The Plague, Pestilence & Apocalypse MEGAPACK™
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who had been destined to become vice-regent .
“Thus, in a manner contrary to our ancient laws, her son grew up
to become vice-regent . So long as he was merely a child, the mother
contrived to see him and to pour upon him her affection; but when
at an early age he was removed from her sight, she fell sick, and, as
is our custom, she was doomed to death .
“She perished, and later on I found out the fraudulent exchange,
and that I—for I was her son—had, as it were by accident, become
vice-regent . But I also discovered very speedily by tests that we ap-
ply in these cases, that I was gifted with powers far above those of
any of the royal race of whom a record had been preserved . I proved
also by the application of new tests that the real decline in the royal
race had been greater than my father had imagined, for he had not
allowed sufficiently for the accumulation of knowledge.
“Perchance thou dost not understand the whole meaning of this
history, but it matters not, for thou canst not fail to comprehend the
conclusion .”
At this point in the narrative he paused as if in doubt, as a man
who believes he has solved a problem suddenly thinks of a possible
error .
“It is strange,” he continued, speaking more to himself than to
Daphne, “that I, the vice-regent of the haters of women, should to a
woman disclose these secrets . Yet there can be no error .”
Again he paused, and then with firmness and dignity proceeded—
“Therefore have I determined, knowing that I am greater in mind
than any of my predecessors, to utterly reverse this policy, and to
restore women to a position of equality with man, and henceforth
to deal with the ruling as we have always dealt with the subject
race . Yet, fearing the effects of long subservience and degradation,
I thought it best to go back to the origin of our race, and to bring
maidens from the best State in Greece to form our new queens, as
THOTH, by Joseph Shield Nicholson | 622
was the case with mine own mother . In all other respects I have
kept up our ancient rules; and, as I shall explain to thee hereafter, I
propose to carry out to the full the scheme of the first Thoth for the
conquest and government of the whole world .”
* * * *
Daphne had listened to his explanations with wonder, and a great
weight was lifted from her heart . Her eyes bespoke gratitude and
admiration . For a moment she desired to throw herself into his arms,
to pour her soul into his, and, so quick is thought, to love with all her
being the man whom but lately she had abhorred .
It was, however, for a moment only that joyous thoughts thus
filled her mind; for, as she looked in his face, she saw no signs of
responsive affection . As before, Thoth appeared perfectly impas-
sive, and if he showed any feeling, it was simply the satisfaction of
a philosopher who has explained in an intelligible manner a difficult
problem . He had, indeed, spoken of the change in the treatment of
the women of the royal race in precisely the same way as he might
have spoken of a new method of building the royal palaces . Again
the spirit of Daphne was bowed down, and her hopes vanished .
Thoth, it seemed to her, if no longer a monster, was yet not a man .
She sank down silently on her couch, and waited for further ex-
planations as listlessly as a man struck by a heavy blow waits for a
return of his senses .
But not long did she remain thus calm and spiritless, for Thoth
had by no means as yet exhausted his powers of agitation .
CHAPTER XI
THOTH FORSWEARS HIS OATH
“Before, however, we conquer the earth,” continued Thoth, in
the same unimpassioned yet dignified manner, “it is necessary to
establish the new order which I have set forth in our own city . It is
needless to say that this will be a matter of some difficulty. Thou
THOTH, by Joseph Shield Nicholson | 623
hast seen for thyself how repugnant are women to our ruling class,
and that it is their nature now to treat them with cruelty and con-
tempt . Still, with us the task is not hopeless, and, indeed, is quite
possible. For, in the first place, obedience to the vice-regent is by
far the most powerful motive of conduct, and also, in every respect
our higher ranks are slaves, not of any passion, but of pure reason .
Therefore I could say to my fellows of royal blood—such and such
are the reasons, and such is my will; and the obedience must follow
as surely as day follows the rising sun .”
As he spoke thus, a will of adamant shone through his eyes; but a
moment afterwards the troubled look of one who thinks he discovers
an error in his proof appeared in his face, and he paused for some
time in deep thought .
“But,” he continued, “it is no light matter to upset altogether the
growth of many hundred years, and to depart from the will of my
great ancestor, who in all else showed the perfection of wisdom . The
ways of error are as many as the paths of the sea, and I must take
heed lest I go astray . Therefore I have determined on two things as
preliminary. The first is no concern of thine, and I need waste but
few words upon it. Suffice it to say that I will take steps to see that
this change is approved by the first Thoth and all the vice-regents, as
well as by the present race .”
