The Ancient Allan: Chapter 13

Chapter 13

AMADA RETURNS TO ISIS

We fought a very terrible fight that evening there by the banks of
Nile. Our position was good, but we were outnumbered by four or five
to one, and the Easterns and their mercenaries were mad at the death
of the Satrap by my hand. Time upon time they came on furiously,
charging up the slope like wild bulls. For the most part we relied
upon our archers to drive them back, since our half-trained troops
could scarcely hope to stand against the onset of veterans disciplined
in war. So taking cover behind the rocks we rained arrows on them,
shooting the horses in the chariots, and when these were down, pouring
our shafts upon the footmen behind. Myself I took my great black bow
and drew it thrice, and each time I saw a noble fall, for no mail
could withstand the arrows which it sent, and of that art I was a
master. None in Egypt could shoot so far or so straight as I did, save
perhaps Peroa himself. I had no time to do more since always I must be
moving up and down the line encouraging my men.

Three times we drove them back, after which they grew cunning. Ceasing
from a direct onslaught and keeping what remained of their chariots in
reserve, they sent one body of men to climb along the slope of the
hill where the rocks gave them cover from our arrows, and another to
creep through the reeds and growing crops upon the bank of the river
where we could not see to shoot them well, although the slingers in
the ships did them some damage.

Thus they attacked us on either flank, and while we were thus engaged
their centre made a charge. Then came the bitterest of the fighting
for now the bows were useless, and it was sword against sword and
spear against spear. Once we broke and I thought that they were
through. But I led a charge against them and drove them back a little
way. Still the issue was doubtful till I saw Bes rush past me grinning
and leaping, and with him a small body of Greeks whom we held in
reserve, and I think that the sight of the terrible dwarf whom they
thought a devil, frightened the Easterns more than did the Greeks.

At any rate, shouting out something about an evil spirit whom the
Egyptians worshipped, by which I suppose they meant that god after
whom Bes was named, they retreated, leaving many dead but taking their
wounded with them, for they were unbroken.

At the foot of the slope they reformed and took counsel, then sat down
out of bowshot as though to rest. Now I guessed their plan. It was to
wait till night closed in, which would be soon for the sun was
sinking, and then, when we could not see to shoot, either rush through
us by the weight of numbers, or march back to where the cliffs were
lower and climb them, thus passing us on the higher open land.

Now we also took counsel, though little came of it, since we did not
know what to do. We were too few to attack so great an army, nor if we
climbed the cliffs could we hope to withstand them in the desert
sands, or to hold our own against them if they charged in the dark. If
this happened it seemed that all we could do would be to fight as long
as we could, after which the survivors of us must take refuge on our
boats. So it came to this, that we should lose the battle and the
greater part of the Easterns would win back to Sais, unless indeed the
main army under Peroa came to our aid.

Whilst we talked I caused the wounded to be carried to the ships
before it grew too dark to move them. Bes went with them. Presently he
returned, running swiftly.

"Master," he said, "the evening wind is blowing strong and stirs the
sand, but from a mast-head through it I caught sight of Peroa's
banners. The army comes round the bend of the river not four furlongs
away. Now charge and those Easterns will be caught between the hammer
and the stone, for while they are meeting us they will not look
behind."

So I went down the lines of our little force telling them the good
news and showing them my plan. They listened and understood. We formed
up, those who were left of us, not more than a thousand men perhaps,
and advanced. The Easterns laughed when they saw us coming down the
slope, for they thought that we were mad and that they would kill us
every one, believing as they did that Peroa had no other army. When we
were within bowshot we began to shoot, though sparingly, for but few
arrows were left. Galled by our archery they marshalled their ranks to
charge us again. With a shout we leapt forward to meet them, for now
from the higher ground I saw the chariots of Peroa rushing to our
rescue.

We met, we fought. Surely there had been no such fighting since the
days of Thotmes and Rameses the Great. Still they drove us back till
unseen and unsuspected the chariots and the footmen of Peroa broke on
them from behind, broke on them like a desert storm. They gave, they
fled this way and that, some to the banks of the Nile, some to the
hills. By the light of the setting sun we finished it and ere the
darkness closed in the Great King's army was destroyed, save for the
fugitives whom we hunted down next day.

