by Robert Reed
the custom of the Egyptians of embalming their dead . That is but a
foolish ceremony, the reason of which has long been lost,—it is the
husk of the kernel of Thoth’s reason . He discovered a perfect method
of suspending life for an indefinite period, and in the prime of his
life his son and vice-regent, in accordance therewith, laid him down
to sleep . He and his brethren also, at the appointed age, were clothed
with the appearance of death, and a new vice-regent appointed . For
one day in every generation our great father is roused from his sleep,
to invest his vice-regent with authority . I myself was so invested; I
myself have spoken face to face with this most ancient one . Never
on this earth was any solemnity practised by man so calculated to
ensure reverence and obedience . From the middle of the throng of
death-like sleepers this man rises up, and in a short time feels again
the full tide of life in his veins . He listens to the progress made in the
achievement of his plans, and the growth of the power of his race .
He commands his latest descendants to obey the new vice-regent,
and having for one day put in force his reason and will, he again
surrenders himself to sleep .”
Daphne was awe-struck by this narrative, but with an effort she
said, “And do not the other sleepers also awake?”
“They,” replied Thoth, “are destined to wake only when the task
of our race is on the eve of completion, to take part in our final
triumph, and that is no less than the conquest of the whole earth .”
“Tell me,” she said, fascinated by a weird foreboding of horror,
“how this can be?”
“The task imposed upon us by the supreme will,” he replied,
“has been twofold. In the first place, we have had to make perfect
mechanical contrivances, by which we can journey with incredible
speed through the air . That this has been accomplished thou thyself
hast been a witness; and for each of the sleepers a car has been
prepared which surpasses in speed the flight of birds and the rush of
the storm .”
THOTH, by Joseph Shield Nicholson | 638
Daphne recalled in all its sublimity her own aërial journey, and
she could not doubt the truth of Thoth’s words .
Then he continued—“But a harder task was ours, and that also has
been at length completed . We have now at our disposal the means
of destroying every living being on the face of the earth . The day is
near at hand when these sleepers are to become the messengers of
death . The earth shall be made desolate, and in time repeopled from
this city . In a few hundred years all the world shall be inhabited
by many races and classes of men, all perfect in their kind, and all
governed by the highest reason .”
Then Daphne cried out in horror—“Do ye intend to destroy all
people living except those in this place?”
“That,” said he, “was the design of the first Thoth, and had the
means been ready fifty years ago, such would have been the case
undoubtedly . But, as I have explained to thee, I have formed the
opinion that in his endeavour to exterminate love in the ruling class,
the first Thoth made an error. Accordingly, we must save some of the
best women of thy race, and if thou wilt thou shalt have the selec-
tion . Now thou canst judge of the truth of my promises, and I will
make one promise more . Know that I have penetrated deeper than
my ancestor into the mysteries of life and death, and thou and I can
live in all the fulness of life for hundreds of years . Thus thou shalt be
as a goddess ruling over the earth . Tell me, Daphne, if the prospect
does not surpass thy dreams?”
He spoke with all the enthusiasm of a man who is on the eve of
accomplishing a most honourable deed .
But Daphne answered him, glowing with indignation and anger—
“Thy projects seem to me abominable, and unutterably loath-
some .”
“How so?” he asked, with unfeigned wonder .
“Thou speakest as if all mankind were noxious serpents and rag-
ing beasts . To me, a Grecian maiden, thou talkest calmly of destroy-
ing the whole Grecian race . Thou wouldst found a universal tyranny
on universal slaughter, and so degraded is thy nature that thou dost
not see anything horrible in such monstrous crime . I despise myself
THOTH, by Joseph Shield Nicholson | 639
for ever having listened to thy love . Kill me, torture me, abuse me,
I am in thy power, but never will I share in thy unholy schemes .”
Then Thoth said to her—“Take heed; even my passion will not
bear such a strain .”
“I would thy passion were turned to hatred,” she cried, “for thou
canst not hate me as I hate thee!”
For a time it seemed as if anger and scorn would altogether de-
stroy his love; but Daphne quailed not, and in her wrath became
even more beautiful and majestic .
The struggle in Thoth’s mind did not endure long .
“True it is,” he said, “that I cannot hate thee; my love is overpow-
ering. But I cannot shatter to its foundations the edifice which my
ancestors have raised . Rather would I make the whole world lifeless .
I will give thee a day to reflect.”
CHAPTER XVI
THE REVOLT OF NATURE
At Daphne’s request Thoth departed, but as he left her he said
with great emphasis—
“Remember that I have spoken the truth, and if thou wilt thou
mayest become queen of the earth!”
