatra, hast, contrary to thy promise and thy
+duty, both by thy servant Allienus and by thy servant Serapion, the
+Governor of Cyprus, aided the rebel murderer Cassius against the arms
+of the most noble Triumvirate. And, whereas it has come to our knowledge
+that thou thyself wast but lately making ready a great fleet to this
+end. We summon thee that thou dost without delay journey to Cilicia,
+there to meet the noble Antony, and in person make answer concerning
+these charges which are laid against thee. And we warn thee that if thou
+dost disobey this our summons it is at thy peril. Farewell.”
+
+The eyes of Cleopatra flashed as she hearkened to these high words, and
+I saw her hands tighten on the golden lions’ heads whereon they rested.
+
+“We have had the flattery,” she said; “and now, lest we be cloyed with
+sweets, we have its antidote! Listen thou, Dellius: the charges in that
+letter, or, rather, in that writ of summons, are false, as all folk can
+bear us witness. But it is not now, and it is not to thee, that We
+will make defence of our acts of war and policy. Nor will We leave our
+kingdom to journey into far Cilicia, and there, like some poor suppliant
+at law, plead our cause before the Court of the Noble Antony. If Antony
+would have speech with us, and inquire concerning these high matters,
+the sea is open, and his welcome shall be royal. Let him come thither!
+That is our answer to thee and to the Triumvirate, O Dellius!”
+
+But Dellius smiled as one who would put away the weight of wrath, and
+once more spoke:
+
+“Royal Egypt, thou knowest not the noble Antony. He is stern on paper,
+and ever he sets down his thoughts as though his stylus were a spear
+dipped in the blood of men. But face to face with him, thou, of all the
+world, shalt find him the gentlest warrior that ever won a battle. Be
+advised, O Egypt! and come. Send me not hence with such angry words, for
+if thou dost draw Antony to Alexandria, then woe to Alexandria, to the
+people of the Nile, and to thee, great Egypt! For then he will come
+armed and breathing war, and it shall go hard with thee, who dost defy
+the gathered might of Rome. I pray thee, then, obey this summons.
+Come to Cilicia; come with peaceful gifts and not in arms. Come in thy
+beauty, and tricked in thy best attire, and thou hast naught to fear
+from the noble Antony.” He paused and looked at her meaningly; while I,
+taking his drift, felt the angry blood surge into my face.
+
+Cleopatra, too, understood, for I saw her rest her chin upon her hand
+and the cloud of thought gathered in her eyes. For a time she sat thus,
+while the crafty Dellius watched her curiously. And Charmion, standing
+with the other ladies by the throne, she also read his meaning, for
+her face lit up, as a summer cloud lights in the evening when the broad
+lightning flares behind it. Then once more it grew pale and quiet.
+
+At length Cleopatra spoke. “This is a heavy matter,” she said, “and
+therefore, noble Dellius, we must have time to let our judgment ripen.
+Rest thou here, and make thee as merry as our poor circumstances allow.
+Thou shalt have thy answer within ten days.”
+
+The envoy thought awhile, then replied smiling: “It is well, O Egypt; on
+the tenth day from now I will attend for my answer, and on the eleventh
+I sail hence to join Antony my Lord.”
+
+Once more, at a sign from Cleopatra, the trumpets blared, and he
+withdrew bowing.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+OF THE TROUBLE OF CLEOPATRA; OF HER OATH TO HARMACHIS; AND OF THE
+TELLING BY HARMACHIS TO CLEOPATRA OF THE SECRET OF THE TREASURE THAT LAY
+BENEATH THE MASS OF “HER”
+
+That same night Cleopatra summoned me to her private chamber. I went,
+and found her much troubled in mind; never before had I seen her so
+deeply moved. She was alone, and, like some trapped lioness, walked to
+and fro across the marble floor, while thought chased thought across her
+mind, each, as clouds scudding over the sea, for a moment casting its
+shadow in her deep eyes.
+
+“So thou art come, Harmachis,” she said, resting for a while, as she
+took my hand. “Counsel me, for never did I need counsel more. Oh, what
+days have the Gods measured out to me--days restless as the ocean! I
+have known no peace from childhood up, and it seems none shall I know.
+Scarce by a very little have I escaped thy dagger’s point, Harmachis,
+when this new trouble, that, like a storm, has gathered beneath the
+horizon’s rim, suddenly bursts over me. Didst mark that tigerish fop?
+Well should I love to trap him! How soft he spoke! Ay, he purred like
+a cat, and all the time he stretched his claws. Didst hear the letter,
+too? it has an ugly sound. I know this Antony. When I was but a child,
+budding into womanhood, I saw him; but my eyes were ever quick, and I
+took his measure. Half Hercules and half a fool, with a dash of genius
+veining his folly through. Easily led by those who enter at the gates of
+his voluptuous sense; but if crossed, an iron foe. True to his friends,
+if, indeed, he loves them; and ofttimes false to his own interest.
+Generous, hardy, and in adversity a man of virtue; in prosperity a sot
+and a slave to woman. That is Antony. How deal with such a man,
+whom fate and opportunity, despite himself, have set on the crest of
+fortune’s wave? One day it will overwhelm him; but till that day he
+sweeps across the world and laughs at those who drown.”
+
+“Antony is but a man,” I answered, “and a man with many foes; and, being
+but a man, he can be overthrown.”
+
+“Ay, he can be overthrown; but he is one of three, Harmachis. Now that
+Cassius hath gone where all fools go, Rome has thrown out a hydra head.
+Crush one, and another hisses in thy face. There’s Lepidus, and with
+him, that young Octavianus, whose cold eyes may yet with a smile of
+triumph look on the murdered forms of empty, worthless Lepidus, of
+Antony, and of Cleopatra. If I go not to Cilicia, mark thou! Antony will
+knit up a peace with these Parthians, and, taking the tales they tell
+of me for truth--and, indeed, there is truth in them--will fall with all
+his force on Egypt. And how then?”
+
+“How then? Why, then we’ll drum him back to Rome.”
+
+“Ah, thou sayest so, and, perchance, Harmachis, had I not won that game
+we played together some twelve days gone, thou, being Pharaoh, mightest
+well have done this thing, for round thy throne old Egypt would have
+gathered. But Egypt loves not me nor my Greek blood; and I have but now
+scattered that great plot of thine, in which half the land was meshed.
+Will these men, then, arise to succour me? Were Egypt true to me, I
+could, indeed, hold my own against all the force that Rome may bring;
+but Egypt hates me, and had as lief be ruled by the Roman as the Greek.
+Still I might make defence had I the gold, for with money soldiers
+can be bought to feed the maw of mercenary battle. But I have none; my
+treasuries are dry, and though there is wealth in the land, yet debts
+perplex me. These wars have brought me ruin, and I know not how to
+find a talent. Perchance, Harmachis, thou who art, by hereditary right,
+Priest of the Pyramids,” and she drew near and looked me in the eyes,
+“perchance, if long descended rumour does not lie, thou canst tell me
+where I can touch the gold to save thy land from ruin, and thy Love from
+the grasp of Antony? Say, is it so?”
+
+I thought a while, and then I answered:
+
+“And if such a tale were true, and if I could show thee treasure stored
+by the mighty Pharaohs of the most far-off age against the needs of
+Khem, how can I know that thou wouldst indeed make use of that wealth to
+those good ends?”
+
+“Is there, then, a treasure?” she asked curiously. “Nay, fret me not,
+Harmachis; for of a truth the very name of gold at this time of want is
+like the sight of water in the desert.”
+
+“I believe,” I said, “that there is such a treasure, though I myself
+have never seen it. But I know this, that if it still lie in the place
+where it was set, it is because so heavy a curse will rest upon him who
+shall lay hands on it wickedly and for selfish ends, that none of those
+Pharaohs to whom it has been shown have dared to touch it, however sore
+their need.”
+
+“So,” she said, “they were cowardly aforetime, or else their need was
+not great. Wilt thou show me this treasure, then, Harmachis?”
+
+“Perhaps,” I answered, “I will show it to thee if it still be there,
+when thou hast sworn that thou wilt use it to defend Egypt from this
+Roman Antony and for the welfare of her people.”
+
+“I swear it!” she said earnestly. “Oh, I swear by every God in Khem
+that if thou showest me this great treasure, I will defy Antony and send
+Dellius back to Cilicia with sharper words than those he brought. Yes,
+I’ll do more, Harmachis: so soon as may be, I will take thee to husband
+before all the world, and thou thyself shalt carry out thy plans and
+beat off the Roman eagles.”
+
+Thus she spoke, gazing at me with truthful, earnest eyes. I believed
+her, and for the first time since my fall was for a moment happy,
+thinking that all was not lost to me, and that with Cleopatra, whom I
+loved thus madly, I might yet win my place and power back.
+
+“Swear it, Cleopatra!” I said.
+
+“I swear, beloved! and thus I seal my oath!” and she kissed me on the
+forehead. And I, too, kissed her; and we talked of what we would do when
+we were wed, and how we should overcome the Roman.
+
+And thus I was again beguiled; though I believe that, had it not been
+for the jealous anger of Charmion--which, as shall be seen, was ever
+urging her forward to fresh deeds of shame--Cleopatra would have wedded
+me and broken with the Roman. And, indeed, in the issue, it had been
+better for her and Egypt.
+
+We sat far into the night, and I revealed to her somewhat of that
+ancient secret of the mighty treasure hid beneath the mass of _Her_.
+Thither, it was agreed, we should go on the morrow, and the second
+night from now attempt its search. So, early on the next day, a boat
+was secretly made ready, and Cleopatra entered it, veiled as an Egyptian
+lady about to make a pilgrimage to the Temple of Horemkhu. And I also
+entered, cloaked as a pilgrim, and with us ten of her most trusted
+servants disguised as sailors. But Charmion went not with us. We sailed
+with a fair wind from the Canopic mouth of the Nile; and that night,
+pushing on with the moon, we reached Sais at midnight, and here rested
+for a while. At dawn we once more loosed our craft, and all that day
+sailed swiftly, till, at last, at the third hour from the sunset, we
+came in sight of the lights of that fortress which is called Babylon.
+Here, on the opposite bank of the river, we moored our ship safely in a
+bed of reeds.
+
+Then, on foot and secretly, we set out for the pyramids, which were at
+a distance of two leagues, Cleopatra, I and one trusted eunuch, for
+we left the other servants with the boat. Only I caught an ass for
+Cleopatra to ride that was wandering in a tilled field, and threw a
+cloak upon it. She sat on it and I led the ass by paths I knew, the
+eunuch following us on foot. And, within little more than an hour,
+having gained the great causeway, we saw the mighty pyramids towering up
+through the moonlit air and aweing us to silence. We passed on in utter
+silence, through the haunted city of the dead, for all around us stood
+the solemn tombs, till at length we climbed the rocky hill, and stood in
+the deep shadow of Khufu Khut, the splendid Throne of Khufu.
+
+“Of a truth,” whispered Cleopatra, as she gazed up the dazzling
+marble slope above her, everywhere blazoned over with a million mystic
+characters--“of a truth, there were Gods ruling in Khem in those days,
+and not men. This place is sad as Death--ay, and as mighty and far from
+man. Is it here that we must enter?”
+
+“Nay,” I answered, “it is not here. Pass on.”
+
+I led the way through a thousand ancient tombs, till we stood in the
+shadow of Ur the Great, and gazed at his red heaven-piercing mass.
+
+“Is it here that we must enter?” she whispered once again.
+
+“Nay,” I answered, “it is not here. Pass on.”
+
+We passed on through many more tombs, till we stood in the shadow of
+_Her_,[*] and Cleopatra gazed astonished at its polished beauty, which
+for thousands of years, night by night, had mirrored back the moon, and
+at the black girdle of Ethiopian stone that circled its base about. For
+this is the most beautiful of all pyramids.
+
+     [*] The “Upper,” now known as the Third Pyramid.--Editor.
+
+“Is it here that we must enter?” she said.
+
+I answered, “It is here.”
+
+We passed round between the Temple of the Worship of his Divine Majesty,
+Menkau-ra, the Osirian, and in the base of the pyramid till we came
+to the north side. Here in the centre is graved the name of Pharaoh
+Menkau-ra, who built the pyramid to be his tomb, and stored his treasure
+in it against the need of Khem.
+
+“If the treasure still remains,” I said to Cleopatra, “as it remained in
+the days of my great-great-grandfather, who was Priest of this
+Pyramid before me, it is hid deep in the womb of the mass before thee,
+Cleopatra; nor can it be come by without toil, danger, and terror of
+mind. Art thou prepared to enter--for thou thyself must enter and must
+judge?”
+
+“Canst thou not go in with the eunuch, Harmachis, and bring the treasure
+forth?” she said, for a little her courage began to fail her.
+
+“Nay, Cleopatra,” I answered, “not even for thee and for the weal of
+Egypt can I do this thing, for of all sins it would be the greatest
+sin. But it is lawful for me to do this. I, as hereditary holder of the
+secret, may, upon demand, show to the ruling monarch of Khem the place
+where the treasure lies, and show also the warning that is written. And
+if on seeing and reading, the Pharaoh deems that the need of Khem is so
+sore and strait that it is lawful for him to brave the curse of the Dead
+and draw forth the treasure, it is well, for on his head must rest the
+weight of this dread deed. Three monarchs--so say the records that I
+have read--have thus dared to enter in the time of need. They were the
+Divine Queen Hatshepsu, that wonder known to the Gods alone; her Divine
+brother Tahutimes Men-Kheper-ra; and the Divine Rameses Mi-amen. But of
+these three Majesties, not one when they saw dared to touch; for, though
+sharp their need, it was not great enough to consecrate the act.
+So, fearing lest the curse should fall upon them, they went hence
+sorrowing.”
+
+She thought a little, till at last her spirit overcame her fear.
+
+“At the least I will see with mine own eyes,” she said.
+
+“It is well,” I answered. Then, stones having been piled up by me and
+the eunuch who was with us on a certain spot at the base of the pyramid,
+to somewhat more than the height of a man, I climbed on them and
+searched for the secret mark, no larger than a leaf. I found it with
+some trouble, for the weather and the rubbing of the wind-stirred sand
+had worn even the Ethiopian stone. Having found it, I pressed on it with
+all my strength in a certain fashion. Even after the lapse of many years
+the stone swung round, showing a little opening, through which a man
+might scarcely creep. As it swung, a mighty bat, white in colour as
+though with unreckoned age, and such as I had never seen before for
+bigness, for his measure was the measure of a hawk, flew forth and for a
+moment hovered over Cleopatra, then sailed slowly up and up in circles,
+till at last he was lost in the bright light of the moon.
+
+But Cleopatra uttered a cry of terror, and the eunuch, who was watching,
+fell down in fear, believing it to be the guardian Spirit of the
+pyramid. And I, too, feared, though I said nothing. For even now I
+believe that it was the Spirit of Menkau-ra, the Osirian, who, taking
+the form of a bat, flew forth from his holy House in warning.
+
+I waited a while, till the foul air should clear from the passage. Then
+I drew out the lamps, kindled them, and passed them, to the number
+of three, into the entrance of the passage. This done, I went to the
+eunuch, and, taking him aside, I swore him by the living spirit of Him
+who sleeps at Abouthis that he should not reveal those things which he
+was about to see.
+
+This he swore, trembling sorely, for he was very much afraid. Nor,
+indeed, did he reveal them.
+
+This done, I clambered through the opening, taking with me a coil of
+rope, which I wound around my middle, and beckoned to Cleopatra to come.
+Making fast the skirt of her robe, she came, and I drew her through the
+opening, so that at length she stood behind me in the passage which
+is lined with slabs of granite. After her came the eunuch, and he also
+stood in the passage. Then, having taken counsel of the plan of the
+passage that I had brought with me, and which, in signs that none but
+the initiated can read, was copied from those ancient writings that had
+come down to me through one-and-forty generations of my predecessors,
+the Priests of this Pyramid of _Her_, and of the worship of the Temple
+of the Divine Menkau-ra, the Osirian, I led the way through that
+darksome place towards the utter silence of the tomb. Guided by the
+feeble light of our lamps, we passed down the steep incline, gasping in
+the heat and the thick, stagnated air. Presently we had left the region
+of the masonry and were slipping down a gallery hewn in the living rock.
+For twenty paces or more it ran steeply. Then its slope lessened and
+shortly we found ourselves in a chamber painted white, so low that I,
+being tall, had scarcely room to stand; but in length four paces, and
+in breadth three, and cased throughout with sculptured panels. Here
+Cleopatra sank upon the floor and rested awhile, overcome by the heat
+and the utter darkness.
+
+“Rise!” I said. “We must not linger here, or we faint.”
+
+So she rose, and passing hand in hand through that chamber, we found
+ourselves face to face with a mighty door of granite, let down from the
+roof in grooves. Once more I took counsel of the plan, pressed with my
+foot upon a certain stone, and waited. Then, suddenly and softly, I know
+not by what means, the mass heaved itself from its bed of living rock.
+We passed beneath, and found ourselves face to face with a second door
+of granite. Again I pressed on a certain spot, and this door swung wide
+of itself, and we went through, to find ourselves face to face with a
+third door, yet more mighty than the two through which we had won our
+way. Following the secret plan, I struck this door with my foot upon a
+certain spot, and it sank slowly as though at a word of magic till its
+head was level with the floor of rock. We crossed and gained another
+passage which, descending gently for a length of fourteen paces, led
+us into a great chamber, paved with black marble, more than nine cubits
+high, by nine cubits broad, and thirty cubits long. In this marble floor
+was sunk a great sarcophagus of granite, and on its lid were graved the
+name and titles of the Queen of Menkau-ra. In this chamber, too, the air
+was purer, though I know not by what means it came thither.
+
+“Is the treasure here?” gasped Cleopatra.
+
+“Nay,” I answered; “follow me,” and I led the way to a gallery, which
+we entered through an opening in the floor of the great chamber. It had
+been closed by a trap-door of stone, but the door was open. Creeping
+along this shaft, or passage, for some ten paces, we came at length to a
+well, seven cubits in depth. Making fast one end of the rope that I
+had brought about my body and the other to a ring in the rock, I
+was lowered, holding the lamp in my hand, till I stood in the last
+resting-place of the Divine Menkau-ra. Then the rope was drawn up, and
+Cleopatra, being made fast to it, was let down by the eunuch, and I
+received her in my arms. But I bade the eunuch, sorely against his will,
+since he feared to be left alone, await our return at the mouth of the
+shaft. For it was not lawful that he should enter whither we went.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+OF THE TOMB OF THE DIVINE MENKAU-RA; OF THE WRITING ON THE BREAST OF
+MENKAU-RA; OF THE DRAWING FORTH OF THE TREASURE; OF THE DWELLER IN THE
+TOMB; AND OF THE FLIGHT OF CLEOPATRA AND HARMACHIS FROM THE HOLY PLACE
+
+We stood within a small arched chamber, paved and lined with great
+blocks of the granite stone of Syene. There before us--hewn from a
+single mass of basalt shaped like a wooden house and resting on a sphinx
+with a face of gold--was the sarcophagus of the Divine Menkau-ra.
+
+We stood and gazed in awe, for the weight of the silence and the
+solemnity of that holy place seemed to crush us. Above us, cubit over
+cubit in its mighty measure, the pyramid towered up to heaven and was
+kissed of the night air. But we were deep in the bowels of the rock
+beneath its base. We were alone with the dead, whose rest we were about
+to break; and no sound of the murmuring air, and no sight of life came
+to dull the awful edge of solitude. I gazed on the sarcophagus; its
+heavy lid had been lifted and rested at its side, and around it the dust
+of ages had gathered thick.
+
+“See,” I whispered, pointing to a writing, daubed with pigment upon the
+wall in the sacred symbols of ancient times.
+
+“Read it, Harmachis,” answered Cleopatra, in the same low voice; “for I
+cannot.”
+
+Then I read: “I, Rameses Mi-amen, in my day and in my hour of need,
+visited this sepulchre. But, though great my need and bold my heart,
+I dared not face the curse of Menkau-ra. Judge, O thou who shalt come
+after me, and, if thy soul is pure and Khem be utterly distressed, take
+thou that which I have left.”
+
+“Where, then, is the treasure?” she whispered. “Is that Sphinx-face of
+gold?”
+
+“Even there,” I answered, pointing to the sarcophagus. “Draw near and
+see.”
+
+And she took my hand and drew near.
+
+The cover was off, but the painted coffin of the Pharaoh lay in the
+depths of the sarcophagus. We climbed the Sphinx, then I blew the dust
+from the coffin with my breath and read that which was written on its
+lid. And this was written:
+
+“Pharaoh Menkau-ra, the Child of Heaven.
+
+“Pharaoh Menkau-ra, Royal Son of the Sun.
+
+“Pharaoh Menkau-ra, who didst lie beneath the heart of Nout.
+
+“Nout, thy Mother, wraps thee in the spell of Her holy name.
+
+“The name of thy Mother, Nout, is the mystery of Heaven.
+
+“Nout, thy Mother, gathers thee to the number of the Gods.
+
+“Nout, thy Mother, breathes on thy foes and utterly destroys them.
+
+“O Pharaoh Menkau-ra, who livest for ever!”
+
+“Where, then, is the treasure?” she asked again. “Here, indeed, is the
+body of the Divine Menkau-ra; but the flesh even of Pharaohs is not
+gold, and if the face of this Sphinx be gold how may we move it?”
+
+For answer I bade her stand upon the Sphinx and grasp the upper part of
+the coffin while I grasped its foot. Then, at my word, we lifted, and
+the lid of the case, which was not fixed, came away, and we set it upon
+the floor. And there in the case was the mummy of Pharaoh, as it
+had been laid three thousand years before. It was a large mummy, and
+somewhat ungainly. Nor was it adorned with a gilded mask, as is the
+fashion of our day, for the head was wrapped in clothes yellow with age,
+which were made fast with pink flaxen bandages, under which were pushed
+the stems of lotus-blooms. And on the breast, wreathed round with
+lotus-flowers, lay a large plate of gold closely written over with
+sacred writing. I lifted up the plate, and, holding it to the light, I
+read:
+
+“I, Menkau-ra, the Osirian, aforetime Pharaoh of the Land of Khem, who
+in my day did live justly and ever walked in the path marked for my feet
+by the decree of the Invisible, who was the beginning and is the end,
+speak from my tomb to those who after me shall for an hour sit upon my
+Throne. Behold, I, Menkau-ra, the Osirian, having in the days of my life
+been warned of a dream that a time will come when Khem shall fear to
+fall into the hands of strangers, and her monarch shall have great need
+of treasure wherewith to furnish armies to drive the barbarian back,
+have out of my wisdom done this thing. For it having pleased the
+protecting Gods to give me wealth beyond any Pharaoh who has been since
+the days of Horus--thousands of cattle and geese, thousands of calves
+and asses, thousands of measures of corn, and hundreds of measures of
+gold and gems; this wealth I have used sparingly, and that which
+remains I have bartered for precious stones--even for emeralds, the most
+beautiful and largest that are in the world. These stones, then, I have
+stored up against that day of the need of Khem. But because as there
+have been, so there shall be, those who do wickedly on the earth, and
+who, in the lust of gain, might seize this wealth that I have stored,
+and put it to their uses; behold, thou Unborn One, who in the fulness
+of time shalt stand above me and read this that I have caused to
+be written, I have stored the treasure thus--even among my bones.
+Therefore, O thou Unborn One, sleeping in the womb of Nout, I say this
+to thee! If thou indeed hast need of riches to save Khem from the foes
+of Khem, fear not and delay not, but tear me, the Osirian, from my tomb,
+loose my wrappings and rip the treasure from my breast, and all shall
+be well with thee; for this only I do command, that thou dost replace my
+bones within my hollow coffin. But if the need be passing and not great,
+or if there be guile in thy heart, then the curse of Menkau-ra be on
+thee! On thee be the curse that shall smite him who breaks in upon the
+dead! On thee be the curse that follows the traitor! On thee be the
+curse that smites him who outrages the Majesty of the Gods! Unhappy
+shalt thou live, in blood and misery shalt thou die, and in misery
+shalt thou be tormented for ever and for ever! For, Wicked One, there in
+Amenti we shall come face to face!
+
+“And to the end of the keeping of this secret, I, Menkau-ra, have set up
+a Temple of my Worship, which I have built upon the eastern side of
+this my House of Death. It shall be made known from time to time to the
+Hereditary High Priest of this my Temple. And if any High Priest that
+shall be do reveal this secret to another than the Pharaoh, or Her
+who wears the Pharaoh’s crown and is seated upon the throne of Khem,
+accursed be he also. Thus have I, Menkau-ra, the Osirian, written. Now
+to thee, who, sleeping in the womb of Nout, yet shall upon a time stand
+over me and read, I say, judge thou! and if thou judgest evilly, on thee
+shall fall this the curse of Menkau-ra from which there is no escape.
+Greeting and farewell.”
+
+“Thou hast heard, O Cleopatra,” I said solemnly; “now search thy heart;
+judge thou, and for thine own sake judge justly.”
+
+She bent her head in thought.
+
+“I fear to do this thing,” she said presently. “Let us hence.”
+
+“It is well,” I said, with a lightening of the heart, and bent down to
+lift the wooden lid. For I, too, feared.
+
+“And yet, what said the writing of the Divine Menkau-ra?--it was
+emeralds, was it not? And emeralds are now so rare and hard to come by.
+Ever did I love emeralds, and I can never find them without a flaw.”
+
+“It is not a matter of what thou dost love, Cleopatra,” I said; “it is a
+matter of the need of Khem and of the secret meaning of thy heart, which
+thou alone canst know.”
+
+“Ay, surely, Harmachis; surely! And is not the need of Egypt great?
+There is no gold in the treasury, and how can I defy the Roman if I have
+no gold? And have I not sworn to thee that I will wed thee and defy the
+Roman; and do I not swear it again--yes, even in this solemn hour, with
+my hand upon dead Pharaoh’s heart? Why, here is that occasion of which
+the Divine Menkau-ra dreamed. Thou seest it is so, for else Hat-shepsu
+or Rameses or some other Pharaoh had drawn forth the gems. But no; they
+left them to come to this hour because the time was not yet come. Now it
+must be come, for if I take not the gems the Roman will surely seize on
+Egypt, and then there will be no Pharaoh to whom the secret may be
+told. Nay, let us away with fears and to the work. Why dost look so
+frightened? Having pure hearts, there is naught to fear, Harmachis.”
+
+“Even as thou wilt,” I said again; “it is for thee to judge, since if
+thou judgest falsely on thee will surely fall the curse from which there
+is no escape.”
+
+“So, Harmachis, take Pharaoh’s head and I will take his----Oh, what an
+awful place is this!” and suddenly she clung to me. “Methought I saw
+a shadow yonder in the darkness! Methought that it moved toward us and
+then straightway vanished! Let us be going! Didst thou see naught?”
+
+“I saw nothing, Cleopatra; but mayhap it was the Spirit of the Divine
+Menkau-ra, for the spirit ever hovers round its mortal tenement. Let us,
+then, be going; I shall be right glad to go.”
+
+She made as though to start, then turned back again and spoke once more.
+
+“It was naught--naught but the mind that, in such a house of Horror,
+bodies forth those shadowy forms of fear it dreads to see. Nay, I must
+look upon these emeralds; indeed, if I die, I must look! Come--to the
+work!” and stooping, she with her own hands lifted from the tomb one
+of the four alabaster jars, each sealed with the graven likeness of the
+heads of the protecting Gods, that held the holy heart and entrails of
+the Divine Menkau-ra. But nothing was found in these jars, save only
+what should be there.
+
+Then together we mounted on the Sphinx, and with toil drew forth the
+body of the Divine Pharaoh, laying it on the ground. Now Cleopatra took
+my dagger, and with it cut loose the bandages which held the wrappings
+in their place, and the lotus-flowers that had been set in them by
+loving hands, three thousand years before, fell down upon the pavement.
+Then we searched and found the end of the outer bandage, which was fixed
+in at the hinder part of the neck. This we cut loose, for it was glued
+fast. This done, we began to unroll the wrappings of the holy corpse.
+Setting my shoulders against the sarcophagus, I sat upon the rocky
+floor, the body resting on my knees, and, as I turned it, Cleopatra
+unwound the cloths; and awesome was the task. Presently something fell
+out; it was the sceptre of the Pharaoh, fashioned of gold, and at its
+end was a pomegranate cut from a single emerald.
+
+Cleopatra seized the sceptre and gazed on it in silence. Then once
+more we went on with our dread business. And ever as we unwound, other
+ornaments of gold, such as are buried with Pharaohs, fell from the
+wrappings--collars and bracelets, models of sistra, an inlaid axe, and
+an image of the holy Osiris and of the holy Khem. At length all the
+bandages were unwound, and beneath we found a covering of coarsest
+linen; for in those very ancient days the craftsmen were not so skilled
+in matters pertaining to the embalming of the body as they are now. And
+on the linen was written in an oval, “Menkau-ra, Royal Son of the Sun.”
+ We could in no wise loosen this linen, it held so firm on to the body.
+Therefore, faint with the great heat, choked with mummy dust and the
+odour of spices, and trembling with fear of our unholy task, wrought
+in that most lonesome and holy place, we laid the body down, and ripped
+away the last covering with the knife. First we cleared Pharaoh’s head,
+and now the face that no man had gazed on for three thousand years was
+open to our view. It was a great face, with a bold brow, yet crowned
+with the royal uræus, beneath which the white locks, stained yellow by
+the spices, fell in long, straight wisps. Not the cold stamp of death,
+and not the slow flight of three thousand years, had found power to mar
+the dignity of those shrunken features. We gazed on them, and then, made
+bold with fear, stripped the covering from the body. There at last it
+lay before us, stiff, yellow, and dread to see; and on the left side,
+above the thigh, was the cut through which the embalmers had done their
+work, but it was sewn up so deftly that we could scarcely find the mark.
+
+“The gems are within,” I whispered, for I felt that the body was very
+heavy. “Now, if thy heart fail thee not, thou must make an entry to
+this poor house of clay that once was Pharaoh,” and I gave her the
+dagger--the same dagger which had drunk the life of Paulus.
+
+“It is too late to doubt,” she answered, lifting her white beauteous
+face and fixing her blue eyes all big with terror upon my own. She took
+the dagger, and with set teeth the Queen of this day plunged it into the
+dead breast of the Pharaoh of three thousand years ago. And even as she
+did so there came a groaning sound from the opening to the shaft where
+we had left the eunuch! We leapt to our feet, but heard no more, and the
+lamp-light still streamed down through the opening.
+
+“It is nothing,” I said. “Let us make an end.”
+
+Then with much toil we hacked and rent the hard flesh open, and as we
+did so I heard the knife point grate upon the gems within.
+
+Cleopatra plunged her hand into the dead breast and drew forth somewhat.
+She held it to the light, and gave a little cry, for from the darkness
+of Pharaoh’s heart there flashed into light and life the most beauteous
+emerald that ever man beheld. It was perfect in colour, very large,
+without a flaw, and fashioned to a scarabæus form, and on the under side
+was an oval, inscribed with the divine name of Menkau-ra, Son of the
+Sun.
+
+Again, again, and yet again, she plunged in her hand and drew emeralds
+from Pharaoh’s breast bedded there in spices. Some were fashioned and
+some were not; but all were perfect in colour without a flaw, and in
+value priceless. Again and again she plunged her white hand into that
+dread breast, till at length all were found, and there were one hundred
+and forty and eight of such gems as are not known in the world. The last
+time that she searched she brought forth not emeralds, indeed, but two
+great pearls, wrapped in linen, such as never have been seen. And of
+these pearls more hereafter.
+
+So it was done, and all the mighty treasure lay glittering in a heap
+before us. There it lay, and there, too, lay the regalia of gold, the
+spiced and sickly-scented wrappings, and the torn body of white-haired
+Pharaoh Menkau-ra, the Osirian, the ever living in Amenti.
+
+We rose, and a great awe fell upon us, now that the deed was done and
+our hearts were no more upborne by the rage of search--so great an awe,
+indeed, that we could not speak. I made a sign to Cleopatra. She grasped
+the head of Pharaoh and I grasped his feet, and together we lifted him,
+climbed the Sphinx, and placed him once more within his coffin. I piled
+the torn mummy cloths over him and on them laid the lid of the coffin.
+
+And now we gathered up the great gems, and such of the ornaments as
+might be carried with ease, and I hid them as many as I could, in the
+folds of my robe. Those that were left Cleopatra hid upon her breast.
+Heavily laden with the priceless treasure, we gave one last look at
+the solemn place, at the sarcophagus and the Sphinx on which it rested,
+whose gleaming face of calm seemed to mock us with its everlasting smile
+of wisdom. Then we turned and went from the tomb.
+
+At the shaft we halted. I called to the eunuch, who stayed above, and
+methought a faint mocking laugh answered me. Too smitten with terror to
+call again, and fearing that, should we delay, Cleopatra would certainly
+swoon, I seized the rope, and being strong and quick mounted by it and
+gained the passage. There burnt the lamp: but the eunuch I saw not.
+Thinking, surely, that he was a little way down the passage, and
+slept--as, in truth, he did--I bade Cleopatra make the rope fast about
+her middle, and with much labour, drew her up. Then, having rested
+awhile, we moved with the lamps to seek for the eunuch.
+
+“He was stricken with terror and has fled, leaving the lamp,” said
+Cleopatra. “O ye Gods! who is _that_ seated there?”
+
+I peered into the darkness, thrusting out the lamps, and this was what
+their light fell on--this at the very dream of which my soul sickens!
+There, facing us, his back resting against the rock, and his hands
+splayed on either side upon the floor, sat the eunuch--_dead!_ His eyes
+and mouth were open, his fat cheeks dropped down, his thin hair yet
+seemed to bristle, and on his countenance was frozen such a stamp of
+hideous terror as well might turn the beholder’s brain. And lo! fixed
+to his chin, by its hinder claws, hung that grey and mighty bat, which,
+flying forth when we entered the pyramid, vanished in the sky, but,
+returning, had followed us to its depths. There it hung upon the dead
+man’s chin slowly rocking itself to and fro, and we could see the fiery
+eyes shining in its head.
+
+Aghast, utterly aghast, we stood and stared at the hateful sight; till
+presently the bat spread his huge wings and, losing his hold, sailed to
+us. Now he hovered before Cleopatra’s face, fanning her with his white
+wings. Then with a scream, like a woman’s shriek of fury, the accursed
+Thing flittered on, seeking his violated tomb, and vanished down the
+well into the sepulchre. I fell against the wall. But Cleopatra sank
+in a heap upon the floor, and, covering her head with her arms, she
+shrieked till the hollow passages rang with the echoes of her cries,
+that seemed to grow and double and rush along the depths in volumes of
+shrill sound.
+
+“Rise!” I cried, “rise and let us hence before the Spirit shall return
+to haunt us! If thou dost suffer thyself to be overwhelmed in this place
+thou art lost for ever.”
+
+She staggered to her feet, and never may I forget the look upon her ashy
+face or in her glowing eyes. Seizing lamps with a rush, we passed the
+dead eunuch’s horrid form, I holding her by the hand. We gained the
+great chamber, where was the sarcophagus of the Queen of Menkau-ra, and
+traversed its length. We fled along the passage. What if the Thing had
+closed the three mighty doors? No; they were open, and we sped through
+them; the last only did I stay to close. I touched the stone, as I knew
+how, and the great door crashed down, shutting us off from the presence
+of the dead eunuch and the Horror that had hung upon the eunuch’s chin.
+Now we were in the white chamber with the sculptured panels, and now
+we faced the last steep ascent. Oh that last ascent! Twice Cleopatra
+slipped and fell upon the polished floor. The second time--it was when
+half the distance had been done--she let fall her lamp, and would,
+indeed, have rolled down the slide had I not saved her. But in doing
+thus I, too, let fall my lamp that bounded away into shadow beneath us,
+and we were in utter darkness. And perchance about us, in the darkness,
+hovered that awful Thing!
+
+“Be brave!” I cried; “O love, be brave, and struggle on, or both are
+lost! The way, though steep, is not far; and, though it be dark, we can
+scarce come to harm in this straight shaft. If the gems weight thee,
+cast them away!”
+
+“Nay,” she gasped, “that I will not; this shall not be endured to no
+end. I die with them!”
+
+Then it was that I saw the greatness of this woman’s heart; for in the
+dark, and notwithstanding the terrors we had passed and the awfulness of
+our state, she clung to me and clambered on up that dread passage. On we
+clambered, hand in hand, with bursting hearts, till there, by the mercy
+or the anger of the Gods, at length we saw the faint light of the moon,
+creeping through the little opening in the pyramid. One struggle more,
+now the hole was gained, and like a breath from heaven, the sweet night
+air played upon our brows. I climbed through, and, standing on a pile
+of stones, lifted and dragged Cleopatra after me. She fell to the ground
+and then sank down upon it motionless.
+
+I pressed upon the turning stone with trembling hands. It swung to and
+caught, leaving no mark of the secret place of entry. Then I leapt down
+and, having pushed away the pile of stones, looked on Cleopatra. She had
+swooned, and notwithstanding the dust and grime upon her face, it was so
+pale that at first I believed she must be dead. But placing my hand upon
+her heart I felt it stir beneath; and, being spent, I flung myself down
+beside her upon the sand, to gather up my strength again.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+OF THE COMING BACK OF HARMACHIS; OF THE GREETING OF CHARMION; AND OF
+THE ANSWER OF CLEOPATRA TO QUINTUS DELLIUS, THE AMBASSADOR OF ANTONY THE
+TRIUMVIR
+
+Presently I lifted myself, and, laying the head of Egypt’s Queen upon my
+knee, strove to call her back to life. How fair she seemed, even in her
+disarray, her long hair streaming down her breast! how deadly fair she
+seemed in the faint light--this woman the story of whose beauty and
+whose sin shall outlive the solid mass of the mighty pyramid that
+towered over us! The heaviness of her swoon had smoothed away the
+falseness of her face, and nothing was left but the divine stamp
+of Woman’s richest loveliness, softened by shadows of the night and
+dignified by the cast of deathlike sleep. I gazed upon her and all my
+heart went out to her; it seemed that I did but love her more because of
+the depth of the treasons to which I had sunk to reach her, and because
+of the terrors we had outfaced together. Weary and spent with fears and
+the pangs of guilt, my heart sought hers for rest, for now she alone was
+left to me. She had sworn to wed me also, and with the treasure we
+had won we would make Egypt strong and free her from her foes, and all
+should yet be well. Ah! could I have seen the picture that was to come,
+how, and in what place and circumstance, once again this very woman’s
+head should be laid upon my knee, pale with that cast of death! Ah!
+could I have seen!
+
+I chafed her hand between my hands. I bent down and kissed her on the
+lips, and at my kiss she woke. She woke with a little sob of fear--a
+shiver ran along her delicate limbs, and she stared upon my face with
+wide eyes.
+
+“Ah! it is thou!” she said. “I mind me--thou hast saved me from that
+horror-haunted place!” And she threw her arms about my neck, drew me to
+her and kissed me. “Come, love,” she said, “let us be going! I am sore
+athirst, and--ah! so very weary! The gems, too, chafe my breast! Never
+was wealth so hardly won! Come, let us be going from the shadow of this
+ghostly spot! See the faint lights glancing from the wings of Dawn. How
+beautiful they are, and how sweet to behold! Never, in those Halls of
+Eternal Night, did I think to look upon the blush of dawn again! Ah! I
+can still see the face of that dead slave, with the Horror hanging to
+his beardless chin! Bethink thee!--there he’ll sit for ever--there--with
+the Horror! Come; where may we find water? I would give an emerald for a
+cup of water!”
+
+“At the canal on the borders of the tilled land below the Temple of
+Horemkhu--it is close by,” I answered. “If any see us, we will say that
+we are pilgrims who have lost our way at night among the tombs. Veil
+thyself closely, therefore, Cleopatra; and beware lest thou dost show
+aught of those gems about thee.”
+
+So she veiled herself, and I lifted her on to the ass which was tethered
+near at hand. We walked slowly through the plain till we came to the
+place where the symbol of the God Horemkhu,[*] fashioned as a mighty
+Sphinx (whom the Greeks call Harmachis), and crowned with the royal
+crown of Egypt, looks out in majesty across the land, his eyes ever
+fixed upon the East. As we walked the first arrow of the rising sun
+quivered through the grey air, striking upon Horemkhu’s lips of holy
+calm, and the Dawn kissed her greeting to the God of Dawn. Then the
+light gathered and grew upon the gleaming sides of twenty pyramids, and,
+like a promise from Life to Death, rested on the portals of ten thousand
+tombs. It poured in a flood of gold across the desert sand--it pierced
+the heavy sky of night, and fell in bright beams upon the green of
+fields and the tufted crest of palms. Then from his horizon bed royal Ra
+rose up in pomp and it was day.
+
+     [*] That is, “Horus on the horizon”; and signifies the power
+     of Light and Good overcoming the power of Darkness and Evil
+     incarnate in his enemy, Typhon.--Editor.
+
+Passing the temple of granite and of alabaster that was built before the
+days of Khufu, to the glory of the Majesty of Horemkhu, we descended
+the slope, and came to the banks of the canal. There we drank; and
+that draught of muddy water was sweeter than all the choicest wine of
+Alexandria. Also we washed the mummy dust and grime from our hands
+and brows and made us clean. As she bathed her neck, stooping over the
+water, one of the great emeralds slipped from Cleopatra’s breast and
+fell into the canal, and it was but by chance that at length I found
+it in the mire. Then, once more, I lifted Cleopatra onto the beast, and
+slowly, for I was very weary, we marched back to the banks of Sihor,
+where our craft was. And having at length come thither, seeing no one
+save some few peasants going out to labour on the lands, I turned the
+ass loose in that same field where we had found him, and we boarded the
+craft while the crew were yet sleeping. Then, waking them, we bade them
+make all sail, saying that we had left the eunuch to sojourn a while
+behind us, as in truth we had. So we sailed, having first hidden away
+the gems and such of the ornaments of gold as we could bring to the
+boat.
+
+We spent four days and more in coming to Alexandria, for the wind
+was for the most part against us; and they were happy days! At first,
+indeed, Cleopatra was somewhat silent and heavy at heart, for what she
+had seen and felt in the womb of the pyramid weighed her down. But soon
+her Imperial spirit awoke and shook the burden from her breast, and she
+became herself again--now gay, now learned; now loving, and now cold;
+now queenly, and now altogether simple--ever changing as the winds of
+heaven, and as the heaven, deep, beauteous, and unsearchable!
+
+Night after night for those four perfect nights, the last happy hours I
+ever was to know, we sat hand in hand upon the deck and heard the waters
+lap the vessel’s side, and watched the soft footfall of the moon as she
+trod the depths of Nile. There we sat and talked of love, talked of our
+marriage and all that we would do. Also I drew up plans of war and of
+defence against the Roman, which now we had the means to carry out; and
+she approved them, sweetly saying that what seemed good to me was good
+to her. And so the time passed all too swiftly.
+
+Oh those nights upon the Nile! their memory haunts me yet! Yet in
+my dreams I see the moonbeams break and quiver, and hear Cleopatra’s
+murmured words of love mingle with the sound of murmuring waters. Dead
+are those dear nights, dead is the moon that lit them; the waters which
+rocked us on their breast are lost in the wide salt sea, and where we
+kissed and clung there lips unborn shall kiss and cling! How beautiful
+was their promise, doomed, like an unfruitful blossom, to wither, fall,
+and rot! and their fulfilment, ah, how drear! For all things end in
+darkness and in ashes, and those who sow in folly shall reap in sorrow.
+Ah! those nights upon the Nile!
+
+And so at length once more we stood within the hateful walls of that
+fair palace on the Lochias, and the dream was done.
+
+
+
+“Whither hast thou wandered with Cleopatra, Harmachis?” Charmion asked
+of me when I met her by chance on that day of return. “On some new
+mission of betrayal? Or was it but a love-journey?”
+
+“I went with Cleopatra upon secret business of the State,” I answered
+sternly.
+
+“So! Those who go secretly, go evilly; and foul birds love to fly at
+night. Not but what thou art wise, for it would scarce beseem thee,
+Harmachis, to show thy face openly in Egypt.”
+
+I heard, and felt my passion rise within me, for I could ill bear this
+fair girl’s scorn.
+
+“Hast thou never a word without a sting?” I asked. “Know, then, that I
+went whither thou hadst not dared to go, to gather means to hold Egypt
+from the grasp of Antony.”
+
+“So,” she answered, looking up swiftly. “Thou foolish man! Thou hadst
+done better to save thy labour, for Antony will grasp Egypt in thy
+despite. What power hast thou to-day in Egypt?”
+
+“That he may do in my despite; but in despite of Cleopatra that he
+cannot do,” I said.
+
+“Nay, but with the _aid_ of Cleopatra he can and will do it,” she
+answered with a bitter smile. “When the Queen sails in state up Cydnus
+stream she will surely draw this coarse Antony thence to Alexandria,
+conquering, and yet, like thee, a slave!”
+
+“It is false! I say that it is false! Cleopatra goes not to Tarsus, and
+Antony comes not to Alexandria; or, if he come, it will be to take the
+chance of war.”
+
+“Now, thinkest thou thus?” she answered with a little laugh. “Well, if
+it please thee, think as thou wilt. Within three days thou shalt know.
+It is pretty to see how easily thou art fooled. Farewell! Go, dream on
+Love, for surely Love is sweet.”
+
+And she went, leaving me angered and troubled at heart.
+
+
+
+I saw Cleopatra no more that day, but on the day which followed I saw
+her. She was in a heavy mood, and had no gentle word for me. I spake to
+her of the defence of Egypt, but she put the matter away.
+
+“Why dost thou weary me?” she said with anger; “canst thou not see that
+I am lost in troubles? When Dellius has had his answer to-morrow then we
+will speak of these matters.”
+
+“Ay,” I said, “when Dellius has had his answer; and knowest thou that
+but yesterday, Charmion--whom about the palace they name the ‘Keeper
+of the Queen’s secrets’--Charmion swore that the answer would be ‘Go in
+peace, I come to Antony!’”
+
+“Charmion knows nothing of my heart,” said Cleopatra, stamping her foot
+in anger, “and if she talk so freely the girl shall be scourged out of
+my Court, as is her desert. Though, in truth,” she added, “she has more
+wisdom in that small head of hers than all my privy councillors--ay,
+and more wit to use it. Knowest thou that I have sold a portion of those
+gems to the rich Jews of Alexandria, and at a great price, ay, at five
+thousand sestertia for each one?[*] But a few, in truth, for they could
+not buy more as yet. It was rare to see their eyes when they fell upon
+them: they grew large as apples with avarice and wonder. And now leave
+me, Harmachis, for I am weary. The memory of that dreadful night is with
+me yet.”
+
+     [*] About forty thousand pounds of our money.--Editor.
+
+I bowed and rose to go, and yet stood wavering.
+
+“Pardon me, Cleopatra; it is of our marriage.”
+
+“Our marriage! Why, are we not indeed already wed?” she answered.
+
+“Yes; but not before the world. Thou didst promise.”
+
+“Ay, Harmachis, I promised; and to-morrow, when I have rid me of this
+Dellius, I will keep my promise, and name thee Cleopatra’s Lord before
+the Court. See that thou art in thy place. Art content?”
+
+And she stretched out her hand for me to kiss, looking on me with
+strange eyes, as though she struggled with herself. Then I went; but
+that night I strove once more to see Cleopatra, and could not. “The Lady
+Charmion was with the Queen,” so said the eunuchs, and none might enter.
+
+
+
+On the morrow the Court met in the great hall one hour before mid-day,
+and I went thither with a trembling heart to hear Cleopatra’s answer
+to Dellius, and to hear myself also named King-consort to the Queen of
+Egypt. It was a full and splendid Court; there were councillors, lords,
+captains, eunuchs, and waiting-women, all save Charmion. The house
+passed, but Cleopatra and Charmion came not. At length Charmion entered
+gently by a side entrance, and took her place among the waiting-ladies
+about the throne. Even as she did so she cast a glance at me, and there
+was triumph in her eyes, though I knew not over what she triumphed. I
+little guessed that she had but now brought about my ruin and sealed the
+fate of Egypt.
+
+Then presently the trumpets blared, and, clad in her robes of state, the
+uræus crown upon her head, and on her breast, flashing like a star, that
+great emerald scarabæus which she had dragged from dead Pharaoh’s heart,
+Cleopatra swept in splendour to her throne, followed by a glittering
+guard of Northmen. Her lovely face was dark, dark were her slumbrous
+eyes, and none might read their message, though all that Court searched
+them for a sign of what should come. She seated herself slowly as one
+who may not be moved, and spoke to the chief of the heralds in the Greek
+tongue:
+
+“Does the Ambassador of the noble Antony wait?”
+
+The herald bowed low and made assent.
+
+“Let him come in and hear our answer.”
+
+The doors were flung wide, and, followed by his train of knights,
+Dellius, clad in his golden armour and his purple mantle, walked with
+cat-like step up the great hall, and made obeisance before the throne.
+
+“Most royal and beauteous Egypt,” he said, in his soft voice, “as thou
+hast graciously been pleased to bid me, thy servant, I am here to
+take thy answer to the letter of the noble Antony the Triumvir, whom
+to-morrow I sail to meet at Tarsus, in Cilicia. And I will say
+this, royal Egypt, craving pardon the while for the boldness of my
+speech--bethink thee well before words that cannot be unspoken fall from
+those sweet lips. Defy Antony, and Antony will wreck thee. But, like
+thy mother Aphrodité, rise glorious on his sight from the bosom of the
+Cyprian wave, and for wreck he will give thee all that can be dear to
+woman’s royalty--Empire, and pomp of place, cities and the sway of men,
+fame and wealth, and the Diadem of rule made sure. For mark: Antony
+holds this Eastern World in the hollow of his warlike hand; at his will
+kings are, and at his frown they cease to be.”
+
+And he bowed his head and, folding his hands meekly on his breast,
+awaited answer.
+
+For a while Cleopatra answered not, but sat like the Sphinx Horemkhu,
+dumb and inscrutable, gazing with lost eyes down the length of that
+great hall.
+
+Then, like soft music, her answer came; and trembling I listened for
+Egypt’s challenge to the Roman:
+
+“Noble Dellius,--We have bethought us much of the matter of thy message
+from great Antony to our poor Royalty of Egypt. We have bethought us
+much, and we have taken counsel from the oracles of the Gods, from the
+wisest among our friends, and from the teachings of our heart, that
+ever, like a nesting bird, broods over our people’s weal. Sharp are
+the words that thou hast brought across the sea; methinks they had been
+better fitted to the ears of some petty half-tamed prince than to those
+of Egypt’s Queen. Therefore we have numbered the legions that we can
+gather, and the triremes and the galleys wherewith we may breast the
+sea, and the moneys which shall buy us all things wanting to our war.
+And we find this, that, though Antony be strong, yet has Egypt naught to
+fear from the strength of Antony.”
+
+She paused, and a murmur of applause of her high words ran down the
+hall. Only Dellius stretched out his hand as though to push them back.
+Then came the end!
+
+“Noble Dellius,--Half are we minded there to bid our tongue stop, and,
+strong in our fortresses of stone, and our other fortresses built of the
+hearts of men, abide the issue. And yet thou shalt not go thus. We are
+guiltless of those charges against us that have come to the ears of
+noble Antony, and which now he rudely shouts in ours; nor will we
+journey into Cilicia to answer them.”
+
+Here the murmur arose anew, while my heart beat high in triumph; and in
+the pause that followed, Dellius spoke once more.
+
+“Then, royal Egypt, my word to Antony is word of War?”
+
+“Nay,” she answered; “it shall be one of Peace. Listen; we said that we
+would not come to make answer to these charges, nor will we. But”--and
+she smiled for the first time--“we will gladly come, and that swiftly,
+in royal friendship to make known our fellowship of peace upon the banks
+of Cydnus.”
+
+I heard, and was bewildered. Could I hear aright? Was it thus that
+Cleopatra kept her oaths? Moved beyond the hold of reason, I lifted up
+my voice and cried:
+
+“O Queen, _remember!_”
+
+She turned upon me like a lioness, with a flashing of the eyes and a
+swift shake of her lovely head.
+
+“Peace, Slave!” she said; “who bade thee break in upon our counsels?
+Mind thou thy stars, and leave matters of the world to the rulers of the
+world!”
+
+I sank back shamed, and, as I did so, once more I saw the smile of
+triumph on the face of Charmion, followed by what was, perhaps, the
+shadow of pity for my fall.
+
+“Now that yon brawling charlatan,” said Dellius, pointing at me with his
+jewelled finger, “has been rebuked, grant me leave, O Egypt, to thank
+thee from my heart for these gentle words----”
+
+“We ask no thanks from thee, noble Dellius; nor lies it in thy mouth to
+chide our servant,” broke in Cleopatra, frowning heavily; “we will take
+thanks from the lips of Antony alone. Get thee to thy master, and say
+to him that before he can make ready a fitting welcome our keels shall
+follow in the track of thine. And now, farewell! Thou shalt find some
+small token of our bounty upon thy vessel.”
+
+Dellius bowed thrice and withdrew, while the Court stood waiting the
+Queen’s word. And I, too, waited, wondering if she would yet make good
+her promise, and name me royal Spouse there in the face of Egypt. But
+she said nothing. Only, still frowning heavily, she rose, and, followed
+by her guards, left the throne, and passed into the Alabaster Hall. Then
+the Court broke up, and as the lords and councillors went by they looked
+on me with mockery. For though none knew all my secret, nor how it stood
+between me and Cleopatra, yet they were jealous of the favour shown me
+by the Queen, and rejoiced greatly at my fall. But I took no heed of
+their mocking as I stood dazed with misery and felt the world of Hope
+slip from beneath my feet.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+OF THE REPROACH OF HARMACHIS; OF THE STRUGGLE OF HARMACHIS WITH THE
+GUARDS; OF THE BLOW OF BRENNUS; AND OF THE SECRET SPEECH OF CLEOPATRA
+
+And at length, all being gone, I, too, turned to go, when a eunuch
+struck me on the shoulder and roughly bade me wait on the presence of
+the Queen. An hour past this fellow would have crawled to me on his
+knees; but he had heard, and now he treated me--so brutish is the nature
+of such slaves--as the world treats the fallen, with scorn. For to come
+low after being great is to learn all shame. Unhappy, therefore, are the
+Great, for they may fall!
+
+I turned upon the slave with so fierce a word that, cur-like, he sprang
+behind me; then I passed on to the Alabaster Hall, and was admitted by
+the guards. In the centre of the hall, near the fountain, sat Cleopatra,
+and with her were Charmion and the Greek girl Iras, and Merira and other
+of her waiting-ladies. “Go,” she said to these, “I would speak with my
+astrologer.” So they went, and left us face to face.
+
+“Stand thou there,” she said, lifting her eyes for the first time. “Come
+not nigh me, Harmachis: I trust thee not. Perchance thou hast found
+another dagger. Now, what hast thou to say? By what right didst thou
+dare to break in upon my talk with the Roman?”
+
+I felt the blood rush through me like a storm; bitterness and burning
+anger took hold of my heart. “What hast _thou_ to say, Cleopatra?”
+ I answered boldly. “Where is thy vow, sworn on the dead heart of
+Menkau-ra, the ever-living? Where now thy challenge to this Roman
+Antony? Where thy oath that thou wouldest call me ‘husband’ in the face
+of Egypt?” and I choked and ceased.
+
+“Well doth it become Harmachis, who never was forsworn, to speak to me
+of oaths!” she said in bitter mockery. “And yet, O thou most pure Priest
+of Isis; and yet, O thou most faithful friend, who never didst betray
+thy friends; and yet, O thou most steadfast, honourable, and upright
+man, who never bartered thy birthright, thy country, and thy cause for
+the price of a woman’s passing love--by what token knowest thou that my
+word is void?”
+
+“I will not answer thy taunts, Cleopatra,” I said, holding back my heart
+as best I might, “for I have earned them all, though not from thee. By
+this token, then, I know it. Thou goest to visit Antony; thou goest, as
+said that Roman knave, ‘tricked in thy best attire,’ to feast with him
+whom thou shouldst give to vultures for their feast. Perhaps, for
+aught I know, thou art about to squander those treasures that thou hast
+filched from the body of Menkau-ra, those treasures stored against the
+need of Egypt, upon wanton revels which shall complete the shame of
+Egypt. By these things, then, I know that thou art forsworn, and I, who,
+loving thee, believed thee, tricked; and by this, also, that thou who
+didst but yesternight swear to wed me, dost to-day cover me with taunts,
+and even before that Roman put me to an open shame!”
+
+“To wed thee? and I did swear to wed thee? Well, and what is marriage?
+Is it the union of the heart, that bond beautiful as gossamer and than
+gossamer more light, which binds soul to soul, as they float through the
+dreamy night of passion, a bond to be, perchance, melted in the dews of
+dawn? Or is it the iron link of enforced, unchanging union whereby if
+sinks the one the other must be dragged beneath the sea of circumstance,
+there, like a punished slave, to perish of unavoidable corruption?[*]
+Marriage! _I_ to marry! _I_ to forget freedom and court the worst
+slavery of our sex, which, by the selfish will of man, the stronger,
+still binds us to a bed grown hateful, and enforces a service that love
+mayhap no longer hallows! Of what use, then, to be a Queen, if thereby I
+may not escape the evil of the meanly born? Mark thou, Harmachis: Woman
+being grown hath two ills to fear--Death and Marriage; and of these
+twain is Marriage the more vile; for in Death we may find rest, but in
+Marriage, should it fail us, we must find hell. Nay, being above the
+breath of common slander that enviously would blast those who of
+true virtue will not consent to stretch affection’s links, I _love_,
+Harmachis; but I _marry_ not!”
+
+     [*] Referring to the Roman custom of chaining a living felon
+     to the body of one already dead.--Editor.
+
+“And yesternight, Cleopatra, thou didst swear that thou wouldst wed me,
+and call me to thy side before the face of Egypt!”
+
+“And yesternight, Harmachis, the red ring round the moon marked the
+coming of the storm, and yet the day is fair! But who knows that the
+tempest may not break to-morrow? Who knows that I have not chosen the
+easier path to save Egypt from the Roman? Who knows, Harmachis, that
+thou shalt not still call me wife?”
+
+Then I no longer could bear her falsehood, for I saw that she but played
+with me. And so I spoke that which was in my heart:
+
+“Cleopatra!” I cried, “thou didst swear to protect Egypt, and thou
+art about to betray Egypt to the Roman! Thou didst swear to use the
+treasures that I revealed to thee for the service of Egypt, and thou art
+about to use them to be her means of shame--to fashion them as fetters
+for her wrists! Thou didst swear to wed me, who loved thee, and for thee
+gave all, and thou dost mock me and reject me! Therefore I say--with the
+voice of the dread Gods I say it!--that on _thee_ shall fall the curse
+of Menkau-ra, whom thou hast robbed indeed! Let me go hence and work
+out my fate! Let me go, O thou fair Shame! thou living Lie! whom I have
+loved to my doom, and who hast brought upon me the last curse of doom!
+Let me hide myself and see thy face no more!”
+
+She rose in her wrath, and she was terrible to see.
+
+“Let thee go to stir up evil against me! Nay, Harmachis, thou shalt not
+go to build new plots against my throne! I say to thee that thou, too,
+shalt come to visit Antony in Cilicia, and there, perchance, I will let
+thee go!” And ere I could answer, she had struck upon the silver gong
+that hung near her.
+
+Before its rich echo had died away, Charmion and the waiting-women
+entered from one door, and from the other, a file of soldiers--four of
+them of the Queen’s bodyguard, mighty men, with winged helmets and long
+fair hair.
+
+“Seize that traitor!” cried Cleopatra, pointing to me. The captain of
+the guard--it was Brennus--saluted and came towards me with drawn sword.
+
+But I, being mad and desperate, and caring little if they slew me, flew
+straight at his throat, and dealt him such a heavy blow that the great
+man fell headlong, and his armour clashed upon the marble floor. As he
+fell I seized his sword and targe, and, meeting the next, who rushed on
+me with a shout, caught his blow upon the shield, and in answer smote
+with all my strength. The sword fell where the neck is set into the
+shoulder, and, shearing through the joints of his harness, slew him, so
+that his knees were loosened and he sank down dead. And the third, as he
+came, I caught upon the point of my sword before he could strike, and
+it pierced him and he died. Then the last rushed on me with a cry of
+“Taranis!” and I, too, rushed on him, for my blood was aflame. Now the
+women shrieked--only Cleopatra said nothing, but stood and watched the
+unequal fray. We met, and I struck with all my strength, and it was a
+mighty blow, for the sword shore through the iron shell and shattered
+there, leaving me weaponless. With a shout of triumph the guard swung
+up his sword and smote down upon my head, but I caught the blow with
+my shield. Again he smote, and again I parried; but when he raised his
+sword a third time I saw this might not endure, so with a cry I hurled
+my buckler at his face. Glancing from his shield it struck him on the
+breast and staggered him. Then, before he could gain his balance, I
+rushed in beneath his guard and gripped him round the middle.
+
+For a full minute the tall man and I struggled furiously, and then, so
+great was my strength in those days, I lifted him like a toy and dashed
+him down upon the marble floor in such fashion that his bones were
+shattered so that he spoke no more. But I could not save myself and fell
+upon him, and as I fell the Captain Brennus, whom I had smitten to earth
+with my fist, having once more found his sense, came up behind me and
+smote me upon the head and shoulders with the sword of one of those whom
+I had slain. But I being on the ground, the blow did not fall with all
+its weight, also my thick hair and broidered cap broke its force; and
+thus it came to pass that, though sorely wounded, the life was yet whole
+in me. But I could struggle no more.
+
+Then the cowardly eunuchs, who had gathered at the sound of blows and
+stood huddled together like a herd of cattle, seeing that I was spent,
+threw themselves upon me, and would have butchered me with their knives.
+But Brennus, now that I was down, would strike no more, but stood
+waiting. And the eunuchs had surely slain me, for Cleopatra watched like
+one who watches in a dream and made no sign. Already my head was dragged
+back, and their knife-points were at my throat, when Charmion, rushing
+forward, threw herself upon me and, calling them “Dogs!” desperately
+thrust her body before them in such fashion that they could not smite.
+Now Brennus with an oath seized first one and then another and cast them
+from me.
+
+“Spare his life, Queen!” he cried in his barbarous Latin. “By Jupiter,
+he is a brave man! Myself felled like an ox in the shambles, and three
+of my boys finished by a man without armour and taken unawares! I grudge
+them not to such a man! A boon, Queen! spare his life, and give him to
+me!”
+
+“Ay, spare him! spare him!” cried Charmion, white and trembling.
+
+Cleopatra drew near and looked upon the dead and him who lay dying as
+I had dashed him to the ground, and on me, her lover of two days gone,
+whose wounded head rested now on Charmion’s white robes.
+
+I met the Queen’s glance. “Spare not!” I gasped; “_væ victis!_” Then a
+flush gathered on her brow--methinks it was a flush of shame!
+
+“Dost after all love this man at heart, Charmion,” she said with a
+little laugh, “that thou didst thrust thy tender body between him and
+the knives of these sexless hounds?” and she cast a look of scorn upon
+the eunuchs.
+
+“Nay!” the girl answered fiercely; “but I cannot stand by to see a brave
+man murdered by such as these.”
+
+“Ay!” said Cleopatra, “he is a brave man, and he fought gallantly; I
+have never seen so fierce a fight even in the games at Rome! Well, I
+spare his life, though he is weak of me--womanish weak. Take him to his
+own chamber and guard him there till he is healed or--dead.”
+
+Then my brain reeled, a great sickness seized upon me, and I sank into
+the nothingness of a swoon.
+
+
+
+Dreams, dreams, dreams! without end and ever-changing, as for years and
+years I seemed to toss upon a sea of agony. And through them a vision of
+a dark-eyed woman’s tender face and the touch of a white hand soothing
+me to rest. Visions, too, of a royal countenance bending at times over
+my rocking bed--a countenance that I could not grasp, but whose beauty
+flowed through my fevered veins and was a part of me--visions of
+childhood and of the Temple towers of Abouthis, and of the white-haired
+Amenemhat, my father--ay, and an ever-present vision of that dread hall
+in Amenti, and of the small altar and the Spirits clad in flame! There I
+seemed to wander everlastingly, calling on the Holy Mother, whose memory
+I could not grasp; calling ever and in vain! For no cloud descended upon
+the altar, only from time to time the great Voice pealed aloud: “Strike
+out the name of Harmachis, child of Earth, from the living Book of Her
+who Was and Is and Shall Be! _Lost! lost! lost!_”
+
+And then another voice would answer:
+
+“Not yet! not yet! Repentance is at hand; strike not out the name of
+Harmachis, child of Earth, from the living Book of Her who Was and Is
+and Shall Be! By suffering may sin be wiped away!”
+
+I woke to find myself in my own chamber in the tower of the palace. I
+was so weak that I scarce could lift my hand, and life seemed but to
+flutter in my breast as flutters a dying dove. I could not turn my head;
+I could not stir; yet in my heart there was a sense of rest and of dark
+trouble done. The light from the lamp hurt my eyes: I shut them, and,
+as I shut them, heard the sweep of a woman’s robes upon the stair, and a
+swift, light step that I knew well. It was that of Cleopatra!
+
+She entered and drew near. I felt her come! Every pulse of my poor frame
+beat an answer to her footfall, and all my mighty love and hate rose
+from the darkness of my death-like sleep, and rent me in their struggle!
+She leaned over me; her ambrosial breath played upon my face: I could
+hear the beating of her heart! Lower she leaned, till at last her lips
+touched me softly on the brow.
+
+“Poor man!” I heard her murmur. “Poor, weak, dying Man! Fate hath been
+hard to thee! Thou wert too good to be the sport of such a one as I--the
+pawn that I must move in my play of policy! Ah, Harmachis! thou shouldst
+have ruled the game! Those plotting priests could give thee learning;
+but they could not give thee knowledge of mankind, nor fence thee
+against the march of Nature’s law. And thou didst love me with all thy
+heart--ah! well I know it! Manlike, thou didst love the eyes that, as
+a pirate’s lights, beckoned thee to shipwrecked ruin, and didst hang
+doting on the lips which lied thy heart away and called thee ‘slave’!
+Well; the game was fair, for thou wouldst have slain me; and yet I
+grieve. So thou dost die? and this is my farewell to thee! Never may we
+meet again on earth; and, perchance, it is well, for who knows, when my
+hour of tenderness is past, how I might deal with thee, didst thou live?
+Thou dost die, they say--those learned long-faced fools, who, if they
+let thee die, shall pay the price. And where, then, shall we meet again
+when my last throw is thrown? We shall be equal there, in the kingdom
+that Osiris rules. A little time, a few years--perhaps to-morrow--and we
+shall meet; then, knowing all I am, how wilt thou greet me? Nay, here,
+as there, still must thou worship me! for injuries cannot touch the
+immortality of such a love as thine. Contempt alone, like acid, can
+eat away the love of noble hearts, and reveal the truth in its pitiful
+nakedness. Thou must still cling to thee, Harmachis; for, whatever my
+sins, yet I am great and set above thy scorn. Would that I could have
+loved thee as thou lovest me! Almost I did so when thou slewest those
+guards; and yet--not quite.
+
+“What a fenced city is my heart, that none can take it, and, even when
+I throw the gates wide, no man may win its citadel! Oh, to put away this
+loneliness and lose me in another’s soul! Oh, for a year, a month, an
+hour to quite forget policy, peoples, and my pomp of place, and be but
+a loving woman! Harmachis, fare thee well! Go join great Julius whom thy
+art called up from death before me, and take Egypt’s greetings to him.
+Ah well! I fooled thee, and I fooled Cæsar--perchance before all is done
+Fate will find me, and myself I shall be fooled. Harmachis, fare thee
+well!”
+
+She turned to go, and as she turned I heard the sweep of another dress
+and the light fall of another woman’s foot.
+
+“Ah! it is thou, Charmion. Well, for all thy watching the man dies.”
+
+“Ay,” she answered, in a voice thick with grief. “Ay, O Queen, so the
+physicians say. Forty hours has he lain in stupor so deep that at times
+his breath could barely lift this tiny feather’s weight, and hardly
+could my ear, placed against his breast, take notice of the rising of
+his heart. I have watched him now for ten long days, watched him day and
+night, till my eyes stare wide with want of sleep, and for faintness
+I can scarce keep myself from falling. And this is the end of all my
+labour! The coward blow of that accursed Brennus has done its work, and
+Harmachis dies!”
+
+“Love counts not its labour, Charmion, nor can it weight its tenderness
+on the scale of purchase. That which it has it gives, and craves for
+more to give and give, till the soul’s infinity be drained. Dear to thy
+heart are these heavy nights of watching; sweet to thy weary eyes
+is that sad sight of strength brought so low that it hangs upon thy
+weakness like a babe to its mother’s breast! For, Charmion, thou dost
+love this man who loves thee not, and now that he is helpless thou canst
+pour thy passion forth over the unanswering darkness of his soul, and
+cheat thyself with dreams of what yet might be.”
+
+“I love him not, as thou hast proof, O Queen! How can I love one who
+would have slain thee, who art as my heart’s sister? It is for pity that
+I nurse him.”
+
+She laughed a little as she answered, “Pity is love’s own twin,
+Charmion. Wondrous wayward are the paths of woman’s love, and thou hast
+shown thine strangely, that I know. But the more high the love, the
+deeper the gulf whereinto it can fall--ay, and thence soar again to
+heaven, once more to fall! Poor woman! thou art thy passion’s plaything:
+now tender as the morning sky, and now, when jealousy grips thy heart,
+more cruel than the sea. Well, thus are we made. Soon, after all this
+troubling, nothing will be left thee but tears, remorse, and--memory.”
+
+And she went forth.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+OF THE TENDER CARE OF CHARMION; OF THE HEALING OF HARMACHIS; OF THE
+SAILING OF THE FLEET OF CLEOPATRA FOR CILICIA; AND OF THE SPEECH OF
+BRENNUS TO HARMACHIS
+
+Cleopatra went, and for a while I lay silent, gathering up my strength
+to speak. But Charmion came and stood over me, and I felt a great tear
+fall from her dark eyes upon my face, as the first heavy drop of rain
+falls from a thunder cloud.
+
+“Thou goest,” she whispered; “thou goest fast whither I may not follow!
+O Harmachis, how gladly would I give my life for thine!”
+
+Then at length I opened my eyes, and spoke as best I could:
+
+“Restrain thy grief, dear friend,” I said, “I live yet; and, in truth, I
+feel as though new life gathered in my breast!”
+
+She gave a little cry of joy, and I never saw aught more beautiful than
+the change that came upon her weeping face! It was as when the first
+lights of the day run up the pallor of that sad sky which veils the
+night from dawn. All rosy grew her lovely countenance; her dim eyes
+shone out like stars; and a smile of wonderment, more sweet than the
+sudden smile of the sea as its ripples wake to brightness beneath the
+kiss of the risen moon, broke through her rain of tears.
+
+“Thou livest!” she cried, throwing herself on her knees beside my couch.
+“Thou livest--and I thought thee gone! Thou art come back to me! Oh!
+what say I? How foolish is a woman’s heart! ‘Tis this long watching!
+Nay; sleep and rest thee, Harmachis!--why dost thou talk? Not one
+more word, I command thee straitly! Where is the draught left by
+that long-bearded fool? Nay thou shalt have no draught! There, sleep,
+Harmachis; sleep!” and she crouched down at my side and laid her cool
+hand upon my brow, murmuring, “_Sleep! sleep!_”
+
+And when I woke there she was still, but the lights of dawn were peeping
+through the casement. There she knelt, one hand upon my forehead, and
+her head, in all its disarray of curls, resting upon her outstretched
+arm.
+
+“Charmion,” I whispered, “have I slept?”
+
+Instantly she was wide awake, and, gazing on me with tender eyes, “Yea,
+thou hast slept, Harmachis.”
+
+“How long, then, have I slept?”
+
+“Nine hours.”
+
+“And thou hast held thy place there, at my side, for nine long hours?”
+
+“Yes, it is nothing; I also have slept--I feared to waken thee if I
+stirred.”
+
+“Go, rest,” I said; “it shames me to think of this thing. Go rest thee,
+Charmion!”
+
+“Vex not thyself,” she answered; “see, I will bid a slave watch thee,
+and to wake me if thou needest aught; I sleep there, in the outer
+chamber. Peace--I go!” and she strove to rise, but, so cramped was she,
+fell straightway on the floor.
+
+I can scarcely tell the sense of shame that filled me when I saw her
+fall. Alas! I could not stir to help her.
+
+“It is naught,” she said; “move not, I did but catch my foot. There!”
+ and she rose, again to fall--“a pest upon my awkwardness! Why--I must be
+sleeping. ‘Tis well now. I’ll send the slave;” and she staggered thence
+like one overcome with wine.
+
+And after that, I slept once more, for I was very weak. When I woke it
+was afternoon, and I craved for food, which Charmion brought me.
+
+I ate. “Then I die not,” I said.
+
+“Nay,” she answered, with a toss of her head, “thou wilt live. In truth,
+I did waste my pity on thee.”
+
+“And thy pity saved my life,” I said wearily, for now I remembered.
+
+“It is nothing,” she answered carelessly. “After all, thou art my
+cousin; also, I love nursing--it is a woman’s trade. Like enough I had
+done as much for any slave. Now, too, that the danger is past, I leave
+thee.”
+
+“Thou hadst done better to let me die, Charmion,” I said after a while,
+“for life to me can now be only one long shame. Tell me, then, when
+sails Cleopatra for Cilicia?”
+
+“She sails in twenty days, and with such pomp and glory as Egypt has
+never seen. Of a truth, I cannot guess where she has found the means to
+gather in this store of splendour, as a husbandman gathers his golden
+harvest.”
+
+But I, knowing whence the wealth came, groaned in bitterness of spirit,
+and made no answer.
+
+“Goest thou also, Charmion?” I asked presently.
+
+“Ay, I and all the Court. Thou, too--thou goest.”
+
+“I go? Nay, why is this?”
+
+“Because thou art Cleopatra’s slave, and must march in gilded chains
+behind her chariot; because she fears to leave thee here in Khem;
+because it is her will, and there is an end.”
+
+“Charmion, can I not escape?”
+
+“Escape, thou poor sick man? Nay, how canst thou escape? Even now thou
+art most strictly guarded. And if thou didst escape, whither wouldst
+thou fly? There’s not an honest man in Egypt but would spit on thee in
+scorn!”
+
+Once more I groaned in spirit, and, being so very weak, I felt the tears
+roll adown my cheek.
+
+“Weep not!” she said hastily, and turning her face aside. “Be a man, and
+brave these troubles out. Thou hast sown, now must thou reap; but
+after harvest the waters rise and wash away the rotting roots, and then
+seed-time comes again. Perchance, yonder in Cilicia, a way may be found,
+when once more thou art strong, by which thou mayst fly--if in truth
+thou canst bear thy life apart from Cleopatra’s smile; then in some far
+land must thou dwell till these things are forgotten. And now my task is
+done, so fare thee well! At times I will come to visit thee and see that
+thou needest nothing.”
+
+So she went, and I was nursed thenceforward, and that skilfully, by the
+physician and two women-slaves; and as my wound healed so my strength
+came back to me, slowly at first, then most swiftly. In four days from
+that time I left my couch, and in three more I could walk an hour in the
+palace gardens; another week and I could read and think, though I went
+no more to Court. And at length one afternoon Charmion came and bade me
+make ready, for the fleet would sail in two days, first for the coast of
+Syria, and thence to the gulf of Issus and Cilicia.
+
+Thereon, with all formality, and in writing, I craved leave of Cleopatra
+that I might be left, urging that my health was so feeble that I could
+not travel. But a message was sent to me in answer that I must come.
+
+And so, on the appointed day, I was carried in a litter down to the
+boat, and together with that very soldier who had cut me down, the
+Captain Brennus, and others of his troop (who, indeed, were sent to
+guard me), we rowed aboard a vessel where she lay at anchor with the
+rest of the great fleet. For Cleopatra was voyaging as though to war
+in much pomp, and escorted by a fleet of ships, among which her galley,
+built like a house and lined throughout with cedar and silken hangings,
+was the most beautiful and costly that the world has ever seen. But I
+went not on this vessel, and therefore it chanced that I did not see
+Cleopatra or Charmion till we landed at the mouth of the river Cydnus.
+
+The signal being made, the fleet set sail; and, the wind being fair, we
+came to Joppa on the evening of the second day. Thence we sailed
+slowly with contrary winds up the coast of Syria, making Cæsarea, and
+Ptolemais, and Tyrus, and Berytus, and past Lebanon’s white brow crowned
+with his crest of cedars, on to Heraclea and across the gulf of Issus to
+the mouth of Cydnus. And ever as we journeyed, the strong breath of the
+sea brought back my health, till at length, save for a line of white
+upon my head where the sword had fallen, I was almost as I had been.
+And one night, as we drew near Cydnus, while Brennus and I sat alone
+together on the deck, his eye fell upon the white mark his sword had
+made, and he swore a great oath by his heathen Gods. “An thou hadst
+died, lad,” he said, “methinks I could never again have held up my head!
+Ah! that was a coward stroke, and I am shamed to think that it was I who
+struck it, and thou on the ground with thy back to me! Knowest thou
+that when thou didst lie between life and death, I came every day to ask
+tidings of thee? and I swore by Taranis that if thou didst die I’d turn
+my back upon that soft palace life and then away for the bonny North.”
+
+“Nay, trouble not, Brennus,” I answered; “it was thy duty.”
+
+“Mayhap! but there are duties that a brave man should not do--nay, not
+at the bidding of any Queen who ever ruled in Egypt! Thy blow had dazed
+me or I had not struck. What is it, lad?--art in trouble with this
+Queen of ours? Why art thou dragged a prisoner upon this pleasure party?
+Knowest thou that we are strictly charged that if thou dost escape our
+lives shall pay the price?”
+
+“Ay, in sore trouble, friend,” I answered; “ask me no more.”
+
+“Then, being of the age thou art, there’s a woman in it--that I
+swear--and, perchance, though I am rough and foolish, I might make a
+guess. Look thou, lad, what sayest thou? I am weary of this service of
+Cleopatra and this hot land of deserts and of luxury, that sap a man’s
+strength and drain his pocket; and so are others whom I know of. What
+sayest thou: let’s take one of these unwieldy vessels and away to the
+North? I’ll lead thee to a better land than Egypt--a land of lake and
+mountain, and great forests of sweet-scented pine; ay, and find thee a
+girl fit to mate with--my own niece--a girl strong and tall, with wide
+blue eyes and long fair hair, and arms that could crack thy ribs were
+she of a mind to hug thee! Come, what sayest thou? Put away the past,
+and away for the bonny North, and be a son to me.”
+
+For a moment I thought, and then sadly shook my head; for though I was
+sorely tempted to be gone, I knew that my fate lay in Egypt, and I might
+not fly my fate.
+
+“It may not be, Brennus,” I answered. “Fain would I that it might be,
+but I am bound by a chain of destiny which I cannot break, and in the
+land of Egypt I must live and die.”
+
+“As thou wilt, lad,” said the old warrior. “I should have dearly loved
+to marry thee among my people, and make a son of thee. At the least,
+remember that while I am here thou hast Brennus for a friend. And one
+thing more; beware of that beauteous Queen of thine, for, by Taranis,
+perhaps an hour may come when she will hold that thou knowest too much,
+and then----” and he drew his hand across his throat. “And now good
+night; a cup of wine, then to sleep, for to-morrow the foolery----”
+
+[Here several lengths of the second roll of papyrus are so broken as
+to be undecipherable. They seem to have been descriptive of Cleopatra’s
+voyage up the Cydnus to the city of Tarsus.]
+
+“And--[the writing continues]--to those who could take joy in such
+things, the sight must, indeed, have been a gallant one. For the stern
+of our galley was covered with sheets of beaten gold, the sails were
+of the scarlet of Tyre, and the oars of silver touched the water to a
+measure of music. And there, in the centre of the vessel, beneath an
+awning ablaze with gold embroidery, lay Cleopatra, attired as the Roman
+Venus (and surely Venus was not more fair!), in thin robes of whitest
+silk, bound in beneath her breast with a golden girdle delicately graven
+over with scenes of love. All about her were little rosy boys, chosen
+for their beauty, and clad in naught save downy wings strapped upon
+their shoulders, and on their backs Cupid’s bow and quiver, who fanned
+her with fans of plumes. Upon the vessel’s decks, handling the cordage,
+that was of silken web, and softly singing to the sound of harps and the
+beat of oars, were no rough sailors, but women lovely to behold, some
+robed as Graces and some as Nereids--that is, scarce robed at all,
+except in their scented hair. And behind the couch, with drawn sword,
+stood Brennus, in splendid armour and winged helm of gold; and by him
+others--I among them--in garments richly worked, and knew that I
+was indeed a slave! On the high poop also burned censers filled with
+costliest incense, of which the fragrant steam hung in little clouds
+about our wake.”
+
+Thus, as in a dream of luxury, followed by many ships, we glided on
+towards the wooded slopes of Taurus, at whose foot lay that ancient city
+Tarshish. And ever as we came the people gathered on the banks and ran
+before us, shouting: “Venus is risen from the sea! Venus hath come to
+visit Bacchus!” We drew near to the city, and all its people--everyone
+who could walk or be carried--crowded down in thousands to the docks,
+and with them came the whole army of Antony, so that at length the
+Triumvir was left alone upon the judgment seat.
+
+Dellius, the false-tongued, came also, fawning and bowing, and in the
+name of Antony gave the “Queen of Beauty” greeting, bidding her to a
+feast that Antony had made ready. But she made high answer, and said,
+“Forsooth, it is Antony who should wait on us; not we on Antony. Bid the
+noble Antony to our poor table this night--else we dine alone.”
+
+Dellius went, bowing to the ground; the feast was made ready; and then
+at last I set eyes on Antony. He came clad in purple robes, a great man
+and beautiful to see, set in the stout prime of life, with bright eyes
+of blue, and curling hair, and features cut sharply as a Grecian gem.
+For he was great of form and royal of mien, and with an open countenance
+on which his thoughts were so clearly written that all might read them;
+only the weakness of the mouth belied the power of the brow. He came
+attended by his generals, and when he reached the couch where Cleopatra
+lay he stood astonished, gazing on her with wide-opened eyes. She, too,
+gazed on him earnestly; I saw the red blood run up beneath her skin, and
+a great pang of jealousy seized upon my heart. And Charmion, who saw all
+beneath her downcast eyes, saw this also and smiled. But Cleopatra spoke
+no word, only she stretched out her white hand for him to kiss; and he,
+saying no word, took her hand and kissed it.
+
+“Behold, noble Antony!” she said at last in her voice of music, “thou
+hast called me, and I am come.”
+
+“Venus has come,” he answered in his deep notes, and still holding his
+eyes fixed upon her face. “I called a woman--a Goddess hath risen from
+the deep!”
+
+“To find a God to greet her on the land,” she laughed with ready wit.
+“Well, a truce to compliments, for being on the earth even Venus is
+ahungered. Noble Antony, thy hand.”
+
+The trumpets blared, and through the bowing crowd Cleopatra, followed by
+her train, passed hand in hand with Antony to the feast.
+
+[Here there is another break in the papyrus.]
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+OF THE FEAST OF CLEOPATRA; OF THE MELTING OF THE PEARL; OF THE SAYING OF
+HARMACHIS; AND OF CLEOPATRA’S VOW OF LOVE
+
+On the third night the feast was once more prepared in the hall of the
+great house that had been set aside to the use of Cleopatra, and on this
+night its splendour was greater even than on the nights before. For the
+twelve couches that were set about the table were embossed with gold,
+and those of Cleopatra and Antony were of gold set with jewels. The
+dishes also were all of gold set with jewels, the walls were hung with
+purple cloths sewn with gold, and on the floor, covered with a net of
+gold, fresh roses were strewn ankle-deep, that as the slaves trod them
+sent up their perfume. Once again I was bidden to stand, with Charmion
+and Iras and Merira, behind the couch of Cleopatra, and, like a slave,
+from time to time call out the hours as they flew. And there being no
+help, I went wild at heart; but this I swore--it should be for the last
+time, since I could not bear that shame. For though I would not yet
+believe what Charmion told me--that Cleopatra was about to become the
+Love of Antony--yet I could no more endure this ignominy and torture.
+For from Cleopatra now I had no words save such as a Queen speaks to her
+slave, and methinks it gave her dark heart pleasure to torment me.
+
+Thus it came to pass that I, the Pharaoh, crowned of Khem, stood among
+eunuchs and waiting-women behind the couch of Egypt’s Queen while the
+feast went merrily and the wine-cup passed. And ever Antony sat, his
+eyes fixed upon the face of Cleopatra, who from time to time let her
+deep glance lose itself in his, and then for a little while their
+talk died away. For he told her tales of war and of deeds that he had
+done--ay, and love-jests such as are not meet for the ears of women. But
+she took offence at nothing; rather, falling into his humour, she would
+cap his stories with others of a finer wit, but not less shameless.
+
+At length, the rich meal being finished, Antony gazed at the splendour
+around him.
+
+“Tell me, then, most lovely Egypt,” he said; “are the sands of Nile
+compact of gold, that thou canst, night by night, thus squander the
+ransom of a King upon a single feast? Whence comes this untold wealth?”
+
+I bethought me of the tomb of the Divine Menkau-ra, whose holy treasure
+was thus wickedly wasted, and looked up so that Cleopatra’s eye caught
+mine; but, reading my thoughts, she frowned heavily.
+
+“Why, noble Antony,” she said, “surely it is nothing! In Egypt we have
+our secrets, and know whence to conjure riches at our need. Say, what is
+the value of this golden service, and of the meats and drinks that have
+been set before us?”
+
+He cast his eyes about, and hazarded a guess.
+
+“Maybe a thousand sestertia.”[*]
+
+     [*] About eight thousand pounds of English money.--Editor.
+
+“Thou hast understated it by half, noble Antony! But such as it is I
+will give it thee and those with thee as a free token of my friendship.
+And more will I show thee now: I myself will eat and drink ten thousand
+sestertia at a draught.”
+
+“That cannot be, fair Egypt!”
+
+She laughed, and bade a slave bring her white vinegar in a glass. When
+it was brought she set it before her and laughed again, while Antony,
+rising from his couch, drew near and set himself at her side, and all
+the company leant forward to see what she would do. And this she did.
+She took from her ear one of those great pearls which last of all had
+been drawn from the body of the Divine Pharaoh; and before any could
+guess her purpose she let it fall into the vinegar. Then came silence,
+the silence of wonder, and slowly the priceless pearl melted in the
+strong acid. When it was melted she lifted the glass and shook it, then
+drank the vinegar, to the last drop.
+
+“More vinegar, slave!” she cried; “my meal is but half finished!” and
+she drew forth the second pearl.
+
+“By Bacchus, no! that shalt thou not!” cried Antony, snatching at her
+hands; “I have seen enough;” and at that moment, moved to it by I know
+not what, I called aloud:
+
+“The hour falls, O Queen!--_the hour of the coming of the curse of
+Menkau-ra!_”
+
+An ashy whiteness grew upon Cleopatra’s face, and she turned upon me
+furiously, while all the company gazed wondering, not knowing what the
+words might mean.
+
+“Thou ill-omened slave!” she cried. “Speak thus once more and thou shalt
+be scourged with rods!--ay, scourged like an evildoer--that I promise
+thee, Harmachis!”
+
+“What means the knave of an astrologer?” asked Antony. “Speak, sirrah!
+and make clear thy meaning, for those who deal in curses must warrant
+their wares.”
+
+“I am a servant of the Gods, noble Antony. That which the Gods put in my
+mind that must I say; nor can I read their meaning,” I answered humbly.
+
+“Oh, oh! thou servest the Gods, dost thou, thou many-coloured mystery?”
+ This he said having reference to my splendid robes. “Well, I serve the
+Goddesses, which is a softer cult. And there’s this between us:
+that though what they put in my mind I say, neither can I read their
+meaning,” and he glanced at Cleopatra as one who questions.
+
+“Let the knave be,” she said impatiently; “to-morrow we’ll be rid of
+him. Sirrah, begone!”
+
+I bowed and went; and, as I went, I heard Antony say: “Well, he may be
+a knave--for that all men are--but this for thy astrologer: he hath a
+royal air and the eye of a King--ay, and wit in it.”
+
+Without the door I paused, not knowing what to do, for I was bewildered
+with misery. And, as I stood, someone touched me on the hand. I glanced
+up--it was Charmion, who in the confusion of the rising of the guests,
+had slipped away and followed me.
+
+For in trouble Charmion was ever at my side.
+
+“Follow me,” she whispered; “thou art in danger.”
+
+I turned and followed her. Why should I not?
+
+“Whither go we?” I asked at length.
+
+“To my chamber,” she said. “Fear not; we ladies of Cleopatra’s Court
+have small good fame to lose; if anyone by chance should see us, they’ll
+think that it is a love-tryst, and such are all the fashion.”
+
+I followed, and, presently, skirting the crowd, we came unseen to a
+little side entrance that led to a stair, up which we passed. The stair
+ended in a passage; we turned down it till we found a door on the left
+hand. Charmion entered silently, and I followed her into a dark chamber.
+Being in, she barred the door and, kindling tinder to a flame, lit a
+hanging lamp. As the light grew strong I gazed around. The chamber was
+not large, and had but one casement, closely shuttered. For the rest, it
+was simply furnished, having white walls, some chests for garments, an
+ancient chair, what I took to be a tiring table, on which were combs,
+perfumes, and all the frippery that pertains to woman, and a white bed
+with a broidered coverlid, over which was hung a gnat-gauze.
+
+“Be seated, Harmachis,” she said, pointing to the chair. I took the
+chair, and Charmion, throwing back the gnat-gauze, sat herself upon the
+bed before me.
+
+“Knowest thou what I heard Cleopatra say as thou didst leave the
+banqueting-hall?” she asked presently.
+
+“Nay, I know not.”
+
+“She gazed after thee, and, as I went over to her to do some service,
+she murmured to herself: ‘By Serapis, I will make an end! I will wait no
+longer: to-morrow he shall be strangled!’”
+
+“So!” I said, “it may be; though, after all that has been, I can scarce
+believe that she will murder me.”
+
+“Why canst thou not believe it, thou most foolish of men? Dost forget
+how nigh thou wast to death there in the Alabaster Hall? Who saved thee
+then from the knives of the eunuchs? Was it Cleopatra? Or was it I and
+Brennus? Stay, I will tell thee. Thou canst not yet believe it, because,
+in thy folly, thou dost not think it possible that the woman who has but
+lately been as a wife to thee can now, in so short a time, doom thee to
+be basely done to death. Nay, answer not--I know all; and I tell thee
+this: thou hast not measured the depth of Cleopatra’s perfidy, nor canst
+thou dream the blackness of her wicked heart. She had surely slain thee
+in Alexandria had she not feared that thy slaughter being noised abroad
+might bring trouble on her. Therefore has she brought thee here to kill
+thee secretly. For what more canst thou give her? She has thy heart’s
+love, and is wearied of thy strength and beauty. She has robbed thee
+of thy royal birthright and brought thee, a King, to stand amidst the
+waiting-women behind her at her feasts; she has won from thee the great
+secret of the holy treasure!”
+
+“Ah, thou knowest that?”
+
+“Yes, I know all; and to-night thou seest how the wealth stored against
+the need of Khem is being squandered to fill up the wanton luxury of
+Khem’s Macedonian Queen! Thou seest how she has kept her oath to wed
+thee honourably. Harmachis--at length thine eyes are open to the truth!”
+
+“Ay, I see too well; and yet she swore she loved me, and I, poor fool, I
+believed her!”
+
+“She swore she loved thee!” answered Charmion, lifting her dark eyes:
+“now I will show thee how she loves thee. Knowest thou what was this
+house? It was a priest’s college; and, as thou wottest, Harmachis,
+priests have their ways. This little room aforetime was the room of
+the Head Priest, and the chamber that is beyond and below was the
+gathering-place of the other priests. The old slave who keeps the house
+told me all this, and also she revealed what I shall show thee. Now,
+Harmachis, be silent as the dead, and follow me!”
+
+She blew out the lamp, and by the little light that crept through the
+shuttered casement led me by the hand to the far corner of the room.
+Here she pressed upon the wall, and a door opened in its thickness. We
+entered, and she closed the spring. Now we were in a little chamber,
+some five cubits in length by four in breadth; for a faint light
+struggled into the closet, and also the sound of voices, I knew not
+whence. Loosing my hand, she crept to the end of the place, and looked
+steadfastly at the wall; then crept back and, whispering “Silence!” led
+me forward with her. Then I saw that there were eyeholes in the wall,
+which pierced it, and were hidden on the farther side by carved work
+in stone. I looked through the hole that was in front of me, and I saw
+this: six cubits below was the level of the floor of another chamber,
+lit with fragrant lamps, and most richly furnished. It was the
+sleeping-place of Cleopatra, and there, within ten cubits of where we
+stood, sat Cleopatra on a gilded couch, and by her side sat Antony.
+
+“Tell me,” Cleopatra murmured--for this place was so built that
+every word spoken in the room below came to the ears of the listener
+above--“tell me, noble Antony, wast pleased with my poor festival?”
+
+“Ay,” he answered in his deep soldier’s voice, “ay, Egypt, I have made
+feasts, and been bidden to feasts, but never saw I aught like thine; and
+I tell thee this, though I am rough of tongue and unskilled in pretty
+sayings such as women love, thou wast the richest sight of all that
+splendid board. The red wine was not so red as thy beauteous cheek, the
+roses smelt not so sweet as the odour of thy hair, and no sapphire there
+with its changing light was so lovely as thy eyes of ocean blue.”
+
+“What! Praise from Antony! Sweet words from the lips of him whose
+writings are so harsh! Why, it is praise indeed!”
+
+“Ay,” he went on, “it was a royal feast, though I grieve that thou didst
+waste that great pearl; and what meant that hour-calling astrologer of
+thine, with his ill-omened talk of the curse of Menkau-ra?”
+
+A shadow fled across her glowing face. “I know not; he was lately
+wounded in a brawl, and methinks the blow has crazed him.”
+
+“He seemed not crazed, and there was that about his voice which rings in
+my ears like some oracle of fate. So wildly, too, he looked upon thee,
+Egypt, with those piercing eyes of his, like one who loved and yet hated
+through the love.”
+
+“He is a strange man, I tell thee, noble Antony, and a learned. Myself,
+at times, I almost fear him, for he is deeply versed in the ancient
+arts of Egypt. Knowest thou that the man is of royal blood, and once he
+plotted to slay me? But I won him over, and slew him not, for he had the
+key to secrets that I fain would learn; and, indeed, I loved his wisdom,
+and to listen to his deep talk of all hidden things.”
+
+“By Bacchus, I grow jealous of the knave! And now, Egypt?”
+
+“And now I have sucked his knowledge dry, and have no more cause to fear
+him. Didst thou not see that I have made him stand these three nights a
+slave amid my slaves, and call aloud the hours as they fled in festival.
+No captive King marching in thy Roman triumphs can have suffered pangs
+so keen as that proud Egyptian Prince when he stood shamed behind my
+couch.”
+
+Here Charmion laid her hand on mine and pressed it, as though in
+tenderness.
+
+“Well, he shall trouble us no more with his words of evil omen,”
+ Cleopatra went on slowly; “to-morrow morn he dies--dies swiftly and in
+secret, leaving no trace of what his fate has been. On this is my mind
+fixed; of a truth, noble Antony, it is fixed. Even as I speak the fear
+of this man grows and gathers in my breast. Half am I minded to give the
+word even now, for I breathe not freely till he be dead,” and she made
+as though to rise.
+
+“Let it be till morning,” he said, catching her by the hand; “the
+soldiers drink, and the deed will be ill done. ‘Tis pity too. I love not
+to think of men slaughtered in their sleep.”
+
+“In the morning, perchance, the hawk may have flown,” she answered,
+pondering. “He hath keen ears, this Harmachis, and can summon things to
+aid him that are not of the earth. Perchance, even now he hears me in
+the spirit; for, of a truth, I seem to feel his presence breathing
+round me. I could tell thee--but no, let him be! Noble Antony, be my
+tiring-woman and loose me this crown of gold, it chafes my brow. Be
+gentle, hurt me not--so.”
+
+He lifted the uræus crown from her brows, and she shook loose her heavy
+weight of hair that fell about her like a garment.
+
+“Take back thy crown, royal Egypt,” he said, speaking low, “take it from
+my hand; I will not rob thee of it, but rather set it more firmly on
+that beauteous brow.”
+
+“What means my Lord?” she asked, smiling and looking into his eyes.
+
+“What mean I? Why then, this: thou camest hither at my bidding to make
+answer of the charges laid against thee as to matters politic. And
+knowest thou, Egypt, that hadst thou been other than thou art thou
+hadst not gone back to queen it on the Nile; for of this I am sure, the
+charges against thee are true in fact. But, being what thou art--and
+look thou! never did Nature serve a woman better!--I forgive thee all.
+For the sake of thy grace and beauty I forgive thee that which had not
+been forgiven to virtue, or to patriotism, or to the dignity of age! See
+now how good a thing is woman’s wit and loveliness, that can make kings
+forget their duty and cozen even blindfolded Justice to peep ere she
+lifts her sword! Take back thy crown, O Egypt! It is now my care that,
+though it be heavy, it shall not chafe thee.”
+
+“These are royal words, most noble Antony,” she made answer; “gracious
+and generous words, such as befit the Conqueror of the world! And
+touching my misdeeds in the past--if misdeeds there have been--I say
+this, and this alone--then I knew not Antony. For, knowing Antony, who
+could sin against him? What woman could lift a sword against one who
+must be to all women as a God--one who, seen and known, draws after him
+the whole allegiance of the heart, as the sun draws flowers? And what
+more can I say and not cross the bounds of woman’s modesty? Why, only
+this--set that crown upon my brow, great Antony, and I will take it as
+a gift from thee, by the giving made doubly dear, and to thy uses I will
+guard it.
+
+“There, now I am thy vassal Queen, and through me all old Egypt that I
+rule does homage to Antony the Triumvir, who shall be Antony the Emperor
+of Rome and Khem’s Imperial Lord!”
+
+And, having set the crown upon her locks, he stood gazing on her, grown
+passionate in the warm breath of her living beauty, till at length
+he caught her by both hands and drawing her to him kissed her thrice,
+saying:
+
+“Cleopatra, I love thee, Sweet--I love thee as I never loved before.”
+ She drew back from his embrace, smiling softly; and as she did so the
+golden circlet of the sacred snakes fell, being but loosely set upon her
+brow, and rolled away into the darkness beyond the ring of light.
+
+I saw the omen, and even in the bitter anguish of my heart knew its evil
+import. But these twain took no note.
+
+“Thou lovest me?” she said, most sweetly; “how know I that thou lovest
+me? Perchance it is Fulvia whom thou lovest--Fulvia, thy wedded wife?”
+
+“Nay, it is not Fulvia, ‘tis thou, Cleopatra, and thou alone. Many women
+have looked favourably upon me from my boyhood up, but to never a one
+have I known such desire as to thee, O thou Wonder of the World, like
+unto whom no woman ever was! Canst thou love me, Cleopatra, and to me
+be true, not for my place or power, not for that which I can give or can
+withhold, not for the stern music of my legion’s tramp, or for the light
+that flows from my bright Star of Fortune; but for myself, for the sake
+of Antony, the rough captain, grown old in camps? Ay, for the sake of
+Antony the reveller, the frail, the unfixed of purpose, but who yet
+never did desert a friend, or rob a poor man, or take an enemy unawares?
+Say, canst thou love me, Egypt? Oh! if thou wilt, why, I am more happy
+than though I sat to-night in the Capitol at Rome crowned absolute
+Monarch of the World!”
+
+And, ever as he spoke, she gazed on him with wonderful eyes, and in them
+shone a light of truth and honesty such as was strange to me.
+
+“Thou speakest plainly,” she said, “and thy words are sweet to mine
+ears--they would be sweet, even were things otherwise than they are,
+for what woman would not love to see the world’s master at her feet? But
+things being as they are, why, Antony, what can be so sweet as thy sweet
+words? The harbour of his rest to the storm-tossed mariner--surely that
+is sweet! The dream of Heaven’s bliss which cheers the poor ascetic
+priest on his path of sacrifice--surely that is sweet! The sight of
+Dawn, the rosy-fingered, coming in his promise to glad the watching
+Earth--surely that is sweet! But, ah! not one of these, nor all dear
+delightful things that are, can match the honey-sweetness of thy words
+to me, O Antony! For thou knowest not--never canst thou know--how drear
+my life hath been, and empty, since thus it is ordained that in love
+only can woman lose her solitude! And I have _never_ loved--never might
+I love--till this happy night! Ay, take me in thy arms, and let us swear
+a great vow of love--an oath that may not be broken while life is in
+us! Behold! Antony! now and for ever I do vow most strict fidelity unto
+thee! Now and for ever I am thine, and thine alone!”
+
+
+
+Then Charmion took me by the hand and drew me thence.
+
+“Hast seen enough?” she asked, when we were once more within the chamber
+and the lamp was lit.
+
+“Yea,” I answered; “my eyes are opened.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+OF THE PLAN OF CHARMION; OF THE CONFESSION OF CHARMION; AND OF THE
+ANSWER OF HARMACHIS
+
+For some while I sat with bowed head, and the last bitterness of shame
+sank into my soul. This, then, was the end. For this I had betrayed my
+oaths; for this I had told the secret of the pyramid; for this I had
+lost my Crown, my Honour, and, perchance, my hope of Heaven! Could there
+be another man in the wide world so steeped in sorrow as I was that
+night? Surely not one! Where should I turn? What could I do? And even
+through the tempest of my torn heart the bitter voice of jealousy called
+aloud. For I loved this woman, to whom I had given all; and she at this
+moment--she was----Ah! I could not bear to think of it; and in my utter
+agony, my heart burst in a river of tears such as are terrible to weep!
+
+Then Charmion drew near me, and I saw that she, too, was weeping.
+
+“Weep not, Harmachis!” she sobbed, kneeling at my side. “I cannot endure
+to see thee weep. Oh! why wouldst thou not be warned? Then hadst thou
+been great and happy, and not as now. Listen, Harmachis! Thou didst hear
+what that false and tigerish woman said--to-morrow she hands thee over
+to the murderers!”
+
+“It is well,” I gasped.
+
+“Nay: it is not well. Harmachis, give her not this last triumph over
+thee. Thou hast lost all save life: but while life remains, hope remains
+also, and with hope the chance of vengeance.”
+
+“Ah!” I said, starting from my seat. “I had not thought of that. Ay--the
+chance of vengeance! It would be sweet to be avenged!”
+
+“It would be sweet, Harmachis, and yet this--Vengeance is an arrow that
+in falling oft pierces him who shot it. Myself--I know it,” and she
+sighed. “But a truce to talk and grief. There will be time for us twain
+to grieve, if not to talk, in all the heavy coming years. Thou must
+fly--before the coming of the light must thou fly. Here is a plan.
+To-morrow, ere the dawn, a galley that but yesterday came from
+Alexandria, bearing fruit and stores, sails thither again, and its
+captain is known to me, but to thee he is not known. Now, I will find
+thee the garb of a Syrian merchant, and cloak thee, as I know how, and
+furnish thee with a letter to the captain of the galley. He shall give
+thee passage to Alexandria; for to him thou wilt seem but as a merchant
+going on the business of thy trade. Brennus is officer of the guard
+to-night, and Brennus is a friend to me and thee. Perhaps he will guess
+somewhat; or, perhaps, he will not guess; at the least, the Syrian
+merchant shall safely pass the lines. What sayest thou?”
+
+“It is well,” I answered wearily; “little do I reck the issue.”
+
+“Rest thou, then, here, Harmachis, while I make these matters ready;
+and, Harmachis, grieve not overmuch; there are others who should grieve
+more heavily than thou.” And she went, leaving me alone with my agony
+which rent me like a torture-bed. Had it not been for that fierce desire
+of vengeance which from time to time flashed across my tormented mind
+as the lightning over a midnight sea, methinks my reason had left me
+in that dark hour. At length I heard her footstep at the door, and she
+entered, breathing heavily, for she bore a sack of clothing in her arms.
+
+“It is well,” she said: “here is the garb with spare linen, and
+writing-tablets, and all things needful. I have seen Brennus also, and
+told him that a Syrian merchant would pass the guard an hour before the
+dawn. And though he made pretence of sleep, I think he understood, for
+he answered, yawning, that if they but had the pass-word, ‘Antony,’
+fifty Syrian merchants might go through about their lawful business. And
+here is the letter to the captain--thou canst not mistake the galley,
+for she is moored along to the right--a small galley, painted black, as
+thou dost enter on the great quay, and, moreover, the sailors make ready
+for sailing. Now I will wait here without, while thou dost put off the
+livery of thy service and array thyself.”
+
+When she was gone I tore off my gorgeous garments and spat upon them and
+trod them on the ground. Then I put on the modest robe of a merchant,
+and bound the tablets round me, on my feet the sandals of untanned hide,
+and at my waist the knife. When it was done Charmion entered once again
+and looked on me.
+
+“Too much art thou still the royal Harmachis,” she said; “see, it must
+be changed.”
+
+Then she took scissors from her tiring-table, and, bidding me be seated,
+she cut off my locks, clipping the hair close to the head. Next she
+found stains of such sort as women use to make dark the eyes, and mixed
+them cunningly, rubbing the stuff on my face and hands and on the white
+mark in my hair where the sword of Brennus had bitten to the bone.
+
+“Now thou art changed--somewhat for the worse, Harmachis,” she said,
+with a dreary laugh, “scarce myself should I know thee. Stay, there is
+one more thing,” and, going to a chest of garments, she drew thence a
+heavy bag of gold.
+
+“Take thou this,” she said; “thou wilt have need of money.”
+
+“I cannot take thy gold, Charmion.”
+
+“Yes, take it. It was Sepa who gave it to me for the furtherance of
+our cause, and therefore it is fitting that thou shouldst spend it.
+Moreover, if I want money, doubtless Antony, who is henceforth my
+master, will give me more; he is much beholden to me, and this he knows
+well. There, waste not the precious time in haggling o’er the pelf--not
+yet art thou all a merchant, Harmachis;” and, without more words, she
+thrust the pieces into the leather bag that hung across my shoulders.
+Then she made fast the sack containing the spare garments, and, so
+womanly thoughtful was she, placed in it an alabaster jar of pigment,
+with which I might stain my countenance afresh, and, taking the
+broidered robes of my office that I had cast off, hid them in the secret
+passage. And so at last all was made ready.
+
+“Is it time that I should go?,” I asked.
+
+“Not yet a while. Be patient, Harmachis, for but one little hour more
+must thou endure my presence, and then, perchance, farewell for ever.”
+
+I made a gesture signifying that this was no time for sharp words.
+
+“Forgive me my quick tongue,” she said; “but from a salt spring bitter
+waters well. Be seated, Harmachis; I have heavier words to speak to thee
+before thou goest.”
+
+“Say on,” I answered; “words, however heavy, can move me no more.”
+
+She stood before me with folded hands, and the lamp-light shone upon her
+beauteous face. I noticed idly how great was its pallor and how wide
+and dark were the rings about the deep black eyes. Twice she lifted her
+white face and strove to speak, twice her voice failed her; and when at
+last it came it was in a hoarse whisper.
+
+“I cannot let thee go,” she said--“I cannot let thee go unwitting of the
+truth.
+
+“_Harmachis, ‘twas I who did betray thee!_”
+
+I sprang to my feet, an oath upon my lips; but she caught me by the
+hand.
+
+“Oh, be seated,” she said--“be seated and hear me; then, when thou hast
+heard, do to me as thou wilt. Listen. From that evil moment when, in
+the presence of thy uncle Sepa, for the second time I set eyes upon thy
+face, I loved thee--how much, thou canst little guess. Think upon
+thine own love for Cleopatra, and double it, and double it again, and
+perchance thou mayst come near to my love’s mighty sum. I loved thee,
+day by day I loved thee more, till in thee and for thee alone I seemed
+to live. But thou wast cold--thou wast worse than cold! thou didst deal
+with me not as a breathing woman, but rather as the instrument to an
+end--as a tool with which to grave thy fortunes. And then I saw--yes,
+long before thou knewest it thyself--thy heart’s tide was setting strong
+towards that ruinous shore whereon to-day thy life is broken. And at
+last that night came, that dreadful night when, hid within the chamber,
+I saw thee cast my kerchief to the winds, and with sweet words cherish
+my royal Rival’s gift. Then--oh, thou knowest--in my pain I betrayed
+the secret that thou wouldst not see, and thou didst make a mock of me,
+Harmachis! Oh! the shame of it--thou in thy foolishness didst make a
+mock of me! I went thence, and within me were rising all the torments
+which can tear a woman’s heart, for now I was sure that thou didst love
+Cleopatra! Ay, and so mad was I, even that night I was minded to betray
+thee: but I thought--not yet, not yet; to-morrow he may soften. Then
+came the morrow, and all was ready for the bursting of the great plot
+that should make thee Pharaoh. And I too came--thou dost remember--and
+again thou didst put me away when I spake to thee in parables, as
+something of little worth--as a thing too small to claim a moment’s
+weighty thought. And, knowing that this was because--though thou knewest
+it not--thou didst love Cleopatra, whom now thou must straightway slay,
+I grew mad, and a wicked Spirit entered into me, possessing me utterly,
+so that I was myself no longer, nor could control myself. And because
+thou hadst scorned me, I did this, to my everlasting shame and
+sorrow!--I passed into Cleopatra’s presence and betrayed thee and those
+with thee, and our holy cause, saying that I had found a writing which
+thou hadst let fall and read all this therein.”
+
+I gasped and sat silent; and gazing sadly at me she went on:
+
+“When she understood how great was the plot, and how deep its roots,
+Cleopatra was much troubled; and, at first, she would have fled to Sais
+or taken ship and run for Cyprus, but I showed her that the ways were
+barred. Then she said she would cause thee to be slain, there, in the
+chamber, and I left her so believing; for, at that hour, I was glad that
+thou shouldst be slain--ay, even if I wept out my heart upon thy grave,
+Harmachis. But what said I just now?--Vengeance is an arrow that oft
+falls on him who looses it. So it was with me; for between my going and
+thy coming Cleopatra hatched a deeper plan. She feared that to slay thee
+would only be to light a fiercer fire of revolt; but she saw that to
+bind thee to her, and, having left men awhile in doubt, to show thee
+faithless, would strike the imminent danger at its roots and wither
+it. This plot once formed, being great, she dared its doubtful issue,
+and--need I go on? Thou knowest, Harmachis, how she won; and thus the
+shaft of vengeance that I loosed fell upon my own head. For on the
+morrow I knew that I had sinned for naught, that the burden of my
+betrayal had been laid on the wretched Paulus, and that I had but ruined
+the cause to which I was sworn and given the man I loved to the arms of
+wanton Egypt.”
+
+She bowed her head awhile, and then, as I spoke not, once more went on:
+
+“Let all my sin be told, Harmachis, and then let justice come. See now,
+this thing happened. Half did Cleopatra learn to love thee, and deep in
+her heart she bethought her of taking thee to wedded husband. For the
+sake of this half love of hers she spared the lives of those in the plot
+whom she had meshed, bethinking her that if she wedded thee she might
+use them and thee to draw the heart of Egypt, which loves not her nor
+any Ptolemy. And then, once again she entrapped thee, and in thy folly
+thou didst betray to her the secret of the hidden wealth of Egypt, which
+to-day she squanders to delight the luxurious Antony; and, of a truth,
+at that time she purposed to make good her oath and marry thee. But on
+the very morn when Dellius came for answer she sent for me, and telling
+me all--for my wit, above any, she holds at price--demanded of me my
+judgment whether she should defy Antony and wed thee, or whether she
+should put the thought away and come to Antony. And I--now mark thou all
+my sin--I, in my bitter jealousy, rather than I would see her thy wedded
+wife and thou her loving lord, counselled her most strictly that
+she should come to Antony, well knowing--for I had had speech with
+Dellius--that if she came, this weak Antony would fall like a ripe fruit
+at her feet, as, indeed, he has fallen. And but now I have shown thee
+the issue of the scheme. Antony loves Cleopatra and Cleopatra loves
+Antony, and thou art robbed, and matters have gone well for me, who of
+all women on the earth to-night am the wretchedest by far. For when I
+saw how thy heart broke but now, my heart seemed to break with thine,
+and I could no longer bear the burden of my evil deeds, but knew that I
+must tell them and take my punishment.
+
+“And now, Harmachis, I have no more to say; save that I thank thee for
+thy courtesy in hearkening, and this one thing I add. Driven by my great
+love I have sinned against thee unto death! I have ruined thee, I have
+ruined Khem, and myself also I have ruined! Let death reward me! Slay
+thou me, Harmachis--I will gladly die upon thy sword; ay, and kiss its
+blade! Slay thou me and go; for if thou slayest me not, myself I will
+surely slay!” And she threw herself upon her knees, lifting her fair
+breast toward me, that I might smite her with my dagger. And, in my
+bitter fury, I was minded to strike; for, above all, I thought how,
+when I was fallen, this woman, who herself was my cause of shame, had
+scourged me with her whip of scorn. But it is hard to slay a fair woman;
+and, even as I lifted my hand to strike, I remembered that she had now
+twice saved my life.
+
+“Woman! thou shameless woman!” I said, “arise! I slay thee not! Who am
+I, that I should judge thy crime, that, with mine own, doth overtop all
+earthly judgment?”
+
+“Slay me, Harmachis!” she moaned; “slay me, or I slay myself! My burden
+is too great for me to bear! Be not so deadly calm! Curse me, and slay!”
+
+“What was it that thou didst say to me just now, Charmion--that as I had
+sown so I must reap? It is not lawful that thou shouldst slay thyself;
+it is not lawful that I, thine equal in sin, should slay thee because
+through thee I sinned. As _thou_ hast sown, Charmion, so must _thou_
+also reap. Base woman! whose cruel jealousy has brought all these woes
+on me and Egypt, live--live on, and from year to year pluck the bitter
+fruit of crime! Haunted be thy sleep by visions of thy outraged Gods,
+whose vengeance awaits thee and me in their dim Amenti! Haunted be thy
+days by memories of that man whom thy fierce love brought to shame and
+ruin, and by the sight of Khem a prey to the insatiate Cleopatra and a
+slave to Roman Antony.”
+
+“Oh, speak not thus, Harmachis! Thy words are sharper than any sword;
+and more surely, if more slowly, shall they slay! Listen, Harmachis,”
+ and she grasped my robe: “when thou wast great, and all power lay within
+thy grasp, thou didst reject me. Wilt reject me now that Cleopatra hast
+cast thee from her--now that thou art poor and shamed and with no pillow
+to thy head? Still am I fair, and still I worship thee. Let me fly with
+thee, and make atonement for my lifelong love. Or, if this be too great
+a thing to ask, let me be but as thy sister and thy servant--thy very
+slave, so that I may still look upon thy face, and share thy trouble
+and minister to thee. O Harmachis, let me but come and I will brave all
+things and endure all things, and nothing but Death himself shall stay
+me from thy side. For I do believe that the love that sank me to so low
+a depth, dragging thee with me, can yet lift me to an equal height, and
+thee with me!”
+
+“Wouldst tempt me to fresh sin, woman? And dost thou think, Charmion,
+that in some hovel where I must hide, I could bear, day by day, to look
+upon thy fair face, and seeing, remember that those lips betrayed me?
+Not thus easily shalt thou atone! This I know even now: many and heavy
+shall be thy lonely days of penance! Perchance that hour of vengeance
+yet may come, and perchance thou shalt live to play thy part in it. Thou
+must still abide in the Court of Cleopatra; and, while thou art there,
+if I yet live, I will from time to time find means to give thee tidings.
+Perhaps a day may dawn when once more I shall need thy service. Now,
+swear that, in this event, thou wilt not fail me a second time.”
+
+“I swear, Harmachis!--I swear! May everlasting torments, too hideous to
+be dreamed--more hideous, even, by far, than those that wring me now--be
+my portion if I fail thee in one jot or tittle--ay, though I wait a
+lifetime for thy word!”
+
+“It is well; see that thou keep the oath--not twice may we betray. I go
+to work out my fate; abide thou to work out thine. Perchance our divers
+threads will once more mingle ere the web be spun. Charmion, who unasked
+didst love me--and who, prompted by that gentle love of thine, didst
+betray and ruin me--fare thee well!”
+
+She gazed wildly upon my face--she stretched out her arms as though to
+clasp me; then, in the agony of her despair, she cast herself at length
+and grovelled upon the ground.
+
+I took up the sack of clothing and the staff and gained the door, and,
+as I passed it, I threw one last glance upon her. There she lay, with
+arms outstretched--more white than her white robes--her dark hair
+streaming about her, and her fair brows hidden in the dust.
+
+And thus I left her, nor did I again set my eyes upon her till nine long
+years had come and gone.
+
+[Here ends the second and largest roll of papyrus.]
+
+
+
+
+BOOK III--THE VENGEANCE OF HARMACHIS
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+OF THE ESCAPE OF HARMACHIS FROM TARSUS; OF HIS BEING CAST FORTH AS AN
+OFFERING TO THE GODS OF THE SEA; OF HIS SOJOURN IN THE ISLE OF CYPRUS;
+OF HIS RETURN TO ABOUTHIS; AND OF THE DEATH OF AMENEMHAT
+
+I made my way down the stair in safety, and presently stood in the
+courtyard of that great house. It was but an hour from dawn, and none
+were stirring. The last reveller had drunk his fill, the dancing-girls
+had ceased their dancing, and silence lay upon the city. I drew near the
+gate, and was challenged by an officer who stood on guard, wrapped in a
+heavy cloak.
+
+“Who passes,” said the voice of Brennus.
+
+“A merchant, may it please you, Sir, who, having brought gifts from
+Alexandria to a lady of the Queen’s household, and, having been
+entertained of the lady, now departs to his galley,” I answered in a
+feigned voice.
+
+“Umph!” he growled. “The ladies of the Queen’s household keep their
+guests late. Well; it is a time of festival. The pass-word, Sir
+Shopkeeper? Without the pass-word you must needs return and crave the
+lady’s further hospitality.”
+
+“‘_Antony_,’ Sir; and a right good word, too. Ah! I’ve wandered far, and
+never saw I so goodly a man or so great a general. And, mark you, Sir!
+I’ve travelled far, and seen many generals.”
+
+“Ay; ‘_Antony_‘’s the word! And Antony is a good general in his
+way--when it is a sober way, and when he cannot find a skirt to follow.
+I’ve served with Antony--and against him, too; and know his points.
+Well, well; he’s got an armful now!”
+
+And all this while that he was holding me in talk, the sentry had been
+pacing to and fro before the gate. But now he moved a little way to the
+right, leaving the entrance clear.
+
+“Fare thee well, Harmachis, and begone!” whispered Brennus, leaning
+forward and speaking quickly. “Linger not. But at times bethink thee of
+Brennus who risked his neck to save thine. Farewell, lad, I would that
+we were sailing North together,” and he turned his back upon me and
+began to hum a tune.
+
+“Farewell, Brennus, thou honest man,” I answered, and was gone. And, as
+I heard long afterwards, when on the morrow the hue and cry was
+raised because the murderers could not find me, though they sought me
+everywhere to slay me, Brennus did me a service. For he swore that as
+he kept his watch alone an hour after midnight he saw me come and stand
+upon the parapet of the roof, that then I stretched out my robes
+and they became wings on which I floated up to Heaven, leaving him
+astonished. And all those about the Court lent ear to this history,
+believing in it, because of the great fame of my magic; and they
+wondered much what the marvel might portend. The tale also travelled
+into Egypt, and did much to save my good name among those whom I had
+betrayed; for the more ignorant among them believed that I acted not
+of my will, but of the will of the dread Gods, who of their own purpose
+wafted me into Heaven. And thus to this day the saying runs that “_When
+Harmachis comes again Egypt shall be free._” But alas, Harmachis comes
+no more! Only Cleopatra, though she was much afraid, doubted her of the
+tale, and sent an armed vessel to search for the Syrian merchant, but
+not to find him, as shall be told.
+
+
+
+When I reached the galley of which Charmion had spoken, I found her
+about to sail, and gave the writing to the captain, who conned it,
+looking on me curiously, but said nothing.
+
+So I went aboard, and immediately we dropped swiftly down the river with
+the current. And having come to the mouth of the river unchallenged,
+though we passed many vessels, we put out to sea with a strong favouring
+wind that before night freshened to a great gale. Then the sailor men,
+being much afraid, would have put about and run for the mouth of Cydnus
+again, but could not because of the wildness of the sea. All that night
+it blew furiously, and by dawn our mast was carried away, and we rolled
+helplessly in the trough of the great waves. But I sat wrapped in a
+cloak, little heeding; and because I showed no fear the sailors cried
+out that I was a wizard, and sought to cast me into the sea, but the
+captain would not. At dawn the wind slackened, but ere noon it once more
+blew in terrible fury, and at the fourth hour from noon we came in sight
+of the rocky coast of that cape in the island of Cyprus which is called
+Dinaretum, where is a mountain named Olympus, and thither-wards we
+drifted swiftly. Then, when the sailors saw the terrible rocks, and how
+the great waves that smote on them spouted up in foam, once more they
+grew much afraid, and cried out in their fear. For, seeing that I still
+sat unmoved, they swore that I certainly was a wizard, and came to
+cast me forth as a sacrifice to the Gods of the sea. And this time the
+captain was over-ruled, and said nothing. Therefore, when they came to
+me I rose and defied them, saying, “Cast me forth, if ye will; but if ye
+cast me forth ye shall perish.”
+
+For in my heart I cared little, having no more any love of life,
+but rather a desire to die, though I greatly feared to pass into the
+presence of my Holy Mother Isis. But my weariness and sorrow at the
+bitterness of my lot overcame even this heavy fear; so that when, being
+mad as brute beasts, they seized me and, lifting me, hurled me into the
+raging waters, I did but utter one prayer to Isis and made ready for
+death. But it was fated that I should not die; for, when I rose to the
+surface of the water, I saw a spar of wood floating near me, to which I
+swam and clung. And a great wave came and swept me, riding, as it were,
+upon the spar, as when a boy I had learned to do in the waters of the
+Nile, past the bulwarks of the galley where the fierce-faced sailors
+clustered to see me drown. And when they saw me come mounted on the
+wave, cursing them as I came, and saw, too, that the colour of my
+face had changed--for the salt water had washed way the pigment, they
+shrieked with fear and threw themselves down upon the deck. And within a
+very little while, as I rode toward the rocky coast, a great wave poured
+into the vessel, that rolled broadside on, and pressed her down into the
+deep, whence she rose no more.
+
+So she sank with all her crew. And in that same storm also sank the
+galley which Cleopatra had sent to search for the Syrian merchant. Thus
+all traces of me were lost, and of a surety she believed that I was
+dead.
+
+But I rode on toward the shore. The wind shrieked and the salt waves
+lashed my face as, alone with the tempest, I rushed upon my way, while
+the sea-birds screamed about my head. I felt no fear, but rather a wild
+uplifting of the heart; and in the stress of my imminent peril the love
+of life seemed to waken again. And so I plunged and drifted, now tossed
+high toward the lowering clouds, now cast into the deep valleys of the
+sea, till at length the rocky headland loomed before me, and I saw the
+breakers smite upon the stubborn rocks, and through the screaming of
+the wind heard the sullen thunder of their fall and the groan of stones
+sucked seaward from the beach. On! high-throned upon the mane of a
+mighty billow--fifty cubits beneath me the level of the hissing waters;
+above me the inky sky! It was done! The spar was torn from me, and,
+dragged downwards by the weight of the bag of gold and the clinging of
+my garments, I sank struggling furiously.
+
+Now I was under--the green light for a moment streamed through the
+waters, and then came darkness, and on the darkness pictures of the
+past. Picture after picture--all the long scene of life was written
+here. Then in my ears I only heard the song of the nightingale, the
+murmur of the summer sea, and the music of Cleopatra’s laugh of victory,
+following me softly and yet more soft as I sank away to sleep.
+
+
+
+Once more my life came back, and with it a sense of deadly sickness and
+of aching pain. I opened my eyes and saw a kind face bending over me,
+and knew that I was in the room of a builded house.
+
+“How came I hither?” I asked faintly.
+
+“Of a truth, Poseidon brought thee, Stranger,” answered a rough voice
+in barbarous Greek; “we found thee cast high upon the beach like a dead
+dolphin and brought thee to our house, for we are fisher-folk. And here,
+methinks, thou must lie a while, for thy left leg is broken by the force
+of the waves.”
+
+I strove to move my foot and could not. It was true, the bone was broken
+above the knee.
+
+“Who art thou, and how art thou named?” asked the rough-bearded sailor.
+
+“I am an Egyptian traveller whose ship has sunk in the fury of the gale,
+and I am named Olympus,” I answered, for these people called a mountain
+that we had sighted Olympus, and therefore I took the name at hazard.
+And as Olympus I was henceforth known.
+
+Here with these rough fisher-folk I abode for the half of a year, paying
+them a little out of the sum of gold that had come safely ashore upon
+me. For it was long before my bones grew together again, and then I was
+left somewhat of a cripple; for I, who had been so tall and straight and
+strong, now limped--one limb being shorter than the other. And after I
+recovered from my hurt, I still lived there, and toiled with them at the
+trade of fishing; for I knew not whither I should go or what I should
+do, and, for a while, I was fain to become a peasant fisherman, and so
+wear my weary life away. And these people entreated me kindly, though,
+as others, they feared me much, holding me to be a wizard brought hither
+by the sea. For my sorrows had stamped so strange an aspect on my face
+that men gazing at me grew fearful of what lay beneath its calm.
+
+There, then, I abode, till at length, one night as I lay and strove to
+sleep, great restlessness came upon me, and a mighty desire once more to
+see the face of Sihor. But whether this desire was of the Gods or born
+of my own heart, not knowing, I cannot tell. So strong was it, at the
+least, that before it was dawn I rose from my bed of straw and
+clothed myself in my fisher garb, and, because I had no wish to answer
+questions, thus I took farewell of my humble hosts. First I placed some
+pieces of gold on the well-cleaned table of wood, and then taking a pot
+of flour I strewed it in the form of letters, writing:
+
+“This gift from Olympus, the Egyptian, who returns into the sea.”
+
+Then I went, and on the third day I came to the great city of Salamis,
+that is also on the sea. Here I abode in the fishermen’s quarters till
+a vessel was about to sail for Alexandria, and to the captain of this
+vessel, a man of Paphos, I hired myself as a sailor. We sailed with a
+favouring wind, and on the fifth day I came to Alexandria, that hateful
+city, and saw the light dancing on its golden domes.
+
+Here I might not abide. So again I hired myself out as a sailor, giving
+my labour in return for passage, and we passed up the Nile. And I
+learned from the talk of men that Cleopatra had come back to Alexandria,
+drawing Antony with her and that they lived together with royal state
+in the palace on the Lochias. Indeed, the boatmen already had a song
+thereon, which they sang as they laboured at the oar. Also I heard how
+the galley that was sent to search for the vessel which carried the
+Syrian merchant had foundered with all her crew, and the tale that the
+Queen’s astronomer, Harmachis, had flown to Heaven from the roof of the
+house at Tarsus. And the sailors wondered because I sat and laboured and
+would not sing their ribald song of the loves of Cleopatra. For they,
+too, began to fear me, and mutter concerning me among themselves. Then
+I knew that I was a man accursed and set apart--a man whom none might
+love.
+
+On the sixth day we drew nigh to Abouthis, where I left the craft, and
+the sailors were right glad to see me go. And, with a breaking heart, I
+walked through the fertile fields, seeing faces that I knew well. But in
+my rough disguise and limping gait none knew me. At length, as the sun
+sank, I came near to the great outer pylon of the temple; and here I
+crouched down in the ruins of a house, not knowing why I had come or
+what I was about to do. Like a lost ox I had strayed from far, back to
+the fields of my birth, and for what? If my father, Amenemhat, still
+lived, surely he would turn his face from me. I dared not go into the
+presence of my father. I sat hidden there among the broken rafters, and
+idly watched the pylon gates, to see if, perchance, a face I knew should
+issue from them. But none came forth or entered in, though the great
+gates stood wide; and then I saw that herbs were growing between the
+stones, where no herbs had grown for ages. What could this be? Was the
+temple deserted? Nay; how could the worship of the eternal Gods have
+ceased, that for thousands of years had, day by day, been offered in the
+holy place? Was, then, my father dead? It well might be. And yet, why
+this silence? Where were the priests: where the worshippers?
+
+I could bear the doubt no more, but as the sun sank red I crept like a
+hunted jackal through the open gates, and on till I reached the first
+great Hall of Pillars. Here I paused and gazed around me--not a sight,
+not a sound, in the dim and holy place! I went on with a beating heart
+to the second great hall, the hall of six-and-thirty pillars where I
+had been crowned Lord of all the Lands: still not a sight or a sound!
+Thence, half fearful of my own footfall, so terribly did it echo in the
+silence of the deserted Holies, I passed down the passage of the names
+of the Pharaohs towards my father’s chamber. The curtain still swung
+over the doorway; but what would there be within?--also emptiness? I
+lifted it, and noiselessly passed in, and there in his carven chair
+at the table on which his long white beard flowed, sat my father,
+Amenemhat, clad in his priestly robes. At first I thought that he was
+dead, he sat so still; but at length he turned his head, and I saw that
+his eyes were white and sightless. He was blind, and his face was thin
+as the face of a dead man, and woeful with age and grief.
+
+I stood still and felt the blind eyes wandering over me. I could not
+speak to him--I dared not speak to him; I would go and hide myself
+afresh.
+
+I had already turned and grasped the curtain, when my father spoke in a
+deep, slow voice:
+
+“Come hither, thou who wast my son and art a traitor. Come hither, thou
+Harmachis, on whom Khem builded up her hope. Not in vain, then, have I
+drawn thee from far away! Not in vain have I held my life in me till I
+heard thy footfall creeping down these empty Holies, like the footfall
+of a thief!”
+
+“Oh! my father,” I gasped, astonished. “Thou art blind: how knowest thou
+me?”
+
+“How do I know thee?--and askest thou that who hast learned of our lore?
+Enough, I know thee and I brought thee hither. Would, Harmachis, that I
+knew thee not! Would that I had been blasted of the Invisible ere I drew
+thee down from the womb of Nout, to be my curse and shame, and the last
+woe of Khem!”
+
+“Oh, speak not thus!” I moaned; “is not my burden already more than I
+can bear? Am I not myself betrayed and utterly outcast? Be pitiful, my
+father!”
+
+“Be pitiful!--be pitiful to thee who hast shown so great pity? It
+was thy pity which gave up noble Sepa to die beneath the hands of the
+tormentors!”
+
+“Oh, not that--not that!” I cried.
+
+“Ay, traitor, that!--to die in agony, with his last poor breath
+proclaiming thee, his murderer, honest and innocent! Be pitiful to
+thee, who gavest all the flower of Khem as the price of a wanton’s
+arms!--thinkest thou that, labouring in the darksome desert mines, those
+noble ones in thought are pitiful to thee, Harmachis? Be pitiful to
+thee, by whom this Holy Temple of Abouthis hath been ravaged, its lands
+seized, its priests scattered, and I alone, old and withered, left to
+count out its ruin--to thee, who hast poured the treasures of _Her_ into
+thy leman’s lap, who hast forsworn Thyself, thy Country, thy Birthright,
+and thy Gods! Yea, thus am I pitiful: Accursed be thou, fruit of my
+loins!--Shame be thy portion, Agony thy end, and Hell receive thee at
+the last! Where art thou? Yea, I grew blind with weeping when I heard
+the truth--sure, they strove to hide it from me. Let me find thee that I
+may spit upon thee, thou Renegade! thou Apostate! thou Outcast!”--and he
+rose from his seat and staggered like a living Wrath toward me, smiting
+the air with his wand. And as he came with outstretched arms, awful to
+see, suddenly his end found him, and with a cry he sank down upon the
+ground, the red blood streaming from his lips. I ran to him and lifted
+him; and as he died, he babbled:
+
+“He was my son, a bright-eyed lovely boy, and full of promise as the
+Spring; and now--and now--oh, would that he were dead!”
+
+Then came a pause and the breath rattled in his throat.
+
+“Harmachis,” he gasped, “art there?”
+
+“Yea, father.”
+
+“Harmachis, atone!--atone! Vengeance can still be wreaked--forgiveness
+may still be won. There’s gold; I’ve hidden it--Atoua--she can tell
+thee--ah, this pain! Farewell!”
+
+And he struggled faintly in my arms and was dead.
+
+
+
+Thus, then, did I and my holy father, the Prince Amenemhat, meet
+together for the last time in the flesh, and for the last time part.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+OF THE LAST MISERY OF HARMACHIS; OF THE CALLING DOWN OF THE HOLY ISIS BY
+THE WORD OF FEAR; OF THE PROMISE OF ISIS; OF THE COMING OF ATOUA, AND OF
+THE WORDS OF ATOUA
+
+I crouched upon the floor gazing at the dead body of my father, who had
+lived to curse me, the utterly accursed, while the darkness crept and
+gathered round us, till at length the dead and I were alone in the black
+silence. Oh, how tell the misery of that hour! Imagination cannot dream
+it, nor words paint it forth. Once more in my wretchedness I bethought
+me of death. A knife was at my girdle, with which I might cut the thread
+of sorrow and set my spirit free. Free? ay, free to fly and face the
+last vengeance of the Holy Gods! Alas! and alas! I did not dare to die.
+Better the earth with all its woes than the quick approach of those
+unimagined terrors that, hovering in dim Amenti, wait the advent of the
+fallen.
+
+I grovelled on the ground and wept tears of agony for the lost
+unchanging past--wept till I could weep no more; but no answer came from
+the silence--no answer but the echoes of my grief. Not a ray of hope! My
+soul wandered in a darkness more utter than that which was about me--I
+was forsaken of the Gods and cast out of men. Terror took hold upon me
+crouching in that lonely place hard by the majesty of the awful Dead. I
+rose to fly. How could I fly in this gloom?--And where should I fly who
+had no place of refuge? Once more I crouched down, and the great fear
+grew on me till the cold sweat ran from my brow and my soul was faint
+within me. Then, in my last despair, I prayed aloud to Isis, to whom I
+had not dared to pray for many days.
+
+“O Isis! Holy Mother!” I cried; “put away Thy wrath, and of Thine
+infinite pity, O Thou all-pitiful, hearken to the voice of the anguish
+of him who was Thy son and servant, but who by sin hath fallen from the
+vision of Thy love. O throned Glory, who, being in all things, hast of
+all things understanding and of all griefs knowledge, cast the weight
+of Thy mercy against the scale of my evil-doing, and make the balance
+equal. Look down upon my woe, and measure it; count up the sum of my
+repentance and take Thou note of the flood of sorrow that sweeps my soul
+away. O Thou Holy, whom it was given to me to look upon face to face,
+by that dread hour of commune I summon Thee; I summon Thee by the mystic
+word. Come, then, in mercy, to save me; or, in anger, to make an end of
+that which can no more be borne.”
+
+And, rising from my knees, I stretched out my arms and dared to cry
+aloud the Word of Fear, to use which unworthily is death.
+
+Swiftly the answer came. For in the silence I heard the sound of the
+shaken sistra heralding the coming of the Glory. Then, at the far end of
+the chamber, grew the semblance of the horned moon, gleaming faintly in
+the darkness, and betwixt the golden horns rested a small dark cloud, in
+and out of which the fiery serpent climbed.
+
+My knees waxed loose in the presence of the Glory, and I sank down
+before it.
+
+Then spake the small, sweet Voice within the cloud:
+
+“Harmachis, who wast my servant and my son, I have heard thy prayer, and
+the summons that thou hast dared to utter, which on the lips of one with
+whom I have communed, hath power to draw Me from the Uttermost. No more,
+Harmachis, may we be one in the bond of Love Divine, for thou hast put
+Me away of thine own act. Therefore, after this long silence I come,
+Harmachis, clothed in terrors, and, perchance, ready for vengeance, for
+not lightly can Isis be drawn from the halls of Her Divinity.”
+
+“Smite, Goddess!” I answered. “Smite, and give me over to those who
+wreak Thy vengeance; for I can no longer bear the burden of my woe!”
+
+“And if thou canst not bear thy burden here, upon this upper earth,”
+ came the soft reply, “how then shalt thou bear the greater burden that
+shall be laid upon thee there, coming defiled and yet unpurified into my
+dim realm of Death, that is Life and Change unending? Nay, Harmachis, I
+smite thee not, for not all am I wroth that thou hast dared to utter
+the awful Word which calls Me down to thee. Hearken, Harmachis; I praise
+not, and I reproach not, for I am the Minister of Reward and Punishment
+and the Executrix of Decrees; and if I give, I give in silence; and if I
+smite, in silence do I smite. Therefore, I will add naught to thy burden
+by the weight of heavy words, though through thee it has come to pass
+that soon shall Isis, the Mother-Mystery, be but a memory in Egypt. Thou
+hast sinned, and heavy shall be thy punishment, as I did warn thee, both
+in the flesh and in my kingdom of Amenti. But I told thee that there is
+a road of repentance, and surely thy feet are set thereon, and therein
+must thou walk with a humble heart, eating of the bread of bitterness,
+till such time as thy doom be measured.”
+
+“Have I, then, no hope, O holy?”
+
+“That which is done, Harmachis, is done, nor can its issues be altered.
+Khem shall no more be free till all its temples are as the desert dust;
+strange Peoples shall, from age to age, hold her hostage and in bonds;
+new Religions shall arise and wither within the shadow of her pyramids,
+for to every World, Race, and Age the countenances of the Gods are
+changed. This is the tree that shall spring from thy seed of sin,
+Harmachis, and from the sin of those who tempted thee!”
+
+“Alas! I am undone!” I cried.
+
+“Yea, thou art undone; and yet shall this be given to thee: thy
+Destroyer thou shalt destroy--for so, in the purpose of my justice, it
+is ordained. When the sign comes to thee, arise, go to Cleopatra, and
+in such manner as I shall put into thy heart do Heaven’s vengeance
+upon her! And now for thyself one word, for thou hast put Me from thee,
+Harmachis, and no more shall I come face to face with thee till, cycles
+hence, the last fruit of thy sin hath ceased to be upon this earth! Yet,
+through the vastness of the unnumbered years, remember thou this: the
+Love Divine is Love Eternal, which cannot be extinguished, though it be
+everlastingly estranged. Repent, my son; repent and do well while
+there is yet time, that at the dim end of ages thou mayest once more
+be gathered unto Me. Still, Harmachis, though thou seest Me not; still,
+when the very name by which thou knowest Me has become a meaningless
+mystery to those who shall be after thee; still I, whose hours are
+eternal--I, who have watched Universes wither, wane, and, beneath the
+breath of Time, melt into nothingness; again to gather, and, re-born,
+thread the maze of space--still, I say, I shall companion thee. Wherever
+thou goest, in whatever form of life thou livest, there I shall be! Art
+thou wafted to the farthest star, art thou buried in Amenti’s lowest
+deep--in lives, in deaths, in sleeps, in wakings, in remembrances, in
+oblivions, in all the fevers of the outer Life, in all the changes of
+the Spirit--still, if thou wilt but atone and forget Me no more, I shall
+be with thee, waiting thine hour of redemption. For this is the nature
+of Love Divine, wherewith it loves that which partakes of its divinity
+and by the holy tie hath once been bound to it. Judge then, Harmachis:
+was it well to put this from thee to win the dust of earthly woman? And,
+now, dare not again to utter the Word of Power till these things are
+done! Harmachis, for this season, fare thee well!”
+
+
+
+As the last note of the sweet Voice died away, the fiery snake climbed
+into the heart of the cloud. Now the cloud rolled from the horns of
+light, and was gathered into the blackness. The vision of the crescent
+moon grew dim and vanished. Then, as the Goddess passed, once more came
+the faint and dreadful music of the shaken sistra, and all was still.
+
+I hid my face in my robe, and even then, though my outstretched hand
+could touch the chill corpse of that father who had died cursing me,
+I felt hope come back into my heart, knowing that I was not altogether
+lost nor utterly rejected of Her whom I had forsaken, but whom I yet
+loved. And then weariness overpowered me, and I slept.
+
+
+
+I woke, the faint lights of dawn were creeping from the opening in the
+roof. Ghastly they lay upon the shadowy sculptured walls and ghastly
+upon the dead face and white beard of my father, the gathered to Osiris.
+I started up, remembering all things, and wondering in my heart what
+I should do, and as I rose I heard a faint footfall creeping down the
+passage of the names of the Pharaohs.
+
+“_La! La! La!_” mumbled a voice that I knew for the voice of the old
+wife, Atoua. “Why, ‘tis dark as the House of the Dead! The Holy Ones
+who built this Temple loved not the blessed sun, however much they
+worshipped him. Now, where’s the curtain?”
+
+Presently it was drawn, and Atoua entered, a stick in one hand and a
+basket in the other. Her face was somewhat more wrinkled, and her scanty
+locks were somewhat whiter than aforetime, but for the rest she was
+as she had ever been. She stood and peered around with her sharp black
+eyes, for as yet she could see nothing because of the shadows.
+
+“Now where is he?” she muttered. “Osiris--glory to His name--send that
+he has not wandered in the night, and he blind! Alack! that I could not
+return before the dark. Alack! and alack! what times have we fallen on,
+when the Holy High Priest and the Governor, by descent, of Abouthis, is
+left with one aged crone to minister to his infirmity! O Harmachis, my
+poor boy, thou hast laid trouble at our doors! Why, what’s this? Surely
+he sleeps not, there upon the ground?--‘twill be his death! Prince! Holy
+Father! Amenemhat! awake, arise!” and she hobbled towards the
+corpse. “Why, how is it! By Him who sleeps, he’s dead! untended and
+alone--_dead! dead!_” and she sent her long wail of grief ringing up the
+sculptured walls.
+
+“Hush! woman, be still!” I said, gliding from the shadows.
+
+“Oh, what art thou?” she cried, casting down her basket. “Wicked man,
+hast thou murdered this Holy One, the only Holy One in Egypt? Surely the
+curse will fall on thee, for though the Gods do seem to have forsaken us
+now in our hour of trial, yet is their arm long, and certainly they will
+be avenged on him who hath slain their anointed!”
+
+“Look on me, Atoua,” I cried.
+
+“Look! ay, I look--thou wicked wanderer who hast dared this cruel deed!
+Harmachis is a traitor and lost far away, and Amenemhat his holy father
+is murdered, and now I’m all alone without kith or kin. I gave them for
+him. I gave them for Harmachis, the traitor! Come, slay me also, thou
+wicked one!”
+
+I took a step toward her, and she, thinking that I was about to smite
+her, cried out in fear:
+
+“Nay, good Sir, spare me! Eighty and six, by the Holy Ones, eighty and
+six, come next flood of Nile, and yet I would not die, though Osiris is
+merciful to the old who served him! Come no nearer--help! help!”
+
+“Thou fool, be silent,” I said; “knowest thou me not?”
+
+“Know thee? Can I know every wandering boatman to whom Sebek grants
+to earn a livelihood till Typhon claims his own? And yet--why, ‘tis
+strange--that changed countenance!--that scar!--that stumbling gait! It
+is thou, Harmachis!--‘tis thou, O my boy! Art come back to glad mine old
+eyes? I hoped thee dead! Let me kiss thee?--nay, I forget. Harmachis is
+a traitor, ay, and a murderer! Here lies the holy Amenemhat, murdered by
+the traitor, Harmachis! Get thee gone! I’ll have none of traitors and of
+parricides! Get thee to thy wanton!--it is not thou whom I did nurse.”
+
+“Peace! woman; peace! I slew not my father--he died, alas!--he died even
+in my arms.”
+
+“Ay, surely, and cursing thee, Harmachis! Thou hast given death to him
+who gave thee life! _La! la!_ I am old, and I’ve seen many a trouble;
+but this is the heaviest of them all! I never liked the looks of
+mummies; but I would I were one this hour! Get thee gone, I pray thee!”
+
+“Old nurse, reproach me not! Have I not enough to bear?”
+
+“Ah! yes, yes!--I did forget! Well; and what is thy sin? A woman was
+thy bane, as women have been to those before thee, and shall be to those
+after thee. And what a woman! _La! la!_ I saw her, a beauty such as
+never was--an arrow pointed by the evil Gods for destruction! And thou,
+a young man bred as a priest--an ill training--a very ill training!
+‘Twas no fair match. Who can wonder that she mastered thee? Come,
+Harmachis; let me kiss thee! It is not for a woman to be hard on a man
+because he loved our sex too much. Why, that is but nature; and Nature
+knows her business, else she had made us otherwise. But here is an evil
+case. Knowest thou that this Macedonian Queen of thine hath seized the
+temple lands and revenues, and driven away the priests--all, save the
+holy Amenemhat, who lies here, and whom she left, I know not why; ay,
+and caused the worship of the Gods to cease within these walls. Well,
+he’s gone!--he’s gone! and indeed he is better with Osiris, for his life
+was a sore burden to him. And hark thou, Harmachis: he hath not left
+thee empty-handed; for, so soon as the plot failed, he gathered all his
+wealth, and it is large, and hid it--where, I can show thee--and it is
+thine by right of descent.”
+
+“Talk not to me of wealth, Atoua. Where shall I go and how shall I hide
+my shame?”
+
+“Ah! true, true; here mayst thou not abide, for if they found thee,
+surely they would put thee to the dreadful death--ay, to the death by
+the waxen cloth. Nay, I will hide thee, and, when the funeral rites of
+the holy Amenemhat have been performed, we will fly hence, and cover us
+from the eyes of men till these sorrows are forgotten. _La! la!_ it is a
+sad world, and full of trouble as the Nile mud is full of beetles. Come,
+Harmachis, come.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+OF THE LIFE OF HIM WHO WAS NAMED THE LEARNED OLYMPUS, IN THE TOMB OF THE
+HARPERS THAT IS BY TÁPÉ; OF HIS COUNSEL TO CLEOPATRA; OF THE MESSAGE OF
+CHARMION; AND OF THE PASSING OF OLYMPUS DOWN TO ALEXANDRIA
+
+These things then came to pass. For eighty days I was hidden of the old
+wife, Atoua, while the body of the Prince, my father, was made ready for
+burial by those skilled in the arts of embalming. And when at last
+all things were done in order, I crept from my hiding-place and made
+offerings to the spirit of my father, and placing lotus-flowers on his
+breast went thence sorrowing. And on the following day, from where I lay
+hid, I saw the Priests of the Temple of Osiris and of the holy shrine of
+Isis come forth, and in slow procession bear his painted coffin to the
+sacred lake and lay it beneath the funeral tent in the consecrated boat.
+I saw them celebrate the symbol of the trial of the dead, and name him
+above all men just, and then bear him thence to lay him by his wife,
+my mother, in the deep tomb that he had hewn in the rock near to the
+resting-place of the Holy Osiris, where, notwithstanding my sins, I,
+too, hope to sleep ere long. And when all these things were done and the
+deep tomb sealed, the wealth of my father having been removed from the
+hidden treasury and placed in safety, I fled, disguised, with the old
+wife, Atoua, up the Nile till we came to Tápé,[*] and here in this great
+city I lay a while, till a place could be found where I should hide
+myself.
+
+     [*] Thebes.--Editor.
+
+And such a place I found. For to the north of the great city are brown
+and rugged hills, and desert valley blasted of the sun, and in this
+place of desolation the Divine Pharaohs, my forefathers, hollowed out
+their tombs in the solid rock, the most part of which are lost to this
+day, so cunningly have they been hidden. But some are open, for the
+accursed Persians and other thieves broke into them in search
+of treasure. And one night--for by night only did I leave my
+hiding-place--just as the dawn was breaking on the mountain tops, I
+wandered alone in this sad valley of death, like to which there is
+no other, and presently came to the mouth of a tomb hidden amid great
+rocks, which afterwards I knew for the place of the burying of the
+Divine Rameses, the third of that name, now long gathered to Osiris. And
+by the faint light of the dawn creeping through the entrance I saw that
+it was spacious and that within were chambers.
+
+On the following night, therefore, I returned, bearing lights, with
+Atoua, my nurse, who ever ministered faithfully to me as when I was
+little and without discretion. And we searched the mighty tomb and came
+to the great Hall of the Sarcophagus of granite, in which the Divine
+Rameses sleeps, and saw the mystic paintings on the walls: the symbol
+of the Snake unending, the symbol of Ra resting upon the Scarabæus, the
+symbol of Ra resting upon Nout, the symbol of the Headless men, and many
+others, whereof, being initiated, well I read the mysteries. And
+opening from the long descending passage I found chambers in which were
+paintings beautiful to behold, and of all manner of things. For beneath
+each chamber is entombed the master of the craft of which the paintings
+tell, he who was the chief of the servants of that craft in the house
+of this Divine Rameses. And on the walls of the last chamber--on
+the left-hand side, looking toward the Hall of the Sarcophagus--are
+paintings exceedingly beautiful, and two blind harpers playing upon
+their bent harps before the God Mou; and beneath the flooring these
+harpers, who harp no more, are soft at sleep. Here, then, in this gloomy
+place, even in the tomb of the Harpers and the company of the dead, I
+took up my abode; and here for eight long years I worked out my penance
+and made atonement for my sin. But Atoua, because she loved to be near
+the light, abode in the chamber of the Boats--that is, the first chamber
+on the right-hand side of the gallery looking toward the Hall of the
+Sarcophagus.
+
+And this was the manner of my life. On every second day the old wife,
+Atoua, went forth and brought water from the city and such food as is
+necessary to keep the life from failing, and also tapers made from fat.
+And one hour at the time of sunrise and one hour at the time of sunset
+I did go forth also to wander in the valley for my health’s sake and to
+save my sight from failing in the great darkness of the tomb. But the
+other hours of the day and night, except when I climbed the mountain
+to watch the course of the stars, I spent in prayer and meditation and
+sleep, till the cloud of sin lifted from my heart and once more I drew
+near to the Gods, though with Isis, my heavenly Mother, I might speak no
+more. And I grew exceedingly wise also, pondering on all those mysteries
+to which I held the key. For abstinence and prayer and sorrowful
+solitude wore away the grossness of my flesh, and with the eyes of the
+Spirit I learned to look deep into the heart of things till the joy of
+Wisdom fell like dew upon my soul.
+
+Soon the rumour was wafted about the city that a certain holy man named
+Olympus abode in solitude in the tombs of the awful Valley of the Dead;
+and hither came people bearing sick that I might cure them. And I gave
+my mind to the study of simples, in which Atoua instructed me; and by
+lore and the weight of my thought I gained great skill in medicine, and
+healed many sick. And thus ever, as time went on, my fame was noised
+abroad; for it was said that I was also a magician and that in the
+tombs I had commune with the Spirits of the Dead. And this, indeed, I
+did--though it is not lawful for me to speak of these matters. Thus,
+then, it came to pass that no more need Atoua go forth to seek food and
+water, for the people brought it--more than was needful, for I would
+receive no fee. Now at first, fearing lest some in the hermit Olympus
+might know the lost Harmachis, I would only meet those who came in the
+darkness of the tomb. But afterwards, when I learned how it was held
+through all the land that Harmachis was certainly no more, I came forth
+and sat in the mouth of the tomb, and ministered to the sick, and
+at times calculated nativities for the great. And thus my fame grew
+continually, till at length folk journeyed even from Memphis and
+Alexandria to visit me; and from them I learned how Antony had left
+Cleopatra for a while, and, Fulvia being dead, had married Octavia, the
+sister of Cæsar. Many other things I learned also.
+
+And in the second year I did this: I despatched the old wife, Atoua,
+disguised as a seller of simples, to Alexandria, bidding her seek out
+Charmion, and, if yet she found her faithful, reveal to her the secret
+of my way of life. So she went, and in the fifth month from her sailing
+returned, bearing Charmion’s greetings and a token. And she told me that
+she had found means to see Charmion, and, in talk, had let fall the name
+of Harmachis, speaking of me as one dead; at which Charmion, unable to
+control her grief, wept aloud. Then, reading her heart--for the old
+wife was very clever, and held the key of knowledge--she told her that
+Harmachis yet lived, and sent her greetings. Thereon Charmion wept yet
+more with joy, and kissed the old wife, and made her gifts, bidding her
+tell me that she had kept her vow, and waited for my coming and the hour
+of vengeance. So, having learned many secrets, Atoua returned again to
+Tápé.
+
+And in the following year messengers came to me from Cleopatra, bearing
+a sealed roll and great gifts. I opened the roll, and read this in it:
+
+“Cleopatra to Olympus, the learned Egyptian who dwells in the Valley of
+Death by Tápé--
+
+“The fame of thy renown, O learned Olympus, hath reached our ears. Tell
+thou, then, this to us, and if thou tellest aright greater honour and
+wealth shalt thou have than any in Egypt: How shall we win back the love
+of noble Antony, who is bewitched of cunning Octavia, and tarries long
+from us?”
+
+Now, in this I saw the hand of Charmion, who had made my renown known to
+Cleopatra.
+
+All that night I took counsel with my wisdom, and on the morrow wrote my
+answer as it was put into my heart to the destruction of Cleopatra and
+Antony. And thus I wrote:
+
+“Olympus the Egyptian to Cleopatra the Queen--
+
+“Go forth into Syria with one who shall be sent to lead thee; thus shalt
+thou win Antony to thy arms again, and with him gifts more great than
+thou canst dream.”
+
+And with this letter I dismissed the messengers, bidding them share the
+presents sent by Cleopatra among their company.
+
+So they went wondering.
+
+But Cleopatra, seizing on the advice to which her passion prompted her,
+departed straightway with Fonteius Capito into Syria, and there the
+thing came about as I had foretold, for Antony was subdued of her
+and gave her the greater part of Cilicia, the ocean shore of Arabia
+Nabathæa, the balm-bearing provinces of Judæa, the province of Phoenicia,
+the province of Coele-Syria, the rich isle of Cyprus, and all the library
+of Pergamus. And to the twin children that, with the son Ptolemy,
+Cleopatra had borne to Antony, he impiously gave the names of “Kings,
+the Children of Kings”--of Alexander Helios, as the Greeks name the sun,
+and of Cleopatra Selene, the moon, the long-winged.
+
+These things then came to pass.
+
+Now on her return to Alexandria Cleopatra sent me great gifts, of which
+I would have none, and prayed me, the learned Olympus, to come to her at
+Alexandria; but it was not yet time, and I would not. But thereafter she
+and Antony sent many times to me for counsel, and I ever counselled them
+to their ruin, nor did my prophecies fail.
+
+
+
+Thus the long years rolled away, and I, the hermit Olympus, the dweller
+in a tomb, the eater of bread and the drinker of water, by strength of
+the wisdom that was given me of the avenging Power, became once more
+great in Khem. For I grew ever wiser as I trampled the desires of the
+flesh beneath my feet and turned my eyes to heaven.
+
+At length eight full years were accomplished. The war with the Parthians
+had come and gone, and Artavasdes, King of Armenia, had been led in
+triumph through the streets of Alexandria. Cleopatra had visited Samos
+and Athens; and, by her counselling, the noble Octavia had been driven,
+like some discarded concubine, from the house of Antony at Rome. And
+now, at the last, the measure of the folly of Antony was full even to
+the brim. For this Master of the World had no longer the good gift of
+reason; he was lost in Cleopatra as I had been lost. Therefore, in the
+event, Octavianus declared war against him.
+
+And as I slept upon a certain day in the chamber of the Harpers, in the
+tomb of Pharaoh that is by Tápé, there came to me a vision of my father,
+the aged Amenemhat, and he stood over me, leaning on his staff, and
+spoke, saying:
+
+“Look forth, my son.”
+
+Then I looked forth, and with the eyes of my spirit saw the sea, and
+two great fleets grappling in war hard by a rocky coast. And the emblems
+were those of Octavian, and of the other those of Cleopatra and Antony.
+The ships of Antony and Cleopatra bore down upon the ships of Cæsar, and
+drove them on, for victory inclined to Antony.
+
+I looked again. There sat Cleopatra in a gold-decked galley watching the
+fight with eager eyes. Then I cast my Spirit on her so that she seemed
+to hear the voice of dead Harmachis crying in her ear.
+
+“_Fly, Cleopatra,_” it seemed to say, “_fly or perish!_”
+
+She looked up wildly, and again she heard my Spirit’s cry. Now a mighty
+fear took hold of her. She called aloud to the sailors to hoist the
+sails and make signal to her fleet to put about. This they did wondering
+but little loath, and fled in haste from the battle.
+
+Then a great roar went up from friend and foe.
+
+“Cleopatra is fled! Cleopatra is fled!” And I saw wreck and red ruin
+fall upon the fleet of Antony and awoke from my trance.
+
+The days passed, and again a vision of my father came to me and spoke,
+saying:
+
+“Arise, my son!--the hour of vengeance is at hand! Thy plots have not
+failed; thy prayers have been heard. By the bidding of the Gods, as she
+sat in her galley at the fight of Actium, the heart of Cleopatra was
+filled with fears, so that, deeming she heard thy voice bidding her fly
+or perish, she fled with all her fleet. Now the strength of Actium is
+broken on the sea. Go forth, and as it shall be put into thy mind, so do
+thou.”
+
+In the morning I awoke, wondering, and went to the mouth of the tomb,
+and there, coming up the valley, I saw the messengers of Cleopatra, and
+with them a Roman guard.
+
+“What will ye with me now?” I asked, sternly.
+
+“This is the message of the Queen and of great Antony,” answered the
+Captain, bowing low before me, for I was much feared by all men. “The
+Queen commands thy presence at Alexandria. Many times has she sent, and
+thou wouldst not come; now she bids thee to come, and that swiftly, for
+she has need of thy counsel.”
+
+“And if I say Nay, soldier, what then?”
+
+“These are my orders, most holy Olympus; that I bring thee by force.”
+
+I laughed aloud. “By force, thou fool! Use not such talk to me, lest I
+smite thee where thou art. Know, then, that I can kill as well as cure!”
+
+“Pardon, I beseech thee!” he answered, shrinking. “I say but those
+things that I am bid.”
+
+“Well, I know it, Captain. Fear not; I come.”
+
+So on that very day I departed, together with the aged Atoua. Ay, I went
+as secretly as I had come; and the tomb of the Divine Rameses knew me no
+more. And with me I took all the treasures of my father, Amenemhat, for
+I was not minded to go to Alexandria empty-handed and as a suppliant,
+but rather as a man of much wealth and condition. Now, as I went, I
+learned that Antony, following Cleopatra, had, indeed, fled from Actium,
+and knew that the end drew nigh. For this and many other things had
+I foreseen in the darkness of the tomb of Tápé, and planned to bring
+about.
+
+
+
+Thus, then, I came to Alexandria, and entered into a house which had
+been made ready for me at the palace gates.
+
+And that very night Charmion came to me--Charmion whom I had not seen
+for nine long years.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+OF THE MEETING OF CHARMION WITH THE LEARNED OLYMPUS; OF HER SPEECH WITH
+HIM; OF THE COMING OF OLYMPUS INTO THE PRESENCE OF CLEOPATRA; AND OF THE
+COMMANDS OF CLEOPATRA.
+
+Clad in my plain black robe, I sat in the guest-chamber of the house
+that had been made ready for me. I sat in a carven lion-footed chair,
+and looked upon the swinging lamps of scented oil, the pictured
+tapestries, the rich Syrian rugs--and, amidst all this luxury, bethought
+me of that tomb of the Harpers which is at Tápé, and of the nine long
+years of dark loneliness and preparation. I sat; and crouched upon a rug
+near to the door, lay the aged Atoua. Her hair was white as snow, and
+shrivelled with age was the wrinkled countenance of the woman who, when
+all deserted me, had yet clung to me, in her great love forgetting my
+great sins. Nine years! nine long years! and now, once again, I set my
+foot in Alexandria! Once again in the appointed circle of things I came
+forth from the solitude of preparation to be a fate to Cleopatra; and
+this second time I came not forth to fail.
+
+And yet how changed the circumstance! I was out of the story: my part
+now was but the part of the sword in the hands of Justice; I might no
+more hope to make Egypt free and great and sit upon my lawful throne.
+Khem was lost, and lost was I, Harmachis. In the rush and turmoil of
+events, the great plot of which I had been the pivot was covered up and
+forgotten; scarce a memory of it remained. The curtain of dark night
+was closing in upon the history of my ancient Race; its very Gods were
+tottering to their fall; I could already, in the spirit, hear the shriek
+of the Roman eagles as they flapped their wings above the furthest banks
+of Sihor.
+
+Presently I roused myself and bade Atoua go seek a mirror and bring it
+to me, that I might look therein.
+
+And I saw this: a face shrunken and pallid, on which no smile came;
+great eyes grown wan with gazing into darkness looking out beneath
+the shaven head, emptily, as the hollow eye-pits of a skull; a wizened
+halting form wasted by abstinence, sorrow, and prayer; a long wild beard
+of iron grey; thin blue-veined hands that ever trembled like a leaf;
+bowed shoulders and lessened limbs. Time and grief had done their
+work indeed; scarce could I think myself the same as when, the royal
+Harmachis--in all the splendour of my strength and youthful beauty--I
+first had looked upon the woman’s loveliness that did destroy me. And
+yet within me burned the same fire as of yore; yet I was not changed,
+for time and grief have no power to alter the immortal spirit of man.
+Seasons may come and go; Hope, like a bird, may fly away; Passion may
+break its wings against the iron bars of Fate; Illusions may crumble
+as the cloudy towers of sunset flame; Faith, as running water, may slip
+from beneath our feet; Solitude may stretch itself around us like the
+measureless desert sand; Old Age may creep as the gathering night over
+our bowed heads grown hoary in their shame--yea, bound to Fortune’s
+wheel, we may taste of every turn of chance--now rule as Kings, now
+serve as Slaves; now love, now hate; now prosper, and now perish. But
+still, through all, we are the same; for this is the marvel of Identity.
+
+
+
+And as I sat and thought these things in bitterness of heart, there came
+a knocking at the door.
+
+“Open, Atoua!” I said.
+
+She rose and did my bidding; and a woman entered, clad in Grecian robes.
+It was Charmion, still beautiful as of old, but sad faced now and very
+sweet to see, with a patient fire slumbering in her downcast eyes.
+
+She entered unattended; and, speaking no word, the old wife pointed to
+where I sat, and went.
+
+“Old man,” she said, addressing me, “lead me to the learned Olympus. I
+come upon the Queen’s business.”
+
+I rose, and, lifting my head, looked upon her.
+
+She gazed, and gave a little cry.
+
+“Surely,” she whispered, glancing round, “surely thou art not that----”
+ And she paused.
+
+“That Harmachis whom once thy foolish heart did love, O Charmion? Yes,
+I am he and what thou seest, most fair lady. Yet is Harmachis dead
+whom thou didst love; but Olympus, the skilled Egyptian, waits upon thy
+words!”
+
+“Cease!” she said, “and of the past but one word, and then--why, let
+it lie. Not well, with all thy wisdom, canst thou know a true woman’s
+heart, if thou dost believe, Harmachis, that it can change with the
+changes of the outer form, for then assuredly could no love follow its
+beloved to that last place of change--the Grave. Know thou, learned
+Physician, I am of that sort who, loving once, love always, and being
+not beloved again, go virgin to the death.”
+
+She ceased, and having naught to say, I bowed my head in answer. Yet
+though I said nothing and though this woman’s passionate folly had been
+the cause of all our ruin, to speak truth, in secret I was thankful
+to her who, wooed of all and living in this shameless Court, had still
+through the long years poured out her unreturned love upon an outcast,
+and who, when that poor broken slave of Fortune came back in such
+unlovely guise, held him yet dear at heart. For what man is there who
+does not prize that gift most rare and beautiful, that one perfect thing
+which no gold can buy--a woman’s unfeigned love?
+
+“I thank thee that thou dost not answer,” she said; “for the bitter
+words which thou didst pour upon me in those days that long are dead,
+and far away in Tarsus, have not lost their poisonous sting, and in my
+heart is no more place for the arrows of thy scorn, new venomed through
+thy solitary years. So let it be. Behold! I put it from me, that wild
+passion of my soul,” and she looked up and stretched out her hands as
+though to press some unseen presence back, “I put it from me--though
+forget it I may not! There, ‘tis done, Harmachis; no more shall my love
+trouble thee. Enough for me that once more my eyes behold thee, before
+sleep seals thee from their sight. Dost remember how, when I would have
+died by thy dear hand, thou wouldst not slay, but didst bid me live to
+pluck the bitter fruit of crime, and be accursed by visions of the evil
+I had wrought and memories of thee whom I have ruined?”
+
+“Ay, Charmion, I remember well.”
+
+“Surely the cup of punishment has been filled. Oh! couldst thou see
+into the record of my heart, and read in it the suffering that I
+have borne--borne with a smiling face--thy justice would be satisfied
+indeed!”
+
+“And yet, if report be true, Charmion, thou art the first of all the
+Court, and therein the most powerful and beloved. Does not Octavianus
+give it out that he makes war, not on Antony, nor even on his mistress,
+Cleopatra, but on Charmion and Iras?”
+
+“Yes, Harmachis, and think what it has been to me thus, because of my
+oath to thee, to be forced to eat the bread and do the tasks of one whom
+so bitterly I hate!--one who robbed me of thee, and who, through the
+workings of my jealousy, brought me to be that which I am, brought
+thee to shame, and all Egypt to its ruin! Can jewels and riches and the
+flattery of princes and nobles bring happiness to such a one as I, who
+am more wretched than the meanest scullion wench? Oh, I have often wept
+till I was blind; and then, when the hour came, I must arise and tire
+me, and, with a smile, go do the bidding of the Queen and that heavy
+Antony. May the Gods grant me to see them dead--ay, the twain of
+them!--then myself I shall be content to die! Thy lot has been hard,
+Harmachis; but at least thou have been free, and many is the time that I
+have envied thee the quiet of thy haunted cave.”
+
+“I do perceive, O Charmion, that thou art mindful of thy oaths; and it
+is well, for the hour of vengeance is at hand.”
+
+“I am mindful, and in all things I have worked for thee in secret--for
+thee, and for the utter ruin of Cleopatra and the Roman. I have fanned
+his passion and her jealousy, I have egged her on to wickedness and
+him to folly, and of all have I caused report to be brought to Cæsar.
+Listen! thus stands the matter. Thou knowest how went the fight at
+Actium. Thither went Cleopatra with her fleet, sorely against the will
+of Antony. But, as thou sentest me word, I entreated him for the Queen,
+vowing to him, with tears, that, did he leave her, she would die of
+grief; and he, poor slave, believed me. And so she went, and in the
+thick of the fight, for what cause I know not, though perchance thou
+knowest, Harmachis, she made signal to her squadron, and, putting about
+fled from the battle, sailing for Peloponnesus. And now, mark the end!
+When Antony saw that she was gone, he, in his madness, took a galley,
+and deserting all, followed hard after her, leaving his fleet to be
+shattered and sunk, and his great army in Greece, of twenty legions
+and twelve thousand horse, without a leader. And all this no man would
+believe, that Antony, the smitten of the Gods, had fallen so deep in
+shame. Therefore for a while the army tarried, and but now to-night
+comes news brought by Canidius, the General, that, worn with doubt and
+being at length sure that Antony had deserted them, the whole of his
+great force has yielded to Cæsar.”
+
+“And where, then, is Antony?”
+
+“He has built him a habitation on a little isle in the Great Harbour and
+named it Timonium; because, forsooth, like Timon, he cries out at the
+ingratitude of mankind that has forsaken him. And there he lies smitten
+by a fever of the mind, and thither thou must go at dawn, so wills the
+Queen, to cure him of his ills and draw him to her arms; for he will
+not see her, nor knows he yet the full measure of his woe. But first
+my bidding is to lead thee instantly to Cleopatra, who would ask thy
+counsel.”
+
+“I come,” I answered, rising. “Lead thou on.”
+
+And so we passed the palace gates and along the Alabaster Hall, and
+presently once again I stood before the door of Cleopatra’s chamber, and
+once again Charmion left me to warn her of my coming.
+
+Presently she came back and beckoned to me. “Make strong thy heart,” she
+whispered, “and see that thou dost not betray thyself, for still are the
+eyes of Cleopatra keen. Enter!”
+
+“Keen, indeed, must they be to find Harmachis in the learned Olympus!
+Had I not willed it, thyself thou hadst not known me, Charmion,” I made
+answer.
+
+Then I entered that remembered place and listened once more to the plash
+of the fountain, the song of the nightingale, and the murmur of the
+summer sea. With bowed head and halting gait I came, till at length I
+stood before the couch of Cleopatra--that same golden couch on which
+she had sat the night she overcame me. Then I gathered my strength, and
+looked up. There before me was Cleopatra, glorious as of old, but, oh!
+how changed since that night when I saw Antony clasp her in his arms at
+Tarsus! Her beauty still clothed her like a garment; the eyes were yet
+deep and unfathomable as the blue sea, the face still splendid in its
+great loveliness. And yet all was changed. Time, that could not touch
+her charms, had stamped upon her presence such a look of weary grief as
+may not be written. Passion, beating ever in that fierce heart of hers,
+had written his record on her brow, and in her eyes shone the sad lights
+of sorrow.
+
+I bowed low before this most royal woman, who once had been my love and
+destruction, and yet knew me not.
+
+She looked up wearily, and spoke in her slow, well remembered voice:
+
+“So thou art come at length, Physician. How callest thou
+thyself?--Olympus? ‘Tis a name of promise, for surely now that the Gods
+of Egypt have deserted us, we do need aid from Olympus. Well, thou hast
+a learned air, for learning goes not with beauty. Strange, too, there is
+that about thee which recalls what I know not. Say, Olympus, have we met
+before?”
+
+“Never, O Queen, have my eyes fallen on thee in the body,” I answered
+in a feigned voice. “Never till this hour, when I come forth from my
+solitude to do thy bidding and cure thee of thy ills!”
+
+“Strange! and even in the voice--Pshaw! ‘tis some memory that I cannot
+catch. In the body, thou sayest? then, perchance, I knew thee in a
+dream?”
+
+“Ay, O Queen; we have met in dreams.”
+
+“Thou art a strange man, who talkest thus, but, if what I hear be true,
+one well learned; and, indeed, I mind me of thy counsel when thou didst
+bid me join my Lord Antony in Syria, and how things befell according to
+thy word. Skilled must thou be in the casting of nativities and in the
+law of auguries, of which these Alexandrian fools have little knowledge.
+Once I knew such another man, one Harmachis,” and she sighed: “but he is
+long dead--as I would I were also!--and at times I sorrow for him.”
+
+She paused, while I sank my head upon my breast and stood silent.
+
+“Interpret me this, Olympus. In the battle at that accursed Actium, just
+as the fight raged thickest and Victory began to smile upon us, a great
+terror seized my heart, and thick darkness seemed to fall before
+my eyes, while in my ears a voice, ay, the voice of that long dead
+Harmachis, cried ‘_Fly! fly, or perish!_’ and I fled. But from my heart
+the terror leapt to the heart of Antony, and he followed after me, and
+thus was the battle lost. Say, then, what God brought this evil thing
+about?”
+
+“Nay, O Queen,” I answered, “it was no God--for wherein hast thou
+angered the Gods of Egypt? Hast thou robbed the temples of their Faith?
+Hast thou betrayed the trust of Egypt? Having done none of these things,
+how, then, can the Gods of Egypt be wroth with thee? Fear not, it was
+nothing but some natural vapour of the mind that overcame thy gentle
+soul, made sick with the sight and sound of slaughter; and as for the
+noble Antony, where thou didst go needs must that he should follow.”
+
+And as I spoke, Cleopatra turned white and trembled, glancing at me
+the while to find my meaning. But I well knew that the thing was of the
+avenging Gods, working through me, their instrument.
+
+“Learned Olympus,” she said, not answering my words; “my Lord Antony is
+sick and crazed with grief. Like some poor hunted slave he hides himself
+in yonder sea-girt Tower and shuns mankind--yes, he shuns even me, who,
+for his sake, endure so many woes. Now, this is my bidding to thee.
+To-morrow, at the coming of the light, do thou, led by Charmion, my
+waiting-lady, take boat and row thee to the Tower and there crave entry,
+saying that ye bring tidings from the army. Then he will cause you to
+be let in, and thou, Charmion, must break this heavy news that Canidius
+bears; for Canidius himself I dare not send. And when his grief is past,
+do thou, Olympus, soothe his fevered frame with thy draughts of value,
+and his soul with honeyed words, and draw him back to me, and all will
+yet be well. Do thou this, and thou shalt have gifts more than thou
+canst count, for I am yet a Queen and yet can pay back those who serve
+my will.”
+
+“Fear not, O Queen,” I answered, “this thing shall be done, and I ask no
+reward, who have come hither to do thy bidding to the end.”
+
+So I bowed and went and, summoning Atoua, made ready a certain potion.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+OF THE DRAWING FORTH OF ANTONY FROM THE TIMONIUM BACK TO CLEOPATRA; OF
+THE FEAST MADE BY CLEOPATRA; AND OF THE MANNER OF THE DEATH OF EUDOSIUS
+THE STEWARD
+
+Ere it was yet dawn Charmion came again, and we walked to the private
+harbour of the palace. There, taking boat, we rowed to the island mount
+on which stands the Timonium, a vaulted tower, strong, small, and round.
+And, having landed, we twain came to the door and knocked, till at
+length a grating was thrown open in the door, and an aged eunuch,
+looking forth, roughly asked our business.
+
+“Our business is with the Lord Antony,” said Charmion.
+
+“Then it is no business, for Antony, my master, sees neither man nor
+woman.”
+
+“Yet will he see us, for we bring tidings. Go tell him that the Lady
+Charmion brings tidings from the army.”
+
+The man went, and presently returned.
+
+“The Lord Antony would know if the tidings be good or ill, for, if ill,
+then will he none of it, for with evil tidings he has been overfed of
+late.”
+
+“Why--why, it is both good and ill. Open, slave, I will make answer to
+thy master!” and she slipped a purse of gold through the bars.
+
+“Well, well,” he grumbled, as he took the purse, “the times are hard,
+and likely to be harder; for when the lion’s down who will feed the
+jackal? Give thy news thyself, and if it do but draw the noble Antony
+out of this hall of Groans, I care not what it be. Now the palace door
+is open, and there’s the road to the banqueting-chamber.”
+
+We passed on, to find ourselves in a narrow passage, and, leaving the
+eunuch to bar the door, advanced till we came to a curtain. Through this
+entrance we went, and found ourselves in a vaulted chamber, ill-lighted
+from the roof. On the further side of this rude chamber was a bed of
+rugs, and on them crouched the figure of a man, his face hidden in the
+folds of his toga.
+
+“Most noble Antony,” said Charmion drawing near, “unwrap thy face and
+hearken to me, for I bring thee tidings.”
+
+Then he lifted up his head. His face was marred by sorrow; his tangled
+hair, grizzled with years, hung about his hollow eyes, and white on his
+chin was the stubble of an unshaven beard. His robe was squalid, and
+his aspect more wretched than that of the poorest beggar at the temple
+gates. To this, then, had the love of Cleopatra brought the glorious and
+renowned Antony, aforetime Master of half the World!
+
+“What will ye with me, Lady,” he asked, “who would perish here alone?
+And who is this man who comes to gaze on fallen and forsaken Antony?”
+
+“This is Olympus, noble Antony, that wise physician, the skilled in
+auguries, of whom thou hast heard much, and whom Cleopatra, ever mindful
+of thy welfare, though but little thou dost think of hers, has sent to
+minister to thee.”
+
+“And, can thy physician minister to a grief such as my grief? Can his
+drugs give me back my galleys, my honour, and my peace? Nay! Away
+with thy physician! What are thy tidings?--quick!--out with it! Hath
+Canidius, perchance, conquered Cæsar? Tell me but that, and thou shalt
+have a province for thy guerdon--ay! and if Octavianus be dead, twenty
+thousand sestertia to fill its treasury. Speak--nay--speak not! I fear
+the opening of thy lips as never I feared an earthly thing. Surely the
+wheel of fortune has gone round and Canidius has conquered? Is it not
+so? Nay--out with it! I can no more!”
+
+“O noble Antony,” she said, “steel thy heart to hear that which I needs
+must tell thee! Canidius is in Alexandria. He has fled far and fast, and
+this is his report. For seven whole days did the legions wait the coming
+of Antony, to lead them to victory, as aforetime, putting aside the
+offers of the envoys of Cæsar. But Antony came not. And then it was
+rumoured that Antony had fled to Tænarus, drawn thither by Cleopatra.
+The man who first brought that tale to the camp the legionaries cried
+shame on--ay, and beat him to the death! But ever it grew, until at
+length there was no more room to doubt; and then, O Antony, thy officers
+slipped one by one away to Cæsar, and where the officers go there
+the men follow. Nor is this all the story; for thy allies--Bocchus of
+Africa, Tarcondimotus of Cilicia, Mithridates of Commagene, Adallas of
+Thrace, Philadelphus of Paphlagonia, Archelaus of Cappadocia, Herod
+of Judæa, Amyntas of Galatia, Polemon of Pontus, and Malchus of
+Arabia--all, all have fled or bid their generals fly back to whence they
+came; and already their ambassadors crave cold Cæsar’s clemency.”
+
+“Hast done thy croakings, thou raven in a peacock’s dress, or is there
+more to come?” asked the smitten man, lifting his white and trembling
+face from the shelter of his hands. “Tell me more; say that Egypt’s dead
+in all her beauty; say that Octavianus lowers at the Canopic gate; and
+that, headed by dead Cicero, all the ghosts of Hell do audibly shriek
+out the fall of Antony! Yea, gather up every woe that can o’erwhelm
+those who once were great, and loose them on the hoary head of him
+whom--in thy gentleness--thou art still pleased to name ‘the noble
+Antony’!”
+
+“Nay, my Lord, I have done.”
+
+“Ay, and so have I done--done, quite done! It is altogether finished,
+and thus I seal the end,” and snatching a sword from the couch, he
+would, indeed, have slain himself had I not sprung forward and grasped
+his hand. For it was not my purpose that he should die as yet; since had
+he died at that hour Cleopatra had made her peace with Cæsar, who rather
+wished the death of Antony than the ruin of Egypt.
+
+“Art mad, Antony? Art, indeed, a coward?” cried Charmion, “that thou
+wouldst thus escape thy woes, and leave thy partner to face the sorrow
+out alone?”
+
+“Why not, woman? Why not? She would not be long alone. There’s Cæsar
+to keep her company. Octavianus loves a fair woman in his cold way, and
+still is Cleopatra fair. Come now, thou Olympus! thou hast held my hand
+from dealing death upon myself, advise me of thy wisdom. Shall I, then,
+submit myself to Cæsar, and I, Triumvir, twice Consul, and aforetime
+absolute Monarch of all the East, endure to follow in his triumph along
+those Roman ways where I myself have passed in triumph?”
+
+“Nay, Sire,” I answered. “If thou dost yield, then art thou doomed. All
+last night I questioned of the Fates concerning thee, and I saw this:
+when thy star draws near to Cæsar’s it pales and is swallowed up; but
+when it passes from his radiance, then bright and big it shines, equal
+in glory to his own. All is not lost, and while some part remains,
+everything may be regained. Egypt can yet be held, armies can still
+be raised. Cæsar has withdrawn himself; he is not yet at the gates of
+Alexandria, and perchance may be appeased. Thy mind in its fever has
+fired thy body; thou art sick and canst not judge aright. See, here, I
+have a potion that shall make thee whole, for I am well skilled in the
+art of medicine,” and I held out the phial.
+
+“A potion, thou sayest man!” he cried. “More like it is a poison, and
+thou a murderer, sent by false Egypt, who would fain be rid of me now
+that I may no more be of service to her. The head of Antony is the peace
+offering she would send to Cæsar--she for whom I have lost all! Give me
+thy draught. By Bacchus! I will drink it, though it be the very elixir
+of Death!”
+
+“Nay, noble Antony; it is no poison, and I am no murderer. See, I will
+taste it, if thou wilt,” and I held forth the subtle drink that has the
+power to fire the veins of men.
+
+“Give it me, Physician. Desperate men are brave men. There!----Why, what
+is this? Yours is a magic draught! My sorrows seem to roll away like
+thunder-clouds before the southern gale, and the spring of Hope blooms
+fresh upon the desert of my heart. Once more I am Antony, and once again
+I see my legions’ spears asparkle in the sun, and hear the thunderous
+shout of welcome as Antony--beloved Antony--rides in pomp of war along
+his deep-formed lines! There’s hope! there’s hope! I may yet see
+the cold brows of Cæsar--that Cæsar who never errs except from
+policy--robbed of their victor bays and crowned with shameful dust!”
+
+“Ay,” cried Charmion, “there still is hope, if thou wilt but play the
+man! O my Lord! come back with us; come back to the loving arms of
+Cleopatra! All night she lies upon her golden bed, and fills the hollow
+darkness with her groans for ‘Antony!’ who, enamoured now of Grief,
+forgets his duty and his love!”
+
+“I come! I come! Shame upon me, that I dared to doubt her! Slave, bring
+water, and a purple robe: not thus can I be seen of Cleopatra. Even now
+I come.”
+
+
+
+In this fashion, then, did we draw Antony back to Cleopatra, that the
+ruin of the twain might be made sure.
+
+
+
+We led him up the Alabaster Hall and into Cleopatra’s chamber, where she
+lay, her cloudy hair about her face and breast, and tears flowing from
+her deep eyes.
+
+“O Egypt!” he cried, “behold me at thy feet!”
+
+She sprang from the couch. “And art thou here, my love?” she murmured;
+“then once again are all things well. Come near, and in these arms
+forget thy sorrows and turn my grief to joy. Oh, Antony, while love is
+left to us, still have we all!”
+
+And she fell upon his breast and kissed him wildly.
+
+
+
+That same day, Charmion came to me and bade me prepare a poison of
+the most deadly power. And this at first I would not do, fearing that
+Cleopatra would therewith make an end of Antony before his time. But
+Charmion showed me that this was not so, and told me also for what
+purpose was the poison. Therefore I summoned Atoua, the skilled in
+simples, and all that afternoon we laboured at the deadly work. And
+when it was done, Charmion came once more, bearing with her a chaplet of
+fresh roses, that she bade me steep in the poison.
+
+This then I did.
+
+That night at the great feast of Cleopatra, I sat near Antony, who was
+at her side, and wore the poisoned wreath. Now as the feast went on, the
+wine flowed fast, till Antony and the Queen grew merry. And she told him
+of her plans, and of how even now her galleys were being drawn by the
+canal that leads from Bubastis on the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, to
+Clysma at the head of the Bay of Heroopolis. For it was her design,
+should Cæsar prove stubborn, to fly with Antony and her treasure down
+the Arabian Gulf, where Cæsar had no fleet, and seek some new home in
+India, whither her foes might not follow. But, indeed, this plan came to
+nothing, for the Arabs of Petra burnt the galleys, incited thereto by
+a message sent by the Jews of Alexandria, who hated Cleopatra and were
+hated of her. For I caused the Jews to be warned of what was being done.
+
+Now, when she had made an end of telling him, the Queen called on him to
+drink a cup with her, to the success of this new scheme, bidding him, as
+she did so, steep his wreath of roses in the wine, and make the draught
+more sweet. This, then, he did, and it being done, she pledged him.
+But when he was about to pledge her back, she caught his hand, crying
+“_Hold!_” whereat he paused, wondering.
+
+Now, among the servants of Cleopatra was one Eudosius, a steward; and
+this Eudosius, seeing that the fortunes of Cleopatra were at an end, had
+laid a plan to fly that very night to Cæsar, as many of his betters
+had done, taking with him all the treasure in the palace that he could
+steal. But this design being discovered to Cleopatra, she determined to
+be avenged upon Eudosius.
+
+“Eudosius,” she cried, for the man stood near; “come hither, thou
+faithful servant! Seest thou this man, most noble Antony; through
+all our troubles he has clung to us and been of comfort to us. Now,
+therefore, he shall be rewarded according to his deserts and the measure
+of his faithfulness, and that from thine own hand. Give him thy golden
+cup of wine, and let him drink a pledge to our success; the cup shall be
+his guerdon.”
+
+And still wondering, Antony gave it to the man, who, stricken in his
+guilty mind, took it, and stood trembling. But he drank not.
+
+“Drink! thou slave; drink!” cried Cleopatra, half rising from her seat
+and flashing a fierce look on his white face. “By Serapis! so surely as
+I yet shall sit in the Capitol at Rome, if thou dost thus flout the Lord
+Antony, I’ll have thee scourged to the bones, and the red wine poured
+upon thy open wounds to heal them! _Ah!_ at length thou drinkest! Why,
+what is it, good Eudosius? art sick? Surely, then, this wine must be as
+the water of jealousy of those Jews, that has power to slay the false
+and strengthen the honest only. Go, some of you, search this man’s room;
+methinks he is a traitor!”
+
+Meanwhile the man stood, his hands to his head. Presently he began to
+tremble, and then fell, clutching at his bosom, as though to tear
+out the fire in his heart. He staggered, with livid, twisted face and
+foaming lips, to where Cleopatra lay watching him with a slow and cruel
+smile.
+
+“Ah, traitor! thou hast it now!” she said. “Prithee, is death sweet?”
+
+“Thou wanton!” yelled the dying man, “thou hast poisoned me! Thus mayst
+thou also perish!” and with one shriek he flung himself upon her. She
+saw his purpose, and swift and supple as a tiger sprang to one side,
+so that he did but grasp her royal cloak, tearing it from its emerald
+clasp. Down he fell upon the ground, rolling over and over in the purple
+chiton, till presently he lay still and dead, his tormented face and
+frozen eyes peering ghastly from its folds.
+
+“Ah!” said the Queen, with a hard laugh, “the slave died wondrous hard,
+and fain would have drawn me with him. See, he has borrowed my garment
+for a pall! Take him away and bury him in his livery.”
+
+“What means Cleopatra?” said Antony, as the guards dragged the corpse
+away; “the man drank of my cup. What is the purpose of this most sorry
+jest?”
+
+“It serves a double end, noble Antony! This very night that man would
+have fled to Octavianus, bearing of our treasure with him. Well, I have
+lent him wings, for the dead fly fast! Also this: thou didst fear that
+I should poison thee, my Lord; nay, I know it. See now, Antony, how easy
+it were that I should slay thee if I had the will. That wreath of roses
+which thou didst steep within the cup is dewed with deadly bane. Had
+I, then, a mind to make an end of thee, I had not stayed thy hand. O
+Antony, henceforth trust me! Sooner would I slay myself than harm one
+hair of thy beloved head! See, here come my messengers! Speak, what did
+ye find?”
+
+“Royal Egypt, we found this. All things in the chamber of Eudosius are
+made ready for flight, and in his baggage is much treasure.”
+
+“Thou hearest?” she said, smiling darkly. “Think ye, my loyal servants
+all, that Cleopatra is one with whom it is well to play the traitor? Be
+warned by this Roman’s fate!”
+
+
+
+Then a great silence of fear fell upon the company, and Antony sat also
+silent.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+OF THE WORKINGS OF THE LEARNED OLYMPUS AT MEMPHIS; OF THE POISONINGS OF
+CLEOPATRA; OF THE SPEECH OF ANTONY TO HIS CAPTAINS; AND OF THE PASSING
+OF ISIS FROM THE LAND OF KHEM
+
+Now I, Harmachis, must make speed with my task, setting down that which
+is permitted as shortly as may be, and leaving much untold. For of this
+I am warned, that Doom draws on and my days are wellnigh sped. After the
+drawing forth of Antony from the Timonium came that time of heavy quiet
+which heralds the rising of the desert wind. Antony and Cleopatra
+once again gave themselves up to luxury, and night by night feasted in
+splendour at the palace. They sent ambassadors to Cæsar; but Cæsar would
+have none of them; and, this hope being gone, they turned their minds
+to the defence of Alexandria. Men were gathered, ships were built, and a
+great force was made ready against the coming of Cæsar.
+
+And now, aided by Charmion, I began my last work of hate and vengeance.
+I wormed myself deep into the secrets of the palace, counselling all
+things for evil. I bade Cleopatra keep Antony gay, lest he should brood
+upon his sorrows: and thus she sapped his strength and energy with
+luxury and wine. I gave him of my draughts--draughts that sank his
+soul in dreams of happiness and power, leaving him to wake to a heavier
+misery. Soon, without my healing medicine he could not sleep, and thus,
+being ever at his side, I bound his weakened will to mine, till at last
+he would do little if I said not “It is well.” Cleopatra, also grown
+very superstitious, leaned much upon me; for I prophesied falsely to her
+in secret.
+
+Moreover, I wove other webs. My fame was great throughout Egypt, for
+during the long years that I had dwelt in Tápé it had spread through all
+the land. Therefore many men of note came to me, both for their health’s
+sake and because it was known that I had the ear of Antony and the
+Queen; and, in these days of doubt and trouble, they were fain to learn
+the truth. All these men I worked upon with doubtful words, sapping
+their loyalty; and I caused many to fall away, and yet none could bear
+an evil report of what I had said. Also, Cleopatra sent me to Memphis,
+there to move the Priests and Governors that they should gather men in
+Upper Egypt for the defence of Alexandria. And I went and spoke to the
+priests with such a double meaning and with so much wisdom that they
+knew me to be one of the initiated in the deeper mysteries. But how I,
+Olympus the physician, came thus to be initiated none might say. And
+afterwards they sought me secretly, and I gave them the holy sign of
+brotherhood; and thereunder bade them not to ask who I might be, but
+send no aid to Cleopatra. Rather, I said, must they make peace with
+Cæsar, for by Cæsar’s grace only could the worship of the Gods endure in
+Khem. So, having taken counsel of the Holy Apis, they promised in public
+to give help to Cleopatra, but in secret sent an embassy to Cæsar.
+
+Thus, then, it came to pass that Egypt gave but little aid to its hated
+Macedonian Queen. Thence from Memphis I came once more to Alexandria,
+and, having made favourable report, continued my secret work. And,
+indeed, the Alexandrians could not easily be stirred, for, as they say
+in the marketplace, “The ass looks at its burden and is blind to its
+master.” Cleopatra had oppressed them so long that the Roman was like a
+welcome friend.
+
+Thus the time passed on, and every night found Cleopatra with fewer
+friends than that which had gone before, for in evil days friends fly
+like swallows before the frost. Yet she would not give up Antony, whom
+she loved; though to my knowledge Cæsar, by his freedman, Thyreus, made
+promise to her of her dominions for herself and for her children if she
+would but slay Antony, or even betray him bound. But to this her woman’s
+heart--for still she had a heart--would not consent, and, moreover, we
+counselled her against it, for of necessity we must hold him to her,
+lest, Antony escaping or being slain, Cleopatra might ride out the storm
+and yet be Queen of Egypt. And this grieved me, because Antony, though
+weak, was still a brave man, and a great; and, moreover, in my own heart
+I read the lesson of his woes. For were we not akin in wretchedness? Had
+not the same woman robbed us of Empire, Friends, and Honour? But pity
+has no place in politics, nor could it turn my feet from the path of
+vengeance it was ordained that I should tread. Cæsar drew nigh; Pelusium
+fell; the end was at hand. It was Charmion who brought the tidings to
+the Queen and Antony, as they slept in the heat of the day, and I came
+with her.
+
+“Awake!” she cried. “Awake! This is no time for sleep! Seleucus hath
+surrendered Pelusium to Cæsar, who marches straight on Alexandria!”
+
+With a great oath, Antony sprang up and clutched Cleopatra by the arm.
+
+“Thou hast betrayed me--by the Gods I swear it! Now thou shalt pay the
+price!” And snatching up his sword he drew it.
+
+“Stay thy hand, Antony!” she cried. “It is false--I know naught of
+this!” And she sprang upon him, and clung about his neck, weeping. “I
+know naught, my Lord. Take thou the wife of Seleucus and his little
+children, whom I hold in guard, and avenge thyself. O Antony, Antony!
+why dost thou doubt me?”
+
+Then Antony threw down his sword upon the marble, and, casting himself
+upon the couch, hid his face, and groaned in bitterness of spirit.
+
+But Charmion smiled, for it was she who had sent secretly to Seleucus,
+her friend, counselling him to surrender forthwith, saying that no fight
+would be made at Alexandria. And that very night Cleopatra took all her
+great store of pearls and emeralds--those that remained of the treasure
+of Menkau-ra--all her wealth of gold, ebony, ivory, and cinnamon,
+treasure without price, and placed it in the mausoleum of granite which,
+after our Egyptian fashion, she had built upon the hill that is by the
+Temple of the Holy Isis. These riches she piled up upon a bed of flax,
+that, when she fired it, all might perish in the flame and escape the
+greed of money-loving Octavianus. And she slept henceforth in this tomb,
+away from Antony; but in the daytime she still saw him at the palace.
+
+But a little while after, when Cæsar with all his great force
+had already crossed the Caponic mouth of the Nile and was hard on
+Alexandria, I came to the palace, whither Cleopatra had summoned me.
+There I found her in the Alabaster Hall, royally clad, a wild light in
+her eyes, and, with her, Iras and Charmion, and before her guards; and
+stretched here and there upon the marble, bodies of dead men, among whom
+lay one yet dying.
+
+“Greeting, thou Olympus!” she cried. “Here is a sight to glad a
+physician’s heart--men dead and men sick unto death!”
+
+“What doest thou, O Queen?” I said affrighted.
+
+“What do I? I wreak justice on these criminals and traitors; and,
+Olympus, I learn the ways of death. I have caused six different poisons
+to be given to these slaves, and with an attentive eye have watched
+their working. That man,” and she pointed to a Nubian, “he went mad, and
+raved of his native deserts and his mother. He thought himself a child
+again, poor fool! and bade her hold him close to her breast and save
+him from the darkness which drew near. And that Greek, he shrieked, and,
+shrieking, died. And this, he wept and prayed for pity, and in the end,
+like a coward, breathed his last. Now, note the Egyptian yonder, he who
+still lives and groans; first he took the draught--the deadliest draught
+of all, they swore--and yet the slave so dearly loves his life he will
+not leave it! See, he yet strives to throw the poison from him; twice
+have I given him the cup and yet he is athirst. What a drunkard we have
+here! Man, man, knowest thou not that in death only can peace be found?
+Struggle no more, but enter into rest.” And even as she spoke, the man,
+with a great cry, gave up the spirit.
+
+“There!” she cried, “at length the farce is played--away with those
+slaves whom I have forced through the difficult gates of Joy!” and she
+clapped her hands. But when they had borne the bodies thence she drew me
+to her, and spoke thus:
+
+“Olympus, for all thy prophecies, the end is at hand. Cæsar must
+conquer, and I and my Lord Antony be lost. Now, therefore, the play
+being wellnigh done, I must make ready to leave this stage of earth in
+such fashion as becomes a Queen. For this cause, then, I do make trial
+of these poisons, seeing that in my person I must soon endure those
+agonies of death that to-day I give to others. These drugs please me
+not; some wrench out the soul with cruel pains, and some too slowly work
+their end. But thou art skilled in the medicines of death. Now, do thou
+prepare me such a draught as shall, pangless, steal my life away.”
+
+And as I listened the sense of triumph filled my bitter heart, for
+I knew now that by my own hand should this ruined woman die and the
+justice of the Gods be done.
+
+“Spoken like a Queen, O Cleopatra!” I said. “Death shall cure thy ills,
+and I will brew such a wine as shall draw him down a sudden friend and
+sink thee in a sea of slumber whence, upon this earth, thou shalt never
+wake again. Oh! fear not Death: Death is thy hope; and, surely, thou
+shalt pass sinless and pure of heart into the dreadful presence of the
+Gods!”
+
+She trembled. “And if the heart be not altogether pure, tell me--thou
+dark man--what then? Nay, I fear not the Gods! for if the Gods of Hell
+be men, there I shall Queen it also. At the least, having once been
+royal, royal I shall ever be.”
+
+And, as she spoke, suddenly from the palace gates came a great clamour,
+and the noise of joyful shouting.
+
+“Why, what is this?” she said, springing from her couch.
+
+“Antony! Antony!” rose the cry; “Antony hath conquered!”
+
+She turned swiftly and ran, her long hair streaming on the wind. I
+followed her, more slowly, down the great hall, across the courtyards,
+to the palace gates. And here she met Antony, riding through them,
+radiant with smiles and clad in his Roman armour. When he saw her
+he leapt to the ground, and, all armed as he was, clasped her to his
+breast.
+
+“What is it?” she cried; “is Cæsar fallen?”
+
+“Nay, not altogether fallen, Egypt: but we have beat his horsemen back
+to their trenches, and, like the beginning, so shall be the end, for,
+as they say here, ‘Where the head goes, the tail will follow.’ Moreover,
+Cæsar has my challenge, and if he will but meet me hand to hand, the
+world shall soon see which is the better man, Antony or Octavian.”
+ And even as he spoke and the people cheered there came the cry of “A
+messenger from Cæsar!”
+
+The herald entered, and, bowing low, gave a writing to Antony, bowed
+again, and went. Cleopatra snatched it from his hand, broke the silk and
+read aloud:
+
+“Cæsar to Antony, greeting.
+
+“This answer to thy challenge: Can Antony find no better way of death
+than beneath the sword of Cæsar? Farewell!”
+
+And thereafter they cheered no more.
+
+
+
+The darkness came, and before it was midnight, having feasted with his
+friends who to-night went over his woes and to-morrow should betray him,
+Antony went forth to the gathering of the captains of the land-forces
+and of the fleet, attended by many, among whom was I.
+
+When all were come together, he spoke to them, standing bareheaded in
+their midst, beneath the radiance of the moon. And thus he most nobly
+spoke:
+
+“Friends and companions in arms! who yet cling to me, and whom many a
+time I have led to victory, hearken to me now, who to-morrow may lie in
+the dumb dust, disempired and dishonoured. This is our design: no
+longer will we hang on poised wings above the flood of war, but will
+straightway plunge, perchance thence to snatch the victor’s diadem, or,
+failing, there to drown. Be now but true to me, and to your honour’s
+sake, and you may still sit, the most proud of men, at my right hand in
+the Capitol of Rome. Fail me now, and the cause of Antony is lost and so
+are ye. To-morrow’s battle must be hazardous indeed, but we have stood
+many a time and faced a fiercer peril, and ere the sun had sunk, once
+more have driven armies like desert sands before our gale of valour and
+counted the spoil of hostile kings. What have we to fear? Though allies
+be fled, still is our array as strong as Cæsar’s! And show we but as
+high a heart, why, I swear to you, upon my princely word, to-morrow
+night I shall deck yonder Canopic gate with the heads of Octavian and
+his captains!
+
+“Ay, cheer, and cheer again! I love that martial music which swells,
+not as from the indifferent lips of clarions, now ‘neath the breath of
+Antony and now of Cæsar, but rather out of the single hearts of men who
+love me. Yet--and now I will speak low, as we do speak o’er the bier of
+some beloved dead--yet, if Fortune should rise against me and if, borne
+down by the weight of arms, Antony, the soldier, dies a soldier’s death,
+leaving you to mourn him who ever was your friend, this is my will,
+that, after our rough fashion of the camp, I here declare to you. You
+know where all my treasure lies. Take it, most dear friends; and, in the
+memory of Antony, make just division. Then go to Cæsar and speak thus:
+‘Antony, the dead, to Cæsar, the living, sends greeting; and, in the
+name of ancient fellowship and of many a peril dared, craves this boon:
+the safety of those who clung to him and that which he hath given them.’
+
+“Nay, let not my tears--for I must weep--overflow your eyes! Why, it is
+not manly; ‘tis most womanish! All men must die, and death were welcome
+were it not so lone. Should I fall, I leave my children to your
+tender care--if, perchance, it may avail to save them from the fate
+of helplessness. Soldiers, enough! to-morrow at the dawn we spring on
+Cæsar’s throat, both by land and sea. Swear that ye will cling to me,
+even to the last issue!”
+
+“We swear!” they cried. “Noble Antony, we swear!”
+
+“It is well! Once more my star grows bright; to-morrow, set in the
+highest heaven, it yet may shine the lamp of Cæsar down! Till then,
+farewell!”
+
+He turned to go. As he went they caught his hand and kissed it; and so
+deeply were they moved that many wept like children; nor could Antony
+master his grief, for, in the moonlight, I saw tears roll down his
+furrowed cheeks and fall upon that mighty breast.
+
+And, seeing all this, I was much troubled. For I well knew that if these
+men held firm to Antony all might yet go well for Cleopatra; and though
+I bore no ill-will against Antony, yet he must fall, and in that fall
+drag down the woman who, like some poisonous plant, had twined herself
+about his giant strength till it choked and mouldered in her embrace.
+
+Therefore, when Antony went I went not, but stood back in the shadow
+watching the faces of the lords and captains as they spoke together.
+
+“Then it is agreed!” said he who should lead the fleet. “And this we
+swear to, one and all, that we will cling to noble Antony to the last
+extremity of fortune!”
+
+“Ay! ay!” they answered.
+
+“Ay! ay!” I said, speaking from the shadow; “cling, and _die!_”
+
+They turned fiercely and seized me.
+
+“Who is he?” quoth one.
+
+“‘Tis that dark-faced dog, Olympus!” cried another. “Olympus, the
+magician!”
+
+“Olympus, the traitor!” growled another; “put an end to him and his
+magic!” and he drew his sword.
+
+“Ay! slay him; he would betray the Lord Antony, whom he is paid to
+doctor.”
+
+“Hold a while!” I said in a slow and solemn voice, “and beware how ye
+try to murder the servant of the Gods. I am no traitor. For myself,
+I abide the event here in Alexandria, but to you I say, Flee, flee to
+Cæsar! I serve Antony and the Queen--I serve them truly; but above all
+I serve the Holy Gods; and what they make known to me, that, Lords, I do
+know. And I know this: that Antony is doomed, and Cleopatra is doomed,
+for Cæsar conquers. Therefore, because I honour you, noble gentlemen,
+and think with pity on your wives, left widowed, and your little
+fatherless children, that shall, if ye hold to Antony, be sold as
+slaves--therefore, I say, cling to Antony if ye will and die; or flee
+to Cæsar and be saved! And this I say because it is so ordained of the
+Gods.”
+
+“The Gods!” they growled; “what Gods? Slit the traitor’s throat, and
+stop his ill-omened talk!”
+
+“Let him show us a sign from his Gods or let him die: I do mistrust this
+man,” said another.
+
+“Stand back, ye fools!” I cried. “Stand back--free mine arms--and I will
+show you a sign;” and there was that in my face which frightened them,
+for they freed me and stood back. Then I lifted up my hands and putting
+out all my strength of soul searched the depths of space till my Spirit
+communed with the Spirit of my Mother Isis. Only the Word of Power I
+uttered not, as I had been bidden. And the holy mystery of the Goddess
+answered to my Spirit’s cry, falling in awful silence upon the face of
+the earth. Deeper and deeper grew the terrible silence; even the dogs
+ceased to howl, and in the city men stood still afeared. Then, from far
+away, there came the ghostly music of the sistra. Faint it was at first,
+but ever as it came it grew more loud, till the air shivered with the
+unearthly sound of terror. I said naught, but pointed with my hand
+toward the sky. And behold! bosomed upon the air, floated a vast veiled
+Shape that, heralded by the swelling music of the sistra, drew slowly
+near, till its shadow lay upon us. It came, it passed, it went toward
+the camp of Cæsar, till at length the music died away, and the awful
+Shape was swallowed in the night.
+
+“It is Bacchus!” cried one. “Bacchus, who leaves lost Antony!” and, as
+he spoke, there rose a groan of terror from all the camp.
+
+But I knew that it was not Bacchus, the false God, but the Divine Isis
+who deserted Khem, and, passing over the edge of the world, sought her
+home in space, to be no more known of men. For though her worship is
+still upheld, though still she is here and in all Earths, Isis manifests
+herself no more in Egypt. I hid my face and prayed, but when I lifted it
+from my robe, lo! all had fled and I was alone.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+OF THE SURRENDER OF THE TROOPS AND FLEET OF ANTONY BEFORE THE CANOPIC
+GATE; OF THE END OF ANTONY, AND OF THE BREWING OF THE DRAUGHT OF DEATH
+
+On the morrow, at dawn, Antony came forth and gave command that his
+fleet should advance against the fleet of Cæsar, and that his cavalry
+should open the land-battle with the cavalry of Cæsar. Accordingly, the
+fleet advanced in a triple line, and the fleet of Cæsar came out to
+meet it. But when they met, the galleys of Antony lifted their oars in
+greeting, and passed over to the galleys of Cæsar; and they sailed away
+together. And the cavalry of Antony rode forth beyond the Hippodrome
+to charge the cavalry of Cæsar; but when they met, they lowered their
+swords and passed over to the camp of Cæsar, deserting Antony. Then
+Antony grew mad with rage and terrible to see. He shouted to his legions
+to stand firm and wait attack; and for a little while they stood.
+One man, however--that same officer who would have slain me on the
+yesternight--strove to fly; but Antony seized him with his own hand,
+threw him to the earth, and, springing from his horse, drew his sword to
+slay him. He held his sword on high, while the man, covering his face,
+awaited death. But Antony dropped his sword and bade him rise.
+
+“Go!” he said. “Go to Cæsar, and prosper! I did love thee once. Why,
+then, among so many traitors, should I single thee out for death?”
+
+The man rose and looked upon him sorrowfully. Then, shame overwhelming
+him, with a great cry he tore open his shirt of mail, plunged his sword
+into his own heart and fell down dead. Antony stood and gazed at him,
+but he said never a word. Meanwhile the ranks of Cæsar’s legions drew
+near, and so soon as they crossed spears the legions of Antony turned
+and fled. Then the soldiers of Cæsar stood still mocking them; but
+scarce a man was slain, for they pursued not.
+
+“Fly, Lord Antony! fly!” cried Eros, his servant, who alone with me
+stayed by him. “Fly ere thou art dragged a prisoner to Cæsar!”
+
+So he turned and fled, groaning heavily. I went with him, and as we rode
+through the Canopic gate, where many folk stood wondering, Antony spoke
+to me:
+
+“Go, thou, Olympus; go to the Queen and say: ‘Antony sends greeting to
+Cleopatra, who hath betrayed him! To Cleopatra he sends greeting and
+farewell!’”
+
+And so I went to the tomb, but Antony fled to the palace. When I came
+to the tomb I knocked upon the door, and Charmion looked forth from the
+window.
+
+“Open,” I cried, and she opened.
+
+“What news, Harmachis?” she whispered.
+
+“Charmion,” I said, “the end is at hand. Antony is fled!”
+
+“It is well,” she answered; “I am aweary.”
+
+And there on her golden bed sat Cleopatra.
+
+“Speak, man!” she cried.
+
+“Antony has fled, his forces are fled, Cæsar draws near. To Cleopatra
+the great Antony sends greeting and farewell. Greeting to Cleopatra who
+betrayed him, and farewell.”
+
+“It is a lie!” she screamed; “I betrayed him not! Thou, Olympus, go
+swiftly to Antony and answer thus: ‘To Antony, Cleopatra, who hath not
+betrayed him, sends greeting and farewell. Cleopatra is no more.’”
+
+And so I went, following out my purpose. In the Alabaster Hall I found
+Antony pacing to and fro, tossing his hands toward heaven, and with him
+Eros, for of all his servants Eros alone remained by this fallen man.
+
+“Lord Antony,” I said, “Egypt bids thee farewell. Egypt is dead by her
+own hand.”
+
+“Dead! dead!” he whispered, “and is Egypt dead? and is that form of
+glory now food for worms? Oh, what a woman was this! E’en now my heart
+goes out towards her. And shall she outdo me at the last, I who have
+been so great; shall I become so small that a woman can overtop my
+courage and pass where I fear to follow? Eros, thou hast loved me from a
+boy--mindest thou how I found thee starving in the desert, and made thee
+rich, giving thee place and wealth? Come, now pay me back. Draw that
+sword thou wearest and make an end of the woes of Antony.”
+
+“Oh, Sire,” cried the Greek, “I cannot! How can I take away the life of
+godlike Antony?”
+
+“Answer me not, Eros; but in the last extreme of fate this I charge
+thee. Do thou my bidding, or begone and leave me quite alone! No more
+will I see thy face, thou unfaithful servant!”
+
+Then Eros drew his sword and Antony knelt before him and bared his
+breast, turning his eyes to heaven. But Eros, crying “I cannot! oh, I
+cannot!” plunged the sword to his own heart, and fell dead.
+
+Antony rose and gazed upon him. “Why, Eros, that was nobly done,” he
+said. “Thou art greater than I, yet I have learned thy lesson!” and he
+knelt down and kissed him.
+
+Then, rising of a sudden, he drew the sword from the heart of Eros,
+plunged it into his bowels, and fell, groaning, on the couch.
+
+“O thou, Olympus,” he cried, “this pain is more than I can bear! Make an
+end of me, Olympus!”
+
+But pity stirred me, and I could not do this thing.
+
+Therefore I drew the sword from his vitals, staunched the flow of blood,
+and, calling to those who came crowding in to see Antony die, I bade
+them summon Atoua from my house at the palace gates. Presently she came,
+bringing with her simples and life-giving draughts. These I gave to
+Antony, and bade Atoua go with such speed as her old limbs might to
+Cleopatra, in the tomb, and tell her of the state of Antony.
+
+So she went, and after a while returned, saying that the Queen yet lived
+and summoned Antony to die in her arms. And with her came Diomedes. When
+Antony heard, his ebbing strength came back, for he was fain to look
+upon Cleopatra’s face again. So I called to the slaves--who peeped and
+peered through curtains and from behind pillars to see this great man
+die--and together, with much toil, we bore him thence till we came to
+the foot of the Mausoleum.
+
+But Cleopatra, being afraid of treachery, would no more throw wide the
+door; so she let down a rope from the window and we made it fast
+beneath the arms of Antony. Then did Cleopatra, who the while wept most
+bitterly, together with Charmion and Iras the Greek, pull on the rope
+with all their strength, while we lifted from below till the dying
+Antony swung in the air, groaning heavily, and the blood dropped from
+his gaping wound. Twice he nearly fell to earth: but Cleopatra, striving
+with the strength of love and of despair, held him till at length she
+drew him through the windowplace, while all who saw the dreadful sight
+wept bitterly, and beat their breasts--all save myself and Charmion.
+
+When he was in, once more the rope was let down, and, with some aid from
+Charmion, I climbed into the tomb, drawing up the rope after me. There I
+found Antony, laid upon the golden bed of Cleopatra; and she, her breast
+bare, her face stained with tears, and her hair streaming wildly about
+him, knelt at his side and kissed him, wiping the blood from his wounds
+with her robes and hair. And let all my shame be written: as I stood
+and watched her the old love awoke once more within me, and mad jealousy
+raged in my heart because--though I could destroy these twain--I could
+not destroy their love.
+
+“O Antony! my Sweet, my Husband, and my God!” she moaned. “Cruel Antony,
+hast thou the heart to die and leave me to my lonely shame? I will
+follow thee swiftly to the grave. Antony, awake! awake!”
+
+He lifted up his head and called for wine, which I gave him, mixing
+therein a draught that might allay his pain, for it was great. And when
+he had drunk he bade Cleopatra lie down on the bed beside him, and put
+her arms about him; and this she did. Then was Antony once more a man;
+for, forgetting his own misery and pain, he counselled her as to her own
+safety: but to this talk she would not listen.
+
+“The hour is short,” she said; “let us speak of this great love of ours
+that hath been so long and may yet endure beyond the coasts of Death.
+Mindest thou that night when first thou didst put thine arms about me
+and call me ‘Love’? Oh! happy, happy night! Having known that night it
+is well to have lived--even to this bitter end!”
+
+“Ay, Egypt, I mind it well and dwell upon its memory, though from that
+hour fortune has fled from me--lost in my depth of love for thee, thou
+Beautiful. I mind it!” he gasped; “then didst thou drink the pearl
+in wanton play, and then did that astrologer of thine call out his
+hour--‘The hour of the coming of the curse of Menkau-ra.’ Through all
+the after-days those words have haunted me, and now at the last they
+ring in my ears.”
+
+“He is long dead, my love,” she whispered.
+
+“If he be dead, then I am near him. What meant he?”
+
+“He is dead, the accursed man!--no more of him! Oh! turn and kiss me,
+for thy face grows white. The end is near!”
+
+He kissed her on the lips, and for a little while so they stayed, to
+the moment of death, babbling their passion in each other’s ears, like
+lovers newly wed. Even to my jealous heart, it was a strange and awful
+thing to see.
+
+
+
+Presently, I saw the Change of Death gather on his face. His head fell
+back.
+
+“Farewell, Egypt; farewell!--I die!”
+
+Cleopatra lifted herself upon her hands, gazed wildly on his ashen face,
+and then, with a great cry, she sank back swooning.
+
+
+
+But Antony yet lived, though the power of speech had left him. Then
+I drew near and, kneeling, made pretence to minister to him. And as I
+ministered I whispered in his ear:
+
+“Antony,” I whispered, “Cleopatra was my love before she passed from me
+to thee. I am Harmachis, that astrologer who stood behind thy couch at
+Tarsus; and I have been the chief minister of thy ruin.
+
+“_Die, Antony!--the curse of Menkau-ra hath fallen!_”
+
+He raised himself, and stared upon my face. He could not speak, but,
+gibbering, he pointed at me. Then with a groan his spirit fled.
+
+Thus did I accomplish my revenge upon Roman Antony, the World-loser.
+
+
+
+Thereafter, we recovered Cleopatra from her swoon, for not yet was
+I minded that she should die. And taking the body of Antony, Cæsar
+permitting, I and Atoua caused it to be most skilfully embalmed after
+our Egyptian fashion, covering the face with a mask of gold fashioned
+like to the features of Antony. Also I wrote upon his breast his name
+and titles, and painted his name and the name of his father within his
+inner coffin, and drew the form of the Holy Nout folding her wings about
+him.
+
+Then with great pomp Cleopatra laid him in that sepulchre which had been
+made ready, and in a sarcophagus of alabaster. Now, this sarcophagus was
+fashioned so large that place was left in it for a second coffin, for
+Cleopatra would lie by Antony at the last.
+
+These things then happened. And but a little while after I learned
+tidings from one Cornelius Dolabella, a noble Roman who waited upon
+Cæsar, and, moved by the beauty that swayed the souls of all who looked
+upon her, had pity for the woes of Cleopatra. He bade me warn her--for,
+as her physician, it was allowed me to pass in and out of the tomb where
+she dwelt--that in three days she would be sent away to Rome, together
+with her children, save Cæsarion, whom Octavian had already slain, that
+she might walk in the triumph of Cæsar. Accordingly I went in, and found
+her sitting, as now she always sat, plunged in a half stupor, and before
+her that blood-stained robe with which she had staunched the wounds of
+Antony. For on this she would continually feast her eyes.
+
+“See how faint they grow, Olympus,” she said, lifting her sad face and
+pointing to the rusty stains, “and he so lately dead! Why, Gratitude
+could not fade more fast. What is now thy news? Evil tidings is writ
+large in those dark eyes of thine, which ever bring back to me something
+that still slips my mind.”
+
+“The news is ill, O Queen,” I answered. “I have this from the lips of
+Dolabella, who has it straight from Cæsar’s secretary. On the third day
+from now Cæsar will send thee and the Princes Ptolemy and Alexander and
+the Princess Cleopatra to Rome, there to feast the eyes of the Roman
+mob, and be led in triumph to that Capitol where thou didst swear to set
+thy throne!”
+
+“Never, never!” she cried, springing to her feet. “Never will I walk in
+chains in Cæsar’s triumph! What must I do? Charmion, tell me what I can
+do!”
+
+And Charmion, rising, stood before her, looking at her through the long
+lashes of her downcast eyes.
+
+“Lady, thou canst die,” she said quietly.
+
+“Ay, of a truth I had forgotten; I can die. Olympus, hast thou the
+drug?”
+
+“Nay; but if the Queen wills it, by to-morrow morn it shall be brewed--a
+drug so swift and strong that not the Gods themselves can hold him who
+drinks it back from sleep.”
+
+“Let it be made ready, thou Master of Death!”
+
+I bowed, and withdrew myself; and all that night I and old Atoua
+laboured at the distilling of the deadly draught. At length it was done,
+and Atoua poured it into a crystal phial, and held it to the light of
+the fire; for it was white as the purest water.
+
+“_La! la!_” she sang, in her shrill voice; “a drink for a Queen! When
+fifty drops of that water of my brewing have passed those red lips of
+hers, thou wilt indeed be avenged of Cleopatra, O Harmachis! Ah, that
+I could be there to see thy Ruin ruined! _La! la!_ it would be sweet to
+see!”
+
+“Vengeance is an arrow that oft-times falls upon the archer’s head,” I
+answered, bethinking me of Charmion’s saying.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+OF THE LAST SUPPER OF CLEOPATRA; OF THE SONG OF CHARMION; OF THE
+DRINKING OF THE DRAUGHT OF DEATH; OF THE REVEALING OF HARMACHIS; OF THE
+SUMMONING OF THE SPIRITS BY HARMACHIS; AND OF THE DEATH OF CLEOPATRA
+
+On the morrow Cleopatra, having sought leave of Cæsar, visited the tomb
+of Antony, crying that the Gods of Egypt had deserted her. And when she
+had kissed the coffin and covered it with lotus-flowers she came back,
+bathed, anointed herself, put on her most splendid robes, and, together
+with Iras, Charmion, and myself, she supped. Now as she supped her
+spirit flared up wildly, even as the sky lights up at sunset; and once
+more she laughed and sparkled as in bygone years, telling us tales of
+feasts which she and Antony had eaten of. Never, indeed, did I see her
+look more beauteous than on that last fatal night of vengeance. And thus
+her mind drew on to that supper at Tarsus when she drank the pearl.
+
+“Strange,” she said; “strange that at the last the mind of Antony should
+have turned back to that night among all the nights and to the saying of
+Harmachis. Charmion, dost thou remember Harmachis the Egyptian?”
+
+“Surely, O Queen,” she answered slowly.
+
+“And who, then, was Harmachis?” I asked; for I would learn if she
+sorrowed o’er my memory.
+
+“I will tell thee. It is a strange tale, and now that all is done it may
+well be told. This Harmachis was of the ancient race of the Pharaohs,
+and, having, indeed, been crowned in secret at Abydus, was sent hither
+to Alexandria to carry out a great plot that had been formed against the
+rule of us royal Lagidæ. He came and gained entry to the palace as my
+astrologer, for he was very learned in all magic--much as thou art,
+Olympus--and a man beautiful to see. Now this was his plot--that he
+should slay me and be named Pharaoh. In truth it was a strong one, for
+he had many friends in Egypt, and I had few. And on that very night when
+he should carry out his purpose, yea, at the very hour, came Charmion
+yonder, and told the plot to me; saying that she had chanced upon its
+clue. But, in after days--though I have said little thereon to thee,
+Charmion--I misdoubted me much of that tale of thine; for, by the Gods!
+to this hour I believe that thou didst love Harmachis, and because he
+scorned thee thou didst betray him; and for that cause also hast all thy
+days remained a maid, which is a thing unnatural. Come, Charmion, tell
+us; for naught matters now at the end.”
+
+Charmion shivered and made answer: “It is true, O Queen; I also was of
+the plot, and because Harmachis scorned me I betrayed him; and because
+of my great love for him I have remained unwed.” And she glanced up at
+me and caught my eyes, then let the modest lashes veil her own.
+
+“So! I thought it. Strange are the ways of women! But little cause,
+methinks, had that Harmachis to thank thee for thy love. What sayest
+thou, Olympus? Ah, and so thou also wast a traitor, Charmion? How
+dangerous are the paths which Monarchs tread! Well, I forgive thee, for
+thou hast served me faithfully since that hour.
+
+“But to my tale. Harmachis I dared not slay, lest his great party should
+rise in fury and cast me from the throne. And now mark the issue. Though
+he must murder me, in secret this Harmachis loved me, and something
+thereof I guessed. I had striven a little to draw him to me, for the
+sake of his beauty and his wit; and for the love of man Cleopatra never
+strove in vain. Therefore when, with the dagger in his robe, he came
+to slay me, I matched my charms against his will, and need I tell you,
+being man and woman, how I won? Oh, never can I forget the look in
+the eyes of that fallen prince, that forsworn priest, that discrowned
+Pharaoh, when, lost in the poppied draught, I saw him sink into
+a shameful sleep whence he might no more wake with honour! And,
+thereafter--till, in the end, I wearied of him, and his sad learned
+mind, for his guilty soul forbade him to be gay--a little I came to care
+for him, though not to love. But he--he who loved me--clung to me as a
+drunkard to the cup which ruins him. Deeming that I should wed him,
+he betrayed to me the secret of the hidden wealth of the pyramid of
+_Her_--for at the time I much needed treasure--and together we dared the
+terrors of the tomb and drew it forth, even from dead Pharaoh’s breast.
+See, this emerald was a part thereof!”--and she pointed to the great
+scarabæus that she had drawn from the holy heart of Menkau-ra.
+
+“And because of what was written in the tomb, and of that Thing which
+we saw in the tomb--ah, pest upon it! why does its memory haunt me
+now?--and also because of policy, for I would fain have won the love
+of the Egyptians, I was minded to marry this Harmachis and declare his
+place and lineage to the world--ay, and by his aid hold Egypt from the
+Roman. For Dellius had then come to call me to Antony, and after much
+thought I determined to send him back with sharp words. But on that very
+morning, as I tired me for the Court, came Charmion yonder, and I told
+her this, for I would see how the matter fell upon her mind. Now mark,
+Olympus, the power of jealousy, that little wedge which yet has strength
+to rend the tree of Empire, that secret sword which can carve the fate
+of Kings! This she could in no wise bear--deny it, Charmion, if thou
+canst, for now it is clear to me!--that the man she loved should be
+given to me as husband--me, whom _he_ loved! And therefore, with more
+skill and wit than I can tell, she reasoned with me, showing that I
+should by no means do this thing, but journey to Antony; and for that,
+Charmion, I thank thee, now that all is come and gone. And by a very
+little, her words weighed down my scale of judgment against Harmachis,
+and I went to Antony. Thus it is through the jealous spleen of yonder
+fair Charmion and the passion of a man on which I played as on a lyre,
+that all these things have come to pass. For this cause Octavian sits
+a King in Alexandria; for this cause Antony is discrowned and dead; and
+for this cause I, too, must die to-night! Ah! Charmion! Charmion! thou
+hast much to answer, for thou hast changed the story of the world; and
+yet, even now--I would not have it otherwise!”
+
+She paused awhile, covering her eyes with her hand; and, looking, I saw
+great tears upon the cheek of Charmion.
+
+“And of this Harmachis,” I asked; “where is he now, O Queen?”
+
+“Where is he? In Amenti, forsooth--making his peace with Isis,
+perchance. At Tarsus I saw Antony, and loved him; and from that moment I
+loathed the sight of the Egyptian, and swore to make an end of him; for
+a lover done with should be a lover dead. And, being jealous, he spoke
+some words of evil omen, even at that Feast of the Pearl; and on the
+same night I would have slain him, but before the deed was done, he was
+gone.”
+
+“And whither was he gone?”
+
+“Nay; that know not I. Brennus--he who led my guard, and last year
+sailed North to join his own people--Brennus swore he saw him float to
+the skies; but in this matter I misdoubted me of Brennus, for methinks
+he loved the man. Nay, he sank off Cyprus, and was drowned; perchance
+Charmion can tell us how?”
+
+“I can tell thee nothing, O Queen; Harmachis is lost.”
+
+“And well lost, Charmion, for he was an evil man to play with--ay,
+although I bettered him I say it! Well he served my purpose; but I loved
+him not, and even now I fear him; for it seemed to me that I heard
+his voice summoning me to fly, through the din of the fight at Actium.
+Thanks be to the Gods, as thou sayest, he is lost, and can no more be
+found.”
+
+
+
+But I, listening, put forth my strength, and, by the arts I have, cast
+the shadow of my Spirit upon the Spirit of Cleopatra so that she felt
+the presence of the lost Harmachis.
+
+“Nay, what is it?” she said. “By Serapis! I grow afraid! It seems to
+me that I feel Harmachis here! His memory overwhelms me like a flood of
+waters, and he these ten years dead! Oh! at such a time it is unholy!”
+
+“Nay, O Queen,” I answered, “if he be dead then he is everywhere, and
+well at such a time--the time of thy own death--may his Spirit draw near
+to welcome thine at its going.”
+
+“Speak not thus, Olympus. I would see Harmachis no more; the count
+between us is too heavy, and in another world than this more evenly,
+perchance should we be matched. Ah, the terror passes! I was but
+unnerved. Well the fool’s story hath served to wile away the heaviest of
+our hours, the hour which ends in death. Sing to me, Charmion, sing, for
+thy voice is very sweet, and I would soothe my soul to sleep. The memory
+of that Harmachis has wrung me strangely! Sing, then, the last song I
+shall hear from those tuneful lips of thine, the last of so many songs.”
+
+“It is a sad hour for song, O Queen!” said Charmion; but, nevertheless,
+she took her harp and sang. And thus she sang, very soft and low, the
+dirge of the sweet-tongued Syrian Meleager:
+
+     Tears for my lady dead,
+     Heliodore!
+     Salt tears and strange to shed,
+     Over and o’er;
+     Go tears and low lament
+     Fare from her tomb,
+     Wend where my lady went,
+     Down through the gloom--
+     Sighs for my lady dead,
+     Tears do I send,
+     Long love remembered,
+     Mistress and friend!
+     Sad are the songs we sing,
+     Tears that we shed,
+     Empty the gifts we bring--
+     Gifts to the dead!
+     Ah, for my flower, my Love,
+     Hades hath taken,
+     Ah, for the dust above,
+     Scattered and shaken!
+     Mother of blade and grass,
+     Earth, in thy breast
+     Lull her that gentlest was,
+     Gently to rest!
+
+The music of her voice died away, and it was so sweet and sad that Iras
+began to weep and the bright tears stood in Cleopatra’s stormy eyes.
+Only I wept not; my tears were dry.
+
+“‘Tis a heavy song of thine, Charmion,” said the Queen. “Well, as thou
+saidst, it is a sad hour for song, and thy dirge is fitted to the hour.
+Sing it over me once again when I lie dead, Charmion. And now farewell
+to music, and on to the end. Olympus, take yonder parchment and write
+what I shall say.”
+
+I took the parchment and the reed, and wrote thus in the Roman tongue:
+
+“Cleopatra to Octavianus, greeting.
+
+“This is the state of life. At length there comes an hour when, rather
+than endure those burdens that overwhelm us, putting off the body we
+would take wing into forgetfulness. Cæsar, thou hast conquered: take
+thou the spoils of victory. But in thy triumph Cleopatra cannot walk.
+When all is lost, then we must go to seek the lost. Thus in the desert
+of Despair the brave do harvest Resolution. Cleopatra hath been great
+as Antony was great, nor shall her fame be minished in the manner of
+her end. Slaves live to endure their wrong; but Princes, treading with a
+firmer step, pass through the gates of Wrong into the royal Dwellings of
+the Dead. This only doth Egypt ask of Cæsar--that he suffer her to lie
+in the tomb of Antony. Farewell!”
+
+This I wrote, and having sealed the writing, Cleopatra bade me go find a
+messenger, despatch it to Cæsar, and then return. So I went, and at the
+door of the tomb I called a soldier who was not on duty, and, giving him
+money, bade him take the letter to Cæsar. Then I went back, and there in
+the chamber the three women stood in silence, Cleopatra clinging to the
+arm of Iras, and Charmion a little apart watching the twain.
+
+“If indeed thou art minded to make an end, O Queen,” I said, “the time
+is short, for presently Cæsar will send his servants in answer to thy
+letter,” and I drew forth the phial of white and deadly bane and set it
+upon the board.
+
+She took it in her hand and gazed thereon. “How innocent it seems!” she
+said; “and yet therein lies my death. ‘Tis strange.”
+
+“Ay, Queen, and the death of ten other folk. No need to take so long a
+draught.”
+
+“I fear,” she gasped--“how know I that it will slay outright? I have
+seen so many die by poison and scarce one has died outright. And
+some--ah, I cannot think on them!”
+
+“Fear not,” I said, “I am a master of my craft. Or, if thou dost
+fear, cast this poison forth and live. In Rome thou mayst still find
+happiness; ay, in Rome, where thou shalt walk in Cæsar’s triumph, while
+the laughter of the hard-eyed Latin women shall chime down the music of
+thy golden chains.”
+
+“Nay, I will die, Olympus. Oh, if one would but show the path.”
+
+Then Iras loosed her hand and stepped forward. “Give me the draught,
+Physician,” she said. “I go to make ready for my Queen.”
+
+“It is well,” I answered; “on thy own head be it!” and I poured from the
+phial into a little golden goblet.
+
+She raised it, curtsied low to Cleopatra, then, coming forward, kissed
+her on the brow, and Charmion she also kissed. This done, tarrying not
+and making no prayer, for Iras was a Greek, she drank, and, putting her
+hand to her head, instantly fell down and died.
+
+“Thou seest,” I said, breaking in upon the silence, “it is swift.”
+
+“Ay, Olympus; thine is a master drug! Come now, I thirst; fill me the
+bowl, lest Iras weary in waiting at the gates!”
+
+So I poured afresh into the goblet; but this time, making pretence
+to rinse the cup, I mixed a little water with the bane, for I was not
+minded that she should die before she knew me.
+
+Then did the royal Cleopatra, taking the goblet in her hand, turn her
+lovely eyes to heaven and cry aloud:
+
+“O ye Gods of Egypt! who have deserted me, to you no longer will I pray,
+for your ears are shut unto my crying and your eyes blind to my griefs!
+Therefore, I make entreaty of that last friend whom the Gods, departing,
+leave to helpless man. Sweep hither, Death, whose winnowing wings
+enshadow all the world, and give me ear! Draw nigh, thou King of Kings!
+who, with an equal hand, bringest the fortunate head of one pillow with
+the slave, and by thy spiritual breath dost waft the bubble of our life
+far from this hell of earth! Hide me where winds blow not and waters
+cease to roll; where wars are done and Cæsar’s legions cannot march!
+Take me to a new dominion, and crown me Queen of Peace! Thou art my
+Lord, O Death, and in thy kiss I have conceived. I am in labour of a
+Soul: see--it stands new-born upon the edge of Time! Now--now--go, Life!
+Come, Sleep! Come, Antony!”
+
+And, with one glance to heaven, she drank, and cast the goblet to the
+ground.
+
+
+
+Then at last came the moment of my pent-up vengeance, and of the
+vengeance of Egypt’s outraged Gods, and of the falling of the curse of
+Menkau-ra.
+
+“What’s this?” she cried; “I grow cold, but I die not! Thou dark
+physician, thou hast betrayed me!”
+
+“Peace, Cleopatra! Presently shalt thou die and know the fury of the
+Gods! _The curse of Menkau-ra hath fallen!_ It is finished! Look upon
+me, woman! Look upon this marred face, this twisted form, this living
+mass of sorrow! _Look! look!_ Who am I?”
+
+She stared upon me wildly.
+
+“Oh! oh!” she shrieked, throwing up her arms; “at last I know thee! By
+the Gods, thou art Harmachis!--Harmachis risen from the dead!”
+
+“Ay, Harmachis risen from the dead to drag thee down to death and agony
+eternal! See, thou Cleopatra; _I_ have ruined thee as thou didst ruin
+me! I, working in the dark, and helped of the angry Gods, have been thy
+secret spring of woe! I filled thy heart with fear at Actium; I held the
+Egyptians from thy aid; I sapped the strength of Antony; I showed the
+portent of the Gods unto thy captains! By my hand at length thou diest,
+for I am the instrument of Vengeance! Ruin I pay thee back for ruin,
+Treachery for treachery, Death for death! Come hither, Charmion, partner
+of my plots, who betrayed me, but, repenting, art the sharer of my
+triumph, come watch this fallen wanton die!”
+
+Cleopatra heard, and sank back upon the golden bed, groaning “And thou,
+too, Charmion!”
+
+A moment so she sat, then her Imperial spirit burnt up glorious before
+she died.
+
+She staggered from the bed, and, with arms outstretched, she cursed me.
+
+“Oh! for one hour of life!” she cried--“one short hour, that therein I
+might make thee die in such fashion as thou canst not dream, thou and
+that false paramour of thine, who betrayed both me and thee! And thou
+didst love me! Ah, _there_ I have thee still! See, thou subtle, plotting
+priest”--and with both hands she rent back the royal robes from her
+bosom--“see, on this fair breast once night by night thy head was
+pillowed, and thou didst sleep wrapped in these same arms. Now, put away
+their memory _if thou canst!_ I read it in thine eyes--that mayst thou
+not! No torture which I bear can, in its sum, draw nigh to the rage of
+that deep soul of thine, rent with longings never, never to be reached!
+Harmachis, thou slave of slaves, from thy triumph-depths I snatch a
+deeper triumph, and conquered yet I conquer! I spit upon thee--I defy
+thee--and, dying, doom thee to the torment of thy deathless love! O
+Antony! I come, my Antony!--I come to thy own dear arms! Soon I shall
+find thee, and, wrapped in a love undying and divine, together we will
+float through all the depths of space, and, lips to lips and eyes to
+eyes, drink of desires grown more sweet with every draught! Or if I find
+thee not, then I shall sink in peace down the poppied ways of Sleep: and
+for me the breast of Night, whereon I shall be softly cradled, will yet
+seem thy bosom, Antony! Oh, I die!--come, Antony--and give me peace!”
+
+Even in my fury I had quailed beneath her scorn, for home flew the
+arrows of her winged words. Alas! and alas! it was _true_--the shaft of
+my vengeance fell upon my own head; never had I loved her as I loved her
+now. My soul was rent with jealous torture, and thus I swore she should
+not die.
+
+“Peace!” I cried; “what peace is there for thee? Oh! ye Holy Three,
+hear now my prayer. Osiris, loosen Thou the bonds of Hell and send
+forth those whom I shall summon! Come Ptolemy, poisoned of thy sister
+Cleopatra; come Arsinoë, murdered in the sanctuary by thy sister
+Cleopatra; come Sepa, tortured to death of Cleopatra; come Divine
+Menkau-ra, whose body Cleopatra tore and whose curse she braved for
+greed; come one, come all who have died at the hands of Cleopatra! Rush
+from the breast of Nout and greet her who murdered you! By the link of
+mystic union, by the symbol of the Life, Spirits, I summon you!”
+
+Thus I spoke the spell; while Charmion, affrighted, clung to my robe,
+and the dying Cleopatra, resting on her hands, swung slowly to and fro,
+gazing with vacant eyes.
+
+Then the answer came. The casement burst asunder, and on flittering
+wings that great bat entered which last I had seen hanging to the
+eunuch’s chin in the womb of the pyramid of _Her_. Thrice it circled
+round, once it hovered o’er dead Iras, then flew to where the dying
+woman stood. To her it flew, on her breast it settled, clinging to that
+emerald which was dragged from the dead heart of Menkau-ra. Thrice the
+grey Horror screamed aloud, thrice it beat its bony wings, and lo! it
+was gone.
+
+Then suddenly within that chamber sprang up the Shapes of Death. There
+was Arsinoë, the beautiful, even as she had shrunk beneath the butcher’s
+knife. There was young Ptolemy, his features twisted by the poisoned
+cup. There was the majesty of Menkau-ra, crowned with the uræus crown;
+there was grave Sepa, his flesh all torn by the torturer’s hooks;
+there were those poisoned slaves; and there were others without number,
+shadowy and dreadful to behold! who, thronging that narrow chamber,
+stood silently fixing their glassy eyes upon the face of her who slew
+them!
+
+
+
+“Behold! Cleopatra!” I said. “_Behold thy peace, and die!_”
+
+“Ay!” said Charmion. “Behold and die! thou who didst rob me of my
+honour, and Egypt of her King!”
+
+
+
+She looked, she saw the awful Shapes--her Spirit, hurrying from the
+flesh, mayhap could hear words to which my ears were deaf. Then her face
+sank in with terror, her great eyes grew pale, and, shrieking, Cleopatra
+fell and died: passing, with that dread company, to her appointed place.
+
+
+
+Thus, then, I, Harmachis, fed my soul with vengeance, fulfilling the
+justice of the Gods, and yet knew myself empty of all joy therein. For
+though that thing we worship doth bring us ruin, and Love being more
+pitiless than Death, we in turn do pay all our sorrow back; yet we must
+worship on, yet stretch out our arms towards our lost Desire, and pour
+our heart’s blood upon the shrine of our discrowned God.
+
+For Love is of the Spirit, and knows not Death.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+OF THE FAREWELL OF CHARMION; OF THE DEATH OF CHARMION; OF THE DEATH
+OF THE OLD WIFE, ATOUA; OF THE COMING OF HARMACHIS TO ABOUTHIS; OF HIS
+CONFESSION IN THE HALL OF SIX-AND-THIRTY PILLARS; AND OF THE DECLARING
+OF THE DOOM OF HARMACHIS
+
+Charmion unclasped my arm, to which she had clung in terror.
+
+“Thy vengeance, thou dark Harmachis,” she said, in a hoarse voice, “is
+a thing hideous to behold! O lost Egypt, with all thy sins thou wast
+indeed a Queen!
+
+“Come, aid me, Prince; let us stretch this poor clay upon the bed and
+deck it royally, so that it may give its dumb audience to the messengers
+of Cæsar as becomes the last of Egypt’s Queens.”
+
+I spoke no word in answer, for my heart was very heavy, and now that all
+was done I was weary. Together, then, we lifted up the body and laid it
+on the golden bed. Charmion placed the uræus crown upon the ivory brow,
+and combed the night-dark hair that showed never a thread of silver,
+and, for the last time, shut those eyes wherein had shone all the
+changing glories of the sea. She folded the chill hands upon the breast
+whence Passion’s breath had fled, and straightened the bent knees
+beneath the broidered robe, and by the head set flowers. And there at
+length Cleopatra lay, more splendid now in her cold majesty of death
+than in her richest hour of breathing beauty!
+
+We drew back and looked on her, and on dead Iras at her feet.
+
+“It is done!” quoth Charmion; “we are avenged, and now, Harmachis,
+dost follow by this same road?” And she nodded towards the phial on the
+board.
+
+“Nay, Charmion. I fly--I fly to a heavier death! Not thus easily may I
+end my space of earthly penance.”
+
+“So be it, Harmachis! And I, Harmachis--I fly also, but with swifter
+wings. My game is played. I, too, have made atonement. Oh! what a bitter
+fate is mine, to have brought misery on all I love, and, in the end, to
+die unloved! To thee I have atoned; to my angered Gods I have atoned;
+and now I go to find a way whereby I may atone to Cleopatra in that Hell
+where she is, and which I must share! For she loved me well, Harmachis;
+and, now that she is dead, methinks that, after thee, I loved her best
+of all. So of her cup and the cup of Iras I will surely drink!” And
+she took the phial, and with a steady hand poured what was left of the
+poison into the goblet.
+
+“Bethink thee, Charmion,” I said; “yet mayst thou live for many years,
+hiding these sorrows beneath the withered days.”
+
+“Yet I may, but I will not! To live the prey of so many memories, the
+fount of an undying shame that night by night, as I lie sleepless, shall
+well afresh from my sorrow-stricken heart!--to live torn by a love I
+cannot lose!--to stand alone like some storm-twisted tree, and, sighing
+day by day to the winds of heaven, gaze upon the desert of my life,
+while I wait the lingering lightning’s stroke--nay, that will not I,
+Harmachis! I had died long since, but I lived on to serve thee; now no
+more thou needest me, and I go. Oh, fare thee well!--for ever fare thee
+well! For not again shall I look upon thy face, and where I go
+thou goest not! For thou dost not love me who still dost love that
+queenly woman thou hast hounded to the death! Her thou shalt never win,
+and I thee shall never win, and this is the bitter end of Fate! See,
+Harmachis: I ask one boon before I go and for all time become naught to
+thee but a memory of shame. Tell me that thou dost forgive me so far as
+thine is to forgive, and in token thereof kiss me--with no lover’s kiss,
+but kiss me on the brow, and bid me pass in peace.”
+
+And she drew near to me with arms outstretched and pitiful trembling
+lips and gazed upon my face.
+
+“Charmion,” I answered, “we are free to act for good or evil, and yet
+methinks there is a Fate above our fate, that, blowing from some strange
+shore, compels our little sails of purpose, set them as we will, and
+drives us to destruction. I forgive thee, Charmion, as I trust in turn
+to be forgiven, and by this kiss, the first and the last, I seal our
+peace.” And with my lips I touched her brow.
+
+She spoke no more; only for a little while she stood gazing on me with
+sad eyes. Then she lifted the goblet, and said:
+
+“Royal Harmachis, in this deadly cup I pledge thee! Would that I had
+drunk of it ere ever I looked upon thy face! Pharaoh, who, thy sins
+outworn, yet shalt rule in perfect peace o’er worlds I may not tread,
+who yet shalt sway a kinglier sceptre than that I robbed thee of, for
+ever, fare thee well!”
+
+She drank, cast down the cup, and for a moment stood with the wide eyes
+of one who looks for Death. Then He came, and Charmion the Egyptian fell
+prone upon the floor, dead. And for a moment more I stood alone with the
+dead.
+
+I crept to the side of Cleopatra, and, now that none were left to see,
+I sat down on the bed and laid her head upon my knee, as once before
+it had been laid in that night of sacrilege beneath the shadow of the
+everlasting pyramid. Then I kissed her chill brow and went from the
+House of Death--avenged, but sorely smitten with despair!
+
+
+
+“Physician,” said the officer of the Guard as I went through the gates,
+“what passes yonder in the Monument? Methought I heard the sounds of
+death.”
+
+“Naught passes--all hath passed,” I made reply, and went.
+
+And as I went in the darkness I heard the sound of voices and the
+running of the feet of Cæsar’s messengers.
+
+Flying swiftly to my house I found Atoua waiting at the gates. She drew
+me into a quiet chamber and closed the doors.
+
+“Is it done?” she asked, and turned her wrinkled face to mine, while the
+lamplight streamed white upon her snowy hair. “Nay, why ask I--I know
+that it is done!”
+
+“Ay, it is done, and well done, old wife! All are dead! Cleopatra, Iras,
+Charmion--all save myself!”
+
+The aged woman drew up her bent form and cried: “Now let me go in peace,
+for I have seen my desire upon thy foes and the foes of Khem. _La!
+la!_--not in vain have I lived on beyond the years of man! I have seen
+my desire upon thy enemies---I have gathered the dews of Death, and thy
+foe hath drunk thereof! Fallen is the brow of Pride! the Shame of Khem
+is level with the dust! Ah, would that I might have seen that wanton
+die!”
+
+“Cease, woman! cease! The Dead are gathered to the Dead! Osiris holds
+them fast, and everlasting silence seals their lips! Pursue not the
+fallen great with insults! Up!--let us fly to Abouthis, that all may be
+accomplished!”
+
+“Fly thou, Harmachis!--Harmachis, fly--but I fly not! To this end only
+I have lingered on the earth. Now I untie the knot of life and let my
+spirit free! Fare thee well, Prince, the pilgrimage is done! Harmachis,
+from a babe have I loved thee, and love thee yet!--but no more in this
+world may I share thy griefs--I am spent. Osiris, take thou my Spirit!”
+ and her trembling knees gave way and she sank to the ground.
+
+I ran to her side and looked upon her. She was already dead, and I was
+alone upon the earth without a friend to comfort me!
+
+Then I turned and went, no man hindering me, for all was confusion in
+the city, and departed from Alexandria in a vessel I had made ready.
+On the eighth day, I landed, and, in the carrying out of my purpose,
+travelled on foot across the fields to the Holy Shrine of Abouthis. And
+here, as I knew, the worship of the Gods had been lately set up again
+in the Temple of the Divine Sethi: for Charmion had caused Cleopatra to
+repent of her decree of vengeance and to restore the lands that she had
+seized, though the treasure she restored not. And the temple having been
+purified, now, at the season of the Feast of Isis, all the High Priests
+of the ancient Temples of Egypt were gathered together to celebrate the
+coming home of the Gods into their holy place.
+
+I gained the city. It was on the seventh day of the Feast of Isis. Even
+as I came the long array wended through the well-remembered streets.
+I joined in the multitude that followed, and with my voice swelled the
+chorus of the solemn chant as we passed through the pylons into the
+imperishable halls. How well known were the holy words:
+
+     “Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     ‘Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!’”
+
+And then, when the sacred music ceased, as aforetime on the setting of
+the majesty of Ra, the High Priest raised the statue of the living God
+and held it on high before the multitude.
+
+With a joyful shout of
+
+“Osiris! our hope, Osiris! Osiris!”
+
+the people tore the black wrappings from their dress, showing the white
+robes beneath, and, as one man, bowed before the God.
+
+Then they went to feast each at his home; but I stayed in the court of
+the temple.
+
+Presently a priest of the temple drew near, and asked me of my business.
+And I answered him that I came from Alexandria, and would be led before
+the council of the High Priests, for I knew that the Holy Priests were
+gathered together debating the tidings from Alexandria.
+
+Thereon the man left, and the High Priests, hearing that I was from
+Alexandria, ordered that I should be led into their presence in the Hall
+of Columns--and so I was led in. It was already dark, and between the
+great pillars lights were set, as on that night when I was crowned
+Pharaoh of the Upper and the Lower Land. There, too, was the long
+line of Dignitaries seated in their carven chairs, and taking counsel
+together. All was the same; the same cold images of Kings and Gods gazed
+with the same empty eyes from the everlasting walls. Ay, more; among
+those gathered there were five of the very men who, as leaders of the
+great plot, had sat here to see me crowned, being the only conspirators
+who had escaped the vengeance of Cleopatra and the clutching hand of
+Time.
+
+I took my stand on the spot where once I had been crowned and made me
+ready for the last act of shame with such bitterness of heart as cannot
+be written.
+
+“Why, it is the physician Olympus,” said one. “He who lived a hermit in
+the Tombs of Tápé, and who but lately was of the household of Cleopatra.
+Is it, then, true that the Queen is dead by her own hand, Physician?”
+
+“Yea, holy Sirs, I am that physician; also Cleopatra is dead by _my_
+hand.”
+
+“By thy hand? Why, how comes this?--though well is she dead, forsooth,
+the wicked wanton!”
+
+“Your pardon, Sirs, and I will tell you all, for I am come hither
+to that end. Perchance among you there may be some--methinks I see
+some--who, nigh eleven years ago, were gathered in this hall to secretly
+crown one Harmachis, Pharaoh of Khem?”
+
+“It is true!” they said; “but how knowest thou these things, thou
+Olympus?”
+
+“Of the rest of those seven-and-thirty nobles,” I went on, making no
+answer, “are two-and-thirty missing. Some are dead, as Amenemhat is
+dead; some are slain, as Sepa is slain; and some, perchance, yet labour
+as slaves within the mines, or live afar, fearing vengeance.”
+
+“It is so,” they said: “alas! it is so. Harmachis the accursed betrayed
+the plot, and sold himself to the wanton Cleopatra!”
+
+“It is so,” I went on, lifting up my head. “Harmachis betrayed the plot
+and sold himself to Cleopatra; and, holy Sirs--_I am that Harmachis!_”
+
+The Priests and Dignitaries gazed astonished. Some rose and spoke; some
+said naught.
+
+“I am that Harmachis! I am that traitor, trebly steeped in crime!--a
+traitor to my Gods, a traitor to my Country, a traitor to my Oath! I
+come hither to say that I have done this. I have executed the Divine
+vengeance on her who ruined me and gave Egypt to the Roman. And now
+that, after years of toil and patient waiting, this is accomplished
+by my wisdom and the help of the angry Gods, behold I come with all my
+shame upon my head to declare the thing I am, and take the traitor’s
+guerdon!”
+
+“Mindest thou of the doom of him who hath broke the oath that may not be
+broke?” asked he who first had spoken, in heavy tones.
+
+“I know it well,” I answered; “I court that awful doom.”
+
+“Tell us more of this matter, thou who wast Harmachis.”
+
+So, in cold clear words, I laid bare all my shame, keeping back nothing.
+And ever as I spoke I saw their faces grow more hard, and knew that for
+me there was no mercy; nor did I ask it, nor, had I asked, could it have
+been granted.
+
+When, at last, I had done, they put me aside while they took counsel.
+Then they drew me forth again, and the eldest among them, a man very old
+and venerable, the Priest of the Temple of the Divine Hatshepu at Tápé,
+spoke, in icy accents:
+
+“Thou Harmachis, we have considered this matter. Thou hast sinned the
+threefold deadly sin. On thy head lies the burden of the woe of Khem,
+this day enthralled of Rome. To Isis, the Mother Mystery, thou hast
+offered the deadly insult, and thou hast broken thy holy oath. For all
+of these sins there is, as well thou knowest, but one reward, and that
+reward is thine. Naught can it weigh in the balance of our justice that
+thou hast slain her who was thy cause of stumbling; naught that thou
+comest to name thyself the vilest thing who ever stood within these
+walls. On thee also must fall the curse of Menkau-ra, thou false priest!
+thou forsworn patriot! thou Pharaoh shameful and discrowned! Here, where
+we set the Double Crown upon thy head, we doom thee to the doom! Go to
+thy dungeon and await the falling of its stroke! Go, remembering what
+thou mightest have been and what thou art, and may those Gods who
+through thy evil doing shall perchance ere long cease to be worshipped
+within these holy temples, give to thee that mercy which we deny! Lead
+him forth!”
+
+
+
+So they took me and led me forth. With bowed head I went, looking not
+up, and yet I felt their eyes burn upon my face.
+
+Oh! surely of all my shames this is the heaviest!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+OF THE LAST WRITING OF HARMACHIS, THE ROYAL EGYPTIAN
+
+They led me to the prison chamber that is high in the pylon tower and
+here I wait my doom. I know not when the sword of Fate shall fall. Week
+grows to week, and month to month, and still it is delayed. Still it
+quivers unseen above my head. I know that it will fall, but when I know
+not. Perchance, I shall wake in some dead hour of midnight to hear the
+stealthy steps of the slayers and be hurried forth. Perchance, they are
+now at hand. Then will come the secret cell! the horror! the nameless
+coffin! and at last it will be done! Oh, let it come! let it come
+swiftly!
+
+
+All is written; I have held back nothing--my sin is sinned--my vengeance
+is finished. Now all things end in darkness and in ashes, and I prepare
+to face the terrors that are to come in other worlds than this. I go,
+but not without hope I go: for, though I see Her not, though no more She
+answers to my prayers, still I am aware of the Holy Isis, who is with me
+for evermore, and whom I shall yet again behold face to face. And then
+at last in that far day I shall find forgiveness; then the burden of
+my guilt will roll from me and innocency come back and wrap me round,
+bringing me holy Peace.
+
+
+Oh! dear land of Khem, as in a dream I see thee! I see Nation after
+Nation set its standard on thy shores, and its yoke upon thy neck! I
+see new Religions without end calling out their truths upon the banks of
+Sihor, and summoning thy people to their worship! I see thy temples--thy
+holy temples--crumbling in the dust: a wonder to the sight of men
+unborn, who shall peer into thy tombs and desecrate the great ones
+of thy glory! I see thy mysteries a mockery to the unlearned, and thy
+wisdom wasted like waters on the desert sands! I see the Roman Eagles
+stoop and perish, their beaks yet red with the blood of men, and the
+long lights dancing down the barbarian spears that follow in their
+wake! And then, at last, I see Thee once more great, once more free, and
+having once more a knowledge of thy Gods--ay, thy Gods with a changed
+countenance, and called by other names, but still thy Gods!
+
+
+The sun sinks over Abouthis. The red rays of Ra flame on temple roofs,
+upon green fields, and the wide waters of father Sihor. So as a child
+I watched him sink; just so his last kiss touched the further pylon’s
+frowning brow; just that same shadow lay upon the tombs. All is
+unchanged! I--I only am changed--so changed, and yet the same!
+
+
+Oh, Cleopatra! Cleopatra! thou Destroyer! if I might but tear thy vision
+from my heart! Of all my griefs, this is the heaviest grief--still must
+I love thee! Still must I hug this serpent to my heart! Still in my
+ears must ring that low laugh of triumph--the murmur of the falling
+fountain--the song of the nightinga----
+
+[Here the writing on the third roll of papyrus abruptly ends. It would
+almost seem that the writer was at this moment broken in upon by those
+who came to lead him to his doom.]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Cleopatra, by H. Rider Haggard
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cleopatra, 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: Cleopatra
+
+Author: H. Rider Haggard
+
+Release Date: March 28, 2006 [EBook #2769]
+[Last updated: November 19, 2020]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLEOPATRA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by John Bickers; Dagny; Emma Dudding
+
+
+
+
+
+CLEOPATRA
+
+by H. Rider Haggard
+
+
+
+
+DEDICATION
+
+My dear Mother,
+
+I have for a long while hoped to be allowed to dedicate some book
+of mine to you, and now I bring you this work, because whatever its
+shortcomings, and whatever judgment may be passed upon it by yourself
+and others, it is yet the one I should wish you to accept.
+
+I trust that you will receive from my romance of "Cleopatra" some such
+pleasure as lightened the labour of its building up; and that it
+may convey to your mind a picture, however imperfect, of the old and
+mysterious Egypt in whose lost glories you are so deeply interested.
+
+Your affectionate and dutiful Son,
+
+H. Rider Haggard.
+
+January 21, 1889.
+
+
+
+
+AUTHOR'S NOTE
+
+The history of the ruin of Antony and Cleopatra must have struck many
+students of the records of their age as one of the most inexplicable
+of tragic tales. What malign influence and secret hates were at work,
+continually sapping their prosperity and blinding their judgment? Why
+did Cleopatra fly at Actium, and why did Antony follow her, leaving his
+fleet and army to destruction? An attempt is made in this romance to
+suggest a possible answer to these and some other questions.
+
+The reader is asked to bear in mind, however, that the story is told,
+not from the modern point of view, but as from the broken heart and
+with the lips of an Egyptian patriot of royal blood; no mere
+beast-worshipper, but a priest instructed in the inmost mysteries, who
+believed firmly in the personal existence of the gods of Khem, in the
+possibility of communion with them, and in the certainty of immortal
+life with its rewards and punishments; to whom also the bewildering and
+often gross symbolism of the Osirian Faith was nothing but a veil woven
+to obscure secrets of the Sanctuary. Whatever proportion of truth there
+may have been in their spiritual claims and imaginings, if indeed there
+was any, such men as the Prince Harmachis have been told of in the
+annals of every great religion, and, as is shown by the testimony of
+monumental and sacred inscriptions, they were not unknown among the
+worshippers of the Egyptian Gods, and more especially of Isis.
+
+Unfortunately it is scarcely possible to write a book of this nature and
+period without introducing a certain amount of illustrative matter, for
+by no other means can the long dead past be made to live again before
+the reader's eyes with all its accessories of faded pomp and forgotten
+mystery. To such students as seek a story only, and are not interested
+in the faith, ceremonies, or customs of the Mother of Religion and
+Civilisation, ancient Egypt, it is, however, respectfully suggested
+that they should exercise the art of skipping, and open this tale at its
+Second Book.
+
+That version of the death of Cleopatra has been preferred which
+attributes her end to poison. According to Plutarch its actual manner is
+very uncertain, though popular rumour ascribed it to the bite of an asp.
+She seems, however, to have carried out her design under the advice
+of that shadowy personage, her physician, Olympus, and it is more than
+doubtful if he would have resorted to such a fantastic and uncertain
+method of destroying life.
+
+It may be mentioned that so late as the reign of Ptolemy Epiphanes,
+pretenders of native blood, one of whom was named Harmachis, are known
+to have advanced their claims to the throne of Egypt. Moreover, there
+was a book of prophecy current among the priesthood which declared that
+after the nations of the Greeks the God Harsefi would create the "chief
+who is to come." It will therefore be seen that, although it lacks
+historical confirmation, the story of the great plot formed to stamp out
+the dynasty of the Macedonian Lagidae and place Harmachis on the throne
+is not in itself improbable. Indeed, it is possible that many such plots
+were entered into by Egyptian patriots during the long ages of their
+country's bondage. But ancient history tells us little of the abortive
+struggles of a fallen race.
+
+The Chant of Isis and the Song of Cleopatra, which appear in these
+pages, are done into verse from the writer's prose by Mr. Andrew Lang,
+and the dirge sung by Charmion is translated by the same hand from the
+Greek of the Syrian Meleager.
+
+
+
+
+
+CLEOPATRA
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+In the recesses of the desolate Libyan mountains that lie behind the
+temple and city of Abydus, the supposed burying place of the holy
+Osiris, a tomb was recently discovered, among the contents of which were
+the papyrus rolls whereupon this history is written. The tomb itself is
+spacious, but otherwise remarkable only for the depth of the shaft which
+descends vertically from the rock-hewn cave, that once served as the
+mortuary chapel for the friends and relatives of the departed, to the
+coffin-chamber beneath. This shaft is no less than eighty-nine feet in
+depth. The chamber at its foot was found to contain three coffins only,
+though it is large enough for many more. Two of these, which in all
+probability inclosed the bodies of the High Priest, Amenemhat, and of
+his wife, father and mother of Harmachis, the hero of this history, the
+shameless Arabs who discovered them there and then broke up.
+
+The Arabs broke the bodies up. With unhallowed hands they tore the holy
+Amenemhat and the frame of her who had, as it is written, been filled
+with the spirit of the Hathors--tore them limb from limb, searching for
+treasure amidst their bones--perhaps, as is their custom, selling the
+very bones for a few piastres to the last ignorant tourist who came
+their way, seeking what he might destroy. For in Egypt the unhappy, the
+living find their bread in the tombs of the great men who were before
+them.
+
+But as it chanced, some little while afterwards, one who is known to
+this writer, and a doctor by profession, passed up the Nile to Abydus,
+and became acquainted with the men who had done this thing. They
+revealed to him the secret of the place, telling him that one coffin
+yet remained entombed. It seemed to be the coffin of a poor person,
+they said, and therefore, being pressed for time, they had left it
+unviolated. Moved by curiosity to explore the recesses of a tomb as yet
+unprofaned by tourists, my friend bribed the Arabs to show it to him.
+What ensued I will give in his own words, exactly as he wrote it to me:
+
+"I slept that night near the Temple of Seti, and started before daybreak
+on the following morning. With me were a cross-eyed rascal named
+Ali--Ali Baba I named him--the man from whom I got the ring which I am
+sending you, and a small but choice assortment of his fellow thieves.
+Within an hour after sunrise we reached the valley where the tomb is. It
+is a desolate place, into which the sun pours his scorching heat all
+the long day through, till the huge brown rocks which are strewn about
+become so hot that one can scarcely bear to touch them, and the sand
+scorches the feet. It was already too hot to walk, so we rode on
+donkeys, some way up the valley--where a vulture floating far in the
+blue overhead was the only other visitor--till we came to an enormous
+boulder polished by centuries of action of sun and sand. Here Ali
+halted, saying that the tomb was under the stone. Accordingly, we
+dismounted, and, leaving the donkeys in charge of a fellah boy, went up
+to the rock. Beneath it was a small hole, barely large enough for a man
+to creep through. Indeed it had been dug by jackals, for the doorway and
+some part of the cave were entirely silted up, and it was by means of
+this jackal hole that the tomb had been discovered. Ali crept in on his
+hands and knees, and I followed, to find myself in a place cold after
+the hot outside air, and, in contrast with the light, filled with a
+dazzling darkness. We lit our candles, and, the select body of thieves
+having arrived, I made an examination. We were in a cave the size of
+a large room, and hollowed by hand, the further part of the cave being
+almost free from drift-dust. On the walls are religious paintings of the
+usual Ptolemaic character, and among them one of a majestic old man with
+a long white beard, who is seated in a carved chair holding a wand in
+his hand.[*] Before him passes a procession of priests bearing sacred
+images. In the right hand corner of the tomb is the shaft of the
+mummy-pit, a square-mouthed well cut in the black rock. We had brought a
+beam of thorn-wood, and this was now laid across the pit and a rope
+made fast to it. Then Ali--who, to do him justice, is a courageous
+thief--took hold of the rope, and, putting some candles into the breast
+of his robe, placed his bare feet against the smooth sides of the well
+and began to descent with great rapidity. Very soon he had vanished into
+blackness, and the agitation of the cord alone told us that anything was
+going on below. At last the rope ceased shaking and a faint shout came
+rumbling up the well, announcing Ali's safe arrival. Then, far below, a
+tiny star of light appeared. He had lit the candle, thereby disturbing
+hundreds of bats that flitted up in an endless stream and as silently as
+spirits. The rope was hauled up again, and now it was my turn; but, as
+I declined to trust my neck to the hand-over-hand method of descent, the
+end of the cord was made fast round my middle and I was lowered bodily
+into those sacred depths. Nor was it a pleasant journey, for, if the
+masters of the situation above had made any mistake, I should have been
+dashed to pieces. Also, the bats continually flew into my face and clung
+to my hair, and I have a great dislike of bats. At last, after some
+minutes of jerking and dangling, I found myself standing in a
+narrow passage by the side of the worthy Ali, covered with bats and
+perspiration, and with the skin rubbed off my knees and knuckles. Then
+another man came down, hand over hand like a sailor, and as the rest
+were told to stop above we were ready to go on. Ali went first with
+his candle--of course we each had a candle--leading the way down a long
+passage about five feet high. At length the passage widened out, and we
+were in the tomb-chamber: I think the hottest and most silent place that
+I ever entered. It was simply stifling. This chamber is a square room
+cut in the rock and totally devoid of paintings or sculpture. I held
+up the candles and looked round. About the place were strewn the coffin
+lids and the mummied remains of the two bodies that the Arabs had
+previously violated. The paintings on the former were, I noticed, of
+great beauty, though, having no knowledge of hieroglyphics, I could not
+decipher them. Beads and spicy wrappings lay around the remains, which,
+I saw, were those of a man and a woman.[+] The head had been broken off
+the body of the man. I took it up and looked at it. It had been closely
+shaved--after death, I should say, from the general indications--and the
+features were disfigured with gold leaf. But notwithstanding this,
+and the shrinkage of the flesh, I think the face was one of the most
+imposing and beautiful that I ever saw. It was that of a very old man,
+and his dead countenance still wore so calm and solemn, indeed, so awful
+a look, that I grew quite superstitious (though as you know, I am pretty
+well accustomed to dead people), and put the head down in a hurry. There
+were still some wrappings left upon the face of the second body, and I
+did not remove them; but she must have been a fine large woman in her
+day.
+
+     [*] This, I take it, is a portrait of Amenemhat himself.--
+     Editor.
+
+     [+] Doubtless Amenemhat and his wife.--Editor.
+
+"'There the other mummy,' said Ali, pointing to a large and solid case
+that seemed to have been carelessly thrown down in a corner, for it was
+lying on its side.
+
+"I went up to it and carefully examined it. It was well made, but of
+perfectly plain cedar-wood--not an inscription, not a solitary God on
+it.
+
+"'Never see one like him before,' said Ali. 'Bury great hurry, he no
+"mafish," no "fineesh." Throw him down here on side.'
+
+"I looked at the plain case till at last my interest was thoroughly
+aroused. I was so shocked by the sight of the scattered dust of
+the departed that I had made up my mind not to touch the remaining
+coffin--but now my curiosity overcame me, and we set to work.
+
+"Ali had brought a mallet and a cold chisel with him, and, having
+set the coffin straight, he began upon it with all the zeal of an
+experienced tomb-breaker. And then he pointed out another thing. Most
+mummy-cases are fastened by four little tongues of wood, two on either
+side, which are fixed in the upper half, and, passing into mortices cut
+to receive them in the thickness of the lower half, are there held
+fast by pegs of hard wood. But this mummy case had eight such tongues.
+Evidently it had been thought well to secure it firmly. At last, with
+great difficulty, we raised the massive lid, which was nearly three
+inches thick, and there, covered over with a deep layer of loose spices
+(a very unusual thing), was the body.
+
+"Ali looked at it with open eyes--and no wonder. For this mummy was not
+as other mummies are. Mummies in general lie upon their backs, as stiff
+and calm as though they were cut from wood; but this mummy lay upon its
+side, and, the wrappings notwithstanding, its knees were slightly bent.
+More than that, indeed, the gold mask, which, after the fashion of the
+Ptolemaic period, had been set upon the face, had worked down, and was
+literally pounded up beneath the hooded head.
+
+"It was impossible, seeing these things, to avoid the conclusion that
+the mummy before us had moved with violence _since it was put in the
+coffin_.
+
+"'Him very funny mummy. Him not "mafish" when him go in there,' said
+Ali.
+
+"'Nonsense!' I said. 'Who ever heard of a live mummy?'
+
+"We lifted the body out of the coffin, nearly choking ourselves with
+mummy dust in the process, and there beneath it half hidden among the
+spices, we made our first find. It was a roll of papyrus, carelessly
+fastened and wrapped in a piece of mummy cloth, having to all appearance
+been thrown into the coffin at the moment of closing.[*]
+
+     [*] This roll contained the third unfinished book of the
+     history. The other two rolls were neatly fastened in the
+     usual fashion. All three are written by one hand in the
+     Demotic character.--Editor.
+
+"Ali eyed the papyrus greedily, but I seized it and put it in my pocket,
+for it was agreed that I was to have all that might be discovered.
+Then we began to unwrap the body. It was covered with very broad strong
+bandages, thickly wound and roughly tied, sometimes by means of simple
+knots, the whole working the appearance of having been executed in
+great haste and with difficulty. Just over the head was a large lump.
+Presently, the bandages covering it were off, and there, on the face,
+lay a second roll of papyrus. I put down my hand to lift it, but it
+would not come away. It appeared to be fixed to the stout seamless
+shroud which was drawn over the whole body, and tied beneath the
+feet--as a farmer ties sacks. This shroud, which was also thickly waxed,
+was in one piece, being made to fit the form like a garment. I took a
+candle and examined the roll and then I saw why it was fast. The spices
+had congealed and glued it to the sack-like shroud. It was impossible to
+get it away without tearing the outer sheets of papyrus.[*]
+
+     [*] This accounts for the gaps in the last sheets of the
+     second roll. --Editor.
+
+"At last, however, I wrenched it loose and put it with the other in my
+pocket.
+
+"Then we went on with our dreadful task in silence. With much care we
+ripped loose the sack-like garment, and at last the body of a man lay
+before us. Between his knees was a third roll of papyrus. I secured it,
+then held down the light and looked at him. One glance at his face was
+enough to tell a doctor how he had died.
+
+"This body was not much dried up. Evidently it had not passed the
+allotted seventy days in natron, and therefore the expression and
+likeness were better preserved than is usual. Without entering into
+particulars, I will only say that I hope I shall never see such another
+look as that which was frozen on this dead man's face. Even the Arabs
+recoiled from it in horror and began to mutter prayers.
+
+"For the rest, the usual opening on the left side through which the
+embalmers did their work was absent; the finely-cut features were those
+of a person of middle age, although the hair was already grey, and
+the frame was that of a very powerful man, the shoulders being of an
+extraordinary width. I had not time to examine very closely, however,
+for within a few seconds from its uncovering, the unembalmed body began
+to crumble now that it was exposed to the action of the air. In five or
+six minutes there was literally nothing left of it but a wisp of hair,
+the skull, and a few of the larger bones. I noticed that one of the
+tibi�--I forget if it was the right or the left--had been fractured and
+very badly set. It must have been quite an inch shorter than the other.
+
+"Well, there was nothing more to find, and now that the excitement was
+over, what between the heat, the exertion, and the smell of mummy dust
+and spices, I felt more dead than alive.
+
+"I am tired of writing, and this ship rolls. This letter, of course,
+goes overland, and I am coming by 'long sea,' but I hope to be in London
+within ten days after you get it. Then I will tell you of my pleasing
+experiences in the course of the ascent from the tomb-chamber, and of
+how that prince of rascals, Ali Baba, and his thieves tried to frighten
+me into handing over the papyri, and how I worsted them. Then, too, we
+will get the rolls deciphered. I expect that they only contain the usual
+thing, copies of the 'Book of the Dead,' but there _may_ be something
+else in them. Needless to say, I did not narrate this little adventure
+in Egypt, or I should have had the Boulac Museum people on my track.
+Good-bye, 'Mafish Fineesh,' as Ali Baba always said."
+
+
+In due course, my friend, the writer of the letter from which I have
+quoted, arrived in London, and on the very next day we paid a visit to
+a learned acquaintance well versed in Hieroglyphics and Demotic writing.
+The anxiety with which we watched him skilfully damping and unfolding
+one of the rolls and peering through his gold-rimmed glasses at the
+mysterious characters may well be imagined.
+
+"Hum," he said, "whatever it is, this is _not_ a copy of the 'Book of
+the Dead.' By George, what's this? Cle--Cleo--Cleopatra----Why, my dear
+Sirs, as I am a living man, this is the history of somebody who lived
+in the days of Cleopatra, _the_ Cleopatra, for here's Antony's name with
+hers! Well, there's six months' work before me here--six months, at
+the very least!" And in that joyful prospect he fairly lost control of
+himself, and skipped about the room, shaking hands with us at intervals,
+and saying "I'll translate--I'll translate it if it kills me, and
+we will publish it; and, by the living Osiris, it shall drive every
+Egyptologist in Europe mad with envy! Oh, what a find! what a most
+glorious find!"
+
+
+And O you whose eyes fall upon these pages, see, they have been
+translated, and they have been printed, and here they lie before you--an
+undiscovered land wherein you are free to travel!
+
+Harmachis speaks to you from his forgotten tomb. The walls of Time fall
+down, and, as at the lightning's leap, a picture from the past starts
+upon your view, framed in the darkness of the ages.
+
+He shows you those two Egypts which the silent pyramids looked down upon
+long centuries ago--the Egypt of the Greek, the Roman, and the Ptolemy,
+and that other outworn Egypt of the Hierophant, hoary with years, heavy
+with the legends of antiquity and the memory of long-lost honours.
+
+He tells you how the smouldering loyalty of the land of Khem blazed
+up before it died, and how fiercely the old Time-consecrated Faith
+struggled against the conquering tide of Change that rose, like Nile at
+flood, and drowned the ancient Gods of Egypt.
+
+Here, in his pages, you shall learn the glory of Isis the Many-shaped,
+the Executrix of Decrees. Here you shall make acquaintance with the
+shade of Cleopatra, that "Thing of Flame," whose passion-breathing
+beauty shaped the destiny of Empires. Here you shall read how the soul
+of Charmion was slain of the sword her vengeance smithied.
+
+Here Harmachis, the doomed Egyptian, being about to die, salutes you who
+follow on the path he trod. In the story of his broken years he shows to
+you what may in its degree be the story of your own. Crying aloud from
+that dim Amenti[*] where to-day he wears out his long atoning time, he
+tells, in the history of his fall, the fate of him who, however sorely
+tried, forgets his God, his Honour, and his Country.
+
+     [*] The Egyptian Hades or Purgatory.--Editor.
+
+
+
+
+
+BOOK I--THE PREPARATION OF HARMACHIS
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+OF THE BIRTH OF HARMACHIS; THE PROPHECY OF THE HATHORS; AND THE SLAYING
+OF THE INNOCENT CHILD
+
+By Osiris who sleeps at Abouthis, I write the truth.
+
+I, Harmachis, Hereditary Priest of the Temple, reared by the divine
+Sethi, aforetime a Pharaoh of Egypt, and now justified in Osiris and
+ruling in Amenti. I, Harmachis, by right Divine and by true descent of
+blood King of the Double Crown, and Pharaoh of the Upper and Lower Land.
+I, Harmachis, who cast aside the opening flower of our hope, who turned
+from the glorious path, who forgot the voice of God in hearkening to the
+voice of woman. I, Harmachis, the fallen, in whom are gathered up all
+woes as waters are gathered in a desert well, who have tasted of every
+shame, who through betrayal have betrayed, who in losing the glory that
+is here have lost the glory which is to be, who am utterly undone--I
+write, and, by Him who sleeps at Abouthis, I write the truth.
+
+O Egypt!--dear land of Khem, whose black soil nourished up my mortal
+part--land that I have betrayed--O Osiris!--Isis!--Horus!--ye Gods of
+Egypt whom I have betrayed!--O ye temples whose pylons strike the sky,
+whose faith I have betrayed!--O Royal blood of the Pharaohs of eld, that
+yet runs within these withered veins--whose virtue I have betrayed!--O
+Invisible Essence of all Good! and O Fate, whose balance rested on my
+hand--hear me; and, to the day of utter doom, bear me witness that I
+write the truth.
+
+
+
+Even while I write, beyond the fertile fields, the Nile is running red,
+as though with blood. Before me the sunlight beats upon the far Arabian
+hills, and falls upon the piles of Abouthis. Still the priests make
+orison within the temples at Abouthis that know me no more; still
+the sacrifice is offered, and the stony roofs echo back the people's
+prayers. Still from this lone cell within my prison-tower, I, the Word
+of Shame, watch thy fluttering banners, Abouthis, flaunting from thy
+pylon walls, and hear the chants as the long procession winds from
+sanctuary to sanctuary.
+
+Abouthis, lost Abouthis! my heart goes out toward thee! For the day
+comes when the desert sands shall fill thy secret places! Thy Gods are
+doomed, O Abouthis! New Faiths shall make a mock of all thy Holies, and
+Centurion shall call upon Centurion across thy fortress-walls. I weep--I
+weep tears of blood: for mine is the sin that brought about these evils
+and mine for ever is their shame.
+
+Behold, it is written hereafter.
+
+
+
+Here in Abouthis I was born, I, Harmachis, and my father, the justified
+in Osiris, was High Priest of the Temple of Sethi. And on that same day
+of my birth Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt, was born also. I passed my
+youth in yonder fields watching the baser people at their labours and
+going in and out at will among the great courts of the temples. Of my
+mother I knew naught, for she died when I yet hung at the breast. But
+before she died in the reign of Ptolemy Aul�tes, who is named the Piper,
+so did the old wife, Atoua, told me, my mother took a golden ur�us, the
+snake symbol of our Royalty of Egypt, from a coffer of ivory and laid
+it on my brow. And those who saw her do this believed that she was
+distraught of the Divinity, and in her madness foreshadowed that the day
+of the Macedonian Lagid� was ended, and that Egypt's sceptre should pass
+again to the hand of Egypt's true and Royal race. But when my father,
+the old High Priest Amenemhat, whose only child I was, she who was his
+wife before my mother having been, for what crime I know not, cursed
+with barrenness by Sekhet: I say when my father came in and saw what the
+dying woman had done, he lifted up his hands towards the vault of heaven
+and adored the Invisible, because of the sign that had been sent. And
+as he adored, the Hathors[*] filled my dying mother with the Spirit of
+Prophecy, and she rose in strength from the couch and prostrated herself
+thrice before the cradle where I lay asleep, the Royal asp upon my brow,
+crying aloud:
+
+     [*] The Egyptian _Parc�_ or _Fates_.--Editor.
+
+"Hail to thee, fruit of my womb! Hail to thee, Royal child! Hail to
+thee, Pharaoh that shalt be! Hail to thee, God that shalt purge the
+land, Divine seed of Nekt-nebf, the descended from Isis. Keep thee pure,
+and thou shalt rule and deliver Egypt and not be broken. But if thou
+dost fail in thy hour of trial, then may the curse of all the Gods
+of Egypt rest upon thee, and the curse of thy Royal forefathers, the
+justified, who ruled the land before thee from the age of Horus. Then in
+life mayst thou be wretched, and after death may Osiris refuse thee,
+and the judges of Amenti give judgment against thee, and Set and Sekhet
+torment thee, till such time as thy sin is purged, and the Gods of
+Egypt, called by strange names, are once more worshipped in the Temples
+of Egypt, and the staff of the Oppressor is broken, and the footsteps of
+the Foreigner are swept clean, and the thing is accomplished as thou in
+thy weakness shalt cause it to be done."
+
+When she had spoken thus, the Spirit of Prophecy went out of her, and
+she fell dead across the cradle where I slept, so that I awoke with a
+cry.
+
+But my father, Amenemhat, the High Priest, trembled, and was very
+fearful, both because of the words which had been said by the Spirit of
+the Hathors through the mouth of my mother, and because what had been
+uttered was treason against Ptolemy. For he knew that, if the matter
+should come to the ears of Ptolemy, Pharaoh would send his guards
+to destroy the life of the child concerning whom such things were
+prophesied. Therefore, my father shut the doors, and caused all those
+who stood by to swear upon the holy symbol of his office, and by the
+name of the Divine Three, and by the Soul of her who lay dead upon the
+stones beside them, that nothing of what they had seen and heard should
+pass their lips.
+
+Now among the company was the old wife, Atoua, who had been the nurse of
+my mother, and loved her well; and in these days, though I know not how
+it had been in the past, nor how it shall be in the future, there is
+no oath that can bind a woman's tongue. And so it came about that
+by-and-by, when the matter had become homely in her mind, and her fear
+had fallen from her, she spoke of the prophecy to her daughter, who
+nursed me at the breast now that my mother was dead. She did this as
+they walked together in the desert carrying food to the husband of the
+daughter, who was a sculptor, and shaped effigies of the holy Gods
+in the tombs that are fashioned in the rock--telling the daughter, my
+nurse, how great must be her care and love toward the child that
+should one day be Pharaoh, and drive the Ptolemies from Egypt. But the
+daughter, my nurse, was so filled with wonder at what she heard that she
+could not keep the tale locked within her breast, and in the night she
+awoke her husband, and, in her turn, whispered it to him, and thereby
+compassed her own destruction, and the destruction of her child, my
+foster-brother. For the man told his friend, and the friend was a spy of
+Ptolemy's, and thus the tale came to Pharaoh's ears.
+
+Now, Pharaoh was much troubled thereat, for though when he was full of
+wine he would make a mock of the God of the Egyptians, and swear that
+the Roman Senate was the only God to whom he bowed the knee, yet in his
+heart he was terribly afraid, as I have learned from one who was his
+physician. For when he was alone at night he would scream and cry aloud
+to the great Serapis, who indeed is no true God, and to other Gods,
+fearing lest he should be murdered and his soul handed over to the
+tormentors. Also, when he felt his throne tremble under him, he would
+send large presents to the temples, asking a message from the oracles,
+and more especially from the oracle that is at Phil�. Therefore, when
+it came to his ears that the wife of the High Priest of the great and
+ancient Temple of Abouthis had been filled with the Spirit of Prophecy
+before she died, and foretold that her son should be Pharaoh, he was
+much afraid, and summoning some trusty guards--who, being Greeks, did
+not fear to do sacrilege--he despatched them by boat up the Nile, with
+orders to come to Abouthis and cut off the head of the child of the High
+Priest and bring it to him in a basket.
+
+But, as it chanced, the boat in which the guards came was of deep
+draught, and, the time of their coming being at the lowest ebb of the
+river, it struck and remained fast upon a bank of mud that is opposite
+the mouth of the road running across the plains to Abouthis, and, as the
+north wind was blowing very fiercely, it was like to sink. Thereon
+the guards of Pharaoh called out to the common people, who laboured at
+lifting water along the banks of the river, to come with boats and take
+them off; but, seeing that they were Greeks of Alexandria, the people
+would not, for the Egyptians do not love the Greeks. Then the guards
+cried that they were on Pharaoh's business, and still the people would
+not, asking what was their business. Whereon a eunuch among them who
+had made himself drunk in his fear, told them that they came to slay the
+child of Amenemhat, the High Priest, of whom it was prophesied that he
+should be Pharaoh and sweep the Greeks from Egypt. And then the people
+feared to stand longer in doubt, but brought boats, not knowing what
+might be meant by the man's words. But there was one amongst them--a
+farmer and an overseer of canals--who was a kinsman of my mother's and
+had been present when she prophesied; and he turned and ran swiftly for
+three parts of an hour, till he came to where I lay in the house that
+is without the north wall of the great Temple. Now, as it chanced, my
+father was away in that part of the Place of Tombs which is to the left
+of the large fortress, and Pharaoh's guards, mounted on asses, were hard
+upon us. Then the messenger cried to the old wife, Atoua, whose tongue
+had brought about the evil, and told how the soldiers drew near to slay
+me. And they looked at each other, not knowing what to do; for, had they
+hid me, the guards would not have stayed their search till I was found.
+But the man, gazing through the doorway, saw a little child at play:
+
+"Woman," he said, "whose is that child?"
+
+"It is my grandchild," she answered, "the foster-brother of the Prince
+Harmachis; the child to whose mother we owe this evil case."
+
+"Woman," he said, "thou knowest thy duty, do it!" and he again pointed
+at the child. "I command thee, by the Holy Name!"
+
+Atoua trembled exceedingly, because the child was of her own blood; but,
+nevertheless, she took the boy and washed him and set a robe of silk
+upon him, and laid him on my cradle. And me she took and smeared with
+mud to make my fair skin darker, and, drawing my garment from me, set me
+to play in the dirt of the yard, which I did right gladly.
+
+Then the man hid himself, and presently the soldiers rode up and asked
+of the old wife if this were the dwelling of the High Priest Amenemhat?
+And she told them yea, and, bidding them enter, offered them honey and
+milk, for they were thirsty.
+
+When they had drunk, the eunuch who was with them asked if that were
+the son of Amenemhat who lay in the cradle; and she said "Yea--yea,"
+and began to tell the guards how he would be great, for it had been
+prophesied of him that he should one day rule them all.
+
+But the Greek guards laughed, and one of them, seizing the child, smote
+off his head with a sword; and the eunuch drew forth the signet of
+Pharaoh as warrant for the deed and showed it to the old wife, Atoua,
+bidding her tell the High Priest that his son should be King without a
+head.
+
+And as they went one of their number saw me playing in the dirt and
+called out that there was more breeding in yonder brat than in the
+Prince Harmachis; and for a moment they wavered, thinking to slay
+me also, but in the end they passed on, bearing the head of my
+foster-brother, for they loved not to murder little children.
+
+After a while, the mother of the dead child returned from the
+market-place, and when she found what had been done, she and her husband
+would have killed Atoua the old wife, her mother, and given me up to the
+soldiers of Pharaoh. But my father came in also and learned the truth,
+and he caused the man and his wife to be seized by night and hidden away
+in the dark places of the temple, so that none saw them more.
+
+But I would to-day that it had been the will of the Gods that I had been
+slain of the soldiers and not the innocent child.
+
+
+
+Thereafter it was given out that the High Priest Amenemhat had taken me
+to be as a son to him in the place of that Harmachis who was slain of
+Pharaoh.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+OF THE DISOBEDIENCE OF HARMACHIS; OF THE SLAYING OF THE LION; AND OF THE
+SPEECH OF THE OLD WIFE, ATOUA
+
+And after these things Ptolemy the Piper troubled us no more, nor did he
+again send his soldiers to seek for him of whom it was prophesied that
+he should be Pharaoh. For the head of the child, my foster-brother,
+was brought to him by the eunuch as he sat in his palace of marble at
+Alexandria, flushed with Cyprian wine, and played upon the flute before
+his women. And at his bidding the eunuch lifted up the head by the hair
+for him to look on. Then he laughed and smote it on the cheek with his
+sandal, bidding one of the girls crown Pharaoh with flowers. And he
+bowed the knee, and mocked the head of the innocent child. But the girl,
+who was sharp of tongue--for all of this I heard in after years--said
+to him that "he did well to bow the knee, for this child was indeed
+Pharaoh, the greatest of Pharaohs, and his name was the _Osiris_ and his
+throne was _Death_."
+
+Aul�tes was much troubled at these words, and trembled, for, being a
+wicked man, he greatly feared entering into Amenti. So he caused the
+girl to be slain because of the evil omen of her saying; crying that he
+would send her to worship that Pharaoh whom she had named. And the other
+women he sent away, and played no more upon the flute till he was once
+again drunk on the morrow. But the Alexandrians made a song on the
+matter, which is still sung about the streets. And this is the beginning
+of it--
+
+     Ptolemy the Piper played
+     Over dead and dying;
+     Piped and played he well.
+     Sure that flute of his was made
+     Of the dank reed sighing
+     O'er the streams of Hell.
+     There beneath the shadows grey,
+     With the sisters three,
+     Shall he pipe for many a day.
+     May the Frog his butler be!
+     And his wine the water of that countrie--
+     Ptolemy the Piper!
+
+After this the years passed on, nor did I, being very little, know
+anything of the great things that came to pass in Egypt; nor is it my
+purpose to set them out here. For I, Harmachis, having little time left
+to me, will only speak of those things with which I have been concerned.
+
+And as the time went on, my father and the teachers instructed me in the
+ancient learning of our people, and in such matters appertaining to
+the Gods as it is meet that children should know. So I grew strong and
+comely, for my hair was black as the hair of the divine Nout, and my
+eyes were blue as the blue lotus, and my skin was like the alabaster
+within the sanctuaries. For now that these glories have passed from me
+I may speak of them without shame. I was strong also. There was no youth
+of my years in Abouthis who could stand against me to wrestle with me,
+nor could any throw so far with the sling or spear. And I much yearned
+to hunt the lion; but he whom I called my father forbade me, telling me
+that my life was of too great worth to be so lightly hazarded. But when
+I bowed before him and prayed he would make his meaning clear to me,
+the old man frowned and answered that the Gods made all things clear in
+their own season. For my part, however, I went away in wroth, for there
+was a youth in Abouthis who with others had slain a lion which fell upon
+his father's herds, and, being envious of my strength and beauty, he set
+it about that I was cowardly at heart, in that when I went out to hunt
+I only slew jackals and gazelles. Now, this was when I had reached my
+seventeenth year and was a man grown.
+
+It chanced, therefore, that as I went sore at heart from the presence
+of the High Priest, I met this youth, who called to me and mocked me,
+bidding me know the country people had told him that a great lion was
+down among the rushes by the banks of the canal which runs past the
+Temple, lying at a distance of thirty stadia from Abouthis. And, still
+mocking me, he asked me if I would come and help him slay this lion, or
+would I go and sit among the old women and bid them comb my side lock?
+This bitter word so angered me that I was near to falling on him; but
+in place therefore, forgetting my father's saying, I answered that if he
+would come alone, I would go with him and seek this lion, and he should
+learn if I were indeed a coward. And at first he would not, for, as men
+know, it is our custom to hunt the lion in companies; so it was my hour
+to mock. Then he went and fetched his bow and arrows and a sharp knife.
+And I brought forth my heavy spear, which had a shaft of thorn-wood, and
+at its end a pomegranate in silver, to hold the hand from slipping; and,
+in silence, we went, side by side, to where the lion lay. When we
+came to the place, it was near sundown; and there, upon the mud of the
+canal-bank, we found the lion's slot, which ran into a thick clump of
+reeds.
+
+"Now, thou boaster," I said, "wilt thou lead the way into yonder reeds,
+or shall I?" And I made as though I would lead the way.
+
+"Nay, nay," he answered, "be not so mad! The brute will spring upon
+thee and rend thee. See! I will shoot among the reeds. Perchance, if he
+sleeps, it will arouse him." And he drew his bow at a venture.
+
+How it chanced I know not, but the arrow struck the sleeping lion, and,
+like a flash of light from the belly of a cloud, he bounded from the
+shelter of the reeds, and stood before us with bristling mane and yellow
+eyes, the arrow quivering in his flank. He roared aloud in fury, and the
+earth shook.
+
+"Shoot with the bow," I cried, "shoot swiftly ere he spring!"
+
+But courage had left the breast of the boaster, his jaw dropped down and
+his fingers unloosed their hold so that the bow fell from them; then,
+with a loud cry he turned and fled behind me, leaving the lion in my
+path. But while I stood waiting my doom, for though I was sore afraid
+I would not fly, the lion crouched himself, and turning not aside, with
+one great bound swept over me, touching me not. He lit, and again he
+bounded full upon the boaster's back, striking him such a blow with his
+great paw that his head was crushed as an egg thrown against a stone. He
+fell down dead, and the lion stood and roared over him. Then I was mad
+with horror, and, scarce knowing what I did, I grasped my spear and with
+a shout I charged. As I charged the lion lifted himself up above me.
+He smote at me with his paw; but with all my strength I drove the broad
+spear into his throat, and, shrinking from the agony of the steel, his
+blow fell short and did no more than rip my skin. Back he fell, the
+great spear far in his throat; then rising, he roared in pain and leapt
+twice the height of a man straight into the air, smiting at the spear
+with his forepaws. Twice he leapt thus, horrible to see, and twice he
+fell upon his back. Then his strength spent itself with his rushing
+blood, and, groaning like a bull, he died; while I, being but a lad,
+stood and trembled with fear now that all cause of fear had passed.
+
+But as I stood and gazed at the body of him who had taunted me, and at
+the carcass of the lion, a woman came running towards me, even the same
+old wife, Atoua, who, though I knew it not as yet, had offered up her
+flesh and blood that I might be saved alive. For she had been gathering
+simples, in which she had great skill, by the water's edge, not knowing
+that there was a lion near (and, indeed, the lions, for the most part,
+are not found in the tilled land, but rather in the desert and the
+Libyan mountains), and had seen from a distance that which I have set
+down. Now, when she was come, she knew me for Harmachis, and, bending
+herself, she made obeisance to me, and saluted me, calling me Royal, and
+worthy of all honour, and beloved, and chosen of the Holy Three, ay, and
+by the name of the Pharaoh! the Deliverer!
+
+But I, thinking that terror had made her sick of mind, asked her of what
+she would speak.
+
+"Is it a great thing," I asked, "that I should slay a lion? Is it a
+matter worthy of such talk as thine? There live, and have lived, men who
+have slain many lions. Did not the Divine Amen-hetep the Osirian slay
+with his own hand more than a hundred lions? Is it not written on the
+scarab�us that hangs within my father's chamber, that he slew lions
+aforetime? And have not others done likewise? Why then, speakest thou
+thus, O foolish woman?"
+
+All of which I said, because, having now slain the lion, I was minded,
+after the manner of youth, to hold it as a thing of no account. But she
+did not cease to make obeisance, and to call me by names that are too
+high to be written.
+
+"O Royal One," she cried, "wisely did thy mother prophecy. Surely the
+Holy Spirit, the Knepth, was in her, O thou conceived by a God! See the
+omen. The lion there--he growls within the Capitol at Rome--and the dead
+man, he is the Ptolemy--the Macedonian spawn that, like a foreign weed,
+hath overgrown the land of Nile; with the Macedonian Lagid� thou shalt
+go to smite the lion of Rome. But the Macedonian cur shall fly, and the
+Roman lion shall strike him down, and thou shalt strike down the lion,
+and the land of Khem shall once more be free! free! Keep thyself but
+pure, according to the commandment of the Gods, O son of the Royal
+House; O hope of Khemi! be but ware of Woman the Destroyer, and as I
+have said, so shall it be. I am poor and wretched; yea, stricken with
+sorrow. I have sinned in speaking of what should be hid, and for my sin
+I have paid in the coin of that which was born of my womb; willingly
+have I paid for thee. But I have still of the wisdom of our people, nor
+do the Gods, in whose eyes all are equal, turn their countenance from
+the poor; the Divine Mother Isis hath spoken to me--but last night she
+spake--bidding me come hither to gather herbs, and read to thee the
+signs that I should see. And as I have said, so it shall come to pass,
+if thou canst but endure the weight of the great temptation. Come
+hither, Royal One!" and she led me to the edge of the canal, where the
+water was deep, and still and blue. "Now gaze upon that face as the
+water throws it back. Is not that brow fitted to bear the double crown?
+Do not those gentle eyes mirror the majesty of kings? Hath not the Ptah,
+the Creator, fashioned that form to fit the Imperial garb, and awe the
+glance of multitudes looking through thee to God?
+
+"Nay, nay!" she went on in another voice--a shrill old wife's voice--"I
+will--be not so foolish, boy--the scratch of a lion is a venomous thing,
+a terrible thing; yea, as bad as the bite of an asp--it must be treated,
+else it will fester, and all thy days thou shalt dream of lions; ay, and
+snakes; and, also, it will break out in sores. But I know of it--I know.
+I am not crazed for nothing. For mark! everything has its balance--in
+madness is much wisdom, and in wisdom much madness. _La! la! la!_
+Pharaoh himself can't say where the one begins and the other ends. Now,
+don't stand gazing there, looking as silly as a cat in a crocus-coloured
+robe, as they say in Alexandria; but just let me stick these green
+things on the place, and in six days you'll heal up as white as a
+three-year-child. Never mind the smart of it, lad. By Him who sleeps
+at Phil�, or at Abouthis, or at Abydus--as our divine masters have it
+now--or wherever He does sleep, which is a thing we shall all find out
+before we want to--by Osiris, I say, you'll live to be as clean from
+scars as a sacrifice to Isis at the new moon, if you'll but let me put
+it on.
+
+"Is it not so, good folk?"--and she turned to address some people who,
+while she prophesied, had assembled unseen by me--"I've been speaking a
+spell over him, just to make a way for the virtue of my medicine--_la!
+la!_ there's nothing like a spell. If you don't believe it, just you
+come to me next time your wives are barren; it's better than scraping
+every pillar in the Temple of Osiris, I'll warrant. I'll make 'em bear
+like a twenty-year-old palm. But then, you see, you must know what to
+say--that's the point--everything comes to a point at last. _La! la!_"
+
+Now, when I heard all this, I, Harmachis, put my hand to my head, not
+knowing if I dreamed. But presently looking up, I saw a grey-haired
+man among those who were gathered together, who watched us sharply, and
+afterwards I learned that this man was the spy of Ptolemy, the very man,
+indeed, who had wellnigh caused me to be slain of Pharaoh when I was in
+my cradle. Then I understood why Atoua spoke so foolishly.
+
+"Thine are strange spells, old wife," the spy said. "Thou didst speak of
+Pharaoh and the double crown and of the form fashioned by Ptah to bear
+it; is it not so?"
+
+"Yea, yea--part of the spell, thou fool; and what can one swear by
+better nowadays than by the Divine Pharaoh the Piper, whom, and whose
+music, may the Gods preserve to charm this happy land?--what better than
+by the double crown he wears--grace to great Alexander of Macedonia? By
+the way, you know about everything: have they got back his chlamys yet,
+which Mithridates took to Cos? Pompey wore it last, didn't he?--in his
+triumph, too--just fancy Pompey in the cloak of Alexander!--a puppy-dog
+in a lion's skin! And talking of lions--look what this lad hath
+done--slain a lion with his own spear; and right glad you village folks
+should be to see it, for it was a very fierce lion--just see his teeth
+and his claws--his claws!--they are enough to make a poor silly old
+woman like me shriek to look at them! And the body there, the dead
+body--the lion slew it. Alack! he's an Osiris[*] now, the body--and to
+think of it, but an hour ago he was an everyday mortal like you or me!
+Well, away with him to the embalmers. He'll soon swell in the sun and
+burst, and that will save them the trouble of cutting him open. Not
+that they will spend a talent of silver over him anyway. Seventy days in
+natron--that's all he's likely to get. _La! la!_ how my tongue does run,
+and it's getting dark. Come, aren't you going to take away the body of
+that poor lad, and the lion, too? There, my boy, you keep those herbs
+on, and you'll never feel your scratches. I know a thing or two for all
+I'm crazy, and you, my own grandson! Dear, dear, I'm glad his Holiness
+the High Priest adopted you when Pharaoh--Osiris bless his holy
+name--made an end of his son; you look so bonny. I warrant the real
+Harmachis could not have killed a lion like that. Give me the common
+blood, I say--it's so lusty."
+
+     [*] The soul when it has been absorbed in the Godhead.--
+     Editor.
+
+"You know too much and talk too fast," grumbled the spy, now quite
+deceived. "Well, he is a brave youth. Here, you men, bear this body back
+to Abouthis, and some of you stop and help me skin the lion. We'll send
+the skin to you, young man," he went on; "not that you deserve it: to
+attack a lion like that was the act of a fool, and a fool deserves what
+he gets--destruction. Never attack the strong until you are stronger."
+
+But for my part I went home wondering.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+OF THE REBUKE OF AMENEMHAT; OF THE PRAYER OF HARMACHIS; AND OF THE SIGN
+GIVEN BY THE HOLY GODS
+
+For a while as I, Harmachis, went, the juice of the green herbs which
+the old wife, Atoua, had placed upon my wounds caused me much smart,
+but presently the pain ceased. And, of a truth, I believe that there was
+virtue in them, for within two days my flesh healed up, so that after a
+time no marks remained. But I bethought me that I had disobeyed the word
+of the old High Priest, Amenemhat, who was called my father. For till
+this day I knew not that he was in truth my father according to the
+flesh, having been taught that his own son was slain as I have written;
+and that he had been pleased, with the sanction of the Divine ones, to
+take me as an adopted son and rear me up, that I might in due season
+fulfil an office about the Temple. Therefore I was much troubled, for I
+feared the old man, who was very terrible in his anger, and ever spoke
+with the cold voice of Wisdom. Nevertheless, I determined to go in
+to him and confess my fault and bear such punishment as he should be
+pleased to put upon me. So with the red spear in my hand, and the red
+wounds on my breast, I passed through the outer court of the great
+temple and came to the door of the place where the High Priest dwelt. It
+is a great chamber, sculptured round about with the images of the solemn
+Gods, and the sunlight comes to it in the daytime by an opening cut
+through the stones of the massy roof. But at night it was lit by a
+swinging lamp of bronze. I passed in without noise, for the door was
+not altogether shut, and, pushing my way through the heavy curtains that
+were beyond, I stood with a beating heart within the chamber.
+
+The lamp was lit, for the darkness had fallen, and by its light I saw
+the old man seated in a chair of ivory and ebony at a table of stone on
+which were spread mystic writings of the words of Life and Death. But
+he read no more, for he slept, and his long white beard rested upon the
+table like the beard of a dead man. The soft light from the lamp fell
+on him, on the papyri and the gold ring upon his hand, where were graven
+the symbols of the Invisible One, but all around was shadow. It fell on
+the shaven head, on the white robe, on the cedar staff of priesthood
+at his side, and on the ivory of the lion-footed chair; it showed
+the mighty brow of power, the features cut in kingly mould, the white
+eyebrows, and the dark hollows of the deep-set eyes. I looked and
+trembled, for there was about him that which was more than the dignity
+of man. He had lived so long with the Gods, and so long kept company
+with them and with thoughts divine, he was so deeply versed in all those
+mysteries which we do but faintly discern, here in this upper air, that
+even now, before his time, he partook of the nature of the Osiris, and
+was a thing to shake humanity with fear.
+
+I stood and gazed, and as I stood he opened his dark eyes, but looked
+not on me, nor turned his head; and yet he saw me and spoke.
+
+"Why hast thou been disobedient to me, my son?" he said. "How came it
+that thou wentest forth against the lion when I bade thee not?"
+
+"How knowest thou, my father, that I went forth?" I asked in fear.
+
+"How know I? Are there, then, no other ways of knowledge than by the
+senses? Ah, ignorant child! was not my Spirit with thee when the lion
+sprang upon thy companion? Did I not pray Those set about thee to
+protect thee, to make sure thy thrust when thou didst drive the spear
+into the lion's throat! How came it that thou wentest forth, my son?"
+
+"The boaster taunted me," I answered, "and I went."
+
+"Yes, I know it; and, because of the hot blood of youth, I forgive thee,
+Harmachis. But now listen to me, and let my words sink into thy
+heart like the waters of Sihor into the thirsty sand at the rising of
+Sirius.[*] Listen to me. The boaster was sent to thee as a temptation,
+he was sent as a trial of thy strength, and see! it has not been equal
+to the burden. Therefore thy hour is put back. Hadst thou been strong
+in this matter, the path had been made plain to thee even now. But thou
+hast failed, and therefore thy hour is put back."
+
+     [*] The dog-star, whose appearance marked the commencement
+     of the overflow of the Nile.--Editor.
+
+"I understand thee not, my father," I answered.
+
+"What was it, then, my son, that the old wife, Atoua, said to thee down
+by the bank of the canal?"
+
+Then I told him all that the old wife had said.
+
+"And thou believest, Harmachis, my son?"
+
+"Nay," I answered; "how should I believe such tales? Surely she is mad.
+All the people know her for mad."
+
+Now for the first time he looked towards me, who was standing in the
+shadow.
+
+"My son! my son!" he cried; "thou art wrong. She is not mad. The woman
+spoke the truth; she spoke not of herself, but of the voice within her
+that cannot lie. For this Atoua is a prophetess and holy. Now learn thou
+the destiny that the Gods of Egypt have given to thee to fulfil, and woe
+be unto thee if by any weakness thou dost fail therein! Listen: thou art
+no stranger adopted into my house and the worship of the Temple; thou
+art my very son, saved to me by this same woman. But, Harmachis, thou
+art more than this, for in thee and me alone yet flows the Imperial
+blood of Egypt. Thou and I alone of men alive are descended, without
+break or flaw, from that Pharaoh Nekt-nebf whom Ochus the Persian drove
+from Egypt. The Persian came and the Persian went, and after the Persian
+came the Macedonian, and now for nigh upon three hundred years the
+Lagid� have usurped the double crown, defiling the land of Khem and
+corrupting the worship of its Gods. And mark thou this: but now, two
+weeks since, Ptolemy Neus Dionysus, Ptolemy Aul�tes the Piper, who would
+have slain thee, is dead; and but now hath the Eunuch Pothinus, that
+very eunuch who came hither, years ago, to cut thee off, set at naught
+the will of his master, the dead Aul�tes, and placed the boy Ptolemy
+upon the throne. And therefore his sister Cleopatra, that fierce and
+beautiful girl, has fled into Syria; and there, if I err not, she will
+gather her armies and make war upon her brother Ptolemy: for by her
+father's will she was left joint-sovereign with him. And, meanwhile,
+mark thou this, my son: the Roman eagle hangs on high, waiting with
+ready talons till such time as he may fall upon the fat wether Egypt and
+rend him. And mark again: the people of Egypt are weary of the foreign
+yoke, they hate the memory of the Persians, and they are sick at heart
+of being named 'Men of Macedonia' in the markets of Alexandria. The
+whole land mutters and murmurs beneath the yoke of the Greek and the
+shadow of the Roman.
+
+"Have we not been oppressed? Have not our children been butchered and
+our gains wrung from us to fill the bottomless greed and lust of the
+Lagid�? Have not the temples been forsaken?--ay, have not the majesties
+of the Eternal Gods been set at naught by these Grecian babblers, who
+have dared to meddle with the immortal truths, and name the Most High by
+another name--by the name of Serapis--confounding the substance of the
+Invisible? Does not Egypt cry aloud for freedom?--and shall she cry in
+vain? Nay, nay, for thou, my son, art the appointed way of deliverance.
+To thee, being sunk in eld, I have decreed my rights. Already thy name
+is whispered in many a sanctuary, from Abu to Athu; already priests and
+people swear allegiance, even by the sacred symbols, unto him who shall
+be declared to them. Still, the time is not yet; thou art too green a
+sapling to bear the weight of such a storm. But to-day thou wast tried
+and found wanting.
+
+"He who would serve the Gods, Harmachis, must put aside the failings of
+the flesh. Taunts must not move him, nor any lusts of man. Thine is a
+high mission, but this thou must learn. If thou learn it not, thou shalt
+fail therein; and then, my curse be on thee! and the curse of Egypt,
+and the curse of Egypt's broken Gods! For know thou this, that even the
+Gods, who are immortal, may, in the interwoven scheme of things, lean
+upon the man who is their instrument, as a warrior on his sword. And woe
+be to the sword that snaps in the hour of battle, for it shall be thrown
+aside to rust or perchance be melted with fire! Therefore, make thy
+heart pure and high and strong; for thine is no common lot, and thine
+no mortal meed. Triumph, Harmachis, and in glory thou shalt go--in glory
+here and hereafter! Fail, and woe--woe be on thee!"
+
+He paused and bowed his head, and then went on:
+
+"Of these matters thou shalt hear more hereafter. Meanwhile, thou
+hast much to learn. To-morrow I will give thee letters, and thou shalt
+journey down the Nile, past white-walled Memphis to Annu. There thou
+shalt sojourn certain years, and learn more of our ancient wisdom
+beneath the shadow of those secret pyramids of which thou, too, art the
+Hereditary High Priest that is to be. And meanwhile, I will sit here and
+watch, for my hour is not yet, and, by the help of the Gods, spin the
+web of Death wherein thou shalt catch and hold the wasp of Macedonia.
+
+"Come hither, my son; come hither and kiss me on the brow, for thou art
+my hope, and all the hope of Egypt. Be but true, soar to the eagle crest
+of destiny, and thou shalt be glorious here and hereafter. Be false,
+fail, and I will spit upon thee, and thou shalt be accursed, and thy
+soul shall remain in bondage till that hour when, in the slow flight
+of time, the evil shall once more grow to good and Egypt shall again be
+free."
+
+I drew near, trembling, and kissed him on the brow. "May all these
+things come upon me, and more," I said, "if I fail thee, my father!"
+
+"Nay!" he cried, "not me, not me; but rather those whose will I do. And
+now go, my son, and ponder in thy heart, and in thy secret heart digest
+my words; mark what thou shalt see, and gather up the dew of wisdom,
+making thee ready for the battle. Fear not for thyself, thou art
+protected from all ill. No harm may touch thee from without; thyself
+alone can be thine own enemy. I have said."
+
+Then I went forth with a full heart. The night was very still, and none
+were stirring in the temple courts. I hurried through them, and reached
+the entrance to the pylon that is at the outer gate. Then, seeking
+solitude, and, as it were, to draw near to heaven, I climbed the pylon's
+two hundred steps, until at length I reached the massive roof. Here I
+leaned my breast against the parapet, and looked forth. As I looked,
+the red edge of the full moon floated up over the Arabian hills, and
+her rays fell upon the pylon where I stood and the temple walls beyond,
+lighting the visages of the carven Gods. Then the cold light struck the
+stretch of well-tilled lands, now whitening to the harvest, and as the
+heavenly lamp of Isis passed up to the sky, her rays crept slowly down
+to the valley, where Sihor, father of the land of Khem, rolls on toward
+the sea.
+
+Now the bright beams kissed the water that smiled an answer back, and
+now mountain and valley, river, temple, town, and plain were flooded
+with white light, for Mother Isis was arisen, and threw her gleaming
+robe across the bosom of the earth. It was beautiful, with the beauty
+of a dream, and solemn as the hour after death. Mightily, indeed, the
+temples towered up against the face of night. Never had they seemed so
+grand to me as in that hour--those eternal shrines, before whose walls
+Time himself shall wither. And it was to be mine to rule this moonlit
+land; mine to preserve those sacred shrines, and cherish the honour of
+their Gods; mine to cast out the Ptolemy and free Egypt from the foreign
+yoke! In my veins ran the blood of those great Kings who await the
+day of Resurrection, sleeping in the tombs of the valley of Thebes.
+My spirit swelled within me as I dreamed upon this glorious destiny,
+I closed my hands, and there, upon the pylon, I prayed as I had never
+prayed before to the Godhead, who is called by many names, and in many
+forms made manifest.
+
+"O Amen," I prayed, "God of Gods, who hast been from the beginning; Lord
+of Truth, who art, and of whom all are, who givest out thy Godhead and
+gatherest it up again; in the circle of whom the Divine ones move
+and are, who wast from all time the Self-begot, and who shalt be till
+time--hearken unto me.[*]
+
+     [*] For a somewhat similar definition of the Godhead see the
+     funeral papyrus of Nesikhonsu, a Princess of the Twenty-
+     first Dynasty.--Editor.
+
+"O Amen--Osiris, the sacrifice by whom we are justified, Lord of the
+Region of the Winds, Ruler of the Ages, Dweller in the West, the Supreme
+in Amenti, hearken unto me.
+
+"O Isis, great Mother Goddess, mother of the Horus--mysterious Mother,
+Sister, Spouse, hearken unto me. If, indeed, I am the chosen of the Gods
+to carry out the purpose of the Gods, let a sign be given me, even now,
+to seal my life to the life above. Stretch out your arms towards me, O
+ye Gods, and uncover the glory of your countenance. Hear! ah, hear me!"
+And I cast myself upon my knees and lifted up my eyes to heaven.
+
+And as I knelt, a cloud grew upon the face of the moon covering it up,
+so that the night became dark, and the silence deepened all around--even
+the dogs far below in the city ceased to howl, while the silence grew
+and grew till it was heavy as death. I felt my spirit lifted up within
+me, and my hair rose upon my head. Then of a sudden the mighty pylon
+seemed to rock beneath my feet, a great wind beat about my brows and a
+voice spoke within my heart:
+
+"Behold a sign! Possess thyself in patience, O Harmachis!"
+
+And as the voice spoke, a cold hand touched my hand, and left somewhat
+within it. Then the cloud rolled from the face of the moon, the wind
+passed, the pylon ceased to tremble, and the night was as the night had
+been.
+
+As the light came back, I gazed upon that which had been left within my
+hand. It was a bud of the holy lotus new breaking into bloom, and from
+it came a most sweet scent.
+
+And while I gazed behold! the lotus passed from my grasp and was gone,
+leaving me astonished.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+OF THE DEPARTURE OF HARMACHIS AND OF HIS MEETING WITH HIS UNCLE SEPA,
+THE HIGH PRIEST OF ANNU EL RA; OF HIS LIFE AT ANNU, AND OF THE WORDS OF
+SEPA
+
+At the dawning of the next day I was awakened by a priest of the temple,
+who brought word to me to make ready for the journey of which my father
+had spoken, inasmuch as there was an occasion for me to pass down the
+river to Annu el Ra. Now this is the Heliopolis of the Greeks, whither I
+should go in the company of some priests of Ptah at Memphis who had come
+hither to Abouthis to lay the body of one of their great men in the tomb
+that had been prepared near the resting place of the blessed Osiris.
+
+So I made ready, and the same evening, having received letters and
+embraced my father and those about the temple who were dear to me, I
+passed down the banks of Sihor, and we sailed with the south wind.
+As the pilot stood upon the prow and with a rod in his hand bade the
+sailor-men loosen the stakes by which the vessel was moored to the
+banks, the old wife, Atoua, hobbled up, her basket of simples in her
+hand, and, calling out farewell, threw a sandal after me for good
+chance, which sandal I kept for many years.
+
+So we sailed, and for six days passed down the wonderful river, making
+fast each night at some convenient spot. But when I lost sight of the
+familiar things that I had seen day by day since I had eyes to see, and
+found myself alone among strange faces, I felt very sore at heart, and
+would have wept had I not been ashamed. And of all the wonderful things
+I saw I will not write here, for, though they were new to me, have they
+not been known to men since such time as the Gods ruled in Egypt? But
+the priests who were with me showed me no little honour and expounded to
+me what were the things I saw.
+
+On the morning of the seventh day we came to Memphis, the city of
+the White Hall. Here, for three days I rested from my journey and was
+entertained of the priests of the wonderful Temple of Ptah the Creator,
+and shown the beauties of the great and marvellous city. Also I was led
+in secret by the High Priest and two others into the holy presence of
+the God Apis, the Ptah who deigns to dwell among men in the form of a
+bull. The God was black, and on his forehead there was a white square,
+on his back was a white mark shaped like an eagle, beneath his tongue
+was the likeness of a scarab�us, in his tail were double hairs, and a
+plate of pure gold hung between his horns. I entered the place of the
+God and worshipped, while the High Priest and those with him stood
+aside, watching earnestly. And when I had worshipped, saying the words
+which had been told me, the God knelt, and lay down before me. Then
+the High Priest and those with him, who, as I heard in after time, were
+great men of Upper Egypt, approached wondering, and, saying no word,
+made obeisance to me because of the omen. And many other things I saw in
+Memphis that are too long to write of here.
+
+On the fourth day some priests of Annu came to lead me to Sepa, my
+uncle, the High Priest of Annu. So, having bidden farewell to those of
+Memphis, we crossed the river and rode on asses two parts of a day's
+journey through many villages, which we found in great poverty because
+of the oppression of the tax-gatherers. Also, as we went, I saw for
+the first time the great pyramids that are beyond the image of the God
+Horemkhu, that Sphinx whom the Greeks name Harmachis, and the Temples of
+the Divine Mother Isis, Queen of the Memnonia, and the God Osiris, Lord
+of Rosatou, of which temples, together with the Temple of the worship
+of the Divine Menkau-ra, I, Harmachis, am by right Divine the Hereditary
+High Priest. I saw them and marvelled at their greatness and the white
+carven limestone, and red granite of Syene, that flashed the sun's rays
+back to heaven. But at this time I knew nothing of the treasure that was
+hid in _Her_, which is the third among the pyramids--would I had never
+known of it!
+
+And so at last we came within sight of Annu, which after Memphis has
+been seen is no large town, but stands on raised ground, before which
+are lakes fed by a canal. Behind the town is the inclosed field of the
+Temple of the God Ra.
+
+We dismounted at the pylon, and were met beneath the portico by a man
+not great of stature, but of noble aspect, having his head shaven, and
+with dark eyes that twinkled like the further stars.
+
+"Hold!" he cried, in a great voice which fitted his weak body but ill.
+"Hold! I am Sepa, who opens the mouth of the Gods!"
+
+"And I," I said, "am Harmachis, son of Amenemhat, Hereditary High Priest
+and Ruler of the Holy City Abouthis; and I bear letters to thee, O
+Sepa!"
+
+"Enter," he said. "Enter!" scanning me all the while with his twinkling
+eyes. "Enter, my son!" And he took me and led me to a chamber in the
+inner hall, closed to the door, and then, having glanced at the letters
+that I brought, of a sudden he fell upon my neck and embraced me.
+
+"Welcome," he cried, "welcome, son of my own sister, and hope of Khem!
+Not in vain have I prayed the Gods that I might live to look upon thy
+face and impart to thee the wisdom which perchance I alone have mastered
+of those who are left alive in Egypt. There are few whom it is lawful
+that I should teach. But thine is the great destiny, and thine shall be
+the ears to hear the lessons of the Gods."
+
+And he embraced me once more and bade me go bathe and eat, saying that
+on the morrow he would speak with me further.
+
+This of a truth he did, and at such length that I will forbear to set
+down all he said both then and afterwards, for if I did so there would
+be no papyrus left in Egypt when the task was ended. Therefore, having
+much to tell and but little time to tell it, I will pass over the events
+of the years that followed.
+
+For this was the manner of my life. I rose early, I attended the worship
+of the Temple, and I gave my days to study. I learnt of the rites of
+religion and their meaning, and of the beginning of the Gods and the
+beginning of the Upper World. I learnt of the mystery of the movements
+of the stars, and of how the earth rolls on among them. I was instructed
+in that ancient knowledge which is called magic, and in the way of
+interpretation of dreams, and of the drawing nigh to God. I was taught
+the language of symbols and their outer and inner secrets. I became
+acquainted with the eternal laws of Good and Evil, and with the mystery
+of that trust which is held of man; also I learnt the secrets of the
+pyramids--which I would that I had never known. Further, I read the
+records of the past, and of the acts and words of the ancient kings who
+were before me since the rule of Horus upon earth; and I was made to
+know all craft of state, the lore of earth, and with it the history of
+Greece and Rome. Also I learnt the Grecian and Roman tongues, of which
+indeed I already had some knowledge--and all this while, for five long
+years, I kept my hands clean and my heart pure, and did no evil in the
+sight of God or man; but laboured heavily to acquire all things, and to
+prepare myself for the destiny that awaited me.
+
+Twice every year greetings and letters came from my father Amenemhat,
+and twice every year I sent back my answers asking if the time had come
+to cease from labour. And so the days of my probation sped away till I
+grew faint and weary at heart, for being now a man, ay and learned, I
+longed to make a beginning of the life of men. And often I wondered if
+this talk and prophecy of the things that were to be was but a dream
+born of the brains of men whose wish ran before their thought. I was,
+indeed, of the Royal blood, that I knew: for my uncle, Sepa the Priest,
+showed me a secret record of the descent, traced without break from
+father to son, and graven in mystic symbols on a tablet of the stone
+of Syene. But of what avail was it to be Royal by right when Egypt, my
+heritage, was a slave--a slave to do the pleasure and minister to the
+luxury of the Macedonian Lagid�--ay, and when she had been so long a
+serf that, perchance, she had forgotten how to put off the servile smile
+of Bondage and once more to look across the world with Freedom's happy
+eyes?
+
+Then I bethought me of my prayer upon the pylon tower of Abouthis and of
+the answer given to my prayer, and wondered if that, too, were a dream.
+
+And one night, as, weary with study, I walked within the sacred grove
+that is in the garden of the temple, and mused thus, I met my uncle
+Sepa, who also was walking and thinking.
+
+"Hold!" he cried in his great voice; "why is thy face so sad, Harmachis?
+Has the last problem that we studied overwhelmed thee?"
+
+"Nay, my uncle," I answered, "I am overwhelmed indeed, but not of the
+problem; it was a light one. My heart is heavy, for I am weary of life
+within these cloisters, and the piled-up weight of knowledge crushes me.
+It is of no avail to store up force which cannot be used."
+
+"Ah, thou art impatient, Harmachis," he answered; "it is ever the way
+of foolish youth. Thou wouldst taste of the battle; thou dost tire of
+watching the breakers fall upon the beach, thou wouldst plunge into
+them and venture the desperate hazard of the war. And so thou wouldst be
+going, Harmachis? The bird would fly the nest as, when they are grown,
+the swallows fly from the eaves of the Temple. Well, it shall be as
+thou desirest; the hour is at hand. I have taught thee all that I have
+learned, and methinks that the pupil has outrun his master," and he
+paused and wiped his bright black eyes, for he was very sad at the
+thought of my departure.
+
+"And whither shall I go, my uncle?" I asked rejoicing; "back to Abouthis
+to be initiated into the mysteries of the Gods?"
+
+"Ay, back to Abouthis, and from Abouthis to Alexandria, and from
+Alexandria to the Throne of thy fathers, Harmachis! Listen, now; things
+are thus: Thou knowest how Cleopatra, the Queen, fled into Syria when
+that false eunuch Pothinus set the will of her father Aul�tes at naught
+and raised her brother Ptolemy to the sole lordship of Egypt. Thou
+knowest also how she came back, like a Queen indeed, with a great army
+in her train, and lay at Pelusium, and how at this juncture the mighty
+C�sar, that great man, that greatest of all men, sailed with a weak
+company hither to Alexandria from Pharsalia's bloody field in hot
+pursuit of Pompey. But he found Pompey already dead, having been basely
+murdered by Achillas, the General, and Lucius Septimius, the chief of
+the Roman legions in Egypt, and thou knowest how the Alexandrians were
+troubled at his coming and would have slain his lictors. Then, as
+thou hast heard, C�sar seized Ptolemy, the young King, and his sister
+Arsino�, and bade the army of Cleopatra and the army of Ptolemy, under
+Achillas, which lay facing each other at Pelusium, disband and go
+their ways. And for answer Achillas marched on C�sar, and besieged him
+straitly in the Bruchium at Alexandria, and so, for a while, things
+were, and none knew who should reign in Egypt. But then Cleopatra took
+up the dice, and threw them, and this was the throw she made--in truth,
+it was a bold one. For, leaving the army at Pelusium, she came at dusk
+to the harbour of Alexandria, and alone with the Sicilian Apollodorus
+entered and landed. Then Apollodorus bound her in a bale of rich rugs,
+such as are made in Syria, and sent the rugs as a present to C�sar. And
+when the rugs were unbound in the palace, behold! within them was the
+fairest girl on all the earth--ay, and the most witty and the most
+learned. And she seduced the great C�sar--even his weight of years did
+not avail to protect him from her charms--so that, as a fruit of his
+folly, he wellnigh lost his life, and all the glory he had gained in a
+hundred wars."
+
+"The fool!" I broke in--"the fool! Thou callest him great; but how can
+the man be truly great who has no strength to stand against a woman's
+wiles? C�sar, with the world hanging on his word! C�sar, at whose breath
+forty legions marched and changed the fate of peoples! C�sar the cold!
+the far-seeing! the hero!--C�sar to fall like a ripe fruit into a false
+girl's lap! Why, in the issue, of what common clay was this Roman C�sar,
+and how poor a thing!"
+
+But Sepa looked at me and shook his head. "Be not so rash, Harmachis,
+and talk not with so proud a voice. Knowest thou not that in every suit
+of mail there is a joint, and woe to him who wears the harness if the
+sword should search it out! For Woman, in her weakness, is yet the
+strongest force upon the earth. She is the helm of all things human; she
+comes in many shapes and knocks at many doors; she is quick and patient,
+and her passion is not ungovernable like that of man, but as a gentle
+steed that she can guide e'en where she will, and as occasion offers can
+now bit up and now give rein. She has a captain's eye, and stout must be
+that fortress of the heart in which she finds no place of vantage. Does
+thy blood beat fast in youth? She will outrun it, nor will her kisses
+tire. Art thou set toward ambition? She will unlock thy inner heart,
+and show thee roads that lead to glory. Art thou worn and weary? She has
+comfort in her breast. Art thou fallen? She can lift thee up, and to the
+illusion of thy sense gild defeat with triumph. Ay, Harmachis, she can
+do these things, for Nature ever fights upon her side; and while she
+does them she can deceive and shape a secret end in which thou hast
+no part. And thus Woman rules the world. For her are wars; for her men
+spend their strength in gathering gains; for her they do well and ill,
+and seek for greatness, to find oblivion. But still she sits like yonder
+Sphinx, and smiles; and no man has ever read all the riddle of her
+smile, or known all the mystery of her heart. Mock not! mock not!
+Harmachis; for he must be great indeed who can defy the power of Woman,
+which, pressing round him like the invisible air, is often strongest
+when the senses least discover it."
+
+I laughed aloud. "Thou speakest earnestly, my uncle Sepa," I said;
+"one might almost think that thou hadst not come unscathed through this
+fierce fire of temptation. Well, for myself, I fear not woman and her
+wiles; I know naught of them, and naught do I wish to know; and I still
+hold that this C�sar was a fool. Had I stood where C�sar stood, to cool
+its wantonness that bale of rugs should have been rolled down the palace
+steps, into the harbour mud."
+
+"Nay, cease! cease!" he cried aloud. "It is evil to speak thus; may the
+Gods avert the omen and preserve to thee this cold strength of which
+thou boastest. Oh! man, thou knowest not!--thou in thy strength and
+beauty that is without compare, in the power of thy learning and the
+sweetness of thy tongue--thou knowest not! The world where thou must mix
+is not a sanctuary as that of the Divine Isis. But there--it may be so!
+Pray that thy heart's ice may never melt, so thou shalt be great and
+happy and Egypt shall be delivered. And now let me take up my tale--thou
+seest, Harmachis, even in so grave a story woman claims her place. The
+young Ptolemy, Cleopatra's brother, being loosed of C�sar, treacherously
+turned on him. Then C�sar and Mithridates stormed the camp of Ptolemy,
+who took to flight across the river. But his boat was sunk by the
+fugitives who pressed upon it, and such was the miserable end of
+Ptolemy.
+
+"Thereon, the war being ended, though she had but then borne him a son,
+C�sarion, C�sar appointed the younger Ptolemy to rule with Cleopatra,
+and be her husband in name, and he himself departed for Rome, bearing
+with him the beautiful Princess Arsino� to follow his triumph in her
+chains. But the great C�sar is no more. He died as he had lived, in
+blood, and right royally. And but now Cleopatra, the Queen, if my
+tidings may be trusted, has slain Ptolemy, her brother and husband, by
+poison, and taken the child C�sarion to be her fellow on the throne,
+which she holds by the help of the Roman legions, and, as they say,
+of young Sextus Pompeius, who has succeeded C�sar in her love. But,
+Harmachis, the whole land boils and seethes against her. In every city
+the children of Khem talk of the deliverer who is to come--and thou art
+he, Harmachis. The time is almost ripe. The hour is nigh at hand. Go
+thou back to Abouthis and learn the last secrets of the Gods, and
+meet those who shall direct the bursting of the storm. Then act,
+Harmachis--act, I say, and strike home for Khem, rid the land of the
+Roman and the Greek, and take thy place upon the throne of thy divine
+fathers and be a King of men. For to this end thou wast born, O Prince!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+OF THE RETURN OF HARMACHIS TO ABOUTHIS; OF THE CELEBRATION OF THE
+MYSTERIES; OF THE CHANT OF ISIS; AND OF THE WARNING OF AMENEMHAT
+
+On the next day I embraced my uncle Sepa, and with an eager heart
+departed from Annu back to Abouthis. To be short, I came thither in
+safety, having been absent five years and a month, being now no more
+a boy but a man full grown and having my mind well stocked with the
+knowledge of men and the ancient wisdom of Egypt. So once again I
+saw the old lands, and the known faces, though of these some few were
+wanting, having been gathered to Osiris. Now, as, riding across the
+fields, I came nigh to the enclosure of the Temple, the priests and
+people issued forth to bid me welcome, and with them the old wife,
+Atoua, who, but for a few added wrinkles that Time had cut upon her
+forehead, was just as she had been when she threw the sandal after me
+five long years before.
+
+"_La! la! la!_" she cried; "and there thou art, my bonny lad; more bonny
+even than thou wert! _La!_ what a man! what shoulders! and what a face
+and form! Ah, it does an old woman credit to have dandled thee! But
+thou art over-pale; those priests down there at Annu have starved thee,
+surely? Starve not thyself: the Gods love not a skeleton. 'Empty stomach
+makes empty head' as they say at Alexandria. But this is a glad hour;
+ay, a joyous hour. Come in--come in!" and as I lighted down she embraced
+me.
+
+But I thrust her aside. "My father! where is my father?" I cried; "I see
+him not!"
+
+"Nay, nay, have no fear," she answered; "his Holiness is well; he waits
+thee in his chamber. There, pass on. O happy day! O happy Abouthis!"
+
+So I went, or rather ran, and reached the chamber of which I have
+written, and there at the table sat my father, Amenemhat, the same as he
+had been, but very old. I came to him and, kneeling before him, kissed
+his hand, and he blessed me.
+
+"Look up, my son," he said, "let my old eyes gaze upon thy face, that I
+may read thy heart."
+
+So I lifted up my head, and he looked upon me long and earnestly.
+
+"I read thee," he said at length; "thou art pure and strong in wisdom;
+I have not been deceived in thee. Oh, the years have been lonely; but I
+did well to send thee hence. Now, tell me of thy life; for thy letters
+have told me little, and thou canst not know, my son, how hungry is a
+father's heart."
+
+And so I told him; we sat far into the night and talked together. And
+in the end he bade me know that I must now prepare to be initiated into
+those last mysteries that are learned of the chosen of the Gods.
+
+And so it came about that for a space of three months I prepared myself
+according to the holy customs. I ate no meat. I was constant in the
+sanctuaries, in the study of the secrets of the Great Sacrifice and of
+the woe of the Holy Mother. I watched and prayed before the altars. I
+lifted up my soul to God; ay, in dreams I communed with the Invisible,
+till at length earth and earth's desires seemed to pass from me. I
+longed no more for the glory of this world, my heart hung above it as
+an eagle on his outstretched wings, and the voice of the world's blame
+could not stir it, and the vision of its beauty brought no delight. For
+above me was the vast vault of heaven, where in unalterable procession
+the stars pass on, drawing after them the destinies of men; where the
+Holy Ones sit upon their burning thrones, and watch the chariot-wheels
+of Fate as they roll from sphere to sphere. O hours of holy
+contemplation! who, having once tasted of your joy could wish again to
+grovel on the earth? O vile flesh to drag us down! I would that thou
+hadst then altogether fallen from me, and left my spirit free to seek
+Osiris!
+
+The months of probation passed but too swiftly, and now the holy day
+drew near when I was in truth to be united to the universal Mother.
+Never hath Night so longed for the promise of the Dawn; never hath the
+heart of a lover so passionately desired the sweet coming of his bride,
+as I longed to see Thy glorious face, O Isis! Even now that I have been
+faithless to Thee, and Thou art far from me, O Divine! my soul goes out
+to Thee, and once more I know----But as it is bidden that I should
+draw the veil, and speak of things which have not been told since the
+beginning of this world, let me pass on and reverently set down the
+history of that holy morn.
+
+For seven days the great festival had been celebrated, the suffering of
+the Lord Osiris had been commemorated, the grief of the Mother Isis had
+been sung and glory had been done to the memory of the coming of the
+Divine Child Horus, the Son, the Avenger, the God-begot. All these
+things had been carried out according to the ancient rites. The boats
+had floated on the sacred lake, the priests had scourged themselves
+before the sanctuaries, and the images had been borne through the
+streets at night.
+
+And now, as the sun sank on the seventh day, once more the great
+procession gathered to chant the woes of Isis and tell how the evil was
+avenged. We went in silence from the temple, and passed through the city
+ways. First came those who clear the path, then my father Amenemhat in
+all his priestly robes, and the wand of cedar in his hand. Then, clad
+in pure linen, I, the neophyte, followed alone; and after me the
+white-robed priests, holding aloft banners and emblems of the Gods. Next
+came those who bear the sacred boat, and after them the singers and
+the mourners; while, stretching as far as the eye could reach, all the
+people marched, clad in melancholy black because Osiris was no more. We
+went in silence through the city streets till at length we came to the
+wall of the temple and passed in. And as my father, the High Priest,
+entered beneath the gateway of the outer pylon, a sweet-voiced woman
+singer began to sing the Holy Chant, and thus she sang:
+
+     "Sing we Osiris dead,
+     Lament the fallen head:
+     The light has left the world, the world is grey.
+     Athwart the starry skies
+     The web of Darkness flies,
+     And Isis weeps Osiris passed away.
+     Your tears, ye stars, ye fires, ye rivers, shed,
+     Weep, children of the Nile, weep for your Lord is dead!"
+
+She paused in her most sweet song, and the whole multitude took up the
+melancholy dirge:
+
+     "Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     'Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!'"
+
+The chorus ceased, and once again she sang:
+
+     "Within the court divine
+     The Sevenfold sacred shrine
+     We pass, while echoes of the Temple walls
+     Repeat the long lament
+     The sound of sorrow sent
+     Far up within the imperishable halls,
+     Where, each in the other's arms, the Sisters weep,
+     Isis and Nephthys, o'er His unawaking sleep."
+
+And then again rolled forth the solemn chorus of a thousand voices:
+
+     "Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     'Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!'"
+It ceased, and sweetly she took up the song:
+
+     "O dweller in the West,
+     Lover and Lordliest,
+     Thy love, thy Sister Isis, calls thee home!
+     Come from thy chamber dun
+     Thou Master of the Sun,
+     Thy shadowy chamber far below the foam!
+     With weary wings and spent
+     Through all the firmament,
+     Through all the horror-haunted ways of Hell,
+     I seek thee near and far,
+     From star to wandering star,
+     Free with the dead that in Amenti dwell.
+     I search the height, the deep, the lands, the skies,
+     Rise from the dead and live, our Lord Osiris, rise!"
+
+     "Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     'Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!'"
+
+Now in a strain more high and glad the singer sang:
+
+     "He wakes--from forth the prison
+     We sing Osiris risen,
+     We sing the child that Nout conceived and bare.
+     Thine own love, Isis, waits
+     The Warden of the Gates,
+     She breathes the breath of Life on breast and hair,
+     And in her breast and breath
+     Behold! he waketh,
+     Behold! at length he riseth out of rest;
+     Touched with her holy hands,
+     The Lord of all the Lands,
+     He stirs, he rises from her breath, her breast!
+     But thou, fell Typhon, fly,
+     The judgment day drawn nigh,
+     Fleet on thy track as flame speeds Horus from the sky."
+
+     "Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     'Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!'"
+
+Once more, as we bowed before the Holy, she sang, and sent the full
+breath of her glad music ringing up the everlasting walls till the
+silence quivered with her round notes of melody, and the hearts of those
+who hearkened stirred strangely in the breast. And thus, as we walked,
+she sang the song of Osiris risen, the song of Hope, the song of
+Victory:
+
+     "Sing we the Trinity,
+     Sing we the Holy Three,
+     Sing we, and praise we and worship the Throne,
+     Throne that our Lord hath set--
+     There peace and truth are met
+     There in the Halls of the Holy alone!
+     There in the shadowings
+     Faint of the folded wings,
+     There shall we dwell and rejoice in our rest,
+     We that thy servants are!
+     Horus drive ill afar!
+     Far in the folds of the dark of the West!"
+
+Again, as her notes died away, thundered forth the chorus of all the
+voices:
+
+     "Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     'Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!'"
+
+The chanting ceased, and as the sun sank the High Priest raised the
+statue of the living God and held it before the multitude that was now
+gathered in the court of the temple. Then, with a mighty and joyful
+shout of:
+
+"_Osiris our hope! Osiris! Osiris!_"
+
+the people tore their black wrappings from their dress, revealing the
+white robes they wore beneath, and, as one man, they bowed before the
+God, and the feast was ended.
+
+
+But for me the ceremony was only begun, for to-night was the night of my
+initiation. Leaving the inner court I bathed myself, and, clad in pure
+linen, passed, as it is ordained, into an inner, but not the inmost,
+sanctuary, and laid the accustomed offerings on the altar. Then,
+lifting my hands to heaven, I remained for many hours in contemplation,
+striving, by holy thoughts and prayer, to gather up my strength against
+the mighty moment of my trial.
+
+The hours sped slowly in the silence of the temple, till at length the
+door opened and my father Amenemhat, the High Priest, came in, clad
+in white, and leading by the hand the Priest of Isis. For, having been
+married, he did not himself enter into the mysteries of the Holy Mother.
+
+I rose to my feet and stood humbly before them.
+
+"Art thou ready?" said the priest, lifting the lamp he held so that its
+light fell upon my face. "O thou chosen one, art thou ready to see the
+glory of the Goddess face to face?"
+
+"I am ready," I answered.
+
+"Behold thee," he said again, in solemn tones, "it is no small thing. If
+thou wilt carry out this thy last desire, understand, royal Harmachis,
+that now this very night thou must die for a while in the flesh, what
+time thy soul shall look on spiritual things. And if thou diest and any
+evil shall be found within thy heart, when thou comest at last into that
+awful presence, woe unto thee, Harmachis, for the breath of life shall
+no more enter in at the gateway of thy mouth, thy body shall utterly
+perish, and what shall befall thy other parts, if I know, I may not
+say.[*] Art thou prepared to be taken to the breast of Her who Was and
+Is and Shall Be, and in all things to do Her holy will; for Her, while
+she shall so command, to put away the thought of earthly woman; and to
+labour always for Her glory till at the end thy life is gathered to Her
+eternal life?"
+
+     [*] According to the Egyptian religion the being Man is
+     composed of four parts: the body, the double or astral shape
+     (_ka_), the soul (_bi_), and the spark of life sprung from
+     the Godhead (_khou_).--Editor.
+
+"I am," I answered; "lead on."
+
+"It is well," said the priest. "Noble Amenemhat, we go hence alone."
+
+"Farewell, my son," said my father; "be firm and triumph over things
+spiritual as thou shalt triumph over things earthly. He who would truly
+rule the world must first be lifted up above the world. He must be at
+one with God, for thus only shall he learn the secrets of the Divine.
+But beware! The Gods demand much of those who dare to enter the circle
+of their Divinity. If they go back therefrom, they shall be judged of a
+sharper law, and scourged with a heavier rod, for as their glory is, so
+shall their shame be. Therefore, make thy heart strong, royal Harmachis!
+And when thou speedest down the ways of Night and enterest the Holies,
+remember that from him to whom great gifts have been given shall gifts
+be required again. And now--if, indeed, thy mind be fixed--go whither it
+is not as yet given me to follow thee. Farewell!"
+
+For a moment as my heart weighed these heavy words, I wavered, as well
+as I might. But I was filled with longing to be gathered to the company
+of the Divine ones, and I knew that I had no evil in me, and desired to
+do only the thing that is just. Therefore, having with so much labour
+drawn the bowstring to my ear, I was fain to let fly the shaft. "Lead
+on," I cried with a loud voice; "lead on, thou holy Priest! I follow
+thee!"
+
+And we went forth.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+OF THE INITIATION OF HARMACHIS; OF HIS VISIONS; OF HIS PASSING TO THE
+CITY THAT IS IN THE PLACE OF DEATH; AND OF THE DECLARATIONS OF ISIS, THE
+MESSENGER
+
+In silence we passed into the Shrine of Isis. It was dark and bare--only
+the feeble light from the lamp gleamed faintly upon the sculptured
+walls, where, in a hundred effigies, the Holy Mother suckled the Holy
+Child.
+
+The priest closed the doors and bolted them. "Once again," he said, "art
+thou ready, Harmachis?"
+
+"Once again," I answered, "I am ready."
+
+He spoke no more; but, having lifted up his hands in prayer, led me to
+the centre of the Holy, and with a swift motion put out the lamp.
+
+"Look before thee, Harmachis!" he cried; and his voice sounded hollow in
+the solemn place.
+
+I gazed and saw nothing. But from the niche that is high in the wall,
+where is hid that sacred symbol of the Goddess on which few may look,
+there came a sound as of the rattling rods of the sistrum.[*] And as I
+listened, awestruck, behold! I saw the outline of the symbol drawn as
+with fire upon the blackness of the air. It hung above my head, and
+rattled while it hung. And, as it turned, I clearly saw the face of
+the Mother Isis that is graven on the one side, and signifies unending
+Birth, and the face of her holy sister, Nephthys, that is graven on the
+other, and signifies the ending of all birth in Death.
+
+     [*] A musical instrument peculiarly sacred to Isis of which
+     the shape and rods had a mystic significance.--Editor.
+
+Slowly it turned and swung as though some mystic dancer trod the air
+above me, and shook it in her hand. But at length the light went out,
+and the rattling ceased.
+
+Then of a sudden the end of the chamber became luminous, and in that
+white light I beheld picture after picture. I saw the ancient Nile
+rolling through deserts to the sea. There were no men upon its banks,
+nor any signs of man, nor any temples to the Gods. Only wild birds moved
+on Sihor's lonely face, and monstrous brutes plunged and wallowed in his
+waters. The sun sank in majesty behind the Libyan Desert and stained
+the waters red; the mountains towered up towards the silent sky; but in
+mountain, desert, and river there was no sign of human life. Then I knew
+that I saw the world as it had been before man was, and a terror of its
+loneliness entered my soul.
+
+The picture passed and another rose up in its place. Once again I saw
+the banks of Sihor, and on them crowded wild-faced creatures, partaking
+of the nature of the ape more than of the nature of mankind. They fought
+and slew each other. The wild birds sprang up in affright as the fire
+leapt from reed huts given by foemen's hands to flame and pillage. They
+stole and rent and murdered, dashing out the brains of children with
+axes of stone. And, though no voice told me, I knew that I saw man as
+he was tens of thousands of years ago, when first he marched across the
+earth.
+
+Yet another picture. Again I beheld the banks of Sihor; but on them fair
+cities bloomed like flowers. In and out their gates went men and women,
+passing to and fro from wide, well-tilled lands. But I saw no guards or
+armies, and no weapons of war. All was wisdom, prosperity, and peace.
+And while I wondered, a glorious Figure, clad in raiment that shone
+as flame, came from the gates of a shrine, and the sound of music went
+before and followed after him. He mounted an ivory throne which was set
+in a market-place facing the water: and as the sun sank called in
+all the multitudes to prayer. With one voice they prayed, bending in
+adoration. And I understood that herein was shown the reign of the Gods
+on earth, which was long before the days of Menes.
+
+A change came over the dream. Still the same fair city, but other
+men--men with greed and evil on their faces--who hated the bonds of
+righteous doing, and set their hearts on sin. The evening came; the
+glorious Figure mounted the throne and called to prayer, but none bowed
+themselves in adoration.
+
+"We are aweary of thee!" they cried. "Make Evil King! Slay him! slay
+him! and loose the bonds of Evil! Make Evil King!"
+
+The glorious Shape rose up, gazing with mild eyes upon those wicked men.
+
+"Ye know not what ye ask," he cried; "but as ye will, so be it! For if
+I die, by me, after much travail, shall ye once again find a path to the
+Kingdom of Good!"
+
+Even as he spoke, a Form, foul and hideous to behold, leapt upon him,
+cursing, slew him, tore him limb from limb, and amidst the clamour of
+the people sat himself upon the throne and ruled. But a Shape whose
+face was veiled passed down from heaven on shadowy wings, and with
+lamentations gathered up the rent fragments of the Being. A moment she
+bent herself upon them, then lifted up her hands and wept. And as she
+wept, behold! from her side there sprang a warrior armed and with a
+face like the face of Ra at noon. He, the Avenger, hurled himself with
+a shout upon the Monster who had usurped the throne, and they closed in
+battle, and, struggling ever in a strait embrace, passed upward to the
+skies.
+
+Then came picture after picture. I saw Powers and Peoples clad in
+various robes and speaking many tongues. I saw them pass and pass in
+millions--loving, hating, struggling, dying. Some few were happy and
+some had woe stamped upon their faces; but most bore not the seal of
+happiness nor of woe, but rather that of patience. And ever as they
+passed from age to age, high above in the heavens the Avenger fought
+on with the Evil Thing, while the scale of victory swung now here now
+there. But neither conquered, nor was it given to me to know how the
+battle ended.
+
+And I understood that what I had beheld was the holy vision of the
+struggle between the Good and the Evil Powers. I saw that man was
+created vile, but Those who are above took pity on him, and came down
+to him to make him good and happy, for the two things are one thing. But
+man returned to his wicked way, and then the bright Spirit of Good, who
+is of us called Osiris, but who has many names, offered himself up for
+the evil-doing of the race that had dethroned him. And from him and the
+Divine Mother, of whom all nature is, sprang another spirit who is the
+Protector of us on earth, as Osiris is our justifier in Amenti.
+
+For this is the mystery of the Osiris.
+
+Of a sudden, as I saw the visions, these things became clear to me. The
+mummy cloths of symbol and of ceremony that wrap Osiris round fell from
+him, and I understood the secret of religion, which is Sacrifice.
+
+The pictures passed, and again the priest, my guide, spoke to me.
+
+"Hast thou understood, Harmachis, those things which it has been granted
+thee to see?"
+
+"I have," I said. "Are the rites ended?"
+
+"Nay, they are but begun. That which follows thou must endure alone!
+Behold I leave thee, to return at the morning light. Once more I warn
+thee. That which thou shalt see, few may look upon and live. In all my
+days I have known but three who dared to face this dread hour, and of
+those three at dawn but one was found alive. Myself, I have not trod
+this path. It is too high for me."
+
+"Depart," I said; "my soul is athirst for knowledge. I will dare it."
+
+He laid his hand upon my shoulder and blessed me. He went. I heard the
+door shut to behind him, the echoes of his footsteps slowly died away.
+
+Then I felt that I was alone, alone in the Holy Place with Things
+which are not of the earth. Silence fell--silence deep and black as the
+darkness which was around me. The silence fell, it gathered as the cloud
+gathered on the face of the moon that night when, a lad, I prayed upon
+the pylon towers. It gathered denser and yet more dense till it seemed
+to creep into my heart and call aloud therein; for utter silence has
+a voice that is more terrible than any cry. I spoke; the echoes of my
+words came back upon me from the walls and seemed to beat me down. The
+stillness was lighter to endure than an echo such as this. What was I
+about to see? Should I die, even now, in the fulness of my youth and
+strength? Terrible were the warnings that had been given to me. I was
+fear-stricken, and bethought me that I would fly. Fly!--fly whither? The
+temple door was barred; I could not fly. I was alone with the Godhead,
+alone with the Power that I had invoked. Nay, my heart was pure--my
+heart was pure. I would face the terror that was to come, ay, even
+though I died.
+
+"Isis, Holy Mother," I prayed. "Isis, Spouse of Heaven, come unto me, be
+with me now; I faint! be with me now."
+
+And then I knew that things were not as things had been. The air around
+me began to stir, it rustled as the wings of eagles rustle, it took
+life. Bright eyes gazed upon me, strange whispers shook my soul. Upon
+the darkness were bars of light. They changed and interchanged, they
+moved to and fro and wove mystic symbols which I could not read.
+Swifter and swifter flew that shuttle of the light: the symbols grouped,
+gathered, faded, gathered yet again, faster and still more fast, till my
+eyes could count them no more. Now I was afloat upon a sea of glory; it
+surged and rolled, as the ocean rolls; it tossed me high, it brought me
+low. Glory was piled on glory, splendour heaped on splendour's head, and
+I rode above it all!
+
+Soon the lights began to pale in the rolling sea of air. Great shadows
+shot across it, lines of darkness pierced it and rushed together on its
+breast, till, at length, I was only a Shape of Flame set like a star on
+the bosom of immeasurable night. Bursts of awful music gathered from far
+away. Miles and miles away I heard them, thrilling faintly through the
+gloom. On they came, nearer and more near, louder and more loud, till
+they swept past, above, below, around me, swept on rushing pinions,
+terrifying and enchanting me. They floated by, ever growing fainter,
+till they died in space. Then others came, and no two were akin. Some
+rattled as ten thousand sistra shaken all to tune. Some rank from the
+brazen throats of unnumbered clarions. Some pealed with a loud, sweet
+chant of voices that were more than human; and some rolled along in the
+slow thunder of a million drums. They passed; their notes were lost in
+dying echoes; and the silence once more pressed in upon me and overcame
+me.
+
+The strength within me began to fail. I felt my life ebbing at its
+springs. Death drew near to me and his shape was _Silence_. He entered
+at my heart, entered with a sense of numbing cold, but my brain was
+still alive, I could yet think. I knew that I was drawing near the
+confines of the Dead. Nay, I was dying fast, and oh, the horror of it!
+I strove to pray and could not; there was no more time for prayer. One
+struggle and the stillness crept into my brain. The terror passed; an
+unfathomable weight of sleep pressed me down. I was dying, I was dying,
+and then--nothingness!
+
+_I was dead!_
+
+A change--life came back to me, but between the new life and the life
+that had been was a gulf and difference. Once again I stood in the
+darkness of the shrine, but it blinded me no more. It was clear as the
+light of day, although it still was black. I stood; and yet it was not
+I who stood, but rather my spiritual part, for at my feet lay my dead
+Self. There it lay, rigid and still, a stamp of awful calm sealed upon
+its face, while I gazed on it.
+
+And as I gazed, filled with wonder, I was caught up on the Wings of
+Flame and whirled away! away! faster than the lightnings flash. Down I
+fell, through depths of empty space set here and there with glittering
+crowns of stars. Down for ten million miles and ten times ten million,
+till at length I hovered over a place of soft, unchanging light, wherein
+were Temples, Palaces, and Abodes, such as no man ever saw in the
+visions of his sleep. They were built of Flame, and they were built of
+Blackness. Their spires pierced up and up; their great courts stretched
+around. Even as I hovered they changed continually to the eye; what was
+Flame became Blackness, what was Blackness became Flame. Here was the
+flash of crystal, and there the blaze of gems shone even through the
+glory that rolls around the city which is in the Place of Death. There
+were trees, and their voice as they rustled was the voice of music;
+there was air, and, as it blew, its breath was the sobbing notes of
+song.
+
+Shapes, changing, mysterious, wonderful, rushed up to meet me, and bore
+me down till I seemed to stand upon another earth.
+
+"Who comes?" cried a great Voice.
+
+"Harmachis," answered the Shapes, that changed continually. "Harmachis
+who hath been summoned from the earth to look upon the face of Her that
+Was and Is and Shall Be. Harmachis, Child of Earth!"
+
+"Throw back the Gates and open wide the Doors!" pealed the awful Voice.
+"Throw back the Gates and open wide the Doors; seal up his lips in
+silence, lest his voice jar upon the harmonies of Heaven, take away his
+sight lest he see that which may not be seen, and let Harmachis, who
+hath been summoned, pass down the path that leads to the place of the
+Unchanging. Pass on, Child of Earth; but before thou goest, look up that
+thou mayest learn how far thou art removed from Earth."
+
+I looked up. Beyond the glory that shone about the city was black night,
+and high on its bosom twinkled one tiny star.
+
+"Behold the world that thou hast left," said the Voice, "behold and
+tremble."
+
+Then my lips and eyes were sealed with silence and with darkness, so
+that I was dumb and blind. The Gates rolled back, the Doors swung wide,
+and I was swept into the city that is in the Place of Death. I was swept
+swiftly I know not whither, till at length I stood upon my feet. Again
+the great Voice pealed:
+
+"Draw the veil of blackness from his eyes, unseal the silence on his
+lips, that Harmachis, Child of Earth, may see, hear, and understand, and
+make adoration at the Shrine of Her that Was and Is and Shall Be."
+
+And my lips and eyes were touched once more, so that my sight and speech
+came back.
+
+Behold! I stood within a hall of blackest marble, so lofty that even
+in the rosy light scarce could my vision reach the great groins of the
+roof. Music wailed about its spaces, and all adown its length stood
+winged Spirits fashioned in living fire, and such was the brightness of
+their forms that I could not look on them. In its centre was an altar,
+small and square, and I stood before the empty altar. Then again the
+Voice cried:
+
+"O Thou that hast been, art, and shalt be; Thou who, having many names,
+art yet without a name; Measurer of Time; Messenger of God; Guardian of
+the Worlds and the Races that dwell thereon; Universal Mother born of
+Nothingness; Creatix uncreated; Living Splendour without Form, Living
+Form without Substance; Servant of the Invisible; Child of Law; Holder
+of the Scales and Sword of Fate; Vessel of Life, through whom all Life
+flows, to whom it again is gathered; Recorder of Things Done; Executrix
+of Decrees--_Hear!_
+
+"Harmachis the Egyptian, who by Thy will hath been summoned from
+the earth, waits before Thine Altar, with ears unstopped, with
+eyes unsealed, and with an open heart. Hear and descend! Descend, O
+Many-shaped! Descend in Flame! Descend in Sound! Descend in Spirit! Hear
+and descend!"
+
+
+
+The Voice ceased and there was silence. Then through the silence came
+a sound like the booming of the sea. It passed and presently, moved
+thereto by I know not what, I raised my eyes from my hands with which I
+had covered them, and saw a small dark cloud hanging over the Altar in
+and out of which a fiery Serpent climbed.
+
+Then all the Spirits clad in light fell upon the marble floor, and with
+a loud voice adored; but what they said I could not understand. Behold!
+the dark cloud came down and rested on the Altar, the Serpent of fire
+stretched itself towards me, touched me on the forehead with its forky
+tongue and was gone. From within the cloud a Voice sweet and low and
+clear spoke in heavenly accents:
+
+"Depart, ye Ministers, leave Me with my son whom I have summoned."
+
+Then like arrows rushing from a bow the flame-clad Spirits leapt from
+the ground and sped away.
+
+"O Harmachis," said the Voice, "be not afraid, I am She whom thou dost
+know as Isis of the Egyptians; but what else I am strive not thou
+to learn, it is beyond thy strength. For I am all things, Life is my
+spirit, and Nature is my raiment. I am the laughter of the babe, I am
+the maiden's love, I am the mother's kiss. I am the Child and Servant of
+the Invisible that is God, that is Law, that is Fate--though myself I be
+not God and Fate and Law. When winds blow and oceans roar upon the
+face of the Earth thou hearest my voice; when thou gazest on the starry
+firmament thou seest my countenance; when the spring blooms out in
+flowers, that is my smile, Harmachis. For I am Nature's self, and all
+her shapes are shapes of Me. I breathe in all that breathes. I wax and
+wane in the changeful moon: I grow and gather in the tides: I rise with
+the suns: I flash with the lightning and thunder in the storms. Nothing
+is too great for the measure of my majesty, nothing is so small that
+I cannot find a home therein. I am in thee and thou art in Me, O
+Harmachis. That which bade thee be bade Me also be. Therefore, though I
+am great and thou art little, have no fear. For we are bound together
+by the common bond of life--that life which flows through suns and stars
+and spaces, through Spirits and the souls of men, welding all Nature to
+a whole that, changing ever, is yet eternally the same."
+
+I bowed my head--I could not speak, for I was afraid.
+
+"Faithfully hast thou served Me, O my son," went on the low sweet Voice;
+"greatly thou hast longed to be brought face to face with Me here in
+Amenti; and greatly hast thou dared to accomplish thy desire. For it is
+no small thing to cast off the tabernacle of the Flesh and before the
+appointed time, if only for an hour, put on the raiment of the Spirit.
+And greatly, O my servant and my son, have I, too, desired to look on
+thee there where I am. For the Gods love those who love them, but with a
+wider and deeper love, and under One who is as far from Me as I am from
+thee, mortal, I am a God of Gods. Therefore I have caused thee to be
+brought hither, Harmachis; and therefore I speak to thee, my son, and
+bid thee commune with Me now face to face, as thou didst commune that
+night upon the temple towers of Abouthis. For I was there with thee,
+Harmachis, as I was in ten thousand other worlds. It was I, O Harmachis,
+who laid the lotus in thy hand, giving thee the sign which thou didst
+seek. For thou art of the kingly blood of my children who served Me from
+age to age. And if thou dost not fail thou shalt sit upon that kingly
+throne and restore my ancient worship in its purity, and sweep my
+temples from their defilements. But if thou dost fail, then shall the
+eternal Spirit Isis become but a memory in Egypt."
+
+The Voice paused; and, gathering up my strength, at length I spoke
+aloud:
+
+"Tell me, O Holy," I said, "shall I then fail?"
+
+"Ask Me not," answered the Voice, "that which it is not lawful that I
+should answer thee. Perchance I can read that which shall befall thee,
+perchance it doth not please Me so to read. What can it profit the
+Divine, that hath all time wherein to await the issues, to be eager to
+look upon the blossom that is not blown, but which, lying a seed in the
+bosom of the earth, shall blow in its season? Know, Harmachis, that I
+do not shape the Future; the Future is to thee and not to Me; for it is
+born of Law and of the rule ordained of the Invisible. Yet thou art free
+to act therein, and thou shalt win or thou shalt fail according to thy
+strength and the measure of thy heart's purity. Thine be the burden,
+Harmachis, as thine in the event shall be the glory or the shame. Little
+do I reck of the issue, I who am but the Minister of what is written.
+Now hear me: I will always be with thee, my son, for my love once
+given can never be taken away, though by sin it may seem lost to thee.
+Remember then this: if thou dost triumph, thy guerdon shall be great; if
+thou dost fail, heavy indeed shall be thy punishment both in the flesh
+and in the land that thou callest Amenti. Yet this for thy comfort:
+shame and agony shall not be eternal. For however deep the fall from
+righteousness, if but repentance holds the heart, there is a path--a
+stony and a cruel path--whereby the height may be climbed again. Let it
+not be thy lot to follow it, Harmachis!
