CHAPTER XLI
By advice of astrologers the headquarters were to move from Pi-Bast onthe seventh day of Hator. For that day was "good, good, good." Gods inheaven and men on earth rejoiced at the victory of Ra over hisenemies; whoever came into the world on that day was destined to dieat an advanced age surrounded by reverence.
That was a favorable day for pregnant women, and people trading inwoven stuffs, but for toads and mice it was evil.
From the moment that he was appointed commander Rameses rushed to workfeverishly. He received each regiment as it arrived; he inspected itsweapons, its train, and its clothing. He greeted the recruits, andencouraged them to diligent exercise at drilling, to the destructionof their enemies and the glory of the pharaoh. He presided at everymilitary council, he was present at the examination of every spy, andin proportion as tidings were brought in, he indicated on the map withhis own hand the movement of Egyptian armies and the positions of theenemy.
He passed so swiftly from place to place that they looked for himeverywhere, and still he swooped on them suddenly like a falcon. Inthe morning he was on the south of Pi-Bast and verified the list ofprovisions; an hour later he was north of the city, and discoveredthat a hundred and fifty men were lacking in the Ieb regiment. In theevening he overtook the advance guard, was at the crossing of an armof the Nile, and passed in review two hundred war chariots.
The holy Mentezufis, who, as a representative of Herhor, understoodthe military art well, was overcome by astonishment.
"Ye know," said he to Sem and Mefres, "that I do not like the heir tothe throne, for I have discovered his perversity and malice. ButOsiris be my witness that that young man is a born leader. I will tellyou a thing unparalleled: We shall concentrate our forces on theborder three or four days earlier than it was possible to expect. TheLibyans have lost the war already, though they have not heard thewhistle of our arrows."
"So much the worse is such a pharaoh for us," interposed Mefres, withthe stubbornness peculiar to old men.
Toward evening the sixth of Hator, Prince Rameses bathed and informedhis staff that they would march on the morrow two hours beforesunrise. "And now I wish to sleep," said he.
To wish for sleep was easier than to get it. The whole city wasswarming with warriors; at the palace of the prince a regiment hadencamped which had no thought of rest, but was eating, drinking, andsinging.
The prince went to the remotest chamber, but even there he could notundress. Every few minutes some adjutant flew in with a report of nomoment, or for an order in questions which could have been settled onthe spot by the commander of a regiment. Spies were led in who broughtno new information; great lords with small followings were announced;these wished to offer their services to the prince as volunteers.Phoenician merchants broke in on him; these wanted contracts for thearmy, or were contractors who complained of the extortion of generals.
Even soothsayers and astrologers were not lacking, who in the lasthours before marching wished to draw his horoscope for the viceroy;there were even practisers of the black art who wished to sellunfailing amulets against missiles.
These people simply broke into the prince's chamber: each one of themjudged that the fate of the expedition was in his hands, and that insuch a case every etiquette should vanish.
The heir satisfied all applicants patiently. But when behind anastrologer one of his own women pushed into the room with complaintthat Rameses did not love her, since he had not taken farewell, andwhen a quarter of an hour later the weeping of another was heardoutside the window, the heir could endure no longer; he summonedTutmosis.
"Sit in this room," said he, "and if thou wish, console the women ofmy household. I will hide somewhere in the garden; if not, I shall notsleep and to-morrow I shall look like a hen just pulled out of acistern."
"Where am I to seek thee in case of need?" asked Tutmosis.
"Oho! ho!" laughed the heir. "Seek me nowhere. I shall appear ofmyself when the trumpet is sounded."
And throwing over his shoulders a long mantle with a hood, he slippedout to the garden. Through the garden were prowling soldiers, kitchenboys, and other servants. In the whole space about the palace orderhad disappeared, as usual before an expedition. Noting this, Ramesesturned to the densest part of the park, found a little arbor formed ofgrape-vines, and threw himself on a bench satisfied.
"Here neither priests nor women will find me," muttered the viceroy.
He fell asleep immediately, and slept like a stone.
