CHAPTER I
THE PLOT OF ABI
It was evening in Egypt, thousands of years ago, when the Prince Abi,governor of Memphis and of great territories in the Delta, made fast hisship of state to a quay beneath the outermost walls of the mighty cityof Uast or Thebes, which we moderns know as Luxor and Karnac on theNile. Abi, a large man, very dark of skin, for his mother was one of thehated Hyksos barbarians who once had usurped the throne of Egypt, satupon the deck of his ship and stared at the setting sun which for a fewmoments seemed to rest, a round ball of fire, upon the bare and ruggedmountains, that ring round the Tombs of the Kings.
He was angry, as the slave-women, who stood on either side fanning him,could see well enough by the scowl on his coarse face and the fire inhis large black eyes. Presently they felt it also, for one of them,staring at the temples and palaces of the wonderful city made gloriousby the light of the setting sun, that city of which she had heard sooften, touched his head with the feathers of her fan. Thereon, as thoughglad of an excuse to express his ill-humour, Abi sprang up and boxed herears so heavily that the poor girl fell to the deck.
"Awkward cat," he cried, "do that again and you shall be flogged untilyour robe sticks to your back!"
"Pardon, mighty Lord," she said, beginning to weep, "it was an accident;the wind caught my fan."
"So the rod shall catch your skin, if you are not more careful, Merytra.Stop that snivelling and go send Kaku the Astrologer here. Go, both, Iweary of the sight of your ugly faces."
The girl rose, and with her fellow slave ran swiftly to the ladder thatled to the waist of the ship.
"He called me a cat," Merytra hissed through her white teeth to hercompanion. "Well, if so, Sekhet the cat-headed is my godmother, and sheis the Lady of Vengeance."
"Yes," answered the other, "and he said that we were both ugly--we, whomevery lord who comes near the Court admires so much! Oh! I wish a holycrocodile would eat him, black pig!"
"Then why don't they buy us? Abi would sell his daughters, much more hisfan-bearers--at a price."
"Because they hope to get us for nothing, my dear, and what is more,if I can manage it one of them shall, for I am tired of this life. Haveyour fling while you can, I say. Who knows at which corner Osiris, Lordof Death, is waiting."
"Hush!" whispered Merytra, "there is that knave of an astrologer, and helooks cross, too."
Then, hand in hand, they went to this lean and learned man and humblybowed themselves before him.
"Master of the Stars," said Merytra, "we have a message for you. No, donot look at my cheek, please, the marks are not magical, only those ofthe divine fingers of the glorious hand of the most exalted Prince Abi,son of the Pharaoh happily ruling in Osiris, etc., etc., etc., of theright, royal blood of Egypt--that is on one side, and on the other ofa divine lady whom Khem the Spirit, or Ptah the Creator, thought fit todip in a vat of black dye."
"Hem!" said Kaku glancing nervously over his shoulder. Then, seeing thatthere was no one near, he added, "you had better be careful what yousay, my dear. The royal Abi does not like to hear the colour of his latemother defined so closely. But why did he slap your face?"
She told him.
"Well," he answered, "if I had been in his place I would rather havekissed it, for it is pretty, decidedly pretty," and this learned manforgot himself so far as to wink at Merytra.
"There, Sister," said the girl, "I always told you that rough shellshave sweet nuts inside of them. Thank you for your compliment, Master oflearning. Will you tell us our fortune for nothing?"
"Yes, yes," he answered; "at least the fee I want will cost you nothing.Now stop this nonsense," he added, anxiously, "I gather that _he_ iscross."
"I never saw him crosser, Kaku. I am glad it is you who reads the stars,not I. Listen!"
As he spoke an angry roar reached them from the high deck above.
"Where is that accursed astrologer?" said the roar.
"There, what did I tell you? Oh! never mind the rest of the papers, goat once. Your robe is full of rolls as it is."
"Yes," answered Kaku as he ran to the ladder, "but the question is, howwill he like what is in the rolls?"
"The gods be with you!" cried one of the girls after him, "you will needthem all."
"And if you get back alive, don't forget your promise about thefortunes," said the other.
A minute later this searcher of the heavens, a tall, hook-nosed man, wasprostrating himself before Abi in his pavilion on the upper deck, so lowthat his Syrian-shaped cap fell from his bald head.
