The Lost Million

by William Le Queux

brilliant Queen of Queens, of the wealth andfavours she lavished upon Antony and his captains, and of how she builther tomb near the temple of Isis Lochais, at the eastern end of theharbour where Fort Silsileh stands to-day. All this is most intenselyinteresting, coming as it does from the hand of the Queen's trustedfavourite, but there is something more--something which certainlyarouses our curiosity and which must be investigated. Listen, and Iwill read just the most important extracts."

  Then again he paused for a few moments, and halfway down the crinkledpapyri he read a disjointed decipher as follows:--

  "_The Horus, life of births, lords of crowns, life of births, king ofUpper and Lower Egypt, Kheper-ha-ra, son of the Sun, Amen-em-hat, everrising into eternity. Order for those who read. Behold this order ofthe Queen is sent to thee to instruct thee of her will_...

  "_Cleopatra, whose ruling passion was to be a monarch of a greater Egyptand to enlarge the borders of the South, remained in the Palace of herfathers, but Antony was valiantly defending the fortress of Pelusiumagainst Octavian. In dead of night I was called by the Lord Stewardunto the pearl chamber of the Queen, and she, reclining upon her bed ofpearl and gold with censers of sweet perfumes burning, commanded me tosilence, and sent away her slaves. She had received Neb-ka-n-ra asmessenger from Antony telling her of Octavian's strength... Shetherefore commanded me with my captains User-ref and Hordedef to repairunto the treasury of the while house and take possession of the greatestof her jewels and place them in a place of safety, lest the accursedOctavian conquering, the Palace be attacked_.

  "_In obedience I called my two most trusted captains, and went in secretunto the white house, and opening it with the Queen's own key, obtainedtherefrom much gold and precious stones... with the great jewels ofSotor of Euegates, and of Ruddidet... and the sacred sapphires ofAmen-em-hat... and next night we concealed them. Five times did wejourney, under cover of night, unto the treasury, and in baskets ofgreen tamarisk took therefrom... strings of emeralds and of pearls andelectrum and new malachite... the hundred rubies the size of pigeons'eggs... the goblets of gold and stones and the great bowls of goldencrusted with jewels which were served at the banquet to Antony...Know ye that fifteen basketsful of precious stones of ka, statues ofgold, breast ornaments of emeralds, beads of lapis lazuli, and pearls ofgreat price did we take and conceal in the place where Octavian--whosename be accursed--should not know_.

  "_...And at dawn, when our work was completed, I went again unto theQueen and kneeling told her of the place where we had hidden them. AndRa had spread fear over the land; his terrors in every place, and theQueen was greatly pleased, and rewarded me with fifty talents. And shecommanded me to write this record and to place it where it should remainthrough the ages, so that if death consumed her, the whereabouts of hertreasure shall not be utterly lost unto the world_.

  "_Know, therefore, ye who dareth to open this tube of bronze which shegave unto me and to face the wrath of the Sun-God, and of Osiris theEternal, that the pit where we have dug... and wherein we have concealedthe great treasure and gold and lazuli and heart scarabs and khulalstones set in gold of our Queen Cleopatra the Magnificent, lieth threehundred cubits and seven towards the sunrise from the eastern angle ofthe Temple of Denderah, which our Queen hath founded and which bearethher image graven by Uba-aner upon its wall. With thy back unto the eyeof her image pace three hundred cubits and seven, and the gold andjewels which our Queen secured for Antony... shall there be foundhidden_...

  "_I, Sanehat, make this record lest the great treasure of Cleopatra belost for all time. I write this so that he beloved of Ra, of Horus, andof Hathor, who readeth this my message, may seek and may find... forAntony fought well, and went from battle unto death by his own handbecause he heard falsely that his Queen was already dead. Yea, in theirsplendour but one moon ago, they founded the synapothano menoi (thepeople who are about to die together), and so Antony took his life whenhe heard that his Queen was dead_.