Yes, in that battle perished ten thousand of the Easterns and their
mercenaries, and upon its field at dawn we crowned Peroa Pharaoh of
Egypt, and he named me the chief general of his army. There, too, fell
over a thousand of my men and among them those six hunters whom I had
won in the wager with the Great King and brought with me from the
East. Throughout the fray they served me as a bodyguard, fighting
furiously, who knew that they could hope for no mercy from their own
people. One by one they were slain, the last two of them in the charge
at sunset. Well, they were brave and faithful to me, so peace be on
their spirits. Better to die thus than in the den of lions.

In triumph we returned to Memphis, I bringing in the rear-guard and
the spoils. Before Pharaoh and I parted a messenger brought me more
good news. Sure tidings had come that the King of kings had been
driven by revolt in his dominions to embark upon a mighty war with
Syria, Greece and Cyprus and other half-conquered countries, in which,
doubtless by agreement, the fires of insurrection had suddenly burned
up. Also already Peroa's messengers had departed to tell them of what
was passing on the Nile.

"If this be true," said Peroa when he had heard all, "the Great King
will have no new army to spare for Egypt."

"It is so, Pharaoh," I answered. "Yet I think he will conquer in this
great war and that within two years you must be prepared to meet him
face to face."

"Two years are long, Shabaka, and in them, by your help, much may be
done."

But as it chanced he was destined to be robbed of that help, and this
by the work of Woman the destroyer.

It happened thus. Amidst great rejoicings Pharaoh reached Memphis and
in the vast temple of Amen laid down our spoils in the presence of the
god, thousands of right hands hewn from the fallen, thousands of
swords and other weapons and tens of chariots, together with much
treasure of which a portion was given to the god. The high priests
blessed us in the name of Amen and of the other gods; the people
blessed us and threw flowers in our path; all the land rejoiced
because once more it was free.

There too that day in the temple with ancient form and ceremonial
Peroa was crowned Pharaoh of Egypt. Sceptres and jewels that had been
hid for generations were brought out by those who knew the secret of
their hiding-places; the crowns that had been worn by old Pharaohs,
were set upon his head; yes, the double crown of the Upper and the
Lower Land. Thus in a Memphis mad with joy at the casting off of the
foreign yoke, he was anointed the first of a new dynasty, and with him
his queen.

I too received honours, for the story of the slaying of Idernes at my
hands and of how I held the pass had gone abroad, so that next to
Pharaoh, I was looked upon as the greatest man in Egypt. Nor was Bes
forgotten, since many of the common people thought that he was a
spirit in the form of a dwarf whom the gods had sent to aid us with
his strength and cunning. Indeed at the close of the ceremony voices
cried out in the multitude of watchers, demanding that I who was to
marry the Royal Lady of Egypt should be named next in succession to
the throne.

The Pharaoh heard and glanced first at his son and then at me,
doubtfully, whereon, covered with confusion, I slipped away.

The portico of the temple was deserted, since all, even the guards,
had crowded into the vast court to watch the coronation. Only in the
shadow, seated against the pedestal of one of the two colossal statues
in front of the outer pylon gate and looking very small beneath its
greatness, was a man wrapped in a dark cloak whom noting vaguely I
took to be a beggar. As I passed him, he plucked at my robe, and I
stopped to search for something to give to him but could find naught.

"I have nothing, Father," I said laughing, "except the gold hilt of my
sword."

"Do not part with that, Son," answered a deep voice, "for I think you
will need it before all is over."

Then while I stared at him he threw back his hood and I saw that
beneath was the ancient withered face and the long white beard of my
great-uncle, the holy Tanofir, the hermit and magician.

"Great things happen yonder, Shabaka. So great that I have come from
my sepulchre to see, or rather, being blind, to listen, who thrice in
my life days have known the like before," and he pointed to the
glittering throng in the court within. "Yes," he went on, "I have seen
Pharaohs crowned and Pharaohs die--one of them at the hand of a
conqueror. What will happen to this Pharaoh, think you, Shabaka?"

"You should be better able to answer that question than I, who am no
prophet, my Uncle."

"How, my Nephew, seeing that your dwarf has borne away my magic Cup? I
do not grudge her to him for he is a brave dwarf and clever, who may
yet prove a good prop to you, as he has done before, and to Egypt
also. But she has gone and the new vessel is not yet shaped to my
liking. So how can I answer?"

"Out of the store of wisdom gathered in your breast."

