GIFT OF 
 Professor Whitten 
 
MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
WORKS BY H. RIDER HAGGARD 
 
 PARLIAMENTARY BLUE-BOOK 
 REPORT TO H. M.'s GOVERNMENT ON THE SALVATION 
 ARMY COLONIES IN THE UNITED STATES, WITH SCHEME 
 OF NATIONAL LAND SETTLEMENT. [Cd. 2562] 
 
 POLITICAL HISTORY 
 CETEWAYO AND HIS WHITE NEIGHBOURS 
 
 WORKS ON SOCIOLOGY, AGRICULTURE, AND 
 COUNTRY LIFE 
 
 RURAL ENGLAND (2 vols.) THE POOR AND THE LAND 
 
 RURAL DENMARK AND ITS LES- REGENERATION 
 SONS A FARMER'S YEAR 
 
 A GARDENER'S YEAR 
 
 "Mr. Rider Haggard is probably most widely known as a novelist, 
 but, as a matter of fact, there are few men nmu writing English whose 
 books on vital sociological questions are of such value as his, and hardly 
 one among this small number who has grasped as he has grasped the 
 dangers that beset the future of the English-speaking people, and the way 
 these dangers can best be met. " Mr. Theodore Roosevelt in " The Out- 
 look," New York, July i, 1911. 
 
 BOOK OF TRAVEL 
 A WINTER PILGRIMAGE 
 
 NOVELS 
 
 BEATRICE 
 JOAN HASTE 
 
 DAWN 
 
 THE WITCH'S HEAD 
 
 JESS DOCTOR THERNE 
 
 COLONEL QUARITCH, V.C. STELLA FREGELIUS 
 
 MOON OF ISRAEL LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 THE WAY OF THE SPIRIT 
 
 ROMANCES 
 
 KING SOLOMON'S MINES 
 
 SHE 
 
 AYESHA: The Return of She 
 
 ALLAN QUATERMAIN 
 
 MR. MEESON'S WILL 
 
 ALLAN'S WIFE 
 
 CLEOPATRA 
 
 ERIC BRIGHTEYES 
 
 NADA THE LILY 
 
 MONTEZUMA'S DAUGHTER 
 
 THE PEOPLE OF THE MIST 
 
 HEART OF THE WORLD 
 
 SWALLOW 
 
 MARIE 
 
 THE MAHATMA AND THE 
 
 HARE 
 ALLAN AND THE HOLY 
 
 FLOWER 
 FINISHED 
 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 BLACK HEART AND WHITE 
 
 HEART 
 LYSBETH 
 PEARL-MAIDEN 
 THE BRETHREN 
 THE SPIRIT OF BAMBATSE 
 
 (BENITA) 
 MARGARET 
 THE GHOST KINGS 
 THE YELLOW GOD: AN IDOL 
 
 OF AFRICA 
 MORNING STAR 
 THE LADY OF BLOSSHOLME 
 QUEEN SHEBA'S RING 
 RED EVE 
 CHILD OF STORM 
 THE WANDERER'S NECKLACE 
 THE IVORY CHILD 
 WHEN THE WORLD SHOOK 
 
 (In Collaboration with Andrew Lang) 
 THE WORLD'S DESIRE 
 
' Merapi it was indeed . . 
 
 (Page 112) 
 
MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 A TALE OF THE EXODUS 
 
 BY 
 
 H. RIDER HAGGARD 
 
 AUTHOR or " SHE," " ALLAN QUATERMAIN," " MARIE,' 
 "CHILD OF STORM," ETC. 
 
 SECOND IMPRESSION 
 
 LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO. 
 
 FOURTH AVENUE AND 30TH STREET, NEW YORK 
 1920 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY 
 LONGMANS, GREEN AND Co. 
 
 * "Reprinted, '/fpnl," 1919" 
 Reprinted, March, 1920 
 
 Stanhope jpress 
 
 H. GILSON COMPANY 
 BOSTON, U.S.A. 
 
AUTHOR'S NOTE 
 
 THIS book suggests that the real Pharaoh of the 
 Exodus was not Meneptah, or Merenptah, son of 
 Rameses the Great, but the mysterious usurper, Amen- 
 meses, who for a year or two occupied the throne 
 between the death of Meneptah and the accession of 
 his son the heir-apparent, the gentle-natured Seti II. 
 
 Of the fate of Ameumeses history says nothing; he 
 may well have perished in the Red Sea or rather the 
 Sea of Reeds, for, unlike those of Meneptah and the 
 second Seti, his body has not been found. 
 
 Students of Egyptology will be familiar with the 
 writings of the scribe and novelist Anana, or Ana as he 
 is here called. 
 
