[NOTE: There is a short list of bookmarks, or pointers, at the end of thefile for those who may wish to sample the author's ideas before making anentire meal of them. D. W. ]

UARDA

Volume 3. 

By Georg Ebers

CHAPTER IX. 

It was noon: the rays of the sun found no way into the narrow shadystreets of the city of Thebes, but they blazed with scorching heat on thebroad dyke-road which led to the king's castle, and which at this hourwas usually almost deserted. 

To-day it was thronged with foot-passengers and chariots, with riders andlitter-bearers. 

Here and there negroes poured water on the road out of skins, but thedust was so deep, that, in spite of this, it shrouded the streets and thepassengers in a dry cloud, which extended not only over the city, butdown to the harbor where the boats of the inhabitants of the Necropolislanded their freight. 

The city of the Pharaohs was in unwonted agitation, for the storm-swiftbreath of rumor had spread some news which excited both alarm and hope inthe huts of the poor as well as in the palaces of the great. 

In the early morning three mounted messengers had arrived from the king'scamp with heavy letter-bags, and had dismounted at the Regent's palace. 

 [The Egyptians were great letter-writers, and many of their letters have come down to us, they also had established postmen, and had a word for them in their language "fai chat. "]

As after a long drought the inhabitants of a village gaze up at the blackthunder-cloud that gathers above their heads promising the refreshingrain--but that may also send the kindling lightning-flash or thedestroying hail-storm--so the hopes and the fears of the citizens werecentred on the news which came but rarely and at irregular intervals fromthe scene of war; for there was scarcely a house in the huge city whichhad not sent a father, a son, or a relative to the fighting hosts of theking in the distant northeast. 

And though the couriers from the camp were much oftener the heralds oftears than of joy; though the written rolls which they brought told moreoften of death and wounds than of promotion, royal favors, and conqueredspoil, yet they were expected with soul-felt longing and received withshouts of joy. 

Great and small hurried after their arrival to the Regent's palace, andthe scribes--who distributed the letters and read the news which wasintended for public communication, and the lists of those who had fallenor perished--were closely besieged with enquirers. 

Man has nothing harder to endure than uncertainty, and generally, when insuspense, looks forward to bad rather than to good news. And the bearersof ill ride faster than the messengers of weal. 

The Regent Ani resided in a building adjoining the king's palace. Hisbusiness-quarters surrounded an immensely wide court, and consisted of agreat number of rooms opening on to this court, in which numerous scribesworked with their chief. On the farther side was a large, veranda-likehall open at the front, with a roof supported by pillars. 

Here Ani was accustomed to hold courts of justice, and to receiveofficers, messengers, and petitioners. To-day he sat, visible to allcomers, on a costly throne in this hall, surrounded by his numerousfollowers, and overlooking the crowd of people whom the guardians of thepeace guided with long staves, admitting them in troops into the courtof the "High Gate, " and then again conducting them out. 

What he saw and heard was nothing joyful, for from each group surroundinga scribe arose a cry of woe. Few and far between were those who had totell of the rich booty that had fallen to their friends. 

An invisible web woven of wailing and tears seemed to envelope theassembly. 

Here men were lamenting and casting dust upon their heads, there womenwere rending their clothes, shrieking loudly, and crying as they wavedtheir veils "oh, my husband! oh, my father! oh, my brother!"

Parents who had received the news of the death of their son fell on eachother's neck weeping; old men plucked out their grey hair and beard;young women beat their forehead and breast, or implored the scribes whoread out the lists to let them see for themselves the name of the belovedone who was for ever torn from them. 

The passionate stirring of a soul, whether it be the result of joy or ofsorrow, among us moderns covers its features with a veil, which it had noneed of among the ancients. 

Where the loudest laments sounded, a restless little being might be seenhurrying from group to group; it was Nemu, Katuti's dwarf, whom we know. 

Now he stood near a woman of the better class, dissolved in tears becauseher husband had fallen in the last battle. 

"Can you read?" he asked her; "up there on the architrave is the name ofRameses, with all his titles. Dispenser of life, ' he is called. Ayeindeed; he can create--widows; for he has all the husbands killed. "

Before the astonished woman could reply, he stood by a man sunk in woe, and pulling his robe, said "Finer fellows than your son have never beenseen in Thebes. Let your youngest starve, or beat him to a cripple, elsehe also will be dragged off to Syria; for Rameses needs much goodEgyptian meat for the Syrian vultures. "

The old man, who had hitherto stood there in silent despair, clenched hisfist. The dwarf pointed to the Regent, and said: "If he there wieldedthe sceptre, there would be fewer orphans and beggars by the Nile. To-day its sacred waters are still sweet, but soon it will taste as saltas the north sea with all the tears that have been shed on its banks. "

It almost seemed as if the Regent had heard these words, for he rose fromhis seat and lifted his hands like a man who is lamenting. 

Many of the bystanders observed this action; and loud cries of anguishfilled the wide courtyard, which was soon cleared by soldiers to makeroom for other troops of people who were thronging in. 

While these gathered round the scribes, the Regent Ani sat with quietdignity on the throne, surrounded by his suite and his secretaries, andheld audiences. 

He was a man at the close of his fortieth year and the favorite cousin ofthe king. 

Rameses I. , the grandfather of the reigning monarch, had deposed thelegitimate royal family, and usurped the sceptre of the Pharaohs. Hedescended from a Semitic race who had remained in Egypt at the time ofthe expulsion of the Hyksos, [These were an eastern race who migrated from Asia into Egypt, conquered the lower Nile-valley, and ruled over it for nearly 500 years, till they were driven out by the successors of the old legitimate Pharaohs, whose dominion had been confined to upper Egypt. ]

and had distinguished itself by warlike talents under Thotmes andAmenophis. After his death he was succeeded by his son Seti, who soughtto earn a legitimate claim to the throne by marrying Tuaa, the grand-daughter of Amenophis III. She presented him with an only son, whom henamed after his father Rameses. This prince might lay claim to perfectlegitimacy through his mother, who descended directly from the old houseof sovereigns; for in Egypt a noble family--even that of the Pharaohs--might be perpetuated through women. 

Seti proclaimed Rameses partner of his throne, so as to remove all doubtas to the validity of his position. The young nephew of his wife Tuaa, the Regent Ani, who was a few years younger than Rameses, he caused to bebrought up in the House of Seti, and treated him like his own son, whilethe other members of the dethroned royal family were robbed of theirpossessions or removed altogether. 

Ani proved himself a faithful servant to Seti, and to his son, and wastrusted as a brother by the warlike and magnanimous Rameses, who howevernever disguised from himself the fact that the blood in his own veins wasless purely royal than that which flowed in his cousin's. 

It was required of the race of the Pharaohs of Egypt that it should bedescended from the Sun-god Ra, and the Pharaoh could boast of this highdescent only through his mother--Ani through both parents. 

But Rameses sat on the throne, held the sceptre with a strong hand, andthirteen young sons promised to his house the lordship over Egypt to alleternity. 

When, after the death of his warlike father, he went to fresh conquestsin the north, he appointed Ani, who had proved himself worthy as governorof the province of Kush, to the regency of the kingdom. 

A vehement character often over estimates the man who is endowed with aquieter temperament, into whose nature he cannot throw himself, and whoseexcellences he is unable to imitate; so it happened that the deliberateand passionless nature of his cousin impressed the fiery and warlikeRameses. 

Ani appeared to be devoid of ambition, or the spirit of enterprise; heaccepted the dignity that was laid upon him with apparent reluctance, andseemed a particularly safe person, because he had lost both wife andchild, and could boast of no heir. 

He was a man of more than middle height; his features were remarkablyregular--even beautifully, cut, but smooth and with little expression. His clear blue eyes and thin lips gave no evidence of the emotions thatfilled his heart; on the contrary, his countenance wore a soft smile thatcould adapt itself to haughtiness, to humility, and to a variety ofshades of feeling, but which could never be entirely banished from hisface. 

He had listened with affable condescension to the complaint of a landedproprietor, whose cattle had been driven off for the king's army, and hadpromised that his case should be enquired into. The plundered man wasleaving full of hope; but when the scribe who sat at the feet of theRegent enquired to whom the investigation of this encroachment of thetroops should be entrusted, Ani said: "Each one must bring a victim tothe war; it must remain among the things that are done, and cannot beundone. "

The Nomarch--[Chief of a Nome or district. ]--of Suan, in the southernpart of the country, asked for funds for a necessary, new embankment. The Regent listened to his eager representation with benevolence, naywith expressions of sympathy; but assured him that the war absorbed allthe funds of the state, that the chests were empty; still he feltinclined--even if they had not failed--to sacrifice a part of his ownincome to preserve the endangered arable land of his faithful provinceof Suan, to which he desired greeting. 

As soon as the Nomarch had left him, he commanded that a considerable sumshould be taken out of the Treasury, and sent after the petitioner. 

From time to time in the middle of conversation, he arose, and made agesture of lamentation, to show to the assembled mourners in the courtthat he sympathized in the losses which had fallen on them. 

The sun had already passed the meridian, when a disturbance, accompaniedby loud cries, took possession of the masses of people, who stood roundthe scribes in the palace court. 

Many men and women were streaming together towards one spot, and even themost impassive of the Thebans present turned their attention to anincident so unusual in this place. 

A detachment of constabulary made a way through the crushing and yellingmob, and another division of Lybian police led a prisoner towards a sidegate of the court. Before they could reach it, a messenger came up withthem, from the Regent, who desired to be informed as to what happened. 

The head of the officers of public safety followed him, and with eagerexcitement informed Ani, who was waiting for him, that a tiny man, thedwarf of the Lady Katuti, had for several hours been going about in thecourt, and endeavoring to poison the minds of the citizens with seditiousspeeches. 

Ani ordered that the misguided man should be thrown into the dungeon; butso soon as the chief officer had left him, he commanded his secretary tohave the dwarf brought into his presence before sundown. 

While he was giving this order an excitement of another kind seized theassembled multitude. 

As the sea parted and stood on the right hand and on the left of theHebrews, so that no wave wetted the foot of the pursued fugitives, so thecrowd of people of their own free will, but as if in reverent submissionto some high command, parted and formed a broad way, through which walkedthe high-priest of the House of Seti, as, full robed and accompanied bysome of the "holy fathers, " he now entered the court. 

The Regent went to meet him, bowed before him, and then withdrew to theback of the hall with him alone. It is nevertheless incredible, " saidAmeni, "that our serfs are to follow the militia!"

"Rameses requires soldiers--to conquer, " replied the Regent. 

"And we bread--to live, " exclaimed the priest. 

"Nevertheless I am commanded, at once, before the seed-time, to levy thetemple-serfs. I regret the order, but the king is the will, and I amonly the hand. "

"The hand, which he makes use of to sequester ancient rights, and to opena way to the desert over the fruitful land. "

 ["With good management, " said the first Napoleon, "the Nile encroaches upon the desert, with bad management the desert encroaches upon the Nile. "]

"Your acres will not long remain unprovided for. Rameses will win newvictories with the increased army, and the help of the Gods. "

"The Gods! whom he insults!"

"After the conclusion of peace he will reconcile the Gods by doubly richgifts. He hopes confidently for an early end to the war, and writes tome that after the next battle he wins he intends to offer terms to theCheta. A plan of the king's is also spoken of--to marry again, and, indeed, the daughter of the Cheta King Chetasar. "

Up to this moment the Regent had kept his eyes cast down. Now he raisedthem, smiling, as if he would fain enjoy Ameni's satisfaction, and asked:

"What dost thou say to this project?"

"I say, " returned Ameni, and his voice, usually so stern, took a tone ofamusement, "I say that Rameses seems to think that the blood of thycousin and of his mother, which gives him his right to the throne, isincapable of pollution. "

"It is the blood of the Sun-god!"