"Why were you so long in coming?" asked Abi.
"Because your slaves could not find me, royal Son of the Sun. I was atwork in my cabin."
"Indeed, I thought I heard them giggling with you down there. What didyou call me? Royal Son of the Sun? That is Pharaoh's name! Have thestars shown you----?" and he looked at him eagerly.
"No, Prince, not exactly that. I did not think it needful to search themon a matter which seems established, more or less."
"More or less," answered Abi gloomily. "What do you mean by your 'moreor less'? Here am I at the turning-point of my fortunes, not knowingwhether I am to be Pharaoh of the Upper and Lower Lands, or only thepetty lord of a city and a few provinces in the Delta, and you satisfymy hunger for the truth with an empty dish of 'more or less.' Man, whatdo you mean?"
"If your Majesty will be pleased to tell his servant exactly what youdesire to know, perhaps I may be able to answer the question," repliedKaku humbly.
"Majesty! Well, I desire to know by what warrant you call me 'Majesty,'who am only Prince of Memphis. Did the stars give it to you? Have youobeyed me and asked them of the future?"
"Certainly, certainly. How could I disobey? I observed them all lastnight, and have been working out the results till this moment; indeed,they are not yet finished. Question and I will answer."
"You will answer, yes, but what will you answer? Not the truth, I fancy,because you are a coward, though if anyone can read the truth, it isyou. Man," he added fiercely, "if you dare to lie to me I will cut yourhead off and take it to Pharaoh as a traitor's; and your body shalllie, not in that fine tomb which you have made, but in the belly of acrocodile whence there is no resurrection. Do you understand? Thenlet us come to the point. Look, the sun sets there behind the Tombs ofKings, where the departed Pharaohs of Egypt take their rest till the Dayof Awakening. It is a bad omen for me, I know, who wished to reach thiscity in the morning when Ra was in the House of Life, the East, and notin the House of Death, the West; but that accursed wind sent by Typhon,held me back and I could not. Well, let us begin at the end which mustcome after all. Tell me, you reader of the heavens, shall I sleep atlast in that valley?"
"I think so, Prince; at least, so says your planet. Look, yonder, itsprings to life above you," and he pointed to an orb that appeared atthe topmost edge of the red glow of the sunset.
"You are keeping something back from me," said Abi, searching Kaku'sface with his fierce eyes. "Shall I sleep in the tomb of Pharaoh, in myown everlasting house that I shall have made ready to receive me?"
"Son of Ra, I cannot say," answered the astrologer. "Divine One, I willbe frank with you. Though you be wrath, yet will I tell you the truthas you command me. An evil influence is at work in your House of Life.Another star crosses and re-crosses your path, and though for a longtime you seem to swallow it up, yet at the last it eclipses you--it andone that goes with it."
"What star?" asked Abi hoarsely, "Pharaoh's?"
"Nay, Prince, the star of Amen."
"Amen! What Amen?"
"Amen the god, Prince, the mighty father of the gods."
"Amen the god," repeated Abi in an awed voice. "How can a man fightagainst a god?"
"Say rather against two gods, for with the star of Amen goes the star ofHathor, Queen of Love. Not for many periods of thousands of years havethey been together, but now they draw near to each other, and so willremain for all your life. Look," and Kaku pointed to the Eastern horizon
where a faint rosy glow still lingered reflected from the western sky.
As they watched this glow melted, and there in the pure heavens, lyingjust where it met the distant land, seeming to rest upon the land,indeed, appeared a bright and beautiful star, and so close to it that,to the eye, they almost touched, a twin star. For a few minutes onlywere they seen; then they vanished beneath the line of the horizon.
"The morning star of Amen, and with it the star of Hathor," said theastrologer.
"Well, Fool, what of it?" exclaimed Abi. "They are far enough frommy star; moreover, it is they that sink, not I, who ride higher everymoment."
"Aye, Prince, but in a year to come they will certainly eclipse thatstar of yours. Prince, Amen and Hathor are against you. Look, I willshow you their journeyings on this scroll and you shall see where theyeat you up yonder, yes, yonder over the Valley of dead Kings, thoughtwenty years and more must go by ere then, and take this for yourcomfort, during those years you shine alone," and he began to unfold apapyrus roll.