 It was the Author's hope to dedicate this story to 
 Sir Gaston Maspero, K.C.M.G., Director of the Cairo 
 Museum, with whom on several occasions he discussed 
 its plot some years ago. Unhappily, however, weighed 
 down by one of the bereavements of the war, this 
 great Egyptologist died in the interval between its 
 writing and its publication. Still, since Lady Maspero 
 informs him that such is the wish of his family, he 
 adds the Dedication which he had proposed to offer 
 to that eminent writer and student of the past. 
 
 DEAR SIR GASTON MASPERO, 
 
 When you assured me as to a romance of 
 mine concerning ancient Egypt, that it was so full 
 of the " inner spirit of the old Egyptians " that, 
 
 ^44276 
 
vi AUTHOR'S NOTE 
 
 after kindred efforts of your own and a lifetime of 
 study, you could not conceive how it had been possible 
 for it to spring from the brain of a modern man, I 
 thought your verdict, coming from such a judge, one 
 of the greatest compliments that ever I received. It 
 is this opinion of yours indeed which induces me to 
 offer you another tale of a like complexion. Especially 
 am I encouraged thereto by a certain conversation 
 between us in Cairo, while we gazed at the majestic 
 countenance of Pharaoh Meneptah, for then it was, 
 as you may recall, that you said you thought the plan 
 of this book probable and that it commended itself to 
 your knowledge of those dim days. 
 
 With gratitude for your help and kindness and the 
 sincerest homage to your accumulated lore concerning 
 the most mysterious of all the perished peoples of the 
 earth, 
 
 Believe me to remain 
 
 Your true admirer, 
 
 H. RIDER HAGGARD. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. SCRIBE ANA COMES TO TANIS i 
 
 II. THE BREAKING or THE CUP 13 
 
 III. USERTI 29 
 
 IV. THE COURT OF BETROTHAL 44 
 
 V. THE PROPHECY 60 
 
 VI. THE LAND OF GOSHEN 79 
 
 VII. THE AMBUSH 100 
 
 VIII. SETI COUNSELS PHARAOH 116 
 
 IX. THE SMITING OF AMON 132 
 
 X. THE DEATH OF PHARAOH 148 
 
 XI. THE CROWNING OF AMENMESES 168 
 
 XII. THE MESSAGE OF JABEZ 183 
 
 XIII. THE RED NILE 201 
 
 XIV. Ki COMES TO MEMPHIS 217 
 
 XV. THE NIGHT OF FEAR 239 
 
 XVI. JABEZ SELLS HORSES 255 
 
 XVII. THE DREAM OF MERAPI 269 
 
 XVIII. THE CROWNING OF MERAPI 285 
 
 vii 
 
MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 SCRIBE ANA COMES TO TANIS 
 
 THIS is the story of me, Ana the scribe, son of Men, 
 and of certain of the days that I have spent upon the 
 earth. These things I have written down now that I 
 am very old in the reign of Rameses, the third of that 
 name, when Egypt is once more strong and as she was 
 in the ancient time. I have written them before death 
 takes me, that they may be buried with me in death, 
 for as my spirit shall arise in the hour of resurrection, 
 so also these my words may arise in their hour and 
 tell to those who shall come after me upon the earth 
 of what I knew upon the earth. Let it be as Those in 
 heaven shall decree. At least I write and what I write 
 is true. 
 
 I tell of his divine Majesty whom I loved and love as 
 my own soul, Seti Meneptah the second, whose day of 
 birth was my day of birth, the Hawk who has flown to 
 heaven before me; of Userti the Proud, his queen, she 
 who afterwards married his divine Majesty, Saptah, 
 whom I saw laid in her tomb at Thebes. I tell of 
 Merapi, who was named Moon of Israel, and of her 
 people, the Hebrews, who dwelt for long in Egypt and 
 departed thence, having paid us back in loss and shame 
 
2 '.:.. \MPP>E OF ISRAEL 
 * *** 
 
 for 4il:d)fe g(icfti;aji4 &\ V$ gaye them. I tell of the war 
 between the "gods b! Egypt and the god of Israel, and of 
 much that befell therein. 
 
 Also I, the King's Companion, the great scribe, the 
 beloved of the Pharaohs who have lived beneath the 
 sun with me, tell of other men and matters. Behold! 
 is it not written in this roll? Read, ye who shall find in 
 the days unborn, if your gods have given you skill. 
 Read, O children of the future, and learn the secrets of 
 that past which to you is so far away and yet in truth 
 so near. 
 
 As it chanced, although the Prince Seti and I were 
 born upon the same day and therefore, like the other 
 mothers of gentle rank whose children saw the light 
 upon that day, my mother received Pharaoh's gift and 
 I received the title of Royal Twin in Ra, never did I set 
 eyes upon the divine Prince Seti until the thirtieth 
 birthday of both of us. All of which happened thus. 
 