Daphne looked at him with horror and amazement .
“Surely,” she said, “thou canst not go down to the grave and con-
sult with the dead?”
“That,” he replied, “is, as I said, no concern of thine . But noth-
ing must be done to shake the bonds of obedience, and nothing left
undone to avoid the possibility of error . The fortune of the whole
world and of the fixture generations of men depends upon this act.”
Daphne looked at him steadfastly, half suspecting madness, but
his dark eyes gleamed with intelligence and firmness of purpose.
“Therefore,” he said, as if speaking to self, “I will be advised
by the first king and all the vice-regents. In this manner obedience
and the rule of reason will even be strengthened. This is the first
precaution .
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“The second safeguard,” he said, looking on Daphne as an archer
looks at an arrow intended for a fateful purpose, “is of more interest
to thee .
“At first I had intended at the same time to compel all the men
of the royal race to take for themselves honoured consorts of pure
Grecian blood, but chance or nature willed otherwise, and thy com-
panions have all perished—chance or nature,” he repeated, “not
treachery—not disobedience,”—and again for a moment he seemed
to doubt .
“Thy companions have perished, and perchance it is better so for
my purpose . For, after much consideration, I have decided that the
best plan is to make at first a single experiment. Accordingly I will
explain to our chiefs my reasons and intentions, and will offer them
; an example in my own person .
“I will show them that it is possible to honour women without the
madness of love, and that the children born of equals are superior .
Everything shall be done with full deliberation, and an imposing
ceremony shall be invented to show that I am not driven by the pas-
sion which our great ancestor dreaded .”
He spoke rapidly, and Daphne listened to him without grasping
his meaning at the moment . His words had entered her ears, but had
not penetrated her heart .
But in an instant every word became a flaming dart and pierced
her to the quick, when he said—
“Therefore, in two months from this day, with all imaginable
pomp, I will make thee my queen .”
Daphne sprang up in the greatest excitement, and quivering with
rage and indignation .
“Thou stony image,” she cried, “know that I have not yet
learned—no, nor ever will learn—to obey thee, unnatural one, inhu-
man! I would rather wed the lowest slave in Athens than thee . Has
thy hideous descent left in thee no trace of manly feeling, and no
knowledge of the heart of a woman? I would rather see the whole
world desolate than mingle my blood with thine!”
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Thoth listened to her with undisguised astonishment, and replied
to her quite calmly—
“But what more couldst thou desire? Thou shalt be treated by
every one, from myself downwards, with the most obsequious hon-
our, thou shalt be queen of the world, and the founder of the greatest
race the earth has ever borne . Surely thou hast misunderstood my
meaning . Say in what I have failed .”
Daphne was somewhat soothed by the calmness of the reply, but
her pride was still wounded . She resented the coldness of Thoth’s
reasoning, and she replied with passion—
“What more would I have? I would have one thing only, the first
and the last—love—human love .”
“And what,” said Thoth, with an appearance of intellectual inter-
est, “is love? What more than I have promised?”
The innocence of the answer of this wisest of men disarmed
Daphne .
“Thy honour and respect could no more kindle a spark of love
than all the power of the ocean could kindle a little fire. Read again,
if thou hast the record, the story of thy ancestor, and know that I
must be loved as blindly as he loved the woman who, thou sayest,
afterwards betrayed him .”
She glided up to Thoth and took his hand . It was cool and steady .
She looked up in his face, but his features were unmoved and his
eyes passionless .
“Shall I tell thee,” she whispered, “how thou canst tell if thou
really lovest with all thy heart? I have never loved, and yet I know .”
By the strange contrariety of her nature, she suddenly longed to
make this man, whom she had just addressed with scorn, her ardent
lover . For the moment she forgot herself and her situation . Pride and
dignity left her, and she only desired, with all her force, to subdue
this man . She spoke to him as if she loved him, fearless of reproach,
unmindful of opinion .
“Love me,” she said, “and one look shall make me tremble—one
caress stop my pulses . My heart shall be lost in thine, like a drop
of water in a burning desert . Nothing but death shall separate us .
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Wilt thou not leave the weary pursuit of knowledge, to read without
effort the open book of my soul? Look through mine eyes—is not
the prize worth grasping? Am I not beautiful, and throbbing with the
fulness of youthful life? See, my hand trembles in thine, and for one
look of love I would kiss thy lips .”