"Which runs but half pure in his veins, but wholly pure in thine. "

The Regent made a deprecatory gesture, and said softly, with a smilewhich resembled that of a dead man:

"We are not alone. "

No one is here, " said Ameni, "who can hear us; and what I say is known toevery child. "

"But if it came to the king's ears--" whispered Ani, "he--"

"He would perceive how unwise it is to derogate from the ancient rightsof those on whom it is incumbent to prove the purity of blood of thesovereign of this land. However, Rameses sits on the throne; may lifebloom for him, with health and strength!"--[A formula which even inprivate letters constantly follows the name of the Pharaoh. ]

The Regent bowed, and then asked:

"Do you propose to obey the demand of the Pharaoh without delay?"

"He is the king. Our council, which will meet in a few days, can onlydetermine how, and not whether we shall fulfil his command. "

"You will retard the departure of the serfs, and Rameses requires them atonce. The bloody labor of the war demands new tools. "

"And the peace will perhaps demand a new master, who understands how toemploy the sons of the land to its greatest advantage--a genuine son ofRa. "

The Regent stood opposite the high-priest, motionless as an image cast inbronze, and remained silent; but Ameni lowered his staff before him asbefore a god, and then went into the fore part of the hall. 

When Ani followed him, a soft smile played as usual upon his countenance, and full of dignity he took his seat on the throne. 

"Art thou at an end of thy communications?" he asked the high-priest. 

"It remains for me to inform you all, " replied Ameni with a louder voice, to be heard by all the assembled dignitaries, "that the princess Bent-Anat yesterday morning committed a heavy sin, and that in all the templesin the land the Gods shall be entreated with offerings to take heruncleanness from her. "

Again a shadow passed over the smile on the Regent's countenance. Helooked meditatively on the ground, and then said:

"To-morrow I will visit the House of Seti; till then I beg that thisaffair may be left to rest. "

Ameni bowed, and the Regent left the hall to withdraw to a wing of theking's palace, in which he dwelt. 

On his writing-table lay sealed papers. He knew that they containedimportant news for him; but he loved to do violence to his curiosity, totest his resolution, and like an epicure to reserve the best dish tillthe last. 

He now glanced first at some unimportant letters. A dumb negro, whosquatted at his feet, burned the papyrus rolls which his master gave himin a brazier. A secretary made notes of the short facts which Ani calledout to him, and the ground work was laid of the answers to the differentletters. 

At a sign from his master this functionary quitted the room, and Ani thenslowly opened a letter from the king, whose address: "To my brotherAni, " showed that it contained, not public, but private information. 

On these lines, as he well knew, hung his future life, and the road itshould follow. 

With a smile, that was meant to conceal even from himself his deep inwardagitation, he broke the wax which sealed the short manuscript in theroyal hand. 

"What relates to Egypt, and my concern for my country, and the happyissue of the war, " wrote the Pharaoh, "I have written to you by the handof my secretary; but these words are for the brother, who desires to bemy son, and I write to him myself. The lordly essence of the Divinitywhich dwells in me, readily brings a quick 'Yes' or 'No' to my lips, andit decides for the best. Now you demand my daughter Bent-Anat to wife, and I should not be Rameses if I did not freely confess that before I hadread the last words of your letter, a vehement 'No' rushed to my lips. I caused the stars to be consulted, and the entrails of the victims to beexamined, and they were adverse to your request; and yet I could notrefuse you, for you are dear to me, and your blood is royal as my own. Even more royal, an old friend said, and warned me against your ambitionand your exaltation. Then my heart changed, for I were not Seti's sonif I allow myself to injure a friend through idle apprehensions; and hewho stands so high that men fear that he may try to rise above Rameses, seems to me to be worthy of Bent-Anat. Woo her, and, should she consentfreely, the marriage may be celebrated on the day when I return home. You are young enough to make a wife happy, and your mature wisdom willguard my child from misfortune. Bent-Anat shall know that her father, and king, encourages your suit; but pray too to the Hathors, that theymay influence Bent-Anat's heart in your favor, for to her decision wemust both submit. "

The Regent had changed color several times while reading this letter. Now he laid it on the table with a shrug of his shoulders, stood up, clasped his hand behind him, and, with his eyes cast meditatively on thefloor, leaned against one of the pillars which supported the beams of theroof. 

The longer he thought, the less amiable his expression became. "A pillsweetened with honey, [Two recipes for pills are found in the papyri, one with honey for women, and one without for men. ]

such as they give to women, " he muttered to himself. Then he went backto the table, read the king's letter through once more, and said: "Onemay learn from it how to deny by granting, and at the same time not toforget to give it a brilliant show of magnanimity. Rameses knows hisdaughter. She is a girl like any other, and will take good care not tochoose a man twice as old as herself, and who might be her father. Rameses will 'submit'--I am to I submit!' And to what? to the judgmentand the choice of a wilful child!"

With these words he threw the letter so vehemently on to the table, thatit slipped off on to the floor. 

The mute slave picked it up, and laid it carefully on the table again, while his master threw a ball into a silver bason. 

Several attendants rushed into the room, and Ani ordered them to bring tohim the captive dwarf of the Lady Katuti. His soul rose in indignationagainst the king, who in his remote camp-tent could fancy he had made himhappy by a proof of his highest favor. When we are plotting against aman we are inclined to regard him as an enemy, and if he offers us a rosewe believe it to be for the sake, not of the perfume, but of the thorns. 

The dwarf Nemu was brought before the Regent and threw himself on theground at his feet. 

Ani ordered the attendants to leave him, and said to the little man

"You compelled me to put you in prison. Stand up!" The dwarf rose andsaid, "Be thanked--for my arrest too. "

The Regent looked at him in astonishment; but Nemu went on half humbly, half in fun, "I feared for my life, but thou hast not only not shortenedit, but hast prolonged it; for in the solitude of the dungeon time seemedlong, and the minutes grown to hours. "

"Keep your wit for the ladies, " replied the Regent. "Did I not know thatyou meant well, and acted in accordance with the Lady Katuti's fancy, Iwould send you to the quarries. "

"My hands, " mumbled the dwarf, "could only break stones for a game ofdraughts; but my tongue is like the water, which makes one peasant rich, and carries away the fields of another. "

"We shall know how to dam it up. "

"For my lady and for thee it will always flow the right way, " said thedwarf. "I showed the complaining citizens who it is that slaughterstheir flesh and blood, and from whom to look for peace and content. Ipoured caustic into their wounds, and praised the physician. "

"But unasked and recklessly, " interrupted Ani; "otherwise you have shownyourself capable, and I am willing to spare you for a future time. Butoverbusy friends are more damaging than intelligent enemies. When I needyour services I will call for you. Till then avoid speech. Now go toyour mistress, and carry to Katuti this letter which has arrived forher. "

"Hail to Ani, the son of the Sun!" cried the dwarf kissing the Regent'sfoot. "Have I no letter to carry to my mistress Nefert?"

"Greet her from me, " replied the Regent. "Tell Katuti I will visit herafter the next meal. The king's charioteer has not written, yet I hearthat he is well. Go now, and be silent and discreet. "

The dwarf quitted the room, and Ani went into an airy hall, in which hisluxurious meal was laid out, consisting of many dishes prepared withspecial care. His appetite was gone, but he tasted of every dish, andgave the steward, who attended on him, his opinion of each. 

Meanwhile he thought of the king's letter, of Bent-Anat, and whether itwould be advisable to expose himself to a rejection on her part. 

After the meal he gave himself up to his body-servant, who carefullyshaved, painted, dressed, and decorated him, and then held the mirrorbefore him. 

He considered the reflection with anxious observation, and when he seatedhimself in his litter to be borne to the house of his friend Katuti, hesaid to himself that he still might claim to be called a handsome man. 

If he paid his court to Bent-Anat--if she listened to his suit--whatthen?

He would refer it to Katuti, who always knew how to say a decisive wordwhen he, entangled in a hundred pros and cons, feared to venture on afinal step. 

By her advice he had sought to wed the princess, as a fresh mark ofhonor--as an addition to his revenues--as a pledge for his personalsafety. His heart had never been more or less attached to her than toany other beautiful woman in Egypt. Now her proud and noble personalitystood before his inward eye, and he felt as if he must look up to it asto a vision high out of his reach. It vexed him that he had followedKatuti's advice, and he began to wish his suit had been repulsed. Marriage with Bent-Anat seemed to him beset with difficulties. His moodwas that of a man who craves some brilliant position, though he knowsthat its requirements are beyond his powers--that of an ambitious soul towhom kingly honors are offered on condition that he will never remove aheavy crown from his head. If indeed another plan should succeed, if--and his eyes flashed eagerly--if fate set him on the seat of Rameses, then the alliance with Bent-Anat would lose its terrors; there would hebe her absolute King and Lord and Master, and no one could require him toaccount for what he might be to her, or vouchsafe to her. 

CHAPTER V. 

During the events we have described the house of the charioteer Mena hadnot remained free from visitors. 

It resembled the neighboring estate of Paaker, though the buildings wereless new, the gay paint on the pillars and walls was faded, and the largegarden lacked careful attention. In the vicinity of the house only, afew well-kept beds blazed with splendid flowers, and the open colonnade, which was occupied by Katuti and her daughter, was furnished with royalmagnificence. 

The elegantly carved seats were made of ivory, the tables of ebony, andthey, as well as the couches, had gilt feet. The artistically workedSyrian drinking vessels on the sideboard, tables, and consoles were ofmany forms; beautiful vases full of flowers stood everywhere; rareperfumes rose from alabaster cups, and the foot sank in the thick pile ofthe carpets which covered the floor. 

And over the apparently careless arrangement of these various objectsthere reigned a peculiar charm, an indescribably fascinating something. 

Stretched at full-length on a couch, and playing with a silky-hairedwhite cat, lay the fair Nefert--fanned to coolness by a negro-girl--whileher mother Katuti nodded a last farewell to her sister Setchem and toPaaker. 

Both had crossed this threshold for the first time for four years, thatis since the marriage of Mena with Nefert, and the old enmity seemed nowto have given way to heartfelt reconciliation and mutual understanding. 

After the pioneer and his mother had disappeared behind the pomegranateshrubs at the entrance of the garden, Katuti turned to her daughter andsaid:

"Who would have thought it yesterday? I believe Paaker loves you still. "

Nefert colored, and exclaimed softly, while she hit the kitten gentlywith her fan--

"Mother!"

Katuti smiled. 

She was a tall woman of noble demeanor, whose sharp but delicately-cutfeatures and sparkling eyes could still assert some pretensions tofeminine beauty. She wore a long robe, which reached below her ankles;it was of costly material, but dark in color, and of a studiedsimplicity. Instead of the ornaments in bracelets, anklets, ear andfinger-rings, in necklaces and clasps, which most of the Egyptian ladies--and indeed her own sister and daughter--were accustomed to wear, shehad only fresh flowers, which were never wanting in the garden of herson-in-law. Only a plain gold diadem, the badge of her royal descent, always rested, from early morning till late at night, on her high brow--for a woman too high, though nobly formed--and confined the long blue-black hair, which fell unbraided down her back, as if its owner contemnedthe vain labor of arranging it artistically. But nothing in her exteriorwas unpremeditated, and the unbejewelled wearer of the diadem, in herplain dress, and with her royal figure, was everywhere sure of beingobserved, and of finding imitators of her dress, and indeed of herdemeanor. 

And yet Katuti had long lived in need; aye at the very hour when we firstmake her acquaintance, she had little of her own, but lived on the estateof her son-in-law as his guest, and as the administrator of hispossessions; and before the marriage of her daughter she had lived withher children in a house belonging to her sister Setchem. 