 In those days the great Pharaoh, Rameses the sec- 
 ond, and after him his son Meneptah who succeeded 
 when he was already old, since the mighty Rameses 
 was taken to Osiris after he had counted one hundred 
 risings of the Nile, dwelt for the most part at the city 
 of Tanis in the desert, whereas I dwelt with my parents 
 at the ancient, white-walled city of Memphis on the 
 Nile. At times Meneptah and his court visited Mem- 
 phis, as also they visited Thebes, where this king lies 
 in his royal tomb to-day. But save on one occasion, 
 the young Prince Seti, the heir-apparent, the Hope of 
 Egypt, came not with them, because his mother, Asne- 
 fert, did not favour Memphis, where some trouble had 
 befallen her in youth they say it was a love matter 
 
SCRIBE ANA COMES TO TANIS 3 
 
 that cost the lover his life and her a sore heart and 
 Seti stayed with his mother who would not suffer him 
 out of sight of her eyes. 
 
 Once he came indeed when he was fifteen years of 
 age, to be proclaimed to the people as son of his father, 
 as Son of the Sun, as the future wearer of the Double 
 Crown, and then we, his twins in Ra there were 
 nineteen of us who were gently born were called by 
 name to meet him and to kiss his royal feet. I made 
 ready to go in a fine new robe embroidered in purple 
 with the name of Seti and my own. But on that very 
 morning by the gift of some evil god I was smitten with 
 spots all over my face and body, a common sickness 
 that affects the young. So it happened that I did not 
 see the Prince, for before I was well again he had left 
 Memphis. 
 
 Now my father Meri was a scribe of the great temple 
 of Ptah, and I was brought up to his trade in the school 
 of the temple, where I copied many rolls and also wrote 
 out Books of the Dead which I adorned with paintings. 
 Indeed, in this business I became so clever that, after 
 my father went blind some years before his death, I 
 earned enough to keep him, and my sisters also until 
 they married. Mother I had none, for she was 
 gathered to Osiris while I was still very little. So life 
 went on from year to year, but in my heart I hated my 
 lot. While I was still a boy there rose up in me a desire 
 not to copy what others had written, but to write 
 what others should copy. I became a dreamer of 
 dreams. Walking at night beneath the palm-trees up- 
 on the banks of Nile I watched the moon shining upon 
 the waters, and in its rays I seemed to see many beauti- 
 ful things. Pictures appeared there which were differ- 
 
4 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 ent from any that I saw in the world of men, although 
 in them were men and women and even gods. 
 
 Of these pictures I made stories in my heart and at 
 last, although that was not for some years, I began to 
 write these stories down in my spare hours. My sis- 
 ters found me doing so and told my father, who scolded 
 me for such foolishness which he said would never fur- 
 nish me with bread and beer. But still I wrote on in 
 secret by the light of the lamp in my chamber at night. 
 Then my sisters married, and one day my father died 
 suddenly while he was reciting prayers in the temple. 
 I caused him to be embalmed in the best fashion and 
 buried with honour in the tomb he had made ready for 
 himself, although to pay the costs I was obliged to copy 
 Books of the Dead for nearly two years, working so 
 hard that I found no time for the writing of stories. 
 
 When at length I was free from debt I met a maiden 
 from Thebes with a beautiful face that always seemed 
 to smile, and she took my heart from my breast into 
 her own. In the end, after I returned from fighting in 
 the war against the Nine Bow Barbarians, to which I 
 was summoned like other young men, I married her. 
 As for her name, let it be, I will not think of it 
 even to myself. We had one child, a little girl which 
 died within two years of her birth, and then I learned 
 what sorrow can mean to man. At first my wife was 
 sad, but her grief departed with time and she smiled 
 again as she used to do. Only she said that she would 
 bear no more children for the gods to take. Having 
 little to do she began to go about the city and make 
 friends whom I did not know, for of these, being a 
 beautiful woman, she found many. The end of it was 
 that she departed back to Thebes with a soldier whom 
 
SCRIBE ANA COMES TO TANIS 5 
 
 I had never even seen, for I was always working at 
 home thinking of the babe who was dead and how hap- 
 piness is a bird that no man can snare, though some- 
 times, of its own will, it flies in at his window-place. 
 
 It was after this that my hair went white before I 
 had counted thirty years. 
 
 Now, as I had none to work for and my wants were 
 few and simple, I found more time for the writing of 
 stories which, for the most part, were somewhat sad. 
 One of these stories a fellow scribe borrowed from me 
 and read aloud to a company, whom it pleased so much 
 that there were, many who asked leave to copy it and 
 publish it abroad. So by degrees I became known as a 
 teller of tales, which tales I caused to be copied and sold, 
 though out of them I made but little. Still my fame 
 grew till on a day I received a message from the Prince 
 Seti, my twin in Ra, saying that he had read certain 
 of my writings which pleased him much and that it was 
 his wish to look upon my face. I thanked him humbly 
 by the messenger and answered that I would travel to 
 Tanis and wait upon his Highness. First, however, 
 I finished the longest story which I had yet written. 
 It was called the Tale of Two Brothers, and told how 
 the faithless wife of one of them brought trouble on 
 the other, so that he was killed. Of how, also, the just 
 gods brought him to life again, and many other mat- 
 ters. This story I dedicated to his Highness, the 
 Prince Seti, and with it in the bosom of my robe I trav- 
 elled to Tanis, having hidden about me a sum of gold 
 that I had saved. 
 