Kama had felt ill for some days. To her irritation was joined somepeculiar weakness and pain in the joints. Then there was an itching ofher face, but especially of her forehead above the eyebrows.
These minute symptoms seemed to her so alarming that she ceased todread assassination, but straightway she sat down before a mirror,and told her servants to withdraw and leave her. At such times shethought neither of Rameses nor the hated Sarah; all her attention wasfixed on those spots which an untrained eye would not have evennoticed.
"A spot--yes, these are spots," whispered she, full of terror. "Two,three-- O Astaroth, but thou wilt not punish thy priestess in thisway! Death would be better-- But again what folly! If I rub myforehead, the spots will be redder. Evidently something has bitten me,or I have used impure oil in anointing. I will wash, and the spotswill be gone by to-morrow."
The morrow came, but the spots had not vanished.
Kama called a servant.
"Listen!" said she. "Look at me!"
But as she spoke she sat down in a less lighted part of the chamber.
"Listen and look!" said she, in a stifled voice. "Dost thou see spotson my face? But come no nearer."
"I see nothing," answered the serving-woman.
"Neither under my left eye nor on my brows?" asked she, with growingirritation.
"Let the lady be pleased graciously to sit with the side of her faceto the light," said the woman.
Of course that request enraged Kama.
"Away, wretch," cried she; "show thyself no more to me!"
When the serving-woman fled, her mistress rushed feverishly to thedressing-table, opened two little toilet jars, and with a brushpainted her face rose-color.
Toward evening, feeling continual pain in her joints and fear in herheart, which was worse than pain, she commanded to call a physician.When they told her that the physician had come, she looked at themirror, and was seized by a new attack, as it were of insanity. Shethrew the mirror to the pavement, and cried out with weeping that shedid not need the physician.
During the sixth of Hator she ate nothing all day and would see noperson.
When the slave woman brought in a light after sundown, Kama lay onthe bed, after she had wound herself in a shawl. She ordered the slaveto go out as quickly as possible; then she sat in an armchair at adistance from the lamp, and passed some hours in a half-waking stupor.
"There are no spots," said she, "and if there are, they are not spotsof that kind! They are not leprosy. O ye gods!" cried she, throwingherself on the pavement. "It cannot be that I-- O ye gods, save me! Iwill go back to the temple; I will do lifelong penance-- I have nospots. I have been rubbing my skin for some days; that is why it isred. Again, how could I have it; has any one ever heard that apriestess and a woman of the heir to the throne could have leprosy? Oye gods! that never has happened since the world began. Onlyfishermen, prisoners, and vile Jews-- Oh, that low Jewess! Heavenlypowers, oh, send down leprosy to her!"
At that moment some shadow passed by the window on the first story.Then a rustle was heard, and from the door to the middle of the roomsprang in--Lykon.
Kama was amazed. She seized her head suddenly, and in her eyes immenseterror was depicted.
"Lykon!" whispered she. "Thou here, Lykon? Be off! They are searchingfor thee."
"I know," answered the Greek, with a jeering laugh. "All thePhoenicians are hunting me, and all the police of his holiness. StillI am with thee, and I have been in thy lord's chamber."
"
Wert thou with the prince?"
"Yes; in his own bedchamber. And I should have left a dagger in hisbreast if the evil spirits had not saved him. Evidently he went tosome other woman, not to thee."
"What dost thou wish here?" whispered Kama. "Flee!"
"But with thee. On the street a chariot is ready for us; on this weshall ride to the Nile, and there my boat is in waiting."
"Thou hast gone mad! But the city and the streets are filled withwarriors."
"For that very reason I was able to enter this palace, and we canescape very easily. Collect all thy treasures. I shall be back hereimmediately and take thee."
"Whither art thou going?"
"I am seeking thy lord. I shall not go without leaving him amemento."
"Thou art mad!"
"Be silent!" interrupted Lykon, pale from anger. "Thou wishest yet todefend him."
The Phoenician woman tottered; she clinched her fists, and an evillight flashed in her eyes.
"But if thou canst not find him?"
"Then I will kill one of his sleeping warriors. I will set fire to thepalace. Do I know what I shall do? But I will not go without leaving amemento."