"So! my Nephew. Well, my store of wisdom tells me that feasts are
sometimes followed by want and rejoicings by sorrow and victories by
defeat, and splendid sins by repentance and slow climbing back to good
again. Also that you will soon take a long journey. Where is the Royal
Lady Amada? I did not hear her step among those who passed in to the
Crowning. But even my hearing has grown somewhat weak of late, except
in the silence of the night, Shabaka."

"I do not know, my Uncle, who have only been in Memphis one hour. But
what do you mean? Doubtless she prepares herself for the feast where I
shall meet her."

"Doubtless. Tell me, what passes at the temple of Isis? As I crept
past the pylon feeling my way with my beggar's staff, I thought--but
how can you know who have only been in Memphis an hour? Yet surely I
heard voices just now calling out that you, Shabaka, should be named
as the next successor to the throne of Egypt. Was it so?"

"Yes, holy Tanofir. That is why I have left who was vexed and am sworn
to seek no such honour, which indeed I do not desire."

"Just so, Nephew. Yet gifts have a way of coming to those who do not
desire them and the last vision that I saw before my Cup left me, or
rather that she saw, was of you wearing the Double Crown. She said
that you looked very well in it, Shabaka. But now begone, for hark,
here comes the procession with the new-anointed Pharaoh whose royal
robe you won for him yonder in the pass, when you smote down Idernes
and held his legions. Oh! it was well done and my new Cup, though
faulty, was good enough to show me all. I felt proud of you, Shabaka,
but begone, begone! 'A gift for the poor old beggar! A gift, my lords,
for the poor blind beggar who has had none since the last Pharaoh was
crowned in Egypt and finds it hard to live on memories!'"

At our house I found my mother just returned from the Coronation, but
Bes I did not find and guessed that he had slipped away to meet his
new-made wife, Karema. My mother embraced me and blessed me, making
much of me and my deeds in the battle; also she doctored such small
hurts as I had. I put the matter by as shortly as I could and asked
her if she had seen aught of Amada. She answered that she had neither
seen nor heard of her which I was sure she thought strange, as she
began to talk quickly of other things. I said to her what I had said
to the holy Tanofir, that doubtless she was making ready for the feast
since I could not find her at the Crowning.

"Or saying good-bye to the goddess," answered my mother nodding,
"since there are some who find it even harder to fall from heaven to
earth than to climb from earth to heaven, and after all you are but a
man, my son."

Then she slipped away to attire herself, leaving me wondering, because
my mother was shrewd and never spoke at random.

There was the holy Tanofir, too, with his talk about the temple of
Isis, and he also did not speak at random. Oh! now I felt as I had
done when the shadow of the palm-tree fell on me yonder in the palace
garden.

The mood passed for my blood still tingled with the glory of that
great fight, and my heart shut its doors to sadness, knowing as I did,
that I was the most praised man in Memphis that day. Indeed had I not,
I should have learned it when with my mother I entered the great
banqueting-hall of the palace somewhat late, for she was long in
making ready.

The first thing I saw there was Bes gorgeously arrayed in Eastern
silks that he had plundered from the Satrap's tent, standing on a
table so that all might see and hear him, and holding aloft in one
hand the grisly head of Idernes and in the other that of the hawk-eyed
noble whom he had slain, while in his thick, guttural voice he told
the tale of that great fray. Catching sight of me, he called aloud,

"See! Here comes the man! Here comes the hero to whom Egypt owes its
liberty and Pharaoh his crown."

Thereon all the company and the soldiers and servants who were
gathered about the door began to shout and acclaim me, till I wished
that I could vanish away as the holy Tanofir was said to be able to
do. Since this was impossible I rushed at Bes who leapt from the table
like a monkey and, still waving the heads and talking, slipped from
the hall, I know not how, followed by the loud laughter of the guests.

Then heralds announced the coming of Pharaoh and all grew silent. He
and his company entered with pomp and we, his subjects, prostrated
ourselves in the ancient fashion.

"Rise, my guests," he cried. "Rise, my people. Above all do you rise,
Shabaka, my beloved cousin, to whom Egypt and I owe so much."

So we rose and I took my seat in a place of honour having my mother at
my side, and looked about me for Amada, but in vain. There was the
carven chair upon which she should have been among those of the
princesses, but it was empty. At first I thought that she was late,
but when time went by and she did not appear, I asked if she were ill,
a question that none seemed able to answer.

The feast went on with all the ancient ceremonies that attended the
crowning of a Pharaoh of Egypt, since there were old men who
remembered these, also the scribes and priests had them written in
their books.