 So I came to Tanis at the beginning of winter and, 
 walking to the palace of the Prince, boldly demanded 
 an audience. But now my troubles began, for the 
 
6 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 guards and watchmen thrust me from the doors. In 
 the end I bribed them and was admitted to the ante- 
 chambers, where were merchants, jugglers, dancing- 
 women, officers, and many others, all of them, it 
 seemed, waiting to see the Prince; folk who, having 
 nothing to do, pleased themselves by making mock of 
 me, a stranger. When I had mixed with them for 
 several days, I gained their friendship by telling to 
 them one of my stories, after which I was always wel- 
 come among them. Still I could come no nearer to 
 the Prince, and as my store of money was beginning 
 to run low, I bethought me that I would return to 
 Memphis. 
 
 One day, however, a long-bearded old man, with a 
 gold-tipped wand of office, who had a bull's head em- 
 broidered on his robe, stopped in front of me and, call- 
 ing me a white-headed crow, asked me what I was doing 
 hopping day by day about the chambers of the pal- 
 ace. I told him my name and business and he told me 
 his, which it seemed was Pambasa, one of the Prince's 
 chamberlains. When I asked him to take me to the 
 Prince, he laughed in my face and said darkly that the 
 road to his Highness's presence was paved with gold. 
 I understood what he meant and gave him a gift which 
 he took as readily as a cock picks corn, saying that he 
 would speak of me to his master and that I must come 
 back again. 
 
 I came thrice and each time that old cock picked 
 more corn. At last I grew enraged and, forgetting 
 where I was, began to shout at him and call him a thief, 
 so that folks gathered round to listen. This seemed to 
 frighten him. At first he looked towards the door as 
 though to summon the guard to thrust me out; then 
 
SCRIBE ANA COMES TO TANIS 7 
 
 changed his mind, and in a grumbling voice bade me 
 follow him. We went down long passages, past sol- 
 diers who stood at watch in them still as mummies in 
 their coffins, till at length we came to some broidered 
 curtains. Here Pambasa whispered to me to wait, and 
 passed through the curtains which he left not quite 
 closed, so that I could see the room beyond and hear all 
 that took place there. 
 
 It was a small room like to that of any scribe, for on 
 the tables were palettes, pens of reed, ink in alabaster 
 vases, and sheets of papyrus pinned upon boards. 
 The walls were painted, not as I was wont to paint the 
 Books of the Dead, but after the fashion of an earlier 
 time, such as I have seen in certain ancient tombs, 
 with pictures of wild fowl rising from the swamps and 
 of trees and plants as they grow. Against the walls 
 hung racks in which were papyrus rolls, and on the 
 hearth burned a fire of cedar-wood. 
 
 By this fire stood the Prince, whom I knew from his 
 statues. His years appeared fewer than mine although 
 we were born upon the same day, and he was tall and 
 thin, very fair also for one of our people, perhaps be- 
 cause of the Syrian blood that ran in his veins. His 
 hair was straight and brown like to that of northern 
 folk who come to trade in the markets of Egypt, and 
 his eyes were grey rather than black, set beneath 
 somewhat prominent brows such as those of his father, 
 Meneptah. His face was sweet as a woman's, but 
 made curious by certain wrinkles which ran from the 
 corners of the eyes towards the ears. I think that 
 these came from the bending of the brow in thought, 
 but others say that they were inherited from an ances- 
 tress on the female side. Bakenkhonsu my friend, 
 
8 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 the old prophet who served under the first Seti and 
 died but the other day, having lived a hundred and 
 twenty years, told me that he knew her before she was 
 married, and that she and her descendant, Seti, might 
 have been twins. 
 
 In his hand the Prince held an open roll, a very an- 
 cient writing as I, who am skilled in such matters 
 that have to do with my trade, knew from its appear- 
 ance. Lifting his eyes suddenly from the study of this 
 roll, he saw the chamberlain standing before him. 
 
 'You come at a good time, Pambasa,' he said in a 
 voice that was very soft and pleasant, and yet most 
 manlike. 'You are old and doubtless wise. Say, are 
 you wise, Pambasa?' 
 
 1 Yes, your Highness. I am wise like your High- 
 ness's uncle, Khaemuas the mighty magician, whose 
 sandals I used to clean when I was young.' 
 