The great eyes of the Phoenician woman had such a ghastly look thatthe Greek was astonished.
"What is the matter with thee?" asked Lykon.
"Nothing; listen. Thou hast never been so like the prince as to-day.Hence, if thou wish to do a good thing--"
She put her face to his ear and whispered.
The Greek listened in amazement.
"Woman," said he, "Hades speaks through thee."
"Yes; suspicion will be turned on him."
"That is better than a dagger," said Lykon, laughing. "Never could Ihave come on that idea. Perhaps both would be better?"
"No! Let her live. This will be my vengeance."
"What a wicked soul!" whispered Lykon. "But thou pleasest me. We willpay them both in kingly fashion."
He withdrew to the window and vanished. Kama leaned out after him, andforgetting every other thing, listened in a fever.
Perhaps a quarter of an hour after the departure of Lykon, at the sideof the fig grove rose the piercing shriek of a woman. It was repeateda couple of times, and then ceased.
Instead of the expected delight, terror seized Kama. She fell on herknees, and gazed into the dark garden with a wandering stare.
Below was heard almost noiseless running; there was a squeak at thepillar in the antechamber, and in the window appeared Lykon again in adark mantle. He was panting with violence, and his hands trembled.
"Where are thy jewels?" whispered he.
"Let me alone," replied she.
The Greek seized her by the shoulder.
"Wretch! Dost thou not understand that before sunrise they willimprison thee, and will strangle thee a couple of days later?"
"I am sick."
"Where are thy jewels?"
"Under the bed."
Lykon went to her bedchamber; with the light of a lamp he drew out aheavy casket, threw a mantle over Kama, and pulled her by the arm.
"Make ready! Where are the doors through which he comes to thee--thatlord of thine?"
"Leave me!"
The Greek bent to her, and whispered,--
"Aha! Dost think that I will leave thee here? I care as much for theenow as I do for a dog that has lost sense of smell. But thou must gowith me. Let that lord of thine know that there is a man better thanhe. He stole a priestess from Astaroth, I take his mistress from theheir of Egypt."
"I tell thee that I am sick."
The Greek drew out a slender blade, and put the point of it to herthroat.
Kama trembled, and whispered,--
"I go."
They passed through the secret door to the garden. From the directionof the palace came the noise of warriors kindling fires. Here andthere among the trees were lights; from time to time some one in theservice of the heir passed the pair. At the gate the guard stoppedthem,--
"Who are ye?"
"Thebes," answered Lykon.
Then they went out to the street unhindered, and vanished in thealleys of the foreign quarter.
Two hours before daybreak drums and trumpets sounded through the city.
Tutmosis was lying sunk in deep sleep, when Prince Rameses pulled hismantle, and called,--
"Rise, watchful leader. The regiments are marching!"
Tutmosis sat up in bed and rubbed his drowsy eyes.
"Ah, is it thou, lord?" asked he, yawning. "Hast thou slept?"
"As never before," replied Rameses.
"But I should like to sleep more."
Both bathed, put on their jackets and light mail, then mounted horses,which were tearing away from the equerries.
Soon the heir, with a small suite, left the city, and on the waypassed slowly moving columns. The Nile had overflowed widely, and theprince wished to be present at the passage of fords and canals.
At sunrise the last army chariot was far outside the city, and theworthy nomarch of Pi-Bast said to his servants,--
"I am going to sleep now, and woe to the man who rouses me before thehour of our feast in the evening! Even the divine sun rests when eachday is past, while I have not lain down since the first day of Hator."
Before he had finished praising his own watchfulness, a police officerentered, and begged for a special hearing in a case of immenseimportance.
"Would that the earth had swallowed thee!" muttered the worthynomarch.
But still he commanded to summon the officer, and inquired withill-humor,--
"Is it not possible to wait a few hours? The Nile will not run away,as it seems to me."
"A terrible misfortune has happened," replied the officer. "The son ofthe erpatr is killed."
"What? Who?" cried the nomarch.
"The son of the Jewess Sarah."
"Who killed him? When--"
"Last night."