Abi snatched it from him, crumpled it up and threw it in his face.
"You cheat!" he said. "Do you think to frighten me with this nonsenseabout stars? Here is my star," and he drew the short sword at his sideand shook it over the head of the trembling Kaku. "This sharp bronzeis the star I follow, and be careful lest it should eclipse _you_, youfather of lies."
"I have told the truth as I see it," answered the poor astrologer withsome dignity, "but if you wish, O Prince, that in the future I shouldindeed prophesy pleasant things to you, why, it can be done easilyenough. Moreover, it seems to me that this horoscope of yours is not soevil, seeing that it gives to you over twenty years of life and power,more by far than most men can expect--at your age. If after that cometroubles and the end, what of it?"
"That is so," replied Abi mollified. "It was my ill-temper, everythinghas gone cross to-day. Well, a gold cup, my own, shall pay the price ofit. Bear me no ill-will, I pray you, learned scribe, and above all tellme no falsehood as the message of the stars you serve. It is the truthI seek, the truth. If only she may be seen, and clasped, I care not howill-favoured is her face."
Rejoicing at the turn which things had taken, and especially at thepromise of the priceless cup which he had long coveted, Kaku bowedobsequiously. He picked up his crumpled roll and was about to retirewhen through the gloom of the falling night, some men mounted upon asseswere seen riding over the mud flats that border the Nile at this spot,towards that bank where the ship was moored.
"The captain of my guard," said Abi, who saw the starlight gleam upona bronze helmet, "who brings me Pharaoh's answer. Nay, go not, bide andhear it, Kaku, and give us your counsel on it, your true counsel."
So the astrologer stood aside and waited, till presently the captainappeared saluting.
"What says Pharaoh, my brother?" asked the Prince.
"Lord, he says that he will receive you, though as he did not send foryou, he thinks that you can scarcely come upon any necessary errand,as he has heard long ago of your victory over the desert-dwellingbarbarians, and does not want the offering of the salted heads of theirofficers which you bring to him."
"Good," said Abi contemptuously. "The divine Pharaoh was ever a woman insuch matters, as in others. Let him be thankful that he has generals whoknow how to make war and to cut off the heads of his enemies in defenceof the kingdom. We will wait upon him to-morrow."
"Lord," added the captain, "that is not all Pharaoh's message. He saysthat it has been reported to him that you are accompanied by a guard ofthree hundred soldiers. These soldiers he refuses to allow within thegates. He directs that you shall appear before his Majesty attended byfive persons only."
"Indeed," answered Abi with a scornful laugh. "Does Pharaoh fear, then,lest I should capture him and his armies and the great city with threehundred soldiers?"
"No, Prince," answered the captain bluntly; "but I think he fears lestyou should kill him and declare yourself Pharaoh as next in blood."
"Ah!" said Abi, "as next of blood. Then I suppose that there are stillno children at the Court?"
"None, O Prince. I saw Ahura, the royal wife, the Lady of the Two Lands,that fairest of women, and other lesser wives and beautiful slave girlswithout number, but never a one of them had an infant on her breast orat her knee. Pharaoh remains childless."
"Ah!" said Abi again. Then he walked forward out of the pavilion whereofthe curtains were drawn back, and stood a while upon the prow of thevessel.
By now night had fallen, and the great moon, rising from the earth as itwere, poured her flood of silver light over the desert, the mountains,the limitless city of Thebes, and the wide rippling bosom of the Nile.The pylons and obelisks, glittering with copper and with gold, toweredto the tender sky. In the window places of palaces and of ten thousandhomes lamps shone like stars. From gardens, streets and the courts oftemples floated the faint sound of singing and of music, while on thegreat embattled walls the watchmen called the hour from post to post.
It was a wondrous scene, and the heart of Abi swelled as he gazed uponit. What wealth lay yonder, and what power. There was the glorious houseof his brother, Pharaoh, the god in human form who for all his godshiphad never a child to follow after him when he ascended to Osiris, as hewho was sickly probably must do before so very long.