 'Is it so? Then why are you so careful to hide your 
 wisdom which should be open like a flower for us poor 
 bees to suck at? Well, I am glad to learn that you are 
 wise, for in this book of magic that I have been reading 
 I find problems worthy of Khaemuas the departed, 
 whom I only remember as a brooding, black-browed 
 man much like my cousin, Amenmeses his son save 
 that no one can call Amenmeses wise.' 
 
 1 Why is your Highness glad? ' 
 
 1 Because you, being by your own account his equal, 
 can now interpret the matter as Khaemuas would have 
 done. You know, Pambasa, that had he lived he 
 would have been Pharaoh in place of my father. He 
 died too soon, however, which proves to me that there 
 was something in this tale of his wisdom, since no really 
 wise man would ever wish to be Pharaoh of Egypt.' 
 
SCRIBE ANA COMES TO TANIS 9 
 
 Pambasa stared with his mouth open. 
 
 'Not wish to be Pharaoh!' he began - 
 
 'Now, Pambasa the Wise/ went on the Prince as 
 though he had not heard him. 'Listen. This old 
 book gives a charm " to empty the heart of its weari- 
 ness," that it says is the oldest and most common sick- 
 ness in the world from which only kittens, some 
 children, and mad people are free. It appears that 
 the cure for this sickness, so says the book, is to stand 
 on the top of the pyramid of Khufu at midnight at 
 that moment when the moon is largest in the whole 
 year, and drink from the cup of dreams, reciting mean- 
 while a spell written here at length in language which I 
 cannot read/ 
 
 'There is no virtue in spells, Prince, if anyone can 
 read them/ 
 
 'And no use, it would seem, if they can be read by 
 none/ 
 
 'Moreover, how can any one climb the pyramid of 
 Khufu, which is covered with polished marble, even 
 in the day let alone at midnight, your Highness, and 
 there drink of the cup of dreams?' 
 
 'I do not know, Pambasa. All I know is that I 
 weary of this foolishness, and of the world. Tell me of 
 something that will lighten my heart, for it is heavy/ 
 
 'There are jugglers without, Prince, one of whom 
 says he can throw a rope into the air and climb up it 
 until he vanishes into heaven/ 
 
 'When he has done it in your sight, Pambasa, bring 
 him to me, but not before. Death is the only rope by 
 which we can climb to heaven or be lowered into 
 hell. For remember there is a god called Set, after 
 whom, like my great-grandfather, I am named by the 
 
io MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 way the priests alone know why as well as one 
 called Osiris/ 
 
 4 Then there are the dancers, Prince, and among 
 them some very finely made girls, for I saw them bath- 
 ing in the palace lake, such as would have delighted the 
 heart of your grandfather, the great Rameses/ 
 
 'They do not delight my heart who want no naked 
 women prancing here. Try again, Pambasa/ 
 
 'I can think of nothing else, Prince. Yet, stay. 
 There is a scribe without named Ana, a thin, sharp- 
 nosed man who says he is your Highness's twin in Ra/ 
 
 ' Ana ! ' said the Prince. ' He of Memphis who writes 
 stories? Why did you not say so before, you old fool? 
 Let him enter at once, at once/ 
 
 Now hearing this I, Ana, walked through the cur- 
 tains and prostrated myself, saying, 
 
 'I am that scribe, O Royal Son of the Sun.' 
 
 'How dare you enter the Prince's presence without 
 
 being bidden ' began Pambasa, but Seti broke in 
 
 with a stern voice, saying, 
 
 'And how dare you, Pambasa, keep this learned 
 man waiting at my door like a dog? Rise, Ana, and 
 cease from giving me titles, for we are not at Court. 
 Tell me, how long have you been in Tanis?' 
 
 'Many days, O Prince' I answered, 'seeking your 
 presence and in vain/ 
 
 'And how did you win it at last?' 
 
 'By payment, O Prince/' I answered innocently, 'as 
 it seems is usual. The doorkeepers - 
 
 'I understand/ said Seti, 'the doorkeepers! Pam- 
 basa, you will ascertain what amount this learned 
 scribe has disbursed to " the doorkeepers" and refund 
 him double. Begone now and see to the matter/ 
 
SCRIBE ANA COMES TO TANIS n 
 
 So Pambasa went, casting a piteous look at me out 
 of the corner of his eye. 
 
 'Tell me,' said Seti when he was gone, 'you who 
 must be wise in your fashion, why does a Court always 
 breed thieves?' 
 
 'I suppose for the same reason, O Prince, that a 
 dog's back breeds fleas. Fleas must live, and there is 
 the dog.' 
 
 'True,' he answered, 'and these palace fleas are not 
 paid enough. If ever I have power I will see to it. 
 They shall be fewer but better fed. Now, Ana, be 
 seated. I know you though you do not know me, and 
 already I have learned to love you through your writ- 
 ings. Tell me of yourself.' 
 
 So I told him all my simple tale, to which he listened 
 without a word, and then asked me why I had come to 
 see him. I replied that it was because he had sent for 
 me, which he had forgotten; also because I brought 
 him a story that I had dared to dedicate to him. Then 
 I laid the roll before him on the table. 
 