"But who could do this?"
The officer bent his head and spread his arms.
"I asked who killed him?" repeated the nomarch, more astonished thanangry.
"Be pleased, lord, thyself to investigate. My lips will not utter whatmy ears have heard."
The astonishment of the nomarch increased. He gave command to lead inSarah's servants, and sent for Mefres, the high priest. Mentezufis, asrepresentative of the minister of war, had gone with the viceroy.
The astonished Mefres came. The nomarch told of the murder of thechild, and said that the police official dared not give explanations.
"But are there witnesses?" inquired the high priest.
"We are waiting for thy commands, holy father."
They brought in Sarah's doorkeeper.
"Hast thou heard," inquired the nomarch, "that the child of thymistress is killed?"
The man fell to the pavement, and answered,--
"I have even seen the worthy remains broken against the wall, and Idetained our lady when she ran out to the garden, screaming."
"When did this happen?"
"At midnight. Immediately after the most worthy heir came to ourlady," answered the watch.
"How is this? Did the prince visit thy lady last night?" inquiredMefres.
"Thou hast said it, great prophet."
"This is wonderful!" whispered Mefres to the nomarch.
The second witness was Sarah's cook, the third her waiting-woman. Bothdeclared that after midnight the prince had entered Sarah's chamber,stayed there awhile, then run out quickly to the garden, and soonafter him appeared Lady Sarah, screaming terribly.
"But the prince remained all night in his chamber; he did not leavethe palace," said the nomarch.
The police-officer shook his head, and declared that some of thepalace servants were waiting in the antechamber.
They were summoned. Mefres questioned them, and it appeared that theheir had not slept in the palace. He had left his chamber beforemidnight, and gone to the garden; he returned when the first trumpetsounded.
W
hen the witnesses had been led out, and the two dignitaries werealone, the nomarch threw himself on the pavement, and declared toMefres that he was grievously ill, and would rather lose his life thancarry on investigations. The high priest was very pale and excited;but he replied that they must clear up a question of murder, and hecommanded the nomarch in the name of the pharaoh to go with him toSarah's dwelling. It was not far to the garden of the heir, and thetwo dignitaries soon found themselves at the place where the crime hadbeen committed.
When they entered the chamber on the first story, they saw Sarahkneeling at the cradle in such a posture as if nursing the child. Onthe wall and the pavement were blood spots.
The nomarch grew so weak that he was forced to sit down, but Mefreswas calm. He approached Sarah, touched her arm, and said,--
"We come hither, lady, in the name of his holiness."
Sarah sprang to her feet suddenly, and, looking at Mefres, cried in aterrible voice,--
"A curse on you! Ye wished to have a Jew king, and here is the kingfor you. Oh, why did I, unfortunate, listen to your traitorousadvice!"
She dropped, and fell again at the side of the cradle, groaning,--
"My son--my little Seti! How beautiful he was,--so cunning; juststretching out his little hands to me! O Jehovah! give him back to me,for that is in Thy power. O gods of Egypt,--Osiris, Horus, Isis,--OIsis, for thou too wert a mother! It cannot be that in the heavensthere is not one who will listen to my prayer. Such a dear, littlechild! A hyena would have spared him--"
The high priest took her by the arms, and put her on her feet. Thepolice and the servants filled the room.
"Sarah," said the high priest, "in the name of his holiness, the lordof Egypt, I summon thee, and command thee to answer, Who killed thyson?"
She gazed straight ahead, like a maniac, and rubbed her forehead.
The nomarch gave her water and wine, and one of the women presentsprinkled her with vinegar.
"In the name of his holiness," repeated Mefres, "I command thee,Sarah, to tell the name of the murderer."
Those present withdrew toward the door; the nomarch with despairingaction closed both his ears.
"Who killed?" said Sarah, in a panting voice, sinking her gaze in theface of Mefres. "Who killed, dost _thou_ ask? I know you, ye priests!I know _your_ justice."
"Then who killed?" insisted Mefres.
"I!" cried Sarah, in an unearthly voice. "I killed my child, becauseye made him a Jew."