She had been the wife of her own brother, [Marriages between brothers and sisters were allowed in ancient Egypt. The Ptolemaic princes adopted this, which was contrary to the Macedonian customs. When Ptolemy II. Philadelphus married his sister Arsinoe, it seems to have been thought necessary to excuse it by the relative positions of Venus and Saturn at that period, and the constraining influences of these planets. ]

who had died young, and who had squandered the greatest part of thepossessions which had been left to him by the new royal family, in anextravagant love of display. 

When she became a widow, she was received as a sister with her childrenby her brother-in-law, Paaker's father. She lived in a house of her own, enjoyed the income of an estate assigned to her by the old Mohar, andleft to her son-in-law the care of educating her son, a handsome andoverbearing lad, with all the claims and pretensions of a youth ofdistinction. 

Such great benefits would have oppressed and disgraced the proud Katuti, if she had been content with them and in every way agreed with the giver. But this was by no means the case; rather, she believed that she mightpretend to a more brilliant outward position, felt herself hurt when herheedless son, while he attended school, was warned to work moreseriously, as he would by and by have to rely on his own skill and hisown strength. And it had wounded her when occasionally her brother-in-law had suggested economy, and had reminded her, in his straightforwardway, of her narrow means, and the uncertain future of her children. 

At this she was deeply offended, for she ventured to say that herrelatives could never, with all their gifts, compensate for the insultsthey heaped upon her; and thus taught them by experience that we quarrelwith no one more readily than with the benefactor whom we can never repayfor all the good he bestows on us. 

Nevertheless, when her brother-in-law asked the hand of her daughter forhis son, she willingly gave her consent. 

Nefert and Paaker had grown up together, and by this union she foresawthat she could secure her own future and that of her children. 

Shortly after the death of the Mohar, the charioteer Mena had proposedfor Nefert's hand, but would nave been refused if the king himself hadnot supported the suit of his favorite officer. After the wedding, sheretired with Nefert to Mena's house, and undertook, while he was at thewar, to manage his great estates, which however had been greatlyburthened with debt by his father. 

Fate put the means into her hands of indemnifying herself and herchildren for many past privations, and she availed herself of them togratify her innate desire to be esteemed and admired; to obtain admissionfor her son, splendidly equipped, into a company of chariot-warriors ofthe highest class; and to surround her daughter with princelymagnificence. 

When the Regent, who had been a friend of her late husband, removed intothe palace of the Pharaohs, he made her advances, and the clever anddecided woman knew how to make herself at first agreeable, and finallyindispensable, to the vacillating man. 

She availed herself of the circumstance that she, as well as he, wasdescended from the old royal house to pique his ambition, and to open tohim a view, which even to think of, he would have considered forbidden asa crime, before he became intimate with her. 

Ani's suit for the hand of the princess Bent-Anat was Katuti's work. Shehoped that the Pharoah would refuse, and personally offend the Regent, and so make him more inclined to tread the dangerous road which she wasendeavoring to smooth for him. The dwarf Nemu was her pliant tool. 

She had not initiated him into her projects by any words; he however gaveutterance to every impulse of her mind in free language, which waspunished only with blows from a fan, and, only the day before, had beenso audacious as to say that if the Pharoah were called Ani instead ofRameses, Katuti would be not a queen but a goddess for she would thenhave not to obey, but rather to guide, the Pharaoh, who indeed himselfwas related to the Immortals. 

Katuti did not observe her daughter's blush, for she was lookinganxiously out at the garden gate, and said:

"Where can Nemu be! There must be some news arrived for us from thearmy. "

"Mena has not written for so long, " Nefert said softly. "Ah! here is thesteward!"

Katuti turned to the officer, who had entered the veranda through a sidedoor:

"What do you bring, " she asked. 

"The dealer Abscha, " was the answer, "presses for payment. The newSyrian chariot and the purple cloth--"

"Sell some corn, " ordered Katuti. 

"Impossible, for the tribute to the temples is not yet paid, and alreadyso much has been delivered to the dealers that scarcely enough remainsover for the maintenance of the household and for sowing. "

"Then pay with beasts. "

"But, madam, " said the steward sorrowfully, "only yesterday, we againsold a herd to the Mohar; and the water-wheels must be turned, and thecorn must be thrashed, and we need beasts for sacrifice, and milk, butter, and cheese, for the use of the house, and dung for firing. "

 [In Egypt, where there is so little wood, to this day the dried dung of beasts is the commonest kind of fuel. ]

Katuti looked thoughtfully at the ground. 

"It must be, " she said presently. "Ride to Hermonthis, and say tothe keeper of the stud that he must have ten of Mena's golden bays drivenover here. "

"I have already spoken to him, " said the steward, "but he maintains thatMena strictly forbade him to part with even one of the horses, for he isproud of the stock. Only for the chariot of the lady Nefert "

"I require obedience, " said Katuti decidedly and cutting short thesteward's words, "and I expect the horses to-morrow. "

"But the stud-master is a daring man, whom Mena looks upon asindispensable, and he--"

"I command here, and not the absent, " cried Katuti enraged, "and Irequire the horses in spite of the former orders of my son-in-law. "

Nefert, during this conversation, pulled herself up from her indolentattitude. On hearing the last words she rose from her couch, and said, with a decision which surprised even her mother--

"The orders of my husband must be obeyed. The horses that Mena lovesshall stay in their stalls. Take this armlet that the king gave me; itis worth more than twenty horses. "

The steward examined the trinket, richly set with precious stones, andlooked enquiringly at Katuti. She shrugged her shoulders, noddedconsent, and said--

"Abscha shall hold it as a pledge till Mena's booty arrives. For a yearyour husband has sent nothing of importance. "

When the steward was gone, Nefert stretched herself again on her couchand said wearily:

"I thought we were rich. "

"We might be, " said Katuti bitterly; but as she perceived that Nefert'scheeks again were glowing, she said amiably, "Our high rank imposes greatduties on us. Princely blood flows in our veins, and the eyes of thepeople are turned on the wife of the most brilliant hero in the king'sarmy. They shall not say that she is neglected by her husband. How longMena remains away!"

"I hear a noise in the court, " said Nefert. "The Regent is coming. "

Katuti turned again towards the garden. 

A breathless slave rushed in, and announced that Bent-Anat, the daughterof the king, had dismounted at the gate, and was approaching the gardenwith the prince Rameri. 

Nefert left her couch, and went with her mother to meet the exaltedvisitors. 

As the mother and daughter bowed to kiss the robe of the princess, Bent-Anat signed them back from her. "Keep farther from me, " she said; "thepriests have not yet entirely absolved me from my uncleanness. "

"And in spite of them thou art clean in the sight of Ra!" exclaimed theboy who accompanied her, her brother of seventeen, who was brought up atthe House of Seti, which however he was to leave in a few weeks--and hekissed her. 

"I shall complain to Ameni of this wild boy, " said Bent-Anat smiling. "He would positively accompany me. Your husband, Nefert, is his model, and I had no peace in the house, for we came to bring you good news. "

"From Mena?" asked the young wife, pressing her hand to her heart. 

"As you say, " returned Bent-Anat. "My father praises his ability, andwrites that he, before all others, will have his choice at the dividingof the spoil. "

Nefert threw a triumphant glance at her mother, and Katuti drew a deepbreath. 

Bent-Anat stroked Nefert's cheeks like those of a child. Then she turnedto Katuti, led her into the garden, and begged her to aid her, who had soearly lost her mother, with her advice in a weighty matter. 

"My father, " she continued, after a few introductory words, "informs methat the Regent Ani desires me for his wife, and advises me to reward thefidelity of the worthy man with my hand. He advises it, you understand-he does not command. "

"And thou?" asked Katuti. 

"And I, " replied Bent-Anat decidedly, "must refuse him. "

"Thou must!"

Bent-Anat made a sign of assent and went on:

"It is quite clear to me. I can do nothing else. "

"Then thou dost not need my counsel, since even thy father, I well know, will not be able to alter thy decision. "

"Not God even, " said Anat firmly. "But you are Ani's friend, and as Iesteem him, I would save him from this humiliation. Endeavor to persuadehim to give up his suit. I will meet him as though I knew nothing of hisletter to my father. "

Katuti looked down reflectively. Then she said--"The Regent certainlylikes very well to pass his hours of leisure with me gossiping or playingdraughts, but I do not know that I should dare to speak to him of sograve a matter. "

"Marriage-projects are women's affairs, " said Bent-Anat, smiling. 

"But the marriage of a princess is a state event, " replied the widow. "In this case it is true the uncle

 [Among the Orientals--and even the Spaniards--it was and is common to give the name of uncle to a parent's cousin. ]

only courts his niece, who is dear to him, and who he hopes will make thesecond half of his life the brightest. Ani is kind and without severity. Thou would'st win in him a husband, who would wait on thy looks, and bowwillingly to thy strong will. "

Bent-Anat's eyes flashed, and she hastily exclaimed: "That is exactlywhat forces the decisive irrevocable 'No' to my lips. Do you think thatbecause I am as proud as my mother, and resolute like my father, that Iwish for a husband whom I could govern and lead as I would? How littleyou know me! I will be obeyed by my dogs, my servants, my officers, ifthe Gods so will it, by my children. Abject beings, who will kiss myfeet, I meet on every road, and can buy by the hundred, if I wish it, in the slave market. I may be courted twenty times, and reject twentysuitors, but not because I fear that they might bend my pride and mywill; on the contrary, because I feel them increased. The man to whom Icould wish to offer my hand must be of a loftier stamp, must be greater, firmer, and better than I, and I will flutter after the mighty wing-strokes of his spirit, and smile at my own weakness, and glory inadmiring his superiority. "

Katuti listened to the maiden with the smile by which the experiencedlove to signify their superiority over the visionary. 

"Ancient times may have produced such men, " she said. "But if in thesedays thou thinkest to find one, thou wilt wear the lock of youth, [The lock of youth was a curl of hair which all the younger members of princely families wore at the side of the head. The young Horus is represented with it. ]

till thou art grey. Our thinkers are no heroes, and our heroes are nosages. Here come thy brother and Nefert. "

"Will you persuade Ani to give up his suit!" said the princess urgently. 

"I will endeavor to do so, for thy sake, " replied Katuti. Then, turninghalf to the young Rameri and half to his sister, she said:

"The chief of the House of Seti, Ameni, was in his youth such a man asthou paintest, Bent-Anat. Tell us, thou son of Rameses, that art growingup under the young sycamores, which shall some day over-shadow the land-whom dost thou esteem the highest among thy companions? Is there oneamong them, who is conspicuous above them all for a lofty spirit andstrength of intellect?"

The young Rameri looked gaily at the speaker, and said laughing: "We areall much alike, and do more or less willingly what we are compelled, andby preference every thing that we ought not. "

"A mighty soul--a youth, who promises to be a second Snefru, a Thotmes, or even an Amem? Dost thou know none such in the House of Seti?" askedthe widow. "Oh yes!" cried Rameri with eager certainty. 

"And he is--?" asked Katuti. 

"Pentaur, the poet, " exclaimed the youth. Bent-Anat's face glowed withscarlet color, while her, brother went on to explain. 

"He is noble and of a lofty soul, and all the Gods dwell in him when hespeaks. Formerly we used to go to sleep in the lecture-hall; but hiswords carry us away, and if we do not take in the full meaning of histhoughts, yet we feel that they are genuine and noble. "

Bent-Anat breathed quicker at these words, and her eyes hung on the boy'slips. 