I took no heed of them and will not set them down. At length Pharaoh
pledged his subjects, and his subjects pledged Pharaoh. Then the doors
were opened and through them came a company of white-robed, shaven
priests bearing on a bier the body of a dead man wrapped in his mummy-
cloths. At first some laughed for this rite had not been performed in
Egypt since she passed into the hands of the Great Kings of the East
and therefore was strange to them. Then they grew silent since after
all it was solemn to see those death-bearing priests flitting in and
out between the great columns, now seen and now lost in the shadows,
and to listen to their funeral chants.

In the hush my mother whispered to me that this body was that of the
last Pharaoh of Egypt brought from his tomb, but whether this were so
I cannot say for certain. At length they brought the mummy which was
crowned with a snake-headed circlet of the royal /ur�us/ and still
draped with withered funeral wreaths, and stood it on its feet
opposite to Peroa just behind and between my mother and me in such a
fashion that it cut off the light from us.

The faint and heavy smell of the embalmer's spices struck upon my
nostrils, a dead flower from the chaplets fell upon my head and,
glancing over my shoulder, I saw the painted or enamelled eyes in the
gilded mask staring at me. The thing filled me with fear, I knew not
of what. Not of death, surely, for that I had faced a score of times
of late and thought nothing of it. Indeed I am not sure that it was
fear I felt, but rather a deep sense of the vanity of all things. It
seemed to come home to me--Shabaka or Allan Quatermain, for in my
dream the inspiration or whatever it might be, struck through the
spirit that animated both of us--as it had never done before, that
everything is /nothing/, that victory and love and even life itself
have no meaning; that naught really exists save the soul of man and
God, of whom perchance that soul is a part sent forth for a while to
do His work through good and ill. The thought lifted me up and yet
crushed me, since for a moment all that makes a man passed away, and I
felt myself standing in utter loneliness, naked before the glory of
God, watched only by the flaming stars that light his throne. Yes, and
at that moment suddenly I learned that all the gods are but one God,
having many shapes and called by many names.

Then I heard the priests saying,

"Pharaoh the Osiris greets Pharaoh the living on the Earth and sends
to him this message--'As I am, so shalt thou be, and where I am, there
thou shalt dwell through all the ages of Eternity.'"

Then Pharaoh the living rose and bowed to Pharaoh the dead and Pharaoh
the dead was taken away back to his Eternal House and I wondered
whether his Ka or his spirit, or whatever is the part of him that
lives on, were watching us and remembering the feasts whereof he had
partaken in his pomp in this pillared hall, as his forefathers had
done before him for hundreds or thousands of years.

Not until the mummy had gone and the last sound of the chanting of the
priests had died, did the hearts of the feasters grow light again. But
soon they forgot, as men alive always forget death and those whom Time
has devoured, for the wine was good and strong and the eyes of the
women were bright and victory had crowned our spears, and for a while
Egypt was once more free.

So it went on till Pharaoh rose and departed, the great gold earrings
in his ears jingling as he walked, and the trumpets sounding before
and after him. I too rose to go with my mother when a messenger came
and bade me wait upon Pharaoh, and with me the dwarf Bes. So we went,
leaving an officer to conduct my mother to our home. As I passed her
she caught me by the sleeve and whispered in my ear,

"My son, whatever chances to you, be brave and remember that the world
holds more than women."

"Yes," I answered, "it holds death and God, or they hold it," though
what put the words into my mind I do not know, since I did not
understand and had no time to ask her meaning.

The messenger led us to the door of Peroa's private chamber, the same
in which I had seen him on my return from the East. Here he bade me
enter, and Bes to wait without. I went in and found two men and a
woman in the chamber, all standing very silent. The men were Pharaoh
who still wore his glorious robe and Double Crown, and the high priest
of Isis clothed in white; the other was the lady Amada also clothed in
the snowy robes of Isis.

At the sight of her thus arrayed my heart stopped and I stood silent
because I could not speak. She too stood silent and I saw that beneath
her thin veil her beautiful face was set and pale as that of an
alabaster statue. Indeed she might have been not a lovely living
woman, but the goddess Isis herself whose symbols she bore about her.

"Shabaka," said Pharaoh at length, "the Royal Lady of Egypt, Amada,
priestess of Isis, has somewhat to say to you."

"Let the Royal Lady of Egypt speak on to her servant and affianced
husband," I answered.