"That is false!" hissed the high priest.
"I, I!" repeated Sarah. "Hei, ye people who see me and hear me," sheturned to the witnesses, "ye know that I killed him--I--I--I!" criedshe, beating her breast.
At such an explicit accusation of herself the nomarch recovered, andlooked with compassion on Sarah; the women sobbed, the doorkeeperwiped away tears. But the holy Mefres closed his blue lips firmly. Atlast he said, with emphatic voice, while looking at the policeofficial,--
"Servants of his holiness, I surrender this woman, whom ye are toconduct to the edifice of justice--"
"But my son with me!" interrupted Sarah, rushing to the cradle.
"With thee, with thee, poor woman," said the nomarch; and he coveredhis face.
The dignitaries went out of the chamber. The police officer had alitter brought, and with marks of the highest respect conducted Sarahdown to it. The unfortunate woman seized a blood-stained bundle fromthe cradle, and took a seat, without resistance, in the litter.
All the servants went after her to the chamber of justice.
When Mefres, with the nomarch, was passing through the garden, thenomarch said,--
"I have compassion on that woman."
"She will be punished properly for lying," answered the high priest.
"Dost thou think so, worthiness?"
"I am certain that the gods will discover and punish the realmurderer."
At the garden gate the steward of Kama's villa stood in the roadbefore them.
"The Phoenician woman is gone. She disappeared last night."
"A new misfortune," whispered the nomarch.
"Have no fear," said Mefres; "she followed the prince."
From these answers the worthy nomarch saw that Mefres hated theprince, and his heart sank in him. If they proved that Rameses hadkilled his own son, the heir would never ascend the throne of hisfathers, and the heavy yoke of the priesthood would weigh down stillmore mightily on Egypt.
The sadness of the nomarch increased when they told him in the eveningthat two physicians of the temple of Hator, when looking at the corpseof the infant, had expressed the opinion that only a man could havecommitted the murder. Some man, said they, seized with his right handthe feet of the little boy, and broke his skull against the wall ofthe building. Sarah's hand could not clasp both legs, on which,moreover, were traces of large fingers.
After this explanation Mefres, in company with the high priest Sem,went to Sarah in the prison, and implored her by all the gods of Egyptand of foreign lands to declare that she was not guilty of the deathof the child, and to describe the person of the murderer.
"We will believe thy word," said Mefres, "and thou wilt be freeimmediately."
But Sarah, instead of being moved by this proof of friendliness, fellinto anger.
"Jackals," cried she, "two victims are not enough; ye want still more.I, unfortunate woman, did this; I,--for who else would be so abject asto kill a child--a little child that had never harmed any one?"
"But dost thou know, stubborn woman, what threatens thee?" asked theholy Mefres. "Thou wilt hold the remains of thy child for three daysin thy arms, and then be fifteen years in prison."
"Only three days?" repeated Sarah. "But I would never part with mylittle Seti; and not only to prison, but to the grave will I go withhim, and my lord will command to bury us together."
When the high priest left Sarah, the most pious Sem said,--
"I have seen mothers who killed their own children, and I have judgedthem; but none were like her."
"For she did not kill her child," answered Mefres, angrily.
"Who, then?"
"He whom the servants saw when he rushed into Sarah's house and fled amoment later; he who, when going against the enemy, took with him thepriestess Kama, who defiled the altar; he," concluded Mefres,excitedly, "who hunted Sarah out of the house, and made her a slavebecause her son had been made a Jew."
"Thy words are terrible," answered Sem, in alarm.
"The criminal is still worse, and, in spite of that stupid woman'sstubbornness, he will be discovered."
But the holy man did not suppose that his prophecy would beaccomplished so quickly.
And it was accomplished in the following manner:--Prince Rameses, whenmoving from Pi-Bast with the army, had not left the palace when thechief of the police learned of the murder of Sarah's child, and theflight of Kama, and this, too,--that Sarah's servants saw the princeentering her house in the night time. The chief of police was a verykeen person; he pondered over this question, Who could have committedthe crime? and instead of inquiring on the spot, he hastened to pursuethe guilty parties outside the city, and forewarned Hiram of what hadhappened.