"You know him, Bent-Anat, " continued Rameri. "He was with you at theparaschites' house, and in the temple-court when Ameni pronounced youunclean. He is as tall and handsome as the God Mentli, and I feel thathe is one of those whom we can never forget when once we have seen them. Yesterday, after you had left the temple, he spoke as he never spokebefore; he poured fire into our souls. Do not laugh, Katuti, I feel itburning still. This morning we were informed that he had been sent fromthe temple, who knows where--and had left us a message of farewell. Itwas not thought at all necessary to communicate the reason to us; but weknow more than the masters think. He did not reprove you stronglyenough, Bent-Anat, and therefore he is driven out of the House of Seti. We have agreed to combine to ask for him to be recalled; Anana is drawingup a letter to the chief priest, which we shall all subscribe. It wouldturn out badly for one alone, but they cannot be at all of us at once. Very likely they will have the sense to recall him. If not, we shall allcomplain to our fathers, and they are not the meanest in the land. "

"It is a complete rebellion, " cried Katuti. "Take care, you lordlings;Ameni and the other prophets are not to be trifled with. "

"Nor we either, " said Rameri laughing, "If Pentaur is kept inbanishment, I shall appeal to my father to place me at the school atHeliopolis or Chennu, and the others will follow me. Come, Bent-Anat, Imust be back in the trap before sunset. Excuse me, Katuti, so we callthe school. Here comes your little Nemu. "

The brother and sister left the garden. 

As soon as the ladies, who accompanied them, had turned their backs, Bent-Anat grasped her brother's hand with unaccustomed warmth, and said:

"Avoid all imprudence; but your demand is just, and I will help you withall my heart. "

CHAPTER XI. 

As soon as Bent-Anat had quitted Mena's domain, the dwarf Nemu enteredthe garden with a letter, and briefly related his adventures; but in sucha comical fashion that both the ladies laughed, and Katuti, with a livelygaiety, which was usually foreign to her, while she warned him, at thesame time praised his acuteness. She looked at the seal of the letterand said:

"This is a lucky day; it has brought us great things, and the promise ofgreater things in the future. " Nefert came close up to her and saidimploringly: "Open the letter, and see if there is nothing in it fromhim. "

Katuti unfastened the wax, looked through the letter with a hasty glance, stroked the cheek of her child, and said:

"Perhaps your brother has written for him; I see no line in hishandwriting. "

Nefert on her side glanced at the letter, but not to read it, only toseek some trace of the well-known handwriting of her husband. 

Like all the Egyptian women of good family she could read, and during thefirst two years of her married life she had often--very often--had theopportunity of puzzling, and yet rejoicing, over the feeble signs whichthe iron hand of the charioteer had scrawled on the papyrus for her whoseslender fingers could guide the reed pen with firmness and decision. 

She examined the letter, and at last said, with tears in her eyes:

"Nothing! I will go to my room, mother. "

Katuti kissed her and said, "Hear first what your brother writes. "

But Nefert shook her head, turned away in silence, and disappeared intothe house. 

Katuti was not very friendly to her son-in-law, but her heart clung toher handsome, reckless son, the very image of her lost husband, thefavorite of women, and the gayest youth among the young nobles whocomposed the chariot-guard of the king. 

How fully he had written to-day--he who weilded the reed-pen solaboriously. 

This really was a letter; while, usually, he only asked in the fewestwords for fresh funds for the gratification of his extravagant tastes. 

This time she might look for thanks, for not long since he must havereceived a considerable supply, which she had abstracted from the incomeof the possessions entrusted to her by her son-in-law. 

She began to read. 

The cheerfulness, with which she had met the dwarf, was insincere, andhad resembled the brilliant colors of the rainbow, which gleam over thestagnant waters of a bog. A stone falls into the pool, the colorsvanish, dim mists rise up, and it becomes foul and clouded. 

The news which her son's letter contained fell, indeed, like a block ofstone on Katuti's soul. 

Our deepest sorrows always flow from the same source as might have filledus with joy, and those wounds burn the fiercest which are inflicted by ahand we love. 

The farther Katuti went in the lamentably incorrect epistle--which shecould only decipher with difficulty--which her darling had written toher, the paler grew her face, which she several times covered with hertrembling hands, from which the letter dropped. 

Nemu squatted on the earth near her, and followed all her movements. 

When she sprang forward with a heart-piercing scream, and pressed herforehead to a rough palmtrunk, he crept up to her, kissed her feet, andexclaimed with a depth of feeling that overcame even Katuti, who wasaccustomed to hear only gay or bitter speeches from the lips of herjester--

"Mistress! lady! what has happened?"

Katuti collected herself, turned to him, and tried to speak; but her palelips remained closed, and her eyes gazed dimly into vacancy as though acatalepsy had seized her. 

"Mistress! Mistress!" cried the dwarf again, with growing agitation. "What is the matter? shall I call thy daughter?"

Katuti made a sign with her hand, and cried feebly: "The wretches! thereprobates!"

Her breath began to come quickly, the blood mounted to her cheeksand her flashing eyes; she trod upon the letter, and wept so loud andpassionately, that the dwarf, who had never before seen tears in hereyes, raised himself timidly, and said in mild reproach: "Katuti!"

She laughed bitterly, and said with a trembling voice:

"Why do you call my name so loud! it is disgraced and degraded. How thenobles and the ladies will rejoice! Now envy can point at us withspiteful joy--and a minute ago I was praising this day! They say oneshould exhibit one's happiness in the streets, and conceal one's misery;on the contrary, on the contrary! Even the Gods should not know of one'shopes and joys, for they too are envious and spiteful!"

Again she leaned her head against the palm-tree. "Thou speakest ofshame, and not of death, " said Nemu, "and I learned from thee that oneshould give nothing up for lost excepting the dead. "

These words had a powerful effect on the agitated woman. Quickly andvehemently she turned upon the dwarf saying. 

"You are clever, and faithful too, so listen! but if you were Amonhimself there is nothing to be done--"

"We must try, " said Nemu, and his sharp eyes met those of his mistress. 

"Speak, " he said, "and trust me. Perhaps I can be of no use; but that Ican be silent thou knowest. "

"Before long the children in the streets will talk of what this tellsme, " said Katuti, laughing with bitterness, "only Nefert must knownothing of what has happened--nothing, mind; what is that? the Regentcoming! quick, fly; tell him I am suddenly taken ill, very ill; I cannotsee him, not now! No one is to be admitted--no one, do you hear?"

The dwarf went. 

When he came back after he had fulfilled his errand, he found hismistress still in a fever of excitement. 

"Listen, " she said; "first the smaller matter, then the frightful, theunspeakable. Rameses loads Mena with marks of his favor. It came to adivision of the spoils of war for the year; a great heap of treasure layready for each of his followers, and the charioteer had to choose beforeall the others. "

"Well?" said the dwarf. 

"Well!" echoed Katuti. "Well! how did the worthy householder care forhis belongings at home, how did he seek to relieve his indebted estate?It is disgraceful, hideous! He passed by the silver, the gold, thejewels, with a laugh; and took the captive daughter of the Danaidprinces, and led her into his tent. "

"Shameful!" muttered the dwarf. 

"Poor, poor Nefert!" cried Katuti, covering her face with her hands. 

"And what more?" asked Nemu hastily. 

"That, " said Katuti, "that is--but I will keep calm--quite calm andquiet. You know my son. He is heedless, but he loves me and his sistermore than anything in the world. I, fool as I was, to persuade him toeconomy, had vividly described our evil plight, and after thatdisgraceful conduct of Mena he thought of us and of our anxieties. Hisshare of the booty was small, and could not help us. His comrades threwdice for the shares they had obtained--he staked his to win more for us. He lost--all--all--and at last against an enormous sum, still thinking ofus, and only of us, he staked the mummy of his dead father. 

 [It was a king of the fourth dynasty, named Asychis by Herodotus, who it is admitted was the first to pledge the mummies of his ancestors. "He who stakes this pledge and fails to redeem the debt shall, after his death, rest neither in his father's tomb nor in any other, and sepulture shall be denied to his descendants. " Herod. 11. 136. ]

He lost. If he does not redeem the pledge before the expiration of thethird month, he will fall into infamy, the mummy will belong to thewinner, and disgrace and ignominy will be my lot and his. "

Katuti pressed her hands on her face, the dwarf muttered to himself, "Thegambler and hypocrite!" When his mistress had grown calmer, he said:

"It is horrible, yet all is not lost. How much is the debt?"

It sounded like a heavy curse, when Katuti replied, "Thirty Babyloniantalents. "--[L7000 sterling in 1881. ]

The dwarf cried out, as if an asp had stung him. "Who dared to bidagainst such a mad stake?"

"The Lady Hathor's son, Antef, " answered Katuti, "who has already gambledaway the inheritance of his fathers, in Thebes. "

"He will not remit one grain of wheat of his claim, " cried the dwarf. "And Mena?"

"How could my son turn to him after what had happened? The poor childimplores me to ask the assistance of the Regent. "

"Of the Regent?" said the dwarf, shaking his big head. "Impossible!"

"I know, as matters now stand; but his place, his name. "

"Mistress, " said the dwarf, and deep purpose rang in the words, "do notspoil the future for the sake of the present. If thy son loses his honorunder King Rameses, the future King, Ani, may restore it to him. If theRegent now renders you all an important service, he will regard you asamply paid when our efforts have succeeded, and he sits on the throne. He lets himself be led by thee now because thou hast no need of his help, and dost seem to work only for his sake, and for his elevation. As soonas thou hast appealed to him, and he has assisted thee, all thyconfidence and freedom will be gone, and the more difficult he finds itto raise so large a sum of money at once, the angrier he will be to thinkthat thou art making use of him. Thou knowest his circumstances. "

"He is in debt, " said Katuti. "I know that. "

"Thou should'st know it, " cried the dwarf, "for thou thyself hast forcedhim to enormous expenses. He has won the people of Thebes with dazzlingfestive displays; as guardian of Apis

 [When Apis (the sacred bull) died under Ptolemy I. Soter, his keepers spent not only the money which they had received for his maintenance, in his obsequies but borrowed 50 talents of silver from the king. In the time of Diodurus 100 talents were spent for the same purpose. ]

he gave a large donation to Memphis; he bestowed thousands on the leadersof the troops sent into Ethiopia, which were equipped by him; what hisspies cost him at, the camp of the king, thou knowest. He has borrowedsums of money from most of the rich men in the country, and that is well, for so many creditors are so many allies. The Regent is a bad debtor;but the king Ani, they reckon, will be a grateful payer. "

Katuti looked at the dwarf in astonishment. "You know men!" she said. 

"To my sorrow!" replied Nemu. "Do not apply to the Regent, and beforethou dost sacrifice the labor of years, and thy future greatness, andthat of those near to thee, sacrifice thy son's honor. "

"And my husband's, and my own?" exclaimed Katuti. "How can you knowwhat that is! Honor is a word that the slave may utter, but whosemeaning he can never comprehend; you rub the weals that are raised on youby blows; to me every finger pointed at me in scorn makes a wound like anashwood lance with a poisoned tip of brass. Oh ye holy Gods! who canhelp us?"

The miserable woman pressed her hands over her eyes, as if to shut outthe sight of her own disgrace. The dwarf looked at her compassionately, and said in a changed tone:

"Dost thou remember the diamond which fell out of Nefert's handsomestring? We hunted for it, and could not find it. Next day, as I was goingthrough the room, I trod on something hard; I stooped down and found thestone. What the noble organ of sight, the eye, overlooked, the callousdespised sole of the foot found; and perhaps the small slave, Nemu, whoknows nothing of honor, may succeed in finding a mode of escape which isnot revealed to the lofty soul of his mistress!"

"What are you thinking of?" asked Katuti. 

"Escape, " answered the dwarf. "Is it true that thy sister Setchem hasvisited thee, and that you are reconciled?"

"She offered me her hand, and I took it?"

"Then go to her. Men are never more helpful than after a reconciliation. The enmity they have driven out, seems to leave as it were a freshly-healed wound which must be touched with caution; and Setchem is of thyown blood, and kind-hearted. "

"She is not rich, " replied Katuti. "Every palm in her garden comes fromher husband, and belongs to her children. "

"Paaker, too, was with you?"