+
+"And now, because thou hast loved Me, my son, and, wandering through the
+maze of fable, wherein men lose themselves upon the earth, mistaking the
+substance for the Spirit, and the Altar for the God, hast yet grasped a
+clue of Truth the Many-faced; and because I love thee and look on to
+the day that, perchance, shall come when thou shalt dwell blessed in my
+light and in the doing of my tasks: because of this, I say, it shall be
+given to thee, O Harmachis, to hear the Word whereby I may be summoned
+from the Uttermost, by one who hath communed with Me, and to look upon
+the face of Isis--even into the eyes of the Messenger, and not die the
+death.
+
+"_Behold!_"
+
+The sweet Voice ceased; the dark cloud upon the altar changed and
+changed--it grew white, it shone, and seemed at length to take the
+shrouded shape of a woman. Then the golden Snake crept from its heart
+once more, and, like a living diadem, twined itself about the cloudy
+brows.
+
+Now suddenly a Voice called aloud the awful Word, then the vapours burst
+and melted, and with my eyes I saw that Glory, at the very thought of
+which my spirit faints. But what I saw it is not lawful to utter. For,
+though I have been bidden to write what I have written of this matter,
+perchance that a record may remain, thereon I have been warned--ay, even
+now, after these many years. I saw, and what I saw cannot be imagined;
+for there are Glories and there are Shapes which are beyond the reach
+of man's imagination. I saw--then, with the echo of that Word, and the
+memory of that sight stamped for ever on my heart, my spirit failed me,
+and I sank down before the Glory.
+
+And, as I fell, it seemed that the great hall burst open and crumbled
+into flakes of fire round me. Then a great wind blew: there was a sound
+as the sound of Worlds rushing down the flood of Time--and I knew no
+more!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+OF THE AWAKING OF HARMACHIS; OF THE CEREMONY OF HIS CROWNING AS PHARAOH
+OF THE UPPER AND THE LOWER LAND; AND OF THE OFFERINGS MADE TO PHARAOH
+
+Once again I woke--to find myself stretched at length upon the stone
+flooring of the Holy Place of Isis that is at Abouthis. By me stood the
+old Priest of the Mysteries, and in his hand was a lamp. He bent over
+me, and gazed earnestly upon my face.
+
+"It is day--the day of thy new birth, and thou hast lived to see
+it, Harmachis!" he said at length. "I give thanks. Arise, royal
+Harmachis--nay, tell me naught of that which has befallen thee. Arise,
+beloved of the Holy Mother. Come forth, thou who hast passed the fire
+and learned what lies behind the darkness--come forth, O newly-born!"
+
+I rose and, walking faintly, went with him, and, passing out of the
+darkness of the Shrines filled with thought and wonder, came once more
+into the pure light of the morning. And then I went to my own chamber
+and slept; nor did any dreams come to trouble me. But no man--not even
+my father--asked me aught of what I saw upon that dread night, or after
+what fashion I had communed with the Goddess.
+
+After these things which have been written, I applied myself for a
+space to the worship of the Mother Isis, and to the further study of the
+outward forms of those mysteries to which I now held the key. Moreover,
+I was instructed in matters politic, for many great men of our following
+came secretly to see me from all quarters of Egypt, and told me much
+of the hatred of the people towards Cleopatra, the Queen, and of other
+things. At last the hour drew nigh; it was three months and ten days
+from the night when, for a while, I left the flesh, and yet living with
+our life, was gathered to the breast of Isis, on which it was agreed
+that with due and customary rites, although in utter secrecy, I should
+be called to the throne of the Upper and the Lower Land. So it came
+about that, as the solemn time drew nigh, great men of the party of
+Egypt gathered to the number of thirty-seven from every nome, and each
+great city of their nome, meeting together at Abouthis. They came in
+every guise--some as priests, some as pilgrims to the Shrine, and some
+as beggars. Among them was my uncle, Sepa, who, though he clad himself
+as a travelling doctor, had much ado to keep his loud voice from
+betraying him. Indeed, I myself knew him by it, meeting him as I walked
+in thought upon the banks of the canal, although it was then dusk and
+the great cape, which, after the fashion of such doctors, he had thrown
+about his head, half hid his face.
+
+"A pest on thee!" he cried, when I greeted him by his name. "Cannot a
+man cease to be himself for a single hour? Didst thou but know the pains
+that it has cost me to learn to play this part--and now thou readest who
+I am even in the dark!"
+
+And then, still talking in his loud voice, he told me how he had
+travelled hither on foot, the better to escape the spies who ply to and
+fro upon the river. But he said he should return by the water, or take
+another guise; for since he had come as a doctor he had been forced to
+play a doctor's part, knowing but little of the arts of medicine; and,
+as he greatly feared, there were many between Annu and Abouthis who had
+suffered from it.[*] And he laughed loudly and embraced me, forgetting
+his part. For he was too whole at heart to be an actor and other than
+himself, and would have entered Abouthis with me holding my hand, had I
+not chid him for his folly.
+
+     [*] In Ancient Egypt an unskilful or negligent physician was
+     liable to very heavy penalties.--Editor.
+
+At length all were gathered.
+
+It was night, and the gates of the temple were shut. None were left
+within them, except the thirty-seven; my father, the High Priest
+Amenemhat; that aged priest who had led me to the Shrine of Isis; the
+old wife, Atoua, who, according to ancient custom, was to prepare me
+for the anointing; and some five other priests, sworn to secrecy by that
+oath which none may break. They gathered in the second hall of the great
+temple; but I remained alone, clad in my white robe, in the passage
+where are the names of six-and-seventy ancient Kings, who were before
+the day of the divine Sethi. There I rested in darkness, till at length
+my father, Amenemhat, came, bearing a lamp, and, bowing low before me,
+led me by the hand forth into the great hall. Here and there, between
+its mighty pillars, lights were burning that dimly showed the sculptured
+images upon the walls, and dimly fell upon the long line of the
+seven-and-thirty Lords, Priests, and Princes, who, seated upon carven
+chairs, awaited my coming in silence. Before them, facing away from
+the seven Sanctuaries, a throne was set, around which stood the priests
+holding the sacred images and banners. As I came into the dim and holy
+place, the Dignitaries rose, and bowed before me, speaking no word;
+while my father led me to the steps of the throne, and in a low voice
+bade me stand before it.
+
+Then he spoke:
+
+"Lords, Priests, and Princes of the ancient orders of the land of
+Khem--Nobles from the Upper and the Lower Country, have gathered
+in answer to my summons, hear me: I present to you, with such scant
+formality as the occasion can afford, the Prince Harmachis, by right and
+true descent of blood the descendant and heir of the ancient Pharaohs
+of our most unhappy land. He is priest of the inmost circle of the
+Mysteries of the Divine Isis, Master of the Mysteries--Hereditary Priest
+of the Pyramids, which are by Memphis, Instructed in the Solemn Rites
+of the Holy Osiris. Is there any among you who has aught to urge against
+the true line of his blood?"
+
+He paused, and my uncle Sepa, rising from his chair, spoke: "We have
+made examination of the records and there is none, O Amenemhat. He is of
+the Royal blood, his descent is true."
+
+"Is there any among you," went on my father, "who can deny that this
+royal Harmachis, by sanction of the very Gods, has been gathered
+to Isis, been shown the way of the Osiris, been admitted to be the
+Hereditary High Priest of the Pyramids which are by Memphis, and of the
+Temples of the Pyramids?"
+
+Then that old priest rose who had been my guide in the Sanctuary of the
+Mother and made answer: "There is none; O Amenemhat; I know these things
+of my own knowledge."
+
+Once more my father spoke: "Is there any among you who has aught to urge
+against this royal Harmachis, in that by wickedness of heart or life, by
+uncleanliness or falsity, it is not fit or meet that we should crown him
+Lord of all the Lands?"
+
+Then an aged Prince of Memphis arose and made answer:
+
+"We have inquired of these matters: there is none, O Amenemhat."
+
+"It is well," said my father; "then naught is wanting in the Prince
+Harmachis, seed of Nekt-nebf, the Osirian. Let the woman Atoua stand
+forth and tell this company those things that came to pass when, at
+the hour of her death, she who was my wife prophesied over this Prince,
+being filled with the Spirit of the Hathors."
+
+Thereon old Atoua crept forward from the shadow of the columns, and
+earnestly told those things that have been written.
+
+"Ye have heard," said my father: "do you believe that the woman who was
+my wife spake with the Divine voice?"
+
+"We do," they answered.
+
+Now my uncle Sepa rose and spoke:
+
+"Royal Harmachis, thou hast heard. Know now that we are gathered here
+to crown thee King of the Upper and the Lower Lands--thy holy father,
+Amenemhat, renouncing all his right on thy behalf. We are met, not,
+indeed, in that pomp and ceremony which is due to the occasion--for what
+we do must be done in secret, lest our lives, and the cause that is more
+dear to us than life, should pay the forfeit--but yet with such dignity
+and observance of the ancient rites as our circumstance may command.
+Learn, now, how this matter hangs, and if, after learning, thy mind
+consents thereto, then mount thy throne, O Pharaoh--and swear the oath!
+
+"Long has Khemi groaned beneath the mailed heel of the Greek, and
+trembled at the shadow of the Roman's spear; long has the ancient
+worship of its Gods been desecrated, and its people crushed with
+oppression. But we believe that the hour of deliverance is at hand,
+and with the solemn voice of Egypt and by the ancient Gods of Egypt, to
+whose cause thou art of all men bound, we call upon thee, Prince, to be
+the sword of our deliverance. Hearken! Twenty thousand good and leal men
+are sworn to wait upon thy word, and at thy signal to rise as one, to
+put the Grecian to the sword, and with their blood and substance to
+build thee a throne set more surely on the soil of Khem than are its
+ancient pyramids--such a throne as shall even roll the Roman legions
+back. And for the signal, it shall be the death of that bold harlot,
+Cleopatra. Thou must compass her death, Harmachis, in such fashion as
+shall be shown to thee, and with her blood anoint the Royal throne of
+Egypt.
+
+"Canst thou refuse, O our Hope? Doth not the holy love of country swell
+within thy heart? Canst thou dash the cup of Freedom from thy lips and
+bear to drink the bitter draught of slaves? The emprise is great; maybe
+it shall fail, and thou with thy life, as we with ours, shalt pay the
+price of our endeavour. But what of it, Harmachis? Is life, then,
+so sweet? Are we so softly cushioned on the stony bed of earth? Is
+bitterness and sorrow in its sum so small and scant a thing? Do we here
+breathe so divine an air that we should fear to face the passage of
+our breath? What have we here but hope and memory? What see we here but
+shadows? Shall we then fear to pass pure-handed where Fulfilment is and
+memory is lost in its own source, and shadows die in the light which
+cast them? O Harmachis, that man alone is truly blest who crowns his
+life with Fame's most splendid wreath. For, since to all the Brood of
+Earth Death hands his poppy-flowers, he indeed is happy to whom there is
+occasion given to weave them in a crown of glory. And how can a man die
+better than in a great endeavour to strike the gyves from his Country's
+limbs so that she again may stand in the face of Heaven and raise the
+shrill shout of Freedom, and, clad once more in a panoply of strength,
+trample under foot the fetters of her servitude, defying the tyrant
+nations of the earth to set their seal upon her brow?
+
+"Khem calls thee, Harmachis. Come then, thou Deliverer; leap like Horus
+from the firmament, break her chains, scatter her foes, and rule a
+Pharaoh on Pharaoh's Throne----"
+
+"Enough, enough!" I cried, while the long murmur of applause swept about
+the columns and up the massy walls. "Enough; is there any need to adjure
+me thus? Had I a hundred lives, would I not most gladly lay them down
+for Egypt?"
+
+"Well said, well said!" answered Sepa. "Now go forth with the woman
+yonder, that she may make thy hands clean before they touch the sacred
+emblems, and anoint thy brow before it is encircled of the diadem."
+
+And so I went into a chamber apart with the old wife, Atoua. There,
+muttering prayers, she poured pure water over my hands into a ewer of
+gold, and having dipped a fine cloth into oil wiped my brow with it.
+
+"O happy Egypt!" she said; "O happy Prince, that art come to rule in
+Egypt! O Royal youth!--too Royal to be a priest--so shall many a fair
+woman think; but, perchance, for thee they will relax the priestly rule,
+else how shall the race of Pharaoh be carried on? O happy I, who dandled
+thee and gave my flesh and blood to save thee! O royal and beautiful
+Harmachis, born for splendour, happiness, and love!"
+
+"Cease, cease," I said, for her talk jarred upon me; "call me not happy
+till thou knowest my end, and speak not to me of love, for with love
+comes sorrow, and mine is another and a higher way."
+
+"Ay, ay, so thou sayest--and joy, too, that comes with love! Never talk
+lightly of love, my King, for it brought thee here! _La! la!_ but it is
+always the way--'The goose on the wing laughs at crocodiles,' so goes
+their saying down at Alexandria; 'but when the goose is asleep on the
+water, it is the crocodiles that laugh.' Not but what women are pretty
+crocodiles. Men worship the crocodiles at Anthribis--Crocodilopolis they
+call it now, don't they?--but they worship women all the world over!
+_La!_ how my tongue runs on, and thou about to be crowned Pharaoh! Did I
+not prophesy it to thee? Well, thou art clean, Lord of the Double Crown.
+Go forth!"
+
+So I went from the chamber with the old wife's foolish talk ringing in
+my ears, though of a truth her folly had ever a grain of wit in it.
+
+As I came, the Dignitaries rose once more and bowed before me. Then my
+father, without delay, drew near me, and placed in my hands a golden
+image of the divine Ma, the Goddess of Truth, and golden images of the
+arks of the God Amen-Ra, of the divine Mout, and the divine Khons, and
+spoke solemnly:
+
+"Thou swearest by the living majesty of Ma, by the majesty of Amen-Ra,
+of Mout, and of Khons?"
+
+"I swear," I said.
+
+"Thou swearest by the holy land of Khem, by Sihor's flood, by the
+Temples of the Gods and the eternal Pyramids?"
+
+"I swear."
+
+"Remembering thy hideous doom if thou shouldst fail therein, thou
+swearest that thou wilt in all things govern Egypt according to its
+ancient laws, that thou wilt preserve the worship of its Gods, that thou
+wilt do equal justice, that thou wilt not oppress, that thou wilt not
+betray, that thou wilt make no alliance with the Roman or the Greek,
+that thou wilt cast out the foreign Idols, that thou wilt devote thy
+life to the liberty of the land of Khem?"
+
+"I swear."
+
+"It is well. Mount, then, the throne, that in the presence of these thy
+subjects, I may name thee Pharaoh."
+
+I mounted upon the throne, of which the footstool is a Sphinx, and the
+canopy the overshadowing wings of Ma. Then Amenemhat drew nigh once
+again and placed the Pshent upon my brow, and on my head the Double
+Crown, and the Royal Robe about my shoulders, and in my hands the
+Sceptre and the Scourge.
+
+"Royal Harmachis," he cried, "by these outward signs and tokens, I, the
+High Priest of the Temple of Ra-Men-Ma at Abouthis, crown thee Pharaoh
+of the Upper and Lower Land. Reign and prosper, O Hope of Khemi!"
+
+"Reign and prosper, Pharaoh!" echoed the Dignitaries, bowing down before
+me.
+
+Then, one by one, they swore allegiance, till all had sworn. And, having
+sworn, my father took me by the hand; he led me in solemn procession
+into each of the seven Sanctuaries that are in this Temple of Ra-Men-Ma,
+and in each I made offerings, swung incense, and officiated as priest.
+Clad in the Royal robes I made offerings in the Shrine of Horus, in the
+Shrine of Isis, in the Shrine of Osiris, in the Shrine of Amen-Ra, in
+the Shrine of Horemku, in the Shrine of Ptah, till at length I reached
+the Shrine of the King's Chamber.
+
+Here they made their offering to me, as the Divine Pharaoh, and left me
+very weary--but a King.
+
+[Here the first and smallest of the papyrus rolls comes to an end.]
+
+
+
+
+BOOK II--THE FALL OF HARMACHIS
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+OF THE FAREWELL OF AMENEMHAT TO HARMACHIS; OF THE COMING OF HARMACHIS
+TO ALEXANDRIA; OF THE EXHORTATION OF SEPA; OF THE PASSING OF CLEOPATRA
+ROBED AS ISIS; AND OF THE OVERTHROW OF THE GLADIATOR BY HARMACHIS
+
+Now the long days of preparation had passed, and the time was at hand. I
+was initiated, and I was crowned; so that although the common folk knew
+me not, or knew me only as Priest of Isis, there were in Egypt thousands
+who at heart bowed down to me as Pharaoh. The hour was at hand, and my
+soul went forth to meet it. For I longed to overthrow the foreigner, to
+set Egypt free, to mount the throne that was my heritage, and cleanse
+the temples of my Gods. I was fain for the struggle, and I never doubted
+of its end. I looked into the mirror, and saw triumph written on my
+brows. The future stretched a path of glory from my feet--ay, glittering
+with glory like Sihor in the sun. I communed with my Mother Isis; I sat
+within my chamber and took counsel with my heart; I planned new temples;
+I revolved great laws that I would put forth for my people's weal; and
+in my ears rang the shouts of exultation which should greet victorious
+Pharaoh on his throne.
+
+But still I tarried a little while at Abouthis, and, having been
+commanded to do so, let my hair, that had been shorn, grow again long
+and black as the raven's wing, instructing myself meanwhile in all manly
+exercises and feats of arms. Also, for a purpose which shall be seen, I
+perfected myself in the magic art of the Egyptians, and in the reading
+of the stars, in which things, indeed, I already have great skill.
+
+Now, this was the plan that had been built up. My uncle Sepa had, for
+a while, left the Temple of Annu, giving out that his health had failed
+him. Thence he had moved down to a house in Alexandria, to gather
+strength, as he said, from the breath of the sea, and also to learn for
+himself the wonders of the great Museum and the glory of Cleopatra's
+Court. There it was planned that I should join him, for there, at
+Alexandria, the egg of the plot was hatching. Accordingly, when at
+last the summons came, all things being prepared, I made ready for the
+journey, and passed into my father's chamber to receive his blessing
+before I went. There sat the old man, as once before he sat when he had
+rebuked me because I went out to slay the lion, his long white beard
+resting on the table of stone and sacred writings in his hand. When I
+came in he rose from his seat and would have knelt before me, crying
+"Hail, Pharaoh!" but I caught him by the hand.
+
+"It is not meet, my father," I said.
+
+"It is meet," he answered, "it is meet that I should bow before my King;
+but be it as thou wilt. And so thou goest, Harmachis; my blessings go
+with thee, O my son! And may Those whom I serve grant to me that my
+old eyes may, indeed, behold thee on the throne! I have searched long,
+striving, Harmachis, to read the future that shall be; but I can learn
+naught by all my wisdom. It is hid from me, and at times my heart fails.
+But hear this, there is danger in thy path, and it comes in the form of
+Woman. I have known it long, and therefore thou hast been called to the
+worship of the heavenly Isis, who bids her votaries put away the thought
+of woman till such time as she shall think well to slacken the rule.
+Oh, my son, I would that thou wert not so strong and fair--stronger and
+fairer, indeed, than any man in Egypt, as a King should be--for in that
+strength and beauty may lie a cause of stumbling. Beware, then, of those
+witches of Alexandria, lest, like a worm, some one of them creep into my
+heart and eat its secret out."
+
+"Have no fear, my father," I answered, frowning, "my thought is set on
+other things than red lips and smiling eyes."
+
+"It is good," he answered; "so may it befall. And now farewell. When
+next we meet, may it be in that happy hour when, with all the priests of
+the Upper Land, I move down from Abouthis to do my homage to Pharaoh on
+his throne."
+
+So I embraced him, and went. Alas! I little thought how we should meet
+again.
+
+
+
+Thus it came about that once more I passed down the Nile travelling as a
+man of no estate. And to such as were curious about me it was given out
+that I was the adopted son of the High Priest of Abouthis, having been
+brought up to the priesthood, and that I had at the last refused the
+service of the Gods, and chosen to go to Alexandria, to seek my fortune.
+For, be it remembered, I was still held to be the grandson of the old
+wife, Atoua, by all those who did not know the truth.
+
+On the tenth night, sailing with the wind, we reached the mighty city
+of Alexandria, the city of a thousand lights. Above them all towered the
+white Pharos, that wonder of the world, from the crown of which a light
+like the light of the sun blazed out across the waters of the harbour
+to guide mariners on their way across the sea. The vessel having been
+cautiously made fast to the quay, for it was night, I disembarked and
+stood wondering at the vast mass of houses, and confused by the clamour
+of many tongues. For here all peoples seemed to be gathered together,
+each speaking after the fashion of his own land. And as I stood a
+young man came and touched me on the shoulder, asking me if I was from
+Abouthis and named Harmachis. I said "Yea." Then, bending over me,
+he whispered the secret pass-word into my ear, and, beckoning to
+two slaves, bade them bring my baggage from the ship. This they did,
+fighting their way through the crowd of porters who were clamouring
+for hire. Then I followed him down the quay, which was bordered with
+drinking-places, where all sorts of men were gathered, tippling wine and
+watching the dancing of women, some of whom were but scantily arrayed,
+and some not arrayed at all.
+
+And so we went through the lamp-lit houses till at last we reached the
+shore of the great harbour, and turned to the right along a wide way
+paved with granite and bordered by strong houses, having cloisters in
+front of them, the like of which I had never seen. Turning once more to
+the right we came to a quieter portion of the city, where, except for
+parties of strolling revellers, the streets were still. Presently
+my guide halted at a house built of white stone. We passed in, and,
+crossing a small courtyard, entered a chamber where there was a light.
+And here, at last, I found my uncle Sepa, most glad to see me safe.
+
+When I had washed and eaten, he told me that all things went well, and
+that as yet there was no thought of evil at the Court. Further, he said,
+it having come to the ears of the Queen that the Priest of Annu was
+sojourning at Alexandria, she sent for him and closely questioned
+him--not as to any plot, for of that she never thought, but as to the
+rumour which had reached her, that there was treasure hid in the Great
+Pyramid which is by Annu. For, being ever wasteful, she was ever in want
+of money, and had bethought her of opening the Pyramid. But he laughed
+at her, telling her the Pyramid was the burying-place of the divine
+Khufu, and that he knew nothing of its secrets. Then she was angered,
+and swore that so surely as she ruled in Egypt she would tear it down,
+stone by stone, and discover the secret at its heart. Again he laughed,
+and, in the words of the proverb which they have at Alexandria, told her
+that "Mountains live longer than Kings." Thereon she smiled at his ready
+answer, and let him go. Also my uncle Sepa told me that on the morrow I
+should see this Cleopatra. For it was her birthday (as, indeed, it was
+also mine), and, dressed in the robes of the Holy Isis, she would pass
+in state from her palace on the Lochias to the Serapeum to offer a
+sacrifice at the Shrine of the false God who sits in the Temple. And he
+said that thereafter the fashion by which I should gain entrance to the
+household of the Queen should be contrived.
+
+Then, being very weary, I went to rest, but could sleep little for the
+strangeness of the place, the noises in the streets, and the thought of
+the morrow. While it was yet dark, I rose, climbed the stair to the
+roof of the house, and waited. Presently, the sun's rays shot out like
+arrows, and lit upon the white wonder of the marble Pharos, whose light
+instantly sank and died, as though, indeed, the sun had killed it. Now
+the rays fell upon the palaces of the Lochias where Cleopatra lay, and
+lit them up till they flamed like a jewel set on the dark, cool bosom
+of the sea. Away the light flew, kissing the Soma's sacred dome, beneath
+which Alexander sleeps, touching the high tops of a thousand palaces
+and temples; past the porticoes of the great museum that loomed near at
+hand, striking the lofty Shrine, where, carved of ivory, is the image
+of the false God Serapis, and at last seeming to lose itself in the vast
+and gloomy Necropolis. Then, as the dawn gathered into day, the flood of
+brightness, overbrimming the bowl of night, flowed into the lower lands
+and streets, and showed Alexandria red in the sunrise as the mantle of
+a king, and shaped as a mantle. The Etesian wind came up from the north,
+and swept away the vapour from the harbours, so that I saw their blue
+waters rocking a thousand ships. I saw, too, that mighty mole the
+Heptastadium; I saw the hundreds of streets, the countless houses, the
+innumerable wealth and splendour of Alexandria set like a queen between
+lake Mareotis and the ocean, and dominating both, and I was filled with
+wonder. This, then, was one city in my heritage of lands and cities!
+Well, it was worth the grasping. And having looked my full and fed my
+heart, as it were, with the sight of splendour, I communed with the Holy
+Isis and came down from the roof.
+
+In the chamber beneath was my uncle Sepa. I told him that I had been
+watching the sun rise over the city of Alexandria.
+
+"So!" he said, looking at me from beneath his shaggy eyebrows; "and what
+thinkest thou of Alexandria?"
+
+"I think it is like some city of the Gods," I answered.
+
+"Ay!" he replied fiercely, "a city of the infernal Gods--a sink of
+corruption, a bubbling well of iniquity, a home of false faith springing
+from false hearts. I would that not one stone of it was left upon
+another stone, and that its wealth lay deep beneath yonder waters! I
+would that the gulls were screaming across its site, and that the wind,
+untainted by a Grecian breath, swept through its ruins from the ocean to
+Mareotis! O royal Harmachis, let not the luxury and beauty of Alexandria
+poison thy sense; for in their deadly air, Faith perishes, and Religion
+cannot spread her heavenly wings. When the hour comes for thee to rule,
+Harmachis, cast down this accursed city and, as thy fathers did, set
+up thy throne in the white walls of Memphis. For I tell thee that, for
+Egypt, Alexandria is but a splendid gate of ruin, and, while it endures,
+all nations of the earth shall march through it, to the plunder of the
+land, and all false Faiths shall nestle in it and breed the overthrow of
+Egypt's Gods."
+
+I made no answer, for there was truth in his words. And yet to me the
+city seemed very fair to look on. After we had eaten, my uncle told me
+it was now time to set out to view the march of Cleopatra, as she went
+in triumph to the Shrine of Serapis. For although she would not pass
+till within two hours of the midday, yet these people of Alexandria have
+so great a love of shows and idling that had we not presently set forth,
+by no means could we have come through the press of the multitudes who
+were already gathering along the highways where the Queen must ride. So
+we went out to take our places upon a stand, built of timber, that had
+been set up at the side of the great road which pierces through the
+city, to the Canopic Gate. For my uncle had already purchased a right to
+enter there, and that dearly.
+
+We won our way with much struggle through the great crowds that were
+already gathered in the streets till we reached the scaffolding of
+timber, which was roofed in with an awning and gaily hung with scarlet
+cloths. Here we seated ourselves upon a bench and waited for some hours,
+watching the multitude press past shouting, singing, and talking loudly
+in many tongues. At length soldiers came to clear the road, clad, after
+the Roman fashion, in breast-plates of chain-armour. After them marched
+heralds enjoining silence (at which the population sung and shouted all
+the more loudly), and crying that Cleopatra, the Queen, was coming.
+Then followed a thousand Cilician skirmishers, a thousand Thracians, a
+thousand Macedonians, and a thousand Gauls, each armed after the fashion
+of their country. Then passed five hundred men of those who are called
+the Fenced Horsemen, for both men and horses were altogether covered
+with mail. Next came youths and maidens sumptuously draped and wearing
+golden crowns, and with them images symbolising Day and Night, Morning
+and Noon, the Heavens and the Earth. After these walked many fair women,
+pouring perfumes on the road, and others scattering blooming flowers.
+Now there rose a great shout of "Cleopatra! Cleopatra!" and I held my
+breath and bent forward to see her who dared to put on the robes of
+Isis.
+
+But at that moment the multitude so gathered and thickened in front of
+where I was that I could no longer clearly see. So in my eagerness
+I leapt over the barrier of the scaffolding, and, being very strong,
+pushed my way through the crowd till I reached the foremost rank. And
+as I did so, Nubian slaves armed with thick staves and crowned with
+ivy-leaves ran up, striking the people. One man I noted more especially,
+for he was a giant, and, being strong, was insolent beyond measure,
+smiting the people without cause, as, indeed, is the wont of low persons
+set in authority. For a woman stood near to me, an Egyptian by her face,
+bearing a child in her arms, whom the man, seeing that she was weak,
+struck on the head with his rod so that she fell prone, and the people
+murmured. But at the sight my blood rushed of a sudden through my veins
+and drowned my reason. I held in my hand a staff of olive-wood from
+Cyprus, and as the black brute laughed at the sight of the stricken
+woman and her babe rolling on the ground, I swung the staff aloft and
+smote. So shrewdly did I strike, that the tough rod split upon the
+giant's shoulders and the blood spurted forth, staining his trailing
+leaves of ivy.
+
+Then, with a shriek of pain and fury--for those who smite love not that
+they be smitten--he turned and sprang at me! And all the people round
+gave back, save only the woman who could not rise, leaving us two in a
+ring as it were. On he came with a rush, and, as he came, being now mad,
+I smote him with my clenched fist between the eyes, having nothing else
+with which to smite, and he staggered like an ox beneath the first blow
+of the priest's axe. Then the people shouted, for they love to see a
+fight, and the man was known to them as a gladiator victorious in the
+games. Gathering up his strength, the knave came on with an oath, and,
+whirling his heavy staff on high, struck me in such a fashion that, had
+I not avoided the blow by nimbleness, I had surely been slain. But, as
+it chanced, the staff hit upon the ground, and so heavily that it flew
+in fragments. Thereon the multitude shouted again, and the great man,
+blind with fury, rushed at me to smite me down. But with a cry I sprang
+straight at his throat--for he was so heavy a man that I knew I could
+not hope to throw him by strength--ay, and gripped it. There I clung,
+though his fists battered me like bludgeons, driving my thumbs into his
+throat. Round and round we turned, till at length he flung himself
+to the earth, trusting thus to shake me off. But I held on fast as we
+rolled over and over on the ground, till at last he grew faint for want
+of breath. Then I, being uppermost, drove my knee down upon his chest,
+and, as I believe, should thus have slain him in my rage had not my
+uncle, and others there gathered, fallen upon me and dragged me from
+him.
+
+And meanwhile, though I know it not, the chariot in which the Queen
+sat, with elephants going before and lions led after it, had reached the
+spot, and had been halted because of the tumult. I looked up, and thus
+torn, panting, my white garments stained with the blood that had rushed
+from the mouth and nostrils of the mighty Nubian, I for the first time
+saw Cleopatra face to face. Her chariot was all of gold, and drawn by
+milk-white steeds. She sat in it with two fair girls, clad in Greek
+attire, standing one on either side, fanning her with glittering fans.
+On her head was the covering of Isis, the golden horns between which
+rested the moon's round disk and the emblem of Osiris' throne, with the
+ur�us twined around. Beneath this covering was the vulture cap of gold,
+the blue enamelled wings and the vulture head with gemmy eyes, under
+which her long dark tresses flowed towards her feet. About her rounded
+neck was a broad collar of gold studded with emeralds and coral. Round
+her arms and wrists were bracelets of gold studded with emeralds and
+coral, and in one hand she held the holy cross of Life fashioned of
+crystal, and in the other the golden rod of royalty. Her breast was
+bare, but under it was a garment that glistened like the scaly covering
+of a snake, everywhere sewn with gems. Beneath this robe was a skirt
+of golden cloth, half hidden by a scarf of the broidered silk of Cos,
+falling in folds to the sandals that, fastened with great pearls,
+adorned her white and tiny feet.
+
+All this I discerned at a glance, as it were. Then I looked upon the
+face--that face which seduced C�sar, ruined Egypt, and was doomed to
+give Octavian the sceptre of the world. I looked upon the flawless
+Grecian features, the rounded chin, the full, rich lips, the chiselled
+nostrils, and the ears fashioned like delicate shells. I saw the
+forehead, low, broad, and lovely, the crisped, dark hair falling in
+heavy waves that sparkled in the sun, the arched eyebrows, and the long,
+bent lashes. There before me was the grandeur of her Imperial shape.
+There burnt the wonderful eyes, hued like the Cyprian violet--eyes that
+seemed to sleep and brood on secret things as night broods upon the
+desert, and yet as the night to shift, change, and be illumined by
+gleams of sudden splendour born within their starry depths. All those
+wonders I saw, though I have small skill in telling them. But even
+then I knew that it was not in these charms alone that the might of
+Cleopatra's beauty lay. It was rather in a glory and a radiance cast
+through the fleshly covering from the fierce soul within. For she was a
+Thing of Flame like unto which no woman has ever been or ever will be.
+Even when she brooded, the fire of her quick heart shone through her.
+But when she woke, and the lightning leapt suddenly from her eyes, and
+the passion-laden music of her speech chimed upon her lips, ah! then,
+who can tell how Cleopatra seemed? For in her met all the splendours
+that have been given to woman for her glory, and all the genius which
+man has won from heaven. And with them dwelt every evil of that greater
+sort, which fearing nothing, and making a mock of laws, has taken
+empires for its place of play, and, smiling, watered the growth of
+its desires with the rich blood of men. In her breast they gathered,
+together fashioning that Cleopatra whom no man may draw, and yet whom
+no man, having seen, ever can forget. They fashioned her grand as the
+Spirit of Storm, lovely as Lightning, cruel as Pestilence, yet with a
+heart; and what she did is known. Woe to the world when such another
+comes to curse it!
+
+For a moment I met Cleopatra's eyes as she idly bent herself to find the
+tumult's cause. At first they were sombre and dark, as though they saw
+indeed, but the brain read nothing. Then they awoke, and their very
+colour seemed to change as the colour of the sea changes when the water
+is shaken. First, there was anger written in them; next an idle noting;
+then, when she looked upon the huge bulk of the man whom I had overcome,
+and knew him for the gladiator, something, perchance, that was not
+far from wonder. At the least they softened, though, indeed, her face
+changed no whit. But he who would read Cleopatra's mind had need to
+watch her eyes, for her countenance varied but a little. Turning, she
+said some word to her guards. They came forward and led me to her, while
+all the multitude waited silently to see me slain.
+
+I stood before her, my arms folded on my breast. Overcome though I was
+by the wonder of her loveliness I hated her in my heart, this woman who
+dared to clothe herself in the dress of Isis, this usurper who sat upon
+my throne, this wanton squandering the wealth of Egypt in chariots and
+perfumes. When she had looked me over from head to the feet, she spake
+in a low full voice and in the tongue of Khemi which she alone had
+learned of all the Lagid�:
+
+"And who and what art thou, Egyptian--for Egyptian I see thou art--who
+darest to smite my slave when I make progress through my city?"
+
+"I am Harmachis," I answered boldly. "Harmachis, the astrologer, adopted
+son of the High Priest and Governor of Abouthis, who am come hither to
+seek my fortune. I smote thy slave, O Queen, because for no fault he
+struck down the woman yonder. Ask of those who saw, royal Egypt."
+
+"Harmachis," she said, "the name has a high sound--and thou hast a high
+look;" and then, speaking to a soldier who had seen all, she bade him
+tell her what had come to pass. This he did truthfully, being friendly
+disposed towards me because I had overcome the Nubian. Thereon she
+turned and spoke to the girl bearing the fan who stood beside her--a
+woman with curling hair and shy dark eyes, very beautiful to see. The
+girl answered somewhat. Then Cleopatra bade them bring the slave to her.
+So they led forward the giant, who had found his breath again, and with
+him the woman whom he had smitten down.
+
+"Thou dog!" she said, in the same low voice; "thou coward! who,
+being strong, didst smite down this woman, and, being a coward, wast
+overthrown of this young man. See, thou, I will teach thee manners.
+Henceforth, when thou smitest women it shall be with thy left arm. Ho,
+guards, seize this black slave and strike off his right hand."
+
+Her command given, she sank back in her golden chariot, and again
+the cloud gathered in her eyes. But the guards seized the giant, and,
+notwithstanding his cries and prayers for mercy, struck off his hand
+with a sword upon the wood of the scaffolding and he was carried away
+groaning. Then the procession moved on again. As it went the fair woman
+with the fan turned her head, caught my eye, and smiled and nodded as
+though she rejoiced, at which I wondered somewhat.
+
+The people cheered also and made jests, saying that I should soon
+practice astrology in the palace. But, as soon as we might, I and my
+uncle escaped, and made our way back to the house. All the while he
+rated me for my rashness; but when we came to the chamber of the house
+he embraced me and rejoiced greatly, because I had overthrown the giant
+with so little hurt to myself.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+OF THE COMING OF CHARMION; AND OF THE WRATH OF SEPA
+
+That same night, while we sat at supper in the house, there came a knock
+upon the door. It was opened, and a woman passed in wrapped from head to
+foot in a large dark peplos or cloak in such fashion that her face could
+not be clearly seen.
+
+My uncle rose, and as he did so the woman uttered the secret word.
+
+"I am come, my father," she said in a sweet clear voice, "though of a
+truth it was not easy to escape the revels at the palace yonder. But
+I told the Queen that the sun and the riot in the streets had made me
+sick, and she let me go."
+
+"It is well," he answered. "Unveil thyself; here thou art safe."
+
+With a little sigh of weariness she unclasped the peplos and let it slip
+from her, giving to my sight the face and form of that beauteous girl
+who had stood to fan Cleopatra in the chariot. For she was very fair
+and pleasant to look upon, and her Grecian robes clung sweetly about her
+supple limbs and budding form. Her wayward hair, flowing in a hundred
+little curls, was bound in with a golden fillet, and on her feet were
+sandals fastened with studs of gold. Her cheeks blushed like a flower,
+and her dark soft eyes were downcast, as though with modesty, but smiles
+and dimples trembled about her lips.
+
+My uncle frowned when his eyes fell upon her dress.
+
+"Why comest thou in this garb, Charmion?" he asked sternly. "Is not the
+dress of thy mothers good enough for thee? This is no time or place for
+woman's vanities. Thou art not here to conquer, but to obey."
+
+"Nay, be not wroth, my father," she answered softly; "perchance thou
+knowest not that she whom I serve will have none of our Egyptian
+dress; it is out of fashion. To wear it would have been to court
+suspicion--also I came in haste." And as she spoke I saw that all the
+while she watched me covertly through the long lashes which fringed her
+modest eyes.
+
+"Well, well," he said sharply, fixing his keen glance upon her face,
+"doubtless thou speakest truth, Charmion. Be ever mindful of thy oath,
+girl, and of the cause to which thou art sworn. Be not light-minded, and
+I charge thee forget the beauty with which thou hast been cursed. For
+mark thou this, Charmion: fail us but one jot, and vengeance shall fall
+on thee--the vengeance of man and the vengeance of the Gods! To this
+service," he continued, lashing himself to anger as he went on till his
+great voice rang in the narrow room, "thou hast been bred; to this end
+thou hast been instructed and placed where thou art to gain the ear of
+that wicked wanton whom thou seemest to serve. See thou forget it not;
+see that the luxury of yonder Court does not corrupt thy purity and
+divert thy aim, Charmion," and his eyes flashed and his small form
+seemed to grow till it attained to dignity--nay, almost to grandeur.
+
+"Charmion," he went on, advancing towards her with outstretched finger,
+"I say that at times I do not trust thee. But two nights gone I dreamed
+I saw thee standing in the desert. I saw thee laugh and lift thy hand to
+heaven, and from it fell a rain of blood; then the sky sank down on the
+land of Khem and covered it. Whence came the dream, girl, and what is
+its meaning? I have naught against thee as yet; but hearken! On the
+moment that I have, though thou art of my kin, and I have loved thee--on
+that moment, I say, I will doom those delicate limbs, which thou lovest
+so much to show, to the kite and the jackal, and the soul within thee to
+all the tortures of the Gods! Unburied shalt thou lie, and bodiless and
+accursed shalt thou wander in Amenti!--ay, for ever and ever!"
+
+He paused, for his sudden burst of passion had spent itself. But by it,
+more clearly than before, I saw how deep a heart this man had beneath
+the cloak of his merriness and simplicity of mien, and how fiercely the
+mind within him was set upon his aim. As for the girl, she shrank from
+him terrified, and, placing her hands before her sweet face, began to
+weep.
+
+"Nay, speak not so, my father," she said, between her sobs; "for what
+have I done? I know nothing of the evil wandering of thy dreams. I am no
+soothsayer that I should read dreams. Have I not carried out all things
+according to thy desire? Have I not been ever mindful of that dread
+oath?"--and she trembled. "Have I not played the spy and told thee all?
+Have I not won the heart of the Queen, so that she loves me as a sister,
+refusing me nothing--ay, and the hearts of those about her? Why dost
+thou affright me thus with thy words and threats?" and she wept afresh,
+looking even more beautiful in her sorrow than she was before.
+
+"Enough, enough," he answered; "what I have said, I have said. Be
+warned, and affront our sight no more with this wanton dress. Thinkest
+thou that we would feed our eyes upon those rounded arms--we whose stake
+is Egypt and who are dedicated to the Gods of Egypt? Girl, behold thy
+cousin and thy King!"
+
+She ceased weeping, wiping her eyes with her chiton, and I saw that they
+seemed but the softer for her tears.
+
+"Methinks, most royal Harmachis, and beloved Cousin," she said, as she
+bent before me, "that we are already made acquainted."
+
+"Yea, Cousin," I answered, not without shamefacedness, for I had
+never before spoken to so fair a maid; "thou wert in the chariot with
+Cleopatra this day when I struggled with the Nubian?"
+
+"Assuredly," she said, with a smile and a sudden lighting of the eyes,
+"it was a gallant fight and gallantly didst thou overthrow that black
+brute. I saw the fray and, though I knew thee not, I greatly feared for
+one so brave. But I paid him for my fright, for it was I who put it
+into the mind of Cleopatra to bid the guards strike off his hand--now,
+knowing who thou art, I would I had said his head." And she looked up
+shooting a glance at me and then smiled.
+
+"Enough," put in my uncle Sepa, "the time draws on. Tell thou thy
+mission, Charmion, and be gone."
+
+Then her manner changed; she folded her hands meekly before her and
+spoke:
+
+"Let Pharaoh hearken to his handmaiden. I am the daughter of Pharaoh's
+uncle, the brother of his father, who is now long dead, and therefore in
+my veins also flows the Royal blood of Egypt. Also I am of the ancient
+Faith, and hate these Greeks, and to see thee set upon the throne has
+been my dearest hope now for many years. To this end I, Charmion, have
+put aside my rank and become serving-woman to Cleopatra, that I might
+cut a notch in which thou couldst set thy foot when the hour came for
+thee to climb the throne. And, Pharaoh, the notch is cut.
+
+"This then is our plot, royal Cousin. Thou must gain an entrance to the
+Household and learn its ways and secrets, and, so far as may be, suborn
+the eunuchs and captains, some of whom I have already tempted. This
+done, and all things being prepared without, thou must slay Cleopatra,
+and, aided by me with those whom I control, in the confusion that shall
+ensue, throw wide the gates, and, admitting those of our party who are
+in waiting, put such of the troops as remain faithful to the sword and
+seize the Bruchium. Which being finished, within two days thou shalt
+hold this fickle Alexandria. At the same time those who are sworn to
+thee in every city of Egypt shall rise in arms, and in ten days from
+the death of Cleopatra thou shalt indeed be Pharaoh. This is the counsel
+which has been taken, and thou seest, royal Cousin, that, though our
+uncle yonder thinks so ill of me, I have learned my part--ay, and played
+it."
+
+"I hear thee, Cousin," I answered, marvelling that so young a woman--she
+had but twenty years--could weave so bold a plot, for in its origin the
+scheme was hers. But in those days I little knew Charmion. "Go on; how
+then shall I gain entrance to the palace of Cleopatra?"
+
+"Nay, Cousin, as things are it is easy. Thus: Cleopatra loves to look
+upon a man, and--give me pardon--thy face and form are fair. To-day
+she noted them, and twice she said she would she had asked where that
+astrologer might be found, for she held that an astrologer who could
+wellnigh slay a Nubian gladiator with his bare hands, must indeed be a
+master of the fortunate stars. I answered her that I would cause inquiry
+to be made. So hearken, royal Harmachis. At midday Cleopatra sleeps in
+her inner hall which looks over the gardens to the harbour. At that hour
+to-morrow, then, I will meet thee at the gates of the palace, whither
+thou shalt come boldly asking for the Lady Charmion. I will make
+appointment for thee with Cleopatra, so that she shall see thee alone
+when she wakes, and the rest shall be for thee, Harmachis. For much she
+loves to play with the mysteries of magic, and I have known her stand
+whole nights watching the stars and making a pretence to read them. And
+but lately she has sent away Dioscorides the physician, because, poor
+fool! he ventured on a prophecy from the conjunction of the stars, that
+Cassius would defeat Mark Antony. Thereon Cleopatra sent orders to the
+General Allienus, bidding him add the legions she had sent to Syria
+to help Antony to the army of Cassius, whose victory, forsooth,
+was--according to Dioscorides--written on the stars. But, as it chanced,
+Antony beat Cassius first and Brutus afterwards, and so Dioscorides has
+departed, and now he lectures on herbs in the museum for his bread, and
+hates the name of stars. But his place is empty, and thou shalt fill it,
+and then we will work in secret and in the shadow of the sceptre. Ay,
+we will work like the worm at the heart of a fruit, till the time of
+plucking comes, and at thy dagger's touch, royal Cousin, the fabric of
+this Grecian throne crumbles to nothingness, and the worm that rotted it
+bursts his servile covering, and, in the sight of empires, spreads his
+royal wings o'er Egypt."
+
+I gazed at this strange girl once more astonished, and saw that her face
+was lit up with such a light as I had never seen in the eyes of woman.
+
+"Ah," broke in my uncle, who was watching her, "ah, I love to see thee
+so, girl; there is the Charmion that I knew and I bred up--not the Court
+girl whom I like not, draped in silks of Cos and fragrant with essences.
+Let thy heart harden in this mould--ay, stamp it with the fervid zeal
+of patriot faith, and thy reward shall find thee. And now cover up that
+shameless dress of thine and leave us, for it grows late. To-morrow
+Harmachis shall come, as thou hast said, and so farewell."
+
+Charmion bowed her head, and, turning, wrapped her dark-hued peplos
+round her. Then, taking my hand, she touched it with her lips and went
+without any further word.
+
+"A strange woman!" said Sepa, when she had gone; "a most strange woman,
+and an uncertain!"
+
+"Methought, my uncle," I said, "that thou wast somewhat harsh with her."
+
+"Ay," he answered, "but not without a cause. Look thou, Harmachis;
+beware of this Charmion. She is too wayward, and, I fear me, may be led
+away. In truth, she is a very woman; and, like a restive horse, will
+take the path that pleases her. She has brain and fire, and she loves
+our cause; but I pray that the cause come not face to face with her
+desires, for what her heart is set on that will she do, at any cost she
+will do it. Therefore I frightened her now while I may: for who can know
+but that she will pass beyond my power? I tell thee, that in this one
+girl's hand lie all our lives: and if she play us false, what then?
+Alas! and alas! that we must use such tools as these! But it was
+needful: there was no other way; and yet I misdoubted me. I pray that it
+may be well; still, at times, I fear my niece Charmion--she is too fair,
+and the blood of youth runs too warm in those blue veins of hers.
+
+"Ah, woe to the cause that builds its strength upon a woman's faith;
+for women are faithful only where they love, and when they love their
+faithlessness becomes their faith. They are not fixed as men are fixed:
+they rise more high and sink more low--they are strong and changeful as
+the sea. Harmachis, beware of this Charmion: for, like the ocean, she
+may float thee home; or, like the ocean, she may wreck thee, and, with
+thee, the hope of Egypt!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+OF THE COMING OF HARMACHIS TO THE PALACE; OF HOW HE DREW PAULUS THROUGH
+THE GATES; OF CLEOPATRA SLEEPING; AND OF THE MAGIC OF HARMACHIS WHICH HE
+SHOWED HER
+
+Thus it came to pass that on the next day I arrayed myself in a long and
+flowing robe, after the fashion of a magician or astrologer. I placed a
+cap on my head, about which were broidered images of the stars, and in
+my belt a scribe's palette and a roll of papyrus written over with magic
+spells and signs. In my hand I held a wand of ebony, tipped with ivory,
+such as is used by priests and masters of magic. Among these, indeed,
+I took high rank, filling my knowledge of their secrets which I had
+learned at Annu what I lacked in that skill which comes from use. And so
+with no small shame, for I love not such play and hold this common
+magic in contempt, I set forth through the Bruchium to the palace on the
+Lochias, being guided on my way by my uncle Sepa. At length, passing
+up the avenue of sphinxes, we came to the great marble gateway and the
+gates of bronze, within which is the guard-house. Here my uncle left me,
+breathing many prayers for my safety and success. But I advanced with
+an easy air to the gate, where I was roughly challenged by the Gallic
+sentries, and asked of my name, following, and business. I gave my name,
+Harmachis, the astrologer, saying that my business was with the Lady
+Charmion, the Queen's lady. Thereon the man made as though to let me
+pass in, when a captain of the guard, a Roman named Paulus, came forward
+and forbade it. Now, this Paulus was a large limbed man, with a woman's
+face, and a hand that shook from wine-bibbing. Still he knew me again.
+
+"Why," he cried, in the Latin tongue, to one who came with him, "this is
+the fellow who wrestled yesterday with the Nubian gladiator, that same
+who now howls for his lost hand underneath my window. Curses on the
+black brute! I had a bet upon him for the games! I have backed him
+against Caius, and now he'll never fight again, and I must lose my
+money, all through this astrologer. What is it thou sayest?--thou hast
+business with the Lady Charmion? Nay, then, that settles it. I will
+not let thee through. Fellow, I worship the Lady Charmion--ay, we all
+worship her, though she gives us more slaps than sighs. And dost thou
+think that we will suffer an astrologer with such eyes and such a chest
+as thine to cut in the game?--by Bacchus, no! She must come out to keep
+the tryst, for in thou shalt not go."
+
+"Sir," I said humbly and yet with dignity, "I pray that a message may be
+sent to the Lady Charmion, for my business will not brook delay."
+
+"Ye Gods!" answered the fool, "whom have we here that he cannot wait? A
+C�sar in disguise? Nay, be off--be off! if thou wouldst not learn how a
+spear-prick feels behind."
+
+"Nay," put in the other officer, "he is an astrologer; make him
+prophesy--make him play tricks."
+
+"Ay," cried the others who had sauntered up, "let the fellow show his
+art. If he is a magician he can pass the gates, Paulus or no Paulus."
+
+"Right willingly, good Sirs," I answered; for I saw no other means of
+entering. "Wilt thou, my young and noble Lord"--and I addressed him who
+was with Paulus--"suffer that I look thee in the eyes; perhaps I may
+read what is written there?"
+
+"Right," answered the youth; "but I wish that the Lady Charmion was the
+sorceress. I would stare her out of countenance, I warrant."
+
+I took him by the hand and gazed deep into his eyes. "I see," I said, "a
+field of battle at night, and about it bodies stretched--among them is
+_thy_ body, and a hyena tears its throat. Most noble Sir, thou shalt die
+by sword-thrusts within a year."
+
+"By Bacchus!" said the youth, turning white to the gills, "thou art
+an ill-omened sorcerer!" And he slunk off--shortly afterwards, as it
+chanced, to meet this very fate. For he was sent on service and slain in
+Cyprus.
+
+"Now for thee, great Captain!" I said, speaking to Paulus. "I will show
+thee how I will pass those gates without thy leave--ay, and draw thee
+through them after me. Be pleased to fix thy princely gaze upon the
+point of this wand in my hand."
+
+Being urged by his comrades he did this, unwillingly; and I let him
+gaze till I saw his eyes grow empty as an owl's eyes in the sun. Then I
+suddenly withdrew the wand, and, shifting my countenance into the place
+of it, I seized him with my will and stare, and, beginning to turn round
+and round, drew him after me, his fierce face drawn fixed, as it were,
+almost to my own. Then I moved slowly backwards till I had passed the
+gates, still drawing him after me, and suddenly jerked my head away. He
+fell to the ground, to rise wiping his brow and looking very foolish.
+
+"Art thou content, most noble Captain?" I said. "Thou seest we have
+passed the gates. Would any other noble Sir wish that I should show more
+of my skill?"
+
+"By Taranis, Lord of Thunder, and all the Gods of Olympus thrown in,
+no!" growled an old Centurion, a Gaul named Brennus, "I like thee not,
+I say. The man who could drag our Paulus through those gates by the eye,
+as it were, is not a man to play with. Paulus, too, who always goes the
+way you don't want him--backwards, like an ass--Paulus! Why, sirrah,
+thou needst must have a woman in one eye and a wine-cup in the other to
+draw our Paulus thus."
+
+At this moment the talk was broken, for Charmion herself came down the
+marble path, followed by an armed slave. She walked calm and carelessly,
+her hands folded behind her, and her eyes gazing at nothingness, as it
+were. But it was when Charmion thus looked upon nothing that she saw
+most. And as she came the officers and men of the guard made way for
+her bowing, for, as I learned afterwards, this girl, next to Cleopatra's
+self, wielded more power than anyone about the palace.
+
+"What is this tumult, Brennus?" she said, speaking to the Centurion, and
+making as if she saw me not; "knowest thou not that the Queen sleeps at
+this hour, and if she be awakened it is thou who must answer for it, and
+that dearly?"
+
+"Nay, Lady," said the Centurion, humbly; "but it is thus. We have
+here"--and he jerked his thumb towards me--"a magician of the most
+pestilent--um, I crave his pardon--of the very best sort, for he hath
+but just now, only by placing his eyes close to the nose of the worthy
+Captain Paulus, dragged him, the said Paulus, through the gates that
+Paulus swore the magician should not pass. By the same token, lady, the
+magician says that he has business with you--which grieves me for your
+sake."
+
+Charmion turned and looked at me carelessly. "Ay, I remember," she said;
+"and so he has--at least, the Queen would see his tricks; but if he can
+do none better than cause a sot"--here she cast a glance of scorn at the
+wondering Paulus--"to follow his nose through the gates he guards, he
+had better go whence he came. Follow me, Sir Magician; and for thee,
+Brennus, I say, keep thy riotous crew more quiet. For thee, most
+honourable Paulus, get thee sober, and next time I am asked for at the
+gates give him who asks a hearing." And, with a queenly nod of her small
+head, she turned and led the way, followed at a distance by myself and
+the armed slave.
+
+We passed up the marble walk which runs through the garden grounds, and
+is set on either side with marble statues, for the most part of heathen
+Gods and Goddesses, with which these Lagid� were not ashamed to defile
+their royal dwellings. At length we came to a beautiful portico with
+fluted columns of the Grecian style of art, where we found more guards,
+who made way for the Lady Charmion. Crossing the portico we reached a
+marble vestibule where a fountain splashed softly, and thence by a low
+doorway a second chamber, known as the Alabaster Hall, most beautiful to
+see. Its roof was upheld by light columns of black marble, but all
+its walls were panelled with alabaster, on which Grecian legends were
+engraved. Its floor was of rich and many-hued mosaic that told the tale
+of the passion of Psyche for the Grecian God of Love, and about it were
+set chairs of ivory and gold. Charmion bade the armed slave stay at the
+doorway of this chamber, so that we passed in alone, for the place was
+empty except for two eunuchs who stood with drawn swords before the
+curtain at the further end.
+
+"I am vexed, my Lord," she said, speaking very low and shyly, "that thou
+shouldst have met with such affronts at the gate; but the guard there
+served a double watch, and I had given my commands to the officer of
+the company that should have relieved it. Those Roman officers are ever
+insolent, who, though they seem to serve, know well that Egypt is
+their plaything. But it is not amiss, for these rough soldiers are
+superstitious, and will fear thee. Now bide thou here while I go into
+Cleopatra's chamber, where she sleeps. I have but just sung her to
+sleep, and if she be awake I will call thee, for she waits thy coming."
+And without more words she glided from my side.
+
+In a little time she returned, and coming to me spoke:
+
+"Wouldst see the fairest woman in all the world, asleep?" she whispered;
+"if so, follow me. Nay, fear not; when she awakes she will but laugh,
+for she bade me be sure to bring thee instantly, whether she slept or
+woke. See, I have her signet."
+
+So we passed up the beautiful chamber till we came to where the eunuchs
+stood with drawn swords, and these would have barred my entry. But
+Charmion frowned, and drawing the signet from her bosom held it before
+their eyes. Having examined the writing that was on the ring, they
+bowed, dropping their sword points and we passed through the heavy
+curtains broidered with gold into the resting-place of Cleopatra. It was
+beautiful beyond imagining--beautiful with many coloured marbles, with
+gold and ivory, gems and flowers--all art can furnish and all luxury
+can dream of were here. Here were pictures so real that birds might
+have pecked the painted fruits; here were statues of woman's loveliness
+frozen into stone; here were draperies fine as softest silk, but woven
+of a web of gold; here were couches and carpets such as I never saw. The
+air, too, was sweet with perfume, while through the open window places
+came the far murmur of the sea. And at the further end of the chamber,
+on a couch of gleaming silk and sheltered by a net of finest gauze,
+Cleopatra lay asleep. There she lay--the fairest thing that man ever
+saw--fairer than a dream, and the web of her dark hair flowed all about
+her. One white, rounded arm made a pillow for her head, and one hung
+down towards the ground. Her rich lips were parted in a smile, showing
+the ivory lines of teeth; and her rosy limbs were draped in so thin a
+robe of the silk of Cos, held about her by a jewelled girdle, that the
+white gleam of flesh shone through it. I stood astonished, and though
+my thoughts had little bent that way, the sight of her beauty struck me
+like a blow, so that for a moment I lost myself as it were in the vision
+of its power, and was grieved at heart because I must slay so fair a
+thing.
+
+Turning suddenly from the sight, I found Charmion watching me with her
+quick eyes--watching as though she would search my heart. And, indeed,
+something of my thought must have been written on my face in a language
+that she could read, for she whispered in my ear:
+
+"Ay, it is pity, is it not? Harmachis, being but a man, methinks that
+thou wilt need all thy ghostly strength to nerve thee to the deed!"
+
+I frowned, but before I could frame an answer she touched me lightly on
+the arm and pointed to the Queen. A change had come upon her: her hands
+were clenched, and about her face, all rosy with the hue of sleep,
+gathered a cloud of fear. Her breath came quick, she raised her arms as
+though to ward away a blow, then with a stifled moan sat up and opened
+the windows of her eyes. They were dark, dark as night; but when
+the light found them they grew blue as the sky grows blue before the
+blushing of the dawn.
+
+"C�sarion?" she said; "where is my son C�sarion?--Was it then a dream?
+I dreamed that Julius--Julius who is dead--came to me, a bloody toga
+wrapped about his face, and having thrown his arms about his child led
+him away. Then I dreamed I died--died in blood and agony; and one I
+might not see mocked me as I died. _Ah!_ who is that man?"
+
+"Peace, Madam! peace!" said Charmion. "It is but the magician Harmachis,
+whom thou didst bid me bring to thee at this hour."
+
+"Ah! the magician--that Harmachis who overthrew the giant? I remember
+now. He is welcome. Tell me, Sir Magician, can thy magic mirror call
+forth an answer to this dream? Nay, how strange a thing is Sleep, that
+wrapping the mind in a web of darkness, straightly compels it to its
+will! Whence, then, come those images of fear rising on the horizon
+of the soul like some untimely moon upon a midday sky? Who grants them
+power to stalk so lifelike from Memory's halls, and, pointing to
+their wounds, thus confront the Present with the Past? Are they, then,
+messengers? Does the half-death of sleep give them foothold in our
+brains, and thus upknit the cut thread of human kinship? That was
+C�sar's self, I tell thee, who but now stood at my side and murmured
+through his muffled robe warning words of which the memory is lost to
+me. Read me this riddle, thou Egyptian Sphinx,[*] and I'll show thee a
+rosier path to fortune than all thy stars can point. Thou hast brought
+the omen, solve thou its problem."
+
+     [*] Alluding to his name. Harmachis was the Grecian title of
+     the divinity of the Sphinx, as Horemkhu was the Egyptian.--
+     Editor.
+
+"I come in a good hour, most mighty Queen," I answered, "for I have some
+skill in the mysteries of Sleep, that is, as thou hast rightly guessed,
+a stair by which those who are gathered to Osiris may from time to time
+enter at the gateways of our living sense, and, by signs and words that
+can be read of instructed mortals, repeat the echoes of that Hall of
+Truth which is their habitation. Yes, Sleep is a stair by which the
+messengers of the guardian Gods may descend in many shapes upon the
+spirit of their choice. For, O Queen, to those who hold the key,
+the madness of our dreams can show a clearer purpose and speak more
+certainly than all the acted wisdom of our waking life, which is a dream
+indeed. Thou didst see great C�sar in his bloody robe, and he threw his
+arms about the Prince C�sarion and led him hence. Hearken now to the
+secret of thy vision. It was C�sar's self thou sawest coming to thy side
+from Amenti in such a guise as might not be mistaken. When he embraced
+the child C�sarion he did it for a sign that to him, and him alone, had
+passed his greatness and his love. When he seemed to lead him hence
+he led him forth from Egypt to be crowned in the Capitol, crowned the
+Emperor of Rome and Lord of all the Lands. For the rest, I know not. It
+is hid from me."
+
+Thus, then, I read the vision, though to my sense it had a darker
+meaning. But it is not well to prophesy evil unto Kings.
+
+Meanwhile Cleopatra had risen, and, having thrown back the gnat gauze,
+was seated upon the edge of her couch, her eyes fixed upon my face,
+while her fingers played with her girdle's jewelled ends.
+
+"Of a truth," she cried, "thou art the best of all magicians, for thou
+readest my heart, and drawest a hidden sweet out of the rough shell of
+evil omen!"
+
+"Ay, O Queen," said Charmion, who stood by with downcast eyes, and I
+thought that there was bitter meaning in her soft tones; "may no rougher
+words ever affront thy ears, and no evil presage tread less closely upon
+its happy sense."
+
+Cleopatra placed her hands behind her head and, leaning back, looked at
+me with half-shut eyes.
+
+"Come, show us of thy magic, Egyptian," she said. "It is yet hot abroad,
+and I am weary of those Hebrew Ambassadors and their talk of Herod and
+Jerusalem. I hate that Herod, as he shall find--and will have none of
+the Ambassadors to-day, though I yearn a little to try my Hebrew on
+them. What canst thou do? Hast thou no new trick? By Serapis! if thou
+canst conjure as well as thou canst prophesy, thou shalt have a place
+at Court, with pay and perquisites to boot, if thy lofty soul does not
+scorn perquisites."
+
+"Nay," I answered, "all tricks are old; but there are some forms of
+magic to be rarely used, and with discretion, that may be new to thee, O
+Queen! Art thou afraid to venture on the charm?"
+
+"I fear nothing; go on and do thy worst. Come, Charmion, and sit by me.
+But, stay, where are all the girls?--Iras and Merira?--they, too, love
+magic."
+
+"Not so," I said; "the charms work ill before so many. Now behold!"
+and, gazing at the twain, I cast my wand upon the marble and murmured
+a spell. For a moment it was still, and then, as I muttered, the rod
+slowly began to writhe. It bent itself, it stood on end, and moved of
+its own motion. Next it put on scales, and behold it was a serpent that
+crawled and fiercely hissed.
+
+"Fie on thee!" cried Cleopatra, clapping her hands; "callest thou that
+magic? Why, it is an old trick that any wayside conjurer can do. I have
+seen it a score of times."
+
+"Wait, O Queen," I answered, "thou hast not seen all." And, as I spoke,
+the serpent seemed to break in fragments, and from each fragment grew a
+new serpent. And these, too, broke in fragments and bred others, till in
+a little while the place, to their glamoured sight, was a seething sea
+of snakes, that crawled, hissed, and knotted themselves in knots. Then
+I made a sign, and the serpents gathered themselves round me, and seemed
+slowly to twine themselves about my body and my limbs, till, save my
+face, I was wreathed thick with hissing snakes.
+
+"Oh, horrible! horrible!" cried Charmion, hiding her countenance in the
+skirt of the Queen's garment.
+
+"Nay, enough, Magician, enough!" said the Queen: "thy magic overwhelms
+us."
+
+I waved my snake-wrapped arms, and all was gone. There at my feet lay
+the black wand tipped with ivory, and naught beside.
+
+The two women looked upon each other and gasped with wonder. But I took
+up the wand and stood with folded arms before them.
+
+"Is the Queen content with my poor art?" I asked most humbly.
+
+"Ay, that I am, Egyptian; never did I see its like! Thou art Court
+astronomer from this day forward, with right of access to the Queen's
+presence. Hast thou more of such magic at thy call?"
+
+"Yea, royal Egypt; suffer that the chamber be a little darkened, and I
+will show thee one more thing."
+
+"Half am I afraid," she answered; "nevertheless do thou as this
+Harmachis says, Charmion."
+
+So the curtains were drawn and the chamber made as though the twilight
+were at hand. I came forward, and stood beside Cleopatra. "Gaze thou
+there!" I said sternly, pointing with my wand to the empty space where I
+had been, "and thou shalt behold that which is in thy mind."
+
+Then for a little space was silence, while the two women gazed fixedly
+and half fearful at the spot.
+
+And as they gazed a cloud gathered before them. Very slowly it took
+shape and form, and the form it took was the form of a man, though as
+yet he was but vaguely mapped upon the twilight, and seemed now to grow
+and now to melt away.
+
+Then I cried with a loud voice:
+
+"Spirit, I conjure thee, _appear!_"
+
+And as I cried the Thing, perfect in every part, leapt into form before
+us, suddenly as the flash of day. His shape was the shape of royal
+C�sar, the toga thrown about his face, and on his form a vestment bloody
+from a hundred wounds. An instant so he stood, then I waved my wand and
+he was gone.
+
+I turned to the two women on the couch, and saw Cleopatra's lovely face
+all clothed in terror. Her lips were ashy white, her eyes stared wide,
+and all the flesh was shaking on her bones.
+
+"Man!" she gasped; "man! who and what art thou who canst bring the dead
+before our eyes?"
+
+"I am the Queen's astronomer, magician, servant--what the Queen wills,"
+I answered, laughing. "Was this the form that was on the Queen's mind?"
+
+She made no answer, but, rising, left the chamber by another door.
+
+Then Charmion rose also and took her hands from her face, for she, too,
+had been stricken with dread.
+
+"How dost thou these things, royal Harmachis?" she said. "Tell me; for
+of a truth I fear thee."
+
+"Be not afraid," I answered. "Perchance thou didst see nothing but what
+was in my mind. All things are shadows. How canst thou, then, know their
+nature, or what is and what only seems to be? But how goes it? Remember,
+Charmion, this sport is played to an end."
+
+"It goes well," she said. "By to-morrow morning's dawn these tales
+will have gone round, and thou wilt be more feared than any man in
+Alexandria. Follow me, I pray thee."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+OF THE WAYS OF CHARMION; AND OF THE CROWNING OF HARMACHIS AS THE KING OF
+LOVE
+
+On the following day I received the writing of my appointment as
+Astrologer and Magician-in-Chief to the Queen, with the pay and
+perquisites of that office, which were not small. Rooms were given me
+in the palace, also, through which I passed at night to the high
+watch-tower, whence I looked on the stars and drew their auguries. For
+at this time Cleopatra was much troubled about matters political, and
+not knowing how the great struggle among the Roman factions would end,
+but being very desirous to side with the strongest, she took constant
+counsel with me as to the warnings of the stars. These I read to her
+in such manner as best seemed to fit the high interest of my ends. For
+Antony, the Roman Triumvir, was now in Asia Minor, and, rumour ran, very
+wroth because it had been told him that Cleopatra was hostile to the
+Triumvirate, in that her General, Serapion, had aided Cassius. But
+Cleopatra protested loudly to me and others that Serapion had acted
+against her will. Yet Charmion told me that, as with Allienus, it was
+because of a prophecy of Dioscorides the unlucky that the Queen herself
+had secretly ordered Serapion so to do. Still, this did not save
+Serapion, for to prove to Antony that she was innocent she dragged the
+General from the sanctuary and slew him. Woe be to those who carry
+out the will of tyrants if the scale should rise against them! And so
+Serapion perished.
+
+Meanwhile all things went well with us, for the minds of Cleopatra and
+those about her were so set upon affairs abroad that neither she nor
+they thought of revolt at home. But day by day our party gathered
+strength in the cities of Egypt, and even in Alexandria, which is to
+Egypt as another land, all things being foreign there. Day by day, those
+who doubted were won over and sworn to the cause by that oath which
+cannot be broken, and our plans of action more firmly laid. And every
+other day I went forth from the palace to take counsel with my uncle
+Sepa, and there at his house met the Nobles and the great priests who
+were for the party of Khem.
+
+I saw much of Cleopatra, the Queen, and I was ever more astonished at
+the wealth and splendour of her mind, that for richness and variety
+was as a woven cloth of gold throwing back all lights from its changing
+face. She feared me somewhat, and therefore wished to make a friend of
+me, asking me of many matters that seemed to be beyond the province of
+my office. I saw much of the Lady Charmion also--indeed, she was ever at
+my side, so that I scarce knew when she came and when she went. For she
+would draw nigh with that soft step of hers, and I would turn to find
+her at hand and watching me beneath the long lashes of her downcast
+eyes. There was no service that was too hard for her, and no task too
+long; for day and night she laboured for me and for our cause.
+
+But when I thanked her for her loyalty, and said it should be had in
+mind in that time which was at hand, she stamped her foot, and pouted
+with her lips, like an angry child, saying that, among all the things
+which I had learned, this had I not learned--that Love's service asked
+no payment, and was its own guerdon. And I, being innocent in such
+matters, and, foolish that I was, holding the ways of women as of small
+account, read her sayings in the sense that her services to the cause
+of Khem, which she loved, brought with them their own reward. But when
+I praised so fine a spirit, she burst into angry tears and left me
+wondering. For I knew nothing of the trouble at her heart. I knew not
+then that, unsought, this woman had given me her love, and that she was
+rent and torn by pangs of passion fixed like arrows in her breast. I did
+not know--how should I know it, who never looked upon her otherwise than
+as an instrument of our joint and holy cause? Her beauty never stirred
+me--no, not even when she leaned over me and breathed upon my hair, I
+never thought of it otherwise than as a man thinks of the beauty of a
+statue. What had I to do with such delights, I who was sworn to Isis
+and dedicate to the cause of Egypt? O ye Gods, bear me witness that I am
+innocent of this thing which was the source of all my woe and the woe of
+Khem!
+
+How strange a thing is this love of woman, that is so small in its
+beginning and in its ends so great! See, at the first it is as the
+little spring of water welling from a mountain's heart. And at the last
+what is it? It is a mighty river that floats argosies of joy and makes
+wide lands to smile. Or, perchance, it is a torrent to wash in a flood
+of ruin across the fields of Hope, bursting in the barriers of design,
+and bringing to tumbled nothingness the tenement of man's purity and the
+temples of his faith. For when the Invisible conceived the order of the
+universe He set this seed of woman's love within its plan, that by its
+most unequal growth is doomed to bring about equality of law. For now
+it lifts the low to heights untold, and now it brings the noble to the
+level of the dust. And thus, while Woman, that great surprise of nature,
+is, Good and Evil can never grow apart. For still She stands, and, blind
+with love, shoots the shuttle of our fate, and pours sweet water into
+the cup of bitterness, and poisons the wholesome breath of life with the
+doom of her desire. Turn this way and turn that, She is at hand to meet
+thee. Her weakness is thy strength, her might is thy undoing. Of her
+thou art, to her thou goest. She is thy slave, yet holds thee captive;
+at her touch honour withers, locks open, and barriers fall. She is
+infinite as ocean, she is variable as heaven, and her name is the
+Unforeseen. Man, strive not to escape from Woman and the love of
+woman; for, fly where thou wilt, She is yet thy fate, and whate'er thou
+buildest thou buildest it for her!
+
+And thus it came to pass that I, Harmachis, who had put such matters far
+from me, was yet doomed to fall by the thing I held of no account. For,
+see, this Charmion: she loved me--why, I know not. Of her own thought
+she learned to love me, and of her love came what shall be told. But I,
+knowing naught, treated her like a sister, walking as it were hand in
+hand with her towards our common end.
+
+And so the time passed on, till, at length, all things were made ready.
+
+It was the night before the night when the blow should fall, and there
+were revellings in the palace. That very day I had seen Sepa, and with
+him the captains of a band of five hundred men, who should burst into
+the palace at midnight on the morrow, when I had slain Cleopatra the
+Queen, and put the Roman and the Gallic legionaries to the sword. That
+very day I had suborned the Captain Paulus who, since I drew him through
+the gates, was my will's slave. Half by fear and half by promises of
+great reward I had prevailed upon him, for the watch was his, to unbar
+that small gate which faces to the East at the signal on the morrow
+night.
+
+All was made ready--the flower of Freedom that had been five-and-twenty
+years in growth was on the point of bloom. Armed companies were
+gathering in every city from Abu to Athu, and spies looked out from
+their walls, awaiting the coming of the messenger who should bring
+tidings that Cleopatra was no more and that Harmachis, the royal
+Egyptian, had seized the throne.
+
+All was prepared, triumph hung in my hand as a ripe fruit to the hand of
+the plucker. Yet as I sat at the royal feast my heart was heavy, and a
+shadow of coming woe lay cold within my mind. I sat there in a place
+of honour, near the majesty of Cleopatra, and looked down the lines of
+guests, bright with gems and garlanded with flowers, marking those whom
+I had doomed to die. There before me lay Cleopatra in all her beauty,
+which thrilled the beholder as he is thrilled by the rushing of the
+midnight gale, or by the sight of stormy waters. I gazed on her as she
+touched her lips with wine and toyed with the chaplet of roses on her
+brow, thinking of the dagger beneath my robe that I had sworn to bury in
+her breast. Again, and yet again, I gazed and strove to hate her,
+strove to rejoice that she must die--and could not. There, too, behind
+her--watching me now, as ever, with her deep-fringed eyes--was the
+lovely Lady Charmion. Who, to look at her innocent face, would believe
+that she was the setter of that snare in which the Queen who loved her
+should miserably perish? Who would dream that the secret of so much
+death was locked in her girlish breast? I gazed, and grew sick at heart
+because I must anoint my throne with blood, and by evil sweep away the
+evil of the land. At that hour I wished, indeed, that I was nothing
+but some humble husbandman, who in its season grows and in its season
+garners the golden grain! Alas! the seed that I had been doomed to sow
+was the seed of Death, and now I must reap the red fruit of the harvest!
+
+"Why, Harmachis, what ails thee?" said Cleopatra, smiling her slow
+smile. "Has the golden skein of stars got tangled, my astronomer? or
+dost thou plan some new feat of magic? Say what is it that thou dost so
+poorly grace our feast? Nay, now, did I not know, having made inquiry,
+that things so low as we poor women are far beneath thy gaze, why, I
+should swear that Eros had found thee out, Harmachis!"
+
+"Nay, that I am spared, O Queen," I answered. "The servant of the stars
+marks not the smaller light of woman's eyes, and therein is he happy!"
+
+Cleopatra leaned herself towards me, looking on me long and steadily in
+such fashion that, despite my will, the blood fluttered at my heart.
+
+"Boast not, thou proud Egyptian," she said in a low voice which none but
+I and Charmion could hear, "lest perchance thou dost tempt me to match
+my magic against thine. What woman can forgive that a man should push
+us by as things of no account? It is an insult to our sex which Nature's
+self abhors," and she leaned back again and laughed most musically. But,
+glancing up, I saw Charmion, her teeth on her lip and an angry frown
+upon her brow.
+
+"Pardon, royal Egypt," I answered coldly, but with such wit as I could
+summon, "before the Queen of Heaven even stars grow pale!" This I said
+of the moon, which is the sign of the Holy Mother whom Cleopatra dared
+to rival, naming herself Isis come to earth.
+
+"Happily said," she answered, clapping her white hands. "Why, here's an
+astronomer who has wit and can shape a compliment! Nay, such a wonder
+must not pass unnoted, lest the Gods resent it. Charmion, take this
+rose-chaplet from my hair and set it upon the learned brow of our
+Harmachis. He shall be crowned _King of Love_, whether he will it or
+not."
+
+Charmion lifted the chaplet from Cleopatra's brows and, bearing it to
+where I was, with a smile set it upon my head yet warm and fragrant from
+the Queen's hair, but so roughly that she pained me somewhat. She
+did this because she was wroth, although she smiled with her lips and
+whispered, "An omen, royal Harmachis." For though she was so very much
+a woman, yet, when she was angered or suffered jealousy, Charmion had a
+childish way.
+
+Having thus fixed the chaplet, she curtsied low before me, and with the
+softest tone of mockery named me, in the Greek tongue, "Harmachis, King
+of Love." Then Cleopatra laughed and pledged me as "King of Love," and
+so did all the company, finding the jest a merry one. For in Alexandria
+they love not those who live straitly and turn aside from women.
+
+But I sat there, a smile upon my lips, and black wrath in my heart. For,
+knowing who and what I was, it irked me to think myself a jest for the
+frivolous nobles and light beauties of Cleopatra's Court. But I was
+chiefly angered against Charmion, because she laughed the loudest, and I
+did not then know that laughter and bitterness are often the veils with
+which a sore heart wraps its weakness from the world. "An omen" she said
+it was--that crown of flowers--and so it proved indeed. For I was fated
+to barter the Double Diadem of the Upper and the Lower Land for a wreath
+of passion's roses that fade before they fully bloom, and Pharaoh's
+ivory bed of state for the pillow of a faithless woman's breast.
+
+"_King of Love!_" they crowned me in their mockery; ay, and King of
+Shame! And I, with the perfumed roses on my brow--I, by descent and
+ordination the Pharaoh of Egypt--thought of the imperishable halls
+of Abouthis and of that other crowning which on the morrow should be
+consummate.
+
+But still smiling, I pledged them back, and answered with a jest. For
+rising, I bowed before Cleopatra and craved leave to go. "Venus," I
+said, speaking of the planet that we know as Donaou in the morning and
+Bonou in the evening, "was in the ascendant. Therefore, as new-crowned
+King of Love, I must now pass to do my homage to its Queen." For these
+barbarians name Venus Queen of Love.
+
+And so amidst their laughter I withdrew to my watch-tower, and, dashing
+that shameful chaplet down amidst the instruments of my craft, made
+pretence to note the rolling of the stars. There I waited, thinking on
+many things that were to be, until Charmion should come with the last
+lists of the doomed and the messages of my uncle Sepa, whom she had seen
+that evening.
+
+At length the door opened softly, and she came jewelled and clad in her
+white robes, as she had left the feast.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+OF THE COMING OF CLEOPATRA TO THE CHAMBER OF HARMACHIS; OF THE THROWING
+FORTH OF THE KERCHIEF OF CHARMION; OF THE STARS; AND OF THE GIFT BY
+CLEOPATRA OF HER FRIENDSHIP TO HER SERVANT HARMACHIS
+
+"At length thou art come, Charmion," I said. "It is over-late."
+
+"Yea, my Lord; but by no means could I escape Cleopatra. Her mood is
+strangely crossed to-night. I know not what it may portend. Strange
+whims and fancies blow across it like light and contrary airs upon a
+summer sea, and I cannot read her purpose."
+
+"Well, well; enough of Cleopatra. Hast thou seen our uncle?"
+
+"Yes, royal Harmachis."
+
+"And hast thou the last lists?"
+
+"Yes; here they are," and she drew them from her bosom. "Here is the
+list of those who, after the Queen, must certainly be put to the sword.
+Among them thou wilt note is the name of that old Gaul Brennus. I grieve
+for him, for we are friends; but it must be. It is a heavy list."
+
+"It is so," I answered conning it; "when men write out their count they
+forget no item, and our count is long. What must be must be. Now for the
+next."
+
+"Here is the list of those to be spared, as friendly or uncertain;
+and here that of the towns which will certainly rise as soon as the
+messenger reaches their gates with tidings of the death of Cleopatra."
+
+"Good. And now"--and I paused--"and now as to the manner of Cleopatra's
+death. How hast thou settled it? Must it be by my own hand?"
+
+"Yea, my Lord," she answered, and again I caught that note of bitterness
+in her voice. "Doubtless Pharaoh will rejoice that his should be the
+hand to rid the land of this false Queen and wanton woman, and at one
+blow break the chains which gall the neck of Egypt."
+
+"Talk not thus, girl," I said; "thou knowest well that I do not rejoice,
+being but driven to the act by deep necessity and the pressure of my
+vows. Can she not, then, be poisoned? Or can no one of the eunuchs be
+suborned to slay her? My soul turns from this bloody work! Indeed, I
+marvel, however heavy be her crimes, that thou canst speak so lightly of
+the death by treachery of one who loves thee!"
+
+"Surely Pharaoh is over-tender, forgetting the greatness of the moment
+and all that hangs upon this dagger-stroke that shall cut the thread of
+Cleopatra's life. Listen, Harmachis. _Thou_ must do the deed, and _thou_
+alone! Myself I would do it, had my arm the strength; but it has not.
+It cannot be done by poison, for every drop she drinks and every morsel
+that shall touch her lips is strictly tasted by three separate tasters,
+who cannot be suborned. Nor may the eunuchs of the guard be trusted.
+Two, indeed, are sworn to us; but the third cannot be come at. He must
+be cut down afterwards; and, indeed, when so many men must fall, what
+matters a eunuch more or less? Thus it shall be, then. To-morrow night,
+at three hours before midnight thou dost cast the final augury of the
+issue of the war. And then thou wilt, as is agreed, descend alone with
+me, having the signet, to the outer chamber of the Queen's apartment.
+For the vessel bearing orders to the Legions sails from Alexandria at
+the following dawn; and alone with Cleopatra, since she wills that
+the thing be kept secret as the sea, thou wilt read the message of the
+stars. And as she pores over the papyrus, then must thou stab her in
+the back, so that she dies; and see thou that thy will and arm fail thee
+not! The deed being done--and indeed it will be easy--thou wilt take
+the signet and pass out to where the eunuch is--for the others will be
+wanting. If by any chance there is trouble with him--but there will be
+no trouble, for he dare not enter the private rooms, and the sounds
+of death cannot reach so far--thou must cut him down. Then I will meet
+thee; and, passing on, we will come to Paulus, and it shall be my care
+to see that he is neither drunk nor backward, for I know how to hold him
+to the task. And he and those with him shall throw open the side gate,
+when Sepa and the five hundred chosen men who are in waiting shall pour
+in and cast themselves upon the sleeping legionaries, putting them to
+the sword. Why, the thing is easy so thou rest true to thyself, and let
+no womanish fears creep into thy heart. What is this dagger's thrust? It
+is nothing, and yet upon it hang the destinies of Egypt and the world."
+
+"Hush!" I said. "What is that?--I hear a sound."
+
+Charmion ran to the door, and, gazing down the long, dark passage,
+listened. In a moment she came back, her finger on her lips. "It is the
+Queen," she whispered hurriedly; "the Queen who mounts the stair alone.
+I heard her bid Iras to leave her. I may not be found alone with thee
+at this hour; it has a strange look, and she may suspect. What wants she
+here? Where can I hide?"
+
+I glanced round. At the further end of the chamber was a heavy curtain
+that hid a little place built in the thickness of the wall which I used
+for the storage of rolls and instruments.
+
+"Haste thee--there!" I said, and she glided behind the curtain, which
+swung back and covered her. Then I thrust the fatal scroll of death into
+the bosom of my robe and bent over the mystic chart. Presently I heard
+the sweep of woman's robes and there came a low knock upon the door.
+
+"Enter, whoever thou art," I said.
+
+The latch lifted, and Cleopatra swept in, royally arrayed, her dark
+hair hanging about her and the sacred snake of royalty glistening on her
+brow.
+
+"Of a truth, Harmachis," she said with a sigh, as she sank into a seat,
+"the path to heaven is hard to climb! Ah! I am weary, for those stairs
+are many. But I was minded, my astronomer, to see thee in thy haunts."
+
+"I am honoured overmuch, O Queen!" I said, bowing low before her.
+
+"Art thou now? And yet that dark face of thine has a somewhat angry
+look--thou art too young and handsome for this dry trade, Harmachis.
+Why, I vow thou hast cast my wreath of roses down amidst thy rusty
+tools! Kings would have cherished that wreath along with their choicest
+diadems, Harmachis! and thou dost throw it away as a thing of no
+account! Why, what a man art thou! But stay; what is this? A lady's
+kerchief, by Isis! Nay, now, my Harmachis, how came _this_ here? Are our
+poor kerchiefs also instruments of thy high art? Oh, fie, fie!--have I
+caught thee, then? Art thou indeed a fox?"
+
+"Nay, most royal Cleopatra, nay!" I said, turning; for the kerchief
+which had fallen from Charmion's neck had an awkward look. "I know not,
+indeed, how the frippery came here. Perhaps, some one of the women who
+keeps the chamber may have let it fall."
+
+"Ah! so--so!" she said dryly, and still laughing like a rippling brook.
+"Yes, surely, the slave-women who keep chambers own such toys as this,
+of the very finest silk, worth twice its weight in gold, and broidered,
+too, in many colours. Why, myself I should not shame to wear it! Of a
+truth it seems familiar to my sight." And she threw it round her neck
+and smoothed the ends with her white hand. "But there; doubtless, it is
+a thing unholy in thine eyes that the scarf of thy beloved should rest
+upon my poor breast. Take it, Harmachis; take it, and hide it in thy
+bosom--nigh thy heart indeed!"
+
+I took the accursed thing, and, muttering what I may not write, stepped
+on to the giddy platform whence I watched the stars. Then, crushing it
+into a ball, I threw it to the winds of heaven.
+
+At this the lovely Queen laughed once more.
+
+"Nay, think now," she cried; "what would the lady say could she see her
+love-gauge thus cast to all the world? Mayhap, Harmachis, thou wouldst
+deal thus with my wreath also? See, the roses fade; cast it forth," and,
+stooping, she took up the wreath and gave it to me.
+
+For a moment, so vexed was I, I had a mind to take her at her word and
+send the wreath to join the kerchief. But I thought better of it.
+
+"Nay," I said more softly, "it is a Queen's gift, and I will keep it,"
+and, as I spoke, I saw the curtain shake. Often since that night I have
+sorrowed over those simple words.
+
+"Gracious thanks be to the King of Love for this small mercy," she
+answered, looking at me strangely. "Now, enough of wit; come forth upon
+this balcony--tell me of the mystery of those stars of thine. For I
+always loved the stars, that are so pure and bright and cold, and so far
+away from our fevered troubling. There I would wish to dwell, rocked on
+the dark bosom of the night, and losing the little sense of self as I
+gazed for ever on the countenance of yon sweet-eyed space. Nay--who can
+tell, Harmachis?--perhaps those stars partake of our very substance,
+and, linked to us by Nature's invisible chain, do, indeed, draw our
+destiny with them as they roll. What says the Greek fable of him who
+became a star? Perchance it has truth, for yonder tiny sparks may be the
+souls of men, but grown more purely bright and placed in happy rest to
+illume the turmoil of their mother-earth. Or are they lamps hung high
+in the heavenly vault that night by night some Godhead, whose wings
+are Darkness, touches with his immortal fire so that they leap out in
+answering flame? Give me of thy wisdom and open these wonders to me, my
+servant, for I have little knowledge. Yet my heart is large, and I would
+fill it, for I have the wit, could I but find the teacher."
+
+Thereon, being glad to find footing on a safer shore, and marvelling
+somewhat to learn that Cleopatra had a place for lofty thoughts, I spoke
+and willingly told her such things as are lawful. I told her how the
+sky is a liquid mass pressing round the earth and resting on the elastic
+pillars of the air, and how above is the heavenly ocean Nout, in which
+the planets float like ships as they rush upon their radiant way. I told
+her many things, and amongst them how, through the certain never-ceasing
+movement of the orbs of light, the planet Venus, that was called Donaou
+when she showed as the Morning Star, became the planet Bonou when she
+came as the sweet Star of Eve. And while I stood and spoke watching the
+stars, she sat, her hands clasped upon her knee, and watched my face.
+
+"Ah!" she broke in at length, "and so Venus is to be seen both in the
+morning and the evening sky. Well, of a truth, she is everywhere, though
+she best loves the night. But thou lovest not that I should use these
+Latin names to thee. Come, we will talk in the ancient tongue of Khem,
+which I know well; I am the first, mark thou, of all the Lagid� who know
+it. And now," she went on, speaking in my own tongue, but with a little
+foreign accent that did but make her talk more sweet, "enough of stars,
+for, when all is said, they are but fickle things, and perhaps may
+even now be storing up an evil hour for thee or me, or for both of us
+together. Not but what I love to hear thee speak of them, for then thy
+face loses that gloomy cloud of thought which mars it and grows quick
+and human. Harmachis, thou art too young for such a solemn trade;
+methinks that I must find thee a better. Youth comes but once; why waste
+it in these musings? It is time to think when we can no longer act. Tell
+me how old art thou, Harmachis?"
+
+"I have six-and-twenty years, O Queen," I answered, "for I was born in
+the first month of Shomou, in the summer season, and on the third day of
+the month."
+
+"Why, then, we are of an age even to a day," she cried, "for I too have
+six-and-twenty years, and I too was born on the third day of the first
+month of Shomou. Well, this may we say: those who begot us need have no
+shame. For if I be the fairest woman in Egypt, methinks, Harmachis, that
+there is in Egypt no man more fair and strong than thou, ay, or more
+learned. Born of the same day, why, 'tis manifest that we were destined
+to stand together, I, as the Queen, and thou, perchance, Harmachis, as
+one of the chief pillars of my throne, and thus to work each other's
+weal."
+
+"Or maybe each other's woe," I answered, looking up; for her sweet
+speeches stung my ears and brought more colour to my face than I loved
+that she should see there.
+
+"Nay, never talk of woe. Be seated here by me, Harmachis, and let us
+talk, not as Queen and subject, but as friend to friend. Thou wast
+angered with me at the feast to-night because I mocked thee with yonder
+wreath--was it not so? Nay, it was but a jest. Didst thou know how heavy
+is the task of monarchs and how wearisome are their hours, thou wouldst
+not be wroth because I lit my dulness with a jest. Oh, they weary me,
+those princes and those nobles, and those stiff-necked pompous Romans.
+To my face they vow themselves my slaves, and behind my back they mock
+me and proclaim me the servant of their Triumvirate, or their Empire,
+or their Republic, as the wheel of Fortune turns, and each rises on its
+round! There is never a man among them--nothing but fools, parasites,
+and puppets--never a man since with their coward daggers they slew that
+C�sar whom all the world in arms was not strong enough to tame. And I
+must play off one against the other, if maybe, by so doing, I can
+keep Egypt from their grip. And for reward, what? Why, this is my
+reward--that all men speak ill of me--and, I know it, my subjects hate
+me! Yes, I believe that, woman though I am, they would murder me could
+they find a means!"
+
+She paused, covering her eyes with her hand, and it was well, for her
+words pierced me so that I shrank upon the seat beside her.
+
+"They think ill of me, I know it; and call me wanton, who have never
+stepped aside save once, when I loved the greatest man of all the world,
+and at the touch of love my passion flamed indeed, but burnt a hallowed
+flame. These ribald Alexandrians swear that I poisoned Ptolemy, my
+brother--whom the Roman Senate would, most unnaturally, have forced on
+me, his sister, as a husband! But it is false: he sickened and died of
+fever. And even so they say that I would slay Arsino�, my sister--who,
+indeed, would slay me!--but that, too, is false! Though she will have
+none of me, I love my sister. Yes, they all think ill of me without a
+cause; even thou dost think ill of me, Harmachis.
+
+"O Harmachis, before thou judgest, remember what a thing is envy!--that
+foul sickness of the mind which makes the jaundiced eye of pettiness
+to see all things distraught--to read Evil written on the open face of
+Good, and find impurity in the whitest virgin's soul! Think what a thing
+it is, Harmachis, to be set on high above the gaping crowd of knaves who
+hate thee for thy fortune and thy wit; who gnash their teeth and shoot
+the arrows of their lies from the cover of their own obscureness, whence
+they have no wings to soar; and whose hearts' quest it is to drag down
+thy nobility to the level of the groundling and the fool!
+
+"Be not, then, swift to think evil of the Great, whose every word and
+act is searched for error by a million angry eyes, and whose most tiny
+fault is trumpeted by a thousand throats, till the world shakes with
+echoes of their sin! Say not: 'It is thus, 'tis certainly thus'--say,
+rather: 'May it not be otherwise? Have we heard aright? Did she this
+thing of her own will?' Judge gently, Harmachis, as wert thou I thou
+wouldst be judged. Remember that a Queen is never free. She is, indeed,
+but the point and instrument of those forces politic with which the iron
+books of history are graved. O Harmachis! be thou my friend--my friend
+and counsellor!--my friend whom I can trust indeed!--for here, in this
+crowded Court, I am more utterly alone than any soul that breathes about
+its corridors. But _thee_ I trust; there is faith written in those quiet
+eyes, and I am minded to lift thee high, Harmachis. I can no longer bear
+my solitude of mind--I must find one with whom I may commune and speak
+that which lies within my heart. I have faults, I know it; but I am not
+all unworthy of thy faith, for there is good grain among the evil seed.
+Say, Harmachis, wilt thou take pity on my loneliness and befriend me,
+who have lovers, courtiers, slaves, dependents, more thick than I
+can count, but never one single _friend_?" and she leant towards me,
+touching me lightly, and gazed on me with her wonderful blue eyes.
+
+I was overcome; thinking of the morrow night, shame and sorrow smote me.
+_I_, her friend!--_I_, whose assassin dagger lay against my breast! I
+bent my head, and a sob or a groan, I know not which, burst from the
+agony of my heart.
+
+But Cleopatra, thinking only that I was moved beyond myself by the
+surprise of her graciousness, smiled sweetly, and said:
+
+"It grows late; to-morrow night when thou bringest the auguries we will
+speak again, O my friend Harmachis, and thou shalt answer me." And she
+gave me her hand to kiss. Scarce knowing what I did, I kissed it, and in
+another moment she was gone.
+
+But I stood in the chamber, gazing after her like one asleep.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+OF THE WORDS AND JEALOUSY OF CHARMION; OF THE LAUGHTER OF HARMACHIS; OF
+THE MAKING READY FOR THE DEED OF BLOOD; AND OF THE MESSAGE OF THE OLD WIFE, ATOUA
+
+I stood still, plunged in thought. Then by hazard as it were I took up
+the wreath of roses and looked on it. How long I stood so I know not,
+but when next I lifted up my eyes they fell upon the form of Charmion,
+whom, indeed, I had altogether forgotten. And though at the moment I
+thought but little of it, I noted vaguely that she was flushed as though
+with anger, and beat her foot upon the floor.
+
+"Oh, it is thou, Charmion!" I said. "What ails thee? Art thou cramped
+with standing so long in thy hiding-place? Why didst not thou slip hence
+when Cleopatra led me to the balcony?"
+
+"Where is my kerchief?" she asked, shooting an angry glance at me. "I
+let fall my broidered kerchief."
+
+"Thy kerchief!--why, didst thou not see? Cleopatra twitted me about it,
+and I flung it from the balcony."
+
+"Yes, I saw," answered the girl, "I saw but too well. Thou didst fling
+away my kerchief, but the wreath of roses--that thou wouldst not
+fling away. It was 'a Queen's gift,' forsooth, and therefore the royal
+Harmachis, the Priest of Isis, the chosen of the Gods, the crowned
+Pharaoh wed to the weal of Khem, cherished it and saved it. But my
+kerchief, stung by the laughter of that light Queen, he cast away!"
+
+"What meanest thou?" I asked, astonished at her bitter tone. "I cannot
+read thy riddles."
+
+"What mean I?" she answered, tossing up her head and showing the white
+curves of her throat. "Nay, I mean naught, or all; take it as thou wilt.
+Wouldst know what I mean, Harmachis, my cousin and my Lord?" she went on
+in a hard, low voice. "Then I will tell thee--thou art in danger of the
+great offence. This Cleopatra has cast her fatal wiles about thee, and
+thou goest near to loving her, Harmachis--to loving her whom to-morrow
+thou must slay! Ay, stand and stare at that wreath in thy hand--the
+wreath thou couldst not send to join my kerchief--sure Cleopatra wore it
+but to-night! The perfume of the hair of C�sar's mistress--C�sar's
+and others'--yet mingles with the odour of its roses! Now, prithee,
+Harmachis, how far didst thou carry the matter on yonder balcony? for in
+that hole where I lay hid I could not hear or see. 'Tis a sweet spot for
+lovers, is it not?--ay, and a sweet hour, too? Venus surely rules the
+stars to-night?"
+
+All of this she said so quietly and in so soft and modest a way, though
+her words were not modest, and yet so bitterly, that every syllable cut
+me to the heart, and angered me till I could find no speech.
+
+"Of a truth thou hast a wise economy," she went on, seeing her
+advantage: "to-night thou dost kiss the lips that to-morrow thou shalt
+still for ever! It is frugal dealing with the occasion of the moment;
+ay, worthy and honourable dealing!"
+
+Then at last I broke forth. "Girl," I cried, "how darest thou speak
+thus to me? Mindest thou who and what I am that thou loosest thy peevish
+gibes upon me?"
+
+"I mind what it behoves thee to be," she answered quick. "What thou art,
+that I mind not now. Surely thou knowest alone--thou and Cleopatra!"
+
+"What meanest thou?" I said. "Am I to blame if the Queen----"
+
+"The Queen! What have we here? Pharaoh owns a Queen!"
+
+"If Cleopatra wills to come hither of a night and talk----"
+
+"Of stars, Harmachis--surely of stars and roses, and naught beside!"
+
+After that I know not what I said; for, troubled as I was, the girl's
+bitter tongue and quiet way drove me wellnigh to madness. But this I
+know: I spoke so fiercely that she cowered before me as she had cowered
+before my uncle Sepa when he rated her because of her Grecian garb. And
+as she wept then, so she wept now, only more passionately and with great
+sobs.
+
+At length I ceased, half-shamed but still angry and smarting sorely.
+For even while she wept she could find a tongue to answer with--and a
+woman's shafts are sharp.
+
+"Thou shouldst not speak to me thus!" she sobbed; "it is cruel--it is
+unmanly! But I forget thou art but a priest, not a man--except, mayhap,
+for Cleopatra!"
+
+"What right hast thou?" I said. "What canst thou mean?"
+
+"What right have I?" she asked, looking up, her dark eyes all aflood
+with tears that ran down her sweet face like the dew of morning down
+a lily's heart. "What right have I? O Harmachis! art thou blind? Didst
+thou not know by what right I speak thus to thee? Then I must tell thee.
+Well, it is the fashion in Alexandria! By that first and holy right of
+woman--by the right of the great love I bear thee, and which, it seems,
+thou hast no eyes to see--by the right of my glory and my shame. Oh,
+be not wroth with me, Harmachis, nor set me down as light, because the
+truth at last has burst from me; for I am not so. I am what thou wilt
+make me. I am the wax within the moulder's hands, and as thou dost
+fashion me so I shall be. There breathes within me now a breath of
+glory, blowing across the waters of my soul, that can waft me to ends
+more noble than ever I have dreamed afore, if thou wilt be my pilot
+and my guide. But if I lose thee, then I lose all that holds me from my
+worse self--and let shipwreck come! Thou knowest me not, Harmachis! thou
+canst not see how big a spirit struggles in this frail form of mine! To
+thee I am a girl, clever, wayward, shallow. But I am more! Show me thy
+loftiest thought and I will match it, the deepest puzzle of thy mind
+and I will make it clear. Of one blood we are, and love can ravel up our
+little difference and make us grow one indeed. One end we have, one land
+we love, one vow binds us both. Take me to thy heart, Harmachis, set me
+by thee on the Double Throne, and I swear that I will lift thee higher
+than ever man has climbed. Reject me, and beware lest I pull thee down!
+And now, putting aside the cold delicacy of custom, stung to it by what
+I saw of the arts of that lovely living falsehood, Cleopatra, which
+for pastime she practises on thy folly, I have spoken out my heart, and
+answer thou!" And she clasped her hands and, drawing one pace nearer,
+gazed, all white and trembling, on my face.
+
+For a moment I stood struck dumb, for the magic of her voice and the
+power of her speech, despite myself, stirred me like the rush of music.
+Had I loved the woman, doubtless she might have fired me with her flame;
+but I loved her not, and I could not play at passion. And so thought
+came, and with thought that laughing mood, which is ever apt to fashion
+upon nerves strained to the point of breaking. In a flash, as it were,
+I bethought me of the way in which she had that very night forced the
+wreath of roses on my head, I thought of the kerchief and how I had
+flung it forth. I thought of Charmion in the little chamber watching
+what she held to be the arts of Cleopatra, and of her bitter speeches.
+Lastly, I thought of what my uncle Sepa would say of her could he see
+her now, and of the strange and tangled skein in which I was inmeshed.
+And I laughed aloud--the fool's laughter that was my knell of ruin!
+
+She turned whiter yet--white as the dead--and a look grew upon her face
+that checked my foolish mirth. "Thou findest, then, Harmachis," she
+said in a low, choked voice, and dropping the level of her eyes, "thou
+findest cause of merriment in what I have said?"
+
+"Nay," I answered; "nay, Charmion; forgive me if I laughed. It was
+rather a laugh of despair; for what am I to say to thee? Thou hast
+spoken high words of all thou mightest be: is it left for me to tell
+thee what thou art?"
+
+She shrank, and I paused.
+
+"Speak," she said.
+
+"Thou knowest--none so well!--who I am and what my mission is: thou
+knowest--none so well!--that I am sworn to Isis, and may, by law Divine,
+have naught to do with thee."
+
+"Ay," she broke in, in her low voice, and with her eyes still fixed upon
+the ground--"ay, and I know that thy vows are broken in spirit, if not
+in form--broken like wreaths of cloud; for, Harmachis--_thou lovest
+Cleopatra!_"
+
+"It is a lie!" I cried. "Thou wanton girl, who wouldst seduce me from my
+duty and put me to an open shame!--who, led by passion or ambition, or
+the love of evil, hast not shamed to break the barriers of thy sex and
+speak as thou hast spoken--beware lest thou go too far! And if thou wilt
+have an answer, here it is, put straightly, as thy question. Charmion,
+outside the matter of my duty and my vows, thou art _naught_ to me!--nor
+for all thy tender glances will my heart beat one pulse more fast!
+Hardly art thou now my friend--for, of a truth, I scarce can trust thee.
+But, once more: beware! To me thou mayest do thy worst; but if thou dost
+dare to lift a finger against our cause, that day thou diest! And now,
+is this play done?"
+
+And as, wild with anger, I spoke thus, she shrank back, and yet further
+back, till at length she rested against the wall, her eyes covered with
+her hand. But when I ceased she dropped her hand, glancing up, and her
+face was as the face of a statue, in which the great eyes glowed like
+embers, and round them was a ring of purple shadow.
+
+"Not altogether done," she answered gently; "the arena must yet be
+sanded!" This she said having reference to the covering up of the
+bloodstains at the gladiatorial shows with fine sand. "Well," she went
+on, "waste not thine anger on a thing so vile. I have thrown my throw
+and I have lost. _V� victis!_--ah! _V� victis!_ Wilt thou not lend me
+the dagger in thy robe, that here and now I may end my shame? No? Then
+one word more, most royal Harmachis: if thou canst, forget my folly;
+but, at the least, have no fear from me. I am now, as ever, thy servant
+and the servant of our cause. Farewell!"
+
+And she went, leaning her hand against the wall. But I, passing to
+my chamber, flung myself upon my couch, and groaned in bitterness of
+spirit. Alas! we shape our plans, and by slow degrees build up our house
+of Hope, never counting on the guests that time shall bring to lodge
+therein. For who can guard against--the Unforeseen?
+
+At length I slept, and my dreams were evil. When I woke the light of
+the day which should see the red fulfilment of the plot was streaming
+through the casement, and the birds sang merrily among the garden palms.
+I woke, and as I woke the sense of trouble pressed in upon me, for I
+remembered that before this day was gathered to the past I must dip
+my hands in blood--yes, in the blood of Cleopatra, who trusted me! Why
+could I not hate her as I should? There had been a time when I looked on
+to this act of vengeance with somewhat of a righteous glow of zeal. And
+now--and now--why, I would frankly give my royal birthright to be free
+from its necessity! But, alas! I knew that there was no escape. I
+must drain this cup or be for ever cast away. I felt the eyes of Egypt
+watching me, and the eyes of Egypt's Gods. I prayed to my Mother Isis
+to give me strength to do this deed, and prayed as I had never prayed
+before; and oh, wonder! no answer came. Nay, how was this? What, then,
+had loosed the link between us that, for the first time, the Goddess
+deigned no reply to her son and chosen servant? Could it be that I
+had sinned in heart against her? What had Charmion said--that I loved
+Cleopatra? Was this sickness love? Nay! a thousand times nay!--it was
+but the revolt of Nature against an act of treachery and blood. The
+Goddess did but try my strength, or perchance she also turned her holy
+countenance from murder?
+
+I rose filled with terror and despair, and went about my task like a man
+without a soul. I conned the fatal lists and noted all the plans--ay, in
+my brain I gathered up the very words of that proclamation of my Royalty
+which, on the morrow, I should issue to the startled world.
+
+"Citizens of Alexandria and dwellers in the land of Egypt," it began,
+"Cleopatra the Macedonian hath, by the command of the Gods, suffered
+justice for her crimes----"
+
+All these and other things I did, but I did them as a man without a
+soul--as a man moved by a force from without and not from within. And so
+the minutes wore away. In the third hour of the afternoon I went as by
+appointment fixed to the house where my uncle Sepa lodged, that same
+house to which I had been brought some three months gone when I entered
+Alexandria for the first time. And here I found the leaders of the
+revolt in the city assembled in secret conclave to the number of
+seven. When I had entered, and the doors were barred, they prostrated
+themselves, and cried, "Hail, Pharaoh!" but I bade them rise, saying
+that I was not yet Pharaoh, for the chicken was still in the egg.
+
+"Yea, Prince," said my uncle, "but his beak shows through. Not in
+vain hath Egypt brooded all these years, if thou fail not with that
+dagger-stroke of thine to-night; and how canst thou fail? Nothing can
+now stop our course to victory!"
+
+"It is on the knees of the Gods," I answered.
+
+"Nay," he said, "the Gods have placed the issue in the hands of a
+mortal--in thy hands, Harmachis!--and there it is safe. See: here are
+the last lists. Thirty-one thousand men who bear arms are sworn to rise
+when the tidings come to them. Within five days every citadel in Egypt
+will be in our hands, and then what have we to fear? From Rome but
+little, for her hands are full; and, besides, we will make alliance with
+the Triumvirate, and, if need be, buy them off. For of money there is
+plenty in the land, and if more be wanted thou, Harmachis, knowest where
+it is stored against the need of Khem, and outside the Roman's reach
+of arm. Who is there to harm us? There is none. Perchance, in this
+turbulent city, there may be struggle, and a counter-plot to bring
+Arsino� to Egypt and set her on the throne. Therefore Alexandria must
+be severely dealt with--ay, even to destruction, if need be. As for
+Arsino�, those go forth to-morrow on the news of the Queen's death who
+shall slay her secretly."
+
+"There remains the lad C�sarion," I said. "Rome might claim through
+C�sar's son, and the child of Cleopatra inherits Cleopatra's rights.
+Here is a double danger."
+
+"Fear not," said my uncle; "to-morrow C�sarion joins those who begat him
+in Amenti. I have made provision. The Ptolemies must be stamped out,
+so that no shoot shall ever spring from that root blasted by Heaven's
+vengeance."
+
+"Is there no other means?" I asked sadly. "My heart is sick at the
+promise of this red rain of blood. I know the child well; he has
+Cleopatra's fire and beauty and great C�sar's wit. It were shame to
+murder him."
+
+"Nay, be not so chicken-hearted, Harmachis," said my uncle, sternly.
+"What ails thee, then? If the lad is thus, the more reason that he
+should die. Wouldst thou nurse up a young lion to tear thee from the
+throne?"
+
+"Be it so," I answered, sighing. "At least he is spared much, and will
+go hence innocent of evil. Now for the plans."
+
+We sat long taking counsel, till at length, in face of the great
+emergency and our high emprise, I felt something of the spirit of
+former days flow back into my heart. At the last all was ordered, and so
+ordered that it could scarce miscarry, for it was fixed that if by any
+chance I could not come to slay Cleopatra on this night, then the plot
+should hang in the scale till the morrow, when the deed must be done
+upon occasion. For the death of Cleopatra was the signal. These matters
+being finished, once more we stood and, our hands upon the sacred
+symbol, swore the oath that may not be written. And then my uncle
+kissed me with tears of hope and joy standing in his keen black eyes. He
+blessed me, saying that he would gladly give his life, ay, and a hundred
+lives, if they were his, if he might but live to see Egypt once more
+a nation, and me, Harmachis, the descendant of its royal and ancient
+blood, seated on the throne. For he was a patriot indeed, asking nothing
+for himself, and giving all things to his cause. And I kissed him in
+turn, and thus we parted. Nor did I ever see him more in the flesh who
+has earned the rest that as yet is denied to me.
+
+So I went, and, there being yet time, walked swiftly from place to place
+in the great city, taking note of the positions of the gates and of the
+places where our forces must be gathered. At length I came to that quay
+where I had landed, and saw a vessel sailing for the open sea. I looked,
+and in my heaviness of heart longed that I were aboard of her, to be
+borne by her white wings to some far shore where I might live obscure
+and die forgotten. Also I saw another vessel that had dropped down the
+Nile, from whose deck the passengers were streaming. For a moment I
+stood watching them, idly wondering if they were from Abouthis, when
+suddenly I heard a familiar voice beside me.
+
+"_La! la!_" said the voice. "Why, what a city is this for an old woman
+to seek her fortune in! And how shall I find those to whom I am known?
+As well look for the rush in the papyrus-roll.[*] Begone! thou knave!
+and let my basket of simples lie; or, by the Gods, I'll doctor thee with
+them!"
+
+     [*] Papyrus was manufactured from the pith of rushes. Hence
+     Atoua's saying.--Editor.
+
+I turned, wondering, and found myself face to face with my foster-nurse,
+Atoua. She knew me instantly, for I saw her start, but in the presence
+of the people she checked her surprise.
+
+"Good Sir," she whined, lifting her withered countenance towards me, and
+at the same time making the secret sign. "By thy dress thou shouldst be
+an astronomer, and I was specially told to avoid astronomers as a pack
+of lying tricksters who worship their own star only; and, therefore, I
+speak to thee, acting on the principle of contraries, which is law to us
+women. For surely in this Alexandria, where all things are upside
+down, the astronomers may be the honest men, since the rest are clearly
+knaves." And then, being by now out of earshot of the press, "royal
+Harmachis, I am come charged with a message to thee from thy father
+Amenemhat."
+
+"Is he well?" I asked.
+
+"Yes, he is well, though waiting for the moment tries him sorely."
+
+"And his message?"
+
+"It is this. He sends greeting to thee and with it warning that a great
+danger threatens thee, though he cannot read it. These are his words:
+'Be steadfast and prosper.'"
+
+I bowed my head and the words struck a new chill of fear into my soul.
+
+"When is the time?" she asked.
+
+"This very night. Where goest thou?"
+
+"To the house of the honourable Sepa, Priest of Annu. Canst thou guide
+me thither?"
+
+"Nay, I may not stay; nor is it wise that I should be seen with thee.
+Hold!" and I called a porter who was idling on the quay, and, giving him
+a piece of money, bade him guide the old wife to the house.
+
+"Farewell," she whispered; "farewell till to-morrow. Be steadfast and
+prosper."
+
+Then I turned and went my way through the crowded streets, where the
+people made place for me, the astronomer of Cleopatra, for my fame had
+spread abroad.
+
+And even as I went my footsteps seemed to beat _Be steadfast, Be
+steadfast, Be steadfast_, till at last it was as though the very ground
+cried out its warning to me.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+OF THE VEILED WORDS OF CHARMION; OF THE PASSING OF HARMACHIS INTO THE
+PRESENCE OF CLEOPATRA; AND OF THE OVERTHROW OF HARMACHIS
+
+It was night, and I sat alone in my chamber, waiting the moment when,
+as it was agreed, Charmion should summon me to pass down to Cleopatra. I
+sat alone, and there before me lay the dagger that was to pierce her. It
+was long and keen, and the handle was formed of a sphinx of solid gold.
+I sat alone, questioning the future, but no answer came. At length I
+looked up, and Charmion stood before me--Charmion, no longer gay and
+bright, but pale of face and hollow-eyed.
+
+"Royal Harmachis," she said, "Cleopatra summons thee, presently to
+declare to her the voices of the stars."
+
+So the hour had fallen!
+
+"It is well, Charmion," I answered. "Are all things in order?"
+
+"Yea, my Lord; all things are in order: well primed with wine, Paulus
+guards the gates, the eunuchs are withdrawn save one, the legionaries
+sleep, and already Sepa and his force lie hid without. Nothing has
+been neglected, and no lamb skipping at the shamble doors can be more
+innocent of its doom than is Queen Cleopatra."
+
+"It is well," I said again; "let us be going," and rising, I placed the
+dagger in the bosom of my robe. Taking a cup of wine that stood near, I
+drank deep of it, for I had scarce tasted food all that day.
+
+"One word," Charmion said hurriedly, "for it is not yet time: last
+night--ah, last night--" and her bosom heaved, "I dreamed a dream that
+haunts me strangely, and perchance thou also didst dream a dream. It was
+all a dream and 'tis forgotten: is it not so, my Lord?"
+
+"Yes, yes," I said; "why troublest thou me thus at such an hour?"
+
+"Nay, I know not; but to-night, Harmachis, Fate is in labour of a great
+event, and in her painful throes mayhap she'll crush me in her grip--me
+or thee, or the twain of us, Harmachis. And if that be so--well, I would
+hear from thee, before it is done, that 'twas naught but a dream, and
+that dream forgot----"
+
+"Yes, it is all a dream," I said idly; "thou and I, and the solid earth,
+and this heavy night of terror, ay, and this keen knife--what are these
+but dreams, and with what face shall the waking come?"
+
+"So now, thou fallest in my humour, royal Harmachis. As thou sayest, we
+dream; and while we dream yet can the vision change. For the phantasies
+of dreams are wonderful, seeing that they have no stability, but vary
+like the vaporous edge of sunset clouds, building now this thing, and
+now that; being now dark and heavy, and now alight with splendour.
+Therefore, before we wake to-morrow tell me one word. Is that vision of
+last night, wherein I _seemed_ to be quite shamed, and thou didst _seem_
+to laugh upon my shame, a fixed phantasy, or can it, perchance, yet
+change its countenance? For remember, when that waking comes, the
+vagaries of our sleep will be more unalterable and more enduring than
+are the pyramids. Then they will be gathered into that changeless
+region of the past where all things, great and small--ay, even dreams,
+Harmachis, are, each in its own semblance, frozen to stone and built
+into the Tomb of Time immortal."
+
+"Nay, Charmion," I replied, "I grieve if I did pain thee; but over that
+vision comes no change. I said what was in my heart and there's an end.
+Thou art my cousin and my friend, I can never be more to thee."
+
+"It is well--'tis very well," she said; "let it be forgotten. And now on
+from dream--to dream," and she smiled with such a smile as I had never
+seen her wear before; it was sadder and more fateful than any stamp that
+grief can set upon the brow.
+
+For, though being blinded by my own folly and the trouble at my heart I
+knew it not, with that smile, the happiness of youth died for Charmion
+the Egyptian; the hope of love fled; and the holy links of duty burst
+asunder. With that smile she consecrated herself to Evil, she renounced
+her Country and her Gods, and trampled on her oath. Ay, that smile marks
+the moment when the stream of history changed its course. For had I
+never seen it on her face Octavianus had not bestridden the world, and
+Egypt had once more been free and great.
+
+And yet it was but a woman's smile!
+
+"Why lookest thou thus strangely, girl?" I asked.
+
+"In dreams we smile," she answered. "And now it is time; follow thou me.
+Be firm and prosper, royal Harmachis!" and bending forward she took my
+hand and kissed it. Then, with one strange last look, she turned and led
+the way down the stair and through the empty halls.
+
+In the chamber that is called the Alabaster Hall, the roof of which
+is upborne by columns of black marble, we stayed. For beyond was the
+private chamber of Cleopatra, the same in which I had seen her sleeping.
+
+"Abide thou here," she said, "while I tell Cleopatra of thy coming," and
+she glided from my side.
+
+I stood for long, mayhap in all the half of an hour, counting my own
+heart-beats, and, as in a dream, striving to gather up my strength to
+that which lay before me.
+
+At length Charmion came back, her head held low and walking heavily.
+
+"Cleopatra waits thee," she said: "pass on, there is no guard."
+
+"Where do I meet thee when what must be done is done?" I asked hoarsely.
+
+"Thou meetest me here, and then to Paulus. Be firm and prosper.
+Harmachis, fare thee well!"
+
+And so I went; but at the curtain I turned suddenly, and there in the
+midst of that lonely lamplit hall I saw a strange sight. Far away, in
+such a fashion that the light struck full upon her, stood Charmion, her
+head thrown back, her white arms outstretched as though to clasp, and on
+her girlish face a stamp of anguished passion so terrible to see that,
+indeed, I cannot tell it! For she believed that I, whom she loved, was
+passing to my death, and this was her last farewell to me.
+
+But I knew naught of this matter; so with another passing pang of wonder
+I drew aside the curtains, gained the doorway, and stood in Cleopatra's
+chamber. And there, upon a silken couch at the far end of the perfumed
+chamber, clad in wonderful white attire, rested Cleopatra. In her hand
+was a jewelled fan of ostrich plumes, with which she gently fanned
+herself, and by her side was her harp of ivory, and a little table
+whereon were figs and goblets and a flask of ruby-coloured wine. I drew
+near slowly through the soft dim light to where the Wonder of the World
+lay in all her glowing beauty. And, indeed, I have never seen her look
+so fair as she did upon that fatal night. Couched in her amber cushions,
+she seemed to shine as a star on the twilight's glow. Perfume came from
+her hair and robes, music fell from her lips, and in her heavenly eyes
+all lights changed and gathered as in the ominous opal's disc.
+
+And this was the woman whom, presently, I must slay!
+
+Slowly I drew near, bowing as I came; but she took no heed. She lay
+there, and the jewelled fan floated to and fro like the bright wing of
+some hovering bird.
+
+At length I stood before her, and she glanced up, the ostrich-plumes
+pressed against her breast as though to hide its beauty.
+
+"What! friend; art thou come?" she said. "It is well; for I grew lonely
+here. Nay; 'tis a weary world! We know so many faces, and there are so
+few whom we love to see again. Well, stand not there so mute, but be
+seated." And she pointed with her fan to a carven chair that was placed
+near her feet.
+
+Once more I bowed and took the seat.
+
+"I have obeyed the Queen's desire," I said, "and with much care and
+skill worked out the lessons of the stars; and here is the record of my
+labour. If the Queen permits, I will expound it to her." And I rose, in
+order that I might pass round the couch and, as she read, stab her in
+the back.
+
+"Nay, Harmachis," she said quietly, and with a slow and lovely smile.
+"Bide thou where thou art, and give me the writing. By Serapis! thy face
+is too comely for me to wish to lose the sight of it!"
+
+Checked in this design, I could do nothing but hand her the papyrus,
+thinking to myself that while she read I would arise suddenly and plunge
+the dagger to her heart. She took it, and as she did so touched my hand.
+Then she made pretence to read. But she read no word, for I saw that her
+eyes were fixed upon me over the edge of the scroll.
+
+"Why placest thou thy hand within thy robe?" she asked presently; for,
+indeed, I clutched the dagger's hilt. "Is thy heart stirred?"
+
+"Yea, O Queen," I said; "it beats high."
+
+She gave no answer, but once more made pretence to read, and the while
+she watched me.
+
+I took counsel with myself. How should I do the hateful deed? If I flung
+myself upon her now she would see me and scream and struggle. Nay, I
+must wait a chance.
+
+"The auguries are favourable, then, Harmachis?" she said at length,
+though this she must have guessed.
+
+"Yes, O Queen," I answered.
+
+"It is well," and she cast the writing on the marble. "The ships shall
+sail. For, good or bad, I am weary of weighing chances."
+
+"This is a heavy matter, O Queen," I said. "I had wished to show upon
+what circumstance I base my forecast."
+
+"Nay, not so, Harmachis; I have wearied of the ways of stars. Thou hast
+prophesied; that is enough for me; for, doubtless, being honest, thou
+hast written honestly. Therefore, save thou thy reasons and we'll be
+merry. What shall we do? I could dance to thee--there are none who can
+dance so well!--but it would scarce be queenly. Nay, I have it. I will
+sing." And, leaning forward, she raised herself, and, bending the harp
+towards her, struck some wandering chords. Then her low voice broke out
+in perfect and most sweet song.
+
+And thus she sang:
+
+     "Night on the sea, and night upon the sky,
+     And music in our hearts, we floated there,
+     Lulled by the low sea voices, thou and I,
+     And the wind's kisses in my cloudy hair:
+     And thou didst gaze on me and call me fair--
+     Enfolded by the starry robe of night--
+     And then thy singing thrilled upon the air,
+     Voice of the heart's desire and Love's delight.
+
+     'Adrift, with starlit skies above,
+     With starlit seas below,
+     We move with all the suns that move,
+     With all the seas that flow;
+     For bond or free, Earth, Sky, and Sea,
+     Wheel with one circling will,
+     And thy heart drifteth on to me,
+     And only time stands still.
+
+     Between two shores of Death we drift,
+     Behind are things forgot:
+     Before the tide is driving swift
+     To lands beholden not.
+     Above, the sky is far and cold;
+     Below, the moaning sea
+     Sweeps o'er the loves that were of old,
+     But, oh, Love! kiss thou me.
+
+     Ah, lonely are the ocean ways,
+     And dangerous the deep,
+     And frail the fairy barque that strays
+     Above the seas asleep!
+     Ah, toil no more at sail nor oar,
+     We drift, or bond or free;
+     On yon far shore the breakers roar,
+     But, oh, Love! kiss thou me.'
+
+     "And ever as thou sangest I drew near,
+     Then sudden silence heard our hearts that beat,
+     For now there was an end of doubt and fear,
+     Now passion filled my soul and led my feet;
+     Then silent didst thou rise thy love to meet,
+     Who, sinking on thy breast, knew naught but thee,
+     And in the happy night I kissed thee, Sweet;
+     Ah, Sweet! between the starlight and the sea."
+
+The last echoes of her rich notes floated down the chamber, and slowly
+died away; but in my heart they rolled on and on. I have heard among
+the women-singers at Abouthis voices more perfect than the voice of
+Cleopatra, but never have I heard one so thrilling or so sweet with
+passion's honey-notes. And indeed it was not the voice alone, it was the
+perfumed chamber in which was set all that could move the sense; it
+was the passion of the thought and words, and the surpassing grace and
+loveliness of that most royal woman who sang them. For, as she sang, I
+seemed to think that we twain were indeed floating alone with the night,
+upon the starlit summer sea. And when she ceased to touch the harp, and,
+rising, suddenly stretched out her arms towards me, and with the last
+low notes of song yet quivering upon her lips, let fall the wonder of
+her eyes upon my eyes, she almost drew me to her. But I remembered, and
+would not.
+
+"Hast thou, then, no word of thanks for my poor singing, Harmachis?" she
+said at length.
+
+"Yea, O Queen," I answered, speaking very low, for my voice was choked;
+"but thy songs are not good for the sons of men to hear--of a truth they
+overwhelm me!"
+
+"Nay, Harmachis; there is no fear for thee," she said laughing softly,
+"seeing that I know how far thy thoughts are set from woman's beauty and
+the common weakness of thy sex. With cold iron we may safely toy."
+
+I thought within myself that coldest iron can be brought to whitest heat
+if the fire be fierce enough. But I said nothing, and, though my hand
+trembled, I once more grasped the dagger's hilt, and, wild with fear
+at my own weakness, set myself to find a means to slay her while yet my
+sense remained.
+
+"Come hither, Harmachis," she went on, in her softest voice. "Come, sit
+by me, and we will talk together; for I have much to tell thee," and she
+made place for me at her side upon the silken seat.
+
+And I, thinking that I might so more swiftly strike, rose and seated
+myself some little way from her on the couch, while, flinging back her
+head, she gazed on me with her slumbrous eyes.
+
+Now was my occasion, for her throat and breast were bare, and, with a
+mighty effort, once again I lifted my hand to clutch the dagger-hilt.
+But, more quick than thought, she caught my fingers with her own and
+gently held them.
+
+"Why lookest thou so wildly, Harmachis?" she said. "Art sick?"
+
+"Ay, sick indeed!" I gasped.
+
+"Then lean thou on the cushions and rest thee," she answered, still
+holding my hand, from which the strength had fled. "The fit will surely
+pass. Too long hast thou laboured with thy stars. How soft is the night
+air that flows from yonder casement heavy with the breath of lilies!
+Hark to the whisper of the sea lapping against the rocks, that, though
+it is faint, yet, being so strong, doth almost drown the quick cool fall
+of yonder fountain. List to Philomel; how sweet from a full heart of
+love she sings her message to her dear! Indeed it is a lovely night, and
+most beautiful is Nature's music, sung with a hundred voices from wind
+and trees and birds and ocean's wrinkled lips, and yet sung all to tune.
+Listen, Harmachis: I have guessed something concerning thee. Thou, too,
+art of a royal race; no humble blood pours in those veins of thine.
+Surely such a shoot could spring but from the stock of Princes? What!
+gazest thou at the leafmark on my breast? It was pricked there in honour
+of great Osiris, whom with thee I worship. See!"
+
+"Let me hence," I groaned, striving to rise; but all my strength had
+gone.
+
+"Nay, not yet awhile. Thou wouldst not leave me yet? thou _canst_ not
+leave me yet. Harmachis, hast thou never loved?"
+
+"Nay, nay, O Queen! What have I to do with love? Let me hence!--I am
+faint--I am fordone!"
+
+"Never to have loved--'tis strange! Never to have known some woman-heart
+beat all in tune to thine--never to have seen the eyes of thy
+adored aswim with passion's tears, as she sighed her vows upon thy
+breast!--Never to have loved!--never to have lost thyself in the mystery
+of another's soul; nor to have learned how Nature can overcome our naked
+loneliness, and with the golden web of love of twain weave one identity!
+Why, it is never to have lived, Harmachis!"
+
+And ever as she murmured she drew nearer to me, till at last, with a
+long, sweet sigh, she flung one arm about my neck, and gazed upon me
+with blue, unfathomable eyes, and smiled her dark, slow smile, that,
+like an opening flower, revealed beauty within beauty hidden. Nearer
+she bent her queenly form, and still more near--now her perfumed breath
+played upon my hair, and now her lips met mine.
+
+And woe is me! In that kiss, more deadly and more strong than the
+embrace of Death, were forgotten Isis, my heavenly Hope, Oaths, Honour,
+Country, Friends, all things--all things save that Cleopatra clasped me
+in her arms, and called me Love and Lord.
+
+"Now pledge me," she sighed; "pledge me one cup of wine in token of thy
+love."
+
+I took the draught, and I drank deep; then too late I knew that it was
+drugged.
+
+I fell upon the couch, and, though my senses still were with me, I could
+neither speak nor rise.
+
+But Cleopatra, bending over me, drew the dagger from my robe.
+
+"_I've won!_" she cried, shaking back her long hair. "I've won, and for
+the stake of Egypt, why, 'twas a game worth playing! With this dagger,
+then, thou wouldst have slain me, O my royal Rival, whose myrmidons even
+now are gathered at my palace gate? Art still awake? Now what hinders me
+that I should not plunge it to _thy_ heart?"
+
+I heard and feebly pointed to my breast, for I was fain to die. She
+drew herself to the full of her imperial height, and the great knife
+glittered in her hand. Down it came till its edge pricked my flesh.
+
+"Nay," she cried again, and cast it from her, "too well I like thee.
+It were pity to slay such a man! I give thee thy life. Live on, lost
+Pharaoh! Live on, poor fallen Prince, blasted by a woman's wit! Live on,
+Harmachis--to adorn my triumph!"
+
+
+
+Then sight left me; and in my ears I only heard the song of the
+nightingale, the murmur of the sea, and the music of Cleopatra's laugh
+of victory. And as I sank away, the sound of that low laugh still
+followed me into the land of sleep, and still it follows me through life
+to death.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+OF THE AWAKING OF HARMACHIS; OF THE SIGHT OF DEATH; OF THE COMING OF
+CLEOPATRA; AND OF HER COMFORTABLE WORDS
+
+Once more I woke; it was to find myself in my own chamber. I started up.
+Surely, I, too, had dreamed a dream? It could be nothing but a dream?
+It could not be that I woke to know myself a _traitor!_ That the
+opportunity had gone for ever! That I had betrayed the cause, and that
+last night those brave men, headed by my uncle, had waited in vain
+at the outer gate! That Egypt from Abu to Athu was even now
+waiting--waiting in vain! Nay, whatever else might be, this could not
+be! Oh, it was an awful dream which I had dreamed! a second such would
+slay a man. It were better to die than face such another vision sent
+from hell. But, though the thing was naught but a hateful phantasy of a
+mind o'er-strained, where was I now? Where was I now? I should be in the
+Alabaster Hall, waiting till Charmion came forth.
+
+Where was I? and O ye Gods! what was that dreadful thing, whose shape
+was the shape of a man?--that thing draped in bloodstained white and
+huddled in a hideous heap at the foot of the couch on which I seemed to
+lie?
+
+I sprang at it with a shriek, as a lion springs, and struck with all my
+strength. The blow fell heavily, and beneath its weight the thing
+rolled over upon its side. Half mad with terror, I rent away the white
+covering; and there, his knees bound beneath his hanging jaw, was the
+naked body of a man--and that man the Roman Captain Paulus! There he
+lay, through his heart a dagger--my dagger, handled with the sphinx of
+gold!--and pinned by its blade to his broad breast a scroll, and on the
+scroll, writing in the Roman character. I drew near and read, and this
+was the writing:
+
+HARMACHIDI.SALVERE.EGO.SUM.QUEM.SUBDERE.NORAS
+PAULUS.ROMANUS.DISCE.HINC.QUID.PRODERE.PROSIT.
+
+"Greeting, Harmachis! I was that Roman Paulus whom thou didst suborn.
+Learn now how blessed are traitors!"
+
+Sick and faint I staggered back from the sight of that white corpse
+stained with its own blood. Sick and faint I staggered back, till the
+wall stayed me, while without the birds sang a merry greeting to the
+day. So it was no dream, and I was lost! lost!
+
+I thought of my aged father, Amenemhat. Yes, the vision of him flashed
+into my mind, as he would be, when they came to tell him his son's shame
+and the ruin of all his hopes. I thought of that patriot priest, my
+uncle Sepa, waiting the long night through for the signal which never
+came. Ah, and another thought followed swift! How would it go with
+them? I was not the only traitor. I, too, had been betrayed. By whom? By
+yonder Paulus, perchance. If it were Paulus, he knew but little of
+those who conspired with me. But the secret lists had been in my robe. O
+Osiris! they were gone! and the fate of Paulus would be the fate of all
+the patriots in Egypt. And at this thought my mind gave way. I sank and
+swooned even where I stood.
+
+My sense came back to me, and the lengthening shadows told me that it
+was afternoon. I staggered to my feet; the corpse of Paulus was still
+there, keeping its awful watch above me. I ran desperately to the door.
+It was barred, and without I heard the tramp of sentinels. As I stood
+they challenged and grounded their spears. Then the bolts were shot
+back, the door opened, and radiant, clad in royal attire, came the
+conquering Cleopatra. She came alone, and the door was shut behind her.
+I stood like one distraught; but she swept on till she was face to face
+with me.
+
+"Greeting, Harmachis," she said, smiling sweetly. "So, my messenger has
+found thee!" and she pointed to the corpse of Paulus. "Pah! he has an
+ugly look. Ho! guards!"
+
+The door was opened, and two armed Gauls stepped across the threshold.
+
+"Take away this carrion," said Cleopatra, "and fling it to the kites.
+Stay, draw that dagger from his traitor breast." The men bowed low, and
+the knife, rusted red with blood, was dragged from the heart of Paulus
+and laid upon the table. Then they seized him by the head and body and
+staggered thence, and I heard their heavy footfalls as they bore him
+down the stairs.
+
+"Methinks, Harmachis, thou art in an evil case," she said, when the
+sound of the footfalls had died away. "How strangely the wheel of
+Fortune turns! But for that traitor," and she nodded towards the door
+through which the corpse of Paulus had been carried, "I should now be as
+ill a thing to look on as he is, and the red rust on yonder knife would
+have been gathered from _my_ heart."
+
+So it was Paulus who had betrayed me.
+
+"Ay," she went on, "and when thou camest to me last night, I _knew_ that
+thou camest to slay. When, time upon time, thou didst place thy hand
+within thy robe, I knew that it grasped a dagger hilt, and that thou
+wast gathering thy courage to the deed which thou didst little love
+to do. Oh! it was a strange wild hour, well worth the living, and
+I wondered greatly, from moment to moment, which of us twain would
+conquer, as we matched guile with guile and force to force!
+
+"Yea, Harmachis, the guards tramp before thy door, but be not deceived.
+Did I not know that I hold thee to me by bonds more strong than prison
+chains--did I not know that I am hedged from ill at thy hands by a fence
+of honour harder for thee to pass than all the spears of all my legions,
+thou hadst been dead ere now, Harmachis. See, here is thy knife," and
+she handed me the dagger; "now slay me if thou canst," and she drew
+near, tore open the bosom of her robe, and stood waiting with calm eyes.
+
+"Thou canst not slay me," she went on; "for there are things, as I know
+well, that no man--no man such as thou art--may do and live: and this is
+the chief of them--to slay the woman who is all his own. Nay, stay thy
+hand! Turn not that dagger against thy breast, for if thou mayst not
+slay me, by how much more mayst thou not slay thyself, O thou forsworn
+Priest of Isis! Art thou, then, so eager to face that outraged Majesty
+in Amenti? With what eyes, thinkest thou, will the Heavenly Mother look
+upon Her son, who, shamed in all things and false to his most sacred
+vow, comes to greet Her, his life-blood on his hands? Where, then, will
+be the space for thy atonement?--if, indeed, thou mayest atone!"
+
+Then I could bear no more, for my heart was broken. Alas! it was too
+true--I dared not die! I was come to such a pass that I did not even
+dare to die! I flung myself upon the couch and wept--wept tears of blood
+and anguish.
+
+But Cleopatra came to me, and, seating herself beside me, she strove to
+comfort me, throwing her arms about my neck.
+
+"Nay, love, look up," she said; "all is not lost for thee, nor am I
+angered against thee. We did play a mighty game; but, as I warned thee,
+I matched my woman's magic against thine, and I have conquered. But I
+will be open with thee. Both as Queen and woman thou hast my pity--ay,
+and more; nor do I love to see thee plunged in sorrow. It was well
+and right that thou shouldst strive to win back that throne my fathers
+seized, and the ancient liberty of Egypt. Myself as lawful Queen had
+done the same, nor shrunk from the deed of darkness to which I was
+sworn. Therein, then, thou hast my sympathy, that ever goes out to what
+is great and bold. It is well also that thou shouldst grieve over the
+greatness of thy fall. Therein, then, as woman--as loving woman--thou
+hast my sympathy. Nor is all lost. Thy plan was foolish--for, as I hold,
+Egypt could never have stood alone--for though thou hadst won the crown
+and country--as without a doubt thou must have done--yet there was the
+Roman to be reckoned with. And for thy hope learn this: I am little
+known. There is no heart in this wide land that beats with a truer
+love for ancient Khem than does this heart of mine--nay, not thine
+own, Harmachis. Yet I have been heavily shackled heretofore--for wars,
+rebellions, envies, plots, have hemmed me in on every side, so that I
+might not serve my people as I would. But thou, Harmachis, shalt show
+me how. Thou shalt be my counsellor and my love. Is it a little thing,
+Harmachis, to have won the heart of Cleopatra; that heart--fie on
+thee!--that thou wouldst have stilled? Yes, _thou_ shalt unite me to my
+people and we will reign together, thus linking in one the new kingdom
+and the old and the new thought and the old. So do all things work for
+good--ay, for the very best: and thus, by another and a gentler road,
+thou shalt climb to Pharaoh's throne.
+
+"See thou this, Harmachis: thy treachery shall be cloaked about as
+much as may be. Was it, then, thy fault that a Roman knave betrayed thy
+plans? that, thereon, thou wast drugged, thy secret papers stolen and
+their key guessed? Will it, then, be a blame to thee, the great plot
+being broken and those who built it scattered, that thou, still faithful
+to thy trust, didst serve thee of such means as Nature gave thee, and
+win the heart of Egypt's Queen, that, through her gentle love, thou
+mightest yet attain thy ends and spread thy wings of power across the
+land of Nile? Am I an ill-counsellor, thinkest thou, Harmachis?"
+
+I lifted my head, and a ray of hope crept into the darkness of my heart;
+for when men fall they grasp at feathers. Then, I spoke for the first
+time:
+
+"And those with me--those who trusted me--what of them?"
+
+"Ay," she answered, "Amenemhat, thy father, the aged Priest of Abouthis;
+and Sepa, thy uncle, that fiery patriot, whose great heart is hid
+beneath so common a shell of form; and----"
+
+I thought she would have said Charmion, but she named her not.
+
+"And many others--oh, I know them all!"
+
+"Ay!" I said, "what of them?"
+
+"Hear now, Harmachis," she answered, rising and placing her hand upon
+my arm, "for thy sake I will show mercy to them. I will do no more than
+must be done. I swear by my throne and by all the Gods of Egypt that not
+one hair of thy aged father's head shall be harmed by me; and, if it be
+not too late, I will also spare thy uncle Sepa, ay, and the others. I
+will not do as did my forefather, Epiphanes, who, when the Egyptians
+rose against him, dragged Athinis, Pausiras, Chesuphus, and Irobasthus,
+bound to his chariot--not as Achilles dragged Hector, but yet
+living--round the city walls. I will spare them all, save the Hebrews,
+if there be any Hebrews; for the Jews I hate."
+
+"There are no Hebrews," I said.
+
+"It is well," she said, "for no Hebrew will I ever spare. Am I then,
+indeed, so cruel a woman as they say? In thy list, Harmachis, were
+many doomed to die; and I have but taken the life of one Roman knave,
+a double traitor, for he betrayed both me and thee. Art thou not
+overwhelmed, Harmachis, with the weight of mercy which I give thee,
+because--such are a woman's reasons--thou pleasest me, Harmachis? Nay,
+by Serapis!" she added with a little laugh, "I'll change my mind; I will
+not give thee so much for nothing. Thou shalt buy it from me, and the
+price shall be a heavy one--it shall be a kiss, Harmachis."
+
+"Nay," I said, turning from that fair temptress, "the price is too
+heavy; I kiss no more."
+
+"Bethink thee," she answered, with a heavy frown. "Bethink thee and
+choose. I am but a woman, Harmachis, and one who is not wont to sue to
+men. Do as thou wilt; but this I say to thee--if thou dost put me away,
+I will gather up the mercy I have meted out. Therefore, most virtuous
+priest, choose thou between the heavy burden of my love and the swift
+death of thy aged father and of all those who plotted with him."
+
+I glanced at her and saw that she was angered, for her eyes shone and
+her bosom heaved. So, I sighed and kissed her, thereby setting the seal
+upon my shame and bondage. Then, smiling like the triumphant Aphrodit�
+of the Greeks, she went thence, bearing the dagger with her.
+
+I knew not yet how deeply I was betrayed; or why I was still left to
+draw the breath of life; or why Cleopatra, the tiger-hearted, had grown
+merciful. I did not know that she feared to slay me, lest, so strong was
+the plot and so feeble her hold upon the Double Crown, the tumult that
+might tread hard upon the tidings of my murder should shake her from the
+throne--even when I was no more. I did not know that because of fear
+and the weight of policy only she showed scant mercy to those whom I
+had betrayed, or that because of cunning and not for the holy sake of
+woman's love--though, in truth, she liked me well enough--she chose
+rather to bind me to her by the fibres of my heart. And yet I will say
+this in her behalf: even when the danger-cloud had melted from her
+sky she kept faith, nor, save Paulus and one other, did any suffer
+the utmost penalty of death for their part in the great plot against
+Cleopatra's crown and dynasty. But they suffered many other things.
+
+And so she went, leaving the vision of her glory to strive with the
+shame and sorrow in my heart. Oh, bitter were the hours that could not
+now be made light with prayer. For the link between me and the Divine
+was snapped, and Isis communed with Her Priest no more. Bitter were the
+hours and dark, but ever through their darkness shone the starry eyes of
+Cleopatra, and came the echo of her whispered love. For not yet was the
+cup of sorrow full. Hope still lingered in my heart, and I could almost
+think that I had failed to some higher end, and that in the depths of
+ruin I should find another and more flowery path to triumph.
+
+For thus those who sin deceive themselves, striving to lay the burden
+of their evil deeds upon the back of Fate, striving to believe their
+wickedness may compass good, and to murder Conscience with the sharp
+plea of Necessity. But it can avail nothing, for hand in hand down the
+path of sin rush Remorse and Ruin, and woe to him they follow! Ay, and
+woe to me who of all sinners am the chief!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+OF THE IMPRISONMENT OF HARMACHIS; OF THE SCORN OF CHARMION; OF THE
+SETTING FREE OF HARMACHIS; AND OF THE COMING OF QUINTUS DELLIUS
+
+For a space of eleven days I was thus kept prisoned in my chamber; nor
+did I see anyone except the sentries at my doors, the slaves who in
+silence brought me food and drink, and Cleopatra's self, who came
+continually. But, though her words of love were many, she would tell me
+nothing of how things went without. She came in many moods--now gay and
+laughing, now full of wise thoughts and speech, and now passionate only,
+and to every mood she gave some new-found charm. She was full of talk as
+to how I should help her make Egypt great, and lessen the burdens on
+the people, and fright the Roman eagles back. And, though at first I
+listened heavily when she spoke thus, by slow advance as she wrapped
+me closer and yet more close in her magic web, from which there was no
+escape, my mind fell in time with hers. Then I, too, opened something
+of my heart, and somewhat also of the plans that I had formed for Egypt.
+She seemed to listen gladly, weighing them all, and spoke of means
+and methods, telling me how she would purify the Faith and repair the
+ancient temples--ay, and build new ones to the Gods. And ever she crept
+deeper into my heart, till at length, now that every other thing had
+gone from me, I learned to love her with all the unspent passion of my
+aching soul. I had naught left to me but Cleopatra's love, and I twined
+my life about it, and brooded on it as a widow over her only babe. And
+thus the very author of my shame became my all, my dearest dear, and
+I loved her with a strong love that grew and grew, till it seemed to
+swallow up the past and make the present a dream. For she had conquered
+me, she had robbed me of my honour, and steeped me to the lips in shame,
+and I, poor fallen, blinded wretch, I kissed the rod that smote me, and
+was her very slave.
+
+Ay, even now, in those dreams which still come when Sleep unlocks the
+secret heart, and sets its terrors free to roam through the opened halls
+of Thought, I seem to see her royal form, as erst I saw it, come with
+arms outstretched and Love's own light shining in her eyes, with lips
+apart and flowing locks, and stamped upon her face the look of utter
+tenderness that she alone could wear. Ay, still, after all the years, I
+seem to see her come as erst she came, and still I wake to know her an
+unutterable lie!
+
+And thus one day she came. She had fled in haste, she said, from some
+great council summoned concerning the wars of Antony in Syria, and
+she came, as she had left the council, in all her robes of state, the
+sceptre in her hand, and on her brow the ur�us diadem of gold. There she
+sat before me, laughing; for, wearying of them, she had told the envoys
+to whom she gave audience in the council that she was called from their
+presence by a sudden message come from Rome; and the jest seemed merry
+to her. Suddenly she rose, took the diadem from her brow, and set it
+on my hair, and on my shoulders her royal mantle, and in my hand the
+sceptre, and bowed the knee before me. Then, laughing again, she kissed
+me on the lips, and said I was indeed her King. But, remembering how
+I had been crowned in the halls of Abouthis, and remembering also that
+wreath of roses of which the odour haunts me yet, I rose, pale with
+wrath, and cast the trinkets from me, asking how she dared to mock
+me--her caged bird. And I think there was that about me which startled
+her, for she fell back.
+
+"Nay, Harmachis," she said, "be not wroth! How knowest thou that I mock
+thee? How knowest thou that thou shalt not be Pharaoh in fact and deed?"
+
+"What meanest thou?" I said. "Wilt thou, then, wed me before Egypt? How
+else can I be Pharaoh now?"
+
+She cast down her eyes. "Perchance, love, it is in my mind to wed thee,"
+she said gently. "Listen," she went on: "Thou growest pale, here, in
+this prison, and thou dost eat little. Gainsay me not! I know it from
+the slaves. I have kept thee here, Harmachis, for thy own sake, that is
+so dear to me; and for thy own sake, and thy honour's sake, thou must
+still seem to be my prisoner. Else wouldst thou be shamed and slain--ay,
+murdered secretly. But I can meet thee here no more! therefore to-morrow
+I shall free thee in all, save in the name, and thou shalt once more be
+seen at Court as my astronomer. And I will give this reason--that thou
+hast cleared thyself; and, moreover, that thy auguries as regards the
+war have been auguries of truth--as, indeed, they have, though for
+this I have no cause to thank thee, seeing that thou didst suit thy
+prophecies to fit thy cause. Now, farewell; for I must return to those
+heavy-browed ambassadors; and grow not so sudden wroth, Harmachis, for
+who knows what may come to pass betwixt thee and me?"
+
+And, with a little nod, she went, leaving it on my mind that she had it
+in her heart to wed me openly. And of a truth, I believe that, at this
+hour, such was her thought. For, if she loved me not, still she held me
+dear, and as yet she had not wearied of me.
+
+On the morrow Cleopatra came not, but Charmion came--Charmion, whom
+I had not seen since that fatal night of ruin. She entered and stood
+before me, with pale face and downcast eyes, and her first words were
+words of bitterness.
+
+"Pardon me," she said, in her gentle voice, "in that I dare to come to
+thee in Cleopatra's place. Thy joy is not delayed for long, for thou
+shalt see her presently."
+
+I shrank at her words, as well I might, and, seeing her vantage, she
+seized it.
+
+"I come, Harmachis--royal no more!--I come to say that thou art free!
+Thou art free to face thine own infamy, and see it thrown back from
+every eye which trusted thee, as shadows are from water. I come to tell
+thee that the great plot--the plot of twenty years and more--is at its
+utter end. None have been slain, indeed, unless it is Sepa, who has
+vanished. But all the leaders have been seized and put in chains, or
+driven from the land, and their party is broken and scattered. The storm
+has melted before it burst. Egypt is lost, and lost for ever, for her
+last hope is gone! No longer may she struggle--now for all time she
+must bow her neck to the yoke, and bare her back to the rod of the
+oppressor!"
+
+I groaned aloud. "Alas, I was betrayed!" I said. "Paulus betrayed us."
+
+"Thou wast betrayed? Nay, thou thyself wast the betrayer! How came it
+that thou didst not slay Cleopatra when thou wast alone with her? Speak,
+thou forsworn!"
+
+"She drugged me," I said again.
+
+"O Harmachis!" answered the pitiless girl, "how low art thou fallen from
+that Prince whom once I knew!--thou who dost not scorn to be a liar!
+Yea, thou wast drugged--drugged with a love-philtre! Yea, thou didst
+sell Egypt and thy cause for the price of a wanton's kiss! Thou Sorrow
+and thou Shame!" she went on, pointing her finger at me and lifting her
+eyes to my face, "thou Scorn!--thou Outcast!--and thou Contempt! Deny
+it if thou canst. Ay, shrink from me--knowing what thou art, well mayst
+thou shrink! Crawl to Cleopatra's feet, and kiss her sandals till such
+time as it pleases her to trample thee in thy kindred dirt; but from all
+honest folk _shrink!_--_shrink!_"
+
+My soul quivered beneath the lash of her bitter scorn and hate, but I
+had no words to answer.
+
+"How comes it," I said at last in a heavy voice, "that thou, too, art
+not betrayed, but art still here to taunt me, thou who once didst
+swear that thou didst love me? Being a woman, hast thou no pity for the
+frailty of man?"
+
+"My name was not on the lists," she said, dropping her dark eyes. "Here
+is an opportunity: betray me also, Harmachis! Ay, it is because I once
+loved thee--dost thou, indeed, remember it?--that I feel thy fall the
+more. The shame of one whom we have loved must in some sort become our
+shame, and must ever cling to us, because we blindly held a thing so
+base close to our inmost heart. Art thou also, then, a fool? Wouldst
+thou, fresh from thy royal wanton's arms, come to me for comfort--to
+_me_ of all the world?"
+
+"How know I," I said, "that it was not thou who, in thy jealous anger,
+didst betray our plans? Charmion, long ago Sepa warned me against thee,
+and of a truth now that I recall----"
+
+"It is like a traitor," she broke in, reddening to her brow, "to think
+that all are of his family, and hold a common mind! Nay, I betrayed thee
+not; it was that poor knave, Paulus, whose heart failed him at the last,
+and who is rightly served. Nor will I stay to hear thoughts so base.
+Harmachis--royal no more!--Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, bids me say that
+thou art free, and that she waits thee in the Alabaster Hall."
+
+And shooting one swift glance through her long lashes she curtsied and
+was gone.
+
+
+
+So once more I came and went about the Court, though but sparingly, for
+my heart was full of shame and terror, and on every face I feared to see
+the scorn of those who knew me for what I was. But I saw nothing, for
+all those who had knowledge of the plot had fled, and Charmion had
+spoken no word, for her own sake. Also, Cleopatra had put it about that
+I was innocent. But my guilt lay heavy on me, and made me thin and wore
+away the beauty of my countenance. And though I was free in name, yet I
+was ever watched; nor might I stir beyond the palace grounds.
+
+And at length came the day which brought with it Quintus Dellius, that
+false Roman knight who ever served the rising star. He bore letters
+to Cleopatra from Marcus Antonius, the Triumvir, who, fresh from the
+victory of Philippi, was now in Asia wringing gold from the subject
+kings with which to satisfy the greed of his legionaries.
+
+Well I mind me of the day. Cleopatra, clad in her robes of state,
+attended by the officers of her Court, among whom I stood, sat in
+the great hall on her throne of gold, and bade the heralds admit the
+Ambassador of Antony, the Triumvir. The great doors were thrown wide,
+and amidst the blare of trumpets and salutes of the Gallic guards the
+Roman came in, clad in glittering golden armour and a scarlet cloak of
+silk, and followed by his suite of officers. He was smooth-faced and
+fair to look upon, and with a supple form; but his mouth was cold, and
+false were his shifting eyes. And while the heralds called out his name,
+titles, and offices, he fixed his gaze on Cleopatra--who sat idly on her
+throne all radiant with beauty--as a man who is amazed. Then when
+the heralds had made an end, and he still stood thus, not stirring,
+Cleopatra spoke in the Latin tongue:
+
+"Greeting to thee, noble Dellius, envoy of the most mighty Antony, whose
+shadow lies across the world as though Mars himself now towered up above
+us petty Princes--greeting and welcome to our poor city of Alexandria.
+Unfold, we pray thee, the purpose of thy coming."
+
+Still the crafty Dellius made no answer, but stood as a man amazed.
+
+"What ails thee, noble Dellius, that thou dost not speak?" asked
+Cleopatra. "Hast thou, then, wandered so long in Asia that the doors of
+Roman speech are shut to thee? What tongue hast thou? Name it, and We
+will speak in it--for all tongues are known to Us."
+
+Then at last he spoke in a soft full voice: "Oh, pardon me, most lovely
+Egypt, if I have thus been stricken dumb before thee: but too great
+beauty, like Death himself, doth paralyse the tongue and steal our sense
+away. The eyes of him who looks upon the fires of the mid-day sun are
+blind to all beside, and thus this sudden vision of thy glory, royal
+Egypt, overwhelmed my mind, and left me helpless and unwitting of all
+things else."
+
+"Of a truth, noble Dellius," answered Cleopatra, "they teach a pretty
+school of flattery yonder in Cilicia."
+
+"How goes the saying here in Alexandria?" replied the courtly Roman:
+"'The breath of flattery cannot waft a cloud,'[*] does it not? But to
+my task. Here, royal Egypt, are letters under the hand and seal of
+the noble Antony treating of certain matters of the State. Is it thy
+pleasure that I should read them openly?"
+
+     [*] In other words, what is Divine is beyond the reach of
+     human praise.--Editor.
+
+"Break the seals and read," she answered.
+
+Then bowing, he broke the seals and read:
+
+"The _Triumviri Reipublic� Constituend�_, by the mouth of Marcus
+Antonius, the Triumvir, to Cleopatra, by grace of the Roman People Queen
+of Upper and Lower Egypt, send greeting. Whereas it has come to our
+knowledge that thou, Cleopatra, hast, contrary to thy promise and thy
+duty, both by thy servant Allienus and by thy servant Serapion, the
+Governor of Cyprus, aided the rebel murderer Cassius against the arms
+of the most noble Triumvirate. And, whereas it has come to our knowledge
+that thou thyself wast but lately making ready a great fleet to this
+end. We summon thee that thou dost without delay journey to Cilicia,
+there to meet the noble Antony, and in person make answer concerning
+these charges which are laid against thee. And we warn thee that if thou
+dost disobey this our summons it is at thy peril. Farewell."
+
+The eyes of Cleopatra flashed as she hearkened to these high words, and
+I saw her hands tighten on the golden lions' heads whereon they rested.
+
+"We have had the flattery," she said; "and now, lest we be cloyed with
+sweets, we have its antidote! Listen thou, Dellius: the charges in that
+letter, or, rather, in that writ of summons, are false, as all folk can
+bear us witness. But it is not now, and it is not to thee, that We
+will make defence of our acts of war and policy. Nor will We leave our
+kingdom to journey into far Cilicia, and there, like some poor suppliant
+at law, plead our cause before the Court of the Noble Antony. If Antony
+would have speech with us, and inquire concerning these high matters,
+the sea is open, and his welcome shall be royal. Let him come thither!
+That is our answer to thee and to the Triumvirate, O Dellius!"
+
+But Dellius smiled as one who would put away the weight of wrath, and
+once more spoke:
+
+"Royal Egypt, thou knowest not the noble Antony. He is stern on paper,
+and ever he sets down his thoughts as though his stylus were a spear
+dipped in the blood of men. But face to face with him, thou, of all the
+world, shalt find him the gentlest warrior that ever won a battle. Be
+advised, O Egypt! and come. Send me not hence with such angry words, for
+if thou dost draw Antony to Alexandria, then woe to Alexandria, to the
+people of the Nile, and to thee, great Egypt! For then he will come
+armed and breathing war, and it shall go hard with thee, who dost defy
+the gathered might of Rome. I pray thee, then, obey this summons.
+Come to Cilicia; come with peaceful gifts and not in arms. Come in thy
+beauty, and tricked in thy best attire, and thou hast naught to fear
+from the noble Antony." He paused and looked at her meaningly; while I,
+taking his drift, felt the angry blood surge into my face.
+
+Cleopatra, too, understood, for I saw her rest her chin upon her hand
+and the cloud of thought gathered in her eyes. For a time she sat thus,
+while the crafty Dellius watched her curiously. And Charmion, standing
+with the other ladies by the throne, she also read his meaning, for
+her face lit up, as a summer cloud lights in the evening when the broad
+lightning flares behind it. Then once more it grew pale and quiet.
+
+At length Cleopatra spoke. "This is a heavy matter," she said, "and
+therefore, noble Dellius, we must have time to let our judgment ripen.
+Rest thou here, and make thee as merry as our poor circumstances allow.
+Thou shalt have thy answer within ten days."
+
+The envoy thought awhile, then replied smiling: "It is well, O Egypt; on
+the tenth day from now I will attend for my answer, and on the eleventh
+I sail hence to join Antony my Lord."
+
+Once more, at a sign from Cleopatra, the trumpets blared, and he
+withdrew bowing.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+OF THE TROUBLE OF CLEOPATRA; OF HER OATH TO HARMACHIS; AND OF THE
+TELLING BY HARMACHIS TO CLEOPATRA OF THE SECRET OF THE TREASURE THAT LAY
+BENEATH THE MASS OF "HER"
+
+That same night Cleopatra summoned me to her private chamber. I went,
+and found her much troubled in mind; never before had I seen her so
+deeply moved. She was alone, and, like some trapped lioness, walked to
+and fro across the marble floor, while thought chased thought across her
+mind, each, as clouds scudding over the sea, for a moment casting its
+shadow in her deep eyes.
+
+"So thou art come, Harmachis," she said, resting for a while, as she
+took my hand. "Counsel me, for never did I need counsel more. Oh, what
+days have the Gods measured out to me--days restless as the ocean! I
+have known no peace from childhood up, and it seems none shall I know.
+Scarce by a very little have I escaped thy dagger's point, Harmachis,
+when this new trouble, that, like a storm, has gathered beneath the
+horizon's rim, suddenly bursts over me. Didst mark that tigerish fop?
+Well should I love to trap him! How soft he spoke! Ay, he purred like
+a cat, and all the time he stretched his claws. Didst hear the letter,
+too? it has an ugly sound. I know this Antony. When I was but a child,
+budding into womanhood, I saw him; but my eyes were ever quick, and I
+took his measure. Half Hercules and half a fool, with a dash of genius
+veining his folly through. Easily led by those who enter at the gates of
+his voluptuous sense; but if crossed, an iron foe. True to his friends,
+if, indeed, he loves them; and ofttimes false to his own interest.
+Generous, hardy, and in adversity a man of virtue; in prosperity a sot
+and a slave to woman. That is Antony. How deal with such a man,
+whom fate and opportunity, despite himself, have set on the crest of
+fortune's wave? One day it will overwhelm him; but till that day he
+sweeps across the world and laughs at those who drown."
+
+"Antony is but a man," I answered, "and a man with many foes; and, being
+but a man, he can be overthrown."
+
+"Ay, he can be overthrown; but he is one of three, Harmachis. Now that
+Cassius hath gone where all fools go, Rome has thrown out a hydra head.
+Crush one, and another hisses in thy face. There's Lepidus, and with
+him, that young Octavianus, whose cold eyes may yet with a smile of
+triumph look on the murdered forms of empty, worthless Lepidus, of
+Antony, and of Cleopatra. If I go not to Cilicia, mark thou! Antony will
+knit up a peace with these Parthians, and, taking the tales they tell
+of me for truth--and, indeed, there is truth in them--will fall with all
+his force on Egypt. And how then?"
+
+"How then? Why, then we'll drum him back to Rome."
+
+"Ah, thou sayest so, and, perchance, Harmachis, had I not won that game
+we played together some twelve days gone, thou, being Pharaoh, mightest
+well have done this thing, for round thy throne old Egypt would have
+gathered. But Egypt loves not me nor my Greek blood; and I have but now
+scattered that great plot of thine, in which half the land was meshed.
+Will these men, then, arise to succour me? Were Egypt true to me, I
+could, indeed, hold my own against all the force that Rome may bring;
+but Egypt hates me, and had as lief be ruled by the Roman as the Greek.
+Still I might make defence had I the gold, for with money soldiers
+can be bought to feed the maw of mercenary battle. But I have none; my
+treasuries are dry, and though there is wealth in the land, yet debts
+perplex me. These wars have brought me ruin, and I know not how to
+find a talent. Perchance, Harmachis, thou who art, by hereditary right,
+Priest of the Pyramids," and she drew near and looked me in the eyes,
+"perchance, if long descended rumour does not lie, thou canst tell me
+where I can touch the gold to save thy land from ruin, and thy Love from
+the grasp of Antony? Say, is it so?"
+
+I thought a while, and then I answered:
+
+"And if such a tale were true, and if I could show thee treasure stored
+by the mighty Pharaohs of the most far-off age against the needs of
+Khem, how can I know that thou wouldst indeed make use of that wealth to
+those good ends?"
+
+"Is there, then, a treasure?" she asked curiously. "Nay, fret me not,
+Harmachis; for of a truth the very name of gold at this time of want is
+like the sight of water in the desert."
+
+"I believe," I said, "that there is such a treasure, though I myself
+have never seen it. But I know this, that if it still lie in the place
+where it was set, it is because so heavy a curse will rest upon him who
+shall lay hands on it wickedly and for selfish ends, that none of those
+Pharaohs to whom it has been shown have dared to touch it, however sore
+their need."
+
+"So," she said, "they were cowardly aforetime, or else their need was
+not great. Wilt thou show me this treasure, then, Harmachis?"
+
+"Perhaps," I answered, "I will show it to thee if it still be there,
+when thou hast sworn that thou wilt use it to defend Egypt from this
+Roman Antony and for the welfare of her people."
+
+"I swear it!" she said earnestly. "Oh, I swear by every God in Khem
+that if thou showest me this great treasure, I will defy Antony and send
+Dellius back to Cilicia with sharper words than those he brought. Yes,
+I'll do more, Harmachis: so soon as may be, I will take thee to husband
+before all the world, and thou thyself shalt carry out thy plans and
+beat off the Roman eagles."
+
+Thus she spoke, gazing at me with truthful, earnest eyes. I believed
+her, and for the first time since my fall was for a moment happy,
+thinking that all was not lost to me, and that with Cleopatra, whom I
+loved thus madly, I might yet win my place and power back.
+
+"Swear it, Cleopatra!" I said.
+
+"I swear, beloved! and thus I seal my oath!" and she kissed me on the
+forehead. And I, too, kissed her; and we talked of what we would do when
+we were wed, and how we should overcome the Roman.
+
+And thus I was again beguiled; though I believe that, had it not been
+for the jealous anger of Charmion--which, as shall be seen, was ever
+urging her forward to fresh deeds of shame--Cleopatra would have wedded
+me and broken with the Roman. And, indeed, in the issue, it had been
+better for her and Egypt.
+
+We sat far into the night, and I revealed to her somewhat of that
+ancient secret of the mighty treasure hid beneath the mass of _Her_.
+Thither, it was agreed, we should go on the morrow, and the second
+night from now attempt its search. So, early on the next day, a boat
+was secretly made ready, and Cleopatra entered it, veiled as an Egyptian
+lady about to make a pilgrimage to the Temple of Horemkhu. And I also
+entered, cloaked as a pilgrim, and with us ten of her most trusted
+servants disguised as sailors. But Charmion went not with us. We sailed
+with a fair wind from the Canopic mouth of the Nile; and that night,
+pushing on with the moon, we reached Sais at midnight, and here rested
+for a while. At dawn we once more loosed our craft, and all that day
+sailed swiftly, till, at last, at the third hour from the sunset, we
+came in sight of the lights of that fortress which is called Babylon.
+Here, on the opposite bank of the river, we moored our ship safely in a
+bed of reeds.
+
+Then, on foot and secretly, we set out for the pyramids, which were at
+a distance of two leagues, Cleopatra, I and one trusted eunuch, for
+we left the other servants with the boat. Only I caught an ass for
+Cleopatra to ride that was wandering in a tilled field, and threw a
+cloak upon it. She sat on it and I led the ass by paths I knew, the
+eunuch following us on foot. And, within little more than an hour,
+having gained the great causeway, we saw the mighty pyramids towering up
+through the moonlit air and aweing us to silence. We passed on in utter
+silence, through the haunted city of the dead, for all around us stood
+the solemn tombs, till at length we climbed the rocky hill, and stood in
+the deep shadow of Khufu Khut, the splendid Throne of Khufu.
+
+"Of a truth," whispered Cleopatra, as she gazed up the dazzling
+marble slope above her, everywhere blazoned over with a million mystic
+characters--"of a truth, there were Gods ruling in Khem in those days,
+and not men. This place is sad as Death--ay, and as mighty and far from
+man. Is it here that we must enter?"
+
+"Nay," I answered, "it is not here. Pass on."
+
+I led the way through a thousand ancient tombs, till we stood in the
+shadow of Ur the Great, and gazed at his red heaven-piercing mass.
+
+"Is it here that we must enter?" she whispered once again.
+
+"Nay," I answered, "it is not here. Pass on."
+
+We passed on through many more tombs, till we stood in the shadow of
+_Her_,[*] and Cleopatra gazed astonished at its polished beauty, which
+for thousands of years, night by night, had mirrored back the moon, and
+at the black girdle of Ethiopian stone that circled its base about. For
+this is the most beautiful of all pyramids.
+
+     [*] The "Upper," now known as the Third Pyramid.--Editor.
+
+"Is it here that we must enter?" she said.
+
+I answered, "It is here."
+
+We passed round between the Temple of the Worship of his Divine Majesty,
+Menkau-ra, the Osirian, and in the base of the pyramid till we came
+to the north side. Here in the centre is graved the name of Pharaoh
+Menkau-ra, who built the pyramid to be his tomb, and stored his treasure
+in it against the need of Khem.
+
+"If the treasure still remains," I said to Cleopatra, "as it remained in
+the days of my great-great-grandfather, who was Priest of this
+Pyramid before me, it is hid deep in the womb of the mass before thee,
+Cleopatra; nor can it be come by without toil, danger, and terror of
+mind. Art thou prepared to enter--for thou thyself must enter and must
+judge?"
+
+"Canst thou not go in with the eunuch, Harmachis, and bring the treasure
+forth?" she said, for a little her courage began to fail her.
+
+"Nay, Cleopatra," I answered, "not even for thee and for the weal of
+Egypt can I do this thing, for of all sins it would be the greatest
+sin. But it is lawful for me to do this. I, as hereditary holder of the
+secret, may, upon demand, show to the ruling monarch of Khem the place
+where the treasure lies, and show also the warning that is written. And
+if on seeing and reading, the Pharaoh deems that the need of Khem is so
+sore and strait that it is lawful for him to brave the curse of the Dead
+and draw forth the treasure, it is well, for on his head must rest the
+weight of this dread deed. Three monarchs--so say the records that I
+have read--have thus dared to enter in the time of need. They were the
+Divine Queen Hatshepsu, that wonder known to the Gods alone; her Divine
+brother Tahutimes Men-Kheper-ra; and the Divine Rameses Mi-amen. But of
+these three Majesties, not one when they saw dared to touch; for, though
+sharp their need, it was not great enough to consecrate the act.
+So, fearing lest the curse should fall upon them, they went hence
+sorrowing."
+
+She thought a little, till at last her spirit overcame her fear.
+
+"At the least I will see with mine own eyes," she said.
+
+"It is well," I answered. Then, stones having been piled up by me and
+the eunuch who was with us on a certain spot at the base of the pyramid,
+to somewhat more than the height of a man, I climbed on them and
+searched for the secret mark, no larger than a leaf. I found it with
+some trouble, for the weather and the rubbing of the wind-stirred sand
+had worn even the Ethiopian stone. Having found it, I pressed on it with
+all my strength in a certain fashion. Even after the lapse of many years
+the stone swung round, showing a little opening, through which a man
+might scarcely creep. As it swung, a mighty bat, white in colour as
+though with unreckoned age, and such as I had never seen before for
+bigness, for his measure was the measure of a hawk, flew forth and for a
+moment hovered over Cleopatra, then sailed slowly up and up in circles,
+till at last he was lost in the bright light of the moon.
+
+But Cleopatra uttered a cry of terror, and the eunuch, who was watching,
+fell down in fear, believing it to be the guardian Spirit of the
+pyramid. And I, too, feared, though I said nothing. For even now I
+believe that it was the Spirit of Menkau-ra, the Osirian, who, taking
+the form of a bat, flew forth from his holy House in warning.
+
+I waited a while, till the foul air should clear from the passage. Then
+I drew out the lamps, kindled them, and passed them, to the number
+of three, into the entrance of the passage. This done, I went to the
+eunuch, and, taking him aside, I swore him by the living spirit of Him
+who sleeps at Abouthis that he should not reveal those things which he
+was about to see.
+
+This he swore, trembling sorely, for he was very much afraid. Nor,
+indeed, did he reveal them.
+
+This done, I clambered through the opening, taking with me a coil of
+rope, which I wound around my middle, and beckoned to Cleopatra to come.
+Making fast the skirt of her robe, she came, and I drew her through the
+opening, so that at length she stood behind me in the passage which
+is lined with slabs of granite. After her came the eunuch, and he also
+stood in the passage. Then, having taken counsel of the plan of the
+passage that I had brought with me, and which, in signs that none but
+the initiated can read, was copied from those ancient writings that had
+come down to me through one-and-forty generations of my predecessors,
+the Priests of this Pyramid of _Her_, and of the worship of the Temple
+of the Divine Menkau-ra, the Osirian, I led the way through that
+darksome place towards the utter silence of the tomb. Guided by the
+feeble light of our lamps, we passed down the steep incline, gasping in
+the heat and the thick, stagnated air. Presently we had left the region
+of the masonry and were slipping down a gallery hewn in the living rock.
+For twenty paces or more it ran steeply. Then its slope lessened and
+shortly we found ourselves in a chamber painted white, so low that I,
+being tall, had scarcely room to stand; but in length four paces, and
+in breadth three, and cased throughout with sculptured panels. Here
+Cleopatra sank upon the floor and rested awhile, overcome by the heat
+and the utter darkness.
+
+"Rise!" I said. "We must not linger here, or we faint."
+
+So she rose, and passing hand in hand through that chamber, we found
+ourselves face to face with a mighty door of granite, let down from the
+roof in grooves. Once more I took counsel of the plan, pressed with my
+foot upon a certain stone, and waited. Then, suddenly and softly, I know
+not by what means, the mass heaved itself from its bed of living rock.
+We passed beneath, and found ourselves face to face with a second door
+of granite. Again I pressed on a certain spot, and this door swung wide
+of itself, and we went through, to find ourselves face to face with a
+third door, yet more mighty than the two through which we had won our
+way. Following the secret plan, I struck this door with my foot upon a
+certain spot, and it sank slowly as though at a word of magic till its
+head was level with the floor of rock. We crossed and gained another
+passage which, descending gently for a length of fourteen paces, led
+us into a great chamber, paved with black marble, more than nine cubits
+high, by nine cubits broad, and thirty cubits long. In this marble floor
+was sunk a great sarcophagus of granite, and on its lid were graved the
+name and titles of the Queen of Menkau-ra. In this chamber, too, the air
+was purer, though I know not by what means it came thither.
+
+"Is the treasure here?" gasped Cleopatra.
+
+"Nay," I answered; "follow me," and I led the way to a gallery, which
+we entered through an opening in the floor of the great chamber. It had
+been closed by a trap-door of stone, but the door was open. Creeping
+along this shaft, or passage, for some ten paces, we came at length to a
+well, seven cubits in depth. Making fast one end of the rope that I
+had brought about my body and the other to a ring in the rock, I
+was lowered, holding the lamp in my hand, till I stood in the last
+resting-place of the Divine Menkau-ra. Then the rope was drawn up, and
+Cleopatra, being made fast to it, was let down by the eunuch, and I
+received her in my arms. But I bade the eunuch, sorely against his will,
+since he feared to be left alone, await our return at the mouth of the
+shaft. For it was not lawful that he should enter whither we went.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+OF THE TOMB OF THE DIVINE MENKAU-RA; OF THE WRITING ON THE BREAST OF
+MENKAU-RA; OF THE DRAWING FORTH OF THE TREASURE; OF THE DWELLER IN THE
+TOMB; AND OF THE FLIGHT OF CLEOPATRA AND HARMACHIS FROM THE HOLY PLACE
+
+We stood within a small arched chamber, paved and lined with great
+blocks of the granite stone of Syene. There before us--hewn from a
+single mass of basalt shaped like a wooden house and resting on a sphinx
+with a face of gold--was the sarcophagus of the Divine Menkau-ra.
+
+We stood and gazed in awe, for the weight of the silence and the
+solemnity of that holy place seemed to crush us. Above us, cubit over
+cubit in its mighty measure, the pyramid towered up to heaven and was
+kissed of the night air. But we were deep in the bowels of the rock
+beneath its base. We were alone with the dead, whose rest we were about
+to break; and no sound of the murmuring air, and no sight of life came
+to dull the awful edge of solitude. I gazed on the sarcophagus; its
+heavy lid had been lifted and rested at its side, and around it the dust
+of ages had gathered thick.
+
+"See," I whispered, pointing to a writing, daubed with pigment upon the
+wall in the sacred symbols of ancient times.
+
+"Read it, Harmachis," answered Cleopatra, in the same low voice; "for I
+cannot."
+
+Then I read: "I, Rameses Mi-amen, in my day and in my hour of need,
+visited this sepulchre. But, though great my need and bold my heart,
+I dared not face the curse of Menkau-ra. Judge, O thou who shalt come
+after me, and, if thy soul is pure and Khem be utterly distressed, take
+thou that which I have left."
+
+"Where, then, is the treasure?" she whispered. "Is that Sphinx-face of
+gold?"
+
+"Even there," I answered, pointing to the sarcophagus. "Draw near and
+see."
+
+And she took my hand and drew near.
+
+The cover was off, but the painted coffin of the Pharaoh lay in the
+depths of the sarcophagus. We climbed the Sphinx, then I blew the dust
+from the coffin with my breath and read that which was written on its
+lid. And this was written:
+
+"Pharaoh Menkau-ra, the Child of Heaven.
+
+"Pharaoh Menkau-ra, Royal Son of the Sun.
+
+"Pharaoh Menkau-ra, who didst lie beneath the heart of Nout.
+
+"Nout, thy Mother, wraps thee in the spell of Her holy name.
+
+"The name of thy Mother, Nout, is the mystery of Heaven.
+
+"Nout, thy Mother, gathers thee to the number of the Gods.
+
+"Nout, thy Mother, breathes on thy foes and utterly destroys them.
+
+"O Pharaoh Menkau-ra, who livest for ever!"
+
+"Where, then, is the treasure?" she asked again. "Here, indeed, is the
+body of the Divine Menkau-ra; but the flesh even of Pharaohs is not
+gold, and if the face of this Sphinx be gold how may we move it?"
+
+For answer I bade her stand upon the Sphinx and grasp the upper part of
+the coffin while I grasped its foot. Then, at my word, we lifted, and
+the lid of the case, which was not fixed, came away, and we set it upon
+the floor. And there in the case was the mummy of Pharaoh, as it
+had been laid three thousand years before. It was a large mummy, and
+somewhat ungainly. Nor was it adorned with a gilded mask, as is the
+fashion of our day, for the head was wrapped in clothes yellow with age,
+which were made fast with pink flaxen bandages, under which were pushed
+the stems of lotus-blooms. And on the breast, wreathed round with
+lotus-flowers, lay a large plate of gold closely written over with
+sacred writing. I lifted up the plate, and, holding it to the light, I
+read:
+
+"I, Menkau-ra, the Osirian, aforetime Pharaoh of the Land of Khem, who
+in my day did live justly and ever walked in the path marked for my feet
+by the decree of the Invisible, who was the beginning and is the end,
+speak from my tomb to those who after me shall for an hour sit upon my
+Throne. Behold, I, Menkau-ra, the Osirian, having in the days of my life
+been warned of a dream that a time will come when Khem shall fear to
+fall into the hands of strangers, and her monarch shall have great need
+of treasure wherewith to furnish armies to drive the barbarian back,
+have out of my wisdom done this thing. For it having pleased the
+protecting Gods to give me wealth beyond any Pharaoh who has been since
+the days of Horus--thousands of cattle and geese, thousands of calves
+and asses, thousands of measures of corn, and hundreds of measures of
+gold and gems; this wealth I have used sparingly, and that which
+remains I have bartered for precious stones--even for emeralds, the most
+beautiful and largest that are in the world. These stones, then, I have
+stored up against that day of the need of Khem. But because as there
+have been, so there shall be, those who do wickedly on the earth, and
+who, in the lust of gain, might seize this wealth that I have stored,
+and put it to their uses; behold, thou Unborn One, who in the fulness
+of time shalt stand above me and read this that I have caused to
+be written, I have stored the treasure thus--even among my bones.
+Therefore, O thou Unborn One, sleeping in the womb of Nout, I say this
+to thee! If thou indeed hast need of riches to save Khem from the foes
+of Khem, fear not and delay not, but tear me, the Osirian, from my tomb,
+loose my wrappings and rip the treasure from my breast, and all shall
+be well with thee; for this only I do command, that thou dost replace my
+bones within my hollow coffin. But if the need be passing and not great,
+or if there be guile in thy heart, then the curse of Menkau-ra be on
+thee! On thee be the curse that shall smite him who breaks in upon the
+dead! On thee be the curse that follows the traitor! On thee be the
+curse that smites him who outrages the Majesty of the Gods! Unhappy
+shalt thou live, in blood and misery shalt thou die, and in misery
+shalt thou be tormented for ever and for ever! For, Wicked One, there in
+Amenti we shall come face to face!
+
+"And to the end of the keeping of this secret, I, Menkau-ra, have set up
+a Temple of my Worship, which I have built upon the eastern side of
+this my House of Death. It shall be made known from time to time to the
+Hereditary High Priest of this my Temple. And if any High Priest that
+shall be do reveal this secret to another than the Pharaoh, or Her
+who wears the Pharaoh's crown and is seated upon the throne of Khem,
+accursed be he also. Thus have I, Menkau-ra, the Osirian, written. Now
+to thee, who, sleeping in the womb of Nout, yet shall upon a time stand
+over me and read, I say, judge thou! and if thou judgest evilly, on thee
+shall fall this the curse of Menkau-ra from which there is no escape.
+Greeting and farewell."
+
+"Thou hast heard, O Cleopatra," I said solemnly; "now search thy heart;
+judge thou, and for thine own sake judge justly."
+
+She bent her head in thought.
+
+"I fear to do this thing," she said presently. "Let us hence."
+
+"It is well," I said, with a lightening of the heart, and bent down to
+lift the wooden lid. For I, too, feared.
+
+"And yet, what said the writing of the Divine Menkau-ra?--it was
+emeralds, was it not? And emeralds are now so rare and hard to come by.
+Ever did I love emeralds, and I can never find them without a flaw."
+
+"It is not a matter of what thou dost love, Cleopatra," I said; "it is a
+matter of the need of Khem and of the secret meaning of thy heart, which
+thou alone canst know."
+
+"Ay, surely, Harmachis; surely! And is not the need of Egypt great?
+There is no gold in the treasury, and how can I defy the Roman if I have
+no gold? And have I not sworn to thee that I will wed thee and defy the
+Roman; and do I not swear it again--yes, even in this solemn hour, with
+my hand upon dead Pharaoh's heart? Why, here is that occasion of which
+the Divine Menkau-ra dreamed. Thou seest it is so, for else Hat-shepsu
+or Rameses or some other Pharaoh had drawn forth the gems. But no; they
+left them to come to this hour because the time was not yet come. Now it
+must be come, for if I take not the gems the Roman will surely seize on
+Egypt, and then there will be no Pharaoh to whom the secret may be
+told. Nay, let us away with fears and to the work. Why dost look so
+frightened? Having pure hearts, there is naught to fear, Harmachis."
+
+"Even as thou wilt," I said again; "it is for thee to judge, since if
+thou judgest falsely on thee will surely fall the curse from which there
+is no escape."
+
+"So, Harmachis, take Pharaoh's head and I will take his----Oh, what an
+awful place is this!" and suddenly she clung to me. "Methought I saw
+a shadow yonder in the darkness! Methought that it moved toward us and
+then straightway vanished! Let us be going! Didst thou see naught?"
+
+"I saw nothing, Cleopatra; but mayhap it was the Spirit of the Divine
+Menkau-ra, for the spirit ever hovers round its mortal tenement. Let us,
+then, be going; I shall be right glad to go."
+
+She made as though to start, then turned back again and spoke once more.
+
+"It was naught--naught but the mind that, in such a house of Horror,
+bodies forth those shadowy forms of fear it dreads to see. Nay, I must
+look upon these emeralds; indeed, if I die, I must look! Come--to the
+work!" and stooping, she with her own hands lifted from the tomb one
+of the four alabaster jars, each sealed with the graven likeness of the
+heads of the protecting Gods, that held the holy heart and entrails of
+the Divine Menkau-ra. But nothing was found in these jars, save only
+what should be there.
+
+Then together we mounted on the Sphinx, and with toil drew forth the
+body of the Divine Pharaoh, laying it on the ground. Now Cleopatra took
+my dagger, and with it cut loose the bandages which held the wrappings
+in their place, and the lotus-flowers that had been set in them by
+loving hands, three thousand years before, fell down upon the pavement.
+Then we searched and found the end of the outer bandage, which was fixed
+in at the hinder part of the neck. This we cut loose, for it was glued
+fast. This done, we began to unroll the wrappings of the holy corpse.
+Setting my shoulders against the sarcophagus, I sat upon the rocky
+floor, the body resting on my knees, and, as I turned it, Cleopatra
+unwound the cloths; and awesome was the task. Presently something fell
+out; it was the sceptre of the Pharaoh, fashioned of gold, and at its
+end was a pomegranate cut from a single emerald.
+
+Cleopatra seized the sceptre and gazed on it in silence. Then once
+more we went on with our dread business. And ever as we unwound, other
+ornaments of gold, such as are buried with Pharaohs, fell from the
+wrappings--collars and bracelets, models of sistra, an inlaid axe, and
+an image of the holy Osiris and of the holy Khem. At length all the
+bandages were unwound, and beneath we found a covering of coarsest
+linen; for in those very ancient days the craftsmen were not so skilled
+in matters pertaining to the embalming of the body as they are now. And
+on the linen was written in an oval, "Menkau-ra, Royal Son of the Sun."
+We could in no wise loosen this linen, it held so firm on to the body.
+Therefore, faint with the great heat, choked with mummy dust and the
+odour of spices, and trembling with fear of our unholy task, wrought
+in that most lonesome and holy place, we laid the body down, and ripped
+away the last covering with the knife. First we cleared Pharaoh's head,
+and now the face that no man had gazed on for three thousand years was
+open to our view. It was a great face, with a bold brow, yet crowned
+with the royal ur�us, beneath which the white locks, stained yellow by
+the spices, fell in long, straight wisps. Not the cold stamp of death,
+and not the slow flight of three thousand years, had found power to mar
+the dignity of those shrunken features. We gazed on them, and then, made
+bold with fear, stripped the covering from the body. There at last it
+lay before us, stiff, yellow, and dread to see; and on the left side,
+above the thigh, was the cut through which the embalmers had done their
+work, but it was sewn up so deftly that we could scarcely find the mark.
+
+"The gems are within," I whispered, for I felt that the body was very
+heavy. "Now, if thy heart fail thee not, thou must make an entry to
+this poor house of clay that once was Pharaoh," and I gave her the
+dagger--the same dagger which had drunk the life of Paulus.
+
+"It is too late to doubt," she answered, lifting her white beauteous
+face and fixing her blue eyes all big with terror upon my own. She took
+the dagger, and with set teeth the Queen of this day plunged it into the
+dead breast of the Pharaoh of three thousand years ago. And even as she
+did so there came a groaning sound from the opening to the shaft where
+we had left the eunuch! We leapt to our feet, but heard no more, and the
+lamp-light still streamed down through the opening.
+
+"It is nothing," I said. "Let us make an end."
+
+Then with much toil we hacked and rent the hard flesh open, and as we
+did so I heard the knife point grate upon the gems within.
+
+Cleopatra plunged her hand into the dead breast and drew forth somewhat.
+She held it to the light, and gave a little cry, for from the darkness
+of Pharaoh's heart there flashed into light and life the most beauteous
+emerald that ever man beheld. It was perfect in colour, very large,
+without a flaw, and fashioned to a scarab�us form, and on the under side
+was an oval, inscribed with the divine name of Menkau-ra, Son of the
+Sun.
+
+Again, again, and yet again, she plunged in her hand and drew emeralds
+from Pharaoh's breast bedded there in spices. Some were fashioned and
+some were not; but all were perfect in colour without a flaw, and in
+value priceless. Again and again she plunged her white hand into that
+dread breast, till at length all were found, and there were one hundred
+and forty and eight of such gems as are not known in the world. The last
+time that she searched she brought forth not emeralds, indeed, but two
+great pearls, wrapped in linen, such as never have been seen. And of
+these pearls more hereafter.
+
+So it was done, and all the mighty treasure lay glittering in a heap
+before us. There it lay, and there, too, lay the regalia of gold, the
+spiced and sickly-scented wrappings, and the torn body of white-haired
+Pharaoh Menkau-ra, the Osirian, the ever living in Amenti.
+
+We rose, and a great awe fell upon us, now that the deed was done and
+our hearts were no more upborne by the rage of search--so great an awe,
+indeed, that we could not speak. I made a sign to Cleopatra. She grasped
+the head of Pharaoh and I grasped his feet, and together we lifted him,
+climbed the Sphinx, and placed him once more within his coffin. I piled
+the torn mummy cloths over him and on them laid the lid of the coffin.
+
+And now we gathered up the great gems, and such of the ornaments as
+might be carried with ease, and I hid them as many as I could, in the
+folds of my robe. Those that were left Cleopatra hid upon her breast.
+Heavily laden with the priceless treasure, we gave one last look at
+the solemn place, at the sarcophagus and the Sphinx on which it rested,
+whose gleaming face of calm seemed to mock us with its everlasting smile
+of wisdom. Then we turned and went from the tomb.
+
+At the shaft we halted. I called to the eunuch, who stayed above, and
+methought a faint mocking laugh answered me. Too smitten with terror to
+call again, and fearing that, should we delay, Cleopatra would certainly
+swoon, I seized the rope, and being strong and quick mounted by it and
+gained the passage. There burnt the lamp: but the eunuch I saw not.
+Thinking, surely, that he was a little way down the passage, and
+slept--as, in truth, he did--I bade Cleopatra make the rope fast about
+her middle, and with much labour, drew her up. Then, having rested
+awhile, we moved with the lamps to seek for the eunuch.
+
+"He was stricken with terror and has fled, leaving the lamp," said
+Cleopatra. "O ye Gods! who is _that_ seated there?"
+
+I peered into the darkness, thrusting out the lamps, and this was what
+their light fell on--this at the very dream of which my soul sickens!
+There, facing us, his back resting against the rock, and his hands
+splayed on either side upon the floor, sat the eunuch--_dead!_ His eyes
+and mouth were open, his fat cheeks dropped down, his thin hair yet
+seemed to bristle, and on his countenance was frozen such a stamp of
+hideous terror as well might turn the beholder's brain. And lo! fixed
+to his chin, by its hinder claws, hung that grey and mighty bat, which,
+flying forth when we entered the pyramid, vanished in the sky, but,
+returning, had followed us to its depths. There it hung upon the dead
+man's chin slowly rocking itself to and fro, and we could see the fiery
+eyes shining in its head.
+
+Aghast, utterly aghast, we stood and stared at the hateful sight; till
+presently the bat spread his huge wings and, losing his hold, sailed to
+us. Now he hovered before Cleopatra's face, fanning her with his white
+wings. Then with a scream, like a woman's shriek of fury, the accursed
+Thing flittered on, seeking his violated tomb, and vanished down the
+well into the sepulchre. I fell against the wall. But Cleopatra sank
+in a heap upon the floor, and, covering her head with her arms, she
+shrieked till the hollow passages rang with the echoes of her cries,
+that seemed to grow and double and rush along the depths in volumes of
+shrill sound.
+
+"Rise!" I cried, "rise and let us hence before the Spirit shall return
+to haunt us! If thou dost suffer thyself to be overwhelmed in this place
+thou art lost for ever."
+
+She staggered to her feet, and never may I forget the look upon her ashy
+face or in her glowing eyes. Seizing lamps with a rush, we passed the
+dead eunuch's horrid form, I holding her by the hand. We gained the
+great chamber, where was the sarcophagus of the Queen of Menkau-ra, and
+traversed its length. We fled along the passage. What if the Thing had
+closed the three mighty doors? No; they were open, and we sped through
+them; the last only did I stay to close. I touched the stone, as I knew
+how, and the great door crashed down, shutting us off from the presence
+of the dead eunuch and the Horror that had hung upon the eunuch's chin.
+Now we were in the white chamber with the sculptured panels, and now
+we faced the last steep ascent. Oh that last ascent! Twice Cleopatra
+slipped and fell upon the polished floor. The second time--it was when
+half the distance had been done--she let fall her lamp, and would,
+indeed, have rolled down the slide had I not saved her. But in doing
+thus I, too, let fall my lamp that bounded away into shadow beneath us,
+and we were in utter darkness. And perchance about us, in the darkness,
+hovered that awful Thing!
+
+"Be brave!" I cried; "O love, be brave, and struggle on, or both are
+lost! The way, though steep, is not far; and, though it be dark, we can
+scarce come to harm in this straight shaft. If the gems weight thee,
+cast them away!"
+
+"Nay," she gasped, "that I will not; this shall not be endured to no
+end. I die with them!"
+
+Then it was that I saw the greatness of this woman's heart; for in the
+dark, and notwithstanding the terrors we had passed and the awfulness of
+our state, she clung to me and clambered on up that dread passage. On we
+clambered, hand in hand, with bursting hearts, till there, by the mercy
+or the anger of the Gods, at length we saw the faint light of the moon,
+creeping through the little opening in the pyramid. One struggle more,
+now the hole was gained, and like a breath from heaven, the sweet night
+air played upon our brows. I climbed through, and, standing on a pile
+of stones, lifted and dragged Cleopatra after me. She fell to the ground
+and then sank down upon it motionless.
+
+I pressed upon the turning stone with trembling hands. It swung to and
+caught, leaving no mark of the secret place of entry. Then I leapt down
+and, having pushed away the pile of stones, looked on Cleopatra. She had
+swooned, and notwithstanding the dust and grime upon her face, it was so
+pale that at first I believed she must be dead. But placing my hand upon
+her heart I felt it stir beneath; and, being spent, I flung myself down
+beside her upon the sand, to gather up my strength again.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+OF THE COMING BACK OF HARMACHIS; OF THE GREETING OF CHARMION; AND OF
+THE ANSWER OF CLEOPATRA TO QUINTUS DELLIUS, THE AMBASSADOR OF ANTONY THE
+TRIUMVIR
+
+Presently I lifted myself, and, laying the head of Egypt's Queen upon my
+knee, strove to call her back to life. How fair she seemed, even in her
+disarray, her long hair streaming down her breast! how deadly fair she
+seemed in the faint light--this woman the story of whose beauty and
+whose sin shall outlive the solid mass of the mighty pyramid that
+towered over us! The heaviness of her swoon had smoothed away the
+falseness of her face, and nothing was left but the divine stamp
+of Woman's richest loveliness, softened by shadows of the night and
+dignified by the cast of deathlike sleep. I gazed upon her and all my
+heart went out to her; it seemed that I did but love her more because of
+the depth of the treasons to which I had sunk to reach her, and because
+of the terrors we had outfaced together. Weary and spent with fears and
+the pangs of guilt, my heart sought hers for rest, for now she alone was
+left to me. She had sworn to wed me also, and with the treasure we
+had won we would make Egypt strong and free her from her foes, and all
+should yet be well. Ah! could I have seen the picture that was to come,
+how, and in what place and circumstance, once again this very woman's
+head should be laid upon my knee, pale with that cast of death! Ah!
+could I have seen!
+
+I chafed her hand between my hands. I bent down and kissed her on the
+lips, and at my kiss she woke. She woke with a little sob of fear--a
+shiver ran along her delicate limbs, and she stared upon my face with
+wide eyes.
+
+"Ah! it is thou!" she said. "I mind me--thou hast saved me from that
+horror-haunted place!" And she threw her arms about my neck, drew me to
+her and kissed me. "Come, love," she said, "let us be going! I am sore
+athirst, and--ah! so very weary! The gems, too, chafe my breast! Never
+was wealth so hardly won! Come, let us be going from the shadow of this
+ghostly spot! See the faint lights glancing from the wings of Dawn. How
+beautiful they are, and how sweet to behold! Never, in those Halls of
+Eternal Night, did I think to look upon the blush of dawn again! Ah! I
+can still see the face of that dead slave, with the Horror hanging to
+his beardless chin! Bethink thee!--there he'll sit for ever--there--with
+the Horror! Come; where may we find water? I would give an emerald for a
+cup of water!"
+
+"At the canal on the borders of the tilled land below the Temple of
+Horemkhu--it is close by," I answered. "If any see us, we will say that
+we are pilgrims who have lost our way at night among the tombs. Veil
+thyself closely, therefore, Cleopatra; and beware lest thou dost show
+aught of those gems about thee."
+
+So she veiled herself, and I lifted her on to the ass which was tethered
+near at hand. We walked slowly through the plain till we came to the
+place where the symbol of the God Horemkhu,[*] fashioned as a mighty
+Sphinx (whom the Greeks call Harmachis), and crowned with the royal
+crown of Egypt, looks out in majesty across the land, his eyes ever
+fixed upon the East. As we walked the first arrow of the rising sun
+quivered through the grey air, striking upon Horemkhu's lips of holy
+calm, and the Dawn kissed her greeting to the God of Dawn. Then the
+light gathered and grew upon the gleaming sides of twenty pyramids, and,
+like a promise from Life to Death, rested on the portals of ten thousand
+tombs. It poured in a flood of gold across the desert sand--it pierced
+the heavy sky of night, and fell in bright beams upon the green of
+fields and the tufted crest of palms. Then from his horizon bed royal Ra
+rose up in pomp and it was day.
+
+     [*] That is, "Horus on the horizon"; and signifies the power
+     of Light and Good overcoming the power of Darkness and Evil
+     incarnate in his enemy, Typhon.--Editor.
+
+Passing the temple of granite and of alabaster that was built before the
+days of Khufu, to the glory of the Majesty of Horemkhu, we descended
+the slope, and came to the banks of the canal. There we drank; and
+that draught of muddy water was sweeter than all the choicest wine of
+Alexandria. Also we washed the mummy dust and grime from our hands
+and brows and made us clean. As she bathed her neck, stooping over the
+water, one of the great emeralds slipped from Cleopatra's breast and
+fell into the canal, and it was but by chance that at length I found
+it in the mire. Then, once more, I lifted Cleopatra onto the beast, and
+slowly, for I was very weary, we marched back to the banks of Sihor,
+where our craft was. And having at length come thither, seeing no one
+save some few peasants going out to labour on the lands, I turned the
+ass loose in that same field where we had found him, and we boarded the
+craft while the crew were yet sleeping. Then, waking them, we bade them
+make all sail, saying that we had left the eunuch to sojourn a while
+behind us, as in truth we had. So we sailed, having first hidden away
+the gems and such of the ornaments of gold as we could bring to the
+boat.
+
+We spent four days and more in coming to Alexandria, for the wind
+was for the most part against us; and they were happy days! At first,
+indeed, Cleopatra was somewhat silent and heavy at heart, for what she
+had seen and felt in the womb of the pyramid weighed her down. But soon
+her Imperial spirit awoke and shook the burden from her breast, and she
+became herself again--now gay, now learned; now loving, and now cold;
+now queenly, and now altogether simple--ever changing as the winds of
+heaven, and as the heaven, deep, beauteous, and unsearchable!
+
+Night after night for those four perfect nights, the last happy hours I
+ever was to know, we sat hand in hand upon the deck and heard the waters
+lap the vessel's side, and watched the soft footfall of the moon as she
+trod the depths of Nile. There we sat and talked of love, talked of our
+marriage and all that we would do. Also I drew up plans of war and of
+defence against the Roman, which now we had the means to carry out; and
+she approved them, sweetly saying that what seemed good to me was good
+to her. And so the time passed all too swiftly.
+
+Oh those nights upon the Nile! their memory haunts me yet! Yet in
+my dreams I see the moonbeams break and quiver, and hear Cleopatra's
+murmured words of love mingle with the sound of murmuring waters. Dead
+are those dear nights, dead is the moon that lit them; the waters which
+rocked us on their breast are lost in the wide salt sea, and where we
+kissed and clung there lips unborn shall kiss and cling! How beautiful
+was their promise, doomed, like an unfruitful blossom, to wither, fall,
+and rot! and their fulfilment, ah, how drear! For all things end in
+darkness and in ashes, and those who sow in folly shall reap in sorrow.
+Ah! those nights upon the Nile!
+
+And so at length once more we stood within the hateful walls of that
+fair palace on the Lochias, and the dream was done.
+
+
+
+"Whither hast thou wandered with Cleopatra, Harmachis?" Charmion asked
+of me when I met her by chance on that day of return. "On some new
+mission of betrayal? Or was it but a love-journey?"
+
+"I went with Cleopatra upon secret business of the State," I answered
+sternly.
+
+"So! Those who go secretly, go evilly; and foul birds love to fly at
+night. Not but what thou art wise, for it would scarce beseem thee,
+Harmachis, to show thy face openly in Egypt."
+
+I heard, and felt my passion rise within me, for I could ill bear this
+fair girl's scorn.
+
+"Hast thou never a word without a sting?" I asked. "Know, then, that I
+went whither thou hadst not dared to go, to gather means to hold Egypt
+from the grasp of Antony."
+
+"So," she answered, looking up swiftly. "Thou foolish man! Thou hadst
+done better to save thy labour, for Antony will grasp Egypt in thy
+despite. What power hast thou to-day in Egypt?"
+
+"That he may do in my despite; but in despite of Cleopatra that he
+cannot do," I said.
+
+"Nay, but with the _aid_ of Cleopatra he can and will do it," she
+answered with a bitter smile. "When the Queen sails in state up Cydnus
+stream she will surely draw this coarse Antony thence to Alexandria,
+conquering, and yet, like thee, a slave!"
+
+"It is false! I say that it is false! Cleopatra goes not to Tarsus, and
+Antony comes not to Alexandria; or, if he come, it will be to take the
+chance of war."
+
+"Now, thinkest thou thus?" she answered with a little laugh. "Well, if
+it please thee, think as thou wilt. Within three days thou shalt know.
+It is pretty to see how easily thou art fooled. Farewell! Go, dream on
+Love, for surely Love is sweet."
+
+And she went, leaving me angered and troubled at heart.
+
+
+
+I saw Cleopatra no more that day, but on the day which followed I saw
+her. She was in a heavy mood, and had no gentle word for me. I spake to
+her of the defence of Egypt, but she put the matter away.
+
+"Why dost thou weary me?" she said with anger; "canst thou not see that
+I am lost in troubles? When Dellius has had his answer to-morrow then we
+will speak of these matters."
+
+"Ay," I said, "when Dellius has had his answer; and knowest thou that
+but yesterday, Charmion--whom about the palace they name the 'Keeper
+of the Queen's secrets'--Charmion swore that the answer would be 'Go in
+peace, I come to Antony!'"
+
+"Charmion knows nothing of my heart," said Cleopatra, stamping her foot
+in anger, "and if she talk so freely the girl shall be scourged out of
+my Court, as is her desert. Though, in truth," she added, "she has more
+wisdom in that small head of hers than all my privy councillors--ay,
+and more wit to use it. Knowest thou that I have sold a portion of those
+gems to the rich Jews of Alexandria, and at a great price, ay, at five
+thousand sestertia for each one?[*] But a few, in truth, for they could
+not buy more as yet. It was rare to see their eyes when they fell upon
+them: they grew large as apples with avarice and wonder. And now leave
+me, Harmachis, for I am weary. The memory of that dreadful night is with
+me yet."
+
+     [*] About forty thousand pounds of our money.--Editor.
+
+I bowed and rose to go, and yet stood wavering.
+
+"Pardon me, Cleopatra; it is of our marriage."
+
+"Our marriage! Why, are we not indeed already wed?" she answered.
+
+"Yes; but not before the world. Thou didst promise."
+
+"Ay, Harmachis, I promised; and to-morrow, when I have rid me of this
+Dellius, I will keep my promise, and name thee Cleopatra's Lord before
+the Court. See that thou art in thy place. Art content?"
+
+And she stretched out her hand for me to kiss, looking on me with
+strange eyes, as though she struggled with herself. Then I went; but
+that night I strove once more to see Cleopatra, and could not. "The Lady
+Charmion was with the Queen," so said the eunuchs, and none might enter.
+
+
+
+On the morrow the Court met in the great hall one hour before mid-day,
+and I went thither with a trembling heart to hear Cleopatra's answer
+to Dellius, and to hear myself also named King-consort to the Queen of
+Egypt. It was a full and splendid Court; there were councillors, lords,
+captains, eunuchs, and waiting-women, all save Charmion. The house
+passed, but Cleopatra and Charmion came not. At length Charmion entered
+gently by a side entrance, and took her place among the waiting-ladies
+about the throne. Even as she did so she cast a glance at me, and there
+was triumph in her eyes, though I knew not over what she triumphed. I
+little guessed that she had but now brought about my ruin and sealed the
+fate of Egypt.
+
+Then presently the trumpets blared, and, clad in her robes of state, the
+ur�us crown upon her head, and on her breast, flashing like a star, that
+great emerald scarab�us which she had dragged from dead Pharaoh's heart,
+Cleopatra swept in splendour to her throne, followed by a glittering
+guard of Northmen. Her lovely face was dark, dark were her slumbrous
+eyes, and none might read their message, though all that Court searched
+them for a sign of what should come. She seated herself slowly as one
+who may not be moved, and spoke to the chief of the heralds in the Greek
+tongue:
+
+"Does the Ambassador of the noble Antony wait?"
+
+The herald bowed low and made assent.
+
+"Let him come in and hear our answer."
+
+The doors were flung wide, and, followed by his train of knights,
+Dellius, clad in his golden armour and his purple mantle, walked with
+cat-like step up the great hall, and made obeisance before the throne.
+
+"Most royal and beauteous Egypt," he said, in his soft voice, "as thou
+hast graciously been pleased to bid me, thy servant, I am here to
+take thy answer to the letter of the noble Antony the Triumvir, whom
+to-morrow I sail to meet at Tarsus, in Cilicia. And I will say
+this, royal Egypt, craving pardon the while for the boldness of my
+speech--bethink thee well before words that cannot be unspoken fall from
+those sweet lips. Defy Antony, and Antony will wreck thee. But, like
+thy mother Aphrodit�, rise glorious on his sight from the bosom of the
+Cyprian wave, and for wreck he will give thee all that can be dear to
+woman's royalty--Empire, and pomp of place, cities and the sway of men,
+fame and wealth, and the Diadem of rule made sure. For mark: Antony
+holds this Eastern World in the hollow of his warlike hand; at his will
+kings are, and at his frown they cease to be."
+
+And he bowed his head and, folding his hands meekly on his breast,
+awaited answer.
+
+For a while Cleopatra answered not, but sat like the Sphinx Horemkhu,
+dumb and inscrutable, gazing with lost eyes down the length of that
+great hall.
+
+Then, like soft music, her answer came; and trembling I listened for
+Egypt's challenge to the Roman:
+
+"Noble Dellius,--We have bethought us much of the matter of thy message
+from great Antony to our poor Royalty of Egypt. We have bethought us
+much, and we have taken counsel from the oracles of the Gods, from the
+wisest among our friends, and from the teachings of our heart, that
+ever, like a nesting bird, broods over our people's weal. Sharp are
+the words that thou hast brought across the sea; methinks they had been
+better fitted to the ears of some petty half-tamed prince than to those
+of Egypt's Queen. Therefore we have numbered the legions that we can
+gather, and the triremes and the galleys wherewith we may breast the
+sea, and the moneys which shall buy us all things wanting to our war.
+And we find this, that, though Antony be strong, yet has Egypt naught to
+fear from the strength of Antony."
+
+She paused, and a murmur of applause of her high words ran down the
+hall. Only Dellius stretched out his hand as though to push them back.
+Then came the end!
+
+"Noble Dellius,--Half are we minded there to bid our tongue stop, and,
+strong in our fortresses of stone, and our other fortresses built of the
+hearts of men, abide the issue. And yet thou shalt not go thus. We are
+guiltless of those charges against us that have come to the ears of
+noble Antony, and which now he rudely shouts in ours; nor will we
+journey into Cilicia to answer them."
+
+Here the murmur arose anew, while my heart beat high in triumph; and in
+the pause that followed, Dellius spoke once more.
+
+"Then, royal Egypt, my word to Antony is word of War?"
+
+"Nay," she answered; "it shall be one of Peace. Listen; we said that we
+would not come to make answer to these charges, nor will we. But"--and
+she smiled for the first time--"we will gladly come, and that swiftly,
+in royal friendship to make known our fellowship of peace upon the banks
+of Cydnus."
+
+I heard, and was bewildered. Could I hear aright? Was it thus that
+Cleopatra kept her oaths? Moved beyond the hold of reason, I lifted up
+my voice and cried:
+
+"O Queen, _remember!_"
+
+She turned upon me like a lioness, with a flashing of the eyes and a
+swift shake of her lovely head.
+
+"Peace, Slave!" she said; "who bade thee break in upon our counsels?
+Mind thou thy stars, and leave matters of the world to the rulers of the
+world!"
+
+I sank back shamed, and, as I did so, once more I saw the smile of
+triumph on the face of Charmion, followed by what was, perhaps, the
+shadow of pity for my fall.
+
+"Now that yon brawling charlatan," said Dellius, pointing at me with his
+jewelled finger, "has been rebuked, grant me leave, O Egypt, to thank
+thee from my heart for these gentle words----"
+
+"We ask no thanks from thee, noble Dellius; nor lies it in thy mouth to
+chide our servant," broke in Cleopatra, frowning heavily; "we will take
+thanks from the lips of Antony alone. Get thee to thy master, and say
+to him that before he can make ready a fitting welcome our keels shall
+follow in the track of thine. And now, farewell! Thou shalt find some
+small token of our bounty upon thy vessel."
+
+Dellius bowed thrice and withdrew, while the Court stood waiting the
+Queen's word. And I, too, waited, wondering if she would yet make good
+her promise, and name me royal Spouse there in the face of Egypt. But
+she said nothing. Only, still frowning heavily, she rose, and, followed
+by her guards, left the throne, and passed into the Alabaster Hall. Then
+the Court broke up, and as the lords and councillors went by they looked
+on me with mockery. For though none knew all my secret, nor how it stood
+between me and Cleopatra, yet they were jealous of the favour shown me
+by the Queen, and rejoiced greatly at my fall. But I took no heed of
+their mocking as I stood dazed with misery and felt the world of Hope
+slip from beneath my feet.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+OF THE REPROACH OF HARMACHIS; OF THE STRUGGLE OF HARMACHIS WITH THE
+GUARDS; OF THE BLOW OF BRENNUS; AND OF THE SECRET SPEECH OF CLEOPATRA
+
+And at length, all being gone, I, too, turned to go, when a eunuch
+struck me on the shoulder and roughly bade me wait on the presence of
+the Queen. An hour past this fellow would have crawled to me on his
+knees; but he had heard, and now he treated me--so brutish is the nature
+of such slaves--as the world treats the fallen, with scorn. For to come
+low after being great is to learn all shame. Unhappy, therefore, are the
+Great, for they may fall!
+
+I turned upon the slave with so fierce a word that, cur-like, he sprang
+behind me; then I passed on to the Alabaster Hall, and was admitted by
+the guards. In the centre of the hall, near the fountain, sat Cleopatra,
+and with her were Charmion and the Greek girl Iras, and Merira and other
+of her waiting-ladies. "Go," she said to these, "I would speak with my
+astrologer." So they went, and left us face to face.
+
+"Stand thou there," she said, lifting her eyes for the first time. "Come
+not nigh me, Harmachis: I trust thee not. Perchance thou hast found
+another dagger. Now, what hast thou to say? By what right didst thou
+dare to break in upon my talk with the Roman?"
+
+I felt the blood rush through me like a storm; bitterness and burning
+anger took hold of my heart. "What hast _thou_ to say, Cleopatra?"
+I answered boldly. "Where is thy vow, sworn on the dead heart of
+Menkau-ra, the ever-living? Where now thy challenge to this Roman
+Antony? Where thy oath that thou wouldest call me 'husband' in the face
+of Egypt?" and I choked and ceased.
+
+"Well doth it become Harmachis, who never was forsworn, to speak to me
+of oaths!" she said in bitter mockery. "And yet, O thou most pure Priest
+of Isis; and yet, O thou most faithful friend, who never didst betray
+thy friends; and yet, O thou most steadfast, honourable, and upright
+man, who never bartered thy birthright, thy country, and thy cause for
+the price of a woman's passing love--by what token knowest thou that my
+word is void?"
+
+"I will not answer thy taunts, Cleopatra," I said, holding back my heart
+as best I might, "for I have earned them all, though not from thee. By
+this token, then, I know it. Thou goest to visit Antony; thou goest, as
+said that Roman knave, 'tricked in thy best attire,' to feast with him
+whom thou shouldst give to vultures for their feast. Perhaps, for
+aught I know, thou art about to squander those treasures that thou hast
+filched from the body of Menkau-ra, those treasures stored against the
+need of Egypt, upon wanton revels which shall complete the shame of
+Egypt. By these things, then, I know that thou art forsworn, and I, who,
+loving thee, believed thee, tricked; and by this, also, that thou who
+didst but yesternight swear to wed me, dost to-day cover me with taunts,
+and even before that Roman put me to an open shame!"
+
+"To wed thee? and I did swear to wed thee? Well, and what is marriage?
+Is it the union of the heart, that bond beautiful as gossamer and than
+gossamer more light, which binds soul to soul, as they float through the
+dreamy night of passion, a bond to be, perchance, melted in the dews of
+dawn? Or is it the iron link of enforced, unchanging union whereby if
+sinks the one the other must be dragged beneath the sea of circumstance,
+there, like a punished slave, to perish of unavoidable corruption?[*]
+Marriage! _I_ to marry! _I_ to forget freedom and court the worst
+slavery of our sex, which, by the selfish will of man, the stronger,
+still binds us to a bed grown hateful, and enforces a service that love
+mayhap no longer hallows! Of what use, then, to be a Queen, if thereby I
+may not escape the evil of the meanly born? Mark thou, Harmachis: Woman
+being grown hath two ills to fear--Death and Marriage; and of these
+twain is Marriage the more vile; for in Death we may find rest, but in
+Marriage, should it fail us, we must find hell. Nay, being above the
+breath of common slander that enviously would blast those who of
+true virtue will not consent to stretch affection's links, I _love_,
+Harmachis; but I _marry_ not!"
+
+     [*] Referring to the Roman custom of chaining a living felon
+     to the body of one already dead.--Editor.
+
+"And yesternight, Cleopatra, thou didst swear that thou wouldst wed me,
+and call me to thy side before the face of Egypt!"
+
+"And yesternight, Harmachis, the red ring round the moon marked the
+coming of the storm, and yet the day is fair! But who knows that the
+tempest may not break to-morrow? Who knows that I have not chosen the
+easier path to save Egypt from the Roman? Who knows, Harmachis, that
+thou shalt not still call me wife?"
+
+Then I no longer could bear her falsehood, for I saw that she but played
+with me. And so I spoke that which was in my heart:
+
+"Cleopatra!" I cried, "thou didst swear to protect Egypt, and thou
+art about to betray Egypt to the Roman! Thou didst swear to use the
+treasures that I revealed to thee for the service of Egypt, and thou art
+about to use them to be her means of shame--to fashion them as fetters
+for her wrists! Thou didst swear to wed me, who loved thee, and for thee
+gave all, and thou dost mock me and reject me! Therefore I say--with the
+voice of the dread Gods I say it!--that on _thee_ shall fall the curse
+of Menkau-ra, whom thou hast robbed indeed! Let me go hence and work
+out my fate! Let me go, O thou fair Shame! thou living Lie! whom I have
+loved to my doom, and who hast brought upon me the last curse of doom!
+Let me hide myself and see thy face no more!"
+
+She rose in her wrath, and she was terrible to see.
+
+"Let thee go to stir up evil against me! Nay, Harmachis, thou shalt not
+go to build new plots against my throne! I say to thee that thou, too,
+shalt come to visit Antony in Cilicia, and there, perchance, I will let
+thee go!" And ere I could answer, she had struck upon the silver gong
+that hung near her.
+
+Before its rich echo had died away, Charmion and the waiting-women
+entered from one door, and from the other, a file of soldiers--four of
+them of the Queen's bodyguard, mighty men, with winged helmets and long
+fair hair.
+
+"Seize that traitor!" cried Cleopatra, pointing to me. The captain of
+the guard--it was Brennus--saluted and came towards me with drawn sword.
+
+But I, being mad and desperate, and caring little if they slew me, flew
+straight at his throat, and dealt him such a heavy blow that the great
+man fell headlong, and his armour clashed upon the marble floor. As he
+fell I seized his sword and targe, and, meeting the next, who rushed on
+me with a shout, caught his blow upon the shield, and in answer smote
+with all my strength. The sword fell where the neck is set into the
+shoulder, and, shearing through the joints of his harness, slew him, so
+that his knees were loosened and he sank down dead. And the third, as he
+came, I caught upon the point of my sword before he could strike, and
+it pierced him and he died. Then the last rushed on me with a cry of
+"Taranis!" and I, too, rushed on him, for my blood was aflame. Now the
+women shrieked--only Cleopatra said nothing, but stood and watched the
+unequal fray. We met, and I struck with all my strength, and it was a
+mighty blow, for the sword shore through the iron shell and shattered
+there, leaving me weaponless. With a shout of triumph the guard swung
+up his sword and smote down upon my head, but I caught the blow with
+my shield. Again he smote, and again I parried; but when he raised his
+sword a third time I saw this might not endure, so with a cry I hurled
+my buckler at his face. Glancing from his shield it struck him on the
+breast and staggered him. Then, before he could gain his balance, I
+rushed in beneath his guard and gripped him round the middle.
+
+For a full minute the tall man and I struggled furiously, and then, so
+great was my strength in those days, I lifted him like a toy and dashed
+him down upon the marble floor in such fashion that his bones were
+shattered so that he spoke no more. But I could not save myself and fell
+upon him, and as I fell the Captain Brennus, whom I had smitten to earth
+with my fist, having once more found his sense, came up behind me and
+smote me upon the head and shoulders with the sword of one of those whom
+I had slain. But I being on the ground, the blow did not fall with all
+its weight, also my thick hair and broidered cap broke its force; and
+thus it came to pass that, though sorely wounded, the life was yet whole
+in me. But I could struggle no more.
+
+Then the cowardly eunuchs, who had gathered at the sound of blows and
+stood huddled together like a herd of cattle, seeing that I was spent,
+threw themselves upon me, and would have butchered me with their knives.
+But Brennus, now that I was down, would strike no more, but stood
+waiting. And the eunuchs had surely slain me, for Cleopatra watched like
+one who watches in a dream and made no sign. Already my head was dragged
+back, and their knife-points were at my throat, when Charmion, rushing
+forward, threw herself upon me and, calling them "Dogs!" desperately
+thrust her body before them in such fashion that they could not smite.
+Now Brennus with an oath seized first one and then another and cast them
+from me.
+
+"Spare his life, Queen!" he cried in his barbarous Latin. "By Jupiter,
+he is a brave man! Myself felled like an ox in the shambles, and three
+of my boys finished by a man without armour and taken unawares! I grudge
+them not to such a man! A boon, Queen! spare his life, and give him to
+me!"
+
+"Ay, spare him! spare him!" cried Charmion, white and trembling.
+
+Cleopatra drew near and looked upon the dead and him who lay dying as
+I had dashed him to the ground, and on me, her lover of two days gone,
+whose wounded head rested now on Charmion's white robes.
+
+I met the Queen's glance. "Spare not!" I gasped; "_v� victis!_" Then a
+flush gathered on her brow--methinks it was a flush of shame!
+
+"Dost after all love this man at heart, Charmion," she said with a
+little laugh, "that thou didst thrust thy tender body between him and
+the knives of these sexless hounds?" and she cast a look of scorn upon
+the eunuchs.
+
+"Nay!" the girl answered fiercely; "but I cannot stand by to see a brave
+man murdered by such as these."
+
+"Ay!" said Cleopatra, "he is a brave man, and he fought gallantly; I
+have never seen so fierce a fight even in the games at Rome! Well, I
+spare his life, though he is weak of me--womanish weak. Take him to his
+own chamber and guard him there till he is healed or--dead."
+
+Then my brain reeled, a great sickness seized upon me, and I sank into
+the nothingness of a swoon.
+
+
+
+Dreams, dreams, dreams! without end and ever-changing, as for years and
+years I seemed to toss upon a sea of agony. And through them a vision of
+a dark-eyed woman's tender face and the touch of a white hand soothing
+me to rest. Visions, too, of a royal countenance bending at times over
+my rocking bed--a countenance that I could not grasp, but whose beauty
+flowed through my fevered veins and was a part of me--visions of
+childhood and of the Temple towers of Abouthis, and of the white-haired
+Amenemhat, my father--ay, and an ever-present vision of that dread hall
+in Amenti, and of the small altar and the Spirits clad in flame! There I
+seemed to wander everlastingly, calling on the Holy Mother, whose memory
+I could not grasp; calling ever and in vain! For no cloud descended upon
+the altar, only from time to time the great Voice pealed aloud: "Strike
+out the name of Harmachis, child of Earth, from the living Book of Her
+who Was and Is and Shall Be! _Lost! lost! lost!_"
+
+And then another voice would answer:
+
+"Not yet! not yet! Repentance is at hand; strike not out the name of
+Harmachis, child of Earth, from the living Book of Her who Was and Is
+and Shall Be! By suffering may sin be wiped away!"
+
+I woke to find myself in my own chamber in the tower of the palace. I
+was so weak that I scarce could lift my hand, and life seemed but to
+flutter in my breast as flutters a dying dove. I could not turn my head;
+I could not stir; yet in my heart there was a sense of rest and of dark
+trouble done. The light from the lamp hurt my eyes: I shut them, and,
+as I shut them, heard the sweep of a woman's robes upon the stair, and a
+swift, light step that I knew well. It was that of Cleopatra!
+
+She entered and drew near. I felt her come! Every pulse of my poor frame
+beat an answer to her footfall, and all my mighty love and hate rose
+from the darkness of my death-like sleep, and rent me in their struggle!
+She leaned over me; her ambrosial breath played upon my face: I could
+hear the beating of her heart! Lower she leaned, till at last her lips
+touched me softly on the brow.
+
+"Poor man!" I heard her murmur. "Poor, weak, dying Man! Fate hath been
+hard to thee! Thou wert too good to be the sport of such a one as I--the
+pawn that I must move in my play of policy! Ah, Harmachis! thou shouldst
+have ruled the game! Those plotting priests could give thee learning;
+but they could not give thee knowledge of mankind, nor fence thee
+against the march of Nature's law. And thou didst love me with all thy
+heart--ah! well I know it! Manlike, thou didst love the eyes that, as
+a pirate's lights, beckoned thee to shipwrecked ruin, and didst hang
+doting on the lips which lied thy heart away and called thee 'slave'!
+Well; the game was fair, for thou wouldst have slain me; and yet I
+grieve. So thou dost die? and this is my farewell to thee! Never may we
+meet again on earth; and, perchance, it is well, for who knows, when my
+hour of tenderness is past, how I might deal with thee, didst thou live?
+Thou dost die, they say--those learned long-faced fools, who, if they
+let thee die, shall pay the price. And where, then, shall we meet again
+when my last throw is thrown? We shall be equal there, in the kingdom
+that Osiris rules. A little time, a few years--perhaps to-morrow--and we
+shall meet; then, knowing all I am, how wilt thou greet me? Nay, here,
+as there, still must thou worship me! for injuries cannot touch the
+immortality of such a love as thine. Contempt alone, like acid, can
+eat away the love of noble hearts, and reveal the truth in its pitiful
+nakedness. Thou must still cling to thee, Harmachis; for, whatever my
+sins, yet I am great and set above thy scorn. Would that I could have
+loved thee as thou lovest me! Almost I did so when thou slewest those
+guards; and yet--not quite.
+
+"What a fenced city is my heart, that none can take it, and, even when
+I throw the gates wide, no man may win its citadel! Oh, to put away this
+loneliness and lose me in another's soul! Oh, for a year, a month, an
+hour to quite forget policy, peoples, and my pomp of place, and be but
+a loving woman! Harmachis, fare thee well! Go join great Julius whom thy
+art called up from death before me, and take Egypt's greetings to him.
+Ah well! I fooled thee, and I fooled C�sar--perchance before all is done
+Fate will find me, and myself I shall be fooled. Harmachis, fare thee
+well!"
+
+She turned to go, and as she turned I heard the sweep of another dress
+and the light fall of another woman's foot.
+
+"Ah! it is thou, Charmion. Well, for all thy watching the man dies."
+
+"Ay," she answered, in a voice thick with grief. "Ay, O Queen, so the
+physicians say. Forty hours has he lain in stupor so deep that at times
+his breath could barely lift this tiny feather's weight, and hardly
+could my ear, placed against his breast, take notice of the rising of
+his heart. I have watched him now for ten long days, watched him day and
+night, till my eyes stare wide with want of sleep, and for faintness
+I can scarce keep myself from falling. And this is the end of all my
+labour! The coward blow of that accursed Brennus has done its work, and
+Harmachis dies!"
+
+"Love counts not its labour, Charmion, nor can it weight its tenderness
+on the scale of purchase. That which it has it gives, and craves for
+more to give and give, till the soul's infinity be drained. Dear to thy
+heart are these heavy nights of watching; sweet to thy weary eyes
+is that sad sight of strength brought so low that it hangs upon thy
+weakness like a babe to its mother's breast! For, Charmion, thou dost
+love this man who loves thee not, and now that he is helpless thou canst
+pour thy passion forth over the unanswering darkness of his soul, and
+cheat thyself with dreams of what yet might be."
+
+"I love him not, as thou hast proof, O Queen! How can I love one who
+would have slain thee, who art as my heart's sister? It is for pity that
+I nurse him."
+
+She laughed a little as she answered, "Pity is love's own twin,
+Charmion. Wondrous wayward are the paths of woman's love, and thou hast
+shown thine strangely, that I know. But the more high the love, the
+deeper the gulf whereinto it can fall--ay, and thence soar again to
+heaven, once more to fall! Poor woman! thou art thy passion's plaything:
+now tender as the morning sky, and now, when jealousy grips thy heart,
+more cruel than the sea. Well, thus are we made. Soon, after all this
+troubling, nothing will be left thee but tears, remorse, and--memory."
+
+And she went forth.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+OF THE TENDER CARE OF CHARMION; OF THE HEALING OF HARMACHIS; OF THE
+SAILING OF THE FLEET OF CLEOPATRA FOR CILICIA; AND OF THE SPEECH OF
+BRENNUS TO HARMACHIS
+
+Cleopatra went, and for a while I lay silent, gathering up my strength
+to speak. But Charmion came and stood over me, and I felt a great tear
+fall from her dark eyes upon my face, as the first heavy drop of rain
+falls from a thunder cloud.
+
+"Thou goest," she whispered; "thou goest fast whither I may not follow!
+O Harmachis, how gladly would I give my life for thine!"
+
+Then at length I opened my eyes, and spoke as best I could:
+
+"Restrain thy grief, dear friend," I said, "I live yet; and, in truth, I
+feel as though new life gathered in my breast!"
+
+She gave a little cry of joy, and I never saw aught more beautiful than
+the change that came upon her weeping face! It was as when the first
+lights of the day run up the pallor of that sad sky which veils the
+night from dawn. All rosy grew her lovely countenance; her dim eyes
+shone out like stars; and a smile of wonderment, more sweet than the
+sudden smile of the sea as its ripples wake to brightness beneath the
+kiss of the risen moon, broke through her rain of tears.
+
+"Thou livest!" she cried, throwing herself on her knees beside my couch.
+"Thou livest--and I thought thee gone! Thou art come back to me! Oh!
+what say I? How foolish is a woman's heart! 'Tis this long watching!
+Nay; sleep and rest thee, Harmachis!--why dost thou talk? Not one
+more word, I command thee straitly! Where is the draught left by
+that long-bearded fool? Nay thou shalt have no draught! There, sleep,
+Harmachis; sleep!" and she crouched down at my side and laid her cool
+hand upon my brow, murmuring, "_Sleep! sleep!_"
+
+And when I woke there she was still, but the lights of dawn were peeping
+through the casement. There she knelt, one hand upon my forehead, and
+her head, in all its disarray of curls, resting upon her outstretched
+arm.
+
+"Charmion," I whispered, "have I slept?"
+
+Instantly she was wide awake, and, gazing on me with tender eyes, "Yea,
+thou hast slept, Harmachis."
+
+"How long, then, have I slept?"
+
+"Nine hours."
+
+"And thou hast held thy place there, at my side, for nine long hours?"
+
+"Yes, it is nothing; I also have slept--I feared to waken thee if I
+stirred."
+
+"Go, rest," I said; "it shames me to think of this thing. Go rest thee,
+Charmion!"
+
+"Vex not thyself," she answered; "see, I will bid a slave watch thee,
+and to wake me if thou needest aught; I sleep there, in the outer
+chamber. Peace--I go!" and she strove to rise, but, so cramped was she,
+fell straightway on the floor.
+
+I can scarcely tell the sense of shame that filled me when I saw her
+fall. Alas! I could not stir to help her.
+
+"It is naught," she said; "move not, I did but catch my foot. There!"
+and she rose, again to fall--"a pest upon my awkwardness! Why--I must be
+sleeping. 'Tis well now. I'll send the slave;" and she staggered thence
+like one overcome with wine.
+
+And after that, I slept once more, for I was very weak. When I woke it
+was afternoon, and I craved for food, which Charmion brought me.
+
+I ate. "Then I die not," I said.
+
+"Nay," she answered, with a toss of her head, "thou wilt live. In truth,
+I did waste my pity on thee."
+
+"And thy pity saved my life," I said wearily, for now I remembered.
+
+"It is nothing," she answered carelessly. "After all, thou art my
+cousin; also, I love nursing--it is a woman's trade. Like enough I had
+done as much for any slave. Now, too, that the danger is past, I leave
+thee."
+
+"Thou hadst done better to let me die, Charmion," I said after a while,
+"for life to me can now be only one long shame. Tell me, then, when
+sails Cleopatra for Cilicia?"
+
+"She sails in twenty days, and with such pomp and glory as Egypt has
+never seen. Of a truth, I cannot guess where she has found the means to
+gather in this store of splendour, as a husbandman gathers his golden
+harvest."
+
+But I, knowing whence the wealth came, groaned in bitterness of spirit,
+and made no answer.
+
+"Goest thou also, Charmion?" I asked presently.
+
+"Ay, I and all the Court. Thou, too--thou goest."
+
+"I go? Nay, why is this?"
+
+"Because thou art Cleopatra's slave, and must march in gilded chains
+behind her chariot; because she fears to leave thee here in Khem;
+because it is her will, and there is an end."
+
+"Charmion, can I not escape?"
+
+"Escape, thou poor sick man? Nay, how canst thou escape? Even now thou
+art most strictly guarded. And if thou didst escape, whither wouldst
+thou fly? There's not an honest man in Egypt but would spit on thee in
+scorn!"
+
+Once more I groaned in spirit, and, being so very weak, I felt the tears
+roll adown my cheek.
+
+"Weep not!" she said hastily, and turning her face aside. "Be a man, and
+brave these troubles out. Thou hast sown, now must thou reap; but
+after harvest the waters rise and wash away the rotting roots, and then
+seed-time comes again. Perchance, yonder in Cilicia, a way may be found,
+when once more thou art strong, by which thou mayst fly--if in truth
+thou canst bear thy life apart from Cleopatra's smile; then in some far
+land must thou dwell till these things are forgotten. And now my task is
+done, so fare thee well! At times I will come to visit thee and see that
+thou needest nothing."
+
+So she went, and I was nursed thenceforward, and that skilfully, by the
+physician and two women-slaves; and as my wound healed so my strength
+came back to me, slowly at first, then most swiftly. In four days from
+that time I left my couch, and in three more I could walk an hour in the
+palace gardens; another week and I could read and think, though I went
+no more to Court. And at length one afternoon Charmion came and bade me
+make ready, for the fleet would sail in two days, first for the coast of
+Syria, and thence to the gulf of Issus and Cilicia.
+
+Thereon, with all formality, and in writing, I craved leave of Cleopatra
+that I might be left, urging that my health was so feeble that I could
+not travel. But a message was sent to me in answer that I must come.
+
+And so, on the appointed day, I was carried in a litter down to the
+boat, and together with that very soldier who had cut me down, the
+Captain Brennus, and others of his troop (who, indeed, were sent to
+guard me), we rowed aboard a vessel where she lay at anchor with the
+rest of the great fleet. For Cleopatra was voyaging as though to war
+in much pomp, and escorted by a fleet of ships, among which her galley,
+built like a house and lined throughout with cedar and silken hangings,
+was the most beautiful and costly that the world has ever seen. But I
+went not on this vessel, and therefore it chanced that I did not see
+Cleopatra or Charmion till we landed at the mouth of the river Cydnus.
+
+The signal being made, the fleet set sail; and, the wind being fair, we
+came to Joppa on the evening of the second day. Thence we sailed
+slowly with contrary winds up the coast of Syria, making C�sarea, and
+Ptolemais, and Tyrus, and Berytus, and past Lebanon's white brow crowned
+with his crest of cedars, on to Heraclea and across the gulf of Issus to
+the mouth of Cydnus. And ever as we journeyed, the strong breath of the
+sea brought back my health, till at length, save for a line of white
+upon my head where the sword had fallen, I was almost as I had been.
+And one night, as we drew near Cydnus, while Brennus and I sat alone
+together on the deck, his eye fell upon the white mark his sword had
+made, and he swore a great oath by his heathen Gods. "An thou hadst
+died, lad," he said, "methinks I could never again have held up my head!
+Ah! that was a coward stroke, and I am shamed to think that it was I who
+struck it, and thou on the ground with thy back to me! Knowest thou
+that when thou didst lie between life and death, I came every day to ask
+tidings of thee? and I swore by Taranis that if thou didst die I'd turn
+my back upon that soft palace life and then away for the bonny North."
+
+"Nay, trouble not, Brennus," I answered; "it was thy duty."
+
+"Mayhap! but there are duties that a brave man should not do--nay, not
+at the bidding of any Queen who ever ruled in Egypt! Thy blow had dazed
+me or I had not struck. What is it, lad?--art in trouble with this
+Queen of ours? Why art thou dragged a prisoner upon this pleasure party?
+Knowest thou that we are strictly charged that if thou dost escape our
+lives shall pay the price?"
+
+"Ay, in sore trouble, friend," I answered; "ask me no more."
+
+"Then, being of the age thou art, there's a woman in it--that I
+swear--and, perchance, though I am rough and foolish, I might make a
+guess. Look thou, lad, what sayest thou? I am weary of this service of
+Cleopatra and this hot land of deserts and of luxury, that sap a man's
+strength and drain his pocket; and so are others whom I know of. What
+sayest thou: let's take one of these unwieldy vessels and away to the
+North? I'll lead thee to a better land than Egypt--a land of lake and
+mountain, and great forests of sweet-scented pine; ay, and find thee a
+girl fit to mate with--my own niece--a girl strong and tall, with wide
+blue eyes and long fair hair, and arms that could crack thy ribs were
+she of a mind to hug thee! Come, what sayest thou? Put away the past,
+and away for the bonny North, and be a son to me."
+
+For a moment I thought, and then sadly shook my head; for though I was
+sorely tempted to be gone, I knew that my fate lay in Egypt, and I might
+not fly my fate.
+
+"It may not be, Brennus," I answered. "Fain would I that it might be,
+but I am bound by a chain of destiny which I cannot break, and in the
+land of Egypt I must live and die."
+
+"As thou wilt, lad," said the old warrior. "I should have dearly loved
+to marry thee among my people, and make a son of thee. At the least,
+remember that while I am here thou hast Brennus for a friend. And one
+thing more; beware of that beauteous Queen of thine, for, by Taranis,
+perhaps an hour may come when she will hold that thou knowest too much,
+and then----" and he drew his hand across his throat. "And now good
+night; a cup of wine, then to sleep, for to-morrow the foolery----"
+
+[Here several lengths of the second roll of papyrus are so broken as
+to be undecipherable. They seem to have been descriptive of Cleopatra's
+voyage up the Cydnus to the city of Tarsus.]
+
+"And--[the writing continues]--to those who could take joy in such
+things, the sight must, indeed, have been a gallant one. For the stern
+of our galley was covered with sheets of beaten gold, the sails were
+of the scarlet of Tyre, and the oars of silver touched the water to a
+measure of music. And there, in the centre of the vessel, beneath an
+awning ablaze with gold embroidery, lay Cleopatra, attired as the Roman
+Venus (and surely Venus was not more fair!), in thin robes of whitest
+silk, bound in beneath her breast with a golden girdle delicately graven
+over with scenes of love. All about her were little rosy boys, chosen
+for their beauty, and clad in naught save downy wings strapped upon
+their shoulders, and on their backs Cupid's bow and quiver, who fanned
+her with fans of plumes. Upon the vessel's decks, handling the cordage,
+that was of silken web, and softly singing to the sound of harps and the
+beat of oars, were no rough sailors, but women lovely to behold, some
+robed as Graces and some as Nereids--that is, scarce robed at all,
+except in their scented hair. And behind the couch, with drawn sword,
+stood Brennus, in splendid armour and winged helm of gold; and by him
+others--I among them--in garments richly worked, and knew that I
+was indeed a slave! On the high poop also burned censers filled with
+costliest incense, of which the fragrant steam hung in little clouds
+about our wake."
+
+Thus, as in a dream of luxury, followed by many ships, we glided on
+towards the wooded slopes of Taurus, at whose foot lay that ancient city
+Tarshish. And ever as we came the people gathered on the banks and ran
+before us, shouting: "Venus is risen from the sea! Venus hath come to
+visit Bacchus!" We drew near to the city, and all its people--everyone
+who could walk or be carried--crowded down in thousands to the docks,
+and with them came the whole army of Antony, so that at length the
+Triumvir was left alone upon the judgment seat.
+
+Dellius, the false-tongued, came also, fawning and bowing, and in the
+name of Antony gave the "Queen of Beauty" greeting, bidding her to a
+feast that Antony had made ready. But she made high answer, and said,
+"Forsooth, it is Antony who should wait on us; not we on Antony. Bid the
+noble Antony to our poor table this night--else we dine alone."
+
+Dellius went, bowing to the ground; the feast was made ready; and then
+at last I set eyes on Antony. He came clad in purple robes, a great man
+and beautiful to see, set in the stout prime of life, with bright eyes
+of blue, and curling hair, and features cut sharply as a Grecian gem.
+For he was great of form and royal of mien, and with an open countenance
+on which his thoughts were so clearly written that all might read them;
+only the weakness of the mouth belied the power of the brow. He came
+attended by his generals, and when he reached the couch where Cleopatra
+lay he stood astonished, gazing on her with wide-opened eyes. She, too,
+gazed on him earnestly; I saw the red blood run up beneath her skin, and
+a great pang of jealousy seized upon my heart. And Charmion, who saw all
+beneath her downcast eyes, saw this also and smiled. But Cleopatra spoke
+no word, only she stretched out her white hand for him to kiss; and he,
+saying no word, took her hand and kissed it.
+
+"Behold, noble Antony!" she said at last in her voice of music, "thou
+hast called me, and I am come."
+
+"Venus has come," he answered in his deep notes, and still holding his
+eyes fixed upon her face. "I called a woman--a Goddess hath risen from
+the deep!"
+
+"To find a God to greet her on the land," she laughed with ready wit.
+"Well, a truce to compliments, for being on the earth even Venus is
+ahungered. Noble Antony, thy hand."
+
+The trumpets blared, and through the bowing crowd Cleopatra, followed by
+her train, passed hand in hand with Antony to the feast.
+
+[Here there is another break in the papyrus.]
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+OF THE FEAST OF CLEOPATRA; OF THE MELTING OF THE PEARL; OF THE SAYING OF
+HARMACHIS; AND OF CLEOPATRA'S VOW OF LOVE
+
+On the third night the feast was once more prepared in the hall of the
+great house that had been set aside to the use of Cleopatra, and on this
+night its splendour was greater even than on the nights before. For the
+twelve couches that were set about the table were embossed with gold,
+and those of Cleopatra and Antony were of gold set with jewels. The
+dishes also were all of gold set with jewels, the walls were hung with
+purple cloths sewn with gold, and on the floor, covered with a net of
+gold, fresh roses were strewn ankle-deep, that as the slaves trod them
+sent up their perfume. Once again I was bidden to stand, with Charmion
+and Iras and Merira, behind the couch of Cleopatra, and, like a slave,
+from time to time call out the hours as they flew. And there being no
+help, I went wild at heart; but this I swore--it should be for the last
+time, since I could not bear that shame. For though I would not yet
+believe what Charmion told me--that Cleopatra was about to become the
+Love of Antony--yet I could no more endure this ignominy and torture.
+For from Cleopatra now I had no words save such as a Queen speaks to her
+slave, and methinks it gave her dark heart pleasure to torment me.
+
+Thus it came to pass that I, the Pharaoh, crowned of Khem, stood among
+eunuchs and waiting-women behind the couch of Egypt's Queen while the
+feast went merrily and the wine-cup passed. And ever Antony sat, his
+eyes fixed upon the face of Cleopatra, who from time to time let her
+deep glance lose itself in his, and then for a little while their
+talk died away. For he told her tales of war and of deeds that he had
+done--ay, and love-jests such as are not meet for the ears of women. But
+she took offence at nothing; rather, falling into his humour, she would
+cap his stories with others of a finer wit, but not less shameless.
+
+At length, the rich meal being finished, Antony gazed at the splendour
+around him.
+
+"Tell me, then, most lovely Egypt," he said; "are the sands of Nile
+compact of gold, that thou canst, night by night, thus squander the
+ransom of a King upon a single feast? Whence comes this untold wealth?"
+
+I bethought me of the tomb of the Divine Menkau-ra, whose holy treasure
+was thus wickedly wasted, and looked up so that Cleopatra's eye caught
+mine; but, reading my thoughts, she frowned heavily.
+
+"Why, noble Antony," she said, "surely it is nothing! In Egypt we have
+our secrets, and know whence to conjure riches at our need. Say, what is
+the value of this golden service, and of the meats and drinks that have
+been set before us?"
+
+He cast his eyes about, and hazarded a guess.
+
+"Maybe a thousand sestertia."[*]
+
+     [*] About eight thousand pounds of English money.--Editor.
+
+"Thou hast understated it by half, noble Antony! But such as it is I
+will give it thee and those with thee as a free token of my friendship.
+And more will I show thee now: I myself will eat and drink ten thousand
+sestertia at a draught."
+
+"That cannot be, fair Egypt!"
+
+She laughed, and bade a slave bring her white vinegar in a glass. When
+it was brought she set it before her and laughed again, while Antony,
+rising from his couch, drew near and set himself at her side, and all
+the company leant forward to see what she would do. And this she did.
+She took from her ear one of those great pearls which last of all had
+been drawn from the body of the Divine Pharaoh; and before any could
+guess her purpose she let it fall into the vinegar. Then came silence,
+the silence of wonder, and slowly the priceless pearl melted in the
+strong acid. When it was melted she lifted the glass and shook it, then
+drank the vinegar, to the last drop.
+
+"More vinegar, slave!" she cried; "my meal is but half finished!" and
+she drew forth the second pearl.
+
+"By Bacchus, no! that shalt thou not!" cried Antony, snatching at her
+hands; "I have seen enough;" and at that moment, moved to it by I know
+not what, I called aloud:
+
+"The hour falls, O Queen!--_the hour of the coming of the curse of
+Menkau-ra!_"
+
+An ashy whiteness grew upon Cleopatra's face, and she turned upon me
+furiously, while all the company gazed wondering, not knowing what the
+words might mean.
+
+"Thou ill-omened slave!" she cried. "Speak thus once more and thou shalt
+be scourged with rods!--ay, scourged like an evildoer--that I promise
+thee, Harmachis!"
+
+"What means the knave of an astrologer?" asked Antony. "Speak, sirrah!
+and make clear thy meaning, for those who deal in curses must warrant
+their wares."
+
+"I am a servant of the Gods, noble Antony. That which the Gods put in my
+mind that must I say; nor can I read their meaning," I answered humbly.
+
+"Oh, oh! thou servest the Gods, dost thou, thou many-coloured mystery?"
+This he said having reference to my splendid robes. "Well, I serve the
+Goddesses, which is a softer cult. And there's this between us:
+that though what they put in my mind I say, neither can I read their
+meaning," and he glanced at Cleopatra as one who questions.
+
+"Let the knave be," she said impatiently; "to-morrow we'll be rid of
+him. Sirrah, begone!"
+
+I bowed and went; and, as I went, I heard Antony say: "Well, he may be
+a knave--for that all men are--but this for thy astrologer: he hath a
+royal air and the eye of a King--ay, and wit in it."
+
+Without the door I paused, not knowing what to do, for I was bewildered
+with misery. And, as I stood, someone touched me on the hand. I glanced
+up--it was Charmion, who in the confusion of the rising of the guests,
+had slipped away and followed me.
+
+For in trouble Charmion was ever at my side.
+
+"Follow me," she whispered; "thou art in danger."
+
+I turned and followed her. Why should I not?
+
+"Whither go we?" I asked at length.
+
+"To my chamber," she said. "Fear not; we ladies of Cleopatra's Court
+have small good fame to lose; if anyone by chance should see us, they'll
+think that it is a love-tryst, and such are all the fashion."
+
+I followed, and, presently, skirting the crowd, we came unseen to a
+little side entrance that led to a stair, up which we passed. The stair
+ended in a passage; we turned down it till we found a door on the left
+hand. Charmion entered silently, and I followed her into a dark chamber.
+Being in, she barred the door and, kindling tinder to a flame, lit a
+hanging lamp. As the light grew strong I gazed around. The chamber was
+not large, and had but one casement, closely shuttered. For the rest, it
+was simply furnished, having white walls, some chests for garments, an
+ancient chair, what I took to be a tiring table, on which were combs,
+perfumes, and all the frippery that pertains to woman, and a white bed
+with a broidered coverlid, over which was hung a gnat-gauze.
+
+"Be seated, Harmachis," she said, pointing to the chair. I took the
+chair, and Charmion, throwing back the gnat-gauze, sat herself upon the
+bed before me.
+
+"Knowest thou what I heard Cleopatra say as thou didst leave the
+banqueting-hall?" she asked presently.
+
+"Nay, I know not."
+
+"She gazed after thee, and, as I went over to her to do some service,
+she murmured to herself: 'By Serapis, I will make an end! I will wait no
+longer: to-morrow he shall be strangled!'"
+
+"So!" I said, "it may be; though, after all that has been, I can scarce
+believe that she will murder me."
+
+"Why canst thou not believe it, thou most foolish of men? Dost forget
+how nigh thou wast to death there in the Alabaster Hall? Who saved thee
+then from the knives of the eunuchs? Was it Cleopatra? Or was it I and
+Brennus? Stay, I will tell thee. Thou canst not yet believe it, because,
+in thy folly, thou dost not think it possible that the woman who has but
+lately been as a wife to thee can now, in so short a time, doom thee to
+be basely done to death. Nay, answer not--I know all; and I tell thee
+this: thou hast not measured the depth of Cleopatra's perfidy, nor canst
+thou dream the blackness of her wicked heart. She had surely slain thee
+in Alexandria had she not feared that thy slaughter being noised abroad
+might bring trouble on her. Therefore has she brought thee here to kill
+thee secretly. For what more canst thou give her? She has thy heart's
+love, and is wearied of thy strength and beauty. She has robbed thee
+of thy royal birthright and brought thee, a King, to stand amidst the
+waiting-women behind her at her feasts; she has won from thee the great
+secret of the holy treasure!"
+
+"Ah, thou knowest that?"
+
+"Yes, I know all; and to-night thou seest how the wealth stored against
+the need of Khem is being squandered to fill up the wanton luxury of
+Khem's Macedonian Queen! Thou seest how she has kept her oath to wed
+thee honourably. Harmachis--at length thine eyes are open to the truth!"
+
+"Ay, I see too well; and yet she swore she loved me, and I, poor fool, I
+believed her!"
+
+"She swore she loved thee!" answered Charmion, lifting her dark eyes:
+"now I will show thee how she loves thee. Knowest thou what was this
+house? It was a priest's college; and, as thou wottest, Harmachis,
+priests have their ways. This little room aforetime was the room of
+the Head Priest, and the chamber that is beyond and below was the
+gathering-place of the other priests. The old slave who keeps the house
+told me all this, and also she revealed what I shall show thee. Now,
+Harmachis, be silent as the dead, and follow me!"
+
+She blew out the lamp, and by the little light that crept through the
+shuttered casement led me by the hand to the far corner of the room.
+Here she pressed upon the wall, and a door opened in its thickness. We
+entered, and she closed the spring. Now we were in a little chamber,
+some five cubits in length by four in breadth; for a faint light
+struggled into the closet, and also the sound of voices, I knew not
+whence. Loosing my hand, she crept to the end of the place, and looked
+steadfastly at the wall; then crept back and, whispering "Silence!" led
+me forward with her. Then I saw that there were eyeholes in the wall,
+which pierced it, and were hidden on the farther side by carved work
+in stone. I looked through the hole that was in front of me, and I saw
+this: six cubits below was the level of the floor of another chamber,
+lit with fragrant lamps, and most richly furnished. It was the
+sleeping-place of Cleopatra, and there, within ten cubits of where we
+stood, sat Cleopatra on a gilded couch, and by her side sat Antony.
+
+"Tell me," Cleopatra murmured--for this place was so built that
+every word spoken in the room below came to the ears of the listener
+above--"tell me, noble Antony, wast pleased with my poor festival?"
+
+"Ay," he answered in his deep soldier's voice, "ay, Egypt, I have made
+feasts, and been bidden to feasts, but never saw I aught like thine; and
+I tell thee this, though I am rough of tongue and unskilled in pretty
+sayings such as women love, thou wast the richest sight of all that
+splendid board. The red wine was not so red as thy beauteous cheek, the
+roses smelt not so sweet as the odour of thy hair, and no sapphire there
+with its changing light was so lovely as thy eyes of ocean blue."
+
+"What! Praise from Antony! Sweet words from the lips of him whose
+writings are so harsh! Why, it is praise indeed!"
+
+"Ay," he went on, "it was a royal feast, though I grieve that thou didst
+waste that great pearl; and what meant that hour-calling astrologer of
+thine, with his ill-omened talk of the curse of Menkau-ra?"
+
+A shadow fled across her glowing face. "I know not; he was lately
+wounded in a brawl, and methinks the blow has crazed him."
+
+"He seemed not crazed, and there was that about his voice which rings in
+my ears like some oracle of fate. So wildly, too, he looked upon thee,
+Egypt, with those piercing eyes of his, like one who loved and yet hated
+through the love."
+
+"He is a strange man, I tell thee, noble Antony, and a learned. Myself,
+at times, I almost fear him, for he is deeply versed in the ancient
+arts of Egypt. Knowest thou that the man is of royal blood, and once he
+plotted to slay me? But I won him over, and slew him not, for he had the
+key to secrets that I fain would learn; and, indeed, I loved his wisdom,
+and to listen to his deep talk of all hidden things."
+
+"By Bacchus, I grow jealous of the knave! And now, Egypt?"
+
+"And now I have sucked his knowledge dry, and have no more cause to fear
+him. Didst thou not see that I have made him stand these three nights a
+slave amid my slaves, and call aloud the hours as they fled in festival.
+No captive King marching in thy Roman triumphs can have suffered pangs
+so keen as that proud Egyptian Prince when he stood shamed behind my
+couch."
+
+Here Charmion laid her hand on mine and pressed it, as though in
+tenderness.
+
+"Well, he shall trouble us no more with his words of evil omen,"
+Cleopatra went on slowly; "to-morrow morn he dies--dies swiftly and in
+secret, leaving no trace of what his fate has been. On this is my mind
+fixed; of a truth, noble Antony, it is fixed. Even as I speak the fear
+of this man grows and gathers in my breast. Half am I minded to give the
+word even now, for I breathe not freely till he be dead," and she made
+as though to rise.
+
+"Let it be till morning," he said, catching her by the hand; "the
+soldiers drink, and the deed will be ill done. 'Tis pity too. I love not
+to think of men slaughtered in their sleep."
+
+"In the morning, perchance, the hawk may have flown," she answered,
+pondering. "He hath keen ears, this Harmachis, and can summon things to
+aid him that are not of the earth. Perchance, even now he hears me in
+the spirit; for, of a truth, I seem to feel his presence breathing
+round me. I could tell thee--but no, let him be! Noble Antony, be my
+tiring-woman and loose me this crown of gold, it chafes my brow. Be
+gentle, hurt me not--so."
+
+He lifted the ur�us crown from her brows, and she shook loose her heavy
+weight of hair that fell about her like a garment.
+
+"Take back thy crown, royal Egypt," he said, speaking low, "take it from
+my hand; I will not rob thee of it, but rather set it more firmly on
+that beauteous brow."
+
+"What means my Lord?" she asked, smiling and looking into his eyes.
+
+"What mean I? Why then, this: thou camest hither at my bidding to make
+answer of the charges laid against thee as to matters politic. And
+knowest thou, Egypt, that hadst thou been other than thou art thou
+hadst not gone back to queen it on the Nile; for of this I am sure, the
+charges against thee are true in fact. But, being what thou art--and
+look thou! never did Nature serve a woman better!--I forgive thee all.
+For the sake of thy grace and beauty I forgive thee that which had not
+been forgiven to virtue, or to patriotism, or to the dignity of age! See
+now how good a thing is woman's wit and loveliness, that can make kings
+forget their duty and cozen even blindfolded Justice to peep ere she
+lifts her sword! Take back thy crown, O Egypt! It is now my care that,
+though it be heavy, it shall not chafe thee."
+
+"These are royal words, most noble Antony," she made answer; "gracious
+and generous words, such as befit the Conqueror of the world! And
+touching my misdeeds in the past--if misdeeds there have been--I say
+this, and this alone--then I knew not Antony. For, knowing Antony, who
+could sin against him? What woman could lift a sword against one who
+must be to all women as a God--one who, seen and known, draws after him
+the whole allegiance of the heart, as the sun draws flowers? And what
+more can I say and not cross the bounds of woman's modesty? Why, only
+this--set that crown upon my brow, great Antony, and I will take it as
+a gift from thee, by the giving made doubly dear, and to thy uses I will
+guard it.
+
+"There, now I am thy vassal Queen, and through me all old Egypt that I
+rule does homage to Antony the Triumvir, who shall be Antony the Emperor
+of Rome and Khem's Imperial Lord!"
+
+And, having set the crown upon her locks, he stood gazing on her, grown
+passionate in the warm breath of her living beauty, till at length
+he caught her by both hands and drawing her to him kissed her thrice,
+saying:
+
+"Cleopatra, I love thee, Sweet--I love thee as I never loved before."
+She drew back from his embrace, smiling softly; and as she did so the
+golden circlet of the sacred snakes fell, being but loosely set upon her
+brow, and rolled away into the darkness beyond the ring of light.
+
+I saw the omen, and even in the bitter anguish of my heart knew its evil
+import. But these twain took no note.
+
+"Thou lovest me?" she said, most sweetly; "how know I that thou lovest
+me? Perchance it is Fulvia whom thou lovest--Fulvia, thy wedded wife?"
+
+"Nay, it is not Fulvia, 'tis thou, Cleopatra, and thou alone. Many women
+have looked favourably upon me from my boyhood up, but to never a one
+have I known such desire as to thee, O thou Wonder of the World, like
+unto whom no woman ever was! Canst thou love me, Cleopatra, and to me
+be true, not for my place or power, not for that which I can give or can
+withhold, not for the stern music of my legion's tramp, or for the light
+that flows from my bright Star of Fortune; but for myself, for the sake
+of Antony, the rough captain, grown old in camps? Ay, for the sake of
+Antony the reveller, the frail, the unfixed of purpose, but who yet
+never did desert a friend, or rob a poor man, or take an enemy unawares?
+Say, canst thou love me, Egypt? Oh! if thou wilt, why, I am more happy
+than though I sat to-night in the Capitol at Rome crowned absolute
+Monarch of the World!"
+
+And, ever as he spoke, she gazed on him with wonderful eyes, and in them
+shone a light of truth and honesty such as was strange to me.
+
+"Thou speakest plainly," she said, "and thy words are sweet to mine
+ears--they would be sweet, even were things otherwise than they are,
+for what woman would not love to see the world's master at her feet? But
+things being as they are, why, Antony, what can be so sweet as thy sweet
+words? The harbour of his rest to the storm-tossed mariner--surely that
+is sweet! The dream of Heaven's bliss which cheers the poor ascetic
+priest on his path of sacrifice--surely that is sweet! The sight of
+Dawn, the rosy-fingered, coming in his promise to glad the watching
+Earth--surely that is sweet! But, ah! not one of these, nor all dear
+delightful things that are, can match the honey-sweetness of thy words
+to me, O Antony! For thou knowest not--never canst thou know--how drear
+my life hath been, and empty, since thus it is ordained that in love
+only can woman lose her solitude! And I have _never_ loved--never might
+I love--till this happy night! Ay, take me in thy arms, and let us swear
+a great vow of love--an oath that may not be broken while life is in
+us! Behold! Antony! now and for ever I do vow most strict fidelity unto
+thee! Now and for ever I am thine, and thine alone!"
+
+
+
+Then Charmion took me by the hand and drew me thence.
+
+"Hast seen enough?" she asked, when we were once more within the chamber
+and the lamp was lit.
+
+"Yea," I answered; "my eyes are opened."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+OF THE PLAN OF CHARMION; OF THE CONFESSION OF CHARMION; AND OF THE
+ANSWER OF HARMACHIS
+
+For some while I sat with bowed head, and the last bitterness of shame
+sank into my soul. This, then, was the end. For this I had betrayed my
+oaths; for this I had told the secret of the pyramid; for this I had
+lost my Crown, my Honour, and, perchance, my hope of Heaven! Could there
+be another man in the wide world so steeped in sorrow as I was that
+night? Surely not one! Where should I turn? What could I do? And even
+through the tempest of my torn heart the bitter voice of jealousy called
+aloud. For I loved this woman, to whom I had given all; and she at this
+moment--she was----Ah! I could not bear to think of it; and in my utter
+agony, my heart burst in a river of tears such as are terrible to weep!
+
+Then Charmion drew near me, and I saw that she, too, was weeping.
+
+"Weep not, Harmachis!" she sobbed, kneeling at my side. "I cannot endure
+to see thee weep. Oh! why wouldst thou not be warned? Then hadst thou
+been great and happy, and not as now. Listen, Harmachis! Thou didst hear
+what that false and tigerish woman said--to-morrow she hands thee over
+to the murderers!"
+
+"It is well," I gasped.
+
+"Nay: it is not well. Harmachis, give her not this last triumph over
+thee. Thou hast lost all save life: but while life remains, hope remains
+also, and with hope the chance of vengeance."
+
+"Ah!" I said, starting from my seat. "I had not thought of that. Ay--the
+chance of vengeance! It would be sweet to be avenged!"
+
+"It would be sweet, Harmachis, and yet this--Vengeance is an arrow that
+in falling oft pierces him who shot it. Myself--I know it," and she
+sighed. "But a truce to talk and grief. There will be time for us twain
+to grieve, if not to talk, in all the heavy coming years. Thou must
+fly--before the coming of the light must thou fly. Here is a plan.
+To-morrow, ere the dawn, a galley that but yesterday came from
+Alexandria, bearing fruit and stores, sails thither again, and its
+captain is known to me, but to thee he is not known. Now, I will find
+thee the garb of a Syrian merchant, and cloak thee, as I know how, and
+furnish thee with a letter to the captain of the galley. He shall give
+thee passage to Alexandria; for to him thou wilt seem but as a merchant
+going on the business of thy trade. Brennus is officer of the guard
+to-night, and Brennus is a friend to me and thee. Perhaps he will guess
+somewhat; or, perhaps, he will not guess; at the least, the Syrian
+merchant shall safely pass the lines. What sayest thou?"
+
+"It is well," I answered wearily; "little do I reck the issue."
+
+"Rest thou, then, here, Harmachis, while I make these matters ready;
+and, Harmachis, grieve not overmuch; there are others who should grieve
+more heavily than thou." And she went, leaving me alone with my agony
+which rent me like a torture-bed. Had it not been for that fierce desire
+of vengeance which from time to time flashed across my tormented mind
+as the lightning over a midnight sea, methinks my reason had left me
+in that dark hour. At length I heard her footstep at the door, and she
+entered, breathing heavily, for she bore a sack of clothing in her arms.
+
+"It is well," she said: "here is the garb with spare linen, and
+writing-tablets, and all things needful. I have seen Brennus also, and
+told him that a Syrian merchant would pass the guard an hour before the
+dawn. And though he made pretence of sleep, I think he understood, for
+he answered, yawning, that if they but had the pass-word, 'Antony,'
+fifty Syrian merchants might go through about their lawful business. And
+here is the letter to the captain--thou canst not mistake the galley,
+for she is moored along to the right--a small galley, painted black, as
+thou dost enter on the great quay, and, moreover, the sailors make ready
+for sailing. Now I will wait here without, while thou dost put off the
+livery of thy service and array thyself."
+
+When she was gone I tore off my gorgeous garments and spat upon them and
+trod them on the ground. Then I put on the modest robe of a merchant,
+and bound the tablets round me, on my feet the sandals of untanned hide,
+and at my waist the knife. When it was done Charmion entered once again
+and looked on me.
+
+"Too much art thou still the royal Harmachis," she said; "see, it must
+be changed."
+
+Then she took scissors from her tiring-table, and, bidding me be seated,
+she cut off my locks, clipping the hair close to the head. Next she
+found stains of such sort as women use to make dark the eyes, and mixed
+them cunningly, rubbing the stuff on my face and hands and on the white
+mark in my hair where the sword of Brennus had bitten to the bone.
+
+"Now thou art changed--somewhat for the worse, Harmachis," she said,
+with a dreary laugh, "scarce myself should I know thee. Stay, there is
+one more thing," and, going to a chest of garments, she drew thence a
+heavy bag of gold.
+
+"Take thou this," she said; "thou wilt have need of money."
+
+"I cannot take thy gold, Charmion."
+
+"Yes, take it. It was Sepa who gave it to me for the furtherance of
+our cause, and therefore it is fitting that thou shouldst spend it.
+Moreover, if I want money, doubtless Antony, who is henceforth my
+master, will give me more; he is much beholden to me, and this he knows
+well. There, waste not the precious time in haggling o'er the pelf--not
+yet art thou all a merchant, Harmachis;" and, without more words, she
+thrust the pieces into the leather bag that hung across my shoulders.
+Then she made fast the sack containing the spare garments, and, so
+womanly thoughtful was she, placed in it an alabaster jar of pigment,
+with which I might stain my countenance afresh, and, taking the
+broidered robes of my office that I had cast off, hid them in the secret
+passage. And so at last all was made ready.
+
+"Is it time that I should go?," I asked.
+
+"Not yet a while. Be patient, Harmachis, for but one little hour more
+must thou endure my presence, and then, perchance, farewell for ever."
+
+I made a gesture signifying that this was no time for sharp words.
+
+"Forgive me my quick tongue," she said; "but from a salt spring bitter
+waters well. Be seated, Harmachis; I have heavier words to speak to thee
+before thou goest."
+
+"Say on," I answered; "words, however heavy, can move me no more."
+
+She stood before me with folded hands, and the lamp-light shone upon her
+beauteous face. I noticed idly how great was its pallor and how wide
+and dark were the rings about the deep black eyes. Twice she lifted her
+white face and strove to speak, twice her voice failed her; and when at
+last it came it was in a hoarse whisper.
+
+"I cannot let thee go," she said--"I cannot let thee go unwitting of the
+truth.
+
+"_Harmachis, 'twas I who did betray thee!_"
+
+I sprang to my feet, an oath upon my lips; but she caught me by the
+hand.
+
+"Oh, be seated," she said--"be seated and hear me; then, when thou hast
+heard, do to me as thou wilt. Listen. From that evil moment when, in
+the presence of thy uncle Sepa, for the second time I set eyes upon thy
+face, I loved thee--how much, thou canst little guess. Think upon
+thine own love for Cleopatra, and double it, and double it again, and
+perchance thou mayst come near to my love's mighty sum. I loved thee,
+day by day I loved thee more, till in thee and for thee alone I seemed
+to live. But thou wast cold--thou wast worse than cold! thou didst deal
+with me not as a breathing woman, but rather as the instrument to an
+end--as a tool with which to grave thy fortunes. And then I saw--yes,
+long before thou knewest it thyself--thy heart's tide was setting strong
+towards that ruinous shore whereon to-day thy life is broken. And at
+last that night came, that dreadful night when, hid within the chamber,
+I saw thee cast my kerchief to the winds, and with sweet words cherish
+my royal Rival's gift. Then--oh, thou knowest--in my pain I betrayed
+the secret that thou wouldst not see, and thou didst make a mock of me,
+Harmachis! Oh! the shame of it--thou in thy foolishness didst make a
+mock of me! I went thence, and within me were rising all the torments
+which can tear a woman's heart, for now I was sure that thou didst love
+Cleopatra! Ay, and so mad was I, even that night I was minded to betray
+thee: but I thought--not yet, not yet; to-morrow he may soften. Then
+came the morrow, and all was ready for the bursting of the great plot
+that should make thee Pharaoh. And I too came--thou dost remember--and
+again thou didst put me away when I spake to thee in parables, as
+something of little worth--as a thing too small to claim a moment's
+weighty thought. And, knowing that this was because--though thou knewest
+it not--thou didst love Cleopatra, whom now thou must straightway slay,
+I grew mad, and a wicked Spirit entered into me, possessing me utterly,
+so that I was myself no longer, nor could control myself. And because
+thou hadst scorned me, I did this, to my everlasting shame and
+sorrow!--I passed into Cleopatra's presence and betrayed thee and those
+with thee, and our holy cause, saying that I had found a writing which
+thou hadst let fall and read all this therein."
+
+I gasped and sat silent; and gazing sadly at me she went on:
+
+"When she understood how great was the plot, and how deep its roots,
+Cleopatra was much troubled; and, at first, she would have fled to Sais
+or taken ship and run for Cyprus, but I showed her that the ways were
+barred. Then she said she would cause thee to be slain, there, in the
+chamber, and I left her so believing; for, at that hour, I was glad that
+thou shouldst be slain--ay, even if I wept out my heart upon thy grave,
+Harmachis. But what said I just now?--Vengeance is an arrow that oft
+falls on him who looses it. So it was with me; for between my going and
+thy coming Cleopatra hatched a deeper plan. She feared that to slay thee
+would only be to light a fiercer fire of revolt; but she saw that to
+bind thee to her, and, having left men awhile in doubt, to show thee
+faithless, would strike the imminent danger at its roots and wither
+it. This plot once formed, being great, she dared its doubtful issue,
+and--need I go on? Thou knowest, Harmachis, how she won; and thus the
+shaft of vengeance that I loosed fell upon my own head. For on the
+morrow I knew that I had sinned for naught, that the burden of my
+betrayal had been laid on the wretched Paulus, and that I had but ruined
+the cause to which I was sworn and given the man I loved to the arms of
+wanton Egypt."
+
+She bowed her head awhile, and then, as I spoke not, once more went on:
+
+"Let all my sin be told, Harmachis, and then let justice come. See now,
+this thing happened. Half did Cleopatra learn to love thee, and deep in
+her heart she bethought her of taking thee to wedded husband. For the
+sake of this half love of hers she spared the lives of those in the plot
+whom she had meshed, bethinking her that if she wedded thee she might
+use them and thee to draw the heart of Egypt, which loves not her nor
+any Ptolemy. And then, once again she entrapped thee, and in thy folly
+thou didst betray to her the secret of the hidden wealth of Egypt, which
+to-day she squanders to delight the luxurious Antony; and, of a truth,
+at that time she purposed to make good her oath and marry thee. But on
+the very morn when Dellius came for answer she sent for me, and telling
+me all--for my wit, above any, she holds at price--demanded of me my
+judgment whether she should defy Antony and wed thee, or whether she
+should put the thought away and come to Antony. And I--now mark thou all
+my sin--I, in my bitter jealousy, rather than I would see her thy wedded
+wife and thou her loving lord, counselled her most strictly that
+she should come to Antony, well knowing--for I had had speech with
+Dellius--that if she came, this weak Antony would fall like a ripe fruit
+at her feet, as, indeed, he has fallen. And but now I have shown thee
+the issue of the scheme. Antony loves Cleopatra and Cleopatra loves
+Antony, and thou art robbed, and matters have gone well for me, who of
+all women on the earth to-night am the wretchedest by far. For when I
+saw how thy heart broke but now, my heart seemed to break with thine,
+and I could no longer bear the burden of my evil deeds, but knew that I
+must tell them and take my punishment.
+
+"And now, Harmachis, I have no more to say; save that I thank thee for
+thy courtesy in hearkening, and this one thing I add. Driven by my great
+love I have sinned against thee unto death! I have ruined thee, I have
+ruined Khem, and myself also I have ruined! Let death reward me! Slay
+thou me, Harmachis--I will gladly die upon thy sword; ay, and kiss its
+blade! Slay thou me and go; for if thou slayest me not, myself I will
+surely slay!" And she threw herself upon her knees, lifting her fair
+breast toward me, that I might smite her with my dagger. And, in my
+bitter fury, I was minded to strike; for, above all, I thought how,
+when I was fallen, this woman, who herself was my cause of shame, had
+scourged me with her whip of scorn. But it is hard to slay a fair woman;
+and, even as I lifted my hand to strike, I remembered that she had now
+twice saved my life.
+
+"Woman! thou shameless woman!" I said, "arise! I slay thee not! Who am
+I, that I should judge thy crime, that, with mine own, doth overtop all
+earthly judgment?"
+
+"Slay me, Harmachis!" she moaned; "slay me, or I slay myself! My burden
+is too great for me to bear! Be not so deadly calm! Curse me, and slay!"
+
+"What was it that thou didst say to me just now, Charmion--that as I had
+sown so I must reap? It is not lawful that thou shouldst slay thyself;
+it is not lawful that I, thine equal in sin, should slay thee because
+through thee I sinned. As _thou_ hast sown, Charmion, so must _thou_
+also reap. Base woman! whose cruel jealousy has brought all these woes
+on me and Egypt, live--live on, and from year to year pluck the bitter
+fruit of crime! Haunted be thy sleep by visions of thy outraged Gods,
+whose vengeance awaits thee and me in their dim Amenti! Haunted be thy
+days by memories of that man whom thy fierce love brought to shame and
+ruin, and by the sight of Khem a prey to the insatiate Cleopatra and a
+slave to Roman Antony."
+
+"Oh, speak not thus, Harmachis! Thy words are sharper than any sword;
+and more surely, if more slowly, shall they slay! Listen, Harmachis,"
+and she grasped my robe: "when thou wast great, and all power lay within
+thy grasp, thou didst reject me. Wilt reject me now that Cleopatra hast
+cast thee from her--now that thou art poor and shamed and with no pillow
+to thy head? Still am I fair, and still I worship thee. Let me fly with
+thee, and make atonement for my lifelong love. Or, if this be too great
+a thing to ask, let me be but as thy sister and thy servant--thy very
+slave, so that I may still look upon thy face, and share thy trouble
+and minister to thee. O Harmachis, let me but come and I will brave all
+things and endure all things, and nothing but Death himself shall stay
+me from thy side. For I do believe that the love that sank me to so low
+a depth, dragging thee with me, can yet lift me to an equal height, and
+thee with me!"
+
+"Wouldst tempt me to fresh sin, woman? And dost thou think, Charmion,
+that in some hovel where I must hide, I could bear, day by day, to look
+upon thy fair face, and seeing, remember that those lips betrayed me?
+Not thus easily shalt thou atone! This I know even now: many and heavy
+shall be thy lonely days of penance! Perchance that hour of vengeance
+yet may come, and perchance thou shalt live to play thy part in it. Thou
+must still abide in the Court of Cleopatra; and, while thou art there,
+if I yet live, I will from time to time find means to give thee tidings.
+Perhaps a day may dawn when once more I shall need thy service. Now,
+swear that, in this event, thou wilt not fail me a second time."
+
+"I swear, Harmachis!--I swear! May everlasting torments, too hideous to
+be dreamed--more hideous, even, by far, than those that wring me now--be
+my portion if I fail thee in one jot or tittle--ay, though I wait a
+lifetime for thy word!"
+
+"It is well; see that thou keep the oath--not twice may we betray. I go
+to work out my fate; abide thou to work out thine. Perchance our divers
+threads will once more mingle ere the web be spun. Charmion, who unasked
+didst love me--and who, prompted by that gentle love of thine, didst
+betray and ruin me--fare thee well!"
+
+She gazed wildly upon my face--she stretched out her arms as though to
+clasp me; then, in the agony of her despair, she cast herself at length
+and grovelled upon the ground.
+
+I took up the sack of clothing and the staff and gained the door, and,
+as I passed it, I threw one last glance upon her. There she lay, with
+arms outstretched--more white than her white robes--her dark hair
+streaming about her, and her fair brows hidden in the dust.
+
+And thus I left her, nor did I again set my eyes upon her till nine long
+years had come and gone.
+
+[Here ends the second and largest roll of papyrus.]
+
+
+
+
+BOOK III--THE VENGEANCE OF HARMACHIS
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+OF THE ESCAPE OF HARMACHIS FROM TARSUS; OF HIS BEING CAST FORTH AS AN
+OFFERING TO THE GODS OF THE SEA; OF HIS SOJOURN IN THE ISLE OF CYPRUS;
+OF HIS RETURN TO ABOUTHIS; AND OF THE DEATH OF AMENEMHAT
+
+I made my way down the stair in safety, and presently stood in the
+courtyard of that great house. It was but an hour from dawn, and none
+were stirring. The last reveller had drunk his fill, the dancing-girls
+had ceased their dancing, and silence lay upon the city. I drew near the
+gate, and was challenged by an officer who stood on guard, wrapped in a
+heavy cloak.
+
+"Who passes," said the voice of Brennus.
+
+"A merchant, may it please you, Sir, who, having brought gifts from
+Alexandria to a lady of the Queen's household, and, having been
+entertained of the lady, now departs to his galley," I answered in a
+feigned voice.
+
+"Umph!" he growled. "The ladies of the Queen's household keep their
+guests late. Well; it is a time of festival. The pass-word, Sir
+Shopkeeper? Without the pass-word you must needs return and crave the
+lady's further hospitality."
+
+"'_Antony_,' Sir; and a right good word, too. Ah! I've wandered far, and
+never saw I so goodly a man or so great a general. And, mark you, Sir!
+I've travelled far, and seen many generals."
+
+"Ay; '_Antony_''s the word! And Antony is a good general in his
+way--when it is a sober way, and when he cannot find a skirt to follow.
+I've served with Antony--and against him, too; and know his points.
+Well, well; he's got an armful now!"
+
+And all this while that he was holding me in talk, the sentry had been
+pacing to and fro before the gate. But now he moved a little way to the
+right, leaving the entrance clear.
+
+"Fare thee well, Harmachis, and begone!" whispered Brennus, leaning
+forward and speaking quickly. "Linger not. But at times bethink thee of
+Brennus who risked his neck to save thine. Farewell, lad, I would that
+we were sailing North together," and he turned his back upon me and
+began to hum a tune.
+
+"Farewell, Brennus, thou honest man," I answered, and was gone. And, as
+I heard long afterwards, when on the morrow the hue and cry was
+raised because the murderers could not find me, though they sought me
+everywhere to slay me, Brennus did me a service. For he swore that as
+he kept his watch alone an hour after midnight he saw me come and stand
+upon the parapet of the roof, that then I stretched out my robes
+and they became wings on which I floated up to Heaven, leaving him
+astonished. And all those about the Court lent ear to this history,
+believing in it, because of the great fame of my magic; and they
+wondered much what the marvel might portend. The tale also travelled
+into Egypt, and did much to save my good name among those whom I had
+betrayed; for the more ignorant among them believed that I acted not
+of my will, but of the will of the dread Gods, who of their own purpose
+wafted me into Heaven. And thus to this day the saying runs that "_When
+Harmachis comes again Egypt shall be free._" But alas, Harmachis comes
+no more! Only Cleopatra, though she was much afraid, doubted her of the
+tale, and sent an armed vessel to search for the Syrian merchant, but
+not to find him, as shall be told.
+
+
+
+When I reached the galley of which Charmion had spoken, I found her
+about to sail, and gave the writing to the captain, who conned it,
+looking on me curiously, but said nothing.
+
+So I went aboard, and immediately we dropped swiftly down the river with
+the current. And having come to the mouth of the river unchallenged,
+though we passed many vessels, we put out to sea with a strong favouring
+wind that before night freshened to a great gale. Then the sailor men,
+being much afraid, would have put about and run for the mouth of Cydnus
+again, but could not because of the wildness of the sea. All that night
+it blew furiously, and by dawn our mast was carried away, and we rolled
+helplessly in the trough of the great waves. But I sat wrapped in a
+cloak, little heeding; and because I showed no fear the sailors cried
+out that I was a wizard, and sought to cast me into the sea, but the
+captain would not. At dawn the wind slackened, but ere noon it once more
+blew in terrible fury, and at the fourth hour from noon we came in sight
+of the rocky coast of that cape in the island of Cyprus which is called
+Dinaretum, where is a mountain named Olympus, and thither-wards we
+drifted swiftly. Then, when the sailors saw the terrible rocks, and how
+the great waves that smote on them spouted up in foam, once more they
+grew much afraid, and cried out in their fear. For, seeing that I still
+sat unmoved, they swore that I certainly was a wizard, and came to
+cast me forth as a sacrifice to the Gods of the sea. And this time the
+captain was over-ruled, and said nothing. Therefore, when they came to
+me I rose and defied them, saying, "Cast me forth, if ye will; but if ye
+cast me forth ye shall perish."
+
+For in my heart I cared little, having no more any love of life,
+but rather a desire to die, though I greatly feared to pass into the
+presence of my Holy Mother Isis. But my weariness and sorrow at the
+bitterness of my lot overcame even this heavy fear; so that when, being
+mad as brute beasts, they seized me and, lifting me, hurled me into the
+raging waters, I did but utter one prayer to Isis and made ready for
+death. But it was fated that I should not die; for, when I rose to the
+surface of the water, I saw a spar of wood floating near me, to which I
+swam and clung. And a great wave came and swept me, riding, as it were,
+upon the spar, as when a boy I had learned to do in the waters of the
+Nile, past the bulwarks of the galley where the fierce-faced sailors
+clustered to see me drown. And when they saw me come mounted on the
+wave, cursing them as I came, and saw, too, that the colour of my
+face had changed--for the salt water had washed way the pigment, they
+shrieked with fear and threw themselves down upon the deck. And within a
+very little while, as I rode toward the rocky coast, a great wave poured
+into the vessel, that rolled broadside on, and pressed her down into the
+deep, whence she rose no more.
+
+So she sank with all her crew. And in that same storm also sank the
+galley which Cleopatra had sent to search for the Syrian merchant. Thus
+all traces of me were lost, and of a surety she believed that I was
+dead.
+
+But I rode on toward the shore. The wind shrieked and the salt waves
+lashed my face as, alone with the tempest, I rushed upon my way, while
+the sea-birds screamed about my head. I felt no fear, but rather a wild
+uplifting of the heart; and in the stress of my imminent peril the love
+of life seemed to waken again. And so I plunged and drifted, now tossed
+high toward the lowering clouds, now cast into the deep valleys of the
+sea, till at length the rocky headland loomed before me, and I saw the
+breakers smite upon the stubborn rocks, and through the screaming of
+the wind heard the sullen thunder of their fall and the groan of stones
+sucked seaward from the beach. On! high-throned upon the mane of a
+mighty billow--fifty cubits beneath me the level of the hissing waters;
+above me the inky sky! It was done! The spar was torn from me, and,
+dragged downwards by the weight of the bag of gold and the clinging of
+my garments, I sank struggling furiously.
+
+Now I was under--the green light for a moment streamed through the
+waters, and then came darkness, and on the darkness pictures of the
+past. Picture after picture--all the long scene of life was written
+here. Then in my ears I only heard the song of the nightingale, the
+murmur of the summer sea, and the music of Cleopatra's laugh of victory,
+following me softly and yet more soft as I sank away to sleep.
+
+
+
+Once more my life came back, and with it a sense of deadly sickness and
+of aching pain. I opened my eyes and saw a kind face bending over me,
+and knew that I was in the room of a builded house.
+
+"How came I hither?" I asked faintly.
+
+"Of a truth, Poseidon brought thee, Stranger," answered a rough voice
+in barbarous Greek; "we found thee cast high upon the beach like a dead
+dolphin and brought thee to our house, for we are fisher-folk. And here,
+methinks, thou must lie a while, for thy left leg is broken by the force
+of the waves."
+
+I strove to move my foot and could not. It was true, the bone was broken
+above the knee.
+
+"Who art thou, and how art thou named?" asked the rough-bearded sailor.
+
+"I am an Egyptian traveller whose ship has sunk in the fury of the gale,
+and I am named Olympus," I answered, for these people called a mountain
+that we had sighted Olympus, and therefore I took the name at hazard.
+And as Olympus I was henceforth known.
+
+Here with these rough fisher-folk I abode for the half of a year, paying
+them a little out of the sum of gold that had come safely ashore upon
+me. For it was long before my bones grew together again, and then I was
+left somewhat of a cripple; for I, who had been so tall and straight and
+strong, now limped--one limb being shorter than the other. And after I
+recovered from my hurt, I still lived there, and toiled with them at the
+trade of fishing; for I knew not whither I should go or what I should
+do, and, for a while, I was fain to become a peasant fisherman, and so
+wear my weary life away. And these people entreated me kindly, though,
+as others, they feared me much, holding me to be a wizard brought hither
+by the sea. For my sorrows had stamped so strange an aspect on my face
+that men gazing at me grew fearful of what lay beneath its calm.
+
+There, then, I abode, till at length, one night as I lay and strove to
+sleep, great restlessness came upon me, and a mighty desire once more to
+see the face of Sihor. But whether this desire was of the Gods or born
+of my own heart, not knowing, I cannot tell. So strong was it, at the
+least, that before it was dawn I rose from my bed of straw and
+clothed myself in my fisher garb, and, because I had no wish to answer
+questions, thus I took farewell of my humble hosts. First I placed some
+pieces of gold on the well-cleaned table of wood, and then taking a pot
+of flour I strewed it in the form of letters, writing:
+
+"This gift from Olympus, the Egyptian, who returns into the sea."
+
+Then I went, and on the third day I came to the great city of Salamis,
+that is also on the sea. Here I abode in the fishermen's quarters till
+a vessel was about to sail for Alexandria, and to the captain of this
+vessel, a man of Paphos, I hired myself as a sailor. We sailed with a
+favouring wind, and on the fifth day I came to Alexandria, that hateful
+city, and saw the light dancing on its golden domes.
+
+Here I might not abide. So again I hired myself out as a sailor, giving
+my labour in return for passage, and we passed up the Nile. And I
+learned from the talk of men that Cleopatra had come back to Alexandria,
+drawing Antony with her and that they lived together with royal state
+in the palace on the Lochias. Indeed, the boatmen already had a song
+thereon, which they sang as they laboured at the oar. Also I heard how
+the galley that was sent to search for the vessel which carried the
+Syrian merchant had foundered with all her crew, and the tale that the
+Queen's astronomer, Harmachis, had flown to Heaven from the roof of the
+house at Tarsus. And the sailors wondered because I sat and laboured and
+would not sing their ribald song of the loves of Cleopatra. For they,
+too, began to fear me, and mutter concerning me among themselves. Then
+I knew that I was a man accursed and set apart--a man whom none might
+love.
+
+On the sixth day we drew nigh to Abouthis, where I left the craft, and
+the sailors were right glad to see me go. And, with a breaking heart, I
+walked through the fertile fields, seeing faces that I knew well. But in
+my rough disguise and limping gait none knew me. At length, as the sun
+sank, I came near to the great outer pylon of the temple; and here I
+crouched down in the ruins of a house, not knowing why I had come or
+what I was about to do. Like a lost ox I had strayed from far, back to
+the fields of my birth, and for what? If my father, Amenemhat, still
+lived, surely he would turn his face from me. I dared not go into the
+presence of my father. I sat hidden there among the broken rafters, and
+idly watched the pylon gates, to see if, perchance, a face I knew should
+issue from them. But none came forth or entered in, though the great
+gates stood wide; and then I saw that herbs were growing between the
+stones, where no herbs had grown for ages. What could this be? Was the
+temple deserted? Nay; how could the worship of the eternal Gods have
+ceased, that for thousands of years had, day by day, been offered in the
+holy place? Was, then, my father dead? It well might be. And yet, why
+this silence? Where were the priests: where the worshippers?
+
+I could bear the doubt no more, but as the sun sank red I crept like a
+hunted jackal through the open gates, and on till I reached the first
+great Hall of Pillars. Here I paused and gazed around me--not a sight,
+not a sound, in the dim and holy place! I went on with a beating heart
+to the second great hall, the hall of six-and-thirty pillars where I
+had been crowned Lord of all the Lands: still not a sight or a sound!
+Thence, half fearful of my own footfall, so terribly did it echo in the
+silence of the deserted Holies, I passed down the passage of the names
+of the Pharaohs towards my father's chamber. The curtain still swung
+over the doorway; but what would there be within?--also emptiness? I
+lifted it, and noiselessly passed in, and there in his carven chair
+at the table on which his long white beard flowed, sat my father,
+Amenemhat, clad in his priestly robes. At first I thought that he was
+dead, he sat so still; but at length he turned his head, and I saw that
+his eyes were white and sightless. He was blind, and his face was thin
+as the face of a dead man, and woeful with age and grief.
+
+I stood still and felt the blind eyes wandering over me. I could not
+speak to him--I dared not speak to him; I would go and hide myself
+afresh.
+
+I had already turned and grasped the curtain, when my father spoke in a
+deep, slow voice:
+
+"Come hither, thou who wast my son and art a traitor. Come hither, thou
+Harmachis, on whom Khem builded up her hope. Not in vain, then, have I
+drawn thee from far away! Not in vain have I held my life in me till I
+heard thy footfall creeping down these empty Holies, like the footfall
+of a thief!"
+
+"Oh! my father," I gasped, astonished. "Thou art blind: how knowest thou
+me?"
+
+"How do I know thee?--and askest thou that who hast learned of our lore?
+Enough, I know thee and I brought thee hither. Would, Harmachis, that I
+knew thee not! Would that I had been blasted of the Invisible ere I drew
+thee down from the womb of Nout, to be my curse and shame, and the last
+woe of Khem!"
+
+"Oh, speak not thus!" I moaned; "is not my burden already more than I
+can bear? Am I not myself betrayed and utterly outcast? Be pitiful, my
+father!"
+
+"Be pitiful!--be pitiful to thee who hast shown so great pity? It
+was thy pity which gave up noble Sepa to die beneath the hands of the
+tormentors!"
+
+"Oh, not that--not that!" I cried.
+
+"Ay, traitor, that!--to die in agony, with his last poor breath
+proclaiming thee, his murderer, honest and innocent! Be pitiful to
+thee, who gavest all the flower of Khem as the price of a wanton's
+arms!--thinkest thou that, labouring in the darksome desert mines, those
+noble ones in thought are pitiful to thee, Harmachis? Be pitiful to
+thee, by whom this Holy Temple of Abouthis hath been ravaged, its lands
+seized, its priests scattered, and I alone, old and withered, left to
+count out its ruin--to thee, who hast poured the treasures of _Her_ into
+thy leman's lap, who hast forsworn Thyself, thy Country, thy Birthright,
+and thy Gods! Yea, thus am I pitiful: Accursed be thou, fruit of my
+loins!--Shame be thy portion, Agony thy end, and Hell receive thee at
+the last! Where art thou? Yea, I grew blind with weeping when I heard
+the truth--sure, they strove to hide it from me. Let me find thee that I
+may spit upon thee, thou Renegade! thou Apostate! thou Outcast!"--and he
+rose from his seat and staggered like a living Wrath toward me, smiting
+the air with his wand. And as he came with outstretched arms, awful to
+see, suddenly his end found him, and with a cry he sank down upon the
+ground, the red blood streaming from his lips. I ran to him and lifted
+him; and as he died, he babbled:
+
+"He was my son, a bright-eyed lovely boy, and full of promise as the
+Spring; and now--and now--oh, would that he were dead!"
+
+Then came a pause and the breath rattled in his throat.
+
+"Harmachis," he gasped, "art there?"
+
+"Yea, father."
+
+"Harmachis, atone!--atone! Vengeance can still be wreaked--forgiveness
+may still be won. There's gold; I've hidden it--Atoua--she can tell
+thee--ah, this pain! Farewell!"
+
+And he struggled faintly in my arms and was dead.
+
+
+
+Thus, then, did I and my holy father, the Prince Amenemhat, meet
+together for the last time in the flesh, and for the last time part.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+OF THE LAST MISERY OF HARMACHIS; OF THE CALLING DOWN OF THE HOLY ISIS BY
+THE WORD OF FEAR; OF THE PROMISE OF ISIS; OF THE COMING OF ATOUA, AND OF
+THE WORDS OF ATOUA
+
+I crouched upon the floor gazing at the dead body of my father, who had
+lived to curse me, the utterly accursed, while the darkness crept and
+gathered round us, till at length the dead and I were alone in the black
+silence. Oh, how tell the misery of that hour! Imagination cannot dream
+it, nor words paint it forth. Once more in my wretchedness I bethought
+me of death. A knife was at my girdle, with which I might cut the thread
+of sorrow and set my spirit free. Free? ay, free to fly and face the
+last vengeance of the Holy Gods! Alas! and alas! I did not dare to die.
+Better the earth with all its woes than the quick approach of those
+unimagined terrors that, hovering in dim Amenti, wait the advent of the
+fallen.
+
+I grovelled on the ground and wept tears of agony for the lost
+unchanging past--wept till I could weep no more; but no answer came from
+the silence--no answer but the echoes of my grief. Not a ray of hope! My
+soul wandered in a darkness more utter than that which was about me--I
+was forsaken of the Gods and cast out of men. Terror took hold upon me
+crouching in that lonely place hard by the majesty of the awful Dead. I
+rose to fly. How could I fly in this gloom?--And where should I fly who
+had no place of refuge? Once more I crouched down, and the great fear
+grew on me till the cold sweat ran from my brow and my soul was faint
+within me. Then, in my last despair, I prayed aloud to Isis, to whom I
+had not dared to pray for many days.
+
+"O Isis! Holy Mother!" I cried; "put away Thy wrath, and of Thine
+infinite pity, O Thou all-pitiful, hearken to the voice of the anguish
+of him who was Thy son and servant, but who by sin hath fallen from the
+vision of Thy love. O throned Glory, who, being in all things, hast of
+all things understanding and of all griefs knowledge, cast the weight
+of Thy mercy against the scale of my evil-doing, and make the balance
+equal. Look down upon my woe, and measure it; count up the sum of my
+repentance and take Thou note of the flood of sorrow that sweeps my soul
+away. O Thou Holy, whom it was given to me to look upon face to face,
+by that dread hour of commune I summon Thee; I summon Thee by the mystic
+word. Come, then, in mercy, to save me; or, in anger, to make an end of
+that which can no more be borne."
+
+And, rising from my knees, I stretched out my arms and dared to cry
+aloud the Word of Fear, to use which unworthily is death.
+
+Swiftly the answer came. For in the silence I heard the sound of the
+shaken sistra heralding the coming of the Glory. Then, at the far end of
+the chamber, grew the semblance of the horned moon, gleaming faintly in
+the darkness, and betwixt the golden horns rested a small dark cloud, in
+and out of which the fiery serpent climbed.
+
+My knees waxed loose in the presence of the Glory, and I sank down
+before it.
+
+Then spake the small, sweet Voice within the cloud:
+
+"Harmachis, who wast my servant and my son, I have heard thy prayer, and
+the summons that thou hast dared to utter, which on the lips of one with
+whom I have communed, hath power to draw Me from the Uttermost. No more,
+Harmachis, may we be one in the bond of Love Divine, for thou hast put
+Me away of thine own act. Therefore, after this long silence I come,
+Harmachis, clothed in terrors, and, perchance, ready for vengeance, for
+not lightly can Isis be drawn from the halls of Her Divinity."
+
+"Smite, Goddess!" I answered. "Smite, and give me over to those who
+wreak Thy vengeance; for I can no longer bear the burden of my woe!"
+
+"And if thou canst not bear thy burden here, upon this upper earth,"
+came the soft reply, "how then shalt thou bear the greater burden that
+shall be laid upon thee there, coming defiled and yet unpurified into my
+dim realm of Death, that is Life and Change unending? Nay, Harmachis, I
+smite thee not, for not all am I wroth that thou hast dared to utter
+the awful Word which calls Me down to thee. Hearken, Harmachis; I praise
+not, and I reproach not, for I am the Minister of Reward and Punishment
+and the Executrix of Decrees; and if I give, I give in silence; and if I
+smite, in silence do I smite. Therefore, I will add naught to thy burden
+by the weight of heavy words, though through thee it has come to pass
+that soon shall Isis, the Mother-Mystery, be but a memory in Egypt. Thou
+hast sinned, and heavy shall be thy punishment, as I did warn thee, both
+in the flesh and in my kingdom of Amenti. But I told thee that there is
+a road of repentance, and surely thy feet are set thereon, and therein
+must thou walk with a humble heart, eating of the bread of bitterness,
+till such time as thy doom be measured."
+
+"Have I, then, no hope, O holy?"
+
+"That which is done, Harmachis, is done, nor can its issues be altered.
+Khem shall no more be free till all its temples are as the desert dust;
+strange Peoples shall, from age to age, hold her hostage and in bonds;
+new Religions shall arise and wither within the shadow of her pyramids,
+for to every World, Race, and Age the countenances of the Gods are
+changed. This is the tree that shall spring from thy seed of sin,
+Harmachis, and from the sin of those who tempted thee!"
+
+"Alas! I am undone!" I cried.
+
+"Yea, thou art undone; and yet shall this be given to thee: thy
+Destroyer thou shalt destroy--for so, in the purpose of my justice, it
+is ordained. When the sign comes to thee, arise, go to Cleopatra, and
+in such manner as I shall put into thy heart do Heaven's vengeance
+upon her! And now for thyself one word, for thou hast put Me from thee,
+Harmachis, and no more shall I come face to face with thee till, cycles
+hence, the last fruit of thy sin hath ceased to be upon this earth! Yet,
+through the vastness of the unnumbered years, remember thou this: the
+Love Divine is Love Eternal, which cannot be extinguished, though it be
+everlastingly estranged. Repent, my son; repent and do well while
+there is yet time, that at the dim end of ages thou mayest once more
+be gathered unto Me. Still, Harmachis, though thou seest Me not; still,
+when the very name by which thou knowest Me has become a meaningless
+mystery to those who shall be after thee; still I, whose hours are
+eternal--I, who have watched Universes wither, wane, and, beneath the
+breath of Time, melt into nothingness; again to gather, and, re-born,
+thread the maze of space--still, I say, I shall companion thee. Wherever
+thou goest, in whatever form of life thou livest, there I shall be! Art
+thou wafted to the farthest star, art thou buried in Amenti's lowest
+deep--in lives, in deaths, in sleeps, in wakings, in remembrances, in
+oblivions, in all the fevers of the outer Life, in all the changes of
+the Spirit--still, if thou wilt but atone and forget Me no more, I shall
+be with thee, waiting thine hour of redemption. For this is the nature
+of Love Divine, wherewith it loves that which partakes of its divinity
+and by the holy tie hath once been bound to it. Judge then, Harmachis:
+was it well to put this from thee to win the dust of earthly woman? And,
+now, dare not again to utter the Word of Power till these things are
+done! Harmachis, for this season, fare thee well!"
+
+
+
+As the last note of the sweet Voice died away, the fiery snake climbed
+into the heart of the cloud. Now the cloud rolled from the horns of
+light, and was gathered into the blackness. The vision of the crescent
+moon grew dim and vanished. Then, as the Goddess passed, once more came
+the faint and dreadful music of the shaken sistra, and all was still.
+
+I hid my face in my robe, and even then, though my outstretched hand
+could touch the chill corpse of that father who had died cursing me,
+I felt hope come back into my heart, knowing that I was not altogether
+lost nor utterly rejected of Her whom I had forsaken, but whom I yet
+loved. And then weariness overpowered me, and I slept.
+
+
+
+I woke, the faint lights of dawn were creeping from the opening in the
+roof. Ghastly they lay upon the shadowy sculptured walls and ghastly
+upon the dead face and white beard of my father, the gathered to Osiris.
+I started up, remembering all things, and wondering in my heart what
+I should do, and as I rose I heard a faint footfall creeping down the
+passage of the names of the Pharaohs.
+
+"_La! La! La!_" mumbled a voice that I knew for the voice of the old
+wife, Atoua. "Why, 'tis dark as the House of the Dead! The Holy Ones
+who built this Temple loved not the blessed sun, however much they
+worshipped him. Now, where's the curtain?"
+
+Presently it was drawn, and Atoua entered, a stick in one hand and a
+basket in the other. Her face was somewhat more wrinkled, and her scanty
+locks were somewhat whiter than aforetime, but for the rest she was
+as she had ever been. She stood and peered around with her sharp black
+eyes, for as yet she could see nothing because of the shadows.
+
+"Now where is he?" she muttered. "Osiris--glory to His name--send that
+he has not wandered in the night, and he blind! Alack! that I could not
+return before the dark. Alack! and alack! what times have we fallen on,
+when the Holy High Priest and the Governor, by descent, of Abouthis, is
+left with one aged crone to minister to his infirmity! O Harmachis, my
+poor boy, thou hast laid trouble at our doors! Why, what's this? Surely
+he sleeps not, there upon the ground?--'twill be his death! Prince! Holy
+Father! Amenemhat! awake, arise!" and she hobbled towards the
+corpse. "Why, how is it! By Him who sleeps, he's dead! untended and
+alone--_dead! dead!_" and she sent her long wail of grief ringing up the
+sculptured walls.
+
+"Hush! woman, be still!" I said, gliding from the shadows.
+
+"Oh, what art thou?" she cried, casting down her basket. "Wicked man,
+hast thou murdered this Holy One, the only Holy One in Egypt? Surely the
+curse will fall on thee, for though the Gods do seem to have forsaken us
+now in our hour of trial, yet is their arm long, and certainly they will
+be avenged on him who hath slain their anointed!"
+
+"Look on me, Atoua," I cried.
+
+"Look! ay, I look--thou wicked wanderer who hast dared this cruel deed!
+Harmachis is a traitor and lost far away, and Amenemhat his holy father
+is murdered, and now I'm all alone without kith or kin. I gave them for
+him. I gave them for Harmachis, the traitor! Come, slay me also, thou
+wicked one!"
+
+I took a step toward her, and she, thinking that I was about to smite
+her, cried out in fear:
+
+"Nay, good Sir, spare me! Eighty and six, by the Holy Ones, eighty and
+six, come next flood of Nile, and yet I would not die, though Osiris is
+merciful to the old who served him! Come no nearer--help! help!"
+
+"Thou fool, be silent," I said; "knowest thou me not?"
+
+"Know thee? Can I know every wandering boatman to whom Sebek grants
+to earn a livelihood till Typhon claims his own? And yet--why, 'tis
+strange--that changed countenance!--that scar!--that stumbling gait! It
+is thou, Harmachis!--'tis thou, O my boy! Art come back to glad mine old
+eyes? I hoped thee dead! Let me kiss thee?--nay, I forget. Harmachis is
+a traitor, ay, and a murderer! Here lies the holy Amenemhat, murdered by
+the traitor, Harmachis! Get thee gone! I'll have none of traitors and of
+parricides! Get thee to thy wanton!--it is not thou whom I did nurse."
+
+"Peace! woman; peace! I slew not my father--he died, alas!--he died even
+in my arms."
+
+"Ay, surely, and cursing thee, Harmachis! Thou hast given death to him
+who gave thee life! _La! la!_ I am old, and I've seen many a trouble;
+but this is the heaviest of them all! I never liked the looks of
+mummies; but I would I were one this hour! Get thee gone, I pray thee!"
+
+"Old nurse, reproach me not! Have I not enough to bear?"
+
+"Ah! yes, yes!--I did forget! Well; and what is thy sin? A woman was
+thy bane, as women have been to those before thee, and shall be to those
+after thee. And what a woman! _La! la!_ I saw her, a beauty such as
+never was--an arrow pointed by the evil Gods for destruction! And thou,
+a young man bred as a priest--an ill training--a very ill training!
+'Twas no fair match. Who can wonder that she mastered thee? Come,
+Harmachis; let me kiss thee! It is not for a woman to be hard on a man
+because he loved our sex too much. Why, that is but nature; and Nature
+knows her business, else she had made us otherwise. But here is an evil
+case. Knowest thou that this Macedonian Queen of thine hath seized the
+temple lands and revenues, and driven away the priests--all, save the
+holy Amenemhat, who lies here, and whom she left, I know not why; ay,
+and caused the worship of the Gods to cease within these walls. Well,
+he's gone!--he's gone! and indeed he is better with Osiris, for his life
+was a sore burden to him. And hark thou, Harmachis: he hath not left
+thee empty-handed; for, so soon as the plot failed, he gathered all his
+wealth, and it is large, and hid it--where, I can show thee--and it is
+thine by right of descent."
+
+"Talk not to me of wealth, Atoua. Where shall I go and how shall I hide
+my shame?"
+
+"Ah! true, true; here mayst thou not abide, for if they found thee,
+surely they would put thee to the dreadful death--ay, to the death by
+the waxen cloth. Nay, I will hide thee, and, when the funeral rites of
+the holy Amenemhat have been performed, we will fly hence, and cover us
+from the eyes of men till these sorrows are forgotten. _La! la!_ it is a
+sad world, and full of trouble as the Nile mud is full of beetles. Come,
+Harmachis, come."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+OF THE LIFE OF HIM WHO WAS NAMED THE LEARNED OLYMPUS, IN THE TOMB OF THE
+HARPERS THAT IS BY T�P�; OF HIS COUNSEL TO CLEOPATRA; OF THE MESSAGE OF
+CHARMION; AND OF THE PASSING OF OLYMPUS DOWN TO ALEXANDRIA
+
+These things then came to pass. For eighty days I was hidden of the old
+wife, Atoua, while the body of the Prince, my father, was made ready for
+burial by those skilled in the arts of embalming. And when at last
+all things were done in order, I crept from my hiding-place and made
+offerings to the spirit of my father, and placing lotus-flowers on his
+breast went thence sorrowing. And on the following day, from where I lay
+hid, I saw the Priests of the Temple of Osiris and of the holy shrine of
+Isis come forth, and in slow procession bear his painted coffin to the
+sacred lake and lay it beneath the funeral tent in the consecrated boat.
+I saw them celebrate the symbol of the trial of the dead, and name him
+above all men just, and then bear him thence to lay him by his wife,
+my mother, in the deep tomb that he had hewn in the rock near to the
+resting-place of the Holy Osiris, where, notwithstanding my sins, I,
+too, hope to sleep ere long. And when all these things were done and the
+deep tomb sealed, the wealth of my father having been removed from the
+hidden treasury and placed in safety, I fled, disguised, with the old
+wife, Atoua, up the Nile till we came to T�p�,[*] and here in this great
+city I lay a while, till a place could be found where I should hide
+myself.
+
+     [*] Thebes.--Editor.
+
+And such a place I found. For to the north of the great city are brown
+and rugged hills, and desert valley blasted of the sun, and in this
+place of desolation the Divine Pharaohs, my forefathers, hollowed out
+their tombs in the solid rock, the most part of which are lost to this
+day, so cunningly have they been hidden. But some are open, for the
+accursed Persians and other thieves broke into them in search
+of treasure. And one night--for by night only did I leave my
+hiding-place--just as the dawn was breaking on the mountain tops, I
+wandered alone in this sad valley of death, like to which there is
+no other, and presently came to the mouth of a tomb hidden amid great
+rocks, which afterwards I knew for the place of the burying of the
+Divine Rameses, the third of that name, now long gathered to Osiris. And
+by the faint light of the dawn creeping through the entrance I saw that
+it was spacious and that within were chambers.
+
+On the following night, therefore, I returned, bearing lights, with
+Atoua, my nurse, who ever ministered faithfully to me as when I was
+little and without discretion. And we searched the mighty tomb and came
+to the great Hall of the Sarcophagus of granite, in which the Divine
+Rameses sleeps, and saw the mystic paintings on the walls: the symbol
+of the Snake unending, the symbol of Ra resting upon the Scarab�us, the
+symbol of Ra resting upon Nout, the symbol of the Headless men, and many
+others, whereof, being initiated, well I read the mysteries. And
+opening from the long descending passage I found chambers in which were
+paintings beautiful to behold, and of all manner of things. For beneath
+each chamber is entombed the master of the craft of which the paintings
+tell, he who was the chief of the servants of that craft in the house
+of this Divine Rameses. And on the walls of the last chamber--on
+the left-hand side, looking toward the Hall of the Sarcophagus--are
+paintings exceedingly beautiful, and two blind harpers playing upon
+their bent harps before the God Mou; and beneath the flooring these
+harpers, who harp no more, are soft at sleep. Here, then, in this gloomy
+place, even in the tomb of the Harpers and the company of the dead, I
+took up my abode; and here for eight long years I worked out my penance
+and made atonement for my sin. But Atoua, because she loved to be near
+the light, abode in the chamber of the Boats--that is, the first chamber
+on the right-hand side of the gallery looking toward the Hall of the
+Sarcophagus.
+
+And this was the manner of my life. On every second day the old wife,
+Atoua, went forth and brought water from the city and such food as is
+necessary to keep the life from failing, and also tapers made from fat.
+And one hour at the time of sunrise and one hour at the time of sunset
+I did go forth also to wander in the valley for my health's sake and to
+save my sight from failing in the great darkness of the tomb. But the
+other hours of the day and night, except when I climbed the mountain
+to watch the course of the stars, I spent in prayer and meditation and
+sleep, till the cloud of sin lifted from my heart and once more I drew
+near to the Gods, though with Isis, my heavenly Mother, I might speak no
+more. And I grew exceedingly wise also, pondering on all those mysteries
+to which I held the key. For abstinence and prayer and sorrowful
+solitude wore away the grossness of my flesh, and with the eyes of the
+Spirit I learned to look deep into the heart of things till the joy of
+Wisdom fell like dew upon my soul.
+
+Soon the rumour was wafted about the city that a certain holy man named
+Olympus abode in solitude in the tombs of the awful Valley of the Dead;
+and hither came people bearing sick that I might cure them. And I gave
+my mind to the study of simples, in which Atoua instructed me; and by
+lore and the weight of my thought I gained great skill in medicine, and
+healed many sick. And thus ever, as time went on, my fame was noised
+abroad; for it was said that I was also a magician and that in the
+tombs I had commune with the Spirits of the Dead. And this, indeed, I
+did--though it is not lawful for me to speak of these matters. Thus,
+then, it came to pass that no more need Atoua go forth to seek food and
+water, for the people brought it--more than was needful, for I would
+receive no fee. Now at first, fearing lest some in the hermit Olympus
+might know the lost Harmachis, I would only meet those who came in the
+darkness of the tomb. But afterwards, when I learned how it was held
+through all the land that Harmachis was certainly no more, I came forth
+and sat in the mouth of the tomb, and ministered to the sick, and
+at times calculated nativities for the great. And thus my fame grew
+continually, till at length folk journeyed even from Memphis and
+Alexandria to visit me; and from them I learned how Antony had left
+Cleopatra for a while, and, Fulvia being dead, had married Octavia, the
+sister of C�sar. Many other things I learned also.
+
+And in the second year I did this: I despatched the old wife, Atoua,
+disguised as a seller of simples, to Alexandria, bidding her seek out
+Charmion, and, if yet she found her faithful, reveal to her the secret
+of my way of life. So she went, and in the fifth month from her sailing
+returned, bearing Charmion's greetings and a token. And she told me that
+she had found means to see Charmion, and, in talk, had let fall the name
+of Harmachis, speaking of me as one dead; at which Charmion, unable to
+control her grief, wept aloud. Then, reading her heart--for the old
+wife was very clever, and held the key of knowledge--she told her that
+Harmachis yet lived, and sent her greetings. Thereon Charmion wept yet
+more with joy, and kissed the old wife, and made her gifts, bidding her
+tell me that she had kept her vow, and waited for my coming and the hour
+of vengeance. So, having learned many secrets, Atoua returned again to
+T�p�.
+
+And in the following year messengers came to me from Cleopatra, bearing
+a sealed roll and great gifts. I opened the roll, and read this in it:
+
+"Cleopatra to Olympus, the learned Egyptian who dwells in the Valley of
+Death by T�p�--
+
+"The fame of thy renown, O learned Olympus, hath reached our ears. Tell
+thou, then, this to us, and if thou tellest aright greater honour and
+wealth shalt thou have than any in Egypt: How shall we win back the love
+of noble Antony, who is bewitched of cunning Octavia, and tarries long
+from us?"
+
+Now, in this I saw the hand of Charmion, who had made my renown known to
+Cleopatra.
+
+All that night I took counsel with my wisdom, and on the morrow wrote my
+answer as it was put into my heart to the destruction of Cleopatra and
+Antony. And thus I wrote:
+
+"Olympus the Egyptian to Cleopatra the Queen--
+
+"Go forth into Syria with one who shall be sent to lead thee; thus shalt
+thou win Antony to thy arms again, and with him gifts more great than
+thou canst dream."
+
+And with this letter I dismissed the messengers, bidding them share the
+presents sent by Cleopatra among their company.
+
+So they went wondering.
+
+But Cleopatra, seizing on the advice to which her passion prompted her,
+departed straightway with Fonteius Capito into Syria, and there the
+thing came about as I had foretold, for Antony was subdued of her
+and gave her the greater part of Cilicia, the ocean shore of Arabia
+Nabath�a, the balm-bearing provinces of Jud�a, the province of Phoenicia,
+the province of Coele-Syria, the rich isle of Cyprus, and all the library
+of Pergamus. And to the twin children that, with the son Ptolemy,
+Cleopatra had borne to Antony, he impiously gave the names of "Kings,
+the Children of Kings"--of Alexander Helios, as the Greeks name the sun,
+and of Cleopatra Selene, the moon, the long-winged.
+
+These things then came to pass.
+
+Now on her return to Alexandria Cleopatra sent me great gifts, of which
+I would have none, and prayed me, the learned Olympus, to come to her at
+Alexandria; but it was not yet time, and I would not. But thereafter she
+and Antony sent many times to me for counsel, and I ever counselled them
+to their ruin, nor did my prophecies fail.
+
+
+
+Thus the long years rolled away, and I, the hermit Olympus, the dweller
+in a tomb, the eater of bread and the drinker of water, by strength of
+the wisdom that was given me of the avenging Power, became once more
+great in Khem. For I grew ever wiser as I trampled the desires of the
+flesh beneath my feet and turned my eyes to heaven.
+
+At length eight full years were accomplished. The war with the Parthians
+had come and gone, and Artavasdes, King of Armenia, had been led in
+triumph through the streets of Alexandria. Cleopatra had visited Samos
+and Athens; and, by her counselling, the noble Octavia had been driven,
+like some discarded concubine, from the house of Antony at Rome. And
+now, at the last, the measure of the folly of Antony was full even to
+the brim. For this Master of the World had no longer the good gift of
+reason; he was lost in Cleopatra as I had been lost. Therefore, in the
+event, Octavianus declared war against him.
+
+And as I slept upon a certain day in the chamber of the Harpers, in the
+tomb of Pharaoh that is by T�p�, there came to me a vision of my father,
+the aged Amenemhat, and he stood over me, leaning on his staff, and
+spoke, saying:
+
+"Look forth, my son."
+
+Then I looked forth, and with the eyes of my spirit saw the sea, and
+two great fleets grappling in war hard by a rocky coast. And the emblems
+were those of Octavian, and of the other those of Cleopatra and Antony.
+The ships of Antony and Cleopatra bore down upon the ships of C�sar, and
+drove them on, for victory inclined to Antony.
+
+I looked again. There sat Cleopatra in a gold-decked galley watching the
+fight with eager eyes. Then I cast my Spirit on her so that she seemed
+to hear the voice of dead Harmachis crying in her ear.
+
+"_Fly, Cleopatra,_" it seemed to say, "_fly or perish!_"
+
+She looked up wildly, and again she heard my Spirit's cry. Now a mighty
+fear took hold of her. She called aloud to the sailors to hoist the
+sails and make signal to her fleet to put about. This they did wondering
+but little loath, and fled in haste from the battle.
+
+Then a great roar went up from friend and foe.
+
+"Cleopatra is fled! Cleopatra is fled!" And I saw wreck and red ruin
+fall upon the fleet of Antony and awoke from my trance.
+
+The days passed, and again a vision of my father came to me and spoke,
+saying:
+
+"Arise, my son!--the hour of vengeance is at hand! Thy plots have not
+failed; thy prayers have been heard. By the bidding of the Gods, as she
+sat in her galley at the fight of Actium, the heart of Cleopatra was
+filled with fears, so that, deeming she heard thy voice bidding her fly
+or perish, she fled with all her fleet. Now the strength of Actium is
+broken on the sea. Go forth, and as it shall be put into thy mind, so do
+thou."
+
+In the morning I awoke, wondering, and went to the mouth of the tomb,
+and there, coming up the valley, I saw the messengers of Cleopatra, and
+with them a Roman guard.
+
+"What will ye with me now?" I asked, sternly.
+
+"This is the message of the Queen and of great Antony," answered the
+Captain, bowing low before me, for I was much feared by all men. "The
+Queen commands thy presence at Alexandria. Many times has she sent, and
+thou wouldst not come; now she bids thee to come, and that swiftly, for
+she has need of thy counsel."
+
+"And if I say Nay, soldier, what then?"
+
+"These are my orders, most holy Olympus; that I bring thee by force."
+
+I laughed aloud. "By force, thou fool! Use not such talk to me, lest I
+smite thee where thou art. Know, then, that I can kill as well as cure!"
+
+"Pardon, I beseech thee!" he answered, shrinking. "I say but those
+things that I am bid."
+
+"Well, I know it, Captain. Fear not; I come."
+
+So on that very day I departed, together with the aged Atoua. Ay, I went
+as secretly as I had come; and the tomb of the Divine Rameses knew me no
+more. And with me I took all the treasures of my father, Amenemhat, for
+I was not minded to go to Alexandria empty-handed and as a suppliant,
+but rather as a man of much wealth and condition. Now, as I went, I
+learned that Antony, following Cleopatra, had, indeed, fled from Actium,
+and knew that the end drew nigh. For this and many other things had
+I foreseen in the darkness of the tomb of T�p�, and planned to bring
+about.
+
+
+
+Thus, then, I came to Alexandria, and entered into a house which had
+been made ready for me at the palace gates.
+
+And that very night Charmion came to me--Charmion whom I had not seen
+for nine long years.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+OF THE MEETING OF CHARMION WITH THE LEARNED OLYMPUS; OF HER SPEECH WITH
+HIM; OF THE COMING OF OLYMPUS INTO THE PRESENCE OF CLEOPATRA; AND OF THE
+COMMANDS OF CLEOPATRA.
+
+Clad in my plain black robe, I sat in the guest-chamber of the house
+that had been made ready for me. I sat in a carven lion-footed chair,
+and looked upon the swinging lamps of scented oil, the pictured
+tapestries, the rich Syrian rugs--and, amidst all this luxury, bethought
+me of that tomb of the Harpers which is at T�p�, and of the nine long
+years of dark loneliness and preparation. I sat; and crouched upon a rug
+near to the door, lay the aged Atoua. Her hair was white as snow, and
+shrivelled with age was the wrinkled countenance of the woman who, when
+all deserted me, had yet clung to me, in her great love forgetting my
+great sins. Nine years! nine long years! and now, once again, I set my
+foot in Alexandria! Once again in the appointed circle of things I came
+forth from the solitude of preparation to be a fate to Cleopatra; and
+this second time I came not forth to fail.
+
+And yet how changed the circumstance! I was out of the story: my part
+now was but the part of the sword in the hands of Justice; I might no
+more hope to make Egypt free and great and sit upon my lawful throne.
+Khem was lost, and lost was I, Harmachis. In the rush and turmoil of
+events, the great plot of which I had been the pivot was covered up and
+forgotten; scarce a memory of it remained. The curtain of dark night
+was closing in upon the history of my ancient Race; its very Gods were
+tottering to their fall; I could already, in the spirit, hear the shriek
+of the Roman eagles as they flapped their wings above the furthest banks
+of Sihor.
+
+Presently I roused myself and bade Atoua go seek a mirror and bring it
+to me, that I might look therein.
+
+And I saw this: a face shrunken and pallid, on which no smile came;
+great eyes grown wan with gazing into darkness looking out beneath
+the shaven head, emptily, as the hollow eye-pits of a skull; a wizened
+halting form wasted by abstinence, sorrow, and prayer; a long wild beard
+of iron grey; thin blue-veined hands that ever trembled like a leaf;
+bowed shoulders and lessened limbs. Time and grief had done their
+work indeed; scarce could I think myself the same as when, the royal
+Harmachis--in all the splendour of my strength and youthful beauty--I
+first had looked upon the woman's loveliness that did destroy me. And
+yet within me burned the same fire as of yore; yet I was not changed,
+for time and grief have no power to alter the immortal spirit of man.
+Seasons may come and go; Hope, like a bird, may fly away; Passion may
+break its wings against the iron bars of Fate; Illusions may crumble
+as the cloudy towers of sunset flame; Faith, as running water, may slip
+from beneath our feet; Solitude may stretch itself around us like the
+measureless desert sand; Old Age may creep as the gathering night over
+our bowed heads grown hoary in their shame--yea, bound to Fortune's
+wheel, we may taste of every turn of chance--now rule as Kings, now
+serve as Slaves; now love, now hate; now prosper, and now perish. But
+still, through all, we are the same; for this is the marvel of Identity.
+
+
+
+And as I sat and thought these things in bitterness of heart, there came
+a knocking at the door.
+
+"Open, Atoua!" I said.
+
+She rose and did my bidding; and a woman entered, clad in Grecian robes.
+It was Charmion, still beautiful as of old, but sad faced now and very
+sweet to see, with a patient fire slumbering in her downcast eyes.
+
+She entered unattended; and, speaking no word, the old wife pointed to
+where I sat, and went.
+
+"Old man," she said, addressing me, "lead me to the learned Olympus. I
+come upon the Queen's business."
+
+I rose, and, lifting my head, looked upon her.
+
+She gazed, and gave a little cry.
+
+"Surely," she whispered, glancing round, "surely thou art not that----"
+And she paused.
+
+"That Harmachis whom once thy foolish heart did love, O Charmion? Yes,
+I am he and what thou seest, most fair lady. Yet is Harmachis dead
+whom thou didst love; but Olympus, the skilled Egyptian, waits upon thy
+words!"
+
+"Cease!" she said, "and of the past but one word, and then--why, let
+it lie. Not well, with all thy wisdom, canst thou know a true woman's
+heart, if thou dost believe, Harmachis, that it can change with the
+changes of the outer form, for then assuredly could no love follow its
+beloved to that last place of change--the Grave. Know thou, learned
+Physician, I am of that sort who, loving once, love always, and being
+not beloved again, go virgin to the death."
+
+She ceased, and having naught to say, I bowed my head in answer. Yet
+though I said nothing and though this woman's passionate folly had been
+the cause of all our ruin, to speak truth, in secret I was thankful
+to her who, wooed of all and living in this shameless Court, had still
+through the long years poured out her unreturned love upon an outcast,
+and who, when that poor broken slave of Fortune came back in such
+unlovely guise, held him yet dear at heart. For what man is there who
+does not prize that gift most rare and beautiful, that one perfect thing
+which no gold can buy--a woman's unfeigned love?
+
+"I thank thee that thou dost not answer," she said; "for the bitter
+words which thou didst pour upon me in those days that long are dead,
+and far away in Tarsus, have not lost their poisonous sting, and in my
+heart is no more place for the arrows of thy scorn, new venomed through
+thy solitary years. So let it be. Behold! I put it from me, that wild
+passion of my soul," and she looked up and stretched out her hands as
+though to press some unseen presence back, "I put it from me--though
+forget it I may not! There, 'tis done, Harmachis; no more shall my love
+trouble thee. Enough for me that once more my eyes behold thee, before
+sleep seals thee from their sight. Dost remember how, when I would have
+died by thy dear hand, thou wouldst not slay, but didst bid me live to
+pluck the bitter fruit of crime, and be accursed by visions of the evil
+I had wrought and memories of thee whom I have ruined?"
+
+"Ay, Charmion, I remember well."
+
+"Surely the cup of punishment has been filled. Oh! couldst thou see
+into the record of my heart, and read in it the suffering that I
+have borne--borne with a smiling face--thy justice would be satisfied
+indeed!"
+
+"And yet, if report be true, Charmion, thou art the first of all the
+Court, and therein the most powerful and beloved. Does not Octavianus
+give it out that he makes war, not on Antony, nor even on his mistress,
+Cleopatra, but on Charmion and Iras?"
+
+"Yes, Harmachis, and think what it has been to me thus, because of my
+oath to thee, to be forced to eat the bread and do the tasks of one whom
+so bitterly I hate!--one who robbed me of thee, and who, through the
+workings of my jealousy, brought me to be that which I am, brought
+thee to shame, and all Egypt to its ruin! Can jewels and riches and the
+flattery of princes and nobles bring happiness to such a one as I, who
+am more wretched than the meanest scullion wench? Oh, I have often wept
+till I was blind; and then, when the hour came, I must arise and tire
+me, and, with a smile, go do the bidding of the Queen and that heavy
+Antony. May the Gods grant me to see them dead--ay, the twain of
+them!--then myself I shall be content to die! Thy lot has been hard,
+Harmachis; but at least thou have been free, and many is the time that I
+have envied thee the quiet of thy haunted cave."
+
+"I do perceive, O Charmion, that thou art mindful of thy oaths; and it
+is well, for the hour of vengeance is at hand."
+
+"I am mindful, and in all things I have worked for thee in secret--for
+thee, and for the utter ruin of Cleopatra and the Roman. I have fanned
+his passion and her jealousy, I have egged her on to wickedness and
+him to folly, and of all have I caused report to be brought to C�sar.
+Listen! thus stands the matter. Thou knowest how went the fight at
+Actium. Thither went Cleopatra with her fleet, sorely against the will
+of Antony. But, as thou sentest me word, I entreated him for the Queen,
+vowing to him, with tears, that, did he leave her, she would die of
+grief; and he, poor slave, believed me. And so she went, and in the
+thick of the fight, for what cause I know not, though perchance thou
+knowest, Harmachis, she made signal to her squadron, and, putting about
+fled from the battle, sailing for Peloponnesus. And now, mark the end!
+When Antony saw that she was gone, he, in his madness, took a galley,
+and deserting all, followed hard after her, leaving his fleet to be
+shattered and sunk, and his great army in Greece, of twenty legions
+and twelve thousand horse, without a leader. And all this no man would
+believe, that Antony, the smitten of the Gods, had fallen so deep in
+shame. Therefore for a while the army tarried, and but now to-night
+comes news brought by Canidius, the General, that, worn with doubt and
+being at length sure that Antony had deserted them, the whole of his
+great force has yielded to C�sar."
+
+"And where, then, is Antony?"
+
+"He has built him a habitation on a little isle in the Great Harbour and
+named it Timonium; because, forsooth, like Timon, he cries out at the
+ingratitude of mankind that has forsaken him. And there he lies smitten
+by a fever of the mind, and thither thou must go at dawn, so wills the
+Queen, to cure him of his ills and draw him to her arms; for he will
+not see her, nor knows he yet the full measure of his woe. But first
+my bidding is to lead thee instantly to Cleopatra, who would ask thy
+counsel."
+
+"I come," I answered, rising. "Lead thou on."
+
+And so we passed the palace gates and along the Alabaster Hall, and
+presently once again I stood before the door of Cleopatra's chamber, and
+once again Charmion left me to warn her of my coming.
+
+Presently she came back and beckoned to me. "Make strong thy heart," she
+whispered, "and see that thou dost not betray thyself, for still are the
+eyes of Cleopatra keen. Enter!"
+
+"Keen, indeed, must they be to find Harmachis in the learned Olympus!
+Had I not willed it, thyself thou hadst not known me, Charmion," I made
+answer.
+
+Then I entered that remembered place and listened once more to the plash
+of the fountain, the song of the nightingale, and the murmur of the
+summer sea. With bowed head and halting gait I came, till at length I
+stood before the couch of Cleopatra--that same golden couch on which
+she had sat the night she overcame me. Then I gathered my strength, and
+looked up. There before me was Cleopatra, glorious as of old, but, oh!
+how changed since that night when I saw Antony clasp her in his arms at
+Tarsus! Her beauty still clothed her like a garment; the eyes were yet
+deep and unfathomable as the blue sea, the face still splendid in its
+great loveliness. And yet all was changed. Time, that could not touch
+her charms, had stamped upon her presence such a look of weary grief as
+may not be written. Passion, beating ever in that fierce heart of hers,
+had written his record on her brow, and in her eyes shone the sad lights
+of sorrow.
+
+I bowed low before this most royal woman, who once had been my love and
+destruction, and yet knew me not.
+
+She looked up wearily, and spoke in her slow, well remembered voice:
+
+"So thou art come at length, Physician. How callest thou
+thyself?--Olympus? 'Tis a name of promise, for surely now that the Gods
+of Egypt have deserted us, we do need aid from Olympus. Well, thou hast
+a learned air, for learning goes not with beauty. Strange, too, there is
+that about thee which recalls what I know not. Say, Olympus, have we met
+before?"
+
+"Never, O Queen, have my eyes fallen on thee in the body," I answered
+in a feigned voice. "Never till this hour, when I come forth from my
+solitude to do thy bidding and cure thee of thy ills!"
+
+"Strange! and even in the voice--Pshaw! 'tis some memory that I cannot
+catch. In the body, thou sayest? then, perchance, I knew thee in a
+dream?"
+
+"Ay, O Queen; we have met in dreams."
+
+"Thou art a strange man, who talkest thus, but, if what I hear be true,
+one well learned; and, indeed, I mind me of thy counsel when thou didst
+bid me join my Lord Antony in Syria, and how things befell according to
+thy word. Skilled must thou be in the casting of nativities and in the
+law of auguries, of which these Alexandrian fools have little knowledge.
+Once I knew such another man, one Harmachis," and she sighed: "but he is
+long dead--as I would I were also!--and at times I sorrow for him."
+
+She paused, while I sank my head upon my breast and stood silent.
+
+"Interpret me this, Olympus. In the battle at that accursed Actium, just
+as the fight raged thickest and Victory began to smile upon us, a great
+terror seized my heart, and thick darkness seemed to fall before
+my eyes, while in my ears a voice, ay, the voice of that long dead
+Harmachis, cried '_Fly! fly, or perish!_' and I fled. But from my heart
+the terror leapt to the heart of Antony, and he followed after me, and
+thus was the battle lost. Say, then, what God brought this evil thing
+about?"
+
+"Nay, O Queen," I answered, "it was no God--for wherein hast thou
+angered the Gods of Egypt? Hast thou robbed the temples of their Faith?
+Hast thou betrayed the trust of Egypt? Having done none of these things,
+how, then, can the Gods of Egypt be wroth with thee? Fear not, it was
+nothing but some natural vapour of the mind that overcame thy gentle
+soul, made sick with the sight and sound of slaughter; and as for the
+noble Antony, where thou didst go needs must that he should follow."
+
+And as I spoke, Cleopatra turned white and trembled, glancing at me
+the while to find my meaning. But I well knew that the thing was of the
+avenging Gods, working through me, their instrument.
+
+"Learned Olympus," she said, not answering my words; "my Lord Antony is
+sick and crazed with grief. Like some poor hunted slave he hides himself
+in yonder sea-girt Tower and shuns mankind--yes, he shuns even me, who,
+for his sake, endure so many woes. Now, this is my bidding to thee.
+To-morrow, at the coming of the light, do thou, led by Charmion, my
+waiting-lady, take boat and row thee to the Tower and there crave entry,
+saying that ye bring tidings from the army. Then he will cause you to
+be let in, and thou, Charmion, must break this heavy news that Canidius
+bears; for Canidius himself I dare not send. And when his grief is past,
+do thou, Olympus, soothe his fevered frame with thy draughts of value,
+and his soul with honeyed words, and draw him back to me, and all will
+yet be well. Do thou this, and thou shalt have gifts more than thou
+canst count, for I am yet a Queen and yet can pay back those who serve
+my will."
+
+"Fear not, O Queen," I answered, "this thing shall be done, and I ask no
+reward, who have come hither to do thy bidding to the end."
+
+So I bowed and went and, summoning Atoua, made ready a certain potion.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+OF THE DRAWING FORTH OF ANTONY FROM THE TIMONIUM BACK TO CLEOPATRA; OF
+THE FEAST MADE BY CLEOPATRA; AND OF THE MANNER OF THE DEATH OF EUDOSIUS
+THE STEWARD
+
+Ere it was yet dawn Charmion came again, and we walked to the private
+harbour of the palace. There, taking boat, we rowed to the island mount
+on which stands the Timonium, a vaulted tower, strong, small, and round.
+And, having landed, we twain came to the door and knocked, till at
+length a grating was thrown open in the door, and an aged eunuch,
+looking forth, roughly asked our business.
+
+"Our business is with the Lord Antony," said Charmion.
+
+"Then it is no business, for Antony, my master, sees neither man nor
+woman."
+
+"Yet will he see us, for we bring tidings. Go tell him that the Lady
+Charmion brings tidings from the army."
+
+The man went, and presently returned.
+
+"The Lord Antony would know if the tidings be good or ill, for, if ill,
+then will he none of it, for with evil tidings he has been overfed of
+late."
+
+"Why--why, it is both good and ill. Open, slave, I will make answer to
+thy master!" and she slipped a purse of gold through the bars.
+
+"Well, well," he grumbled, as he took the purse, "the times are hard,
+and likely to be harder; for when the lion's down who will feed the
+jackal? Give thy news thyself, and if it do but draw the noble Antony
+out of this hall of Groans, I care not what it be. Now the palace door
+is open, and there's the road to the banqueting-chamber."
+
+We passed on, to find ourselves in a narrow passage, and, leaving the
+eunuch to bar the door, advanced till we came to a curtain. Through this
+entrance we went, and found ourselves in a vaulted chamber, ill-lighted
+from the roof. On the further side of this rude chamber was a bed of
+rugs, and on them crouched the figure of a man, his face hidden in the
+folds of his toga.
+
+"Most noble Antony," said Charmion drawing near, "unwrap thy face and
+hearken to me, for I bring thee tidings."
+
+Then he lifted up his head. His face was marred by sorrow; his tangled
+hair, grizzled with years, hung about his hollow eyes, and white on his
+chin was the stubble of an unshaven beard. His robe was squalid, and
+his aspect more wretched than that of the poorest beggar at the temple
+gates. To this, then, had the love of Cleopatra brought the glorious and
+renowned Antony, aforetime Master of half the World!
+
+"What will ye with me, Lady," he asked, "who would perish here alone?
+And who is this man who comes to gaze on fallen and forsaken Antony?"
+
+"This is Olympus, noble Antony, that wise physician, the skilled in
+auguries, of whom thou hast heard much, and whom Cleopatra, ever mindful
+of thy welfare, though but little thou dost think of hers, has sent to
+minister to thee."
+
+"And, can thy physician minister to a grief such as my grief? Can his
+drugs give me back my galleys, my honour, and my peace? Nay! Away
+with thy physician! What are thy tidings?--quick!--out with it! Hath
+Canidius, perchance, conquered C�sar? Tell me but that, and thou shalt
+have a province for thy guerdon--ay! and if Octavianus be dead, twenty
+thousand sestertia to fill its treasury. Speak--nay--speak not! I fear
+the opening of thy lips as never I feared an earthly thing. Surely the
+wheel of fortune has gone round and Canidius has conquered? Is it not
+so? Nay--out with it! I can no more!"
+
+"O noble Antony," she said, "steel thy heart to hear that which I needs
+must tell thee! Canidius is in Alexandria. He has fled far and fast, and
+this is his report. For seven whole days did the legions wait the coming
+of Antony, to lead them to victory, as aforetime, putting aside the
+offers of the envoys of C�sar. But Antony came not. And then it was
+rumoured that Antony had fled to T�narus, drawn thither by Cleopatra.
+The man who first brought that tale to the camp the legionaries cried
+shame on--ay, and beat him to the death! But ever it grew, until at
+length there was no more room to doubt; and then, O Antony, thy officers
+slipped one by one away to C�sar, and where the officers go there
+the men follow. Nor is this all the story; for thy allies--Bocchus of
+Africa, Tarcondimotus of Cilicia, Mithridates of Commagene, Adallas of
+Thrace, Philadelphus of Paphlagonia, Archelaus of Cappadocia, Herod
+of Jud�a, Amyntas of Galatia, Polemon of Pontus, and Malchus of
+Arabia--all, all have fled or bid their generals fly back to whence they
+came; and already their ambassadors crave cold C�sar's clemency."
+
+"Hast done thy croakings, thou raven in a peacock's dress, or is there
+more to come?" asked the smitten man, lifting his white and trembling
+face from the shelter of his hands. "Tell me more; say that Egypt's dead
+in all her beauty; say that Octavianus lowers at the Canopic gate; and
+that, headed by dead Cicero, all the ghosts of Hell do audibly shriek
+out the fall of Antony! Yea, gather up every woe that can o'erwhelm
+those who once were great, and loose them on the hoary head of him
+whom--in thy gentleness--thou art still pleased to name 'the noble
+Antony'!"
+
+"Nay, my Lord, I have done."
+
+"Ay, and so have I done--done, quite done! It is altogether finished,
+and thus I seal the end," and snatching a sword from the couch, he
+would, indeed, have slain himself had I not sprung forward and grasped
+his hand. For it was not my purpose that he should die as yet; since had
+he died at that hour Cleopatra had made her peace with C�sar, who rather
+wished the death of Antony than the ruin of Egypt.
+
+"Art mad, Antony? Art, indeed, a coward?" cried Charmion, "that thou
+wouldst thus escape thy woes, and leave thy partner to face the sorrow
+out alone?"
+
+"Why not, woman? Why not? She would not be long alone. There's C�sar
+to keep her company. Octavianus loves a fair woman in his cold way, and
+still is Cleopatra fair. Come now, thou Olympus! thou hast held my hand
+from dealing death upon myself, advise me of thy wisdom. Shall I, then,
+submit myself to C�sar, and I, Triumvir, twice Consul, and aforetime
+absolute Monarch of all the East, endure to follow in his triumph along
+those Roman ways where I myself have passed in triumph?"
+
+"Nay, Sire," I answered. "If thou dost yield, then art thou doomed. All
+last night I questioned of the Fates concerning thee, and I saw this:
+when thy star draws near to C�sar's it pales and is swallowed up; but
+when it passes from his radiance, then bright and big it shines, equal
+in glory to his own. All is not lost, and while some part remains,
+everything may be regained. Egypt can yet be held, armies can still
+be raised. C�sar has withdrawn himself; he is not yet at the gates of
+Alexandria, and perchance may be appeased. Thy mind in its fever has
+fired thy body; thou art sick and canst not judge aright. See, here, I
+have a potion that shall make thee whole, for I am well skilled in the
+art of medicine," and I held out the phial.
+
+"A potion, thou sayest man!" he cried. "More like it is a poison, and
+thou a murderer, sent by false Egypt, who would fain be rid of me now
+that I may no more be of service to her. The head of Antony is the peace
+offering she would send to C�sar--she for whom I have lost all! Give me
+thy draught. By Bacchus! I will drink it, though it be the very elixir
+of Death!"
+
+"Nay, noble Antony; it is no poison, and I am no murderer. See, I will
+taste it, if thou wilt," and I held forth the subtle drink that has the
+power to fire the veins of men.
+
+"Give it me, Physician. Desperate men are brave men. There!----Why, what
+is this? Yours is a magic draught! My sorrows seem to roll away like
+thunder-clouds before the southern gale, and the spring of Hope blooms
+fresh upon the desert of my heart. Once more I am Antony, and once again
+I see my legions' spears asparkle in the sun, and hear the thunderous
+shout of welcome as Antony--beloved Antony--rides in pomp of war along
+his deep-formed lines! There's hope! there's hope! I may yet see
+the cold brows of C�sar--that C�sar who never errs except from
+policy--robbed of their victor bays and crowned with shameful dust!"
+
+"Ay," cried Charmion, "there still is hope, if thou wilt but play the
+man! O my Lord! come back with us; come back to the loving arms of
+Cleopatra! All night she lies upon her golden bed, and fills the hollow
+darkness with her groans for 'Antony!' who, enamoured now of Grief,
+forgets his duty and his love!"
+
+"I come! I come! Shame upon me, that I dared to doubt her! Slave, bring
+water, and a purple robe: not thus can I be seen of Cleopatra. Even now
+I come."
+
+
+
+In this fashion, then, did we draw Antony back to Cleopatra, that the
+ruin of the twain might be made sure.
+
+
+
+We led him up the Alabaster Hall and into Cleopatra's chamber, where she
+lay, her cloudy hair about her face and breast, and tears flowing from
+her deep eyes.
+
+"O Egypt!" he cried, "behold me at thy feet!"
+
+She sprang from the couch. "And art thou here, my love?" she murmured;
+"then once again are all things well. Come near, and in these arms
+forget thy sorrows and turn my grief to joy. Oh, Antony, while love is
+left to us, still have we all!"
+
+And she fell upon his breast and kissed him wildly.
+
+
+
+That same day, Charmion came to me and bade me prepare a poison of
+the most deadly power. And this at first I would not do, fearing that
+Cleopatra would therewith make an end of Antony before his time. But
+Charmion showed me that this was not so, and told me also for what
+purpose was the poison. Therefore I summoned Atoua, the skilled in
+simples, and all that afternoon we laboured at the deadly work. And
+when it was done, Charmion came once more, bearing with her a chaplet of
+fresh roses, that she bade me steep in the poison.
+
+This then I did.
+
+That night at the great feast of Cleopatra, I sat near Antony, who was
+at her side, and wore the poisoned wreath. Now as the feast went on, the
+wine flowed fast, till Antony and the Queen grew merry. And she told him
+of her plans, and of how even now her galleys were being drawn by the
+canal that leads from Bubastis on the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, to
+Clysma at the head of the Bay of Heroopolis. For it was her design,
+should C�sar prove stubborn, to fly with Antony and her treasure down
+the Arabian Gulf, where C�sar had no fleet, and seek some new home in
+India, whither her foes might not follow. But, indeed, this plan came to
+nothing, for the Arabs of Petra burnt the galleys, incited thereto by
+a message sent by the Jews of Alexandria, who hated Cleopatra and were
+hated of her. For I caused the Jews to be warned of what was being done.
+
+Now, when she had made an end of telling him, the Queen called on him to
+drink a cup with her, to the success of this new scheme, bidding him, as
+she did so, steep his wreath of roses in the wine, and make the draught
+more sweet. This, then, he did, and it being done, she pledged him.
+But when he was about to pledge her back, she caught his hand, crying
+"_Hold!_" whereat he paused, wondering.
+
+Now, among the servants of Cleopatra was one Eudosius, a steward; and
+this Eudosius, seeing that the fortunes of Cleopatra were at an end, had
+laid a plan to fly that very night to C�sar, as many of his betters
+had done, taking with him all the treasure in the palace that he could
+steal. But this design being discovered to Cleopatra, she determined to
+be avenged upon Eudosius.
+
+"Eudosius," she cried, for the man stood near; "come hither, thou
+faithful servant! Seest thou this man, most noble Antony; through
+all our troubles he has clung to us and been of comfort to us. Now,
+therefore, he shall be rewarded according to his deserts and the measure
+of his faithfulness, and that from thine own hand. Give him thy golden
+cup of wine, and let him drink a pledge to our success; the cup shall be
+his guerdon."
+
+And still wondering, Antony gave it to the man, who, stricken in his
+guilty mind, took it, and stood trembling. But he drank not.
+
+"Drink! thou slave; drink!" cried Cleopatra, half rising from her seat
+and flashing a fierce look on his white face. "By Serapis! so surely as
+I yet shall sit in the Capitol at Rome, if thou dost thus flout the Lord
+Antony, I'll have thee scourged to the bones, and the red wine poured
+upon thy open wounds to heal them! _Ah!_ at length thou drinkest! Why,
+what is it, good Eudosius? art sick? Surely, then, this wine must be as
+the water of jealousy of those Jews, that has power to slay the false
+and strengthen the honest only. Go, some of you, search this man's room;
+methinks he is a traitor!"
+
+Meanwhile the man stood, his hands to his head. Presently he began to
+tremble, and then fell, clutching at his bosom, as though to tear
+out the fire in his heart. He staggered, with livid, twisted face and
+foaming lips, to where Cleopatra lay watching him with a slow and cruel
+smile.
+
+"Ah, traitor! thou hast it now!" she said. "Prithee, is death sweet?"
+
+"Thou wanton!" yelled the dying man, "thou hast poisoned me! Thus mayst
+thou also perish!" and with one shriek he flung himself upon her. She
+saw his purpose, and swift and supple as a tiger sprang to one side,
+so that he did but grasp her royal cloak, tearing it from its emerald
+clasp. Down he fell upon the ground, rolling over and over in the purple
+chiton, till presently he lay still and dead, his tormented face and
+frozen eyes peering ghastly from its folds.
+
+"Ah!" said the Queen, with a hard laugh, "the slave died wondrous hard,
+and fain would have drawn me with him. See, he has borrowed my garment
+for a pall! Take him away and bury him in his livery."
+
+"What means Cleopatra?" said Antony, as the guards dragged the corpse
+away; "the man drank of my cup. What is the purpose of this most sorry
+jest?"
+
+"It serves a double end, noble Antony! This very night that man would
+have fled to Octavianus, bearing of our treasure with him. Well, I have
+lent him wings, for the dead fly fast! Also this: thou didst fear that
+I should poison thee, my Lord; nay, I know it. See now, Antony, how easy
+it were that I should slay thee if I had the will. That wreath of roses
+which thou didst steep within the cup is dewed with deadly bane. Had
+I, then, a mind to make an end of thee, I had not stayed thy hand. O
+Antony, henceforth trust me! Sooner would I slay myself than harm one
+hair of thy beloved head! See, here come my messengers! Speak, what did
+ye find?"
+
+"Royal Egypt, we found this. All things in the chamber of Eudosius are
+made ready for flight, and in his baggage is much treasure."
+
+"Thou hearest?" she said, smiling darkly. "Think ye, my loyal servants
+all, that Cleopatra is one with whom it is well to play the traitor? Be
+warned by this Roman's fate!"
+
+
+
+Then a great silence of fear fell upon the company, and Antony sat also
+silent.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+OF THE WORKINGS OF THE LEARNED OLYMPUS AT MEMPHIS; OF THE POISONINGS OF
+CLEOPATRA; OF THE SPEECH OF ANTONY TO HIS CAPTAINS; AND OF THE PASSING
+OF ISIS FROM THE LAND OF KHEM
+
+Now I, Harmachis, must make speed with my task, setting down that which
+is permitted as shortly as may be, and leaving much untold. For of this
+I am warned, that Doom draws on and my days are wellnigh sped. After the
+drawing forth of Antony from the Timonium came that time of heavy quiet
+which heralds the rising of the desert wind. Antony and Cleopatra
+once again gave themselves up to luxury, and night by night feasted in
+splendour at the palace. They sent ambassadors to C�sar; but C�sar would
+have none of them; and, this hope being gone, they turned their minds
+to the defence of Alexandria. Men were gathered, ships were built, and a
+great force was made ready against the coming of C�sar.
+
+And now, aided by Charmion, I began my last work of hate and vengeance.
+I wormed myself deep into the secrets of the palace, counselling all
+things for evil. I bade Cleopatra keep Antony gay, lest he should brood
+upon his sorrows: and thus she sapped his strength and energy with
+luxury and wine. I gave him of my draughts--draughts that sank his
+soul in dreams of happiness and power, leaving him to wake to a heavier
+misery. Soon, without my healing medicine he could not sleep, and thus,
+being ever at his side, I bound his weakened will to mine, till at last
+he would do little if I said not "It is well." Cleopatra, also grown
+very superstitious, leaned much upon me; for I prophesied falsely to her
+in secret.
+
+Moreover, I wove other webs. My fame was great throughout Egypt, for
+during the long years that I had dwelt in T�p� it had spread through all
+the land. Therefore many men of note came to me, both for their health's
+sake and because it was known that I had the ear of Antony and the
+Queen; and, in these days of doubt and trouble, they were fain to learn
+the truth. All these men I worked upon with doubtful words, sapping
+their loyalty; and I caused many to fall away, and yet none could bear
+an evil report of what I had said. Also, Cleopatra sent me to Memphis,
+there to move the Priests and Governors that they should gather men in
+Upper Egypt for the defence of Alexandria. And I went and spoke to the
+priests with such a double meaning and with so much wisdom that they
+knew me to be one of the initiated in the deeper mysteries. But how I,
+Olympus the physician, came thus to be initiated none might say. And
+afterwards they sought me secretly, and I gave them the holy sign of
+brotherhood; and thereunder bade them not to ask who I might be, but
+send no aid to Cleopatra. Rather, I said, must they make peace with
+C�sar, for by C�sar's grace only could the worship of the Gods endure in
+Khem. So, having taken counsel of the Holy Apis, they promised in public
+to give help to Cleopatra, but in secret sent an embassy to C�sar.
+
+Thus, then, it came to pass that Egypt gave but little aid to its hated
+Macedonian Queen. Thence from Memphis I came once more to Alexandria,
+and, having made favourable report, continued my secret work. And,
+indeed, the Alexandrians could not easily be stirred, for, as they say
+in the marketplace, "The ass looks at its burden and is blind to its
+master." Cleopatra had oppressed them so long that the Roman was like a
+welcome friend.
+
+Thus the time passed on, and every night found Cleopatra with fewer
+friends than that which had gone before, for in evil days friends fly
+like swallows before the frost. Yet she would not give up Antony, whom
+she loved; though to my knowledge C�sar, by his freedman, Thyreus, made
+promise to her of her dominions for herself and for her children if she
+would but slay Antony, or even betray him bound. But to this her woman's
+heart--for still she had a heart--would not consent, and, moreover, we
+counselled her against it, for of necessity we must hold him to her,
+lest, Antony escaping or being slain, Cleopatra might ride out the storm
+and yet be Queen of Egypt. And this grieved me, because Antony, though
+weak, was still a brave man, and a great; and, moreover, in my own heart
+I read the lesson of his woes. For were we not akin in wretchedness? Had
+not the same woman robbed us of Empire, Friends, and Honour? But pity
+has no place in politics, nor could it turn my feet from the path of
+vengeance it was ordained that I should tread. C�sar drew nigh; Pelusium
+fell; the end was at hand. It was Charmion who brought the tidings to
+the Queen and Antony, as they slept in the heat of the day, and I came
+with her.
+
+"Awake!" she cried. "Awake! This is no time for sleep! Seleucus hath
+surrendered Pelusium to C�sar, who marches straight on Alexandria!"
+
+With a great oath, Antony sprang up and clutched Cleopatra by the arm.
+
+"Thou hast betrayed me--by the Gods I swear it! Now thou shalt pay the
+price!" And snatching up his sword he drew it.
+
+"Stay thy hand, Antony!" she cried. "It is false--I know naught of
+this!" And she sprang upon him, and clung about his neck, weeping. "I
+know naught, my Lord. Take thou the wife of Seleucus and his little
+children, whom I hold in guard, and avenge thyself. O Antony, Antony!
+why dost thou doubt me?"
+
+Then Antony threw down his sword upon the marble, and, casting himself
+upon the couch, hid his face, and groaned in bitterness of spirit.
+
+But Charmion smiled, for it was she who had sent secretly to Seleucus,
+her friend, counselling him to surrender forthwith, saying that no fight
+would be made at Alexandria. And that very night Cleopatra took all her
+great store of pearls and emeralds--those that remained of the treasure
+of Menkau-ra--all her wealth of gold, ebony, ivory, and cinnamon,
+treasure without price, and placed it in the mausoleum of granite which,
+after our Egyptian fashion, she had built upon the hill that is by the
+Temple of the Holy Isis. These riches she piled up upon a bed of flax,
+that, when she fired it, all might perish in the flame and escape the
+greed of money-loving Octavianus. And she slept henceforth in this tomb,
+away from Antony; but in the daytime she still saw him at the palace.
+
+But a little while after, when C�sar with all his great force
+had already crossed the Caponic mouth of the Nile and was hard on
+Alexandria, I came to the palace, whither Cleopatra had summoned me.
+There I found her in the Alabaster Hall, royally clad, a wild light in
+her eyes, and, with her, Iras and Charmion, and before her guards; and
+stretched here and there upon the marble, bodies of dead men, among whom
+lay one yet dying.
+
+"Greeting, thou Olympus!" she cried. "Here is a sight to glad a
+physician's heart--men dead and men sick unto death!"
+
+"What doest thou, O Queen?" I said affrighted.
+
+"What do I? I wreak justice on these criminals and traitors; and,
+Olympus, I learn the ways of death. I have caused six different poisons
+to be given to these slaves, and with an attentive eye have watched
+their working. That man," and she pointed to a Nubian, "he went mad, and
+raved of his native deserts and his mother. He thought himself a child
+again, poor fool! and bade her hold him close to her breast and save
+him from the darkness which drew near. And that Greek, he shrieked, and,
+shrieking, died. And this, he wept and prayed for pity, and in the end,
+like a coward, breathed his last. Now, note the Egyptian yonder, he who
+still lives and groans; first he took the draught--the deadliest draught
+of all, they swore--and yet the slave so dearly loves his life he will
+not leave it! See, he yet strives to throw the poison from him; twice
+have I given him the cup and yet he is athirst. What a drunkard we have
+here! Man, man, knowest thou not that in death only can peace be found?
+Struggle no more, but enter into rest." And even as she spoke, the man,
+with a great cry, gave up the spirit.
+
+"There!" she cried, "at length the farce is played--away with those
+slaves whom I have forced through the difficult gates of Joy!" and she
+clapped her hands. But when they had borne the bodies thence she drew me
+to her, and spoke thus:
+
+"Olympus, for all thy prophecies, the end is at hand. C�sar must
+conquer, and I and my Lord Antony be lost. Now, therefore, the play
+being wellnigh done, I must make ready to leave this stage of earth in
+such fashion as becomes a Queen. For this cause, then, I do make trial
+of these poisons, seeing that in my person I must soon endure those
+agonies of death that to-day I give to others. These drugs please me
+not; some wrench out the soul with cruel pains, and some too slowly work
+their end. But thou art skilled in the medicines of death. Now, do thou
+prepare me such a draught as shall, pangless, steal my life away."
+
+And as I listened the sense of triumph filled my bitter heart, for
+I knew now that by my own hand should this ruined woman die and the
+justice of the Gods be done.
+
+"Spoken like a Queen, O Cleopatra!" I said. "Death shall cure thy ills,
+and I will brew such a wine as shall draw him down a sudden friend and
+sink thee in a sea of slumber whence, upon this earth, thou shalt never
+wake again. Oh! fear not Death: Death is thy hope; and, surely, thou
+shalt pass sinless and pure of heart into the dreadful presence of the
+Gods!"
+
+She trembled. "And if the heart be not altogether pure, tell me--thou
+dark man--what then? Nay, I fear not the Gods! for if the Gods of Hell
+be men, there I shall Queen it also. At the least, having once been
+royal, royal I shall ever be."
+
+And, as she spoke, suddenly from the palace gates came a great clamour,
+and the noise of joyful shouting.
+
+"Why, what is this?" she said, springing from her couch.
+
+"Antony! Antony!" rose the cry; "Antony hath conquered!"
+
+She turned swiftly and ran, her long hair streaming on the wind. I
+followed her, more slowly, down the great hall, across the courtyards,
+to the palace gates. And here she met Antony, riding through them,
+radiant with smiles and clad in his Roman armour. When he saw her
+he leapt to the ground, and, all armed as he was, clasped her to his
+breast.
+
+"What is it?" she cried; "is C�sar fallen?"
+
+"Nay, not altogether fallen, Egypt: but we have beat his horsemen back
+to their trenches, and, like the beginning, so shall be the end, for,
+as they say here, 'Where the head goes, the tail will follow.' Moreover,
+C�sar has my challenge, and if he will but meet me hand to hand, the
+world shall soon see which is the better man, Antony or Octavian."
+And even as he spoke and the people cheered there came the cry of "A
+messenger from C�sar!"
+
+The herald entered, and, bowing low, gave a writing to Antony, bowed
+again, and went. Cleopatra snatched it from his hand, broke the silk and
+read aloud:
+
+"C�sar to Antony, greeting.
+
+"This answer to thy challenge: Can Antony find no better way of death
+than beneath the sword of C�sar? Farewell!"
+
+And thereafter they cheered no more.
+
+
+
+The darkness came, and before it was midnight, having feasted with his
+friends who to-night went over his woes and to-morrow should betray him,
+Antony went forth to the gathering of the captains of the land-forces
+and of the fleet, attended by many, among whom was I.
+
+When all were come together, he spoke to them, standing bareheaded in
+their midst, beneath the radiance of the moon. And thus he most nobly
+spoke:
+
+"Friends and companions in arms! who yet cling to me, and whom many a
+time I have led to victory, hearken to me now, who to-morrow may lie in
+the dumb dust, disempired and dishonoured. This is our design: no
+longer will we hang on poised wings above the flood of war, but will
+straightway plunge, perchance thence to snatch the victor's diadem, or,
+failing, there to drown. Be now but true to me, and to your honour's
+sake, and you may still sit, the most proud of men, at my right hand in
+the Capitol of Rome. Fail me now, and the cause of Antony is lost and so
+are ye. To-morrow's battle must be hazardous indeed, but we have stood
+many a time and faced a fiercer peril, and ere the sun had sunk, once
+more have driven armies like desert sands before our gale of valour and
+counted the spoil of hostile kings. What have we to fear? Though allies
+be fled, still is our array as strong as C�sar's! And show we but as
+high a heart, why, I swear to you, upon my princely word, to-morrow
+night I shall deck yonder Canopic gate with the heads of Octavian and
+his captains!
+
+"Ay, cheer, and cheer again! I love that martial music which swells,
+not as from the indifferent lips of clarions, now 'neath the breath of
+Antony and now of C�sar, but rather out of the single hearts of men who
+love me. Yet--and now I will speak low, as we do speak o'er the bier of
+some beloved dead--yet, if Fortune should rise against me and if, borne
+down by the weight of arms, Antony, the soldier, dies a soldier's death,
+leaving you to mourn him who ever was your friend, this is my will,
+that, after our rough fashion of the camp, I here declare to you. You
+know where all my treasure lies. Take it, most dear friends; and, in the
+memory of Antony, make just division. Then go to C�sar and speak thus:
+'Antony, the dead, to C�sar, the living, sends greeting; and, in the
+name of ancient fellowship and of many a peril dared, craves this boon:
+the safety of those who clung to him and that which he hath given them.'
+
+"Nay, let not my tears--for I must weep--overflow your eyes! Why, it is
+not manly; 'tis most womanish! All men must die, and death were welcome
+were it not so lone. Should I fall, I leave my children to your
+tender care--if, perchance, it may avail to save them from the fate
+of helplessness. Soldiers, enough! to-morrow at the dawn we spring on
+C�sar's throat, both by land and sea. Swear that ye will cling to me,
+even to the last issue!"
+
+"We swear!" they cried. "Noble Antony, we swear!"
+
+"It is well! Once more my star grows bright; to-morrow, set in the
+highest heaven, it yet may shine the lamp of C�sar down! Till then,
+farewell!"
+
+He turned to go. As he went they caught his hand and kissed it; and so
+deeply were they moved that many wept like children; nor could Antony
+master his grief, for, in the moonlight, I saw tears roll down his
+furrowed cheeks and fall upon that mighty breast.
+
+And, seeing all this, I was much troubled. For I well knew that if these
+men held firm to Antony all might yet go well for Cleopatra; and though
+I bore no ill-will against Antony, yet he must fall, and in that fall
+drag down the woman who, like some poisonous plant, had twined herself
+about his giant strength till it choked and mouldered in her embrace.
+
+Therefore, when Antony went I went not, but stood back in the shadow
+watching the faces of the lords and captains as they spoke together.
+
+"Then it is agreed!" said he who should lead the fleet. "And this we
+swear to, one and all, that we will cling to noble Antony to the last
+extremity of fortune!"
+
+"Ay! ay!" they answered.
+
+"Ay! ay!" I said, speaking from the shadow; "cling, and _die!_"
+
+They turned fiercely and seized me.
+
+"Who is he?" quoth one.
+
+"'Tis that dark-faced dog, Olympus!" cried another. "Olympus, the
+magician!"
+
+"Olympus, the traitor!" growled another; "put an end to him and his
+magic!" and he drew his sword.
+
+"Ay! slay him; he would betray the Lord Antony, whom he is paid to
+doctor."
+
+"Hold a while!" I said in a slow and solemn voice, "and beware how ye
+try to murder the servant of the Gods. I am no traitor. For myself,
+I abide the event here in Alexandria, but to you I say, Flee, flee to
+C�sar! I serve Antony and the Queen--I serve them truly; but above all
+I serve the Holy Gods; and what they make known to me, that, Lords, I do
+know. And I know this: that Antony is doomed, and Cleopatra is doomed,
+for C�sar conquers. Therefore, because I honour you, noble gentlemen,
+and think with pity on your wives, left widowed, and your little
+fatherless children, that shall, if ye hold to Antony, be sold as
+slaves--therefore, I say, cling to Antony if ye will and die; or flee
+to C�sar and be saved! And this I say because it is so ordained of the
+Gods."
+
+"The Gods!" they growled; "what Gods? Slit the traitor's throat, and
+stop his ill-omened talk!"
+
+"Let him show us a sign from his Gods or let him die: I do mistrust this
+man," said another.
+
+"Stand back, ye fools!" I cried. "Stand back--free mine arms--and I will
+show you a sign;" and there was that in my face which frightened them,
+for they freed me and stood back. Then I lifted up my hands and putting
+out all my strength of soul searched the depths of space till my Spirit
+communed with the Spirit of my Mother Isis. Only the Word of Power I
+uttered not, as I had been bidden. And the holy mystery of the Goddess
+answered to my Spirit's cry, falling in awful silence upon the face of
+the earth. Deeper and deeper grew the terrible silence; even the dogs
+ceased to howl, and in the city men stood still afeared. Then, from far
+away, there came the ghostly music of the sistra. Faint it was at first,
+but ever as it came it grew more loud, till the air shivered with the
+unearthly sound of terror. I said naught, but pointed with my hand
+toward the sky. And behold! bosomed upon the air, floated a vast veiled
+Shape that, heralded by the swelling music of the sistra, drew slowly
+near, till its shadow lay upon us. It came, it passed, it went toward
+the camp of C�sar, till at length the music died away, and the awful
+Shape was swallowed in the night.