  "_Two suns have not set since User-ref and Hordedef, my loyal andwell-beloved captains, were put to death by the Queen's orders, themonth Paophi... the seventh day the god entered his horizon... so thatthey may not betray the hiding-place of her jewels, and I have fled hereunto Thebes, for, alas! her hand is now uplifted against me for the samecause... and this written record will I place in the tomb of the GreatMerenptah, that it shall remain there through generations in the keepingof Ra, till it be discovered by one of courage who cometh after me, andupon whom may the blessing of our great Osiris for ever rest.Excellently finished in peace. He who destroyeth this roll may Tahutismite him_."

  "How curious!" I exclaimed, utterly astounded.

  "Does this Temple of Denderah still exist?"

  "Most certainly," replied the professor. "I myself have seen the gravenimage of Cleopatra upon its wall, as well as that of her childCaesarion. As far as I can distinguish, this record, which has reposedin its cylinder for nearly two thousand years, is perfectly genuine, andas it is known that the marvellous Egyptian queen must have possesseduntold treasures, this record of Sanehat should certainly beinvestigated. It was evidently written on the day of Cleopatra's death,but before the news that the gorgeous queen had committed suicide ratherthan be carried captive to Rome had become known."

  "But does this wonderful collection of gems still exist, do youanticipate?" inquired Fryer.

  "Well, after reading such an authentic document as this, I am certainlyinclined to believe that it may very possibly be found. I recall thatthe vicinity of the temple is desert, and that the ground at the spotindicated certainly shows no signs of recent excavation."

  "Then knowledge of this papyri must be kept a profound secret, and theEgyptian Government approached in confidence with a view to allowingexploration in the vicinity," Fryer said, his business instinct at onceasserting itself.

  "Most certainly," replied the professor. "I am, of course, mostintensely interested in this matter, and if I can be of any assistance Ishall only be too happy. Personally, I believe that by this importantpapyri the great treasures which Cleopatra was known to possess, and ofwhich history gives us no account after her death, may actually berecovered."

  CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE.

  CONCLUSION.

  Twelve months have passed.

  The days have slipped away rapidly since that well-remembered morningwhen I stood beside Professor Stewart and watched him, peering throughhis glasses, decipher those puzzling hieroglyphics which Sanehat hadpenned two thousand years before.

  No doubt you read the newspapers and, of course, have seen theinteresting results of the excavations made and still being continued bythe Egypt Exploration Fund, under the auspices of the EgyptianGovernment, with whom Mr Fryer, as the late Arnold Edgecumbe'sexecutor, came to a mutual arrangement.

  Professor Stewart has, for some months past, been out at the Temple ofDenderah, that cyclopean pile which Cleopatra built for herself, andthough from time to time vague reports have found their way into thepapers of important discoveries close to that famous edifice, yet, truthto tell, we are endeavouring to keep the actual extent of thediscoveries as private as possible for the present. All I can say isthat ancient jewels, worth many thousands of pounds, taken from the spothave already reached London--jewels, ornaments, and heart scarabs whichonce adorned the person of Egypt's most gorgeous queen.

  But it is of my own sweet-faced queen that I think the most--she whosits here in silent love beside me at Upton End as I now pen these finallines. We have already been man and wife for eight months, and, after adelightful honeymoon spent beside the Nile, during which we paid avisit, of course, to Cleopatra's temple, where Professor Stewart wassuperintending operations, have returned home and settled down in peaceand happiness--a rural bliss, perfect and entire, that will last always.

  The hated name of Harvey Shaw is never mentioned between us. And littlewonder, indeed. Within a month after his flight from Lydford, two men,one a foreigner, called at night at a lonely cottage near Hexworthy, fa
raway on wild Dartmoor, and asked to see the tenant, a gentleman who hadrecently taken the place furnished.

  The broad-speaking, old Devon housekeeper went upstairs to inform hermaster of his visitors, but she found the door locked. Shaw, for it washe, had recognised the voice of Victor Tramu, and knew instantly that hehad at last been run to earth.

  The second visitor, a well-known officer from New Scotland Yard, rushedupstairs and called upon the accused to open the door, but on doing sothey heard the report of a revolver, and, bursting in, found theassassin of poor Guy Nicholson lying shot through the head and quitedead.

  It appeared, too, that on the day following Harford's flight RidgehillManor was found by the police to be tenantless, and Earnshaw and hisclever wife have not yet been found. The police, however, are confidentthat, possessing only slight funds, they must be heard of again ere