"Count Shabaka, General of the armies," she began in a cold clear
voice like to that of one who repeats a lesson, "learn that you are no
more my affianced husband and that I who am gathered again to Isis the
divine, am no more your affianced wife."

"I do not understand. Will it please you to be more plain?" I said
faintly.

"I will be more plain, Count Shabaka, more plain than you have been
with me. Since we speak together for the last time it is well that I
should be plain. Hear me. When first you returned from the East, in
yonder hall you told us of certain things that happened to you there.
Then the dwarf your servant took up the tale. He said that he gave my
name to the Great King. I was wroth as well I might be, but even when
I prayed that he should be scourged, you did not deny that it was he
who gave my name to the King, although Pharaoh yonder said that if you
had spoken the name it would have been another matter."

"I had no time," I answered, "for just then the messengers came from
Idernes and afterwards when I sought you you were gone."

"Had you then no time," she asked coldly, "beneath the palms in the
garden of the palace when we were affianced? Oh! there was time in
plenty but it did not please you to tell me that you had bought safety
and great gifts at the price of the honour of the Lady of Egypt whose
love you stole."

"You do not understand!" I exclaimed wildly.

"Forgive me, Shabaka, but I understand very well indeed, since from
your own words I learned at the feast given to Idernes that 'the name
of Amada' slipped your lips by chance and thus came to the ears of the
Great King."

"The tale that Idernes and his captain told was false, Lady, and for
it Bes and I took their lives with our own hands."

"It had perhaps been better, Shabaka, if you had kept them living that
they might confess that it was false. But doubtless you thought them
safer dead, since dead men cannot speak, and for this reason
challenged them to single combat."

I gasped and could not answer for my mind seemed to leave me, and she
went on in a gentler voice,

"I do not wish to speak angrily to you, my cousin Shabaka, especially
when you have just wrought such great deeds for Egypt. Moreover by the
law I serve I may speak angrily to no man. Know then that on learning
the truth, since I could love none but you according to the flesh and
therefore can never give myself in marriage to another, I sought
refuge in the arms of the goddess whom for your sake I had deserted.
She was pleased to receive me, forgetting my treason. On this very day
for the second time I took the oaths which may no more be broken, and
that I may dwell where I shall never see you more, Pharaoh here has
been pleased, at my request to name me high priestess and prophetess
of Isis and to appoint me as a dwelling-place her temple at Amada
where I was born far away in Upper Egypt. Now all is said and done, so
farewell."

"All is not said and done," I broke out in fury. "Pharaoh, I ask your
leave to tell the full story of this business of the naming of the
lady Amada to the King of kings, and that in the presence of the dwarf
Bes. Even a slave is allowed to set out his tale before judgment is
passed upon him."

Peroa glanced at Amada who made no sign, then said,

"It is granted, General Shabaka."

So Bes was called into the chamber and having looked about him
curiously, seated himself upon the ground.

"Bes," I said, "you have heard nothing of what has passed." (Here I
was mistaken, for as he told me afterwards he had heard everything
through the door which was not quite closed.) "It is needful, Bes,
that you should repeat truly all that happened at the court of the
King of kings before and after I was brought from the boat."

Bes obeyed, telling the tale very well, so well that all listened
earnestly, without error moreover. When he had finished I also told my
story and how, shaken by all I had gone through and already weak from
the torment of the boat, the name of Amada was surprised from me who
never dreamed that the King would at once make demand of her, and who
would have perished a thousand times rather than such a thing should
happen. I added what I had learned afterwards from our escort, that
this name was already well known to the Great King who meant to make
use of it as a cause of quarrel with Egypt. Further, that he had let
me escape from a death by horrible torments because of some dream that
he had dreamed while he rested before the banquet, in which a god
appeared and told him that it was an evil thing to slay a man because
that man had bested him at a hunting match and one of which heaven
would keep an account. Still because of the law of his land he must
find a public pretext for loosing one whom he had once condemned, and
therefore chose this matter of the lady Amada whom he pretended to
send me to bring to him.

When I had finished, as Amada still remained silent, Pharaoh asked of
Bes how it came about that he told one story on the night of our
return and another on this night.