+
+"It is Bacchus!" cried one. "Bacchus, who leaves lost Antony!" and, as
+he spoke, there rose a groan of terror from all the camp.
+
+But I knew that it was not Bacchus, the false God, but the Divine Isis
+who deserted Khem, and, passing over the edge of the world, sought her
+home in space, to be no more known of men. For though her worship is
+still upheld, though still she is here and in all Earths, Isis manifests
+herself no more in Egypt. I hid my face and prayed, but when I lifted it
+from my robe, lo! all had fled and I was alone.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+OF THE SURRENDER OF THE TROOPS AND FLEET OF ANTONY BEFORE THE CANOPIC
+GATE; OF THE END OF ANTONY, AND OF THE BREWING OF THE DRAUGHT OF DEATH
+
+On the morrow, at dawn, Antony came forth and gave command that his
+fleet should advance against the fleet of C�sar, and that his cavalry
+should open the land-battle with the cavalry of C�sar. Accordingly, the
+fleet advanced in a triple line, and the fleet of C�sar came out to
+meet it. But when they met, the galleys of Antony lifted their oars in
+greeting, and passed over to the galleys of C�sar; and they sailed away
+together. And the cavalry of Antony rode forth beyond the Hippodrome
+to charge the cavalry of C�sar; but when they met, they lowered their
+swords and passed over to the camp of C�sar, deserting Antony. Then
+Antony grew mad with rage and terrible to see. He shouted to his legions
+to stand firm and wait attack; and for a little while they stood.
+One man, however--that same officer who would have slain me on the
+yesternight--strove to fly; but Antony seized him with his own hand,
+threw him to the earth, and, springing from his horse, drew his sword to
+slay him. He held his sword on high, while the man, covering his face,
+awaited death. But Antony dropped his sword and bade him rise.
+
+"Go!" he said. "Go to C�sar, and prosper! I did love thee once. Why,
+then, among so many traitors, should I single thee out for death?"
+
+The man rose and looked upon him sorrowfully. Then, shame overwhelming
+him, with a great cry he tore open his shirt of mail, plunged his sword
+into his own heart and fell down dead. Antony stood and gazed at him,
+but he said never a word. Meanwhile the ranks of C�sar's legions drew
+near, and so soon as they crossed spears the legions of Antony turned
+and fled. Then the soldiers of C�sar stood still mocking them; but
+scarce a man was slain, for they pursued not.
+
+"Fly, Lord Antony! fly!" cried Eros, his servant, who alone with me
+stayed by him. "Fly ere thou art dragged a prisoner to C�sar!"
+
+So he turned and fled, groaning heavily. I went with him, and as we rode
+through the Canopic gate, where many folk stood wondering, Antony spoke
+to me:
+
+"Go, thou, Olympus; go to the Queen and say: 'Antony sends greeting to
+Cleopatra, who hath betrayed him! To Cleopatra he sends greeting and
+farewell!'"
+
+And so I went to the tomb, but Antony fled to the palace. When I came
+to the tomb I knocked upon the door, and Charmion looked forth from the
+window.
+
+"Open," I cried, and she opened.
+
+"What news, Harmachis?" she whispered.
+
+"Charmion," I said, "the end is at hand. Antony is fled!"
+
+"It is well," she answered; "I am aweary."
+
+And there on her golden bed sat Cleopatra.
+
+"Speak, man!" she cried.
+
+"Antony has fled, his forces are fled, C�sar draws near. To Cleopatra
+the great Antony sends greeting and farewell. Greeting to Cleopatra who
+betrayed him, and farewell."
+
+"It is a lie!" she screamed; "I betrayed him not! Thou, Olympus, go
+swiftly to Antony and answer thus: 'To Antony, Cleopatra, who hath not
+betrayed him, sends greeting and farewell. Cleopatra is no more.'"
+
+And so I went, following out my purpose. In the Alabaster Hall I found
+Antony pacing to and fro, tossing his hands toward heaven, and with him
+Eros, for of all his servants Eros alone remained by this fallen man.
+
+"Lord Antony," I said, "Egypt bids thee farewell. Egypt is dead by her
+own hand."
+
+"Dead! dead!" he whispered, "and is Egypt dead? and is that form of
+glory now food for worms? Oh, what a woman was this! E'en now my heart
+goes out towards her. And shall she outdo me at the last, I who have
+been so great; shall I become so small that a woman can overtop my
+courage and pass where I fear to follow? Eros, thou hast loved me from a
+boy--mindest thou how I found thee starving in the desert, and made thee
+rich, giving thee place and wealth? Come, now pay me back. Draw that
+sword thou wearest and make an end of the woes of Antony."
+
+"Oh, Sire," cried the Greek, "I cannot! How can I take away the life of
+godlike Antony?"
+
+"Answer me not, Eros; but in the last extreme of fate this I charge
+thee. Do thou my bidding, or begone and leave me quite alone! No more
+will I see thy face, thou unfaithful servant!"
+
+Then Eros drew his sword and Antony knelt before him and bared his
+breast, turning his eyes to heaven. But Eros, crying "I cannot! oh, I
+cannot!" plunged the sword to his own heart, and fell dead.
+
+Antony rose and gazed upon him. "Why, Eros, that was nobly done," he
+said. "Thou art greater than I, yet I have learned thy lesson!" and he
+knelt down and kissed him.
+
+Then, rising of a sudden, he drew the sword from the heart of Eros,
+plunged it into his bowels, and fell, groaning, on the couch.
+
+"O thou, Olympus," he cried, "this pain is more than I can bear! Make an
+end of me, Olympus!"
+
+But pity stirred me, and I could not do this thing.
+
+Therefore I drew the sword from his vitals, staunched the flow of blood,
+and, calling to those who came crowding in to see Antony die, I bade
+them summon Atoua from my house at the palace gates. Presently she came,
+bringing with her simples and life-giving draughts. These I gave to
+Antony, and bade Atoua go with such speed as her old limbs might to
+Cleopatra, in the tomb, and tell her of the state of Antony.
+
+So she went, and after a while returned, saying that the Queen yet lived
+and summoned Antony to die in her arms. And with her came Diomedes. When
+Antony heard, his ebbing strength came back, for he was fain to look
+upon Cleopatra's face again. So I called to the slaves--who peeped and
+peered through curtains and from behind pillars to see this great man
+die--and together, with much toil, we bore him thence till we came to
+the foot of the Mausoleum.
+
+But Cleopatra, being afraid of treachery, would no more throw wide the
+door; so she let down a rope from the window and we made it fast
+beneath the arms of Antony. Then did Cleopatra, who the while wept most
+bitterly, together with Charmion and Iras the Greek, pull on the rope
+with all their strength, while we lifted from below till the dying
+Antony swung in the air, groaning heavily, and the blood dropped from
+his gaping wound. Twice he nearly fell to earth: but Cleopatra, striving
+with the strength of love and of despair, held him till at length she
+drew him through the windowplace, while all who saw the dreadful sight
+wept bitterly, and beat their breasts--all save myself and Charmion.
+
+When he was in, once more the rope was let down, and, with some aid from
+Charmion, I climbed into the tomb, drawing up the rope after me. There I
+found Antony, laid upon the golden bed of Cleopatra; and she, her breast
+bare, her face stained with tears, and her hair streaming wildly about
+him, knelt at his side and kissed him, wiping the blood from his wounds
+with her robes and hair. And let all my shame be written: as I stood
+and watched her the old love awoke once more within me, and mad jealousy
+raged in my heart because--though I could destroy these twain--I could
+not destroy their love.
+
+"O Antony! my Sweet, my Husband, and my God!" she moaned. "Cruel Antony,
+hast thou the heart to die and leave me to my lonely shame? I will
+follow thee swiftly to the grave. Antony, awake! awake!"
+
+He lifted up his head and called for wine, which I gave him, mixing
+therein a draught that might allay his pain, for it was great. And when
+he had drunk he bade Cleopatra lie down on the bed beside him, and put
+her arms about him; and this she did. Then was Antony once more a man;
+for, forgetting his own misery and pain, he counselled her as to her own
+safety: but to this talk she would not listen.
+
+"The hour is short," she said; "let us speak of this great love of ours
+that hath been so long and may yet endure beyond the coasts of Death.
+Mindest thou that night when first thou didst put thine arms about me
+and call me 'Love'? Oh! happy, happy night! Having known that night it
+is well to have lived--even to this bitter end!"
+
+"Ay, Egypt, I mind it well and dwell upon its memory, though from that
+hour fortune has fled from me--lost in my depth of love for thee, thou
+Beautiful. I mind it!" he gasped; "then didst thou drink the pearl
+in wanton play, and then did that astrologer of thine call out his
+hour--'The hour of the coming of the curse of Menkau-ra.' Through all
+the after-days those words have haunted me, and now at the last they
+ring in my ears."
+
+"He is long dead, my love," she whispered.
+
+"If he be dead, then I am near him. What meant he?"
+
+"He is dead, the accursed man!--no more of him! Oh! turn and kiss me,
+for thy face grows white. The end is near!"
+
+He kissed her on the lips, and for a little while so they stayed, to
+the moment of death, babbling their passion in each other's ears, like
+lovers newly wed. Even to my jealous heart, it was a strange and awful
+thing to see.
+
+
+
+Presently, I saw the Change of Death gather on his face. His head fell
+back.
+
+"Farewell, Egypt; farewell!--I die!"
+
+Cleopatra lifted herself upon her hands, gazed wildly on his ashen face,
+and then, with a great cry, she sank back swooning.
+
+
+
+But Antony yet lived, though the power of speech had left him. Then
+I drew near and, kneeling, made pretence to minister to him. And as I
+ministered I whispered in his ear:
+
+"Antony," I whispered, "Cleopatra was my love before she passed from me
+to thee. I am Harmachis, that astrologer who stood behind thy couch at
+Tarsus; and I have been the chief minister of thy ruin.
+
+"_Die, Antony!--the curse of Menkau-ra hath fallen!_"
+
+He raised himself, and stared upon my face. He could not speak, but,
+gibbering, he pointed at me. Then with a groan his spirit fled.
+
+Thus did I accomplish my revenge upon Roman Antony, the World-loser.
+
+
+
+Thereafter, we recovered Cleopatra from her swoon, for not yet was
+I minded that she should die. And taking the body of Antony, C�sar
+permitting, I and Atoua caused it to be most skilfully embalmed after
+our Egyptian fashion, covering the face with a mask of gold fashioned
+like to the features of Antony. Also I wrote upon his breast his name
+and titles, and painted his name and the name of his father within his
+inner coffin, and drew the form of the Holy Nout folding her wings about
+him.
+
+Then with great pomp Cleopatra laid him in that sepulchre which had been
+made ready, and in a sarcophagus of alabaster. Now, this sarcophagus was
+fashioned so large that place was left in it for a second coffin, for
+Cleopatra would lie by Antony at the last.
+
+These things then happened. And but a little while after I learned
+tidings from one Cornelius Dolabella, a noble Roman who waited upon
+C�sar, and, moved by the beauty that swayed the souls of all who looked
+upon her, had pity for the woes of Cleopatra. He bade me warn her--for,
+as her physician, it was allowed me to pass in and out of the tomb where
+she dwelt--that in three days she would be sent away to Rome, together
+with her children, save C�sarion, whom Octavian had already slain, that
+she might walk in the triumph of C�sar. Accordingly I went in, and found
+her sitting, as now she always sat, plunged in a half stupor, and before
+her that blood-stained robe with which she had staunched the wounds of
+Antony. For on this she would continually feast her eyes.
+
+"See how faint they grow, Olympus," she said, lifting her sad face and
+pointing to the rusty stains, "and he so lately dead! Why, Gratitude
+could not fade more fast. What is now thy news? Evil tidings is writ
+large in those dark eyes of thine, which ever bring back to me something
+that still slips my mind."
+
+"The news is ill, O Queen," I answered. "I have this from the lips of
+Dolabella, who has it straight from C�sar's secretary. On the third day
+from now C�sar will send thee and the Princes Ptolemy and Alexander and
+the Princess Cleopatra to Rome, there to feast the eyes of the Roman
+mob, and be led in triumph to that Capitol where thou didst swear to set
+thy throne!"
+
+"Never, never!" she cried, springing to her feet. "Never will I walk in
+chains in C�sar's triumph! What must I do? Charmion, tell me what I can
+do!"
+
+And Charmion, rising, stood before her, looking at her through the long
+lashes of her downcast eyes.
+
+"Lady, thou canst die," she said quietly.
+
+"Ay, of a truth I had forgotten; I can die. Olympus, hast thou the
+drug?"
+
+"Nay; but if the Queen wills it, by to-morrow morn it shall be brewed--a
+drug so swift and strong that not the Gods themselves can hold him who
+drinks it back from sleep."
+
+"Let it be made ready, thou Master of Death!"
+
+I bowed, and withdrew myself; and all that night I and old Atoua
+laboured at the distilling of the deadly draught. At length it was done,
+and Atoua poured it into a crystal phial, and held it to the light of
+the fire; for it was white as the purest water.
+
+"_La! la!_" she sang, in her shrill voice; "a drink for a Queen! When
+fifty drops of that water of my brewing have passed those red lips of
+hers, thou wilt indeed be avenged of Cleopatra, O Harmachis! Ah, that
+I could be there to see thy Ruin ruined! _La! la!_ it would be sweet to
+see!"
+
+"Vengeance is an arrow that oft-times falls upon the archer's head," I
+answered, bethinking me of Charmion's saying.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+OF THE LAST SUPPER OF CLEOPATRA; OF THE SONG OF CHARMION; OF THE
+DRINKING OF THE DRAUGHT OF DEATH; OF THE REVEALING OF HARMACHIS; OF THE
+SUMMONING OF THE SPIRITS BY HARMACHIS; AND OF THE DEATH OF CLEOPATRA
+
+On the morrow Cleopatra, having sought leave of C�sar, visited the tomb
+of Antony, crying that the Gods of Egypt had deserted her. And when she
+had kissed the coffin and covered it with lotus-flowers she came back,
+bathed, anointed herself, put on her most splendid robes, and, together
+with Iras, Charmion, and myself, she supped. Now as she supped her
+spirit flared up wildly, even as the sky lights up at sunset; and once
+more she laughed and sparkled as in bygone years, telling us tales of
+feasts which she and Antony had eaten of. Never, indeed, did I see her
+look more beauteous than on that last fatal night of vengeance. And thus
+her mind drew on to that supper at Tarsus when she drank the pearl.
+
+"Strange," she said; "strange that at the last the mind of Antony should
+have turned back to that night among all the nights and to the saying of
+Harmachis. Charmion, dost thou remember Harmachis the Egyptian?"
+
+"Surely, O Queen," she answered slowly.
+
+"And who, then, was Harmachis?" I asked; for I would learn if she
+sorrowed o'er my memory.
+
+"I will tell thee. It is a strange tale, and now that all is done it may
+well be told. This Harmachis was of the ancient race of the Pharaohs,
+and, having, indeed, been crowned in secret at Abydus, was sent hither
+to Alexandria to carry out a great plot that had been formed against the
+rule of us royal Lagid�. He came and gained entry to the palace as my
+astrologer, for he was very learned in all magic--much as thou art,
+Olympus--and a man beautiful to see. Now this was his plot--that he
+should slay me and be named Pharaoh. In truth it was a strong one, for
+he had many friends in Egypt, and I had few. And on that very night when
+he should carry out his purpose, yea, at the very hour, came Charmion
+yonder, and told the plot to me; saying that she had chanced upon its
+clue. But, in after days--though I have said little thereon to thee,
+Charmion--I misdoubted me much of that tale of thine; for, by the Gods!
+to this hour I believe that thou didst love Harmachis, and because he
+scorned thee thou didst betray him; and for that cause also hast all thy
+days remained a maid, which is a thing unnatural. Come, Charmion, tell
+us; for naught matters now at the end."
+
+Charmion shivered and made answer: "It is true, O Queen; I also was of
+the plot, and because Harmachis scorned me I betrayed him; and because
+of my great love for him I have remained unwed." And she glanced up at
+me and caught my eyes, then let the modest lashes veil her own.
+
+"So! I thought it. Strange are the ways of women! But little cause,
+methinks, had that Harmachis to thank thee for thy love. What sayest
+thou, Olympus? Ah, and so thou also wast a traitor, Charmion? How
+dangerous are the paths which Monarchs tread! Well, I forgive thee, for
+thou hast served me faithfully since that hour.
+
+"But to my tale. Harmachis I dared not slay, lest his great party should
+rise in fury and cast me from the throne. And now mark the issue. Though
+he must murder me, in secret this Harmachis loved me, and something
+thereof I guessed. I had striven a little to draw him to me, for the
+sake of his beauty and his wit; and for the love of man Cleopatra never
+strove in vain. Therefore when, with the dagger in his robe, he came
+to slay me, I matched my charms against his will, and need I tell you,
+being man and woman, how I won? Oh, never can I forget the look in
+the eyes of that fallen prince, that forsworn priest, that discrowned
+Pharaoh, when, lost in the poppied draught, I saw him sink into
+a shameful sleep whence he might no more wake with honour! And,
+thereafter--till, in the end, I wearied of him, and his sad learned
+mind, for his guilty soul forbade him to be gay--a little I came to care
+for him, though not to love. But he--he who loved me--clung to me as a
+drunkard to the cup which ruins him. Deeming that I should wed him,
+he betrayed to me the secret of the hidden wealth of the pyramid of
+_Her_--for at the time I much needed treasure--and together we dared the
+terrors of the tomb and drew it forth, even from dead Pharaoh's breast.
+See, this emerald was a part thereof!"--and she pointed to the great
+scarab�us that she had drawn from the holy heart of Menkau-ra.
+
+"And because of what was written in the tomb, and of that Thing which
+we saw in the tomb--ah, pest upon it! why does its memory haunt me
+now?--and also because of policy, for I would fain have won the love
+of the Egyptians, I was minded to marry this Harmachis and declare his
+place and lineage to the world--ay, and by his aid hold Egypt from the
+Roman. For Dellius had then come to call me to Antony, and after much
+thought I determined to send him back with sharp words. But on that very
+morning, as I tired me for the Court, came Charmion yonder, and I told
+her this, for I would see how the matter fell upon her mind. Now mark,
+Olympus, the power of jealousy, that little wedge which yet has strength
+to rend the tree of Empire, that secret sword which can carve the fate
+of Kings! This she could in no wise bear--deny it, Charmion, if thou
+canst, for now it is clear to me!--that the man she loved should be
+given to me as husband--me, whom _he_ loved! And therefore, with more
+skill and wit than I can tell, she reasoned with me, showing that I
+should by no means do this thing, but journey to Antony; and for that,
+Charmion, I thank thee, now that all is come and gone. And by a very
+little, her words weighed down my scale of judgment against Harmachis,
+and I went to Antony. Thus it is through the jealous spleen of yonder
+fair Charmion and the passion of a man on which I played as on a lyre,
+that all these things have come to pass. For this cause Octavian sits
+a King in Alexandria; for this cause Antony is discrowned and dead; and
+for this cause I, too, must die to-night! Ah! Charmion! Charmion! thou
+hast much to answer, for thou hast changed the story of the world; and
+yet, even now--I would not have it otherwise!"
+
+She paused awhile, covering her eyes with her hand; and, looking, I saw
+great tears upon the cheek of Charmion.
+
+"And of this Harmachis," I asked; "where is he now, O Queen?"
+
+"Where is he? In Amenti, forsooth--making his peace with Isis,
+perchance. At Tarsus I saw Antony, and loved him; and from that moment I
+loathed the sight of the Egyptian, and swore to make an end of him; for
+a lover done with should be a lover dead. And, being jealous, he spoke
+some words of evil omen, even at that Feast of the Pearl; and on the
+same night I would have slain him, but before the deed was done, he was
+gone."
+
+"And whither was he gone?"
+
+"Nay; that know not I. Brennus--he who led my guard, and last year
+sailed North to join his own people--Brennus swore he saw him float to
+the skies; but in this matter I misdoubted me of Brennus, for methinks
+he loved the man. Nay, he sank off Cyprus, and was drowned; perchance
+Charmion can tell us how?"
+
+"I can tell thee nothing, O Queen; Harmachis is lost."
+
+"And well lost, Charmion, for he was an evil man to play with--ay,
+although I bettered him I say it! Well he served my purpose; but I loved
+him not, and even now I fear him; for it seemed to me that I heard
+his voice summoning me to fly, through the din of the fight at Actium.
+Thanks be to the Gods, as thou sayest, he is lost, and can no more be
+found."
+
+
+
+But I, listening, put forth my strength, and, by the arts I have, cast
+the shadow of my Spirit upon the Spirit of Cleopatra so that she felt
+the presence of the lost Harmachis.
+
+"Nay, what is it?" she said. "By Serapis! I grow afraid! It seems to
+me that I feel Harmachis here! His memory overwhelms me like a flood of
+waters, and he these ten years dead! Oh! at such a time it is unholy!"
+
+"Nay, O Queen," I answered, "if he be dead then he is everywhere, and
+well at such a time--the time of thy own death--may his Spirit draw near
+to welcome thine at its going."
+
+"Speak not thus, Olympus. I would see Harmachis no more; the count
+between us is too heavy, and in another world than this more evenly,
+perchance should we be matched. Ah, the terror passes! I was but
+unnerved. Well the fool's story hath served to wile away the heaviest of
+our hours, the hour which ends in death. Sing to me, Charmion, sing, for
+thy voice is very sweet, and I would soothe my soul to sleep. The memory
+of that Harmachis has wrung me strangely! Sing, then, the last song I
+shall hear from those tuneful lips of thine, the last of so many songs."
+
+"It is a sad hour for song, O Queen!" said Charmion; but, nevertheless,
+she took her harp and sang. And thus she sang, very soft and low, the
+dirge of the sweet-tongued Syrian Meleager:
+
+     Tears for my lady dead,
+     Heliodore!
+     Salt tears and strange to shed,
+     Over and o'er;
+     Go tears and low lament
+     Fare from her tomb,
+     Wend where my lady went,
+     Down through the gloom--
+     Sighs for my lady dead,
+     Tears do I send,
+     Long love remembered,
+     Mistress and friend!
+     Sad are the songs we sing,
+     Tears that we shed,
+     Empty the gifts we bring--
+     Gifts to the dead!
+     Ah, for my flower, my Love,
+     Hades hath taken,
+     Ah, for the dust above,
+     Scattered and shaken!
+     Mother of blade and grass,
+     Earth, in thy breast
+     Lull her that gentlest was,
+     Gently to rest!
+
+The music of her voice died away, and it was so sweet and sad that Iras
+began to weep and the bright tears stood in Cleopatra's stormy eyes.
+Only I wept not; my tears were dry.
+
+"'Tis a heavy song of thine, Charmion," said the Queen. "Well, as thou
+saidst, it is a sad hour for song, and thy dirge is fitted to the hour.
+Sing it over me once again when I lie dead, Charmion. And now farewell
+to music, and on to the end. Olympus, take yonder parchment and write
+what I shall say."
+
+I took the parchment and the reed, and wrote thus in the Roman tongue:
+
+"Cleopatra to Octavianus, greeting.
+
+"This is the state of life. At length there comes an hour when, rather
+than endure those burdens that overwhelm us, putting off the body we
+would take wing into forgetfulness. C�sar, thou hast conquered: take
+thou the spoils of victory. But in thy triumph Cleopatra cannot walk.
+When all is lost, then we must go to seek the lost. Thus in the desert
+of Despair the brave do harvest Resolution. Cleopatra hath been great
+as Antony was great, nor shall her fame be minished in the manner of
+her end. Slaves live to endure their wrong; but Princes, treading with a
+firmer step, pass through the gates of Wrong into the royal Dwellings of
+the Dead. This only doth Egypt ask of C�sar--that he suffer her to lie
+in the tomb of Antony. Farewell!"
+
+This I wrote, and having sealed the writing, Cleopatra bade me go find a
+messenger, despatch it to C�sar, and then return. So I went, and at the
+door of the tomb I called a soldier who was not on duty, and, giving him
+money, bade him take the letter to C�sar. Then I went back, and there in
+the chamber the three women stood in silence, Cleopatra clinging to the
+arm of Iras, and Charmion a little apart watching the twain.
+
+"If indeed thou art minded to make an end, O Queen," I said, "the time
+is short, for presently C�sar will send his servants in answer to thy
+letter," and I drew forth the phial of white and deadly bane and set it
+upon the board.
+
+She took it in her hand and gazed thereon. "How innocent it seems!" she
+said; "and yet therein lies my death. 'Tis strange."
+
+"Ay, Queen, and the death of ten other folk. No need to take so long a
+draught."
+
+"I fear," she gasped--"how know I that it will slay outright? I have
+seen so many die by poison and scarce one has died outright. And
+some--ah, I cannot think on them!"
+
+"Fear not," I said, "I am a master of my craft. Or, if thou dost
+fear, cast this poison forth and live. In Rome thou mayst still find
+happiness; ay, in Rome, where thou shalt walk in C�sar's triumph, while
+the laughter of the hard-eyed Latin women shall chime down the music of
+thy golden chains."
+
+"Nay, I will die, Olympus. Oh, if one would but show the path."
+
+Then Iras loosed her hand and stepped forward. "Give me the draught,
+Physician," she said. "I go to make ready for my Queen."
+
+"It is well," I answered; "on thy own head be it!" and I poured from the
+phial into a little golden goblet.
+
+She raised it, curtsied low to Cleopatra, then, coming forward, kissed
+her on the brow, and Charmion she also kissed. This done, tarrying not
+and making no prayer, for Iras was a Greek, she drank, and, putting her
+hand to her head, instantly fell down and died.
+
+"Thou seest," I said, breaking in upon the silence, "it is swift."
+
+"Ay, Olympus; thine is a master drug! Come now, I thirst; fill me the
+bowl, lest Iras weary in waiting at the gates!"
+
+So I poured afresh into the goblet; but this time, making pretence
+to rinse the cup, I mixed a little water with the bane, for I was not
+minded that she should die before she knew me.
+
+Then did the royal Cleopatra, taking the goblet in her hand, turn her
+lovely eyes to heaven and cry aloud:
+
+"O ye Gods of Egypt! who have deserted me, to you no longer will I pray,
+for your ears are shut unto my crying and your eyes blind to my griefs!
+Therefore, I make entreaty of that last friend whom the Gods, departing,
+leave to helpless man. Sweep hither, Death, whose winnowing wings
+enshadow all the world, and give me ear! Draw nigh, thou King of Kings!
+who, with an equal hand, bringest the fortunate head of one pillow with
+the slave, and by thy spiritual breath dost waft the bubble of our life
+far from this hell of earth! Hide me where winds blow not and waters
+cease to roll; where wars are done and C�sar's legions cannot march!
+Take me to a new dominion, and crown me Queen of Peace! Thou art my
+Lord, O Death, and in thy kiss I have conceived. I am in labour of a
+Soul: see--it stands new-born upon the edge of Time! Now--now--go, Life!
+Come, Sleep! Come, Antony!"
+
+And, with one glance to heaven, she drank, and cast the goblet to the
+ground.
+
+
+
+Then at last came the moment of my pent-up vengeance, and of the
+vengeance of Egypt's outraged Gods, and of the falling of the curse of
+Menkau-ra.
+
+"What's this?" she cried; "I grow cold, but I die not! Thou dark
+physician, thou hast betrayed me!"
+
+"Peace, Cleopatra! Presently shalt thou die and know the fury of the
+Gods! _The curse of Menkau-ra hath fallen!_ It is finished! Look upon
+me, woman! Look upon this marred face, this twisted form, this living
+mass of sorrow! _Look! look!_ Who am I?"
+
+She stared upon me wildly.
+
+"Oh! oh!" she shrieked, throwing up her arms; "at last I know thee! By
+the Gods, thou art Harmachis!--Harmachis risen from the dead!"
+
+"Ay, Harmachis risen from the dead to drag thee down to death and agony
+eternal! See, thou Cleopatra; _I_ have ruined thee as thou didst ruin
+me! I, working in the dark, and helped of the angry Gods, have been thy
+secret spring of woe! I filled thy heart with fear at Actium; I held the
+Egyptians from thy aid; I sapped the strength of Antony; I showed the
+portent of the Gods unto thy captains! By my hand at length thou diest,
+for I am the instrument of Vengeance! Ruin I pay thee back for ruin,
+Treachery for treachery, Death for death! Come hither, Charmion, partner
+of my plots, who betrayed me, but, repenting, art the sharer of my
+triumph, come watch this fallen wanton die!"
+
+Cleopatra heard, and sank back upon the golden bed, groaning "And thou,
+too, Charmion!"
+
+A moment so she sat, then her Imperial spirit burnt up glorious before
+she died.
+
+She staggered from the bed, and, with arms outstretched, she cursed me.
+
+"Oh! for one hour of life!" she cried--"one short hour, that therein I
+might make thee die in such fashion as thou canst not dream, thou and
+that false paramour of thine, who betrayed both me and thee! And thou
+didst love me! Ah, _there_ I have thee still! See, thou subtle, plotting
+priest"--and with both hands she rent back the royal robes from her
+bosom--"see, on this fair breast once night by night thy head was
+pillowed, and thou didst sleep wrapped in these same arms. Now, put away
+their memory _if thou canst!_ I read it in thine eyes--that mayst thou
+not! No torture which I bear can, in its sum, draw nigh to the rage of
+that deep soul of thine, rent with longings never, never to be reached!
+Harmachis, thou slave of slaves, from thy triumph-depths I snatch a
+deeper triumph, and conquered yet I conquer! I spit upon thee--I defy
+thee--and, dying, doom thee to the torment of thy deathless love! O
+Antony! I come, my Antony!--I come to thy own dear arms! Soon I shall
+find thee, and, wrapped in a love undying and divine, together we will
+float through all the depths of space, and, lips to lips and eyes to
+eyes, drink of desires grown more sweet with every draught! Or if I find
+thee not, then I shall sink in peace down the poppied ways of Sleep: and
+for me the breast of Night, whereon I shall be softly cradled, will yet
+seem thy bosom, Antony! Oh, I die!--come, Antony--and give me peace!"
+
+Even in my fury I had quailed beneath her scorn, for home flew the
+arrows of her winged words. Alas! and alas! it was _true_--the shaft of
+my vengeance fell upon my own head; never had I loved her as I loved her
+now. My soul was rent with jealous torture, and thus I swore she should
+not die.
+
+"Peace!" I cried; "what peace is there for thee? Oh! ye Holy Three,
+hear now my prayer. Osiris, loosen Thou the bonds of Hell and send
+forth those whom I shall summon! Come Ptolemy, poisoned of thy sister
+Cleopatra; come Arsino�, murdered in the sanctuary by thy sister
+Cleopatra; come Sepa, tortured to death of Cleopatra; come Divine
+Menkau-ra, whose body Cleopatra tore and whose curse she braved for
+greed; come one, come all who have died at the hands of Cleopatra! Rush
+from the breast of Nout and greet her who murdered you! By the link of
+mystic union, by the symbol of the Life, Spirits, I summon you!"
+
+Thus I spoke the spell; while Charmion, affrighted, clung to my robe,
+and the dying Cleopatra, resting on her hands, swung slowly to and fro,
+gazing with vacant eyes.
+
+Then the answer came. The casement burst asunder, and on flittering
+wings that great bat entered which last I had seen hanging to the
+eunuch's chin in the womb of the pyramid of _Her_. Thrice it circled
+round, once it hovered o'er dead Iras, then flew to where the dying
+woman stood. To her it flew, on her breast it settled, clinging to that
+emerald which was dragged from the dead heart of Menkau-ra. Thrice the
+grey Horror screamed aloud, thrice it beat its bony wings, and lo! it
+was gone.
+
+Then suddenly within that chamber sprang up the Shapes of Death. There
+was Arsino�, the beautiful, even as she had shrunk beneath the butcher's
+knife. There was young Ptolemy, his features twisted by the poisoned
+cup. There was the majesty of Menkau-ra, crowned with the ur�us crown;
+there was grave Sepa, his flesh all torn by the torturer's hooks;
+there were those poisoned slaves; and there were others without number,
+shadowy and dreadful to behold! who, thronging that narrow chamber,
+stood silently fixing their glassy eyes upon the face of her who slew
+them!
+
+
+
+"Behold! Cleopatra!" I said. "_Behold thy peace, and die!_"
+
+"Ay!" said Charmion. "Behold and die! thou who didst rob me of my
+honour, and Egypt of her King!"
+
+
+
+She looked, she saw the awful Shapes--her Spirit, hurrying from the
+flesh, mayhap could hear words to which my ears were deaf. Then her face
+sank in with terror, her great eyes grew pale, and, shrieking, Cleopatra
+fell and died: passing, with that dread company, to her appointed place.
+
+
+
+Thus, then, I, Harmachis, fed my soul with vengeance, fulfilling the
+justice of the Gods, and yet knew myself empty of all joy therein. For
+though that thing we worship doth bring us ruin, and Love being more
+pitiless than Death, we in turn do pay all our sorrow back; yet we must
+worship on, yet stretch out our arms towards our lost Desire, and pour
+our heart's blood upon the shrine of our discrowned God.
+
+For Love is of the Spirit, and knows not Death.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+OF THE FAREWELL OF CHARMION; OF THE DEATH OF CHARMION; OF THE DEATH
+OF THE OLD WIFE, ATOUA; OF THE COMING OF HARMACHIS TO ABOUTHIS; OF HIS
+CONFESSION IN THE HALL OF SIX-AND-THIRTY PILLARS; AND OF THE DECLARING
+OF THE DOOM OF HARMACHIS
+
+Charmion unclasped my arm, to which she had clung in terror.
+
+"Thy vengeance, thou dark Harmachis," she said, in a hoarse voice, "is
+a thing hideous to behold! O lost Egypt, with all thy sins thou wast
+indeed a Queen!
+
+"Come, aid me, Prince; let us stretch this poor clay upon the bed and
+deck it royally, so that it may give its dumb audience to the messengers
+of C�sar as becomes the last of Egypt's Queens."
+
+I spoke no word in answer, for my heart was very heavy, and now that all
+was done I was weary. Together, then, we lifted up the body and laid it
+on the golden bed. Charmion placed the ur�us crown upon the ivory brow,
+and combed the night-dark hair that showed never a thread of silver,
+and, for the last time, shut those eyes wherein had shone all the
+changing glories of the sea. She folded the chill hands upon the breast
+whence Passion's breath had fled, and straightened the bent knees
+beneath the broidered robe, and by the head set flowers. And there at
+length Cleopatra lay, more splendid now in her cold majesty of death
+than in her richest hour of breathing beauty!
+
+We drew back and looked on her, and on dead Iras at her feet.
+
+"It is done!" quoth Charmion; "we are avenged, and now, Harmachis,
+dost follow by this same road?" And she nodded towards the phial on the
+board.
+
+"Nay, Charmion. I fly--I fly to a heavier death! Not thus easily may I
+end my space of earthly penance."
+
+"So be it, Harmachis! And I, Harmachis--I fly also, but with swifter
+wings. My game is played. I, too, have made atonement. Oh! what a bitter
+fate is mine, to have brought misery on all I love, and, in the end, to
+die unloved! To thee I have atoned; to my angered Gods I have atoned;
+and now I go to find a way whereby I may atone to Cleopatra in that Hell
+where she is, and which I must share! For she loved me well, Harmachis;
+and, now that she is dead, methinks that, after thee, I loved her best
+of all. So of her cup and the cup of Iras I will surely drink!" And
+she took the phial, and with a steady hand poured what was left of the
+poison into the goblet.
+
+"Bethink thee, Charmion," I said; "yet mayst thou live for many years,
+hiding these sorrows beneath the withered days."
+
+"Yet I may, but I will not! To live the prey of so many memories, the
+fount of an undying shame that night by night, as I lie sleepless, shall
+well afresh from my sorrow-stricken heart!--to live torn by a love I
+cannot lose!--to stand alone like some storm-twisted tree, and, sighing
+day by day to the winds of heaven, gaze upon the desert of my life,
+while I wait the lingering lightning's stroke--nay, that will not I,
+Harmachis! I had died long since, but I lived on to serve thee; now no
+more thou needest me, and I go. Oh, fare thee well!--for ever fare thee
+well! For not again shall I look upon thy face, and where I go
+thou goest not! For thou dost not love me who still dost love that
+queenly woman thou hast hounded to the death! Her thou shalt never win,
+and I thee shall never win, and this is the bitter end of Fate! See,
+Harmachis: I ask one boon before I go and for all time become naught to
+thee but a memory of shame. Tell me that thou dost forgive me so far as
+thine is to forgive, and in token thereof kiss me--with no lover's kiss,
+but kiss me on the brow, and bid me pass in peace."
+
+And she drew near to me with arms outstretched and pitiful trembling
+lips and gazed upon my face.
+
+"Charmion," I answered, "we are free to act for good or evil, and yet
+methinks there is a Fate above our fate, that, blowing from some strange
+shore, compels our little sails of purpose, set them as we will, and
+drives us to destruction. I forgive thee, Charmion, as I trust in turn
+to be forgiven, and by this kiss, the first and the last, I seal our
+peace." And with my lips I touched her brow.
+
+She spoke no more; only for a little while she stood gazing on me with
+sad eyes. Then she lifted the goblet, and said:
+
+"Royal Harmachis, in this deadly cup I pledge thee! Would that I had
+drunk of it ere ever I looked upon thy face! Pharaoh, who, thy sins
+outworn, yet shalt rule in perfect peace o'er worlds I may not tread,
+who yet shalt sway a kinglier sceptre than that I robbed thee of, for
+ever, fare thee well!"
+
+She drank, cast down the cup, and for a moment stood with the wide eyes
+of one who looks for Death. Then He came, and Charmion the Egyptian fell
+prone upon the floor, dead. And for a moment more I stood alone with the
+dead.
+
+I crept to the side of Cleopatra, and, now that none were left to see,
+I sat down on the bed and laid her head upon my knee, as once before
+it had been laid in that night of sacrilege beneath the shadow of the
+everlasting pyramid. Then I kissed her chill brow and went from the
+House of Death--avenged, but sorely smitten with despair!
+
+
+
+"Physician," said the officer of the Guard as I went through the gates,
+"what passes yonder in the Monument? Methought I heard the sounds of
+death."
+
+"Naught passes--all hath passed," I made reply, and went.
+
+And as I went in the darkness I heard the sound of voices and the
+running of the feet of C�sar's messengers.
+
+Flying swiftly to my house I found Atoua waiting at the gates. She drew
+me into a quiet chamber and closed the doors.
+
+"Is it done?" she asked, and turned her wrinkled face to mine, while the
+lamplight streamed white upon her snowy hair. "Nay, why ask I--I know
+that it is done!"
+
+"Ay, it is done, and well done, old wife! All are dead! Cleopatra, Iras,
+Charmion--all save myself!"
+
+The aged woman drew up her bent form and cried: "Now let me go in peace,
+for I have seen my desire upon thy foes and the foes of Khem. _La!
+la!_--not in vain have I lived on beyond the years of man! I have seen
+my desire upon thy enemies---I have gathered the dews of Death, and thy
+foe hath drunk thereof! Fallen is the brow of Pride! the Shame of Khem
+is level with the dust! Ah, would that I might have seen that wanton
+die!"
+
+"Cease, woman! cease! The Dead are gathered to the Dead! Osiris holds
+them fast, and everlasting silence seals their lips! Pursue not the
+fallen great with insults! Up!--let us fly to Abouthis, that all may be
+accomplished!"
+
+"Fly thou, Harmachis!--Harmachis, fly--but I fly not! To this end only
+I have lingered on the earth. Now I untie the knot of life and let my
+spirit free! Fare thee well, Prince, the pilgrimage is done! Harmachis,
+from a babe have I loved thee, and love thee yet!--but no more in this
+world may I share thy griefs--I am spent. Osiris, take thou my Spirit!"
+and her trembling knees gave way and she sank to the ground.
+
+I ran to her side and looked upon her. She was already dead, and I was
+alone upon the earth without a friend to comfort me!
+
+Then I turned and went, no man hindering me, for all was confusion in
+the city, and departed from Alexandria in a vessel I had made ready.
+On the eighth day, I landed, and, in the carrying out of my purpose,
+travelled on foot across the fields to the Holy Shrine of Abouthis. And
+here, as I knew, the worship of the Gods had been lately set up again
+in the Temple of the Divine Sethi: for Charmion had caused Cleopatra to
+repent of her decree of vengeance and to restore the lands that she had
+seized, though the treasure she restored not. And the temple having been
+purified, now, at the season of the Feast of Isis, all the High Priests
+of the ancient Temples of Egypt were gathered together to celebrate the
+coming home of the Gods into their holy place.
+
+I gained the city. It was on the seventh day of the Feast of Isis. Even
+as I came the long array wended through the well-remembered streets.
+I joined in the multitude that followed, and with my voice swelled the
+chorus of the solemn chant as we passed through the pylons into the
+imperishable halls. How well known were the holy words:
+
+     "Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     'Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!'"
+
+And then, when the sacred music ceased, as aforetime on the setting of
+the majesty of Ra, the High Priest raised the statue of the living God
+and held it on high before the multitude.
+
+With a joyful shout of
+
+"Osiris! our hope, Osiris! Osiris!"
+
+the people tore the black wrappings from their dress, showing the white
+robes beneath, and, as one man, bowed before the God.
+
+Then they went to feast each at his home; but I stayed in the court of
+the temple.
+
+Presently a priest of the temple drew near, and asked me of my business.
+And I answered him that I came from Alexandria, and would be led before
+the council of the High Priests, for I knew that the Holy Priests were
+gathered together debating the tidings from Alexandria.
+
+Thereon the man left, and the High Priests, hearing that I was from
+Alexandria, ordered that I should be led into their presence in the Hall
+of Columns--and so I was led in. It was already dark, and between the
+great pillars lights were set, as on that night when I was crowned
+Pharaoh of the Upper and the Lower Land. There, too, was the long
+line of Dignitaries seated in their carven chairs, and taking counsel
+together. All was the same; the same cold images of Kings and Gods gazed
+with the same empty eyes from the everlasting walls. Ay, more; among
+those gathered there were five of the very men who, as leaders of the
+great plot, had sat here to see me crowned, being the only conspirators
+who had escaped the vengeance of Cleopatra and the clutching hand of
+Time.
+
+I took my stand on the spot where once I had been crowned and made me
+ready for the last act of shame with such bitterness of heart as cannot
+be written.
+
+"Why, it is the physician Olympus," said one. "He who lived a hermit in
+the Tombs of T�p�, and who but lately was of the household of Cleopatra.
+Is it, then, true that the Queen is dead by her own hand, Physician?"
+
+"Yea, holy Sirs, I am that physician; also Cleopatra is dead by _my_
+hand."
+
+"By thy hand? Why, how comes this?--though well is she dead, forsooth,
+the wicked wanton!"
+
+"Your pardon, Sirs, and I will tell you all, for I am come hither
+to that end. Perchance among you there may be some--methinks I see
+some--who, nigh eleven years ago, were gathered in this hall to secretly
+crown one Harmachis, Pharaoh of Khem?"
+
+"It is true!" they said; "but how knowest thou these things, thou
+Olympus?"
+
+"Of the rest of those seven-and-thirty nobles," I went on, making no
+answer, "are two-and-thirty missing. Some are dead, as Amenemhat is
+dead; some are slain, as Sepa is slain; and some, perchance, yet labour
+as slaves within the mines, or live afar, fearing vengeance."
+
+"It is so," they said: "alas! it is so. Harmachis the accursed betrayed
+the plot, and sold himself to the wanton Cleopatra!"
+
+"It is so," I went on, lifting up my head. "Harmachis betrayed the plot
+and sold himself to Cleopatra; and, holy Sirs--_I am that Harmachis!_"
+
+The Priests and Dignitaries gazed astonished. Some rose and spoke; some
+said naught.
+
+"I am that Harmachis! I am that traitor, trebly steeped in crime!--a
+traitor to my Gods, a traitor to my Country, a traitor to my Oath! I
+come hither to say that I have done this. I have executed the Divine
+vengeance on her who ruined me and gave Egypt to the Roman. And now
+that, after years of toil and patient waiting, this is accomplished
+by my wisdom and the help of the angry Gods, behold I come with all my
+shame upon my head to declare the thing I am, and take the traitor's
+guerdon!"
+
+"Mindest thou of the doom of him who hath broke the oath that may not be
+broke?" asked he who first had spoken, in heavy tones.
+
+"I know it well," I answered; "I court that awful doom."
+
+"Tell us more of this matter, thou who wast Harmachis."
+
+So, in cold clear words, I laid bare all my shame, keeping back nothing.
+And ever as I spoke I saw their faces grow more hard, and knew that for
+me there was no mercy; nor did I ask it, nor, had I asked, could it have
+been granted.
+
+When, at last, I had done, they put me aside while they took counsel.
+Then they drew me forth again, and the eldest among them, a man very old
+and venerable, the Priest of the Temple of the Divine Hatshepu at T�p�,
+spoke, in icy accents:
+
+"Thou Harmachis, we have considered this matter. Thou hast sinned the
+threefold deadly sin. On thy head lies the burden of the woe of Khem,
+this day enthralled of Rome. To Isis, the Mother Mystery, thou hast
+offered the deadly insult, and thou hast broken thy holy oath. For all
+of these sins there is, as well thou knowest, but one reward, and that
+reward is thine. Naught can it weigh in the balance of our justice that
+thou hast slain her who was thy cause of stumbling; naught that thou
+comest to name thyself the vilest thing who ever stood within these
+walls. On thee also must fall the curse of Menkau-ra, thou false priest!
+thou forsworn patriot! thou Pharaoh shameful and discrowned! Here, where
+we set the Double Crown upon thy head, we doom thee to the doom! Go to
+thy dungeon and await the falling of its stroke! Go, remembering what
+thou mightest have been and what thou art, and may those Gods who
+through thy evil doing shall perchance ere long cease to be worshipped
+within these holy temples, give to thee that mercy which we deny! Lead
+him forth!"
+
+
+
+So they took me and led me forth. With bowed head I went, looking not
+up, and yet I felt their eyes burn upon my face.
+
+Oh! surely of all my shames this is the heaviest!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+OF THE LAST WRITING OF HARMACHIS, THE ROYAL EGYPTIAN
+
+They led me to the prison chamber that is high in the pylon tower and
+here I wait my doom. I know not when the sword of Fate shall fall. Week
+grows to week, and month to month, and still it is delayed. Still it
+quivers unseen above my head. I know that it will fall, but when I know
+not. Perchance, I shall wake in some dead hour of midnight to hear the
+stealthy steps of the slayers and be hurried forth. Perchance, they are
+now at hand. Then will come the secret cell! the horror! the nameless
+coffin! and at last it will be done! Oh, let it come! let it come
+swiftly!
+
+
+All is written; I have held back nothing--my sin is sinned--my vengeance
+is finished. Now all things end in darkness and in ashes, and I prepare
+to face the terrors that are to come in other worlds than this. I go,
+but not without hope I go: for, though I see Her not, though no more She
+answers to my prayers, still I am aware of the Holy Isis, who is with me
+for evermore, and whom I shall yet again behold face to face. And then
+at last in that far day I shall find forgiveness; then the burden of
+my guilt will roll from me and innocency come back and wrap me round,
+bringing me holy Peace.
+
+
+Oh! dear land of Khem, as in a dream I see thee! I see Nation after
+Nation set its standard on thy shores, and its yoke upon thy neck! I
+see new Religions without end calling out their truths upon the banks of
+Sihor, and summoning thy people to their worship! I see thy temples--thy
+holy temples--crumbling in the dust: a wonder to the sight of men
+unborn, who shall peer into thy tombs and desecrate the great ones
+of thy glory! I see thy mysteries a mockery to the unlearned, and thy
+wisdom wasted like waters on the desert sands! I see the Roman Eagles
+stoop and perish, their beaks yet red with the blood of men, and the
+long lights dancing down the barbarian spears that follow in their
+wake! And then, at last, I see Thee once more great, once more free, and
+having once more a knowledge of thy Gods--ay, thy Gods with a changed
+countenance, and called by other names, but still thy Gods!
+
+
+The sun sinks over Abouthis. The red rays of Ra flame on temple roofs,
+upon green fields, and the wide waters of father Sihor. So as a child
+I watched him sink; just so his last kiss touched the further pylon's
+frowning brow; just that same shadow lay upon the tombs. All is
+unchanged! I--I only am changed--so changed, and yet the same!
+
+
+Oh, Cleopatra! Cleopatra! thou Destroyer! if I might but tear thy vision
+from my heart! Of all my griefs, this is the heaviest grief--still must
+I love thee! Still must I hug this serpent to my heart! Still in my
+ears must ring that low laugh of triumph--the murmur of the falling
+fountain--the song of the nightinga----
+
+[Here the writing on the third roll of papyrus abruptly ends. It would
+almost seem that the writer was at this moment broken in upon by those
+who came to lead him to his doom.]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Cleopatra, by H. Rider Haggard
+
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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>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" />
+    <title>
+      Cleopatra, 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%; }
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+    .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 Cleopatra, 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: Cleopatra
+
+Author: H. Rider Haggard
+
+Release Date: March 28, 2006 [EBook #2769]
+[Last updated: November 19, 2020]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLEOPATRA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by John Bickers; Dagny; Emma Dudding; David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h1>
+      CLEOPATRA
+    </h1>
+    <h2>
+      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 />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> DEDICATION </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> AUTHOR&rsquo;S NOTE </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> <big><b>CLEOPATRA</b></big> </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_INTR"> INTRODUCTION </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> <b>BOOK I&mdash;THE PREPARATION OF HARMACHIS</b>
+        </a>
+      </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>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> <b>BOOK II&mdash;THE FALL OF HARMACHIS</b>
+        </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER I </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER II </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER III </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER IV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER V </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER VI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER VII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER VIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER IX </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER X </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER XI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER XIV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0022"> CHAPTER XV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0023"> CHAPTER XVI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0030"> <b>BOOK III&mdash;THE VENGEANCE OF HARMACHIS</b>
+        </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0024"> CHAPTER I </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0025"> CHAPTER II </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0026"> CHAPTER III </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0027"> CHAPTER IV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0028"> CHAPTER V </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0029"> CHAPTER VI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0030"> CHAPTER VII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0031"> CHAPTER VIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0032"> CHAPTER IX </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0033"> CHAPTER X </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>
+      DEDICATION
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      My dear Mother,
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      I have for a long while hoped to be allowed to dedicate some book of mine
+      to you, and now I bring you this work, because whatever its shortcomings,
+      and whatever judgment may be passed upon it by yourself and others, it is
+      yet the one I should wish you to accept.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I trust that you will receive from my romance of &ldquo;Cleopatra&rdquo; some such
+      pleasure as lightened the labour of its building up; and that it may
+      convey to your mind a picture, however imperfect, of the old and
+      mysterious Egypt in whose lost glories you are so deeply interested.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Your affectionate and dutiful Son,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      H. Rider Haggard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      January 21, 1889.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      AUTHOR&rsquo;S NOTE
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The history of the ruin of Antony and Cleopatra must have struck many
+      students of the records of their age as one of the most inexplicable of
+      tragic tales. What malign influence and secret hates were at work,
+      continually sapping their prosperity and blinding their judgment? Why did
+      Cleopatra fly at Actium, and why did Antony follow her, leaving his fleet
+      and army to destruction? An attempt is made in this romance to suggest a
+      possible answer to these and some other questions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The reader is asked to bear in mind, however, that the story is told, not
+      from the modern point of view, but as from the broken heart and with the
+      lips of an Egyptian patriot of royal blood; no mere beast-worshipper, but
+      a priest instructed in the inmost mysteries, who believed firmly in the
+      personal existence of the gods of Khem, in the possibility of communion
+      with them, and in the certainty of immortal life with its rewards and
+      punishments; to whom also the bewildering and often gross symbolism of the
+      Osirian Faith was nothing but a veil woven to obscure secrets of the
+      Sanctuary. Whatever proportion of truth there may have been in their
+      spiritual claims and imaginings, if indeed there was any, such men as the
+      Prince Harmachis have been told of in the annals of every great religion,
+      and, as is shown by the testimony of monumental and sacred inscriptions,
+      they were not unknown among the worshippers of the Egyptian Gods, and more
+      especially of Isis.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Unfortunately it is scarcely possible to write a book of this nature and
+      period without introducing a certain amount of illustrative matter, for by
+      no other means can the long dead past be made to live again before the
+      reader&rsquo;s eyes with all its accessories of faded pomp and forgotten
+      mystery. To such students as seek a story only, and are not interested in
+      the faith, ceremonies, or customs of the Mother of Religion and
+      Civilisation, ancient Egypt, it is, however, respectfully suggested that
+      they should exercise the art of skipping, and open this tale at its Second
+      Book.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      That version of the death of Cleopatra has been preferred which attributes
+      her end to poison. According to Plutarch its actual manner is very
+      uncertain, though popular rumour ascribed it to the bite of an asp. She
+      seems, however, to have carried out her design under the advice of that
+      shadowy personage, her physician, Olympus, and it is more than doubtful if
+      he would have resorted to such a fantastic and uncertain method of
+      destroying life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It may be mentioned that so late as the reign of Ptolemy Epiphanes,
+      pretenders of native blood, one of whom was named Harmachis, are known to
+      have advanced their claims to the throne of Egypt. Moreover, there was a
+      book of prophecy current among the priesthood which declared that after
+      the nations of the Greeks the God Harsefi would create the &ldquo;chief who is
+      to come.&rdquo; It will therefore be seen that, although it lacks historical
+      confirmation, the story of the great plot formed to stamp out the dynasty
+      of the Macedonian Lagidae and place Harmachis on the throne is not in
+      itself improbable. Indeed, it is possible that many such plots were
+      entered into by Egyptian patriots during the long ages of their country&rsquo;s
+      bondage. But ancient history tells us little of the abortive struggles of
+      a fallen race.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Chant of Isis and the Song of Cleopatra, which appear in these pages,
+      are done into verse from the writer&rsquo;s prose by Mr. Andrew Lang, and the
+      dirge sung by Charmion is translated by the same hand from the Greek of
+      the Syrian Meleager.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CLEOPATRA
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_INTR" id="link2H_INTR">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      INTRODUCTION
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In the recesses of the desolate Libyan mountains that lie behind the
+      temple and city of Abydus, the supposed burying place of the holy Osiris,
+      a tomb was recently discovered, among the contents of which were the
+      papyrus rolls whereupon this history is written. The tomb itself is
+      spacious, but otherwise remarkable only for the depth of the shaft which
+      descends vertically from the rock-hewn cave, that once served as the
+      mortuary chapel for the friends and relatives of the departed, to the
+      coffin-chamber beneath. This shaft is no less than eighty-nine feet in
+      depth. The chamber at its foot was found to contain three coffins only,
+      though it is large enough for many more. Two of these, which in all
+      probability inclosed the bodies of the High Priest, Amenemhat, and of his
+      wife, father and mother of Harmachis, the hero of this history, the
+      shameless Arabs who discovered them there and then broke up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Arabs broke the bodies up. With unhallowed hands they tore the holy
+      Amenemhat and the frame of her who had, as it is written, been filled with
+      the spirit of the Hathors&mdash;tore them limb from limb, searching for
+      treasure amidst their bones&mdash;perhaps, as is their custom, selling the
+      very bones for a few piastres to the last ignorant tourist who came their
+      way, seeking what he might destroy. For in Egypt the unhappy, the living
+      find their bread in the tombs of the great men who were before them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But as it chanced, some little while afterwards, one who is known to this
+      writer, and a doctor by profession, passed up the Nile to Abydus, and
+      became acquainted with the men who had done this thing. They revealed to
+      him the secret of the place, telling him that one coffin yet remained
+      entombed. It seemed to be the coffin of a poor person, they said, and
+      therefore, being pressed for time, they had left it unviolated. Moved by
+      curiosity to explore the recesses of a tomb as yet unprofaned by tourists,
+      my friend bribed the Arabs to show it to him. What ensued I will give in
+      his own words, exactly as he wrote it to me:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I slept that night near the Temple of Seti, and started before daybreak
+      on the following morning. With me were a cross-eyed rascal named Ali&mdash;Ali
+      Baba I named him&mdash;the man from whom I got the ring which I am sending
+      you, and a small but choice assortment of his fellow thieves. Within an
+      hour after sunrise we reached the valley where the tomb is. It is a
+      desolate place, into which the sun pours his scorching heat all the long
+      day through, till the huge brown rocks which are strewn about become so
+      hot that one can scarcely bear to touch them, and the sand scorches the
+      feet. It was already too hot to walk, so we rode on donkeys, some way up
+      the valley&mdash;where a vulture floating far in the blue overhead was the
+      only other visitor&mdash;till we came to an enormous boulder polished by
+      centuries of action of sun and sand. Here Ali halted, saying that the tomb
+      was under the stone. Accordingly, we dismounted, and, leaving the donkeys
+      in charge of a fellah boy, went up to the rock. Beneath it was a small
+      hole, barely large enough for a man to creep through. Indeed it had been
+      dug by jackals, for the doorway and some part of the cave were entirely
+      silted up, and it was by means of this jackal hole that the tomb had been
+      discovered. Ali crept in on his hands and knees, and I followed, to find
+      myself in a place cold after the hot outside air, and, in contrast with
+      the light, filled with a dazzling darkness. We lit our candles, and, the
+      select body of thieves having arrived, I made an examination. We were in a
+      cave the size of a large room, and hollowed by hand, the further part of
+      the cave being almost free from drift-dust. On the walls are religious
+      paintings of the usual Ptolemaic character, and among them one of a
+      majestic old man with a long white beard, who is seated in a carved chair
+      holding a wand in his hand.[*] Before him passes a procession of priests
+      bearing sacred images. In the right hand corner of the tomb is the shaft
+      of the mummy-pit, a square-mouthed well cut in the black rock. We had
+      brought a beam of thorn-wood, and this was now laid across the pit and a
+      rope made fast to it. Then Ali&mdash;who, to do him justice, is a
+      courageous thief&mdash;took hold of the rope, and, putting some candles
+      into the breast of his robe, placed his bare feet against the smooth sides
+      of the well and began to descent with great rapidity. Very soon he had
+      vanished into blackness, and the agitation of the cord alone told us that
+      anything was going on below. At last the rope ceased shaking and a faint
+      shout came rumbling up the well, announcing Ali&rsquo;s safe arrival. Then, far
+      below, a tiny star of light appeared. He had lit the candle, thereby
+      disturbing hundreds of bats that flitted up in an endless stream and as
+      silently as spirits. The rope was hauled up again, and now it was my turn;
+      but, as I declined to trust my neck to the hand-over-hand method of
+      descent, the end of the cord was made fast round my middle and I was
+      lowered bodily into those sacred depths. Nor was it a pleasant journey,
+      for, if the masters of the situation above had made any mistake, I should
+      have been dashed to pieces. Also, the bats continually flew into my face
+      and clung to my hair, and I have a great dislike of bats. At last, after
+      some minutes of jerking and dangling, I found myself standing in a narrow
+      passage by the side of the worthy Ali, covered with bats and perspiration,
+      and with the skin rubbed off my knees and knuckles. Then another man came
+      down, hand over hand like a sailor, and as the rest were told to stop
+      above we were ready to go on. Ali went first with his candle&mdash;of
+      course we each had a candle&mdash;leading the way down a long passage
+      about five feet high. At length the passage widened out, and we were in
+      the tomb-chamber: I think the hottest and most silent place that I ever
+      entered. It was simply stifling. This chamber is a square room cut in the
+      rock and totally devoid of paintings or sculpture. I held up the candles
+      and looked round. About the place were strewn the coffin lids and the
+      mummied remains of the two bodies that the Arabs had previously violated.
+      The paintings on the former were, I noticed, of great beauty, though,
+      having no knowledge of hieroglyphics, I could not decipher them. Beads and
+      spicy wrappings lay around the remains, which, I saw, were those of a man
+      and a woman.[+] The head had been broken off the body of the man. I took
+      it up and looked at it. It had been closely shaved&mdash;after death, I
+      should say, from the general indications&mdash;and the features were
+      disfigured with gold leaf. But notwithstanding this, and the shrinkage of
+      the flesh, I think the face was one of the most imposing and beautiful
+      that I ever saw. It was that of a very old man, and his dead countenance
+      still wore so calm and solemn, indeed, so awful a look, that I grew quite
+      superstitious (though as you know, I am pretty well accustomed to dead
+      people), and put the head down in a hurry. There were still some wrappings
+      left upon the face of the second body, and I did not remove them; but she
+      must have been a fine large woman in her day.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] This, I take it, is a portrait of Amenemhat himself.&mdash;
+     Editor.
+
+     [+] Doubtless Amenemhat and his wife.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;There the other mummy,&rsquo; said Ali, pointing to a large and solid case
+      that seemed to have been carelessly thrown down in a corner, for it was
+      lying on its side.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I went up to it and carefully examined it. It was well made, but of
+      perfectly plain cedar-wood&mdash;not an inscription, not a solitary God on
+      it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Never see one like him before,&rsquo; said Ali. &lsquo;Bury great hurry, he no
+      &ldquo;mafish,&rdquo; no &ldquo;fineesh.&rdquo; Throw him down here on side.&rsquo; 
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I looked at the plain case till at last my interest was thoroughly
+      aroused. I was so shocked by the sight of the scattered dust of the
+      departed that I had made up my mind not to touch the remaining coffin&mdash;but
+      now my curiosity overcame me, and we set to work.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ali had brought a mallet and a cold chisel with him, and, having set the
+      coffin straight, he began upon it with all the zeal of an experienced
+      tomb-breaker. And then he pointed out another thing. Most mummy-cases are
+      fastened by four little tongues of wood, two on either side, which are
+      fixed in the upper half, and, passing into mortices cut to receive them in
+      the thickness of the lower half, are there held fast by pegs of hard wood.
+      But this mummy case had eight such tongues. Evidently it had been thought
+      well to secure it firmly. At last, with great difficulty, we raised the
+      massive lid, which was nearly three inches thick, and there, covered over
+      with a deep layer of loose spices (a very unusual thing), was the body.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ali looked at it with open eyes&mdash;and no wonder. For this mummy was
+      not as other mummies are. Mummies in general lie upon their backs, as
+      stiff and calm as though they were cut from wood; but this mummy lay upon
+      its side, and, the wrappings notwithstanding, its knees were slightly
+      bent. More than that, indeed, the gold mask, which, after the fashion of
+      the Ptolemaic period, had been set upon the face, had worked down, and was
+      literally pounded up beneath the hooded head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was impossible, seeing these things, to avoid the conclusion that the
+      mummy before us had moved with violence <i>since it was put in the coffin</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Him very funny mummy. Him not &ldquo;mafish&rdquo; when him go in there,&rsquo; said Ali.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Nonsense!&rsquo; I said. &lsquo;Who ever heard of a live mummy?&rsquo; 
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We lifted the body out of the coffin, nearly choking ourselves with mummy
+      dust in the process, and there beneath it half hidden among the spices, we
+      made our first find. It was a roll of papyrus, carelessly fastened and
+      wrapped in a piece of mummy cloth, having to all appearance been thrown
+      into the coffin at the moment of closing.[*]
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] This roll contained the third unfinished book of the
+     history. The other two rolls were neatly fastened in the
+     usual fashion. All three are written by one hand in the
+     Demotic character.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ali eyed the papyrus greedily, but I seized it and put it in my pocket,
+      for it was agreed that I was to have all that might be discovered. Then we
+      began to unwrap the body. It was covered with very broad strong bandages,
+      thickly wound and roughly tied, sometimes by means of simple knots, the
+      whole working the appearance of having been executed in great haste and
+      with difficulty. Just over the head was a large lump. Presently, the
+      bandages covering it were off, and there, on the face, lay a second roll
+      of papyrus. I put down my hand to lift it, but it would not come away. It
+      appeared to be fixed to the stout seamless shroud which was drawn over the
+      whole body, and tied beneath the feet&mdash;as a farmer ties sacks. This
+      shroud, which was also thickly waxed, was in one piece, being made to fit
+      the form like a garment. I took a candle and examined the roll and then I
+      saw why it was fast. The spices had congealed and glued it to the
+      sack-like shroud. It was impossible to get it away without tearing the
+      outer sheets of papyrus.[*]
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] This accounts for the gaps in the last sheets of the
+     second roll. &mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At last, however, I wrenched it loose and put it with the other in my
+      pocket.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then we went on with our dreadful task in silence. With much care we
+      ripped loose the sack-like garment, and at last the body of a man lay
+      before us. Between his knees was a third roll of papyrus. I secured it,
+      then held down the light and looked at him. One glance at his face was
+      enough to tell a doctor how he had died.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This body was not much dried up. Evidently it had not passed the allotted
+      seventy days in natron, and therefore the expression and likeness were
+      better preserved than is usual. Without entering into particulars, I will
+      only say that I hope I shall never see such another look as that which was
+      frozen on this dead man&rsquo;s face. Even the Arabs recoiled from it in horror
+      and began to mutter prayers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For the rest, the usual opening on the left side through which the
+      embalmers did their work was absent; the finely-cut features were those of
+      a person of middle age, although the hair was already grey, and the frame
+      was that of a very powerful man, the shoulders being of an extraordinary
+      width. I had not time to examine very closely, however, for within a few
+      seconds from its uncovering, the unembalmed body began to crumble now that
+      it was exposed to the action of the air. In five or six minutes there was
+      literally nothing left of it but a wisp of hair, the skull, and a few of
+      the larger bones. I noticed that one of the tibiæ&mdash;I forget if it was
+      the right or the left&mdash;had been fractured and very badly set. It must
+      have been quite an inch shorter than the other.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, there was nothing more to find, and now that the excitement was
+      over, what between the heat, the exertion, and the smell of mummy dust and
+      spices, I felt more dead than alive.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am tired of writing, and this ship rolls. This letter, of course, goes
+      overland, and I am coming by &lsquo;long sea,&rsquo; but I hope to be in London within
+      ten days after you get it. Then I will tell you of my pleasing experiences
+      in the course of the ascent from the tomb-chamber, and of how that prince
+      of rascals, Ali Baba, and his thieves tried to frighten me into handing
+      over the papyri, and how I worsted them. Then, too, we will get the rolls
+      deciphered. I expect that they only contain the usual thing, copies of the
+      &lsquo;Book of the Dead,&rsquo; but there <i>may</i> be something else in them.
+      Needless to say, I did not narrate this little adventure in Egypt, or I
+      should have had the Boulac Museum people on my track. Good-bye, &lsquo;Mafish
+      Fineesh,&rsquo; as Ali Baba always said.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In due course, my friend, the writer of the letter from which I have
+      quoted, arrived in London, and on the very next day we paid a visit to a
+      learned acquaintance well versed in Hieroglyphics and Demotic writing. The
+      anxiety with which we watched him skilfully damping and unfolding one of
+      the rolls and peering through his gold-rimmed glasses at the mysterious
+      characters may well be imagined.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;whatever it is, this is <i>not</i> a copy of the &lsquo;Book of
+      the Dead.&rsquo; By George, what&rsquo;s this? Cle&mdash;Cleo&mdash;Cleopatra&mdash;&mdash;Why,
+      my dear Sirs, as I am a living man, this is the history of somebody who
+      lived in the days of Cleopatra, <i>the</i> Cleopatra, for here&rsquo;s Antony&rsquo;s
+      name with hers! Well, there&rsquo;s six months&rsquo; work before me here&mdash;six
+      months, at the very least!&rdquo; And in that joyful prospect he fairly lost
+      control of himself, and skipped about the room, shaking hands with us at
+      intervals, and saying &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll translate&mdash;I&rsquo;ll translate it if it kills
+      me, and we will publish it; and, by the living Osiris, it shall drive
+      every Egyptologist in Europe mad with envy! Oh, what a find! what a most
+      glorious find!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And O you whose eyes fall upon these pages, see, they have been
+      translated, and they have been printed, and here they lie before you&mdash;an
+      undiscovered land wherein you are free to travel!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Harmachis speaks to you from his forgotten tomb. The walls of Time fall
+      down, and, as at the lightning&rsquo;s leap, a picture from the past starts upon
+      your view, framed in the darkness of the ages.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He shows you those two Egypts which the silent pyramids looked down upon
+      long centuries ago&mdash;the Egypt of the Greek, the Roman, and the
+      Ptolemy, and that other outworn Egypt of the Hierophant, hoary with years,
+      heavy with the legends of antiquity and the memory of long-lost honours.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He tells you how the smouldering loyalty of the land of Khem blazed up
+      before it died, and how fiercely the old Time-consecrated Faith struggled
+      against the conquering tide of Change that rose, like Nile at flood, and
+      drowned the ancient Gods of Egypt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here, in his pages, you shall learn the glory of Isis the Many-shaped, the
+      Executrix of Decrees. Here you shall make acquaintance with the shade of
+      Cleopatra, that &ldquo;Thing of Flame,&rdquo; whose passion-breathing beauty shaped
+      the destiny of Empires. Here you shall read how the soul of Charmion was
+      slain of the sword her vengeance smithied.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here Harmachis, the doomed Egyptian, being about to die, salutes you who
+      follow on the path he trod. In the story of his broken years he shows to
+      you what may in its degree be the story of your own. Crying aloud from
+      that dim Amenti[*] where to-day he wears out his long atoning time, he
+      tells, in the history of his fall, the fate of him who, however sorely
+      tried, forgets his God, his Honour, and his Country.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] The Egyptian Hades or Purgatory.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      BOOK I&mdash;THE PREPARATION OF HARMACHIS
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER I
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE BIRTH OF HARMACHIS; THE PROPHECY OF THE HATHORS; AND THE SLAYING OF
+      THE INNOCENT CHILD
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      By Osiris who sleeps at Abouthis, I write the truth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I, Harmachis, Hereditary Priest of the Temple, reared by the divine Sethi,
+      aforetime a Pharaoh of Egypt, and now justified in Osiris and ruling in
+      Amenti. I, Harmachis, by right Divine and by true descent of blood King of
+      the Double Crown, and Pharaoh of the Upper and Lower Land. I, Harmachis,
+      who cast aside the opening flower of our hope, who turned from the
+      glorious path, who forgot the voice of God in hearkening to the voice of
+      woman. I, Harmachis, the fallen, in whom are gathered up all woes as
+      waters are gathered in a desert well, who have tasted of every shame, who
+      through betrayal have betrayed, who in losing the glory that is here have
+      lost the glory which is to be, who am utterly undone&mdash;I write, and,
+      by Him who sleeps at Abouthis, I write the truth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      O Egypt!&mdash;dear land of Khem, whose black soil nourished up my mortal
+      part&mdash;land that I have betrayed&mdash;O Osiris!&mdash;Isis!&mdash;Horus!&mdash;ye
+      Gods of Egypt whom I have betrayed!&mdash;O ye temples whose pylons strike
+      the sky, whose faith I have betrayed!&mdash;O Royal blood of the Pharaohs
+      of eld, that yet runs within these withered veins&mdash;whose virtue I
+      have betrayed!&mdash;O Invisible Essence of all Good! and O Fate, whose
+      balance rested on my hand&mdash;hear me; and, to the day of utter doom,
+      bear me witness that I write the truth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Even while I write, beyond the fertile fields, the Nile is running red, as
+      though with blood. Before me the sunlight beats upon the far Arabian
+      hills, and falls upon the piles of Abouthis. Still the priests make orison
+      within the temples at Abouthis that know me no more; still the sacrifice
+      is offered, and the stony roofs echo back the people&rsquo;s prayers. Still from
+      this lone cell within my prison-tower, I, the Word of Shame, watch thy
+      fluttering banners, Abouthis, flaunting from thy pylon walls, and hear the
+      chants as the long procession winds from sanctuary to sanctuary.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Abouthis, lost Abouthis! my heart goes out toward thee! For the day comes
+      when the desert sands shall fill thy secret places! Thy Gods are doomed, O
+      Abouthis! New Faiths shall make a mock of all thy Holies, and Centurion
+      shall call upon Centurion across thy fortress-walls. I weep&mdash;I weep
+      tears of blood: for mine is the sin that brought about these evils and
+      mine for ever is their shame.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Behold, it is written hereafter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here in Abouthis I was born, I, Harmachis, and my father, the justified in
+      Osiris, was High Priest of the Temple of Sethi. And on that same day of my
+      birth Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt, was born also. I passed my youth in
+      yonder fields watching the baser people at their labours and going in and
+      out at will among the great courts of the temples. Of my mother I knew
+      naught, for she died when I yet hung at the breast. But before she died in
+      the reign of Ptolemy Aulêtes, who is named the Piper, so did the old wife,
+      Atoua, told me, my mother took a golden uræus, the snake symbol of our
+      Royalty of Egypt, from a coffer of ivory and laid it on my brow. And those
+      who saw her do this believed that she was distraught of the Divinity, and
+      in her madness foreshadowed that the day of the Macedonian Lagidæ was
+      ended, and that Egypt&rsquo;s sceptre should pass again to the hand of Egypt&rsquo;s
+      true and Royal race. But when my father, the old High Priest Amenemhat,
+      whose only child I was, she who was his wife before my mother having been,
+      for what crime I know not, cursed with barrenness by Sekhet: I say when my
+      father came in and saw what the dying woman had done, he lifted up his
+      hands towards the vault of heaven and adored the Invisible, because of the
+      sign that had been sent. And as he adored, the Hathors[*] filled my dying
+      mother with the Spirit of Prophecy, and she rose in strength from the
+      couch and prostrated herself thrice before the cradle where I lay asleep,
+      the Royal asp upon my brow, crying aloud:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] The Egyptian <i>Parcæ</i> or <i>Fates</i>.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hail to thee, fruit of my womb! Hail to thee, Royal child! Hail to thee,
+      Pharaoh that shalt be! Hail to thee, God that shalt purge the land, Divine
+      seed of Nekt-nebf, the descended from Isis. Keep thee pure, and thou shalt
+      rule and deliver Egypt and not be broken. But if thou dost fail in thy
+      hour of trial, then may the curse of all the Gods of Egypt rest upon thee,
+      and the curse of thy Royal forefathers, the justified, who ruled the land
+      before thee from the age of Horus. Then in life mayst thou be wretched,
+      and after death may Osiris refuse thee, and the judges of Amenti give
+      judgment against thee, and Set and Sekhet torment thee, till such time as
+      thy sin is purged, and the Gods of Egypt, called by strange names, are
+      once more worshipped in the Temples of Egypt, and the staff of the
+      Oppressor is broken, and the footsteps of the Foreigner are swept clean,
+      and the thing is accomplished as thou in thy weakness shalt cause it to be
+      done.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      When she had spoken thus, the Spirit of Prophecy went out of her, and she
+      fell dead across the cradle where I slept, so that I awoke with a cry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But my father, Amenemhat, the High Priest, trembled, and was very fearful,
+      both because of the words which had been said by the Spirit of the Hathors
+      through the mouth of my mother, and because what had been uttered was
+      treason against Ptolemy. For he knew that, if the matter should come to
+      the ears of Ptolemy, Pharaoh would send his guards to destroy the life of
+      the child concerning whom such things were prophesied. Therefore, my
+      father shut the doors, and caused all those who stood by to swear upon the
+      holy symbol of his office, and by the name of the Divine Three, and by the
+      Soul of her who lay dead upon the stones beside them, that nothing of what
+      they had seen and heard should pass their lips.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now among the company was the old wife, Atoua, who had been the nurse of
+      my mother, and loved her well; and in these days, though I know not how it
+      had been in the past, nor how it shall be in the future, there is no oath
+      that can bind a woman&rsquo;s tongue. And so it came about that by-and-by, when
+      the matter had become homely in her mind, and her fear had fallen from
+      her, she spoke of the prophecy to her daughter, who nursed me at the
+      breast now that my mother was dead. She did this as they walked together
+      in the desert carrying food to the husband of the daughter, who was a
+      sculptor, and shaped effigies of the holy Gods in the tombs that are
+      fashioned in the rock&mdash;telling the daughter, my nurse, how great must
+      be her care and love toward the child that should one day be Pharaoh, and
+      drive the Ptolemies from Egypt. But the daughter, my nurse, was so filled
+      with wonder at what she heard that she could not keep the tale locked
+      within her breast, and in the night she awoke her husband, and, in her
+      turn, whispered it to him, and thereby compassed her own destruction, and
+      the destruction of her child, my foster-brother. For the man told his
+      friend, and the friend was a spy of Ptolemy&rsquo;s, and thus the tale came to
+      Pharaoh&rsquo;s ears.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now, Pharaoh was much troubled thereat, for though when he was full of
+      wine he would make a mock of the God of the Egyptians, and swear that the
+      Roman Senate was the only God to whom he bowed the knee, yet in his heart
+      he was terribly afraid, as I have learned from one who was his physician.
+      For when he was alone at night he would scream and cry aloud to the great
+      Serapis, who indeed is no true God, and to other Gods, fearing lest he
+      should be murdered and his soul handed over to the tormentors. Also, when
+      he felt his throne tremble under him, he would send large presents to the
+      temples, asking a message from the oracles, and more especially from the
+      oracle that is at Philæ. Therefore, when it came to his ears that the wife
+      of the High Priest of the great and ancient Temple of Abouthis had been
+      filled with the Spirit of Prophecy before she died, and foretold that her
+      son should be Pharaoh, he was much afraid, and summoning some trusty
+      guards&mdash;who, being Greeks, did not fear to do sacrilege&mdash;he
+      despatched them by boat up the Nile, with orders to come to Abouthis and
+      cut off the head of the child of the High Priest and bring it to him in a
+      basket.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But, as it chanced, the boat in which the guards came was of deep draught,
+      and, the time of their coming being at the lowest ebb of the river, it
+      struck and remained fast upon a bank of mud that is opposite the mouth of
+      the road running across the plains to Abouthis, and, as the north wind was
+      blowing very fiercely, it was like to sink. Thereon the guards of Pharaoh
+      called out to the common people, who laboured at lifting water along the
+      banks of the river, to come with boats and take them off; but, seeing that
+      they were Greeks of Alexandria, the people would not, for the Egyptians do
+      not love the Greeks. Then the guards cried that they were on Pharaoh&rsquo;s
+      business, and still the people would not, asking what was their business.
+      Whereon a eunuch among them who had made himself drunk in his fear, told
+      them that they came to slay the child of Amenemhat, the High Priest, of
+      whom it was prophesied that he should be Pharaoh and sweep the Greeks from
+      Egypt. And then the people feared to stand longer in doubt, but brought
+      boats, not knowing what might be meant by the man&rsquo;s words. But there was
+      one amongst them&mdash;a farmer and an overseer of canals&mdash;who was a
+      kinsman of my mother&rsquo;s and had been present when she prophesied; and he
+      turned and ran swiftly for three parts of an hour, till he came to where I
+      lay in the house that is without the north wall of the great Temple. Now,
+      as it chanced, my father was away in that part of the Place of Tombs which
+      is to the left of the large fortress, and Pharaoh&rsquo;s guards, mounted on
+      asses, were hard upon us. Then the messenger cried to the old wife, Atoua,
+      whose tongue had brought about the evil, and told how the soldiers drew
+      near to slay me. And they looked at each other, not knowing what to do;
+      for, had they hid me, the guards would not have stayed their search till I
+      was found. But the man, gazing through the doorway, saw a little child at
+      play:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Woman,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;whose is that child?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is my grandchild,&rdquo; she answered, &ldquo;the foster-brother of the Prince
+      Harmachis; the child to whose mother we owe this evil case.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Woman,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;thou knowest thy duty, do it!&rdquo; and he again pointed at
+      the child. &ldquo;I command thee, by the Holy Name!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Atoua trembled exceedingly, because the child was of her own blood; but,
+      nevertheless, she took the boy and washed him and set a robe of silk upon
+      him, and laid him on my cradle. And me she took and smeared with mud to
+      make my fair skin darker, and, drawing my garment from me, set me to play
+      in the dirt of the yard, which I did right gladly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then the man hid himself, and presently the soldiers rode up and asked of
+      the old wife if this were the dwelling of the High Priest Amenemhat? And
+      she told them yea, and, bidding them enter, offered them honey and milk,
+      for they were thirsty.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When they had drunk, the eunuch who was with them asked if that were the
+      son of Amenemhat who lay in the cradle; and she said &ldquo;Yea&mdash;yea,&rdquo; and
+      began to tell the guards how he would be great, for it had been prophesied
+      of him that he should one day rule them all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the Greek guards laughed, and one of them, seizing the child, smote
+      off his head with a sword; and the eunuch drew forth the signet of Pharaoh
+      as warrant for the deed and showed it to the old wife, Atoua, bidding her
+      tell the High Priest that his son should be King without a head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And as they went one of their number saw me playing in the dirt and called
+      out that there was more breeding in yonder brat than in the Prince
+      Harmachis; and for a moment they wavered, thinking to slay me also, but in
+      the end they passed on, bearing the head of my foster-brother, for they
+      loved not to murder little children.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After a while, the mother of the dead child returned from the
+      market-place, and when she found what had been done, she and her husband
+      would have killed Atoua the old wife, her mother, and given me up to the
+      soldiers of Pharaoh. But my father came in also and learned the truth, and
+      he caused the man and his wife to be seized by night and hidden away in
+      the dark places of the temple, so that none saw them more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But I would to-day that it had been the will of the Gods that I had been
+      slain of the soldiers and not the innocent child.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thereafter it was given out that the High Priest Amenemhat had taken me to
+      be as a son to him in the place of that Harmachis who was slain of
+      Pharaoh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER II
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE DISOBEDIENCE OF HARMACHIS; OF THE SLAYING OF THE LION; AND OF THE
+      SPEECH OF THE OLD WIFE, ATOUA
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And after these things Ptolemy the Piper troubled us no more, nor did he
+      again send his soldiers to seek for him of whom it was prophesied that he
+      should be Pharaoh. For the head of the child, my foster-brother, was
+      brought to him by the eunuch as he sat in his palace of marble at
+      Alexandria, flushed with Cyprian wine, and played upon the flute before
+      his women. And at his bidding the eunuch lifted up the head by the hair
+      for him to look on. Then he laughed and smote it on the cheek with his
+      sandal, bidding one of the girls crown Pharaoh with flowers. And he bowed
+      the knee, and mocked the head of the innocent child. But the girl, who was
+      sharp of tongue&mdash;for all of this I heard in after years&mdash;said to
+      him that &ldquo;he did well to bow the knee, for this child was indeed Pharaoh,
+      the greatest of Pharaohs, and his name was the <i>Osiris</i> and his
+      throne was <i>Death</i>.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Aulêtes was much troubled at these words, and trembled, for, being a
+      wicked man, he greatly feared entering into Amenti. So he caused the girl
+      to be slain because of the evil omen of her saying; crying that he would
+      send her to worship that Pharaoh whom she had named. And the other women
+      he sent away, and played no more upon the flute till he was once again
+      drunk on the morrow. But the Alexandrians made a song on the matter, which
+      is still sung about the streets. And this is the beginning of it&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     Ptolemy the Piper played
+     Over dead and dying;
+     Piped and played he well.
+     Sure that flute of his was made
+     Of the dank reed sighing
+     O&rsquo;er the streams of Hell.
+     There beneath the shadows grey,
+     With the sisters three,
+     Shall he pipe for many a day.
+     May the Frog his butler be!
+     And his wine the water of that countrie&mdash;
+     Ptolemy the Piper!
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      After this the years passed on, nor did I, being very little, know
+      anything of the great things that came to pass in Egypt; nor is it my
+      purpose to set them out here. For I, Harmachis, having little time left to
+      me, will only speak of those things with which I have been concerned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And as the time went on, my father and the teachers instructed me in the
+      ancient learning of our people, and in such matters appertaining to the
+      Gods as it is meet that children should know. So I grew strong and comely,
+      for my hair was black as the hair of the divine Nout, and my eyes were
+      blue as the blue lotus, and my skin was like the alabaster within the
+      sanctuaries. For now that these glories have passed from me I may speak of
+      them without shame. I was strong also. There was no youth of my years in
+      Abouthis who could stand against me to wrestle with me, nor could any
+      throw so far with the sling or spear. And I much yearned to hunt the lion;
+      but he whom I called my father forbade me, telling me that my life was of
+      too great worth to be so lightly hazarded. But when I bowed before him and
+      prayed he would make his meaning clear to me, the old man frowned and
+      answered that the Gods made all things clear in their own season. For my
+      part, however, I went away in wroth, for there was a youth in Abouthis who
+      with others had slain a lion which fell upon his father&rsquo;s herds, and,
+      being envious of my strength and beauty, he set it about that I was
+      cowardly at heart, in that when I went out to hunt I only slew jackals and
+      gazelles. Now, this was when I had reached my seventeenth year and was a
+      man grown.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It chanced, therefore, that as I went sore at heart from the presence of
+      the High Priest, I met this youth, who called to me and mocked me, bidding
+      me know the country people had told him that a great lion was down among
+      the rushes by the banks of the canal which runs past the Temple, lying at
+      a distance of thirty stadia from Abouthis. And, still mocking me, he asked
+      me if I would come and help him slay this lion, or would I go and sit
+      among the old women and bid them comb my side lock? This bitter word so
+      angered me that I was near to falling on him; but in place therefore,
+      forgetting my father&rsquo;s saying, I answered that if he would come alone, I
+      would go with him and seek this lion, and he should learn if I were indeed
+      a coward. And at first he would not, for, as men know, it is our custom to
+      hunt the lion in companies; so it was my hour to mock. Then he went and
+      fetched his bow and arrows and a sharp knife. And I brought forth my heavy
+      spear, which had a shaft of thorn-wood, and at its end a pomegranate in
+      silver, to hold the hand from slipping; and, in silence, we went, side by
+      side, to where the lion lay. When we came to the place, it was near
+      sundown; and there, upon the mud of the canal-bank, we found the lion&rsquo;s
+      slot, which ran into a thick clump of reeds.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, thou boaster,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;wilt thou lead the way into yonder reeds, or
+      shall I?&rdquo; And I made as though I would lead the way.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, nay,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;be not so mad! The brute will spring upon thee
+      and rend thee. See! I will shoot among the reeds. Perchance, if he sleeps,
+      it will arouse him.&rdquo; And he drew his bow at a venture.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      How it chanced I know not, but the arrow struck the sleeping lion, and,
+      like a flash of light from the belly of a cloud, he bounded from the
+      shelter of the reeds, and stood before us with bristling mane and yellow
+      eyes, the arrow quivering in his flank. He roared aloud in fury, and the
+      earth shook.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shoot with the bow,&rdquo; I cried, &ldquo;shoot swiftly ere he spring!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But courage had left the breast of the boaster, his jaw dropped down and
+      his fingers unloosed their hold so that the bow fell from them; then, with
+      a loud cry he turned and fled behind me, leaving the lion in my path. But
+      while I stood waiting my doom, for though I was sore afraid I would not
+      fly, the lion crouched himself, and turning not aside, with one great
+      bound swept over me, touching me not. He lit, and again he bounded full
+      upon the boaster&rsquo;s back, striking him such a blow with his great paw that
+      his head was crushed as an egg thrown against a stone. He fell down dead,
+      and the lion stood and roared over him. Then I was mad with horror, and,
+      scarce knowing what I did, I grasped my spear and with a shout I charged.
+      As I charged the lion lifted himself up above me. He smote at me with his
+      paw; but with all my strength I drove the broad spear into his throat,
+      and, shrinking from the agony of the steel, his blow fell short and did no
+      more than rip my skin. Back he fell, the great spear far in his throat;
+      then rising, he roared in pain and leapt twice the height of a man
+      straight into the air, smiting at the spear with his forepaws. Twice he
+      leapt thus, horrible to see, and twice he fell upon his back. Then his
+      strength spent itself with his rushing blood, and, groaning like a bull,
+      he died; while I, being but a lad, stood and trembled with fear now that
+      all cause of fear had passed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But as I stood and gazed at the body of him who had taunted me, and at the
+      carcass of the lion, a woman came running towards me, even the same old
+      wife, Atoua, who, though I knew it not as yet, had offered up her flesh
+      and blood that I might be saved alive. For she had been gathering simples,
+      in which she had great skill, by the water&rsquo;s edge, not knowing that there
+      was a lion near (and, indeed, the lions, for the most part, are not found
+      in the tilled land, but rather in the desert and the Libyan mountains),
+      and had seen from a distance that which I have set down. Now, when she was
+      come, she knew me for Harmachis, and, bending herself, she made obeisance
+      to me, and saluted me, calling me Royal, and worthy of all honour, and
+      beloved, and chosen of the Holy Three, ay, and by the name of the Pharaoh!
+      the Deliverer!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But I, thinking that terror had made her sick of mind, asked her of what
+      she would speak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it a great thing,&rdquo; I asked, &ldquo;that I should slay a lion? Is it a matter
+      worthy of such talk as thine? There live, and have lived, men who have
+      slain many lions. Did not the Divine Amen-hetep the Osirian slay with his
+      own hand more than a hundred lions? Is it not written on the scarabæus
+      that hangs within my father&rsquo;s chamber, that he slew lions aforetime? And
+      have not others done likewise? Why then, speakest thou thus, O foolish
+      woman?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      All of which I said, because, having now slain the lion, I was minded,
+      after the manner of youth, to hold it as a thing of no account. But she
+      did not cease to make obeisance, and to call me by names that are too high
+      to be written.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Royal One,&rdquo; she cried, &ldquo;wisely did thy mother prophecy. Surely the Holy
+      Spirit, the Knepth, was in her, O thou conceived by a God! See the omen.
+      The lion there&mdash;he growls within the Capitol at Rome&mdash;and the
+      dead man, he is the Ptolemy&mdash;the Macedonian spawn that, like a
+      foreign weed, hath overgrown the land of Nile; with the Macedonian Lagidæ
+      thou shalt go to smite the lion of Rome. But the Macedonian cur shall fly,
+      and the Roman lion shall strike him down, and thou shalt strike down the
+      lion, and the land of Khem shall once more be free! free! Keep thyself but
+      pure, according to the commandment of the Gods, O son of the Royal House;
+      O hope of Khemi! be but ware of Woman the Destroyer, and as I have said,
+      so shall it be. I am poor and wretched; yea, stricken with sorrow. I have
+      sinned in speaking of what should be hid, and for my sin I have paid in
+      the coin of that which was born of my womb; willingly have I paid for
+      thee. But I have still of the wisdom of our people, nor do the Gods, in
+      whose eyes all are equal, turn their countenance from the poor; the Divine
+      Mother Isis hath spoken to me&mdash;but last night she spake&mdash;bidding
+      me come hither to gather herbs, and read to thee the signs that I should
+      see. And as I have said, so it shall come to pass, if thou canst but
+      endure the weight of the great temptation. Come hither, Royal One!&rdquo; and
+      she led me to the edge of the canal, where the water was deep, and still
+      and blue. &ldquo;Now gaze upon that face as the water throws it back. Is not
+      that brow fitted to bear the double crown? Do not those gentle eyes mirror
+      the majesty of kings? Hath not the Ptah, the Creator, fashioned that form
+      to fit the Imperial garb, and awe the glance of multitudes looking through
+      thee to God?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, nay!&rdquo; she went on in another voice&mdash;a shrill old wife&rsquo;s voice&mdash;&ldquo;I
+      will&mdash;be not so foolish, boy&mdash;the scratch of a lion is a
+      venomous thing, a terrible thing; yea, as bad as the bite of an asp&mdash;it
+      must be treated, else it will fester, and all thy days thou shalt dream of
+      lions; ay, and snakes; and, also, it will break out in sores. But I know
+      of it&mdash;I know. I am not crazed for nothing. For mark! everything has
+      its balance&mdash;in madness is much wisdom, and in wisdom much madness.
+      <i>La! la! la!</i> Pharaoh himself can&rsquo;t say where the one begins and the
+      other ends. Now, don&rsquo;t stand gazing there, looking as silly as a cat in a
+      crocus-coloured robe, as they say in Alexandria; but just let me stick
+      these green things on the place, and in six days you&rsquo;ll heal up as white
+      as a three-year-child. Never mind the smart of it, lad. By Him who sleeps
+      at Philæ, or at Abouthis, or at Abydus&mdash;as our divine masters have it
+      now&mdash;or wherever He does sleep, which is a thing we shall all find
+      out before we want to&mdash;by Osiris, I say, you&rsquo;ll live to be as clean
+      from scars as a sacrifice to Isis at the new moon, if you&rsquo;ll but let me
+      put it on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it not so, good folk?&rdquo;&mdash;and she turned to address some people
+      who, while she prophesied, had assembled unseen by me&mdash;&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been
+      speaking a spell over him, just to make a way for the virtue of my
+      medicine&mdash;<i>la! la!</i> there&rsquo;s nothing like a spell. If you don&rsquo;t
+      believe it, just you come to me next time your wives are barren; it&rsquo;s
+      better than scraping every pillar in the Temple of Osiris, I&rsquo;ll warrant.
+      I&rsquo;ll make &lsquo;em bear like a twenty-year-old palm. But then, you see, you
+      must know what to say&mdash;that&rsquo;s the point&mdash;everything comes to a
+      point at last. <i>La! la!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now, when I heard all this, I, Harmachis, put my hand to my head, not
+      knowing if I dreamed. But presently looking up, I saw a grey-haired man
+      among those who were gathered together, who watched us sharply, and
+      afterwards I learned that this man was the spy of Ptolemy, the very man,
+      indeed, who had wellnigh caused me to be slain of Pharaoh when I was in my
+      cradle. Then I understood why Atoua spoke so foolishly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thine are strange spells, old wife,&rdquo; the spy said. &ldquo;Thou didst speak of
+      Pharaoh and the double crown and of the form fashioned by Ptah to bear it;
+      is it not so?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, yea&mdash;part of the spell, thou fool; and what can one swear by
+      better nowadays than by the Divine Pharaoh the Piper, whom, and whose
+      music, may the Gods preserve to charm this happy land?&mdash;what better
+      than by the double crown he wears&mdash;grace to great Alexander of
+      Macedonia? By the way, you know about everything: have they got back his
+      chlamys yet, which Mithridates took to Cos? Pompey wore it last, didn&rsquo;t
+      he?&mdash;in his triumph, too&mdash;just fancy Pompey in the cloak of
+      Alexander!&mdash;a puppy-dog in a lion&rsquo;s skin! And talking of lions&mdash;look
+      what this lad hath done&mdash;slain a lion with his own spear; and right
+      glad you village folks should be to see it, for it was a very fierce lion&mdash;just
+      see his teeth and his claws&mdash;his claws!&mdash;they are enough to make
+      a poor silly old woman like me shriek to look at them! And the body there,
+      the dead body&mdash;the lion slew it. Alack! he&rsquo;s an Osiris[*] now, the
+      body&mdash;and to think of it, but an hour ago he was an everyday mortal
+      like you or me! Well, away with him to the embalmers. He&rsquo;ll soon swell in
+      the sun and burst, and that will save them the trouble of cutting him
+      open. Not that they will spend a talent of silver over him anyway. Seventy
+      days in natron&mdash;that&rsquo;s all he&rsquo;s likely to get. <i>La! la!</i> how my
+      tongue does run, and it&rsquo;s getting dark. Come, aren&rsquo;t you going to take
+      away the body of that poor lad, and the lion, too? There, my boy, you keep
+      those herbs on, and you&rsquo;ll never feel your scratches. I know a thing or
+      two for all I&rsquo;m crazy, and you, my own grandson! Dear, dear, I&rsquo;m glad his
+      Holiness the High Priest adopted you when Pharaoh&mdash;Osiris bless his
+      holy name&mdash;made an end of his son; you look so bonny. I warrant the
+      real Harmachis could not have killed a lion like that. Give me the common
+      blood, I say&mdash;it&rsquo;s so lusty.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] The soul when it has been absorbed in the Godhead.&mdash;
+     Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You know too much and talk too fast,&rdquo; grumbled the spy, now quite
+      deceived. &ldquo;Well, he is a brave youth. Here, you men, bear this body back
+      to Abouthis, and some of you stop and help me skin the lion. We&rsquo;ll send
+      the skin to you, young man,&rdquo; he went on; &ldquo;not that you deserve it: to
+      attack a lion like that was the act of a fool, and a fool deserves what he
+      gets&mdash;destruction. Never attack the strong until you are stronger.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But for my part I went home wondering.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER III
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE REBUKE OF AMENEMHAT; OF THE PRAYER OF HARMACHIS; AND OF THE SIGN
+      GIVEN BY THE HOLY GODS
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a while as I, Harmachis, went, the juice of the green herbs which the
+      old wife, Atoua, had placed upon my wounds caused me much smart, but
+      presently the pain ceased. And, of a truth, I believe that there was
+      virtue in them, for within two days my flesh healed up, so that after a
+      time no marks remained. But I bethought me that I had disobeyed the word
+      of the old High Priest, Amenemhat, who was called my father. For till this
+      day I knew not that he was in truth my father according to the flesh,
+      having been taught that his own son was slain as I have written; and that
+      he had been pleased, with the sanction of the Divine ones, to take me as
+      an adopted son and rear me up, that I might in due season fulfil an office
+      about the Temple. Therefore I was much troubled, for I feared the old man,
+      who was very terrible in his anger, and ever spoke with the cold voice of
+      Wisdom. Nevertheless, I determined to go in to him and confess my fault
+      and bear such punishment as he should be pleased to put upon me. So with
+      the red spear in my hand, and the red wounds on my breast, I passed
+      through the outer court of the great temple and came to the door of the
+      place where the High Priest dwelt. It is a great chamber, sculptured round
+      about with the images of the solemn Gods, and the sunlight comes to it in
+      the daytime by an opening cut through the stones of the massy roof. But at
+      night it was lit by a swinging lamp of bronze. I passed in without noise,
+      for the door was not altogether shut, and, pushing my way through the
+      heavy curtains that were beyond, I stood with a beating heart within the
+      chamber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lamp was lit, for the darkness had fallen, and by its light I saw the
+      old man seated in a chair of ivory and ebony at a table of stone on which
+      were spread mystic writings of the words of Life and Death. But he read no
+      more, for he slept, and his long white beard rested upon the table like
+      the beard of a dead man. The soft light from the lamp fell on him, on the
+      papyri and the gold ring upon his hand, where were graven the symbols of
+      the Invisible One, but all around was shadow. It fell on the shaven head,
+      on the white robe, on the cedar staff of priesthood at his side, and on
+      the ivory of the lion-footed chair; it showed the mighty brow of power,
+      the features cut in kingly mould, the white eyebrows, and the dark hollows
+      of the deep-set eyes. I looked and trembled, for there was about him that
+      which was more than the dignity of man. He had lived so long with the
+      Gods, and so long kept company with them and with thoughts divine, he was
+      so deeply versed in all those mysteries which we do but faintly discern,
+      here in this upper air, that even now, before his time, he partook of the
+      nature of the Osiris, and was a thing to shake humanity with fear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I stood and gazed, and as I stood he opened his dark eyes, but looked not
+      on me, nor turned his head; and yet he saw me and spoke.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why hast thou been disobedient to me, my son?&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;How came it that
+      thou wentest forth against the lion when I bade thee not?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How knowest thou, my father, that I went forth?&rdquo; I asked in fear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How know I? Are there, then, no other ways of knowledge than by the
+      senses? Ah, ignorant child! was not my Spirit with thee when the lion
+      sprang upon thy companion? Did I not pray Those set about thee to protect
+      thee, to make sure thy thrust when thou didst drive the spear into the
+      lion&rsquo;s throat! How came it that thou wentest forth, my son?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The boaster taunted me,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;and I went.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I know it; and, because of the hot blood of youth, I forgive thee,
+      Harmachis. But now listen to me, and let my words sink into thy heart like
+      the waters of Sihor into the thirsty sand at the rising of Sirius.[*]
+      Listen to me. The boaster was sent to thee as a temptation, he was sent as
+      a trial of thy strength, and see! it has not been equal to the burden.
+      Therefore thy hour is put back. Hadst thou been strong in this matter, the
+      path had been made plain to thee even now. But thou hast failed, and
+      therefore thy hour is put back.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] The dog-star, whose appearance marked the commencement
+     of the overflow of the Nile.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I understand thee not, my father,&rdquo; I answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What was it, then, my son, that the old wife, Atoua, said to thee down by
+      the bank of the canal?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I told him all that the old wife had said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And thou believest, Harmachis, my son?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;how should I believe such tales? Surely she is mad.
+      All the people know her for mad.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now for the first time he looked towards me, who was standing in the
+      shadow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My son! my son!&rdquo; he cried; &ldquo;thou art wrong. She is not mad. The woman
+      spoke the truth; she spoke not of herself, but of the voice within her
+      that cannot lie. For this Atoua is a prophetess and holy. Now learn thou
+      the destiny that the Gods of Egypt have given to thee to fulfil, and woe
+      be unto thee if by any weakness thou dost fail therein! Listen: thou art
+      no stranger adopted into my house and the worship of the Temple; thou art
+      my very son, saved to me by this same woman. But, Harmachis, thou art more
+      than this, for in thee and me alone yet flows the Imperial blood of Egypt.
+      Thou and I alone of men alive are descended, without break or flaw, from
+      that Pharaoh Nekt-nebf whom Ochus the Persian drove from Egypt. The
+      Persian came and the Persian went, and after the Persian came the
+      Macedonian, and now for nigh upon three hundred years the Lagidæ have
+      usurped the double crown, defiling the land of Khem and corrupting the
+      worship of its Gods. And mark thou this: but now, two weeks since, Ptolemy
+      Neus Dionysus, Ptolemy Aulêtes the Piper, who would have slain thee, is
+      dead; and but now hath the Eunuch Pothinus, that very eunuch who came
+      hither, years ago, to cut thee off, set at naught the will of his master,
+      the dead Aulêtes, and placed the boy Ptolemy upon the throne. And
+      therefore his sister Cleopatra, that fierce and beautiful girl, has fled
+      into Syria; and there, if I err not, she will gather her armies and make
+      war upon her brother Ptolemy: for by her father&rsquo;s will she was left
+      joint-sovereign with him. And, meanwhile, mark thou this, my son: the
+      Roman eagle hangs on high, waiting with ready talons till such time as he
+      may fall upon the fat wether Egypt and rend him. And mark again: the
+      people of Egypt are weary of the foreign yoke, they hate the memory of the
+      Persians, and they are sick at heart of being named &lsquo;Men of Macedonia&rsquo; in
+      the markets of Alexandria. The whole land mutters and murmurs beneath the
+      yoke of the Greek and the shadow of the Roman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have we not been oppressed? Have not our children been butchered and our
+      gains wrung from us to fill the bottomless greed and lust of the Lagidæ?
+      Have not the temples been forsaken?&mdash;ay, have not the majesties of
+      the Eternal Gods been set at naught by these Grecian babblers, who have
+      dared to meddle with the immortal truths, and name the Most High by
+      another name&mdash;by the name of Serapis&mdash;confounding the substance
+      of the Invisible? Does not Egypt cry aloud for freedom?&mdash;and shall
+      she cry in vain? Nay, nay, for thou, my son, art the appointed way of
+      deliverance. To thee, being sunk in eld, I have decreed my rights. Already
+      thy name is whispered in many a sanctuary, from Abu to Athu; already
+      priests and people swear allegiance, even by the sacred symbols, unto him
+      who shall be declared to them. Still, the time is not yet; thou art too
+      green a sapling to bear the weight of such a storm. But to-day thou wast
+      tried and found wanting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He who would serve the Gods, Harmachis, must put aside the failings of
+      the flesh. Taunts must not move him, nor any lusts of man. Thine is a high
+      mission, but this thou must learn. If thou learn it not, thou shalt fail
+      therein; and then, my curse be on thee! and the curse of Egypt, and the
+      curse of Egypt&rsquo;s broken Gods! For know thou this, that even the Gods, who
+      are immortal, may, in the interwoven scheme of things, lean upon the man
+      who is their instrument, as a warrior on his sword. And woe be to the
+      sword that snaps in the hour of battle, for it shall be thrown aside to
+      rust or perchance be melted with fire! Therefore, make thy heart pure and
+      high and strong; for thine is no common lot, and thine no mortal meed.
+      Triumph, Harmachis, and in glory thou shalt go&mdash;in glory here and
+      hereafter! Fail, and woe&mdash;woe be on thee!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused and bowed his head, and then went on:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of these matters thou shalt hear more hereafter. Meanwhile, thou hast
+      much to learn. To-morrow I will give thee letters, and thou shalt journey
+      down the Nile, past white-walled Memphis to Annu. There thou shalt sojourn
+      certain years, and learn more of our ancient wisdom beneath the shadow of
+      those secret pyramids of which thou, too, art the Hereditary High Priest
+      that is to be. And meanwhile, I will sit here and watch, for my hour is
+      not yet, and, by the help of the Gods, spin the web of Death wherein thou
+      shalt catch and hold the wasp of Macedonia.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come hither, my son; come hither and kiss me on the brow, for thou art my
+      hope, and all the hope of Egypt. Be but true, soar to the eagle crest of
+      destiny, and thou shalt be glorious here and hereafter. Be false, fail,
+      and I will spit upon thee, and thou shalt be accursed, and thy soul shall
+      remain in bondage till that hour when, in the slow flight of time, the
+      evil shall once more grow to good and Egypt shall again be free.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I drew near, trembling, and kissed him on the brow. &ldquo;May all these things
+      come upon me, and more,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;if I fail thee, my father!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay!&rdquo; he cried, &ldquo;not me, not me; but rather those whose will I do. And
+      now go, my son, and ponder in thy heart, and in thy secret heart digest my
+      words; mark what thou shalt see, and gather up the dew of wisdom, making
+      thee ready for the battle. Fear not for thyself, thou art protected from
+      all ill. No harm may touch thee from without; thyself alone can be thine
+      own enemy. I have said.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I went forth with a full heart. The night was very still, and none
+      were stirring in the temple courts. I hurried through them, and reached
+      the entrance to the pylon that is at the outer gate. Then, seeking
+      solitude, and, as it were, to draw near to heaven, I climbed the pylon&rsquo;s
+      two hundred steps, until at length I reached the massive roof. Here I
+      leaned my breast against the parapet, and looked forth. As I looked, the
+      red edge of the full moon floated up over the Arabian hills, and her rays
+      fell upon the pylon where I stood and the temple walls beyond, lighting
+      the visages of the carven Gods. Then the cold light struck the stretch of
+      well-tilled lands, now whitening to the harvest, and as the heavenly lamp
+      of Isis passed up to the sky, her rays crept slowly down to the valley,
+      where Sihor, father of the land of Khem, rolls on toward the sea.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now the bright beams kissed the water that smiled an answer back, and now
+      mountain and valley, river, temple, town, and plain were flooded with
+      white light, for Mother Isis was arisen, and threw her gleaming robe
+      across the bosom of the earth. It was beautiful, with the beauty of a
+      dream, and solemn as the hour after death. Mightily, indeed, the temples
+      towered up against the face of night. Never had they seemed so grand to me
+      as in that hour&mdash;those eternal shrines, before whose walls Time
+      himself shall wither. And it was to be mine to rule this moonlit land;
+      mine to preserve those sacred shrines, and cherish the honour of their
+      Gods; mine to cast out the Ptolemy and free Egypt from the foreign yoke!
+      In my veins ran the blood of those great Kings who await the day of
+      Resurrection, sleeping in the tombs of the valley of Thebes. My spirit
+      swelled within me as I dreamed upon this glorious destiny, I closed my
+      hands, and there, upon the pylon, I prayed as I had never prayed before to
+      the Godhead, who is called by many names, and in many forms made manifest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Amen,&rdquo; I prayed, &ldquo;God of Gods, who hast been from the beginning; Lord
+      of Truth, who art, and of whom all are, who givest out thy Godhead and
+      gatherest it up again; in the circle of whom the Divine ones move and are,
+      who wast from all time the Self-begot, and who shalt be till time&mdash;hearken
+      unto me.[*]
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] For a somewhat similar definition of the Godhead see the
+     funeral papyrus of Nesikhonsu, a Princess of the Twenty-
+     first Dynasty.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Amen&mdash;Osiris, the sacrifice by whom we are justified, Lord of the
+      Region of the Winds, Ruler of the Ages, Dweller in the West, the Supreme
+      in Amenti, hearken unto me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Isis, great Mother Goddess, mother of the Horus&mdash;mysterious
+      Mother, Sister, Spouse, hearken unto me. If, indeed, I am the chosen of
+      the Gods to carry out the purpose of the Gods, let a sign be given me,
+      even now, to seal my life to the life above. Stretch out your arms towards
+      me, O ye Gods, and uncover the glory of your countenance. Hear! ah, hear
+      me!&rdquo; And I cast myself upon my knees and lifted up my eyes to heaven.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And as I knelt, a cloud grew upon the face of the moon covering it up, so
+      that the night became dark, and the silence deepened all around&mdash;even
+      the dogs far below in the city ceased to howl, while the silence grew and
+      grew till it was heavy as death. I felt my spirit lifted up within me, and
+      my hair rose upon my head. Then of a sudden the mighty pylon seemed to
+      rock beneath my feet, a great wind beat about my brows and a voice spoke
+      within my heart:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Behold a sign! Possess thyself in patience, O Harmachis!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And as the voice spoke, a cold hand touched my hand, and left somewhat
+      within it. Then the cloud rolled from the face of the moon, the wind
+      passed, the pylon ceased to tremble, and the night was as the night had
+      been.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As the light came back, I gazed upon that which had been left within my
+      hand. It was a bud of the holy lotus new breaking into bloom, and from it
+      came a most sweet scent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And while I gazed behold! the lotus passed from my grasp and was gone,
+      leaving me astonished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IV
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE DEPARTURE OF HARMACHIS AND OF HIS MEETING WITH HIS UNCLE SEPA, THE
+      HIGH PRIEST OF ANNU EL RA; OF HIS LIFE AT ANNU, AND OF THE WORDS OF SEPA
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At the dawning of the next day I was awakened by a priest of the temple,
+      who brought word to me to make ready for the journey of which my father
+      had spoken, inasmuch as there was an occasion for me to pass down the
+      river to Annu el Ra. Now this is the Heliopolis of the Greeks, whither I
+      should go in the company of some priests of Ptah at Memphis who had come
+      hither to Abouthis to lay the body of one of their great men in the tomb
+      that had been prepared near the resting place of the blessed Osiris.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So I made ready, and the same evening, having received letters and
+      embraced my father and those about the temple who were dear to me, I
+      passed down the banks of Sihor, and we sailed with the south wind. As the
+      pilot stood upon the prow and with a rod in his hand bade the sailor-men
+      loosen the stakes by which the vessel was moored to the banks, the old
+      wife, Atoua, hobbled up, her basket of simples in her hand, and, calling
+      out farewell, threw a sandal after me for good chance, which sandal I kept
+      for many years.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So we sailed, and for six days passed down the wonderful river, making
+      fast each night at some convenient spot. But when I lost sight of the
+      familiar things that I had seen day by day since I had eyes to see, and
+      found myself alone among strange faces, I felt very sore at heart, and
+      would have wept had I not been ashamed. And of all the wonderful things I
+      saw I will not write here, for, though they were new to me, have they not
+      been known to men since such time as the Gods ruled in Egypt? But the
+      priests who were with me showed me no little honour and expounded to me
+      what were the things I saw.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the morning of the seventh day we came to Memphis, the city of the
+      White Hall. Here, for three days I rested from my journey and was
+      entertained of the priests of the wonderful Temple of Ptah the Creator,
+      and shown the beauties of the great and marvellous city. Also I was led in
+      secret by the High Priest and two others into the holy presence of the God
+      Apis, the Ptah who deigns to dwell among men in the form of a bull. The
+      God was black, and on his forehead there was a white square, on his back
+      was a white mark shaped like an eagle, beneath his tongue was the likeness
+      of a scarabæus, in his tail were double hairs, and a plate of pure gold
+      hung between his horns. I entered the place of the God and worshipped,
+      while the High Priest and those with him stood aside, watching earnestly.
+      And when I had worshipped, saying the words which had been told me, the
+      God knelt, and lay down before me. Then the High Priest and those with
+      him, who, as I heard in after time, were great men of Upper Egypt,
+      approached wondering, and, saying no word, made obeisance to me because of
+      the omen. And many other things I saw in Memphis that are too long to
+      write of here.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the fourth day some priests of Annu came to lead me to Sepa, my uncle,
+      the High Priest of Annu. So, having bidden farewell to those of Memphis,
+      we crossed the river and rode on asses two parts of a day&rsquo;s journey
+      through many villages, which we found in great poverty because of the
+      oppression of the tax-gatherers. Also, as we went, I saw for the first
+      time the great pyramids that are beyond the image of the God Horemkhu,
+      that Sphinx whom the Greeks name Harmachis, and the Temples of the Divine
+      Mother Isis, Queen of the Memnonia, and the God Osiris, Lord of Rosatou,
+      of which temples, together with the Temple of the worship of the Divine
+      Menkau-ra, I, Harmachis, am by right Divine the Hereditary High Priest. I
+      saw them and marvelled at their greatness and the white carven limestone,
+      and red granite of Syene, that flashed the sun&rsquo;s rays back to heaven. But
+      at this time I knew nothing of the treasure that was hid in <i>Her</i>,
+      which is the third among the pyramids&mdash;would I had never known of it!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And so at last we came within sight of Annu, which after Memphis has been
+      seen is no large town, but stands on raised ground, before which are lakes
+      fed by a canal. Behind the town is the inclosed field of the Temple of the
+      God Ra.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We dismounted at the pylon, and were met beneath the portico by a man not
+      great of stature, but of noble aspect, having his head shaven, and with
+      dark eyes that twinkled like the further stars.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hold!&rdquo; he cried, in a great voice which fitted his weak body but ill.
+      &ldquo;Hold! I am Sepa, who opens the mouth of the Gods!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And I,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;am Harmachis, son of Amenemhat, Hereditary High Priest
+      and Ruler of the Holy City Abouthis; and I bear letters to thee, O Sepa!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Enter,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Enter!&rdquo; scanning me all the while with his twinkling
+      eyes. &ldquo;Enter, my son!&rdquo; And he took me and led me to a chamber in the inner
+      hall, closed to the door, and then, having glanced at the letters that I
+      brought, of a sudden he fell upon my neck and embraced me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Welcome,&rdquo; he cried, &ldquo;welcome, son of my own sister, and hope of Khem! Not
+      in vain have I prayed the Gods that I might live to look upon thy face and
+      impart to thee the wisdom which perchance I alone have mastered of those
+      who are left alive in Egypt. There are few whom it is lawful that I should
+      teach. But thine is the great destiny, and thine shall be the ears to hear
+      the lessons of the Gods.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And he embraced me once more and bade me go bathe and eat, saying that on
+      the morrow he would speak with me further.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This of a truth he did, and at such length that I will forbear to set down
+      all he said both then and afterwards, for if I did so there would be no
+      papyrus left in Egypt when the task was ended. Therefore, having much to
+      tell and but little time to tell it, I will pass over the events of the
+      years that followed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For this was the manner of my life. I rose early, I attended the worship
+      of the Temple, and I gave my days to study. I learnt of the rites of
+      religion and their meaning, and of the beginning of the Gods and the
+      beginning of the Upper World. I learnt of the mystery of the movements of
+      the stars, and of how the earth rolls on among them. I was instructed in
+      that ancient knowledge which is called magic, and in the way of
+      interpretation of dreams, and of the drawing nigh to God. I was taught the
+      language of symbols and their outer and inner secrets. I became acquainted
+      with the eternal laws of Good and Evil, and with the mystery of that trust
+      which is held of man; also I learnt the secrets of the pyramids&mdash;which
+      I would that I had never known. Further, I read the records of the past,
+      and of the acts and words of the ancient kings who were before me since
+      the rule of Horus upon earth; and I was made to know all craft of state,
+      the lore of earth, and with it the history of Greece and Rome. Also I
+      learnt the Grecian and Roman tongues, of which indeed I already had some
+      knowledge&mdash;and all this while, for five long years, I kept my hands
+      clean and my heart pure, and did no evil in the sight of God or man; but
+      laboured heavily to acquire all things, and to prepare myself for the
+      destiny that awaited me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Twice every year greetings and letters came from my father Amenemhat, and
+      twice every year I sent back my answers asking if the time had come to
+      cease from labour. And so the days of my probation sped away till I grew
+      faint and weary at heart, for being now a man, ay and learned, I longed to
+      make a beginning of the life of men. And often I wondered if this talk and
+      prophecy of the things that were to be was but a dream born of the brains
+      of men whose wish ran before their thought. I was, indeed, of the Royal
+      blood, that I knew: for my uncle, Sepa the Priest, showed me a secret
+      record of the descent, traced without break from father to son, and graven
+      in mystic symbols on a tablet of the stone of Syene. But of what avail was
+      it to be Royal by right when Egypt, my heritage, was a slave&mdash;a slave
+      to do the pleasure and minister to the luxury of the Macedonian Lagidæ&mdash;ay,
+      and when she had been so long a serf that, perchance, she had forgotten
+      how to put off the servile smile of Bondage and once more to look across
+      the world with Freedom&rsquo;s happy eyes?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I bethought me of my prayer upon the pylon tower of Abouthis and of
+      the answer given to my prayer, and wondered if that, too, were a dream.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And one night, as, weary with study, I walked within the sacred grove that
+      is in the garden of the temple, and mused thus, I met my uncle Sepa, who
+      also was walking and thinking.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hold!&rdquo; he cried in his great voice; &ldquo;why is thy face so sad, Harmachis?
+      Has the last problem that we studied overwhelmed thee?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, my uncle,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;I am overwhelmed indeed, but not of the
+      problem; it was a light one. My heart is heavy, for I am weary of life
+      within these cloisters, and the piled-up weight of knowledge crushes me.
+      It is of no avail to store up force which cannot be used.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah, thou art impatient, Harmachis,&rdquo; he answered; &ldquo;it is ever the way of
+      foolish youth. Thou wouldst taste of the battle; thou dost tire of
+      watching the breakers fall upon the beach, thou wouldst plunge into them
+      and venture the desperate hazard of the war. And so thou wouldst be going,
+      Harmachis? The bird would fly the nest as, when they are grown, the
+      swallows fly from the eaves of the Temple. Well, it shall be as thou
+      desirest; the hour is at hand. I have taught thee all that I have learned,
+      and methinks that the pupil has outrun his master,&rdquo; and he paused and
+      wiped his bright black eyes, for he was very sad at the thought of my
+      departure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And whither shall I go, my uncle?&rdquo; I asked rejoicing; &ldquo;back to Abouthis
+      to be initiated into the mysteries of the Gods?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, back to Abouthis, and from Abouthis to Alexandria, and from
+      Alexandria to the Throne of thy fathers, Harmachis! Listen, now; things
+      are thus: Thou knowest how Cleopatra, the Queen, fled into Syria when that
+      false eunuch Pothinus set the will of her father Aulêtes at naught and
+      raised her brother Ptolemy to the sole lordship of Egypt. Thou knowest
+      also how she came back, like a Queen indeed, with a great army in her
+      train, and lay at Pelusium, and how at this juncture the mighty Cæsar,
+      that great man, that greatest of all men, sailed with a weak company
+      hither to Alexandria from Pharsalia&rsquo;s bloody field in hot pursuit of
+      Pompey. But he found Pompey already dead, having been basely murdered by
+      Achillas, the General, and Lucius Septimius, the chief of the Roman
+      legions in Egypt, and thou knowest how the Alexandrians were troubled at
+      his coming and would have slain his lictors. Then, as thou hast heard,
+      Cæsar seized Ptolemy, the young King, and his sister Arsinoë, and bade the
+      army of Cleopatra and the army of Ptolemy, under Achillas, which lay
+      facing each other at Pelusium, disband and go their ways. And for answer
+      Achillas marched on Cæsar, and besieged him straitly in the Bruchium at
+      Alexandria, and so, for a while, things were, and none knew who should
+      reign in Egypt. But then Cleopatra took up the dice, and threw them, and
+      this was the throw she made&mdash;in truth, it was a bold one. For,
+      leaving the army at Pelusium, she came at dusk to the harbour of
+      Alexandria, and alone with the Sicilian Apollodorus entered and landed.
+      Then Apollodorus bound her in a bale of rich rugs, such as are made in
+      Syria, and sent the rugs as a present to Cæsar. And when the rugs were
+      unbound in the palace, behold! within them was the fairest girl on all the
+      earth&mdash;ay, and the most witty and the most learned. And she seduced
+      the great Cæsar&mdash;even his weight of years did not avail to protect
+      him from her charms&mdash;so that, as a fruit of his folly, he wellnigh
+      lost his life, and all the glory he had gained in a hundred wars.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The fool!&rdquo; I broke in&mdash;&ldquo;the fool! Thou callest him great; but how
+      can the man be truly great who has no strength to stand against a woman&rsquo;s
+      wiles? Cæsar, with the world hanging on his word! Cæsar, at whose breath
+      forty legions marched and changed the fate of peoples! Cæsar the cold! the
+      far-seeing! the hero!&mdash;Cæsar to fall like a ripe fruit into a false
+      girl&rsquo;s lap! Why, in the issue, of what common clay was this Roman Cæsar,
+      and how poor a thing!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Sepa looked at me and shook his head. &ldquo;Be not so rash, Harmachis, and
+      talk not with so proud a voice. Knowest thou not that in every suit of
+      mail there is a joint, and woe to him who wears the harness if the sword
+      should search it out! For Woman, in her weakness, is yet the strongest
+      force upon the earth. She is the helm of all things human; she comes in
+      many shapes and knocks at many doors; she is quick and patient, and her
+      passion is not ungovernable like that of man, but as a gentle steed that
+      she can guide e&rsquo;en where she will, and as occasion offers can now bit up
+      and now give rein. She has a captain&rsquo;s eye, and stout must be that
+      fortress of the heart in which she finds no place of vantage. Does thy
+      blood beat fast in youth? She will outrun it, nor will her kisses tire.
+      Art thou set toward ambition? She will unlock thy inner heart, and show
+      thee roads that lead to glory. Art thou worn and weary? She has comfort in
+      her breast. Art thou fallen? She can lift thee up, and to the illusion of
+      thy sense gild defeat with triumph. Ay, Harmachis, she can do these
+      things, for Nature ever fights upon her side; and while she does them she
+      can deceive and shape a secret end in which thou hast no part. And thus
+      Woman rules the world. For her are wars; for her men spend their strength
+      in gathering gains; for her they do well and ill, and seek for greatness,
+      to find oblivion. But still she sits like yonder Sphinx, and smiles; and
+      no man has ever read all the riddle of her smile, or known all the mystery
+      of her heart. Mock not! mock not! Harmachis; for he must be great indeed
+      who can defy the power of Woman, which, pressing round him like the
+      invisible air, is often strongest when the senses least discover it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I laughed aloud. &ldquo;Thou speakest earnestly, my uncle Sepa,&rdquo; I said; &ldquo;one
+      might almost think that thou hadst not come unscathed through this fierce
+      fire of temptation. Well, for myself, I fear not woman and her wiles; I
+      know naught of them, and naught do I wish to know; and I still hold that
+      this Cæsar was a fool. Had I stood where Cæsar stood, to cool its
+      wantonness that bale of rugs should have been rolled down the palace
+      steps, into the harbour mud.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, cease! cease!&rdquo; he cried aloud. &ldquo;It is evil to speak thus; may the
+      Gods avert the omen and preserve to thee this cold strength of which thou
+      boastest. Oh! man, thou knowest not!&mdash;thou in thy strength and beauty
+      that is without compare, in the power of thy learning and the sweetness of
+      thy tongue&mdash;thou knowest not! The world where thou must mix is not a
+      sanctuary as that of the Divine Isis. But there&mdash;it may be so! Pray
+      that thy heart&rsquo;s ice may never melt, so thou shalt be great and happy and
+      Egypt shall be delivered. And now let me take up my tale&mdash;thou seest,
+      Harmachis, even in so grave a story woman claims her place. The young
+      Ptolemy, Cleopatra&rsquo;s brother, being loosed of Cæsar, treacherously turned
+      on him. Then Cæsar and Mithridates stormed the camp of Ptolemy, who took
+      to flight across the river. But his boat was sunk by the fugitives who
+      pressed upon it, and such was the miserable end of Ptolemy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thereon, the war being ended, though she had but then borne him a son,
+      Cæsarion, Cæsar appointed the younger Ptolemy to rule with Cleopatra, and
+      be her husband in name, and he himself departed for Rome, bearing with him
+      the beautiful Princess Arsinoë to follow his triumph in her chains. But
+      the great Cæsar is no more. He died as he had lived, in blood, and right
+      royally. And but now Cleopatra, the Queen, if my tidings may be trusted,
+      has slain Ptolemy, her brother and husband, by poison, and taken the child
+      Cæsarion to be her fellow on the throne, which she holds by the help of
+      the Roman legions, and, as they say, of young Sextus Pompeius, who has
+      succeeded Cæsar in her love. But, Harmachis, the whole land boils and
+      seethes against her. In every city the children of Khem talk of the
+      deliverer who is to come&mdash;and thou art he, Harmachis. The time is
+      almost ripe. The hour is nigh at hand. Go thou back to Abouthis and learn
+      the last secrets of the Gods, and meet those who shall direct the bursting
+      of the storm. Then act, Harmachis&mdash;act, I say, and strike home for
+      Khem, rid the land of the Roman and the Greek, and take thy place upon the
+      throne of thy divine fathers and be a King of men. For to this end thou
+      wast born, O Prince!&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>
+    <p>
+      OF THE RETURN OF HARMACHIS TO ABOUTHIS; OF THE CELEBRATION OF THE
+      MYSTERIES; OF THE CHANT OF ISIS; AND OF THE WARNING OF AMENEMHAT
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the next day I embraced my uncle Sepa, and with an eager heart departed
+      from Annu back to Abouthis. To be short, I came thither in safety, having
+      been absent five years and a month, being now no more a boy but a man full
+      grown and having my mind well stocked with the knowledge of men and the
+      ancient wisdom of Egypt. So once again I saw the old lands, and the known
+      faces, though of these some few were wanting, having been gathered to
+      Osiris. Now, as, riding across the fields, I came nigh to the enclosure of
+      the Temple, the priests and people issued forth to bid me welcome, and
+      with them the old wife, Atoua, who, but for a few added wrinkles that Time
+      had cut upon her forehead, was just as she had been when she threw the
+      sandal after me five long years before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>La! la! la!</i>&rdquo; she cried; &ldquo;and there thou art, my bonny lad; more
+      bonny even than thou wert! <i>La!</i> what a man! what shoulders! and what
+      a face and form! Ah, it does an old woman credit to have dandled thee! But
+      thou art over-pale; those priests down there at Annu have starved thee,
+      surely? Starve not thyself: the Gods love not a skeleton. &lsquo;Empty stomach
+      makes empty head&rsquo; as they say at Alexandria. But this is a glad hour; ay,
+      a joyous hour. Come in&mdash;come in!&rdquo; and as I lighted down she embraced
+      me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But I thrust her aside. &ldquo;My father! where is my father?&rdquo; I cried; &ldquo;I see
+      him not!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, nay, have no fear,&rdquo; she answered; &ldquo;his Holiness is well; he waits
+      thee in his chamber. There, pass on. O happy day! O happy Abouthis!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So I went, or rather ran, and reached the chamber of which I have written,
+      and there at the table sat my father, Amenemhat, the same as he had been,
+      but very old. I came to him and, kneeling before him, kissed his hand, and
+      he blessed me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Look up, my son,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;let my old eyes gaze upon thy face, that I
+      may read thy heart.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So I lifted up my head, and he looked upon me long and earnestly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I read thee,&rdquo; he said at length; &ldquo;thou art pure and strong in wisdom; I
+      have not been deceived in thee. Oh, the years have been lonely; but I did
+      well to send thee hence. Now, tell me of thy life; for thy letters have
+      told me little, and thou canst not know, my son, how hungry is a father&rsquo;s
+      heart.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And so I told him; we sat far into the night and talked together. And in
+      the end he bade me know that I must now prepare to be initiated into those
+      last mysteries that are learned of the chosen of the Gods.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And so it came about that for a space of three months I prepared myself
+      according to the holy customs. I ate no meat. I was constant in the
+      sanctuaries, in the study of the secrets of the Great Sacrifice and of the
+      woe of the Holy Mother. I watched and prayed before the altars. I lifted
+      up my soul to God; ay, in dreams I communed with the Invisible, till at
+      length earth and earth&rsquo;s desires seemed to pass from me. I longed no more
+      for the glory of this world, my heart hung above it as an eagle on his
+      outstretched wings, and the voice of the world&rsquo;s blame could not stir it,
+      and the vision of its beauty brought no delight. For above me was the vast
+      vault of heaven, where in unalterable procession the stars pass on,
+      drawing after them the destinies of men; where the Holy Ones sit upon
+      their burning thrones, and watch the chariot-wheels of Fate as they roll
+      from sphere to sphere. O hours of holy contemplation! who, having once
+      tasted of your joy could wish again to grovel on the earth? O vile flesh
+      to drag us down! I would that thou hadst then altogether fallen from me,
+      and left my spirit free to seek Osiris!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The months of probation passed but too swiftly, and now the holy day drew
+      near when I was in truth to be united to the universal Mother. Never hath
+      Night so longed for the promise of the Dawn; never hath the heart of a
+      lover so passionately desired the sweet coming of his bride, as I longed
+      to see Thy glorious face, O Isis! Even now that I have been faithless to
+      Thee, and Thou art far from me, O Divine! my soul goes out to Thee, and
+      once more I know&mdash;&mdash;But as it is bidden that I should draw the
+      veil, and speak of things which have not been told since the beginning of
+      this world, let me pass on and reverently set down the history of that
+      holy morn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For seven days the great festival had been celebrated, the suffering of
+      the Lord Osiris had been commemorated, the grief of the Mother Isis had
+      been sung and glory had been done to the memory of the coming of the
+      Divine Child Horus, the Son, the Avenger, the God-begot. All these things
+      had been carried out according to the ancient rites. The boats had floated
+      on the sacred lake, the priests had scourged themselves before the
+      sanctuaries, and the images had been borne through the streets at night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And now, as the sun sank on the seventh day, once more the great
+      procession gathered to chant the woes of Isis and tell how the evil was
+      avenged. We went in silence from the temple, and passed through the city
+      ways. First came those who clear the path, then my father Amenemhat in all
+      his priestly robes, and the wand of cedar in his hand. Then, clad in pure
+      linen, I, the neophyte, followed alone; and after me the white-robed
+      priests, holding aloft banners and emblems of the Gods. Next came those
+      who bear the sacred boat, and after them the singers and the mourners;
+      while, stretching as far as the eye could reach, all the people marched,
+      clad in melancholy black because Osiris was no more. We went in silence
+      through the city streets till at length we came to the wall of the temple
+      and passed in. And as my father, the High Priest, entered beneath the
+      gateway of the outer pylon, a sweet-voiced woman singer began to sing the
+      Holy Chant, and thus she sang:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Sing we Osiris dead,
+     Lament the fallen head:
+     The light has left the world, the world is grey.
+     Athwart the starry skies
+     The web of Darkness flies,
+     And Isis weeps Osiris passed away.
+     Your tears, ye stars, ye fires, ye rivers, shed,
+     Weep, children of the Nile, weep for your Lord is dead!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      She paused in her most sweet song, and the whole multitude took up the
+      melancholy dirge:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     &lsquo;Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      The chorus ceased, and once again she sang:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Within the court divine
+     The Sevenfold sacred shrine
+     We pass, while echoes of the Temple walls
+     Repeat the long lament
+     The sound of sorrow sent
+     Far up within the imperishable halls,
+     Where, each in the other&rsquo;s arms, the Sisters weep,
+     Isis and Nephthys, o&rsquo;er His unawaking sleep.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      And then again rolled forth the solemn chorus of a thousand voices:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     &lsquo;Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+ It ceased, and sweetly she took up the song:
+
+     &ldquo;O dweller in the West,
+     Lover and Lordliest,
+     Thy love, thy Sister Isis, calls thee home!
+     Come from thy chamber dun
+     Thou Master of the Sun,
+     Thy shadowy chamber far below the foam!
+     With weary wings and spent
+     Through all the firmament,
+     Through all the horror-haunted ways of Hell,
+     I seek thee near and far,
+     From star to wandering star,
+     Free with the dead that in Amenti dwell.
+     I search the height, the deep, the lands, the skies,
+     Rise from the dead and live, our Lord Osiris, rise!&rdquo;
+ 
+     &ldquo;Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     &lsquo;Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      Now in a strain more high and glad the singer sang:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;He wakes&mdash;from forth the prison
+     We sing Osiris risen,
+     We sing the child that Nout conceived and bare.
+     Thine own love, Isis, waits
+     The Warden of the Gates,
+     She breathes the breath of Life on breast and hair,
+     And in her breast and breath
+     Behold! he waketh,
+     Behold! at length he riseth out of rest;
+     Touched with her holy hands,
+     The Lord of all the Lands,
+     He stirs, he rises from her breath, her breast!
+     But thou, fell Typhon, fly,
+     The judgment day drawn nigh,
+     Fleet on thy track as flame speeds Horus from the sky.&rdquo;
+ 
+     &ldquo;Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     &lsquo;Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      Once more, as we bowed before the Holy, she sang, and sent the full breath
+      of her glad music ringing up the everlasting walls till the silence
+      quivered with her round notes of melody, and the hearts of those who
+      hearkened stirred strangely in the breast. And thus, as we walked, she
+      sang the song of Osiris risen, the song of Hope, the song of Victory:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Sing we the Trinity,
+     Sing we the Holy Three,
+     Sing we, and praise we and worship the Throne,
+     Throne that our Lord hath set&mdash;
+     There peace and truth are met
+     There in the Halls of the Holy alone!
+     There in the shadowings
+     Faint of the folded wings,
+     There shall we dwell and rejoice in our rest,
+     We that thy servants are!
+     Horus drive ill afar!
+     Far in the folds of the dark of the West!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      Again, as her notes died away, thundered forth the chorus of all the
+      voices:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     &lsquo;Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      The chanting ceased, and as the sun sank the High Priest raised the statue
+      of the living God and held it before the multitude that was now gathered
+      in the court of the temple. Then, with a mighty and joyful shout of:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>Osiris our hope! Osiris! Osiris!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      the people tore their black wrappings from their dress, revealing the
+      white robes they wore beneath, and, as one man, they bowed before the God,
+      and the feast was ended.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But for me the ceremony was only begun, for to-night was the night of my
+      initiation. Leaving the inner court I bathed myself, and, clad in pure
+      linen, passed, as it is ordained, into an inner, but not the inmost,
+      sanctuary, and laid the accustomed offerings on the altar. Then, lifting
+      my hands to heaven, I remained for many hours in contemplation, striving,
+      by holy thoughts and prayer, to gather up my strength against the mighty
+      moment of my trial.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The hours sped slowly in the silence of the temple, till at length the
+      door opened and my father Amenemhat, the High Priest, came in, clad in
+      white, and leading by the hand the Priest of Isis. For, having been
+      married, he did not himself enter into the mysteries of the Holy Mother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I rose to my feet and stood humbly before them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Art thou ready?&rdquo; said the priest, lifting the lamp he held so that its
+      light fell upon my face. &ldquo;O thou chosen one, art thou ready to see the
+      glory of the Goddess face to face?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am ready,&rdquo; I answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Behold thee,&rdquo; he said again, in solemn tones, &ldquo;it is no small thing. If
+      thou wilt carry out this thy last desire, understand, royal Harmachis,
+      that now this very night thou must die for a while in the flesh, what time
+      thy soul shall look on spiritual things. And if thou diest and any evil
+      shall be found within thy heart, when thou comest at last into that awful
+      presence, woe unto thee, Harmachis, for the breath of life shall no more
+      enter in at the gateway of thy mouth, thy body shall utterly perish, and
+      what shall befall thy other parts, if I know, I may not say.[*] Art thou
+      prepared to be taken to the breast of Her who Was and Is and Shall Be, and
+      in all things to do Her holy will; for Her, while she shall so command, to
+      put away the thought of earthly woman; and to labour always for Her glory
+      till at the end thy life is gathered to Her eternal life?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] According to the Egyptian religion the being Man is
+     composed of four parts: the body, the double or astral shape
+     (<i>ka</i>), the soul (<i>bi</i>), and the spark of life sprung from
+     the Godhead (<i>khou</i>).&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;lead on.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; said the priest. &ldquo;Noble Amenemhat, we go hence alone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Farewell, my son,&rdquo; said my father; &ldquo;be firm and triumph over things
+      spiritual as thou shalt triumph over things earthly. He who would truly
+      rule the world must first be lifted up above the world. He must be at one
+      with God, for thus only shall he learn the secrets of the Divine. But
+      beware! The Gods demand much of those who dare to enter the circle of
+      their Divinity. If they go back therefrom, they shall be judged of a
+      sharper law, and scourged with a heavier rod, for as their glory is, so
+      shall their shame be. Therefore, make thy heart strong, royal Harmachis!
+      And when thou speedest down the ways of Night and enterest the Holies,
+      remember that from him to whom great gifts have been given shall gifts be
+      required again. And now&mdash;if, indeed, thy mind be fixed&mdash;go
+      whither it is not as yet given me to follow thee. Farewell!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      For a moment as my heart weighed these heavy words, I wavered, as well as
+      I might. But I was filled with longing to be gathered to the company of
+      the Divine ones, and I knew that I had no evil in me, and desired to do
+      only the thing that is just. Therefore, having with so much labour drawn
+      the bowstring to my ear, I was fain to let fly the shaft. &ldquo;Lead on,&rdquo; I
+      cried with a loud voice; &ldquo;lead on, thou holy Priest! I follow thee!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And we went forth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VI
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE INITIATION OF HARMACHIS; OF HIS VISIONS; OF HIS PASSING TO THE CITY
+      THAT IS IN THE PLACE OF DEATH; AND OF THE DECLARATIONS OF ISIS, THE
+      MESSENGER
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In silence we passed into the Shrine of Isis. It was dark and bare&mdash;only
+      the feeble light from the lamp gleamed faintly upon the sculptured walls,
+      where, in a hundred effigies, the Holy Mother suckled the Holy Child.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The priest closed the doors and bolted them. &ldquo;Once again,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;art
+      thou ready, Harmachis?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Once again,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;I am ready.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He spoke no more; but, having lifted up his hands in prayer, led me to the
+      centre of the Holy, and with a swift motion put out the lamp.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Look before thee, Harmachis!&rdquo; he cried; and his voice sounded hollow in
+      the solemn place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I gazed and saw nothing. But from the niche that is high in the wall,
+      where is hid that sacred symbol of the Goddess on which few may look,
+      there came a sound as of the rattling rods of the sistrum.[*] And as I
+      listened, awestruck, behold! I saw the outline of the symbol drawn as with
+      fire upon the blackness of the air. It hung above my head, and rattled
+      while it hung. And, as it turned, I clearly saw the face of the Mother
+      Isis that is graven on the one side, and signifies unending Birth, and the
+      face of her holy sister, Nephthys, that is graven on the other, and
+      signifies the ending of all birth in Death.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] A musical instrument peculiarly sacred to Isis of which
+     the shape and rods had a mystic significance.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Slowly it turned and swung as though some mystic dancer trod the air above
+      me, and shook it in her hand. But at length the light went out, and the
+      rattling ceased.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then of a sudden the end of the chamber became luminous, and in that white
+      light I beheld picture after picture. I saw the ancient Nile rolling
+      through deserts to the sea. There were no men upon its banks, nor any
+      signs of man, nor any temples to the Gods. Only wild birds moved on
+      Sihor&rsquo;s lonely face, and monstrous brutes plunged and wallowed in his
+      waters. The sun sank in majesty behind the Libyan Desert and stained the
+      waters red; the mountains towered up towards the silent sky; but in
+      mountain, desert, and river there was no sign of human life. Then I knew
+      that I saw the world as it had been before man was, and a terror of its
+      loneliness entered my soul.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The picture passed and another rose up in its place. Once again I saw the
+      banks of Sihor, and on them crowded wild-faced creatures, partaking of the
+      nature of the ape more than of the nature of mankind. They fought and slew
+      each other. The wild birds sprang up in affright as the fire leapt from
+      reed huts given by foemen&rsquo;s hands to flame and pillage. They stole and
+      rent and murdered, dashing out the brains of children with axes of stone.
+      And, though no voice told me, I knew that I saw man as he was tens of
+      thousands of years ago, when first he marched across the earth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Yet another picture. Again I beheld the banks of Sihor; but on them fair
+      cities bloomed like flowers. In and out their gates went men and women,
+      passing to and fro from wide, well-tilled lands. But I saw no guards or
+      armies, and no weapons of war. All was wisdom, prosperity, and peace. And
+      while I wondered, a glorious Figure, clad in raiment that shone as flame,
+      came from the gates of a shrine, and the sound of music went before and
+      followed after him. He mounted an ivory throne which was set in a
+      market-place facing the water: and as the sun sank called in all the
+      multitudes to prayer. With one voice they prayed, bending in adoration.
+      And I understood that herein was shown the reign of the Gods on earth,
+      which was long before the days of Menes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A change came over the dream. Still the same fair city, but other men&mdash;men
+      with greed and evil on their faces&mdash;who hated the bonds of righteous
+      doing, and set their hearts on sin. The evening came; the glorious Figure
+      mounted the throne and called to prayer, but none bowed themselves in
+      adoration.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We are aweary of thee!&rdquo; they cried. &ldquo;Make Evil King! Slay him! slay him!
+      and loose the bonds of Evil! Make Evil King!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The glorious Shape rose up, gazing with mild eyes upon those wicked men.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ye know not what ye ask,&rdquo; he cried; &ldquo;but as ye will, so be it! For if I
+      die, by me, after much travail, shall ye once again find a path to the
+      Kingdom of Good!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Even as he spoke, a Form, foul and hideous to behold, leapt upon him,
+      cursing, slew him, tore him limb from limb, and amidst the clamour of the
+      people sat himself upon the throne and ruled. But a Shape whose face was
+      veiled passed down from heaven on shadowy wings, and with lamentations
+      gathered up the rent fragments of the Being. A moment she bent herself
+      upon them, then lifted up her hands and wept. And as she wept, behold!
+      from her side there sprang a warrior armed and with a face like the face
+      of Ra at noon. He, the Avenger, hurled himself with a shout upon the
+      Monster who had usurped the throne, and they closed in battle, and,
+      struggling ever in a strait embrace, passed upward to the skies.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then came picture after picture. I saw Powers and Peoples clad in various
+      robes and speaking many tongues. I saw them pass and pass in millions&mdash;loving,
+      hating, struggling, dying. Some few were happy and some had woe stamped
+      upon their faces; but most bore not the seal of happiness nor of woe, but
+      rather that of patience. And ever as they passed from age to age, high
+      above in the heavens the Avenger fought on with the Evil Thing, while the
+      scale of victory swung now here now there. But neither conquered, nor was
+      it given to me to know how the battle ended.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And I understood that what I had beheld was the holy vision of the
+      struggle between the Good and the Evil Powers. I saw that man was created
+      vile, but Those who are above took pity on him, and came down to him to
+      make him good and happy, for the two things are one thing. But man
+      returned to his wicked way, and then the bright Spirit of Good, who is of
+      us called Osiris, but who has many names, offered himself up for the
+      evil-doing of the race that had dethroned him. And from him and the Divine
+      Mother, of whom all nature is, sprang another spirit who is the Protector
+      of us on earth, as Osiris is our justifier in Amenti.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For this is the mystery of the Osiris.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Of a sudden, as I saw the visions, these things became clear to me. The
+      mummy cloths of symbol and of ceremony that wrap Osiris round fell from
+      him, and I understood the secret of religion, which is Sacrifice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The pictures passed, and again the priest, my guide, spoke to me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hast thou understood, Harmachis, those things which it has been granted
+      thee to see?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Are the rites ended?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, they are but begun. That which follows thou must endure alone!
+      Behold I leave thee, to return at the morning light. Once more I warn
+      thee. That which thou shalt see, few may look upon and live. In all my
+      days I have known but three who dared to face this dread hour, and of
+      those three at dawn but one was found alive. Myself, I have not trod this
+      path. It is too high for me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Depart,&rdquo; I said; &ldquo;my soul is athirst for knowledge. I will dare it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He laid his hand upon my shoulder and blessed me. He went. I heard the
+      door shut to behind him, the echoes of his footsteps slowly died away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I felt that I was alone, alone in the Holy Place with Things which
+      are not of the earth. Silence fell&mdash;silence deep and black as the
+      darkness which was around me. The silence fell, it gathered as the cloud
+      gathered on the face of the moon that night when, a lad, I prayed upon the
+      pylon towers. It gathered denser and yet more dense till it seemed to
+      creep into my heart and call aloud therein; for utter silence has a voice
+      that is more terrible than any cry. I spoke; the echoes of my words came
+      back upon me from the walls and seemed to beat me down. The stillness was
+      lighter to endure than an echo such as this. What was I about to see?
+      Should I die, even now, in the fulness of my youth and strength? Terrible
+      were the warnings that had been given to me. I was fear-stricken, and
+      bethought me that I would fly. Fly!&mdash;fly whither? The temple door was
+      barred; I could not fly. I was alone with the Godhead, alone with the
+      Power that I had invoked. Nay, my heart was pure&mdash;my heart was pure.
+      I would face the terror that was to come, ay, even though I died.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Isis, Holy Mother,&rdquo; I prayed. &ldquo;Isis, Spouse of Heaven, come unto me, be
+      with me now; I faint! be with me now.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And then I knew that things were not as things had been. The air around me
+      began to stir, it rustled as the wings of eagles rustle, it took life.
+      Bright eyes gazed upon me, strange whispers shook my soul. Upon the
+      darkness were bars of light. They changed and interchanged, they moved to
+      and fro and wove mystic symbols which I could not read. Swifter and
+      swifter flew that shuttle of the light: the symbols grouped, gathered,
+      faded, gathered yet again, faster and still more fast, till my eyes could
+      count them no more. Now I was afloat upon a sea of glory; it surged and
+      rolled, as the ocean rolls; it tossed me high, it brought me low. Glory
+      was piled on glory, splendour heaped on splendour&rsquo;s head, and I rode above
+      it all!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Soon the lights began to pale in the rolling sea of air. Great shadows
+      shot across it, lines of darkness pierced it and rushed together on its
+      breast, till, at length, I was only a Shape of Flame set like a star on
+      the bosom of immeasurable night. Bursts of awful music gathered from far
+      away. Miles and miles away I heard them, thrilling faintly through the
+      gloom. On they came, nearer and more near, louder and more loud, till they
+      swept past, above, below, around me, swept on rushing pinions, terrifying
+      and enchanting me. They floated by, ever growing fainter, till they died
+      in space. Then others came, and no two were akin. Some rattled as ten
+      thousand sistra shaken all to tune. Some rank from the brazen throats of
+      unnumbered clarions. Some pealed with a loud, sweet chant of voices that
+      were more than human; and some rolled along in the slow thunder of a
+      million drums. They passed; their notes were lost in dying echoes; and the
+      silence once more pressed in upon me and overcame me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The strength within me began to fail. I felt my life ebbing at its
+      springs. Death drew near to me and his shape was <i>Silence</i>. He
+      entered at my heart, entered with a sense of numbing cold, but my brain
+      was still alive, I could yet think. I knew that I was drawing near the
+      confines of the Dead. Nay, I was dying fast, and oh, the horror of it! I
+      strove to pray and could not; there was no more time for prayer. One
+      struggle and the stillness crept into my brain. The terror passed; an
+      unfathomable weight of sleep pressed me down. I was dying, I was dying,
+      and then&mdash;nothingness!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>I was dead!</i>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A change&mdash;life came back to me, but between the new life and the life
+      that had been was a gulf and difference. Once again I stood in the
+      darkness of the shrine, but it blinded me no more. It was clear as the
+      light of day, although it still was black. I stood; and yet it was not I
+      who stood, but rather my spiritual part, for at my feet lay my dead Self.
+      There it lay, rigid and still, a stamp of awful calm sealed upon its face,
+      while I gazed on it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And as I gazed, filled with wonder, I was caught up on the Wings of Flame
+      and whirled away! away! faster than the lightnings flash. Down I fell,
+      through depths of empty space set here and there with glittering crowns of
+      stars. Down for ten million miles and ten times ten million, till at
+      length I hovered over a place of soft, unchanging light, wherein were
+      Temples, Palaces, and Abodes, such as no man ever saw in the visions of
+      his sleep. They were built of Flame, and they were built of Blackness.
+      Their spires pierced up and up; their great courts stretched around. Even
+      as I hovered they changed continually to the eye; what was Flame became
+      Blackness, what was Blackness became Flame. Here was the flash of crystal,
+      and there the blaze of gems shone even through the glory that rolls around
+      the city which is in the Place of Death. There were trees, and their voice
+      as they rustled was the voice of music; there was air, and, as it blew,
+      its breath was the sobbing notes of song.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Shapes, changing, mysterious, wonderful, rushed up to meet me, and bore me
+      down till I seemed to stand upon another earth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who comes?&rdquo; cried a great Voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Harmachis,&rdquo; answered the Shapes, that changed continually. &ldquo;Harmachis who
+      hath been summoned from the earth to look upon the face of Her that Was
+      and Is and Shall Be. Harmachis, Child of Earth!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Throw back the Gates and open wide the Doors!&rdquo; pealed the awful Voice.
+      &ldquo;Throw back the Gates and open wide the Doors; seal up his lips in
+      silence, lest his voice jar upon the harmonies of Heaven, take away his
+      sight lest he see that which may not be seen, and let Harmachis, who hath
+      been summoned, pass down the path that leads to the place of the
+      Unchanging. Pass on, Child of Earth; but before thou goest, look up that
+      thou mayest learn how far thou art removed from Earth.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I looked up. Beyond the glory that shone about the city was black night,
+      and high on its bosom twinkled one tiny star.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Behold the world that thou hast left,&rdquo; said the Voice, &ldquo;behold and
+      tremble.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then my lips and eyes were sealed with silence and with darkness, so that
+      I was dumb and blind. The Gates rolled back, the Doors swung wide, and I
+      was swept into the city that is in the Place of Death. I was swept swiftly
+      I know not whither, till at length I stood upon my feet. Again the great
+      Voice pealed:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Draw the veil of blackness from his eyes, unseal the silence on his lips,
+      that Harmachis, Child of Earth, may see, hear, and understand, and make
+      adoration at the Shrine of Her that Was and Is and Shall Be.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And my lips and eyes were touched once more, so that my sight and speech
+      came back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Behold! I stood within a hall of blackest marble, so lofty that even in
+      the rosy light scarce could my vision reach the great groins of the roof.
+      Music wailed about its spaces, and all adown its length stood winged
+      Spirits fashioned in living fire, and such was the brightness of their
+      forms that I could not look on them. In its centre was an altar, small and
+      square, and I stood before the empty altar. Then again the Voice cried:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Thou that hast been, art, and shalt be; Thou who, having many names,
+      art yet without a name; Measurer of Time; Messenger of God; Guardian of
+      the Worlds and the Races that dwell thereon; Universal Mother born of
+      Nothingness; Creatix uncreated; Living Splendour without Form, Living Form
+      without Substance; Servant of the Invisible; Child of Law; Holder of the
+      Scales and Sword of Fate; Vessel of Life, through whom all Life flows, to
+      whom it again is gathered; Recorder of Things Done; Executrix of Decrees&mdash;<i>Hear!</i>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Harmachis the Egyptian, who by Thy will hath been summoned from the
+      earth, waits before Thine Altar, with ears unstopped, with eyes unsealed,
+      and with an open heart. Hear and descend! Descend, O Many-shaped! Descend
+      in Flame! Descend in Sound! Descend in Spirit! Hear and descend!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Voice ceased and there was silence. Then through the silence came a
+      sound like the booming of the sea. It passed and presently, moved thereto
+      by I know not what, I raised my eyes from my hands with which I had
+      covered them, and saw a small dark cloud hanging over the Altar in and out
+      of which a fiery Serpent climbed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then all the Spirits clad in light fell upon the marble floor, and with a
+      loud voice adored; but what they said I could not understand. Behold! the
+      dark cloud came down and rested on the Altar, the Serpent of fire
+      stretched itself towards me, touched me on the forehead with its forky
+      tongue and was gone. From within the cloud a Voice sweet and low and clear
+      spoke in heavenly accents:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Depart, ye Ministers, leave Me with my son whom I have summoned.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then like arrows rushing from a bow the flame-clad Spirits leapt from the
+      ground and sped away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Harmachis,&rdquo; said the Voice, &ldquo;be not afraid, I am She whom thou dost
+      know as Isis of the Egyptians; but what else I am strive not thou to
+      learn, it is beyond thy strength. For I am all things, Life is my spirit,
+      and Nature is my raiment. I am the laughter of the babe, I am the maiden&rsquo;s
+      love, I am the mother&rsquo;s kiss. I am the Child and Servant of the Invisible
+      that is God, that is Law, that is Fate&mdash;though myself I be not God
+      and Fate and Law. When winds blow and oceans roar upon the face of the
+      Earth thou hearest my voice; when thou gazest on the starry firmament thou
+      seest my countenance; when the spring blooms out in flowers, that is my
+      smile, Harmachis. For I am Nature&rsquo;s self, and all her shapes are shapes of
+      Me. I breathe in all that breathes. I wax and wane in the changeful moon:
+      I grow and gather in the tides: I rise with the suns: I flash with the
+      lightning and thunder in the storms. Nothing is too great for the measure
+      of my majesty, nothing is so small that I cannot find a home therein. I am
+      in thee and thou art in Me, O Harmachis. That which bade thee be bade Me
+      also be. Therefore, though I am great and thou art little, have no fear.
+      For we are bound together by the common bond of life&mdash;that life which
+      flows through suns and stars and spaces, through Spirits and the souls of
+      men, welding all Nature to a whole that, changing ever, is yet eternally
+      the same.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I bowed my head&mdash;I could not speak, for I was afraid.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Faithfully hast thou served Me, O my son,&rdquo; went on the low sweet Voice;
+      &ldquo;greatly thou hast longed to be brought face to face with Me here in
+      Amenti; and greatly hast thou dared to accomplish thy desire. For it is no
+      small thing to cast off the tabernacle of the Flesh and before the
+      appointed time, if only for an hour, put on the raiment of the Spirit. And
+      greatly, O my servant and my son, have I, too, desired to look on thee
+      there where I am. For the Gods love those who love them, but with a wider
+      and deeper love, and under One who is as far from Me as I am from thee,
+      mortal, I am a God of Gods. Therefore I have caused thee to be brought
+      hither, Harmachis; and therefore I speak to thee, my son, and bid thee
+      commune with Me now face to face, as thou didst commune that night upon
+      the temple towers of Abouthis. For I was there with thee, Harmachis, as I
+      was in ten thousand other worlds. It was I, O Harmachis, who laid the
+      lotus in thy hand, giving thee the sign which thou didst seek. For thou
+      art of the kingly blood of my children who served Me from age to age. And
+      if thou dost not fail thou shalt sit upon that kingly throne and restore
+      my ancient worship in its purity, and sweep my temples from their
+      defilements. But if thou dost fail, then shall the eternal Spirit Isis
+      become but a memory in Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Voice paused; and, gathering up my strength, at length I spoke aloud:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell me, O Holy,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;shall I then fail?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ask Me not,&rdquo; answered the Voice, &ldquo;that which it is not lawful that I
+      should answer thee. Perchance I can read that which shall befall thee,
+      perchance it doth not please Me so to read. What can it profit the Divine,
+      that hath all time wherein to await the issues, to be eager to look upon
+      the blossom that is not blown, but which, lying a seed in the bosom of the
+      earth, shall blow in its season? Know, Harmachis, that I do not shape the
+      Future; the Future is to thee and not to Me; for it is born of Law and of
+      the rule ordained of the Invisible. Yet thou art free to act therein, and
+      thou shalt win or thou shalt fail according to thy strength and the
+      measure of thy heart&rsquo;s purity. Thine be the burden, Harmachis, as thine in
+      the event shall be the glory or the shame. Little do I reck of the issue,
+      I who am but the Minister of what is written. Now hear me: I will always
+      be with thee, my son, for my love once given can never be taken away,
+      though by sin it may seem lost to thee. Remember then this: if thou dost
+      triumph, thy guerdon shall be great; if thou dost fail, heavy indeed shall
+      be thy punishment both in the flesh and in the land that thou callest
+      Amenti. Yet this for thy comfort: shame and agony shall not be eternal.
+      For however deep the fall from righteousness, if but repentance holds the
+      heart, there is a path&mdash;a stony and a cruel path&mdash;whereby the
+      height may be climbed again. Let it not be thy lot to follow it,
+      Harmachis!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And now, because thou hast loved Me, my son, and, wandering through the
+      maze of fable, wherein men lose themselves upon the earth, mistaking the
+      substance for the Spirit, and the Altar for the God, hast yet grasped a
+      clue of Truth the Many-faced; and because I love thee and look on to the
+      day that, perchance, shall come when thou shalt dwell blessed in my light
+      and in the doing of my tasks: because of this, I say, it shall be given to
+      thee, O Harmachis, to hear the Word whereby I may be summoned from the
+      Uttermost, by one who hath communed with Me, and to look upon the face of
+      Isis&mdash;even into the eyes of the Messenger, and not die the death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>Behold!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The sweet Voice ceased; the dark cloud upon the altar changed and changed&mdash;it
+      grew white, it shone, and seemed at length to take the shrouded shape of a
+      woman. Then the golden Snake crept from its heart once more, and, like a
+      living diadem, twined itself about the cloudy brows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now suddenly a Voice called aloud the awful Word, then the vapours burst
+      and melted, and with my eyes I saw that Glory, at the very thought of
+      which my spirit faints. But what I saw it is not lawful to utter. For,
+      though I have been bidden to write what I have written of this matter,
+      perchance that a record may remain, thereon I have been warned&mdash;ay,
+      even now, after these many years. I saw, and what I saw cannot be
+      imagined; for there are Glories and there are Shapes which are beyond the
+      reach of man&rsquo;s imagination. I saw&mdash;then, with the echo of that Word,
+      and the memory of that sight stamped for ever on my heart, my spirit
+      failed me, and I sank down before the Glory.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And, as I fell, it seemed that the great hall burst open and crumbled into
+      flakes of fire round me. Then a great wind blew: there was a sound as the
+      sound of Worlds rushing down the flood of Time&mdash;and I knew no more!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VII
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE AWAKING OF HARMACHIS; OF THE CEREMONY OF HIS CROWNING AS PHARAOH OF
+      THE UPPER AND THE LOWER LAND; AND OF THE OFFERINGS MADE TO PHARAOH
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Once again I woke&mdash;to find myself stretched at length upon the stone
+      flooring of the Holy Place of Isis that is at Abouthis. By me stood the
+      old Priest of the Mysteries, and in his hand was a lamp. He bent over me,
+      and gazed earnestly upon my face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is day&mdash;the day of thy new birth, and thou hast lived to see it,
+      Harmachis!&rdquo; he said at length. &ldquo;I give thanks. Arise, royal Harmachis&mdash;nay,
+      tell me naught of that which has befallen thee. Arise, beloved of the Holy
+      Mother. Come forth, thou who hast passed the fire and learned what lies
+      behind the darkness&mdash;come forth, O newly-born!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I rose and, walking faintly, went with him, and, passing out of the
+      darkness of the Shrines filled with thought and wonder, came once more
+      into the pure light of the morning. And then I went to my own chamber and
+      slept; nor did any dreams come to trouble me. But no man&mdash;not even my
+      father&mdash;asked me aught of what I saw upon that dread night, or after
+      what fashion I had communed with the Goddess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After these things which have been written, I applied myself for a space
+      to the worship of the Mother Isis, and to the further study of the outward
+      forms of those mysteries to which I now held the key. Moreover, I was
+      instructed in matters politic, for many great men of our following came
+      secretly to see me from all quarters of Egypt, and told me much of the
+      hatred of the people towards Cleopatra, the Queen, and of other things. At
+      last the hour drew nigh; it was three months and ten days from the night
+      when, for a while, I left the flesh, and yet living with our life, was
+      gathered to the breast of Isis, on which it was agreed that with due and
+      customary rites, although in utter secrecy, I should be called to the
+      throne of the Upper and the Lower Land. So it came about that, as the
+      solemn time drew nigh, great men of the party of Egypt gathered to the
+      number of thirty-seven from every nome, and each great city of their nome,
+      meeting together at Abouthis. They came in every guise&mdash;some as
+      priests, some as pilgrims to the Shrine, and some as beggars. Among them
+      was my uncle, Sepa, who, though he clad himself as a travelling doctor,
+      had much ado to keep his loud voice from betraying him. Indeed, I myself
+      knew him by it, meeting him as I walked in thought upon the banks of the
+      canal, although it was then dusk and the great cape, which, after the
+      fashion of such doctors, he had thrown about his head, half hid his face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A pest on thee!&rdquo; he cried, when I greeted him by his name. &ldquo;Cannot a man
+      cease to be himself for a single hour? Didst thou but know the pains that
+      it has cost me to learn to play this part&mdash;and now thou readest who I
+      am even in the dark!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And then, still talking in his loud voice, he told me how he had travelled
+      hither on foot, the better to escape the spies who ply to and fro upon the
+      river. But he said he should return by the water, or take another guise;
+      for since he had come as a doctor he had been forced to play a doctor&rsquo;s
+      part, knowing but little of the arts of medicine; and, as he greatly
+      feared, there were many between Annu and Abouthis who had suffered from
+      it.[*] And he laughed loudly and embraced me, forgetting his part. For he
+      was too whole at heart to be an actor and other than himself, and would
+      have entered Abouthis with me holding my hand, had I not chid him for his
+      folly.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] In Ancient Egypt an unskilful or negligent physician was
+     liable to very heavy penalties.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      At length all were gathered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was night, and the gates of the temple were shut. None were left within
+      them, except the thirty-seven; my father, the High Priest Amenemhat; that
+      aged priest who had led me to the Shrine of Isis; the old wife, Atoua,
+      who, according to ancient custom, was to prepare me for the anointing; and
+      some five other priests, sworn to secrecy by that oath which none may
+      break. They gathered in the second hall of the great temple; but I
+      remained alone, clad in my white robe, in the passage where are the names
+      of six-and-seventy ancient Kings, who were before the day of the divine
+      Sethi. There I rested in darkness, till at length my father, Amenemhat,
+      came, bearing a lamp, and, bowing low before me, led me by the hand forth
+      into the great hall. Here and there, between its mighty pillars, lights
+      were burning that dimly showed the sculptured images upon the walls, and
+      dimly fell upon the long line of the seven-and-thirty Lords, Priests, and
+      Princes, who, seated upon carven chairs, awaited my coming in silence.
+      Before them, facing away from the seven Sanctuaries, a throne was set,
+      around which stood the priests holding the sacred images and banners. As I
+      came into the dim and holy place, the Dignitaries rose, and bowed before
+      me, speaking no word; while my father led me to the steps of the throne,
+      and in a low voice bade me stand before it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then he spoke:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lords, Priests, and Princes of the ancient orders of the land of Khem&mdash;Nobles
+      from the Upper and the Lower Country, have gathered in answer to my
+      summons, hear me: I present to you, with such scant formality as the
+      occasion can afford, the Prince Harmachis, by right and true descent of
+      blood the descendant and heir of the ancient Pharaohs of our most unhappy
+      land. He is priest of the inmost circle of the Mysteries of the Divine
+      Isis, Master of the Mysteries&mdash;Hereditary Priest of the Pyramids,
+      which are by Memphis, Instructed in the Solemn Rites of the Holy Osiris.
+      Is there any among you who has aught to urge against the true line of his
+      blood?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused, and my uncle Sepa, rising from his chair, spoke: &ldquo;We have made
+      examination of the records and there is none, O Amenemhat. He is of the
+      Royal blood, his descent is true.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is there any among you,&rdquo; went on my father, &ldquo;who can deny that this royal
+      Harmachis, by sanction of the very Gods, has been gathered to Isis, been
+      shown the way of the Osiris, been admitted to be the Hereditary High
+      Priest of the Pyramids which are by Memphis, and of the Temples of the
+      Pyramids?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then that old priest rose who had been my guide in the Sanctuary of the
+      Mother and made answer: &ldquo;There is none; O Amenemhat; I know these things
+      of my own knowledge.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Once more my father spoke: &ldquo;Is there any among you who has aught to urge
+      against this royal Harmachis, in that by wickedness of heart or life, by
+      uncleanliness or falsity, it is not fit or meet that we should crown him
+      Lord of all the Lands?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then an aged Prince of Memphis arose and made answer:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We have inquired of these matters: there is none, O Amenemhat.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; said my father; &ldquo;then naught is wanting in the Prince
+      Harmachis, seed of Nekt-nebf, the Osirian. Let the woman Atoua stand forth
+      and tell this company those things that came to pass when, at the hour of
+      her death, she who was my wife prophesied over this Prince, being filled
+      with the Spirit of the Hathors.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Thereon old Atoua crept forward from the shadow of the columns, and
+      earnestly told those things that have been written.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ye have heard,&rdquo; said my father: &ldquo;do you believe that the woman who was my
+      wife spake with the Divine voice?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We do,&rdquo; they answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now my uncle Sepa rose and spoke:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Royal Harmachis, thou hast heard. Know now that we are gathered here to
+      crown thee King of the Upper and the Lower Lands&mdash;thy holy father,
+      Amenemhat, renouncing all his right on thy behalf. We are met, not,
+      indeed, in that pomp and ceremony which is due to the occasion&mdash;for
+      what we do must be done in secret, lest our lives, and the cause that is
+      more dear to us than life, should pay the forfeit&mdash;but yet with such
+      dignity and observance of the ancient rites as our circumstance may
+      command. Learn, now, how this matter hangs, and if, after learning, thy
+      mind consents thereto, then mount thy throne, O Pharaoh&mdash;and swear
+      the oath!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Long has Khemi groaned beneath the mailed heel of the Greek, and trembled
+      at the shadow of the Roman&rsquo;s spear; long has the ancient worship of its
+      Gods been desecrated, and its people crushed with oppression. But we
+      believe that the hour of deliverance is at hand, and with the solemn voice
+      of Egypt and by the ancient Gods of Egypt, to whose cause thou art of all
+      men bound, we call upon thee, Prince, to be the sword of our deliverance.
+      Hearken! Twenty thousand good and leal men are sworn to wait upon thy
+      word, and at thy signal to rise as one, to put the Grecian to the sword,
+      and with their blood and substance to build thee a throne set more surely
+      on the soil of Khem than are its ancient pyramids&mdash;such a throne as
+      shall even roll the Roman legions back. And for the signal, it shall be
+      the death of that bold harlot, Cleopatra. Thou must compass her death,
+      Harmachis, in such fashion as shall be shown to thee, and with her blood
+      anoint the Royal throne of Egypt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Canst thou refuse, O our Hope? Doth not the holy love of country swell
+      within thy heart? Canst thou dash the cup of Freedom from thy lips and
+      bear to drink the bitter draught of slaves? The emprise is great; maybe it
+      shall fail, and thou with thy life, as we with ours, shalt pay the price
+      of our endeavour. But what of it, Harmachis? Is life, then, so sweet? Are
+      we so softly cushioned on the stony bed of earth? Is bitterness and sorrow
+      in its sum so small and scant a thing? Do we here breathe so divine an air
+      that we should fear to face the passage of our breath? What have we here
+      but hope and memory? What see we here but shadows? Shall we then fear to
+      pass pure-handed where Fulfilment is and memory is lost in its own source,
+      and shadows die in the light which cast them? O Harmachis, that man alone
+      is truly blest who crowns his life with Fame&rsquo;s most splendid wreath. For,
+      since to all the Brood of Earth Death hands his poppy-flowers, he indeed
+      is happy to whom there is occasion given to weave them in a crown of
+      glory. And how can a man die better than in a great endeavour to strike
+      the gyves from his Country&rsquo;s limbs so that she again may stand in the face
+      of Heaven and raise the shrill shout of Freedom, and, clad once more in a
+      panoply of strength, trample under foot the fetters of her servitude,
+      defying the tyrant nations of the earth to set their seal upon her brow?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Khem calls thee, Harmachis. Come then, thou Deliverer; leap like Horus
+      from the firmament, break her chains, scatter her foes, and rule a Pharaoh
+      on Pharaoh&rsquo;s Throne&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Enough, enough!&rdquo; I cried, while the long murmur of applause swept about
+      the columns and up the massy walls. &ldquo;Enough; is there any need to adjure
+      me thus? Had I a hundred lives, would I not most gladly lay them down for
+      Egypt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well said, well said!&rdquo; answered Sepa. &ldquo;Now go forth with the woman
+      yonder, that she may make thy hands clean before they touch the sacred
+      emblems, and anoint thy brow before it is encircled of the diadem.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And so I went into a chamber apart with the old wife, Atoua. There,
+      muttering prayers, she poured pure water over my hands into a ewer of
+      gold, and having dipped a fine cloth into oil wiped my brow with it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O happy Egypt!&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;O happy Prince, that art come to rule in
+      Egypt! O Royal youth!&mdash;too Royal to be a priest&mdash;so shall many a
+      fair woman think; but, perchance, for thee they will relax the priestly
+      rule, else how shall the race of Pharaoh be carried on? O happy I, who
+      dandled thee and gave my flesh and blood to save thee! O royal and
+      beautiful Harmachis, born for splendour, happiness, and love!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cease, cease,&rdquo; I said, for her talk jarred upon me; &ldquo;call me not happy
+      till thou knowest my end, and speak not to me of love, for with love comes
+      sorrow, and mine is another and a higher way.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, ay, so thou sayest&mdash;and joy, too, that comes with love! Never
+      talk lightly of love, my King, for it brought thee here! <i>La! la!</i>
+      but it is always the way&mdash;&lsquo;The goose on the wing laughs at
+      crocodiles,&rsquo; so goes their saying down at Alexandria; &lsquo;but when the goose
+      is asleep on the water, it is the crocodiles that laugh.&rsquo; Not but what
+      women are pretty crocodiles. Men worship the crocodiles at Anthribis&mdash;Crocodilopolis
+      they call it now, don&rsquo;t they?&mdash;but they worship women all the world
+      over! <i>La!</i> how my tongue runs on, and thou about to be crowned
+      Pharaoh! Did I not prophesy it to thee? Well, thou art clean, Lord of the
+      Double Crown. Go forth!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So I went from the chamber with the old wife&rsquo;s foolish talk ringing in my
+      ears, though of a truth her folly had ever a grain of wit in it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As I came, the Dignitaries rose once more and bowed before me. Then my
+      father, without delay, drew near me, and placed in my hands a golden image
+      of the divine Ma, the Goddess of Truth, and golden images of the arks of
+      the God Amen-Ra, of the divine Mout, and the divine Khons, and spoke
+      solemnly:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou swearest by the living majesty of Ma, by the majesty of Amen-Ra, of
+      Mout, and of Khons?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I swear,&rdquo; I said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou swearest by the holy land of Khem, by Sihor&rsquo;s flood, by the Temples
+      of the Gods and the eternal Pyramids?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I swear.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Remembering thy hideous doom if thou shouldst fail therein, thou swearest
+      that thou wilt in all things govern Egypt according to its ancient laws,
+      that thou wilt preserve the worship of its Gods, that thou wilt do equal
+      justice, that thou wilt not oppress, that thou wilt not betray, that thou
+      wilt make no alliance with the Roman or the Greek, that thou wilt cast out
+      the foreign Idols, that thou wilt devote thy life to the liberty of the
+      land of Khem?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I swear.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well. Mount, then, the throne, that in the presence of these thy
+      subjects, I may name thee Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I mounted upon the throne, of which the footstool is a Sphinx, and the
+      canopy the overshadowing wings of Ma. Then Amenemhat drew nigh once again
+      and placed the Pshent upon my brow, and on my head the Double Crown, and
+      the Royal Robe about my shoulders, and in my hands the Sceptre and the
+      Scourge.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Royal Harmachis,&rdquo; he cried, &ldquo;by these outward signs and tokens, I, the
+      High Priest of the Temple of Ra-Men-Ma at Abouthis, crown thee Pharaoh of
+      the Upper and Lower Land. Reign and prosper, O Hope of Khemi!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Reign and prosper, Pharaoh!&rdquo; echoed the Dignitaries, bowing down before
+      me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, one by one, they swore allegiance, till all had sworn. And, having
+      sworn, my father took me by the hand; he led me in solemn procession into
+      each of the seven Sanctuaries that are in this Temple of Ra-Men-Ma, and in
+      each I made offerings, swung incense, and officiated as priest. Clad in
+      the Royal robes I made offerings in the Shrine of Horus, in the Shrine of
+      Isis, in the Shrine of Osiris, in the Shrine of Amen-Ra, in the Shrine of
+      Horemku, in the Shrine of Ptah, till at length I reached the Shrine of the
+      King&rsquo;s Chamber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here they made their offering to me, as the Divine Pharaoh, and left me
+      very weary&mdash;but a King.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      [Here the first and smallest of the papyrus rolls comes to an end.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      BOOK II&mdash;THE FALL OF HARMACHIS
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER I
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE FAREWELL OF AMENEMHAT TO HARMACHIS; OF THE COMING OF HARMACHIS TO
+      ALEXANDRIA; OF THE EXHORTATION OF SEPA; OF THE PASSING OF CLEOPATRA ROBED
+      AS ISIS; AND OF THE OVERTHROW OF THE GLADIATOR BY HARMACHIS
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now the long days of preparation had passed, and the time was at hand. I
+      was initiated, and I was crowned; so that although the common folk knew me
+      not, or knew me only as Priest of Isis, there were in Egypt thousands who
+      at heart bowed down to me as Pharaoh. The hour was at hand, and my soul
+      went forth to meet it. For I longed to overthrow the foreigner, to set
+      Egypt free, to mount the throne that was my heritage, and cleanse the
+      temples of my Gods. I was fain for the struggle, and I never doubted of
+      its end. I looked into the mirror, and saw triumph written on my brows.
+      The future stretched a path of glory from my feet&mdash;ay, glittering
+      with glory like Sihor in the sun. I communed with my Mother Isis; I sat
+      within my chamber and took counsel with my heart; I planned new temples; I
+      revolved great laws that I would put forth for my people&rsquo;s weal; and in my
+      ears rang the shouts of exultation which should greet victorious Pharaoh
+      on his throne.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But still I tarried a little while at Abouthis, and, having been commanded
+      to do so, let my hair, that had been shorn, grow again long and black as
+      the raven&rsquo;s wing, instructing myself meanwhile in all manly exercises and
+      feats of arms. Also, for a purpose which shall be seen, I perfected myself
+      in the magic art of the Egyptians, and in the reading of the stars, in
+      which things, indeed, I already have great skill.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now, this was the plan that had been built up. My uncle Sepa had, for a
+      while, left the Temple of Annu, giving out that his health had failed him.
+      Thence he had moved down to a house in Alexandria, to gather strength, as
+      he said, from the breath of the sea, and also to learn for himself the
+      wonders of the great Museum and the glory of Cleopatra&rsquo;s Court. There it
+      was planned that I should join him, for there, at Alexandria, the egg of
+      the plot was hatching. Accordingly, when at last the summons came, all
+      things being prepared, I made ready for the journey, and passed into my
+      father&rsquo;s chamber to receive his blessing before I went. There sat the old
+      man, as once before he sat when he had rebuked me because I went out to
+      slay the lion, his long white beard resting on the table of stone and
+      sacred writings in his hand. When I came in he rose from his seat and
+      would have knelt before me, crying &ldquo;Hail, Pharaoh!&rdquo; but I caught him by
+      the hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is not meet, my father,&rdquo; I said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is meet,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;it is meet that I should bow before my King;
+      but be it as thou wilt. And so thou goest, Harmachis; my blessings go with
+      thee, O my son! And may Those whom I serve grant to me that my old eyes
+      may, indeed, behold thee on the throne! I have searched long, striving,
+      Harmachis, to read the future that shall be; but I can learn naught by all
+      my wisdom. It is hid from me, and at times my heart fails. But hear this,
+      there is danger in thy path, and it comes in the form of Woman. I have
+      known it long, and therefore thou hast been called to the worship of the
+      heavenly Isis, who bids her votaries put away the thought of woman till
+      such time as she shall think well to slacken the rule. Oh, my son, I would
+      that thou wert not so strong and fair&mdash;stronger and fairer, indeed,
+      than any man in Egypt, as a King should be&mdash;for in that strength and
+      beauty may lie a cause of stumbling. Beware, then, of those witches of
+      Alexandria, lest, like a worm, some one of them creep into my heart and
+      eat its secret out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have no fear, my father,&rdquo; I answered, frowning, &ldquo;my thought is set on
+      other things than red lips and smiling eyes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is good,&rdquo; he answered; &ldquo;so may it befall. And now farewell. When next
+      we meet, may it be in that happy hour when, with all the priests of the
+      Upper Land, I move down from Abouthis to do my homage to Pharaoh on his
+      throne.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So I embraced him, and went. Alas! I little thought how we should meet
+      again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus it came about that once more I passed down the Nile travelling as a
+      man of no estate. And to such as were curious about me it was given out
+      that I was the adopted son of the High Priest of Abouthis, having been
+      brought up to the priesthood, and that I had at the last refused the
+      service of the Gods, and chosen to go to Alexandria, to seek my fortune.
+      For, be it remembered, I was still held to be the grandson of the old
+      wife, Atoua, by all those who did not know the truth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the tenth night, sailing with the wind, we reached the mighty city of
+      Alexandria, the city of a thousand lights. Above them all towered the
+      white Pharos, that wonder of the world, from the crown of which a light
+      like the light of the sun blazed out across the waters of the harbour to
+      guide mariners on their way across the sea. The vessel having been
+      cautiously made fast to the quay, for it was night, I disembarked and
+      stood wondering at the vast mass of houses, and confused by the clamour of
+      many tongues. For here all peoples seemed to be gathered together, each
+      speaking after the fashion of his own land. And as I stood a young man
+      came and touched me on the shoulder, asking me if I was from Abouthis and
+      named Harmachis. I said &ldquo;Yea.&rdquo; Then, bending over me, he whispered the
+      secret pass-word into my ear, and, beckoning to two slaves, bade them
+      bring my baggage from the ship. This they did, fighting their way through
+      the crowd of porters who were clamouring for hire. Then I followed him
+      down the quay, which was bordered with drinking-places, where all sorts of
+      men were gathered, tippling wine and watching the dancing of women, some
+      of whom were but scantily arrayed, and some not arrayed at all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And so we went through the lamp-lit houses till at last we reached the
+      shore of the great harbour, and turned to the right along a wide way paved
+      with granite and bordered by strong houses, having cloisters in front of
+      them, the like of which I had never seen. Turning once more to the right
+      we came to a quieter portion of the city, where, except for parties of
+      strolling revellers, the streets were still. Presently my guide halted at
+      a house built of white stone. We passed in, and, crossing a small
+      courtyard, entered a chamber where there was a light. And here, at last, I
+      found my uncle Sepa, most glad to see me safe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When I had washed and eaten, he told me that all things went well, and
+      that as yet there was no thought of evil at the Court. Further, he said,
+      it having come to the ears of the Queen that the Priest of Annu was
+      sojourning at Alexandria, she sent for him and closely questioned him&mdash;not
+      as to any plot, for of that she never thought, but as to the rumour which
+      had reached her, that there was treasure hid in the Great Pyramid which is
+      by Annu. For, being ever wasteful, she was ever in want of money, and had
+      bethought her of opening the Pyramid. But he laughed at her, telling her
+      the Pyramid was the burying-place of the divine Khufu, and that he knew
+      nothing of its secrets. Then she was angered, and swore that so surely as
+      she ruled in Egypt she would tear it down, stone by stone, and discover
+      the secret at its heart. Again he laughed, and, in the words of the
+      proverb which they have at Alexandria, told her that &ldquo;Mountains live
+      longer than Kings.&rdquo; Thereon she smiled at his ready answer, and let him
+      go. Also my uncle Sepa told me that on the morrow I should see this
+      Cleopatra. For it was her birthday (as, indeed, it was also mine), and,
+      dressed in the robes of the Holy Isis, she would pass in state from her
+      palace on the Lochias to the Serapeum to offer a sacrifice at the Shrine
+      of the false God who sits in the Temple. And he said that thereafter the
+      fashion by which I should gain entrance to the household of the Queen
+      should be contrived.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, being very weary, I went to rest, but could sleep little for the
+      strangeness of the place, the noises in the streets, and the thought of
+      the morrow. While it was yet dark, I rose, climbed the stair to the roof
+      of the house, and waited. Presently, the sun&rsquo;s rays shot out like arrows,
+      and lit upon the white wonder of the marble Pharos, whose light instantly
+      sank and died, as though, indeed, the sun had killed it. Now the rays fell
+      upon the palaces of the Lochias where Cleopatra lay, and lit them up till
+      they flamed like a jewel set on the dark, cool bosom of the sea. Away the
+      light flew, kissing the Soma&rsquo;s sacred dome, beneath which Alexander
+      sleeps, touching the high tops of a thousand palaces and temples; past the
+      porticoes of the great museum that loomed near at hand, striking the lofty
+      Shrine, where, carved of ivory, is the image of the false God Serapis, and
+      at last seeming to lose itself in the vast and gloomy Necropolis. Then, as
+      the dawn gathered into day, the flood of brightness, overbrimming the bowl
+      of night, flowed into the lower lands and streets, and showed Alexandria
+      red in the sunrise as the mantle of a king, and shaped as a mantle. The
+      Etesian wind came up from the north, and swept away the vapour from the
+      harbours, so that I saw their blue waters rocking a thousand ships. I saw,
+      too, that mighty mole the Heptastadium; I saw the hundreds of streets, the
+      countless houses, the innumerable wealth and splendour of Alexandria set
+      like a queen between lake Mareotis and the ocean, and dominating both, and
+      I was filled with wonder. This, then, was one city in my heritage of lands
+      and cities! Well, it was worth the grasping. And having looked my full and
+      fed my heart, as it were, with the sight of splendour, I communed with the
+      Holy Isis and came down from the roof.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the chamber beneath was my uncle Sepa. I told him that I had been
+      watching the sun rise over the city of Alexandria.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So!&rdquo; he said, looking at me from beneath his shaggy eyebrows; &ldquo;and what
+      thinkest thou of Alexandria?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think it is like some city of the Gods,&rdquo; I answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay!&rdquo; he replied fiercely, &ldquo;a city of the infernal Gods&mdash;a sink of
+      corruption, a bubbling well of iniquity, a home of false faith springing
+      from false hearts. I would that not one stone of it was left upon another
+      stone, and that its wealth lay deep beneath yonder waters! I would that
+      the gulls were screaming across its site, and that the wind, untainted by
+      a Grecian breath, swept through its ruins from the ocean to Mareotis! O
+      royal Harmachis, let not the luxury and beauty of Alexandria poison thy
+      sense; for in their deadly air, Faith perishes, and Religion cannot spread
+      her heavenly wings. When the hour comes for thee to rule, Harmachis, cast
+      down this accursed city and, as thy fathers did, set up thy throne in the
+      white walls of Memphis. For I tell thee that, for Egypt, Alexandria is but
+      a splendid gate of ruin, and, while it endures, all nations of the earth
+      shall march through it, to the plunder of the land, and all false Faiths
+      shall nestle in it and breed the overthrow of Egypt&rsquo;s Gods.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I made no answer, for there was truth in his words. And yet to me the city
+      seemed very fair to look on. After we had eaten, my uncle told me it was
+      now time to set out to view the march of Cleopatra, as she went in triumph
+      to the Shrine of Serapis. For although she would not pass till within two
+      hours of the midday, yet these people of Alexandria have so great a love
+      of shows and idling that had we not presently set forth, by no means could
+      we have come through the press of the multitudes who were already
+      gathering along the highways where the Queen must ride. So we went out to
+      take our places upon a stand, built of timber, that had been set up at the
+      side of the great road which pierces through the city, to the Canopic
+      Gate. For my uncle had already purchased a right to enter there, and that
+      dearly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We won our way with much struggle through the great crowds that were
+      already gathered in the streets till we reached the scaffolding of timber,
+      which was roofed in with an awning and gaily hung with scarlet cloths.
+      Here we seated ourselves upon a bench and waited for some hours, watching
+      the multitude press past shouting, singing, and talking loudly in many
+      tongues. At length soldiers came to clear the road, clad, after the Roman
+      fashion, in breast-plates of chain-armour. After them marched heralds
+      enjoining silence (at which the population sung and shouted all the more
+      loudly), and crying that Cleopatra, the Queen, was coming. Then followed a
+      thousand Cilician skirmishers, a thousand Thracians, a thousand
+      Macedonians, and a thousand Gauls, each armed after the fashion of their
+      country. Then passed five hundred men of those who are called the Fenced
+      Horsemen, for both men and horses were altogether covered with mail. Next
+      came youths and maidens sumptuously draped and wearing golden crowns, and
+      with them images symbolising Day and Night, Morning and Noon, the Heavens
+      and the Earth. After these walked many fair women, pouring perfumes on the
+      road, and others scattering blooming flowers. Now there rose a great shout
+      of &ldquo;Cleopatra! Cleopatra!&rdquo; and I held my breath and bent forward to see
+      her who dared to put on the robes of Isis.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But at that moment the multitude so gathered and thickened in front of
+      where I was that I could no longer clearly see. So in my eagerness I leapt
+      over the barrier of the scaffolding, and, being very strong, pushed my way
+      through the crowd till I reached the foremost rank. And as I did so,
+      Nubian slaves armed with thick staves and crowned with ivy-leaves ran up,
+      striking the people. One man I noted more especially, for he was a giant,
+      and, being strong, was insolent beyond measure, smiting the people without
+      cause, as, indeed, is the wont of low persons set in authority. For a
+      woman stood near to me, an Egyptian by her face, bearing a child in her
+      arms, whom the man, seeing that she was weak, struck on the head with his
+      rod so that she fell prone, and the people murmured. But at the sight my
+      blood rushed of a sudden through my veins and drowned my reason. I held in
+      my hand a staff of olive-wood from Cyprus, and as the black brute laughed
+      at the sight of the stricken woman and her babe rolling on the ground, I
+      swung the staff aloft and smote. So shrewdly did I strike, that the tough
+      rod split upon the giant&rsquo;s shoulders and the blood spurted forth, staining
+      his trailing leaves of ivy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, with a shriek of pain and fury&mdash;for those who smite love not
+      that they be smitten&mdash;he turned and sprang at me! And all the people
+      round gave back, save only the woman who could not rise, leaving us two in
+      a ring as it were. On he came with a rush, and, as he came, being now mad,
+      I smote him with my clenched fist between the eyes, having nothing else
+      with which to smite, and he staggered like an ox beneath the first blow of
+      the priest&rsquo;s axe. Then the people shouted, for they love to see a fight,
+      and the man was known to them as a gladiator victorious in the games.
+      Gathering up his strength, the knave came on with an oath, and, whirling
+      his heavy staff on high, struck me in such a fashion that, had I not
+      avoided the blow by nimbleness, I had surely been slain. But, as it
+      chanced, the staff hit upon the ground, and so heavily that it flew in
+      fragments. Thereon the multitude shouted again, and the great man, blind
+      with fury, rushed at me to smite me down. But with a cry I sprang straight
+      at his throat&mdash;for he was so heavy a man that I knew I could not hope
+      to throw him by strength&mdash;ay, and gripped it. There I clung, though
+      his fists battered me like bludgeons, driving my thumbs into his throat.
+      Round and round we turned, till at length he flung himself to the earth,
+      trusting thus to shake me off. But I held on fast as we rolled over and
+      over on the ground, till at last he grew faint for want of breath. Then I,
+      being uppermost, drove my knee down upon his chest, and, as I believe,
+      should thus have slain him in my rage had not my uncle, and others there
+      gathered, fallen upon me and dragged me from him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And meanwhile, though I know it not, the chariot in which the Queen sat,
+      with elephants going before and lions led after it, had reached the spot,
+      and had been halted because of the tumult. I looked up, and thus torn,
+      panting, my white garments stained with the blood that had rushed from the
+      mouth and nostrils of the mighty Nubian, I for the first time saw
+      Cleopatra face to face. Her chariot was all of gold, and drawn by
+      milk-white steeds. She sat in it with two fair girls, clad in Greek
+      attire, standing one on either side, fanning her with glittering fans. On
+      her head was the covering of Isis, the golden horns between which rested
+      the moon&rsquo;s round disk and the emblem of Osiris&rsquo; throne, with the uræus
+      twined around. Beneath this covering was the vulture cap of gold, the blue
+      enamelled wings and the vulture head with gemmy eyes, under which her long
+      dark tresses flowed towards her feet. About her rounded neck was a broad
+      collar of gold studded with emeralds and coral. Round her arms and wrists
+      were bracelets of gold studded with emeralds and coral, and in one hand
+      she held the holy cross of Life fashioned of crystal, and in the other the
+      golden rod of royalty. Her breast was bare, but under it was a garment
+      that glistened like the scaly covering of a snake, everywhere sewn with
+      gems. Beneath this robe was a skirt of golden cloth, half hidden by a
+      scarf of the broidered silk of Cos, falling in folds to the sandals that,
+      fastened with great pearls, adorned her white and tiny feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All this I discerned at a glance, as it were. Then I looked upon the face&mdash;that
+      face which seduced Cæsar, ruined Egypt, and was doomed to give Octavian
+      the sceptre of the world. I looked upon the flawless Grecian features, the
+      rounded chin, the full, rich lips, the chiselled nostrils, and the ears
+      fashioned like delicate shells. I saw the forehead, low, broad, and
+      lovely, the crisped, dark hair falling in heavy waves that sparkled in the
+      sun, the arched eyebrows, and the long, bent lashes. There before me was
+      the grandeur of her Imperial shape. There burnt the wonderful eyes, hued
+      like the Cyprian violet&mdash;eyes that seemed to sleep and brood on
+      secret things as night broods upon the desert, and yet as the night to
+      shift, change, and be illumined by gleams of sudden splendour born within
+      their starry depths. All those wonders I saw, though I have small skill in
+      telling them. But even then I knew that it was not in these charms alone
+      that the might of Cleopatra&rsquo;s beauty lay. It was rather in a glory and a
+      radiance cast through the fleshly covering from the fierce soul within.
+      For she was a Thing of Flame like unto which no woman has ever been or
+      ever will be. Even when she brooded, the fire of her quick heart shone
+      through her. But when she woke, and the lightning leapt suddenly from her
+      eyes, and the passion-laden music of her speech chimed upon her lips, ah!
+      then, who can tell how Cleopatra seemed? For in her met all the splendours
+      that have been given to woman for her glory, and all the genius which man
+      has won from heaven. And with them dwelt every evil of that greater sort,
+      which fearing nothing, and making a mock of laws, has taken empires for
+      its place of play, and, smiling, watered the growth of its desires with
+      the rich blood of men. In her breast they gathered, together fashioning
+      that Cleopatra whom no man may draw, and yet whom no man, having seen,
+      ever can forget. They fashioned her grand as the Spirit of Storm, lovely
+      as Lightning, cruel as Pestilence, yet with a heart; and what she did is
+      known. Woe to the world when such another comes to curse it!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a moment I met Cleopatra&rsquo;s eyes as she idly bent herself to find the
+      tumult&rsquo;s cause. At first they were sombre and dark, as though they saw
+      indeed, but the brain read nothing. Then they awoke, and their very colour
+      seemed to change as the colour of the sea changes when the water is
+      shaken. First, there was anger written in them; next an idle noting; then,
+      when she looked upon the huge bulk of the man whom I had overcome, and
+      knew him for the gladiator, something, perchance, that was not far from
+      wonder. At the least they softened, though, indeed, her face changed no
+      whit. But he who would read Cleopatra&rsquo;s mind had need to watch her eyes,
+      for her countenance varied but a little. Turning, she said some word to
+      her guards. They came forward and led me to her, while all the multitude
+      waited silently to see me slain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I stood before her, my arms folded on my breast. Overcome though I was by
+      the wonder of her loveliness I hated her in my heart, this woman who dared
+      to clothe herself in the dress of Isis, this usurper who sat upon my
+      throne, this wanton squandering the wealth of Egypt in chariots and
+      perfumes. When she had looked me over from head to the feet, she spake in
+      a low full voice and in the tongue of Khemi which she alone had learned of
+      all the Lagidæ:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And who and what art thou, Egyptian&mdash;for Egyptian I see thou art&mdash;who
+      darest to smite my slave when I make progress through my city?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am Harmachis,&rdquo; I answered boldly. &ldquo;Harmachis, the astrologer, adopted
+      son of the High Priest and Governor of Abouthis, who am come hither to
+      seek my fortune. I smote thy slave, O Queen, because for no fault he
+      struck down the woman yonder. Ask of those who saw, royal Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Harmachis,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;the name has a high sound&mdash;and thou hast a
+      high look;&rdquo; and then, speaking to a soldier who had seen all, she bade him
+      tell her what had come to pass. This he did truthfully, being friendly
+      disposed towards me because I had overcome the Nubian. Thereon she turned
+      and spoke to the girl bearing the fan who stood beside her&mdash;a woman
+      with curling hair and shy dark eyes, very beautiful to see. The girl
+      answered somewhat. Then Cleopatra bade them bring the slave to her. So
+      they led forward the giant, who had found his breath again, and with him
+      the woman whom he had smitten down.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou dog!&rdquo; she said, in the same low voice; &ldquo;thou coward! who, being
+      strong, didst smite down this woman, and, being a coward, wast overthrown
+      of this young man. See, thou, I will teach thee manners. Henceforth, when
+      thou smitest women it shall be with thy left arm. Ho, guards, seize this
+      black slave and strike off his right hand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Her command given, she sank back in her golden chariot, and again the
+      cloud gathered in her eyes. But the guards seized the giant, and,
+      notwithstanding his cries and prayers for mercy, struck off his hand with
+      a sword upon the wood of the scaffolding and he was carried away groaning.
+      Then the procession moved on again. As it went the fair woman with the fan
+      turned her head, caught my eye, and smiled and nodded as though she
+      rejoiced, at which I wondered somewhat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The people cheered also and made jests, saying that I should soon practice
+      astrology in the palace. But, as soon as we might, I and my uncle escaped,
+      and made our way back to the house. All the while he rated me for my
+      rashness; but when we came to the chamber of the house he embraced me and
+      rejoiced greatly, because I had overthrown the giant with so little hurt
+      to myself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER II
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      OF THE COMING OF CHARMION; AND OF THE WRATH OF SEPA
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      That same night, while we sat at supper in the house, there came a knock
+      upon the door. It was opened, and a woman passed in wrapped from head to
+      foot in a large dark peplos or cloak in such fashion that her face could
+      not be clearly seen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      My uncle rose, and as he did so the woman uttered the secret word.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am come, my father,&rdquo; she said in a sweet clear voice, &ldquo;though of a
+      truth it was not easy to escape the revels at the palace yonder. But I
+      told the Queen that the sun and the riot in the streets had made me sick,
+      and she let me go.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;Unveil thyself; here thou art safe.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      With a little sigh of weariness she unclasped the peplos and let it slip
+      from her, giving to my sight the face and form of that beauteous girl who
+      had stood to fan Cleopatra in the chariot. For she was very fair and
+      pleasant to look upon, and her Grecian robes clung sweetly about her
+      supple limbs and budding form. Her wayward hair, flowing in a hundred
+      little curls, was bound in with a golden fillet, and on her feet were
+      sandals fastened with studs of gold. Her cheeks blushed like a flower, and
+      her dark soft eyes were downcast, as though with modesty, but smiles and
+      dimples trembled about her lips.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      My uncle frowned when his eyes fell upon her dress.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why comest thou in this garb, Charmion?&rdquo; he asked sternly. &ldquo;Is not the
+      dress of thy mothers good enough for thee? This is no time or place for
+      woman&rsquo;s vanities. Thou art not here to conquer, but to obey.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, be not wroth, my father,&rdquo; she answered softly; &ldquo;perchance thou
+      knowest not that she whom I serve will have none of our Egyptian dress; it
+      is out of fashion. To wear it would have been to court suspicion&mdash;also
+      I came in haste.&rdquo; And as she spoke I saw that all the while she watched me
+      covertly through the long lashes which fringed her modest eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, well,&rdquo; he said sharply, fixing his keen glance upon her face,
+      &ldquo;doubtless thou speakest truth, Charmion. Be ever mindful of thy oath,
+      girl, and of the cause to which thou art sworn. Be not light-minded, and I
+      charge thee forget the beauty with which thou hast been cursed. For mark
+      thou this, Charmion: fail us but one jot, and vengeance shall fall on thee&mdash;the
+      vengeance of man and the vengeance of the Gods! To this service,&rdquo; he
+      continued, lashing himself to anger as he went on till his great voice
+      rang in the narrow room, &ldquo;thou hast been bred; to this end thou hast been
+      instructed and placed where thou art to gain the ear of that wicked wanton
+      whom thou seemest to serve. See thou forget it not; see that the luxury of
+      yonder Court does not corrupt thy purity and divert thy aim, Charmion,&rdquo;
+       and his eyes flashed and his small form seemed to grow till it attained to
+      dignity&mdash;nay, almost to grandeur.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Charmion,&rdquo; he went on, advancing towards her with outstretched finger, &ldquo;I
+      say that at times I do not trust thee. But two nights gone I dreamed I saw
+      thee standing in the desert. I saw thee laugh and lift thy hand to heaven,
+      and from it fell a rain of blood; then the sky sank down on the land of
+      Khem and covered it. Whence came the dream, girl, and what is its meaning?
+      I have naught against thee as yet; but hearken! On the moment that I have,
+      though thou art of my kin, and I have loved thee&mdash;on that moment, I
+      say, I will doom those delicate limbs, which thou lovest so much to show,
+      to the kite and the jackal, and the soul within thee to all the tortures
+      of the Gods! Unburied shalt thou lie, and bodiless and accursed shalt thou
+      wander in Amenti!&mdash;ay, for ever and ever!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused, for his sudden burst of passion had spent itself. But by it,
+      more clearly than before, I saw how deep a heart this man had beneath the
+      cloak of his merriness and simplicity of mien, and how fiercely the mind
+      within him was set upon his aim. As for the girl, she shrank from him
+      terrified, and, placing her hands before her sweet face, began to weep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, speak not so, my father,&rdquo; she said, between her sobs; &ldquo;for what have
+      I done? I know nothing of the evil wandering of thy dreams. I am no
+      soothsayer that I should read dreams. Have I not carried out all things
+      according to thy desire? Have I not been ever mindful of that dread oath?&rdquo;&mdash;and
+      she trembled. &ldquo;Have I not played the spy and told thee all? Have I not won
+      the heart of the Queen, so that she loves me as a sister, refusing me
+      nothing&mdash;ay, and the hearts of those about her? Why dost thou
+      affright me thus with thy words and threats?&rdquo; and she wept afresh, looking
+      even more beautiful in her sorrow than she was before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Enough, enough,&rdquo; he answered; &ldquo;what I have said, I have said. Be warned,
+      and affront our sight no more with this wanton dress. Thinkest thou that
+      we would feed our eyes upon those rounded arms&mdash;we whose stake is
+      Egypt and who are dedicated to the Gods of Egypt? Girl, behold thy cousin
+      and thy King!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She ceased weeping, wiping her eyes with her chiton, and I saw that they
+      seemed but the softer for her tears.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Methinks, most royal Harmachis, and beloved Cousin,&rdquo; she said, as she
+      bent before me, &ldquo;that we are already made acquainted.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, Cousin,&rdquo; I answered, not without shamefacedness, for I had never
+      before spoken to so fair a maid; &ldquo;thou wert in the chariot with Cleopatra
+      this day when I struggled with the Nubian?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Assuredly,&rdquo; she said, with a smile and a sudden lighting of the eyes, &ldquo;it
+      was a gallant fight and gallantly didst thou overthrow that black brute. I
+      saw the fray and, though I knew thee not, I greatly feared for one so
+      brave. But I paid him for my fright, for it was I who put it into the mind
+      of Cleopatra to bid the guards strike off his hand&mdash;now, knowing who
+      thou art, I would I had said his head.&rdquo; And she looked up shooting a
+      glance at me and then smiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Enough,&rdquo; put in my uncle Sepa, &ldquo;the time draws on. Tell thou thy mission,
+      Charmion, and be gone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then her manner changed; she folded her hands meekly before her and spoke:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let Pharaoh hearken to his handmaiden. I am the daughter of Pharaoh&rsquo;s
+      uncle, the brother of his father, who is now long dead, and therefore in
+      my veins also flows the Royal blood of Egypt. Also I am of the ancient
+      Faith, and hate these Greeks, and to see thee set upon the throne has been
+      my dearest hope now for many years. To this end I, Charmion, have put
+      aside my rank and become serving-woman to Cleopatra, that I might cut a
+      notch in which thou couldst set thy foot when the hour came for thee to
+      climb the throne. And, Pharaoh, the notch is cut.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This then is our plot, royal Cousin. Thou must gain an entrance to the
+      Household and learn its ways and secrets, and, so far as may be, suborn
+      the eunuchs and captains, some of whom I have already tempted. This done,
+      and all things being prepared without, thou must slay Cleopatra, and,
+      aided by me with those whom I control, in the confusion that shall ensue,
+      throw wide the gates, and, admitting those of our party who are in
+      waiting, put such of the troops as remain faithful to the sword and seize
+      the Bruchium. Which being finished, within two days thou shalt hold this
+      fickle Alexandria. At the same time those who are sworn to thee in every
+      city of Egypt shall rise in arms, and in ten days from the death of
+      Cleopatra thou shalt indeed be Pharaoh. This is the counsel which has been
+      taken, and thou seest, royal Cousin, that, though our uncle yonder thinks
+      so ill of me, I have learned my part&mdash;ay, and played it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I hear thee, Cousin,&rdquo; I answered, marvelling that so young a woman&mdash;she
+      had but twenty years&mdash;could weave so bold a plot, for in its origin
+      the scheme was hers. But in those days I little knew Charmion. &ldquo;Go on; how
+      then shall I gain entrance to the palace of Cleopatra?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Cousin, as things are it is easy. Thus: Cleopatra loves to look upon
+      a man, and&mdash;give me pardon&mdash;thy face and form are fair. To-day
+      she noted them, and twice she said she would she had asked where that
+      astrologer might be found, for she held that an astrologer who could
+      wellnigh slay a Nubian gladiator with his bare hands, must indeed be a
+      master of the fortunate stars. I answered her that I would cause inquiry
+      to be made. So hearken, royal Harmachis. At midday Cleopatra sleeps in her
+      inner hall which looks over the gardens to the harbour. At that hour
+      to-morrow, then, I will meet thee at the gates of the palace, whither thou
+      shalt come boldly asking for the Lady Charmion. I will make appointment
+      for thee with Cleopatra, so that she shall see thee alone when she wakes,
+      and the rest shall be for thee, Harmachis. For much she loves to play with
+      the mysteries of magic, and I have known her stand whole nights watching
+      the stars and making a pretence to read them. And but lately she has sent
+      away Dioscorides the physician, because, poor fool! he ventured on a
+      prophecy from the conjunction of the stars, that Cassius would defeat Mark
+      Antony. Thereon Cleopatra sent orders to the General Allienus, bidding him
+      add the legions she had sent to Syria to help Antony to the army of
+      Cassius, whose victory, forsooth, was&mdash;according to Dioscorides&mdash;written
+      on the stars. But, as it chanced, Antony beat Cassius first and Brutus
+      afterwards, and so Dioscorides has departed, and now he lectures on herbs
+      in the museum for his bread, and hates the name of stars. But his place is
+      empty, and thou shalt fill it, and then we will work in secret and in the
+      shadow of the sceptre. Ay, we will work like the worm at the heart of a
+      fruit, till the time of plucking comes, and at thy dagger&rsquo;s touch, royal
+      Cousin, the fabric of this Grecian throne crumbles to nothingness, and the
+      worm that rotted it bursts his servile covering, and, in the sight of
+      empires, spreads his royal wings o&rsquo;er Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I gazed at this strange girl once more astonished, and saw that her face
+      was lit up with such a light as I had never seen in the eyes of woman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah,&rdquo; broke in my uncle, who was watching her, &ldquo;ah, I love to see thee so,
+      girl; there is the Charmion that I knew and I bred up&mdash;not the Court
+      girl whom I like not, draped in silks of Cos and fragrant with essences.
+      Let thy heart harden in this mould&mdash;ay, stamp it with the fervid zeal
+      of patriot faith, and thy reward shall find thee. And now cover up that
+      shameless dress of thine and leave us, for it grows late. To-morrow
+      Harmachis shall come, as thou hast said, and so farewell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Charmion bowed her head, and, turning, wrapped her dark-hued peplos round
+      her. Then, taking my hand, she touched it with her lips and went without
+      any further word.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A strange woman!&rdquo; said Sepa, when she had gone; &ldquo;a most strange woman,
+      and an uncertain!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Methought, my uncle,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;that thou wast somewhat harsh with her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;but not without a cause. Look thou, Harmachis; beware
+      of this Charmion. She is too wayward, and, I fear me, may be led away. In
+      truth, she is a very woman; and, like a restive horse, will take the path
+      that pleases her. She has brain and fire, and she loves our cause; but I
+      pray that the cause come not face to face with her desires, for what her
+      heart is set on that will she do, at any cost she will do it. Therefore I
+      frightened her now while I may: for who can know but that she will pass
+      beyond my power? I tell thee, that in this one girl&rsquo;s hand lie all our
+      lives: and if she play us false, what then? Alas! and alas! that we must
+      use such tools as these! But it was needful: there was no other way; and
+      yet I misdoubted me. I pray that it may be well; still, at times, I fear
+      my niece Charmion&mdash;she is too fair, and the blood of youth runs too
+      warm in those blue veins of hers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah, woe to the cause that builds its strength upon a woman&rsquo;s faith; for
+      women are faithful only where they love, and when they love their
+      faithlessness becomes their faith. They are not fixed as men are fixed:
+      they rise more high and sink more low&mdash;they are strong and changeful
+      as the sea. Harmachis, beware of this Charmion: for, like the ocean, she
+      may float thee home; or, like the ocean, she may wreck thee, and, with
+      thee, the hope of Egypt!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER III
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE COMING OF HARMACHIS TO THE PALACE; OF HOW HE DREW PAULUS THROUGH
+      THE GATES; OF CLEOPATRA SLEEPING; AND OF THE MAGIC OF HARMACHIS WHICH HE
+      SHOWED HER
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus it came to pass that on the next day I arrayed myself in a long and
+      flowing robe, after the fashion of a magician or astrologer. I placed a
+      cap on my head, about which were broidered images of the stars, and in my
+      belt a scribe&rsquo;s palette and a roll of papyrus written over with magic
+      spells and signs. In my hand I held a wand of ebony, tipped with ivory,
+      such as is used by priests and masters of magic. Among these, indeed, I
+      took high rank, filling my knowledge of their secrets which I had learned
+      at Annu what I lacked in that skill which comes from use. And so with no
+      small shame, for I love not such play and hold this common magic in
+      contempt, I set forth through the Bruchium to the palace on the Lochias,
+      being guided on my way by my uncle Sepa. At length, passing up the avenue
+      of sphinxes, we came to the great marble gateway and the gates of bronze,
+      within which is the guard-house. Here my uncle left me, breathing many
+      prayers for my safety and success. But I advanced with an easy air to the
+      gate, where I was roughly challenged by the Gallic sentries, and asked of
+      my name, following, and business. I gave my name, Harmachis, the
+      astrologer, saying that my business was with the Lady Charmion, the
+      Queen&rsquo;s lady. Thereon the man made as though to let me pass in, when a
+      captain of the guard, a Roman named Paulus, came forward and forbade it.
+      Now, this Paulus was a large limbed man, with a woman&rsquo;s face, and a hand
+      that shook from wine-bibbing. Still he knew me again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why,&rdquo; he cried, in the Latin tongue, to one who came with him, &ldquo;this is
+      the fellow who wrestled yesterday with the Nubian gladiator, that same who
+      now howls for his lost hand underneath my window. Curses on the black
+      brute! I had a bet upon him for the games! I have backed him against
+      Caius, and now he&rsquo;ll never fight again, and I must lose my money, all
+      through this astrologer. What is it thou sayest?&mdash;thou hast business
+      with the Lady Charmion? Nay, then, that settles it. I will not let thee
+      through. Fellow, I worship the Lady Charmion&mdash;ay, we all worship her,
+      though she gives us more slaps than sighs. And dost thou think that we
+      will suffer an astrologer with such eyes and such a chest as thine to cut
+      in the game?&mdash;by Bacchus, no! She must come out to keep the tryst,
+      for in thou shalt not go.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sir,&rdquo; I said humbly and yet with dignity, &ldquo;I pray that a message may be
+      sent to the Lady Charmion, for my business will not brook delay.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ye Gods!&rdquo; answered the fool, &ldquo;whom have we here that he cannot wait? A
+      Cæsar in disguise? Nay, be off&mdash;be off! if thou wouldst not learn how
+      a spear-prick feels behind.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; put in the other officer, &ldquo;he is an astrologer; make him prophesy&mdash;make
+      him play tricks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; cried the others who had sauntered up, &ldquo;let the fellow show his art.
+      If he is a magician he can pass the gates, Paulus or no Paulus.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Right willingly, good Sirs,&rdquo; I answered; for I saw no other means of
+      entering. &ldquo;Wilt thou, my young and noble Lord&rdquo;&mdash;and I addressed him
+      who was with Paulus&mdash;&ldquo;suffer that I look thee in the eyes; perhaps I
+      may read what is written there?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Right,&rdquo; answered the youth; &ldquo;but I wish that the Lady Charmion was the
+      sorceress. I would stare her out of countenance, I warrant.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I took him by the hand and gazed deep into his eyes. &ldquo;I see,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;a
+      field of battle at night, and about it bodies stretched&mdash;among them
+      is <i>thy</i> body, and a hyena tears its throat. Most noble Sir, thou
+      shalt die by sword-thrusts within a year.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By Bacchus!&rdquo; said the youth, turning white to the gills, &ldquo;thou art an
+      ill-omened sorcerer!&rdquo; And he slunk off&mdash;shortly afterwards, as it
+      chanced, to meet this very fate. For he was sent on service and slain in
+      Cyprus.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now for thee, great Captain!&rdquo; I said, speaking to Paulus. &ldquo;I will show
+      thee how I will pass those gates without thy leave&mdash;ay, and draw thee
+      through them after me. Be pleased to fix thy princely gaze upon the point
+      of this wand in my hand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Being urged by his comrades he did this, unwillingly; and I let him gaze
+      till I saw his eyes grow empty as an owl&rsquo;s eyes in the sun. Then I
+      suddenly withdrew the wand, and, shifting my countenance into the place of
+      it, I seized him with my will and stare, and, beginning to turn round and
+      round, drew him after me, his fierce face drawn fixed, as it were, almost
+      to my own. Then I moved slowly backwards till I had passed the gates,
+      still drawing him after me, and suddenly jerked my head away. He fell to
+      the ground, to rise wiping his brow and looking very foolish.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Art thou content, most noble Captain?&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Thou seest we have passed
+      the gates. Would any other noble Sir wish that I should show more of my
+      skill?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By Taranis, Lord of Thunder, and all the Gods of Olympus thrown in, no!&rdquo;
+       growled an old Centurion, a Gaul named Brennus, &ldquo;I like thee not, I say.
+      The man who could drag our Paulus through those gates by the eye, as it
+      were, is not a man to play with. Paulus, too, who always goes the way you
+      don&rsquo;t want him&mdash;backwards, like an ass&mdash;Paulus! Why, sirrah,
+      thou needst must have a woman in one eye and a wine-cup in the other to
+      draw our Paulus thus.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At this moment the talk was broken, for Charmion herself came down the
+      marble path, followed by an armed slave. She walked calm and carelessly,
+      her hands folded behind her, and her eyes gazing at nothingness, as it
+      were. But it was when Charmion thus looked upon nothing that she saw most.
+      And as she came the officers and men of the guard made way for her bowing,
+      for, as I learned afterwards, this girl, next to Cleopatra&rsquo;s self, wielded
+      more power than anyone about the palace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is this tumult, Brennus?&rdquo; she said, speaking to the Centurion, and
+      making as if she saw me not; &ldquo;knowest thou not that the Queen sleeps at
+      this hour, and if she be awakened it is thou who must answer for it, and
+      that dearly?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Lady,&rdquo; said the Centurion, humbly; &ldquo;but it is thus. We have here&rdquo;&mdash;and
+      he jerked his thumb towards me&mdash;&ldquo;a magician of the most pestilent&mdash;um,
+      I crave his pardon&mdash;of the very best sort, for he hath but just now,
+      only by placing his eyes close to the nose of the worthy Captain Paulus,
+      dragged him, the said Paulus, through the gates that Paulus swore the
+      magician should not pass. By the same token, lady, the magician says that
+      he has business with you&mdash;which grieves me for your sake.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Charmion turned and looked at me carelessly. &ldquo;Ay, I remember,&rdquo; she said;
+      &ldquo;and so he has&mdash;at least, the Queen would see his tricks; but if he
+      can do none better than cause a sot&rdquo;&mdash;here she cast a glance of scorn
+      at the wondering Paulus&mdash;&ldquo;to follow his nose through the gates he
+      guards, he had better go whence he came. Follow me, Sir Magician; and for
+      thee, Brennus, I say, keep thy riotous crew more quiet. For thee, most
+      honourable Paulus, get thee sober, and next time I am asked for at the
+      gates give him who asks a hearing.&rdquo; And, with a queenly nod of her small
+      head, she turned and led the way, followed at a distance by myself and the
+      armed slave.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We passed up the marble walk which runs through the garden grounds, and is
+      set on either side with marble statues, for the most part of heathen Gods
+      and Goddesses, with which these Lagidæ were not ashamed to defile their
+      royal dwellings. At length we came to a beautiful portico with fluted
+      columns of the Grecian style of art, where we found more guards, who made
+      way for the Lady Charmion. Crossing the portico we reached a marble
+      vestibule where a fountain splashed softly, and thence by a low doorway a
+      second chamber, known as the Alabaster Hall, most beautiful to see. Its
+      roof was upheld by light columns of black marble, but all its walls were
+      panelled with alabaster, on which Grecian legends were engraved. Its floor
+      was of rich and many-hued mosaic that told the tale of the passion of
+      Psyche for the Grecian God of Love, and about it were set chairs of ivory
+      and gold. Charmion bade the armed slave stay at the doorway of this
+      chamber, so that we passed in alone, for the place was empty except for
+      two eunuchs who stood with drawn swords before the curtain at the further
+      end.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am vexed, my Lord,&rdquo; she said, speaking very low and shyly, &ldquo;that thou
+      shouldst have met with such affronts at the gate; but the guard there
+      served a double watch, and I had given my commands to the officer of the
+      company that should have relieved it. Those Roman officers are ever
+      insolent, who, though they seem to serve, know well that Egypt is their
+      plaything. But it is not amiss, for these rough soldiers are
+      superstitious, and will fear thee. Now bide thou here while I go into
+      Cleopatra&rsquo;s chamber, where she sleeps. I have but just sung her to sleep,
+      and if she be awake I will call thee, for she waits thy coming.&rdquo; And
+      without more words she glided from my side.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In a little time she returned, and coming to me spoke:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wouldst see the fairest woman in all the world, asleep?&rdquo; she whispered;
+      &ldquo;if so, follow me. Nay, fear not; when she awakes she will but laugh, for
+      she bade me be sure to bring thee instantly, whether she slept or woke.
+      See, I have her signet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So we passed up the beautiful chamber till we came to where the eunuchs
+      stood with drawn swords, and these would have barred my entry. But
+      Charmion frowned, and drawing the signet from her bosom held it before
+      their eyes. Having examined the writing that was on the ring, they bowed,
+      dropping their sword points and we passed through the heavy curtains
+      broidered with gold into the resting-place of Cleopatra. It was beautiful
+      beyond imagining&mdash;beautiful with many coloured marbles, with gold and
+      ivory, gems and flowers&mdash;all art can furnish and all luxury can dream
+      of were here. Here were pictures so real that birds might have pecked the
+      painted fruits; here were statues of woman&rsquo;s loveliness frozen into stone;
+      here were draperies fine as softest silk, but woven of a web of gold; here
+      were couches and carpets such as I never saw. The air, too, was sweet with
+      perfume, while through the open window places came the far murmur of the
+      sea. And at the further end of the chamber, on a couch of gleaming silk
+      and sheltered by a net of finest gauze, Cleopatra lay asleep. There she
+      lay&mdash;the fairest thing that man ever saw&mdash;fairer than a dream,
+      and the web of her dark hair flowed all about her. One white, rounded arm
+      made a pillow for her head, and one hung down towards the ground. Her rich
+      lips were parted in a smile, showing the ivory lines of teeth; and her
+      rosy limbs were draped in so thin a robe of the silk of Cos, held about
+      her by a jewelled girdle, that the white gleam of flesh shone through it.
+      I stood astonished, and though my thoughts had little bent that way, the
+      sight of her beauty struck me like a blow, so that for a moment I lost
+      myself as it were in the vision of its power, and was grieved at heart
+      because I must slay so fair a thing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Turning suddenly from the sight, I found Charmion watching me with her
+      quick eyes&mdash;watching as though she would search my heart. And,
+      indeed, something of my thought must have been written on my face in a
+      language that she could read, for she whispered in my ear:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, it is pity, is it not? Harmachis, being but a man, methinks that thou
+      wilt need all thy ghostly strength to nerve thee to the deed!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I frowned, but before I could frame an answer she touched me lightly on
+      the arm and pointed to the Queen. A change had come upon her: her hands
+      were clenched, and about her face, all rosy with the hue of sleep,
+      gathered a cloud of fear. Her breath came quick, she raised her arms as
+      though to ward away a blow, then with a stifled moan sat up and opened the
+      windows of her eyes. They were dark, dark as night; but when the light
+      found them they grew blue as the sky grows blue before the blushing of the
+      dawn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cæsarion?&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;where is my son Cæsarion?&mdash;Was it then a
+      dream? I dreamed that Julius&mdash;Julius who is dead&mdash;came to me, a
+      bloody toga wrapped about his face, and having thrown his arms about his
+      child led him away. Then I dreamed I died&mdash;died in blood and agony;
+      and one I might not see mocked me as I died. <i>Ah!</i> who is that man?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Peace, Madam! peace!&rdquo; said Charmion. &ldquo;It is but the magician Harmachis,
+      whom thou didst bid me bring to thee at this hour.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah! the magician&mdash;that Harmachis who overthrew the giant? I remember
+      now. He is welcome. Tell me, Sir Magician, can thy magic mirror call forth
+      an answer to this dream? Nay, how strange a thing is Sleep, that wrapping
+      the mind in a web of darkness, straightly compels it to its will! Whence,
+      then, come those images of fear rising on the horizon of the soul like
+      some untimely moon upon a midday sky? Who grants them power to stalk so
+      lifelike from Memory&rsquo;s halls, and, pointing to their wounds, thus confront
+      the Present with the Past? Are they, then, messengers? Does the half-death
+      of sleep give them foothold in our brains, and thus upknit the cut thread
+      of human kinship? That was Cæsar&rsquo;s self, I tell thee, who but now stood at
+      my side and murmured through his muffled robe warning words of which the
+      memory is lost to me. Read me this riddle, thou Egyptian Sphinx,[*] and
+      I&rsquo;ll show thee a rosier path to fortune than all thy stars can point. Thou
+      hast brought the omen, solve thou its problem.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] Alluding to his name. Harmachis was the Grecian title of
+     the divinity of the Sphinx, as Horemkhu was the Egyptian.&mdash;
+     Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I come in a good hour, most mighty Queen,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;for I have some
+      skill in the mysteries of Sleep, that is, as thou hast rightly guessed, a
+      stair by which those who are gathered to Osiris may from time to time
+      enter at the gateways of our living sense, and, by signs and words that
+      can be read of instructed mortals, repeat the echoes of that Hall of Truth
+      which is their habitation. Yes, Sleep is a stair by which the messengers
+      of the guardian Gods may descend in many shapes upon the spirit of their
+      choice. For, O Queen, to those who hold the key, the madness of our dreams
+      can show a clearer purpose and speak more certainly than all the acted
+      wisdom of our waking life, which is a dream indeed. Thou didst see great
+      Cæsar in his bloody robe, and he threw his arms about the Prince Cæsarion
+      and led him hence. Hearken now to the secret of thy vision. It was Cæsar&rsquo;s
+      self thou sawest coming to thy side from Amenti in such a guise as might
+      not be mistaken. When he embraced the child Cæsarion he did it for a sign
+      that to him, and him alone, had passed his greatness and his love. When he
+      seemed to lead him hence he led him forth from Egypt to be crowned in the
+      Capitol, crowned the Emperor of Rome and Lord of all the Lands. For the
+      rest, I know not. It is hid from me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus, then, I read the vision, though to my sense it had a darker meaning.
+      But it is not well to prophesy evil unto Kings.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Meanwhile Cleopatra had risen, and, having thrown back the gnat gauze, was
+      seated upon the edge of her couch, her eyes fixed upon my face, while her
+      fingers played with her girdle&rsquo;s jewelled ends.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of a truth,&rdquo; she cried, &ldquo;thou art the best of all magicians, for thou
+      readest my heart, and drawest a hidden sweet out of the rough shell of
+      evil omen!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, O Queen,&rdquo; said Charmion, who stood by with downcast eyes, and I
+      thought that there was bitter meaning in her soft tones; &ldquo;may no rougher
+      words ever affront thy ears, and no evil presage tread less closely upon
+      its happy sense.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Cleopatra placed her hands behind her head and, leaning back, looked at me
+      with half-shut eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come, show us of thy magic, Egyptian,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It is yet hot abroad,
+      and I am weary of those Hebrew Ambassadors and their talk of Herod and
+      Jerusalem. I hate that Herod, as he shall find&mdash;and will have none of
+      the Ambassadors to-day, though I yearn a little to try my Hebrew on them.
+      What canst thou do? Hast thou no new trick? By Serapis! if thou canst
+      conjure as well as thou canst prophesy, thou shalt have a place at Court,
+      with pay and perquisites to boot, if thy lofty soul does not scorn
+      perquisites.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;all tricks are old; but there are some forms of magic
+      to be rarely used, and with discretion, that may be new to thee, O Queen!
+      Art thou afraid to venture on the charm?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I fear nothing; go on and do thy worst. Come, Charmion, and sit by me.
+      But, stay, where are all the girls?&mdash;Iras and Merira?&mdash;they,
+      too, love magic.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not so,&rdquo; I said; &ldquo;the charms work ill before so many. Now behold!&rdquo; and,
+      gazing at the twain, I cast my wand upon the marble and murmured a spell.
+      For a moment it was still, and then, as I muttered, the rod slowly began
+      to writhe. It bent itself, it stood on end, and moved of its own motion.
+      Next it put on scales, and behold it was a serpent that crawled and
+      fiercely hissed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fie on thee!&rdquo; cried Cleopatra, clapping her hands; &ldquo;callest thou that
+      magic? Why, it is an old trick that any wayside conjurer can do. I have
+      seen it a score of times.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wait, O Queen,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;thou hast not seen all.&rdquo; And, as I spoke,
+      the serpent seemed to break in fragments, and from each fragment grew a
+      new serpent. And these, too, broke in fragments and bred others, till in a
+      little while the place, to their glamoured sight, was a seething sea of
+      snakes, that crawled, hissed, and knotted themselves in knots. Then I made
+      a sign, and the serpents gathered themselves round me, and seemed slowly
+      to twine themselves about my body and my limbs, till, save my face, I was
+      wreathed thick with hissing snakes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, horrible! horrible!&rdquo; cried Charmion, hiding her countenance in the
+      skirt of the Queen&rsquo;s garment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, enough, Magician, enough!&rdquo; said the Queen: &ldquo;thy magic overwhelms
+      us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I waved my snake-wrapped arms, and all was gone. There at my feet lay the
+      black wand tipped with ivory, and naught beside.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The two women looked upon each other and gasped with wonder. But I took up
+      the wand and stood with folded arms before them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is the Queen content with my poor art?&rdquo; I asked most humbly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, that I am, Egyptian; never did I see its like! Thou art Court
+      astronomer from this day forward, with right of access to the Queen&rsquo;s
+      presence. Hast thou more of such magic at thy call?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, royal Egypt; suffer that the chamber be a little darkened, and I
+      will show thee one more thing.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Half am I afraid,&rdquo; she answered; &ldquo;nevertheless do thou as this Harmachis
+      says, Charmion.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So the curtains were drawn and the chamber made as though the twilight
+      were at hand. I came forward, and stood beside Cleopatra. &ldquo;Gaze thou
+      there!&rdquo; I said sternly, pointing with my wand to the empty space where I
+      had been, &ldquo;and thou shalt behold that which is in thy mind.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then for a little space was silence, while the two women gazed fixedly and
+      half fearful at the spot.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And as they gazed a cloud gathered before them. Very slowly it took shape
+      and form, and the form it took was the form of a man, though as yet he was
+      but vaguely mapped upon the twilight, and seemed now to grow and now to
+      melt away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I cried with a loud voice:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Spirit, I conjure thee, <i>appear!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And as I cried the Thing, perfect in every part, leapt into form before
+      us, suddenly as the flash of day. His shape was the shape of royal Cæsar,
+      the toga thrown about his face, and on his form a vestment bloody from a
+      hundred wounds. An instant so he stood, then I waved my wand and he was
+      gone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I turned to the two women on the couch, and saw Cleopatra&rsquo;s lovely face
+      all clothed in terror. Her lips were ashy white, her eyes stared wide, and
+      all the flesh was shaking on her bones.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Man!&rdquo; she gasped; &ldquo;man! who and what art thou who canst bring the dead
+      before our eyes?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am the Queen&rsquo;s astronomer, magician, servant&mdash;what the Queen
+      wills,&rdquo; I answered, laughing. &ldquo;Was this the form that was on the Queen&rsquo;s
+      mind?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She made no answer, but, rising, left the chamber by another door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Charmion rose also and took her hands from her face, for she, too,
+      had been stricken with dread.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How dost thou these things, royal Harmachis?&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Tell me; for of
+      a truth I fear thee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be not afraid,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;Perchance thou didst see nothing but what
+      was in my mind. All things are shadows. How canst thou, then, know their
+      nature, or what is and what only seems to be? But how goes it? Remember,
+      Charmion, this sport is played to an end.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It goes well,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;By to-morrow morning&rsquo;s dawn these tales will
+      have gone round, and thou wilt be more feared than any man in Alexandria.
+      Follow me, I pray thee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IV
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE WAYS OF CHARMION; AND OF THE CROWNING OF HARMACHIS AS THE KING OF
+      LOVE
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the following day I received the writing of my appointment as
+      Astrologer and Magician-in-Chief to the Queen, with the pay and
+      perquisites of that office, which were not small. Rooms were given me in
+      the palace, also, through which I passed at night to the high watch-tower,
+      whence I looked on the stars and drew their auguries. For at this time
+      Cleopatra was much troubled about matters political, and not knowing how
+      the great struggle among the Roman factions would end, but being very
+      desirous to side with the strongest, she took constant counsel with me as
+      to the warnings of the stars. These I read to her in such manner as best
+      seemed to fit the high interest of my ends. For Antony, the Roman
+      Triumvir, was now in Asia Minor, and, rumour ran, very wroth because it
+      had been told him that Cleopatra was hostile to the Triumvirate, in that
+      her General, Serapion, had aided Cassius. But Cleopatra protested loudly
+      to me and others that Serapion had acted against her will. Yet Charmion
+      told me that, as with Allienus, it was because of a prophecy of
+      Dioscorides the unlucky that the Queen herself had secretly ordered
+      Serapion so to do. Still, this did not save Serapion, for to prove to
+      Antony that she was innocent she dragged the General from the sanctuary
+      and slew him. Woe be to those who carry out the will of tyrants if the
+      scale should rise against them! And so Serapion perished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Meanwhile all things went well with us, for the minds of Cleopatra and
+      those about her were so set upon affairs abroad that neither she nor they
+      thought of revolt at home. But day by day our party gathered strength in
+      the cities of Egypt, and even in Alexandria, which is to Egypt as another
+      land, all things being foreign there. Day by day, those who doubted were
+      won over and sworn to the cause by that oath which cannot be broken, and
+      our plans of action more firmly laid. And every other day I went forth
+      from the palace to take counsel with my uncle Sepa, and there at his house
+      met the Nobles and the great priests who were for the party of Khem.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I saw much of Cleopatra, the Queen, and I was ever more astonished at the
+      wealth and splendour of her mind, that for richness and variety was as a
+      woven cloth of gold throwing back all lights from its changing face. She
+      feared me somewhat, and therefore wished to make a friend of me, asking me
+      of many matters that seemed to be beyond the province of my office. I saw
+      much of the Lady Charmion also&mdash;indeed, she was ever at my side, so
+      that I scarce knew when she came and when she went. For she would draw
+      nigh with that soft step of hers, and I would turn to find her at hand and
+      watching me beneath the long lashes of her downcast eyes. There was no
+      service that was too hard for her, and no task too long; for day and night
+      she laboured for me and for our cause.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But when I thanked her for her loyalty, and said it should be had in mind
+      in that time which was at hand, she stamped her foot, and pouted with her
+      lips, like an angry child, saying that, among all the things which I had
+      learned, this had I not learned&mdash;that Love&rsquo;s service asked no
+      payment, and was its own guerdon. And I, being innocent in such matters,
+      and, foolish that I was, holding the ways of women as of small account,
+      read her sayings in the sense that her services to the cause of Khem,
+      which she loved, brought with them their own reward. But when I praised so
+      fine a spirit, she burst into angry tears and left me wondering. For I
+      knew nothing of the trouble at her heart. I knew not then that, unsought,
+      this woman had given me her love, and that she was rent and torn by pangs
+      of passion fixed like arrows in her breast. I did not know&mdash;how
+      should I know it, who never looked upon her otherwise than as an
+      instrument of our joint and holy cause? Her beauty never stirred me&mdash;no,
+      not even when she leaned over me and breathed upon my hair, I never
+      thought of it otherwise than as a man thinks of the beauty of a statue.
+      What had I to do with such delights, I who was sworn to Isis and dedicate
+      to the cause of Egypt? O ye Gods, bear me witness that I am innocent of
+      this thing which was the source of all my woe and the woe of Khem!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      How strange a thing is this love of woman, that is so small in its
+      beginning and in its ends so great! See, at the first it is as the little
+      spring of water welling from a mountain&rsquo;s heart. And at the last what is
+      it? It is a mighty river that floats argosies of joy and makes wide lands
+      to smile. Or, perchance, it is a torrent to wash in a flood of ruin across
+      the fields of Hope, bursting in the barriers of design, and bringing to
+      tumbled nothingness the tenement of man&rsquo;s purity and the temples of his
+      faith. For when the Invisible conceived the order of the universe He set
+      this seed of woman&rsquo;s love within its plan, that by its most unequal growth
+      is doomed to bring about equality of law. For now it lifts the low to
+      heights untold, and now it brings the noble to the level of the dust. And
+      thus, while Woman, that great surprise of nature, is, Good and Evil can
+      never grow apart. For still She stands, and, blind with love, shoots the
+      shuttle of our fate, and pours sweet water into the cup of bitterness, and
+      poisons the wholesome breath of life with the doom of her desire. Turn
+      this way and turn that, She is at hand to meet thee. Her weakness is thy
+      strength, her might is thy undoing. Of her thou art, to her thou goest.
+      She is thy slave, yet holds thee captive; at her touch honour withers,
+      locks open, and barriers fall. She is infinite as ocean, she is variable
+      as heaven, and her name is the Unforeseen. Man, strive not to escape from
+      Woman and the love of woman; for, fly where thou wilt, She is yet thy
+      fate, and whate&rsquo;er thou buildest thou buildest it for her!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And thus it came to pass that I, Harmachis, who had put such matters far
+      from me, was yet doomed to fall by the thing I held of no account. For,
+      see, this Charmion: she loved me&mdash;why, I know not. Of her own thought
+      she learned to love me, and of her love came what shall be told. But I,
+      knowing naught, treated her like a sister, walking as it were hand in hand
+      with her towards our common end.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And so the time passed on, till, at length, all things were made ready.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was the night before the night when the blow should fall, and there
+      were revellings in the palace. That very day I had seen Sepa, and with him
+      the captains of a band of five hundred men, who should burst into the
+      palace at midnight on the morrow, when I had slain Cleopatra the Queen,
+      and put the Roman and the Gallic legionaries to the sword. That very day I
+      had suborned the Captain Paulus who, since I drew him through the gates,
+      was my will&rsquo;s slave. Half by fear and half by promises of great reward I
+      had prevailed upon him, for the watch was his, to unbar that small gate
+      which faces to the East at the signal on the morrow night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All was made ready&mdash;the flower of Freedom that had been
+      five-and-twenty years in growth was on the point of bloom. Armed companies
+      were gathering in every city from Abu to Athu, and spies looked out from
+      their walls, awaiting the coming of the messenger who should bring tidings
+      that Cleopatra was no more and that Harmachis, the royal Egyptian, had
+      seized the throne.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All was prepared, triumph hung in my hand as a ripe fruit to the hand of
+      the plucker. Yet as I sat at the royal feast my heart was heavy, and a
+      shadow of coming woe lay cold within my mind. I sat there in a place of
+      honour, near the majesty of Cleopatra, and looked down the lines of
+      guests, bright with gems and garlanded with flowers, marking those whom I
+      had doomed to die. There before me lay Cleopatra in all her beauty, which
+      thrilled the beholder as he is thrilled by the rushing of the midnight
+      gale, or by the sight of stormy waters. I gazed on her as she touched her
+      lips with wine and toyed with the chaplet of roses on her brow, thinking
+      of the dagger beneath my robe that I had sworn to bury in her breast.
+      Again, and yet again, I gazed and strove to hate her, strove to rejoice
+      that she must die&mdash;and could not. There, too, behind her&mdash;watching
+      me now, as ever, with her deep-fringed eyes&mdash;was the lovely Lady
+      Charmion. Who, to look at her innocent face, would believe that she was
+      the setter of that snare in which the Queen who loved her should miserably
+      perish? Who would dream that the secret of so much death was locked in her
+      girlish breast? I gazed, and grew sick at heart because I must anoint my
+      throne with blood, and by evil sweep away the evil of the land. At that
+      hour I wished, indeed, that I was nothing but some humble husbandman, who
+      in its season grows and in its season garners the golden grain! Alas! the
+      seed that I had been doomed to sow was the seed of Death, and now I must
+      reap the red fruit of the harvest!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, Harmachis, what ails thee?&rdquo; said Cleopatra, smiling her slow smile.
+      &ldquo;Has the golden skein of stars got tangled, my astronomer? or dost thou
+      plan some new feat of magic? Say what is it that thou dost so poorly grace
+      our feast? Nay, now, did I not know, having made inquiry, that things so
+      low as we poor women are far beneath thy gaze, why, I should swear that
+      Eros had found thee out, Harmachis!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, that I am spared, O Queen,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;The servant of the stars
+      marks not the smaller light of woman&rsquo;s eyes, and therein is he happy!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Cleopatra leaned herself towards me, looking on me long and steadily in
+      such fashion that, despite my will, the blood fluttered at my heart.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Boast not, thou proud Egyptian,&rdquo; she said in a low voice which none but I
+      and Charmion could hear, &ldquo;lest perchance thou dost tempt me to match my
+      magic against thine. What woman can forgive that a man should push us by
+      as things of no account? It is an insult to our sex which Nature&rsquo;s self
+      abhors,&rdquo; and she leaned back again and laughed most musically. But,
+      glancing up, I saw Charmion, her teeth on her lip and an angry frown upon
+      her brow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pardon, royal Egypt,&rdquo; I answered coldly, but with such wit as I could
+      summon, &ldquo;before the Queen of Heaven even stars grow pale!&rdquo; This I said of
+      the moon, which is the sign of the Holy Mother whom Cleopatra dared to
+      rival, naming herself Isis come to earth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Happily said,&rdquo; she answered, clapping her white hands. &ldquo;Why, here&rsquo;s an
+      astronomer who has wit and can shape a compliment! Nay, such a wonder must
+      not pass unnoted, lest the Gods resent it. Charmion, take this
+      rose-chaplet from my hair and set it upon the learned brow of our
+      Harmachis. He shall be crowned <i>King of Love</i>, whether he will it or
+      not.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Charmion lifted the chaplet from Cleopatra&rsquo;s brows and, bearing it to
+      where I was, with a smile set it upon my head yet warm and fragrant from
+      the Queen&rsquo;s hair, but so roughly that she pained me somewhat. She did this
+      because she was wroth, although she smiled with her lips and whispered,
+      &ldquo;An omen, royal Harmachis.&rdquo; For though she was so very much a woman, yet,
+      when she was angered or suffered jealousy, Charmion had a childish way.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Having thus fixed the chaplet, she curtsied low before me, and with the
+      softest tone of mockery named me, in the Greek tongue, &ldquo;Harmachis, King of
+      Love.&rdquo; Then Cleopatra laughed and pledged me as &ldquo;King of Love,&rdquo; and so did
+      all the company, finding the jest a merry one. For in Alexandria they love
+      not those who live straitly and turn aside from women.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But I sat there, a smile upon my lips, and black wrath in my heart. For,
+      knowing who and what I was, it irked me to think myself a jest for the
+      frivolous nobles and light beauties of Cleopatra&rsquo;s Court. But I was
+      chiefly angered against Charmion, because she laughed the loudest, and I
+      did not then know that laughter and bitterness are often the veils with
+      which a sore heart wraps its weakness from the world. &ldquo;An omen&rdquo; she said
+      it was&mdash;that crown of flowers&mdash;and so it proved indeed. For I
+      was fated to barter the Double Diadem of the Upper and the Lower Land for
+      a wreath of passion&rsquo;s roses that fade before they fully bloom, and
+      Pharaoh&rsquo;s ivory bed of state for the pillow of a faithless woman&rsquo;s breast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>King of Love!</i>&rdquo; they crowned me in their mockery; ay, and King of
+      Shame! And I, with the perfumed roses on my brow&mdash;I, by descent and
+      ordination the Pharaoh of Egypt&mdash;thought of the imperishable halls of
+      Abouthis and of that other crowning which on the morrow should be
+      consummate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But still smiling, I pledged them back, and answered with a jest. For
+      rising, I bowed before Cleopatra and craved leave to go. &ldquo;Venus,&rdquo; I said,
+      speaking of the planet that we know as Donaou in the morning and Bonou in
+      the evening, &ldquo;was in the ascendant. Therefore, as new-crowned King of
+      Love, I must now pass to do my homage to its Queen.&rdquo; For these barbarians
+      name Venus Queen of Love.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And so amidst their laughter I withdrew to my watch-tower, and, dashing
+      that shameful chaplet down amidst the instruments of my craft, made
+      pretence to note the rolling of the stars. There I waited, thinking on
+      many things that were to be, until Charmion should come with the last
+      lists of the doomed and the messages of my uncle Sepa, whom she had seen
+      that evening.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length the door opened softly, and she came jewelled and clad in her
+      white robes, as she had left the feast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER V
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE COMING OF CLEOPATRA TO THE CHAMBER OF HARMACHIS; OF THE THROWING
+      FORTH OF THE KERCHIEF OF CHARMION; OF THE STARS; AND OF THE GIFT BY
+      CLEOPATRA OF HER FRIENDSHIP TO HER SERVANT HARMACHIS
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At length thou art come, Charmion,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;It is over-late.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, my Lord; but by no means could I escape Cleopatra. Her mood is
+      strangely crossed to-night. I know not what it may portend. Strange whims
+      and fancies blow across it like light and contrary airs upon a summer sea,
+      and I cannot read her purpose.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, well; enough of Cleopatra. Hast thou seen our uncle?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, royal Harmachis.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And hast thou the last lists?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes; here they are,&rdquo; and she drew them from her bosom. &ldquo;Here is the list
+      of those who, after the Queen, must certainly be put to the sword. Among
+      them thou wilt note is the name of that old Gaul Brennus. I grieve for
+      him, for we are friends; but it must be. It is a heavy list.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is so,&rdquo; I answered conning it; &ldquo;when men write out their count they
+      forget no item, and our count is long. What must be must be. Now for the
+      next.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here is the list of those to be spared, as friendly or uncertain; and
+      here that of the towns which will certainly rise as soon as the messenger
+      reaches their gates with tidings of the death of Cleopatra.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good. And now&rdquo;&mdash;and I paused&mdash;&ldquo;and now as to the manner of
+      Cleopatra&rsquo;s death. How hast thou settled it? Must it be by my own hand?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, my Lord,&rdquo; she answered, and again I caught that note of bitterness
+      in her voice. &ldquo;Doubtless Pharaoh will rejoice that his should be the hand
+      to rid the land of this false Queen and wanton woman, and at one blow
+      break the chains which gall the neck of Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Talk not thus, girl,&rdquo; I said; &ldquo;thou knowest well that I do not rejoice,
+      being but driven to the act by deep necessity and the pressure of my vows.
+      Can she not, then, be poisoned? Or can no one of the eunuchs be suborned
+      to slay her? My soul turns from this bloody work! Indeed, I marvel,
+      however heavy be her crimes, that thou canst speak so lightly of the death
+      by treachery of one who loves thee!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Surely Pharaoh is over-tender, forgetting the greatness of the moment and
+      all that hangs upon this dagger-stroke that shall cut the thread of
+      Cleopatra&rsquo;s life. Listen, Harmachis. <i>Thou</i> must do the deed, and <i>thou</i>
+      alone! Myself I would do it, had my arm the strength; but it has not. It
+      cannot be done by poison, for every drop she drinks and every morsel that
+      shall touch her lips is strictly tasted by three separate tasters, who
+      cannot be suborned. Nor may the eunuchs of the guard be trusted. Two,
+      indeed, are sworn to us; but the third cannot be come at. He must be cut
+      down afterwards; and, indeed, when so many men must fall, what matters a
+      eunuch more or less? Thus it shall be, then. To-morrow night, at three
+      hours before midnight thou dost cast the final augury of the issue of the
+      war. And then thou wilt, as is agreed, descend alone with me, having the
+      signet, to the outer chamber of the Queen&rsquo;s apartment. For the vessel
+      bearing orders to the Legions sails from Alexandria at the following dawn;
+      and alone with Cleopatra, since she wills that the thing be kept secret as
+      the sea, thou wilt read the message of the stars. And as she pores over
+      the papyrus, then must thou stab her in the back, so that she dies; and
+      see thou that thy will and arm fail thee not! The deed being done&mdash;and
+      indeed it will be easy&mdash;thou wilt take the signet and pass out to
+      where the eunuch is&mdash;for the others will be wanting. If by any chance
+      there is trouble with him&mdash;but there will be no trouble, for he dare
+      not enter the private rooms, and the sounds of death cannot reach so far&mdash;thou
+      must cut him down. Then I will meet thee; and, passing on, we will come to
+      Paulus, and it shall be my care to see that he is neither drunk nor
+      backward, for I know how to hold him to the task. And he and those with
+      him shall throw open the side gate, when Sepa and the five hundred chosen
+      men who are in waiting shall pour in and cast themselves upon the sleeping
+      legionaries, putting them to the sword. Why, the thing is easy so thou
+      rest true to thyself, and let no womanish fears creep into thy heart. What
+      is this dagger&rsquo;s thrust? It is nothing, and yet upon it hang the destinies
+      of Egypt and the world.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hush!&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;What is that?&mdash;I hear a sound.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Charmion ran to the door, and, gazing down the long, dark passage,
+      listened. In a moment she came back, her finger on her lips. &ldquo;It is the
+      Queen,&rdquo; she whispered hurriedly; &ldquo;the Queen who mounts the stair alone. I
+      heard her bid Iras to leave her. I may not be found alone with thee at
+      this hour; it has a strange look, and she may suspect. What wants she
+      here? Where can I hide?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I glanced round. At the further end of the chamber was a heavy curtain
+      that hid a little place built in the thickness of the wall which I used
+      for the storage of rolls and instruments.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Haste thee&mdash;there!&rdquo; I said, and she glided behind the curtain, which
+      swung back and covered her. Then I thrust the fatal scroll of death into
+      the bosom of my robe and bent over the mystic chart. Presently I heard the
+      sweep of woman&rsquo;s robes and there came a low knock upon the door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Enter, whoever thou art,&rdquo; I said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The latch lifted, and Cleopatra swept in, royally arrayed, her dark hair
+      hanging about her and the sacred snake of royalty glistening on her brow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of a truth, Harmachis,&rdquo; she said with a sigh, as she sank into a seat,
+      &ldquo;the path to heaven is hard to climb! Ah! I am weary, for those stairs are
+      many. But I was minded, my astronomer, to see thee in thy haunts.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am honoured overmuch, O Queen!&rdquo; I said, bowing low before her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Art thou now? And yet that dark face of thine has a somewhat angry look&mdash;thou
+      art too young and handsome for this dry trade, Harmachis. Why, I vow thou
+      hast cast my wreath of roses down amidst thy rusty tools! Kings would have
+      cherished that wreath along with their choicest diadems, Harmachis! and
+      thou dost throw it away as a thing of no account! Why, what a man art
+      thou! But stay; what is this? A lady&rsquo;s kerchief, by Isis! Nay, now, my
+      Harmachis, how came <i>this</i> here? Are our poor kerchiefs also
+      instruments of thy high art? Oh, fie, fie!&mdash;have I caught thee, then?
+      Art thou indeed a fox?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, most royal Cleopatra, nay!&rdquo; I said, turning; for the kerchief which
+      had fallen from Charmion&rsquo;s neck had an awkward look. &ldquo;I know not, indeed,
+      how the frippery came here. Perhaps, some one of the women who keeps the
+      chamber may have let it fall.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah! so&mdash;so!&rdquo; she said dryly, and still laughing like a rippling
+      brook. &ldquo;Yes, surely, the slave-women who keep chambers own such toys as
+      this, of the very finest silk, worth twice its weight in gold, and
+      broidered, too, in many colours. Why, myself I should not shame to wear
+      it! Of a truth it seems familiar to my sight.&rdquo; And she threw it round her
+      neck and smoothed the ends with her white hand. &ldquo;But there; doubtless, it
+      is a thing unholy in thine eyes that the scarf of thy beloved should rest
+      upon my poor breast. Take it, Harmachis; take it, and hide it in thy bosom&mdash;nigh
+      thy heart indeed!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I took the accursed thing, and, muttering what I may not write, stepped on
+      to the giddy platform whence I watched the stars. Then, crushing it into a
+      ball, I threw it to the winds of heaven.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At this the lovely Queen laughed once more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, think now,&rdquo; she cried; &ldquo;what would the lady say could she see her
+      love-gauge thus cast to all the world? Mayhap, Harmachis, thou wouldst
+      deal thus with my wreath also? See, the roses fade; cast it forth,&rdquo; and,
+      stooping, she took up the wreath and gave it to me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a moment, so vexed was I, I had a mind to take her at her word and
+      send the wreath to join the kerchief. But I thought better of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; I said more softly, &ldquo;it is a Queen&rsquo;s gift, and I will keep it,&rdquo;
+       and, as I spoke, I saw the curtain shake. Often since that night I have
+      sorrowed over those simple words.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gracious thanks be to the King of Love for this small mercy,&rdquo; she
+      answered, looking at me strangely. &ldquo;Now, enough of wit; come forth upon
+      this balcony&mdash;tell me of the mystery of those stars of thine. For I
+      always loved the stars, that are so pure and bright and cold, and so far
+      away from our fevered troubling. There I would wish to dwell, rocked on
+      the dark bosom of the night, and losing the little sense of self as I
+      gazed for ever on the countenance of yon sweet-eyed space. Nay&mdash;who
+      can tell, Harmachis?&mdash;perhaps those stars partake of our very
+      substance, and, linked to us by Nature&rsquo;s invisible chain, do, indeed, draw
+      our destiny with them as they roll. What says the Greek fable of him who
+      became a star? Perchance it has truth, for yonder tiny sparks may be the
+      souls of men, but grown more purely bright and placed in happy rest to
+      illume the turmoil of their mother-earth. Or are they lamps hung high in
+      the heavenly vault that night by night some Godhead, whose wings are
+      Darkness, touches with his immortal fire so that they leap out in
+      answering flame? Give me of thy wisdom and open these wonders to me, my
+      servant, for I have little knowledge. Yet my heart is large, and I would
+      fill it, for I have the wit, could I but find the teacher.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Thereon, being glad to find footing on a safer shore, and marvelling
+      somewhat to learn that Cleopatra had a place for lofty thoughts, I spoke
+      and willingly told her such things as are lawful. I told her how the sky
+      is a liquid mass pressing round the earth and resting on the elastic
+      pillars of the air, and how above is the heavenly ocean Nout, in which the
+      planets float like ships as they rush upon their radiant way. I told her
+      many things, and amongst them how, through the certain never-ceasing
+      movement of the orbs of light, the planet Venus, that was called Donaou
+      when she showed as the Morning Star, became the planet Bonou when she came
+      as the sweet Star of Eve. And while I stood and spoke watching the stars,
+      she sat, her hands clasped upon her knee, and watched my face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; she broke in at length, &ldquo;and so Venus is to be seen both in the
+      morning and the evening sky. Well, of a truth, she is everywhere, though
+      she best loves the night. But thou lovest not that I should use these
+      Latin names to thee. Come, we will talk in the ancient tongue of Khem,
+      which I know well; I am the first, mark thou, of all the Lagidæ who know
+      it. And now,&rdquo; she went on, speaking in my own tongue, but with a little
+      foreign accent that did but make her talk more sweet, &ldquo;enough of stars,
+      for, when all is said, they are but fickle things, and perhaps may even
+      now be storing up an evil hour for thee or me, or for both of us together.
+      Not but what I love to hear thee speak of them, for then thy face loses
+      that gloomy cloud of thought which mars it and grows quick and human.
+      Harmachis, thou art too young for such a solemn trade; methinks that I
+      must find thee a better. Youth comes but once; why waste it in these
+      musings? It is time to think when we can no longer act. Tell me how old
+      art thou, Harmachis?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have six-and-twenty years, O Queen,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;for I was born in the
+      first month of Shomou, in the summer season, and on the third day of the
+      month.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, then, we are of an age even to a day,&rdquo; she cried, &ldquo;for I too have
+      six-and-twenty years, and I too was born on the third day of the first
+      month of Shomou. Well, this may we say: those who begot us need have no
+      shame. For if I be the fairest woman in Egypt, methinks, Harmachis, that
+      there is in Egypt no man more fair and strong than thou, ay, or more
+      learned. Born of the same day, why, &lsquo;tis manifest that we were destined to
+      stand together, I, as the Queen, and thou, perchance, Harmachis, as one of
+      the chief pillars of my throne, and thus to work each other&rsquo;s weal.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Or maybe each other&rsquo;s woe,&rdquo; I answered, looking up; for her sweet
+      speeches stung my ears and brought more colour to my face than I loved
+      that she should see there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, never talk of woe. Be seated here by me, Harmachis, and let us talk,
+      not as Queen and subject, but as friend to friend. Thou wast angered with
+      me at the feast to-night because I mocked thee with yonder wreath&mdash;was
+      it not so? Nay, it was but a jest. Didst thou know how heavy is the task
+      of monarchs and how wearisome are their hours, thou wouldst not be wroth
+      because I lit my dulness with a jest. Oh, they weary me, those princes and
+      those nobles, and those stiff-necked pompous Romans. To my face they vow
+      themselves my slaves, and behind my back they mock me and proclaim me the
+      servant of their Triumvirate, or their Empire, or their Republic, as the
+      wheel of Fortune turns, and each rises on its round! There is never a man
+      among them&mdash;nothing but fools, parasites, and puppets&mdash;never a
+      man since with their coward daggers they slew that Cæsar whom all the
+      world in arms was not strong enough to tame. And I must play off one
+      against the other, if maybe, by so doing, I can keep Egypt from their
+      grip. And for reward, what? Why, this is my reward&mdash;that all men
+      speak ill of me&mdash;and, I know it, my subjects hate me! Yes, I believe
+      that, woman though I am, they would murder me could they find a means!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She paused, covering her eyes with her hand, and it was well, for her
+      words pierced me so that I shrank upon the seat beside her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They think ill of me, I know it; and call me wanton, who have never
+      stepped aside save once, when I loved the greatest man of all the world,
+      and at the touch of love my passion flamed indeed, but burnt a hallowed
+      flame. These ribald Alexandrians swear that I poisoned Ptolemy, my brother&mdash;whom
+      the Roman Senate would, most unnaturally, have forced on me, his sister,
+      as a husband! But it is false: he sickened and died of fever. And even so
+      they say that I would slay Arsinoë, my sister&mdash;who, indeed, would
+      slay me!&mdash;but that, too, is false! Though she will have none of me, I
+      love my sister. Yes, they all think ill of me without a cause; even thou
+      dost think ill of me, Harmachis.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Harmachis, before thou judgest, remember what a thing is envy!&mdash;that
+      foul sickness of the mind which makes the jaundiced eye of pettiness to
+      see all things distraught&mdash;to read Evil written on the open face of
+      Good, and find impurity in the whitest virgin&rsquo;s soul! Think what a thing
+      it is, Harmachis, to be set on high above the gaping crowd of knaves who
+      hate thee for thy fortune and thy wit; who gnash their teeth and shoot the
+      arrows of their lies from the cover of their own obscureness, whence they
+      have no wings to soar; and whose hearts&rsquo; quest it is to drag down thy
+      nobility to the level of the groundling and the fool!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be not, then, swift to think evil of the Great, whose every word and act
+      is searched for error by a million angry eyes, and whose most tiny fault
+      is trumpeted by a thousand throats, till the world shakes with echoes of
+      their sin! Say not: &lsquo;It is thus, &lsquo;tis certainly thus&rsquo;&mdash;say, rather:
+      &lsquo;May it not be otherwise? Have we heard aright? Did she this thing of her
+      own will?&rsquo; Judge gently, Harmachis, as wert thou I thou wouldst be judged.
+      Remember that a Queen is never free. She is, indeed, but the point and
+      instrument of those forces politic with which the iron books of history
+      are graved. O Harmachis! be thou my friend&mdash;my friend and counsellor!&mdash;my
+      friend whom I can trust indeed!&mdash;for here, in this crowded Court, I
+      am more utterly alone than any soul that breathes about its corridors. But
+      <i>thee</i> I trust; there is faith written in those quiet eyes, and I am
+      minded to lift thee high, Harmachis. I can no longer bear my solitude of
+      mind&mdash;I must find one with whom I may commune and speak that which
+      lies within my heart. I have faults, I know it; but I am not all unworthy
+      of thy faith, for there is good grain among the evil seed. Say, Harmachis,
+      wilt thou take pity on my loneliness and befriend me, who have lovers,
+      courtiers, slaves, dependents, more thick than I can count, but never one
+      single <i>friend</i>?&rdquo; and she leant towards me, touching me lightly, and
+      gazed on me with her wonderful blue eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I was overcome; thinking of the morrow night, shame and sorrow smote me.
+      <i>I</i>, her friend!&mdash;<i>I</i>, whose assassin dagger lay against my
+      breast! I bent my head, and a sob or a groan, I know not which, burst from
+      the agony of my heart.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Cleopatra, thinking only that I was moved beyond myself by the
+      surprise of her graciousness, smiled sweetly, and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It grows late; to-morrow night when thou bringest the auguries we will
+      speak again, O my friend Harmachis, and thou shalt answer me.&rdquo; And she
+      gave me her hand to kiss. Scarce knowing what I did, I kissed it, and in
+      another moment she was gone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But I stood in the chamber, gazing after her like one asleep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VI
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE WORDS AND JEALOUSY OF CHARMION; OF THE LAUGHTER OF HARMACHIS; OF
+      THE MAKING READY FOR THE DEED OF BLOOD; AND OF THE MESSAGE OF THE OLD WIFE, ATOUA
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I stood still, plunged in thought. Then by hazard as it were I took up the
+      wreath of roses and looked on it. How long I stood so I know not, but when
+      next I lifted up my eyes they fell upon the form of Charmion, whom,
+      indeed, I had altogether forgotten. And though at the moment I thought but
+      little of it, I noted vaguely that she was flushed as though with anger,
+      and beat her foot upon the floor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, it is thou, Charmion!&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;What ails thee? Art thou cramped with
+      standing so long in thy hiding-place? Why didst not thou slip hence when
+      Cleopatra led me to the balcony?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where is my kerchief?&rdquo; she asked, shooting an angry glance at me. &ldquo;I let
+      fall my broidered kerchief.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thy kerchief!&mdash;why, didst thou not see? Cleopatra twitted me about
+      it, and I flung it from the balcony.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I saw,&rdquo; answered the girl, &ldquo;I saw but too well. Thou didst fling
+      away my kerchief, but the wreath of roses&mdash;that thou wouldst not
+      fling away. It was &lsquo;a Queen&rsquo;s gift,&rsquo; forsooth, and therefore the royal
+      Harmachis, the Priest of Isis, the chosen of the Gods, the crowned Pharaoh
+      wed to the weal of Khem, cherished it and saved it. But my kerchief, stung
+      by the laughter of that light Queen, he cast away!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What meanest thou?&rdquo; I asked, astonished at her bitter tone. &ldquo;I cannot
+      read thy riddles.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What mean I?&rdquo; she answered, tossing up her head and showing the white
+      curves of her throat. &ldquo;Nay, I mean naught, or all; take it as thou wilt.
+      Wouldst know what I mean, Harmachis, my cousin and my Lord?&rdquo; she went on
+      in a hard, low voice. &ldquo;Then I will tell thee&mdash;thou art in danger of
+      the great offence. This Cleopatra has cast her fatal wiles about thee, and
+      thou goest near to loving her, Harmachis&mdash;to loving her whom
+      to-morrow thou must slay! Ay, stand and stare at that wreath in thy hand&mdash;the
+      wreath thou couldst not send to join my kerchief&mdash;sure Cleopatra wore
+      it but to-night! The perfume of the hair of Cæsar&rsquo;s mistress&mdash;Cæsar&rsquo;s
+      and others&rsquo;&mdash;yet mingles with the odour of its roses! Now, prithee,
+      Harmachis, how far didst thou carry the matter on yonder balcony? for in
+      that hole where I lay hid I could not hear or see. &lsquo;Tis a sweet spot for
+      lovers, is it not?&mdash;ay, and a sweet hour, too? Venus surely rules the
+      stars to-night?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      All of this she said so quietly and in so soft and modest a way, though
+      her words were not modest, and yet so bitterly, that every syllable cut me
+      to the heart, and angered me till I could find no speech.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of a truth thou hast a wise economy,&rdquo; she went on, seeing her advantage:
+      &ldquo;to-night thou dost kiss the lips that to-morrow thou shalt still for
+      ever! It is frugal dealing with the occasion of the moment; ay, worthy and
+      honourable dealing!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then at last I broke forth. &ldquo;Girl,&rdquo; I cried, &ldquo;how darest thou speak thus
+      to me? Mindest thou who and what I am that thou loosest thy peevish gibes
+      upon me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I mind what it behoves thee to be,&rdquo; she answered quick. &ldquo;What thou art,
+      that I mind not now. Surely thou knowest alone&mdash;thou and Cleopatra!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What meanest thou?&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Am I to blame if the Queen&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Queen! What have we here? Pharaoh owns a Queen!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If Cleopatra wills to come hither of a night and talk&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of stars, Harmachis&mdash;surely of stars and roses, and naught beside!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      After that I know not what I said; for, troubled as I was, the girl&rsquo;s
+      bitter tongue and quiet way drove me wellnigh to madness. But this I know:
+      I spoke so fiercely that she cowered before me as she had cowered before
+      my uncle Sepa when he rated her because of her Grecian garb. And as she
+      wept then, so she wept now, only more passionately and with great sobs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length I ceased, half-shamed but still angry and smarting sorely. For
+      even while she wept she could find a tongue to answer with&mdash;and a
+      woman&rsquo;s shafts are sharp.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou shouldst not speak to me thus!&rdquo; she sobbed; &ldquo;it is cruel&mdash;it is
+      unmanly! But I forget thou art but a priest, not a man&mdash;except,
+      mayhap, for Cleopatra!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What right hast thou?&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;What canst thou mean?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What right have I?&rdquo; she asked, looking up, her dark eyes all aflood with
+      tears that ran down her sweet face like the dew of morning down a lily&rsquo;s
+      heart. &ldquo;What right have I? O Harmachis! art thou blind? Didst thou not
+      know by what right I speak thus to thee? Then I must tell thee. Well, it
+      is the fashion in Alexandria! By that first and holy right of woman&mdash;by
+      the right of the great love I bear thee, and which, it seems, thou hast no
+      eyes to see&mdash;by the right of my glory and my shame. Oh, be not wroth
+      with me, Harmachis, nor set me down as light, because the truth at last
+      has burst from me; for I am not so. I am what thou wilt make me. I am the
+      wax within the moulder&rsquo;s hands, and as thou dost fashion me so I shall be.
+      There breathes within me now a breath of glory, blowing across the waters
+      of my soul, that can waft me to ends more noble than ever I have dreamed
+      afore, if thou wilt be my pilot and my guide. But if I lose thee, then I
+      lose all that holds me from my worse self&mdash;and let shipwreck come!
+      Thou knowest me not, Harmachis! thou canst not see how big a spirit
+      struggles in this frail form of mine! To thee I am a girl, clever,
+      wayward, shallow. But I am more! Show me thy loftiest thought and I will
+      match it, the deepest puzzle of thy mind and I will make it clear. Of one
+      blood we are, and love can ravel up our little difference and make us grow
+      one indeed. One end we have, one land we love, one vow binds us both. Take
+      me to thy heart, Harmachis, set me by thee on the Double Throne, and I
+      swear that I will lift thee higher than ever man has climbed. Reject me,
+      and beware lest I pull thee down! And now, putting aside the cold delicacy
+      of custom, stung to it by what I saw of the arts of that lovely living
+      falsehood, Cleopatra, which for pastime she practises on thy folly, I have
+      spoken out my heart, and answer thou!&rdquo; And she clasped her hands and,
+      drawing one pace nearer, gazed, all white and trembling, on my face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a moment I stood struck dumb, for the magic of her voice and the power
+      of her speech, despite myself, stirred me like the rush of music. Had I
+      loved the woman, doubtless she might have fired me with her flame; but I
+      loved her not, and I could not play at passion. And so thought came, and
+      with thought that laughing mood, which is ever apt to fashion upon nerves
+      strained to the point of breaking. In a flash, as it were, I bethought me
+      of the way in which she had that very night forced the wreath of roses on
+      my head, I thought of the kerchief and how I had flung it forth. I thought
+      of Charmion in the little chamber watching what she held to be the arts of
+      Cleopatra, and of her bitter speeches. Lastly, I thought of what my uncle
+      Sepa would say of her could he see her now, and of the strange and tangled
+      skein in which I was inmeshed. And I laughed aloud&mdash;the fool&rsquo;s
+      laughter that was my knell of ruin!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She turned whiter yet&mdash;white as the dead&mdash;and a look grew upon
+      her face that checked my foolish mirth. &ldquo;Thou findest, then, Harmachis,&rdquo;
+       she said in a low, choked voice, and dropping the level of her eyes, &ldquo;thou
+      findest cause of merriment in what I have said?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;nay, Charmion; forgive me if I laughed. It was rather
+      a laugh of despair; for what am I to say to thee? Thou hast spoken high
+      words of all thou mightest be: is it left for me to tell thee what thou
+      art?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She shrank, and I paused.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Speak,&rdquo; she said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou knowest&mdash;none so well!&mdash;who I am and what my mission is:
+      thou knowest&mdash;none so well!&mdash;that I am sworn to Isis, and may,
+      by law Divine, have naught to do with thee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; she broke in, in her low voice, and with her eyes still fixed upon
+      the ground&mdash;&ldquo;ay, and I know that thy vows are broken in spirit, if
+      not in form&mdash;broken like wreaths of cloud; for, Harmachis&mdash;<i>thou
+      lovest Cleopatra!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is a lie!&rdquo; I cried. &ldquo;Thou wanton girl, who wouldst seduce me from my
+      duty and put me to an open shame!&mdash;who, led by passion or ambition,
+      or the love of evil, hast not shamed to break the barriers of thy sex and
+      speak as thou hast spoken&mdash;beware lest thou go too far! And if thou
+      wilt have an answer, here it is, put straightly, as thy question.
+      Charmion, outside the matter of my duty and my vows, thou art <i>naught</i>
+      to me!&mdash;nor for all thy tender glances will my heart beat one pulse
+      more fast! Hardly art thou now my friend&mdash;for, of a truth, I scarce
+      can trust thee. But, once more: beware! To me thou mayest do thy worst;
+      but if thou dost dare to lift a finger against our cause, that day thou
+      diest! And now, is this play done?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And as, wild with anger, I spoke thus, she shrank back, and yet further
+      back, till at length she rested against the wall, her eyes covered with
+      her hand. But when I ceased she dropped her hand, glancing up, and her
+      face was as the face of a statue, in which the great eyes glowed like
+      embers, and round them was a ring of purple shadow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not altogether done,&rdquo; she answered gently; &ldquo;the arena must yet be
+      sanded!&rdquo; This she said having reference to the covering up of the
+      bloodstains at the gladiatorial shows with fine sand. &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; she went on,
+      &ldquo;waste not thine anger on a thing so vile. I have thrown my throw and I
+      have lost. <i>Væ victis!</i>&mdash;ah! <i>Væ victis!</i> Wilt thou not
+      lend me the dagger in thy robe, that here and now I may end my shame? No?
+      Then one word more, most royal Harmachis: if thou canst, forget my folly;
+      but, at the least, have no fear from me. I am now, as ever, thy servant
+      and the servant of our cause. Farewell!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And she went, leaning her hand against the wall. But I, passing to my
+      chamber, flung myself upon my couch, and groaned in bitterness of spirit.
+      Alas! we shape our plans, and by slow degrees build up our house of Hope,
+      never counting on the guests that time shall bring to lodge therein. For
+      who can guard against&mdash;the Unforeseen?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length I slept, and my dreams were evil. When I woke the light of the
+      day which should see the red fulfilment of the plot was streaming through
+      the casement, and the birds sang merrily among the garden palms. I woke,
+      and as I woke the sense of trouble pressed in upon me, for I remembered
+      that before this day was gathered to the past I must dip my hands in blood&mdash;yes,
+      in the blood of Cleopatra, who trusted me! Why could I not hate her as I
+      should? There had been a time when I looked on to this act of vengeance
+      with somewhat of a righteous glow of zeal. And now&mdash;and now&mdash;why,
+      I would frankly give my royal birthright to be free from its necessity!
+      But, alas! I knew that there was no escape. I must drain this cup or be
+      for ever cast away. I felt the eyes of Egypt watching me, and the eyes of
+      Egypt&rsquo;s Gods. I prayed to my Mother Isis to give me strength to do this
+      deed, and prayed as I had never prayed before; and oh, wonder! no answer
+      came. Nay, how was this? What, then, had loosed the link between us that,
+      for the first time, the Goddess deigned no reply to her son and chosen
+      servant? Could it be that I had sinned in heart against her? What had
+      Charmion said&mdash;that I loved Cleopatra? Was this sickness love? Nay! a
+      thousand times nay!&mdash;it was but the revolt of Nature against an act
+      of treachery and blood. The Goddess did but try my strength, or perchance
+      she also turned her holy countenance from murder?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I rose filled with terror and despair, and went about my task like a man
+      without a soul. I conned the fatal lists and noted all the plans&mdash;ay,
+      in my brain I gathered up the very words of that proclamation of my
+      Royalty which, on the morrow, I should issue to the startled world.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Citizens of Alexandria and dwellers in the land of Egypt,&rdquo; it began,
+      &ldquo;Cleopatra the Macedonian hath, by the command of the Gods, suffered
+      justice for her crimes&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      All these and other things I did, but I did them as a man without a soul&mdash;as
+      a man moved by a force from without and not from within. And so the
+      minutes wore away. In the third hour of the afternoon I went as by
+      appointment fixed to the house where my uncle Sepa lodged, that same house
+      to which I had been brought some three months gone when I entered
+      Alexandria for the first time. And here I found the leaders of the revolt
+      in the city assembled in secret conclave to the number of seven. When I
+      had entered, and the doors were barred, they prostrated themselves, and
+      cried, &ldquo;Hail, Pharaoh!&rdquo; but I bade them rise, saying that I was not yet
+      Pharaoh, for the chicken was still in the egg.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, Prince,&rdquo; said my uncle, &ldquo;but his beak shows through. Not in vain
+      hath Egypt brooded all these years, if thou fail not with that
+      dagger-stroke of thine to-night; and how canst thou fail? Nothing can now
+      stop our course to victory!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is on the knees of the Gods,&rdquo; I answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;the Gods have placed the issue in the hands of a mortal&mdash;in
+      thy hands, Harmachis!&mdash;and there it is safe. See: here are the last
+      lists. Thirty-one thousand men who bear arms are sworn to rise when the
+      tidings come to them. Within five days every citadel in Egypt will be in
+      our hands, and then what have we to fear? From Rome but little, for her
+      hands are full; and, besides, we will make alliance with the Triumvirate,
+      and, if need be, buy them off. For of money there is plenty in the land,
+      and if more be wanted thou, Harmachis, knowest where it is stored against
+      the need of Khem, and outside the Roman&rsquo;s reach of arm. Who is there to
+      harm us? There is none. Perchance, in this turbulent city, there may be
+      struggle, and a counter-plot to bring Arsinoë to Egypt and set her on the
+      throne. Therefore Alexandria must be severely dealt with&mdash;ay, even to
+      destruction, if need be. As for Arsinoë, those go forth to-morrow on the
+      news of the Queen&rsquo;s death who shall slay her secretly.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There remains the lad Cæsarion,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Rome might claim through
+      Cæsar&rsquo;s son, and the child of Cleopatra inherits Cleopatra&rsquo;s rights. Here
+      is a double danger.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fear not,&rdquo; said my uncle; &ldquo;to-morrow Cæsarion joins those who begat him
+      in Amenti. I have made provision. The Ptolemies must be stamped out, so
+      that no shoot shall ever spring from that root blasted by Heaven&rsquo;s
+      vengeance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is there no other means?&rdquo; I asked sadly. &ldquo;My heart is sick at the promise
+      of this red rain of blood. I know the child well; he has Cleopatra&rsquo;s fire
+      and beauty and great Cæsar&rsquo;s wit. It were shame to murder him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, be not so chicken-hearted, Harmachis,&rdquo; said my uncle, sternly. &ldquo;What
+      ails thee, then? If the lad is thus, the more reason that he should die.
+      Wouldst thou nurse up a young lion to tear thee from the throne?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be it so,&rdquo; I answered, sighing. &ldquo;At least he is spared much, and will go
+      hence innocent of evil. Now for the plans.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      We sat long taking counsel, till at length, in face of the great emergency
+      and our high emprise, I felt something of the spirit of former days flow
+      back into my heart. At the last all was ordered, and so ordered that it
+      could scarce miscarry, for it was fixed that if by any chance I could not
+      come to slay Cleopatra on this night, then the plot should hang in the
+      scale till the morrow, when the deed must be done upon occasion. For the
+      death of Cleopatra was the signal. These matters being finished, once more
+      we stood and, our hands upon the sacred symbol, swore the oath that may
+      not be written. And then my uncle kissed me with tears of hope and joy
+      standing in his keen black eyes. He blessed me, saying that he would
+      gladly give his life, ay, and a hundred lives, if they were his, if he
+      might but live to see Egypt once more a nation, and me, Harmachis, the
+      descendant of its royal and ancient blood, seated on the throne. For he
+      was a patriot indeed, asking nothing for himself, and giving all things to
+      his cause. And I kissed him in turn, and thus we parted. Nor did I ever
+      see him more in the flesh who has earned the rest that as yet is denied to
+      me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So I went, and, there being yet time, walked swiftly from place to place
+      in the great city, taking note of the positions of the gates and of the
+      places where our forces must be gathered. At length I came to that quay
+      where I had landed, and saw a vessel sailing for the open sea. I looked,
+      and in my heaviness of heart longed that I were aboard of her, to be borne
+      by her white wings to some far shore where I might live obscure and die
+      forgotten. Also I saw another vessel that had dropped down the Nile, from
+      whose deck the passengers were streaming. For a moment I stood watching
+      them, idly wondering if they were from Abouthis, when suddenly I heard a
+      familiar voice beside me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>La! la!</i>&rdquo; said the voice. &ldquo;Why, what a city is this for an old
+      woman to seek her fortune in! And how shall I find those to whom I am
+      known? As well look for the rush in the papyrus-roll.[*] Begone! thou
+      knave! and let my basket of simples lie; or, by the Gods, I&rsquo;ll doctor thee
+      with them!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] Papyrus was manufactured from the pith of rushes. Hence
+     Atoua&rsquo;s saying.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      I turned, wondering, and found myself face to face with my foster-nurse,
+      Atoua. She knew me instantly, for I saw her start, but in the presence of
+      the people she checked her surprise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good Sir,&rdquo; she whined, lifting her withered countenance towards me, and
+      at the same time making the secret sign. &ldquo;By thy dress thou shouldst be an
+      astronomer, and I was specially told to avoid astronomers as a pack of
+      lying tricksters who worship their own star only; and, therefore, I speak
+      to thee, acting on the principle of contraries, which is law to us women.
+      For surely in this Alexandria, where all things are upside down, the
+      astronomers may be the honest men, since the rest are clearly knaves.&rdquo; And
+      then, being by now out of earshot of the press, &ldquo;royal Harmachis, I am
+      come charged with a message to thee from thy father Amenemhat.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is he well?&rdquo; I asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, he is well, though waiting for the moment tries him sorely.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And his message?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is this. He sends greeting to thee and with it warning that a great
+      danger threatens thee, though he cannot read it. These are his words: &lsquo;Be
+      steadfast and prosper.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I bowed my head and the words struck a new chill of fear into my soul.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When is the time?&rdquo; she asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This very night. Where goest thou?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To the house of the honourable Sepa, Priest of Annu. Canst thou guide me
+      thither?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, I may not stay; nor is it wise that I should be seen with thee.
+      Hold!&rdquo; and I called a porter who was idling on the quay, and, giving him a
+      piece of money, bade him guide the old wife to the house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Farewell,&rdquo; she whispered; &ldquo;farewell till to-morrow. Be steadfast and
+      prosper.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I turned and went my way through the crowded streets, where the
+      people made place for me, the astronomer of Cleopatra, for my fame had
+      spread abroad.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And even as I went my footsteps seemed to beat <i>Be steadfast, Be
+      steadfast, Be steadfast</i>, till at last it was as though the very ground
+      cried out its warning to me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VII
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE VEILED WORDS OF CHARMION; OF THE PASSING OF HARMACHIS INTO THE
+      PRESENCE OF CLEOPATRA; AND OF THE OVERTHROW OF HARMACHIS
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was night, and I sat alone in my chamber, waiting the moment when, as
+      it was agreed, Charmion should summon me to pass down to Cleopatra. I sat
+      alone, and there before me lay the dagger that was to pierce her. It was
+      long and keen, and the handle was formed of a sphinx of solid gold. I sat
+      alone, questioning the future, but no answer came. At length I looked up,
+      and Charmion stood before me&mdash;Charmion, no longer gay and bright, but
+      pale of face and hollow-eyed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Royal Harmachis,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;Cleopatra summons thee, presently to declare
+      to her the voices of the stars.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So the hour had fallen!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well, Charmion,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;Are all things in order?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, my Lord; all things are in order: well primed with wine, Paulus
+      guards the gates, the eunuchs are withdrawn save one, the legionaries
+      sleep, and already Sepa and his force lie hid without. Nothing has been
+      neglected, and no lamb skipping at the shamble doors can be more innocent
+      of its doom than is Queen Cleopatra.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; I said again; &ldquo;let us be going,&rdquo; and rising, I placed the
+      dagger in the bosom of my robe. Taking a cup of wine that stood near, I
+      drank deep of it, for I had scarce tasted food all that day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One word,&rdquo; Charmion said hurriedly, &ldquo;for it is not yet time: last night&mdash;ah,
+      last night&mdash;&rdquo; and her bosom heaved, &ldquo;I dreamed a dream that haunts me
+      strangely, and perchance thou also didst dream a dream. It was all a dream
+      and &lsquo;tis forgotten: is it not so, my Lord?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes,&rdquo; I said; &ldquo;why troublest thou me thus at such an hour?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, I know not; but to-night, Harmachis, Fate is in labour of a great
+      event, and in her painful throes mayhap she&rsquo;ll crush me in her grip&mdash;me
+      or thee, or the twain of us, Harmachis. And if that be so&mdash;well, I
+      would hear from thee, before it is done, that &lsquo;twas naught but a dream,
+      and that dream forgot&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, it is all a dream,&rdquo; I said idly; &ldquo;thou and I, and the solid earth,
+      and this heavy night of terror, ay, and this keen knife&mdash;what are
+      these but dreams, and with what face shall the waking come?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So now, thou fallest in my humour, royal Harmachis. As thou sayest, we
+      dream; and while we dream yet can the vision change. For the phantasies of
+      dreams are wonderful, seeing that they have no stability, but vary like
+      the vaporous edge of sunset clouds, building now this thing, and now that;
+      being now dark and heavy, and now alight with splendour. Therefore, before
+      we wake to-morrow tell me one word. Is that vision of last night, wherein
+      I <i>seemed</i> to be quite shamed, and thou didst <i>seem</i> to laugh
+      upon my shame, a fixed phantasy, or can it, perchance, yet change its
+      countenance? For remember, when that waking comes, the vagaries of our
+      sleep will be more unalterable and more enduring than are the pyramids.
+      Then they will be gathered into that changeless region of the past where
+      all things, great and small&mdash;ay, even dreams, Harmachis, are, each in
+      its own semblance, frozen to stone and built into the Tomb of Time
+      immortal.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Charmion,&rdquo; I replied, &ldquo;I grieve if I did pain thee; but over that
+      vision comes no change. I said what was in my heart and there&rsquo;s an end.
+      Thou art my cousin and my friend, I can never be more to thee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well&mdash;&lsquo;tis very well,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;let it be forgotten. And now
+      on from dream&mdash;to dream,&rdquo; and she smiled with such a smile as I had
+      never seen her wear before; it was sadder and more fateful than any stamp
+      that grief can set upon the brow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For, though being blinded by my own folly and the trouble at my heart I
+      knew it not, with that smile, the happiness of youth died for Charmion the
+      Egyptian; the hope of love fled; and the holy links of duty burst asunder.
+      With that smile she consecrated herself to Evil, she renounced her Country
+      and her Gods, and trampled on her oath. Ay, that smile marks the moment
+      when the stream of history changed its course. For had I never seen it on
+      her face Octavianus had not bestridden the world, and Egypt had once more
+      been free and great.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And yet it was but a woman&rsquo;s smile!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why lookest thou thus strangely, girl?&rdquo; I asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In dreams we smile,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;And now it is time; follow thou me.
+      Be firm and prosper, royal Harmachis!&rdquo; and bending forward she took my
+      hand and kissed it. Then, with one strange last look, she turned and led
+      the way down the stair and through the empty halls.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the chamber that is called the Alabaster Hall, the roof of which is
+      upborne by columns of black marble, we stayed. For beyond was the private
+      chamber of Cleopatra, the same in which I had seen her sleeping.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Abide thou here,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;while I tell Cleopatra of thy coming,&rdquo; and
+      she glided from my side.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I stood for long, mayhap in all the half of an hour, counting my own
+      heart-beats, and, as in a dream, striving to gather up my strength to that
+      which lay before me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length Charmion came back, her head held low and walking heavily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cleopatra waits thee,&rdquo; she said: &ldquo;pass on, there is no guard.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where do I meet thee when what must be done is done?&rdquo; I asked hoarsely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou meetest me here, and then to Paulus. Be firm and prosper. Harmachis,
+      fare thee well!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And so I went; but at the curtain I turned suddenly, and there in the
+      midst of that lonely lamplit hall I saw a strange sight. Far away, in such
+      a fashion that the light struck full upon her, stood Charmion, her head
+      thrown back, her white arms outstretched as though to clasp, and on her
+      girlish face a stamp of anguished passion so terrible to see that, indeed,
+      I cannot tell it! For she believed that I, whom she loved, was passing to
+      my death, and this was her last farewell to me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But I knew naught of this matter; so with another passing pang of wonder I
+      drew aside the curtains, gained the doorway, and stood in Cleopatra&rsquo;s
+      chamber. And there, upon a silken couch at the far end of the perfumed
+      chamber, clad in wonderful white attire, rested Cleopatra. In her hand was
+      a jewelled fan of ostrich plumes, with which she gently fanned herself,
+      and by her side was her harp of ivory, and a little table whereon were
+      figs and goblets and a flask of ruby-coloured wine. I drew near slowly
+      through the soft dim light to where the Wonder of the World lay in all her
+      glowing beauty. And, indeed, I have never seen her look so fair as she did
+      upon that fatal night. Couched in her amber cushions, she seemed to shine
+      as a star on the twilight&rsquo;s glow. Perfume came from her hair and robes,
+      music fell from her lips, and in her heavenly eyes all lights changed and
+      gathered as in the ominous opal&rsquo;s disc.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And this was the woman whom, presently, I must slay!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Slowly I drew near, bowing as I came; but she took no heed. She lay there,
+      and the jewelled fan floated to and fro like the bright wing of some
+      hovering bird.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length I stood before her, and she glanced up, the ostrich-plumes
+      pressed against her breast as though to hide its beauty.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What! friend; art thou come?&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It is well; for I grew lonely
+      here. Nay; &lsquo;tis a weary world! We know so many faces, and there are so few
+      whom we love to see again. Well, stand not there so mute, but be seated.&rdquo;
+       And she pointed with her fan to a carven chair that was placed near her
+      feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Once more I bowed and took the seat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have obeyed the Queen&rsquo;s desire,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;and with much care and skill
+      worked out the lessons of the stars; and here is the record of my labour.
+      If the Queen permits, I will expound it to her.&rdquo; And I rose, in order that
+      I might pass round the couch and, as she read, stab her in the back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Harmachis,&rdquo; she said quietly, and with a slow and lovely smile.
+      &ldquo;Bide thou where thou art, and give me the writing. By Serapis! thy face
+      is too comely for me to wish to lose the sight of it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Checked in this design, I could do nothing but hand her the papyrus,
+      thinking to myself that while she read I would arise suddenly and plunge
+      the dagger to her heart. She took it, and as she did so touched my hand.
+      Then she made pretence to read. But she read no word, for I saw that her
+      eyes were fixed upon me over the edge of the scroll.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why placest thou thy hand within thy robe?&rdquo; she asked presently; for,
+      indeed, I clutched the dagger&rsquo;s hilt. &ldquo;Is thy heart stirred?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, O Queen,&rdquo; I said; &ldquo;it beats high.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She gave no answer, but once more made pretence to read, and the while she
+      watched me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I took counsel with myself. How should I do the hateful deed? If I flung
+      myself upon her now she would see me and scream and struggle. Nay, I must
+      wait a chance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The auguries are favourable, then, Harmachis?&rdquo; she said at length, though
+      this she must have guessed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, O Queen,&rdquo; I answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; and she cast the writing on the marble. &ldquo;The ships shall
+      sail. For, good or bad, I am weary of weighing chances.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is a heavy matter, O Queen,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;I had wished to show upon what
+      circumstance I base my forecast.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, not so, Harmachis; I have wearied of the ways of stars. Thou hast
+      prophesied; that is enough for me; for, doubtless, being honest, thou hast
+      written honestly. Therefore, save thou thy reasons and we&rsquo;ll be merry.
+      What shall we do? I could dance to thee&mdash;there are none who can dance
+      so well!&mdash;but it would scarce be queenly. Nay, I have it. I will
+      sing.&rdquo; And, leaning forward, she raised herself, and, bending the harp
+      towards her, struck some wandering chords. Then her low voice broke out in
+      perfect and most sweet song.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And thus she sang:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Night on the sea, and night upon the sky,
+     And music in our hearts, we floated there,
+     Lulled by the low sea voices, thou and I,
+     And the wind&rsquo;s kisses in my cloudy hair:
+     And thou didst gaze on me and call me fair&mdash;
+     Enfolded by the starry robe of night&mdash;
+     And then thy singing thrilled upon the air,
+     Voice of the heart&rsquo;s desire and Love&rsquo;s delight.
+
+     &lsquo;Adrift, with starlit skies above,
+     With starlit seas below,
+     We move with all the suns that move,
+     With all the seas that flow;
+     For bond or free, Earth, Sky, and Sea,
+     Wheel with one circling will,
+     And thy heart drifteth on to me,
+     And only time stands still.
+
+     Between two shores of Death we drift,
+     Behind are things forgot:
+     Before the tide is driving swift
+     To lands beholden not.
+     Above, the sky is far and cold;
+     Below, the moaning sea
+     Sweeps o&rsquo;er the loves that were of old,
+     But, oh, Love! kiss thou me.
+
+     Ah, lonely are the ocean ways,
+     And dangerous the deep,
+     And frail the fairy barque that strays
+     Above the seas asleep!
+     Ah, toil no more at sail nor oar,
+     We drift, or bond or free;
+     On yon far shore the breakers roar,
+     But, oh, Love! kiss thou me.&rsquo; 
+
+     &ldquo;And ever as thou sangest I drew near,
+     Then sudden silence heard our hearts that beat,
+     For now there was an end of doubt and fear,
+     Now passion filled my soul and led my feet;
+     Then silent didst thou rise thy love to meet,
+     Who, sinking on thy breast, knew naught but thee,
+     And in the happy night I kissed thee, Sweet;
+     Ah, Sweet! between the starlight and the sea.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      The last echoes of her rich notes floated down the chamber, and slowly
+      died away; but in my heart they rolled on and on. I have heard among the
+      women-singers at Abouthis voices more perfect than the voice of Cleopatra,
+      but never have I heard one so thrilling or so sweet with passion&rsquo;s
+      honey-notes. And indeed it was not the voice alone, it was the perfumed
+      chamber in which was set all that could move the sense; it was the passion
+      of the thought and words, and the surpassing grace and loveliness of that
+      most royal woman who sang them. For, as she sang, I seemed to think that
+      we twain were indeed floating alone with the night, upon the starlit
+      summer sea. And when she ceased to touch the harp, and, rising, suddenly
+      stretched out her arms towards me, and with the last low notes of song yet
+      quivering upon her lips, let fall the wonder of her eyes upon my eyes, she
+      almost drew me to her. But I remembered, and would not.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hast thou, then, no word of thanks for my poor singing, Harmachis?&rdquo; she
+      said at length.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, O Queen,&rdquo; I answered, speaking very low, for my voice was choked;
+      &ldquo;but thy songs are not good for the sons of men to hear&mdash;of a truth
+      they overwhelm me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Harmachis; there is no fear for thee,&rdquo; she said laughing softly,
+      &ldquo;seeing that I know how far thy thoughts are set from woman&rsquo;s beauty and
+      the common weakness of thy sex. With cold iron we may safely toy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I thought within myself that coldest iron can be brought to whitest heat
+      if the fire be fierce enough. But I said nothing, and, though my hand
+      trembled, I once more grasped the dagger&rsquo;s hilt, and, wild with fear at my
+      own weakness, set myself to find a means to slay her while yet my sense
+      remained.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come hither, Harmachis,&rdquo; she went on, in her softest voice. &ldquo;Come, sit by
+      me, and we will talk together; for I have much to tell thee,&rdquo; and she made
+      place for me at her side upon the silken seat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And I, thinking that I might so more swiftly strike, rose and seated
+      myself some little way from her on the couch, while, flinging back her
+      head, she gazed on me with her slumbrous eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now was my occasion, for her throat and breast were bare, and, with a
+      mighty effort, once again I lifted my hand to clutch the dagger-hilt. But,
+      more quick than thought, she caught my fingers with her own and gently
+      held them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why lookest thou so wildly, Harmachis?&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Art sick?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, sick indeed!&rdquo; I gasped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then lean thou on the cushions and rest thee,&rdquo; she answered, still
+      holding my hand, from which the strength had fled. &ldquo;The fit will surely
+      pass. Too long hast thou laboured with thy stars. How soft is the night
+      air that flows from yonder casement heavy with the breath of lilies! Hark
+      to the whisper of the sea lapping against the rocks, that, though it is
+      faint, yet, being so strong, doth almost drown the quick cool fall of
+      yonder fountain. List to Philomel; how sweet from a full heart of love she
+      sings her message to her dear! Indeed it is a lovely night, and most
+      beautiful is Nature&rsquo;s music, sung with a hundred voices from wind and
+      trees and birds and ocean&rsquo;s wrinkled lips, and yet sung all to tune.
+      Listen, Harmachis: I have guessed something concerning thee. Thou, too,
+      art of a royal race; no humble blood pours in those veins of thine. Surely
+      such a shoot could spring but from the stock of Princes? What! gazest thou
+      at the leafmark on my breast? It was pricked there in honour of great
+      Osiris, whom with thee I worship. See!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let me hence,&rdquo; I groaned, striving to rise; but all my strength had gone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, not yet awhile. Thou wouldst not leave me yet? thou <i>canst</i> not
+      leave me yet. Harmachis, hast thou never loved?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, nay, O Queen! What have I to do with love? Let me hence!&mdash;I am
+      faint&mdash;I am fordone!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never to have loved&mdash;&lsquo;tis strange! Never to have known some
+      woman-heart beat all in tune to thine&mdash;never to have seen the eyes of
+      thy adored aswim with passion&rsquo;s tears, as she sighed her vows upon thy
+      breast!&mdash;Never to have loved!&mdash;never to have lost thyself in the
+      mystery of another&rsquo;s soul; nor to have learned how Nature can overcome our
+      naked loneliness, and with the golden web of love of twain weave one
+      identity! Why, it is never to have lived, Harmachis!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And ever as she murmured she drew nearer to me, till at last, with a long,
+      sweet sigh, she flung one arm about my neck, and gazed upon me with blue,
+      unfathomable eyes, and smiled her dark, slow smile, that, like an opening
+      flower, revealed beauty within beauty hidden. Nearer she bent her queenly
+      form, and still more near&mdash;now her perfumed breath played upon my
+      hair, and now her lips met mine.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And woe is me! In that kiss, more deadly and more strong than the embrace
+      of Death, were forgotten Isis, my heavenly Hope, Oaths, Honour, Country,
+      Friends, all things&mdash;all things save that Cleopatra clasped me in her
+      arms, and called me Love and Lord.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now pledge me,&rdquo; she sighed; &ldquo;pledge me one cup of wine in token of thy
+      love.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I took the draught, and I drank deep; then too late I knew that it was
+      drugged.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I fell upon the couch, and, though my senses still were with me, I could
+      neither speak nor rise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Cleopatra, bending over me, drew the dagger from my robe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>I&rsquo;ve won!</i>&rdquo; she cried, shaking back her long hair. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve won, and
+      for the stake of Egypt, why, &lsquo;twas a game worth playing! With this dagger,
+      then, thou wouldst have slain me, O my royal Rival, whose myrmidons even
+      now are gathered at my palace gate? Art still awake? Now what hinders me
+      that I should not plunge it to <i>thy</i> heart?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I heard and feebly pointed to my breast, for I was fain to die. She drew
+      herself to the full of her imperial height, and the great knife glittered
+      in her hand. Down it came till its edge pricked my flesh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; she cried again, and cast it from her, &ldquo;too well I like thee. It
+      were pity to slay such a man! I give thee thy life. Live on, lost Pharaoh!
+      Live on, poor fallen Prince, blasted by a woman&rsquo;s wit! Live on, Harmachis&mdash;to
+      adorn my triumph!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then sight left me; and in my ears I only heard the song of the
+      nightingale, the murmur of the sea, and the music of Cleopatra&rsquo;s laugh of
+      victory. And as I sank away, the sound of that low laugh still followed me
+      into the land of sleep, and still it follows me through life to death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VIII
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE AWAKING OF HARMACHIS; OF THE SIGHT OF DEATH; OF THE COMING OF
+      CLEOPATRA; AND OF HER COMFORTABLE WORDS
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Once more I woke; it was to find myself in my own chamber. I started up.
+      Surely, I, too, had dreamed a dream? It could be nothing but a dream? It
+      could not be that I woke to know myself a <i>traitor!</i> That the
+      opportunity had gone for ever! That I had betrayed the cause, and that
+      last night those brave men, headed by my uncle, had waited in vain at the
+      outer gate! That Egypt from Abu to Athu was even now waiting&mdash;waiting
+      in vain! Nay, whatever else might be, this could not be! Oh, it was an
+      awful dream which I had dreamed! a second such would slay a man. It were
+      better to die than face such another vision sent from hell. But, though
+      the thing was naught but a hateful phantasy of a mind o&rsquo;er-strained, where
+      was I now? Where was I now? I should be in the Alabaster Hall, waiting
+      till Charmion came forth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Where was I? and O ye Gods! what was that dreadful thing, whose shape was
+      the shape of a man?&mdash;that thing draped in bloodstained white and
+      huddled in a hideous heap at the foot of the couch on which I seemed to
+      lie?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I sprang at it with a shriek, as a lion springs, and struck with all my
+      strength. The blow fell heavily, and beneath its weight the thing rolled
+      over upon its side. Half mad with terror, I rent away the white covering;
+      and there, his knees bound beneath his hanging jaw, was the naked body of
+      a man&mdash;and that man the Roman Captain Paulus! There he lay, through
+      his heart a dagger&mdash;my dagger, handled with the sphinx of gold!&mdash;and
+      pinned by its blade to his broad breast a scroll, and on the scroll,
+      writing in the Roman character. I drew near and read, and this was the
+      writing:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      HARMACHIDI.SALVERE.EGO.SUM.QUEM.SUBDERE.NORAS
+      PAULUS.ROMANUS.DISCE.HINC.QUID.PRODERE.PROSIT.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Greeting, Harmachis! I was that Roman Paulus whom thou didst suborn.
+      Learn now how blessed are traitors!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Sick and faint I staggered back from the sight of that white corpse
+      stained with its own blood. Sick and faint I staggered back, till the wall
+      stayed me, while without the birds sang a merry greeting to the day. So it
+      was no dream, and I was lost! lost!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I thought of my aged father, Amenemhat. Yes, the vision of him flashed
+      into my mind, as he would be, when they came to tell him his son&rsquo;s shame
+      and the ruin of all his hopes. I thought of that patriot priest, my uncle
+      Sepa, waiting the long night through for the signal which never came. Ah,
+      and another thought followed swift! How would it go with them? I was not
+      the only traitor. I, too, had been betrayed. By whom? By yonder Paulus,
+      perchance. If it were Paulus, he knew but little of those who conspired
+      with me. But the secret lists had been in my robe. O Osiris! they were
+      gone! and the fate of Paulus would be the fate of all the patriots in
+      Egypt. And at this thought my mind gave way. I sank and swooned even where
+      I stood.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      My sense came back to me, and the lengthening shadows told me that it was
+      afternoon. I staggered to my feet; the corpse of Paulus was still there,
+      keeping its awful watch above me. I ran desperately to the door. It was
+      barred, and without I heard the tramp of sentinels. As I stood they
+      challenged and grounded their spears. Then the bolts were shot back, the
+      door opened, and radiant, clad in royal attire, came the conquering
+      Cleopatra. She came alone, and the door was shut behind her. I stood like
+      one distraught; but she swept on till she was face to face with me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Greeting, Harmachis,&rdquo; she said, smiling sweetly. &ldquo;So, my messenger has
+      found thee!&rdquo; and she pointed to the corpse of Paulus. &ldquo;Pah! he has an ugly
+      look. Ho! guards!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The door was opened, and two armed Gauls stepped across the threshold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Take away this carrion,&rdquo; said Cleopatra, &ldquo;and fling it to the kites.
+      Stay, draw that dagger from his traitor breast.&rdquo; The men bowed low, and
+      the knife, rusted red with blood, was dragged from the heart of Paulus and
+      laid upon the table. Then they seized him by the head and body and
+      staggered thence, and I heard their heavy footfalls as they bore him down
+      the stairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Methinks, Harmachis, thou art in an evil case,&rdquo; she said, when the sound
+      of the footfalls had died away. &ldquo;How strangely the wheel of Fortune turns!
+      But for that traitor,&rdquo; and she nodded towards the door through which the
+      corpse of Paulus had been carried, &ldquo;I should now be as ill a thing to look
+      on as he is, and the red rust on yonder knife would have been gathered
+      from <i>my</i> heart.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So it was Paulus who had betrayed me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; she went on, &ldquo;and when thou camest to me last night, I <i>knew</i>
+      that thou camest to slay. When, time upon time, thou didst place thy hand
+      within thy robe, I knew that it grasped a dagger hilt, and that thou wast
+      gathering thy courage to the deed which thou didst little love to do. Oh!
+      it was a strange wild hour, well worth the living, and I wondered greatly,
+      from moment to moment, which of us twain would conquer, as we matched
+      guile with guile and force to force!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, Harmachis, the guards tramp before thy door, but be not deceived.
+      Did I not know that I hold thee to me by bonds more strong than prison
+      chains&mdash;did I not know that I am hedged from ill at thy hands by a
+      fence of honour harder for thee to pass than all the spears of all my
+      legions, thou hadst been dead ere now, Harmachis. See, here is thy knife,&rdquo;
+       and she handed me the dagger; &ldquo;now slay me if thou canst,&rdquo; and she drew
+      near, tore open the bosom of her robe, and stood waiting with calm eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou canst not slay me,&rdquo; she went on; &ldquo;for there are things, as I know
+      well, that no man&mdash;no man such as thou art&mdash;may do and live: and
+      this is the chief of them&mdash;to slay the woman who is all his own. Nay,
+      stay thy hand! Turn not that dagger against thy breast, for if thou mayst
+      not slay me, by how much more mayst thou not slay thyself, O thou forsworn
+      Priest of Isis! Art thou, then, so eager to face that outraged Majesty in
+      Amenti? With what eyes, thinkest thou, will the Heavenly Mother look upon
+      Her son, who, shamed in all things and false to his most sacred vow, comes
+      to greet Her, his life-blood on his hands? Where, then, will be the space
+      for thy atonement?&mdash;if, indeed, thou mayest atone!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I could bear no more, for my heart was broken. Alas! it was too true&mdash;I
+      dared not die! I was come to such a pass that I did not even dare to die!
+      I flung myself upon the couch and wept&mdash;wept tears of blood and
+      anguish.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Cleopatra came to me, and, seating herself beside me, she strove to
+      comfort me, throwing her arms about my neck.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, love, look up,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;all is not lost for thee, nor am I
+      angered against thee. We did play a mighty game; but, as I warned thee, I
+      matched my woman&rsquo;s magic against thine, and I have conquered. But I will
+      be open with thee. Both as Queen and woman thou hast my pity&mdash;ay, and
+      more; nor do I love to see thee plunged in sorrow. It was well and right
+      that thou shouldst strive to win back that throne my fathers seized, and
+      the ancient liberty of Egypt. Myself as lawful Queen had done the same,
+      nor shrunk from the deed of darkness to which I was sworn. Therein, then,
+      thou hast my sympathy, that ever goes out to what is great and bold. It is
+      well also that thou shouldst grieve over the greatness of thy fall.
+      Therein, then, as woman&mdash;as loving woman&mdash;thou hast my sympathy.
+      Nor is all lost. Thy plan was foolish&mdash;for, as I hold, Egypt could
+      never have stood alone&mdash;for though thou hadst won the crown and
+      country&mdash;as without a doubt thou must have done&mdash;yet there was
+      the Roman to be reckoned with. And for thy hope learn this: I am little
+      known. There is no heart in this wide land that beats with a truer love
+      for ancient Khem than does this heart of mine&mdash;nay, not thine own,
+      Harmachis. Yet I have been heavily shackled heretofore&mdash;for wars,
+      rebellions, envies, plots, have hemmed me in on every side, so that I
+      might not serve my people as I would. But thou, Harmachis, shalt show me
+      how. Thou shalt be my counsellor and my love. Is it a little thing,
+      Harmachis, to have won the heart of Cleopatra; that heart&mdash;fie on
+      thee!&mdash;that thou wouldst have stilled? Yes, <i>thou</i> shalt unite
+      me to my people and we will reign together, thus linking in one the new
+      kingdom and the old and the new thought and the old. So do all things work
+      for good&mdash;ay, for the very best: and thus, by another and a gentler
+      road, thou shalt climb to Pharaoh&rsquo;s throne.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See thou this, Harmachis: thy treachery shall be cloaked about as much as
+      may be. Was it, then, thy fault that a Roman knave betrayed thy plans?
+      that, thereon, thou wast drugged, thy secret papers stolen and their key
+      guessed? Will it, then, be a blame to thee, the great plot being broken
+      and those who built it scattered, that thou, still faithful to thy trust,
+      didst serve thee of such means as Nature gave thee, and win the heart of
+      Egypt&rsquo;s Queen, that, through her gentle love, thou mightest yet attain thy
+      ends and spread thy wings of power across the land of Nile? Am I an
+      ill-counsellor, thinkest thou, Harmachis?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I lifted my head, and a ray of hope crept into the darkness of my heart;
+      for when men fall they grasp at feathers. Then, I spoke for the first
+      time:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And those with me&mdash;those who trusted me&mdash;what of them?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; she answered, &ldquo;Amenemhat, thy father, the aged Priest of Abouthis;
+      and Sepa, thy uncle, that fiery patriot, whose great heart is hid beneath
+      so common a shell of form; and&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I thought she would have said Charmion, but she named her not.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And many others&mdash;oh, I know them all!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay!&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;what of them?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hear now, Harmachis,&rdquo; she answered, rising and placing her hand upon my
+      arm, &ldquo;for thy sake I will show mercy to them. I will do no more than must
+      be done. I swear by my throne and by all the Gods of Egypt that not one
+      hair of thy aged father&rsquo;s head shall be harmed by me; and, if it be not
+      too late, I will also spare thy uncle Sepa, ay, and the others. I will not
+      do as did my forefather, Epiphanes, who, when the Egyptians rose against
+      him, dragged Athinis, Pausiras, Chesuphus, and Irobasthus, bound to his
+      chariot&mdash;not as Achilles dragged Hector, but yet living&mdash;round
+      the city walls. I will spare them all, save the Hebrews, if there be any
+      Hebrews; for the Jews I hate.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There are no Hebrews,&rdquo; I said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;for no Hebrew will I ever spare. Am I then,
+      indeed, so cruel a woman as they say? In thy list, Harmachis, were many
+      doomed to die; and I have but taken the life of one Roman knave, a double
+      traitor, for he betrayed both me and thee. Art thou not overwhelmed,
+      Harmachis, with the weight of mercy which I give thee, because&mdash;such
+      are a woman&rsquo;s reasons&mdash;thou pleasest me, Harmachis? Nay, by Serapis!&rdquo;
+       she added with a little laugh, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll change my mind; I will not give thee
+      so much for nothing. Thou shalt buy it from me, and the price shall be a
+      heavy one&mdash;it shall be a kiss, Harmachis.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; I said, turning from that fair temptress, &ldquo;the price is too heavy;
+      I kiss no more.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bethink thee,&rdquo; she answered, with a heavy frown. &ldquo;Bethink thee and
+      choose. I am but a woman, Harmachis, and one who is not wont to sue to
+      men. Do as thou wilt; but this I say to thee&mdash;if thou dost put me
+      away, I will gather up the mercy I have meted out. Therefore, most
+      virtuous priest, choose thou between the heavy burden of my love and the
+      swift death of thy aged father and of all those who plotted with him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I glanced at her and saw that she was angered, for her eyes shone and her
+      bosom heaved. So, I sighed and kissed her, thereby setting the seal upon
+      my shame and bondage. Then, smiling like the triumphant Aphrodité of the
+      Greeks, she went thence, bearing the dagger with her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I knew not yet how deeply I was betrayed; or why I was still left to draw
+      the breath of life; or why Cleopatra, the tiger-hearted, had grown
+      merciful. I did not know that she feared to slay me, lest, so strong was
+      the plot and so feeble her hold upon the Double Crown, the tumult that
+      might tread hard upon the tidings of my murder should shake her from the
+      throne&mdash;even when I was no more. I did not know that because of fear
+      and the weight of policy only she showed scant mercy to those whom I had
+      betrayed, or that because of cunning and not for the holy sake of woman&rsquo;s
+      love&mdash;though, in truth, she liked me well enough&mdash;she chose
+      rather to bind me to her by the fibres of my heart. And yet I will say
+      this in her behalf: even when the danger-cloud had melted from her sky she
+      kept faith, nor, save Paulus and one other, did any suffer the utmost
+      penalty of death for their part in the great plot against Cleopatra&rsquo;s
+      crown and dynasty. But they suffered many other things.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And so she went, leaving the vision of her glory to strive with the shame
+      and sorrow in my heart. Oh, bitter were the hours that could not now be
+      made light with prayer. For the link between me and the Divine was
+      snapped, and Isis communed with Her Priest no more. Bitter were the hours
+      and dark, but ever through their darkness shone the starry eyes of
+      Cleopatra, and came the echo of her whispered love. For not yet was the
+      cup of sorrow full. Hope still lingered in my heart, and I could almost
+      think that I had failed to some higher end, and that in the depths of ruin
+      I should find another and more flowery path to triumph.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For thus those who sin deceive themselves, striving to lay the burden of
+      their evil deeds upon the back of Fate, striving to believe their
+      wickedness may compass good, and to murder Conscience with the sharp plea
+      of Necessity. But it can avail nothing, for hand in hand down the path of
+      sin rush Remorse and Ruin, and woe to him they follow! Ay, and woe to me
+      who of all sinners am the chief!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IX
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE IMPRISONMENT OF HARMACHIS; OF THE SCORN OF CHARMION; OF THE SETTING
+      FREE OF HARMACHIS; AND OF THE COMING OF QUINTUS DELLIUS
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a space of eleven days I was thus kept prisoned in my chamber; nor did
+      I see anyone except the sentries at my doors, the slaves who in silence
+      brought me food and drink, and Cleopatra&rsquo;s self, who came continually.
+      But, though her words of love were many, she would tell me nothing of how
+      things went without. She came in many moods&mdash;now gay and laughing,
+      now full of wise thoughts and speech, and now passionate only, and to
+      every mood she gave some new-found charm. She was full of talk as to how I
+      should help her make Egypt great, and lessen the burdens on the people,
+      and fright the Roman eagles back. And, though at first I listened heavily
+      when she spoke thus, by slow advance as she wrapped me closer and yet more
+      close in her magic web, from which there was no escape, my mind fell in
+      time with hers. Then I, too, opened something of my heart, and somewhat
+      also of the plans that I had formed for Egypt. She seemed to listen
+      gladly, weighing them all, and spoke of means and methods, telling me how
+      she would purify the Faith and repair the ancient temples&mdash;ay, and
+      build new ones to the Gods. And ever she crept deeper into my heart, till
+      at length, now that every other thing had gone from me, I learned to love
+      her with all the unspent passion of my aching soul. I had naught left to
+      me but Cleopatra&rsquo;s love, and I twined my life about it, and brooded on it
+      as a widow over her only babe. And thus the very author of my shame became
+      my all, my dearest dear, and I loved her with a strong love that grew and
+      grew, till it seemed to swallow up the past and make the present a dream.
+      For she had conquered me, she had robbed me of my honour, and steeped me
+      to the lips in shame, and I, poor fallen, blinded wretch, I kissed the rod
+      that smote me, and was her very slave.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Ay, even now, in those dreams which still come when Sleep unlocks the
+      secret heart, and sets its terrors free to roam through the opened halls
+      of Thought, I seem to see her royal form, as erst I saw it, come with arms
+      outstretched and Love&rsquo;s own light shining in her eyes, with lips apart and
+      flowing locks, and stamped upon her face the look of utter tenderness that
+      she alone could wear. Ay, still, after all the years, I seem to see her
+      come as erst she came, and still I wake to know her an unutterable lie!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And thus one day she came. She had fled in haste, she said, from some
+      great council summoned concerning the wars of Antony in Syria, and she
+      came, as she had left the council, in all her robes of state, the sceptre
+      in her hand, and on her brow the uræus diadem of gold. There she sat
+      before me, laughing; for, wearying of them, she had told the envoys to
+      whom she gave audience in the council that she was called from their
+      presence by a sudden message come from Rome; and the jest seemed merry to
+      her. Suddenly she rose, took the diadem from her brow, and set it on my
+      hair, and on my shoulders her royal mantle, and in my hand the sceptre,
+      and bowed the knee before me. Then, laughing again, she kissed me on the
+      lips, and said I was indeed her King. But, remembering how I had been
+      crowned in the halls of Abouthis, and remembering also that wreath of
+      roses of which the odour haunts me yet, I rose, pale with wrath, and cast
+      the trinkets from me, asking how she dared to mock me&mdash;her caged
+      bird. And I think there was that about me which startled her, for she fell
+      back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Harmachis,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;be not wroth! How knowest thou that I mock
+      thee? How knowest thou that thou shalt not be Pharaoh in fact and deed?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What meanest thou?&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Wilt thou, then, wed me before Egypt? How
+      else can I be Pharaoh now?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She cast down her eyes. &ldquo;Perchance, love, it is in my mind to wed thee,&rdquo;
+       she said gently. &ldquo;Listen,&rdquo; she went on: &ldquo;Thou growest pale, here, in this
+      prison, and thou dost eat little. Gainsay me not! I know it from the
+      slaves. I have kept thee here, Harmachis, for thy own sake, that is so
+      dear to me; and for thy own sake, and thy honour&rsquo;s sake, thou must still
+      seem to be my prisoner. Else wouldst thou be shamed and slain&mdash;ay,
+      murdered secretly. But I can meet thee here no more! therefore to-morrow I
+      shall free thee in all, save in the name, and thou shalt once more be seen
+      at Court as my astronomer. And I will give this reason&mdash;that thou
+      hast cleared thyself; and, moreover, that thy auguries as regards the war
+      have been auguries of truth&mdash;as, indeed, they have, though for this I
+      have no cause to thank thee, seeing that thou didst suit thy prophecies to
+      fit thy cause. Now, farewell; for I must return to those heavy-browed
+      ambassadors; and grow not so sudden wroth, Harmachis, for who knows what
+      may come to pass betwixt thee and me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And, with a little nod, she went, leaving it on my mind that she had it in
+      her heart to wed me openly. And of a truth, I believe that, at this hour,
+      such was her thought. For, if she loved me not, still she held me dear,
+      and as yet she had not wearied of me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the morrow Cleopatra came not, but Charmion came&mdash;Charmion, whom I
+      had not seen since that fatal night of ruin. She entered and stood before
+      me, with pale face and downcast eyes, and her first words were words of
+      bitterness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pardon me,&rdquo; she said, in her gentle voice, &ldquo;in that I dare to come to
+      thee in Cleopatra&rsquo;s place. Thy joy is not delayed for long, for thou shalt
+      see her presently.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I shrank at her words, as well I might, and, seeing her vantage, she
+      seized it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I come, Harmachis&mdash;royal no more!&mdash;I come to say that thou art
+      free! Thou art free to face thine own infamy, and see it thrown back from
+      every eye which trusted thee, as shadows are from water. I come to tell
+      thee that the great plot&mdash;the plot of twenty years and more&mdash;is
+      at its utter end. None have been slain, indeed, unless it is Sepa, who has
+      vanished. But all the leaders have been seized and put in chains, or
+      driven from the land, and their party is broken and scattered. The storm
+      has melted before it burst. Egypt is lost, and lost for ever, for her last
+      hope is gone! No longer may she struggle&mdash;now for all time she must
+      bow her neck to the yoke, and bare her back to the rod of the oppressor!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I groaned aloud. &ldquo;Alas, I was betrayed!&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Paulus betrayed us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou wast betrayed? Nay, thou thyself wast the betrayer! How came it that
+      thou didst not slay Cleopatra when thou wast alone with her? Speak, thou
+      forsworn!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She drugged me,&rdquo; I said again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Harmachis!&rdquo; answered the pitiless girl, &ldquo;how low art thou fallen from
+      that Prince whom once I knew!&mdash;thou who dost not scorn to be a liar!
+      Yea, thou wast drugged&mdash;drugged with a love-philtre! Yea, thou didst
+      sell Egypt and thy cause for the price of a wanton&rsquo;s kiss! Thou Sorrow and
+      thou Shame!&rdquo; she went on, pointing her finger at me and lifting her eyes
+      to my face, &ldquo;thou Scorn!&mdash;thou Outcast!&mdash;and thou Contempt! Deny
+      it if thou canst. Ay, shrink from me&mdash;knowing what thou art, well
+      mayst thou shrink! Crawl to Cleopatra&rsquo;s feet, and kiss her sandals till
+      such time as it pleases her to trample thee in thy kindred dirt; but from
+      all honest folk <i>shrink!</i>&mdash;<i>shrink!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      My soul quivered beneath the lash of her bitter scorn and hate, but I had
+      no words to answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How comes it,&rdquo; I said at last in a heavy voice, &ldquo;that thou, too, art not
+      betrayed, but art still here to taunt me, thou who once didst swear that
+      thou didst love me? Being a woman, hast thou no pity for the frailty of
+      man?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My name was not on the lists,&rdquo; she said, dropping her dark eyes. &ldquo;Here is
+      an opportunity: betray me also, Harmachis! Ay, it is because I once loved
+      thee&mdash;dost thou, indeed, remember it?&mdash;that I feel thy fall the
+      more. The shame of one whom we have loved must in some sort become our
+      shame, and must ever cling to us, because we blindly held a thing so base
+      close to our inmost heart. Art thou also, then, a fool? Wouldst thou,
+      fresh from thy royal wanton&rsquo;s arms, come to me for comfort&mdash;to <i>me</i>
+      of all the world?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How know I,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;that it was not thou who, in thy jealous anger,
+      didst betray our plans? Charmion, long ago Sepa warned me against thee,
+      and of a truth now that I recall&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is like a traitor,&rdquo; she broke in, reddening to her brow, &ldquo;to think
+      that all are of his family, and hold a common mind! Nay, I betrayed thee
+      not; it was that poor knave, Paulus, whose heart failed him at the last,
+      and who is rightly served. Nor will I stay to hear thoughts so base.
+      Harmachis&mdash;royal no more!&mdash;Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, bids me
+      say that thou art free, and that she waits thee in the Alabaster Hall.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And shooting one swift glance through her long lashes she curtsied and was
+      gone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So once more I came and went about the Court, though but sparingly, for my
+      heart was full of shame and terror, and on every face I feared to see the
+      scorn of those who knew me for what I was. But I saw nothing, for all
+      those who had knowledge of the plot had fled, and Charmion had spoken no
+      word, for her own sake. Also, Cleopatra had put it about that I was
+      innocent. But my guilt lay heavy on me, and made me thin and wore away the
+      beauty of my countenance. And though I was free in name, yet I was ever
+      watched; nor might I stir beyond the palace grounds.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And at length came the day which brought with it Quintus Dellius, that
+      false Roman knight who ever served the rising star. He bore letters to
+      Cleopatra from Marcus Antonius, the Triumvir, who, fresh from the victory
+      of Philippi, was now in Asia wringing gold from the subject kings with
+      which to satisfy the greed of his legionaries.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Well I mind me of the day. Cleopatra, clad in her robes of state, attended
+      by the officers of her Court, among whom I stood, sat in the great hall on
+      her throne of gold, and bade the heralds admit the Ambassador of Antony,
+      the Triumvir. The great doors were thrown wide, and amidst the blare of
+      trumpets and salutes of the Gallic guards the Roman came in, clad in
+      glittering golden armour and a scarlet cloak of silk, and followed by his
+      suite of officers. He was smooth-faced and fair to look upon, and with a
+      supple form; but his mouth was cold, and false were his shifting eyes. And
+      while the heralds called out his name, titles, and offices, he fixed his
+      gaze on Cleopatra&mdash;who sat idly on her throne all radiant with beauty&mdash;as
+      a man who is amazed. Then when the heralds had made an end, and he still
+      stood thus, not stirring, Cleopatra spoke in the Latin tongue:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Greeting to thee, noble Dellius, envoy of the most mighty Antony, whose
+      shadow lies across the world as though Mars himself now towered up above
+      us petty Princes&mdash;greeting and welcome to our poor city of
+      Alexandria. Unfold, we pray thee, the purpose of thy coming.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Still the crafty Dellius made no answer, but stood as a man amazed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What ails thee, noble Dellius, that thou dost not speak?&rdquo; asked
+      Cleopatra. &ldquo;Hast thou, then, wandered so long in Asia that the doors of
+      Roman speech are shut to thee? What tongue hast thou? Name it, and We will
+      speak in it&mdash;for all tongues are known to Us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then at last he spoke in a soft full voice: &ldquo;Oh, pardon me, most lovely
+      Egypt, if I have thus been stricken dumb before thee: but too great
+      beauty, like Death himself, doth paralyse the tongue and steal our sense
+      away. The eyes of him who looks upon the fires of the mid-day sun are
+      blind to all beside, and thus this sudden vision of thy glory, royal
+      Egypt, overwhelmed my mind, and left me helpless and unwitting of all
+      things else.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of a truth, noble Dellius,&rdquo; answered Cleopatra, &ldquo;they teach a pretty
+      school of flattery yonder in Cilicia.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How goes the saying here in Alexandria?&rdquo; replied the courtly Roman: &ldquo;&lsquo;&lsquo;The
+      breath of flattery cannot waft a cloud,&rsquo; [*] does it not? But to my task.
+      Here, royal Egypt, are letters under the hand and seal of the noble Antony
+      treating of certain matters of the State. Is it thy pleasure that I should
+      read them openly?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] In other words, what is Divine is beyond the reach of
+     human praise.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Break the seals and read,&rdquo; she answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then bowing, he broke the seals and read:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The <i>Triumviri Reipublicæ Constituendæ</i>, by the mouth of Marcus
+      Antonius, the Triumvir, to Cleopatra, by grace of the Roman People Queen
+      of Upper and Lower Egypt, send greeting. Whereas it has come to our
+      knowledge that thou, Cleopatra, hast, contrary to thy promise and thy
+      duty, both by thy servant Allienus and by thy servant Serapion, the
+      Governor of Cyprus, aided the rebel murderer Cassius against the arms of
+      the most noble Triumvirate. And, whereas it has come to our knowledge that
+      thou thyself wast but lately making ready a great fleet to this end. We
+      summon thee that thou dost without delay journey to Cilicia, there to meet
+      the noble Antony, and in person make answer concerning these charges which
+      are laid against thee. And we warn thee that if thou dost disobey this our
+      summons it is at thy peril. Farewell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The eyes of Cleopatra flashed as she hearkened to these high words, and I
+      saw her hands tighten on the golden lions&rsquo; heads whereon they rested.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We have had the flattery,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;and now, lest we be cloyed with
+      sweets, we have its antidote! Listen thou, Dellius: the charges in that
+      letter, or, rather, in that writ of summons, are false, as all folk can
+      bear us witness. But it is not now, and it is not to thee, that We will
+      make defence of our acts of war and policy. Nor will We leave our kingdom
+      to journey into far Cilicia, and there, like some poor suppliant at law,
+      plead our cause before the Court of the Noble Antony. If Antony would have
+      speech with us, and inquire concerning these high matters, the sea is
+      open, and his welcome shall be royal. Let him come thither! That is our
+      answer to thee and to the Triumvirate, O Dellius!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Dellius smiled as one who would put away the weight of wrath, and once
+      more spoke:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Royal Egypt, thou knowest not the noble Antony. He is stern on paper, and
+      ever he sets down his thoughts as though his stylus were a spear dipped in
+      the blood of men. But face to face with him, thou, of all the world, shalt
+      find him the gentlest warrior that ever won a battle. Be advised, O Egypt!
+      and come. Send me not hence with such angry words, for if thou dost draw
+      Antony to Alexandria, then woe to Alexandria, to the people of the Nile,
+      and to thee, great Egypt! For then he will come armed and breathing war,
+      and it shall go hard with thee, who dost defy the gathered might of Rome.
+      I pray thee, then, obey this summons. Come to Cilicia; come with peaceful
+      gifts and not in arms. Come in thy beauty, and tricked in thy best attire,
+      and thou hast naught to fear from the noble Antony.&rdquo; He paused and looked
+      at her meaningly; while I, taking his drift, felt the angry blood surge
+      into my face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cleopatra, too, understood, for I saw her rest her chin upon her hand and
+      the cloud of thought gathered in her eyes. For a time she sat thus, while
+      the crafty Dellius watched her curiously. And Charmion, standing with the
+      other ladies by the throne, she also read his meaning, for her face lit
+      up, as a summer cloud lights in the evening when the broad lightning
+      flares behind it. Then once more it grew pale and quiet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length Cleopatra spoke. &ldquo;This is a heavy matter,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;and
+      therefore, noble Dellius, we must have time to let our judgment ripen.
+      Rest thou here, and make thee as merry as our poor circumstances allow.
+      Thou shalt have thy answer within ten days.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The envoy thought awhile, then replied smiling: &ldquo;It is well, O Egypt; on
+      the tenth day from now I will attend for my answer, and on the eleventh I
+      sail hence to join Antony my Lord.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Once more, at a sign from Cleopatra, the trumpets blared, and he withdrew
+      bowing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER X
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE TROUBLE OF CLEOPATRA; OF HER OATH TO HARMACHIS; AND OF THE TELLING
+      BY HARMACHIS TO CLEOPATRA OF THE SECRET OF THE TREASURE THAT LAY BENEATH
+      THE MASS OF &ldquo;HER&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      That same night Cleopatra summoned me to her private chamber. I went, and
+      found her much troubled in mind; never before had I seen her so deeply
+      moved. She was alone, and, like some trapped lioness, walked to and fro
+      across the marble floor, while thought chased thought across her mind,
+      each, as clouds scudding over the sea, for a moment casting its shadow in
+      her deep eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So thou art come, Harmachis,&rdquo; she said, resting for a while, as she took
+      my hand. &ldquo;Counsel me, for never did I need counsel more. Oh, what days
+      have the Gods measured out to me&mdash;days restless as the ocean! I have
+      known no peace from childhood up, and it seems none shall I know. Scarce
+      by a very little have I escaped thy dagger&rsquo;s point, Harmachis, when this
+      new trouble, that, like a storm, has gathered beneath the horizon&rsquo;s rim,
+      suddenly bursts over me. Didst mark that tigerish fop? Well should I love
+      to trap him! How soft he spoke! Ay, he purred like a cat, and all the time
+      he stretched his claws. Didst hear the letter, too? it has an ugly sound.
+      I know this Antony. When I was but a child, budding into womanhood, I saw
+      him; but my eyes were ever quick, and I took his measure. Half Hercules
+      and half a fool, with a dash of genius veining his folly through. Easily
+      led by those who enter at the gates of his voluptuous sense; but if
+      crossed, an iron foe. True to his friends, if, indeed, he loves them; and
+      ofttimes false to his own interest. Generous, hardy, and in adversity a
+      man of virtue; in prosperity a sot and a slave to woman. That is Antony.
+      How deal with such a man, whom fate and opportunity, despite himself, have
+      set on the crest of fortune&rsquo;s wave? One day it will overwhelm him; but
+      till that day he sweeps across the world and laughs at those who drown.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Antony is but a man,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;and a man with many foes; and, being
+      but a man, he can be overthrown.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, he can be overthrown; but he is one of three, Harmachis. Now that
+      Cassius hath gone where all fools go, Rome has thrown out a hydra head.
+      Crush one, and another hisses in thy face. There&rsquo;s Lepidus, and with him,
+      that young Octavianus, whose cold eyes may yet with a smile of triumph
+      look on the murdered forms of empty, worthless Lepidus, of Antony, and of
+      Cleopatra. If I go not to Cilicia, mark thou! Antony will knit up a peace
+      with these Parthians, and, taking the tales they tell of me for truth&mdash;and,
+      indeed, there is truth in them&mdash;will fall with all his force on
+      Egypt. And how then?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How then? Why, then we&rsquo;ll drum him back to Rome.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah, thou sayest so, and, perchance, Harmachis, had I not won that game we
+      played together some twelve days gone, thou, being Pharaoh, mightest well
+      have done this thing, for round thy throne old Egypt would have gathered.
+      But Egypt loves not me nor my Greek blood; and I have but now scattered
+      that great plot of thine, in which half the land was meshed. Will these
+      men, then, arise to succour me? Were Egypt true to me, I could, indeed,
+      hold my own against all the force that Rome may bring; but Egypt hates me,
+      and had as lief be ruled by the Roman as the Greek. Still I might make
+      defence had I the gold, for with money soldiers can be bought to feed the
+      maw of mercenary battle. But I have none; my treasuries are dry, and
+      though there is wealth in the land, yet debts perplex me. These wars have
+      brought me ruin, and I know not how to find a talent. Perchance,
+      Harmachis, thou who art, by hereditary right, Priest of the Pyramids,&rdquo; and
+      she drew near and looked me in the eyes, &ldquo;perchance, if long descended
+      rumour does not lie, thou canst tell me where I can touch the gold to save
+      thy land from ruin, and thy Love from the grasp of Antony? Say, is it so?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I thought a while, and then I answered:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And if such a tale were true, and if I could show thee treasure stored by
+      the mighty Pharaohs of the most far-off age against the needs of Khem, how
+      can I know that thou wouldst indeed make use of that wealth to those good
+      ends?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is there, then, a treasure?&rdquo; she asked curiously. &ldquo;Nay, fret me not,
+      Harmachis; for of a truth the very name of gold at this time of want is
+      like the sight of water in the desert.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I believe,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;that there is such a treasure, though I myself have
+      never seen it. But I know this, that if it still lie in the place where it
+      was set, it is because so heavy a curse will rest upon him who shall lay
+      hands on it wickedly and for selfish ends, that none of those Pharaohs to
+      whom it has been shown have dared to touch it, however sore their need.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;they were cowardly aforetime, or else their need was not
+      great. Wilt thou show me this treasure, then, Harmachis?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;I will show it to thee if it still be there, when
+      thou hast sworn that thou wilt use it to defend Egypt from this Roman
+      Antony and for the welfare of her people.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I swear it!&rdquo; she said earnestly. &ldquo;Oh, I swear by every God in Khem that
+      if thou showest me this great treasure, I will defy Antony and send
+      Dellius back to Cilicia with sharper words than those he brought. Yes,
+      I&rsquo;ll do more, Harmachis: so soon as may be, I will take thee to husband
+      before all the world, and thou thyself shalt carry out thy plans and beat
+      off the Roman eagles.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus she spoke, gazing at me with truthful, earnest eyes. I believed her,
+      and for the first time since my fall was for a moment happy, thinking that
+      all was not lost to me, and that with Cleopatra, whom I loved thus madly,
+      I might yet win my place and power back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Swear it, Cleopatra!&rdquo; I said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I swear, beloved! and thus I seal my oath!&rdquo; and she kissed me on the
+      forehead. And I, too, kissed her; and we talked of what we would do when
+      we were wed, and how we should overcome the Roman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And thus I was again beguiled; though I believe that, had it not been for
+      the jealous anger of Charmion&mdash;which, as shall be seen, was ever
+      urging her forward to fresh deeds of shame&mdash;Cleopatra would have
+      wedded me and broken with the Roman. And, indeed, in the issue, it had
+      been better for her and Egypt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We sat far into the night, and I revealed to her somewhat of that ancient
+      secret of the mighty treasure hid beneath the mass of <i>Her</i>. Thither,
+      it was agreed, we should go on the morrow, and the second night from now
+      attempt its search. So, early on the next day, a boat was secretly made
+      ready, and Cleopatra entered it, veiled as an Egyptian lady about to make
+      a pilgrimage to the Temple of Horemkhu. And I also entered, cloaked as a
+      pilgrim, and with us ten of her most trusted servants disguised as
+      sailors. But Charmion went not with us. We sailed with a fair wind from
+      the Canopic mouth of the Nile; and that night, pushing on with the moon,
+      we reached Sais at midnight, and here rested for a while. At dawn we once
+      more loosed our craft, and all that day sailed swiftly, till, at last, at
+      the third hour from the sunset, we came in sight of the lights of that
+      fortress which is called Babylon. Here, on the opposite bank of the river,
+      we moored our ship safely in a bed of reeds.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, on foot and secretly, we set out for the pyramids, which were at a
+      distance of two leagues, Cleopatra, I and one trusted eunuch, for we left
+      the other servants with the boat. Only I caught an ass for Cleopatra to
+      ride that was wandering in a tilled field, and threw a cloak upon it. She
+      sat on it and I led the ass by paths I knew, the eunuch following us on
+      foot. And, within little more than an hour, having gained the great
+      causeway, we saw the mighty pyramids towering up through the moonlit air
+      and aweing us to silence. We passed on in utter silence, through the
+      haunted city of the dead, for all around us stood the solemn tombs, till
+      at length we climbed the rocky hill, and stood in the deep shadow of Khufu
+      Khut, the splendid Throne of Khufu.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of a truth,&rdquo; whispered Cleopatra, as she gazed up the dazzling marble
+      slope above her, everywhere blazoned over with a million mystic characters&mdash;&ldquo;of
+      a truth, there were Gods ruling in Khem in those days, and not men. This
+      place is sad as Death&mdash;ay, and as mighty and far from man. Is it here
+      that we must enter?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;it is not here. Pass on.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I led the way through a thousand ancient tombs, till we stood in the
+      shadow of Ur the Great, and gazed at his red heaven-piercing mass.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it here that we must enter?&rdquo; she whispered once again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;it is not here. Pass on.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      We passed on through many more tombs, till we stood in the shadow of <i>Her</i>,[*]
+      and Cleopatra gazed astonished at its polished beauty, which for thousands
+      of years, night by night, had mirrored back the moon, and at the black
+      girdle of Ethiopian stone that circled its base about. For this is the
+      most beautiful of all pyramids.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] The &ldquo;Upper,&rdquo; now known as the Third Pyramid.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it here that we must enter?&rdquo; she said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I answered, &ldquo;It is here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      We passed round between the Temple of the Worship of his Divine Majesty,
+      Menkau-ra, the Osirian, and in the base of the pyramid till we came to the
+      north side. Here in the centre is graved the name of Pharaoh Menkau-ra,
+      who built the pyramid to be his tomb, and stored his treasure in it
+      against the need of Khem.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If the treasure still remains,&rdquo; I said to Cleopatra, &ldquo;as it remained in
+      the days of my great-great-grandfather, who was Priest of this Pyramid
+      before me, it is hid deep in the womb of the mass before thee, Cleopatra;
+      nor can it be come by without toil, danger, and terror of mind. Art thou
+      prepared to enter&mdash;for thou thyself must enter and must judge?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Canst thou not go in with the eunuch, Harmachis, and bring the treasure
+      forth?&rdquo; she said, for a little her courage began to fail her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Cleopatra,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;not even for thee and for the weal of Egypt
+      can I do this thing, for of all sins it would be the greatest sin. But it
+      is lawful for me to do this. I, as hereditary holder of the secret, may,
+      upon demand, show to the ruling monarch of Khem the place where the
+      treasure lies, and show also the warning that is written. And if on seeing
+      and reading, the Pharaoh deems that the need of Khem is so sore and strait
+      that it is lawful for him to brave the curse of the Dead and draw forth
+      the treasure, it is well, for on his head must rest the weight of this
+      dread deed. Three monarchs&mdash;so say the records that I have read&mdash;have
+      thus dared to enter in the time of need. They were the Divine Queen
+      Hatshepsu, that wonder known to the Gods alone; her Divine brother
+      Tahutimes Men-Kheper-ra; and the Divine Rameses Mi-amen. But of these
+      three Majesties, not one when they saw dared to touch; for, though sharp
+      their need, it was not great enough to consecrate the act. So, fearing
+      lest the curse should fall upon them, they went hence sorrowing.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She thought a little, till at last her spirit overcame her fear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At the least I will see with mine own eyes,&rdquo; she said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; I answered. Then, stones having been piled up by me and the
+      eunuch who was with us on a certain spot at the base of the pyramid, to
+      somewhat more than the height of a man, I climbed on them and searched for
+      the secret mark, no larger than a leaf. I found it with some trouble, for
+      the weather and the rubbing of the wind-stirred sand had worn even the
+      Ethiopian stone. Having found it, I pressed on it with all my strength in
+      a certain fashion. Even after the lapse of many years the stone swung
+      round, showing a little opening, through which a man might scarcely creep.
+      As it swung, a mighty bat, white in colour as though with unreckoned age,
+      and such as I had never seen before for bigness, for his measure was the
+      measure of a hawk, flew forth and for a moment hovered over Cleopatra,
+      then sailed slowly up and up in circles, till at last he was lost in the
+      bright light of the moon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Cleopatra uttered a cry of terror, and the eunuch, who was watching,
+      fell down in fear, believing it to be the guardian Spirit of the pyramid.
+      And I, too, feared, though I said nothing. For even now I believe that it
+      was the Spirit of Menkau-ra, the Osirian, who, taking the form of a bat,
+      flew forth from his holy House in warning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I waited a while, till the foul air should clear from the passage. Then I
+      drew out the lamps, kindled them, and passed them, to the number of three,
+      into the entrance of the passage. This done, I went to the eunuch, and,
+      taking him aside, I swore him by the living spirit of Him who sleeps at
+      Abouthis that he should not reveal those things which he was about to see.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This he swore, trembling sorely, for he was very much afraid. Nor, indeed,
+      did he reveal them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This done, I clambered through the opening, taking with me a coil of rope,
+      which I wound around my middle, and beckoned to Cleopatra to come. Making
+      fast the skirt of her robe, she came, and I drew her through the opening,
+      so that at length she stood behind me in the passage which is lined with
+      slabs of granite. After her came the eunuch, and he also stood in the
+      passage. Then, having taken counsel of the plan of the passage that I had
+      brought with me, and which, in signs that none but the initiated can read,
+      was copied from those ancient writings that had come down to me through
+      one-and-forty generations of my predecessors, the Priests of this Pyramid
+      of <i>Her</i>, and of the worship of the Temple of the Divine Menkau-ra,
+      the Osirian, I led the way through that darksome place towards the utter
+      silence of the tomb. Guided by the feeble light of our lamps, we passed
+      down the steep incline, gasping in the heat and the thick, stagnated air.
+      Presently we had left the region of the masonry and were slipping down a
+      gallery hewn in the living rock. For twenty paces or more it ran steeply.
+      Then its slope lessened and shortly we found ourselves in a chamber
+      painted white, so low that I, being tall, had scarcely room to stand; but
+      in length four paces, and in breadth three, and cased throughout with
+      sculptured panels. Here Cleopatra sank upon the floor and rested awhile,
+      overcome by the heat and the utter darkness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Rise!&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;We must not linger here, or we faint.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So she rose, and passing hand in hand through that chamber, we found
+      ourselves face to face with a mighty door of granite, let down from the
+      roof in grooves. Once more I took counsel of the plan, pressed with my
+      foot upon a certain stone, and waited. Then, suddenly and softly, I know
+      not by what means, the mass heaved itself from its bed of living rock. We
+      passed beneath, and found ourselves face to face with a second door of
+      granite. Again I pressed on a certain spot, and this door swung wide of
+      itself, and we went through, to find ourselves face to face with a third
+      door, yet more mighty than the two through which we had won our way.
+      Following the secret plan, I struck this door with my foot upon a certain
+      spot, and it sank slowly as though at a word of magic till its head was
+      level with the floor of rock. We crossed and gained another passage which,
+      descending gently for a length of fourteen paces, led us into a great
+      chamber, paved with black marble, more than nine cubits high, by nine
+      cubits broad, and thirty cubits long. In this marble floor was sunk a
+      great sarcophagus of granite, and on its lid were graved the name and
+      titles of the Queen of Menkau-ra. In this chamber, too, the air was purer,
+      though I know not by what means it came thither.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is the treasure here?&rdquo; gasped Cleopatra.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;follow me,&rdquo; and I led the way to a gallery, which we
+      entered through an opening in the floor of the great chamber. It had been
+      closed by a trap-door of stone, but the door was open. Creeping along this
+      shaft, or passage, for some ten paces, we came at length to a well, seven
+      cubits in depth. Making fast one end of the rope that I had brought about
+      my body and the other to a ring in the rock, I was lowered, holding the
+      lamp in my hand, till I stood in the last resting-place of the Divine
+      Menkau-ra. Then the rope was drawn up, and Cleopatra, being made fast to
+      it, was let down by the eunuch, and I received her in my arms. But I bade
+      the eunuch, sorely against his will, since he feared to be left alone,
+      await our return at the mouth of the shaft. For it was not lawful that he
+      should enter whither we went.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XI
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE TOMB OF THE DIVINE MENKAU-RA; OF THE WRITING ON THE BREAST OF
+      MENKAU-RA; OF THE DRAWING FORTH OF THE TREASURE; OF THE DWELLER IN THE
+      TOMB; AND OF THE FLIGHT OF CLEOPATRA AND HARMACHIS FROM THE HOLY PLACE
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We stood within a small arched chamber, paved and lined with great blocks
+      of the granite stone of Syene. There before us&mdash;hewn from a single
+      mass of basalt shaped like a wooden house and resting on a sphinx with a
+      face of gold&mdash;was the sarcophagus of the Divine Menkau-ra.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We stood and gazed in awe, for the weight of the silence and the solemnity
+      of that holy place seemed to crush us. Above us, cubit over cubit in its
+      mighty measure, the pyramid towered up to heaven and was kissed of the
+      night air. But we were deep in the bowels of the rock beneath its base. We
+      were alone with the dead, whose rest we were about to break; and no sound
+      of the murmuring air, and no sight of life came to dull the awful edge of
+      solitude. I gazed on the sarcophagus; its heavy lid had been lifted and
+      rested at its side, and around it the dust of ages had gathered thick.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See,&rdquo; I whispered, pointing to a writing, daubed with pigment upon the
+      wall in the sacred symbols of ancient times.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Read it, Harmachis,&rdquo; answered Cleopatra, in the same low voice; &ldquo;for I
+      cannot.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I read: &ldquo;I, Rameses Mi-amen, in my day and in my hour of need,
+      visited this sepulchre. But, though great my need and bold my heart, I
+      dared not face the curse of Menkau-ra. Judge, O thou who shalt come after
+      me, and, if thy soul is pure and Khem be utterly distressed, take thou
+      that which I have left.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where, then, is the treasure?&rdquo; she whispered. &ldquo;Is that Sphinx-face of
+      gold?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Even there,&rdquo; I answered, pointing to the sarcophagus. &ldquo;Draw near and
+      see.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And she took my hand and drew near.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The cover was off, but the painted coffin of the Pharaoh lay in the depths
+      of the sarcophagus. We climbed the Sphinx, then I blew the dust from the
+      coffin with my breath and read that which was written on its lid. And this
+      was written:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pharaoh Menkau-ra, the Child of Heaven.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pharaoh Menkau-ra, Royal Son of the Sun.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pharaoh Menkau-ra, who didst lie beneath the heart of Nout.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nout, thy Mother, wraps thee in the spell of Her holy name.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The name of thy Mother, Nout, is the mystery of Heaven.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nout, thy Mother, gathers thee to the number of the Gods.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nout, thy Mother, breathes on thy foes and utterly destroys them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Pharaoh Menkau-ra, who livest for ever!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where, then, is the treasure?&rdquo; she asked again. &ldquo;Here, indeed, is the
+      body of the Divine Menkau-ra; but the flesh even of Pharaohs is not gold,
+      and if the face of this Sphinx be gold how may we move it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      For answer I bade her stand upon the Sphinx and grasp the upper part of
+      the coffin while I grasped its foot. Then, at my word, we lifted, and the
+      lid of the case, which was not fixed, came away, and we set it upon the
+      floor. And there in the case was the mummy of Pharaoh, as it had been laid
+      three thousand years before. It was a large mummy, and somewhat ungainly.
+      Nor was it adorned with a gilded mask, as is the fashion of our day, for
+      the head was wrapped in clothes yellow with age, which were made fast with
+      pink flaxen bandages, under which were pushed the stems of lotus-blooms.
+      And on the breast, wreathed round with lotus-flowers, lay a large plate of
+      gold closely written over with sacred writing. I lifted up the plate, and,
+      holding it to the light, I read:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I, Menkau-ra, the Osirian, aforetime Pharaoh of the Land of Khem, who in
+      my day did live justly and ever walked in the path marked for my feet by
+      the decree of the Invisible, who was the beginning and is the end, speak
+      from my tomb to those who after me shall for an hour sit upon my Throne.
+      Behold, I, Menkau-ra, the Osirian, having in the days of my life been
+      warned of a dream that a time will come when Khem shall fear to fall into
+      the hands of strangers, and her monarch shall have great need of treasure
+      wherewith to furnish armies to drive the barbarian back, have out of my
+      wisdom done this thing. For it having pleased the protecting Gods to give
+      me wealth beyond any Pharaoh who has been since the days of Horus&mdash;thousands
+      of cattle and geese, thousands of calves and asses, thousands of measures
+      of corn, and hundreds of measures of gold and gems; this wealth I have
+      used sparingly, and that which remains I have bartered for precious stones&mdash;even
+      for emeralds, the most beautiful and largest that are in the world. These
+      stones, then, I have stored up against that day of the need of Khem. But
+      because as there have been, so there shall be, those who do wickedly on
+      the earth, and who, in the lust of gain, might seize this wealth that I
+      have stored, and put it to their uses; behold, thou Unborn One, who in the
+      fulness of time shalt stand above me and read this that I have caused to
+      be written, I have stored the treasure thus&mdash;even among my bones.
+      Therefore, O thou Unborn One, sleeping in the womb of Nout, I say this to
+      thee! If thou indeed hast need of riches to save Khem from the foes of
+      Khem, fear not and delay not, but tear me, the Osirian, from my tomb,
+      loose my wrappings and rip the treasure from my breast, and all shall be
+      well with thee; for this only I do command, that thou dost replace my
+      bones within my hollow coffin. But if the need be passing and not great,
+      or if there be guile in thy heart, then the curse of Menkau-ra be on thee!
+      On thee be the curse that shall smite him who breaks in upon the dead! On
+      thee be the curse that follows the traitor! On thee be the curse that
+      smites him who outrages the Majesty of the Gods! Unhappy shalt thou live,
+      in blood and misery shalt thou die, and in misery shalt thou be tormented
+      for ever and for ever! For, Wicked One, there in Amenti we shall come face
+      to face!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And to the end of the keeping of this secret, I, Menkau-ra, have set up a
+      Temple of my Worship, which I have built upon the eastern side of this my
+      House of Death. It shall be made known from time to time to the Hereditary
+      High Priest of this my Temple. And if any High Priest that shall be do
+      reveal this secret to another than the Pharaoh, or Her who wears the
+      Pharaoh&rsquo;s crown and is seated upon the throne of Khem, accursed be he
+      also. Thus have I, Menkau-ra, the Osirian, written. Now to thee, who,
+      sleeping in the womb of Nout, yet shall upon a time stand over me and
+      read, I say, judge thou! and if thou judgest evilly, on thee shall fall
+      this the curse of Menkau-ra from which there is no escape. Greeting and
+      farewell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou hast heard, O Cleopatra,&rdquo; I said solemnly; &ldquo;now search thy heart;
+      judge thou, and for thine own sake judge justly.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She bent her head in thought.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I fear to do this thing,&rdquo; she said presently. &ldquo;Let us hence.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; I said, with a lightening of the heart, and bent down to
+      lift the wooden lid. For I, too, feared.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And yet, what said the writing of the Divine Menkau-ra?&mdash;it was
+      emeralds, was it not? And emeralds are now so rare and hard to come by.
+      Ever did I love emeralds, and I can never find them without a flaw.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is not a matter of what thou dost love, Cleopatra,&rdquo; I said; &ldquo;it is a
+      matter of the need of Khem and of the secret meaning of thy heart, which
+      thou alone canst know.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, surely, Harmachis; surely! And is not the need of Egypt great? There
+      is no gold in the treasury, and how can I defy the Roman if I have no
+      gold? And have I not sworn to thee that I will wed thee and defy the
+      Roman; and do I not swear it again&mdash;yes, even in this solemn hour,
+      with my hand upon dead Pharaoh&rsquo;s heart? Why, here is that occasion of
+      which the Divine Menkau-ra dreamed. Thou seest it is so, for else
+      Hat-shepsu or Rameses or some other Pharaoh had drawn forth the gems. But
+      no; they left them to come to this hour because the time was not yet come.
+      Now it must be come, for if I take not the gems the Roman will surely
+      seize on Egypt, and then there will be no Pharaoh to whom the secret may
+      be told. Nay, let us away with fears and to the work. Why dost look so
+      frightened? Having pure hearts, there is naught to fear, Harmachis.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Even as thou wilt,&rdquo; I said again; &ldquo;it is for thee to judge, since if thou
+      judgest falsely on thee will surely fall the curse from which there is no
+      escape.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So, Harmachis, take Pharaoh&rsquo;s head and I will take his&mdash;&mdash;Oh,
+      what an awful place is this!&rdquo; and suddenly she clung to me. &ldquo;Methought I
+      saw a shadow yonder in the darkness! Methought that it moved toward us and
+      then straightway vanished! Let us be going! Didst thou see naught?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I saw nothing, Cleopatra; but mayhap it was the Spirit of the Divine
+      Menkau-ra, for the spirit ever hovers round its mortal tenement. Let us,
+      then, be going; I shall be right glad to go.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She made as though to start, then turned back again and spoke once more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was naught&mdash;naught but the mind that, in such a house of Horror,
+      bodies forth those shadowy forms of fear it dreads to see. Nay, I must
+      look upon these emeralds; indeed, if I die, I must look! Come&mdash;to the
+      work!&rdquo; and stooping, she with her own hands lifted from the tomb one of
+      the four alabaster jars, each sealed with the graven likeness of the heads
+      of the protecting Gods, that held the holy heart and entrails of the
+      Divine Menkau-ra. But nothing was found in these jars, save only what
+      should be there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then together we mounted on the Sphinx, and with toil drew forth the body
+      of the Divine Pharaoh, laying it on the ground. Now Cleopatra took my
+      dagger, and with it cut loose the bandages which held the wrappings in
+      their place, and the lotus-flowers that had been set in them by loving
+      hands, three thousand years before, fell down upon the pavement. Then we
+      searched and found the end of the outer bandage, which was fixed in at the
+      hinder part of the neck. This we cut loose, for it was glued fast. This
+      done, we began to unroll the wrappings of the holy corpse. Setting my
+      shoulders against the sarcophagus, I sat upon the rocky floor, the body
+      resting on my knees, and, as I turned it, Cleopatra unwound the cloths;
+      and awesome was the task. Presently something fell out; it was the sceptre
+      of the Pharaoh, fashioned of gold, and at its end was a pomegranate cut
+      from a single emerald.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cleopatra seized the sceptre and gazed on it in silence. Then once more we
+      went on with our dread business. And ever as we unwound, other ornaments
+      of gold, such as are buried with Pharaohs, fell from the wrappings&mdash;collars
+      and bracelets, models of sistra, an inlaid axe, and an image of the holy
+      Osiris and of the holy Khem. At length all the bandages were unwound, and
+      beneath we found a covering of coarsest linen; for in those very ancient
+      days the craftsmen were not so skilled in matters pertaining to the
+      embalming of the body as they are now. And on the linen was written in an
+      oval, &ldquo;Menkau-ra, Royal Son of the Sun.&rdquo; We could in no wise loosen this
+      linen, it held so firm on to the body. Therefore, faint with the great
+      heat, choked with mummy dust and the odour of spices, and trembling with
+      fear of our unholy task, wrought in that most lonesome and holy place, we
+      laid the body down, and ripped away the last covering with the knife.
+      First we cleared Pharaoh&rsquo;s head, and now the face that no man had gazed on
+      for three thousand years was open to our view. It was a great face, with a
+      bold brow, yet crowned with the royal uræus, beneath which the white
+      locks, stained yellow by the spices, fell in long, straight wisps. Not the
+      cold stamp of death, and not the slow flight of three thousand years, had
+      found power to mar the dignity of those shrunken features. We gazed on
+      them, and then, made bold with fear, stripped the covering from the body.
+      There at last it lay before us, stiff, yellow, and dread to see; and on
+      the left side, above the thigh, was the cut through which the embalmers
+      had done their work, but it was sewn up so deftly that we could scarcely
+      find the mark.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The gems are within,&rdquo; I whispered, for I felt that the body was very
+      heavy. &ldquo;Now, if thy heart fail thee not, thou must make an entry to this
+      poor house of clay that once was Pharaoh,&rdquo; and I gave her the dagger&mdash;the
+      same dagger which had drunk the life of Paulus.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is too late to doubt,&rdquo; she answered, lifting her white beauteous face
+      and fixing her blue eyes all big with terror upon my own. She took the
+      dagger, and with set teeth the Queen of this day plunged it into the dead
+      breast of the Pharaoh of three thousand years ago. And even as she did so
+      there came a groaning sound from the opening to the shaft where we had
+      left the eunuch! We leapt to our feet, but heard no more, and the
+      lamp-light still streamed down through the opening.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is nothing,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Let us make an end.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then with much toil we hacked and rent the hard flesh open, and as we did
+      so I heard the knife point grate upon the gems within.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cleopatra plunged her hand into the dead breast and drew forth somewhat.
+      She held it to the light, and gave a little cry, for from the darkness of
+      Pharaoh&rsquo;s heart there flashed into light and life the most beauteous
+      emerald that ever man beheld. It was perfect in colour, very large,
+      without a flaw, and fashioned to a scarabæus form, and on the under side
+      was an oval, inscribed with the divine name of Menkau-ra, Son of the Sun.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Again, again, and yet again, she plunged in her hand and drew emeralds
+      from Pharaoh&rsquo;s breast bedded there in spices. Some were fashioned and some
+      were not; but all were perfect in colour without a flaw, and in value
+      priceless. Again and again she plunged her white hand into that dread
+      breast, till at length all were found, and there were one hundred and
+      forty and eight of such gems as are not known in the world. The last time
+      that she searched she brought forth not emeralds, indeed, but two great
+      pearls, wrapped in linen, such as never have been seen. And of these
+      pearls more hereafter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So it was done, and all the mighty treasure lay glittering in a heap
+      before us. There it lay, and there, too, lay the regalia of gold, the
+      spiced and sickly-scented wrappings, and the torn body of white-haired
+      Pharaoh Menkau-ra, the Osirian, the ever living in Amenti.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We rose, and a great awe fell upon us, now that the deed was done and our
+      hearts were no more upborne by the rage of search&mdash;so great an awe,
+      indeed, that we could not speak. I made a sign to Cleopatra. She grasped
+      the head of Pharaoh and I grasped his feet, and together we lifted him,
+      climbed the Sphinx, and placed him once more within his coffin. I piled
+      the torn mummy cloths over him and on them laid the lid of the coffin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And now we gathered up the great gems, and such of the ornaments as might
+      be carried with ease, and I hid them as many as I could, in the folds of
+      my robe. Those that were left Cleopatra hid upon her breast. Heavily laden
+      with the priceless treasure, we gave one last look at the solemn place, at
+      the sarcophagus and the Sphinx on which it rested, whose gleaming face of
+      calm seemed to mock us with its everlasting smile of wisdom. Then we
+      turned and went from the tomb.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At the shaft we halted. I called to the eunuch, who stayed above, and
+      methought a faint mocking laugh answered me. Too smitten with terror to
+      call again, and fearing that, should we delay, Cleopatra would certainly
+      swoon, I seized the rope, and being strong and quick mounted by it and
+      gained the passage. There burnt the lamp: but the eunuch I saw not.
+      Thinking, surely, that he was a little way down the passage, and slept&mdash;as,
+      in truth, he did&mdash;I bade Cleopatra make the rope fast about her
+      middle, and with much labour, drew her up. Then, having rested awhile, we
+      moved with the lamps to seek for the eunuch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He was stricken with terror and has fled, leaving the lamp,&rdquo; said
+      Cleopatra. &ldquo;O ye Gods! who is <i>that</i> seated there?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I peered into the darkness, thrusting out the lamps, and this was what
+      their light fell on&mdash;this at the very dream of which my soul sickens!
+      There, facing us, his back resting against the rock, and his hands splayed
+      on either side upon the floor, sat the eunuch&mdash;<i>dead!</i> His eyes
+      and mouth were open, his fat cheeks dropped down, his thin hair yet seemed
+      to bristle, and on his countenance was frozen such a stamp of hideous
+      terror as well might turn the beholder&rsquo;s brain. And lo! fixed to his chin,
+      by its hinder claws, hung that grey and mighty bat, which, flying forth
+      when we entered the pyramid, vanished in the sky, but, returning, had
+      followed us to its depths. There it hung upon the dead man&rsquo;s chin slowly
+      rocking itself to and fro, and we could see the fiery eyes shining in its
+      head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Aghast, utterly aghast, we stood and stared at the hateful sight; till
+      presently the bat spread his huge wings and, losing his hold, sailed to
+      us. Now he hovered before Cleopatra&rsquo;s face, fanning her with his white
+      wings. Then with a scream, like a woman&rsquo;s shriek of fury, the accursed
+      Thing flittered on, seeking his violated tomb, and vanished down the well
+      into the sepulchre. I fell against the wall. But Cleopatra sank in a heap
+      upon the floor, and, covering her head with her arms, she shrieked till
+      the hollow passages rang with the echoes of her cries, that seemed to grow
+      and double and rush along the depths in volumes of shrill sound.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Rise!&rdquo; I cried, &ldquo;rise and let us hence before the Spirit shall return to
+      haunt us! If thou dost suffer thyself to be overwhelmed in this place thou
+      art lost for ever.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She staggered to her feet, and never may I forget the look upon her ashy
+      face or in her glowing eyes. Seizing lamps with a rush, we passed the dead
+      eunuch&rsquo;s horrid form, I holding her by the hand. We gained the great
+      chamber, where was the sarcophagus of the Queen of Menkau-ra, and
+      traversed its length. We fled along the passage. What if the Thing had
+      closed the three mighty doors? No; they were open, and we sped through
+      them; the last only did I stay to close. I touched the stone, as I knew
+      how, and the great door crashed down, shutting us off from the presence of
+      the dead eunuch and the Horror that had hung upon the eunuch&rsquo;s chin. Now
+      we were in the white chamber with the sculptured panels, and now we faced
+      the last steep ascent. Oh that last ascent! Twice Cleopatra slipped and
+      fell upon the polished floor. The second time&mdash;it was when half the
+      distance had been done&mdash;she let fall her lamp, and would, indeed,
+      have rolled down the slide had I not saved her. But in doing thus I, too,
+      let fall my lamp that bounded away into shadow beneath us, and we were in
+      utter darkness. And perchance about us, in the darkness, hovered that
+      awful Thing!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be brave!&rdquo; I cried; &ldquo;O love, be brave, and struggle on, or both are lost!