While Mefres was trying to extort a confession from Sarah, the mostactive agents of the Pi-Bast police, and with them every Phoenicianunder the leadership of Hiram, were hunting the Greek Lykon and thepriestess Kama.
So three nights after the prince had departed, the chief of policereturned to Pi-Bast, bringing with him a large cage covered withlinen, in which was some woman who screamed in heaven-piercingaccents. Without lying down to sleep, the chief summoned the officerwho had made the investigation, and listened to his reportattentively.
At sunrise the two priests, Sem and Mefres, with the nomarch ofPi-Bast, received a most humble invitation to deign immediately,should such be their will, to come to the chief of police. In fact,all three entered at the very same moment; so the chief, bending low,implored them to tell all that they knew concerning the murder of theson o
f the viceroy.
The nomarch, though a great dignitary, grew pale when he heard thehumble invitation, and answered that he knew nothing. The high priestSem gave almost the same answer, adding, for himself, the reflectionthat Sarah seemed to him innocent.
When the turn came to the holy Mefres, he said,--
"I know not whether thou hast heard, worthiness, that during the nightof the crime one of the prince's women escaped; her name was Kama."
The chief of police feigned to be greatly astonished.
"I know not," continued Mefres, "whether they have told thee that theheir did not pass the night in the palace, but was in Sarah's house.The doorkeeper and two servants recognized him, for the night wasrather clear. It is a great pity," finished the high priest, "thatthou hast not been here these two days past."
The chief bowed very low to Mefres, and turned to the nomarch,--
"Wouldst thou be pleased, worthiness, to tell me, graciously, how theprince was dressed that evening?"
"He wore a white jacket, and a purple apron with gold fringe,"answered the nomarch. "I remember very well, for that evening I wasone of the last who spoke with him."
The chief of the police clapped his hands, and Sarah's doorkeeperentered the chamber.
"Didst thou see the prince," inquired he, "when he came in the nightto the house of thy lady?"
"I opened the door to his worthiness,--may he live through eternity!"
"And dost thou remember how he was dressed?"
"He wore a jacket with yellow and black stripes, a cap of the samecolors, and a blue and red apron," answered the doorkeeper.
Both priests and the nomarch began to wonder.
Then they brought in Sarah's servants, who repeated exactly the samedescription of the prince's dress. The nomarch's eyes flashed withdelight, but on the face of the holy Mefres confusion was evident.
"I will swear," put in the worthy nomarch, "that the prince wore awhite jacket and a purple apron with gold fringe."
"Now, most worthy men," said the chief of police, "be pleased to comewith me to the prison. There we shall see one more witness."
They went to a subterranean hall, where under a window stood a greatcage covered with linen. The chief threw back the linen with hisstick, and those present saw a woman lying in a corner.
"But this is the Lady Kama!" cried the nomarch.
It was indeed Kama, sick and changed very greatly. When she rose atsight of the dignitaries, and appeared in the light, those present sawthat her face had bronze-colored spots on it. Her eyes seemedwandering.
"Kama," said the chief, "the goddess Astaroth has touched thee withleprosy."
"It was not the goddess!" said she, with a changed voice. "It was thelow Asiatics, who threw in a tainted veil to me. Oh, I amunfortunate!"
"Kama," continued the chief, "our most famous high priests, Sem andMefres, have taken compassion on thee. If thou wilt tell the truth,they will pray for thee, and perhaps the all-mighty Osiris will turnfrom thee misfortune. There is still time, the disease is onlybeginning, and our gods have great power."
The sick woman fell on her knees, and pressing her face against thegrating, said in a broken voice,--
"Have compassion on me! I have renounced Phoenician gods, and to theend of life will serve the gods of Egypt. Only avert from me--"
"Answer, but answer truly," said the chief, "and the gods will notrefuse thee their favor. Who killed the child of the Jewess Sarah?"
"The traitor, Lykon, the Greek. He was a singer in our temple, andsaid that he loved me. But he has rejected me, the infamous traitor,and seized my jewels."