"Certainly only by the entreaty of his mother--he hates my son-in-law. "

"I know it, " muttered the dwarf, "but if Nefert would ask him?"

The widow drew herself up indignantly. She felt that she had allowed thedwarf too much freedom, and ordered him to leave her alone. 

Nemu kissed her robe and asked timidly:

"Shall I forget that thou hast trusted me, or am I permitted to considerfurther as to thy son's safety?" Katuti stood for a moment undecided, then she said:

"You were clever enough to find what I carelessly dropped; perhaps someGod may show you what I ought to do. Now leave me. "

"Wilt thou want me early to-morrow?"

"No. "

"Then I will go to the Necropolis, and offer a sacrifice. "

"Go!" said Katuti, and went towards the house with the fatal letter inher hand. 

Nemu stayed behind alone; he looked thoughtfully at the ground, murmuringto himself. 

"She must not lose her honor; not at present, or indeed all will belost. What is this honor? We all come into the world without it, and most of us go to the grave without knowing it, and very good folksnotwithstanding. Only a few who are rich and idle weave it in with thehomely stuff of their souls, as the Kuschites do their hair with greaseand oils, till it forms a cap of which, though it disfigures them, theyare so proud that they would rather have their ears cut off than themonstrous thing. I see, I see--but before I open my mouth I will go tomy mother. She knows more than twenty prophets. "

CHAPTER XII. 

Before the sun had risen the next morning, Nemu got himself ferried overthe Nile, with the small white ass which Mena's deceased father had givenhim many years before. He availed himself of the cool hour whichprecedes the rising of the sun for his ride through the Necropolis. 

Well acquainted as he was with every stock and stone, he avoided the highroads which led to the goal of his expedition, and trotted towards thehill which divides the valley of the royal tombs from the plain of theNile. 

Before him opened a noble amphitheatre of lofty lime-stone peaks, thebackground of the stately terrace-temple which the proud ancestress oftwo kings of the fallen family, the great Hatasu, had erected to theirmemory, and to the Goddess Hathor. 

Nemu left the sanctuary to his left, and rode up the steep hill-pathwhich was the nearest way from the plain to the valley of the tombs. 

Below him lay a bird's eye view of the terrace-building of Hatasu, andbefore him, still slumbering in cool dawn, was the Necropolis with itshouses and temples and colossal statues, the broad Nile glistening withwhite sails under the morning mist; and, in the distant east, rosy withthe coming sun, stood Thebes and her gigantic temples. 

But the dwarf saw nothing of the glorious panorama that lay at his feet;absorbed in thought, and stooping over the neck of his ass, he let thepanting beast climb and rest at its pleasure. 

When he had reached half the height of the hill, he perceived the soundof footsteps coming nearer and nearer to him. 

The vigorous walker had soon reached him, and bid him good morning, whichhe civilly returned. 

The hill-path was narrow, and when Nemu observed that the man whofollowed him was a priest, he drew up his donkey on a level spot, andsaid reverently:

"Pass on, holy father; for thy two feet carry thee quicker than my four. "

"A sufferer needs my help, " replied the leech Nebsecht, Pentaur's friend, whom we have already seen in the House of Seti, and by the bed of theparaschites' daughter; and he hastened on so as to gain on the slow paceof the rider. 

Then rose the glowing disk of the sun above the eastern horizon, and fromthe sanctuaries below the travellers rose up the pious many-voiced chantof praise. 

Nemu slipped off his ass, and assumed an attitude of prayer; the priestdid the same; but while the dwarf devoutly fixed his eyes on the newbirth of the Sun-God from the eastern range, the priest's eyes wanderedto the earth, and his raised hand fell to pick up a rare fossil shellwhich lay on the path. 

In a few minutes Nebsecht rose, and Nemu followed him. 

"It is a fine morning, " said the dwarf; "the holy fathers down there seemmore cheerful to-day than usual. "

The surgeon laughed assent. "Do you belong to the Necropolis?" he said. "Who here keeps dwarfs?"

"No one, " answered the little man. "But I will ask thee a question. Who that lives here behind the hill is of so much importance, that aleech from the House of Seti sacrifices his night's rest for him?"

"The one I visit is mean, but the suffering is great, " answered Nebsecht. 

Nemu looked at him with admiration, and muttered, "That is noble, that is----" but he did not finish his speech; he struck his brow and exclaimed, "You are going, by the desire of the Princess Bent-Anat, to the child ofthe paraschites that was run over. I guessed as much. The food musthave an excellent after-taste, if a gentleman rises so early to eat it. How is the poor child doing?"

There was so much warmth in these last words that Nebsecht, who hadthought the dwarf's reproach uncalled for, answered in a friendly tone:

"Not so badly; she may be saved. "

"The Gods be praised!" exclaimed Nemu, while the priest passed on. 

Nebsecht went up and down the hillside at a redoubled pace, and had longtaken his place by the couch of the wounded Uarda in the hovel of theparaschites, when Nemu drew near to the abode of his Mother Hekt, fromwhom Paaker had received the philter. 

The old woman sat before the door of her cave. Near her lay a board, fitted with cross pieces, between which a little boy was stretched insuch a way that they touched his head and his feet. 

Hekt understood the art of making dwarfs; playthings in human form werewell paid for, and the child on the rack, with his pretty little face, promised to be a valuable article. 

As soon as the sorceress saw some one approaching, she stooped over thechild, took him up board and all in her arms, and carried him into thecave. Then she said sternly:

"If you move, little one, I will flog you. Now let me tie you. "

"Don't tie me, " said the child, "I will be good and lie still. "

"Stretch yourself out, " ordered the old woman, and tied the child with arope to the board. "If you are quiet, I'll give you a honey-cake by-and-bye, and let you play with the young chickens. "

The child was quiet, and a soft smile of delight and hope sparkled in hispretty eyes. His little hand caught the dress of the old woman, and withthe sweetest coaxing tone, which God bestows on the innocent voices ofchildren, he said:

"I will be as still as a mouse, and no one shall know that I am here;but if you give me the honeycake you will untie me for a little, and letme go to Uarda. "

"She is ill!--what do you want there?"

"I would take her the cake, " said the child, and his eyes glistened withtears. 

The old woman touched the child's chin with her finger, and somemysterious power prompted her to bend over him to kiss him. But beforeher lips had touched his face she turned away, and said, in a hard tone:

"Lie still! by and bye we will see. " Then she stooped, and threw abrown sack over the child. She went back into the open air, greetedNemu, entertained him with milk, bread and honey, gave him news of thegirl who had been run over, for he seemed to take her misfortune verymuch to heart, and finally asked:

"What brings you here? The Nile was still narrow when you last foundyour way to me, and now it has been falling some time. 

 [This is the beginning of November. The Nile begins slowly to rise early in June; between the 15th and 20th of July it suddenly swells rapidly, and in the first half of October, not, as was formerly supposed, at the end of September, the inundation reaches its highest level. Heinrich Barth established these data beyond dispute. After the water has begun to sink it rises once more in October and to a higher level than before. Then it soon falls, at first slowly, but by degrees quicker and quicker. ]

Are you sent by your mistress, or do you want my help? All the world isalike. No one goes to see any one else unless he wants to make use ofhim. What shall I give you?"

"I want nothing, " said the dwarf, "but--"

"You are commissioned by a third person, " said the witch, laughing. "Itis the same thing. Whoever wants a thing for some one else only thinksof his own interest. "

"May be, " said Nemu. "At any rate your words show that you have notgrown less wise since I saw you last--and I am glad of it, for I wantyour advice. "

"Advice is cheap. What is going on out there?" Nemu related to hismother shortly, clearly, and without reserve, what was plotting in hismistress's house, and the frightful disgrace with which she wasthreatened through her son. 

The old woman shook her grey head thoughtfully several times: but she letthe little man go on to the end of his story without interrupting him. Then she asked, and her eyes flashed as she spoke:

"And you really believe that you will succeed in putting the sparrow onthe eagle's perch--Ani on the throne of Rameses?"

"The troops fighting in Ethiopia are for us, " cried Nemu. "The priestsdeclare themselves against the king, and recognize in Ani the genuineblood of Ra. "

"That is much, " said the old woman. 

"And many dogs are the death of the gazelle, " said Nemu laughing. 

"But Rameses is not a gazelle to run, but a lion, " said the old womangravely. "You are playing a high game. "

"We know it, " answered Nemu. But it is for high stakes--there is much towin. "

"And all to lose, " muttered the old woman, passing her fingers round herscraggy neck. "Well, do as you please--it is all the same to me who itis sends the young to be killed, and drives the old folks' cattle fromthe field. What do they want with me?"

"No one has sent me, " answered the dwarf. I come of my own free fancy toask you what Katuti must do to save her son and her house from dishonor. "

"Hm!" hummed the witch, looking at Nemu while she raised herself on herstick. "What has come to you that you take the fate of these greatpeople to heart as if it were your own?"

The dwarf reddened, and answered hesitatingly, "Katuti is a goodmistress, and, if things go well with her, there may be windfalls for youand me. "

Hekt shook her head doubtfully. 

"A loaf for you perhaps, and a crumb for me!" she said. "There is morethan that in your mind, and I can read your heart as if you were a rippedup raven. You are one of those who can never keep their fingers at rest, and must knead everybody's dough; must push, and drive and stirsomething. Every jacket is too tight for you. If you were three feettaller, and the son of a priest, you might have gone far. High you willgo, and high you will end; as the friend of a king--or on the gallows. "

The old woman laughed; but Nemu bit his lips, and said:

"If you had sent me to school, and if I were not the son of a witch, and a dwarf, I would play with men as they have played with me; for I amcleverer than all of them, and none of their plans are hidden from me. A hundred roads lie before me, when they don't know whether to go out orin; and where they rush heedlessly forwards I see the abyss that they arerunning to. "

"And nevertheless you come to me?" said the old woman sarcastically. 

"I want your advice, " said Nemu seriously. "Four eyes see more than one, and the impartial looker-on sees clearer than the player; besides you arebound to help me. "

The old woman laughed loud in astonishment. "Bound!" she said, "I? andto what if you please?"

"To help me, " replied the dwarf, half in entreaty, and half in reproach. "You deprived me of my growth, and reduced me to a cripple. "

"Because no one is better off than you dwarfs, " interrupted the witch. 

Nemu shook his head, and answered sadly--

"You have often said so--and perhaps for many others, who are born inmisery like me--perhaps-you are right; but for me--you have spoilt mylife; you have crippled not my body only but my soul, and have condemnedme to sufferings that are nameless and unutterable. "

The dwarf's big head sank on his breast, and with his left hand hepressed his heart. 

The old woman went up to him kindly. 

"What ails you?" she asked, "I thought it was well with you in Mena'shouse. "

"You thought so?" cried the dwarf. "You who show me as in a mirror whatI am, and how mysterious powers throng and stir in me? You made me whatI am by your arts; you sold me to the treasurer of Rameses, and he gaveme to the father of Mena, his brother-in-law. Fifteen years ago! I wasa young man then, a youth like any other, only more passionate, morerestless, and fiery than they. I was given as a plaything to the youngMena, and he harnessed me to his little chariot, and dressed me out withribbons and feathers, and flogged me when I did not go fast enough. Howthe girl--for whom I would have given my life--the porter's daughter, laughed when I, dressed up in motley, hopped panting in front of thechariot and the young lord's whip whistled in my ears wringing the sweatfrom my brow, and the blood from my broken heart. Then Mena's fatherdied, the boy, went to school, and I waited on the wife of his steward, whom Katuti banished to Hermonthis. That was a time! The littledaughter of the house made a doll of me, [Dolls belonging to the time of the Pharaohs are preserved in the museums, for instance, the jointed ones at Leyden. ]

laid me in the cradle, and made me shut my eyes and pretend to sleep, while love and hatred, and great projects were strong within me. If Itried to resist they beat me with rods; and when once, in a rage, Iforgot myself, and hit little Mertitefs hard, Mena, who came in, hung meup in the store-room to a nail by my girdle, and left me to swing there;he said he had forgotten to take me down again. The rats fell upon me;here are the scars, these little white spots here--look! They perhapswill some day wear out, but the wounds that my spirit received in thosehours have not yet ceased to bleed. Then Mena married Nefert, and, withher, his mother-in-law, Katuti, came into the house. She took me fromthe steward, I became indispensable to her; she treats me like a man, shevalues my intelligence and listens to my advice, --therefore I will makeher great, and with her, and through her, I will wax mighty. If Animounts the throne, we wilt guide him--you, and I, and she! Rameses mustfall, and with him Mena, the boy who degraded my body and poisoned mysoul!"