+      The way, though steep, is not far; and, though it be dark, we can scarce
+      come to harm in this straight shaft. If the gems weight thee, cast them
+      away!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; she gasped, &ldquo;that I will not; this shall not be endured to no end.
+      I die with them!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then it was that I saw the greatness of this woman&rsquo;s heart; for in the
+      dark, and notwithstanding the terrors we had passed and the awfulness of
+      our state, she clung to me and clambered on up that dread passage. On we
+      clambered, hand in hand, with bursting hearts, till there, by the mercy or
+      the anger of the Gods, at length we saw the faint light of the moon,
+      creeping through the little opening in the pyramid. One struggle more, now
+      the hole was gained, and like a breath from heaven, the sweet night air
+      played upon our brows. I climbed through, and, standing on a pile of
+      stones, lifted and dragged Cleopatra after me. She fell to the ground and
+      then sank down upon it motionless.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I pressed upon the turning stone with trembling hands. It swung to and
+      caught, leaving no mark of the secret place of entry. Then I leapt down
+      and, having pushed away the pile of stones, looked on Cleopatra. She had
+      swooned, and notwithstanding the dust and grime upon her face, it was so
+      pale that at first I believed she must be dead. But placing my hand upon
+      her heart I felt it stir beneath; and, being spent, I flung myself down
+      beside her upon the sand, to gather up my strength again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XII
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE COMING BACK OF HARMACHIS; OF THE GREETING OF CHARMION; AND OF THE
+      ANSWER OF CLEOPATRA TO QUINTUS DELLIUS, THE AMBASSADOR OF ANTONY THE
+      TRIUMVIR
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Presently I lifted myself, and, laying the head of Egypt&rsquo;s Queen upon my
+      knee, strove to call her back to life. How fair she seemed, even in her
+      disarray, her long hair streaming down her breast! how deadly fair she
+      seemed in the faint light&mdash;this woman the story of whose beauty and
+      whose sin shall outlive the solid mass of the mighty pyramid that towered
+      over us! The heaviness of her swoon had smoothed away the falseness of her
+      face, and nothing was left but the divine stamp of Woman&rsquo;s richest
+      loveliness, softened by shadows of the night and dignified by the cast of
+      deathlike sleep. I gazed upon her and all my heart went out to her; it
+      seemed that I did but love her more because of the depth of the treasons
+      to which I had sunk to reach her, and because of the terrors we had
+      outfaced together. Weary and spent with fears and the pangs of guilt, my
+      heart sought hers for rest, for now she alone was left to me. She had
+      sworn to wed me also, and with the treasure we had won we would make Egypt
+      strong and free her from her foes, and all should yet be well. Ah! could I
+      have seen the picture that was to come, how, and in what place and
+      circumstance, once again this very woman&rsquo;s head should be laid upon my
+      knee, pale with that cast of death! Ah! could I have seen!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I chafed her hand between my hands. I bent down and kissed her on the
+      lips, and at my kiss she woke. She woke with a little sob of fear&mdash;a
+      shiver ran along her delicate limbs, and she stared upon my face with wide
+      eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah! it is thou!&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I mind me&mdash;thou hast saved me from that
+      horror-haunted place!&rdquo; And she threw her arms about my neck, drew me to
+      her and kissed me. &ldquo;Come, love,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;let us be going! I am sore
+      athirst, and&mdash;ah! so very weary! The gems, too, chafe my breast!
+      Never was wealth so hardly won! Come, let us be going from the shadow of
+      this ghostly spot! See the faint lights glancing from the wings of Dawn.
+      How beautiful they are, and how sweet to behold! Never, in those Halls of
+      Eternal Night, did I think to look upon the blush of dawn again! Ah! I can
+      still see the face of that dead slave, with the Horror hanging to his
+      beardless chin! Bethink thee!&mdash;there he&rsquo;ll sit for ever&mdash;there&mdash;with
+      the Horror! Come; where may we find water? I would give an emerald for a
+      cup of water!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At the canal on the borders of the tilled land below the Temple of
+      Horemkhu&mdash;it is close by,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;If any see us, we will say
+      that we are pilgrims who have lost our way at night among the tombs. Veil
+      thyself closely, therefore, Cleopatra; and beware lest thou dost show
+      aught of those gems about thee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So she veiled herself, and I lifted her on to the ass which was tethered
+      near at hand. We walked slowly through the plain till we came to the place
+      where the symbol of the God Horemkhu,[*] fashioned as a mighty Sphinx
+      (whom the Greeks call Harmachis), and crowned with the royal crown of
+      Egypt, looks out in majesty across the land, his eyes ever fixed upon the
+      East. As we walked the first arrow of the rising sun quivered through the
+      grey air, striking upon Horemkhu&rsquo;s lips of holy calm, and the Dawn kissed
+      her greeting to the God of Dawn. Then the light gathered and grew upon the
+      gleaming sides of twenty pyramids, and, like a promise from Life to Death,
+      rested on the portals of ten thousand tombs. It poured in a flood of gold
+      across the desert sand&mdash;it pierced the heavy sky of night, and fell
+      in bright beams upon the green of fields and the tufted crest of palms.
+      Then from his horizon bed royal Ra rose up in pomp and it was day.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] That is, &ldquo;Horus on the horizon&rdquo;; and signifies the power
+     of Light and Good overcoming the power of Darkness and Evil
+     incarnate in his enemy, Typhon.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Passing the temple of granite and of alabaster that was built before the
+      days of Khufu, to the glory of the Majesty of Horemkhu, we descended the
+      slope, and came to the banks of the canal. There we drank; and that
+      draught of muddy water was sweeter than all the choicest wine of
+      Alexandria. Also we washed the mummy dust and grime from our hands and
+      brows and made us clean. As she bathed her neck, stooping over the water,
+      one of the great emeralds slipped from Cleopatra&rsquo;s breast and fell into
+      the canal, and it was but by chance that at length I found it in the mire.
+      Then, once more, I lifted Cleopatra onto the beast, and slowly, for I was
+      very weary, we marched back to the banks of Sihor, where our craft was.
+      And having at length come thither, seeing no one save some few peasants
+      going out to labour on the lands, I turned the ass loose in that same
+      field where we had found him, and we boarded the craft while the crew were
+      yet sleeping. Then, waking them, we bade them make all sail, saying that
+      we had left the eunuch to sojourn a while behind us, as in truth we had.
+      So we sailed, having first hidden away the gems and such of the ornaments
+      of gold as we could bring to the boat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We spent four days and more in coming to Alexandria, for the wind was for
+      the most part against us; and they were happy days! At first, indeed,
+      Cleopatra was somewhat silent and heavy at heart, for what she had seen
+      and felt in the womb of the pyramid weighed her down. But soon her
+      Imperial spirit awoke and shook the burden from her breast, and she became
+      herself again&mdash;now gay, now learned; now loving, and now cold; now
+      queenly, and now altogether simple&mdash;ever changing as the winds of
+      heaven, and as the heaven, deep, beauteous, and unsearchable!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Night after night for those four perfect nights, the last happy hours I
+      ever was to know, we sat hand in hand upon the deck and heard the waters
+      lap the vessel&rsquo;s side, and watched the soft footfall of the moon as she
+      trod the depths of Nile. There we sat and talked of love, talked of our
+      marriage and all that we would do. Also I drew up plans of war and of
+      defence against the Roman, which now we had the means to carry out; and
+      she approved them, sweetly saying that what seemed good to me was good to
+      her. And so the time passed all too swiftly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Oh those nights upon the Nile! their memory haunts me yet! Yet in my
+      dreams I see the moonbeams break and quiver, and hear Cleopatra&rsquo;s murmured
+      words of love mingle with the sound of murmuring waters. Dead are those
+      dear nights, dead is the moon that lit them; the waters which rocked us on
+      their breast are lost in the wide salt sea, and where we kissed and clung
+      there lips unborn shall kiss and cling! How beautiful was their promise,
+      doomed, like an unfruitful blossom, to wither, fall, and rot! and their
+      fulfilment, ah, how drear! For all things end in darkness and in ashes,
+      and those who sow in folly shall reap in sorrow. Ah! those nights upon the
+      Nile!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And so at length once more we stood within the hateful walls of that fair
+      palace on the Lochias, and the dream was done.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whither hast thou wandered with Cleopatra, Harmachis?&rdquo; Charmion asked of
+      me when I met her by chance on that day of return. &ldquo;On some new mission of
+      betrayal? Or was it but a love-journey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I went with Cleopatra upon secret business of the State,&rdquo; I answered
+      sternly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So! Those who go secretly, go evilly; and foul birds love to fly at
+      night. Not but what thou art wise, for it would scarce beseem thee,
+      Harmachis, to show thy face openly in Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I heard, and felt my passion rise within me, for I could ill bear this
+      fair girl&rsquo;s scorn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hast thou never a word without a sting?&rdquo; I asked. &ldquo;Know, then, that I
+      went whither thou hadst not dared to go, to gather means to hold Egypt
+      from the grasp of Antony.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So,&rdquo; she answered, looking up swiftly. &ldquo;Thou foolish man! Thou hadst done
+      better to save thy labour, for Antony will grasp Egypt in thy despite.
+      What power hast thou to-day in Egypt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That he may do in my despite; but in despite of Cleopatra that he cannot
+      do,&rdquo; I said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, but with the <i>aid</i> of Cleopatra he can and will do it,&rdquo; she
+      answered with a bitter smile. &ldquo;When the Queen sails in state up Cydnus
+      stream she will surely draw this coarse Antony thence to Alexandria,
+      conquering, and yet, like thee, a slave!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is false! I say that it is false! Cleopatra goes not to Tarsus, and
+      Antony comes not to Alexandria; or, if he come, it will be to take the
+      chance of war.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, thinkest thou thus?&rdquo; she answered with a little laugh. &ldquo;Well, if it
+      please thee, think as thou wilt. Within three days thou shalt know. It is
+      pretty to see how easily thou art fooled. Farewell! Go, dream on Love, for
+      surely Love is sweet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And she went, leaving me angered and troubled at heart.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I saw Cleopatra no more that day, but on the day which followed I saw her.
+      She was in a heavy mood, and had no gentle word for me. I spake to her of
+      the defence of Egypt, but she put the matter away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why dost thou weary me?&rdquo; she said with anger; &ldquo;canst thou not see that I
+      am lost in troubles? When Dellius has had his answer to-morrow then we
+      will speak of these matters.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;when Dellius has had his answer; and knowest thou that but
+      yesterday, Charmion&mdash;whom about the palace they name the &lsquo;Keeper of
+      the Queen&rsquo;s secrets&rsquo;&mdash;Charmion swore that the answer would be &lsquo;Go in
+      peace, I come to Antony!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Charmion knows nothing of my heart,&rdquo; said Cleopatra, stamping her foot in
+      anger, &ldquo;and if she talk so freely the girl shall be scourged out of my
+      Court, as is her desert. Though, in truth,&rdquo; she added, &ldquo;she has more
+      wisdom in that small head of hers than all my privy councillors&mdash;ay,
+      and more wit to use it. Knowest thou that I have sold a portion of those
+      gems to the rich Jews of Alexandria, and at a great price, ay, at five
+      thousand sestertia for each one?[*] But a few, in truth, for they could
+      not buy more as yet. It was rare to see their eyes when they fell upon
+      them: they grew large as apples with avarice and wonder. And now leave me,
+      Harmachis, for I am weary. The memory of that dreadful night is with me
+      yet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] About forty thousand pounds of our money.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      I bowed and rose to go, and yet stood wavering.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pardon me, Cleopatra; it is of our marriage.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Our marriage! Why, are we not indeed already wed?&rdquo; she answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes; but not before the world. Thou didst promise.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, Harmachis, I promised; and to-morrow, when I have rid me of this
+      Dellius, I will keep my promise, and name thee Cleopatra&rsquo;s Lord before the
+      Court. See that thou art in thy place. Art content?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And she stretched out her hand for me to kiss, looking on me with strange
+      eyes, as though she struggled with herself. Then I went; but that night I
+      strove once more to see Cleopatra, and could not. &ldquo;The Lady Charmion was
+      with the Queen,&rdquo; so said the eunuchs, and none might enter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the morrow the Court met in the great hall one hour before mid-day, and
+      I went thither with a trembling heart to hear Cleopatra&rsquo;s answer to
+      Dellius, and to hear myself also named King-consort to the Queen of Egypt.
+      It was a full and splendid Court; there were councillors, lords, captains,
+      eunuchs, and waiting-women, all save Charmion. The house passed, but
+      Cleopatra and Charmion came not. At length Charmion entered gently by a
+      side entrance, and took her place among the waiting-ladies about the
+      throne. Even as she did so she cast a glance at me, and there was triumph
+      in her eyes, though I knew not over what she triumphed. I little guessed
+      that she had but now brought about my ruin and sealed the fate of Egypt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then presently the trumpets blared, and, clad in her robes of state, the
+      uræus crown upon her head, and on her breast, flashing like a star, that
+      great emerald scarabæus which she had dragged from dead Pharaoh&rsquo;s heart,
+      Cleopatra swept in splendour to her throne, followed by a glittering guard
+      of Northmen. Her lovely face was dark, dark were her slumbrous eyes, and
+      none might read their message, though all that Court searched them for a
+      sign of what should come. She seated herself slowly as one who may not be
+      moved, and spoke to the chief of the heralds in the Greek tongue:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Does the Ambassador of the noble Antony wait?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The herald bowed low and made assent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let him come in and hear our answer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The doors were flung wide, and, followed by his train of knights, Dellius,
+      clad in his golden armour and his purple mantle, walked with cat-like step
+      up the great hall, and made obeisance before the throne.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Most royal and beauteous Egypt,&rdquo; he said, in his soft voice, &ldquo;as thou
+      hast graciously been pleased to bid me, thy servant, I am here to take thy
+      answer to the letter of the noble Antony the Triumvir, whom to-morrow I
+      sail to meet at Tarsus, in Cilicia. And I will say this, royal Egypt,
+      craving pardon the while for the boldness of my speech&mdash;bethink thee
+      well before words that cannot be unspoken fall from those sweet lips. Defy
+      Antony, and Antony will wreck thee. But, like thy mother Aphrodité, rise
+      glorious on his sight from the bosom of the Cyprian wave, and for wreck he
+      will give thee all that can be dear to woman&rsquo;s royalty&mdash;Empire, and
+      pomp of place, cities and the sway of men, fame and wealth, and the Diadem
+      of rule made sure. For mark: Antony holds this Eastern World in the hollow
+      of his warlike hand; at his will kings are, and at his frown they cease to
+      be.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And he bowed his head and, folding his hands meekly on his breast, awaited
+      answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a while Cleopatra answered not, but sat like the Sphinx Horemkhu, dumb
+      and inscrutable, gazing with lost eyes down the length of that great hall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, like soft music, her answer came; and trembling I listened for
+      Egypt&rsquo;s challenge to the Roman:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Noble Dellius,&mdash;We have bethought us much of the matter of thy
+      message from great Antony to our poor Royalty of Egypt. We have bethought
+      us much, and we have taken counsel from the oracles of the Gods, from the
+      wisest among our friends, and from the teachings of our heart, that ever,
+      like a nesting bird, broods over our people&rsquo;s weal. Sharp are the words
+      that thou hast brought across the sea; methinks they had been better fitted
+      to the ears of some petty half-tamed prince than to those of Egypt&rsquo;s
+      Queen. Therefore we have numbered the legions that we can gather, and the
+      triremes and the galleys wherewith we may breast the sea, and the moneys
+      which shall buy us all things wanting to our war. And we find this, that,
+      though Antony be strong, yet has Egypt naught to fear from the strength of
+      Antony.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She paused, and a murmur of applause of her high words ran down the hall.
+      Only Dellius stretched out his hand as though to push them back. Then came
+      the end!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Noble Dellius,&mdash;Half are we minded there to bid our tongue stop,
+      and, strong in our fortresses of stone, and our other fortresses built of
+      the hearts of men, abide the issue. And yet thou shalt not go thus. We are
+      guiltless of those charges against us that have come to the ears of noble
+      Antony, and which now he rudely shouts in ours; nor will we journey into
+      Cilicia to answer them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Here the murmur arose anew, while my heart beat high in triumph; and in
+      the pause that followed, Dellius spoke once more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then, royal Egypt, my word to Antony is word of War?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; she answered; &ldquo;it shall be one of Peace. Listen; we said that we
+      would not come to make answer to these charges, nor will we. But&rdquo;&mdash;and
+      she smiled for the first time&mdash;&ldquo;we will gladly come, and that
+      swiftly, in royal friendship to make known our fellowship of peace upon
+      the banks of Cydnus.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I heard, and was bewildered. Could I hear aright? Was it thus that
+      Cleopatra kept her oaths? Moved beyond the hold of reason, I lifted up my
+      voice and cried:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Queen, <i>remember!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She turned upon me like a lioness, with a flashing of the eyes and a swift
+      shake of her lovely head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Peace, Slave!&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;who bade thee break in upon our counsels? Mind
+      thou thy stars, and leave matters of the world to the rulers of the
+      world!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I sank back shamed, and, as I did so, once more I saw the smile of triumph
+      on the face of Charmion, followed by what was, perhaps, the shadow of pity
+      for my fall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now that yon brawling charlatan,&rdquo; said Dellius, pointing at me with his
+      jewelled finger, &ldquo;has been rebuked, grant me leave, O Egypt, to thank thee
+      from my heart for these gentle words&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We ask no thanks from thee, noble Dellius; nor lies it in thy mouth to
+      chide our servant,&rdquo; broke in Cleopatra, frowning heavily; &ldquo;we will take
+      thanks from the lips of Antony alone. Get thee to thy master, and say to
+      him that before he can make ready a fitting welcome our keels shall follow
+      in the track of thine. And now, farewell! Thou shalt find some small token
+      of our bounty upon thy vessel.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Dellius bowed thrice and withdrew, while the Court stood waiting the
+      Queen&rsquo;s word. And I, too, waited, wondering if she would yet make good her
+      promise, and name me royal Spouse there in the face of Egypt. But she said
+      nothing. Only, still frowning heavily, she rose, and, followed by her
+      guards, left the throne, and passed into the Alabaster Hall. Then the
+      Court broke up, and as the lords and councillors went by they looked on me
+      with mockery. For though none knew all my secret, nor how it stood between
+      me and Cleopatra, yet they were jealous of the favour shown me by the
+      Queen, and rejoiced greatly at my fall. But I took no heed of their
+      mocking as I stood dazed with misery and felt the world of Hope slip from
+      beneath my feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XIII
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE REPROACH OF HARMACHIS; OF THE STRUGGLE OF HARMACHIS WITH THE
+      GUARDS; OF THE BLOW OF BRENNUS; AND OF THE SECRET SPEECH OF CLEOPATRA
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And at length, all being gone, I, too, turned to go, when a eunuch struck
+      me on the shoulder and roughly bade me wait on the presence of the Queen.
+      An hour past this fellow would have crawled to me on his knees; but he had
+      heard, and now he treated me&mdash;so brutish is the nature of such slaves&mdash;as
+      the world treats the fallen, with scorn. For to come low after being great
+      is to learn all shame. Unhappy, therefore, are the Great, for they may
+      fall!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I turned upon the slave with so fierce a word that, cur-like, he sprang
+      behind me; then I passed on to the Alabaster Hall, and was admitted by the
+      guards. In the centre of the hall, near the fountain, sat Cleopatra, and
+      with her were Charmion and the Greek girl Iras, and Merira and other of
+      her waiting-ladies. &ldquo;Go,&rdquo; she said to these, &ldquo;I would speak with my
+      astrologer.&rdquo; So they went, and left us face to face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stand thou there,&rdquo; she said, lifting her eyes for the first time. &ldquo;Come
+      not nigh me, Harmachis: I trust thee not. Perchance thou hast found
+      another dagger. Now, what hast thou to say? By what right didst thou dare
+      to break in upon my talk with the Roman?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I felt the blood rush through me like a storm; bitterness and burning
+      anger took hold of my heart. &ldquo;What hast <i>thou</i> to say, Cleopatra?&rdquo; I
+      answered boldly. &ldquo;Where is thy vow, sworn on the dead heart of Menkau-ra,
+      the ever-living? Where now thy challenge to this Roman Antony? Where thy
+      oath that thou wouldest call me &lsquo;husband&rsquo; in the face of Egypt?&rdquo; and I
+      choked and ceased.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well doth it become Harmachis, who never was forsworn, to speak to me of
+      oaths!&rdquo; she said in bitter mockery. &ldquo;And yet, O thou most pure Priest of
+      Isis; and yet, O thou most faithful friend, who never didst betray thy
+      friends; and yet, O thou most steadfast, honourable, and upright man, who
+      never bartered thy birthright, thy country, and thy cause for the price of
+      a woman&rsquo;s passing love&mdash;by what token knowest thou that my word is
+      void?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will not answer thy taunts, Cleopatra,&rdquo; I said, holding back my heart
+      as best I might, &ldquo;for I have earned them all, though not from thee. By
+      this token, then, I know it. Thou goest to visit Antony; thou goest, as
+      said that Roman knave, &lsquo;tricked in thy best attire,&rsquo; to feast with him
+      whom thou shouldst give to vultures for their feast. Perhaps, for aught I
+      know, thou art about to squander those treasures that thou hast filched
+      from the body of Menkau-ra, those treasures stored against the need of
+      Egypt, upon wanton revels which shall complete the shame of Egypt. By
+      these things, then, I know that thou art forsworn, and I, who, loving
+      thee, believed thee, tricked; and by this, also, that thou who didst but
+      yesternight swear to wed me, dost to-day cover me with taunts, and even
+      before that Roman put me to an open shame!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To wed thee? and I did swear to wed thee? Well, and what is marriage? Is
+      it the union of the heart, that bond beautiful as gossamer and than
+      gossamer more light, which binds soul to soul, as they float through the
+      dreamy night of passion, a bond to be, perchance, melted in the dews of
+      dawn? Or is it the iron link of enforced, unchanging union whereby if
+      sinks the one the other must be dragged beneath the sea of circumstance,
+      there, like a punished slave, to perish of unavoidable corruption?[*]
+      Marriage! <i>I</i> to marry! <i>I</i> to forget freedom and court the
+      worst slavery of our sex, which, by the selfish will of man, the stronger,
+      still binds us to a bed grown hateful, and enforces a service that love
+      mayhap no longer hallows! Of what use, then, to be a Queen, if thereby I
+      may not escape the evil of the meanly born? Mark thou, Harmachis: Woman
+      being grown hath two ills to fear&mdash;Death and Marriage; and of these
+      twain is Marriage the more vile; for in Death we may find rest, but in
+      Marriage, should it fail us, we must find hell. Nay, being above the
+      breath of common slander that enviously would blast those who of true
+      virtue will not consent to stretch affection&rsquo;s links, I <i>love</i>,
+      Harmachis; but I <i>marry</i> not!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] Referring to the Roman custom of chaining a living felon
+     to the body of one already dead.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And yesternight, Cleopatra, thou didst swear that thou wouldst wed me,
+      and call me to thy side before the face of Egypt!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And yesternight, Harmachis, the red ring round the moon marked the coming
+      of the storm, and yet the day is fair! But who knows that the tempest may
+      not break to-morrow? Who knows that I have not chosen the easier path to
+      save Egypt from the Roman? Who knows, Harmachis, that thou shalt not still
+      call me wife?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I no longer could bear her falsehood, for I saw that she but played
+      with me. And so I spoke that which was in my heart:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cleopatra!&rdquo; I cried, &ldquo;thou didst swear to protect Egypt, and thou art
+      about to betray Egypt to the Roman! Thou didst swear to use the treasures
+      that I revealed to thee for the service of Egypt, and thou art about to
+      use them to be her means of shame&mdash;to fashion them as fetters for her
+      wrists! Thou didst swear to wed me, who loved thee, and for thee gave all,
+      and thou dost mock me and reject me! Therefore I say&mdash;with the voice
+      of the dread Gods I say it!&mdash;that on <i>thee</i> shall fall the curse
+      of Menkau-ra, whom thou hast robbed indeed! Let me go hence and work out
+      my fate! Let me go, O thou fair Shame! thou living Lie! whom I have loved
+      to my doom, and who hast brought upon me the last curse of doom! Let me
+      hide myself and see thy face no more!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She rose in her wrath, and she was terrible to see.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let thee go to stir up evil against me! Nay, Harmachis, thou shalt not go
+      to build new plots against my throne! I say to thee that thou, too, shalt
+      come to visit Antony in Cilicia, and there, perchance, I will let thee
+      go!&rdquo; And ere I could answer, she had struck upon the silver gong that hung
+      near her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Before its rich echo had died away, Charmion and the waiting-women entered
+      from one door, and from the other, a file of soldiers&mdash;four of them
+      of the Queen&rsquo;s bodyguard, mighty men, with winged helmets and long fair
+      hair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Seize that traitor!&rdquo; cried Cleopatra, pointing to me. The captain of the
+      guard&mdash;it was Brennus&mdash;saluted and came towards me with drawn
+      sword.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But I, being mad and desperate, and caring little if they slew me, flew
+      straight at his throat, and dealt him such a heavy blow that the great man
+      fell headlong, and his armour clashed upon the marble floor. As he fell I
+      seized his sword and targe, and, meeting the next, who rushed on me with a
+      shout, caught his blow upon the shield, and in answer smote with all my
+      strength. The sword fell where the neck is set into the shoulder, and,
+      shearing through the joints of his harness, slew him, so that his knees
+      were loosened and he sank down dead. And the third, as he came, I caught
+      upon the point of my sword before he could strike, and it pierced him and
+      he died. Then the last rushed on me with a cry of &ldquo;Taranis!&rdquo; and I, too,
+      rushed on him, for my blood was aflame. Now the women shrieked&mdash;only
+      Cleopatra said nothing, but stood and watched the unequal fray. We met,
+      and I struck with all my strength, and it was a mighty blow, for the sword
+      shore through the iron shell and shattered there, leaving me weaponless.
+      With a shout of triumph the guard swung up his sword and smote down upon
+      my head, but I caught the blow with my shield. Again he smote, and again I
+      parried; but when he raised his sword a third time I saw this might not
+      endure, so with a cry I hurled my buckler at his face. Glancing from his
+      shield it struck him on the breast and staggered him. Then, before he
+      could gain his balance, I rushed in beneath his guard and gripped him
+      round the middle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a full minute the tall man and I struggled furiously, and then, so
+      great was my strength in those days, I lifted him like a toy and dashed
+      him down upon the marble floor in such fashion that his bones were
+      shattered so that he spoke no more. But I could not save myself and fell
+      upon him, and as I fell the Captain Brennus, whom I had smitten to earth
+      with my fist, having once more found his sense, came up behind me and
+      smote me upon the head and shoulders with the sword of one of those whom I
+      had slain. But I being on the ground, the blow did not fall with all its
+      weight, also my thick hair and broidered cap broke its force; and thus it
+      came to pass that, though sorely wounded, the life was yet whole in me.
+      But I could struggle no more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then the cowardly eunuchs, who had gathered at the sound of blows and
+      stood huddled together like a herd of cattle, seeing that I was spent,
+      threw themselves upon me, and would have butchered me with their knives.
+      But Brennus, now that I was down, would strike no more, but stood waiting.
+      And the eunuchs had surely slain me, for Cleopatra watched like one who
+      watches in a dream and made no sign. Already my head was dragged back, and
+      their knife-points were at my throat, when Charmion, rushing forward,
+      threw herself upon me and, calling them &ldquo;Dogs!&rdquo; desperately thrust her
+      body before them in such fashion that they could not smite. Now Brennus
+      with an oath seized first one and then another and cast them from me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Spare his life, Queen!&rdquo; he cried in his barbarous Latin. &ldquo;By Jupiter, he
+      is a brave man! Myself felled like an ox in the shambles, and three of my
+      boys finished by a man without armour and taken unawares! I grudge them
+      not to such a man! A boon, Queen! spare his life, and give him to me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, spare him! spare him!&rdquo; cried Charmion, white and trembling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cleopatra drew near and looked upon the dead and him who lay dying as I
+      had dashed him to the ground, and on me, her lover of two days gone, whose
+      wounded head rested now on Charmion&rsquo;s white robes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I met the Queen&rsquo;s glance. &ldquo;Spare not!&rdquo; I gasped; &ldquo;<i>væ victis!</i>&rdquo; Then
+      a flush gathered on her brow&mdash;methinks it was a flush of shame!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Dost after all love this man at heart, Charmion,&rdquo; she said with a little
+      laugh, &ldquo;that thou didst thrust thy tender body between him and the knives
+      of these sexless hounds?&rdquo; and she cast a look of scorn upon the eunuchs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay!&rdquo; the girl answered fiercely; &ldquo;but I cannot stand by to see a brave
+      man murdered by such as these.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay!&rdquo; said Cleopatra, &ldquo;he is a brave man, and he fought gallantly; I have
+      never seen so fierce a fight even in the games at Rome! Well, I spare his
+      life, though he is weak of me&mdash;womanish weak. Take him to his own
+      chamber and guard him there till he is healed or&mdash;dead.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then my brain reeled, a great sickness seized upon me, and I sank into the
+      nothingness of a swoon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Dreams, dreams, dreams! without end and ever-changing, as for years and
+      years I seemed to toss upon a sea of agony. And through them a vision of a
+      dark-eyed woman&rsquo;s tender face and the touch of a white hand soothing me to
+      rest. Visions, too, of a royal countenance bending at times over my
+      rocking bed&mdash;a countenance that I could not grasp, but whose beauty
+      flowed through my fevered veins and was a part of me&mdash;visions of
+      childhood and of the Temple towers of Abouthis, and of the white-haired
+      Amenemhat, my father&mdash;ay, and an ever-present vision of that dread
+      hall in Amenti, and of the small altar and the Spirits clad in flame!
+      There I seemed to wander everlastingly, calling on the Holy Mother, whose
+      memory I could not grasp; calling ever and in vain! For no cloud descended
+      upon the altar, only from time to time the great Voice pealed aloud:
+      &ldquo;Strike out the name of Harmachis, child of Earth, from the living Book of
+      Her who Was and Is and Shall Be! <i>Lost! lost! lost!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And then another voice would answer:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not yet! not yet! Repentance is at hand; strike not out the name of
+      Harmachis, child of Earth, from the living Book of Her who Was and Is and
+      Shall Be! By suffering may sin be wiped away!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I woke to find myself in my own chamber in the tower of the palace. I was
+      so weak that I scarce could lift my hand, and life seemed but to flutter
+      in my breast as flutters a dying dove. I could not turn my head; I could
+      not stir; yet in my heart there was a sense of rest and of dark trouble
+      done. The light from the lamp hurt my eyes: I shut them, and, as I shut
+      them, heard the sweep of a woman&rsquo;s robes upon the stair, and a swift,
+      light step that I knew well. It was that of Cleopatra!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She entered and drew near. I felt her come! Every pulse of my poor frame
+      beat an answer to her footfall, and all my mighty love and hate rose from
+      the darkness of my death-like sleep, and rent me in their struggle! She
+      leaned over me; her ambrosial breath played upon my face: I could hear the
+      beating of her heart! Lower she leaned, till at last her lips touched me
+      softly on the brow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Poor man!&rdquo; I heard her murmur. &ldquo;Poor, weak, dying Man! Fate hath been
+      hard to thee! Thou wert too good to be the sport of such a one as I&mdash;the
+      pawn that I must move in my play of policy! Ah, Harmachis! thou shouldst
+      have ruled the game! Those plotting priests could give thee learning; but
+      they could not give thee knowledge of mankind, nor fence thee against the
+      march of Nature&rsquo;s law. And thou didst love me with all thy heart&mdash;ah!
+      well I know it! Manlike, thou didst love the eyes that, as a pirate&rsquo;s
+      lights, beckoned thee to shipwrecked ruin, and didst hang doting on the
+      lips which lied thy heart away and called thee &lsquo;slave&rsquo;! Well; the game was
+      fair, for thou wouldst have slain me; and yet I grieve. So thou dost die?
+      and this is my farewell to thee! Never may we meet again on earth; and,
+      perchance, it is well, for who knows, when my hour of tenderness is past,
+      how I might deal with thee, didst thou live? Thou dost die, they say&mdash;those
+      learned long-faced fools, who, if they let thee die, shall pay the price.
+      And where, then, shall we meet again when my last throw is thrown? We
+      shall be equal there, in the kingdom that Osiris rules. A little time, a
+      few years&mdash;perhaps to-morrow&mdash;and we shall meet; then, knowing
+      all I am, how wilt thou greet me? Nay, here, as there, still must thou
+      worship me! for injuries cannot touch the immortality of such a love as
+      thine. Contempt alone, like acid, can eat away the love of noble hearts,
+      and reveal the truth in its pitiful nakedness. Thou must still cling to
+      thee, Harmachis; for, whatever my sins, yet I am great and set above thy
+      scorn. Would that I could have loved thee as thou lovest me! Almost I did
+      so when thou slewest those guards; and yet&mdash;not quite.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What a fenced city is my heart, that none can take it, and, even when I
+      throw the gates wide, no man may win its citadel! Oh, to put away this
+      loneliness and lose me in another&rsquo;s soul! Oh, for a year, a month, an hour
+      to quite forget policy, peoples, and my pomp of place, and be but a loving
+      woman! Harmachis, fare thee well! Go join great Julius whom thy art called
+      up from death before me, and take Egypt&rsquo;s greetings to him. Ah well! I
+      fooled thee, and I fooled Cæsar&mdash;perchance before all is done Fate
+      will find me, and myself I shall be fooled. Harmachis, fare thee well!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She turned to go, and as she turned I heard the sweep of another dress and
+      the light fall of another woman&rsquo;s foot.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah! it is thou, Charmion. Well, for all thy watching the man dies.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; she answered, in a voice thick with grief. &ldquo;Ay, O Queen, so the
+      physicians say. Forty hours has he lain in stupor so deep that at times
+      his breath could barely lift this tiny feather&rsquo;s weight, and hardly could
+      my ear, placed against his breast, take notice of the rising of his heart.
+      I have watched him now for ten long days, watched him day and night, till
+      my eyes stare wide with want of sleep, and for faintness I can scarce keep
+      myself from falling. And this is the end of all my labour! The coward blow
+      of that accursed Brennus has done its work, and Harmachis dies!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Love counts not its labour, Charmion, nor can it weight its tenderness on
+      the scale of purchase. That which it has it gives, and craves for more to
+      give and give, till the soul&rsquo;s infinity be drained. Dear to thy heart are
+      these heavy nights of watching; sweet to thy weary eyes is that sad sight
+      of strength brought so low that it hangs upon thy weakness like a babe to
+      its mother&rsquo;s breast! For, Charmion, thou dost love this man who loves thee
+      not, and now that he is helpless thou canst pour thy passion forth over
+      the unanswering darkness of his soul, and cheat thyself with dreams of
+      what yet might be.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I love him not, as thou hast proof, O Queen! How can I love one who would
+      have slain thee, who art as my heart&rsquo;s sister? It is for pity that I nurse
+      him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She laughed a little as she answered, &ldquo;Pity is love&rsquo;s own twin, Charmion.
+      Wondrous wayward are the paths of woman&rsquo;s love, and thou hast shown thine
+      strangely, that I know. But the more high the love, the deeper the gulf
+      whereinto it can fall&mdash;ay, and thence soar again to heaven, once more
+      to fall! Poor woman! thou art thy passion&rsquo;s plaything: now tender as the
+      morning sky, and now, when jealousy grips thy heart, more cruel than the
+      sea. Well, thus are we made. Soon, after all this troubling, nothing will
+      be left thee but tears, remorse, and&mdash;memory.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And she went forth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XIV
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE TENDER CARE OF CHARMION; OF THE HEALING OF HARMACHIS; OF THE
+      SAILING OF THE FLEET OF CLEOPATRA FOR CILICIA; AND OF THE SPEECH OF
+      BRENNUS TO HARMACHIS
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cleopatra went, and for a while I lay silent, gathering up my strength to
+      speak. But Charmion came and stood over me, and I felt a great tear fall
+      from her dark eyes upon my face, as the first heavy drop of rain falls
+      from a thunder cloud.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou goest,&rdquo; she whispered; &ldquo;thou goest fast whither I may not follow! O
+      Harmachis, how gladly would I give my life for thine!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then at length I opened my eyes, and spoke as best I could:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Restrain thy grief, dear friend,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;I live yet; and, in truth, I
+      feel as though new life gathered in my breast!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She gave a little cry of joy, and I never saw aught more beautiful than
+      the change that came upon her weeping face! It was as when the first
+      lights of the day run up the pallor of that sad sky which veils the night
+      from dawn. All rosy grew her lovely countenance; her dim eyes shone out
+      like stars; and a smile of wonderment, more sweet than the sudden smile of
+      the sea as its ripples wake to brightness beneath the kiss of the risen
+      moon, broke through her rain of tears.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou livest!&rdquo; she cried, throwing herself on her knees beside my couch.
+      &ldquo;Thou livest&mdash;and I thought thee gone! Thou art come back to me! Oh!
+      what say I? How foolish is a woman&rsquo;s heart! &lsquo;Tis this long watching! Nay;
+      sleep and rest thee, Harmachis!&mdash;why dost thou talk? Not one more
+      word, I command thee straitly! Where is the draught left by that
+      long-bearded fool? Nay thou shalt have no draught! There, sleep,
+      Harmachis; sleep!&rdquo; and she crouched down at my side and laid her cool hand
+      upon my brow, murmuring, &ldquo;<i>Sleep! sleep!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And when I woke there she was still, but the lights of dawn were peeping
+      through the casement. There she knelt, one hand upon my forehead, and her
+      head, in all its disarray of curls, resting upon her outstretched arm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Charmion,&rdquo; I whispered, &ldquo;have I slept?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Instantly she was wide awake, and, gazing on me with tender eyes, &ldquo;Yea,
+      thou hast slept, Harmachis.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How long, then, have I slept?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nine hours.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And thou hast held thy place there, at my side, for nine long hours?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, it is nothing; I also have slept&mdash;I feared to waken thee if I
+      stirred.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Go, rest,&rdquo; I said; &ldquo;it shames me to think of this thing. Go rest thee,
+      Charmion!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Vex not thyself,&rdquo; she answered; &ldquo;see, I will bid a slave watch thee, and
+      to wake me if thou needest aught; I sleep there, in the outer chamber.
+      Peace&mdash;I go!&rdquo; and she strove to rise, but, so cramped was she, fell
+      straightway on the floor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I can scarcely tell the sense of shame that filled me when I saw her fall.
+      Alas! I could not stir to help her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is naught,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;move not, I did but catch my foot. There!&rdquo; and
+      she rose, again to fall&mdash;&ldquo;a pest upon my awkwardness! Why&mdash;I
+      must be sleeping. &lsquo;Tis well now. I&rsquo;ll send the slave;&rdquo; and she staggered
+      thence like one overcome with wine.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And after that, I slept once more, for I was very weak. When I woke it was
+      afternoon, and I craved for food, which Charmion brought me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I ate. &ldquo;Then I die not,&rdquo; I said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; she answered, with a toss of her head, &ldquo;thou wilt live. In truth, I
+      did waste my pity on thee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And thy pity saved my life,&rdquo; I said wearily, for now I remembered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is nothing,&rdquo; she answered carelessly. &ldquo;After all, thou art my cousin;
+      also, I love nursing&mdash;it is a woman&rsquo;s trade. Like enough I had done
+      as much for any slave. Now, too, that the danger is past, I leave thee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou hadst done better to let me die, Charmion,&rdquo; I said after a while,
+      &ldquo;for life to me can now be only one long shame. Tell me, then, when sails
+      Cleopatra for Cilicia?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She sails in twenty days, and with such pomp and glory as Egypt has never
+      seen. Of a truth, I cannot guess where she has found the means to gather
+      in this store of splendour, as a husbandman gathers his golden harvest.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But I, knowing whence the wealth came, groaned in bitterness of spirit,
+      and made no answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Goest thou also, Charmion?&rdquo; I asked presently.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, I and all the Court. Thou, too&mdash;thou goest.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I go? Nay, why is this?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Because thou art Cleopatra&rsquo;s slave, and must march in gilded chains
+      behind her chariot; because she fears to leave thee here in Khem; because
+      it is her will, and there is an end.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Charmion, can I not escape?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Escape, thou poor sick man? Nay, how canst thou escape? Even now thou art
+      most strictly guarded. And if thou didst escape, whither wouldst thou fly?
+      There&rsquo;s not an honest man in Egypt but would spit on thee in scorn!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Once more I groaned in spirit, and, being so very weak, I felt the tears
+      roll adown my cheek.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Weep not!&rdquo; she said hastily, and turning her face aside. &ldquo;Be a man, and
+      brave these troubles out. Thou hast sown, now must thou reap; but after
+      harvest the waters rise and wash away the rotting roots, and then
+      seed-time comes again. Perchance, yonder in Cilicia, a way may be found,
+      when once more thou art strong, by which thou mayst fly&mdash;if in truth
+      thou canst bear thy life apart from Cleopatra&rsquo;s smile; then in some far
+      land must thou dwell till these things are forgotten. And now my task is
+      done, so fare thee well! At times I will come to visit thee and see that
+      thou needest nothing.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So she went, and I was nursed thenceforward, and that skilfully, by the
+      physician and two women-slaves; and as my wound healed so my strength came
+      back to me, slowly at first, then most swiftly. In four days from that
+      time I left my couch, and in three more I could walk an hour in the palace
+      gardens; another week and I could read and think, though I went no more to
+      Court. And at length one afternoon Charmion came and bade me make ready,
+      for the fleet would sail in two days, first for the coast of Syria, and
+      thence to the gulf of Issus and Cilicia.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thereon, with all formality, and in writing, I craved leave of Cleopatra
+      that I might be left, urging that my health was so feeble that I could not
+      travel. But a message was sent to me in answer that I must come.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And so, on the appointed day, I was carried in a litter down to the boat,
+      and together with that very soldier who had cut me down, the Captain
+      Brennus, and others of his troop (who, indeed, were sent to guard me), we
+      rowed aboard a vessel where she lay at anchor with the rest of the great
+      fleet. For Cleopatra was voyaging as though to war in much pomp, and
+      escorted by a fleet of ships, among which her galley, built like a house
+      and lined throughout with cedar and silken hangings, was the most
+      beautiful and costly that the world has ever seen. But I went not on this
+      vessel, and therefore it chanced that I did not see Cleopatra or Charmion
+      till we landed at the mouth of the river Cydnus.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The signal being made, the fleet set sail; and, the wind being fair, we
+      came to Joppa on the evening of the second day. Thence we sailed slowly
+      with contrary winds up the coast of Syria, making Cæsarea, and Ptolemais,
+      and Tyrus, and Berytus, and past Lebanon&rsquo;s white brow crowned with his
+      crest of cedars, on to Heraclea and across the gulf of Issus to the mouth
+      of Cydnus. And ever as we journeyed, the strong breath of the sea brought
+      back my health, till at length, save for a line of white upon my head
+      where the sword had fallen, I was almost as I had been. And one night, as
+      we drew near Cydnus, while Brennus and I sat alone together on the deck,
+      his eye fell upon the white mark his sword had made, and he swore a great
+      oath by his heathen Gods. &ldquo;An thou hadst died, lad,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;methinks I
+      could never again have held up my head! Ah! that was a coward stroke, and
+      I am shamed to think that it was I who struck it, and thou on the ground
+      with thy back to me! Knowest thou that when thou didst lie between life
+      and death, I came every day to ask tidings of thee? and I swore by Taranis
+      that if thou didst die I&rsquo;d turn my back upon that soft palace life and
+      then away for the bonny North.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, trouble not, Brennus,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;it was thy duty.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mayhap! but there are duties that a brave man should not do&mdash;nay,
+      not at the bidding of any Queen who ever ruled in Egypt! Thy blow had
+      dazed me or I had not struck. What is it, lad?&mdash;art in trouble with
+      this Queen of ours? Why art thou dragged a prisoner upon this pleasure
+      party? Knowest thou that we are strictly charged that if thou dost escape
+      our lives shall pay the price?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, in sore trouble, friend,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;ask me no more.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then, being of the age thou art, there&rsquo;s a woman in it&mdash;that I swear&mdash;and,
+      perchance, though I am rough and foolish, I might make a guess. Look thou,
+      lad, what sayest thou? I am weary of this service of Cleopatra and this
+      hot land of deserts and of luxury, that sap a man&rsquo;s strength and drain his
+      pocket; and so are others whom I know of. What sayest thou: let&rsquo;s take one
+      of these unwieldy vessels and away to the North? I&rsquo;ll lead thee to a
+      better land than Egypt&mdash;a land of lake and mountain, and great
+      forests of sweet-scented pine; ay, and find thee a girl fit to mate with&mdash;my
+      own niece&mdash;a girl strong and tall, with wide blue eyes and long fair
+      hair, and arms that could crack thy ribs were she of a mind to hug thee!
+      Come, what sayest thou? Put away the past, and away for the bonny North,
+      and be a son to me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      For a moment I thought, and then sadly shook my head; for though I was
+      sorely tempted to be gone, I knew that my fate lay in Egypt, and I might
+      not fly my fate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It may not be, Brennus,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;Fain would I that it might be, but
+      I am bound by a chain of destiny which I cannot break, and in the land of
+      Egypt I must live and die.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As thou wilt, lad,&rdquo; said the old warrior. &ldquo;I should have dearly loved to
+      marry thee among my people, and make a son of thee. At the least, remember
+      that while I am here thou hast Brennus for a friend. And one thing more;
+      beware of that beauteous Queen of thine, for, by Taranis, perhaps an hour
+      may come when she will hold that thou knowest too much, and then&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+       and he drew his hand across his throat. &ldquo;And now good night; a cup of
+      wine, then to sleep, for to-morrow the foolery&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      [Here several lengths of the second roll of papyrus are so broken as to be
+      undecipherable. They seem to have been descriptive of Cleopatra&rsquo;s voyage
+      up the Cydnus to the city of Tarsus.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And&mdash;[the writing continues]&mdash;to those who could take joy in
+      such things, the sight must, indeed, have been a gallant one. For the
+      stern of our galley was covered with sheets of beaten gold, the sails were
+      of the scarlet of Tyre, and the oars of silver touched the water to a
+      measure of music. And there, in the centre of the vessel, beneath an
+      awning ablaze with gold embroidery, lay Cleopatra, attired as the Roman
+      Venus (and surely Venus was not more fair!), in thin robes of whitest
+      silk, bound in beneath her breast with a golden girdle delicately graven
+      over with scenes of love. All about her were little rosy boys, chosen for
+      their beauty, and clad in naught save downy wings strapped upon their
+      shoulders, and on their backs Cupid&rsquo;s bow and quiver, who fanned her with
+      fans of plumes. Upon the vessel&rsquo;s decks, handling the cordage, that was of
+      silken web, and softly singing to the sound of harps and the beat of oars,
+      were no rough sailors, but women lovely to behold, some robed as Graces
+      and some as Nereids&mdash;that is, scarce robed at all, except in their
+      scented hair. And behind the couch, with drawn sword, stood Brennus, in
+      splendid armour and winged helm of gold; and by him others&mdash;I among
+      them&mdash;in garments richly worked, and knew that I was indeed a slave!
+      On the high poop also burned censers filled with costliest incense, of
+      which the fragrant steam hung in little clouds about our wake.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus, as in a dream of luxury, followed by many ships, we glided on
+      towards the wooded slopes of Taurus, at whose foot lay that ancient city
+      Tarshish. And ever as we came the people gathered on the banks and ran
+      before us, shouting: &ldquo;Venus is risen from the sea! Venus hath come to
+      visit Bacchus!&rdquo; We drew near to the city, and all its people&mdash;everyone
+      who could walk or be carried&mdash;crowded down in thousands to the docks,
+      and with them came the whole army of Antony, so that at length the
+      Triumvir was left alone upon the judgment seat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Dellius, the false-tongued, came also, fawning and bowing, and in the name
+      of Antony gave the &ldquo;Queen of Beauty&rdquo; greeting, bidding her to a feast that
+      Antony had made ready. But she made high answer, and said, &ldquo;Forsooth, it
+      is Antony who should wait on us; not we on Antony. Bid the noble Antony to
+      our poor table this night&mdash;else we dine alone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Dellius went, bowing to the ground; the feast was made ready; and then at
+      last I set eyes on Antony. He came clad in purple robes, a great man and
+      beautiful to see, set in the stout prime of life, with bright eyes of
+      blue, and curling hair, and features cut sharply as a Grecian gem. For he
+      was great of form and royal of mien, and with an open countenance on which
+      his thoughts were so clearly written that all might read them; only the
+      weakness of the mouth belied the power of the brow. He came attended by
+      his generals, and when he reached the couch where Cleopatra lay he stood
+      astonished, gazing on her with wide-opened eyes. She, too, gazed on him
+      earnestly; I saw the red blood run up beneath her skin, and a great pang
+      of jealousy seized upon my heart. And Charmion, who saw all beneath her
+      downcast eyes, saw this also and smiled. But Cleopatra spoke no word, only
+      she stretched out her white hand for him to kiss; and he, saying no word,
+      took her hand and kissed it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Behold, noble Antony!&rdquo; she said at last in her voice of music, &ldquo;thou hast
+      called me, and I am come.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Venus has come,&rdquo; he answered in his deep notes, and still holding his
+      eyes fixed upon her face. &ldquo;I called a woman&mdash;a Goddess hath risen
+      from the deep!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To find a God to greet her on the land,&rdquo; she laughed with ready wit.
+      &ldquo;Well, a truce to compliments, for being on the earth even Venus is
+      ahungered. Noble Antony, thy hand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The trumpets blared, and through the bowing crowd Cleopatra, followed by
+      her train, passed hand in hand with Antony to the feast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      [Here there is another break in the papyrus.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XV
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE FEAST OF CLEOPATRA; OF THE MELTING OF THE PEARL; OF THE SAYING OF
+      HARMACHIS; AND OF CLEOPATRA&rsquo;S VOW OF LOVE
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the third night the feast was once more prepared in the hall of the
+      great house that had been set aside to the use of Cleopatra, and on this
+      night its splendour was greater even than on the nights before. For the
+      twelve couches that were set about the table were embossed with gold, and
+      those of Cleopatra and Antony were of gold set with jewels. The dishes
+      also were all of gold set with jewels, the walls were hung with purple
+      cloths sewn with gold, and on the floor, covered with a net of gold, fresh
+      roses were strewn ankle-deep, that as the slaves trod them sent up their
+      perfume. Once again I was bidden to stand, with Charmion and Iras and
+      Merira, behind the couch of Cleopatra, and, like a slave, from time to
+      time call out the hours as they flew. And there being no help, I went wild
+      at heart; but this I swore&mdash;it should be for the last time, since I
+      could not bear that shame. For though I would not yet believe what
+      Charmion told me&mdash;that Cleopatra was about to become the Love of
+      Antony&mdash;yet I could no more endure this ignominy and torture. For
+      from Cleopatra now I had no words save such as a Queen speaks to her
+      slave, and methinks it gave her dark heart pleasure to torment me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus it came to pass that I, the Pharaoh, crowned of Khem, stood among
+      eunuchs and waiting-women behind the couch of Egypt&rsquo;s Queen while the
+      feast went merrily and the wine-cup passed. And ever Antony sat, his eyes
+      fixed upon the face of Cleopatra, who from time to time let her deep
+      glance lose itself in his, and then for a little while their talk died
+      away. For he told her tales of war and of deeds that he had done&mdash;ay,
+      and love-jests such as are not meet for the ears of women. But she took
+      offence at nothing; rather, falling into his humour, she would cap his
+      stories with others of a finer wit, but not less shameless.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length, the rich meal being finished, Antony gazed at the splendour
+      around him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell me, then, most lovely Egypt,&rdquo; he said; &ldquo;are the sands of Nile
+      compact of gold, that thou canst, night by night, thus squander the ransom
+      of a King upon a single feast? Whence comes this untold wealth?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I bethought me of the tomb of the Divine Menkau-ra, whose holy treasure
+      was thus wickedly wasted, and looked up so that Cleopatra&rsquo;s eye caught
+      mine; but, reading my thoughts, she frowned heavily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, noble Antony,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;surely it is nothing! In Egypt we have our
+      secrets, and know whence to conjure riches at our need. Say, what is the
+      value of this golden service, and of the meats and drinks that have been
+      set before us?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He cast his eyes about, and hazarded a guess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Maybe a thousand sestertia.&rdquo;[*]
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] About eight thousand pounds of English money.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou hast understated it by half, noble Antony! But such as it is I will
+      give it thee and those with thee as a free token of my friendship. And
+      more will I show thee now: I myself will eat and drink ten thousand
+      sestertia at a draught.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That cannot be, fair Egypt!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She laughed, and bade a slave bring her white vinegar in a glass. When it
+      was brought she set it before her and laughed again, while Antony, rising
+      from his couch, drew near and set himself at her side, and all the company
+      leant forward to see what she would do. And this she did. She took from
+      her ear one of those great pearls which last of all had been drawn from
+      the body of the Divine Pharaoh; and before any could guess her purpose she
+      let it fall into the vinegar. Then came silence, the silence of wonder,
+      and slowly the priceless pearl melted in the strong acid. When it was
+      melted she lifted the glass and shook it, then drank the vinegar, to the
+      last drop.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;More vinegar, slave!&rdquo; she cried; &ldquo;my meal is but half finished!&rdquo; and she
+      drew forth the second pearl.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By Bacchus, no! that shalt thou not!&rdquo; cried Antony, snatching at her
+      hands; &ldquo;I have seen enough;&rdquo; and at that moment, moved to it by I know not
+      what, I called aloud:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The hour falls, O Queen!&mdash;<i>the hour of the coming of the curse of
+      Menkau-ra!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      An ashy whiteness grew upon Cleopatra&rsquo;s face, and she turned upon me
+      furiously, while all the company gazed wondering, not knowing what the
+      words might mean.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou ill-omened slave!&rdquo; she cried. &ldquo;Speak thus once more and thou shalt
+      be scourged with rods!&mdash;ay, scourged like an evildoer&mdash;that I
+      promise thee, Harmachis!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What means the knave of an astrologer?&rdquo; asked Antony. &ldquo;Speak, sirrah! and
+      make clear thy meaning, for those who deal in curses must warrant their
+      wares.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am a servant of the Gods, noble Antony. That which the Gods put in my
+      mind that must I say; nor can I read their meaning,&rdquo; I answered humbly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, oh! thou servest the Gods, dost thou, thou many-coloured mystery?&rdquo;
+       This he said having reference to my splendid robes. &ldquo;Well, I serve the
+      Goddesses, which is a softer cult. And there&rsquo;s this between us: that
+      though what they put in my mind I say, neither can I read their meaning,&rdquo;
+       and he glanced at Cleopatra as one who questions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let the knave be,&rdquo; she said impatiently; &ldquo;to-morrow we&rsquo;ll be rid of him.
+      Sirrah, begone!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I bowed and went; and, as I went, I heard Antony say: &ldquo;Well, he may be a
+      knave&mdash;for that all men are&mdash;but this for thy astrologer: he
+      hath a royal air and the eye of a King&mdash;ay, and wit in it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Without the door I paused, not knowing what to do, for I was bewildered
+      with misery. And, as I stood, someone touched me on the hand. I glanced up&mdash;it
+      was Charmion, who in the confusion of the rising of the guests, had
+      slipped away and followed me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For in trouble Charmion was ever at my side.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Follow me,&rdquo; she whispered; &ldquo;thou art in danger.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I turned and followed her. Why should I not?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whither go we?&rdquo; I asked at length.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To my chamber,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Fear not; we ladies of Cleopatra&rsquo;s Court have
+      small good fame to lose; if anyone by chance should see us, they&rsquo;ll think
+      that it is a love-tryst, and such are all the fashion.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I followed, and, presently, skirting the crowd, we came unseen to a little
+      side entrance that led to a stair, up which we passed. The stair ended in
+      a passage; we turned down it till we found a door on the left hand.
+      Charmion entered silently, and I followed her into a dark chamber. Being
+      in, she barred the door and, kindling tinder to a flame, lit a hanging
+      lamp. As the light grew strong I gazed around. The chamber was not large,
+      and had but one casement, closely shuttered. For the rest, it was simply
+      furnished, having white walls, some chests for garments, an ancient chair,
+      what I took to be a tiring table, on which were combs, perfumes, and all
+      the frippery that pertains to woman, and a white bed with a broidered
+      coverlid, over which was hung a gnat-gauze.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be seated, Harmachis,&rdquo; she said, pointing to the chair. I took the chair,
+      and Charmion, throwing back the gnat-gauze, sat herself upon the bed
+      before me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Knowest thou what I heard Cleopatra say as thou didst leave the
+      banqueting-hall?&rdquo; she asked presently.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, I know not.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She gazed after thee, and, as I went over to her to do some service, she
+      murmured to herself: &lsquo;By Serapis, I will make an end! I will wait no
+      longer: to-morrow he shall be strangled!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So!&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;it may be; though, after all that has been, I can scarce
+      believe that she will murder me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why canst thou not believe it, thou most foolish of men? Dost forget how
+      nigh thou wast to death there in the Alabaster Hall? Who saved thee then
+      from the knives of the eunuchs? Was it Cleopatra? Or was it I and Brennus?
+      Stay, I will tell thee. Thou canst not yet believe it, because, in thy
+      folly, thou dost not think it possible that the woman who has but lately
+      been as a wife to thee can now, in so short a time, doom thee to be basely
+      done to death. Nay, answer not&mdash;I know all; and I tell thee this:
+      thou hast not measured the depth of Cleopatra&rsquo;s perfidy, nor canst thou
+      dream the blackness of her wicked heart. She had surely slain thee in
+      Alexandria had she not feared that thy slaughter being noised abroad might
+      bring trouble on her. Therefore has she brought thee here to kill thee
+      secretly. For what more canst thou give her? She has thy heart&rsquo;s love, and
+      is wearied of thy strength and beauty. She has robbed thee of thy royal
+      birthright and brought thee, a King, to stand amidst the waiting-women
+      behind her at her feasts; she has won from thee the great secret of the
+      holy treasure!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah, thou knowest that?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I know all; and to-night thou seest how the wealth stored against
+      the need of Khem is being squandered to fill up the wanton luxury of
+      Khem&rsquo;s Macedonian Queen! Thou seest how she has kept her oath to wed thee
+      honourably. Harmachis&mdash;at length thine eyes are open to the truth!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, I see too well; and yet she swore she loved me, and I, poor fool, I
+      believed her!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She swore she loved thee!&rdquo; answered Charmion, lifting her dark eyes: &ldquo;now
+      I will show thee how she loves thee. Knowest thou what was this house? It
+      was a priest&rsquo;s college; and, as thou wottest, Harmachis, priests have
+      their ways. This little room aforetime was the room of the Head Priest,
+      and the chamber that is beyond and below was the gathering-place of the
+      other priests. The old slave who keeps the house told me all this, and
+      also she revealed what I shall show thee. Now, Harmachis, be silent as the
+      dead, and follow me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She blew out the lamp, and by the little light that crept through the
+      shuttered casement led me by the hand to the far corner of the room. Here
+      she pressed upon the wall, and a door opened in its thickness. We entered,
+      and she closed the spring. Now we were in a little chamber, some five
+      cubits in length by four in breadth; for a faint light struggled into the
+      closet, and also the sound of voices, I knew not whence. Loosing my hand,
+      she crept to the end of the place, and looked steadfastly at the wall;
+      then crept back and, whispering &ldquo;Silence!&rdquo; led me forward with her. Then I
+      saw that there were eyeholes in the wall, which pierced it, and were
+      hidden on the farther side by carved work in stone. I looked through the
+      hole that was in front of me, and I saw this: six cubits below was the
+      level of the floor of another chamber, lit with fragrant lamps, and most
+      richly furnished. It was the sleeping-place of Cleopatra, and there,
+      within ten cubits of where we stood, sat Cleopatra on a gilded couch, and
+      by her side sat Antony.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell me,&rdquo; Cleopatra murmured&mdash;for this place was so built that every
+      word spoken in the room below came to the ears of the listener above&mdash;&ldquo;tell
+      me, noble Antony, wast pleased with my poor festival?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; he answered in his deep soldier&rsquo;s voice, &ldquo;ay, Egypt, I have made
+      feasts, and been bidden to feasts, but never saw I aught like thine; and I
+      tell thee this, though I am rough of tongue and unskilled in pretty
+      sayings such as women love, thou wast the richest sight of all that
+      splendid board. The red wine was not so red as thy beauteous cheek, the
+      roses smelt not so sweet as the odour of thy hair, and no sapphire there
+      with its changing light was so lovely as thy eyes of ocean blue.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What! Praise from Antony! Sweet words from the lips of him whose writings
+      are so harsh! Why, it is praise indeed!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; he went on, &ldquo;it was a royal feast, though I grieve that thou didst
+      waste that great pearl; and what meant that hour-calling astrologer of
+      thine, with his ill-omened talk of the curse of Menkau-ra?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A shadow fled across her glowing face. &ldquo;I know not; he was lately wounded
+      in a brawl, and methinks the blow has crazed him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He seemed not crazed, and there was that about his voice which rings in
+      my ears like some oracle of fate. So wildly, too, he looked upon thee,
+      Egypt, with those piercing eyes of his, like one who loved and yet hated
+      through the love.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He is a strange man, I tell thee, noble Antony, and a learned. Myself, at
+      times, I almost fear him, for he is deeply versed in the ancient arts of
+      Egypt. Knowest thou that the man is of royal blood, and once he plotted to
+      slay me? But I won him over, and slew him not, for he had the key to
+      secrets that I fain would learn; and, indeed, I loved his wisdom, and to
+      listen to his deep talk of all hidden things.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By Bacchus, I grow jealous of the knave! And now, Egypt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And now I have sucked his knowledge dry, and have no more cause to fear
+      him. Didst thou not see that I have made him stand these three nights a
+      slave amid my slaves, and call aloud the hours as they fled in festival.
+      No captive King marching in thy Roman triumphs can have suffered pangs so
+      keen as that proud Egyptian Prince when he stood shamed behind my couch.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Here Charmion laid her hand on mine and pressed it, as though in
+      tenderness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, he shall trouble us no more with his words of evil omen,&rdquo; Cleopatra
+      went on slowly; &ldquo;to-morrow morn he dies&mdash;dies swiftly and in secret,
+      leaving no trace of what his fate has been. On this is my mind fixed; of a
+      truth, noble Antony, it is fixed. Even as I speak the fear of this man
+      grows and gathers in my breast. Half am I minded to give the word even
+      now, for I breathe not freely till he be dead,&rdquo; and she made as though to
+      rise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let it be till morning,&rdquo; he said, catching her by the hand; &ldquo;the soldiers
+      drink, and the deed will be ill done. &lsquo;Tis pity too. I love not to think
+      of men slaughtered in their sleep.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In the morning, perchance, the hawk may have flown,&rdquo; she answered,
+      pondering. &ldquo;He hath keen ears, this Harmachis, and can summon things to
+      aid him that are not of the earth. Perchance, even now he hears me in the
+      spirit; for, of a truth, I seem to feel his presence breathing round me. I
+      could tell thee&mdash;but no, let him be! Noble Antony, be my tiring-woman
+      and loose me this crown of gold, it chafes my brow. Be gentle, hurt me not&mdash;so.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He lifted the uræus crown from her brows, and she shook loose her heavy
+      weight of hair that fell about her like a garment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Take back thy crown, royal Egypt,&rdquo; he said, speaking low, &ldquo;take it from
+      my hand; I will not rob thee of it, but rather set it more firmly on that
+      beauteous brow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What means my Lord?&rdquo; she asked, smiling and looking into his eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What mean I? Why then, this: thou camest hither at my bidding to make
+      answer of the charges laid against thee as to matters politic. And knowest
+      thou, Egypt, that hadst thou been other than thou art thou hadst not gone
+      back to queen it on the Nile; for of this I am sure, the charges against
+      thee are true in fact. But, being what thou art&mdash;and look thou! never
+      did Nature serve a woman better!&mdash;I forgive thee all. For the sake of
+      thy grace and beauty I forgive thee that which had not been forgiven to
+      virtue, or to patriotism, or to the dignity of age! See now how good a
+      thing is woman&rsquo;s wit and loveliness, that can make kings forget their duty
+      and cozen even blindfolded Justice to peep ere she lifts her sword! Take
+      back thy crown, O Egypt! It is now my care that, though it be heavy, it
+      shall not chafe thee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These are royal words, most noble Antony,&rdquo; she made answer; &ldquo;gracious
+      and generous words, such as befit the Conqueror of the world! And touching
+      my misdeeds in the past&mdash;if misdeeds there have been&mdash;I say
+      this, and this alone&mdash;then I knew not Antony. For, knowing Antony,
+      who could sin against him? What woman could lift a sword against one who
+      must be to all women as a God&mdash;one who, seen and known, draws after
+      him the whole allegiance of the heart, as the sun draws flowers? And what
+      more can I say and not cross the bounds of woman&rsquo;s modesty? Why, only this&mdash;set
+      that crown upon my brow, great Antony, and I will take it as a gift from
+      thee, by the giving made doubly dear, and to thy uses I will guard it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There, now I am thy vassal Queen, and through me all old Egypt that I
+      rule does homage to Antony the Triumvir, who shall be Antony the Emperor
+      of Rome and Khem&rsquo;s Imperial Lord!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And, having set the crown upon her locks, he stood gazing on her, grown
+      passionate in the warm breath of her living beauty, till at length he
+      caught her by both hands and drawing her to him kissed her thrice, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cleopatra, I love thee, Sweet&mdash;I love thee as I never loved before.&rdquo;
+       She drew back from his embrace, smiling softly; and as she did so the
+      golden circlet of the sacred snakes fell, being but loosely set upon her
+      brow, and rolled away into the darkness beyond the ring of light.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I saw the omen, and even in the bitter anguish of my heart knew its evil
+      import. But these twain took no note.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou lovest me?&rdquo; she said, most sweetly; &ldquo;how know I that thou lovest me?
+      Perchance it is Fulvia whom thou lovest&mdash;Fulvia, thy wedded wife?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, it is not Fulvia, &lsquo;tis thou, Cleopatra, and thou alone. Many women
+      have looked favourably upon me from my boyhood up, but to never a one have
+      I known such desire as to thee, O thou Wonder of the World, like unto whom
+      no woman ever was! Canst thou love me, Cleopatra, and to me be true, not
+      for my place or power, not for that which I can give or can withhold, not
+      for the stern music of my legion&rsquo;s tramp, or for the light that flows from
+      my bright Star of Fortune; but for myself, for the sake of Antony, the
+      rough captain, grown old in camps? Ay, for the sake of Antony the
+      reveller, the frail, the unfixed of purpose, but who yet never did desert
+      a friend, or rob a poor man, or take an enemy unawares? Say, canst thou
+      love me, Egypt? Oh! if thou wilt, why, I am more happy than though I sat
+      to-night in the Capitol at Rome crowned absolute Monarch of the World!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And, ever as he spoke, she gazed on him with wonderful eyes, and in them
+      shone a light of truth and honesty such as was strange to me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou speakest plainly,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;and thy words are sweet to mine ears&mdash;they
+      would be sweet, even were things otherwise than they are, for what woman
+      would not love to see the world&rsquo;s master at her feet? But things being as
+      they are, why, Antony, what can be so sweet as thy sweet words? The
+      harbour of his rest to the storm-tossed mariner&mdash;surely that is
+      sweet! The dream of Heaven&rsquo;s bliss which cheers the poor ascetic priest on
+      his path of sacrifice&mdash;surely that is sweet! The sight of Dawn, the
+      rosy-fingered, coming in his promise to glad the watching Earth&mdash;surely
+      that is sweet! But, ah! not one of these, nor all dear delightful things
+      that are, can match the honey-sweetness of thy words to me, O Antony! For
+      thou knowest not&mdash;never canst thou know&mdash;how drear my life hath
+      been, and empty, since thus it is ordained that in love only can woman
+      lose her solitude! And I have <i>never</i> loved&mdash;never might I love&mdash;till
+      this happy night! Ay, take me in thy arms, and let us swear a great vow of
+      love&mdash;an oath that may not be broken while life is in us! Behold!
+      Antony! now and for ever I do vow most strict fidelity unto thee! Now and
+      for ever I am thine, and thine alone!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Charmion took me by the hand and drew me thence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hast seen enough?&rdquo; she asked, when we were once more within the chamber
+      and the lamp was lit.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;my eyes are opened.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0023" id="link2HCH0023">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XVI
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE PLAN OF CHARMION; OF THE CONFESSION OF CHARMION; AND OF THE ANSWER
+      OF HARMACHIS
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For some while I sat with bowed head, and the last bitterness of shame
+      sank into my soul. This, then, was the end. For this I had betrayed my
+      oaths; for this I had told the secret of the pyramid; for this I had lost
+      my Crown, my Honour, and, perchance, my hope of Heaven! Could there be
+      another man in the wide world so steeped in sorrow as I was that night?
+      Surely not one! Where should I turn? What could I do? And even through the
+      tempest of my torn heart the bitter voice of jealousy called aloud. For I
+      loved this woman, to whom I had given all; and she at this moment&mdash;she
+      was&mdash;&mdash;Ah! I could not bear to think of it; and in my utter
+      agony, my heart burst in a river of tears such as are terrible to weep!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Charmion drew near me, and I saw that she, too, was weeping.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Weep not, Harmachis!&rdquo; she sobbed, kneeling at my side. &ldquo;I cannot endure
+      to see thee weep. Oh! why wouldst thou not be warned? Then hadst thou been
+      great and happy, and not as now. Listen, Harmachis! Thou didst hear what
+      that false and tigerish woman said&mdash;to-morrow she hands thee over to
+      the murderers!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; I gasped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay: it is not well. Harmachis, give her not this last triumph over thee.
+      Thou hast lost all save life: but while life remains, hope remains also,
+      and with hope the chance of vengeance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; I said, starting from my seat. &ldquo;I had not thought of that. Ay&mdash;the
+      chance of vengeance! It would be sweet to be avenged!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It would be sweet, Harmachis, and yet this&mdash;Vengeance is an arrow
+      that in falling oft pierces him who shot it. Myself&mdash;I know it,&rdquo; and
+      she sighed. &ldquo;But a truce to talk and grief. There will be time for us
+      twain to grieve, if not to talk, in all the heavy coming years. Thou must
+      fly&mdash;before the coming of the light must thou fly. Here is a plan.
+      To-morrow, ere the dawn, a galley that but yesterday came from Alexandria,
+      bearing fruit and stores, sails thither again, and its captain is known to
+      me, but to thee he is not known. Now, I will find thee the garb of a
+      Syrian merchant, and cloak thee, as I know how, and furnish thee with a
+      letter to the captain of the galley. He shall give thee passage to
+      Alexandria; for to him thou wilt seem but as a merchant going on the
+      business of thy trade. Brennus is officer of the guard to-night, and
+      Brennus is a friend to me and thee. Perhaps he will guess somewhat; or,
+      perhaps, he will not guess; at the least, the Syrian merchant shall safely
+      pass the lines. What sayest thou?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; I answered wearily; &ldquo;little do I reck the issue.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Rest thou, then, here, Harmachis, while I make these matters ready; and,
+      Harmachis, grieve not overmuch; there are others who should grieve more
+      heavily than thou.&rdquo; And she went, leaving me alone with my agony which
+      rent me like a torture-bed. Had it not been for that fierce desire of
+      vengeance which from time to time flashed across my tormented mind as the
+      lightning over a midnight sea, methinks my reason had left me in that dark
+      hour. At length I heard her footstep at the door, and she entered,
+      breathing heavily, for she bore a sack of clothing in her arms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; she said: &ldquo;here is the garb with spare linen, and
+      writing-tablets, and all things needful. I have seen Brennus also, and
+      told him that a Syrian merchant would pass the guard an hour before the
+      dawn. And though he made pretence of sleep, I think he understood, for he
+      answered, yawning, that if they but had the pass-word, &lsquo;Antony,&rsquo; fifty
+      Syrian merchants might go through about their lawful business. And here is
+      the letter to the captain&mdash;thou canst not mistake the galley, for she
+      is moored along to the right&mdash;a small galley, painted black, as thou
+      dost enter on the great quay, and, moreover, the sailors make ready for
+      sailing. Now I will wait here without, while thou dost put off the livery
+      of thy service and array thyself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      When she was gone I tore off my gorgeous garments and spat upon them and
+      trod them on the ground. Then I put on the modest robe of a merchant, and
+      bound the tablets round me, on my feet the sandals of untanned hide, and
+      at my waist the knife. When it was done Charmion entered once again and
+      looked on me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Too much art thou still the royal Harmachis,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;see, it must be
+      changed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then she took scissors from her tiring-table, and, bidding me be seated,
+      she cut off my locks, clipping the hair close to the head. Next she found
+      stains of such sort as women use to make dark the eyes, and mixed them
+      cunningly, rubbing the stuff on my face and hands and on the white mark in
+      my hair where the sword of Brennus had bitten to the bone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now thou art changed&mdash;somewhat for the worse, Harmachis,&rdquo; she said,
+      with a dreary laugh, &ldquo;scarce myself should I know thee. Stay, there is one
+      more thing,&rdquo; and, going to a chest of garments, she drew thence a heavy
+      bag of gold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Take thou this,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;thou wilt have need of money.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I cannot take thy gold, Charmion.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, take it. It was Sepa who gave it to me for the furtherance of our
+      cause, and therefore it is fitting that thou shouldst spend it. Moreover,
+      if I want money, doubtless Antony, who is henceforth my master, will give
+      me more; he is much beholden to me, and this he knows well. There, waste
+      not the precious time in haggling o&rsquo;er the pelf&mdash;not yet art thou all
+      a merchant, Harmachis;&rdquo; and, without more words, she thrust the pieces
+      into the leather bag that hung across my shoulders. Then she made fast the
+      sack containing the spare garments, and, so womanly thoughtful was she,
+      placed in it an alabaster jar of pigment, with which I might stain my
+      countenance afresh, and, taking the broidered robes of my office that I
+      had cast off, hid them in the secret passage. And so at last all was made
+      ready.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it time that I should go?,&rdquo; I asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not yet a while. Be patient, Harmachis, for but one little hour more must
+      thou endure my presence, and then, perchance, farewell for ever.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I made a gesture signifying that this was no time for sharp words.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Forgive me my quick tongue,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;but from a salt spring bitter
+      waters well. Be seated, Harmachis; I have heavier words to speak to thee
+      before thou goest.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Say on,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;words, however heavy, can move me no more.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She stood before me with folded hands, and the lamp-light shone upon her
+      beauteous face. I noticed idly how great was its pallor and how wide and
+      dark were the rings about the deep black eyes. Twice she lifted her white
+      face and strove to speak, twice her voice failed her; and when at last it
+      came it was in a hoarse whisper.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I cannot let thee go,&rdquo; she said&mdash;&ldquo;I cannot let thee go unwitting of
+      the truth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>Harmachis, &lsquo;twas I who did betray thee!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I sprang to my feet, an oath upon my lips; but she caught me by the hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, be seated,&rdquo; she said&mdash;&ldquo;be seated and hear me; then, when thou
+      hast heard, do to me as thou wilt. Listen. From that evil moment when, in
+      the presence of thy uncle Sepa, for the second time I set eyes upon thy
+      face, I loved thee&mdash;how much, thou canst little guess. Think upon
+      thine own love for Cleopatra, and double it, and double it again, and
+      perchance thou mayst come near to my love&rsquo;s mighty sum. I loved thee, day
+      by day I loved thee more, till in thee and for thee alone I seemed to
+      live. But thou wast cold&mdash;thou wast worse than cold! thou didst deal
+      with me not as a breathing woman, but rather as the instrument to an end&mdash;as
+      a tool with which to grave thy fortunes. And then I saw&mdash;yes, long
+      before thou knewest it thyself&mdash;thy heart&rsquo;s tide was setting strong
+      towards that ruinous shore whereon to-day thy life is broken. And at last
+      that night came, that dreadful night when, hid within the chamber, I saw
+      thee cast my kerchief to the winds, and with sweet words cherish my royal
+      Rival&rsquo;s gift. Then&mdash;oh, thou knowest&mdash;in my pain I betrayed the
+      secret that thou wouldst not see, and thou didst make a mock of me,
+      Harmachis! Oh! the shame of it&mdash;thou in thy foolishness didst make a
+      mock of me! I went thence, and within me were rising all the torments
+      which can tear a woman&rsquo;s heart, for now I was sure that thou didst love
+      Cleopatra! Ay, and so mad was I, even that night I was minded to betray
+      thee: but I thought&mdash;not yet, not yet; to-morrow he may soften. Then
+      came the morrow, and all was ready for the bursting of the great plot that
+      should make thee Pharaoh. And I too came&mdash;thou dost remember&mdash;and
+      again thou didst put me away when I spake to thee in parables, as
+      something of little worth&mdash;as a thing too small to claim a moment&rsquo;s
+      weighty thought. And, knowing that this was because&mdash;though thou
+      knewest it not&mdash;thou didst love Cleopatra, whom now thou must
+      straightway slay, I grew mad, and a wicked Spirit entered into me,
+      possessing me utterly, so that I was myself no longer, nor could control
+      myself. And because thou hadst scorned me, I did this, to my everlasting
+      shame and sorrow!&mdash;I passed into Cleopatra&rsquo;s presence and betrayed
+      thee and those with thee, and our holy cause, saying that I had found a
+      writing which thou hadst let fall and read all this therein.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I gasped and sat silent; and gazing sadly at me she went on:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When she understood how great was the plot, and how deep its roots,
+      Cleopatra was much troubled; and, at first, she would have fled to Sais or
+      taken ship and run for Cyprus, but I showed her that the ways were barred.
+      Then she said she would cause thee to be slain, there, in the chamber, and
+      I left her so believing; for, at that hour, I was glad that thou shouldst
+      be slain&mdash;ay, even if I wept out my heart upon thy grave, Harmachis.
+      But what said I just now?&mdash;Vengeance is an arrow that oft falls on
+      him who looses it. So it was with me; for between my going and thy coming
+      Cleopatra hatched a deeper plan. She feared that to slay thee would only
+      be to light a fiercer fire of revolt; but she saw that to bind thee to
+      her, and, having left men awhile in doubt, to show thee faithless, would
+      strike the imminent danger at its roots and wither it. This plot once
+      formed, being great, she dared its doubtful issue, and&mdash;need I go on?
+      Thou knowest, Harmachis, how she won; and thus the shaft of vengeance that
+      I loosed fell upon my own head. For on the morrow I knew that I had sinned
+      for naught, that the burden of my betrayal had been laid on the wretched
+      Paulus, and that I had but ruined the cause to which I was sworn and given
+      the man I loved to the arms of wanton Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She bowed her head awhile, and then, as I spoke not, once more went on:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let all my sin be told, Harmachis, and then let justice come. See now,
+      this thing happened. Half did Cleopatra learn to love thee, and deep in
+      her heart she bethought her of taking thee to wedded husband. For the sake
+      of this half love of hers she spared the lives of those in the plot whom
+      she had meshed, bethinking her that if she wedded thee she might use them
+      and thee to draw the heart of Egypt, which loves not her nor any Ptolemy.
+      And then, once again she entrapped thee, and in thy folly thou didst
+      betray to her the secret of the hidden wealth of Egypt, which to-day she
+      squanders to delight the luxurious Antony; and, of a truth, at that time
+      she purposed to make good her oath and marry thee. But on the very morn
+      when Dellius came for answer she sent for me, and telling me all&mdash;for
+      my wit, above any, she holds at price&mdash;demanded of me my judgment
+      whether she should defy Antony and wed thee, or whether she should put the
+      thought away and come to Antony. And I&mdash;now mark thou all my sin&mdash;I,
+      in my bitter jealousy, rather than I would see her thy wedded wife and
+      thou her loving lord, counselled her most strictly that she should come to
+      Antony, well knowing&mdash;for I had had speech with Dellius&mdash;that if
+      she came, this weak Antony would fall like a ripe fruit at her feet, as,
+      indeed, he has fallen. And but now I have shown thee the issue of the
+      scheme. Antony loves Cleopatra and Cleopatra loves Antony, and thou art
+      robbed, and matters have gone well for me, who of all women on the earth
+      to-night am the wretchedest by far. For when I saw how thy heart broke but
+      now, my heart seemed to break with thine, and I could no longer bear the
+      burden of my evil deeds, but knew that I must tell them and take my
+      punishment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And now, Harmachis, I have no more to say; save that I thank thee for thy
+      courtesy in hearkening, and this one thing I add. Driven by my great love
+      I have sinned against thee unto death! I have ruined thee, I have ruined
+      Khem, and myself also I have ruined! Let death reward me! Slay thou me,
+      Harmachis&mdash;I will gladly die upon thy sword; ay, and kiss its blade!
+      Slay thou me and go; for if thou slayest me not, myself I will surely
+      slay!&rdquo; And she threw herself upon her knees, lifting her fair breast
+      toward me, that I might smite her with my dagger. And, in my bitter fury,
+      I was minded to strike; for, above all, I thought how, when I was fallen,
+      this woman, who herself was my cause of shame, had scourged me with her
+      whip of scorn. But it is hard to slay a fair woman; and, even as I lifted
+      my hand to strike, I remembered that she had now twice saved my life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Woman! thou shameless woman!&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;arise! I slay thee not! Who am I,
+      that I should judge thy crime, that, with mine own, doth overtop all
+      earthly judgment?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Slay me, Harmachis!&rdquo; she moaned; &ldquo;slay me, or I slay myself! My burden is
+      too great for me to bear! Be not so deadly calm! Curse me, and slay!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What was it that thou didst say to me just now, Charmion&mdash;that as I
+      had sown so I must reap? It is not lawful that thou shouldst slay thyself;
+      it is not lawful that I, thine equal in sin, should slay thee because
+      through thee I sinned. As <i>thou</i> hast sown, Charmion, so must <i>thou</i>
+      also reap. Base woman! whose cruel jealousy has brought all these woes on
+      me and Egypt, live&mdash;live on, and from year to year pluck the bitter
+      fruit of crime! Haunted be thy sleep by visions of thy outraged Gods,
+      whose vengeance awaits thee and me in their dim Amenti! Haunted be thy
+      days by memories of that man whom thy fierce love brought to shame and
+      ruin, and by the sight of Khem a prey to the insatiate Cleopatra and a
+      slave to Roman Antony.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, speak not thus, Harmachis! Thy words are sharper than any sword; and
+      more surely, if more slowly, shall they slay! Listen, Harmachis,&rdquo; and she
+      grasped my robe: &ldquo;when thou wast great, and all power lay within thy
+      grasp, thou didst reject me. Wilt reject me now that Cleopatra hast cast
+      thee from her&mdash;now that thou art poor and shamed and with no pillow
+      to thy head? Still am I fair, and still I worship thee. Let me fly with
+      thee, and make atonement for my lifelong love. Or, if this be too great a
+      thing to ask, let me be but as thy sister and thy servant&mdash;thy very
+      slave, so that I may still look upon thy face, and share thy trouble and
+      minister to thee. O Harmachis, let me but come and I will brave all things
+      and endure all things, and nothing but Death himself shall stay me from
+      thy side. For I do believe that the love that sank me to so low a depth,
+      dragging thee with me, can yet lift me to an equal height, and thee with
+      me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wouldst tempt me to fresh sin, woman? And dost thou think, Charmion, that
+      in some hovel where I must hide, I could bear, day by day, to look upon
+      thy fair face, and seeing, remember that those lips betrayed me? Not thus
+      easily shalt thou atone! This I know even now: many and heavy shall be thy
+      lonely days of penance! Perchance that hour of vengeance yet may come, and
+      perchance thou shalt live to play thy part in it. Thou must still abide in
+      the Court of Cleopatra; and, while thou art there, if I yet live, I will
+      from time to time find means to give thee tidings. Perhaps a day may dawn
+      when once more I shall need thy service. Now, swear that, in this event,
+      thou wilt not fail me a second time.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I swear, Harmachis!&mdash;I swear! May everlasting torments, too hideous
+      to be dreamed&mdash;more hideous, even, by far, than those that wring me
+      now&mdash;be my portion if I fail thee in one jot or tittle&mdash;ay,
+      though I wait a lifetime for thy word!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well; see that thou keep the oath&mdash;not twice may we betray. I
+      go to work out my fate; abide thou to work out thine. Perchance our divers
+      threads will once more mingle ere the web be spun. Charmion, who unasked
+      didst love me&mdash;and who, prompted by that gentle love of thine, didst
+      betray and ruin me&mdash;fare thee well!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She gazed wildly upon my face&mdash;she stretched out her arms as though
+      to clasp me; then, in the agony of her despair, she cast herself at length
+      and grovelled upon the ground.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I took up the sack of clothing and the staff and gained the door, and, as
+      I passed it, I threw one last glance upon her. There she lay, with arms
+      outstretched&mdash;more white than her white robes&mdash;her dark hair
+      streaming about her, and her fair brows hidden in the dust.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And thus I left her, nor did I again set my eyes upon her till nine long
+      years had come and gone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      [Here ends the second and largest roll of papyrus.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0030" id="link2H_4_0030">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      BOOK III&mdash;THE VENGEANCE OF HARMACHIS
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0024" id="link2HCH0024">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER I
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE ESCAPE OF HARMACHIS FROM TARSUS; OF HIS BEING CAST FORTH AS AN
+      OFFERING TO THE GODS OF THE SEA; OF HIS SOJOURN IN THE ISLE OF CYPRUS; OF
+      HIS RETURN TO ABOUTHIS; AND OF THE DEATH OF AMENEMHAT
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I made my way down the stair in safety, and presently stood in the
+      courtyard of that great house. It was but an hour from dawn, and none were
+      stirring. The last reveller had drunk his fill, the dancing-girls had
+      ceased their dancing, and silence lay upon the city. I drew near the gate,
+      and was challenged by an officer who stood on guard, wrapped in a heavy
+      cloak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who passes,&rdquo; said the voice of Brennus.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A merchant, may it please you, Sir, who, having brought gifts from
+      Alexandria to a lady of the Queen&rsquo;s household, and, having been
+      entertained of the lady, now departs to his galley,&rdquo; I answered in a
+      feigned voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Umph!&rdquo; he growled. &ldquo;The ladies of the Queen&rsquo;s household keep their guests
+      late. Well; it is a time of festival. The pass-word, Sir Shopkeeper?
+      Without the pass-word you must needs return and crave the lady&rsquo;s further
+      hospitality.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;<i>Antony</i>,&rsquo; Sir; and a right good word, too. Ah! I&rsquo;ve wandered far,
+      and never saw I so goodly a man or so great a general. And, mark you, Sir!
+      I&rsquo;ve travelled far, and seen many generals.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay; &lsquo;<i>Antony</i>&rsquo;s the word! And Antony is a good general in his way&mdash;when
+      it is a sober way, and when he cannot find a skirt to follow. I&rsquo;ve served
+      with Antony&mdash;and against him, too; and know his points. Well, well;
+      he&rsquo;s got an armful now!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And all this while that he was holding me in talk, the sentry had been
+      pacing to and fro before the gate. But now he moved a little way to the
+      right, leaving the entrance clear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fare thee well, Harmachis, and begone!&rdquo; whispered Brennus, leaning
+      forward and speaking quickly. &ldquo;Linger not. But at times bethink thee of
+      Brennus who risked his neck to save thine. Farewell, lad, I would that we
+      were sailing North together,&rdquo; and he turned his back upon me and began to
+      hum a tune.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Farewell, Brennus, thou honest man,&rdquo; I answered, and was gone. And, as I
+      heard long afterwards, when on the morrow the hue and cry was raised
+      because the murderers could not find me, though they sought me everywhere
+      to slay me, Brennus did me a service. For he swore that as he kept his
+      watch alone an hour after midnight he saw me come and stand upon the
+      parapet of the roof, that then I stretched out my robes and they became
+      wings on which I floated up to Heaven, leaving him astonished. And all
+      those about the Court lent ear to this history, believing in it, because
+      of the great fame of my magic; and they wondered much what the marvel
+      might portend. The tale also travelled into Egypt, and did much to save my
+      good name among those whom I had betrayed; for the more ignorant among
+      them believed that I acted not of my will, but of the will of the dread
+      Gods, who of their own purpose wafted me into Heaven. And thus to this day
+      the saying runs that &ldquo;<i>When Harmachis comes again Egypt shall be free.</i>&rdquo;
+       But alas, Harmachis comes no more! Only Cleopatra, though she was much
+      afraid, doubted her of the tale, and sent an armed vessel to search for
+      the Syrian merchant, but not to find him, as shall be told.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When I reached the galley of which Charmion had spoken, I found her about
+      to sail, and gave the writing to the captain, who conned it, looking on me
+      curiously, but said nothing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So I went aboard, and immediately we dropped swiftly down the river with
+      the current. And having come to the mouth of the river unchallenged,
+      though we passed many vessels, we put out to sea with a strong favouring
+      wind that before night freshened to a great gale. Then the sailor men,
+      being much afraid, would have put about and run for the mouth of Cydnus
+      again, but could not because of the wildness of the sea. All that night it
+      blew furiously, and by dawn our mast was carried away, and we rolled
+      helplessly in the trough of the great waves. But I sat wrapped in a cloak,
+      little heeding; and because I showed no fear the sailors cried out that I
+      was a wizard, and sought to cast me into the sea, but the captain would
+      not. At dawn the wind slackened, but ere noon it once more blew in
+      terrible fury, and at the fourth hour from noon we came in sight of the
+      rocky coast of that cape in the island of Cyprus which is called
+      Dinaretum, where is a mountain named Olympus, and thither-wards we drifted
+      swiftly. Then, when the sailors saw the terrible rocks, and how the great
+      waves that smote on them spouted up in foam, once more they grew much
+      afraid, and cried out in their fear. For, seeing that I still sat unmoved,
+      they swore that I certainly was a wizard, and came to cast me forth as a
+      sacrifice to the Gods of the sea. And this time the captain was
+      over-ruled, and said nothing. Therefore, when they came to me I rose and
+      defied them, saying, &ldquo;Cast me forth, if ye will; but if ye cast me forth
+      ye shall perish.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      For in my heart I cared little, having no more any love of life, but
+      rather a desire to die, though I greatly feared to pass into the presence
+      of my Holy Mother Isis. But my weariness and sorrow at the bitterness of
+      my lot overcame even this heavy fear; so that when, being mad as brute
+      beasts, they seized me and, lifting me, hurled me into the raging waters,
+      I did but utter one prayer to Isis and made ready for death. But it was
+      fated that I should not die; for, when I rose to the surface of the water,
+      I saw a spar of wood floating near me, to which I swam and clung. And a
+      great wave came and swept me, riding, as it were, upon the spar, as when a
+      boy I had learned to do in the waters of the Nile, past the bulwarks of
+      the galley where the fierce-faced sailors clustered to see me drown. And
+      when they saw me come mounted on the wave, cursing them as I came, and
+      saw, too, that the colour of my face had changed&mdash;for the salt water
+      had washed way the pigment, they shrieked with fear and threw themselves
+      down upon the deck. And within a very little while, as I rode toward the
+      rocky coast, a great wave poured into the vessel, that rolled broadside
+      on, and pressed her down into the deep, whence she rose no more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So she sank with all her crew. And in that same storm also sank the galley
+      which Cleopatra had sent to search for the Syrian merchant. Thus all
+      traces of me were lost, and of a surety she believed that I was dead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But I rode on toward the shore. The wind shrieked and the salt waves
+      lashed my face as, alone with the tempest, I rushed upon my way, while the
+      sea-birds screamed about my head. I felt no fear, but rather a wild
+      uplifting of the heart; and in the stress of my imminent peril the love of
+      life seemed to waken again. And so I plunged and drifted, now tossed high
+      toward the lowering clouds, now cast into the deep valleys of the sea,
+      till at length the rocky headland loomed before me, and I saw the breakers
+      smite upon the stubborn rocks, and through the screaming of the wind heard
+      the sullen thunder of their fall and the groan of stones sucked seaward
+      from the beach. On! high-throned upon the mane of a mighty billow&mdash;fifty
+      cubits beneath me the level of the hissing waters; above me the inky sky!
+      It was done! The spar was torn from me, and, dragged downwards by the
+      weight of the bag of gold and the clinging of my garments, I sank
+      struggling furiously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now I was under&mdash;the green light for a moment streamed through the
+      waters, and then came darkness, and on the darkness pictures of the past.
+      Picture after picture&mdash;all the long scene of life was written here.
+      Then in my ears I only heard the song of the nightingale, the murmur of
+      the summer sea, and the music of Cleopatra&rsquo;s laugh of victory, following
+      me softly and yet more soft as I sank away to sleep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Once more my life came back, and with it a sense of deadly sickness and of
+      aching pain. I opened my eyes and saw a kind face bending over me, and
+      knew that I was in the room of a builded house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How came I hither?&rdquo; I asked faintly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of a truth, Poseidon brought thee, Stranger,&rdquo; answered a rough voice in
+      barbarous Greek; &ldquo;we found thee cast high upon the beach like a dead
+      dolphin and brought thee to our house, for we are fisher-folk. And here,
+      methinks, thou must lie a while, for thy left leg is broken by the force
+      of the waves.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I strove to move my foot and could not. It was true, the bone was broken
+      above the knee.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who art thou, and how art thou named?&rdquo; asked the rough-bearded sailor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am an Egyptian traveller whose ship has sunk in the fury of the gale,
+      and I am named Olympus,&rdquo; I answered, for these people called a mountain
+      that we had sighted Olympus, and therefore I took the name at hazard. And
+      as Olympus I was henceforth known.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here with these rough fisher-folk I abode for the half of a year, paying
+      them a little out of the sum of gold that had come safely ashore upon me.
+      For it was long before my bones grew together again, and then I was left
+      somewhat of a cripple; for I, who had been so tall and straight and
+      strong, now limped&mdash;one limb being shorter than the other. And after
+      I recovered from my hurt, I still lived there, and toiled with them at the
+      trade of fishing; for I knew not whither I should go or what I should do,
+      and, for a while, I was fain to become a peasant fisherman, and so wear my
+      weary life away. And these people entreated me kindly, though, as others,
+      they feared me much, holding me to be a wizard brought hither by the sea.
+      For my sorrows had stamped so strange an aspect on my face that men gazing
+      at me grew fearful of what lay beneath its calm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There, then, I abode, till at length, one night as I lay and strove to
+      sleep, great restlessness came upon me, and a mighty desire once more to
+      see the face of Sihor. But whether this desire was of the Gods or born of
+      my own heart, not knowing, I cannot tell. So strong was it, at the least,
+      that before it was dawn I rose from my bed of straw and clothed myself in
+      my fisher garb, and, because I had no wish to answer questions, thus I
+      took farewell of my humble hosts. First I placed some pieces of gold on
+      the well-cleaned table of wood, and then taking a pot of flour I strewed
+      it in the form of letters, writing:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This gift from Olympus, the Egyptian, who returns into the sea.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I went, and on the third day I came to the great city of Salamis,
+      that is also on the sea. Here I abode in the fishermen&rsquo;s quarters till a
+      vessel was about to sail for Alexandria, and to the captain of this
+      vessel, a man of Paphos, I hired myself as a sailor. We sailed with a
+      favouring wind, and on the fifth day I came to Alexandria, that hateful
+      city, and saw the light dancing on its golden domes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here I might not abide. So again I hired myself out as a sailor, giving my
+      labour in return for passage, and we passed up the Nile. And I learned
+      from the talk of men that Cleopatra had come back to Alexandria, drawing
+      Antony with her and that they lived together with royal state in the
+      palace on the Lochias. Indeed, the boatmen already had a song thereon,
+      which they sang as they laboured at the oar. Also I heard how the galley
+      that was sent to search for the vessel which carried the Syrian merchant
+      had foundered with all her crew, and the tale that the Queen&rsquo;s astronomer,
+      Harmachis, had flown to Heaven from the roof of the house at Tarsus. And
+      the sailors wondered because I sat and laboured and would not sing their
+      ribald song of the loves of Cleopatra. For they, too, began to fear me,
+      and mutter concerning me among themselves. Then I knew that I was a man
+      accursed and set apart&mdash;a man whom none might love.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the sixth day we drew nigh to Abouthis, where I left the craft, and the
+      sailors were right glad to see me go. And, with a breaking heart, I walked
+      through the fertile fields, seeing faces that I knew well. But in my rough
+      disguise and limping gait none knew me. At length, as the sun sank, I came
+      near to the great outer pylon of the temple; and here I crouched down in
+      the ruins of a house, not knowing why I had come or what I was about to
+      do. Like a lost ox I had strayed from far, back to the fields of my birth,
+      and for what? If my father, Amenemhat, still lived, surely he would turn
+      his face from me. I dared not go into the presence of my father. I sat
+      hidden there among the broken rafters, and idly watched the pylon gates,
+      to see if, perchance, a face I knew should issue from them. But none came
+      forth or entered in, though the great gates stood wide; and then I saw
+      that herbs were growing between the stones, where no herbs had grown for
+      ages. What could this be? Was the temple deserted? Nay; how could the
+      worship of the eternal Gods have ceased, that for thousands of years had,
+      day by day, been offered in the holy place? Was, then, my father dead? It
+      well might be. And yet, why this silence? Where were the priests: where
+      the worshippers?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I could bear the doubt no more, but as the sun sank red I crept like a
+      hunted jackal through the open gates, and on till I reached the first
+      great Hall of Pillars. Here I paused and gazed around me&mdash;not a
+      sight, not a sound, in the dim and holy place! I went on with a beating
+      heart to the second great hall, the hall of six-and-thirty pillars where I
+      had been crowned Lord of all the Lands: still not a sight or a sound!
+      Thence, half fearful of my own footfall, so terribly did it echo in the
+      silence of the deserted Holies, I passed down the passage of the names of
+      the Pharaohs towards my father&rsquo;s chamber. The curtain still swung over the
+      doorway; but what would there be within?&mdash;also emptiness? I lifted
+      it, and noiselessly passed in, and there in his carven chair at the table
+      on which his long white beard flowed, sat my father, Amenemhat, clad in
+      his priestly robes. At first I thought that he was dead, he sat so still;
+      but at length he turned his head, and I saw that his eyes were white and
+      sightless. He was blind, and his face was thin as the face of a dead man,
+      and woeful with age and grief.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I stood still and felt the blind eyes wandering over me. I could not speak
+      to him&mdash;I dared not speak to him; I would go and hide myself afresh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I had already turned and grasped the curtain, when my father spoke in a
+      deep, slow voice:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come hither, thou who wast my son and art a traitor. Come hither, thou
+      Harmachis, on whom Khem builded up her hope. Not in vain, then, have I
+      drawn thee from far away! Not in vain have I held my life in me till I
+      heard thy footfall creeping down these empty Holies, like the footfall of
+      a thief!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! my father,&rdquo; I gasped, astonished. &ldquo;Thou art blind: how knowest thou
+      me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How do I know thee?&mdash;and askest thou that who hast learned of our
+      lore? Enough, I know thee and I brought thee hither. Would, Harmachis,
+      that I knew thee not! Would that I had been blasted of the Invisible ere I
+      drew thee down from the womb of Nout, to be my curse and shame, and the
+      last woe of Khem!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, speak not thus!&rdquo; I moaned; &ldquo;is not my burden already more than I can
+      bear? Am I not myself betrayed and utterly outcast? Be pitiful, my
+      father!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be pitiful!&mdash;be pitiful to thee who hast shown so great pity? It was
+      thy pity which gave up noble Sepa to die beneath the hands of the
+      tormentors!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, not that&mdash;not that!&rdquo; I cried.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, traitor, that!&mdash;to die in agony, with his last poor breath
+      proclaiming thee, his murderer, honest and innocent! Be pitiful to thee,
+      who gavest all the flower of Khem as the price of a wanton&rsquo;s arms!&mdash;thinkest
+      thou that, labouring in the darksome desert mines, those noble ones in
+      thought are pitiful to thee, Harmachis? Be pitiful to thee, by whom this
+      Holy Temple of Abouthis hath been ravaged, its lands seized, its priests
+      scattered, and I alone, old and withered, left to count out its ruin&mdash;to
+      thee, who hast poured the treasures of <i>Her</i> into thy leman&rsquo;s lap,
+      who hast forsworn Thyself, thy Country, thy Birthright, and thy Gods! Yea,
+      thus am I pitiful: Accursed be thou, fruit of my loins!&mdash;Shame be thy
+      portion, Agony thy end, and Hell receive thee at the last! Where art thou?
+      Yea, I grew blind with weeping when I heard the truth&mdash;sure, they
+      strove to hide it from me. Let me find thee that I may spit upon thee,
+      thou Renegade! thou Apostate! thou Outcast!&rdquo;&mdash;and he rose from his
+      seat and staggered like a living Wrath toward me, smiting the air with his
+      wand. And as he came with outstretched arms, awful to see, suddenly his
+      end found him, and with a cry he sank down upon the ground, the red blood
+      streaming from his lips. I ran to him and lifted him; and as he died, he
+      babbled:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He was my son, a bright-eyed lovely boy, and full of promise as the
+      Spring; and now&mdash;and now&mdash;oh, would that he were dead!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then came a pause and the breath rattled in his throat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Harmachis,&rdquo; he gasped, &ldquo;art there?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, father.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Harmachis, atone!&mdash;atone! Vengeance can still be wreaked&mdash;forgiveness
+      may still be won. There&rsquo;s gold; I&rsquo;ve hidden it&mdash;Atoua&mdash;she can
+      tell thee&mdash;ah, this pain! Farewell!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And he struggled faintly in my arms and was dead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus, then, did I and my holy father, the Prince Amenemhat, meet together
+      for the last time in the flesh, and for the last time part.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0025" id="link2HCH0025">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER II
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE LAST MISERY OF HARMACHIS; OF THE CALLING DOWN OF THE HOLY ISIS BY
+      THE WORD OF FEAR; OF THE PROMISE OF ISIS; OF THE COMING OF ATOUA, AND OF
+      THE WORDS OF ATOUA
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I crouched upon the floor gazing at the dead body of my father, who had
+      lived to curse me, the utterly accursed, while the darkness crept and
+      gathered round us, till at length the dead and I were alone in the black
+      silence. Oh, how tell the misery of that hour! Imagination cannot dream
+      it, nor words paint it forth. Once more in my wretchedness I bethought me
+      of death. A knife was at my girdle, with which I might cut the thread of
+      sorrow and set my spirit free. Free? ay, free to fly and face the last
+      vengeance of the Holy Gods! Alas! and alas! I did not dare to die. Better
+      the earth with all its woes than the quick approach of those unimagined
+      terrors that, hovering in dim Amenti, wait the advent of the fallen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I grovelled on the ground and wept tears of agony for the lost unchanging
+      past&mdash;wept till I could weep no more; but no answer came from the
+      silence&mdash;no answer but the echoes of my grief. Not a ray of hope! My
+      soul wandered in a darkness more utter than that which was about me&mdash;I
+      was forsaken of the Gods and cast out of men. Terror took hold upon me
+      crouching in that lonely place hard by the majesty of the awful Dead. I
+      rose to fly. How could I fly in this gloom?&mdash;And where should I fly
+      who had no place of refuge? Once more I crouched down, and the great fear
+      grew on me till the cold sweat ran from my brow and my soul was faint
+      within me. Then, in my last despair, I prayed aloud to Isis, to whom I had
+      not dared to pray for many days.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Isis! Holy Mother!&rdquo; I cried; &ldquo;put away Thy wrath, and of Thine infinite
+      pity, O Thou all-pitiful, hearken to the voice of the anguish of him who
+      was Thy son and servant, but who by sin hath fallen from the vision of Thy
+      love. O throned Glory, who, being in all things, hast of all things
+      understanding and of all griefs knowledge, cast the weight of Thy mercy
+      against the scale of my evil-doing, and make the balance equal. Look down
+      upon my woe, and measure it; count up the sum of my repentance and take
+      Thou note of the flood of sorrow that sweeps my soul away. O Thou Holy,
+      whom it was given to me to look upon face to face, by that dread hour of
+      commune I summon Thee; I summon Thee by the mystic word. Come, then, in
+      mercy, to save me; or, in anger, to make an end of that which can no more
+      be borne.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And, rising from my knees, I stretched out my arms and dared to cry aloud
+      the Word of Fear, to use which unworthily is death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Swiftly the answer came. For in the silence I heard the sound of the
+      shaken sistra heralding the coming of the Glory. Then, at the far end of
+      the chamber, grew the semblance of the horned moon, gleaming faintly in
+      the darkness, and betwixt the golden horns rested a small dark cloud, in
+      and out of which the fiery serpent climbed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      My knees waxed loose in the presence of the Glory, and I sank down before
+      it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then spake the small, sweet Voice within the cloud:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Harmachis, who wast my servant and my son, I have heard thy prayer, and
+      the summons that thou hast dared to utter, which on the lips of one with
+      whom I have communed, hath power to draw Me from the Uttermost. No more,
+      Harmachis, may we be one in the bond of Love Divine, for thou hast put Me
+      away of thine own act. Therefore, after this long silence I come,
+      Harmachis, clothed in terrors, and, perchance, ready for vengeance, for
+      not lightly can Isis be drawn from the halls of Her Divinity.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Smite, Goddess!&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;Smite, and give me over to those who wreak
+      Thy vengeance; for I can no longer bear the burden of my woe!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And if thou canst not bear thy burden here, upon this upper earth,&rdquo; came
+      the soft reply, &ldquo;how then shalt thou bear the greater burden that shall be
+      laid upon thee there, coming defiled and yet unpurified into my dim realm
+      of Death, that is Life and Change unending? Nay, Harmachis, I smite thee
+      not, for not all am I wroth that thou hast dared to utter the awful Word
+      which calls Me down to thee. Hearken, Harmachis; I praise not, and I
+      reproach not, for I am the Minister of Reward and Punishment and the
+      Executrix of Decrees; and if I give, I give in silence; and if I smite, in
+      silence do I smite. Therefore, I will add naught to thy burden by the
+      weight of heavy words, though through thee it has come to pass that soon
+      shall Isis, the Mother-Mystery, be but a memory in Egypt. Thou hast
+      sinned, and heavy shall be thy punishment, as I did warn thee, both in the
+      flesh and in my kingdom of Amenti. But I told thee that there is a road of
+      repentance, and surely thy feet are set thereon, and therein must thou
+      walk with a humble heart, eating of the bread of bitterness, till such
+      time as thy doom be measured.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have I, then, no hope, O holy?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That which is done, Harmachis, is done, nor can its issues be altered.
+      Khem shall no more be free till all its temples are as the desert dust;
+      strange Peoples shall, from age to age, hold her hostage and in bonds; new
+      Religions shall arise and wither within the shadow of her pyramids, for to
+      every World, Race, and Age the countenances of the Gods are changed. This
+      is the tree that shall spring from thy seed of sin, Harmachis, and from
+      the sin of those who tempted thee!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Alas! I am undone!&rdquo; I cried.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, thou art undone; and yet shall this be given to thee: thy Destroyer
+      thou shalt destroy&mdash;for so, in the purpose of my justice, it is
+      ordained. When the sign comes to thee, arise, go to Cleopatra, and in such
+      manner as I shall put into thy heart do Heaven&rsquo;s vengeance upon her! And
+      now for thyself one word, for thou hast put Me from thee, Harmachis, and
+      no more shall I come face to face with thee till, cycles hence, the last
+      fruit of thy sin hath ceased to be upon this earth! Yet, through the
+      vastness of the unnumbered years, remember thou this: the Love Divine is
+      Love Eternal, which cannot be extinguished, though it be everlastingly
+      estranged. Repent, my son; repent and do well while there is yet time,
+      that at the dim end of ages thou mayest once more be gathered unto Me.
+      Still, Harmachis, though thou seest Me not; still, when the very name by
+      which thou knowest Me has become a meaningless mystery to those who shall
+      be after thee; still I, whose hours are eternal&mdash;I, who have watched
+      Universes wither, wane, and, beneath the breath of Time, melt into
+      nothingness; again to gather, and, re-born, thread the maze of space&mdash;still,
+      I say, I shall companion thee. Wherever thou goest, in whatever form of
+      life thou livest, there I shall be! Art thou wafted to the farthest star,
+      art thou buried in Amenti&rsquo;s lowest deep&mdash;in lives, in deaths, in
+      sleeps, in wakings, in remembrances, in oblivions, in all the fevers of
+      the outer Life, in all the changes of the Spirit&mdash;still, if thou wilt
+      but atone and forget Me no more, I shall be with thee, waiting thine hour
+      of redemption. For this is the nature of Love Divine, wherewith it loves
+      that which partakes of its divinity and by the holy tie hath once been
+      bound to it. Judge then, Harmachis: was it well to put this from thee to
+      win the dust of earthly woman? And, now, dare not again to utter the Word
+      of Power till these things are done! Harmachis, for this season, fare thee
+      well!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      As the last note of the sweet Voice died away, the fiery snake climbed
+      into the heart of the cloud. Now the cloud rolled from the horns of light,
+      and was gathered into the blackness. The vision of the crescent moon grew
+      dim and vanished. Then, as the Goddess passed, once more came the faint
+      and dreadful music of the shaken sistra, and all was still.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I hid my face in my robe, and even then, though my outstretched hand could
+      touch the chill corpse of that father who had died cursing me, I felt hope
+      come back into my heart, knowing that I was not altogether lost nor
+      utterly rejected of Her whom I had forsaken, but whom I yet loved. And
+      then weariness overpowered me, and I slept.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I woke, the faint lights of dawn were creeping from the opening in the
+      roof. Ghastly they lay upon the shadowy sculptured walls and ghastly upon
+      the dead face and white beard of my father, the gathered to Osiris. I
+      started up, remembering all things, and wondering in my heart what I
+      should do, and as I rose I heard a faint footfall creeping down the
+      passage of the names of the Pharaohs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>La! La! La!</i>&rdquo; mumbled a voice that I knew for the voice of the old
+      wife, Atoua. &ldquo;Why, &lsquo;tis dark as the House of the Dead! The Holy Ones who
+      built this Temple loved not the blessed sun, however much they worshipped
+      him. Now, where&rsquo;s the curtain?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Presently it was drawn, and Atoua entered, a stick in one hand and a
+      basket in the other. Her face was somewhat more wrinkled, and her scanty
+      locks were somewhat whiter than aforetime, but for the rest she was as she
+      had ever been. She stood and peered around with her sharp black eyes, for
+      as yet she could see nothing because of the shadows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now where is he?&rdquo; she muttered. &ldquo;Osiris&mdash;glory to His name&mdash;send
+      that he has not wandered in the night, and he blind! Alack! that I could
+      not return before the dark. Alack! and alack! what times have we fallen
+      on, when the Holy High Priest and the Governor, by descent, of Abouthis,
+      is left with one aged crone to minister to his infirmity! O Harmachis, my
+      poor boy, thou hast laid trouble at our doors! Why, what&rsquo;s this? Surely he
+      sleeps not, there upon the ground?&mdash;&lsquo;twill be his death! Prince! Holy
+      Father! Amenemhat! awake, arise!&rdquo; and she hobbled towards the corpse.
+      &ldquo;Why, how is it! By Him who sleeps, he&rsquo;s dead! untended and alone&mdash;<i>dead!
+      dead!</i>&rdquo; and she sent her long wail of grief ringing up the sculptured
+      walls.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hush! woman, be still!&rdquo; I said, gliding from the shadows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, what art thou?&rdquo; she cried, casting down her basket. &ldquo;Wicked man, hast
+      thou murdered this Holy One, the only Holy One in Egypt? Surely the curse
+      will fall on thee, for though the Gods do seem to have forsaken us now in
+      our hour of trial, yet is their arm long, and certainly they will be
+      avenged on him who hath slain their anointed!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Look on me, Atoua,&rdquo; I cried.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Look! ay, I look&mdash;thou wicked wanderer who hast dared this cruel
+      deed! Harmachis is a traitor and lost far away, and Amenemhat his holy
+      father is murdered, and now I&rsquo;m all alone without kith or kin. I gave them
+      for him. I gave them for Harmachis, the traitor! Come, slay me also, thou
+      wicked one!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I took a step toward her, and she, thinking that I was about to smite her,
+      cried out in fear:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, good Sir, spare me! Eighty and six, by the Holy Ones, eighty and
+      six, come next flood of Nile, and yet I would not die, though Osiris is
+      merciful to the old who served him! Come no nearer&mdash;help! help!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou fool, be silent,&rdquo; I said; &ldquo;knowest thou me not?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Know thee? Can I know every wandering boatman to whom Sebek grants to
+      earn a livelihood till Typhon claims his own? And yet&mdash;why, &lsquo;tis
+      strange&mdash;that changed countenance!&mdash;that scar!&mdash;that
+      stumbling gait! It is thou, Harmachis!&mdash;&lsquo;tis thou, O my boy! Art come
+      back to glad mine old eyes? I hoped thee dead! Let me kiss thee?&mdash;nay,
+      I forget. Harmachis is a traitor, ay, and a murderer! Here lies the holy
+      Amenemhat, murdered by the traitor, Harmachis! Get thee gone! I&rsquo;ll have
+      none of traitors and of parricides! Get thee to thy wanton!&mdash;it is
+      not thou whom I did nurse.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Peace! woman; peace! I slew not my father&mdash;he died, alas!&mdash;he
+      died even in my arms.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, surely, and cursing thee, Harmachis! Thou hast given death to him who
+      gave thee life! <i>La! la!</i> I am old, and I&rsquo;ve seen many a trouble; but
+      this is the heaviest of them all! I never liked the looks of mummies; but
+      I would I were one this hour! Get thee gone, I pray thee!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Old nurse, reproach me not! Have I not enough to bear?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah! yes, yes!&mdash;I did forget! Well; and what is thy sin? A woman was
+      thy bane, as women have been to those before thee, and shall be to those
+      after thee. And what a woman! <i>La! la!</i> I saw her, a beauty such as
+      never was&mdash;an arrow pointed by the evil Gods for destruction! And
+      thou, a young man bred as a priest&mdash;an ill training&mdash;a very ill
+      training! &lsquo;Twas no fair match. Who can wonder that she mastered thee?
+      Come, Harmachis; let me kiss thee! It is not for a woman to be hard on a
+      man because he loved our sex too much. Why, that is but nature; and Nature
+      knows her business, else she had made us otherwise. But here is an evil
+      case. Knowest thou that this Macedonian Queen of thine hath seized the
+      temple lands and revenues, and driven away the priests&mdash;all, save the
+      holy Amenemhat, who lies here, and whom she left, I know not why; ay, and
+      caused the worship of the Gods to cease within these walls. Well, he&rsquo;s
+      gone!&mdash;he&rsquo;s gone! and indeed he is better with Osiris, for his life
+      was a sore burden to him. And hark thou, Harmachis: he hath not left thee
+      empty-handed; for, so soon as the plot failed, he gathered all his wealth,
+      and it is large, and hid it&mdash;where, I can show thee&mdash;and it is
+      thine by right of descent.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Talk not to me of wealth, Atoua. Where shall I go and how shall I hide my
+      shame?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah! true, true; here mayst thou not abide, for if they found thee, surely
+      they would put thee to the dreadful death&mdash;ay, to the death by the
+      waxen cloth. Nay, I will hide thee, and, when the funeral rites of the
+      holy Amenemhat have been performed, we will fly hence, and cover us from
+      the eyes of men till these sorrows are forgotten. <i>La! la!</i> it is a
+      sad world, and full of trouble as the Nile mud is full of beetles. Come,
+      Harmachis, come.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0026" id="link2HCH0026">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER III
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE LIFE OF HIM WHO WAS NAMED THE LEARNED OLYMPUS, IN THE TOMB OF THE
+      HARPERS THAT IS BY TÁPÉ; OF HIS COUNSEL TO CLEOPATRA; OF THE MESSAGE OF
+      CHARMION; AND OF THE PASSING OF OLYMPUS DOWN TO ALEXANDRIA
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      These things then came to pass. For eighty days I was hidden of the old
+      wife, Atoua, while the body of the Prince, my father, was made ready for
+      burial by those skilled in the arts of embalming. And when at last all
+      things were done in order, I crept from my hiding-place and made offerings
+      to the spirit of my father, and placing lotus-flowers on his breast went
+      thence sorrowing. And on the following day, from where I lay hid, I saw
+      the Priests of the Temple of Osiris and of the holy shrine of Isis come
+      forth, and in slow procession bear his painted coffin to the sacred lake
+      and lay it beneath the funeral tent in the consecrated boat. I saw them
+      celebrate the symbol of the trial of the dead, and name him above all men
+      just, and then bear him thence to lay him by his wife, my mother, in the
+      deep tomb that he had hewn in the rock near to the resting-place of the
+      Holy Osiris, where, notwithstanding my sins, I, too, hope to sleep ere
+      long. And when all these things were done and the deep tomb sealed, the
+      wealth of my father having been removed from the hidden treasury and
+      placed in safety, I fled, disguised, with the old wife, Atoua, up the Nile
+      till we came to Tápé,[*] and here in this great city I lay a while, till a
+      place could be found where I should hide myself.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] Thebes.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      And such a place I found. For to the north of the great city are brown and
+      rugged hills, and desert valley blasted of the sun, and in this place of
+      desolation the Divine Pharaohs, my forefathers, hollowed out their tombs
+      in the solid rock, the most part of which are lost to this day, so
+      cunningly have they been hidden. But some are open, for the accursed
+      Persians and other thieves broke into them in search of treasure. And one
+      night&mdash;for by night only did I leave my hiding-place&mdash;just as
+      the dawn was breaking on the mountain tops, I wandered alone in this sad
+      valley of death, like to which there is no other, and presently came to
+      the mouth of a tomb hidden amid great rocks, which afterwards I knew for
+      the place of the burying of the Divine Rameses, the third of that name,
+      now long gathered to Osiris. And by the faint light of the dawn creeping
+      through the entrance I saw that it was spacious and that within were
+      chambers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the following night, therefore, I returned, bearing lights, with Atoua,
+      my nurse, who ever ministered faithfully to me as when I was little and
+      without discretion. And we searched the mighty tomb and came to the great
+      Hall of the Sarcophagus of granite, in which the Divine Rameses sleeps,
+      and saw the mystic paintings on the walls: the symbol of the Snake
+      unending, the symbol of Ra resting upon the Scarabæus, the symbol of Ra
+      resting upon Nout, the symbol of the Headless men, and many others,
+      whereof, being initiated, well I read the mysteries. And opening from the
+      long descending passage I found chambers in which were paintings beautiful
+      to behold, and of all manner of things. For beneath each chamber is
+      entombed the master of the craft of which the paintings tell, he who was
+      the chief of the servants of that craft in the house of this Divine
+      Rameses. And on the walls of the last chamber&mdash;on the left-hand side,
+      looking toward the Hall of the Sarcophagus&mdash;are paintings exceedingly
+      beautiful, and two blind harpers playing upon their bent harps before the
+      God Mou; and beneath the flooring these harpers, who harp no more, are
+      soft at sleep. Here, then, in this gloomy place, even in the tomb of the
+      Harpers and the company of the dead, I took up my abode; and here for
+      eight long years I worked out my penance and made atonement for my sin.
+      But Atoua, because she loved to be near the light, abode in the chamber of
+      the Boats&mdash;that is, the first chamber on the right-hand side of the
+      gallery looking toward the Hall of the Sarcophagus.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And this was the manner of my life. On every second day the old wife,
+      Atoua, went forth and brought water from the city and such food as is
+      necessary to keep the life from failing, and also tapers made from fat.
+      And one hour at the time of sunrise and one hour at the time of sunset I
+      did go forth also to wander in the valley for my health&rsquo;s sake and to save
+      my sight from failing in the great darkness of the tomb. But the other
+      hours of the day and night, except when I climbed the mountain to watch
+      the course of the stars, I spent in prayer and meditation and sleep, till
+      the cloud of sin lifted from my heart and once more I drew near to the
+      Gods, though with Isis, my heavenly Mother, I might speak no more. And I
+      grew exceedingly wise also, pondering on all those mysteries to which I
+      held the key. For abstinence and prayer and sorrowful solitude wore away
+      the grossness of my flesh, and with the eyes of the Spirit I learned to
+      look deep into the heart of things till the joy of Wisdom fell like dew
+      upon my soul.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Soon the rumour was wafted about the city that a certain holy man named
+      Olympus abode in solitude in the tombs of the awful Valley of the Dead;
+      and hither came people bearing sick that I might cure them. And I gave my
+      mind to the study of simples, in which Atoua instructed me; and by lore
+      and the weight of my thought I gained great skill in medicine, and healed
+      many sick. And thus ever, as time went on, my fame was noised abroad; for
+      it was said that I was also a magician and that in the tombs I had commune
+      with the Spirits of the Dead. And this, indeed, I did&mdash;though it is
+      not lawful for me to speak of these matters. Thus, then, it came to pass
+      that no more need Atoua go forth to seek food and water, for the people
+      brought it&mdash;more than was needful, for I would receive no fee. Now at
+      first, fearing lest some in the hermit Olympus might know the lost
+      Harmachis, I would only meet those who came in the darkness of the tomb.
+      But afterwards, when I learned how it was held through all the land that
+      Harmachis was certainly no more, I came forth and sat in the mouth of the
+      tomb, and ministered to the sick, and at times calculated nativities for
+      the great. And thus my fame grew continually, till at length folk
+      journeyed even from Memphis and Alexandria to visit me; and from them I
+      learned how Antony had left Cleopatra for a while, and, Fulvia being dead,
+      had married Octavia, the sister of Cæsar. Many other things I learned
+      also.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And in the second year I did this: I despatched the old wife, Atoua,
+      disguised as a seller of simples, to Alexandria, bidding her seek out
+      Charmion, and, if yet she found her faithful, reveal to her the secret of
+      my way of life. So she went, and in the fifth month from her sailing
+      returned, bearing Charmion&rsquo;s greetings and a token. And she told me that
+      she had found means to see Charmion, and, in talk, had let fall the name
+      of Harmachis, speaking of me as one dead; at which Charmion, unable to
+      control her grief, wept aloud. Then, reading her heart&mdash;for the old
+      wife was very clever, and held the key of knowledge&mdash;she told her
+      that Harmachis yet lived, and sent her greetings. Thereon Charmion wept
+      yet more with joy, and kissed the old wife, and made her gifts, bidding
+      her tell me that she had kept her vow, and waited for my coming and the
+      hour of vengeance. So, having learned many secrets, Atoua returned again
+      to Tápé.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And in the following year messengers came to me from Cleopatra, bearing a
+      sealed roll and great gifts. I opened the roll, and read this in it:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cleopatra to Olympus, the learned Egyptian who dwells in the Valley of
+      Death by Tápé&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The fame of thy renown, O learned Olympus, hath reached our ears. Tell
+      thou, then, this to us, and if thou tellest aright greater honour and
+      wealth shalt thou have than any in Egypt: How shall we win back the love
+      of noble Antony, who is bewitched of cunning Octavia, and tarries long
+      from us?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now, in this I saw the hand of Charmion, who had made my renown known to
+      Cleopatra.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All that night I took counsel with my wisdom, and on the morrow wrote my
+      answer as it was put into my heart to the destruction of Cleopatra and
+      Antony. And thus I wrote:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Olympus the Egyptian to Cleopatra the Queen&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Go forth into Syria with one who shall be sent to lead thee; thus shalt
+      thou win Antony to thy arms again, and with him gifts more great than thou
+      canst dream.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And with this letter I dismissed the messengers, bidding them share the
+      presents sent by Cleopatra among their company.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So they went wondering.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Cleopatra, seizing on the advice to which her passion prompted her,
+      departed straightway with Fonteius Capito into Syria, and there the thing
+      came about as I had foretold, for Antony was subdued of her and gave her
+      the greater part of Cilicia, the ocean shore of Arabia Nabathæa, the
+      balm-bearing provinces of Judæa, the province of Phoenicia, the province
+      of Coele-Syria, the rich isle of Cyprus, and all the library of Pergamus.
+      And to the twin children that, with the son Ptolemy, Cleopatra had borne
+      to Antony, he impiously gave the names of &ldquo;Kings, the Children of Kings&rdquo;&mdash;of
+      Alexander Helios, as the Greeks name the sun, and of Cleopatra Selene, the
+      moon, the long-winged.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      These things then came to pass.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now on her return to Alexandria Cleopatra sent me great gifts, of which I
+      would have none, and prayed me, the learned Olympus, to come to her at
+      Alexandria; but it was not yet time, and I would not. But thereafter she
+      and Antony sent many times to me for counsel, and I ever counselled them
+      to their ruin, nor did my prophecies fail.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus the long years rolled away, and I, the hermit Olympus, the dweller in
+      a tomb, the eater of bread and the drinker of water, by strength of the
+      wisdom that was given me of the avenging Power, became once more great in
+      Khem. For I grew ever wiser as I trampled the desires of the flesh beneath
+      my feet and turned my eyes to heaven.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length eight full years were accomplished. The war with the Parthians
+      had come and gone, and Artavasdes, King of Armenia, had been led in
+      triumph through the streets of Alexandria. Cleopatra had visited Samos and
+      Athens; and, by her counselling, the noble Octavia had been driven, like
+      some discarded concubine, from the house of Antony at Rome. And now, at
+      the last, the measure of the folly of Antony was full even to the brim.
+      For this Master of the World had no longer the good gift of reason; he was
+      lost in Cleopatra as I had been lost. Therefore, in the event, Octavianus
+      declared war against him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And as I slept upon a certain day in the chamber of the Harpers, in the
+      tomb of Pharaoh that is by Tápé, there came to me a vision of my father,
+      the aged Amenemhat, and he stood over me, leaning on his staff, and spoke,
+      saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Look forth, my son.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I looked forth, and with the eyes of my spirit saw the sea, and two
+      great fleets grappling in war hard by a rocky coast. And the emblems were
+      those of Octavian, and of the other those of Cleopatra and Antony. The
+      ships of Antony and Cleopatra bore down upon the ships of Cæsar, and drove
+      them on, for victory inclined to Antony.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I looked again. There sat Cleopatra in a gold-decked galley watching the
+      fight with eager eyes. Then I cast my Spirit on her so that she seemed to
+      hear the voice of dead Harmachis crying in her ear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>Fly, Cleopatra,</i>&rdquo; it seemed to say, &ldquo;<i>fly or perish!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She looked up wildly, and again she heard my Spirit&rsquo;s cry. Now a mighty
+      fear took hold of her. She called aloud to the sailors to hoist the sails
+      and make signal to her fleet to put about. This they did wondering but
+      little loath, and fled in haste from the battle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then a great roar went up from friend and foe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cleopatra is fled! Cleopatra is fled!&rdquo; And I saw wreck and red ruin fall
+      upon the fleet of Antony and awoke from my trance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The days passed, and again a vision of my father came to me and spoke,
+      saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Arise, my son!&mdash;the hour of vengeance is at hand! Thy plots have not
+      failed; thy prayers have been heard. By the bidding of the Gods, as she
+      sat in her galley at the fight of Actium, the heart of Cleopatra was
+      filled with fears, so that, deeming she heard thy voice bidding her fly or
+      perish, she fled with all her fleet. Now the strength of Actium is broken
+      on the sea. Go forth, and as it shall be put into thy mind, so do thou.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In the morning I awoke, wondering, and went to the mouth of the tomb, and
+      there, coming up the valley, I saw the messengers of Cleopatra, and with
+      them a Roman guard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What will ye with me now?&rdquo; I asked, sternly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is the message of the Queen and of great Antony,&rdquo; answered the
+      Captain, bowing low before me, for I was much feared by all men. &ldquo;The
+      Queen commands thy presence at Alexandria. Many times has she sent, and
+      thou wouldst not come; now she bids thee to come, and that swiftly, for
+      she has need of thy counsel.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And if I say Nay, soldier, what then?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These are my orders, most holy Olympus; that I bring thee by force.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I laughed aloud. &ldquo;By force, thou fool! Use not such talk to me, lest I
+      smite thee where thou art. Know, then, that I can kill as well as cure!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pardon, I beseech thee!&rdquo; he answered, shrinking. &ldquo;I say but those things
+      that I am bid.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I know it, Captain. Fear not; I come.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So on that very day I departed, together with the aged Atoua. Ay, I went
+      as secretly as I had come; and the tomb of the Divine Rameses knew me no
+      more. And with me I took all the treasures of my father, Amenemhat, for I
+      was not minded to go to Alexandria empty-handed and as a suppliant, but
+      rather as a man of much wealth and condition. Now, as I went, I learned
+      that Antony, following Cleopatra, had, indeed, fled from Actium, and knew
+      that the end drew nigh. For this and many other things had I foreseen in
+      the darkness of the tomb of Tápé, and planned to bring about.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus, then, I came to Alexandria, and entered into a house which had been
+      made ready for me at the palace gates.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And that very night Charmion came to me&mdash;Charmion whom I had not seen
+      for nine long years.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0027" id="link2HCH0027">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IV
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE MEETING OF CHARMION WITH THE LEARNED OLYMPUS; OF HER SPEECH WITH
+      HIM; OF THE COMING OF OLYMPUS INTO THE PRESENCE OF CLEOPATRA; AND OF THE
+      COMMANDS OF CLEOPATRA.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Clad in my plain black robe, I sat in the guest-chamber of the house that
+      had been made ready for me. I sat in a carven lion-footed chair, and
+      looked upon the swinging lamps of scented oil, the pictured tapestries,
+      the rich Syrian rugs&mdash;and, amidst all this luxury, bethought me of
+      that tomb of the Harpers which is at Tápé, and of the nine long years of
+      dark loneliness and preparation. I sat; and crouched upon a rug near to
+      the door, lay the aged Atoua. Her hair was white as snow, and shrivelled
+      with age was the wrinkled countenance of the woman who, when all deserted
+      me, had yet clung to me, in her great love forgetting my great sins. Nine
+      years! nine long years! and now, once again, I set my foot in Alexandria!
+      Once again in the appointed circle of things I came forth from the
+      solitude of preparation to be a fate to Cleopatra; and this second time I
+      came not forth to fail.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And yet how changed the circumstance! I was out of the story: my part now
+      was but the part of the sword in the hands of Justice; I might no more
+      hope to make Egypt free and great and sit upon my lawful throne. Khem was
+      lost, and lost was I, Harmachis. In the rush and turmoil of events, the
+      great plot of which I had been the pivot was covered up and forgotten;
+      scarce a memory of it remained. The curtain of dark night was closing in
+      upon the history of my ancient Race; its very Gods were tottering to their
+      fall; I could already, in the spirit, hear the shriek of the Roman eagles
+      as they flapped their wings above the furthest banks of Sihor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Presently I roused myself and bade Atoua go seek a mirror and bring it to
+      me, that I might look therein.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And I saw this: a face shrunken and pallid, on which no smile came; great
+      eyes grown wan with gazing into darkness looking out beneath the shaven
+      head, emptily, as the hollow eye-pits of a skull; a wizened halting form
+      wasted by abstinence, sorrow, and prayer; a long wild beard of iron grey;
+      thin blue-veined hands that ever trembled like a leaf; bowed shoulders and
+      lessened limbs. Time and grief had done their work indeed; scarce could I
+      think myself the same as when, the royal Harmachis&mdash;in all the
+      splendour of my strength and youthful beauty&mdash;I first had looked upon
+      the woman&rsquo;s loveliness that did destroy me. And yet within me burned the
+      same fire as of yore; yet I was not changed, for time and grief have no
+      power to alter the immortal spirit of man. Seasons may come and go; Hope,
+      like a bird, may fly away; Passion may break its wings against the iron
+      bars of Fate; Illusions may crumble as the cloudy towers of sunset flame;
+      Faith, as running water, may slip from beneath our feet; Solitude may
+      stretch itself around us like the measureless desert sand; Old Age may
+      creep as the gathering night over our bowed heads grown hoary in their
+      shame&mdash;yea, bound to Fortune&rsquo;s wheel, we may taste of every turn of
+      chance&mdash;now rule as Kings, now serve as Slaves; now love, now hate;
+      now prosper, and now perish. But still, through all, we are the same; for
+      this is the marvel of Identity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And as I sat and thought these things in bitterness of heart, there came a
+      knocking at the door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Open, Atoua!&rdquo; I said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She rose and did my bidding; and a woman entered, clad in Grecian robes.
+      It was Charmion, still beautiful as of old, but sad faced now and very
+      sweet to see, with a patient fire slumbering in her downcast eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She entered unattended; and, speaking no word, the old wife pointed to
+      where I sat, and went.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Old man,&rdquo; she said, addressing me, &ldquo;lead me to the learned Olympus. I
+      come upon the Queen&rsquo;s business.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I rose, and, lifting my head, looked upon her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She gazed, and gave a little cry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Surely,&rdquo; she whispered, glancing round, &ldquo;surely thou art not that&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+       And she paused.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That Harmachis whom once thy foolish heart did love, O Charmion? Yes, I
+      am he and what thou seest, most fair lady. Yet is Harmachis dead whom thou
+      didst love; but Olympus, the skilled Egyptian, waits upon thy words!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cease!&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;and of the past but one word, and then&mdash;why, let
+      it lie. Not well, with all thy wisdom, canst thou know a true woman&rsquo;s
+      heart, if thou dost believe, Harmachis, that it can change with the
+      changes of the outer form, for then assuredly could no love follow its
+      beloved to that last place of change&mdash;the Grave. Know thou, learned
+      Physician, I am of that sort who, loving once, love always, and being not
+      beloved again, go virgin to the death.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She ceased, and having naught to say, I bowed my head in answer. Yet
+      though I said nothing and though this woman&rsquo;s passionate folly had been
+      the cause of all our ruin, to speak truth, in secret I was thankful to her
+      who, wooed of all and living in this shameless Court, had still through
+      the long years poured out her unreturned love upon an outcast, and who,
+      when that poor broken slave of Fortune came back in such unlovely guise,
+      held him yet dear at heart. For what man is there who does not prize that
+      gift most rare and beautiful, that one perfect thing which no gold can buy&mdash;a
+      woman&rsquo;s unfeigned love?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thank thee that thou dost not answer,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;for the bitter words
+      which thou didst pour upon me in those days that long are dead, and far
+      away in Tarsus, have not lost their poisonous sting, and in my heart is no
+      more place for the arrows of thy scorn, new venomed through thy solitary
+      years. So let it be. Behold! I put it from me, that wild passion of my
+      soul,&rdquo; and she looked up and stretched out her hands as though to press
+      some unseen presence back, &ldquo;I put it from me&mdash;though forget it I may
+      not! There, &lsquo;tis done, Harmachis; no more shall my love trouble thee.
+      Enough for me that once more my eyes behold thee, before sleep seals thee
+      from their sight. Dost remember how, when I would have died by thy dear
+      hand, thou wouldst not slay, but didst bid me live to pluck the bitter
+      fruit of crime, and be accursed by visions of the evil I had wrought and
+      memories of thee whom I have ruined?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, Charmion, I remember well.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Surely the cup of punishment has been filled. Oh! couldst thou see into
+      the record of my heart, and read in it the suffering that I have borne&mdash;borne
+      with a smiling face&mdash;thy justice would be satisfied indeed!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And yet, if report be true, Charmion, thou art the first of all the
+      Court, and therein the most powerful and beloved. Does not Octavianus give
+      it out that he makes war, not on Antony, nor even on his mistress,
+      Cleopatra, but on Charmion and Iras?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, Harmachis, and think what it has been to me thus, because of my oath
+      to thee, to be forced to eat the bread and do the tasks of one whom so
+      bitterly I hate!&mdash;one who robbed me of thee, and who, through the
+      workings of my jealousy, brought me to be that which I am, brought thee to
+      shame, and all Egypt to its ruin! Can jewels and riches and the flattery
+      of princes and nobles bring happiness to such a one as I, who am more
+      wretched than the meanest scullion wench? Oh, I have often wept till I was
+      blind; and then, when the hour came, I must arise and tire me, and, with a
+      smile, go do the bidding of the Queen and that heavy Antony. May the Gods
+      grant me to see them dead&mdash;ay, the twain of them!&mdash;then myself I
+      shall be content to die! Thy lot has been hard, Harmachis; but at least
+      thou have been free, and many is the time that I have envied thee the
+      quiet of thy haunted cave.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do perceive, O Charmion, that thou art mindful of thy oaths; and it is
+      well, for the hour of vengeance is at hand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am mindful, and in all things I have worked for thee in secret&mdash;for
+      thee, and for the utter ruin of Cleopatra and the Roman. I have fanned his
+      passion and her jealousy, I have egged her on to wickedness and him to
+      folly, and of all have I caused report to be brought to Cæsar. Listen!
+      thus stands the matter. Thou knowest how went the fight at Actium. Thither
+      went Cleopatra with her fleet, sorely against the will of Antony. But, as
+      thou sentest me word, I entreated him for the Queen, vowing to him, with
+      tears, that, did he leave her, she would die of grief; and he, poor slave,
+      believed me. And so she went, and in the thick of the fight, for what
+      cause I know not, though perchance thou knowest, Harmachis, she made
+      signal to her squadron, and, putting about fled from the battle, sailing
+      for Peloponnesus. And now, mark the end! When Antony saw that she was
+      gone, he, in his madness, took a galley, and deserting all, followed hard
+      after her, leaving his fleet to be shattered and sunk, and his great army
+      in Greece, of twenty legions and twelve thousand horse, without a leader.
+      And all this no man would believe, that Antony, the smitten of the Gods,
+      had fallen so deep in shame. Therefore for a while the army tarried, and
+      but now to-night comes news brought by Canidius, the General, that, worn
+      with doubt and being at length sure that Antony had deserted them, the
+      whole of his great force has yielded to Cæsar.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And where, then, is Antony?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He has built him a habitation on a little isle in the Great Harbour and
+      named it Timonium; because, forsooth, like Timon, he cries out at the
+      ingratitude of mankind that has forsaken him. And there he lies smitten by
+      a fever of the mind, and thither thou must go at dawn, so wills the Queen,
+      to cure him of his ills and draw him to her arms; for he will not see her,
+      nor knows he yet the full measure of his woe. But first my bidding is to
+      lead thee instantly to Cleopatra, who would ask thy counsel.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I come,&rdquo; I answered, rising. &ldquo;Lead thou on.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And so we passed the palace gates and along the Alabaster Hall, and
+      presently once again I stood before the door of Cleopatra&rsquo;s chamber, and
+      once again Charmion left me to warn her of my coming.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Presently she came back and beckoned to me. &ldquo;Make strong thy heart,&rdquo; she
+      whispered, &ldquo;and see that thou dost not betray thyself, for still are the
+      eyes of Cleopatra keen. Enter!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Keen, indeed, must they be to find Harmachis in the learned Olympus! Had
+      I not willed it, thyself thou hadst not known me, Charmion,&rdquo; I made
+      answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I entered that remembered place and listened once more to the plash
+      of the fountain, the song of the nightingale, and the murmur of the summer
+      sea. With bowed head and halting gait I came, till at length I stood
+      before the couch of Cleopatra&mdash;that same golden couch on which she
+      had sat the night she overcame me. Then I gathered my strength, and looked
+      up. There before me was Cleopatra, glorious as of old, but, oh! how
+      changed since that night when I saw Antony clasp her in his arms at
+      Tarsus! Her beauty still clothed her like a garment; the eyes were yet
+      deep and unfathomable as the blue sea, the face still splendid in its
+      great loveliness. And yet all was changed. Time, that could not touch her
+      charms, had stamped upon her presence such a look of weary grief as may
+      not be written. Passion, beating ever in that fierce heart of hers, had
+      written his record on her brow, and in her eyes shone the sad lights of
+      sorrow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I bowed low before this most royal woman, who once had been my love and
+      destruction, and yet knew me not.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She looked up wearily, and spoke in her slow, well remembered voice:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So thou art come at length, Physician. How callest thou thyself?&mdash;Olympus?
+      &lsquo;Tis a name of promise, for surely now that the Gods of Egypt have
+      deserted us, we do need aid from Olympus. Well, thou hast a learned air,
+      for learning goes not with beauty. Strange, too, there is that about thee
+      which recalls what I know not. Say, Olympus, have we met before?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never, O Queen, have my eyes fallen on thee in the body,&rdquo; I answered in a
+      feigned voice. &ldquo;Never till this hour, when I come forth from my solitude
+      to do thy bidding and cure thee of thy ills!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Strange! and even in the voice&mdash;Pshaw! &lsquo;tis some memory that I
+      cannot catch. In the body, thou sayest? then, perchance, I knew thee in a
+      dream?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, O Queen; we have met in dreams.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou art a strange man, who talkest thus, but, if what I hear be true,
+      one well learned; and, indeed, I mind me of thy counsel when thou didst
+      bid me join my Lord Antony in Syria, and how things befell according to
+      thy word. Skilled must thou be in the casting of nativities and in the law
+      of auguries, of which these Alexandrian fools have little knowledge. Once
+      I knew such another man, one Harmachis,&rdquo; and she sighed: &ldquo;but he is long
+      dead&mdash;as I would I were also!&mdash;and at times I sorrow for him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She paused, while I sank my head upon my breast and stood silent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Interpret me this, Olympus. In the battle at that accursed Actium, just
+      as the fight raged thickest and Victory began to smile upon us, a great
+      terror seized my heart, and thick darkness seemed to fall before my eyes,
+      while in my ears a voice, ay, the voice of that long dead Harmachis, cried
+      &lsquo;<i>Fly! fly, or perish!</i>&rsquo; and I fled. But from my heart the terror
+      leapt to the heart of Antony, and he followed after me, and thus was the
+      battle lost. Say, then, what God brought this evil thing about?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, O Queen,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;it was no God&mdash;for wherein hast thou
+      angered the Gods of Egypt? Hast thou robbed the temples of their Faith?
+      Hast thou betrayed the trust of Egypt? Having done none of these things,
+      how, then, can the Gods of Egypt be wroth with thee? Fear not, it was
+      nothing but some natural vapour of the mind that overcame thy gentle soul,
+      made sick with the sight and sound of slaughter; and as for the noble
+      Antony, where thou didst go needs must that he should follow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And as I spoke, Cleopatra turned white and trembled, glancing at me the
+      while to find my meaning. But I well knew that the thing was of the
+      avenging Gods, working through me, their instrument.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Learned Olympus,&rdquo; she said, not answering my words; &ldquo;my Lord Antony is
+      sick and crazed with grief. Like some poor hunted slave he hides himself
+      in yonder sea-girt Tower and shuns mankind&mdash;yes, he shuns even me,
+      who, for his sake, endure so many woes. Now, this is my bidding to thee.
+      To-morrow, at the coming of the light, do thou, led by Charmion, my
+      waiting-lady, take boat and row thee to the Tower and there crave entry,
+      saying that ye bring tidings from the army. Then he will cause you to be
+      let in, and thou, Charmion, must break this heavy news that Canidius
+      bears; for Canidius himself I dare not send. And when his grief is past,
+      do thou, Olympus, soothe his fevered frame with thy draughts of value, and
+      his soul with honeyed words, and draw him back to me, and all will yet be
+      well. Do thou this, and thou shalt have gifts more than thou canst count,
+      for I am yet a Queen and yet can pay back those who serve my will.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fear not, O Queen,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;this thing shall be done, and I ask no
+      reward, who have come hither to do thy bidding to the end.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So I bowed and went and, summoning Atoua, made ready a certain potion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0028" id="link2HCH0028">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER V
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE DRAWING FORTH OF ANTONY FROM THE TIMONIUM BACK TO CLEOPATRA; OF THE
+      FEAST MADE BY CLEOPATRA; AND OF THE MANNER OF THE DEATH OF EUDOSIUS THE
+      STEWARD
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Ere it was yet dawn Charmion came again, and we walked to the private
+      harbour of the palace. There, taking boat, we rowed to the island mount on
+      which stands the Timonium, a vaulted tower, strong, small, and round. And,
+      having landed, we twain came to the door and knocked, till at length a
+      grating was thrown open in the door, and an aged eunuch, looking forth,
+      roughly asked our business.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Our business is with the Lord Antony,&rdquo; said Charmion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then it is no business, for Antony, my master, sees neither man nor
+      woman.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet will he see us, for we bring tidings. Go tell him that the Lady
+      Charmion brings tidings from the army.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The man went, and presently returned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Lord Antony would know if the tidings be good or ill, for, if ill,
+      then will he none of it, for with evil tidings he has been overfed of
+      late.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why&mdash;why, it is both good and ill. Open, slave, I will make answer
+      to thy master!&rdquo; and she slipped a purse of gold through the bars.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, well,&rdquo; he grumbled, as he took the purse, &ldquo;the times are hard, and
+      likely to be harder; for when the lion&rsquo;s down who will feed the jackal?
+      Give thy news thyself, and if it do but draw the noble Antony out of this
+      hall of Groans, I care not what it be. Now the palace door is open, and
+      there&rsquo;s the road to the banqueting-chamber.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      We passed on, to find ourselves in a narrow passage, and, leaving the
+      eunuch to bar the door, advanced till we came to a curtain. Through this
+      entrance we went, and found ourselves in a vaulted chamber, ill-lighted
+      from the roof. On the further side of this rude chamber was a bed of rugs,
+      and on them crouched the figure of a man, his face hidden in the folds of
+      his toga.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Most noble Antony,&rdquo; said Charmion drawing near, &ldquo;unwrap thy face and
+      hearken to me, for I bring thee tidings.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then he lifted up his head. His face was marred by sorrow; his tangled
+      hair, grizzled with years, hung about his hollow eyes, and white on his
+      chin was the stubble of an unshaven beard. His robe was squalid, and his
+      aspect more wretched than that of the poorest beggar at the temple gates.
+      To this, then, had the love of Cleopatra brought the glorious and renowned
+      Antony, aforetime Master of half the World!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What will ye with me, Lady,&rdquo; he asked, &ldquo;who would perish here alone? And
+      who is this man who comes to gaze on fallen and forsaken Antony?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is Olympus, noble Antony, that wise physician, the skilled in
+      auguries, of whom thou hast heard much, and whom Cleopatra, ever mindful
+      of thy welfare, though but little thou dost think of hers, has sent to
+      minister to thee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And, can thy physician minister to a grief such as my grief? Can his
+      drugs give me back my galleys, my honour, and my peace? Nay! Away with thy
+      physician! What are thy tidings?&mdash;quick!&mdash;out with it! Hath
+      Canidius, perchance, conquered Cæsar? Tell me but that, and thou shalt
+      have a province for thy guerdon&mdash;ay! and if Octavianus be dead,
+      twenty thousand sestertia to fill its treasury. Speak&mdash;nay&mdash;speak
+      not! I fear the opening of thy lips as never I feared an earthly thing.
+      Surely the wheel of fortune has gone round and Canidius has conquered? Is
+      it not so? Nay&mdash;out with it! I can no more!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O noble Antony,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;steel thy heart to hear that which I needs
+      must tell thee! Canidius is in Alexandria. He has fled far and fast, and
+      this is his report. For seven whole days did the legions wait the coming
+      of Antony, to lead them to victory, as aforetime, putting aside the offers
+      of the envoys of Cæsar. But Antony came not. And then it was rumoured that
+      Antony had fled to Tænarus, drawn thither by Cleopatra. The man who first
+      brought that tale to the camp the legionaries cried shame on&mdash;ay, and
+      beat him to the death! But ever it grew, until at length there was no more
+      room to doubt; and then, O Antony, thy officers slipped one by one away to
+      Cæsar, and where the officers go there the men follow. Nor is this all the
+      story; for thy allies&mdash;Bocchus of Africa, Tarcondimotus of Cilicia,
+      Mithridates of Commagene, Adallas of Thrace, Philadelphus of Paphlagonia,
+      Archelaus of Cappadocia, Herod of Judæa, Amyntas of Galatia, Polemon of
+      Pontus, and Malchus of Arabia&mdash;all, all have fled or bid their
+      generals fly back to whence they came; and already their ambassadors
+      crave cold Cæsar&rsquo;s clemency.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hast done thy croakings, thou raven in a peacock&rsquo;s dress, or is there
+      more to come?&rdquo; asked the smitten man, lifting his white and trembling face
+      from the shelter of his hands. &ldquo;Tell me more; say that Egypt&rsquo;s dead in all
+      her beauty; say that Octavianus lowers at the Canopic gate; and that,
+      headed by dead Cicero, all the ghosts of Hell do audibly shriek out the
+      fall of Antony! Yea, gather up every woe that can o&rsquo;erwhelm those who once
+      were great, and loose them on the hoary head of him whom&mdash;in thy
+      gentleness&mdash;thou art still pleased to name &lsquo;the noble Antony&rsquo;!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, my Lord, I have done.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, and so have I done&mdash;done, quite done! It is altogether finished,
+      and thus I seal the end,&rdquo; and snatching a sword from the couch, he would,
+      indeed, have slain himself had I not sprung forward and grasped his hand.
+      For it was not my purpose that he should die as yet; since had he died at
+      that hour Cleopatra had made her peace with Cæsar, who rather wished the
+      death of Antony than the ruin of Egypt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Art mad, Antony? Art, indeed, a coward?&rdquo; cried Charmion, &ldquo;that thou
+      wouldst thus escape thy woes, and leave thy partner to face the sorrow out
+      alone?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why not, woman? Why not? She would not be long alone. There&rsquo;s Cæsar to
+      keep her company. Octavianus loves a fair woman in his cold way, and still
+      is Cleopatra fair. Come now, thou Olympus! thou hast held my hand from
+      dealing death upon myself, advise me of thy wisdom. Shall I, then, submit
+      myself to Cæsar, and I, Triumvir, twice Consul, and aforetime absolute
+      Monarch of all the East, endure to follow in his triumph along those Roman
+      ways where I myself have passed in triumph?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Sire,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;If thou dost yield, then art thou doomed. All
+      last night I questioned of the Fates concerning thee, and I saw this: when
+      thy star draws near to Cæsar&rsquo;s it pales and is swallowed up; but when it
+      passes from his radiance, then bright and big it shines, equal in glory to
+      his own. All is not lost, and while some part remains, everything may be
+      regained. Egypt can yet be held, armies can still be raised. Cæsar has
+      withdrawn himself; he is not yet at the gates of Alexandria, and perchance
+      may be appeased. Thy mind in its fever has fired thy body; thou art sick
+      and canst not judge aright. See, here, I have a potion that shall make
+      thee whole, for I am well skilled in the art of medicine,&rdquo; and I held out
+      the phial.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A potion, thou sayest man!&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;More like it is a poison, and thou
+      a murderer, sent by false Egypt, who would fain be rid of me now that I
+      may no more be of service to her. The head of Antony is the peace offering
+      she would send to Cæsar&mdash;she for whom I have lost all! Give me thy
+      draught. By Bacchus! I will drink it, though it be the very elixir of
+      Death!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, noble Antony; it is no poison, and I am no murderer. See, I will
+      taste it, if thou wilt,&rdquo; and I held forth the subtle drink that has the
+      power to fire the veins of men.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Give it me, Physician. Desperate men are brave men. There!&mdash;&mdash;Why,
+      what is this? Yours is a magic draught! My sorrows seem to roll away like
+      thunder-clouds before the southern gale, and the spring of Hope blooms
+      fresh upon the desert of my heart. Once more I am Antony, and once again I
+      see my legions&rsquo; spears asparkle in the sun, and hear the thunderous shout
+      of welcome as Antony&mdash;beloved Antony&mdash;rides in pomp of war along
+      his deep-formed lines! There&rsquo;s hope! there&rsquo;s hope! I may yet see the cold
+      brows of Cæsar&mdash;that Cæsar who never errs except from policy&mdash;robbed
+      of their victor bays and crowned with shameful dust!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; cried Charmion, &ldquo;there still is hope, if thou wilt but play the man!
+      O my Lord! come back with us; come back to the loving arms of Cleopatra!
+      All night she lies upon her golden bed, and fills the hollow darkness with
+      her groans for &lsquo;Antony!&rsquo; who, enamoured now of Grief, forgets his duty and
+      his love!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I come! I come! Shame upon me, that I dared to doubt her! Slave, bring
+      water, and a purple robe: not thus can I be seen of Cleopatra. Even now I
+      come.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In this fashion, then, did we draw Antony back to Cleopatra, that the ruin
+      of the twain might be made sure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We led him up the Alabaster Hall and into Cleopatra&rsquo;s chamber, where she
+      lay, her cloudy hair about her face and breast, and tears flowing from her
+      deep eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Egypt!&rdquo; he cried, &ldquo;behold me at thy feet!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She sprang from the couch. &ldquo;And art thou here, my love?&rdquo; she murmured;
+      &ldquo;then once again are all things well. Come near, and in these arms forget
+      thy sorrows and turn my grief to joy. Oh, Antony, while love is left to
+      us, still have we all!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And she fell upon his breast and kissed him wildly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      That same day, Charmion came to me and bade me prepare a poison of the
+      most deadly power. And this at first I would not do, fearing that
+      Cleopatra would therewith make an end of Antony before his time. But
+      Charmion showed me that this was not so, and told me also for what purpose
+      was the poison. Therefore I summoned Atoua, the skilled in simples, and
+      all that afternoon we laboured at the deadly work. And when it was done,
+      Charmion came once more, bearing with her a chaplet of fresh roses, that
+      she bade me steep in the poison.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This then I did.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      That night at the great feast of Cleopatra, I sat near Antony, who was at
+      her side, and wore the poisoned wreath. Now as the feast went on, the wine
+      flowed fast, till Antony and the Queen grew merry. And she told him of her
+      plans, and of how even now her galleys were being drawn by the canal that
+      leads from Bubastis on the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, to Clysma at the
+      head of the Bay of Heroopolis. For it was her design, should Cæsar prove
+      stubborn, to fly with Antony and her treasure down the Arabian Gulf, where
+      Cæsar had no fleet, and seek some new home in India, whither her foes
+      might not follow. But, indeed, this plan came to nothing, for the Arabs of
+      Petra burnt the galleys, incited thereto by a message sent by the Jews of
+      Alexandria, who hated Cleopatra and were hated of her. For I caused the
+      Jews to be warned of what was being done.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now, when she had made an end of telling him, the Queen called on him to
+      drink a cup with her, to the success of this new scheme, bidding him, as
+      she did so, steep his wreath of roses in the wine, and make the draught
+      more sweet. This, then, he did, and it being done, she pledged him. But
+      when he was about to pledge her back, she caught his hand, crying &ldquo;<i>Hold!</i>&rdquo;
+       whereat he paused, wondering.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now, among the servants of Cleopatra was one Eudosius, a steward; and this
+      Eudosius, seeing that the fortunes of Cleopatra were at an end, had laid a
+      plan to fly that very night to Cæsar, as many of his betters had done,
+      taking with him all the treasure in the palace that he could steal. But
+      this design being discovered to Cleopatra, she determined to be avenged
+      upon Eudosius.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Eudosius,&rdquo; she cried, for the man stood near; &ldquo;come hither, thou faithful
+      servant! Seest thou this man, most noble Antony; through all our troubles
+      he has clung to us and been of comfort to us. Now, therefore, he shall be
+      rewarded according to his deserts and the measure of his faithfulness, and
+      that from thine own hand. Give him thy golden cup of wine, and let him
+      drink a pledge to our success; the cup shall be his guerdon.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And still wondering, Antony gave it to the man, who, stricken in his
+      guilty mind, took it, and stood trembling. But he drank not.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Drink! thou slave; drink!&rdquo; cried Cleopatra, half rising from her seat and
+      flashing a fierce look on his white face. &ldquo;By Serapis! so surely as I yet
+      shall sit in the Capitol at Rome, if thou dost thus flout the Lord Antony,
+      I&rsquo;ll have thee scourged to the bones, and the red wine poured upon thy
+      open wounds to heal them! <i>Ah!</i> at length thou drinkest! Why, what is
+      it, good Eudosius? art sick? Surely, then, this wine must be as the water
+      of jealousy of those Jews, that has power to slay the false and strengthen
+      the honest only. Go, some of you, search this man&rsquo;s room; methinks he is a
+      traitor!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Meanwhile the man stood, his hands to his head. Presently he began to
+      tremble, and then fell, clutching at his bosom, as though to tear out the
+      fire in his heart. He staggered, with livid, twisted face and foaming
+      lips, to where Cleopatra lay watching him with a slow and cruel smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah, traitor! thou hast it now!&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Prithee, is death sweet?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou wanton!&rdquo; yelled the dying man, &ldquo;thou hast poisoned me! Thus mayst
+      thou also perish!&rdquo; and with one shriek he flung himself upon her. She saw
+      his purpose, and swift and supple as a tiger sprang to one side, so that
+      he did but grasp her royal cloak, tearing it from its emerald clasp. Down
+      he fell upon the ground, rolling over and over in the purple chiton, till
+      presently he lay still and dead, his tormented face and frozen eyes
+      peering ghastly from its folds.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; said the Queen, with a hard laugh, &ldquo;the slave died wondrous hard,
+      and fain would have drawn me with him. See, he has borrowed my garment for
+      a pall! Take him away and bury him in his livery.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What means Cleopatra?&rdquo; said Antony, as the guards dragged the corpse
+      away; &ldquo;the man drank of my cup. What is the purpose of this most sorry
+      jest?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It serves a double end, noble Antony! This very night that man would have
+      fled to Octavianus, bearing of our treasure with him. Well, I have lent
+      him wings, for the dead fly fast! Also this: thou didst fear that I should
+      poison thee, my Lord; nay, I know it. See now, Antony, how easy it were
+      that I should slay thee if I had the will. That wreath of roses which thou
+      didst steep within the cup is dewed with deadly bane. Had I, then, a mind
+      to make an end of thee, I had not stayed thy hand. O Antony, henceforth
+      trust me! Sooner would I slay myself than harm one hair of thy beloved
+      head! See, here come my messengers! Speak, what did ye find?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Royal Egypt, we found this. All things in the chamber of Eudosius are
+      made ready for flight, and in his baggage is much treasure.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou hearest?&rdquo; she said, smiling darkly. &ldquo;Think ye, my loyal servants
+      all, that Cleopatra is one with whom it is well to play the traitor? Be
+      warned by this Roman&rsquo;s fate!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then a great silence of fear fell upon the company, and Antony sat also
+      silent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0029" id="link2HCH0029">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VI
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE WORKINGS OF THE LEARNED OLYMPUS AT MEMPHIS; OF THE POISONINGS OF
+      CLEOPATRA; OF THE SPEECH OF ANTONY TO HIS CAPTAINS; AND OF THE PASSING OF
+      ISIS FROM THE LAND OF KHEM
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now I, Harmachis, must make speed with my task, setting down that which is
+      permitted as shortly as may be, and leaving much untold. For of this I am
+      warned, that Doom draws on and my days are wellnigh sped. After the
+      drawing forth of Antony from the Timonium came that time of heavy quiet
+      which heralds the rising of the desert wind. Antony and Cleopatra once
+      again gave themselves up to luxury, and night by night feasted in
+      splendour at the palace. They sent ambassadors to Cæsar; but Cæsar would
+      have none of them; and, this hope being gone, they turned their minds to
+      the defence of Alexandria. Men were gathered, ships were built, and a
+      great force was made ready against the coming of Cæsar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And now, aided by Charmion, I began my last work of hate and vengeance. I
+      wormed myself deep into the secrets of the palace, counselling all things
+      for evil. I bade Cleopatra keep Antony gay, lest he should brood upon his
+      sorrows: and thus she sapped his strength and energy with luxury and wine.
+      I gave him of my draughts&mdash;draughts that sank his soul in dreams of
+      happiness and power, leaving him to wake to a heavier misery. Soon,
+      without my healing medicine he could not sleep, and thus, being ever at
+      his side, I bound his weakened will to mine, till at last he would do
+      little if I said not &ldquo;It is well.&rdquo; Cleopatra, also grown very
+      superstitious, leaned much upon me; for I prophesied falsely to her in
+      secret.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Moreover, I wove other webs. My fame was great throughout Egypt, for
+      during the long years that I had dwelt in Tápé it had spread through all
+      the land. Therefore many men of note came to me, both for their health&rsquo;s
+      sake and because it was known that I had the ear of Antony and the Queen;
+      and, in these days of doubt and trouble, they were fain to learn the
+      truth. All these men I worked upon with doubtful words, sapping their
+      loyalty; and I caused many to fall away, and yet none could bear an evil
+      report of what I had said. Also, Cleopatra sent me to Memphis, there to
+      move the Priests and Governors that they should gather men in Upper Egypt
+      for the defence of Alexandria. And I went and spoke to the priests with
+      such a double meaning and with so much wisdom that they knew me to be one
+      of the initiated in the deeper mysteries. But how I, Olympus the
+      physician, came thus to be initiated none might say. And afterwards they
+      sought me secretly, and I gave them the holy sign of brotherhood; and
+      thereunder bade them not to ask who I might be, but send no aid to
+      Cleopatra. Rather, I said, must they make peace with Cæsar, for by Cæsar&rsquo;s
+      grace only could the worship of the Gods endure in Khem. So, having taken
+      counsel of the Holy Apis, they promised in public to give help to
+      Cleopatra, but in secret sent an embassy to Cæsar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus, then, it came to pass that Egypt gave but little aid to its hated
+      Macedonian Queen. Thence from Memphis I came once more to Alexandria, and,
+      having made favourable report, continued my secret work. And, indeed, the
+      Alexandrians could not easily be stirred, for, as they say in the
+      marketplace, &ldquo;The ass looks at its burden and is blind to its master.&rdquo;
+       Cleopatra had oppressed them so long that the Roman was like a welcome
+      friend.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus the time passed on, and every night found Cleopatra with fewer
+      friends than that which had gone before, for in evil days friends fly like
+      swallows before the frost. Yet she would not give up Antony, whom she
+      loved; though to my knowledge Cæsar, by his freedman, Thyreus, made
+      promise to her of her dominions for herself and for her children if she
+      would but slay Antony, or even betray him bound. But to this her woman&rsquo;s
+      heart&mdash;for still she had a heart&mdash;would not consent, and,
+      moreover, we counselled her against it, for of necessity we must hold him
+      to her, lest, Antony escaping or being slain, Cleopatra might ride out the
+      storm and yet be Queen of Egypt. And this grieved me, because Antony,
+      though weak, was still a brave man, and a great; and, moreover, in my own
+      heart I read the lesson of his woes. For were we not akin in wretchedness?
+      Had not the same woman robbed us of Empire, Friends, and Honour? But pity
+      has no place in politics, nor could it turn my feet from the path of
+      vengeance it was ordained that I should tread. Cæsar drew nigh; Pelusium
+      fell; the end was at hand. It was Charmion who brought the tidings to the
+      Queen and Antony, as they slept in the heat of the day, and I came with
+      her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Awake!&rdquo; she cried. &ldquo;Awake! This is no time for sleep! Seleucus hath
+      surrendered Pelusium to Cæsar, who marches straight on Alexandria!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      With a great oath, Antony sprang up and clutched Cleopatra by the arm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou hast betrayed me&mdash;by the Gods I swear it! Now thou shalt pay
+      the price!&rdquo; And snatching up his sword he drew it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stay thy hand, Antony!&rdquo; she cried. &ldquo;It is false&mdash;I know naught of
+      this!&rdquo; And she sprang upon him, and clung about his neck, weeping. &ldquo;I know
+      naught, my Lord. Take thou the wife of Seleucus and his little children,
+      whom I hold in guard, and avenge thyself. O Antony, Antony! why dost thou
+      doubt me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Antony threw down his sword upon the marble, and, casting himself
+      upon the couch, hid his face, and groaned in bitterness of spirit.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Charmion smiled, for it was she who had sent secretly to Seleucus, her
+      friend, counselling him to surrender forthwith, saying that no fight would
+      be made at Alexandria. And that very night Cleopatra took all her great
+      store of pearls and emeralds&mdash;those that remained of the treasure of
+      Menkau-ra&mdash;all her wealth of gold, ebony, ivory, and cinnamon,
+      treasure without price, and placed it in the mausoleum of granite which,
+      after our Egyptian fashion, she had built upon the hill that is by the
+      Temple of the Holy Isis. These riches she piled up upon a bed of flax,
+      that, when she fired it, all might perish in the flame and escape the
+      greed of money-loving Octavianus. And she slept henceforth in this tomb,
+      away from Antony; but in the daytime she still saw him at the palace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But a little while after, when Cæsar with all his great force had already
+      crossed the Caponic mouth of the Nile and was hard on Alexandria, I came
+      to the palace, whither Cleopatra had summoned me. There I found her in the
+      Alabaster Hall, royally clad, a wild light in her eyes, and, with her,
+      Iras and Charmion, and before her guards; and stretched here and there
+      upon the marble, bodies of dead men, among whom lay one yet dying.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Greeting, thou Olympus!&rdquo; she cried. &ldquo;Here is a sight to glad a
+      physician&rsquo;s heart&mdash;men dead and men sick unto death!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What doest thou, O Queen?&rdquo; I said affrighted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do I? I wreak justice on these criminals and traitors; and, Olympus,
+      I learn the ways of death. I have caused six different poisons to be given
+      to these slaves, and with an attentive eye have watched their working.
+      That man,&rdquo; and she pointed to a Nubian, &ldquo;he went mad, and raved of his
+      native deserts and his mother. He thought himself a child again, poor
+      fool! and bade her hold him close to her breast and save him from the
+      darkness which drew near. And that Greek, he shrieked, and, shrieking,
+      died. And this, he wept and prayed for pity, and in the end, like a
+      coward, breathed his last. Now, note the Egyptian yonder, he who still
+      lives and groans; first he took the draught&mdash;the deadliest draught of
+      all, they swore&mdash;and yet the slave so dearly loves his life he will
+      not leave it! See, he yet strives to throw the poison from him; twice have
+      I given him the cup and yet he is athirst. What a drunkard we have here!
+      Man, man, knowest thou not that in death only can peace be found? Struggle
+      no more, but enter into rest.&rdquo; And even as she spoke, the man, with a
+      great cry, gave up the spirit.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There!&rdquo; she cried, &ldquo;at length the farce is played&mdash;away with those
+      slaves whom I have forced through the difficult gates of Joy!&rdquo; and she
+      clapped her hands. But when they had borne the bodies thence she drew me
+      to her, and spoke thus:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Olympus, for all thy prophecies, the end is at hand. Cæsar must conquer,
+      and I and my Lord Antony be lost. Now, therefore, the play being wellnigh
+      done, I must make ready to leave this stage of earth in such fashion as
+      becomes a Queen. For this cause, then, I do make trial of these poisons,
+      seeing that in my person I must soon endure those agonies of death that
+      to-day I give to others. These drugs please me not; some wrench out the
+      soul with cruel pains, and some too slowly work their end. But thou art
+      skilled in the medicines of death. Now, do thou prepare me such a draught
+      as shall, pangless, steal my life away.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And as I listened the sense of triumph filled my bitter heart, for I knew
+      now that by my own hand should this ruined woman die and the justice of
+      the Gods be done.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Spoken like a Queen, O Cleopatra!&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Death shall cure thy ills,
+      and I will brew such a wine as shall draw him down a sudden friend and
+      sink thee in a sea of slumber whence, upon this earth, thou shalt never
+      wake again. Oh! fear not Death: Death is thy hope; and, surely, thou shalt
+      pass sinless and pure of heart into the dreadful presence of the Gods!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She trembled. &ldquo;And if the heart be not altogether pure, tell me&mdash;thou
+      dark man&mdash;what then? Nay, I fear not the Gods! for if the Gods of
+      Hell be men, there I shall Queen it also. At the least, having once been
+      royal, royal I shall ever be.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And, as she spoke, suddenly from the palace gates came a great clamour,
+      and the noise of joyful shouting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, what is this?&rdquo; she said, springing from her couch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Antony! Antony!&rdquo; rose the cry; &ldquo;Antony hath conquered!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She turned swiftly and ran, her long hair streaming on the wind. I
+      followed her, more slowly, down the great hall, across the courtyards, to
+      the palace gates. And here she met Antony, riding through them, radiant
+      with smiles and clad in his Roman armour. When he saw her he leapt to the
+      ground, and, all armed as he was, clasped her to his breast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is it?&rdquo; she cried; &ldquo;is Cæsar fallen?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, not altogether fallen, Egypt: but we have beat his horsemen back to
+      their trenches, and, like the beginning, so shall be the end, for, as they
+      say here, &lsquo;Where the head goes, the tail will follow.&rsquo; Moreover, Cæsar has
+      my challenge, and if he will but meet me hand to hand, the world shall
+      soon see which is the better man, Antony or Octavian.&rdquo; And even as he
+      spoke and the people cheered there came the cry of &ldquo;A messenger from
+      Cæsar!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The herald entered, and, bowing low, gave a writing to Antony, bowed
+      again, and went. Cleopatra snatched it from his hand, broke the silk and
+      read aloud:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cæsar to Antony, greeting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This answer to thy challenge: Can Antony find no better way of death than
+      beneath the sword of Cæsar? Farewell!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And thereafter they cheered no more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The darkness came, and before it was midnight, having feasted with his
+      friends who to-night went over his woes and to-morrow should betray him,
+      Antony went forth to the gathering of the captains of the land-forces and
+      of the fleet, attended by many, among whom was I.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When all were come together, he spoke to them, standing bareheaded in
+      their midst, beneath the radiance of the moon. And thus he most nobly
+      spoke:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Friends and companions in arms! who yet cling to me, and whom many a time
+      I have led to victory, hearken to me now, who to-morrow may lie in the
+      dumb dust, disempired and dishonoured. This is our design: no longer will
+      we hang on poised wings above the flood of war, but will straightway
+      plunge, perchance thence to snatch the victor&rsquo;s diadem, or, failing, there
+      to drown. Be now but true to me, and to your honour&rsquo;s sake, and you may
+      still sit, the most proud of men, at my right hand in the Capitol of Rome.
+      Fail me now, and the cause of Antony is lost and so are ye. To-morrow&rsquo;s
+      battle must be hazardous indeed, but we have stood many a time and faced a
+      fiercer peril, and ere the sun had sunk, once more have driven armies like
+      desert sands before our gale of valour and counted the spoil of hostile
+      kings. What have we to fear? Though allies be fled, still is our array as
+      strong as Cæsar&rsquo;s! And show we but as high a heart, why, I swear to you,
+      upon my princely word, to-morrow night I shall deck yonder Canopic gate
+      with the heads of Octavian and his captains!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, cheer, and cheer again! I love that martial music which swells, not
+      as from the indifferent lips of clarions, now &lsquo;neath the breath of Antony
+      and now of Cæsar, but rather out of the single hearts of men who love me.
+      Yet&mdash;and now I will speak low, as we do speak o&rsquo;er the bier of some
+      beloved dead&mdash;yet, if Fortune should rise against me and if, borne
+      down by the weight of arms, Antony, the soldier, dies a soldier&rsquo;s death,
+      leaving you to mourn him who ever was your friend, this is my will, that,
+      after our rough fashion of the camp, I here declare to you. You know where
+      all my treasure lies. Take it, most dear friends; and, in the memory of
+      Antony, make just division. Then go to Cæsar and speak thus: &lsquo;Antony, the
+      dead, to Cæsar, the living, sends greeting; and, in the name of ancient
+      fellowship and of many a peril dared, craves this boon: the safety of
+      those who clung to him and that which he hath given them.&rsquo; 
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, let not my tears&mdash;for I must weep&mdash;overflow your eyes!
+      Why, it is not manly; &lsquo;tis most womanish! All men must die, and death were
+      welcome were it not so lone. Should I fall, I leave my children to your
+      tender care&mdash;if, perchance, it may avail to save them from the fate
+      of helplessness. Soldiers, enough! to-morrow at the dawn we spring on
+      Cæsar&rsquo;s throat, both by land and sea. Swear that ye will cling to me, even
+      to the last issue!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We swear!&rdquo; they cried. &ldquo;Noble Antony, we swear!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well! Once more my star grows bright; to-morrow, set in the highest
+      heaven, it yet may shine the lamp of Cæsar down! Till then, farewell!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He turned to go. As he went they caught his hand and kissed it; and so
+      deeply were they moved that many wept like children; nor could Antony
+      master his grief, for, in the moonlight, I saw tears roll down his
+      furrowed cheeks and fall upon that mighty breast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And, seeing all this, I was much troubled. For I well knew that if these
+      men held firm to Antony all might yet go well for Cleopatra; and though I
+      bore no ill-will against Antony, yet he must fall, and in that fall drag
+      down the woman who, like some poisonous plant, had twined herself about
+      his giant strength till it choked and mouldered in her embrace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Therefore, when Antony went I went not, but stood back in the shadow
+      watching the faces of the lords and captains as they spoke together.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then it is agreed!&rdquo; said he who should lead the fleet. &ldquo;And this we swear
+      to, one and all, that we will cling to noble Antony to the last extremity
+      of fortune!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay! ay!&rdquo; they answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay! ay!&rdquo; I said, speaking from the shadow; &ldquo;cling, and <i>die!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They turned fiercely and seized me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who is he?&rdquo; quoth one.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Tis that dark-faced dog, Olympus!&rdquo; cried another. &ldquo;Olympus, the
+      magician!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Olympus, the traitor!&rdquo; growled another; &ldquo;put an end to him and his
+      magic!&rdquo; and he drew his sword.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay! slay him; he would betray the Lord Antony, whom he is paid to
+      doctor.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hold a while!&rdquo; I said in a slow and solemn voice, &ldquo;and beware how ye try
+      to murder the servant of the Gods. I am no traitor. For myself, I abide
+      the event here in Alexandria, but to you I say, Flee, flee to Cæsar! I
+      serve Antony and the Queen&mdash;I serve them truly; but above all I serve
+      the Holy Gods; and what they make known to me, that, Lords, I do know. And
+      I know this: that Antony is doomed, and Cleopatra is doomed, for Cæsar
+      conquers. Therefore, because I honour you, noble gentlemen, and think with
+      pity on your wives, left widowed, and your little fatherless children,
+      that shall, if ye hold to Antony, be sold as slaves&mdash;therefore, I
+      say, cling to Antony if ye will and die; or flee to Cæsar and be saved!
+      And this I say because it is so ordained of the Gods.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Gods!&rdquo; they growled; &ldquo;what Gods? Slit the traitor&rsquo;s throat, and stop
+      his ill-omened talk!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let him show us a sign from his Gods or let him die: I do mistrust this
+      man,&rdquo; said another.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stand back, ye fools!&rdquo; I cried. &ldquo;Stand back&mdash;free mine arms&mdash;and
+      I will show you a sign;&rdquo; and there was that in my face which frightened
+      them, for they freed me and stood back. Then I lifted up my hands and
+      putting out all my strength of soul searched the depths of space till my
+      Spirit communed with the Spirit of my Mother Isis. Only the Word of Power
+      I uttered not, as I had been bidden. And the holy mystery of the Goddess
+      answered to my Spirit&rsquo;s cry, falling in awful silence upon the face of the
+      earth. Deeper and deeper grew the terrible silence; even the dogs ceased
+      to howl, and in the city men stood still afeared. Then, from far away,
+      there came the ghostly music of the sistra. Faint it was at first, but
+      ever as it came it grew more loud, till the air shivered with the
+      unearthly sound of terror. I said naught, but pointed with my hand toward
+      the sky. And behold! bosomed upon the air, floated a vast veiled Shape
+      that, heralded by the swelling music of the sistra, drew slowly near, till
+      its shadow lay upon us. It came, it passed, it went toward the camp of
+      Cæsar, till at length the music died away, and the awful Shape was
+      swallowed in the night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is Bacchus!&rdquo; cried one. &ldquo;Bacchus, who leaves lost Antony!&rdquo; and, as he
+      spoke, there rose a groan of terror from all the camp.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But I knew that it was not Bacchus, the false God, but the Divine Isis who
+      deserted Khem, and, passing over the edge of the world, sought her home in
+      space, to be no more known of men. For though her worship is still upheld,
+      though still she is here and in all Earths, Isis manifests herself no more
+      in Egypt. I hid my face and prayed, but when I lifted it from my robe, lo!
+      all had fled and I was alone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0030" id="link2HCH0030">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VII
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE SURRENDER OF THE TROOPS AND FLEET OF ANTONY BEFORE THE CANOPIC
+      GATE; OF THE END OF ANTONY, AND OF THE BREWING OF THE DRAUGHT OF DEATH
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the morrow, at dawn, Antony came forth and gave command that his fleet
+      should advance against the fleet of Cæsar, and that his cavalry should
+      open the land-battle with the cavalry of Cæsar. Accordingly, the fleet
+      advanced in a triple line, and the fleet of Cæsar came out to meet it. But
+      when they met, the galleys of Antony lifted their oars in greeting, and
+      passed over to the galleys of Cæsar; and they sailed away together. And
+      the cavalry of Antony rode forth beyond the Hippodrome to charge the
+      cavalry of Cæsar; but when they met, they lowered their swords and passed
+      over to the camp of Cæsar, deserting Antony. Then Antony grew mad with
+      rage and terrible to see. He shouted to his legions to stand firm and wait
+      attack; and for a little while they stood. One man, however&mdash;that
+      same officer who would have slain me on the yesternight&mdash;strove to
+      fly; but Antony seized him with his own hand, threw him to the earth, and,
+      springing from his horse, drew his sword to slay him. He held his sword on
+      high, while the man, covering his face, awaited death. But Antony dropped
+      his sword and bade him rise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Go!&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Go to Cæsar, and prosper! I did love thee once. Why, then,
+      among so many traitors, should I single thee out for death?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The man rose and looked upon him sorrowfully. Then, shame overwhelming
+      him, with a great cry he tore open his shirt of mail, plunged his sword
+      into his own heart and fell down dead. Antony stood and gazed at him, but
+      he said never a word. Meanwhile the ranks of Cæsar&rsquo;s legions drew near,
+      and so soon as they crossed spears the legions of Antony turned and fled.
+      Then the soldiers of Cæsar stood still mocking them; but scarce a man was
+      slain, for they pursued not.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fly, Lord Antony! fly!&rdquo; cried Eros, his servant, who alone with me stayed
+      by him. &ldquo;Fly ere thou art dragged a prisoner to Cæsar!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So he turned and fled, groaning heavily. I went with him, and as we rode
+      through the Canopic gate, where many folk stood wondering, Antony spoke to
+      me:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Go, thou, Olympus; go to the Queen and say: &lsquo;Antony sends greeting to
+      Cleopatra, who hath betrayed him! To Cleopatra he sends greeting and
+      farewell!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And so I went to the tomb, but Antony fled to the palace. When I came to
+      the tomb I knocked upon the door, and Charmion looked forth from the
+      window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Open,&rdquo; I cried, and she opened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What news, Harmachis?&rdquo; she whispered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Charmion,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;the end is at hand. Antony is fled!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; she answered; &ldquo;I am aweary.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And there on her golden bed sat Cleopatra.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Speak, man!&rdquo; she cried.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Antony has fled, his forces are fled, Cæsar draws near. To Cleopatra the
+      great Antony sends greeting and farewell. Greeting to Cleopatra who
+      betrayed him, and farewell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is a lie!&rdquo; she screamed; &ldquo;I betrayed him not! Thou, Olympus, go
+      swiftly to Antony and answer thus: &lsquo;To Antony, Cleopatra, who hath not
+      betrayed him, sends greeting and farewell. Cleopatra is no more.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And so I went, following out my purpose. In the Alabaster Hall I found
+      Antony pacing to and fro, tossing his hands toward heaven, and with him
+      Eros, for of all his servants Eros alone remained by this fallen man.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lord Antony,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;Egypt bids thee farewell. Egypt is dead by her own
+      hand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Dead! dead!&rdquo; he whispered, &ldquo;and is Egypt dead? and is that form of glory
+      now food for worms? Oh, what a woman was this! E&rsquo;en now my heart goes out
+      towards her. And shall she outdo me at the last, I who have been so great;
+      shall I become so small that a woman can overtop my courage and pass where
+      I fear to follow? Eros, thou hast loved me from a boy&mdash;mindest thou
+      how I found thee starving in the desert, and made thee rich, giving thee
+      place and wealth? Come, now pay me back. Draw that sword thou wearest and
+      make an end of the woes of Antony.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, Sire,&rdquo; cried the Greek, &ldquo;I cannot! How can I take away the life of
+      godlike Antony?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Answer me not, Eros; but in the last extreme of fate this I charge thee.
+      Do thou my bidding, or begone and leave me quite alone! No more will I see
+      thy face, thou unfaithful servant!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Eros drew his sword and Antony knelt before him and bared his breast,
+      turning his eyes to heaven. But Eros, crying &ldquo;I cannot! oh, I cannot!&rdquo;
+       plunged the sword to his own heart, and fell dead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Antony rose and gazed upon him. &ldquo;Why, Eros, that was nobly done,&rdquo; he said.
+      &ldquo;Thou art greater than I, yet I have learned thy lesson!&rdquo; and he knelt
+      down and kissed him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, rising of a sudden, he drew the sword from the heart of Eros,
+      plunged it into his bowels, and fell, groaning, on the couch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O thou, Olympus,&rdquo; he cried, &ldquo;this pain is more than I can bear! Make an
+      end of me, Olympus!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But pity stirred me, and I could not do this thing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Therefore I drew the sword from his vitals, staunched the flow of blood,
+      and, calling to those who came crowding in to see Antony die, I bade them
+      summon Atoua from my house at the palace gates. Presently she came,
+      bringing with her simples and life-giving draughts. These I gave to
+      Antony, and bade Atoua go with such speed as her old limbs might to
+      Cleopatra, in the tomb, and tell her of the state of Antony.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So she went, and after a while returned, saying that the Queen yet lived
+      and summoned Antony to die in her arms. And with her came Diomedes. When
+      Antony heard, his ebbing strength came back, for he was fain to look upon
+      Cleopatra&rsquo;s face again. So I called to the slaves&mdash;who peeped and
+      peered through curtains and from behind pillars to see this great man die&mdash;and
+      together, with much toil, we bore him thence till we came to the foot of
+      the Mausoleum.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Cleopatra, being afraid of treachery, would no more throw wide the
+      door; so she let down a rope from the window and we made it fast beneath
+      the arms of Antony. Then did Cleopatra, who the while wept most bitterly,
+      together with Charmion and Iras the Greek, pull on the rope with all their
+      strength, while we lifted from below till the dying Antony swung in the
+      air, groaning heavily, and the blood dropped from his gaping wound. Twice
+      he nearly fell to earth: but Cleopatra, striving with the strength of love
+      and of despair, held him till at length she drew him through the
+      windowplace, while all who saw the dreadful sight wept bitterly, and beat
+      their breasts&mdash;all save myself and Charmion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When he was in, once more the rope was let down, and, with some aid from
+      Charmion, I climbed into the tomb, drawing up the rope after me. There I
+      found Antony, laid upon the golden bed of Cleopatra; and she, her breast
+      bare, her face stained with tears, and her hair streaming wildly about
+      him, knelt at his side and kissed him, wiping the blood from his wounds
+      with her robes and hair. And let all my shame be written: as I stood and
+      watched her the old love awoke once more within me, and mad jealousy raged
+      in my heart because&mdash;though I could destroy these twain&mdash;I could
+      not destroy their love.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Antony! my Sweet, my Husband, and my God!&rdquo; she moaned. &ldquo;Cruel Antony,
+      hast thou the heart to die and leave me to my lonely shame? I will follow
+      thee swiftly to the grave. Antony, awake! awake!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He lifted up his head and called for wine, which I gave him, mixing
+      therein a draught that might allay his pain, for it was great. And when he
+      had drunk he bade Cleopatra lie down on the bed beside him, and put her
+      arms about him; and this she did. Then was Antony once more a man; for,
+      forgetting his own misery and pain, he counselled her as to her own
+      safety: but to this talk she would not listen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The hour is short,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;let us speak of this great love of ours
+      that hath been so long and may yet endure beyond the coasts of Death.
+      Mindest thou that night when first thou didst put thine arms about me and
+      call me &lsquo;Love&rsquo;? Oh! happy, happy night! Having known that night it is well
+      to have lived&mdash;even to this bitter end!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, Egypt, I mind it well and dwell upon its memory, though from that
+      hour fortune has fled from me&mdash;lost in my depth of love for thee,
+      thou Beautiful. I mind it!&rdquo; he gasped; &ldquo;then didst thou drink the pearl in
+      wanton play, and then did that astrologer of thine call out his hour&mdash;&lsquo;The
+      hour of the coming of the curse of Menkau-ra.&rsquo; Through all the after-days
+      those words have haunted me, and now at the last they ring in my ears.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He is long dead, my love,&rdquo; she whispered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If he be dead, then I am near him. What meant he?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He is dead, the accursed man!&mdash;no more of him! Oh! turn and kiss me,
+      for thy face grows white. The end is near!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He kissed her on the lips, and for a little while so they stayed, to the
+      moment of death, babbling their passion in each other&rsquo;s ears, like lovers
+      newly wed. Even to my jealous heart, it was a strange and awful thing to
+      see.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Presently, I saw the Change of Death gather on his face. His head fell
+      back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Farewell, Egypt; farewell!&mdash;I die!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Cleopatra lifted herself upon her hands, gazed wildly on his ashen face,
+      and then, with a great cry, she sank back swooning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Antony yet lived, though the power of speech had left him. Then I drew
+      near and, kneeling, made pretence to minister to him. And as I ministered
+      I whispered in his ear:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Antony,&rdquo; I whispered, &ldquo;Cleopatra was my love before she passed from me to
+      thee. I am Harmachis, that astrologer who stood behind thy couch at
+      Tarsus; and I have been the chief minister of thy ruin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>Die, Antony!&mdash;the curse of Menkau-ra hath fallen!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He raised himself, and stared upon my face. He could not speak, but,
+      gibbering, he pointed at me. Then with a groan his spirit fled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus did I accomplish my revenge upon Roman Antony, the World-loser.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thereafter, we recovered Cleopatra from her swoon, for not yet was I
+      minded that she should die. And taking the body of Antony, Cæsar
+      permitting, I and Atoua caused it to be most skilfully embalmed after our
+      Egyptian fashion, covering the face with a mask of gold fashioned like to
+      the features of Antony. Also I wrote upon his breast his name and titles,
+      and painted his name and the name of his father within his inner coffin,
+      and drew the form of the Holy Nout folding her wings about him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then with great pomp Cleopatra laid him in that sepulchre which had been
+      made ready, and in a sarcophagus of alabaster. Now, this sarcophagus was
+      fashioned so large that place was left in it for a second coffin, for
+      Cleopatra would lie by Antony at the last.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      These things then happened. And but a little while after I learned tidings
+      from one Cornelius Dolabella, a noble Roman who waited upon Cæsar, and,
+      moved by the beauty that swayed the souls of all who looked upon her, had
+      pity for the woes of Cleopatra. He bade me warn her&mdash;for, as her
+      physician, it was allowed me to pass in and out of the tomb where she
+      dwelt&mdash;that in three days she would be sent away to Rome, together
+      with her children, save Cæsarion, whom Octavian had already slain, that
+      she might walk in the triumph of Cæsar. Accordingly I went in, and found
+      her sitting, as now she always sat, plunged in a half stupor, and before
+      her that blood-stained robe with which she had staunched the wounds of
+      Antony. For on this she would continually feast her eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See how faint they grow, Olympus,&rdquo; she said, lifting her sad face and
+      pointing to the rusty stains, &ldquo;and he so lately dead! Why, Gratitude could
+      not fade more fast. What is now thy news? Evil tidings is writ large in
+      those dark eyes of thine, which ever bring back to me something that still
+      slips my mind.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The news is ill, O Queen,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;I have this from the lips of
+      Dolabella, who has it straight from Cæsar&rsquo;s secretary. On the third day
+      from now Cæsar will send thee and the Princes Ptolemy and Alexander and
+      the Princess Cleopatra to Rome, there to feast the eyes of the Roman mob,
+      and be led in triumph to that Capitol where thou didst swear to set thy
+      throne!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never, never!&rdquo; she cried, springing to her feet. &ldquo;Never will I walk in
+      chains in Cæsar&rsquo;s triumph! What must I do? Charmion, tell me what I can
+      do!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And Charmion, rising, stood before her, looking at her through the long
+      lashes of her downcast eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lady, thou canst die,&rdquo; she said quietly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, of a truth I had forgotten; I can die. Olympus, hast thou the drug?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay; but if the Queen wills it, by to-morrow morn it shall be brewed&mdash;a
+      drug so swift and strong that not the Gods themselves can hold him who
+      drinks it back from sleep.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let it be made ready, thou Master of Death!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I bowed, and withdrew myself; and all that night I and old Atoua laboured
+      at the distilling of the deadly draught. At length it was done, and Atoua
+      poured it into a crystal phial, and held it to the light of the fire; for
+      it was white as the purest water.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>La! la!</i>&rdquo; she sang, in her shrill voice; &ldquo;a drink for a Queen! When
+      fifty drops of that water of my brewing have passed those red lips of
+      hers, thou wilt indeed be avenged of Cleopatra, O Harmachis! Ah, that I
+      could be there to see thy Ruin ruined! <i>La! la!</i> it would be sweet to
+      see!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Vengeance is an arrow that oft-times falls upon the archer&rsquo;s head,&rdquo; I
+      answered, bethinking me of Charmion&rsquo;s saying.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0031" id="link2HCH0031">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VIII
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE LAST SUPPER OF CLEOPATRA; OF THE SONG OF CHARMION; OF THE DRINKING
+      OF THE DRAUGHT OF DEATH; OF THE REVEALING OF HARMACHIS; OF THE SUMMONING
+      OF THE SPIRITS BY HARMACHIS; AND OF THE DEATH OF CLEOPATRA
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the morrow Cleopatra, having sought leave of Cæsar, visited the tomb of
+      Antony, crying that the Gods of Egypt had deserted her. And when she had
+      kissed the coffin and covered it with lotus-flowers she came back, bathed,
+      anointed herself, put on her most splendid robes, and, together with Iras,
+      Charmion, and myself, she supped. Now as she supped her spirit flared up
+      wildly, even as the sky lights up at sunset; and once more she laughed and
+      sparkled as in bygone years, telling us tales of feasts which she and
+      Antony had eaten of. Never, indeed, did I see her look more beauteous than
+      on that last fatal night of vengeance. And thus her mind drew on to that
+      supper at Tarsus when she drank the pearl.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Strange,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;strange that at the last the mind of Antony should
+      have turned back to that night among all the nights and to the saying of
+      Harmachis. Charmion, dost thou remember Harmachis the Egyptian?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Surely, O Queen,&rdquo; she answered slowly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And who, then, was Harmachis?&rdquo; I asked; for I would learn if she sorrowed
+      o&rsquo;er my memory.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will tell thee. It is a strange tale, and now that all is done it may
+      well be told. This Harmachis was of the ancient race of the Pharaohs, and,
+      having, indeed, been crowned in secret at Abydus, was sent hither to
+      Alexandria to carry out a great plot that had been formed against the rule
+      of us royal Lagidæ. He came and gained entry to the palace as my
+      astrologer, for he was very learned in all magic&mdash;much as thou art,
+      Olympus&mdash;and a man beautiful to see. Now this was his plot&mdash;that
+      he should slay me and be named Pharaoh. In truth it was a strong one, for
+      he had many friends in Egypt, and I had few. And on that very night when
+      he should carry out his purpose, yea, at the very hour, came Charmion
+      yonder, and told the plot to me; saying that she had chanced upon its
+      clue. But, in after days&mdash;though I have said little thereon to thee,
+      Charmion&mdash;I misdoubted me much of that tale of thine; for, by the
+      Gods! to this hour I believe that thou didst love Harmachis, and because
+      he scorned thee thou didst betray him; and for that cause also hast all
+      thy days remained a maid, which is a thing unnatural. Come, Charmion, tell
+      us; for naught matters now at the end.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Charmion shivered and made answer: &ldquo;It is true, O Queen; I also was of the
+      plot, and because Harmachis scorned me I betrayed him; and because of my
+      great love for him I have remained unwed.&rdquo; And she glanced up at me and
+      caught my eyes, then let the modest lashes veil her own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So! I thought it. Strange are the ways of women! But little cause,
+      methinks, had that Harmachis to thank thee for thy love. What sayest thou,
+      Olympus? Ah, and so thou also wast a traitor, Charmion? How dangerous are
+      the paths which Monarchs tread! Well, I forgive thee, for thou hast served
+      me faithfully since that hour.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But to my tale. Harmachis I dared not slay, lest his great party should
+      rise in fury and cast me from the throne. And now mark the issue. Though
+      he must murder me, in secret this Harmachis loved me, and something
+      thereof I guessed. I had striven a little to draw him to me, for the sake
+      of his beauty and his wit; and for the love of man Cleopatra never strove
+      in vain. Therefore when, with the dagger in his robe, he came to slay me,
+      I matched my charms against his will, and need I tell you, being man and
+      woman, how I won? Oh, never can I forget the look in the eyes of that
+      fallen prince, that forsworn priest, that discrowned Pharaoh, when, lost
+      in the poppied draught, I saw him sink into a shameful sleep whence he
+      might no more wake with honour! And, thereafter&mdash;till, in the end, I
+      wearied of him, and his sad learned mind, for his guilty soul forbade him
+      to be gay&mdash;a little I came to care for him, though not to love. But
+      he&mdash;he who loved me&mdash;clung to me as a drunkard to the cup which
+      ruins him. Deeming that I should wed him, he betrayed to me the secret of
+      the hidden wealth of the pyramid of <i>Her</i>&mdash;for at the time I
+      much needed treasure&mdash;and together we dared the terrors of the tomb
+      and drew it forth, even from dead Pharaoh&rsquo;s breast. See, this emerald was
+      a part thereof!&rdquo;&mdash;and she pointed to the great scarabæus that she had
+      drawn from the holy heart of Menkau-ra.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And because of what was written in the tomb, and of that Thing which we
+      saw in the tomb&mdash;ah, pest upon it! why does its memory haunt me now?&mdash;and
+      also because of policy, for I would fain have won the love of the
+      Egyptians, I was minded to marry this Harmachis and declare his place and
+      lineage to the world&mdash;ay, and by his aid hold Egypt from the Roman.
+      For Dellius had then come to call me to Antony, and after much thought I
+      determined to send him back with sharp words. But on that very morning, as
+      I tired me for the Court, came Charmion yonder, and I told her this, for I
+      would see how the matter fell upon her mind. Now mark, Olympus, the power
+      of jealousy, that little wedge which yet has strength to rend the tree of
+      Empire, that secret sword which can carve the fate of Kings! This she
+      could in no wise bear&mdash;deny it, Charmion, if thou canst, for now it
+      is clear to me!&mdash;that the man she loved should be given to me as
+      husband&mdash;me, whom <i>he</i> loved! And therefore, with more skill and
+      wit than I can tell, she reasoned with me, showing that I should by no
+      means do this thing, but journey to Antony; and for that, Charmion, I
+      thank thee, now that all is come and gone. And by a very little, her words
+      weighed down my scale of judgment against Harmachis, and I went to Antony.
+      Thus it is through the jealous spleen of yonder fair Charmion and the
+      passion of a man on which I played as on a lyre, that all these things
+      have come to pass. For this cause Octavian sits a King in Alexandria; for
+      this cause Antony is discrowned and dead; and for this cause I, too, must
+      die to-night! Ah! Charmion! Charmion! thou hast much to answer, for thou
+      hast changed the story of the world; and yet, even now&mdash;I would not
+      have it otherwise!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She paused awhile, covering her eyes with her hand; and, looking, I saw
+      great tears upon the cheek of Charmion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And of this Harmachis,&rdquo; I asked; &ldquo;where is he now, O Queen?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where is he? In Amenti, forsooth&mdash;making his peace with Isis,
+      perchance. At Tarsus I saw Antony, and loved him; and from that moment I
+      loathed the sight of the Egyptian, and swore to make an end of him; for a
+      lover done with should be a lover dead. And, being jealous, he spoke some
+      words of evil omen, even at that Feast of the Pearl; and on the same night
+      I would have slain him, but before the deed was done, he was gone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And whither was he gone?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay; that know not I. Brennus&mdash;he who led my guard, and last year
+      sailed North to join his own people&mdash;Brennus swore he saw him float
+      to the skies; but in this matter I misdoubted me of Brennus, for methinks
+      he loved the man. Nay, he sank off Cyprus, and was drowned; perchance
+      Charmion can tell us how?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I can tell thee nothing, O Queen; Harmachis is lost.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And well lost, Charmion, for he was an evil man to play with&mdash;ay,
+      although I bettered him I say it! Well he served my purpose; but I loved
+      him not, and even now I fear him; for it seemed to me that I heard his
+      voice summoning me to fly, through the din of the fight at Actium. Thanks
+      be to the Gods, as thou sayest, he is lost, and can no more be found.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But I, listening, put forth my strength, and, by the arts I have, cast the
+      shadow of my Spirit upon the Spirit of Cleopatra so that she felt the
+      presence of the lost Harmachis.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, what is it?&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;By Serapis! I grow afraid! It seems to me
+      that I feel Harmachis here! His memory overwhelms me like a flood of
+      waters, and he these ten years dead! Oh! at such a time it is unholy!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, O Queen,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;if he be dead then he is everywhere, and well
+      at such a time&mdash;the time of thy own death&mdash;may his Spirit draw
+      near to welcome thine at its going.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Speak not thus, Olympus. I would see Harmachis no more; the count between
+      us is too heavy, and in another world than this more evenly, perchance
+      should we be matched. Ah, the terror passes! I was but unnerved. Well the
+      fool&rsquo;s story hath served to wile away the heaviest of our hours, the hour
+      which ends in death. Sing to me, Charmion, sing, for thy voice is very
+      sweet, and I would soothe my soul to sleep. The memory of that Harmachis
+      has wrung me strangely! Sing, then, the last song I shall hear from those
+      tuneful lips of thine, the last of so many songs.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is a sad hour for song, O Queen!&rdquo; said Charmion; but, nevertheless,
+      she took her harp and sang. And thus she sang, very soft and low, the
+      dirge of the sweet-tongued Syrian Meleager:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     Tears for my lady dead,
+     Heliodore!
+     Salt tears and strange to shed,
+     Over and o&rsquo;er;
+     Go tears and low lament
+     Fare from her tomb,
+     Wend where my lady went,
+     Down through the gloom&mdash;
+     Sighs for my lady dead,
+     Tears do I send,
+     Long love remembered,
+     Mistress and friend!
+     Sad are the songs we sing,
+     Tears that we shed,
+     Empty the gifts we bring&mdash;
+     Gifts to the dead!
+     Ah, for my flower, my Love,
+     Hades hath taken,
+     Ah, for the dust above,
+     Scattered and shaken!
+     Mother of blade and grass,
+     Earth, in thy breast
+     Lull her that gentlest was,
+     Gently to rest!
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The music of her voice died away, and it was so sweet and sad that Iras
+      began to weep and the bright tears stood in Cleopatra&rsquo;s stormy eyes. Only
+      I wept not; my tears were dry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Tis a heavy song of thine, Charmion,&rdquo; said the Queen. &ldquo;Well, as thou
+      saidst, it is a sad hour for song, and thy dirge is fitted to the hour.
+      Sing it over me once again when I lie dead, Charmion. And now farewell to
+      music, and on to the end. Olympus, take yonder parchment and write what I
+      shall say.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I took the parchment and the reed, and wrote thus in the Roman tongue:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cleopatra to Octavianus, greeting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is the state of life. At length there comes an hour when, rather
+      than endure those burdens that overwhelm us, putting off the body we would
+      take wing into forgetfulness. Cæsar, thou hast conquered: take thou the
+      spoils of victory. But in thy triumph Cleopatra cannot walk. When all is
+      lost, then we must go to seek the lost. Thus in the desert of Despair the
+      brave do harvest Resolution. Cleopatra hath been great as Antony was
+      great, nor shall her fame be minished in the manner of her end. Slaves
+      live to endure their wrong; but Princes, treading with a firmer step, pass
+      through the gates of Wrong into the royal Dwellings of the Dead. This only
+      doth Egypt ask of Cæsar&mdash;that he suffer her to lie in the tomb of
+      Antony. Farewell!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This I wrote, and having sealed the writing, Cleopatra bade me go find a
+      messenger, despatch it to Cæsar, and then return. So I went, and at the
+      door of the tomb I called a soldier who was not on duty, and, giving him
+      money, bade him take the letter to Cæsar. Then I went back, and there in
+      the chamber the three women stood in silence, Cleopatra clinging to the
+      arm of Iras, and Charmion a little apart watching the twain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If indeed thou art minded to make an end, O Queen,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;the time is
+      short, for presently Cæsar will send his servants in answer to thy
+      letter,&rdquo; and I drew forth the phial of white and deadly bane and set it
+      upon the board.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She took it in her hand and gazed thereon. &ldquo;How innocent it seems!&rdquo; she
+      said; &ldquo;and yet therein lies my death. &lsquo;Tis strange.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, Queen, and the death of ten other folk. No need to take so long a
+      draught.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I fear,&rdquo; she gasped&mdash;&ldquo;how know I that it will slay outright? I have
+      seen so many die by poison and scarce one has died outright. And some&mdash;ah,
+      I cannot think on them!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fear not,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;I am a master of my craft. Or, if thou dost fear,
+      cast this poison forth and live. In Rome thou mayst still find happiness;
+      ay, in Rome, where thou shalt walk in Cæsar&rsquo;s triumph, while the laughter
+      of the hard-eyed Latin women shall chime down the music of thy golden
+      chains.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, I will die, Olympus. Oh, if one would but show the path.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Iras loosed her hand and stepped forward. &ldquo;Give me the draught,
+      Physician,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I go to make ready for my Queen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;on thy own head be it!&rdquo; and I poured from the
+      phial into a little golden goblet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She raised it, curtsied low to Cleopatra, then, coming forward, kissed her
+      on the brow, and Charmion she also kissed. This done, tarrying not and
+      making no prayer, for Iras was a Greek, she drank, and, putting her hand
+      to her head, instantly fell down and died.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou seest,&rdquo; I said, breaking in upon the silence, &ldquo;it is swift.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, Olympus; thine is a master drug! Come now, I thirst; fill me the
+      bowl, lest Iras weary in waiting at the gates!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So I poured afresh into the goblet; but this time, making pretence to
+      rinse the cup, I mixed a little water with the bane, for I was not minded
+      that she should die before she knew me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then did the royal Cleopatra, taking the goblet in her hand, turn her
+      lovely eyes to heaven and cry aloud:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O ye Gods of Egypt! who have deserted me, to you no longer will I pray,
+      for your ears are shut unto my crying and your eyes blind to my griefs!
+      Therefore, I make entreaty of that last friend whom the Gods, departing,
+      leave to helpless man. Sweep hither, Death, whose winnowing wings enshadow
+      all the world, and give me ear! Draw nigh, thou King of Kings! who, with
+      an equal hand, bringest the fortunate head of one pillow with the slave,
+      and by thy spiritual breath dost waft the bubble of our life far from this
+      hell of earth! Hide me where winds blow not and waters cease to roll;
+      where wars are done and Cæsar&rsquo;s legions cannot march! Take me to a new
+      dominion, and crown me Queen of Peace! Thou art my Lord, O Death, and in
+      thy kiss I have conceived. I am in labour of a Soul: see&mdash;it stands
+      new-born upon the edge of Time! Now&mdash;now&mdash;go, Life! Come, Sleep!
+      Come, Antony!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And, with one glance to heaven, she drank, and cast the goblet to the
+      ground.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then at last came the moment of my pent-up vengeance, and of the vengeance
+      of Egypt&rsquo;s outraged Gods, and of the falling of the curse of Menkau-ra.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What&rsquo;s this?&rdquo; she cried; &ldquo;I grow cold, but I die not! Thou dark
+      physician, thou hast betrayed me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Peace, Cleopatra! Presently shalt thou die and know the fury of the Gods!
+      <i>The curse of Menkau-ra hath fallen!</i> It is finished! Look upon me,
+      woman! Look upon this marred face, this twisted form, this living mass of
+      sorrow! <i>Look! look!</i> Who am I?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She stared upon me wildly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! oh!&rdquo; she shrieked, throwing up her arms; &ldquo;at last I know thee! By the
+      Gods, thou art Harmachis!&mdash;Harmachis risen from the dead!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, Harmachis risen from the dead to drag thee down to death and agony
+      eternal! See, thou Cleopatra; <i>I</i> have ruined thee as thou didst ruin
+      me! I, working in the dark, and helped of the angry Gods, have been thy
+      secret spring of woe! I filled thy heart with fear at Actium; I held the
+      Egyptians from thy aid; I sapped the strength of Antony; I showed the
+      portent of the Gods unto thy captains! By my hand at length thou diest,
+      for I am the instrument of Vengeance! Ruin I pay thee back for ruin,
+      Treachery for treachery, Death for death! Come hither, Charmion, partner
+      of my plots, who betrayed me, but, repenting, art the sharer of my
+      triumph, come watch this fallen wanton die!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Cleopatra heard, and sank back upon the golden bed, groaning &ldquo;And thou,
+      too, Charmion!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A moment so she sat, then her Imperial spirit burnt up glorious before she
+      died.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She staggered from the bed, and, with arms outstretched, she cursed me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! for one hour of life!&rdquo; she cried&mdash;&ldquo;one short hour, that therein
+      I might make thee die in such fashion as thou canst not dream, thou and
+      that false paramour of thine, who betrayed both me and thee! And thou
+      didst love me! Ah, <i>there</i> I have thee still! See, thou subtle,
+      plotting priest&rdquo;&mdash;and with both hands she rent back the royal robes
+      from her bosom&mdash;&ldquo;see, on this fair breast once night by night thy
+      head was pillowed, and thou didst sleep wrapped in these same arms. Now,
+      put away their memory <i>if thou canst!</i> I read it in thine eyes&mdash;that
+      mayst thou not! No torture which I bear can, in its sum, draw nigh to the
+      rage of that deep soul of thine, rent with longings never, never to be
+      reached! Harmachis, thou slave of slaves, from thy triumph-depths I snatch
+      a deeper triumph, and conquered yet I conquer! I spit upon thee&mdash;I
+      defy thee&mdash;and, dying, doom thee to the torment of thy deathless
+      love! O Antony! I come, my Antony!&mdash;I come to thy own dear arms! Soon
+      I shall find thee, and, wrapped in a love undying and divine, together we
+      will float through all the depths of space, and, lips to lips and eyes to
+      eyes, drink of desires grown more sweet with every draught! Or if I find
+      thee not, then I shall sink in peace down the poppied ways of Sleep: and
+      for me the breast of Night, whereon I shall be softly cradled, will yet
+      seem thy bosom, Antony! Oh, I die!&mdash;come, Antony&mdash;and give me
+      peace!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Even in my fury I had quailed beneath her scorn, for home flew the arrows
+      of her winged words. Alas! and alas! it was <i>true</i>&mdash;the shaft of
+      my vengeance fell upon my own head; never had I loved her as I loved her
+      now. My soul was rent with jealous torture, and thus I swore she should
+      not die.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Peace!&rdquo; I cried; &ldquo;what peace is there for thee? Oh! ye Holy Three, hear
+      now my prayer. Osiris, loosen Thou the bonds of Hell and send forth those
+      whom I shall summon! Come Ptolemy, poisoned of thy sister Cleopatra; come
+      Arsinoë, murdered in the sanctuary by thy sister Cleopatra; come Sepa,
+      tortured to death of Cleopatra; come Divine Menkau-ra, whose body
+      Cleopatra tore and whose curse she braved for greed; come one, come all
+      who have died at the hands of Cleopatra! Rush from the breast of Nout and
+      greet her who murdered you! By the link of mystic union, by the symbol of
+      the Life, Spirits, I summon you!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus I spoke the spell; while Charmion, affrighted, clung to my robe, and
+      the dying Cleopatra, resting on her hands, swung slowly to and fro, gazing
+      with vacant eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then the answer came. The casement burst asunder, and on flittering wings
+      that great bat entered which last I had seen hanging to the eunuch&rsquo;s chin
+      in the womb of the pyramid of <i>Her</i>. Thrice it circled round, once it
+      hovered o&rsquo;er dead Iras, then flew to where the dying woman stood. To her
+      it flew, on her breast it settled, clinging to that emerald which was
+      dragged from the dead heart of Menkau-ra. Thrice the grey Horror screamed
+      aloud, thrice it beat its bony wings, and lo! it was gone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then suddenly within that chamber sprang up the Shapes of Death. There was
+      Arsinoë, the beautiful, even as she had shrunk beneath the butcher&rsquo;s
+      knife. There was young Ptolemy, his features twisted by the poisoned cup.
+      There was the majesty of Menkau-ra, crowned with the uræus crown; there
+      was grave Sepa, his flesh all torn by the torturer&rsquo;s hooks; there were
+      those poisoned slaves; and there were others without number, shadowy and
+      dreadful to behold! who, thronging that narrow chamber, stood silently
+      fixing their glassy eyes upon the face of her who slew them!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Behold! Cleopatra!&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;<i>Behold thy peace, and die!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay!&rdquo; said Charmion. &ldquo;Behold and die! thou who didst rob me of my honour,
+      and Egypt of her King!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She looked, she saw the awful Shapes&mdash;her Spirit, hurrying from the
+      flesh, mayhap could hear words to which my ears were deaf. Then her face
+      sank in with terror, her great eyes grew pale, and, shrieking, Cleopatra
+      fell and died: passing, with that dread company, to her appointed place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus, then, I, Harmachis, fed my soul with vengeance, fulfilling the
+      justice of the Gods, and yet knew myself empty of all joy therein. For
+      though that thing we worship doth bring us ruin, and Love being more
+      pitiless than Death, we in turn do pay all our sorrow back; yet we must
+      worship on, yet stretch out our arms towards our lost Desire, and pour our
+      heart&rsquo;s blood upon the shrine of our discrowned God.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For Love is of the Spirit, and knows not Death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0032" id="link2HCH0032">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IX
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE FAREWELL OF CHARMION; OF THE DEATH OF CHARMION; OF THE DEATH OF THE
+      OLD WIFE, ATOUA; OF THE COMING OF HARMACHIS TO ABOUTHIS; OF HIS CONFESSION
+      IN THE HALL OF SIX-AND-THIRTY PILLARS; AND OF THE DECLARING OF THE DOOM OF
+      HARMACHIS
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Charmion unclasped my arm, to which she had clung in terror.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thy vengeance, thou dark Harmachis,&rdquo; she said, in a hoarse voice, &ldquo;is a
+      thing hideous to behold! O lost Egypt, with all thy sins thou wast indeed
+      a Queen!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come, aid me, Prince; let us stretch this poor clay upon the bed and deck
+      it royally, so that it may give its dumb audience to the messengers of
+      Cæsar as becomes the last of Egypt&rsquo;s Queens.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I spoke no word in answer, for my heart was very heavy, and now that all
+      was done I was weary. Together, then, we lifted up the body and laid it on
+      the golden bed. Charmion placed the uræus crown upon the ivory brow, and
+      combed the night-dark hair that showed never a thread of silver, and, for
+      the last time, shut those eyes wherein had shone all the changing glories
+      of the sea. She folded the chill hands upon the breast whence Passion&rsquo;s
+      breath had fled, and straightened the bent knees beneath the broidered
+      robe, and by the head set flowers. And there at length Cleopatra lay, more
+      splendid now in her cold majesty of death than in her richest hour of
+      breathing beauty!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We drew back and looked on her, and on dead Iras at her feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is done!&rdquo; quoth Charmion; &ldquo;we are avenged, and now, Harmachis, dost
+      follow by this same road?&rdquo; And she nodded towards the phial on the board.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Charmion. I fly&mdash;I fly to a heavier death! Not thus easily may
+      I end my space of earthly penance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So be it, Harmachis! And I, Harmachis&mdash;I fly also, but with swifter
+      wings. My game is played. I, too, have made atonement. Oh! what a bitter
+      fate is mine, to have brought misery on all I love, and, in the end, to
+      die unloved! To thee I have atoned; to my angered Gods I have atoned; and
+      now I go to find a way whereby I may atone to Cleopatra in that Hell where
+      she is, and which I must share! For she loved me well, Harmachis; and, now
+      that she is dead, methinks that, after thee, I loved her best of all. So
+      of her cup and the cup of Iras I will surely drink!&rdquo; And she took the
+      phial, and with a steady hand poured what was left of the poison into the
+      goblet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bethink thee, Charmion,&rdquo; I said; &ldquo;yet mayst thou live for many years,
+      hiding these sorrows beneath the withered days.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet I may, but I will not! To live the prey of so many memories, the
+      fount of an undying shame that night by night, as I lie sleepless, shall
+      well afresh from my sorrow-stricken heart!&mdash;to live torn by a love I
+      cannot lose!&mdash;to stand alone like some storm-twisted tree, and,
+      sighing day by day to the winds of heaven, gaze upon the desert of my
+      life, while I wait the lingering lightning&rsquo;s stroke&mdash;nay, that will
+      not I, Harmachis! I had died long since, but I lived on to serve thee; now
+      no more thou needest me, and I go. Oh, fare thee well!&mdash;for ever fare
+      thee well! For not again shall I look upon thy face, and where I go
+      thou goest not! For thou dost not love me who still dost love that queenly
+      woman thou hast hounded to the death! Her thou shalt never win, and I thee
+      shall never win, and this is the bitter end of Fate! See, Harmachis: I ask
+      one boon before I go and for all time become naught to thee but a memory
+      of shame. Tell me that thou dost forgive me so far as thine is to forgive,
+      and in token thereof kiss me&mdash;with no lover&rsquo;s kiss, but kiss me on
+      the brow, and bid me pass in peace.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And she drew near to me with arms outstretched and pitiful trembling lips
+      and gazed upon my face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Charmion,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;we are free to act for good or evil, and yet
+      methinks there is a Fate above our fate, that, blowing from some strange
+      shore, compels our little sails of purpose, set them as we will, and
+      drives us to destruction. I forgive thee, Charmion, as I trust in turn to
+      be forgiven, and by this kiss, the first and the last, I seal our peace.&rdquo;
+       And with my lips I touched her brow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She spoke no more; only for a little while she stood gazing on me with sad
+      eyes. Then she lifted the goblet, and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Royal Harmachis, in this deadly cup I pledge thee! Would that I had drunk
+      of it ere ever I looked upon thy face! Pharaoh, who, thy sins outworn, yet
+      shalt rule in perfect peace o&rsquo;er worlds I may not tread, who yet shalt
+      sway a kinglier sceptre than that I robbed thee of, for ever, fare thee
+      well!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She drank, cast down the cup, and for a moment stood with the wide eyes of
+      one who looks for Death. Then He came, and Charmion the Egyptian fell
+      prone upon the floor, dead. And for a moment more I stood alone with the
+      dead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I crept to the side of Cleopatra, and, now that none were left to see, I
+      sat down on the bed and laid her head upon my knee, as once before it had
+      been laid in that night of sacrilege beneath the shadow of the everlasting
+      pyramid. Then I kissed her chill brow and went from the House of Death&mdash;avenged,
+      but sorely smitten with despair!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Physician,&rdquo; said the officer of the Guard as I went through the gates,
+      &ldquo;what passes yonder in the Monument? Methought I heard the sounds of
+      death.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Naught passes&mdash;all hath passed,&rdquo; I made reply, and went.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And as I went in the darkness I heard the sound of voices and the running
+      of the feet of Cæsar&rsquo;s messengers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Flying swiftly to my house I found Atoua waiting at the gates. She drew me
+      into a quiet chamber and closed the doors.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it done?&rdquo; she asked, and turned her wrinkled face to mine, while the
+      lamplight streamed white upon her snowy hair. &ldquo;Nay, why ask I&mdash;I know
+      that it is done!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, it is done, and well done, old wife! All are dead! Cleopatra, Iras,
+      Charmion&mdash;all save myself!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The aged woman drew up her bent form and cried: &ldquo;Now let me go in peace,
+      for I have seen my desire upon thy foes and the foes of Khem. <i>La! la!</i>&mdash;not
+      in vain have I lived on beyond the years of man! I have seen my desire
+      upon thy enemies&mdash;-I have gathered the dews of Death, and thy foe
+      hath drunk thereof! Fallen is the brow of Pride! the Shame of Khem is
+      level with the dust! Ah, would that I might have seen that wanton die!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cease, woman! cease! The Dead are gathered to the Dead! Osiris holds them
+      fast, and everlasting silence seals their lips! Pursue not the fallen
+      great with insults! Up!&mdash;let us fly to Abouthis, that all may be
+      accomplished!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fly thou, Harmachis!&mdash;Harmachis, fly&mdash;but I fly not! To this
+      end only I have lingered on the earth. Now I untie the knot of life and
+      let my spirit free! Fare thee well, Prince, the pilgrimage is done!
+      Harmachis, from a babe have I loved thee, and love thee yet!&mdash;but no
+      more in this world may I share thy griefs&mdash;I am spent. Osiris, take
+      thou my Spirit!&rdquo; and her trembling knees gave way and she sank to the
+      ground.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I ran to her side and looked upon her. She was already dead, and I was
+      alone upon the earth without a friend to comfort me!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I turned and went, no man hindering me, for all was confusion in the
+      city, and departed from Alexandria in a vessel I had made ready. On the
+      eighth day, I landed, and, in the carrying out of my purpose, travelled on
+      foot across the fields to the Holy Shrine of Abouthis. And here, as I
+      knew, the worship of the Gods had been lately set up again in the Temple
+      of the Divine Sethi: for Charmion had caused Cleopatra to repent of her
+      decree of vengeance and to restore the lands that she had seized, though
+      the treasure she restored not. And the temple having been purified, now,
+      at the season of the Feast of Isis, all the High Priests of the ancient
+      Temples of Egypt were gathered together to celebrate the coming home of
+      the Gods into their holy place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I gained the city. It was on the seventh day of the Feast of Isis. Even as
+      I came the long array wended through the well-remembered streets. I joined
+      in the multitude that followed, and with my voice swelled the chorus of
+      the solemn chant as we passed through the pylons into the imperishable
+      halls. How well known were the holy words:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     &lsquo;Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      And then, when the sacred music ceased, as aforetime on the setting of the
+      majesty of Ra, the High Priest raised the statue of the living God and
+      held it on high before the multitude.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With a joyful shout of
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Osiris! our hope, Osiris! Osiris!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      the people tore the black wrappings from their dress, showing the white
+      robes beneath, and, as one man, bowed before the God.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then they went to feast each at his home; but I stayed in the court of the
+      temple.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Presently a priest of the temple drew near, and asked me of my business.
+      And I answered him that I came from Alexandria, and would be led before
+      the council of the High Priests, for I knew that the Holy Priests were
+      gathered together debating the tidings from Alexandria.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thereon the man left, and the High Priests, hearing that I was from
+      Alexandria, ordered that I should be led into their presence in the Hall
+      of Columns&mdash;and so I was led in. It was already dark, and between the
+      great pillars lights were set, as on that night when I was crowned Pharaoh
+      of the Upper and the Lower Land. There, too, was the long line of
+      Dignitaries seated in their carven chairs, and taking counsel together.
+      All was the same; the same cold images of Kings and Gods gazed with the
+      same empty eyes from the everlasting walls. Ay, more; among those gathered
+      there were five of the very men who, as leaders of the great plot, had sat
+      here to see me crowned, being the only conspirators who had escaped the
+      vengeance of Cleopatra and the clutching hand of Time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I took my stand on the spot where once I had been crowned and made me
+      ready for the last act of shame with such bitterness of heart as cannot be
+      written.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, it is the physician Olympus,&rdquo; said one. &ldquo;He who lived a hermit in
+      the Tombs of Tápé, and who but lately was of the household of Cleopatra.
+      Is it, then, true that the Queen is dead by her own hand, Physician?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, holy Sirs, I am that physician; also Cleopatra is dead by <i>my</i>
+      hand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By thy hand? Why, how comes this?&mdash;though well is she dead,
+      forsooth, the wicked wanton!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your pardon, Sirs, and I will tell you all, for I am come hither to that
+      end. Perchance among you there may be some&mdash;methinks I see some&mdash;who,
+      nigh eleven years ago, were gathered in this hall to secretly crown one
+      Harmachis, Pharaoh of Khem?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is true!&rdquo; they said; &ldquo;but how knowest thou these things, thou
+      Olympus?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of the rest of those seven-and-thirty nobles,&rdquo; I went on, making no
+      answer, &ldquo;are two-and-thirty missing. Some are dead, as Amenemhat is dead;
+      some are slain, as Sepa is slain; and some, perchance, yet labour as
+      slaves within the mines, or live afar, fearing vengeance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is so,&rdquo; they said: &ldquo;alas! it is so. Harmachis the accursed betrayed
+      the plot, and sold himself to the wanton Cleopatra!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is so,&rdquo; I went on, lifting up my head. &ldquo;Harmachis betrayed the plot
+      and sold himself to Cleopatra; and, holy Sirs&mdash;<i>I am that
+      Harmachis!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Priests and Dignitaries gazed astonished. Some rose and spoke; some
+      said naught.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am that Harmachis! I am that traitor, trebly steeped in crime!&mdash;a
+      traitor to my Gods, a traitor to my Country, a traitor to my Oath! I come
+      hither to say that I have done this. I have executed the Divine vengeance
+      on her who ruined me and gave Egypt to the Roman. And now that, after
+      years of toil and patient waiting, this is accomplished by my wisdom and
+      the help of the angry Gods, behold I come with all my shame upon my head
+      to declare the thing I am, and take the traitor&rsquo;s guerdon!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mindest thou of the doom of him who hath broke the oath that may not be
+      broke?&rdquo; asked he who first had spoken, in heavy tones.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know it well,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;I court that awful doom.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell us more of this matter, thou who wast Harmachis.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So, in cold clear words, I laid bare all my shame, keeping back nothing.
+      And ever as I spoke I saw their faces grow more hard, and knew that for me
+      there was no mercy; nor did I ask it, nor, had I asked, could it have been
+      granted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When, at last, I had done, they put me aside while they took counsel. Then
+      they drew me forth again, and the eldest among them, a man very old and
+      venerable, the Priest of the Temple of the Divine Hatshepu at Tápé, spoke,
+      in icy accents:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou Harmachis, we have considered this matter. Thou hast sinned the
+      threefold deadly sin. On thy head lies the burden of the woe of Khem, this
+      day enthralled of Rome. To Isis, the Mother Mystery, thou hast offered the
+      deadly insult, and thou hast broken thy holy oath. For all of these sins
+      there is, as well thou knowest, but one reward, and that reward is thine.
+      Naught can it weigh in the balance of our justice that thou hast slain her
+      who was thy cause of stumbling; naught that thou comest to name thyself
+      the vilest thing who ever stood within these walls. On thee also must fall
+      the curse of Menkau-ra, thou false priest! thou forsworn patriot! thou
+      Pharaoh shameful and discrowned! Here, where we set the Double Crown upon
+      thy head, we doom thee to the doom! Go to thy dungeon and await the
+      falling of its stroke! Go, remembering what thou mightest have been and
+      what thou art, and may those Gods who through thy evil doing shall
+      perchance ere long cease to be worshipped within these holy temples, give
+      to thee that mercy which we deny! Lead him forth!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So they took me and led me forth. With bowed head I went, looking not up,
+      and yet I felt their eyes burn upon my face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Oh! surely of all my shames this is the heaviest!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0033" id="link2HCH0033">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER X
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      OF THE LAST WRITING OF HARMACHIS, THE ROYAL EGYPTIAN
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      They led me to the prison chamber that is high in the pylon tower and here
+      I wait my doom. I know not when the sword of Fate shall fall. Week grows
+      to week, and month to month, and still it is delayed. Still it quivers
+      unseen above my head. I know that it will fall, but when I know not.
+      Perchance, I shall wake in some dead hour of midnight to hear the stealthy
+      steps of the slayers and be hurried forth. Perchance, they are now at
+      hand. Then will come the secret cell! the horror! the nameless coffin! and
+      at last it will be done! Oh, let it come! let it come swiftly!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All is written; I have held back nothing&mdash;my sin is sinned&mdash;my
+      vengeance is finished. Now all things end in darkness and in ashes, and I
+      prepare to face the terrors that are to come in other worlds than this. I
+      go, but not without hope I go: for, though I see Her not, though no more
+      She answers to my prayers, still I am aware of the Holy Isis, who is with
+      me for evermore, and whom I shall yet again behold face to face. And then
+      at last in that far day I shall find forgiveness; then the burden of my
+      guilt will roll from me and innocency come back and wrap me round,
+      bringing me holy Peace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Oh! dear land of Khem, as in a dream I see thee! I see Nation after Nation
+      set its standard on thy shores, and its yoke upon thy neck! I see new
+      Religions without end calling out their truths upon the banks of Sihor,
+      and summoning thy people to their worship! I see thy temples&mdash;thy
+      holy temples&mdash;crumbling in the dust: a wonder to the sight of men
+      unborn, who shall peer into thy tombs and desecrate the great ones of thy
+      glory! I see thy mysteries a mockery to the unlearned, and thy wisdom
+      wasted like waters on the desert sands! I see the Roman Eagles stoop and
+      perish, their beaks yet red with the blood of men, and the long lights
+      dancing down the barbarian spears that follow in their wake! And then, at
+      last, I see Thee once more great, once more free, and having once more a
+      knowledge of thy Gods&mdash;ay, thy Gods with a changed countenance, and
+      called by other names, but still thy Gods!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sun sinks over Abouthis. The red rays of Ra flame on temple roofs,
+      upon green fields, and the wide waters of father Sihor. So as a child I
+      watched him sink; just so his last kiss touched the further pylon&rsquo;s
+      frowning brow; just that same shadow lay upon the tombs. All is unchanged!
+      I&mdash;I only am changed&mdash;so changed, and yet the same!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Oh, Cleopatra! Cleopatra! thou Destroyer! if I might but tear thy vision
+      from my heart! Of all my griefs, this is the heaviest grief&mdash;still
+      must I love thee! Still must I hug this serpent to my heart! Still in my
+      ears must ring that low laugh of triumph&mdash;the murmur of the falling
+      fountain&mdash;the song of the nightinga&mdash;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      [Here the writing on the third roll of papyrus abruptly ends. It would
+      almost seem that the writer was at this moment broken in upon by those who
+      came to lead him to his doom.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Cleopatra, by H. Rider Haggard
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+</pre>
+  </body>
+</html>
diff --git a/2769.txt b/2769.txt
new file mode 100644
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/2769.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,10665 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cleopatra, 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: Cleopatra
+
+Author: H. Rider Haggard
+
+Release Date: March 28, 2006 [EBook #2769]
+[Last updated: November 19, 2020]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLEOPATRA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by John Bickers; Dagny; Emma Dudding
+
+
+
+
+
+CLEOPATRA
+
+by H. Rider Haggard
+
+
+
+
+DEDICATION
+
+My dear Mother,
+
+I have for a long while hoped to be allowed to dedicate some book
+of mine to you, and now I bring you this work, because whatever its
+shortcomings, and whatever judgment may be passed upon it by yourself
+and others, it is yet the one I should wish you to accept.
+
+I trust that you will receive from my romance of "Cleopatra" some such
+pleasure as lightened the labour of its building up; and that it
+may convey to your mind a picture, however imperfect, of the old and
+mysterious Egypt in whose lost glories you are so deeply interested.
+
+Your affectionate and dutiful Son,
+
+H. Rider Haggard.
+
+January 21, 1889.
+
+
+
+
+AUTHOR'S NOTE
+
+The history of the ruin of Antony and Cleopatra must have struck many
+students of the records of their age as one of the most inexplicable
+of tragic tales. What malign influence and secret hates were at work,
+continually sapping their prosperity and blinding their judgment? Why
+did Cleopatra fly at Actium, and why did Antony follow her, leaving his
+fleet and army to destruction? An attempt is made in this romance to
+suggest a possible answer to these and some other questions.
+
+The reader is asked to bear in mind, however, that the story is told,
+not from the modern point of view, but as from the broken heart and
+with the lips of an Egyptian patriot of royal blood; no mere
+beast-worshipper, but a priest instructed in the inmost mysteries, who
+believed firmly in the personal existence of the gods of Khem, in the
+possibility of communion with them, and in the certainty of immortal
+life with its rewards and punishments; to whom also the bewildering and
+often gross symbolism of the Osirian Faith was nothing but a veil woven
+to obscure secrets of the Sanctuary. Whatever proportion of truth there
+may have been in their spiritual claims and imaginings, if indeed there
+was any, such men as the Prince Harmachis have been told of in the
+annals of every great religion, and, as is shown by the testimony of
+monumental and sacred inscriptions, they were not unknown among the
+worshippers of the Egyptian Gods, and more especially of Isis.
+
+Unfortunately it is scarcely possible to write a book of this nature and
+period without introducing a certain amount of illustrative matter, for
+by no other means can the long dead past be made to live again before
+the reader's eyes with all its accessories of faded pomp and forgotten
+mystery. To such students as seek a story only, and are not interested
+in the faith, ceremonies, or customs of the Mother of Religion and
+Civilisation, ancient Egypt, it is, however, respectfully suggested
+that they should exercise the art of skipping, and open this tale at its
+Second Book.
+
+That version of the death of Cleopatra has been preferred which
+attributes her end to poison. According to Plutarch its actual manner is
+very uncertain, though popular rumour ascribed it to the bite of an asp.
+She seems, however, to have carried out her design under the advice
+of that shadowy personage, her physician, Olympus, and it is more than
+doubtful if he would have resorted to such a fantastic and uncertain
+method of destroying life.
+
+It may be mentioned that so late as the reign of Ptolemy Epiphanes,
+pretenders of native blood, one of whom was named Harmachis, are known
+to have advanced their claims to the throne of Egypt. Moreover, there
+was a book of prophecy current among the priesthood which declared that
+after the nations of the Greeks the God Harsefi would create the "chief
+who is to come." It will therefore be seen that, although it lacks
+historical confirmation, the story of the great plot formed to stamp out
+the dynasty of the Macedonian Lagidae and place Harmachis on the throne
+is not in itself improbable. Indeed, it is possible that many such plots
+were entered into by Egyptian patriots during the long ages of their
+country's bondage. But ancient history tells us little of the abortive
+struggles of a fallen race.
+
+The Chant of Isis and the Song of Cleopatra, which appear in these
+pages, are done into verse from the writer's prose by Mr. Andrew Lang,
+and the dirge sung by Charmion is translated by the same hand from the
+Greek of the Syrian Meleager.
+
+
+
+
+
+CLEOPATRA
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+In the recesses of the desolate Libyan mountains that lie behind the
+temple and city of Abydus, the supposed burying place of the holy
+Osiris, a tomb was recently discovered, among the contents of which were
+the papyrus rolls whereupon this history is written. The tomb itself is
+spacious, but otherwise remarkable only for the depth of the shaft which
+descends vertically from the rock-hewn cave, that once served as the
+mortuary chapel for the friends and relatives of the departed, to the
+coffin-chamber beneath. This shaft is no less than eighty-nine feet in
+depth. The chamber at its foot was found to contain three coffins only,
+though it is large enough for many more. Two of these, which in all
+probability inclosed the bodies of the High Priest, Amenemhat, and of
+his wife, father and mother of Harmachis, the hero of this history, the
+shameless Arabs who discovered them there and then broke up.
+
+The Arabs broke the bodies up. With unhallowed hands they tore the holy
+Amenemhat and the frame of her who had, as it is written, been filled
+with the spirit of the Hathors--tore them limb from limb, searching for
+treasure amidst their bones--perhaps, as is their custom, selling the
+very bones for a few piastres to the last ignorant tourist who came
+their way, seeking what he might destroy. For in Egypt the unhappy, the
+living find their bread in the tombs of the great men who were before
+them.
+
+But as it chanced, some little while afterwards, one who is known to
+this writer, and a doctor by profession, passed up the Nile to Abydus,
+and became acquainted with the men who had done this thing. They
+revealed to him the secret of the place, telling him that one coffin
+yet remained entombed. It seemed to be the coffin of a poor person,
+they said, and therefore, being pressed for time, they had left it
+unviolated. Moved by curiosity to explore the recesses of a tomb as yet
+unprofaned by tourists, my friend bribed the Arabs to show it to him.
+What ensued I will give in his own words, exactly as he wrote it to me:
+
+"I slept that night near the Temple of Seti, and started before daybreak
+on the following morning. With me were a cross-eyed rascal named
+Ali--Ali Baba I named him--the man from whom I got the ring which I am
+sending you, and a small but choice assortment of his fellow thieves.
+Within an hour after sunrise we reached the valley where the tomb is. It
+is a desolate place, into which the sun pours his scorching heat all
+the long day through, till the huge brown rocks which are strewn about
+become so hot that one can scarcely bear to touch them, and the sand
+scorches the feet. It was already too hot to walk, so we rode on
+donkeys, some way up the valley--where a vulture floating far in the
+blue overhead was the only other visitor--till we came to an enormous
+boulder polished by centuries of action of sun and sand. Here Ali
+halted, saying that the tomb was under the stone. Accordingly, we
+dismounted, and, leaving the donkeys in charge of a fellah boy, went up
+to the rock. Beneath it was a small hole, barely large enough for a man
+to creep through. Indeed it had been dug by jackals, for the doorway and
+some part of the cave were entirely silted up, and it was by means of
+this jackal hole that the tomb had been discovered. Ali crept in on his
+hands and knees, and I followed, to find myself in a place cold after
+the hot outside air, and, in contrast with the light, filled with a
+dazzling darkness. We lit our candles, and, the select body of thieves
+having arrived, I made an examination. We were in a cave the size of
+a large room, and hollowed by hand, the further part of the cave being
+almost free from drift-dust. On the walls are religious paintings of the
+usual Ptolemaic character, and among them one of a majestic old man with
+a long white beard, who is seated in a carved chair holding a wand in
+his hand.[*] Before him passes a procession of priests bearing sacred
+images. In the right hand corner of the tomb is the shaft of the
+mummy-pit, a square-mouthed well cut in the black rock. We had brought a
+beam of thorn-wood, and this was now laid across the pit and a rope
+made fast to it. Then Ali--who, to do him justice, is a courageous
+thief--took hold of the rope, and, putting some candles into the breast
+of his robe, placed his bare feet against the smooth sides of the well
+and began to descent with great rapidity. Very soon he had vanished into
+blackness, and the agitation of the cord alone told us that anything was
+going on below. At last the rope ceased shaking and a faint shout came
+rumbling up the well, announcing Ali's safe arrival. Then, far below, a
+tiny star of light appeared. He had lit the candle, thereby disturbing
+hundreds of bats that flitted up in an endless stream and as silently as
+spirits. The rope was hauled up again, and now it was my turn; but, as
+I declined to trust my neck to the hand-over-hand method of descent, the
+end of the cord was made fast round my middle and I was lowered bodily
+into those sacred depths. Nor was it a pleasant journey, for, if the
+masters of the situation above had made any mistake, I should have been
+dashed to pieces. Also, the bats continually flew into my face and clung
+to my hair, and I have a great dislike of bats. At last, after some
+minutes of jerking and dangling, I found myself standing in a
+narrow passage by the side of the worthy Ali, covered with bats and
+perspiration, and with the skin rubbed off my knees and knuckles. Then
+another man came down, hand over hand like a sailor, and as the rest
+were told to stop above we were ready to go on. Ali went first with
+his candle--of course we each had a candle--leading the way down a long
+passage about five feet high. At length the passage widened out, and we
+were in the tomb-chamber: I think the hottest and most silent place that
+I ever entered. It was simply stifling. This chamber is a square room
+cut in the rock and totally devoid of paintings or sculpture. I held
+up the candles and looked round. About the place were strewn the coffin
+lids and the mummied remains of the two bodies that the Arabs had
+previously violated. The paintings on the former were, I noticed, of
+great beauty, though, having no knowledge of hieroglyphics, I could not
+decipher them. Beads and spicy wrappings lay around the remains, which,
+I saw, were those of a man and a woman.[+] The head had been broken off
+the body of the man. I took it up and looked at it. It had been closely
+shaved--after death, I should say, from the general indications--and the
+features were disfigured with gold leaf. But notwithstanding this,
+and the shrinkage of the flesh, I think the face was one of the most
+imposing and beautiful that I ever saw. It was that of a very old man,
+and his dead countenance still wore so calm and solemn, indeed, so awful
+a look, that I grew quite superstitious (though as you know, I am pretty
+well accustomed to dead people), and put the head down in a hurry. There
+were still some wrappings left upon the face of the second body, and I
+did not remove them; but she must have been a fine large woman in her
+day.
+
+     [*] This, I take it, is a portrait of Amenemhat himself.--
+     Editor.
+
+     [+] Doubtless Amenemhat and his wife.--Editor.
+
+"'There the other mummy,' said Ali, pointing to a large and solid case
+that seemed to have been carelessly thrown down in a corner, for it was
+lying on its side.
+
+"I went up to it and carefully examined it. It was well made, but of
+perfectly plain cedar-wood--not an inscription, not a solitary God on
+it.
+
+"'Never see one like him before,' said Ali. 'Bury great hurry, he no
+"mafish," no "fineesh." Throw him down here on side.'
+
+"I looked at the plain case till at last my interest was thoroughly
+aroused. I was so shocked by the sight of the scattered dust of
+the departed that I had made up my mind not to touch the remaining
+coffin--but now my curiosity overcame me, and we set to work.
+
+"Ali had brought a mallet and a cold chisel with him, and, having
+set the coffin straight, he began upon it with all the zeal of an
+experienced tomb-breaker. And then he pointed out another thing. Most
+mummy-cases are fastened by four little tongues of wood, two on either
+side, which are fixed in the upper half, and, passing into mortices cut
+to receive them in the thickness of the lower half, are there held
+fast by pegs of hard wood. But this mummy case had eight such tongues.
+Evidently it had been thought well to secure it firmly. At last, with
+great difficulty, we raised the massive lid, which was nearly three
+inches thick, and there, covered over with a deep layer of loose spices
+(a very unusual thing), was the body.
+
+"Ali looked at it with open eyes--and no wonder. For this mummy was not
+as other mummies are. Mummies in general lie upon their backs, as stiff
+and calm as though they were cut from wood; but this mummy lay upon its
+side, and, the wrappings notwithstanding, its knees were slightly bent.
+More than that, indeed, the gold mask, which, after the fashion of the
+Ptolemaic period, had been set upon the face, had worked down, and was
+literally pounded up beneath the hooded head.
+
+"It was impossible, seeing these things, to avoid the conclusion that
+the mummy before us had moved with violence _since it was put in the
+coffin_.
+
+"'Him very funny mummy. Him not "mafish" when him go in there,' said
+Ali.
+
+"'Nonsense!' I said. 'Who ever heard of a live mummy?'
+
+"We lifted the body out of the coffin, nearly choking ourselves with
+mummy dust in the process, and there beneath it half hidden among the
+spices, we made our first find. It was a roll of papyrus, carelessly
+fastened and wrapped in a piece of mummy cloth, having to all appearance
+been thrown into the coffin at the moment of closing.[*]
+
+     [*] This roll contained the third unfinished book of the
+     history. The other two rolls were neatly fastened in the
+     usual fashion. All three are written by one hand in the
+     Demotic character.--Editor.
+
+"Ali eyed the papyrus greedily, but I seized it and put it in my pocket,
+for it was agreed that I was to have all that might be discovered.
+Then we began to unwrap the body. It was covered with very broad strong
+bandages, thickly wound and roughly tied, sometimes by means of simple
+knots, the whole working the appearance of having been executed in
+great haste and with difficulty. Just over the head was a large lump.
+Presently, the bandages covering it were off, and there, on the face,
+lay a second roll of papyrus. I put down my hand to lift it, but it
+would not come away. It appeared to be fixed to the stout seamless
+shroud which was drawn over the whole body, and tied beneath the
+feet--as a farmer ties sacks. This shroud, which was also thickly waxed,
+was in one piece, being made to fit the form like a garment. I took a
+candle and examined the roll and then I saw why it was fast. The spices
+had congealed and glued it to the sack-like shroud. It was impossible to
+get it away without tearing the outer sheets of papyrus.[*]
+
+     [*] This accounts for the gaps in the last sheets of the
+     second roll. --Editor.
+
+"At last, however, I wrenched it loose and put it with the other in my
+pocket.
+
+"Then we went on with our dreadful task in silence. With much care we
+ripped loose the sack-like garment, and at last the body of a man lay
+before us. Between his knees was a third roll of papyrus. I secured it,
+then held down the light and looked at him. One glance at his face was
+enough to tell a doctor how he had died.
+
+"This body was not much dried up. Evidently it had not passed the
+allotted seventy days in natron, and therefore the expression and
+likeness were better preserved than is usual. Without entering into
+particulars, I will only say that I hope I shall never see such another
+look as that which was frozen on this dead man's face. Even the Arabs
+recoiled from it in horror and began to mutter prayers.
+
+"For the rest, the usual opening on the left side through which the
+embalmers did their work was absent; the finely-cut features were those
+of a person of middle age, although the hair was already grey, and
+the frame was that of a very powerful man, the shoulders being of an
+extraordinary width. I had not time to examine very closely, however,
+for within a few seconds from its uncovering, the unembalmed body began
+to crumble now that it was exposed to the action of the air. In five or
+six minutes there was literally nothing left of it but a wisp of hair,
+the skull, and a few of the larger bones. I noticed that one of the
+tibiae--I forget if it was the right or the left--had been fractured and
+very badly set. It must have been quite an inch shorter than the other.
+
+"Well, there was nothing more to find, and now that the excitement was
+over, what between the heat, the exertion, and the smell of mummy dust
+and spices, I felt more dead than alive.
+
+"I am tired of writing, and this ship rolls. This letter, of course,
+goes overland, and I am coming by 'long sea,' but I hope to be in London
+within ten days after you get it. Then I will tell you of my pleasing
+experiences in the course of the ascent from the tomb-chamber, and of
+how that prince of rascals, Ali Baba, and his thieves tried to frighten
+me into handing over the papyri, and how I worsted them. Then, too, we
+will get the rolls deciphered. I expect that they only contain the usual
+thing, copies of the 'Book of the Dead,' but there _may_ be something
+else in them. Needless to say, I did not narrate this little adventure
+in Egypt, or I should have had the Boulac Museum people on my track.
+Good-bye, 'Mafish Fineesh,' as Ali Baba always said."
+
+
+In due course, my friend, the writer of the letter from which I have
+quoted, arrived in London, and on the very next day we paid a visit to
+a learned acquaintance well versed in Hieroglyphics and Demotic writing.
+The anxiety with which we watched him skilfully damping and unfolding
+one of the rolls and peering through his gold-rimmed glasses at the
+mysterious characters may well be imagined.
+
+"Hum," he said, "whatever it is, this is _not_ a copy of the 'Book of
+the Dead.' By George, what's this? Cle--Cleo--Cleopatra----Why, my dear
+Sirs, as I am a living man, this is the history of somebody who lived
+in the days of Cleopatra, _the_ Cleopatra, for here's Antony's name with
+hers! Well, there's six months' work before me here--six months, at
+the very least!" And in that joyful prospect he fairly lost control of
+himself, and skipped about the room, shaking hands with us at intervals,
+and saying "I'll translate--I'll translate it if it kills me, and
+we will publish it; and, by the living Osiris, it shall drive every
+Egyptologist in Europe mad with envy! Oh, what a find! what a most
+glorious find!"
+
+
+And O you whose eyes fall upon these pages, see, they have been
+translated, and they have been printed, and here they lie before you--an
+undiscovered land wherein you are free to travel!
+
+Harmachis speaks to you from his forgotten tomb. The walls of Time fall
+down, and, as at the lightning's leap, a picture from the past starts
+upon your view, framed in the darkness of the ages.
+
+He shows you those two Egypts which the silent pyramids looked down upon
+long centuries ago--the Egypt of the Greek, the Roman, and the Ptolemy,
+and that other outworn Egypt of the Hierophant, hoary with years, heavy
+with the legends of antiquity and the memory of long-lost honours.
+
+He tells you how the smouldering loyalty of the land of Khem blazed
+up before it died, and how fiercely the old Time-consecrated Faith
+struggled against the conquering tide of Change that rose, like Nile at
+flood, and drowned the ancient Gods of Egypt.
+
+Here, in his pages, you shall learn the glory of Isis the Many-shaped,
+the Executrix of Decrees. Here you shall make acquaintance with the
+shade of Cleopatra, that "Thing of Flame," whose passion-breathing
+beauty shaped the destiny of Empires. Here you shall read how the soul
+of Charmion was slain of the sword her vengeance smithied.
+
+Here Harmachis, the doomed Egyptian, being about to die, salutes you who
+follow on the path he trod. In the story of his broken years he shows to
+you what may in its degree be the story of your own. Crying aloud from
+that dim Amenti[*] where to-day he wears out his long atoning time, he
+tells, in the history of his fall, the fate of him who, however sorely
+tried, forgets his God, his Honour, and his Country.
+
+     [*] The Egyptian Hades or Purgatory.--Editor.
+
+
+
+
+
+BOOK I--THE PREPARATION OF HARMACHIS
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+OF THE BIRTH OF HARMACHIS; THE PROPHECY OF THE HATHORS; AND THE SLAYING
+OF THE INNOCENT CHILD
+
+By Osiris who sleeps at Abouthis, I write the truth.
+
+I, Harmachis, Hereditary Priest of the Temple, reared by the divine
+Sethi, aforetime a Pharaoh of Egypt, and now justified in Osiris and
+ruling in Amenti. I, Harmachis, by right Divine and by true descent of
+blood King of the Double Crown, and Pharaoh of the Upper and Lower Land.
+I, Harmachis, who cast aside the opening flower of our hope, who turned
+from the glorious path, who forgot the voice of God in hearkening to the
+voice of woman. I, Harmachis, the fallen, in whom are gathered up all
+woes as waters are gathered in a desert well, who have tasted of every
+shame, who through betrayal have betrayed, who in losing the glory that
+is here have lost the glory which is to be, who am utterly undone--I
+write, and, by Him who sleeps at Abouthis, I write the truth.
+
+O Egypt!--dear land of Khem, whose black soil nourished up my mortal
+part--land that I have betrayed--O Osiris!--Isis!--Horus!--ye Gods of
+Egypt whom I have betrayed!--O ye temples whose pylons strike the sky,
+whose faith I have betrayed!--O Royal blood of the Pharaohs of eld, that
+yet runs within these withered veins--whose virtue I have betrayed!--O
+Invisible Essence of all Good! and O Fate, whose balance rested on my
+hand--hear me; and, to the day of utter doom, bear me witness that I
+write the truth.
+
+
+
+Even while I write, beyond the fertile fields, the Nile is running red,
+as though with blood. Before me the sunlight beats upon the far Arabian
+hills, and falls upon the piles of Abouthis. Still the priests make
+orison within the temples at Abouthis that know me no more; still
+the sacrifice is offered, and the stony roofs echo back the people's
+prayers. Still from this lone cell within my prison-tower, I, the Word
+of Shame, watch thy fluttering banners, Abouthis, flaunting from thy
+pylon walls, and hear the chants as the long procession winds from
+sanctuary to sanctuary.
+
+Abouthis, lost Abouthis! my heart goes out toward thee! For the day
+comes when the desert sands shall fill thy secret places! Thy Gods are
+doomed, O Abouthis! New Faiths shall make a mock of all thy Holies, and
+Centurion shall call upon Centurion across thy fortress-walls. I weep--I
+weep tears of blood: for mine is the sin that brought about these evils
+and mine for ever is their shame.
+
+Behold, it is written hereafter.
+
+
+
+Here in Abouthis I was born, I, Harmachis, and my father, the justified
+in Osiris, was High Priest of the Temple of Sethi. And on that same day
+of my birth Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt, was born also. I passed my
+youth in yonder fields watching the baser people at their labours and
+going in and out at will among the great courts of the temples. Of my
+mother I knew naught, for she died when I yet hung at the breast. But
+before she died in the reign of Ptolemy Auletes, who is named the Piper,
+so did the old wife, Atoua, told me, my mother took a golden uraeus, the
+snake symbol of our Royalty of Egypt, from a coffer of ivory and laid
+it on my brow. And those who saw her do this believed that she was
+distraught of the Divinity, and in her madness foreshadowed that the day
+of the Macedonian Lagidae was ended, and that Egypt's sceptre should pass
+again to the hand of Egypt's true and Royal race. But when my father,
+the old High Priest Amenemhat, whose only child I was, she who was his
+wife before my mother having been, for what crime I know not, cursed
+with barrenness by Sekhet: I say when my father came in and saw what the
+dying woman had done, he lifted up his hands towards the vault of heaven
+and adored the Invisible, because of the sign that had been sent. And
+as he adored, the Hathors[*] filled my dying mother with the Spirit of
+Prophecy, and she rose in strength from the couch and prostrated herself
+thrice before the cradle where I lay asleep, the Royal asp upon my brow,
+crying aloud:
+
+     [*] The Egyptian _Parcae_ or _Fates_.--Editor.
+
+"Hail to thee, fruit of my womb! Hail to thee, Royal child! Hail to
+thee, Pharaoh that shalt be! Hail to thee, God that shalt purge the
+land, Divine seed of Nekt-nebf, the descended from Isis. Keep thee pure,
+and thou shalt rule and deliver Egypt and not be broken. But if thou
+dost fail in thy hour of trial, then may the curse of all the Gods
+of Egypt rest upon thee, and the curse of thy Royal forefathers, the
+justified, who ruled the land before thee from the age of Horus. Then in
+life mayst thou be wretched, and after death may Osiris refuse thee,
+and the judges of Amenti give judgment against thee, and Set and Sekhet
+torment thee, till such time as thy sin is purged, and the Gods of
+Egypt, called by strange names, are once more worshipped in the Temples
+of Egypt, and the staff of the Oppressor is broken, and the footsteps of
+the Foreigner are swept clean, and the thing is accomplished as thou in
+thy weakness shalt cause it to be done."
+
+When she had spoken thus, the Spirit of Prophecy went out of her, and
+she fell dead across the cradle where I slept, so that I awoke with a
+cry.
+
+But my father, Amenemhat, the High Priest, trembled, and was very
+fearful, both because of the words which had been said by the Spirit of
+the Hathors through the mouth of my mother, and because what had been
+uttered was treason against Ptolemy. For he knew that, if the matter
+should come to the ears of Ptolemy, Pharaoh would send his guards
+to destroy the life of the child concerning whom such things were
+prophesied. Therefore, my father shut the doors, and caused all those
+who stood by to swear upon the holy symbol of his office, and by the
+name of the Divine Three, and by the Soul of her who lay dead upon the
+stones beside them, that nothing of what they had seen and heard should
+pass their lips.
+
+Now among the company was the old wife, Atoua, who had been the nurse of
+my mother, and loved her well; and in these days, though I know not how
+it had been in the past, nor how it shall be in the future, there is
+no oath that can bind a woman's tongue. And so it came about that
+by-and-by, when the matter had become homely in her mind, and her fear
+had fallen from her, she spoke of the prophecy to her daughter, who
+nursed me at the breast now that my mother was dead. She did this as
+they walked together in the desert carrying food to the husband of the
+daughter, who was a sculptor, and shaped effigies of the holy Gods
+in the tombs that are fashioned in the rock--telling the daughter, my
+nurse, how great must be her care and love toward the child that
+should one day be Pharaoh, and drive the Ptolemies from Egypt. But the
+daughter, my nurse, was so filled with wonder at what she heard that she
+could not keep the tale locked within her breast, and in the night she
+awoke her husband, and, in her turn, whispered it to him, and thereby
+compassed her own destruction, and the destruction of her child, my
+foster-brother. For the man told his friend, and the friend was a spy of
+Ptolemy's, and thus the tale came to Pharaoh's ears.
+
+Now, Pharaoh was much troubled thereat, for though when he was full of
+wine he would make a mock of the God of the Egyptians, and swear that
+the Roman Senate was the only God to whom he bowed the knee, yet in his
+heart he was terribly afraid, as I have learned from one who was his
+physician. For when he was alone at night he would scream and cry aloud
+to the great Serapis, who indeed is no true God, and to other Gods,
+fearing lest he should be murdered and his soul handed over to the
+tormentors. Also, when he felt his throne tremble under him, he would
+send large presents to the temples, asking a message from the oracles,
+and more especially from the oracle that is at Philae. Therefore, when
+it came to his ears that the wife of the High Priest of the great and
+ancient Temple of Abouthis had been filled with the Spirit of Prophecy
+before she died, and foretold that her son should be Pharaoh, he was
+much afraid, and summoning some trusty guards--who, being Greeks, did
+not fear to do sacrilege--he despatched them by boat up the Nile, with
+orders to come to Abouthis and cut off the head of the child of the High
+Priest and bring it to him in a basket.
+
+But, as it chanced, the boat in which the guards came was of deep
+draught, and, the time of their coming being at the lowest ebb of the
+river, it struck and remained fast upon a bank of mud that is opposite
+the mouth of the road running across the plains to Abouthis, and, as the
+north wind was blowing very fiercely, it was like to sink. Thereon
+the guards of Pharaoh called out to the common people, who laboured at
+lifting water along the banks of the river, to come with boats and take
+them off; but, seeing that they were Greeks of Alexandria, the people
+would not, for the Egyptians do not love the Greeks. Then the guards
+cried that they were on Pharaoh's business, and still the people would
+not, asking what was their business. Whereon a eunuch among them who
+had made himself drunk in his fear, told them that they came to slay the
+child of Amenemhat, the High Priest, of whom it was prophesied that he
+should be Pharaoh and sweep the Greeks from Egypt. And then the people
+feared to stand longer in doubt, but brought boats, not knowing what
+might be meant by the man's words. But there was one amongst them--a
+farmer and an overseer of canals--who was a kinsman of my mother's and
+had been present when she prophesied; and he turned and ran swiftly for
+three parts of an hour, till he came to where I lay in the house that
+is without the north wall of the great Temple. Now, as it chanced, my
+father was away in that part of the Place of Tombs which is to the left
+of the large fortress, and Pharaoh's guards, mounted on asses, were hard
+upon us. Then the messenger cried to the old wife, Atoua, whose tongue
+had brought about the evil, and told how the soldiers drew near to slay
+me. And they looked at each other, not knowing what to do; for, had they
+hid me, the guards would not have stayed their search till I was found.
+But the man, gazing through the doorway, saw a little child at play:
+
+"Woman," he said, "whose is that child?"
+
+"It is my grandchild," she answered, "the foster-brother of the Prince
+Harmachis; the child to whose mother we owe this evil case."
+
+"Woman," he said, "thou knowest thy duty, do it!" and he again pointed
+at the child. "I command thee, by the Holy Name!"
+
+Atoua trembled exceedingly, because the child was of her own blood; but,
+nevertheless, she took the boy and washed him and set a robe of silk
+upon him, and laid him on my cradle. And me she took and smeared with
+mud to make my fair skin darker, and, drawing my garment from me, set me
+to play in the dirt of the yard, which I did right gladly.
+
+Then the man hid himself, and presently the soldiers rode up and asked
+of the old wife if this were the dwelling of the High Priest Amenemhat?
+And she told them yea, and, bidding them enter, offered them honey and
+milk, for they were thirsty.
+
+When they had drunk, the eunuch who was with them asked if that were
+the son of Amenemhat who lay in the cradle; and she said "Yea--yea,"
+and began to tell the guards how he would be great, for it had been
+prophesied of him that he should one day rule them all.
+
+But the Greek guards laughed, and one of them, seizing the child, smote
+off his head with a sword; and the eunuch drew forth the signet of
+Pharaoh as warrant for the deed and showed it to the old wife, Atoua,
+bidding her tell the High Priest that his son should be King without a
+head.
+
+And as they went one of their number saw me playing in the dirt and
+called out that there was more breeding in yonder brat than in the
+Prince Harmachis; and for a moment they wavered, thinking to slay
+me also, but in the end they passed on, bearing the head of my
+foster-brother, for they loved not to murder little children.
+
+After a while, the mother of the dead child returned from the
+market-place, and when she found what had been done, she and her husband
+would have killed Atoua the old wife, her mother, and given me up to the
+soldiers of Pharaoh. But my father came in also and learned the truth,
+and he caused the man and his wife to be seized by night and hidden away
+in the dark places of the temple, so that none saw them more.
+
+But I would to-day that it had been the will of the Gods that I had been
+slain of the soldiers and not the innocent child.
+
+
+
+Thereafter it was given out that the High Priest Amenemhat had taken me
+to be as a son to him in the place of that Harmachis who was slain of
+Pharaoh.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+OF THE DISOBEDIENCE OF HARMACHIS; OF THE SLAYING OF THE LION; AND OF THE
+SPEECH OF THE OLD WIFE, ATOUA
+
+And after these things Ptolemy the Piper troubled us no more, nor did he
+again send his soldiers to seek for him of whom it was prophesied that
+he should be Pharaoh. For the head of the child, my foster-brother,
+was brought to him by the eunuch as he sat in his palace of marble at
+Alexandria, flushed with Cyprian wine, and played upon the flute before
+his women. And at his bidding the eunuch lifted up the head by the hair
+for him to look on. Then he laughed and smote it on the cheek with his
+sandal, bidding one of the girls crown Pharaoh with flowers. And he
+bowed the knee, and mocked the head of the innocent child. But the girl,
+who was sharp of tongue--for all of this I heard in after years--said
+to him that "he did well to bow the knee, for this child was indeed
+Pharaoh, the greatest of Pharaohs, and his name was the _Osiris_ and his
+throne was _Death_."
+
+Auletes was much troubled at these words, and trembled, for, being a
+wicked man, he greatly feared entering into Amenti. So he caused the
+girl to be slain because of the evil omen of her saying; crying that he
+would send her to worship that Pharaoh whom she had named. And the other
+women he sent away, and played no more upon the flute till he was once
+again drunk on the morrow. But the Alexandrians made a song on the
+matter, which is still sung about the streets. And this is the beginning
+of it--
+
+     Ptolemy the Piper played
+     Over dead and dying;
+     Piped and played he well.
+     Sure that flute of his was made
+     Of the dank reed sighing
+     O'er the streams of Hell.
+     There beneath the shadows grey,
+     With the sisters three,
+     Shall he pipe for many a day.
+     May the Frog his butler be!
+     And his wine the water of that countrie--
+     Ptolemy the Piper!
+
+After this the years passed on, nor did I, being very little, know
+anything of the great things that came to pass in Egypt; nor is it my
+purpose to set them out here. For I, Harmachis, having little time left
+to me, will only speak of those things with which I have been concerned.
+
+And as the time went on, my father and the teachers instructed me in the
+ancient learning of our people, and in such matters appertaining to
+the Gods as it is meet that children should know. So I grew strong and
+comely, for my hair was black as the hair of the divine Nout, and my
+eyes were blue as the blue lotus, and my skin was like the alabaster
+within the sanctuaries. For now that these glories have passed from me
+I may speak of them without shame. I was strong also. There was no youth
+of my years in Abouthis who could stand against me to wrestle with me,
+nor could any throw so far with the sling or spear. And I much yearned
+to hunt the lion; but he whom I called my father forbade me, telling me
+that my life was of too great worth to be so lightly hazarded. But when
+I bowed before him and prayed he would make his meaning clear to me,
+the old man frowned and answered that the Gods made all things clear in
+their own season. For my part, however, I went away in wroth, for there
+was a youth in Abouthis who with others had slain a lion which fell upon
+his father's herds, and, being envious of my strength and beauty, he set
+it about that I was cowardly at heart, in that when I went out to hunt
+I only slew jackals and gazelles. Now, this was when I had reached my
+seventeenth year and was a man grown.
+
+It chanced, therefore, that as I went sore at heart from the presence
+of the High Priest, I met this youth, who called to me and mocked me,
+bidding me know the country people had told him that a great lion was
+down among the rushes by the banks of the canal which runs past the
+Temple, lying at a distance of thirty stadia from Abouthis. And, still
+mocking me, he asked me if I would come and help him slay this lion, or
+would I go and sit among the old women and bid them comb my side lock?
+This bitter word so angered me that I was near to falling on him; but
+in place therefore, forgetting my father's saying, I answered that if he
+would come alone, I would go with him and seek this lion, and he should
+learn if I were indeed a coward. And at first he would not, for, as men
+know, it is our custom to hunt the lion in companies; so it was my hour
+to mock. Then he went and fetched his bow and arrows and a sharp knife.
+And I brought forth my heavy spear, which had a shaft of thorn-wood, and
+at its end a pomegranate in silver, to hold the hand from slipping; and,
+in silence, we went, side by side, to where the lion lay. When we
+came to the place, it was near sundown; and there, upon the mud of the
+canal-bank, we found the lion's slot, which ran into a thick clump of
+reeds.
+
+"Now, thou boaster," I said, "wilt thou lead the way into yonder reeds,
+or shall I?" And I made as though I would lead the way.
+
+"Nay, nay," he answered, "be not so mad! The brute will spring upon
+thee and rend thee. See! I will shoot among the reeds. Perchance, if he
+sleeps, it will arouse him." And he drew his bow at a venture.
+
+How it chanced I know not, but the arrow struck the sleeping lion, and,
+like a flash of light from the belly of a cloud, he bounded from the
+shelter of the reeds, and stood before us with bristling mane and yellow
+eyes, the arrow quivering in his flank. He roared aloud in fury, and the
+earth shook.
+
+"Shoot with the bow," I cried, "shoot swiftly ere he spring!"
+
+But courage had left the breast of the boaster, his jaw dropped down and
+his fingers unloosed their hold so that the bow fell from them; then,
+with a loud cry he turned and fled behind me, leaving the lion in my
+path. But while I stood waiting my doom, for though I was sore afraid
+I would not fly, the lion crouched himself, and turning not aside, with
+one great bound swept over me, touching me not. He lit, and again he
+bounded full upon the boaster's back, striking him such a blow with his
+great paw that his head was crushed as an egg thrown against a stone. He
+fell down dead, and the lion stood and roared over him. Then I was mad
+with horror, and, scarce knowing what I did, I grasped my spear and with
+a shout I charged. As I charged the lion lifted himself up above me.
+He smote at me with his paw; but with all my strength I drove the broad
+spear into his throat, and, shrinking from the agony of the steel, his
+blow fell short and did no more than rip my skin. Back he fell, the
+great spear far in his throat; then rising, he roared in pain and leapt
+twice the height of a man straight into the air, smiting at the spear
+with his forepaws. Twice he leapt thus, horrible to see, and twice he
+fell upon his back. Then his strength spent itself with his rushing
+blood, and, groaning like a bull, he died; while I, being but a lad,
+stood and trembled with fear now that all cause of fear had passed.
+
+But as I stood and gazed at the body of him who had taunted me, and at
+the carcass of the lion, a woman came running towards me, even the same
+old wife, Atoua, who, though I knew it not as yet, had offered up her
+flesh and blood that I might be saved alive. For she had been gathering
+simples, in which she had great skill, by the water's edge, not knowing
+that there was a lion near (and, indeed, the lions, for the most part,
+are not found in the tilled land, but rather in the desert and the
+Libyan mountains), and had seen from a distance that which I have set
+down. Now, when she was come, she knew me for Harmachis, and, bending
+herself, she made obeisance to me, and saluted me, calling me Royal, and
+worthy of all honour, and beloved, and chosen of the Holy Three, ay, and
+by the name of the Pharaoh! the Deliverer!
+
+But I, thinking that terror had made her sick of mind, asked her of what
+she would speak.
+
+"Is it a great thing," I asked, "that I should slay a lion? Is it a
+matter worthy of such talk as thine? There live, and have lived, men who
+have slain many lions. Did not the Divine Amen-hetep the Osirian slay
+with his own hand more than a hundred lions? Is it not written on the
+scarabaeus that hangs within my father's chamber, that he slew lions
+aforetime? And have not others done likewise? Why then, speakest thou
+thus, O foolish woman?"
+
+All of which I said, because, having now slain the lion, I was minded,
+after the manner of youth, to hold it as a thing of no account. But she
+did not cease to make obeisance, and to call me by names that are too
+high to be written.
+
+"O Royal One," she cried, "wisely did thy mother prophecy. Surely the
+Holy Spirit, the Knepth, was in her, O thou conceived by a God! See the
+omen. The lion there--he growls within the Capitol at Rome--and the dead
+man, he is the Ptolemy--the Macedonian spawn that, like a foreign weed,
+hath overgrown the land of Nile; with the Macedonian Lagidae thou shalt
+go to smite the lion of Rome. But the Macedonian cur shall fly, and the
+Roman lion shall strike him down, and thou shalt strike down the lion,
+and the land of Khem shall once more be free! free! Keep thyself but
+pure, according to the commandment of the Gods, O son of the Royal
+House; O hope of Khemi! be but ware of Woman the Destroyer, and as I
+have said, so shall it be. I am poor and wretched; yea, stricken with
+sorrow. I have sinned in speaking of what should be hid, and for my sin
+I have paid in the coin of that which was born of my womb; willingly
+have I paid for thee. But I have still of the wisdom of our people, nor
+do the Gods, in whose eyes all are equal, turn their countenance from
+the poor; the Divine Mother Isis hath spoken to me--but last night she
+spake--bidding me come hither to gather herbs, and read to thee the
+signs that I should see. And as I have said, so it shall come to pass,
+if thou canst but endure the weight of the great temptation. Come
+hither, Royal One!" and she led me to the edge of the canal, where the
+water was deep, and still and blue. "Now gaze upon that face as the
+water throws it back. Is not that brow fitted to bear the double crown?
+Do not those gentle eyes mirror the majesty of kings? Hath not the Ptah,
+the Creator, fashioned that form to fit the Imperial garb, and awe the
+glance of multitudes looking through thee to God?
+
+"Nay, nay!" she went on in another voice--a shrill old wife's voice--"I
+will--be not so foolish, boy--the scratch of a lion is a venomous thing,
+a terrible thing; yea, as bad as the bite of an asp--it must be treated,
+else it will fester, and all thy days thou shalt dream of lions; ay, and
+snakes; and, also, it will break out in sores. But I know of it--I know.
+I am not crazed for nothing. For mark! everything has its balance--in
+madness is much wisdom, and in wisdom much madness. _La! la! la!_
+Pharaoh himself can't say where the one begins and the other ends. Now,
+don't stand gazing there, looking as silly as a cat in a crocus-coloured
+robe, as they say in Alexandria; but just let me stick these green
+things on the place, and in six days you'll heal up as white as a
+three-year-child. Never mind the smart of it, lad. By Him who sleeps
+at Philae, or at Abouthis, or at Abydus--as our divine masters have it
+now--or wherever He does sleep, which is a thing we shall all find out
+before we want to--by Osiris, I say, you'll live to be as clean from
+scars as a sacrifice to Isis at the new moon, if you'll but let me put
+it on.
+
+"Is it not so, good folk?"--and she turned to address some people who,
+while she prophesied, had assembled unseen by me--"I've been speaking a
+spell over him, just to make a way for the virtue of my medicine--_la!
+la!_ there's nothing like a spell. If you don't believe it, just you
+come to me next time your wives are barren; it's better than scraping
+every pillar in the Temple of Osiris, I'll warrant. I'll make 'em bear
+like a twenty-year-old palm. But then, you see, you must know what to
+say--that's the point--everything comes to a point at last. _La! la!_"
+
+Now, when I heard all this, I, Harmachis, put my hand to my head, not
+knowing if I dreamed. But presently looking up, I saw a grey-haired
+man among those who were gathered together, who watched us sharply, and
+afterwards I learned that this man was the spy of Ptolemy, the very man,
+indeed, who had wellnigh caused me to be slain of Pharaoh when I was in
+my cradle. Then I understood why Atoua spoke so foolishly.
+
+"Thine are strange spells, old wife," the spy said. "Thou didst speak of
+Pharaoh and the double crown and of the form fashioned by Ptah to bear
+it; is it not so?"
+
+"Yea, yea--part of the spell, thou fool; and what can one swear by
+better nowadays than by the Divine Pharaoh the Piper, whom, and whose
+music, may the Gods preserve to charm this happy land?--what better than
+by the double crown he wears--grace to great Alexander of Macedonia? By
+the way, you know about everything: have they got back his chlamys yet,
+which Mithridates took to Cos? Pompey wore it last, didn't he?--in his
+triumph, too--just fancy Pompey in the cloak of Alexander!--a puppy-dog
+in a lion's skin! And talking of lions--look what this lad hath
+done--slain a lion with his own spear; and right glad you village folks
+should be to see it, for it was a very fierce lion--just see his teeth
+and his claws--his claws!--they are enough to make a poor silly old
+woman like me shriek to look at them! And the body there, the dead
+body--the lion slew it. Alack! he's an Osiris[*] now, the body--and to
+think of it, but an hour ago he was an everyday mortal like you or me!
+Well, away with him to the embalmers. He'll soon swell in the sun and
+burst, and that will save them the trouble of cutting him open. Not
+that they will spend a talent of silver over him anyway. Seventy days in
+natron--that's all he's likely to get. _La! la!_ how my tongue does run,
+and it's getting dark. Come, aren't you going to take away the body of
+that poor lad, and the lion, too? There, my boy, you keep those herbs
+on, and you'll never feel your scratches. I know a thing or two for all
+I'm crazy, and you, my own grandson! Dear, dear, I'm glad his Holiness
+the High Priest adopted you when Pharaoh--Osiris bless his holy
+name--made an end of his son; you look so bonny. I warrant the real
+Harmachis could not have killed a lion like that. Give me the common
+blood, I say--it's so lusty."
+
+     [*] The soul when it has been absorbed in the Godhead.--
+     Editor.
+
+"You know too much and talk too fast," grumbled the spy, now quite
+deceived. "Well, he is a brave youth. Here, you men, bear this body back
+to Abouthis, and some of you stop and help me skin the lion. We'll send
+the skin to you, young man," he went on; "not that you deserve it: to
+attack a lion like that was the act of a fool, and a fool deserves what
+he gets--destruction. Never attack the strong until you are stronger."
+
+But for my part I went home wondering.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+OF THE REBUKE OF AMENEMHAT; OF THE PRAYER OF HARMACHIS; AND OF THE SIGN
+GIVEN BY THE HOLY GODS
+
+For a while as I, Harmachis, went, the juice of the green herbs which
+the old wife, Atoua, had placed upon my wounds caused me much smart,
+but presently the pain ceased. And, of a truth, I believe that there was
+virtue in them, for within two days my flesh healed up, so that after a
+time no marks remained. But I bethought me that I had disobeyed the word
+of the old High Priest, Amenemhat, who was called my father. For till
+this day I knew not that he was in truth my father according to the
+flesh, having been taught that his own son was slain as I have written;
+and that he had been pleased, with the sanction of the Divine ones, to
+take me as an adopted son and rear me up, that I might in due season
+fulfil an office about the Temple. Therefore I was much troubled, for I
+feared the old man, who was very terrible in his anger, and ever spoke
+with the cold voice of Wisdom. Nevertheless, I determined to go in
+to him and confess my fault and bear such punishment as he should be
+pleased to put upon me. So with the red spear in my hand, and the red
+wounds on my breast, I passed through the outer court of the great
+temple and came to the door of the place where the High Priest dwelt. It
+is a great chamber, sculptured round about with the images of the solemn
+Gods, and the sunlight comes to it in the daytime by an opening cut
+through the stones of the massy roof. But at night it was lit by a
+swinging lamp of bronze. I passed in without noise, for the door was
+not altogether shut, and, pushing my way through the heavy curtains that
+were beyond, I stood with a beating heart within the chamber.
+
+The lamp was lit, for the darkness had fallen, and by its light I saw
+the old man seated in a chair of ivory and ebony at a table of stone on
+which were spread mystic writings of the words of Life and Death. But
+he read no more, for he slept, and his long white beard rested upon the
+table like the beard of a dead man. The soft light from the lamp fell
+on him, on the papyri and the gold ring upon his hand, where were graven
+the symbols of the Invisible One, but all around was shadow. It fell on
+the shaven head, on the white robe, on the cedar staff of priesthood
+at his side, and on the ivory of the lion-footed chair; it showed
+the mighty brow of power, the features cut in kingly mould, the white
+eyebrows, and the dark hollows of the deep-set eyes. I looked and
+trembled, for there was about him that which was more than the dignity
+of man. He had lived so long with the Gods, and so long kept company
+with them and with thoughts divine, he was so deeply versed in all those
+mysteries which we do but faintly discern, here in this upper air, that
+even now, before his time, he partook of the nature of the Osiris, and
+was a thing to shake humanity with fear.
+
+I stood and gazed, and as I stood he opened his dark eyes, but looked
+not on me, nor turned his head; and yet he saw me and spoke.
+
+"Why hast thou been disobedient to me, my son?" he said. "How came it
+that thou wentest forth against the lion when I bade thee not?"
+
+"How knowest thou, my father, that I went forth?" I asked in fear.
+
+"How know I? Are there, then, no other ways of knowledge than by the
+senses? Ah, ignorant child! was not my Spirit with thee when the lion
+sprang upon thy companion? Did I not pray Those set about thee to
+protect thee, to make sure thy thrust when thou didst drive the spear
+into the lion's throat! How came it that thou wentest forth, my son?"
+
+"The boaster taunted me," I answered, "and I went."
+
+"Yes, I know it; and, because of the hot blood of youth, I forgive thee,
+Harmachis. But now listen to me, and let my words sink into thy
+heart like the waters of Sihor into the thirsty sand at the rising of
+Sirius.[*] Listen to me. The boaster was sent to thee as a temptation,
+he was sent as a trial of thy strength, and see! it has not been equal
+to the burden. Therefore thy hour is put back. Hadst thou been strong
+in this matter, the path had been made plain to thee even now. But thou
+hast failed, and therefore thy hour is put back."
+
+     [*] The dog-star, whose appearance marked the commencement
+     of the overflow of the Nile.--Editor.
+
+"I understand thee not, my father," I answered.
+
+"What was it, then, my son, that the old wife, Atoua, said to thee down
+by the bank of the canal?"
+
+Then I told him all that the old wife had said.
+
+"And thou believest, Harmachis, my son?"
+
+"Nay," I answered; "how should I believe such tales? Surely she is mad.
+All the people know her for mad."
+
+Now for the first time he looked towards me, who was standing in the
+shadow.
+
+"My son! my son!" he cried; "thou art wrong. She is not mad. The woman
+spoke the truth; she spoke not of herself, but of the voice within her
+that cannot lie. For this Atoua is a prophetess and holy. Now learn thou
+the destiny that the Gods of Egypt have given to thee to fulfil, and woe
+be unto thee if by any weakness thou dost fail therein! Listen: thou art
+no stranger adopted into my house and the worship of the Temple; thou
+art my very son, saved to me by this same woman. But, Harmachis, thou
+art more than this, for in thee and me alone yet flows the Imperial
+blood of Egypt. Thou and I alone of men alive are descended, without
+break or flaw, from that Pharaoh Nekt-nebf whom Ochus the Persian drove
+from Egypt. The Persian came and the Persian went, and after the Persian
+came the Macedonian, and now for nigh upon three hundred years the
+Lagidae have usurped the double crown, defiling the land of Khem and
+corrupting the worship of its Gods. And mark thou this: but now, two
+weeks since, Ptolemy Neus Dionysus, Ptolemy Auletes the Piper, who would
+have slain thee, is dead; and but now hath the Eunuch Pothinus, that
+very eunuch who came hither, years ago, to cut thee off, set at naught
+the will of his master, the dead Auletes, and placed the boy Ptolemy
+upon the throne. And therefore his sister Cleopatra, that fierce and
+beautiful girl, has fled into Syria; and there, if I err not, she will
+gather her armies and make war upon her brother Ptolemy: for by her
+father's will she was left joint-sovereign with him. And, meanwhile,
+mark thou this, my son: the Roman eagle hangs on high, waiting with
+ready talons till such time as he may fall upon the fat wether Egypt and
+rend him. And mark again: the people of Egypt are weary of the foreign
+yoke, they hate the memory of the Persians, and they are sick at heart
+of being named 'Men of Macedonia' in the markets of Alexandria. The
+whole land mutters and murmurs beneath the yoke of the Greek and the
+shadow of the Roman.
+
+"Have we not been oppressed? Have not our children been butchered and
+our gains wrung from us to fill the bottomless greed and lust of the
+Lagidae? Have not the temples been forsaken?--ay, have not the majesties
+of the Eternal Gods been set at naught by these Grecian babblers, who
+have dared to meddle with the immortal truths, and name the Most High by
+another name--by the name of Serapis--confounding the substance of the
+Invisible? Does not Egypt cry aloud for freedom?--and shall she cry in
+vain? Nay, nay, for thou, my son, art the appointed way of deliverance.
+To thee, being sunk in eld, I have decreed my rights. Already thy name
+is whispered in many a sanctuary, from Abu to Athu; already priests and
+people swear allegiance, even by the sacred symbols, unto him who shall
+be declared to them. Still, the time is not yet; thou art too green a
+sapling to bear the weight of such a storm. But to-day thou wast tried
+and found wanting.
+
+"He who would serve the Gods, Harmachis, must put aside the failings of
+the flesh. Taunts must not move him, nor any lusts of man. Thine is a
+high mission, but this thou must learn. If thou learn it not, thou shalt
+fail therein; and then, my curse be on thee! and the curse of Egypt,
+and the curse of Egypt's broken Gods! For know thou this, that even the
+Gods, who are immortal, may, in the interwoven scheme of things, lean
+upon the man who is their instrument, as a warrior on his sword. And woe
+be to the sword that snaps in the hour of battle, for it shall be thrown
+aside to rust or perchance be melted with fire! Therefore, make thy
+heart pure and high and strong; for thine is no common lot, and thine
+no mortal meed. Triumph, Harmachis, and in glory thou shalt go--in glory
+here and hereafter! Fail, and woe--woe be on thee!"
+
+He paused and bowed his head, and then went on:
+
+"Of these matters thou shalt hear more hereafter. Meanwhile, thou
+hast much to learn. To-morrow I will give thee letters, and thou shalt
+journey down the Nile, past white-walled Memphis to Annu. There thou
+shalt sojourn certain years, and learn more of our ancient wisdom
+beneath the shadow of those secret pyramids of which thou, too, art the
+Hereditary High Priest that is to be. And meanwhile, I will sit here and
+watch, for my hour is not yet, and, by the help of the Gods, spin the
+web of Death wherein thou shalt catch and hold the wasp of Macedonia.
+
+"Come hither, my son; come hither and kiss me on the brow, for thou art
+my hope, and all the hope of Egypt. Be but true, soar to the eagle crest
+of destiny, and thou shalt be glorious here and hereafter. Be false,
+fail, and I will spit upon thee, and thou shalt be accursed, and thy
+soul shall remain in bondage till that hour when, in the slow flight
+of time, the evil shall once more grow to good and Egypt shall again be
+free."
+
+I drew near, trembling, and kissed him on the brow. "May all these
+things come upon me, and more," I said, "if I fail thee, my father!"
+
+"Nay!" he cried, "not me, not me; but rather those whose will I do. And
+now go, my son, and ponder in thy heart, and in thy secret heart digest
+my words; mark what thou shalt see, and gather up the dew of wisdom,
+making thee ready for the battle. Fear not for thyself, thou art
+protected from all ill. No harm may touch thee from without; thyself
+alone can be thine own enemy. I have said."
+
+Then I went forth with a full heart. The night was very still, and none
+were stirring in the temple courts. I hurried through them, and reached
+the entrance to the pylon that is at the outer gate. Then, seeking
+solitude, and, as it were, to draw near to heaven, I climbed the pylon's
+two hundred steps, until at length I reached the massive roof. Here I
+leaned my breast against the parapet, and looked forth. As I looked,
+the red edge of the full moon floated up over the Arabian hills, and
+her rays fell upon the pylon where I stood and the temple walls beyond,
+lighting the visages of the carven Gods. Then the cold light struck the
+stretch of well-tilled lands, now whitening to the harvest, and as the
+heavenly lamp of Isis passed up to the sky, her rays crept slowly down
+to the valley, where Sihor, father of the land of Khem, rolls on toward
+the sea.
+
+Now the bright beams kissed the water that smiled an answer back, and
+now mountain and valley, river, temple, town, and plain were flooded
+with white light, for Mother Isis was arisen, and threw her gleaming
+robe across the bosom of the earth. It was beautiful, with the beauty
+of a dream, and solemn as the hour after death. Mightily, indeed, the
+temples towered up against the face of night. Never had they seemed so
+grand to me as in that hour--those eternal shrines, before whose walls
+Time himself shall wither. And it was to be mine to rule this moonlit
+land; mine to preserve those sacred shrines, and cherish the honour of
+their Gods; mine to cast out the Ptolemy and free Egypt from the foreign
+yoke! In my veins ran the blood of those great Kings who await the
+day of Resurrection, sleeping in the tombs of the valley of Thebes.
+My spirit swelled within me as I dreamed upon this glorious destiny,
+I closed my hands, and there, upon the pylon, I prayed as I had never
+prayed before to the Godhead, who is called by many names, and in many
+forms made manifest.
+
+"O Amen," I prayed, "God of Gods, who hast been from the beginning; Lord
+of Truth, who art, and of whom all are, who givest out thy Godhead and
+gatherest it up again; in the circle of whom the Divine ones move
+and are, who wast from all time the Self-begot, and who shalt be till
+time--hearken unto me.[*]
+
+     [*] For a somewhat similar definition of the Godhead see the
+     funeral papyrus of Nesikhonsu, a Princess of the Twenty-
+     first Dynasty.--Editor.
+
+"O Amen--Osiris, the sacrifice by whom we are justified, Lord of the
+Region of the Winds, Ruler of the Ages, Dweller in the West, the Supreme
+in Amenti, hearken unto me.
+
+"O Isis, great Mother Goddess, mother of the Horus--mysterious Mother,
+Sister, Spouse, hearken unto me. If, indeed, I am the chosen of the Gods
+to carry out the purpose of the Gods, let a sign be given me, even now,
+to seal my life to the life above. Stretch out your arms towards me, O
+ye Gods, and uncover the glory of your countenance. Hear! ah, hear me!"
+And I cast myself upon my knees and lifted up my eyes to heaven.
+
+And as I knelt, a cloud grew upon the face of the moon covering it up,
+so that the night became dark, and the silence deepened all around--even
+the dogs far below in the city ceased to howl, while the silence grew
+and grew till it was heavy as death. I felt my spirit lifted up within
+me, and my hair rose upon my head. Then of a sudden the mighty pylon
+seemed to rock beneath my feet, a great wind beat about my brows and a
+voice spoke within my heart:
+
+"Behold a sign! Possess thyself in patience, O Harmachis!"
+
+And as the voice spoke, a cold hand touched my hand, and left somewhat
+within it. Then the cloud rolled from the face of the moon, the wind
+passed, the pylon ceased to tremble, and the night was as the night had
+been.
+
+As the light came back, I gazed upon that which had been left within my
+hand. It was a bud of the holy lotus new breaking into bloom, and from
+it came a most sweet scent.
+
+And while I gazed behold! the lotus passed from my grasp and was gone,
+leaving me astonished.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+OF THE DEPARTURE OF HARMACHIS AND OF HIS MEETING WITH HIS UNCLE SEPA,
+THE HIGH PRIEST OF ANNU EL RA; OF HIS LIFE AT ANNU, AND OF THE WORDS OF
+SEPA
+
+At the dawning of the next day I was awakened by a priest of the temple,
+who brought word to me to make ready for the journey of which my father
+had spoken, inasmuch as there was an occasion for me to pass down the
+river to Annu el Ra. Now this is the Heliopolis of the Greeks, whither I
+should go in the company of some priests of Ptah at Memphis who had come
+hither to Abouthis to lay the body of one of their great men in the tomb
+that had been prepared near the resting place of the blessed Osiris.
+
+So I made ready, and the same evening, having received letters and
+embraced my father and those about the temple who were dear to me, I
+passed down the banks of Sihor, and we sailed with the south wind.
+As the pilot stood upon the prow and with a rod in his hand bade the
+sailor-men loosen the stakes by which the vessel was moored to the
+banks, the old wife, Atoua, hobbled up, her basket of simples in her
+hand, and, calling out farewell, threw a sandal after me for good
+chance, which sandal I kept for many years.
+
+So we sailed, and for six days passed down the wonderful river, making
+fast each night at some convenient spot. But when I lost sight of the
+familiar things that I had seen day by day since I had eyes to see, and
+found myself alone among strange faces, I felt very sore at heart, and
+would have wept had I not been ashamed. And of all the wonderful things
+I saw I will not write here, for, though they were new to me, have they
+not been known to men since such time as the Gods ruled in Egypt? But
+the priests who were with me showed me no little honour and expounded to
+me what were the things I saw.
+
+On the morning of the seventh day we came to Memphis, the city of
+the White Hall. Here, for three days I rested from my journey and was
+entertained of the priests of the wonderful Temple of Ptah the Creator,
+and shown the beauties of the great and marvellous city. Also I was led
+in secret by the High Priest and two others into the holy presence of
+the God Apis, the Ptah who deigns to dwell among men in the form of a
+bull. The God was black, and on his forehead there was a white square,
+on his back was a white mark shaped like an eagle, beneath his tongue
+was the likeness of a scarabaeus, in his tail were double hairs, and a
+plate of pure gold hung between his horns. I entered the place of the
+God and worshipped, while the High Priest and those with him stood
+aside, watching earnestly. And when I had worshipped, saying the words
+which had been told me, the God knelt, and lay down before me. Then
+the High Priest and those with him, who, as I heard in after time, were
+great men of Upper Egypt, approached wondering, and, saying no word,
+made obeisance to me because of the omen. And many other things I saw in
+Memphis that are too long to write of here.
+
+On the fourth day some priests of Annu came to lead me to Sepa, my
+uncle, the High Priest of Annu. So, having bidden farewell to those of
+Memphis, we crossed the river and rode on asses two parts of a day's
+journey through many villages, which we found in great poverty because
+of the oppression of the tax-gatherers. Also, as we went, I saw for
+the first time the great pyramids that are beyond the image of the God
+Horemkhu, that Sphinx whom the Greeks name Harmachis, and the Temples of
+the Divine Mother Isis, Queen of the Memnonia, and the God Osiris, Lord
+of Rosatou, of which temples, together with the Temple of the worship
+of the Divine Menkau-ra, I, Harmachis, am by right Divine the Hereditary
+High Priest. I saw them and marvelled at their greatness and the white
+carven limestone, and red granite of Syene, that flashed the sun's rays
+back to heaven. But at this time I knew nothing of the treasure that was
+hid in _Her_, which is the third among the pyramids--would I had never
+known of it!
+
+And so at last we came within sight of Annu, which after Memphis has
+been seen is no large town, but stands on raised ground, before which
+are lakes fed by a canal. Behind the town is the inclosed field of the
+Temple of the God Ra.
+
+We dismounted at the pylon, and were met beneath the portico by a man
+not great of stature, but of noble aspect, having his head shaven, and
+with dark eyes that twinkled like the further stars.
+
+"Hold!" he cried, in a great voice which fitted his weak body but ill.
+"Hold! I am Sepa, who opens the mouth of the Gods!"
+
+"And I," I said, "am Harmachis, son of Amenemhat, Hereditary High Priest
+and Ruler of the Holy City Abouthis; and I bear letters to thee, O
+Sepa!"
+
+"Enter," he said. "Enter!" scanning me all the while with his twinkling
+eyes. "Enter, my son!" And he took me and led me to a chamber in the
+inner hall, closed to the door, and then, having glanced at the letters
+that I brought, of a sudden he fell upon my neck and embraced me.
+
+"Welcome," he cried, "welcome, son of my own sister, and hope of Khem!
+Not in vain have I prayed the Gods that I might live to look upon thy
+face and impart to thee the wisdom which perchance I alone have mastered
+of those who are left alive in Egypt. There are few whom it is lawful
+that I should teach. But thine is the great destiny, and thine shall be
+the ears to hear the lessons of the Gods."
+
+And he embraced me once more and bade me go bathe and eat, saying that
+on the morrow he would speak with me further.
+
+This of a truth he did, and at such length that I will forbear to set
+down all he said both then and afterwards, for if I did so there would
+be no papyrus left in Egypt when the task was ended. Therefore, having
+much to tell and but little time to tell it, I will pass over the events
+of the years that followed.
+
+For this was the manner of my life. I rose early, I attended the worship
+of the Temple, and I gave my days to study. I learnt of the rites of
+religion and their meaning, and of the beginning of the Gods and the
+beginning of the Upper World. I learnt of the mystery of the movements
+of the stars, and of how the earth rolls on among them. I was instructed
+in that ancient knowledge which is called magic, and in the way of
+interpretation of dreams, and of the drawing nigh to God. I was taught
+the language of symbols and their outer and inner secrets. I became
+acquainted with the eternal laws of Good and Evil, and with the mystery
+of that trust which is held of man; also I learnt the secrets of the
+pyramids--which I would that I had never known. Further, I read the
+records of the past, and of the acts and words of the ancient kings who
+were before me since the rule of Horus upon earth; and I was made to
+know all craft of state, the lore of earth, and with it the history of
+Greece and Rome. Also I learnt the Grecian and Roman tongues, of which
+indeed I already had some knowledge--and all this while, for five long
+years, I kept my hands clean and my heart pure, and did no evil in the
+sight of God or man; but laboured heavily to acquire all things, and to
+prepare myself for the destiny that awaited me.
+
+Twice every year greetings and letters came from my father Amenemhat,
+and twice every year I sent back my answers asking if the time had come
+to cease from labour. And so the days of my probation sped away till I
+grew faint and weary at heart, for being now a man, ay and learned, I
+longed to make a beginning of the life of men. And often I wondered if
+this talk and prophecy of the things that were to be was but a dream
+born of the brains of men whose wish ran before their thought. I was,
+indeed, of the Royal blood, that I knew: for my uncle, Sepa the Priest,
+showed me a secret record of the descent, traced without break from
+father to son, and graven in mystic symbols on a tablet of the stone
+of Syene. But of what avail was it to be Royal by right when Egypt, my
+heritage, was a slave--a slave to do the pleasure and minister to the
+luxury of the Macedonian Lagidae--ay, and when she had been so long a
+serf that, perchance, she had forgotten how to put off the servile smile
+of Bondage and once more to look across the world with Freedom's happy
+eyes?
+
+Then I bethought me of my prayer upon the pylon tower of Abouthis and of
+the answer given to my prayer, and wondered if that, too, were a dream.
+
+And one night, as, weary with study, I walked within the sacred grove
+that is in the garden of the temple, and mused thus, I met my uncle
+Sepa, who also was walking and thinking.
+
+"Hold!" he cried in his great voice; "why is thy face so sad, Harmachis?
+Has the last problem that we studied overwhelmed thee?"
+
+"Nay, my uncle," I answered, "I am overwhelmed indeed, but not of the
+problem; it was a light one. My heart is heavy, for I am weary of life
+within these cloisters, and the piled-up weight of knowledge crushes me.
+It is of no avail to store up force which cannot be used."
+
+"Ah, thou art impatient, Harmachis," he answered; "it is ever the way
+of foolish youth. Thou wouldst taste of the battle; thou dost tire of
+watching the breakers fall upon the beach, thou wouldst plunge into
+them and venture the desperate hazard of the war. And so thou wouldst be
+going, Harmachis? The bird would fly the nest as, when they are grown,
+the swallows fly from the eaves of the Temple. Well, it shall be as
+thou desirest; the hour is at hand. I have taught thee all that I have
+learned, and methinks that the pupil has outrun his master," and he
+paused and wiped his bright black eyes, for he was very sad at the
+thought of my departure.
+
+"And whither shall I go, my uncle?" I asked rejoicing; "back to Abouthis
+to be initiated into the mysteries of the Gods?"
+
+"Ay, back to Abouthis, and from Abouthis to Alexandria, and from
+Alexandria to the Throne of thy fathers, Harmachis! Listen, now; things
+are thus: Thou knowest how Cleopatra, the Queen, fled into Syria when
+that false eunuch Pothinus set the will of her father Auletes at naught
+and raised her brother Ptolemy to the sole lordship of Egypt. Thou
+knowest also how she came back, like a Queen indeed, with a great army
+in her train, and lay at Pelusium, and how at this juncture the mighty
+Caesar, that great man, that greatest of all men, sailed with a weak
+company hither to Alexandria from Pharsalia's bloody field in hot
+pursuit of Pompey. But he found Pompey already dead, having been basely
+murdered by Achillas, the General, and Lucius Septimius, the chief of
+the Roman legions in Egypt, and thou knowest how the Alexandrians were
+troubled at his coming and would have slain his lictors. Then, as
+thou hast heard, Caesar seized Ptolemy, the young King, and his sister
+Arsinoe, and bade the army of Cleopatra and the army of Ptolemy, under
+Achillas, which lay facing each other at Pelusium, disband and go
+their ways. And for answer Achillas marched on Caesar, and besieged him
+straitly in the Bruchium at Alexandria, and so, for a while, things
+were, and none knew who should reign in Egypt. But then Cleopatra took
+up the dice, and threw them, and this was the throw she made--in truth,
+it was a bold one. For, leaving the army at Pelusium, she came at dusk
+to the harbour of Alexandria, and alone with the Sicilian Apollodorus
+entered and landed. Then Apollodorus bound her in a bale of rich rugs,
+such as are made in Syria, and sent the rugs as a present to Caesar. And
+when the rugs were unbound in the palace, behold! within them was the
+fairest girl on all the earth--ay, and the most witty and the most
+learned. And she seduced the great Caesar--even his weight of years did
+not avail to protect him from her charms--so that, as a fruit of his
+folly, he wellnigh lost his life, and all the glory he had gained in a
+hundred wars."
+
+"The fool!" I broke in--"the fool! Thou callest him great; but how can
+the man be truly great who has no strength to stand against a woman's
+wiles? Caesar, with the world hanging on his word! Caesar, at whose breath
+forty legions marched and changed the fate of peoples! Caesar the cold!
+the far-seeing! the hero!--Caesar to fall like a ripe fruit into a false
+girl's lap! Why, in the issue, of what common clay was this Roman Caesar,
+and how poor a thing!"
+
+But Sepa looked at me and shook his head. "Be not so rash, Harmachis,
+and talk not with so proud a voice. Knowest thou not that in every suit
+of mail there is a joint, and woe to him who wears the harness if the
+sword should search it out! For Woman, in her weakness, is yet the
+strongest force upon the earth. She is the helm of all things human; she
+comes in many shapes and knocks at many doors; she is quick and patient,
+and her passion is not ungovernable like that of man, but as a gentle
+steed that she can guide e'en where she will, and as occasion offers can
+now bit up and now give rein. She has a captain's eye, and stout must be
+that fortress of the heart in which she finds no place of vantage. Does
+thy blood beat fast in youth? She will outrun it, nor will her kisses
+tire. Art thou set toward ambition? She will unlock thy inner heart,
+and show thee roads that lead to glory. Art thou worn and weary? She has
+comfort in her breast. Art thou fallen? She can lift thee up, and to the
+illusion of thy sense gild defeat with triumph. Ay, Harmachis, she can
+do these things, for Nature ever fights upon her side; and while she
+does them she can deceive and shape a secret end in which thou hast
+no part. And thus Woman rules the world. For her are wars; for her men
+spend their strength in gathering gains; for her they do well and ill,
+and seek for greatness, to find oblivion. But still she sits like yonder
+Sphinx, and smiles; and no man has ever read all the riddle of her
+smile, or known all the mystery of her heart. Mock not! mock not!
+Harmachis; for he must be great indeed who can defy the power of Woman,
+which, pressing round him like the invisible air, is often strongest
+when the senses least discover it."
+
+I laughed aloud. "Thou speakest earnestly, my uncle Sepa," I said;
+"one might almost think that thou hadst not come unscathed through this
+fierce fire of temptation. Well, for myself, I fear not woman and her
+wiles; I know naught of them, and naught do I wish to know; and I still
+hold that this Caesar was a fool. Had I stood where Caesar stood, to cool
+its wantonness that bale of rugs should have been rolled down the palace
+steps, into the harbour mud."
+
+"Nay, cease! cease!" he cried aloud. "It is evil to speak thus; may the
+Gods avert the omen and preserve to thee this cold strength of which
+thou boastest. Oh! man, thou knowest not!--thou in thy strength and
+beauty that is without compare, in the power of thy learning and the
+sweetness of thy tongue--thou knowest not! The world where thou must mix
+is not a sanctuary as that of the Divine Isis. But there--it may be so!
+Pray that thy heart's ice may never melt, so thou shalt be great and
+happy and Egypt shall be delivered. And now let me take up my tale--thou
+seest, Harmachis, even in so grave a story woman claims her place. The
+young Ptolemy, Cleopatra's brother, being loosed of Caesar, treacherously
+turned on him. Then Caesar and Mithridates stormed the camp of Ptolemy,
+who took to flight across the river. But his boat was sunk by the
+fugitives who pressed upon it, and such was the miserable end of
+Ptolemy.
+
+"Thereon, the war being ended, though she had but then borne him a son,
+Caesarion, Caesar appointed the younger Ptolemy to rule with Cleopatra,
+and be her husband in name, and he himself departed for Rome, bearing
+with him the beautiful Princess Arsinoe to follow his triumph in her
+chains. But the great Caesar is no more. He died as he had lived, in
+blood, and right royally. And but now Cleopatra, the Queen, if my
+tidings may be trusted, has slain Ptolemy, her brother and husband, by
+poison, and taken the child Caesarion to be her fellow on the throne,
+which she holds by the help of the Roman legions, and, as they say,
+of young Sextus Pompeius, who has succeeded Caesar in her love. But,
+Harmachis, the whole land boils and seethes against her. In every city
+the children of Khem talk of the deliverer who is to come--and thou art
+he, Harmachis. The time is almost ripe. The hour is nigh at hand. Go
+thou back to Abouthis and learn the last secrets of the Gods, and
+meet those who shall direct the bursting of the storm. Then act,
+Harmachis--act, I say, and strike home for Khem, rid the land of the
+Roman and the Greek, and take thy place upon the throne of thy divine
+fathers and be a King of men. For to this end thou wast born, O Prince!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+OF THE RETURN OF HARMACHIS TO ABOUTHIS; OF THE CELEBRATION OF THE
+MYSTERIES; OF THE CHANT OF ISIS; AND OF THE WARNING OF AMENEMHAT
+
+On the next day I embraced my uncle Sepa, and with an eager heart
+departed from Annu back to Abouthis. To be short, I came thither in
+safety, having been absent five years and a month, being now no more
+a boy but a man full grown and having my mind well stocked with the
+knowledge of men and the ancient wisdom of Egypt. So once again I
+saw the old lands, and the known faces, though of these some few were
+wanting, having been gathered to Osiris. Now, as, riding across the
+fields, I came nigh to the enclosure of the Temple, the priests and
+people issued forth to bid me welcome, and with them the old wife,
+Atoua, who, but for a few added wrinkles that Time had cut upon her
+forehead, was just as she had been when she threw the sandal after me
+five long years before.
+
+"_La! la! la!_" she cried; "and there thou art, my bonny lad; more bonny
+even than thou wert! _La!_ what a man! what shoulders! and what a face
+and form! Ah, it does an old woman credit to have dandled thee! But
+thou art over-pale; those priests down there at Annu have starved thee,
+surely? Starve not thyself: the Gods love not a skeleton. 'Empty stomach
+makes empty head' as they say at Alexandria. But this is a glad hour;
+ay, a joyous hour. Come in--come in!" and as I lighted down she embraced
+me.
+
+But I thrust her aside. "My father! where is my father?" I cried; "I see
+him not!"
+
+"Nay, nay, have no fear," she answered; "his Holiness is well; he waits
+thee in his chamber. There, pass on. O happy day! O happy Abouthis!"
+
+So I went, or rather ran, and reached the chamber of which I have
+written, and there at the table sat my father, Amenemhat, the same as he
+had been, but very old. I came to him and, kneeling before him, kissed
+his hand, and he blessed me.
+
+"Look up, my son," he said, "let my old eyes gaze upon thy face, that I
+may read thy heart."
+
+So I lifted up my head, and he looked upon me long and earnestly.
+
+"I read thee," he said at length; "thou art pure and strong in wisdom;
+I have not been deceived in thee. Oh, the years have been lonely; but I
+did well to send thee hence. Now, tell me of thy life; for thy letters
+have told me little, and thou canst not know, my son, how hungry is a
+father's heart."
+
+And so I told him; we sat far into the night and talked together. And
+in the end he bade me know that I must now prepare to be initiated into
+those last mysteries that are learned of the chosen of the Gods.
+
+And so it came about that for a space of three months I prepared myself
+according to the holy customs. I ate no meat. I was constant in the
+sanctuaries, in the study of the secrets of the Great Sacrifice and of
+the woe of the Holy Mother. I watched and prayed before the altars. I
+lifted up my soul to God; ay, in dreams I communed with the Invisible,
+till at length earth and earth's desires seemed to pass from me. I
+longed no more for the glory of this world, my heart hung above it as
+an eagle on his outstretched wings, and the voice of the world's blame
+could not stir it, and the vision of its beauty brought no delight. For
+above me was the vast vault of heaven, where in unalterable procession
+the stars pass on, drawing after them the destinies of men; where the
+Holy Ones sit upon their burning thrones, and watch the chariot-wheels
+of Fate as they roll from sphere to sphere. O hours of holy
+contemplation! who, having once tasted of your joy could wish again to
+grovel on the earth? O vile flesh to drag us down! I would that thou
+hadst then altogether fallen from me, and left my spirit free to seek
+Osiris!
+
+The months of probation passed but too swiftly, and now the holy day
+drew near when I was in truth to be united to the universal Mother.
+Never hath Night so longed for the promise of the Dawn; never hath the
+heart of a lover so passionately desired the sweet coming of his bride,
+as I longed to see Thy glorious face, O Isis! Even now that I have been
+faithless to Thee, and Thou art far from me, O Divine! my soul goes out
+to Thee, and once more I know----But as it is bidden that I should
+draw the veil, and speak of things which have not been told since the
+beginning of this world, let me pass on and reverently set down the
+history of that holy morn.
+
+For seven days the great festival had been celebrated, the suffering of
+the Lord Osiris had been commemorated, the grief of the Mother Isis had
+been sung and glory had been done to the memory of the coming of the
+Divine Child Horus, the Son, the Avenger, the God-begot. All these
+things had been carried out according to the ancient rites. The boats
+had floated on the sacred lake, the priests had scourged themselves
+before the sanctuaries, and the images had been borne through the
+streets at night.
+
+And now, as the sun sank on the seventh day, once more the great
+procession gathered to chant the woes of Isis and tell how the evil was
+avenged. We went in silence from the temple, and passed through the city
+ways. First came those who clear the path, then my father Amenemhat in
+all his priestly robes, and the wand of cedar in his hand. Then, clad
+in pure linen, I, the neophyte, followed alone; and after me the
+white-robed priests, holding aloft banners and emblems of the Gods. Next
+came those who bear the sacred boat, and after them the singers and
+the mourners; while, stretching as far as the eye could reach, all the
+people marched, clad in melancholy black because Osiris was no more. We
+went in silence through the city streets till at length we came to the
+wall of the temple and passed in. And as my father, the High Priest,
+entered beneath the gateway of the outer pylon, a sweet-voiced woman
+singer began to sing the Holy Chant, and thus she sang:
+
+     "Sing we Osiris dead,
+     Lament the fallen head:
+     The light has left the world, the world is grey.
+     Athwart the starry skies
+     The web of Darkness flies,
+     And Isis weeps Osiris passed away.
+     Your tears, ye stars, ye fires, ye rivers, shed,
+     Weep, children of the Nile, weep for your Lord is dead!"
+
+She paused in her most sweet song, and the whole multitude took up the
+melancholy dirge:
+
+     "Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     'Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!'"
+
+The chorus ceased, and once again she sang:
+
+     "Within the court divine
+     The Sevenfold sacred shrine
+     We pass, while echoes of the Temple walls
+     Repeat the long lament
+     The sound of sorrow sent
+     Far up within the imperishable halls,
+     Where, each in the other's arms, the Sisters weep,
+     Isis and Nephthys, o'er His unawaking sleep."
+
+And then again rolled forth the solemn chorus of a thousand voices:
+
+     "Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     'Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!'"
+It ceased, and sweetly she took up the song:
+
+     "O dweller in the West,
+     Lover and Lordliest,
+     Thy love, thy Sister Isis, calls thee home!
+     Come from thy chamber dun
+     Thou Master of the Sun,
+     Thy shadowy chamber far below the foam!
+     With weary wings and spent
+     Through all the firmament,
+     Through all the horror-haunted ways of Hell,
+     I seek thee near and far,
+     From star to wandering star,
+     Free with the dead that in Amenti dwell.
+     I search the height, the deep, the lands, the skies,
+     Rise from the dead and live, our Lord Osiris, rise!"
+
+     "Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     'Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!'"
+
+Now in a strain more high and glad the singer sang:
+
+     "He wakes--from forth the prison
+     We sing Osiris risen,
+     We sing the child that Nout conceived and bare.
+     Thine own love, Isis, waits
+     The Warden of the Gates,
+     She breathes the breath of Life on breast and hair,
+     And in her breast and breath
+     Behold! he waketh,
+     Behold! at length he riseth out of rest;
+     Touched with her holy hands,
+     The Lord of all the Lands,
+     He stirs, he rises from her breath, her breast!
+     But thou, fell Typhon, fly,
+     The judgment day drawn nigh,
+     Fleet on thy track as flame speeds Horus from the sky."
+
+     "Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     'Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!'"
+
+Once more, as we bowed before the Holy, she sang, and sent the full
+breath of her glad music ringing up the everlasting walls till the
+silence quivered with her round notes of melody, and the hearts of those
+who hearkened stirred strangely in the breast. And thus, as we walked,
+she sang the song of Osiris risen, the song of Hope, the song of
+Victory:
+
+     "Sing we the Trinity,
+     Sing we the Holy Three,
+     Sing we, and praise we and worship the Throne,
+     Throne that our Lord hath set--
+     There peace and truth are met
+     There in the Halls of the Holy alone!
+     There in the shadowings
+     Faint of the folded wings,
+     There shall we dwell and rejoice in our rest,
+     We that thy servants are!
+     Horus drive ill afar!
+     Far in the folds of the dark of the West!"
+
+Again, as her notes died away, thundered forth the chorus of all the
+voices:
+
+     "Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     'Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!'"
+
+The chanting ceased, and as the sun sank the High Priest raised the
+statue of the living God and held it before the multitude that was now
+gathered in the court of the temple. Then, with a mighty and joyful
+shout of:
+
+"_Osiris our hope! Osiris! Osiris!_"
+
+the people tore their black wrappings from their dress, revealing the
+white robes they wore beneath, and, as one man, they bowed before the
+God, and the feast was ended.
+
+
+But for me the ceremony was only begun, for to-night was the night of my
+initiation. Leaving the inner court I bathed myself, and, clad in pure
+linen, passed, as it is ordained, into an inner, but not the inmost,
+sanctuary, and laid the accustomed offerings on the altar. Then,
+lifting my hands to heaven, I remained for many hours in contemplation,
+striving, by holy thoughts and prayer, to gather up my strength against
+the mighty moment of my trial.
+
+The hours sped slowly in the silence of the temple, till at length the
+door opened and my father Amenemhat, the High Priest, came in, clad
+in white, and leading by the hand the Priest of Isis. For, having been
+married, he did not himself enter into the mysteries of the Holy Mother.
+
+I rose to my feet and stood humbly before them.
+
+"Art thou ready?" said the priest, lifting the lamp he held so that its
+light fell upon my face. "O thou chosen one, art thou ready to see the
+glory of the Goddess face to face?"
+
+"I am ready," I answered.
+
+"Behold thee," he said again, in solemn tones, "it is no small thing. If
+thou wilt carry out this thy last desire, understand, royal Harmachis,
+that now this very night thou must die for a while in the flesh, what
+time thy soul shall look on spiritual things. And if thou diest and any
+evil shall be found within thy heart, when thou comest at last into that
+awful presence, woe unto thee, Harmachis, for the breath of life shall
+no more enter in at the gateway of thy mouth, thy body shall utterly
+perish, and what shall befall thy other parts, if I know, I may not
+say.[*] Art thou prepared to be taken to the breast of Her who Was and
+Is and Shall Be, and in all things to do Her holy will; for Her, while
+she shall so command, to put away the thought of earthly woman; and to
+labour always for Her glory till at the end thy life is gathered to Her
+eternal life?"
+
+     [*] According to the Egyptian religion the being Man is
+     composed of four parts: the body, the double or astral shape
+     (_ka_), the soul (_bi_), and the spark of life sprung from
+     the Godhead (_khou_).--Editor.
+
+"I am," I answered; "lead on."
+
+"It is well," said the priest. "Noble Amenemhat, we go hence alone."
+
+"Farewell, my son," said my father; "be firm and triumph over things
+spiritual as thou shalt triumph over things earthly. He who would truly
+rule the world must first be lifted up above the world. He must be at
+one with God, for thus only shall he learn the secrets of the Divine.
+But beware! The Gods demand much of those who dare to enter the circle
+of their Divinity. If they go back therefrom, they shall be judged of a
+sharper law, and scourged with a heavier rod, for as their glory is, so
+shall their shame be. Therefore, make thy heart strong, royal Harmachis!
+And when thou speedest down the ways of Night and enterest the Holies,
+remember that from him to whom great gifts have been given shall gifts
+be required again. And now--if, indeed, thy mind be fixed--go whither it
+is not as yet given me to follow thee. Farewell!"
+
+For a moment as my heart weighed these heavy words, I wavered, as well
+as I might. But I was filled with longing to be gathered to the company
+of the Divine ones, and I knew that I had no evil in me, and desired to
+do only the thing that is just. Therefore, having with so much labour
+drawn the bowstring to my ear, I was fain to let fly the shaft. "Lead
+on," I cried with a loud voice; "lead on, thou holy Priest! I follow
+thee!"
+
+And we went forth.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+OF THE INITIATION OF HARMACHIS; OF HIS VISIONS; OF HIS PASSING TO THE
+CITY THAT IS IN THE PLACE OF DEATH; AND OF THE DECLARATIONS OF ISIS, THE
+MESSENGER
+
+In silence we passed into the Shrine of Isis. It was dark and bare--only
+the feeble light from the lamp gleamed faintly upon the sculptured
+walls, where, in a hundred effigies, the Holy Mother suckled the Holy
+Child.
+
+The priest closed the doors and bolted them. "Once again," he said, "art
+thou ready, Harmachis?"
+
+"Once again," I answered, "I am ready."
+
+He spoke no more; but, having lifted up his hands in prayer, led me to
+the centre of the Holy, and with a swift motion put out the lamp.
+
+"Look before thee, Harmachis!" he cried; and his voice sounded hollow in
+the solemn place.
+
+I gazed and saw nothing. But from the niche that is high in the wall,
+where is hid that sacred symbol of the Goddess on which few may look,
+there came a sound as of the rattling rods of the sistrum.[*] And as I
+listened, awestruck, behold! I saw the outline of the symbol drawn as
+with fire upon the blackness of the air. It hung above my head, and
+rattled while it hung. And, as it turned, I clearly saw the face of
+the Mother Isis that is graven on the one side, and signifies unending
+Birth, and the face of her holy sister, Nephthys, that is graven on the
+other, and signifies the ending of all birth in Death.
+
+     [*] A musical instrument peculiarly sacred to Isis of which
+     the shape and rods had a mystic significance.--Editor.
+
+Slowly it turned and swung as though some mystic dancer trod the air
+above me, and shook it in her hand. But at length the light went out,
+and the rattling ceased.
+
+Then of a sudden the end of the chamber became luminous, and in that
+white light I beheld picture after picture. I saw the ancient Nile
+rolling through deserts to the sea. There were no men upon its banks,
+nor any signs of man, nor any temples to the Gods. Only wild birds moved
+on Sihor's lonely face, and monstrous brutes plunged and wallowed in his
+waters. The sun sank in majesty behind the Libyan Desert and stained
+the waters red; the mountains towered up towards the silent sky; but in
+mountain, desert, and river there was no sign of human life. Then I knew
+that I saw the world as it had been before man was, and a terror of its
+loneliness entered my soul.
+
+The picture passed and another rose up in its place. Once again I saw
+the banks of Sihor, and on them crowded wild-faced creatures, partaking
+of the nature of the ape more than of the nature of mankind. They fought
+and slew each other. The wild birds sprang up in affright as the fire
+leapt from reed huts given by foemen's hands to flame and pillage. They
+stole and rent and murdered, dashing out the brains of children with
+axes of stone. And, though no voice told me, I knew that I saw man as
+he was tens of thousands of years ago, when first he marched across the
+earth.
+
+Yet another picture. Again I beheld the banks of Sihor; but on them fair
+cities bloomed like flowers. In and out their gates went men and women,
+passing to and fro from wide, well-tilled lands. But I saw no guards or
+armies, and no weapons of war. All was wisdom, prosperity, and peace.
+And while I wondered, a glorious Figure, clad in raiment that shone
+as flame, came from the gates of a shrine, and the sound of music went
+before and followed after him. He mounted an ivory throne which was set
+in a market-place facing the water: and as the sun sank called in
+all the multitudes to prayer. With one voice they prayed, bending in
+adoration. And I understood that herein was shown the reign of the Gods
+on earth, which was long before the days of Menes.
+
+A change came over the dream. Still the same fair city, but other
+men--men with greed and evil on their faces--who hated the bonds of
+righteous doing, and set their hearts on sin. The evening came; the
+glorious Figure mounted the throne and called to prayer, but none bowed
+themselves in adoration.
+
+"We are aweary of thee!" they cried. "Make Evil King! Slay him! slay
+him! and loose the bonds of Evil! Make Evil King!"
+
+The glorious Shape rose up, gazing with mild eyes upon those wicked men.
+
+"Ye know not what ye ask," he cried; "but as ye will, so be it! For if
+I die, by me, after much travail, shall ye once again find a path to the
+Kingdom of Good!"
+
+Even as he spoke, a Form, foul and hideous to behold, leapt upon him,
+cursing, slew him, tore him limb from limb, and amidst the clamour of
+the people sat himself upon the throne and ruled. But a Shape whose
+face was veiled passed down from heaven on shadowy wings, and with
+lamentations gathered up the rent fragments of the Being. A moment she
+bent herself upon them, then lifted up her hands and wept. And as she
+wept, behold! from her side there sprang a warrior armed and with a
+face like the face of Ra at noon. He, the Avenger, hurled himself with
+a shout upon the Monster who had usurped the throne, and they closed in
+battle, and, struggling ever in a strait embrace, passed upward to the
+skies.
+
+Then came picture after picture. I saw Powers and Peoples clad in
+various robes and speaking many tongues. I saw them pass and pass in
+millions--loving, hating, struggling, dying. Some few were happy and
+some had woe stamped upon their faces; but most bore not the seal of
+happiness nor of woe, but rather that of patience. And ever as they
+passed from age to age, high above in the heavens the Avenger fought
+on with the Evil Thing, while the scale of victory swung now here now
+there. But neither conquered, nor was it given to me to know how the
+battle ended.
+
+And I understood that what I had beheld was the holy vision of the
+struggle between the Good and the Evil Powers. I saw that man was
+created vile, but Those who are above took pity on him, and came down
+to him to make him good and happy, for the two things are one thing. But
+man returned to his wicked way, and then the bright Spirit of Good, who
+is of us called Osiris, but who has many names, offered himself up for
+the evil-doing of the race that had dethroned him. And from him and the
+Divine Mother, of whom all nature is, sprang another spirit who is the
+Protector of us on earth, as Osiris is our justifier in Amenti.
+
+For this is the mystery of the Osiris.
+
+Of a sudden, as I saw the visions, these things became clear to me. The
+mummy cloths of symbol and of ceremony that wrap Osiris round fell from
+him, and I understood the secret of religion, which is Sacrifice.
+
+The pictures passed, and again the priest, my guide, spoke to me.
+
+"Hast thou understood, Harmachis, those things which it has been granted
+thee to see?"
+
+"I have," I said. "Are the rites ended?"
+
+"Nay, they are but begun. That which follows thou must endure alone!
+Behold I leave thee, to return at the morning light. Once more I warn
+thee. That which thou shalt see, few may look upon and live. In all my
+days I have known but three who dared to face this dread hour, and of
+those three at dawn but one was found alive. Myself, I have not trod
+this path. It is too high for me."
+
+"Depart," I said; "my soul is athirst for knowledge. I will dare it."
+
+He laid his hand upon my shoulder and blessed me. He went. I heard the
+door shut to behind him, the echoes of his footsteps slowly died away.
+
+Then I felt that I was alone, alone in the Holy Place with Things
+which are not of the earth. Silence fell--silence deep and black as the
+darkness which was around me. The silence fell, it gathered as the cloud
+gathered on the face of the moon that night when, a lad, I prayed upon
+the pylon towers. It gathered denser and yet more dense till it seemed
+to creep into my heart and call aloud therein; for utter silence has
+a voice that is more terrible than any cry. I spoke; the echoes of my
+words came back upon me from the walls and seemed to beat me down. The
+stillness was lighter to endure than an echo such as this. What was I
+about to see? Should I die, even now, in the fulness of my youth and
+strength? Terrible were the warnings that had been given to me. I was
+fear-stricken, and bethought me that I would fly. Fly!--fly whither? The
+temple door was barred; I could not fly. I was alone with the Godhead,
+alone with the Power that I had invoked. Nay, my heart was pure--my
+heart was pure. I would face the terror that was to come, ay, even
+though I died.
+
+"Isis, Holy Mother," I prayed. "Isis, Spouse of Heaven, come unto me, be
+with me now; I faint! be with me now."
+
+And then I knew that things were not as things had been. The air around
+me began to stir, it rustled as the wings of eagles rustle, it took
+life. Bright eyes gazed upon me, strange whispers shook my soul. Upon
+the darkness were bars of light. They changed and interchanged, they
+moved to and fro and wove mystic symbols which I could not read.
+Swifter and swifter flew that shuttle of the light: the symbols grouped,
+gathered, faded, gathered yet again, faster and still more fast, till my
+eyes could count them no more. Now I was afloat upon a sea of glory; it
+surged and rolled, as the ocean rolls; it tossed me high, it brought me
+low. Glory was piled on glory, splendour heaped on splendour's head, and
+I rode above it all!
+
+Soon the lights began to pale in the rolling sea of air. Great shadows
+shot across it, lines of darkness pierced it and rushed together on its
+breast, till, at length, I was only a Shape of Flame set like a star on
+the bosom of immeasurable night. Bursts of awful music gathered from far
+away. Miles and miles away I heard them, thrilling faintly through the
+gloom. On they came, nearer and more near, louder and more loud, till
+they swept past, above, below, around me, swept on rushing pinions,
+terrifying and enchanting me. They floated by, ever growing fainter,
+till they died in space. Then others came, and no two were akin. Some
+rattled as ten thousand sistra shaken all to tune. Some rank from the
+brazen throats of unnumbered clarions. Some pealed with a loud, sweet
+chant of voices that were more than human; and some rolled along in the
+slow thunder of a million drums. They passed; their notes were lost in
+dying echoes; and the silence once more pressed in upon me and overcame
+me.
+
+The strength within me began to fail. I felt my life ebbing at its
+springs. Death drew near to me and his shape was _Silence_. He entered
+at my heart, entered with a sense of numbing cold, but my brain was
+still alive, I could yet think. I knew that I was drawing near the
+confines of the Dead. Nay, I was dying fast, and oh, the horror of it!
+I strove to pray and could not; there was no more time for prayer. One
+struggle and the stillness crept into my brain. The terror passed; an
+unfathomable weight of sleep pressed me down. I was dying, I was dying,
+and then--nothingness!
+
+_I was dead!_
+
+A change--life came back to me, but between the new life and the life
+that had been was a gulf and difference. Once again I stood in the
+darkness of the shrine, but it blinded me no more. It was clear as the
+light of day, although it still was black. I stood; and yet it was not
+I who stood, but rather my spiritual part, for at my feet lay my dead
+Self. There it lay, rigid and still, a stamp of awful calm sealed upon
+its face, while I gazed on it.
+
+And as I gazed, filled with wonder, I was caught up on the Wings of
+Flame and whirled away! away! faster than the lightnings flash. Down I
+fell, through depths of empty space set here and there with glittering
+crowns of stars. Down for ten million miles and ten times ten million,
+till at length I hovered over a place of soft, unchanging light, wherein
+were Temples, Palaces, and Abodes, such as no man ever saw in the
+visions of his sleep. They were built of Flame, and they were built of
+Blackness. Their spires pierced up and up; their great courts stretched
+around. Even as I hovered they changed continually to the eye; what was
+Flame became Blackness, what was Blackness became Flame. Here was the
+flash of crystal, and there the blaze of gems shone even through the
+glory that rolls around the city which is in the Place of Death. There
+were trees, and their voice as they rustled was the voice of music;
+there was air, and, as it blew, its breath was the sobbing notes of
+song.
+
+Shapes, changing, mysterious, wonderful, rushed up to meet me, and bore
+me down till I seemed to stand upon another earth.
+
+"Who comes?" cried a great Voice.
+
+"Harmachis," answered the Shapes, that changed continually. "Harmachis
+who hath been summoned from the earth to look upon the face of Her that
+Was and Is and Shall Be. Harmachis, Child of Earth!"
+
+"Throw back the Gates and open wide the Doors!" pealed the awful Voice.
+"Throw back the Gates and open wide the Doors; seal up his lips in
+silence, lest his voice jar upon the harmonies of Heaven, take away his
+sight lest he see that which may not be seen, and let Harmachis, who
+hath been summoned, pass down the path that leads to the place of the
+Unchanging. Pass on, Child of Earth; but before thou goest, look up that
+thou mayest learn how far thou art removed from Earth."
+
+I looked up. Beyond the glory that shone about the city was black night,
+and high on its bosom twinkled one tiny star.
+
+"Behold the world that thou hast left," said the Voice, "behold and
+tremble."
+
+Then my lips and eyes were sealed with silence and with darkness, so
+that I was dumb and blind. The Gates rolled back, the Doors swung wide,
+and I was swept into the city that is in the Place of Death. I was swept
+swiftly I know not whither, till at length I stood upon my feet. Again
+the great Voice pealed:
+
+"Draw the veil of blackness from his eyes, unseal the silence on his
+lips, that Harmachis, Child of Earth, may see, hear, and understand, and
+make adoration at the Shrine of Her that Was and Is and Shall Be."
+
+And my lips and eyes were touched once more, so that my sight and speech
+came back.
+
+Behold! I stood within a hall of blackest marble, so lofty that even
+in the rosy light scarce could my vision reach the great groins of the
+roof. Music wailed about its spaces, and all adown its length stood
+winged Spirits fashioned in living fire, and such was the brightness of
+their forms that I could not look on them. In its centre was an altar,
+small and square, and I stood before the empty altar. Then again the
+Voice cried:
+
+"O Thou that hast been, art, and shalt be; Thou who, having many names,
+art yet without a name; Measurer of Time; Messenger of God; Guardian of
+the Worlds and the Races that dwell thereon; Universal Mother born of
+Nothingness; Creatix uncreated; Living Splendour without Form, Living
+Form without Substance; Servant of the Invisible; Child of Law; Holder
+of the Scales and Sword of Fate; Vessel of Life, through whom all Life
+flows, to whom it again is gathered; Recorder of Things Done; Executrix
+of Decrees--_Hear!_
+
+"Harmachis the Egyptian, who by Thy will hath been summoned from
+the earth, waits before Thine Altar, with ears unstopped, with
+eyes unsealed, and with an open heart. Hear and descend! Descend, O
+Many-shaped! Descend in Flame! Descend in Sound! Descend in Spirit! Hear
+and descend!"
+
+
+
+The Voice ceased and there was silence. Then through the silence came
+a sound like the booming of the sea. It passed and presently, moved
+thereto by I know not what, I raised my eyes from my hands with which I
+had covered them, and saw a small dark cloud hanging over the Altar in
+and out of which a fiery Serpent climbed.
+
+Then all the Spirits clad in light fell upon the marble floor, and with
+a loud voice adored; but what they said I could not understand. Behold!
+the dark cloud came down and rested on the Altar, the Serpent of fire
+stretched itself towards me, touched me on the forehead with its forky
+tongue and was gone. From within the cloud a Voice sweet and low and
+clear spoke in heavenly accents:
+
+"Depart, ye Ministers, leave Me with my son whom I have summoned."
+
+Then like arrows rushing from a bow the flame-clad Spirits leapt from
+the ground and sped away.
+
+"O Harmachis," said the Voice, "be not afraid, I am She whom thou dost
+know as Isis of the Egyptians; but what else I am strive not thou
+to learn, it is beyond thy strength. For I am all things, Life is my
+spirit, and Nature is my raiment. I am the laughter of the babe, I am
+the maiden's love, I am the mother's kiss. I am the Child and Servant of
+the Invisible that is God, that is Law, that is Fate--though myself I be
+not God and Fate and Law. When winds blow and oceans roar upon the
+face of the Earth thou hearest my voice; when thou gazest on the starry
+firmament thou seest my countenance; when the spring blooms out in
+flowers, that is my smile, Harmachis. For I am Nature's self, and all
+her shapes are shapes of Me. I breathe in all that breathes. I wax and
+wane in the changeful moon: I grow and gather in the tides: I rise with
+the suns: I flash with the lightning and thunder in the storms. Nothing
+is too great for the measure of my majesty, nothing is so small that
+I cannot find a home therein. I am in thee and thou art in Me, O
+Harmachis. That which bade thee be bade Me also be. Therefore, though I
+am great and thou art little, have no fear. For we are bound together
+by the common bond of life--that life which flows through suns and stars
+and spaces, through Spirits and the souls of men, welding all Nature to
+a whole that, changing ever, is yet eternally the same."
+
+I bowed my head--I could not speak, for I was afraid.
+
+"Faithfully hast thou served Me, O my son," went on the low sweet Voice;
+"greatly thou hast longed to be brought face to face with Me here in
+Amenti; and greatly hast thou dared to accomplish thy desire. For it is
+no small thing to cast off the tabernacle of the Flesh and before the
+appointed time, if only for an hour, put on the raiment of the Spirit.
+And greatly, O my servant and my son, have I, too, desired to look on
+thee there where I am. For the Gods love those who love them, but with a
+wider and deeper love, and under One who is as far from Me as I am from
+thee, mortal, I am a God of Gods. Therefore I have caused thee to be
+brought hither, Harmachis; and therefore I speak to thee, my son, and
+bid thee commune with Me now face to face, as thou didst commune that
+night upon the temple towers of Abouthis. For I was there with thee,
+Harmachis, as I was in ten thousand other worlds. It was I, O Harmachis,
+who laid the lotus in thy hand, giving thee the sign which thou didst
+seek. For thou art of the kingly blood of my children who served Me from
+age to age. And if thou dost not fail thou shalt sit upon that kingly
+throne and restore my ancient worship in its purity, and sweep my
+temples from their defilements. But if thou dost fail, then shall the
+eternal Spirit Isis become but a memory in Egypt."
+
+The Voice paused; and, gathering up my strength, at length I spoke
+aloud:
+
+"Tell me, O Holy," I said, "shall I then fail?"
+
+"Ask Me not," answered the Voice, "that which it is not lawful that I
+should answer thee. Perchance I can read that which shall befall thee,
+perchance it doth not please Me so to read. What can it profit the
+Divine, that hath all time wherein to await the issues, to be eager to
+look upon the blossom that is not blown, but which, lying a seed in the
+bosom of the earth, shall blow in its season? Know, Harmachis, that I
+do not shape the Future; the Future is to thee and not to Me; for it is
+born of Law and of the rule ordained of the Invisible. Yet thou art free
+to act therein, and thou shalt win or thou shalt fail according to thy
+strength and the measure of thy heart's purity. Thine be the burden,
+Harmachis, as thine in the event shall be the glory or the shame. Little
+do I reck of the issue, I who am but the Minister of what is written.
+Now hear me: I will always be with thee, my son, for my love once
+given can never be taken away, though by sin it may seem lost to thee.
+Remember then this: if thou dost triumph, thy guerdon shall be great; if
+thou dost fail, heavy indeed shall be thy punishment both in the flesh
+and in the land that thou callest Amenti. Yet this for thy comfort:
+shame and agony shall not be eternal. For however deep the fall from
+righteousness, if but repentance holds the heart, there is a path--a
+stony and a cruel path--whereby the height may be climbed again. Let it
+not be thy lot to follow it, Harmachis!
+
+"And now, because thou hast loved Me, my son, and, wandering through the
+maze of fable, wherein men lose themselves upon the earth, mistaking the
+substance for the Spirit, and the Altar for the God, hast yet grasped a
+clue of Truth the Many-faced; and because I love thee and look on to
+the day that, perchance, shall come when thou shalt dwell blessed in my
+light and in the doing of my tasks: because of this, I say, it shall be
+given to thee, O Harmachis, to hear the Word whereby I may be summoned
+from the Uttermost, by one who hath communed with Me, and to look upon
+the face of Isis--even into the eyes of the Messenger, and not die the
+death.
+
+"_Behold!_"
+
+The sweet Voice ceased; the dark cloud upon the altar changed and
+changed--it grew white, it shone, and seemed at length to take the
+shrouded shape of a woman. Then the golden Snake crept from its heart
+once more, and, like a living diadem, twined itself about the cloudy
+brows.
+
+Now suddenly a Voice called aloud the awful Word, then the vapours burst
+and melted, and with my eyes I saw that Glory, at the very thought of
+which my spirit faints. But what I saw it is not lawful to utter. For,
+though I have been bidden to write what I have written of this matter,
+perchance that a record may remain, thereon I have been warned--ay, even
+now, after these many years. I saw, and what I saw cannot be imagined;
+for there are Glories and there are Shapes which are beyond the reach
+of man's imagination. I saw--then, with the echo of that Word, and the
+memory of that sight stamped for ever on my heart, my spirit failed me,
+and I sank down before the Glory.
+
+And, as I fell, it seemed that the great hall burst open and crumbled
+into flakes of fire round me. Then a great wind blew: there was a sound
+as the sound of Worlds rushing down the flood of Time--and I knew no
+more!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+OF THE AWAKING OF HARMACHIS; OF THE CEREMONY OF HIS CROWNING AS PHARAOH
+OF THE UPPER AND THE LOWER LAND; AND OF THE OFFERINGS MADE TO PHARAOH
+
+Once again I woke--to find myself stretched at length upon the stone
+flooring of the Holy Place of Isis that is at Abouthis. By me stood the
+old Priest of the Mysteries, and in his hand was a lamp. He bent over
+me, and gazed earnestly upon my face.
+
+"It is day--the day of thy new birth, and thou hast lived to see
+it, Harmachis!" he said at length. "I give thanks. Arise, royal
+Harmachis--nay, tell me naught of that which has befallen thee. Arise,
+beloved of the Holy Mother. Come forth, thou who hast passed the fire
+and learned what lies behind the darkness--come forth, O newly-born!"
+
+I rose and, walking faintly, went with him, and, passing out of the
+darkness of the Shrines filled with thought and wonder, came once more
+into the pure light of the morning. And then I went to my own chamber
+and slept; nor did any dreams come to trouble me. But no man--not even
+my father--asked me aught of what I saw upon that dread night, or after
+what fashion I had communed with the Goddess.
+
+After these things which have been written, I applied myself for a
+space to the worship of the Mother Isis, and to the further study of the
+outward forms of those mysteries to which I now held the key. Moreover,
+I was instructed in matters politic, for many great men of our following
+came secretly to see me from all quarters of Egypt, and told me much
+of the hatred of the people towards Cleopatra, the Queen, and of other
+things. At last the hour drew nigh; it was three months and ten days
+from the night when, for a while, I left the flesh, and yet living with
+our life, was gathered to the breast of Isis, on which it was agreed
+that with due and customary rites, although in utter secrecy, I should
+be called to the throne of the Upper and the Lower Land. So it came
+about that, as the solemn time drew nigh, great men of the party of
+Egypt gathered to the number of thirty-seven from every nome, and each
+great city of their nome, meeting together at Abouthis. They came in
+every guise--some as priests, some as pilgrims to the Shrine, and some
+as beggars. Among them was my uncle, Sepa, who, though he clad himself
+as a travelling doctor, had much ado to keep his loud voice from
+betraying him. Indeed, I myself knew him by it, meeting him as I walked
+in thought upon the banks of the canal, although it was then dusk and
+the great cape, which, after the fashion of such doctors, he had thrown
+about his head, half hid his face.
+
+"A pest on thee!" he cried, when I greeted him by his name. "Cannot a
+man cease to be himself for a single hour? Didst thou but know the pains
+that it has cost me to learn to play this part--and now thou readest who
+I am even in the dark!"
+
+And then, still talking in his loud voice, he told me how he had
+travelled hither on foot, the better to escape the spies who ply to and
+fro upon the river. But he said he should return by the water, or take
+another guise; for since he had come as a doctor he had been forced to
+play a doctor's part, knowing but little of the arts of medicine; and,
+as he greatly feared, there were many between Annu and Abouthis who had
+suffered from it.[*] And he laughed loudly and embraced me, forgetting
+his part. For he was too whole at heart to be an actor and other than
+himself, and would have entered Abouthis with me holding my hand, had I
+not chid him for his folly.
+
+     [*] In Ancient Egypt an unskilful or negligent physician was
+     liable to very heavy penalties.--Editor.
+
+At length all were gathered.
+
+It was night, and the gates of the temple were shut. None were left
+within them, except the thirty-seven; my father, the High Priest
+Amenemhat; that aged priest who had led me to the Shrine of Isis; the
+old wife, Atoua, who, according to ancient custom, was to prepare me
+for the anointing; and some five other priests, sworn to secrecy by that
+oath which none may break. They gathered in the second hall of the great
+temple; but I remained alone, clad in my white robe, in the passage
+where are the names of six-and-seventy ancient Kings, who were before
+the day of the divine Sethi. There I rested in darkness, till at length
+my father, Amenemhat, came, bearing a lamp, and, bowing low before me,
+led me by the hand forth into the great hall. Here and there, between
+its mighty pillars, lights were burning that dimly showed the sculptured
+images upon the walls, and dimly fell upon the long line of the
+seven-and-thirty Lords, Priests, and Princes, who, seated upon carven
+chairs, awaited my coming in silence. Before them, facing away from
+the seven Sanctuaries, a throne was set, around which stood the priests
+holding the sacred images and banners. As I came into the dim and holy
+place, the Dignitaries rose, and bowed before me, speaking no word;
+while my father led me to the steps of the throne, and in a low voice
+bade me stand before it.
+
+Then he spoke:
+
+"Lords, Priests, and Princes of the ancient orders of the land of
+Khem--Nobles from the Upper and the Lower Country, have gathered
+in answer to my summons, hear me: I present to you, with such scant
+formality as the occasion can afford, the Prince Harmachis, by right and
+true descent of blood the descendant and heir of the ancient Pharaohs
+of our most unhappy land. He is priest of the inmost circle of the
+Mysteries of the Divine Isis, Master of the Mysteries--Hereditary Priest
+of the Pyramids, which are by Memphis, Instructed in the Solemn Rites
+of the Holy Osiris. Is there any among you who has aught to urge against
+the true line of his blood?"
+
+He paused, and my uncle Sepa, rising from his chair, spoke: "We have
+made examination of the records and there is none, O Amenemhat. He is of
+the Royal blood, his descent is true."
+
+"Is there any among you," went on my father, "who can deny that this
+royal Harmachis, by sanction of the very Gods, has been gathered
+to Isis, been shown the way of the Osiris, been admitted to be the
+Hereditary High Priest of the Pyramids which are by Memphis, and of the
+Temples of the Pyramids?"
+
+Then that old priest rose who had been my guide in the Sanctuary of the
+Mother and made answer: "There is none; O Amenemhat; I know these things
+of my own knowledge."
+
+Once more my father spoke: "Is there any among you who has aught to urge
+against this royal Harmachis, in that by wickedness of heart or life, by
+uncleanliness or falsity, it is not fit or meet that we should crown him
+Lord of all the Lands?"
+
+Then an aged Prince of Memphis arose and made answer:
+
+"We have inquired of these matters: there is none, O Amenemhat."
+
+"It is well," said my father; "then naught is wanting in the Prince
+Harmachis, seed of Nekt-nebf, the Osirian. Let the woman Atoua stand
+forth and tell this company those things that came to pass when, at
+the hour of her death, she who was my wife prophesied over this Prince,
+being filled with the Spirit of the Hathors."
+
+Thereon old Atoua crept forward from the shadow of the columns, and
+earnestly told those things that have been written.
+
+"Ye have heard," said my father: "do you believe that the woman who was
+my wife spake with the Divine voice?"
+
+"We do," they answered.
+
+Now my uncle Sepa rose and spoke:
+
+"Royal Harmachis, thou hast heard. Know now that we are gathered here
+to crown thee King of the Upper and the Lower Lands--thy holy father,
+Amenemhat, renouncing all his right on thy behalf. We are met, not,
+indeed, in that pomp and ceremony which is due to the occasion--for what
+we do must be done in secret, lest our lives, and the cause that is more
+dear to us than life, should pay the forfeit--but yet with such dignity
+and observance of the ancient rites as our circumstance may command.
+Learn, now, how this matter hangs, and if, after learning, thy mind
+consents thereto, then mount thy throne, O Pharaoh--and swear the oath!
+
+"Long has Khemi groaned beneath the mailed heel of the Greek, and
+trembled at the shadow of the Roman's spear; long has the ancient
+worship of its Gods been desecrated, and its people crushed with
+oppression. But we believe that the hour of deliverance is at hand,
+and with the solemn voice of Egypt and by the ancient Gods of Egypt, to
+whose cause thou art of all men bound, we call upon thee, Prince, to be
+the sword of our deliverance. Hearken! Twenty thousand good and leal men
+are sworn to wait upon thy word, and at thy signal to rise as one, to
+put the Grecian to the sword, and with their blood and substance to
+build thee a throne set more surely on the soil of Khem than are its
+ancient pyramids--such a throne as shall even roll the Roman legions
+back. And for the signal, it shall be the death of that bold harlot,
+Cleopatra. Thou must compass her death, Harmachis, in such fashion as
+shall be shown to thee, and with her blood anoint the Royal throne of
+Egypt.
+
+"Canst thou refuse, O our Hope? Doth not the holy love of country swell
+within thy heart? Canst thou dash the cup of Freedom from thy lips and
+bear to drink the bitter draught of slaves? The emprise is great; maybe
+it shall fail, and thou with thy life, as we with ours, shalt pay the
+price of our endeavour. But what of it, Harmachis? Is life, then,
+so sweet? Are we so softly cushioned on the stony bed of earth? Is
+bitterness and sorrow in its sum so small and scant a thing? Do we here
+breathe so divine an air that we should fear to face the passage of
+our breath? What have we here but hope and memory? What see we here but
+shadows? Shall we then fear to pass pure-handed where Fulfilment is and
+memory is lost in its own source, and shadows die in the light which
+cast them? O Harmachis, that man alone is truly blest who crowns his
+life with Fame's most splendid wreath. For, since to all the Brood of
+Earth Death hands his poppy-flowers, he indeed is happy to whom there is
+occasion given to weave them in a crown of glory. And how can a man die
+better than in a great endeavour to strike the gyves from his Country's
+limbs so that she again may stand in the face of Heaven and raise the
+shrill shout of Freedom, and, clad once more in a panoply of strength,
+trample under foot the fetters of her servitude, defying the tyrant
+nations of the earth to set their seal upon her brow?
+
+"Khem calls thee, Harmachis. Come then, thou Deliverer; leap like Horus
+from the firmament, break her chains, scatter her foes, and rule a
+Pharaoh on Pharaoh's Throne----"
+
+"Enough, enough!" I cried, while the long murmur of applause swept about
+the columns and up the massy walls. "Enough; is there any need to adjure
+me thus? Had I a hundred lives, would I not most gladly lay them down
+for Egypt?"
+
+"Well said, well said!" answered Sepa. "Now go forth with the woman
+yonder, that she may make thy hands clean before they touch the sacred
+emblems, and anoint thy brow before it is encircled of the diadem."
+
+And so I went into a chamber apart with the old wife, Atoua. There,
+muttering prayers, she poured pure water over my hands into a ewer of
+gold, and having dipped a fine cloth into oil wiped my brow with it.
+
+"O happy Egypt!" she said; "O happy Prince, that art come to rule in
+Egypt! O Royal youth!--too Royal to be a priest--so shall many a fair
+woman think; but, perchance, for thee they will relax the priestly rule,
+else how shall the race of Pharaoh be carried on? O happy I, who dandled
+thee and gave my flesh and blood to save thee! O royal and beautiful
+Harmachis, born for splendour, happiness, and love!"
+
+"Cease, cease," I said, for her talk jarred upon me; "call me not happy
+till thou knowest my end, and speak not to me of love, for with love
+comes sorrow, and mine is another and a higher way."
+
+"Ay, ay, so thou sayest--and joy, too, that comes with love! Never talk
+lightly of love, my King, for it brought thee here! _La! la!_ but it is
+always the way--'The goose on the wing laughs at crocodiles,' so goes
+their saying down at Alexandria; 'but when the goose is asleep on the
+water, it is the crocodiles that laugh.' Not but what women are pretty
+crocodiles. Men worship the crocodiles at Anthribis--Crocodilopolis they
+call it now, don't they?--but they worship women all the world over!
+_La!_ how my tongue runs on, and thou about to be crowned Pharaoh! Did I
+not prophesy it to thee? Well, thou art clean, Lord of the Double Crown.
+Go forth!"
+
+So I went from the chamber with the old wife's foolish talk ringing in
+my ears, though of a truth her folly had ever a grain of wit in it.
+
+As I came, the Dignitaries rose once more and bowed before me. Then my
+father, without delay, drew near me, and placed in my hands a golden
+image of the divine Ma, the Goddess of Truth, and golden images of the
+arks of the God Amen-Ra, of the divine Mout, and the divine Khons, and
+spoke solemnly:
+
+"Thou swearest by the living majesty of Ma, by the majesty of Amen-Ra,
+of Mout, and of Khons?"
+
+"I swear," I said.
+
+"Thou swearest by the holy land of Khem, by Sihor's flood, by the
+Temples of the Gods and the eternal Pyramids?"
+
+"I swear."
+
+"Remembering thy hideous doom if thou shouldst fail therein, thou
+swearest that thou wilt in all things govern Egypt according to its
+ancient laws, that thou wilt preserve the worship of its Gods, that thou
+wilt do equal justice, that thou wilt not oppress, that thou wilt not
+betray, that thou wilt make no alliance with the Roman or the Greek,
+that thou wilt cast out the foreign Idols, that thou wilt devote thy
+life to the liberty of the land of Khem?"
+
+"I swear."
+
+"It is well. Mount, then, the throne, that in the presence of these thy
+subjects, I may name thee Pharaoh."
+
+I mounted upon the throne, of which the footstool is a Sphinx, and the
+canopy the overshadowing wings of Ma. Then Amenemhat drew nigh once
+again and placed the Pshent upon my brow, and on my head the Double
+Crown, and the Royal Robe about my shoulders, and in my hands the
+Sceptre and the Scourge.
+
+"Royal Harmachis," he cried, "by these outward signs and tokens, I, the
+High Priest of the Temple of Ra-Men-Ma at Abouthis, crown thee Pharaoh
+of the Upper and Lower Land. Reign and prosper, O Hope of Khemi!"
+
+"Reign and prosper, Pharaoh!" echoed the Dignitaries, bowing down before
+me.
+
+Then, one by one, they swore allegiance, till all had sworn. And, having
+sworn, my father took me by the hand; he led me in solemn procession
+into each of the seven Sanctuaries that are in this Temple of Ra-Men-Ma,
+and in each I made offerings, swung incense, and officiated as priest.
+Clad in the Royal robes I made offerings in the Shrine of Horus, in the
+Shrine of Isis, in the Shrine of Osiris, in the Shrine of Amen-Ra, in
+the Shrine of Horemku, in the Shrine of Ptah, till at length I reached
+the Shrine of the King's Chamber.
+
+Here they made their offering to me, as the Divine Pharaoh, and left me
+very weary--but a King.
+
+[Here the first and smallest of the papyrus rolls comes to an end.]
+
+
+
+
+BOOK II--THE FALL OF HARMACHIS
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+OF THE FAREWELL OF AMENEMHAT TO HARMACHIS; OF THE COMING OF HARMACHIS
+TO ALEXANDRIA; OF THE EXHORTATION OF SEPA; OF THE PASSING OF CLEOPATRA
+ROBED AS ISIS; AND OF THE OVERTHROW OF THE GLADIATOR BY HARMACHIS
+
+Now the long days of preparation had passed, and the time was at hand. I
+was initiated, and I was crowned; so that although the common folk knew
+me not, or knew me only as Priest of Isis, there were in Egypt thousands
+who at heart bowed down to me as Pharaoh. The hour was at hand, and my
+soul went forth to meet it. For I longed to overthrow the foreigner, to
+set Egypt free, to mount the throne that was my heritage, and cleanse
+the temples of my Gods. I was fain for the struggle, and I never doubted
+of its end. I looked into the mirror, and saw triumph written on my
+brows. The future stretched a path of glory from my feet--ay, glittering
+with glory like Sihor in the sun. I communed with my Mother Isis; I sat
+within my chamber and took counsel with my heart; I planned new temples;
+I revolved great laws that I would put forth for my people's weal; and
+in my ears rang the shouts of exultation which should greet victorious
+Pharaoh on his throne.
+
+But still I tarried a little while at Abouthis, and, having been
+commanded to do so, let my hair, that had been shorn, grow again long
+and black as the raven's wing, instructing myself meanwhile in all manly
+exercises and feats of arms. Also, for a purpose which shall be seen, I
+perfected myself in the magic art of the Egyptians, and in the reading
+of the stars, in which things, indeed, I already have great skill.
+
+Now, this was the plan that had been built up. My uncle Sepa had, for
+a while, left the Temple of Annu, giving out that his health had failed
+him. Thence he had moved down to a house in Alexandria, to gather
+strength, as he said, from the breath of the sea, and also to learn for
+himself the wonders of the great Museum and the glory of Cleopatra's
+Court. There it was planned that I should join him, for there, at
+Alexandria, the egg of the plot was hatching. Accordingly, when at
+last the summons came, all things being prepared, I made ready for the
+journey, and passed into my father's chamber to receive his blessing
+before I went. There sat the old man, as once before he sat when he had
+rebuked me because I went out to slay the lion, his long white beard
+resting on the table of stone and sacred writings in his hand. When I
+came in he rose from his seat and would have knelt before me, crying
+"Hail, Pharaoh!" but I caught him by the hand.
+
+"It is not meet, my father," I said.
+
+"It is meet," he answered, "it is meet that I should bow before my King;
+but be it as thou wilt. And so thou goest, Harmachis; my blessings go
+with thee, O my son! And may Those whom I serve grant to me that my
+old eyes may, indeed, behold thee on the throne! I have searched long,
+striving, Harmachis, to read the future that shall be; but I can learn
+naught by all my wisdom. It is hid from me, and at times my heart fails.
+But hear this, there is danger in thy path, and it comes in the form of
+Woman. I have known it long, and therefore thou hast been called to the
+worship of the heavenly Isis, who bids her votaries put away the thought
+of woman till such time as she shall think well to slacken the rule.
+Oh, my son, I would that thou wert not so strong and fair--stronger and
+fairer, indeed, than any man in Egypt, as a King should be--for in that
+strength and beauty may lie a cause of stumbling. Beware, then, of those
+witches of Alexandria, lest, like a worm, some one of them creep into my
+heart and eat its secret out."
+
+"Have no fear, my father," I answered, frowning, "my thought is set on
+other things than red lips and smiling eyes."
+
+"It is good," he answered; "so may it befall. And now farewell. When
+next we meet, may it be in that happy hour when, with all the priests of
+the Upper Land, I move down from Abouthis to do my homage to Pharaoh on
+his throne."
+
+So I embraced him, and went. Alas! I little thought how we should meet
+again.
+
+
+
+Thus it came about that once more I passed down the Nile travelling as a
+man of no estate. And to such as were curious about me it was given out
+that I was the adopted son of the High Priest of Abouthis, having been
+brought up to the priesthood, and that I had at the last refused the
+service of the Gods, and chosen to go to Alexandria, to seek my fortune.
+For, be it remembered, I was still held to be the grandson of the old
+wife, Atoua, by all those who did not know the truth.
+
+On the tenth night, sailing with the wind, we reached the mighty city
+of Alexandria, the city of a thousand lights. Above them all towered the
+white Pharos, that wonder of the world, from the crown of which a light
+like the light of the sun blazed out across the waters of the harbour
+to guide mariners on their way across the sea. The vessel having been
+cautiously made fast to the quay, for it was night, I disembarked and
+stood wondering at the vast mass of houses, and confused by the clamour
+of many tongues. For here all peoples seemed to be gathered together,
+each speaking after the fashion of his own land. And as I stood a
+young man came and touched me on the shoulder, asking me if I was from
+Abouthis and named Harmachis. I said "Yea." Then, bending over me,
+he whispered the secret pass-word into my ear, and, beckoning to
+two slaves, bade them bring my baggage from the ship. This they did,
+fighting their way through the crowd of porters who were clamouring
+for hire. Then I followed him down the quay, which was bordered with
+drinking-places, where all sorts of men were gathered, tippling wine and
+watching the dancing of women, some of whom were but scantily arrayed,
+and some not arrayed at all.
+
+And so we went through the lamp-lit houses till at last we reached the
+shore of the great harbour, and turned to the right along a wide way
+paved with granite and bordered by strong houses, having cloisters in
+front of them, the like of which I had never seen. Turning once more to
+the right we came to a quieter portion of the city, where, except for
+parties of strolling revellers, the streets were still. Presently
+my guide halted at a house built of white stone. We passed in, and,
+crossing a small courtyard, entered a chamber where there was a light.
+And here, at last, I found my uncle Sepa, most glad to see me safe.
+
+When I had washed and eaten, he told me that all things went well, and
+that as yet there was no thought of evil at the Court. Further, he said,
+it having come to the ears of the Queen that the Priest of Annu was
+sojourning at Alexandria, she sent for him and closely questioned
+him--not as to any plot, for of that she never thought, but as to the
+rumour which had reached her, that there was treasure hid in the Great
+Pyramid which is by Annu. For, being ever wasteful, she was ever in want
+of money, and had bethought her of opening the Pyramid. But he laughed
+at her, telling her the Pyramid was the burying-place of the divine
+Khufu, and that he knew nothing of its secrets. Then she was angered,
+and swore that so surely as she ruled in Egypt she would tear it down,
+stone by stone, and discover the secret at its heart. Again he laughed,
+and, in the words of the proverb which they have at Alexandria, told her
+that "Mountains live longer than Kings." Thereon she smiled at his ready
+answer, and let him go. Also my uncle Sepa told me that on the morrow I
+should see this Cleopatra. For it was her birthday (as, indeed, it was
+also mine), and, dressed in the robes of the Holy Isis, she would pass
+in state from her palace on the Lochias to the Serapeum to offer a
+sacrifice at the Shrine of the false God who sits in the Temple. And he
+said that thereafter the fashion by which I should gain entrance to the
+household of the Queen should be contrived.
+
+Then, being very weary, I went to rest, but could sleep little for the
+strangeness of the place, the noises in the streets, and the thought of
+the morrow. While it was yet dark, I rose, climbed the stair to the
+roof of the house, and waited. Presently, the sun's rays shot out like
+arrows, and lit upon the white wonder of the marble Pharos, whose light
+instantly sank and died, as though, indeed, the sun had killed it. Now
+the rays fell upon the palaces of the Lochias where Cleopatra lay, and
+lit them up till they flamed like a jewel set on the dark, cool bosom
+of the sea. Away the light flew, kissing the Soma's sacred dome, beneath
+which Alexander sleeps, touching the high tops of a thousand palaces
+and temples; past the porticoes of the great museum that loomed near at
+hand, striking the lofty Shrine, where, carved of ivory, is the image
+of the false God Serapis, and at last seeming to lose itself in the vast
+and gloomy Necropolis. Then, as the dawn gathered into day, the flood of
+brightness, overbrimming the bowl of night, flowed into the lower lands
+and streets, and showed Alexandria red in the sunrise as the mantle of
+a king, and shaped as a mantle. The Etesian wind came up from the north,
+and swept away the vapour from the harbours, so that I saw their blue
+waters rocking a thousand ships. I saw, too, that mighty mole the
+Heptastadium; I saw the hundreds of streets, the countless houses, the
+innumerable wealth and splendour of Alexandria set like a queen between
+lake Mareotis and the ocean, and dominating both, and I was filled with
+wonder. This, then, was one city in my heritage of lands and cities!
+Well, it was worth the grasping. And having looked my full and fed my
+heart, as it were, with the sight of splendour, I communed with the Holy
+Isis and came down from the roof.
+
+In the chamber beneath was my uncle Sepa. I told him that I had been
+watching the sun rise over the city of Alexandria.
+
+"So!" he said, looking at me from beneath his shaggy eyebrows; "and what
+thinkest thou of Alexandria?"
+
+"I think it is like some city of the Gods," I answered.
+
+"Ay!" he replied fiercely, "a city of the infernal Gods--a sink of
+corruption, a bubbling well of iniquity, a home of false faith springing
+from false hearts. I would that not one stone of it was left upon
+another stone, and that its wealth lay deep beneath yonder waters! I
+would that the gulls were screaming across its site, and that the wind,
+untainted by a Grecian breath, swept through its ruins from the ocean to
+Mareotis! O royal Harmachis, let not the luxury and beauty of Alexandria
+poison thy sense; for in their deadly air, Faith perishes, and Religion
+cannot spread her heavenly wings. When the hour comes for thee to rule,
+Harmachis, cast down this accursed city and, as thy fathers did, set
+up thy throne in the white walls of Memphis. For I tell thee that, for
+Egypt, Alexandria is but a splendid gate of ruin, and, while it endures,
+all nations of the earth shall march through it, to the plunder of the
+land, and all false Faiths shall nestle in it and breed the overthrow of
+Egypt's Gods."