"Because, O Pharaoh," answered Bes rolling his eyes, "for the first
time in my life I have been just a little too clever and shot my arrow
just a little too far. Hearken, Pharaoh, and Royal Lady, and High
Priest. I knew that my master loves the lady Amada and knew also that
she is quick of tongue and temper, one who readily takes offence even
if thereby she breaks her own heart and so brings her life to ruin,
and with it perchance her country. Therefore, knowing women whom I
have studied in my own land, I saw in this matter just such a cause of
offence as she would lay hold of, and counselled my master to keep
silent as to the story of the naming of her before the King. Some evil
spirit made him listen to this bad counsel, so far at least, that when
I lied as to what had chanced, for which lie the lady Amada prayed
that I might be scourged till my bones broke through the skin, he did
not at once tell all the truth. Nor did he do so afterwards because he
feared that if he did I should in fact be scourged, for my master and
I love each other. Neither of us wishes to see the other scourged,
though such is my lot to-night," and he glanced at Amada. "I have
said."

Then at last Amada spoke.

"Had I known all this story from the first, perhaps I should not have
done what I have done to-day and perhaps I should have forgiven and
forgotten, for in truth even if the dwarf still lies, I believe your
word, O Shabaka, and understand how all came about. But now it is too
late to change. Say, O Priest of the Mother, is it not too late?"

"It is too late," said the priest solemnly, "seeing that if such vows
as yours are broken for the second time, O Prophetess, the curse of
the goddess will pursue you and him for whom they were broken, yes,
through this life and all other lives that perchance may be given to
you upon the earth or elsewhere."

"Pharaoh," I cried in despair, "I made a bond with you. It is recorded
in writing and sealed. I have kept my part of the bond; my treasure
you have spent; your enemies I have slain; your army I have commanded
not so ill. Will you not keep yours and bid the priests release this
lady from her vow and give her to me to whom she was promised? Or must
I believe that you refuse, not because of goddesses and vows, but
because yonder is the Royal Lady of Egypt, the true heiress to the
throne who might perchance bear children, which as prophetess of Isis
she can never do. Yes, because of this and because of certain cries
that came to your ears in the hour of your crowning before Amen-ra and
all the gods?"

Peroa flushed as he heard me and answered,

"You speak roughly, Cousin, and were you any other man I might be
tempted to answer roughly. But I know that you suffer and therefore I
forgive. Nay, you must believe no such things. Rather must you
remember that in this bond of which you speak, it was set down that I
only promised you the lady Amada with her own consent, and this she
has withdrawn."

"Then, Pharaoh, hearken! To-morrow I leave Egypt for another land,
giving you back your generalship and sheathing the sword that I had
hoped to wield in its defence and yours when the last great day of
trial by battle comes, as come it will. I tell you that I go to return
no more, unless the lady Amada yonder shall summon me back to fight
for her and you, promising herself to me in guerdon."

"That can never be," said Amada.

Then I became aware of another presence in the room, though how and
when it appeared I do not know, but I suppose that it had crept in
while we were lost in talk. At least between me and Pharaoh, crouched
upon the ground, was the figure of a man wrapped in a beggar's cloak.
It threw back the hood and there appeared the ashen face and snowy
beard of the holy Tanofir.

"You know me, Pharaoh," he said in his deep, solemn voice. "I am
Tanofir, the King's son; Tanofir the hermit, Tanofir the seer. I have
heard all that passes, it matters not how and I come to you with a
message, I who read men's hearts. Of vows and goddesses and women I
say nothing. But this I say to you, that if you break the spirit of
your bond and suffer yonder Shabaka to go hence with a bitter heart,
trouble shall come on you. All the Great King's armies did not die
yonder by the banks of Nile, and mayhap one day he will journey to
bury the bones of those who fell, and with them /yours/, O Pharaoh. I
do not think that you will listen to me to-night, and I am sure that
yonder lady, full of the new-fanned flame of the jealous goddess, will
not listen. Still let her take counsel and remember my words: In the
hour of desperate danger let her send to Shabaka and demand his help,
promising in return what he has asked and remembering that if Isis
loves her, that goddess was born upon the Nile and loves Egypt more."

"Too late, too late, /too late!/" wailed Amada

Then she burst into tears and turning fled away with the high priest.
Pharaoh went also leaving me and Bes alone. I looked for the holy
Tanofir to speak with him, but he too was gone.

"It is time to sleep, Master," said Bes, "for all this talk is more
wearisome than any battle. Why! what is this that has your name upon
it?" and he picked a silk-wrapped package from the floor and opened
it.

Within were the priceless rose-hued pearls!

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