During this speech the old woman had stood in silence opposite the dwarf. Now she sat down on her rough wooden seat, and said, while she proceededto pluck a lapwing:

"Now I understand you; you wish to be revenged. You hope to rise high, and I am to whet your knife, and hold the ladder for you. Poor littleman! there, sit down-drink a gulp of milk to cool you, and listen to myadvice. Katuti wants a great deal of money to escape dishonor. She needonly pick it up--it lies at her door. " The dwarf looked at the witch inastonishment. 

"The Mohar Paaker is her sister Setchem's son. Is he not?"

"As you say. "

"Katuti's daughter Nefert is the wife of your master Mena, and anotherwould like to tempt the neglected little hen into his yard. "

"You mean Paaker, to whom Nefert was promised before she went afterMena. "

"Paaker was with me the day before yesterday. "

"With you?"

"Yes, with me, with old Hekt--to buy a love philter. I gave him one, andas I was curious I went after him, saw him give the water to the littlelady, and found out her name. "

"And Nefert drank the magic drink?" asked the dwarf horrified. "Vinegarand turnip juice, " laughed the old witch. "A lord who comes to me to wina wife is ripe for any thing. Let Nefert ask Paaker for the money, andthe young scapegrace's debts are paid. "

"Katuti is proud, and repulsed me severely when I proposed this. "

"Then she must sue to Paaker herself for the money. Go back to him, makehim hope that Nefert is inclined to him, tell him what distresses theladies, and if he refuses, but only if he refuses, let him see that youknow something of the little dose. "

The dwarf looked meditatively on the ground, and then said, lookingadmiringly at the old woman: "That is the right thing. "

"You will find out the lie without my telling you, " mumbled the witch;"your business is not perhaps such a bad one as it seemed to me at first. Katuti may thank the ne'er-do-well who staked his father's corpse. Youdon't understand me? Well, if you are really the sharpest of them allover there, what must the others be?"

"You mean that people will speak well of my mistress for sacrificing solarge a sum for the sake--?"

"Whose sake? why speak well of her?" cried the old woman impatiently. "Here we deal with other things, with actual facts. There stands Paaker--there the wife of Mena. If the Mohar sacrifices a fortune for Nefert, he will be her master, and Katuti will not stand in his way; she knowswell enough why her nephew pays for her. But some one else stops theway, and that is Mena. It is worth while to get him out of the way. The charioteer stands close to the Pharaoh, and the noose that is flungat one may easily fall round the neck of the other too. Make the Moharyour ally, and it may easily happen that your rat-bites may be paid forwith mortal wounds, and Rameses who, if you marched against him openly, might blow you to the ground, may be hit by a lance thrown from anambush. When the throne is clear, the weak legs of the Regent maysucceed in clambering up to it with the help of the priests. Here yousit-open-mouthed; and I have told you nothing that you might not havefound out for yourself. "

"You are a perfect cask of wisdom!" exclaimed the dwarf. 

"And now you will go away, " said Hekt, "and reveal your schemes to yourmistress and the Regent, and they will be astonished at your cleverness. To-day you still know that I have shown you what you have to do; to-morrow you will have forgotten it; and the day after to-morrow you willbelieve yourself possessed by the inspiration of the nine great Gods. Iknow that; but I cannot give anything for nothing. You live by yoursmallness, another makes his living with his hard hands, I earn my scantybread by the thoughts of my brain. Listen! when you have half wonPaaker, and Ani shows himself inclined to make use of him, then say tohim that I may know a secret--and I do know one, I alone--which may makethe Mohar the sport of his wishes, and that I may be disposed to sellit. "

"That shall be done! certainly, mother, " cried the dwarf. "What do youwish for?"

"Very little, " said the old woman. "Only a permit that makes me free todo and to practise whatever I please, unmolested even by the priests, andto receive an honorable burial after my death. "

"The Regent will hardly agree to that; for he must avoid everything thatmay offend the servants of the Gods. "

"And do everything, " retorted the old woman, "that can degrade Rameses intheir sight. Ani, do you hear, need not write me a new license, but onlyrenew the old one granted to me by Rameses when I cured his favoritehorse. They burnt it with my other possessions, when they plundered myhouse, and denounced me and my belongings for sorcery. The permit ofRameses is what I want, nothing more. "

"You shall have it, " said the dwarf. "Good-by; I am charged to look intothe tomb of our house, and see whether the offerings for the dead areregularly set out; to pour out fresh essences and have various thingsrenewed. When Sechet has ceased to rage, and it is cooler, I shall comeby here again, for I should like to call on the paraschites, and see howthe poor child is. "

CHAPTER XIII. 

During this conversation two men had been busily occupied, in front ofthe paraschites' hut, in driving piles into the earth, and stretching atorn linen cloth upon them. 

One of them, old Pinem, whom we have seen tending his grandchild, requested the other from time to time to consider the sick girl and towork less noisily. 

After they had finished their simple task, and spread a couch of freshstraw under the awning, they too sat down on the earth, and looked at thehut before which the surgeon Nebsecht was sitting waiting till thesleeping girl should wake. 

"Who is that?" asked the leech of the old man, pointing to his youngcompanion, a tall sunburnt soldier with a bushy red beard. 

"My son, " replied the paraschites, "who is just returned from Syria. "

"Uarda's father?" asked Nebsecht. 

The soldier nodded assent, and said with a rough voice, but not withoutcordiality. 

"No one could guess it by looking at us--she is so white and rosy. Hermother was a foreigner, and she has turned out as delicate as she was. I am afraid to touch her with my little finger--and there comes a chariotover the brittle doll, and does not quite crush her, for she is stillalive. "

"Without the help of this holy father, " said the paraschites, approachingthe surgeon, and kissing his robe, "you would never have seen her aliveagain. May the Gods reward thee for what thou hast done for its poorfolks!"

"And we can pay too, " cried the soldier, slapping a full purse that hungat his gridle. "We have taken plunder in Syria, and I will buy a calf, and give it to thy temple. "

"Offer a beast of dough, rather. "

 [Hogs were sacrificed at the feasts of Selene (the Egyptian Nechebt). The poor offer pigs made of dough. Herodotus II. , 47. Various kinds of cakes baked in the form of animals are represented on the monuments. ]

replied Nebsecht, "and if you wish to show yourself grateful to me, givethe money to your father, so that he may feed and nurse your child inaccordance with my instructions. "

"Hm, " murmured the soldier; he took the purse from his girdle, flourishedit in his hand, and said, as he handed it to the paraschites:

"I should have liked to drink it! but take it, father, for the child andmy mother. "

While the old man hesitatingly put out his hand for the rich gift, thesoldier recollected himself and said, opening the purse:

"Let me take out a few rings, for to-day I cannot go dry. I have two orthree comrades lodging in the red Tavern. That is right. There, --takethe rest of the rubbish. "

Nebsecht nodded approvingly at the soldier, and he, as his fathergratefully kissed the surgeon's hand, exclaimed:

"Make the little one sound, holy father! It, is all over with gifts andofferings, for I have nothing left; but there are two iron fists and abreast like the wall of a fortress. If at any time thou dost want help, call me, and I will protect thee against twenty enemies. Thou hast savedmy child--good! Life for life. I sign myself thy blood-ally--there. "

With these words he drew his poniard out of his girdle. He scratched hisarm, and let a few drops of his blood run down on a stone at the feet ofNebsecht--"Look, " he said. "There is my bond, Kaschta has signed himselfthine, and thou canst dispose of my life as of thine own. What I havesaid, I have said. "

"I am a man of peace, " Nebsecht stammered, "And my white robe protectsme. But I believe our patient is awake. "

The physician rose, and entered the hut. 

Uarda's pretty head lay on her grandmother's lap, and her large blue eyesturned contentedly on the priest. 

"She might get up and go out into the air, " said the old woman. "She hasslept long and soundly. " The surgeon examined her pulse, and her wound, on which green leaves were laid. 

"Excellent, " he said; "who gave you this healing herb?"

The old woman shuddered, and hesitated; but Uarda said fearlessly; "OldHekt, who lives over there in the black cave. "

"The witch!" muttered Nebsecht. "But we will let the leaves remain; ifthey do good, it is no matter where they came from. "

"Hekt tasted the drops thou didst give her, " said the old woman, "andagreed that they were good. "

"Then we are satisfied with each other, " answered Nebsecht, with a smileof amusement. "We will carry you now into the open air, little maid; forthe air in here is as heavy as lead, and your damaged lung requireslighter nourishment. "

"Yes, let me go out, " said the girl. "It is well that thou hast notbrought back the other with thee, who tormented me with his vows. "

"You mean blind Teta, " said Nebsecht, "he will not come again; but theyoung priest who soothed your father, when he repulsed the princess, willvisit you. He is kindly disposed, and you should--you should--"

"Pentaur will come?" said the girl eagerly. 

"Before midday. But how do you know his name?"

"I know him, " said Uarda decidedly. 

The surgeon looked at her surprised. 

"You must not talk any more, " he said, "for your cheeks are glowing, andthe fever may return. We have arranged a tent for you, and now we willcarry you into the open air. "

"Not yet, " said the girl. "Grandmother, do my hair for me, it is soheavy. "

With these words she endeavored to part her mass of long reddish-brownhair with her slender hands, and to free it from the straws that had gotentangled in it. 

"Lie still, " said the surgeon, in a warning voice. 

"But it is so heavy, " said the sick girl, smiling and showing Nebsechther abundant wealth of golden hair as if it were a fatiguing burden. "Come, grandmother, and help me. "

The old woman leaned over the child, and combed her long locks carefullywith a coarse comb made of grey horn, gently disengaged the straws fromthe golden tangle, and at last laid two thick long plaits on hergranddaughter's shoulders. 

Nebsecht knew that every movement of the wounded girl might do mischief, and his impulse was to stop the old woman's proceedings, but his tongueseemed spell-bound. Surprised, motionless, and with crimson cheeks, hestood opposite the girl, and his eyes followed every movement of herhands with anxious observation. 

She did not notice him. 

When the old woman laid down the comb Uarda drew a long breath. 

"Grandmother, " she said, "give me the mirror. " The old woman brought ashard of dimly glazed, baked clay. The girl turned to the light, contemplated the undefined reflection for a moment, and said:

"I have not seen a flower for so long, grandmother. "

"Wait, child, " she replied; she took from a jug the rose, which theprincess had laid on the bosom of her grandchild, and offered it to her. Before Uarda could take it, the withered petals fell, and dropped uponher. The surgeon stooped, gathered them up, and put them into thechild's hand. 

"How good you are!" she said; "I am called Uarda--like this flower--andI love roses and the fresh air. Will you carry me out now?"

Nebsecht called the paraschites, who came into the hut with his son, andthey carried the girl out into the air, and laid her under the humbletent they had contrived for her. The soldier's knees trembled while heheld the light burden of his daughter's weight in his strong hands, andhe sighed when he laid her down on the mat. 