 'I am honoured,' he said in a pleased voice, 'I am 
 greatly honoured. If I like it well, your story shall go 
 to the tomb with me for my Ka to read and re-read un- 
 til the day of resurrection, though first I will study it 
 in the flesh. Do you know this city of Tanis, Ana? ' 
 
 I answered that I knew little of it, who had spent my 
 time here haunting the doors of his Highness. 
 
 'Then with your leave I will be your guide through 
 it this night, and afterwards we will sup and talk.' 
 
 I bowed and he clapped his hands, whereon a servant 
 appeared, not Pambasa, but another. 
 
 'Bring two cloaks,' said the Prince, 'I go abroad 
 with the scribe, Ana. Let a guard of four Nubians, no 
 
12 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 more, follow us, but at a distance and disguised. Let 
 them wait at the private entrance.' 
 
 The man bowed and departed swiftly. 
 
 Almost immediately a black slave appeared with 
 two long hooded cloaks, such as camel-drivers wear, 
 which he helped us to put on. Then, taking a lamp, 
 he led us from the room through a doorway opposite 
 to that by which I had entered, down passages and a 
 narrow stair that ended in a courtyard. Crossing this 
 we came to a wall, great and thick, in which were 
 double doors sheathed with copper that opened myste- 
 riously at our approach. Outside of these doors stood 
 four tall men, also wrapped in cloaks, who seemed 
 to take no note of us. Still, looking back when we had 
 gone a little way, I observed that they were following 
 us, as though by chance. 
 
 How fine a thing, thought I to myself, it is to be a 
 Prince who by lifting a finger can thus command serv- 
 ice at any moment of the day or night. 
 
 Just at that moment Seti said to me, 
 
 ' See, Ana, how sad a thing it is to be a Prince, who 
 cannot even stir abroad without notice to his house- 
 hold and commanding the service of a secret guard to 
 spy upon his every action, and doubtless to make re- 
 port thereof to the police of Pharaoh.' 
 
 There are two faces to everything, thought I to my- 
 self again. 
 
CHAPTER H 
 
 THE BREAKING OF THE CUP 
 
 WE walked down a broad street bordered by trees, 
 beyond which were lime- washed, flat-roofed houses 
 built of sun-dried brick, standing, each of them, in its 
 own garden, till at length we came to the great market- 
 place just as the full moon rose above the palm-trees, 
 making the world almost as light as day. Tanis, or 
 Rameses as it is also called, was a very fine city then, 
 if only half the size of Memphis, though now that the 
 Court has left it I hear it is much deserted. About 
 this market-place stood great temples of the gods, with 
 pylons and avenues of sphinxes, also that wonder of the 
 world, the colossal statue of the second Rameses, 
 while to the north upon a mound was the glorious 
 palace of Pharaoh. Other palaces there were also, 
 inhabited by the nobles and officers of the Court, and 
 between them ran long streets where dwelt the citizens, 
 ending, some of them, on that branch of the Nile by 
 which the ancient city stood. 
 
 Seti halted to gaze at these wondrous buildings. 
 
 'There are very old/ he said, 'but most of them, like 
 the walls and those temples of Amon and of Ptah, have 
 been rebuilt in the time of my grandfather or since his 
 day by the labour of Israelitish slaves who dwell yon- 
 der in the rich land of Goshen.' 
 
 'They must have cost much gold/ I answered. 
 
 13 
 
14 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 'The Kings of Egypt do not pay their slaves/ re- 
 plied the Prince shortly. 
 
 Then we went on and mingled with the thousands of 
 the people who were wandering to and fro seeking rest 
 after the business of the day. Here on the frontier of 
 Egypt were gathered folk of every race; Bedouins 
 from the desert, Syrians from beyond the Red Sea, 
 merchants from the rich Isle of Chittim, travellers 
 from the coast, and traders from the land of Punt and 
 from the unknown countries of the north. All were 
 talking, laughing and making merry, save some who 
 gathered in circles to listen to a teller of tales or wan- 
 dering musicians, or to watch women who danced half 
 naked for gifts. 
 
 Now and again the crowd would part to let pass the 
 chariot of some noble or lady before which went run- 
 ning footmen who shouted, 'Make way, Make way!' 
 and laid about them with their long wands. Then 
 came a procession of the white-robed priests of Isis 
 travelling by moonlight as was fitting for the servants 
 of the Lady of the Moon, and bearing aloft the holy 
 image of the goddess before which all men bowed and 
 for a little while were silent. After this followed the 
 corpse of some great one newly dead, preceded by a 
 troop of hired mourners who rent the air with their 
 lamentations as they conducted it to the quarter of the 
 embalmers. Lastly, from out of one of the side streets 
 emerged a gang of several hundred hook-nosed and 
 bearded men, among whom were a few women, loosely 
 roped together and escorted by a company of armed 
 guards. 
 