+
+I made no answer, for there was truth in his words. And yet to me the
+city seemed very fair to look on. After we had eaten, my uncle told me
+it was now time to set out to view the march of Cleopatra, as she went
+in triumph to the Shrine of Serapis. For although she would not pass
+till within two hours of the midday, yet these people of Alexandria have
+so great a love of shows and idling that had we not presently set forth,
+by no means could we have come through the press of the multitudes who
+were already gathering along the highways where the Queen must ride. So
+we went out to take our places upon a stand, built of timber, that had
+been set up at the side of the great road which pierces through the
+city, to the Canopic Gate. For my uncle had already purchased a right to
+enter there, and that dearly.
+
+We won our way with much struggle through the great crowds that were
+already gathered in the streets till we reached the scaffolding of
+timber, which was roofed in with an awning and gaily hung with scarlet
+cloths. Here we seated ourselves upon a bench and waited for some hours,
+watching the multitude press past shouting, singing, and talking loudly
+in many tongues. At length soldiers came to clear the road, clad, after
+the Roman fashion, in breast-plates of chain-armour. After them marched
+heralds enjoining silence (at which the population sung and shouted all
+the more loudly), and crying that Cleopatra, the Queen, was coming.
+Then followed a thousand Cilician skirmishers, a thousand Thracians, a
+thousand Macedonians, and a thousand Gauls, each armed after the fashion
+of their country. Then passed five hundred men of those who are called
+the Fenced Horsemen, for both men and horses were altogether covered
+with mail. Next came youths and maidens sumptuously draped and wearing
+golden crowns, and with them images symbolising Day and Night, Morning
+and Noon, the Heavens and the Earth. After these walked many fair women,
+pouring perfumes on the road, and others scattering blooming flowers.
+Now there rose a great shout of "Cleopatra! Cleopatra!" and I held my
+breath and bent forward to see her who dared to put on the robes of
+Isis.
+
+But at that moment the multitude so gathered and thickened in front of
+where I was that I could no longer clearly see. So in my eagerness
+I leapt over the barrier of the scaffolding, and, being very strong,
+pushed my way through the crowd till I reached the foremost rank. And
+as I did so, Nubian slaves armed with thick staves and crowned with
+ivy-leaves ran up, striking the people. One man I noted more especially,
+for he was a giant, and, being strong, was insolent beyond measure,
+smiting the people without cause, as, indeed, is the wont of low persons
+set in authority. For a woman stood near to me, an Egyptian by her face,
+bearing a child in her arms, whom the man, seeing that she was weak,
+struck on the head with his rod so that she fell prone, and the people
+murmured. But at the sight my blood rushed of a sudden through my veins
+and drowned my reason. I held in my hand a staff of olive-wood from
+Cyprus, and as the black brute laughed at the sight of the stricken
+woman and her babe rolling on the ground, I swung the staff aloft and
+smote. So shrewdly did I strike, that the tough rod split upon the
+giant's shoulders and the blood spurted forth, staining his trailing
+leaves of ivy.
+
+Then, with a shriek of pain and fury--for those who smite love not that
+they be smitten--he turned and sprang at me! And all the people round
+gave back, save only the woman who could not rise, leaving us two in a
+ring as it were. On he came with a rush, and, as he came, being now mad,
+I smote him with my clenched fist between the eyes, having nothing else
+with which to smite, and he staggered like an ox beneath the first blow
+of the priest's axe. Then the people shouted, for they love to see a
+fight, and the man was known to them as a gladiator victorious in the
+games. Gathering up his strength, the knave came on with an oath, and,
+whirling his heavy staff on high, struck me in such a fashion that, had
+I not avoided the blow by nimbleness, I had surely been slain. But, as
+it chanced, the staff hit upon the ground, and so heavily that it flew
+in fragments. Thereon the multitude shouted again, and the great man,
+blind with fury, rushed at me to smite me down. But with a cry I sprang
+straight at his throat--for he was so heavy a man that I knew I could
+not hope to throw him by strength--ay, and gripped it. There I clung,
+though his fists battered me like bludgeons, driving my thumbs into his
+throat. Round and round we turned, till at length he flung himself
+to the earth, trusting thus to shake me off. But I held on fast as we
+rolled over and over on the ground, till at last he grew faint for want
+of breath. Then I, being uppermost, drove my knee down upon his chest,
+and, as I believe, should thus have slain him in my rage had not my
+uncle, and others there gathered, fallen upon me and dragged me from
+him.
+
+And meanwhile, though I know it not, the chariot in which the Queen
+sat, with elephants going before and lions led after it, had reached the
+spot, and had been halted because of the tumult. I looked up, and thus
+torn, panting, my white garments stained with the blood that had rushed
+from the mouth and nostrils of the mighty Nubian, I for the first time
+saw Cleopatra face to face. Her chariot was all of gold, and drawn by
+milk-white steeds. She sat in it with two fair girls, clad in Greek
+attire, standing one on either side, fanning her with glittering fans.
+On her head was the covering of Isis, the golden horns between which
+rested the moon's round disk and the emblem of Osiris' throne, with the
+uraeus twined around. Beneath this covering was the vulture cap of gold,
+the blue enamelled wings and the vulture head with gemmy eyes, under
+which her long dark tresses flowed towards her feet. About her rounded
+neck was a broad collar of gold studded with emeralds and coral. Round
+her arms and wrists were bracelets of gold studded with emeralds and
+coral, and in one hand she held the holy cross of Life fashioned of
+crystal, and in the other the golden rod of royalty. Her breast was
+bare, but under it was a garment that glistened like the scaly covering
+of a snake, everywhere sewn with gems. Beneath this robe was a skirt
+of golden cloth, half hidden by a scarf of the broidered silk of Cos,
+falling in folds to the sandals that, fastened with great pearls,
+adorned her white and tiny feet.
+
+All this I discerned at a glance, as it were. Then I looked upon the
+face--that face which seduced Caesar, ruined Egypt, and was doomed to
+give Octavian the sceptre of the world. I looked upon the flawless
+Grecian features, the rounded chin, the full, rich lips, the chiselled
+nostrils, and the ears fashioned like delicate shells. I saw the
+forehead, low, broad, and lovely, the crisped, dark hair falling in
+heavy waves that sparkled in the sun, the arched eyebrows, and the long,
+bent lashes. There before me was the grandeur of her Imperial shape.
+There burnt the wonderful eyes, hued like the Cyprian violet--eyes that
+seemed to sleep and brood on secret things as night broods upon the
+desert, and yet as the night to shift, change, and be illumined by
+gleams of sudden splendour born within their starry depths. All those
+wonders I saw, though I have small skill in telling them. But even
+then I knew that it was not in these charms alone that the might of
+Cleopatra's beauty lay. It was rather in a glory and a radiance cast
+through the fleshly covering from the fierce soul within. For she was a
+Thing of Flame like unto which no woman has ever been or ever will be.
+Even when she brooded, the fire of her quick heart shone through her.
+But when she woke, and the lightning leapt suddenly from her eyes, and
+the passion-laden music of her speech chimed upon her lips, ah! then,
+who can tell how Cleopatra seemed? For in her met all the splendours
+that have been given to woman for her glory, and all the genius which
+man has won from heaven. And with them dwelt every evil of that greater
+sort, which fearing nothing, and making a mock of laws, has taken
+empires for its place of play, and, smiling, watered the growth of
+its desires with the rich blood of men. In her breast they gathered,
+together fashioning that Cleopatra whom no man may draw, and yet whom
+no man, having seen, ever can forget. They fashioned her grand as the
+Spirit of Storm, lovely as Lightning, cruel as Pestilence, yet with a
+heart; and what she did is known. Woe to the world when such another
+comes to curse it!
+
+For a moment I met Cleopatra's eyes as she idly bent herself to find the
+tumult's cause. At first they were sombre and dark, as though they saw
+indeed, but the brain read nothing. Then they awoke, and their very
+colour seemed to change as the colour of the sea changes when the water
+is shaken. First, there was anger written in them; next an idle noting;
+then, when she looked upon the huge bulk of the man whom I had overcome,
+and knew him for the gladiator, something, perchance, that was not
+far from wonder. At the least they softened, though, indeed, her face
+changed no whit. But he who would read Cleopatra's mind had need to
+watch her eyes, for her countenance varied but a little. Turning, she
+said some word to her guards. They came forward and led me to her, while
+all the multitude waited silently to see me slain.
+
+I stood before her, my arms folded on my breast. Overcome though I was
+by the wonder of her loveliness I hated her in my heart, this woman who
+dared to clothe herself in the dress of Isis, this usurper who sat upon
+my throne, this wanton squandering the wealth of Egypt in chariots and
+perfumes. When she had looked me over from head to the feet, she spake
+in a low full voice and in the tongue of Khemi which she alone had
+learned of all the Lagidae:
+
+"And who and what art thou, Egyptian--for Egyptian I see thou art--who
+darest to smite my slave when I make progress through my city?"
+
+"I am Harmachis," I answered boldly. "Harmachis, the astrologer, adopted
+son of the High Priest and Governor of Abouthis, who am come hither to
+seek my fortune. I smote thy slave, O Queen, because for no fault he
+struck down the woman yonder. Ask of those who saw, royal Egypt."
+
+"Harmachis," she said, "the name has a high sound--and thou hast a high
+look;" and then, speaking to a soldier who had seen all, she bade him
+tell her what had come to pass. This he did truthfully, being friendly
+disposed towards me because I had overcome the Nubian. Thereon she
+turned and spoke to the girl bearing the fan who stood beside her--a
+woman with curling hair and shy dark eyes, very beautiful to see. The
+girl answered somewhat. Then Cleopatra bade them bring the slave to her.
+So they led forward the giant, who had found his breath again, and with
+him the woman whom he had smitten down.
+
+"Thou dog!" she said, in the same low voice; "thou coward! who,
+being strong, didst smite down this woman, and, being a coward, wast
+overthrown of this young man. See, thou, I will teach thee manners.
+Henceforth, when thou smitest women it shall be with thy left arm. Ho,
+guards, seize this black slave and strike off his right hand."
+
+Her command given, she sank back in her golden chariot, and again
+the cloud gathered in her eyes. But the guards seized the giant, and,
+notwithstanding his cries and prayers for mercy, struck off his hand
+with a sword upon the wood of the scaffolding and he was carried away
+groaning. Then the procession moved on again. As it went the fair woman
+with the fan turned her head, caught my eye, and smiled and nodded as
+though she rejoiced, at which I wondered somewhat.
+
+The people cheered also and made jests, saying that I should soon
+practice astrology in the palace. But, as soon as we might, I and my
+uncle escaped, and made our way back to the house. All the while he
+rated me for my rashness; but when we came to the chamber of the house
+he embraced me and rejoiced greatly, because I had overthrown the giant
+with so little hurt to myself.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+OF THE COMING OF CHARMION; AND OF THE WRATH OF SEPA
+
+That same night, while we sat at supper in the house, there came a knock
+upon the door. It was opened, and a woman passed in wrapped from head to
+foot in a large dark peplos or cloak in such fashion that her face could
+not be clearly seen.
+
+My uncle rose, and as he did so the woman uttered the secret word.
+
+"I am come, my father," she said in a sweet clear voice, "though of a
+truth it was not easy to escape the revels at the palace yonder. But
+I told the Queen that the sun and the riot in the streets had made me
+sick, and she let me go."
+
+"It is well," he answered. "Unveil thyself; here thou art safe."
+
+With a little sigh of weariness she unclasped the peplos and let it slip
+from her, giving to my sight the face and form of that beauteous girl
+who had stood to fan Cleopatra in the chariot. For she was very fair
+and pleasant to look upon, and her Grecian robes clung sweetly about her
+supple limbs and budding form. Her wayward hair, flowing in a hundred
+little curls, was bound in with a golden fillet, and on her feet were
+sandals fastened with studs of gold. Her cheeks blushed like a flower,
+and her dark soft eyes were downcast, as though with modesty, but smiles
+and dimples trembled about her lips.
+
+My uncle frowned when his eyes fell upon her dress.
+
+"Why comest thou in this garb, Charmion?" he asked sternly. "Is not the
+dress of thy mothers good enough for thee? This is no time or place for
+woman's vanities. Thou art not here to conquer, but to obey."
+
+"Nay, be not wroth, my father," she answered softly; "perchance thou
+knowest not that she whom I serve will have none of our Egyptian
+dress; it is out of fashion. To wear it would have been to court
+suspicion--also I came in haste." And as she spoke I saw that all the
+while she watched me covertly through the long lashes which fringed her
+modest eyes.
+
+"Well, well," he said sharply, fixing his keen glance upon her face,
+"doubtless thou speakest truth, Charmion. Be ever mindful of thy oath,
+girl, and of the cause to which thou art sworn. Be not light-minded, and
+I charge thee forget the beauty with which thou hast been cursed. For
+mark thou this, Charmion: fail us but one jot, and vengeance shall fall
+on thee--the vengeance of man and the vengeance of the Gods! To this
+service," he continued, lashing himself to anger as he went on till his
+great voice rang in the narrow room, "thou hast been bred; to this end
+thou hast been instructed and placed where thou art to gain the ear of
+that wicked wanton whom thou seemest to serve. See thou forget it not;
+see that the luxury of yonder Court does not corrupt thy purity and
+divert thy aim, Charmion," and his eyes flashed and his small form
+seemed to grow till it attained to dignity--nay, almost to grandeur.
+
+"Charmion," he went on, advancing towards her with outstretched finger,
+"I say that at times I do not trust thee. But two nights gone I dreamed
+I saw thee standing in the desert. I saw thee laugh and lift thy hand to
+heaven, and from it fell a rain of blood; then the sky sank down on the
+land of Khem and covered it. Whence came the dream, girl, and what is
+its meaning? I have naught against thee as yet; but hearken! On the
+moment that I have, though thou art of my kin, and I have loved thee--on
+that moment, I say, I will doom those delicate limbs, which thou lovest
+so much to show, to the kite and the jackal, and the soul within thee to
+all the tortures of the Gods! Unburied shalt thou lie, and bodiless and
+accursed shalt thou wander in Amenti!--ay, for ever and ever!"
+
+He paused, for his sudden burst of passion had spent itself. But by it,
+more clearly than before, I saw how deep a heart this man had beneath
+the cloak of his merriness and simplicity of mien, and how fiercely the
+mind within him was set upon his aim. As for the girl, she shrank from
+him terrified, and, placing her hands before her sweet face, began to
+weep.
+
+"Nay, speak not so, my father," she said, between her sobs; "for what
+have I done? I know nothing of the evil wandering of thy dreams. I am no
+soothsayer that I should read dreams. Have I not carried out all things
+according to thy desire? Have I not been ever mindful of that dread
+oath?"--and she trembled. "Have I not played the spy and told thee all?
+Have I not won the heart of the Queen, so that she loves me as a sister,
+refusing me nothing--ay, and the hearts of those about her? Why dost
+thou affright me thus with thy words and threats?" and she wept afresh,
+looking even more beautiful in her sorrow than she was before.
+
+"Enough, enough," he answered; "what I have said, I have said. Be
+warned, and affront our sight no more with this wanton dress. Thinkest
+thou that we would feed our eyes upon those rounded arms--we whose stake
+is Egypt and who are dedicated to the Gods of Egypt? Girl, behold thy
+cousin and thy King!"
+
+She ceased weeping, wiping her eyes with her chiton, and I saw that they
+seemed but the softer for her tears.
+
+"Methinks, most royal Harmachis, and beloved Cousin," she said, as she
+bent before me, "that we are already made acquainted."
+
+"Yea, Cousin," I answered, not without shamefacedness, for I had
+never before spoken to so fair a maid; "thou wert in the chariot with
+Cleopatra this day when I struggled with the Nubian?"
+
+"Assuredly," she said, with a smile and a sudden lighting of the eyes,
+"it was a gallant fight and gallantly didst thou overthrow that black
+brute. I saw the fray and, though I knew thee not, I greatly feared for
+one so brave. But I paid him for my fright, for it was I who put it
+into the mind of Cleopatra to bid the guards strike off his hand--now,
+knowing who thou art, I would I had said his head." And she looked up
+shooting a glance at me and then smiled.
+
+"Enough," put in my uncle Sepa, "the time draws on. Tell thou thy
+mission, Charmion, and be gone."
+
+Then her manner changed; she folded her hands meekly before her and
+spoke:
+
+"Let Pharaoh hearken to his handmaiden. I am the daughter of Pharaoh's
+uncle, the brother of his father, who is now long dead, and therefore in
+my veins also flows the Royal blood of Egypt. Also I am of the ancient
+Faith, and hate these Greeks, and to see thee set upon the throne has
+been my dearest hope now for many years. To this end I, Charmion, have
+put aside my rank and become serving-woman to Cleopatra, that I might
+cut a notch in which thou couldst set thy foot when the hour came for
+thee to climb the throne. And, Pharaoh, the notch is cut.
+
+"This then is our plot, royal Cousin. Thou must gain an entrance to the
+Household and learn its ways and secrets, and, so far as may be, suborn
+the eunuchs and captains, some of whom I have already tempted. This
+done, and all things being prepared without, thou must slay Cleopatra,
+and, aided by me with those whom I control, in the confusion that shall
+ensue, throw wide the gates, and, admitting those of our party who are
+in waiting, put such of the troops as remain faithful to the sword and
+seize the Bruchium. Which being finished, within two days thou shalt
+hold this fickle Alexandria. At the same time those who are sworn to
+thee in every city of Egypt shall rise in arms, and in ten days from
+the death of Cleopatra thou shalt indeed be Pharaoh. This is the counsel
+which has been taken, and thou seest, royal Cousin, that, though our
+uncle yonder thinks so ill of me, I have learned my part--ay, and played
+it."
+
+"I hear thee, Cousin," I answered, marvelling that so young a woman--she
+had but twenty years--could weave so bold a plot, for in its origin the
+scheme was hers. But in those days I little knew Charmion. "Go on; how
+then shall I gain entrance to the palace of Cleopatra?"
+
+"Nay, Cousin, as things are it is easy. Thus: Cleopatra loves to look
+upon a man, and--give me pardon--thy face and form are fair. To-day
+she noted them, and twice she said she would she had asked where that
+astrologer might be found, for she held that an astrologer who could
+wellnigh slay a Nubian gladiator with his bare hands, must indeed be a
+master of the fortunate stars. I answered her that I would cause inquiry
+to be made. So hearken, royal Harmachis. At midday Cleopatra sleeps in
+her inner hall which looks over the gardens to the harbour. At that hour
+to-morrow, then, I will meet thee at the gates of the palace, whither
+thou shalt come boldly asking for the Lady Charmion. I will make
+appointment for thee with Cleopatra, so that she shall see thee alone
+when she wakes, and the rest shall be for thee, Harmachis. For much she
+loves to play with the mysteries of magic, and I have known her stand
+whole nights watching the stars and making a pretence to read them. And
+but lately she has sent away Dioscorides the physician, because, poor
+fool! he ventured on a prophecy from the conjunction of the stars, that
+Cassius would defeat Mark Antony. Thereon Cleopatra sent orders to the
+General Allienus, bidding him add the legions she had sent to Syria
+to help Antony to the army of Cassius, whose victory, forsooth,
+was--according to Dioscorides--written on the stars. But, as it chanced,
+Antony beat Cassius first and Brutus afterwards, and so Dioscorides has
+departed, and now he lectures on herbs in the museum for his bread, and
+hates the name of stars. But his place is empty, and thou shalt fill it,
+and then we will work in secret and in the shadow of the sceptre. Ay,
+we will work like the worm at the heart of a fruit, till the time of
+plucking comes, and at thy dagger's touch, royal Cousin, the fabric of
+this Grecian throne crumbles to nothingness, and the worm that rotted it
+bursts his servile covering, and, in the sight of empires, spreads his
+royal wings o'er Egypt."
+
+I gazed at this strange girl once more astonished, and saw that her face
+was lit up with such a light as I had never seen in the eyes of woman.
+
+"Ah," broke in my uncle, who was watching her, "ah, I love to see thee
+so, girl; there is the Charmion that I knew and I bred up--not the Court
+girl whom I like not, draped in silks of Cos and fragrant with essences.
+Let thy heart harden in this mould--ay, stamp it with the fervid zeal
+of patriot faith, and thy reward shall find thee. And now cover up that
+shameless dress of thine and leave us, for it grows late. To-morrow
+Harmachis shall come, as thou hast said, and so farewell."
+
+Charmion bowed her head, and, turning, wrapped her dark-hued peplos
+round her. Then, taking my hand, she touched it with her lips and went
+without any further word.
+
+"A strange woman!" said Sepa, when she had gone; "a most strange woman,
+and an uncertain!"
+
+"Methought, my uncle," I said, "that thou wast somewhat harsh with her."
+
+"Ay," he answered, "but not without a cause. Look thou, Harmachis;
+beware of this Charmion. She is too wayward, and, I fear me, may be led
+away. In truth, she is a very woman; and, like a restive horse, will
+take the path that pleases her. She has brain and fire, and she loves
+our cause; but I pray that the cause come not face to face with her
+desires, for what her heart is set on that will she do, at any cost she
+will do it. Therefore I frightened her now while I may: for who can know
+but that she will pass beyond my power? I tell thee, that in this one
+girl's hand lie all our lives: and if she play us false, what then?
+Alas! and alas! that we must use such tools as these! But it was
+needful: there was no other way; and yet I misdoubted me. I pray that it
+may be well; still, at times, I fear my niece Charmion--she is too fair,
+and the blood of youth runs too warm in those blue veins of hers.
+
+"Ah, woe to the cause that builds its strength upon a woman's faith;
+for women are faithful only where they love, and when they love their
+faithlessness becomes their faith. They are not fixed as men are fixed:
+they rise more high and sink more low--they are strong and changeful as
+the sea. Harmachis, beware of this Charmion: for, like the ocean, she
+may float thee home; or, like the ocean, she may wreck thee, and, with
+thee, the hope of Egypt!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+OF THE COMING OF HARMACHIS TO THE PALACE; OF HOW HE DREW PAULUS THROUGH
+THE GATES; OF CLEOPATRA SLEEPING; AND OF THE MAGIC OF HARMACHIS WHICH HE
+SHOWED HER
+
+Thus it came to pass that on the next day I arrayed myself in a long and
+flowing robe, after the fashion of a magician or astrologer. I placed a
+cap on my head, about which were broidered images of the stars, and in
+my belt a scribe's palette and a roll of papyrus written over with magic
+spells and signs. In my hand I held a wand of ebony, tipped with ivory,
+such as is used by priests and masters of magic. Among these, indeed,
+I took high rank, filling my knowledge of their secrets which I had
+learned at Annu what I lacked in that skill which comes from use. And so
+with no small shame, for I love not such play and hold this common
+magic in contempt, I set forth through the Bruchium to the palace on the
+Lochias, being guided on my way by my uncle Sepa. At length, passing
+up the avenue of sphinxes, we came to the great marble gateway and the
+gates of bronze, within which is the guard-house. Here my uncle left me,
+breathing many prayers for my safety and success. But I advanced with
+an easy air to the gate, where I was roughly challenged by the Gallic
+sentries, and asked of my name, following, and business. I gave my name,
+Harmachis, the astrologer, saying that my business was with the Lady
+Charmion, the Queen's lady. Thereon the man made as though to let me
+pass in, when a captain of the guard, a Roman named Paulus, came forward
+and forbade it. Now, this Paulus was a large limbed man, with a woman's
+face, and a hand that shook from wine-bibbing. Still he knew me again.
+
+"Why," he cried, in the Latin tongue, to one who came with him, "this is
+the fellow who wrestled yesterday with the Nubian gladiator, that same
+who now howls for his lost hand underneath my window. Curses on the
+black brute! I had a bet upon him for the games! I have backed him
+against Caius, and now he'll never fight again, and I must lose my
+money, all through this astrologer. What is it thou sayest?--thou hast
+business with the Lady Charmion? Nay, then, that settles it. I will
+not let thee through. Fellow, I worship the Lady Charmion--ay, we all
+worship her, though she gives us more slaps than sighs. And dost thou
+think that we will suffer an astrologer with such eyes and such a chest
+as thine to cut in the game?--by Bacchus, no! She must come out to keep
+the tryst, for in thou shalt not go."
+
+"Sir," I said humbly and yet with dignity, "I pray that a message may be
+sent to the Lady Charmion, for my business will not brook delay."
+
+"Ye Gods!" answered the fool, "whom have we here that he cannot wait? A
+Caesar in disguise? Nay, be off--be off! if thou wouldst not learn how a
+spear-prick feels behind."
+
+"Nay," put in the other officer, "he is an astrologer; make him
+prophesy--make him play tricks."
+
+"Ay," cried the others who had sauntered up, "let the fellow show his
+art. If he is a magician he can pass the gates, Paulus or no Paulus."
+
+"Right willingly, good Sirs," I answered; for I saw no other means of
+entering. "Wilt thou, my young and noble Lord"--and I addressed him who
+was with Paulus--"suffer that I look thee in the eyes; perhaps I may
+read what is written there?"
+
+"Right," answered the youth; "but I wish that the Lady Charmion was the
+sorceress. I would stare her out of countenance, I warrant."
+
+I took him by the hand and gazed deep into his eyes. "I see," I said, "a
+field of battle at night, and about it bodies stretched--among them is
+_thy_ body, and a hyena tears its throat. Most noble Sir, thou shalt die
+by sword-thrusts within a year."
+
+"By Bacchus!" said the youth, turning white to the gills, "thou art
+an ill-omened sorcerer!" And he slunk off--shortly afterwards, as it
+chanced, to meet this very fate. For he was sent on service and slain in
+Cyprus.
+
+"Now for thee, great Captain!" I said, speaking to Paulus. "I will show
+thee how I will pass those gates without thy leave--ay, and draw thee
+through them after me. Be pleased to fix thy princely gaze upon the
+point of this wand in my hand."
+
+Being urged by his comrades he did this, unwillingly; and I let him
+gaze till I saw his eyes grow empty as an owl's eyes in the sun. Then I
+suddenly withdrew the wand, and, shifting my countenance into the place
+of it, I seized him with my will and stare, and, beginning to turn round
+and round, drew him after me, his fierce face drawn fixed, as it were,
+almost to my own. Then I moved slowly backwards till I had passed the
+gates, still drawing him after me, and suddenly jerked my head away. He
+fell to the ground, to rise wiping his brow and looking very foolish.
+
+"Art thou content, most noble Captain?" I said. "Thou seest we have
+passed the gates. Would any other noble Sir wish that I should show more
+of my skill?"
+
+"By Taranis, Lord of Thunder, and all the Gods of Olympus thrown in,
+no!" growled an old Centurion, a Gaul named Brennus, "I like thee not,
+I say. The man who could drag our Paulus through those gates by the eye,
+as it were, is not a man to play with. Paulus, too, who always goes the
+way you don't want him--backwards, like an ass--Paulus! Why, sirrah,
+thou needst must have a woman in one eye and a wine-cup in the other to
+draw our Paulus thus."
+
+At this moment the talk was broken, for Charmion herself came down the
+marble path, followed by an armed slave. She walked calm and carelessly,
+her hands folded behind her, and her eyes gazing at nothingness, as it
+were. But it was when Charmion thus looked upon nothing that she saw
+most. And as she came the officers and men of the guard made way for
+her bowing, for, as I learned afterwards, this girl, next to Cleopatra's
+self, wielded more power than anyone about the palace.
+
+"What is this tumult, Brennus?" she said, speaking to the Centurion, and
+making as if she saw me not; "knowest thou not that the Queen sleeps at
+this hour, and if she be awakened it is thou who must answer for it, and
+that dearly?"
+
+"Nay, Lady," said the Centurion, humbly; "but it is thus. We have
+here"--and he jerked his thumb towards me--"a magician of the most
+pestilent--um, I crave his pardon--of the very best sort, for he hath
+but just now, only by placing his eyes close to the nose of the worthy
+Captain Paulus, dragged him, the said Paulus, through the gates that
+Paulus swore the magician should not pass. By the same token, lady, the
+magician says that he has business with you--which grieves me for your
+sake."
+
+Charmion turned and looked at me carelessly. "Ay, I remember," she said;
+"and so he has--at least, the Queen would see his tricks; but if he can
+do none better than cause a sot"--here she cast a glance of scorn at the
+wondering Paulus--"to follow his nose through the gates he guards, he
+had better go whence he came. Follow me, Sir Magician; and for thee,
+Brennus, I say, keep thy riotous crew more quiet. For thee, most
+honourable Paulus, get thee sober, and next time I am asked for at the
+gates give him who asks a hearing." And, with a queenly nod of her small
+head, she turned and led the way, followed at a distance by myself and
+the armed slave.
+
+We passed up the marble walk which runs through the garden grounds, and
+is set on either side with marble statues, for the most part of heathen
+Gods and Goddesses, with which these Lagidae were not ashamed to defile
+their royal dwellings. At length we came to a beautiful portico with
+fluted columns of the Grecian style of art, where we found more guards,
+who made way for the Lady Charmion. Crossing the portico we reached a
+marble vestibule where a fountain splashed softly, and thence by a low
+doorway a second chamber, known as the Alabaster Hall, most beautiful to
+see. Its roof was upheld by light columns of black marble, but all
+its walls were panelled with alabaster, on which Grecian legends were
+engraved. Its floor was of rich and many-hued mosaic that told the tale
+of the passion of Psyche for the Grecian God of Love, and about it were
+set chairs of ivory and gold. Charmion bade the armed slave stay at the
+doorway of this chamber, so that we passed in alone, for the place was
+empty except for two eunuchs who stood with drawn swords before the
+curtain at the further end.
+
+"I am vexed, my Lord," she said, speaking very low and shyly, "that thou
+shouldst have met with such affronts at the gate; but the guard there
+served a double watch, and I had given my commands to the officer of
+the company that should have relieved it. Those Roman officers are ever
+insolent, who, though they seem to serve, know well that Egypt is
+their plaything. But it is not amiss, for these rough soldiers are
+superstitious, and will fear thee. Now bide thou here while I go into
+Cleopatra's chamber, where she sleeps. I have but just sung her to
+sleep, and if she be awake I will call thee, for she waits thy coming."
+And without more words she glided from my side.
+
+In a little time she returned, and coming to me spoke:
+
+"Wouldst see the fairest woman in all the world, asleep?" she whispered;
+"if so, follow me. Nay, fear not; when she awakes she will but laugh,
+for she bade me be sure to bring thee instantly, whether she slept or
+woke. See, I have her signet."
+
+So we passed up the beautiful chamber till we came to where the eunuchs
+stood with drawn swords, and these would have barred my entry. But
+Charmion frowned, and drawing the signet from her bosom held it before
+their eyes. Having examined the writing that was on the ring, they
+bowed, dropping their sword points and we passed through the heavy
+curtains broidered with gold into the resting-place of Cleopatra. It was
+beautiful beyond imagining--beautiful with many coloured marbles, with
+gold and ivory, gems and flowers--all art can furnish and all luxury
+can dream of were here. Here were pictures so real that birds might
+have pecked the painted fruits; here were statues of woman's loveliness
+frozen into stone; here were draperies fine as softest silk, but woven
+of a web of gold; here were couches and carpets such as I never saw. The
+air, too, was sweet with perfume, while through the open window places
+came the far murmur of the sea. And at the further end of the chamber,
+on a couch of gleaming silk and sheltered by a net of finest gauze,
+Cleopatra lay asleep. There she lay--the fairest thing that man ever
+saw--fairer than a dream, and the web of her dark hair flowed all about
+her. One white, rounded arm made a pillow for her head, and one hung
+down towards the ground. Her rich lips were parted in a smile, showing
+the ivory lines of teeth; and her rosy limbs were draped in so thin a
+robe of the silk of Cos, held about her by a jewelled girdle, that the
+white gleam of flesh shone through it. I stood astonished, and though
+my thoughts had little bent that way, the sight of her beauty struck me
+like a blow, so that for a moment I lost myself as it were in the vision
+of its power, and was grieved at heart because I must slay so fair a
+thing.
+
+Turning suddenly from the sight, I found Charmion watching me with her
+quick eyes--watching as though she would search my heart. And, indeed,
+something of my thought must have been written on my face in a language
+that she could read, for she whispered in my ear:
+
+"Ay, it is pity, is it not? Harmachis, being but a man, methinks that
+thou wilt need all thy ghostly strength to nerve thee to the deed!"
+
+I frowned, but before I could frame an answer she touched me lightly on
+the arm and pointed to the Queen. A change had come upon her: her hands
+were clenched, and about her face, all rosy with the hue of sleep,
+gathered a cloud of fear. Her breath came quick, she raised her arms as
+though to ward away a blow, then with a stifled moan sat up and opened
+the windows of her eyes. They were dark, dark as night; but when
+the light found them they grew blue as the sky grows blue before the
+blushing of the dawn.
+
+"Caesarion?" she said; "where is my son Caesarion?--Was it then a dream?
+I dreamed that Julius--Julius who is dead--came to me, a bloody toga
+wrapped about his face, and having thrown his arms about his child led
+him away. Then I dreamed I died--died in blood and agony; and one I
+might not see mocked me as I died. _Ah!_ who is that man?"
+
+"Peace, Madam! peace!" said Charmion. "It is but the magician Harmachis,
+whom thou didst bid me bring to thee at this hour."
+
+"Ah! the magician--that Harmachis who overthrew the giant? I remember
+now. He is welcome. Tell me, Sir Magician, can thy magic mirror call
+forth an answer to this dream? Nay, how strange a thing is Sleep, that
+wrapping the mind in a web of darkness, straightly compels it to its
+will! Whence, then, come those images of fear rising on the horizon
+of the soul like some untimely moon upon a midday sky? Who grants them
+power to stalk so lifelike from Memory's halls, and, pointing to
+their wounds, thus confront the Present with the Past? Are they, then,
+messengers? Does the half-death of sleep give them foothold in our
+brains, and thus upknit the cut thread of human kinship? That was
+Caesar's self, I tell thee, who but now stood at my side and murmured
+through his muffled robe warning words of which the memory is lost to
+me. Read me this riddle, thou Egyptian Sphinx,[*] and I'll show thee a
+rosier path to fortune than all thy stars can point. Thou hast brought
+the omen, solve thou its problem."
+
+     [*] Alluding to his name. Harmachis was the Grecian title of
+     the divinity of the Sphinx, as Horemkhu was the Egyptian.--
+     Editor.
+
+"I come in a good hour, most mighty Queen," I answered, "for I have some
+skill in the mysteries of Sleep, that is, as thou hast rightly guessed,
+a stair by which those who are gathered to Osiris may from time to time
+enter at the gateways of our living sense, and, by signs and words that
+can be read of instructed mortals, repeat the echoes of that Hall of
+Truth which is their habitation. Yes, Sleep is a stair by which the
+messengers of the guardian Gods may descend in many shapes upon the
+spirit of their choice. For, O Queen, to those who hold the key,
+the madness of our dreams can show a clearer purpose and speak more
+certainly than all the acted wisdom of our waking life, which is a dream
+indeed. Thou didst see great Caesar in his bloody robe, and he threw his
+arms about the Prince Caesarion and led him hence. Hearken now to the
+secret of thy vision. It was Caesar's self thou sawest coming to thy side
+from Amenti in such a guise as might not be mistaken. When he embraced
+the child Caesarion he did it for a sign that to him, and him alone, had
+passed his greatness and his love. When he seemed to lead him hence
+he led him forth from Egypt to be crowned in the Capitol, crowned the
+Emperor of Rome and Lord of all the Lands. For the rest, I know not. It
+is hid from me."
+
+Thus, then, I read the vision, though to my sense it had a darker
+meaning. But it is not well to prophesy evil unto Kings.
+
+Meanwhile Cleopatra had risen, and, having thrown back the gnat gauze,
+was seated upon the edge of her couch, her eyes fixed upon my face,
+while her fingers played with her girdle's jewelled ends.
+
+"Of a truth," she cried, "thou art the best of all magicians, for thou
+readest my heart, and drawest a hidden sweet out of the rough shell of
+evil omen!"
+
+"Ay, O Queen," said Charmion, who stood by with downcast eyes, and I
+thought that there was bitter meaning in her soft tones; "may no rougher
+words ever affront thy ears, and no evil presage tread less closely upon
+its happy sense."
+
+Cleopatra placed her hands behind her head and, leaning back, looked at
+me with half-shut eyes.
+
+"Come, show us of thy magic, Egyptian," she said. "It is yet hot abroad,
+and I am weary of those Hebrew Ambassadors and their talk of Herod and
+Jerusalem. I hate that Herod, as he shall find--and will have none of
+the Ambassadors to-day, though I yearn a little to try my Hebrew on
+them. What canst thou do? Hast thou no new trick? By Serapis! if thou
+canst conjure as well as thou canst prophesy, thou shalt have a place
+at Court, with pay and perquisites to boot, if thy lofty soul does not
+scorn perquisites."
+
+"Nay," I answered, "all tricks are old; but there are some forms of
+magic to be rarely used, and with discretion, that may be new to thee, O
+Queen! Art thou afraid to venture on the charm?"
+
+"I fear nothing; go on and do thy worst. Come, Charmion, and sit by me.
+But, stay, where are all the girls?--Iras and Merira?--they, too, love
+magic."
+
+"Not so," I said; "the charms work ill before so many. Now behold!"
+and, gazing at the twain, I cast my wand upon the marble and murmured
+a spell. For a moment it was still, and then, as I muttered, the rod
+slowly began to writhe. It bent itself, it stood on end, and moved of
+its own motion. Next it put on scales, and behold it was a serpent that
+crawled and fiercely hissed.
+
+"Fie on thee!" cried Cleopatra, clapping her hands; "callest thou that
+magic? Why, it is an old trick that any wayside conjurer can do. I have
+seen it a score of times."
+
+"Wait, O Queen," I answered, "thou hast not seen all." And, as I spoke,
+the serpent seemed to break in fragments, and from each fragment grew a
+new serpent. And these, too, broke in fragments and bred others, till in
+a little while the place, to their glamoured sight, was a seething sea
+of snakes, that crawled, hissed, and knotted themselves in knots. Then
+I made a sign, and the serpents gathered themselves round me, and seemed
+slowly to twine themselves about my body and my limbs, till, save my
+face, I was wreathed thick with hissing snakes.
+
+"Oh, horrible! horrible!" cried Charmion, hiding her countenance in the
+skirt of the Queen's garment.
+
+"Nay, enough, Magician, enough!" said the Queen: "thy magic overwhelms
+us."
+
+I waved my snake-wrapped arms, and all was gone. There at my feet lay
+the black wand tipped with ivory, and naught beside.
+
+The two women looked upon each other and gasped with wonder. But I took
+up the wand and stood with folded arms before them.
+
+"Is the Queen content with my poor art?" I asked most humbly.
+
+"Ay, that I am, Egyptian; never did I see its like! Thou art Court
+astronomer from this day forward, with right of access to the Queen's
+presence. Hast thou more of such magic at thy call?"
+
+"Yea, royal Egypt; suffer that the chamber be a little darkened, and I
+will show thee one more thing."
+
+"Half am I afraid," she answered; "nevertheless do thou as this
+Harmachis says, Charmion."
+
+So the curtains were drawn and the chamber made as though the twilight
+were at hand. I came forward, and stood beside Cleopatra. "Gaze thou
+there!" I said sternly, pointing with my wand to the empty space where I
+had been, "and thou shalt behold that which is in thy mind."
+
+Then for a little space was silence, while the two women gazed fixedly
+and half fearful at the spot.
+
+And as they gazed a cloud gathered before them. Very slowly it took
+shape and form, and the form it took was the form of a man, though as
+yet he was but vaguely mapped upon the twilight, and seemed now to grow
+and now to melt away.
+
+Then I cried with a loud voice:
+
+"Spirit, I conjure thee, _appear!_"
+
+And as I cried the Thing, perfect in every part, leapt into form before
+us, suddenly as the flash of day. His shape was the shape of royal
+Caesar, the toga thrown about his face, and on his form a vestment bloody
+from a hundred wounds. An instant so he stood, then I waved my wand and
+he was gone.
+
+I turned to the two women on the couch, and saw Cleopatra's lovely face
+all clothed in terror. Her lips were ashy white, her eyes stared wide,
+and all the flesh was shaking on her bones.
+
+"Man!" she gasped; "man! who and what art thou who canst bring the dead
+before our eyes?"
+
+"I am the Queen's astronomer, magician, servant--what the Queen wills,"
+I answered, laughing. "Was this the form that was on the Queen's mind?"
+
+She made no answer, but, rising, left the chamber by another door.
+
+Then Charmion rose also and took her hands from her face, for she, too,
+had been stricken with dread.
+
+"How dost thou these things, royal Harmachis?" she said. "Tell me; for
+of a truth I fear thee."
+
+"Be not afraid," I answered. "Perchance thou didst see nothing but what
+was in my mind. All things are shadows. How canst thou, then, know their
+nature, or what is and what only seems to be? But how goes it? Remember,
+Charmion, this sport is played to an end."
+
+"It goes well," she said. "By to-morrow morning's dawn these tales
+will have gone round, and thou wilt be more feared than any man in
+Alexandria. Follow me, I pray thee."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+OF THE WAYS OF CHARMION; AND OF THE CROWNING OF HARMACHIS AS THE KING OF
+LOVE
+
+On the following day I received the writing of my appointment as
+Astrologer and Magician-in-Chief to the Queen, with the pay and
+perquisites of that office, which were not small. Rooms were given me
+in the palace, also, through which I passed at night to the high
+watch-tower, whence I looked on the stars and drew their auguries. For
+at this time Cleopatra was much troubled about matters political, and
+not knowing how the great struggle among the Roman factions would end,
+but being very desirous to side with the strongest, she took constant
+counsel with me as to the warnings of the stars. These I read to her
+in such manner as best seemed to fit the high interest of my ends. For
+Antony, the Roman Triumvir, was now in Asia Minor, and, rumour ran, very
+wroth because it had been told him that Cleopatra was hostile to the
+Triumvirate, in that her General, Serapion, had aided Cassius. But
+Cleopatra protested loudly to me and others that Serapion had acted
+against her will. Yet Charmion told me that, as with Allienus, it was
+because of a prophecy of Dioscorides the unlucky that the Queen herself
+had secretly ordered Serapion so to do. Still, this did not save
+Serapion, for to prove to Antony that she was innocent she dragged the
+General from the sanctuary and slew him. Woe be to those who carry
+out the will of tyrants if the scale should rise against them! And so
+Serapion perished.
+
+Meanwhile all things went well with us, for the minds of Cleopatra and
+those about her were so set upon affairs abroad that neither she nor
+they thought of revolt at home. But day by day our party gathered
+strength in the cities of Egypt, and even in Alexandria, which is to
+Egypt as another land, all things being foreign there. Day by day, those
+who doubted were won over and sworn to the cause by that oath which
+cannot be broken, and our plans of action more firmly laid. And every
+other day I went forth from the palace to take counsel with my uncle
+Sepa, and there at his house met the Nobles and the great priests who
+were for the party of Khem.
+
+I saw much of Cleopatra, the Queen, and I was ever more astonished at
+the wealth and splendour of her mind, that for richness and variety
+was as a woven cloth of gold throwing back all lights from its changing
+face. She feared me somewhat, and therefore wished to make a friend of
+me, asking me of many matters that seemed to be beyond the province of
+my office. I saw much of the Lady Charmion also--indeed, she was ever at
+my side, so that I scarce knew when she came and when she went. For she
+would draw nigh with that soft step of hers, and I would turn to find
+her at hand and watching me beneath the long lashes of her downcast
+eyes. There was no service that was too hard for her, and no task too
+long; for day and night she laboured for me and for our cause.
+
+But when I thanked her for her loyalty, and said it should be had in
+mind in that time which was at hand, she stamped her foot, and pouted
+with her lips, like an angry child, saying that, among all the things
+which I had learned, this had I not learned--that Love's service asked
+no payment, and was its own guerdon. And I, being innocent in such
+matters, and, foolish that I was, holding the ways of women as of small
+account, read her sayings in the sense that her services to the cause
+of Khem, which she loved, brought with them their own reward. But when
+I praised so fine a spirit, she burst into angry tears and left me
+wondering. For I knew nothing of the trouble at her heart. I knew not
+then that, unsought, this woman had given me her love, and that she was
+rent and torn by pangs of passion fixed like arrows in her breast. I did
+not know--how should I know it, who never looked upon her otherwise than
+as an instrument of our joint and holy cause? Her beauty never stirred
+me--no, not even when she leaned over me and breathed upon my hair, I
+never thought of it otherwise than as a man thinks of the beauty of a
+statue. What had I to do with such delights, I who was sworn to Isis
+and dedicate to the cause of Egypt? O ye Gods, bear me witness that I am
+innocent of this thing which was the source of all my woe and the woe of
+Khem!
+
+How strange a thing is this love of woman, that is so small in its
+beginning and in its ends so great! See, at the first it is as the
+little spring of water welling from a mountain's heart. And at the last
+what is it? It is a mighty river that floats argosies of joy and makes
+wide lands to smile. Or, perchance, it is a torrent to wash in a flood
+of ruin across the fields of Hope, bursting in the barriers of design,
+and bringing to tumbled nothingness the tenement of man's purity and the
+temples of his faith. For when the Invisible conceived the order of the
+universe He set this seed of woman's love within its plan, that by its
+most unequal growth is doomed to bring about equality of law. For now
+it lifts the low to heights untold, and now it brings the noble to the
+level of the dust. And thus, while Woman, that great surprise of nature,
+is, Good and Evil can never grow apart. For still She stands, and, blind
+with love, shoots the shuttle of our fate, and pours sweet water into
+the cup of bitterness, and poisons the wholesome breath of life with the
+doom of her desire. Turn this way and turn that, She is at hand to meet
+thee. Her weakness is thy strength, her might is thy undoing. Of her
+thou art, to her thou goest. She is thy slave, yet holds thee captive;
+at her touch honour withers, locks open, and barriers fall. She is
+infinite as ocean, she is variable as heaven, and her name is the
+Unforeseen. Man, strive not to escape from Woman and the love of
+woman; for, fly where thou wilt, She is yet thy fate, and whate'er thou
+buildest thou buildest it for her!
+
+And thus it came to pass that I, Harmachis, who had put such matters far
+from me, was yet doomed to fall by the thing I held of no account. For,
+see, this Charmion: she loved me--why, I know not. Of her own thought
+she learned to love me, and of her love came what shall be told. But I,
+knowing naught, treated her like a sister, walking as it were hand in
+hand with her towards our common end.
+
+And so the time passed on, till, at length, all things were made ready.
+
+It was the night before the night when the blow should fall, and there
+were revellings in the palace. That very day I had seen Sepa, and with
+him the captains of a band of five hundred men, who should burst into
+the palace at midnight on the morrow, when I had slain Cleopatra the
+Queen, and put the Roman and the Gallic legionaries to the sword. That
+very day I had suborned the Captain Paulus who, since I drew him through
+the gates, was my will's slave. Half by fear and half by promises of
+great reward I had prevailed upon him, for the watch was his, to unbar
+that small gate which faces to the East at the signal on the morrow
+night.
+
+All was made ready--the flower of Freedom that had been five-and-twenty
+years in growth was on the point of bloom. Armed companies were
+gathering in every city from Abu to Athu, and spies looked out from
+their walls, awaiting the coming of the messenger who should bring
+tidings that Cleopatra was no more and that Harmachis, the royal
+Egyptian, had seized the throne.
+
+All was prepared, triumph hung in my hand as a ripe fruit to the hand of
+the plucker. Yet as I sat at the royal feast my heart was heavy, and a
+shadow of coming woe lay cold within my mind. I sat there in a place
+of honour, near the majesty of Cleopatra, and looked down the lines of
+guests, bright with gems and garlanded with flowers, marking those whom
+I had doomed to die. There before me lay Cleopatra in all her beauty,
+which thrilled the beholder as he is thrilled by the rushing of the
+midnight gale, or by the sight of stormy waters. I gazed on her as she
+touched her lips with wine and toyed with the chaplet of roses on her
+brow, thinking of the dagger beneath my robe that I had sworn to bury in
+her breast. Again, and yet again, I gazed and strove to hate her,
+strove to rejoice that she must die--and could not. There, too, behind
+her--watching me now, as ever, with her deep-fringed eyes--was the
+lovely Lady Charmion. Who, to look at her innocent face, would believe
+that she was the setter of that snare in which the Queen who loved her
+should miserably perish? Who would dream that the secret of so much
+death was locked in her girlish breast? I gazed, and grew sick at heart
+because I must anoint my throne with blood, and by evil sweep away the
+evil of the land. At that hour I wished, indeed, that I was nothing
+but some humble husbandman, who in its season grows and in its season
+garners the golden grain! Alas! the seed that I had been doomed to sow
+was the seed of Death, and now I must reap the red fruit of the harvest!
+
+"Why, Harmachis, what ails thee?" said Cleopatra, smiling her slow
+smile. "Has the golden skein of stars got tangled, my astronomer? or
+dost thou plan some new feat of magic? Say what is it that thou dost so
+poorly grace our feast? Nay, now, did I not know, having made inquiry,
+that things so low as we poor women are far beneath thy gaze, why, I
+should swear that Eros had found thee out, Harmachis!"
+
+"Nay, that I am spared, O Queen," I answered. "The servant of the stars
+marks not the smaller light of woman's eyes, and therein is he happy!"
+
+Cleopatra leaned herself towards me, looking on me long and steadily in
+such fashion that, despite my will, the blood fluttered at my heart.
+
+"Boast not, thou proud Egyptian," she said in a low voice which none but
+I and Charmion could hear, "lest perchance thou dost tempt me to match
+my magic against thine. What woman can forgive that a man should push
+us by as things of no account? It is an insult to our sex which Nature's
+self abhors," and she leaned back again and laughed most musically. But,
+glancing up, I saw Charmion, her teeth on her lip and an angry frown
+upon her brow.
+
+"Pardon, royal Egypt," I answered coldly, but with such wit as I could
+summon, "before the Queen of Heaven even stars grow pale!" This I said
+of the moon, which is the sign of the Holy Mother whom Cleopatra dared
+to rival, naming herself Isis come to earth.
+
+"Happily said," she answered, clapping her white hands. "Why, here's an
+astronomer who has wit and can shape a compliment! Nay, such a wonder
+must not pass unnoted, lest the Gods resent it. Charmion, take this
+rose-chaplet from my hair and set it upon the learned brow of our
+Harmachis. He shall be crowned _King of Love_, whether he will it or
+not."
+
+Charmion lifted the chaplet from Cleopatra's brows and, bearing it to
+where I was, with a smile set it upon my head yet warm and fragrant from
+the Queen's hair, but so roughly that she pained me somewhat. She
+did this because she was wroth, although she smiled with her lips and
+whispered, "An omen, royal Harmachis." For though she was so very much
+a woman, yet, when she was angered or suffered jealousy, Charmion had a
+childish way.
+
+Having thus fixed the chaplet, she curtsied low before me, and with the
+softest tone of mockery named me, in the Greek tongue, "Harmachis, King
+of Love." Then Cleopatra laughed and pledged me as "King of Love," and
+so did all the company, finding the jest a merry one. For in Alexandria
+they love not those who live straitly and turn aside from women.
+
+But I sat there, a smile upon my lips, and black wrath in my heart. For,
+knowing who and what I was, it irked me to think myself a jest for the
+frivolous nobles and light beauties of Cleopatra's Court. But I was
+chiefly angered against Charmion, because she laughed the loudest, and I
+did not then know that laughter and bitterness are often the veils with
+which a sore heart wraps its weakness from the world. "An omen" she said
+it was--that crown of flowers--and so it proved indeed. For I was fated
+to barter the Double Diadem of the Upper and the Lower Land for a wreath
+of passion's roses that fade before they fully bloom, and Pharaoh's
+ivory bed of state for the pillow of a faithless woman's breast.
+
+"_King of Love!_" they crowned me in their mockery; ay, and King of
+Shame! And I, with the perfumed roses on my brow--I, by descent and
+ordination the Pharaoh of Egypt--thought of the imperishable halls
+of Abouthis and of that other crowning which on the morrow should be
+consummate.
+
+But still smiling, I pledged them back, and answered with a jest. For
+rising, I bowed before Cleopatra and craved leave to go. "Venus," I
+said, speaking of the planet that we know as Donaou in the morning and
+Bonou in the evening, "was in the ascendant. Therefore, as new-crowned
+King of Love, I must now pass to do my homage to its Queen." For these
+barbarians name Venus Queen of Love.
+
+And so amidst their laughter I withdrew to my watch-tower, and, dashing
+that shameful chaplet down amidst the instruments of my craft, made
+pretence to note the rolling of the stars. There I waited, thinking on
+many things that were to be, until Charmion should come with the last
+lists of the doomed and the messages of my uncle Sepa, whom she had seen
+that evening.
+
+At length the door opened softly, and she came jewelled and clad in her
+white robes, as she had left the feast.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+OF THE COMING OF CLEOPATRA TO THE CHAMBER OF HARMACHIS; OF THE THROWING
+FORTH OF THE KERCHIEF OF CHARMION; OF THE STARS; AND OF THE GIFT BY
+CLEOPATRA OF HER FRIENDSHIP TO HER SERVANT HARMACHIS
+
+"At length thou art come, Charmion," I said. "It is over-late."
+
+"Yea, my Lord; but by no means could I escape Cleopatra. Her mood is
+strangely crossed to-night. I know not what it may portend. Strange
+whims and fancies blow across it like light and contrary airs upon a
+summer sea, and I cannot read her purpose."
+
+"Well, well; enough of Cleopatra. Hast thou seen our uncle?"
+
+"Yes, royal Harmachis."
+
+"And hast thou the last lists?"
+
+"Yes; here they are," and she drew them from her bosom. "Here is the
+list of those who, after the Queen, must certainly be put to the sword.
+Among them thou wilt note is the name of that old Gaul Brennus. I grieve
+for him, for we are friends; but it must be. It is a heavy list."
+
+"It is so," I answered conning it; "when men write out their count they
+forget no item, and our count is long. What must be must be. Now for the
+next."
+
+"Here is the list of those to be spared, as friendly or uncertain;
+and here that of the towns which will certainly rise as soon as the
+messenger reaches their gates with tidings of the death of Cleopatra."
+
+"Good. And now"--and I paused--"and now as to the manner of Cleopatra's
+death. How hast thou settled it? Must it be by my own hand?"
+
+"Yea, my Lord," she answered, and again I caught that note of bitterness
+in her voice. "Doubtless Pharaoh will rejoice that his should be the
+hand to rid the land of this false Queen and wanton woman, and at one
+blow break the chains which gall the neck of Egypt."
+
+"Talk not thus, girl," I said; "thou knowest well that I do not rejoice,
+being but driven to the act by deep necessity and the pressure of my
+vows. Can she not, then, be poisoned? Or can no one of the eunuchs be
+suborned to slay her? My soul turns from this bloody work! Indeed, I
+marvel, however heavy be her crimes, that thou canst speak so lightly of
+the death by treachery of one who loves thee!"
+
+"Surely Pharaoh is over-tender, forgetting the greatness of the moment
+and all that hangs upon this dagger-stroke that shall cut the thread of
+Cleopatra's life. Listen, Harmachis. _Thou_ must do the deed, and _thou_
+alone! Myself I would do it, had my arm the strength; but it has not.
+It cannot be done by poison, for every drop she drinks and every morsel
+that shall touch her lips is strictly tasted by three separate tasters,
+who cannot be suborned. Nor may the eunuchs of the guard be trusted.
+Two, indeed, are sworn to us; but the third cannot be come at. He must
+be cut down afterwards; and, indeed, when so many men must fall, what
+matters a eunuch more or less? Thus it shall be, then. To-morrow night,
+at three hours before midnight thou dost cast the final augury of the
+issue of the war. And then thou wilt, as is agreed, descend alone with
+me, having the signet, to the outer chamber of the Queen's apartment.
+For the vessel bearing orders to the Legions sails from Alexandria at
+the following dawn; and alone with Cleopatra, since she wills that
+the thing be kept secret as the sea, thou wilt read the message of the
+stars. And as she pores over the papyrus, then must thou stab her in
+the back, so that she dies; and see thou that thy will and arm fail thee
+not! The deed being done--and indeed it will be easy--thou wilt take
+the signet and pass out to where the eunuch is--for the others will be
+wanting. If by any chance there is trouble with him--but there will be
+no trouble, for he dare not enter the private rooms, and the sounds
+of death cannot reach so far--thou must cut him down. Then I will meet
+thee; and, passing on, we will come to Paulus, and it shall be my care
+to see that he is neither drunk nor backward, for I know how to hold him
+to the task. And he and those with him shall throw open the side gate,
+when Sepa and the five hundred chosen men who are in waiting shall pour
+in and cast themselves upon the sleeping legionaries, putting them to
+the sword. Why, the thing is easy so thou rest true to thyself, and let
+no womanish fears creep into thy heart. What is this dagger's thrust? It
+is nothing, and yet upon it hang the destinies of Egypt and the world."
+
+"Hush!" I said. "What is that?--I hear a sound."
+
+Charmion ran to the door, and, gazing down the long, dark passage,
+listened. In a moment she came back, her finger on her lips. "It is the
+Queen," she whispered hurriedly; "the Queen who mounts the stair alone.
+I heard her bid Iras to leave her. I may not be found alone with thee
+at this hour; it has a strange look, and she may suspect. What wants she
+here? Where can I hide?"
+
+I glanced round. At the further end of the chamber was a heavy curtain
+that hid a little place built in the thickness of the wall which I used
+for the storage of rolls and instruments.
+
+"Haste thee--there!" I said, and she glided behind the curtain, which
+swung back and covered her. Then I thrust the fatal scroll of death into
+the bosom of my robe and bent over the mystic chart. Presently I heard
+the sweep of woman's robes and there came a low knock upon the door.
+
+"Enter, whoever thou art," I said.
+
+The latch lifted, and Cleopatra swept in, royally arrayed, her dark
+hair hanging about her and the sacred snake of royalty glistening on her
+brow.
+
+"Of a truth, Harmachis," she said with a sigh, as she sank into a seat,
+"the path to heaven is hard to climb! Ah! I am weary, for those stairs
+are many. But I was minded, my astronomer, to see thee in thy haunts."
+
+"I am honoured overmuch, O Queen!" I said, bowing low before her.
+
+"Art thou now? And yet that dark face of thine has a somewhat angry
+look--thou art too young and handsome for this dry trade, Harmachis.
+Why, I vow thou hast cast my wreath of roses down amidst thy rusty
+tools! Kings would have cherished that wreath along with their choicest
+diadems, Harmachis! and thou dost throw it away as a thing of no
+account! Why, what a man art thou! But stay; what is this? A lady's
+kerchief, by Isis! Nay, now, my Harmachis, how came _this_ here? Are our
+poor kerchiefs also instruments of thy high art? Oh, fie, fie!--have I
+caught thee, then? Art thou indeed a fox?"
+
+"Nay, most royal Cleopatra, nay!" I said, turning; for the kerchief
+which had fallen from Charmion's neck had an awkward look. "I know not,
+indeed, how the frippery came here. Perhaps, some one of the women who
+keeps the chamber may have let it fall."
+
+"Ah! so--so!" she said dryly, and still laughing like a rippling brook.
+"Yes, surely, the slave-women who keep chambers own such toys as this,
+of the very finest silk, worth twice its weight in gold, and broidered,
+too, in many colours. Why, myself I should not shame to wear it! Of a
+truth it seems familiar to my sight." And she threw it round her neck
+and smoothed the ends with her white hand. "But there; doubtless, it is
+a thing unholy in thine eyes that the scarf of thy beloved should rest
+upon my poor breast. Take it, Harmachis; take it, and hide it in thy
+bosom--nigh thy heart indeed!"
+
+I took the accursed thing, and, muttering what I may not write, stepped
+on to the giddy platform whence I watched the stars. Then, crushing it
+into a ball, I threw it to the winds of heaven.
+
+At this the lovely Queen laughed once more.
+
+"Nay, think now," she cried; "what would the lady say could she see her
+love-gauge thus cast to all the world? Mayhap, Harmachis, thou wouldst
+deal thus with my wreath also? See, the roses fade; cast it forth," and,
+stooping, she took up the wreath and gave it to me.
+
+For a moment, so vexed was I, I had a mind to take her at her word and
+send the wreath to join the kerchief. But I thought better of it.
+
+"Nay," I said more softly, "it is a Queen's gift, and I will keep it,"
+and, as I spoke, I saw the curtain shake. Often since that night I have
+sorrowed over those simple words.
+
+"Gracious thanks be to the King of Love for this small mercy," she
+answered, looking at me strangely. "Now, enough of wit; come forth upon
+this balcony--tell me of the mystery of those stars of thine. For I
+always loved the stars, that are so pure and bright and cold, and so far
+away from our fevered troubling. There I would wish to dwell, rocked on
+the dark bosom of the night, and losing the little sense of self as I
+gazed for ever on the countenance of yon sweet-eyed space. Nay--who can
+tell, Harmachis?--perhaps those stars partake of our very substance,
+and, linked to us by Nature's invisible chain, do, indeed, draw our
+destiny with them as they roll. What says the Greek fable of him who
+became a star? Perchance it has truth, for yonder tiny sparks may be the
+souls of men, but grown more purely bright and placed in happy rest to
+illume the turmoil of their mother-earth. Or are they lamps hung high
+in the heavenly vault that night by night some Godhead, whose wings
+are Darkness, touches with his immortal fire so that they leap out in
+answering flame? Give me of thy wisdom and open these wonders to me, my
+servant, for I have little knowledge. Yet my heart is large, and I would
+fill it, for I have the wit, could I but find the teacher."
+
+Thereon, being glad to find footing on a safer shore, and marvelling
+somewhat to learn that Cleopatra had a place for lofty thoughts, I spoke
+and willingly told her such things as are lawful. I told her how the
+sky is a liquid mass pressing round the earth and resting on the elastic
+pillars of the air, and how above is the heavenly ocean Nout, in which
+the planets float like ships as they rush upon their radiant way. I told
+her many things, and amongst them how, through the certain never-ceasing
+movement of the orbs of light, the planet Venus, that was called Donaou
+when she showed as the Morning Star, became the planet Bonou when she
+came as the sweet Star of Eve. And while I stood and spoke watching the
+stars, she sat, her hands clasped upon her knee, and watched my face.
+
+"Ah!" she broke in at length, "and so Venus is to be seen both in the
+morning and the evening sky. Well, of a truth, she is everywhere, though
+she best loves the night. But thou lovest not that I should use these
+Latin names to thee. Come, we will talk in the ancient tongue of Khem,
+which I know well; I am the first, mark thou, of all the Lagidae who know
+it. And now," she went on, speaking in my own tongue, but with a little
+foreign accent that did but make her talk more sweet, "enough of stars,
+for, when all is said, they are but fickle things, and perhaps may
+even now be storing up an evil hour for thee or me, or for both of us
+together. Not but what I love to hear thee speak of them, for then thy
+face loses that gloomy cloud of thought which mars it and grows quick
+and human. Harmachis, thou art too young for such a solemn trade;
+methinks that I must find thee a better. Youth comes but once; why waste
+it in these musings? It is time to think when we can no longer act. Tell
+me how old art thou, Harmachis?"
+
+"I have six-and-twenty years, O Queen," I answered, "for I was born in
+the first month of Shomou, in the summer season, and on the third day of
+the month."
+
+"Why, then, we are of an age even to a day," she cried, "for I too have
+six-and-twenty years, and I too was born on the third day of the first
+month of Shomou. Well, this may we say: those who begot us need have no
+shame. For if I be the fairest woman in Egypt, methinks, Harmachis, that
+there is in Egypt no man more fair and strong than thou, ay, or more
+learned. Born of the same day, why, 'tis manifest that we were destined
+to stand together, I, as the Queen, and thou, perchance, Harmachis, as
+one of the chief pillars of my throne, and thus to work each other's
+weal."
+
+"Or maybe each other's woe," I answered, looking up; for her sweet
+speeches stung my ears and brought more colour to my face than I loved
+that she should see there.
+
+"Nay, never talk of woe. Be seated here by me, Harmachis, and let us
+talk, not as Queen and subject, but as friend to friend. Thou wast
+angered with me at the feast to-night because I mocked thee with yonder
+wreath--was it not so? Nay, it was but a jest. Didst thou know how heavy
+is the task of monarchs and how wearisome are their hours, thou wouldst
+not be wroth because I lit my dulness with a jest. Oh, they weary me,
+those princes and those nobles, and those stiff-necked pompous Romans.
+To my face they vow themselves my slaves, and behind my back they mock
+me and proclaim me the servant of their Triumvirate, or their Empire,
+or their Republic, as the wheel of Fortune turns, and each rises on its
+round! There is never a man among them--nothing but fools, parasites,
+and puppets--never a man since with their coward daggers they slew that
+Caesar whom all the world in arms was not strong enough to tame. And I
+must play off one against the other, if maybe, by so doing, I can
+keep Egypt from their grip. And for reward, what? Why, this is my
+reward--that all men speak ill of me--and, I know it, my subjects hate
+me! Yes, I believe that, woman though I am, they would murder me could
+they find a means!"
+
+She paused, covering her eyes with her hand, and it was well, for her
+words pierced me so that I shrank upon the seat beside her.
+
+"They think ill of me, I know it; and call me wanton, who have never
+stepped aside save once, when I loved the greatest man of all the world,
+and at the touch of love my passion flamed indeed, but burnt a hallowed
+flame. These ribald Alexandrians swear that I poisoned Ptolemy, my
+brother--whom the Roman Senate would, most unnaturally, have forced on
+me, his sister, as a husband! But it is false: he sickened and died of
+fever. And even so they say that I would slay Arsinoe, my sister--who,
+indeed, would slay me!--but that, too, is false! Though she will have
+none of me, I love my sister. Yes, they all think ill of me without a
+cause; even thou dost think ill of me, Harmachis.
+
+"O Harmachis, before thou judgest, remember what a thing is envy!--that
+foul sickness of the mind which makes the jaundiced eye of pettiness
+to see all things distraught--to read Evil written on the open face of
+Good, and find impurity in the whitest virgin's soul! Think what a thing
+it is, Harmachis, to be set on high above the gaping crowd of knaves who
+hate thee for thy fortune and thy wit; who gnash their teeth and shoot
+the arrows of their lies from the cover of their own obscureness, whence
+they have no wings to soar; and whose hearts' quest it is to drag down
+thy nobility to the level of the groundling and the fool!
+
+"Be not, then, swift to think evil of the Great, whose every word and
+act is searched for error by a million angry eyes, and whose most tiny
+fault is trumpeted by a thousand throats, till the world shakes with
+echoes of their sin! Say not: 'It is thus, 'tis certainly thus'--say,
+rather: 'May it not be otherwise? Have we heard aright? Did she this
+thing of her own will?' Judge gently, Harmachis, as wert thou I thou
+wouldst be judged. Remember that a Queen is never free. She is, indeed,
+but the point and instrument of those forces politic with which the iron
+books of history are graved. O Harmachis! be thou my friend--my friend
+and counsellor!--my friend whom I can trust indeed!--for here, in this
+crowded Court, I am more utterly alone than any soul that breathes about
+its corridors. But _thee_ I trust; there is faith written in those quiet
+eyes, and I am minded to lift thee high, Harmachis. I can no longer bear
+my solitude of mind--I must find one with whom I may commune and speak
+that which lies within my heart. I have faults, I know it; but I am not
+all unworthy of thy faith, for there is good grain among the evil seed.
+Say, Harmachis, wilt thou take pity on my loneliness and befriend me,
+who have lovers, courtiers, slaves, dependents, more thick than I
+can count, but never one single _friend_?" and she leant towards me,
+touching me lightly, and gazed on me with her wonderful blue eyes.
+
+I was overcome; thinking of the morrow night, shame and sorrow smote me.
+_I_, her friend!--_I_, whose assassin dagger lay against my breast! I
+bent my head, and a sob or a groan, I know not which, burst from the
+agony of my heart.
+
+But Cleopatra, thinking only that I was moved beyond myself by the
+surprise of her graciousness, smiled sweetly, and said:
+
+"It grows late; to-morrow night when thou bringest the auguries we will
+speak again, O my friend Harmachis, and thou shalt answer me." And she
+gave me her hand to kiss. Scarce knowing what I did, I kissed it, and in
+another moment she was gone.
+
+But I stood in the chamber, gazing after her like one asleep.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+OF THE WORDS AND JEALOUSY OF CHARMION; OF THE LAUGHTER OF HARMACHIS; OF
+THE MAKING READY FOR THE DEED OF BLOOD; AND OF THE MESSAGE OF THE OLD WIFE, ATOUA
+
+I stood still, plunged in thought. Then by hazard as it were I took up
+the wreath of roses and looked on it. How long I stood so I know not,
+but when next I lifted up my eyes they fell upon the form of Charmion,
+whom, indeed, I had altogether forgotten. And though at the moment I
+thought but little of it, I noted vaguely that she was flushed as though
+with anger, and beat her foot upon the floor.
+
+"Oh, it is thou, Charmion!" I said. "What ails thee? Art thou cramped
+with standing so long in thy hiding-place? Why didst not thou slip hence
+when Cleopatra led me to the balcony?"
+
+"Where is my kerchief?" she asked, shooting an angry glance at me. "I
+let fall my broidered kerchief."
+
+"Thy kerchief!--why, didst thou not see? Cleopatra twitted me about it,
+and I flung it from the balcony."
+
+"Yes, I saw," answered the girl, "I saw but too well. Thou didst fling
+away my kerchief, but the wreath of roses--that thou wouldst not
+fling away. It was 'a Queen's gift,' forsooth, and therefore the royal
+Harmachis, the Priest of Isis, the chosen of the Gods, the crowned
+Pharaoh wed to the weal of Khem, cherished it and saved it. But my
+kerchief, stung by the laughter of that light Queen, he cast away!"
+
+"What meanest thou?" I asked, astonished at her bitter tone. "I cannot
+read thy riddles."
+
+"What mean I?" she answered, tossing up her head and showing the white
+curves of her throat. "Nay, I mean naught, or all; take it as thou wilt.
+Wouldst know what I mean, Harmachis, my cousin and my Lord?" she went on
+in a hard, low voice. "Then I will tell thee--thou art in danger of the
+great offence. This Cleopatra has cast her fatal wiles about thee, and
+thou goest near to loving her, Harmachis--to loving her whom to-morrow
+thou must slay! Ay, stand and stare at that wreath in thy hand--the
+wreath thou couldst not send to join my kerchief--sure Cleopatra wore it
+but to-night! The perfume of the hair of Caesar's mistress--Caesar's
+and others'--yet mingles with the odour of its roses! Now, prithee,
+Harmachis, how far didst thou carry the matter on yonder balcony? for in
+that hole where I lay hid I could not hear or see. 'Tis a sweet spot for
+lovers, is it not?--ay, and a sweet hour, too? Venus surely rules the
+stars to-night?"
+
+All of this she said so quietly and in so soft and modest a way, though
+her words were not modest, and yet so bitterly, that every syllable cut
+me to the heart, and angered me till I could find no speech.
+
+"Of a truth thou hast a wise economy," she went on, seeing her
+advantage: "to-night thou dost kiss the lips that to-morrow thou shalt
+still for ever! It is frugal dealing with the occasion of the moment;
+ay, worthy and honourable dealing!"
+
+Then at last I broke forth. "Girl," I cried, "how darest thou speak
+thus to me? Mindest thou who and what I am that thou loosest thy peevish
+gibes upon me?"
+
+"I mind what it behoves thee to be," she answered quick. "What thou art,
+that I mind not now. Surely thou knowest alone--thou and Cleopatra!"
+
+"What meanest thou?" I said. "Am I to blame if the Queen----"
+
+"The Queen! What have we here? Pharaoh owns a Queen!"
+
+"If Cleopatra wills to come hither of a night and talk----"
+
+"Of stars, Harmachis--surely of stars and roses, and naught beside!"
+
+After that I know not what I said; for, troubled as I was, the girl's
+bitter tongue and quiet way drove me wellnigh to madness. But this I
+know: I spoke so fiercely that she cowered before me as she had cowered
+before my uncle Sepa when he rated her because of her Grecian garb. And
+as she wept then, so she wept now, only more passionately and with great
+sobs.
+
+At length I ceased, half-shamed but still angry and smarting sorely.
+For even while she wept she could find a tongue to answer with--and a
+woman's shafts are sharp.
+
+"Thou shouldst not speak to me thus!" she sobbed; "it is cruel--it is
+unmanly! But I forget thou art but a priest, not a man--except, mayhap,
+for Cleopatra!"
+
+"What right hast thou?" I said. "What canst thou mean?"
+
+"What right have I?" she asked, looking up, her dark eyes all aflood
+with tears that ran down her sweet face like the dew of morning down
+a lily's heart. "What right have I? O Harmachis! art thou blind? Didst
+thou not know by what right I speak thus to thee? Then I must tell thee.
+Well, it is the fashion in Alexandria! By that first and holy right of
+woman--by the right of the great love I bear thee, and which, it seems,
+thou hast no eyes to see--by the right of my glory and my shame. Oh,
+be not wroth with me, Harmachis, nor set me down as light, because the
+truth at last has burst from me; for I am not so. I am what thou wilt
+make me. I am the wax within the moulder's hands, and as thou dost
+fashion me so I shall be. There breathes within me now a breath of
+glory, blowing across the waters of my soul, that can waft me to ends
+more noble than ever I have dreamed afore, if thou wilt be my pilot
+and my guide. But if I lose thee, then I lose all that holds me from my
+worse self--and let shipwreck come! Thou knowest me not, Harmachis! thou
+canst not see how big a spirit struggles in this frail form of mine! To
+thee I am a girl, clever, wayward, shallow. But I am more! Show me thy
+loftiest thought and I will match it, the deepest puzzle of thy mind
+and I will make it clear. Of one blood we are, and love can ravel up our
+little difference and make us grow one indeed. One end we have, one land
+we love, one vow binds us both. Take me to thy heart, Harmachis, set me
+by thee on the Double Throne, and I swear that I will lift thee higher
+than ever man has climbed. Reject me, and beware lest I pull thee down!
+And now, putting aside the cold delicacy of custom, stung to it by what
+I saw of the arts of that lovely living falsehood, Cleopatra, which
+for pastime she practises on thy folly, I have spoken out my heart, and
+answer thou!" And she clasped her hands and, drawing one pace nearer,
+gazed, all white and trembling, on my face.
+
+For a moment I stood struck dumb, for the magic of her voice and the
+power of her speech, despite myself, stirred me like the rush of music.
+Had I loved the woman, doubtless she might have fired me with her flame;
+but I loved her not, and I could not play at passion. And so thought
+came, and with thought that laughing mood, which is ever apt to fashion
+upon nerves strained to the point of breaking. In a flash, as it were,
+I bethought me of the way in which she had that very night forced the
+wreath of roses on my head, I thought of the kerchief and how I had
+flung it forth. I thought of Charmion in the little chamber watching
+what she held to be the arts of Cleopatra, and of her bitter speeches.
+Lastly, I thought of what my uncle Sepa would say of her could he see
+her now, and of the strange and tangled skein in which I was inmeshed.
+And I laughed aloud--the fool's laughter that was my knell of ruin!
+
+She turned whiter yet--white as the dead--and a look grew upon her face
+that checked my foolish mirth. "Thou findest, then, Harmachis," she
+said in a low, choked voice, and dropping the level of her eyes, "thou
+findest cause of merriment in what I have said?"
+
+"Nay," I answered; "nay, Charmion; forgive me if I laughed. It was
+rather a laugh of despair; for what am I to say to thee? Thou hast
+spoken high words of all thou mightest be: is it left for me to tell
+thee what thou art?"
+
+She shrank, and I paused.
+
+"Speak," she said.
+
+"Thou knowest--none so well!--who I am and what my mission is: thou
+knowest--none so well!--that I am sworn to Isis, and may, by law Divine,
+have naught to do with thee."
+
+"Ay," she broke in, in her low voice, and with her eyes still fixed upon
+the ground--"ay, and I know that thy vows are broken in spirit, if not
+in form--broken like wreaths of cloud; for, Harmachis--_thou lovest
+Cleopatra!_"
+
+"It is a lie!" I cried. "Thou wanton girl, who wouldst seduce me from my
+duty and put me to an open shame!--who, led by passion or ambition, or
+the love of evil, hast not shamed to break the barriers of thy sex and
+speak as thou hast spoken--beware lest thou go too far! And if thou wilt
+have an answer, here it is, put straightly, as thy question. Charmion,
+outside the matter of my duty and my vows, thou art _naught_ to me!--nor
+for all thy tender glances will my heart beat one pulse more fast!
+Hardly art thou now my friend--for, of a truth, I scarce can trust thee.
+But, once more: beware! To me thou mayest do thy worst; but if thou dost
+dare to lift a finger against our cause, that day thou diest! And now,
+is this play done?"
+
+And as, wild with anger, I spoke thus, she shrank back, and yet further
+back, till at length she rested against the wall, her eyes covered with
+her hand. But when I ceased she dropped her hand, glancing up, and her
+face was as the face of a statue, in which the great eyes glowed like
+embers, and round them was a ring of purple shadow.
+
+"Not altogether done," she answered gently; "the arena must yet be
+sanded!" This she said having reference to the covering up of the
+bloodstains at the gladiatorial shows with fine sand. "Well," she went
+on, "waste not thine anger on a thing so vile. I have thrown my throw
+and I have lost. _Vae victis!_--ah! _Vae victis!_ Wilt thou not lend me
+the dagger in thy robe, that here and now I may end my shame? No? Then
+one word more, most royal Harmachis: if thou canst, forget my folly;
+but, at the least, have no fear from me. I am now, as ever, thy servant
+and the servant of our cause. Farewell!"
+
+And she went, leaning her hand against the wall. But I, passing to
+my chamber, flung myself upon my couch, and groaned in bitterness of
+spirit. Alas! we shape our plans, and by slow degrees build up our house
+of Hope, never counting on the guests that time shall bring to lodge
+therein. For who can guard against--the Unforeseen?
+
+At length I slept, and my dreams were evil. When I woke the light of
+the day which should see the red fulfilment of the plot was streaming
+through the casement, and the birds sang merrily among the garden palms.
+I woke, and as I woke the sense of trouble pressed in upon me, for I
+remembered that before this day was gathered to the past I must dip
+my hands in blood--yes, in the blood of Cleopatra, who trusted me! Why
+could I not hate her as I should? There had been a time when I looked on
+to this act of vengeance with somewhat of a righteous glow of zeal. And
+now--and now--why, I would frankly give my royal birthright to be free
+from its necessity! But, alas! I knew that there was no escape. I
+must drain this cup or be for ever cast away. I felt the eyes of Egypt
+watching me, and the eyes of Egypt's Gods. I prayed to my Mother Isis
+to give me strength to do this deed, and prayed as I had never prayed
+before; and oh, wonder! no answer came. Nay, how was this? What, then,
+had loosed the link between us that, for the first time, the Goddess
+deigned no reply to her son and chosen servant? Could it be that I
+had sinned in heart against her? What had Charmion said--that I loved
+Cleopatra? Was this sickness love? Nay! a thousand times nay!--it was
+but the revolt of Nature against an act of treachery and blood. The
+Goddess did but try my strength, or perchance she also turned her holy
+countenance from murder?
+
+I rose filled with terror and despair, and went about my task like a man
+without a soul. I conned the fatal lists and noted all the plans--ay, in
+my brain I gathered up the very words of that proclamation of my Royalty
+which, on the morrow, I should issue to the startled world.
+
+"Citizens of Alexandria and dwellers in the land of Egypt," it began,
+"Cleopatra the Macedonian hath, by the command of the Gods, suffered
+justice for her crimes----"
+
+All these and other things I did, but I did them as a man without a
+soul--as a man moved by a force from without and not from within. And so
+the minutes wore away. In the third hour of the afternoon I went as by
+appointment fixed to the house where my uncle Sepa lodged, that same
+house to which I had been brought some three months gone when I entered
+Alexandria for the first time. And here I found the leaders of the
+revolt in the city assembled in secret conclave to the number of
+seven. When I had entered, and the doors were barred, they prostrated
+themselves, and cried, "Hail, Pharaoh!" but I bade them rise, saying
+that I was not yet Pharaoh, for the chicken was still in the egg.
+
+"Yea, Prince," said my uncle, "but his beak shows through. Not in
+vain hath Egypt brooded all these years, if thou fail not with that
+dagger-stroke of thine to-night; and how canst thou fail? Nothing can
+now stop our course to victory!"
+
+"It is on the knees of the Gods," I answered.
+
+"Nay," he said, "the Gods have placed the issue in the hands of a
+mortal--in thy hands, Harmachis!--and there it is safe. See: here are
+the last lists. Thirty-one thousand men who bear arms are sworn to rise
+when the tidings come to them. Within five days every citadel in Egypt
+will be in our hands, and then what have we to fear? From Rome but
+little, for her hands are full; and, besides, we will make alliance with
+the Triumvirate, and, if need be, buy them off. For of money there is
+plenty in the land, and if more be wanted thou, Harmachis, knowest where
+it is stored against the need of Khem, and outside the Roman's reach
+of arm. Who is there to harm us? There is none. Perchance, in this
+turbulent city, there may be struggle, and a counter-plot to bring
+Arsinoe to Egypt and set her on the throne. Therefore Alexandria must
+be severely dealt with--ay, even to destruction, if need be. As for
+Arsinoe, those go forth to-morrow on the news of the Queen's death who
+shall slay her secretly."
+
+"There remains the lad Caesarion," I said. "Rome might claim through
+Caesar's son, and the child of Cleopatra inherits Cleopatra's rights.
+Here is a double danger."
+
+"Fear not," said my uncle; "to-morrow Caesarion joins those who begat him
+in Amenti. I have made provision. The Ptolemies must be stamped out,
+so that no shoot shall ever spring from that root blasted by Heaven's
+vengeance."
+
+"Is there no other means?" I asked sadly. "My heart is sick at the
+promise of this red rain of blood. I know the child well; he has
+Cleopatra's fire and beauty and great Caesar's wit. It were shame to
+murder him."
+
+"Nay, be not so chicken-hearted, Harmachis," said my uncle, sternly.
+"What ails thee, then? If the lad is thus, the more reason that he
+should die. Wouldst thou nurse up a young lion to tear thee from the
+throne?"
+
+"Be it so," I answered, sighing. "At least he is spared much, and will
+go hence innocent of evil. Now for the plans."
+
+We sat long taking counsel, till at length, in face of the great
+emergency and our high emprise, I felt something of the spirit of
+former days flow back into my heart. At the last all was ordered, and so
+ordered that it could scarce miscarry, for it was fixed that if by any
+chance I could not come to slay Cleopatra on this night, then the plot
+should hang in the scale till the morrow, when the deed must be done
+upon occasion. For the death of Cleopatra was the signal. These matters
+being finished, once more we stood and, our hands upon the sacred
+symbol, swore the oath that may not be written. And then my uncle
+kissed me with tears of hope and joy standing in his keen black eyes. He
+blessed me, saying that he would gladly give his life, ay, and a hundred
+lives, if they were his, if he might but live to see Egypt once more
+a nation, and me, Harmachis, the descendant of its royal and ancient
+blood, seated on the throne. For he was a patriot indeed, asking nothing
+for himself, and giving all things to his cause. And I kissed him in
+turn, and thus we parted. Nor did I ever see him more in the flesh who
+has earned the rest that as yet is denied to me.
+
+So I went, and, there being yet time, walked swiftly from place to place
+in the great city, taking note of the positions of the gates and of the
+places where our forces must be gathered. At length I came to that quay
+where I had landed, and saw a vessel sailing for the open sea. I looked,
+and in my heaviness of heart longed that I were aboard of her, to be
+borne by her white wings to some far shore where I might live obscure
+and die forgotten. Also I saw another vessel that had dropped down the
+Nile, from whose deck the passengers were streaming. For a moment I
+stood watching them, idly wondering if they were from Abouthis, when
+suddenly I heard a familiar voice beside me.
+
+"_La! la!_" said the voice. "Why, what a city is this for an old woman
+to seek her fortune in! And how shall I find those to whom I am known?
+As well look for the rush in the papyrus-roll.[*] Begone! thou knave!
+and let my basket of simples lie; or, by the Gods, I'll doctor thee with
+them!"
+
+     [*] Papyrus was manufactured from the pith of rushes. Hence
+     Atoua's saying.--Editor.
+
+I turned, wondering, and found myself face to face with my foster-nurse,
+Atoua. She knew me instantly, for I saw her start, but in the presence
+of the people she checked her surprise.
+
+"Good Sir," she whined, lifting her withered countenance towards me, and
+at the same time making the secret sign. "By thy dress thou shouldst be
+an astronomer, and I was specially told to avoid astronomers as a pack
+of lying tricksters who worship their own star only; and, therefore, I
+speak to thee, acting on the principle of contraries, which is law to us
+women. For surely in this Alexandria, where all things are upside
+down, the astronomers may be the honest men, since the rest are clearly
+knaves." And then, being by now out of earshot of the press, "royal
+Harmachis, I am come charged with a message to thee from thy father
+Amenemhat."
+
+"Is he well?" I asked.
+
+"Yes, he is well, though waiting for the moment tries him sorely."
+
+"And his message?"
+
+"It is this. He sends greeting to thee and with it warning that a great
+danger threatens thee, though he cannot read it. These are his words:
+'Be steadfast and prosper.'"
+
+I bowed my head and the words struck a new chill of fear into my soul.
+
+"When is the time?" she asked.
+
+"This very night. Where goest thou?"
+
+"To the house of the honourable Sepa, Priest of Annu. Canst thou guide
+me thither?"
+
+"Nay, I may not stay; nor is it wise that I should be seen with thee.
+Hold!" and I called a porter who was idling on the quay, and, giving him
+a piece of money, bade him guide the old wife to the house.
+
+"Farewell," she whispered; "farewell till to-morrow. Be steadfast and
+prosper."
+
+Then I turned and went my way through the crowded streets, where the
+people made place for me, the astronomer of Cleopatra, for my fame had
+spread abroad.
+
+And even as I went my footsteps seemed to beat _Be steadfast, Be
+steadfast, Be steadfast_, till at last it was as though the very ground
+cried out its warning to me.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+OF THE VEILED WORDS OF CHARMION; OF THE PASSING OF HARMACHIS INTO THE
+PRESENCE OF CLEOPATRA; AND OF THE OVERTHROW OF HARMACHIS
+
+It was night, and I sat alone in my chamber, waiting the moment when,
+as it was agreed, Charmion should summon me to pass down to Cleopatra. I
+sat alone, and there before me lay the dagger that was to pierce her. It
+was long and keen, and the handle was formed of a sphinx of solid gold.
+I sat alone, questioning the future, but no answer came. At length I
+looked up, and Charmion stood before me--Charmion, no longer gay and
+bright, but pale of face and hollow-eyed.
+
+"Royal Harmachis," she said, "Cleopatra summons thee, presently to
+declare to her the voices of the stars."
+
+So the hour had fallen!
+
+"It is well, Charmion," I answered. "Are all things in order?"
+
+"Yea, my Lord; all things are in order: well primed with wine, Paulus
+guards the gates, the eunuchs are withdrawn save one, the legionaries
+sleep, and already Sepa and his force lie hid without. Nothing has
+been neglected, and no lamb skipping at the shamble doors can be more
+innocent of its doom than is Queen Cleopatra."
+
+"It is well," I said again; "let us be going," and rising, I placed the
+dagger in the bosom of my robe. Taking a cup of wine that stood near, I
+drank deep of it, for I had scarce tasted food all that day.
+
+"One word," Charmion said hurriedly, "for it is not yet time: last
+night--ah, last night--" and her bosom heaved, "I dreamed a dream that
+haunts me strangely, and perchance thou also didst dream a dream. It was
+all a dream and 'tis forgotten: is it not so, my Lord?"
+
+"Yes, yes," I said; "why troublest thou me thus at such an hour?"
+
+"Nay, I know not; but to-night, Harmachis, Fate is in labour of a great
+event, and in her painful throes mayhap she'll crush me in her grip--me
+or thee, or the twain of us, Harmachis. And if that be so--well, I would
+hear from thee, before it is done, that 'twas naught but a dream, and
+that dream forgot----"
+
+"Yes, it is all a dream," I said idly; "thou and I, and the solid earth,
+and this heavy night of terror, ay, and this keen knife--what are these
+but dreams, and with what face shall the waking come?"
+
+"So now, thou fallest in my humour, royal Harmachis. As thou sayest, we
+dream; and while we dream yet can the vision change. For the phantasies
+of dreams are wonderful, seeing that they have no stability, but vary
+like the vaporous edge of sunset clouds, building now this thing, and
+now that; being now dark and heavy, and now alight with splendour.
+Therefore, before we wake to-morrow tell me one word. Is that vision of
+last night, wherein I _seemed_ to be quite shamed, and thou didst _seem_
+to laugh upon my shame, a fixed phantasy, or can it, perchance, yet
+change its countenance? For remember, when that waking comes, the
+vagaries of our sleep will be more unalterable and more enduring than
+are the pyramids. Then they will be gathered into that changeless
+region of the past where all things, great and small--ay, even dreams,
+Harmachis, are, each in its own semblance, frozen to stone and built
+into the Tomb of Time immortal."
+
+"Nay, Charmion," I replied, "I grieve if I did pain thee; but over that
+vision comes no change. I said what was in my heart and there's an end.
+Thou art my cousin and my friend, I can never be more to thee."
+
+"It is well--'tis very well," she said; "let it be forgotten. And now on
+from dream--to dream," and she smiled with such a smile as I had never
+seen her wear before; it was sadder and more fateful than any stamp that
+grief can set upon the brow.
+
+For, though being blinded by my own folly and the trouble at my heart I
+knew it not, with that smile, the happiness of youth died for Charmion
+the Egyptian; the hope of love fled; and the holy links of duty burst
+asunder. With that smile she consecrated herself to Evil, she renounced
+her Country and her Gods, and trampled on her oath. Ay, that smile marks
+the moment when the stream of history changed its course. For had I
+never seen it on her face Octavianus had not bestridden the world, and
+Egypt had once more been free and great.
+
+And yet it was but a woman's smile!
+
+"Why lookest thou thus strangely, girl?" I asked.
+
+"In dreams we smile," she answered. "And now it is time; follow thou me.
+Be firm and prosper, royal Harmachis!" and bending forward she took my
+hand and kissed it. Then, with one strange last look, she turned and led
+the way down the stair and through the empty halls.
+
+In the chamber that is called the Alabaster Hall, the roof of which
+is upborne by columns of black marble, we stayed. For beyond was the
+private chamber of Cleopatra, the same in which I had seen her sleeping.
+
+"Abide thou here," she said, "while I tell Cleopatra of thy coming," and
+she glided from my side.
+
+I stood for long, mayhap in all the half of an hour, counting my own
+heart-beats, and, as in a dream, striving to gather up my strength to
+that which lay before me.
+
+At length Charmion came back, her head held low and walking heavily.
+
+"Cleopatra waits thee," she said: "pass on, there is no guard."
+
+"Where do I meet thee when what must be done is done?" I asked hoarsely.
+
+"Thou meetest me here, and then to Paulus. Be firm and prosper.
+Harmachis, fare thee well!"
+
+And so I went; but at the curtain I turned suddenly, and there in the
+midst of that lonely lamplit hall I saw a strange sight. Far away, in
+such a fashion that the light struck full upon her, stood Charmion, her
+head thrown back, her white arms outstretched as though to clasp, and on
+her girlish face a stamp of anguished passion so terrible to see that,
+indeed, I cannot tell it! For she believed that I, whom she loved, was
+passing to my death, and this was her last farewell to me.
+
+But I knew naught of this matter; so with another passing pang of wonder
+I drew aside the curtains, gained the doorway, and stood in Cleopatra's
+chamber. And there, upon a silken couch at the far end of the perfumed
+chamber, clad in wonderful white attire, rested Cleopatra. In her hand
+was a jewelled fan of ostrich plumes, with which she gently fanned
+herself, and by her side was her harp of ivory, and a little table
+whereon were figs and goblets and a flask of ruby-coloured wine. I drew
+near slowly through the soft dim light to where the Wonder of the World
+lay in all her glowing beauty. And, indeed, I have never seen her look
+so fair as she did upon that fatal night. Couched in her amber cushions,
+she seemed to shine as a star on the twilight's glow. Perfume came from
+her hair and robes, music fell from her lips, and in her heavenly eyes
+all lights changed and gathered as in the ominous opal's disc.
+
+And this was the woman whom, presently, I must slay!
+
+Slowly I drew near, bowing as I came; but she took no heed. She lay
+there, and the jewelled fan floated to and fro like the bright wing of
+some hovering bird.
+
+At length I stood before her, and she glanced up, the ostrich-plumes
+pressed against her breast as though to hide its beauty.
+
+"What! friend; art thou come?" she said. "It is well; for I grew lonely
+here. Nay; 'tis a weary world! We know so many faces, and there are so
+few whom we love to see again. Well, stand not there so mute, but be
+seated." And she pointed with her fan to a carven chair that was placed
+near her feet.
+
+Once more I bowed and took the seat.
+
+"I have obeyed the Queen's desire," I said, "and with much care and
+skill worked out the lessons of the stars; and here is the record of my
+labour. If the Queen permits, I will expound it to her." And I rose, in
+order that I might pass round the couch and, as she read, stab her in
+the back.
+
+"Nay, Harmachis," she said quietly, and with a slow and lovely smile.
+"Bide thou where thou art, and give me the writing. By Serapis! thy face
+is too comely for me to wish to lose the sight of it!"
+
+Checked in this design, I could do nothing but hand her the papyrus,
+thinking to myself that while she read I would arise suddenly and plunge
+the dagger to her heart. She took it, and as she did so touched my hand.
+Then she made pretence to read. But she read no word, for I saw that her
+eyes were fixed upon me over the edge of the scroll.
+
+"Why placest thou thy hand within thy robe?" she asked presently; for,
+indeed, I clutched the dagger's hilt. "Is thy heart stirred?"
+
+"Yea, O Queen," I said; "it beats high."
+
+She gave no answer, but once more made pretence to read, and the while
+she watched me.
+
+I took counsel with myself. How should I do the hateful deed? If I flung
+myself upon her now she would see me and scream and struggle. Nay, I
+must wait a chance.
+
+"The auguries are favourable, then, Harmachis?" she said at length,
+though this she must have guessed.
+
+"Yes, O Queen," I answered.
+
+"It is well," and she cast the writing on the marble. "The ships shall
+sail. For, good or bad, I am weary of weighing chances."
+
+"This is a heavy matter, O Queen," I said. "I had wished to show upon
+what circumstance I base my forecast."
+
+"Nay, not so, Harmachis; I have wearied of the ways of stars. Thou hast
+prophesied; that is enough for me; for, doubtless, being honest, thou
+hast written honestly. Therefore, save thou thy reasons and we'll be
+merry. What shall we do? I could dance to thee--there are none who can
+dance so well!--but it would scarce be queenly. Nay, I have it. I will
+sing." And, leaning forward, she raised herself, and, bending the harp
+towards her, struck some wandering chords. Then her low voice broke out
+in perfect and most sweet song.
+
+And thus she sang:
+
+     "Night on the sea, and night upon the sky,
+     And music in our hearts, we floated there,
+     Lulled by the low sea voices, thou and I,
+     And the wind's kisses in my cloudy hair:
+     And thou didst gaze on me and call me fair--
+     Enfolded by the starry robe of night--
+     And then thy singing thrilled upon the air,
+     Voice of the heart's desire and Love's delight.
+
+     'Adrift, with starlit skies above,
+     With starlit seas below,
+     We move with all the suns that move,
+     With all the seas that flow;
+     For bond or free, Earth, Sky, and Sea,
+     Wheel with one circling will,
+     And thy heart drifteth on to me,
+     And only time stands still.
+
+     Between two shores of Death we drift,
+     Behind are things forgot:
+     Before the tide is driving swift
+     To lands beholden not.
+     Above, the sky is far and cold;
+     Below, the moaning sea
+     Sweeps o'er the loves that were of old,
+     But, oh, Love! kiss thou me.
+
+     Ah, lonely are the ocean ways,
+     And dangerous the deep,
+     And frail the fairy barque that strays
+     Above the seas asleep!
+     Ah, toil no more at sail nor oar,
+     We drift, or bond or free;
+     On yon far shore the breakers roar,
+     But, oh, Love! kiss thou me.'
+
+     "And ever as thou sangest I drew near,
+     Then sudden silence heard our hearts that beat,
+     For now there was an end of doubt and fear,
+     Now passion filled my soul and led my feet;
+     Then silent didst thou rise thy love to meet,
+     Who, sinking on thy breast, knew naught but thee,
+     And in the happy night I kissed thee, Sweet;
+     Ah, Sweet! between the starlight and the sea."
+
+The last echoes of her rich notes floated down the chamber, and slowly
+died away; but in my heart they rolled on and on. I have heard among
+the women-singers at Abouthis voices more perfect than the voice of
+Cleopatra, but never have I heard one so thrilling or so sweet with
+passion's honey-notes. And indeed it was not the voice alone, it was the
+perfumed chamber in which was set all that could move the sense; it
+was the passion of the thought and words, and the surpassing grace and
+loveliness of that most royal woman who sang them. For, as she sang, I
+seemed to think that we twain were indeed floating alone with the night,
+upon the starlit summer sea. And when she ceased to touch the harp, and,
+rising, suddenly stretched out her arms towards me, and with the last
+low notes of song yet quivering upon her lips, let fall the wonder of
+her eyes upon my eyes, she almost drew me to her. But I remembered, and
+would not.
+
+"Hast thou, then, no word of thanks for my poor singing, Harmachis?" she
+said at length.
+
+"Yea, O Queen," I answered, speaking very low, for my voice was choked;
+"but thy songs are not good for the sons of men to hear--of a truth they
+overwhelm me!"
+
+"Nay, Harmachis; there is no fear for thee," she said laughing softly,
+"seeing that I know how far thy thoughts are set from woman's beauty and
+the common weakness of thy sex. With cold iron we may safely toy."
+
+I thought within myself that coldest iron can be brought to whitest heat
+if the fire be fierce enough. But I said nothing, and, though my hand
+trembled, I once more grasped the dagger's hilt, and, wild with fear
+at my own weakness, set myself to find a means to slay her while yet my
+sense remained.
+
+"Come hither, Harmachis," she went on, in her softest voice. "Come, sit
+by me, and we will talk together; for I have much to tell thee," and she
+made place for me at her side upon the silken seat.
+
+And I, thinking that I might so more swiftly strike, rose and seated
+myself some little way from her on the couch, while, flinging back her
+head, she gazed on me with her slumbrous eyes.
+
+Now was my occasion, for her throat and breast were bare, and, with a
+mighty effort, once again I lifted my hand to clutch the dagger-hilt.
+But, more quick than thought, she caught my fingers with her own and
+gently held them.
+
+"Why lookest thou so wildly, Harmachis?" she said. "Art sick?"
+
+"Ay, sick indeed!" I gasped.
+
+"Then lean thou on the cushions and rest thee," she answered, still
+holding my hand, from which the strength had fled. "The fit will surely
+pass. Too long hast thou laboured with thy stars. How soft is the night
+air that flows from yonder casement heavy with the breath of lilies!
+Hark to the whisper of the sea lapping against the rocks, that, though
+it is faint, yet, being so strong, doth almost drown the quick cool fall
+of yonder fountain. List to Philomel; how sweet from a full heart of
+love she sings her message to her dear! Indeed it is a lovely night, and
+most beautiful is Nature's music, sung with a hundred voices from wind
+and trees and birds and ocean's wrinkled lips, and yet sung all to tune.
+Listen, Harmachis: I have guessed something concerning thee. Thou, too,
+art of a royal race; no humble blood pours in those veins of thine.
+Surely such a shoot could spring but from the stock of Princes? What!
+gazest thou at the leafmark on my breast? It was pricked there in honour
+of great Osiris, whom with thee I worship. See!"
+
+"Let me hence," I groaned, striving to rise; but all my strength had
+gone.
+
+"Nay, not yet awhile. Thou wouldst not leave me yet? thou _canst_ not
+leave me yet. Harmachis, hast thou never loved?"
+
+"Nay, nay, O Queen! What have I to do with love? Let me hence!--I am
+faint--I am fordone!"
+
+"Never to have loved--'tis strange! Never to have known some woman-heart
+beat all in tune to thine--never to have seen the eyes of thy
+adored aswim with passion's tears, as she sighed her vows upon thy
+breast!--Never to have loved!--never to have lost thyself in the mystery
+of another's soul; nor to have learned how Nature can overcome our naked
+loneliness, and with the golden web of love of twain weave one identity!
+Why, it is never to have lived, Harmachis!"
+
+And ever as she murmured she drew nearer to me, till at last, with a
+long, sweet sigh, she flung one arm about my neck, and gazed upon me
+with blue, unfathomable eyes, and smiled her dark, slow smile, that,
+like an opening flower, revealed beauty within beauty hidden. Nearer
+she bent her queenly form, and still more near--now her perfumed breath
+played upon my hair, and now her lips met mine.
+
+And woe is me! In that kiss, more deadly and more strong than the
+embrace of Death, were forgotten Isis, my heavenly Hope, Oaths, Honour,
+Country, Friends, all things--all things save that Cleopatra clasped me
+in her arms, and called me Love and Lord.
+
+"Now pledge me," she sighed; "pledge me one cup of wine in token of thy
+love."
+
+I took the draught, and I drank deep; then too late I knew that it was
+drugged.
+
+I fell upon the couch, and, though my senses still were with me, I could
+neither speak nor rise.
+
+But Cleopatra, bending over me, drew the dagger from my robe.
+
+"_I've won!_" she cried, shaking back her long hair. "I've won, and for
+the stake of Egypt, why, 'twas a game worth playing! With this dagger,
+then, thou wouldst have slain me, O my royal Rival, whose myrmidons even
+now are gathered at my palace gate? Art still awake? Now what hinders me
+that I should not plunge it to _thy_ heart?"
+
+I heard and feebly pointed to my breast, for I was fain to die. She
+drew herself to the full of her imperial height, and the great knife
+glittered in her hand. Down it came till its edge pricked my flesh.
+
+"Nay," she cried again, and cast it from her, "too well I like thee.
+It were pity to slay such a man! I give thee thy life. Live on, lost
+Pharaoh! Live on, poor fallen Prince, blasted by a woman's wit! Live on,
+Harmachis--to adorn my triumph!"
+
+
+
+Then sight left me; and in my ears I only heard the song of the
+nightingale, the murmur of the sea, and the music of Cleopatra's laugh
+of victory. And as I sank away, the sound of that low laugh still
+followed me into the land of sleep, and still it follows me through life
+to death.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+OF THE AWAKING OF HARMACHIS; OF THE SIGHT OF DEATH; OF THE COMING OF
+CLEOPATRA; AND OF HER COMFORTABLE WORDS
+
+Once more I woke; it was to find myself in my own chamber. I started up.
+Surely, I, too, had dreamed a dream? It could be nothing but a dream?
+It could not be that I woke to know myself a _traitor!_ That the
+opportunity had gone for ever! That I had betrayed the cause, and that
+last night those brave men, headed by my uncle, had waited in vain
+at the outer gate! That Egypt from Abu to Athu was even now
+waiting--waiting in vain! Nay, whatever else might be, this could not
+be! Oh, it was an awful dream which I had dreamed! a second such would
+slay a man. It were better to die than face such another vision sent
+from hell. But, though the thing was naught but a hateful phantasy of a
+mind o'er-strained, where was I now? Where was I now? I should be in the
+Alabaster Hall, waiting till Charmion came forth.
+
+Where was I? and O ye Gods! what was that dreadful thing, whose shape
+was the shape of a man?--that thing draped in bloodstained white and
+huddled in a hideous heap at the foot of the couch on which I seemed to
+lie?
+
+I sprang at it with a shriek, as a lion springs, and struck with all my
+strength. The blow fell heavily, and beneath its weight the thing
+rolled over upon its side. Half mad with terror, I rent away the white
+covering; and there, his knees bound beneath his hanging jaw, was the
+naked body of a man--and that man the Roman Captain Paulus! There he
+lay, through his heart a dagger--my dagger, handled with the sphinx of
+gold!--and pinned by its blade to his broad breast a scroll, and on the
+scroll, writing in the Roman character. I drew near and read, and this
+was the writing:
+
+HARMACHIDI.SALVERE.EGO.SUM.QUEM.SUBDERE.NORAS
+PAULUS.ROMANUS.DISCE.HINC.QUID.PRODERE.PROSIT.
+
+"Greeting, Harmachis! I was that Roman Paulus whom thou didst suborn.
+Learn now how blessed are traitors!"
+
+Sick and faint I staggered back from the sight of that white corpse
+stained with its own blood. Sick and faint I staggered back, till the
+wall stayed me, while without the birds sang a merry greeting to the
+day. So it was no dream, and I was lost! lost!
+
+I thought of my aged father, Amenemhat. Yes, the vision of him flashed
+into my mind, as he would be, when they came to tell him his son's shame
+and the ruin of all his hopes. I thought of that patriot priest, my
+uncle Sepa, waiting the long night through for the signal which never
+came. Ah, and another thought followed swift! How would it go with
+them? I was not the only traitor. I, too, had been betrayed. By whom? By
+yonder Paulus, perchance. If it were Paulus, he knew but little of
+those who conspired with me. But the secret lists had been in my robe. O
+Osiris! they were gone! and the fate of Paulus would be the fate of all
+the patriots in Egypt. And at this thought my mind gave way. I sank and
+swooned even where I stood.
+
+My sense came back to me, and the lengthening shadows told me that it
+was afternoon. I staggered to my feet; the corpse of Paulus was still
+there, keeping its awful watch above me. I ran desperately to the door.
+It was barred, and without I heard the tramp of sentinels. As I stood
+they challenged and grounded their spears. Then the bolts were shot
+back, the door opened, and radiant, clad in royal attire, came the
+conquering Cleopatra. She came alone, and the door was shut behind her.
+I stood like one distraught; but she swept on till she was face to face
+with me.
+
+"Greeting, Harmachis," she said, smiling sweetly. "So, my messenger has
+found thee!" and she pointed to the corpse of Paulus. "Pah! he has an
+ugly look. Ho! guards!"
+
+The door was opened, and two armed Gauls stepped across the threshold.
+
+"Take away this carrion," said Cleopatra, "and fling it to the kites.
+Stay, draw that dagger from his traitor breast." The men bowed low, and
+the knife, rusted red with blood, was dragged from the heart of Paulus
+and laid upon the table. Then they seized him by the head and body and
+staggered thence, and I heard their heavy footfalls as they bore him
+down the stairs.
+
+"Methinks, Harmachis, thou art in an evil case," she said, when the
+sound of the footfalls had died away. "How strangely the wheel of
+Fortune turns! But for that traitor," and she nodded towards the door
+through which the corpse of Paulus had been carried, "I should now be as
+ill a thing to look on as he is, and the red rust on yonder knife would
+have been gathered from _my_ heart."
+
+So it was Paulus who had betrayed me.
+
+"Ay," she went on, "and when thou camest to me last night, I _knew_ that
+thou camest to slay. When, time upon time, thou didst place thy hand
+within thy robe, I knew that it grasped a dagger hilt, and that thou
+wast gathering thy courage to the deed which thou didst little love
+to do. Oh! it was a strange wild hour, well worth the living, and
+I wondered greatly, from moment to moment, which of us twain would
+conquer, as we matched guile with guile and force to force!
+
+"Yea, Harmachis, the guards tramp before thy door, but be not deceived.
+Did I not know that I hold thee to me by bonds more strong than prison
+chains--did I not know that I am hedged from ill at thy hands by a fence
+of honour harder for thee to pass than all the spears of all my legions,
+thou hadst been dead ere now, Harmachis. See, here is thy knife," and
+she handed me the dagger; "now slay me if thou canst," and she drew
+near, tore open the bosom of her robe, and stood waiting with calm eyes.
+
+"Thou canst not slay me," she went on; "for there are things, as I know
+well, that no man--no man such as thou art--may do and live: and this is
+the chief of them--to slay the woman who is all his own. Nay, stay thy
+hand! Turn not that dagger against thy breast, for if thou mayst not
+slay me, by how much more mayst thou not slay thyself, O thou forsworn
+Priest of Isis! Art thou, then, so eager to face that outraged Majesty
+in Amenti? With what eyes, thinkest thou, will the Heavenly Mother look
+upon Her son, who, shamed in all things and false to his most sacred
+vow, comes to greet Her, his life-blood on his hands? Where, then, will
+be the space for thy atonement?--if, indeed, thou mayest atone!"
+
+Then I could bear no more, for my heart was broken. Alas! it was too
+true--I dared not die! I was come to such a pass that I did not even
+dare to die! I flung myself upon the couch and wept--wept tears of blood
+and anguish.
+
+But Cleopatra came to me, and, seating herself beside me, she strove to
+comfort me, throwing her arms about my neck.
+
+"Nay, love, look up," she said; "all is not lost for thee, nor am I
+angered against thee. We did play a mighty game; but, as I warned thee,
+I matched my woman's magic against thine, and I have conquered. But I
+will be open with thee. Both as Queen and woman thou hast my pity--ay,
+and more; nor do I love to see thee plunged in sorrow. It was well
+and right that thou shouldst strive to win back that throne my fathers
+seized, and the ancient liberty of Egypt. Myself as lawful Queen had
+done the same, nor shrunk from the deed of darkness to which I was
+sworn. Therein, then, thou hast my sympathy, that ever goes out to what
+is great and bold. It is well also that thou shouldst grieve over the
+greatness of thy fall. Therein, then, as woman--as loving woman--thou
+hast my sympathy. Nor is all lost. Thy plan was foolish--for, as I hold,
+Egypt could never have stood alone--for though thou hadst won the crown
+and country--as without a doubt thou must have done--yet there was the
+Roman to be reckoned with. And for thy hope learn this: I am little
+known. There is no heart in this wide land that beats with a truer
+love for ancient Khem than does this heart of mine--nay, not thine
+own, Harmachis. Yet I have been heavily shackled heretofore--for wars,
+rebellions, envies, plots, have hemmed me in on every side, so that I
+might not serve my people as I would. But thou, Harmachis, shalt show
+me how. Thou shalt be my counsellor and my love. Is it a little thing,
+Harmachis, to have won the heart of Cleopatra; that heart--fie on
+thee!--that thou wouldst have stilled? Yes, _thou_ shalt unite me to my
+people and we will reign together, thus linking in one the new kingdom
+and the old and the new thought and the old. So do all things work for
+good--ay, for the very best: and thus, by another and a gentler road,
+thou shalt climb to Pharaoh's throne.
+
+"See thou this, Harmachis: thy treachery shall be cloaked about as
+much as may be. Was it, then, thy fault that a Roman knave betrayed thy
+plans? that, thereon, thou wast drugged, thy secret papers stolen and
+their key guessed? Will it, then, be a blame to thee, the great plot
+being broken and those who built it scattered, that thou, still faithful
+to thy trust, didst serve thee of such means as Nature gave thee, and
+win the heart of Egypt's Queen, that, through her gentle love, thou
+mightest yet attain thy ends and spread thy wings of power across the
+land of Nile? Am I an ill-counsellor, thinkest thou, Harmachis?"
+
+I lifted my head, and a ray of hope crept into the darkness of my heart;
+for when men fall they grasp at feathers. Then, I spoke for the first
+time:
+
+"And those with me--those who trusted me--what of them?"
+
+"Ay," she answered, "Amenemhat, thy father, the aged Priest of Abouthis;
+and Sepa, thy uncle, that fiery patriot, whose great heart is hid
+beneath so common a shell of form; and----"
+
+I thought she would have said Charmion, but she named her not.
+
+"And many others--oh, I know them all!"
+
+"Ay!" I said, "what of them?"
+
+"Hear now, Harmachis," she answered, rising and placing her hand upon
+my arm, "for thy sake I will show mercy to them. I will do no more than
+must be done. I swear by my throne and by all the Gods of Egypt that not
+one hair of thy aged father's head shall be harmed by me; and, if it be
+not too late, I will also spare thy uncle Sepa, ay, and the others. I
+will not do as did my forefather, Epiphanes, who, when the Egyptians
+rose against him, dragged Athinis, Pausiras, Chesuphus, and Irobasthus,
+bound to his chariot--not as Achilles dragged Hector, but yet
+living--round the city walls. I will spare them all, save the Hebrews,
+if there be any Hebrews; for the Jews I hate."
+
+"There are no Hebrews," I said.
+
+"It is well," she said, "for no Hebrew will I ever spare. Am I then,
+indeed, so cruel a woman as they say? In thy list, Harmachis, were
+many doomed to die; and I have but taken the life of one Roman knave,
+a double traitor, for he betrayed both me and thee. Art thou not
+overwhelmed, Harmachis, with the weight of mercy which I give thee,
+because--such are a woman's reasons--thou pleasest me, Harmachis? Nay,
+by Serapis!" she added with a little laugh, "I'll change my mind; I will
+not give thee so much for nothing. Thou shalt buy it from me, and the
+price shall be a heavy one--it shall be a kiss, Harmachis."
+
+"Nay," I said, turning from that fair temptress, "the price is too
+heavy; I kiss no more."
+
+"Bethink thee," she answered, with a heavy frown. "Bethink thee and
+choose. I am but a woman, Harmachis, and one who is not wont to sue to
+men. Do as thou wilt; but this I say to thee--if thou dost put me away,
+I will gather up the mercy I have meted out. Therefore, most virtuous
+priest, choose thou between the heavy burden of my love and the swift
+death of thy aged father and of all those who plotted with him."
+
+I glanced at her and saw that she was angered, for her eyes shone and
+her bosom heaved. So, I sighed and kissed her, thereby setting the seal
+upon my shame and bondage. Then, smiling like the triumphant Aphrodite
+of the Greeks, she went thence, bearing the dagger with her.
+
+I knew not yet how deeply I was betrayed; or why I was still left to
+draw the breath of life; or why Cleopatra, the tiger-hearted, had grown
+merciful. I did not know that she feared to slay me, lest, so strong was
+the plot and so feeble her hold upon the Double Crown, the tumult that
+might tread hard upon the tidings of my murder should shake her from the
+throne--even when I was no more. I did not know that because of fear
+and the weight of policy only she showed scant mercy to those whom I
+had betrayed, or that because of cunning and not for the holy sake of
+woman's love--though, in truth, she liked me well enough--she chose
+rather to bind me to her by the fibres of my heart. And yet I will say
+this in her behalf: even when the danger-cloud had melted from her
+sky she kept faith, nor, save Paulus and one other, did any suffer
+the utmost penalty of death for their part in the great plot against
+Cleopatra's crown and dynasty. But they suffered many other things.
+
+And so she went, leaving the vision of her glory to strive with the
+shame and sorrow in my heart. Oh, bitter were the hours that could not
+now be made light with prayer. For the link between me and the Divine
+was snapped, and Isis communed with Her Priest no more. Bitter were the
+hours and dark, but ever through their darkness shone the starry eyes of
+Cleopatra, and came the echo of her whispered love. For not yet was the
+cup of sorrow full. Hope still lingered in my heart, and I could almost
+think that I had failed to some higher end, and that in the depths of
+ruin I should find another and more flowery path to triumph.
+
+For thus those who sin deceive themselves, striving to lay the burden
+of their evil deeds upon the back of Fate, striving to believe their
+wickedness may compass good, and to murder Conscience with the sharp
+plea of Necessity. But it can avail nothing, for hand in hand down the
+path of sin rush Remorse and Ruin, and woe to him they follow! Ay, and
+woe to me who of all sinners am the chief!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+OF THE IMPRISONMENT OF HARMACHIS; OF THE SCORN OF CHARMION; OF THE
+SETTING FREE OF HARMACHIS; AND OF THE COMING OF QUINTUS DELLIUS
+
+For a space of eleven days I was thus kept prisoned in my chamber; nor
+did I see anyone except the sentries at my doors, the slaves who in
+silence brought me food and drink, and Cleopatra's self, who came
+continually. But, though her words of love were many, she would tell me
+nothing of how things went without. She came in many moods--now gay and
+laughing, now full of wise thoughts and speech, and now passionate only,
+and to every mood she gave some new-found charm. She was full of talk as
+to how I should help her make Egypt great, and lessen the burdens on
+the people, and fright the Roman eagles back. And, though at first I
+listened heavily when she spoke thus, by slow advance as she wrapped
+me closer and yet more close in her magic web, from which there was no
+escape, my mind fell in time with hers. Then I, too, opened something
+of my heart, and somewhat also of the plans that I had formed for Egypt.
+She seemed to listen gladly, weighing them all, and spoke of means
+and methods, telling me how she would purify the Faith and repair the
+ancient temples--ay, and build new ones to the Gods. And ever she crept
+deeper into my heart, till at length, now that every other thing had
+gone from me, I learned to love her with all the unspent passion of my
+aching soul. I had naught left to me but Cleopatra's love, and I twined
+my life about it, and brooded on it as a widow over her only babe. And
+thus the very author of my shame became my all, my dearest dear, and
+I loved her with a strong love that grew and grew, till it seemed to
+swallow up the past and make the present a dream. For she had conquered
+me, she had robbed me of my honour, and steeped me to the lips in shame,
+and I, poor fallen, blinded wretch, I kissed the rod that smote me, and
+was her very slave.
+
+Ay, even now, in those dreams which still come when Sleep unlocks the
+secret heart, and sets its terrors free to roam through the opened halls
+of Thought, I seem to see her royal form, as erst I saw it, come with
+arms outstretched and Love's own light shining in her eyes, with lips
+apart and flowing locks, and stamped upon her face the look of utter
+tenderness that she alone could wear. Ay, still, after all the years, I
+seem to see her come as erst she came, and still I wake to know her an
+unutterable lie!
+
+And thus one day she came. She had fled in haste, she said, from some
+great council summoned concerning the wars of Antony in Syria, and
+she came, as she had left the council, in all her robes of state, the
+sceptre in her hand, and on her brow the uraeus diadem of gold. There she
+sat before me, laughing; for, wearying of them, she had told the envoys
+to whom she gave audience in the council that she was called from their
+presence by a sudden message come from Rome; and the jest seemed merry
+to her. Suddenly she rose, took the diadem from her brow, and set it
+on my hair, and on my shoulders her royal mantle, and in my hand the
+sceptre, and bowed the knee before me. Then, laughing again, she kissed
+me on the lips, and said I was indeed her King. But, remembering how
+I had been crowned in the halls of Abouthis, and remembering also that
+wreath of roses of which the odour haunts me yet, I rose, pale with
+wrath, and cast the trinkets from me, asking how she dared to mock
+me--her caged bird. And I think there was that about me which startled
+her, for she fell back.
+
+"Nay, Harmachis," she said, "be not wroth! How knowest thou that I mock
+thee? How knowest thou that thou shalt not be Pharaoh in fact and deed?"
+
+"What meanest thou?" I said. "Wilt thou, then, wed me before Egypt? How
+else can I be Pharaoh now?"
+
+She cast down her eyes. "Perchance, love, it is in my mind to wed thee,"
+she said gently. "Listen," she went on: "Thou growest pale, here, in
+this prison, and thou dost eat little. Gainsay me not! I know it from
+the slaves. I have kept thee here, Harmachis, for thy own sake, that is
+so dear to me; and for thy own sake, and thy honour's sake, thou must
+still seem to be my prisoner. Else wouldst thou be shamed and slain--ay,
+murdered secretly. But I can meet thee here no more! therefore to-morrow
+I shall free thee in all, save in the name, and thou shalt once more be
+seen at Court as my astronomer. And I will give this reason--that thou
+hast cleared thyself; and, moreover, that thy auguries as regards the
+war have been auguries of truth--as, indeed, they have, though for
+this I have no cause to thank thee, seeing that thou didst suit thy
+prophecies to fit thy cause. Now, farewell; for I must return to those
+heavy-browed ambassadors; and grow not so sudden wroth, Harmachis, for
+who knows what may come to pass betwixt thee and me?"
+
+And, with a little nod, she went, leaving it on my mind that she had it
+in her heart to wed me openly. And of a truth, I believe that, at this
+hour, such was her thought. For, if she loved me not, still she held me
+dear, and as yet she had not wearied of me.
+
+On the morrow Cleopatra came not, but Charmion came--Charmion, whom
+I had not seen since that fatal night of ruin. She entered and stood
+before me, with pale face and downcast eyes, and her first words were
+words of bitterness.
+
+"Pardon me," she said, in her gentle voice, "in that I dare to come to
+thee in Cleopatra's place. Thy joy is not delayed for long, for thou
+shalt see her presently."
+
+I shrank at her words, as well I might, and, seeing her vantage, she
+seized it.
+
+"I come, Harmachis--royal no more!--I come to say that thou art free!
+Thou art free to face thine own infamy, and see it thrown back from
+every eye which trusted thee, as shadows are from water. I come to tell
+thee that the great plot--the plot of twenty years and more--is at its
+utter end. None have been slain, indeed, unless it is Sepa, who has
+vanished. But all the leaders have been seized and put in chains, or
+driven from the land, and their party is broken and scattered. The storm
+has melted before it burst. Egypt is lost, and lost for ever, for her
+last hope is gone! No longer may she struggle--now for all time she
+must bow her neck to the yoke, and bare her back to the rod of the
+oppressor!"
+
+I groaned aloud. "Alas, I was betrayed!" I said. "Paulus betrayed us."
+
+"Thou wast betrayed? Nay, thou thyself wast the betrayer! How came it
+that thou didst not slay Cleopatra when thou wast alone with her? Speak,
+thou forsworn!"
+
+"She drugged me," I said again.
+
+"O Harmachis!" answered the pitiless girl, "how low art thou fallen from
+that Prince whom once I knew!--thou who dost not scorn to be a liar!
+Yea, thou wast drugged--drugged with a love-philtre! Yea, thou didst
+sell Egypt and thy cause for the price of a wanton's kiss! Thou Sorrow
+and thou Shame!" she went on, pointing her finger at me and lifting her
+eyes to my face, "thou Scorn!--thou Outcast!--and thou Contempt! Deny
+it if thou canst. Ay, shrink from me--knowing what thou art, well mayst
+thou shrink! Crawl to Cleopatra's feet, and kiss her sandals till such
+time as it pleases her to trample thee in thy kindred dirt; but from all
+honest folk _shrink!_--_shrink!_"
+
+My soul quivered beneath the lash of her bitter scorn and hate, but I
+had no words to answer.
+
+"How comes it," I said at last in a heavy voice, "that thou, too, art
+not betrayed, but art still here to taunt me, thou who once didst
+swear that thou didst love me? Being a woman, hast thou no pity for the
+frailty of man?"
+
+"My name was not on the lists," she said, dropping her dark eyes. "Here
+is an opportunity: betray me also, Harmachis! Ay, it is because I once
+loved thee--dost thou, indeed, remember it?--that I feel thy fall the
+more. The shame of one whom we have loved must in some sort become our
+shame, and must ever cling to us, because we blindly held a thing so
+base close to our inmost heart. Art thou also, then, a fool? Wouldst
+thou, fresh from thy royal wanton's arms, come to me for comfort--to
+_me_ of all the world?"
+
+"How know I," I said, "that it was not thou who, in thy jealous anger,
+didst betray our plans? Charmion, long ago Sepa warned me against thee,
+and of a truth now that I recall----"
+
+"It is like a traitor," she broke in, reddening to her brow, "to think
+that all are of his family, and hold a common mind! Nay, I betrayed thee
+not; it was that poor knave, Paulus, whose heart failed him at the last,
+and who is rightly served. Nor will I stay to hear thoughts so base.
+Harmachis--royal no more!--Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, bids me say that
+thou art free, and that she waits thee in the Alabaster Hall."
+
+And shooting one swift glance through her long lashes she curtsied and
+was gone.
+
+
+
+So once more I came and went about the Court, though but sparingly, for
+my heart was full of shame and terror, and on every face I feared to see
+the scorn of those who knew me for what I was. But I saw nothing, for
+all those who had knowledge of the plot had fled, and Charmion had
+spoken no word, for her own sake. Also, Cleopatra had put it about that
+I was innocent. But my guilt lay heavy on me, and made me thin and wore
+away the beauty of my countenance. And though I was free in name, yet I
+was ever watched; nor might I stir beyond the palace grounds.
+
+And at length came the day which brought with it Quintus Dellius, that
+false Roman knight who ever served the rising star. He bore letters
+to Cleopatra from Marcus Antonius, the Triumvir, who, fresh from the
+victory of Philippi, was now in Asia wringing gold from the subject
+kings with which to satisfy the greed of his legionaries.
+
+Well I mind me of the day. Cleopatra, clad in her robes of state,
+attended by the officers of her Court, among whom I stood, sat in
+the great hall on her throne of gold, and bade the heralds admit the
+Ambassador of Antony, the Triumvir. The great doors were thrown wide,
+and amidst the blare of trumpets and salutes of the Gallic guards the
+Roman came in, clad in glittering golden armour and a scarlet cloak of
+silk, and followed by his suite of officers. He was smooth-faced and
+fair to look upon, and with a supple form; but his mouth was cold, and
+false were his shifting eyes. And while the heralds called out his name,
+titles, and offices, he fixed his gaze on Cleopatra--who sat idly on her
+throne all radiant with beauty--as a man who is amazed. Then when
+the heralds had made an end, and he still stood thus, not stirring,
+Cleopatra spoke in the Latin tongue:
+
+"Greeting to thee, noble Dellius, envoy of the most mighty Antony, whose
+shadow lies across the world as though Mars himself now towered up above
+us petty Princes--greeting and welcome to our poor city of Alexandria.
+Unfold, we pray thee, the purpose of thy coming."
+
+Still the crafty Dellius made no answer, but stood as a man amazed.
+
+"What ails thee, noble Dellius, that thou dost not speak?" asked
+Cleopatra. "Hast thou, then, wandered so long in Asia that the doors of
+Roman speech are shut to thee? What tongue hast thou? Name it, and We
+will speak in it--for all tongues are known to Us."
+
+Then at last he spoke in a soft full voice: "Oh, pardon me, most lovely
+Egypt, if I have thus been stricken dumb before thee: but too great
+beauty, like Death himself, doth paralyse the tongue and steal our sense
+away. The eyes of him who looks upon the fires of the mid-day sun are
+blind to all beside, and thus this sudden vision of thy glory, royal
+Egypt, overwhelmed my mind, and left me helpless and unwitting of all
+things else."
+
+"Of a truth, noble Dellius," answered Cleopatra, "they teach a pretty
+school of flattery yonder in Cilicia."
+
+"How goes the saying here in Alexandria?" replied the courtly Roman:
+"'The breath of flattery cannot waft a cloud,'[*] does it not? But to
+my task. Here, royal Egypt, are letters under the hand and seal of
+the noble Antony treating of certain matters of the State. Is it thy
+pleasure that I should read them openly?"
+
+     [*] In other words, what is Divine is beyond the reach of
+     human praise.--Editor.
+
+"Break the seals and read," she answered.
+
+Then bowing, he broke the seals and read:
+
+"The _Triumviri Reipublicae Constituendae_, by the mouth of Marcus
+Antonius, the Triumvir, to Cleopatra, by grace of the Roman People Queen
+of Upper and Lower Egypt, send greeting. Whereas it has come to our
+knowledge that thou, Cleopatra, hast, contrary to thy promise and thy
+duty, both by thy servant Allienus and by thy servant Serapion, the
+Governor of Cyprus, aided the rebel murderer Cassius against the arms
+of the most noble Triumvirate. And, whereas it has come to our knowledge
+that thou thyself wast but lately making ready a great fleet to this
+end. We summon thee that thou dost without delay journey to Cilicia,
+there to meet the noble Antony, and in person make answer concerning
+these charges which are laid against thee. And we warn thee that if thou
+dost disobey this our summons it is at thy peril. Farewell."
+
+The eyes of Cleopatra flashed as she hearkened to these high words, and
+I saw her hands tighten on the golden lions' heads whereon they rested.
+
+"We have had the flattery," she said; "and now, lest we be cloyed with
+sweets, we have its antidote! Listen thou, Dellius: the charges in that
+letter, or, rather, in that writ of summons, are false, as all folk can
+bear us witness. But it is not now, and it is not to thee, that We
+will make defence of our acts of war and policy. Nor will We leave our
+kingdom to journey into far Cilicia, and there, like some poor suppliant
+at law, plead our cause before the Court of the Noble Antony. If Antony
+would have speech with us, and inquire concerning these high matters,
+the sea is open, and his welcome shall be royal. Let him come thither!
+That is our answer to thee and to the Triumvirate, O Dellius!"
+
+But Dellius smiled as one who would put away the weight of wrath, and
+once more spoke:
+
+"Royal Egypt, thou knowest not the noble Antony. He is stern on paper,
+and ever he sets down his thoughts as though his stylus were a spear
+dipped in the blood of men. But face to face with him, thou, of all the
+world, shalt find him the gentlest warrior that ever won a battle. Be
+advised, O Egypt! and come. Send me not hence with such angry words, for
+if thou dost draw Antony to Alexandria, then woe to Alexandria, to the
+people of the Nile, and to thee, great Egypt! For then he will come
+armed and breathing war, and it shall go hard with thee, who dost defy
+the gathered might of Rome. I pray thee, then, obey this summons.
+Come to Cilicia; come with peaceful gifts and not in arms. Come in thy
+beauty, and tricked in thy best attire, and thou hast naught to fear
+from the noble Antony." He paused and looked at her meaningly; while I,
+taking his drift, felt the angry blood surge into my face.
+
+Cleopatra, too, understood, for I saw her rest her chin upon her hand
+and the cloud of thought gathered in her eyes. For a time she sat thus,
+while the crafty Dellius watched her curiously. And Charmion, standing
+with the other ladies by the throne, she also read his meaning, for
+her face lit up, as a summer cloud lights in the evening when the broad
+lightning flares behind it. Then once more it grew pale and quiet.
+
+At length Cleopatra spoke. "This is a heavy matter," she said, "and
+therefore, noble Dellius, we must have time to let our judgment ripen.
+Rest thou here, and make thee as merry as our poor circumstances allow.
+Thou shalt have thy answer within ten days."
+
+The envoy thought awhile, then replied smiling: "It is well, O Egypt; on
+the tenth day from now I will attend for my answer, and on the eleventh
+I sail hence to join Antony my Lord."
+
+Once more, at a sign from Cleopatra, the trumpets blared, and he
+withdrew bowing.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+OF THE TROUBLE OF CLEOPATRA; OF HER OATH TO HARMACHIS; AND OF THE
+TELLING BY HARMACHIS TO CLEOPATRA OF THE SECRET OF THE TREASURE THAT LAY
+BENEATH THE MASS OF "HER"
+
+That same night Cleopatra summoned me to her private chamber. I went,
+and found her much troubled in mind; never before had I seen her so
+deeply moved. She was alone, and, like some trapped lioness, walked to
+and fro across the marble floor, while thought chased thought across her
+mind, each, as clouds scudding over the sea, for a moment casting its
+shadow in her deep eyes.
+
+"So thou art come, Harmachis," she said, resting for a while, as she
+took my hand. "Counsel me, for never did I need counsel more. Oh, what
+days have the Gods measured out to me--days restless as the ocean! I
+have known no peace from childhood up, and it seems none shall I know.
+Scarce by a very little have I escaped thy dagger's point, Harmachis,
+when this new trouble, that, like a storm, has gathered beneath the
+horizon's rim, suddenly bursts over me. Didst mark that tigerish fop?
+Well should I love to trap him! How soft he spoke! Ay, he purred like
+a cat, and all the time he stretched his claws. Didst hear the letter,
+too? it has an ugly sound. I know this Antony. When I was but a child,
+budding into womanhood, I saw him; but my eyes were ever quick, and I
+took his measure. Half Hercules and half a fool, with a dash of genius
+veining his folly through. Easily led by those who enter at the gates of
+his voluptuous sense; but if crossed, an iron foe. True to his friends,
+if, indeed, he loves them; and ofttimes false to his own interest.
+Generous, hardy, and in adversity a man of virtue; in prosperity a sot
+and a slave to woman. That is Antony. How deal with such a man,
+whom fate and opportunity, despite himself, have set on the crest of
+fortune's wave? One day it will overwhelm him; but till that day he
+sweeps across the world and laughs at those who drown."
+
+"Antony is but a man," I answered, "and a man with many foes; and, being
+but a man, he can be overthrown."
+
+"Ay, he can be overthrown; but he is one of three, Harmachis. Now that
+Cassius hath gone where all fools go, Rome has thrown out a hydra head.
+Crush one, and another hisses in thy face. There's Lepidus, and with
+him, that young Octavianus, whose cold eyes may yet with a smile of
+triumph look on the murdered forms of empty, worthless Lepidus, of
+Antony, and of Cleopatra. If I go not to Cilicia, mark thou! Antony will
+knit up a peace with these Parthians, and, taking the tales they tell
+of me for truth--and, indeed, there is truth in them--will fall with all
+his force on Egypt. And how then?"
+
+"How then? Why, then we'll drum him back to Rome."
+
+"Ah, thou sayest so, and, perchance, Harmachis, had I not won that game
+we played together some twelve days gone, thou, being Pharaoh, mightest
+well have done this thing, for round thy throne old Egypt would have
+gathered. But Egypt loves not me nor my Greek blood; and I have but now
+scattered that great plot of thine, in which half the land was meshed.
+Will these men, then, arise to succour me? Were Egypt true to me, I
+could, indeed, hold my own against all the force that Rome may bring;
+but Egypt hates me, and had as lief be ruled by the Roman as the Greek.
+Still I might make defence had I the gold, for with money soldiers
+can be bought to feed the maw of mercenary battle. But I have none; my
+treasuries are dry, and though there is wealth in the land, yet debts
+perplex me. These wars have brought me ruin, and I know not how to
+find a talent. Perchance, Harmachis, thou who art, by hereditary right,
+Priest of the Pyramids," and she drew near and looked me in the eyes,
+"perchance, if long descended rumour does not lie, thou canst tell me
+where I can touch the gold to save thy land from ruin, and thy Love from
+the grasp of Antony? Say, is it so?"
+
+I thought a while, and then I answered:
+
+"And if such a tale were true, and if I could show thee treasure stored
+by the mighty Pharaohs of the most far-off age against the needs of
+Khem, how can I know that thou wouldst indeed make use of that wealth to
+those good ends?"
+
+"Is there, then, a treasure?" she asked curiously. "Nay, fret me not,
+Harmachis; for of a truth the very name of gold at this time of want is
+like the sight of water in the desert."
+
+"I believe," I said, "that there is such a treasure, though I myself
+have never seen it. But I know this, that if it still lie in the place
+where it was set, it is because so heavy a curse will rest upon him who
+shall lay hands on it wickedly and for selfish ends, that none of those
+Pharaohs to whom it has been shown have dared to touch it, however sore
+their need."
+
+"So," she said, "they were cowardly aforetime, or else their need was
+not great. Wilt thou show me this treasure, then, Harmachis?"
+
+"Perhaps," I answered, "I will show it to thee if it still be there,
+when thou hast sworn that thou wilt use it to defend Egypt from this
+Roman Antony and for the welfare of her people."
+
+"I swear it!" she said earnestly. "Oh, I swear by every God in Khem
+that if thou showest me this great treasure, I will defy Antony and send
+Dellius back to Cilicia with sharper words than those he brought. Yes,
+I'll do more, Harmachis: so soon as may be, I will take thee to husband
+before all the world, and thou thyself shalt carry out thy plans and
+beat off the Roman eagles."
+
+Thus she spoke, gazing at me with truthful, earnest eyes. I believed
+her, and for the first time since my fall was for a moment happy,
+thinking that all was not lost to me, and that with Cleopatra, whom I
+loved thus madly, I might yet win my place and power back.
+
+"Swear it, Cleopatra!" I said.
+
+"I swear, beloved! and thus I seal my oath!" and she kissed me on the
+forehead. And I, too, kissed her; and we talked of what we would do when
+we were wed, and how we should overcome the Roman.
+
+And thus I was again beguiled; though I believe that, had it not been
+for the jealous anger of Charmion--which, as shall be seen, was ever
+urging her forward to fresh deeds of shame--Cleopatra would have wedded
+me and broken with the Roman. And, indeed, in the issue, it had been
+better for her and Egypt.
+
+We sat far into the night, and I revealed to her somewhat of that
+ancient secret of the mighty treasure hid beneath the mass of _Her_.
+Thither, it was agreed, we should go on the morrow, and the second
+night from now attempt its search. So, early on the next day, a boat
+was secretly made ready, and Cleopatra entered it, veiled as an Egyptian
+lady about to make a pilgrimage to the Temple of Horemkhu. And I also
+entered, cloaked as a pilgrim, and with us ten of her most trusted
+servants disguised as sailors. But Charmion went not with us. We sailed
+with a fair wind from the Canopic mouth of the Nile; and that night,
+pushing on with the moon, we reached Sais at midnight, and here rested
+for a while. At dawn we once more loosed our craft, and all that day
+sailed swiftly, till, at last, at the third hour from the sunset, we
+came in sight of the lights of that fortress which is called Babylon.
+Here, on the opposite bank of the river, we moored our ship safely in a
+bed of reeds.
+
+Then, on foot and secretly, we set out for the pyramids, which were at
+a distance of two leagues, Cleopatra, I and one trusted eunuch, for
+we left the other servants with the boat. Only I caught an ass for
+Cleopatra to ride that was wandering in a tilled field, and threw a
+cloak upon it. She sat on it and I led the ass by paths I knew, the
+eunuch following us on foot. And, within little more than an hour,
+having gained the great causeway, we saw the mighty pyramids towering up
+through the moonlit air and aweing us to silence. We passed on in utter
+silence, through the haunted city of the dead, for all around us stood
+the solemn tombs, till at length we climbed the rocky hill, and stood in
+the deep shadow of Khufu Khut, the splendid Throne of Khufu.
+
+"Of a truth," whispered Cleopatra, as she gazed up the dazzling
+marble slope above her, everywhere blazoned over with a million mystic
+characters--"of a truth, there were Gods ruling in Khem in those days,
+and not men. This place is sad as Death--ay, and as mighty and far from
+man. Is it here that we must enter?"
+
+"Nay," I answered, "it is not here. Pass on."
+
+I led the way through a thousand ancient tombs, till we stood in the
+shadow of Ur the Great, and gazed at his red heaven-piercing mass.
+
+"Is it here that we must enter?" she whispered once again.
+
+"Nay," I answered, "it is not here. Pass on."
+
+We passed on through many more tombs, till we stood in the shadow of
+_Her_,[*] and Cleopatra gazed astonished at its polished beauty, which
+for thousands of years, night by night, had mirrored back the moon, and
+at the black girdle of Ethiopian stone that circled its base about. For
+this is the most beautiful of all pyramids.
+
+     [*] The "Upper," now known as the Third Pyramid.--Editor.
+
+"Is it here that we must enter?" she said.
+
+I answered, "It is here."
+
+We passed round between the Temple of the Worship of his Divine Majesty,
+Menkau-ra, the Osirian, and in the base of the pyramid till we came
+to the north side. Here in the centre is graved the name of Pharaoh
+Menkau-ra, who built the pyramid to be his tomb, and stored his treasure
+in it against the need of Khem.
+
+"If the treasure still remains," I said to Cleopatra, "as it remained in
+the days of my great-great-grandfather, who was Priest of this
+Pyramid before me, it is hid deep in the womb of the mass before thee,
+Cleopatra; nor can it be come by without toil, danger, and terror of
+mind. Art thou prepared to enter--for thou thyself must enter and must
+judge?"
+
+"Canst thou not go in with the eunuch, Harmachis, and bring the treasure
+forth?" she said, for a little her courage began to fail her.
+
+"Nay, Cleopatra," I answered, "not even for thee and for the weal of
+Egypt can I do this thing, for of all sins it would be the greatest
+sin. But it is lawful for me to do this. I, as hereditary holder of the
+secret, may, upon demand, show to the ruling monarch of Khem the place
+where the treasure lies, and show also the warning that is written. And
+if on seeing and reading, the Pharaoh deems that the need of Khem is so
+sore and strait that it is lawful for him to brave the curse of the Dead
+and draw forth the treasure, it is well, for on his head must rest the
+weight of this dread deed. Three monarchs--so say the records that I
+have read--have thus dared to enter in the time of need. They were the
+Divine Queen Hatshepsu, that wonder known to the Gods alone; her Divine
+brother Tahutimes Men-Kheper-ra; and the Divine Rameses Mi-amen. But of
+these three Majesties, not one when they saw dared to touch; for, though
+sharp their need, it was not great enough to consecrate the act.
+So, fearing lest the curse should fall upon them, they went hence
+sorrowing."
+
+She thought a little, till at last her spirit overcame her fear.
+
+"At the least I will see with mine own eyes," she said.
+
+"It is well," I answered. Then, stones having been piled up by me and
+the eunuch who was with us on a certain spot at the base of the pyramid,
+to somewhat more than the height of a man, I climbed on them and
+searched for the secret mark, no larger than a leaf. I found it with
+some trouble, for the weather and the rubbing of the wind-stirred sand
+had worn even the Ethiopian stone. Having found it, I pressed on it with
+all my strength in a certain fashion. Even after the lapse of many years
+the stone swung round, showing a little opening, through which a man
+might scarcely creep. As it swung, a mighty bat, white in colour as
+though with unreckoned age, and such as I had never seen before for
+bigness, for his measure was the measure of a hawk, flew forth and for a
+moment hovered over Cleopatra, then sailed slowly up and up in circles,
+till at last he was lost in the bright light of the moon.
+
+But Cleopatra uttered a cry of terror, and the eunuch, who was watching,
+fell down in fear, believing it to be the guardian Spirit of the
+pyramid. And I, too, feared, though I said nothing. For even now I
+believe that it was the Spirit of Menkau-ra, the Osirian, who, taking
+the form of a bat, flew forth from his holy House in warning.
+
+I waited a while, till the foul air should clear from the passage. Then
+I drew out the lamps, kindled them, and passed them, to the number
+of three, into the entrance of the passage. This done, I went to the
+eunuch, and, taking him aside, I swore him by the living spirit of Him
+who sleeps at Abouthis that he should not reveal those things which he
+was about to see.
+
+This he swore, trembling sorely, for he was very much afraid. Nor,
+indeed, did he reveal them.
+
+This done, I clambered through the opening, taking with me a coil of
+rope, which I wound around my middle, and beckoned to Cleopatra to come.
+Making fast the skirt of her robe, she came, and I drew her through the
+opening, so that at length she stood behind me in the passage which
+is lined with slabs of granite. After her came the eunuch, and he also
+stood in the passage. Then, having taken counsel of the plan of the
+passage that I had brought with me, and which, in signs that none but
+the initiated can read, was copied from those ancient writings that had
+come down to me through one-and-forty generations of my predecessors,
+the Priests of this Pyramid of _Her_, and of the worship of the Temple
+of the Divine Menkau-ra, the Osirian, I led the way through that
+darksome place towards the utter silence of the tomb. Guided by the
+feeble light of our lamps, we passed down the steep incline, gasping in
+the heat and the thick, stagnated air. Presently we had left the region
+of the masonry and were slipping down a gallery hewn in the living rock.
+For twenty paces or more it ran steeply. Then its slope lessened and
+shortly we found ourselves in a chamber painted white, so low that I,
+being tall, had scarcely room to stand; but in length four paces, and
+in breadth three, and cased throughout with sculptured panels. Here
+Cleopatra sank upon the floor and rested awhile, overcome by the heat
+and the utter darkness.
+
+"Rise!" I said. "We must not linger here, or we faint."
+
+So she rose, and passing hand in hand through that chamber, we found
+ourselves face to face with a mighty door of granite, let down from the
+roof in grooves. Once more I took counsel of the plan, pressed with my
+foot upon a certain stone, and waited. Then, suddenly and softly, I know
+not by what means, the mass heaved itself from its bed of living rock.
+We passed beneath, and found ourselves face to face with a second door
+of granite. Again I pressed on a certain spot, and this door swung wide
+of itself, and we went through, to find ourselves face to face with a
+third door, yet more mighty than the two through which we had won our
+way. Following the secret plan, I struck this door with my foot upon a
+certain spot, and it sank slowly as though at a word of magic till its
+head was level with the floor of rock. We crossed and gained another
+passage which, descending gently for a length of fourteen paces, led
+us into a great chamber, paved with black marble, more than nine cubits
+high, by nine cubits broad, and thirty cubits long. In this marble floor
+was sunk a great sarcophagus of granite, and on its lid were graved the
+name and titles of the Queen of Menkau-ra. In this chamber, too, the air
+was purer, though I know not by what means it came thither.
+
+"Is the treasure here?" gasped Cleopatra.
+
+"Nay," I answered; "follow me," and I led the way to a gallery, which
+we entered through an opening in the floor of the great chamber. It had
+been closed by a trap-door of stone, but the door was open. Creeping
+along this shaft, or passage, for some ten paces, we came at length to a
+well, seven cubits in depth. Making fast one end of the rope that I
+had brought about my body and the other to a ring in the rock, I
+was lowered, holding the lamp in my hand, till I stood in the last
+resting-place of the Divine Menkau-ra. Then the rope was drawn up, and
+Cleopatra, being made fast to it, was let down by the eunuch, and I
+received her in my arms. But I bade the eunuch, sorely against his will,
+since he feared to be left alone, await our return at the mouth of the
+shaft. For it was not lawful that he should enter whither we went.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+OF THE TOMB OF THE DIVINE MENKAU-RA; OF THE WRITING ON THE BREAST OF
+MENKAU-RA; OF THE DRAWING FORTH OF THE TREASURE; OF THE DWELLER IN THE
+TOMB; AND OF THE FLIGHT OF CLEOPATRA AND HARMACHIS FROM THE HOLY PLACE
+
+We stood within a small arched chamber, paved and lined with great
+blocks of the granite stone of Syene. There before us--hewn from a
+single mass of basalt shaped like a wooden house and resting on a sphinx
+with a face of gold--was the sarcophagus of the Divine Menkau-ra.
+
+We stood and gazed in awe, for the weight of the silence and the
+solemnity of that holy place seemed to crush us. Above us, cubit over
+cubit in its mighty measure, the pyramid towered up to heaven and was
+kissed of the night air. But we were deep in the bowels of the rock
+beneath its base. We were alone with the dead, whose rest we were about
+to break; and no sound of the murmuring air, and no sight of life came
+to dull the awful edge of solitude. I gazed on the sarcophagus; its
+heavy lid had been lifted and rested at its side, and around it the dust
+of ages had gathered thick.
+
+"See," I whispered, pointing to a writing, daubed with pigment upon the
+wall in the sacred symbols of ancient times.
+
+"Read it, Harmachis," answered Cleopatra, in the same low voice; "for I
+cannot."
+
+Then I read: "I, Rameses Mi-amen, in my day and in my hour of need,
+visited this sepulchre. But, though great my need and bold my heart,
+I dared not face the curse of Menkau-ra. Judge, O thou who shalt come
+after me, and, if thy soul is pure and Khem be utterly distressed, take
+thou that which I have left."
+
+"Where, then, is the treasure?" she whispered. "Is that Sphinx-face of
+gold?"
+
+"Even there," I answered, pointing to the sarcophagus. "Draw near and
+see."
+
+And she took my hand and drew near.
+
+The cover was off, but the painted coffin of the Pharaoh lay in the
+depths of the sarcophagus. We climbed the Sphinx, then I blew the dust
+from the coffin with my breath and read that which was written on its
+lid. And this was written:
+
+"Pharaoh Menkau-ra, the Child of Heaven.
+
+"Pharaoh Menkau-ra, Royal Son of the Sun.
+
+"Pharaoh Menkau-ra, who didst lie beneath the heart of Nout.
+
+"Nout, thy Mother, wraps thee in the spell of Her holy name.
+
+"The name of thy Mother, Nout, is the mystery of Heaven.
+
+"Nout, thy Mother, gathers thee to the number of the Gods.
+
+"Nout, thy Mother, breathes on thy foes and utterly destroys them.
+
+"O Pharaoh Menkau-ra, who livest for ever!"
+
+"Where, then, is the treasure?" she asked again. "Here, indeed, is the
+body of the Divine Menkau-ra; but the flesh even of Pharaohs is not
+gold, and if the face of this Sphinx be gold how may we move it?"
+
+For answer I bade her stand upon the Sphinx and grasp the upper part of
+the coffin while I grasped its foot. Then, at my word, we lifted, and
+the lid of the case, which was not fixed, came away, and we set it upon
+the floor. And there in the case was the mummy of Pharaoh, as it
+had been laid three thousand years before. It was a large mummy, and
+somewhat ungainly. Nor was it adorned with a gilded mask, as is the
+fashion of our day, for the head was wrapped in clothes yellow with age,
+which were made fast with pink flaxen bandages, under which were pushed
+the stems of lotus-blooms. And on the breast, wreathed round with
+lotus-flowers, lay a large plate of gold closely written over with
+sacred writing. I lifted up the plate, and, holding it to the light, I
+read:
+
+"I, Menkau-ra, the Osirian, aforetime Pharaoh of the Land of Khem, who
+in my day did live justly and ever walked in the path marked for my feet
+by the decree of the Invisible, who was the beginning and is the end,
+speak from my tomb to those who after me shall for an hour sit upon my
+Throne. Behold, I, Menkau-ra, the Osirian, having in the days of my life
+been warned of a dream that a time will come when Khem shall fear to
+fall into the hands of strangers, and her monarch shall have great need
+of treasure wherewith to furnish armies to drive the barbarian back,
+have out of my wisdom done this thing. For it having pleased the
+protecting Gods to give me wealth beyond any Pharaoh who has been since
+the days of Horus--thousands of cattle and geese, thousands of calves
+and asses, thousands of measures of corn, and hundreds of measures of
+gold and gems; this wealth I have used sparingly, and that which
+remains I have bartered for precious stones--even for emeralds, the most
+beautiful and largest that are in the world. These stones, then, I have
+stored up against that day of the need of Khem. But because as there
+have been, so there shall be, those who do wickedly on the earth, and
+who, in the lust of gain, might seize this wealth that I have stored,
+and put it to their uses; behold, thou Unborn One, who in the fulness
+of time shalt stand above me and read this that I have caused to
+be written, I have stored the treasure thus--even among my bones.
+Therefore, O thou Unborn One, sleeping in the womb of Nout, I say this
+to thee! If thou indeed hast need of riches to save Khem from the foes
+of Khem, fear not and delay not, but tear me, the Osirian, from my tomb,
+loose my wrappings and rip the treasure from my breast, and all shall
+be well with thee; for this only I do command, that thou dost replace my
+bones within my hollow coffin. But if the need be passing and not great,
+or if there be guile in thy heart, then the curse of Menkau-ra be on
+thee! On thee be the curse that shall smite him who breaks in upon the
+dead! On thee be the curse that follows the traitor! On thee be the
+curse that smites him who outrages the Majesty of the Gods! Unhappy
+shalt thou live, in blood and misery shalt thou die, and in misery
+shalt thou be tormented for ever and for ever! For, Wicked One, there in
+Amenti we shall come face to face!
+
+"And to the end of the keeping of this secret, I, Menkau-ra, have set up
+a Temple of my Worship, which I have built upon the eastern side of
+this my House of Death. It shall be made known from time to time to the
+Hereditary High Priest of this my Temple. And if any High Priest that
+shall be do reveal this secret to another than the Pharaoh, or Her
+who wears the Pharaoh's crown and is seated upon the throne of Khem,
+accursed be he also. Thus have I, Menkau-ra, the Osirian, written. Now
+to thee, who, sleeping in the womb of Nout, yet shall upon a time stand
+over me and read, I say, judge thou! and if thou judgest evilly, on thee
+shall fall this the curse of Menkau-ra from which there is no escape.
+Greeting and farewell."
+
+"Thou hast heard, O Cleopatra," I said solemnly; "now search thy heart;
+judge thou, and for thine own sake judge justly."
+
+She bent her head in thought.
+
+"I fear to do this thing," she said presently. "Let us hence."
+
+"It is well," I said, with a lightening of the heart, and bent down to
+lift the wooden lid. For I, too, feared.
+
+"And yet, what said the writing of the Divine Menkau-ra?--it was
+emeralds, was it not? And emeralds are now so rare and hard to come by.
+Ever did I love emeralds, and I can never find them without a flaw."
+
+"It is not a matter of what thou dost love, Cleopatra," I said; "it is a
+matter of the need of Khem and of the secret meaning of thy heart, which
+thou alone canst know."
+
+"Ay, surely, Harmachis; surely! And is not the need of Egypt great?
+There is no gold in the treasury, and how can I defy the Roman if I have
+no gold? And have I not sworn to thee that I will wed thee and defy the
+Roman; and do I not swear it again--yes, even in this solemn hour, with
+my hand upon dead Pharaoh's heart? Why, here is that occasion of which
+the Divine Menkau-ra dreamed. Thou seest it is so, for else Hat-shepsu
+or Rameses or some other Pharaoh had drawn forth the gems. But no; they
+left them to come to this hour because the time was not yet come. Now it
+must be come, for if I take not the gems the Roman will surely seize on
+Egypt, and then there will be no Pharaoh to whom the secret may be
+told. Nay, let us away with fears and to the work. Why dost look so
+frightened? Having pure hearts, there is naught to fear, Harmachis."
+
+"Even as thou wilt," I said again; "it is for thee to judge, since if
+thou judgest falsely on thee will surely fall the curse from which there
+is no escape."
+
+"So, Harmachis, take Pharaoh's head and I will take his----Oh, what an
+awful place is this!" and suddenly she clung to me. "Methought I saw
+a shadow yonder in the darkness! Methought that it moved toward us and
+then straightway vanished! Let us be going! Didst thou see naught?"
+
+"I saw nothing, Cleopatra; but mayhap it was the Spirit of the Divine
+Menkau-ra, for the spirit ever hovers round its mortal tenement. Let us,
+then, be going; I shall be right glad to go."
+
+She made as though to start, then turned back again and spoke once more.
+
+"It was naught--naught but the mind that, in such a house of Horror,
+bodies forth those shadowy forms of fear it dreads to see. Nay, I must
+look upon these emeralds; indeed, if I die, I must look! Come--to the
+work!" and stooping, she with her own hands lifted from the tomb one
+of the four alabaster jars, each sealed with the graven likeness of the
+heads of the protecting Gods, that held the holy heart and entrails of
+the Divine Menkau-ra. But nothing was found in these jars, save only
+what should be there.
+
+Then together we mounted on the Sphinx, and with toil drew forth the
+body of the Divine Pharaoh, laying it on the ground. Now Cleopatra took
+my dagger, and with it cut loose the bandages which held the wrappings
+in their place, and the lotus-flowers that had been set in them by
+loving hands, three thousand years before, fell down upon the pavement.
+Then we searched and found the end of the outer bandage, which was fixed
+in at the hinder part of the neck. This we cut loose, for it was glued
+fast. This done, we began to unroll the wrappings of the holy corpse.
+Setting my shoulders against the sarcophagus, I sat upon the rocky
+floor, the body resting on my knees, and, as I turned it, Cleopatra
+unwound the cloths; and awesome was the task. Presently something fell
+out; it was the sceptre of the Pharaoh, fashioned of gold, and at its
+end was a pomegranate cut from a single emerald.
+
+Cleopatra seized the sceptre and gazed on it in silence. Then once
+more we went on with our dread business. And ever as we unwound, other
+ornaments of gold, such as are buried with Pharaohs, fell from the
+wrappings--collars and bracelets, models of sistra, an inlaid axe, and
+an image of the holy Osiris and of the holy Khem. At length all the
+bandages were unwound, and beneath we found a covering of coarsest
+linen; for in those very ancient days the craftsmen were not so skilled
+in matters pertaining to the embalming of the body as they are now. And
+on the linen was written in an oval, "Menkau-ra, Royal Son of the Sun."
+We could in no wise loosen this linen, it held so firm on to the body.
+Therefore, faint with the great heat, choked with mummy dust and the
+odour of spices, and trembling with fear of our unholy task, wrought
+in that most lonesome and holy place, we laid the body down, and ripped
+away the last covering with the knife. First we cleared Pharaoh's head,
+and now the face that no man had gazed on for three thousand years was
+open to our view. It was a great face, with a bold brow, yet crowned
+with the royal uraeus, beneath which the white locks, stained yellow by
+the spices, fell in long, straight wisps. Not the cold stamp of death,
+and not the slow flight of three thousand years, had found power to mar
+the dignity of those shrunken features. We gazed on them, and then, made
+bold with fear, stripped the covering from the body. There at last it
+lay before us, stiff, yellow, and dread to see; and on the left side,
+above the thigh, was the cut through which the embalmers had done their
+work, but it was sewn up so deftly that we could scarcely find the mark.
+
+"The gems are within," I whispered, for I felt that the body was very
+heavy. "Now, if thy heart fail thee not, thou must make an entry to
+this poor house of clay that once was Pharaoh," and I gave her the
+dagger--the same dagger which had drunk the life of Paulus.
+
+"It is too late to doubt," she answered, lifting her white beauteous
+face and fixing her blue eyes all big with terror upon my own. She took
+the dagger, and with set teeth the Queen of this day plunged it into the
+dead breast of the Pharaoh of three thousand years ago. And even as she
+did so there came a groaning sound from the opening to the shaft where
+we had left the eunuch! We leapt to our feet, but heard no more, and the
+lamp-light still streamed down through the opening.
+
+"It is nothing," I said. "Let us make an end."
+
+Then with much toil we hacked and rent the hard flesh open, and as we
+did so I heard the knife point grate upon the gems within.
+
+Cleopatra plunged her hand into the dead breast and drew forth somewhat.
+She held it to the light, and gave a little cry, for from the darkness
+of Pharaoh's heart there flashed into light and life the most beauteous
+emerald that ever man beheld. It was perfect in colour, very large,
+without a flaw, and fashioned to a scarabaeus form, and on the under side
+was an oval, inscribed with the divine name of Menkau-ra, Son of the
+Sun.
+
+Again, again, and yet again, she plunged in her hand and drew emeralds
+from Pharaoh's breast bedded there in spices. Some were fashioned and
+some were not; but all were perfect in colour without a flaw, and in
+value priceless. Again and again she plunged her white hand into that
+dread breast, till at length all were found, and there were one hundred
+and forty and eight of such gems as are not known in the world. The last
+time that she searched she brought forth not emeralds, indeed, but two
+great pearls, wrapped in linen, such as never have been seen. And of
+these pearls more hereafter.
+
+So it was done, and all the mighty treasure lay glittering in a heap
+before us. There it lay, and there, too, lay the regalia of gold, the
+spiced and sickly-scented wrappings, and the torn body of white-haired
+Pharaoh Menkau-ra, the Osirian, the ever living in Amenti.
+
+We rose, and a great awe fell upon us, now that the deed was done and
+our hearts were no more upborne by the rage of search--so great an awe,
+indeed, that we could not speak. I made a sign to Cleopatra. She grasped
+the head of Pharaoh and I grasped his feet, and together we lifted him,
+climbed the Sphinx, and placed him once more within his coffin. I piled
+the torn mummy cloths over him and on them laid the lid of the coffin.
+
+And now we gathered up the great gems, and such of the ornaments as
+might be carried with ease, and I hid them as many as I could, in the
+folds of my robe. Those that were left Cleopatra hid upon her breast.
+Heavily laden with the priceless treasure, we gave one last look at
+the solemn place, at the sarcophagus and the Sphinx on which it rested,
+whose gleaming face of calm seemed to mock us with its everlasting smile
+of wisdom. Then we turned and went from the tomb.
+
+At the shaft we halted. I called to the eunuch, who stayed above, and
+methought a faint mocking laugh answered me. Too smitten with terror to
+call again, and fearing that, should we delay, Cleopatra would certainly
+swoon, I seized the rope, and being strong and quick mounted by it and
+gained the passage. There burnt the lamp: but the eunuch I saw not.
+Thinking, surely, that he was a little way down the passage, and
+slept--as, in truth, he did--I bade Cleopatra make the rope fast about
+her middle, and with much labour, drew her up. Then, having rested
+awhile, we moved with the lamps to seek for the eunuch.
+
+"He was stricken with terror and has fled, leaving the lamp," said
+Cleopatra. "O ye Gods! who is _that_ seated there?"
+
+I peered into the darkness, thrusting out the lamps, and this was what
+their light fell on--this at the very dream of which my soul sickens!
+There, facing us, his back resting against the rock, and his hands
+splayed on either side upon the floor, sat the eunuch--_dead!_ His eyes
+and mouth were open, his fat cheeks dropped down, his thin hair yet
+seemed to bristle, and on his countenance was frozen such a stamp of
+hideous terror as well might turn the beholder's brain. And lo! fixed
+to his chin, by its hinder claws, hung that grey and mighty bat, which,
+flying forth when we entered the pyramid, vanished in the sky, but,
+returning, had followed us to its depths. There it hung upon the dead
+man's chin slowly rocking itself to and fro, and we could see the fiery
+eyes shining in its head.
+
+Aghast, utterly aghast, we stood and stared at the hateful sight; till
+presently the bat spread his huge wings and, losing his hold, sailed to
+us. Now he hovered before Cleopatra's face, fanning her with his white
+wings. Then with a scream, like a woman's shriek of fury, the accursed
+Thing flittered on, seeking his violated tomb, and vanished down the
+well into the sepulchre. I fell against the wall. But Cleopatra sank
+in a heap upon the floor, and, covering her head with her arms, she
+shrieked till the hollow passages rang with the echoes of her cries,
+that seemed to grow and double and rush along the depths in volumes of
+shrill sound.
+
+"Rise!" I cried, "rise and let us hence before the Spirit shall return
+to haunt us! If thou dost suffer thyself to be overwhelmed in this place
+thou art lost for ever."
+
+She staggered to her feet, and never may I forget the look upon her ashy
+face or in her glowing eyes. Seizing lamps with a rush, we passed the
+dead eunuch's horrid form, I holding her by the hand. We gained the
+great chamber, where was the sarcophagus of the Queen of Menkau-ra, and
+traversed its length. We fled along the passage. What if the Thing had
+closed the three mighty doors? No; they were open, and we sped through
+them; the last only did I stay to close. I touched the stone, as I knew
+how, and the great door crashed down, shutting us off from the presence
+of the dead eunuch and the Horror that had hung upon the eunuch's chin.
+Now we were in the white chamber with the sculptured panels, and now
+we faced the last steep ascent. Oh that last ascent! Twice Cleopatra
+slipped and fell upon the polished floor. The second time--it was when
+half the distance had been done--she let fall her lamp, and would,
+indeed, have rolled down the slide had I not saved her. But in doing
+thus I, too, let fall my lamp that bounded away into shadow beneath us,
+and we were in utter darkness. And perchance about us, in the darkness,
+hovered that awful Thing!
+
+"Be brave!" I cried; "O love, be brave, and struggle on, or both are
+lost! The way, though steep, is not far; and, though it be dark, we can
+scarce come to harm in this straight shaft. If the gems weight thee,
+cast them away!"
+
+"Nay," she gasped, "that I will not; this shall not be endured to no
+end. I die with them!"
+
+Then it was that I saw the greatness of this woman's heart; for in the
+dark, and notwithstanding the terrors we had passed and the awfulness of
+our state, she clung to me and clambered on up that dread passage. On we
+clambered, hand in hand, with bursting hearts, till there, by the mercy
+or the anger of the Gods, at length we saw the faint light of the moon,
+creeping through the little opening in the pyramid. One struggle more,
+now the hole was gained, and like a breath from heaven, the sweet night
+air played upon our brows. I climbed through, and, standing on a pile
+of stones, lifted and dragged Cleopatra after me. She fell to the ground
+and then sank down upon it motionless.
+
+I pressed upon the turning stone with trembling hands. It swung to and
+caught, leaving no mark of the secret place of entry. Then I leapt down
+and, having pushed away the pile of stones, looked on Cleopatra. She had
+swooned, and notwithstanding the dust and grime upon her face, it was so
+pale that at first I believed she must be dead. But placing my hand upon
+her heart I felt it stir beneath; and, being spent, I flung myself down
+beside her upon the sand, to gather up my strength again.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+OF THE COMING BACK OF HARMACHIS; OF THE GREETING OF CHARMION; AND OF
+THE ANSWER OF CLEOPATRA TO QUINTUS DELLIUS, THE AMBASSADOR OF ANTONY THE
+TRIUMVIR
+
+Presently I lifted myself, and, laying the head of Egypt's Queen upon my
+knee, strove to call her back to life. How fair she seemed, even in her
+disarray, her long hair streaming down her breast! how deadly fair she
+seemed in the faint light--this woman the story of whose beauty and
+whose sin shall outlive the solid mass of the mighty pyramid that
+towered over us! The heaviness of her swoon had smoothed away the
+falseness of her face, and nothing was left but the divine stamp
+of Woman's richest loveliness, softened by shadows of the night and
+dignified by the cast of deathlike sleep. I gazed upon her and all my
+heart went out to her; it seemed that I did but love her more because of
+the depth of the treasons to which I had sunk to reach her, and because
+of the terrors we had outfaced together. Weary and spent with fears and
+the pangs of guilt, my heart sought hers for rest, for now she alone was
+left to me. She had sworn to wed me also, and with the treasure we
+had won we would make Egypt strong and free her from her foes, and all
+should yet be well. Ah! could I have seen the picture that was to come,
+how, and in what place and circumstance, once again this very woman's
+head should be laid upon my knee, pale with that cast of death! Ah!
+could I have seen!
+
+I chafed her hand between my hands. I bent down and kissed her on the
+lips, and at my kiss she woke. She woke with a little sob of fear--a
+shiver ran along her delicate limbs, and she stared upon my face with
+wide eyes.
+
+"Ah! it is thou!" she said. "I mind me--thou hast saved me from that
+horror-haunted place!" And she threw her arms about my neck, drew me to
+her and kissed me. "Come, love," she said, "let us be going! I am sore
+athirst, and--ah! so very weary! The gems, too, chafe my breast! Never
+was wealth so hardly won! Come, let us be going from the shadow of this
+ghostly spot! See the faint lights glancing from the wings of Dawn. How
+beautiful they are, and how sweet to behold! Never, in those Halls of
+Eternal Night, did I think to look upon the blush of dawn again! Ah! I
+can still see the face of that dead slave, with the Horror hanging to
+his beardless chin! Bethink thee!--there he'll sit for ever--there--with
+the Horror! Come; where may we find water? I would give an emerald for a
+cup of water!"
+
+"At the canal on the borders of the tilled land below the Temple of
+Horemkhu--it is close by," I answered. "If any see us, we will say that
+we are pilgrims who have lost our way at night among the tombs. Veil
+thyself closely, therefore, Cleopatra; and beware lest thou dost show
+aught of those gems about thee."
+
+So she veiled herself, and I lifted her on to the ass which was tethered
+near at hand. We walked slowly through the plain till we came to the
+place where the symbol of the God Horemkhu,[*] fashioned as a mighty
+Sphinx (whom the Greeks call Harmachis), and crowned with the royal
+crown of Egypt, looks out in majesty across the land, his eyes ever
+fixed upon the East. As we walked the first arrow of the rising sun
+quivered through the grey air, striking upon Horemkhu's lips of holy
+calm, and the Dawn kissed her greeting to the God of Dawn. Then the
+light gathered and grew upon the gleaming sides of twenty pyramids, and,
+like a promise from Life to Death, rested on the portals of ten thousand
+tombs. It poured in a flood of gold across the desert sand--it pierced
+the heavy sky of night, and fell in bright beams upon the green of
+fields and the tufted crest of palms. Then from his horizon bed royal Ra
+rose up in pomp and it was day.
+
+     [*] That is, "Horus on the horizon"; and signifies the power
+     of Light and Good overcoming the power of Darkness and Evil
+     incarnate in his enemy, Typhon.--Editor.
+
+Passing the temple of granite and of alabaster that was built before the
+days of Khufu, to the glory of the Majesty of Horemkhu, we descended
+the slope, and came to the banks of the canal. There we drank; and
+that draught of muddy water was sweeter than all the choicest wine of
+Alexandria. Also we washed the mummy dust and grime from our hands
+and brows and made us clean. As she bathed her neck, stooping over the
+water, one of the great emeralds slipped from Cleopatra's breast and
+fell into the canal, and it was but by chance that at length I found
+it in the mire. Then, once more, I lifted Cleopatra onto the beast, and
+slowly, for I was very weary, we marched back to the banks of Sihor,
+where our craft was. And having at length come thither, seeing no one
+save some few peasants going out to labour on the lands, I turned the
+ass loose in that same field where we had found him, and we boarded the
+craft while the crew were yet sleeping. Then, waking them, we bade them
+make all sail, saying that we had left the eunuch to sojourn a while
+behind us, as in truth we had. So we sailed, having first hidden away
+the gems and such of the ornaments of gold as we could bring to the
+boat.
+
+We spent four days and more in coming to Alexandria, for the wind
+was for the most part against us; and they were happy days! At first,
+indeed, Cleopatra was somewhat silent and heavy at heart, for what she
+had seen and felt in the womb of the pyramid weighed her down. But soon
+her Imperial spirit awoke and shook the burden from her breast, and she
+became herself again--now gay, now learned; now loving, and now cold;
+now queenly, and now altogether simple--ever changing as the winds of
+heaven, and as the heaven, deep, beauteous, and unsearchable!
+
+Night after night for those four perfect nights, the last happy hours I
+ever was to know, we sat hand in hand upon the deck and heard the waters
+lap the vessel's side, and watched the soft footfall of the moon as she
+trod the depths of Nile. There we sat and talked of love, talked of our
+marriage and all that we would do. Also I drew up plans of war and of
+defence against the Roman, which now we had the means to carry out; and
+she approved them, sweetly saying that what seemed good to me was good
+to her. And so the time passed all too swiftly.
+
+Oh those nights upon the Nile! their memory haunts me yet! Yet in
+my dreams I see the moonbeams break and quiver, and hear Cleopatra's
+murmured words of love mingle with the sound of murmuring waters. Dead
+are those dear nights, dead is the moon that lit them; the waters which
+rocked us on their breast are lost in the wide salt sea, and where we
+kissed and clung there lips unborn shall kiss and cling! How beautiful
+was their promise, doomed, like an unfruitful blossom, to wither, fall,
+and rot! and their fulfilment, ah, how drear! For all things end in
+darkness and in ashes, and those who sow in folly shall reap in sorrow.
+Ah! those nights upon the Nile!
+
+And so at length once more we stood within the hateful walls of that
+fair palace on the Lochias, and the dream was done.
+
+
+
+"Whither hast thou wandered with Cleopatra, Harmachis?" Charmion asked
+of me when I met her by chance on that day of return. "On some new
+mission of betrayal? Or was it but a love-journey?"
+
+"I went with Cleopatra upon secret business of the State," I answered
+sternly.
+
+"So! Those who go secretly, go evilly; and foul birds love to fly at
+night. Not but what thou art wise, for it would scarce beseem thee,
+Harmachis, to show thy face openly in Egypt."
+
+I heard, and felt my passion rise within me, for I could ill bear this
+fair girl's scorn.
+
+"Hast thou never a word without a sting?" I asked. "Know, then, that I
+went whither thou hadst not dared to go, to gather means to hold Egypt
+from the grasp of Antony."
+
+"So," she answered, looking up swiftly. "Thou foolish man! Thou hadst
+done better to save thy labour, for Antony will grasp Egypt in thy
+despite. What power hast thou to-day in Egypt?"
+
+"That he may do in my despite; but in despite of Cleopatra that he
+cannot do," I said.
+
+"Nay, but with the _aid_ of Cleopatra he can and will do it," she
+answered with a bitter smile. "When the Queen sails in state up Cydnus
+stream she will surely draw this coarse Antony thence to Alexandria,
+conquering, and yet, like thee, a slave!"
+
+"It is false! I say that it is false! Cleopatra goes not to Tarsus, and
+Antony comes not to Alexandria; or, if he come, it will be to take the
+chance of war."
+
+"Now, thinkest thou thus?" she answered with a little laugh. "Well, if
+it please thee, think as thou wilt. Within three days thou shalt know.
+It is pretty to see how easily thou art fooled. Farewell! Go, dream on
+Love, for surely Love is sweet."
+
+And she went, leaving me angered and troubled at heart.
+
+
+
+I saw Cleopatra no more that day, but on the day which followed I saw
+her. She was in a heavy mood, and had no gentle word for me. I spake to
+her of the defence of Egypt, but she put the matter away.
+
+"Why dost thou weary me?" she said with anger; "canst thou not see that
+I am lost in troubles? When Dellius has had his answer to-morrow then we
+will speak of these matters."
+
+"Ay," I said, "when Dellius has had his answer; and knowest thou that
+but yesterday, Charmion--whom about the palace they name the 'Keeper
+of the Queen's secrets'--Charmion swore that the answer would be 'Go in
+peace, I come to Antony!'"
+
+"Charmion knows nothing of my heart," said Cleopatra, stamping her foot
+in anger, "and if she talk so freely the girl shall be scourged out of
+my Court, as is her desert. Though, in truth," she added, "she has more
+wisdom in that small head of hers than all my privy councillors--ay,
+and more wit to use it. Knowest thou that I have sold a portion of those
+gems to the rich Jews of Alexandria, and at a great price, ay, at five
+thousand sestertia for each one?[*] But a few, in truth, for they could
+not buy more as yet. It was rare to see their eyes when they fell upon
+them: they grew large as apples with avarice and wonder. And now leave
+me, Harmachis, for I am weary. The memory of that dreadful night is with
+me yet."
+
+     [*] About forty thousand pounds of our money.--Editor.
+
+I bowed and rose to go, and yet stood wavering.
+
+"Pardon me, Cleopatra; it is of our marriage."
+
+"Our marriage! Why, are we not indeed already wed?" she answered.
+
+"Yes; but not before the world. Thou didst promise."
+
+"Ay, Harmachis, I promised; and to-morrow, when I have rid me of this
+Dellius, I will keep my promise, and name thee Cleopatra's Lord before
+the Court. See that thou art in thy place. Art content?"
+
+And she stretched out her hand for me to kiss, looking on me with
+strange eyes, as though she struggled with herself. Then I went; but
+that night I strove once more to see Cleopatra, and could not. "The Lady
+Charmion was with the Queen," so said the eunuchs, and none might enter.
+
+
+
+On the morrow the Court met in the great hall one hour before mid-day,
+and I went thither with a trembling heart to hear Cleopatra's answer
+to Dellius, and to hear myself also named King-consort to the Queen of
+Egypt. It was a full and splendid Court; there were councillors, lords,
+captains, eunuchs, and waiting-women, all save Charmion. The house
+passed, but Cleopatra and Charmion came not. At length Charmion entered
+gently by a side entrance, and took her place among the waiting-ladies
+about the throne. Even as she did so she cast a glance at me, and there
+was triumph in her eyes, though I knew not over what she triumphed. I
+little guessed that she had but now brought about my ruin and sealed the
+fate of Egypt.
+
+Then presently the trumpets blared, and, clad in her robes of state, the
+uraeus crown upon her head, and on her breast, flashing like a star, that
+great emerald scarabaeus which she had dragged from dead Pharaoh's heart,
+Cleopatra swept in splendour to her throne, followed by a glittering
+guard of Northmen. Her lovely face was dark, dark were her slumbrous
+eyes, and none might read their message, though all that Court searched
+them for a sign of what should come. She seated herself slowly as one
+who may not be moved, and spoke to the chief of the heralds in the Greek
+tongue:
+
+"Does the Ambassador of the noble Antony wait?"
+
+The herald bowed low and made assent.
+
+"Let him come in and hear our answer."
+
+The doors were flung wide, and, followed by his train of knights,
+Dellius, clad in his golden armour and his purple mantle, walked with
+cat-like step up the great hall, and made obeisance before the throne.
+
+"Most royal and beauteous Egypt," he said, in his soft voice, "as thou
+hast graciously been pleased to bid me, thy servant, I am here to
+take thy answer to the letter of the noble Antony the Triumvir, whom
+to-morrow I sail to meet at Tarsus, in Cilicia. And I will say
+this, royal Egypt, craving pardon the while for the boldness of my
+speech--bethink thee well before words that cannot be unspoken fall from
+those sweet lips. Defy Antony, and Antony will wreck thee. But, like
+thy mother Aphrodite, rise glorious on his sight from the bosom of the
+Cyprian wave, and for wreck he will give thee all that can be dear to
+woman's royalty--Empire, and pomp of place, cities and the sway of men,
+fame and wealth, and the Diadem of rule made sure. For mark: Antony
+holds this Eastern World in the hollow of his warlike hand; at his will
+kings are, and at his frown they cease to be."
+
+And he bowed his head and, folding his hands meekly on his breast,
+awaited answer.
+
+For a while Cleopatra answered not, but sat like the Sphinx Horemkhu,
+dumb and inscrutable, gazing with lost eyes down the length of that
+great hall.
+
+Then, like soft music, her answer came; and trembling I listened for
+Egypt's challenge to the Roman:
+
+"Noble Dellius,--We have bethought us much of the matter of thy message
+from great Antony to our poor Royalty of Egypt. We have bethought us
+much, and we have taken counsel from the oracles of the Gods, from the
+wisest among our friends, and from the teachings of our heart, that
+ever, like a nesting bird, broods over our people's weal. Sharp are
+the words that thou hast brought across the sea; methinks they had been
+better fitted to the ears of some petty half-tamed prince than to those
+of Egypt's Queen. Therefore we have numbered the legions that we can
+gather, and the triremes and the galleys wherewith we may breast the
+sea, and the moneys which shall buy us all things wanting to our war.
+And we find this, that, though Antony be strong, yet has Egypt naught to
+fear from the strength of Antony."
+
+She paused, and a murmur of applause of her high words ran down the
+hall. Only Dellius stretched out his hand as though to push them back.
+Then came the end!
+
+"Noble Dellius,--Half are we minded there to bid our tongue stop, and,
+strong in our fortresses of stone, and our other fortresses built of the
+hearts of men, abide the issue. And yet thou shalt not go thus. We are
+guiltless of those charges against us that have come to the ears of
+noble Antony, and which now he rudely shouts in ours; nor will we
+journey into Cilicia to answer them."
+
+Here the murmur arose anew, while my heart beat high in triumph; and in
+the pause that followed, Dellius spoke once more.
+
+"Then, royal Egypt, my word to Antony is word of War?"
+
+"Nay," she answered; "it shall be one of Peace. Listen; we said that we
+would not come to make answer to these charges, nor will we. But"--and
+she smiled for the first time--"we will gladly come, and that swiftly,
+in royal friendship to make known our fellowship of peace upon the banks
+of Cydnus."
+
+I heard, and was bewildered. Could I hear aright? Was it thus that
+Cleopatra kept her oaths? Moved beyond the hold of reason, I lifted up
+my voice and cried:
+
+"O Queen, _remember!_"
+
+She turned upon me like a lioness, with a flashing of the eyes and a
+swift shake of her lovely head.
+
+"Peace, Slave!" she said; "who bade thee break in upon our counsels?
+Mind thou thy stars, and leave matters of the world to the rulers of the
+world!"
+
+I sank back shamed, and, as I did so, once more I saw the smile of
+triumph on the face of Charmion, followed by what was, perhaps, the
+shadow of pity for my fall.
+
+"Now that yon brawling charlatan," said Dellius, pointing at me with his
+jewelled finger, "has been rebuked, grant me leave, O Egypt, to thank
+thee from my heart for these gentle words----"
+
+"We ask no thanks from thee, noble Dellius; nor lies it in thy mouth to
+chide our servant," broke in Cleopatra, frowning heavily; "we will take
+thanks from the lips of Antony alone. Get thee to thy master, and say
+to him that before he can make ready a fitting welcome our keels shall
+follow in the track of thine. And now, farewell! Thou shalt find some
+small token of our bounty upon thy vessel."
+
+Dellius bowed thrice and withdrew, while the Court stood waiting the
+Queen's word. And I, too, waited, wondering if she would yet make good
+her promise, and name me royal Spouse there in the face of Egypt. But
+she said nothing. Only, still frowning heavily, she rose, and, followed
+by her guards, left the throne, and passed into the Alabaster Hall. Then
+the Court broke up, and as the lords and councillors went by they looked
+on me with mockery. For though none knew all my secret, nor how it stood
+between me and Cleopatra, yet they were jealous of the favour shown me
+by the Queen, and rejoiced greatly at my fall. But I took no heed of
+their mocking as I stood dazed with misery and felt the world of Hope
+slip from beneath my feet.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+OF THE REPROACH OF HARMACHIS; OF THE STRUGGLE OF HARMACHIS WITH THE
+GUARDS; OF THE BLOW OF BRENNUS; AND OF THE SECRET SPEECH OF CLEOPATRA
+
+And at length, all being gone, I, too, turned to go, when a eunuch
+struck me on the shoulder and roughly bade me wait on the presence of
+the Queen. An hour past this fellow would have crawled to me on his
+knees; but he had heard, and now he treated me--so brutish is the nature
+of such slaves--as the world treats the fallen, with scorn. For to come
+low after being great is to learn all shame. Unhappy, therefore, are the
+Great, for they may fall!
+
+I turned upon the slave with so fierce a word that, cur-like, he sprang
+behind me; then I passed on to the Alabaster Hall, and was admitted by
+the guards. In the centre of the hall, near the fountain, sat Cleopatra,
+and with her were Charmion and the Greek girl Iras, and Merira and other
+of her waiting-ladies. "Go," she said to these, "I would speak with my
+astrologer." So they went, and left us face to face.
+
+"Stand thou there," she said, lifting her eyes for the first time. "Come
+not nigh me, Harmachis: I trust thee not. Perchance thou hast found
+another dagger. Now, what hast thou to say? By what right didst thou
+dare to break in upon my talk with the Roman?"
+
+I felt the blood rush through me like a storm; bitterness and burning
+anger took hold of my heart. "What hast _thou_ to say, Cleopatra?"
+I answered boldly. "Where is thy vow, sworn on the dead heart of
+Menkau-ra, the ever-living? Where now thy challenge to this Roman
+Antony? Where thy oath that thou wouldest call me 'husband' in the face
+of Egypt?" and I choked and ceased.
+
+"Well doth it become Harmachis, who never was forsworn, to speak to me
+of oaths!" she said in bitter mockery. "And yet, O thou most pure Priest
+of Isis; and yet, O thou most faithful friend, who never didst betray
+thy friends; and yet, O thou most steadfast, honourable, and upright
+man, who never bartered thy birthright, thy country, and thy cause for
+the price of a woman's passing love--by what token knowest thou that my
+word is void?"
+
+"I will not answer thy taunts, Cleopatra," I said, holding back my heart
+as best I might, "for I have earned them all, though not from thee. By
+this token, then, I know it. Thou goest to visit Antony; thou goest, as
+said that Roman knave, 'tricked in thy best attire,' to feast with him
+whom thou shouldst give to vultures for their feast. Perhaps, for
+aught I know, thou art about to squander those treasures that thou hast
+filched from the body of Menkau-ra, those treasures stored against the
+need of Egypt, upon wanton revels which shall complete the shame of
+Egypt. By these things, then, I know that thou art forsworn, and I, who,
+loving thee, believed thee, tricked; and by this, also, that thou who
+didst but yesternight swear to wed me, dost to-day cover me with taunts,
+and even before that Roman put me to an open shame!"
+
+"To wed thee? and I did swear to wed thee? Well, and what is marriage?
+Is it the union of the heart, that bond beautiful as gossamer and than
+gossamer more light, which binds soul to soul, as they float through the
+dreamy night of passion, a bond to be, perchance, melted in the dews of
+dawn? Or is it the iron link of enforced, unchanging union whereby if
+sinks the one the other must be dragged beneath the sea of circumstance,
+there, like a punished slave, to perish of unavoidable corruption?[*]
+Marriage! _I_ to marry! _I_ to forget freedom and court the worst
+slavery of our sex, which, by the selfish will of man, the stronger,
+still binds us to a bed grown hateful, and enforces a service that love
+mayhap no longer hallows! Of what use, then, to be a Queen, if thereby I
+may not escape the evil of the meanly born? Mark thou, Harmachis: Woman
+being grown hath two ills to fear--Death and Marriage; and of these
+twain is Marriage the more vile; for in Death we may find rest, but in
+Marriage, should it fail us, we must find hell. Nay, being above the
+breath of common slander that enviously would blast those who of
+true virtue will not consent to stretch affection's links, I _love_,
+Harmachis; but I _marry_ not!"
+
+     [*] Referring to the Roman custom of chaining a living felon
+     to the body of one already dead.--Editor.
+
+"And yesternight, Cleopatra, thou didst swear that thou wouldst wed me,
+and call me to thy side before the face of Egypt!"
+
+"And yesternight, Harmachis, the red ring round the moon marked the
+coming of the storm, and yet the day is fair! But who knows that the
+tempest may not break to-morrow? Who knows that I have not chosen the
+easier path to save Egypt from the Roman? Who knows, Harmachis, that
+thou shalt not still call me wife?"
+
+Then I no longer could bear her falsehood, for I saw that she but played
+with me. And so I spoke that which was in my heart:
+
+"Cleopatra!" I cried, "thou didst swear to protect Egypt, and thou
+art about to betray Egypt to the Roman! Thou didst swear to use the
+treasures that I revealed to thee for the service of Egypt, and thou art
+about to use them to be her means of shame--to fashion them as fetters
+for her wrists! Thou didst swear to wed me, who loved thee, and for thee
+gave all, and thou dost mock me and reject me! Therefore I say--with the
+voice of the dread Gods I say it!--that on _thee_ shall fall the curse
+of Menkau-ra, whom thou hast robbed indeed! Let me go hence and work
+out my fate! Let me go, O thou fair Shame! thou living Lie! whom I have
+loved to my doom, and who hast brought upon me the last curse of doom!
+Let me hide myself and see thy face no more!"
+
+She rose in her wrath, and she was terrible to see.
+
+"Let thee go to stir up evil against me! Nay, Harmachis, thou shalt not
+go to build new plots against my throne! I say to thee that thou, too,
+shalt come to visit Antony in Cilicia, and there, perchance, I will let
+thee go!" And ere I could answer, she had struck upon the silver gong
+that hung near her.
+
+Before its rich echo had died away, Charmion and the waiting-women
+entered from one door, and from the other, a file of soldiers--four of
+them of the Queen's bodyguard, mighty men, with winged helmets and long
+fair hair.
+
+"Seize that traitor!" cried Cleopatra, pointing to me. The captain of
+the guard--it was Brennus--saluted and came towards me with drawn sword.
+
+But I, being mad and desperate, and caring little if they slew me, flew
+straight at his throat, and dealt him such a heavy blow that the great
+man fell headlong, and his armour clashed upon the marble floor. As he
+fell I seized his sword and targe, and, meeting the next, who rushed on
+me with a shout, caught his blow upon the shield, and in answer smote
+with all my strength. The sword fell where the neck is set into the
+shoulder, and, shearing through the joints of his harness, slew him, so
+that his knees were loosened and he sank down dead. And the third, as he
+came, I caught upon the point of my sword before he could strike, and
+it pierced him and he died. Then the last rushed on me with a cry of
+"Taranis!" and I, too, rushed on him, for my blood was aflame. Now the
+women shrieked--only Cleopatra said nothing, but stood and watched the
+unequal fray. We met, and I struck with all my strength, and it was a
+mighty blow, for the sword shore through the iron shell and shattered
+there, leaving me weaponless. With a shout of triumph the guard swung
+up his sword and smote down upon my head, but I caught the blow with
+my shield. Again he smote, and again I parried; but when he raised his
+sword a third time I saw this might not endure, so with a cry I hurled
+my buckler at his face. Glancing from his shield it struck him on the
+breast and staggered him. Then, before he could gain his balance, I
+rushed in beneath his guard and gripped him round the middle.
+
+For a full minute the tall man and I struggled furiously, and then, so
+great was my strength in those days, I lifted him like a toy and dashed
+him down upon the marble floor in such fashion that his bones were
+shattered so that he spoke no more. But I could not save myself and fell
+upon him, and as I fell the Captain Brennus, whom I had smitten to earth
+with my fist, having once more found his sense, came up behind me and
+smote me upon the head and shoulders with the sword of one of those whom
+I had slain. But I being on the ground, the blow did not fall with all
+its weight, also my thick hair and broidered cap broke its force; and
+thus it came to pass that, though sorely wounded, the life was yet whole
+in me. But I could struggle no more.
+
+Then the cowardly eunuchs, who had gathered at the sound of blows and
+stood huddled together like a herd of cattle, seeing that I was spent,
+threw themselves upon me, and would have butchered me with their knives.
+But Brennus, now that I was down, would strike no more, but stood
+waiting. And the eunuchs had surely slain me, for Cleopatra watched like
+one who watches in a dream and made no sign. Already my head was dragged
+back, and their knife-points were at my throat, when Charmion, rushing
+forward, threw herself upon me and, calling them "Dogs!" desperately
+thrust her body before them in such fashion that they could not smite.
+Now Brennus with an oath seized first one and then another and cast them
+from me.
+
+"Spare his life, Queen!" he cried in his barbarous Latin. "By Jupiter,
+he is a brave man! Myself felled like an ox in the shambles, and three
+of my boys finished by a man without armour and taken unawares! I grudge
+them not to such a man! A boon, Queen! spare his life, and give him to
+me!"
+
+"Ay, spare him! spare him!" cried Charmion, white and trembling.
+
+Cleopatra drew near and looked upon the dead and him who lay dying as
+I had dashed him to the ground, and on me, her lover of two days gone,
+whose wounded head rested now on Charmion's white robes.
+
+I met the Queen's glance. "Spare not!" I gasped; "_vae victis!_" Then a
+flush gathered on her brow--methinks it was a flush of shame!
+
+"Dost after all love this man at heart, Charmion," she said with a
+little laugh, "that thou didst thrust thy tender body between him and
+the knives of these sexless hounds?" and she cast a look of scorn upon
+the eunuchs.
+
+"Nay!" the girl answered fiercely; "but I cannot stand by to see a brave
+man murdered by such as these."
+
+"Ay!" said Cleopatra, "he is a brave man, and he fought gallantly; I
+have never seen so fierce a fight even in the games at Rome! Well, I
+spare his life, though he is weak of me--womanish weak. Take him to his
+own chamber and guard him there till he is healed or--dead."
+
+Then my brain reeled, a great sickness seized upon me, and I sank into
+the nothingness of a swoon.
+
+
+
+Dreams, dreams, dreams! without end and ever-changing, as for years and
+years I seemed to toss upon a sea of agony. And through them a vision of
+a dark-eyed woman's tender face and the touch of a white hand soothing
+me to rest. Visions, too, of a royal countenance bending at times over
+my rocking bed--a countenance that I could not grasp, but whose beauty
+flowed through my fevered veins and was a part of me--visions of
+childhood and of the Temple towers of Abouthis, and of the white-haired
+Amenemhat, my father--ay, and an ever-present vision of that dread hall
+in Amenti, and of the small altar and the Spirits clad in flame! There I
+seemed to wander everlastingly, calling on the Holy Mother, whose memory
+I could not grasp; calling ever and in vain! For no cloud descended upon
+the altar, only from time to time the great Voice pealed aloud: "Strike
+out the name of Harmachis, child of Earth, from the living Book of Her
+who Was and Is and Shall Be! _Lost! lost! lost!_"
+
+And then another voice would answer:
+
+"Not yet! not yet! Repentance is at hand; strike not out the name of
+Harmachis, child of Earth, from the living Book of Her who Was and Is
+and Shall Be! By suffering may sin be wiped away!"
+
+I woke to find myself in my own chamber in the tower of the palace. I
+was so weak that I scarce could lift my hand, and life seemed but to
+flutter in my breast as flutters a dying dove. I could not turn my head;
+I could not stir; yet in my heart there was a sense of rest and of dark
+trouble done. The light from the lamp hurt my eyes: I shut them, and,
+as I shut them, heard the sweep of a woman's robes upon the stair, and a
+swift, light step that I knew well. It was that of Cleopatra!
+
+She entered and drew near. I felt her come! Every pulse of my poor frame
+beat an answer to her footfall, and all my mighty love and hate rose
+from the darkness of my death-like sleep, and rent me in their struggle!
+She leaned over me; her ambrosial breath played upon my face: I could
+hear the beating of her heart! Lower she leaned, till at last her lips
+touched me softly on the brow.
+
+"Poor man!" I heard her murmur. "Poor, weak, dying Man! Fate hath been
+hard to thee! Thou wert too good to be the sport of such a one as I--the
+pawn that I must move in my play of policy! Ah, Harmachis! thou shouldst
+have ruled the game! Those plotting priests could give thee learning;
+but they could not give thee knowledge of mankind, nor fence thee
+against the march of Nature's law. And thou didst love me with all thy
+heart--ah! well I know it! Manlike, thou didst love the eyes that, as
+a pirate's lights, beckoned thee to shipwrecked ruin, and didst hang
+doting on the lips which lied thy heart away and called thee 'slave'!
+Well; the game was fair, for thou wouldst have slain me; and yet I
+grieve. So thou dost die? and this is my farewell to thee! Never may we
+meet again on earth; and, perchance, it is well, for who knows, when my
+hour of tenderness is past, how I might deal with thee, didst thou live?
+Thou dost die, they say--those learned long-faced fools, who, if they
+let thee die, shall pay the price. And where, then, shall we meet again
+when my last throw is thrown? We shall be equal there, in the kingdom
+that Osiris rules. A little time, a few years--perhaps to-morrow--and we
+shall meet; then, knowing all I am, how wilt thou greet me? Nay, here,
+as there, still must thou worship me! for injuries cannot touch the
+immortality of such a love as thine. Contempt alone, like acid, can
+eat away the love of noble hearts, and reveal the truth in its pitiful
+nakedness. Thou must still cling to thee, Harmachis; for, whatever my
+sins, yet I am great and set above thy scorn. Would that I could have
+loved thee as thou lovest me! Almost I did so when thou slewest those
+guards; and yet--not quite.
+
+"What a fenced city is my heart, that none can take it, and, even when
+I throw the gates wide, no man may win its citadel! Oh, to put away this
+loneliness and lose me in another's soul! Oh, for a year, a month, an
+hour to quite forget policy, peoples, and my pomp of place, and be but
+a loving woman! Harmachis, fare thee well! Go join great Julius whom thy
+art called up from death before me, and take Egypt's greetings to him.
+Ah well! I fooled thee, and I fooled Caesar--perchance before all is done
+Fate will find me, and myself I shall be fooled. Harmachis, fare thee
+well!"
+
+She turned to go, and as she turned I heard the sweep of another dress
+and the light fall of another woman's foot.
+
+"Ah! it is thou, Charmion. Well, for all thy watching the man dies."
+
+"Ay," she answered, in a voice thick with grief. "Ay, O Queen, so the
+physicians say. Forty hours has he lain in stupor so deep that at times
+his breath could barely lift this tiny feather's weight, and hardly
+could my ear, placed against his breast, take notice of the rising of
+his heart. I have watched him now for ten long days, watched him day and
+night, till my eyes stare wide with want of sleep, and for faintness
+I can scarce keep myself from falling. And this is the end of all my
+labour! The coward blow of that accursed Brennus has done its work, and
+Harmachis dies!"
+
+"Love counts not its labour, Charmion, nor can it weight its tenderness
+on the scale of purchase. That which it has it gives, and craves for
+more to give and give, till the soul's infinity be drained. Dear to thy
+heart are these heavy nights of watching; sweet to thy weary eyes
+is that sad sight of strength brought so low that it hangs upon thy
+weakness like a babe to its mother's breast! For, Charmion, thou dost
+love this man who loves thee not, and now that he is helpless thou canst
+pour thy passion forth over the unanswering darkness of his soul, and
+cheat thyself with dreams of what yet might be."
+
+"I love him not, as thou hast proof, O Queen! How can I love one who
+would have slain thee, who art as my heart's sister? It is for pity that
+I nurse him."
+
+She laughed a little as she answered, "Pity is love's own twin,
+Charmion. Wondrous wayward are the paths of woman's love, and thou hast
+shown thine strangely, that I know. But the more high the love, the
+deeper the gulf whereinto it can fall--ay, and thence soar again to
+heaven, once more to fall! Poor woman! thou art thy passion's plaything:
+now tender as the morning sky, and now, when jealousy grips thy heart,
+more cruel than the sea. Well, thus are we made. Soon, after all this
+troubling, nothing will be left thee but tears, remorse, and--memory."
+
+And she went forth.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+OF THE TENDER CARE OF CHARMION; OF THE HEALING OF HARMACHIS; OF THE
+SAILING OF THE FLEET OF CLEOPATRA FOR CILICIA; AND OF THE SPEECH OF
+BRENNUS TO HARMACHIS
+
+Cleopatra went, and for a while I lay silent, gathering up my strength
+to speak. But Charmion came and stood over me, and I felt a great tear
+fall from her dark eyes upon my face, as the first heavy drop of rain
+falls from a thunder cloud.
+
+"Thou goest," she whispered; "thou goest fast whither I may not follow!
+O Harmachis, how gladly would I give my life for thine!"
+
+Then at length I opened my eyes, and spoke as best I could:
+
+"Restrain thy grief, dear friend," I said, "I live yet; and, in truth, I
+feel as though new life gathered in my breast!"
+
+She gave a little cry of joy, and I never saw aught more beautiful than
+the change that came upon her weeping face! It was as when the first
+lights of the day run up the pallor of that sad sky which veils the
+night from dawn. All rosy grew her lovely countenance; her dim eyes
+shone out like stars; and a smile of wonderment, more sweet than the
+sudden smile of the sea as its ripples wake to brightness beneath the
+kiss of the risen moon, broke through her rain of tears.
+
+"Thou livest!" she cried, throwing herself on her knees beside my couch.
+"Thou livest--and I thought thee gone! Thou art come back to me! Oh!
+what say I? How foolish is a woman's heart! 'Tis this long watching!
+Nay; sleep and rest thee, Harmachis!--why dost thou talk? Not one
+more word, I command thee straitly! Where is the draught left by
+that long-bearded fool? Nay thou shalt have no draught! There, sleep,
+Harmachis; sleep!" and she crouched down at my side and laid her cool
+hand upon my brow, murmuring, "_Sleep! sleep!_"
+
+And when I woke there she was still, but the lights of dawn were peeping
+through the casement. There she knelt, one hand upon my forehead, and
+her head, in all its disarray of curls, resting upon her outstretched
+arm.
+
+"Charmion," I whispered, "have I slept?"
+
+Instantly she was wide awake, and, gazing on me with tender eyes, "Yea,
+thou hast slept, Harmachis."
+
+"How long, then, have I slept?"
+
+"Nine hours."
+
+"And thou hast held thy place there, at my side, for nine long hours?"
+
+"Yes, it is nothing; I also have slept--I feared to waken thee if I
+stirred."
+
+"Go, rest," I said; "it shames me to think of this thing. Go rest thee,
+Charmion!"
+
+"Vex not thyself," she answered; "see, I will bid a slave watch thee,
+and to wake me if thou needest aught; I sleep there, in the outer
+chamber. Peace--I go!" and she strove to rise, but, so cramped was she,
+fell straightway on the floor.
+
+I can scarcely tell the sense of shame that filled me when I saw her
+fall. Alas! I could not stir to help her.
+
+"It is naught," she said; "move not, I did but catch my foot. There!"
+and she rose, again to fall--"a pest upon my awkwardness! Why--I must be
+sleeping. 'Tis well now. I'll send the slave;" and she staggered thence
+like one overcome with wine.
+
+And after that, I slept once more, for I was very weak. When I woke it
+was afternoon, and I craved for food, which Charmion brought me.
+
+I ate. "Then I die not," I said.
+
+"Nay," she answered, with a toss of her head, "thou wilt live. In truth,
+I did waste my pity on thee."
+
+"And thy pity saved my life," I said wearily, for now I remembered.
+
+"It is nothing," she answered carelessly. "After all, thou art my
+cousin; also, I love nursing--it is a woman's trade. Like enough I had
+done as much for any slave. Now, too, that the danger is past, I leave
+thee."
+
+"Thou hadst done better to let me die, Charmion," I said after a while,
+"for life to me can now be only one long shame. Tell me, then, when
+sails Cleopatra for Cilicia?"
+
+"She sails in twenty days, and with such pomp and glory as Egypt has
+never seen. Of a truth, I cannot guess where she has found the means to
+gather in this store of splendour, as a husbandman gathers his golden
+harvest."
+
+But I, knowing whence the wealth came, groaned in bitterness of spirit,
+and made no answer.
+
+"Goest thou also, Charmion?" I asked presently.
+
+"Ay, I and all the Court. Thou, too--thou goest."
+
+"I go? Nay, why is this?"
+
+"Because thou art Cleopatra's slave, and must march in gilded chains
+behind her chariot; because she fears to leave thee here in Khem;
+because it is her will, and there is an end."
+
+"Charmion, can I not escape?"
+
+"Escape, thou poor sick man? Nay, how canst thou escape? Even now thou
+art most strictly guarded. And if thou didst escape, whither wouldst
+thou fly? There's not an honest man in Egypt but would spit on thee in
+scorn!"
+
+Once more I groaned in spirit, and, being so very weak, I felt the tears
+roll adown my cheek.
+
+"Weep not!" she said hastily, and turning her face aside. "Be a man, and
+brave these troubles out. Thou hast sown, now must thou reap; but
+after harvest the waters rise and wash away the rotting roots, and then
+seed-time comes again. Perchance, yonder in Cilicia, a way may be found,
+when once more thou art strong, by which thou mayst fly--if in truth
+thou canst bear thy life apart from Cleopatra's smile; then in some far
+land must thou dwell till these things are forgotten. And now my task is
+done, so fare thee well! At times I will come to visit thee and see that
+thou needest nothing."
+
+So she went, and I was nursed thenceforward, and that skilfully, by the
+physician and two women-slaves; and as my wound healed so my strength
+came back to me, slowly at first, then most swiftly. In four days from
+that time I left my couch, and in three more I could walk an hour in the
+palace gardens; another week and I could read and think, though I went
+no more to Court. And at length one afternoon Charmion came and bade me
+make ready, for the fleet would sail in two days, first for the coast of
+Syria, and thence to the gulf of Issus and Cilicia.
+
+Thereon, with all formality, and in writing, I craved leave of Cleopatra
+that I might be left, urging that my health was so feeble that I could
+not travel. But a message was sent to me in answer that I must come.
+
+And so, on the appointed day, I was carried in a litter down to the
+boat, and together with that very soldier who had cut me down, the
+Captain Brennus, and others of his troop (who, indeed, were sent to
+guard me), we rowed aboard a vessel where she lay at anchor with the
+rest of the great fleet. For Cleopatra was voyaging as though to war
+in much pomp, and escorted by a fleet of ships, among which her galley,
+built like a house and lined throughout with cedar and silken hangings,
+was the most beautiful and costly that the world has ever seen. But I
+went not on this vessel, and therefore it chanced that I did not see
+Cleopatra or Charmion till we landed at the mouth of the river Cydnus.
+
+The signal being made, the fleet set sail; and, the wind being fair, we
+came to Joppa on the evening of the second day. Thence we sailed
+slowly with contrary winds up the coast of Syria, making Caesarea, and
+Ptolemais, and Tyrus, and Berytus, and past Lebanon's white brow crowned
+with his crest of cedars, on to Heraclea and across the gulf of Issus to
+the mouth of Cydnus. And ever as we journeyed, the strong breath of the
+sea brought back my health, till at length, save for a line of white
+upon my head where the sword had fallen, I was almost as I had been.
+And one night, as we drew near Cydnus, while Brennus and I sat alone
+together on the deck, his eye fell upon the white mark his sword had
+made, and he swore a great oath by his heathen Gods. "An thou hadst
+died, lad," he said, "methinks I could never again have held up my head!
+Ah! that was a coward stroke, and I am shamed to think that it was I who
+struck it, and thou on the ground with thy back to me! Knowest thou
+that when thou didst lie between life and death, I came every day to ask
+tidings of thee? and I swore by Taranis that if thou didst die I'd turn
+my back upon that soft palace life and then away for the bonny North."
+
+"Nay, trouble not, Brennus," I answered; "it was thy duty."
+
+"Mayhap! but there are duties that a brave man should not do--nay, not
+at the bidding of any Queen who ever ruled in Egypt! Thy blow had dazed
+me or I had not struck. What is it, lad?--art in trouble with this
+Queen of ours? Why art thou dragged a prisoner upon this pleasure party?
+Knowest thou that we are strictly charged that if thou dost escape our
+lives shall pay the price?"
+
+"Ay, in sore trouble, friend," I answered; "ask me no more."
+
+"Then, being of the age thou art, there's a woman in it--that I
+swear--and, perchance, though I am rough and foolish, I might make a
+guess. Look thou, lad, what sayest thou? I am weary of this service of
+Cleopatra and this hot land of deserts and of luxury, that sap a man's
+strength and drain his pocket; and so are others whom I know of. What
+sayest thou: let's take one of these unwieldy vessels and away to the
+North? I'll lead thee to a better land than Egypt--a land of lake and
+mountain, and great forests of sweet-scented pine; ay, and find thee a
+girl fit to mate with--my own niece--a girl strong and tall, with wide
+blue eyes and long fair hair, and arms that could crack thy ribs were
+she of a mind to hug thee! Come, what sayest thou? Put away the past,
+and away for the bonny North, and be a son to me."
+
+For a moment I thought, and then sadly shook my head; for though I was
+sorely tempted to be gone, I knew that my fate lay in Egypt, and I might
+not fly my fate.
+
+"It may not be, Brennus," I answered. "Fain would I that it might be,
+but I am bound by a chain of destiny which I cannot break, and in the
+land of Egypt I must live and die."
+
+"As thou wilt, lad," said the old warrior. "I should have dearly loved
+to marry thee among my people, and make a son of thee. At the least,
+remember that while I am here thou hast Brennus for a friend. And one
+thing more; beware of that beauteous Queen of thine, for, by Taranis,
+perhaps an hour may come when she will hold that thou knowest too much,
+and then----" and he drew his hand across his throat. "And now good
+night; a cup of wine, then to sleep, for to-morrow the foolery----"
+
+[Here several lengths of the second roll of papyrus are so broken as
+to be undecipherable. They seem to have been descriptive of Cleopatra's
+voyage up the Cydnus to the city of Tarsus.]
+
+"And--[the writing continues]--to those who could take joy in such
+things, the sight must, indeed, have been a gallant one. For the stern
+of our galley was covered with sheets of beaten gold, the sails were
+of the scarlet of Tyre, and the oars of silver touched the water to a
+measure of music. And there, in the centre of the vessel, beneath an
+awning ablaze with gold embroidery, lay Cleopatra, attired as the Roman
+Venus (and surely Venus was not more fair!), in thin robes of whitest
+silk, bound in beneath her breast with a golden girdle delicately graven
+over with scenes of love. All about her were little rosy boys, chosen
+for their beauty, and clad in naught save downy wings strapped upon
+their shoulders, and on their backs Cupid's bow and quiver, who fanned
+her with fans of plumes. Upon the vessel's decks, handling the cordage,
+that was of silken web, and softly singing to the sound of harps and the
+beat of oars, were no rough sailors, but women lovely to behold, some
+robed as Graces and some as Nereids--that is, scarce robed at all,
+except in their scented hair. And behind the couch, with drawn sword,
+stood Brennus, in splendid armour and winged helm of gold; and by him
+others--I among them--in garments richly worked, and knew that I
+was indeed a slave! On the high poop also burned censers filled with
+costliest incense, of which the fragrant steam hung in little clouds
+about our wake."
+
+Thus, as in a dream of luxury, followed by many ships, we glided on
+towards the wooded slopes of Taurus, at whose foot lay that ancient city
+Tarshish. And ever as we came the people gathered on the banks and ran
+before us, shouting: "Venus is risen from the sea! Venus hath come to
+visit Bacchus!" We drew near to the city, and all its people--everyone
+who could walk or be carried--crowded down in thousands to the docks,
+and with them came the whole army of Antony, so that at length the
+Triumvir was left alone upon the judgment seat.
+
+Dellius, the false-tongued, came also, fawning and bowing, and in the
+name of Antony gave the "Queen of Beauty" greeting, bidding her to a
+feast that Antony had made ready. But she made high answer, and said,
+"Forsooth, it is Antony who should wait on us; not we on Antony. Bid the
+noble Antony to our poor table this night--else we dine alone."
+
+Dellius went, bowing to the ground; the feast was made ready; and then
+at last I set eyes on Antony. He came clad in purple robes, a great man
+and beautiful to see, set in the stout prime of life, with bright eyes
+of blue, and curling hair, and features cut sharply as a Grecian gem.
+For he was great of form and royal of mien, and with an open countenance
+on which his thoughts were so clearly written that all might read them;
+only the weakness of the mouth belied the power of the brow. He came
+attended by his generals, and when he reached the couch where Cleopatra
+lay he stood astonished, gazing on her with wide-opened eyes. She, too,
+gazed on him earnestly; I saw the red blood run up beneath her skin, and
+a great pang of jealousy seized upon my heart. And Charmion, who saw all
+beneath her downcast eyes, saw this also and smiled. But Cleopatra spoke
+no word, only she stretched out her white hand for him to kiss; and he,
+saying no word, took her hand and kissed it.
+
+"Behold, noble Antony!" she said at last in her voice of music, "thou
+hast called me, and I am come."
+
+"Venus has come," he answered in his deep notes, and still holding his
+eyes fixed upon her face. "I called a woman--a Goddess hath risen from
+the deep!"
+
+"To find a God to greet her on the land," she laughed with ready wit.
+"Well, a truce to compliments, for being on the earth even Venus is
+ahungered. Noble Antony, thy hand."
+
+The trumpets blared, and through the bowing crowd Cleopatra, followed by
+her train, passed hand in hand with Antony to the feast.
+
+[Here there is another break in the papyrus.]
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+OF THE FEAST OF CLEOPATRA; OF THE MELTING OF THE PEARL; OF THE SAYING OF
+HARMACHIS; AND OF CLEOPATRA'S VOW OF LOVE
+
+On the third night the feast was once more prepared in the hall of the
+great house that had been set aside to the use of Cleopatra, and on this
+night its splendour was greater even than on the nights before. For the
+twelve couches that were set about the table were embossed with gold,
+and those of Cleopatra and Antony were of gold set with jewels. The
+dishes also were all of gold set with jewels, the walls were hung with
+purple cloths sewn with gold, and on the floor, covered with a net of
+gold, fresh roses were strewn ankle-deep, that as the slaves trod them
+sent up their perfume. Once again I was bidden to stand, with Charmion
+and Iras and Merira, behind the couch of Cleopatra, and, like a slave,
+from time to time call out the hours as they flew. And there being no
+help, I went wild at heart; but this I swore--it should be for the last
+time, since I could not bear that shame. For though I would not yet
+believe what Charmion told me--that Cleopatra was about to become the
+Love of Antony--yet I could no more endure this ignominy and torture.
+For from Cleopatra now I had no words save such as a Queen speaks to her
+slave, and methinks it gave her dark heart pleasure to torment me.
+
+Thus it came to pass that I, the Pharaoh, crowned of Khem, stood among
+eunuchs and waiting-women behind the couch of Egypt's Queen while the
+feast went merrily and the wine-cup passed. And ever Antony sat, his
+eyes fixed upon the face of Cleopatra, who from time to time let her
+deep glance lose itself in his, and then for a little while their
+talk died away. For he told her tales of war and of deeds that he had
+done--ay, and love-jests such as are not meet for the ears of women. But
+she took offence at nothing; rather, falling into his humour, she would
+cap his stories with others of a finer wit, but not less shameless.
+
+At length, the rich meal being finished, Antony gazed at the splendour
+around him.
+
+"Tell me, then, most lovely Egypt," he said; "are the sands of Nile
+compact of gold, that thou canst, night by night, thus squander the
+ransom of a King upon a single feast? Whence comes this untold wealth?"
+
+I bethought me of the tomb of the Divine Menkau-ra, whose holy treasure
+was thus wickedly wasted, and looked up so that Cleopatra's eye caught
+mine; but, reading my thoughts, she frowned heavily.
+
+"Why, noble Antony," she said, "surely it is nothing! In Egypt we have
+our secrets, and know whence to conjure riches at our need. Say, what is
+the value of this golden service, and of the meats and drinks that have
+been set before us?"
+
+He cast his eyes about, and hazarded a guess.
+
+"Maybe a thousand sestertia."[*]
+
+     [*] About eight thousand pounds of English money.--Editor.
+
+"Thou hast understated it by half, noble Antony! But such as it is I
+will give it thee and those with thee as a free token of my friendship.
+And more will I show thee now: I myself will eat and drink ten thousand
+sestertia at a draught."
+
+"That cannot be, fair Egypt!"
+
+She laughed, and bade a slave bring her white vinegar in a glass. When
+it was brought she set it before her and laughed again, while Antony,
+rising from his couch, drew near and set himself at her side, and all
+the company leant forward to see what she would do. And this she did.
+She took from her ear one of those great pearls which last of all had
+been drawn from the body of the Divine Pharaoh; and before any could
+guess her purpose she let it fall into the vinegar. Then came silence,
+the silence of wonder, and slowly the priceless pearl melted in the
+strong acid. When it was melted she lifted the glass and shook it, then
+drank the vinegar, to the last drop.
+
+"More vinegar, slave!" she cried; "my meal is but half finished!" and
+she drew forth the second pearl.
+
+"By Bacchus, no! that shalt thou not!" cried Antony, snatching at her
+hands; "I have seen enough;" and at that moment, moved to it by I know
+not what, I called aloud:
+
+"The hour falls, O Queen!--_the hour of the coming of the curse of
+Menkau-ra!_"
+
+An ashy whiteness grew upon Cleopatra's face, and she turned upon me
+furiously, while all the company gazed wondering, not knowing what the
+words might mean.
+
+"Thou ill-omened slave!" she cried. "Speak thus once more and thou shalt
+be scourged with rods!--ay, scourged like an evildoer--that I promise
+thee, Harmachis!"
+
+"What means the knave of an astrologer?" asked Antony. "Speak, sirrah!
+and make clear thy meaning, for those who deal in curses must warrant
+their wares."
+
+"I am a servant of the Gods, noble Antony. That which the Gods put in my
+mind that must I say; nor can I read their meaning," I answered humbly.
+
+"Oh, oh! thou servest the Gods, dost thou, thou many-coloured mystery?"
+This he said having reference to my splendid robes. "Well, I serve the
+Goddesses, which is a softer cult. And there's this between us:
+that though what they put in my mind I say, neither can I read their
+meaning," and he glanced at Cleopatra as one who questions.
+
+"Let the knave be," she said impatiently; "to-morrow we'll be rid of
+him. Sirrah, begone!"
+
+I bowed and went; and, as I went, I heard Antony say: "Well, he may be
+a knave--for that all men are--but this for thy astrologer: he hath a
+royal air and the eye of a King--ay, and wit in it."
+
+Without the door I paused, not knowing what to do, for I was bewildered
+with misery. And, as I stood, someone touched me on the hand. I glanced
+up--it was Charmion, who in the confusion of the rising of the guests,
+had slipped away and followed me.
+
+For in trouble Charmion was ever at my side.
+
+"Follow me," she whispered; "thou art in danger."
+
+I turned and followed her. Why should I not?
+
+"Whither go we?" I asked at length.
+
+"To my chamber," she said. "Fear not; we ladies of Cleopatra's Court
+have small good fame to lose; if anyone by chance should see us, they'll
+think that it is a love-tryst, and such are all the fashion."
+
+I followed, and, presently, skirting the crowd, we came unseen to a
+little side entrance that led to a stair, up which we passed. The stair
+ended in a passage; we turned down it till we found a door on the left
+hand. Charmion entered silently, and I followed her into a dark chamber.
+Being in, she barred the door and, kindling tinder to a flame, lit a
+hanging lamp. As the light grew strong I gazed around. The chamber was
+not large, and had but one casement, closely shuttered. For the rest, it
+was simply furnished, having white walls, some chests for garments, an
+ancient chair, what I took to be a tiring table, on which were combs,
+perfumes, and all the frippery that pertains to woman, and a white bed
+with a broidered coverlid, over which was hung a gnat-gauze.
+
+"Be seated, Harmachis," she said, pointing to the chair. I took the
+chair, and Charmion, throwing back the gnat-gauze, sat herself upon the
+bed before me.
+
+"Knowest thou what I heard Cleopatra say as thou didst leave the
+banqueting-hall?" she asked presently.
+
+"Nay, I know not."
+
+"She gazed after thee, and, as I went over to her to do some service,
+she murmured to herself: 'By Serapis, I will make an end! I will wait no
+longer: to-morrow he shall be strangled!'"
+
+"So!" I said, "it may be; though, after all that has been, I can scarce
+believe that she will murder me."
+
+"Why canst thou not believe it, thou most foolish of men? Dost forget
+how nigh thou wast to death there in the Alabaster Hall? Who saved thee
+then from the knives of the eunuchs? Was it Cleopatra? Or was it I and
+Brennus? Stay, I will tell thee. Thou canst not yet believe it, because,
+in thy folly, thou dost not think it possible that the woman who has but
+lately been as a wife to thee can now, in so short a time, doom thee to
+be basely done to death. Nay, answer not--I know all; and I tell thee
+this: thou hast not measured the depth of Cleopatra's perfidy, nor canst
+thou dream the blackness of her wicked heart. She had surely slain thee
+in Alexandria had she not feared that thy slaughter being noised abroad
+might bring trouble on her. Therefore has she brought thee here to kill
+thee secretly. For what more canst thou give her? She has thy heart's
+love, and is wearied of thy strength and beauty. She has robbed thee
+of thy royal birthright and brought thee, a King, to stand amidst the
+waiting-women behind her at her feasts; she has won from thee the great
+secret of the holy treasure!"
+
+"Ah, thou knowest that?"
+
+"Yes, I know all; and to-night thou seest how the wealth stored against
+the need of Khem is being squandered to fill up the wanton luxury of
+Khem's Macedonian Queen! Thou seest how she has kept her oath to wed
+thee honourably. Harmachis--at length thine eyes are open to the truth!"
+
+"Ay, I see too well; and yet she swore she loved me, and I, poor fool, I
+believed her!"
+
+"She swore she loved thee!" answered Charmion, lifting her dark eyes:
+"now I will show thee how she loves thee. Knowest thou what was this
+house? It was a priest's college; and, as thou wottest, Harmachis,
+priests have their ways. This little room aforetime was the room of
+the Head Priest, and the chamber that is beyond and below was the
+gathering-place of the other priests. The old slave who keeps the house
+told me all this, and also she revealed what I shall show thee. Now,
+Harmachis, be silent as the dead, and follow me!"
+
+She blew out the lamp, and by the little light that crept through the
+shuttered casement led me by the hand to the far corner of the room.
+Here she pressed upon the wall, and a door opened in its thickness. We
+entered, and she closed the spring. Now we were in a little chamber,
+some five cubits in length by four in breadth; for a faint light
+struggled into the closet, and also the sound of voices, I knew not
+whence. Loosing my hand, she crept to the end of the place, and looked
+steadfastly at the wall; then crept back and, whispering "Silence!" led
+me forward with her. Then I saw that there were eyeholes in the wall,
+which pierced it, and were hidden on the farther side by carved work
+in stone. I looked through the hole that was in front of me, and I saw
+this: six cubits below was the level of the floor of another chamber,
+lit with fragrant lamps, and most richly furnished. It was the
+sleeping-place of Cleopatra, and there, within ten cubits of where we
+stood, sat Cleopatra on a gilded couch, and by her side sat Antony.
+
+"Tell me," Cleopatra murmured--for this place was so built that
+every word spoken in the room below came to the ears of the listener
+above--"tell me, noble Antony, wast pleased with my poor festival?"
+
+"Ay," he answered in his deep soldier's voice, "ay, Egypt, I have made
+feasts, and been bidden to feasts, but never saw I aught like thine; and
+I tell thee this, though I am rough of tongue and unskilled in pretty
+sayings such as women love, thou wast the richest sight of all that
+splendid board. The red wine was not so red as thy beauteous cheek, the
+roses smelt not so sweet as the odour of thy hair, and no sapphire there
+with its changing light was so lovely as thy eyes of ocean blue."
+
+"What! Praise from Antony! Sweet words from the lips of him whose
+writings are so harsh! Why, it is praise indeed!"
+
+"Ay," he went on, "it was a royal feast, though I grieve that thou didst
+waste that great pearl; and what meant that hour-calling astrologer of
+thine, with his ill-omened talk of the curse of Menkau-ra?"
+
+A shadow fled across her glowing face. "I know not; he was lately
+wounded in a brawl, and methinks the blow has crazed him."
+
+"He seemed not crazed, and there was that about his voice which rings in
+my ears like some oracle of fate. So wildly, too, he looked upon thee,
+Egypt, with those piercing eyes of his, like one who loved and yet hated
+through the love."
+
+"He is a strange man, I tell thee, noble Antony, and a learned. Myself,
+at times, I almost fear him, for he is deeply versed in the ancient
+arts of Egypt. Knowest thou that the man is of royal blood, and once he
+plotted to slay me? But I won him over, and slew him not, for he had the
+key to secrets that I fain would learn; and, indeed, I loved his wisdom,
+and to listen to his deep talk of all hidden things."
+
+"By Bacchus, I grow jealous of the knave! And now, Egypt?"
+
+"And now I have sucked his knowledge dry, and have no more cause to fear
+him. Didst thou not see that I have made him stand these three nights a
+slave amid my slaves, and call aloud the hours as they fled in festival.
+No captive King marching in thy Roman triumphs can have suffered pangs
+so keen as that proud Egyptian Prince when he stood shamed behind my
+couch."
+
+Here Charmion laid her hand on mine and pressed it, as though in
+tenderness.
+
+"Well, he shall trouble us no more with his words of evil omen,"
+Cleopatra went on slowly; "to-morrow morn he dies--dies swiftly and in
+secret, leaving no trace of what his fate has been. On this is my mind
+fixed; of a truth, noble Antony, it is fixed. Even as I speak the fear
+of this man grows and gathers in my breast. Half am I minded to give the
+word even now, for I breathe not freely till he be dead," and she made
+as though to rise.
+
+"Let it be till morning," he said, catching her by the hand; "the
+soldiers drink, and the deed will be ill done. 'Tis pity too. I love not
+to think of men slaughtered in their sleep."
+
+"In the morning, perchance, the hawk may have flown," she answered,
+pondering. "He hath keen ears, this Harmachis, and can summon things to
+aid him that are not of the earth. Perchance, even now he hears me in
+the spirit; for, of a truth, I seem to feel his presence breathing
+round me. I could tell thee--but no, let him be! Noble Antony, be my
+tiring-woman and loose me this crown of gold, it chafes my brow. Be
+gentle, hurt me not--so."
+
+He lifted the uraeus crown from her brows, and she shook loose her heavy
+weight of hair that fell about her like a garment.
+
+"Take back thy crown, royal Egypt," he said, speaking low, "take it from
+my hand; I will not rob thee of it, but rather set it more firmly on
+that beauteous brow."
+
+"What means my Lord?" she asked, smiling and looking into his eyes.
+
+"What mean I? Why then, this: thou camest hither at my bidding to make
+answer of the charges laid against thee as to matters politic. And
+knowest thou, Egypt, that hadst thou been other than thou art thou
+hadst not gone back to queen it on the Nile; for of this I am sure, the
+charges against thee are true in fact. But, being what thou art--and
+look thou! never did Nature serve a woman better!--I forgive thee all.
+For the sake of thy grace and beauty I forgive thee that which had not
+been forgiven to virtue, or to patriotism, or to the dignity of age! See
+now how good a thing is woman's wit and loveliness, that can make kings
+forget their duty and cozen even blindfolded Justice to peep ere she
+lifts her sword! Take back thy crown, O Egypt! It is now my care that,
+though it be heavy, it shall not chafe thee."
+
+"These are royal words, most noble Antony," she made answer; "gracious
+and generous words, such as befit the Conqueror of the world! And
+touching my misdeeds in the past--if misdeeds there have been--I say
+this, and this alone--then I knew not Antony. For, knowing Antony, who
+could sin against him? What woman could lift a sword against one who
+must be to all women as a God--one who, seen and known, draws after him
+the whole allegiance of the heart, as the sun draws flowers? And what
+more can I say and not cross the bounds of woman's modesty? Why, only
+this--set that crown upon my brow, great Antony, and I will take it as
+a gift from thee, by the giving made doubly dear, and to thy uses I will
+guard it.
+
+"There, now I am thy vassal Queen, and through me all old Egypt that I
+rule does homage to Antony the Triumvir, who shall be Antony the Emperor
+of Rome and Khem's Imperial Lord!"
+
+And, having set the crown upon her locks, he stood gazing on her, grown
+passionate in the warm breath of her living beauty, till at length
+he caught her by both hands and drawing her to him kissed her thrice,
+saying:
+
+"Cleopatra, I love thee, Sweet--I love thee as I never loved before."
+She drew back from his embrace, smiling softly; and as she did so the
+golden circlet of the sacred snakes fell, being but loosely set upon her
+brow, and rolled away into the darkness beyond the ring of light.
+
+I saw the omen, and even in the bitter anguish of my heart knew its evil
+import. But these twain took no note.
+
+"Thou lovest me?" she said, most sweetly; "how know I that thou lovest
+me? Perchance it is Fulvia whom thou lovest--Fulvia, thy wedded wife?"
+
+"Nay, it is not Fulvia, 'tis thou, Cleopatra, and thou alone. Many women
+have looked favourably upon me from my boyhood up, but to never a one
+have I known such desire as to thee, O thou Wonder of the World, like
+unto whom no woman ever was! Canst thou love me, Cleopatra, and to me
+be true, not for my place or power, not for that which I can give or can
+withhold, not for the stern music of my legion's tramp, or for the light
+that flows from my bright Star of Fortune; but for myself, for the sake
+of Antony, the rough captain, grown old in camps? Ay, for the sake of
+Antony the reveller, the frail, the unfixed of purpose, but who yet
+never did desert a friend, or rob a poor man, or take an enemy unawares?
+Say, canst thou love me, Egypt? Oh! if thou wilt, why, I am more happy
+than though I sat to-night in the Capitol at Rome crowned absolute
+Monarch of the World!"
+
+And, ever as he spoke, she gazed on him with wonderful eyes, and in them
+shone a light of truth and honesty such as was strange to me.
+
+"Thou speakest plainly," she said, "and thy words are sweet to mine
+ears--they would be sweet, even were things otherwise than they are,
+for what woman would not love to see the world's master at her feet? But
+things being as they are, why, Antony, what can be so sweet as thy sweet
+words? The harbour of his rest to the storm-tossed mariner--surely that
+is sweet! The dream of Heaven's bliss which cheers the poor ascetic
+priest on his path of sacrifice--surely that is sweet! The sight of
+Dawn, the rosy-fingered, coming in his promise to glad the watching
+Earth--surely that is sweet! But, ah! not one of these, nor all dear
+delightful things that are, can match the honey-sweetness of thy words
+to me, O Antony! For thou knowest not--never canst thou know--how drear
+my life hath been, and empty, since thus it is ordained that in love
+only can woman lose her solitude! And I have _never_ loved--never might
+I love--till this happy night! Ay, take me in thy arms, and let us swear
+a great vow of love--an oath that may not be broken while life is in
+us! Behold! Antony! now and for ever I do vow most strict fidelity unto
+thee! Now and for ever I am thine, and thine alone!"
+
+
+
+Then Charmion took me by the hand and drew me thence.
+
+"Hast seen enough?" she asked, when we were once more within the chamber
+and the lamp was lit.
+
+"Yea," I answered; "my eyes are opened."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+OF THE PLAN OF CHARMION; OF THE CONFESSION OF CHARMION; AND OF THE
+ANSWER OF HARMACHIS
+
+For some while I sat with bowed head, and the last bitterness of shame
+sank into my soul. This, then, was the end. For this I had betrayed my
+oaths; for this I had told the secret of the pyramid; for this I had
+lost my Crown, my Honour, and, perchance, my hope of Heaven! Could there
+be another man in the wide world so steeped in sorrow as I was that
+night? Surely not one! Where should I turn? What could I do? And even
+through the tempest of my torn heart the bitter voice of jealousy called
+aloud. For I loved this woman, to whom I had given all; and she at this
+moment--she was----Ah! I could not bear to think of it; and in my utter
+agony, my heart burst in a river of tears such as are terrible to weep!
+
+Then Charmion drew near me, and I saw that she, too, was weeping.
+
+"Weep not, Harmachis!" she sobbed, kneeling at my side. "I cannot endure
+to see thee weep. Oh! why wouldst thou not be warned? Then hadst thou
+been great and happy, and not as now. Listen, Harmachis! Thou didst hear
+what that false and tigerish woman said--to-morrow she hands thee over
+to the murderers!"
+
+"It is well," I gasped.
+
+"Nay: it is not well. Harmachis, give her not this last triumph over
+thee. Thou hast lost all save life: but while life remains, hope remains
+also, and with hope the chance of vengeance."
+
+"Ah!" I said, starting from my seat. "I had not thought of that. Ay--the
+chance of vengeance! It would be sweet to be avenged!"
+
+"It would be sweet, Harmachis, and yet this--Vengeance is an arrow that
+in falling oft pierces him who shot it. Myself--I know it," and she
+sighed. "But a truce to talk and grief. There will be time for us twain
+to grieve, if not to talk, in all the heavy coming years. Thou must
+fly--before the coming of the light must thou fly. Here is a plan.
+To-morrow, ere the dawn, a galley that but yesterday came from
+Alexandria, bearing fruit and stores, sails thither again, and its
+captain is known to me, but to thee he is not known. Now, I will find
+thee the garb of a Syrian merchant, and cloak thee, as I know how, and
+furnish thee with a letter to the captain of the galley. He shall give
+thee passage to Alexandria; for to him thou wilt seem but as a merchant
+going on the business of thy trade. Brennus is officer of the guard
+to-night, and Brennus is a friend to me and thee. Perhaps he will guess
+somewhat; or, perhaps, he will not guess; at the least, the Syrian
+merchant shall safely pass the lines. What sayest thou?"
+
+"It is well," I answered wearily; "little do I reck the issue."
+
+"Rest thou, then, here, Harmachis, while I make these matters ready;
+and, Harmachis, grieve not overmuch; there are others who should grieve
+more heavily than thou." And she went, leaving me alone with my agony
+which rent me like a torture-bed. Had it not been for that fierce desire
+of vengeance which from time to time flashed across my tormented mind
+as the lightning over a midnight sea, methinks my reason had left me
+in that dark hour. At length I heard her footstep at the door, and she
+entered, breathing heavily, for she bore a sack of clothing in her arms.
+
+"It is well," she said: "here is the garb with spare linen, and
+writing-tablets, and all things needful. I have seen Brennus also, and
+told him that a Syrian merchant would pass the guard an hour before the
+dawn. And though he made pretence of sleep, I think he understood, for
+he answered, yawning, that if they but had the pass-word, 'Antony,'
+fifty Syrian merchants might go through about their lawful business. And
+here is the letter to the captain--thou canst not mistake the galley,
+for she is moored along to the right--a small galley, painted black, as
+thou dost enter on the great quay, and, moreover, the sailors make ready
+for sailing. Now I will wait here without, while thou dost put off the
+livery of thy service and array thyself."
+
+When she was gone I tore off my gorgeous garments and spat upon them and
+trod them on the ground. Then I put on the modest robe of a merchant,
+and bound the tablets round me, on my feet the sandals of untanned hide,
+and at my waist the knife. When it was done Charmion entered once again
+and looked on me.
+
+"Too much art thou still the royal Harmachis," she said; "see, it must
+be changed."
+
+Then she took scissors from her tiring-table, and, bidding me be seated,
+she cut off my locks, clipping the hair close to the head. Next she
+found stains of such sort as women use to make dark the eyes, and mixed
+them cunningly, rubbing the stuff on my face and hands and on the white
+mark in my hair where the sword of Brennus had bitten to the bone.
+
+"Now thou art changed--somewhat for the worse, Harmachis," she said,
+with a dreary laugh, "scarce myself should I know thee. Stay, there is
+one more thing," and, going to a chest of garments, she drew thence a
+heavy bag of gold.
+
+"Take thou this," she said; "thou wilt have need of money."
+
+"I cannot take thy gold, Charmion."
+
+"Yes, take it. It was Sepa who gave it to me for the furtherance of
+our cause, and therefore it is fitting that thou shouldst spend it.
+Moreover, if I want money, doubtless Antony, who is henceforth my
+master, will give me more; he is much beholden to me, and this he knows
+well. There, waste not the precious time in haggling o'er the pelf--not
+yet art thou all a merchant, Harmachis;" and, without more words, she
+thrust the pieces into the leather bag that hung across my shoulders.
+Then she made fast the sack containing the spare garments, and, so
+womanly thoughtful was she, placed in it an alabaster jar of pigment,
+with which I might stain my countenance afresh, and, taking the
+broidered robes of my office that I had cast off, hid them in the secret
+passage. And so at last all was made ready.
+
+"Is it time that I should go?," I asked.
+
+"Not yet a while. Be patient, Harmachis, for but one little hour more
+must thou endure my presence, and then, perchance, farewell for ever."
+
+I made a gesture signifying that this was no time for sharp words.
+
+"Forgive me my quick tongue," she said; "but from a salt spring bitter
+waters well. Be seated, Harmachis; I have heavier words to speak to thee
+before thou goest."
+
+"Say on," I answered; "words, however heavy, can move me no more."
+
+She stood before me with folded hands, and the lamp-light shone upon her
+beauteous face. I noticed idly how great was its pallor and how wide
+and dark were the rings about the deep black eyes. Twice she lifted her
+white face and strove to speak, twice her voice failed her; and when at
+last it came it was in a hoarse whisper.
+
+"I cannot let thee go," she said--"I cannot let thee go unwitting of the
+truth.
+
+"_Harmachis, 'twas I who did betray thee!_"
+
+I sprang to my feet, an oath upon my lips; but she caught me by the
+hand.
+
+"Oh, be seated," she said--"be seated and hear me; then, when thou hast
+heard, do to me as thou wilt. Listen. From that evil moment when, in
+the presence of thy uncle Sepa, for the second time I set eyes upon thy
+face, I loved thee--how much, thou canst little guess. Think upon
+thine own love for Cleopatra, and double it, and double it again, and
+perchance thou mayst come near to my love's mighty sum. I loved thee,
+day by day I loved thee more, till in thee and for thee alone I seemed
+to live. But thou wast cold--thou wast worse than cold! thou didst deal
+with me not as a breathing woman, but rather as the instrument to an
+end--as a tool with which to grave thy fortunes. And then I saw--yes,
+long before thou knewest it thyself--thy heart's tide was setting strong
+towards that ruinous shore whereon to-day thy life is broken. And at
+last that night came, that dreadful night when, hid within the chamber,
+I saw thee cast my kerchief to the winds, and with sweet words cherish
+my royal Rival's gift. Then--oh, thou knowest--in my pain I betrayed
+the secret that thou wouldst not see, and thou didst make a mock of me,
+Harmachis! Oh! the shame of it--thou in thy foolishness didst make a
+mock of me! I went thence, and within me were rising all the torments
+which can tear a woman's heart, for now I was sure that thou didst love
+Cleopatra! Ay, and so mad was I, even that night I was minded to betray
+thee: but I thought--not yet, not yet; to-morrow he may soften. Then
+came the morrow, and all was ready for the bursting of the great plot
+that should make thee Pharaoh. And I too came--thou dost remember--and
+again thou didst put me away when I spake to thee in parables, as
+something of little worth--as a thing too small to claim a moment's
+weighty thought. And, knowing that this was because--though thou knewest
+it not--thou didst love Cleopatra, whom now thou must straightway slay,
+I grew mad, and a wicked Spirit entered into me, possessing me utterly,
+so that I was myself no longer, nor could control myself. And because
+thou hadst scorned me, I did this, to my everlasting shame and
+sorrow!--I passed into Cleopatra's presence and betrayed thee and those
+with thee, and our holy cause, saying that I had found a writing which
+thou hadst let fall and read all this therein."
+
+I gasped and sat silent; and gazing sadly at me she went on:
+
+"When she understood how great was the plot, and how deep its roots,
+Cleopatra was much troubled; and, at first, she would have fled to Sais
+or taken ship and run for Cyprus, but I showed her that the ways were
+barred. Then she said she would cause thee to be slain, there, in the
+chamber, and I left her so believing; for, at that hour, I was glad that
+thou shouldst be slain--ay, even if I wept out my heart upon thy grave,
+Harmachis. But what said I just now?--Vengeance is an arrow that oft
+falls on him who looses it. So it was with me; for between my going and
+thy coming Cleopatra hatched a deeper plan. She feared that to slay thee
+would only be to light a fiercer fire of revolt; but she saw that to
+bind thee to her, and, having left men awhile in doubt, to show thee
+faithless, would strike the imminent danger at its roots and wither
+it. This plot once formed, being great, she dared its doubtful issue,
+and--need I go on? Thou knowest, Harmachis, how she won; and thus the
+shaft of vengeance that I loosed fell upon my own head. For on the
+morrow I knew that I had sinned for naught, that the burden of my
+betrayal had been laid on the wretched Paulus, and that I had but ruined
+the cause to which I was sworn and given the man I loved to the arms of
+wanton Egypt."
+
+She bowed her head awhile, and then, as I spoke not, once more went on:
+
+"Let all my sin be told, Harmachis, and then let justice come. See now,
+this thing happened. Half did Cleopatra learn to love thee, and deep in
+her heart she bethought her of taking thee to wedded husband. For the
+sake of this half love of hers she spared the lives of those in the plot
+whom she had meshed, bethinking her that if she wedded thee she might
+use them and thee to draw the heart of Egypt, which loves not her nor
+any Ptolemy. And then, once again she entrapped thee, and in thy folly
+thou didst betray to her the secret of the hidden wealth of Egypt, which
+to-day she squanders to delight the luxurious Antony; and, of a truth,
+at that time she purposed to make good her oath and marry thee. But on
+the very morn when Dellius came for answer she sent for me, and telling
+me all--for my wit, above any, she holds at price--demanded of me my
+judgment whether she should defy Antony and wed thee, or whether she
+should put the thought away and come to Antony. And I--now mark thou all
+my sin--I, in my bitter jealousy, rather than I would see her thy wedded
+wife and thou her loving lord, counselled her most strictly that
+she should come to Antony, well knowing--for I had had speech with
+Dellius--that if she came, this weak Antony would fall like a ripe fruit
+at her feet, as, indeed, he has fallen. And but now I have shown thee
+the issue of the scheme. Antony loves Cleopatra and Cleopatra loves
+Antony, and thou art robbed, and matters have gone well for me, who of
+all women on the earth to-night am the wretchedest by far. For when I
+saw how thy heart broke but now, my heart seemed to break with thine,
+and I could no longer bear the burden of my evil deeds, but knew that I
+must tell them and take my punishment.
+
+"And now, Harmachis, I have no more to say; save that I thank thee for
+thy courtesy in hearkening, and this one thing I add. Driven by my great
+love I have sinned against thee unto death! I have ruined thee, I have
+ruined Khem, and myself also I have ruined! Let death reward me! Slay
+thou me, Harmachis--I will gladly die upon thy sword; ay, and kiss its
+blade! Slay thou me and go; for if thou slayest me not, myself I will
+surely slay!" And she threw herself upon her knees, lifting her fair
+breast toward me, that I might smite her with my dagger. And, in my
+bitter fury, I was minded to strike; for, above all, I thought how,
+when I was fallen, this woman, who herself was my cause of shame, had
+scourged me with her whip of scorn. But it is hard to slay a fair woman;
+and, even as I lifted my hand to strike, I remembered that she had now
+twice saved my life.
+
+"Woman! thou shameless woman!" I said, "arise! I slay thee not! Who am
+I, that I should judge thy crime, that, with mine own, doth overtop all
+earthly judgment?"
+
+"Slay me, Harmachis!" she moaned; "slay me, or I slay myself! My burden
+is too great for me to bear! Be not so deadly calm! Curse me, and slay!"
+
+"What was it that thou didst say to me just now, Charmion--that as I had
+sown so I must reap? It is not lawful that thou shouldst slay thyself;
+it is not lawful that I, thine equal in sin, should slay thee because
+through thee I sinned. As _thou_ hast sown, Charmion, so must _thou_
+also reap. Base woman! whose cruel jealousy has brought all these woes
+on me and Egypt, live--live on, and from year to year pluck the bitter
+fruit of crime! Haunted be thy sleep by visions of thy outraged Gods,
+whose vengeance awaits thee and me in their dim Amenti! Haunted be thy
+days by memories of that man whom thy fierce love brought to shame and
+ruin, and by the sight of Khem a prey to the insatiate Cleopatra and a
+slave to Roman Antony."
+
+"Oh, speak not thus, Harmachis! Thy words are sharper than any sword;
+and more surely, if more slowly, shall they slay! Listen, Harmachis,"
+and she grasped my robe: "when thou wast great, and all power lay within
+thy grasp, thou didst reject me. Wilt reject me now that Cleopatra hast
+cast thee from her--now that thou art poor and shamed and with no pillow
+to thy head? Still am I fair, and still I worship thee. Let me fly with
+thee, and make atonement for my lifelong love. Or, if this be too great
+a thing to ask, let me be but as thy sister and thy servant--thy very
+slave, so that I may still look upon thy face, and share thy trouble
+and minister to thee. O Harmachis, let me but come and I will brave all
+things and endure all things, and nothing but Death himself shall stay
+me from thy side. For I do believe that the love that sank me to so low
+a depth, dragging thee with me, can yet lift me to an equal height, and
+thee with me!"
+
+"Wouldst tempt me to fresh sin, woman? And dost thou think, Charmion,
+that in some hovel where I must hide, I could bear, day by day, to look
+upon thy fair face, and seeing, remember that those lips betrayed me?
+Not thus easily shalt thou atone! This I know even now: many and heavy
+shall be thy lonely days of penance! Perchance that hour of vengeance
+yet may come, and perchance thou shalt live to play thy part in it. Thou
+must still abide in the Court of Cleopatra; and, while thou art there,
+if I yet live, I will from time to time find means to give thee tidings.
+Perhaps a day may dawn when once more I shall need thy service. Now,
+swear that, in this event, thou wilt not fail me a second time."
+
+"I swear, Harmachis!--I swear! May everlasting torments, too hideous to
+be dreamed--more hideous, even, by far, than those that wring me now--be
+my portion if I fail thee in one jot or tittle--ay, though I wait a
+lifetime for thy word!"
+
+"It is well; see that thou keep the oath--not twice may we betray. I go
+to work out my fate; abide thou to work out thine. Perchance our divers
+threads will once more mingle ere the web be spun. Charmion, who unasked
+didst love me--and who, prompted by that gentle love of thine, didst
+betray and ruin me--fare thee well!"
+
+She gazed wildly upon my face--she stretched out her arms as though to
+clasp me; then, in the agony of her despair, she cast herself at length
+and grovelled upon the ground.
+
+I took up the sack of clothing and the staff and gained the door, and,
+as I passed it, I threw one last glance upon her. There she lay, with
+arms outstretched--more white than her white robes--her dark hair
+streaming about her, and her fair brows hidden in the dust.
+
+And thus I left her, nor did I again set my eyes upon her till nine long
+years had come and gone.
+
+[Here ends the second and largest roll of papyrus.]
+
+
+
+
+BOOK III--THE VENGEANCE OF HARMACHIS
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+OF THE ESCAPE OF HARMACHIS FROM TARSUS; OF HIS BEING CAST FORTH AS AN
+OFFERING TO THE GODS OF THE SEA; OF HIS SOJOURN IN THE ISLE OF CYPRUS;
+OF HIS RETURN TO ABOUTHIS; AND OF THE DEATH OF AMENEMHAT
+
+I made my way down the stair in safety, and presently stood in the
+courtyard of that great house. It was but an hour from dawn, and none
+were stirring. The last reveller had drunk his fill, the dancing-girls
+had ceased their dancing, and silence lay upon the city. I drew near the
+gate, and was challenged by an officer who stood on guard, wrapped in a
+heavy cloak.
+
+"Who passes," said the voice of Brennus.
+
+"A merchant, may it please you, Sir, who, having brought gifts from
+Alexandria to a lady of the Queen's household, and, having been
+entertained of the lady, now departs to his galley," I answered in a
+feigned voice.
+
+"Umph!" he growled. "The ladies of the Queen's household keep their
+guests late. Well; it is a time of festival. The pass-word, Sir
+Shopkeeper? Without the pass-word you must needs return and crave the
+lady's further hospitality."
+
+"'_Antony_,' Sir; and a right good word, too. Ah! I've wandered far, and
+never saw I so goodly a man or so great a general. And, mark you, Sir!
+I've travelled far, and seen many generals."
+
+"Ay; '_Antony_''s the word! And Antony is a good general in his
+way--when it is a sober way, and when he cannot find a skirt to follow.
+I've served with Antony--and against him, too; and know his points.
+Well, well; he's got an armful now!"
+
+And all this while that he was holding me in talk, the sentry had been
+pacing to and fro before the gate. But now he moved a little way to the
+right, leaving the entrance clear.
+
+"Fare thee well, Harmachis, and begone!" whispered Brennus, leaning
+forward and speaking quickly. "Linger not. But at times bethink thee of
+Brennus who risked his neck to save thine. Farewell, lad, I would that
+we were sailing North together," and he turned his back upon me and
+began to hum a tune.
+
+"Farewell, Brennus, thou honest man," I answered, and was gone. And, as
+I heard long afterwards, when on the morrow the hue and cry was
+raised because the murderers could not find me, though they sought me
+everywhere to slay me, Brennus did me a service. For he swore that as
+he kept his watch alone an hour after midnight he saw me come and stand
+upon the parapet of the roof, that then I stretched out my robes
+and they became wings on which I floated up to Heaven, leaving him
+astonished. And all those about the Court lent ear to this history,
+believing in it, because of the great fame of my magic; and they
+wondered much what the marvel might portend. The tale also travelled
+into Egypt, and did much to save my good name among those whom I had
+betrayed; for the more ignorant among them believed that I acted not
+of my will, but of the will of the dread Gods, who of their own purpose
+wafted me into Heaven. And thus to this day the saying runs that "_When
+Harmachis comes again Egypt shall be free._" But alas, Harmachis comes
+no more! Only Cleopatra, though she was much afraid, doubted her of the
+tale, and sent an armed vessel to search for the Syrian merchant, but
+not to find him, as shall be told.
+
+
+
+When I reached the galley of which Charmion had spoken, I found her
+about to sail, and gave the writing to the captain, who conned it,
+looking on me curiously, but said nothing.
+
+So I went aboard, and immediately we dropped swiftly down the river with
+the current. And having come to the mouth of the river unchallenged,
+though we passed many vessels, we put out to sea with a strong favouring
+wind that before night freshened to a great gale. Then the sailor men,
+being much afraid, would have put about and run for the mouth of Cydnus
+again, but could not because of the wildness of the sea. All that night
+it blew furiously, and by dawn our mast was carried away, and we rolled
+helplessly in the trough of the great waves. But I sat wrapped in a
+cloak, little heeding; and because I showed no fear the sailors cried
+out that I was a wizard, and sought to cast me into the sea, but the
+captain would not. At dawn the wind slackened, but ere noon it once more
+blew in terrible fury, and at the fourth hour from noon we came in sight
+of the rocky coast of that cape in the island of Cyprus which is called
+Dinaretum, where is a mountain named Olympus, and thither-wards we
+drifted swiftly. Then, when the sailors saw the terrible rocks, and how
+the great waves that smote on them spouted up in foam, once more they
+grew much afraid, and cried out in their fear. For, seeing that I still
+sat unmoved, they swore that I certainly was a wizard, and came to
+cast me forth as a sacrifice to the Gods of the sea. And this time the
+captain was over-ruled, and said nothing. Therefore, when they came to
+me I rose and defied them, saying, "Cast me forth, if ye will; but if ye
+cast me forth ye shall perish."
+
+For in my heart I cared little, having no more any love of life,
+but rather a desire to die, though I greatly feared to pass into the
+presence of my Holy Mother Isis. But my weariness and sorrow at the
+bitterness of my lot overcame even this heavy fear; so that when, being
+mad as brute beasts, they seized me and, lifting me, hurled me into the
+raging waters, I did but utter one prayer to Isis and made ready for
+death. But it was fated that I should not die; for, when I rose to the
+surface of the water, I saw a spar of wood floating near me, to which I
+swam and clung. And a great wave came and swept me, riding, as it were,
+upon the spar, as when a boy I had learned to do in the waters of the
+Nile, past the bulwarks of the galley where the fierce-faced sailors
+clustered to see me drown. And when they saw me come mounted on the
+wave, cursing them as I came, and saw, too, that the colour of my
+face had changed--for the salt water had washed way the pigment, they
+shrieked with fear and threw themselves down upon the deck. And within a
+very little while, as I rode toward the rocky coast, a great wave poured
+into the vessel, that rolled broadside on, and pressed her down into the
+deep, whence she rose no more.
+
+So she sank with all her crew. And in that same storm also sank the
+galley which Cleopatra had sent to search for the Syrian merchant. Thus
+all traces of me were lost, and of a surety she believed that I was
+dead.
+
+But I rode on toward the shore. The wind shrieked and the salt waves
+lashed my face as, alone with the tempest, I rushed upon my way, while
+the sea-birds screamed about my head. I felt no fear, but rather a wild
+uplifting of the heart; and in the stress of my imminent peril the love
+of life seemed to waken again. And so I plunged and drifted, now tossed
+high toward the lowering clouds, now cast into the deep valleys of the
+sea, till at length the rocky headland loomed before me, and I saw the
+breakers smite upon the stubborn rocks, and through the screaming of
+the wind heard the sullen thunder of their fall and the groan of stones
+sucked seaward from the beach. On! high-throned upon the mane of a
+mighty billow--fifty cubits beneath me the level of the hissing waters;
+above me the inky sky! It was done! The spar was torn from me, and,
+dragged downwards by the weight of the bag of gold and the clinging of
+my garments, I sank struggling furiously.
+
+Now I was under--the green light for a moment streamed through the
+waters, and then came darkness, and on the darkness pictures of the
+past. Picture after picture--all the long scene of life was written
+here. Then in my ears I only heard the song of the nightingale, the
+murmur of the summer sea, and the music of Cleopatra's laugh of victory,
+following me softly and yet more soft as I sank away to sleep.
+
+
+
+Once more my life came back, and with it a sense of deadly sickness and
+of aching pain. I opened my eyes and saw a kind face bending over me,
+and knew that I was in the room of a builded house.
+
+"How came I hither?" I asked faintly.
+
+"Of a truth, Poseidon brought thee, Stranger," answered a rough voice
+in barbarous Greek; "we found thee cast high upon the beach like a dead
+dolphin and brought thee to our house, for we are fisher-folk. And here,
+methinks, thou must lie a while, for thy left leg is broken by the force
+of the waves."
+
+I strove to move my foot and could not. It was true, the bone was broken
+above the knee.
+
+"Who art thou, and how art thou named?" asked the rough-bearded sailor.
+
+"I am an Egyptian traveller whose ship has sunk in the fury of the gale,
+and I am named Olympus," I answered, for these people called a mountain
+that we had sighted Olympus, and therefore I took the name at hazard.
+And as Olympus I was henceforth known.
+
+Here with these rough fisher-folk I abode for the half of a year, paying
+them a little out of the sum of gold that had come safely ashore upon
+me. For it was long before my bones grew together again, and then I was
+left somewhat of a cripple; for I, who had been so tall and straight and
+strong, now limped--one limb being shorter than the other. And after I
+recovered from my hurt, I still lived there, and toiled with them at the
+trade of fishing; for I knew not whither I should go or what I should
+do, and, for a while, I was fain to become a peasant fisherman, and so
+wear my weary life away. And these people entreated me kindly, though,
+as others, they feared me much, holding me to be a wizard brought hither
+by the sea. For my sorrows had stamped so strange an aspect on my face
+that men gazing at me grew fearful of what lay beneath its calm.
+
+There, then, I abode, till at length, one night as I lay and strove to
+sleep, great restlessness came upon me, and a mighty desire once more to
+see the face of Sihor. But whether this desire was of the Gods or born
+of my own heart, not knowing, I cannot tell. So strong was it, at the
+least, that before it was dawn I rose from my bed of straw and
+clothed myself in my fisher garb, and, because I had no wish to answer
+questions, thus I took farewell of my humble hosts. First I placed some
+pieces of gold on the well-cleaned table of wood, and then taking a pot
+of flour I strewed it in the form of letters, writing:
+
+"This gift from Olympus, the Egyptian, who returns into the sea."
+
+Then I went, and on the third day I came to the great city of Salamis,
+that is also on the sea. Here I abode in the fishermen's quarters till
+a vessel was about to sail for Alexandria, and to the captain of this
+vessel, a man of Paphos, I hired myself as a sailor. We sailed with a
+favouring wind, and on the fifth day I came to Alexandria, that hateful
+city, and saw the light dancing on its golden domes.
+
+Here I might not abide. So again I hired myself out as a sailor, giving
+my labour in return for passage, and we passed up the Nile. And I
+learned from the talk of men that Cleopatra had come back to Alexandria,
+drawing Antony with her and that they lived together with royal state
+in the palace on the Lochias. Indeed, the boatmen already had a song
+thereon, which they sang as they laboured at the oar. Also I heard how
+the galley that was sent to search for the vessel which carried the
+Syrian merchant had foundered with all her crew, and the tale that the
+Queen's astronomer, Harmachis, had flown to Heaven from the roof of the
+house at Tarsus. And the sailors wondered because I sat and laboured and
+would not sing their ribald song of the loves of Cleopatra. For they,
+too, began to fear me, and mutter concerning me among themselves. Then
+I knew that I was a man accursed and set apart--a man whom none might
+love.
+
+On the sixth day we drew nigh to Abouthis, where I left the craft, and
+the sailors were right glad to see me go. And, with a breaking heart, I
+walked through the fertile fields, seeing faces that I knew well. But in
+my rough disguise and limping gait none knew me. At length, as the sun
+sank, I came near to the great outer pylon of the temple; and here I
+crouched down in the ruins of a house, not knowing why I had come or
+what I was about to do. Like a lost ox I had strayed from far, back to
+the fields of my birth, and for what? If my father, Amenemhat, still
+lived, surely he would turn his face from me. I dared not go into the
+presence of my father. I sat hidden there among the broken rafters, and
+idly watched the pylon gates, to see if, perchance, a face I knew should
+issue from them. But none came forth or entered in, though the great
+gates stood wide; and then I saw that herbs were growing between the
+stones, where no herbs had grown for ages. What could this be? Was the
+temple deserted? Nay; how could the worship of the eternal Gods have
+ceased, that for thousands of years had, day by day, been offered in the
+holy place? Was, then, my father dead? It well might be. And yet, why
+this silence? Where were the priests: where the worshippers?
+
+I could bear the doubt no more, but as the sun sank red I crept like a
+hunted jackal through the open gates, and on till I reached the first
+great Hall of Pillars. Here I paused and gazed around me--not a sight,
+not a sound, in the dim and holy place! I went on with a beating heart
+to the second great hall, the hall of six-and-thirty pillars where I
+had been crowned Lord of all the Lands: still not a sight or a sound!
+Thence, half fearful of my own footfall, so terribly did it echo in the
+silence of the deserted Holies, I passed down the passage of the names
+of the Pharaohs towards my father's chamber. The curtain still swung
+over the doorway; but what would there be within?--also emptiness? I
+lifted it, and noiselessly passed in, and there in his carven chair
+at the table on which his long white beard flowed, sat my father,
+Amenemhat, clad in his priestly robes. At first I thought that he was
+dead, he sat so still; but at length he turned his head, and I saw that
+his eyes were white and sightless. He was blind, and his face was thin
+as the face of a dead man, and woeful with age and grief.
+
+I stood still and felt the blind eyes wandering over me. I could not
+speak to him--I dared not speak to him; I would go and hide myself
+afresh.
+
+I had already turned and grasped the curtain, when my father spoke in a
+deep, slow voice:
+
+"Come hither, thou who wast my son and art a traitor. Come hither, thou
+Harmachis, on whom Khem builded up her hope. Not in vain, then, have I
+drawn thee from far away! Not in vain have I held my life in me till I
+heard thy footfall creeping down these empty Holies, like the footfall
+of a thief!"
+
+"Oh! my father," I gasped, astonished. "Thou art blind: how knowest thou
+me?"
+
+"How do I know thee?--and askest thou that who hast learned of our lore?
+Enough, I know thee and I brought thee hither. Would, Harmachis, that I
+knew thee not! Would that I had been blasted of the Invisible ere I drew
+thee down from the womb of Nout, to be my curse and shame, and the last
+woe of Khem!"
+
+"Oh, speak not thus!" I moaned; "is not my burden already more than I
+can bear? Am I not myself betrayed and utterly outcast? Be pitiful, my
+father!"
+
+"Be pitiful!--be pitiful to thee who hast shown so great pity? It
+was thy pity which gave up noble Sepa to die beneath the hands of the
+tormentors!"
+
+"Oh, not that--not that!" I cried.
+
+"Ay, traitor, that!--to die in agony, with his last poor breath
+proclaiming thee, his murderer, honest and innocent! Be pitiful to
+thee, who gavest all the flower of Khem as the price of a wanton's
+arms!--thinkest thou that, labouring in the darksome desert mines, those
+noble ones in thought are pitiful to thee, Harmachis? Be pitiful to
+thee, by whom this Holy Temple of Abouthis hath been ravaged, its lands
+seized, its priests scattered, and I alone, old and withered, left to
+count out its ruin--to thee, who hast poured the treasures of _Her_ into
+thy leman's lap, who hast forsworn Thyself, thy Country, thy Birthright,
+and thy Gods! Yea, thus am I pitiful: Accursed be thou, fruit of my
+loins!--Shame be thy portion, Agony thy end, and Hell receive thee at
+the last! Where art thou? Yea, I grew blind with weeping when I heard
+the truth--sure, they strove to hide it from me. Let me find thee that I
+may spit upon thee, thou Renegade! thou Apostate! thou Outcast!"--and he
+rose from his seat and staggered like a living Wrath toward me, smiting
+the air with his wand. And as he came with outstretched arms, awful to
+see, suddenly his end found him, and with a cry he sank down upon the
+ground, the red blood streaming from his lips. I ran to him and lifted
+him; and as he died, he babbled:
+
+"He was my son, a bright-eyed lovely boy, and full of promise as the
+Spring; and now--and now--oh, would that he were dead!"
+
+Then came a pause and the breath rattled in his throat.
+
+"Harmachis," he gasped, "art there?"
+
+"Yea, father."
+
+"Harmachis, atone!--atone! Vengeance can still be wreaked--forgiveness
+may still be won. There's gold; I've hidden it--Atoua--she can tell
+thee--ah, this pain! Farewell!"
+
+And he struggled faintly in my arms and was dead.
+
+
+
+Thus, then, did I and my holy father, the Prince Amenemhat, meet
+together for the last time in the flesh, and for the last time part.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+OF THE LAST MISERY OF HARMACHIS; OF THE CALLING DOWN OF THE HOLY ISIS BY
+THE WORD OF FEAR; OF THE PROMISE OF ISIS; OF THE COMING OF ATOUA, AND OF
+THE WORDS OF ATOUA
+
+I crouched upon the floor gazing at the dead body of my father, who had
+lived to curse me, the utterly accursed, while the darkness crept and
+gathered round us, till at length the dead and I were alone in the black
+silence. Oh, how tell the misery of that hour! Imagination cannot dream
+it, nor words paint it forth. Once more in my wretchedness I bethought
+me of death. A knife was at my girdle, with which I might cut the thread
+of sorrow and set my spirit free. Free? ay, free to fly and face the
+last vengeance of the Holy Gods! Alas! and alas! I did not dare to die.
+Better the earth with all its woes than the quick approach of those
+unimagined terrors that, hovering in dim Amenti, wait the advent of the
+fallen.
+
+I grovelled on the ground and wept tears of agony for the lost
+unchanging past--wept till I could weep no more; but no answer came from
+the silence--no answer but the echoes of my grief. Not a ray of hope! My
+soul wandered in a darkness more utter than that which was about me--I
+was forsaken of the Gods and cast out of men. Terror took hold upon me
+crouching in that lonely place hard by the majesty of the awful Dead. I
+rose to fly. How could I fly in this gloom?--And where should I fly who
+had no place of refuge? Once more I crouched down, and the great fear
+grew on me till the cold sweat ran from my brow and my soul was faint
+within me. Then, in my last despair, I prayed aloud to Isis, to whom I
+had not dared to pray for many days.
+
+"O Isis! Holy Mother!" I cried; "put away Thy wrath, and of Thine
+infinite pity, O Thou all-pitiful, hearken to the voice of the anguish
+of him who was Thy son and servant, but who by sin hath fallen from the
+vision of Thy love. O throned Glory, who, being in all things, hast of
+all things understanding and of all griefs knowledge, cast the weight
+of Thy mercy against the scale of my evil-doing, and make the balance
+equal. Look down upon my woe, and measure it; count up the sum of my
+repentance and take Thou note of the flood of sorrow that sweeps my soul
+away. O Thou Holy, whom it was given to me to look upon face to face,
+by that dread hour of commune I summon Thee; I summon Thee by the mystic
+word. Come, then, in mercy, to save me; or, in anger, to make an end of
+that which can no more be borne."
+
+And, rising from my knees, I stretched out my arms and dared to cry
+aloud the Word of Fear, to use which unworthily is death.
+
+Swiftly the answer came. For in the silence I heard the sound of the
+shaken sistra heralding the coming of the Glory. Then, at the far end of
+the chamber, grew the semblance of the horned moon, gleaming faintly in
+the darkness, and betwixt the golden horns rested a small dark cloud, in
+and out of which the fiery serpent climbed.
+
+My knees waxed loose in the presence of the Glory, and I sank down
+before it.
+
+Then spake the small, sweet Voice within the cloud:
+
+"Harmachis, who wast my servant and my son, I have heard thy prayer, and
+the summons that thou hast dared to utter, which on the lips of one with
+whom I have communed, hath power to draw Me from the Uttermost. No more,
+Harmachis, may we be one in the bond of Love Divine, for thou hast put
+Me away of thine own act. Therefore, after this long silence I come,
+Harmachis, clothed in terrors, and, perchance, ready for vengeance, for
+not lightly can Isis be drawn from the halls of Her Divinity."
+
+"Smite, Goddess!" I answered. "Smite, and give me over to those who
+wreak Thy vengeance; for I can no longer bear the burden of my woe!"
+
+"And if thou canst not bear thy burden here, upon this upper earth,"
+came the soft reply, "how then shalt thou bear the greater burden that
+shall be laid upon thee there, coming defiled and yet unpurified into my
+dim realm of Death, that is Life and Change unending? Nay, Harmachis, I
+smite thee not, for not all am I wroth that thou hast dared to utter
+the awful Word which calls Me down to thee. Hearken, Harmachis; I praise
+not, and I reproach not, for I am the Minister of Reward and Punishment
+and the Executrix of Decrees; and if I give, I give in silence; and if I
+smite, in silence do I smite. Therefore, I will add naught to thy burden
+by the weight of heavy words, though through thee it has come to pass
+that soon shall Isis, the Mother-Mystery, be but a memory in Egypt. Thou
+hast sinned, and heavy shall be thy punishment, as I did warn thee, both
+in the flesh and in my kingdom of Amenti. But I told thee that there is
+a road of repentance, and surely thy feet are set thereon, and therein
+must thou walk with a humble heart, eating of the bread of bitterness,
+till such time as thy doom be measured."
+
+"Have I, then, no hope, O holy?"
+
+"That which is done, Harmachis, is done, nor can its issues be altered.
+Khem shall no more be free till all its temples are as the desert dust;
+strange Peoples shall, from age to age, hold her hostage and in bonds;
+new Religions shall arise and wither within the shadow of her pyramids,
+for to every World, Race, and Age the countenances of the Gods are
+changed. This is the tree that shall spring from thy seed of sin,
+Harmachis, and from the sin of those who tempted thee!"
+
+"Alas! I am undone!" I cried.
+
+"Yea, thou art undone; and yet shall this be given to thee: thy
+Destroyer thou shalt destroy--for so, in the purpose of my justice, it
+is ordained. When the sign comes to thee, arise, go to Cleopatra, and
+in such manner as I shall put into thy heart do Heaven's vengeance
+upon her! And now for thyself one word, for thou hast put Me from thee,
+Harmachis, and no more shall I come face to face with thee till, cycles
+hence, the last fruit of thy sin hath ceased to be upon this earth! Yet,
+through the vastness of the unnumbered years, remember thou this: the
+Love Divine is Love Eternal, which cannot be extinguished, though it be
+everlastingly estranged. Repent, my son; repent and do well while
+there is yet time, that at the dim end of ages thou mayest once more
+be gathered unto Me. Still, Harmachis, though thou seest Me not; still,
+when the very name by which thou knowest Me has become a meaningless
+mystery to those who shall be after thee; still I, whose hours are
+eternal--I, who have watched Universes wither, wane, and, beneath the
+breath of Time, melt into nothingness; again to gather, and, re-born,
+thread the maze of space--still, I say, I shall companion thee. Wherever
+thou goest, in whatever form of life thou livest, there I shall be! Art
+thou wafted to the farthest star, art thou buried in Amenti's lowest
+deep--in lives, in deaths, in sleeps, in wakings, in remembrances, in
+oblivions, in all the fevers of the outer Life, in all the changes of
+the Spirit--still, if thou wilt but atone and forget Me no more, I shall
+be with thee, waiting thine hour of redemption. For this is the nature
+of Love Divine, wherewith it loves that which partakes of its divinity
+and by the holy tie hath once been bound to it. Judge then, Harmachis:
+was it well to put this from thee to win the dust of earthly woman? And,
+now, dare not again to utter the Word of Power till these things are
+done! Harmachis, for this season, fare thee well!"
+
+
+
+As the last note of the sweet Voice died away, the fiery snake climbed
+into the heart of the cloud. Now the cloud rolled from the horns of
+light, and was gathered into the blackness. The vision of the crescent
+moon grew dim and vanished. Then, as the Goddess passed, once more came
+the faint and dreadful music of the shaken sistra, and all was still.
+
+I hid my face in my robe, and even then, though my outstretched hand
+could touch the chill corpse of that father who had died cursing me,
+I felt hope come back into my heart, knowing that I was not altogether
+lost nor utterly rejected of Her whom I had forsaken, but whom I yet
+loved. And then weariness overpowered me, and I slept.
+
+
+
+I woke, the faint lights of dawn were creeping from the opening in the
+roof. Ghastly they lay upon the shadowy sculptured walls and ghastly
+upon the dead face and white beard of my father, the gathered to Osiris.
+I started up, remembering all things, and wondering in my heart what
+I should do, and as I rose I heard a faint footfall creeping down the
+passage of the names of the Pharaohs.
+
+"_La! La! La!_" mumbled a voice that I knew for the voice of the old
+wife, Atoua. "Why, 'tis dark as the House of the Dead! The Holy Ones
+who built this Temple loved not the blessed sun, however much they
+worshipped him. Now, where's the curtain?"
+
+Presently it was drawn, and Atoua entered, a stick in one hand and a
+basket in the other. Her face was somewhat more wrinkled, and her scanty
+locks were somewhat whiter than aforetime, but for the rest she was
+as she had ever been. She stood and peered around with her sharp black
+eyes, for as yet she could see nothing because of the shadows.
+
+"Now where is he?" she muttered. "Osiris--glory to His name--send that
+he has not wandered in the night, and he blind! Alack! that I could not
+return before the dark. Alack! and alack! what times have we fallen on,
+when the Holy High Priest and the Governor, by descent, of Abouthis, is
+left with one aged crone to minister to his infirmity! O Harmachis, my
+poor boy, thou hast laid trouble at our doors! Why, what's this? Surely
+he sleeps not, there upon the ground?--'twill be his death! Prince! Holy
+Father! Amenemhat! awake, arise!" and she hobbled towards the
+corpse. "Why, how is it! By Him who sleeps, he's dead! untended and
+alone--_dead! dead!_" and she sent her long wail of grief ringing up the
+sculptured walls.
+
+"Hush! woman, be still!" I said, gliding from the shadows.
+
+"Oh, what art thou?" she cried, casting down her basket. "Wicked man,
+hast thou murdered this Holy One, the only Holy One in Egypt? Surely the
+curse will fall on thee, for though the Gods do seem to have forsaken us
+now in our hour of trial, yet is their arm long, and certainly they will
+be avenged on him who hath slain their anointed!"
+
+"Look on me, Atoua," I cried.
+
+"Look! ay, I look--thou wicked wanderer who hast dared this cruel deed!
+Harmachis is a traitor and lost far away, and Amenemhat his holy father
+is murdered, and now I'm all alone without kith or kin. I gave them for
+him. I gave them for Harmachis, the traitor! Come, slay me also, thou
+wicked one!"
+
+I took a step toward her, and she, thinking that I was about to smite
+her, cried out in fear:
+
+"Nay, good Sir, spare me! Eighty and six, by the Holy Ones, eighty and
+six, come next flood of Nile, and yet I would not die, though Osiris is
+merciful to the old who served him! Come no nearer--help! help!"
+
+"Thou fool, be silent," I said; "knowest thou me not?"
+
+"Know thee? Can I know every wandering boatman to whom Sebek grants
+to earn a livelihood till Typhon claims his own? And yet--why, 'tis
+strange--that changed countenance!--that scar!--that stumbling gait! It
+is thou, Harmachis!--'tis thou, O my boy! Art come back to glad mine old
+eyes? I hoped thee dead! Let me kiss thee?--nay, I forget. Harmachis is
+a traitor, ay, and a murderer! Here lies the holy Amenemhat, murdered by
+the traitor, Harmachis! Get thee gone! I'll have none of traitors and of
+parricides! Get thee to thy wanton!--it is not thou whom I did nurse."
+
+"Peace! woman; peace! I slew not my father--he died, alas!--he died even
+in my arms."
+
+"Ay, surely, and cursing thee, Harmachis! Thou hast given death to him
+who gave thee life! _La! la!_ I am old, and I've seen many a trouble;
+but this is the heaviest of them all! I never liked the looks of
+mummies; but I would I were one this hour! Get thee gone, I pray thee!"
+
+"Old nurse, reproach me not! Have I not enough to bear?"
+
+"Ah! yes, yes!--I did forget! Well; and what is thy sin? A woman was
+thy bane, as women have been to those before thee, and shall be to those
+after thee. And what a woman! _La! la!_ I saw her, a beauty such as
+never was--an arrow pointed by the evil Gods for destruction! And thou,
+a young man bred as a priest--an ill training--a very ill training!
+'Twas no fair match. Who can wonder that she mastered thee? Come,
+Harmachis; let me kiss thee! It is not for a woman to be hard on a man
+because he loved our sex too much. Why, that is but nature; and Nature
+knows her business, else she had made us otherwise. But here is an evil
+case. Knowest thou that this Macedonian Queen of thine hath seized the
+temple lands and revenues, and driven away the priests--all, save the
+holy Amenemhat, who lies here, and whom she left, I know not why; ay,
+and caused the worship of the Gods to cease within these walls. Well,
+he's gone!--he's gone! and indeed he is better with Osiris, for his life
+was a sore burden to him. And hark thou, Harmachis: he hath not left
+thee empty-handed; for, so soon as the plot failed, he gathered all his
+wealth, and it is large, and hid it--where, I can show thee--and it is
+thine by right of descent."
+
+"Talk not to me of wealth, Atoua. Where shall I go and how shall I hide
+my shame?"
+
+"Ah! true, true; here mayst thou not abide, for if they found thee,
+surely they would put thee to the dreadful death--ay, to the death by
+the waxen cloth. Nay, I will hide thee, and, when the funeral rites of
+the holy Amenemhat have been performed, we will fly hence, and cover us
+from the eyes of men till these sorrows are forgotten. _La! la!_ it is a
+sad world, and full of trouble as the Nile mud is full of beetles. Come,
+Harmachis, come."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+OF THE LIFE OF HIM WHO WAS NAMED THE LEARNED OLYMPUS, IN THE TOMB OF THE
+HARPERS THAT IS BY TAPE; OF HIS COUNSEL TO CLEOPATRA; OF THE MESSAGE OF
+CHARMION; AND OF THE PASSING OF OLYMPUS DOWN TO ALEXANDRIA
+
+These things then came to pass. For eighty days I was hidden of the old
+wife, Atoua, while the body of the Prince, my father, was made ready for
+burial by those skilled in the arts of embalming. And when at last
+all things were done in order, I crept from my hiding-place and made
+offerings to the spirit of my father, and placing lotus-flowers on his
+breast went thence sorrowing. And on the following day, from where I lay
+hid, I saw the Priests of the Temple of Osiris and of the holy shrine of
+Isis come forth, and in slow procession bear his painted coffin to the
+sacred lake and lay it beneath the funeral tent in the consecrated boat.
+I saw them celebrate the symbol of the trial of the dead, and name him
+above all men just, and then bear him thence to lay him by his wife,
+my mother, in the deep tomb that he had hewn in the rock near to the
+resting-place of the Holy Osiris, where, notwithstanding my sins, I,
+too, hope to sleep ere long. And when all these things were done and the
+deep tomb sealed, the wealth of my father having been removed from the
+hidden treasury and placed in safety, I fled, disguised, with the old
+wife, Atoua, up the Nile till we came to Tape,[*] and here in this great
+city I lay a while, till a place could be found where I should hide
+myself.
+
+     [*] Thebes.--Editor.
+
+And such a place I found. For to the north of the great city are brown
+and rugged hills, and desert valley blasted of the sun, and in this
+place of desolation the Divine Pharaohs, my forefathers, hollowed out
+their tombs in the solid rock, the most part of which are lost to this
+day, so cunningly have they been hidden. But some are open, for the
+accursed Persians and other thieves broke into them in search
+of treasure. And one night--for by night only did I leave my
+hiding-place--just as the dawn was breaking on the mountain tops, I
+wandered alone in this sad valley of death, like to which there is
+no other, and presently came to the mouth of a tomb hidden amid great
+rocks, which afterwards I knew for the place of the burying of the
+Divine Rameses, the third of that name, now long gathered to Osiris. And
+by the faint light of the dawn creeping through the entrance I saw that
+it was spacious and that within were chambers.
+
+On the following night, therefore, I returned, bearing lights, with
+Atoua, my nurse, who ever ministered faithfully to me as when I was
+little and without discretion. And we searched the mighty tomb and came
+to the great Hall of the Sarcophagus of granite, in which the Divine
+Rameses sleeps, and saw the mystic paintings on the walls: the symbol
+of the Snake unending, the symbol of Ra resting upon the Scarabaeus, the
+symbol of Ra resting upon Nout, the symbol of the Headless men, and many
+others, whereof, being initiated, well I read the mysteries. And
+opening from the long descending passage I found chambers in which were
+paintings beautiful to behold, and of all manner of things. For beneath
+each chamber is entombed the master of the craft of which the paintings
+tell, he who was the chief of the servants of that craft in the house
+of this Divine Rameses. And on the walls of the last chamber--on
+the left-hand side, looking toward the Hall of the Sarcophagus--are
+paintings exceedingly beautiful, and two blind harpers playing upon
+their bent harps before the God Mou; and beneath the flooring these
+harpers, who harp no more, are soft at sleep. Here, then, in this gloomy
+place, even in the tomb of the Harpers and the company of the dead, I
+took up my abode; and here for eight long years I worked out my penance
+and made atonement for my sin. But Atoua, because she loved to be near
+the light, abode in the chamber of the Boats--that is, the first chamber
+on the right-hand side of the gallery looking toward the Hall of the
+Sarcophagus.
+
+And this was the manner of my life. On every second day the old wife,
+Atoua, went forth and brought water from the city and such food as is
+necessary to keep the life from failing, and also tapers made from fat.
+And one hour at the time of sunrise and one hour at the time of sunset
+I did go forth also to wander in the valley for my health's sake and to
+save my sight from failing in the great darkness of the tomb. But the
+other hours of the day and night, except when I climbed the mountain
+to watch the course of the stars, I spent in prayer and meditation and
+sleep, till the cloud of sin lifted from my heart and once more I drew
+near to the Gods, though with Isis, my heavenly Mother, I might speak no
+more. And I grew exceedingly wise also, pondering on all those mysteries
+to which I held the key. For abstinence and prayer and sorrowful
+solitude wore away the grossness of my flesh, and with the eyes of the
+Spirit I learned to look deep into the heart of things till the joy of
+Wisdom fell like dew upon my soul.
+
+Soon the rumour was wafted about the city that a certain holy man named
+Olympus abode in solitude in the tombs of the awful Valley of the Dead;
+and hither came people bearing sick that I might cure them. And I gave
+my mind to the study of simples, in which Atoua instructed me; and by
+lore and the weight of my thought I gained great skill in medicine, and
+healed many sick. And thus ever, as time went on, my fame was noised
+abroad; for it was said that I was also a magician and that in the
+tombs I had commune with the Spirits of the Dead. And this, indeed, I
+did--though it is not lawful for me to speak of these matters. Thus,
+then, it came to pass that no more need Atoua go forth to seek food and
+water, for the people brought it--more than was needful, for I would
+receive no fee. Now at first, fearing lest some in the hermit Olympus
+might know the lost Harmachis, I would only meet those who came in the
+darkness of the tomb. But afterwards, when I learned how it was held
+through all the land that Harmachis was certainly no more, I came forth
+and sat in the mouth of the tomb, and ministered to the sick, and
+at times calculated nativities for the great. And thus my fame grew
+continually, till at length folk journeyed even from Memphis and
+Alexandria to visit me; and from them I learned how Antony had left
+Cleopatra for a while, and, Fulvia being dead, had married Octavia, the
+sister of Caesar. Many other things I learned also.
+
+And in the second year I did this: I despatched the old wife, Atoua,
+disguised as a seller of simples, to Alexandria, bidding her seek out
+Charmion, and, if yet she found her faithful, reveal to her the secret
+of my way of life. So she went, and in the fifth month from her sailing
+returned, bearing Charmion's greetings and a token. And she told me that
+she had found means to see Charmion, and, in talk, had let fall the name
+of Harmachis, speaking of me as one dead; at which Charmion, unable to
+control her grief, wept aloud. Then, reading her heart--for the old
+wife was very clever, and held the key of knowledge--she told her that
+Harmachis yet lived, and sent her greetings. Thereon Charmion wept yet
+more with joy, and kissed the old wife, and made her gifts, bidding her
+tell me that she had kept her vow, and waited for my coming and the hour
+of vengeance. So, having learned many secrets, Atoua returned again to
+Tape.
+
+And in the following year messengers came to me from Cleopatra, bearing
+a sealed roll and great gifts. I opened the roll, and read this in it:
+
+"Cleopatra to Olympus, the learned Egyptian who dwells in the Valley of
+Death by Tape--
+
+"The fame of thy renown, O learned Olympus, hath reached our ears. Tell
+thou, then, this to us, and if thou tellest aright greater honour and
+wealth shalt thou have than any in Egypt: How shall we win back the love
+of noble Antony, who is bewitched of cunning Octavia, and tarries long
+from us?"
+
+Now, in this I saw the hand of Charmion, who had made my renown known to
+Cleopatra.
+
+All that night I took counsel with my wisdom, and on the morrow wrote my
+answer as it was put into my heart to the destruction of Cleopatra and
+Antony. And thus I wrote:
+
+"Olympus the Egyptian to Cleopatra the Queen--
+
+"Go forth into Syria with one who shall be sent to lead thee; thus shalt
+thou win Antony to thy arms again, and with him gifts more great than
+thou canst dream."
+
+And with this letter I dismissed the messengers, bidding them share the
+presents sent by Cleopatra among their company.
+
+So they went wondering.
+
+But Cleopatra, seizing on the advice to which her passion prompted her,
+departed straightway with Fonteius Capito into Syria, and there the
+thing came about as I had foretold, for Antony was subdued of her
+and gave her the greater part of Cilicia, the ocean shore of Arabia
+Nabathaea, the balm-bearing provinces of Judaea, the province of Phoenicia,
+the province of Coele-Syria, the rich isle of Cyprus, and all the library
+of Pergamus. And to the twin children that, with the son Ptolemy,
+Cleopatra had borne to Antony, he impiously gave the names of "Kings,
+the Children of Kings"--of Alexander Helios, as the Greeks name the sun,
+and of Cleopatra Selene, the moon, the long-winged.
+
+These things then came to pass.
+
+Now on her return to Alexandria Cleopatra sent me great gifts, of which
+I would have none, and prayed me, the learned Olympus, to come to her at
+Alexandria; but it was not yet time, and I would not. But thereafter she
+and Antony sent many times to me for counsel, and I ever counselled them
+to their ruin, nor did my prophecies fail.
+
+
+
+Thus the long years rolled away, and I, the hermit Olympus, the dweller
+in a tomb, the eater of bread and the drinker of water, by strength of
+the wisdom that was given me of the avenging Power, became once more
+great in Khem. For I grew ever wiser as I trampled the desires of the
+flesh beneath my feet and turned my eyes to heaven.
+
+At length eight full years were accomplished. The war with the Parthians
+had come and gone, and Artavasdes, King of Armenia, had been led in
+triumph through the streets of Alexandria. Cleopatra had visited Samos
+and Athens; and, by her counselling, the noble Octavia had been driven,
+like some discarded concubine, from the house of Antony at Rome. And
+now, at the last, the measure of the folly of Antony was full even to
+the brim. For this Master of the World had no longer the good gift of
+reason; he was lost in Cleopatra as I had been lost. Therefore, in the
+event, Octavianus declared war against him.
+
+And as I slept upon a certain day in the chamber of the Harpers, in the
+tomb of Pharaoh that is by Tape, there came to me a vision of my father,
+the aged Amenemhat, and he stood over me, leaning on his staff, and
+spoke, saying:
+
+"Look forth, my son."
+
+Then I looked forth, and with the eyes of my spirit saw the sea, and
+two great fleets grappling in war hard by a rocky coast. And the emblems
+were those of Octavian, and of the other those of Cleopatra and Antony.
+The ships of Antony and Cleopatra bore down upon the ships of Caesar, and
+drove them on, for victory inclined to Antony.
+
+I looked again. There sat Cleopatra in a gold-decked galley watching the
+fight with eager eyes. Then I cast my Spirit on her so that she seemed
+to hear the voice of dead Harmachis crying in her ear.
+
+"_Fly, Cleopatra,_" it seemed to say, "_fly or perish!_"
+
+She looked up wildly, and again she heard my Spirit's cry. Now a mighty
+fear took hold of her. She called aloud to the sailors to hoist the
+sails and make signal to her fleet to put about. This they did wondering
+but little loath, and fled in haste from the battle.
+
+Then a great roar went up from friend and foe.
+
+"Cleopatra is fled! Cleopatra is fled!" And I saw wreck and red ruin
+fall upon the fleet of Antony and awoke from my trance.
+
+The days passed, and again a vision of my father came to me and spoke,
+saying:
+
+"Arise, my son!--the hour of vengeance is at hand! Thy plots have not
+failed; thy prayers have been heard. By the bidding of the Gods, as she
+sat in her galley at the fight of Actium, the heart of Cleopatra was
+filled with fears, so that, deeming she heard thy voice bidding her fly
+or perish, she fled with all her fleet. Now the strength of Actium is
+broken on the sea. Go forth, and as it shall be put into thy mind, so do
+thou."
+
+In the morning I awoke, wondering, and went to the mouth of the tomb,
+and there, coming up the valley, I saw the messengers of Cleopatra, and
+with them a Roman guard.
+
+"What will ye with me now?" I asked, sternly.
+
+"This is the message of the Queen and of great Antony," answered the
+Captain, bowing low before me, for I was much feared by all men. "The
+Queen commands thy presence at Alexandria. Many times has she sent, and
+thou wouldst not come; now she bids thee to come, and that swiftly, for
+she has need of thy counsel."
+
+"And if I say Nay, soldier, what then?"
+
+"These are my orders, most holy Olympus; that I bring thee by force."
+
+I laughed aloud. "By force, thou fool! Use not such talk to me, lest I
+smite thee where thou art. Know, then, that I can kill as well as cure!"
+
+"Pardon, I beseech thee!" he answered, shrinking. "I say but those
+things that I am bid."
+
+"Well, I know it, Captain. Fear not; I come."
+
+So on that very day I departed, together with the aged Atoua. Ay, I went
+as secretly as I had come; and the tomb of the Divine Rameses knew me no
+more. And with me I took all the treasures of my father, Amenemhat, for
+I was not minded to go to Alexandria empty-handed and as a suppliant,
+but rather as a man of much wealth and condition. Now, as I went, I
+learned that Antony, following Cleopatra, had, indeed, fled from Actium,
+and knew that the end drew nigh. For this and many other things had
+I foreseen in the darkness of the tomb of Tape, and planned to bring
+about.
+
+
+
+Thus, then, I came to Alexandria, and entered into a house which had
+been made ready for me at the palace gates.
+
+And that very night Charmion came to me--Charmion whom I had not seen
+for nine long years.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+OF THE MEETING OF CHARMION WITH THE LEARNED OLYMPUS; OF HER SPEECH WITH
+HIM; OF THE COMING OF OLYMPUS INTO THE PRESENCE OF CLEOPATRA; AND OF THE
+COMMANDS OF CLEOPATRA.
+
+Clad in my plain black robe, I sat in the guest-chamber of the house
+that had been made ready for me. I sat in a carven lion-footed chair,
+and looked upon the swinging lamps of scented oil, the pictured
+tapestries, the rich Syrian rugs--and, amidst all this luxury, bethought
+me of that tomb of the Harpers which is at Tape, and of the nine long
+years of dark loneliness and preparation. I sat; and crouched upon a rug
+near to the door, lay the aged Atoua. Her hair was white as snow, and
+shrivelled with age was the wrinkled countenance of the woman who, when
+all deserted me, had yet clung to me, in her great love forgetting my
+great sins. Nine years! nine long years! and now, once again, I set my
+foot in Alexandria! Once again in the appointed circle of things I came
+forth from the solitude of preparation to be a fate to Cleopatra; and
+this second time I came not forth to fail.
+
+And yet how changed the circumstance! I was out of the story: my part
+now was but the part of the sword in the hands of Justice; I might no
+more hope to make Egypt free and great and sit upon my lawful throne.
+Khem was lost, and lost was I, Harmachis. In the rush and turmoil of
+events, the great plot of which I had been the pivot was covered up and
+forgotten; scarce a memory of it remained. The curtain of dark night
+was closing in upon the history of my ancient Race; its very Gods were
+tottering to their fall; I could already, in the spirit, hear the shriek
+of the Roman eagles as they flapped their wings above the furthest banks
+of Sihor.
+
+Presently I roused myself and bade Atoua go seek a mirror and bring it
+to me, that I might look therein.
+
+And I saw this: a face shrunken and pallid, on which no smile came;
+great eyes grown wan with gazing into darkness looking out beneath
+the shaven head, emptily, as the hollow eye-pits of a skull; a wizened
+halting form wasted by abstinence, sorrow, and prayer; a long wild beard
+of iron grey; thin blue-veined hands that ever trembled like a leaf;
+bowed shoulders and lessened limbs. Time and grief had done their
+work indeed; scarce could I think myself the same as when, the royal
+Harmachis--in all the splendour of my strength and youthful beauty--I
+first had looked upon the woman's loveliness that did destroy me. And
+yet within me burned the same fire as of yore; yet I was not changed,
+for time and grief have no power to alter the immortal spirit of man.
+Seasons may come and go; Hope, like a bird, may fly away; Passion may
+break its wings against the iron bars of Fate; Illusions may crumble
+as the cloudy towers of sunset flame; Faith, as running water, may slip
+from beneath our feet; Solitude may stretch itself around us like the
+measureless desert sand; Old Age may creep as the gathering night over
+our bowed heads grown hoary in their shame--yea, bound to Fortune's
+wheel, we may taste of every turn of chance--now rule as Kings, now
+serve as Slaves; now love, now hate; now prosper, and now perish. But
+still, through all, we are the same; for this is the marvel of Identity.
+
+
+
+And as I sat and thought these things in bitterness of heart, there came
+a knocking at the door.
+
+"Open, Atoua!" I said.
+
+She rose and did my bidding; and a woman entered, clad in Grecian robes.
+It was Charmion, still beautiful as of old, but sad faced now and very
+sweet to see, with a patient fire slumbering in her downcast eyes.
+
+She entered unattended; and, speaking no word, the old wife pointed to
+where I sat, and went.
+
+"Old man," she said, addressing me, "lead me to the learned Olympus. I
+come upon the Queen's business."
+
+I rose, and, lifting my head, looked upon her.
+
+She gazed, and gave a little cry.
+
+"Surely," she whispered, glancing round, "surely thou art not that----"
+And she paused.
+
+"That Harmachis whom once thy foolish heart did love, O Charmion? Yes,
+I am he and what thou seest, most fair lady. Yet is Harmachis dead
+whom thou didst love; but Olympus, the skilled Egyptian, waits upon thy
+words!"
+
+"Cease!" she said, "and of the past but one word, and then--why, let
+it lie. Not well, with all thy wisdom, canst thou know a true woman's
+heart, if thou dost believe, Harmachis, that it can change with the
+changes of the outer form, for then assuredly could no love follow its
+beloved to that last place of change--the Grave. Know thou, learned
+Physician, I am of that sort who, loving once, love always, and being
+not beloved again, go virgin to the death."
+
+She ceased, and having naught to say, I bowed my head in answer. Yet
+though I said nothing and though this woman's passionate folly had been
+the cause of all our ruin, to speak truth, in secret I was thankful
+to her who, wooed of all and living in this shameless Court, had still
+through the long years poured out her unreturned love upon an outcast,
+and who, when that poor broken slave of Fortune came back in such
+unlovely guise, held him yet dear at heart. For what man is there who
+does not prize that gift most rare and beautiful, that one perfect thing
+which no gold can buy--a woman's unfeigned love?
+
+"I thank thee that thou dost not answer," she said; "for the bitter
+words which thou didst pour upon me in those days that long are dead,
+and far away in Tarsus, have not lost their poisonous sting, and in my
+heart is no more place for the arrows of thy scorn, new venomed through
+thy solitary years. So let it be. Behold! I put it from me, that wild
+passion of my soul," and she looked up and stretched out her hands as
+though to press some unseen presence back, "I put it from me--though
+forget it I may not! There, 'tis done, Harmachis; no more shall my love
+trouble thee. Enough for me that once more my eyes behold thee, before
+sleep seals thee from their sight. Dost remember how, when I would have
+died by thy dear hand, thou wouldst not slay, but didst bid me live to
+pluck the bitter fruit of crime, and be accursed by visions of the evil
+I had wrought and memories of thee whom I have ruined?"
+
+"Ay, Charmion, I remember well."
+
+"Surely the cup of punishment has been filled. Oh! couldst thou see
+into the record of my heart, and read in it the suffering that I
+have borne--borne with a smiling face--thy justice would be satisfied
+indeed!"
+
+"And yet, if report be true, Charmion, thou art the first of all the
+Court, and therein the most powerful and beloved. Does not Octavianus
+give it out that he makes war, not on Antony, nor even on his mistress,
+Cleopatra, but on Charmion and Iras?"
+
+"Yes, Harmachis, and think what it has been to me thus, because of my
+oath to thee, to be forced to eat the bread and do the tasks of one whom
+so bitterly I hate!--one who robbed me of thee, and who, through the
+workings of my jealousy, brought me to be that which I am, brought
+thee to shame, and all Egypt to its ruin! Can jewels and riches and the
+flattery of princes and nobles bring happiness to such a one as I, who
+am more wretched than the meanest scullion wench? Oh, I have often wept
+till I was blind; and then, when the hour came, I must arise and tire
+me, and, with a smile, go do the bidding of the Queen and that heavy
+Antony. May the Gods grant me to see them dead--ay, the twain of
+them!--then myself I shall be content to die! Thy lot has been hard,
+Harmachis; but at least thou have been free, and many is the time that I
+have envied thee the quiet of thy haunted cave."
+
+"I do perceive, O Charmion, that thou art mindful of thy oaths; and it
+is well, for the hour of vengeance is at hand."
+
+"I am mindful, and in all things I have worked for thee in secret--for
+thee, and for the utter ruin of Cleopatra and the Roman. I have fanned
+his passion and her jealousy, I have egged her on to wickedness and
+him to folly, and of all have I caused report to be brought to Caesar.
+Listen! thus stands the matter. Thou knowest how went the fight at
+Actium. Thither went Cleopatra with her fleet, sorely against the will
+of Antony. But, as thou sentest me word, I entreated him for the Queen,
+vowing to him, with tears, that, did he leave her, she would die of
+grief; and he, poor slave, believed me. And so she went, and in the
+thick of the fight, for what cause I know not, though perchance thou
+knowest, Harmachis, she made signal to her squadron, and, putting about
+fled from the battle, sailing for Peloponnesus. And now, mark the end!
+When Antony saw that she was gone, he, in his madness, took a galley,
+and deserting all, followed hard after her, leaving his fleet to be
+shattered and sunk, and his great army in Greece, of twenty legions
+and twelve thousand horse, without a leader. And all this no man would
+believe, that Antony, the smitten of the Gods, had fallen so deep in
+shame. Therefore for a while the army tarried, and but now to-night
+comes news brought by Canidius, the General, that, worn with doubt and
+being at length sure that Antony had deserted them, the whole of his
+great force has yielded to Caesar."
+
+"And where, then, is Antony?"
+
+"He has built him a habitation on a little isle in the Great Harbour and
+named it Timonium; because, forsooth, like Timon, he cries out at the
+ingratitude of mankind that has forsaken him. And there he lies smitten
+by a fever of the mind, and thither thou must go at dawn, so wills the
+Queen, to cure him of his ills and draw him to her arms; for he will
+not see her, nor knows he yet the full measure of his woe. But first
+my bidding is to lead thee instantly to Cleopatra, who would ask thy
+counsel."
+
+"I come," I answered, rising. "Lead thou on."
+
+And so we passed the palace gates and along the Alabaster Hall, and
+presently once again I stood before the door of Cleopatra's chamber, and
+once again Charmion left me to warn her of my coming.
+
+Presently she came back and beckoned to me. "Make strong thy heart," she
+whispered, "and see that thou dost not betray thyself, for still are the
+eyes of Cleopatra keen. Enter!"
+
+"Keen, indeed, must they be to find Harmachis in the learned Olympus!
+Had I not willed it, thyself thou hadst not known me, Charmion," I made
+answer.
+
+Then I entered that remembered place and listened once more to the plash
+of the fountain, the song of the nightingale, and the murmur of the
+summer sea. With bowed head and halting gait I came, till at length I
+stood before the couch of Cleopatra--that same golden couch on which
+she had sat the night she overcame me. Then I gathered my strength, and
+looked up. There before me was Cleopatra, glorious as of old, but, oh!
+how changed since that night when I saw Antony clasp her in his arms at
+Tarsus! Her beauty still clothed her like a garment; the eyes were yet
+deep and unfathomable as the blue sea, the face still splendid in its
+great loveliness. And yet all was changed. Time, that could not touch
+her charms, had stamped upon her presence such a look of weary grief as
+may not be written. Passion, beating ever in that fierce heart of hers,
+had written his record on her brow, and in her eyes shone the sad lights
+of sorrow.
+
+I bowed low before this most royal woman, who once had been my love and
+destruction, and yet knew me not.
+
+She looked up wearily, and spoke in her slow, well remembered voice:
+
+"So thou art come at length, Physician. How callest thou
+thyself?--Olympus? 'Tis a name of promise, for surely now that the Gods
+of Egypt have deserted us, we do need aid from Olympus. Well, thou hast
+a learned air, for learning goes not with beauty. Strange, too, there is
+that about thee which recalls what I know not. Say, Olympus, have we met
+before?"
+
+"Never, O Queen, have my eyes fallen on thee in the body," I answered
+in a feigned voice. "Never till this hour, when I come forth from my
+solitude to do thy bidding and cure thee of thy ills!"
+
+"Strange! and even in the voice--Pshaw! 'tis some memory that I cannot
+catch. In the body, thou sayest? then, perchance, I knew thee in a
+dream?"
+
+"Ay, O Queen; we have met in dreams."
+
+"Thou art a strange man, who talkest thus, but, if what I hear be true,
+one well learned; and, indeed, I mind me of thy counsel when thou didst
+bid me join my Lord Antony in Syria, and how things befell according to
+thy word. Skilled must thou be in the casting of nativities and in the
+law of auguries, of which these Alexandrian fools have little knowledge.
+Once I knew such another man, one Harmachis," and she sighed: "but he is
+long dead--as I would I were also!--and at times I sorrow for him."
+
+She paused, while I sank my head upon my breast and stood silent.
+
+"Interpret me this, Olympus. In the battle at that accursed Actium, just
+as the fight raged thickest and Victory began to smile upon us, a great
+terror seized my heart, and thick darkness seemed to fall before
+my eyes, while in my ears a voice, ay, the voice of that long dead
+Harmachis, cried '_Fly! fly, or perish!_' and I fled. But from my heart
+the terror leapt to the heart of Antony, and he followed after me, and
+thus was the battle lost. Say, then, what God brought this evil thing
+about?"
+
+"Nay, O Queen," I answered, "it was no God--for wherein hast thou
+angered the Gods of Egypt? Hast thou robbed the temples of their Faith?
+Hast thou betrayed the trust of Egypt? Having done none of these things,
+how, then, can the Gods of Egypt be wroth with thee? Fear not, it was
+nothing but some natural vapour of the mind that overcame thy gentle
+soul, made sick with the sight and sound of slaughter; and as for the
+noble Antony, where thou didst go needs must that he should follow."
+
+And as I spoke, Cleopatra turned white and trembled, glancing at me
+the while to find my meaning. But I well knew that the thing was of the
+avenging Gods, working through me, their instrument.
+
+"Learned Olympus," she said, not answering my words; "my Lord Antony is
+sick and crazed with grief. Like some poor hunted slave he hides himself
+in yonder sea-girt Tower and shuns mankind--yes, he shuns even me, who,
+for his sake, endure so many woes. Now, this is my bidding to thee.
+To-morrow, at the coming of the light, do thou, led by Charmion, my
+waiting-lady, take boat and row thee to the Tower and there crave entry,
+saying that ye bring tidings from the army. Then he will cause you to
+be let in, and thou, Charmion, must break this heavy news that Canidius
+bears; for Canidius himself I dare not send. And when his grief is past,
+do thou, Olympus, soothe his fevered frame with thy draughts of value,
+and his soul with honeyed words, and draw him back to me, and all will
+yet be well. Do thou this, and thou shalt have gifts more than thou
+canst count, for I am yet a Queen and yet can pay back those who serve
+my will."
+
+"Fear not, O Queen," I answered, "this thing shall be done, and I ask no
+reward, who have come hither to do thy bidding to the end."
+
+So I bowed and went and, summoning Atoua, made ready a certain potion.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+OF THE DRAWING FORTH OF ANTONY FROM THE TIMONIUM BACK TO CLEOPATRA; OF
+THE FEAST MADE BY CLEOPATRA; AND OF THE MANNER OF THE DEATH OF EUDOSIUS
+THE STEWARD
+
+Ere it was yet dawn Charmion came again, and we walked to the private
+harbour of the palace. There, taking boat, we rowed to the island mount
+on which stands the Timonium, a vaulted tower, strong, small, and round.
+And, having landed, we twain came to the door and knocked, till at
+length a grating was thrown open in the door, and an aged eunuch,
+looking forth, roughly asked our business.
+
+"Our business is with the Lord Antony," said Charmion.
+
+"Then it is no business, for Antony, my master, sees neither man nor
+woman."
+
+"Yet will he see us, for we bring tidings. Go tell him that the Lady
+Charmion brings tidings from the army."
+
+The man went, and presently returned.
+
+"The Lord Antony would know if the tidings be good or ill, for, if ill,
+then will he none of it, for with evil tidings he has been overfed of
+late."
+
+"Why--why, it is both good and ill. Open, slave, I will make answer to
+thy master!" and she slipped a purse of gold through the bars.
+
+"Well, well," he grumbled, as he took the purse, "the times are hard,
+and likely to be harder; for when the lion's down who will feed the
+jackal? Give thy news thyself, and if it do but draw the noble Antony
+out of this hall of Groans, I care not what it be. Now the palace door
+is open, and there's the road to the banqueting-chamber."
+
+We passed on, to find ourselves in a narrow passage, and, leaving the
+eunuch to bar the door, advanced till we came to a curtain. Through this
+entrance we went, and found ourselves in a vaulted chamber, ill-lighted
+from the roof. On the further side of this rude chamber was a bed of
+rugs, and on them crouched the figure of a man, his face hidden in the
+folds of his toga.
+
+"Most noble Antony," said Charmion drawing near, "unwrap thy face and
+hearken to me, for I bring thee tidings."
+
+Then he lifted up his head. His face was marred by sorrow; his tangled
+hair, grizzled with years, hung about his hollow eyes, and white on his
+chin was the stubble of an unshaven beard. His robe was squalid, and
+his aspect more wretched than that of the poorest beggar at the temple
+gates. To this, then, had the love of Cleopatra brought the glorious and
+renowned Antony, aforetime Master of half the World!
+
+"What will ye with me, Lady," he asked, "who would perish here alone?
+And who is this man who comes to gaze on fallen and forsaken Antony?"
+
+"This is Olympus, noble Antony, that wise physician, the skilled in
+auguries, of whom thou hast heard much, and whom Cleopatra, ever mindful
+of thy welfare, though but little thou dost think of hers, has sent to
+minister to thee."
+
+"And, can thy physician minister to a grief such as my grief? Can his
+drugs give me back my galleys, my honour, and my peace? Nay! Away
+with thy physician! What are thy tidings?--quick!--out with it! Hath
+Canidius, perchance, conquered Caesar? Tell me but that, and thou shalt
+have a province for thy guerdon--ay! and if Octavianus be dead, twenty
+thousand sestertia to fill its treasury. Speak--nay--speak not! I fear
+the opening of thy lips as never I feared an earthly thing. Surely the
+wheel of fortune has gone round and Canidius has conquered? Is it not
+so? Nay--out with it! I can no more!"
+
+"O noble Antony," she said, "steel thy heart to hear that which I needs
+must tell thee! Canidius is in Alexandria. He has fled far and fast, and
+this is his report. For seven whole days did the legions wait the coming
+of Antony, to lead them to victory, as aforetime, putting aside the
+offers of the envoys of Caesar. But Antony came not. And then it was
+rumoured that Antony had fled to Taenarus, drawn thither by Cleopatra.
+The man who first brought that tale to the camp the legionaries cried
+shame on--ay, and beat him to the death! But ever it grew, until at
+length there was no more room to doubt; and then, O Antony, thy officers
+slipped one by one away to Caesar, and where the officers go there
+the men follow. Nor is this all the story; for thy allies--Bocchus of
+Africa, Tarcondimotus of Cilicia, Mithridates of Commagene, Adallas of
+Thrace, Philadelphus of Paphlagonia, Archelaus of Cappadocia, Herod
+of Judaea, Amyntas of Galatia, Polemon of Pontus, and Malchus of
+Arabia--all, all have fled or bid their generals fly back to whence they
+came; and already their ambassadors crave cold Caesar's clemency."
+
+"Hast done thy croakings, thou raven in a peacock's dress, or is there
+more to come?" asked the smitten man, lifting his white and trembling
+face from the shelter of his hands. "Tell me more; say that Egypt's dead
+in all her beauty; say that Octavianus lowers at the Canopic gate; and
+that, headed by dead Cicero, all the ghosts of Hell do audibly shriek
+out the fall of Antony! Yea, gather up every woe that can o'erwhelm
+those who once were great, and loose them on the hoary head of him
+whom--in thy gentleness--thou art still pleased to name 'the noble
+Antony'!"
+
+"Nay, my Lord, I have done."
+
+"Ay, and so have I done--done, quite done! It is altogether finished,
+and thus I seal the end," and snatching a sword from the couch, he
+would, indeed, have slain himself had I not sprung forward and grasped
+his hand. For it was not my purpose that he should die as yet; since had
+he died at that hour Cleopatra had made her peace with Caesar, who rather
+wished the death of Antony than the ruin of Egypt.
+
+"Art mad, Antony? Art, indeed, a coward?" cried Charmion, "that thou
+wouldst thus escape thy woes, and leave thy partner to face the sorrow
+out alone?"
+
+"Why not, woman? Why not? She would not be long alone. There's Caesar
+to keep her company. Octavianus loves a fair woman in his cold way, and
+still is Cleopatra fair. Come now, thou Olympus! thou hast held my hand
+from dealing death upon myself, advise me of thy wisdom. Shall I, then,
+submit myself to Caesar, and I, Triumvir, twice Consul, and aforetime
+absolute Monarch of all the East, endure to follow in his triumph along
+those Roman ways where I myself have passed in triumph?"
+
+"Nay, Sire," I answered. "If thou dost yield, then art thou doomed. All
+last night I questioned of the Fates concerning thee, and I saw this:
+when thy star draws near to Caesar's it pales and is swallowed up; but
+when it passes from his radiance, then bright and big it shines, equal
+in glory to his own. All is not lost, and while some part remains,
+everything may be regained. Egypt can yet be held, armies can still
+be raised. Caesar has withdrawn himself; he is not yet at the gates of
+Alexandria, and perchance may be appeased. Thy mind in its fever has
+fired thy body; thou art sick and canst not judge aright. See, here, I
+have a potion that shall make thee whole, for I am well skilled in the
+art of medicine," and I held out the phial.
+
+"A potion, thou sayest man!" he cried. "More like it is a poison, and
+thou a murderer, sent by false Egypt, who would fain be rid of me now
+that I may no more be of service to her. The head of Antony is the peace
+offering she would send to Caesar--she for whom I have lost all! Give me
+thy draught. By Bacchus! I will drink it, though it be the very elixir
+of Death!"
+
+"Nay, noble Antony; it is no poison, and I am no murderer. See, I will
+taste it, if thou wilt," and I held forth the subtle drink that has the
+power to fire the veins of men.
+
+"Give it me, Physician. Desperate men are brave men. There!----Why, what
+is this? Yours is a magic draught! My sorrows seem to roll away like
+thunder-clouds before the southern gale, and the spring of Hope blooms
+fresh upon the desert of my heart. Once more I am Antony, and once again
+I see my legions' spears asparkle in the sun, and hear the thunderous
+shout of welcome as Antony--beloved Antony--rides in pomp of war along
+his deep-formed lines! There's hope! there's hope! I may yet see
+the cold brows of Caesar--that Caesar who never errs except from
+policy--robbed of their victor bays and crowned with shameful dust!"
+
+"Ay," cried Charmion, "there still is hope, if thou wilt but play the
+man! O my Lord! come back with us; come back to the loving arms of
+Cleopatra! All night she lies upon her golden bed, and fills the hollow
+darkness with her groans for 'Antony!' who, enamoured now of Grief,
+forgets his duty and his love!"
+
+"I come! I come! Shame upon me, that I dared to doubt her! Slave, bring
+water, and a purple robe: not thus can I be seen of Cleopatra. Even now
+I come."
+
+
+
+In this fashion, then, did we draw Antony back to Cleopatra, that the
+ruin of the twain might be made sure.
+
+
+
+We led him up the Alabaster Hall and into Cleopatra's chamber, where she
+lay, her cloudy hair about her face and breast, and tears flowing from
+her deep eyes.
+
+"O Egypt!" he cried, "behold me at thy feet!"
+
+She sprang from the couch. "And art thou here, my love?" she murmured;
+"then once again are all things well. Come near, and in these arms
+forget thy sorrows and turn my grief to joy. Oh, Antony, while love is
+left to us, still have we all!"
+
+And she fell upon his breast and kissed him wildly.
+
+
+
+That same day, Charmion came to me and bade me prepare a poison of
+the most deadly power. And this at first I would not do, fearing that
+Cleopatra would therewith make an end of Antony before his time. But
+Charmion showed me that this was not so, and told me also for what
+purpose was the poison. Therefore I summoned Atoua, the skilled in
+simples, and all that afternoon we laboured at the deadly work. And
+when it was done, Charmion came once more, bearing with her a chaplet of
+fresh roses, that she bade me steep in the poison.
+
+This then I did.
+
+That night at the great feast of Cleopatra, I sat near Antony, who was
+at her side, and wore the poisoned wreath. Now as the feast went on, the
+wine flowed fast, till Antony and the Queen grew merry. And she told him
+of her plans, and of how even now her galleys were being drawn by the
+canal that leads from Bubastis on the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, to
+Clysma at the head of the Bay of Heroopolis. For it was her design,
+should Caesar prove stubborn, to fly with Antony and her treasure down
+the Arabian Gulf, where Caesar had no fleet, and seek some new home in
+India, whither her foes might not follow. But, indeed, this plan came to
+nothing, for the Arabs of Petra burnt the galleys, incited thereto by
+a message sent by the Jews of Alexandria, who hated Cleopatra and were
+hated of her. For I caused the Jews to be warned of what was being done.
+
+Now, when she had made an end of telling him, the Queen called on him to
+drink a cup with her, to the success of this new scheme, bidding him, as
+she did so, steep his wreath of roses in the wine, and make the draught
+more sweet. This, then, he did, and it being done, she pledged him.
+But when he was about to pledge her back, she caught his hand, crying
+"_Hold!_" whereat he paused, wondering.
+
+Now, among the servants of Cleopatra was one Eudosius, a steward; and
+this Eudosius, seeing that the fortunes of Cleopatra were at an end, had
+laid a plan to fly that very night to Caesar, as many of his betters
+had done, taking with him all the treasure in the palace that he could
+steal. But this design being discovered to Cleopatra, she determined to
+be avenged upon Eudosius.
+
+"Eudosius," she cried, for the man stood near; "come hither, thou
+faithful servant! Seest thou this man, most noble Antony; through
+all our troubles he has clung to us and been of comfort to us. Now,
+therefore, he shall be rewarded according to his deserts and the measure
+of his faithfulness, and that from thine own hand. Give him thy golden
+cup of wine, and let him drink a pledge to our success; the cup shall be
+his guerdon."
+
+And still wondering, Antony gave it to the man, who, stricken in his
+guilty mind, took it, and stood trembling. But he drank not.
+
+"Drink! thou slave; drink!" cried Cleopatra, half rising from her seat
+and flashing a fierce look on his white face. "By Serapis! so surely as
+I yet shall sit in the Capitol at Rome, if thou dost thus flout the Lord
+Antony, I'll have thee scourged to the bones, and the red wine poured
+upon thy open wounds to heal them! _Ah!_ at length thou drinkest! Why,
+what is it, good Eudosius? art sick? Surely, then, this wine must be as
+the water of jealousy of those Jews, that has power to slay the false
+and strengthen the honest only. Go, some of you, search this man's room;
+methinks he is a traitor!"
+
+Meanwhile the man stood, his hands to his head. Presently he began to
+tremble, and then fell, clutching at his bosom, as though to tear
+out the fire in his heart. He staggered, with livid, twisted face and
+foaming lips, to where Cleopatra lay watching him with a slow and cruel
+smile.
+
+"Ah, traitor! thou hast it now!" she said. "Prithee, is death sweet?"
+
+"Thou wanton!" yelled the dying man, "thou hast poisoned me! Thus mayst
+thou also perish!" and with one shriek he flung himself upon her. She
+saw his purpose, and swift and supple as a tiger sprang to one side,
+so that he did but grasp her royal cloak, tearing it from its emerald
+clasp. Down he fell upon the ground, rolling over and over in the purple
+chiton, till presently he lay still and dead, his tormented face and
+frozen eyes peering ghastly from its folds.
+
+"Ah!" said the Queen, with a hard laugh, "the slave died wondrous hard,
+and fain would have drawn me with him. See, he has borrowed my garment
+for a pall! Take him away and bury him in his livery."
+
+"What means Cleopatra?" said Antony, as the guards dragged the corpse
+away; "the man drank of my cup. What is the purpose of this most sorry
+jest?"
+
+"It serves a double end, noble Antony! This very night that man would
+have fled to Octavianus, bearing of our treasure with him. Well, I have
+lent him wings, for the dead fly fast! Also this: thou didst fear that
+I should poison thee, my Lord; nay, I know it. See now, Antony, how easy
+it were that I should slay thee if I had the will. That wreath of roses
+which thou didst steep within the cup is dewed with deadly bane. Had
+I, then, a mind to make an end of thee, I had not stayed thy hand. O
+Antony, henceforth trust me! Sooner would I slay myself than harm one
+hair of thy beloved head! See, here come my messengers! Speak, what did
+ye find?"
+
+"Royal Egypt, we found this. All things in the chamber of Eudosius are
+made ready for flight, and in his baggage is much treasure."
+
+"Thou hearest?" she said, smiling darkly. "Think ye, my loyal servants
+all, that Cleopatra is one with whom it is well to play the traitor? Be
+warned by this Roman's fate!"
+
+
+
+Then a great silence of fear fell upon the company, and Antony sat also
+silent.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+OF THE WORKINGS OF THE LEARNED OLYMPUS AT MEMPHIS; OF THE POISONINGS OF
+CLEOPATRA; OF THE SPEECH OF ANTONY TO HIS CAPTAINS; AND OF THE PASSING
+OF ISIS FROM THE LAND OF KHEM
+
+Now I, Harmachis, must make speed with my task, setting down that which
+is permitted as shortly as may be, and leaving much untold. For of this
+I am warned, that Doom draws on and my days are wellnigh sped. After the
+drawing forth of Antony from the Timonium came that time of heavy quiet
+which heralds the rising of the desert wind. Antony and Cleopatra
+once again gave themselves up to luxury, and night by night feasted in
+splendour at the palace. They sent ambassadors to Caesar; but Caesar would
+have none of them; and, this hope being gone, they turned their minds
+to the defence of Alexandria. Men were gathered, ships were built, and a
+great force was made ready against the coming of Caesar.
+
+And now, aided by Charmion, I began my last work of hate and vengeance.
+I wormed myself deep into the secrets of the palace, counselling all
+things for evil. I bade Cleopatra keep Antony gay, lest he should brood
+upon his sorrows: and thus she sapped his strength and energy with
+luxury and wine. I gave him of my draughts--draughts that sank his
+soul in dreams of happiness and power, leaving him to wake to a heavier
+misery. Soon, without my healing medicine he could not sleep, and thus,
+being ever at his side, I bound his weakened will to mine, till at last
+he would do little if I said not "It is well." Cleopatra, also grown
+very superstitious, leaned much upon me; for I prophesied falsely to her
+in secret.
+
+Moreover, I wove other webs. My fame was great throughout Egypt, for
+during the long years that I had dwelt in Tape it had spread through all
+the land. Therefore many men of note came to me, both for their health's
+sake and because it was known that I had the ear of Antony and the
+Queen; and, in these days of doubt and trouble, they were fain to learn
+the truth. All these men I worked upon with doubtful words, sapping
+their loyalty; and I caused many to fall away, and yet none could bear
+an evil report of what I had said. Also, Cleopatra sent me to Memphis,
+there to move the Priests and Governors that they should gather men in
+Upper Egypt for the defence of Alexandria. And I went and spoke to the
+priests with such a double meaning and with so much wisdom that they
+knew me to be one of the initiated in the deeper mysteries. But how I,
+Olympus the physician, came thus to be initiated none might say. And
+afterwards they sought me secretly, and I gave them the holy sign of
+brotherhood; and thereunder bade them not to ask who I might be, but
+send no aid to Cleopatra. Rather, I said, must they make peace with
+Caesar, for by Caesar's grace only could the worship of the Gods endure in
+Khem. So, having taken counsel of the Holy Apis, they promised in public
+to give help to Cleopatra, but in secret sent an embassy to Caesar.
+
+Thus, then, it came to pass that Egypt gave but little aid to its hated
+Macedonian Queen. Thence from Memphis I came once more to Alexandria,
+and, having made favourable report, continued my secret work. And,
+indeed, the Alexandrians could not easily be stirred, for, as they say
+in the marketplace, "The ass looks at its burden and is blind to its
+master." Cleopatra had oppressed them so long that the Roman was like a
+welcome friend.
+
+Thus the time passed on, and every night found Cleopatra with fewer
+friends than that which had gone before, for in evil days friends fly
+like swallows before the frost. Yet she would not give up Antony, whom
+she loved; though to my knowledge Caesar, by his freedman, Thyreus, made
+promise to her of her dominions for herself and for her children if she
+would but slay Antony, or even betray him bound. But to this her woman's
+heart--for still she had a heart--would not consent, and, moreover, we
+counselled her against it, for of necessity we must hold him to her,
+lest, Antony escaping or being slain, Cleopatra might ride out the storm
+and yet be Queen of Egypt. And this grieved me, because Antony, though
+weak, was still a brave man, and a great; and, moreover, in my own heart
+I read the lesson of his woes. For were we not akin in wretchedness? Had
+not the same woman robbed us of Empire, Friends, and Honour? But pity
+has no place in politics, nor could it turn my feet from the path of
+vengeance it was ordained that I should tread. Caesar drew nigh; Pelusium
+fell; the end was at hand. It was Charmion who brought the tidings to
+the Queen and Antony, as they slept in the heat of the day, and I came
+with her.
+
+"Awake!" she cried. "Awake! This is no time for sleep! Seleucus hath
+surrendered Pelusium to Caesar, who marches straight on Alexandria!"
+
+With a great oath, Antony sprang up and clutched Cleopatra by the arm.
+
+"Thou hast betrayed me--by the Gods I swear it! Now thou shalt pay the
+price!" And snatching up his sword he drew it.
+
+"Stay thy hand, Antony!" she cried. "It is false--I know naught of
+this!" And she sprang upon him, and clung about his neck, weeping. "I
+know naught, my Lord. Take thou the wife of Seleucus and his little
+children, whom I hold in guard, and avenge thyself. O Antony, Antony!
+why dost thou doubt me?"
+
+Then Antony threw down his sword upon the marble, and, casting himself
+upon the couch, hid his face, and groaned in bitterness of spirit.
+
+But Charmion smiled, for it was she who had sent secretly to Seleucus,
+her friend, counselling him to surrender forthwith, saying that no fight
+would be made at Alexandria. And that very night Cleopatra took all her
+great store of pearls and emeralds--those that remained of the treasure
+of Menkau-ra--all her wealth of gold, ebony, ivory, and cinnamon,
+treasure without price, and placed it in the mausoleum of granite which,
+after our Egyptian fashion, she had built upon the hill that is by the
+Temple of the Holy Isis. These riches she piled up upon a bed of flax,
+that, when she fired it, all might perish in the flame and escape the
+greed of money-loving Octavianus. And she slept henceforth in this tomb,
+away from Antony; but in the daytime she still saw him at the palace.
+
+But a little while after, when Caesar with all his great force
+had already crossed the Caponic mouth of the Nile and was hard on
+Alexandria, I came to the palace, whither Cleopatra had summoned me.
+There I found her in the Alabaster Hall, royally clad, a wild light in
+her eyes, and, with her, Iras and Charmion, and before her guards; and
+stretched here and there upon the marble, bodies of dead men, among whom
+lay one yet dying.
+
+"Greeting, thou Olympus!" she cried. "Here is a sight to glad a
+physician's heart--men dead and men sick unto death!"
+
+"What doest thou, O Queen?" I said affrighted.
+
+"What do I? I wreak justice on these criminals and traitors; and,
+Olympus, I learn the ways of death. I have caused six different poisons
+to be given to these slaves, and with an attentive eye have watched
+their working. That man," and she pointed to a Nubian, "he went mad, and
+raved of his native deserts and his mother. He thought himself a child
+again, poor fool! and bade her hold him close to her breast and save
+him from the darkness which drew near. And that Greek, he shrieked, and,
+shrieking, died. And this, he wept and prayed for pity, and in the end,
+like a coward, breathed his last. Now, note the Egyptian yonder, he who
+still lives and groans; first he took the draught--the deadliest draught
+of all, they swore--and yet the slave so dearly loves his life he will
+not leave it! See, he yet strives to throw the poison from him; twice
+have I given him the cup and yet he is athirst. What a drunkard we have
+here! Man, man, knowest thou not that in death only can peace be found?
+Struggle no more, but enter into rest." And even as she spoke, the man,
+with a great cry, gave up the spirit.
+
+"There!" she cried, "at length the farce is played--away with those
+slaves whom I have forced through the difficult gates of Joy!" and she
+clapped her hands. But when they had borne the bodies thence she drew me
+to her, and spoke thus:
+
+"Olympus, for all thy prophecies, the end is at hand. Caesar must
+conquer, and I and my Lord Antony be lost. Now, therefore, the play
+being wellnigh done, I must make ready to leave this stage of earth in
+such fashion as becomes a Queen. For this cause, then, I do make trial
+of these poisons, seeing that in my person I must soon endure those
+agonies of death that to-day I give to others. These drugs please me
+not; some wrench out the soul with cruel pains, and some too slowly work
+their end. But thou art skilled in the medicines of death. Now, do thou
+prepare me such a draught as shall, pangless, steal my life away."
+
+And as I listened the sense of triumph filled my bitter heart, for
+I knew now that by my own hand should this ruined woman die and the
+justice of the Gods be done.
+
+"Spoken like a Queen, O Cleopatra!" I said. "Death shall cure thy ills,
+and I will brew such a wine as shall draw him down a sudden friend and
+sink thee in a sea of slumber whence, upon this earth, thou shalt never
+wake again. Oh! fear not Death: Death is thy hope; and, surely, thou
+shalt pass sinless and pure of heart into the dreadful presence of the
+Gods!"
+
+She trembled. "And if the heart be not altogether pure, tell me--thou
+dark man--what then? Nay, I fear not the Gods! for if the Gods of Hell
+be men, there I shall Queen it also. At the least, having once been
+royal, royal I shall ever be."
+
+And, as she spoke, suddenly from the palace gates came a great clamour,
+and the noise of joyful shouting.
+
+"Why, what is this?" she said, springing from her couch.
+
+"Antony! Antony!" rose the cry; "Antony hath conquered!"
+
+She turned swiftly and ran, her long hair streaming on the wind. I
+followed her, more slowly, down the great hall, across the courtyards,
+to the palace gates. And here she met Antony, riding through them,
+radiant with smiles and clad in his Roman armour. When he saw her
+he leapt to the ground, and, all armed as he was, clasped her to his
+breast.
+
+"What is it?" she cried; "is Caesar fallen?"
+
+"Nay, not altogether fallen, Egypt: but we have beat his horsemen back
+to their trenches, and, like the beginning, so shall be the end, for,
+as they say here, 'Where the head goes, the tail will follow.' Moreover,
+Caesar has my challenge, and if he will but meet me hand to hand, the
+world shall soon see which is the better man, Antony or Octavian."
+And even as he spoke and the people cheered there came the cry of "A
+messenger from Caesar!"
+
+The herald entered, and, bowing low, gave a writing to Antony, bowed
+again, and went. Cleopatra snatched it from his hand, broke the silk and
+read aloud:
+
+"Caesar to Antony, greeting.
+
+"This answer to thy challenge: Can Antony find no better way of death
+than beneath the sword of Caesar? Farewell!"
+
+And thereafter they cheered no more.
+
+
+
+The darkness came, and before it was midnight, having feasted with his
+friends who to-night went over his woes and to-morrow should betray him,
+Antony went forth to the gathering of the captains of the land-forces
+and of the fleet, attended by many, among whom was I.
+
+When all were come together, he spoke to them, standing bareheaded in
+their midst, beneath the radiance of the moon. And thus he most nobly
+spoke:
+
+"Friends and companions in arms! who yet cling to me, and whom many a
+time I have led to victory, hearken to me now, who to-morrow may lie in
+the dumb dust, disempired and dishonoured. This is our design: no
+longer will we hang on poised wings above the flood of war, but will
+straightway plunge, perchance thence to snatch the victor's diadem, or,
+failing, there to drown. Be now but true to me, and to your honour's
+sake, and you may still sit, the most proud of men, at my right hand in
+the Capitol of Rome. Fail me now, and the cause of Antony is lost and so
+are ye. To-morrow's battle must be hazardous indeed, but we have stood
+many a time and faced a fiercer peril, and ere the sun had sunk, once
+more have driven armies like desert sands before our gale of valour and
+counted the spoil of hostile kings. What have we to fear? Though allies
+be fled, still is our array as strong as Caesar's! And show we but as
+high a heart, why, I swear to you, upon my princely word, to-morrow
+night I shall deck yonder Canopic gate with the heads of Octavian and
+his captains!
+
+"Ay, cheer, and cheer again! I love that martial music which swells,
+not as from the indifferent lips of clarions, now 'neath the breath of
+Antony and now of Caesar, but rather out of the single hearts of men who
+love me. Yet--and now I will speak low, as we do speak o'er the bier of
+some beloved dead--yet, if Fortune should rise against me and if, borne
+down by the weight of arms, Antony, the soldier, dies a soldier's death,
+leaving you to mourn him who ever was your friend, this is my will,
+that, after our rough fashion of the camp, I here declare to you. You
+know where all my treasure lies. Take it, most dear friends; and, in the
+memory of Antony, make just division. Then go to Caesar and speak thus:
+'Antony, the dead, to Caesar, the living, sends greeting; and, in the
+name of ancient fellowship and of many a peril dared, craves this boon:
+the safety of those who clung to him and that which he hath given them.'
+
+"Nay, let not my tears--for I must weep--overflow your eyes! Why, it is
+not manly; 'tis most womanish! All men must die, and death were welcome
+were it not so lone. Should I fall, I leave my children to your
+tender care--if, perchance, it may avail to save them from the fate
+of helplessness. Soldiers, enough! to-morrow at the dawn we spring on
+Caesar's throat, both by land and sea. Swear that ye will cling to me,
+even to the last issue!"
+
+"We swear!" they cried. "Noble Antony, we swear!"
+
+"It is well! Once more my star grows bright; to-morrow, set in the
+highest heaven, it yet may shine the lamp of Caesar down! Till then,
+farewell!"
+
+He turned to go. As he went they caught his hand and kissed it; and so
+deeply were they moved that many wept like children; nor could Antony
+master his grief, for, in the moonlight, I saw tears roll down his
+furrowed cheeks and fall upon that mighty breast.
+
+And, seeing all this, I was much troubled. For I well knew that if these
+men held firm to Antony all might yet go well for Cleopatra; and though
+I bore no ill-will against Antony, yet he must fall, and in that fall
+drag down the woman who, like some poisonous plant, had twined herself
+about his giant strength till it choked and mouldered in her embrace.
+
+Therefore, when Antony went I went not, but stood back in the shadow
+watching the faces of the lords and captains as they spoke together.
+
+"Then it is agreed!" said he who should lead the fleet. "And this we
+swear to, one and all, that we will cling to noble Antony to the last
+extremity of fortune!"
+
+"Ay! ay!" they answered.
+
+"Ay! ay!" I said, speaking from the shadow; "cling, and _die!_"
+
+They turned fiercely and seized me.
+
+"Who is he?" quoth one.
+
+"'Tis that dark-faced dog, Olympus!" cried another. "Olympus, the
+magician!"
+
+"Olympus, the traitor!" growled another; "put an end to him and his
+magic!" and he drew his sword.
+
+"Ay! slay him; he would betray the Lord Antony, whom he is paid to
+doctor."
+
+"Hold a while!" I said in a slow and solemn voice, "and beware how ye
+try to murder the servant of the Gods. I am no traitor. For myself,
+I abide the event here in Alexandria, but to you I say, Flee, flee to
+Caesar! I serve Antony and the Queen--I serve them truly; but above all
+I serve the Holy Gods; and what they make known to me, that, Lords, I do
+know. And I know this: that Antony is doomed, and Cleopatra is doomed,
+for Caesar conquers. Therefore, because I honour you, noble gentlemen,
+and think with pity on your wives, left widowed, and your little
+fatherless children, that shall, if ye hold to Antony, be sold as
+slaves--therefore, I say, cling to Antony if ye will and die; or flee
+to Caesar and be saved! And this I say because it is so ordained of the
+Gods."
+
+"The Gods!" they growled; "what Gods? Slit the traitor's throat, and
+stop his ill-omened talk!"
+
+"Let him show us a sign from his Gods or let him die: I do mistrust this
+man," said another.
+
+"Stand back, ye fools!" I cried. "Stand back--free mine arms--and I will
+show you a sign;" and there was that in my face which frightened them,
+for they freed me and stood back. Then I lifted up my hands and putting
+out all my strength of soul searched the depths of space till my Spirit
+communed with the Spirit of my Mother Isis. Only the Word of Power I
+uttered not, as I had been bidden. And the holy mystery of the Goddess
+answered to my Spirit's cry, falling in awful silence upon the face of
+the earth. Deeper and deeper grew the terrible silence; even the dogs
+ceased to howl, and in the city men stood still afeared. Then, from far
+away, there came the ghostly music of the sistra. Faint it was at first,
+but ever as it came it grew more loud, till the air shivered with the
+unearthly sound of terror. I said naught, but pointed with my hand
+toward the sky. And behold! bosomed upon the air, floated a vast veiled
+Shape that, heralded by the swelling music of the sistra, drew slowly
+near, till its shadow lay upon us. It came, it passed, it went toward
+the camp of Caesar, till at length the music died away, and the awful
+Shape was swallowed in the night.
+
+"It is Bacchus!" cried one. "Bacchus, who leaves lost Antony!" and, as
+he spoke, there rose a groan of terror from all the camp.
+
+But I knew that it was not Bacchus, the false God, but the Divine Isis
+who deserted Khem, and, passing over the edge of the world, sought her
+home in space, to be no more known of men. For though her worship is
+still upheld, though still she is here and in all Earths, Isis manifests
+herself no more in Egypt. I hid my face and prayed, but when I lifted it
+from my robe, lo! all had fled and I was alone.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+OF THE SURRENDER OF THE TROOPS AND FLEET OF ANTONY BEFORE THE CANOPIC
+GATE; OF THE END OF ANTONY, AND OF THE BREWING OF THE DRAUGHT OF DEATH
+
+On the morrow, at dawn, Antony came forth and gave command that his
+fleet should advance against the fleet of Caesar, and that his cavalry
+should open the land-battle with the cavalry of Caesar. Accordingly, the
+fleet advanced in a triple line, and the fleet of Caesar came out to
+meet it. But when they met, the galleys of Antony lifted their oars in
+greeting, and passed over to the galleys of Caesar; and they sailed away
+together. And the cavalry of Antony rode forth beyond the Hippodrome
+to charge the cavalry of Caesar; but when they met, they lowered their
+swords and passed over to the camp of Caesar, deserting Antony. Then
+Antony grew mad with rage and terrible to see. He shouted to his legions
+to stand firm and wait attack; and for a little while they stood.
+One man, however--that same officer who would have slain me on the
+yesternight--strove to fly; but Antony seized him with his own hand,
+threw him to the earth, and, springing from his horse, drew his sword to
+slay him. He held his sword on high, while the man, covering his face,
+awaited death. But Antony dropped his sword and bade him rise.
+
+"Go!" he said. "Go to Caesar, and prosper! I did love thee once. Why,
+then, among so many traitors, should I single thee out for death?"
+
+The man rose and looked upon him sorrowfully. Then, shame overwhelming
+him, with a great cry he tore open his shirt of mail, plunged his sword
+into his own heart and fell down dead. Antony stood and gazed at him,
+but he said never a word. Meanwhile the ranks of Caesar's legions drew
+near, and so soon as they crossed spears the legions of Antony turned
+and fled. Then the soldiers of Caesar stood still mocking them; but
+scarce a man was slain, for they pursued not.
+
+"Fly, Lord Antony! fly!" cried Eros, his servant, who alone with me
+stayed by him. "Fly ere thou art dragged a prisoner to Caesar!"
+
+So he turned and fled, groaning heavily. I went with him, and as we rode
+through the Canopic gate, where many folk stood wondering, Antony spoke
+to me:
+
+"Go, thou, Olympus; go to the Queen and say: 'Antony sends greeting to
+Cleopatra, who hath betrayed him! To Cleopatra he sends greeting and
+farewell!'"
+
+And so I went to the tomb, but Antony fled to the palace. When I came
+to the tomb I knocked upon the door, and Charmion looked forth from the
+window.
+
+"Open," I cried, and she opened.
+
+"What news, Harmachis?" she whispered.
+
+"Charmion," I said, "the end is at hand. Antony is fled!"
+
+"It is well," she answered; "I am aweary."
+
+And there on her golden bed sat Cleopatra.
+
+"Speak, man!" she cried.
+
+"Antony has fled, his forces are fled, Caesar draws near. To Cleopatra
+the great Antony sends greeting and farewell. Greeting to Cleopatra who
+betrayed him, and farewell."
+
+"It is a lie!" she screamed; "I betrayed him not! Thou, Olympus, go
+swiftly to Antony and answer thus: 'To Antony, Cleopatra, who hath not
+betrayed him, sends greeting and farewell. Cleopatra is no more.'"
+
+And so I went, following out my purpose. In the Alabaster Hall I found
+Antony pacing to and fro, tossing his hands toward heaven, and with him
+Eros, for of all his servants Eros alone remained by this fallen man.
+
+"Lord Antony," I said, "Egypt bids thee farewell. Egypt is dead by her
+own hand."
+
+"Dead! dead!" he whispered, "and is Egypt dead? and is that form of
+glory now food for worms? Oh, what a woman was this! E'en now my heart
+goes out towards her. And shall she outdo me at the last, I who have
+been so great; shall I become so small that a woman can overtop my
+courage and pass where I fear to follow? Eros, thou hast loved me from a
+boy--mindest thou how I found thee starving in the desert, and made thee
+rich, giving thee place and wealth? Come, now pay me back. Draw that
+sword thou wearest and make an end of the woes of Antony."
+
+"Oh, Sire," cried the Greek, "I cannot! How can I take away the life of
+godlike Antony?"
+
+"Answer me not, Eros; but in the last extreme of fate this I charge
+thee. Do thou my bidding, or begone and leave me quite alone! No more
+will I see thy face, thou unfaithful servant!"
+
+Then Eros drew his sword and Antony knelt before him and bared his
+breast, turning his eyes to heaven. But Eros, crying "I cannot! oh, I
+cannot!" plunged the sword to his own heart, and fell dead.
+
+Antony rose and gazed upon him. "Why, Eros, that was nobly done," he
+said. "Thou art greater than I, yet I have learned thy lesson!" and he
+knelt down and kissed him.
+
+Then, rising of a sudden, he drew the sword from the heart of Eros,
+plunged it into his bowels, and fell, groaning, on the couch.
+
+"O thou, Olympus," he cried, "this pain is more than I can bear! Make an
+end of me, Olympus!"
+
+But pity stirred me, and I could not do this thing.
+
+Therefore I drew the sword from his vitals, staunched the flow of blood,
+and, calling to those who came crowding in to see Antony die, I bade
+them summon Atoua from my house at the palace gates. Presently she came,
+bringing with her simples and life-giving draughts. These I gave to
+Antony, and bade Atoua go with such speed as her old limbs might to
+Cleopatra, in the tomb, and tell her of the state of Antony.
+
+So she went, and after a while returned, saying that the Queen yet lived
+and summoned Antony to die in her arms. And with her came Diomedes. When
+Antony heard, his ebbing strength came back, for he was fain to look
+upon Cleopatra's face again. So I called to the slaves--who peeped and
+peered through curtains and from behind pillars to see this great man
+die--and together, with much toil, we bore him thence till we came to
+the foot of the Mausoleum.
+
+But Cleopatra, being afraid of treachery, would no more throw wide the
+door; so she let down a rope from the window and we made it fast
+beneath the arms of Antony. Then did Cleopatra, who the while wept most
+bitterly, together with Charmion and Iras the Greek, pull on the rope
+with all their strength, while we lifted from below till the dying
+Antony swung in the air, groaning heavily, and the blood dropped from
+his gaping wound. Twice he nearly fell to earth: but Cleopatra, striving
+with the strength of love and of despair, held him till at length she
+drew him through the windowplace, while all who saw the dreadful sight
+wept bitterly, and beat their breasts--all save myself and Charmion.
+
+When he was in, once more the rope was let down, and, with some aid from
+Charmion, I climbed into the tomb, drawing up the rope after me. There I
+found Antony, laid upon the golden bed of Cleopatra; and she, her breast
+bare, her face stained with tears, and her hair streaming wildly about
+him, knelt at his side and kissed him, wiping the blood from his wounds
+with her robes and hair. And let all my shame be written: as I stood
+and watched her the old love awoke once more within me, and mad jealousy
+raged in my heart because--though I could destroy these twain--I could
+not destroy their love.
+
+"O Antony! my Sweet, my Husband, and my God!" she moaned. "Cruel Antony,
+hast thou the heart to die and leave me to my lonely shame? I will
+follow thee swiftly to the grave. Antony, awake! awake!"
+
+He lifted up his head and called for wine, which I gave him, mixing
+therein a draught that might allay his pain, for it was great. And when
+he had drunk he bade Cleopatra lie down on the bed beside him, and put
+her arms about him; and this she did. Then was Antony once more a man;
+for, forgetting his own misery and pain, he counselled her as to her own
+safety: but to this talk she would not listen.
+
+"The hour is short," she said; "let us speak of this great love of ours
+that hath been so long and may yet endure beyond the coasts of Death.
+Mindest thou that night when first thou didst put thine arms about me
+and call me 'Love'? Oh! happy, happy night! Having known that night it
+is well to have lived--even to this bitter end!"
+
+"Ay, Egypt, I mind it well and dwell upon its memory, though from that
+hour fortune has fled from me--lost in my depth of love for thee, thou
+Beautiful. I mind it!" he gasped; "then didst thou drink the pearl
+in wanton play, and then did that astrologer of thine call out his
+hour--'The hour of the coming of the curse of Menkau-ra.' Through all
+the after-days those words have haunted me, and now at the last they
+ring in my ears."
+
+"He is long dead, my love," she whispered.
+
+"If he be dead, then I am near him. What meant he?"
+
+"He is dead, the accursed man!--no more of him! Oh! turn and kiss me,
+for thy face grows white. The end is near!"
+
+He kissed her on the lips, and for a little while so they stayed, to
+the moment of death, babbling their passion in each other's ears, like
+lovers newly wed. Even to my jealous heart, it was a strange and awful
+thing to see.
+
+
+
+Presently, I saw the Change of Death gather on his face. His head fell
+back.
+
+"Farewell, Egypt; farewell!--I die!"
+
+Cleopatra lifted herself upon her hands, gazed wildly on his ashen face,
+and then, with a great cry, she sank back swooning.
+
+
+
+But Antony yet lived, though the power of speech had left him. Then
+I drew near and, kneeling, made pretence to minister to him. And as I
+ministered I whispered in his ear:
+
+"Antony," I whispered, "Cleopatra was my love before she passed from me
+to thee. I am Harmachis, that astrologer who stood behind thy couch at
+Tarsus; and I have been the chief minister of thy ruin.
+
+"_Die, Antony!--the curse of Menkau-ra hath fallen!_"
+
+He raised himself, and stared upon my face. He could not speak, but,
+gibbering, he pointed at me. Then with a groan his spirit fled.
+
+Thus did I accomplish my revenge upon Roman Antony, the World-loser.
+
+
+
+Thereafter, we recovered Cleopatra from her swoon, for not yet was
+I minded that she should die. And taking the body of Antony, Caesar
+permitting, I and Atoua caused it to be most skilfully embalmed after
+our Egyptian fashion, covering the face with a mask of gold fashioned
+like to the features of Antony. Also I wrote upon his breast his name
+and titles, and painted his name and the name of his father within his
+inner coffin, and drew the form of the Holy Nout folding her wings about
+him.
+
+Then with great pomp Cleopatra laid him in that sepulchre which had been
+made ready, and in a sarcophagus of alabaster. Now, this sarcophagus was
+fashioned so large that place was left in it for a second coffin, for
+Cleopatra would lie by Antony at the last.
+
+These things then happened. And but a little while after I learned
+tidings from one Cornelius Dolabella, a noble Roman who waited upon
+Caesar, and, moved by the beauty that swayed the souls of all who looked
+upon her, had pity for the woes of Cleopatra. He bade me warn her--for,
+as her physician, it was allowed me to pass in and out of the tomb where
+she dwelt--that in three days she would be sent away to Rome, together
+with her children, save Caesarion, whom Octavian had already slain, that
+she might walk in the triumph of Caesar. Accordingly I went in, and found
+her sitting, as now she always sat, plunged in a half stupor, and before
+her that blood-stained robe with which she had staunched the wounds of
+Antony. For on this she would continually feast her eyes.
+
+"See how faint they grow, Olympus," she said, lifting her sad face and
+pointing to the rusty stains, "and he so lately dead! Why, Gratitude
+could not fade more fast. What is now thy news? Evil tidings is writ
+large in those dark eyes of thine, which ever bring back to me something
+that still slips my mind."
+
+"The news is ill, O Queen," I answered. "I have this from the lips of
+Dolabella, who has it straight from Caesar's secretary. On the third day
+from now Caesar will send thee and the Princes Ptolemy and Alexander and
+the Princess Cleopatra to Rome, there to feast the eyes of the Roman
+mob, and be led in triumph to that Capitol where thou didst swear to set
+thy throne!"
+
+"Never, never!" she cried, springing to her feet. "Never will I walk in
+chains in Caesar's triumph! What must I do? Charmion, tell me what I can
+do!"
+
+And Charmion, rising, stood before her, looking at her through the long
+lashes of her downcast eyes.
+
+"Lady, thou canst die," she said quietly.
+
+"Ay, of a truth I had forgotten; I can die. Olympus, hast thou the
+drug?"
+
+"Nay; but if the Queen wills it, by to-morrow morn it shall be brewed--a
+drug so swift and strong that not the Gods themselves can hold him who
+drinks it back from sleep."
+
+"Let it be made ready, thou Master of Death!"
+
+I bowed, and withdrew myself; and all that night I and old Atoua
+laboured at the distilling of the deadly draught. At length it was done,
+and Atoua poured it into a crystal phial, and held it to the light of
+the fire; for it was white as the purest water.
+
+"_La! la!_" she sang, in her shrill voice; "a drink for a Queen! When
+fifty drops of that water of my brewing have passed those red lips of
+hers, thou wilt indeed be avenged of Cleopatra, O Harmachis! Ah, that
+I could be there to see thy Ruin ruined! _La! la!_ it would be sweet to
+see!"
+
+"Vengeance is an arrow that oft-times falls upon the archer's head," I
+answered, bethinking me of Charmion's saying.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+OF THE LAST SUPPER OF CLEOPATRA; OF THE SONG OF CHARMION; OF THE
+DRINKING OF THE DRAUGHT OF DEATH; OF THE REVEALING OF HARMACHIS; OF THE
+SUMMONING OF THE SPIRITS BY HARMACHIS; AND OF THE DEATH OF CLEOPATRA
+
+On the morrow Cleopatra, having sought leave of Caesar, visited the tomb
+of Antony, crying that the Gods of Egypt had deserted her. And when she
+had kissed the coffin and covered it with lotus-flowers she came back,
+bathed, anointed herself, put on her most splendid robes, and, together
+with Iras, Charmion, and myself, she supped. Now as she supped her
+spirit flared up wildly, even as the sky lights up at sunset; and once
+more she laughed and sparkled as in bygone years, telling us tales of
+feasts which she and Antony had eaten of. Never, indeed, did I see her
+look more beauteous than on that last fatal night of vengeance. And thus
+her mind drew on to that supper at Tarsus when she drank the pearl.
+
+"Strange," she said; "strange that at the last the mind of Antony should
+have turned back to that night among all the nights and to the saying of
+Harmachis. Charmion, dost thou remember Harmachis the Egyptian?"
+
+"Surely, O Queen," she answered slowly.
+
+"And who, then, was Harmachis?" I asked; for I would learn if she
+sorrowed o'er my memory.
+
+"I will tell thee. It is a strange tale, and now that all is done it may
+well be told. This Harmachis was of the ancient race of the Pharaohs,
+and, having, indeed, been crowned in secret at Abydus, was sent hither
+to Alexandria to carry out a great plot that had been formed against the
+rule of us royal Lagidae. He came and gained entry to the palace as my
+astrologer, for he was very learned in all magic--much as thou art,
+Olympus--and a man beautiful to see. Now this was his plot--that he
+should slay me and be named Pharaoh. In truth it was a strong one, for
+he had many friends in Egypt, and I had few. And on that very night when
+he should carry out his purpose, yea, at the very hour, came Charmion
+yonder, and told the plot to me; saying that she had chanced upon its
+clue. But, in after days--though I have said little thereon to thee,
+Charmion--I misdoubted me much of that tale of thine; for, by the Gods!
+to this hour I believe that thou didst love Harmachis, and because he
+scorned thee thou didst betray him; and for that cause also hast all thy
+days remained a maid, which is a thing unnatural. Come, Charmion, tell
+us; for naught matters now at the end."
+
+Charmion shivered and made answer: "It is true, O Queen; I also was of
+the plot, and because Harmachis scorned me I betrayed him; and because
+of my great love for him I have remained unwed." And she glanced up at
+me and caught my eyes, then let the modest lashes veil her own.
+
+"So! I thought it. Strange are the ways of women! But little cause,
+methinks, had that Harmachis to thank thee for thy love. What sayest
+thou, Olympus? Ah, and so thou also wast a traitor, Charmion? How
+dangerous are the paths which Monarchs tread! Well, I forgive thee, for
+thou hast served me faithfully since that hour.
+
+"But to my tale. Harmachis I dared not slay, lest his great party should
+rise in fury and cast me from the throne. And now mark the issue. Though
+he must murder me, in secret this Harmachis loved me, and something
+thereof I guessed. I had striven a little to draw him to me, for the
+sake of his beauty and his wit; and for the love of man Cleopatra never
+strove in vain. Therefore when, with the dagger in his robe, he came
+to slay me, I matched my charms against his will, and need I tell you,
+being man and woman, how I won? Oh, never can I forget the look in
+the eyes of that fallen prince, that forsworn priest, that discrowned
+Pharaoh, when, lost in the poppied draught, I saw him sink into
+a shameful sleep whence he might no more wake with honour! And,
+thereafter--till, in the end, I wearied of him, and his sad learned
+mind, for his guilty soul forbade him to be gay--a little I came to care
+for him, though not to love. But he--he who loved me--clung to me as a
+drunkard to the cup which ruins him. Deeming that I should wed him,
+he betrayed to me the secret of the hidden wealth of the pyramid of
+_Her_--for at the time I much needed treasure--and together we dared the
+terrors of the tomb and drew it forth, even from dead Pharaoh's breast.
+See, this emerald was a part thereof!"--and she pointed to the great
+scarabaeus that she had drawn from the holy heart of Menkau-ra.
+
+"And because of what was written in the tomb, and of that Thing which
+we saw in the tomb--ah, pest upon it! why does its memory haunt me
+now?--and also because of policy, for I would fain have won the love
+of the Egyptians, I was minded to marry this Harmachis and declare his
+place and lineage to the world--ay, and by his aid hold Egypt from the
+Roman. For Dellius had then come to call me to Antony, and after much
+thought I determined to send him back with sharp words. But on that very
+morning, as I tired me for the Court, came Charmion yonder, and I told
+her this, for I would see how the matter fell upon her mind. Now mark,
+Olympus, the power of jealousy, that little wedge which yet has strength
+to rend the tree of Empire, that secret sword which can carve the fate
+of Kings! This she could in no wise bear--deny it, Charmion, if thou
+canst, for now it is clear to me!--that the man she loved should be
+given to me as husband--me, whom _he_ loved! And therefore, with more
+skill and wit than I can tell, she reasoned with me, showing that I
+should by no means do this thing, but journey to Antony; and for that,
+Charmion, I thank thee, now that all is come and gone. And by a very
+little, her words weighed down my scale of judgment against Harmachis,
+and I went to Antony. Thus it is through the jealous spleen of yonder
+fair Charmion and the passion of a man on which I played as on a lyre,
+that all these things have come to pass. For this cause Octavian sits
+a King in Alexandria; for this cause Antony is discrowned and dead; and
+for this cause I, too, must die to-night! Ah! Charmion! Charmion! thou
+hast much to answer, for thou hast changed the story of the world; and
+yet, even now--I would not have it otherwise!"
+
+She paused awhile, covering her eyes with her hand; and, looking, I saw
+great tears upon the cheek of Charmion.
+
+"And of this Harmachis," I asked; "where is he now, O Queen?"
+
+"Where is he? In Amenti, forsooth--making his peace with Isis,
+perchance. At Tarsus I saw Antony, and loved him; and from that moment I
+loathed the sight of the Egyptian, and swore to make an end of him; for
+a lover done with should be a lover dead. And, being jealous, he spoke
+some words of evil omen, even at that Feast of the Pearl; and on the
+same night I would have slain him, but before the deed was done, he was
+gone."
+
+"And whither was he gone?"
+
+"Nay; that know not I. Brennus--he who led my guard, and last year
+sailed North to join his own people--Brennus swore he saw him float to
+the skies; but in this matter I misdoubted me of Brennus, for methinks
+he loved the man. Nay, he sank off Cyprus, and was drowned; perchance
+Charmion can tell us how?"
+
+"I can tell thee nothing, O Queen; Harmachis is lost."
+
+"And well lost, Charmion, for he was an evil man to play with--ay,
+although I bettered him I say it! Well he served my purpose; but I loved
+him not, and even now I fear him; for it seemed to me that I heard
+his voice summoning me to fly, through the din of the fight at Actium.
+Thanks be to the Gods, as thou sayest, he is lost, and can no more be
+found."
+
+
+
+But I, listening, put forth my strength, and, by the arts I have, cast
+the shadow of my Spirit upon the Spirit of Cleopatra so that she felt
+the presence of the lost Harmachis.
+
+"Nay, what is it?" she said. "By Serapis! I grow afraid! It seems to
+me that I feel Harmachis here! His memory overwhelms me like a flood of
+waters, and he these ten years dead! Oh! at such a time it is unholy!"
+
+"Nay, O Queen," I answered, "if he be dead then he is everywhere, and
+well at such a time--the time of thy own death--may his Spirit draw near
+to welcome thine at its going."
+
+"Speak not thus, Olympus. I would see Harmachis no more; the count
+between us is too heavy, and in another world than this more evenly,
+perchance should we be matched. Ah, the terror passes! I was but
+unnerved. Well the fool's story hath served to wile away the heaviest of
+our hours, the hour which ends in death. Sing to me, Charmion, sing, for
+thy voice is very sweet, and I would soothe my soul to sleep. The memory
+of that Harmachis has wrung me strangely! Sing, then, the last song I
+shall hear from those tuneful lips of thine, the last of so many songs."
+
+"It is a sad hour for song, O Queen!" said Charmion; but, nevertheless,
+she took her harp and sang. And thus she sang, very soft and low, the
+dirge of the sweet-tongued Syrian Meleager:
+
+     Tears for my lady dead,
+     Heliodore!
+     Salt tears and strange to shed,
+     Over and o'er;
+     Go tears and low lament
+     Fare from her tomb,
+     Wend where my lady went,
+     Down through the gloom--
+     Sighs for my lady dead,
+     Tears do I send,
+     Long love remembered,
+     Mistress and friend!
+     Sad are the songs we sing,
+     Tears that we shed,
+     Empty the gifts we bring--
+     Gifts to the dead!
+     Ah, for my flower, my Love,
+     Hades hath taken,
+     Ah, for the dust above,
+     Scattered and shaken!
+     Mother of blade and grass,
+     Earth, in thy breast
+     Lull her that gentlest was,
+     Gently to rest!
+
+The music of her voice died away, and it was so sweet and sad that Iras
+began to weep and the bright tears stood in Cleopatra's stormy eyes.
+Only I wept not; my tears were dry.
+
+"'Tis a heavy song of thine, Charmion," said the Queen. "Well, as thou
+saidst, it is a sad hour for song, and thy dirge is fitted to the hour.
+Sing it over me once again when I lie dead, Charmion. And now farewell
+to music, and on to the end. Olympus, take yonder parchment and write
+what I shall say."
+
+I took the parchment and the reed, and wrote thus in the Roman tongue:
+
+"Cleopatra to Octavianus, greeting.
+
+"This is the state of life. At length there comes an hour when, rather
+than endure those burdens that overwhelm us, putting off the body we
+would take wing into forgetfulness. Caesar, thou hast conquered: take
+thou the spoils of victory. But in thy triumph Cleopatra cannot walk.
+When all is lost, then we must go to seek the lost. Thus in the desert
+of Despair the brave do harvest Resolution. Cleopatra hath been great
+as Antony was great, nor shall her fame be minished in the manner of
+her end. Slaves live to endure their wrong; but Princes, treading with a
+firmer step, pass through the gates of Wrong into the royal Dwellings of
+the Dead. This only doth Egypt ask of Caesar--that he suffer her to lie
+in the tomb of Antony. Farewell!"
+
+This I wrote, and having sealed the writing, Cleopatra bade me go find a
+messenger, despatch it to Caesar, and then return. So I went, and at the
+door of the tomb I called a soldier who was not on duty, and, giving him
+money, bade him take the letter to Caesar. Then I went back, and there in
+the chamber the three women stood in silence, Cleopatra clinging to the
+arm of Iras, and Charmion a little apart watching the twain.
+
+"If indeed thou art minded to make an end, O Queen," I said, "the time
+is short, for presently Caesar will send his servants in answer to thy
+letter," and I drew forth the phial of white and deadly bane and set it
+upon the board.
+
+She took it in her hand and gazed thereon. "How innocent it seems!" she
+said; "and yet therein lies my death. 'Tis strange."
+
+"Ay, Queen, and the death of ten other folk. No need to take so long a
+draught."
+
+"I fear," she gasped--"how know I that it will slay outright? I have
+seen so many die by poison and scarce one has died outright. And
+some--ah, I cannot think on them!"
+
+"Fear not," I said, "I am a master of my craft. Or, if thou dost
+fear, cast this poison forth and live. In Rome thou mayst still find
+happiness; ay, in Rome, where thou shalt walk in Caesar's triumph, while
+the laughter of the hard-eyed Latin women shall chime down the music of
+thy golden chains."
+
+"Nay, I will die, Olympus. Oh, if one would but show the path."
+
+Then Iras loosed her hand and stepped forward. "Give me the draught,
+Physician," she said. "I go to make ready for my Queen."
+
+"It is well," I answered; "on thy own head be it!" and I poured from the
+phial into a little golden goblet.