Yes, but before then a miracle might happen; in this way or in that asuccessor to the throne might be found and acknowledged, for were notPharaoh and his House beloved by all the priests of Amen, and by thepeople, and was not he, Abi, feared and disliked because he was fierce,and the hated savage blood flowed in his veins? Oh! what evil god hadput it in his father's heart to give him a princess of the Hyksos for amother, the Hyksos, whom the Egyptians loathed, when he had the fairestwomen of the world from whom to choose? Well, it was done and couldnot be undone, though because of it he might lose his heritage of thegreatest throne in all the earth. Also was it not to this fierce Hyksosblood that he owed his strength and vigour?
Why should he wait? Why should he not set his fortune on a cast? He hadthree hundred soldiers with him, picked men and brave, children of thesea and the desert, sworn to his House and interests. It was a time offestival, those gates were ill-guarded. Why should he not force themat the dead of night, make his way to the palace, cause Pharaoh to begathered to his fathers, and at the dawn discover himself seated uponPharaoh's throne? At the thought of it Abi's heart leapt in his breast,his wide nostrils spread themselves, and he erected his strong head asthough already he felt upon it the weight of the double crown. Then heturned and walked back to the pavilion.
"I am minded to strike a blow," he said. "Say now, my officer, would youand the soldiers follow me into the heart of yonder city to-night to wina throne--or a grave? If it were the first, you should be the generalof all my army, and you, astrologer, should become vizier, yes, afterPharaoh you two should be the greatest men in all the land."
They looked at him and gasped.
"A venturesome deed, Prince," said the captain at length; "yet with sucha prize to win I think that I would dare it, though for the soldiersI cannot speak. First they must be told what is on foot, and out of somany, how know we that the heart of one or more would not fail? A wordfrom a traitor and before this time to-morrow the embalmers, or thejackals, would be busy."
Abi heard and looked from him to his companion.
"Prince," said Kaku, "put such thoughts from you. Bury them deep. Letthem rise no more. In the heavens I read something of this business,but then I did not understand, but now I see the black depths of hellopening beneath our feet. Yes, hell would be our home if we dared tolift hand against the divine person of the Pharaoh. I say that the godsthemselves would fight against us. Let it be, Prince, let it be, and youshall have many years of rule, who, if you strike now, will win nothingbut a crown of shame, a nameless grave, and the everlasting torment ofthe damned."
As he spoke Abi considered the man's face and saw that all craft hadleft it. This was no charlatan that spok
e to him, but one in earnest whobelieved what he said.
"So be it," he answered. "I accept your judgment, and will wait upon myfortune. Moreover, you are both right, the thing is too dangerous,and evil often falls on the heads of those who shoot arrows at a god,especially if they have not enough arrows. Let Pharaoh live on while Imake ready. Perhaps to-morrow I may work upon him to name me his heir."
The astrologer sighed in relief, nor did the captain seem disappointed.
"My head feels firmer on my shoulders than it did just now," he said:"and doubtless there are times when wisdom is better than valour.Sleep well, Prince; Pharaoh will receive you to-morrow two hours aftersunrise. Have we your leave to retire?"
"If I were wise," said Abi, fingering the hilt of his sword as he spoke,"you would both of you retire for ever who know all the secret of myheart, and with a whisper could bring doom upon me."
Now the pair looked at each other with frightened eyes, and, like hismaster, the captain began to play with his sword.
"Life is sweet to all men, Prince," he said significantly, "and we havenever given you cause to doubt us."
"No," answered Abi, "had it been otherwise I should have struck firstand spoken afterwards. Only you must swear by the oath which may not bebroken that in life or death no word of this shall pass your lips."
So they swore, both of them, by the holy name of Osiris, the judge andthe redeemer.
"Captain," said Abi, "you have served me well. Your pay is doubled, andI confirm the promise that I made to you--should I ever rule yonder youshall be my general."
While the soldier bowed his thanks, the prince said to Kaku,
"Master of the stars, my gold cup is yours. Is there aught else of minethat you desire?"
"That slave," answered the learned man, "Merytra, whose ears you boxedjust now----"
"How do you know that I boxed her ears?" asked Abi quickly. "Did thestars tell you that also? Well, I am tired of the sly hussy--take her.Soon I think she will box yours."
But when Kaku sought Merytra to tell her the glad tidings that she washis, he could not find her.
Merytra had disappeared.
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