"Why did Lykon kill the child?"
"He wanted to kill the prince, but not finding him in the palace, heran to Sarah's villa."
"How did the criminal enter a house that was guarded?"
"Dost thou not know that Lykon resembles the prince? They are as muchalike as two leaves of one palm-tree."
"How was Lykon dressed that night?"
"He wore a jacket in yellow and black stripes, a cap of the samematerial, and a red and blue apron. Do not torment me; return me myhealth! Be compassionate! I will be faithful to your gods! Are yegoing already? Oh, hard-hearted!"
"Poor woman," said the high priest Sem, "I will send to thee a mightyworker of miracles; he may--"
"May ye be blessed by Astaroth! No, may your almighty andcompassionate gods bless you," whispered Kama, in dreadful weariness.
The dignitaries left the prison and returned to the upper hall. Thenomarch, seeing that the high priest Mefres kept his eyes cast downand his lips fixed, asked him,--
"Art thou not rejoiced, holy man, at these wonderful discoveries madeby our chief?"
"I have no reason to rejoice," answered Mefres, dryly. "The case,instead of being simplified, has grown difficult. Sarah asserts thatshe killed the child, while the Phoenician woman answers as if someone had taught her--"
"Then dost thou not believe, worthiness?" interrupted the chief.
"No, for I have never seen two men so much alike that one could bemistaken for the other. Still more, I have never heard that thereexists in Pi-Bast a man who could counterfeit our viceroy,--may helive through eternity!"
"That man," said the chief, "was in Pi-Bast, at the temple ofAstaroth. The Tyrian Prince Hiram knew him, and our viceroy has seenhim with his own eyes. More than that, not long ago, he commanded meto seize him, and even offered a large reward."
"Ho! ho!" cried Mefres, "I see, worthy chief,--I see that the highestsecrets of the state are concentrating about thee. But permit me notto believe in that Lykon till I see him."
And he left the hall in anger, and after him Sem, shrugging hisshoulders. But when their steps had ceased to sound in the corridor,the nomarch, looking quickly at the chief, asked,--
"What dost thou think?"
"Indeed," said the chief, "the holy prophets are beginning tointerfere in things which have never been under their jurisdiction."
"And we must endure this!" whispered the nomarch.
"For a time only," sighed the chief. "In so far as I know men'shearts, all the military, all the officials of his holiness, in fine,all the aristocracy, are indignant at this priestly tyranny.Everything must have its limit."
"Thou hast uttered great words," said the nomarch, pressing thechief's hand, "and some internal voice tells me that I shall see theeas supreme chief of police at the side of his holiness."
A couple of days passed. During this time the dissectors had securedfrom corruption the remains of the viceroy's son; but Sarah continuedin prison, awaiting her trial, certain that she would be condemned.
Kama was sitting, also, confined in her cage; people feared her, forshe was infected with leprosy. It is true that a miracle-workingphysician visited her, repeated prayers before her, gave hereverything to drink, and gave her healing water. Still, fever did notleave the woman, and the bronze-colored spots on her cheeks and browsgrew more definite. Therefore an order came from the nomarch to takeher out to the eastern desert, where, separated from mankind, dwelt acolony of lepers.
On a certain evening the chief appeared at the temple of Ptah, sayingthat he wished to speak with the high priest. The chief had with himtwo agents, and a man covered from head to foot in a bag.
After a while an answer was sent to the chief that the high priestswere awaiting him in the sacred chamber of the statue of theirdivinity.
The chief left the agents before the gate, took by the arm the mandressed in the bag, and, conducted by a priest, went to the sacredchamber. When he entered, he found Mefres and Sem arrayed as highpriests, with silver plates on their bosoms.
He fell before them on the pavement, and said,--
"In accordance with your commands, I bring to you, holy fathers, thecriminal Lykon. Do ye wish to see his face?"
When they assented, the chief rose, and pulled the bag from the manstanding near him.
Both high priests cried out with astonishment. The Greek was really solike Rameses that
it was impossible to resist the deception.
"Thou art Lykon, the singer from the temple of Astaroth?" asked theholy Sem of the bound Greek.