"How blue the sky is!" cried Uarda. "Ah! grandfather has watered mypomegranate, I thought so! and there come my doves! give me some corn inmy hand, grandmother. How pleased they are. "

The graceful birds, with black rings round their reddish-grey necks, flewconfidingly to her, and took the corn that she playfully laid between herlips. 

Nebsecht looked on with astonishment at this pretty play. He felt as ifa new world had opened to him, and some new sense, hitherto unknown tohim, had been revealed to him within his breast. He silently sat down infront of the but, and drew the picture of a rose on the sand with a reed-stem that he picked up. 

Perfect stillness was around him; the doves even had flown up, andsettled on the roof. Presently the dog barked, steps approached; Uardalifted herself up and said:

"Grandmother, it is the priest Pentaur. "

"Who told you?" asked the old woman. 

"I know it, " answered the girl decidedly, and in a few moments a sonorousvoice cried: "Good day to you. How is your invalid?"

Pentaur was soon standing by Uarda; pleased to hear Nebsecht's goodreport, and with the sweet face of the girl. He had some flowers in hishand, that a happy maiden had laid on the altar of the Goddess Hathor, which he had served since the previous day, and he gave them to the sickgirl, who took them with a blush, and held them between her claspedhands. 

"The great Goddess whom I serve sends you these, " said Pentaur, "and theywill bring you healing. Continue to resemble them. You are pure andfair like them, and your course henceforth may be like theirs. As thesun gives life to the grey horizon, so you bring joy to this dark but. Preserve your innocence, and wherever you go you will bring love, asflowers spring in every spot that is trodden by the golden foot ofHathor. 

 [Hathor is frequently called "the golden, " particularly at Dendera She has much in common with the "golden Aphrodite. "]

May her blessing rest upon you!"

He had spoken the last words half to the old couple and half to Uarda, and was already turning to depart when, behind a heap of dried reeds thatlay close to the awning over the girl, the bitter cry of a child washeard, and a little boy came forward who held, as high as he could reach, a little cake, of which the dog, who seemed to know him well, hadsnatched half. 

"How do you come here, Scherau?" the paraschites asked the weeping boy;the unfortunate child that Hekt was bringing up as a dwarf. 

"I wanted, " sobbed the little one, "to bring the cake to Uarda. She isill--I had so much--"

"Poor child, " said the paraschites, stroking the boy's hair; "there-giveit to Uarda. "

Scherau went up to the sick girl, knelt down by her, and whispered withstreaming eyes:

"Take it! It is good, and very sweet, and if I get another cake, andHekt will let me out, I will bring it to you. 

"Thank you, good little Scherau, " said Uarda, kissing the child. Thenshe turned to Pentaur and said:

"For weeks he has had nothing but papyrus-pith, and lotus-bread, and nowhe brings me the cake which grandmother gave old Hekt yesterday. "

The child blushed all over, and stammered:

"It is only half--but I did not touch it. Your dog bit out this piece, and this. "

He touched the honey with the tip of his finger, and put it to his lips. "I was a long time behind the reeds there, for I did not like to come outbecause of the strangers there. " He pointed to Nebsecht and Pentaur. "But now I must go home, " he cried. 

The child was going, but Pentaur stopped him, seized him, lifted him upin his arms and kissed him; saying, as he turned to Nebsecht:

"They were wise, who represented Horus--the symbol of the triumph of goodover evil and of purity over the impure--in the form of a child. Blessyou, my little friend; be good, and always give away what you have tomake others happy. It will not make your house rich--but it will yourheart!"

Scherau clung to the priest, and involuntarily raised his little handto stroke Pentaur's cheek. An unknown tenderness had filled his littleheart, and he felt as if he must throw his arms round the poet's neck andcry upon his breast. 

But Pentaur set him down on the ground, and he trotted down into thevalley. There he paused. The sun was high in the heavens, and he mustreturn to the witch's cave and his board, but he would so much like to goa little farther--only as far as to the king's tomb, which was quitenear. 

Close by the door of this tomb was a thatch of palm-branches, and underthis the sculptor Batau, a very aged man, was accustomed to rest. Theold man was deaf, but he passed for the best artist of his time, and withjustice; he had designed the beautiful pictures and hieroglyphicinscriptions in Seti's splendid buildings at Abydos and Thebes, as wellas in the tomb of that prince, and he was now working at the decorationof the walls in the grave of Rameses. 

Scherau had often crept close up to him, and thoughtfully watched him atwork, and then tried himself to make animal and human figures out of abit of clay. 

One day the old man had observed him. 

The sculptor had silently taken his humble attempt out of his hand, andhad returned it to him with a smile of encouragement. 

From that time a peculiar tie had sprung up between the two. Scherauwould venture to sit down by the sculptor, and try to imitate hisfinished images. Not a word was exchanged between them, but often thedeaf old man would destroy the boy's works, often on the contrary improvethem with a touch of his own hand, and not seldom nod at him to encouragehim. 

When he staid away the old man missed his pupil, and Scherau's happiesthours were those which he passed at his side. 

He was not forbidden to take some clay home with him. There, when theold woman's back was turned, he moulded a variety of images which hedestroyed as soon as they were finished. 

While he lay on his rack his hands were left free, and he tried toreproduce the various forms which lived in his imagination, he forgot thepresent in his artistic attempts, and his bitter lot acquired a flavor ofthe sweetest enjoyment. 

But to-day it was too late; he must give up his visit to the tomb ofRameses. 

Once more he looked back at the hut, and then hurried into the dark cave. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Pentauer also soon quitted the but of the paraschites. 

Lost in meditation, he went along the hill-path which led to the templewhich Ameni had put under his direction. 

 [This temple is well proportioned, and remains in good preservation. Copies of the interesting pictures discovered in it are to be found in the "Fleet of an Egyptian queen" by Dutnichen. Other details may be found in Lepsius' Monuments of Egypt, and a plan of the place has recently been published by Mariette. ]

He foresaw many disturbed and anxious hours in the immediate future. 

The sanctuary of which he was the superior, had been dedicated to her ownmemory, and to the goddess Hathor, by Hatasu, [The daughter of Thotmes I. , wife of her brother Thotmes II. , and predecessor of her second brother Thotmes III. An energetic woman who executed great works, and caused herself to be represented with the helmet and beard-case of a man. ]

a great queen of the dethroned dynasty. 

The priests who served it were endowed with peculiar charteredprivileges, which hitherto had been strictly respected. Their dignitywas hereditary, going down from father to son, and they had the right ofchoosing their director from among themselves. 

Now their chief priest Rui was ill and dying, and Ameni, under whosejurisdiction they came, had, without consulting them, sent the young poetPentaur to fill his place. 

They had received the intruder most unwillingly, and combined stronglyagainst him when it became evident that he was disposed to establish asevere rule and to abolish many abuses which had become establishedcustoms. 

They had devolved the greeting of the rising sun on the temple-servants;Pentaur required that the younger ones at least should take part inchanting the morning hymn, and himself led the choir. They hadtrafficked with the offerings laid on the altar of the Goddess; the newmaster repressed this abuse, as well as the extortions of which they wereguilty towards women in sorrow, who visited the temple of Hathor ingreater number than any other sanctuary. 

The poet-brought up in the temple of Seti to self-control, order, exactitude, and decent customs, deeply penetrated with a sense of thedignity of his position, and accustomed to struggle with special zealagainst indolence of body and spirit--was disgusted with the slothfullife and fraudulent dealings of his subordinates; and the deeper insightwhich yesterday's experience had given him into the poverty and sorrowof human existence, made him resolve with increased warmth that he wouldawake them to a new life. 

The conviction that the lazy herd whom he commanded was called upon topour consolation into a thousand sorrowing hearts, to dry innumerabletears, and to clothe the dry sticks of despair with the fresh verdure ofhope, urged him to strong measures. 

Yesterday he had seen how, with calm indifference, they had listened tothe deserted wife, the betrayed maiden, to the woman, who implored thewithheld blessing of children, to the anxious mother, the forlorn widow, --and sought only to take advantage of sorrow, to extort gifts for theGoddess, or better still for their own pockets or belly. 

Now he was nearing the scene of his new labors. 

There stood the reverend building, rising stately from the valley on fourterraces handsomely and singularly divided, and resting on the westernside against the high amphitheatre of yellow cliffs. 

On the closely-joined foundation stones gigantic hawks were carved inrelief, each with the emblem of life, and symbolized Horus, the son ofthe Goddess, who brings all that fades to fresh bloom, and all that diesto resurrection. 

On each terrace stood a hall open to the east, and supported on two andtwenty archaic pillars. 

 [Polygonal pillars, which were used first in tomb-building under the 12th dynasty, and after the expulsion of the Hyksos under the kings of the 17th and 18th, in public buildings; but under the subsequent races of kings they ceased to be employed. ]

On their inner walls elegant pictures and inscriptions in the finestsculptured work recorded, for the benefit of posterity, the great thingsthat Hatasu had done with the help of the Gods of Thebes. 

There were the ships which she had to send to Punt

 [Arabia; apparently also the coast of east Africa south of Egypt as far as Somali. The latest of the lists published by Mariette, of the southern nations conquered by Thotmes III. , mentions it. This list was found on the pylon of the temple of Karnak. ]

to enrich Egypt with the treasures of the east; there the wonders broughtto Thebes from Arabia might be seen; there were delineated the houses ofthe inhabitants of the land of frankincense, and all the fishes of theRed Sea, in distinct and characteristic outline. 

On the third and fourth terraces were the small adjoining rooms ofHatasu and her brothers Thotmes II. And III. , which were built againstthe rock, and entered by granite doorways. In them purifications wereaccomplished, the images of the Goddess worshipped, and the moredistinguished worshippers admitted to confess. The sacred cowsof the Goddess were kept in a side-building. 

As Pentaur approached the great gate of the terrace-temple, he became thewitness of a scene which filled him with resentment. 

A woman implored to be admitted into the forecourt, to pray at the altarof the Goddess for her husband, who was very ill, but the sleek gate-keeper drove her back with rough words. 

"It is written up, " said he, pointing to the inscription over the gate, "only the purified may set their foot across this threshold, and youcannot be purified but by the smoke of incense. "

"Then swing the censer for me, " said the woman, and take this silverring--it is all I have. "

"A silver ring!" cried the porter, indignantly. "Shall the goddessbe impoverished for your sake! The grains of Anta, that would be used inpurifying you, would cost ten times as much. "

"But I have no more, " replied the woman, "my husband, for whom I come topray, is ill; he cannot work, and my children--"

"You fatten them up and deprive the goddess of her due, " cried the gate-keeper. "Three rings down, or I shut the gate. "

"Be merciful, " said the woman, weeping. "What will become of us ifHathor does not help my husband?"

"Will our goddess fetch the doctor?" asked the porter. "She hassomething to do besides curing sick starvelings. Besides, that is nother office. Go to Imhotep or to Chunsu the counsellor, or to the greatTechuti herself, who helps the sick. There is no quack medicine to begot here. "

"I only want comfort in my trouble, " said the woman. 

"Comfort!" laughed the gate-keeper, measuring the comely young womanwith his eye. "That you may have cheaper. "

The woman turned pale, and drew back from the hand the man stretched outtowards her. 

At this moment Pentaur, full of wrath, stepped between them. 

He raised his hand in blessing over the woman, who bent low before him, and said, "Whoever calls fervently on the Divinity is near to him. Youare pure. Enter. "

As soon as she had disappeared within the temple, the priest turned tothe gate-keeper and exclaimed: "Is this how you serve the goddess, isthis how you take advantage of a heart-wrung woman? Give me the keys ofthis gate. Your office is taken from you, and early to-morrow you go outin the fields, and keep the geese of Hathor. "

The porter threw himself on his knees with loud outcries; but Pentaurturned his back upon him, entered the sanctuary, and mounted the stepswhich led to his dwelling on the third terrace. 