+
+She raised it, curtsied low to Cleopatra, then, coming forward, kissed
+her on the brow, and Charmion she also kissed. This done, tarrying not
+and making no prayer, for Iras was a Greek, she drank, and, putting her
+hand to her head, instantly fell down and died.
+
+"Thou seest," I said, breaking in upon the silence, "it is swift."
+
+"Ay, Olympus; thine is a master drug! Come now, I thirst; fill me the
+bowl, lest Iras weary in waiting at the gates!"
+
+So I poured afresh into the goblet; but this time, making pretence
+to rinse the cup, I mixed a little water with the bane, for I was not
+minded that she should die before she knew me.
+
+Then did the royal Cleopatra, taking the goblet in her hand, turn her
+lovely eyes to heaven and cry aloud:
+
+"O ye Gods of Egypt! who have deserted me, to you no longer will I pray,
+for your ears are shut unto my crying and your eyes blind to my griefs!
+Therefore, I make entreaty of that last friend whom the Gods, departing,
+leave to helpless man. Sweep hither, Death, whose winnowing wings
+enshadow all the world, and give me ear! Draw nigh, thou King of Kings!
+who, with an equal hand, bringest the fortunate head of one pillow with
+the slave, and by thy spiritual breath dost waft the bubble of our life
+far from this hell of earth! Hide me where winds blow not and waters
+cease to roll; where wars are done and Caesar's legions cannot march!
+Take me to a new dominion, and crown me Queen of Peace! Thou art my
+Lord, O Death, and in thy kiss I have conceived. I am in labour of a
+Soul: see--it stands new-born upon the edge of Time! Now--now--go, Life!
+Come, Sleep! Come, Antony!"
+
+And, with one glance to heaven, she drank, and cast the goblet to the
+ground.
+
+
+
+Then at last came the moment of my pent-up vengeance, and of the
+vengeance of Egypt's outraged Gods, and of the falling of the curse of
+Menkau-ra.
+
+"What's this?" she cried; "I grow cold, but I die not! Thou dark
+physician, thou hast betrayed me!"
+
+"Peace, Cleopatra! Presently shalt thou die and know the fury of the
+Gods! _The curse of Menkau-ra hath fallen!_ It is finished! Look upon
+me, woman! Look upon this marred face, this twisted form, this living
+mass of sorrow! _Look! look!_ Who am I?"
+
+She stared upon me wildly.
+
+"Oh! oh!" she shrieked, throwing up her arms; "at last I know thee! By
+the Gods, thou art Harmachis!--Harmachis risen from the dead!"
+
+"Ay, Harmachis risen from the dead to drag thee down to death and agony
+eternal! See, thou Cleopatra; _I_ have ruined thee as thou didst ruin
+me! I, working in the dark, and helped of the angry Gods, have been thy
+secret spring of woe! I filled thy heart with fear at Actium; I held the
+Egyptians from thy aid; I sapped the strength of Antony; I showed the
+portent of the Gods unto thy captains! By my hand at length thou diest,
+for I am the instrument of Vengeance! Ruin I pay thee back for ruin,
+Treachery for treachery, Death for death! Come hither, Charmion, partner
+of my plots, who betrayed me, but, repenting, art the sharer of my
+triumph, come watch this fallen wanton die!"
+
+Cleopatra heard, and sank back upon the golden bed, groaning "And thou,
+too, Charmion!"
+
+A moment so she sat, then her Imperial spirit burnt up glorious before
+she died.
+
+She staggered from the bed, and, with arms outstretched, she cursed me.
+
+"Oh! for one hour of life!" she cried--"one short hour, that therein I
+might make thee die in such fashion as thou canst not dream, thou and
+that false paramour of thine, who betrayed both me and thee! And thou
+didst love me! Ah, _there_ I have thee still! See, thou subtle, plotting
+priest"--and with both hands she rent back the royal robes from her
+bosom--"see, on this fair breast once night by night thy head was
+pillowed, and thou didst sleep wrapped in these same arms. Now, put away
+their memory _if thou canst!_ I read it in thine eyes--that mayst thou
+not! No torture which I bear can, in its sum, draw nigh to the rage of
+that deep soul of thine, rent with longings never, never to be reached!
+Harmachis, thou slave of slaves, from thy triumph-depths I snatch a
+deeper triumph, and conquered yet I conquer! I spit upon thee--I defy
+thee--and, dying, doom thee to the torment of thy deathless love! O
+Antony! I come, my Antony!--I come to thy own dear arms! Soon I shall
+find thee, and, wrapped in a love undying and divine, together we will
+float through all the depths of space, and, lips to lips and eyes to
+eyes, drink of desires grown more sweet with every draught! Or if I find
+thee not, then I shall sink in peace down the poppied ways of Sleep: and
+for me the breast of Night, whereon I shall be softly cradled, will yet
+seem thy bosom, Antony! Oh, I die!--come, Antony--and give me peace!"
+
+Even in my fury I had quailed beneath her scorn, for home flew the
+arrows of her winged words. Alas! and alas! it was _true_--the shaft of
+my vengeance fell upon my own head; never had I loved her as I loved her
+now. My soul was rent with jealous torture, and thus I swore she should
+not die.
+
+"Peace!" I cried; "what peace is there for thee? Oh! ye Holy Three,
+hear now my prayer. Osiris, loosen Thou the bonds of Hell and send
+forth those whom I shall summon! Come Ptolemy, poisoned of thy sister
+Cleopatra; come Arsinoe, murdered in the sanctuary by thy sister
+Cleopatra; come Sepa, tortured to death of Cleopatra; come Divine
+Menkau-ra, whose body Cleopatra tore and whose curse she braved for
+greed; come one, come all who have died at the hands of Cleopatra! Rush
+from the breast of Nout and greet her who murdered you! By the link of
+mystic union, by the symbol of the Life, Spirits, I summon you!"
+
+Thus I spoke the spell; while Charmion, affrighted, clung to my robe,
+and the dying Cleopatra, resting on her hands, swung slowly to and fro,
+gazing with vacant eyes.
+
+Then the answer came. The casement burst asunder, and on flittering
+wings that great bat entered which last I had seen hanging to the
+eunuch's chin in the womb of the pyramid of _Her_. Thrice it circled
+round, once it hovered o'er dead Iras, then flew to where the dying
+woman stood. To her it flew, on her breast it settled, clinging to that
+emerald which was dragged from the dead heart of Menkau-ra. Thrice the
+grey Horror screamed aloud, thrice it beat its bony wings, and lo! it
+was gone.
+
+Then suddenly within that chamber sprang up the Shapes of Death. There
+was Arsinoe, the beautiful, even as she had shrunk beneath the butcher's
+knife. There was young Ptolemy, his features twisted by the poisoned
+cup. There was the majesty of Menkau-ra, crowned with the uraeus crown;
+there was grave Sepa, his flesh all torn by the torturer's hooks;
+there were those poisoned slaves; and there were others without number,
+shadowy and dreadful to behold! who, thronging that narrow chamber,
+stood silently fixing their glassy eyes upon the face of her who slew
+them!
+
+
+
+"Behold! Cleopatra!" I said. "_Behold thy peace, and die!_"
+
+"Ay!" said Charmion. "Behold and die! thou who didst rob me of my
+honour, and Egypt of her King!"
+
+
+
+She looked, she saw the awful Shapes--her Spirit, hurrying from the
+flesh, mayhap could hear words to which my ears were deaf. Then her face
+sank in with terror, her great eyes grew pale, and, shrieking, Cleopatra
+fell and died: passing, with that dread company, to her appointed place.
+
+
+
+Thus, then, I, Harmachis, fed my soul with vengeance, fulfilling the
+justice of the Gods, and yet knew myself empty of all joy therein. For
+though that thing we worship doth bring us ruin, and Love being more
+pitiless than Death, we in turn do pay all our sorrow back; yet we must
+worship on, yet stretch out our arms towards our lost Desire, and pour
+our heart's blood upon the shrine of our discrowned God.
+
+For Love is of the Spirit, and knows not Death.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+OF THE FAREWELL OF CHARMION; OF THE DEATH OF CHARMION; OF THE DEATH
+OF THE OLD WIFE, ATOUA; OF THE COMING OF HARMACHIS TO ABOUTHIS; OF HIS
+CONFESSION IN THE HALL OF SIX-AND-THIRTY PILLARS; AND OF THE DECLARING
+OF THE DOOM OF HARMACHIS
+
+Charmion unclasped my arm, to which she had clung in terror.
+
+"Thy vengeance, thou dark Harmachis," she said, in a hoarse voice, "is
+a thing hideous to behold! O lost Egypt, with all thy sins thou wast
+indeed a Queen!
+
+"Come, aid me, Prince; let us stretch this poor clay upon the bed and
+deck it royally, so that it may give its dumb audience to the messengers
+of Caesar as becomes the last of Egypt's Queens."
+
+I spoke no word in answer, for my heart was very heavy, and now that all
+was done I was weary. Together, then, we lifted up the body and laid it
+on the golden bed. Charmion placed the uraeus crown upon the ivory brow,
+and combed the night-dark hair that showed never a thread of silver,
+and, for the last time, shut those eyes wherein had shone all the
+changing glories of the sea. She folded the chill hands upon the breast
+whence Passion's breath had fled, and straightened the bent knees
+beneath the broidered robe, and by the head set flowers. And there at
+length Cleopatra lay, more splendid now in her cold majesty of death
+than in her richest hour of breathing beauty!
+
+We drew back and looked on her, and on dead Iras at her feet.
+
+"It is done!" quoth Charmion; "we are avenged, and now, Harmachis,
+dost follow by this same road?" And she nodded towards the phial on the
+board.
+
+"Nay, Charmion. I fly--I fly to a heavier death! Not thus easily may I
+end my space of earthly penance."
+
+"So be it, Harmachis! And I, Harmachis--I fly also, but with swifter
+wings. My game is played. I, too, have made atonement. Oh! what a bitter
+fate is mine, to have brought misery on all I love, and, in the end, to
+die unloved! To thee I have atoned; to my angered Gods I have atoned;
+and now I go to find a way whereby I may atone to Cleopatra in that Hell
+where she is, and which I must share! For she loved me well, Harmachis;
+and, now that she is dead, methinks that, after thee, I loved her best
+of all. So of her cup and the cup of Iras I will surely drink!" And
+she took the phial, and with a steady hand poured what was left of the
+poison into the goblet.
+
+"Bethink thee, Charmion," I said; "yet mayst thou live for many years,
+hiding these sorrows beneath the withered days."
+
+"Yet I may, but I will not! To live the prey of so many memories, the
+fount of an undying shame that night by night, as I lie sleepless, shall
+well afresh from my sorrow-stricken heart!--to live torn by a love I
+cannot lose!--to stand alone like some storm-twisted tree, and, sighing
+day by day to the winds of heaven, gaze upon the desert of my life,
+while I wait the lingering lightning's stroke--nay, that will not I,
+Harmachis! I had died long since, but I lived on to serve thee; now no
+more thou needest me, and I go. Oh, fare thee well!--for ever fare thee
+well! For not again shall I look upon thy face, and where I go
+thou goest not! For thou dost not love me who still dost love that
+queenly woman thou hast hounded to the death! Her thou shalt never win,
+and I thee shall never win, and this is the bitter end of Fate! See,
+Harmachis: I ask one boon before I go and for all time become naught to
+thee but a memory of shame. Tell me that thou dost forgive me so far as
+thine is to forgive, and in token thereof kiss me--with no lover's kiss,
+but kiss me on the brow, and bid me pass in peace."
+
+And she drew near to me with arms outstretched and pitiful trembling
+lips and gazed upon my face.
+
+"Charmion," I answered, "we are free to act for good or evil, and yet
+methinks there is a Fate above our fate, that, blowing from some strange
+shore, compels our little sails of purpose, set them as we will, and
+drives us to destruction. I forgive thee, Charmion, as I trust in turn
+to be forgiven, and by this kiss, the first and the last, I seal our
+peace." And with my lips I touched her brow.
+
+She spoke no more; only for a little while she stood gazing on me with
+sad eyes. Then she lifted the goblet, and said:
+
+"Royal Harmachis, in this deadly cup I pledge thee! Would that I had
+drunk of it ere ever I looked upon thy face! Pharaoh, who, thy sins
+outworn, yet shalt rule in perfect peace o'er worlds I may not tread,
+who yet shalt sway a kinglier sceptre than that I robbed thee of, for
+ever, fare thee well!"
+
+She drank, cast down the cup, and for a moment stood with the wide eyes
+of one who looks for Death. Then He came, and Charmion the Egyptian fell
+prone upon the floor, dead. And for a moment more I stood alone with the
+dead.
+
+I crept to the side of Cleopatra, and, now that none were left to see,
+I sat down on the bed and laid her head upon my knee, as once before
+it had been laid in that night of sacrilege beneath the shadow of the
+everlasting pyramid. Then I kissed her chill brow and went from the
+House of Death--avenged, but sorely smitten with despair!
+
+
+
+"Physician," said the officer of the Guard as I went through the gates,
+"what passes yonder in the Monument? Methought I heard the sounds of
+death."
+
+"Naught passes--all hath passed," I made reply, and went.
+
+And as I went in the darkness I heard the sound of voices and the
+running of the feet of Caesar's messengers.
+
+Flying swiftly to my house I found Atoua waiting at the gates. She drew
+me into a quiet chamber and closed the doors.
+
+"Is it done?" she asked, and turned her wrinkled face to mine, while the
+lamplight streamed white upon her snowy hair. "Nay, why ask I--I know
+that it is done!"
+
+"Ay, it is done, and well done, old wife! All are dead! Cleopatra, Iras,
+Charmion--all save myself!"
+
+The aged woman drew up her bent form and cried: "Now let me go in peace,
+for I have seen my desire upon thy foes and the foes of Khem. _La!
+la!_--not in vain have I lived on beyond the years of man! I have seen
+my desire upon thy enemies---I have gathered the dews of Death, and thy
+foe hath drunk thereof! Fallen is the brow of Pride! the Shame of Khem
+is level with the dust! Ah, would that I might have seen that wanton
+die!"
+
+"Cease, woman! cease! The Dead are gathered to the Dead! Osiris holds
+them fast, and everlasting silence seals their lips! Pursue not the
+fallen great with insults! Up!--let us fly to Abouthis, that all may be
+accomplished!"
+
+"Fly thou, Harmachis!--Harmachis, fly--but I fly not! To this end only
+I have lingered on the earth. Now I untie the knot of life and let my
+spirit free! Fare thee well, Prince, the pilgrimage is done! Harmachis,
+from a babe have I loved thee, and love thee yet!--but no more in this
+world may I share thy griefs--I am spent. Osiris, take thou my Spirit!"
+and her trembling knees gave way and she sank to the ground.
+
+I ran to her side and looked upon her. She was already dead, and I was
+alone upon the earth without a friend to comfort me!
+
+Then I turned and went, no man hindering me, for all was confusion in
+the city, and departed from Alexandria in a vessel I had made ready.
+On the eighth day, I landed, and, in the carrying out of my purpose,
+travelled on foot across the fields to the Holy Shrine of Abouthis. And
+here, as I knew, the worship of the Gods had been lately set up again
+in the Temple of the Divine Sethi: for Charmion had caused Cleopatra to
+repent of her decree of vengeance and to restore the lands that she had
+seized, though the treasure she restored not. And the temple having been
+purified, now, at the season of the Feast of Isis, all the High Priests
+of the ancient Temples of Egypt were gathered together to celebrate the
+coming home of the Gods into their holy place.
+
+I gained the city. It was on the seventh day of the Feast of Isis. Even
+as I came the long array wended through the well-remembered streets.
+I joined in the multitude that followed, and with my voice swelled the
+chorus of the solemn chant as we passed through the pylons into the
+imperishable halls. How well known were the holy words:
+
+     "Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     'Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!'"
+
+And then, when the sacred music ceased, as aforetime on the setting of
+the majesty of Ra, the High Priest raised the statue of the living God
+and held it on high before the multitude.
+
+With a joyful shout of
+
+"Osiris! our hope, Osiris! Osiris!"
+
+the people tore the black wrappings from their dress, showing the white
+robes beneath, and, as one man, bowed before the God.
+
+Then they went to feast each at his home; but I stayed in the court of
+the temple.
+
+Presently a priest of the temple drew near, and asked me of my business.
+And I answered him that I came from Alexandria, and would be led before
+the council of the High Priests, for I knew that the Holy Priests were
+gathered together debating the tidings from Alexandria.
+
+Thereon the man left, and the High Priests, hearing that I was from
+Alexandria, ordered that I should be led into their presence in the Hall
+of Columns--and so I was led in. It was already dark, and between the
+great pillars lights were set, as on that night when I was crowned
+Pharaoh of the Upper and the Lower Land. There, too, was the long
+line of Dignitaries seated in their carven chairs, and taking counsel
+together. All was the same; the same cold images of Kings and Gods gazed
+with the same empty eyes from the everlasting walls. Ay, more; among
+those gathered there were five of the very men who, as leaders of the
+great plot, had sat here to see me crowned, being the only conspirators
+who had escaped the vengeance of Cleopatra and the clutching hand of
+Time.
+
+I took my stand on the spot where once I had been crowned and made me
+ready for the last act of shame with such bitterness of heart as cannot
+be written.
+
+"Why, it is the physician Olympus," said one. "He who lived a hermit in
+the Tombs of Tape, and who but lately was of the household of Cleopatra.
+Is it, then, true that the Queen is dead by her own hand, Physician?"
+
+"Yea, holy Sirs, I am that physician; also Cleopatra is dead by _my_
+hand."
+
+"By thy hand? Why, how comes this?--though well is she dead, forsooth,
+the wicked wanton!"
+
+"Your pardon, Sirs, and I will tell you all, for I am come hither
+to that end. Perchance among you there may be some--methinks I see
+some--who, nigh eleven years ago, were gathered in this hall to secretly
+crown one Harmachis, Pharaoh of Khem?"
+
+"It is true!" they said; "but how knowest thou these things, thou
+Olympus?"
+
+"Of the rest of those seven-and-thirty nobles," I went on, making no
+answer, "are two-and-thirty missing. Some are dead, as Amenemhat is
+dead; some are slain, as Sepa is slain; and some, perchance, yet labour
+as slaves within the mines, or live afar, fearing vengeance."
+
+"It is so," they said: "alas! it is so. Harmachis the accursed betrayed
+the plot, and sold himself to the wanton Cleopatra!"
+
+"It is so," I went on, lifting up my head. "Harmachis betrayed the plot
+and sold himself to Cleopatra; and, holy Sirs--_I am that Harmachis!_"
+
+The Priests and Dignitaries gazed astonished. Some rose and spoke; some
+said naught.
+
+"I am that Harmachis! I am that traitor, trebly steeped in crime!--a
+traitor to my Gods, a traitor to my Country, a traitor to my Oath! I
+come hither to say that I have done this. I have executed the Divine
+vengeance on her who ruined me and gave Egypt to the Roman. And now
+that, after years of toil and patient waiting, this is accomplished
+by my wisdom and the help of the angry Gods, behold I come with all my
+shame upon my head to declare the thing I am, and take the traitor's
+guerdon!"
+
+"Mindest thou of the doom of him who hath broke the oath that may not be
+broke?" asked he who first had spoken, in heavy tones.
+
+"I know it well," I answered; "I court that awful doom."
+
+"Tell us more of this matter, thou who wast Harmachis."
+
+So, in cold clear words, I laid bare all my shame, keeping back nothing.
+And ever as I spoke I saw their faces grow more hard, and knew that for
+me there was no mercy; nor did I ask it, nor, had I asked, could it have
+been granted.
+
+When, at last, I had done, they put me aside while they took counsel.
+Then they drew me forth again, and the eldest among them, a man very old
+and venerable, the Priest of the Temple of the Divine Hatshepu at Tape,
+spoke, in icy accents:
+
+"Thou Harmachis, we have considered this matter. Thou hast sinned the
+threefold deadly sin. On thy head lies the burden of the woe of Khem,
+this day enthralled of Rome. To Isis, the Mother Mystery, thou hast
+offered the deadly insult, and thou hast broken thy holy oath. For all
+of these sins there is, as well thou knowest, but one reward, and that
+reward is thine. Naught can it weigh in the balance of our justice that
+thou hast slain her who was thy cause of stumbling; naught that thou
+comest to name thyself the vilest thing who ever stood within these
+walls. On thee also must fall the curse of Menkau-ra, thou false priest!
+thou forsworn patriot! thou Pharaoh shameful and discrowned! Here, where
+we set the Double Crown upon thy head, we doom thee to the doom! Go to
+thy dungeon and await the falling of its stroke! Go, remembering what
+thou mightest have been and what thou art, and may those Gods who
+through thy evil doing shall perchance ere long cease to be worshipped
+within these holy temples, give to thee that mercy which we deny! Lead
+him forth!"
+
+
+
+So they took me and led me forth. With bowed head I went, looking not
+up, and yet I felt their eyes burn upon my face.
+
+Oh! surely of all my shames this is the heaviest!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+OF THE LAST WRITING OF HARMACHIS, THE ROYAL EGYPTIAN
+
+They led me to the prison chamber that is high in the pylon tower and
+here I wait my doom. I know not when the sword of Fate shall fall. Week
+grows to week, and month to month, and still it is delayed. Still it
+quivers unseen above my head. I know that it will fall, but when I know
+not. Perchance, I shall wake in some dead hour of midnight to hear the
+stealthy steps of the slayers and be hurried forth. Perchance, they are
+now at hand. Then will come the secret cell! the horror! the nameless
+coffin! and at last it will be done! Oh, let it come! let it come
+swiftly!
+
+
+All is written; I have held back nothing--my sin is sinned--my vengeance
+is finished. Now all things end in darkness and in ashes, and I prepare
+to face the terrors that are to come in other worlds than this. I go,
+but not without hope I go: for, though I see Her not, though no more She
+answers to my prayers, still I am aware of the Holy Isis, who is with me
+for evermore, and whom I shall yet again behold face to face. And then
+at last in that far day I shall find forgiveness; then the burden of
+my guilt will roll from me and innocency come back and wrap me round,
+bringing me holy Peace.
+
+
+Oh! dear land of Khem, as in a dream I see thee! I see Nation after
+Nation set its standard on thy shores, and its yoke upon thy neck! I
+see new Religions without end calling out their truths upon the banks of
+Sihor, and summoning thy people to their worship! I see thy temples--thy
+holy temples--crumbling in the dust: a wonder to the sight of men
+unborn, who shall peer into thy tombs and desecrate the great ones
+of thy glory! I see thy mysteries a mockery to the unlearned, and thy
+wisdom wasted like waters on the desert sands! I see the Roman Eagles
+stoop and perish, their beaks yet red with the blood of men, and the
+long lights dancing down the barbarian spears that follow in their
+wake! And then, at last, I see Thee once more great, once more free, and
+having once more a knowledge of thy Gods--ay, thy Gods with a changed
+countenance, and called by other names, but still thy Gods!
+
+
+The sun sinks over Abouthis. The red rays of Ra flame on temple roofs,
+upon green fields, and the wide waters of father Sihor. So as a child
+I watched him sink; just so his last kiss touched the further pylon's
+frowning brow; just that same shadow lay upon the tombs. All is
+unchanged! I--I only am changed--so changed, and yet the same!
+
+
+Oh, Cleopatra! Cleopatra! thou Destroyer! if I might but tear thy vision
+from my heart! Of all my griefs, this is the heaviest grief--still must
+I love thee! Still must I hug this serpent to my heart! Still in my
+ears must ring that low laugh of triumph--the murmur of the falling
+fountain--the song of the nightinga----
+
+[Here the writing on the third roll of papyrus abruptly ends. It would
+almost seem that the writer was at this moment broken in upon by those
+who came to lead him to his doom.]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Cleopatra, by H. Rider Haggard
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+  <head>
+    <title>
+      Cleopatra, by H. Rider Haggard
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve">
+
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+    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%;}
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+    .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;}
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+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cleopatra, 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: Cleopatra
+
+Author: H. Rider Haggard
+
+Release Date: March 28, 2006 [EBook #2769]
+[Last updated: November 19, 2020]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLEOPATRA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by John Bickers; Dagny; Emma Dudding; David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h1>
+      CLEOPATRA
+    </h1>
+    <h2>
+      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 />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> DEDICATION </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> AUTHOR&rsquo;S NOTE </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> <big><b>CLEOPATRA</b></big> </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_INTR"> INTRODUCTION </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> <b>BOOK I&mdash;THE PREPARATION OF HARMACHIS</b>
+        </a>
+      </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>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> <b>BOOK II&mdash;THE FALL OF HARMACHIS</b>
+        </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER I </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER II </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER III </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER IV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER V </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER VI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER VII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER VIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER IX </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER X </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER XI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER XIV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0022"> CHAPTER XV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0023"> CHAPTER XVI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_4_0030"> <b>BOOK III&mdash;THE VENGEANCE OF HARMACHIS</b>
+        </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0024"> CHAPTER I </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0025"> CHAPTER II </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0026"> CHAPTER III </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0027"> CHAPTER IV </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0028"> CHAPTER V </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0029"> CHAPTER VI </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0030"> CHAPTER VII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0031"> CHAPTER VIII </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0032"> CHAPTER IX </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0033"> CHAPTER X </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>
+      DEDICATION
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      My dear Mother,
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      I have for a long while hoped to be allowed to dedicate some book of mine
+      to you, and now I bring you this work, because whatever its shortcomings,
+      and whatever judgment may be passed upon it by yourself and others, it is
+      yet the one I should wish you to accept.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I trust that you will receive from my romance of &ldquo;Cleopatra&rdquo; some such
+      pleasure as lightened the labour of its building up; and that it may
+      convey to your mind a picture, however imperfect, of the old and
+      mysterious Egypt in whose lost glories you are so deeply interested.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Your affectionate and dutiful Son,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      H. Rider Haggard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      January 21, 1889.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      AUTHOR&rsquo;S NOTE
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The history of the ruin of Antony and Cleopatra must have struck many
+      students of the records of their age as one of the most inexplicable of
+      tragic tales. What malign influence and secret hates were at work,
+      continually sapping their prosperity and blinding their judgment? Why did
+      Cleopatra fly at Actium, and why did Antony follow her, leaving his fleet
+      and army to destruction? An attempt is made in this romance to suggest a
+      possible answer to these and some other questions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The reader is asked to bear in mind, however, that the story is told, not
+      from the modern point of view, but as from the broken heart and with the
+      lips of an Egyptian patriot of royal blood; no mere beast-worshipper, but
+      a priest instructed in the inmost mysteries, who believed firmly in the
+      personal existence of the gods of Khem, in the possibility of communion
+      with them, and in the certainty of immortal life with its rewards and
+      punishments; to whom also the bewildering and often gross symbolism of the
+      Osirian Faith was nothing but a veil woven to obscure secrets of the
+      Sanctuary. Whatever proportion of truth there may have been in their
+      spiritual claims and imaginings, if indeed there was any, such men as the
+      Prince Harmachis have been told of in the annals of every great religion,
+      and, as is shown by the testimony of monumental and sacred inscriptions,
+      they were not unknown among the worshippers of the Egyptian Gods, and more
+      especially of Isis.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Unfortunately it is scarcely possible to write a book of this nature and
+      period without introducing a certain amount of illustrative matter, for by
+      no other means can the long dead past be made to live again before the
+      reader&rsquo;s eyes with all its accessories of faded pomp and forgotten
+      mystery. To such students as seek a story only, and are not interested in
+      the faith, ceremonies, or customs of the Mother of Religion and
+      Civilisation, ancient Egypt, it is, however, respectfully suggested that
+      they should exercise the art of skipping, and open this tale at its Second
+      Book.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      That version of the death of Cleopatra has been preferred which attributes
+      her end to poison. According to Plutarch its actual manner is very
+      uncertain, though popular rumour ascribed it to the bite of an asp. She
+      seems, however, to have carried out her design under the advice of that
+      shadowy personage, her physician, Olympus, and it is more than doubtful if
+      he would have resorted to such a fantastic and uncertain method of
+      destroying life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It may be mentioned that so late as the reign of Ptolemy Epiphanes,
+      pretenders of native blood, one of whom was named Harmachis, are known to
+      have advanced their claims to the throne of Egypt. Moreover, there was a
+      book of prophecy current among the priesthood which declared that after
+      the nations of the Greeks the God Harsefi would create the &ldquo;chief who is
+      to come.&rdquo; It will therefore be seen that, although it lacks historical
+      confirmation, the story of the great plot formed to stamp out the dynasty
+      of the Macedonian Lagidae and place Harmachis on the throne is not in
+      itself improbable. Indeed, it is possible that many such plots were
+      entered into by Egyptian patriots during the long ages of their country&rsquo;s
+      bondage. But ancient history tells us little of the abortive struggles of
+      a fallen race.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Chant of Isis and the Song of Cleopatra, which appear in these pages,
+      are done into verse from the writer&rsquo;s prose by Mr. Andrew Lang, and the
+      dirge sung by Charmion is translated by the same hand from the Greek of
+      the Syrian Meleager.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CLEOPATRA
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_INTR" id="link2H_INTR">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      INTRODUCTION
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In the recesses of the desolate Libyan mountains that lie behind the
+      temple and city of Abydus, the supposed burying place of the holy Osiris,
+      a tomb was recently discovered, among the contents of which were the
+      papyrus rolls whereupon this history is written. The tomb itself is
+      spacious, but otherwise remarkable only for the depth of the shaft which
+      descends vertically from the rock-hewn cave, that once served as the
+      mortuary chapel for the friends and relatives of the departed, to the
+      coffin-chamber beneath. This shaft is no less than eighty-nine feet in
+      depth. The chamber at its foot was found to contain three coffins only,
+      though it is large enough for many more. Two of these, which in all
+      probability inclosed the bodies of the High Priest, Amenemhat, and of his
+      wife, father and mother of Harmachis, the hero of this history, the
+      shameless Arabs who discovered them there and then broke up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Arabs broke the bodies up. With unhallowed hands they tore the holy
+      Amenemhat and the frame of her who had, as it is written, been filled with
+      the spirit of the Hathors&mdash;tore them limb from limb, searching for
+      treasure amidst their bones&mdash;perhaps, as is their custom, selling the
+      very bones for a few piastres to the last ignorant tourist who came their
+      way, seeking what he might destroy. For in Egypt the unhappy, the living
+      find their bread in the tombs of the great men who were before them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But as it chanced, some little while afterwards, one who is known to this
+      writer, and a doctor by profession, passed up the Nile to Abydus, and
+      became acquainted with the men who had done this thing. They revealed to
+      him the secret of the place, telling him that one coffin yet remained
+      entombed. It seemed to be the coffin of a poor person, they said, and
+      therefore, being pressed for time, they had left it unviolated. Moved by
+      curiosity to explore the recesses of a tomb as yet unprofaned by tourists,
+      my friend bribed the Arabs to show it to him. What ensued I will give in
+      his own words, exactly as he wrote it to me:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I slept that night near the Temple of Seti, and started before daybreak
+      on the following morning. With me were a cross-eyed rascal named Ali&mdash;Ali
+      Baba I named him&mdash;the man from whom I got the ring which I am sending
+      you, and a small but choice assortment of his fellow thieves. Within an
+      hour after sunrise we reached the valley where the tomb is. It is a
+      desolate place, into which the sun pours his scorching heat all the long
+      day through, till the huge brown rocks which are strewn about become so
+      hot that one can scarcely bear to touch them, and the sand scorches the
+      feet. It was already too hot to walk, so we rode on donkeys, some way up
+      the valley&mdash;where a vulture floating far in the blue overhead was the
+      only other visitor&mdash;till we came to an enormous boulder polished by
+      centuries of action of sun and sand. Here Ali halted, saying that the tomb
+      was under the stone. Accordingly, we dismounted, and, leaving the donkeys
+      in charge of a fellah boy, went up to the rock. Beneath it was a small
+      hole, barely large enough for a man to creep through. Indeed it had been
+      dug by jackals, for the doorway and some part of the cave were entirely
+      silted up, and it was by means of this jackal hole that the tomb had been
+      discovered. Ali crept in on his hands and knees, and I followed, to find
+      myself in a place cold after the hot outside air, and, in contrast with
+      the light, filled with a dazzling darkness. We lit our candles, and, the
+      select body of thieves having arrived, I made an examination. We were in a
+      cave the size of a large room, and hollowed by hand, the further part of
+      the cave being almost free from drift-dust. On the walls are religious
+      paintings of the usual Ptolemaic character, and among them one of a
+      majestic old man with a long white beard, who is seated in a carved chair
+      holding a wand in his hand.[*] Before him passes a procession of priests
+      bearing sacred images. In the right hand corner of the tomb is the shaft
+      of the mummy-pit, a square-mouthed well cut in the black rock. We had
+      brought a beam of thorn-wood, and this was now laid across the pit and a
+      rope made fast to it. Then Ali&mdash;who, to do him justice, is a
+      courageous thief&mdash;took hold of the rope, and, putting some candles
+      into the breast of his robe, placed his bare feet against the smooth sides
+      of the well and began to descent with great rapidity. Very soon he had
+      vanished into blackness, and the agitation of the cord alone told us that
+      anything was going on below. At last the rope ceased shaking and a faint
+      shout came rumbling up the well, announcing Ali&rsquo;s safe arrival. Then, far
+      below, a tiny star of light appeared. He had lit the candle, thereby
+      disturbing hundreds of bats that flitted up in an endless stream and as
+      silently as spirits. The rope was hauled up again, and now it was my turn;
+      but, as I declined to trust my neck to the hand-over-hand method of
+      descent, the end of the cord was made fast round my middle and I was
+      lowered bodily into those sacred depths. Nor was it a pleasant journey,
+      for, if the masters of the situation above had made any mistake, I should
+      have been dashed to pieces. Also, the bats continually flew into my face
+      and clung to my hair, and I have a great dislike of bats. At last, after
+      some minutes of jerking and dangling, I found myself standing in a narrow
+      passage by the side of the worthy Ali, covered with bats and perspiration,
+      and with the skin rubbed off my knees and knuckles. Then another man came
+      down, hand over hand like a sailor, and as the rest were told to stop
+      above we were ready to go on. Ali went first with his candle&mdash;of
+      course we each had a candle&mdash;leading the way down a long passage
+      about five feet high. At length the passage widened out, and we were in
+      the tomb-chamber: I think the hottest and most silent place that I ever
+      entered. It was simply stifling. This chamber is a square room cut in the
+      rock and totally devoid of paintings or sculpture. I held up the candles
+      and looked round. About the place were strewn the coffin lids and the
+      mummied remains of the two bodies that the Arabs had previously violated.
+      The paintings on the former were, I noticed, of great beauty, though,
+      having no knowledge of hieroglyphics, I could not decipher them. Beads and
+      spicy wrappings lay around the remains, which, I saw, were those of a man
+      and a woman.[+] The head had been broken off the body of the man. I took
+      it up and looked at it. It had been closely shaved&mdash;after death, I
+      should say, from the general indications&mdash;and the features were
+      disfigured with gold leaf. But notwithstanding this, and the shrinkage of
+      the flesh, I think the face was one of the most imposing and beautiful
+      that I ever saw. It was that of a very old man, and his dead countenance
+      still wore so calm and solemn, indeed, so awful a look, that I grew quite
+      superstitious (though as you know, I am pretty well accustomed to dead
+      people), and put the head down in a hurry. There were still some wrappings
+      left upon the face of the second body, and I did not remove them; but she
+      must have been a fine large woman in her day.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] This, I take it, is a portrait of Amenemhat himself.&mdash;
+     Editor.
+
+     [+] Doubtless Amenemhat and his wife.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;There the other mummy,&rsquo; said Ali, pointing to a large and solid case
+      that seemed to have been carelessly thrown down in a corner, for it was
+      lying on its side.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I went up to it and carefully examined it. It was well made, but of
+      perfectly plain cedar-wood&mdash;not an inscription, not a solitary God on
+      it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Never see one like him before,&rsquo; said Ali. &lsquo;Bury great hurry, he no
+      &ldquo;mafish,&rdquo; no &ldquo;fineesh.&rdquo; Throw him down here on side.&rsquo; 
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I looked at the plain case till at last my interest was thoroughly
+      aroused. I was so shocked by the sight of the scattered dust of the
+      departed that I had made up my mind not to touch the remaining coffin&mdash;but
+      now my curiosity overcame me, and we set to work.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ali had brought a mallet and a cold chisel with him, and, having set the
+      coffin straight, he began upon it with all the zeal of an experienced
+      tomb-breaker. And then he pointed out another thing. Most mummy-cases are
+      fastened by four little tongues of wood, two on either side, which are
+      fixed in the upper half, and, passing into mortices cut to receive them in
+      the thickness of the lower half, are there held fast by pegs of hard wood.
+      But this mummy case had eight such tongues. Evidently it had been thought
+      well to secure it firmly. At last, with great difficulty, we raised the
+      massive lid, which was nearly three inches thick, and there, covered over
+      with a deep layer of loose spices (a very unusual thing), was the body.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ali looked at it with open eyes&mdash;and no wonder. For this mummy was
+      not as other mummies are. Mummies in general lie upon their backs, as
+      stiff and calm as though they were cut from wood; but this mummy lay upon
+      its side, and, the wrappings notwithstanding, its knees were slightly
+      bent. More than that, indeed, the gold mask, which, after the fashion of
+      the Ptolemaic period, had been set upon the face, had worked down, and was
+      literally pounded up beneath the hooded head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was impossible, seeing these things, to avoid the conclusion that the
+      mummy before us had moved with violence <i>since it was put in the coffin</i>.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Him very funny mummy. Him not &ldquo;mafish&rdquo; when him go in there,&rsquo; said Ali.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Nonsense!&rsquo; I said. &lsquo;Who ever heard of a live mummy?&rsquo; 
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We lifted the body out of the coffin, nearly choking ourselves with mummy
+      dust in the process, and there beneath it half hidden among the spices, we
+      made our first find. It was a roll of papyrus, carelessly fastened and
+      wrapped in a piece of mummy cloth, having to all appearance been thrown
+      into the coffin at the moment of closing.[*]
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] This roll contained the third unfinished book of the
+     history. The other two rolls were neatly fastened in the
+     usual fashion. All three are written by one hand in the
+     Demotic character.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ali eyed the papyrus greedily, but I seized it and put it in my pocket,
+      for it was agreed that I was to have all that might be discovered. Then we
+      began to unwrap the body. It was covered with very broad strong bandages,
+      thickly wound and roughly tied, sometimes by means of simple knots, the
+      whole working the appearance of having been executed in great haste and
+      with difficulty. Just over the head was a large lump. Presently, the
+      bandages covering it were off, and there, on the face, lay a second roll
+      of papyrus. I put down my hand to lift it, but it would not come away. It
+      appeared to be fixed to the stout seamless shroud which was drawn over the
+      whole body, and tied beneath the feet&mdash;as a farmer ties sacks. This
+      shroud, which was also thickly waxed, was in one piece, being made to fit
+      the form like a garment. I took a candle and examined the roll and then I
+      saw why it was fast. The spices had congealed and glued it to the
+      sack-like shroud. It was impossible to get it away without tearing the
+      outer sheets of papyrus.[*]
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] This accounts for the gaps in the last sheets of the
+     second roll. &mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At last, however, I wrenched it loose and put it with the other in my
+      pocket.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then we went on with our dreadful task in silence. With much care we
+      ripped loose the sack-like garment, and at last the body of a man lay
+      before us. Between his knees was a third roll of papyrus. I secured it,
+      then held down the light and looked at him. One glance at his face was
+      enough to tell a doctor how he had died.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This body was not much dried up. Evidently it had not passed the allotted
+      seventy days in natron, and therefore the expression and likeness were
+      better preserved than is usual. Without entering into particulars, I will
+      only say that I hope I shall never see such another look as that which was
+      frozen on this dead man&rsquo;s face. Even the Arabs recoiled from it in horror
+      and began to mutter prayers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For the rest, the usual opening on the left side through which the
+      embalmers did their work was absent; the finely-cut features were those of
+      a person of middle age, although the hair was already grey, and the frame
+      was that of a very powerful man, the shoulders being of an extraordinary
+      width. I had not time to examine very closely, however, for within a few
+      seconds from its uncovering, the unembalmed body began to crumble now that
+      it was exposed to the action of the air. In five or six minutes there was
+      literally nothing left of it but a wisp of hair, the skull, and a few of
+      the larger bones. I noticed that one of the tibiæ&mdash;I forget if it was
+      the right or the left&mdash;had been fractured and very badly set. It must
+      have been quite an inch shorter than the other.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, there was nothing more to find, and now that the excitement was
+      over, what between the heat, the exertion, and the smell of mummy dust and
+      spices, I felt more dead than alive.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am tired of writing, and this ship rolls. This letter, of course, goes
+      overland, and I am coming by &lsquo;long sea,&rsquo; but I hope to be in London within
+      ten days after you get it. Then I will tell you of my pleasing experiences
+      in the course of the ascent from the tomb-chamber, and of how that prince
+      of rascals, Ali Baba, and his thieves tried to frighten me into handing
+      over the papyri, and how I worsted them. Then, too, we will get the rolls
+      deciphered. I expect that they only contain the usual thing, copies of the
+      &lsquo;Book of the Dead,&rsquo; but there <i>may</i> be something else in them.
+      Needless to say, I did not narrate this little adventure in Egypt, or I
+      should have had the Boulac Museum people on my track. Good-bye, &lsquo;Mafish
+      Fineesh,&rsquo; as Ali Baba always said.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In due course, my friend, the writer of the letter from which I have
+      quoted, arrived in London, and on the very next day we paid a visit to a
+      learned acquaintance well versed in Hieroglyphics and Demotic writing. The
+      anxiety with which we watched him skilfully damping and unfolding one of
+      the rolls and peering through his gold-rimmed glasses at the mysterious
+      characters may well be imagined.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;whatever it is, this is <i>not</i> a copy of the &lsquo;Book of
+      the Dead.&rsquo; By George, what&rsquo;s this? Cle&mdash;Cleo&mdash;Cleopatra&mdash;&mdash;Why,
+      my dear Sirs, as I am a living man, this is the history of somebody who
+      lived in the days of Cleopatra, <i>the</i> Cleopatra, for here&rsquo;s Antony&rsquo;s
+      name with hers! Well, there&rsquo;s six months&rsquo; work before me here&mdash;six
+      months, at the very least!&rdquo; And in that joyful prospect he fairly lost
+      control of himself, and skipped about the room, shaking hands with us at
+      intervals, and saying &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll translate&mdash;I&rsquo;ll translate it if it kills
+      me, and we will publish it; and, by the living Osiris, it shall drive
+      every Egyptologist in Europe mad with envy! Oh, what a find! what a most
+      glorious find!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And O you whose eyes fall upon these pages, see, they have been
+      translated, and they have been printed, and here they lie before you&mdash;an
+      undiscovered land wherein you are free to travel!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Harmachis speaks to you from his forgotten tomb. The walls of Time fall
+      down, and, as at the lightning&rsquo;s leap, a picture from the past starts upon
+      your view, framed in the darkness of the ages.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He shows you those two Egypts which the silent pyramids looked down upon
+      long centuries ago&mdash;the Egypt of the Greek, the Roman, and the
+      Ptolemy, and that other outworn Egypt of the Hierophant, hoary with years,
+      heavy with the legends of antiquity and the memory of long-lost honours.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He tells you how the smouldering loyalty of the land of Khem blazed up
+      before it died, and how fiercely the old Time-consecrated Faith struggled
+      against the conquering tide of Change that rose, like Nile at flood, and
+      drowned the ancient Gods of Egypt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here, in his pages, you shall learn the glory of Isis the Many-shaped, the
+      Executrix of Decrees. Here you shall make acquaintance with the shade of
+      Cleopatra, that &ldquo;Thing of Flame,&rdquo; whose passion-breathing beauty shaped
+      the destiny of Empires. Here you shall read how the soul of Charmion was
+      slain of the sword her vengeance smithied.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here Harmachis, the doomed Egyptian, being about to die, salutes you who
+      follow on the path he trod. In the story of his broken years he shows to
+      you what may in its degree be the story of your own. Crying aloud from
+      that dim Amenti[*] where to-day he wears out his long atoning time, he
+      tells, in the history of his fall, the fate of him who, however sorely
+      tried, forgets his God, his Honour, and his Country.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] The Egyptian Hades or Purgatory.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      BOOK I&mdash;THE PREPARATION OF HARMACHIS
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER I
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE BIRTH OF HARMACHIS; THE PROPHECY OF THE HATHORS; AND THE SLAYING OF
+      THE INNOCENT CHILD
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      By Osiris who sleeps at Abouthis, I write the truth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I, Harmachis, Hereditary Priest of the Temple, reared by the divine Sethi,
+      aforetime a Pharaoh of Egypt, and now justified in Osiris and ruling in
+      Amenti. I, Harmachis, by right Divine and by true descent of blood King of
+      the Double Crown, and Pharaoh of the Upper and Lower Land. I, Harmachis,
+      who cast aside the opening flower of our hope, who turned from the
+      glorious path, who forgot the voice of God in hearkening to the voice of
+      woman. I, Harmachis, the fallen, in whom are gathered up all woes as
+      waters are gathered in a desert well, who have tasted of every shame, who
+      through betrayal have betrayed, who in losing the glory that is here have
+      lost the glory which is to be, who am utterly undone&mdash;I write, and,
+      by Him who sleeps at Abouthis, I write the truth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      O Egypt!&mdash;dear land of Khem, whose black soil nourished up my mortal
+      part&mdash;land that I have betrayed&mdash;O Osiris!&mdash;Isis!&mdash;Horus!&mdash;ye
+      Gods of Egypt whom I have betrayed!&mdash;O ye temples whose pylons strike
+      the sky, whose faith I have betrayed!&mdash;O Royal blood of the Pharaohs
+      of eld, that yet runs within these withered veins&mdash;whose virtue I
+      have betrayed!&mdash;O Invisible Essence of all Good! and O Fate, whose
+      balance rested on my hand&mdash;hear me; and, to the day of utter doom,
+      bear me witness that I write the truth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Even while I write, beyond the fertile fields, the Nile is running red, as
+      though with blood. Before me the sunlight beats upon the far Arabian
+      hills, and falls upon the piles of Abouthis. Still the priests make orison
+      within the temples at Abouthis that know me no more; still the sacrifice
+      is offered, and the stony roofs echo back the people&rsquo;s prayers. Still from
+      this lone cell within my prison-tower, I, the Word of Shame, watch thy
+      fluttering banners, Abouthis, flaunting from thy pylon walls, and hear the
+      chants as the long procession winds from sanctuary to sanctuary.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Abouthis, lost Abouthis! my heart goes out toward thee! For the day comes
+      when the desert sands shall fill thy secret places! Thy Gods are doomed, O
+      Abouthis! New Faiths shall make a mock of all thy Holies, and Centurion
+      shall call upon Centurion across thy fortress-walls. I weep&mdash;I weep
+      tears of blood: for mine is the sin that brought about these evils and
+      mine for ever is their shame.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Behold, it is written hereafter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here in Abouthis I was born, I, Harmachis, and my father, the justified in
+      Osiris, was High Priest of the Temple of Sethi. And on that same day of my
+      birth Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt, was born also. I passed my youth in
+      yonder fields watching the baser people at their labours and going in and
+      out at will among the great courts of the temples. Of my mother I knew
+      naught, for she died when I yet hung at the breast. But before she died in
+      the reign of Ptolemy Aulêtes, who is named the Piper, so did the old wife,
+      Atoua, told me, my mother took a golden uræus, the snake symbol of our
+      Royalty of Egypt, from a coffer of ivory and laid it on my brow. And those
+      who saw her do this believed that she was distraught of the Divinity, and
+      in her madness foreshadowed that the day of the Macedonian Lagidæ was
+      ended, and that Egypt&rsquo;s sceptre should pass again to the hand of Egypt&rsquo;s
+      true and Royal race. But when my father, the old High Priest Amenemhat,
+      whose only child I was, she who was his wife before my mother having been,
+      for what crime I know not, cursed with barrenness by Sekhet: I say when my
+      father came in and saw what the dying woman had done, he lifted up his
+      hands towards the vault of heaven and adored the Invisible, because of the
+      sign that had been sent. And as he adored, the Hathors[*] filled my dying
+      mother with the Spirit of Prophecy, and she rose in strength from the
+      couch and prostrated herself thrice before the cradle where I lay asleep,
+      the Royal asp upon my brow, crying aloud:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] The Egyptian <i>Parcæ</i> or <i>Fates</i>.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hail to thee, fruit of my womb! Hail to thee, Royal child! Hail to thee,
+      Pharaoh that shalt be! Hail to thee, God that shalt purge the land, Divine
+      seed of Nekt-nebf, the descended from Isis. Keep thee pure, and thou shalt
+      rule and deliver Egypt and not be broken. But if thou dost fail in thy
+      hour of trial, then may the curse of all the Gods of Egypt rest upon thee,
+      and the curse of thy Royal forefathers, the justified, who ruled the land
+      before thee from the age of Horus. Then in life mayst thou be wretched,
+      and after death may Osiris refuse thee, and the judges of Amenti give
+      judgment against thee, and Set and Sekhet torment thee, till such time as
+      thy sin is purged, and the Gods of Egypt, called by strange names, are
+      once more worshipped in the Temples of Egypt, and the staff of the
+      Oppressor is broken, and the footsteps of the Foreigner are swept clean,
+      and the thing is accomplished as thou in thy weakness shalt cause it to be
+      done.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      When she had spoken thus, the Spirit of Prophecy went out of her, and she
+      fell dead across the cradle where I slept, so that I awoke with a cry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But my father, Amenemhat, the High Priest, trembled, and was very fearful,
+      both because of the words which had been said by the Spirit of the Hathors
+      through the mouth of my mother, and because what had been uttered was
+      treason against Ptolemy. For he knew that, if the matter should come to
+      the ears of Ptolemy, Pharaoh would send his guards to destroy the life of
+      the child concerning whom such things were prophesied. Therefore, my
+      father shut the doors, and caused all those who stood by to swear upon the
+      holy symbol of his office, and by the name of the Divine Three, and by the
+      Soul of her who lay dead upon the stones beside them, that nothing of what
+      they had seen and heard should pass their lips.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now among the company was the old wife, Atoua, who had been the nurse of
+      my mother, and loved her well; and in these days, though I know not how it
+      had been in the past, nor how it shall be in the future, there is no oath
+      that can bind a woman&rsquo;s tongue. And so it came about that by-and-by, when
+      the matter had become homely in her mind, and her fear had fallen from
+      her, she spoke of the prophecy to her daughter, who nursed me at the
+      breast now that my mother was dead. She did this as they walked together
+      in the desert carrying food to the husband of the daughter, who was a
+      sculptor, and shaped effigies of the holy Gods in the tombs that are
+      fashioned in the rock&mdash;telling the daughter, my nurse, how great must
+      be her care and love toward the child that should one day be Pharaoh, and
+      drive the Ptolemies from Egypt. But the daughter, my nurse, was so filled
+      with wonder at what she heard that she could not keep the tale locked
+      within her breast, and in the night she awoke her husband, and, in her
+      turn, whispered it to him, and thereby compassed her own destruction, and
+      the destruction of her child, my foster-brother. For the man told his
+      friend, and the friend was a spy of Ptolemy&rsquo;s, and thus the tale came to
+      Pharaoh&rsquo;s ears.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now, Pharaoh was much troubled thereat, for though when he was full of
+      wine he would make a mock of the God of the Egyptians, and swear that the
+      Roman Senate was the only God to whom he bowed the knee, yet in his heart
+      he was terribly afraid, as I have learned from one who was his physician.
+      For when he was alone at night he would scream and cry aloud to the great
+      Serapis, who indeed is no true God, and to other Gods, fearing lest he
+      should be murdered and his soul handed over to the tormentors. Also, when
+      he felt his throne tremble under him, he would send large presents to the
+      temples, asking a message from the oracles, and more especially from the
+      oracle that is at Philæ. Therefore, when it came to his ears that the wife
+      of the High Priest of the great and ancient Temple of Abouthis had been
+      filled with the Spirit of Prophecy before she died, and foretold that her
+      son should be Pharaoh, he was much afraid, and summoning some trusty
+      guards&mdash;who, being Greeks, did not fear to do sacrilege&mdash;he
+      despatched them by boat up the Nile, with orders to come to Abouthis and
+      cut off the head of the child of the High Priest and bring it to him in a
+      basket.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But, as it chanced, the boat in which the guards came was of deep draught,
+      and, the time of their coming being at the lowest ebb of the river, it
+      struck and remained fast upon a bank of mud that is opposite the mouth of
+      the road running across the plains to Abouthis, and, as the north wind was
+      blowing very fiercely, it was like to sink. Thereon the guards of Pharaoh
+      called out to the common people, who laboured at lifting water along the
+      banks of the river, to come with boats and take them off; but, seeing that
+      they were Greeks of Alexandria, the people would not, for the Egyptians do
+      not love the Greeks. Then the guards cried that they were on Pharaoh&rsquo;s
+      business, and still the people would not, asking what was their business.
+      Whereon a eunuch among them who had made himself drunk in his fear, told
+      them that they came to slay the child of Amenemhat, the High Priest, of
+      whom it was prophesied that he should be Pharaoh and sweep the Greeks from
+      Egypt. And then the people feared to stand longer in doubt, but brought
+      boats, not knowing what might be meant by the man&rsquo;s words. But there was
+      one amongst them&mdash;a farmer and an overseer of canals&mdash;who was a
+      kinsman of my mother&rsquo;s and had been present when she prophesied; and he
+      turned and ran swiftly for three parts of an hour, till he came to where I
+      lay in the house that is without the north wall of the great Temple. Now,
+      as it chanced, my father was away in that part of the Place of Tombs which
+      is to the left of the large fortress, and Pharaoh&rsquo;s guards, mounted on
+      asses, were hard upon us. Then the messenger cried to the old wife, Atoua,
+      whose tongue had brought about the evil, and told how the soldiers drew
+      near to slay me. And they looked at each other, not knowing what to do;
+      for, had they hid me, the guards would not have stayed their search till I
+      was found. But the man, gazing through the doorway, saw a little child at
+      play:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Woman,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;whose is that child?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is my grandchild,&rdquo; she answered, &ldquo;the foster-brother of the Prince
+      Harmachis; the child to whose mother we owe this evil case.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Woman,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;thou knowest thy duty, do it!&rdquo; and he again pointed at
+      the child. &ldquo;I command thee, by the Holy Name!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Atoua trembled exceedingly, because the child was of her own blood; but,
+      nevertheless, she took the boy and washed him and set a robe of silk upon
+      him, and laid him on my cradle. And me she took and smeared with mud to
+      make my fair skin darker, and, drawing my garment from me, set me to play
+      in the dirt of the yard, which I did right gladly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then the man hid himself, and presently the soldiers rode up and asked of
+      the old wife if this were the dwelling of the High Priest Amenemhat? And
+      she told them yea, and, bidding them enter, offered them honey and milk,
+      for they were thirsty.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When they had drunk, the eunuch who was with them asked if that were the
+      son of Amenemhat who lay in the cradle; and she said &ldquo;Yea&mdash;yea,&rdquo; and
+      began to tell the guards how he would be great, for it had been prophesied
+      of him that he should one day rule them all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the Greek guards laughed, and one of them, seizing the child, smote
+      off his head with a sword; and the eunuch drew forth the signet of Pharaoh
+      as warrant for the deed and showed it to the old wife, Atoua, bidding her
+      tell the High Priest that his son should be King without a head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And as they went one of their number saw me playing in the dirt and called
+      out that there was more breeding in yonder brat than in the Prince
+      Harmachis; and for a moment they wavered, thinking to slay me also, but in
+      the end they passed on, bearing the head of my foster-brother, for they
+      loved not to murder little children.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After a while, the mother of the dead child returned from the
+      market-place, and when she found what had been done, she and her husband
+      would have killed Atoua the old wife, her mother, and given me up to the
+      soldiers of Pharaoh. But my father came in also and learned the truth, and
+      he caused the man and his wife to be seized by night and hidden away in
+      the dark places of the temple, so that none saw them more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But I would to-day that it had been the will of the Gods that I had been
+      slain of the soldiers and not the innocent child.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thereafter it was given out that the High Priest Amenemhat had taken me to
+      be as a son to him in the place of that Harmachis who was slain of
+      Pharaoh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER II
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE DISOBEDIENCE OF HARMACHIS; OF THE SLAYING OF THE LION; AND OF THE
+      SPEECH OF THE OLD WIFE, ATOUA
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And after these things Ptolemy the Piper troubled us no more, nor did he
+      again send his soldiers to seek for him of whom it was prophesied that he
+      should be Pharaoh. For the head of the child, my foster-brother, was
+      brought to him by the eunuch as he sat in his palace of marble at
+      Alexandria, flushed with Cyprian wine, and played upon the flute before
+      his women. And at his bidding the eunuch lifted up the head by the hair
+      for him to look on. Then he laughed and smote it on the cheek with his
+      sandal, bidding one of the girls crown Pharaoh with flowers. And he bowed
+      the knee, and mocked the head of the innocent child. But the girl, who was
+      sharp of tongue&mdash;for all of this I heard in after years&mdash;said to
+      him that &ldquo;he did well to bow the knee, for this child was indeed Pharaoh,
+      the greatest of Pharaohs, and his name was the <i>Osiris</i> and his
+      throne was <i>Death</i>.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Aulêtes was much troubled at these words, and trembled, for, being a
+      wicked man, he greatly feared entering into Amenti. So he caused the girl
+      to be slain because of the evil omen of her saying; crying that he would
+      send her to worship that Pharaoh whom she had named. And the other women
+      he sent away, and played no more upon the flute till he was once again
+      drunk on the morrow. But the Alexandrians made a song on the matter, which
+      is still sung about the streets. And this is the beginning of it&mdash;
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     Ptolemy the Piper played
+     Over dead and dying;
+     Piped and played he well.
+     Sure that flute of his was made
+     Of the dank reed sighing
+     O&rsquo;er the streams of Hell.
+     There beneath the shadows grey,
+     With the sisters three,
+     Shall he pipe for many a day.
+     May the Frog his butler be!
+     And his wine the water of that countrie&mdash;
+     Ptolemy the Piper!
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      After this the years passed on, nor did I, being very little, know
+      anything of the great things that came to pass in Egypt; nor is it my
+      purpose to set them out here. For I, Harmachis, having little time left to
+      me, will only speak of those things with which I have been concerned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And as the time went on, my father and the teachers instructed me in the
+      ancient learning of our people, and in such matters appertaining to the
+      Gods as it is meet that children should know. So I grew strong and comely,
+      for my hair was black as the hair of the divine Nout, and my eyes were
+      blue as the blue lotus, and my skin was like the alabaster within the
+      sanctuaries. For now that these glories have passed from me I may speak of
+      them without shame. I was strong also. There was no youth of my years in
+      Abouthis who could stand against me to wrestle with me, nor could any
+      throw so far with the sling or spear. And I much yearned to hunt the lion;
+      but he whom I called my father forbade me, telling me that my life was of
+      too great worth to be so lightly hazarded. But when I bowed before him and
+      prayed he would make his meaning clear to me, the old man frowned and
+      answered that the Gods made all things clear in their own season. For my
+      part, however, I went away in wroth, for there was a youth in Abouthis who
+      with others had slain a lion which fell upon his father&rsquo;s herds, and,
+      being envious of my strength and beauty, he set it about that I was
+      cowardly at heart, in that when I went out to hunt I only slew jackals and
+      gazelles. Now, this was when I had reached my seventeenth year and was a
+      man grown.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It chanced, therefore, that as I went sore at heart from the presence of
+      the High Priest, I met this youth, who called to me and mocked me, bidding
+      me know the country people had told him that a great lion was down among
+      the rushes by the banks of the canal which runs past the Temple, lying at
+      a distance of thirty stadia from Abouthis. And, still mocking me, he asked
+      me if I would come and help him slay this lion, or would I go and sit
+      among the old women and bid them comb my side lock? This bitter word so
+      angered me that I was near to falling on him; but in place therefore,
+      forgetting my father&rsquo;s saying, I answered that if he would come alone, I
+      would go with him and seek this lion, and he should learn if I were indeed
+      a coward. And at first he would not, for, as men know, it is our custom to
+      hunt the lion in companies; so it was my hour to mock. Then he went and
+      fetched his bow and arrows and a sharp knife. And I brought forth my heavy
+      spear, which had a shaft of thorn-wood, and at its end a pomegranate in
+      silver, to hold the hand from slipping; and, in silence, we went, side by
+      side, to where the lion lay. When we came to the place, it was near
+      sundown; and there, upon the mud of the canal-bank, we found the lion&rsquo;s
+      slot, which ran into a thick clump of reeds.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, thou boaster,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;wilt thou lead the way into yonder reeds, or
+      shall I?&rdquo; And I made as though I would lead the way.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, nay,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;be not so mad! The brute will spring upon thee
+      and rend thee. See! I will shoot among the reeds. Perchance, if he sleeps,
+      it will arouse him.&rdquo; And he drew his bow at a venture.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      How it chanced I know not, but the arrow struck the sleeping lion, and,
+      like a flash of light from the belly of a cloud, he bounded from the
+      shelter of the reeds, and stood before us with bristling mane and yellow
+      eyes, the arrow quivering in his flank. He roared aloud in fury, and the
+      earth shook.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shoot with the bow,&rdquo; I cried, &ldquo;shoot swiftly ere he spring!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But courage had left the breast of the boaster, his jaw dropped down and
+      his fingers unloosed their hold so that the bow fell from them; then, with
+      a loud cry he turned and fled behind me, leaving the lion in my path. But
+      while I stood waiting my doom, for though I was sore afraid I would not
+      fly, the lion crouched himself, and turning not aside, with one great
+      bound swept over me, touching me not. He lit, and again he bounded full
+      upon the boaster&rsquo;s back, striking him such a blow with his great paw that
+      his head was crushed as an egg thrown against a stone. He fell down dead,
+      and the lion stood and roared over him. Then I was mad with horror, and,
+      scarce knowing what I did, I grasped my spear and with a shout I charged.
+      As I charged the lion lifted himself up above me. He smote at me with his
+      paw; but with all my strength I drove the broad spear into his throat,
+      and, shrinking from the agony of the steel, his blow fell short and did no
+      more than rip my skin. Back he fell, the great spear far in his throat;
+      then rising, he roared in pain and leapt twice the height of a man
+      straight into the air, smiting at the spear with his forepaws. Twice he
+      leapt thus, horrible to see, and twice he fell upon his back. Then his
+      strength spent itself with his rushing blood, and, groaning like a bull,
+      he died; while I, being but a lad, stood and trembled with fear now that
+      all cause of fear had passed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But as I stood and gazed at the body of him who had taunted me, and at the
+      carcass of the lion, a woman came running towards me, even the same old
+      wife, Atoua, who, though I knew it not as yet, had offered up her flesh
+      and blood that I might be saved alive. For she had been gathering simples,
+      in which she had great skill, by the water&rsquo;s edge, not knowing that there
+      was a lion near (and, indeed, the lions, for the most part, are not found
+      in the tilled land, but rather in the desert and the Libyan mountains),
+      and had seen from a distance that which I have set down. Now, when she was
+      come, she knew me for Harmachis, and, bending herself, she made obeisance
+      to me, and saluted me, calling me Royal, and worthy of all honour, and
+      beloved, and chosen of the Holy Three, ay, and by the name of the Pharaoh!
+      the Deliverer!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But I, thinking that terror had made her sick of mind, asked her of what
+      she would speak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it a great thing,&rdquo; I asked, &ldquo;that I should slay a lion? Is it a matter
+      worthy of such talk as thine? There live, and have lived, men who have
+      slain many lions. Did not the Divine Amen-hetep the Osirian slay with his
+      own hand more than a hundred lions? Is it not written on the scarabæus
+      that hangs within my father&rsquo;s chamber, that he slew lions aforetime? And
+      have not others done likewise? Why then, speakest thou thus, O foolish
+      woman?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      All of which I said, because, having now slain the lion, I was minded,
+      after the manner of youth, to hold it as a thing of no account. But she
+      did not cease to make obeisance, and to call me by names that are too high
+      to be written.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Royal One,&rdquo; she cried, &ldquo;wisely did thy mother prophecy. Surely the Holy
+      Spirit, the Knepth, was in her, O thou conceived by a God! See the omen.
+      The lion there&mdash;he growls within the Capitol at Rome&mdash;and the
+      dead man, he is the Ptolemy&mdash;the Macedonian spawn that, like a
+      foreign weed, hath overgrown the land of Nile; with the Macedonian Lagidæ
+      thou shalt go to smite the lion of Rome. But the Macedonian cur shall fly,
+      and the Roman lion shall strike him down, and thou shalt strike down the
+      lion, and the land of Khem shall once more be free! free! Keep thyself but
+      pure, according to the commandment of the Gods, O son of the Royal House;
+      O hope of Khemi! be but ware of Woman the Destroyer, and as I have said,
+      so shall it be. I am poor and wretched; yea, stricken with sorrow. I have
+      sinned in speaking of what should be hid, and for my sin I have paid in
+      the coin of that which was born of my womb; willingly have I paid for
+      thee. But I have still of the wisdom of our people, nor do the Gods, in
+      whose eyes all are equal, turn their countenance from the poor; the Divine
+      Mother Isis hath spoken to me&mdash;but last night she spake&mdash;bidding
+      me come hither to gather herbs, and read to thee the signs that I should
+      see. And as I have said, so it shall come to pass, if thou canst but
+      endure the weight of the great temptation. Come hither, Royal One!&rdquo; and
+      she led me to the edge of the canal, where the water was deep, and still
+      and blue. &ldquo;Now gaze upon that face as the water throws it back. Is not
+      that brow fitted to bear the double crown? Do not those gentle eyes mirror
+      the majesty of kings? Hath not the Ptah, the Creator, fashioned that form
+      to fit the Imperial garb, and awe the glance of multitudes looking through
+      thee to God?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, nay!&rdquo; she went on in another voice&mdash;a shrill old wife&rsquo;s voice&mdash;&ldquo;I
+      will&mdash;be not so foolish, boy&mdash;the scratch of a lion is a
+      venomous thing, a terrible thing; yea, as bad as the bite of an asp&mdash;it
+      must be treated, else it will fester, and all thy days thou shalt dream of
+      lions; ay, and snakes; and, also, it will break out in sores. But I know
+      of it&mdash;I know. I am not crazed for nothing. For mark! everything has
+      its balance&mdash;in madness is much wisdom, and in wisdom much madness.
+      <i>La! la! la!</i> Pharaoh himself can&rsquo;t say where the one begins and the
+      other ends. Now, don&rsquo;t stand gazing there, looking as silly as a cat in a
+      crocus-coloured robe, as they say in Alexandria; but just let me stick
+      these green things on the place, and in six days you&rsquo;ll heal up as white
+      as a three-year-child. Never mind the smart of it, lad. By Him who sleeps
+      at Philæ, or at Abouthis, or at Abydus&mdash;as our divine masters have it
+      now&mdash;or wherever He does sleep, which is a thing we shall all find
+      out before we want to&mdash;by Osiris, I say, you&rsquo;ll live to be as clean
+      from scars as a sacrifice to Isis at the new moon, if you&rsquo;ll but let me
+      put it on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it not so, good folk?&rdquo;&mdash;and she turned to address some people
+      who, while she prophesied, had assembled unseen by me&mdash;&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been
+      speaking a spell over him, just to make a way for the virtue of my
+      medicine&mdash;<i>la! la!</i> there&rsquo;s nothing like a spell. If you don&rsquo;t
+      believe it, just you come to me next time your wives are barren; it&rsquo;s
+      better than scraping every pillar in the Temple of Osiris, I&rsquo;ll warrant.
+      I&rsquo;ll make &lsquo;em bear like a twenty-year-old palm. But then, you see, you
+      must know what to say&mdash;that&rsquo;s the point&mdash;everything comes to a
+      point at last. <i>La! la!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now, when I heard all this, I, Harmachis, put my hand to my head, not
+      knowing if I dreamed. But presently looking up, I saw a grey-haired man
+      among those who were gathered together, who watched us sharply, and
+      afterwards I learned that this man was the spy of Ptolemy, the very man,
+      indeed, who had wellnigh caused me to be slain of Pharaoh when I was in my
+      cradle. Then I understood why Atoua spoke so foolishly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thine are strange spells, old wife,&rdquo; the spy said. &ldquo;Thou didst speak of
+      Pharaoh and the double crown and of the form fashioned by Ptah to bear it;
+      is it not so?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, yea&mdash;part of the spell, thou fool; and what can one swear by
+      better nowadays than by the Divine Pharaoh the Piper, whom, and whose
+      music, may the Gods preserve to charm this happy land?&mdash;what better
+      than by the double crown he wears&mdash;grace to great Alexander of
+      Macedonia? By the way, you know about everything: have they got back his
+      chlamys yet, which Mithridates took to Cos? Pompey wore it last, didn&rsquo;t
+      he?&mdash;in his triumph, too&mdash;just fancy Pompey in the cloak of
+      Alexander!&mdash;a puppy-dog in a lion&rsquo;s skin! And talking of lions&mdash;look
+      what this lad hath done&mdash;slain a lion with his own spear; and right
+      glad you village folks should be to see it, for it was a very fierce lion&mdash;just
+      see his teeth and his claws&mdash;his claws!&mdash;they are enough to make
+      a poor silly old woman like me shriek to look at them! And the body there,
+      the dead body&mdash;the lion slew it. Alack! he&rsquo;s an Osiris[*] now, the
+      body&mdash;and to think of it, but an hour ago he was an everyday mortal
+      like you or me! Well, away with him to the embalmers. He&rsquo;ll soon swell in
+      the sun and burst, and that will save them the trouble of cutting him
+      open. Not that they will spend a talent of silver over him anyway. Seventy
+      days in natron&mdash;that&rsquo;s all he&rsquo;s likely to get. <i>La! la!</i> how my
+      tongue does run, and it&rsquo;s getting dark. Come, aren&rsquo;t you going to take
+      away the body of that poor lad, and the lion, too? There, my boy, you keep
+      those herbs on, and you&rsquo;ll never feel your scratches. I know a thing or
+      two for all I&rsquo;m crazy, and you, my own grandson! Dear, dear, I&rsquo;m glad his
+      Holiness the High Priest adopted you when Pharaoh&mdash;Osiris bless his
+      holy name&mdash;made an end of his son; you look so bonny. I warrant the
+      real Harmachis could not have killed a lion like that. Give me the common
+      blood, I say&mdash;it&rsquo;s so lusty.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] The soul when it has been absorbed in the Godhead.&mdash;
+     Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You know too much and talk too fast,&rdquo; grumbled the spy, now quite
+      deceived. &ldquo;Well, he is a brave youth. Here, you men, bear this body back
+      to Abouthis, and some of you stop and help me skin the lion. We&rsquo;ll send
+      the skin to you, young man,&rdquo; he went on; &ldquo;not that you deserve it: to
+      attack a lion like that was the act of a fool, and a fool deserves what he
+      gets&mdash;destruction. Never attack the strong until you are stronger.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But for my part I went home wondering.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER III
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE REBUKE OF AMENEMHAT; OF THE PRAYER OF HARMACHIS; AND OF THE SIGN
+      GIVEN BY THE HOLY GODS
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a while as I, Harmachis, went, the juice of the green herbs which the
+      old wife, Atoua, had placed upon my wounds caused me much smart, but
+      presently the pain ceased. And, of a truth, I believe that there was
+      virtue in them, for within two days my flesh healed up, so that after a
+      time no marks remained. But I bethought me that I had disobeyed the word
+      of the old High Priest, Amenemhat, who was called my father. For till this
+      day I knew not that he was in truth my father according to the flesh,
+      having been taught that his own son was slain as I have written; and that
+      he had been pleased, with the sanction of the Divine ones, to take me as
+      an adopted son and rear me up, that I might in due season fulfil an office
+      about the Temple. Therefore I was much troubled, for I feared the old man,
+      who was very terrible in his anger, and ever spoke with the cold voice of
+      Wisdom. Nevertheless, I determined to go in to him and confess my fault
+      and bear such punishment as he should be pleased to put upon me. So with
+      the red spear in my hand, and the red wounds on my breast, I passed
+      through the outer court of the great temple and came to the door of the
+      place where the High Priest dwelt. It is a great chamber, sculptured round
+      about with the images of the solemn Gods, and the sunlight comes to it in
+      the daytime by an opening cut through the stones of the massy roof. But at
+      night it was lit by a swinging lamp of bronze. I passed in without noise,
+      for the door was not altogether shut, and, pushing my way through the
+      heavy curtains that were beyond, I stood with a beating heart within the
+      chamber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lamp was lit, for the darkness had fallen, and by its light I saw the
+      old man seated in a chair of ivory and ebony at a table of stone on which
+      were spread mystic writings of the words of Life and Death. But he read no
+      more, for he slept, and his long white beard rested upon the table like
+      the beard of a dead man. The soft light from the lamp fell on him, on the
+      papyri and the gold ring upon his hand, where were graven the symbols of
+      the Invisible One, but all around was shadow. It fell on the shaven head,
+      on the white robe, on the cedar staff of priesthood at his side, and on
+      the ivory of the lion-footed chair; it showed the mighty brow of power,
+      the features cut in kingly mould, the white eyebrows, and the dark hollows
+      of the deep-set eyes. I looked and trembled, for there was about him that
+      which was more than the dignity of man. He had lived so long with the
+      Gods, and so long kept company with them and with thoughts divine, he was
+      so deeply versed in all those mysteries which we do but faintly discern,
+      here in this upper air, that even now, before his time, he partook of the
+      nature of the Osiris, and was a thing to shake humanity with fear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I stood and gazed, and as I stood he opened his dark eyes, but looked not
+      on me, nor turned his head; and yet he saw me and spoke.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why hast thou been disobedient to me, my son?&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;How came it that
+      thou wentest forth against the lion when I bade thee not?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How knowest thou, my father, that I went forth?&rdquo; I asked in fear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How know I? Are there, then, no other ways of knowledge than by the
+      senses? Ah, ignorant child! was not my Spirit with thee when the lion
+      sprang upon thy companion? Did I not pray Those set about thee to protect
+      thee, to make sure thy thrust when thou didst drive the spear into the
+      lion&rsquo;s throat! How came it that thou wentest forth, my son?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The boaster taunted me,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;and I went.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I know it; and, because of the hot blood of youth, I forgive thee,
+      Harmachis. But now listen to me, and let my words sink into thy heart like
+      the waters of Sihor into the thirsty sand at the rising of Sirius.[*]
+      Listen to me. The boaster was sent to thee as a temptation, he was sent as
+      a trial of thy strength, and see! it has not been equal to the burden.
+      Therefore thy hour is put back. Hadst thou been strong in this matter, the
+      path had been made plain to thee even now. But thou hast failed, and
+      therefore thy hour is put back.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] The dog-star, whose appearance marked the commencement
+     of the overflow of the Nile.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I understand thee not, my father,&rdquo; I answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What was it, then, my son, that the old wife, Atoua, said to thee down by
+      the bank of the canal?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I told him all that the old wife had said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And thou believest, Harmachis, my son?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;how should I believe such tales? Surely she is mad.
+      All the people know her for mad.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now for the first time he looked towards me, who was standing in the
+      shadow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My son! my son!&rdquo; he cried; &ldquo;thou art wrong. She is not mad. The woman
+      spoke the truth; she spoke not of herself, but of the voice within her
+      that cannot lie. For this Atoua is a prophetess and holy. Now learn thou
+      the destiny that the Gods of Egypt have given to thee to fulfil, and woe
+      be unto thee if by any weakness thou dost fail therein! Listen: thou art
+      no stranger adopted into my house and the worship of the Temple; thou art
+      my very son, saved to me by this same woman. But, Harmachis, thou art more
+      than this, for in thee and me alone yet flows the Imperial blood of Egypt.
+      Thou and I alone of men alive are descended, without break or flaw, from
+      that Pharaoh Nekt-nebf whom Ochus the Persian drove from Egypt. The
+      Persian came and the Persian went, and after the Persian came the
+      Macedonian, and now for nigh upon three hundred years the Lagidæ have
+      usurped the double crown, defiling the land of Khem and corrupting the
+      worship of its Gods. And mark thou this: but now, two weeks since, Ptolemy
+      Neus Dionysus, Ptolemy Aulêtes the Piper, who would have slain thee, is
+      dead; and but now hath the Eunuch Pothinus, that very eunuch who came
+      hither, years ago, to cut thee off, set at naught the will of his master,
+      the dead Aulêtes, and placed the boy Ptolemy upon the throne. And
+      therefore his sister Cleopatra, that fierce and beautiful girl, has fled
+      into Syria; and there, if I err not, she will gather her armies and make
+      war upon her brother Ptolemy: for by her father&rsquo;s will she was left
+      joint-sovereign with him. And, meanwhile, mark thou this, my son: the
+      Roman eagle hangs on high, waiting with ready talons till such time as he
+      may fall upon the fat wether Egypt and rend him. And mark again: the
+      people of Egypt are weary of the foreign yoke, they hate the memory of the
+      Persians, and they are sick at heart of being named &lsquo;Men of Macedonia&rsquo; in
+      the markets of Alexandria. The whole land mutters and murmurs beneath the
+      yoke of the Greek and the shadow of the Roman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have we not been oppressed? Have not our children been butchered and our
+      gains wrung from us to fill the bottomless greed and lust of the Lagidæ?
+      Have not the temples been forsaken?&mdash;ay, have not the majesties of
+      the Eternal Gods been set at naught by these Grecian babblers, who have
+      dared to meddle with the immortal truths, and name the Most High by
+      another name&mdash;by the name of Serapis&mdash;confounding the substance
+      of the Invisible? Does not Egypt cry aloud for freedom?&mdash;and shall
+      she cry in vain? Nay, nay, for thou, my son, art the appointed way of
+      deliverance. To thee, being sunk in eld, I have decreed my rights. Already
+      thy name is whispered in many a sanctuary, from Abu to Athu; already
+      priests and people swear allegiance, even by the sacred symbols, unto him
+      who shall be declared to them. Still, the time is not yet; thou art too
+      green a sapling to bear the weight of such a storm. But to-day thou wast
+      tried and found wanting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He who would serve the Gods, Harmachis, must put aside the failings of
+      the flesh. Taunts must not move him, nor any lusts of man. Thine is a high
+      mission, but this thou must learn. If thou learn it not, thou shalt fail
+      therein; and then, my curse be on thee! and the curse of Egypt, and the
+      curse of Egypt&rsquo;s broken Gods! For know thou this, that even the Gods, who
+      are immortal, may, in the interwoven scheme of things, lean upon the man
+      who is their instrument, as a warrior on his sword. And woe be to the
+      sword that snaps in the hour of battle, for it shall be thrown aside to
+      rust or perchance be melted with fire! Therefore, make thy heart pure and
+      high and strong; for thine is no common lot, and thine no mortal meed.
+      Triumph, Harmachis, and in glory thou shalt go&mdash;in glory here and
+      hereafter! Fail, and woe&mdash;woe be on thee!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused and bowed his head, and then went on:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of these matters thou shalt hear more hereafter. Meanwhile, thou hast
+      much to learn. To-morrow I will give thee letters, and thou shalt journey
+      down the Nile, past white-walled Memphis to Annu. There thou shalt sojourn
+      certain years, and learn more of our ancient wisdom beneath the shadow of
+      those secret pyramids of which thou, too, art the Hereditary High Priest
+      that is to be. And meanwhile, I will sit here and watch, for my hour is
+      not yet, and, by the help of the Gods, spin the web of Death wherein thou
+      shalt catch and hold the wasp of Macedonia.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come hither, my son; come hither and kiss me on the brow, for thou art my
+      hope, and all the hope of Egypt. Be but true, soar to the eagle crest of
+      destiny, and thou shalt be glorious here and hereafter. Be false, fail,
+      and I will spit upon thee, and thou shalt be accursed, and thy soul shall
+      remain in bondage till that hour when, in the slow flight of time, the
+      evil shall once more grow to good and Egypt shall again be free.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I drew near, trembling, and kissed him on the brow. &ldquo;May all these things
+      come upon me, and more,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;if I fail thee, my father!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay!&rdquo; he cried, &ldquo;not me, not me; but rather those whose will I do. And
+      now go, my son, and ponder in thy heart, and in thy secret heart digest my
+      words; mark what thou shalt see, and gather up the dew of wisdom, making
+      thee ready for the battle. Fear not for thyself, thou art protected from
+      all ill. No harm may touch thee from without; thyself alone can be thine
+      own enemy. I have said.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I went forth with a full heart. The night was very still, and none
+      were stirring in the temple courts. I hurried through them, and reached
+      the entrance to the pylon that is at the outer gate. Then, seeking
+      solitude, and, as it were, to draw near to heaven, I climbed the pylon&rsquo;s
+      two hundred steps, until at length I reached the massive roof. Here I
+      leaned my breast against the parapet, and looked forth. As I looked, the
+      red edge of the full moon floated up over the Arabian hills, and her rays
+      fell upon the pylon where I stood and the temple walls beyond, lighting
+      the visages of the carven Gods. Then the cold light struck the stretch of
+      well-tilled lands, now whitening to the harvest, and as the heavenly lamp
+      of Isis passed up to the sky, her rays crept slowly down to the valley,
+      where Sihor, father of the land of Khem, rolls on toward the sea.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now the bright beams kissed the water that smiled an answer back, and now
+      mountain and valley, river, temple, town, and plain were flooded with
+      white light, for Mother Isis was arisen, and threw her gleaming robe
+      across the bosom of the earth. It was beautiful, with the beauty of a
+      dream, and solemn as the hour after death. Mightily, indeed, the temples
+      towered up against the face of night. Never had they seemed so grand to me
+      as in that hour&mdash;those eternal shrines, before whose walls Time
+      himself shall wither. And it was to be mine to rule this moonlit land;
+      mine to preserve those sacred shrines, and cherish the honour of their
+      Gods; mine to cast out the Ptolemy and free Egypt from the foreign yoke!
+      In my veins ran the blood of those great Kings who await the day of
+      Resurrection, sleeping in the tombs of the valley of Thebes. My spirit
+      swelled within me as I dreamed upon this glorious destiny, I closed my
+      hands, and there, upon the pylon, I prayed as I had never prayed before to
+      the Godhead, who is called by many names, and in many forms made manifest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Amen,&rdquo; I prayed, &ldquo;God of Gods, who hast been from the beginning; Lord
+      of Truth, who art, and of whom all are, who givest out thy Godhead and
+      gatherest it up again; in the circle of whom the Divine ones move and are,
+      who wast from all time the Self-begot, and who shalt be till time&mdash;hearken
+      unto me.[*]
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] For a somewhat similar definition of the Godhead see the
+     funeral papyrus of Nesikhonsu, a Princess of the Twenty-
+     first Dynasty.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Amen&mdash;Osiris, the sacrifice by whom we are justified, Lord of the
+      Region of the Winds, Ruler of the Ages, Dweller in the West, the Supreme
+      in Amenti, hearken unto me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Isis, great Mother Goddess, mother of the Horus&mdash;mysterious
+      Mother, Sister, Spouse, hearken unto me. If, indeed, I am the chosen of
+      the Gods to carry out the purpose of the Gods, let a sign be given me,
+      even now, to seal my life to the life above. Stretch out your arms towards
+      me, O ye Gods, and uncover the glory of your countenance. Hear! ah, hear
+      me!&rdquo; And I cast myself upon my knees and lifted up my eyes to heaven.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And as I knelt, a cloud grew upon the face of the moon covering it up, so
+      that the night became dark, and the silence deepened all around&mdash;even
+      the dogs far below in the city ceased to howl, while the silence grew and
+      grew till it was heavy as death. I felt my spirit lifted up within me, and
+      my hair rose upon my head. Then of a sudden the mighty pylon seemed to
+      rock beneath my feet, a great wind beat about my brows and a voice spoke
+      within my heart:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Behold a sign! Possess thyself in patience, O Harmachis!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And as the voice spoke, a cold hand touched my hand, and left somewhat
+      within it. Then the cloud rolled from the face of the moon, the wind
+      passed, the pylon ceased to tremble, and the night was as the night had
+      been.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As the light came back, I gazed upon that which had been left within my
+      hand. It was a bud of the holy lotus new breaking into bloom, and from it
+      came a most sweet scent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And while I gazed behold! the lotus passed from my grasp and was gone,
+      leaving me astonished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IV
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE DEPARTURE OF HARMACHIS AND OF HIS MEETING WITH HIS UNCLE SEPA, THE
+      HIGH PRIEST OF ANNU EL RA; OF HIS LIFE AT ANNU, AND OF THE WORDS OF SEPA
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At the dawning of the next day I was awakened by a priest of the temple,
+      who brought word to me to make ready for the journey of which my father
+      had spoken, inasmuch as there was an occasion for me to pass down the
+      river to Annu el Ra. Now this is the Heliopolis of the Greeks, whither I
+      should go in the company of some priests of Ptah at Memphis who had come
+      hither to Abouthis to lay the body of one of their great men in the tomb
+      that had been prepared near the resting place of the blessed Osiris.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So I made ready, and the same evening, having received letters and
+      embraced my father and those about the temple who were dear to me, I
+      passed down the banks of Sihor, and we sailed with the south wind. As the
+      pilot stood upon the prow and with a rod in his hand bade the sailor-men
+      loosen the stakes by which the vessel was moored to the banks, the old
+      wife, Atoua, hobbled up, her basket of simples in her hand, and, calling
+      out farewell, threw a sandal after me for good chance, which sandal I kept
+      for many years.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So we sailed, and for six days passed down the wonderful river, making
+      fast each night at some convenient spot. But when I lost sight of the
+      familiar things that I had seen day by day since I had eyes to see, and
+      found myself alone among strange faces, I felt very sore at heart, and
+      would have wept had I not been ashamed. And of all the wonderful things I
+      saw I will not write here, for, though they were new to me, have they not
+      been known to men since such time as the Gods ruled in Egypt? But the
+      priests who were with me showed me no little honour and expounded to me
+      what were the things I saw.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the morning of the seventh day we came to Memphis, the city of the
+      White Hall. Here, for three days I rested from my journey and was
+      entertained of the priests of the wonderful Temple of Ptah the Creator,
+      and shown the beauties of the great and marvellous city. Also I was led in
+      secret by the High Priest and two others into the holy presence of the God
+      Apis, the Ptah who deigns to dwell among men in the form of a bull. The
+      God was black, and on his forehead there was a white square, on his back
+      was a white mark shaped like an eagle, beneath his tongue was the likeness
+      of a scarabæus, in his tail were double hairs, and a plate of pure gold
+      hung between his horns. I entered the place of the God and worshipped,
+      while the High Priest and those with him stood aside, watching earnestly.
+      And when I had worshipped, saying the words which had been told me, the
+      God knelt, and lay down before me. Then the High Priest and those with
+      him, who, as I heard in after time, were great men of Upper Egypt,
+      approached wondering, and, saying no word, made obeisance to me because of
+      the omen. And many other things I saw in Memphis that are too long to
+      write of here.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the fourth day some priests of Annu came to lead me to Sepa, my uncle,
+      the High Priest of Annu. So, having bidden farewell to those of Memphis,
+      we crossed the river and rode on asses two parts of a day&rsquo;s journey
+      through many villages, which we found in great poverty because of the
+      oppression of the tax-gatherers. Also, as we went, I saw for the first
+      time the great pyramids that are beyond the image of the God Horemkhu,
+      that Sphinx whom the Greeks name Harmachis, and the Temples of the Divine
+      Mother Isis, Queen of the Memnonia, and the God Osiris, Lord of Rosatou,
+      of which temples, together with the Temple of the worship of the Divine
+      Menkau-ra, I, Harmachis, am by right Divine the Hereditary High Priest. I
+      saw them and marvelled at their greatness and the white carven limestone,
+      and red granite of Syene, that flashed the sun&rsquo;s rays back to heaven. But
+      at this time I knew nothing of the treasure that was hid in <i>Her</i>,
+      which is the third among the pyramids&mdash;would I had never known of it!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And so at last we came within sight of Annu, which after Memphis has been
+      seen is no large town, but stands on raised ground, before which are lakes
+      fed by a canal. Behind the town is the inclosed field of the Temple of the
+      God Ra.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We dismounted at the pylon, and were met beneath the portico by a man not
+      great of stature, but of noble aspect, having his head shaven, and with
+      dark eyes that twinkled like the further stars.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hold!&rdquo; he cried, in a great voice which fitted his weak body but ill.
+      &ldquo;Hold! I am Sepa, who opens the mouth of the Gods!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And I,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;am Harmachis, son of Amenemhat, Hereditary High Priest
+      and Ruler of the Holy City Abouthis; and I bear letters to thee, O Sepa!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Enter,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Enter!&rdquo; scanning me all the while with his twinkling
+      eyes. &ldquo;Enter, my son!&rdquo; And he took me and led me to a chamber in the inner
+      hall, closed to the door, and then, having glanced at the letters that I
+      brought, of a sudden he fell upon my neck and embraced me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Welcome,&rdquo; he cried, &ldquo;welcome, son of my own sister, and hope of Khem! Not
+      in vain have I prayed the Gods that I might live to look upon thy face and
+      impart to thee the wisdom which perchance I alone have mastered of those
+      who are left alive in Egypt. There are few whom it is lawful that I should
+      teach. But thine is the great destiny, and thine shall be the ears to hear
+      the lessons of the Gods.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And he embraced me once more and bade me go bathe and eat, saying that on
+      the morrow he would speak with me further.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This of a truth he did, and at such length that I will forbear to set down
+      all he said both then and afterwards, for if I did so there would be no
+      papyrus left in Egypt when the task was ended. Therefore, having much to
+      tell and but little time to tell it, I will pass over the events of the
+      years that followed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For this was the manner of my life. I rose early, I attended the worship
+      of the Temple, and I gave my days to study. I learnt of the rites of
+      religion and their meaning, and of the beginning of the Gods and the
+      beginning of the Upper World. I learnt of the mystery of the movements of
+      the stars, and of how the earth rolls on among them. I was instructed in
+      that ancient knowledge which is called magic, and in the way of
+      interpretation of dreams, and of the drawing nigh to God. I was taught the
+      language of symbols and their outer and inner secrets. I became acquainted
+      with the eternal laws of Good and Evil, and with the mystery of that trust
+      which is held of man; also I learnt the secrets of the pyramids&mdash;which
+      I would that I had never known. Further, I read the records of the past,
+      and of the acts and words of the ancient kings who were before me since
+      the rule of Horus upon earth; and I was made to know all craft of state,
+      the lore of earth, and with it the history of Greece and Rome. Also I
+      learnt the Grecian and Roman tongues, of which indeed I already had some
+      knowledge&mdash;and all this while, for five long years, I kept my hands
+      clean and my heart pure, and did no evil in the sight of God or man; but
+      laboured heavily to acquire all things, and to prepare myself for the
+      destiny that awaited me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Twice every year greetings and letters came from my father Amenemhat, and
+      twice every year I sent back my answers asking if the time had come to
+      cease from labour. And so the days of my probation sped away till I grew
+      faint and weary at heart, for being now a man, ay and learned, I longed to
+      make a beginning of the life of men. And often I wondered if this talk and
+      prophecy of the things that were to be was but a dream born of the brains
+      of men whose wish ran before their thought. I was, indeed, of the Royal
+      blood, that I knew: for my uncle, Sepa the Priest, showed me a secret
+      record of the descent, traced without break from father to son, and graven
+      in mystic symbols on a tablet of the stone of Syene. But of what avail was
+      it to be Royal by right when Egypt, my heritage, was a slave&mdash;a slave
+      to do the pleasure and minister to the luxury of the Macedonian Lagidæ&mdash;ay,
+      and when she had been so long a serf that, perchance, she had forgotten
+      how to put off the servile smile of Bondage and once more to look across
+      the world with Freedom&rsquo;s happy eyes?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I bethought me of my prayer upon the pylon tower of Abouthis and of
+      the answer given to my prayer, and wondered if that, too, were a dream.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And one night, as, weary with study, I walked within the sacred grove that
+      is in the garden of the temple, and mused thus, I met my uncle Sepa, who
+      also was walking and thinking.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hold!&rdquo; he cried in his great voice; &ldquo;why is thy face so sad, Harmachis?
+      Has the last problem that we studied overwhelmed thee?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, my uncle,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;I am overwhelmed indeed, but not of the
+      problem; it was a light one. My heart is heavy, for I am weary of life
+      within these cloisters, and the piled-up weight of knowledge crushes me.
+      It is of no avail to store up force which cannot be used.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah, thou art impatient, Harmachis,&rdquo; he answered; &ldquo;it is ever the way of
+      foolish youth. Thou wouldst taste of the battle; thou dost tire of
+      watching the breakers fall upon the beach, thou wouldst plunge into them
+      and venture the desperate hazard of the war. And so thou wouldst be going,
+      Harmachis? The bird would fly the nest as, when they are grown, the
+      swallows fly from the eaves of the Temple. Well, it shall be as thou
+      desirest; the hour is at hand. I have taught thee all that I have learned,
+      and methinks that the pupil has outrun his master,&rdquo; and he paused and
+      wiped his bright black eyes, for he was very sad at the thought of my
+      departure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And whither shall I go, my uncle?&rdquo; I asked rejoicing; &ldquo;back to Abouthis
+      to be initiated into the mysteries of the Gods?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, back to Abouthis, and from Abouthis to Alexandria, and from
+      Alexandria to the Throne of thy fathers, Harmachis! Listen, now; things
+      are thus: Thou knowest how Cleopatra, the Queen, fled into Syria when that
+      false eunuch Pothinus set the will of her father Aulêtes at naught and
+      raised her brother Ptolemy to the sole lordship of Egypt. Thou knowest
+      also how she came back, like a Queen indeed, with a great army in her
+      train, and lay at Pelusium, and how at this juncture the mighty Cæsar,
+      that great man, that greatest of all men, sailed with a weak company
+      hither to Alexandria from Pharsalia&rsquo;s bloody field in hot pursuit of
+      Pompey. But he found Pompey already dead, having been basely murdered by
+      Achillas, the General, and Lucius Septimius, the chief of the Roman
+      legions in Egypt, and thou knowest how the Alexandrians were troubled at
+      his coming and would have slain his lictors. Then, as thou hast heard,
+      Cæsar seized Ptolemy, the young King, and his sister Arsinoë, and bade the
+      army of Cleopatra and the army of Ptolemy, under Achillas, which lay
+      facing each other at Pelusium, disband and go their ways. And for answer
+      Achillas marched on Cæsar, and besieged him straitly in the Bruchium at
+      Alexandria, and so, for a while, things were, and none knew who should
+      reign in Egypt. But then Cleopatra took up the dice, and threw them, and
+      this was the throw she made&mdash;in truth, it was a bold one. For,
+      leaving the army at Pelusium, she came at dusk to the harbour of
+      Alexandria, and alone with the Sicilian Apollodorus entered and landed.
+      Then Apollodorus bound her in a bale of rich rugs, such as are made in
+      Syria, and sent the rugs as a present to Cæsar. And when the rugs were
+      unbound in the palace, behold! within them was the fairest girl on all the
+      earth&mdash;ay, and the most witty and the most learned. And she seduced
+      the great Cæsar&mdash;even his weight of years did not avail to protect
+      him from her charms&mdash;so that, as a fruit of his folly, he wellnigh
+      lost his life, and all the glory he had gained in a hundred wars.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The fool!&rdquo; I broke in&mdash;&ldquo;the fool! Thou callest him great; but how
+      can the man be truly great who has no strength to stand against a woman&rsquo;s
+      wiles? Cæsar, with the world hanging on his word! Cæsar, at whose breath
+      forty legions marched and changed the fate of peoples! Cæsar the cold! the
+      far-seeing! the hero!&mdash;Cæsar to fall like a ripe fruit into a false
+      girl&rsquo;s lap! Why, in the issue, of what common clay was this Roman Cæsar,
+      and how poor a thing!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Sepa looked at me and shook his head. &ldquo;Be not so rash, Harmachis, and
+      talk not with so proud a voice. Knowest thou not that in every suit of
+      mail there is a joint, and woe to him who wears the harness if the sword
+      should search it out! For Woman, in her weakness, is yet the strongest
+      force upon the earth. She is the helm of all things human; she comes in
+      many shapes and knocks at many doors; she is quick and patient, and her
+      passion is not ungovernable like that of man, but as a gentle steed that
+      she can guide e&rsquo;en where she will, and as occasion offers can now bit up
+      and now give rein. She has a captain&rsquo;s eye, and stout must be that
+      fortress of the heart in which she finds no place of vantage. Does thy
+      blood beat fast in youth? She will outrun it, nor will her kisses tire.
+      Art thou set toward ambition? She will unlock thy inner heart, and show
+      thee roads that lead to glory. Art thou worn and weary? She has comfort in
+      her breast. Art thou fallen? She can lift thee up, and to the illusion of
+      thy sense gild defeat with triumph. Ay, Harmachis, she can do these
+      things, for Nature ever fights upon her side; and while she does them she
+      can deceive and shape a secret end in which thou hast no part. And thus
+      Woman rules the world. For her are wars; for her men spend their strength
+      in gathering gains; for her they do well and ill, and seek for greatness,
+      to find oblivion. But still she sits like yonder Sphinx, and smiles; and
+      no man has ever read all the riddle of her smile, or known all the mystery
+      of her heart. Mock not! mock not! Harmachis; for he must be great indeed
+      who can defy the power of Woman, which, pressing round him like the
+      invisible air, is often strongest when the senses least discover it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I laughed aloud. &ldquo;Thou speakest earnestly, my uncle Sepa,&rdquo; I said; &ldquo;one
+      might almost think that thou hadst not come unscathed through this fierce
+      fire of temptation. Well, for myself, I fear not woman and her wiles; I
+      know naught of them, and naught do I wish to know; and I still hold that
+      this Cæsar was a fool. Had I stood where Cæsar stood, to cool its
+      wantonness that bale of rugs should have been rolled down the palace
+      steps, into the harbour mud.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, cease! cease!&rdquo; he cried aloud. &ldquo;It is evil to speak thus; may the
+      Gods avert the omen and preserve to thee this cold strength of which thou
+      boastest. Oh! man, thou knowest not!&mdash;thou in thy strength and beauty
+      that is without compare, in the power of thy learning and the sweetness of
+      thy tongue&mdash;thou knowest not! The world where thou must mix is not a
+      sanctuary as that of the Divine Isis. But there&mdash;it may be so! Pray
+      that thy heart&rsquo;s ice may never melt, so thou shalt be great and happy and
+      Egypt shall be delivered. And now let me take up my tale&mdash;thou seest,
+      Harmachis, even in so grave a story woman claims her place. The young
+      Ptolemy, Cleopatra&rsquo;s brother, being loosed of Cæsar, treacherously turned
+      on him. Then Cæsar and Mithridates stormed the camp of Ptolemy, who took
+      to flight across the river. But his boat was sunk by the fugitives who
+      pressed upon it, and such was the miserable end of Ptolemy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thereon, the war being ended, though she had but then borne him a son,
+      Cæsarion, Cæsar appointed the younger Ptolemy to rule with Cleopatra, and
+      be her husband in name, and he himself departed for Rome, bearing with him
+      the beautiful Princess Arsinoë to follow his triumph in her chains. But
+      the great Cæsar is no more. He died as he had lived, in blood, and right
+      royally. And but now Cleopatra, the Queen, if my tidings may be trusted,
+      has slain Ptolemy, her brother and husband, by poison, and taken the child
+      Cæsarion to be her fellow on the throne, which she holds by the help of
+      the Roman legions, and, as they say, of young Sextus Pompeius, who has
+      succeeded Cæsar in her love. But, Harmachis, the whole land boils and
+      seethes against her. In every city the children of Khem talk of the
+      deliverer who is to come&mdash;and thou art he, Harmachis. The time is
+      almost ripe. The hour is nigh at hand. Go thou back to Abouthis and learn
+      the last secrets of the Gods, and meet those who shall direct the bursting
+      of the storm. Then act, Harmachis&mdash;act, I say, and strike home for
+      Khem, rid the land of the Roman and the Greek, and take thy place upon the
+      throne of thy divine fathers and be a King of men. For to this end thou
+      wast born, O Prince!&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>
+    <p>
+      OF THE RETURN OF HARMACHIS TO ABOUTHIS; OF THE CELEBRATION OF THE
+      MYSTERIES; OF THE CHANT OF ISIS; AND OF THE WARNING OF AMENEMHAT
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the next day I embraced my uncle Sepa, and with an eager heart departed
+      from Annu back to Abouthis. To be short, I came thither in safety, having
+      been absent five years and a month, being now no more a boy but a man full
+      grown and having my mind well stocked with the knowledge of men and the
+      ancient wisdom of Egypt. So once again I saw the old lands, and the known
+      faces, though of these some few were wanting, having been gathered to
+      Osiris. Now, as, riding across the fields, I came nigh to the enclosure of
+      the Temple, the priests and people issued forth to bid me welcome, and
+      with them the old wife, Atoua, who, but for a few added wrinkles that Time
+      had cut upon her forehead, was just as she had been when she threw the
+      sandal after me five long years before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>La! la! la!</i>&rdquo; she cried; &ldquo;and there thou art, my bonny lad; more
+      bonny even than thou wert! <i>La!</i> what a man! what shoulders! and what
+      a face and form! Ah, it does an old woman credit to have dandled thee! But
+      thou art over-pale; those priests down there at Annu have starved thee,
+      surely? Starve not thyself: the Gods love not a skeleton. &lsquo;Empty stomach
+      makes empty head&rsquo; as they say at Alexandria. But this is a glad hour; ay,
+      a joyous hour. Come in&mdash;come in!&rdquo; and as I lighted down she embraced
+      me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But I thrust her aside. &ldquo;My father! where is my father?&rdquo; I cried; &ldquo;I see
+      him not!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, nay, have no fear,&rdquo; she answered; &ldquo;his Holiness is well; he waits
+      thee in his chamber. There, pass on. O happy day! O happy Abouthis!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So I went, or rather ran, and reached the chamber of which I have written,
+      and there at the table sat my father, Amenemhat, the same as he had been,
+      but very old. I came to him and, kneeling before him, kissed his hand, and
+      he blessed me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Look up, my son,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;let my old eyes gaze upon thy face, that I
+      may read thy heart.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So I lifted up my head, and he looked upon me long and earnestly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I read thee,&rdquo; he said at length; &ldquo;thou art pure and strong in wisdom; I
+      have not been deceived in thee. Oh, the years have been lonely; but I did
+      well to send thee hence. Now, tell me of thy life; for thy letters have
+      told me little, and thou canst not know, my son, how hungry is a father&rsquo;s
+      heart.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And so I told him; we sat far into the night and talked together. And in
+      the end he bade me know that I must now prepare to be initiated into those
+      last mysteries that are learned of the chosen of the Gods.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And so it came about that for a space of three months I prepared myself
+      according to the holy customs. I ate no meat. I was constant in the
+      sanctuaries, in the study of the secrets of the Great Sacrifice and of the
+      woe of the Holy Mother. I watched and prayed before the altars. I lifted
+      up my soul to God; ay, in dreams I communed with the Invisible, till at
+      length earth and earth&rsquo;s desires seemed to pass from me. I longed no more
+      for the glory of this world, my heart hung above it as an eagle on his
+      outstretched wings, and the voice of the world&rsquo;s blame could not stir it,
+      and the vision of its beauty brought no delight. For above me was the vast
+      vault of heaven, where in unalterable procession the stars pass on,
+      drawing after them the destinies of men; where the Holy Ones sit upon
+      their burning thrones, and watch the chariot-wheels of Fate as they roll
+      from sphere to sphere. O hours of holy contemplation! who, having once
+      tasted of your joy could wish again to grovel on the earth? O vile flesh
+      to drag us down! I would that thou hadst then altogether fallen from me,
+      and left my spirit free to seek Osiris!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The months of probation passed but too swiftly, and now the holy day drew
+      near when I was in truth to be united to the universal Mother. Never hath
+      Night so longed for the promise of the Dawn; never hath the heart of a
+      lover so passionately desired the sweet coming of his bride, as I longed
+      to see Thy glorious face, O Isis! Even now that I have been faithless to
+      Thee, and Thou art far from me, O Divine! my soul goes out to Thee, and
+      once more I know&mdash;&mdash;But as it is bidden that I should draw the
+      veil, and speak of things which have not been told since the beginning of
+      this world, let me pass on and reverently set down the history of that
+      holy morn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For seven days the great festival had been celebrated, the suffering of
+      the Lord Osiris had been commemorated, the grief of the Mother Isis had
+      been sung and glory had been done to the memory of the coming of the
+      Divine Child Horus, the Son, the Avenger, the God-begot. All these things
+      had been carried out according to the ancient rites. The boats had floated
+      on the sacred lake, the priests had scourged themselves before the
+      sanctuaries, and the images had been borne through the streets at night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And now, as the sun sank on the seventh day, once more the great
+      procession gathered to chant the woes of Isis and tell how the evil was
+      avenged. We went in silence from the temple, and passed through the city
+      ways. First came those who clear the path, then my father Amenemhat in all
+      his priestly robes, and the wand of cedar in his hand. Then, clad in pure
+      linen, I, the neophyte, followed alone; and after me the white-robed
+      priests, holding aloft banners and emblems of the Gods. Next came those
+      who bear the sacred boat, and after them the singers and the mourners;
+      while, stretching as far as the eye could reach, all the people marched,
+      clad in melancholy black because Osiris was no more. We went in silence
+      through the city streets till at length we came to the wall of the temple
+      and passed in. And as my father, the High Priest, entered beneath the
+      gateway of the outer pylon, a sweet-voiced woman singer began to sing the
+      Holy Chant, and thus she sang:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Sing we Osiris dead,
+     Lament the fallen head:
+     The light has left the world, the world is grey.
+     Athwart the starry skies
+     The web of Darkness flies,
+     And Isis weeps Osiris passed away.
+     Your tears, ye stars, ye fires, ye rivers, shed,
+     Weep, children of the Nile, weep for your Lord is dead!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      She paused in her most sweet song, and the whole multitude took up the
+      melancholy dirge:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     &lsquo;Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      The chorus ceased, and once again she sang:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Within the court divine
+     The Sevenfold sacred shrine
+     We pass, while echoes of the Temple walls
+     Repeat the long lament
+     The sound of sorrow sent
+     Far up within the imperishable halls,
+     Where, each in the other&rsquo;s arms, the Sisters weep,
+     Isis and Nephthys, o&rsquo;er His unawaking sleep.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      And then again rolled forth the solemn chorus of a thousand voices:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     &lsquo;Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+ It ceased, and sweetly she took up the song:
+
+     &ldquo;O dweller in the West,
+     Lover and Lordliest,
+     Thy love, thy Sister Isis, calls thee home!
+     Come from thy chamber dun
+     Thou Master of the Sun,
+     Thy shadowy chamber far below the foam!
+     With weary wings and spent
+     Through all the firmament,
+     Through all the horror-haunted ways of Hell,
+     I seek thee near and far,
+     From star to wandering star,
+     Free with the dead that in Amenti dwell.
+     I search the height, the deep, the lands, the skies,
+     Rise from the dead and live, our Lord Osiris, rise!&rdquo;
+ 
+     &ldquo;Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     &lsquo;Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      Now in a strain more high and glad the singer sang:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;He wakes&mdash;from forth the prison
+     We sing Osiris risen,
+     We sing the child that Nout conceived and bare.
+     Thine own love, Isis, waits
+     The Warden of the Gates,
+     She breathes the breath of Life on breast and hair,
+     And in her breast and breath
+     Behold! he waketh,
+     Behold! at length he riseth out of rest;
+     Touched with her holy hands,
+     The Lord of all the Lands,
+     He stirs, he rises from her breath, her breast!
+     But thou, fell Typhon, fly,
+     The judgment day drawn nigh,
+     Fleet on thy track as flame speeds Horus from the sky.&rdquo;
+ 
+     &ldquo;Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     &lsquo;Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      Once more, as we bowed before the Holy, she sang, and sent the full breath
+      of her glad music ringing up the everlasting walls till the silence
+      quivered with her round notes of melody, and the hearts of those who
+      hearkened stirred strangely in the breast. And thus, as we walked, she
+      sang the song of Osiris risen, the song of Hope, the song of Victory:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Sing we the Trinity,
+     Sing we the Holy Three,
+     Sing we, and praise we and worship the Throne,
+     Throne that our Lord hath set&mdash;
+     There peace and truth are met
+     There in the Halls of the Holy alone!
+     There in the shadowings
+     Faint of the folded wings,
+     There shall we dwell and rejoice in our rest,
+     We that thy servants are!
+     Horus drive ill afar!
+     Far in the folds of the dark of the West!&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      Again, as her notes died away, thundered forth the chorus of all the
+      voices:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     &lsquo;Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      The chanting ceased, and as the sun sank the High Priest raised the statue
+      of the living God and held it before the multitude that was now gathered
+      in the court of the temple. Then, with a mighty and joyful shout of:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>Osiris our hope! Osiris! Osiris!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      the people tore their black wrappings from their dress, revealing the
+      white robes they wore beneath, and, as one man, they bowed before the God,
+      and the feast was ended.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But for me the ceremony was only begun, for to-night was the night of my
+      initiation. Leaving the inner court I bathed myself, and, clad in pure
+      linen, passed, as it is ordained, into an inner, but not the inmost,
+      sanctuary, and laid the accustomed offerings on the altar. Then, lifting
+      my hands to heaven, I remained for many hours in contemplation, striving,
+      by holy thoughts and prayer, to gather up my strength against the mighty
+      moment of my trial.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The hours sped slowly in the silence of the temple, till at length the
+      door opened and my father Amenemhat, the High Priest, came in, clad in
+      white, and leading by the hand the Priest of Isis. For, having been
+      married, he did not himself enter into the mysteries of the Holy Mother.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I rose to my feet and stood humbly before them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Art thou ready?&rdquo; said the priest, lifting the lamp he held so that its
+      light fell upon my face. &ldquo;O thou chosen one, art thou ready to see the
+      glory of the Goddess face to face?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am ready,&rdquo; I answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Behold thee,&rdquo; he said again, in solemn tones, &ldquo;it is no small thing. If
+      thou wilt carry out this thy last desire, understand, royal Harmachis,
+      that now this very night thou must die for a while in the flesh, what time
+      thy soul shall look on spiritual things. And if thou diest and any evil
+      shall be found within thy heart, when thou comest at last into that awful
+      presence, woe unto thee, Harmachis, for the breath of life shall no more
+      enter in at the gateway of thy mouth, thy body shall utterly perish, and
+      what shall befall thy other parts, if I know, I may not say.[*] Art thou
+      prepared to be taken to the breast of Her who Was and Is and Shall Be, and
+      in all things to do Her holy will; for Her, while she shall so command, to
+      put away the thought of earthly woman; and to labour always for Her glory
+      till at the end thy life is gathered to Her eternal life?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] According to the Egyptian religion the being Man is
+     composed of four parts: the body, the double or astral shape
+     (<i>ka</i>), the soul (<i>bi</i>), and the spark of life sprung from
+     the Godhead (<i>khou</i>).&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;lead on.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; said the priest. &ldquo;Noble Amenemhat, we go hence alone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Farewell, my son,&rdquo; said my father; &ldquo;be firm and triumph over things
+      spiritual as thou shalt triumph over things earthly. He who would truly
+      rule the world must first be lifted up above the world. He must be at one
+      with God, for thus only shall he learn the secrets of the Divine. But
+      beware! The Gods demand much of those who dare to enter the circle of
+      their Divinity. If they go back therefrom, they shall be judged of a
+      sharper law, and scourged with a heavier rod, for as their glory is, so
+      shall their shame be. Therefore, make thy heart strong, royal Harmachis!
+      And when thou speedest down the ways of Night and enterest the Holies,
+      remember that from him to whom great gifts have been given shall gifts be
+      required again. And now&mdash;if, indeed, thy mind be fixed&mdash;go
+      whither it is not as yet given me to follow thee. Farewell!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      For a moment as my heart weighed these heavy words, I wavered, as well as
+      I might. But I was filled with longing to be gathered to the company of
+      the Divine ones, and I knew that I had no evil in me, and desired to do
+      only the thing that is just. Therefore, having with so much labour drawn
+      the bowstring to my ear, I was fain to let fly the shaft. &ldquo;Lead on,&rdquo; I
+      cried with a loud voice; &ldquo;lead on, thou holy Priest! I follow thee!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And we went forth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VI
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE INITIATION OF HARMACHIS; OF HIS VISIONS; OF HIS PASSING TO THE CITY
+      THAT IS IN THE PLACE OF DEATH; AND OF THE DECLARATIONS OF ISIS, THE
+      MESSENGER
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In silence we passed into the Shrine of Isis. It was dark and bare&mdash;only
+      the feeble light from the lamp gleamed faintly upon the sculptured walls,
+      where, in a hundred effigies, the Holy Mother suckled the Holy Child.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The priest closed the doors and bolted them. &ldquo;Once again,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;art
+      thou ready, Harmachis?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Once again,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;I am ready.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He spoke no more; but, having lifted up his hands in prayer, led me to the
+      centre of the Holy, and with a swift motion put out the lamp.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Look before thee, Harmachis!&rdquo; he cried; and his voice sounded hollow in
+      the solemn place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I gazed and saw nothing. But from the niche that is high in the wall,
+      where is hid that sacred symbol of the Goddess on which few may look,
+      there came a sound as of the rattling rods of the sistrum.[*] And as I
+      listened, awestruck, behold! I saw the outline of the symbol drawn as with
+      fire upon the blackness of the air. It hung above my head, and rattled
+      while it hung. And, as it turned, I clearly saw the face of the Mother
+      Isis that is graven on the one side, and signifies unending Birth, and the
+      face of her holy sister, Nephthys, that is graven on the other, and
+      signifies the ending of all birth in Death.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] A musical instrument peculiarly sacred to Isis of which
+     the shape and rods had a mystic significance.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Slowly it turned and swung as though some mystic dancer trod the air above
+      me, and shook it in her hand. But at length the light went out, and the
+      rattling ceased.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then of a sudden the end of the chamber became luminous, and in that white
+      light I beheld picture after picture. I saw the ancient Nile rolling
+      through deserts to the sea. There were no men upon its banks, nor any
+      signs of man, nor any temples to the Gods. Only wild birds moved on
+      Sihor&rsquo;s lonely face, and monstrous brutes plunged and wallowed in his
+      waters. The sun sank in majesty behind the Libyan Desert and stained the
+      waters red; the mountains towered up towards the silent sky; but in
+      mountain, desert, and river there was no sign of human life. Then I knew
+      that I saw the world as it had been before man was, and a terror of its
+      loneliness entered my soul.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The picture passed and another rose up in its place. Once again I saw the
+      banks of Sihor, and on them crowded wild-faced creatures, partaking of the
+      nature of the ape more than of the nature of mankind. They fought and slew
+      each other. The wild birds sprang up in affright as the fire leapt from
+      reed huts given by foemen&rsquo;s hands to flame and pillage. They stole and
+      rent and murdered, dashing out the brains of children with axes of stone.
+      And, though no voice told me, I knew that I saw man as he was tens of
+      thousands of years ago, when first he marched across the earth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Yet another picture. Again I beheld the banks of Sihor; but on them fair
+      cities bloomed like flowers. In and out their gates went men and women,
+      passing to and fro from wide, well-tilled lands. But I saw no guards or
+      armies, and no weapons of war. All was wisdom, prosperity, and peace. And
+      while I wondered, a glorious Figure, clad in raiment that shone as flame,
+      came from the gates of a shrine, and the sound of music went before and
+      followed after him. He mounted an ivory throne which was set in a
+      market-place facing the water: and as the sun sank called in all the
+      multitudes to prayer. With one voice they prayed, bending in adoration.
+      And I understood that herein was shown the reign of the Gods on earth,
+      which was long before the days of Menes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A change came over the dream. Still the same fair city, but other men&mdash;men
+      with greed and evil on their faces&mdash;who hated the bonds of righteous
+      doing, and set their hearts on sin. The evening came; the glorious Figure
+      mounted the throne and called to prayer, but none bowed themselves in
+      adoration.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We are aweary of thee!&rdquo; they cried. &ldquo;Make Evil King! Slay him! slay him!
+      and loose the bonds of Evil! Make Evil King!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The glorious Shape rose up, gazing with mild eyes upon those wicked men.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ye know not what ye ask,&rdquo; he cried; &ldquo;but as ye will, so be it! For if I
+      die, by me, after much travail, shall ye once again find a path to the
+      Kingdom of Good!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Even as he spoke, a Form, foul and hideous to behold, leapt upon him,
+      cursing, slew him, tore him limb from limb, and amidst the clamour of the
+      people sat himself upon the throne and ruled. But a Shape whose face was
+      veiled passed down from heaven on shadowy wings, and with lamentations
+      gathered up the rent fragments of the Being. A moment she bent herself
+      upon them, then lifted up her hands and wept. And as she wept, behold!
+      from her side there sprang a warrior armed and with a face like the face
+      of Ra at noon. He, the Avenger, hurled himself with a shout upon the
+      Monster who had usurped the throne, and they closed in battle, and,
+      struggling ever in a strait embrace, passed upward to the skies.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then came picture after picture. I saw Powers and Peoples clad in various
+      robes and speaking many tongues. I saw them pass and pass in millions&mdash;loving,
+      hating, struggling, dying. Some few were happy and some had woe stamped
+      upon their faces; but most bore not the seal of happiness nor of woe, but
+      rather that of patience. And ever as they passed from age to age, high
+      above in the heavens the Avenger fought on with the Evil Thing, while the
+      scale of victory swung now here now there. But neither conquered, nor was
+      it given to me to know how the battle ended.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And I understood that what I had beheld was the holy vision of the
+      struggle between the Good and the Evil Powers. I saw that man was created
+      vile, but Those who are above took pity on him, and came down to him to
+      make him good and happy, for the two things are one thing. But man
+      returned to his wicked way, and then the bright Spirit of Good, who is of
+      us called Osiris, but who has many names, offered himself up for the
+      evil-doing of the race that had dethroned him. And from him and the Divine
+      Mother, of whom all nature is, sprang another spirit who is the Protector
+      of us on earth, as Osiris is our justifier in Amenti.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For this is the mystery of the Osiris.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Of a sudden, as I saw the visions, these things became clear to me. The
+      mummy cloths of symbol and of ceremony that wrap Osiris round fell from
+      him, and I understood the secret of religion, which is Sacrifice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The pictures passed, and again the priest, my guide, spoke to me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hast thou understood, Harmachis, those things which it has been granted
+      thee to see?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Are the rites ended?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, they are but begun. That which follows thou must endure alone!
+      Behold I leave thee, to return at the morning light. Once more I warn
+      thee. That which thou shalt see, few may look upon and live. In all my
+      days I have known but three who dared to face this dread hour, and of
+      those three at dawn but one was found alive. Myself, I have not trod this
+      path. It is too high for me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Depart,&rdquo; I said; &ldquo;my soul is athirst for knowledge. I will dare it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He laid his hand upon my shoulder and blessed me. He went. I heard the
+      door shut to behind him, the echoes of his footsteps slowly died away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I felt that I was alone, alone in the Holy Place with Things which
+      are not of the earth. Silence fell&mdash;silence deep and black as the
+      darkness which was around me. The silence fell, it gathered as the cloud
+      gathered on the face of the moon that night when, a lad, I prayed upon the
+      pylon towers. It gathered denser and yet more dense till it seemed to
+      creep into my heart and call aloud therein; for utter silence has a voice
+      that is more terrible than any cry. I spoke; the echoes of my words came
+      back upon me from the walls and seemed to beat me down. The stillness was
+      lighter to endure than an echo such as this. What was I about to see?
+      Should I die, even now, in the fulness of my youth and strength? Terrible
+      were the warnings that had been given to me. I was fear-stricken, and
+      bethought me that I would fly. Fly!&mdash;fly whither? The temple door was
+      barred; I could not fly. I was alone with the Godhead, alone with the
+      Power that I had invoked. Nay, my heart was pure&mdash;my heart was pure.
+      I would face the terror that was to come, ay, even though I died.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Isis, Holy Mother,&rdquo; I prayed. &ldquo;Isis, Spouse of Heaven, come unto me, be
+      with me now; I faint! be with me now.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And then I knew that things were not as things had been. The air around me
+      began to stir, it rustled as the wings of eagles rustle, it took life.
+      Bright eyes gazed upon me, strange whispers shook my soul. Upon the
+      darkness were bars of light. They changed and interchanged, they moved to
+      and fro and wove mystic symbols which I could not read. Swifter and
+      swifter flew that shuttle of the light: the symbols grouped, gathered,
+      faded, gathered yet again, faster and still more fast, till my eyes could
+      count them no more. Now I was afloat upon a sea of glory; it surged and
+      rolled, as the ocean rolls; it tossed me high, it brought me low. Glory
+      was piled on glory, splendour heaped on splendour&rsquo;s head, and I rode above
+      it all!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Soon the lights began to pale in the rolling sea of air. Great shadows
+      shot across it, lines of darkness pierced it and rushed together on its
+      breast, till, at length, I was only a Shape of Flame set like a star on
+      the bosom of immeasurable night. Bursts of awful music gathered from far
+      away. Miles and miles away I heard them, thrilling faintly through the
+      gloom. On they came, nearer and more near, louder and more loud, till they
+      swept past, above, below, around me, swept on rushing pinions, terrifying
+      and enchanting me. They floated by, ever growing fainter, till they died
+      in space. Then others came, and no two were akin. Some rattled as ten
+      thousand sistra shaken all to tune. Some rank from the brazen throats of
+      unnumbered clarions. Some pealed with a loud, sweet chant of voices that
+      were more than human; and some rolled along in the slow thunder of a
+      million drums. They passed; their notes were lost in dying echoes; and the
+      silence once more pressed in upon me and overcame me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The strength within me began to fail. I felt my life ebbing at its
+      springs. Death drew near to me and his shape was <i>Silence</i>. He
+      entered at my heart, entered with a sense of numbing cold, but my brain
+      was still alive, I could yet think. I knew that I was drawing near the
+      confines of the Dead. Nay, I was dying fast, and oh, the horror of it! I
+      strove to pray and could not; there was no more time for prayer. One
+      struggle and the stillness crept into my brain. The terror passed; an
+      unfathomable weight of sleep pressed me down. I was dying, I was dying,
+      and then&mdash;nothingness!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <i>I was dead!</i>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A change&mdash;life came back to me, but between the new life and the life
+      that had been was a gulf and difference. Once again I stood in the
+      darkness of the shrine, but it blinded me no more. It was clear as the
+      light of day, although it still was black. I stood; and yet it was not I
+      who stood, but rather my spiritual part, for at my feet lay my dead Self.
+      There it lay, rigid and still, a stamp of awful calm sealed upon its face,
+      while I gazed on it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And as I gazed, filled with wonder, I was caught up on the Wings of Flame
+      and whirled away! away! faster than the lightnings flash. Down I fell,
+      through depths of empty space set here and there with glittering crowns of
+      stars. Down for ten million miles and ten times ten million, till at
+      length I hovered over a place of soft, unchanging light, wherein were
+      Temples, Palaces, and Abodes, such as no man ever saw in the visions of
+      his sleep. They were built of Flame, and they were built of Blackness.
+      Their spires pierced up and up; their great courts stretched around. Even
+      as I hovered they changed continually to the eye; what was Flame became
+      Blackness, what was Blackness became Flame. Here was the flash of crystal,
+      and there the blaze of gems shone even through the glory that rolls around
+      the city which is in the Place of Death. There were trees, and their voice
+      as they rustled was the voice of music; there was air, and, as it blew,
+      its breath was the sobbing notes of song.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Shapes, changing, mysterious, wonderful, rushed up to meet me, and bore me
+      down till I seemed to stand upon another earth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who comes?&rdquo; cried a great Voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Harmachis,&rdquo; answered the Shapes, that changed continually. &ldquo;Harmachis who
+      hath been summoned from the earth to look upon the face of Her that Was
+      and Is and Shall Be. Harmachis, Child of Earth!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Throw back the Gates and open wide the Doors!&rdquo; pealed the awful Voice.
+      &ldquo;Throw back the Gates and open wide the Doors; seal up his lips in
+      silence, lest his voice jar upon the harmonies of Heaven, take away his
+      sight lest he see that which may not be seen, and let Harmachis, who hath
+      been summoned, pass down the path that leads to the place of the
+      Unchanging. Pass on, Child of Earth; but before thou goest, look up that
+      thou mayest learn how far thou art removed from Earth.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I looked up. Beyond the glory that shone about the city was black night,
+      and high on its bosom twinkled one tiny star.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Behold the world that thou hast left,&rdquo; said the Voice, &ldquo;behold and
+      tremble.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then my lips and eyes were sealed with silence and with darkness, so that
+      I was dumb and blind. The Gates rolled back, the Doors swung wide, and I
+      was swept into the city that is in the Place of Death. I was swept swiftly
+      I know not whither, till at length I stood upon my feet. Again the great
+      Voice pealed:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Draw the veil of blackness from his eyes, unseal the silence on his lips,
+      that Harmachis, Child of Earth, may see, hear, and understand, and make
+      adoration at the Shrine of Her that Was and Is and Shall Be.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And my lips and eyes were touched once more, so that my sight and speech
+      came back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Behold! I stood within a hall of blackest marble, so lofty that even in
+      the rosy light scarce could my vision reach the great groins of the roof.
+      Music wailed about its spaces, and all adown its length stood winged
+      Spirits fashioned in living fire, and such was the brightness of their
+      forms that I could not look on them. In its centre was an altar, small and
+      square, and I stood before the empty altar. Then again the Voice cried:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Thou that hast been, art, and shalt be; Thou who, having many names,
+      art yet without a name; Measurer of Time; Messenger of God; Guardian of
+      the Worlds and the Races that dwell thereon; Universal Mother born of
+      Nothingness; Creatix uncreated; Living Splendour without Form, Living Form
+      without Substance; Servant of the Invisible; Child of Law; Holder of the
+      Scales and Sword of Fate; Vessel of Life, through whom all Life flows, to
+      whom it again is gathered; Recorder of Things Done; Executrix of Decrees&mdash;<i>Hear!</i>
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Harmachis the Egyptian, who by Thy will hath been summoned from the
+      earth, waits before Thine Altar, with ears unstopped, with eyes unsealed,
+      and with an open heart. Hear and descend! Descend, O Many-shaped! Descend
+      in Flame! Descend in Sound! Descend in Spirit! Hear and descend!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Voice ceased and there was silence. Then through the silence came a
+      sound like the booming of the sea. It passed and presently, moved thereto
+      by I know not what, I raised my eyes from my hands with which I had
+      covered them, and saw a small dark cloud hanging over the Altar in and out
+      of which a fiery Serpent climbed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then all the Spirits clad in light fell upon the marble floor, and with a
+      loud voice adored; but what they said I could not understand. Behold! the
+      dark cloud came down and rested on the Altar, the Serpent of fire
+      stretched itself towards me, touched me on the forehead with its forky
+      tongue and was gone. From within the cloud a Voice sweet and low and clear
+      spoke in heavenly accents:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Depart, ye Ministers, leave Me with my son whom I have summoned.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then like arrows rushing from a bow the flame-clad Spirits leapt from the
+      ground and sped away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Harmachis,&rdquo; said the Voice, &ldquo;be not afraid, I am She whom thou dost
+      know as Isis of the Egyptians; but what else I am strive not thou to
+      learn, it is beyond thy strength. For I am all things, Life is my spirit,
+      and Nature is my raiment. I am the laughter of the babe, I am the maiden&rsquo;s
+      love, I am the mother&rsquo;s kiss. I am the Child and Servant of the Invisible
+      that is God, that is Law, that is Fate&mdash;though myself I be not God
+      and Fate and Law. When winds blow and oceans roar upon the face of the
+      Earth thou hearest my voice; when thou gazest on the starry firmament thou
+      seest my countenance; when the spring blooms out in flowers, that is my
+      smile, Harmachis. For I am Nature&rsquo;s self, and all her shapes are shapes of
+      Me. I breathe in all that breathes. I wax and wane in the changeful moon:
+      I grow and gather in the tides: I rise with the suns: I flash with the
+      lightning and thunder in the storms. Nothing is too great for the measure
+      of my majesty, nothing is so small that I cannot find a home therein. I am
+      in thee and thou art in Me, O Harmachis. That which bade thee be bade Me
+      also be. Therefore, though I am great and thou art little, have no fear.
+      For we are bound together by the common bond of life&mdash;that life which
+      flows through suns and stars and spaces, through Spirits and the souls of
+      men, welding all Nature to a whole that, changing ever, is yet eternally
+      the same.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I bowed my head&mdash;I could not speak, for I was afraid.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Faithfully hast thou served Me, O my son,&rdquo; went on the low sweet Voice;
+      &ldquo;greatly thou hast longed to be brought face to face with Me here in
+      Amenti; and greatly hast thou dared to accomplish thy desire. For it is no
+      small thing to cast off the tabernacle of the Flesh and before the
+      appointed time, if only for an hour, put on the raiment of the Spirit. And
+      greatly, O my servant and my son, have I, too, desired to look on thee
+      there where I am. For the Gods love those who love them, but with a wider
+      and deeper love, and under One who is as far from Me as I am from thee,
+      mortal, I am a God of Gods. Therefore I have caused thee to be brought
+      hither, Harmachis; and therefore I speak to thee, my son, and bid thee
+      commune with Me now face to face, as thou didst commune that night upon
+      the temple towers of Abouthis. For I was there with thee, Harmachis, as I
+      was in ten thousand other worlds. It was I, O Harmachis, who laid the
+      lotus in thy hand, giving thee the sign which thou didst seek. For thou
+      art of the kingly blood of my children who served Me from age to age. And
+      if thou dost not fail thou shalt sit upon that kingly throne and restore
+      my ancient worship in its purity, and sweep my temples from their
+      defilements. But if thou dost fail, then shall the eternal Spirit Isis
+      become but a memory in Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Voice paused; and, gathering up my strength, at length I spoke aloud:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell me, O Holy,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;shall I then fail?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ask Me not,&rdquo; answered the Voice, &ldquo;that which it is not lawful that I
+      should answer thee. Perchance I can read that which shall befall thee,
+      perchance it doth not please Me so to read. What can it profit the Divine,
+      that hath all time wherein to await the issues, to be eager to look upon
+      the blossom that is not blown, but which, lying a seed in the bosom of the
+      earth, shall blow in its season? Know, Harmachis, that I do not shape the
+      Future; the Future is to thee and not to Me; for it is born of Law and of
+      the rule ordained of the Invisible. Yet thou art free to act therein, and
+      thou shalt win or thou shalt fail according to thy strength and the
+      measure of thy heart&rsquo;s purity. Thine be the burden, Harmachis, as thine in
+      the event shall be the glory or the shame. Little do I reck of the issue,
+      I who am but the Minister of what is written. Now hear me: I will always
+      be with thee, my son, for my love once given can never be taken away,
+      though by sin it may seem lost to thee. Remember then this: if thou dost
+      triumph, thy guerdon shall be great; if thou dost fail, heavy indeed shall
+      be thy punishment both in the flesh and in the land that thou callest
+      Amenti. Yet this for thy comfort: shame and agony shall not be eternal.
+      For however deep the fall from righteousness, if but repentance holds the
+      heart, there is a path&mdash;a stony and a cruel path&mdash;whereby the
+      height may be climbed again. Let it not be thy lot to follow it,
+      Harmachis!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And now, because thou hast loved Me, my son, and, wandering through the
+      maze of fable, wherein men lose themselves upon the earth, mistaking the
+      substance for the Spirit, and the Altar for the God, hast yet grasped a
+      clue of Truth the Many-faced; and because I love thee and look on to the
+      day that, perchance, shall come when thou shalt dwell blessed in my light
+      and in the doing of my tasks: because of this, I say, it shall be given to
+      thee, O Harmachis, to hear the Word whereby I may be summoned from the
+      Uttermost, by one who hath communed with Me, and to look upon the face of
+      Isis&mdash;even into the eyes of the Messenger, and not die the death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>Behold!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The sweet Voice ceased; the dark cloud upon the altar changed and changed&mdash;it
+      grew white, it shone, and seemed at length to take the shrouded shape of a
+      woman. Then the golden Snake crept from its heart once more, and, like a
+      living diadem, twined itself about the cloudy brows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now suddenly a Voice called aloud the awful Word, then the vapours burst
+      and melted, and with my eyes I saw that Glory, at the very thought of
+      which my spirit faints. But what I saw it is not lawful to utter. For,
+      though I have been bidden to write what I have written of this matter,
+      perchance that a record may remain, thereon I have been warned&mdash;ay,
+      even now, after these many years. I saw, and what I saw cannot be
+      imagined; for there are Glories and there are Shapes which are beyond the
+      reach of man&rsquo;s imagination. I saw&mdash;then, with the echo of that Word,
+      and the memory of that sight stamped for ever on my heart, my spirit
+      failed me, and I sank down before the Glory.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And, as I fell, it seemed that the great hall burst open and crumbled into
+      flakes of fire round me. Then a great wind blew: there was a sound as the
+      sound of Worlds rushing down the flood of Time&mdash;and I knew no more!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VII
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE AWAKING OF HARMACHIS; OF THE CEREMONY OF HIS CROWNING AS PHARAOH OF
+      THE UPPER AND THE LOWER LAND; AND OF THE OFFERINGS MADE TO PHARAOH
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Once again I woke&mdash;to find myself stretched at length upon the stone
+      flooring of the Holy Place of Isis that is at Abouthis. By me stood the
+      old Priest of the Mysteries, and in his hand was a lamp. He bent over me,
+      and gazed earnestly upon my face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is day&mdash;the day of thy new birth, and thou hast lived to see it,
+      Harmachis!&rdquo; he said at length. &ldquo;I give thanks. Arise, royal Harmachis&mdash;nay,
+      tell me naught of that which has befallen thee. Arise, beloved of the Holy
+      Mother. Come forth, thou who hast passed the fire and learned what lies
+      behind the darkness&mdash;come forth, O newly-born!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I rose and, walking faintly, went with him, and, passing out of the
+      darkness of the Shrines filled with thought and wonder, came once more
+      into the pure light of the morning. And then I went to my own chamber and
+      slept; nor did any dreams come to trouble me. But no man&mdash;not even my
+      father&mdash;asked me aught of what I saw upon that dread night, or after
+      what fashion I had communed with the Goddess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After these things which have been written, I applied myself for a space
+      to the worship of the Mother Isis, and to the further study of the outward
+      forms of those mysteries to which I now held the key. Moreover, I was
+      instructed in matters politic, for many great men of our following came
+      secretly to see me from all quarters of Egypt, and told me much of the
+      hatred of the people towards Cleopatra, the Queen, and of other things. At
+      last the hour drew nigh; it was three months and ten days from the night
+      when, for a while, I left the flesh, and yet living with our life, was
+      gathered to the breast of Isis, on which it was agreed that with due and
+      customary rites, although in utter secrecy, I should be called to the
+      throne of the Upper and the Lower Land. So it came about that, as the
+      solemn time drew nigh, great men of the party of Egypt gathered to the
+      number of thirty-seven from every nome, and each great city of their nome,
+      meeting together at Abouthis. They came in every guise&mdash;some as
+      priests, some as pilgrims to the Shrine, and some as beggars. Among them
+      was my uncle, Sepa, who, though he clad himself as a travelling doctor,
+      had much ado to keep his loud voice from betraying him. Indeed, I myself
+      knew him by it, meeting him as I walked in thought upon the banks of the
+      canal, although it was then dusk and the great cape, which, after the
+      fashion of such doctors, he had thrown about his head, half hid his face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A pest on thee!&rdquo; he cried, when I greeted him by his name. &ldquo;Cannot a man
+      cease to be himself for a single hour? Didst thou but know the pains that
+      it has cost me to learn to play this part&mdash;and now thou readest who I
+      am even in the dark!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And then, still talking in his loud voice, he told me how he had travelled
+      hither on foot, the better to escape the spies who ply to and fro upon the
+      river. But he said he should return by the water, or take another guise;
+      for since he had come as a doctor he had been forced to play a doctor&rsquo;s
+      part, knowing but little of the arts of medicine; and, as he greatly
+      feared, there were many between Annu and Abouthis who had suffered from
+      it.[*] And he laughed loudly and embraced me, forgetting his part. For he
+      was too whole at heart to be an actor and other than himself, and would
+      have entered Abouthis with me holding my hand, had I not chid him for his
+      folly.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] In Ancient Egypt an unskilful or negligent physician was
+     liable to very heavy penalties.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      At length all were gathered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was night, and the gates of the temple were shut. None were left within
+      them, except the thirty-seven; my father, the High Priest Amenemhat; that
+      aged priest who had led me to the Shrine of Isis; the old wife, Atoua,
+      who, according to ancient custom, was to prepare me for the anointing; and
+      some five other priests, sworn to secrecy by that oath which none may
+      break. They gathered in the second hall of the great temple; but I
+      remained alone, clad in my white robe, in the passage where are the names
+      of six-and-seventy ancient Kings, who were before the day of the divine
+      Sethi. There I rested in darkness, till at length my father, Amenemhat,
+      came, bearing a lamp, and, bowing low before me, led me by the hand forth
+      into the great hall. Here and there, between its mighty pillars, lights
+      were burning that dimly showed the sculptured images upon the walls, and
+      dimly fell upon the long line of the seven-and-thirty Lords, Priests, and
+      Princes, who, seated upon carven chairs, awaited my coming in silence.
+      Before them, facing away from the seven Sanctuaries, a throne was set,
+      around which stood the priests holding the sacred images and banners. As I
+      came into the dim and holy place, the Dignitaries rose, and bowed before
+      me, speaking no word; while my father led me to the steps of the throne,
+      and in a low voice bade me stand before it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then he spoke:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lords, Priests, and Princes of the ancient orders of the land of Khem&mdash;Nobles
+      from the Upper and the Lower Country, have gathered in answer to my
+      summons, hear me: I present to you, with such scant formality as the
+      occasion can afford, the Prince Harmachis, by right and true descent of
+      blood the descendant and heir of the ancient Pharaohs of our most unhappy
+      land. He is priest of the inmost circle of the Mysteries of the Divine
+      Isis, Master of the Mysteries&mdash;Hereditary Priest of the Pyramids,
+      which are by Memphis, Instructed in the Solemn Rites of the Holy Osiris.
+      Is there any among you who has aught to urge against the true line of his
+      blood?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused, and my uncle Sepa, rising from his chair, spoke: &ldquo;We have made
+      examination of the records and there is none, O Amenemhat. He is of the
+      Royal blood, his descent is true.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is there any among you,&rdquo; went on my father, &ldquo;who can deny that this royal
+      Harmachis, by sanction of the very Gods, has been gathered to Isis, been
+      shown the way of the Osiris, been admitted to be the Hereditary High
+      Priest of the Pyramids which are by Memphis, and of the Temples of the
+      Pyramids?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then that old priest rose who had been my guide in the Sanctuary of the
+      Mother and made answer: &ldquo;There is none; O Amenemhat; I know these things
+      of my own knowledge.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Once more my father spoke: &ldquo;Is there any among you who has aught to urge
+      against this royal Harmachis, in that by wickedness of heart or life, by
+      uncleanliness or falsity, it is not fit or meet that we should crown him
+      Lord of all the Lands?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then an aged Prince of Memphis arose and made answer:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We have inquired of these matters: there is none, O Amenemhat.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; said my father; &ldquo;then naught is wanting in the Prince
+      Harmachis, seed of Nekt-nebf, the Osirian. Let the woman Atoua stand forth
+      and tell this company those things that came to pass when, at the hour of
+      her death, she who was my wife prophesied over this Prince, being filled
+      with the Spirit of the Hathors.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Thereon old Atoua crept forward from the shadow of the columns, and
+      earnestly told those things that have been written.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ye have heard,&rdquo; said my father: &ldquo;do you believe that the woman who was my
+      wife spake with the Divine voice?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We do,&rdquo; they answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now my uncle Sepa rose and spoke:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Royal Harmachis, thou hast heard. Know now that we are gathered here to
+      crown thee King of the Upper and the Lower Lands&mdash;thy holy father,
+      Amenemhat, renouncing all his right on thy behalf. We are met, not,
+      indeed, in that pomp and ceremony which is due to the occasion&mdash;for
+      what we do must be done in secret, lest our lives, and the cause that is
+      more dear to us than life, should pay the forfeit&mdash;but yet with such
+      dignity and observance of the ancient rites as our circumstance may
+      command. Learn, now, how this matter hangs, and if, after learning, thy
+      mind consents thereto, then mount thy throne, O Pharaoh&mdash;and swear
+      the oath!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Long has Khemi groaned beneath the mailed heel of the Greek, and trembled
+      at the shadow of the Roman&rsquo;s spear; long has the ancient worship of its
+      Gods been desecrated, and its people crushed with oppression. But we
+      believe that the hour of deliverance is at hand, and with the solemn voice
+      of Egypt and by the ancient Gods of Egypt, to whose cause thou art of all
+      men bound, we call upon thee, Prince, to be the sword of our deliverance.
+      Hearken! Twenty thousand good and leal men are sworn to wait upon thy
+      word, and at thy signal to rise as one, to put the Grecian to the sword,
+      and with their blood and substance to build thee a throne set more surely
+      on the soil of Khem than are its ancient pyramids&mdash;such a throne as
+      shall even roll the Roman legions back. And for the signal, it shall be
+      the death of that bold harlot, Cleopatra. Thou must compass her death,
+      Harmachis, in such fashion as shall be shown to thee, and with her blood
+      anoint the Royal throne of Egypt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Canst thou refuse, O our Hope? Doth not the holy love of country swell
+      within thy heart? Canst thou dash the cup of Freedom from thy lips and
+      bear to drink the bitter draught of slaves? The emprise is great; maybe it
+      shall fail, and thou with thy life, as we with ours, shalt pay the price
+      of our endeavour. But what of it, Harmachis? Is life, then, so sweet? Are
+      we so softly cushioned on the stony bed of earth? Is bitterness and sorrow
+      in its sum so small and scant a thing? Do we here breathe so divine an air
+      that we should fear to face the passage of our breath? What have we here
+      but hope and memory? What see we here but shadows? Shall we then fear to
+      pass pure-handed where Fulfilment is and memory is lost in its own source,
+      and shadows die in the light which cast them? O Harmachis, that man alone
+      is truly blest who crowns his life with Fame&rsquo;s most splendid wreath. For,
+      since to all the Brood of Earth Death hands his poppy-flowers, he indeed
+      is happy to whom there is occasion given to weave them in a crown of
+      glory. And how can a man die better than in a great endeavour to strike
+      the gyves from his Country&rsquo;s limbs so that she again may stand in the face
+      of Heaven and raise the shrill shout of Freedom, and, clad once more in a
+      panoply of strength, trample under foot the fetters of her servitude,
+      defying the tyrant nations of the earth to set their seal upon her brow?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Khem calls thee, Harmachis. Come then, thou Deliverer; leap like Horus
+      from the firmament, break her chains, scatter her foes, and rule a Pharaoh
+      on Pharaoh&rsquo;s Throne&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Enough, enough!&rdquo; I cried, while the long murmur of applause swept about
+      the columns and up the massy walls. &ldquo;Enough; is there any need to adjure
+      me thus? Had I a hundred lives, would I not most gladly lay them down for
+      Egypt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well said, well said!&rdquo; answered Sepa. &ldquo;Now go forth with the woman
+      yonder, that she may make thy hands clean before they touch the sacred
+      emblems, and anoint thy brow before it is encircled of the diadem.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And so I went into a chamber apart with the old wife, Atoua. There,
+      muttering prayers, she poured pure water over my hands into a ewer of
+      gold, and having dipped a fine cloth into oil wiped my brow with it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O happy Egypt!&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;O happy Prince, that art come to rule in
+      Egypt! O Royal youth!&mdash;too Royal to be a priest&mdash;so shall many a
+      fair woman think; but, perchance, for thee they will relax the priestly
+      rule, else how shall the race of Pharaoh be carried on? O happy I, who
+      dandled thee and gave my flesh and blood to save thee! O royal and
+      beautiful Harmachis, born for splendour, happiness, and love!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cease, cease,&rdquo; I said, for her talk jarred upon me; &ldquo;call me not happy
+      till thou knowest my end, and speak not to me of love, for with love comes
+      sorrow, and mine is another and a higher way.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, ay, so thou sayest&mdash;and joy, too, that comes with love! Never
+      talk lightly of love, my King, for it brought thee here! <i>La! la!</i>
+      but it is always the way&mdash;&lsquo;The goose on the wing laughs at
+      crocodiles,&rsquo; so goes their saying down at Alexandria; &lsquo;but when the goose
+      is asleep on the water, it is the crocodiles that laugh.&rsquo; Not but what
+      women are pretty crocodiles. Men worship the crocodiles at Anthribis&mdash;Crocodilopolis
+      they call it now, don&rsquo;t they?&mdash;but they worship women all the world
+      over! <i>La!</i> how my tongue runs on, and thou about to be crowned
+      Pharaoh! Did I not prophesy it to thee? Well, thou art clean, Lord of the
+      Double Crown. Go forth!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So I went from the chamber with the old wife&rsquo;s foolish talk ringing in my
+      ears, though of a truth her folly had ever a grain of wit in it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As I came, the Dignitaries rose once more and bowed before me. Then my
+      father, without delay, drew near me, and placed in my hands a golden image
+      of the divine Ma, the Goddess of Truth, and golden images of the arks of
+      the God Amen-Ra, of the divine Mout, and the divine Khons, and spoke
+      solemnly:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou swearest by the living majesty of Ma, by the majesty of Amen-Ra, of
+      Mout, and of Khons?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I swear,&rdquo; I said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou swearest by the holy land of Khem, by Sihor&rsquo;s flood, by the Temples
+      of the Gods and the eternal Pyramids?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I swear.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Remembering thy hideous doom if thou shouldst fail therein, thou swearest
+      that thou wilt in all things govern Egypt according to its ancient laws,
+      that thou wilt preserve the worship of its Gods, that thou wilt do equal
+      justice, that thou wilt not oppress, that thou wilt not betray, that thou
+      wilt make no alliance with the Roman or the Greek, that thou wilt cast out
+      the foreign Idols, that thou wilt devote thy life to the liberty of the
+      land of Khem?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I swear.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well. Mount, then, the throne, that in the presence of these thy
+      subjects, I may name thee Pharaoh.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I mounted upon the throne, of which the footstool is a Sphinx, and the
+      canopy the overshadowing wings of Ma. Then Amenemhat drew nigh once again
+      and placed the Pshent upon my brow, and on my head the Double Crown, and
+      the Royal Robe about my shoulders, and in my hands the Sceptre and the
+      Scourge.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Royal Harmachis,&rdquo; he cried, &ldquo;by these outward signs and tokens, I, the
+      High Priest of the Temple of Ra-Men-Ma at Abouthis, crown thee Pharaoh of
+      the Upper and Lower Land. Reign and prosper, O Hope of Khemi!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Reign and prosper, Pharaoh!&rdquo; echoed the Dignitaries, bowing down before
+      me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, one by one, they swore allegiance, till all had sworn. And, having
+      sworn, my father took me by the hand; he led me in solemn procession into
+      each of the seven Sanctuaries that are in this Temple of Ra-Men-Ma, and in
+      each I made offerings, swung incense, and officiated as priest. Clad in
+      the Royal robes I made offerings in the Shrine of Horus, in the Shrine of
+      Isis, in the Shrine of Osiris, in the Shrine of Amen-Ra, in the Shrine of
+      Horemku, in the Shrine of Ptah, till at length I reached the Shrine of the
+      King&rsquo;s Chamber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here they made their offering to me, as the Divine Pharaoh, and left me
+      very weary&mdash;but a King.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      [Here the first and smallest of the papyrus rolls comes to an end.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      BOOK II&mdash;THE FALL OF HARMACHIS
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER I
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE FAREWELL OF AMENEMHAT TO HARMACHIS; OF THE COMING OF HARMACHIS TO
+      ALEXANDRIA; OF THE EXHORTATION OF SEPA; OF THE PASSING OF CLEOPATRA ROBED
+      AS ISIS; AND OF THE OVERTHROW OF THE GLADIATOR BY HARMACHIS
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now the long days of preparation had passed, and the time was at hand. I
+      was initiated, and I was crowned; so that although the common folk knew me
+      not, or knew me only as Priest of Isis, there were in Egypt thousands who
+      at heart bowed down to me as Pharaoh. The hour was at hand, and my soul
+      went forth to meet it. For I longed to overthrow the foreigner, to set
+      Egypt free, to mount the throne that was my heritage, and cleanse the
+      temples of my Gods. I was fain for the struggle, and I never doubted of
+      its end. I looked into the mirror, and saw triumph written on my brows.
+      The future stretched a path of glory from my feet&mdash;ay, glittering
+      with glory like Sihor in the sun. I communed with my Mother Isis; I sat
+      within my chamber and took counsel with my heart; I planned new temples; I
+      revolved great laws that I would put forth for my people&rsquo;s weal; and in my
+      ears rang the shouts of exultation which should greet victorious Pharaoh
+      on his throne.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But still I tarried a little while at Abouthis, and, having been commanded
+      to do so, let my hair, that had been shorn, grow again long and black as
+      the raven&rsquo;s wing, instructing myself meanwhile in all manly exercises and
+      feats of arms. Also, for a purpose which shall be seen, I perfected myself
+      in the magic art of the Egyptians, and in the reading of the stars, in
+      which things, indeed, I already have great skill.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now, this was the plan that had been built up. My uncle Sepa had, for a
+      while, left the Temple of Annu, giving out that his health had failed him.
+      Thence he had moved down to a house in Alexandria, to gather strength, as
+      he said, from the breath of the sea, and also to learn for himself the
+      wonders of the great Museum and the glory of Cleopatra&rsquo;s Court. There it
+      was planned that I should join him, for there, at Alexandria, the egg of
+      the plot was hatching. Accordingly, when at last the summons came, all
+      things being prepared, I made ready for the journey, and passed into my
+      father&rsquo;s chamber to receive his blessing before I went. There sat the old
+      man, as once before he sat when he had rebuked me because I went out to
+      slay the lion, his long white beard resting on the table of stone and
+      sacred writings in his hand. When I came in he rose from his seat and
+      would have knelt before me, crying &ldquo;Hail, Pharaoh!&rdquo; but I caught him by
+      the hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is not meet, my father,&rdquo; I said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is meet,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;it is meet that I should bow before my King;
+      but be it as thou wilt. And so thou goest, Harmachis; my blessings go with
+      thee, O my son! And may Those whom I serve grant to me that my old eyes
+      may, indeed, behold thee on the throne! I have searched long, striving,
+      Harmachis, to read the future that shall be; but I can learn naught by all
+      my wisdom. It is hid from me, and at times my heart fails. But hear this,
+      there is danger in thy path, and it comes in the form of Woman. I have
+      known it long, and therefore thou hast been called to the worship of the
+      heavenly Isis, who bids her votaries put away the thought of woman till
+      such time as she shall think well to slacken the rule. Oh, my son, I would
+      that thou wert not so strong and fair&mdash;stronger and fairer, indeed,
+      than any man in Egypt, as a King should be&mdash;for in that strength and
+      beauty may lie a cause of stumbling. Beware, then, of those witches of
+      Alexandria, lest, like a worm, some one of them creep into my heart and
+      eat its secret out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have no fear, my father,&rdquo; I answered, frowning, &ldquo;my thought is set on
+      other things than red lips and smiling eyes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is good,&rdquo; he answered; &ldquo;so may it befall. And now farewell. When next
+      we meet, may it be in that happy hour when, with all the priests of the
+      Upper Land, I move down from Abouthis to do my homage to Pharaoh on his
+      throne.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So I embraced him, and went. Alas! I little thought how we should meet
+      again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus it came about that once more I passed down the Nile travelling as a
+      man of no estate. And to such as were curious about me it was given out
+      that I was the adopted son of the High Priest of Abouthis, having been
+      brought up to the priesthood, and that I had at the last refused the
+      service of the Gods, and chosen to go to Alexandria, to seek my fortune.
+      For, be it remembered, I was still held to be the grandson of the old
+      wife, Atoua, by all those who did not know the truth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the tenth night, sailing with the wind, we reached the mighty city of
+      Alexandria, the city of a thousand lights. Above them all towered the
+      white Pharos, that wonder of the world, from the crown of which a light
+      like the light of the sun blazed out across the waters of the harbour to
+      guide mariners on their way across the sea. The vessel having been
+      cautiously made fast to the quay, for it was night, I disembarked and
+      stood wondering at the vast mass of houses, and confused by the clamour of
+      many tongues. For here all peoples seemed to be gathered together, each
+      speaking after the fashion of his own land. And as I stood a young man
+      came and touched me on the shoulder, asking me if I was from Abouthis and
+      named Harmachis. I said &ldquo;Yea.&rdquo; Then, bending over me, he whispered the
+      secret pass-word into my ear, and, beckoning to two slaves, bade them
+      bring my baggage from the ship. This they did, fighting their way through
+      the crowd of porters who were clamouring for hire. Then I followed him
+      down the quay, which was bordered with drinking-places, where all sorts of
+      men were gathered, tippling wine and watching the dancing of women, some
+      of whom were but scantily arrayed, and some not arrayed at all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And so we went through the lamp-lit houses till at last we reached the
+      shore of the great harbour, and turned to the right along a wide way paved
+      with granite and bordered by strong houses, having cloisters in front of
+      them, the like of which I had never seen. Turning once more to the right
+      we came to a quieter portion of the city, where, except for parties of
+      strolling revellers, the streets were still. Presently my guide halted at
+      a house built of white stone. We passed in, and, crossing a small
+      courtyard, entered a chamber where there was a light. And here, at last, I
+      found my uncle Sepa, most glad to see me safe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When I had washed and eaten, he told me that all things went well, and
+      that as yet there was no thought of evil at the Court. Further, he said,
+      it having come to the ears of the Queen that the Priest of Annu was
+      sojourning at Alexandria, she sent for him and closely questioned him&mdash;not
+      as to any plot, for of that she never thought, but as to the rumour which
+      had reached her, that there was treasure hid in the Great Pyramid which is
+      by Annu. For, being ever wasteful, she was ever in want of money, and had
+      bethought her of opening the Pyramid. But he laughed at her, telling her
+      the Pyramid was the burying-place of the divine Khufu, and that he knew
+      nothing of its secrets. Then she was angered, and swore that so surely as
+      she ruled in Egypt she would tear it down, stone by stone, and discover
+      the secret at its heart. Again he laughed, and, in the words of the
+      proverb which they have at Alexandria, told her that &ldquo;Mountains live
+      longer than Kings.&rdquo; Thereon she smiled at his ready answer, and let him
+      go. Also my uncle Sepa told me that on the morrow I should see this
+      Cleopatra. For it was her birthday (as, indeed, it was also mine), and,
+      dressed in the robes of the Holy Isis, she would pass in state from her
+      palace on the Lochias to the Serapeum to offer a sacrifice at the Shrine
+      of the false God who sits in the Temple. And he said that thereafter the
+      fashion by which I should gain entrance to the household of the Queen
+      should be contrived.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, being very weary, I went to rest, but could sleep little for the
+      strangeness of the place, the noises in the streets, and the thought of
+      the morrow. While it was yet dark, I rose, climbed the stair to the roof
+      of the house, and waited. Presently, the sun&rsquo;s rays shot out like arrows,
+      and lit upon the white wonder of the marble Pharos, whose light instantly
+      sank and died, as though, indeed, the sun had killed it. Now the rays fell
+      upon the palaces of the Lochias where Cleopatra lay, and lit them up till
+      they flamed like a jewel set on the dark, cool bosom of the sea. Away the
+      light flew, kissing the Soma&rsquo;s sacred dome, beneath which Alexander
+      sleeps, touching the high tops of a thousand palaces and temples; past the
+      porticoes of the great museum that loomed near at hand, striking the lofty
+      Shrine, where, carved of ivory, is the image of the false God Serapis, and
+      at last seeming to lose itself in the vast and gloomy Necropolis. Then, as
+      the dawn gathered into day, the flood of brightness, overbrimming the bowl
+      of night, flowed into the lower lands and streets, and showed Alexandria
+      red in the sunrise as the mantle of a king, and shaped as a mantle. The
+      Etesian wind came up from the north, and swept away the vapour from the
+      harbours, so that I saw their blue waters rocking a thousand ships. I saw,
+      too, that mighty mole the Heptastadium; I saw the hundreds of streets, the
+      countless houses, the innumerable wealth and splendour of Alexandria set
+      like a queen between lake Mareotis and the ocean, and dominating both, and
+      I was filled with wonder. This, then, was one city in my heritage of lands
+      and cities! Well, it was worth the grasping. And having looked my full and
+      fed my heart, as it were, with the sight of splendour, I communed with the
+      Holy Isis and came down from the roof.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the chamber beneath was my uncle Sepa. I told him that I had been
+      watching the sun rise over the city of Alexandria.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So!&rdquo; he said, looking at me from beneath his shaggy eyebrows; &ldquo;and what
+      thinkest thou of Alexandria?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think it is like some city of the Gods,&rdquo; I answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay!&rdquo; he replied fiercely, &ldquo;a city of the infernal Gods&mdash;a sink of
+      corruption, a bubbling well of iniquity, a home of false faith springing
+      from false hearts. I would that not one stone of it was left upon another
+      stone, and that its wealth lay deep beneath yonder waters! I would that
+      the gulls were screaming across its site, and that the wind, untainted by
+      a Grecian breath, swept through its ruins from the ocean to Mareotis! O
+      royal Harmachis, let not the luxury and beauty of Alexandria poison thy
+      sense; for in their deadly air, Faith perishes, and Religion cannot spread
+      her heavenly wings. When the hour comes for thee to rule, Harmachis, cast
+      down this accursed city and, as thy fathers did, set up thy throne in the
+      white walls of Memphis. For I tell thee that, for Egypt, Alexandria is but
+      a splendid gate of ruin, and, while it endures, all nations of the earth
+      shall march through it, to the plunder of the land, and all false Faiths
+      shall nestle in it and breed the overthrow of Egypt&rsquo;s Gods.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I made no answer, for there was truth in his words. And yet to me the city
+      seemed very fair to look on. After we had eaten, my uncle told me it was
+      now time to set out to view the march of Cleopatra, as she went in triumph
+      to the Shrine of Serapis. For although she would not pass till within two
+      hours of the midday, yet these people of Alexandria have so great a love
+      of shows and idling that had we not presently set forth, by no means could
+      we have come through the press of the multitudes who were already
+      gathering along the highways where the Queen must ride. So we went out to
+      take our places upon a stand, built of timber, that had been set up at the
+      side of the great road which pierces through the city, to the Canopic
+      Gate. For my uncle had already purchased a right to enter there, and that
+      dearly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We won our way with much struggle through the great crowds that were
+      already gathered in the streets till we reached the scaffolding of timber,
+      which was roofed in with an awning and gaily hung with scarlet cloths.
+      Here we seated ourselves upon a bench and waited for some hours, watching
+      the multitude press past shouting, singing, and talking loudly in many
+      tongues. At length soldiers came to clear the road, clad, after the Roman
+      fashion, in breast-plates of chain-armour. After them marched heralds
+      enjoining silence (at which the population sung and shouted all the more
+      loudly), and crying that Cleopatra, the Queen, was coming. Then followed a
+      thousand Cilician skirmishers, a thousand Thracians, a thousand
+      Macedonians, and a thousand Gauls, each armed after the fashion of their
+      country. Then passed five hundred men of those who are called the Fenced
+      Horsemen, for both men and horses were altogether covered with mail. Next
+      came youths and maidens sumptuously draped and wearing golden crowns, and
+      with them images symbolising Day and Night, Morning and Noon, the Heavens
+      and the Earth. After these walked many fair women, pouring perfumes on the
+      road, and others scattering blooming flowers. Now there rose a great shout
+      of &ldquo;Cleopatra! Cleopatra!&rdquo; and I held my breath and bent forward to see
+      her who dared to put on the robes of Isis.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But at that moment the multitude so gathered and thickened in front of
+      where I was that I could no longer clearly see. So in my eagerness I leapt
+      over the barrier of the scaffolding, and, being very strong, pushed my way
+      through the crowd till I reached the foremost rank. And as I did so,
+      Nubian slaves armed with thick staves and crowned with ivy-leaves ran up,
+      striking the people. One man I noted more especially, for he was a giant,
+      and, being strong, was insolent beyond measure, smiting the people without
+      cause, as, indeed, is the wont of low persons set in authority. For a
+      woman stood near to me, an Egyptian by her face, bearing a child in her
+      arms, whom the man, seeing that she was weak, struck on the head with his
+      rod so that she fell prone, and the people murmured. But at the sight my
+      blood rushed of a sudden through my veins and drowned my reason. I held in
+      my hand a staff of olive-wood from Cyprus, and as the black brute laughed
+      at the sight of the stricken woman and her babe rolling on the ground, I
+      swung the staff aloft and smote. So shrewdly did I strike, that the tough
+      rod split upon the giant&rsquo;s shoulders and the blood spurted forth, staining
+      his trailing leaves of ivy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, with a shriek of pain and fury&mdash;for those who smite love not
+      that they be smitten&mdash;he turned and sprang at me! And all the people
+      round gave back, save only the woman who could not rise, leaving us two in
+      a ring as it were. On he came with a rush, and, as he came, being now mad,
+      I smote him with my clenched fist between the eyes, having nothing else
+      with which to smite, and he staggered like an ox beneath the first blow of
+      the priest&rsquo;s axe. Then the people shouted, for they love to see a fight,
+      and the man was known to them as a gladiator victorious in the games.
+      Gathering up his strength, the knave came on with an oath, and, whirling
+      his heavy staff on high, struck me in such a fashion that, had I not
+      avoided the blow by nimbleness, I had surely been slain. But, as it
+      chanced, the staff hit upon the ground, and so heavily that it flew in
+      fragments. Thereon the multitude shouted again, and the great man, blind
+      with fury, rushed at me to smite me down. But with a cry I sprang straight
+      at his throat&mdash;for he was so heavy a man that I knew I could not hope
+      to throw him by strength&mdash;ay, and gripped it. There I clung, though
+      his fists battered me like bludgeons, driving my thumbs into his throat.
+      Round and round we turned, till at length he flung himself to the earth,
+      trusting thus to shake me off. But I held on fast as we rolled over and
+      over on the ground, till at last he grew faint for want of breath. Then I,
+      being uppermost, drove my knee down upon his chest, and, as I believe,
+      should thus have slain him in my rage had not my uncle, and others there
+      gathered, fallen upon me and dragged me from him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And meanwhile, though I know it not, the chariot in which the Queen sat,
+      with elephants going before and lions led after it, had reached the spot,
+      and had been halted because of the tumult. I looked up, and thus torn,
+      panting, my white garments stained with the blood that had rushed from the
+      mouth and nostrils of the mighty Nubian, I for the first time saw
+      Cleopatra face to face. Her chariot was all of gold, and drawn by
+      milk-white steeds. She sat in it with two fair girls, clad in Greek
+      attire, standing one on either side, fanning her with glittering fans. On
+      her head was the covering of Isis, the golden horns between which rested
+      the moon&rsquo;s round disk and the emblem of Osiris&rsquo; throne, with the uræus
+      twined around. Beneath this covering was the vulture cap of gold, the blue
+      enamelled wings and the vulture head with gemmy eyes, under which her long
+      dark tresses flowed towards her feet. About her rounded neck was a broad
+      collar of gold studded with emeralds and coral. Round her arms and wrists
+      were bracelets of gold studded with emeralds and coral, and in one hand
+      she held the holy cross of Life fashioned of crystal, and in the other the
+      golden rod of royalty. Her breast was bare, but under it was a garment
+      that glistened like the scaly covering of a snake, everywhere sewn with
+      gems. Beneath this robe was a skirt of golden cloth, half hidden by a
+      scarf of the broidered silk of Cos, falling in folds to the sandals that,
+      fastened with great pearls, adorned her white and tiny feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All this I discerned at a glance, as it were. Then I looked upon the face&mdash;that
+      face which seduced Cæsar, ruined Egypt, and was doomed to give Octavian
+      the sceptre of the world. I looked upon the flawless Grecian features, the
+      rounded chin, the full, rich lips, the chiselled nostrils, and the ears
+      fashioned like delicate shells. I saw the forehead, low, broad, and
+      lovely, the crisped, dark hair falling in heavy waves that sparkled in the
+      sun, the arched eyebrows, and the long, bent lashes. There before me was
+      the grandeur of her Imperial shape. There burnt the wonderful eyes, hued
+      like the Cyprian violet&mdash;eyes that seemed to sleep and brood on
+      secret things as night broods upon the desert, and yet as the night to
+      shift, change, and be illumined by gleams of sudden splendour born within
+      their starry depths. All those wonders I saw, though I have small skill in
+      telling them. But even then I knew that it was not in these charms alone
+      that the might of Cleopatra&rsquo;s beauty lay. It was rather in a glory and a
+      radiance cast through the fleshly covering from the fierce soul within.
+      For she was a Thing of Flame like unto which no woman has ever been or
+      ever will be. Even when she brooded, the fire of her quick heart shone
+      through her. But when she woke, and the lightning leapt suddenly from her
+      eyes, and the passion-laden music of her speech chimed upon her lips, ah!
+      then, who can tell how Cleopatra seemed? For in her met all the splendours
+      that have been given to woman for her glory, and all the genius which man
+      has won from heaven. And with them dwelt every evil of that greater sort,
+      which fearing nothing, and making a mock of laws, has taken empires for
+      its place of play, and, smiling, watered the growth of its desires with
+      the rich blood of men. In her breast they gathered, together fashioning
+      that Cleopatra whom no man may draw, and yet whom no man, having seen,
+      ever can forget. They fashioned her grand as the Spirit of Storm, lovely
+      as Lightning, cruel as Pestilence, yet with a heart; and what she did is
+      known. Woe to the world when such another comes to curse it!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a moment I met Cleopatra&rsquo;s eyes as she idly bent herself to find the
+      tumult&rsquo;s cause. At first they were sombre and dark, as though they saw
+      indeed, but the brain read nothing. Then they awoke, and their very colour
+      seemed to change as the colour of the sea changes when the water is
+      shaken. First, there was anger written in them; next an idle noting; then,
+      when she looked upon the huge bulk of the man whom I had overcome, and
+      knew him for the gladiator, something, perchance, that was not far from
+      wonder. At the least they softened, though, indeed, her face changed no
+      whit. But he who would read Cleopatra&rsquo;s mind had need to watch her eyes,
+      for her countenance varied but a little. Turning, she said some word to
+      her guards. They came forward and led me to her, while all the multitude
+      waited silently to see me slain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I stood before her, my arms folded on my breast. Overcome though I was by
+      the wonder of her loveliness I hated her in my heart, this woman who dared
+      to clothe herself in the dress of Isis, this usurper who sat upon my
+      throne, this wanton squandering the wealth of Egypt in chariots and
+      perfumes. When she had looked me over from head to the feet, she spake in
+      a low full voice and in the tongue of Khemi which she alone had learned of
+      all the Lagidæ:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And who and what art thou, Egyptian&mdash;for Egyptian I see thou art&mdash;who
+      darest to smite my slave when I make progress through my city?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am Harmachis,&rdquo; I answered boldly. &ldquo;Harmachis, the astrologer, adopted
+      son of the High Priest and Governor of Abouthis, who am come hither to
+      seek my fortune. I smote thy slave, O Queen, because for no fault he
+      struck down the woman yonder. Ask of those who saw, royal Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Harmachis,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;the name has a high sound&mdash;and thou hast a
+      high look;&rdquo; and then, speaking to a soldier who had seen all, she bade him
+      tell her what had come to pass. This he did truthfully, being friendly
+      disposed towards me because I had overcome the Nubian. Thereon she turned
+      and spoke to the girl bearing the fan who stood beside her&mdash;a woman
+      with curling hair and shy dark eyes, very beautiful to see. The girl
+      answered somewhat. Then Cleopatra bade them bring the slave to her. So
+      they led forward the giant, who had found his breath again, and with him
+      the woman whom he had smitten down.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou dog!&rdquo; she said, in the same low voice; &ldquo;thou coward! who, being
+      strong, didst smite down this woman, and, being a coward, wast overthrown
+      of this young man. See, thou, I will teach thee manners. Henceforth, when
+      thou smitest women it shall be with thy left arm. Ho, guards, seize this
+      black slave and strike off his right hand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Her command given, she sank back in her golden chariot, and again the
+      cloud gathered in her eyes. But the guards seized the giant, and,
+      notwithstanding his cries and prayers for mercy, struck off his hand with
+      a sword upon the wood of the scaffolding and he was carried away groaning.
+      Then the procession moved on again. As it went the fair woman with the fan
+      turned her head, caught my eye, and smiled and nodded as though she
+      rejoiced, at which I wondered somewhat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The people cheered also and made jests, saying that I should soon practice
+      astrology in the palace. But, as soon as we might, I and my uncle escaped,
+      and made our way back to the house. All the while he rated me for my
+      rashness; but when we came to the chamber of the house he embraced me and
+      rejoiced greatly, because I had overthrown the giant with so little hurt
+      to myself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER II
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      OF THE COMING OF CHARMION; AND OF THE WRATH OF SEPA
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      That same night, while we sat at supper in the house, there came a knock
+      upon the door. It was opened, and a woman passed in wrapped from head to
+      foot in a large dark peplos or cloak in such fashion that her face could
+      not be clearly seen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      My uncle rose, and as he did so the woman uttered the secret word.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am come, my father,&rdquo; she said in a sweet clear voice, &ldquo;though of a
+      truth it was not easy to escape the revels at the palace yonder. But I
+      told the Queen that the sun and the riot in the streets had made me sick,
+      and she let me go.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;Unveil thyself; here thou art safe.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      With a little sigh of weariness she unclasped the peplos and let it slip
+      from her, giving to my sight the face and form of that beauteous girl who
+      had stood to fan Cleopatra in the chariot. For she was very fair and
+      pleasant to look upon, and her Grecian robes clung sweetly about her
+      supple limbs and budding form. Her wayward hair, flowing in a hundred
+      little curls, was bound in with a golden fillet, and on her feet were
+      sandals fastened with studs of gold. Her cheeks blushed like a flower, and
+      her dark soft eyes were downcast, as though with modesty, but smiles and
+      dimples trembled about her lips.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      My uncle frowned when his eyes fell upon her dress.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why comest thou in this garb, Charmion?&rdquo; he asked sternly. &ldquo;Is not the
+      dress of thy mothers good enough for thee? This is no time or place for
+      woman&rsquo;s vanities. Thou art not here to conquer, but to obey.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, be not wroth, my father,&rdquo; she answered softly; &ldquo;perchance thou
+      knowest not that she whom I serve will have none of our Egyptian dress; it
+      is out of fashion. To wear it would have been to court suspicion&mdash;also
+      I came in haste.&rdquo; And as she spoke I saw that all the while she watched me
+      covertly through the long lashes which fringed her modest eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, well,&rdquo; he said sharply, fixing his keen glance upon her face,
+      &ldquo;doubtless thou speakest truth, Charmion. Be ever mindful of thy oath,
+      girl, and of the cause to which thou art sworn. Be not light-minded, and I
+      charge thee forget the beauty with which thou hast been cursed. For mark
+      thou this, Charmion: fail us but one jot, and vengeance shall fall on thee&mdash;the
+      vengeance of man and the vengeance of the Gods! To this service,&rdquo; he
+      continued, lashing himself to anger as he went on till his great voice
+      rang in the narrow room, &ldquo;thou hast been bred; to this end thou hast been
+      instructed and placed where thou art to gain the ear of that wicked wanton
+      whom thou seemest to serve. See thou forget it not; see that the luxury of
+      yonder Court does not corrupt thy purity and divert thy aim, Charmion,&rdquo;
+       and his eyes flashed and his small form seemed to grow till it attained to
+      dignity&mdash;nay, almost to grandeur.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Charmion,&rdquo; he went on, advancing towards her with outstretched finger, &ldquo;I
+      say that at times I do not trust thee. But two nights gone I dreamed I saw
+      thee standing in the desert. I saw thee laugh and lift thy hand to heaven,
+      and from it fell a rain of blood; then the sky sank down on the land of
+      Khem and covered it. Whence came the dream, girl, and what is its meaning?
+      I have naught against thee as yet; but hearken! On the moment that I have,
+      though thou art of my kin, and I have loved thee&mdash;on that moment, I
+      say, I will doom those delicate limbs, which thou lovest so much to show,
+      to the kite and the jackal, and the soul within thee to all the tortures
+      of the Gods! Unburied shalt thou lie, and bodiless and accursed shalt thou
+      wander in Amenti!&mdash;ay, for ever and ever!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused, for his sudden burst of passion had spent itself. But by it,
+      more clearly than before, I saw how deep a heart this man had beneath the
+      cloak of his merriness and simplicity of mien, and how fiercely the mind
+      within him was set upon his aim. As for the girl, she shrank from him
+      terrified, and, placing her hands before her sweet face, began to weep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, speak not so, my father,&rdquo; she said, between her sobs; &ldquo;for what have
+      I done? I know nothing of the evil wandering of thy dreams. I am no
+      soothsayer that I should read dreams. Have I not carried out all things
+      according to thy desire? Have I not been ever mindful of that dread oath?&rdquo;&mdash;and
+      she trembled. &ldquo;Have I not played the spy and told thee all? Have I not won
+      the heart of the Queen, so that she loves me as a sister, refusing me
+      nothing&mdash;ay, and the hearts of those about her? Why dost thou
+      affright me thus with thy words and threats?&rdquo; and she wept afresh, looking
+      even more beautiful in her sorrow than she was before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Enough, enough,&rdquo; he answered; &ldquo;what I have said, I have said. Be warned,
+      and affront our sight no more with this wanton dress. Thinkest thou that
+      we would feed our eyes upon those rounded arms&mdash;we whose stake is
+      Egypt and who are dedicated to the Gods of Egypt? Girl, behold thy cousin
+      and thy King!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She ceased weeping, wiping her eyes with her chiton, and I saw that they
+      seemed but the softer for her tears.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Methinks, most royal Harmachis, and beloved Cousin,&rdquo; she said, as she
+      bent before me, &ldquo;that we are already made acquainted.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, Cousin,&rdquo; I answered, not without shamefacedness, for I had never
+      before spoken to so fair a maid; &ldquo;thou wert in the chariot with Cleopatra
+      this day when I struggled with the Nubian?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Assuredly,&rdquo; she said, with a smile and a sudden lighting of the eyes, &ldquo;it
+      was a gallant fight and gallantly didst thou overthrow that black brute. I
+      saw the fray and, though I knew thee not, I greatly feared for one so
+      brave. But I paid him for my fright, for it was I who put it into the mind
+      of Cleopatra to bid the guards strike off his hand&mdash;now, knowing who
+      thou art, I would I had said his head.&rdquo; And she looked up shooting a
+      glance at me and then smiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Enough,&rdquo; put in my uncle Sepa, &ldquo;the time draws on. Tell thou thy mission,
+      Charmion, and be gone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then her manner changed; she folded her hands meekly before her and spoke:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let Pharaoh hearken to his handmaiden. I am the daughter of Pharaoh&rsquo;s
+      uncle, the brother of his father, who is now long dead, and therefore in
+      my veins also flows the Royal blood of Egypt. Also I am of the ancient
+      Faith, and hate these Greeks, and to see thee set upon the throne has been
+      my dearest hope now for many years. To this end I, Charmion, have put
+      aside my rank and become serving-woman to Cleopatra, that I might cut a
+      notch in which thou couldst set thy foot when the hour came for thee to
+      climb the throne. And, Pharaoh, the notch is cut.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This then is our plot, royal Cousin. Thou must gain an entrance to the
+      Household and learn its ways and secrets, and, so far as may be, suborn
+      the eunuchs and captains, some of whom I have already tempted. This done,
+      and all things being prepared without, thou must slay Cleopatra, and,
+      aided by me with those whom I control, in the confusion that shall ensue,
+      throw wide the gates, and, admitting those of our party who are in
+      waiting, put such of the troops as remain faithful to the sword and seize
+      the Bruchium. Which being finished, within two days thou shalt hold this
+      fickle Alexandria. At the same time those who are sworn to thee in every
+      city of Egypt shall rise in arms, and in ten days from the death of
+      Cleopatra thou shalt indeed be Pharaoh. This is the counsel which has been
+      taken, and thou seest, royal Cousin, that, though our uncle yonder thinks
+      so ill of me, I have learned my part&mdash;ay, and played it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I hear thee, Cousin,&rdquo; I answered, marvelling that so young a woman&mdash;she
+      had but twenty years&mdash;could weave so bold a plot, for in its origin
+      the scheme was hers. But in those days I little knew Charmion. &ldquo;Go on; how
+      then shall I gain entrance to the palace of Cleopatra?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Cousin, as things are it is easy. Thus: Cleopatra loves to look upon
+      a man, and&mdash;give me pardon&mdash;thy face and form are fair. To-day
+      she noted them, and twice she said she would she had asked where that
+      astrologer might be found, for she held that an astrologer who could
+      wellnigh slay a Nubian gladiator with his bare hands, must indeed be a
+      master of the fortunate stars. I answered her that I would cause inquiry
+      to be made. So hearken, royal Harmachis. At midday Cleopatra sleeps in her
+      inner hall which looks over the gardens to the harbour. At that hour
+      to-morrow, then, I will meet thee at the gates of the palace, whither thou
+      shalt come boldly asking for the Lady Charmion. I will make appointment
+      for thee with Cleopatra, so that she shall see thee alone when she wakes,
+      and the rest shall be for thee, Harmachis. For much she loves to play with
+      the mysteries of magic, and I have known her stand whole nights watching
+      the stars and making a pretence to read them. And but lately she has sent
+      away Dioscorides the physician, because, poor fool! he ventured on a
+      prophecy from the conjunction of the stars, that Cassius would defeat Mark
+      Antony. Thereon Cleopatra sent orders to the General Allienus, bidding him
+      add the legions she had sent to Syria to help Antony to the army of
+      Cassius, whose victory, forsooth, was&mdash;according to Dioscorides&mdash;written
+      on the stars. But, as it chanced, Antony beat Cassius first and Brutus
+      afterwards, and so Dioscorides has departed, and now he lectures on herbs
+      in the museum for his bread, and hates the name of stars. But his place is
+      empty, and thou shalt fill it, and then we will work in secret and in the
+      shadow of the sceptre. Ay, we will work like the worm at the heart of a
+      fruit, till the time of plucking comes, and at thy dagger&rsquo;s touch, royal
+      Cousin, the fabric of this Grecian throne crumbles to nothingness, and the
+      worm that rotted it bursts his servile covering, and, in the sight of
+      empires, spreads his royal wings o&rsquo;er Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I gazed at this strange girl once more astonished, and saw that her face
+      was lit up with such a light as I had never seen in the eyes of woman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah,&rdquo; broke in my uncle, who was watching her, &ldquo;ah, I love to see thee so,
+      girl; there is the Charmion that I knew and I bred up&mdash;not the Court
+      girl whom I like not, draped in silks of Cos and fragrant with essences.
+      Let thy heart harden in this mould&mdash;ay, stamp it with the fervid zeal
+      of patriot faith, and thy reward shall find thee. And now cover up that
+      shameless dress of thine and leave us, for it grows late. To-morrow
+      Harmachis shall come, as thou hast said, and so farewell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Charmion bowed her head, and, turning, wrapped her dark-hued peplos round
+      her. Then, taking my hand, she touched it with her lips and went without
+      any further word.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A strange woman!&rdquo; said Sepa, when she had gone; &ldquo;a most strange woman,
+      and an uncertain!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Methought, my uncle,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;that thou wast somewhat harsh with her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;but not without a cause. Look thou, Harmachis; beware
+      of this Charmion. She is too wayward, and, I fear me, may be led away. In
+      truth, she is a very woman; and, like a restive horse, will take the path
+      that pleases her. She has brain and fire, and she loves our cause; but I
+      pray that the cause come not face to face with her desires, for what her
+      heart is set on that will she do, at any cost she will do it. Therefore I
+      frightened her now while I may: for who can know but that she will pass
+      beyond my power? I tell thee, that in this one girl&rsquo;s hand lie all our
+      lives: and if she play us false, what then? Alas! and alas! that we must
+      use such tools as these! But it was needful: there was no other way; and
+      yet I misdoubted me. I pray that it may be well; still, at times, I fear
+      my niece Charmion&mdash;she is too fair, and the blood of youth runs too
+      warm in those blue veins of hers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah, woe to the cause that builds its strength upon a woman&rsquo;s faith; for
+      women are faithful only where they love, and when they love their
+      faithlessness becomes their faith. They are not fixed as men are fixed:
+      they rise more high and sink more low&mdash;they are strong and changeful
+      as the sea. Harmachis, beware of this Charmion: for, like the ocean, she
+      may float thee home; or, like the ocean, she may wreck thee, and, with
+      thee, the hope of Egypt!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER III
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE COMING OF HARMACHIS TO THE PALACE; OF HOW HE DREW PAULUS THROUGH
+      THE GATES; OF CLEOPATRA SLEEPING; AND OF THE MAGIC OF HARMACHIS WHICH HE
+      SHOWED HER
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus it came to pass that on the next day I arrayed myself in a long and
+      flowing robe, after the fashion of a magician or astrologer. I placed a
+      cap on my head, about which were broidered images of the stars, and in my
+      belt a scribe&rsquo;s palette and a roll of papyrus written over with magic
+      spells and signs. In my hand I held a wand of ebony, tipped with ivory,
+      such as is used by priests and masters of magic. Among these, indeed, I
+      took high rank, filling my knowledge of their secrets which I had learned
+      at Annu what I lacked in that skill which comes from use. And so with no
+      small shame, for I love not such play and hold this common magic in
+      contempt, I set forth through the Bruchium to the palace on the Lochias,
+      being guided on my way by my uncle Sepa. At length, passing up the avenue
+      of sphinxes, we came to the great marble gateway and the gates of bronze,
+      within which is the guard-house. Here my uncle left me, breathing many
+      prayers for my safety and success. But I advanced with an easy air to the
+      gate, where I was roughly challenged by the Gallic sentries, and asked of
+      my name, following, and business. I gave my name, Harmachis, the
+      astrologer, saying that my business was with the Lady Charmion, the
+      Queen&rsquo;s lady. Thereon the man made as though to let me pass in, when a
+      captain of the guard, a Roman named Paulus, came forward and forbade it.
+      Now, this Paulus was a large limbed man, with a woman&rsquo;s face, and a hand
+      that shook from wine-bibbing. Still he knew me again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why,&rdquo; he cried, in the Latin tongue, to one who came with him, &ldquo;this is
+      the fellow who wrestled yesterday with the Nubian gladiator, that same who
+      now howls for his lost hand underneath my window. Curses on the black
+      brute! I had a bet upon him for the games! I have backed him against
+      Caius, and now he&rsquo;ll never fight again, and I must lose my money, all
+      through this astrologer. What is it thou sayest?&mdash;thou hast business
+      with the Lady Charmion? Nay, then, that settles it. I will not let thee
+      through. Fellow, I worship the Lady Charmion&mdash;ay, we all worship her,
+      though she gives us more slaps than sighs. And dost thou think that we
+      will suffer an astrologer with such eyes and such a chest as thine to cut
+      in the game?&mdash;by Bacchus, no! She must come out to keep the tryst,
+      for in thou shalt not go.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sir,&rdquo; I said humbly and yet with dignity, &ldquo;I pray that a message may be
+      sent to the Lady Charmion, for my business will not brook delay.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ye Gods!&rdquo; answered the fool, &ldquo;whom have we here that he cannot wait? A
+      Cæsar in disguise? Nay, be off&mdash;be off! if thou wouldst not learn how
+      a spear-prick feels behind.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; put in the other officer, &ldquo;he is an astrologer; make him prophesy&mdash;make
+      him play tricks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; cried the others who had sauntered up, &ldquo;let the fellow show his art.
+      If he is a magician he can pass the gates, Paulus or no Paulus.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Right willingly, good Sirs,&rdquo; I answered; for I saw no other means of
+      entering. &ldquo;Wilt thou, my young and noble Lord&rdquo;&mdash;and I addressed him
+      who was with Paulus&mdash;&ldquo;suffer that I look thee in the eyes; perhaps I
+      may read what is written there?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Right,&rdquo; answered the youth; &ldquo;but I wish that the Lady Charmion was the
+      sorceress. I would stare her out of countenance, I warrant.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I took him by the hand and gazed deep into his eyes. &ldquo;I see,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;a
+      field of battle at night, and about it bodies stretched&mdash;among them
+      is <i>thy</i> body, and a hyena tears its throat. Most noble Sir, thou
+      shalt die by sword-thrusts within a year.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By Bacchus!&rdquo; said the youth, turning white to the gills, &ldquo;thou art an
+      ill-omened sorcerer!&rdquo; And he slunk off&mdash;shortly afterwards, as it
+      chanced, to meet this very fate. For he was sent on service and slain in
+      Cyprus.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now for thee, great Captain!&rdquo; I said, speaking to Paulus. &ldquo;I will show
+      thee how I will pass those gates without thy leave&mdash;ay, and draw thee
+      through them after me. Be pleased to fix thy princely gaze upon the point
+      of this wand in my hand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Being urged by his comrades he did this, unwillingly; and I let him gaze
+      till I saw his eyes grow empty as an owl&rsquo;s eyes in the sun. Then I
+      suddenly withdrew the wand, and, shifting my countenance into the place of
+      it, I seized him with my will and stare, and, beginning to turn round and
+      round, drew him after me, his fierce face drawn fixed, as it were, almost
+      to my own. Then I moved slowly backwards till I had passed the gates,
+      still drawing him after me, and suddenly jerked my head away. He fell to
+      the ground, to rise wiping his brow and looking very foolish.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Art thou content, most noble Captain?&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Thou seest we have passed
+      the gates. Would any other noble Sir wish that I should show more of my
+      skill?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By Taranis, Lord of Thunder, and all the Gods of Olympus thrown in, no!&rdquo;
+       growled an old Centurion, a Gaul named Brennus, &ldquo;I like thee not, I say.
+      The man who could drag our Paulus through those gates by the eye, as it
+      were, is not a man to play with. Paulus, too, who always goes the way you
+      don&rsquo;t want him&mdash;backwards, like an ass&mdash;Paulus! Why, sirrah,
+      thou needst must have a woman in one eye and a wine-cup in the other to
+      draw our Paulus thus.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At this moment the talk was broken, for Charmion herself came down the
+      marble path, followed by an armed slave. She walked calm and carelessly,
+      her hands folded behind her, and her eyes gazing at nothingness, as it
+      were. But it was when Charmion thus looked upon nothing that she saw most.
+      And as she came the officers and men of the guard made way for her bowing,
+      for, as I learned afterwards, this girl, next to Cleopatra&rsquo;s self, wielded
+      more power than anyone about the palace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is this tumult, Brennus?&rdquo; she said, speaking to the Centurion, and
+      making as if she saw me not; &ldquo;knowest thou not that the Queen sleeps at
+      this hour, and if she be awakened it is thou who must answer for it, and
+      that dearly?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Lady,&rdquo; said the Centurion, humbly; &ldquo;but it is thus. We have here&rdquo;&mdash;and
+      he jerked his thumb towards me&mdash;&ldquo;a magician of the most pestilent&mdash;um,
+      I crave his pardon&mdash;of the very best sort, for he hath but just now,
+      only by placing his eyes close to the nose of the worthy Captain Paulus,
+      dragged him, the said Paulus, through the gates that Paulus swore the
+      magician should not pass. By the same token, lady, the magician says that
+      he has business with you&mdash;which grieves me for your sake.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Charmion turned and looked at me carelessly. &ldquo;Ay, I remember,&rdquo; she said;
+      &ldquo;and so he has&mdash;at least, the Queen would see his tricks; but if he
+      can do none better than cause a sot&rdquo;&mdash;here she cast a glance of scorn
+      at the wondering Paulus&mdash;&ldquo;to follow his nose through the gates he
+      guards, he had better go whence he came. Follow me, Sir Magician; and for
+      thee, Brennus, I say, keep thy riotous crew more quiet. For thee, most
+      honourable Paulus, get thee sober, and next time I am asked for at the
+      gates give him who asks a hearing.&rdquo; And, with a queenly nod of her small
+      head, she turned and led the way, followed at a distance by myself and the
+      armed slave.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We passed up the marble walk which runs through the garden grounds, and is
+      set on either side with marble statues, for the most part of heathen Gods
+      and Goddesses, with which these Lagidæ were not ashamed to defile their
+      royal dwellings. At length we came to a beautiful portico with fluted
+      columns of the Grecian style of art, where we found more guards, who made
+      way for the Lady Charmion. Crossing the portico we reached a marble
+      vestibule where a fountain splashed softly, and thence by a low doorway a
+      second chamber, known as the Alabaster Hall, most beautiful to see. Its
+      roof was upheld by light columns of black marble, but all its walls were
+      panelled with alabaster, on which Grecian legends were engraved. Its floor
+      was of rich and many-hued mosaic that told the tale of the passion of
+      Psyche for the Grecian God of Love, and about it were set chairs of ivory
+      and gold. Charmion bade the armed slave stay at the doorway of this
+      chamber, so that we passed in alone, for the place was empty except for
+      two eunuchs who stood with drawn swords before the curtain at the further
+      end.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am vexed, my Lord,&rdquo; she said, speaking very low and shyly, &ldquo;that thou
+      shouldst have met with such affronts at the gate; but the guard there
+      served a double watch, and I had given my commands to the officer of the
+      company that should have relieved it. Those Roman officers are ever
+      insolent, who, though they seem to serve, know well that Egypt is their
+      plaything. But it is not amiss, for these rough soldiers are
+      superstitious, and will fear thee. Now bide thou here while I go into
+      Cleopatra&rsquo;s chamber, where she sleeps. I have but just sung her to sleep,
+      and if she be awake I will call thee, for she waits thy coming.&rdquo; And
+      without more words she glided from my side.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In a little time she returned, and coming to me spoke:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wouldst see the fairest woman in all the world, asleep?&rdquo; she whispered;
+      &ldquo;if so, follow me. Nay, fear not; when she awakes she will but laugh, for
+      she bade me be sure to bring thee instantly, whether she slept or woke.
+      See, I have her signet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So we passed up the beautiful chamber till we came to where the eunuchs
+      stood with drawn swords, and these would have barred my entry. But
+      Charmion frowned, and drawing the signet from her bosom held it before
+      their eyes. Having examined the writing that was on the ring, they bowed,
+      dropping their sword points and we passed through the heavy curtains
+      broidered with gold into the resting-place of Cleopatra. It was beautiful
+      beyond imagining&mdash;beautiful with many coloured marbles, with gold and
+      ivory, gems and flowers&mdash;all art can furnish and all luxury can dream
+      of were here. Here were pictures so real that birds might have pecked the
+      painted fruits; here were statues of woman&rsquo;s loveliness frozen into stone;
+      here were draperies fine as softest silk, but woven of a web of gold; here
+      were couches and carpets such as I never saw. The air, too, was sweet with
+      perfume, while through the open window places came the far murmur of the
+      sea. And at the further end of the chamber, on a couch of gleaming silk
+      and sheltered by a net of finest gauze, Cleopatra lay asleep. There she
+      lay&mdash;the fairest thing that man ever saw&mdash;fairer than a dream,
+      and the web of her dark hair flowed all about her. One white, rounded arm
+      made a pillow for her head, and one hung down towards the ground. Her rich
+      lips were parted in a smile, showing the ivory lines of teeth; and her
+      rosy limbs were draped in so thin a robe of the silk of Cos, held about
+      her by a jewelled girdle, that the white gleam of flesh shone through it.
+      I stood astonished, and though my thoughts had little bent that way, the
+      sight of her beauty struck me like a blow, so that for a moment I lost
+      myself as it were in the vision of its power, and was grieved at heart
+      because I must slay so fair a thing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Turning suddenly from the sight, I found Charmion watching me with her
+      quick eyes&mdash;watching as though she would search my heart. And,
+      indeed, something of my thought must have been written on my face in a
+      language that she could read, for she whispered in my ear:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, it is pity, is it not? Harmachis, being but a man, methinks that thou
+      wilt need all thy ghostly strength to nerve thee to the deed!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I frowned, but before I could frame an answer she touched me lightly on
+      the arm and pointed to the Queen. A change had come upon her: her hands
+      were clenched, and about her face, all rosy with the hue of sleep,
+      gathered a cloud of fear. Her breath came quick, she raised her arms as
+      though to ward away a blow, then with a stifled moan sat up and opened the
+      windows of her eyes. They were dark, dark as night; but when the light
+      found them they grew blue as the sky grows blue before the blushing of the
+      dawn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cæsarion?&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;where is my son Cæsarion?&mdash;Was it then a
+      dream? I dreamed that Julius&mdash;Julius who is dead&mdash;came to me, a
+      bloody toga wrapped about his face, and having thrown his arms about his
+      child led him away. Then I dreamed I died&mdash;died in blood and agony;
+      and one I might not see mocked me as I died. <i>Ah!</i> who is that man?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Peace, Madam! peace!&rdquo; said Charmion. &ldquo;It is but the magician Harmachis,
+      whom thou didst bid me bring to thee at this hour.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah! the magician&mdash;that Harmachis who overthrew the giant? I remember
+      now. He is welcome. Tell me, Sir Magician, can thy magic mirror call forth
+      an answer to this dream? Nay, how strange a thing is Sleep, that wrapping
+      the mind in a web of darkness, straightly compels it to its will! Whence,
+      then, come those images of fear rising on the horizon of the soul like
+      some untimely moon upon a midday sky? Who grants them power to stalk so
+      lifelike from Memory&rsquo;s halls, and, pointing to their wounds, thus confront
+      the Present with the Past? Are they, then, messengers? Does the half-death
+      of sleep give them foothold in our brains, and thus upknit the cut thread
+      of human kinship? That was Cæsar&rsquo;s self, I tell thee, who but now stood at
+      my side and murmured through his muffled robe warning words of which the
+      memory is lost to me. Read me this riddle, thou Egyptian Sphinx,[*] and
+      I&rsquo;ll show thee a rosier path to fortune than all thy stars can point. Thou
+      hast brought the omen, solve thou its problem.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] Alluding to his name. Harmachis was the Grecian title of
+     the divinity of the Sphinx, as Horemkhu was the Egyptian.&mdash;
+     Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I come in a good hour, most mighty Queen,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;for I have some
+      skill in the mysteries of Sleep, that is, as thou hast rightly guessed, a
+      stair by which those who are gathered to Osiris may from time to time
+      enter at the gateways of our living sense, and, by signs and words that
+      can be read of instructed mortals, repeat the echoes of that Hall of Truth
+      which is their habitation. Yes, Sleep is a stair by which the messengers
+      of the guardian Gods may descend in many shapes upon the spirit of their
+      choice. For, O Queen, to those who hold the key, the madness of our dreams
+      can show a clearer purpose and speak more certainly than all the acted
+      wisdom of our waking life, which is a dream indeed. Thou didst see great
+      Cæsar in his bloody robe, and he threw his arms about the Prince Cæsarion
+      and led him hence. Hearken now to the secret of thy vision. It was Cæsar&rsquo;s
+      self thou sawest coming to thy side from Amenti in such a guise as might
+      not be mistaken. When he embraced the child Cæsarion he did it for a sign
+      that to him, and him alone, had passed his greatness and his love. When he
+      seemed to lead him hence he led him forth from Egypt to be crowned in the
+      Capitol, crowned the Emperor of Rome and Lord of all the Lands. For the
+      rest, I know not. It is hid from me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus, then, I read the vision, though to my sense it had a darker meaning.
+      But it is not well to prophesy evil unto Kings.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Meanwhile Cleopatra had risen, and, having thrown back the gnat gauze, was
+      seated upon the edge of her couch, her eyes fixed upon my face, while her
+      fingers played with her girdle&rsquo;s jewelled ends.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of a truth,&rdquo; she cried, &ldquo;thou art the best of all magicians, for thou
+      readest my heart, and drawest a hidden sweet out of the rough shell of
+      evil omen!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, O Queen,&rdquo; said Charmion, who stood by with downcast eyes, and I
+      thought that there was bitter meaning in her soft tones; &ldquo;may no rougher
+      words ever affront thy ears, and no evil presage tread less closely upon
+      its happy sense.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Cleopatra placed her hands behind her head and, leaning back, looked at me
+      with half-shut eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come, show us of thy magic, Egyptian,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It is yet hot abroad,
+      and I am weary of those Hebrew Ambassadors and their talk of Herod and
+      Jerusalem. I hate that Herod, as he shall find&mdash;and will have none of
+      the Ambassadors to-day, though I yearn a little to try my Hebrew on them.
+      What canst thou do? Hast thou no new trick? By Serapis! if thou canst
+      conjure as well as thou canst prophesy, thou shalt have a place at Court,
+      with pay and perquisites to boot, if thy lofty soul does not scorn
+      perquisites.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;all tricks are old; but there are some forms of magic
+      to be rarely used, and with discretion, that may be new to thee, O Queen!
+      Art thou afraid to venture on the charm?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I fear nothing; go on and do thy worst. Come, Charmion, and sit by me.
+      But, stay, where are all the girls?&mdash;Iras and Merira?&mdash;they,
+      too, love magic.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not so,&rdquo; I said; &ldquo;the charms work ill before so many. Now behold!&rdquo; and,
+      gazing at the twain, I cast my wand upon the marble and murmured a spell.
+      For a moment it was still, and then, as I muttered, the rod slowly began
+      to writhe. It bent itself, it stood on end, and moved of its own motion.
+      Next it put on scales, and behold it was a serpent that crawled and
+      fiercely hissed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fie on thee!&rdquo; cried Cleopatra, clapping her hands; &ldquo;callest thou that
+      magic? Why, it is an old trick that any wayside conjurer can do. I have
+      seen it a score of times.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wait, O Queen,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;thou hast not seen all.&rdquo; And, as I spoke,
+      the serpent seemed to break in fragments, and from each fragment grew a
+      new serpent. And these, too, broke in fragments and bred others, till in a
+      little while the place, to their glamoured sight, was a seething sea of
+      snakes, that crawled, hissed, and knotted themselves in knots. Then I made
+      a sign, and the serpents gathered themselves round me, and seemed slowly
+      to twine themselves about my body and my limbs, till, save my face, I was
+      wreathed thick with hissing snakes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, horrible! horrible!&rdquo; cried Charmion, hiding her countenance in the
+      skirt of the Queen&rsquo;s garment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, enough, Magician, enough!&rdquo; said the Queen: &ldquo;thy magic overwhelms
+      us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I waved my snake-wrapped arms, and all was gone. There at my feet lay the
+      black wand tipped with ivory, and naught beside.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The two women looked upon each other and gasped with wonder. But I took up
+      the wand and stood with folded arms before them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is the Queen content with my poor art?&rdquo; I asked most humbly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, that I am, Egyptian; never did I see its like! Thou art Court
+      astronomer from this day forward, with right of access to the Queen&rsquo;s
+      presence. Hast thou more of such magic at thy call?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, royal Egypt; suffer that the chamber be a little darkened, and I
+      will show thee one more thing.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Half am I afraid,&rdquo; she answered; &ldquo;nevertheless do thou as this Harmachis
+      says, Charmion.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So the curtains were drawn and the chamber made as though the twilight
+      were at hand. I came forward, and stood beside Cleopatra. &ldquo;Gaze thou
+      there!&rdquo; I said sternly, pointing with my wand to the empty space where I
+      had been, &ldquo;and thou shalt behold that which is in thy mind.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then for a little space was silence, while the two women gazed fixedly and
+      half fearful at the spot.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And as they gazed a cloud gathered before them. Very slowly it took shape
+      and form, and the form it took was the form of a man, though as yet he was
+      but vaguely mapped upon the twilight, and seemed now to grow and now to
+      melt away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I cried with a loud voice:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Spirit, I conjure thee, <i>appear!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And as I cried the Thing, perfect in every part, leapt into form before
+      us, suddenly as the flash of day. His shape was the shape of royal Cæsar,
+      the toga thrown about his face, and on his form a vestment bloody from a
+      hundred wounds. An instant so he stood, then I waved my wand and he was
+      gone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I turned to the two women on the couch, and saw Cleopatra&rsquo;s lovely face
+      all clothed in terror. Her lips were ashy white, her eyes stared wide, and
+      all the flesh was shaking on her bones.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Man!&rdquo; she gasped; &ldquo;man! who and what art thou who canst bring the dead
+      before our eyes?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am the Queen&rsquo;s astronomer, magician, servant&mdash;what the Queen
+      wills,&rdquo; I answered, laughing. &ldquo;Was this the form that was on the Queen&rsquo;s
+      mind?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She made no answer, but, rising, left the chamber by another door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Charmion rose also and took her hands from her face, for she, too,
+      had been stricken with dread.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How dost thou these things, royal Harmachis?&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Tell me; for of
+      a truth I fear thee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be not afraid,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;Perchance thou didst see nothing but what
+      was in my mind. All things are shadows. How canst thou, then, know their
+      nature, or what is and what only seems to be? But how goes it? Remember,
+      Charmion, this sport is played to an end.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It goes well,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;By to-morrow morning&rsquo;s dawn these tales will
+      have gone round, and thou wilt be more feared than any man in Alexandria.
+      Follow me, I pray thee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IV
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE WAYS OF CHARMION; AND OF THE CROWNING OF HARMACHIS AS THE KING OF
+      LOVE
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the following day I received the writing of my appointment as
+      Astrologer and Magician-in-Chief to the Queen, with the pay and
+      perquisites of that office, which were not small. Rooms were given me in
+      the palace, also, through which I passed at night to the high watch-tower,
+      whence I looked on the stars and drew their auguries. For at this time
+      Cleopatra was much troubled about matters political, and not knowing how
+      the great struggle among the Roman factions would end, but being very
+      desirous to side with the strongest, she took constant counsel with me as
+      to the warnings of the stars. These I read to her in such manner as best
+      seemed to fit the high interest of my ends. For Antony, the Roman
+      Triumvir, was now in Asia Minor, and, rumour ran, very wroth because it
+      had been told him that Cleopatra was hostile to the Triumvirate, in that
+      her General, Serapion, had aided Cassius. But Cleopatra protested loudly
+      to me and others that Serapion had acted against her will. Yet Charmion
+      told me that, as with Allienus, it was because of a prophecy of
+      Dioscorides the unlucky that the Queen herself had secretly ordered
+      Serapion so to do. Still, this did not save Serapion, for to prove to
+      Antony that she was innocent she dragged the General from the sanctuary
+      and slew him. Woe be to those who carry out the will of tyrants if the
+      scale should rise against them! And so Serapion perished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Meanwhile all things went well with us, for the minds of Cleopatra and
+      those about her were so set upon affairs abroad that neither she nor they
+      thought of revolt at home. But day by day our party gathered strength in
+      the cities of Egypt, and even in Alexandria, which is to Egypt as another
+      land, all things being foreign there. Day by day, those who doubted were
+      won over and sworn to the cause by that oath which cannot be broken, and
+      our plans of action more firmly laid. And every other day I went forth
+      from the palace to take counsel with my uncle Sepa, and there at his house
+      met the Nobles and the great priests who were for the party of Khem.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I saw much of Cleopatra, the Queen, and I was ever more astonished at the
+      wealth and splendour of her mind, that for richness and variety was as a
+      woven cloth of gold throwing back all lights from its changing face. She
+      feared me somewhat, and therefore wished to make a friend of me, asking me
+      of many matters that seemed to be beyond the province of my office. I saw
+      much of the Lady Charmion also&mdash;indeed, she was ever at my side, so
+      that I scarce knew when she came and when she went. For she would draw
+      nigh with that soft step of hers, and I would turn to find her at hand and
+      watching me beneath the long lashes of her downcast eyes. There was no
+      service that was too hard for her, and no task too long; for day and night
+      she laboured for me and for our cause.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But when I thanked her for her loyalty, and said it should be had in mind
+      in that time which was at hand, she stamped her foot, and pouted with her
+      lips, like an angry child, saying that, among all the things which I had
+      learned, this had I not learned&mdash;that Love&rsquo;s service asked no
+      payment, and was its own guerdon. And I, being innocent in such matters,
+      and, foolish that I was, holding the ways of women as of small account,
+      read her sayings in the sense that her services to the cause of Khem,
+      which she loved, brought with them their own reward. But when I praised so
+      fine a spirit, she burst into angry tears and left me wondering. For I
+      knew nothing of the trouble at her heart. I knew not then that, unsought,
+      this woman had given me her love, and that she was rent and torn by pangs
+      of passion fixed like arrows in her breast. I did not know&mdash;how
+      should I know it, who never looked upon her otherwise than as an
+      instrument of our joint and holy cause? Her beauty never stirred me&mdash;no,
+      not even when she leaned over me and breathed upon my hair, I never
+      thought of it otherwise than as a man thinks of the beauty of a statue.
+      What had I to do with such delights, I who was sworn to Isis and dedicate
+      to the cause of Egypt? O ye Gods, bear me witness that I am innocent of
+      this thing which was the source of all my woe and the woe of Khem!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      How strange a thing is this love of woman, that is so small in its
+      beginning and in its ends so great! See, at the first it is as the little
+      spring of water welling from a mountain&rsquo;s heart. And at the last what is
+      it? It is a mighty river that floats argosies of joy and makes wide lands
+      to smile. Or, perchance, it is a torrent to wash in a flood of ruin across
+      the fields of Hope, bursting in the barriers of design, and bringing to
+      tumbled nothingness the tenement of man&rsquo;s purity and the temples of his
+      faith. For when the Invisible conceived the order of the universe He set
+      this seed of woman&rsquo;s love within its plan, that by its most unequal growth
+      is doomed to bring about equality of law. For now it lifts the low to
+      heights untold, and now it brings the noble to the level of the dust. And
+      thus, while Woman, that great surprise of nature, is, Good and Evil can
+      never grow apart. For still She stands, and, blind with love, shoots the
+      shuttle of our fate, and pours sweet water into the cup of bitterness, and
+      poisons the wholesome breath of life with the doom of her desire. Turn
+      this way and turn that, She is at hand to meet thee. Her weakness is thy
+      strength, her might is thy undoing. Of her thou art, to her thou goest.
+      She is thy slave, yet holds thee captive; at her touch honour withers,
+      locks open, and barriers fall. She is infinite as ocean, she is variable
+      as heaven, and her name is the Unforeseen. Man, strive not to escape from
+      Woman and the love of woman; for, fly where thou wilt, She is yet thy
+      fate, and whate&rsquo;er thou buildest thou buildest it for her!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And thus it came to pass that I, Harmachis, who had put such matters far
+      from me, was yet doomed to fall by the thing I held of no account. For,
+      see, this Charmion: she loved me&mdash;why, I know not. Of her own thought
+      she learned to love me, and of her love came what shall be told. But I,
+      knowing naught, treated her like a sister, walking as it were hand in hand
+      with her towards our common end.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And so the time passed on, till, at length, all things were made ready.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was the night before the night when the blow should fall, and there
+      were revellings in the palace. That very day I had seen Sepa, and with him
+      the captains of a band of five hundred men, who should burst into the
+      palace at midnight on the morrow, when I had slain Cleopatra the Queen,
+      and put the Roman and the Gallic legionaries to the sword. That very day I
+      had suborned the Captain Paulus who, since I drew him through the gates,
+      was my will&rsquo;s slave. Half by fear and half by promises of great reward I
+      had prevailed upon him, for the watch was his, to unbar that small gate
+      which faces to the East at the signal on the morrow night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All was made ready&mdash;the flower of Freedom that had been
+      five-and-twenty years in growth was on the point of bloom. Armed companies
+      were gathering in every city from Abu to Athu, and spies looked out from
+      their walls, awaiting the coming of the messenger who should bring tidings
+      that Cleopatra was no more and that Harmachis, the royal Egyptian, had
+      seized the throne.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All was prepared, triumph hung in my hand as a ripe fruit to the hand of
+      the plucker. Yet as I sat at the royal feast my heart was heavy, and a
+      shadow of coming woe lay cold within my mind. I sat there in a place of
+      honour, near the majesty of Cleopatra, and looked down the lines of
+      guests, bright with gems and garlanded with flowers, marking those whom I
+      had doomed to die. There before me lay Cleopatra in all her beauty, which
+      thrilled the beholder as he is thrilled by the rushing of the midnight
+      gale, or by the sight of stormy waters. I gazed on her as she touched her
+      lips with wine and toyed with the chaplet of roses on her brow, thinking
+      of the dagger beneath my robe that I had sworn to bury in her breast.
+      Again, and yet again, I gazed and strove to hate her, strove to rejoice
+      that she must die&mdash;and could not. There, too, behind her&mdash;watching
+      me now, as ever, with her deep-fringed eyes&mdash;was the lovely Lady
+      Charmion. Who, to look at her innocent face, would believe that she was
+      the setter of that snare in which the Queen who loved her should miserably
+      perish? Who would dream that the secret of so much death was locked in her
+      girlish breast? I gazed, and grew sick at heart because I must anoint my
+      throne with blood, and by evil sweep away the evil of the land. At that
+      hour I wished, indeed, that I was nothing but some humble husbandman, who
+      in its season grows and in its season garners the golden grain! Alas! the
+      seed that I had been doomed to sow was the seed of Death, and now I must
+      reap the red fruit of the harvest!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, Harmachis, what ails thee?&rdquo; said Cleopatra, smiling her slow smile.
+      &ldquo;Has the golden skein of stars got tangled, my astronomer? or dost thou
+      plan some new feat of magic? Say what is it that thou dost so poorly grace
+      our feast? Nay, now, did I not know, having made inquiry, that things so
+      low as we poor women are far beneath thy gaze, why, I should swear that
+      Eros had found thee out, Harmachis!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, that I am spared, O Queen,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;The servant of the stars
+      marks not the smaller light of woman&rsquo;s eyes, and therein is he happy!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Cleopatra leaned herself towards me, looking on me long and steadily in
+      such fashion that, despite my will, the blood fluttered at my heart.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Boast not, thou proud Egyptian,&rdquo; she said in a low voice which none but I
+      and Charmion could hear, &ldquo;lest perchance thou dost tempt me to match my
+      magic against thine. What woman can forgive that a man should push us by
+      as things of no account? It is an insult to our sex which Nature&rsquo;s self
+      abhors,&rdquo; and she leaned back again and laughed most musically. But,
+      glancing up, I saw Charmion, her teeth on her lip and an angry frown upon
+      her brow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pardon, royal Egypt,&rdquo; I answered coldly, but with such wit as I could
+      summon, &ldquo;before the Queen of Heaven even stars grow pale!&rdquo; This I said of
+      the moon, which is the sign of the Holy Mother whom Cleopatra dared to
+      rival, naming herself Isis come to earth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Happily said,&rdquo; she answered, clapping her white hands. &ldquo;Why, here&rsquo;s an
+      astronomer who has wit and can shape a compliment! Nay, such a wonder must
+      not pass unnoted, lest the Gods resent it. Charmion, take this
+      rose-chaplet from my hair and set it upon the learned brow of our
+      Harmachis. He shall be crowned <i>King of Love</i>, whether he will it or
+      not.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Charmion lifted the chaplet from Cleopatra&rsquo;s brows and, bearing it to
+      where I was, with a smile set it upon my head yet warm and fragrant from
+      the Queen&rsquo;s hair, but so roughly that she pained me somewhat. She did this
+      because she was wroth, although she smiled with her lips and whispered,
+      &ldquo;An omen, royal Harmachis.&rdquo; For though she was so very much a woman, yet,
+      when she was angered or suffered jealousy, Charmion had a childish way.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Having thus fixed the chaplet, she curtsied low before me, and with the
+      softest tone of mockery named me, in the Greek tongue, &ldquo;Harmachis, King of
+      Love.&rdquo; Then Cleopatra laughed and pledged me as &ldquo;King of Love,&rdquo; and so did
+      all the company, finding the jest a merry one. For in Alexandria they love
+      not those who live straitly and turn aside from women.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But I sat there, a smile upon my lips, and black wrath in my heart. For,
+      knowing who and what I was, it irked me to think myself a jest for the
+      frivolous nobles and light beauties of Cleopatra&rsquo;s Court. But I was
+      chiefly angered against Charmion, because she laughed the loudest, and I
+      did not then know that laughter and bitterness are often the veils with
+      which a sore heart wraps its weakness from the world. &ldquo;An omen&rdquo; she said
+      it was&mdash;that crown of flowers&mdash;and so it proved indeed. For I
+      was fated to barter the Double Diadem of the Upper and the Lower Land for
+      a wreath of passion&rsquo;s roses that fade before they fully bloom, and
+      Pharaoh&rsquo;s ivory bed of state for the pillow of a faithless woman&rsquo;s breast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>King of Love!</i>&rdquo; they crowned me in their mockery; ay, and King of
+      Shame! And I, with the perfumed roses on my brow&mdash;I, by descent and
+      ordination the Pharaoh of Egypt&mdash;thought of the imperishable halls of
+      Abouthis and of that other crowning which on the morrow should be
+      consummate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But still smiling, I pledged them back, and answered with a jest. For
+      rising, I bowed before Cleopatra and craved leave to go. &ldquo;Venus,&rdquo; I said,
+      speaking of the planet that we know as Donaou in the morning and Bonou in
+      the evening, &ldquo;was in the ascendant. Therefore, as new-crowned King of
+      Love, I must now pass to do my homage to its Queen.&rdquo; For these barbarians
+      name Venus Queen of Love.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And so amidst their laughter I withdrew to my watch-tower, and, dashing
+      that shameful chaplet down amidst the instruments of my craft, made
+      pretence to note the rolling of the stars. There I waited, thinking on
+      many things that were to be, until Charmion should come with the last
+      lists of the doomed and the messages of my uncle Sepa, whom she had seen
+      that evening.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length the door opened softly, and she came jewelled and clad in her
+      white robes, as she had left the feast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER V
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE COMING OF CLEOPATRA TO THE CHAMBER OF HARMACHIS; OF THE THROWING
+      FORTH OF THE KERCHIEF OF CHARMION; OF THE STARS; AND OF THE GIFT BY
+      CLEOPATRA OF HER FRIENDSHIP TO HER SERVANT HARMACHIS
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At length thou art come, Charmion,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;It is over-late.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, my Lord; but by no means could I escape Cleopatra. Her mood is
+      strangely crossed to-night. I know not what it may portend. Strange whims
+      and fancies blow across it like light and contrary airs upon a summer sea,
+      and I cannot read her purpose.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, well; enough of Cleopatra. Hast thou seen our uncle?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, royal Harmachis.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And hast thou the last lists?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes; here they are,&rdquo; and she drew them from her bosom. &ldquo;Here is the list
+      of those who, after the Queen, must certainly be put to the sword. Among
+      them thou wilt note is the name of that old Gaul Brennus. I grieve for
+      him, for we are friends; but it must be. It is a heavy list.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is so,&rdquo; I answered conning it; &ldquo;when men write out their count they
+      forget no item, and our count is long. What must be must be. Now for the
+      next.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here is the list of those to be spared, as friendly or uncertain; and
+      here that of the towns which will certainly rise as soon as the messenger
+      reaches their gates with tidings of the death of Cleopatra.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good. And now&rdquo;&mdash;and I paused&mdash;&ldquo;and now as to the manner of
+      Cleopatra&rsquo;s death. How hast thou settled it? Must it be by my own hand?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, my Lord,&rdquo; she answered, and again I caught that note of bitterness
+      in her voice. &ldquo;Doubtless Pharaoh will rejoice that his should be the hand
+      to rid the land of this false Queen and wanton woman, and at one blow
+      break the chains which gall the neck of Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Talk not thus, girl,&rdquo; I said; &ldquo;thou knowest well that I do not rejoice,
+      being but driven to the act by deep necessity and the pressure of my vows.
+      Can she not, then, be poisoned? Or can no one of the eunuchs be suborned
+      to slay her? My soul turns from this bloody work! Indeed, I marvel,
+      however heavy be her crimes, that thou canst speak so lightly of the death
+      by treachery of one who loves thee!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Surely Pharaoh is over-tender, forgetting the greatness of the moment and
+      all that hangs upon this dagger-stroke that shall cut the thread of
+      Cleopatra&rsquo;s life. Listen, Harmachis. <i>Thou</i> must do the deed, and <i>thou</i>
+      alone! Myself I would do it, had my arm the strength; but it has not. It
+      cannot be done by poison, for every drop she drinks and every morsel that
+      shall touch her lips is strictly tasted by three separate tasters, who
+      cannot be suborned. Nor may the eunuchs of the guard be trusted. Two,
+      indeed, are sworn to us; but the third cannot be come at. He must be cut
+      down afterwards; and, indeed, when so many men must fall, what matters a
+      eunuch more or less? Thus it shall be, then. To-morrow night, at three
+      hours before midnight thou dost cast the final augury of the issue of the
+      war. And then thou wilt, as is agreed, descend alone with me, having the
+      signet, to the outer chamber of the Queen&rsquo;s apartment. For the vessel
+      bearing orders to the Legions sails from Alexandria at the following dawn;
+      and alone with Cleopatra, since she wills that the thing be kept secret as
+      the sea, thou wilt read the message of the stars. And as she pores over
+      the papyrus, then must thou stab her in the back, so that she dies; and
+      see thou that thy will and arm fail thee not! The deed being done&mdash;and
+      indeed it will be easy&mdash;thou wilt take the signet and pass out to
+      where the eunuch is&mdash;for the others will be wanting. If by any chance
+      there is trouble with him&mdash;but there will be no trouble, for he dare
+      not enter the private rooms, and the sounds of death cannot reach so far&mdash;thou
+      must cut him down. Then I will meet thee; and, passing on, we will come to
+      Paulus, and it shall be my care to see that he is neither drunk nor
+      backward, for I know how to hold him to the task. And he and those with
+      him shall throw open the side gate, when Sepa and the five hundred chosen
+      men who are in waiting shall pour in and cast themselves upon the sleeping
+      legionaries, putting them to the sword. Why, the thing is easy so thou
+      rest true to thyself, and let no womanish fears creep into thy heart. What
+      is this dagger&rsquo;s thrust? It is nothing, and yet upon it hang the destinies
+      of Egypt and the world.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hush!&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;What is that?&mdash;I hear a sound.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Charmion ran to the door, and, gazing down the long, dark passage,
+      listened. In a moment she came back, her finger on her lips. &ldquo;It is the
+      Queen,&rdquo; she whispered hurriedly; &ldquo;the Queen who mounts the stair alone. I
+      heard her bid Iras to leave her. I may not be found alone with thee at
+      this hour; it has a strange look, and she may suspect. What wants she
+      here? Where can I hide?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I glanced round. At the further end of the chamber was a heavy curtain
+      that hid a little place built in the thickness of the wall which I used
+      for the storage of rolls and instruments.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Haste thee&mdash;there!&rdquo; I said, and she glided behind the curtain, which
+      swung back and covered her. Then I thrust the fatal scroll of death into
+      the bosom of my robe and bent over the mystic chart. Presently I heard the
+      sweep of woman&rsquo;s robes and there came a low knock upon the door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Enter, whoever thou art,&rdquo; I said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The latch lifted, and Cleopatra swept in, royally arrayed, her dark hair
+      hanging about her and the sacred snake of royalty glistening on her brow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of a truth, Harmachis,&rdquo; she said with a sigh, as she sank into a seat,
+      &ldquo;the path to heaven is hard to climb! Ah! I am weary, for those stairs are
+      many. But I was minded, my astronomer, to see thee in thy haunts.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am honoured overmuch, O Queen!&rdquo; I said, bowing low before her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Art thou now? And yet that dark face of thine has a somewhat angry look&mdash;thou
+      art too young and handsome for this dry trade, Harmachis. Why, I vow thou
+      hast cast my wreath of roses down amidst thy rusty tools! Kings would have
+      cherished that wreath along with their choicest diadems, Harmachis! and
+      thou dost throw it away as a thing of no account! Why, what a man art
+      thou! But stay; what is this? A lady&rsquo;s kerchief, by Isis! Nay, now, my
+      Harmachis, how came <i>this</i> here? Are our poor kerchiefs also
+      instruments of thy high art? Oh, fie, fie!&mdash;have I caught thee, then?
+      Art thou indeed a fox?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, most royal Cleopatra, nay!&rdquo; I said, turning; for the kerchief which
+      had fallen from Charmion&rsquo;s neck had an awkward look. &ldquo;I know not, indeed,
+      how the frippery came here. Perhaps, some one of the women who keeps the
+      chamber may have let it fall.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah! so&mdash;so!&rdquo; she said dryly, and still laughing like a rippling
+      brook. &ldquo;Yes, surely, the slave-women who keep chambers own such toys as
+      this, of the very finest silk, worth twice its weight in gold, and
+      broidered, too, in many colours. Why, myself I should not shame to wear
+      it! Of a truth it seems familiar to my sight.&rdquo; And she threw it round her
+      neck and smoothed the ends with her white hand. &ldquo;But there; doubtless, it
+      is a thing unholy in thine eyes that the scarf of thy beloved should rest
+      upon my poor breast. Take it, Harmachis; take it, and hide it in thy bosom&mdash;nigh
+      thy heart indeed!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I took the accursed thing, and, muttering what I may not write, stepped on
+      to the giddy platform whence I watched the stars. Then, crushing it into a
+      ball, I threw it to the winds of heaven.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At this the lovely Queen laughed once more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, think now,&rdquo; she cried; &ldquo;what would the lady say could she see her
+      love-gauge thus cast to all the world? Mayhap, Harmachis, thou wouldst
+      deal thus with my wreath also? See, the roses fade; cast it forth,&rdquo; and,
+      stooping, she took up the wreath and gave it to me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a moment, so vexed was I, I had a mind to take her at her word and
+      send the wreath to join the kerchief. But I thought better of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; I said more softly, &ldquo;it is a Queen&rsquo;s gift, and I will keep it,&rdquo;
+       and, as I spoke, I saw the curtain shake. Often since that night I have
+      sorrowed over those simple words.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gracious thanks be to the King of Love for this small mercy,&rdquo; she
+      answered, looking at me strangely. &ldquo;Now, enough of wit; come forth upon
+      this balcony&mdash;tell me of the mystery of those stars of thine. For I
+      always loved the stars, that are so pure and bright and cold, and so far
+      away from our fevered troubling. There I would wish to dwell, rocked on
+      the dark bosom of the night, and losing the little sense of self as I
+      gazed for ever on the countenance of yon sweet-eyed space. Nay&mdash;who
+      can tell, Harmachis?&mdash;perhaps those stars partake of our very
+      substance, and, linked to us by Nature&rsquo;s invisible chain, do, indeed, draw
+      our destiny with them as they roll. What says the Greek fable of him who
+      became a star? Perchance it has truth, for yonder tiny sparks may be the
+      souls of men, but grown more purely bright and placed in happy rest to
+      illume the turmoil of their mother-earth. Or are they lamps hung high in
+      the heavenly vault that night by night some Godhead, whose wings are
+      Darkness, touches with his immortal fire so that they leap out in
+      answering flame? Give me of thy wisdom and open these wonders to me, my
+      servant, for I have little knowledge. Yet my heart is large, and I would
+      fill it, for I have the wit, could I but find the teacher.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Thereon, being glad to find footing on a safer shore, and marvelling
+      somewhat to learn that Cleopatra had a place for lofty thoughts, I spoke
+      and willingly told her such things as are lawful. I told her how the sky
+      is a liquid mass pressing round the earth and resting on the elastic
+      pillars of the air, and how above is the heavenly ocean Nout, in which the
+      planets float like ships as they rush upon their radiant way. I told her
+      many things, and amongst them how, through the certain never-ceasing
+      movement of the orbs of light, the planet Venus, that was called Donaou
+      when she showed as the Morning Star, became the planet Bonou when she came
+      as the sweet Star of Eve. And while I stood and spoke watching the stars,
+      she sat, her hands clasped upon her knee, and watched my face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; she broke in at length, &ldquo;and so Venus is to be seen both in the
+      morning and the evening sky. Well, of a truth, she is everywhere, though
+      she best loves the night. But thou lovest not that I should use these
+      Latin names to thee. Come, we will talk in the ancient tongue of Khem,
+      which I know well; I am the first, mark thou, of all the Lagidæ who know
+      it. And now,&rdquo; she went on, speaking in my own tongue, but with a little
+      foreign accent that did but make her talk more sweet, &ldquo;enough of stars,
+      for, when all is said, they are but fickle things, and perhaps may even
+      now be storing up an evil hour for thee or me, or for both of us together.
+      Not but what I love to hear thee speak of them, for then thy face loses
+      that gloomy cloud of thought which mars it and grows quick and human.
+      Harmachis, thou art too young for such a solemn trade; methinks that I
+      must find thee a better. Youth comes but once; why waste it in these
+      musings? It is time to think when we can no longer act. Tell me how old
+      art thou, Harmachis?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have six-and-twenty years, O Queen,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;for I was born in the
+      first month of Shomou, in the summer season, and on the third day of the
+      month.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, then, we are of an age even to a day,&rdquo; she cried, &ldquo;for I too have
+      six-and-twenty years, and I too was born on the third day of the first
+      month of Shomou. Well, this may we say: those who begot us need have no
+      shame. For if I be the fairest woman in Egypt, methinks, Harmachis, that
+      there is in Egypt no man more fair and strong than thou, ay, or more
+      learned. Born of the same day, why, &lsquo;tis manifest that we were destined to
+      stand together, I, as the Queen, and thou, perchance, Harmachis, as one of
+      the chief pillars of my throne, and thus to work each other&rsquo;s weal.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Or maybe each other&rsquo;s woe,&rdquo; I answered, looking up; for her sweet
+      speeches stung my ears and brought more colour to my face than I loved
+      that she should see there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, never talk of woe. Be seated here by me, Harmachis, and let us talk,
+      not as Queen and subject, but as friend to friend. Thou wast angered with
+      me at the feast to-night because I mocked thee with yonder wreath&mdash;was
+      it not so? Nay, it was but a jest. Didst thou know how heavy is the task
+      of monarchs and how wearisome are their hours, thou wouldst not be wroth
+      because I lit my dulness with a jest. Oh, they weary me, those princes and
+      those nobles, and those stiff-necked pompous Romans. To my face they vow
+      themselves my slaves, and behind my back they mock me and proclaim me the
+      servant of their Triumvirate, or their Empire, or their Republic, as the
+      wheel of Fortune turns, and each rises on its round! There is never a man
+      among them&mdash;nothing but fools, parasites, and puppets&mdash;never a
+      man since with their coward daggers they slew that Cæsar whom all the
+      world in arms was not strong enough to tame. And I must play off one
+      against the other, if maybe, by so doing, I can keep Egypt from their
+      grip. And for reward, what? Why, this is my reward&mdash;that all men
+      speak ill of me&mdash;and, I know it, my subjects hate me! Yes, I believe
+      that, woman though I am, they would murder me could they find a means!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She paused, covering her eyes with her hand, and it was well, for her
+      words pierced me so that I shrank upon the seat beside her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They think ill of me, I know it; and call me wanton, who have never
+      stepped aside save once, when I loved the greatest man of all the world,
+      and at the touch of love my passion flamed indeed, but burnt a hallowed
+      flame. These ribald Alexandrians swear that I poisoned Ptolemy, my brother&mdash;whom
+      the Roman Senate would, most unnaturally, have forced on me, his sister,
+      as a husband! But it is false: he sickened and died of fever. And even so
+      they say that I would slay Arsinoë, my sister&mdash;who, indeed, would
+      slay me!&mdash;but that, too, is false! Though she will have none of me, I
+      love my sister. Yes, they all think ill of me without a cause; even thou
+      dost think ill of me, Harmachis.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Harmachis, before thou judgest, remember what a thing is envy!&mdash;that
+      foul sickness of the mind which makes the jaundiced eye of pettiness to
+      see all things distraught&mdash;to read Evil written on the open face of
+      Good, and find impurity in the whitest virgin&rsquo;s soul! Think what a thing
+      it is, Harmachis, to be set on high above the gaping crowd of knaves who
+      hate thee for thy fortune and thy wit; who gnash their teeth and shoot the
+      arrows of their lies from the cover of their own obscureness, whence they
+      have no wings to soar; and whose hearts&rsquo; quest it is to drag down thy
+      nobility to the level of the groundling and the fool!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be not, then, swift to think evil of the Great, whose every word and act
+      is searched for error by a million angry eyes, and whose most tiny fault
+      is trumpeted by a thousand throats, till the world shakes with echoes of
+      their sin! Say not: &lsquo;It is thus, &lsquo;tis certainly thus&rsquo;&mdash;say, rather:
+      &lsquo;May it not be otherwise? Have we heard aright? Did she this thing of her
+      own will?&rsquo; Judge gently, Harmachis, as wert thou I thou wouldst be judged.
+      Remember that a Queen is never free. She is, indeed, but the point and
+      instrument of those forces politic with which the iron books of history
+      are graved. O Harmachis! be thou my friend&mdash;my friend and counsellor!&mdash;my
+      friend whom I can trust indeed!&mdash;for here, in this crowded Court, I
+      am more utterly alone than any soul that breathes about its corridors. But
+      <i>thee</i> I trust; there is faith written in those quiet eyes, and I am
+      minded to lift thee high, Harmachis. I can no longer bear my solitude of
+      mind&mdash;I must find one with whom I may commune and speak that which
+      lies within my heart. I have faults, I know it; but I am not all unworthy
+      of thy faith, for there is good grain among the evil seed. Say, Harmachis,
+      wilt thou take pity on my loneliness and befriend me, who have lovers,
+      courtiers, slaves, dependents, more thick than I can count, but never one
+      single <i>friend</i>?&rdquo; and she leant towards me, touching me lightly, and
+      gazed on me with her wonderful blue eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I was overcome; thinking of the morrow night, shame and sorrow smote me.
+      <i>I</i>, her friend!&mdash;<i>I</i>, whose assassin dagger lay against my
+      breast! I bent my head, and a sob or a groan, I know not which, burst from
+      the agony of my heart.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Cleopatra, thinking only that I was moved beyond myself by the
+      surprise of her graciousness, smiled sweetly, and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It grows late; to-morrow night when thou bringest the auguries we will
+      speak again, O my friend Harmachis, and thou shalt answer me.&rdquo; And she
+      gave me her hand to kiss. Scarce knowing what I did, I kissed it, and in
+      another moment she was gone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But I stood in the chamber, gazing after her like one asleep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VI
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE WORDS AND JEALOUSY OF CHARMION; OF THE LAUGHTER OF HARMACHIS; OF
+      THE MAKING READY FOR THE DEED OF BLOOD; AND OF THE MESSAGE OF THE OLD WIFE, ATOUA
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I stood still, plunged in thought. Then by hazard as it were I took up the
+      wreath of roses and looked on it. How long I stood so I know not, but when
+      next I lifted up my eyes they fell upon the form of Charmion, whom,
+      indeed, I had altogether forgotten. And though at the moment I thought but
+      little of it, I noted vaguely that she was flushed as though with anger,
+      and beat her foot upon the floor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, it is thou, Charmion!&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;What ails thee? Art thou cramped with
+      standing so long in thy hiding-place? Why didst not thou slip hence when
+      Cleopatra led me to the balcony?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where is my kerchief?&rdquo; she asked, shooting an angry glance at me. &ldquo;I let
+      fall my broidered kerchief.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thy kerchief!&mdash;why, didst thou not see? Cleopatra twitted me about
+      it, and I flung it from the balcony.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I saw,&rdquo; answered the girl, &ldquo;I saw but too well. Thou didst fling
+      away my kerchief, but the wreath of roses&mdash;that thou wouldst not
+      fling away. It was &lsquo;a Queen&rsquo;s gift,&rsquo; forsooth, and therefore the royal
+      Harmachis, the Priest of Isis, the chosen of the Gods, the crowned Pharaoh
+      wed to the weal of Khem, cherished it and saved it. But my kerchief, stung
+      by the laughter of that light Queen, he cast away!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What meanest thou?&rdquo; I asked, astonished at her bitter tone. &ldquo;I cannot
+      read thy riddles.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What mean I?&rdquo; she answered, tossing up her head and showing the white
+      curves of her throat. &ldquo;Nay, I mean naught, or all; take it as thou wilt.
+      Wouldst know what I mean, Harmachis, my cousin and my Lord?&rdquo; she went on
+      in a hard, low voice. &ldquo;Then I will tell thee&mdash;thou art in danger of
+      the great offence. This Cleopatra has cast her fatal wiles about thee, and
+      thou goest near to loving her, Harmachis&mdash;to loving her whom
+      to-morrow thou must slay! Ay, stand and stare at that wreath in thy hand&mdash;the
+      wreath thou couldst not send to join my kerchief&mdash;sure Cleopatra wore
+      it but to-night! The perfume of the hair of Cæsar&rsquo;s mistress&mdash;Cæsar&rsquo;s
+      and others&rsquo;&mdash;yet mingles with the odour of its roses! Now, prithee,
+      Harmachis, how far didst thou carry the matter on yonder balcony? for in
+      that hole where I lay hid I could not hear or see. &lsquo;Tis a sweet spot for
+      lovers, is it not?&mdash;ay, and a sweet hour, too? Venus surely rules the
+      stars to-night?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      All of this she said so quietly and in so soft and modest a way, though
+      her words were not modest, and yet so bitterly, that every syllable cut me
+      to the heart, and angered me till I could find no speech.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of a truth thou hast a wise economy,&rdquo; she went on, seeing her advantage:
+      &ldquo;to-night thou dost kiss the lips that to-morrow thou shalt still for
+      ever! It is frugal dealing with the occasion of the moment; ay, worthy and
+      honourable dealing!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then at last I broke forth. &ldquo;Girl,&rdquo; I cried, &ldquo;how darest thou speak thus
+      to me? Mindest thou who and what I am that thou loosest thy peevish gibes
+      upon me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I mind what it behoves thee to be,&rdquo; she answered quick. &ldquo;What thou art,
+      that I mind not now. Surely thou knowest alone&mdash;thou and Cleopatra!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What meanest thou?&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Am I to blame if the Queen&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Queen! What have we here? Pharaoh owns a Queen!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If Cleopatra wills to come hither of a night and talk&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of stars, Harmachis&mdash;surely of stars and roses, and naught beside!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      After that I know not what I said; for, troubled as I was, the girl&rsquo;s
+      bitter tongue and quiet way drove me wellnigh to madness. But this I know:
+      I spoke so fiercely that she cowered before me as she had cowered before
+      my uncle Sepa when he rated her because of her Grecian garb. And as she
+      wept then, so she wept now, only more passionately and with great sobs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length I ceased, half-shamed but still angry and smarting sorely. For
+      even while she wept she could find a tongue to answer with&mdash;and a
+      woman&rsquo;s shafts are sharp.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou shouldst not speak to me thus!&rdquo; she sobbed; &ldquo;it is cruel&mdash;it is
+      unmanly! But I forget thou art but a priest, not a man&mdash;except,
+      mayhap, for Cleopatra!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What right hast thou?&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;What canst thou mean?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What right have I?&rdquo; she asked, looking up, her dark eyes all aflood with
+      tears that ran down her sweet face like the dew of morning down a lily&rsquo;s
+      heart. &ldquo;What right have I? O Harmachis! art thou blind? Didst thou not
+      know by what right I speak thus to thee? Then I must tell thee. Well, it
+      is the fashion in Alexandria! By that first and holy right of woman&mdash;by
+      the right of the great love I bear thee, and which, it seems, thou hast no
+      eyes to see&mdash;by the right of my glory and my shame. Oh, be not wroth
+      with me, Harmachis, nor set me down as light, because the truth at last
+      has burst from me; for I am not so. I am what thou wilt make me. I am the
+      wax within the moulder&rsquo;s hands, and as thou dost fashion me so I shall be.
+      There breathes within me now a breath of glory, blowing across the waters
+      of my soul, that can waft me to ends more noble than ever I have dreamed
+      afore, if thou wilt be my pilot and my guide. But if I lose thee, then I
+      lose all that holds me from my worse self&mdash;and let shipwreck come!
+      Thou knowest me not, Harmachis! thou canst not see how big a spirit
+      struggles in this frail form of mine! To thee I am a girl, clever,
+      wayward, shallow. But I am more! Show me thy loftiest thought and I will
+      match it, the deepest puzzle of thy mind and I will make it clear. Of one
+      blood we are, and love can ravel up our little difference and make us grow
+      one indeed. One end we have, one land we love, one vow binds us both. Take
+      me to thy heart, Harmachis, set me by thee on the Double Throne, and I
+      swear that I will lift thee higher than ever man has climbed. Reject me,
+      and beware lest I pull thee down! And now, putting aside the cold delicacy
+      of custom, stung to it by what I saw of the arts of that lovely living
+      falsehood, Cleopatra, which for pastime she practises on thy folly, I have
+      spoken out my heart, and answer thou!&rdquo; And she clasped her hands and,
+      drawing one pace nearer, gazed, all white and trembling, on my face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a moment I stood struck dumb, for the magic of her voice and the power
+      of her speech, despite myself, stirred me like the rush of music. Had I
+      loved the woman, doubtless she might have fired me with her flame; but I
+      loved her not, and I could not play at passion. And so thought came, and
+      with thought that laughing mood, which is ever apt to fashion upon nerves
+      strained to the point of breaking. In a flash, as it were, I bethought me
+      of the way in which she had that very night forced the wreath of roses on
+      my head, I thought of the kerchief and how I had flung it forth. I thought
+      of Charmion in the little chamber watching what she held to be the arts of
+      Cleopatra, and of her bitter speeches. Lastly, I thought of what my uncle
+      Sepa would say of her could he see her now, and of the strange and tangled
+      skein in which I was inmeshed. And I laughed aloud&mdash;the fool&rsquo;s
+      laughter that was my knell of ruin!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She turned whiter yet&mdash;white as the dead&mdash;and a look grew upon
+      her face that checked my foolish mirth. &ldquo;Thou findest, then, Harmachis,&rdquo;
+       she said in a low, choked voice, and dropping the level of her eyes, &ldquo;thou
+      findest cause of merriment in what I have said?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;nay, Charmion; forgive me if I laughed. It was rather
+      a laugh of despair; for what am I to say to thee? Thou hast spoken high
+      words of all thou mightest be: is it left for me to tell thee what thou
+      art?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She shrank, and I paused.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Speak,&rdquo; she said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou knowest&mdash;none so well!&mdash;who I am and what my mission is:
+      thou knowest&mdash;none so well!&mdash;that I am sworn to Isis, and may,
+      by law Divine, have naught to do with thee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; she broke in, in her low voice, and with her eyes still fixed upon
+      the ground&mdash;&ldquo;ay, and I know that thy vows are broken in spirit, if
+      not in form&mdash;broken like wreaths of cloud; for, Harmachis&mdash;<i>thou
+      lovest Cleopatra!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is a lie!&rdquo; I cried. &ldquo;Thou wanton girl, who wouldst seduce me from my
+      duty and put me to an open shame!&mdash;who, led by passion or ambition,
+      or the love of evil, hast not shamed to break the barriers of thy sex and
+      speak as thou hast spoken&mdash;beware lest thou go too far! And if thou
+      wilt have an answer, here it is, put straightly, as thy question.
+      Charmion, outside the matter of my duty and my vows, thou art <i>naught</i>
+      to me!&mdash;nor for all thy tender glances will my heart beat one pulse
+      more fast! Hardly art thou now my friend&mdash;for, of a truth, I scarce
+      can trust thee. But, once more: beware! To me thou mayest do thy worst;
+      but if thou dost dare to lift a finger against our cause, that day thou
+      diest! And now, is this play done?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And as, wild with anger, I spoke thus, she shrank back, and yet further
+      back, till at length she rested against the wall, her eyes covered with
+      her hand. But when I ceased she dropped her hand, glancing up, and her
+      face was as the face of a statue, in which the great eyes glowed like
+      embers, and round them was a ring of purple shadow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not altogether done,&rdquo; she answered gently; &ldquo;the arena must yet be
+      sanded!&rdquo; This she said having reference to the covering up of the
+      bloodstains at the gladiatorial shows with fine sand. &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; she went on,
+      &ldquo;waste not thine anger on a thing so vile. I have thrown my throw and I
+      have lost. <i>Væ victis!</i>&mdash;ah! <i>Væ victis!</i> Wilt thou not
+      lend me the dagger in thy robe, that here and now I may end my shame? No?
+      Then one word more, most royal Harmachis: if thou canst, forget my folly;
+      but, at the least, have no fear from me. I am now, as ever, thy servant
+      and the servant of our cause. Farewell!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And she went, leaning her hand against the wall. But I, passing to my
+      chamber, flung myself upon my couch, and groaned in bitterness of spirit.
+      Alas! we shape our plans, and by slow degrees build up our house of Hope,
+      never counting on the guests that time shall bring to lodge therein. For
+      who can guard against&mdash;the Unforeseen?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length I slept, and my dreams were evil. When I woke the light of the
+      day which should see the red fulfilment of the plot was streaming through
+      the casement, and the birds sang merrily among the garden palms. I woke,
+      and as I woke the sense of trouble pressed in upon me, for I remembered
+      that before this day was gathered to the past I must dip my hands in blood&mdash;yes,
+      in the blood of Cleopatra, who trusted me! Why could I not hate her as I
+      should? There had been a time when I looked on to this act of vengeance
+      with somewhat of a righteous glow of zeal. And now&mdash;and now&mdash;why,
+      I would frankly give my royal birthright to be free from its necessity!
+      But, alas! I knew that there was no escape. I must drain this cup or be
+      for ever cast away. I felt the eyes of Egypt watching me, and the eyes of
+      Egypt&rsquo;s Gods. I prayed to my Mother Isis to give me strength to do this
+      deed, and prayed as I had never prayed before; and oh, wonder! no answer
+      came. Nay, how was this? What, then, had loosed the link between us that,
+      for the first time, the Goddess deigned no reply to her son and chosen
+      servant? Could it be that I had sinned in heart against her? What had
+      Charmion said&mdash;that I loved Cleopatra? Was this sickness love? Nay! a
+      thousand times nay!&mdash;it was but the revolt of Nature against an act
+      of treachery and blood. The Goddess did but try my strength, or perchance
+      she also turned her holy countenance from murder?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I rose filled with terror and despair, and went about my task like a man
+      without a soul. I conned the fatal lists and noted all the plans&mdash;ay,
+      in my brain I gathered up the very words of that proclamation of my
+      Royalty which, on the morrow, I should issue to the startled world.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Citizens of Alexandria and dwellers in the land of Egypt,&rdquo; it began,
+      &ldquo;Cleopatra the Macedonian hath, by the command of the Gods, suffered
+      justice for her crimes&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      All these and other things I did, but I did them as a man without a soul&mdash;as
+      a man moved by a force from without and not from within. And so the
+      minutes wore away. In the third hour of the afternoon I went as by
+      appointment fixed to the house where my uncle Sepa lodged, that same house
+      to which I had been brought some three months gone when I entered
+      Alexandria for the first time. And here I found the leaders of the revolt
+      in the city assembled in secret conclave to the number of seven. When I
+      had entered, and the doors were barred, they prostrated themselves, and
+      cried, &ldquo;Hail, Pharaoh!&rdquo; but I bade them rise, saying that I was not yet
+      Pharaoh, for the chicken was still in the egg.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, Prince,&rdquo; said my uncle, &ldquo;but his beak shows through. Not in vain
+      hath Egypt brooded all these years, if thou fail not with that
+      dagger-stroke of thine to-night; and how canst thou fail? Nothing can now
+      stop our course to victory!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is on the knees of the Gods,&rdquo; I answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;the Gods have placed the issue in the hands of a mortal&mdash;in
+      thy hands, Harmachis!&mdash;and there it is safe. See: here are the last
+      lists. Thirty-one thousand men who bear arms are sworn to rise when the
+      tidings come to them. Within five days every citadel in Egypt will be in
+      our hands, and then what have we to fear? From Rome but little, for her
+      hands are full; and, besides, we will make alliance with the Triumvirate,
+      and, if need be, buy them off. For of money there is plenty in the land,
+      and if more be wanted thou, Harmachis, knowest where it is stored against
+      the need of Khem, and outside the Roman&rsquo;s reach of arm. Who is there to
+      harm us? There is none. Perchance, in this turbulent city, there may be
+      struggle, and a counter-plot to bring Arsinoë to Egypt and set her on the
+      throne. Therefore Alexandria must be severely dealt with&mdash;ay, even to
+      destruction, if need be. As for Arsinoë, those go forth to-morrow on the
+      news of the Queen&rsquo;s death who shall slay her secretly.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There remains the lad Cæsarion,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Rome might claim through
+      Cæsar&rsquo;s son, and the child of Cleopatra inherits Cleopatra&rsquo;s rights. Here
+      is a double danger.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fear not,&rdquo; said my uncle; &ldquo;to-morrow Cæsarion joins those who begat him
+      in Amenti. I have made provision. The Ptolemies must be stamped out, so
+      that no shoot shall ever spring from that root blasted by Heaven&rsquo;s
+      vengeance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is there no other means?&rdquo; I asked sadly. &ldquo;My heart is sick at the promise
+      of this red rain of blood. I know the child well; he has Cleopatra&rsquo;s fire
+      and beauty and great Cæsar&rsquo;s wit. It were shame to murder him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, be not so chicken-hearted, Harmachis,&rdquo; said my uncle, sternly. &ldquo;What
+      ails thee, then? If the lad is thus, the more reason that he should die.
+      Wouldst thou nurse up a young lion to tear thee from the throne?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be it so,&rdquo; I answered, sighing. &ldquo;At least he is spared much, and will go
+      hence innocent of evil. Now for the plans.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      We sat long taking counsel, till at length, in face of the great emergency
+      and our high emprise, I felt something of the spirit of former days flow
+      back into my heart. At the last all was ordered, and so ordered that it
+      could scarce miscarry, for it was fixed that if by any chance I could not
+      come to slay Cleopatra on this night, then the plot should hang in the
+      scale till the morrow, when the deed must be done upon occasion. For the
+      death of Cleopatra was the signal. These matters being finished, once more
+      we stood and, our hands upon the sacred symbol, swore the oath that may
+      not be written. And then my uncle kissed me with tears of hope and joy
+      standing in his keen black eyes. He blessed me, saying that he would
+      gladly give his life, ay, and a hundred lives, if they were his, if he
+      might but live to see Egypt once more a nation, and me, Harmachis, the
+      descendant of its royal and ancient blood, seated on the throne. For he
+      was a patriot indeed, asking nothing for himself, and giving all things to
+      his cause. And I kissed him in turn, and thus we parted. Nor did I ever
+      see him more in the flesh who has earned the rest that as yet is denied to
+      me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So I went, and, there being yet time, walked swiftly from place to place
+      in the great city, taking note of the positions of the gates and of the
+      places where our forces must be gathered. At length I came to that quay
+      where I had landed, and saw a vessel sailing for the open sea. I looked,
+      and in my heaviness of heart longed that I were aboard of her, to be borne
+      by her white wings to some far shore where I might live obscure and die
+      forgotten. Also I saw another vessel that had dropped down the Nile, from
+      whose deck the passengers were streaming. For a moment I stood watching
+      them, idly wondering if they were from Abouthis, when suddenly I heard a
+      familiar voice beside me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>La! la!</i>&rdquo; said the voice. &ldquo;Why, what a city is this for an old
+      woman to seek her fortune in! And how shall I find those to whom I am
+      known? As well look for the rush in the papyrus-roll.[*] Begone! thou
+      knave! and let my basket of simples lie; or, by the Gods, I&rsquo;ll doctor thee
+      with them!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] Papyrus was manufactured from the pith of rushes. Hence
+     Atoua&rsquo;s saying.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      I turned, wondering, and found myself face to face with my foster-nurse,
+      Atoua. She knew me instantly, for I saw her start, but in the presence of
+      the people she checked her surprise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good Sir,&rdquo; she whined, lifting her withered countenance towards me, and
+      at the same time making the secret sign. &ldquo;By thy dress thou shouldst be an
+      astronomer, and I was specially told to avoid astronomers as a pack of
+      lying tricksters who worship their own star only; and, therefore, I speak
+      to thee, acting on the principle of contraries, which is law to us women.
+      For surely in this Alexandria, where all things are upside down, the
+      astronomers may be the honest men, since the rest are clearly knaves.&rdquo; And
+      then, being by now out of earshot of the press, &ldquo;royal Harmachis, I am
+      come charged with a message to thee from thy father Amenemhat.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is he well?&rdquo; I asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, he is well, though waiting for the moment tries him sorely.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And his message?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is this. He sends greeting to thee and with it warning that a great
+      danger threatens thee, though he cannot read it. These are his words: &lsquo;Be
+      steadfast and prosper.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I bowed my head and the words struck a new chill of fear into my soul.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When is the time?&rdquo; she asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This very night. Where goest thou?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To the house of the honourable Sepa, Priest of Annu. Canst thou guide me
+      thither?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, I may not stay; nor is it wise that I should be seen with thee.
+      Hold!&rdquo; and I called a porter who was idling on the quay, and, giving him a
+      piece of money, bade him guide the old wife to the house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Farewell,&rdquo; she whispered; &ldquo;farewell till to-morrow. Be steadfast and
+      prosper.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I turned and went my way through the crowded streets, where the
+      people made place for me, the astronomer of Cleopatra, for my fame had
+      spread abroad.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And even as I went my footsteps seemed to beat <i>Be steadfast, Be
+      steadfast, Be steadfast</i>, till at last it was as though the very ground
+      cried out its warning to me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VII
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE VEILED WORDS OF CHARMION; OF THE PASSING OF HARMACHIS INTO THE
+      PRESENCE OF CLEOPATRA; AND OF THE OVERTHROW OF HARMACHIS
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was night, and I sat alone in my chamber, waiting the moment when, as
+      it was agreed, Charmion should summon me to pass down to Cleopatra. I sat
+      alone, and there before me lay the dagger that was to pierce her. It was
+      long and keen, and the handle was formed of a sphinx of solid gold. I sat
+      alone, questioning the future, but no answer came. At length I looked up,
+      and Charmion stood before me&mdash;Charmion, no longer gay and bright, but
+      pale of face and hollow-eyed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Royal Harmachis,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;Cleopatra summons thee, presently to declare
+      to her the voices of the stars.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So the hour had fallen!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well, Charmion,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;Are all things in order?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, my Lord; all things are in order: well primed with wine, Paulus
+      guards the gates, the eunuchs are withdrawn save one, the legionaries
+      sleep, and already Sepa and his force lie hid without. Nothing has been
+      neglected, and no lamb skipping at the shamble doors can be more innocent
+      of its doom than is Queen Cleopatra.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; I said again; &ldquo;let us be going,&rdquo; and rising, I placed the
+      dagger in the bosom of my robe. Taking a cup of wine that stood near, I
+      drank deep of it, for I had scarce tasted food all that day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One word,&rdquo; Charmion said hurriedly, &ldquo;for it is not yet time: last night&mdash;ah,
+      last night&mdash;&rdquo; and her bosom heaved, &ldquo;I dreamed a dream that haunts me
+      strangely, and perchance thou also didst dream a dream. It was all a dream
+      and &lsquo;tis forgotten: is it not so, my Lord?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes,&rdquo; I said; &ldquo;why troublest thou me thus at such an hour?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, I know not; but to-night, Harmachis, Fate is in labour of a great
+      event, and in her painful throes mayhap she&rsquo;ll crush me in her grip&mdash;me
+      or thee, or the twain of us, Harmachis. And if that be so&mdash;well, I
+      would hear from thee, before it is done, that &lsquo;twas naught but a dream,
+      and that dream forgot&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, it is all a dream,&rdquo; I said idly; &ldquo;thou and I, and the solid earth,
+      and this heavy night of terror, ay, and this keen knife&mdash;what are
+      these but dreams, and with what face shall the waking come?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So now, thou fallest in my humour, royal Harmachis. As thou sayest, we
+      dream; and while we dream yet can the vision change. For the phantasies of
+      dreams are wonderful, seeing that they have no stability, but vary like
+      the vaporous edge of sunset clouds, building now this thing, and now that;
+      being now dark and heavy, and now alight with splendour. Therefore, before
+      we wake to-morrow tell me one word. Is that vision of last night, wherein
+      I <i>seemed</i> to be quite shamed, and thou didst <i>seem</i> to laugh
+      upon my shame, a fixed phantasy, or can it, perchance, yet change its
+      countenance? For remember, when that waking comes, the vagaries of our
+      sleep will be more unalterable and more enduring than are the pyramids.
+      Then they will be gathered into that changeless region of the past where
+      all things, great and small&mdash;ay, even dreams, Harmachis, are, each in
+      its own semblance, frozen to stone and built into the Tomb of Time
+      immortal.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Charmion,&rdquo; I replied, &ldquo;I grieve if I did pain thee; but over that
+      vision comes no change. I said what was in my heart and there&rsquo;s an end.
+      Thou art my cousin and my friend, I can never be more to thee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well&mdash;&lsquo;tis very well,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;let it be forgotten. And now
+      on from dream&mdash;to dream,&rdquo; and she smiled with such a smile as I had
+      never seen her wear before; it was sadder and more fateful than any stamp
+      that grief can set upon the brow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For, though being blinded by my own folly and the trouble at my heart I
+      knew it not, with that smile, the happiness of youth died for Charmion the
+      Egyptian; the hope of love fled; and the holy links of duty burst asunder.
+      With that smile she consecrated herself to Evil, she renounced her Country
+      and her Gods, and trampled on her oath. Ay, that smile marks the moment
+      when the stream of history changed its course. For had I never seen it on
+      her face Octavianus had not bestridden the world, and Egypt had once more
+      been free and great.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And yet it was but a woman&rsquo;s smile!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why lookest thou thus strangely, girl?&rdquo; I asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In dreams we smile,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;And now it is time; follow thou me.
+      Be firm and prosper, royal Harmachis!&rdquo; and bending forward she took my
+      hand and kissed it. Then, with one strange last look, she turned and led
+      the way down the stair and through the empty halls.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the chamber that is called the Alabaster Hall, the roof of which is
+      upborne by columns of black marble, we stayed. For beyond was the private
+      chamber of Cleopatra, the same in which I had seen her sleeping.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Abide thou here,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;while I tell Cleopatra of thy coming,&rdquo; and
+      she glided from my side.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I stood for long, mayhap in all the half of an hour, counting my own
+      heart-beats, and, as in a dream, striving to gather up my strength to that
+      which lay before me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length Charmion came back, her head held low and walking heavily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cleopatra waits thee,&rdquo; she said: &ldquo;pass on, there is no guard.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where do I meet thee when what must be done is done?&rdquo; I asked hoarsely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou meetest me here, and then to Paulus. Be firm and prosper. Harmachis,
+      fare thee well!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And so I went; but at the curtain I turned suddenly, and there in the
+      midst of that lonely lamplit hall I saw a strange sight. Far away, in such
+      a fashion that the light struck full upon her, stood Charmion, her head
+      thrown back, her white arms outstretched as though to clasp, and on her
+      girlish face a stamp of anguished passion so terrible to see that, indeed,
+      I cannot tell it! For she believed that I, whom she loved, was passing to
+      my death, and this was her last farewell to me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But I knew naught of this matter; so with another passing pang of wonder I
+      drew aside the curtains, gained the doorway, and stood in Cleopatra&rsquo;s
+      chamber. And there, upon a silken couch at the far end of the perfumed
+      chamber, clad in wonderful white attire, rested Cleopatra. In her hand was
+      a jewelled fan of ostrich plumes, with which she gently fanned herself,
+      and by her side was her harp of ivory, and a little table whereon were
+      figs and goblets and a flask of ruby-coloured wine. I drew near slowly
+      through the soft dim light to where the Wonder of the World lay in all her
+      glowing beauty. And, indeed, I have never seen her look so fair as she did
+      upon that fatal night. Couched in her amber cushions, she seemed to shine
+      as a star on the twilight&rsquo;s glow. Perfume came from her hair and robes,
+      music fell from her lips, and in her heavenly eyes all lights changed and
+      gathered as in the ominous opal&rsquo;s disc.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And this was the woman whom, presently, I must slay!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Slowly I drew near, bowing as I came; but she took no heed. She lay there,
+      and the jewelled fan floated to and fro like the bright wing of some
+      hovering bird.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length I stood before her, and she glanced up, the ostrich-plumes
+      pressed against her breast as though to hide its beauty.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What! friend; art thou come?&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It is well; for I grew lonely
+      here. Nay; &lsquo;tis a weary world! We know so many faces, and there are so few
+      whom we love to see again. Well, stand not there so mute, but be seated.&rdquo;
+       And she pointed with her fan to a carven chair that was placed near her
+      feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Once more I bowed and took the seat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have obeyed the Queen&rsquo;s desire,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;and with much care and skill
+      worked out the lessons of the stars; and here is the record of my labour.
+      If the Queen permits, I will expound it to her.&rdquo; And I rose, in order that
+      I might pass round the couch and, as she read, stab her in the back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Harmachis,&rdquo; she said quietly, and with a slow and lovely smile.
+      &ldquo;Bide thou where thou art, and give me the writing. By Serapis! thy face
+      is too comely for me to wish to lose the sight of it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Checked in this design, I could do nothing but hand her the papyrus,
+      thinking to myself that while she read I would arise suddenly and plunge
+      the dagger to her heart. She took it, and as she did so touched my hand.
+      Then she made pretence to read. But she read no word, for I saw that her
+      eyes were fixed upon me over the edge of the scroll.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why placest thou thy hand within thy robe?&rdquo; she asked presently; for,
+      indeed, I clutched the dagger&rsquo;s hilt. &ldquo;Is thy heart stirred?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, O Queen,&rdquo; I said; &ldquo;it beats high.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She gave no answer, but once more made pretence to read, and the while she
+      watched me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I took counsel with myself. How should I do the hateful deed? If I flung
+      myself upon her now she would see me and scream and struggle. Nay, I must
+      wait a chance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The auguries are favourable, then, Harmachis?&rdquo; she said at length, though
+      this she must have guessed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, O Queen,&rdquo; I answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; and she cast the writing on the marble. &ldquo;The ships shall
+      sail. For, good or bad, I am weary of weighing chances.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is a heavy matter, O Queen,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;I had wished to show upon what
+      circumstance I base my forecast.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, not so, Harmachis; I have wearied of the ways of stars. Thou hast
+      prophesied; that is enough for me; for, doubtless, being honest, thou hast
+      written honestly. Therefore, save thou thy reasons and we&rsquo;ll be merry.
+      What shall we do? I could dance to thee&mdash;there are none who can dance
+      so well!&mdash;but it would scarce be queenly. Nay, I have it. I will
+      sing.&rdquo; And, leaning forward, she raised herself, and, bending the harp
+      towards her, struck some wandering chords. Then her low voice broke out in
+      perfect and most sweet song.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And thus she sang:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Night on the sea, and night upon the sky,
+     And music in our hearts, we floated there,
+     Lulled by the low sea voices, thou and I,
+     And the wind&rsquo;s kisses in my cloudy hair:
+     And thou didst gaze on me and call me fair&mdash;
+     Enfolded by the starry robe of night&mdash;
+     And then thy singing thrilled upon the air,
+     Voice of the heart&rsquo;s desire and Love&rsquo;s delight.
+
+     &lsquo;Adrift, with starlit skies above,
+     With starlit seas below,
+     We move with all the suns that move,
+     With all the seas that flow;
+     For bond or free, Earth, Sky, and Sea,
+     Wheel with one circling will,
+     And thy heart drifteth on to me,
+     And only time stands still.
+
+     Between two shores of Death we drift,
+     Behind are things forgot:
+     Before the tide is driving swift
+     To lands beholden not.
+     Above, the sky is far and cold;
+     Below, the moaning sea
+     Sweeps o&rsquo;er the loves that were of old,
+     But, oh, Love! kiss thou me.
+
+     Ah, lonely are the ocean ways,
+     And dangerous the deep,
+     And frail the fairy barque that strays
+     Above the seas asleep!
+     Ah, toil no more at sail nor oar,
+     We drift, or bond or free;
+     On yon far shore the breakers roar,
+     But, oh, Love! kiss thou me.&rsquo; 
+
+     &ldquo;And ever as thou sangest I drew near,
+     Then sudden silence heard our hearts that beat,
+     For now there was an end of doubt and fear,
+     Now passion filled my soul and led my feet;
+     Then silent didst thou rise thy love to meet,
+     Who, sinking on thy breast, knew naught but thee,
+     And in the happy night I kissed thee, Sweet;
+     Ah, Sweet! between the starlight and the sea.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      The last echoes of her rich notes floated down the chamber, and slowly
+      died away; but in my heart they rolled on and on. I have heard among the
+      women-singers at Abouthis voices more perfect than the voice of Cleopatra,
+      but never have I heard one so thrilling or so sweet with passion&rsquo;s
+      honey-notes. And indeed it was not the voice alone, it was the perfumed
+      chamber in which was set all that could move the sense; it was the passion
+      of the thought and words, and the surpassing grace and loveliness of that
+      most royal woman who sang them. For, as she sang, I seemed to think that
+      we twain were indeed floating alone with the night, upon the starlit
+      summer sea. And when she ceased to touch the harp, and, rising, suddenly
+      stretched out her arms towards me, and with the last low notes of song yet
+      quivering upon her lips, let fall the wonder of her eyes upon my eyes, she
+      almost drew me to her. But I remembered, and would not.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hast thou, then, no word of thanks for my poor singing, Harmachis?&rdquo; she
+      said at length.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, O Queen,&rdquo; I answered, speaking very low, for my voice was choked;
+      &ldquo;but thy songs are not good for the sons of men to hear&mdash;of a truth
+      they overwhelm me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Harmachis; there is no fear for thee,&rdquo; she said laughing softly,
+      &ldquo;seeing that I know how far thy thoughts are set from woman&rsquo;s beauty and
+      the common weakness of thy sex. With cold iron we may safely toy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I thought within myself that coldest iron can be brought to whitest heat
+      if the fire be fierce enough. But I said nothing, and, though my hand
+      trembled, I once more grasped the dagger&rsquo;s hilt, and, wild with fear at my
+      own weakness, set myself to find a means to slay her while yet my sense
+      remained.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come hither, Harmachis,&rdquo; she went on, in her softest voice. &ldquo;Come, sit by
+      me, and we will talk together; for I have much to tell thee,&rdquo; and she made
+      place for me at her side upon the silken seat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And I, thinking that I might so more swiftly strike, rose and seated
+      myself some little way from her on the couch, while, flinging back her
+      head, she gazed on me with her slumbrous eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now was my occasion, for her throat and breast were bare, and, with a
+      mighty effort, once again I lifted my hand to clutch the dagger-hilt. But,
+      more quick than thought, she caught my fingers with her own and gently
+      held them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why lookest thou so wildly, Harmachis?&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Art sick?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, sick indeed!&rdquo; I gasped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then lean thou on the cushions and rest thee,&rdquo; she answered, still
+      holding my hand, from which the strength had fled. &ldquo;The fit will surely
+      pass. Too long hast thou laboured with thy stars. How soft is the night
+      air that flows from yonder casement heavy with the breath of lilies! Hark
+      to the whisper of the sea lapping against the rocks, that, though it is
+      faint, yet, being so strong, doth almost drown the quick cool fall of
+      yonder fountain. List to Philomel; how sweet from a full heart of love she
+      sings her message to her dear! Indeed it is a lovely night, and most
+      beautiful is Nature&rsquo;s music, sung with a hundred voices from wind and
+      trees and birds and ocean&rsquo;s wrinkled lips, and yet sung all to tune.
+      Listen, Harmachis: I have guessed something concerning thee. Thou, too,
+      art of a royal race; no humble blood pours in those veins of thine. Surely
+      such a shoot could spring but from the stock of Princes? What! gazest thou
+      at the leafmark on my breast? It was pricked there in honour of great
+      Osiris, whom with thee I worship. See!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let me hence,&rdquo; I groaned, striving to rise; but all my strength had gone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, not yet awhile. Thou wouldst not leave me yet? thou <i>canst</i> not
+      leave me yet. Harmachis, hast thou never loved?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, nay, O Queen! What have I to do with love? Let me hence!&mdash;I am
+      faint&mdash;I am fordone!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never to have loved&mdash;&lsquo;tis strange! Never to have known some
+      woman-heart beat all in tune to thine&mdash;never to have seen the eyes of
+      thy adored aswim with passion&rsquo;s tears, as she sighed her vows upon thy
+      breast!&mdash;Never to have loved!&mdash;never to have lost thyself in the
+      mystery of another&rsquo;s soul; nor to have learned how Nature can overcome our
+      naked loneliness, and with the golden web of love of twain weave one
+      identity! Why, it is never to have lived, Harmachis!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And ever as she murmured she drew nearer to me, till at last, with a long,
+      sweet sigh, she flung one arm about my neck, and gazed upon me with blue,
+      unfathomable eyes, and smiled her dark, slow smile, that, like an opening
+      flower, revealed beauty within beauty hidden. Nearer she bent her queenly
+      form, and still more near&mdash;now her perfumed breath played upon my
+      hair, and now her lips met mine.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And woe is me! In that kiss, more deadly and more strong than the embrace
+      of Death, were forgotten Isis, my heavenly Hope, Oaths, Honour, Country,
+      Friends, all things&mdash;all things save that Cleopatra clasped me in her
+      arms, and called me Love and Lord.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now pledge me,&rdquo; she sighed; &ldquo;pledge me one cup of wine in token of thy
+      love.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I took the draught, and I drank deep; then too late I knew that it was
+      drugged.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I fell upon the couch, and, though my senses still were with me, I could
+      neither speak nor rise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Cleopatra, bending over me, drew the dagger from my robe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>I&rsquo;ve won!</i>&rdquo; she cried, shaking back her long hair. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve won, and
+      for the stake of Egypt, why, &lsquo;twas a game worth playing! With this dagger,
+      then, thou wouldst have slain me, O my royal Rival, whose myrmidons even
+      now are gathered at my palace gate? Art still awake? Now what hinders me
+      that I should not plunge it to <i>thy</i> heart?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I heard and feebly pointed to my breast, for I was fain to die. She drew
+      herself to the full of her imperial height, and the great knife glittered
+      in her hand. Down it came till its edge pricked my flesh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; she cried again, and cast it from her, &ldquo;too well I like thee. It
+      were pity to slay such a man! I give thee thy life. Live on, lost Pharaoh!
+      Live on, poor fallen Prince, blasted by a woman&rsquo;s wit! Live on, Harmachis&mdash;to
+      adorn my triumph!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then sight left me; and in my ears I only heard the song of the
+      nightingale, the murmur of the sea, and the music of Cleopatra&rsquo;s laugh of
+      victory. And as I sank away, the sound of that low laugh still followed me
+      into the land of sleep, and still it follows me through life to death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VIII
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE AWAKING OF HARMACHIS; OF THE SIGHT OF DEATH; OF THE COMING OF
+      CLEOPATRA; AND OF HER COMFORTABLE WORDS
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Once more I woke; it was to find myself in my own chamber. I started up.
+      Surely, I, too, had dreamed a dream? It could be nothing but a dream? It
+      could not be that I woke to know myself a <i>traitor!</i> That the
+      opportunity had gone for ever! That I had betrayed the cause, and that
+      last night those brave men, headed by my uncle, had waited in vain at the
+      outer gate! That Egypt from Abu to Athu was even now waiting&mdash;waiting
+      in vain! Nay, whatever else might be, this could not be! Oh, it was an
+      awful dream which I had dreamed! a second such would slay a man. It were
+      better to die than face such another vision sent from hell. But, though
+      the thing was naught but a hateful phantasy of a mind o&rsquo;er-strained, where
+      was I now? Where was I now? I should be in the Alabaster Hall, waiting
+      till Charmion came forth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Where was I? and O ye Gods! what was that dreadful thing, whose shape was
+      the shape of a man?&mdash;that thing draped in bloodstained white and
+      huddled in a hideous heap at the foot of the couch on which I seemed to
+      lie?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I sprang at it with a shriek, as a lion springs, and struck with all my
+      strength. The blow fell heavily, and beneath its weight the thing rolled
+      over upon its side. Half mad with terror, I rent away the white covering;
+      and there, his knees bound beneath his hanging jaw, was the naked body of
+      a man&mdash;and that man the Roman Captain Paulus! There he lay, through
+      his heart a dagger&mdash;my dagger, handled with the sphinx of gold!&mdash;and
+      pinned by its blade to his broad breast a scroll, and on the scroll,
+      writing in the Roman character. I drew near and read, and this was the
+      writing:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      HARMACHIDI.SALVERE.EGO.SUM.QUEM.SUBDERE.NORAS
+      PAULUS.ROMANUS.DISCE.HINC.QUID.PRODERE.PROSIT.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Greeting, Harmachis! I was that Roman Paulus whom thou didst suborn.
+      Learn now how blessed are traitors!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Sick and faint I staggered back from the sight of that white corpse
+      stained with its own blood. Sick and faint I staggered back, till the wall
+      stayed me, while without the birds sang a merry greeting to the day. So it
+      was no dream, and I was lost! lost!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I thought of my aged father, Amenemhat. Yes, the vision of him flashed
+      into my mind, as he would be, when they came to tell him his son&rsquo;s shame
+      and the ruin of all his hopes. I thought of that patriot priest, my uncle
+      Sepa, waiting the long night through for the signal which never came. Ah,
+      and another thought followed swift! How would it go with them? I was not
+      the only traitor. I, too, had been betrayed. By whom? By yonder Paulus,
+      perchance. If it were Paulus, he knew but little of those who conspired
+      with me. But the secret lists had been in my robe. O Osiris! they were
+      gone! and the fate of Paulus would be the fate of all the patriots in
+      Egypt. And at this thought my mind gave way. I sank and swooned even where
+      I stood.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      My sense came back to me, and the lengthening shadows told me that it was
+      afternoon. I staggered to my feet; the corpse of Paulus was still there,
+      keeping its awful watch above me. I ran desperately to the door. It was
+      barred, and without I heard the tramp of sentinels. As I stood they
+      challenged and grounded their spears. Then the bolts were shot back, the
+      door opened, and radiant, clad in royal attire, came the conquering
+      Cleopatra. She came alone, and the door was shut behind her. I stood like
+      one distraught; but she swept on till she was face to face with me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Greeting, Harmachis,&rdquo; she said, smiling sweetly. &ldquo;So, my messenger has
+      found thee!&rdquo; and she pointed to the corpse of Paulus. &ldquo;Pah! he has an ugly
+      look. Ho! guards!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The door was opened, and two armed Gauls stepped across the threshold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Take away this carrion,&rdquo; said Cleopatra, &ldquo;and fling it to the kites.
+      Stay, draw that dagger from his traitor breast.&rdquo; The men bowed low, and
+      the knife, rusted red with blood, was dragged from the heart of Paulus and
+      laid upon the table. Then they seized him by the head and body and
+      staggered thence, and I heard their heavy footfalls as they bore him down
+      the stairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Methinks, Harmachis, thou art in an evil case,&rdquo; she said, when the sound
+      of the footfalls had died away. &ldquo;How strangely the wheel of Fortune turns!
+      But for that traitor,&rdquo; and she nodded towards the door through which the
+      corpse of Paulus had been carried, &ldquo;I should now be as ill a thing to look
+      on as he is, and the red rust on yonder knife would have been gathered
+      from <i>my</i> heart.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So it was Paulus who had betrayed me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; she went on, &ldquo;and when thou camest to me last night, I <i>knew</i>
+      that thou camest to slay. When, time upon time, thou didst place thy hand
+      within thy robe, I knew that it grasped a dagger hilt, and that thou wast
+      gathering thy courage to the deed which thou didst little love to do. Oh!
+      it was a strange wild hour, well worth the living, and I wondered greatly,
+      from moment to moment, which of us twain would conquer, as we matched
+      guile with guile and force to force!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, Harmachis, the guards tramp before thy door, but be not deceived.
+      Did I not know that I hold thee to me by bonds more strong than prison
+      chains&mdash;did I not know that I am hedged from ill at thy hands by a
+      fence of honour harder for thee to pass than all the spears of all my
+      legions, thou hadst been dead ere now, Harmachis. See, here is thy knife,&rdquo;
+       and she handed me the dagger; &ldquo;now slay me if thou canst,&rdquo; and she drew
+      near, tore open the bosom of her robe, and stood waiting with calm eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou canst not slay me,&rdquo; she went on; &ldquo;for there are things, as I know
+      well, that no man&mdash;no man such as thou art&mdash;may do and live: and
+      this is the chief of them&mdash;to slay the woman who is all his own. Nay,
+      stay thy hand! Turn not that dagger against thy breast, for if thou mayst
+      not slay me, by how much more mayst thou not slay thyself, O thou forsworn
+      Priest of Isis! Art thou, then, so eager to face that outraged Majesty in
+      Amenti? With what eyes, thinkest thou, will the Heavenly Mother look upon
+      Her son, who, shamed in all things and false to his most sacred vow, comes
+      to greet Her, his life-blood on his hands? Where, then, will be the space
+      for thy atonement?&mdash;if, indeed, thou mayest atone!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I could bear no more, for my heart was broken. Alas! it was too true&mdash;I
+      dared not die! I was come to such a pass that I did not even dare to die!
+      I flung myself upon the couch and wept&mdash;wept tears of blood and
+      anguish.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Cleopatra came to me, and, seating herself beside me, she strove to
+      comfort me, throwing her arms about my neck.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, love, look up,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;all is not lost for thee, nor am I
+      angered against thee. We did play a mighty game; but, as I warned thee, I
+      matched my woman&rsquo;s magic against thine, and I have conquered. But I will
+      be open with thee. Both as Queen and woman thou hast my pity&mdash;ay, and
+      more; nor do I love to see thee plunged in sorrow. It was well and right
+      that thou shouldst strive to win back that throne my fathers seized, and
+      the ancient liberty of Egypt. Myself as lawful Queen had done the same,
+      nor shrunk from the deed of darkness to which I was sworn. Therein, then,
+      thou hast my sympathy, that ever goes out to what is great and bold. It is
+      well also that thou shouldst grieve over the greatness of thy fall.
+      Therein, then, as woman&mdash;as loving woman&mdash;thou hast my sympathy.
+      Nor is all lost. Thy plan was foolish&mdash;for, as I hold, Egypt could
+      never have stood alone&mdash;for though thou hadst won the crown and
+      country&mdash;as without a doubt thou must have done&mdash;yet there was
+      the Roman to be reckoned with. And for thy hope learn this: I am little
+      known. There is no heart in this wide land that beats with a truer love
+      for ancient Khem than does this heart of mine&mdash;nay, not thine own,
+      Harmachis. Yet I have been heavily shackled heretofore&mdash;for wars,
+      rebellions, envies, plots, have hemmed me in on every side, so that I
+      might not serve my people as I would. But thou, Harmachis, shalt show me
+      how. Thou shalt be my counsellor and my love. Is it a little thing,
+      Harmachis, to have won the heart of Cleopatra; that heart&mdash;fie on
+      thee!&mdash;that thou wouldst have stilled? Yes, <i>thou</i> shalt unite
+      me to my people and we will reign together, thus linking in one the new
+      kingdom and the old and the new thought and the old. So do all things work
+      for good&mdash;ay, for the very best: and thus, by another and a gentler
+      road, thou shalt climb to Pharaoh&rsquo;s throne.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See thou this, Harmachis: thy treachery shall be cloaked about as much as
+      may be. Was it, then, thy fault that a Roman knave betrayed thy plans?
+      that, thereon, thou wast drugged, thy secret papers stolen and their key
+      guessed? Will it, then, be a blame to thee, the great plot being broken
+      and those who built it scattered, that thou, still faithful to thy trust,
+      didst serve thee of such means as Nature gave thee, and win the heart of
+      Egypt&rsquo;s Queen, that, through her gentle love, thou mightest yet attain thy
+      ends and spread thy wings of power across the land of Nile? Am I an
+      ill-counsellor, thinkest thou, Harmachis?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I lifted my head, and a ray of hope crept into the darkness of my heart;
+      for when men fall they grasp at feathers. Then, I spoke for the first
+      time:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And those with me&mdash;those who trusted me&mdash;what of them?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; she answered, &ldquo;Amenemhat, thy father, the aged Priest of Abouthis;
+      and Sepa, thy uncle, that fiery patriot, whose great heart is hid beneath
+      so common a shell of form; and&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I thought she would have said Charmion, but she named her not.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And many others&mdash;oh, I know them all!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay!&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;what of them?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hear now, Harmachis,&rdquo; she answered, rising and placing her hand upon my
+      arm, &ldquo;for thy sake I will show mercy to them. I will do no more than must
+      be done. I swear by my throne and by all the Gods of Egypt that not one
+      hair of thy aged father&rsquo;s head shall be harmed by me; and, if it be not
+      too late, I will also spare thy uncle Sepa, ay, and the others. I will not
+      do as did my forefather, Epiphanes, who, when the Egyptians rose against
+      him, dragged Athinis, Pausiras, Chesuphus, and Irobasthus, bound to his
+      chariot&mdash;not as Achilles dragged Hector, but yet living&mdash;round
+      the city walls. I will spare them all, save the Hebrews, if there be any
+      Hebrews; for the Jews I hate.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There are no Hebrews,&rdquo; I said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;for no Hebrew will I ever spare. Am I then,
+      indeed, so cruel a woman as they say? In thy list, Harmachis, were many
+      doomed to die; and I have but taken the life of one Roman knave, a double
+      traitor, for he betrayed both me and thee. Art thou not overwhelmed,
+      Harmachis, with the weight of mercy which I give thee, because&mdash;such
+      are a woman&rsquo;s reasons&mdash;thou pleasest me, Harmachis? Nay, by Serapis!&rdquo;
+       she added with a little laugh, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll change my mind; I will not give thee
+      so much for nothing. Thou shalt buy it from me, and the price shall be a
+      heavy one&mdash;it shall be a kiss, Harmachis.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; I said, turning from that fair temptress, &ldquo;the price is too heavy;
+      I kiss no more.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bethink thee,&rdquo; she answered, with a heavy frown. &ldquo;Bethink thee and
+      choose. I am but a woman, Harmachis, and one who is not wont to sue to
+      men. Do as thou wilt; but this I say to thee&mdash;if thou dost put me
+      away, I will gather up the mercy I have meted out. Therefore, most
+      virtuous priest, choose thou between the heavy burden of my love and the
+      swift death of thy aged father and of all those who plotted with him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I glanced at her and saw that she was angered, for her eyes shone and her
+      bosom heaved. So, I sighed and kissed her, thereby setting the seal upon
+      my shame and bondage. Then, smiling like the triumphant Aphrodité of the
+      Greeks, she went thence, bearing the dagger with her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I knew not yet how deeply I was betrayed; or why I was still left to draw
+      the breath of life; or why Cleopatra, the tiger-hearted, had grown
+      merciful. I did not know that she feared to slay me, lest, so strong was
+      the plot and so feeble her hold upon the Double Crown, the tumult that
+      might tread hard upon the tidings of my murder should shake her from the
+      throne&mdash;even when I was no more. I did not know that because of fear
+      and the weight of policy only she showed scant mercy to those whom I had
+      betrayed, or that because of cunning and not for the holy sake of woman&rsquo;s
+      love&mdash;though, in truth, she liked me well enough&mdash;she chose
+      rather to bind me to her by the fibres of my heart. And yet I will say
+      this in her behalf: even when the danger-cloud had melted from her sky she
+      kept faith, nor, save Paulus and one other, did any suffer the utmost
+      penalty of death for their part in the great plot against Cleopatra&rsquo;s
+      crown and dynasty. But they suffered many other things.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And so she went, leaving the vision of her glory to strive with the shame
+      and sorrow in my heart. Oh, bitter were the hours that could not now be
+      made light with prayer. For the link between me and the Divine was
+      snapped, and Isis communed with Her Priest no more. Bitter were the hours
+      and dark, but ever through their darkness shone the starry eyes of
+      Cleopatra, and came the echo of her whispered love. For not yet was the
+      cup of sorrow full. Hope still lingered in my heart, and I could almost
+      think that I had failed to some higher end, and that in the depths of ruin
+      I should find another and more flowery path to triumph.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For thus those who sin deceive themselves, striving to lay the burden of
+      their evil deeds upon the back of Fate, striving to believe their
+      wickedness may compass good, and to murder Conscience with the sharp plea
+      of Necessity. But it can avail nothing, for hand in hand down the path of
+      sin rush Remorse and Ruin, and woe to him they follow! Ay, and woe to me
+      who of all sinners am the chief!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IX
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE IMPRISONMENT OF HARMACHIS; OF THE SCORN OF CHARMION; OF THE SETTING
+      FREE OF HARMACHIS; AND OF THE COMING OF QUINTUS DELLIUS
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a space of eleven days I was thus kept prisoned in my chamber; nor did
+      I see anyone except the sentries at my doors, the slaves who in silence
+      brought me food and drink, and Cleopatra&rsquo;s self, who came continually.
+      But, though her words of love were many, she would tell me nothing of how
+      things went without. She came in many moods&mdash;now gay and laughing,
+      now full of wise thoughts and speech, and now passionate only, and to
+      every mood she gave some new-found charm. She was full of talk as to how I
+      should help her make Egypt great, and lessen the burdens on the people,
+      and fright the Roman eagles back. And, though at first I listened heavily
+      when she spoke thus, by slow advance as she wrapped me closer and yet more
+      close in her magic web, from which there was no escape, my mind fell in
+      time with hers. Then I, too, opened something of my heart, and somewhat
+      also of the plans that I had formed for Egypt. She seemed to listen
+      gladly, weighing them all, and spoke of means and methods, telling me how
+      she would purify the Faith and repair the ancient temples&mdash;ay, and
+      build new ones to the Gods. And ever she crept deeper into my heart, till
+      at length, now that every other thing had gone from me, I learned to love
+      her with all the unspent passion of my aching soul. I had naught left to
+      me but Cleopatra&rsquo;s love, and I twined my life about it, and brooded on it
+      as a widow over her only babe. And thus the very author of my shame became
+      my all, my dearest dear, and I loved her with a strong love that grew and
+      grew, till it seemed to swallow up the past and make the present a dream.
+      For she had conquered me, she had robbed me of my honour, and steeped me
+      to the lips in shame, and I, poor fallen, blinded wretch, I kissed the rod
+      that smote me, and was her very slave.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Ay, even now, in those dreams which still come when Sleep unlocks the
+      secret heart, and sets its terrors free to roam through the opened halls
+      of Thought, I seem to see her royal form, as erst I saw it, come with arms
+      outstretched and Love&rsquo;s own light shining in her eyes, with lips apart and
+      flowing locks, and stamped upon her face the look of utter tenderness that
+      she alone could wear. Ay, still, after all the years, I seem to see her
+      come as erst she came, and still I wake to know her an unutterable lie!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And thus one day she came. She had fled in haste, she said, from some
+      great council summoned concerning the wars of Antony in Syria, and she
+      came, as she had left the council, in all her robes of state, the sceptre
+      in her hand, and on her brow the uræus diadem of gold. There she sat
+      before me, laughing; for, wearying of them, she had told the envoys to
+      whom she gave audience in the council that she was called from their
+      presence by a sudden message come from Rome; and the jest seemed merry to
+      her. Suddenly she rose, took the diadem from her brow, and set it on my
+      hair, and on my shoulders her royal mantle, and in my hand the sceptre,
+      and bowed the knee before me. Then, laughing again, she kissed me on the
+      lips, and said I was indeed her King. But, remembering how I had been
+      crowned in the halls of Abouthis, and remembering also that wreath of
+      roses of which the odour haunts me yet, I rose, pale with wrath, and cast
+      the trinkets from me, asking how she dared to mock me&mdash;her caged
+      bird. And I think there was that about me which startled her, for she fell
+      back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Harmachis,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;be not wroth! How knowest thou that I mock
+      thee? How knowest thou that thou shalt not be Pharaoh in fact and deed?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What meanest thou?&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Wilt thou, then, wed me before Egypt? How
+      else can I be Pharaoh now?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She cast down her eyes. &ldquo;Perchance, love, it is in my mind to wed thee,&rdquo;
+       she said gently. &ldquo;Listen,&rdquo; she went on: &ldquo;Thou growest pale, here, in this
+      prison, and thou dost eat little. Gainsay me not! I know it from the
+      slaves. I have kept thee here, Harmachis, for thy own sake, that is so
+      dear to me; and for thy own sake, and thy honour&rsquo;s sake, thou must still
+      seem to be my prisoner. Else wouldst thou be shamed and slain&mdash;ay,
+      murdered secretly. But I can meet thee here no more! therefore to-morrow I
+      shall free thee in all, save in the name, and thou shalt once more be seen
+      at Court as my astronomer. And I will give this reason&mdash;that thou
+      hast cleared thyself; and, moreover, that thy auguries as regards the war
+      have been auguries of truth&mdash;as, indeed, they have, though for this I
+      have no cause to thank thee, seeing that thou didst suit thy prophecies to
+      fit thy cause. Now, farewell; for I must return to those heavy-browed
+      ambassadors; and grow not so sudden wroth, Harmachis, for who knows what
+      may come to pass betwixt thee and me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And, with a little nod, she went, leaving it on my mind that she had it in
+      her heart to wed me openly. And of a truth, I believe that, at this hour,
+      such was her thought. For, if she loved me not, still she held me dear,
+      and as yet she had not wearied of me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the morrow Cleopatra came not, but Charmion came&mdash;Charmion, whom I
+      had not seen since that fatal night of ruin. She entered and stood before
+      me, with pale face and downcast eyes, and her first words were words of
+      bitterness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pardon me,&rdquo; she said, in her gentle voice, &ldquo;in that I dare to come to
+      thee in Cleopatra&rsquo;s place. Thy joy is not delayed for long, for thou shalt
+      see her presently.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I shrank at her words, as well I might, and, seeing her vantage, she
+      seized it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I come, Harmachis&mdash;royal no more!&mdash;I come to say that thou art
+      free! Thou art free to face thine own infamy, and see it thrown back from
+      every eye which trusted thee, as shadows are from water. I come to tell
+      thee that the great plot&mdash;the plot of twenty years and more&mdash;is
+      at its utter end. None have been slain, indeed, unless it is Sepa, who has
+      vanished. But all the leaders have been seized and put in chains, or
+      driven from the land, and their party is broken and scattered. The storm
+      has melted before it burst. Egypt is lost, and lost for ever, for her last
+      hope is gone! No longer may she struggle&mdash;now for all time she must
+      bow her neck to the yoke, and bare her back to the rod of the oppressor!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I groaned aloud. &ldquo;Alas, I was betrayed!&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Paulus betrayed us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou wast betrayed? Nay, thou thyself wast the betrayer! How came it that
+      thou didst not slay Cleopatra when thou wast alone with her? Speak, thou
+      forsworn!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She drugged me,&rdquo; I said again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Harmachis!&rdquo; answered the pitiless girl, &ldquo;how low art thou fallen from
+      that Prince whom once I knew!&mdash;thou who dost not scorn to be a liar!
+      Yea, thou wast drugged&mdash;drugged with a love-philtre! Yea, thou didst
+      sell Egypt and thy cause for the price of a wanton&rsquo;s kiss! Thou Sorrow and
+      thou Shame!&rdquo; she went on, pointing her finger at me and lifting her eyes
+      to my face, &ldquo;thou Scorn!&mdash;thou Outcast!&mdash;and thou Contempt! Deny
+      it if thou canst. Ay, shrink from me&mdash;knowing what thou art, well
+      mayst thou shrink! Crawl to Cleopatra&rsquo;s feet, and kiss her sandals till
+      such time as it pleases her to trample thee in thy kindred dirt; but from
+      all honest folk <i>shrink!</i>&mdash;<i>shrink!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      My soul quivered beneath the lash of her bitter scorn and hate, but I had
+      no words to answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How comes it,&rdquo; I said at last in a heavy voice, &ldquo;that thou, too, art not
+      betrayed, but art still here to taunt me, thou who once didst swear that
+      thou didst love me? Being a woman, hast thou no pity for the frailty of
+      man?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My name was not on the lists,&rdquo; she said, dropping her dark eyes. &ldquo;Here is
+      an opportunity: betray me also, Harmachis! Ay, it is because I once loved
+      thee&mdash;dost thou, indeed, remember it?&mdash;that I feel thy fall the
+      more. The shame of one whom we have loved must in some sort become our
+      shame, and must ever cling to us, because we blindly held a thing so base
+      close to our inmost heart. Art thou also, then, a fool? Wouldst thou,
+      fresh from thy royal wanton&rsquo;s arms, come to me for comfort&mdash;to <i>me</i>
+      of all the world?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How know I,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;that it was not thou who, in thy jealous anger,
+      didst betray our plans? Charmion, long ago Sepa warned me against thee,
+      and of a truth now that I recall&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is like a traitor,&rdquo; she broke in, reddening to her brow, &ldquo;to think
+      that all are of his family, and hold a common mind! Nay, I betrayed thee
+      not; it was that poor knave, Paulus, whose heart failed him at the last,
+      and who is rightly served. Nor will I stay to hear thoughts so base.
+      Harmachis&mdash;royal no more!&mdash;Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, bids me
+      say that thou art free, and that she waits thee in the Alabaster Hall.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And shooting one swift glance through her long lashes she curtsied and was
+      gone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So once more I came and went about the Court, though but sparingly, for my
+      heart was full of shame and terror, and on every face I feared to see the
+      scorn of those who knew me for what I was. But I saw nothing, for all
+      those who had knowledge of the plot had fled, and Charmion had spoken no
+      word, for her own sake. Also, Cleopatra had put it about that I was
+      innocent. But my guilt lay heavy on me, and made me thin and wore away the
+      beauty of my countenance. And though I was free in name, yet I was ever
+      watched; nor might I stir beyond the palace grounds.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And at length came the day which brought with it Quintus Dellius, that
+      false Roman knight who ever served the rising star. He bore letters to
+      Cleopatra from Marcus Antonius, the Triumvir, who, fresh from the victory
+      of Philippi, was now in Asia wringing gold from the subject kings with
+      which to satisfy the greed of his legionaries.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Well I mind me of the day. Cleopatra, clad in her robes of state, attended
+      by the officers of her Court, among whom I stood, sat in the great hall on
+      her throne of gold, and bade the heralds admit the Ambassador of Antony,
+      the Triumvir. The great doors were thrown wide, and amidst the blare of
+      trumpets and salutes of the Gallic guards the Roman came in, clad in
+      glittering golden armour and a scarlet cloak of silk, and followed by his
+      suite of officers. He was smooth-faced and fair to look upon, and with a
+      supple form; but his mouth was cold, and false were his shifting eyes. And
+      while the heralds called out his name, titles, and offices, he fixed his
+      gaze on Cleopatra&mdash;who sat idly on her throne all radiant with beauty&mdash;as
+      a man who is amazed. Then when the heralds had made an end, and he still
+      stood thus, not stirring, Cleopatra spoke in the Latin tongue:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Greeting to thee, noble Dellius, envoy of the most mighty Antony, whose
+      shadow lies across the world as though Mars himself now towered up above
+      us petty Princes&mdash;greeting and welcome to our poor city of
+      Alexandria. Unfold, we pray thee, the purpose of thy coming.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Still the crafty Dellius made no answer, but stood as a man amazed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What ails thee, noble Dellius, that thou dost not speak?&rdquo; asked
+      Cleopatra. &ldquo;Hast thou, then, wandered so long in Asia that the doors of
+      Roman speech are shut to thee? What tongue hast thou? Name it, and We will
+      speak in it&mdash;for all tongues are known to Us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then at last he spoke in a soft full voice: &ldquo;Oh, pardon me, most lovely
+      Egypt, if I have thus been stricken dumb before thee: but too great
+      beauty, like Death himself, doth paralyse the tongue and steal our sense
+      away. The eyes of him who looks upon the fires of the mid-day sun are
+      blind to all beside, and thus this sudden vision of thy glory, royal
+      Egypt, overwhelmed my mind, and left me helpless and unwitting of all
+      things else.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of a truth, noble Dellius,&rdquo; answered Cleopatra, &ldquo;they teach a pretty
+      school of flattery yonder in Cilicia.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How goes the saying here in Alexandria?&rdquo; replied the courtly Roman: &ldquo;&lsquo;&lsquo;The
+      breath of flattery cannot waft a cloud,&rsquo; [*] does it not? But to my task.
+      Here, royal Egypt, are letters under the hand and seal of the noble Antony
+      treating of certain matters of the State. Is it thy pleasure that I should
+      read them openly?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] In other words, what is Divine is beyond the reach of
+     human praise.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Break the seals and read,&rdquo; she answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then bowing, he broke the seals and read:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The <i>Triumviri Reipublicæ Constituendæ</i>, by the mouth of Marcus
+      Antonius, the Triumvir, to Cleopatra, by grace of the Roman People Queen
+      of Upper and Lower Egypt, send greeting. Whereas it has come to our
+      knowledge that thou, Cleopatra, hast, contrary to thy promise and thy
+      duty, both by thy servant Allienus and by thy servant Serapion, the
+      Governor of Cyprus, aided the rebel murderer Cassius against the arms of
+      the most noble Triumvirate. And, whereas it has come to our knowledge that
+      thou thyself wast but lately making ready a great fleet to this end. We
+      summon thee that thou dost without delay journey to Cilicia, there to meet
+      the noble Antony, and in person make answer concerning these charges which
+      are laid against thee. And we warn thee that if thou dost disobey this our
+      summons it is at thy peril. Farewell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The eyes of Cleopatra flashed as she hearkened to these high words, and I
+      saw her hands tighten on the golden lions&rsquo; heads whereon they rested.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We have had the flattery,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;and now, lest we be cloyed with
+      sweets, we have its antidote! Listen thou, Dellius: the charges in that
+      letter, or, rather, in that writ of summons, are false, as all folk can
+      bear us witness. But it is not now, and it is not to thee, that We will
+      make defence of our acts of war and policy. Nor will We leave our kingdom
+      to journey into far Cilicia, and there, like some poor suppliant at law,
+      plead our cause before the Court of the Noble Antony. If Antony would have
+      speech with us, and inquire concerning these high matters, the sea is
+      open, and his welcome shall be royal. Let him come thither! That is our
+      answer to thee and to the Triumvirate, O Dellius!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Dellius smiled as one who would put away the weight of wrath, and once
+      more spoke:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Royal Egypt, thou knowest not the noble Antony. He is stern on paper, and
+      ever he sets down his thoughts as though his stylus were a spear dipped in
+      the blood of men. But face to face with him, thou, of all the world, shalt
+      find him the gentlest warrior that ever won a battle. Be advised, O Egypt!
+      and come. Send me not hence with such angry words, for if thou dost draw
+      Antony to Alexandria, then woe to Alexandria, to the people of the Nile,
+      and to thee, great Egypt! For then he will come armed and breathing war,
+      and it shall go hard with thee, who dost defy the gathered might of Rome.
+      I pray thee, then, obey this summons. Come to Cilicia; come with peaceful
+      gifts and not in arms. Come in thy beauty, and tricked in thy best attire,
+      and thou hast naught to fear from the noble Antony.&rdquo; He paused and looked
+      at her meaningly; while I, taking his drift, felt the angry blood surge
+      into my face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cleopatra, too, understood, for I saw her rest her chin upon her hand and
+      the cloud of thought gathered in her eyes. For a time she sat thus, while
+      the crafty Dellius watched her curiously. And Charmion, standing with the
+      other ladies by the throne, she also read his meaning, for her face lit
+      up, as a summer cloud lights in the evening when the broad lightning
+      flares behind it. Then once more it grew pale and quiet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length Cleopatra spoke. &ldquo;This is a heavy matter,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;and
+      therefore, noble Dellius, we must have time to let our judgment ripen.
+      Rest thou here, and make thee as merry as our poor circumstances allow.
+      Thou shalt have thy answer within ten days.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The envoy thought awhile, then replied smiling: &ldquo;It is well, O Egypt; on
+      the tenth day from now I will attend for my answer, and on the eleventh I
+      sail hence to join Antony my Lord.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Once more, at a sign from Cleopatra, the trumpets blared, and he withdrew
+      bowing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER X
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE TROUBLE OF CLEOPATRA; OF HER OATH TO HARMACHIS; AND OF THE TELLING
+      BY HARMACHIS TO CLEOPATRA OF THE SECRET OF THE TREASURE THAT LAY BENEATH
+      THE MASS OF &ldquo;HER&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      That same night Cleopatra summoned me to her private chamber. I went, and
+      found her much troubled in mind; never before had I seen her so deeply
+      moved. She was alone, and, like some trapped lioness, walked to and fro
+      across the marble floor, while thought chased thought across her mind,
+      each, as clouds scudding over the sea, for a moment casting its shadow in
+      her deep eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So thou art come, Harmachis,&rdquo; she said, resting for a while, as she took
+      my hand. &ldquo;Counsel me, for never did I need counsel more. Oh, what days
+      have the Gods measured out to me&mdash;days restless as the ocean! I have
+      known no peace from childhood up, and it seems none shall I know. Scarce
+      by a very little have I escaped thy dagger&rsquo;s point, Harmachis, when this
+      new trouble, that, like a storm, has gathered beneath the horizon&rsquo;s rim,
+      suddenly bursts over me. Didst mark that tigerish fop? Well should I love
+      to trap him! How soft he spoke! Ay, he purred like a cat, and all the time
+      he stretched his claws. Didst hear the letter, too? it has an ugly sound.
+      I know this Antony. When I was but a child, budding into womanhood, I saw
+      him; but my eyes were ever quick, and I took his measure. Half Hercules
+      and half a fool, with a dash of genius veining his folly through. Easily
+      led by those who enter at the gates of his voluptuous sense; but if
+      crossed, an iron foe. True to his friends, if, indeed, he loves them; and
+      ofttimes false to his own interest. Generous, hardy, and in adversity a
+      man of virtue; in prosperity a sot and a slave to woman. That is Antony.
+      How deal with such a man, whom fate and opportunity, despite himself, have
+      set on the crest of fortune&rsquo;s wave? One day it will overwhelm him; but
+      till that day he sweeps across the world and laughs at those who drown.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Antony is but a man,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;and a man with many foes; and, being
+      but a man, he can be overthrown.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, he can be overthrown; but he is one of three, Harmachis. Now that
+      Cassius hath gone where all fools go, Rome has thrown out a hydra head.
+      Crush one, and another hisses in thy face. There&rsquo;s Lepidus, and with him,
+      that young Octavianus, whose cold eyes may yet with a smile of triumph
+      look on the murdered forms of empty, worthless Lepidus, of Antony, and of
+      Cleopatra. If I go not to Cilicia, mark thou! Antony will knit up a peace
+      with these Parthians, and, taking the tales they tell of me for truth&mdash;and,
+      indeed, there is truth in them&mdash;will fall with all his force on
+      Egypt. And how then?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How then? Why, then we&rsquo;ll drum him back to Rome.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah, thou sayest so, and, perchance, Harmachis, had I not won that game we
+      played together some twelve days gone, thou, being Pharaoh, mightest well
+      have done this thing, for round thy throne old Egypt would have gathered.
+      But Egypt loves not me nor my Greek blood; and I have but now scattered
+      that great plot of thine, in which half the land was meshed. Will these
+      men, then, arise to succour me? Were Egypt true to me, I could, indeed,
+      hold my own against all the force that Rome may bring; but Egypt hates me,
+      and had as lief be ruled by the Roman as the Greek. Still I might make
+      defence had I the gold, for with money soldiers can be bought to feed the
+      maw of mercenary battle. But I have none; my treasuries are dry, and
+      though there is wealth in the land, yet debts perplex me. These wars have
+      brought me ruin, and I know not how to find a talent. Perchance,
+      Harmachis, thou who art, by hereditary right, Priest of the Pyramids,&rdquo; and
+      she drew near and looked me in the eyes, &ldquo;perchance, if long descended
+      rumour does not lie, thou canst tell me where I can touch the gold to save
+      thy land from ruin, and thy Love from the grasp of Antony? Say, is it so?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I thought a while, and then I answered:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And if such a tale were true, and if I could show thee treasure stored by
+      the mighty Pharaohs of the most far-off age against the needs of Khem, how
+      can I know that thou wouldst indeed make use of that wealth to those good
+      ends?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is there, then, a treasure?&rdquo; she asked curiously. &ldquo;Nay, fret me not,
+      Harmachis; for of a truth the very name of gold at this time of want is
+      like the sight of water in the desert.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I believe,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;that there is such a treasure, though I myself have
+      never seen it. But I know this, that if it still lie in the place where it
+      was set, it is because so heavy a curse will rest upon him who shall lay
+      hands on it wickedly and for selfish ends, that none of those Pharaohs to
+      whom it has been shown have dared to touch it, however sore their need.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;they were cowardly aforetime, or else their need was not
+      great. Wilt thou show me this treasure, then, Harmachis?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;I will show it to thee if it still be there, when
+      thou hast sworn that thou wilt use it to defend Egypt from this Roman
+      Antony and for the welfare of her people.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I swear it!&rdquo; she said earnestly. &ldquo;Oh, I swear by every God in Khem that
+      if thou showest me this great treasure, I will defy Antony and send
+      Dellius back to Cilicia with sharper words than those he brought. Yes,
+      I&rsquo;ll do more, Harmachis: so soon as may be, I will take thee to husband
+      before all the world, and thou thyself shalt carry out thy plans and beat
+      off the Roman eagles.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus she spoke, gazing at me with truthful, earnest eyes. I believed her,
+      and for the first time since my fall was for a moment happy, thinking that
+      all was not lost to me, and that with Cleopatra, whom I loved thus madly,
+      I might yet win my place and power back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Swear it, Cleopatra!&rdquo; I said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I swear, beloved! and thus I seal my oath!&rdquo; and she kissed me on the
+      forehead. And I, too, kissed her; and we talked of what we would do when
+      we were wed, and how we should overcome the Roman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And thus I was again beguiled; though I believe that, had it not been for
+      the jealous anger of Charmion&mdash;which, as shall be seen, was ever
+      urging her forward to fresh deeds of shame&mdash;Cleopatra would have
+      wedded me and broken with the Roman. And, indeed, in the issue, it had
+      been better for her and Egypt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We sat far into the night, and I revealed to her somewhat of that ancient
+      secret of the mighty treasure hid beneath the mass of <i>Her</i>. Thither,
+      it was agreed, we should go on the morrow, and the second night from now
+      attempt its search. So, early on the next day, a boat was secretly made
+      ready, and Cleopatra entered it, veiled as an Egyptian lady about to make
+      a pilgrimage to the Temple of Horemkhu. And I also entered, cloaked as a
+      pilgrim, and with us ten of her most trusted servants disguised as
+      sailors. But Charmion went not with us. We sailed with a fair wind from
+      the Canopic mouth of the Nile; and that night, pushing on with the moon,
+      we reached Sais at midnight, and here rested for a while. At dawn we once
+      more loosed our craft, and all that day sailed swiftly, till, at last, at
+      the third hour from the sunset, we came in sight of the lights of that
+      fortress which is called Babylon. Here, on the opposite bank of the river,
+      we moored our ship safely in a bed of reeds.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, on foot and secretly, we set out for the pyramids, which were at a
+      distance of two leagues, Cleopatra, I and one trusted eunuch, for we left
+      the other servants with the boat. Only I caught an ass for Cleopatra to
+      ride that was wandering in a tilled field, and threw a cloak upon it. She
+      sat on it and I led the ass by paths I knew, the eunuch following us on
+      foot. And, within little more than an hour, having gained the great
+      causeway, we saw the mighty pyramids towering up through the moonlit air
+      and aweing us to silence. We passed on in utter silence, through the
+      haunted city of the dead, for all around us stood the solemn tombs, till
+      at length we climbed the rocky hill, and stood in the deep shadow of Khufu
+      Khut, the splendid Throne of Khufu.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of a truth,&rdquo; whispered Cleopatra, as she gazed up the dazzling marble
+      slope above her, everywhere blazoned over with a million mystic characters&mdash;&ldquo;of
+      a truth, there were Gods ruling in Khem in those days, and not men. This
+      place is sad as Death&mdash;ay, and as mighty and far from man. Is it here
+      that we must enter?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;it is not here. Pass on.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I led the way through a thousand ancient tombs, till we stood in the
+      shadow of Ur the Great, and gazed at his red heaven-piercing mass.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it here that we must enter?&rdquo; she whispered once again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;it is not here. Pass on.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      We passed on through many more tombs, till we stood in the shadow of <i>Her</i>,[*]
+      and Cleopatra gazed astonished at its polished beauty, which for thousands
+      of years, night by night, had mirrored back the moon, and at the black
+      girdle of Ethiopian stone that circled its base about. For this is the
+      most beautiful of all pyramids.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] The &ldquo;Upper,&rdquo; now known as the Third Pyramid.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it here that we must enter?&rdquo; she said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I answered, &ldquo;It is here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      We passed round between the Temple of the Worship of his Divine Majesty,
+      Menkau-ra, the Osirian, and in the base of the pyramid till we came to the
+      north side. Here in the centre is graved the name of Pharaoh Menkau-ra,
+      who built the pyramid to be his tomb, and stored his treasure in it
+      against the need of Khem.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If the treasure still remains,&rdquo; I said to Cleopatra, &ldquo;as it remained in
+      the days of my great-great-grandfather, who was Priest of this Pyramid
+      before me, it is hid deep in the womb of the mass before thee, Cleopatra;
+      nor can it be come by without toil, danger, and terror of mind. Art thou
+      prepared to enter&mdash;for thou thyself must enter and must judge?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Canst thou not go in with the eunuch, Harmachis, and bring the treasure
+      forth?&rdquo; she said, for a little her courage began to fail her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Cleopatra,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;not even for thee and for the weal of Egypt
+      can I do this thing, for of all sins it would be the greatest sin. But it
+      is lawful for me to do this. I, as hereditary holder of the secret, may,
+      upon demand, show to the ruling monarch of Khem the place where the
+      treasure lies, and show also the warning that is written. And if on seeing
+      and reading, the Pharaoh deems that the need of Khem is so sore and strait
+      that it is lawful for him to brave the curse of the Dead and draw forth
+      the treasure, it is well, for on his head must rest the weight of this
+      dread deed. Three monarchs&mdash;so say the records that I have read&mdash;have
+      thus dared to enter in the time of need. They were the Divine Queen
+      Hatshepsu, that wonder known to the Gods alone; her Divine brother
+      Tahutimes Men-Kheper-ra; and the Divine Rameses Mi-amen. But of these
+      three Majesties, not one when they saw dared to touch; for, though sharp
+      their need, it was not great enough to consecrate the act. So, fearing
+      lest the curse should fall upon them, they went hence sorrowing.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She thought a little, till at last her spirit overcame her fear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At the least I will see with mine own eyes,&rdquo; she said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; I answered. Then, stones having been piled up by me and the
+      eunuch who was with us on a certain spot at the base of the pyramid, to
+      somewhat more than the height of a man, I climbed on them and searched for
+      the secret mark, no larger than a leaf. I found it with some trouble, for
+      the weather and the rubbing of the wind-stirred sand had worn even the
+      Ethiopian stone. Having found it, I pressed on it with all my strength in
+      a certain fashion. Even after the lapse of many years the stone swung
+      round, showing a little opening, through which a man might scarcely creep.
+      As it swung, a mighty bat, white in colour as though with unreckoned age,
+      and such as I had never seen before for bigness, for his measure was the
+      measure of a hawk, flew forth and for a moment hovered over Cleopatra,
+      then sailed slowly up and up in circles, till at last he was lost in the
+      bright light of the moon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Cleopatra uttered a cry of terror, and the eunuch, who was watching,
+      fell down in fear, believing it to be the guardian Spirit of the pyramid.
+      And I, too, feared, though I said nothing. For even now I believe that it
+      was the Spirit of Menkau-ra, the Osirian, who, taking the form of a bat,
+      flew forth from his holy House in warning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I waited a while, till the foul air should clear from the passage. Then I
+      drew out the lamps, kindled them, and passed them, to the number of three,
+      into the entrance of the passage. This done, I went to the eunuch, and,
+      taking him aside, I swore him by the living spirit of Him who sleeps at
+      Abouthis that he should not reveal those things which he was about to see.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This he swore, trembling sorely, for he was very much afraid. Nor, indeed,
+      did he reveal them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This done, I clambered through the opening, taking with me a coil of rope,
+      which I wound around my middle, and beckoned to Cleopatra to come. Making
+      fast the skirt of her robe, she came, and I drew her through the opening,
+      so that at length she stood behind me in the passage which is lined with
+      slabs of granite. After her came the eunuch, and he also stood in the
+      passage. Then, having taken counsel of the plan of the passage that I had
+      brought with me, and which, in signs that none but the initiated can read,
+      was copied from those ancient writings that had come down to me through
+      one-and-forty generations of my predecessors, the Priests of this Pyramid
+      of <i>Her</i>, and of the worship of the Temple of the Divine Menkau-ra,
+      the Osirian, I led the way through that darksome place towards the utter
+      silence of the tomb. Guided by the feeble light of our lamps, we passed
+      down the steep incline, gasping in the heat and the thick, stagnated air.
+      Presently we had left the region of the masonry and were slipping down a
+      gallery hewn in the living rock. For twenty paces or more it ran steeply.
+      Then its slope lessened and shortly we found ourselves in a chamber
+      painted white, so low that I, being tall, had scarcely room to stand; but
+      in length four paces, and in breadth three, and cased throughout with
+      sculptured panels. Here Cleopatra sank upon the floor and rested awhile,
+      overcome by the heat and the utter darkness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Rise!&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;We must not linger here, or we faint.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So she rose, and passing hand in hand through that chamber, we found
+      ourselves face to face with a mighty door of granite, let down from the
+      roof in grooves. Once more I took counsel of the plan, pressed with my
+      foot upon a certain stone, and waited. Then, suddenly and softly, I know
+      not by what means, the mass heaved itself from its bed of living rock. We
+      passed beneath, and found ourselves face to face with a second door of
+      granite. Again I pressed on a certain spot, and this door swung wide of
+      itself, and we went through, to find ourselves face to face with a third
+      door, yet more mighty than the two through which we had won our way.
+      Following the secret plan, I struck this door with my foot upon a certain
+      spot, and it sank slowly as though at a word of magic till its head was
+      level with the floor of rock. We crossed and gained another passage which,
+      descending gently for a length of fourteen paces, led us into a great
+      chamber, paved with black marble, more than nine cubits high, by nine
+      cubits broad, and thirty cubits long. In this marble floor was sunk a
+      great sarcophagus of granite, and on its lid were graved the name and
+      titles of the Queen of Menkau-ra. In this chamber, too, the air was purer,
+      though I know not by what means it came thither.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is the treasure here?&rdquo; gasped Cleopatra.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;follow me,&rdquo; and I led the way to a gallery, which we
+      entered through an opening in the floor of the great chamber. It had been
+      closed by a trap-door of stone, but the door was open. Creeping along this
+      shaft, or passage, for some ten paces, we came at length to a well, seven
+      cubits in depth. Making fast one end of the rope that I had brought about
+      my body and the other to a ring in the rock, I was lowered, holding the
+      lamp in my hand, till I stood in the last resting-place of the Divine
+      Menkau-ra. Then the rope was drawn up, and Cleopatra, being made fast to
+      it, was let down by the eunuch, and I received her in my arms. But I bade
+      the eunuch, sorely against his will, since he feared to be left alone,
+      await our return at the mouth of the shaft. For it was not lawful that he
+      should enter whither we went.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XI
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE TOMB OF THE DIVINE MENKAU-RA; OF THE WRITING ON THE BREAST OF
+      MENKAU-RA; OF THE DRAWING FORTH OF THE TREASURE; OF THE DWELLER IN THE
+      TOMB; AND OF THE FLIGHT OF CLEOPATRA AND HARMACHIS FROM THE HOLY PLACE
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We stood within a small arched chamber, paved and lined with great blocks
+      of the granite stone of Syene. There before us&mdash;hewn from a single
+      mass of basalt shaped like a wooden house and resting on a sphinx with a
+      face of gold&mdash;was the sarcophagus of the Divine Menkau-ra.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We stood and gazed in awe, for the weight of the silence and the solemnity
+      of that holy place seemed to crush us. Above us, cubit over cubit in its
+      mighty measure, the pyramid towered up to heaven and was kissed of the
+      night air. But we were deep in the bowels of the rock beneath its base. We
+      were alone with the dead, whose rest we were about to break; and no sound
+      of the murmuring air, and no sight of life came to dull the awful edge of
+      solitude. I gazed on the sarcophagus; its heavy lid had been lifted and
+      rested at its side, and around it the dust of ages had gathered thick.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See,&rdquo; I whispered, pointing to a writing, daubed with pigment upon the
+      wall in the sacred symbols of ancient times.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Read it, Harmachis,&rdquo; answered Cleopatra, in the same low voice; &ldquo;for I
+      cannot.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I read: &ldquo;I, Rameses Mi-amen, in my day and in my hour of need,
+      visited this sepulchre. But, though great my need and bold my heart, I
+      dared not face the curse of Menkau-ra. Judge, O thou who shalt come after
+      me, and, if thy soul is pure and Khem be utterly distressed, take thou
+      that which I have left.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where, then, is the treasure?&rdquo; she whispered. &ldquo;Is that Sphinx-face of
+      gold?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Even there,&rdquo; I answered, pointing to the sarcophagus. &ldquo;Draw near and
+      see.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And she took my hand and drew near.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The cover was off, but the painted coffin of the Pharaoh lay in the depths
+      of the sarcophagus. We climbed the Sphinx, then I blew the dust from the
+      coffin with my breath and read that which was written on its lid. And this
+      was written:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pharaoh Menkau-ra, the Child of Heaven.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pharaoh Menkau-ra, Royal Son of the Sun.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pharaoh Menkau-ra, who didst lie beneath the heart of Nout.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nout, thy Mother, wraps thee in the spell of Her holy name.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The name of thy Mother, Nout, is the mystery of Heaven.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nout, thy Mother, gathers thee to the number of the Gods.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nout, thy Mother, breathes on thy foes and utterly destroys them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Pharaoh Menkau-ra, who livest for ever!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where, then, is the treasure?&rdquo; she asked again. &ldquo;Here, indeed, is the
+      body of the Divine Menkau-ra; but the flesh even of Pharaohs is not gold,
+      and if the face of this Sphinx be gold how may we move it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      For answer I bade her stand upon the Sphinx and grasp the upper part of
+      the coffin while I grasped its foot. Then, at my word, we lifted, and the
+      lid of the case, which was not fixed, came away, and we set it upon the
+      floor. And there in the case was the mummy of Pharaoh, as it had been laid
+      three thousand years before. It was a large mummy, and somewhat ungainly.
+      Nor was it adorned with a gilded mask, as is the fashion of our day, for
+      the head was wrapped in clothes yellow with age, which were made fast with
+      pink flaxen bandages, under which were pushed the stems of lotus-blooms.
+      And on the breast, wreathed round with lotus-flowers, lay a large plate of
+      gold closely written over with sacred writing. I lifted up the plate, and,
+      holding it to the light, I read:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I, Menkau-ra, the Osirian, aforetime Pharaoh of the Land of Khem, who in
+      my day did live justly and ever walked in the path marked for my feet by
+      the decree of the Invisible, who was the beginning and is the end, speak
+      from my tomb to those who after me shall for an hour sit upon my Throne.
+      Behold, I, Menkau-ra, the Osirian, having in the days of my life been
+      warned of a dream that a time will come when Khem shall fear to fall into
+      the hands of strangers, and her monarch shall have great need of treasure
+      wherewith to furnish armies to drive the barbarian back, have out of my
+      wisdom done this thing. For it having pleased the protecting Gods to give
+      me wealth beyond any Pharaoh who has been since the days of Horus&mdash;thousands
+      of cattle and geese, thousands of calves and asses, thousands of measures
+      of corn, and hundreds of measures of gold and gems; this wealth I have
+      used sparingly, and that which remains I have bartered for precious stones&mdash;even
+      for emeralds, the most beautiful and largest that are in the world. These
+      stones, then, I have stored up against that day of the need of Khem. But
+      because as there have been, so there shall be, those who do wickedly on
+      the earth, and who, in the lust of gain, might seize this wealth that I
+      have stored, and put it to their uses; behold, thou Unborn One, who in the
+      fulness of time shalt stand above me and read this that I have caused to
+      be written, I have stored the treasure thus&mdash;even among my bones.
+      Therefore, O thou Unborn One, sleeping in the womb of Nout, I say this to
+      thee! If thou indeed hast need of riches to save Khem from the foes of
+      Khem, fear not and delay not, but tear me, the Osirian, from my tomb,
+      loose my wrappings and rip the treasure from my breast, and all shall be
+      well with thee; for this only I do command, that thou dost replace my
+      bones within my hollow coffin. But if the need be passing and not great,
+      or if there be guile in thy heart, then the curse of Menkau-ra be on thee!
+      On thee be the curse that shall smite him who breaks in upon the dead! On
+      thee be the curse that follows the traitor! On thee be the curse that
+      smites him who outrages the Majesty of the Gods! Unhappy shalt thou live,
+      in blood and misery shalt thou die, and in misery shalt thou be tormented
+      for ever and for ever! For, Wicked One, there in Amenti we shall come face
+      to face!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And to the end of the keeping of this secret, I, Menkau-ra, have set up a
+      Temple of my Worship, which I have built upon the eastern side of this my
+      House of Death. It shall be made known from time to time to the Hereditary
+      High Priest of this my Temple. And if any High Priest that shall be do
+      reveal this secret to another than the Pharaoh, or Her who wears the
+      Pharaoh&rsquo;s crown and is seated upon the throne of Khem, accursed be he
+      also. Thus have I, Menkau-ra, the Osirian, written. Now to thee, who,
+      sleeping in the womb of Nout, yet shall upon a time stand over me and
+      read, I say, judge thou! and if thou judgest evilly, on thee shall fall
+      this the curse of Menkau-ra from which there is no escape. Greeting and
+      farewell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou hast heard, O Cleopatra,&rdquo; I said solemnly; &ldquo;now search thy heart;
+      judge thou, and for thine own sake judge justly.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She bent her head in thought.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I fear to do this thing,&rdquo; she said presently. &ldquo;Let us hence.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; I said, with a lightening of the heart, and bent down to
+      lift the wooden lid. For I, too, feared.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And yet, what said the writing of the Divine Menkau-ra?&mdash;it was
+      emeralds, was it not? And emeralds are now so rare and hard to come by.
+      Ever did I love emeralds, and I can never find them without a flaw.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is not a matter of what thou dost love, Cleopatra,&rdquo; I said; &ldquo;it is a
+      matter of the need of Khem and of the secret meaning of thy heart, which
+      thou alone canst know.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, surely, Harmachis; surely! And is not the need of Egypt great? There
+      is no gold in the treasury, and how can I defy the Roman if I have no
+      gold? And have I not sworn to thee that I will wed thee and defy the
+      Roman; and do I not swear it again&mdash;yes, even in this solemn hour,
+      with my hand upon dead Pharaoh&rsquo;s heart? Why, here is that occasion of
+      which the Divine Menkau-ra dreamed. Thou seest it is so, for else
+      Hat-shepsu or Rameses or some other Pharaoh had drawn forth the gems. But
+      no; they left them to come to this hour because the time was not yet come.
+      Now it must be come, for if I take not the gems the Roman will surely
+      seize on Egypt, and then there will be no Pharaoh to whom the secret may
+      be told. Nay, let us away with fears and to the work. Why dost look so
+      frightened? Having pure hearts, there is naught to fear, Harmachis.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Even as thou wilt,&rdquo; I said again; &ldquo;it is for thee to judge, since if thou
+      judgest falsely on thee will surely fall the curse from which there is no
+      escape.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So, Harmachis, take Pharaoh&rsquo;s head and I will take his&mdash;&mdash;Oh,
+      what an awful place is this!&rdquo; and suddenly she clung to me. &ldquo;Methought I
+      saw a shadow yonder in the darkness! Methought that it moved toward us and
+      then straightway vanished! Let us be going! Didst thou see naught?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I saw nothing, Cleopatra; but mayhap it was the Spirit of the Divine
+      Menkau-ra, for the spirit ever hovers round its mortal tenement. Let us,
+      then, be going; I shall be right glad to go.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She made as though to start, then turned back again and spoke once more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was naught&mdash;naught but the mind that, in such a house of Horror,
+      bodies forth those shadowy forms of fear it dreads to see. Nay, I must
+      look upon these emeralds; indeed, if I die, I must look! Come&mdash;to the
+      work!&rdquo; and stooping, she with her own hands lifted from the tomb one of
+      the four alabaster jars, each sealed with the graven likeness of the heads
+      of the protecting Gods, that held the holy heart and entrails of the
+      Divine Menkau-ra. But nothing was found in these jars, save only what
+      should be there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then together we mounted on the Sphinx, and with toil drew forth the body
+      of the Divine Pharaoh, laying it on the ground. Now Cleopatra took my
+      dagger, and with it cut loose the bandages which held the wrappings in
+      their place, and the lotus-flowers that had been set in them by loving
+      hands, three thousand years before, fell down upon the pavement. Then we
+      searched and found the end of the outer bandage, which was fixed in at the
+      hinder part of the neck. This we cut loose, for it was glued fast. This
+      done, we began to unroll the wrappings of the holy corpse. Setting my
+      shoulders against the sarcophagus, I sat upon the rocky floor, the body
+      resting on my knees, and, as I turned it, Cleopatra unwound the cloths;
+      and awesome was the task. Presently something fell out; it was the sceptre
+      of the Pharaoh, fashioned of gold, and at its end was a pomegranate cut
+      from a single emerald.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cleopatra seized the sceptre and gazed on it in silence. Then once more we
+      went on with our dread business. And ever as we unwound, other ornaments
+      of gold, such as are buried with Pharaohs, fell from the wrappings&mdash;collars
+      and bracelets, models of sistra, an inlaid axe, and an image of the holy
+      Osiris and of the holy Khem. At length all the bandages were unwound, and
+      beneath we found a covering of coarsest linen; for in those very ancient
+      days the craftsmen were not so skilled in matters pertaining to the
+      embalming of the body as they are now. And on the linen was written in an
+      oval, &ldquo;Menkau-ra, Royal Son of the Sun.&rdquo; We could in no wise loosen this
+      linen, it held so firm on to the body. Therefore, faint with the great
+      heat, choked with mummy dust and the odour of spices, and trembling with
+      fear of our unholy task, wrought in that most lonesome and holy place, we
+      laid the body down, and ripped away the last covering with the knife.
+      First we cleared Pharaoh&rsquo;s head, and now the face that no man had gazed on
+      for three thousand years was open to our view. It was a great face, with a
+      bold brow, yet crowned with the royal uræus, beneath which the white
+      locks, stained yellow by the spices, fell in long, straight wisps. Not the
+      cold stamp of death, and not the slow flight of three thousand years, had
+      found power to mar the dignity of those shrunken features. We gazed on
+      them, and then, made bold with fear, stripped the covering from the body.
+      There at last it lay before us, stiff, yellow, and dread to see; and on
+      the left side, above the thigh, was the cut through which the embalmers
+      had done their work, but it was sewn up so deftly that we could scarcely
+      find the mark.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The gems are within,&rdquo; I whispered, for I felt that the body was very
+      heavy. &ldquo;Now, if thy heart fail thee not, thou must make an entry to this
+      poor house of clay that once was Pharaoh,&rdquo; and I gave her the dagger&mdash;the
+      same dagger which had drunk the life of Paulus.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is too late to doubt,&rdquo; she answered, lifting her white beauteous face
+      and fixing her blue eyes all big with terror upon my own. She took the
+      dagger, and with set teeth the Queen of this day plunged it into the dead
+      breast of the Pharaoh of three thousand years ago. And even as she did so
+      there came a groaning sound from the opening to the shaft where we had
+      left the eunuch! We leapt to our feet, but heard no more, and the
+      lamp-light still streamed down through the opening.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is nothing,&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Let us make an end.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then with much toil we hacked and rent the hard flesh open, and as we did
+      so I heard the knife point grate upon the gems within.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cleopatra plunged her hand into the dead breast and drew forth somewhat.
+      She held it to the light, and gave a little cry, for from the darkness of
+      Pharaoh&rsquo;s heart there flashed into light and life the most beauteous
+      emerald that ever man beheld. It was perfect in colour, very large,
+      without a flaw, and fashioned to a scarabæus form, and on the under side
+      was an oval, inscribed with the divine name of Menkau-ra, Son of the Sun.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Again, again, and yet again, she plunged in her hand and drew emeralds
+      from Pharaoh&rsquo;s breast bedded there in spices. Some were fashioned and some
+      were not; but all were perfect in colour without a flaw, and in value
+      priceless. Again and again she plunged her white hand into that dread
+      breast, till at length all were found, and there were one hundred and
+      forty and eight of such gems as are not known in the world. The last time
+      that she searched she brought forth not emeralds, indeed, but two great
+      pearls, wrapped in linen, such as never have been seen. And of these
+      pearls more hereafter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So it was done, and all the mighty treasure lay glittering in a heap
+      before us. There it lay, and there, too, lay the regalia of gold, the
+      spiced and sickly-scented wrappings, and the torn body of white-haired
+      Pharaoh Menkau-ra, the Osirian, the ever living in Amenti.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We rose, and a great awe fell upon us, now that the deed was done and our
+      hearts were no more upborne by the rage of search&mdash;so great an awe,
+      indeed, that we could not speak. I made a sign to Cleopatra. She grasped
+      the head of Pharaoh and I grasped his feet, and together we lifted him,
+      climbed the Sphinx, and placed him once more within his coffin. I piled
+      the torn mummy cloths over him and on them laid the lid of the coffin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And now we gathered up the great gems, and such of the ornaments as might
+      be carried with ease, and I hid them as many as I could, in the folds of
+      my robe. Those that were left Cleopatra hid upon her breast. Heavily laden
+      with the priceless treasure, we gave one last look at the solemn place, at
+      the sarcophagus and the Sphinx on which it rested, whose gleaming face of
+      calm seemed to mock us with its everlasting smile of wisdom. Then we
+      turned and went from the tomb.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At the shaft we halted. I called to the eunuch, who stayed above, and
+      methought a faint mocking laugh answered me. Too smitten with terror to
+      call again, and fearing that, should we delay, Cleopatra would certainly
+      swoon, I seized the rope, and being strong and quick mounted by it and
+      gained the passage. There burnt the lamp: but the eunuch I saw not.
+      Thinking, surely, that he was a little way down the passage, and slept&mdash;as,
+      in truth, he did&mdash;I bade Cleopatra make the rope fast about her
+      middle, and with much labour, drew her up. Then, having rested awhile, we
+      moved with the lamps to seek for the eunuch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He was stricken with terror and has fled, leaving the lamp,&rdquo; said
+      Cleopatra. &ldquo;O ye Gods! who is <i>that</i> seated there?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I peered into the darkness, thrusting out the lamps, and this was what
+      their light fell on&mdash;this at the very dream of which my soul sickens!
+      There, facing us, his back resting against the rock, and his hands splayed
+      on either side upon the floor, sat the eunuch&mdash;<i>dead!</i> His eyes
+      and mouth were open, his fat cheeks dropped down, his thin hair yet seemed
+      to bristle, and on his countenance was frozen such a stamp of hideous
+      terror as well might turn the beholder&rsquo;s brain. And lo! fixed to his chin,
+      by its hinder claws, hung that grey and mighty bat, which, flying forth
+      when we entered the pyramid, vanished in the sky, but, returning, had
+      followed us to its depths. There it hung upon the dead man&rsquo;s chin slowly
+      rocking itself to and fro, and we could see the fiery eyes shining in its
+      head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Aghast, utterly aghast, we stood and stared at the hateful sight; till
+      presently the bat spread his huge wings and, losing his hold, sailed to
+      us. Now he hovered before Cleopatra&rsquo;s face, fanning her with his white
+      wings. Then with a scream, like a woman&rsquo;s shriek of fury, the accursed
+      Thing flittered on, seeking his violated tomb, and vanished down the well
+      into the sepulchre. I fell against the wall. But Cleopatra sank in a heap
+      upon the floor, and, covering her head with her arms, she shrieked till
+      the hollow passages rang with the echoes of her cries, that seemed to grow
+      and double and rush along the depths in volumes of shrill sound.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Rise!&rdquo; I cried, &ldquo;rise and let us hence before the Spirit shall return to
+      haunt us! If thou dost suffer thyself to be overwhelmed in this place thou
+      art lost for ever.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She staggered to her feet, and never may I forget the look upon her ashy
+      face or in her glowing eyes. Seizing lamps with a rush, we passed the dead
+      eunuch&rsquo;s horrid form, I holding her by the hand. We gained the great
+      chamber, where was the sarcophagus of the Queen of Menkau-ra, and
+      traversed its length. We fled along the passage. What if the Thing had
+      closed the three mighty doors? No; they were open, and we sped through
+      them; the last only did I stay to close. I touched the stone, as I knew
+      how, and the great door crashed down, shutting us off from the presence of
+      the dead eunuch and the Horror that had hung upon the eunuch&rsquo;s chin. Now
+      we were in the white chamber with the sculptured panels, and now we faced
+      the last steep ascent. Oh that last ascent! Twice Cleopatra slipped and
+      fell upon the polished floor. The second time&mdash;it was when half the
+      distance had been done&mdash;she let fall her lamp, and would, indeed,
+      have rolled down the slide had I not saved her. But in doing thus I, too,
+      let fall my lamp that bounded away into shadow beneath us, and we were in
+      utter darkness. And perchance about us, in the darkness, hovered that
+      awful Thing!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be brave!&rdquo; I cried; &ldquo;O love, be brave, and struggle on, or both are lost!
+      The way, though steep, is not far; and, though it be dark, we can scarce
+      come to harm in this straight shaft. If the gems weight thee, cast them
+      away!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; she gasped, &ldquo;that I will not; this shall not be endured to no end.
+      I die with them!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then it was that I saw the greatness of this woman&rsquo;s heart; for in the
+      dark, and notwithstanding the terrors we had passed and the awfulness of
+      our state, she clung to me and clambered on up that dread passage. On we
+      clambered, hand in hand, with bursting hearts, till there, by the mercy or
+      the anger of the Gods, at length we saw the faint light of the moon,
+      creeping through the little opening in the pyramid. One struggle more, now
+      the hole was gained, and like a breath from heaven, the sweet night air
+      played upon our brows. I climbed through, and, standing on a pile of
+      stones, lifted and dragged Cleopatra after me. She fell to the ground and
+      then sank down upon it motionless.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I pressed upon the turning stone with trembling hands. It swung to and
+      caught, leaving no mark of the secret place of entry. Then I leapt down
+      and, having pushed away the pile of stones, looked on Cleopatra. She had
+      swooned, and notwithstanding the dust and grime upon her face, it was so
+      pale that at first I believed she must be dead. But placing my hand upon
+      her heart I felt it stir beneath; and, being spent, I flung myself down
+      beside her upon the sand, to gather up my strength again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XII
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE COMING BACK OF HARMACHIS; OF THE GREETING OF CHARMION; AND OF THE
+      ANSWER OF CLEOPATRA TO QUINTUS DELLIUS, THE AMBASSADOR OF ANTONY THE
+      TRIUMVIR
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Presently I lifted myself, and, laying the head of Egypt&rsquo;s Queen upon my
+      knee, strove to call her back to life. How fair she seemed, even in her
+      disarray, her long hair streaming down her breast! how deadly fair she
+      seemed in the faint light&mdash;this woman the story of whose beauty and
+      whose sin shall outlive the solid mass of the mighty pyramid that towered
+      over us! The heaviness of her swoon had smoothed away the falseness of her
+      face, and nothing was left but the divine stamp of Woman&rsquo;s richest
+      loveliness, softened by shadows of the night and dignified by the cast of
+      deathlike sleep. I gazed upon her and all my heart went out to her; it
+      seemed that I did but love her more because of the depth of the treasons
+      to which I had sunk to reach her, and because of the terrors we had
+      outfaced together. Weary and spent with fears and the pangs of guilt, my
+      heart sought hers for rest, for now she alone was left to me. She had
+      sworn to wed me also, and with the treasure we had won we would make Egypt
+      strong and free her from her foes, and all should yet be well. Ah! could I
+      have seen the picture that was to come, how, and in what place and
+      circumstance, once again this very woman&rsquo;s head should be laid upon my
+      knee, pale with that cast of death! Ah! could I have seen!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I chafed her hand between my hands. I bent down and kissed her on the
+      lips, and at my kiss she woke. She woke with a little sob of fear&mdash;a
+      shiver ran along her delicate limbs, and she stared upon my face with wide
+      eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah! it is thou!&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I mind me&mdash;thou hast saved me from that
+      horror-haunted place!&rdquo; And she threw her arms about my neck, drew me to
+      her and kissed me. &ldquo;Come, love,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;let us be going! I am sore
+      athirst, and&mdash;ah! so very weary! The gems, too, chafe my breast!
+      Never was wealth so hardly won! Come, let us be going from the shadow of
+      this ghostly spot! See the faint lights glancing from the wings of Dawn.
+      How beautiful they are, and how sweet to behold! Never, in those Halls of
+      Eternal Night, did I think to look upon the blush of dawn again! Ah! I can
+      still see the face of that dead slave, with the Horror hanging to his
+      beardless chin! Bethink thee!&mdash;there he&rsquo;ll sit for ever&mdash;there&mdash;with
+      the Horror! Come; where may we find water? I would give an emerald for a
+      cup of water!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At the canal on the borders of the tilled land below the Temple of
+      Horemkhu&mdash;it is close by,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;If any see us, we will say
+      that we are pilgrims who have lost our way at night among the tombs. Veil
+      thyself closely, therefore, Cleopatra; and beware lest thou dost show
+      aught of those gems about thee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So she veiled herself, and I lifted her on to the ass which was tethered
+      near at hand. We walked slowly through the plain till we came to the place
+      where the symbol of the God Horemkhu,[*] fashioned as a mighty Sphinx
+      (whom the Greeks call Harmachis), and crowned with the royal crown of
+      Egypt, looks out in majesty across the land, his eyes ever fixed upon the
+      East. As we walked the first arrow of the rising sun quivered through the
+      grey air, striking upon Horemkhu&rsquo;s lips of holy calm, and the Dawn kissed
+      her greeting to the God of Dawn. Then the light gathered and grew upon the
+      gleaming sides of twenty pyramids, and, like a promise from Life to Death,
+      rested on the portals of ten thousand tombs. It poured in a flood of gold
+      across the desert sand&mdash;it pierced the heavy sky of night, and fell
+      in bright beams upon the green of fields and the tufted crest of palms.
+      Then from his horizon bed royal Ra rose up in pomp and it was day.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] That is, &ldquo;Horus on the horizon&rdquo;; and signifies the power
+     of Light and Good overcoming the power of Darkness and Evil
+     incarnate in his enemy, Typhon.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Passing the temple of granite and of alabaster that was built before the
+      days of Khufu, to the glory of the Majesty of Horemkhu, we descended the
+      slope, and came to the banks of the canal. There we drank; and that
+      draught of muddy water was sweeter than all the choicest wine of
+      Alexandria. Also we washed the mummy dust and grime from our hands and
+      brows and made us clean. As she bathed her neck, stooping over the water,
+      one of the great emeralds slipped from Cleopatra&rsquo;s breast and fell into
+      the canal, and it was but by chance that at length I found it in the mire.
+      Then, once more, I lifted Cleopatra onto the beast, and slowly, for I was
+      very weary, we marched back to the banks of Sihor, where our craft was.
+      And having at length come thither, seeing no one save some few peasants
+      going out to labour on the lands, I turned the ass loose in that same
+      field where we had found him, and we boarded the craft while the crew were
+      yet sleeping. Then, waking them, we bade them make all sail, saying that
+      we had left the eunuch to sojourn a while behind us, as in truth we had.
+      So we sailed, having first hidden away the gems and such of the ornaments
+      of gold as we could bring to the boat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We spent four days and more in coming to Alexandria, for the wind was for
+      the most part against us; and they were happy days! At first, indeed,
+      Cleopatra was somewhat silent and heavy at heart, for what she had seen
+      and felt in the womb of the pyramid weighed her down. But soon her
+      Imperial spirit awoke and shook the burden from her breast, and she became
+      herself again&mdash;now gay, now learned; now loving, and now cold; now
+      queenly, and now altogether simple&mdash;ever changing as the winds of
+      heaven, and as the heaven, deep, beauteous, and unsearchable!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Night after night for those four perfect nights, the last happy hours I
+      ever was to know, we sat hand in hand upon the deck and heard the waters
+      lap the vessel&rsquo;s side, and watched the soft footfall of the moon as she
+      trod the depths of Nile. There we sat and talked of love, talked of our
+      marriage and all that we would do. Also I drew up plans of war and of
+      defence against the Roman, which now we had the means to carry out; and
+      she approved them, sweetly saying that what seemed good to me was good to
+      her. And so the time passed all too swiftly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Oh those nights upon the Nile! their memory haunts me yet! Yet in my
+      dreams I see the moonbeams break and quiver, and hear Cleopatra&rsquo;s murmured
+      words of love mingle with the sound of murmuring waters. Dead are those
+      dear nights, dead is the moon that lit them; the waters which rocked us on
+      their breast are lost in the wide salt sea, and where we kissed and clung
+      there lips unborn shall kiss and cling! How beautiful was their promise,
+      doomed, like an unfruitful blossom, to wither, fall, and rot! and their
+      fulfilment, ah, how drear! For all things end in darkness and in ashes,
+      and those who sow in folly shall reap in sorrow. Ah! those nights upon the
+      Nile!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And so at length once more we stood within the hateful walls of that fair
+      palace on the Lochias, and the dream was done.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whither hast thou wandered with Cleopatra, Harmachis?&rdquo; Charmion asked of
+      me when I met her by chance on that day of return. &ldquo;On some new mission of
+      betrayal? Or was it but a love-journey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I went with Cleopatra upon secret business of the State,&rdquo; I answered
+      sternly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So! Those who go secretly, go evilly; and foul birds love to fly at
+      night. Not but what thou art wise, for it would scarce beseem thee,
+      Harmachis, to show thy face openly in Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I heard, and felt my passion rise within me, for I could ill bear this
+      fair girl&rsquo;s scorn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hast thou never a word without a sting?&rdquo; I asked. &ldquo;Know, then, that I
+      went whither thou hadst not dared to go, to gather means to hold Egypt
+      from the grasp of Antony.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So,&rdquo; she answered, looking up swiftly. &ldquo;Thou foolish man! Thou hadst done
+      better to save thy labour, for Antony will grasp Egypt in thy despite.
+      What power hast thou to-day in Egypt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That he may do in my despite; but in despite of Cleopatra that he cannot
+      do,&rdquo; I said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, but with the <i>aid</i> of Cleopatra he can and will do it,&rdquo; she
+      answered with a bitter smile. &ldquo;When the Queen sails in state up Cydnus
+      stream she will surely draw this coarse Antony thence to Alexandria,
+      conquering, and yet, like thee, a slave!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is false! I say that it is false! Cleopatra goes not to Tarsus, and
+      Antony comes not to Alexandria; or, if he come, it will be to take the
+      chance of war.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, thinkest thou thus?&rdquo; she answered with a little laugh. &ldquo;Well, if it
+      please thee, think as thou wilt. Within three days thou shalt know. It is
+      pretty to see how easily thou art fooled. Farewell! Go, dream on Love, for
+      surely Love is sweet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And she went, leaving me angered and troubled at heart.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I saw Cleopatra no more that day, but on the day which followed I saw her.
+      She was in a heavy mood, and had no gentle word for me. I spake to her of
+      the defence of Egypt, but she put the matter away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why dost thou weary me?&rdquo; she said with anger; &ldquo;canst thou not see that I
+      am lost in troubles? When Dellius has had his answer to-morrow then we
+      will speak of these matters.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;when Dellius has had his answer; and knowest thou that but
+      yesterday, Charmion&mdash;whom about the palace they name the &lsquo;Keeper of
+      the Queen&rsquo;s secrets&rsquo;&mdash;Charmion swore that the answer would be &lsquo;Go in
+      peace, I come to Antony!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Charmion knows nothing of my heart,&rdquo; said Cleopatra, stamping her foot in
+      anger, &ldquo;and if she talk so freely the girl shall be scourged out of my
+      Court, as is her desert. Though, in truth,&rdquo; she added, &ldquo;she has more
+      wisdom in that small head of hers than all my privy councillors&mdash;ay,
+      and more wit to use it. Knowest thou that I have sold a portion of those
+      gems to the rich Jews of Alexandria, and at a great price, ay, at five
+      thousand sestertia for each one?[*] But a few, in truth, for they could
+      not buy more as yet. It was rare to see their eyes when they fell upon
+      them: they grew large as apples with avarice and wonder. And now leave me,
+      Harmachis, for I am weary. The memory of that dreadful night is with me
+      yet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] About forty thousand pounds of our money.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      I bowed and rose to go, and yet stood wavering.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pardon me, Cleopatra; it is of our marriage.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Our marriage! Why, are we not indeed already wed?&rdquo; she answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes; but not before the world. Thou didst promise.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, Harmachis, I promised; and to-morrow, when I have rid me of this
+      Dellius, I will keep my promise, and name thee Cleopatra&rsquo;s Lord before the
+      Court. See that thou art in thy place. Art content?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And she stretched out her hand for me to kiss, looking on me with strange
+      eyes, as though she struggled with herself. Then I went; but that night I
+      strove once more to see Cleopatra, and could not. &ldquo;The Lady Charmion was
+      with the Queen,&rdquo; so said the eunuchs, and none might enter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the morrow the Court met in the great hall one hour before mid-day, and
+      I went thither with a trembling heart to hear Cleopatra&rsquo;s answer to
+      Dellius, and to hear myself also named King-consort to the Queen of Egypt.
+      It was a full and splendid Court; there were councillors, lords, captains,
+      eunuchs, and waiting-women, all save Charmion. The house passed, but
+      Cleopatra and Charmion came not. At length Charmion entered gently by a
+      side entrance, and took her place among the waiting-ladies about the
+      throne. Even as she did so she cast a glance at me, and there was triumph
+      in her eyes, though I knew not over what she triumphed. I little guessed
+      that she had but now brought about my ruin and sealed the fate of Egypt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then presently the trumpets blared, and, clad in her robes of state, the
+      uræus crown upon her head, and on her breast, flashing like a star, that
+      great emerald scarabæus which she had dragged from dead Pharaoh&rsquo;s heart,
+      Cleopatra swept in splendour to her throne, followed by a glittering guard
+      of Northmen. Her lovely face was dark, dark were her slumbrous eyes, and
+      none might read their message, though all that Court searched them for a
+      sign of what should come. She seated herself slowly as one who may not be
+      moved, and spoke to the chief of the heralds in the Greek tongue:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Does the Ambassador of the noble Antony wait?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The herald bowed low and made assent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let him come in and hear our answer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The doors were flung wide, and, followed by his train of knights, Dellius,
+      clad in his golden armour and his purple mantle, walked with cat-like step
+      up the great hall, and made obeisance before the throne.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Most royal and beauteous Egypt,&rdquo; he said, in his soft voice, &ldquo;as thou
+      hast graciously been pleased to bid me, thy servant, I am here to take thy
+      answer to the letter of the noble Antony the Triumvir, whom to-morrow I
+      sail to meet at Tarsus, in Cilicia. And I will say this, royal Egypt,
+      craving pardon the while for the boldness of my speech&mdash;bethink thee
+      well before words that cannot be unspoken fall from those sweet lips. Defy
+      Antony, and Antony will wreck thee. But, like thy mother Aphrodité, rise
+      glorious on his sight from the bosom of the Cyprian wave, and for wreck he
+      will give thee all that can be dear to woman&rsquo;s royalty&mdash;Empire, and
+      pomp of place, cities and the sway of men, fame and wealth, and the Diadem
+      of rule made sure. For mark: Antony holds this Eastern World in the hollow
+      of his warlike hand; at his will kings are, and at his frown they cease to
+      be.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And he bowed his head and, folding his hands meekly on his breast, awaited
+      answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a while Cleopatra answered not, but sat like the Sphinx Horemkhu, dumb
+      and inscrutable, gazing with lost eyes down the length of that great hall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, like soft music, her answer came; and trembling I listened for
+      Egypt&rsquo;s challenge to the Roman:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Noble Dellius,&mdash;We have bethought us much of the matter of thy
+      message from great Antony to our poor Royalty of Egypt. We have bethought
+      us much, and we have taken counsel from the oracles of the Gods, from the
+      wisest among our friends, and from the teachings of our heart, that ever,
+      like a nesting bird, broods over our people&rsquo;s weal. Sharp are the words
+      that thou hast brought across the sea; methinks they had been better fitted
+      to the ears of some petty half-tamed prince than to those of Egypt&rsquo;s
+      Queen. Therefore we have numbered the legions that we can gather, and the
+      triremes and the galleys wherewith we may breast the sea, and the moneys
+      which shall buy us all things wanting to our war. And we find this, that,
+      though Antony be strong, yet has Egypt naught to fear from the strength of
+      Antony.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She paused, and a murmur of applause of her high words ran down the hall.
+      Only Dellius stretched out his hand as though to push them back. Then came
+      the end!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Noble Dellius,&mdash;Half are we minded there to bid our tongue stop,
+      and, strong in our fortresses of stone, and our other fortresses built of
+      the hearts of men, abide the issue. And yet thou shalt not go thus. We are
+      guiltless of those charges against us that have come to the ears of noble
+      Antony, and which now he rudely shouts in ours; nor will we journey into
+      Cilicia to answer them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Here the murmur arose anew, while my heart beat high in triumph; and in
+      the pause that followed, Dellius spoke once more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then, royal Egypt, my word to Antony is word of War?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; she answered; &ldquo;it shall be one of Peace. Listen; we said that we
+      would not come to make answer to these charges, nor will we. But&rdquo;&mdash;and
+      she smiled for the first time&mdash;&ldquo;we will gladly come, and that
+      swiftly, in royal friendship to make known our fellowship of peace upon
+      the banks of Cydnus.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I heard, and was bewildered. Could I hear aright? Was it thus that
+      Cleopatra kept her oaths? Moved beyond the hold of reason, I lifted up my
+      voice and cried:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Queen, <i>remember!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She turned upon me like a lioness, with a flashing of the eyes and a swift
+      shake of her lovely head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Peace, Slave!&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;who bade thee break in upon our counsels? Mind
+      thou thy stars, and leave matters of the world to the rulers of the
+      world!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I sank back shamed, and, as I did so, once more I saw the smile of triumph
+      on the face of Charmion, followed by what was, perhaps, the shadow of pity
+      for my fall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now that yon brawling charlatan,&rdquo; said Dellius, pointing at me with his
+      jewelled finger, &ldquo;has been rebuked, grant me leave, O Egypt, to thank thee
+      from my heart for these gentle words&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We ask no thanks from thee, noble Dellius; nor lies it in thy mouth to
+      chide our servant,&rdquo; broke in Cleopatra, frowning heavily; &ldquo;we will take
+      thanks from the lips of Antony alone. Get thee to thy master, and say to
+      him that before he can make ready a fitting welcome our keels shall follow
+      in the track of thine. And now, farewell! Thou shalt find some small token
+      of our bounty upon thy vessel.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Dellius bowed thrice and withdrew, while the Court stood waiting the
+      Queen&rsquo;s word. And I, too, waited, wondering if she would yet make good her
+      promise, and name me royal Spouse there in the face of Egypt. But she said
+      nothing. Only, still frowning heavily, she rose, and, followed by her
+      guards, left the throne, and passed into the Alabaster Hall. Then the
+      Court broke up, and as the lords and councillors went by they looked on me
+      with mockery. For though none knew all my secret, nor how it stood between
+      me and Cleopatra, yet they were jealous of the favour shown me by the
+      Queen, and rejoiced greatly at my fall. But I took no heed of their
+      mocking as I stood dazed with misery and felt the world of Hope slip from
+      beneath my feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XIII
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE REPROACH OF HARMACHIS; OF THE STRUGGLE OF HARMACHIS WITH THE
+      GUARDS; OF THE BLOW OF BRENNUS; AND OF THE SECRET SPEECH OF CLEOPATRA
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And at length, all being gone, I, too, turned to go, when a eunuch struck
+      me on the shoulder and roughly bade me wait on the presence of the Queen.
+      An hour past this fellow would have crawled to me on his knees; but he had
+      heard, and now he treated me&mdash;so brutish is the nature of such slaves&mdash;as
+      the world treats the fallen, with scorn. For to come low after being great
+      is to learn all shame. Unhappy, therefore, are the Great, for they may
+      fall!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I turned upon the slave with so fierce a word that, cur-like, he sprang
+      behind me; then I passed on to the Alabaster Hall, and was admitted by the
+      guards. In the centre of the hall, near the fountain, sat Cleopatra, and
+      with her were Charmion and the Greek girl Iras, and Merira and other of
+      her waiting-ladies. &ldquo;Go,&rdquo; she said to these, &ldquo;I would speak with my
+      astrologer.&rdquo; So they went, and left us face to face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stand thou there,&rdquo; she said, lifting her eyes for the first time. &ldquo;Come
+      not nigh me, Harmachis: I trust thee not. Perchance thou hast found
+      another dagger. Now, what hast thou to say? By what right didst thou dare
+      to break in upon my talk with the Roman?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I felt the blood rush through me like a storm; bitterness and burning
+      anger took hold of my heart. &ldquo;What hast <i>thou</i> to say, Cleopatra?&rdquo; I
+      answered boldly. &ldquo;Where is thy vow, sworn on the dead heart of Menkau-ra,
+      the ever-living? Where now thy challenge to this Roman Antony? Where thy
+      oath that thou wouldest call me &lsquo;husband&rsquo; in the face of Egypt?&rdquo; and I
+      choked and ceased.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well doth it become Harmachis, who never was forsworn, to speak to me of
+      oaths!&rdquo; she said in bitter mockery. &ldquo;And yet, O thou most pure Priest of
+      Isis; and yet, O thou most faithful friend, who never didst betray thy
+      friends; and yet, O thou most steadfast, honourable, and upright man, who
+      never bartered thy birthright, thy country, and thy cause for the price of
+      a woman&rsquo;s passing love&mdash;by what token knowest thou that my word is
+      void?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will not answer thy taunts, Cleopatra,&rdquo; I said, holding back my heart
+      as best I might, &ldquo;for I have earned them all, though not from thee. By
+      this token, then, I know it. Thou goest to visit Antony; thou goest, as
+      said that Roman knave, &lsquo;tricked in thy best attire,&rsquo; to feast with him
+      whom thou shouldst give to vultures for their feast. Perhaps, for aught I
+      know, thou art about to squander those treasures that thou hast filched
+      from the body of Menkau-ra, those treasures stored against the need of
+      Egypt, upon wanton revels which shall complete the shame of Egypt. By
+      these things, then, I know that thou art forsworn, and I, who, loving
+      thee, believed thee, tricked; and by this, also, that thou who didst but
+      yesternight swear to wed me, dost to-day cover me with taunts, and even
+      before that Roman put me to an open shame!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To wed thee? and I did swear to wed thee? Well, and what is marriage? Is
+      it the union of the heart, that bond beautiful as gossamer and than
+      gossamer more light, which binds soul to soul, as they float through the
+      dreamy night of passion, a bond to be, perchance, melted in the dews of
+      dawn? Or is it the iron link of enforced, unchanging union whereby if
+      sinks the one the other must be dragged beneath the sea of circumstance,
+      there, like a punished slave, to perish of unavoidable corruption?[*]
+      Marriage! <i>I</i> to marry! <i>I</i> to forget freedom and court the
+      worst slavery of our sex, which, by the selfish will of man, the stronger,
+      still binds us to a bed grown hateful, and enforces a service that love
+      mayhap no longer hallows! Of what use, then, to be a Queen, if thereby I
+      may not escape the evil of the meanly born? Mark thou, Harmachis: Woman
+      being grown hath two ills to fear&mdash;Death and Marriage; and of these
+      twain is Marriage the more vile; for in Death we may find rest, but in
+      Marriage, should it fail us, we must find hell. Nay, being above the
+      breath of common slander that enviously would blast those who of true
+      virtue will not consent to stretch affection&rsquo;s links, I <i>love</i>,
+      Harmachis; but I <i>marry</i> not!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] Referring to the Roman custom of chaining a living felon
+     to the body of one already dead.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And yesternight, Cleopatra, thou didst swear that thou wouldst wed me,
+      and call me to thy side before the face of Egypt!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And yesternight, Harmachis, the red ring round the moon marked the coming
+      of the storm, and yet the day is fair! But who knows that the tempest may
+      not break to-morrow? Who knows that I have not chosen the easier path to
+      save Egypt from the Roman? Who knows, Harmachis, that thou shalt not still
+      call me wife?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I no longer could bear her falsehood, for I saw that she but played
+      with me. And so I spoke that which was in my heart:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cleopatra!&rdquo; I cried, &ldquo;thou didst swear to protect Egypt, and thou art
+      about to betray Egypt to the Roman! Thou didst swear to use the treasures
+      that I revealed to thee for the service of Egypt, and thou art about to
+      use them to be her means of shame&mdash;to fashion them as fetters for her
+      wrists! Thou didst swear to wed me, who loved thee, and for thee gave all,
+      and thou dost mock me and reject me! Therefore I say&mdash;with the voice
+      of the dread Gods I say it!&mdash;that on <i>thee</i> shall fall the curse
+      of Menkau-ra, whom thou hast robbed indeed! Let me go hence and work out
+      my fate! Let me go, O thou fair Shame! thou living Lie! whom I have loved
+      to my doom, and who hast brought upon me the last curse of doom! Let me
+      hide myself and see thy face no more!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She rose in her wrath, and she was terrible to see.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let thee go to stir up evil against me! Nay, Harmachis, thou shalt not go
+      to build new plots against my throne! I say to thee that thou, too, shalt
+      come to visit Antony in Cilicia, and there, perchance, I will let thee
+      go!&rdquo; And ere I could answer, she had struck upon the silver gong that hung
+      near her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Before its rich echo had died away, Charmion and the waiting-women entered
+      from one door, and from the other, a file of soldiers&mdash;four of them
+      of the Queen&rsquo;s bodyguard, mighty men, with winged helmets and long fair
+      hair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Seize that traitor!&rdquo; cried Cleopatra, pointing to me. The captain of the
+      guard&mdash;it was Brennus&mdash;saluted and came towards me with drawn
+      sword.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But I, being mad and desperate, and caring little if they slew me, flew
+      straight at his throat, and dealt him such a heavy blow that the great man
+      fell headlong, and his armour clashed upon the marble floor. As he fell I
+      seized his sword and targe, and, meeting the next, who rushed on me with a
+      shout, caught his blow upon the shield, and in answer smote with all my
+      strength. The sword fell where the neck is set into the shoulder, and,
+      shearing through the joints of his harness, slew him, so that his knees
+      were loosened and he sank down dead. And the third, as he came, I caught
+      upon the point of my sword before he could strike, and it pierced him and
+      he died. Then the last rushed on me with a cry of &ldquo;Taranis!&rdquo; and I, too,
+      rushed on him, for my blood was aflame. Now the women shrieked&mdash;only
+      Cleopatra said nothing, but stood and watched the unequal fray. We met,
+      and I struck with all my strength, and it was a mighty blow, for the sword
+      shore through the iron shell and shattered there, leaving me weaponless.