 'Who are these?' I asked, for I had never seen their 
 like. 
 
THE BREAKING OF THE CUP 15 
 
 ' Slaves of the people of Israel who return from their 
 labour at the digging of the new canal which is to run 
 to the Red Sea/ answered the Prince. 
 
 We stood still to watch them go by, and I noted 
 how proudly their eyes flashed and how fierce was 
 their bearing although they were but men in bonds, 
 very weary too and stained by toil in mud and water. 
 Presently this happened. A white-bearded man lagged 
 behind, dragging on the line and checking the march. 
 Thereupon an overseer ran up and flogged him with a 
 cruel whip cut from the hide of the sea-horse. The 
 man turned and, lifting a wooden spade which he car- 
 ried, struck the overseer such a blow that he cracked 
 his skull so that he fell down dead. Other overseers 
 rushed at the Hebrew, as these Israelites were called, 
 and beat him till he also fell. Then a soldier appeared 
 and, seeing what had happened, drew his bronze 
 sword. From among the throng sprang out a girl, 
 young and very lovely although she was but roughly 
 clad. 
 
 Since then I have seen Merapi, Moon of Israel, as 
 she was called, clad in the proud raiment of a queen, 
 and once even of a goddess, but never, I think, did she 
 look more beauteous than in this hour of her slavery. 
 Her large eyes, neither blue nor black, caught the light 
 of the moon and were aswim with tears. Her plente- 
 ous bronze-hued hair flowed in great curls over the 
 snow-white bosom that her rough robe revealed. Her 
 delicate hands were lifted as though to ward off the 
 blows which fell upon him whom she sought to protect. 
 Her tall and slender shape stood out against a flare of 
 light which burned upon some market stall. She was 
 beauteous exceedingly, so beauteous that my heart 
 
16 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 stood still at the sight of her, yes, mine that for some 
 years had held no thought of woman save such as were 
 black and evil. 
 
 She cried aloud. Standing over the fallen man she 
 appealed to the soldier for mercy. Then, seeing that 
 there was none to hope for from him, she cast her great 
 eyes around until they fell upon the Prince Seti. 
 
 'Oh! Sir, 7 she wailed, 'you have a noble air. Will 
 you stand by and see my father murdered for no fault? ' 
 
 'Drag her off, or I smite through her/ shouted the 
 captain, for now she had thrown herself down upon the 
 fallen Israelite. The overseers obeyed, tearing her 
 away. 
 
 'Hold, butcher!' cried the Prince. 
 
 'Who are you, dog, that dare to teach Pharaoh's 
 officer his duty?' answered the captain, smiting the 
 Prince in the face with his left hand. 
 
 Then swiftly he struck downwards and I saw the 
 bronze sword pass through the body of the Israelite 
 who quivered and lay still. It was all done in an in- 
 stant, and on the silence that followed rang out the 
 sound of a woman's wail. For a moment Seti choked 
 - with rage, I think. Then he spoke a single word - 
 'Guards!' 
 
 The four Nubians, who, as ordered, had kept at a 
 distance, burst through the gathered throng. Ere they 
 reached us I, who till now had stood amazed, sprang at 
 the captain and gripped him by the throat. He struck 
 at me with his bloody sword, but the blow, falling 
 on my long cloak, only bruised me on the left thigh. 
 Then I, who was strong in those days, grappled with 
 him and we rolled together on the ground. 
 
 After this there was great tumult. The Hebrew 
 
THE BREAKING OF THE CUP 17 
 
 slaves burst their rope and flung themselves upon the 
 soldiers like dogs upon a jackal, battering them with 
 their bare fists. The soldiers defended themselves 
 with swords; the overseers plied their hide whips; 
 women screamed, men shouted. The captain whom I 
 had seized began to get the better of me; at least I 
 saw his sword flash above me and thought that all was 
 over. Doubtless it would have been, had not Seti 
 himself dragged the man backwards and thus given 
 the four Nubian guards time to seize him. Next I 
 heard the Prince cry out in a ringing voice, 
 
 'Hold! It is Seti, the son of Pharaoh, the Governor 
 of Tanis, with whom you have to do. See/ and he 
 threw back the hood of his cloak so that the moon 
 shone upon his face. 
 
 Instantly there was a great quiet. Now, first one 
 and then another as the truth sank into them, men be- 
 gan to fall upon their knees, and I heard one say in an 
 awed voice, 
 
 'The royal Son, the Prince of Egypt struck in the 
 face by a soldier! Blood must pay for it.' 
 
 'How is that officer named?' asked Seti, pointing 
 to the man who had killed the Israelite and well-nigh 
 killed me. 
 
 Someone answered that he was named Khuaka. 
 