A few priests whom he passed turned their backs upon him, others lookeddown at their dinners, eating noisily, and making as if they did not seehim. They had combined strongly, and were determined to expel theinconvenient intruder at any price. 

Having reached his room, which had been splendidly decorated for hispredecessor, Pentaur laid aside his new insignia, comparing sorrowfullythe past and the present. 

To what an exchange Ameni had condemned him! Here, wherever he looked, he met with sulkiness and aversion; while, when he walked through thecourts of the House of Seti, a hundred boys would hurry towards him, andcling affectionately to his robe. Honored there by great and small, hisevery word had had its value; and when each day he gave utterance to histhoughts, what he bestowed came back to him refined by earnest discoursewith his associates and superiors, and he gained new treasures for hisinner life. 

"What is rare, " thought he, "is full of charm; and yet how hard it is todo without what is habitual!" The occurrences of the last few dayspassed before his mental sight. Bent-Anat's image appeared before him, and took a more and more distinct and captivating form. His heart beganto beat wildly, the blood rushed faster through his veins; he hid hisface in his hands, and recalled every glance, every word from her lips. 

"I follow thee willingly, " she had said to him before the hut of theparaschites. Now he asked himself whether he were worthy of such afollower. 

He had indeed broken through the old bonds, but not to disgrace the housethat was dear to him, only to let new light into its dim chambers. 

"To do what we have earnestly felt to be right, " said he to himself, "may seem worthy of punishment to men, but cannot before God. "

He sighed and walked out into the terrace in a mood of lofty excitement, and fully resolved to do here nothing but what was right, to lay thefoundation of all that was good. 

"We men, " thought he, "prepare sorrow when we come into the world, andlamentation when we leave it; and so it is our duty in the intermediatetime to fight with suffering, and to sow the seeds of joy. There aremany tears here to be wiped away. To work then!" The poet found none ofhis subordinates on the upper terrace. They had all met in the forecourtof the temple, and were listening to the gate-keeper's tale, and seemedto sympathize with his angry complaint--against whom Pentaur well knew. 

With a firm step he went towards them and said:

"I have expelled this man from among us, for he is a disgrace to us. To-morrow he quits the temple. "

"I will go at once, " replied the gate-keeper defiantly, "and in behalf ofthe holy fathers (here he cast a significant glance at the priests), askthe high-priest Ameni if the unclean are henceforth to be permitted toenter this sanctuary. "

He was already approaching the gate, but Pentaur stepped before him, saying resolutely:

"You will remain here and keep the geese to-morrow, day after to-morrow, and until I choose to pardon you. " The gate-keeper looked enquiringly atthe priests. Not one moved. 

"Go back into your house, " said Pentaur, going closer to him. 

The porter obeyed. 

Pentaur locked the door of the little room, gave the key to one of thetemple-servants, and said: "Perform his duty, watch the man, and if heescapes you will go after the geese to-morrow too. See, my friends, howmany worshippers kneel there before our altars--go and fulfil youroffice. I will wait in the confessional to receive complaints, and toadminister comfort. "

The priests separated and went to the votaries. Pentaur once moremounted the steps, and sat down in the narrow confessional which wasclosed by a curtain; on its wall the picture of Hatasu was to be seen, drawing the milk of eternal life from the udders of the cow Hathor. 

He had hardly taken his place when a temple-servant announced the arrivalof a veiled lady. The bearers of her litter were thickly veiled, and shehad requested to be conducted to the confession chamber. The servanthanded Pentaur a token by which the high-priest of the great temple ofAnion, on the other bank of the Nile, granted her the privilege ofentering the inner rooms of the temple with the Rechiu, and tocommunicate with all priests, even with the highest of the initiated. 

The poet withdrew behind a curtain, and awaited the stranger with adisquiet that seemed to him all the more singular that he had frequentlyfound himself in a similar position. Even the noblest dignitaries hadoften been transferred to him by Ameni when they had come to the templeto have their visions interpreted. 

A tall female figure entered the still, sultry stone room, sank on herknees, and put up a long and absorbed prayer before the figure of Hathor. Pentaur also, seen by no one, lifted his hands, and fervently addressedhimself to the omnipresent spirit with a prayer for strength and purity. 

Just as his arms fell the lady raised her head. It was as though theprayers of the two souls had united to mount upwards together. 

The veiled lady rose and dropped her veil. 

It was Bent-Anat. 

In the agitation of her soul she had sought the goddess Hathor, whoguides the beating heart of woman and spins the threads which bind manand wife. 

"High mistress of heaven! many-named and beautiful!" she began to prayaloud, "golden Hathor! who knowest grief and ecstasy--the present and thefuture--draw near to thy child, and guide the spirit of thy servant, thathe may advise me well. I am the daughter of a father who is great andnoble and truthful as one of the Gods. He advises me--he will nevercompel me--to yield to a man whom I can never love. Nay, another has metme, humble in birth but noble in spirit and in gifts--"

Thus far, Pentaur, incapable of speech, had overheard the princess. 

Ought he to remain concealed and hear all her secret, or should he stepforth and show himself to her? His pride called loudly to him: "Now shewill speak your name; you are the chosen one of the fairest and noblest. "But another voice to which he had accustomed himself to listen in severeself-discipline made itself heard, and said--"Let her say nothing inignorance, that she need be ashamed of if she knew. "

He blushed for her;--he opened the curtain and went forward into thepresence of Bent-Anat. 

The Princess drew back startled. 

"Art thou Pentaur, " she asked, "or one of the Immortals?"

"I am Pentaur, " he answered firmly, "a man with all the weakness of hisrace, but with a desire for what is good. Linger here and pour out thysoul to our Goddess; my whole life shall be a prayer for thee. "

The poet looked full at her; then he turned quickly, as if to avoid adanger, towards the door of the confessional. 

Bent-Anat called his name, and he stayed his steps:

"The daughter of Rameses, " she said, "need offer no justification of herappearance here, but the maiden Bent-Anat, " and she colored as she spoke, "expected to find, not thee, but the old priest Rui, and she desired hisadvice. Now leave me to pray. "

Bent-Anat sank on her knees, and Pentaur went out into the open air. 

When the princess too had left the confessional, loud voices were heardon the south side of the terrace on which they stood. 

She hastened towards the parapet. 

"Hail to Pentaur!" was shouted up from below. The poet rushed forward, and placed himself near the princess. Both looked down into the valley, and could be seen by all. 

"Hail, hail! Pentaur, " was called doubly loud, "Hail to our teacher!come back to the House of Seti. Down with the persecutors of Pentaur--down with our oppressors !"

At the head of the youths, who, so soon as they had found out whither thepoet had been exiled, had escaped to tell him that they were faithful tohim, stood the prince Rameri, who nodded triumphantly to his sister, andAnana stepped forward to inform the honored teacher in a solemn and well-studied speech, that, in the event of Ameni refusing to recall him, theyhad decided requesting their fathers to place them at another school. 

The young sage spoke well, and Bent-Anat followed his words, not withoutapprobation; but Pentaur's face grew darker, and before his favoritedisciple had ended his speech he interrupted him sternly. 

His voice was at first reproachful, and then complaining, and loud as hespoke, only sorrow rang in his tones, and not anger. 

"In truth, " he concluded, "every word that I have spoken to you I couldbut find it in me to regret, if it has contributed to encourage you tothis mad act. You were born in palaces; learn to obey, that later youmay know how to command. Back to your school! You hesitate? Then Iwill come out against you with the watchman, and drive you back, for youdo me and yourselves small honor by such a proof of affection. Go backto the school you belong to. "

The school-boys dared make no answer, but surprised and disenchantedturned to go home. 

Bent-Anat cast down her eyes as she met those of her brother, whoshrugged his shoulders, and then she looked half shyly, halfrespectfully, at the poet; but soon again her eyes turned to the plainbelow, for thick dust-clouds whirled across it, the sound of hoofs andthe rattle of wheels became audible, and at the same moment the chariotof Septah, the chief haruspex, and a vehicle with the heavily-armed guardof the House of Seti, stopped near the terrace. 

The angry old man sprang quickly to the ground, called the host ofescaped pupils to him in a stern voice, ordered the guard to drive themback to the school, and hurried up to the temple gates like a vigorousyouth. The priests received him with the deepest reverence, and at oncelaid their complaints before him. 

He heard them willingly, but did not let them discuss the matter; then, though with some difficulty, he quickly mounted the steps, down whichBent-Anat came towards him. 

The princess felt that she would divert all the blame andmisunderstanding to herself, if Septah recognized her; her handinvoluntarily reached for her veil, but she drew it back quickly, lookedwith quiet dignity into the old man's eyes, which flashed with anger, andproudly passed by him. The haruspex bowed, but without giving her hisblessing, and when he met Pentaur on the second terrace, ordered that thetemple should be cleared of worshippers. 

This was done in a few minutes, and the priests were witnesses of themost painful, scene which had occurred for years in their quietsanctuary. 

The head of the haruspices of the House of Seti was the most determinedadversary of the poet who had so early been initiated into the mysteries, and whose keen intellect often shook those very ramparts which thezealous old man had, from conviction, labored to strengthen from hisyouth up. The vexatious occurrences, of which he had been a witness atthe House of Seti, and here also but a few minutes since, he regarded asthe consequence of the unbridled license of an ill-regulated imagination, and in stern language he called Pentaur to account for the "revolt" ofthe school-boys. 

"And besides our boys, " he exclaimed, "you have led the daughter ofRameses astray. She was not yet purged of her uncleanness, and yet youtempt her to an assignation, not even in the stranger's quarters--but inthe holy house of this pure Divinity. " Undeserved praise is dangerous tothe weak; unjust blame may turn even the strong from the right way. Pentaur indignantly repelled the accusations of the old man, called themunworthy of his age, his position, and his name, and for fear that hisanger might carry him too far, turned his back upon him; but the haruspexordered him to remain, and in his presence questioned the priests, whounanimously accused the poet of having admitted to the temple anotherunpurified woman besides Bent-Anat, and of having expelled the gate-keeper and thrown him into prison for opposing the crime. 

The haruspex ordered that the "ill-used man" should be set at liberty. 

Pentaur resisted this command, asserted his right to govern in thistemple, and with a trembling voice requested Septah to quit the place. 

The haruspex showed him Ameni's ring, by which, during his residence inThebes, he made him his plenipotentiary, degraded Pentaur from hisdignity, but ordered him not to quit the sanctuary till further notice, and then finally departed from the temple of Hatasu. 

Pentaur had yielded in silence to the signet of his chief, and returnedto the confessional in which he had met Bent-Anat. He felt his soulshaken to its very foundations, his thoughts were confused, his feelingsstruggling with each other; he shivered, and when he heard the laughterof the priests and the gatekeeper, who were triumphing in their easyvictory, he started and shuddered like a man who in passing a mirrorshould see a brand of disgrace on his brow. 

But by degrees he recovered himself, his spirit grew clearer, and whenhe left the little room to look towards the east--where, on the farthershore, rose the palace where Bent-Anat must be--a deep contempt for hisenemies filled his soul, and a proud feeling of renewed manly energy. Hedid not conceal from himself that he had enemies; that a time of strugglewas beginning for him; but he looked forward to it like a young hero tothe morning of his first battle. 

ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:

Bearers of ill ride faster than the messengers of wealDo not spoil the future for the sake of the presentExhibit one's happiness in the streets, and conceal one's miseryImpartial looker-on sees clearer than the playerLearn to obey, that later you may know how to commandMan has nothing harder to endure than uncertaintyMany creditors are so many alliesOne should give nothing up for lost excepting the deadOur thinkers are no heroes, and our heroes are no sagesOverbusy friends are more damaging than intelligent enemiesPrepare sorrow when we come into the worldThe experienced love to signify their superiorityWe quarrel with no one more readily than with the benefactor