+      With a shout of triumph the guard swung up his sword and smote down upon
+      my head, but I caught the blow with my shield. Again he smote, and again I
+      parried; but when he raised his sword a third time I saw this might not
+      endure, so with a cry I hurled my buckler at his face. Glancing from his
+      shield it struck him on the breast and staggered him. Then, before he
+      could gain his balance, I rushed in beneath his guard and gripped him
+      round the middle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a full minute the tall man and I struggled furiously, and then, so
+      great was my strength in those days, I lifted him like a toy and dashed
+      him down upon the marble floor in such fashion that his bones were
+      shattered so that he spoke no more. But I could not save myself and fell
+      upon him, and as I fell the Captain Brennus, whom I had smitten to earth
+      with my fist, having once more found his sense, came up behind me and
+      smote me upon the head and shoulders with the sword of one of those whom I
+      had slain. But I being on the ground, the blow did not fall with all its
+      weight, also my thick hair and broidered cap broke its force; and thus it
+      came to pass that, though sorely wounded, the life was yet whole in me.
+      But I could struggle no more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then the cowardly eunuchs, who had gathered at the sound of blows and
+      stood huddled together like a herd of cattle, seeing that I was spent,
+      threw themselves upon me, and would have butchered me with their knives.
+      But Brennus, now that I was down, would strike no more, but stood waiting.
+      And the eunuchs had surely slain me, for Cleopatra watched like one who
+      watches in a dream and made no sign. Already my head was dragged back, and
+      their knife-points were at my throat, when Charmion, rushing forward,
+      threw herself upon me and, calling them &ldquo;Dogs!&rdquo; desperately thrust her
+      body before them in such fashion that they could not smite. Now Brennus
+      with an oath seized first one and then another and cast them from me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Spare his life, Queen!&rdquo; he cried in his barbarous Latin. &ldquo;By Jupiter, he
+      is a brave man! Myself felled like an ox in the shambles, and three of my
+      boys finished by a man without armour and taken unawares! I grudge them
+      not to such a man! A boon, Queen! spare his life, and give him to me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, spare him! spare him!&rdquo; cried Charmion, white and trembling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cleopatra drew near and looked upon the dead and him who lay dying as I
+      had dashed him to the ground, and on me, her lover of two days gone, whose
+      wounded head rested now on Charmion&rsquo;s white robes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I met the Queen&rsquo;s glance. &ldquo;Spare not!&rdquo; I gasped; &ldquo;<i>væ victis!</i>&rdquo; Then
+      a flush gathered on her brow&mdash;methinks it was a flush of shame!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Dost after all love this man at heart, Charmion,&rdquo; she said with a little
+      laugh, &ldquo;that thou didst thrust thy tender body between him and the knives
+      of these sexless hounds?&rdquo; and she cast a look of scorn upon the eunuchs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay!&rdquo; the girl answered fiercely; &ldquo;but I cannot stand by to see a brave
+      man murdered by such as these.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay!&rdquo; said Cleopatra, &ldquo;he is a brave man, and he fought gallantly; I have
+      never seen so fierce a fight even in the games at Rome! Well, I spare his
+      life, though he is weak of me&mdash;womanish weak. Take him to his own
+      chamber and guard him there till he is healed or&mdash;dead.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then my brain reeled, a great sickness seized upon me, and I sank into the
+      nothingness of a swoon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Dreams, dreams, dreams! without end and ever-changing, as for years and
+      years I seemed to toss upon a sea of agony. And through them a vision of a
+      dark-eyed woman&rsquo;s tender face and the touch of a white hand soothing me to
+      rest. Visions, too, of a royal countenance bending at times over my
+      rocking bed&mdash;a countenance that I could not grasp, but whose beauty
+      flowed through my fevered veins and was a part of me&mdash;visions of
+      childhood and of the Temple towers of Abouthis, and of the white-haired
+      Amenemhat, my father&mdash;ay, and an ever-present vision of that dread
+      hall in Amenti, and of the small altar and the Spirits clad in flame!
+      There I seemed to wander everlastingly, calling on the Holy Mother, whose
+      memory I could not grasp; calling ever and in vain! For no cloud descended
+      upon the altar, only from time to time the great Voice pealed aloud:
+      &ldquo;Strike out the name of Harmachis, child of Earth, from the living Book of
+      Her who Was and Is and Shall Be! <i>Lost! lost! lost!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And then another voice would answer:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not yet! not yet! Repentance is at hand; strike not out the name of
+      Harmachis, child of Earth, from the living Book of Her who Was and Is and
+      Shall Be! By suffering may sin be wiped away!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I woke to find myself in my own chamber in the tower of the palace. I was
+      so weak that I scarce could lift my hand, and life seemed but to flutter
+      in my breast as flutters a dying dove. I could not turn my head; I could
+      not stir; yet in my heart there was a sense of rest and of dark trouble
+      done. The light from the lamp hurt my eyes: I shut them, and, as I shut
+      them, heard the sweep of a woman&rsquo;s robes upon the stair, and a swift,
+      light step that I knew well. It was that of Cleopatra!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She entered and drew near. I felt her come! Every pulse of my poor frame
+      beat an answer to her footfall, and all my mighty love and hate rose from
+      the darkness of my death-like sleep, and rent me in their struggle! She
+      leaned over me; her ambrosial breath played upon my face: I could hear the
+      beating of her heart! Lower she leaned, till at last her lips touched me
+      softly on the brow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Poor man!&rdquo; I heard her murmur. &ldquo;Poor, weak, dying Man! Fate hath been
+      hard to thee! Thou wert too good to be the sport of such a one as I&mdash;the
+      pawn that I must move in my play of policy! Ah, Harmachis! thou shouldst
+      have ruled the game! Those plotting priests could give thee learning; but
+      they could not give thee knowledge of mankind, nor fence thee against the
+      march of Nature&rsquo;s law. And thou didst love me with all thy heart&mdash;ah!
+      well I know it! Manlike, thou didst love the eyes that, as a pirate&rsquo;s
+      lights, beckoned thee to shipwrecked ruin, and didst hang doting on the
+      lips which lied thy heart away and called thee &lsquo;slave&rsquo;! Well; the game was
+      fair, for thou wouldst have slain me; and yet I grieve. So thou dost die?
+      and this is my farewell to thee! Never may we meet again on earth; and,
+      perchance, it is well, for who knows, when my hour of tenderness is past,
+      how I might deal with thee, didst thou live? Thou dost die, they say&mdash;those
+      learned long-faced fools, who, if they let thee die, shall pay the price.
+      And where, then, shall we meet again when my last throw is thrown? We
+      shall be equal there, in the kingdom that Osiris rules. A little time, a
+      few years&mdash;perhaps to-morrow&mdash;and we shall meet; then, knowing
+      all I am, how wilt thou greet me? Nay, here, as there, still must thou
+      worship me! for injuries cannot touch the immortality of such a love as
+      thine. Contempt alone, like acid, can eat away the love of noble hearts,
+      and reveal the truth in its pitiful nakedness. Thou must still cling to
+      thee, Harmachis; for, whatever my sins, yet I am great and set above thy
+      scorn. Would that I could have loved thee as thou lovest me! Almost I did
+      so when thou slewest those guards; and yet&mdash;not quite.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What a fenced city is my heart, that none can take it, and, even when I
+      throw the gates wide, no man may win its citadel! Oh, to put away this
+      loneliness and lose me in another&rsquo;s soul! Oh, for a year, a month, an hour
+      to quite forget policy, peoples, and my pomp of place, and be but a loving
+      woman! Harmachis, fare thee well! Go join great Julius whom thy art called
+      up from death before me, and take Egypt&rsquo;s greetings to him. Ah well! I
+      fooled thee, and I fooled Cæsar&mdash;perchance before all is done Fate
+      will find me, and myself I shall be fooled. Harmachis, fare thee well!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She turned to go, and as she turned I heard the sweep of another dress and
+      the light fall of another woman&rsquo;s foot.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah! it is thou, Charmion. Well, for all thy watching the man dies.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; she answered, in a voice thick with grief. &ldquo;Ay, O Queen, so the
+      physicians say. Forty hours has he lain in stupor so deep that at times
+      his breath could barely lift this tiny feather&rsquo;s weight, and hardly could
+      my ear, placed against his breast, take notice of the rising of his heart.
+      I have watched him now for ten long days, watched him day and night, till
+      my eyes stare wide with want of sleep, and for faintness I can scarce keep
+      myself from falling. And this is the end of all my labour! The coward blow
+      of that accursed Brennus has done its work, and Harmachis dies!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Love counts not its labour, Charmion, nor can it weight its tenderness on
+      the scale of purchase. That which it has it gives, and craves for more to
+      give and give, till the soul&rsquo;s infinity be drained. Dear to thy heart are
+      these heavy nights of watching; sweet to thy weary eyes is that sad sight
+      of strength brought so low that it hangs upon thy weakness like a babe to
+      its mother&rsquo;s breast! For, Charmion, thou dost love this man who loves thee
+      not, and now that he is helpless thou canst pour thy passion forth over
+      the unanswering darkness of his soul, and cheat thyself with dreams of
+      what yet might be.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I love him not, as thou hast proof, O Queen! How can I love one who would
+      have slain thee, who art as my heart&rsquo;s sister? It is for pity that I nurse
+      him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She laughed a little as she answered, &ldquo;Pity is love&rsquo;s own twin, Charmion.
+      Wondrous wayward are the paths of woman&rsquo;s love, and thou hast shown thine
+      strangely, that I know. But the more high the love, the deeper the gulf
+      whereinto it can fall&mdash;ay, and thence soar again to heaven, once more
+      to fall! Poor woman! thou art thy passion&rsquo;s plaything: now tender as the
+      morning sky, and now, when jealousy grips thy heart, more cruel than the
+      sea. Well, thus are we made. Soon, after all this troubling, nothing will
+      be left thee but tears, remorse, and&mdash;memory.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And she went forth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XIV
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE TENDER CARE OF CHARMION; OF THE HEALING OF HARMACHIS; OF THE
+      SAILING OF THE FLEET OF CLEOPATRA FOR CILICIA; AND OF THE SPEECH OF
+      BRENNUS TO HARMACHIS
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Cleopatra went, and for a while I lay silent, gathering up my strength to
+      speak. But Charmion came and stood over me, and I felt a great tear fall
+      from her dark eyes upon my face, as the first heavy drop of rain falls
+      from a thunder cloud.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou goest,&rdquo; she whispered; &ldquo;thou goest fast whither I may not follow! O
+      Harmachis, how gladly would I give my life for thine!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then at length I opened my eyes, and spoke as best I could:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Restrain thy grief, dear friend,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;I live yet; and, in truth, I
+      feel as though new life gathered in my breast!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She gave a little cry of joy, and I never saw aught more beautiful than
+      the change that came upon her weeping face! It was as when the first
+      lights of the day run up the pallor of that sad sky which veils the night
+      from dawn. All rosy grew her lovely countenance; her dim eyes shone out
+      like stars; and a smile of wonderment, more sweet than the sudden smile of
+      the sea as its ripples wake to brightness beneath the kiss of the risen
+      moon, broke through her rain of tears.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou livest!&rdquo; she cried, throwing herself on her knees beside my couch.
+      &ldquo;Thou livest&mdash;and I thought thee gone! Thou art come back to me! Oh!
+      what say I? How foolish is a woman&rsquo;s heart! &lsquo;Tis this long watching! Nay;
+      sleep and rest thee, Harmachis!&mdash;why dost thou talk? Not one more
+      word, I command thee straitly! Where is the draught left by that
+      long-bearded fool? Nay thou shalt have no draught! There, sleep,
+      Harmachis; sleep!&rdquo; and she crouched down at my side and laid her cool hand
+      upon my brow, murmuring, &ldquo;<i>Sleep! sleep!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And when I woke there she was still, but the lights of dawn were peeping
+      through the casement. There she knelt, one hand upon my forehead, and her
+      head, in all its disarray of curls, resting upon her outstretched arm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Charmion,&rdquo; I whispered, &ldquo;have I slept?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Instantly she was wide awake, and, gazing on me with tender eyes, &ldquo;Yea,
+      thou hast slept, Harmachis.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How long, then, have I slept?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nine hours.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And thou hast held thy place there, at my side, for nine long hours?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, it is nothing; I also have slept&mdash;I feared to waken thee if I
+      stirred.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Go, rest,&rdquo; I said; &ldquo;it shames me to think of this thing. Go rest thee,
+      Charmion!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Vex not thyself,&rdquo; she answered; &ldquo;see, I will bid a slave watch thee, and
+      to wake me if thou needest aught; I sleep there, in the outer chamber.
+      Peace&mdash;I go!&rdquo; and she strove to rise, but, so cramped was she, fell
+      straightway on the floor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I can scarcely tell the sense of shame that filled me when I saw her fall.
+      Alas! I could not stir to help her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is naught,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;move not, I did but catch my foot. There!&rdquo; and
+      she rose, again to fall&mdash;&ldquo;a pest upon my awkwardness! Why&mdash;I
+      must be sleeping. &lsquo;Tis well now. I&rsquo;ll send the slave;&rdquo; and she staggered
+      thence like one overcome with wine.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And after that, I slept once more, for I was very weak. When I woke it was
+      afternoon, and I craved for food, which Charmion brought me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I ate. &ldquo;Then I die not,&rdquo; I said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; she answered, with a toss of her head, &ldquo;thou wilt live. In truth, I
+      did waste my pity on thee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And thy pity saved my life,&rdquo; I said wearily, for now I remembered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is nothing,&rdquo; she answered carelessly. &ldquo;After all, thou art my cousin;
+      also, I love nursing&mdash;it is a woman&rsquo;s trade. Like enough I had done
+      as much for any slave. Now, too, that the danger is past, I leave thee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou hadst done better to let me die, Charmion,&rdquo; I said after a while,
+      &ldquo;for life to me can now be only one long shame. Tell me, then, when sails
+      Cleopatra for Cilicia?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She sails in twenty days, and with such pomp and glory as Egypt has never
+      seen. Of a truth, I cannot guess where she has found the means to gather
+      in this store of splendour, as a husbandman gathers his golden harvest.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But I, knowing whence the wealth came, groaned in bitterness of spirit,
+      and made no answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Goest thou also, Charmion?&rdquo; I asked presently.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, I and all the Court. Thou, too&mdash;thou goest.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I go? Nay, why is this?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Because thou art Cleopatra&rsquo;s slave, and must march in gilded chains
+      behind her chariot; because she fears to leave thee here in Khem; because
+      it is her will, and there is an end.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Charmion, can I not escape?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Escape, thou poor sick man? Nay, how canst thou escape? Even now thou art
+      most strictly guarded. And if thou didst escape, whither wouldst thou fly?
+      There&rsquo;s not an honest man in Egypt but would spit on thee in scorn!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Once more I groaned in spirit, and, being so very weak, I felt the tears
+      roll adown my cheek.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Weep not!&rdquo; she said hastily, and turning her face aside. &ldquo;Be a man, and
+      brave these troubles out. Thou hast sown, now must thou reap; but after
+      harvest the waters rise and wash away the rotting roots, and then
+      seed-time comes again. Perchance, yonder in Cilicia, a way may be found,
+      when once more thou art strong, by which thou mayst fly&mdash;if in truth
+      thou canst bear thy life apart from Cleopatra&rsquo;s smile; then in some far
+      land must thou dwell till these things are forgotten. And now my task is
+      done, so fare thee well! At times I will come to visit thee and see that
+      thou needest nothing.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So she went, and I was nursed thenceforward, and that skilfully, by the
+      physician and two women-slaves; and as my wound healed so my strength came
+      back to me, slowly at first, then most swiftly. In four days from that
+      time I left my couch, and in three more I could walk an hour in the palace
+      gardens; another week and I could read and think, though I went no more to
+      Court. And at length one afternoon Charmion came and bade me make ready,
+      for the fleet would sail in two days, first for the coast of Syria, and
+      thence to the gulf of Issus and Cilicia.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thereon, with all formality, and in writing, I craved leave of Cleopatra
+      that I might be left, urging that my health was so feeble that I could not
+      travel. But a message was sent to me in answer that I must come.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And so, on the appointed day, I was carried in a litter down to the boat,
+      and together with that very soldier who had cut me down, the Captain
+      Brennus, and others of his troop (who, indeed, were sent to guard me), we
+      rowed aboard a vessel where she lay at anchor with the rest of the great
+      fleet. For Cleopatra was voyaging as though to war in much pomp, and
+      escorted by a fleet of ships, among which her galley, built like a house
+      and lined throughout with cedar and silken hangings, was the most
+      beautiful and costly that the world has ever seen. But I went not on this
+      vessel, and therefore it chanced that I did not see Cleopatra or Charmion
+      till we landed at the mouth of the river Cydnus.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The signal being made, the fleet set sail; and, the wind being fair, we
+      came to Joppa on the evening of the second day. Thence we sailed slowly
+      with contrary winds up the coast of Syria, making Cæsarea, and Ptolemais,
+      and Tyrus, and Berytus, and past Lebanon&rsquo;s white brow crowned with his
+      crest of cedars, on to Heraclea and across the gulf of Issus to the mouth
+      of Cydnus. And ever as we journeyed, the strong breath of the sea brought
+      back my health, till at length, save for a line of white upon my head
+      where the sword had fallen, I was almost as I had been. And one night, as
+      we drew near Cydnus, while Brennus and I sat alone together on the deck,
+      his eye fell upon the white mark his sword had made, and he swore a great
+      oath by his heathen Gods. &ldquo;An thou hadst died, lad,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;methinks I
+      could never again have held up my head! Ah! that was a coward stroke, and
+      I am shamed to think that it was I who struck it, and thou on the ground
+      with thy back to me! Knowest thou that when thou didst lie between life
+      and death, I came every day to ask tidings of thee? and I swore by Taranis
+      that if thou didst die I&rsquo;d turn my back upon that soft palace life and
+      then away for the bonny North.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, trouble not, Brennus,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;it was thy duty.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mayhap! but there are duties that a brave man should not do&mdash;nay,
+      not at the bidding of any Queen who ever ruled in Egypt! Thy blow had
+      dazed me or I had not struck. What is it, lad?&mdash;art in trouble with
+      this Queen of ours? Why art thou dragged a prisoner upon this pleasure
+      party? Knowest thou that we are strictly charged that if thou dost escape
+      our lives shall pay the price?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, in sore trouble, friend,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;ask me no more.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then, being of the age thou art, there&rsquo;s a woman in it&mdash;that I swear&mdash;and,
+      perchance, though I am rough and foolish, I might make a guess. Look thou,
+      lad, what sayest thou? I am weary of this service of Cleopatra and this
+      hot land of deserts and of luxury, that sap a man&rsquo;s strength and drain his
+      pocket; and so are others whom I know of. What sayest thou: let&rsquo;s take one
+      of these unwieldy vessels and away to the North? I&rsquo;ll lead thee to a
+      better land than Egypt&mdash;a land of lake and mountain, and great
+      forests of sweet-scented pine; ay, and find thee a girl fit to mate with&mdash;my
+      own niece&mdash;a girl strong and tall, with wide blue eyes and long fair
+      hair, and arms that could crack thy ribs were she of a mind to hug thee!
+      Come, what sayest thou? Put away the past, and away for the bonny North,
+      and be a son to me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      For a moment I thought, and then sadly shook my head; for though I was
+      sorely tempted to be gone, I knew that my fate lay in Egypt, and I might
+      not fly my fate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It may not be, Brennus,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;Fain would I that it might be, but
+      I am bound by a chain of destiny which I cannot break, and in the land of
+      Egypt I must live and die.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As thou wilt, lad,&rdquo; said the old warrior. &ldquo;I should have dearly loved to
+      marry thee among my people, and make a son of thee. At the least, remember
+      that while I am here thou hast Brennus for a friend. And one thing more;
+      beware of that beauteous Queen of thine, for, by Taranis, perhaps an hour
+      may come when she will hold that thou knowest too much, and then&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+       and he drew his hand across his throat. &ldquo;And now good night; a cup of
+      wine, then to sleep, for to-morrow the foolery&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      [Here several lengths of the second roll of papyrus are so broken as to be
+      undecipherable. They seem to have been descriptive of Cleopatra&rsquo;s voyage
+      up the Cydnus to the city of Tarsus.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And&mdash;[the writing continues]&mdash;to those who could take joy in
+      such things, the sight must, indeed, have been a gallant one. For the
+      stern of our galley was covered with sheets of beaten gold, the sails were
+      of the scarlet of Tyre, and the oars of silver touched the water to a
+      measure of music. And there, in the centre of the vessel, beneath an
+      awning ablaze with gold embroidery, lay Cleopatra, attired as the Roman
+      Venus (and surely Venus was not more fair!), in thin robes of whitest
+      silk, bound in beneath her breast with a golden girdle delicately graven
+      over with scenes of love. All about her were little rosy boys, chosen for
+      their beauty, and clad in naught save downy wings strapped upon their
+      shoulders, and on their backs Cupid&rsquo;s bow and quiver, who fanned her with
+      fans of plumes. Upon the vessel&rsquo;s decks, handling the cordage, that was of
+      silken web, and softly singing to the sound of harps and the beat of oars,
+      were no rough sailors, but women lovely to behold, some robed as Graces
+      and some as Nereids&mdash;that is, scarce robed at all, except in their
+      scented hair. And behind the couch, with drawn sword, stood Brennus, in
+      splendid armour and winged helm of gold; and by him others&mdash;I among
+      them&mdash;in garments richly worked, and knew that I was indeed a slave!
+      On the high poop also burned censers filled with costliest incense, of
+      which the fragrant steam hung in little clouds about our wake.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus, as in a dream of luxury, followed by many ships, we glided on
+      towards the wooded slopes of Taurus, at whose foot lay that ancient city
+      Tarshish. And ever as we came the people gathered on the banks and ran
+      before us, shouting: &ldquo;Venus is risen from the sea! Venus hath come to
+      visit Bacchus!&rdquo; We drew near to the city, and all its people&mdash;everyone
+      who could walk or be carried&mdash;crowded down in thousands to the docks,
+      and with them came the whole army of Antony, so that at length the
+      Triumvir was left alone upon the judgment seat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Dellius, the false-tongued, came also, fawning and bowing, and in the name
+      of Antony gave the &ldquo;Queen of Beauty&rdquo; greeting, bidding her to a feast that
+      Antony had made ready. But she made high answer, and said, &ldquo;Forsooth, it
+      is Antony who should wait on us; not we on Antony. Bid the noble Antony to
+      our poor table this night&mdash;else we dine alone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Dellius went, bowing to the ground; the feast was made ready; and then at
+      last I set eyes on Antony. He came clad in purple robes, a great man and
+      beautiful to see, set in the stout prime of life, with bright eyes of
+      blue, and curling hair, and features cut sharply as a Grecian gem. For he
+      was great of form and royal of mien, and with an open countenance on which
+      his thoughts were so clearly written that all might read them; only the
+      weakness of the mouth belied the power of the brow. He came attended by
+      his generals, and when he reached the couch where Cleopatra lay he stood
+      astonished, gazing on her with wide-opened eyes. She, too, gazed on him
+      earnestly; I saw the red blood run up beneath her skin, and a great pang
+      of jealousy seized upon my heart. And Charmion, who saw all beneath her
+      downcast eyes, saw this also and smiled. But Cleopatra spoke no word, only
+      she stretched out her white hand for him to kiss; and he, saying no word,
+      took her hand and kissed it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Behold, noble Antony!&rdquo; she said at last in her voice of music, &ldquo;thou hast
+      called me, and I am come.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Venus has come,&rdquo; he answered in his deep notes, and still holding his
+      eyes fixed upon her face. &ldquo;I called a woman&mdash;a Goddess hath risen
+      from the deep!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To find a God to greet her on the land,&rdquo; she laughed with ready wit.
+      &ldquo;Well, a truce to compliments, for being on the earth even Venus is
+      ahungered. Noble Antony, thy hand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The trumpets blared, and through the bowing crowd Cleopatra, followed by
+      her train, passed hand in hand with Antony to the feast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      [Here there is another break in the papyrus.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XV
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE FEAST OF CLEOPATRA; OF THE MELTING OF THE PEARL; OF THE SAYING OF
+      HARMACHIS; AND OF CLEOPATRA&rsquo;S VOW OF LOVE
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the third night the feast was once more prepared in the hall of the
+      great house that had been set aside to the use of Cleopatra, and on this
+      night its splendour was greater even than on the nights before. For the
+      twelve couches that were set about the table were embossed with gold, and
+      those of Cleopatra and Antony were of gold set with jewels. The dishes
+      also were all of gold set with jewels, the walls were hung with purple
+      cloths sewn with gold, and on the floor, covered with a net of gold, fresh
+      roses were strewn ankle-deep, that as the slaves trod them sent up their
+      perfume. Once again I was bidden to stand, with Charmion and Iras and
+      Merira, behind the couch of Cleopatra, and, like a slave, from time to
+      time call out the hours as they flew. And there being no help, I went wild
+      at heart; but this I swore&mdash;it should be for the last time, since I
+      could not bear that shame. For though I would not yet believe what
+      Charmion told me&mdash;that Cleopatra was about to become the Love of
+      Antony&mdash;yet I could no more endure this ignominy and torture. For
+      from Cleopatra now I had no words save such as a Queen speaks to her
+      slave, and methinks it gave her dark heart pleasure to torment me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus it came to pass that I, the Pharaoh, crowned of Khem, stood among
+      eunuchs and waiting-women behind the couch of Egypt&rsquo;s Queen while the
+      feast went merrily and the wine-cup passed. And ever Antony sat, his eyes
+      fixed upon the face of Cleopatra, who from time to time let her deep
+      glance lose itself in his, and then for a little while their talk died
+      away. For he told her tales of war and of deeds that he had done&mdash;ay,
+      and love-jests such as are not meet for the ears of women. But she took
+      offence at nothing; rather, falling into his humour, she would cap his
+      stories with others of a finer wit, but not less shameless.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length, the rich meal being finished, Antony gazed at the splendour
+      around him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell me, then, most lovely Egypt,&rdquo; he said; &ldquo;are the sands of Nile
+      compact of gold, that thou canst, night by night, thus squander the ransom
+      of a King upon a single feast? Whence comes this untold wealth?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I bethought me of the tomb of the Divine Menkau-ra, whose holy treasure
+      was thus wickedly wasted, and looked up so that Cleopatra&rsquo;s eye caught
+      mine; but, reading my thoughts, she frowned heavily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, noble Antony,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;surely it is nothing! In Egypt we have our
+      secrets, and know whence to conjure riches at our need. Say, what is the
+      value of this golden service, and of the meats and drinks that have been
+      set before us?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He cast his eyes about, and hazarded a guess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Maybe a thousand sestertia.&rdquo;[*]
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] About eight thousand pounds of English money.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou hast understated it by half, noble Antony! But such as it is I will
+      give it thee and those with thee as a free token of my friendship. And
+      more will I show thee now: I myself will eat and drink ten thousand
+      sestertia at a draught.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That cannot be, fair Egypt!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She laughed, and bade a slave bring her white vinegar in a glass. When it
+      was brought she set it before her and laughed again, while Antony, rising
+      from his couch, drew near and set himself at her side, and all the company
+      leant forward to see what she would do. And this she did. She took from
+      her ear one of those great pearls which last of all had been drawn from
+      the body of the Divine Pharaoh; and before any could guess her purpose she
+      let it fall into the vinegar. Then came silence, the silence of wonder,
+      and slowly the priceless pearl melted in the strong acid. When it was
+      melted she lifted the glass and shook it, then drank the vinegar, to the
+      last drop.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;More vinegar, slave!&rdquo; she cried; &ldquo;my meal is but half finished!&rdquo; and she
+      drew forth the second pearl.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By Bacchus, no! that shalt thou not!&rdquo; cried Antony, snatching at her
+      hands; &ldquo;I have seen enough;&rdquo; and at that moment, moved to it by I know not
+      what, I called aloud:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The hour falls, O Queen!&mdash;<i>the hour of the coming of the curse of
+      Menkau-ra!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      An ashy whiteness grew upon Cleopatra&rsquo;s face, and she turned upon me
+      furiously, while all the company gazed wondering, not knowing what the
+      words might mean.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou ill-omened slave!&rdquo; she cried. &ldquo;Speak thus once more and thou shalt
+      be scourged with rods!&mdash;ay, scourged like an evildoer&mdash;that I
+      promise thee, Harmachis!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What means the knave of an astrologer?&rdquo; asked Antony. &ldquo;Speak, sirrah! and
+      make clear thy meaning, for those who deal in curses must warrant their
+      wares.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am a servant of the Gods, noble Antony. That which the Gods put in my
+      mind that must I say; nor can I read their meaning,&rdquo; I answered humbly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, oh! thou servest the Gods, dost thou, thou many-coloured mystery?&rdquo;
+       This he said having reference to my splendid robes. &ldquo;Well, I serve the
+      Goddesses, which is a softer cult. And there&rsquo;s this between us: that
+      though what they put in my mind I say, neither can I read their meaning,&rdquo;
+       and he glanced at Cleopatra as one who questions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let the knave be,&rdquo; she said impatiently; &ldquo;to-morrow we&rsquo;ll be rid of him.
+      Sirrah, begone!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I bowed and went; and, as I went, I heard Antony say: &ldquo;Well, he may be a
+      knave&mdash;for that all men are&mdash;but this for thy astrologer: he
+      hath a royal air and the eye of a King&mdash;ay, and wit in it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Without the door I paused, not knowing what to do, for I was bewildered
+      with misery. And, as I stood, someone touched me on the hand. I glanced up&mdash;it
+      was Charmion, who in the confusion of the rising of the guests, had
+      slipped away and followed me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For in trouble Charmion was ever at my side.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Follow me,&rdquo; she whispered; &ldquo;thou art in danger.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I turned and followed her. Why should I not?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whither go we?&rdquo; I asked at length.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To my chamber,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Fear not; we ladies of Cleopatra&rsquo;s Court have
+      small good fame to lose; if anyone by chance should see us, they&rsquo;ll think
+      that it is a love-tryst, and such are all the fashion.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I followed, and, presently, skirting the crowd, we came unseen to a little
+      side entrance that led to a stair, up which we passed. The stair ended in
+      a passage; we turned down it till we found a door on the left hand.
+      Charmion entered silently, and I followed her into a dark chamber. Being
+      in, she barred the door and, kindling tinder to a flame, lit a hanging
+      lamp. As the light grew strong I gazed around. The chamber was not large,
+      and had but one casement, closely shuttered. For the rest, it was simply
+      furnished, having white walls, some chests for garments, an ancient chair,
+      what I took to be a tiring table, on which were combs, perfumes, and all
+      the frippery that pertains to woman, and a white bed with a broidered
+      coverlid, over which was hung a gnat-gauze.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be seated, Harmachis,&rdquo; she said, pointing to the chair. I took the chair,
+      and Charmion, throwing back the gnat-gauze, sat herself upon the bed
+      before me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Knowest thou what I heard Cleopatra say as thou didst leave the
+      banqueting-hall?&rdquo; she asked presently.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, I know not.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She gazed after thee, and, as I went over to her to do some service, she
+      murmured to herself: &lsquo;By Serapis, I will make an end! I will wait no
+      longer: to-morrow he shall be strangled!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So!&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;it may be; though, after all that has been, I can scarce
+      believe that she will murder me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why canst thou not believe it, thou most foolish of men? Dost forget how
+      nigh thou wast to death there in the Alabaster Hall? Who saved thee then
+      from the knives of the eunuchs? Was it Cleopatra? Or was it I and Brennus?
+      Stay, I will tell thee. Thou canst not yet believe it, because, in thy
+      folly, thou dost not think it possible that the woman who has but lately
+      been as a wife to thee can now, in so short a time, doom thee to be basely
+      done to death. Nay, answer not&mdash;I know all; and I tell thee this:
+      thou hast not measured the depth of Cleopatra&rsquo;s perfidy, nor canst thou
+      dream the blackness of her wicked heart. She had surely slain thee in
+      Alexandria had she not feared that thy slaughter being noised abroad might
+      bring trouble on her. Therefore has she brought thee here to kill thee
+      secretly. For what more canst thou give her? She has thy heart&rsquo;s love, and
+      is wearied of thy strength and beauty. She has robbed thee of thy royal
+      birthright and brought thee, a King, to stand amidst the waiting-women
+      behind her at her feasts; she has won from thee the great secret of the
+      holy treasure!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah, thou knowest that?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I know all; and to-night thou seest how the wealth stored against
+      the need of Khem is being squandered to fill up the wanton luxury of
+      Khem&rsquo;s Macedonian Queen! Thou seest how she has kept her oath to wed thee
+      honourably. Harmachis&mdash;at length thine eyes are open to the truth!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, I see too well; and yet she swore she loved me, and I, poor fool, I
+      believed her!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She swore she loved thee!&rdquo; answered Charmion, lifting her dark eyes: &ldquo;now
+      I will show thee how she loves thee. Knowest thou what was this house? It
+      was a priest&rsquo;s college; and, as thou wottest, Harmachis, priests have
+      their ways. This little room aforetime was the room of the Head Priest,
+      and the chamber that is beyond and below was the gathering-place of the
+      other priests. The old slave who keeps the house told me all this, and
+      also she revealed what I shall show thee. Now, Harmachis, be silent as the
+      dead, and follow me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She blew out the lamp, and by the little light that crept through the
+      shuttered casement led me by the hand to the far corner of the room. Here
+      she pressed upon the wall, and a door opened in its thickness. We entered,
+      and she closed the spring. Now we were in a little chamber, some five
+      cubits in length by four in breadth; for a faint light struggled into the
+      closet, and also the sound of voices, I knew not whence. Loosing my hand,
+      she crept to the end of the place, and looked steadfastly at the wall;
+      then crept back and, whispering &ldquo;Silence!&rdquo; led me forward with her. Then I
+      saw that there were eyeholes in the wall, which pierced it, and were
+      hidden on the farther side by carved work in stone. I looked through the
+      hole that was in front of me, and I saw this: six cubits below was the
+      level of the floor of another chamber, lit with fragrant lamps, and most
+      richly furnished. It was the sleeping-place of Cleopatra, and there,
+      within ten cubits of where we stood, sat Cleopatra on a gilded couch, and
+      by her side sat Antony.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell me,&rdquo; Cleopatra murmured&mdash;for this place was so built that every
+      word spoken in the room below came to the ears of the listener above&mdash;&ldquo;tell
+      me, noble Antony, wast pleased with my poor festival?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; he answered in his deep soldier&rsquo;s voice, &ldquo;ay, Egypt, I have made
+      feasts, and been bidden to feasts, but never saw I aught like thine; and I
+      tell thee this, though I am rough of tongue and unskilled in pretty
+      sayings such as women love, thou wast the richest sight of all that
+      splendid board. The red wine was not so red as thy beauteous cheek, the
+      roses smelt not so sweet as the odour of thy hair, and no sapphire there
+      with its changing light was so lovely as thy eyes of ocean blue.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What! Praise from Antony! Sweet words from the lips of him whose writings
+      are so harsh! Why, it is praise indeed!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; he went on, &ldquo;it was a royal feast, though I grieve that thou didst
+      waste that great pearl; and what meant that hour-calling astrologer of
+      thine, with his ill-omened talk of the curse of Menkau-ra?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A shadow fled across her glowing face. &ldquo;I know not; he was lately wounded
+      in a brawl, and methinks the blow has crazed him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He seemed not crazed, and there was that about his voice which rings in
+      my ears like some oracle of fate. So wildly, too, he looked upon thee,
+      Egypt, with those piercing eyes of his, like one who loved and yet hated
+      through the love.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He is a strange man, I tell thee, noble Antony, and a learned. Myself, at
+      times, I almost fear him, for he is deeply versed in the ancient arts of
+      Egypt. Knowest thou that the man is of royal blood, and once he plotted to
+      slay me? But I won him over, and slew him not, for he had the key to
+      secrets that I fain would learn; and, indeed, I loved his wisdom, and to
+      listen to his deep talk of all hidden things.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By Bacchus, I grow jealous of the knave! And now, Egypt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And now I have sucked his knowledge dry, and have no more cause to fear
+      him. Didst thou not see that I have made him stand these three nights a
+      slave amid my slaves, and call aloud the hours as they fled in festival.
+      No captive King marching in thy Roman triumphs can have suffered pangs so
+      keen as that proud Egyptian Prince when he stood shamed behind my couch.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Here Charmion laid her hand on mine and pressed it, as though in
+      tenderness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, he shall trouble us no more with his words of evil omen,&rdquo; Cleopatra
+      went on slowly; &ldquo;to-morrow morn he dies&mdash;dies swiftly and in secret,
+      leaving no trace of what his fate has been. On this is my mind fixed; of a
+      truth, noble Antony, it is fixed. Even as I speak the fear of this man
+      grows and gathers in my breast. Half am I minded to give the word even
+      now, for I breathe not freely till he be dead,&rdquo; and she made as though to
+      rise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let it be till morning,&rdquo; he said, catching her by the hand; &ldquo;the soldiers
+      drink, and the deed will be ill done. &lsquo;Tis pity too. I love not to think
+      of men slaughtered in their sleep.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In the morning, perchance, the hawk may have flown,&rdquo; she answered,
+      pondering. &ldquo;He hath keen ears, this Harmachis, and can summon things to
+      aid him that are not of the earth. Perchance, even now he hears me in the
+      spirit; for, of a truth, I seem to feel his presence breathing round me. I
+      could tell thee&mdash;but no, let him be! Noble Antony, be my tiring-woman
+      and loose me this crown of gold, it chafes my brow. Be gentle, hurt me not&mdash;so.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He lifted the uræus crown from her brows, and she shook loose her heavy
+      weight of hair that fell about her like a garment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Take back thy crown, royal Egypt,&rdquo; he said, speaking low, &ldquo;take it from
+      my hand; I will not rob thee of it, but rather set it more firmly on that
+      beauteous brow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What means my Lord?&rdquo; she asked, smiling and looking into his eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What mean I? Why then, this: thou camest hither at my bidding to make
+      answer of the charges laid against thee as to matters politic. And knowest
+      thou, Egypt, that hadst thou been other than thou art thou hadst not gone
+      back to queen it on the Nile; for of this I am sure, the charges against
+      thee are true in fact. But, being what thou art&mdash;and look thou! never
+      did Nature serve a woman better!&mdash;I forgive thee all. For the sake of
+      thy grace and beauty I forgive thee that which had not been forgiven to
+      virtue, or to patriotism, or to the dignity of age! See now how good a
+      thing is woman&rsquo;s wit and loveliness, that can make kings forget their duty
+      and cozen even blindfolded Justice to peep ere she lifts her sword! Take
+      back thy crown, O Egypt! It is now my care that, though it be heavy, it
+      shall not chafe thee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These are royal words, most noble Antony,&rdquo; she made answer; &ldquo;gracious
+      and generous words, such as befit the Conqueror of the world! And touching
+      my misdeeds in the past&mdash;if misdeeds there have been&mdash;I say
+      this, and this alone&mdash;then I knew not Antony. For, knowing Antony,
+      who could sin against him? What woman could lift a sword against one who
+      must be to all women as a God&mdash;one who, seen and known, draws after
+      him the whole allegiance of the heart, as the sun draws flowers? And what
+      more can I say and not cross the bounds of woman&rsquo;s modesty? Why, only this&mdash;set
+      that crown upon my brow, great Antony, and I will take it as a gift from
+      thee, by the giving made doubly dear, and to thy uses I will guard it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There, now I am thy vassal Queen, and through me all old Egypt that I
+      rule does homage to Antony the Triumvir, who shall be Antony the Emperor
+      of Rome and Khem&rsquo;s Imperial Lord!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And, having set the crown upon her locks, he stood gazing on her, grown
+      passionate in the warm breath of her living beauty, till at length he
+      caught her by both hands and drawing her to him kissed her thrice, saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cleopatra, I love thee, Sweet&mdash;I love thee as I never loved before.&rdquo;
+       She drew back from his embrace, smiling softly; and as she did so the
+      golden circlet of the sacred snakes fell, being but loosely set upon her
+      brow, and rolled away into the darkness beyond the ring of light.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I saw the omen, and even in the bitter anguish of my heart knew its evil
+      import. But these twain took no note.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou lovest me?&rdquo; she said, most sweetly; &ldquo;how know I that thou lovest me?
+      Perchance it is Fulvia whom thou lovest&mdash;Fulvia, thy wedded wife?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, it is not Fulvia, &lsquo;tis thou, Cleopatra, and thou alone. Many women
+      have looked favourably upon me from my boyhood up, but to never a one have
+      I known such desire as to thee, O thou Wonder of the World, like unto whom
+      no woman ever was! Canst thou love me, Cleopatra, and to me be true, not
+      for my place or power, not for that which I can give or can withhold, not
+      for the stern music of my legion&rsquo;s tramp, or for the light that flows from
+      my bright Star of Fortune; but for myself, for the sake of Antony, the
+      rough captain, grown old in camps? Ay, for the sake of Antony the
+      reveller, the frail, the unfixed of purpose, but who yet never did desert
+      a friend, or rob a poor man, or take an enemy unawares? Say, canst thou
+      love me, Egypt? Oh! if thou wilt, why, I am more happy than though I sat
+      to-night in the Capitol at Rome crowned absolute Monarch of the World!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And, ever as he spoke, she gazed on him with wonderful eyes, and in them
+      shone a light of truth and honesty such as was strange to me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou speakest plainly,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;and thy words are sweet to mine ears&mdash;they
+      would be sweet, even were things otherwise than they are, for what woman
+      would not love to see the world&rsquo;s master at her feet? But things being as
+      they are, why, Antony, what can be so sweet as thy sweet words? The
+      harbour of his rest to the storm-tossed mariner&mdash;surely that is
+      sweet! The dream of Heaven&rsquo;s bliss which cheers the poor ascetic priest on
+      his path of sacrifice&mdash;surely that is sweet! The sight of Dawn, the
+      rosy-fingered, coming in his promise to glad the watching Earth&mdash;surely
+      that is sweet! But, ah! not one of these, nor all dear delightful things
+      that are, can match the honey-sweetness of thy words to me, O Antony! For
+      thou knowest not&mdash;never canst thou know&mdash;how drear my life hath
+      been, and empty, since thus it is ordained that in love only can woman
+      lose her solitude! And I have <i>never</i> loved&mdash;never might I love&mdash;till
+      this happy night! Ay, take me in thy arms, and let us swear a great vow of
+      love&mdash;an oath that may not be broken while life is in us! Behold!
+      Antony! now and for ever I do vow most strict fidelity unto thee! Now and
+      for ever I am thine, and thine alone!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Charmion took me by the hand and drew me thence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hast seen enough?&rdquo; she asked, when we were once more within the chamber
+      and the lamp was lit.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;my eyes are opened.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0023" id="link2HCH0023">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XVI
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE PLAN OF CHARMION; OF THE CONFESSION OF CHARMION; AND OF THE ANSWER
+      OF HARMACHIS
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For some while I sat with bowed head, and the last bitterness of shame
+      sank into my soul. This, then, was the end. For this I had betrayed my
+      oaths; for this I had told the secret of the pyramid; for this I had lost
+      my Crown, my Honour, and, perchance, my hope of Heaven! Could there be
+      another man in the wide world so steeped in sorrow as I was that night?
+      Surely not one! Where should I turn? What could I do? And even through the
+      tempest of my torn heart the bitter voice of jealousy called aloud. For I
+      loved this woman, to whom I had given all; and she at this moment&mdash;she
+      was&mdash;&mdash;Ah! I could not bear to think of it; and in my utter
+      agony, my heart burst in a river of tears such as are terrible to weep!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Charmion drew near me, and I saw that she, too, was weeping.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Weep not, Harmachis!&rdquo; she sobbed, kneeling at my side. &ldquo;I cannot endure
+      to see thee weep. Oh! why wouldst thou not be warned? Then hadst thou been
+      great and happy, and not as now. Listen, Harmachis! Thou didst hear what
+      that false and tigerish woman said&mdash;to-morrow she hands thee over to
+      the murderers!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; I gasped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay: it is not well. Harmachis, give her not this last triumph over thee.
+      Thou hast lost all save life: but while life remains, hope remains also,
+      and with hope the chance of vengeance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; I said, starting from my seat. &ldquo;I had not thought of that. Ay&mdash;the
+      chance of vengeance! It would be sweet to be avenged!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It would be sweet, Harmachis, and yet this&mdash;Vengeance is an arrow
+      that in falling oft pierces him who shot it. Myself&mdash;I know it,&rdquo; and
+      she sighed. &ldquo;But a truce to talk and grief. There will be time for us
+      twain to grieve, if not to talk, in all the heavy coming years. Thou must
+      fly&mdash;before the coming of the light must thou fly. Here is a plan.
+      To-morrow, ere the dawn, a galley that but yesterday came from Alexandria,
+      bearing fruit and stores, sails thither again, and its captain is known to
+      me, but to thee he is not known. Now, I will find thee the garb of a
+      Syrian merchant, and cloak thee, as I know how, and furnish thee with a
+      letter to the captain of the galley. He shall give thee passage to
+      Alexandria; for to him thou wilt seem but as a merchant going on the
+      business of thy trade. Brennus is officer of the guard to-night, and
+      Brennus is a friend to me and thee. Perhaps he will guess somewhat; or,
+      perhaps, he will not guess; at the least, the Syrian merchant shall safely
+      pass the lines. What sayest thou?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; I answered wearily; &ldquo;little do I reck the issue.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Rest thou, then, here, Harmachis, while I make these matters ready; and,
+      Harmachis, grieve not overmuch; there are others who should grieve more
+      heavily than thou.&rdquo; And she went, leaving me alone with my agony which
+      rent me like a torture-bed. Had it not been for that fierce desire of
+      vengeance which from time to time flashed across my tormented mind as the
+      lightning over a midnight sea, methinks my reason had left me in that dark
+      hour. At length I heard her footstep at the door, and she entered,
+      breathing heavily, for she bore a sack of clothing in her arms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; she said: &ldquo;here is the garb with spare linen, and
+      writing-tablets, and all things needful. I have seen Brennus also, and
+      told him that a Syrian merchant would pass the guard an hour before the
+      dawn. And though he made pretence of sleep, I think he understood, for he
+      answered, yawning, that if they but had the pass-word, &lsquo;Antony,&rsquo; fifty
+      Syrian merchants might go through about their lawful business. And here is
+      the letter to the captain&mdash;thou canst not mistake the galley, for she
+      is moored along to the right&mdash;a small galley, painted black, as thou
+      dost enter on the great quay, and, moreover, the sailors make ready for
+      sailing. Now I will wait here without, while thou dost put off the livery
+      of thy service and array thyself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      When she was gone I tore off my gorgeous garments and spat upon them and
+      trod them on the ground. Then I put on the modest robe of a merchant, and
+      bound the tablets round me, on my feet the sandals of untanned hide, and
+      at my waist the knife. When it was done Charmion entered once again and
+      looked on me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Too much art thou still the royal Harmachis,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;see, it must be
+      changed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then she took scissors from her tiring-table, and, bidding me be seated,
+      she cut off my locks, clipping the hair close to the head. Next she found
+      stains of such sort as women use to make dark the eyes, and mixed them
+      cunningly, rubbing the stuff on my face and hands and on the white mark in
+      my hair where the sword of Brennus had bitten to the bone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now thou art changed&mdash;somewhat for the worse, Harmachis,&rdquo; she said,
+      with a dreary laugh, &ldquo;scarce myself should I know thee. Stay, there is one
+      more thing,&rdquo; and, going to a chest of garments, she drew thence a heavy
+      bag of gold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Take thou this,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;thou wilt have need of money.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I cannot take thy gold, Charmion.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, take it. It was Sepa who gave it to me for the furtherance of our
+      cause, and therefore it is fitting that thou shouldst spend it. Moreover,
+      if I want money, doubtless Antony, who is henceforth my master, will give
+      me more; he is much beholden to me, and this he knows well. There, waste
+      not the precious time in haggling o&rsquo;er the pelf&mdash;not yet art thou all
+      a merchant, Harmachis;&rdquo; and, without more words, she thrust the pieces
+      into the leather bag that hung across my shoulders. Then she made fast the
+      sack containing the spare garments, and, so womanly thoughtful was she,
+      placed in it an alabaster jar of pigment, with which I might stain my
+      countenance afresh, and, taking the broidered robes of my office that I
+      had cast off, hid them in the secret passage. And so at last all was made
+      ready.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it time that I should go?,&rdquo; I asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not yet a while. Be patient, Harmachis, for but one little hour more must
+      thou endure my presence, and then, perchance, farewell for ever.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I made a gesture signifying that this was no time for sharp words.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Forgive me my quick tongue,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;but from a salt spring bitter
+      waters well. Be seated, Harmachis; I have heavier words to speak to thee
+      before thou goest.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Say on,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;words, however heavy, can move me no more.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She stood before me with folded hands, and the lamp-light shone upon her
+      beauteous face. I noticed idly how great was its pallor and how wide and
+      dark were the rings about the deep black eyes. Twice she lifted her white
+      face and strove to speak, twice her voice failed her; and when at last it
+      came it was in a hoarse whisper.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I cannot let thee go,&rdquo; she said&mdash;&ldquo;I cannot let thee go unwitting of
+      the truth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>Harmachis, &lsquo;twas I who did betray thee!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I sprang to my feet, an oath upon my lips; but she caught me by the hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, be seated,&rdquo; she said&mdash;&ldquo;be seated and hear me; then, when thou
+      hast heard, do to me as thou wilt. Listen. From that evil moment when, in
+      the presence of thy uncle Sepa, for the second time I set eyes upon thy
+      face, I loved thee&mdash;how much, thou canst little guess. Think upon
+      thine own love for Cleopatra, and double it, and double it again, and
+      perchance thou mayst come near to my love&rsquo;s mighty sum. I loved thee, day
+      by day I loved thee more, till in thee and for thee alone I seemed to
+      live. But thou wast cold&mdash;thou wast worse than cold! thou didst deal
+      with me not as a breathing woman, but rather as the instrument to an end&mdash;as
+      a tool with which to grave thy fortunes. And then I saw&mdash;yes, long
+      before thou knewest it thyself&mdash;thy heart&rsquo;s tide was setting strong
+      towards that ruinous shore whereon to-day thy life is broken. And at last
+      that night came, that dreadful night when, hid within the chamber, I saw
+      thee cast my kerchief to the winds, and with sweet words cherish my royal
+      Rival&rsquo;s gift. Then&mdash;oh, thou knowest&mdash;in my pain I betrayed the
+      secret that thou wouldst not see, and thou didst make a mock of me,
+      Harmachis! Oh! the shame of it&mdash;thou in thy foolishness didst make a
+      mock of me! I went thence, and within me were rising all the torments
+      which can tear a woman&rsquo;s heart, for now I was sure that thou didst love
+      Cleopatra! Ay, and so mad was I, even that night I was minded to betray
+      thee: but I thought&mdash;not yet, not yet; to-morrow he may soften. Then
+      came the morrow, and all was ready for the bursting of the great plot that
+      should make thee Pharaoh. And I too came&mdash;thou dost remember&mdash;and
+      again thou didst put me away when I spake to thee in parables, as
+      something of little worth&mdash;as a thing too small to claim a moment&rsquo;s
+      weighty thought. And, knowing that this was because&mdash;though thou
+      knewest it not&mdash;thou didst love Cleopatra, whom now thou must
+      straightway slay, I grew mad, and a wicked Spirit entered into me,
+      possessing me utterly, so that I was myself no longer, nor could control
+      myself. And because thou hadst scorned me, I did this, to my everlasting
+      shame and sorrow!&mdash;I passed into Cleopatra&rsquo;s presence and betrayed
+      thee and those with thee, and our holy cause, saying that I had found a
+      writing which thou hadst let fall and read all this therein.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I gasped and sat silent; and gazing sadly at me she went on:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When she understood how great was the plot, and how deep its roots,
+      Cleopatra was much troubled; and, at first, she would have fled to Sais or
+      taken ship and run for Cyprus, but I showed her that the ways were barred.
+      Then she said she would cause thee to be slain, there, in the chamber, and
+      I left her so believing; for, at that hour, I was glad that thou shouldst
+      be slain&mdash;ay, even if I wept out my heart upon thy grave, Harmachis.
+      But what said I just now?&mdash;Vengeance is an arrow that oft falls on
+      him who looses it. So it was with me; for between my going and thy coming
+      Cleopatra hatched a deeper plan. She feared that to slay thee would only
+      be to light a fiercer fire of revolt; but she saw that to bind thee to
+      her, and, having left men awhile in doubt, to show thee faithless, would
+      strike the imminent danger at its roots and wither it. This plot once
+      formed, being great, she dared its doubtful issue, and&mdash;need I go on?
+      Thou knowest, Harmachis, how she won; and thus the shaft of vengeance that
+      I loosed fell upon my own head. For on the morrow I knew that I had sinned
+      for naught, that the burden of my betrayal had been laid on the wretched
+      Paulus, and that I had but ruined the cause to which I was sworn and given
+      the man I loved to the arms of wanton Egypt.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She bowed her head awhile, and then, as I spoke not, once more went on:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let all my sin be told, Harmachis, and then let justice come. See now,
+      this thing happened. Half did Cleopatra learn to love thee, and deep in
+      her heart she bethought her of taking thee to wedded husband. For the sake
+      of this half love of hers she spared the lives of those in the plot whom
+      she had meshed, bethinking her that if she wedded thee she might use them
+      and thee to draw the heart of Egypt, which loves not her nor any Ptolemy.
+      And then, once again she entrapped thee, and in thy folly thou didst
+      betray to her the secret of the hidden wealth of Egypt, which to-day she
+      squanders to delight the luxurious Antony; and, of a truth, at that time
+      she purposed to make good her oath and marry thee. But on the very morn
+      when Dellius came for answer she sent for me, and telling me all&mdash;for
+      my wit, above any, she holds at price&mdash;demanded of me my judgment
+      whether she should defy Antony and wed thee, or whether she should put the
+      thought away and come to Antony. And I&mdash;now mark thou all my sin&mdash;I,
+      in my bitter jealousy, rather than I would see her thy wedded wife and
+      thou her loving lord, counselled her most strictly that she should come to
+      Antony, well knowing&mdash;for I had had speech with Dellius&mdash;that if
+      she came, this weak Antony would fall like a ripe fruit at her feet, as,
+      indeed, he has fallen. And but now I have shown thee the issue of the
+      scheme. Antony loves Cleopatra and Cleopatra loves Antony, and thou art
+      robbed, and matters have gone well for me, who of all women on the earth
+      to-night am the wretchedest by far. For when I saw how thy heart broke but
+      now, my heart seemed to break with thine, and I could no longer bear the
+      burden of my evil deeds, but knew that I must tell them and take my
+      punishment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And now, Harmachis, I have no more to say; save that I thank thee for thy
+      courtesy in hearkening, and this one thing I add. Driven by my great love
+      I have sinned against thee unto death! I have ruined thee, I have ruined
+      Khem, and myself also I have ruined! Let death reward me! Slay thou me,
+      Harmachis&mdash;I will gladly die upon thy sword; ay, and kiss its blade!
+      Slay thou me and go; for if thou slayest me not, myself I will surely
+      slay!&rdquo; And she threw herself upon her knees, lifting her fair breast
+      toward me, that I might smite her with my dagger. And, in my bitter fury,
+      I was minded to strike; for, above all, I thought how, when I was fallen,
+      this woman, who herself was my cause of shame, had scourged me with her
+      whip of scorn. But it is hard to slay a fair woman; and, even as I lifted
+      my hand to strike, I remembered that she had now twice saved my life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Woman! thou shameless woman!&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;arise! I slay thee not! Who am I,
+      that I should judge thy crime, that, with mine own, doth overtop all
+      earthly judgment?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Slay me, Harmachis!&rdquo; she moaned; &ldquo;slay me, or I slay myself! My burden is
+      too great for me to bear! Be not so deadly calm! Curse me, and slay!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What was it that thou didst say to me just now, Charmion&mdash;that as I
+      had sown so I must reap? It is not lawful that thou shouldst slay thyself;
+      it is not lawful that I, thine equal in sin, should slay thee because
+      through thee I sinned. As <i>thou</i> hast sown, Charmion, so must <i>thou</i>
+      also reap. Base woman! whose cruel jealousy has brought all these woes on
+      me and Egypt, live&mdash;live on, and from year to year pluck the bitter
+      fruit of crime! Haunted be thy sleep by visions of thy outraged Gods,
+      whose vengeance awaits thee and me in their dim Amenti! Haunted be thy
+      days by memories of that man whom thy fierce love brought to shame and
+      ruin, and by the sight of Khem a prey to the insatiate Cleopatra and a
+      slave to Roman Antony.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, speak not thus, Harmachis! Thy words are sharper than any sword; and
+      more surely, if more slowly, shall they slay! Listen, Harmachis,&rdquo; and she
+      grasped my robe: &ldquo;when thou wast great, and all power lay within thy
+      grasp, thou didst reject me. Wilt reject me now that Cleopatra hast cast
+      thee from her&mdash;now that thou art poor and shamed and with no pillow
+      to thy head? Still am I fair, and still I worship thee. Let me fly with
+      thee, and make atonement for my lifelong love. Or, if this be too great a
+      thing to ask, let me be but as thy sister and thy servant&mdash;thy very
+      slave, so that I may still look upon thy face, and share thy trouble and
+      minister to thee. O Harmachis, let me but come and I will brave all things
+      and endure all things, and nothing but Death himself shall stay me from
+      thy side. For I do believe that the love that sank me to so low a depth,
+      dragging thee with me, can yet lift me to an equal height, and thee with
+      me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wouldst tempt me to fresh sin, woman? And dost thou think, Charmion, that
+      in some hovel where I must hide, I could bear, day by day, to look upon
+      thy fair face, and seeing, remember that those lips betrayed me? Not thus
+      easily shalt thou atone! This I know even now: many and heavy shall be thy
+      lonely days of penance! Perchance that hour of vengeance yet may come, and
+      perchance thou shalt live to play thy part in it. Thou must still abide in
+      the Court of Cleopatra; and, while thou art there, if I yet live, I will
+      from time to time find means to give thee tidings. Perhaps a day may dawn
+      when once more I shall need thy service. Now, swear that, in this event,
+      thou wilt not fail me a second time.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I swear, Harmachis!&mdash;I swear! May everlasting torments, too hideous
+      to be dreamed&mdash;more hideous, even, by far, than those that wring me
+      now&mdash;be my portion if I fail thee in one jot or tittle&mdash;ay,
+      though I wait a lifetime for thy word!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well; see that thou keep the oath&mdash;not twice may we betray. I
+      go to work out my fate; abide thou to work out thine. Perchance our divers
+      threads will once more mingle ere the web be spun. Charmion, who unasked
+      didst love me&mdash;and who, prompted by that gentle love of thine, didst
+      betray and ruin me&mdash;fare thee well!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She gazed wildly upon my face&mdash;she stretched out her arms as though
+      to clasp me; then, in the agony of her despair, she cast herself at length
+      and grovelled upon the ground.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I took up the sack of clothing and the staff and gained the door, and, as
+      I passed it, I threw one last glance upon her. There she lay, with arms
+      outstretched&mdash;more white than her white robes&mdash;her dark hair
+      streaming about her, and her fair brows hidden in the dust.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And thus I left her, nor did I again set my eyes upon her till nine long
+      years had come and gone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      [Here ends the second and largest roll of papyrus.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0030" id="link2H_4_0030">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      BOOK III&mdash;THE VENGEANCE OF HARMACHIS
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0024" id="link2HCH0024">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER I
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE ESCAPE OF HARMACHIS FROM TARSUS; OF HIS BEING CAST FORTH AS AN
+      OFFERING TO THE GODS OF THE SEA; OF HIS SOJOURN IN THE ISLE OF CYPRUS; OF
+      HIS RETURN TO ABOUTHIS; AND OF THE DEATH OF AMENEMHAT
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I made my way down the stair in safety, and presently stood in the
+      courtyard of that great house. It was but an hour from dawn, and none were
+      stirring. The last reveller had drunk his fill, the dancing-girls had
+      ceased their dancing, and silence lay upon the city. I drew near the gate,
+      and was challenged by an officer who stood on guard, wrapped in a heavy
+      cloak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who passes,&rdquo; said the voice of Brennus.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A merchant, may it please you, Sir, who, having brought gifts from
+      Alexandria to a lady of the Queen&rsquo;s household, and, having been
+      entertained of the lady, now departs to his galley,&rdquo; I answered in a
+      feigned voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Umph!&rdquo; he growled. &ldquo;The ladies of the Queen&rsquo;s household keep their guests
+      late. Well; it is a time of festival. The pass-word, Sir Shopkeeper?
+      Without the pass-word you must needs return and crave the lady&rsquo;s further
+      hospitality.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;<i>Antony</i>,&rsquo; Sir; and a right good word, too. Ah! I&rsquo;ve wandered far,
+      and never saw I so goodly a man or so great a general. And, mark you, Sir!
+      I&rsquo;ve travelled far, and seen many generals.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay; &lsquo;<i>Antony</i>&rsquo;s the word! And Antony is a good general in his way&mdash;when
+      it is a sober way, and when he cannot find a skirt to follow. I&rsquo;ve served
+      with Antony&mdash;and against him, too; and know his points. Well, well;
+      he&rsquo;s got an armful now!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And all this while that he was holding me in talk, the sentry had been
+      pacing to and fro before the gate. But now he moved a little way to the
+      right, leaving the entrance clear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fare thee well, Harmachis, and begone!&rdquo; whispered Brennus, leaning
+      forward and speaking quickly. &ldquo;Linger not. But at times bethink thee of
+      Brennus who risked his neck to save thine. Farewell, lad, I would that we
+      were sailing North together,&rdquo; and he turned his back upon me and began to
+      hum a tune.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Farewell, Brennus, thou honest man,&rdquo; I answered, and was gone. And, as I
+      heard long afterwards, when on the morrow the hue and cry was raised
+      because the murderers could not find me, though they sought me everywhere
+      to slay me, Brennus did me a service. For he swore that as he kept his
+      watch alone an hour after midnight he saw me come and stand upon the
+      parapet of the roof, that then I stretched out my robes and they became
+      wings on which I floated up to Heaven, leaving him astonished. And all
+      those about the Court lent ear to this history, believing in it, because
+      of the great fame of my magic; and they wondered much what the marvel
+      might portend. The tale also travelled into Egypt, and did much to save my
+      good name among those whom I had betrayed; for the more ignorant among
+      them believed that I acted not of my will, but of the will of the dread
+      Gods, who of their own purpose wafted me into Heaven. And thus to this day
+      the saying runs that &ldquo;<i>When Harmachis comes again Egypt shall be free.</i>&rdquo;
+       But alas, Harmachis comes no more! Only Cleopatra, though she was much
+      afraid, doubted her of the tale, and sent an armed vessel to search for
+      the Syrian merchant, but not to find him, as shall be told.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When I reached the galley of which Charmion had spoken, I found her about
+      to sail, and gave the writing to the captain, who conned it, looking on me
+      curiously, but said nothing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So I went aboard, and immediately we dropped swiftly down the river with
+      the current. And having come to the mouth of the river unchallenged,
+      though we passed many vessels, we put out to sea with a strong favouring
+      wind that before night freshened to a great gale. Then the sailor men,
+      being much afraid, would have put about and run for the mouth of Cydnus
+      again, but could not because of the wildness of the sea. All that night it
+      blew furiously, and by dawn our mast was carried away, and we rolled
+      helplessly in the trough of the great waves. But I sat wrapped in a cloak,
+      little heeding; and because I showed no fear the sailors cried out that I
+      was a wizard, and sought to cast me into the sea, but the captain would
+      not. At dawn the wind slackened, but ere noon it once more blew in
+      terrible fury, and at the fourth hour from noon we came in sight of the
+      rocky coast of that cape in the island of Cyprus which is called
+      Dinaretum, where is a mountain named Olympus, and thither-wards we drifted
+      swiftly. Then, when the sailors saw the terrible rocks, and how the great
+      waves that smote on them spouted up in foam, once more they grew much
+      afraid, and cried out in their fear. For, seeing that I still sat unmoved,
+      they swore that I certainly was a wizard, and came to cast me forth as a
+      sacrifice to the Gods of the sea. And this time the captain was
+      over-ruled, and said nothing. Therefore, when they came to me I rose and
+      defied them, saying, &ldquo;Cast me forth, if ye will; but if ye cast me forth
+      ye shall perish.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      For in my heart I cared little, having no more any love of life, but
+      rather a desire to die, though I greatly feared to pass into the presence
+      of my Holy Mother Isis. But my weariness and sorrow at the bitterness of
+      my lot overcame even this heavy fear; so that when, being mad as brute
+      beasts, they seized me and, lifting me, hurled me into the raging waters,
+      I did but utter one prayer to Isis and made ready for death. But it was
+      fated that I should not die; for, when I rose to the surface of the water,
+      I saw a spar of wood floating near me, to which I swam and clung. And a
+      great wave came and swept me, riding, as it were, upon the spar, as when a
+      boy I had learned to do in the waters of the Nile, past the bulwarks of
+      the galley where the fierce-faced sailors clustered to see me drown. And
+      when they saw me come mounted on the wave, cursing them as I came, and
+      saw, too, that the colour of my face had changed&mdash;for the salt water
+      had washed way the pigment, they shrieked with fear and threw themselves
+      down upon the deck. And within a very little while, as I rode toward the
+      rocky coast, a great wave poured into the vessel, that rolled broadside
+      on, and pressed her down into the deep, whence she rose no more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So she sank with all her crew. And in that same storm also sank the galley
+      which Cleopatra had sent to search for the Syrian merchant. Thus all
+      traces of me were lost, and of a surety she believed that I was dead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But I rode on toward the shore. The wind shrieked and the salt waves
+      lashed my face as, alone with the tempest, I rushed upon my way, while the
+      sea-birds screamed about my head. I felt no fear, but rather a wild
+      uplifting of the heart; and in the stress of my imminent peril the love of
+      life seemed to waken again. And so I plunged and drifted, now tossed high
+      toward the lowering clouds, now cast into the deep valleys of the sea,
+      till at length the rocky headland loomed before me, and I saw the breakers
+      smite upon the stubborn rocks, and through the screaming of the wind heard
+      the sullen thunder of their fall and the groan of stones sucked seaward
+      from the beach. On! high-throned upon the mane of a mighty billow&mdash;fifty
+      cubits beneath me the level of the hissing waters; above me the inky sky!
+      It was done! The spar was torn from me, and, dragged downwards by the
+      weight of the bag of gold and the clinging of my garments, I sank
+      struggling furiously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now I was under&mdash;the green light for a moment streamed through the
+      waters, and then came darkness, and on the darkness pictures of the past.
+      Picture after picture&mdash;all the long scene of life was written here.
+      Then in my ears I only heard the song of the nightingale, the murmur of
+      the summer sea, and the music of Cleopatra&rsquo;s laugh of victory, following
+      me softly and yet more soft as I sank away to sleep.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Once more my life came back, and with it a sense of deadly sickness and of
+      aching pain. I opened my eyes and saw a kind face bending over me, and
+      knew that I was in the room of a builded house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How came I hither?&rdquo; I asked faintly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of a truth, Poseidon brought thee, Stranger,&rdquo; answered a rough voice in
+      barbarous Greek; &ldquo;we found thee cast high upon the beach like a dead
+      dolphin and brought thee to our house, for we are fisher-folk. And here,
+      methinks, thou must lie a while, for thy left leg is broken by the force
+      of the waves.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I strove to move my foot and could not. It was true, the bone was broken
+      above the knee.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who art thou, and how art thou named?&rdquo; asked the rough-bearded sailor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am an Egyptian traveller whose ship has sunk in the fury of the gale,
+      and I am named Olympus,&rdquo; I answered, for these people called a mountain
+      that we had sighted Olympus, and therefore I took the name at hazard. And
+      as Olympus I was henceforth known.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here with these rough fisher-folk I abode for the half of a year, paying
+      them a little out of the sum of gold that had come safely ashore upon me.
+      For it was long before my bones grew together again, and then I was left
+      somewhat of a cripple; for I, who had been so tall and straight and
+      strong, now limped&mdash;one limb being shorter than the other. And after
+      I recovered from my hurt, I still lived there, and toiled with them at the
+      trade of fishing; for I knew not whither I should go or what I should do,
+      and, for a while, I was fain to become a peasant fisherman, and so wear my
+      weary life away. And these people entreated me kindly, though, as others,
+      they feared me much, holding me to be a wizard brought hither by the sea.
+      For my sorrows had stamped so strange an aspect on my face that men gazing
+      at me grew fearful of what lay beneath its calm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There, then, I abode, till at length, one night as I lay and strove to
+      sleep, great restlessness came upon me, and a mighty desire once more to
+      see the face of Sihor. But whether this desire was of the Gods or born of
+      my own heart, not knowing, I cannot tell. So strong was it, at the least,
+      that before it was dawn I rose from my bed of straw and clothed myself in
+      my fisher garb, and, because I had no wish to answer questions, thus I
+      took farewell of my humble hosts. First I placed some pieces of gold on
+      the well-cleaned table of wood, and then taking a pot of flour I strewed
+      it in the form of letters, writing:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This gift from Olympus, the Egyptian, who returns into the sea.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I went, and on the third day I came to the great city of Salamis,
+      that is also on the sea. Here I abode in the fishermen&rsquo;s quarters till a
+      vessel was about to sail for Alexandria, and to the captain of this
+      vessel, a man of Paphos, I hired myself as a sailor. We sailed with a
+      favouring wind, and on the fifth day I came to Alexandria, that hateful
+      city, and saw the light dancing on its golden domes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Here I might not abide. So again I hired myself out as a sailor, giving my
+      labour in return for passage, and we passed up the Nile. And I learned
+      from the talk of men that Cleopatra had come back to Alexandria, drawing
+      Antony with her and that they lived together with royal state in the
+      palace on the Lochias. Indeed, the boatmen already had a song thereon,
+      which they sang as they laboured at the oar. Also I heard how the galley
+      that was sent to search for the vessel which carried the Syrian merchant
+      had foundered with all her crew, and the tale that the Queen&rsquo;s astronomer,
+      Harmachis, had flown to Heaven from the roof of the house at Tarsus. And
+      the sailors wondered because I sat and laboured and would not sing their
+      ribald song of the loves of Cleopatra. For they, too, began to fear me,
+      and mutter concerning me among themselves. Then I knew that I was a man
+      accursed and set apart&mdash;a man whom none might love.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the sixth day we drew nigh to Abouthis, where I left the craft, and the
+      sailors were right glad to see me go. And, with a breaking heart, I walked
+      through the fertile fields, seeing faces that I knew well. But in my rough
+      disguise and limping gait none knew me. At length, as the sun sank, I came
+      near to the great outer pylon of the temple; and here I crouched down in
+      the ruins of a house, not knowing why I had come or what I was about to
+      do. Like a lost ox I had strayed from far, back to the fields of my birth,
+      and for what? If my father, Amenemhat, still lived, surely he would turn
+      his face from me. I dared not go into the presence of my father. I sat
+      hidden there among the broken rafters, and idly watched the pylon gates,
+      to see if, perchance, a face I knew should issue from them. But none came
+      forth or entered in, though the great gates stood wide; and then I saw
+      that herbs were growing between the stones, where no herbs had grown for
+      ages. What could this be? Was the temple deserted? Nay; how could the
+      worship of the eternal Gods have ceased, that for thousands of years had,
+      day by day, been offered in the holy place? Was, then, my father dead? It
+      well might be. And yet, why this silence? Where were the priests: where
+      the worshippers?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I could bear the doubt no more, but as the sun sank red I crept like a
+      hunted jackal through the open gates, and on till I reached the first
+      great Hall of Pillars. Here I paused and gazed around me&mdash;not a
+      sight, not a sound, in the dim and holy place! I went on with a beating
+      heart to the second great hall, the hall of six-and-thirty pillars where I
+      had been crowned Lord of all the Lands: still not a sight or a sound!
+      Thence, half fearful of my own footfall, so terribly did it echo in the
+      silence of the deserted Holies, I passed down the passage of the names of
+      the Pharaohs towards my father&rsquo;s chamber. The curtain still swung over the
+      doorway; but what would there be within?&mdash;also emptiness? I lifted
+      it, and noiselessly passed in, and there in his carven chair at the table
+      on which his long white beard flowed, sat my father, Amenemhat, clad in
+      his priestly robes. At first I thought that he was dead, he sat so still;
+      but at length he turned his head, and I saw that his eyes were white and
+      sightless. He was blind, and his face was thin as the face of a dead man,
+      and woeful with age and grief.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I stood still and felt the blind eyes wandering over me. I could not speak
+      to him&mdash;I dared not speak to him; I would go and hide myself afresh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I had already turned and grasped the curtain, when my father spoke in a
+      deep, slow voice:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come hither, thou who wast my son and art a traitor. Come hither, thou
+      Harmachis, on whom Khem builded up her hope. Not in vain, then, have I
+      drawn thee from far away! Not in vain have I held my life in me till I
+      heard thy footfall creeping down these empty Holies, like the footfall of
+      a thief!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! my father,&rdquo; I gasped, astonished. &ldquo;Thou art blind: how knowest thou
+      me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How do I know thee?&mdash;and askest thou that who hast learned of our
+      lore? Enough, I know thee and I brought thee hither. Would, Harmachis,
+      that I knew thee not! Would that I had been blasted of the Invisible ere I
+      drew thee down from the womb of Nout, to be my curse and shame, and the
+      last woe of Khem!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, speak not thus!&rdquo; I moaned; &ldquo;is not my burden already more than I can
+      bear? Am I not myself betrayed and utterly outcast? Be pitiful, my
+      father!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Be pitiful!&mdash;be pitiful to thee who hast shown so great pity? It was
+      thy pity which gave up noble Sepa to die beneath the hands of the
+      tormentors!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, not that&mdash;not that!&rdquo; I cried.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, traitor, that!&mdash;to die in agony, with his last poor breath
+      proclaiming thee, his murderer, honest and innocent! Be pitiful to thee,
+      who gavest all the flower of Khem as the price of a wanton&rsquo;s arms!&mdash;thinkest
+      thou that, labouring in the darksome desert mines, those noble ones in
+      thought are pitiful to thee, Harmachis? Be pitiful to thee, by whom this
+      Holy Temple of Abouthis hath been ravaged, its lands seized, its priests
+      scattered, and I alone, old and withered, left to count out its ruin&mdash;to
+      thee, who hast poured the treasures of <i>Her</i> into thy leman&rsquo;s lap,
+      who hast forsworn Thyself, thy Country, thy Birthright, and thy Gods! Yea,
+      thus am I pitiful: Accursed be thou, fruit of my loins!&mdash;Shame be thy
+      portion, Agony thy end, and Hell receive thee at the last! Where art thou?
+      Yea, I grew blind with weeping when I heard the truth&mdash;sure, they
+      strove to hide it from me. Let me find thee that I may spit upon thee,
+      thou Renegade! thou Apostate! thou Outcast!&rdquo;&mdash;and he rose from his
+      seat and staggered like a living Wrath toward me, smiting the air with his
+      wand. And as he came with outstretched arms, awful to see, suddenly his
+      end found him, and with a cry he sank down upon the ground, the red blood
+      streaming from his lips. I ran to him and lifted him; and as he died, he
+      babbled:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He was my son, a bright-eyed lovely boy, and full of promise as the
+      Spring; and now&mdash;and now&mdash;oh, would that he were dead!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then came a pause and the breath rattled in his throat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Harmachis,&rdquo; he gasped, &ldquo;art there?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, father.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Harmachis, atone!&mdash;atone! Vengeance can still be wreaked&mdash;forgiveness
+      may still be won. There&rsquo;s gold; I&rsquo;ve hidden it&mdash;Atoua&mdash;she can
+      tell thee&mdash;ah, this pain! Farewell!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And he struggled faintly in my arms and was dead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus, then, did I and my holy father, the Prince Amenemhat, meet together
+      for the last time in the flesh, and for the last time part.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0025" id="link2HCH0025">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER II
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE LAST MISERY OF HARMACHIS; OF THE CALLING DOWN OF THE HOLY ISIS BY
+      THE WORD OF FEAR; OF THE PROMISE OF ISIS; OF THE COMING OF ATOUA, AND OF
+      THE WORDS OF ATOUA
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I crouched upon the floor gazing at the dead body of my father, who had
+      lived to curse me, the utterly accursed, while the darkness crept and
+      gathered round us, till at length the dead and I were alone in the black
+      silence. Oh, how tell the misery of that hour! Imagination cannot dream
+      it, nor words paint it forth. Once more in my wretchedness I bethought me
+      of death. A knife was at my girdle, with which I might cut the thread of
+      sorrow and set my spirit free. Free? ay, free to fly and face the last
+      vengeance of the Holy Gods! Alas! and alas! I did not dare to die. Better
+      the earth with all its woes than the quick approach of those unimagined
+      terrors that, hovering in dim Amenti, wait the advent of the fallen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I grovelled on the ground and wept tears of agony for the lost unchanging
+      past&mdash;wept till I could weep no more; but no answer came from the
+      silence&mdash;no answer but the echoes of my grief. Not a ray of hope! My
+      soul wandered in a darkness more utter than that which was about me&mdash;I
+      was forsaken of the Gods and cast out of men. Terror took hold upon me
+      crouching in that lonely place hard by the majesty of the awful Dead. I
+      rose to fly. How could I fly in this gloom?&mdash;And where should I fly
+      who had no place of refuge? Once more I crouched down, and the great fear
+      grew on me till the cold sweat ran from my brow and my soul was faint
+      within me. Then, in my last despair, I prayed aloud to Isis, to whom I had
+      not dared to pray for many days.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Isis! Holy Mother!&rdquo; I cried; &ldquo;put away Thy wrath, and of Thine infinite
+      pity, O Thou all-pitiful, hearken to the voice of the anguish of him who
+      was Thy son and servant, but who by sin hath fallen from the vision of Thy
+      love. O throned Glory, who, being in all things, hast of all things
+      understanding and of all griefs knowledge, cast the weight of Thy mercy
+      against the scale of my evil-doing, and make the balance equal. Look down
+      upon my woe, and measure it; count up the sum of my repentance and take
+      Thou note of the flood of sorrow that sweeps my soul away. O Thou Holy,
+      whom it was given to me to look upon face to face, by that dread hour of
+      commune I summon Thee; I summon Thee by the mystic word. Come, then, in
+      mercy, to save me; or, in anger, to make an end of that which can no more
+      be borne.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And, rising from my knees, I stretched out my arms and dared to cry aloud
+      the Word of Fear, to use which unworthily is death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Swiftly the answer came. For in the silence I heard the sound of the
+      shaken sistra heralding the coming of the Glory. Then, at the far end of
+      the chamber, grew the semblance of the horned moon, gleaming faintly in
+      the darkness, and betwixt the golden horns rested a small dark cloud, in
+      and out of which the fiery serpent climbed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      My knees waxed loose in the presence of the Glory, and I sank down before
+      it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then spake the small, sweet Voice within the cloud:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Harmachis, who wast my servant and my son, I have heard thy prayer, and
+      the summons that thou hast dared to utter, which on the lips of one with
+      whom I have communed, hath power to draw Me from the Uttermost. No more,
+      Harmachis, may we be one in the bond of Love Divine, for thou hast put Me
+      away of thine own act. Therefore, after this long silence I come,
+      Harmachis, clothed in terrors, and, perchance, ready for vengeance, for
+      not lightly can Isis be drawn from the halls of Her Divinity.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Smite, Goddess!&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;Smite, and give me over to those who wreak
+      Thy vengeance; for I can no longer bear the burden of my woe!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And if thou canst not bear thy burden here, upon this upper earth,&rdquo; came
+      the soft reply, &ldquo;how then shalt thou bear the greater burden that shall be
+      laid upon thee there, coming defiled and yet unpurified into my dim realm
+      of Death, that is Life and Change unending? Nay, Harmachis, I smite thee
+      not, for not all am I wroth that thou hast dared to utter the awful Word
+      which calls Me down to thee. Hearken, Harmachis; I praise not, and I
+      reproach not, for I am the Minister of Reward and Punishment and the
+      Executrix of Decrees; and if I give, I give in silence; and if I smite, in
+      silence do I smite. Therefore, I will add naught to thy burden by the
+      weight of heavy words, though through thee it has come to pass that soon
+      shall Isis, the Mother-Mystery, be but a memory in Egypt. Thou hast
+      sinned, and heavy shall be thy punishment, as I did warn thee, both in the
+      flesh and in my kingdom of Amenti. But I told thee that there is a road of
+      repentance, and surely thy feet are set thereon, and therein must thou
+      walk with a humble heart, eating of the bread of bitterness, till such
+      time as thy doom be measured.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have I, then, no hope, O holy?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That which is done, Harmachis, is done, nor can its issues be altered.
+      Khem shall no more be free till all its temples are as the desert dust;
+      strange Peoples shall, from age to age, hold her hostage and in bonds; new
+      Religions shall arise and wither within the shadow of her pyramids, for to
+      every World, Race, and Age the countenances of the Gods are changed. This
+      is the tree that shall spring from thy seed of sin, Harmachis, and from
+      the sin of those who tempted thee!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Alas! I am undone!&rdquo; I cried.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, thou art undone; and yet shall this be given to thee: thy Destroyer
+      thou shalt destroy&mdash;for so, in the purpose of my justice, it is
+      ordained. When the sign comes to thee, arise, go to Cleopatra, and in such
+      manner as I shall put into thy heart do Heaven&rsquo;s vengeance upon her! And
+      now for thyself one word, for thou hast put Me from thee, Harmachis, and
+      no more shall I come face to face with thee till, cycles hence, the last
+      fruit of thy sin hath ceased to be upon this earth! Yet, through the
+      vastness of the unnumbered years, remember thou this: the Love Divine is
+      Love Eternal, which cannot be extinguished, though it be everlastingly
+      estranged. Repent, my son; repent and do well while there is yet time,
+      that at the dim end of ages thou mayest once more be gathered unto Me.
+      Still, Harmachis, though thou seest Me not; still, when the very name by
+      which thou knowest Me has become a meaningless mystery to those who shall
+      be after thee; still I, whose hours are eternal&mdash;I, who have watched
+      Universes wither, wane, and, beneath the breath of Time, melt into
+      nothingness; again to gather, and, re-born, thread the maze of space&mdash;still,
+      I say, I shall companion thee. Wherever thou goest, in whatever form of
+      life thou livest, there I shall be! Art thou wafted to the farthest star,
+      art thou buried in Amenti&rsquo;s lowest deep&mdash;in lives, in deaths, in
+      sleeps, in wakings, in remembrances, in oblivions, in all the fevers of
+      the outer Life, in all the changes of the Spirit&mdash;still, if thou wilt
+      but atone and forget Me no more, I shall be with thee, waiting thine hour
+      of redemption. For this is the nature of Love Divine, wherewith it loves
+      that which partakes of its divinity and by the holy tie hath once been
+      bound to it. Judge then, Harmachis: was it well to put this from thee to
+      win the dust of earthly woman? And, now, dare not again to utter the Word
+      of Power till these things are done! Harmachis, for this season, fare thee
+      well!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      As the last note of the sweet Voice died away, the fiery snake climbed
+      into the heart of the cloud. Now the cloud rolled from the horns of light,
+      and was gathered into the blackness. The vision of the crescent moon grew
+      dim and vanished. Then, as the Goddess passed, once more came the faint
+      and dreadful music of the shaken sistra, and all was still.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I hid my face in my robe, and even then, though my outstretched hand could
+      touch the chill corpse of that father who had died cursing me, I felt hope
+      come back into my heart, knowing that I was not altogether lost nor
+      utterly rejected of Her whom I had forsaken, but whom I yet loved. And
+      then weariness overpowered me, and I slept.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I woke, the faint lights of dawn were creeping from the opening in the
+      roof. Ghastly they lay upon the shadowy sculptured walls and ghastly upon
+      the dead face and white beard of my father, the gathered to Osiris. I
+      started up, remembering all things, and wondering in my heart what I
+      should do, and as I rose I heard a faint footfall creeping down the
+      passage of the names of the Pharaohs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>La! La! La!</i>&rdquo; mumbled a voice that I knew for the voice of the old
+      wife, Atoua. &ldquo;Why, &lsquo;tis dark as the House of the Dead! The Holy Ones who
+      built this Temple loved not the blessed sun, however much they worshipped
+      him. Now, where&rsquo;s the curtain?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Presently it was drawn, and Atoua entered, a stick in one hand and a
+      basket in the other. Her face was somewhat more wrinkled, and her scanty
+      locks were somewhat whiter than aforetime, but for the rest she was as she
+      had ever been. She stood and peered around with her sharp black eyes, for
+      as yet she could see nothing because of the shadows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now where is he?&rdquo; she muttered. &ldquo;Osiris&mdash;glory to His name&mdash;send
+      that he has not wandered in the night, and he blind! Alack! that I could
+      not return before the dark. Alack! and alack! what times have we fallen
+      on, when the Holy High Priest and the Governor, by descent, of Abouthis,
+      is left with one aged crone to minister to his infirmity! O Harmachis, my
+      poor boy, thou hast laid trouble at our doors! Why, what&rsquo;s this? Surely he
+      sleeps not, there upon the ground?&mdash;&lsquo;twill be his death! Prince! Holy
+      Father! Amenemhat! awake, arise!&rdquo; and she hobbled towards the corpse.
+      &ldquo;Why, how is it! By Him who sleeps, he&rsquo;s dead! untended and alone&mdash;<i>dead!
+      dead!</i>&rdquo; and she sent her long wail of grief ringing up the sculptured
+      walls.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hush! woman, be still!&rdquo; I said, gliding from the shadows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, what art thou?&rdquo; she cried, casting down her basket. &ldquo;Wicked man, hast
+      thou murdered this Holy One, the only Holy One in Egypt? Surely the curse
+      will fall on thee, for though the Gods do seem to have forsaken us now in
+      our hour of trial, yet is their arm long, and certainly they will be
+      avenged on him who hath slain their anointed!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Look on me, Atoua,&rdquo; I cried.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Look! ay, I look&mdash;thou wicked wanderer who hast dared this cruel
+      deed! Harmachis is a traitor and lost far away, and Amenemhat his holy
+      father is murdered, and now I&rsquo;m all alone without kith or kin. I gave them
+      for him. I gave them for Harmachis, the traitor! Come, slay me also, thou
+      wicked one!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I took a step toward her, and she, thinking that I was about to smite her,
+      cried out in fear:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, good Sir, spare me! Eighty and six, by the Holy Ones, eighty and
+      six, come next flood of Nile, and yet I would not die, though Osiris is
+      merciful to the old who served him! Come no nearer&mdash;help! help!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou fool, be silent,&rdquo; I said; &ldquo;knowest thou me not?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Know thee? Can I know every wandering boatman to whom Sebek grants to
+      earn a livelihood till Typhon claims his own? And yet&mdash;why, &lsquo;tis
+      strange&mdash;that changed countenance!&mdash;that scar!&mdash;that
+      stumbling gait! It is thou, Harmachis!&mdash;&lsquo;tis thou, O my boy! Art come
+      back to glad mine old eyes? I hoped thee dead! Let me kiss thee?&mdash;nay,
+      I forget. Harmachis is a traitor, ay, and a murderer! Here lies the holy
+      Amenemhat, murdered by the traitor, Harmachis! Get thee gone! I&rsquo;ll have
+      none of traitors and of parricides! Get thee to thy wanton!&mdash;it is
+      not thou whom I did nurse.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Peace! woman; peace! I slew not my father&mdash;he died, alas!&mdash;he
+      died even in my arms.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, surely, and cursing thee, Harmachis! Thou hast given death to him who
+      gave thee life! <i>La! la!</i> I am old, and I&rsquo;ve seen many a trouble; but
+      this is the heaviest of them all! I never liked the looks of mummies; but
+      I would I were one this hour! Get thee gone, I pray thee!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Old nurse, reproach me not! Have I not enough to bear?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah! yes, yes!&mdash;I did forget! Well; and what is thy sin? A woman was
+      thy bane, as women have been to those before thee, and shall be to those
+      after thee. And what a woman! <i>La! la!</i> I saw her, a beauty such as
+      never was&mdash;an arrow pointed by the evil Gods for destruction! And
+      thou, a young man bred as a priest&mdash;an ill training&mdash;a very ill
+      training! &lsquo;Twas no fair match. Who can wonder that she mastered thee?
+      Come, Harmachis; let me kiss thee! It is not for a woman to be hard on a
+      man because he loved our sex too much. Why, that is but nature; and Nature
+      knows her business, else she had made us otherwise. But here is an evil
+      case. Knowest thou that this Macedonian Queen of thine hath seized the
+      temple lands and revenues, and driven away the priests&mdash;all, save the
+      holy Amenemhat, who lies here, and whom she left, I know not why; ay, and
+      caused the worship of the Gods to cease within these walls. Well, he&rsquo;s
+      gone!&mdash;he&rsquo;s gone! and indeed he is better with Osiris, for his life
+      was a sore burden to him. And hark thou, Harmachis: he hath not left thee
+      empty-handed; for, so soon as the plot failed, he gathered all his wealth,
+      and it is large, and hid it&mdash;where, I can show thee&mdash;and it is
+      thine by right of descent.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Talk not to me of wealth, Atoua. Where shall I go and how shall I hide my
+      shame?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah! true, true; here mayst thou not abide, for if they found thee, surely
+      they would put thee to the dreadful death&mdash;ay, to the death by the
+      waxen cloth. Nay, I will hide thee, and, when the funeral rites of the
+      holy Amenemhat have been performed, we will fly hence, and cover us from
+      the eyes of men till these sorrows are forgotten. <i>La! la!</i> it is a
+      sad world, and full of trouble as the Nile mud is full of beetles. Come,
+      Harmachis, come.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0026" id="link2HCH0026">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER III
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE LIFE OF HIM WHO WAS NAMED THE LEARNED OLYMPUS, IN THE TOMB OF THE
+      HARPERS THAT IS BY TÁPÉ; OF HIS COUNSEL TO CLEOPATRA; OF THE MESSAGE OF
+      CHARMION; AND OF THE PASSING OF OLYMPUS DOWN TO ALEXANDRIA
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      These things then came to pass. For eighty days I was hidden of the old
+      wife, Atoua, while the body of the Prince, my father, was made ready for
+      burial by those skilled in the arts of embalming. And when at last all
+      things were done in order, I crept from my hiding-place and made offerings
+      to the spirit of my father, and placing lotus-flowers on his breast went
+      thence sorrowing. And on the following day, from where I lay hid, I saw
+      the Priests of the Temple of Osiris and of the holy shrine of Isis come
+      forth, and in slow procession bear his painted coffin to the sacred lake
+      and lay it beneath the funeral tent in the consecrated boat. I saw them
+      celebrate the symbol of the trial of the dead, and name him above all men
+      just, and then bear him thence to lay him by his wife, my mother, in the
+      deep tomb that he had hewn in the rock near to the resting-place of the
+      Holy Osiris, where, notwithstanding my sins, I, too, hope to sleep ere
+      long. And when all these things were done and the deep tomb sealed, the
+      wealth of my father having been removed from the hidden treasury and
+      placed in safety, I fled, disguised, with the old wife, Atoua, up the Nile
+      till we came to Tápé,[*] and here in this great city I lay a while, till a
+      place could be found where I should hide myself.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     [*] Thebes.&mdash;Editor.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      And such a place I found. For to the north of the great city are brown and
+      rugged hills, and desert valley blasted of the sun, and in this place of
+      desolation the Divine Pharaohs, my forefathers, hollowed out their tombs
+      in the solid rock, the most part of which are lost to this day, so
+      cunningly have they been hidden. But some are open, for the accursed
+      Persians and other thieves broke into them in search of treasure. And one
+      night&mdash;for by night only did I leave my hiding-place&mdash;just as
+      the dawn was breaking on the mountain tops, I wandered alone in this sad
+      valley of death, like to which there is no other, and presently came to
+      the mouth of a tomb hidden amid great rocks, which afterwards I knew for
+      the place of the burying of the Divine Rameses, the third of that name,
+      now long gathered to Osiris. And by the faint light of the dawn creeping
+      through the entrance I saw that it was spacious and that within were
+      chambers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the following night, therefore, I returned, bearing lights, with Atoua,
+      my nurse, who ever ministered faithfully to me as when I was little and
+      without discretion. And we searched the mighty tomb and came to the great
+      Hall of the Sarcophagus of granite, in which the Divine Rameses sleeps,
+      and saw the mystic paintings on the walls: the symbol of the Snake
+      unending, the symbol of Ra resting upon the Scarabæus, the symbol of Ra
+      resting upon Nout, the symbol of the Headless men, and many others,
+      whereof, being initiated, well I read the mysteries. And opening from the
+      long descending passage I found chambers in which were paintings beautiful
+      to behold, and of all manner of things. For beneath each chamber is
+      entombed the master of the craft of which the paintings tell, he who was
+      the chief of the servants of that craft in the house of this Divine
+      Rameses. And on the walls of the last chamber&mdash;on the left-hand side,
+      looking toward the Hall of the Sarcophagus&mdash;are paintings exceedingly
+      beautiful, and two blind harpers playing upon their bent harps before the
+      God Mou; and beneath the flooring these harpers, who harp no more, are
+      soft at sleep. Here, then, in this gloomy place, even in the tomb of the
+      Harpers and the company of the dead, I took up my abode; and here for
+      eight long years I worked out my penance and made atonement for my sin.
+      But Atoua, because she loved to be near the light, abode in the chamber of
+      the Boats&mdash;that is, the first chamber on the right-hand side of the
+      gallery looking toward the Hall of the Sarcophagus.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And this was the manner of my life. On every second day the old wife,
+      Atoua, went forth and brought water from the city and such food as is
+      necessary to keep the life from failing, and also tapers made from fat.
+      And one hour at the time of sunrise and one hour at the time of sunset I
+      did go forth also to wander in the valley for my health&rsquo;s sake and to save
+      my sight from failing in the great darkness of the tomb. But the other
+      hours of the day and night, except when I climbed the mountain to watch
+      the course of the stars, I spent in prayer and meditation and sleep, till
+      the cloud of sin lifted from my heart and once more I drew near to the
+      Gods, though with Isis, my heavenly Mother, I might speak no more. And I
+      grew exceedingly wise also, pondering on all those mysteries to which I
+      held the key. For abstinence and prayer and sorrowful solitude wore away
+      the grossness of my flesh, and with the eyes of the Spirit I learned to
+      look deep into the heart of things till the joy of Wisdom fell like dew
+      upon my soul.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Soon the rumour was wafted about the city that a certain holy man named
+      Olympus abode in solitude in the tombs of the awful Valley of the Dead;
+      and hither came people bearing sick that I might cure them. And I gave my
+      mind to the study of simples, in which Atoua instructed me; and by lore
+      and the weight of my thought I gained great skill in medicine, and healed
+      many sick. And thus ever, as time went on, my fame was noised abroad; for
+      it was said that I was also a magician and that in the tombs I had commune
+      with the Spirits of the Dead. And this, indeed, I did&mdash;though it is
+      not lawful for me to speak of these matters. Thus, then, it came to pass
+      that no more need Atoua go forth to seek food and water, for the people
+      brought it&mdash;more than was needful, for I would receive no fee. Now at
+      first, fearing lest some in the hermit Olympus might know the lost
+      Harmachis, I would only meet those who came in the darkness of the tomb.
+      But afterwards, when I learned how it was held through all the land that
+      Harmachis was certainly no more, I came forth and sat in the mouth of the
+      tomb, and ministered to the sick, and at times calculated nativities for
+      the great. And thus my fame grew continually, till at length folk
+      journeyed even from Memphis and Alexandria to visit me; and from them I
+      learned how Antony had left Cleopatra for a while, and, Fulvia being dead,
+      had married Octavia, the sister of Cæsar. Many other things I learned
+      also.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And in the second year I did this: I despatched the old wife, Atoua,
+      disguised as a seller of simples, to Alexandria, bidding her seek out
+      Charmion, and, if yet she found her faithful, reveal to her the secret of
+      my way of life. So she went, and in the fifth month from her sailing
+      returned, bearing Charmion&rsquo;s greetings and a token. And she told me that
+      she had found means to see Charmion, and, in talk, had let fall the name
+      of Harmachis, speaking of me as one dead; at which Charmion, unable to
+      control her grief, wept aloud. Then, reading her heart&mdash;for the old
+      wife was very clever, and held the key of knowledge&mdash;she told her
+      that Harmachis yet lived, and sent her greetings. Thereon Charmion wept
+      yet more with joy, and kissed the old wife, and made her gifts, bidding
+      her tell me that she had kept her vow, and waited for my coming and the
+      hour of vengeance. So, having learned many secrets, Atoua returned again
+      to Tápé.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And in the following year messengers came to me from Cleopatra, bearing a
+      sealed roll and great gifts. I opened the roll, and read this in it:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cleopatra to Olympus, the learned Egyptian who dwells in the Valley of
+      Death by Tápé&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The fame of thy renown, O learned Olympus, hath reached our ears. Tell
+      thou, then, this to us, and if thou tellest aright greater honour and
+      wealth shalt thou have than any in Egypt: How shall we win back the love
+      of noble Antony, who is bewitched of cunning Octavia, and tarries long
+      from us?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Now, in this I saw the hand of Charmion, who had made my renown known to
+      Cleopatra.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All that night I took counsel with my wisdom, and on the morrow wrote my
+      answer as it was put into my heart to the destruction of Cleopatra and
+      Antony. And thus I wrote:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Olympus the Egyptian to Cleopatra the Queen&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Go forth into Syria with one who shall be sent to lead thee; thus shalt
+      thou win Antony to thy arms again, and with him gifts more great than thou
+      canst dream.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And with this letter I dismissed the messengers, bidding them share the
+      presents sent by Cleopatra among their company.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So they went wondering.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Cleopatra, seizing on the advice to which her passion prompted her,
+      departed straightway with Fonteius Capito into Syria, and there the thing
+      came about as I had foretold, for Antony was subdued of her and gave her
+      the greater part of Cilicia, the ocean shore of Arabia Nabathæa, the
+      balm-bearing provinces of Judæa, the province of Phoenicia, the province
+      of Coele-Syria, the rich isle of Cyprus, and all the library of Pergamus.
+      And to the twin children that, with the son Ptolemy, Cleopatra had borne
+      to Antony, he impiously gave the names of &ldquo;Kings, the Children of Kings&rdquo;&mdash;of
+      Alexander Helios, as the Greeks name the sun, and of Cleopatra Selene, the
+      moon, the long-winged.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      These things then came to pass.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now on her return to Alexandria Cleopatra sent me great gifts, of which I
+      would have none, and prayed me, the learned Olympus, to come to her at
+      Alexandria; but it was not yet time, and I would not. But thereafter she
+      and Antony sent many times to me for counsel, and I ever counselled them
+      to their ruin, nor did my prophecies fail.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus the long years rolled away, and I, the hermit Olympus, the dweller in
+      a tomb, the eater of bread and the drinker of water, by strength of the
+      wisdom that was given me of the avenging Power, became once more great in
+      Khem. For I grew ever wiser as I trampled the desires of the flesh beneath
+      my feet and turned my eyes to heaven.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At length eight full years were accomplished. The war with the Parthians
+      had come and gone, and Artavasdes, King of Armenia, had been led in
+      triumph through the streets of Alexandria. Cleopatra had visited Samos and
+      Athens; and, by her counselling, the noble Octavia had been driven, like
+      some discarded concubine, from the house of Antony at Rome. And now, at
+      the last, the measure of the folly of Antony was full even to the brim.
+      For this Master of the World had no longer the good gift of reason; he was
+      lost in Cleopatra as I had been lost. Therefore, in the event, Octavianus
+      declared war against him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And as I slept upon a certain day in the chamber of the Harpers, in the
+      tomb of Pharaoh that is by Tápé, there came to me a vision of my father,
+      the aged Amenemhat, and he stood over me, leaning on his staff, and spoke,
+      saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Look forth, my son.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I looked forth, and with the eyes of my spirit saw the sea, and two
+      great fleets grappling in war hard by a rocky coast. And the emblems were
+      those of Octavian, and of the other those of Cleopatra and Antony. The
+      ships of Antony and Cleopatra bore down upon the ships of Cæsar, and drove
+      them on, for victory inclined to Antony.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I looked again. There sat Cleopatra in a gold-decked galley watching the
+      fight with eager eyes. Then I cast my Spirit on her so that she seemed to
+      hear the voice of dead Harmachis crying in her ear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>Fly, Cleopatra,</i>&rdquo; it seemed to say, &ldquo;<i>fly or perish!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She looked up wildly, and again she heard my Spirit&rsquo;s cry. Now a mighty
+      fear took hold of her. She called aloud to the sailors to hoist the sails
+      and make signal to her fleet to put about. This they did wondering but
+      little loath, and fled in haste from the battle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then a great roar went up from friend and foe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cleopatra is fled! Cleopatra is fled!&rdquo; And I saw wreck and red ruin fall
+      upon the fleet of Antony and awoke from my trance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The days passed, and again a vision of my father came to me and spoke,
+      saying:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Arise, my son!&mdash;the hour of vengeance is at hand! Thy plots have not
+      failed; thy prayers have been heard. By the bidding of the Gods, as she
+      sat in her galley at the fight of Actium, the heart of Cleopatra was
+      filled with fears, so that, deeming she heard thy voice bidding her fly or
+      perish, she fled with all her fleet. Now the strength of Actium is broken
+      on the sea. Go forth, and as it shall be put into thy mind, so do thou.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In the morning I awoke, wondering, and went to the mouth of the tomb, and
+      there, coming up the valley, I saw the messengers of Cleopatra, and with
+      them a Roman guard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What will ye with me now?&rdquo; I asked, sternly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is the message of the Queen and of great Antony,&rdquo; answered the
+      Captain, bowing low before me, for I was much feared by all men. &ldquo;The
+      Queen commands thy presence at Alexandria. Many times has she sent, and
+      thou wouldst not come; now she bids thee to come, and that swiftly, for
+      she has need of thy counsel.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And if I say Nay, soldier, what then?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These are my orders, most holy Olympus; that I bring thee by force.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I laughed aloud. &ldquo;By force, thou fool! Use not such talk to me, lest I
+      smite thee where thou art. Know, then, that I can kill as well as cure!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pardon, I beseech thee!&rdquo; he answered, shrinking. &ldquo;I say but those things
+      that I am bid.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I know it, Captain. Fear not; I come.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So on that very day I departed, together with the aged Atoua. Ay, I went
+      as secretly as I had come; and the tomb of the Divine Rameses knew me no
+      more. And with me I took all the treasures of my father, Amenemhat, for I
+      was not minded to go to Alexandria empty-handed and as a suppliant, but
+      rather as a man of much wealth and condition. Now, as I went, I learned
+      that Antony, following Cleopatra, had, indeed, fled from Actium, and knew
+      that the end drew nigh. For this and many other things had I foreseen in
+      the darkness of the tomb of Tápé, and planned to bring about.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus, then, I came to Alexandria, and entered into a house which had been
+      made ready for me at the palace gates.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And that very night Charmion came to me&mdash;Charmion whom I had not seen
+      for nine long years.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0027" id="link2HCH0027">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IV
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE MEETING OF CHARMION WITH THE LEARNED OLYMPUS; OF HER SPEECH WITH
+      HIM; OF THE COMING OF OLYMPUS INTO THE PRESENCE OF CLEOPATRA; AND OF THE
+      COMMANDS OF CLEOPATRA.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Clad in my plain black robe, I sat in the guest-chamber of the house that
+      had been made ready for me. I sat in a carven lion-footed chair, and
+      looked upon the swinging lamps of scented oil, the pictured tapestries,
+      the rich Syrian rugs&mdash;and, amidst all this luxury, bethought me of
+      that tomb of the Harpers which is at Tápé, and of the nine long years of
+      dark loneliness and preparation. I sat; and crouched upon a rug near to
+      the door, lay the aged Atoua. Her hair was white as snow, and shrivelled
+      with age was the wrinkled countenance of the woman who, when all deserted
+      me, had yet clung to me, in her great love forgetting my great sins. Nine
+      years! nine long years! and now, once again, I set my foot in Alexandria!
+      Once again in the appointed circle of things I came forth from the
+      solitude of preparation to be a fate to Cleopatra; and this second time I
+      came not forth to fail.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And yet how changed the circumstance! I was out of the story: my part now
+      was but the part of the sword in the hands of Justice; I might no more
+      hope to make Egypt free and great and sit upon my lawful throne. Khem was
+      lost, and lost was I, Harmachis. In the rush and turmoil of events, the
+      great plot of which I had been the pivot was covered up and forgotten;
+      scarce a memory of it remained. The curtain of dark night was closing in
+      upon the history of my ancient Race; its very Gods were tottering to their
+      fall; I could already, in the spirit, hear the shriek of the Roman eagles
+      as they flapped their wings above the furthest banks of Sihor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Presently I roused myself and bade Atoua go seek a mirror and bring it to
+      me, that I might look therein.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And I saw this: a face shrunken and pallid, on which no smile came; great
+      eyes grown wan with gazing into darkness looking out beneath the shaven
+      head, emptily, as the hollow eye-pits of a skull; a wizened halting form
+      wasted by abstinence, sorrow, and prayer; a long wild beard of iron grey;
+      thin blue-veined hands that ever trembled like a leaf; bowed shoulders and
+      lessened limbs. Time and grief had done their work indeed; scarce could I
+      think myself the same as when, the royal Harmachis&mdash;in all the
+      splendour of my strength and youthful beauty&mdash;I first had looked upon
+      the woman&rsquo;s loveliness that did destroy me. And yet within me burned the
+      same fire as of yore; yet I was not changed, for time and grief have no
+      power to alter the immortal spirit of man. Seasons may come and go; Hope,
+      like a bird, may fly away; Passion may break its wings against the iron
+      bars of Fate; Illusions may crumble as the cloudy towers of sunset flame;
+      Faith, as running water, may slip from beneath our feet; Solitude may
+      stretch itself around us like the measureless desert sand; Old Age may
+      creep as the gathering night over our bowed heads grown hoary in their
+      shame&mdash;yea, bound to Fortune&rsquo;s wheel, we may taste of every turn of
+      chance&mdash;now rule as Kings, now serve as Slaves; now love, now hate;
+      now prosper, and now perish. But still, through all, we are the same; for
+      this is the marvel of Identity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And as I sat and thought these things in bitterness of heart, there came a
+      knocking at the door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Open, Atoua!&rdquo; I said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She rose and did my bidding; and a woman entered, clad in Grecian robes.
+      It was Charmion, still beautiful as of old, but sad faced now and very
+      sweet to see, with a patient fire slumbering in her downcast eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She entered unattended; and, speaking no word, the old wife pointed to
+      where I sat, and went.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Old man,&rdquo; she said, addressing me, &ldquo;lead me to the learned Olympus. I
+      come upon the Queen&rsquo;s business.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I rose, and, lifting my head, looked upon her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She gazed, and gave a little cry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Surely,&rdquo; she whispered, glancing round, &ldquo;surely thou art not that&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;
+       And she paused.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That Harmachis whom once thy foolish heart did love, O Charmion? Yes, I
+      am he and what thou seest, most fair lady. Yet is Harmachis dead whom thou
+      didst love; but Olympus, the skilled Egyptian, waits upon thy words!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cease!&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;and of the past but one word, and then&mdash;why, let
+      it lie. Not well, with all thy wisdom, canst thou know a true woman&rsquo;s
+      heart, if thou dost believe, Harmachis, that it can change with the
+      changes of the outer form, for then assuredly could no love follow its
+      beloved to that last place of change&mdash;the Grave. Know thou, learned
+      Physician, I am of that sort who, loving once, love always, and being not
+      beloved again, go virgin to the death.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She ceased, and having naught to say, I bowed my head in answer. Yet
+      though I said nothing and though this woman&rsquo;s passionate folly had been
+      the cause of all our ruin, to speak truth, in secret I was thankful to her
+      who, wooed of all and living in this shameless Court, had still through
+      the long years poured out her unreturned love upon an outcast, and who,
+      when that poor broken slave of Fortune came back in such unlovely guise,
+      held him yet dear at heart. For what man is there who does not prize that
+      gift most rare and beautiful, that one perfect thing which no gold can buy&mdash;a
+      woman&rsquo;s unfeigned love?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thank thee that thou dost not answer,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;for the bitter words
+      which thou didst pour upon me in those days that long are dead, and far
+      away in Tarsus, have not lost their poisonous sting, and in my heart is no
+      more place for the arrows of thy scorn, new venomed through thy solitary
+      years. So let it be. Behold! I put it from me, that wild passion of my
+      soul,&rdquo; and she looked up and stretched out her hands as though to press
+      some unseen presence back, &ldquo;I put it from me&mdash;though forget it I may
+      not! There, &lsquo;tis done, Harmachis; no more shall my love trouble thee.
+      Enough for me that once more my eyes behold thee, before sleep seals thee
+      from their sight. Dost remember how, when I would have died by thy dear
+      hand, thou wouldst not slay, but didst bid me live to pluck the bitter
+      fruit of crime, and be accursed by visions of the evil I had wrought and
+      memories of thee whom I have ruined?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, Charmion, I remember well.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Surely the cup of punishment has been filled. Oh! couldst thou see into
+      the record of my heart, and read in it the suffering that I have borne&mdash;borne
+      with a smiling face&mdash;thy justice would be satisfied indeed!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And yet, if report be true, Charmion, thou art the first of all the
+      Court, and therein the most powerful and beloved. Does not Octavianus give
+      it out that he makes war, not on Antony, nor even on his mistress,
+      Cleopatra, but on Charmion and Iras?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, Harmachis, and think what it has been to me thus, because of my oath
+      to thee, to be forced to eat the bread and do the tasks of one whom so
+      bitterly I hate!&mdash;one who robbed me of thee, and who, through the
+      workings of my jealousy, brought me to be that which I am, brought thee to
+      shame, and all Egypt to its ruin! Can jewels and riches and the flattery
+      of princes and nobles bring happiness to such a one as I, who am more
+      wretched than the meanest scullion wench? Oh, I have often wept till I was
+      blind; and then, when the hour came, I must arise and tire me, and, with a
+      smile, go do the bidding of the Queen and that heavy Antony. May the Gods
+      grant me to see them dead&mdash;ay, the twain of them!&mdash;then myself I
+      shall be content to die! Thy lot has been hard, Harmachis; but at least
+      thou have been free, and many is the time that I have envied thee the
+      quiet of thy haunted cave.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do perceive, O Charmion, that thou art mindful of thy oaths; and it is
+      well, for the hour of vengeance is at hand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am mindful, and in all things I have worked for thee in secret&mdash;for
+      thee, and for the utter ruin of Cleopatra and the Roman. I have fanned his
+      passion and her jealousy, I have egged her on to wickedness and him to
+      folly, and of all have I caused report to be brought to Cæsar. Listen!
+      thus stands the matter. Thou knowest how went the fight at Actium. Thither
+      went Cleopatra with her fleet, sorely against the will of Antony. But, as
+      thou sentest me word, I entreated him for the Queen, vowing to him, with
+      tears, that, did he leave her, she would die of grief; and he, poor slave,
+      believed me. And so she went, and in the thick of the fight, for what
+      cause I know not, though perchance thou knowest, Harmachis, she made
+      signal to her squadron, and, putting about fled from the battle, sailing
+      for Peloponnesus. And now, mark the end! When Antony saw that she was
+      gone, he, in his madness, took a galley, and deserting all, followed hard
+      after her, leaving his fleet to be shattered and sunk, and his great army
+      in Greece, of twenty legions and twelve thousand horse, without a leader.
+      And all this no man would believe, that Antony, the smitten of the Gods,
+      had fallen so deep in shame. Therefore for a while the army tarried, and
+      but now to-night comes news brought by Canidius, the General, that, worn
+      with doubt and being at length sure that Antony had deserted them, the
+      whole of his great force has yielded to Cæsar.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And where, then, is Antony?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He has built him a habitation on a little isle in the Great Harbour and
+      named it Timonium; because, forsooth, like Timon, he cries out at the
+      ingratitude of mankind that has forsaken him. And there he lies smitten by
+      a fever of the mind, and thither thou must go at dawn, so wills the Queen,
+      to cure him of his ills and draw him to her arms; for he will not see her,
+      nor knows he yet the full measure of his woe. But first my bidding is to
+      lead thee instantly to Cleopatra, who would ask thy counsel.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I come,&rdquo; I answered, rising. &ldquo;Lead thou on.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And so we passed the palace gates and along the Alabaster Hall, and
+      presently once again I stood before the door of Cleopatra&rsquo;s chamber, and
+      once again Charmion left me to warn her of my coming.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Presently she came back and beckoned to me. &ldquo;Make strong thy heart,&rdquo; she
+      whispered, &ldquo;and see that thou dost not betray thyself, for still are the
+      eyes of Cleopatra keen. Enter!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Keen, indeed, must they be to find Harmachis in the learned Olympus! Had
+      I not willed it, thyself thou hadst not known me, Charmion,&rdquo; I made
+      answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I entered that remembered place and listened once more to the plash
+      of the fountain, the song of the nightingale, and the murmur of the summer
+      sea. With bowed head and halting gait I came, till at length I stood
+      before the couch of Cleopatra&mdash;that same golden couch on which she
+      had sat the night she overcame me. Then I gathered my strength, and looked
+      up. There before me was Cleopatra, glorious as of old, but, oh! how
+      changed since that night when I saw Antony clasp her in his arms at
+      Tarsus! Her beauty still clothed her like a garment; the eyes were yet
+      deep and unfathomable as the blue sea, the face still splendid in its
+      great loveliness. And yet all was changed. Time, that could not touch her
+      charms, had stamped upon her presence such a look of weary grief as may
+      not be written. Passion, beating ever in that fierce heart of hers, had
+      written his record on her brow, and in her eyes shone the sad lights of
+      sorrow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I bowed low before this most royal woman, who once had been my love and
+      destruction, and yet knew me not.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She looked up wearily, and spoke in her slow, well remembered voice:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So thou art come at length, Physician. How callest thou thyself?&mdash;Olympus?
+      &lsquo;Tis a name of promise, for surely now that the Gods of Egypt have
+      deserted us, we do need aid from Olympus. Well, thou hast a learned air,
+      for learning goes not with beauty. Strange, too, there is that about thee
+      which recalls what I know not. Say, Olympus, have we met before?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never, O Queen, have my eyes fallen on thee in the body,&rdquo; I answered in a
+      feigned voice. &ldquo;Never till this hour, when I come forth from my solitude
+      to do thy bidding and cure thee of thy ills!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Strange! and even in the voice&mdash;Pshaw! &lsquo;tis some memory that I
+      cannot catch. In the body, thou sayest? then, perchance, I knew thee in a
+      dream?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, O Queen; we have met in dreams.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou art a strange man, who talkest thus, but, if what I hear be true,
+      one well learned; and, indeed, I mind me of thy counsel when thou didst
+      bid me join my Lord Antony in Syria, and how things befell according to
+      thy word. Skilled must thou be in the casting of nativities and in the law
+      of auguries, of which these Alexandrian fools have little knowledge. Once
+      I knew such another man, one Harmachis,&rdquo; and she sighed: &ldquo;but he is long
+      dead&mdash;as I would I were also!&mdash;and at times I sorrow for him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She paused, while I sank my head upon my breast and stood silent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Interpret me this, Olympus. In the battle at that accursed Actium, just
+      as the fight raged thickest and Victory began to smile upon us, a great
+      terror seized my heart, and thick darkness seemed to fall before my eyes,
+      while in my ears a voice, ay, the voice of that long dead Harmachis, cried
+      &lsquo;<i>Fly! fly, or perish!</i>&rsquo; and I fled. But from my heart the terror
+      leapt to the heart of Antony, and he followed after me, and thus was the
+      battle lost. Say, then, what God brought this evil thing about?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, O Queen,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;it was no God&mdash;for wherein hast thou
+      angered the Gods of Egypt? Hast thou robbed the temples of their Faith?
+      Hast thou betrayed the trust of Egypt? Having done none of these things,
+      how, then, can the Gods of Egypt be wroth with thee? Fear not, it was
+      nothing but some natural vapour of the mind that overcame thy gentle soul,
+      made sick with the sight and sound of slaughter; and as for the noble
+      Antony, where thou didst go needs must that he should follow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And as I spoke, Cleopatra turned white and trembled, glancing at me the
+      while to find my meaning. But I well knew that the thing was of the
+      avenging Gods, working through me, their instrument.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Learned Olympus,&rdquo; she said, not answering my words; &ldquo;my Lord Antony is
+      sick and crazed with grief. Like some poor hunted slave he hides himself
+      in yonder sea-girt Tower and shuns mankind&mdash;yes, he shuns even me,
+      who, for his sake, endure so many woes. Now, this is my bidding to thee.
+      To-morrow, at the coming of the light, do thou, led by Charmion, my
+      waiting-lady, take boat and row thee to the Tower and there crave entry,
+      saying that ye bring tidings from the army. Then he will cause you to be
+      let in, and thou, Charmion, must break this heavy news that Canidius
+      bears; for Canidius himself I dare not send. And when his grief is past,
+      do thou, Olympus, soothe his fevered frame with thy draughts of value, and
+      his soul with honeyed words, and draw him back to me, and all will yet be
+      well. Do thou this, and thou shalt have gifts more than thou canst count,
+      for I am yet a Queen and yet can pay back those who serve my will.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fear not, O Queen,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;this thing shall be done, and I ask no
+      reward, who have come hither to do thy bidding to the end.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So I bowed and went and, summoning Atoua, made ready a certain potion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0028" id="link2HCH0028">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER V
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE DRAWING FORTH OF ANTONY FROM THE TIMONIUM BACK TO CLEOPATRA; OF THE
+      FEAST MADE BY CLEOPATRA; AND OF THE MANNER OF THE DEATH OF EUDOSIUS THE
+      STEWARD
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Ere it was yet dawn Charmion came again, and we walked to the private
+      harbour of the palace. There, taking boat, we rowed to the island mount on
+      which stands the Timonium, a vaulted tower, strong, small, and round. And,
+      having landed, we twain came to the door and knocked, till at length a
+      grating was thrown open in the door, and an aged eunuch, looking forth,
+      roughly asked our business.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Our business is with the Lord Antony,&rdquo; said Charmion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then it is no business, for Antony, my master, sees neither man nor
+      woman.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet will he see us, for we bring tidings. Go tell him that the Lady
+      Charmion brings tidings from the army.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The man went, and presently returned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Lord Antony would know if the tidings be good or ill, for, if ill,
+      then will he none of it, for with evil tidings he has been overfed of
+      late.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why&mdash;why, it is both good and ill. Open, slave, I will make answer
+      to thy master!&rdquo; and she slipped a purse of gold through the bars.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, well,&rdquo; he grumbled, as he took the purse, &ldquo;the times are hard, and
+      likely to be harder; for when the lion&rsquo;s down who will feed the jackal?
+      Give thy news thyself, and if it do but draw the noble Antony out of this
+      hall of Groans, I care not what it be. Now the palace door is open, and
+      there&rsquo;s the road to the banqueting-chamber.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      We passed on, to find ourselves in a narrow passage, and, leaving the
+      eunuch to bar the door, advanced till we came to a curtain. Through this
+      entrance we went, and found ourselves in a vaulted chamber, ill-lighted
+      from the roof. On the further side of this rude chamber was a bed of rugs,
+      and on them crouched the figure of a man, his face hidden in the folds of
+      his toga.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Most noble Antony,&rdquo; said Charmion drawing near, &ldquo;unwrap thy face and
+      hearken to me, for I bring thee tidings.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then he lifted up his head. His face was marred by sorrow; his tangled
+      hair, grizzled with years, hung about his hollow eyes, and white on his
+      chin was the stubble of an unshaven beard. His robe was squalid, and his
+      aspect more wretched than that of the poorest beggar at the temple gates.
+      To this, then, had the love of Cleopatra brought the glorious and renowned
+      Antony, aforetime Master of half the World!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What will ye with me, Lady,&rdquo; he asked, &ldquo;who would perish here alone? And
+      who is this man who comes to gaze on fallen and forsaken Antony?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is Olympus, noble Antony, that wise physician, the skilled in
+      auguries, of whom thou hast heard much, and whom Cleopatra, ever mindful
+      of thy welfare, though but little thou dost think of hers, has sent to
+      minister to thee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And, can thy physician minister to a grief such as my grief? Can his
+      drugs give me back my galleys, my honour, and my peace? Nay! Away with thy
+      physician! What are thy tidings?&mdash;quick!&mdash;out with it! Hath
+      Canidius, perchance, conquered Cæsar? Tell me but that, and thou shalt
+      have a province for thy guerdon&mdash;ay! and if Octavianus be dead,
+      twenty thousand sestertia to fill its treasury. Speak&mdash;nay&mdash;speak
+      not! I fear the opening of thy lips as never I feared an earthly thing.
+      Surely the wheel of fortune has gone round and Canidius has conquered? Is
+      it not so? Nay&mdash;out with it! I can no more!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O noble Antony,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;steel thy heart to hear that which I needs
+      must tell thee! Canidius is in Alexandria. He has fled far and fast, and
+      this is his report. For seven whole days did the legions wait the coming
+      of Antony, to lead them to victory, as aforetime, putting aside the offers
+      of the envoys of Cæsar. But Antony came not. And then it was rumoured that
+      Antony had fled to Tænarus, drawn thither by Cleopatra. The man who first
+      brought that tale to the camp the legionaries cried shame on&mdash;ay, and
+      beat him to the death! But ever it grew, until at length there was no more
+      room to doubt; and then, O Antony, thy officers slipped one by one away to
+      Cæsar, and where the officers go there the men follow. Nor is this all the
+      story; for thy allies&mdash;Bocchus of Africa, Tarcondimotus of Cilicia,
+      Mithridates of Commagene, Adallas of Thrace, Philadelphus of Paphlagonia,
+      Archelaus of Cappadocia, Herod of Judæa, Amyntas of Galatia, Polemon of
+      Pontus, and Malchus of Arabia&mdash;all, all have fled or bid their
+      generals fly back to whence they came; and already their ambassadors
+      crave cold Cæsar&rsquo;s clemency.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hast done thy croakings, thou raven in a peacock&rsquo;s dress, or is there
+      more to come?&rdquo; asked the smitten man, lifting his white and trembling face
+      from the shelter of his hands. &ldquo;Tell me more; say that Egypt&rsquo;s dead in all
+      her beauty; say that Octavianus lowers at the Canopic gate; and that,
+      headed by dead Cicero, all the ghosts of Hell do audibly shriek out the
+      fall of Antony! Yea, gather up every woe that can o&rsquo;erwhelm those who once
+      were great, and loose them on the hoary head of him whom&mdash;in thy
+      gentleness&mdash;thou art still pleased to name &lsquo;the noble Antony&rsquo;!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, my Lord, I have done.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, and so have I done&mdash;done, quite done! It is altogether finished,
+      and thus I seal the end,&rdquo; and snatching a sword from the couch, he would,
+      indeed, have slain himself had I not sprung forward and grasped his hand.
+      For it was not my purpose that he should die as yet; since had he died at
+      that hour Cleopatra had made her peace with Cæsar, who rather wished the
+      death of Antony than the ruin of Egypt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Art mad, Antony? Art, indeed, a coward?&rdquo; cried Charmion, &ldquo;that thou
+      wouldst thus escape thy woes, and leave thy partner to face the sorrow out
+      alone?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why not, woman? Why not? She would not be long alone. There&rsquo;s Cæsar to
+      keep her company. Octavianus loves a fair woman in his cold way, and still
+      is Cleopatra fair. Come now, thou Olympus! thou hast held my hand from
+      dealing death upon myself, advise me of thy wisdom. Shall I, then, submit
+      myself to Cæsar, and I, Triumvir, twice Consul, and aforetime absolute
+      Monarch of all the East, endure to follow in his triumph along those Roman
+      ways where I myself have passed in triumph?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Sire,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;If thou dost yield, then art thou doomed. All
+      last night I questioned of the Fates concerning thee, and I saw this: when
+      thy star draws near to Cæsar&rsquo;s it pales and is swallowed up; but when it
+      passes from his radiance, then bright and big it shines, equal in glory to
+      his own. All is not lost, and while some part remains, everything may be
+      regained. Egypt can yet be held, armies can still be raised. Cæsar has
+      withdrawn himself; he is not yet at the gates of Alexandria, and perchance
+      may be appeased. Thy mind in its fever has fired thy body; thou art sick
+      and canst not judge aright. See, here, I have a potion that shall make
+      thee whole, for I am well skilled in the art of medicine,&rdquo; and I held out
+      the phial.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A potion, thou sayest man!&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;More like it is a poison, and thou
+      a murderer, sent by false Egypt, who would fain be rid of me now that I
+      may no more be of service to her. The head of Antony is the peace offering
+      she would send to Cæsar&mdash;she for whom I have lost all! Give me thy
+      draught. By Bacchus! I will drink it, though it be the very elixir of
+      Death!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, noble Antony; it is no poison, and I am no murderer. See, I will
+      taste it, if thou wilt,&rdquo; and I held forth the subtle drink that has the
+      power to fire the veins of men.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Give it me, Physician. Desperate men are brave men. There!&mdash;&mdash;Why,
+      what is this? Yours is a magic draught! My sorrows seem to roll away like
+      thunder-clouds before the southern gale, and the spring of Hope blooms
+      fresh upon the desert of my heart. Once more I am Antony, and once again I
+      see my legions&rsquo; spears asparkle in the sun, and hear the thunderous shout
+      of welcome as Antony&mdash;beloved Antony&mdash;rides in pomp of war along
+      his deep-formed lines! There&rsquo;s hope! there&rsquo;s hope! I may yet see the cold
+      brows of Cæsar&mdash;that Cæsar who never errs except from policy&mdash;robbed
+      of their victor bays and crowned with shameful dust!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay,&rdquo; cried Charmion, &ldquo;there still is hope, if thou wilt but play the man!
+      O my Lord! come back with us; come back to the loving arms of Cleopatra!
+      All night she lies upon her golden bed, and fills the hollow darkness with
+      her groans for &lsquo;Antony!&rsquo; who, enamoured now of Grief, forgets his duty and
+      his love!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I come! I come! Shame upon me, that I dared to doubt her! Slave, bring
+      water, and a purple robe: not thus can I be seen of Cleopatra. Even now I
+      come.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In this fashion, then, did we draw Antony back to Cleopatra, that the ruin
+      of the twain might be made sure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We led him up the Alabaster Hall and into Cleopatra&rsquo;s chamber, where she
+      lay, her cloudy hair about her face and breast, and tears flowing from her
+      deep eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Egypt!&rdquo; he cried, &ldquo;behold me at thy feet!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She sprang from the couch. &ldquo;And art thou here, my love?&rdquo; she murmured;
+      &ldquo;then once again are all things well. Come near, and in these arms forget
+      thy sorrows and turn my grief to joy. Oh, Antony, while love is left to
+      us, still have we all!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And she fell upon his breast and kissed him wildly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      That same day, Charmion came to me and bade me prepare a poison of the
+      most deadly power. And this at first I would not do, fearing that
+      Cleopatra would therewith make an end of Antony before his time. But
+      Charmion showed me that this was not so, and told me also for what purpose
+      was the poison. Therefore I summoned Atoua, the skilled in simples, and
+      all that afternoon we laboured at the deadly work. And when it was done,
+      Charmion came once more, bearing with her a chaplet of fresh roses, that
+      she bade me steep in the poison.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This then I did.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      That night at the great feast of Cleopatra, I sat near Antony, who was at
+      her side, and wore the poisoned wreath. Now as the feast went on, the wine
+      flowed fast, till Antony and the Queen grew merry. And she told him of her
+      plans, and of how even now her galleys were being drawn by the canal that
+      leads from Bubastis on the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, to Clysma at the
+      head of the Bay of Heroopolis. For it was her design, should Cæsar prove
+      stubborn, to fly with Antony and her treasure down the Arabian Gulf, where
+      Cæsar had no fleet, and seek some new home in India, whither her foes
+      might not follow. But, indeed, this plan came to nothing, for the Arabs of
+      Petra burnt the galleys, incited thereto by a message sent by the Jews of
+      Alexandria, who hated Cleopatra and were hated of her. For I caused the
+      Jews to be warned of what was being done.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now, when she had made an end of telling him, the Queen called on him to
+      drink a cup with her, to the success of this new scheme, bidding him, as
+      she did so, steep his wreath of roses in the wine, and make the draught
+      more sweet. This, then, he did, and it being done, she pledged him. But
+      when he was about to pledge her back, she caught his hand, crying &ldquo;<i>Hold!</i>&rdquo;
+       whereat he paused, wondering.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now, among the servants of Cleopatra was one Eudosius, a steward; and this
+      Eudosius, seeing that the fortunes of Cleopatra were at an end, had laid a
+      plan to fly that very night to Cæsar, as many of his betters had done,
+      taking with him all the treasure in the palace that he could steal. But
+      this design being discovered to Cleopatra, she determined to be avenged
+      upon Eudosius.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Eudosius,&rdquo; she cried, for the man stood near; &ldquo;come hither, thou faithful
+      servant! Seest thou this man, most noble Antony; through all our troubles
+      he has clung to us and been of comfort to us. Now, therefore, he shall be
+      rewarded according to his deserts and the measure of his faithfulness, and
+      that from thine own hand. Give him thy golden cup of wine, and let him
+      drink a pledge to our success; the cup shall be his guerdon.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And still wondering, Antony gave it to the man, who, stricken in his
+      guilty mind, took it, and stood trembling. But he drank not.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Drink! thou slave; drink!&rdquo; cried Cleopatra, half rising from her seat and
+      flashing a fierce look on his white face. &ldquo;By Serapis! so surely as I yet
+      shall sit in the Capitol at Rome, if thou dost thus flout the Lord Antony,
+      I&rsquo;ll have thee scourged to the bones, and the red wine poured upon thy
+      open wounds to heal them! <i>Ah!</i> at length thou drinkest! Why, what is
+      it, good Eudosius? art sick? Surely, then, this wine must be as the water
+      of jealousy of those Jews, that has power to slay the false and strengthen
+      the honest only. Go, some of you, search this man&rsquo;s room; methinks he is a
+      traitor!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Meanwhile the man stood, his hands to his head. Presently he began to
+      tremble, and then fell, clutching at his bosom, as though to tear out the
+      fire in his heart. He staggered, with livid, twisted face and foaming
+      lips, to where Cleopatra lay watching him with a slow and cruel smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah, traitor! thou hast it now!&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Prithee, is death sweet?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou wanton!&rdquo; yelled the dying man, &ldquo;thou hast poisoned me! Thus mayst
+      thou also perish!&rdquo; and with one shriek he flung himself upon her. She saw
+      his purpose, and swift and supple as a tiger sprang to one side, so that
+      he did but grasp her royal cloak, tearing it from its emerald clasp. Down
+      he fell upon the ground, rolling over and over in the purple chiton, till
+      presently he lay still and dead, his tormented face and frozen eyes
+      peering ghastly from its folds.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; said the Queen, with a hard laugh, &ldquo;the slave died wondrous hard,
+      and fain would have drawn me with him. See, he has borrowed my garment for
+      a pall! Take him away and bury him in his livery.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What means Cleopatra?&rdquo; said Antony, as the guards dragged the corpse
+      away; &ldquo;the man drank of my cup. What is the purpose of this most sorry
+      jest?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It serves a double end, noble Antony! This very night that man would have
+      fled to Octavianus, bearing of our treasure with him. Well, I have lent
+      him wings, for the dead fly fast! Also this: thou didst fear that I should
+      poison thee, my Lord; nay, I know it. See now, Antony, how easy it were
+      that I should slay thee if I had the will. That wreath of roses which thou
+      didst steep within the cup is dewed with deadly bane. Had I, then, a mind
+      to make an end of thee, I had not stayed thy hand. O Antony, henceforth
+      trust me! Sooner would I slay myself than harm one hair of thy beloved
+      head! See, here come my messengers! Speak, what did ye find?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Royal Egypt, we found this. All things in the chamber of Eudosius are
+      made ready for flight, and in his baggage is much treasure.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou hearest?&rdquo; she said, smiling darkly. &ldquo;Think ye, my loyal servants
+      all, that Cleopatra is one with whom it is well to play the traitor? Be
+      warned by this Roman&rsquo;s fate!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then a great silence of fear fell upon the company, and Antony sat also
+      silent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0029" id="link2HCH0029">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VI
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE WORKINGS OF THE LEARNED OLYMPUS AT MEMPHIS; OF THE POISONINGS OF
+      CLEOPATRA; OF THE SPEECH OF ANTONY TO HIS CAPTAINS; AND OF THE PASSING OF
+      ISIS FROM THE LAND OF KHEM
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now I, Harmachis, must make speed with my task, setting down that which is
+      permitted as shortly as may be, and leaving much untold. For of this I am
+      warned, that Doom draws on and my days are wellnigh sped. After the
+      drawing forth of Antony from the Timonium came that time of heavy quiet
+      which heralds the rising of the desert wind. Antony and Cleopatra once
+      again gave themselves up to luxury, and night by night feasted in
+      splendour at the palace. They sent ambassadors to Cæsar; but Cæsar would
+      have none of them; and, this hope being gone, they turned their minds to
+      the defence of Alexandria. Men were gathered, ships were built, and a
+      great force was made ready against the coming of Cæsar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And now, aided by Charmion, I began my last work of hate and vengeance. I
+      wormed myself deep into the secrets of the palace, counselling all things
+      for evil. I bade Cleopatra keep Antony gay, lest he should brood upon his
+      sorrows: and thus she sapped his strength and energy with luxury and wine.
+      I gave him of my draughts&mdash;draughts that sank his soul in dreams of
+      happiness and power, leaving him to wake to a heavier misery. Soon,
+      without my healing medicine he could not sleep, and thus, being ever at
+      his side, I bound his weakened will to mine, till at last he would do
+      little if I said not &ldquo;It is well.&rdquo; Cleopatra, also grown very
+      superstitious, leaned much upon me; for I prophesied falsely to her in
+      secret.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Moreover, I wove other webs. My fame was great throughout Egypt, for
+      during the long years that I had dwelt in Tápé it had spread through all
+      the land. Therefore many men of note came to me, both for their health&rsquo;s
+      sake and because it was known that I had the ear of Antony and the Queen;
+      and, in these days of doubt and trouble, they were fain to learn the
+      truth. All these men I worked upon with doubtful words, sapping their
+      loyalty; and I caused many to fall away, and yet none could bear an evil
+      report of what I had said. Also, Cleopatra sent me to Memphis, there to
+      move the Priests and Governors that they should gather men in Upper Egypt
+      for the defence of Alexandria. And I went and spoke to the priests with
+      such a double meaning and with so much wisdom that they knew me to be one
+      of the initiated in the deeper mysteries. But how I, Olympus the
+      physician, came thus to be initiated none might say. And afterwards they
+      sought me secretly, and I gave them the holy sign of brotherhood; and
+      thereunder bade them not to ask who I might be, but send no aid to
+      Cleopatra. Rather, I said, must they make peace with Cæsar, for by Cæsar&rsquo;s
+      grace only could the worship of the Gods endure in Khem. So, having taken
+      counsel of the Holy Apis, they promised in public to give help to
+      Cleopatra, but in secret sent an embassy to Cæsar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus, then, it came to pass that Egypt gave but little aid to its hated
+      Macedonian Queen. Thence from Memphis I came once more to Alexandria, and,
+      having made favourable report, continued my secret work. And, indeed, the
+      Alexandrians could not easily be stirred, for, as they say in the
+      marketplace, &ldquo;The ass looks at its burden and is blind to its master.&rdquo;
+       Cleopatra had oppressed them so long that the Roman was like a welcome
+      friend.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus the time passed on, and every night found Cleopatra with fewer
+      friends than that which had gone before, for in evil days friends fly like
+      swallows before the frost. Yet she would not give up Antony, whom she
+      loved; though to my knowledge Cæsar, by his freedman, Thyreus, made
+      promise to her of her dominions for herself and for her children if she
+      would but slay Antony, or even betray him bound. But to this her woman&rsquo;s
+      heart&mdash;for still she had a heart&mdash;would not consent, and,
+      moreover, we counselled her against it, for of necessity we must hold him
+      to her, lest, Antony escaping or being slain, Cleopatra might ride out the
+      storm and yet be Queen of Egypt. And this grieved me, because Antony,
+      though weak, was still a brave man, and a great; and, moreover, in my own
+      heart I read the lesson of his woes. For were we not akin in wretchedness?
+      Had not the same woman robbed us of Empire, Friends, and Honour? But pity
+      has no place in politics, nor could it turn my feet from the path of
+      vengeance it was ordained that I should tread. Cæsar drew nigh; Pelusium
+      fell; the end was at hand. It was Charmion who brought the tidings to the
+      Queen and Antony, as they slept in the heat of the day, and I came with
+      her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Awake!&rdquo; she cried. &ldquo;Awake! This is no time for sleep! Seleucus hath
+      surrendered Pelusium to Cæsar, who marches straight on Alexandria!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      With a great oath, Antony sprang up and clutched Cleopatra by the arm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou hast betrayed me&mdash;by the Gods I swear it! Now thou shalt pay
+      the price!&rdquo; And snatching up his sword he drew it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stay thy hand, Antony!&rdquo; she cried. &ldquo;It is false&mdash;I know naught of
+      this!&rdquo; And she sprang upon him, and clung about his neck, weeping. &ldquo;I know
+      naught, my Lord. Take thou the wife of Seleucus and his little children,
+      whom I hold in guard, and avenge thyself. O Antony, Antony! why dost thou
+      doubt me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Antony threw down his sword upon the marble, and, casting himself
+      upon the couch, hid his face, and groaned in bitterness of spirit.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Charmion smiled, for it was she who had sent secretly to Seleucus, her
+      friend, counselling him to surrender forthwith, saying that no fight would
+      be made at Alexandria. And that very night Cleopatra took all her great
+      store of pearls and emeralds&mdash;those that remained of the treasure of
+      Menkau-ra&mdash;all her wealth of gold, ebony, ivory, and cinnamon,
+      treasure without price, and placed it in the mausoleum of granite which,
+      after our Egyptian fashion, she had built upon the hill that is by the
+      Temple of the Holy Isis. These riches she piled up upon a bed of flax,
+      that, when she fired it, all might perish in the flame and escape the
+      greed of money-loving Octavianus. And she slept henceforth in this tomb,
+      away from Antony; but in the daytime she still saw him at the palace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But a little while after, when Cæsar with all his great force had already
+      crossed the Caponic mouth of the Nile and was hard on Alexandria, I came
+      to the palace, whither Cleopatra had summoned me. There I found her in the
+      Alabaster Hall, royally clad, a wild light in her eyes, and, with her,
+      Iras and Charmion, and before her guards; and stretched here and there
+      upon the marble, bodies of dead men, among whom lay one yet dying.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Greeting, thou Olympus!&rdquo; she cried. &ldquo;Here is a sight to glad a
+      physician&rsquo;s heart&mdash;men dead and men sick unto death!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What doest thou, O Queen?&rdquo; I said affrighted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do I? I wreak justice on these criminals and traitors; and, Olympus,
+      I learn the ways of death. I have caused six different poisons to be given
+      to these slaves, and with an attentive eye have watched their working.
+      That man,&rdquo; and she pointed to a Nubian, &ldquo;he went mad, and raved of his
+      native deserts and his mother. He thought himself a child again, poor
+      fool! and bade her hold him close to her breast and save him from the
+      darkness which drew near. And that Greek, he shrieked, and, shrieking,
+      died. And this, he wept and prayed for pity, and in the end, like a
+      coward, breathed his last. Now, note the Egyptian yonder, he who still
+      lives and groans; first he took the draught&mdash;the deadliest draught of
+      all, they swore&mdash;and yet the slave so dearly loves his life he will
+      not leave it! See, he yet strives to throw the poison from him; twice have
+      I given him the cup and yet he is athirst. What a drunkard we have here!
+      Man, man, knowest thou not that in death only can peace be found? Struggle
+      no more, but enter into rest.&rdquo; And even as she spoke, the man, with a
+      great cry, gave up the spirit.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There!&rdquo; she cried, &ldquo;at length the farce is played&mdash;away with those
+      slaves whom I have forced through the difficult gates of Joy!&rdquo; and she
+      clapped her hands. But when they had borne the bodies thence she drew me
+      to her, and spoke thus:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Olympus, for all thy prophecies, the end is at hand. Cæsar must conquer,
+      and I and my Lord Antony be lost. Now, therefore, the play being wellnigh
+      done, I must make ready to leave this stage of earth in such fashion as
+      becomes a Queen. For this cause, then, I do make trial of these poisons,
+      seeing that in my person I must soon endure those agonies of death that
+      to-day I give to others. These drugs please me not; some wrench out the
+      soul with cruel pains, and some too slowly work their end. But thou art
+      skilled in the medicines of death. Now, do thou prepare me such a draught
+      as shall, pangless, steal my life away.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And as I listened the sense of triumph filled my bitter heart, for I knew
+      now that by my own hand should this ruined woman die and the justice of
+      the Gods be done.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Spoken like a Queen, O Cleopatra!&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;Death shall cure thy ills,
+      and I will brew such a wine as shall draw him down a sudden friend and
+      sink thee in a sea of slumber whence, upon this earth, thou shalt never
+      wake again. Oh! fear not Death: Death is thy hope; and, surely, thou shalt
+      pass sinless and pure of heart into the dreadful presence of the Gods!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She trembled. &ldquo;And if the heart be not altogether pure, tell me&mdash;thou
+      dark man&mdash;what then? Nay, I fear not the Gods! for if the Gods of
+      Hell be men, there I shall Queen it also. At the least, having once been
+      royal, royal I shall ever be.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And, as she spoke, suddenly from the palace gates came a great clamour,
+      and the noise of joyful shouting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, what is this?&rdquo; she said, springing from her couch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Antony! Antony!&rdquo; rose the cry; &ldquo;Antony hath conquered!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She turned swiftly and ran, her long hair streaming on the wind. I
+      followed her, more slowly, down the great hall, across the courtyards, to
+      the palace gates. And here she met Antony, riding through them, radiant
+      with smiles and clad in his Roman armour. When he saw her he leapt to the
+      ground, and, all armed as he was, clasped her to his breast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is it?&rdquo; she cried; &ldquo;is Cæsar fallen?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, not altogether fallen, Egypt: but we have beat his horsemen back to
+      their trenches, and, like the beginning, so shall be the end, for, as they
+      say here, &lsquo;Where the head goes, the tail will follow.&rsquo; Moreover, Cæsar has
+      my challenge, and if he will but meet me hand to hand, the world shall
+      soon see which is the better man, Antony or Octavian.&rdquo; And even as he
+      spoke and the people cheered there came the cry of &ldquo;A messenger from
+      Cæsar!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The herald entered, and, bowing low, gave a writing to Antony, bowed
+      again, and went. Cleopatra snatched it from his hand, broke the silk and
+      read aloud:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cæsar to Antony, greeting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This answer to thy challenge: Can Antony find no better way of death than
+      beneath the sword of Cæsar? Farewell!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And thereafter they cheered no more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The darkness came, and before it was midnight, having feasted with his
+      friends who to-night went over his woes and to-morrow should betray him,
+      Antony went forth to the gathering of the captains of the land-forces and
+      of the fleet, attended by many, among whom was I.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When all were come together, he spoke to them, standing bareheaded in
+      their midst, beneath the radiance of the moon. And thus he most nobly
+      spoke:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Friends and companions in arms! who yet cling to me, and whom many a time
+      I have led to victory, hearken to me now, who to-morrow may lie in the
+      dumb dust, disempired and dishonoured. This is our design: no longer will
+      we hang on poised wings above the flood of war, but will straightway
+      plunge, perchance thence to snatch the victor&rsquo;s diadem, or, failing, there
+      to drown. Be now but true to me, and to your honour&rsquo;s sake, and you may
+      still sit, the most proud of men, at my right hand in the Capitol of Rome.
+      Fail me now, and the cause of Antony is lost and so are ye. To-morrow&rsquo;s
+      battle must be hazardous indeed, but we have stood many a time and faced a
+      fiercer peril, and ere the sun had sunk, once more have driven armies like
+      desert sands before our gale of valour and counted the spoil of hostile
+      kings. What have we to fear? Though allies be fled, still is our array as
+      strong as Cæsar&rsquo;s! And show we but as high a heart, why, I swear to you,
+      upon my princely word, to-morrow night I shall deck yonder Canopic gate
+      with the heads of Octavian and his captains!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, cheer, and cheer again! I love that martial music which swells, not
+      as from the indifferent lips of clarions, now &lsquo;neath the breath of Antony
+      and now of Cæsar, but rather out of the single hearts of men who love me.
+      Yet&mdash;and now I will speak low, as we do speak o&rsquo;er the bier of some
+      beloved dead&mdash;yet, if Fortune should rise against me and if, borne
+      down by the weight of arms, Antony, the soldier, dies a soldier&rsquo;s death,
+      leaving you to mourn him who ever was your friend, this is my will, that,
+      after our rough fashion of the camp, I here declare to you. You know where
+      all my treasure lies. Take it, most dear friends; and, in the memory of
+      Antony, make just division. Then go to Cæsar and speak thus: &lsquo;Antony, the
+      dead, to Cæsar, the living, sends greeting; and, in the name of ancient
+      fellowship and of many a peril dared, craves this boon: the safety of
+      those who clung to him and that which he hath given them.&rsquo; 
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, let not my tears&mdash;for I must weep&mdash;overflow your eyes!
+      Why, it is not manly; &lsquo;tis most womanish! All men must die, and death were
+      welcome were it not so lone. Should I fall, I leave my children to your
+      tender care&mdash;if, perchance, it may avail to save them from the fate
+      of helplessness. Soldiers, enough! to-morrow at the dawn we spring on
+      Cæsar&rsquo;s throat, both by land and sea. Swear that ye will cling to me, even
+      to the last issue!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We swear!&rdquo; they cried. &ldquo;Noble Antony, we swear!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well! Once more my star grows bright; to-morrow, set in the highest
+      heaven, it yet may shine the lamp of Cæsar down! Till then, farewell!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He turned to go. As he went they caught his hand and kissed it; and so
+      deeply were they moved that many wept like children; nor could Antony
+      master his grief, for, in the moonlight, I saw tears roll down his
+      furrowed cheeks and fall upon that mighty breast.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And, seeing all this, I was much troubled. For I well knew that if these
+      men held firm to Antony all might yet go well for Cleopatra; and though I
+      bore no ill-will against Antony, yet he must fall, and in that fall drag
+      down the woman who, like some poisonous plant, had twined herself about
+      his giant strength till it choked and mouldered in her embrace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Therefore, when Antony went I went not, but stood back in the shadow
+      watching the faces of the lords and captains as they spoke together.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then it is agreed!&rdquo; said he who should lead the fleet. &ldquo;And this we swear
+      to, one and all, that we will cling to noble Antony to the last extremity
+      of fortune!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay! ay!&rdquo; they answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay! ay!&rdquo; I said, speaking from the shadow; &ldquo;cling, and <i>die!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They turned fiercely and seized me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who is he?&rdquo; quoth one.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Tis that dark-faced dog, Olympus!&rdquo; cried another. &ldquo;Olympus, the
+      magician!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Olympus, the traitor!&rdquo; growled another; &ldquo;put an end to him and his
+      magic!&rdquo; and he drew his sword.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay! slay him; he would betray the Lord Antony, whom he is paid to
+      doctor.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hold a while!&rdquo; I said in a slow and solemn voice, &ldquo;and beware how ye try
+      to murder the servant of the Gods. I am no traitor. For myself, I abide
+      the event here in Alexandria, but to you I say, Flee, flee to Cæsar! I
+      serve Antony and the Queen&mdash;I serve them truly; but above all I serve
+      the Holy Gods; and what they make known to me, that, Lords, I do know. And
+      I know this: that Antony is doomed, and Cleopatra is doomed, for Cæsar
+      conquers. Therefore, because I honour you, noble gentlemen, and think with
+      pity on your wives, left widowed, and your little fatherless children,
+      that shall, if ye hold to Antony, be sold as slaves&mdash;therefore, I
+      say, cling to Antony if ye will and die; or flee to Cæsar and be saved!
+      And this I say because it is so ordained of the Gods.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Gods!&rdquo; they growled; &ldquo;what Gods? Slit the traitor&rsquo;s throat, and stop
+      his ill-omened talk!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let him show us a sign from his Gods or let him die: I do mistrust this
+      man,&rdquo; said another.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stand back, ye fools!&rdquo; I cried. &ldquo;Stand back&mdash;free mine arms&mdash;and
+      I will show you a sign;&rdquo; and there was that in my face which frightened
+      them, for they freed me and stood back. Then I lifted up my hands and
+      putting out all my strength of soul searched the depths of space till my
+      Spirit communed with the Spirit of my Mother Isis. Only the Word of Power
+      I uttered not, as I had been bidden. And the holy mystery of the Goddess
+      answered to my Spirit&rsquo;s cry, falling in awful silence upon the face of the
+      earth. Deeper and deeper grew the terrible silence; even the dogs ceased
+      to howl, and in the city men stood still afeared. Then, from far away,
+      there came the ghostly music of the sistra. Faint it was at first, but
+      ever as it came it grew more loud, till the air shivered with the
+      unearthly sound of terror. I said naught, but pointed with my hand toward
+      the sky. And behold! bosomed upon the air, floated a vast veiled Shape
+      that, heralded by the swelling music of the sistra, drew slowly near, till
+      its shadow lay upon us. It came, it passed, it went toward the camp of
+      Cæsar, till at length the music died away, and the awful Shape was
+      swallowed in the night.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is Bacchus!&rdquo; cried one. &ldquo;Bacchus, who leaves lost Antony!&rdquo; and, as he
+      spoke, there rose a groan of terror from all the camp.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But I knew that it was not Bacchus, the false God, but the Divine Isis who
+      deserted Khem, and, passing over the edge of the world, sought her home in
+      space, to be no more known of men. For though her worship is still upheld,
+      though still she is here and in all Earths, Isis manifests herself no more
+      in Egypt. I hid my face and prayed, but when I lifted it from my robe, lo!
+      all had fled and I was alone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0030" id="link2HCH0030">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VII
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE SURRENDER OF THE TROOPS AND FLEET OF ANTONY BEFORE THE CANOPIC
+      GATE; OF THE END OF ANTONY, AND OF THE BREWING OF THE DRAUGHT OF DEATH
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the morrow, at dawn, Antony came forth and gave command that his fleet
+      should advance against the fleet of Cæsar, and that his cavalry should
+      open the land-battle with the cavalry of Cæsar. Accordingly, the fleet
+      advanced in a triple line, and the fleet of Cæsar came out to meet it. But
+      when they met, the galleys of Antony lifted their oars in greeting, and
+      passed over to the galleys of Cæsar; and they sailed away together. And
+      the cavalry of Antony rode forth beyond the Hippodrome to charge the
+      cavalry of Cæsar; but when they met, they lowered their swords and passed
+      over to the camp of Cæsar, deserting Antony. Then Antony grew mad with
+      rage and terrible to see. He shouted to his legions to stand firm and wait
+      attack; and for a little while they stood. One man, however&mdash;that
+      same officer who would have slain me on the yesternight&mdash;strove to
+      fly; but Antony seized him with his own hand, threw him to the earth, and,
+      springing from his horse, drew his sword to slay him. He held his sword on
+      high, while the man, covering his face, awaited death. But Antony dropped
+      his sword and bade him rise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Go!&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Go to Cæsar, and prosper! I did love thee once. Why, then,
+      among so many traitors, should I single thee out for death?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The man rose and looked upon him sorrowfully. Then, shame overwhelming
+      him, with a great cry he tore open his shirt of mail, plunged his sword
+      into his own heart and fell down dead. Antony stood and gazed at him, but
+      he said never a word. Meanwhile the ranks of Cæsar&rsquo;s legions drew near,
+      and so soon as they crossed spears the legions of Antony turned and fled.
+      Then the soldiers of Cæsar stood still mocking them; but scarce a man was
+      slain, for they pursued not.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fly, Lord Antony! fly!&rdquo; cried Eros, his servant, who alone with me stayed
+      by him. &ldquo;Fly ere thou art dragged a prisoner to Cæsar!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So he turned and fled, groaning heavily. I went with him, and as we rode
+      through the Canopic gate, where many folk stood wondering, Antony spoke to
+      me:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Go, thou, Olympus; go to the Queen and say: &lsquo;Antony sends greeting to
+      Cleopatra, who hath betrayed him! To Cleopatra he sends greeting and
+      farewell!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And so I went to the tomb, but Antony fled to the palace. When I came to
+      the tomb I knocked upon the door, and Charmion looked forth from the
+      window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Open,&rdquo; I cried, and she opened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What news, Harmachis?&rdquo; she whispered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Charmion,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;the end is at hand. Antony is fled!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; she answered; &ldquo;I am aweary.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And there on her golden bed sat Cleopatra.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Speak, man!&rdquo; she cried.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Antony has fled, his forces are fled, Cæsar draws near. To Cleopatra the
+      great Antony sends greeting and farewell. Greeting to Cleopatra who
+      betrayed him, and farewell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is a lie!&rdquo; she screamed; &ldquo;I betrayed him not! Thou, Olympus, go
+      swiftly to Antony and answer thus: &lsquo;To Antony, Cleopatra, who hath not
+      betrayed him, sends greeting and farewell. Cleopatra is no more.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And so I went, following out my purpose. In the Alabaster Hall I found
+      Antony pacing to and fro, tossing his hands toward heaven, and with him
+      Eros, for of all his servants Eros alone remained by this fallen man.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lord Antony,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;Egypt bids thee farewell. Egypt is dead by her own
+      hand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Dead! dead!&rdquo; he whispered, &ldquo;and is Egypt dead? and is that form of glory
+      now food for worms? Oh, what a woman was this! E&rsquo;en now my heart goes out
+      towards her. And shall she outdo me at the last, I who have been so great;
+      shall I become so small that a woman can overtop my courage and pass where
+      I fear to follow? Eros, thou hast loved me from a boy&mdash;mindest thou
+      how I found thee starving in the desert, and made thee rich, giving thee
+      place and wealth? Come, now pay me back. Draw that sword thou wearest and
+      make an end of the woes of Antony.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, Sire,&rdquo; cried the Greek, &ldquo;I cannot! How can I take away the life of
+      godlike Antony?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Answer me not, Eros; but in the last extreme of fate this I charge thee.
+      Do thou my bidding, or begone and leave me quite alone! No more will I see
+      thy face, thou unfaithful servant!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Eros drew his sword and Antony knelt before him and bared his breast,
+      turning his eyes to heaven. But Eros, crying &ldquo;I cannot! oh, I cannot!&rdquo;
+       plunged the sword to his own heart, and fell dead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Antony rose and gazed upon him. &ldquo;Why, Eros, that was nobly done,&rdquo; he said.
+      &ldquo;Thou art greater than I, yet I have learned thy lesson!&rdquo; and he knelt
+      down and kissed him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, rising of a sudden, he drew the sword from the heart of Eros,
+      plunged it into his bowels, and fell, groaning, on the couch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O thou, Olympus,&rdquo; he cried, &ldquo;this pain is more than I can bear! Make an
+      end of me, Olympus!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But pity stirred me, and I could not do this thing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Therefore I drew the sword from his vitals, staunched the flow of blood,
+      and, calling to those who came crowding in to see Antony die, I bade them
+      summon Atoua from my house at the palace gates. Presently she came,
+      bringing with her simples and life-giving draughts. These I gave to
+      Antony, and bade Atoua go with such speed as her old limbs might to
+      Cleopatra, in the tomb, and tell her of the state of Antony.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So she went, and after a while returned, saying that the Queen yet lived
+      and summoned Antony to die in her arms. And with her came Diomedes. When
+      Antony heard, his ebbing strength came back, for he was fain to look upon
+      Cleopatra&rsquo;s face again. So I called to the slaves&mdash;who peeped and
+      peered through curtains and from behind pillars to see this great man die&mdash;and
+      together, with much toil, we bore him thence till we came to the foot of
+      the Mausoleum.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Cleopatra, being afraid of treachery, would no more throw wide the
+      door; so she let down a rope from the window and we made it fast beneath
+      the arms of Antony. Then did Cleopatra, who the while wept most bitterly,
+      together with Charmion and Iras the Greek, pull on the rope with all their
+      strength, while we lifted from below till the dying Antony swung in the
+      air, groaning heavily, and the blood dropped from his gaping wound. Twice
+      he nearly fell to earth: but Cleopatra, striving with the strength of love
+      and of despair, held him till at length she drew him through the
+      windowplace, while all who saw the dreadful sight wept bitterly, and beat
+      their breasts&mdash;all save myself and Charmion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When he was in, once more the rope was let down, and, with some aid from
+      Charmion, I climbed into the tomb, drawing up the rope after me. There I
+      found Antony, laid upon the golden bed of Cleopatra; and she, her breast
+      bare, her face stained with tears, and her hair streaming wildly about
+      him, knelt at his side and kissed him, wiping the blood from his wounds
+      with her robes and hair. And let all my shame be written: as I stood and
+      watched her the old love awoke once more within me, and mad jealousy raged
+      in my heart because&mdash;though I could destroy these twain&mdash;I could
+      not destroy their love.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Antony! my Sweet, my Husband, and my God!&rdquo; she moaned. &ldquo;Cruel Antony,
+      hast thou the heart to die and leave me to my lonely shame? I will follow
+      thee swiftly to the grave. Antony, awake! awake!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He lifted up his head and called for wine, which I gave him, mixing
+      therein a draught that might allay his pain, for it was great. And when he
+      had drunk he bade Cleopatra lie down on the bed beside him, and put her
+      arms about him; and this she did. Then was Antony once more a man; for,
+      forgetting his own misery and pain, he counselled her as to her own
+      safety: but to this talk she would not listen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The hour is short,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;let us speak of this great love of ours
+      that hath been so long and may yet endure beyond the coasts of Death.
+      Mindest thou that night when first thou didst put thine arms about me and
+      call me &lsquo;Love&rsquo;? Oh! happy, happy night! Having known that night it is well
+      to have lived&mdash;even to this bitter end!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, Egypt, I mind it well and dwell upon its memory, though from that
+      hour fortune has fled from me&mdash;lost in my depth of love for thee,
+      thou Beautiful. I mind it!&rdquo; he gasped; &ldquo;then didst thou drink the pearl in
+      wanton play, and then did that astrologer of thine call out his hour&mdash;&lsquo;The
+      hour of the coming of the curse of Menkau-ra.&rsquo; Through all the after-days
+      those words have haunted me, and now at the last they ring in my ears.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He is long dead, my love,&rdquo; she whispered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If he be dead, then I am near him. What meant he?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He is dead, the accursed man!&mdash;no more of him! Oh! turn and kiss me,
+      for thy face grows white. The end is near!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He kissed her on the lips, and for a little while so they stayed, to the
+      moment of death, babbling their passion in each other&rsquo;s ears, like lovers
+      newly wed. Even to my jealous heart, it was a strange and awful thing to
+      see.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Presently, I saw the Change of Death gather on his face. His head fell
+      back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Farewell, Egypt; farewell!&mdash;I die!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Cleopatra lifted herself upon her hands, gazed wildly on his ashen face,
+      and then, with a great cry, she sank back swooning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Antony yet lived, though the power of speech had left him. Then I drew
+      near and, kneeling, made pretence to minister to him. And as I ministered
+      I whispered in his ear:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Antony,&rdquo; I whispered, &ldquo;Cleopatra was my love before she passed from me to
+      thee. I am Harmachis, that astrologer who stood behind thy couch at
+      Tarsus; and I have been the chief minister of thy ruin.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>Die, Antony!&mdash;the curse of Menkau-ra hath fallen!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He raised himself, and stared upon my face. He could not speak, but,
+      gibbering, he pointed at me. Then with a groan his spirit fled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus did I accomplish my revenge upon Roman Antony, the World-loser.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thereafter, we recovered Cleopatra from her swoon, for not yet was I
+      minded that she should die. And taking the body of Antony, Cæsar
+      permitting, I and Atoua caused it to be most skilfully embalmed after our
+      Egyptian fashion, covering the face with a mask of gold fashioned like to
+      the features of Antony. Also I wrote upon his breast his name and titles,
+      and painted his name and the name of his father within his inner coffin,
+      and drew the form of the Holy Nout folding her wings about him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then with great pomp Cleopatra laid him in that sepulchre which had been
+      made ready, and in a sarcophagus of alabaster. Now, this sarcophagus was
+      fashioned so large that place was left in it for a second coffin, for
+      Cleopatra would lie by Antony at the last.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      These things then happened. And but a little while after I learned tidings
+      from one Cornelius Dolabella, a noble Roman who waited upon Cæsar, and,
+      moved by the beauty that swayed the souls of all who looked upon her, had
+      pity for the woes of Cleopatra. He bade me warn her&mdash;for, as her
+      physician, it was allowed me to pass in and out of the tomb where she
+      dwelt&mdash;that in three days she would be sent away to Rome, together
+      with her children, save Cæsarion, whom Octavian had already slain, that
+      she might walk in the triumph of Cæsar. Accordingly I went in, and found
+      her sitting, as now she always sat, plunged in a half stupor, and before
+      her that blood-stained robe with which she had staunched the wounds of
+      Antony. For on this she would continually feast her eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See how faint they grow, Olympus,&rdquo; she said, lifting her sad face and
+      pointing to the rusty stains, &ldquo;and he so lately dead! Why, Gratitude could
+      not fade more fast. What is now thy news? Evil tidings is writ large in
+      those dark eyes of thine, which ever bring back to me something that still
+      slips my mind.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The news is ill, O Queen,&rdquo; I answered. &ldquo;I have this from the lips of
+      Dolabella, who has it straight from Cæsar&rsquo;s secretary. On the third day
+      from now Cæsar will send thee and the Princes Ptolemy and Alexander and
+      the Princess Cleopatra to Rome, there to feast the eyes of the Roman mob,
+      and be led in triumph to that Capitol where thou didst swear to set thy
+      throne!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never, never!&rdquo; she cried, springing to her feet. &ldquo;Never will I walk in
+      chains in Cæsar&rsquo;s triumph! What must I do? Charmion, tell me what I can
+      do!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And Charmion, rising, stood before her, looking at her through the long
+      lashes of her downcast eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lady, thou canst die,&rdquo; she said quietly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, of a truth I had forgotten; I can die. Olympus, hast thou the drug?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay; but if the Queen wills it, by to-morrow morn it shall be brewed&mdash;a
+      drug so swift and strong that not the Gods themselves can hold him who
+      drinks it back from sleep.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let it be made ready, thou Master of Death!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I bowed, and withdrew myself; and all that night I and old Atoua laboured
+      at the distilling of the deadly draught. At length it was done, and Atoua
+      poured it into a crystal phial, and held it to the light of the fire; for
+      it was white as the purest water.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>La! la!</i>&rdquo; she sang, in her shrill voice; &ldquo;a drink for a Queen! When
+      fifty drops of that water of my brewing have passed those red lips of
+      hers, thou wilt indeed be avenged of Cleopatra, O Harmachis! Ah, that I
+      could be there to see thy Ruin ruined! <i>La! la!</i> it would be sweet to
+      see!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Vengeance is an arrow that oft-times falls upon the archer&rsquo;s head,&rdquo; I
+      answered, bethinking me of Charmion&rsquo;s saying.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0031" id="link2HCH0031">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VIII
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE LAST SUPPER OF CLEOPATRA; OF THE SONG OF CHARMION; OF THE DRINKING
+      OF THE DRAUGHT OF DEATH; OF THE REVEALING OF HARMACHIS; OF THE SUMMONING
+      OF THE SPIRITS BY HARMACHIS; AND OF THE DEATH OF CLEOPATRA
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the morrow Cleopatra, having sought leave of Cæsar, visited the tomb of
+      Antony, crying that the Gods of Egypt had deserted her. And when she had
+      kissed the coffin and covered it with lotus-flowers she came back, bathed,
+      anointed herself, put on her most splendid robes, and, together with Iras,
+      Charmion, and myself, she supped. Now as she supped her spirit flared up
+      wildly, even as the sky lights up at sunset; and once more she laughed and
+      sparkled as in bygone years, telling us tales of feasts which she and
+      Antony had eaten of. Never, indeed, did I see her look more beauteous than
+      on that last fatal night of vengeance. And thus her mind drew on to that
+      supper at Tarsus when she drank the pearl.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Strange,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;strange that at the last the mind of Antony should
+      have turned back to that night among all the nights and to the saying of
+      Harmachis. Charmion, dost thou remember Harmachis the Egyptian?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Surely, O Queen,&rdquo; she answered slowly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And who, then, was Harmachis?&rdquo; I asked; for I would learn if she sorrowed
+      o&rsquo;er my memory.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will tell thee. It is a strange tale, and now that all is done it may
+      well be told. This Harmachis was of the ancient race of the Pharaohs, and,
+      having, indeed, been crowned in secret at Abydus, was sent hither to
+      Alexandria to carry out a great plot that had been formed against the rule
+      of us royal Lagidæ. He came and gained entry to the palace as my
+      astrologer, for he was very learned in all magic&mdash;much as thou art,
+      Olympus&mdash;and a man beautiful to see. Now this was his plot&mdash;that
+      he should slay me and be named Pharaoh. In truth it was a strong one, for
+      he had many friends in Egypt, and I had few. And on that very night when
+      he should carry out his purpose, yea, at the very hour, came Charmion
+      yonder, and told the plot to me; saying that she had chanced upon its
+      clue. But, in after days&mdash;though I have said little thereon to thee,
+      Charmion&mdash;I misdoubted me much of that tale of thine; for, by the
+      Gods! to this hour I believe that thou didst love Harmachis, and because
+      he scorned thee thou didst betray him; and for that cause also hast all
+      thy days remained a maid, which is a thing unnatural. Come, Charmion, tell
+      us; for naught matters now at the end.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Charmion shivered and made answer: &ldquo;It is true, O Queen; I also was of the
+      plot, and because Harmachis scorned me I betrayed him; and because of my
+      great love for him I have remained unwed.&rdquo; And she glanced up at me and
+      caught my eyes, then let the modest lashes veil her own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So! I thought it. Strange are the ways of women! But little cause,
+      methinks, had that Harmachis to thank thee for thy love. What sayest thou,
+      Olympus? Ah, and so thou also wast a traitor, Charmion? How dangerous are
+      the paths which Monarchs tread! Well, I forgive thee, for thou hast served
+      me faithfully since that hour.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But to my tale. Harmachis I dared not slay, lest his great party should
+      rise in fury and cast me from the throne. And now mark the issue. Though
+      he must murder me, in secret this Harmachis loved me, and something
+      thereof I guessed. I had striven a little to draw him to me, for the sake
+      of his beauty and his wit; and for the love of man Cleopatra never strove
+      in vain. Therefore when, with the dagger in his robe, he came to slay me,
+      I matched my charms against his will, and need I tell you, being man and
+      woman, how I won? Oh, never can I forget the look in the eyes of that
+      fallen prince, that forsworn priest, that discrowned Pharaoh, when, lost
+      in the poppied draught, I saw him sink into a shameful sleep whence he
+      might no more wake with honour! And, thereafter&mdash;till, in the end, I
+      wearied of him, and his sad learned mind, for his guilty soul forbade him
+      to be gay&mdash;a little I came to care for him, though not to love. But
+      he&mdash;he who loved me&mdash;clung to me as a drunkard to the cup which
+      ruins him. Deeming that I should wed him, he betrayed to me the secret of
+      the hidden wealth of the pyramid of <i>Her</i>&mdash;for at the time I
+      much needed treasure&mdash;and together we dared the terrors of the tomb
+      and drew it forth, even from dead Pharaoh&rsquo;s breast. See, this emerald was
+      a part thereof!&rdquo;&mdash;and she pointed to the great scarabæus that she had
+      drawn from the holy heart of Menkau-ra.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And because of what was written in the tomb, and of that Thing which we
+      saw in the tomb&mdash;ah, pest upon it! why does its memory haunt me now?&mdash;and
+      also because of policy, for I would fain have won the love of the
+      Egyptians, I was minded to marry this Harmachis and declare his place and
+      lineage to the world&mdash;ay, and by his aid hold Egypt from the Roman.
+      For Dellius had then come to call me to Antony, and after much thought I
+      determined to send him back with sharp words. But on that very morning, as
+      I tired me for the Court, came Charmion yonder, and I told her this, for I
+      would see how the matter fell upon her mind. Now mark, Olympus, the power
+      of jealousy, that little wedge which yet has strength to rend the tree of
+      Empire, that secret sword which can carve the fate of Kings! This she
+      could in no wise bear&mdash;deny it, Charmion, if thou canst, for now it
+      is clear to me!&mdash;that the man she loved should be given to me as
+      husband&mdash;me, whom <i>he</i> loved! And therefore, with more skill and
+      wit than I can tell, she reasoned with me, showing that I should by no
+      means do this thing, but journey to Antony; and for that, Charmion, I
+      thank thee, now that all is come and gone. And by a very little, her words
+      weighed down my scale of judgment against Harmachis, and I went to Antony.
+      Thus it is through the jealous spleen of yonder fair Charmion and the
+      passion of a man on which I played as on a lyre, that all these things
+      have come to pass. For this cause Octavian sits a King in Alexandria; for
+      this cause Antony is discrowned and dead; and for this cause I, too, must
+      die to-night! Ah! Charmion! Charmion! thou hast much to answer, for thou
+      hast changed the story of the world; and yet, even now&mdash;I would not
+      have it otherwise!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She paused awhile, covering her eyes with her hand; and, looking, I saw
+      great tears upon the cheek of Charmion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And of this Harmachis,&rdquo; I asked; &ldquo;where is he now, O Queen?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where is he? In Amenti, forsooth&mdash;making his peace with Isis,
+      perchance. At Tarsus I saw Antony, and loved him; and from that moment I
+      loathed the sight of the Egyptian, and swore to make an end of him; for a
+      lover done with should be a lover dead. And, being jealous, he spoke some
+      words of evil omen, even at that Feast of the Pearl; and on the same night
+      I would have slain him, but before the deed was done, he was gone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And whither was he gone?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay; that know not I. Brennus&mdash;he who led my guard, and last year
+      sailed North to join his own people&mdash;Brennus swore he saw him float
+      to the skies; but in this matter I misdoubted me of Brennus, for methinks
+      he loved the man. Nay, he sank off Cyprus, and was drowned; perchance
+      Charmion can tell us how?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I can tell thee nothing, O Queen; Harmachis is lost.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And well lost, Charmion, for he was an evil man to play with&mdash;ay,
+      although I bettered him I say it! Well he served my purpose; but I loved
+      him not, and even now I fear him; for it seemed to me that I heard his
+      voice summoning me to fly, through the din of the fight at Actium. Thanks
+      be to the Gods, as thou sayest, he is lost, and can no more be found.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But I, listening, put forth my strength, and, by the arts I have, cast the
+      shadow of my Spirit upon the Spirit of Cleopatra so that she felt the
+      presence of the lost Harmachis.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, what is it?&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;By Serapis! I grow afraid! It seems to me
+      that I feel Harmachis here! His memory overwhelms me like a flood of
+      waters, and he these ten years dead! Oh! at such a time it is unholy!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, O Queen,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;if he be dead then he is everywhere, and well
+      at such a time&mdash;the time of thy own death&mdash;may his Spirit draw
+      near to welcome thine at its going.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Speak not thus, Olympus. I would see Harmachis no more; the count between
+      us is too heavy, and in another world than this more evenly, perchance
+      should we be matched. Ah, the terror passes! I was but unnerved. Well the
+      fool&rsquo;s story hath served to wile away the heaviest of our hours, the hour
+      which ends in death. Sing to me, Charmion, sing, for thy voice is very
+      sweet, and I would soothe my soul to sleep. The memory of that Harmachis
+      has wrung me strangely! Sing, then, the last song I shall hear from those
+      tuneful lips of thine, the last of so many songs.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is a sad hour for song, O Queen!&rdquo; said Charmion; but, nevertheless,
+      she took her harp and sang. And thus she sang, very soft and low, the
+      dirge of the sweet-tongued Syrian Meleager:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     Tears for my lady dead,
+     Heliodore!
+     Salt tears and strange to shed,
+     Over and o&rsquo;er;
+     Go tears and low lament
+     Fare from her tomb,
+     Wend where my lady went,
+     Down through the gloom&mdash;
+     Sighs for my lady dead,
+     Tears do I send,
+     Long love remembered,
+     Mistress and friend!
+     Sad are the songs we sing,
+     Tears that we shed,
+     Empty the gifts we bring&mdash;
+     Gifts to the dead!
+     Ah, for my flower, my Love,
+     Hades hath taken,
+     Ah, for the dust above,
+     Scattered and shaken!
+     Mother of blade and grass,
+     Earth, in thy breast
+     Lull her that gentlest was,
+     Gently to rest!
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      The music of her voice died away, and it was so sweet and sad that Iras
+      began to weep and the bright tears stood in Cleopatra&rsquo;s stormy eyes. Only
+      I wept not; my tears were dry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;&lsquo;Tis a heavy song of thine, Charmion,&rdquo; said the Queen. &ldquo;Well, as thou
+      saidst, it is a sad hour for song, and thy dirge is fitted to the hour.
+      Sing it over me once again when I lie dead, Charmion. And now farewell to
+      music, and on to the end. Olympus, take yonder parchment and write what I
+      shall say.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I took the parchment and the reed, and wrote thus in the Roman tongue:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cleopatra to Octavianus, greeting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is the state of life. At length there comes an hour when, rather
+      than endure those burdens that overwhelm us, putting off the body we would
+      take wing into forgetfulness. Cæsar, thou hast conquered: take thou the
+      spoils of victory. But in thy triumph Cleopatra cannot walk. When all is
+      lost, then we must go to seek the lost. Thus in the desert of Despair the
+      brave do harvest Resolution. Cleopatra hath been great as Antony was
+      great, nor shall her fame be minished in the manner of her end. Slaves
+      live to endure their wrong; but Princes, treading with a firmer step, pass
+      through the gates of Wrong into the royal Dwellings of the Dead. This only
+      doth Egypt ask of Cæsar&mdash;that he suffer her to lie in the tomb of
+      Antony. Farewell!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This I wrote, and having sealed the writing, Cleopatra bade me go find a
+      messenger, despatch it to Cæsar, and then return. So I went, and at the
+      door of the tomb I called a soldier who was not on duty, and, giving him
+      money, bade him take the letter to Cæsar. Then I went back, and there in
+      the chamber the three women stood in silence, Cleopatra clinging to the
+      arm of Iras, and Charmion a little apart watching the twain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If indeed thou art minded to make an end, O Queen,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;the time is
+      short, for presently Cæsar will send his servants in answer to thy
+      letter,&rdquo; and I drew forth the phial of white and deadly bane and set it
+      upon the board.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She took it in her hand and gazed thereon. &ldquo;How innocent it seems!&rdquo; she
+      said; &ldquo;and yet therein lies my death. &lsquo;Tis strange.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, Queen, and the death of ten other folk. No need to take so long a
+      draught.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I fear,&rdquo; she gasped&mdash;&ldquo;how know I that it will slay outright? I have
+      seen so many die by poison and scarce one has died outright. And some&mdash;ah,
+      I cannot think on them!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fear not,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;I am a master of my craft. Or, if thou dost fear,
+      cast this poison forth and live. In Rome thou mayst still find happiness;
+      ay, in Rome, where thou shalt walk in Cæsar&rsquo;s triumph, while the laughter
+      of the hard-eyed Latin women shall chime down the music of thy golden
+      chains.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, I will die, Olympus. Oh, if one would but show the path.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Iras loosed her hand and stepped forward. &ldquo;Give me the draught,
+      Physician,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I go to make ready for my Queen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is well,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;on thy own head be it!&rdquo; and I poured from the
+      phial into a little golden goblet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She raised it, curtsied low to Cleopatra, then, coming forward, kissed her
+      on the brow, and Charmion she also kissed. This done, tarrying not and
+      making no prayer, for Iras was a Greek, she drank, and, putting her hand
+      to her head, instantly fell down and died.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou seest,&rdquo; I said, breaking in upon the silence, &ldquo;it is swift.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, Olympus; thine is a master drug! Come now, I thirst; fill me the
+      bowl, lest Iras weary in waiting at the gates!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So I poured afresh into the goblet; but this time, making pretence to
+      rinse the cup, I mixed a little water with the bane, for I was not minded
+      that she should die before she knew me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then did the royal Cleopatra, taking the goblet in her hand, turn her
+      lovely eyes to heaven and cry aloud:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O ye Gods of Egypt! who have deserted me, to you no longer will I pray,
+      for your ears are shut unto my crying and your eyes blind to my griefs!
+      Therefore, I make entreaty of that last friend whom the Gods, departing,
+      leave to helpless man. Sweep hither, Death, whose winnowing wings enshadow
+      all the world, and give me ear! Draw nigh, thou King of Kings! who, with
+      an equal hand, bringest the fortunate head of one pillow with the slave,
+      and by thy spiritual breath dost waft the bubble of our life far from this
+      hell of earth! Hide me where winds blow not and waters cease to roll;
+      where wars are done and Cæsar&rsquo;s legions cannot march! Take me to a new
+      dominion, and crown me Queen of Peace! Thou art my Lord, O Death, and in
+      thy kiss I have conceived. I am in labour of a Soul: see&mdash;it stands
+      new-born upon the edge of Time! Now&mdash;now&mdash;go, Life! Come, Sleep!
+      Come, Antony!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And, with one glance to heaven, she drank, and cast the goblet to the
+      ground.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then at last came the moment of my pent-up vengeance, and of the vengeance
+      of Egypt&rsquo;s outraged Gods, and of the falling of the curse of Menkau-ra.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What&rsquo;s this?&rdquo; she cried; &ldquo;I grow cold, but I die not! Thou dark
+      physician, thou hast betrayed me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Peace, Cleopatra! Presently shalt thou die and know the fury of the Gods!
+      <i>The curse of Menkau-ra hath fallen!</i> It is finished! Look upon me,
+      woman! Look upon this marred face, this twisted form, this living mass of
+      sorrow! <i>Look! look!</i> Who am I?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She stared upon me wildly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! oh!&rdquo; she shrieked, throwing up her arms; &ldquo;at last I know thee! By the
+      Gods, thou art Harmachis!&mdash;Harmachis risen from the dead!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, Harmachis risen from the dead to drag thee down to death and agony
+      eternal! See, thou Cleopatra; <i>I</i> have ruined thee as thou didst ruin
+      me! I, working in the dark, and helped of the angry Gods, have been thy
+      secret spring of woe! I filled thy heart with fear at Actium; I held the
+      Egyptians from thy aid; I sapped the strength of Antony; I showed the
+      portent of the Gods unto thy captains! By my hand at length thou diest,
+      for I am the instrument of Vengeance! Ruin I pay thee back for ruin,
+      Treachery for treachery, Death for death! Come hither, Charmion, partner
+      of my plots, who betrayed me, but, repenting, art the sharer of my
+      triumph, come watch this fallen wanton die!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Cleopatra heard, and sank back upon the golden bed, groaning &ldquo;And thou,
+      too, Charmion!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A moment so she sat, then her Imperial spirit burnt up glorious before she
+      died.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She staggered from the bed, and, with arms outstretched, she cursed me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! for one hour of life!&rdquo; she cried&mdash;&ldquo;one short hour, that therein
+      I might make thee die in such fashion as thou canst not dream, thou and
+      that false paramour of thine, who betrayed both me and thee! And thou
+      didst love me! Ah, <i>there</i> I have thee still! See, thou subtle,
+      plotting priest&rdquo;&mdash;and with both hands she rent back the royal robes
+      from her bosom&mdash;&ldquo;see, on this fair breast once night by night thy
+      head was pillowed, and thou didst sleep wrapped in these same arms. Now,
+      put away their memory <i>if thou canst!</i> I read it in thine eyes&mdash;that
+      mayst thou not! No torture which I bear can, in its sum, draw nigh to the
+      rage of that deep soul of thine, rent with longings never, never to be
+      reached! Harmachis, thou slave of slaves, from thy triumph-depths I snatch
+      a deeper triumph, and conquered yet I conquer! I spit upon thee&mdash;I
+      defy thee&mdash;and, dying, doom thee to the torment of thy deathless
+      love! O Antony! I come, my Antony!&mdash;I come to thy own dear arms! Soon
+      I shall find thee, and, wrapped in a love undying and divine, together we
+      will float through all the depths of space, and, lips to lips and eyes to
+      eyes, drink of desires grown more sweet with every draught! Or if I find
+      thee not, then I shall sink in peace down the poppied ways of Sleep: and
+      for me the breast of Night, whereon I shall be softly cradled, will yet
+      seem thy bosom, Antony! Oh, I die!&mdash;come, Antony&mdash;and give me
+      peace!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Even in my fury I had quailed beneath her scorn, for home flew the arrows
+      of her winged words. Alas! and alas! it was <i>true</i>&mdash;the shaft of
+      my vengeance fell upon my own head; never had I loved her as I loved her
+      now. My soul was rent with jealous torture, and thus I swore she should
+      not die.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Peace!&rdquo; I cried; &ldquo;what peace is there for thee? Oh! ye Holy Three, hear
+      now my prayer. Osiris, loosen Thou the bonds of Hell and send forth those
+      whom I shall summon! Come Ptolemy, poisoned of thy sister Cleopatra; come
+      Arsinoë, murdered in the sanctuary by thy sister Cleopatra; come Sepa,
+      tortured to death of Cleopatra; come Divine Menkau-ra, whose body
+      Cleopatra tore and whose curse she braved for greed; come one, come all
+      who have died at the hands of Cleopatra! Rush from the breast of Nout and
+      greet her who murdered you! By the link of mystic union, by the symbol of
+      the Life, Spirits, I summon you!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus I spoke the spell; while Charmion, affrighted, clung to my robe, and
+      the dying Cleopatra, resting on her hands, swung slowly to and fro, gazing
+      with vacant eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then the answer came. The casement burst asunder, and on flittering wings
+      that great bat entered which last I had seen hanging to the eunuch&rsquo;s chin
+      in the womb of the pyramid of <i>Her</i>. Thrice it circled round, once it
+      hovered o&rsquo;er dead Iras, then flew to where the dying woman stood. To her
+      it flew, on her breast it settled, clinging to that emerald which was
+      dragged from the dead heart of Menkau-ra. Thrice the grey Horror screamed
+      aloud, thrice it beat its bony wings, and lo! it was gone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then suddenly within that chamber sprang up the Shapes of Death. There was
+      Arsinoë, the beautiful, even as she had shrunk beneath the butcher&rsquo;s
+      knife. There was young Ptolemy, his features twisted by the poisoned cup.
+      There was the majesty of Menkau-ra, crowned with the uræus crown; there
+      was grave Sepa, his flesh all torn by the torturer&rsquo;s hooks; there were
+      those poisoned slaves; and there were others without number, shadowy and
+      dreadful to behold! who, thronging that narrow chamber, stood silently
+      fixing their glassy eyes upon the face of her who slew them!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Behold! Cleopatra!&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;<i>Behold thy peace, and die!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay!&rdquo; said Charmion. &ldquo;Behold and die! thou who didst rob me of my honour,
+      and Egypt of her King!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She looked, she saw the awful Shapes&mdash;her Spirit, hurrying from the
+      flesh, mayhap could hear words to which my ears were deaf. Then her face
+      sank in with terror, her great eyes grew pale, and, shrieking, Cleopatra
+      fell and died: passing, with that dread company, to her appointed place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thus, then, I, Harmachis, fed my soul with vengeance, fulfilling the
+      justice of the Gods, and yet knew myself empty of all joy therein. For
+      though that thing we worship doth bring us ruin, and Love being more
+      pitiless than Death, we in turn do pay all our sorrow back; yet we must
+      worship on, yet stretch out our arms towards our lost Desire, and pour our
+      heart&rsquo;s blood upon the shrine of our discrowned God.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For Love is of the Spirit, and knows not Death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0032" id="link2HCH0032">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IX
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      OF THE FAREWELL OF CHARMION; OF THE DEATH OF CHARMION; OF THE DEATH OF THE
+      OLD WIFE, ATOUA; OF THE COMING OF HARMACHIS TO ABOUTHIS; OF HIS CONFESSION
+      IN THE HALL OF SIX-AND-THIRTY PILLARS; AND OF THE DECLARING OF THE DOOM OF
+      HARMACHIS
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Charmion unclasped my arm, to which she had clung in terror.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thy vengeance, thou dark Harmachis,&rdquo; she said, in a hoarse voice, &ldquo;is a
+      thing hideous to behold! O lost Egypt, with all thy sins thou wast indeed
+      a Queen!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come, aid me, Prince; let us stretch this poor clay upon the bed and deck
+      it royally, so that it may give its dumb audience to the messengers of
+      Cæsar as becomes the last of Egypt&rsquo;s Queens.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I spoke no word in answer, for my heart was very heavy, and now that all
+      was done I was weary. Together, then, we lifted up the body and laid it on
+      the golden bed. Charmion placed the uræus crown upon the ivory brow, and
+      combed the night-dark hair that showed never a thread of silver, and, for
+      the last time, shut those eyes wherein had shone all the changing glories
+      of the sea. She folded the chill hands upon the breast whence Passion&rsquo;s
+      breath had fled, and straightened the bent knees beneath the broidered
+      robe, and by the head set flowers. And there at length Cleopatra lay, more
+      splendid now in her cold majesty of death than in her richest hour of
+      breathing beauty!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We drew back and looked on her, and on dead Iras at her feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is done!&rdquo; quoth Charmion; &ldquo;we are avenged, and now, Harmachis, dost
+      follow by this same road?&rdquo; And she nodded towards the phial on the board.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nay, Charmion. I fly&mdash;I fly to a heavier death! Not thus easily may
+      I end my space of earthly penance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So be it, Harmachis! And I, Harmachis&mdash;I fly also, but with swifter
+      wings. My game is played. I, too, have made atonement. Oh! what a bitter
+      fate is mine, to have brought misery on all I love, and, in the end, to
+      die unloved! To thee I have atoned; to my angered Gods I have atoned; and
+      now I go to find a way whereby I may atone to Cleopatra in that Hell where
+      she is, and which I must share! For she loved me well, Harmachis; and, now
+      that she is dead, methinks that, after thee, I loved her best of all. So
+      of her cup and the cup of Iras I will surely drink!&rdquo; And she took the
+      phial, and with a steady hand poured what was left of the poison into the
+      goblet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bethink thee, Charmion,&rdquo; I said; &ldquo;yet mayst thou live for many years,
+      hiding these sorrows beneath the withered days.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet I may, but I will not! To live the prey of so many memories, the
+      fount of an undying shame that night by night, as I lie sleepless, shall
+      well afresh from my sorrow-stricken heart!&mdash;to live torn by a love I
+      cannot lose!&mdash;to stand alone like some storm-twisted tree, and,
+      sighing day by day to the winds of heaven, gaze upon the desert of my
+      life, while I wait the lingering lightning&rsquo;s stroke&mdash;nay, that will
+      not I, Harmachis! I had died long since, but I lived on to serve thee; now
+      no more thou needest me, and I go. Oh, fare thee well!&mdash;for ever fare
+      thee well! For not again shall I look upon thy face, and where I go
+      thou goest not! For thou dost not love me who still dost love that queenly
+      woman thou hast hounded to the death! Her thou shalt never win, and I thee
+      shall never win, and this is the bitter end of Fate! See, Harmachis: I ask
+      one boon before I go and for all time become naught to thee but a memory
+      of shame. Tell me that thou dost forgive me so far as thine is to forgive,
+      and in token thereof kiss me&mdash;with no lover&rsquo;s kiss, but kiss me on
+      the brow, and bid me pass in peace.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And she drew near to me with arms outstretched and pitiful trembling lips
+      and gazed upon my face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Charmion,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;we are free to act for good or evil, and yet
+      methinks there is a Fate above our fate, that, blowing from some strange
+      shore, compels our little sails of purpose, set them as we will, and
+      drives us to destruction. I forgive thee, Charmion, as I trust in turn to
+      be forgiven, and by this kiss, the first and the last, I seal our peace.&rdquo;
+       And with my lips I touched her brow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She spoke no more; only for a little while she stood gazing on me with sad
+      eyes. Then she lifted the goblet, and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Royal Harmachis, in this deadly cup I pledge thee! Would that I had drunk
+      of it ere ever I looked upon thy face! Pharaoh, who, thy sins outworn, yet
+      shalt rule in perfect peace o&rsquo;er worlds I may not tread, who yet shalt
+      sway a kinglier sceptre than that I robbed thee of, for ever, fare thee
+      well!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She drank, cast down the cup, and for a moment stood with the wide eyes of
+      one who looks for Death. Then He came, and Charmion the Egyptian fell
+      prone upon the floor, dead. And for a moment more I stood alone with the
+      dead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I crept to the side of Cleopatra, and, now that none were left to see, I
+      sat down on the bed and laid her head upon my knee, as once before it had
+      been laid in that night of sacrilege beneath the shadow of the everlasting
+      pyramid. Then I kissed her chill brow and went from the House of Death&mdash;avenged,
+      but sorely smitten with despair!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Physician,&rdquo; said the officer of the Guard as I went through the gates,
+      &ldquo;what passes yonder in the Monument? Methought I heard the sounds of
+      death.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Naught passes&mdash;all hath passed,&rdquo; I made reply, and went.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And as I went in the darkness I heard the sound of voices and the running
+      of the feet of Cæsar&rsquo;s messengers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Flying swiftly to my house I found Atoua waiting at the gates. She drew me
+      into a quiet chamber and closed the doors.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it done?&rdquo; she asked, and turned her wrinkled face to mine, while the
+      lamplight streamed white upon her snowy hair. &ldquo;Nay, why ask I&mdash;I know
+      that it is done!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, it is done, and well done, old wife! All are dead! Cleopatra, Iras,
+      Charmion&mdash;all save myself!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The aged woman drew up her bent form and cried: &ldquo;Now let me go in peace,
+      for I have seen my desire upon thy foes and the foes of Khem. <i>La! la!</i>&mdash;not
+      in vain have I lived on beyond the years of man! I have seen my desire
+      upon thy enemies&mdash;-I have gathered the dews of Death, and thy foe
+      hath drunk thereof! Fallen is the brow of Pride! the Shame of Khem is
+      level with the dust! Ah, would that I might have seen that wanton die!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cease, woman! cease! The Dead are gathered to the Dead! Osiris holds them
+      fast, and everlasting silence seals their lips! Pursue not the fallen
+      great with insults! Up!&mdash;let us fly to Abouthis, that all may be
+      accomplished!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fly thou, Harmachis!&mdash;Harmachis, fly&mdash;but I fly not! To this
+      end only I have lingered on the earth. Now I untie the knot of life and
+      let my spirit free! Fare thee well, Prince, the pilgrimage is done!
+      Harmachis, from a babe have I loved thee, and love thee yet!&mdash;but no
+      more in this world may I share thy griefs&mdash;I am spent. Osiris, take
+      thou my Spirit!&rdquo; and her trembling knees gave way and she sank to the
+      ground.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I ran to her side and looked upon her. She was already dead, and I was
+      alone upon the earth without a friend to comfort me!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then I turned and went, no man hindering me, for all was confusion in the
+      city, and departed from Alexandria in a vessel I had made ready. On the
+      eighth day, I landed, and, in the carrying out of my purpose, travelled on
+      foot across the fields to the Holy Shrine of Abouthis. And here, as I
+      knew, the worship of the Gods had been lately set up again in the Temple
+      of the Divine Sethi: for Charmion had caused Cleopatra to repent of her
+      decree of vengeance and to restore the lands that she had seized, though
+      the treasure she restored not. And the temple having been purified, now,
+      at the season of the Feast of Isis, all the High Priests of the ancient
+      Temples of Egypt were gathered together to celebrate the coming home of
+      the Gods into their holy place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I gained the city. It was on the seventh day of the Feast of Isis. Even as
+      I came the long array wended through the well-remembered streets. I joined
+      in the multitude that followed, and with my voice swelled the chorus of
+      the solemn chant as we passed through the pylons into the imperishable
+      halls. How well known were the holy words:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     &ldquo;Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+     Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+     Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     &lsquo;Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+     Return to them that worship thee of old!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      And then, when the sacred music ceased, as aforetime on the setting of the
+      majesty of Ra, the High Priest raised the statue of the living God and
+      held it on high before the multitude.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With a joyful shout of
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Osiris! our hope, Osiris! Osiris!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      the people tore the black wrappings from their dress, showing the white
+      robes beneath, and, as one man, bowed before the God.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then they went to feast each at his home; but I stayed in the court of the
+      temple.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Presently a priest of the temple drew near, and asked me of my business.
+      And I answered him that I came from Alexandria, and would be led before
+      the council of the High Priests, for I knew that the Holy Priests were
+      gathered together debating the tidings from Alexandria.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Thereon the man left, and the High Priests, hearing that I was from
+      Alexandria, ordered that I should be led into their presence in the Hall
+      of Columns&mdash;and so I was led in. It was already dark, and between the
+      great pillars lights were set, as on that night when I was crowned Pharaoh
+      of the Upper and the Lower Land. There, too, was the long line of
+      Dignitaries seated in their carven chairs, and taking counsel together.
+      All was the same; the same cold images of Kings and Gods gazed with the
+      same empty eyes from the everlasting walls. Ay, more; among those gathered
+      there were five of the very men who, as leaders of the great plot, had sat
+      here to see me crowned, being the only conspirators who had escaped the
+      vengeance of Cleopatra and the clutching hand of Time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I took my stand on the spot where once I had been crowned and made me
+      ready for the last act of shame with such bitterness of heart as cannot be
+      written.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, it is the physician Olympus,&rdquo; said one. &ldquo;He who lived a hermit in
+      the Tombs of Tápé, and who but lately was of the household of Cleopatra.
+      Is it, then, true that the Queen is dead by her own hand, Physician?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yea, holy Sirs, I am that physician; also Cleopatra is dead by <i>my</i>
+      hand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By thy hand? Why, how comes this?&mdash;though well is she dead,
+      forsooth, the wicked wanton!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your pardon, Sirs, and I will tell you all, for I am come hither to that
+      end. Perchance among you there may be some&mdash;methinks I see some&mdash;who,
+      nigh eleven years ago, were gathered in this hall to secretly crown one
+      Harmachis, Pharaoh of Khem?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is true!&rdquo; they said; &ldquo;but how knowest thou these things, thou
+      Olympus?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of the rest of those seven-and-thirty nobles,&rdquo; I went on, making no
+      answer, &ldquo;are two-and-thirty missing. Some are dead, as Amenemhat is dead;
+      some are slain, as Sepa is slain; and some, perchance, yet labour as
+      slaves within the mines, or live afar, fearing vengeance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is so,&rdquo; they said: &ldquo;alas! it is so. Harmachis the accursed betrayed
+      the plot, and sold himself to the wanton Cleopatra!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is so,&rdquo; I went on, lifting up my head. &ldquo;Harmachis betrayed the plot
+      and sold himself to Cleopatra; and, holy Sirs&mdash;<i>I am that
+      Harmachis!</i>&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Priests and Dignitaries gazed astonished. Some rose and spoke; some
+      said naught.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am that Harmachis! I am that traitor, trebly steeped in crime!&mdash;a
+      traitor to my Gods, a traitor to my Country, a traitor to my Oath! I come
+      hither to say that I have done this. I have executed the Divine vengeance
+      on her who ruined me and gave Egypt to the Roman. And now that, after
+      years of toil and patient waiting, this is accomplished by my wisdom and
+      the help of the angry Gods, behold I come with all my shame upon my head
+      to declare the thing I am, and take the traitor&rsquo;s guerdon!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mindest thou of the doom of him who hath broke the oath that may not be
+      broke?&rdquo; asked he who first had spoken, in heavy tones.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know it well,&rdquo; I answered; &ldquo;I court that awful doom.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell us more of this matter, thou who wast Harmachis.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So, in cold clear words, I laid bare all my shame, keeping back nothing.
+      And ever as I spoke I saw their faces grow more hard, and knew that for me
+      there was no mercy; nor did I ask it, nor, had I asked, could it have been
+      granted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When, at last, I had done, they put me aside while they took counsel. Then
+      they drew me forth again, and the eldest among them, a man very old and
+      venerable, the Priest of the Temple of the Divine Hatshepu at Tápé, spoke,
+      in icy accents:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thou Harmachis, we have considered this matter. Thou hast sinned the
+      threefold deadly sin. On thy head lies the burden of the woe of Khem, this
+      day enthralled of Rome. To Isis, the Mother Mystery, thou hast offered the
+      deadly insult, and thou hast broken thy holy oath. For all of these sins
+      there is, as well thou knowest, but one reward, and that reward is thine.
+      Naught can it weigh in the balance of our justice that thou hast slain her
+      who was thy cause of stumbling; naught that thou comest to name thyself
+      the vilest thing who ever stood within these walls. On thee also must fall
+      the curse of Menkau-ra, thou false priest! thou forsworn patriot! thou
+      Pharaoh shameful and discrowned! Here, where we set the Double Crown upon
+      thy head, we doom thee to the doom! Go to thy dungeon and await the
+      falling of its stroke! Go, remembering what thou mightest have been and
+      what thou art, and may those Gods who through thy evil doing shall
+      perchance ere long cease to be worshipped within these holy temples, give
+      to thee that mercy which we deny! Lead him forth!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So they took me and led me forth. With bowed head I went, looking not up,
+      and yet I felt their eyes burn upon my face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Oh! surely of all my shames this is the heaviest!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0033" id="link2HCH0033">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER X
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      OF THE LAST WRITING OF HARMACHIS, THE ROYAL EGYPTIAN
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      They led me to the prison chamber that is high in the pylon tower and here
+      I wait my doom. I know not when the sword of Fate shall fall. Week grows
+      to week, and month to month, and still it is delayed. Still it quivers
+      unseen above my head. I know that it will fall, but when I know not.
+      Perchance, I shall wake in some dead hour of midnight to hear the stealthy
+      steps of the slayers and be hurried forth. Perchance, they are now at
+      hand. Then will come the secret cell! the horror! the nameless coffin! and
+      at last it will be done! Oh, let it come! let it come swiftly!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      All is written; I have held back nothing&mdash;my sin is sinned&mdash;my
+      vengeance is finished. Now all things end in darkness and in ashes, and I
+      prepare to face the terrors that are to come in other worlds than this. I
+      go, but not without hope I go: for, though I see Her not, though no more
+      She answers to my prayers, still I am aware of the Holy Isis, who is with
+      me for evermore, and whom I shall yet again behold face to face. And then
+      at last in that far day I shall find forgiveness; then the burden of my
+      guilt will roll from me and innocency come back and wrap me round,
+      bringing me holy Peace.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Oh! dear land of Khem, as in a dream I see thee! I see Nation after Nation
+      set its standard on thy shores, and its yoke upon thy neck! I see new
+      Religions without end calling out their truths upon the banks of Sihor,
+      and summoning thy people to their worship! I see thy temples&mdash;thy
+      holy temples&mdash;crumbling in the dust: a wonder to the sight of men
+      unborn, who shall peer into thy tombs and desecrate the great ones of thy
+      glory! I see thy mysteries a mockery to the unlearned, and thy wisdom
+      wasted like waters on the desert sands! I see the Roman Eagles stoop and
+      perish, their beaks yet red with the blood of men, and the long lights
+      dancing down the barbarian spears that follow in their wake! And then, at
+      last, I see Thee once more great, once more free, and having once more a
+      knowledge of thy Gods&mdash;ay, thy Gods with a changed countenance, and
+      called by other names, but still thy Gods!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The sun sinks over Abouthis. The red rays of Ra flame on temple roofs,
+      upon green fields, and the wide waters of father Sihor. So as a child I
+      watched him sink; just so his last kiss touched the further pylon&rsquo;s
+      frowning brow; just that same shadow lay upon the tombs. All is unchanged!
+      I&mdash;I only am changed&mdash;so changed, and yet the same!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Oh, Cleopatra! Cleopatra! thou Destroyer! if I might but tear thy vision
+      from my heart! Of all my griefs, this is the heaviest grief&mdash;still
+      must I love thee! Still must I hug this serpent to my heart! Still in my
+      ears must ring that low laugh of triumph&mdash;the murmur of the falling
+      fountain&mdash;the song of the nightinga&mdash;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      [Here the writing on the third roll of papyrus abruptly ends. It would
+      almost seem that the writer was at this moment broken in upon by those who
+      came to lead him to his doom.]
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
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+*The Project Gutenberg Etext of Cleopatra, by H. Rider Haggard*
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+
+Etext prepared by John Bickers, jbickers@ihug.co.nz
+Dagny, dagnyj@hotmail.com
+and Emma Dudding, emma_302@hotmail.com
+
+
+
+
+
+Cleopatra
+
+by H. Rider Haggard
+
+
+
+
+DEDICATION
+
+  My dear Mother,
+
+  I have for a long while hoped to be allowed to dedicate some book
+  of mine to you, and now I bring you this work, because whatever
+  its shortcomings, and whatever judgment may be passed upon it by
+  yourself and others, it is yet the one I should wish you to
+  accept.
+
+  I trust that you will receive from my romance of "Cleopatra" some
+  such pleasure as lightened the labour of its building up; and that
+  it may convey to your mind a picture, however imperfect, of the
+  old and mysterious Egypt in whose lost glories you are so deeply
+  interested.
+
+Your affectionate and dutiful Son,
+H. Rider Haggard.
+
+January 21, 1889.
+
+
+
+
+AUTHOR'S NOTE
+
+The history of the ruin of Antony and Cleopatra must have struck many
+students of the records of their age as one of the most inexplicable
+of tragic tales. What malign influence and secret hates were at work,
+continually sapping their prosperity and blinding their judgment? Why
+did Cleopatra fly at Actium, and why did Antony follow her, leaving
+his fleet and army to destruction? An attempt is made in this romance
+to suggest a possible answer to these and some other questions.
+
+The reader is asked to bear in mind, however, that the story is told,
+not from the modern point of view, but as from the broken heart and
+with the lips of an Egyptian patriot of royal blood; no mere beast-
+worshipper, but a priest instructed in the inmost mysteries, who
+believed firmly in the personal existence of the gods of Khem, in the
+possibility of communion with them, and in the certainty of immortal
+life with its rewards and punishments; to whom also the bewildering
+and often gross symbolism of the Osirian Faith was nothing but a veil
+woven to obscure secrets of the Sanctuary. Whatever proportion of
+truth there may have been in their spiritual claims and imaginings, if
+indeed there was any, such men as the Prince Harmachis have been told
+of in the annals of every great religion, and, as is shown by the
+testimony of monumental and sacred inscriptions, they were not unknown
+among the worshippers of the Egyptian Gods, and more especially of
+Isis.
+
+Unfortunately it is scarcely possible to write a book of this nature
+and period without introducing a certain amount of illustrative
+matter, for by no other means can the long dead past be made to live
+again before the reader's eyes with all its accessories of faded pomp
+and forgotten mystery. To such students as seek a story only, and are
+not interested in the faith, ceremonies, or customs of the Mother of
+Religion and Civilisation, ancient Egypt, it is, however, respectfully
+suggested that they should exercise the art of skipping, and open this
+tale at its Second Book.
+
+That version of the death of Cleopatra has been preferred which
+attributes her end to poison. According to Plutarch its actual manner
+is very uncertain, though popular rumour ascribed it to the bite of an
+asp. She seems, however, to have carried out her design under the
+advice of that shadowy personage, her physician, Olympus, and it is
+more than doubtful if he would have resorted to such a fantastic and
+uncertain method of destroying life.
+
+It may be mentioned that so late as the reign of Ptolemy Epiphanes,
+pretenders of native blood, one of whom was named Harmachis, are known
+to have advanced their claims to the throne of Egypt. Moreover, there
+was a book of prophecy current among the priesthood which declared
+that after the nations of the Greeks the God Harsefi would create the
+"chief who is to come." It will therefore be seen that, although it
+lacks historical confirmation, the story of the great plot formed to
+stamp out the dynasty of the Macedonian Lagidae and place Harmachis on
+the throne is not in itself improbable. Indeed, it is possible that
+many such plots were entered into by Egyptian patriots during the long
+ages of their country's bondage. But ancient history tells us little
+of the abortive struggles of a fallen race.
+
+The Chant of Isis and the Song of Cleopatra, which appear in these
+pages, are done into verse from the writer's prose by Mr. Andrew Lang,
+and the dirge sung by Charmion is translated by the same hand from the
+Greek of the Syrian Meleager.
+
+
+
+
+
+CLEOPATRA
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+In the recesses of the desolate Libyan mountains that lie behind the
+temple and city of Abydus, the supposed burying place of the holy
+Osiris, a tomb was recently discovered, among the contents of which
+were the papyrus rolls whereupon this history is written. The tomb
+itself is spacious, but otherwise remarkable only for the depth of the
+shaft which descends vertically from the rock-hewn cave, that once
+served as the mortuary chapel for the friends and relatives of the
+departed, to the coffin-chamber beneath. This shaft is no less than
+eighty-nine feet in depth. The chamber at its foot was found to
+contain three coffins only, though it is large enough for many more.
+Two of these, which in all probability inclosed the bodies of the High
+Priest, Amenemhat, and of his wife, father and mother of Harmachis,
+the hero of this history, the shameless Arabs who discovered them
+there and then broke up.
+
+The Arabs broke the bodies up. With unhallowed hands they tore the
+holy Amenemhat and the frame of her who had, as it is written, been
+filled with the spirit of the Hathors--tore them limb from limb,
+searching for treasure amidst their bones--perhaps, as is their
+custom, selling the very bones for a few piastres to the last ignorant
+tourist who came their way, seeking what he might destroy. For in
+Egypt the unhappy, the living find their bread in the tombs of the
+great men who were before them.
+
+But as it chanced, some little while afterwards, one who is known to
+this writer, and a doctor by profession, passed up the Nile to Abydus,
+and became acquainted with the men who had done this thing. They
+revealed to him the secret of the place, telling him that one coffin
+yet remained entombed. It seemed to be the coffin of a poor person,
+they said, and therefore, being pressed for time, they had left it
+unviolated. Moved by curiosity to explore the recesses of a tomb as
+yet unprofaned by tourists, my friend bribed the Arabs to show it to
+him. What ensued I will give in his own words, exactly as he wrote it
+to me:
+
+"I slept that night near the Temple of Seti, and started before
+daybreak on the following morning. With me were a cross-eyed rascal
+named Ali--Ali Baba I named him--the man from whom I got the ring
+which I am sending you, and a small but choice assortment of his
+fellow thieves. Within an hour after sunrise we reached the valley
+where the tomb is. It is a desolate place, into which the sun pours
+his scorching heat all the long day through, till the huge brown rocks
+which are strewn about become so hot that one can scarcely bear to
+touch them, and the sand scorches the feet. It was already too hot to
+walk, so we rode on donkeys, some way up the valley--where a vulture
+floating far in the blue overhead was the only other visitor--till we
+came to an enormous boulder polished by centuries of action of sun and
+sand. Here Ali halted, saying that the tomb was under the stone.
+Accordingly, we dismounted, and, leaving the donkeys in charge of a
+fellah boy, went up to the rock. Beneath it was a small hole, barely
+large enough for a man to creep through. Indeed it had been dug by
+jackals, for the doorway and some part of the cave were entirely
+silted up, and it was by means of this jackal hole that the tomb had
+been discovered. Ali crept in on his hands and knees, and I followed,
+to find myself in a place cold after the hot outside air, and, in
+contrast with the light, filled with a dazzling darkness. We lit our
+candles, and, the select body of thieves having arrived, I made an
+examination. We were in a cave the size of a large room, and hollowed
+by hand, the further part of the cave being almost free from drift-
+dust. On the walls are religious paintings of the usual Ptolemaic
+character, and among them one of a majestic old man with a long white
+beard, who is seated in a carved chair holding a wand in his hand.[*]
+Before him passes a procession of priests bearing sacred images. In
+the right hand corner of the tomb is the shaft of the mummy-pit, a
+square-mouthed well cut in the black rock. We had brought a beam of
+thorn-wood, and this was now laid across the pit and a rope made fast
+to it. Then Ali--who, to do him justice, is a courageous thief--took
+hold of the rope, and, putting some candles into the breast of his
+robe, placed his bare feet against the smooth sides of the well and
+began to descent with great rapidity. Very soon he had vanished into
+blackness, and the agitation of the cord alone told us that anything
+was going on below. At last the rope ceased shaking and a faint shout
+came rumbling up the well, announcing Ali's safe arrival. Then, far
+below, a tiny star of light appeared. He had lit the candle, thereby
+disturbing hundreds of bats that flitted up in an endless stream and
+as silently as spirits. The rope was hauled up again, and now it was
+my turn; but, as I declined to trust my neck to the hand-over-hand
+method of descent, the end of the cord was made fast round my middle
+and I was lowered bodily into those sacred depths. Nor was it a
+pleasant journey, for, if the masters of the situation above had made
+any mistake, I should have been dashed to pieces. Also, the bats
+continually flew into my face and clung to my hair, and I have a great
+dislike of bats. At last, after some minutes of jerking and dangling,
+I found myself standing in a narrow passage by the side of the worthy
+Ali, covered with bats and perspiration, and with the skin rubbed off
+my knees and knuckles. Then another man came down, hand over hand like
+a sailor, and as the rest were told to stop above we were ready to go
+on. Ali went first with his candle--of course we each had a candle--
+leading the way down a long passage about five feet high. At length
+the passage widened out, and we were in the tomb-chamber: I think the
+hottest and most silent place that I ever entered. It was simply
+stifling. This chamber is a square room cut in the rock and totally
+devoid of paintings or sculpture. I held up the candles and looked
+round. About the place were strewn the coffin lids and the mummied
+remains of the two bodies that the Arabs had previously violated. The
+paintings on the former were, I noticed, of great beauty, though,
+having no knowledge of hieroglyphics, I could not decipher them. Beads
+and spicy wrappings lay around the remains, which, I saw, were those
+of a man and a woman.[+] The head had been broken off the body of the
+man. I took it up and looked at it. It had been closely shaved--after
+death, I should say, from the general indications--and the features
+were disfigured with gold leaf. But notwithstanding this, and the
+shrinkage of the flesh, I think the face was one of the most imposing
+and beautiful that I ever saw. It was that of a very old man, and his
+dead countenance still wore so calm and solemn, indeed, so awful a
+look, that I grew quite superstitious (though as you know, I am pretty
+well accustomed to dead people), and put the head down in a hurry.
+There were still some wrappings left upon the face of the second body,
+and I did not remove them; but she must have been a fine large woman
+in her day.
+
+[*] This, I take it, is a portrait of Amenemhat himself.--Editor.
+
+[+] Doubtless Amenemhat and his wife.--Editor.
+
+"'There the other mummy,' said Ali, pointing to a large and solid case
+that seemed to have been carelessly thrown down in a corner, for it
+was lying on its side.
+
+"I went up to it and carefully examined it. It was well made, but of
+perfectly plain cedar-wood--not an inscription, not a solitary God on
+it.
+
+"'Never see one like him before,' said Ali. 'Bury great hurry, he no
+"mafish," no "fineesh." Throw him down here on side.'
+
+"I looked at the plain case till at last my interest was thoroughly
+aroused. I was so shocked by the sight of the scattered dust of the
+departed that I had made up my mind not to touch the remaining coffin
+--but now my curiosity overcame me, and we set to work.
+
+"Ali had brought a mallet and a cold chisel with him, and, having set
+the coffin straight, he began upon it with all the zeal of an
+experienced tomb-breaker. And then he pointed out another thing. Most
+mummy-cases are fastened by four little tongues of wood, two on either
+side, which are fixed in the upper half, and, passing into mortices
+cut to receive them in the thickness of the lower half, are there held
+fast by pegs of hard wood. But this mummy case had eight such tongues.
+Evidently it had been thought well to secure it firmly. At last, with
+great difficulty, we raised the massive lid, which was nearly three
+inches thick, and there, covered over with a deep layer of loose
+spices (a very unusual thing), was the body.
+
+"Ali looked at it with open eyes--and no wonder. For this mummy was
+not as other mummies are. Mummies in general lie upon their backs, as
+stiff and calm as though they were cut from wood; but this mummy lay
+upon its side, and, the wrappings notwithstanding, its knees were
+slightly bent. More than that, indeed, the gold mask, which, after the
+fashion of the Ptolemaic period, had been set upon the face, had
+worked down, and was literally pounded up beneath the hooded head.
+
+"It was impossible, seeing these things, to avoid the conclusion that
+the mummy before us had moved with violence /since it was put in the
+coffin/.
+
+"'Him very funny mummy. Him not "mafish" when him go in there,' said
+Ali.
+
+"'Nonsense!' I said. 'Who ever heard of a live mummy?'
+
+"We lifted the body out of the coffin, nearly choking ourselves with
+mummy dust in the process, and there beneath it half hidden among the
+spices, we made our first find. It was a roll of papyrus, carelessly
+fastened and wrapped in a piece of mummy cloth, having to all
+appearance been thrown into the coffin at the moment of closing.[*]
+
+[*] This roll contained the third unfinished book of the history. The
+    other two rolls were neatly fastened in the usual fashion. All
+    three are written by one hand in the Demotic character.--Editor.
+
+"Ali eyed the papyrus greedily, but I seized it and put it in my
+pocket, for it was agreed that I was to have all that might be
+discovered. Then we began to unwrap the body. It was covered with very
+broad strong bandages, thickly wound and roughly tied, sometimes by
+means of simple knots, the whole working the appearance of having been
+executed in great haste and with difficulty. Just over the head was a
+large lump. Presently, the bandages covering it were off, and there,
+on the face, lay a second roll of papyrus. I put down my hand to lift
+it, but it would not come away. It appeared to be fixed to the stout
+seamless shroud which was drawn over the whole body, and tied beneath
+the feet--as a farmer ties sacks. This shroud, which was also thickly
+waxed, was in one piece, being made to fit the form like a garment. I
+took a candle and examined the roll and then I saw why it was fast.
+The spices had congealed and glued it to the sack-like shroud. It was
+impossible to get it away without tearing the outer sheets of
+papyrus.[*]
+
+[*] This accounts for the gaps in the last sheets of the second roll.
+    --Editor.
+
+"At last, however, I wrenched it loose and put it with the other in my
+pocket.
+
+"Then we went on with our dreadful task in silence. With much care we
+ripped loose the sack-like garment, and at last the body of a man lay
+before us. Between his knees was a third roll of papyrus. I secured
+it, then held down the light and looked at him. One glance at his face
+was enough to tell a doctor how he had died.
+
+"This body was not much dried up. Evidently it had not passed the
+allotted seventy days in natron, and therefore the expression and
+likeness were better preserved than is usual. Without entering into
+particulars, I will only say that I hope I shall never see such
+another look as that which was frozen on this dead man's face. Even
+the Arabs recoiled from it in horror and began to mutter prayers.
+
+"For the rest, the usual opening on the left side through which the
+embalmers did their work was absent; the finely-cut features were
+those of a person of middle age, although the hair was already grey,
+and the frame was that of a very powerful man, the shoulders being of
+an extraordinary width. I had not time to examine very closely,
+however, for within a few seconds from its uncovering, the unembalmed
+body began to crumble now that it was exposed to the action of the
+air. In five or six minutes there was literally nothing left of it but
+a wisp of hair, the skull, and a few of the larger bones. I noticed
+that one of the tibi�--I forget if it was the right or the left--had
+been fractured and very badly set. It must have been quite an inch
+shorter than the other.
+
+"Well, there was nothing more to find, and now that the excitement was
+over, what between the heat, the exertion, and the smell of mummy dust
+and spices, I felt more dead than alive.
+
+"I am tired of writing, and this ship rolls. This letter, of course,
+goes overland, and I am coming by 'long sea,' but I hope to be in
+London within ten days after you get it. Then I will tell you of my
+pleasing experiences in the course of the ascent from the tomb-
+chamber, and of how that prince of rascals, Ali Baba, and his thieves
+tried to frighten me into handing over the papyri, and how I worsted
+them. Then, too, we will get the rolls deciphered. I expect that they
+only contain the usual thing, copies of the 'Book of the Dead,' but
+there /may/ be something else in them. Needless to say, I did not
+narrate this little adventure in Egypt, or I should have had the
+Boulac Museum people on my track. Good-bye, 'Mafish Fineesh,' as Ali
+Baba always said."
+
+
+
+In due course, my friend, the writer of the letter from which I have
+quoted, arrived in London, and on the very next day we paid a visit to
+a learned acquaintance well versed in Hieroglyphics and Demotic
+writing. The anxiety with which we watched him skilfully damping and
+unfolding one of the rolls and peering through his gold-rimmed glasses
+at the mysterious characters may well be imagined.
+
+"Hum," he said, "whatever it is, this is /not/ a copy of the 'Book of
+the Dead.' By George, what's this? Cle--Cleo--Cleopatra---- Why, my
+dear Sirs, as I am a living man, this is the history of somebody who
+lived in the days of Cleopatra, /the/ Cleopatra, for here's Antony's
+name with hers! Well, there's six months' work before me here--six
+months, at the very least!" And in that joyful prospect he fairly lost
+control of himself, and skipped about the room, shaking hands with us
+at intervals, and saying "I'll translate--I'll translate it if it
+kills me, and we will publish it; and, by the living Osiris, it shall
+drive every Egyptologist in Europe mad with envy! Oh, what a find!
+what a most glorious find!"
+
+
+
+And O you whose eyes fall upon these pages, see, they have been
+translated, and they have been printed, and here they lie before you--
+an undiscovered land wherein you are free to travel!
+
+Harmachis speaks to you from his forgotten tomb. The walls of Time
+fall down, and, as at the lightning's leap, a picture from the past
+starts upon your view, framed in the darkness of the ages.
+
+He shows you those two Egypts which the silent pyramids looked down
+upon long centuries ago--the Egypt of the Greek, the Roman, and the
+Ptolemy, and that other outworn Egypt of the Hierophant, hoary with
+years, heavy with the legends of antiquity and the memory of long-lost
+honours.
+
+He tells you how the smouldering loyalty of the land of Khem blazed up
+before it died, and how fiercely the old Time-consecrated Faith
+struggled against the conquering tide of Change that rose, like Nile
+at flood, and drowned the ancient Gods of Egypt.
+
+Here, in his pages, you shall learn the glory of Isis the Many-shaped,
+the Executrix of Decrees. Here you shall make acquaintance with the
+shade of Cleopatra, that "Thing of Flame," whose passion-breathing
+beauty shaped the destiny of Empires. Here you shall read how the soul
+of Charmion was slain of the sword her vengeance smithied.
+
+Here Harmachis, the doomed Egyptian, being about to die, salutes you
+who follow on the path he trod. In the story of his broken years he
+shows to you what may in its degree be the story of your own. Crying
+aloud from that dim Amenti[*] where to-day he wears out his long
+atoning time, he tells, in the history of his fall, the fate of him
+who, however sorely tried, forgets his God, his Honour, and his
+Country.
+
+[*] The Egyptian Hades or Purgatory.--Editor.
+
+
+
+
+BOOK I
+
+THE PREPARATION OF HARMACHIS
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+OF THE BIRTH OF HARMACHIS; THE PROPHECY OF THE HATHORS;
+AND THE SLAYING OF THE INNOCENT CHILD
+
+By Osiris who sleeps at Abouthis, I write the truth.
+
+I, Harmachis, Hereditary Priest of the Temple, reared by the divine
+Sethi, aforetime a Pharaoh of Egypt, and now justified in Osiris and
+ruling in Amenti. I, Harmachis, by right Divine and by true descent of
+blood King of the Double Crown, and Pharaoh of the Upper and Lower
+Land. I, Harmachis, who cast aside the opening flower of our hope, who
+turned from the glorious path, who forgot the voice of God in
+hearkening to the voice of woman. I, Harmachis, the fallen, in whom
+are gathered up all woes as waters are gathered in a desert well, who
+have tasted of every shame, who through betrayal have betrayed, who in
+losing the glory that is here have lost the glory which is to be, who
+am utterly undone--I write, and, by Him who sleeps at Abouthis, I
+write the truth.
+
+O Egypt!--dear land of Khem, whose black soil nourished up my mortal
+part--land that I have betrayed--O Osiris!--Isis!--Horus!--ye Gods of
+Egypt whom I have betrayed!--O ye temples whose pylons strike the sky,
+whose faith I have betrayed!--O Royal blood of the Pharaohs of eld,
+that yet runs within these withered veins--whose virtue I have
+betrayed!--O Invisible Essence of all Good! and O Fate, whose balance
+rested on my hand--hear me; and, to the day of utter doom, bear me
+witness that I write the truth.
+
+
+
+Even while I write, beyond the fertile fields, the Nile is running
+red, as though with blood. Before me the sunlight beats upon the far
+Arabian hills, and falls upon the piles of Abouthis. Still the priests
+make orison within the temples at Abouthis that know me no more; still
+the sacrifice is offered, and the stony roofs echo back the people's
+prayers. Still from this lone cell within my prison-tower, I, the Word
+of Shame, watch thy fluttering banners, Abouthis, flaunting from thy
+pylon walls, and hear the chants as the long procession winds from
+sanctuary to sanctuary.
+
+Abouthis, lost Abouthis! my heart goes out toward thee! For the day
+comes when the desert sands shall fill thy secret places! Thy Gods are
+doomed, O Abouthis! New Faiths shall make a mock of all thy Holies,
+and Centurion shall call upon Centurion across thy fortress-walls. I
+weep--I weep tears of blood: for mine is the sin that brought about
+these evils and mine for ever is their shame.
+
+Behold, it is written hereafter.
+
+
+
+Here in Abouthis I was born, I, Harmachis, and my father, the
+justified in Osiris, was High Priest of the Temple of Sethi. And on
+that same day of my birth Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt, was born
+also. I passed my youth in yonder fields watching the baser people at
+their labours and going in and out at will among the great courts of
+the temples. Of my mother I knew naught, for she died when I yet hung
+at the breast. But before she died in the reign of Ptolemy Aul�tes,
+who is named the Piper, so did the old wife, Atoua, told me, my mother
+took a golden ur�us, the snake symbol of our Royalty of Egypt, from a
+coffer of ivory and laid it on my brow. And those who saw her do this
+believed that she was distraught of the Divinity, and in her madness
+foreshadowed that the day of the Macedonian Lagid� was ended, and that
+Egypt's sceptre should pass again to the hand of Egypt's true and
+Royal race. But when my father, the old High Priest Amenemhat, whose
+only child I was, she who was his wife before my mother having been,
+for what crime I know not, cursed with barrenness by Sekhet: I say
+when my father came in and saw what the dying woman had done, he
+lifted up his hands towards the vault of heaven and adored the
+Invisible, because of the sign that had been sent. And as he adored,
+the Hathors[*] filled my dying mother with the Spirit of Prophecy, and
+she rose in strength from the couch and prostrated herself thrice
+before the cradle where I lay asleep, the Royal asp upon my brow,
+crying aloud:
+
+[*] The Egyptian /Parc�/ or /Fates/.--Editor.
+
+"Hail to thee, fruit of my womb! Hail to thee, Royal child! Hail to
+thee, Pharaoh that shalt be! Hail to thee, God that shalt purge the
+land, Divine seed of Nekt-nebf, the descended from Isis. Keep thee
+pure, and thou shalt rule and deliver Egypt and not be broken. But if
+thou dost fail in thy hour of trial, then may the curse of all the
+Gods of Egypt rest upon thee, and the curse of thy Royal forefathers,
+the justified, who ruled the land before thee from the age of Horus.
+Then in life mayst thou be wretched, and after death may Osiris refuse
+thee, and the judges of Amenti give judgment against thee, and Set and
+Sekhet torment thee, till such time as thy sin is purged, and the Gods
+of Egypt, called by strange names, are once more worshipped in the
+Temples of Egypt, and the staff of the Oppressor is broken, and the
+footsteps of the Foreigner are swept clean, and the thing is
+accomplished as thou in thy weakness shalt cause it to be done."
+
+When she had spoken thus, the Spirit of Prophecy went out of her, and
+she fell dead across the cradle where I slept, so that I awoke with a
+cry.
+
+But my father, Amenemhat, the High Priest, trembled, and was very
+fearful, both because of the words which had been said by the Spirit
+of the Hathors through the mouth of my mother, and because what had
+been uttered was treason against Ptolemy. For he knew that, if the
+matter should come to the ears of Ptolemy, Pharaoh would send his
+guards to destroy the life of the child concerning whom such things
+were prophesied. Therefore, my father shut the doors, and caused all
+those who stood by to swear upon the holy symbol of his office, and by
+the name of the Divine Three, and by the Soul of her who lay dead upon
+the stones beside them, that nothing of what they had seen and heard
+should pass their lips.
+
+Now among the company was the old wife, Atoua, who had been the nurse
+of my mother, and loved her well; and in these days, though I know not
+how it had been in the past, nor how it shall be in the future, there
+is no oath that can bind a woman's tongue. And so it came about that
+by-and-by, when the matter had become homely in her mind, and her fear
+had fallen from her, she spoke of the prophecy to her daughter, who
+nursed me at the breast now that my mother was dead. She did this as
+they walked together in the desert carrying food to the husband of the
+daughter, who was a sculptor, and shaped effigies of the holy Gods in
+the tombs that are fashioned in the rock--telling the daughter, my
+nurse, how great must be her care and love toward the child that
+should one day be Pharaoh, and drive the Ptolemies from Egypt. But the
+daughter, my nurse, was so filled with wonder at what she heard that
+she could not keep the tale locked within her breast, and in the night
+she awoke her husband, and, in her turn, whispered it to him, and
+thereby compassed her own destruction, and the destruction of her
+child, my foster-brother. For the man told his friend, and the friend
+was a spy of Ptolemy's, and thus the tale came to Pharaoh's ears.
+
+Now, Pharaoh was much troubled thereat, for though when he was full of
+wine he would make a mock of the God of the Egyptians, and swear that
+the Roman Senate was the only God to whom he bowed the knee, yet in
+his heart he was terribly afraid, as I have learned from one who was
+his physician. For when he was alone at night he would scream and cry
+aloud to the great Serapis, who indeed is no true God, and to other
+Gods, fearing lest he should be murdered and his soul handed over to
+the tormentors. Also, when he felt his throne tremble under him, he
+would send large presents to the temples, asking a message from the
+oracles, and more especially from the oracle that is at Phil�.
+Therefore, when it came to his ears that the wife of the High Priest
+of the great and ancient Temple of Abouthis had been filled with the
+Spirit of Prophecy before she died, and foretold that her son should
+be Pharaoh, he was much afraid, and summoning some trusty guards--who,
+being Greeks, did not fear to do sacrilege--he despatched them by boat
+up the Nile, with orders to come to Abouthis and cut off the head of
+the child of the High Priest and bring it to him in a basket.
+
+But, as it chanced, the boat in which the guards came was of deep
+draught, and, the time of their coming being at the lowest ebb of the
+river, it struck and remained fast upon a bank of mud that is opposite
+the mouth of the road running across the plains to Abouthis, and, as
+the north wind was blowing very fiercely, it was like to sink. Thereon
+the guards of Pharaoh called out to the common people, who laboured at
+lifting water along the banks of the river, to come with boats and
+take them off; but, seeing that they were Greeks of Alexandria, the
+people would not, for the Egyptians do not love the Greeks. Then the
+guards cried that they were on Pharaoh's business, and still the
+people would not, asking what was their business. Whereon a eunuch
+among them who had made himself drunk in his fear, told them that they
+came to slay the child of Amenemhat, the High Priest, of whom it was
+prophesied that he should be Pharaoh and sweep the Greeks from Egypt.
+And then the people feared to stand longer in doubt, but brought
+boats, not knowing what might be meant by the man's words. But there
+was one amongst them--a farmer and an overseer of canals--who was a
+kinsman of my mother's and had been present when she prophesied; and
+he turned and ran swiftly for three parts of an hour, till he came to
+where I lay in the house that is without the north wall of the great
+Temple. Now, as it chanced, my father was away in that part of the
+Place of Tombs which is to the left of the large fortress, and
+Pharaoh's guards, mounted on asses, were hard upon us. Then the
+messenger cried to the old wife, Atoua, whose tongue had brought about
+the evil, and told how the soldiers drew near to slay me. And they
+looked at each other, not knowing what to do; for, had they hid me,
+the guards would not have stayed their search till I was found. But
+the man, gazing through the doorway, saw a little child at play:
+
+"Woman," he said, "whose is that child?"
+
+"It is my grandchild," she answered, "the foster-brother of the Prince
+Harmachis; the child to whose mother we owe this evil case."
+
+"Woman," he said, "thou knowest thy duty, do it!" and he again pointed
+at the child. "I command thee, by the Holy Name!"
+
+Atoua trembled exceedingly, because the child was of her own blood;
+but, nevertheless, she took the boy and washed him and set a robe of
+silk upon him, and laid him on my cradle. And me she took and smeared
+with mud to make my fair skin darker, and, drawing my garment from me,
+set me to play in the dirt of the yard, which I did right gladly.
+
+Then the man hid himself, and presently the soldiers rode up and asked
+of the old wife if this were the dwelling of the High Priest
+Amenemhat? And she told them yea, and, bidding them enter, offered
+them honey and milk, for they were thirsty.
+
+When they had drunk, the eunuch who was with them asked if that were
+the son of Amenemhat who lay in the cradle; and she said "Yea--yea,"
+and began to tell the guards how he would be great, for it had been
+prophesied of him that he should one day rule them all.
+
+But the Greek guards laughed, and one of them, seizing the child,
+smote off his head with a sword; and the eunuch drew forth the signet
+of Pharaoh as warrant for the deed and showed it to the old wife,
+Atoua, bidding her tell the High Priest that his son should be King
+without a head.
+
+And as they went one of their number saw me playing in the dirt and
+called out that there was more breeding in yonder brat than in the
+Prince Harmachis; and for a moment they wavered, thinking to slay me
+also, but in the end they passed on, bearing the head of my foster-
+brother, for they loved not to murder little children.
+
+After a while, the mother of the dead child returned from the market-
+place, and when she found what had been done, she and her husband
+would have killed Atoua the old wife, her mother, and given me up to
+the soldiers of Pharaoh. But my father came in also and learned the
+truth, and he caused the man and his wife to be seized by night and
+hidden away in the dark places of the temple, so that none saw them
+more.
+
+But I would to-day that it had been the will of the Gods that I had
+been slain of the soldiers and not the innocent child.
+
+
+
+Thereafter it was given out that the High Priest Amenemhat had taken
+me to be as a son to him in the place of that Harmachis who was slain
+of Pharaoh.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+OF THE DISOBEDIENCE OF HARMACHIS; OF THE SLAYING OF THE
+LION; AND OF THE SPEECH OF THE OLD WIFE, ATOUA
+
+And after these things Ptolemy the Piper troubled us no more, nor did
+he again send his soldiers to seek for him of whom it was prophesied
+that he should be Pharaoh. For the head of the child, my foster-
+brother, was brought to him by the eunuch as he sat in his palace of
+marble at Alexandria, flushed with Cyprian wine, and played upon the
+flute before his women. And at his bidding the eunuch lifted up the
+head by the hair for him to look on. Then he laughed and smote it on
+the cheek with his sandal, bidding one of the girls crown Pharaoh with
+flowers. And he bowed the knee, and mocked the head of the innocent
+child. But the girl, who was sharp of tongue--for all of this I heard
+in after years--said to him that "he did well to bow the knee, for
+this child was indeed Pharaoh, the greatest of Pharaohs, and his name
+was the /Osiris/ and his throne was /Death/."
+
+Aul�tes was much troubled at these words, and trembled, for, being a
+wicked man, he greatly feared entering into Amenti. So he caused the
+girl to be slain because of the evil omen of her saying; crying that
+he would send her to worship that Pharaoh whom she had named. And the
+other women he sent away, and played no more upon the flute till he
+was once again drunk on the morrow. But the Alexandrians made a song
+on the matter, which is still sung about the streets. And this is the
+beginning of it--
+
+  Ptolemy the Piper played
+    Over dead and dying;
+  Piped and played he well.
+    Sure that flute of his was made
+  Of the dank reed sighing
+    O'er the streams of Hell.
+  There beneath the shadows grey,
+    With the sisters three,
+  Shall he pipe for many a day.
+    May the Frog his butler be!
+    And his wine the water of that countrie--
+      Ptolemy the Piper!
+
+After this the years passed on, nor did I, being very little, know
+anything of the great things that came to pass in Egypt; nor is it my
+purpose to set them out here. For I, Harmachis, having little time
+left to me, will only speak of those things with which I have been
+concerned.
+
+And as the time went on, my father and the teachers instructed me in
+the ancient learning of our people, and in such matters appertaining
+to the Gods as it is meet that children should know. So I grew strong
+and comely, for my hair was black as the hair of the divine Nout, and
+my eyes were blue as the blue lotus, and my skin was like the
+alabaster within the sanctuaries. For now that these glories have
+passed from me I may speak of them without shame. I was strong also.
+There was no youth of my years in Abouthis who could stand against me
+to wrestle with me, nor could any throw so far with the sling or
+spear. And I much yearned to hunt the lion; but he whom I called my
+father forbade me, telling me that my life was of too great worth to
+be so lightly hazarded. But when I bowed before him and prayed he
+would make his meaning clear to me, the old man frowned and answered
+that the Gods made all things clear in their own season. For my part,
+however, I went away in wroth, for there was a youth in Abouthis who
+with others had slain a lion which fell upon his father's herds, and,
+being envious of my strength and beauty, he set it about that I was
+cowardly at heart, in that when I went out to hunt I only slew jackals
+and gazelles. Now, this was when I had reached my seventeenth year and
+was a man grown.
+
+It chanced, therefore, that as I went sore at heart from the presence
+of the High Priest, I met this youth, who called to me and mocked me,
+bidding me know the country people had told him that a great lion was
+down among the rushes by the banks of the canal which runs past the
+Temple, lying at a distance of thirty stadia from Abouthis. And, still
+mocking me, he asked me if I would come and help him slay this lion,
+or would I go and sit among the old women and bid them comb my side
+lock? This bitter word so angered me that I was near to falling on
+him; but in place therefore, forgetting my father's saying, I answered
+that if he would come alone, I would go with him and seek this lion,
+and he should learn if I were indeed a coward. And at first he would
+not, for, as men know, it is our custom to hunt the lion in companies;
+so it was my hour to mock. Then he went and fetched his bow and arrows
+and a sharp knife. And I brought forth my heavy spear, which had a
+shaft of thorn-wood, and at its end a pomegranate in silver, to hold
+the hand from slipping; and, in silence, we went, side by side, to
+where the lion lay. When we came to the place, it was near sundown;
+and there, upon the mud of the canal-bank, we found the lion's slot,
+which ran into a thick clump of reeds.
+
+"Now, thou boaster," I said, "wilt thou lead the way into yonder
+reeds, or shall I?" And I made as though I would lead the way.
+
+"Nay, nay," he answered, "be not so mad! The brute will spring upon
+thee and rend thee. See! I will shoot among the reeds. Perchance, if
+he sleeps, it will arouse him." And he drew his bow at a venture.
+
+How it chanced I know not, but the arrow struck the sleeping lion,
+and, like a flash of light from the belly of a cloud, he bounded from
+the shelter of the reeds, and stood before us with bristling mane and
+yellow eyes, the arrow quivering in his flank. He roared aloud in
+fury, and the earth shook.
+
+"Shoot with the bow," I cried, "shoot swiftly ere he spring!"
+
+But courage had left the breast of the boaster, his jaw dropped down
+and his fingers unloosed their hold so that the bow fell from them;
+then, with a loud cry he turned and fled behind me, leaving the lion
+in my path. But while I stood waiting my doom, for though I was sore
+afraid I would not fly, the lion crouched himself, and turning not
+aside, with one great bound swept over me, touching me not. He lit,
+and again he bounded full upon the boaster's back, striking him such a
+blow with his great paw that his head was crushed as an egg thrown
+against a stone. He fell down dead, and the lion stood and roared over
+him. Then I was mad with horror, and, scarce knowing what I did, I
+grasped my spear and with a shout I charged. As I charged the lion
+lifted himself up above me. He smote at me with his paw; but with all
+my strength I drove the broad spear into his throat, and, shrinking
+from the agony of the steel, his blow fell short and did no more than
+rip my skin. Back he fell, the great spear far in his throat; then
+rising, he roared in pain and leapt twice the height of a man straight
+into the air, smiting at the spear with his forepaws. Twice he leapt
+thus, horrible to see, and twice he fell upon his back. Then his
+strength spent itself with his rushing blood, and, groaning like a
+bull, he died; while I, being but a lad, stood and trembled with fear
+now that all cause of fear had passed.
+
+But as I stood and gazed at the body of him who had taunted me, and at
+the carcass of the lion, a woman came running towards me, even the
+same old wife, Atoua, who, though I knew it not as yet, had offered up
+her flesh and blood that I might be saved alive. For she had been
+gathering simples, in which she had great skill, by the water's edge,
+not knowing that there was a lion near (and, indeed, the lions, for
+the most part, are not found in the tilled land, but rather in the
+desert and the Libyan mountains), and had seen from a distance that
+which I have set down. Now, when she was come, she knew me for
+Harmachis, and, bending herself, she made obeisance to me, and saluted
+me, calling me Royal, and worthy of all honour, and beloved, and
+chosen of the Holy Three, ay, and by the name of the Pharaoh! the
+Deliverer!
+
+But I, thinking that terror had made her sick of mind, asked her of
+what she would speak.
+
+"Is it a great thing," I asked, "that I should slay a lion? Is it a
+matter worthy of such talk as thine? There live, and have lived, men
+who have slain many lions. Did not the Divine Amen-hetep the Osirian
+slay with his own hand more than a hundred lions? Is it not written on
+the scarab�us that hangs within my father's chamber, that he slew
+lions aforetime? And have not others done likewise? Why then, speakest
+thou thus, O foolish woman?"
+
+All of which I said, because, having now slain the lion, I was minded,
+after the manner of youth, to hold it as a thing of no account. But
+she did not cease to make obeisance, and to call me by names that are
+too high to be written.
+
+"O Royal One," she cried, "wisely did thy mother prophecy. Surely the
+Holy Spirit, the Knepth, was in her, O thou conceived by a God! See
+the omen. The lion there--he growls within the Capitol at Rome--and
+the dead man, he is the Ptolemy--the Macedonian spawn that, like a
+foreign weed, hath overgrown the land of Nile; with the Macedonian
+Lagid� thou shalt go to smite the lion of Rome. But the Macedonian cur
+shall fly, and the Roman lion shall strike him down, and thou shalt
+strike down the lion, and the land of Khem shall once more be free!
+free! Keep thyself but pure, according to the commandment of the Gods,
+O son of the Royal House; O hope of Khemi! be but ware of Woman the
+Destroyer, and as I have said, so shall it be. I am poor and wretched;
+yea, stricken with sorrow. I have sinned in speaking of what should be
+hid, and for my sin I have paid in the coin of that which was born of
+my womb; willingly have I paid for thee. But I have still of the
+wisdom of our people, nor do the Gods, in whose eyes all are equal,
+turn their countenance from the poor; the Divine Mother Isis hath
+spoken to me--but last night she spake--bidding me come hither to
+gather herbs, and read to thee the signs that I should see. And as I
+have said, so it shall come to pass, if thou canst but endure the
+weight of the great temptation. Come hither, Royal One!" and she led
+me to the edge of the canal, where the water was deep, and still and
+blue. "Now gaze upon that face as the water throws it back. Is not
+that brow fitted to bear the double crown? Do not those gentle eyes
+mirror the majesty of kings? Hath not the Ptah, the Creator, fashioned
+that form to fit the Imperial garb, and awe the glance of multitudes
+looking through thee to God?
+
+"Nay, nay!" she went on in another voice--a shrill old wife's voice--
+"I will--be not so foolish, boy--the scratch of a lion is a venomous
+thing, a terrible thing; yea, as bad as the bite of an asp--it must be
+treated, else it will fester, and all thy days thou shalt dream of
+lions; ay, and snakes; and, also, it will break out in sores. But I
+know of it--I know. I am not crazed for nothing. For mark! everything
+has its balance--in madness is much wisdom, and in wisdom much
+madness. /La! la! la!/ Pharaoh himself can't say where the one begins
+and the other ends. Now, don't stand gazing there, looking as silly as
+a cat in a crocus-coloured robe, as they say in Alexandria; but just
+let me stick these green things on the place, and in six days you'll
+heal up as white as a three-year-child. Never mind the smart of it,
+lad. By Him who sleeps at Phil�, or at Abouthis, or at Abydus--as our
+divine masters have it now--or wherever He does sleep, which is a
+thing we shall all find out before we want to--by Osiris, I say,
+you'll live to be as clean from scars as a sacrifice to Isis at the
+new moon, if you'll but let me put it on.
+
+"Is it not so, good folk?"--and she turned to address some people who,
+while she prophesied, had assembled unseen by me--"I've been speaking
+a spell over him, just to make a way for the virtue of my medicine--
+/la! la!/ there's nothing like a spell. If you don't believe it, just
+you come to me next time your wives are barren; it's better than
+scraping every pillar in the Temple of Osiris, I'll warrant. I'll make
+'em bear like a twenty-year-old palm. But then, you see, you must know
+what to say--that's the point--everything comes to a point at last.
+/La! la!/"
+
+Now, when I heard all this, I, Harmachis, put my hand to my head, not
+knowing if I dreamed. But presently looking up, I saw a grey-haired
+man among those who were gathered together, who watched us sharply,
+and afterwards I learned that this man was the spy of Ptolemy, the
+very man, indeed, who had wellnigh caused me to be slain of Pharaoh
+when I was in my cradle. Then I understood why Atoua spoke so
+foolishly.
+
+"Thine are strange spells, old wife," the spy said. "Thou didst speak
+of Pharaoh and the double crown and of the form fashioned by Ptah to
+bear it; is it not so?"
+
+"Yea, yea--part of the spell, thou fool; and what can one swear by
+better nowadays than by the Divine Pharaoh the Piper, whom, and whose
+music, may the Gods preserve to charm this happy land?--what better
+than by the double crown he wears--grace to great Alexander of
+Macedonia? By the way, you know about everything: have they got back
+his chlamys yet, which Mithridates took to Cos? Pompey wore it last,
+didn't he?--in his triumph, too--just fancy Pompey in the cloak of
+Alexander!--a puppy-dog in a lion's skin! And talking of lions--look
+what this lad hath done--slain a lion with his own spear; and right
+glad you village folks should be to see it, for it was a very fierce
+lion--just see his teeth and his claws--his claws!--they are enough to
+make a poor silly old woman like me shriek to look at them! And the
+body there, the dead body--the lion slew it. Alack! he's an Osiris[*]
+now, the body--and to think of it, but an hour ago he was an everyday
+mortal like you or me! Well, away with him to the embalmers. He'll
+soon swell in the sun and burst, and that will save them the trouble
+of cutting him open. Not that they will spend a talent of silver over
+him anyway. Seventy days in natron--that's all he's likely to get.
+/La! la!/ how my tongue does run, and it's getting dark. Come, aren't
+you going to take away the body of that poor lad, and the lion, too?
+There, my boy, you keep those herbs on, and you'll never feel your
+scratches. I know a thing or two for all I'm crazy, and you, my own
+grandson! Dear, dear, I'm glad his Holiness the High Priest adopted
+you when Pharaoh--Osiris bless his holy name--made an end of his son;
+you look so bonny. I warrant the real Harmachis could not have killed
+a lion like that. Give me the common blood, I say--it's so lusty."
+
+[*] The soul when it has been absorbed in the Godhead.--Editor.
+
+"You know too much and talk too fast," grumbled the spy, now quite
+deceived. "Well, he is a brave youth. Here, you men, bear this body
+back to Abouthis, and some of you stop and help me skin the lion.
+We'll send the skin to you, young man," he went on; "not that you
+deserve it: to attack a lion like that was the act of a fool, and a
+fool deserves what he gets--destruction. Never attack the strong until
+you are stronger."
+
+But for my part I went home wondering.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+OF THE REBUKE OF AMENEMHAT; OF THE PRAYER OF HARMACHIS;
+AND OF THE SIGN GIVEN BY THE HOLY GODS
+
+For a while as I, Harmachis, went, the juice of the green herbs which
+the old wife, Atoua, had placed upon my wounds caused me much smart,
+but presently the pain ceased. And, of a truth, I believe that there
+was virtue in them, for within two days my flesh healed up, so that
+after a time no marks remained. But I bethought me that I had
+disobeyed the word of the old High Priest, Amenemhat, who was called
+my father. For till this day I knew not that he was in truth my father
+according to the flesh, having been taught that his own son was slain
+as I have written; and that he had been pleased, with the sanction of
+the Divine ones, to take me as an adopted son and rear me up, that I
+might in due season fulfil an office about the Temple. Therefore I was
+much troubled, for I feared the old man, who was very terrible in his
+anger, and ever spoke with the cold voice of Wisdom. Nevertheless, I
+determined to go in to him and confess my fault and bear such
+punishment as he should be pleased to put upon me. So with the red
+spear in my hand, and the red wounds on my breast, I passed through
+the outer court of the great temple and came to the door of the place
+where the High Priest dwelt. It is a great chamber, sculptured round
+about with the images of the solemn Gods, and the sunlight comes to it
+in the daytime by an opening cut through the stones of the massy roof.
+But at night it was lit by a swinging lamp of bronze. I passed in
+without noise, for the door was not altogether shut, and, pushing my
+way through the heavy curtains that were beyond, I stood with a
+beating heart within the chamber.
+
+The lamp was lit, for the darkness had fallen, and by its light I saw
+the old man seated in a chair of ivory and ebony at a table of stone
+on which were spread mystic writings of the words of Life and Death.
+But he read no more, for he slept, and his long white beard rested
+upon the table like the beard of a dead man. The soft light from the
+lamp fell on him, on the papyri and the gold ring upon his hand, where
+were graven the symbols of the Invisible One, but all around was
+shadow. It fell on the shaven head, on the white robe, on the cedar
+staff of priesthood at his side, and on the ivory of the lion-footed
+chair; it showed the mighty brow of power, the features cut in kingly
+mould, the white eyebrows, and the dark hollows of the deep-set eyes.
+I looked and trembled, for there was about him that which was more
+than the dignity of man. He had lived so long with the Gods, and so
+long kept company with them and with thoughts divine, he was so deeply
+versed in all those mysteries which we do but faintly discern, here in
+this upper air, that even now, before his time, he partook of the
+nature of the Osiris, and was a thing to shake humanity with fear.
+
+I stood and gazed, and as I stood he opened his dark eyes, but looked
+not on me, nor turned his head; and yet he saw me and spoke.
+
+"Why hast thou been disobedient to me, my son?" he said. "How came it
+that thou wentest forth against the lion when I bade thee not?"
+
+"How knowest thou, my father, that I went forth?" I asked in fear.
+
+"How know I? Are there, then, no other ways of knowledge than by the
+senses? Ah, ignorant child! was not my Spirit with thee when the lion
+sprang upon thy companion? Did I not pray Those set about thee to
+protect thee, to make sure thy thrust when thou didst drive the spear
+into the lion's throat! How came it that thou wentest forth, my son?"
+
+"The boaster taunted me," I answered, "and I went."
+
+"Yes, I know it; and, because of the hot blood of youth, I forgive
+thee, Harmachis. But now listen to me, and let my words sink into thy
+heart like the waters of Sihor into the thirsty sand at the rising of
+Sirius.[*] Listen to me. The boaster was sent to thee as a temptation,
+he was sent as a trial of thy strength, and see! it has not been equal
+to the burden. Therefore thy hour is put back. Hadst thou been strong
+in this matter, the path had been made plain to thee even now. But
+thou hast failed, and therefore thy hour is put back."
+
+[*] The dog-star, whose appearance marked the commencement of the
+    overflow of the Nile.--Editor.
+
+"I understand thee not, my father," I answered.
+
+"What was it, then, my son, that the old wife, Atoua, said to thee
+down by the bank of the canal?"
+
+Then I told him all that the old wife had said.
+
+"And thou believest, Harmachis, my son?"
+
+"Nay," I answered; "how should I believe such tales? Surely she is
+mad. All the people know her for mad."
+
+Now for the first time he looked towards me, who was standing in the
+shadow.
+
+"My son! my son!" he cried; "thou art wrong. She is not mad. The woman
+spoke the truth; she spoke not of herself, but of the voice within her
+that cannot lie. For this Atoua is a prophetess and holy. Now learn
+thou the destiny that the Gods of Egypt have given to thee to fulfil,
+and woe be unto thee if by any weakness thou dost fail therein!
+Listen: thou art no stranger adopted into my house and the worship of
+the Temple; thou art my very son, saved to me by this same woman. But,
+Harmachis, thou art more than this, for in thee and me alone yet flows
+the Imperial blood of Egypt. Thou and I alone of men alive are
+descended, without break or flaw, from that Pharaoh Nekt-nebf whom
+Ochus the Persian drove from Egypt. The Persian came and the Persian
+went, and after the Persian came the Macedonian, and now for nigh upon
+three hundred years the Lagid� have usurped the double crown, defiling
+the land of Khem and corrupting the worship of its Gods. And mark thou
+this: but now, two weeks since, Ptolemy Neus Dionysus, Ptolemy Aul�tes
+the Piper, who would have slain thee, is dead; and but now hath the
+Eunuch Pothinus, that very eunuch who came hither, years ago, to cut
+thee off, set at naught the will of his master, the dead Aul�tes, and
+placed the boy Ptolemy upon the throne. And therefore his sister
+Cleopatra, that fierce and beautiful girl, has fled into Syria; and
+there, if I err not, she will gather her armies and make war upon her
+brother Ptolemy: for by her father's will she was left joint-sovereign
+with him. And, meanwhile, mark thou this, my son: the Roman eagle
+hangs on high, waiting with ready talons till such time as he may fall
+upon the fat wether Egypt and rend him. And mark again: the people of
+Egypt are weary of the foreign yoke, they hate the memory of the
+Persians, and they are sick at heart of being named "Men of Macedonia"
+in the markets of Alexandria. The whole land mutters and murmurs
+beneath the yoke of the Greek and the shadow of the Roman.
+
+"Have we not been oppressed? Have not our children been butchered and
+our gains wrung from us to fill the bottomless greed and lust of the
+Lagid�? Have not the temples been forsaken?--ay, have not the
+majesties of the Eternal Gods been set at naught by these Grecian
+babblers, who have dared to meddle with the immortal truths, and name
+the Most High by another name--by the name of Serapis--confounding the
+substance of the Invisible? Does not Egypt cry aloud for freedom?--and
+shall she cry in vain? Nay, nay, for thou, my son, art the appointed
+way of deliverance. To thee, being sunk in eld, I have decreed my
+rights. Already thy name is whispered in many a sanctuary, from Abu to
+Athu; already priests and people swear allegiance, even by the sacred
+symbols, unto him who shall be declared to them. Still, the time is
+not yet; thou art too green a sapling to bear the weight of such a
+storm. But to-day thou wast tried and found wanting.
+
+"He who would serve the Gods, Harmachis, must put aside the failings
+of the flesh. Taunts must not move him, nor any lusts of man. Thine is
+a high mission, but this thou must learn. If thou learn it not, thou
+shalt fail therein; and then, my curse be on thee! and the curse of
+Egypt, and the curse of Egypt's broken Gods! For know thou this, that
+even the Gods, who are immortal, may, in the interwoven scheme of
+things, lean upon the man who is their instrument, as a warrior on his
+sword. And woe be to the sword that snaps in the hour of battle, for
+it shall be thrown aside to rust or perchance be melted with fire!
+Therefore, make thy heart pure and high and strong; for thine is no
+common lot, and thine no mortal meed. Triumph, Harmachis, and in glory
+thou shalt go--in glory here and hereafter! Fail, and woe--woe be on
+thee!"
+
+He paused and bowed his head, and then went on:
+
+"Of these matters thou shalt hear more hereafter. Meanwhile, thou hast
+much to learn. To-morrow I will give thee letters, and thou shalt
+journey down the Nile, past white-walled Memphis to Annu. There thou
+shalt sojourn certain years, and learn more of our ancient wisdom
+beneath the shadow of those secret pyramids of which thou, too, art
+the Hereditary High Priest that is to be. And meanwhile, I will sit
+here and watch, for my hour is not yet, and, by the help of the Gods,
+spin the web of Death wherein thou shalt catch and hold the wasp of
+Macedonia.
+
+"Come hither, my son; come hither and kiss me on the brow, for thou
+art my hope, and all the hope of Egypt. Be but true, soar to the eagle
+crest of destiny, and thou shalt be glorious here and hereafter. Be
+false, fail, and I will spit upon thee, and thou shalt be accursed,
+and thy soul shall remain in bondage till that hour when, in the slow
+flight of time, the evil shall once more grow to good and Egypt shall
+again be free."
+
+I drew near, trembling, and kissed him on the brow. "May all these
+things come upon me, and more," I said, "if I fail thee, my father!"
+
+"Nay!" he cried, "not me, not me; but rather those whose will I do.
+And now go, my son, and ponder in thy heart, and in thy secret heart
+digest my words; mark what thou shalt see, and gather up the dew of
+wisdom, making thee ready for the battle. Fear not for thyself, thou
+art protected from all ill. No harm may touch thee from without;
+thyself alone can be thine own enemy. I have said."
+
+Then I went forth with a full heart. The night was very still, and
+none were stirring in the temple courts. I hurried through them, and
+reached the entrance to the pylon that is at the outer gate. Then,
+seeking solitude, and, as it were, to draw near to heaven, I climbed
+the pylon's two hundred steps, until at length I reached the massive
+roof. Here I leaned my breast against the parapet, and looked forth.
+As I looked, the red edge of the full moon floated up over the Arabian
+hills, and her rays fell upon the pylon where I stood and the temple
+walls beyond, lighting the visages of the carven Gods. Then the cold
+light struck the stretch of well-tilled lands, now whitening to the
+harvest, and as the heavenly lamp of Isis passed up to the sky, her
+rays crept slowly down to the valley, where Sihor, father of the land
+of Khem, rolls on toward the sea.
+
+Now the bright beams kissed the water that smiled an answer back, and
+now mountain and valley, river, temple, town, and plain were flooded
+with white light, for Mother Isis was arisen, and threw her gleaming
+robe across the bosom of the earth. It was beautiful, with the beauty
+of a dream, and solemn as the hour after death. Mightily, indeed, the
+temples towered up against the face of night. Never had they seemed so
+grand to me as in that hour--those eternal shrines, before whose walls
+Time himself shall wither. And it was to be mine to rule this moonlit
+land; mine to preserve those sacred shrines, and cherish the honour of
+their Gods; mine to cast out the Ptolemy and free Egypt from the
+foreign yoke! In my veins ran the blood of those great Kings who await
+the day of Resurrection, sleeping in the tombs of the valley of
+Thebes. My spirit swelled within me as I dreamed upon this glorious
+destiny, I closed my hands, and there, upon the pylon, I prayed as I
+had never prayed before to the Godhead, who is called by many names,
+and in many forms made manifest.
+
+"O Amen," I prayed, "God of Gods, who hast been from the beginning;
+Lord of Truth, who art, and of whom all are, who givest out thy
+Godhead and gatherest it up again; in the circle of whom the Divine
+ones move and are, who wast from all time the Self-begot, and who
+shalt be till time--hearken unto me.[*]
+
+[*] For a somewhat similar definition of the Godhead see the funeral
+    papyrus of Nesikhonsu, a Princess of the Twenty-first Dynasty.--
+    Editor.
+
+"O Amen--Osiris, the sacrifice by whom we are justified, Lord of the
+Region of the Winds, Ruler of the Ages, Dweller in the West, the
+Supreme in Amenti, hearken unto me.
+
+"O Isis, great Mother Goddess, mother of the Horus--mysterious Mother,
+Sister, Spouse, hearken unto me. If, indeed, I am the chosen of the
+Gods to carry out the purpose of the Gods, let a sign be given me,
+even now, to seal my life to the life above. Stretch out your arms
+towards me, O ye Gods, and uncover the glory of your countenance.
+Hear! ah, hear me!" And I cast myself upon my knees and lifted up my
+eyes to heaven.
+
+And as I knelt, a cloud grew upon the face of the moon covering it up,
+so that the night became dark, and the silence deepened all around--
+even the dogs far below in the city ceased to howl, while the silence
+grew and grew till it was heavy as death. I felt my spirit lifted up
+within me, and my hair rose upon my head. Then of a sudden the mighty
+pylon seemed to rock beneath my feet, a great wind beat about my brows
+and a voice spoke within my heart:
+
+"Behold a sign! Possess thyself in patience, O Harmachis!"
+
+And as the voice spoke, a cold hand touched my hand, and left somewhat
+within it. Then the cloud rolled from the face of the moon, the wind
+passed, the pylon ceased to tremble, and the night was as the night
+had been.
+
+As the light came back, I gazed upon that which had been left within
+my hand. It was a bud of the holy lotus new breaking into bloom, and
+from it came a most sweet scent.
+
+And while I gazed behold! the lotus passed from my grasp and was gone,
+leaving me astonished.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+OF THE DEPARTURE OF HARMACHIS AND OF HIS MEETING WITH HIS
+UNCLE SEPA, THE HIGH PRIEST OF ANNU EL RA; OF HIS LIFE AT ANNU,
+AND OF THE WORDS OF SEPA
+
+At the dawning of the next day I was awakened by a priest of the
+temple, who brought word to me to make ready for the journey of which
+my father had spoken, inasmuch as there was an occasion for me to pass
+down the river to Annu el Ra. Now this is the Heliopolis of the
+Greeks, whither I should go in the company of some priests of Ptah at
+Memphis who had come hither to Abouthis to lay the body of one of
+their great men in the tomb that had been prepared near the resting
+place of the blessed Osiris.
+
+So I made ready, and the same evening, having received letters and
+embraced my father and those about the temple who were dear to me, I
+passed down the banks of Sihor, and we sailed with the south wind. As
+the pilot stood upon the prow and with a rod in his hand bade the
+sailor-men loosen the stakes by which the vessel was moored to the
+banks, the old wife, Atoua, hobbled up, her basket of simples in her
+hand, and, calling out farewell, threw a sandal after me for good
+chance, which sandal I kept for many years.
+
+So we sailed, and for six days passed down the wonderful river, making
+fast each night at some convenient spot. But when I lost sight of the
+familiar things that I had seen day by day since I had eyes to see,
+and found myself alone among strange faces, I felt very sore at heart,
+and would have wept had I not been ashamed. And of all the wonderful
+things I saw I will not write here, for, though they were new to me,
+have they not been known to men since such time as the Gods ruled in
+Egypt? But the priests who were with me showed me no little honour and
+expounded to me what were the things I saw.
+
+On the morning of the seventh day we came to Memphis, the city of the
+White Hall. Here, for three days I rested from my journey and was
+entertained of the priests of the wonderful Temple of Ptah the
+Creator, and shown the beauties of the great and marvellous city. Also
+I was led in secret by the High Priest and two others into the holy
+presence of the God Apis, the Ptah who deigns to dwell among men in
+the form of a bull. The God was black, and on his forehead there was a
+white square, on his back was a white mark shaped like an eagle,
+beneath his tongue was the likeness of a scarab�us, in his tail were
+double hairs, and a plate of pure gold hung between his horns. I
+entered the place of the God and worshipped, while the High Priest and
+those with him stood aside, watching earnestly. And when I had
+worshipped, saying the words which had been told me, the God knelt,
+and lay down before me. Then the High Priest and those with him, who,
+as I heard in after time, were great men of Upper Egypt, approached
+wondering, and, saying no word, made obeisance to me because of the
+omen. And many other things I saw in Memphis that are too long to
+write of here.
+
+On the fourth day some priests of Annu came to lead me to Sepa, my
+uncle, the High Priest of Annu. So, having bidden farewell to those of
+Memphis, we crossed the river and rode on asses two parts of a day's
+journey through many villages, which we found in great poverty because
+of the oppression of the tax-gatherers. Also, as we went, I saw for
+the first time the great pyramids that are beyond the image of the God
+Horemkhu, that Sphinx whom the Greeks name Harmachis, and the Temples
+of the Divine Mother Isis, Queen of the Memnonia, and the God Osiris,
+Lord of Rosatou, of which temples, together with the Temple of the
+worship of the Divine Menkau-ra, I, Harmachis, am by right Divine the
+Hereditary High Priest. I saw them and marvelled at their greatness
+and the white carven limestone, and red granite of Syene, that flashed
+the sun's rays back to heaven. But at this time I knew nothing of the
+treasure that was hid in /Her/, which is the third among the pyramids
+--would I had never known of it!
+
+And so at last we came within sight of Annu, which after Memphis has
+been seen is no large town, but stands on raised ground, before which
+are lakes fed by a canal. Behind the town is the inclosed field of the
+Temple of the God Ra.
+
+We dismounted at the pylon, and were met beneath the portico by a man
+not great of stature, but of noble aspect, having his head shaven, and
+with dark eyes that twinkled like the further stars.
+
+"Hold!" he cried, in a great voice which fitted his weak body but ill.
+"Hold! I am Sepa, who opens the mouth of the Gods!"
+
+"And I," I said, "am Harmachis, son of Amenemhat, Hereditary High
+Priest and Ruler of the Holy City Abouthis; and I bear letters to
+thee, O Sepa!"
+
+"Enter," he said. "Enter!" scanning me all the while with his
+twinkling eyes. "Enter, my son!" And he took me and led me to a
+chamber in the inner hall, closed to the door, and then, having
+glanced at the letters that I brought, of a sudden he fell upon my
+neck and embraced me.
+
+"Welcome," he cried, "welcome, son of my own sister, and hope of Khem!
+Not in vain have I prayed the Gods that I might live to look upon thy
+face and impart to thee the wisdom which perchance I alone have
+mastered of those who are left alive in Egypt. There are few whom it
+is lawful that I should teach. But thine is the great destiny, and
+thine shall be the ears to hear the lessons of the Gods."
+
+And he embraced me once more and bade me go bathe and eat, saying that
+on the morrow he would speak with me further.
+
+This of a truth he did, and at such length that I will forbear to set
+down all he said both then and afterwards, for if I did so there would
+be no papyrus left in Egypt when the task was ended. Therefore, having
+much to tell and but little time to tell it, I will pass over the
+events of the years that followed.
+
+For this was the manner of my life. I rose early, I attended the
+worship of the Temple, and I gave my days to study. I learnt of the
+rites of religion and their meaning, and of the beginning of the Gods
+and the beginning of the Upper World. I learnt of the mystery of the
+movements of the stars, and of how the earth rolls on among them. I
+was instructed in that ancient knowledge which is called magic, and in
+the way of interpretation of dreams, and of the drawing nigh to God. I
+was taught the language of symbols and their outer and inner secrets.
+I became acquainted with the eternal laws of Good and Evil, and with
+the mystery of that trust which is held of man; also I learnt the
+secrets of the pyramids--which I would that I had never known.
+Further, I read the records of the past, and of the acts and words of
+the ancient kings who were before me since the rule of Horus upon
+earth; and I was made to know all craft of state, the lore of earth,
+and with it the history of Greece and Rome. Also I learnt the Grecian
+and Roman tongues, of which indeed I already had some knowledge--and
+all this while, for five long years, I kept my hands clean and my
+heart pure, and did no evil in the sight of God or man; but laboured
+heavily to acquire all things, and to prepare myself for the destiny
+that awaited me.
+
+Twice every year greetings and letters came from my father Amenemhat,
+and twice every year I sent back my answers asking if the time had
+come to cease from labour. And so the days of my probation sped away
+till I grew faint and weary at heart, for being now a man, ay and
+learned, I longed to make a beginning of the life of men. And often I
+wondered if this talk and prophecy of the things that were to be was
+but a dream born of the brains of men whose wish ran before their
+thought. I was, indeed, of the Royal blood, that I knew: for my uncle,
+Sepa the Priest, showed me a secret record of the descent, traced
+without break from father to son, and graven in mystic symbols on a
+tablet of the stone of Syene. But of what avail was it to be Royal by
+right when Egypt, my heritage, was a slave--a slave to do the pleasure
+and minister to the luxury of the Macedonian Lagid�--ay, and when she
+had been so long a serf that, perchance, she had forgotten how to put
+off the servile smile of Bondage and once more to look across the
+world with Freedom's happy eyes?
+
+Then I bethought me of my prayer upon the pylon tower of Abouthis and
+of the answer given to my prayer, and wondered if that, too, were a
+dream.
+
+And one night, as, weary with study, I walked within the sacred grove
+that is in the garden of the temple, and mused thus, I met my uncle
+Sepa, who also was walking and thinking.
+
+"Hold!" he cried in his great voice; "why is thy face so sad,
+Harmachis? Has the last problem that we studied overwhelmed thee?"
+
+"Nay, my uncle," I answered, "I am overwhelmed indeed, but not of the
+problem; it was a light one. My heart is heavy, for I am weary of life
+within these cloisters, and the piled-up weight of knowledge crushes
+me. It is of no avail to store up force which cannot be used."
+
+"Ah, thou art impatient, Harmachis," he answered; "it is ever the way
+of foolish youth. Thou wouldst taste of the battle; thou dost tire of
+watching the breakers fall upon the beach, thou wouldst plunge into
+them and venture the desperate hazard of the war. And so thou wouldst
+be going, Harmachis? The bird would fly the nest as, when they are
+grown, the swallows fly from the eaves of the Temple. Well, it shall
+be as thou desirest; the hour is at hand. I have taught thee all that
+I have learned, and methinks that the pupil has outrun his master,"
+and he paused and wiped his bright black eyes, for he was very sad at
+the thought of my departure.
+
+"And whither shall I go, my uncle?" I asked rejoicing; "back to
+Abouthis to be initiated into the mysteries of the Gods?"
+
+"Ay, back to Abouthis, and from Abouthis to Alexandria, and from
+Alexandria to the Throne of thy fathers, Harmachis! Listen, now;
+things are thus: Thou knowest how Cleopatra, the Queen, fled into
+Syria when that false eunuch Pothinus set the will of her father
+Aul�tes at naught and raised her brother Ptolemy to the sole lordship
+of Egypt. Thou knowest also how she came back, like a Queen indeed,
+with a great army in her train, and lay at Pelusium, and how at this
+juncture the mighty C�sar, that great man, that greatest of all men,
+sailed with a weak company hither to Alexandria from Pharsalia's
+bloody field in hot pursuit of Pompey. But he found Pompey already
+dead, having been basely murdered by Achillas, the General, and Lucius
+Septimius, the chief of the Roman legions in Egypt, and thou knowest
+how the Alexandrians were troubled at his coming and would have slain
+his lictors. Then, as thou hast heard, C�sar seized Ptolemy, the young
+King, and his sister Arsino�, and bade the army of Cleopatra and the
+army of Ptolemy, under Achillas, which lay facing each other at
+Pelusium, disband and go their ways. And for answer Achillas marched
+on C�sar, and besieged him straitly in the Bruchium at Alexandria, and
+so, for a while, things were, and none knew who should reign in Egypt.
+But then Cleopatra took up the dice, and threw them, and this was the
+throw she made--in truth, it was a bold one. For, leaving the army at
+Pelusium, she came at dusk to the harbour of Alexandria, and alone
+with the Sicilian Apollodorus entered and landed. Then Apollodorus
+bound her in a bale of rich rugs, such as are made in Syria, and sent
+the rugs as a present to C�sar. And when the rugs were unbound in the
+palace, behold! within them was the fairest girl on all the earth--ay,
+and the most witty and the most learned. And she seduced the great
+C�sar--even his weight of years did not avail to protect him from her
+charms--so that, as a fruit of his folly, he wellnigh lost his life,
+and all the glory he had gained in a hundred wars."
+
+"The fool!" I broke in--"the fool! Thou callest him great; but how can
+the man be truly great who has no strength to stand against a woman's
+wiles? C�sar, with the world hanging on his word! C�sar, at whose
+breath forty legions marched and changed the fate of peoples! C�sar
+the cold! the far-seeing! the hero!--C�sar to fall like a ripe fruit
+into a false girl's lap! Why, in the issue, of what common clay was
+this Roman C�sar, and how poor a thing!"
+
+But Sepa looked at me and shook his head. "Be not so rash, Harmachis,
+and talk not with so proud a voice. Knowest thou not that in every
+suit of mail there is a joint, and woe to him who wears the harness if
+the sword should search it out! For Woman, in her weakness, is yet the
+strongest force upon the earth. She is the helm of all things human;
+she comes in many shapes and knocks at many doors; she is quick and
+patient, and her passion is not ungovernable like that of man, but as
+a gentle steed that she can guide e'en where she will, and as occasion
+offers can now bit up and now give rein. She has a captain's eye, and
+stout must be that fortress of the heart in which she finds no place
+of vantage. Does thy blood beat fast in youth? She will outrun it, nor
+will her kisses tire. Art thou set toward ambition? She will unlock
+thy inner heart, and show thee roads that lead to glory. Art thou worn
+and weary? She has comfort in her breast. Art thou fallen? She can
+lift thee up, and to the illusion of thy sense gild defeat with
+triumph. Ay, Harmachis, she can do these things, for Nature ever
+fights upon her side; and while she does them she can deceive and
+shape a secret end in which thou hast no part. And thus Woman rules
+the world. For her are wars; for her men spend their strength in
+gathering gains; for her they do well and ill, and seek for greatness,
+to find oblivion. But still she sits like yonder Sphinx, and smiles;
+and no man has ever read all the riddle of her smile, or known all the
+mystery of her heart. Mock not! mock not! Harmachis; for he must be
+great indeed who can defy the power of Woman, which, pressing round
+him like the invisible air, is often strongest when the senses least
+discover it."
+
+I laughed aloud. "Thou speakest earnestly, my uncle Sepa," I said;
+"one might almost think that thou hadst not come unscathed through
+this fierce fire of temptation. Well, for myself, I fear not woman and
+her wiles; I know naught of them, and naught do I wish to know; and I
+still hold that this C�sar was a fool. Had I stood where C�sar stood,
+to cool its wantonness that bale of rugs should have been rolled down
+the palace steps, into the harbour mud."
+
+"Nay, cease! cease!" he cried aloud. "It is evil to speak thus; may
+the Gods avert the omen and preserve to thee this cold strength of
+which thou boastest. Oh! man, thou knowest not!--thou in thy strength
+and beauty that is without compare, in the power of thy learning and
+the sweetness of thy tongue--thou knowest not! The world where thou
+must mix is not a sanctuary as that of the Divine Isis. But there--it
+may be so! Pray that thy heart's ice may never melt, so thou shalt be
+great and happy and Egypt shall be delivered. And now let me take up
+my tale--thou seest, Harmachis, even in so grave a story woman claims
+her place. The young Ptolemy, Cleopatra's brother, being loosed of
+C�sar, treacherously turned on him. Then C�sar and Mithridates stormed
+the camp of Ptolemy, who took to flight across the river. But his boat
+was sunk by the fugitives who pressed upon it, and such was the
+miserable end of Ptolemy.
+
+"Thereon, the war being ended, though she had but then borne him a
+son, C�sarion, C�sar appointed the younger Ptolemy to rule with
+Cleopatra, and be her husband in name, and he himself departed for
+Rome, bearing with him the beautiful Princess Arsino� to follow his
+triumph in her chains. But the great C�sar is no more. He died as he
+had lived, in blood, and right royally. And but now Cleopatra, the
+Queen, if my tidings may be trusted, has slain Ptolemy, her brother
+and husband, by poison, and taken the child C�sarion to be her fellow
+on the throne, which she holds by the help of the Roman legions, and,
+as they say, of young Sextus Pompeius, who has succeeded C�sar in her
+love. But, Harmachis, the whole land boils and seethes against her. In
+every city the children of Khem talk of the deliverer who is to come--
+and thou art he, Harmachis. The time is almost ripe. The hour is nigh
+at hand. Go thou back to Abouthis and learn the last secrets of the
+Gods, and meet those who shall direct the bursting of the storm. Then
+act, Harmachis--act, I say, and strike home for Khem, rid the land of
+the Roman and the Greek, and take thy place upon the throne of thy
+divine fathers and be a King of men. For to this end thou wast born, O
+Prince!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+OF THE RETURN OF HARMACHIS TO ABOUTHIS; OF THE CELEBRATION
+OF THE MYSTERIES; OF THE CHANT OF ISIS; AND OF THE WARNING
+OF AMENEMHAT
+
+On the next day I embraced my uncle Sepa, and with an eager heart
+departed from Annu back to Abouthis. To be short, I came thither in
+safety, having been absent five years and a month, being now no more a
+boy but a man full grown and having my mind well stocked with the
+knowledge of men and the ancient wisdom of Egypt. So once again I saw
+the old lands, and the known faces, though of these some few were
+wanting, having been gathered to Osiris. Now, as, riding across the
+fields, I came nigh to the enclosure of the Temple, the priests and
+people issued forth to bid me welcome, and with them the old wife,
+Atoua, who, but for a few added wrinkles that Time had cut upon her
+forehead, was just as she had been when she threw the sandal after me
+five long years before.
+
+"/La! la! la!/" she cried; "and there thou art, my bonny lad; more
+bonny even than thou wert! /La!/ what a man! what shoulders! and what
+a face and form! Ah, it does an old woman credit to have dandled thee!
+But thou art over-pale; those priests down there at Annu have starved
+thee, surely? Starve not thyself: the Gods love not a skeleton. 'Empty
+stomach makes empty head' as they say at Alexandria. But this is a
+glad hour; ay, a joyous hour. Come in--come in!" and as I lighted down
+she embraced me.
+
+But I thrust her aside. "My father! where is my father?" I cried; "I
+see him not!"
+
+"Nay, nay, have no fear," she answered; 'his Holiness is well; he
+waits thee in his chamber. There, pass on. O happy day! O happy
+Abouthis!"
+
+So I went, or rather ran, and reached the chamber of which I have
+written, and there at the table sat my father, Amenemhat, the same as
+he had been, but very old. I came to him and, kneeling before him,
+kissed his hand, and he blessed me.
+
+"Look up, my son," he said, "let my old eyes gaze upon thy face, that
+I may read thy heart."
+
+So I lifted up my head, and he looked upon me long and earnestly.
+
+"I read thee," he said at length; "thou art pure and strong in wisdom;
+I have not been deceived in thee. Oh, the years have been lonely; but
+I did well to send thee hence. Now, tell me of thy life; for thy
+letters have told me little, and thou canst not know, my son, how
+hungry is a father's heart."
+
+And so I told him; we sat far into the night and talked together. And
+in the end he bade me know that I must now prepare to be initiated
+into those last mysteries that are learned of the chosen of the Gods.
+
+And so it came about that for a space of three months I prepared
+myself according to the holy customs. I ate no meat. I was constant in
+the sanctuaries, in the study of the secrets of the Great Sacrifice
+and of the woe of the Holy Mother. I watched and prayed before the
+altars. I lifted up my soul to God; ay, in dreams I communed with the
+Invisible, till at length earth and earth's desires seemed to pass
+from me. I longed no more for the glory of this world, my heart hung
+above it as an eagle on his outstretched wings, and the voice of the
+world's blame could not stir it, and the vision of its beauty brought
+no delight. For above me was the vast vault of heaven, where in
+unalterable procession the stars pass on, drawing after them the
+destinies of men; where the Holy Ones sit upon their burning thrones,
+and watch the chariot-wheels of Fate as they roll from sphere to
+sphere. O hours of holy contemplation! who, having once tasted of your
+joy could wish again to grovel on the earth? O vile flesh to drag us
+down! I would that thou hadst then altogether fallen from me, and left
+my spirit free to seek Osiris!
+
+The months of probation passed but too swiftly, and now the holy day
+drew near when I was in truth to be united to the universal Mother.
+Never hath Night so longed for the promise of the Dawn; never hath the
+heart of a lover so passionately desired the sweet coming of his
+bride, as I longed to see Thy glorious face, O Isis! Even now that I
+have been faithless to Thee, and Thou art far from me, O Divine! my
+soul goes out to Thee, and once more I know---- But as it is bidden
+that I should draw the veil, and speak of things which have not been
+told since the beginning of this world, let me pass on and reverently
+set down the history of that holy morn.
+
+For seven days the great festival had been celebrated, the suffering
+of the Lord Osiris had been commemorated, the grief of the Mother Isis
+had been sung and glory had been done to the memory of the coming of
+the Divine Child Horus, the Son, the Avenger, the God-begot. All these
+things had been carried out according to the ancient rites. The boats
+had floated on the sacred lake, the priests had scourged themselves
+before the sanctuaries, and the images had been borne through the
+streets at night.
+
+And now, as the sun sank on the seventh day, once more the great
+procession gathered to chant the woes of Isis and tell how the evil
+was avenged. We went in silence from the temple, and passed through
+the city ways. First came those who clear the path, then my father
+Amenemhat in all his priestly robes, and the wand of cedar in his
+hand. Then, clad in pure linen, I, the neophyte, followed alone; and
+after me the white-robed priests, holding aloft banners and emblems of
+the Gods. Next came those who bear the sacred boat, and after them the
+singers and the mourners; while, stretching as far as the eye could
+reach, all the people marched, clad in melancholy black because Osiris
+was no more. We went in silence through the city streets till at
+length we came to the wall of the temple and passed in. And as my
+father, the High Priest, entered beneath the gateway of the outer
+pylon, a sweet-voiced woman singer began to sing the Holy Chant, and
+thus she sang:
+
+     "Sing we Osiris dead,
+      Lament the fallen head:
+  The light has left the world, the world is grey.
+      Athwart the starry skies
+      The web of Darkness flies,
+  And Isis weeps Osiris passed away.
+      Your tears, ye stars, ye fires, ye rivers, shed,
+      Weep, children of the Nile, weep for your Lord is dead!"
+
+She paused in her most sweet song, and the whole multitude took up the
+melancholy dirge:
+
+ "Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+      Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+  Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     'Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+      Return to them that worship thee of old!'"
+
+The chorus ceased, and once again she sang:
+
+     "Within the court divine
+      The Sevenfold sacred shrine
+  We pass, while echoes of the Temple walls
+      Repeat the long lament
+      The sound of sorrow sent
+  Far up within the imperishable halls,
+      Where, each in the other's arms, the Sisters weep,
+      Isis and Nephthys, o'er His unawaking sleep."
+
+And then again rolled forth the solemn chorus of a thousand voices:
+
+ "Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+      Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+  Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     'Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+      Return to them that worship thee of old!'"
+
+It ceased, and sweetly she took up the song:
+
+     "O dweller in the West,
+      Lover and Lordliest,
+  Thy love, thy Sister Isis, calls thee home!
+      Come from thy chamber dun
+      Thou Master of the Sun,
+  Thy shadowy chamber far below the foam!
+      With weary wings and spent
+      Through all the firmament,
+  Through all the horror-haunted ways of Hell,
+      I seek thee near and far,
+      From star to wandering star,
+  Free with the dead that in Amenti dwell.
+      I search the height, the deep, the lands, the skies,
+      Rise from the dead and live, our Lord Osiris, rise!"
+
+ "Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+      Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+  Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     'Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+      Return to them that worship thee of old!'"
+
+Now in a strain more high and glad the singer sang:
+
+     "He wakes--from forth the prison
+      We sing Osiris risen,
+  We sing the child that Nout conceived and bare.
+      Thine own love, Isis, waits
+      The Warden of the Gates,
+  She breathes the breath of Life on breast and hair,
+      And in her breast and breath
+      Behold! he waketh,
+  Behold! at length he riseth out of rest;
+      Touched with her holy hands,
+      The Lord of all the Lands,
+  He stirs, he rises from her breath, her breast!
+      But thou, fell Typhon, fly,
+      The judgment day drawn nigh,
+  Fleet on thy track as flame speeds Horus from the sky."
+
+ "Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+      Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+  Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     'Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+      Return to them that worship thee of old!'"
+
+Once more, as we bowed before the Holy, she sang, and sent the full
+breath of her glad music ringing up the everlasting walls till the
+silence quivered with her round notes of melody, and the hearts of
+those who hearkened stirred strangely in the breast. And thus, as we
+walked, she sang the song of Osiris risen, the song of Hope, the song
+of Victory:
+
+     "Sing we the Trinity,
+      Sing we the Holy Three,
+  Sing we, and praise we and worship the Throne,
+      Throne that our Lord hath set--
+      There peace and truth are met
+  There in the Halls of the Holy alone!
+      There in the shadowings
+      Faint of the folded wings,
+  There shall we dwell and rejoice in our rest,
+      We that thy servants are!
+      Horus drive ill afar!
+  Far in the folds of the dark of the West!"
+
+Again, as her notes died away, thundered forth the chorus of all the
+voices:
+
+ "Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+      Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+  Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     'Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+      Return to them that worship thee of old!'"
+
+The chanting ceased, and as the sun sank the High Priest raised the
+statue of the living God and held it before the multitude that was now
+gathered in the court of the temple. Then, with a mighty and joyful
+shout of:
+
+  "/Osiris our hope! Osiris! Osiris!/"
+
+the people tore their black wrappings from their dress, revealing the
+white robes they wore beneath, and, as one man, they bowed before the
+God, and the feast was ended.
+
+
+
+But for me the ceremony was only begun, for to-night was the night of
+my initiation. Leaving the inner court I bathed myself, and, clad in
+pure linen, passed, as it is ordained, into an inner, but not the
+inmost, sanctuary, and laid the accustomed offerings on the altar.
+Then, lifting my hands to heaven, I remained for many hours in
+contemplation, striving, by holy thoughts and prayer, to gather up my
+strength against the mighty moment of my trial.
+
+The hours sped slowly in the silence of the temple, till at length the
+door opened and my father Amenemhat, the High Priest, came in, clad in
+white, and leading by the hand the Priest of Isis. For, having been
+married, he did not himself enter into the mysteries of the Holy
+Mother.
+
+I rose to my feet and stood humbly before them.
+
+"Art thou ready?" said the priest, lifting the lamp he held so that
+its light fell upon my face. "O thou chosen one, art thou ready to see
+the glory of the Goddess face to face?"
+
+"I am ready," I answered.
+
+"Behold thee," he said again, in solemn tones, "it is no small thing.
+If thou wilt carry out this thy last desire, understand, royal
+Harmachis, that now this very night thou must die for a while in the
+flesh, what time thy soul shall look on spiritual things. And if thou
+diest and any evil shall be found within thy heart, when thou comest
+at last into that awful presence, woe unto thee, Harmachis, for the
+breath of life shall no more enter in at the gateway of thy mouth, thy
+body shall utterly perish, and what shall befall thy other parts, if I
+know, I may not say.[*] Art thou prepared to be taken to the breast of
+Her who Was and Is and Shall Be, and in all things to do Her holy
+will; for Her, while she shall so command, to put away the thought of
+earthly woman; and to labour always for Her glory till at the end thy
+life is gathered to Her eternal life?"
+
+[*] According to the Egyptian religion the being Man is composed of
+    four parts: the body, the double or astral shape (/ka/), the soul
+    (/bi/), and the spark of life sprung from the Godhead (/khou/).--
+    Editor.
+
+"I am," I answered; "lead on."
+
+"It is well," said the priest. "Noble Amenemhat, we go hence alone."
+
+"Farewell, my son," said my father; "be firm and triumph over things
+spiritual as thou shalt triumph over things earthly. He who would
+truly rule the world must first be lifted up above the world. He must
+be at one with God, for thus only shall he learn the secrets of the
+Divine. But beware! The Gods demand much of those who dare to enter
+the circle of their Divinity. If they go back therefrom, they shall be
+judged of a sharper law, and scourged with a heavier rod, for as their
+glory is, so shall their shame be. Therefore, make thy heart strong,
+royal Harmachis! And when thou speedest down the ways of Night and
+enterest the Holies, remember that from him to whom great gifts have
+been given shall gifts be required again. And now--if, indeed, thy
+mind be fixed--go whither it is not as yet given me to follow thee.
+Farewell!"
+
+For a moment as my heart weighed these heavy words, I wavered, as well
+as I might. But I was filled with longing to be gathered to the
+company of the Divine ones, and I knew that I had no evil in me, and
+desired to do only the thing that is just. Therefore, having with so
+much labour drawn the bowstring to my ear, I was fain to let fly the
+shaft. "Lead on," I cried with a loud voice; "lead on, thou holy
+Priest! I follow thee!"
+
+And we went forth.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+OF THE INITIATION OF HARMACHIS; OF HIS VISIONS; OF HIS PASSING
+TO THE CITY THAT IS IN THE PLACE OF DEATH; AND OF THE DECLARATIONS
+OF ISIS, THE MESSENGER
+
+In silence we passed into the Shrine of Isis. It was dark and bare--
+only the feeble light from the lamp gleamed faintly upon the
+sculptured walls, where, in a hundred effigies, the Holy Mother
+suckled the Holy Child.
+
+The priest closed the doors and bolted them. "Once again," he said,
+"art thou ready, Harmachis?"
+
+"Once again," I answered, "I am ready."
+
+He spoke no more; but, having lifted up his hands in prayer, led me to
+the centre of the Holy, and with a swift motion put out the lamp.
+
+"Look before thee, Harmachis!" he cried; and his voice sounded hollow
+in the solemn place.
+
+I gazed and saw nothing. But from the niche that is high in the wall,
+where is hid that sacred symbol of the Goddess on which few may look,
+there came a sound as of the rattling rods of the sistrum.[*] And as I
+listened, awestruck, behold! I saw the outline of the symbol drawn as
+with fire upon the blackness of the air. It hung above my head, and
+rattled while it hung. And, as it turned, I clearly saw the face of
+the Mother Isis that is graven on the one side, and signifies unending
+Birth, and the face of her holy sister, Nephthys, that is graven on
+the other, and signifies the ending of all birth in Death.
+
+[*] A musical instrument peculiarly sacred to Isis of which the shape
+    and rods had a mystic significance.--Editor.
+
+Slowly it turned and swung as though some mystic dancer trod the air
+above me, and shook it in her hand. But at length the light went out,
+and the rattling ceased.
+
+Then of a sudden the end of the chamber became luminous, and in that
+white light I beheld picture after picture. I saw the ancient Nile
+rolling through deserts to the sea. There were no men upon its banks,
+nor any signs of man, nor any temples to the Gods. Only wild birds
+moved on Sihor's lonely face, and monstrous brutes plunged and
+wallowed in his waters. The sun sank in majesty behind the Libyan
+Desert and stained the waters red; the mountains towered up towards
+the silent sky; but in mountain, desert, and river there was no sign
+of human life. Then I knew that I saw the world as it had been before
+man was, and a terror of its loneliness entered my soul.
+
+The picture passed and another rose up in its place. Once again I saw
+the banks of Sihor, and on them crowded wild-faced creatures,
+partaking of the nature of the ape more than of the nature of mankind.
+They fought and slew each other. The wild birds sprang up in affright
+as the fire leapt from reed huts given by foemen's hands to flame and
+pillage. They stole and rent and murdered, dashing out the brains of
+children with axes of stone. And, though no voice told me, I knew that
+I saw man as he was tens of thousands of years ago, when first he
+marched across the earth.
+
+Yet another picture. Again I beheld the banks of Sihor; but on them
+fair cities bloomed like flowers. In and out their gates went men and
+women, passing to and fro from wide, well-tilled lands. But I saw no
+guards or armies, and no weapons of war. All was wisdom, prosperity,
+and peace. And while I wondered, a glorious Figure, clad in raiment
+that shone as flame, came from the gates of a shrine, and the sound of
+music went before and followed after him. He mounted an ivory throne
+which was set in a market-place facing the water: and as the sun sank
+called in all the multitudes to prayer. With one voice they prayed,
+bending in adoration. And I understood that herein was shown the reign
+of the Gods on earth, which was long before the days of Menes.
+
+A change came over the dream. Still the same fair city, but other men
+--men with greed and evil on their faces--who hated the bonds of
+righteous doing, and set their hearts on sin. The evening came; the
+glorious Figure mounted the throne and called to prayer, but none
+bowed themselves in adoration.
+
+"We are aweary of thee!" they cried. "Make Evil King! Slay him! slay
+him! and loose the bonds of Evil! Make Evil King!"
+
+The glorious Shape rose up, gazing with mild eyes upon those wicked
+men.
+
+"Ye know not what ye ask," he cried; "but as ye will, so be it! For if
+I die, by me, after much travail, shall ye once again find a path to
+the Kingdom of Good!"
+
+Even as he spoke, a Form, foul and hideous to behold, leapt upon him,
+cursing, slew him, tore him limb from limb, and amidst the clamour of
+the people sat himself upon the throne and ruled. But a Shape whose
+face was veiled passed down from heaven on shadowy wings, and with
+lamentations gathered up the rent fragments of the Being. A moment she
+bent herself upon them, then lifted up her hands and wept. And as she
+wept, behold! from her side there sprang a warrior armed and with a
+face like the face of Ra at noon. He, the Avenger, hurled himself with
+a shout upon the Monster who had usurped the throne, and they closed
+in battle, and, struggling ever in a strait embrace, passed upward to
+the skies.
+
+Then came picture after picture. I saw Powers and Peoples clad in
+various robes and speaking many tongues. I saw them pass and pass in
+millions--loving, hating, struggling, dying. Some few were happy and
+some had woe stamped upon their faces; but most bore not the seal of
+happiness nor of woe, but rather that of patience. And ever as they
+passed from age to age, high above in the heavens the Avenger fought
+on with the Evil Thing, while the scale of victory swung now here now
+there. But neither conquered, nor was it given to me to know how the
+battle ended.
+
+And I understood that what I had beheld was the holy vision of the
+struggle between the Good and the Evil Powers. I saw that man was
+created vile, but Those who are above took pity on him, and came down
+to him to make him good and happy, for the two things are one thing.
+But man returned to his wicked way, and then the bright Spirit of
+Good, who is of us called Osiris, but who has many names, offered
+himself up for the evil-doing of the race that had dethroned him. And
+from him and the Divine Mother, of whom all nature is, sprang another
+spirit who is the Protector of us on earth, as Osiris is our justifier
+in Amenti.
+
+For this is the mystery of the Osiris.
+
+Of a sudden, as I saw the visions, these things became clear to me.
+The mummy cloths of symbol and of ceremony that wrap Osiris round fell
+from him, and I understood the secret of religion, which is Sacrifice.
+
+The pictures passed, and again the priest, my guide, spoke to me.
+
+"Hast thou understood, Harmachis, those things which it has been
+granted thee to see?"
+
+"I have," I said. "Are the rites ended?"
+
+"Nay, they are but begun. That which follows thou must endure alone!
+Behold I leave thee, to return at the morning light. Once more I warn
+thee. That which thou shalt see, few may look upon and live. In all my
+days I have known but three who dared to face this dread hour, and of
+those three at dawn but one was found alive. Myself, I have not trod
+this path. It is too high for me."
+
+"Depart," I said; "my soul is athirst for knowledge. I will dare it."
+
+He laid his hand upon my shoulder and blessed me. He went. I heard the
+door shut to behind him, the echoes of his footsteps slowly died away.
+
+Then I felt that I was alone, alone in the Holy Place with Things
+which are not of the earth. Silence fell--silence deep and black as
+the darkness which was around me. The silence fell, it gathered as the
+cloud gathered on the face of the moon that night when, a lad, I
+prayed upon the pylon towers. It gathered denser and yet more dense
+till it seemed to creep into my heart and call aloud therein; for
+utter silence has a voice that is more terrible than any cry. I spoke;
+the echoes of my words came back upon me from the walls and seemed to
+beat me down. The stillness was lighter to endure than an echo such as
+this. What was I about to see? Should I die, even now, in the fulness
+of my youth and strength? Terrible were the warnings that had been
+given to me. I was fear-stricken, and bethought me that I would fly.
+Fly!--fly whither? The temple door was barred; I could not fly. I was
+alone with the Godhead, alone with the Power that I had invoked. Nay,
+my heart was pure--my heart was pure. I would face the terror that was
+to come, ay, even though I died.
+
+"Isis, Holy Mother," I prayed. "Isis, Spouse of Heaven, come unto me,
+be with me now; I faint! be with me now."
+
+And then I knew that things were not as things had been. The air
+around me began to stir, it rustled as the wings of eagles rustle, it
+took life. Bright eyes gazed upon me, strange whispers shook my soul.
+Upon the darkness were bars of light. They changed and interchanged,
+they moved to and fro and wove mystic symbols which I could not read.
+Swifter and swifter flew that shuttle of the light: the symbols
+grouped, gathered, faded, gathered yet again, faster and still more
+fast, till my eyes could count them no more. Now I was afloat upon a
+sea of glory; it surged and rolled, as the ocean rolls; it tossed me
+high, it brought me low. Glory was piled on glory, splendour heaped on
+splendour's head, and I rode above it all!
+
+Soon the lights began to pale in the rolling sea of air. Great shadows
+shot across it, lines of darkness pierced it and rushed together on
+its breast, till, at length, I was only a Shape of Flame set like a
+star on the bosom of immeasurable night. Bursts of awful music
+gathered from far away. Miles and miles away I heard them, thrilling
+faintly through the gloom. On they came, nearer and more near, louder
+and more loud, till they swept past, above, below, around me, swept on
+rushing pinions, terrifying and enchanting me. They floated by, ever
+growing fainter, till they died in space. Then others came, and no two
+were akin. Some rattled as ten thousand sistra shaken all to tune.
+Some rank from the brazen throats of unnumbered clarions. Some pealed
+with a loud, sweet chant of voices that were more than human; and some
+rolled along in the slow thunder of a million drums. They passed;
+their notes were lost in dying echoes; and the silence once more
+pressed in upon me and overcame me.
+
+The strength within me began to fail. I felt my life ebbing at its
+springs. Death drew near to me and his shape was /Silence/. He entered
+at my heart, entered with a sense of numbing cold, but my brain was
+still alive, I could yet think. I knew that I was drawing near the
+confines of the Dead. Nay, I was dying fast, and oh, the horror of it!
+I strove to pray and could not; there was no more time for prayer. One
+struggle and the stillness crept into my brain. The terror passed; an
+unfathomable weight of sleep pressed me down. I was dying, I was
+dying, and then--nothingness!
+
+/I was dead!/
+
+A change--life came back to me, but between the new life and the life
+that had been was a gulf and difference. Once again I stood in the
+darkness of the shrine, but it blinded me no more. It was clear as the
+light of day, although it still was black. I stood; and yet it was not
+I who stood, but rather my spiritual part, for at my feet lay my dead
+Self. There it lay, rigid and still, a stamp of awful calm sealed upon
+its face, while I gazed on it.
+
+And as I gazed, filled with wonder, I was caught up on the Wings of
+Flame and whirled away! away! faster than the lightnings flash. Down I
+fell, through depths of empty space set here and there with glittering
+crowns of stars. Down for ten million miles and ten times ten million,
+till at length I hovered over a place of soft, unchanging light,
+wherein were Temples, Palaces, and Abodes, such as no man ever saw in
+the visions of his sleep. They were built of Flame, and they were
+built of Blackness. Their spires pierced up and up; their great courts
+stretched around. Even as I hovered they changed continually to the
+eye; what was Flame became Blackness, what was Blackness became Flame.
+Here was the flash of crystal, and there the blaze of gems shone even
+through the glory that rolls around the city which is in the Place of
+Death. There were trees, and their voice as they rustled was the voice
+of music; there was air, and, as it blew, its breath was the sobbing
+notes of song.
+
+Shapes, changing, mysterious, wonderful, rushed up to meet me, and
+bore me down till I seemed to stand upon another earth.
+
+"Who comes?" cried a great Voice.
+
+"Harmachis," answered the Shapes, that changed continually. "Harmachis
+who hath been summoned from the earth to look upon the face of Her
+that Was and Is and Shall Be. Harmachis, Child of Earth!"
+
+"Throw back the Gates and open wide the Doors!" pealed the awful
+Voice. "Throw back the Gates and open wide the Doors; seal up his lips
+in silence, lest his voice jar upon the harmonies of Heaven, take away
+his sight lest he see that which may not be seen, and let Harmachis,
+who hath been summoned, pass down the path that leads to the place of
+the Unchanging. Pass on, Child of Earth; but before thou goest, look
+up that thou mayest learn how far thou art removed from Earth."
+
+I looked up. Beyond the glory that shone about the city was black
+night, and high on its bosom twinkled one tiny star.
+
+"Behold the world that thou hast left," said the Voice, "behold and
+tremble."
+
+Then my lips and eyes were sealed with silence and with darkness, so
+that I was dumb and blind. The Gates rolled back, the Doors swung
+wide, and I was swept into the city that is in the Place of Death. I
+was swept swiftly I know not whither, till at length I stood upon my
+feet. Again the great Voice pealed:
+
+"Draw the veil of blackness from his eyes, unseal the silence on his
+lips, that Harmachis, Child of Earth, may see, hear, and understand,
+and make adoration at the Shrine of Her that Was and Is and Shall Be."
+
+And my lips and eyes were touched once more, so that my sight and
+speech came back.
+
+Behold! I stood within a hall of blackest marble, so lofty that even
+in the rosy light scarce could my vision reach the great groins of the
+roof. Music wailed about its spaces, and all adown its length stood
+winged Spirits fashioned in living fire, and such was the brightness
+of their forms that I could not look on them. In its centre was an
+altar, small and square, and I stood before the empty altar. Then
+again the Voice cried:
+
+"O Thou that hast been, art, and shalt be; Thou who, having many
+names, art yet without a name; Measurer of Time; Messenger of God;
+Guardian of the Worlds and the Races that dwell thereon; Universal
+Mother born of Nothingness; Creatix uncreated; Living Splendour
+without Form, Living Form without Substance; Servant of the Invisible;
+Child of Law; Holder of the Scales and Sword of Fate; Vessel of Life,
+through whom all Life flows, to whom it again is gathered; Recorder of
+Things Done; Executrix of Decrees--/Hear!/
+
+"Harmachis the Egyptian, who by Thy will hath been summoned from the
+earth, waits before Thine Altar, with ears unstopped, with eyes
+unsealed, and with an open heart. Hear and descend! Descend, O Many-
+shaped! Descend in Flame! Descend in Sound! Descend in Spirit! Hear
+and descend!"
+
+
+
+The Voice ceased and there was silence. Then through the silence came
+a sound like the booming of the sea. It passed and presently, moved
+thereto by I know not what, I raised my eyes from my hands with which
+I had covered them, and saw a small dark cloud hanging over the Altar
+in and out of which a fiery Serpent climbed.
+
+Then all the Spirits clad in light fell upon the marble floor, and
+with a loud voice adored; but what they said I could not understand.
+Behold! the dark cloud came down and rested on the Altar, the Serpent
+of fire stretched itself towards me, touched me on the forehead with
+its forky tongue and was gone. From within the cloud a Voice sweet and
+low and clear spoke in heavenly accents:
+
+"Depart, ye Ministers, leave Me with my son whom I have summoned."
+
+Then like arrows rushing from a bow the flame-clad Spirits leapt from
+the ground and sped away.
+
+"O Harmachis," said the Voice, "be not afraid, I am She whom thou dost
+know as Isis of the Egyptians; but what else I am strive not thou to
+learn, it is beyond thy strength. For I am all things, Life is my
+spirit, and Nature is my raiment. I am the laughter of the babe, I am
+the maiden's love, I am the mother's kiss. I am the Child and Servant
+of the Invisible that is God, that is Law, that is Fate--though myself
+I be not God and Fate and Law. When winds blow and oceans roar upon
+the face of the Earth thou hearest my voice; when thou gazest on the
+starry firmament thou seest my countenance; when the spring blooms out
+in flowers, that is my smile, Harmachis. For I am Nature's self, and
+all her shapes are shapes of Me. I breathe in all that breathes. I wax
+and wane in the changeful moon: I grow and gather in the tides: I rise
+with the suns: I flash with the lightning and thunder in the storms.
+Nothing is too great for the measure of my majesty, nothing is so
+small that I cannot find a home therein. I am in thee and thou art in
+Me, O Harmachis. That which bade thee be bade Me also be. Therefore,
+though I am great and thou art little, have no fear. For we are bound
+together by the common bond of life--that life which flows through
+suns and stars and spaces, through Spirits and the souls of men,
+welding all Nature to a whole that, changing ever, is yet eternally
+the same."
+
+I bowed my head--I could not speak, for I was afraid.
+
+"Faithfully hast thou served Me, O my son," went on the low sweet
+Voice; "greatly thou hast longed to be brought face to face with Me
+here in Amenti; and greatly hast thou dared to accomplish thy desire.
+For it is no small thing to cast off the tabernacle of the Flesh and
+before the appointed time, if only for an hour, put on the raiment of
+the Spirit. And greatly, O my servant and my son, have I, too, desired
+to look on thee there where I am. For the Gods love those who love
+them, but with a wider and deeper love, and under One who is as far
+from Me as I am from thee, mortal, I am a God of Gods. Therefore I
+have caused thee to be brought hither, Harmachis; and therefore I
+speak to thee, my son, and bid thee commune with Me now face to face,
+as thou didst commune that night upon the temple towers of Abouthis.
+For I was there with thee, Harmachis, as I was in ten thousand other
+worlds. It was I, O Harmachis, who laid the lotus in thy hand, giving
+thee the sign which thou didst seek. For thou art of the kingly blood
+of my children who served Me from age to age. And if thou dost not
+fail thou shalt sit upon that kingly throne and restore my ancient
+worship in its purity, and sweep my temples from their defilements.
+But if thou dost fail, then shall the eternal Spirit Isis become but a
+memory in Egypt."
+
+The Voice paused; and, gathering up my strength, at length I spoke
+aloud:
+
+"Tell me, O Holy," I said, "shall I then fail?"
+
+"Ask Me not," answered the Voice, "that which it is not lawful that I
+should answer thee. Perchance I can read that which shall befall thee,
+perchance it doth not please Me so to read. What can it profit the
+Divine, that hath all time wherein to await the issues, to be eager to
+look upon the blossom that is not blown, but which, lying a seed in
+the bosom of the earth, shall blow in its season? Know, Harmachis,
+that I do not shape the Future; the Future is to thee and not to Me;
+for it is born of Law and of the rule ordained of the Invisible. Yet
+thou art free to act therein, and thou shalt win or thou shalt fail
+according to thy strength and the measure of thy heart's purity. Thine
+be the burden, Harmachis, as thine in the event shall be the glory or
+the shame. Little do I reck of the issue, I who am but the Minister of
+what is written. Now hear me: I will always be with thee, my son, for
+my love once given can never be taken away, though by sin it may seem
+lost to thee. Remember then this: if thou dost triumph, thy guerdon
+shall be great; if thou dost fail, heavy indeed shall be thy
+punishment both in the flesh and in the land that thou callest Amenti.
+Yet this for thy comfort: shame and agony shall not be eternal. For
+however deep the fall from righteousness, if but repentance holds the
+heart, there is a path--a stony and a cruel path--whereby the height
+may be climbed again. Let it not be thy lot to follow it, Harmachis!
+
+"And now, because thou hast loved Me, my son, and, wandering through
+the maze of fable, wherein men lose themselves upon the earth,
+mistaking the substance for the Spirit, and the Altar for the God,
+hast yet grasped a clue of Truth the Many-faced; and because I love
+thee and look on to the day that, perchance, shall come when thou
+shalt dwell blessed in my light and in the doing of my tasks: because
+of this, I say, it shall be given to thee, O Harmachis, to hear the
+Word whereby I may be summoned from the Uttermost, by one who hath
+communed with Me, and to look upon the face of Isis--even into the
+eyes of the Messenger, and not die the death.
+
+"/Behold!/"
+
+The sweet Voice ceased; the dark cloud upon the altar changed and
+changed--it grew white, it shone, and seemed at length to take the
+shrouded shape of a woman. Then the golden Snake crept from its heart
+once more, and, like a living diadem, twined itself about the cloudy
+brows.
+
+Now suddenly a Voice called aloud the awful Word, then the vapours
+burst and melted, and with my eyes I saw that Glory, at the very
+thought of which my spirit faints. But what I saw it is not lawful to
+utter. For, though I have been bidden to write what I have written of
+this matter, perchance that a record may remain, thereon I have been
+warned--ay, even now, after these many years. I saw, and what I saw
+cannot be imagined; for there are Glories and there are Shapes which
+are beyond the reach of man's imagination. I saw--then, with the echo
+of that Word, and the memory of that sight stamped for ever on my
+heart, my spirit failed me, and I sank down before the Glory.
+
+And, as I fell, it seemed that the great hall burst open and crumbled
+into flakes of fire round me. Then a great wind blew: there was a
+sound as the sound of Worlds rushing down the flood of Time--and I
+knew no more!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+OF THE AWAKING OF HARMACHIS; OF THE CEREMONY OF HIS CROWNING
+AS PHARAOH OF THE UPPER AND THE LOWER LAND; AND OF THE
+OFFERINGS MADE TO PHARAOH
+
+Once again I woke--to find myself stretched at length upon the stone
+flooring of the Holy Place of Isis that is at Abouthis. By me stood
+the old Priest of the Mysteries, and in his hand was a lamp. He bent
+over me, and gazed earnestly upon my face.
+
+"It is day--the day of thy new birth, and thou hast lived to see it,
+Harmachis!" he said at length. "I give thanks. Arise, royal Harmachis
+--nay, tell me naught of that which has befallen thee. Arise, beloved
+of the Holy Mother. Come forth, thou who hast passed the fire and
+learned what lies behind the darkness--come forth, O newly-born!"
+
+I rose and, walking faintly, went with him, and, passing out of the
+darkness of the Shrines filled with thought and wonder, came once more
+into the pure light of the morning. And then I went to my own chamber
+and slept; nor did any dreams come to trouble me. But no man--not even
+my father--asked me aught of what I saw upon that dread night, or
+after what fashion I had communed with the Goddess.
+
+After these things which have been written, I applied myself for a
+space to the worship of the Mother Isis, and to the further study of
+the outward forms of those mysteries to which I now held the key.
+Moreover, I was instructed in matters politic, for many great men of
+our following came secretly to see me from all quarters of Egypt, and
+told me much of the hatred of the people towards Cleopatra, the Queen,
+and of other things. At last the hour drew nigh; it was three months
+and ten days from the night when, for a while, I left the flesh, and
+yet living with our life, was gathered to the breast of Isis, on which
+it was agreed that with due and customary rites, although in utter
+secrecy, I should be called to the throne of the Upper and the Lower
+Land. So it came about that, as the solemn time drew nigh, great men
+of the party of Egypt gathered to the number of thirty-seven from
+every nome, and each great city of their nome, meeting together at
+Abouthis. They came in every guise--some as priests, some as pilgrims
+to the Shrine, and some as beggars. Among them was my uncle, Sepa,
+who, though he clad himself as a travelling doctor, had much ado to
+keep his loud voice from betraying him. Indeed, I myself knew him by
+it, meeting him as I walked in thought upon the banks of the canal,
+although it was then dusk and the great cape, which, after the fashion
+of such doctors, he had thrown about his head, half hid his face.
+
+"A pest on thee!" he cried, when I greeted him by his name. "Cannot a
+man cease to be himself for a single hour? Didst thou but know the
+pains that it has cost me to learn to play this part--and now thou
+readest who I am even in the dark!"
+
+And then, still talking in his loud voice, he told me how he had
+travelled hither on foot, the better to escape the spies who ply to
+and fro upon the river. But he said he should return by the water, or
+take another guise; for since he had come as a doctor he had been
+forced to play a doctor's part, knowing but little of the arts of
+medicine; and, as he greatly feared, there were many between Annu and
+Abouthis who had suffered from it.[*] And he laughed loudly and
+embraced me, forgetting his part. For he was too whole at heart to be
+an actor and other than himself, and would have entered Abouthis with
+me holding my hand, had I not chid him for his folly.
+
+[*] In Ancient Egypt an unskilful or negligent physician was liable to
+    very heavy penalties.--Editor.
+
+At length all were gathered.
+
+It was night, and the gates of the temple were shut. None were left
+within them, except the thirty-seven; my father, the High Priest
+Amenemhat; that aged priest who had led me to the Shrine of Isis; the
+old wife, Atoua, who, according to ancient custom, was to prepare me
+for the anointing; and some five other priests, sworn to secrecy by
+that oath which none may break. They gathered in the second hall of
+the great temple; but I remained alone, clad in my white robe, in the
+passage where are the names of six-and-seventy ancient Kings, who were
+before the day of the divine Sethi. There I rested in darkness, till
+at length my father, Amenemhat, came, bearing a lamp, and, bowing low
+before me, led me by the hand forth into the great hall. Here and
+there, between its mighty pillars, lights were burning that dimly
+showed the sculptured images upon the walls, and dimly fell upon the
+long line of the seven-and-thirty Lords, Priests, and Princes, who,
+seated upon carven chairs, awaited my coming in silence. Before them,
+facing away from the seven Sanctuaries, a throne was set, around which
+stood the priests holding the sacred images and banners. As I came
+into the dim and holy place, the Dignitaries rose, and bowed before
+me, speaking no word; while my father led me to the steps of the
+throne, and in a low voice bade me stand before it.
+
+Then he spoke:
+
+"Lords, Priests, and Princes of the ancient orders of the land of Khem
+--Nobles from the Upper and the Lower Country, have gathered in answer
+to my summons, hear me: I present to you, with such scant formality as
+the occasion can afford, the Prince Harmachis, by right and true
+descent of blood the descendant and heir of the ancient Pharaohs of
+our most unhappy land. He is priest of the inmost circle of the
+Mysteries of the Divine Isis, Master of the Mysteries--Hereditary
+Priest of the Pyramids, which are by Memphis, Instructed in the Solemn
+Rites of the Holy Osiris. Is there any among you who has aught to urge
+against the true line of his blood?"
+
+He paused, and my uncle Sepa, rising from his chair, spoke: "We have
+made examination of the records and there is none, O Amenemhat. He is
+of the Royal blood, his descent is true."
+
+"Is there any among you," went on my father, "who can deny that this
+royal Harmachis, by sanction of the very Gods, has been gathered to
+Isis, been shown the way of the Osiris, been admitted to be the
+Hereditary High Priest of the Pyramids which are by Memphis, and of
+the Temples of the Pyramids?"
+
+Then that old priest rose who had been my guide in the Sanctuary of
+the Mother and made answer: "There is none; O Amenemhat; I know these
+things of my own knowledge."
+
+Once more my father spoke: "Is there any among you who has aught to
+urge against this royal Harmachis, in that by wickedness of heart or
+life, by uncleanliness or falsity, it is not fit or meet that we
+should crown him Lord of all the Lands?"
+
+Then an aged Prince of Memphis arose and made answer:
+
+"We have inquired of these matters: there is none, O Amenemhat."
+
+"It is well," said my father; "then naught is wanting in the Prince
+Harmachis, seed of Nekt-nebf, the Osirian. Let the woman Atoua stand
+forth and tell this company those things that came to pass when, at
+the hour of her death, she who was my wife prophesied over this
+Prince, being filled with the Spirit of the Hathors."
+
+Thereon old Atoua crept forward from the shadow of the columns, and
+earnestly told those things that have been written.
+
+"Ye have heard," said my father: "do you believe that the woman who
+was my wife spake with the Divine voice?"
+
+"We do," they answered.
+
+Now my uncle Sepa rose and spoke:
+
+"Royal Harmachis, thou hast heard. Know now that we are gathered here
+to crown thee King of the Upper and the Lower Lands--thy holy father,
+Amenemhat, renouncing all his right on thy behalf. We are met, not,
+indeed, in that pomp and ceremony which is due to the occasion--for
+what we do must be done in secret, lest our lives, and the cause that
+is more dear to us than life, should pay the forfeit--but yet with
+such dignity and observance of the ancient rites as our circumstance
+may command. Learn, now, how this matter hangs, and if, after
+learning, thy mind consents thereto, then mount thy throne, O Pharaoh
+--and swear the oath!
+
+"Long has Khemi groaned beneath the mailed heel of the Greek, and
+trembled at the shadow of the Roman's spear; long has the ancient
+worship of its Gods been desecrated, and its people crushed with
+oppression. But we believe that the hour of deliverance is at hand,
+and with the solemn voice of Egypt and by the ancient Gods of Egypt,
+to whose cause thou art of all men bound, we call upon thee, Prince,
+to be the sword of our deliverance. Hearken! Twenty thousand good and
+leal men are sworn to wait upon thy word, and at thy signal to rise as
+one, to put the Grecian to the sword, and with their blood and
+substance to build thee a throne set more surely on the soil of Khem
+than are its ancient pyramids--such a throne as shall even roll the
+Roman legions back. And for the signal, it shall be the death of that
+bold harlot, Cleopatra. Thou must compass her death, Harmachis, in
+such fashion as shall be shown to thee, and with her blood anoint the
+Royal throne of Egypt.
+
+"Canst thou refuse, O our Hope? Doth not the holy love of country
+swell within thy heart? Canst thou dash the cup of Freedom from thy
+lips and bear to drink the bitter draught of slaves? The emprise is
+great; maybe it shall fail, and thou with thy life, as we with ours,
+shalt pay the price of our endeavour. But what of it, Harmachis? Is
+life, then, so sweet? Are we so softly cushioned on the stony bed of
+earth? Is bitterness and sorrow in its sum so small and scant a thing?
+Do we here breathe so divine an air that we should fear to face the
+passage of our breath? What have we here but hope and memory? What see
+we here but shadows? Shall we then fear to pass pure-handed where
+Fulfilment is and memory is lost in its own source, and shadows die in
+the light which cast them? O Harmachis, that man alone is truly blest
+who crowns his life with Fame's most splendid wreath. For, since to
+all the Brood of Earth Death hands his poppy-flowers, he indeed is
+happy to whom there is occasion given to weave them in a crown of
+glory. And how can a man die better than in a great endeavour to
+strike the gyves from his Country's limbs so that she again may stand
+in the face of Heaven and raise the shrill shout of Freedom, and, clad
+once more in a panoply of strength, trample under foot the fetters of
+her servitude, defying the tyrant nations of the earth to set their
+seal upon her brow?
+
+"Khem calls thee, Harmachis. Come then, thou Deliverer; leap like
+Horus from the firmament, break her chains, scatter her foes, and rule
+a Pharaoh on Pharaoh's Throne----"
+
+"Enough, enough!" I cried, while the long murmur of applause swept
+about the columns and up the massy walls. "Enough; is there any need
+to adjure me thus? Had I a hundred lives, would I not most gladly lay
+them down for Egypt?"
+
+"Well said, well said!" answered Sepa. "Now go forth with the woman
+yonder, that she may make thy hands clean before they touch the sacred
+emblems, and anoint thy brow before it is encircled of the diadem."
+
+And so I went into a chamber apart with the old wife, Atoua. There,
+muttering prayers, she poured pure water over my hands into a ewer of
+gold, and having dipped a fine cloth into oil wiped my brow with it.
+
+"O happy Egypt!" she said; "O happy Prince, that art come to rule in
+Egypt! O Royal youth!--too Royal to be a priest--so shall many a fair
+woman think; but, perchance, for thee they will relax the priestly
+rule, else how shall the race of Pharaoh be carried on? O happy I, who
+dandled thee and gave my flesh and blood to save thee! O royal and
+beautiful Harmachis, born for splendour, happiness, and love!"
+
+"Cease, cease," I said, for her talk jarred upon me; "call me not
+happy till thou knowest my end, and speak not to me of love, for with
+love comes sorrow, and mine is another and a higher way."
+
+"Ay, ay, so thou sayest--and joy, too, that comes with love! Never
+talk lightly of love, my King, for it brought thee here! /La! la!/ but
+it is always the way--'The goose on the wing laughs at crocodiles,' so
+goes their saying down at Alexandria; 'but when the goose is asleep on
+the water, it is the crocodiles that laugh.' Not but what women are
+pretty crocodiles. Men worship the crocodiles at Anthribis--
+Crocodilopolis they call it now, don't they?--but they worship women
+all the world over! /La!/ how my tongue runs on, and thou about to be
+crowned Pharaoh! Did I not prophesy it to thee? Well, thou art clean,
+Lord of the Double Crown. Go forth!"
+
+So I went from the chamber with the old wife's foolish talk ringing in
+my ears, though of a truth her folly had ever a grain of wit in it.
+
+As I came, the Dignitaries rose once more and bowed before me. Then my
+father, without delay, drew near me, and placed in my hands a golden
+image of the divine Ma, the Goddess of Truth, and golden images of the
+arks of the God Amen-Ra, of the divine Mout, and the divine Khons, and
+spoke solemnly:
+
+"Thou swearest by the living majesty of Ma, by the majesty of Amen-Ra,
+of Mout, and of Khons?"
+
+"I swear," I said.
+
+"Thou swearest by the holy land of Khem, by Sihor's flood, by the
+Temples of the Gods and the eternal Pyramids?"
+
+"I swear."
+
+"Remembering thy hideous doom if thou shouldst fail therein, thou
+swearest that thou wilt in all things govern Egypt according to its
+ancient laws, that thou wilt preserve the worship of its Gods, that
+thou wilt do equal justice, that thou wilt not oppress, that thou wilt
+not betray, that thou wilt make no alliance with the Roman or the
+Greek, that thou wilt cast out the foreign Idols, that thou wilt
+devote thy life to the liberty of the land of Khem?"
+
+"I swear."
+
+"It is well. Mount, then, the throne, that in the presence of these
+thy subjects, I may name thee Pharaoh."
+
+I mounted upon the throne, of which the footstool is a Sphinx, and the
+canopy the overshadowing wings of Ma. Then Amenemhat drew nigh once
+again and placed the Pshent upon my brow, and on my head the Double
+Crown, and the Royal Robe about my shoulders, and in my hands the
+Sceptre and the Scourge.
+
+"Royal Harmachis," he cried, "by these outward signs and tokens, I,
+the High Priest of the Temple of Ra-Men-Ma at Abouthis, crown thee
+Pharaoh of the Upper and Lower Land. Reign and prosper, O Hope of
+Khemi!"
+
+"Reign and prosper, Pharaoh!" echoed the Dignitaries, bowing down
+before me.
+
+Then, one by one, they swore allegiance, till all had sworn. And,
+having sworn, my father took me by the hand; he led me in solemn
+procession into each of the seven Sanctuaries that are in this Temple
+of Ra-Men-Ma, and in each I made offerings, swung incense, and
+officiated as priest. Clad in the Royal robes I made offerings in the
+Shrine of Horus, in the Shrine of Isis, in the Shrine of Osiris, in
+the Shrine of Amen-Ra, in the Shrine of Horemku, in the Shrine of
+Ptah, till at length I reached the Shrine of the King's Chamber.
+
+Here they made their offering to me, as the Divine Pharaoh, and left
+me very weary--but a King.
+
+[Here the first and smallest of the papyrus rolls comes to an end.]
+
+
+
+
+BOOK II
+
+THE FALL OF HARMACHIS
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+OF THE FAREWELL OF AMENEMHAT TO HARMACHIS; OF THE COMING
+OF HARMACHIS TO ALEXANDRIA; OF THE EXHORTATION OF SEPA; OF
+THE PASSING OF CLEOPATRA ROBED AS ISIS; AND OF THE OVERTHROW
+OF THE GLADIATOR BY HARMACHIS
+
+Now the long days of preparation had passed, and the time was at hand.
+I was initiated, and I was crowned; so that although the common folk
+knew me not, or knew me only as Priest of Isis, there were in Egypt
+thousands who at heart bowed down to me as Pharaoh. The hour was at
+hand, and my soul went forth to meet it. For I longed to overthrow the
+foreigner, to set Egypt free, to mount the throne that was my
+heritage, and cleanse the temples of my Gods. I was fain for the
+struggle, and I never doubted of its end. I looked into the mirror,
+and saw triumph written on my brows. The future stretched a path of
+glory from my feet--ay, glittering with glory like Sihor in the sun. I
+communed with my Mother Isis; I sat within my chamber and took counsel
+with my heart; I planned new temples; I revolved great laws that I
+would put forth for my people's weal; and in my ears rang the shouts
+of exultation which should greet victorious Pharaoh on his throne.
+
+But still I tarried a little while at Abouthis, and, having been
+commanded to do so, let my hair, that had been shorn, grow again long
+and black as the raven's wing, instructing myself meanwhile in all
+manly exercises and feats of arms. Also, for a purpose which shall be
+seen, I perfected myself in the magic art of the Egyptians, and in the
+reading of the stars, in which things, indeed, I already have great
+skill.
+
+Now, this was the plan that had been built up. My uncle Sepa had, for
+a while, left the Temple of Annu, giving out that his health had
+failed him. Thence he had moved down to a house in Alexandria, to
+gather strength, as he said, from the breath of the sea, and also to
+learn for himself the wonders of the great Museum and the glory of
+Cleopatra's Court. There it was planned that I should join him, for
+there, at Alexandria, the egg of the plot was hatching. Accordingly,
+when at last the summons came, all things being prepared, I made ready
+for the journey, and passed into my father's chamber to receive his
+blessing before I went. There sat the old man, as once before he sat
+when he had rebuked me because I went out to slay the lion, his long
+white beard resting on the table of stone and sacred writings in his
+hand. When I came in he rose from his seat and would have knelt before
+me, crying "Hail, Pharaoh!" but I caught him by the hand.
+
+"It is not meet, my father," I said.
+
+"It is meet," he answered, "it is meet that I should bow before my
+King; but be it as thou wilt. And so thou goest, Harmachis; my
+blessings go with thee, O my son! And may Those whom I serve grant to
+me that my old eyes may, indeed, behold thee on the throne! I have
+searched long, striving, Harmachis, to read the future that shall be;
+but I can learn naught by all my wisdom. It is hid from me, and at
+times my heart fails. But hear this, there is danger in thy path, and
+it comes in the form of Woman. I have known it long, and therefore
+thou hast been called to the worship of the heavenly Isis, who bids
+her votaries put away the thought of woman till such time as she shall
+think well to slacken the rule. Oh, my son, I would that thou wert not
+so strong and fair--stronger and fairer, indeed, than any man in
+Egypt, as a King should be--for in that strength and beauty may lie a
+cause of stumbling. Beware, then, of those witches of Alexandria,
+lest, like a worm, some one of them creep into my heart and eat its
+secret out."
+
+"Have no fear, my father," I answered, frowning, "my thought is set on
+other things than red lips and smiling eyes."
+
+"It is good," he answered; "so may it befall. And now farewell. When
+next we meet, may it be in that happy hour when, with all the priests
+of the Upper Land, I move down from Abouthis to do my homage to
+Pharaoh on his throne."
+
+So I embraced him, and went. Alas! I little thought how we should meet
+again.
+
+
+
+Thus it came about that once more I passed down the Nile travelling as
+a man of no estate. And to such as were curious about me it was given
+out that I was the adopted son of the High Priest of Abouthis, having
+been brought up to the priesthood, and that I had at the last refused
+the service of the Gods, and chosen to go to Alexandria, to seek my
+fortune. For, be it remembered, I was still held to be the grandson of
+the old wife, Atoua, by all those who did not know the truth.
+
+On the tenth night, sailing with the wind, we reached the mighty city
+of Alexandria, the city of a thousand lights. Above them all towered
+the white Pharos, that wonder of the world, from the crown of which a
+light like the light of the sun blazed out across the waters of the
+harbour to guide mariners on their way across the sea. The vessel
+having been cautiously made fast to the quay, for it was night, I
+disembarked and stood wondering at the vast mass of houses, and
+confused by the clamour of many tongues. For here all peoples seemed
+to be gathered together, each speaking after the fashion of his own
+land. And as I stood a young man came and touched me on the shoulder,
+asking me if I was from Abouthis and named Harmachis. I said "Yea."
+Then, bending over me, he whispered the secret pass-word into my ear,
+and, beckoning to two slaves, bade them bring my baggage from the
+ship. This they did, fighting their way through the crowd of porters
+who were clamouring for hire. Then I followed him down the quay, which
+was bordered with drinking-places, where all sorts of men were
+gathered, tippling wine and watching the dancing of women, some of
+whom were but scantily arrayed, and some not arrayed at all.
+
+And so we went through the lamp-lit houses till at last we reached the
+shore of the great harbour, and turned to the right along a wide way
+paved with granite and bordered by strong houses, having cloisters in
+front of them, the like of which I had never seen. Turning once more
+to the right we came to a quieter portion of the city, where, except
+for parties of strolling revellers, the streets were still. Presently
+my guide halted at a house built of white stone. We passed in, and,
+crossing a small courtyard, entered a chamber where there was a light.
+And here, at last, I found my uncle Sepa, most glad to see me safe.
+
+When I had washed and eaten, he told me that all things went well, and
+that as yet there was no thought of evil at the Court. Further, he
+said, it having come to the ears of the Queen that the Priest of Annu
+was sojourning at Alexandria, she sent for him and closely questioned
+him--not as to any plot, for of that she never thought, but as to the
+rumour which had reached her, that there was treasure hid in the Great
+Pyramid which is by Annu. For, being ever wasteful, she was ever in
+want of money, and had bethought her of opening the Pyramid. But he
+laughed at her, telling her the Pyramid was the burying-place of the
+divine Khufu, and that he knew nothing of its secrets. Then she was
+angered, and swore that so surely as she ruled in Egypt she would tear
+it down, stone by stone, and discover the secret at its heart. Again
+he laughed, and, in the words of the proverb which they have at
+Alexandria, told her that "Mountains live longer than Kings." Thereon
+she smiled at his ready answer, and let him go. Also my uncle Sepa
+told me that on the morrow I should see this Cleopatra. For it was her
+birthday (as, indeed, it was also mine), and, dressed in the robes of
+the Holy Isis, she would pass in state from her palace on the Lochias
+to the Serapeum to offer a sacrifice at the Shrine of the false God
+who sits in the Temple. And he said that thereafter the fashion by
+which I should gain entrance to the household of the Queen should be
+contrived.
+
+Then, being very weary, I went to rest, but could sleep little for the
+strangeness of the place, the noises in the streets, and the thought
+of the morrow. While it was yet dark, I rose, climbed the stair to the
+roof of the house, and waited. Presently, the sun's rays shot out like
+arrows, and lit upon the white wonder of the marble Pharos, whose
+light instantly sank and died, as though, indeed, the sun had killed
+it. Now the rays fell upon the palaces of the Lochias where Cleopatra
+lay, and lit them up till they flamed like a jewel set on the dark,
+cool bosom of the sea. Away the light flew, kissing the Soma's sacred
+dome, beneath which Alexander sleeps, touching the high tops of a
+thousand palaces and temples; past the porticoes of the great museum
+that loomed near at hand, striking the lofty Shrine, where, carved of
+ivory, is the image of the false God Serapis, and at last seeming to
+lose itself in the vast and gloomy Necropolis. Then, as the dawn
+gathered into day, the flood of brightness, overbrimming the bowl of
+night, flowed into the lower lands and streets, and showed Alexandria
+red in the sunrise as the mantle of a king, and shaped as a mantle.
+The Etesian wind came up from the north, and swept away the vapour
+from the harbours, so that I saw their blue waters rocking a thousand
+ships. I saw, too, that mighty mole the Heptastadium; I saw the
+hundreds of streets, the countless houses, the innumerable wealth and
+splendour of Alexandria set like a queen between lake Mareotis and the
+ocean, and dominating both, and I was filled with wonder. This, then,
+was one city in my heritage of lands and cities! Well, it was worth
+the grasping. And having looked my full and fed my heart, as it were,
+with the sight of splendour, I communed with the Holy Isis and came
+down from the roof.
+
+In the chamber beneath was my uncle Sepa. I told him that I had been
+watching the sun rise over the city of Alexandria.
+
+"So!" he said, looking at me from beneath his shaggy eyebrows; "and
+what thinkest thou of Alexandria?"
+
+"I think it is like some city of the Gods," I answered.
+
+"Ay!" he replied fiercely, "a city of the infernal Gods--a sink of
+corruption, a bubbling well of iniquity, a home of false faith
+springing from false hearts. I would that not one stone of it was left
+upon another stone, and that its wealth lay deep beneath yonder
+waters! I would that the gulls were screaming across its site, and
+that the wind, untainted by a Grecian breath, swept through its ruins
+from the ocean to Mareotis! O royal Harmachis, let not the luxury and
+beauty of Alexandria poison thy sense; for in their deadly air, Faith
+perishes, and Religion cannot spread her heavenly wings. When the hour
+comes for thee to rule, Harmachis, cast down this accursed city and,
+as thy fathers did, set up thy throne in the white walls of Memphis.
+For I tell thee that, for Egypt, Alexandria is but a splendid gate of
+ruin, and, while it endures, all nations of the earth shall march
+through it, to the plunder of the land, and all false Faiths shall
+nestle in it and breed the overthrow of Egypt's Gods."
+
+I made no answer, for there was truth in his words. And yet to me the
+city seemed very fair to look on. After we had eaten, my uncle told me
+it was now time to set out to view the march of Cleopatra, as she went
+in triumph to the Shrine of Serapis. For although she would not pass
+till within two hours of the midday, yet these people of Alexandria
+have so great a love of shows and idling that had we not presently set
+forth, by no means could we have come through the press of the
+multitudes who were already gathering along the highways where the
+Queen must ride. So we went out to take our places upon a stand, built
+of timber, that had been set up at the side of the great road which
+pierces through the city, to the Canopic Gate. For my uncle had
+already purchased a right to enter there, and that dearly.
+
+We won our way with much struggle through the great crowds that were
+already gathered in the streets till we reached the scaffolding of
+timber, which was roofed in with an awning and gaily hung with scarlet
+cloths. Here we seated ourselves upon a bench and waited for some
+hours, watching the multitude press past shouting, singing, and
+talking loudly in many tongues. At length soldiers came to clear the
+road, clad, after the Roman fashion, in breast-plates of chain-armour.
+After them marched heralds enjoining silence (at which the population
+sung and shouted all the more loudly), and crying that Cleopatra, the
+Queen, was coming. Then followed a thousand Cilician skirmishers, a
+thousand Thracians, a thousand Macedonians, and a thousand Gauls, each
+armed after the fashion of their country. Then passed five hundred men
+of those who are called the Fenced Horsemen, for both men and horses
+were altogether covered with mail. Next came youths and maidens
+sumptuously draped and wearing golden crowns, and with them images
+symbolising Day and Night, Morning and Noon, the Heavens and the
+Earth. After these walked many fair women, pouring perfumes on the
+road, and others scattering blooming flowers. Now there rose a great
+shout of "Cleopatra! Cleopatra!" and I held my breath and bent forward
+to see her who dared to put on the robes of Isis.
+
+But at that moment the multitude so gathered and thickened in front of
+where I was that I could no longer clearly see. So in my eagerness I
+leapt over the barrier of the scaffolding, and, being very strong,
+pushed my way through the crowd till I reached the foremost rank. And
+as I did so, Nubian slaves armed with thick staves and crowned with
+ivy-leaves ran up, striking the people. One man I noted more
+especially, for he was a giant, and, being strong, was insolent beyond
+measure, smiting the people without cause, as, indeed, is the wont of
+low persons set in authority. For a woman stood near to me, an
+Egyptian by her face, bearing a child in her arms, whom the man,
+seeing that she was weak, struck on the head with his rod so that she
+fell prone, and the people murmured. But at the sight my blood rushed
+of a sudden through my veins and drowned my reason. I held in my hand
+a staff of olive-wood from Cyprus, and as the black brute laughed at
+the sight of the stricken woman and her babe rolling on the ground, I
+swung the staff aloft and smote. So shrewdly did I strike, that the
+tough rod split upon the giant's shoulders and the blood spurted
+forth, staining his trailing leaves of ivy.
+
+Then, with a shriek of pain and fury--for those who smite love not
+that they be smitten--he turned and sprang at me! And all the people
+round gave back, save only the woman who could not rise, leaving us
+two in a ring as it were. On he came with a rush, and, as he came,
+being now mad, I smote him with my clenched fist between the eyes,
+having nothing else with which to smite, and he staggered like an ox
+beneath the first blow of the priest's axe. Then the people shouted,
+for they love to see a fight, and the man was known to them as a
+gladiator victorious in the games. Gathering up his strength, the
+knave came on with an oath, and, whirling his heavy staff on high,
+struck me in such a fashion that, had I not avoided the blow by
+nimbleness, I had surely been slain. But, as it chanced, the staff hit
+upon the ground, and so heavily that it flew in fragments. Thereon the
+multitude shouted again, and the great man, blind with fury, rushed at
+me to smite me down. But with a cry I sprang straight at his throat--
+for he was so heavy a man that I knew I could not hope to throw him by
+strength--ay, and gripped it. There I clung, though his fists battered
+me like bludgeons, driving my thumbs into his throat. Round and round
+we turned, till at length he flung himself to the earth, trusting thus
+to shake me off. But I held on fast as we rolled over and over on the
+ground, till at last he grew faint for want of breath. Then I, being
+uppermost, drove my knee down upon his chest, and, as I believe,
+should thus have slain him in my rage had not my uncle, and others
+there gathered, fallen upon me and dragged me from him.
+
+And meanwhile, though I know it not, the chariot in which the Queen
+sat, with elephants going before and lions led after it, had reached
+the spot, and had been halted because of the tumult. I looked up, and
+thus torn, panting, my white garments stained with the blood that had
+rushed from the mouth and nostrils of the mighty Nubian, I for the
+first time saw Cleopatra face to face. Her chariot was all of gold,
+and drawn by milk-white steeds. She sat in it with two fair girls,
+clad in Greek attire, standing one on either side, fanning her with
+glittering fans. On her head was the covering of Isis, the golden
+horns between which rested the moon's round disk and the emblem of
+Osiris' throne, with the ur�us twined around. Beneath this covering
+was the vulture cap of gold, the blue enamelled wings and the vulture
+head with gemmy eyes, under which her long dark tresses flowed towards
+her feet. About her rounded neck was a broad collar of gold studded
+with emeralds and coral. Round her arms and wrists were bracelets of
+gold studded with emeralds and coral, and in one hand she held the
+holy cross of Life fashioned of crystal, and in the other the golden
+rod of royalty. Her breast was bare, but under it was a garment that
+glistened like the scaly covering of a snake, everywhere sewn with
+gems. Beneath this robe was a skirt of golden cloth, half hidden by a
+scarf of the broidered silk of Cos, falling in folds to the sandals
+that, fastened with great pearls, adorned her white and tiny feet.
+
+All this I discerned at a glance, as it were. Then I looked upon the
+face--that face which seduced C�sar, ruined Egypt, and was doomed to
+give Octavian the sceptre of the world. I looked upon the flawless
+Grecian features, the rounded chin, the full, rich lips, the chiselled
+nostrils, and the ears fashioned like delicate shells. I saw the
+forehead, low, broad, and lovely, the crisped, dark hair falling in
+heavy waves that sparkled in the sun, the arched eyebrows, and the
+long, bent lashes. There before me was the grandeur of her Imperial
+shape. There burnt the wonderful eyes, hued like the Cyprian violet--
+eyes that seemed to sleep and brood on secret things as night broods
+upon the desert, and yet as the night to shift, change, and be
+illumined by gleams of sudden splendour born within their starry
+depths. All those wonders I saw, though I have small skill in telling
+them. But even then I knew that it was not in these charms alone that
+the might of Cleopatra's beauty lay. It was rather in a glory and a
+radiance cast through the fleshly covering from the fierce soul
+within. For she was a Thing of Flame like unto which no woman has ever
+been or ever will be. Even when she brooded, the fire of her quick
+heart shone through her. But when she woke, and the lightning leapt
+suddenly from her eyes, and the passion-laden music of her speech
+chimed upon her lips, ah! then, who can tell how Cleopatra seemed? For
+in her met all the splendours that have been given to woman for her
+glory, and all the genius which man has won from heaven. And with them
+dwelt every evil of that greater sort, which fearing nothing, and
+making a mock of laws, has taken empires for its place of play, and,
+smiling, watered the growth of its desires with the rich blood of men.
+In her breast they gathered, together fashioning that Cleopatra whom
+no man may draw, and yet whom no man, having seen, ever can forget.
+They fashioned her grand as the Spirit of Storm, lovely as Lightning,
+cruel as Pestilence, yet with a heart; and what she did is known. Woe
+to the world when such another comes to curse it!
+
+For a moment I met Cleopatra's eyes as she idly bent herself to find
+the tumult's cause. At first they were sombre and dark, as though they
+saw indeed, but the brain read nothing. Then they awoke, and their
+very colour seemed to change as the colour of the sea changes when the
+water is shaken. First, there was anger written in them; next an idle
+noting; then, when she looked upon the huge bulk of the man whom I had
+overcome, and knew him for the gladiator, something, perchance, that
+was not far from wonder. At the least they softened, though, indeed,
+her face changed no whit. But he who would read Cleopatra's mind had
+need to watch her eyes, for her countenance varied but a little.
+Turning, she said some word to her guards. They came forward and led
+me to her, while all the multitude waited silently to see me slain.
+
+I stood before her, my arms folded on my breast. Overcome though I was
+by the wonder of her loveliness I hated her in my heart, this woman
+who dared to clothe herself in the dress of Isis, this usurper who sat
+upon my throne, this wanton squandering the wealth of Egypt in
+chariots and perfumes. When she had looked me over from head to the
+feet, she spake in a low full voice and in the tongue of Khemi which
+she alone had learned of all the Lagid�:
+
+"And who and what art thou, Egyptian--for Egyptian I see thou art--who
+darest to smite my slave when I make progress through my city?"
+
+"I am Harmachis," I answered boldly. "Harmachis, the astrologer,
+adopted son of the High Priest and Governor of Abouthis, who am come
+hither to seek my fortune. I smote thy slave, O Queen, because for no
+fault he struck down the woman yonder. Ask of those who saw, royal
+Egypt."
+
+"Harmachis," she said, "the name has a high sound--and thou hast a
+high look;" and then, speaking to a soldier who had seen all, she bade
+him tell her what had come to pass. This he did truthfully, being
+friendly disposed towards me because I had overcome the Nubian.
+Thereon she turned and spoke to the girl bearing the fan who stood
+beside her--a woman with curling hair and shy dark eyes, very
+beautiful to see. The girl answered somewhat. Then Cleopatra bade them
+bring the slave to her. So they led forward the giant, who had found
+his breath again, and with him the woman whom he had smitten down.
+
+"Thou dog!" she said, in the same low voice; "thou coward! who, being
+strong, didst smite down this woman, and, being a coward, wast
+overthrown of this young man. See, thou, I will teach thee manners.
+Henceforth, when thou smitest women it shall be with thy left arm. Ho,
+guards, seize this black slave and strike off his right hand."
+
+Her command given, she sank back in her golden chariot, and again the
+cloud gathered in her eyes. But the guards seized the giant, and,
+notwithstanding his cries and prayers for mercy, struck off his hand
+with a sword upon the wood of the scaffolding and he was carried away
+groaning. Then the procession moved on again. As it went the fair
+woman with the fan turned her head, caught my eye, and smiled and
+nodded as though she rejoiced, at which I wondered somewhat.
+
+The people cheered also and made jests, saying that I should soon
+practice astrology in the palace. But, as soon as we might, I and my
+uncle escaped, and made our way back to the house. All the while he
+rated me for my rashness; but when we came to the chamber of the house
+he embraced me and rejoiced greatly, because I had overthrown the
+giant with so little hurt to myself.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+OF THE COMING OF CHARMION; AND OF THE WRATH OF SEPA
+
+That same night, while we sat at supper in the house, there came a
+knock upon the door. It was opened, and a woman passed in wrapped from
+head to foot in a large dark peplos or cloak in such fashion that her
+face could not be clearly seen.
+
+My uncle rose, and as he did so the woman uttered the secret word.
+
+"I am come, my father," she said in a sweet clear voice, "though of a
+truth it was not easy to escape the revels at the palace yonder. But I
+told the Queen that the sun and the riot in the streets had made me
+sick, and she let me go."
+
+"It is well," he answered. "Unveil thyself; here thou art safe."
+
+With a little sigh of weariness she unclasped the peplos and let it
+slip from her, giving to my sight the face and form of that beauteous
+girl who had stood to fan Cleopatra in the chariot. For she was very
+fair and pleasant to look upon, and her Grecian robes clung sweetly
+about her supple limbs and budding form. Her wayward hair, flowing in
+a hundred little curls, was bound in with a golden fillet, and on her
+feet were sandals fastened with studs of gold. Her cheeks blushed like
+a flower, and her dark soft eyes were downcast, as though with
+modesty, but smiles and dimples trembled about her lips.
+
+My uncle frowned when his eyes fell upon her dress.
+
+"Why comest thou in this garb, Charmion?" he asked sternly. "Is not
+the dress of thy mothers good enough for thee? This is no time or
+place for woman's vanities. Thou art not here to conquer, but to
+obey."
+
+"Nay, be not wroth, my father," she answered softly; "perchance thou
+knowest not that she whom I serve will have none of our Egyptian
+dress; it is out of fashion. To wear it would have been to court
+suspicion--also I came in haste." And as she spoke I saw that all the
+while she watched me covertly through the long lashes which fringed
+her modest eyes.
+
+"Well, well," he said sharply, fixing his keen glance upon her face,
+"doubtless thou speakest truth, Charmion. Be ever mindful of thy oath,
+girl, and of the cause to which thou art sworn. Be not light-minded,
+and I charge thee forget the beauty with which thou hast been cursed.
+For mark thou this, Charmion: fail us but one jot, and vengeance shall
+fall on thee--the vengeance of man and the vengeance of the Gods! To
+this service," he continued, lashing himself to anger as he went on
+till his great voice rang in the narrow room, "thou hast been bred; to
+this end thou hast been instructed and placed where thou art to gain
+the ear of that wicked wanton whom thou seemest to serve. See thou
+forget it not; see that the luxury of yonder Court does not corrupt
+thy purity and divert thy aim, Charmion," and his eyes flashed and his
+small form seemed to grow till it attained to dignity--nay, almost to
+grandeur.
+
+"Charmion," he went on, advancing towards her with outstretched
+finger, "I say that at times I do not trust thee. But two nights gone
+I dreamed I saw thee standing in the desert. I saw thee laugh and lift
+thy hand to heaven, and from it fell a rain of blood; then the sky
+sank down on the land of Khem and covered it. Whence came the dream,
+girl, and what is its meaning? I have naught against thee as yet; but
+hearken! On the moment that I have, though thou art of my kin, and I
+have loved thee--on that moment, I say, I will doom those delicate
+limbs, which thou lovest so much to show, to the kite and the jackal,
+and the soul within thee to all the tortures of the Gods! Unburied
+shalt thou lie, and bodiless and accursed shalt thou wander in Amenti!
+--ay, for ever and ever!"
+
+He paused, for his sudden burst of passion had spent itself. But by
+it, more clearly than before, I saw how deep a heart this man had
+beneath the cloak of his merriness and simplicity of mien, and how
+fiercely the mind within him was set upon his aim. As for the girl,
+she shrank from him terrified, and, placing her hands before her sweet
+face, began to weep.
+
+"Nay, speak not so, my father," she said, between her sobs; "for what
+have I done? I know nothing of the evil wandering of thy dreams. I am
+no soothsayer that I should read dreams. Have I not carried out all
+things according to thy desire? Have I not been ever mindful of that
+dread oath?"--and she trembled. "Have I not played the spy and told
+thee all? Have I not won the heart of the Queen, so that she loves me
+as a sister, refusing me nothing--ay, and the hearts of those about
+her? Why dost thou affright me thus with thy words and threats?" and
+she wept afresh, looking even more beautiful in her sorrow than she
+was before.
+
+"Enough, enough," he answered; "what I have said, I have said. Be
+warned, and affront our sight no more with this wanton dress. Thinkest
+thou that we would feed our eyes upon those rounded arms--we whose
+stake is Egypt and who are dedicated to the Gods of Egypt? Girl,
+behold thy cousin and thy King!"
+
+She ceased weeping, wiping her eyes with her chiton, and I saw that
+they seemed but the softer for her tears.
+
+"Methinks, most royal Harmachis, and beloved Cousin," she said, as she
+bent before me, "that we are already made acquainted."
+
+"Yea, Cousin," I answered, not without shamefacedness, for I had never
+before spoken to so fair a maid; "thou wert in the chariot with
+Cleopatra this day when I struggled with the Nubian?"
+
+"Assuredly," she said, with a smile and a sudden lighting of the eyes,
+"it was a gallant fight and gallantly didst thou overthrow that black
+brute. I saw the fray and, though I knew thee not, I greatly feared
+for one so brave. But I paid him for my fright, for it was I who put
+it into the mind of Cleopatra to bid the guards strike off his hand--
+now, knowing who thou art, I would I had said his head." And she
+looked up shooting a glance at me and then smiled.
+
+"Enough," put in my uncle Sepa, "the time draws on. Tell thou thy
+mission, Charmion, and be gone."
+
+Then her manner changed; she folded her hands meekly before her and
+spoke:
+
+"Let Pharaoh hearken to his handmaiden. I am the daughter of Pharaoh's
+uncle, the brother of his father, who is now long dead, and therefore
+in my veins also flows the Royal blood of Egypt. Also I am of the
+ancient Faith, and hate these Greeks, and to see thee set upon the
+throne has been my dearest hope now for many years. To this end I,
+Charmion, have put aside my rank and become serving-woman to
+Cleopatra, that I might cut a notch in which thou couldst set thy foot
+when the hour came for thee to climb the throne. And, Pharaoh, the
+notch is cut.
+
+"This then is our plot, royal Cousin. Thou must gain an entrance to
+the Household and learn its ways and secrets, and, so far as may be,
+suborn the eunuchs and captains, some of whom I have already tempted.
+This done, and all things being prepared without, thou must slay
+Cleopatra, and, aided by me with those whom I control, in the
+confusion that shall ensue, throw wide the gates, and, admitting those
+of our party who are in waiting, put such of the troops as remain
+faithful to the sword and seize the Bruchium. Which being finished,
+within two days thou shalt hold this fickle Alexandria. At the same
+time those who are sworn to thee in every city of Egypt shall rise in
+arms, and in ten days from the death of Cleopatra thou shalt indeed be
+Pharaoh. This is the counsel which has been taken, and thou seest,
+royal Cousin, that, though our uncle yonder thinks so ill of me, I
+have learned my part--ay, and played it."
+
+"I hear thee, Cousin," I answered, marvelling that so young a woman--
+she had but twenty years--could weave so bold a plot, for in its
+origin the scheme was hers. But in those days I little knew Charmion.
+"Go on; how then shall I gain entrance to the palace of Cleopatra?"
+
+"Nay, Cousin, as things are it is easy. Thus: Cleopatra loves to look
+upon a man, and--give me pardon--thy face and form are fair. To-day
+she noted them, and twice she said she would she had asked where that
+astrologer might be found, for she held that an astrologer who could
+wellnigh slay a Nubian gladiator with his bare hands, must indeed be a
+master of the fortunate stars. I answered her that I would cause
+inquiry to be made. So hearken, royal Harmachis. At midday Cleopatra
+sleeps in her inner hall which looks over the gardens to the harbour.
+At that hour to-morrow, then, I will meet thee at the gates of the
+palace, whither thou shalt come boldly asking for the Lady Charmion. I
+will make appointment for thee with Cleopatra, so that she shall see
+thee alone when she wakes, and the rest shall be for thee, Harmachis.
+For much she loves to play with the mysteries of magic, and I have
+known her stand whole nights watching the stars and making a pretence
+to read them. And but lately she has sent away Dioscorides the
+physician, because, poor fool! he ventured on a prophecy from the
+conjunction of the stars, that Cassius would defeat Mark Antony.
+Thereon Cleopatra sent orders to the General Allienus, bidding him add
+the legions she had sent to Syria to help Antony to the army of
+Cassius, whose victory, forsooth, was--according to Dioscorides--
+written on the stars. But, as it chanced, Antony beat Cassius first
+and Brutus afterwards, and so Dioscorides has departed, and now he
+lectures on herbs in the museum for his bread, and hates the name of
+stars. But his place is empty, and thou shalt fill it, and then we
+will work in secret and in the shadow of the sceptre. Ay, we will work
+like the worm at the heart of a fruit, till the time of plucking
+comes, and at thy dagger's touch, royal Cousin, the fabric of this
+Grecian throne crumbles to nothingness, and the worm that rotted it
+bursts his servile covering, and, in the sight of empires, spreads his
+royal wings o'er Egypt."
+
+I gazed at this strange girl once more astonished, and saw that her
+face was lit up with such a light as I had never seen in the eyes of
+woman.
+
+"Ah," broke in my uncle, who was watching her, "ah, I love to see thee
+so, girl; there is the Charmion that I knew and I bred up--not the
+Court girl whom I like not, draped in silks of Cos and fragrant with
+essences. Let thy heart harden in this mould--ay, stamp it with the
+fervid zeal of patriot faith, and thy reward shall find thee. And now
+cover up that shameless dress of thine and leave us, for it grows
+late. To-morrow Harmachis shall come, as thou hast said, and so
+farewell."
+
+Charmion bowed her head, and, turning, wrapped her dark-hued peplos
+round her. Then, taking my hand, she touched it with her lips and went
+without any further word.
+
+"A strange woman!" said Sepa, when she had gone; "a most strange
+woman, and an uncertain!"
+
+"Methought, my uncle," I said, "that thou wast somewhat harsh with
+her."
+
+"Ay," he answered, "but not without a cause. Look thou, Harmachis;
+beware of this Charmion. She is too wayward, and, I fear me, may be
+led away. In truth, she is a very woman; and, like a restive horse,
+will take the path that pleases her. She has brain and fire, and she
+loves our cause; but I pray that the cause come not face to face with
+her desires, for what her heart is set on that will she do, at any
+cost she will do it. Therefore I frightened her now while I may: for
+who can know but that she will pass beyond my power? I tell thee, that
+in this one girl's hand lie all our lives: and if she play us false,
+what then? Alas! and alas! that we must use such tools as these! But
+it was needful: there was no other way; and yet I misdoubted me. I
+pray that it may be well; still, at times, I fear my niece Charmion--
+she is too fair, and the blood of youth runs too warm in those blue
+veins of hers.
+
+"Ah, woe to the cause that builds its strength upon a woman's faith;
+for women are faithful only where they love, and when they love their
+faithlessness becomes their faith. They are not fixed as men are
+fixed: they rise more high and sink more low--they are strong and
+changeful as the sea. Harmachis, beware of this Charmion: for, like
+the ocean, she may float thee home; or, like the ocean, she may wreck
+thee, and, with thee, the hope of Egypt!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+OF THE COMING OF HARMACHIS TO THE PALACE; OF HOW HE DREW
+PAULUS THROUGH THE GATES; OF CLEOPATRA SLEEPING; AND OF THE
+MAGIC OF HARMACHIS WHICH HE SHOWED HER
+
+Thus it came to pass that on the next day I arrayed myself in a long
+and flowing robe, after the fashion of a magician or astrologer. I
+placed a cap on my head, about which were broidered images of the
+stars, and in my belt a scribe's palette and a roll of papyrus written
+over with magic spells and signs. In my hand I held a wand of ebony,
+tipped with ivory, such as is used by priests and masters of magic.
+Among these, indeed, I took high rank, filling my knowledge of their
+secrets which I had learned at Annu what I lacked in that skill which
+comes from use. And so with no small shame, for I love not such play
+and hold this common magic in contempt, I set forth through the
+Bruchium to the palace on the Lochias, being guided on my way by my
+uncle Sepa. At length, passing up the avenue of sphinxes, we came to
+the great marble gateway and the gates of bronze, within which is the
+guard-house. Here my uncle left me, breathing many prayers for my
+safety and success. But I advanced with an easy air to the gate, where
+I was roughly challenged by the Gallic sentries, and asked of my name,
+following, and business. I gave my name, Harmachis, the astrologer,
+saying that my business was with the Lady Charmion, the Queen's lady.
+Thereon the man made as though to let me pass in, when a captain of
+the guard, a Roman named Paulus, came forward and forbade it. Now,
+this Paulus was a large limbed man, with a woman's face, and a hand
+that shook from wine-bibbing. Still he knew me again.
+
+"Why," he cried, in the Latin tongue, to one who came with him, "this
+is the fellow who wrestled yesterday with the Nubian gladiator, that
+same who now howls for his lost hand underneath my window. Curses on
+the black brute! I had a bet upon him for the games! I have backed him
+against Caius, and now he'll never fight again, and I must lose my
+money, all through this astrologer. What is it thou sayest?--thou hast
+business with the Lady Charmion? Nay, then, that settles it. I will
+not let thee through. Fellow, I worship the Lady Charmion--ay, we all
+worship her, though she gives us more slaps than sighs. And dost thou
+think that we will suffer an astrologer with such eyes and such a
+chest as thine to cut in the game?--by Bacchus, no! She must come out
+to keep the tryst, for in thou shalt not go."
+
+"Sir," I said humbly and yet with dignity, "I pray that a message may
+be sent to the Lady Charmion, for my business will not brook delay."
+
+"Ye Gods!" answered the fool, "whom have we here that he cannot wait?
+A C�sar in disguise? Nay, be off--be off! if thou wouldst not learn
+how a spear-prick feels behind."
+
+"Nay," put in the other officer, "he is an astrologer; make him
+prophesy--make him play tricks."
+
+"Ay," cried the others who had sauntered up, "let the fellow show his
+art. If he is a magician he can pass the gates, Paulus or no Paulus."
+
+"Right willingly, good Sirs," I answered; for I saw no other means of
+entering. "Wilt thou, my young and noble Lord"--and I addressed him
+who was with Paulus--"suffer that I look thee in the eyes; perhaps I
+may read what is written there?"