His words excited her heart to a burning activity, and thought
after thought rushed swiftly through her mind. At first she tried to
persuade herself that he must have told her incredible fictions, but
the more she thought the less she doubted . She had seen enough of
Thoth’s power to believe to the full in the truth of his narrative . She
had seen him with a touch of his staff strike dead the ogress, and she
had had abundant proofs of the absolute obedience of his people .
For a time, however, she wondered how a few hundred men could
possibly destroy all the nations of the earth . She thought of Thoth
and his dread compatriots flying through the air, and discharging
missiles on the helpless people beneath; but even with this advan-
tage it seemed to her that numbers must prevail .
THOTH, by Joseph Shield Nicholson | 640
She said to herself, “Even Apollo’s arm would grow weary of
such endless archery;” and then, suddenly, she remembered how the
arrows of Apollo had smitten the Greeks before Troy .
Plague and pestilence had been the shafts hurled from his bow .
She recalled Thoth’s allusion to Apollo, and a dreadful presentiment
told her that it was in this manner that the nations of the earth were to
be destroyed . In the same moment all the circumstances of Thoth’s
first appearance in Athens flashed through her mind: she remem-
bered the grim indifference of the false merchants to the plague, and
it was but a step to accuse them of bringing with them to Greece this
unheard-of destruction . She knew it had been asc
ribed to poisoned
wells, that the like had never been seen before, and she became con-
vinced that Thoth was the originator of this fearful crime .
Then she wept as she thought that perhaps already the whole of
the races of Greece had perished . This now became the most urgent
object of her inquiry, and she tried to bring back every word, every
tone, every gesture of Thoth when he had spoken of returning to
Greece .
With all the appearance of truth he promised to restore her, but
at the same time he had said she would not wish to remain: he had
spoken of allowing her to choose other Grecian maidens to share her
fate; but why had he not sent before another expedition after the first
had been destroyed?
Certainly the man appeared to have an overpowering passion for
her, and under its influence he had seemed to speak the truth; but
then she feared he might have coloured his narrative to please her in
what seemed to him the best manner .
Was it likely that a being so inhuman in other respects should
hesitate at breaking his word, as indeed before he had threatened to
do? From the past and present she looked to the future, and she saw
at once that there was no time to lose, and that she must decide on
a plan of action . But what could one ignorant woman do against the
mysterious intelligence arrayed against her? Plan after plan arose,
only to be rejected, and she soon became aware that her only hope
of defeating these enemies of mankind lay in Thoth’s love .
THOTH, by Joseph Shield Nicholson | 641
Even here, however, there seemed to be an insuperable difficulty,
for she knew now that nothing could ever induce her to return his
passion, and she feared that a simulated affection would only hasten
her destruction . How could she hope to play on a being gifted with
such knowledge and strength of purpose? She dreaded also in her
secret heart that by some magical fascination her mind would give
way, and that she might be led, in the weakness of a moment, to
sacrifice herself to him. She felt still how near she had been to a
complete surrender of her whole will to his .
Would she have the strength to resist?
Before Thoth returned, she had worked out her scheme .
CHAPTER XVII
GRECIAN GUILE
On Thoth’s appearance Daphne advanced to meet him with all
the appearance of friendliness, although filled with suppressed emo-
tion .“Thou art,” she said, “the most skilled of all physicians, and thou
knowest well that time is the best drug for the uneasy mind . Forgive
my weakness . The Greeks of all people are the greatest lovers of
their native cities, and I, a Grecian maiden, cannot see why they
should be destroyed . But I will listen to reason . Why, if I love thee,
should we not live here, and happily rule this city, regardless of the
rest of the world? Why not leave thy dread ancestors to their sleep?”
She Spoke to him with a soft enticing voice, and looked up to him
as to a superior .
“Daphne,” replied Thoth, “I have already yielded to thee the
utmost that my nature will permit . It is useless to ask more . For
two thousand years my race have toiled incessantly to create a new
world . They await their reward . If I raise them from their sleep, they
will never consent to forego their plans . If I raise them not—but
I tell thee that is impossible . Rise they must, now all is ready, as
surely as rises the sun .”
THOTH, by Joseph Shield Nicholson | 642
Love yielded in his eyes to fixed determination, and Daphne’s
heart sank within her .