She spoke as if in a dream; but suddenly the hardness of Thoth,
like the blow of cold steel, dispelled the fascination . She shrank
back, her cheeks burned with shame, and she hid her face with her
hands .
Then Thoth spoke to her words which tore her heart in pieces,
and made her helpless with dismay .
“I regret,” he said, “that thou hast utterly failed to grasp my
purpose and to understand my position . Dost thou think that I will
surrender my soul to the madness of love? Shall I keep at my side
a passionate creature who will seek to betray and thwart me, and
destroy by her animal nature the toil of generations? It is easy for
me to imitate my father, and to bring a child from Greece to train
according to my will .
“Surely I will do this; and as for thee, thou shalt find a chamber in
our women’s palace, and thou and thy children shall be the slaves of
my will . Henceforth my oath is no more binding than if I had sworn
it to a dog or a slave .”
With these words he departed .
CHAPTER XII
A WEARY INTERVAL
After Thoth had left her, Daphne fell the most gloomy train of
reflection that hitherto had oppressed her since she arrived in the
strange city . Before, in her despair some gleams of hope had al-
ways appeared, but now there was nothing but black darkness . She
had begun to trust Thoth implicitly; after so many trials of his good
faith, her trust had grown into perfect confidence, and now it was
shattered for ever . She had seen in the man’s eyes a most terrible
THOTH, by Joseph Shield Nicholson | 627
manifestation of passion and she had no doubt that she would be
treated even more dreadfully than the women she had seen in the
abode of horror and lust . Worse than all, she despised herself for the
way in which she had in reality led up to such a climax .
Regretful thoughts succeeded one another rapidly . Thoth was
evidently a great ruler, who had been accustomed to the most slavish
obedience . He was, or had been, desirous of effecting a revolution
in the treatment of women, and he had for months treated her with
deference and tenderness . Had she rejected his proposal as calmly
as it was made, had she not attempted to get fire from snow, at any
rate he would have kept to his word and restored her to Greece . She
ought to have understood how the nature of the man must have been
distorted by his descent through generations of women-haters, and
to have wondered at the advances which he had made instead of
expecting the impossible .
Never, she thought, could she have become his wife, but she
might have been his devoted friend . She would have encouraged
him in his projects of reform,—she could have liberated her fellow-
women .
Now all was over . She felt covered with shame as she thought
how she must have appeared to Thoth,—worse than a sensuous
Persian—a mere animal . How he must have despised her when she
actually suggested that he should surrender himself to her, as the
first of his name to the woman who deceived him.
She despised herself, and for the moment her spirit was crushed .
She longed for some sympathy .
She called on her little servants—there was no answer . She went
to the door
—it was fastened. She was confined in solitude. She wept
bitterly .
* * * *
But after a time her courage and resolution revived, and she
thought of the only means of escape now open—death by her own
hand .
THOTH, by Joseph Shield Nicholson | 628
The sun was high in the heaven, and the garden of the palace was
still open to her . She determined to drink again of the freshness of
life before she died .
She walked along the beautiful paths, and watched with pleasure
the birds and insects . Earth and air seemed full of life, and death
seemed terrible . She recalled the wretched fate of the heroines of her
native tragic poets . Before she had often wondered why they had not
put a term to their sufferings by a moment’s pain . She knew now .
It seemed to her a thing impossible in nature—deliberately to
take one’s life, even to avoid misery . She repented that she had not
already done the deed when passion had given her courage . The
point of the dagger seemed very cold and hard,—life seemed very
sweet, and in the glaring sun the gloom of death seemed most black
and dismal . At least, if permitted, she must wait till night .
Then she thought on what might have been her fate—on love
unknown and hopes shattered .
Again her courage and resolution vanished, and she trembled .
She longed with every fibre of her being for some creature to speak
with . She almost began to talk to the birds and lizards .
Suddenly her heart stood still with joy—she heard through the
trees the twittering song of one of the pigmies, and she rushed in
pursuit .
She soon reached the little being—a tiny girl, playing among
flowers. Daphne raised her in her arms and kissed her passionately
with tears and laughter, showering upon her loving words and ca-
resses . The little maiden responded with unmixed pleasure, and said
to her—
“Why does Daphne weep? What is her trouble? I will run and
send a message to our lord . Thoth is very wise and good,—he can
put an end to any trouble .”
“Alas!” said Daphne, “it is Thoth who is the cause of my dis-
tress .”
“Ah!” said the pigmy, laughing, “that is what we sometimes
think; but it is never right—our lord is very wise and good .”
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