+
+"Right," answered the youth; "but I wish that the Lady Charmion was
+the sorceress. I would stare her out of countenance, I warrant."
+
+I took him by the hand and gazed deep into his eyes. "I see," I said,
+"a field of battle at night, and about it bodies stretched--among them
+is /thy/ body, and a hyena tears its throat. Most noble Sir, thou
+shalt die by sword-thrusts within a year."
+
+"By Bacchus!" said the youth, turning white to the gills, "thou art an
+ill-omened sorcerer!" And he slunk off--shortly afterwards, as it
+chanced, to meet this very fate. For he was sent on service and slain
+in Cyprus.
+
+"Now for thee, great Captain!" I said, speaking to Paulus. "I will
+show thee how I will pass those gates without thy leave--ay, and draw
+thee through them after me. Be pleased to fix thy princely gaze upon
+the point of this wand in my hand."
+
+Being urged by his comrades he did this, unwillingly; and I let him
+gaze till I saw his eyes grow empty as an owl's eyes in the sun. Then
+I suddenly withdrew the wand, and, shifting my countenance into the
+place of it, I seized him with my will and stare, and, beginning to
+turn round and round, drew him after me, his fierce face drawn fixed,
+as it were, almost to my own. Then I moved slowly backwards till I had
+passed the gates, still drawing him after me, and suddenly jerked my
+head away. He fell to the ground, to rise wiping his brow and looking
+very foolish.
+
+"Art thou content, most noble Captain?" I said. "Thou seest we have
+passed the gates. Would any other noble Sir wish that I should show
+more of my skill?"
+
+"By Taranis, Lord of Thunder, and all the Gods of Olympus thrown in,
+no!" growled an old Centurion, a Gaul named Brennus, "I like thee not,
+I say. The man who could drag our Paulus through those gates by the
+eye, as it were, is not a man to play with. Paulus, too, who always
+goes the way you don't want him--backwards, like an ass--Paulus! Why,
+sirrah, thou needst must have a woman in one eye and a wine-cup in the
+other to draw our Paulus thus."
+
+At this moment the talk was broken, for Charmion herself came down the
+marble path, followed by an armed slave. She walked calm and
+carelessly, her hands folded behind her, and her eyes gazing at
+nothingness, as it were. But it was when Charmion thus looked upon
+nothing that she saw most. And as she came the officers and men of the
+guard made way for her bowing, for, as I learned afterwards, this
+girl, next to Cleopatra's self, wielded more power than anyone about
+the palace.
+
+"What is this tumult, Brennus?" she said, speaking to the Centurion,
+and making as if she saw me not; "knowest thou not that the Queen
+sleeps at this hour, and if she be awakened it is thou who must answer
+for it, and that dearly?"
+
+"Nay, Lady," said the Centurion, humbly; "but it is thus. We have
+here"--and he jerked his thumb towards me--"a magician of the most
+pestilent--um, I crave his pardon--of the very best sort, for he hath
+but just now, only by placing his eyes close to the nose of the worthy
+Captain Paulus, dragged him, the said Paulus, through the gates that
+Paulus swore the magician should not pass. By the same token, lady,
+the magician says that he has business with you--which grieves me for
+your sake."
+
+Charmion turned and looked at me carelessly. "Ay, I remember," she
+said; "and so he has--at least, the Queen would see his tricks; but if
+he can do none better than cause a sot"--here she cast a glance of
+scorn at the wondering Paulus--"to follow his nose through the gates
+he guards, he had better go whence he came. Follow me, Sir Magician;
+and for thee, Brennus, I say, keep thy riotous crew more quiet. For
+thee, most honourable Paulus, get thee sober, and next time I am asked
+for at the gates give him who asks a hearing." And, with a queenly nod
+of her small head, she turned and led the way, followed at a distance
+by myself and the armed slave.
+
+We passed up the marble walk which runs through the garden grounds,
+and is set on either side with marble statues, for the most part of
+heathen Gods and Goddesses, with which these Lagid� were not ashamed
+to defile their royal dwellings. At length we came to a beautiful
+portico with fluted columns of the Grecian style of art, where we
+found more guards, who made way for the Lady Charmion. Crossing the
+portico we reached a marble vestibule where a fountain splashed
+softly, and thence by a low doorway a second chamber, known as the
+Alabaster Hall, most beautiful to see. Its roof was upheld by light
+columns of black marble, but all its walls were panelled with
+alabaster, on which Grecian legends were engraved. Its floor was of
+rich and many-hued mosaic that told the tale of the passion of Psyche
+for the Grecian God of Love, and about it were set chairs of ivory and
+gold. Charmion bade the armed slave stay at the doorway of this
+chamber, so that we passed in alone, for the place was empty except
+for two eunuchs who stood with drawn swords before the curtain at the
+further end.
+
+"I am vexed, my Lord," she said, speaking very low and shyly, "that
+thou shouldst have met with such affronts at the gate; but the guard
+there served a double watch, and I had given my commands to the
+officer of the company that should have relieved it. Those Roman
+officers are ever insolent, who, though they seem to serve, know well
+that Egypt is their plaything. But it is not amiss, for these rough
+soldiers are superstitious, and will fear thee. Now bide thou here
+while I go into Cleopatra's chamber, where she sleeps. I have but just
+sung her to sleep, and if she be awake I will call thee, for she waits
+thy coming." And without more words she glided from my side.
+
+In a little time she returned, and coming to me spoke:
+
+"Wouldst see the fairest woman in all the world, asleep?" she
+whispered; "if so, follow me. Nay, fear not; when she awakes she will
+but laugh, for she bade me be sure to bring thee instantly, whether
+she slept or woke. See, I have her signet."
+
+So we passed up the beautiful chamber till we came to where the
+eunuchs stood with drawn swords, and these would have barred my entry.
+But Charmion frowned, and drawing the signet from her bosom held it
+before their eyes. Having examined the writing that was on the ring,
+they bowed, dropping their sword points and we passed through the
+heavy curtains broidered with gold into the resting-place of
+Cleopatra. It was beautiful beyond imagining--beautiful with many
+coloured marbles, with gold and ivory, gems and flowers--all art can
+furnish and all luxury can dream of were here. Here were pictures so
+real that birds might have pecked the painted fruits; here were
+statues of woman's loveliness frozen into stone; here were draperies
+fine as softest silk, but woven of a web of gold; here were couches
+and carpets such as I never saw. The air, too, was sweet with perfume,
+while through the open window places came the far murmur of the sea.
+And at the further end of the chamber, on a couch of gleaming silk and
+sheltered by a net of finest gauze, Cleopatra lay asleep. There she
+lay--the fairest thing that man ever saw--fairer than a dream, and the
+web of her dark hair flowed all about her. One white, rounded arm made
+a pillow for her head, and one hung down towards the ground. Her rich
+lips were parted in a smile, showing the ivory lines of teeth; and her
+rosy limbs were draped in so thin a robe of the silk of Cos, held
+about her by a jewelled girdle, that the white gleam of flesh shone
+through it. I stood astonished, and though my thoughts had little bent
+that way, the sight of her beauty struck me like a blow, so that for a
+moment I lost myself as it were in the vision of its power, and was
+grieved at heart because I must slay so fair a thing.
+
+Turning suddenly from the sight, I found Charmion watching me with her
+quick eyes--watching as though she would search my heart. And, indeed,
+something of my thought must have been written on my face in a
+language that she could read, for she whispered in my ear:
+
+"Ay, it is pity, is it not? Harmachis, being but a man, methinks that
+thou wilt need all thy ghostly strength to nerve thee to the deed!"
+
+I frowned, but before I could frame an answer she touched me lightly
+on the arm and pointed to the Queen. A change had come upon her: her
+hands were clenched, and about her face, all rosy with the hue of
+sleep, gathered a cloud of fear. Her breath came quick, she raised her
+arms as though to ward away a blow, then with a stifled moan sat up
+and opened the windows of her eyes. They were dark, dark as night; but
+when the light found them they grew blue as the sky grows blue before
+the blushing of the dawn.
+
+"C�sarion?" she said; "where is my son C�sarion?--Was it then a dream?
+I dreamed that Julius--Julius who is dead--came to me, a bloody toga
+wrapped about his face, and having thrown his arms about his child led
+him away. Then I dreamed I died--died in blood and agony; and one I
+might not see mocked me as I died. /Ah!/ who is that man?"
+
+"Peace, Madam! peace!" said Charmion. "It is but the magician
+Harmachis, whom thou didst bid me bring to thee at this hour."
+
+"Ah! the magician--that Harmachis who overthrew the giant? I remember
+now. He is welcome. Tell me, Sir Magician, can thy magic mirror call
+forth an answer to this dream? Nay, how strange a thing is Sleep, that
+wrapping the mind in a web of darkness, straightly compels it to its
+will! Whence, then, come those images of fear rising on the horizon of
+the soul like some untimely moon upon a midday sky? Who grants them
+power to stalk so lifelike from Memory's halls, and, pointing to their
+wounds, thus confront the Present with the Past? Are they, then,
+messengers? Does the half-death of sleep give them foothold in our
+brains, and thus upknit the cut thread of human kinship? That was
+C�sar's self, I tell thee, who but now stood at my side and murmured
+through his muffled robe warning words of which the memory is lost to
+me. Read me this riddle, thou Egyptian Sphinx,[*] and I'll show thee a
+rosier path to fortune than all thy stars can point. Thou hast brought
+the omen, solve thou its problem."
+
+[*] Alluding to his name. Harmachis was the Grecian title of the
+    divinity of the Sphinx, as Horemkhu was the Egyptian.--Editor.
+
+"I come in a good hour, most mighty Queen," I answered, "for I have
+some skill in the mysteries of Sleep, that is, as thou hast rightly
+guessed, a stair by which those who are gathered to Osiris may from
+time to time enter at the gateways of our living sense, and, by signs
+and words that can be read of instructed mortals, repeat the echoes of
+that Hall of Truth which is their habitation. Yes, Sleep is a stair by
+which the messengers of the guardian Gods may descend in many shapes
+upon the spirit of their choice. For, O Queen, to those who hold the
+key, the madness of our dreams can show a clearer purpose and speak
+more certainly than all the acted wisdom of our waking life, which is
+a dream indeed. Thou didst see great C�sar in his bloody robe, and he
+threw his arms about the Prince C�sarion and led him hence. Hearken
+now to the secret of thy vision. It was C�sar's self thou sawest
+coming to thy side from Amenti in such a guise as might not be
+mistaken. When he embraced the child C�sarion he did it for a sign
+that to him, and him alone, had passed his greatness and his love.
+When he seemed to lead him hence he led him forth from Egypt to be
+crowned in the Capitol, crowned the Emperor of Rome and Lord of all
+the Lands. For the rest, I know not. It is hid from me."
+
+Thus, then, I read the vision, though to my sense it had a darker
+meaning. But it is not well to prophesy evil unto Kings.
+
+Meanwhile Cleopatra had risen, and, having thrown back the gnat gauze,
+was seated upon the edge of her couch, her eyes fixed upon my face,
+while her fingers played with her girdle's jewelled ends.
+
+"Of a truth," she cried, "thou art the best of all magicians, for thou
+readest my heart, and drawest a hidden sweet out of the rough shell of
+evil omen!"
+
+"Ay, O Queen," said Charmion, who stood by with downcast eyes, and I
+thought that there was bitter meaning in her soft tones; "may no
+rougher words ever affront thy ears, and no evil presage tread less
+closely upon its happy sense."
+
+Cleopatra placed her hands behind her head and, leaning back, looked
+at me with half-shut eyes.
+
+"Come, show us of thy magic, Egyptian," she said. "It is yet hot
+abroad, and I am weary of those Hebrew Ambassadors and their talk of
+Herod and Jerusalem. I hate that Herod, as he shall find--and will
+have none of the Ambassadors to-day, though I yearn a little to try my
+Hebrew on them. What canst thou do? Hast thou no new trick? By
+Serapis! if thou canst conjure as well as thou canst prophesy, thou
+shalt have a place at Court, with pay and perquisites to boot, if thy
+lofty soul does not scorn perquisites."
+
+"Nay," I answered, "all tricks are old; but there are some forms of
+magic to be rarely used, and with discretion, that may be new to thee,
+O Queen! Art thou afraid to venture on the charm?"
+
+"I fear nothing; go on and do thy worst. Come, Charmion, and sit by
+me. But, stay, where are all the girls?--Iras and Merira?--they, too,
+love magic."
+
+"Not so," I said; "the charms work ill before so many. Now behold!"
+and, gazing at the twain, I cast my wand upon the marble and murmured
+a spell. For a moment it was still, and then, as I muttered, the rod
+slowly began to writhe. It bent itself, it stood on end, and moved of
+its own motion. Next it put on scales, and behold it was a serpent
+that crawled and fiercely hissed.
+
+"Fie on thee!" cried Cleopatra, clapping her hands; "callest thou that
+magic? Why, it is an old trick that any wayside conjurer can do. I
+have seen it a score of times."
+
+"Wait, O Queen," I answered, "thou hast not seen all." And, as I
+spoke, the serpent seemed to break in fragments, and from each
+fragment grew a new serpent. And these, too, broke in fragments and
+bred others, till in a little while the place, to their glamoured
+sight, was a seething sea of snakes, that crawled, hissed, and knotted
+themselves in knots. Then I made a sign, and the serpents gathered
+themselves round me, and seemed slowly to twine themselves about my
+body and my limbs, till, save my face, I was wreathed thick with
+hissing snakes.
+
+"Oh, horrible! horrible!" cried Charmion, hiding her countenance in
+the skirt of the Queen's garment.
+
+"Nay, enough, Magician, enough!" said the Queen: "thy magic overwhelms
+us."
+
+I waved my snake-wrapped arms, and all was gone. There at my feet lay
+the black wand tipped with ivory, and naught beside.
+
+The two women looked upon each other and gasped with wonder. But I
+took up the wand and stood with folded arms before them.
+
+"Is the Queen content with my poor art?" I asked most humbly.
+
+"Ay, that I am, Egyptian; never did I see its like! Thou art Court
+astronomer from this day forward, with right of access to the Queen's
+presence. Hast thou more of such magic at thy call?"
+
+"Yea, royal Egypt; suffer that the chamber be a little darkened, and I
+will show thee one more thing."
+
+"Half am I afraid," she answered; "nevertheless do thou as this
+Harmachis says, Charmion."
+
+So the curtains were drawn and the chamber made as though the twilight
+were at hand. I came forward, and stood beside Cleopatra. "Gaze thou
+there!" I said sternly, pointing with my wand to the empty space where
+I had been, "and thou shalt behold that which is in thy mind."
+
+Then for a little space was silence, while the two women gazed fixedly
+and half fearful at the spot.
+
+And as they gazed a cloud gathered before them. Very slowly it took
+shape and form, and the form it took was the form of a man, though as
+yet he was but vaguely mapped upon the twilight, and seemed now to
+grow and now to melt away.
+
+Then I cried with a loud voice:
+
+"Spirit, I conjure thee, /appear!/"
+
+And as I cried the Thing, perfect in every part, leapt into form
+before us, suddenly as the flash of day. His shape was the shape of
+royal C�sar, the toga thrown about his face, and on his form a
+vestment bloody from a hundred wounds. An instant so he stood, then I
+waved my wand and he was gone.
+
+I turned to the two women on the couch, and saw Cleopatra's lovely
+face all clothed in terror. Her lips were ashy white, her eyes stared
+wide, and all the flesh was shaking on her bones.
+
+"Man!" she gasped; "man! who and what art thou who canst bring the
+dead before our eyes?"
+
+"I am the Queen's astronomer, magician, servant--what the Queen
+wills," I answered, laughing. "Was this the form that was on the
+Queen's mind?"
+
+She made no answer, but, rising, left the chamber by another door.
+
+Then Charmion rose also and took her hands from her face, for she,
+too, had been stricken with dread.
+
+"How dost thou these things, royal Harmachis?" she said. "Tell me; for
+of a truth I fear thee."
+
+"Be not afraid," I answered. "Perchance thou didst see nothing but
+what was in my mind. All things are shadows. How canst thou, then,
+know their nature, or what is and what only seems to be? But how goes
+it? Remember, Charmion, this sport is played to an end."
+
+"It goes well," she said. "By to-morrow morning's dawn these tales
+will have gone round, and thou wilt be more feared than any man in
+Alexandria. Follow me, I pray thee."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+OF THE WAYS OF CHARMION; AND OF THE CROWNING OF HARMACHIS
+AS THE KING OF LOVE
+
+On the following day I received the writing of my appointment as
+Astrologer and Magician-in-Chief to the Queen, with the pay and
+perquisites of that office, which were not small. Rooms were given me
+in the palace, also, through which I passed at night to the high
+watch-tower, whence I looked on the stars and drew their auguries. For
+at this time Cleopatra was much troubled about matters political, and
+not knowing how the great struggle among the Roman factions would end,
+but being very desirous to side with the strongest, she took constant
+counsel with me as to the warnings of the stars. These I read to her
+in such manner as best seemed to fit the high interest of my ends. For
+Antony, the Roman Triumvir, was now in Asia Minor, and, rumour ran,
+very wroth because it had been told him that Cleopatra was hostile to
+the Triumvirate, in that her General, Serapion, had aided Cassius. But
+Cleopatra protested loudly to me and others that Serapion had acted
+against her will. Yet Charmion told me that, as with Allienus, it was
+because of a prophecy of Dioscorides the unlucky that the Queen
+herself had secretly ordered Serapion so to do. Still, this did not
+save Serapion, for to prove to Antony that she was innocent she
+dragged the General from the sanctuary and slew him. Woe be to those
+who carry out the will of tyrants if the scale should rise against
+them! And so Serapion perished.
+
+Meanwhile all things went well with us, for the minds of Cleopatra and
+those about her were so set upon affairs abroad that neither she nor
+they thought of revolt at home. But day by day our party gathered
+strength in the cities of Egypt, and even in Alexandria, which is to
+Egypt as another land, all things being foreign there. Day by day,
+those who doubted were won over and sworn to the cause by that oath
+which cannot be broken, and our plans of action more firmly laid. And
+every other day I went forth from the palace to take counsel with my
+uncle Sepa, and there at his house met the Nobles and the great
+priests who were for the party of Khem.
+
+I saw much of Cleopatra, the Queen, and I was ever more astonished at
+the wealth and splendour of her mind, that for richness and variety
+was as a woven cloth of gold throwing back all lights from its
+changing face. She feared me somewhat, and therefore wished to make a
+friend of me, asking me of many matters that seemed to be beyond the
+province of my office. I saw much of the Lady Charmion also--indeed,
+she was ever at my side, so that I scarce knew when she came and when
+she went. For she would draw nigh with that soft step of hers, and I
+would turn to find her at hand and watching me beneath the long lashes
+of her downcast eyes. There was no service that was too hard for her,
+and no task too long; for day and night she laboured for me and for
+our cause.
+
+But when I thanked her for her loyalty, and said it should be had in
+mind in that time which was at hand, she stamped her foot, and pouted
+with her lips, like an angry child, saying that, among all the things
+which I had learned, this had I not learned--that Love's service asked
+no payment, and was its own guerdon. And I, being innocent in such
+matters, and, foolish that I was, holding the ways of women as of
+small account, read her sayings in the sense that her services to the
+cause of Khem, which she loved, brought with them their own reward.
+But when I praised so fine a spirit, she burst into angry tears and
+left me wondering. For I knew nothing of the trouble at her heart. I
+knew not then that, unsought, this woman had given me her love, and
+that she was rent and torn by pangs of passion fixed like arrows in
+her breast. I did not know--how should I know it, who never looked
+upon her otherwise than as an instrument of our joint and holy cause?
+Her beauty never stirred me--no, not even when she leaned over me and
+breathed upon my hair, I never thought of it otherwise than as a man
+thinks of the beauty of a statue. What had I to do with such delights,
+I who was sworn to Isis and dedicate to the cause of Egypt? O ye Gods,
+bear me witness that I am innocent of this thing which was the source
+of all my woe and the woe of Khem!
+
+How strange a thing is this love of woman, that is so small in its
+beginning and in its ends so great! See, at the first it is as the
+little spring of water welling from a mountain's heart. And at the
+last what is it? It is a mighty river that floats argosies of joy and
+makes wide lands to smile. Or, perchance, it is a torrent to wash in a
+flood of ruin across the fields of Hope, bursting in the barriers of
+design, and bringing to tumbled nothingness the tenement of man's
+purity and the temples of his faith. For when the Invisible conceived
+the order of the universe He set this seed of woman's love within its
+plan, that by its most unequal growth is doomed to bring about
+equality of law. For now it lifts the low to heights untold, and now
+it brings the noble to the level of the dust. And thus, while Woman,
+that great surprise of nature, is, Good and Evil can never grow apart.
+For still She stands, and, blind with love, shoots the shuttle of our
+fate, and pours sweet water into the cup of bitterness, and poisons
+the wholesome breath of life with the doom of her desire. Turn this
+way and turn that, She is at hand to meet thee. Her weakness is thy
+strength, her might is thy undoing. Of her thou art, to her thou
+goest. She is thy slave, yet holds thee captive; at her touch honour
+withers, locks open, and barriers fall. She is infinite as ocean, she
+is variable as heaven, and her name is the Unforeseen. Man, strive not
+to escape from Woman and the love of woman; for, fly where thou wilt,
+She is yet thy fate, and whate'er thou buildest thou buildest it for
+her!
+
+And thus it came to pass that I, Harmachis, who had put such matters
+far from me, was yet doomed to fall by the thing I held of no account.
+For, see, this Charmion: she loved me--why, I know not. Of her own
+thought she learned to love me, and of her love came what shall be
+told. But I, knowing naught, treated her like a sister, walking as it
+were hand in hand with her towards our common end.
+
+And so the time passed on, till, at length, all things were made
+ready.
+
+It was the night before the night when the blow should fall, and there
+were revellings in the palace. That very day I had seen Sepa, and with
+him the captains of a band of five hundred men, who should burst into
+the palace at midnight on the morrow, when I had slain Cleopatra the
+Queen, and put the Roman and the Gallic legionaries to the sword. That
+very day I had suborned the Captain Paulus who, since I drew him
+through the gates, was my will's slave. Half by fear and half by
+promises of great reward I had prevailed upon him, for the watch was
+his, to unbar that small gate which faces to the East at the signal on
+the morrow night.
+
+All was made ready--the flower of Freedom that had been five-and-
+twenty years in growth was on the point of bloom. Armed companies were
+gathering in every city from Abu to Athu, and spies looked out from
+their walls, awaiting the coming of the messenger who should bring
+tidings that Cleopatra was no more and that Harmachis, the royal
+Egyptian, had seized the throne.
+
+All was prepared, triumph hung in my hand as a ripe fruit to the hand
+of the plucker. Yet as I sat at the royal feast my heart was heavy,
+and a shadow of coming woe lay cold within my mind. I sat there in a
+place of honour, near the majesty of Cleopatra, and looked down the
+lines of guests, bright with gems and garlanded with flowers, marking
+those whom I had doomed to die. There before me lay Cleopatra in all
+her beauty, which thrilled the beholder as he is thrilled by the
+rushing of the midnight gale, or by the sight of stormy waters. I
+gazed on her as she touched her lips with wine and toyed with the
+chaplet of roses on her brow, thinking of the dagger beneath my robe
+that I had sworn to bury in her breast. Again, and yet again, I gazed
+and strove to hate her, strove to rejoice that she must die--and could
+not. There, too, behind her--watching me now, as ever, with her deep-
+fringed eyes--was the lovely Lady Charmion. Who, to look at her
+innocent face, would believe that she was the setter of that snare in
+which the Queen who loved her should miserably perish? Who would dream
+that the secret of so much death was locked in her girlish breast? I
+gazed, and grew sick at heart because I must anoint my throne with
+blood, and by evil sweep away the evil of the land. At that hour I
+wished, indeed, that I was nothing but some humble husbandman, who in
+its season grows and in its season garners the golden grain! Alas! the
+seed that I had been doomed to sow was the seed of Death, and now I
+must reap the red fruit of the harvest!
+
+"Why, Harmachis, what ails thee?" said Cleopatra, smiling her slow
+smile. "Has the golden skein of stars got tangled, my astronomer? or
+dost thou plan some new feat of magic? Say what is it that thou dost
+so poorly grace our feast? Nay, now, did I not know, having made
+inquiry, that things so low as we poor women are far beneath thy gaze,
+why, I should swear that Eros had found thee out, Harmachis!"
+
+"Nay, that I am spared, O Queen," I answered. "The servant of the
+stars marks not the smaller light of woman's eyes, and therein is he
+happy!"
+
+Cleopatra leaned herself towards me, looking on me long and steadily
+in such fashion that, despite my will, the blood fluttered at my
+heart.
+
+"Boast not, thou proud Egyptian," she said in a low voice which none
+but I and Charmion could hear, "lest perchance thou dost tempt me to
+match my magic against thine. What woman can forgive that a man should
+push us by as things of no account? It is an insult to our sex which
+Nature's self abhors," and she leaned back again and laughed most
+musically. But, glancing up, I saw Charmion, her teeth on her lip and
+an angry frown upon her brow.
+
+"Pardon, royal Egypt," I answered coldly, but with such wit as I could
+summon, "before the Queen of Heaven even stars grow pale!" This I said
+of the moon, which is the sign of the Holy Mother whom Cleopatra dared
+to rival, naming herself Isis come to earth.
+
+"Happily said," she answered, clapping her white hands. "Why, here's
+an astronomer who has wit and can shape a compliment! Nay, such a
+wonder must not pass unnoted, lest the Gods resent it. Charmion, take
+this rose-chaplet from my hair and set it upon the learned brow of our
+Harmachis. He shall be crowned /King of Love/, whether he will it or
+not."
+
+Charmion lifted the chaplet from Cleopatra's brows and, bearing it to
+where I was, with a smile set it upon my head yet warm and fragrant
+from the Queen's hair, but so roughly that she pained me somewhat. She
+did this because she was wroth, although she smiled with her lips and
+whispered, "An omen, royal Harmachis." For though she was so very much
+a woman, yet, when she was angered or suffered jealousy, Charmion had
+a childish way.
+
+Having thus fixed the chaplet, she curtsied low before me, and with
+the softest tone of mockery named me, in the Greek tongue, "Harmachis,
+King of Love." Then Cleopatra laughed and pledged me as "King of
+Love," and so did all the company, finding the jest a merry one. For
+in Alexandria they love not those who live straitly and turn aside
+from women.
+
+But I sat there, a smile upon my lips, and black wrath in my heart.
+For, knowing who and what I was, it irked me to think myself a jest
+for the frivolous nobles and light beauties of Cleopatra's Court. But
+I was chiefly angered against Charmion, because she laughed the
+loudest, and I did not then know that laughter and bitterness are
+often the veils with which a sore heart wraps its weakness from the
+world. "An omen" she said it was--that crown of flowers--and so it
+proved indeed. For I was fated to barter the Double Diadem of the
+Upper and the Lower Land for a wreath of passion's roses that fade
+before they fully bloom, and Pharaoh's ivory bed of state for the
+pillow of a faithless woman's breast.
+
+"/King of Love!/" they crowned me in their mockery; ay, and King of
+Shame! And I, with the perfumed roses on my brow--I, by descent and
+ordination the Pharaoh of Egypt--thought of the imperishable halls of
+Abouthis and of that other crowning which on the morrow should be
+consummate.
+
+But still smiling, I pledged them back, and answered with a jest. For
+rising, I bowed before Cleopatra and craved leave to go. "Venus," I
+said, speaking of the planet that we know as Donaou in the morning and
+Bonou in the evening, "was in the ascendant. Therefore, as new-crowned
+King of Love, I must now pass to do my homage to its Queen." For these
+barbarians name Venus Queen of Love.
+
+And so amidst their laughter I withdraw to my watch-tower, and,
+dashing that shameful chaplet down amidst the instruments of my craft,
+made pretence to note the rolling of the stars. There I waited,
+thinking on many things that were to be, until Charmion should come
+with the last lists of the doomed and the messages of my uncle Sepa,
+whom she had seen that evening.
+
+At length the door opened softly, and she came jewelled and clad in
+her white robes, as she had left the feast.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+OF THE COMING OF CLEOPATRA TO THE CHAMBER OF HARMACHIS; OF
+THE THROWING FORTH OF THE KERCHIEF OF CHARMION; OF THE
+STARS; AND OF THE GIFT BY CLEOPATRA OF HER FRIENDSHIP TO HER
+SERVANT HARMACHIS
+
+"At length thou art come, Charmion," I said. "It is over-late."
+
+"Yea, my Lord; but by no means could I escape Cleopatra. Her mood is
+strangely crossed to-night. I know not what it may portend. Strange
+whims and fancies blow across it like light and contrary airs upon a
+summer sea, and I cannot read her purpose."
+
+"Well, well; enough of Cleopatra. Hast thou seen our uncle?"
+
+"Yes, royal Harmachis."
+
+"And hast thou the last lists?"
+
+"Yes; here they are," and she drew them from her bosom. "Here is the
+list of those who, after the Queen, must certainly be put to the
+sword. Among them thou wilt note is the name of that old Gaul Brennus.
+I grieve for him, for we are friends; but it must be. It is a heavy
+list."
+
+"It is so," I answered conning it; "when men write out their count
+they forget no item, and our count is long. What must be must be. Now
+for the next."
+
+"Here is the list of those to be spared, as friendly or uncertain; and
+here that of the towns which will certainly rise as soon as the
+messenger reaches their gates with tidings of the death of Cleopatra."
+
+"Good. And now"--and I paused--"and now as to the manner of
+Cleopatra's death. How hast thou settled it? Must it be by my own
+hand?"
+
+"Yea, my Lord," she answered, and again I caught that note of
+bitterness in her voice. "Doubtless Pharaoh will rejoice that his
+should be the hand to rid the land of this false Queen and wanton
+woman, and at one blow break the chains which gall the neck of Egypt."
+
+"Talk not thus, girl," I said; "thou knowest well that I do not
+rejoice, being but driven to the act by deep necessity and the
+pressure of my vows. Can she not, then, be poisoned? Or can no one of
+the eunuchs be suborned to slay her? My soul turns from this bloody
+work! Indeed, I marvel, however heavy be her crimes, that thou canst
+speak so lightly of the death by treachery of one who loves thee!"
+
+"Surely Pharaoh is over-tender, forgetting the greatness of the moment
+and all that hangs upon this dagger-stroke that shall cut the thread
+of Cleopatra's life. Listen, Harmachis. /Thou/ must do the deed, and
+/thou/ alone! Myself I would do it, had my arm the strength; but it
+has not. It cannot be done by poison, for every drop she drinks and
+every morsel that shall touch her lips is strictly tasted by three
+separate tasters, who cannot be suborned. Nor may the eunuchs of the
+guard be trusted. Two, indeed, are sworn to us; but the third cannot
+be come at. He must be cut down afterwards; and, indeed, when so many
+men must fall, what matters a eunuch more or less? Thus it shall be,
+then. To-morrow night, at three hours before midnight thou dost cast
+the final augury of the issue of the war. And then thou wilt, as is
+agreed, descend alone with me, having the signet, to the outer chamber
+of the Queen's apartment. For the vessel bearing orders to the Legions
+sails from Alexandria at the following dawn; and alone with Cleopatra,
+since she wills that the thing be kept secret as the sea, thou wilt
+read the message of the stars. And as she pores over the papyrus, then
+must thou stab her in the back, so that she dies; and see thou that
+thy will and arm fail thee not! The deed being done--and indeed it
+will be easy--thou wilt take the signet and pass out to where the
+eunuch is--for the others will be wanting. If by any chance there is
+trouble with him--but there will be no trouble, for he dare not enter
+the private rooms, and the sounds of death cannot reach so far--thou
+must cut him down. Then I will meet thee; and, passing on, we will
+come to Paulus, and it shall be my care to see that he is neither
+drunk nor backward, for I know how to hold him to the task. And he and
+those with him shall throw open the side gate, when Sepa and the five
+hundred chosen men who are in waiting shall pour in and cast
+themselves upon the sleeping legionaries, putting them to the sword.
+Why, the thing is easy so thou rest true to thyself, and let no
+womanish fears creep into thy heart. What is this dagger's thrust? It
+is nothing, and yet upon it hang the destinies of Egypt and the
+world."
+
+"Hush!" I said. "What is that?--I hear a sound."
+
+Charmion ran to the door, and, gazing down the long, dark passage,
+listened. In a moment she came back, her finger on her lips. "It is
+the Queen," she whispered hurriedly; "the Queen who mounts the stair
+alone. I heard her bid Iras to leave her. I may not be found alone
+with thee at this hour; it has a strange look, and she may suspect.
+What wants she here? Where can I hide?"
+
+I glanced round. At the further end of the chamber was a heavy curtain
+that hid a little place built in the thickness of the wall which I
+used for the storage of rolls and instruments.
+
+"Haste thee--there!" I said, and she glided behind the curtain, which
+swung back and covered her. Then I thrust the fatal scroll of death
+into the bosom of my robe and bent over the mystic chart. Presently I
+heard the sweep of woman's robes and there came a low knock upon the
+door.
+
+"Enter, whoever thou art," I said.
+
+The latch lifted, and Cleopatra swept in, royally arrayed, her dark
+hair hanging about her and the sacred snake of royalty glistening on
+her brow.
+
+"Of a truth, Harmachis," she said with a sigh, as she sank into a
+seat, "the path to heaven is hard to climb! Ah! I am weary, for those
+stairs are many. But I was minded, my astronomer, to see thee in thy
+haunts."
+
+"I am honoured overmuch, O Queen!" I said bowing low before her.
+
+"Art thou now? And yet that dark face of thine has a somewhat angry
+look--thou art too young and handsome for this dry trade, Harmachis.
+Why, I vow thou hast cast my wreath of roses down amidst thy rusty
+tools! Kings would have cherished that wreath along with their
+choicest diadems, Harmachis! and thou dost throw it away as a thing of
+no account! Why, what a man art thou! But stay; what is this? A lady's
+kerchief, by Isis! Nay, now, my Harmachis, how came /this/ here? Are
+our poor kerchiefs also instruments of thy high art? Oh, fie, fie!--
+have I caught thee, then? Art thou indeed a fox?"
+
+"Nay, most royal Cleopatra, nay!" I said, turning; for the kerchief
+which had fallen from Charmion's neck had an awkward look. "I know
+not, indeed, how the frippery came here. Perhaps, some one of the
+women who keeps the chamber may have let it fall."
+
+"Ah! so--so!" she said dryly, and still laughing like a rippling
+brook. "Yes, surely, the slave-women who keep chambers own such toys
+as this, of the very finest silk, worth twice its weight in gold, and
+broidered, too, in many colours. Why, myself I should not shame to
+wear it! Of a truth it seems familiar to my sight." And she threw it
+round her neck and smoothed the ends with her white hand. "But there;
+doubtless, it is a thing unholy in thine eyes that the scarf of thy
+beloved should rest upon my poor breast. Take it, Harmachis; take it,
+and hide it in thy bosom--nigh thy heart indeed!"
+
+I took the accursed thing, and, muttering what I may not write,
+stepped on to the giddy platform whence I watched the stars. Then,
+crushing it into a ball, I threw it to the winds of heaven.
+
+At this the lovely Queen laughed once more.
+
+"Nay, think now," she cried; "what would the lady say could she see
+her love-gauge thus cast to all the world? Mayhap, Harmachis, thou
+wouldst deal thus with my wreath also? See, the roses fade; cast it
+forth," and, stooping, she took up the wreath and gave it to me.
+
+For a moment, so vexed was I, I had a mind to take her at her word and
+send the wreath to join the kerchief. But I thought better of it.
+
+"Nay," I said more softly, "it is a Queen's gift, and I will keep it,"
+and, as I spoke, I saw the curtain shake. Often since that night I
+have sorrowed over those simple words.
+
+"Gracious thanks be to the King of Love for this small mercy," she
+answered, looking at me strangely. "Now, enough of wit; come forth
+upon this balcony--tell me of the mystery of those stars of thine. For
+I always loved the stars, that are so pure and bright and cold, and so
+far away from our fevered troubling. There I would wish to dwell,
+rocked on the dark bosom of the night, and losing the little sense of
+self as I gazed for ever on the countenance of yon sweet-eyed space.
+Nay--who can tell, Harmachis?--perhaps those stars partake of our very
+substance, and, linked to us by Nature's invisible chain, do, indeed,
+draw our destiny with them as they roll. What says the Greek fable of
+him who became a star? Perchance it has truth, for yonder tiny sparks
+may be the souls of men, but grown more purely bright and placed in
+happy rest to illume the turmoil of their mother-earth. Or are they
+lamps hung high in the heavenly vault that night by night some
+Godhead, whose wings are Darkness, touches with his immortal fire so
+that they leap out in answering flame? Give me of thy wisdom and open
+these wonders to me, my servant, for I have little knowledge. Yet my
+heart is large, and I would fill it, for I have the wit, could I but
+find the teacher."
+
+Thereon, being glad to find footing on a safer shore, and marvelling
+somewhat to learn that Cleopatra had a place for lofty thoughts, I
+spoke and willingly told her such things as are lawful. I told her how
+the sky is a liquid mass pressing round the earth and resting on the
+elastic pillars of the air, and how above is the heavenly ocean Nout,
+in which the planets float like ships as they rush upon their radiant
+way. I told her many things, and amongst them how, through the certain
+never-ceasing movement of the orbs of light, the planet Venus, that
+was called Donaou when she showed as the Morning Star, became the
+planet Bonou when she came as the sweet Star of Eve. And while I stood
+and spoke watching the stars, she sat, her hands clasped upon her
+knee, and watched my face.
+
+"Ah!" she broke in at length, "and so Venus is to be seen both in the
+morning and the evening sky. Well, of a truth, she is everywhere,
+though she best loves the night. But thou lovest not that I should use
+these Latin names to thee. Come, we will talk in the ancient tongue of
+Khem, which I know well; I am the first, mark thou, of all the Lagid�
+who know it. And now," she went on, speaking in my own tongue, but
+with a little foreign accent that did but make her talk more sweet,
+"enough of stars, for, when all is said, they are but fickle things,
+and perhaps may even now be storing up an evil hour for thee or me, or
+for both of us together. Not but what I love to hear thee speak of
+them, for then thy face loses that gloomy cloud of thought which mars
+it and grows quick and human. Harmachis, thou art too young for such a
+solemn trade; methinks that I must find thee a better. Youth comes but
+once; why waste it in these musings? It is time to think when we can
+no longer act. Tell me how old art thou, Harmachis?"
+
+"I have six-and-twenty years, O Queen," I answered, "for I was born in
+the first month of Shomou, in the summer season, and on the third day
+of the month."
+
+"Why, then, we are of an age even to a day," she cried, "for I too
+have six-and-twenty years, and I too was born on the third day of the
+first month of Shomou. Well, this may we say: those who begot us need
+have no shame. For if I be the fairest woman in Egypt, methinks,
+Harmachis, that there is in Egypt no man more fair and strong than
+thou, ay, or more learned. Born of the same day, why, 'tis manifest
+that we were destined to stand together, I, as the Queen, and thou,
+perchance, Harmachis, as one of the chief pillars of my throne, and
+thus to work each other's weal."
+
+"Or maybe each other's woe," I answered, looking up; for her sweet
+speeches stung my ears and brought more colour to my face than I loved
+that she should see there.
+
+"Nay, never talk of woe. Be seated here by me, Harmachis, and let us
+talk, not as Queen and subject, but as friend to friend. Thou wast
+angered with me at the feast to-night because I mocked thee with
+yonder wreath--was it not so? Nay, it was but a jest. Didst thou know
+how heavy is the task of monarchs and how wearisome are their hours,
+thou wouldst not be wroth because I lit my dulness with a jest. Oh,
+they weary me, those princes and those nobles, and those stiff-necked
+pompous Romans. To my face they vow themselves my slaves, and behind
+my back they mock me and proclaim me the servant of their Triumvirate,
+or their Empire, or their Republic, as the wheel of Fortune turns, and
+each rises on its round! There is never a man among them--nothing but
+fools, parasites, and puppets--never a man since with their coward
+daggers they slew that C�sar whom all the world in arms was not strong
+enough to tame. And I must play off one against the other, if maybe,
+by so doing, I can keep Egypt from their grip. And for reward, what?
+Why, this is my reward--that all men speak ill of me--and, I know it,
+my subjects hate me! Yes, I believe that, woman though I am, they
+would murder me could they find a means!"
+
+She paused, covering her eyes with her hand, and it was well, for her
+words pierced me so that I shrank upon the seat beside her.
+
+"They think ill of me, I know it; and call me wanton, who have never
+stepped aside save once, when I loved the greatest man of all the
+world, and at the touch of love my passion flamed indeed, but burnt a
+hallowed flame. These ribald Alexandrians swear that I poisoned
+Ptolemy, my brother--whom the Roman Senate would, most unnaturally,
+have forced on me, his sister, as a husband! But it is false: he
+sickened and died of fever. And even so they say that I would slay
+Arsino�, my sister--who, indeed, would slay me!--but that, too, is
+false! Though she will have none of me, I love my sister. Yes, they
+all think ill of me without a cause; even thou dost think ill of me,
+Harmachis.
+
+"O Harmachis, before thou judgest, remember what a thing is envy!--
+that foul sickness of the mind which makes the jaundiced eye of
+pettiness to see all things distraught--to read Evil written on the
+open face of Good, and find impurity in the whitest virgin's soul!
+Think what a thing it is, Harmachis, to be set on high above the
+gaping crowd of knaves who hate thee for thy fortune and thy wit; who
+gnash their teeth and shoot the arrows of their lies from the cover of
+their own obscureness, whence they have no wings to soar; and whose
+hearts' quest it is to drag down thy nobility to the level of the
+groundling and the fool!
+
+"Be not, then, swift to think evil of the Great, whose every word and
+act is searched for error by a million angry eyes, and whose most tiny
+fault is trumpeted by a thousand throats, till the world shakes with
+echoes of their sin! Say not: 'It is thus, 'tis certainly thus'--say,
+rather: 'May it not be otherwise? Have we heard aright? Did she this
+thing of her own will?' Judge gently, Harmachis, as wert thou I thou
+wouldst be judged. Remember that a Queen is never free. She is,
+indeed, but the point and instrument of those forces politic with
+which the iron books of history are graved. O Harmachis! be thou my
+friend--my friend and counsellor!--my friend whom I can trust indeed!
+--for here, in this crowded Court, I am more utterly alone than any
+soul that breathes about its corridors. But /thee/ I trust; there is
+faith written in those quiet eyes, and I am minded to lift thee high,
+Harmachis. I can no longer bear my solitude of mind--I must find one
+with whom I may commune and speak that which lies within my heart. I
+have faults, I know it; but I am not all unworthy of thy faith, for
+there is good grain among the evil seed. Say, Harmachis, wilt thou
+take pity on my loneliness and befriend me, who have lovers,
+courtiers, slaves, dependents, more thick than I can count, but never
+one single /friend/?" and she leant towards me, touching me lightly,
+and gazed on me with her wonderful blue eyes.
+
+I was overcome; thinking of the morrow night, shame and sorrow smote
+me. /I/, her friend!--/I/, whose assassin dagger lay against my
+breast! I bent my head, and a sob or a groan, I know not which, burst
+from the agony of my heart.
+
+But Cleopatra, thinking only that I was moved beyond myself by the
+surprise of her graciousness, smiled sweetly, and said:
+
+"It grows late; to-morrow night when thou bringest the auguries we
+will speak again, O my friend Harmachis, and thou shalt answer me."
+And she gave me her hand to kiss. Scarce knowing what I did, I kissed
+it, and in another moment she was gone.
+
+But I stood in the chamber, gazing after her like one asleep.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+OF THE WORDS AND JEALOUSY OF CHARMION; OF THE LAUGHTER OF
+HARMACHIS; OF THE MAKING READY FOR THE DEED OF BLOOD; AND OF THE
+
+I stood still, plunged in thought. Then by hazard as it were I took up
+the wreath of roses and looked on it. How long I stood so I know not,
+but when next I lifted up my eyes they fell upon the form of Charmion,
+whom, indeed, I had altogether forgotten. And though at the moment I
+thought but little of it, I noted vaguely that she was flushed as
+though with anger, and beat her foot upon the floor.
+
+"Oh, it is thou, Charmion!" I said. "What ails thee? Art thou cramped
+with standing so long in thy hiding-place? Why didst not thou slip
+hence when Cleopatra led me to the balcony?"
+
+"Where is my kerchief?" she asked, shooting an angry glance at me. "I
+let fall my broidered kerchief."
+
+"Thy kerchief!--why, didst thou not see? Cleopatra twitted me about
+it, and I flung it from the balcony."
+
+"Yes, I saw," answered the girl, "I saw but too well. Thou didst fling
+away my kerchief, but the wreath of roses--that thou wouldst not fling
+away. It was 'a Queen's gift,' forsooth, and therefore the royal
+Harmachis, the Priest of Isis, the chosen of the Gods, the crowned
+Pharaoh wed to the weal of Khem, cherished it and saved it. But my
+kerchief, stung by the laughter of that light Queen, he cast away!"
+
+"What meanest thou?" I asked, astonished at her bitter tone. "I cannot
+read thy riddles."
+
+"What mean I?" she answered, tossing up her head and showing the white
+curves of her throat. "Nay, I mean naught, or all; take it as thou
+wilt. Wouldst know what I mean, Harmachis, my cousin and my Lord?" she
+went on in a hard, low voice. "Then I will tell thee--thou art in
+danger of the great offence. This Cleopatra has cast her fatal wiles
+about thee, and thou goest near to loving her, Harmachis--to loving
+her whom to-morrow thou must slay! Ay, stand and stare at that wreath
+in thy hand--the wreath thou couldst not send to join my kerchief--
+sure Cleopatra wore it but to-night! The perfume of the hair of
+C�sar's mistress--C�sar's and others'--yet mingles with the odour of
+its roses! Now, prithee, Harmachis, how far didst thou carry the
+matter on yonder balcony? for in that hole where I lay hid I could not
+hear or see. 'Tis a sweet spot for lovers, is it not?--ay, and a sweet
+hour, too? Venus surely rules the stars to-night?"
+
+All of this she said so quietly and in so soft and modest a way,
+though her words were not modest, and yet so bitterly, that every
+syllable cut me to the heart, and angered me till I could find no
+speech.
+
+"Of a truth thou hast a wise economy," she went on, seeing her
+advantage: "to-night thou dost kiss the lips that to-morrow thou shalt
+still for ever! It is frugal dealing with the occasion of the moment;
+ay, worthy and honourable dealing!"
+
+Then at last I broke forth. "Girl," I cried, "how darest thou speak
+thus to me? Mindest thou who and what I am that thou loosest thy
+peevish gibes upon me?"
+
+"I mind what it behoves thee to be," she answered quick. "What thou
+art, that I mind not now. Surely thou knowest alone--thou and
+Cleopatra!"
+
+"What meanest thou?" I said. "Am I to blame if the Queen----"
+
+"The Queen! What have we here? Pharaoh owns a Queen!"
+
+"If Cleopatra wills to come hither of a night and talk----"
+
+"Of stars, Harmachis--surely of stars and roses, and naught beside!"
+
+After that I know not what I said; for, troubled as I was, the girl's
+bitter tongue and quiet way drove me wellnigh to madness. But this I
+know: I spoke so fiercely that she cowered before me as she had
+cowered before my uncle Sepa when he rated her because of her Grecian
+garb. And as she wept then, so she wept now, only more passionately
+and with great sobs.
+
+At length I ceased, half-shamed but still angry and smarting sorely.
+For even while she wept she could find a tongue to answer with--and a
+woman's shafts are sharp.
+
+"Thou shouldst not speak to me thus!" she sobbed; "it is cruel--it is
+unmanly! But I forget thou art but a priest, not a man--except,
+mayhap, for Cleopatra!"
+
+"What right hast thou?" I said. "What canst thou mean?"
+
+"What right have I?" she asked, looking up, her dark eyes all aflood
+with tears that ran down her sweet face like the dew of morning down a
+lily's heart. "What right have I? O Harmachis! art thou blind? Didst
+thou not know by what right I speak thus to thee? Then I must tell
+thee. Well, it is the fashion in Alexandria! By that first and holy
+right of woman--by the right of the great love I bear thee, and which,
+it seems, thou hast no eyes to see--by the right of my glory and my
+shame. Oh, be not wroth with me, Harmachis, nor set me down as light,
+because the truth at last has burst from me; for I am not so. I am
+what thou wilt make me. I am the wax within the moulder's hands, and
+as thou dost fashion me so I shall be. There breathes within me now a
+breath of glory, blowing across the waters of my soul, that can waft
+me to ends more noble than ever I have dreamed afore, if thou wilt be
+my pilot and my guide. But if I lose thee, then I lose all that holds
+me from my worse self--and let shipwreck come! Thou knowest me not,
+Harmachis! thou canst not see how big a spirit struggles in this frail
+form of mine! To thee I am a girl, clever, wayward, shallow. But I am
+more! Show me thy loftiest thought and I will match it, the deepest
+puzzle of thy mind and I will make it clear. Of one blood we are, and
+love can ravel up our little difference and make us grow one indeed.
+One end we have, one land we love, one vow binds us both. Take me to
+thy heart, Harmachis, set me by thee on the Double Throne, and I swear
+that I will lift thee higher than ever man has climbed. Reject me, and
+beware lest I pull thee down! And now, putting aside the cold delicacy
+of custom, stung to it by what I saw of the arts of that lovely living
+falsehood, Cleopatra, which for pastime she practises on thy folly, I
+have spoken out my heart, and answer thou!" And she clasped her hands
+and, drawing one pace nearer, gazed, all white and trembling, on my
+face.
+
+For a moment I stood struck dumb, for the magic of her voice and the
+power of her speech, despite myself, stirred me like the rush of
+music. Had I loved the woman, doubtless she might have fired me with
+her flame; but I loved her not, and I could not play at passion. And
+so thought came, and with thought that laughing mood, which is ever
+apt to fashion upon nerves strained to the point of breaking. In a
+flash, as it were, I bethought me of the way in which she had that
+very night forced the wreath of roses on my head, I thought of the
+kerchief and how I had flung it forth. I thought of Charmion in the
+little chamber watching what she held to be the arts of Cleopatra, and
+of her bitter speeches. Lastly, I thought of what my uncle Sepa would
+say of her could he see her now, and of the strange and tangled skein
+in which I was inmeshed. And I laughed aloud--the fool's laughter that
+was my knell of ruin!
+
+She turned whiter yet--white as the dead--and a look grew upon her
+face that checked my foolish mirth. "Thou findest, then, Harmachis,"
+she said in a low, choked voice, and dropping the level of her eyes,
+"thou findest cause of merriment in what I have said?"
+
+"Nay," I answered; "nay, Charmion; forgive me if I laughed. It was
+rather a laugh of despair; for what am I to say to thee? Thou hast
+spoken high words of all thou mightest be: is it left for me to tell
+thee what thou art?"
+
+She shrank, and I paused.
+
+"Speak," she said.
+
+"Thou knowest--none so well!--who I am and what my mission is: thou
+knowest--none so well!--that I am sworn to Isis, and may, by law
+Divine, have naught to do with thee."
+
+"Ay," she broke in, in her low voice, and with her eyes still fixed
+upon the ground--"ay, and I know that thy vows are broken in spirit,
+if not in form--broken like wreaths of cloud; for, Harmachis--/thou
+lovest Cleopatra!/"
+
+"It is a lie!" I cried. "Thou wanton girl, who wouldst seduce me from
+my duty and put me to an open shame!--who, led by passion or ambition,
+or the love of evil, hast not shamed to break the barriers of thy sex
+and speak as thou hast spoken--beware lest thou go too far! And if
+thou wilt have an answer, here it is, put straightly, as thy question.
+Charmion, outside the matter of my duty and my vows, thou art /naught/
+to me!--nor for all thy tender glances will my heart beat one pulse
+more fast! Hardly art thou now my friend--for, of a truth, I scarce
+can trust thee. But, once more: beware! To me thou mayest do thy
+worst; but if thou dost dare to lift a finger against our cause, that
+day thou diest! And now, is this play done?"
+
+And as, wild with anger, I spoke thus, she shrank back, and yet
+further back, till at length she rested against the wall, her eyes
+covered with her hand. But when I ceased she dropped her hand,
+glancing up, and her face was as the face of a statue, in which the
+great eyes glowed like embers, and round them was a ring of purple
+shadow.
+
+"Not altogether done," she answered gently; "the arena must yet be
+sanded!" This she said having reference to the covering up of the
+bloodstains at the gladiatorial shows with fine sand. "Well," she went
+on, "waste not thine anger on a thing so vile. I have thrown my throw
+and I have lost. /V� victis!/--ah! /V� victis!/ Wilt thou not lend me
+the dagger in thy robe, that here and now I may end my shame? No? Then
+one word more, most royal Harmachis: if thou canst, forget my folly;
+but, at the least, have no fear from me. I am now, as ever, thy
+servant and the servant of our cause. Farewell!"
+
+And she went, leaning her hand against the wall. But I, passing to my
+chamber, flung myself upon my couch, and groaned in bitterness of
+spirit. Alas! we shape our plans, and by slow degrees build up our
+house of Hope, never counting on the guests that time shall bring to
+lodge therein. For who can guard against--the Unforeseen?
+
+At length I slept, and my dreams were evil. When I woke the light of
+the day which should see the red fulfilment of the plot was streaming
+through the casement, and the birds sang merrily among the garden
+palms. I woke, and as I woke the sense of trouble pressed in upon me,
+for I remembered that before this day was gathered to the past I must
+dip my hands in blood--yes, in the blood of Cleopatra, who trusted me!
+Why could I not hate her as I should? There had been a time when I
+looked on to this act of vengeance with somewhat of a righteous glow
+of zeal. And now--and now--why, I would frankly give my royal
+birthright to be free from its necessity! But, alas! I knew that there
+was no escape. I must drain this cup or be for ever cast away. I felt
+the eyes of Egypt watching me, and the eyes of Egypt's Gods. I prayed
+to my Mother Isis to give me strength to do this deed, and prayed as I
+had never prayed before; and oh, wonder! no answer came. Nay, how was
+this? What, then, had loosed the link between us that, for the first
+time, the Goddess deigned no reply to her son and chosen servant?
+Could it be that I had sinned in heart against her? What had Charmion
+said--that I loved Cleopatra? Was this sickness love? Nay! a thousand
+times nay!--it was but the revolt of Nature against an act of
+treachery and blood. The Goddess did but try my strength, or perchance
+she also turned her holy countenance from murder?
+
+I rose filled with terror and despair, and went about my task like a
+man without a soul. I conned the fatal lists and noted all the plans--
+ay, in my brain I gathered up the very words of that proclamation of
+my Royalty which, on the morrow, I should issue to the startled world.
+
+"Citizens of Alexandria and dwellers in the land of Egypt," it began,
+"Cleopatra the Macedonian hath, by the command of the Gods, suffered
+justice for her crimes----"
+
+All these and other things I did, but I did them as a man without a
+soul--as a man moved by a force from without and not from within. And
+so the minutes wore away. In the third hour of the afternoon I went as
+by appointment fixed to the house where my uncle Sepa lodged, that
+same house to which I had been brought some three months gone when I
+entered Alexandria for the first time. And here I found the leaders of
+the revolt in the city assembled in secret conclave to the number of
+seven. When I had entered, and the doors were barred, they prostrated
+themselves, and cried, "Hail, Pharaoh!" but I bade them rise, saying
+that I was not yet Pharaoh, for the chicken was still in the egg.
+
+"Yea, Prince," said my uncle, "but his beak shows through. Not in vain
+hath Egypt brooded all these years, if thou fail not with that dagger-
+stroke of thine to-night; and how canst thou fail? Nothing can now
+stop our course to victory!"
+
+"It is on the knees of the Gods," I answered.
+
+"Nay," he said, "the Gods have placed the issue in the hands of a
+mortal--in thy hands, Harmachis!--and there it is safe. See: here are
+the last lists. Thirty-one thousand men who bear arms are sworn to
+rise when the tidings come to them. Within five days every citadel in
+Egypt will be in our hands, and then what have we to fear? From Rome
+but little, for her hands are full; and, besides, we will make
+alliance with the Triumvirate, and, if need be, buy them off. For of
+money there is plenty in the land, and if more be wanted thou,
+Harmachis, knowest where it is stored against the need of Khem, and
+outside the Roman's reach of arm. Who is there to harm us? There is
+none. Perchance, in this turbulent city, there may be struggle, and a
+counter-plot to bring Arsino� to Egypt and set her on the throne.
+Therefore Alexandria must be severely dealt with--ay, even to
+destruction, if need be. As for Arsino�, those go forth to-morrow on
+the news of the Queen's death who shall slay her secretly."
+
+"There remains the lad C�sarion," I said. "Rome might claim through
+C�sar's son, and the child of Cleopatra inherits Cleopatra's rights.
+Here is a double danger."
+
+"Fear not," said my uncle; "to-morrow C�sarion joins those who begat
+him in Amenti. I have made provision. The Ptolemies must be stamped
+out, so that no shoot shall ever spring from that root blasted by
+Heaven's vengeance."
+
+"Is there no other means?" I asked sadly. "My heart is sick at the
+promise of this red rain of blood. I know the child well; he has
+Cleopatra's fire and beauty and great C�sar's wit. It were shame to
+murder him."
+
+"Nay, be not so chicken-hearted, Harmachis," said my uncle, sternly.
+"What ails thee, then? If the lad is thus, the more reason that he
+should die. Wouldst thou nurse up a young lion to tear thee from the
+throne?"
+
+"Be it so," I answered, sighing. "At least he is spared much, and will
+go hence innocent of evil. Now for the plans."
+
+We sat long taking counsel, till at length, in face of the great
+emergency and our high emprise, I felt something of the spirit of
+former days flow back into my heart. At the last all was ordered, and
+so ordered that it could scarce miscarry, for it was fixed that if by
+any chance I could not come to slay Cleopatra on this night, then the
+plot should hang in the scale till the morrow, when the deed must be
+done upon occasion. For the death of Cleopatra was the signal. These
+matters being finished, once more we stood and, our hands upon the
+sacred symbol, swore the oath that may not be written. And then my
+uncle kissed me with tears of hope and joy standing in his keen black
+eyes. He blessed me, saying that he would gladly give his life, ay,
+and a hundred lives, if they were his, if he might but live to see
+Egypt once more a nation, and me, Harmachis, the descendant of its
+royal and ancient blood, seated on the throne. For he was a patriot
+indeed, asking nothing for himself, and giving all things to his
+cause. And I kissed him in turn, and thus we parted. Nor did I ever
+see him more in the flesh who has earned the rest that as yet is
+denied to me.
+
+So I went, and, there being yet time, walked swiftly from place to
+place in the great city, taking note of the positions of the gates and
+of the places where our forces must be gathered. At length I came to
+that quay where I had landed, and saw a vessel sailing for the open
+sea. I looked, and in my heaviness of heart longed that I were aboard
+of her, to be borne by her white wings to some far shore where I might
+live obscure and die forgotten. Also I saw another vessel that had
+dropped down the Nile, from whose deck the passengers were streaming.
+For a moment I stood watching them, idly wondering if they were from
+Abouthis, when suddenly I heard a familiar voice beside me.
+
+"/La! la!/" said the voice. "Why, what a city is this for an old woman
+to seek her fortune in! And how shall I find those to whom I am known?
+As well look for the rush in the papyrus-roll.[*] Begone! thou knave!
+and let my basket of simples lie; or, by the Gods, I'll doctor thee
+with them!"
+
+[*] Papyrus was manufactured from the pith of rushes. Hence Atoua's
+    saying.--Editor.
+
+I turned, wondering, and found myself face to face with my foster-
+nurse, Atoua. She knew me instantly, for I saw her start, but in the
+presence of the people she checked her surprise.
+
+"Good Sir," she whined, lifting her withered countenance towards me,
+and at the same time making the secret sign. "By thy dress thou
+shouldst be an astronomer, and I was specially told to avoid
+astronomers as a pack of lying tricksters who worship their own star
+only; and, therefore, I speak to thee, acting on the principle of
+contraries, which is law to us women. For surely in this Alexandria,
+where all things are upside down, the astronomers may be the honest
+men, since the rest are clearly knaves." And then, being by now out of
+earshot of the press, "royal Harmachis, I am come charged with a
+message to thee from thy father Amenemhat."
+
+"Is he well?" I asked.
+
+"Yes, he is well, though waiting for the moment tries him sorely."
+
+"And his message?"
+
+"It is this. He sends greeting to thee and with it warning that a
+great danger threatens thee, though he cannot read it. These are his
+words: 'Be steadfast and prosper.'"
+
+I bowed my head and the words struck a new chill of fear into my soul.
+
+"When is the time?" she asked.
+
+"This very night. Where goest thou?"
+
+"To the house of the honourable Sepa, Priest of Annu. Canst thou guide
+me thither?"
+
+"Nay, I may not stay; nor is it wise that I should be seen with thee.
+Hold!" and I called a porter who was idling on the quay, and, giving
+him a piece of money, bade him guide the old wife to the house.
+
+"Farewell," she whispered; "farewell till to-morrow. Be steadfast and
+prosper."
+
+Then I turned and went my way through the crowded streets, where the
+people made place for me, the astronomer of Cleopatra, for my fame had
+spread abroad.
+
+And even as I went my footsteps seemed to beat /Be steadfast, Be
+steadfast, Be steadfast/, till at last it was as though the very
+ground cried out its warning to me.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+OF THE VEILED WORDS OF CHARMION; OF THE PASSING OF HARMACHIS
+INTO THE PRESENCE OF CLEOPATRA; AND OF THE OVERTHROW OF HARMACHIS
+
+It was night, and I sat alone in my chamber, waiting the moment when,
+as it was agreed, Charmion should summon me to pass down to Cleopatra.
+I sat alone, and there before me lay the dagger that was to pierce
+her. It was long and keen, and the handle was formed of a sphinx of
+solid gold. I sat alone, questioning the future, but no answer came.
+At length I looked up, and Charmion stood before me--Charmion, no
+longer gay and bright, but pale of face and hollow-eyed.
+
+"Royal Harmachis," she said, "Cleopatra summons thee, presently to
+declare to her the voices of the stars."
+
+So the hour had fallen!
+
+"It is well, Charmion," I answered. "Are all things in order?"
+
+"Yea, my Lord; all things are in order: well primed with wine, Paulus
+guards the gates, the eunuchs are withdrawn save one, the legionaries
+sleep, and already Sepa and his force lie hid without. Nothing has
+been neglected, and no lamb skipping at the shamble doors can be more
+innocent of its doom than is Queen Cleopatra."
+
+"It is well," I said again; "let us be going," and rising, I placed
+the dagger in the bosom of my robe. Taking a cup of wine that stood
+near, I drank deep of it, for I had scarce tasted food all that day.
+
+"One word," Charmion said hurriedly, "for it is not yet time: last
+night--ah, last night--" and her bosom heaved, "I dreamed a dream that
+haunts me strangely, and perchance thou also didst dream a dream. It
+was all a dream and 'tis forgotten: is it not so, my Lord?"
+
+"Yes, yes," I said; "why troublest thou me thus at such an hour?"
+
+"Nay, I know not; but to-night, Harmachis, Fate is in labour of a
+great event, and in her painful throes mayhap she'll crush me in her
+grip--me or thee, or the twain of us, Harmachis. And if that be so--
+well, I would hear from thee, before it is done, that 'twas naught but
+a dream, and that dream forgot----"
+
+"Yes, it is all a dream," I said idly; "thou and I, and the solid
+earth, and this heavy night of terror, ay, and this keen knife--what
+are these but dreams, and with what face shall the waking come?"
+
+"So now, thou fallest in my humour, royal Harmachis. As thou sayest,
+we dream; and while we dream yet can the vision change. For the
+phantasies of dreams are wonderful, seeing that they have no
+stability, but vary like the vaporous edge of sunset clouds, building
+now this thing, and now that; being now dark and heavy, and now alight
+with splendour. Therefore, before we wake to-morrow tell me one word.
+Is that vision of last night, wherein I /seemed/ to be quite shamed,
+and thou didst /seem/ to laugh upon my shame, a fixed phantasy, or can
+it, perchance, yet change its countenance? For remember, when that
+waking comes, the vagaries of our sleep will be more unalterable and
+more enduring than are the pyramids. Then they will be gathered into
+that changeless region of the past where all things, great and small--
+ay, even dreams, Harmachis, are, each in its own semblance, frozen to
+stone and built into the Tomb of Time immortal."
+
+"Nay, Charmion," I replied, "I grieve if I did pain thee; but over
+that vision comes no change. I said what was in my heart and there's
+an end. Thou art my cousin and my friend, I can never be more to
+thee."
+
+"It is well--'tis very well," she said; "let it be forgotten. And now
+on from dream--to dream," and she smiled with such a smile as I had
+never seen her wear before; it was sadder and more fateful than any
+stamp that grief can set upon the brow.
+
+For, though being blinded by my own folly and the trouble at my heart
+I knew it not, with that smile, the happiness of youth died for
+Charmion the Egyptian; the hope of love fled; and the holy links of
+duty burst asunder. With that smile she consecrated herself to Evil,
+she renounced her Country and her Gods, and trampled on her oath. Ay,
+that smile marks the moment when the stream of history changed its
+course. For had I never seen it on her face Octavianus had not
+bestridden the world, and Egypt had once more been free and great.
+
+And yet it was but a woman's smile!
+
+"Why lookest thou thus strangely, girl?" I asked.
+
+"In dreams we smile," she answered. "And now it is time; follow thou
+me. Be firm and prosper, royal Harmachis!" and bending forward she
+took my hand and kissed it. Then, with one strange last look, she
+turned and led the way down the stair and through the empty halls.
+
+In the chamber that is called the Alabaster Hall, the roof of which is
+upborne by columns of black marble, we stayed. For beyond was the
+private chamber of Cleopatra, the same in which I had seen her
+sleeping.
+
+"Abide thou here," she said, "while I tell Cleopatra of thy coming,"
+and she glided from my side.
+
+I stood for long, mayhap in all the half of an hour, counting my own
+heart-beats, and, as in a dream, striving to gather up my strength to
+that which lay before me.
+
+At length Charmion came back, her head held low and walking heavily.
+
+"Cleopatra waits thee," she said: "pass on, there is no guard."
+
+"Where do I meet thee when what must be done is done?" I asked
+hoarsely.
+
+"Thou meetest me here, and then to Paulus. Be firm and prosper.
+Harmachis, fare thee well!"
+
+And so I went; but at the curtain I turned suddenly, and there in the
+midst of that lonely lamplit hall I saw a strange sight. Far away, in
+such a fashion that the light struck full upon her, stood Charmion,
+her head thrown back, her white arms outstretched as though to clasp,
+and on her girlish face a stamp of anguished passion so terrible to
+see that, indeed, I cannot tell it! For she believed that I, whom she
+loved, was passing to my death, and this was her last farewell to me.
+
+But I knew naught of this matter; so with another passing pang of
+wonder I drew aside the curtains, gained the doorway, and stood in
+Cleopatra's chamber. And there, upon a silken couch at the far end of
+the perfumed chamber, clad in wonderful white attire, rested
+Cleopatra. In her hand was a jewelled fan of ostrich plumes, with
+which she gently fanned herself, and by her side was her harp of
+ivory, and a little table whereon were figs and goblets and a flask of
+ruby-coloured wine. I drew near slowly through the soft dim light to
+where the Wonder of the World lay in all her glowing beauty. And,
+indeed, I have never seen her look so fair as she did upon that fatal
+night. Couched in her amber cushions, she seemed to shine as a star on
+the twilight's glow. Perfume came from her hair and robes, music fell
+from her lips, and in her heavenly eyes all lights changed and
+gathered as in the ominous opal's disc.
+
+And this was the woman whom, presently, I must slay!
+
+Slowly I drew near, bowing as I came; but she took no heed. She lay
+there, and the jewelled fan floated to and fro like the bright wing of
+some hovering bird.
+
+At length I stood before her, and she glanced up, the ostrich-plumes
+pressed against her breast as though to hide its beauty.
+
+"What! friend; art thou come?" she said. "It is well; for I grew
+lonely here. Nay; 'tis a weary world! We know so many faces, and there
+are so few whom we love to see again. Well, stand not there so mute,
+but be seated." And she pointed with her fan to a carven chair that
+was placed near her feet.
+
+Once more I bowed and took the seat.
+
+"I have obeyed the Queen's desire," I said, "and with much care and
+skill worked out the lessons of the stars; and here is the record of
+my labour. If the Queen permits, I will expound it to her." And I
+rose, in order that I might pass round the couch and, as she read,
+stab her in the back.
+
+"Nay, Harmachis," she said quietly, and with a slow and lovely smile.
+"Bide thou where thou art, and give me the writing. By Serapis! thy
+face is too comely for me to wish to lose the sight of it!"
+
+Checked in this design, I could do nothing but hand her the papyrus,
+thinking to myself that while she read I would arise suddenly and
+plunge the dagger to her heart. She took it, and as she did so touched
+my hand. Then she made pretence to read. But she read no word, for I
+saw that her eyes were fixed upon me over the edge of the scroll.
+
+"Why placest thou thy hand within thy robe?" she asked presently; for,
+indeed, I clutched the dagger's hilt. "Is thy heart stirred?"
+
+"Yea, O Queen," I said; "it beats high."
+
+She gave no answer, but once more made pretence to read, and the while
+she watched me.
+
+I took counsel with myself. How should I do the hateful deed? If I
+flung myself upon her now she would see me and scream and struggle.
+Nay, I must wait a chance.
+
+"The auguries are favourable, then, Harmachis?" she said at length,
+though this she must have guessed.
+
+"Yes, O Queen," I answered.
+
+"It is well," and she cast the writing on the marble. "The ships shall
+sail. For, good or bad, I am weary of weighing chances."
+
+"This is a heavy matter, O Queen," I said. "I had wished to show upon
+what circumstance I base my forecast."
+
+"Nay, not so, Harmachis; I have wearied of the ways of stars. Thou
+hast prophesied; that is enough for me; for, doubtless, being honest,
+thou hast written honestly. Therefore, save thou thy reasons and we'll
+be merry. What shall we do? I could dance to thee--there are none who
+can dance so well!--but it would scarce be queenly. Nay, I have it. I
+will sing." And, leaning forward, she raised herself, and, bending the
+harp towards her, struck some wandering chords. Then her low voice
+broke out in perfect and most sweet song.
+
+And thus she sang:
+
+ "Night on the sea, and night upon the sky,
+    And music in our hearts, we floated there,
+  Lulled by the low sea voices, thou and I,
+    And the wind's kisses in my cloudy hair:
+  And thou didst gaze on me and call me fair--
+    Enfolded by the starry robe of night--
+  And then thy singing thrilled upon the air,
+    Voice of the heart's desire and Love's delight.
+
+     'Adrift, with starlit skies above,
+        With starlit seas below,
+      We move with all the suns that move,
+        With all the seas that flow;
+      For bond or free, Earth, Sky, and Sea,
+        Wheel with one circling will,
+      And thy heart drifteth on to me,
+        And only time stands still.
+
+      Between two shores of Death we drift,
+        Behind are things forgot:
+      Before the tide is driving swift
+        To lands beholden not.
+      Above, the sky is far and cold;
+        Below, the moaning sea
+      Sweeps o'er the loves that were of old,
+        But, oh, Love! kiss thou me.
+
+      Ah, lonely are the ocean ways,
+        And dangerous the deep,
+      And frail the fairy barque that strays
+        Above the seas asleep!
+      Ah, toil no more at sail nor oar,
+        We drift, or bond or free;
+      On yon far shore the breakers roar,
+        But, oh, Love! kiss thou me.'
+
+ "And ever as thou sangest I drew near,
+    Then sudden silence heard our hearts that beat,
+  For now there was an end of doubt and fear,
+    Now passion filled my soul and led my feet;
+  Then silent didst thou rise thy love to meet,
+    Who, sinking on thy breast, knew naught but thee,
+  And in the happy night I kissed thee, Sweet;
+    Ah, Sweet! between the starlight and the sea."
+
+The last echoes of her rich notes floated down the chamber, and slowly
+died away; but in my heart they rolled on and on. I have heard among
+the women-singers at Abouthis voices more perfect than the voice of
+Cleopatra, but never have I heard one so thrilling or so sweet with
+passion's honey-notes. And indeed it was not the voice alone, it was
+the perfumed chamber in which was set all that could move the sense;
+it was the passion of the thought and words, and the surpassing grace
+and loveliness of that most royal woman who sang them. For, as she
+sang, I seemed to think that we twain were indeed floating alone with
+the night, upon the starlit summer sea. And when she ceased to touch
+the harp, and, rising, suddenly stretched out her arms towards me, and
+with the last low notes of song yet quivering upon her lips, let fall
+the wonder of her eyes upon my eyes, she almost drew me to her. But I
+remembered, and would not.
+
+"Hast thou, then, no word of thanks for my poor singing, Harmachis?"
+she said at length.
+
+"Yea, O Queen," I answered, speaking very low, for my voice was
+choked; "but thy songs are not good for the sons of men to hear--of a
+truth they overwhelm me!"
+
+"Nay, Harmachis; there is no fear for thee," she said laughing softly,
+"seeing that I know how far thy thoughts are set from woman's beauty
+and the common weakness of thy sex. With cold iron we may safely toy."
+
+I thought within myself that coldest iron can be brought to whitest
+heat if the fire be fierce enough. But I said nothing, and, though my
+hand trembled, I once more grasped the dagger's hilt, and, wild with
+fear at my own weakness, set myself to find a means to slay her while
+yet my sense remained.
+
+"Come hither, Harmachis," she went on, in her softest voice. "Come,
+sit by me, and we will talk together; for I have much to tell thee,"
+and she made place for me at her side upon the silken seat.
+
+And I, thinking that I might so more swiftly strike, rose and seated
+myself some little way from her on the couch, while, flinging back her
+head, she gazed on me with her slumbrous eyes.
+
+Now was my occasion, for her throat and breast were bare, and, with a
+mighty effort, once again I lifted my hand to clutch the dagger-hilt.
+But, more quick than thought, she caught my fingers with her own and
+gently held them.
+
+"Why lookest thou so wildly, Harmachis?" she said. "Art sick?"
+
+"Ay, sick indeed!" I gasped.
+
+"Then lean thou on the cushions and rest thee," she answered, still
+holding my hand, from which the strength had fled. "The fit will
+surely pass. Too long hast thou laboured with thy stars. How soft is
+the night air that flows from yonder casement heavy with the breath of
+lilies! Hark to the whisper of the sea lapping against the rocks,
+that, though it is faint, yet, being so strong, doth almost drown the
+quick cool fall of yonder fountain. List to Philomel; how sweet from a
+full heart of love she sings her message to her dear! Indeed it is a
+lovely night, and most beautiful is Nature's music, sung with a
+hundred voices from wind and trees and birds and ocean's wrinkled
+lips, and yet sung all to tune. Listen, Harmachis: I have guessed
+something concerning thee. Thou, too, art of a royal race; no humble
+blood pours in those veins of thine. Surely such a shoot could spring
+but from the stock of Princes? What! gazest thou at the leafmark on my
+breast? It was pricked there in honour of great Osiris, whom with thee
+I worship. See!"
+
+"Let me hence," I groaned, striving to rise; but all my strength had
+gone.
+
+"Nay, not yet awhile. Thou wouldst not leave me yet? thou /canst/ not
+leave me yet. Harmachis, hast thou never loved?"
+
+"Nay, nay, O Queen! What have I to do with love? Let me hence!--I am
+faint--I am fordone!"
+
+"Never to have loved--'tis strange! Never to have known some woman-
+heart beat all in tune to thine--never to have seen the eyes of thy
+adored aswim with passion's tears, as she sighed her vows upon thy
+breast!--Never to have loved!--never to have lost thyself in the
+mystery of another's soul; nor to have learned how Nature can overcome
+our naked loneliness, and with the golden web of love of twain weave
+one identity! Why, it is never to have lived, Harmachis!"
+
+And ever as she murmured she drew nearer to me, till at last, with a
+long, sweet sigh, she flung one arm about my neck, and gazed upon me
+with blue, unfathomable eyes, and smiled her dark, slow smile, that,
+like an opening flower, revealed beauty within beauty hidden. Nearer
+she bent her queenly form, and still more near--now her perfumed
+breath played upon my hair, and now her lips met mine.
+
+And woe is me! In that kiss, more deadly and more strong than the
+embrace of Death, were forgotten Isis, my heavenly Hope, Oaths,
+Honour, Country, Friends, all things--all things save that Cleopatra
+clasped me in her arms, and called me Love and Lord.
+
+"Now pledge me," she sighed; "pledge me one cup of wine in token of
+thy love."
+
+I took the draught, and I drank deep; then too late I knew that it was
+drugged.
+
+I fell upon the couch, and, though my senses still were with me, I
+could neither speak nor rise.
+
+But Cleopatra, bending over me, drew the dagger from my robe.
+
+"/I've won!/" she cried, shaking back her long hair. "I've won, and
+for the stake of Egypt, why, 'twas a game worth playing! With this
+dagger, then, thou wouldst have slain me, O my royal Rival, whose
+myrmidons even now are gathered at my palace gate? Art still awake?
+Now what hinders me that I should not plunge it to /thy/ heart?"
+
+I heard and feebly pointed to my breast, for I was fain to die. She
+drew herself to the full of her imperial height, and the great knife
+glittered in her hand. Down it came till its edge pricked my flesh.
+
+"Nay," she cried again, and cast it from her, "too well I like thee.
+It were pity to slay such a man! I give thee thy life. Live on, lost
+Pharaoh! Live on, poor fallen Prince, blasted by a woman's wit! Live
+on, Harmachis--to adorn my triumph!"
+
+
+
+Then sight left me; and in my ears I only heard the song of the
+nightingale, the murmur of the sea, and the music of Cleopatra's laugh
+of victory. And as I sank away, the sound of that low laugh still
+followed me into the land of sleep, and still it follows me through
+life to death.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+OF THE AWAKING OF HARMACHIS; OF THE SIGHT OF DEATH; OF THE
+COMING OF CLEOPATRA; AND OF HER COMFORTABLE WORDS
+
+Once more I woke; it was to find myself in my own chamber. I started
+up. Surely, I, too, had dreamed a dream? It could be nothing but a
+dream? It could not be that I woke to know myself a /traitor!/ That
+the opportunity had gone for ever! That I had betrayed the cause, and
+that last night those brave men, headed by my uncle, had waited in
+vain at the outer gate! That Egypt from Abu to Athu was even now
+waiting--waiting in vain! Nay, whatever else might be, this could not
+be! Oh, it was an awful dream which I had dreamed! a second such would
+slay a man. It were better to die than face such another vision sent
+from hell. But, though the thing was naught but a hateful phantasy of
+a mind o'er-strained, where was I now? Where was I now? I should be in
+the Alabaster Hall, waiting till Charmion came forth.
+
+Where was I? and O ye Gods! what was that dreadful thing, whose shape
+was the shape of a man?--that thing draped in bloodstained white and
+huddled in a hideous heap at the foot of the couch on which I seemed
+to lie?
+
+I sprang at it with a shriek, as a lion springs, and struck with all
+my strength. The blow fell heavily, and beneath its weight the thing
+rolled over upon its side. Half mad with terror, I rent away the white
+covering; and there, his knees bound beneath his hanging jaw, was the
+naked body of a man--and that man the Roman Captain Paulus! There he
+lay, through his heart a dagger--my dagger, handled with the sphinx of
+gold!--and pinned by its blade to his broad breast a scroll, and on
+the scroll, writing in the Roman character. I drew near and read, and
+this was the writing:
+
+  HARMACHIDI.SALVERE.EGO.SUM.QUEM.SUBDERE.NORAS
+  PAULUS.ROMANUS.DISCE.HINC.QUID.PRODERE.PROSIT.
+
+ "Greeting, Harmachis! I was that Roman Paulus whom thou didst
+  suborn. Learn now how blessed are traitors!"
+
+Sick and faint I staggered back from the sight of that white corpse
+stained with its own blood. Sick and faint I staggered back, till the
+wall stayed me, while without the birds sang a merry greeting to the
+day. So it was no dream, and I was lost! lost!
+
+I thought of my aged father, Amenemhat. Yes, the vision of him flashed
+into my mind, as he would be, when they came to tell him his son's
+shame and the ruin of all his hopes. I thought of that patriot priest,
+my uncle Sepa, waiting the long night through for the signal which
+never came. Ah, and another thought followed swift! How would it go
+with them? I was not the only traitor. I, too, had been betrayed. By
+whom? By yonder Paulus, perchance. If it were Paulus, he knew but
+little of those who conspired with me. But the secret lists had been
+in my robe. O Osiris! they were gone! and the fate of Paulus would be
+the fate of all the patriots in Egypt. And at this thought my mind
+gave way. I sank and swooned even where I stood.
+
+My sense came back to me, and the lengthening shadows told me that it
+was afternoon. I staggered to my feet; the corpse of Paulus was still
+there, keeping its awful watch above me. I ran desperately to the
+door. It was barred, and without I heard the tramp of sentinels. As I
+stood they challenged and grounded their spears. Then the bolts were
+shot back, the door opened, and radiant, clad in royal attire, came
+the conquering Cleopatra. She came alone, and the door was shut behind
+her. I stood like one distraught; but she swept on till she was face
+to face with me.
+
+"Greeting, Harmachis," she said, smiling sweetly. "So, my messenger
+has found thee!" and she pointed to the corpse of Paulus. "Pah! he has
+an ugly look. Ho! guards!"
+
+The door was opened, and two armed Gauls stepped across the threshold.
+
+"Take away this carrion," said Cleopatra, "and fling it to the kites.
+Stay, draw that dagger from his traitor breast." The men bowed low,
+and the knife, rusted red with blood, was dragged from the heart of
+Paulus and laid upon the table. Then they seized him by the head and
+body and staggered thence, and I heard their heavy footfalls as they
+bore him down the stairs.
+
+"Methinks, Harmachis, thou art in an evil case," she said, when the
+sound of the footfalls had died away. "How strangely the wheel of
+Fortune turns! But for that traitor," and she nodded towards the door
+through which the corpse of Paulus had been carried, "I should now be
+as ill a thing to look on as he is, and the red rust on yonder knife
+would have been gathered from /my/ heart."
+
+So it was Paulus who had betrayed me.
+
+"Ay," she went on, "and when thou camest to me last night, I /knew/
+that thou camest to slay. When, time upon time, thou didst place thy
+hand within thy robe, I knew that it grasped a dagger hilt, and that
+thou wast gathering thy courage to the deed which thou didst little
+love to do. Oh! it was a strange wild hour, well worth the living, and
+I wondered greatly, from moment to moment, which of us twain would
+conquer, as we matched guile with guile and force to force!
+
+"Yea, Harmachis, the guards tramp before thy door, but be not
+deceived. Did I not know that I hold thee to me by bonds more strong
+than prison chains--did I not know that I am hedged from ill at thy
+hands by a fence of honour harder for thee to pass than all the spears
+of all my legions, thou hadst been dead ere now, Harmachis. See, here
+is thy knife," and she handed me the dagger; "now slay me if thou
+canst," and she drew near, tore open the bosom of her robe, and stood
+waiting with calm eyes.
+
+"Thou canst not slay me," she went on; "for there are things, as I
+know well, that no man--no man such as thou art--may do and live: and
+this is the chief of them--to slay the woman who is all his own. Nay,
+stay thy hand! Turn not that dagger against thy breast, for if thou
+mayst not slay me, by how much more mayst thou not slay thyself, O
+thou forsworn Priest of Isis! Art thou, then, so eager to face that
+outraged Majesty in Amenti? With what eyes, thinkest thou, will the
+Heavenly Mother look upon Her son, who, shamed in all things and false
+to his most sacred vow, comes to greet Her, his life-blood on his
+hands? Where, then, will be the space for thy atonement?--if, indeed,
+thou mayest atone!"
+
+Then I could bear no more, for my heart was broken. Alas! it was too
+true--I dared not die! I was come to such a pass that I did not even
+dare to die! I flung myself upon the couch and wept--wept tears of
+blood and anguish.
+
+But Cleopatra came to me, and, seating herself beside me, she strove
+to comfort me, throwing her arms about my neck.
+
+"Nay, love, look up," she said; "all is not lost for thee, nor am I
+angered against thee. We did play a mighty game; but, as I warned
+thee, I matched my woman's magic against thine, and I have conquered.
+But I will be open with thee. Both as Queen and woman thou hast my
+pity--ay, and more; nor do I love to see thee plunged in sorrow. It
+was well and right that thou shouldst strive to win back that throne
+my fathers seized, and the ancient liberty of Egypt. Myself as lawful
+Queen had done the same, nor shrunk from the deed of darkness to which
+I was sworn. Therein, then, thou hast my sympathy, that ever goes out
+to what is great and bold. It is well also that thou shouldst grieve
+over the greatness of thy fall. Therein, then, as woman--as loving
+woman--thou hast my sympathy. Nor is all lost. Thy plan was foolish--
+for, as I hold, Egypt could never have stood alone--for though thou
+hadst won the crown and country--as without a doubt thou must have
+done--yet there was the Roman to be reckoned with. And for thy hope
+learn this: I am little known. There is no heart in this wide land
+that beats with a truer love for ancient Khem than does this heart of
+mine--nay, not thine own, Harmachis. Yet I have been heavily shackled
+heretofore--for wars, rebellions, envies, plots, have hemmed me in on
+every side, so that I might not serve my people as I would. But thou,
+Harmachis, shalt show me how. Thou shalt be my counsellor and my love.
+Is it a little thing, Harmachis, to have won the heart of Cleopatra;
+that heart--fie on thee!--that thou wouldst have stilled? Yes, /thou/
+shalt unite me to my people and we will reign together, thus linking
+in one the new kingdom and the old and the new thought and the old. So
+do all things work for good--ay, for the very best: and thus, by
+another and a gentler road, thou shalt climb to Pharaoh's throne.
+
+"See thou this, Harmachis: thy treachery shall be cloaked about as
+much as may be. Was it, then, thy fault that a Roman knave betrayed
+thy plans? that, thereon, thou wast drugged, thy secret papers stolen
+and their key guessed? Will it, then, be a blame to thee, the great
+plot being broken and those who built it scattered, that thou, still
+faithful to thy trust, didst serve thee of such means as Nature gave
+thee, and win the heart of Egypt's Queen, that, through her gentle
+love, thou mightest yet attain thy ends and spread thy wings of power
+across the land of Nile? Am I an ill-counsellor, thinkest thou,
+Harmachis?"
+
+I lifted my head, and a ray of hope crept into the darkness of my
+heart; for when men fall they grasp at feathers. Then, I spoke for the
+first time:
+
+"And those with me--those who trusted me--what of them?"
+
+"Ay," she answered, "Amenemhat, thy father, the aged Priest of
+Abouthis; and Sepa, thy uncle, that fiery patriot, whose great heart
+is hid beneath so common a shell of form; and----"
+
+I thought she would have said Charmion, but she named her not.
+
+"And many others--oh, I know them all!"
+
+"Ay!" I said, "what of them?"
+
+"Hear now, Harmachis," she answered, rising and placing her hand upon
+my arm, "for thy sake I will show mercy to them. I will do no more
+than must be done. I swear by my throne and by all the Gods of Egypt
+that not one hair of thy aged father's head shall be harmed by me;
+and, if it be not too late, I will also spare thy uncle Sepa, ay, and
+the others. I will not do as did my forefather, Epiphanes, who, when
+the Egyptians rose against him, dragged Athinis, Pausiras, Chesuphus,
+and Irobasthus, bound to his chariot--not as Achilles dragged Hector,
+but yet living--round the city walls. I will spare them all, save the
+Hebrews, if there be any Hebrews; for the Jews I hate."
+
+"There are no Hebrews," I said.
+
+"It is well," she said, "for no Hebrew will I ever spare. Am I then,
+indeed, so cruel a woman as they say? In thy list, Harmachis, were
+many doomed to die; and I have but taken the life of one Roman knave,
+a double traitor, for he betrayed both me and thee. Art thou not
+overwhelmed, Harmachis, with the weight of mercy which I give thee,
+because--such are a woman's reasons--thou pleasest me, Harmachis? Nay,
+by Serapis!" she added with a little laugh, "I'll change my mind; I
+will not give thee so much for nothing. Thou shalt buy it from me, and
+the price shall be a heavy one--it shall be a kiss, Harmachis."
+
+"Nay," I said, turning from that fair temptress, "the price is too
+heavy; I kiss no more."
+
+"Bethink thee," she answered, with a heavy frown. "Bethink thee and
+choose. I am but a woman, Harmachis, and one who is not wont to sue to
+men. Do as thou wilt; but this I say to thee--if thou dost put me
+away, I will gather up the mercy I have meted out. Therefore, most
+virtuous priest, choose thou between the heavy burden of my love and
+the swift death of thy aged father and of all those who plotted with
+him."
+
+I glanced at her and saw that she was angered, for her eyes shone and
+her bosom heaved. So, I sighed and kissed her, thereby setting the
+seal upon my shame and bondage. Then, smiling like the triumphant
+Aphrodit� of the Greeks, she went thence, bearing the dagger with her.
+
+I knew not yet how deeply I was betrayed; or why I was still left to
+draw the breath of life; or why Cleopatra, the tiger-hearted, had
+grown merciful. I did not know that she feared to slay me, lest, so
+strong was the plot and so feeble her hold upon the Double Crown, the
+tumult that might tread hard upon the tidings of my murder should
+shake her from the throne--even when I was no more. I did not know
+that because of fear and the weight of policy only she showed scant
+mercy to those whom I had betrayed, or that because of cunning and not
+for the holy sake of woman's love--though, in truth, she liked me well
+enough--she chose rather to bind me to her by the fibres of my heart.
+And yet I will say this in her behalf: even when the danger-cloud had
+melted from her sky she kept faith, nor, save Paulus and one other,
+did any suffer the utmost penalty of death for their part in the great
+plot against Cleopatra's crown and dynasty. But they suffered many
+other things.
+
+And so she went, leaving the vision of her glory to strive with the
+shame and sorrow in my heart. Oh, bitter were the hours that could not
+now be made light with prayer. For the link between me and the Divine
+was snapped, and Isis communed with Her Priest no more. Bitter were
+the hours and dark, but ever through their darkness shone the starry
+eyes of Cleopatra, and came the echo of her whispered love. For not
+yet was the cup of sorrow full. Hope still lingered in my heart, and I
+could almost think that I had failed to some higher end, and that in
+the depths of ruin I should find another and more flowery path to
+triumph.
+
+For thus those who sin deceive themselves, striving to lay the burden
+of their evil deeds upon the back of Fate, striving to believe their
+wickedness may compass good, and to murder Conscience with the sharp
+plea of Necessity. But it can avail nothing, for hand in hand down the
+path of sin rush Remorse and Ruin, and woe to him they follow! Ay, and
+woe to me who of all sinners am the chief!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+OF THE IMPRISONMENT OF HARMACHIS; OF THE SCORN OF CHARMION;
+OF THE SETTING FREE OF HARMACHIS; AND OF THE COMING OF QUINTUS DELLIUS
+
+For a space of eleven days I was thus kept prisoned in my chamber; nor
+did I see anyone except the sentries at my doors, the slaves who in
+silence brought me food and drink, and Cleopatra's self, who came
+continually. But, though her words of love were many, she would tell
+me nothing of how things went without. She came in many moods--now gay
+and laughing, now full of wise thoughts and speech, and now passionate
+only, and to every mood she gave some new-found charm. She was full of
+talk as to how I should help her make Egypt great, and lessen the
+burdens on the people, and fright the Roman eagles back. And, though
+at first I listened heavily when she spoke thus, by slow advance as
+she wrapped me closer and yet more close in her magic web, from which
+there was no escape, my mind fell in time with hers. Then I, too,
+opened something of my heart, and somewhat also of the plans that I
+had formed for Egypt. She seemed to listen gladly, weighing them all,
+and spoke of means and methods, telling me how she would purify the
+Faith and repair the ancient temples--ay, and build new ones to the
+Gods. And ever she crept deeper into my heart, till at length, now
+that every other thing had gone from me, I learned to love her with
+all the unspent passion of my aching soul. I had naught left to me but
+Cleopatra's love, and I twined my life about it, and brooded on it as
+a widow over her only babe. And thus the very author of my shame
+became my all, my dearest dear, and I loved her with a strong love
+that grew and grew, till it seemed to swallow up the past and make the
+present a dream. For she had conquered me, she had robbed me of my
+honour, and steeped me to the lips in shame, and I, poor fallen,
+blinded wretch, I kissed the rod that smote me, and was her very
+slave.
+
+Ay, even now, in those dreams which still come when Sleep unlocks the
+secret heart, and sets its terrors free to roam through the opened
+halls of Thought, I seem to see her royal form, as erst I saw it, come
+with arms outstretched and Love's own light shining in her eyes, with
+lips apart and flowing locks, and stamped upon her face the look of
+utter tenderness that she alone could wear. Ay, still, after all the
+years, I seem to see her come as erst she came, and still I wake to
+know her an unutterable lie!
+
+And thus one day she came. She had fled in haste, she said, from some
+great council summoned concerning the wars of Antony in Syria, and she
+came, as she had left the council, in all her robes of state, the
+sceptre in her hand, and on her brow the ur�us diadem of gold. There
+she sat before me, laughing; for, wearying of them, she had told the
+envoys to whom she gave audience in the council that she was called
+from their presence by a sudden message come from Rome; and the jest
+seemed merry to her. Suddenly she rose, took the diadem from her brow,
+and set it on my hair, and on my shoulders her royal mantle, and in my
+hand the sceptre, and bowed the knee before me. Then, laughing again,
+she kissed me on the lips, and said I was indeed her King. But,
+remembering how I had been crowned in the halls of Abouthis, and
+remembering also that wreath of roses of which the odour haunts me
+yet, I rose, pale with wrath, and cast the trinkets from me, asking
+how she dared to mock me--her caged bird. And I think there was that
+about me which startled her, for she fell back.
+
+"Nay, Harmachis," she said, "be not wroth! How knowest thou that I
+mock thee? How knowest thou that thou shalt not be Pharaoh in fact and
+deed?"
+
+"What meanest thou?" I said. "Wilt thou, then, wed me before Egypt?
+How else can I be Pharaoh now?"
+
+She cast down her eyes. "Perchance, love, it is in my mind to wed
+thee," she said gently. "Listen," she went on: "Thou growest pale,
+here, in this prison, and thou dost eat little. Gainsay me not! I know
+it from the slaves. I have kept thee here, Harmachis, for thy own
+sake, that is so dear to me; and for thy own sake, and thy honour's
+sake, thou must still seem to be my prisoner. Else wouldst thou be
+shamed and slain--ay, murdered secretly. But I can meet thee here no
+more! therefore to-morrow I shall free thee in all, save in the name,
+and thou shalt once more be seen at Court as my astronomer. And I will
+give this reason--that thou hast cleared thyself; and, moreover, that
+thy auguries as regards the war have been auguries of truth--as,
+indeed, they have, though for this I have no cause to thank thee,
+seeing that thou didst suit thy prophecies to fit thy cause. Now,
+farewell; for I must return to those heavy-browed ambassadors; and
+grow not so sudden wroth, Harmachis, for who knows what may come to
+pass betwixt thee and me?"
+
+And, with a little nod, she went, leaving it on my mind that she had
+it in her heart to wed me openly. And of a truth, I believe that, at
+this hour, such was her thought. For, if she loved me not, still she
+held me dear, and as yet she had not wearied of me.
+
+On the morrow Cleopatra came not, but Charmion came--Charmion, whom I
+had not seen since that fatal night of ruin. She entered and stood
+before me, with pale face and downcast eyes, and her first words were
+words of bitterness.
+
+"Pardon me," she said, in her gentle voice, "in that I dare to come to
+thee in Cleopatra's place. Thy joy is not delayed for long, for thou
+shalt see her presently."
+
+I shrank at her words, as well I might, and, seeing her vantage, she
+seized it.
+
+"I come, Harmachis--royal no more!--I come to say that thou art free!
+Thou art free to face thine own infamy, and see it thrown back from
+every eye which trusted thee, as shadows are from water. I come to
+tell thee that the great plot--the plot of twenty years and more--is
+at its utter end. None have been slain, indeed, unless it is Sepa, who
+has vanished. But all the leaders have been seized and put in chains,
+or driven from the land, and their party is broken and scattered. The
+storm has melted before it burst. Egypt is lost, and lost for ever,
+for her last hope is gone! No longer may she struggle--now for all
+time she must bow her neck to the yoke, and bare her back to the rod
+of the oppressor!"
+
+I groaned aloud. "Alas, I was betrayed!" I said. "Paulus betrayed us."
+
+"Thou wast betrayed? Nay, thou thyself wast the betrayer! How came it
+that thou didst not slay Cleopatra when thou wast alone with her?
+Speak, thou forsworn!"
+
+"She drugged me," I said again.
+
+"O Harmachis!" answered the pitiless girl, "how low art thou fallen
+from that Prince whom once I knew!--thou who dost not scorn to be a
+liar! Yea, thou wast drugged--drugged with a love-philtre! Yea, thou
+didst sell Egypt and thy cause for the price of a wanton's kiss! Thou
+Sorrow and thou Shame!" she went on, pointing her finger at me and
+lifting her eyes to my face, "thou Scorn!--thou Outcast!--and thou
+Contempt! Deny if it thou canst. Ay, shrink from me--knowing what thou
+art, well mayst thou shrink! Crawl to Cleopatra's feet, and kiss her
+sandals till such time as it pleases her to trample thee in thy
+kindred dirt; but from all honest folk /shrink!/--/shrink!/"
+
+My soul quivered beneath the lash of her bitter scorn and hate, but I
+had no words to answer.
+
+"How comes it," I said at last in a heavy voice, "that thou, too, art
+not betrayed, but art still here to taunt me, thou who once didst
+swear that thou didst love me? Being a woman, hast thou no pity for
+the frailty of man?"
+
+"My name was not on the lists," she said, dropping her dark eyes.
+"Here is an opportunity: betray me also, Harmachis! Ay, it is because
+I once loved thee--dost thou, indeed, remember it?--that I feel thy
+fall the more. The shame of one whom we have loved must in some sort
+become our shame, and must ever cling to us, because we blindly held a
+thing so base close to our inmost heart. Art thou also, then, a fool?
+Wouldst thou, fresh from thy royal wanton's arms, come to me for
+comfort--to /me/ of all the world?"
+
+"How know I," I said, "that it was not thou who, in thy jealous anger,
+didst betray our plans? Charmion, long ago Sepa warned me against
+thee, and of a truth now that I recall----"
+
+"It is like a traitor," she broke in, reddening to her brow, "to think
+that all are of his family, and hold a common mind! Nay, I betrayed
+thee not; it was that poor knave, Paulus, whose heart failed him at
+the last, and who is rightly served. Nor will I stay to hear thoughts
+so base. Harmachis--royal no more!--Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, bids me
+say that thou art free, and that she waits thee in the Alabaster
+Hall."
+
+And shooting one swift glance through her long lashes she curtsied and
+was gone.
+
+
+
+So once more I came and went about the Court, though but sparingly,
+for my heart was full of shame and terror, and on every face I feared
+to see the scorn of those who knew me for what I was. But I saw
+nothing, for all those who had knowledge of the plot had fled, and
+Charmion had spoken no word, for her own sake. Also, Cleopatra had put
+it about that I was innocent. But my guilt lay heavy on me, and made
+me thin and wore away the beauty of my countenance. And though I was
+free in name, yet I was ever watched; nor might I stir beyond the
+palace grounds.
+
+And at length came the day which brought with it Quintus Dellius, that
+false Roman knight who ever served the rising star. He bore letters to
+Cleopatra from Marcus Antonius, the Triumvir, who, fresh from the
+victory of Philippi, was now in Asia wringing gold from the subject
+kings with which to satisfy the greed of his legionaries.
+
+Well I mind me of the day. Cleopatra, clad in her robes of state,
+attended by the officers of her Court, among whom I stood, sat in the
+great hall on her throne of gold, and bade the heralds admit the
+Ambassador of Antony, the Triumvir. The great doors were thrown wide,
+and amidst the blare of trumpets and salutes of the Gallic guards the
+Roman came in, clad in glittering golden armour and a scarlet cloak of
+silk, and followed by his suite of officers. He was smooth-faced and
+fair to look upon, and with a supple form; but his mouth was cold, and
+false were his shifting eyes. And while the heralds called out his
+name, titles, and offices, he fixed his gaze on Cleopatra--who sat
+idly on her throne all radiant with beauty--as a man who is amazed.
+Then when the heralds had made an end, and he still stood thus, not
+stirring, Cleopatra spoke in the Latin tongue:
+
+"Greeting to thee, noble Dellius, envoy of the most mighty Antony,
+whose shadow lies across the world as though Mars himself now towered
+up above us petty Princes--greeting and welcome to our poor city of
+Alexandria. Unfold, we pray thee, the purpose of thy coming."
+
+Still the crafty Dellius made no answer, but stood as a man amazed.
+
+"What ails thee, noble Dellius, that thou dost not speak?" asked
+Cleopatra. "Hast thou, then, wandered so long in Asia that the doors
+of Roman speech are shut to thee? What tongue hast thou? Name it, and
+We will speak in it--for all tongues are known to Us."
+
+Then at last he spoke in a soft full voice: "Oh, pardon me, most
+lovely Egypt, if I have thus been stricken dumb before thee: but too
+great beauty, like Death himself, doth paralyse the tongue and steal
+our sense away. The eyes of him who looks upon the fires of the mid-
+day sun are blind to all beside, and thus this sudden vision of thy
+glory, royal Egypt, overwhelmed my mind, and left me helpless and
+unwitting of all things else."
+
+"Of a truth, noble Dellius," answered Cleopatra, "they teach a pretty
+school of flattery yonder in Cilicia."
+
+"How goes the saying here in Alexandria?" replied the courtly Roman:
+"'The breath of flattery cannot waft a cloud,'[*] does it not? But to
+my task. Here, royal Egypt, are letters under the hand and seal of the
+noble Antony treating of certain matters of the State. Is it thy
+pleasure that I should read them openly?"
+
+[*] In other words, what is Divine is beyond the reach of human
+    praise.--Editor.
+
+"Break the seals and read," she answered.
+
+Then bowing, he broke the seals and read:
+
+"The /Triumviri Reipublic� Constituend�/, by the mouth of Marcus
+Antonius, the Triumvir, to Cleopatra, by grace of the Roman People
+Queen of Upper and Lower Egypt, send greeting. Whereas it has come to
+our knowledge that thou, Cleopatra, hast, contrary to thy promise and
+thy duty, both by thy servant Allienus and by thy servant Serapion,
+the Governor of Cyprus, aided the rebel murderer Cassius against the
+arms of the most noble Triumvirate. And, whereas it has come to our
+knowledge that thou thyself wast but lately making ready a great fleet
+to this end. We summon thee that thou dost without delay journey to
+Cilicia, there to meet the noble Antony, and in person make answer
+concerning these charges which are laid against thee. And we warn thee
+that if thou dost disobey this our summons it is at thy peril.
+Farewell."
+
+The eyes of Cleopatra flashed as she hearkened to these high words,
+and I saw her hands tighten on the golden lions' heads whereon they
+rested.
+
+"We have had the flattery," she said; "and now, lest we be cloyed with
+sweets, we have its antidote! Listen thou, Dellius: the charges in
+that letter, or, rather, in that writ of summons, are false, as all
+folk can bear us witness. But it is not now, and it is not to thee,
+that We will make defence of our acts of war and policy. Nor will We
+leave our kingdom to journey into far Cilicia, and there, like some
+poor suppliant at law, plead our cause before the Court of the Noble
+Antony. If Antony would have speech with us, and inquire concerning
+these high matters, the sea is open, and his welcome shall be royal.
+Let him come thither! That is our answer to thee and to the
+Triumvirate, O Dellius!"
+
+But Dellius smiled as one who would put away the weight of wrath, and
+once more spoke:
+
+"Royal Egypt, thou knowest not the noble Antony. He is stern on paper,
+and ever he sets down his thoughts as though his stylus were a spear
+dipped in the blood of men. But face to face with him, thou, of all
+the world, shalt find him the gentlest warrior that ever won a battle.
+Be advised, O Egypt! and come. Send me not hence with such angry
+words, for if thou dost draw Antony to Alexandria, then woe to
+Alexandria, to the people of the Nile, and to thee, great Egypt! For
+then he will come armed and breathing war, and it shall go hard with
+thee, who dost defy the gathered might of Rome. I pray thee, then,
+obey this summons. Come to Cilicia; come with peaceful gifts and not
+in arms. Come in thy beauty, and tricked in thy best attire, and thou
+hast naught to fear from the noble Antony." He paused and looked at
+her meaningly; while I, taking his drift, felt the angry blood surge
+into my face.
+
+Cleopatra, too, understood, for I saw her rest her chin upon her hand
+and the cloud of thought gathered in her eyes. For a time she sat
+thus, while the crafty Dellius watched her curiously. And Charmion,
+standing with the other ladies by the throne, she also read his
+meaning, for her face lit up, as a summer cloud lights in the evening
+when the broad lightning flares behind it. Then once more it grew pale
+and quiet.
+
+At length Cleopatra spoke. "This is a heavy matter," she said, 'and
+therefore, noble Dellius, we must have time to let our judgment ripen.
+Rest thou here, and make thee as merry as our poor circumstances
+allow. Thou shalt have thy answer within ten days."
+
+The envoy thought awhile, then replied smiling: "It is well, O Egypt;
+on the tenth day from now I will attend for my answer, and on the
+eleventh I sail hence to join Antony my Lord."
+
+Once more, at a sign from Cleopatra, the trumpets blared, and he
+withdrew bowing.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+OF THE TROUBLE OF CLEOPATRA; OF HER OATH TO HARMACHIS; AND
+OF THE TELLING BY HARMACHIS TO CLEOPATRA OF THE SECRET OF
+THE TREASURE THAT LAY BENEATH THE MASS OF "HER"
+
+That same night Cleopatra summoned me to her private chamber. I went,
+and found her much troubled in mind; never before had I seen her so
+deeply moved. She was alone, and, like some trapped lioness, walked to
+and fro across the marble floor, while thought chased thought across
+her mind, each, as clouds scudding over the sea, for a moment casting
+its shadow in her deep eyes.
+
+"So thou art come, Harmachis," she said, resting for a while, as she
+took my hand. "Counsel me, for never did I need counsel more. Oh, what
+days have the Gods measured out to me--days restless as the ocean! I
+have known no peace from childhood up, and it seems none shall I know.
+Scarce by a very little have I escaped thy dagger's point, Harmachis,
+when this new trouble, that, like a storm, has gathered beneath the
+horizon's rim, suddenly bursts over me. Didst mark that tigerish fop?
+Well should I love to trap him! How soft he spoke! Ay, he purred like
+a cat, and all the time he stretched his claws. Didst hear the letter,
+too? it has an ugly sound. I know this Antony. When I was but a child,
+budding into womanhood, I saw him; but my eyes were ever quick, and I
+took his measure. Half Hercules and half a fool, with a dash of genius
+veining his folly through. Easily led by those who enter at the gates
+of his voluptuous sense; but if crossed, an iron foe. True to his
+friends, if, indeed, he loves them; and ofttimes false to his own
+interest. Generous, hardy, and in adversity a man of virtue; in
+prosperity a sot and a slave to woman. That is Antony. How deal with
+such a man, whom fate and opportunity, despite himself, have set on
+the crest of fortune's wave? One day it will overwhelm him; but till
+that day he sweeps across the world and laughs at those who drown."
+
+"Antony is but a man," I answered, "and a man with many foes; and,
+being but a man, he can be overthrown."
+
+"Ay, he can be overthrown; but he is one of three, Harmachis. Now that
+Cassius hath gone where all fools go, Rome has thrown out a hydra
+head. Crush one, and another hisses in thy face. There's Lepidus, and
+with him, that young Octavianus, whose cold eyes may yet with a smile
+of triumph look on the murdered forms of empty, worthless Lepidus, of
+Antony, and of Cleopatra. If I go not to Cilicia, mark thou! Antony
+will knit up a peace with these Parthians, and, taking the tales they
+tell of me for truth--and, indeed, there is truth in them--will fall
+with all his force on Egypt. And how then?"
+
+"How then? Why, then we'll drum him back to Rome."
+
+"Ah, thou sayest so, and, perchance, Harmachis, had I not won that
+game we played together some twelve days gone, thou, being Pharaoh,
+mightest well have done this thing, for round thy throne old Egypt
+would have gathered. But Egypt loves not me nor my Greek blood; and I
+have but now scattered that great plot of thine, in which half the
+land was meshed. Will these men, then, arise to succour me? Were Egypt
+true to me, I could, indeed, hold my own against all the force that
+Rome may bring; but Egypt hates me, and had as lief be ruled by the
+Roman as the Greek. Still I might make defence had I the gold, for
+with money soldiers can be bought to feed the maw of mercenary battle.
+But I have none; my treasuries are dry, and though there is wealth in
+the land, yet debts perplex me. These wars have brought me ruin, and I
+know not how to find a talent. Perchance, Harmachis, thou who art, by
+hereditary right, Priest of the Pyramids," and she drew near and
+looked me in the eyes, "perchance, if long descended rumour does not
+lie, thou canst tell me where I can touch the gold to save thy land
+from ruin, and thy Love from the grasp of Antony? Say, is it so?"
+
+I thought a while, and then I answered:
+
+"And if such a tale were true, and if I could show thee treasure
+stored by the mighty Pharaohs of the most far-off age against the
+needs of Khem, how can I know that thou wouldst indeed make use of
+that wealth to those good ends?"
+
+"Is there, then, a treasure?" she asked curiously. "Nay, fret me not,
+Harmachis; for of a truth the very name of gold at this time of want
+is like the sight of water in the desert."
+
+"I believe," I said, "that there is such a treasure, though I myself
+have never seen it. But I know this, that if it still lie in the place
+where it was set, it is because so heavy a curse will rest upon him
+who shall lay hands on it wickedly and for selfish ends, that none of
+those Pharaohs to whom it has been shown have dared to touch it,
+however sore their need."
+
+"So," she said, "they were cowardly aforetime, or else their need was
+not great. Wilt thou show me this treasure, then, Harmachis?"
+
+"Perhaps," I answered, "I will show it to thee if it still be there,
+when thou hast sworn that thou wilt use it to defend Egypt from this
+Roman Antony and for the welfare of her people."
+
+"I swear it!" she said earnestly. "Oh, I swear by every God in Khem
+that if thou showest me this great treasure, I will defy Antony and
+send Dellius back to Cilicia with sharper words than those he brought.
+Yes, I'll do more, Harmachis: so soon as may be, I will take thee to
+husband before all the world, and thou thyself shalt carry out thy
+plans and beat off the Roman eagles."
+
+Thus she spoke, gazing at me with truthful, earnest eyes. I believed
+her, and for the first time since my fall was for a moment happy,
+thinking that all was not lost to me, and that with Cleopatra, whom I
+loved thus madly, I might yet win my place and power back.
+
+"Swear it, Cleopatra!" I said.
+
+"I swear, beloved! and thus I seal my oath!" and she kissed me on the
+forehead. And I, too, kissed her; and we talked of what we would do
+when we were wed, and how we should overcome the Roman.
+
+And thus I was again beguiled; though I believe that, had it not been
+for the jealous anger of Charmion--which, as shall be seen, was ever
+urging her forward to fresh deeds of shame--Cleopatra would have
+wedded me and broken with the Roman. And, indeed, in the issue, it had
+been better for her and Egypt.
+
+We sat far into the night, and I revealed to her somewhat of that
+ancient secret of the mighty treasure hid beneath the mass of /Her/.
+Thither, it was agreed, we should go on the morrow, and the second
+night from now attempt its search. So, early on the next day, a boat
+was secretly made ready, and Cleopatra entered it, veiled as an
+Egyptian lady about to make a pilgrimage to the Temple of Horemkhu.
+And I also entered, cloaked as a pilgrim, and with us ten of her most
+trusted servants disguised as sailors. But Charmion went not with us.
+We sailed with a fair wind from the Canopic mouth of the Nile; and
+that night, pushing on with the moon, we reached Sais at midnight, and
+here rested for a while. At dawn we once more loosed our craft, and
+all that day sailed swiftly, till, at last, at the third hour from the
+sunset, we came in sight of the lights of that fortress which is
+called Babylon. Here, on the opposite bank of the river, we moored our
+ship safely in a bed of reeds.
+
+Then, on foot and secretly, we set out for the pyramids, which were at
+a distance of two leagues, Cleopatra, I and one trusted eunuch, for we
+left the other servants with the boat. Only I caught an ass for
+Cleopatra to ride that was wandering in a tilled field, and threw a
+cloak upon it. She sat on it and I led the ass by paths I knew, the
+eunuch following us on foot. And, within little more than an hour,
+having gained the great causeway, we saw the mighty pyramids towering
+up through the moonlit air and aweing us to silence. We passed on in
+utter silence, through the haunted city of the dead, for all around us
+stood the solemn tombs, till at length we climbed the rocky hill, and
+stood in the deep shadow of Khufu Khut, the splendid Throne of Khufu.
+
+"Of a truth," whispered Cleopatra, as she gazed up the dazzling marble
+slope above her, everywhere blazoned over with a million mystic
+characters--"of a truth, there were Gods ruling in Khem in those days,
+and not men. This place is sad as Death--ay, and as mighty and far
+from man. Is it here that we must enter?"
+
+"Nay," I answered, "it is not here. Pass on."
+
+I led the way through a thousand ancient tombs, till we stood in the
+shadow of Ur the Great, and gazed at his red heaven-piercing mass.
+
+"Is it here that we must enter?" she whispered once again.
+
+"Nay," I answered, "it is not here. Pass on."
+
+We passed on through many more tombs, till we stood in the shadow of
+/Her/,[*] and Cleopatra gazed astonished at its polished beauty, which
+for thousands of years, night by night, had mirrored back the moon,
+and at the black girdle of Ethiopian stone that circled its base
+about. For this is the most beautiful of all pyramids.
+
+[*] The "Upper," now known as the Third Pyramid.--Editor.
+
+"Is it that we must enter?" she said.
+
+I answered, "It is here."
+
+We passed round between the Temple of the Worship of his Divine
+Majesty, Menkau-ra, the Osirian, and in the base of the pyramid till
+we came to the north side. Here in the centre is graved the name of
+Pharaoh Menkau-ra, who built the pyramid to be his tomb, and stored
+his treasure in it against the need of Khem.
+
+"If the treasure still remains," I said to Cleopatra, "as it remained
+in the days of my great-great-grandfather, who was Priest of this
+Pyramid before me, it is hid deep in the womb of the mass before thee,
+Cleopatra; nor can it be come by without toil, danger, and terror of
+mind. Art thou prepared to enter--for thou thyself must enter and must
+judge?"
+
+"Canst thou not go in with the eunuch, Harmachis, and bring the
+treasure forth?" she said, for a little her courage began to fail her.
+
+"Nay, Cleopatra," I answered, "not even for thee and for the weal of
+Egypt can I do this thing, for of all sins it would be the greatest
+sin. But it is lawful for me to do this. I, as hereditary holder of
+the secret, may, upon demand, show to the ruling monarch of Khem the
+place where the treasure lies, and show also the warning that is
+written. And if on seeing and reading, the Pharaoh deems that the need
+of Khem is so sore and strait that it is lawful for him to brave the
+curse of the Dead and draw forth the treasure, it is well, for on his
+head must rest the weight of this dread deed. Three monarchs--so say
+the records that I have read--have thus dared to enter in the time of
+need. They were the Divine Queen Hatshepsu, that wonder known to the
+Gods alone; her Divine brother Tahutimes Men-Kheper-ra; and the Divine
+Rameses Mi-amen. But of these three Majesties, not one when they saw
+dared to touch; for, though sharp their need, it was not great enough
+to consecrate the act. So, fearing lest the curse should fall upon
+them, they went hence sorrowing."
+
+She thought a little, till at last her spirit overcame her fear.
+
+"At the least I will see with mine own eyes," she said.
+
+"It is well," I answered. Then, stones having been piled up by me and
+the eunuch who was with us on a certain spot at the base of the
+pyramid, to somewhat more than the height of a man, I climbed on them
+and searched for the secret mark, no larger than a leaf. I found it
+with some trouble, for the weather and the rubbing of the wind-stirred
+sand had worn even the Ethiopian stone. Having found it, I pressed on
+it with all my strength in a certain fashion. even after the lapse of
+many years the stone swung round, showing a little opening, through
+which a man might scarcely creep. As it swung, a mighty bat, white in
+colour as though with unreckoned age, and such as I had never seen
+before for bigness, for his measure was the measure of a hawk, flew
+forth and for a moment hovered over Cleopatra, then sailed slowly up
+and up in circles, till at last he was lost in the bright light of the
+moon.
+
+But Cleopatra uttered a cry of terror, and the eunuch, who was
+watching, fell down in fear, believing it to be the guardian Spirit of
+the pyramid. And I, too, feared, though I said nothing. For even now I
+believe that it was the Spirit of Menkau-ra, the Osirian, who, taking
+the form of a bat, flew forth from his holy House in warning.
+
+I waited a while, till the foul air should clear from the passage.
+Then I drew out the lamps, kindled them, and passed them, to the
+number of three, into the entrance of the passage. This done, I went
+to the eunuch, and, taking him aside, I swore him by the living spirit
+of Him who sleeps at Abouthis that he should not reveal those things
+which he was about to see.
+
+This he swore, trembling sorely, for he was very much afraid. Nor,
+indeed, did he reveal them.
+
+This done, I clambered through the opening, taking with me a coil of
+rope, which I wound around my middle, and beckoned to Cleopatra to
+come. Making fast the skirt of her robe, she came, and I drew her
+through the opening, so that at length she stood behind me in the
+passage which is lined with slabs of granite. After her came the
+eunuch, and he also stood in the passage. Then, having taken counsel
+of the plan of the passage that I had brought with me, and which, in
+signs that none but the initiated can read, was copied from those
+ancient writings that had come down to me through one-and-forty
+generations of my predecessors, the Priests of this Pyramid of /Her/,
+and of the worship of the Temple of the Divine Menkau-ra, the Osirian,
+I led the way through that darksome place towards the utter silence of
+the tomb. Guided by the feeble light of our lamps, we passed down the
+steep incline, gasping in the heat and the thick, stagnated air.
+Presently we had left the region of the masonry and were slipping down
+a gallery hewn in the living rock. For twenty paces or more it ran
+steeply. Then its slope lessened and shortly we found ourselves in a
+chamber painted white, so low that I, being tall, had scarcely room to
+stand; but in length four paces, and in breadth three, and cased
+throughout with sculptured panels. Here Cleopatra sank upon the floor
+and rested awhile, overcome by the heat and the utter darkness.
+
+"Rise!" I said. "We must not linger here, or we faint."
+
+So she rose, and passing hand in hand through that chamber, we found
+ourselves face to face with a mighty door of granite, let down from
+the roof in grooves. Once more I took counsel of the plan, pressed
+with my foot upon a certain stone, and waited. Then, suddenly and
+softly, I know not by what means, the mass heaved itself from its bed
+of living rock. We passed beneath, and found ourselves face to face
+with a second door of granite. Again I pressed on a certain spot, and
+this door swung wide of itself, and we went through, to find ourselves
+face to face with a third door, yet more mighty than the two through
+which we had won our way. Following the secret plan, I struck this
+door with my foot upon a certain spot, and it sank slowly as though at
+a word of magic till its head was level with the floor of rock. We
+crossed and gained another passage which, descending gently for a
+length of fourteen paces, led us into a great chamber, paved with
+black marble, more than nine cubits high, by nine cubits broad, and
+thirty cubits long. In this marble floor was sunk a great sarcophagus
+of granite, and on its lid were graved the name and titles of the
+Queen of Menkau-ra. In this chamber, too, the air was purer, though I
+know not by what means it came thither.
+
+"Is the treasure here?" gasped Cleopatra.
+
+"Nay," I answered; "follow me," and I led the way to a gallery, which
+we entered through an opening in the floor of the great chamber. It
+had been closed by a trap-door of stone, but the door was open.
+Creeping along this shaft, or passage, for some ten paces, we came at
+length to a well, seven cubits in depth. Making fast one end of the
+rope that I had brought about my body and the other to a ring in the
+rock, I was lowered, holding the lamp in my hand, till I stood in the
+last resting-place of the Divine Menkau-ra. Then the rope was drawn
+up, and Cleopatra, being made fast to it, was let down by the eunuch,
+and I received her in my arms. But I bade the eunuch, sorely against
+his will, since he feared to be left alone, await our return at the
+mouth of the shaft. For it was not lawful that he should enter whither
+we went.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+OF THE TOMB OF THE DIVINE MENKAU-RA; OF THE WRITING ON THE
+BREAST OF MENKAU-RA; OF THE DRAWING FORTH OF THE TREASURE;
+OF THE DWELLER IN THE TOMB; AND OF THE FLIGHT OF CLEOPATRA
+AND HARMACHIS FROM THE HOLY PLACE
+
+We stood within a small arched chamber, paved and lined with great
+blocks of the granite stone of Syene. There before us--hewn from a
+single mass of basalt shaped like a wooden house and resting on a
+sphinx with a face of gold--was the sarcophagus of the Divine
+Menkau-ra.
+
+We stood and gazed in awe, for the weight of the silence and the
+solemnity of that holy place seemed to crush us. Above us, cubit over
+cubit in its mighty measure, the pyramid towered up to heaven and was
+kissed of the night air. But we were deep in the bowels of the rock
+beneath its base. We were alone with the dead, whose rest we were
+about to break; and no sound of the murmuring air, and no sight of
+life came to dull the awful edge of solitude. I gazed on the
+sarcophagus; its heavy lid had been lifted and rested at its side, and
+around it the dust of ages had gathered thick.
+
+"See," I whispered, pointing to a writing, daubed with pigment upon
+the wall in the sacred symbols of ancient times.
+
+"Read it, Harmachis," answered Cleopatra, in the same low voice; "for
+I cannot."
+
+Then I read: "I, Rameses Mi-amen, in my day and in my hour of need,
+visited this sepulchre. But, though great my need and bold my heart, I
+dared not face the curse of Menkau-ra. Judge, O thou who shalt come
+after me, and, if thy soul is pure and Khem be utterly distressed,
+take thou that which I have left."
+
+"Where, then, is the treasure?" she whispered. "Is that Sphinx-face of
+gold?"
+
+"Even there," I answered, pointing to the sarcophagus. "Draw near and
+see."
+
+And she took my hand and drew near.
+
+The cover was off, but the painted coffin of the Pharaoh lay in the
+depths of the sarcophagus. We climbed the Sphinx, then I blew the dust
+from the coffin with my breath and read that which was written on its
+lid. And this was written:
+
+ "Pharaoh Menkau-ra, the Child of Heaven.
+
+ "Pharaoh Menkau-ra, Royal Son of the Sun.
+
+ "Pharaoh Menkau-ra, who didst lie beneath the heart of Nout.
+
+ "Nout, thy Mother, wraps thee in the spell of Her holy name.
+
+ "The name of thy Mother, Nout, is the mystery of Heaven.
+
+ "Nout, thy Mother, gathers thee to the number of the Gods.
+
+ "Nout, thy Mother, breathes on thy foes and utterly destroys them.
+
+ "O Pharaoh Menkau-ra, who livest for ever!"
+
+"Where, then, is the treasure?" she asked again. "Here, indeed, is the
+body of the Divine Menkau-ra; but the flesh even of Pharaohs is not
+gold, and if the face of this Sphinx be gold how may we move it?"
+
+For answer I bade her stand upon the Sphinx and grasp the upper part
+of the coffin while I grasped its foot. Then, at my word, we lifted,
+and the lid of the case, which was not fixed, came away, and we set it
+upon the floor. And there in the case was the mummy of Pharaoh, as it
+had been laid three thousand years before. It was a large mummy, and
+somewhat ungainly. Nor was it adorned with a gilded mask, as is the
+fashion of our day, for the head was wrapped in clothes yellow with
+age, which were made fast with pink flaxen bandages, under which were
+pushed the stems of lotus-blooms. And on the breast, wreathed round
+with lotus-flowers, lay a large plate of gold closely written over
+with sacred writing. I lifted up the plate, and, holding it to the
+light, I read:
+
+ "I, Menkau-ra, the Osirian, aforetime Pharaoh of the Land of Khem,
+  who in my day did live justly and ever walked in the path marked
+  for my feet by the decree of the Invisible, who was the beginning
+  and is the end, speak from my tomb to those who after me shall for
+  an hour sit upon my Throne. Behold, I, Menkau-ra, the Osirian,
+  having in the days of my life been warned of a dream that a time
+  will come when Khem shall fear to fall into the hands of
+  strangers, and her monarch shall have great need of treasure
+  wherewith to furnish armies to drive the barbarian back, have out
+  of my wisdom done this thing. For it having pleased the protecting
+  Gods to give me wealth beyond any Pharaoh who has been since the
+  days of Horus--thousands of cattle and geese, thousands of calves
+  and asses, thousands of measures of corn, and hundreds of measures
+  of gold and gems; this wealth I have used sparingly, and that
+  which remains I have bartered for precious stones--even for
+  emeralds, the most beautiful and largest that are in the world.
+  These stones, then, I have stored up against that day of the need
+  of Khem. But because as there have been, so there shall be, those
+  who do wickedly on the earth, and who, in the lust of gain, might
+  seize this wealth that I have stored, and put it to their uses;
+  behold, thou Unborn One, who in the fulness of time shalt stand
+  above me and read this that I have caused to be written, I have
+  stored the treasure thus--even among my bones. Therefore, O thou
+  Unborn One, sleeping in the womb of Nout, I say this to thee! If
+  thou indeed hast need of riches to save Khem from the foes of
+  Khem, fear not and delay not, but tear me, the Osirian, from my
+  tomb, loose my wrappings and rip the treasure from my breast, and
+  all shall be well with thee; for this only I do command, that thou
+  dost replace my bones within my hollow coffin. But if the need be
+  passing and not great, or if there be guile in thy heart, then the
+  curse of Menkau-ra be on thee! On thee be the curse that shall
+  smite him who breaks in upon the dead! On thee be the curse that
+  follows the traitor! On thee be the curse that smites him who
+  outrages the Majesty of the Gods! Unhappy shalt thou live, in
+  blood and misery shalt thou die, and in misery shalt thou be
+  tormented for ever and for ever! For, Wicked One, there in Amenti
+  we shall come face to face!
+
+ "And to the end of the keeping of this secret, I, Menkau-ra, have
+  set up a Temple of my Worship, which I have built upon the
+  eastern side of this my House of Death. It shall be made known
+  from time to time to the Hereditary High Priest of this my Temple.
+  And if any High Priest that shall be do reveal this secret to
+  another than the Pharaoh, or Her who wears the Pharaoh's crown and
+  is seated upon the throne of Khem, accursed be he also. Thus have
+  I, Menkau-ra, the Osirian, written. Now to thee, who, sleeping in
+  the womb of Nout, yet shall upon a time stand over me and read, I
+  say, judge thou! and if thou judgest evilly, on thee shall fall
+  this the curse of Menkau-ra from which there is no escape.
+  Greeting and farewell."
+
+"Thou hast heard, O Cleopatra," I said solemnly; "now search thy
+heart; judge thou, and for thine own sake judge justly."
+
+She bent her head in thought.
+
+"I fear to do this thing," she said presently. "Let us hence."
+
+"It is well," I said, with a lightening of the heart, and bent down to
+lift the wooden lid. For I, too, feared.
+
+"And yet, what said the writing of the Divine Menkau-ra?--it was
+emeralds, was it not? And emeralds are now so rare and hard to come
+by. Ever did I love emeralds, and I can never find them without a
+flaw."
+
+"It is not a matter of what thou dost love, Cleopatra," I said; "it is
+a matter of the need of Khem and of the secret meaning of thy heart,
+which thou alone canst know."
+
+"Ay, surely, Harmachis; surely! And is not the need of Egypt great?
+There is no gold in the treasury, and how can I defy the Roman if I
+have no gold? And have I not sworn to thee that I will wed thee and
+defy the Roman; and do I not swear it again--yes, even in this solemn
+hour, with my hand upon dead Pharaoh's heart? Why, here is that
+occasion of which the Divine Menkau-ra dreamed. Thou seest it is so,
+for else Hat-shepsu or Rameses or some other Pharaoh had drawn forth
+the gems. But no; they left them to come to this hour because the time
+was not yet come. Now it must be come, for if I take not the gems the
+Roman will surely seize on Egypt, and then there will be no Pharaoh to
+whom the secret may be told. Nay, let us away with fears and to the
+work. Why dost look so frightened? Having pure hearts, there is naught
+to fear, Harmachis."
+
+"Even as thou wilt," I said again; "it is for thee to judge, since if
+thou judgest falsely on thee will surely fall the curse from which
+there is no escape."
+
+"So, Harmachis, take Pharaoh's head and I will take his---- Oh, what
+an awful place is this!" and suddenly she clung to me. "Methought I
+saw a shadow yonder in the darkness! Methought that it moved toward us
+and then straightway vanished! Let us be going! Didst thou see
+naught?"
+
+"I saw nothing, Cleopatra; but mayhap it was the Spirit of the Divine
+Menkau-ra, for the spirit ever hovers round its mortal tenement. Let
+us, then, be going; I shall be right glad to go."
+
+She made as though to start, then turned back again and spoke once
+more.
+
+"It was naught--naught but the mind that, in such a house of Horror,
+bodies forth those shadowy forms of fear it dreads to see. Nay, I must
+look upon these emeralds; indeed, if I die, I must look! Come--to the
+work!" and stooping, she with her own hands lifted from the tomb one
+of the four alabaster jars, each sealed with the graven likeness of
+the heads of the protecting Gods, that held the holy heart and
+entrails of the Divine Menkau-ra. But nothing was found in these jars,
+save only what should be there.
+
+Then together we mounted on the Sphinx, and with toil drew forth the
+body of the Divine Pharaoh, laying it on the ground. Now Cleopatra
+took my dagger, and with it cut loose the bandages which held the
+wrappings in their place, and the lotus-flowers that had been set in
+them by loving hands, three thousand years before, fell down upon the
+pavement. Then we searched and found the end of the outer bandage,
+which was fixed in at the hinder part of the neck. This we cut loose,
+for it was glued fast. This done, we began to unroll the wrappings of
+the holy corpse. Setting my shoulders against the sarcophagus, I sat
+upon the rocky floor, the body resting on my knees, and, as I turned
+it, Cleopatra unwound the cloths; and awesome was the task. Presently
+something fell out; it was the sceptre of the Pharaoh, fashioned of
+gold, and at its end was a pomegranate cut from a single emerald.
+
+Cleopatra seized the sceptre and gazed on it in silence. Then once
+more we went on with our dread business. And ever as we unwound, other
+ornaments of gold, such as are buried with Pharaohs, fell from the
+wrappings--collars and bracelets, models of sistra, an inlaid axe, and
+an image of the holy Osiris and of the holy Khem. At length all the
+bandages were unwound, and beneath we found a covering of coarsest
+linen; for in those very ancient days the craftsmen were not so
+skilled in matters pertaining to the embalming of the body as they are
+now. And on the linen was written in an oval, "Menkau-ra, Royal Son of
+the Sun." We could in no wise loosen this linen, it held so firm on to
+the body. Therefore, faint with the great heat, choked with mummy dust
+and the odour of spices, and trembling with fear of our unholy task,
+wrought in that most lonesome and holy place, we laid the body down,
+and ripped away the last covering with the knife. First we cleared
+Pharaoh's head, and now the face that no man had gazed on for three
+thousand years was open to our view. It was a great face, with a bold
+brow, yet crowned with the royal ur�us, beneath which the white locks,
+stained yellow by the spices, fell in long, straight wisps. Not the
+cold stamp of death, and not the slow flight of three thousand years,
+had found power to mar the dignity of those shrunken features. We
+gazed on them, and then, made bold with fear, stripped the covering
+from the body. There at last it lay before us, stiff, yellow, and
+dread to see; and on the left side, above the thigh, was the cut
+through which the embalmers had done their work, but it was sewn up so
+deftly that we could scarcely find the mark.
+
+"The gems are within," I whispered, for I felt that the body was very
+heavy. "Now, if thy heart fail thee not, thou must make an entry to
+this poor house of clay that once was Pharaoh," and I gave her the
+dagger--the same dagger which had drunk the life of Paulus.
+
+"It is too late to doubt," she answered, lifting her white beauteous
+face and fixing her blue eyes all big with terror upon my own. She
+took the dagger, and with set teeth the Queen of this day plunged it
+into the dead breast of the Pharaoh of three thousand years ago. And
+even as she did so there came a groaning sound from the opening to the
+shaft where we had left the eunuch! We leapt to our feet, but heard no
+more, and the lamp-light still streamed down through the opening.
+
+"It is nothing," I said. "Let us make an end."
+
+Then with much toil we hacked and rent the hard flesh open, and as we
+did so I heard the knife point grate upon the gems within.
+
+Cleopatra plunged her hand into the dead breast and drew forth
+somewhat. She held it to the light, and gave a little cry, for from
+the darkness of Pharaoh's heart there flashed into light and life the
+most beauteous emerald that ever man beheld. It was perfect in colour,
+very large, without a flaw, and fashioned to a scarab�us form, and on
+the under side was an oval, inscribed with the divine name of
+Menkau-ra, Son of the Sun.
+
+Again, again, and yet again, she plunged in her hand and drew emeralds
+from Pharaoh's breast bedded there in spices. Some were fashioned and
+some were not; but all were perfect in colour without a flaw, and in
+value priceless. Again and again she plunged her white hand into that
+dread breast, till at length all were found, and there were one
+hundred and forty and eight of such gems as are not known in the
+world. The last time that she searched she brought forth not emeralds,
+indeed, but two great pearls, wrapped in linen, such as never have
+been seen. And of these pearls more hereafter.
+
+So it was done, and all the mighty treasure lay glittering in a heap
+before us. There it lay, and there, too, lay the regalia of gold, the
+spiced and sickly-scented wrappings, and the torn body of white-haired
+Pharaoh Menkau-ra, the Osirian, the ever living in Amenti.
+
+We rose, and a great awe fell upon us, now that the deed was done and
+our hearts were no more upborne by the rage of search--so great an
+awe, indeed, that we could not speak. I made a sign to Cleopatra. She
+grasped the head of Pharaoh and I grasped his feet, and together we
+lifted him, climbed the Sphinx, and placed him once more within his
+coffin. I piled the torn mummy cloths over him and on them laid the
+lid of the coffin.
+
+And now we gathered up the great gems, and such of the ornaments as
+might be carried with ease, and I hid them as many as I could, in the
+folds of my robe. Those that were left Cleopatra hid upon her breast.
+Heavily laden with the priceless treasure, we gave one last look at
+the solemn place, at the sarcophagus and the Sphinx on which it
+rested, whose gleaming face of calm seemed to mock us with its
+everlasting smile of wisdom. Then we turned and went from the tomb.
+
+At the shaft we halted. I called to the eunuch, who stayed above, and
+methought a faint mocking laugh answered me. Too smitten with terror
+to call again, and fearing that, should we delay, Cleopatra would
+certainly swoon, I seized the rope, and being strong and quick mounted
+by it and gained the passage. There burnt the lamp: but the eunuch I
+saw not. Thinking, surely, that he was a little way down the passage,
+and slept--as, in truth, he did--I bade Cleopatra make the rope fast
+about her middle, and with much labour, drew her up. Then, having
+rested awhile, we moved with the lamps to seek for the eunuch.
+
+"He was stricken with terror and has fled, leaving the lamp," said
+Cleopatra. "O ye Gods! who is /that/ seated there?"
+
+I peered into the darkness, thrusting out the lamps, and this was what
+their light fell on--this at the very dream of which my soul sickens!
+There, facing us, his back resting against the rock, and his hands
+splayed on either side upon the floor, sat the eunuch--/dead!/ His
+eyes and mouth were open, his fat cheeks dropped down, his thin hair
+yet seemed to bristle, and on his countenance was frozen such a stamp
+of hideous terror as well might turn the beholder's brain. And lo!
+fixed to his chin, by its hinder claws, hung that grey and mighty bat,
+which, flying forth when we entered the pyramid, vanished in the sky,
+but, returning, had followed us to its depths. There it hung upon the
+dead man's chin slowly rocking itself to and fro, and we could see the
+fiery eyes shining in its head.
+
+Aghast, utterly aghast, we stood and stared at the hateful sight; till
+presently the bat spread his huge wings and, losing his hold, sailed
+to us. Now he hovered before Cleopatra's face, fanning her with his
+white wings. Then with a scream, like a woman's shriek of fury, the
+accursed Thing flittered on, seeking his violated tomb, and vanished
+down the well into the sepulchre. I fell against the wall. But
+Cleopatra sank in a heap upon the floor, and, covering her head with
+her arms, she shrieked till the hollow passages rang with the echoes
+of her cries, that seemed to grow and double and rush along the depths
+in volumes of shrill sound.
+
+"Rise!" I cried, "rise and let us hence before the Spirit shall return
+to haunt us! If thou dost suffer thyself to be overwhelmed in this
+place thou art lost for ever."
+
+She staggered to her feet, and never may I forget the look upon her
+ashy face or in her glowing eyes. Seizing lamps with a rush, we passed
+the dead eunuch's horrid form, I holding her by the hand. We gained
+the great chamber, where was the sarcophagus of the Queen of
+Menkau-ra, and traversed its length. We fled along the passage. What
+if the Thing had closed the three mighty doors? No; they were open,
+and we sped through them; the last only did I stay to close. I touched
+the stone, as I knew how, and the great door crashed down, shutting us
+off from the presence of the dead eunuch and the Horror that had hung
+upon the eunuch's chin. Now we were in the white chamber with the
+sculptured panels, and now we faced the last steep ascent. Oh that
+last ascent! Twice Cleopatra slipped and fell upon the polished floor.
+The second time--it was when half the distance had been done--she let
+fall her lamp, and would, indeed, have rolled down the slide had I not
+saved her. But in doing thus I, too, let fall my lamp that bounded
+away into shadow beneath us, and we were in utter darkness. And
+perchance about us, in the darkness, hovered that awful Thing!
+
+"Be brave!" I cried; "O love, be brave, and struggle on, or both are
+lost! The way, though steep, is not far; and, though it be dark, we
+can scarce come to harm in this straight shaft. If the gems weight
+thee, cast them away!"
+
+"Nay," she gasped, "that I will not; this shall not be endured to no
+end. I die with them!"
+
+Then it was that I saw the greatness of this woman's heart; for in the
+dark, and notwithstanding the terrors we had passed and the awfulness
+of our state, she clung to me and clambered on up that dread passage.
+On we clambered, hand in hand, with bursting hearts, till there, by
+the mercy or the anger of the Gods, at length we saw the faint light
+of the moon, creeping through the little opening in the pyramid. One
+struggle more, now the hole was gained, and like a breath from heaven,
+the sweet night air played upon our brows. I climbed through, and,
+standing on a pile of stones, lifted and dragged Cleopatra after me.
+She fell to the ground and then sank down upon it motionless.
+
+I pressed upon the turning stone with trembling hands. It swung to and
+caught, leaving no mark of the secret place of entry. Then I leapt
+down and, having pushed away the pile of stones, looked on Cleopatra.
+She had swooned, and notwithstanding the dust and grime upon her face,
+it was so pale that at first I believed she must be dead. But placing
+my hand upon her heart I felt it stir beneath; and, being spent, I
+flung myself down beside her upon the sand, to gather up my strength
+again.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+OF THE COMING BACK OF HARMACHIS; OF THE GREETING OF CHARMION;
+AND OF THE ANSWER OF CLEOPATRA TO QUINTUS DELLIUS,
+THE AMBASSADOR OF ANTONY THE TRIUMVIR
+
+Presently I lifted myself, and, laying the head of Egypt's Queen upon
+my knee, strove to call her back to life. How fair she seemed, even in
+her disarray, her long hair streaming down her breast! how deadly fair
+she seemed in the faint light--this woman the story of whose beauty
+and whose sin shall outlive the solid mass of the mighty pyramid that
+towered over us! The heaviness of her swoon had smoothed away the
+falseness of her face, and nothing was left but the divine stamp of
+Woman's richest loveliness, softened by shadows of the night and
+dignified by the cast of deathlike sleep. I gazed upon her and all my
+heart went out to her; it seemed that I did but love her more because
+of the depth of the treasons to which I had sunk to reach her, and
+because of the terrors we had outfaced together. Weary and spent with
+fears and the pangs of guilt, my heart sought hers for rest, for now
+she alone was left to me. She had sworn to wed me also, and with the
+treasure we had won we would make Egypt strong and free her from her
+foes, and all should yet be well. Ah! could I have seen the picture
+that was to come, how, and in what place and circumstance, once again
+this very woman's head should be laid upon my knee, pale with that
+cast of death! Ah! could I have seen!
+
+I chafed her hand between my hands. I bent down and kissed her on the
+lips, and at my kiss she woke. She woke with a little sob of fear--a
+shiver ran along her delicate limbs, and she stared upon my face with
+wide eyes.
+
+"Ah! it is thou!" she said. "I mind me--thou hast saved me from that
+horror-haunted place!" And she threw her arms about my neck, drew me
+to her and kissed me. "Come, love," she said, "let us be going! I am
+sore athirst, and--ah! so very weary! The gems, too, chafe my breast!
+Never was wealth so hardly won! Come, let us be going from the shadow
+of this ghostly spot! See the faint lights glancing from the wings of
+Dawn. How beautiful they are, and how sweet to behold! Never, in those
+Halls of Eternal Night, did I think to look upon the blush of dawn
+again! Ah! I can still see the face of that dead slave, with the
+Horror hanging to his beardless chin! Bethink thee!--there he'll sit
+for ever--there--with the Horror! Come; where may we find water? I
+would give an emerald for a cup of water!"
+
+"At the canal on the borders of the tilled land below the Temple of
+Horemkhu--it is close by," I answered. "If any see us, we will say
+that we are pilgrims who have lost our way at night among the tombs.
+Veil thyself closely, therefore, Cleopatra; and beware lest thou dost
+show aught of those gems about thee."
+
+So she veiled herself, and I lifted her on to the ass which was
+tethered near at hand. We walked slowly through the plain till we came
+to the place where the symbol of the God Horemkhu,[*] fashioned as a
+mighty Sphinx (whom the Greeks call Harmachis), and crowned with the
+royal crown of Egypt, looks out in majesty across the land, his eyes
+ever fixed upon the East. As we walked the first arrow of the rising
+sun quivered through the grey air, striking upon Horemkhu's lips of
+holy calm, and the Dawn kissed her greeting to the God of Dawn. Then
+the light gathered and grew upon the gleaming sides of twenty
+pyramids, and, like a promise from Life to Death, rested on the
+portals of ten thousand tombs. It poured in a flood of gold across the
+desert sand--it pierced the heavy sky of night, and fell in bright
+beams upon the green of fields and the tufted crest of palms. Then
+from his horizon bed royal Ra rose up in pomp and it was day.
+
+[*] That is, "Horus on the horizon"; and signifies the power of Light
+    and Good overcoming the power of Darkness and Evil incarnate in
+    his enemy, Typhon.--Editor.
+
+Passing the temple of granite and of alabaster that was built before
+the days of Khufu, to the glory of the Majesty of Horemkhu, we
+descended the slope, and came to the banks of the canal. There we
+drank; and that draught of muddy water was sweeter than all the
+choicest wine of Alexandria. Also we washed the mummy dust and grime
+from our hands and brows and made us clean. As she bathed her neck,
+stooping over the water, one of the great emeralds slipped from
+Cleopatra's breast and fell into the canal, and it was but by chance
+that at length I found it in the mire. Then, once more, I lifted
+Cleopatra onto the beast, and slowly, for I was very weary, we marched
+back to the banks of Sihor, where our craft was. And having at length
+come thither, seeing no one save some few peasants going out to labour
+on the lands, I turned the ass loose in that same field where we had
+found him, and we boarded the craft while the crew were yet sleeping.
+Then, waking them, we bade them make all sail, saying that we had left
+the eunuch to sojourn a while behind us, as in truth we had. So we
+sailed, having first hidden away the gems and such of the ornaments of
+gold as we could bring to the boat.
+
+We spent four days and more in coming to Alexandria, for the wind was
+for the most part against us; and they were happy days! At first,
+indeed, Cleopatra was somewhat silent and heavy at heart, for what she
+had seen and felt in the womb of the pyramid weighed her down. But
+soon her Imperial spirit awoke and shook the burden from her breast,
+and she became herself again--now gay, now learned; now loving, and
+now cold; now queenly, and now altogether simple--ever changing as the
+winds of heaven, and as the heaven, deep, beauteous, and unsearchable!
+
+Night after night for those four perfect nights, the last happy hours
+I ever was to know, we sat hand in hand upon the deck and heard the
+waters lap the vessel's side, and watched the soft footfall of the
+moon as she trod the depths of Nile. There we sat and talked of love,
+talked of our marriage and all that we would do. Also I drew up plans
+of war and of defence against the Roman, which now we had the means to
+carry out; and she approved them, sweetly saying that what seemed good
+to me was good to her. And so the time passed all too swiftly.
+
+Oh those nights upon the Nile! their memory haunts me yet! Yet in my
+dreams I see the moonbeams break and quiver, and hear Cleopatra's
+murmured words of love mingle with the sound of murmuring waters. Dead
+are those dear nights, dead is the moon that lit them; the waters
+which rocked us on their breast are lost in the wide salt sea, and
+where we kissed and clung there lips unborn shall kiss and cling! How
+beautiful was their promise, doomed, like an unfruitful blossom, to
+wither, fall, and rot! and their fulfilment, ah, how drear! For all
+things end in darkness and in ashes, and those who sow in folly shall
+reap in sorrow. Ah! those nights upon the Nile!
+
+And so at length once more we stood within the hateful walls of that
+fair palace on the Lochias, and the dream was done.
+
+
+
+"Whither hast thou wandered with Cleopatra, Harmachis?" Charmion asked
+of me when I met her by chance on that day of return. "On some new
+mission of betrayal? Or was it but a love-journey?"
+
+"I went with Cleopatra upon secret business of the State," I answered
+sternly.
+
+"So! Those who go secretly, go evilly; and foul birds love to fly at
+night. Not but what thou art wise, for it would scarce beseem thee,
+Harmachis, to show thy face openly in Egypt."
+
+I heard, and felt my passion rise within me, for I could ill bear this
+fair girl's scorn.
+
+"Hast thou never a word without a sting?" I asked. "Know, then, that I
+went whither thou hadst not dared to go, to gather means to hold Egypt
+from the grasp of Antony."
+
+"So," she answered, looking up swiftly. "Thou foolish man! Thou hadst
+done better to save thy labour, for Antony will grasp Egypt in thy
+despite. What power hast thou to-day in Egypt?"
+
+"That he may do in my despite; but in despite of Cleopatra that he
+cannot do," I said.
+
+"Nay, but with the /aid/ of Cleopatra he can and will do it," she
+answered with a bitter smile. "When the Queen sails in state up Cydnus
+stream she will surely draw this coarse Antony thence to Alexandria,
+conquering, and yet, like thee, a slave!"
+
+"It is false! I say that it is false! Cleopatra goes not to Tarsus,
+and Antony comes not to Alexandria; or, if he come, it will be to take
+the chance of war."
+
+"Now, thinkest thou thus?" she answered with a little laugh. "Well, if
+it please thee, think as thou wilt. Within three days thou shalt know.
+It is pretty to see how easily thou art fooled. Farewell! Go, dream on
+Love, for surely Love is sweet."
+
+And she went, leaving me angered and troubled at heart.
+
+
+
+I saw Cleopatra no more that day, but on the day which followed I saw
+her. She was in a heavy mood, and had no gentle word for me. I spake
+to her of the defence of Egypt, but she put the matter away.
+
+"Why dost thou weary me?" she said with anger; "canst thou not see
+that I am lost in troubles? When Dellius has had his answer to-morrow
+then we will speak of these matters."
+
+"Ay," I said, "when Dellius has had his answer; and knowest thou that
+but yesterday, Charmion--whom about the palace they name the 'Keeper
+of the Queen's secrets'--Charmion swore that the answer would be 'Go
+in peace, I come to Antony!'"
+
+"Charmion knows nothing of my heart," said Cleopatra, stamping her
+foot in anger, "and if she talk so freely the girl shall be scourged
+out of my Court, as is her desert. Though, in truth," she added, "she
+has more wisdom in that small head of hers than all my privy
+councillors--ay, and more wit to use it. Knowest thou that I have sold
+a portion of those gems to the rich Jews of Alexandria, and at a great
+price, ay, at five thousand sestertia for each one?[*] But a few, in
+truth, for they could not buy more as yet. It was rare to see their
+eyes when they fell upon them: they grew large as apples with avarice
+and wonder. And now leave me, Harmachis, for I am weary. The memory of
+that dreadful night is with me yet."
+
+[*] About forty thousand pounds of our money.--Editor.
+
+I bowed and rose to go, and yet stood wavering.
+
+"Pardon me, Cleopatra; it is of our marriage."
+
+"Our marriage! Why, are we not indeed already wed?" she answered.
+
+"Yes; but not before the world. Thou didst promise."
+
+"Ay, Harmachis, I promised; and to-morrow, when I have rid me of this
+Dellius, I will keep my promise, and name thee Cleopatra's Lord before
+the Court. See that thou art in thy place. Art content?"
+
+And she stretched out her hand for me to kiss, looking on me with
+strange eyes, as though she struggled with herself. Then I went; but
+that night I strove once more to see Cleopatra, and could not. "The
+Lady Charmion was with the Queen," so said the eunuchs, and none might
+enter.
+
+
+
+On the morrow the Court met in the great hall one hour before mid-day,
+and I went thither with a trembling heart to hear Cleopatra's answer
+to Dellius, and to hear myself also named King-consort to the Queen of
+Egypt. It was a full and splendid Court; there were councillors,
+lords, captains, eunuchs, and waiting-women, all save Charmion. The
+house passed, but Cleopatra and Charmion came not. At length Charmion
+entered gently by a side entrance, and took her place among the
+waiting-ladies about the throne. Even as she did so she cast a glance
+at me, and there was triumph in her eyes, though I knew not over what
+she triumphed. I little guessed that she had but now brought about my
+ruin and sealed the fate of Egypt.
+
+Then presently the trumpets blared, and, clad in her robes of state,
+the ur�us crown upon her head, and on her breast, flashing like a
+star, that great emerald scarab�us which she had dragged from dead
+Pharaoh's heart, Cleopatra swept in splendour to her throne, followed
+by a glittering guard of Northmen. Her lovely face was dark, dark were
+her slumbrous eyes, and none might read their message, though all that
+Court searched them for a sign of what should come. She seated herself
+slowly as one who may not be moved, and spoke to the chief of the
+heralds in the Greek tongue:
+
+"Does the Ambassador of the noble Antony wait?"
+
+The herald bowed low and made assent.
+
+"Let him come in and hear our answer."
+
+The doors were flung wide, and, followed by his train of knights,
+Dellius, clad in his golden armour and his purple mantle, walked with
+cat-like step up the great hall, and made obeisance before the throne.
+
+"Most royal and beauteous Egypt," he said, in his soft voice, "as thou
+hast graciously been pleased to bid me, thy servant, I am here to take
+thy answer to the letter of the noble Antony the Triumvir, whom
+to-morrow I sail to meet at Tarsus, in Cilicia. And I will say this,
+royal Egypt, craving pardon the while for the boldness of my speech--
+bethink thee well before words that cannot be unspoken fall from those
+sweet lips. Defy Antony, and Antony will wreck thee. But, like thy
+mother Aphrodit�, rise glorious on his sight from the bosom of the
+Cyprian wave, and for wreck he will give thee all that can be dear to
+woman's royalty--Empire, and pomp of place, cities and the sway of
+men, fame and wealth, and the Diadem of rule made sure. For mark:
+Antony holds this Eastern World in the hollow of his warlike hand; at
+his will kings are, and at his frown they cease to be."
+
+And he bowed his head and, folding his hands meekly on his breast,
+awaited answer.
+
+For a while Cleopatra answered not, but sat like the Sphinx Horemkhu,
+dumb and inscrutable, gazing with lost eyes down the length of that
+great hall.
+
+Then, like soft music, her answer came; and trembling I listened for
+Egypt's challenge to the Roman:
+
+"Noble Dellius,--We have bethought us much of the matter of thy
+message from great Antony to our poor Royalty of Egypt. We have
+bethought us much, and we have taken counsel from the oracles of the
+Gods, from the wisest among our friends, and from the teachings of our
+heart, that ever, like a nesting bird, broods over our people's weal.
+Sharp are the words that thou has brought across the sea; methinks
+they had been better fitted to the ears of some petty half-tamed
+prince than to those of Egypt's Queen. Therefore we have numbered the
+legions that we can gather, and the triremes and the galleys wherewith
+we may breast the sea, and the moneys which shall buy us all things
+wanting to our war. And we find this, that, though Antony be strong,
+yet has Egypt naught to fear from the strength of Antony."
+
+She paused, and a murmur of applause of her high words ran down the
+hall. Only Dellius stretched out his hand as though to push them back.
+Then came the end!
+
+"Noble Dellius,--Half are we minded there to bid our tongue stop, and,
+strong in our fortresses of stone, and our other fortresses built of
+the hearts of men, abide the issue. And yet thou shalt not go thus. We
+are guiltless of those charges against us that have come to the ears
+of noble Antony, and which now he rudely shouts in ours; nor will we
+journey into Cilicia to answer them."
+
+Here the murmur arose anew, while my heart beat high in triumph; and
+in the pause that followed, Dellius spoke once more.
+
+"Then, royal Egypt, my word to Antony is word of War?"
+
+"Nay," she answered; "it shall be one of Peace. Listen; we said that
+we would not come to make answer to these charges, nor will we. But"--
+and she smiled for the first time--"we will gladly come, and that
+swiftly, in royal friendship to make known our fellowship of peace
+upon the banks of Cydnus."
+
+I heard, and was bewildered. Could I hear aright? Was it thus that
+Cleopatra kept her oaths? Moved beyond the hold of reason, I lifted up
+my voice and cried:
+
+"O Queen, /remember!/"
+
+She turned upon me like a lioness, with a flashing of the eyes and a
+swift shake of her lovely head.
+
+"Peace, Slave!" she said; "who bade thee break in upon our counsels?
+Mind thou thy stars, and leave matters of the world to the rulers of
+the world!"
+
+I sank back shamed, and, as I did so, once more I saw the smile of
+triumph on the face of Charmion, followed by what was, perhaps, the
+shadow of pity for my fall.
+
+"Now that yon brawling charlatan," said Dellius, pointing at me with
+his jewelled finger, "has been rebuked, grant me leave, O Egypt, to
+thank thee from my heart for these gentle words----"
+
+"We ask no thanks from thee, noble Dellius; nor lies it in thy mouth
+to chide our servant," broke in Cleopatra, frowning heavily; "we will
+take thanks from the lips of Antony alone. Get thee to thy master, and
+say to him that before he can make ready a fitting welcome our keels
+shall follow in the track of thine. And now, farewell! Thou shalt find
+some small token of our bounty upon thy vessel."
+
+Dellius bowed thrice and withdrew, while the Court stood waiting the
+Queen's word. And I, too, waited, wondering if she would yet make good
+her promise, and name me royal Spouse there in the face of Egypt. But
+she said nothing. Only, still frowning heavily, she rose, and,
+followed by her guards, left the throne, and passed into the Alabaster
+Hall. Then the Court broke up, and as the lords and councillors went
+by they looked on me with mockery. For though none knew all my secret,
+nor how it stood between me and Cleopatra, yet they were jealous of
+the favour shown me by the Queen, and rejoiced greatly at my fall. But
+I took no heed of their mocking as I stood dazed with misery and felt
+the world of Hope slip from beneath my feet.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+OF THE REPROACH OF HARMACHIS; OF THE STRUGGLE OF HARMACHIS
+WITH THE GUARDS; OF THE BLOW OF BRENNUS; AND OF THE SECRET
+SPEECH OF CLEOPATRA
+
+And at length, all being gone, I, too, turned to go, when a eunuch
+struck me on the shoulder and roughly bade me wait on the presence of
+the Queen. An hour past this fellow would have crawled to me on his
+knees; but he had heard, and now he treated me--so brutish is the
+nature of such slaves--as the world treats the fallen, with scorn. For
+to come low after being great is to learn all shame. Unhappy,
+therefore, are the Great, for they may fall!
+
+I turned upon the slave with so fierce a word that, cur-like, he
+sprang behind me; then I passed on to the Alabaster Hall, and was
+admitted by the guards. In the centre of the hall, near the fountain,
+sat Cleopatra, and with her were Charmion and the Greek girl Iras, and
+Merira and other of her waiting-ladies. "Go," she said to these, "I
+would speak with my astrologer." So they went, and left us face to
+face.
+
+"Stand thou there," she said, lifting her eyes for the first time.
+"Come not nigh me, Harmachis: I trust thee not. Perchance thou hast
+found another dagger. Now, what hast thou to say? By what right didst
+thou dare to break in upon my talk with the Roman?"
+
+I felt the blood rush through me like a storm; bitterness and burning
+anger took hold of my heart. "What hast /thou/ to say, Cleopatra?" I
+answered boldly. "Where is thy vow, sworn on the dead heart of
+Menkau-ra, the ever-living? Where now thy challenge to this Roman
+Antony? Where thy oath that thou wouldest call me 'husband' in the
+face of Egypt?" and I choked and ceased.
+
+"Well doth it become Harmachis, who never was forsworn, to speak to me
+of oaths!" she said in bitter mockery. "And yet, O thou most pure
+Priest of Isis; and yet, O thou most faithful friend, who never didst
+betray thy friends; and yet, O thou most steadfast, honourable, and
+upright man, who never bartered thy birthright, thy country, and thy
+cause for the price of a woman's passing love--by what token knowest
+thou that my word is void?"
+
+"I will not answer thy taunts, Cleopatra," I said, holding back my
+heart as best I might, "for I have earned them all, though not from
+thee. By this token, then, I know it. Thou goest to visit Antony; thou
+goest, as said that Roman knave, 'tricked in thy best attire,' to
+feast with him whom thou shouldst give to vultures for their feast.
+Perhaps, for aught I know, thou art about to squander those treasures
+that thou hast filched from the body of Menkau-ra, those treasures
+stored against the need of Egypt, upon wanton revels which shall
+complete the shame of Egypt. By these things, then, I know that thou
+art forsworn, and I, who, loving thee, believed thee, tricked; and by
+this, also, that thou who didst but yesternight swear to wed me, dost
+to-day cover me with taunts, and even before that Roman put me to an
+open shame!"
+
+"To wed thee? and I did swear to wed thee? Well, and what is marriage?
+Is it the union of the heart, that bond beautiful as gossamer and than
+gossamer more light, which binds soul to soul, as they float through
+the dreamy night of passion, a bond to be, perchance, melted in the
+dews of dawn? Or is it the iron link of enforced, unchanging union
+whereby if sinks the one the other must be dragged beneath the sea of
+circumstance, there, like a punished slave, to perish of unavoidable
+corruption?[*] Marriage! /I/ to marry! /I/ to forget freedom and court
+the worst slavery of our sex, which, by the selfish will of man, the
+stronger, still binds us to a bed grown hateful, and enforces a
+service that love mayhap no longer hallows! Of what use, then, to be a
+Queen, if thereby I may not escape the evil of the meanly born? Mark
+thou, Harmachis: Woman being grown hath two ills to fear--Death and
+Marriage; and of these twain is Marriage the more vile; for in Death
+we may find rest, but in Marriage, should it fail us, we must find
+hell. Nay, being above the breath of common slander that enviously
+would blast those who of true virtue will not consent to stretch
+affection's links, I /love/, Harmachis; but I /marry/ not!"
+
+[*] Referring to the Roman custom of chaining a living felon to the
+    body of one already dead.--Editor.
+
+"And yesternight, Cleopatra, thou didst swear that thou wouldst wed
+me, and call me to thy side before the face of Egypt!"
+
+"And yesternight, Harmachis, the red ring round the moon marked the
+coming of the storm, and yet the day is fair! But who knows that the
+tempest may not break to-morrow? Who knows that I have not chosen the
+easier path to save Egypt from the Roman? Who knows, Harmachis, that
+thou shalt not still call me wife?"
+
+Then I no longer could bear her falsehood, for I saw that she but
+played with me. And so I spoke that which was in my heart:
+
+"Cleopatra!" I cried," thou didst swear to protect Egypt, and thou art
+about to betray Egypt to the Roman! Thou didst swear to use the
+treasures that I revealed to thee for the service of Egypt, and thou
+art about to use them to be her means of shame--to fashion them as
+fetters for her wrists! Thou didst swear to wed me, who loved thee,
+and for thee gave all, and thou dost mock me and reject me! Therefore
+I say--with the voice of the dread Gods I say it!--that on /thee/
+shall fall the curse of Menkau-ra, whom thou hast robbed indeed! Let
+me go hence and work out my fate! Let me go, O thou fair Shame! thou
+living Lie! whom I have loved to my doom, and who hast brought upon me
+the last curse of doom! Let me hide myself and see thy face no more!"
+
+She rose in her wrath, and she was terrible to see.
+
+"Let thee go to stir up evil against me! Nay, Harmachis, thou shalt
+not go to build new plots against my throne! I say to thee that thou,
+too, shalt come to visit Antony in Cilicia, and there, perchance, I
+will let thee go!" And ere I could answer, she had struck upon the
+silver gong that hung near her.
+
+Before its rich echo had died away, Charmion and the waiting-women
+entered from one door, and from the other, a file of soldiers--four of
+them of the Queen's bodyguard, mighty men, with winged helmets and
+long fair hair.
+
+"Seize that traitor!" cried Cleopatra, pointing to me. The captain of
+the guard--it was Brennus--saluted and came towards me with drawn
+sword.
+
+But I, being mad and desperate, and caring little if they slew me,
+flew straight at his throat, and dealt him such a heavy blow that the
+great man fell headlong, and his armour clashed upon the marble floor.
+As he fell I seized his sword and targe, and, meeting the next, who
+rushed on me with a shout, caught his blow upon the shield, and in
+answer smote with all my strength. The sword fell where the neck is
+set into the shoulder, and, shearing through the joints of his
+harness, slew him, so that his knees were loosened and he sank down
+dead. And the third, as he came, I caught upon the point of my sword
+before he could strike, and it pierced him and he died. Then the last
+rushed on me with a cry of "Taranis!" and I, too, rushed on him, for
+my blood was aflame. Now the women shrieked--only Cleopatra said
+nothing, but stood and watched the unequal fray. We met, and I struck
+with all my strength, and it was a mighty blow, for the sword shore
+through the iron shell and shattered there, leaving me weaponless.
+With a shout of triumph the guard swung up his sword and smote down
+upon my head, but I caught the blow with my shield. Again he smote,
+and again I parried; but when he raised his sword a third time I saw
+this might not endure, so with a cry I hurled my buckler at his face.
+Glancing from his shield it struck him on the breast and staggered
+him. Then, before he could gain his balance, I rushed in beneath his
+guard and gripped him round the middle.
+
+For a full minute the tall man and I struggled furiously, and then, so
+great was my strength in those days, I lifted him like a toy and
+dashed him down upon the marble floor in such fashion that his bones
+were shattered so that he spoke no more. But I could not save myself
+and fell upon him, and as I fell the Captain Brennus, whom I had
+smitten to earth with my fist, having once more found his sense, came
+up behind me and smote me upon the head and shoulders with the sword
+of one of those whom I had slain. But I being on the ground, the blow
+did not fall with all its weight, also my thick hair and broidered cap
+broke its force; and thus it came to pass that, though sorely wounded,
+the life was yet whole in me. But I could struggle no more.
+
+Then the cowardly eunuchs, who had gathered at the sound of blows and
+stood huddled together like a herd of cattle, seeing that I was spent,
+threw themselves upon me, and would have butchered me with their
+knives. But Brennus, now that I was down, would strike no more, but
+stood waiting. And the eunuchs had surely slain me, for Cleopatra
+watched like one who watches in a dream and made no sign. Already my
+head was dragged back, and their knife-points were at my throat, when
+Charmion, rushing forward, threw herself upon me and, calling them
+"Dogs!" desperately thrust her body before them in such fashion that
+they could not smite. Now Brennus with an oath seized first one and
+then another and cast them from me.
+
+"Spare his life, Queen!" he cried in his barbarous Latin. "By Jupiter,
+he is a brave man! Myself felled like an ox in the shambles, and three
+of my boys finished by a man without armour and taken unawares! I
+grudge them not to such a man! A boon, Queen! spare his life, and give
+him to me!"
+
+"Ay, spare him! spare him!" cried Charmion, white and trembling.
+
+Cleopatra drew near and looked upon the dead and him who lay dying as
+I had dashed him to the ground, and on me, her lover of two days gone,
+whose wounded head rested now on Charmion's white robes.
+
+I met the Queen's glance. "Spare not!" I gasped; "/v� victis!/" Then a
+flush gathered on her brow--methinks it was a flush of shame!
+
+"Dost after all love this man at heart, Charmion," she said with a
+little laugh, "that thou didst thrust thy tender body between him and
+the knives of these sexless hounds?" and she cast a look of scorn upon
+the eunuchs.
+
+"Nay!" the girl answered fiercely; "but I cannot stand by to see a
+brave man murdered by such as these."
+
+"Ay!" said Cleopatra, "he is a brave man, and he fought gallantly; I
+have never seen so fierce a fight even in the games at Rome! Well, I
+spare his life, though he is weak of me--womanish weak. Take him to
+his own chamber and guard him there till he is healed or--dead."
+
+Then my brain reeled, a great sickness seized upon me, and I sank into
+the nothingness of a swoon.
+
+
+
+Dreams, dreams, dreams! without end and ever-changing, as for years
+and years I seemed to toss upon a sea of agony. And through them a
+vision of a dark-eyed woman's tender face and the touch of a white
+hand soothing me to rest. Visions, too, of a royal countenance bending
+at times over my rocking bed--a countenance that I could not grasp,
+but whose beauty flowed through my fevered veins and was a part of me
+--visions of childhood and of the Temple towers of Abouthis, and of
+the white-haired Amenemhat, my father--ay, and an ever-present vision
+of that dread hall in Amenti, and of the small altar and the Spirits
+clad in flame! There I seemed to wander everlastingly, calling on the
+Holy Mother, whose memory I could not grasp; calling ever and in vain!
+For no cloud descended upon the altar, only from time to time the
+great Voice pealed aloud: "Strike out the name of Harmachis, child of
+Earth, from the living Book of Her who Was and Is and Shall Be! /Lost!
+lost! lost!/"
+
+And then another voice would answer:
+
+"Not yet! not yet! Repentance is at hand; strike not out the name of
+Harmachis, child of Earth, from the living Book of Her who Was and Is
+and Shall Be! By suffering may sin be wiped away!"
+
+I woke to find myself in my own chamber in the tower of the palace. I
+was so weak that I scarce could lift my hand, and life seemed but to
+flutter in my breast as flutters a dying dove. I could not turn my
+head; I could not stir; yet in my heart there was a sense of rest and
+of dark trouble done. The light from the lamp hurt my eyes: I shut
+them, and, as I shut them, heard the sweep of a woman's robes upon the
+stair, and a swift, light step that I knew well. It was that of
+Cleopatra!
+
+She entered and drew near. I felt her come! Every pulse of my poor
+frame beat an answer to her footfall, and all my mighty love and hate
+rose from the darkness of my death-like sleep, and rent me in their
+struggle! She leaned over me; her ambrosial breath played upon my
+face: I could hear the beating of her heart! Lower she leaned, till at
+last her lips touched me softly on the brow.
+
+"Poor man!" I heard her murmur. "Poor, weak, dying Man! Fate hath been
+hard to thee! Thou wert too good to be the sport of such a one as I--
+the pawn that I must move in my play of policy! Ah, Harmachis! thou
+shouldst have ruled the game! Those plotting priests could give thee
+learning; but they could not give thee knowledge of mankind, nor fence
+thee against the march of Nature's law. And thou didst love me with
+all thy heart--ah! well I know it! Manlike, thou didst love the eyes
+that, as a pirate's lights, beckoned thee to shipwrecked ruin, and
+didst hang doting on the lips which lied thy heart away and called
+thee 'slave'! Well; the game was fair, for thou wouldst have slain me;
+and yet I grieve. So thou dost die? and this is my farewell to thee!
+Never may we meet again on earth; and, perchance, it is well, for who
+knows, when my hour of tenderness is past, how I might deal with thee,
+didst thou live? Thou dost die, they say--those learned long-faced
+fools, who, if they let thee die, shall pay the price. And where,
+then, shall we meet again when my last throw is thrown? We shall be
+equal there, in the kingdom that Osiris rules. A little time, a few
+years--perhaps to-morrow--and we shall meet; then, knowing all I am,
+how wilt thou greet me? Nay, here, as there, still must thou worship
+me! for injuries cannot touch the immortality of such a love as thine.
+Contempt alone, like acid, can eat away the love of noble hearts, and
+reveal the truth in its pitiful nakedness. Thou must still cling to
+thee, Harmachis; for, whatever my sins, yet I am great and set above
+thy scorn. Would that I could have loved thee as thou lovest me!
+Almost I did so when thou slewest those guards; and yet--not quite.
+
+"What a fenced city is my heart, that none can take it, and, even when
+I throw the gates wide, no man may win its citadel! Oh, to put away
+this loneliness and lose me in another's soul! Oh, for a year, a
+month, an hour to quite forget policy, peoples, and my pomp of place,
+and be but a loving woman! Harmachis, fare thee well! Go join great
+Julius whom thy art called up from death before me, and take Egypt's
+greetings to him. Ah well! I fooled thee, and I fooled C�sar--
+perchance before all is done Fate will find me, and myself I shall be
+fooled. Harmachis, fare thee well!"
+
+She turned to go, and as she turned I heard the sweep of another dress
+and the light fall of another woman's foot.
+
+"Ah! it is thou, Charmion. Well, for all thy watching the man dies."
+
+"Ay," she answered, in a voice thick with grief. "Ay, O Queen, so the
+physicians say. Forty hours has he lain in stupor so deep that at
+times his breath could barely lift this tiny feather's weight, and
+hardly could my ear, placed against his breast, take notice of the
+rising of his heart. I have watched him now for ten long days, watched
+him day and night, till my eyes stare wide with want of sleep, and for
+faintness I can scarce keep myself from falling. And this is the end
+of all my labour! The coward blow of that accursed Brennus has done
+its work, and Harmachis dies!"
+
+"Love counts not its labour, Charmion, nor can it weight its
+tenderness on the scale of purchase. That which it has it gives, and
+craves for more to give and give, till the soul's infinity be drained.
+Dear to thy heart are these heavy nights of watching; sweet to thy
+weary eyes is that sad sight of strength brought so low that it hangs
+upon thy weakness like a babe to its mother's breast! For, Charmion,
+thou dost love this man who loves thee not, and now that he is
+helpless thou canst pour thy passion forth over the unanswering
+darkness of his soul, and cheat thyself with dreams of what yet might
+be."
+
+"I love him not, as thou hast proof, O Queen! How can I love one who
+would have slain thee, who art as my heart's sister? It is for pity
+that I nurse him."
+
+She laughed a little as she answered, "Pity is love's own twin,
+Charmion. Wondrous wayward are the paths of woman's love, and thou
+hast shown thine strangely, that I know. But the more high the love,
+the deeper the gulf whereinto it can fall--ay, and thence soar again
+to heaven, once more to fall! Poor woman! thou art thy passion's
+plaything: now tender as the morning sky, and now, when jealousy grips
+thy heart, more cruel than the sea. Well, thus are we made. Soon,
+after all this troubling, nothing will be left thee but tears,
+remorse, and--memory."
+
+And she went forth.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+OF THE TENDER CARE OF CHARMION; OF THE HEALING OF HARMACHIS;
+OF THE SAILING OF THE FLEET OF CLEOPATRA FOR CILICIA; AND OF THE
+SPEECH OF BRENNUS TO HARMACHIS
+
+Cleopatra went, and for a while I lay silent, gathering up my strength
+to speak. But Charmion came and stood over me, and I felt a great tear
+fall from her dark eyes upon my face, as the first heavy drop of rain
+falls from a thunder cloud.
+
+"Thou goest," she whispered; "thou goest fast whither I may not
+follow! O Harmachis, how gladly would I give my life for thine!"
+
+Then at length I opened my eyes, and spoke as best I could:
+
+"Restrain thy grief, dear friend," I said, "I live yet; and, in truth,
+I feel as though new life gathered in my breast!"
+
+She gave a little cry of joy, and I never saw aught more beautiful
+than the change that came upon her weeping face! It was as when the
+first lights of the day run up the pallor of that sad sky which veils
+the night from dawn. All rosy grew her lovely countenance; her dim
+eyes shone out like stars; and a smile of wonderment, more sweet than
+the sudden smile of the sea as its ripples wake to brightness beneath
+the kiss of the risen moon, broke through her rain of tears.
+
+"Thou livest!" she cried, throwing herself on her knees beside my
+couch. "Thou livest--and I thought thee gone! Thou art come back to
+me! Oh! what say I? How foolish is a woman's heart! 'Tis this long
+watching! Nay; sleep and rest thee, Harmachis!--why dost thou talk?
+Not one more word, I command thee straitly! Where is the draught left
+by that long-bearded fool? Nay thou shalt have no draught! There,
+sleep, Harmachis; sleep!" and she crouched down at my side and laid
+her cool hand upon my brow, murmuring, "/Sleep! sleep!/"
+
+And when I woke there she was still, but the lights of dawn were
+peeping through the casement. There she knelt, one hand upon my
+forehead, and her head, in all its disarray of curls, resting upon her
+outstretched arm.
+
+"Charmion," I whispered, "have I slept?"
+
+Instantly she was wide awake, and, gazing on me with tender eyes,
+"Yea, thou hast slept, Harmachis."
+
+"How long, then, have I slept?"
+
+"Nine hours."
+
+"And thou hast held thy place there, at my side, for nine long hours?"
+
+"Yes, it is nothing; I also have slept--I feared to waken thee if I
+stirred."
+
+"Go, rest," I said; "it shames me to think of this thing. Go rest
+thee, Charmion!"
+
+"Vex not thyself," she answered; "see, I will bid a slave watch thee,
+and to wake me if thou needest aught; I sleep there, in the outer
+chamber. Peace--I go!" and she strove to rise, but, so cramped was
+she, fell straightway on the floor.
+
+I can scarcely tell the sense of shame that filled me when I saw her
+fall. Alas! I could not stir to help her.
+
+"It is naught," she said; "move not, I did but catch my foot. There!"
+and she rose, again to fall--"a pest upon my awkwardness! Why--I must
+be sleeping. 'Tis well now. I'll send the slave;" and she staggered
+thence like one overcome with wine.
+
+And after that, I slept once more, for I was very weak. When I woke it
+was afternoon, and I craved for food, which Charmion brought me.
+
+I ate. "Then I die not," I said.
+
+"Nay," she answered, with a toss of her head, "thou wilt live. In
+truth, I did waste my pity on thee."
+
+"And thy pity saved my life," I said wearily, for now I remembered.
+
+"It is nothing," she answered carelessly. "After all, thou art my
+cousin; also, I love nursing--it is a woman's trade. Like enough I had
+done as much for any slave. Now, too, that the danger is past, I leave
+thee."
+
+"Thou hadst done better to let me die, Charmion," I said after a
+while, "for life to me can now be only one long shame. Tell me, then,
+when sails Cleopatra for Cilicia?"
+
+"She sails in twenty days, and with such pomp and glory as Egypt has
+never seen. Of a truth, I cannot guess where she has found the means
+to gather in this store of splendour, as a husbandman gathers his
+golden harvest."
+
+But I, knowing whence the wealth came, groaned in bitterness of
+spirit, and made no answer.
+
+"Goest thou also, Charmion?" I asked presently.
+
+"Ay, I and all the Court. Thou, too--thou goest."
+
+"I go? Nay, why is this?"
+
+"Because thou art Cleopatra's slave, and must march in gilded chains
+behind her chariot; because she fears to leave thee here in Khem;
+because it is her will, and there is an end."
+
+"Charmion, can I not escape?"
+
+"Escape, thou poor sick man? Nay, how canst thou escape? Even now thou
+art most strictly guarded. And if thou didst escape, whither wouldst
+thou fly? There's not an honest man in Egypt but would spit on thee in
+scorn!"
+
+Once more I groaned in spirit, and, being so very weak, I felt the
+tears roll adown my cheek.
+
+"Weep not!" she said hastily, and turning her face aside. "Be a man,
+and brave these troubles out. Thou hast sown, now must thou reap; but
+after harvest the waters rise and wash away the rotting roots, and
+then seed-time comes again. Perchance, yonder in Cilicia, a way may be
+found, when once more thou art strong, by which thou mayst fly--if in
+truth thou canst bear thy life apart from Cleopatra's smile; then in
+some far land must thou dwell till these things are forgotten. And now
+my task is done, so fare thee well! At times I will come to visit thee
+and see that thou needest nothing."
+
+So she went, and I was nursed thenceforward, and that skilfully, by
+the physician and two women-slaves; and as my wound healed so my
+strength came back to me, slowly at first, then most swiftly. In four
+days from that time I left my couch, and in three more I could walk an
+hour in the palace gardens; another week and I could read and think,
+though I went no more to Court. And at length one afternoon Charmion
+came and bade me make ready, for the fleet would sail in two days,
+first for the coast of Syria, and thence to the gulf of Issus and
+Cilicia.
+
+Thereon, with all formality, and in writing, I craved leave of
+Cleopatra that I might be left, urging that my health was so feeble
+that I could not travel. But a message was sent to me in answer that I
+must come.
+
+And so, on the appointed day, I was carried in a litter down to the
+boat, and together with that very soldier who had cut me down, the
+Captain Brennus, and others of his troop (who, indeed, were sent to
+guard me), we rowed aboard a vessel where she lay at anchor with the
+rest of the great fleet. For Cleopatra was voyaging as though to war
+in much pomp, and escorted by a fleet of ships, among which her
+galley, built like a house and lined throughout with cedar and silken
+hangings, was the most beautiful and costly that the world has ever
+seen. But I went not on this vessel, and therefore it chanced that I
+did not see Cleopatra or Charmion till we landed at the mouth of the
+river Cydnus.
+
+The signal being made, the fleet set sail; and, the wind being fair,
+we came to Joppa on the evening of the second day. Thence we sailed
+slowly with contrary winds up the coast of Syria, making C�sarea, and
+Ptolemais, and Tyrus, and Berytus, and past Lebanon's white brow
+crowned with his crest of cedars, on to Heraclea and across the gulf
+of Issus to the mouth of Cydnus. And ever as we journeyed, the strong
+breath of the sea brought back my health, till at length, save for a
+line of white upon my head where the sword had fallen, I was almost as
+I had been. And one night, as we drew near Cydnus, while Brennus and I
+sat alone together on the deck, his eye fell upon the white mark his
+sword had made, and he swore a great oath by his heathen Gods. "An
+thou hadst died, lad," he said, "methinks I could never again have
+held up my head! Ah! that was a coward stroke, and I am shamed to
+think that it was I who struck it, and thou on the ground with thy
+back to me! Knowest thou that when thou didst lie between life and
+death, I came every day to ask tidings of thee? and I swore by Taranis
+that if thou didst die I'd turn my back upon that soft palace life and
+then away for the bonny North."
+
+"Nay, trouble not, Brennus," I answered; "it was thy duty."
+
+"Mayhap! but there are duties that a brave man should not do--nay, not
+at the bidding of any Queen who ever ruled in Egypt! Thy blow had
+dazed me or I had not struck. What is it, lad?--art in trouble with
+this Queen of ours? Why art thou dragged a prisoner upon this pleasure
+party? Knowest thou that we are strictly charged that if thou dost
+escape our lives shall pay the price?"
+
+"Ay, in sore trouble, friend," I answered; "ask me no more."
+
+"Then, being of the age thou art, there's a woman in it--that I swear
+--and, perchance, though I am rough and foolish, I might make a guess.
+Look thou, lad, what sayest thou? I am weary of this service of
+Cleopatra and this hot land of deserts and of luxury, that sap a man's
+strength and drain his pocket; and so are others whom I know of. What
+sayest thou: let's take one of these unwieldy vessels and away to the
+North? I'll lead thee to a better land than Egypt--a land of lake and
+mountain, and great forests of sweet-scented pine; ay, and find thee a
+girl fit to mate with--my own niece--a girl strong and tall, with wide
+blue eyes and long fair hair, and arms that could crack thy ribs were
+she of a mind to hug thee! Come, what sayest thou? Put away the past,
+and away for the bonny North, and be a son to me."
+
+For a moment I thought, and then sadly shook my head; for though I was
+sorely tempted to be gone, I knew that my fate lay in Egypt, and I
+might not fly my fate.
+
+"It may not be, Brennus," I answered. "Fain would I that it might be,
+but I am bound by a chain of destiny which I cannot break, and in the
+land of Egypt I must live and die."
+
+"As thou wilt, lad," said the old warrior. "I should have dearly loved
+to marry thee among my people, and make a son of thee. At the least,
+remember that while I am here thou hast Brennus for a friend. And one
+thing more; beware of that beauteous Queen of thine, for, by Taranis,
+perhaps an hour may come when she will hold that thou knowest too
+much, and then----" and he drew his hand across his throat. "And now
+good night; a cup of wine, then to sleep, for to-morrow the
+foolery----"
+
+[Here several lengths of the second roll of papyrus are so broken as
+to be undecipherable. They seem to have been descriptive of
+Cleopatra's voyage up the Cydnus to the city of Tarsus.]
+
+"And--[the writing continues]--to those who could take joy in such
+things, the sight must, indeed, have been a gallant one. For the stern
+of our galley was covered with sheets of beaten gold, the sails were
+of the scarlet of Tyre, and the oars of silver touched the water to a
+measure of music. And there, in the centre of the vessel, beneath an
+awning ablaze with gold embroidery, lay Cleopatra, attired as the
+Roman Venus (and surely Venus was not more fair!), in thin robes of
+whitest silk, bound in beneath her breast with a golden girdle
+delicately graven over with scenes of love. All about her were little
+rosy boys, chosen for their beauty, and clad in naught save downy
+wings strapped upon their shoulders, and on their backs Cupid's bow
+and quiver, who fanned her with fans of plumes. Upon the vessel's
+decks, handling the cordage, that was of silken web, and softly
+singing to the sound of harps and the beat of oars, were no rough
+sailors, but women lovely to behold, some robed as Graces and some as
+Nereids--that is, scarce robed at all, except in their scented hair.
+And behind the couch, with drawn sword, stood Brennus, in splendid
+armour and winged helm of gold; and by him others--I among them--in
+garments richly worked, and knew that I was indeed a slave! On the
+high poop also burned censers filled with costliest incense, of which
+the fragrant steam hung in little clouds about our wake.
+
+Thus, as in a dream of luxury, followed by many ships, we glided on
+towards the wooded slopes of Taurus, at whose foot lay that ancient
+city Tarshish. And ever as we came the people gathered on the banks
+and ran before us, shouting: "Venus is risen from the sea! Venus hath
+come to visit Bacchus!" We drew near to the city, and all its people--
+everyone who could walk or be carried--crowded down in thousands to
+the docks, and with them came the whole army of Antony, so that at
+length the Triumvir was left alone upon the judgment seat.
+
+Dellius, the false-tongued, came also, fawning and bowing, and in the
+name of Antony gave the "Queen of Beauty" greeting, bidding her to a
+feast that Antony had made ready. But she made high answer, and said,
+"Forsooth, it is Antony who should wait on us; not we on Antony. Bid
+the noble Antony to our poor table this night--else we dine alone."
+
+Dellius went, bowing to the ground; the feast was made ready; and then
+at last I set eyes on Antony. He came clad in purple robes, a great
+man and beautiful to see, set in the stout prime of life, with bright
+eyes of blue, and curling hair, and features cut sharply as a Grecian
+gem. For he was great of form and royal of mien, and with an open
+countenance on which his thoughts were so clearly written that all
+might read them; only the weakness of the mouth belied the power of
+the brow. He came attended by his generals, and when he reached the
+couch where Cleopatra lay he stood astonished, gazing on her with
+wide-opened eyes. She, too, gazed on him earnestly; I saw the red
+blood run up beneath her skin, and a great pang of jealousy seized
+upon my heart. And Charmion, who saw all beneath her downcast eyes,
+saw this also and smiled. But Cleopatra spoke no word, only she
+stretched out her white hand for him to kiss; and he, saying no word,
+took her hand and kissed it.
+
+"Behold, noble Antony!" she said at last in her voice of music, "thou
+hast called me, and I am come."
+
+"Venus has come," he answered in his deep notes, and still holding his
+eyes fixed upon her face. "I called a woman--a Goddess hath risen from
+the deep!"
+
+"To find a God to greet her on the land," she laughed with ready wit.
+"Well, a truce to compliments, for being on the earth even Venus is
+ahungered. Noble Antony, thy hand."
+
+The trumpets blared, and through the bowing crowd Cleopatra, followed
+by her train, passed hand in hand with Antony to the feast.
+
+[Here there is another break in the papyrus.]
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+OF THE FEAST OF CLEOPATRA; OF THE MELTING OF THE PEARL;
+OF THE SAYING OF HARMACHIS; AND OF CLEOPATRA'S VOW OF LOVE
+
+On the third night the feast was once more prepared in the hall of the
+great house that had been set aside to the use of Cleopatra, and on
+this night its splendour was greater even than on the nights before.
+For the twelve couches that were set about the table were embossed
+with gold, and those of Cleopatra and Antony were of gold set with
+jewels. The dishes also were all of gold set with jewels, the walls
+were hung with purple cloths sewn with gold, and on the floor, covered
+with a net of gold, fresh roses were strewn ankle-deep, that as the
+slaves trod them sent up their perfume. Once again I was bidden to
+stand, with Charmion and Iras and Merira, behind the couch of
+Cleopatra, and, like a slave, from time to time call out the hours as
+they flew. And there being no help, I went wild at heart; but this I
+swore--it should be for the last time, since I could not bear that
+shame. For though I would not yet believe what Charmion told me--that
+Cleopatra was about to become the Love of Antony--yet I could no more
+endure this ignominy and torture. For from Cleopatra now I had no
+words save such as a Queen speaks to her slave, and methinks it gave
+her dark heart pleasure to torment me.
+
+Thus it came to pass that I, the Pharaoh, crowned of Khem, stood among
+eunuchs and waiting-women behind the couch of Egypt's Queen while the
+feast went merrily and the wine-cup passed. And ever Antony sat, his
+eyes fixed upon the face of Cleopatra, who from time to time let her
+deep glance lose itself in his, and then for a little while their talk
+died away. For he told her tales of war and of deeds that he had done
+--ay, and love-jests such as are not meet for the ears of women. But
+she took offence at nothing; rather, falling into his humour, she
+would cap his stories with others of a finer wit, but not less
+shameless.
+
+At length, the rich meal being finished, Antony gazed at the splendour
+around him.
+
+"Tell me, then, most lovely Egypt," he said; "are the sands of Nile
+compact of gold, that thou canst, night by night, thus squander the
+ransom of a King upon a single feast? Whence comes this untold
+wealth?"
+
+I bethought me of the tomb of the Divine Menkau-ra, whose holy
+treasure was thus wickedly wasted, and looked up so that Cleopatra's
+eye caught mine; but, reading my thoughts, she frowned heavily.
+
+"Why, noble Antony," she said, "surely it is nothing! In Egypt we have
+our secrets, and know whence to conjure riches at our need. Say, what
+is the value of this golden service, and of the meats and drinks that
+have been set before us?"
+
+He cast his eyes about, and hazarded a guess.
+
+"Maybe a thousand sestertia."[*]
+
+[*] About eight thousand pounds of English money.--Editor.
+
+"Thou hast understated it by half, noble Antony! But such as it is I
+will give it thee and those with thee as a free token of my
+friendship. And more will I show thee now: I myself will eat and drink
+ten thousand sestertia at a draught."
+
+"That cannot be, fair Egypt!"
+
+She laughed, and bade a slave bring her white vinegar in a glass. When
+it was brought she set it before her and laughed again, while Antony,
+rising from his couch, drew near and set himself at her side, and all
+the company leant forward to see what she would do. And this she did.
+She took from her ear one of those great pearls which last of all had
+been drawn from the body of the Divine Pharaoh; and before any could
+guess her purpose she let it fall into the vinegar. Then came silence,
+the silence of wonder, and slowly the priceless pearl melted in the
+strong acid. When it was melted she lifted the glass and shook it,
+then drank the vinegar, to the last drop.
+
+"More vinegar, slave!" she cried; "my meal is but half finished!" and
+she drew forth the second pearl.
+
+"By Bacchus, no! that shalt thou not!" cried Antony, snatching at her
+hands; "I have seen enough;" and at that moment, moved to it by I know
+not what, I called aloud:
+
+"The hour falls, O Queen!--/the hour of the coming of the curse of
+Menkau-ra!/"
+
+An ashy whiteness grew upon Cleopatra's face, and she turned upon me
+furiously, while all the company gazed wondering, not knowing what the
+words might mean.
+
+"Thou ill-omened slave!" she cried. "Speak thus once more and thou
+shalt be scourged with rods!--ay, scourged like an evildoer--that I
+promise thee, Harmachis!"
+
+"What means the knave of an astrologer?" asked Antony. "Speak, sirrah!
+and make clear thy meaning, for those who deal in curses must warrant
+their wares."
+
+"I am a servant of the Gods, noble Antony. That which the Gods put in
+my mind that must I say; nor can I read their meaning," I answered
+humbly.
+
+"Oh, oh! thou servest the Gods, dost thou, thou many-coloured
+mystery?" This he said having reference to my splendid robes. "Well, I
+serve the Goddesses, which is a softer cult. And there's this between
+us: that though what they put in my mind I say, neither can I read
+their meaning," and he glanced at Cleopatra as one who questions.
+
+"Let the knave be," she said impatiently; "to-morrow we'll be rid of
+him. Sirrah, begone!"
+
+I bowed and went; and, as I went, I heard Antony say: "Well, he may be
+a knave--for that all men are--but this for thy astrologer: he hath a
+royal air and the eye of a King--ay, and wit in it."
+
+Without the door I paused, not knowing what to do, for I was
+bewildered with misery. And, as I stood, someone touched me on the
+hand. I glanced up--it was Charmion, who in the confusion of the
+rising of the guests, had slipped away and followed me.
+
+For in trouble Charmion was ever at my side.
+
+"Follow me," she whispered; "thou art in danger."
+
+I turned and followed her. Why should I not?
+
+"Whither go we?" I asked at length.
+
+"To my chamber," she said. "Fear not; we ladies of Cleopatra's Court
+have small good fame to lose; if anyone by chance should see us,
+they'll think that it is a love-tryst, and such are all the fashion."
+
+I followed, and, presently, skirting the crowd, we came unseen to a
+little side entrance that led to a stair, up which we passed. The
+stair ended in a passage; we turned down it till we found a door on
+the left hand. Charmion entered silently, and I followed her into a
+dark chamber. Being in, she barred the door and, kindling tinder to a
+flame, lit a hanging lamp. As the light grew strong I gazed around.
+The chamber was not large, and had but one casement, closely
+shuttered. For the rest, it was simply furnished, having white walls,
+some chests for garments, an ancient chair, what I took to be a tiring
+table, on which were combs, perfumes, and all the frippery that
+pertains to woman, and a white bed with a broidered coverlid, over
+which was hung a gnat-gauze.
+
+"Be seated, Harmachis," she said, pointing to the chair. I took the
+chair, and Charmion, throwing back the gnat-gauze, sat herself upon
+the bed before me.
+
+"Knowest thou what I heard Cleopatra say as thou didst leave the
+banqueting-hall?" she asked presently.
+
+"Nay, I know not."
+
+"She gazed after thee, and, as I went over to her to do some service,
+she murmured to herself: 'By Serapis, I will make an end! I will wait
+no longer: to-morrow he shall be strangled!'"
+
+"So!" I said, "it may be; though, after all that has been, I can
+scarce believe that she will murder me."
+
+"Why canst thou not believe it, thou most foolish of men? Dost forget
+how nigh thou wast to death there in the Alabaster Hall? Who saved
+thee then from the knives of the eunuchs? Was it Cleopatra? Or was it
+I and Brennus? Stay, I will tell thee. Thou canst not yet believe it,
+because, in thy folly, thou dost not think it possible that the woman
+who has but lately been as a wife to thee can now, in so short a time,
+doom thee to be basely done to death. Nay, answer not--I know all; and
+I tell thee this: thou hast not measured the depth of Cleopatra's
+perfidy, nor canst thou dream the blackness of her wicked heart. She
+had surely slain thee in Alexandria had she not feared that thy
+slaughter being noised abroad might bring trouble on her. Therefore
+has she brought thee here to kill thee secretly. For what more canst
+thou give her? She has thy heart's love, and is wearied of thy
+strength and beauty. She has robbed thee of thy royal birthright and
+brought thee, a King, to stand amidst the waiting-women behind her at
+her feasts; she has won from thee the great secret of the holy
+treasure!"
+
+"Ah, thou knowest that?"
+
+"Yes, I know all; and to-night thou seest how the wealth stored
+against the need of Khem is being squandered to fill up the wanton
+luxury of Khem's Macedonian Queen! Thou seest how she has kept her
+oath to wed thee honourably. Harmachis--at length thine eyes are open
+to the truth!"
+
+"Ay, I see too well; and yet she swore she loved me, and I, poor fool,
+I believed her!"
+
+"She swore she loved thee!" answered Charmion, lifting her dark eyes:
+"now I will show thee how she loves thee. Knowest thou what was this
+house? It was a priest's college; and, as thou wottest, Harmachis,
+priests have their ways. This little room aforetime was the room of
+the Head Priest, and the chamber that is beyond and below was the
+gathering-place of the other priests. The old slave who keeps the
+house told me all this, and also she revealed what I shall show thee.
+Now, Harmachis, be silent as the dead, and follow me!"
+
+She blew out the lamp, and by the little light that crept through the
+shuttered casement led me by the hand to the far corner of the room.
+Here she pressed upon the wall, and a door opened in its thickness. We
+entered, and she closed the spring. Now we were in a little chamber,
+some five cubits in length by four in breadth; for a faint light
+struggled into the closet, and also the sound of voices, I knew not
+whence. Loosing my hand, she crept to the end of the place, and looked
+steadfastly at the wall; then crept back and, whispering "Silence!"
+led me forward with her. Then I saw that there were eyeholes in the
+wall, which pierced it, and were hidden on the farther side by carved
+work in stone. I looked through the hole that was in front of me, and
+I saw this: six cubits below was the level of the floor of another
+chamber, lit with fragrant lamps, and most richly furnished. It was
+the sleeping-place of Cleopatra, and there, within ten cubits of where
+we stood, sat Cleopatra on a gilded couch, and by her side sat Antony.
+
+"Tell me," Cleopatra murmured--for this place was so built that every
+word spoken in the room below came to the ears of the listener above--
+"tell me, noble Antony, wast pleased with my poor festival?"
+
+"Ay," he answered in his deep soldier's voice, "ay, Egypt, I have made
+feasts, and been bidden to feasts, but never saw I aught like thine;
+and I tell thee this, though I am rough of tongue and unskilled in
+pretty sayings such as women love, thou wast the richest sight of all
+that splendid board. The red wine was not so red as thy beauteous
+cheek, the roses smelt not so sweet as the odour of thy hair, and no
+sapphire there with its changing light was so lovely as thy eyes of
+ocean blue."
+
+"What! Praise from Antony! Sweet words from the lips of him whose
+writings are so harsh! Why, it is praise indeed!"
+
+"Ay," he went on, "it was a royal feast, though I grieve that thou
+didst waste that great pearl; and what meant that hour-calling
+astrologer of thine, with his ill-omened talk of the curse of
+Menkau-ra?"
+
+A shadow fled across her glowing face. "I know not; he was lately
+wounded in a brawl, and methinks the blow has crazed him."
+
+"He seemed not crazed, and there was that about his voice which rings
+in my ears like some oracle of fate. So wildly, too, he looked upon
+thee, Egypt, with those piercing eyes of his, like one who loved and
+yet hated through the love."
+
+"He is a strange man, I tell thee, noble Antony, and a learned.
+Myself, at times, I almost fear him, for he is deeply versed in the
+ancient arts of Egypt. Knowest thou that the man is of royal blood,
+and once he plotted to slay me? But I won him over, and slew him not,
+for he had the key to secrets that I fain would learn; and, indeed, I
+loved his wisdom, and to listen to his deep talk of all hidden
+things."
+
+"By Bacchus, I grow jealous of the knave! And now, Egypt?"
+
+"And now I have sucked his knowledge dry, and have no more cause to
+fear him. Didst thou not see that I have made him stand these three
+nights a slave amid my slaves, and call aloud the hours as they fled
+in festival. No captive King marching in thy Roman triumphs can have
+suffered pangs so keen as that proud Egyptian Prince when he stood
+shamed behind my couch."
+
+Here Charmion laid her hand on mine and pressed it, as though in
+tenderness.
+
+"Well, he shall trouble us no more with his words of evil omen,"
+Cleopatra went on slowly; "to-morrow morn he dies--dies swiftly and in
+secret, leaving no trace of what his fate has been. On this is my mind
+fixed; of a truth, noble Antony, it is fixed. Even as I speak the fear
+of this man grows and gathers in my breast. Half am I minded to give
+the word even now, for I breathe not freely till he be dead," and she
+made as though to rise.
+
+"Let it be till morning," he said, catching her by the hand; "the
+soldiers drink, and the deed will be ill done. 'Tis pity too. I love
+not to think of men slaughtered in their sleep."
+
+"In the morning, perchance, the hawk may have flown," she answered,
+pondering. "He hath keen ears, this Harmachis, and can summon things
+to aid him that are not of the earth. Perchance, even now he hears me
+in the spirit; for, of a truth, I seem to feel his presence breathing
+round me. I could tell thee--but no, let him be! Noble Antony, be my
+tiring-woman and loose me this crown of gold, it chafes my brow. Be
+gentle, hurt me not--so."
+
+He lifted the ur�us crown from her brows, and she shook loose her
+heavy weight of hair that fell about her like a garment.
+
+"Take back thy crown, royal Egypt," he said, speaking low, "take it
+from my hand; I will not rob thee of it, but rather set it more firmly
+on that beauteous brow."
+
+"What means my Lord?" she asked, smiling and looking into his eyes.
+
+"What mean I? Why then, this: thou camest hither at my bidding to make
+answer of the charges laid against thee as to matters politic. And
+knowest thou, Egypt, that hadst thou been other than thou art thou
+hadst not gone back to queen it on the Nile; for of this I am sure,
+the charges against thee are true in fact. But, being what thou art--
+and look thou! never did Nature serve a woman better!--I forgive thee
+all. For the sake of thy grace and beauty I forgive thee that which
+had not been forgiven to virtue, or to patriotism, or to the dignity
+of age! See now how good a thing is woman's wit and loveliness, that
+can make kings forget their duty and cozen even blindfolded Justice to
+peep ere she lifts her sword! Take back thy crown, O Egypt! It is now
+my care that, though it be heavy, it shall not chafe thee."
+
+"These are royal words, most notable Antony," she made answer;
+"gracious and generous words, such as befit the Conqueror of the
+world! And touching my misdeeds in the past--if misdeeds there have
+been--I say this, and this alone--then I knew not Antony. For, knowing
+Antony, who could sin against him? What woman could lift a sword
+against one who must be to all women as a God--one who, seen and
+known, draws after him the whole allegiance of the heart, as the sun
+draws flowers? And what more can I say and not cross the bounds of
+woman's modesty? Why, only this--set that crown upon my brow, great
+Antony, and I will take it as a gift from thee, by the giving made
+doubly dear, and to thy uses I will guard it.
+
+"There, now I am thy vassal Queen, and through me all old Egypt that I
+rule does homage to Antony the Triumvir, who shall be Antony the
+Emperor of Rome and Khem's Imperial Lord!"
+
+And, having set the crown upon her locks, he stood gazing on her,
+grown passionate in the warm breath of her living beauty, till at
+length he caught her by both hands and drawing her to him kissed her
+thrice, saying:
+
+"Cleopatra, I love thee, Sweet--I love thee as I never loved before."
+She drew back from his embrace, smiling softly; and as she did so the
+golden circlet of the sacred snakes fell, being but loosely set upon
+her brow, and rolled away into the darkness beyond the ring of light.
+
+I saw the omen, and even in the bitter anguish of my heart knew its
+evil import. But these twain took no note.
+
+"Thou lovest me?" she said, most sweetly; "how know I that thou lovest
+me? Perchance it is Fulvia whom thou lovest--Fulvia, thy wedded wife?"
+
+"Nay, it is not Fulvia, 'tis thou, Cleopatra, and thou alone. Many
+women have looked favourably upon me from my boyhood up, but to never
+a one have I known such desire as to thee, O thou Wonder of the World,
+like unto whom no woman ever was! Canst thou love me, Cleopatra, and
+to me be true, not for my place or power, not for that which I can
+give or can withhold, not for the stern music of my legion's tramp, or
+for the light that flows from my bright Star of Fortune; but for
+myself, for the sake of Antony, the rough captain, grown old in camps?
+Ay, for the sake of Antony the reveller, the frail, the unfixed of
+purpose, but who yet never did desert a friend, or rob a poor man, or
+take an enemy unawares? Say, canst thou love me, Egypt? Oh! if thou
+wilt, why, I am more happy than though I sat to-night in the Capitol
+at Rome crowned absolute Monarch of the World!"
+
+And, ever as he spoke, she gazed on him with wonderful eyes, and in
+them shone a light of truth and honesty such as was strange to me.
+
+"Thou speakest plainly," she said, "and thy words are sweet to mine
+ears--they would be sweet, even were things otherwise than they are,
+for what woman would not love to see the world's master at her feet?
+But things being as they are, why, Antony, what can be so sweet as thy
+sweet words? The harbour of his rest to the storm-tossed mariner--
+surely that is sweet! The dream of Heaven's bliss which cheers the
+poor ascetic priest on his path of sacrifice--surely that is sweet!
+The sight of Dawn, the rosy-fingered, coming in his promise to glad
+the watching Earth--surely that is sweet! But, ah! not one of these,
+nor all dear delightful things that are, can match the honey-sweetness
+of thy words to me, O Antony! For thou knowest not--never canst thou
+know--how drear my life hath been, and empty, since thus it is
+ordained that in love only can woman lose her solitude! And I have
+/never/ loved--never might I love--till this happy night! Ay, take me
+in thy arms, and let us swear a great vow of love--an oath that may
+not be broken while life is in us! Behold! Antony! now and for ever I
+do vow most strict fidelity unto thee! Now and for ever I am thine,
+and thine alone!"
+
+
+
+Then Charmion took me by the hand and drew me thence.
+
+"Hast seen enough?" she asked, when we were once more within the
+chamber and the lamp was lit.
+
+"Yea," I answered; "my eyes are opened."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+OF THE PLAN OF CHARMION; OF THE CONFESSION OF CHARMION; AND
+OF THE ANSWER OF HARMACHIS
+
+For some while I sat with bowed head, and the last bitterness of shame
+sank into my soul. This, then, was the end. For this I had betrayed my
+oaths; for this I had told the secret of the pyramid; for this I had
+lost my Crown, my Honour, and, perchance, my hope of Heaven! Could
+there be another man in the wide world so steeped in sorrow as I was
+that night? Surely not one! Where should I turn? What could I do? And
+even through the tempest of my torn heart the bitter voice of jealousy
+called aloud. For I loved this woman, to whom I had given all; and she
+at this moment--she was---- Ah! I could not bear to think of it; and
+in my utter agony, my heart burst in a river of tears such as are
+terrible to weep!
+
+Then Charmion drew near me, and I saw that she, too, was weeping.
+
+"Weep not, Harmachis!" she sobbed, kneeling at my side. "I cannot
+endure to see thee weep. Oh! why wouldst thou not be warned? Then
+hadst thou been great and happy, and not as now. Listen, Harmachis!
+Thou didst hear what that false and tigerish woman said--to-morrow she
+hands thee over to the murderers!"
+
+"It is well," I gasped.
+
+"Nay: it is not well. Harmachis, give her not this last triumph over
+thee. Thou hast lost all save life: but while life remains, hope
+remains also, and with hope the chance of vengeance."
+
+"Ah!" I said, starting from my seat. "I had not thought of that. Ay--
+the chance of vengeance! It would be sweet to be avenged!"
+
+"It would be sweet, Harmachis, and yet this--Vengeance is an arrow
+that in falling oft pierces him who shot it. Myself--I know it," and
+she sighed. "But a truce to talk and grief. There will be time for us
+twain to grieve, if not to talk, in all the heavy coming years. Thou
+must fly--before the coming of the light must thou fly. Here is a
+plan. To-morrow, ere the dawn, a galley that but yesterday came from
+Alexandria, bearing fruit and stores, sails thither again, and its
+captain is known to me, but to thee he is not known. Now, I will find
+thee the garb of a Syrian merchant, and cloak thee, as I know how, and
+furnish thee with a letter to the captain of the galley. He shall give
+thee passage to Alexandria; for to him thou wilt seem but as a
+merchant going on the business of thy trade. Brennus is officer of the
+guard to-night, and Brennus is a friend to me and thee. Perhaps he
+will guess somewhat; or, perhaps, he will not guess; at the least, the
+Syrian merchant shall safely pass the lines. What sayest thou?"
+
+"It is well," I answered wearily; "little do I reck the issue."
+
+"Rest thou, then, here, Harmachis, while I make these matters ready;
+and, Harmachis, grieve not overmuch; there are others who should
+grieve more heavily than thou." And she went, leaving me alone with my
+agony which rent me like a torture-bed. Had it not been for that
+fierce desire of vengeance which from time to time flashed across my
+tormented mind as the lightning over a midnight sea, methinks my
+reason had left me in that dark hour. At length I heard her footstep
+at the door, and she entered, breathing heavily, for she bore a sack
+of clothing in her arms.
+
+"It is well," she said: "here is the garb with spare linen, and
+writing-tablets, and all things needful. I have seen Brennus also, and
+told him that a Syrian merchant would pass the guard an hour before
+the dawn. And though he made pretence of sleep, I think he understood,
+for he answered, yawning, that if they but had the pass-word,
+'Antony,' fifty Syrian merchants might go through about their lawful
+business. And here is the letter to the captain--thou canst not
+mistake the galley, for she is moored along to the right--a small
+galley, painted black, as thou dost enter on the great quay, and,
+moreover, the sailors make ready for sailing. Now I will wait here
+without, while thou dost put off the livery of thy service and array
+thyself."
+
+When she was gone I tore off my gorgeous garments and spat upon them
+and trod them on the ground. Then I put on the modest robe of a
+merchant, and bound the tablets round me, on my feet the sandals of
+untanned hide, and at my waist the knife. When it was done Charmion
+entered once again and looked on me.
+
+"Too much art thou still the royal Harmachis," she said; "see, it must
+be changed."
+
+Then she took scissors from her tiring-table, and, bidding me be
+seated, she cut off my locks, clipping the hair close to the head.
+Next she found stains of such sort as women use to make dark the eyes,
+and mixed them cunningly, rubbing the stuff on my face and hands and
+on the white mark in my hair where the sword of Brennus had bitten to
+the bone.
+
+"Now thou art changed--somewhat for the worse, Harmachis," she said,
+with a dreary laugh, "scarce myself should I know thee. Stay, there is
+one more thing," and, going to a chest of garments, she drew thence a
+heavy bag of gold.
+
+"Take thou this," she said; "thou wilt have need of money."
+
+"I cannot take thy gold, Charmion."
+
+"Yes, take it. It was Sepa who gave it to me for the furtherance of
+our cause, and therefore it is fitting that thou shouldst spend it.
+Moreover, if I want money, doubtless Antony, who is henceforth my
+master, will give me more; he is much beholden to me, and this he
+knows well. There, waste not the precious time in haggling o'er the
+pelf--not yet art thou all a merchant, Harmachis;" and, without more
+words, she thrust the pieces into the leather bag that hung across my
+shoulders. Then she made fast the sack containing the spare garments,
+and, so womanly thoughtful was she, placed in it an alabaster jar of
+pigment, with which I might stain my countenance afresh, and, taking
+the broidered robes of my office that I had cast off, hid them in the
+secret passage. And so at last all was made ready.
+
+"Is it time that I should go," I asked.
+
+"Not yet a while. Be patient, Harmachis, for but one little hour more
+must thou endure my presence, and then, perchance, farewell for ever."
+
+I made a gesture signifying that this was no time for sharp words.
+
+"Forgive me my quick tongue," she said; "but from a salt spring bitter
+waters well. Be seated, Harmachis; I have heavier words to speak to
+thee before thou goest."
+
+"Say on," I answered; "words, however heavy, can move me no more."
+
+She stood before me with folded hands, and the lamp-light shone upon
+her beauteous face. I noticed idly how great was its pallor and how
+wide and dark were the rings about the deep black eyes. Twice she
+lifted her white face and strove to speak, twice her voice failed her;
+and when at last it came it was in a hoarse whisper.
+
+"I cannot let thee go," she said--"I cannot let thee go unwitting of
+the truth.
+
+"/Harmachis, 'twas I who did betray thee!/"
+
+I sprang to my feet, an oath upon my lips; but she caught me by the
+hand.
+
+"Oh, be seated," she said--"be seated and hear me; then, when thou
+hast heart, do to me as thou wilt. Listen. From that evil moment when,
+in the presence of thy uncle Sepa, for the second time I set eyes upon
+thy face, I loved thee--how much, thou canst little guess. Think upon
+thine own love for Cleopatra, and double it, and double it again, and
+perchance thou mayst come near to my love's mighty sum. I loved thee,
+day by day I loved thee more, till in thee and for thee alone I seemed
+to live. But thou wast cold--thou wast worse than cold! thou didst
+deal with me not as a breathing woman, but rather as the instrument to
+an end--as a tool with which to grave thy fortunes. And then I saw--
+yes, long before thou knewest it thyself--thy heart's tide was setting
+strong towards that ruinous shore whereon to-day thy life is broken.
+And at last that night came, that dreadful night when, hid within the
+chamber, I saw thee cast my kerchief to the winds, and with sweet
+words cherish my royal Rival's gift. Then--oh, thou knowest--in my
+pain I betrayed the secret that thou wouldst not see, and thou didst
+make a mock of me, Harmachis! Oh! the shame of it--thou in thy
+foolishness didst make a mock of me! I went thence, and within me were
+rising all the torments which can tear a woman's heart, for now I was
+sure that thou didst love Cleopatra! Ay, and so mad was I, even that
+night I was minded to betray thee: but I thought--not yet, not yet;
+to-morrow he may soften. Then came the morrow, and all was ready for
+the bursting of the great plot that should make thee Pharaoh. And I
+too came--thou dost remember--and again thou didst put me away when I
+spake to thee in parables, as something of little worth--as a thing
+too small to claim a moment's weighty thought. And, knowing that this
+was because--though thou knewest it not--thou didst love Cleopatra,
+whom now thou must straightway slay, I grew mad, and a wicked Spirit
+entered into me, possessing me utterly, so that I was myself no
+longer, nor could control myself. And because thou hadst scorned me, I
+did this, to my everlasting shame and sorrow!--I passed into
+Cleopatra's presence and betrayed thee and those with thee, and our
+holy cause, saying that I had found a writing which thou hadst let
+fall and read all this therein."
+
+I gasped and sat silent; and gazing sadly at me she went on:
+
+"When she understood how great was the plot, and how deep its roots,
+Cleopatra was much troubled; and, at first, she would have fled to
+Sais or taken ship and run for Cyprus, but I showed her that the ways
+were barred. Then she said she would cause thee to be slain, there, in
+the chamber, and I left her so believing; for, at that hour, I was
+glad that thou shouldst be slain--ay, even if I wept out my heart upon
+thy grave, Harmachis. But what said I just now?--Vengeance is an arrow
+that oft falls on him who looses it. So it was with me; for between my
+going and thy coming Cleopatra hatched a deeper plan. She feared that
+to slay thee would only be to light a fiercer fire of revolt; but she
+saw that to bind thee to her, and, having left men awhile in doubt, to
+show thee faithless, would strike the imminent danger at its roots and
+wither it. This plot once formed, being great, she dared its doubtful
+issue, and--need I go on? Thou knowest, Harmachis, how she won; and
+thus the shaft of vengeance that I loosed fell upon my own head. For
+on the morrow I knew that I had sinned for naught, that the burden of
+my betrayal had been laid on the wretched Paulus, and that I had but
+ruined the cause to which I was sworn and given the man I loved to the
+arms of wanton Egypt."
+
+She bowed her head awhile, and then, as I spoke not, once more went
+on:
+
+"Let all my sin be told, Harmachis, and then let justice come. See
+now, this thing happened. Half did Cleopatra learn to love thee, and
+deep in her heart she bethought her of taking thee to wedded husband.
+For the sake of this half love of hers she spared the lives of those
+in the plot whom she had meshed, bethinking her that if she wedded
+thee she might use them and thee to draw the heart of Egypt, which
+loves not her nor any Ptolemy. And then, once again she entrapped
+thee, and in thy folly thou didst betray to her the secret of the
+hidden wealth of Egypt, which to-day she squanders to delight the
+luxurious Antony; and, of a truth, at that time she purposed to make
+good her oath and marry thee. But on the very morn when Dellius came
+for answer she sent for me, and telling me all--for my wit, above any,
+she holds at price--demanded of me my judgment whether she should defy
+Antony and wed thee, or whether she should put the thought away and
+come to Antony. And I--now mark thou all my sin--I, in my bitter
+jealousy, rather than I would see her thy wedded wife and thou her
+loving lord, counselled her most strictly that she should come to
+Antony, well knowing--for I had had speech with Dellius--that if she
+came, this weak Antony would fall like a ripe fruit at her feet, as,
+indeed, he has fallen. And but now I have shown thee the issue of the
+scheme. Antony loves Cleopatra and Cleopatra loves Antony, and thou
+art robbed, and matters have gone well for me, who of all women on the
+earth to-night am the wretchedest by far. For when I saw how thy heart
+broke but now, my heart seemed to break with thine, and I could no
+longer bear the burden of my evil deeds, but knew that I must tell
+them and take my punishment.
+
+"And now, Harmachis, I have no more to say; save that I thank thee for
+thy courtesy in hearkening, and this one thing I add. Driven by my
+great love I have sinned against thee unto death! I have ruined thee,
+I have ruined Khem, and myself also I have ruined! Let death reward
+me! Slay thou me, Harmachis--I will gladly die upon thy sword; ay, and
+kiss its blade! Slay thou me and go; for if thou slayest me not,
+myself I will surely slay!" And she threw herself upon her knees,
+lifting her fair breast toward me, that I might smite her with my
+dagger. And, in my bitter fury, I was minded to strike; for, above
+all, I thought how, when I was fallen, this woman, who herself was my
+cause of shame, had scourged me with her whip of scorn. But it is hard
+to slay a fair woman; and, even as I lifted my hand to strike, I
+remembered that she had now twice saved my life.
+
+"Woman! thou shameless woman!" I said, "arise! I slay thee not! Who am
+I, that I should judge thy crime, that, with mine own, doth overtop
+all earthly judgment?"
+
+"Slay me, Harmachis!" she moaned; "slay me, or I slay myself! My
+burden is too great for me to bear! Be not so deadly calm! Curse me,
+and slay!"
+
+"What was it that thou didst say to me just now, Charmion--that as I
+had sown so I must reap? It is not lawful that thou shouldst slay
+thyself; it is not lawful that I, thine equal in sin, should slay thee
+because through thee I sinned. As /thou/ hast sown, Charmion, so must
+/thou/ also reap. Base woman! whose cruel jealousy has brought all
+these woes on me and Egypt, live--live on, and from year to year pluck
+the bitter fruit of crime! Haunted be thy sleep by visions of thy
+outraged Gods, whose vengeance awaits thee and me in their dim Amenti!
+Haunted be thy days by memories of that man whom thy fierce love
+brought to shame and ruin, and by the sight of Khem a prey to the
+insatiate Cleopatra and a slave to Roman Antony."
+
+"Oh, speak not thus, Harmachis! Thy words are sharper than any sword;
+and more surely, if more slowly, shall they slay! Listen, Harmachis,"
+and she grasped my robe: "when thou wast great, and all power lay
+within thy grasp, thou didst reject me. Wilt reject me now that
+Cleopatra hast cast thee from her--now that thou art poor and shamed
+and with no pillow to thy head? Still am I fair, and still I worship
+thee. Let me fly with thee, and make atonement for my lifelong love.
+Or, if this be too great a thing to ask, let me be but as thy sister
+and thy servant--thy very slave, so that I may still look upon thy
+face, and share thy trouble and minister to thee. O Harmachis, let me
+but come and I will brave all things and endure all things, and
+nothing but Death himself shall stay me from thy side. For I do
+believe that the love that sank me to so low a depth, dragging thee
+with me, can yet lift me to an equal height, and thee with me!"
+
+"Wouldst tempt me to fresh sin, woman? And dost thou think, Charmion,
+that in some hovel where I must hide, I could bear, day by day, to
+look upon thy fair face, and seeing, remember that those lips betrayed
+me? Not thus easily shalt thou atone! This I know even now: many and
+heavy shall be thy lonely days of penance! Perchance that hour of
+vengeance yet may come, and perchance thou shalt live to play thy part
+in it. Thou must still abide in the Court of Cleopatra; and, while
+thou art there, if I yet live, I will from time to time find means to
+give thee tidings. Perhaps a day may dawn when once more I shall need
+thy service. Now, swear that, in this event, thou wilt not fail me a
+second time."
+
+"I swear, Harmachis!--I swear! May everlasting torments, too hideous
+to be dreamed--more hideous, even, by far, than those that wring me
+now--be my portion if I fail thee in one jot or tittle--ay, though I
+wait a lifetime for thy word!"
+
+"It is well; see that thou keep the oath--not twice may we betray. I
+go to work out my fate; abide thou to work out thine. Perchance our
+divers threads will once more mingle ere the web be spun. Charmion,
+who unasked didst love me--and who, prompted by that gentle love of
+thine, didst betray and ruin me--fare thee well!"
+
+She gazed wildly upon my face--she stretched out her arms as though to
+clasp me; then, in the agony of her despair, she cast herself at
+length and grovelled upon the ground.
+
+I took up the sack of clothing and the staff and gained the door, and,
+as I passed it, I threw one last glance upon her. There she lay, with
+arms outstretched--more white than her white robes--her dark hair
+streaming about her, and her fair brows hidden in the dust.
+
+And thus I left her, nor did I again set my eyes upon her till nine
+long years had come and gone.
+
+[Here ends the second and largest roll of papyrus.]
+
+
+
+
+BOOK III
+
+THE VENGEANCE OF HARMACHIS
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+OF THE ESCAPE OF HARMACHIS FROM TARSUS; OF HIS BEING CAST
+FORTH AS AN OFFERING TO THE GODS OF THE SEA; OF HIS SOJOURN IN
+THE ISLE OF CYPRUS; OF HIS RETURN TO ABOUTHIS; AND OF THE
+DEATH OF AMENEMHAT
+
+I made my way down the stair in safety, and presently stood in the
+courtyard of that great house. It was but an hour from dawn, and none
+were stirring. The last reveller had drunk his fill, the dancing-girls
+had ceased their dancing, and silence lay upon the city. I drew near
+the gate, and was challenged by an officer who stood on guard, wrapped
+in a heavy cloak.
+
+"Who passes," said the voice of Brennus.
+
+"A merchant, may it please you, Sir, who, having brought gifts from
+Alexandria to a lady of the Queen's household, and, having been
+entertained of the lady, now departs to his galley," I answered in a
+feigned voice.
+
+"Umph!" he growled. "The ladies of the Queen's household keep their
+guests late. Well; it is a time of festival. The pass-word, Sir
+Shopkeeper? Without the pass-word you must needs return and crave the
+lady's further hospitality."
+
+"'/Antony/,' Sir; and a right good word, too. Ah! I've wandered far,
+and never saw I so goodly a man or so great a general. And, mark you,
+Sir! I've travelled far, and seen many generals."
+
+"Ay; '/Antony/''s the word! And Antony is a good general in his way--
+when it is a sober way, and when he cannot find a skirt to follow.
+I've served with Antony--and against him, too; and know his points.
+Well, well; he's got an armful now!"
+
+And all this while that he was holding me in talk, the sentry had been
+pacing to and fro before the gate. But now he moved a little way to
+the right, leaving the entrance clear.
+
+"Fare thee well, Harmachis, and begone!" whispered Brennus, leaning
+forward and speaking quickly. "Linger not. But at times bethink thee
+of Brennus who risked his neck to save thine. Farewell, lad, I would
+that we were sailing North together," and he turned his back upon me
+and began to hum a tune.
+
+"Farewell, Brennus, thou honest man," I answered, and was gone. And,
+as I heard long afterwards, when on the morrow the hue and cry was
+raised because the murderers could not find me, though they sought me
+everywhere to slay me, Brennus did me a service. For he swore that as
+he kept his watch alone an hour after midnight he saw me come and
+stand upon the parapet of the roof, that then I stretched out my robes
+and they became wings on which I floated up to Heaven, leaving him
+astonished. And all those about the Court lent ear to this history,
+believing in it, because of the great fame of my magic; and they
+wondered much what the marvel might portend. The tale also travelled
+into Egypt, and did much to save my good name among those whom I had
+betrayed; for the more ignorant among them believed that I acted not
+of my will, but of the will of the dread Gods, who of their own
+purpose wafted me into Heaven. And thus to this day the saying runs
+that "/When Harmachis comes again Egypt shall be free./" But alas,
+Harmachis comes no more! Only Cleopatra, though she was much afraid,
+doubted her of the tale, and sent an armed vessel to search for the
+Syrian merchant, but not to find him, as shall be told.
+
+
+
+When I reached the galley of which Charmion had spoken, I found her
+about to sail, and gave the writing to the captain, who conned it,
+looking on me curiously, but said nothing.
+
+So I went aboard, and immediately we dropped swiftly down the river
+with the current. And having come to the mouth of the river
+unchallenged, though we passed many vessels, we put out to sea with a
+strong favouring wind that before night freshened to a great gale.
+Then the sailor men, being much afraid, would have put about and run
+for the mouth of Cydnus again, but could not because of the wildness
+of the sea. All that night it blew furiously, and by dawn our mast was
+carried away, and we rolled helplessly in the trough of the great
+waves. But I sat wrapped in a cloak, little heeding; and because I
+showed no fear the sailors cried out that I was a wizard, and sought
+to cast me into the sea, but the captain would not. At dawn the wind
+slackened, but ere noon it once more blew in terrible fury, and at the
+fourth hour from noon we came in sight of the rocky coast of that cape
+in the island of Cyprus which is called Dinaretum, where is a mountain
+named Olympus, and thither-wards we drifted swiftly. Then, when the
+sailors saw the terrible rocks, and how the great waves that smote on
+them spouted up in foam, once more they grew much afraid, and cried
+out in their fear. For, seeing that I still sat unmoved, they swore
+that I certainly was a wizard, and came to cast me forth as a
+sacrifice to the Gods of the sea. And this time the captain was over-
+ruled, and said nothing. Therefore, when they came to me I rose and
+defied them, saying, "Cast me forth, if ye will; but if ye cast me
+forth ye shall perish."
+
+For in my heart I cared little, having no more any love of life, but
+rather a desire to die, though I greatly feared to pass into the
+presence of my Holy Mother Isis. But my weariness and sorrow at the
+bitterness of my lot overcame even this heavy fear; so that when,
+being mad as brute beasts, they seized me and, lifting me, hurled me
+into the raging waters, I did but utter one prayer to Isis and made
+ready for death. But it was fated that I should not die; for, when I
+rose to the surface of the water, I saw a spar of wood floating near
+me, to which I swam and clung. And a great wave came and swept me,
+riding, as it were, upon the spar, as when a boy I had learned to do
+in the waters of the Nile, past the bulwarks of the galley where the
+fierce-faced sailors clustered to see me drown. And when they saw me
+come mounted on the wave, cursing them as I came, and saw, too, that
+the colour of my face had changed--for the salt water had washed way
+the pigment, they shrieked with fear and threw themselves down upon
+the deck. And within a very little while, as I rode toward the rocky
+coast, a great wave poured into the vessel, that rolled broadside on,
+and pressed her down into the deep, whence she rose no more.
+
+So she sank with all her crew. And in that same storm also sank the
+galley which Cleopatra had sent to search for the Syrian merchant.
+Thus all traces of me were lost, and of a surety she believed that I
+was dead.
+
+But I rode on toward the shore. The wind shrieked and the salt waves
+lashed my face as, alone with the tempest, I rushed upon my way, while
+the sea-birds screamed about my head. I felt no fear, but rather a
+wild uplifting of the heart; and in the stress of my imminent peril
+the love of life seemed to waken again. And so I plunged and drifted,
+now tossed high toward the lowering clouds, now cast into the deep
+valleys of the sea, till at length the rocky headland loomed before
+me, and I saw the breakers smite upon the stubborn rocks, and through
+the screaming of the wind heard the sullen thunder of their fall and
+the groan of stones sucked seaward from the beach. On! high-throned
+upon the mane of a mighty billow--fifty cubits beneath me the level of
+the hissing waters; above me the inky sky! It was done! The spar was
+torn from me, and, dragged downwards by the weight of the bag of gold
+and the clinging of my garments, I sank struggling furiously.
+
+Now I was under--the green light for a moment streamed through the
+waters, and then came darkness, and on the darkness pictures of the
+past. Picture after picture--all the long scene of life was written
+here. Then in my ears I only heard the song of the nightingale, the
+murmur of the summer sea, and the music of Cleopatra's laugh of
+victory, following me softly and yet more soft as I sank away to
+sleep.
+
+
+
+Once more my life came back, and with it a sense of deadly sickness
+and of aching pain. I opened my eyes and saw a kind face bending over
+me, and knew that I was in the room of a builded house.
+
+"How came I hither?" I asked faintly.
+
+"Of a truth, Poseidon brought thee, Stranger," answered a rough voice
+in barbarous Greek; "we found thee cast high upon the beach like a
+dead dolphin and brought thee to our house, for we are fisher-folk.
+And here, methinks, thou must lie a while, for thy left leg is broken
+by the force of the waves."
+
+I strove to move my foot and could not. It was true, the bone was
+broken above the knee.
+
+"Who art thou, and how art thou named?" asked the rough-bearded
+sailor.
+
+"I am an Egyptian traveller whose ship has sunk in the fury of the
+gale, and I am named Olympus," I answered, for these people called a
+mountain that we had sighted Olympus, and therefore I took the name at
+hazard. And as Olympus I was henceforth known.
+
+Here with these rough fisher-folk I abode for the half of a year,
+paying them a little out of the sum of gold that had come safely
+ashore upon me. For it was long before my bones grew together again,
+and then I was left somewhat of a cripple; for I, who had been so tall
+and straight and strong, now limped--one limb being shorter than the
+other. And after I recovered from my hurt, I still lived there, and
+toiled with them at the trade of fishing; for I knew not whither I
+should go or what I should do, and, for a while, I was fain to become
+a peasant fisherman, and so wear my weary life away. And these people
+entreated me kindly, though, as others, they feared me much, holding
+me to be a wizard brought hither by the sea. For my sorrows had
+stamped so strange an aspect on my face that men gazing at me grew
+fearful of what lay beneath its calm.
+
+There, then, I abode, till at length, one night as I lay and strove to
+sleep, great restlessness came upon me, and a mighty desire once more
+to see the face of Sihor. But whether this desire was of the Gods or
+born of my own heart, not knowing, I cannot tell. So strong was it, at
+the least, that before it was dawn I rose from my bed of straw and
+clothed myself in my fisher garb, and, because I had no wish to answer
+questions, thus I took farewell of my humble hosts. First I placed
+some pieces of gold on the well-cleaned table of wood, and then taking
+a pot of flour I strewed it in the form of letters, writing:
+
+ "This gift from Olympus, the Egyptian, who returns into the sea."
+
+Then I went, and on the third day I came to the great city of Salamis,
+that is also on the sea. Here I abode in the fishermen's quarters till
+a vessel was about to sail for Alexandria, and to the captain of this
+vessel, a man of Paphos, I hired myself as a sailor. We sailed with a
+favouring wind, and on the fifth day I came to Alexandria, that
+hateful city, and saw the light dancing on its golden domes.
+
+Here I might not abide. So again I hired myself out as a sailor,
+giving my labour in return for passage, and we passed up the Nile. And
+I learned from the talk of men that Cleopatra had come back to
+Alexandria, drawing Antony with her and that they lived together with
+royal state in the palace on the Lochias. Indeed, the boatmen already
+had a song thereon, which they sang as they laboured at the oar. Also
+I heard how the galley that was sent to search for the vessel which
+carried the Syrian merchant had foundered with all her crew, and the
+tale that the Queen's astronomer, Harmachis, had flown to Heaven from
+the roof of the house at Tarsus. And the sailors wondered because I
+sat and laboured and would not sing their ribald song of the loves of
+Cleopatra. For they, too, began to fear me, and mutter concerning me
+among themselves. Then I knew that I was a man accursed and set apart
+--a man whom none might love.
+
+On the sixth day we drew nigh to Abouthis, where I left the craft, and
+the sailors were right glad to see me go. And, with a breaking heart,
+I walked through the fertile fields, seeing faces that I knew well.
+But in my rough disguise and limping gait none knew me. At length, as
+the sun sank, I came near to the great outer pylon of the temple; and
+here I crouched down in the ruins of a house, not knowing why I had
+come or what I was about to do. Like a lost ox I had strayed from far,
+back to the fields of my birth, and for what? If my father, Amenemhat,
+still lived, surely he would turn his face from me. I dared not go
+into the presence of my father. I sat hidden there among the broken
+rafters, and idly watched the pylon gates, to see if, perchance, a
+face I knew should issue from them. But none came forth or entered in,
+though the great gates stood wide; and then I saw that herbs were
+growing between the stones, where no herbs had grown for ages. What
+could this be? Was the temple deserted? Nay; how could the worship of
+the eternal Gods have ceased, that for thousands of years had, day by
+day, been offered in the holy place? Was, then, my father dead? It
+well might be. And yet, why this silence? Where were the priests:
+where the worshippers?
+
+I could bear the doubt no more, but as the sun sank red I crept like a
+hunted jackal through the open gates, and on till I reached the first
+great Hall of Pillars. Here I paused and gazed around me--not a sight,
+not a sound, in the dim and holy place! I went on with a beating heart
+to the second great hall, the hall of six-and-thirty pillars where I
+had been crowned Lord of all the Lands: still not a sight or a sound!
+Thence, half fearful of my own footfall, so terribly did it echo in
+the silence of the deserted Holies, I passed down the passage of the
+names of the Pharaohs towards my father's chamber. The curtain still
+swung over the doorway; but what would there be within?--also
+emptiness? I lifted it, and noiselessly passed in, and there in his
+carven chair at the table on which his long white beard flowed, sat my
+father, Amenemhat, clad in his priestly robes. At first I thought that
+he was dead, he sat so still; but at length he turned his head, and I
+saw that his eyes were white and sightless. He was blind, and his face
+was thin as the face of a dead man, and woeful with age and grief.
+
+I stood still and felt the blind eyes wandering over me. I could not
+speak to him--I dared not speak to him; I would go and hide myself
+afresh.
+
+I had already turned and grasped the curtain, when my father spoke in
+a deep, slow voice:
+
+"Come hither, thou who wast my son and art a traitor. Come hither,
+thou Harmachis, on whom Khem builded up her hope. Not in vain, then,
+have I drawn thee from far away! Not in vain have I held my life in me
+till I heard thy footfall creeping down these empty Holies, like the
+footfall of a thief!"
+
+"Oh! my father," I gasped, astonished. "Thou art blind: how knowest
+thou me?"
+
+"How do I know thee?--and askest thou that who hast learned of our
+lore? Enough, I know thee and I brought thee hither. Would, Harmachis,
+that I knew thee not! Would that I had been blasted of the Invisible
+ere I drew thee down from the womb of Nout, to be my curse and shame,
+and the last woe of Khem!"
+
+"Oh, speak not thus!" I moaned; "is not my burden already more than I
+can bear? Am I not myself betrayed and utterly outcast? Be pitiful, my
+father!"
+
+"Be pitiful!--be pitiful to thee who hast shown so great pity? It was
+thy pity which gave up noble Sepa to die beneath the hands of the
+tormentors!"
+
+"Oh, not that--not that!" I cried.
+
+"Ay, traitor, that!--to die in agony, with his last poor breath
+proclaiming thee, his murderer, honest and innocent! Be pitiful to
+thee, who gavest all the flower of Khem as the price of a wanton's
+arms!--thinkest thou that, labouring in the darksome desert mines,
+those noble ones in thought are pitiful to thee, Harmachis? Be pitiful
+to thee, by whom this Holy Temple of Abouthis hath been ravaged, its
+lands seized, its priests scattered, and I alone, old and withered,
+left to count out its ruin--to thee, who hast poured the treasures of
+/Her/ into thy leman's lap, who hast forsworn Thyself, thy Country,
+thy Birthright, and thy Gods! Yea, thus am I pitiful: Accursed be
+thou, fruit of my loins!--Shame be thy portion, Agony thy end, and
+Hell receive thee at the last! Where art thou? Yea, I grew blind with
+weeping when I heard the truth--sure, they strove to hide it from me.
+Let me find thee that I may spit upon thee, thou Renegade! thou
+Apostate! thou Outcast!"--and he rose from his seat and staggered like
+a living Wrath toward me, smiting the air with his wand. And as he
+came with outstretched arms, awful to see, suddenly his end found him,
+and with a cry he sank down upon the ground, the red blood streaming
+from his lips. I ran to him and lifted him; and as he died, he
+babbled:
+
+"He was my son, a bright-eyed lovely boy, and full of promise as the
+Spring; and now--and now--oh, would that he were dead!"
+
+Then came a pause and the breath rattled in his throat.
+
+"Harmachis," he gasped, "art there?"
+
+"Yea, father."
+
+"Harmachis, atone!--atone! Vengeance can still be wreaked--forgiveness
+may still be won. There's gold; I've hidden it--Atoua--she can tell
+thee--ah, this pain! Farewell!"
+
+And he struggled faintly in my arms and was dead.
+
+
+
+Thus, then, did I and my holy father, the Prince Amenemhat, meet
+together for the last time in the flesh, and for the last time part.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+OF THE LAST MISERY OF HARMACHIS; OF THE CALLING DOWN OF THE
+HOLY ISIS BY THE WORD OF FEAR; OF THE PROMISE OF ISIS; OF THE
+COMING OF ATOUA, AND OF THE WORDS OF ATOUA
+
+I crouched upon the floor gazing at the dead body of my father, who
+had lived to curse me, the utterly accursed, while the darkness crept
+and gathered round us, till at length the dead and I were alone in the
+black silence. Oh, how tell the misery of that hour! Imagination
+cannot dream it, nor words paint it forth. Once more in my
+wretchedness I bethought me of death. A knife was at my girdle, with
+which I might cut the thread of sorrow and set my spirit free. Free?
+ay, free to fly and face the last vengeance of the Holy Gods! Alas!
+and alas! I did not dare to die. Better the earth with all its woes
+than the quick approach of those unimagined terrors that, hovering in
+dim Amenti, wait the advent of the fallen.
+
+I grovelled on the ground and wept tears of agony for the lost
+unchanging past--wept till I could weep no more; but no answer came
+from the silence--no answer but the echoes of my grief. Not a ray of
+hope! My soul wandered in a darkness more utter than that which was
+about me--I was forsaken of the Gods and cast out of men. Terror took
+hold upon me crouching in that lonely place hard by the majesty of the
+awful Dead. I rose to fly. How could I fly in this gloom?--And where
+should I fly who had no place of refuge? Once more I crouched down,
+and the great fear grew on me till the cold sweat ran from my brow and
+my soul was faint within me. Then, in my last despair, I prayed aloud
+to Isis, to whom I had not dared to pray for many days.
+
+"O Isis! Holy Mother!" I cried; "put away Thy wrath, and of Thine
+infinite pity, O Thou all-pitiful, hearken to the voice of the anguish
+of him who was Thy son and servant, but who by sin hath fallen from
+the vision of Thy love. O throned Glory, who, being in all things,
+hast of all things understanding and of all griefs knowledge, cast the
+weight of Thy mercy against the scale of my evil-doing, and make the
+balance equal. Look down upon my woe, and measure it; count up the sum
+of my repentance and take Thou note of the flood of sorrow that sweeps
+my soul away. O Thou Holy, whom it was given to me to look upon face
+to face, by that dread hour of commune I summon Thee; I summon Thee by
+the mystic word. Come, then, in mercy, to save me; or, in anger, to
+make an end of that which can no more be borne."
+
+And, rising from my knees, I stretched out my arms and dared to cry
+aloud the Word of Fear, to use which unworthily is death.
+
+Swiftly the answer came. For in the silence I heard the sound of the
+shaken sistra heralding the coming of the Glory. Then, at the far end
+of the chamber, grew the semblance of the horned moon, gleaming
+faintly in the darkness, and betwixt the golden horns rested a small
+dark cloud, in and out of which the fiery serpent climbed.
+
+My knees waxed loose in the presence of the Glory, and I sank down
+before it.
+
+Then spake the small, sweet Voice within the cloud:
+
+"Harmachis, who wast my servant and my son, I have heard thy prayer,
+and the summons that thou hast dared to utter, which on the lips of
+one with whom I have communed, hath power to draw Me from the
+Uttermost. No more, Harmachis, may we be one in the bond of Love
+Divine, for thou hast put Me away of thine own act. Therefore, after
+this long silence I come, Harmachis, clothed in terrors, and,
+perchance, ready for vengeance, for not lightly can Isis be drawn from
+the halls of Her Divinity."
+
+"Smite, Goddess!" I answered. "Smite, and give me over to those who
+wreak Thy vengeance; for I can no longer bear the burden of my woe!"
+
+"And if thou canst not bear thy burden here, upon this upper earth,"
+came the soft reply, "how then shalt thou bear the greater burden that
+shall be laid upon thee there, coming defiled and yet unpurified into
+my dim realm of Death, that is Life and Change unending? Nay,
+Harmachis, I smite thee not, for not all am I wroth that thou hast
+dared to utter the awful Word which calls Me down to thee. Hearken,
+Harmachis; I praise not, and I reproach not, for I am the Minister of
+Reward and Punishment and the Executrix of Decrees; and if I give, I
+give in silence; and if I smite, in silence do I smite. Therefore, I
+will add naught to thy burden by the weight of heavy words, though
+through thee it has come to pass that soon shall Isis, the Mother-
+Mystery, be but a memory in Egypt. Thou hast sinned, and heavy shall
+be thy punishment, as I did warn thee, both in the flesh and in my
+kingdom of Amenti. But I told thee that there is a road of repentance,
+and surely thy feet are set thereon, and therein must thou walk with a
+humble heart, eating of the bread of bitterness, till such time as thy
+doom be measured."
+
+"Have I, then, no hope, O holy?"
+
+"That which is done, Harmachis, is done, nor can its issues be
+altered. Khem shall no more be free till all its temples are as the
+desert dust; strange Peoples shall, from age to age, hold her hostage
+and in bonds; new Religions shall arise and wither within the shadow
+of her pyramids, for to every World, Race, and Age the countenances of
+the Gods are changed. This is the tree that shall spring from thy seed
+of sin, Harmachis, and from the sin of those who tempted thee!"
+
+"Alas! I am undone!" I cried.
+
+"Yea, thou art undone; and yet shall this be given to thee: thy
+Destroyer thou shalt destroy--for so, in the purpose of my justice, it
+is ordained. When the sign comes to thee, arise, go to Cleopatra, and
+in such manner as I shall put into thy heart do Heaven's vengeance
+upon her! And now for thyself one word, for thou hast put Me from
+thee, Harmachis, and no more shall I come face to face with thee till,
+cycles hence, the last fruit of thy sin hath ceased to be upon this
+earth! Yet, through the vastness of the unnumbered years, remember
+thou this: the Love Divine is Love Eternal, which cannot be
+extinguished, though it be everlastingly estranged. Repent, my son;
+repent and do well while there is yet time, that at the dim end of
+ages thou mayest once more be gathered unto Me. Still, Harmachis,
+though thou seest Me not; still, when the very name by which thou
+knowest Me has become a meaningless mystery to those who shall be
+after thee; still I, whose hours are eternal--I, who have watched
+Universes wither, wane, and, beneath the breath of Time, melt into
+nothingness; again to gather, and, re-born, thread the maze of space--
+still, I say, I shall companion thee. Wherever thou goest, in whatever
+form of life thou livest, there I shall be! Art thou wafted to the
+farthest star, art thou buried in Amenti's lowest deep--in lives, in
+deaths, in sleeps, in wakings, in remembrances, in oblivions, in all
+the fevers of the outer Life, in all the changes of the Spirit--still,
+if thou wilt but atone and forget Me no more, I shall be with thee,
+waiting thine hour of redemption. For this is the nature of Love
+Divine, wherewith it loves that which partakes of its divinity and by
+the holy tie hath once been bound to it. Judge then, Harmachis: was it
+well to put this from thee to win the dust of earthly woman? And, now,
+dare not again to utter the Word of Power till these things are done!
+Harmachis, for this season, fare thee well!"
+
+
+
+As the last note of the sweet Voice died away, the fiery snake climbed
+into the heart of the cloud. Now the cloud rolled from the horns of
+light, and was gathered into the blackness. The vision of the crescent
+moon grew dim and vanished. Then, as the Goddess passed, once more
+came the faint and dreadful music of the shaken sistra, and all was
+still.
+
+I hid my face in my robe, and even then, though my outstretched hand
+could touch the chill corpse of that father who had died cursing me, I
+felt hope come back into my heart, knowing that I was not altogether
+lost nor utterly rejected of Her whom I had forsaken, but whom I yet
+loved. And then weariness overpowered me, and I slept.
+
+
+
+I woke, the faint lights of dawn were creeping from the opening in the
+roof. Ghastly they lay upon the shadowy sculptured walls and ghastly
+upon the dead face and white beard of my father, the gathered to
+Osiris. I started up, remembering all things, and wondering in my
+heart what I should do, and as I rose I heard a faint footfall
+creeping down the passage of the names of the Pharaohs.
+
+"/La! La! La!/" mumbled a voice that I knew for the voice of the old
+wife, Atoua. "Why, 'tis dark as the House of the Dead! The Holy Ones
+who built this Temple loved not the blessed sun, however much they
+worshipped him. Now, where's the curtain?"
+
+Presently it was drawn, and Atoua entered, a stick in one hand and a
+basket in the other. Her face was somewhat more wrinkled, and her
+scanty locks were somewhat whiter than aforetime, but for the rest she
+was as she had ever been. She stood and peered around with her sharp
+black eyes, for as yet she could see nothing because of the shadows.
+
+"Now where is he?" she muttered. "Osiris--glory to His name--send that
+he has not wandered in the night, and he blind! Alack! that I could
+not return before the dark. Alack! and alack! what times have we
+fallen on, when the Holy High Priest and the Governor, by descent, of
+Abouthis, is left with one aged crone to minister to his infirmity! O
+Harmachis, my poor boy, thou hast laid trouble at our doors! Why,
+what's this? Surely he sleeps not, there upon the ground?--'twill be
+his death! Prince! Holy Father! Amenemhat! awake, arise!" and she
+hobbled towards the corpse. "Why, how is it! By Him who sleeps, he's
+dead! untended and alone--/dead! dead!/" and she sent her long wail of
+grief ringing up the sculptured walls.
+
+"Hush! woman, be still!" I said, gliding from the shadows.
+
+"Oh, what art thou?" she cried, casting down her basket. "Wicked man,
+hast thou murdered this Holy One, the only Holy One in Egypt? Surely
+the curse will fall on thee, for though the Gods do seem to have
+forsaken us now in our hour of trial, yet is their arm long, and
+certainly they will be avenged on him who hath slain their anointed!"
+
+"Look on me, Atoua," I cried.
+
+"Look! ay, I look--thou wicked wanderer who hast dared this cruel
+deed! Harmachis is a traitor and lost far away, and Amenemhat his holy
+father is murdered, and now I'm all alone without kith or kin. I gave
+them for him. I gave them for Harmachis, the traitor! Come, slay me
+also, thou wicked one!"
+
+I took a step toward her, and she, thinking that I was about to smite
+her, cried out in fear:
+
+"Nay, good Sir, spare me! Eighty and six, by the Holy Ones, eighty and
+six, come next flood of Nile, and yet I would not die, though Osiris
+is merciful to the old who served him! Come no nearer--help! help!"
+
+"Thou fool, be silent," I said; "knowest thou me not?"
+
+"Know thee? Can I know every wandering boatman to whom Sebek grants to
+earn a livelihood till Typhon claims his own? And yet--why, 'tis
+strange--that changed countenance!--that scar!--that stumbling gait!
+It is thou, Harmachis!--'tis thou, O my boy! Art come back to glad
+mine old eyes? I hoped thee dead! Let me kiss thee?--nay, I forget.
+Harmachis is a traitor, ay, and a murderer! Here lies the holy
+Amenemhat, murdered by the traitor, Harmachis! Get thee gone! I'll
+have none of traitors and of parricides! Get thee to thy wanton!--it
+is not thou whom I did nurse."
+
+"Peace! woman; peace! I slew not my father--he died, alas!--he died
+even in my arms."
+
+"Ay, surely, and cursing thee, Harmachis! Thou hast given death to him
+who gave thee life! /La! la!/ I am old, and I've seen many a trouble;
+but this is the heaviest of them all! I never liked the looks of
+mummies; but I would I were one this hour! Get thee gone, I pray
+thee!"
+
+"Old nurse, reproach me not! Have I not enough to bear?"
+
+"Ah! yes, yes!--I did forget! Well; and what is thy sin? A woman was
+thy bane, as women have been to those before thee, and shall be to
+those after thee. And what a woman! /La! la!/ I saw her, a beauty such
+as never was--an arrow pointed by the evil Gods for destruction! And
+thou, a young man bred as a priest--an ill training--a very ill
+training! 'Twas no fair match. Who can wonder that she mastered thee?
+Come, Harmachis; let me kiss thee! It is not for a woman to be hard on
+a man because he loved our sex too much. Why, that is but nature; and
+Nature knows her business, else she had made us otherwise. But here is
+an evil case. Knowest thou that this Macedonian Queen of thine hath
+seized the temple lands and revenues, and driven away the priests--
+all, save the holy Amenemhat, who lies here, and whom she left, I know
+not why; ay, and caused the worship of the Gods to cease within these
+walls. Well, he's gone!--he's gone! and indeed he is better with
+Osiris, for his life was a sore burden to him. And hark thou,
+Harmachis: he hath not left thee empty-handed; for, so soon as the
+plot failed, he gathered all his wealth, and it is large, and hid it--
+where, I can show thee--and it is thine by right of descent."
+
+"Talk not to me of wealth, Atoua. Where shall I go and how shall I
+hide my shame?"
+
+"Ah! true, true; here mayst thou not abide, for if they found thee,
+surely they would put thee to the dreadful death--ay, to the death by
+the waxen cloth. Nay, I will hide thee, and, when the funeral rites of
+the holy Amenemhat have been performed, we will fly hence, and cover
+us from the eyes of men till these sorrows are forgotten. /La! la!/ it
+is a sad world, and full of trouble as the Nile mud is full of
+beetles. Come, Harmachis, come."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+OF THE LIFE OF HIM WHO WAS NAMED THE LEARNED OLYMPUS, IN
+THE TOMB OF THE HARPERS THAT IS BY T�P�; OF HIS COUNSEL TO
+CLEOPATRA; OF THE MESSAGE OF CHARMION; AND OF THE PASSING
+OF OLYMPUS DOWN TO ALEXANDRIA
+
+These things then came to pass. For eighty days I was hidden of the
+old wife, Atoua, while the body of the Prince, my father, was made
+ready for burial by those skilled in the arts of embalming. And when
+at last all things were done in order, I crept from my hiding-place
+and made offerings to the spirit of my father, and placing lotus-
+flowers on his breast went thence sorrowing. And on the following day,
+from where I lay hid, I saw the Priests of the Temple of Osiris and of
+the holy shrine of Isis come forth, and in slow procession bear his
+painted coffin to the sacred lake and lay it beneath the funeral tent
+in the consecrated boat. I saw them celebrate the symbol of the trial
+of the dead, and name him above all men just, and then bear him thence
+to lay him by his wife, my mother, in the deep tomb that he had hewn
+in the rock near to the resting-place of the Holy Osiris, where,
+notwithstanding my sins, I, too, hope to sleep ere long. And when all
+these things were done and the deep tomb sealed, the wealth of my
+father having been removed from the hidden treasury and placed in
+safety, I fled, disguised, with the old wife, Atoua, up the Nile till
+we came to T�p�,[*] and here in this great city I lay a while, till a
+place could be found where I should hide myself.
+
+[*] Thebes.--Editor.
+
+And such a place I found. For to the north of the great city are brown
+and rugged hills, and desert valley blasted of the sun, and in this
+place of desolation the Divine Pharaohs, my forefathers, hollowed out
+their tombs in the solid rock, the most part of which are lost to this
+day, so cunningly have they been hidden. But some are open, for the
+accursed Persians and other thieves broke into them in search of
+treasure. And one night--for by night only did I leave my hiding-place
+--just as the dawn was breaking on the mountain tops, I wandered alone
+in this sad valley of death, like to which there is no other, and
+presently came to the mouth of a tomb hidden amid great rocks, which
+afterwards I knew for the place of the burying of the Divine Rameses,
+the third of that name, now long gathered to Osiris. And by the faint
+light of the dawn creeping through the entrance I saw that it was
+spacious and that within were chambers.
+
+On the following night, therefore, I returned, bearing lights, with
+Atoua, my nurse, who ever ministered faithfully to me as when I was
+little and without discretion. And we searched the mighty tomb and
+came to the great Hall of the Sarcophagus of granite, in which the
+Divine Rameses sleeps, and saw the mystic paintings on the walls: the
+symbol of the Snake unending, the symbol of Ra resting upon the
+Scarab�us, the symbol of Ra resting upon Nout, the symbol of the
+Headless men, and many others, whereof, being initiated, well I read
+the mysteries. And opening from the long descending passage I found
+chambers in which were paintings beautiful to behold, and of all
+manner of things. For beneath each chamber is entombed the master of
+the craft of which the paintings tell, he who was the chief of the
+servants of that craft in the house of this Divine Rameses. And on the
+walls of the last chamber--on the left-hand side, looking toward the
+Hall of the Sarcophagus--are paintings exceedingly beautiful, and two
+blind harpers playing upon their bent harps before the God Mou; and
+beneath the flooring these harpers, who harp no more, are soft at
+sleep. Here, then, in this gloomy place, even in the tomb of the
+Harpers and the company of the dead, I took up my abode; and here for
+eight long years I worked out my penance and made atonement for my
+sin. But Atoua, because she loved to be near the light, abode in the
+chamber of the Boats--that is, the first chamber on the right-hand
+side of the gallery looking toward the Hall of the Sarcophagus.
+
+And this was the manner of my life. On every second day the old wife,
+Atoua, went forth and brought water from the city and such food as is
+necessary to keep the life from failing, and also tapers made from
+fat. And one hour at the time of sunrise and one hour at the time of
+sunset I did go forth also to wander in the valley for my health's
+sake and to save my sight from failing in the great darkness of the
+tomb. But the other hours of the day and night, except when I climbed
+the mountain to watch the course of the stars, I spent in prayer and
+meditation and sleep, till the cloud of sin lifted from my heart and
+once more I drew near to the Gods, though with Isis, my heavenly
+Mother, I might speak no more. And I grew exceedingly wise also,
+pondering on all those mysteries to which I held the key. For
+abstinence and prayer and sorrowful solitude wore away the grossness
+of my flesh, and with the eyes of the Spirit I learned to look deep
+into the heart of things till the joy of Wisdom fell like dew upon my
+soul.
+
+Soon the rumour was wafted about the city that a certain holy man
+named Olympus abode in solitude in the tombs of the awful Valley of
+the Dead; and hither came people bearing sick that I might cure them.
+And I gave my mind to the study of simples, in which Atoua instructed
+me; and by lore and the weight of my thought I gained great skill in
+medicine, and healed many sick. And thus ever, as time went on, my
+fame was noised abroad; for it was said that I was also a magician and
+that in the tombs I had commune with the Spirits of the Dead. And
+this, indeed, I did--though it is not lawful for me to speak of these
+matters. Thus, then, it came to pass that no more need Atoua go forth
+to seek food and water, for the people brought it--more than was
+needful, for I would receive no fee. Now at first, fearing lest some
+in the hermit Olympus might know the lost Harmachis, I would only meet
+those who came in the darkness of the tomb. But afterwards, when I
+learned how it was held through all the land that Harmachis was
+certainly no more, I came forth and sat in the mouth of the tomb, and
+ministered to the sick, and at times calculated nativities for the
+great. And thus my fame grew continually, till at length folk
+journeyed even from Memphis and Alexandria to visit me; and from them
+I learned how Antony had left Cleopatra for a while, and, Fulvia being
+dead, had married Octavia, the sister of C�sar. Many other things I
+learned also.
+
+And in the second year I did this: I despatched the old wife, Atoua,
+disguised as a seller of simples, to Alexandria, bidding her seek out
+Charmion, and, if yet she found her faithful, reveal to her the secret
+of my way of life. So she went, and in the fifth month from her
+sailing returned, bearing Charmion's greetings and a token. And she
+told me that she had found means to see Charmion, and, in talk, had
+let fall the name of Harmachis, speaking of me as one dead; at which
+Charmion, unable to control her grief, wept aloud. Then, reading her
+heart--for the old wife was very clever, and held the key of knowledge
+--she told her that Harmachis yet lived, and sent her greetings.
+Thereon Charmion wept yet more with joy, and kissed the old wife, and
+made her gifts, bidding her tell me that she had kept her vow, and
+waited for my coming and the hour of vengeance. So, having learned
+many secrets, Atoua returned again to T�p�.
+
+And in the following year messengers came to me from Cleopatra,
+bearing a sealed roll and great gifts. I opened the roll, and read
+this in it:
+
+ "Cleopatra to Olympus, the learned Egyptian who dwells in the
+  Valley of Death by T�p�--
+
+ "The fame of thy renown, O learned Olympus, hath reached our ears.
+  Tell thou, then, this to us, and if thou tellest aright greater
+  honour and wealth shalt thou have than any in Egypt: How shall we
+  win back the love of noble Antony, who is bewitched of cunning
+  Octavia, and tarries long from us?"
+
+Now, in this I saw the hand of Charmion, who had made my renown known
+to Cleopatra.
+
+All that night I took counsel with my wisdom, and on the morrow wrote
+my answer as it was put into my heart to the destruction of Cleopatra
+and Antony. And thus I wrote:
+
+ "Olympus the Egyptian to Cleopatra the Queen--
+
+ "Go forth into Syria with one who shall be sent to lead thee; thus
+  shalt thou win Antony to thy arms again, and with him gifts more
+  great than thou canst dream."
+
+And with this letter I dismissed the messengers, bidding them share
+the presents sent by Cleopatra among their company.
+
+So they went wondering.
+
+But Cleopatra, seizing on the advice to which her passion prompted
+her, departed straightway with Fonteius Capito into Syria, and there
+the thing came about as I had foretold, for Antony was subdued of her
+and gave her the greater part of Cilicia, the ocean shore of Arabia
+Nabath�a, the balm-bearing provinces of Jud�a, the province of
+Ph�nicia, the province of C�le-Syria, the rich isle of Cyprus, and all
+the library of Pergamus. And to the twin children that, with the son
+Ptolemy, Cleopatra had borne to Antony, he impiously gave the names of
+"Kings, the Children of Kings"--of Alexander Helios, as the Greeks
+name the sun, and of Cleopatra Selene, the moon, the long-winged.
+
+These things then came to pass.
+
+Now on her return to Alexandria Cleopatra sent me great gifts, of
+which I would have none, and prayed me, the learned Olympus, to come
+to her at Alexandria; but it was not yet time, and I would not. But
+thereafter she and Antony sent many times to me for counsel, and I
+ever counselled them to their ruin, nor did my prophecies fail.
+
+
+
+Thus the long years rolled away, and I, the hermit Olympus, the
+dweller in a tomb, the eater of bread and the drinker of water, by
+strength of the wisdom that was given me of the avenging Power, became
+once more great in Khem. For I grew ever wiser as I trampled the
+desires of the flesh beneath my feet and turned my eyes to heaven.
+
+At length eight full years were accomplished. The war with the
+Parthians had come and gone, and Artavasdes, King of Armenia, had been
+led in triumph through the streets of Alexandria. Cleopatra had
+visited Samos and Athens; and, by her counselling, the noble Octavia
+had been driven, like some discarded concubine, from the house of
+Antony at Rome. And now, at the last, the measure of the folly of
+Antony was full even to the brim. For this Master of the World had no
+longer the good gift of reason; he was lost in Cleopatra as I had been
+lost. Therefore, in the event, Octavianus declared war against him.
+
+And as I slept upon a certain day in the chamber of the Harpers, in
+the tomb of Pharaoh that is by T�p�, there came to me a vision of my
+father, the aged Amenemhat, and he stood over me, leaning on his
+staff, and spoke, saying:
+
+"Look forth, my son."
+
+Then I looked forth, and with the eyes of my spirit saw the sea, and
+two great fleets grappling in war hard by a rocky coast. And the
+emblems were those of Octavian, and of the other those of Cleopatra
+and Antony. The ships of Antony and Cleopatra bore down upon the ships
+of C�sar, and drove them on, for victory inclined to Antony.
+
+I looked again. There sat Cleopatra in a gold-decked galley watching
+the fight with eager eyes. Then I cast my Spirit on her so that she
+seemed to hear the voice of dead Harmachis crying in her ear.
+
+"/Fly, Cleopatra,/" it seemed to say, "/fly or perish!/"
+
+She looked up wildly, and again she heard my Spirit's cry. Now a
+mighty fear took hold of her. She called aloud to the sailors to hoist
+the sails and make signal to her fleet to put about. This they did
+wondering but little loath, and fled in haste from the battle.
+
+Then a great roar went up from friend and foe.
+
+"Cleopatra is fled! Cleopatra is fled!" And I saw wreck and red ruin
+fall upon the fleet of Antony and awoke from my trance.
+
+The days passed, and again a vision of my father came to me and spoke,
+saying:
+
+"Arise, my son!--the hour of vengeance is at hand! Thy plots have not
+failed; thy prayers have been heard. By the bidding of the Gods, as
+she sat in her galley at the fight of Actium, the heart of Cleopatra
+was filled with fears, so that, deeming she heard thy voice bidding
+her fly or perish, she fled with all her fleet. Now the strength of
+Actium is broken on the sea. Go forth, and as it shall be put into thy
+mind, so do thou."
+
+In the morning I awoke, wondering, and went to the mouth of the tomb,
+and there, coming up the valley, I saw the messengers of Cleopatra,
+and with them a Roman guard.
+
+"What will ye with me now?" I asked, sternly.
+
+"This is the message of the Queen and of great Antony," answered the
+Captain, bowing low before me, for I was much feared by all men. "The
+Queen commands thy presence at Alexandria. Many times has she sent,
+and thou wouldst not come; now she bids thee to come, and that
+swiftly, for she has need of thy counsel."
+
+"And if I say Nay, soldier, what then?"
+
+"These are my orders, most holy Olympus; that I bring thee by force."
+
+I laughed aloud. "By force, thou fool! Use not such talk to me, lest I
+smite thee where thou art. Know, then, that I can kill as well as
+cure!"
+
+"Pardon, I beseech thee!" he answered, shrinking. "I say but those
+things that I am bid."
+
+"Well, I know it, Captain. Fear not; I come."
+
+So on that very day I departed, together with the aged Atoua. Ay, I
+went as secretly as I had come; and the tomb of the Divine Rameses
+knew me no more. And with me I took all the treasures of my father,
+Amenemhat, for I was not minded to go to Alexandria empty-handed and
+as a suppliant, but rather as a man of much wealth and condition. Now,
+as I went, I learned that Antony, following Cleopatra, had, indeed,
+fled from Actium, and knew that the end drew nigh. For this and many
+other things had I foreseen in the darkness of the tomb of T�p�, and
+planned to bring about.
+
+
+
+Thus, then, I came to Alexandria, and entered into a house which had
+been made ready for me at the palace gates.
+
+And that very night Charmion came to me--Charmion whom I had not seen
+for nine long years.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+OF THE MEETING OF CHARMION WITH THE LEARNED OLYMPUS; OF HER
+SPEECH WITH HIM; OF THE COMING OF OLYMPUS INTO THE
+PRESENCE OF CLEOPATRA; AND OF THE COMMANDS OF CLEOPATRA.
+
+Clad in my plain black robe, I sat in the guest-chamber of the house
+that had been made ready for me. I sat in a carven lion-footed chair,
+and looked upon the swinging lamps of scented oil, the pictured
+tapestries, the rich Syrian rugs--and, amidst all this luxury,
+bethought me of that tomb of the Harpers which is at T�p�, and of the
+nine long years of dark loneliness and preparation. I sat; and
+crouched upon a rug near to the door, lay the aged Atoua. Her hair was
+white as snow, and shrivelled with age was the wrinkled countenance of
+the woman who, when all deserted me, had yet clung to me, in her great
+love forgetting my great sins. Nine years! nine long years! and now,
+once again, I set my foot in Alexandria! Once again in the appointed
+circle of things I came forth from the solitude of preparation to be a
+fate to Cleopatra; and this second time I came not forth to fail.
+
+And yet how changed the circumstance! I was out of the story: my part
+now was but the part of the sword in the hands of Justice; I might no
+more hope to make Egypt free and great and sit upon my lawful throne.
+Khem was lost, and lost was I, Harmachis. In the rush and turmoil of
+events, the great plot of which I had been the pivot was covered up
+and forgotten; scarce a memory of it remained. The curtain of dark
+night was closing in upon the history of my ancient Race; its very
+Gods were tottering to their fall; I could already, in the spirit,
+hear the shriek of the Roman eagles as they flapped their wings above
+the furthest banks of Sihor.
+
+Presently I roused myself and bade Atoua go seek a mirror and bring it
+to me, that I might look therein.
+
+And I saw this: a face shrunken and pallid, on which no smile came;
+great eyes grown wan with gazing into darkness looking out beneath the
+shaven head, emptily, as the hollow eye-pits of a skull; a wizened
+halting form wasted by abstinence, sorrow, and prayer; a long wild
+beard of iron grey; thin blue-veined hands that ever trembled like a
+leaf; bowed shoulders and lessened limbs. Time and grief had done
+their work indeed; scarce could I think myself the same as when, the
+royal Harmachis--in all the splendour of my strength and youthful
+beauty--I first had looked upon the woman's loveliness that did
+destroy me. And yet within me burned the same fire as of yore; yet I
+was not changed, for time and grief have no power to alter the
+immortal spirit of man. Seasons may come and go; Hope, like a bird,
+may fly away; Passion may break its wings against the iron bars of
+Fate; Illusions may crumble as the cloudy towers of sunset flame;
+Faith, as running water, may slip from beneath our feet; Solitude may
+stretch itself around us like the measureless desert sand; Old Age may
+creep as the gathering night over our bowed heads grown hoary in their
+shame--yea, bound to Fortune's wheel, we may taste of every turn of
+chance--now rule as Kings, now serve as Slaves; now love, now hate;
+now prosper, and now perish. But still, through all, we are the same;
+for this is the marvel of Identity.
+
+
+
+And as I sat and thought these things in bitterness of heart, there
+came a knocking at the door.
+
+"Open, Atoua!" I said.
+
+She rose and did my bidding; and a woman entered, clad in Grecian
+robes. It was Charmion, still beautiful as of old, but sad faced now
+and very sweet to see, with a patient fire slumbering in her downcast
+eyes.
+
+She entered unattended; and, speaking no word, the old wife pointed to
+where I sat, and went.
+
+"Old man," she said, addressing me, "lead me to the learned Olympus. I
+come upon the Queen's business."
+
+I rose, and, lifting my head, looked upon her.
+
+She gazed, and gave a little cry.
+
+"Surely," she whispered, glancing round, "surely thou art not
+that----" And she paused.
+
+"That Harmachis whom once thy foolish heart did love, O Charmion? Yes,
+I am he and what thou seest, most fair lady. Yet is Harmachis dead
+whom thou didst love; but Olympus, the skilled Egyptian, waits upon
+thy words!"
+
+"Cease!" she said, "and of the past but one word, and then--why, let
+it lie. Not well, with all thy wisdom, canst thou know a true woman's
+heart, if thou dost believe, Harmachis, that it can change with the
+changes of the outer form, for then assuredly could no love follow its
+beloved to that last place of change--the Grave. Know thou, learned
+Physician, I am of that sort who, loving once, love always, and being
+not beloved again, go virgin to the death."
+
+She ceased, and having naught to say, I bowed my head in answer. Yet
+though I said nothing and though this woman's passionate folly had
+been the cause of all our ruin, to speak truth, in secret I was
+thankful to her who, wooed of all and living in this shameless Court,
+had still through the long years poured out her unreturned love upon
+an outcast, and who, when that poor broken slave of Fortune came back
+in such unlovely guise, held him yet dear at heart. For what man is
+there who does not prize that gift most rare and beautiful, that one
+perfect thing which no gold can buy--a woman's unfeigned love?
+
+"I thank thee that thou dost not answer," she said; "for the bitter
+words which thou didst pour upon me in those days that long are dead,
+and far away in Tarsus, have not lost their poisonous sting, and in my
+heart is no more place for the arrows of thy scorn, new venomed
+through thy solitary years. So let it be. Behold! I put it from me,
+that wild passion of my soul," and she looked up and stretched out her
+hands as though to press some unseen presence back, "I put it from me
+--though forget it I may not! There, 'tis done, Harmachis; no more
+shall my love trouble thee. Enough for me that once more my eyes
+behold thee, before sleep seals thee from their sight. Dost remember
+how, when I would have died by thy dear hand, thou wouldst not slay,
+but didst bid me live to pluck the bitter fruit of crime, and be
+accursed by visions of the evil I had wrought and memories of thee
+whom I have ruined?"
+
+"Ay, Charmion, I remember well."
+
+"Surely the cup of punishment has been filled. Oh! couldst thou see
+into the record of my heart, and read in it the suffering that I have
+borne--borne with a smiling face--thy justice would be satisfied
+indeed!"
+
+"And yet, if report be true, Charmion, thou art the first of all the
+Court, and therein the most powerful and beloved. Does not Octavianus
+give it out that he makes war, not on Antony, nor even on his
+mistress, Cleopatra, but on Charmion and Iras?"
+
+"Yes, Harmachis, and think that it has been to me thus, because of my
+oath to thee, to be forced to eat the bread and do the tasks of one
+whom so bitterly I hate!--one who robbed me of thee, and who, through
+the workings of my jealousy, brought me to be that which I am, brought
+thee to shame, and all Egypt to its ruin! Can jewels and riches and
+the flattery of princes and nobles bring happiness to such a one as I,
+who am more wretched than the meanest scullion wench? Oh, I have often
+wept till I was blind; and then, when the hour came, I must arise and
+tire me, and, with a smile, go do the bidding of the Queen and that
+heavy Antony. May the Gods grant me to see them dead--ay, the twain of
+them!--then myself I shall be content to die! Thy lot has been hard,
+Harmachis; but at least thou have been free, and many is the time that
+I have envied thee the quiet of thy haunted cave."
+
+"I do perceive, O Charmion, that thou art mindful of thy oaths; and
+it is well, for the hour of vengeance is at hand."
+
+"I am mindful, and in all things I have worked for thee in secret--for
+thee, and for the utter ruin of Cleopatra and the Roman. I have fanned
+his passion and her jealousy, I have egged her on to wickedness and
+him to folly, and of all have I caused report to be brought to C�sar.
+Listen! thus stands the matter. Thou knowest how went the fight at
+Actium. Thither went Cleopatra with her fleet, sorely against the will
+of Antony. But, as thou sentest me word, I entreated him for the
+Queen, vowing to him, with tears, that, did he leave her, she would
+die of grief; and he, poor slave, believed me. And so she went, and in
+the thick of the fight, for what cause I know not, though perchance
+thou knowest, Harmachis, she made signal to her squadron, and, putting
+about fled from the battle, sailing for Peloponnesus. And now, mark
+the end! When Antony saw that she was gone, he, in his madness, took a
+galley, and deserting all, followed hard after her, leaving his fleet
+to be shattered and sunk, and his great army in Greece, of twenty
+legions and twelve thousand horse, without a leader. And all this no
+man would believe, that Antony, the smitten of the Gods, had fallen so
+deep in shame. Therefore for a while the army tarried, and but now
+to-night comes news brought by Canidius, the General, that, worn with
+doubt and being at length sure that Antony had deserted them, the
+whole of his great force has yielded to C�sar."
+
+"And where, then, is Antony?"
+
+"He has built him a habitation on a little isle in the Great Harbour
+and named it Timonium; because, forsooth, like Timon, he cries out at
+the ingratitude of mankind that has forsaken him. And there he lies
+smitten by a fever of the mind, and thither thou must go at dawn, so
+wills the Queen, to cure him of his ills and draw him to her arms; for
+he will not see her, nor knows he yet the full measure of his woe. But
+first my bidding is to lead thee instantly to Cleopatra, who would ask
+thy counsel."
+
+"I come," I answered, rising. "Lead thou on."
+
+And so we passed the palace gates and along the Alabaster Hall, and
+presently once again I stood before the door of Cleopatra's chamber,
+and once again Charmion left me to warn her of my coming.
+
+Presently she came back and beckoned to me. "Make strong thy heart,"
+she whispered, "and see that thou dost not betray thyself, for still
+are the eyes of Cleopatra keen. Enter!"
+
+"Keen, indeed, must they be to find Harmachis in the learned Olympus!
+Had I not willed it, thyself thou hadst not known me, Charmion," I
+made answer.
+
+Then I entered that remembered place and listened once more to the
+plash of the fountain, the song of the nightingale, and the murmur of
+the summer sea. With bowed head and halting gait I came, till at
+length I stood before the couch of Cleopatra--that same golden couch
+on which she had sat the night she overcame me. Then I gathered my
+strength, and looked up. There before me was Cleopatra, glorious as of
+old, but, oh! how changed since that night when I saw Antony clasp her
+in his arms at Tarsus! Her beauty still clothed her like a garment;
+the eyes were yet deep and unfathomable as the blue sea, the face
+still splendid in its great loveliness. And yet all was changed. Time,
+that could not touch her charms, had stamped upon her presence such a
+look of weary grief as may not be written. Passion, beating ever in
+that fierce heart of hers, had written his record on her brow, and in
+her eyes shone the sad lights of sorrow.
+
+I bowed low before this most royal woman, who once had been my love
+and destruction, and yet knew me not.
+
+She looked up wearily, and spoke in her slow, well remembered voice:
+
+"So thou art come at length, Physician. How callest thou thyself?--
+Olympus? 'Tis a name of promise, for surely now that the Gods of Egypt
+have deserted us, we do need aid from Olympus. Well, thou hast a
+learned air, for learning does not with beauty. Strange, too, there is
+that about thee which recalls what I know not. Say, Olympus, have we
+met before?"
+
+"Never, O Queen, have my eyes fallen on thee in the body," I answered
+in a feigned voice. "Never till this hour, when I come forth from my
+solitude to do thy bidding and cure thee of thy ills!"
+
+"Strange! and even in the voice--Pshaw! 'tis some memory that I cannot
+catch. In the body, thou sayest? then, perchance, I knew thee in a
+dream?"
+
+"Ay, O Queen; we have met in dreams."
+
+"Thou art a strange man, who talkest thus, but, if what I hear be
+true, one well learned; and, indeed, I mind me of thy counsel when
+thou didst bid me join my Lord Antony in Syria, and how things befell
+according to thy word. Skilled must thou be in the casting of
+nativities and in the law of auguries, of which these Alexandrian
+fools have little knowledge. Once I knew such another man, one
+Harmachis," and she sighed: "but he is long dead--as I would I were
+also!--and at times I sorrow for him."
+
+She paused, while I sank my head upon my breast and stood silent.
+
+"Interpret me this, Olympus. In the battle at that accursed Actium,
+just as the fight raged thickest and Victory began to smile upon us, a
+great terror seized my heart, and thick darkness seemed to fall before
+my eyes, while in my ears a voice, ay, the voice of that long dead
+Harmachis, cried '/Fly! fly, or perish!/' and I fled. But from my
+heart the terror leapt to the heart of Antony, and he followed after
+me, and thus was the battle lost. Say, then, what God brought this
+evil thing about?"
+
+"Nay, O Queen," I answered, "it was no God--for wherein hast thou
+angered the Gods of Egypt? Hast thou robbed the temples of their
+Faith? Hast thou betrayed the trust of Egypt? Having done none of
+these things, how, then, can the Gods of Egypt be wroth with thee?
+Fear not, it was nothing but some natural vapour of the mind that
+overcame thy gentle soul, made sick with the sight and sound of
+slaughter; and as for the noble Antony, where thou didst go needs must
+that he should follow."
+
+And as I spoke, Cleopatra turned white and trembled, glancing at me
+the while to find my meaning. But I well knew that the thing was of
+the avenging Gods, working through me, their instrument.
+
+"Learned Olympus," she said, not answering my words; "my Lord Antony
+is sick and crazed with grief. Like some poor hunted slave he hides
+himself in yonder sea-girt Tower and shuns mankind--yes, he shuns even
+me, who, for his sake, endure so many woes. Now, this is my bidding to
+thee. To-morrow, at the coming of the light, do thou, led by Charmion,
+my waiting-lady, take boat and row thee to the Tower and there crave
+entry, saying that ye bring tidings from the army. Then he will cause
+you to be let in, and thou, Charmion, must break this heavy news that
+Canidius bears; for Canidius himself I dare not send. And when his
+grief is past, do thou, Olympus, soothe his fevered frame with thy
+draughts of value, and his soul with honeyed words, and draw him back
+to me, and all will yet be well. Do thou this, and thou shalt have
+gifts more than thou canst count, for I am yet a Queen and yet can pay
+back those who serve my will."
+
+"Fear not, O Queen," I answered, "this thing shall be done, and I ask
+no reward, who have come hither to do thy bidding to the end."
+
+So I bowed and went and, summoning Atoua, made ready a certain potion.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+OF THE DRAWING FORTH OF ANTONY FROM THE TIMONIUM BACK TO
+CLEOPATRA; OF THE FEAST MADE BY CLEOPATRA; AND OF THE MANNER
+OF THE DEATH OF EUDOSIUS THE STEWARD
+
+Ere it was yet dawn Charmion came again, and we walked to the private
+harbour of the palace. There, taking boat, we rowed to the island
+mount on which stands the Timonium, a vaulted tower, strong, small,
+and round. And, having landed, we twain came to the door and knocked,
+till at length a grating was thrown open in the door, and an aged
+eunuch, looking forth, roughly asked our business.
+
+"Our business is with the Lord Antony," said Charmion.
+
+"Then it is no business, for Antony, my master, sees neither man nor
+woman."
+
+"Yet will he see us, for we bring tidings. Go tell him that the Lady
+Charmion brings tidings from the army."
+
+The man went, and presently returned.
+
+"The Lord Antony would know if the tidings be good or ill, for, if
+ill, then will he none of it, for with evil tidings he has been
+overfed of late."
+
+"Why--why, it is both good and ill. Open, slave, I will make answer to
+thy master!" and she slipped a purse of gold through the bars.
+
+"Well, well," he grumbled, as he took the purse, "the times are hard,
+and likely to be harder; for when the lion's down who will feed the
+jackal? Give thy news thyself, and if it do but draw the noble Antony
+out of this hall of Groans, I care not what it be. Now the palace door
+is open, and there's the road to the banqueting-chamber."
+
+We passed on, to find ourselves in a narrow passage, and, leaving the
+eunuch to bar the door, advanced till we came to a curtain. Through
+this entrance we went, and found ourselves in a vaulted chamber, ill-
+lighted from the roof. On the further side of this rude chamber was a
+bed of rugs, and on them crouched the figure of a man, his face hidden
+in the folds of his toga.
+
+"Most noble Antony," said Charmion drawing near, "unwrap thy face and
+hearken to me, for I bring thee tidings."
+
+Then he lifted up his head. His face was marred by sorrow; his tangled
+hair, grizzled with years, hung about his hollow eyes, and white on
+his chin was the stubble of an unshaven beard. His robe was squalid,
+and his aspect more wretched than that of the poorest beggar at the
+temple gates. To this, then, had the love of Cleopatra brought the
+glorious and renowned Antony, aforetime Master of half the World!
+
+"What will ye with me, Lady," he asked, "who would perish here alone?
+And who is this man who comes to gaze on fallen and forsaken Antony?"
+
+"This is Olympus, noble Antony, that wise physician, the skilled in
+auguries, of whom thou hast heard much, and whom Cleopatra, ever
+mindful of thy welfare, though but little thou dost think of hers, has
+sent to minister to thee."
+
+"And, can thy physician minister to a grief such as my grief? Can his
+drugs give me back my galleys, my honour, and my peace? Nay! Away with
+thy physician! What are thy tidings?--quick!--out with it! Hath
+Canidius, perchance, conquered C�sar? Tell me but that, and thou shalt
+have a province for thy guerdon--ay! and if Octavianus be dead, twenty
+thousand sestertia to fill its treasury. Speak--nay--speak not! I fear
+the opening of thy lips as never I feared an earthly thing. Surely the
+wheel of fortune has gone round and Canidius has conquered? Is it not
+so? Nay--out with it! I can no more!"
+
+"O noble Antony," she said, "steel thy heart to hear that which I
+needs must tell thee! Canidius is in Alexandria. He has fled far and
+fast, and this is his report. For seven whole days did the legions
+wait the coming of Antony, to lead them to victory, as aforetime,
+putting aside the offers of the envoys of C�sar. But Antony came not.
+And then it was rumoured that Antony had fled to T�narus, drawn
+thither by Cleopatra. The man who first brought that tale to the camp
+the legionaries cried shame on--ay, and beat him to the death! But
+ever it grew, until at length there was no more room to doubt; and
+then, O Antony, thy officers slipped one by one away to C�sar, and
+where the officers go there the men follow. Nor is this all the story;
+for thy allies--Bocchus of Africa, Tarcondimotus of Cilicia,
+Mithridates of Commagene, Adallas of Thrace, Philadelphus of
+Paphlagonia, Archelaus of Cappadocia, Herod of Jud�a, Amyntas of
+Galatia, Polemon of Pontus, and Malchus of Arabia--all, all have fled
+or bid their generals fly back to whence they came; and already their
+ambassador's crave cold C�sar's clemency."
+
+"Hast done thy croakings, thou raven in a peacock's dress, or is there
+more to come?" asked the smitten man, lifting his white and trembling
+face from the shelter of his hands. "Tell me more; say that Egypt's
+dead in all her beauty; say that Octavianus lowers at the Canopic
+gate; and that, headed by dead Cicero, all the ghosts of Hell do
+audibly shriek out the fall of Antony! Yea, gather up every woe that
+can o'erwhelm those who once were great, and loose them on the hoary
+head of him whom--in thy gentleness--thou art still pleased to name
+'the noble Antony'!"
+
+"Nay, my Lord, I have done."
+
+"Ay, and so have I done--done, quite done! It is altogether finished,
+and thus I seal the end," and snatching a sword from the couch, he
+would, indeed, have slain himself had I not sprung forward and grasped
+his hand. For it was not my purpose that he should die as yet; since
+had he died at that hour Cleopatra had made her peace with C�sar, who
+rather wished the death of Antony than the ruin of Egypt.
+
+"Art mad, Antony? Art, indeed, a coward?" cried Charmion, "that thou
+wouldst thus escape thy woes, and leave thy partner to face the sorrow
+out alone?"
+
+"Why not, woman? Why not? She would not be long alone. There's C�sar
+to keep her company. Octavianus loves a fair woman in his cold way,
+and still is Cleopatra fair. Come now, thou Olympus! thou hast held my
+hand from dealing death upon myself, advise me of thy wisdom. Shall I,
+then, submit myself to C�sar, and I, Triumvir, twice Consul, and
+aforetime absolute Monarch of all the East, endure to follow in his
+triumph along those Roman ways where I myself have passed in triumph?"
+
+"Nay, Sire," I answered. "If thou dost yield, then art thou doomed.
+All last night I questioned of the Fates concerning thee, and I saw
+this: when thy star draws near to C�sar's it pales and is swallowed
+up; but when it passes from his radiance, then bright and big it
+shines, equal in glory to his own. All is not lost, and while some
+part remains, everything may be regained. Egypt can yet be held,
+armies can still be raised. C�sar has withdrawn himself; he is not yet
+at the gates of Alexandria, and perchance may be appeased. Thy mind in
+its fever has fired thy body; thou art sick and canst not judge
+aright. See, here, I have a potion that shall make thee whole, for I
+am well skilled in the art of medicine," and I held out the phial.
+
+"A potion, thou sayest man!" he cried. "More like it is a poison, and
+thou a murderer, sent by false Egypt, who would fain be rid of me now
+that I may no more be of service to her. The head of Antony is the
+peace offering she would send to C�sar--she for whom I have lost all!
+Give me thy draught. By Bacchus! I will drink it, though it be the
+very elixir of Death!"
+
+"Nay, noble Antony; it is no poison, and I am no murderer. See, I will
+taste it, if thou wilt," and I held forth the subtle drink that has
+the power to fire the veins of men.
+
+"Give it me, Physician. Desperate men are brave men. There!---- Why,
+what is this? Yours is a magic draught! My sorrows seem to roll away
+like thunder-clouds before the southern gale, and the spring of Hope
+blooms fresh upon the desert of my heart. Once more I am Antony, and
+once again I see my legions' spears asparkle in the sun, and hear the
+thunderous shout of welcome as Antony--beloved Antony--rides in pomp
+of war along his deep-formed lines! There's hope! there's hope! I may
+yet see the cold brows of C�sar--that C�sar who never errs except from
+policy--robbed of their victor bays and crowned with shameful dust!"
+
+"Ay," cried Charmion, "there still is hope, if thou wilt but play the
+man! O my Lord! come back with us; come back to the loving arms of
+Cleopatra! All night she lies upon her golden bed, and fills the
+hollow darkness with her groans for 'Antony!' who, enamoured now of
+Grief, forgets his duty and his love!"
+
+"I come! I come! Shame upon me, that I dared to doubt her! Slave,
+bring water, and a purple robe: not thus can I be seen of Cleopatra.
+Even now I come."
+
+
+
+In this fashion, then, did we draw Antony back to Cleopatra, that the
+ruin of the twain might be made sure.
+
+
+
+We led him up the Alabaster Hall and into Cleopatra's chamber, where
+she lay, her cloudy hair about her face and breast, and tears flowing
+from her deep eyes.
+
+"O Egypt!" he cried, "behold me at thy feet!"
+
+She sprang from the couch. "And art thou here, my love?" she murmured;
+"then once again are all things well. Come near, and in these arms
+forget thy sorrows and turn my grief to joy. Oh, Antony, while love is
+left to us, still have we all!"
+
+And she fell upon his breast and kissed him wildly.
+
+
+
+That same day, Charmion came to me and bade me prepare a poison of the
+most deadly power. And this at first I would not do, fearing that
+Cleopatra would therewith make an end of Antony before his time. But
+Charmion showed me that this was not so, and told me also for what
+purpose was the poison. Therefore I summoned Atoua, the skilled in
+simples, and all that afternoon we laboured at the deadly work. And
+when it was done, Charmion came once more, bearing with her a chaplet
+of fresh roses, that she bade me steep in the poison.
+
+This then I did.
+
+That night at the great feast of Cleopatra, I sat near Antony, who was
+at her side, and wore the poisoned wreath. Now as the feast went on,
+the wine flowed fast, till Antony and the Queen grew merry. And she
+told him of her plans, and of how even now her galleys were being
+drawn by the canal that leads from Bubastis on the Pelusiac branch of
+the Nile, to Clysma at the head of the Bay of Heroopolis. For it was
+her design, should C�sar prove stubborn, to fly with Antony and her
+treasure down the Arabian Gulf, where C�sar had no fleet, and seek
+some new home in India, whither her foes might not follow. But,
+indeed, this plan came to nothing, for the Arabs of Petra burnt the
+galleys, incited thereto by a message sent by the Jews of Alexandria,
+who hated Cleopatra and were hated of her. For I caused the Jews to be
+warned of what was being done.
+
+Now, when she had made an end of telling him, the Queen called on him
+to drink a cup with her, to the success of this new scheme, bidding
+him, as she did so, steep his wreath of roses in the wine, and make
+the draught more sweet. This, then, he did, and it being done, she
+pledged him. But when he was about to pledge her back, she caught his
+hand, crying "/Hold!/" whereat he paused, wondering.
+
+Now, among the servants of Cleopatra was one Eudosius, a steward; and
+this Eudosius, seeing that the fortunes of Cleopatra were at an end,
+had laid a plan to fly that very night to C�sar, as many of his
+betters had done, taking with him all the treasure in the palace that
+he could steal. But this design being discovered to Cleopatra, she
+determined to be avenged upon Eudosius.
+
+"Eudosius," she cried, for the man stood near; "come hither, thou
+faithful servant! Seest thou this man, most noble Antony; through all
+our troubles he has clung to us and been of comfort to us. Now,
+therefore, he shall be rewarded according to his deserts and the
+measure of his faithfulness, and that from thine own hand. Give him
+thy golden cup of wine, and let him drink a pledge to our success; the
+cup shall be his guerdon."
+
+And still wondering, Antony gave it to the man, who, stricken in his
+guilty mind, took it, and stood trembling. But he drank not.
+
+"Drink! thou slave; drink!" cried Cleopatra, half rising from her seat
+and flashing a fierce look on his white face. "By Serapis! so surely
+as I yet shall sit in the Capitol at Rome, if thou dost thus flout the
+Lord Antony, I'll have thee scourged to the bones, and the red wine
+poured upon thy open wounds to heal them! /Ah!/ at length thou
+drinkest! Why, what is it, good Eudosius? art sick? Surely, then, this
+wine must be as the water of jealousy of those Jews, that has power to
+slay the false and strengthen the honest only. Go, some of you, search
+this man's room; methinks he is a traitor!"
+
+Meanwhile the man stood, his hands to his head. Presently he began to
+tremble, and then fell, clutching at his bosom, as though to tear out
+the fire in his heart. He staggered, with livid, twisted face and
+foaming lips, to where Cleopatra lay watching him with a slow and
+cruel smile.
+
+"Ah, traitor! thou hast it now!" she said. "Prithee, is death sweet?"
+
+"Thou wanton!" yelled the dying man, "thou hast poisoned me! Thus
+mayst thou also perish!" and with one shriek he flung himself upon
+her. She saw his purpose, and swift and supple as a tiger sprang to
+one side, so that he did but grasp her royal cloak, tearing it from
+its emerald clasp. Down he fell upon the ground, rolling over and over
+in the purple chiton, till presently he lay still and dead, his
+tormented face and frozen eyes peering ghastly from its folds.
+
+"Ah!" said the Queen, with a hard laugh, "the slave died wondrous
+hard, and fain would have drawn me with him. See, he has borrowed my
+garment for a pall! Take him away and bury him in his livery."
+
+"What means Cleopatra?" said Antony, as the guards dragged the corpse
+away; "the man drank of my cup. What is the purpose of this most sorry
+jest?"
+
+"It serves a double end, noble Antony! This very night that man would
+have fled to Octavianus, bearing of our treasure with him. Well, I
+have lent him wings, for the dead fly fast! Also this: thou didst fear
+that I should poison thee, my Lord; nay, I know it. See now, Antony,
+how easy it were that I should slay thee if I had the will. That
+wreath of roses which thou didst steep within the cup is dewed with
+deadly bane. Had I, then, a mind to make an end of thee, I had not
+stayed thy hand. O Antony, henceforth trust me! Sooner would I slay
+myself than harm one hair of thy beloved head! See, here come my
+messengers! Speak, what did ye find?"
+
+"Royal Egypt, we found this. All things in the chamber of Eudosius are
+made ready for flight, and in his baggage is much treasure."
+
+"Thou hearest?" she said, smiling darkly. "Think ye, my loyal servants
+all, that Cleopatra is one with whom it is well to play the traitor?
+Be warned by this Roman's fate!"
+
+
+
+Then a great silence of fear fell upon the company, and Antony sat
+also silent.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+OF THE WORKINGS OF THE LEARNED OLYMPUS AT MEMPHIS; OF THE
+POISONINGS OF CLEOPATRA; OF THE SPEECH OF ANTONY TO HIS
+CAPTAINS; AND OF THE PASSING OF ISIS FROM THE LAND OF KHEM
+
+Now I, Harmachis, must make speed with my task, setting down that
+which is permitted as shortly as may be, and leaving much untold. For
+of this I am warned, that Doom draws on and my days are wellnigh sped.
+After the drawing forth of Antony from the Timonium came that time of
+heavy quiet which heralds the rising of the desert wind. Antony and
+Cleopatra once again gave themselves up to luxury, and night by night
+feasted in splendour at the palace. They sent ambassadors to C�sar;
+but C�sar would have none of them; and, this hope being gone, they
+turned their minds to the defence of Alexandria. Men were gathered,
+ships were built, and a great force was made ready against the coming
+of C�sar.
+
+And now, aided by Charmion, I began my last work of hate and
+vengeance. I wormed myself deep into the secrets of the palace,
+counselling all things for evil. I bade Cleopatra keep Antony gay,
+lest he should brood upon his sorrows: and thus she sapped his
+strength and energy with luxury and wine. I gave him of my draughts--
+draughts that sank his soul in dreams of happiness and power, leaving
+him to wake to a heavier misery. Soon, without my healing medicine he
+could not sleep, and thus, being ever at his side, I bound his
+weakened will to mine, till at last he would do little if I said not
+"It is well." Cleopatra, also grown very superstitious, leaned much
+upon me; for I prophesied falsely to her in secret.
+
+Moreover, I wove other webs. My fame was great throughout Egypt, for
+during the long years that I had dwelt in T�p� it had spread through
+all the land. Therefore many men of note came to me, both for their
+health's sake and because it was known that I had the ear of Antony
+and the Queen; and, in these days of doubt and trouble, they were fain
+to learn the truth. All these men I worked upon with doubtful words,
+sapping their loyalty; and I caused many to fall away, and yet none
+could bear an evil report of what I had said. Also, Cleopatra sent me
+to Memphis, there to move the Priests and Governors that they should
+gather men in Upper Egypt for the defence of Alexandria. And I went
+and spoke to the priests with such a double meaning and with so much
+wisdom that they knew me to be one of the initiated in the deeper
+mysteries. But how I, Olympus the physician, came thus to be initiated
+none might say. And afterwards they sought me secretly, and I gave
+them the holy sign of brotherhood; and thereunder bade them not to ask
+who I might be, but send no aid to Cleopatra. Rather, I said, must
+they make peace with C�sar, for by C�sar's grace only could the
+worship of the Gods endure in Khem. So, having taken counsel of the
+Holy Apis, they promised in public to give help to Cleopatra, but in
+secret sent an embassy to C�sar.
+
+Thus, then, it came to pass that Egypt gave but little aid to its
+hated Macedonian Queen. Thence from Memphis I came once more to
+Alexandria, and, having made favourable report, continued my secret
+work. And, indeed, the Alexandrians could not easily be stirred, for,
+as they say in the marketplace, "The ass looks at its burden and is
+blind to its master." Cleopatra had oppressed them so long that the
+Roman was like a welcome friend.
+
+Thus the time passed on, and every night found Cleopatra with fewer
+friends than that which had gone before, for in evil days friends fly
+like swallows before the frost. Yet she would not give up Antony, whom
+she loved; though to my knowledge C�sar, by his freedman, Thyreus,
+made promise to her of her dominions for herself and for her children
+if she would but slay Antony, or even betray him bound. But to this
+her woman's heart--for still she had a heart--would not consent, and,
+moreover, we counselled her against it, for of necessity we must hold
+him to her, lest, Antony escaping or being slain, Cleopatra might ride
+out the storm and yet be Queen of Egypt. And this grieved me, because
+Antony, though weak, was still a brave man, and a great; and,
+moreover, in my own heart I read the lesson of his woes. For were we
+not akin in wretchedness? Had not the same woman robbed us of Empire,
+Friends, and Honour? But pity has no place in politics, nor could it
+turn my feet from the path of vengeance it was ordained that I should
+tread. C�sar drew nigh; Pelusium fell; the end was at hand. It was
+Charmion who brought the tidings to the Queen and Antony, as they
+slept in the heat of the day, and I came with her.
+
+"Awake!" she cried. "Awake! This is no time for sleep! Seleucus hath
+surrendered Pelusium to C�sar, who marches straight on Alexandria!"
+
+With a great oath, Antony sprang up and clutched Cleopatra by the arm.
+
+"Thou hast betrayed me--by the Gods I swear it! Now thou shalt pay the
+price!" And snatching up his sword he drew it.
+
+"Stay thy hand, Antony!" she cried. "It is false--I know naught of
+this!" And she sprang upon him, and clung about his neck, weeping. "I
+know naught, my Lord. Take thou the wife of Seleucus and his little
+children, whom I hold in guard, and avenge thyself. O Antony, Antony!
+why dost thou doubt me?"
+
+Then Antony threw down his sword upon the marble, and, casting himself
+upon the couch, hid his face, and groaned in bitterness of spirit.
+
+But Charmion smiled, for it was she who had sent secretly to Seleucus,
+her friend, counselling him to surrender forthwith, saying that no
+fight would be made at Alexandria. And that very night Cleopatra took
+all her great store of pearls and emeralds--those that remained of the
+treasure of Menkau-ra--all her wealth of gold, ebony, ivory, and
+cinnamon, treasure without price, and placed it in the mausoleum of
+granite which, after our Egyptian fashion, she had built upon the hill
+that is by the Temple of the Holy Isis. These riches she piled up upon
+a bed of flax, that, when she fired it, all might perish in the flame
+and escape the greed of money-loving Octavianus. And she slept
+henceforth in this tomb, away from Antony; but in the daytime she
+still saw him at the palace.
+
+But a little while after, when C�sar with all his great force had
+already crossed the Caponic mouth of the Nile and was hard on
+Alexandria, I came to the palace, whither Cleopatra had summoned me.
+There I found her in the Alabaster Hall, royally clad, a wild light in
+her eyes, and, with her, Iras and Charmion, and before her guards; and
+stretched here and there upon the marble, bodies of dead men, among
+whom lay one yet dying.
+
+"Greeting, thou Olympus!" she cried. "Here is a sight to glad a
+physician's heart--men dead and men sick unto death!"
+
+"What doest thou, O Queen?" I said affrighted.
+
+"What do I? I wreak justice on these criminals and traitors; and,
+Olympus, I learn the ways of death. I have caused six different
+poisons to be given to these slaves, and with an attentive eye have
+watched their working. That man," and she pointed to a Nubian, "he
+went mad, and raved of his native deserts and his mother. He thought
+himself a child again, poor fool! and bade her hold him close to her
+breast and save him from the darkness which drew near. And that Greek,
+he shrieked, and, shrieking, died. And this, he wept and prayed for
+pity, and in the end, like a coward, breathed his last. Now, note the
+Egyptian yonder, he who still lives and groans; first he took the
+draught--the deadliest draught of all, they swore--and yet the slave
+so dearly loves his life he will not leave it! See, he yet strives to
+throw the poison from him; twice have I given him the cup and yet he
+is athirst. What a drunkard we have here! Man, man, knowest thou not
+that in death only can peace be found? Struggle no more, but enter
+into rest." And even as she spoke, the man, with a great cry, gave up
+the spirit.
+
+"There!" she cried, "at length the farce is played--away with those
+slaves whom I have forced through the difficult gates of Joy!" and she
+clapped her hands. But when they had borne the bodies thence she drew
+me to her, and spoke thus:
+
+"Olympus, for all thy prophecies, the end is at hand. C�sar must
+conquer, and I and my Lord Antony be lost. Now, therefore, the play
+being wellnigh done, I must make ready to leave this stage of earth in
+such fashion as becomes a Queen. For this cause, then, I do make trial
+of these poisons, seeing that in my person I must soon endure those
+agonies of death that to-day I give to others. These drugs please me
+not; some wrench out the soul with cruel pains, and some too slowly
+work their end. But thou art skilled in the medicines of death. Now,
+do thou prepare me such a draught as shall, pangless, steal my life
+away."
+
+And as I listened the sense of triumph filled my bitter heart, for I
+knew now that by my own hand should this ruined woman die and the
+justice of the Gods be done.
+
+"Spoken like a Queen, O Cleopatra!" I said. "Death shall cure thy
+ills, and I will brew such a wine as shall draw him down a sudden
+friend and sink thee in a sea of slumber whence, upon this earth, thou
+shalt never wake again. Oh! fear not Death: Death is thy hope; and,
+surely, thou shalt pass sinless and pure of heart into the dreadful
+presence of the Gods!"
+
+She trembled. "And if the heart be not altogether pure, tell me--thou
+dark man--what then? Nay, I fear not the Gods! for if the Gods of Hell
+be men, there I shall Queen it also. At the least, having once been
+royal, royal I shall ever be."
+
+And, as she spoke, suddenly from the palace gates came a great
+clamour, and the noise of joyful shouting.
+
+"Why, what is this?" she said, springing from her couch.
+
+"Antony! Antony!" rose the cry; "Antony hath conquered!"
+
+She turned swiftly and ran, her long hair streaming on the wind. I
+followed her, more slowly, down the great hall, across the courtyards,
+to the palace gates. And here she met Antony, riding through them,
+radiant with smiles and clad in his Roman armour. When he saw her he
+leapt to the ground, and, all armed as he was, clasped her to his
+breast.
+
+"What is it?" she cried; "is C�sar fallen?"
+
+"Nay, not altogether fallen, Egypt: but we have beat his horsemen back
+to their trenches, and, like the beginning, so shall be the end, for,
+as they say here, 'Where the head goes, the tail will follow.'
+Moreover, C�sar has my challenge, and if he will but meet me hand to
+hand, the world shall soon see which is the better man, Antony or
+Octavian." And even as he spoke and the people cheered there came the
+cry of "A messenger from C�sar!"
+
+The herald entered, and, bowing low, gave a writing to Antony, bowed
+again, and went. Cleopatra snatched it from his hand, broke the silk
+and read aloud:
+
+ "C�sar to Antony, greeting.
+
+ "This answer to thy challenge: Can Antony find no better way of
+  death than beneath the sword of C�sar? Farewell!"
+
+And thereafter they cheered no more.
+
+
+
+The darkness came, and before it was midnight, having feasted with his
+friends who to-night went over his woes and to-morrow should betray
+him, Antony went forth to the gathering of the captains of the land-
+forces and of the fleet, attended by many, among whom was I.
+
+When all were come together, he spoke to them, standing bareheaded in
+their midst, beneath the radiance of the moon. And thus he most nobly
+spoke:
+
+"Friends and companions in arms! who yet cling to me, and whom many a
+time I have led to victory, hearken to me now, who to-morrow may lie
+in the dumb dust, disempired and dishonoured. This is our design: no
+longer will we hang on poised wings above the flood of war, but will
+straightway plunge, perchance thence to snatch the victor's diadem,
+or, failing, there to drown. Be now but true to me, and to your
+honour's sake, and you may still sit, the most proud of men, at my
+right hand in the Capitol of Rome. Fail me now, and the cause of
+Antony is lost and so are ye. To-morrow's battle must be hazardous
+indeed, but we have stood many a time and faced a fiercer peril, and
+ere the sun had sunk, once more have driven armies like desert sands
+before our gale of valour and counted the spoil of hostile kings. What
+have we to fear? Though allies be fled, still is our array as strong
+as C�sar's! And show we but as high a heart, why, I swear to you, upon
+my princely word, to-morrow night I shall deck yonder Canopic gate
+with the heads of Octavian and his captains!
+
+"Ay, cheer, and cheer again! I love that martial music which swells,
+not as from the indifferent lips of clarions, now 'neath the breath of
+Antony and now of C�sar, but rather out of the single hearts of men
+who love me. Yet--and now I will speak low, as we do speak o'er the
+bier of some beloved dead--yet, if Fortune should rise against me and
+if, borne down by the weight of arms, Antony, the soldier, dies a
+soldier's death, leaving you to mourn him who ever was your friend,
+this is my will, that, after our rough fashion of the camp, I here
+declare to you. You know where all my treasure lies. Take it, most
+dear friends; and, in the memory of Antony, make just division. Then
+go to C�sar and speak thus: 'Antony, the dead, to C�sar, the living,
+sends greeting; and, in the name of ancient fellowship and of many a
+peril dared, craves this boon: the safety of those who clung to him
+and that which he hath given them.'
+
+"Nay, let not my tears--for I must weep--overflow your eyes! Why, it
+is not manly; 'tis most womanish! All men must die, and death were
+welcome were it not so lone. Should I fall, I leave my children to
+your tender care--if, perchance, it may avail to save them from the
+fate of helplessness. Soldiers, enough! to-morrow at the dawn we
+spring on C�sar's throat, both by land and sea. Swear that ye will
+cling to me, even to the last issue!"
+
+"We swear!" they cried. "Noble Antony, we swear!"
+
+"It is well! Once more my star grows bright; to-morrow, set in the
+highest heaven, it yet may shine the lamp of C�sar down! Till then,
+farewell!"
+
+He turned to go. As he went they caught his hand and kissed it; and so
+deeply were they moved that many wept like children; nor could Antony
+master his grief, for, in the moonlight, I saw tears roll down his
+furrowed cheeks and fall upon that mighty breast.
+
+And, seeing all this, I was much troubled. For I well knew that if
+these men held firm to Antony all might yet go well for Cleopatra; and
+though I bore no ill-will against Antony, yet he must fall, and in
+that fall drag down the woman who, like some poisonous plant, had
+twined herself about his giant strength till it choked and mouldered
+in her embrace.
+
+Therefore, when Antony went I went not, but stood back in the shadow
+watching the faces of the lords and captains as they spoke together.
+
+"Then it is agreed!" said he who should lead the fleet. "And this we
+swear to, one and all, that we will cling to noble Antony to the last
+extremity of fortune!"
+
+"Ay! ay!" they answered.
+
+"Ay! ay!" I said, speaking from the shadow; "cling, and /die!/"
+
+They turned fiercely and seized me.
+
+"Who is he?" quoth one.
+
+"'Tis that dark-faced dog, Olympus!" cried another. "Olympus, the
+magician!"
+
+"Olympus, the traitor!" growled another; "put an end to him and his
+magic!" and he drew his sword.
+
+"Ay! slay him; he would betray the Lord Antony, whom he is paid to
+doctor."
+
+"Hold a while!" I said in a slow and solemn voice, "and beware how ye
+try to murder the servant of the Gods. I am no traitor. For myself, I
+abide the event here in Alexandria, but to you I say, Flee, flee to
+C�sar! I serve Antony and the Queen--I serve them truly; but above all
+I serve the Holy Gods; and what they make known to me, that, Lords, I
+do know. And I know this: that Antony is doomed, and Cleopatra is
+doomed, for C�sar conquers. Therefore, because I honour you, noble
+gentlemen, and think with pity on your wives, left widowed, and your
+little fatherless children, that shall, if ye hold to Antony, be sold
+as slaves--therefore, I say, cling to Antony if ye will and die; or
+flee to C�sar and be saved! And this I say because it is so ordained
+of the Gods."
+
+"The Gods!" they growled; "what Gods? Slit the traitor's throat, and
+stop his ill-omened talk!"
+
+"Let him show us a sign from his Gods or let him die: I do mistrust
+this man," said another.
+
+"Stand back, ye fools!" I cried. "Stand back--free mine arms--and I
+will show you a sign;" and there was that in my face which frightened
+them, for they freed me and stood back. Then I lifted up my hands and
+putting out all my strength of soul searched the depths of space till
+my Spirit communed with the Spirit of my Mother Isis. Only the Word of
+Power I uttered not, as I had been bidden. And the holy mystery of the
+Goddess answered to my Spirit's cry, falling in awful silence upon the
+face of the earth. Deeper and deeper grew the terrible silence; even
+the dogs ceased to howl, and in the city men stood still afeared.
+Then, from far away, there came the ghostly music of the sistra. Faint
+it was at first, but ever as it came it grew more loud, till the air
+shivered with the unearthly sound of terror. I said naught, but
+pointed with my hand toward the sky. And behold! bosomed upon the air,
+floated a vast veiled Shape that, heralded by the swelling music of
+the sistra, drew slowly near, till its shadow lay upon us. It came, it
+passed, it went toward the camp of C�sar, till at length the music
+died away, and the awful Shape was swallowed in the night.
+
+"It is Bacchus!" cried one. "Bacchus, who leaves lost Antony!" and, as
+he spoke, there rose a groan of terror from all the camp.
+
+But I knew that it was not Bacchus, the false God, but the Divine Isis
+who deserted Khem, and, passing over the edge of the world, sought her
+home in space, to be no more known of men. For though her worship is
+still upheld, though still she is here and in all Earths, Isis
+manifests herself no more in Egypt. I hid my face and prayed, but when
+I lifted it from my robe, lo! all had fled and I was alone.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+OF THE SURRENDER OF THE TROOPS AND FLEET OF ANTONY BEFORE
+THE CANOPIC GATE; OF THE END OF ANTONY, AND OF THE BREWING OF
+THE DRAUGHT OF DEATH
+
+On the morrow, at dawn, Antony came forth and gave command that his
+fleet should advance against the fleet of C�sar, and that his cavalry
+should open the land-battle with the cavalry of C�sar. Accordingly,
+the fleet advanced in a triple line, and the fleet of C�sar came out
+to meet it. But when they met, the galleys of Antony lifted their oars
+in greeting, and passed over to the galleys of C�sar; and they sailed
+away together. And the cavalry of Antony rode forth beyond the
+Hippodrome to charge the cavalry of C�sar; but when they met, they
+lowered their swords and passed over to the camp of C�sar, deserting
+Antony. Then Antony grew mad with rage and terrible to see. He shouted
+to his legions to stand firm and wait attack; and for a little while
+they stood. One man, however--that same officer who would have slain
+me on the yesternight--strove to fly; but Antony seized him with his
+own hand, threw him to the earth, and, springing from his horse, drew
+his sword to slay him. He held his sword on high, while the man,
+covering his face, awaited death. But Antony dropped his sword and
+bade him rise.
+
+"Go!" he said. "Go to C�sar, and prosper! I did love thee once. Why,
+then, among so many traitors, should I single thee out for death?"
+
+The man rose and looked upon him sorrowfully. Then, shame overwhelming
+him, with a great cry he tore open his shirt of mail, plunged his
+sword into his own heart and fell down dead. Antony stood and gazed at
+him, but he said never a word. Meanwhile the ranks of C�sar's legions
+drew near, and so soon as they crossed spears the legions of Antony
+turned and fled. Then the soldiers of C�sar stood still mocking them;
+but scarce a man was slain, for they pursued not.
+
+"Fly, Lord Antony! fly!" cried Eros, his servant, who alone with me
+stayed by him. "Fly ere thou art dragged a prisoner to C�sar!"
+
+So he turned and fled, groaning heavily. I went with him, and as we
+rode through the Canopic gate, where many folk stood wondering, Antony
+spoke to me:
+
+"Go, thou, Olympus; go to the Queen and say: 'Antony sends greeting to
+Cleopatra, who hath betrayed him! To Cleopatra he sends greeting and
+farewell!'"
+
+And so I went to the tomb, but Antony fled to the palace. When I came
+to the tomb I knocked upon the door, and Charmion looked forth from
+the window.
+
+"Open," I cried, and she opened.
+
+"What news, Harmachis?" she whispered.
+
+"Charmion," I said, "the end is at hand. Antony is fled!"
+
+"It is well," she answered; "I am aweary."
+
+And there on her golden bed sat Cleopatra.
+
+"Speak, man!" she cried.
+
+"Antony has fled, his forces are fled, C�sar draws near. To Cleopatra
+the great Antony sends greeting and farewell. Greeting to Cleopatra
+who betrayed him, and farewell."
+
+"It is a lie!" she screamed; "I betrayed him not! Thou, Olympus, go
+swiftly to Antony and answer thus: 'To Antony, Cleopatra, who hath not
+betrayed him, sends greeting and farewell. Cleopatra is no more.'"
+
+And so I went, following out my purpose. In the Alabaster Hall I found
+Antony pacing to and fro, tossing his hands toward heaven, and with
+him Eros, for of all his servants Eros alone remained by this fallen
+man.
+
+"Lord Antony," I said, "Egypt bids thee farewell. Egypt is dead by her
+own hand."
+
+"Dead! dead!" he whispered, "and is Egypt dead? and is that form of
+glory now food for worms? Oh, what a woman was this! E'en now my heart
+goes out towards her. And shall she outdo me at the last, I who have
+been so great; shall I become so small that a woman can overtop my
+courage and pass where I fear to follow? Eros, thou hast loved me from
+a boy--mindest thou how I found thee starving in the desert, and made
+thee rich, giving thee place and wealth? Come, now pay me back. Draw
+that sword thou wearest and make an end of the woes of Antony."
+
+"Oh, Sire," cried the Greek, "I cannot! How can I take away the life
+of godlike Antony?"
+
+"Answer me not, Eros; but in the last extreme of fate this I charge
+thee. Do thou my bidding, or begone and leave me quite alone! No more
+will I see thy face, thou unfaithful servant!"
+
+Then Eros drew his sword and Antony knelt before him and bared his
+breast, turning his eyes to heaven. But Eros, crying "I cannot! oh, I
+cannot!" plunged the sword to his own heart, and fell dead.
+
+Antony rose and gazed upon him. "Why, Eros, that was nobly done," he
+said. "Thou art greater than I, yet I have learned thy lesson!" and he
+knelt down and kissed him.
+
+Then, rising of a sudden, he drew the sword from the heart of Eros,
+plunged it into his bowels, and fell, groaning, on the couch.
+
+"O thou, Olympus," he cried, "this pain is more than I can bear! Make
+an end of me, Olympus!"
+
+But pity stirred me, and I could not do this thing.
+
+Therefore I drew the sword from his vitals, staunched the flow of
+blood, and, calling to those who came crowding in to see Antony die, I
+bade them summon Atoua from my house at the palace gates. Presently
+she came, bringing with her simples and life-giving draughts. These I
+gave to Antony, and bade Atoua go with such speed as her old limbs
+might to Cleopatra, in the tomb, and tell her of the state of Antony.
+
+So she went, and after a while returned, saying that the Queen yet
+lived and summoned Antony to die in her arms. And with her came
+Diomedes. When Antony heard, his ebbing strength came back, for he was
+fain to look upon Cleopatra's face again. So I called to the slaves--
+who peeped and peered through curtains and from behind pillars to see
+this great man die--and together, with much toil, we bore him thence
+till we came to the foot of the Mausoleum.
+
+But Cleopatra, being afraid of treachery, would no more throw wide the
+door; so she let down a rope from the window and we made it fast
+beneath the arms of Antony. Then did Cleopatra, who the while wept
+most bitterly, together with Charmion and Iras the Greek, pull on the
+rope with all their strength, while we lifted from below till the
+dying Antony swung in the air, groaning heavily, and the blood dropped
+from his gaping wound. Twice he nearly fell to earth: but Cleopatra,
+striving with the strength of love and of despair, held him till at
+length she drew him through the windowplace, while all who saw the
+dreadful sight wept bitterly, and beat their breasts--all save myself
+and Charmion.
+
+When he was in, once more the rope was let down, and, with some aid
+from Charmion, I climbed into the tomb, drawing up the rope after me.
+There I found Antony, laid upon the golden bed of Cleopatra; and she,
+her breast bare, her face stained with tears, and her hair streaming
+wildly about him, knelt at his side and kissed him, wiping the blood
+from his wounds with her robes and hair. And let all my shame be
+written: as I stood and watched her the old love awoke once more
+within me, and mad jealousy raged in my heart because--though I could
+destroy these twain--I could not destroy their love.
+
+"O Antony! my Sweet, my Husband, and my God!" she moaned. "Cruel
+Antony, hast thou the heart to die and leave me to my lonely shame? I
+will follow thee swiftly to the grave. Antony, awake! awake!"
+
+He lifted up his head and called for wine, which I gave him, mixing
+therein a draught that might allay his pain, for it was great. And
+when he had drunk he bade Cleopatra lie down on the bed beside him,
+and put her arms about him; and this she did. Then was Antony once
+more a man; for, forgetting his own misery and pain, he counselled her
+as to her own safety: but to this talk she would not listen.
+
+"The hour is short," she said; "let us speak of this great love of
+ours that hath been so long and may yet endure beyond the coasts of
+Death. Mindest thou that night when first thou didst put thine arms
+about me and call me 'Love'? Oh! happy, happy night! Having known that
+night it is well to have lived--even to this bitter end!"
+
+"Ay, Egypt, I mind it well and dwell upon its memory, though from that
+hour fortune has fled from me--lost in my depth of love for thee, thou
+Beautiful. I mind it!" he gasped; "then didst thou drink the pearl in
+wanton play, and then did that astrologer of thine call out his hour--
+'The hour of the coming of the curse of Menkau-ra.' Through all the
+after-days those words have haunted me, and now at the last they ring
+in my ears."
+
+"He is long dead, my love," she whispered.
+
+"If he be dead, then I am near him. What meant he?"
+
+"He is dead, the accursed man!--no more of him! Oh! turn and kiss me,
+for thy face grows white. The end is near!"
+
+He kissed her on the lips, and for a little while so they stayed, to
+the moment of death, babbling their passion in each other's ears, like
+lovers newly wed. Even to my jealous heart, it was a strange and awful
+thing to see.
+
+
+
+Presently, I saw the Change of Death gather on his face. His head fell
+back.
+
+"Farewell, Egypt; farewell!--I die!"
+
+Cleopatra lifted herself upon her hands, gazed wildly on his ashen
+face, and then, with a great cry, she sank back swooning.
+
+
+
+But Antony yet lived, though the power of speech had left him. Then I
+drew near and, kneeling, made pretence to minister to him. And as I
+ministered I whispered in his ear:
+
+"Antony," I whispered, "Cleopatra was my love before she passed from
+me to thee. I am Harmachis, that astrologer who stood behind thy couch
+at Tarsus; and I have been the chief minister of thy ruin.
+
+"/Die, Antony!--the curse of Menkau-ra hath fallen!/"
+
+He raised himself, and stared upon my face. He could not speak, but,
+gibbering, he pointed at me. Then with a groan his spirit fled.
+
+Thus did I accomplish my revenge upon Roman Antony, the World-loser.
+
+
+
+Thereafter, we recovered Cleopatra from her swoon, for not yet was I
+minded that she should die. And taking the body of Antony, C�sar
+permitting, I and Atoua caused it to be most skilfully embalmed after
+our Egyptian fashion, covering the face with a mask of gold fashioned
+like to the features of Antony. Also I wrote upon his breast his name
+and titles, and painted his name and the name of his father within his
+inner coffin, and drew the form of the Holy Nout folding her wings
+about him.
+
+Then with great pomp Cleopatra laid him in that sepulchre which had
+been made ready, and in a sarcophagus of alabaster. Now, this
+sarcophagus was fashioned so large that place was left in it for a
+second coffin, for Cleopatra would lie by Antony at the last.
+
+These things then happened. And but a little while after I learned
+tidings from one Cornelius Dolabella, a noble Roman who waited upon
+C�sar, and, moved by the beauty that swayed the souls of all who
+looked upon her, had pity for the woes of Cleopatra. He bade me warn
+her--for, as her physician, it was allowed me to pass in and out of
+the tomb where she dwelt--that in three days she would be sent away to
+Rome, together with her children, save C�sarion, whom Octavian had
+already slain, that she might walk in the triumph of C�sar.
+Accordingly I went in, and found her sitting, as now she always sat,
+plunged in a half stupor, and before her that blood-stained robe with
+which she had staunched the wounds of Antony. For on this she would
+continually feast her eyes.
+
+"See how faint they grow, Olympus," she said, lifting her sad face and
+pointing to the rusty stains, "and he so lately dead! Why, Gratitude
+could not fade more fast. What is now thy news? Evil tidings is writ
+large in those dark eyes of thine, which ever bring back to me
+something that still slips my mind."
+
+"The news is ill, O Queen," I answered. "I have this from the lips of
+Dolabella, who has it straight from C�sar's secretary. On the third
+day from now C�sar will send thee and the Princes Ptolemy and
+Alexander and the Princess Cleopatra to Rome, there to feast the eyes
+of the Roman mob, and be led in triumph to that Capitol where thou
+didst swear to set thy throne!"
+
+"Never, never!" she cried, springing to her feet. "Never will I walk
+in chains in C�sar's triumph! What must I do? Charmion, tell me what I
+can do!"
+
+And Charmion, rising, stood before her, looking at her through the
+long lashes of her downcast eyes.
+
+"Lady, thou canst die," she said quietly.
+
+"Ay, of a truth I had forgotten; I can die. Olympus, hast thou the
+drug?"
+
+"Nay; but if the Queen wills it, by to-morrow morn it shall be brewed
+--a drug so swift and strong that not the Gods themselves can hold him
+who drinks it back from sleep."
+
+"Let it be made ready, thou Master of Death!"
+
+I bowed, and withdrew myself; and all that night I and old Atoua
+laboured at the distilling of the deadly draught. At length it was
+done, and Atoua poured it into a crystal phial, and held it to the
+light of the fire; for it was white as the purest water.
+
+"/La! la!/" she sang, in her shrill voice; "a drink for a Queen! When
+fifty drops of that water of my brewing have passed those red lips of
+hers, thou wilt indeed be avenged of Cleopatra, O Harmachis! Ah, that
+I could be there to see thy Ruin ruined! /La! la!/ it would be sweet
+to see!"
+
+"Vengeance is an arrow that oft-times falls upon the archer's head," I
+answered, bethinking me of Charmion's saying.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+OF THE LAST SUPPER OF CLEOPATRA; OF THE SONG OF CHARMION;
+OF THE DRINKING OF THE DRAUGHT OF DEATH; OF THE REVEALING OF HARMACHIS;
+OF THE SUMMONING OF THE SPIRITS BY HARMACHIS;
+AND OF THE DEATH OF CLEOPATRA
+
+On the morrow Cleopatra, having sought leave of C�sar, visited the
+tomb of Antony, crying that the Gods of Egypt had deserted her. And
+when she had kissed the coffin and covered it with lotus-flowers she
+came back, bathed, anointed herself, put on her most splendid robes,
+and, together with Iras, Charmion, and myself, she supped. Now as she
+supped her spirit flared up wildly, even as the sky lights up at
+sunset; and once more she laughed and sparkled as in bygone years,
+telling us tales of feasts which she and Antony had eaten of. Never,
+indeed, did I see her look more beauteous than on that last fatal
+night of vengeance. And thus her mind drew on to that supper at Tarsus
+when she drank the pearl.
+
+"Strange," she said; "strange that at the last the mind of Antony
+should have turned back to that night among all the nights and to the
+saying of Harmachis. Charmion, dost thou remember Harmachis the
+Egyptian?"
+
+"Surely, O Queen," she answered slowly.
+
+"And who, then, was Harmachis?" I asked; for I would learn if she
+sorrowed o'er my memory.
+
+"I will tell thee. It is a strange tale, and now that all is done it
+may well be told. This Harmachis was of the ancient race of the
+Pharaohs, and, having, indeed, been crowned in secret at Abydus, was
+sent hither to Alexandria to carry out a great plot that had been
+formed against the rule of us royal Lagid�. He came and gained entry
+to the palace as my astrologer, for he was very learned in all magic--
+much as thou art, Olympus--and a man beautiful to see. Now this was
+his plot--that he should slay me and be named Pharaoh. In truth it was
+a strong one, for he had many friends in Egypt, and I had few. And on
+that very night when he should carry out his purpose, yea, at the very
+hour, came Charmion yonder, and told the plot to me; saying that she
+had chanced upon its clue. But, in after days--though I have said
+little thereon to thee, Charmion--I misdoubted me much of that tale of
+thine; for, by the Gods! to this hour I believe that thou didst love
+Harmachis, and because he scorned thee thou didst betray him; and for
+that cause also hast all thy days remained a maid, which is a thing
+unnatural. Come, Charmion, tell us; for naught matters now at the
+end."
+
+Charmion shivered and made answer: "It is true, O Queen; I also was of
+the plot, and because Harmachis scorned me I betrayed him; and because
+of my great love for him I have remained unwed." And she glanced up at
+me and caught my eyes, then let the modest lashes veil her own.
+
+"So! I thought it. Strange are the ways of women! But little cause,
+methinks, had that Harmachis to thank thee for thy love. What sayest
+thou, Olympus? Ah, and so thou also wast a traitor, Charmion? How
+dangerous are the paths which Monarchs tread! Well, I forgive thee,
+for thou hast served me faithfully since that hour.
+
+"But to my tale. Harmachis I dared not slay, lest his great party
+should rise in fury and cast me from the throne. And now mark the
+issue. Though he must murder me, in secret this Harmachis loved me,
+and something thereof I guessed. I had striven a little to draw him to
+me, for the sake of his beauty and his wit; and for the love of man
+Cleopatra never strove in vain. Therefore when, with the dagger in his
+robe, he came to slay me, I matched my charms against his will, and
+need I tell you, being man and woman, how I won? Oh, never can I
+forget the look in the eyes of that fallen prince, that forsworn
+priest, that discrowned Pharaoh, when, lost in the poppied draught, I
+saw him sink into a shameful sleep whence he might no more wake with
+honour! And, thereafter--till, in the end, I wearied of him, and his
+sad learned mind, for his guilty soul forbade him to be gay--a little
+I came to care for him, though not to love. But he--he who loved me--
+clung to me as a drunkard to the cup which ruins him. Deeming that I
+should wed him, he betrayed to me the secret of the hidden wealth of
+the pyramid of /Her/--for at the time I much needed treasure--and
+together we dared the terrors of the tomb and drew it forth, even from
+dead Pharaoh's breast. See, this emerald was a part thereof!"--and she
+pointed to the great scarab�us that she had drawn from the holy heart
+of Menkau-ra.
+
+"And because of what was written in the tomb, and of that Thing which
+we saw in the tomb--ah, pest upon it! why does its memory haunt me
+now?--and also because of policy, for I would fain have won the love
+of the Egyptians, I was minded to marry this Harmachis and declare his
+place and lineage to the world--ay, and by his aid hold Egypt from the
+Roman. For Dellius had then come to call me to Antony, and after much
+thought I determined to send him back with sharp words. But on that
+very morning, as I tired me for the Court, came Charmion yonder, and I
+told her this, for I would see how the matter fell upon her mind. Now
+mark, Olympus, the power of jealousy, that little wedge which yet has
+strength to rend the tree of Empire, that secret sword which can carve
+the fate of Kings! This she could in no wise bear--deny it, Charmion,
+if thou canst, for now it is clear to me!--that the man she loved
+should be given to me as husband--me, whom /he/ loved! And therefore,
+with more skill and wit than I can tell, she reasoned with me, showing
+that I should by no means do this thing, but journey to Antony; and
+for that, Charmion, I thank thee, now that all is come and gone. And
+by a very little, her words weighed down my scale of judgment against
+Harmachis, and I went to Antony. Thus it is through the jealous spleen
+of yonder fair Charmion and the passion of a man on which I played as
+on a lyre, that all these things have come to pass. For this cause
+Octavian sits a King in Alexandria; for this cause Antony is
+discrowned and dead; and for this cause I, too, must die to-night! Ah!
+Charmion! Charmion! thou hast much to answer, for thou hast changed
+the story of the world; and yet, even now--I would not have it
+otherwise!"
+
+She paused awhile, covering her eyes with her hand; and, looking, I
+saw great tears upon the cheek of Charmion.
+
+"And of this Harmachis," I asked; "where is he now, O Queen?"
+
+"Where is he? In Amenti, forsooth--making his peace with Isis,
+perchance. At Tarsus I saw Antony, and loved him; and from that moment
+I loathed the sight of the Egyptian, and swore to make an end of him;
+for a lover done with should be a lover dead. And, being jealous, he
+spoke some words of evil omen, even at that Feast of the Pearl; and on
+the same night I would have slain him, but before the deed was done,
+he was gone."
+
+"And whither was he gone?"
+
+"Nay; that know not I. Brennus--he who led my guard, and last year
+sailed North to join his own people--Brennus swore he saw him float to
+the skies; but in this matter I misdoubted me of Brennus, for methinks
+he loved the man. Nay, he sank off Cyprus, and was drowned; perchance
+Charmion can tell us how?"
+
+"I can tell thee nothing, O Queen; Harmachis is lost."
+
+"And well lost, Charmion, for he was an evil man to play with--ay,
+although I bettered him I say it! Well he served my purpose; but I
+loved him not, and even now I fear him; for it seemed to me that I
+heard his voice summoning me to fly, through the din of the fight at
+Actium. Thanks be to the Gods, as thou sayest, he is lost, and can no
+more be found."
+
+
+
+But I, listening, put forth my strength, and, by the arts I have, cast
+the shadow of my Spirit upon the Spirit of Cleopatra so that she felt
+the presence of the lost Harmachis.
+
+"Nay, what is it?" she said. "By Serapis! I grow afraid! It seems to
+me that I feel Harmachis here! His memory overwhelms me like a flood
+of waters, and he these ten years dead! Oh! at such a time it is
+unholy!"
+
+"Nay, O Queen," I answered, "if he be dead then he is everywhere, and
+well at such a time--the time of thy own death--may his Spirit draw
+near to welcome thine at its going."
+
+"Speak not thus, Olympus. I would see Harmachis no more; the count
+between us is too heavy, and in another world than this more evenly,
+perchance should we be matched. Ah, the terror passes! I was but
+unnerved. Well the fool's story hath served to wile away the heaviest
+of our hours, the hour which ends in death. Sing to me, Charmion,
+sing, for thy voice is very sweet, and I would soothe my soul to
+sleep. The memory of that Harmachis has wrung me strangely! Sing,
+then, the last song I shall hear from those tuneful lips of thine, the
+last of so many songs."
+
+"It is a sad hour for song, O Queen!" said Charmion; but,
+nevertheless, she took her harp and sang. And thus she sang, very soft
+and low, the dirge of the sweet-tongued Syrian Meleager:
+
+  Tears for my lady dead,
+    Heliodore!
+  Salt tears and strange to shed,
+    Over and o'er;
+  Go tears and low lament
+    Fare from her tomb,
+  Wend where my lady went,
+    Down through the gloom--
+  Sighs for my lady dead,
+    Tears do I send,
+  Long love remembered,
+    Mistress and friend!
+  Sad are the songs we sing,
+    Tears that we shed,
+  Empty the gifts we bring--
+    Gifts to the dead!
+  Ah, for my flower, my Love,
+    Hades hath taken,
+  Ah, for the dust above,
+    Scattered and shaken!
+  Mother of blade and grass,
+    Earth, in thy breast
+  Lull her that gentlest was,
+    Gently to rest!
+
+The music of her voice died away, and it was so sweet and sad that
+Iras began to weep and the bright tears stood in Cleopatra's stormy
+eyes. Only I wept not; my tears were dry.
+
+"'Tis a heavy song of thine, Charmion," said the Queen. "Well, as thou
+saidst, it is a sad hour for song, and thy dirge is fitted to the
+hour. Sing it over me once again when I lie dead, Charmion. And now
+farewell to music, and on to the end. Olympus, take yonder parchment
+and write what I shall say."
+
+I took the parchment and the reed, and wrote thus in the Roman tongue:
+
+ "Cleopatra to Octavianus, greeting.
+
+ "This is the state of life. At length there comes an hour when,
+  rather than endure those burdens that overwhelm us, putting off
+  the body we would take wing into forgetfulness. C�sar, thou hast
+  conquered: take thou the spoils of victory. But in thy triumph
+  Cleopatra cannot walk. When all is lost, then we must go to seek
+  the lost. Thus in the desert of Despair the brave do harvest
+  Resolution. Cleopatra hath been great as Antony was great, nor
+  shall her fame be minished in the manner of her end. Slaves live
+  to endure their wrong; but Princes, treading with a firmer step,
+  pass through the gates of Wrong into the royal Dwellings of the
+  Dead. This only doth Egypt ask of C�sar--that he suffer her to lie
+  in the tomb of Antony. Farewell!"
+
+This I wrote, and having sealed the writing, Cleopatra bade me go find
+a messenger, despatch it to C�sar, and then return. So I went, and at
+the door of the tomb I called a soldier who was not on duty, and,
+giving him money, bade him take the letter to C�sar. Then I went back,
+and there in the chamber the three women stood in silence, Cleopatra
+clinging to the arm of Iras, and Charmion a little apart watching the
+twain.
+
+"If indeed thou art minded to make an end, O Queen," I said, "the time
+is short, for presently C�sar will send his servants in answer to thy
+letter," and I drew forth the phial of white and deadly bane and set
+it upon the board.
+
+She took it in her hand and gazed thereon. "How innocent it seems!"
+she said; "and yet therein lies my death. 'Tis strange."
+
+"Ay, Queen, and the death of ten other folk. No need to take so long a
+draught."
+
+"I fear," she gasped--"how know I that it will slay outright? I have
+seen so many die by poison and scarce one has died outright. And some
+--ah, I cannot think on them!"
+
+"Fear not," I said, "I am a master of my craft. Or, if thou dost fear,
+cast this poison forth and live. In Rome thou mayst still find
+happiness; ay, in Rome, where thou shalt walk in C�sar's triumph,
+while the laughter of the hard-eyed Latin women shall chime down the
+music of thy golden chains."
+
+"Nay, I will die, Olympus. Oh, if one would but show the path."
+
+Then Iras loosed her hand and stepped forward. "Give me the draught,
+Physician," she said. "I go to make ready for my Queen."
+
+"It is well," I answered; "on thy own head be it!" and I poured from
+the phial into a little golden goblet.
+
+She raised it, curtsied low to Cleopatra, then, coming forward, kissed
+her on the brow, and Charmion she also kissed. This done, tarrying not
+and making no prayer, for Iras was a Greek, she drank, and, putting
+her hand to her head, instantly fell down and died.
+
+"Thou seest," I said, breaking in upon the silence, "it is swift."
+
+"Ay, Olympus; thine is a master drug! Come now, I thirst; fill me the
+bowl, lest Iras weary in waiting at the gates!"
+
+So I poured afresh into the goblet; but this time, making pretence to
+rinse the cup, I mixed a little water with the bane, for I was not
+minded that she should die before she knew me.
+
+Then did the royal Cleopatra, taking the goblet in her hand, turn her
+lovely eyes to heaven and cry aloud:
+
+"O ye Gods of Egypt! who have deserted me, to you no longer will I
+pray, for your ears are shut unto my crying and your eyes blind to my
+griefs! Therefore, I make entreaty of that last friend whom the Gods,
+departing, leave to helpless man. Sweep hither, Death, whose winnowing
+wings enshadow all the world, and give me ear! Draw nigh, thou King of
+Kings! who, with an equal hand, bringest the fortunate head of one
+pillow with the slave, and by thy spiritual breath dost waft the
+bubble of our life far from this hell of earth! Hide me where winds
+blow not and waters cease to roll; where wars are done and C�sar's
+legions cannot march! Take me to a new dominion, and crown me Queen of
+Peace! Thou art my Lord, O Death, and in thy kiss I have conceived. I
+am in labour of a Soul: see--it stands new-born upon the edge of Time!
+Now--now--go, Life! Come, Sleep! Come, Antony!"
+
+And, with one glance to heaven, she drank, and cast the goblet to the
+ground.
+
+
+
+Then at last came the moment of my pent-up vengeance, and of the
+vengeance of Egypt's outraged Gods, and of the falling of the curse of
+Menkau-ra.
+
+"What's this?" she cried; "I grow cold, but I die not! Thou dark
+physician, thou hast betrayed me!"
+
+"Peace, Cleopatra! Presently shalt thou die and know the fury of the
+Gods! /The curse of Menkau-ra hath fallen!/ It is finished! Look upon
+me, woman! Look upon this marred face, this twisted form, this living
+mass of sorrow! /Look! look!/ Who am I?"
+
+She stared upon me wildly.
+
+"Oh! oh!" she shrieked, throwing up her arms; "at last I know thee! By
+the Gods, thou art Harmachis!--Harmachis risen from the dead!"
+
+"Ay, Harmachis risen from the dead to drag thee down to death and
+agony eternal! See, thou Cleopatra; /I/ have ruined thee as thou didst
+ruin me! I, working in the dark, and helped of the angry Gods, have
+been thy secret spring of woe! I filled thy heart with fear at Actium;
+I held the Egyptians from thy aid; I sapped the strength of Antony; I
+showed the portent of the Gods unto thy captains! By my hand at length
+thou diest, for I am the instrument of Vengeance! Ruin I pay thee back
+for ruin, Treachery for treachery, Death for death! Come hither,
+Charmion, partner of my plots, who betrayed me, but, repenting, art
+the sharer of my triumph, come watch this fallen wanton die!"
+
+Cleopatra heard, and sank back upon the golden bed, groaning "And
+thou, too, Charmion!"
+
+A moment so she sat, then her Imperial spirit burnt up glorious before
+she died.
+
+She staggered from the bed, and, with arms outstretched, she cursed
+me.
+
+"Oh! for one hour of life!" she cried--"one short hour, that therein I
+might make thee die in such fashion as thou canst not dream, thou and
+that false paramour of thine, who betrayed both me and thee! And thou
+didst love me! Ah, /there/ I have thee still! See, thou subtle,
+plotting priest"--and with both hands she rent back the royal robes
+from her bosom--"see, on this fair breast once night by night thy head
+was pillowed, and thou didst sleep wrapped in these same arms. Now,
+put away their memory /if thou canst!/ I read it in thine eyes--that
+mayst thou not! No torture which I bear can, in its sum, draw nigh to
+the rage of that deep soul of thine, rent with longings never, never
+to be reached! Harmachis, thou slave of slaves, from thy triumph-
+depths I snatch a deeper triumph, and conquered yet I conquer! I spit
+upon thee--I defy thee--and, dying, doom thee to the torment of thy
+deathless love! O Antony! I come, my Antony!--I come to thy own dear
+arms! Soon I shall find thee, and, wrapped in a love undying and
+divine, together we will float through all the depths of space, and,
+lips to lips and eyes to eyes, drink of desires grown more sweet with
+every draught! Or if I find thee not, then I shall sink in peace down
+the poppied ways of Sleep: and for me the breast of Night, whereon I
+shall be softly cradled, will yet seem thy bosom, Antony! Oh, I die!--
+come, Antony--and give me peace!"
+
+Even in my fury I had quailed beneath her scorn, for home flew the
+arrows of her winged words. Alas! and alas! it was /true/--the shaft
+of my vengeance fell upon my own head; never had I loved her as I
+loved her now. My soul was rent with jealous torture, and thus I swore
+she should not die.
+
+"Peace!" I cried; "what peace is there for thee? Oh! ye Holy Three,
+hear now my prayer. Osiris, loosen Thou the bonds of Hell and send
+forth those whom I shall summon! Come Ptolemy, poisoned of thy sister
+Cleopatra; come Arsino�, murdered in the sanctuary by thy sister
+Cleopatra; come Sepa, tortured to death of Cleopatra; come Divine
+Menkau-ra, whose body Cleopatra tore and whose curse she braved for
+greed; come one, come all who have died at the hands of Cleopatra!
+Rush from the breast of Nout and greet her who murdered you! By the
+link of mystic union, by the symbol of the Life, Spirits, I summon
+you!"
+
+Thus I spoke the spell; while Charmion, affrighted, clung to my robe,
+and the dying Cleopatra, resting on her hands, swung slowly to and
+fro, gazing with vacant eyes.
+
+Then the answer came. The casement burst asunder, and on flittering
+wings that great bat entered which last I had seen hanging to the
+eunuch's chin in the womb of the pyramid of /Her/. Thrice it circled
+round, once it hovered o'er dead Iras, then flew to where the dying
+woman stood. To her it flew, on her breast it settled, clinging to
+that emerald which was dragged from the dead heart of Menkau-ra.
+Thrice the grey Horror screamed aloud, thrice it beat its bony wings,
+and lo! it was gone.
+
+Then suddenly within that chamber sprang up the Shapes of Death. There
+was Arsino�, the beautiful, even as she had shrunk beneath the
+butcher's knife. There was young Ptolemy, his features twisted by the
+poisoned cup. There was the majesty of Menkau-ra, crowned with the
+ur�us crown; there was grave Sepa, his flesh all torn by the
+torturer's hooks; there were those poisoned slaves; and there were
+others without number, shadowy and dreadful to behold! who, thronging
+that narrow chamber, stood silently fixing their glassy eyes upon the
+face of her who slew them!
+
+
+
+"Behold! Cleopatra!" I said. "/Behold thy peace, and die!/"
+
+"Ay!" said Charmion. "Behold and die! thou who didst rob me of my
+honour, and Egypt of her King!"
+
+
+
+She looked, she saw the awful Shapes--her Spirit, hurrying from the
+flesh, mayhap could hear words to which my ears were deaf. Then her
+face sank in with terror, her great eyes grew pale, and, shrieking,
+Cleopatra fell and died: passing, with that dread company, to her
+appointed place.
+
+
+
+Thus, then, I, Harmachis, fed my soul with vengeance, fulfilling the
+justice of the Gods, and yet knew myself empty of all joy therein. For
+though that thing we worship doth bring us ruin, and Love being more
+pitiless than Death, we in turn do pay all our sorrow back; yet we
+must worship on, yet stretch out our arms towards our lost Desire, and
+pour our heart's blood upon the shrine of our discrowned God.
+
+For Love is of the Spirit, and knows not Death.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+OF THE FAREWELL OF CHARMION; OF THE DEATH OF CHARMION; OF
+THE DEATH OF THE OLD WIFE, ATOUA; OF THE COMING OF HARMACHIS
+TO ABOUTHIS; OF HIS CONFESSION IN THE HALL OF SIX-AND-THIRTY
+PILLARS; AND OF THE DECLARING OF THE DOOM OF HARMACHIS
+
+Charmion unclasped my arm, to which she had clung in terror.
+
+"Thy vengeance, thou dark Harmachis," she said, in a hoarse voice, "is
+a thing hideous to behold! O lost Egypt, with all thy sins thou wast
+indeed a Queen!
+
+"Come, aid me, Prince; let us stretch this poor clay upon the bed and
+deck it royally, so that it may give its dumb audience to the
+messengers of C�sar as becomes the last of Egypt's Queens."
+
+I spoke no word in answer, for my heart was very heavy, and now that
+all was done I was weary. Together, then, we lifted up the body and
+laid it on the golden bed. Charmion placed the ur�us crown upon the
+ivory brow, and combed the night-dark hair that showed never a thread
+of silver, and, for the last time, shut those eyes wherein had shone
+all the changing glories of the sea. She folded the chill hands upon
+the breast whence Passion's breath had fled, and straightened the bent
+knees beneath the broidered robe, and by the head set flowers. And
+there at length Cleopatra lay, more splendid now in her cold majesty
+of death than in her richest hour of breathing beauty!
+
+We drew back and looked on her, and on dead Iras at her feet.
+
+"It is done!" quoth Charmion; "we are avenged, and now, Harmachis,
+dost follow by this same road?" And she nodded towards the phial on
+the board.
+
+"Nay, Charmion. I fly--I fly to a heavier death! Not thus easily may I
+end my space of earthly penance."
+
+"So be it, Harmachis! And I, Harmachis--I fly also, but with swifter
+wings. My game is played. I, too, have made atonement. Oh! what a
+bitter fate is mine, to have brought misery on all I love, and, in the
+end, to die unloved! To thee I have atoned; to my angered Gods I have
+atoned; and now I go to find a way whereby I may atone to Cleopatra in
+that Hell where she is, and which I must share! For she loved me well,
+Harmachis; and, now that she is dead, methinks that, after thee, I
+loved her best of all. So of her cup and the cup of Iras I will surely
+drink!" And she took the phial, and with a steady hand poured what was
+left of the poison into the goblet.
+
+"Bethink thee, Charmion," I said; "yet mayst thou live for many years,
+hiding these sorrows beneath the withered days."
+
+"Yet I may, but I will not! To live the prey of so many memories, the
+fount of an undying shame that night by night, as I lie sleepless,
+shall well afresh from my sorrow-stricken heart!--to live torn by a
+love I cannot lose!--to stand alone like some storm-twisted tree, and,
+sighing day by day to the winds of heaven, gaze upon the desert of my
+life, while I wait the lingering lightning's stroke--nay, that will
+not I, Harmachis! I had died long since, but I lived on to serve thee;
+now no more thou needest me, and I go. Oh, fare thee well!--for ever
+fare thee well! For not again shall I look again upon thy face, and
+there I go thou goest not! For thou dost not love me who still dost
+love that queenly woman thou hast hounded to the death! Her thou shalt
+never win, and I thee shall never win, and this is the bitter end of
+Fate! See, Harmachis: I ask one boon before I go and for all time
+become naught to thee but a memory of shame. Tell me that thou dost
+forgive me so far as thine is to forgive, and in token thereof kiss me
+--with no lover's kiss, but kiss me on the brow, and bid me pass in
+peace."
+
+And she drew near to me with arms outstretched and pitiful trembling
+lips and gazed upon my face.
+
+"Charmion," I answered, "we are free to act for good or evil, and yet
+methinks there is a Fate above our fate, that, blowing from some
+strange shore, compels our little sails of purpose, set them as we
+will, and drives us to destruction. I forgive thee, Charmion, as I
+trust in turn to be forgiven, and by this kiss, the first and the
+last, I seal our peace." And with my lips I touched her brow.
+
+She spoke no more; only for a little while she stood gazing on me with
+sad eyes. Then she lifted the goblet, and said:
+
+"Royal Harmachis, in this deadly cup I pledge thee! Would that I had
+drunk of it ere ever I looked upon thy face! Pharaoh, who, thy sins
+outworn, yet shalt rule in perfect peace o'er worlds I may not tread,
+who yet shalt sway a kinglier sceptre than that I robbed thee of, for
+ever, fare thee well!"
+
+She drank, cast down the cup, and for a moment stood with the wide
+eyes of one who looks for Death. Then He came, and Charmion the
+Egyptian fell prone upon the floor, dead. And for a moment more I
+stood alone with the dead.
+
+I crept to the side of Cleopatra, and, now that none were left to see,
+I sat down on the bed and laid her head upon my knee, as once before
+it had been laid in that night of sacrilege beneath the shadow of the
+everlasting pyramid. Then I kissed her chill brow and went from the
+House of Death--avenged, but sorely smitten with despair!
+
+
+
+"Physician," said the officer of the Guard as I went through the
+gates, "what passes yonder in the Monument? Methought I heard the
+sounds of death."
+
+"Naught passes--all hath passed," I made reply, and went.
+
+And as I went in the darkness I heard the sound of voices and the
+running of the feet of C�sar's messengers.
+
+Flying swiftly to my house I found Atoua waiting at the gates. She
+drew me into a quiet chamber and closed the doors.
+
+"Is it done?" she asked, and turned her wrinkled face to mine, while
+the lamplight streamed white upon her snowy hair. "Nay, why ask I--I
+know that it is done!"
+
+"Ay, it is done, and well done, old wife! All are dead! Cleopatra,
+Iras, Charmion--all save myself!"
+
+The aged woman drew up her bent form and cried: "Now let me go in
+peace, for I have seen my desire upon thy foes and the foes of Khem.
+/La! la!/--not in vain have I lived on beyond the years of man! I have
+seen my desire upon thy enemies---I have gathered the dews of Death,
+and thy foe hath drunk thereof! Fallen is the brow of Pride! the Shame
+of Khem is level with the dust! Ah, would that I might have seen that
+wanton die!"
+
+"Cease, woman! cease! The Dead are gathered to the Dead! Osiris holds
+them fast, and everlasting silence seals their lips! Pursue not the
+fallen great with insults! Up!--let us fly to Abouthis, that all may
+be accomplished!"
+
+"Fly thou, Harmachis!--Harmachis, fly--but I fly not! To this end only
+I have lingered on the earth. Now I untie the knot of life and let my
+spirit free! Fare thee well, Prince, the pilgrimage is done!
+Harmachis, from a babe have I loved thee, and love thee yet!--but no
+more in this world may I share thy griefs--I am spent. Osiris, take
+thou my Spirit!" and her trembling knees gave way and she sank to the
+ground.
+
+I ran to her side and looked upon her. She was already dead, and I was
+alone upon the earth without a friend to comfort me!
+
+Then I turned and went, no man hindering me, for all was confusion in
+the city, and departed from Alexandria in a vessel I had made ready.
+On the eighth day, I landed, and, in the carrying out of my purpose,
+travelled on foot across the fields to the Holy Shrine of Abouthis.
+And here, as I knew, the worship of the Gods had been lately set up
+again in the Temple of the Divine Sethi: for Charmion had caused
+Cleopatra to repent of her decree of vengeance and to restore the
+lands that she had seized, though the treasure she restored not. And
+the temple having been purified, now, at the season of the Feast of
+Isis, all the High Priests of the ancient Temples of Egypt were
+gathered together to celebrate the coming home of the Gods into their
+holy place.
+
+I gained the city. It was on the seventh day of the Feast of Isis.
+Even as I came the long array wended through the well-remembered
+streets. I joined in the multitude that followed, and with my voice
+swelled the chorus of the solemn chant as we passed through the pylons
+into the imperishable halls. How well known were the holy words:
+
+ "Softly we tread, our measured footsteps falling
+      Within the Sanctuary Sevenfold;
+  Soft on the Dead that liveth are we calling:
+     'Return, Osiris, from thy Kingdom cold!
+      Return to them that worship thee of old!'"
+
+And then, when the sacred music ceased, as aforetime on the setting of
+the majesty of Ra, the High Priest raised the statue of the living God
+and held it on high before the multitude.
+
+With a joyful shout of
+
+ "Osiris! our hope, Osiris! Osiris!"
+
+the people tore the black wrappings from their dress, showing the
+white robes beneath, and, as one man, bowed before the God.
+
+Then they went to feast each at his home; but I stayed in the court of
+the temple.
+
+Presently a priest of the temple drew near, and asked me of my
+business. And I answered him that I came from Alexandria, and would be
+led before the council of the High Priests, for I knew that the Holy
+Priests were gathered together debating the tidings from Alexandria.
+
+Thereon the man left, and the High Priests, hearing that I was from
+Alexandria, ordered that I should be led into their presence in the
+Hall of Columns--and so I was led in. It was already dark, and between
+the great pillars lights were set, as on that night when I was crowned
+Pharaoh of the Upper and the Lower Land. There, too, was the long line
+of Dignitaries seated in their carven chairs, and taking counsel
+together. All was the same; the same cold images of Kings and Gods
+gazed with the same empty eyes from the everlasting walls. Ay, more;
+among those gathered there were five of the very men who, as leaders
+of the great plot, had sat here to see me crowned, being the only
+conspirators who had escaped the vengeance of Cleopatra and the
+clutching hand of Time.
+
+I took my stand on the spot where once I had been crowned and made me
+ready for the last act of shame with such bitterness of heart as
+cannot be written.
+
+"Why, it is the physician Olympus," said one. "He who lived a hermit
+in the Tombs of T�p�, and who but lately was of the household of
+Cleopatra. Is it, then, true that the Queen is dead by her own hand,
+Physician?"
+
+"Yea, holy Sirs, I am that physician; also Cleopatra is dead by /my/
+hand."
+
+"By thy hand? Why, how comes this?--though well is she dead, forsooth,
+the wicked wanton!"
+
+"Your pardon, Sirs, and I will tell you all, for I am come hither to
+that end. Perchance among you there may be some--methinks I see some--
+who, nigh eleven years ago, were gathered in this hall to secretly
+crown one Harmachis, Pharaoh of Khem?"
+
+"It is true!" they said; "but how knowest thou these things, thou
+Olympus?"
+
+"Of the rest of those seven-and-thirty nobles," I went on, making no
+answer, "are two-and-thirty missing. Some are dead, as Amenemhat is
+dead; some are slain, as Sepa is slain; and some, perchance, yet
+labour as slaves within the mines, or live afar, fearing vengeance."
+
+"It is so," they said: "alas! it is so. Harmachis the accursed
+betrayed the plot, and sold himself to the wanton Cleopatra!"
+
+"It is so," I went on, lifting up my head. "Harmachis betrayed the
+plot and sold himself to Cleopatra; and, holy Sirs--/I am that
+Harmachis!/"
+
+The Priests and Dignitaries gazed astonished. Some rose and spoke;
+some said naught.
+
+"I am that Harmachis! I am that traitor, trebly steeped in crime!--a
+traitor to my Gods, a traitor to my Country, a traitor to my Oath! I
+come hither to say that I have done this. I have executed the Divine
+vengeance on her who ruined me and gave Egypt to the Roman. And now
+that, after years of toil and patient waiting, this is accomplished by
+my wisdom and the help of the angry Gods, behold I come with all my
+shame upon my head to declare the thing I am, and take the traitor's
+guerdon!"
+
+"Mindest thou of the doom of him who hath broke the oath that may not
+be broke?" asked he who first had spoken, in heavy tones.
+
+"I know it well," I answered; "I court that awful doom."
+
+"Tell us more of this matter, thou who wast Harmachis."
+
+So, in cold clear words, I laid bare all my shame, keeping back
+nothing. And ever as I spoke I saw their faces grow more hard, and
+knew that for me there was no mercy; nor did I ask it, nor, had I
+asked, could it have been granted.
+
+When, at last, I had done, they put me aside while they took counsel.
+Then they drew me forth again, and the eldest among them, a man very
+old and venerable, the Priest of the Temple of the Divine Hatshepu at
+T�p�, spoke, in icy accents:
+
+"Thou Harmachis, we have considered this matter. Thou hast sinned the
+threefold deadly sin. On thy head lies the burden of the woe of Khem,
+this day enthralled of Rome. To Isis, the Mother Mystery, thou hast
+offered the deadly insult, and thou hast broken thy holy oath. For all
+of these sins there is, as well thou knowest, but one reward, and that
+reward is thine. Naught can it weigh in the balance of our justice
+that thou hast slain her who was thy cause of stumbling; naught that
+thou comest to name thyself the vilest thing who ever stood within
+these walls. On thee also must fall the curse of Menkau-ra, thou false
+priest! thou forsworn patriot! thou Pharaoh shameful and discrowned!
+Here, where we set the Double Crown upon thy head, we doom thee to the
+doom! Go to thy dungeon and await the falling of its stroke! Go,
+remembering what thou mightest have been and what thou art, and may
+those Gods who through thy evil doing shall perchance ere long cease
+to be worshipped within these holy temples, give to thee that mercy
+which we deny! Lead him forth!"
+
+
+
+So they took me and led me forth. With bowed head I went, looking not
+up, and yet I felt their eyes burn upon my face.
+
+Oh! surely of all my shames this is the heaviest!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+OF THE LAST WRITING OF HARMACHIS, THE ROYAL EGYPTIAN
+
+They led me to the prison chamber that is high in the pylon tower and
+here I wait my doom. I know not when the sword of Fate shall fall.
+Week grows to week, and month to month, and still it is delayed. Still
+it quivers unseen above my head. I know that it will fall, but when I
+know not. Perchance, I shall wake in some dead hour of midnight to
+hear the stealthy steps of the slayers and be hurried forth.
+Perchance, they are now at hand. Then will come the secret cell! the
+horror! the nameless coffin! and at last it will be done! Oh, let it
+come! let it come swiftly!
+
+
+
+All is written; I have held back nothing--my sin is sinned--my
+vengeance is finished. Now all things end in darkness and in ashes,
+and I prepare to face the terrors that are to come in other worlds
+than this. I go, but not without hope I go: for, though I see Her not,
+though no more She answers to my prayers, still I am aware of the Holy
+Isis, who is with me for evermore, and whom I shall yet again behold
+face to face. And then at last in that far day I shall find
+forgiveness; then the burden of my guilt will roll from me and
+innocency come back and wrap me round, bringing me holy Peace.
+
+
+
+Oh! dear land of Khem, as in a dream I see thee! I see Nation after
+Nation set its standard on thy shores, and its yoke upon thy neck! I
+see new Religions without end calling out their truths upon the banks
+of Sihor, and summoning thy people to their worship! I see thy temples
+--thy holy temples--crumbling in the dust: a wonder to the sight of
+men unborn, who shall peer into thy tombs and desecrate the great ones
+of thy glory! I see thy mysteries a mockery to the unlearned, and thy
+wisdom wasted like waters on the desert sands! I see the Roman Eagles
+stoop and perish, their beaks yet red with the blood of men, and the
+long lights dancing down the barbarian spears that follow in their
+wake! And then, at last, I see Thee once more great, once more free,
+and having once more a knowledge of thy Gods--ay, thy Gods with a
+changed countenance, and called by other names, but still thy Gods!
+
+
+
+The sun sinks over Abouthis. The red rays of Ra flame on temple roofs,
+upon green fields, and the wide waters of father Sihor. So as a child
+I watched him sink; just so his last kiss touched the further pylon's
+frowning brow; just that same shadow lay upon the tombs. All is
+unchanged! I--I only am changed--so changed, and yet the same!
+
+
+
+Oh, Cleopatra! Cleopatra! thou Destroyer! if I might but tear thy
+vision from my heart! Of all my griefs, this is the heaviest grief--
+still must I love thee! Still must I hug this serpent to my heart!
+Still in my ears must ring that low laugh of triumph--the murmur of
+the falling fountain--the song of the nightinga----
+
+[Here the writing on the third roll of papyrus abruptly ends. It would
+almost seem that the writer was at this moment broken in upon by those
+who came to lead him to his doom.]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Cleopatra, by H. Rider Haggard*
+
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