Lykon smiled contemptuously.
"And didst thou kill the child of the prince?" added Mefres.
The Greek grew blue from rage, and strove to tear off his bonds.
"Yes!" cried he, "I killed the whelp, for I could not find the wolf,his father,--may heaven's blazes burn him!"
"In what has the prince offended thee, criminal?" asked the indignantSem.
"In what? He seized from me Kama, and plunged her into a disease forwhich there is no remedy. I was free, I might have fled with life andproperty, but I resolved to avenge myself, and now ye have me. It washis luck that your gods are mightier than my hatred. Now ye may killme; the sooner ye do so, the better."
"This is a great criminal," said Sem.
Mefres was silent and gazed into the Greek's eyes, which were burningwith rage. He admired his courage, and fell to thinking. All at oncehe said to the chief,--
"Worthy sir, thou mayst go, this man belongs to us."
"This man," replied the chief, who was indignant, "belongs to me. Iseized him and I shall receive a reward from Prince Rameses."
Mefres rose and drew forth from under his mantle a gold medal.
"In the name of the supreme council, of which I am a member," said he,"I command thee to yield this man to us. Remember that his existenceis among the highest state secrets, and indeed it would be a hundredtimes better for thee to forget that thou hast left him here."
The chief fell again to the pavement, and went out repressing hisanger.
"Our lord the prince will repay you when he is the pharaoh!" thoughthe. "And he will pay you my part--ye will see."
"Where is the prisoner?" asked the agents standing before the gate.
"In prison," answered the chief; "the hands of the gods have rested onhim."
"And our reward?" asked the elder agent.
"The hands of the gods have rested on your reward also. Imagine thento yourselves that ye saw that prisoner only in a dream, ye will besafer in health and in service."
The agents dropped their heads in silence. But in their hearts theyswore vengeance against the priests, who had taken a handsome rewardfrom them.
After the chief had gone Mefres summoned a number of priests, andwhispered something into the ears of the eldest. The priestssurrounded the Greek and conducted him out of the chamber. Lykon madeno resistance.
"I think," said Sem, "that this man should be brought before the courtas a murderer."
"Never!" cried Mefres, with decision. "On this man weighs anincomparably greater crime, he is like the heir to the throne."
"And what wilt thou do with him, worthiness?"
"I will reserve him for the supreme council," said Mefres. "When theheir to the throne visits pagan temples and steals from them women,when the country is threatened with danger of war, and the power ofthe priests with rebellion, Lykon may be of service."
On the following midday the high priest Sem, the nomarch, and thechief of police went to Sarah's prison. The unfortunate woman had noteaten for a number of days, and was so weak that she did not rise fromthe bench even in presence of so many dignitaries.
"Sarah," said the nomarch, whom she had known before, "we bring theegood news."
"News," repeated she with a pathetic voice. "My son is not living,that is the news; my breast is full of nourishment, but my heart isfull of sadness."
"Sarah," said the nomarch, "thou art free. Thou didst not kill thychild."
Her seemingly dead features revived. She sprang from the bench, andcried,--
"I--I killed him--only I."
"Consider, Sarah, a man killed thy son, a Greek, named Lykon, thelover of the Phoenician Kama."
"What dost thou say?" whispered she, seizing the nomarch's hands. "Oh,that Phoenician woman! I knew that she would ruin us. But the Greek? Iknow no Greek. How could my son offend any man?"
"I know not," continued the nomarch. "That Greek is no longer alive.But that man was so like Prince Rameses that when he entered thychamber thou didst think him our lord. And thou hast preferred toaccuse thy own self rather than our lord, and thine."
"Then that was not Rameses?" cried she, seizing her head. "And I,wretched woman, let a strange man take my son from his cradle. Ha! ha!ha!"
Then she laughed more and more. On a sudden, as if her legs had beencut from under her, she fell to the floor, her hands hopped a coupleof times, and she died in hysteric laughter.
But on her face remained an expression of sorrow which even deathcould not drive from it.
The Pharaoh and the Priest: An Historical Novel of Ancient Egypt Page 45