“The task I have already agreed to,” he continued, “is wellnigh
hopeless . They will never admit women to an honourable place, un-
less they are assured beyond doubt that the choice lies between love
and death . I must prove that my love for thee, in spite of generations
of hatred towards women by my fathers, is stronger than ever love
was, and also that their attempts to crush it have crushed at the same
time life and reason. I will strain every fibre to have thee recognised
as queen—but queen thou must be, first of all, of one city alone
in a desolate world . And, mark my words, if ever this is to be ac-
complished, thou must aid me with courage and with a love equal
to mine own . I must set thee before these men—face to face—and
thou must say and do as I bid thee . If we fail, there is no alternative
but instant death .”
Daphne, still clinging to hope, replied—“I know little of thy race,
and my wisdom is dense ignorance compared to thy wisdom . But,
tell me, canst thou not begin with the living—with them who have
not yet entered on their long sleep? Why should not thy fellow-rul-
ers, as at first was thy intention, seek for equal companions? There
are many maidens in Greece less difficult to please than I. Persuade
or compel thy followers to do as thou hast done, and then thou canst
show thine ancestors how well the plan has succeeded—after thirty
years—or twenty .”
“I cannot,” he replied, “make such a change of policy without the
consent of my great ancestor and his successors .”
“Then,” she said, “even thy union with me must rest on their
consent, and yet thou didst speak as if thou wouldst compel them to
submit .”
“But I said, by force of reason and will . Know, once for all, that
unless they approve of my conduct, I will not proceed .”
“And what is to be my fate, supposing they do not consent? Thou
wouldst not leave me to perish?”
“I will do my utmost to save thee, and I will perish with thee if I
fail . But fear not—all shall be well .”
THOTH, by Joseph Shield Nicholson | 643
Daphne reflected, and every way of escape from the power of the
sleeping tyrants seemed closed . She had hoped at least to gain delay,
and had even tried to believe that Thoth might, through his love for
her, disregard altogether the past .
The future seemed more hopeless than ever, and she began to feel
the courage of despair . If, she thought, this man were slain suddenly,
would not the whole power of the tyrants be shattered!
She said to him, “But if thou wert to perish with me, how would
it fare with the sleepers?”
“We have never,” he said, “imagined that we could avoid all the
accidents of nature . If I were to fail, there are others to take my
place . In my absence in Greece another was appointed vice-regrent,
and for every conceivable emergency provision has been made . It
is useless to discuss the matter further, or to delay longer . This very
day thou must be prepared to face the assembly .”
“And if we fail, whither shall we flee?” said Daphne.
“Nowhither,” he replied .
“And, after all thy promises, wilt thou leave me to the mercy of
these haters of women? If thy love for me is real, and if thou art pre-
pared to die with me, at least redeem thy promise and take me back
to Greece, and there we can await our
doom . Thou dost not think,”
she said, anxiously, “that the plague has destroyed all the Greeks?”
“No,” he replied; “I have no doubt that by this time it is spent,
and that many survive .”
“Then,” she said, “if we fail, flee with me. In any case thou wilt
be an outcast from thy tribe . And I am very young, and life is very
sweet I would fain see my country and fellows again . And in some
remote comer of the earth we might escape with a few companions
from the general doom, by thy wisdom .”
She looked at Thoth in a beseeching manner, and his heart be-
came hot with love . He seemed lost in thought for a long time, and
then said—
“If we fail, I shall be, as thou sayest, an outcast; and the little
delay that thou prayest for may be granted .
“Listen to my plan .
THOTH, by Joseph Shield Nicholson | 644
“I have discovered recently a most curious and powerful sub-
stance. I can, by breaking a small vessel, fill the council-chamber
with a vapour which shall at once send into a heavy sleep all present,
unless they are prepared by an antidote . The drug is the most power-
ful of all our agents of destruction yet discovered . In a few hours the
sleep will end in irrevocable death unless the remedy is applied, and
then the recovery is slow . For love of thee, if we fail, I will use this
means for a little delay. We will then prepare everything for flight,
and only just before we depart will I administer the remedy .
“Thus we may gain a few hours’ start, and in essence I shall not
fail in my obedience . But I hope for a better result, and that reason
will prevail and thou wilt become the queen of the earth, and not a
wanderer over a desolate earth with an outcast man . Rouse thy cour-
age, and at the fitting time be prepared to speak as I shall bid thee.
Let them see that thou art worthy of the highest honour .”
“What must I say?”
“After,” he replied, “I have explained the reasons for restoring
women to love and honour, thou must say two things .
“First, thou must profess the most profound admiration for ev-
erything in this city, and, with all the excess usual in a pervert, en-
courage them to hasten the destruction of the earth .”
“That is a hard task,” she replied .
“Why?” he asked . “War is the greatest course of glory, and uni-