 'Bring him to the steps of the temple of Amon,' said 
 Seti to the Nubians who held him fast. 'Follow me, 
 friend Ana, if you have the strength. Nay, lean upon 
 my shoulder.' 
 
 So resting upon the shoulder of the Prince, for I was 
 bruised and breathless, I walked with him a hundred 
 paces or more to the steps of the great temple where we 
 climbed to the platform at the head of the stairs. 
 
i8 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 After us came the prisoner, and after him all the multi- 
 tude, a very great number who stood upon the steps 
 and on the flat ground beyond. The Prince, who was 
 very white and quiet, sat himself down upon the low 
 granite base of a tall obelisk which stood in front of the 
 temple pylon, and said, 
 
 'As Governor of Tanis, the City of Rameses, with 
 power of life and death at all hours and in all places, 
 I declare my Court open.' 
 
 'The Royal Court is open!' cried the multitude in 
 the accustomed form. 
 
 'This is the case/ said the Prince. 'Yonder man 
 who is named Khuaka, by his dress a captain of Pha- 
 raoh's army, is charged with the murder of a certain 
 Hebrew, and with the attempted murder of Ana the 
 scribe. Let witnesses be called. Bring the body of 
 the dead man and lay it here before me. Bring the 
 woman who strove to protect him, that she may speak.' 
 
 The body was brought and laid upon the platform, 
 its wide eyes staring up at the moon. Then soldiers 
 who had gathered thrust forward the weeping girl. 
 
 'Cease from tears,' said Seti, 'and swear by Kephera 
 the creator, and by Maat the goddess of truth and law, 
 to speak nothing but the truth.' 
 
 The girl looked up and said in a rich low voice that 
 in some way reminded me of honey being poured from 
 a jar, perhaps because it was thick with strangled sobs, 
 
 'O Royal Son of Egypt, I cannot swear by those gods 
 who am a daughter of Israel.' 
 
 The Prince looked at her attentively and asked, 
 
 'By what god then can you swear, O Daughter of 
 Israel?' 
 
 'By Jahveh, Prince, whom we hold to be the one 
 
THE BREAKING OF THE CUP 19 
 
 and only God, the Maker of the world and all that is 
 therein.' 
 
 'Then perhaps his other name is Kephera/ said the 
 Prince with a little smile. 'But have it as you will. 
 Swear, then, by your god Jahveh.' 
 
 Then she lifted both her hands above her head and 
 said, 
 
 'I, Merapi, daughter of Nathan of the tribe of Levi 
 of the people of Israel, swear that I will speak the 
 truth and all the truth in the name of Jahveh, the God 
 of Israel.' 
 
 'Tell us what you know of the matter of the death 
 of this man, O Merapi/ 
 
 'Nothing that you do not know yourself, O Prince. 
 He who lies there/ and she swept her hand towards 
 the corpse, turning her eyes away, 'was my father, an 
 elder of Israel. The captain Khuaka came when the 
 corn was young to the Land of Goshen to choose those 
 who should work for Pharaoh. He wished to take me 
 into his house. My father refused because from my 
 childhood I had been affianced to a man of Israel; also 
 because it is not lawful under our law for our people 
 to intermarry with your people. Then the captain 
 Khuaka seized my father, although he was of high 
 rank and beyond the age to work for Pharaoh, and he 
 was taken away, as I think, because he would not suf- 
 fer me to wed Khuaka. A while later I dreamed that 
 my father was sick. Thrice I dreamed it and ran 
 away to Tanis to visit him. But this morning I found 
 him and, O Prince, you know the rest.' 
 
 'Is there no more?' asked Seti. 
 
 The girl hesitated, then answered, 
 
 'Only this, O Prince. This man saw me with my 
 
20 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 father giving him food, for he was weak and overcome 
 with the toil of digging the mud in the heat of the sun, 
 he who being a noble of our people knew nothing of 
 such labour from his youth. In my presence Khuaka 
 asked my father if now he would give me to him. My 
 father answered that sooner would he see me kissed by 
 snakes and devoured by crocodiles. " I hear you," 
 answered Khuaka. " Learn, now, slave Nathan, be- 
 fore to-morrow's sun arises, you shall be kissed by 
 swords and devoured by crocodiles or jackals." " So 
 be it," said my father, " but learn, O Khuaka, that if 
 so, it is revealed to me who am a priest and a prophet 
 of Jahveh, that before to-morrow's sun you also shall 
 be kissed by swords and of the rest we will talk at the 
 foot of Jahveh's throne."' 
 
 ' Afterwards, as you know, Prince, the overseer 
 flogged my father as I heard Khuaka order him to do 
 if he lagged through weariness, and then Khuaka killed 
 him because my father in his madness struck the over- 
 seer with a mattock. I have no more to say, save 
 that I pray that I may be sent back to my own people 
 there to mourn my father according to our custom.' 
 
 'To whom would you be sent? Your mother?' 
 
 'Nay, O Prince, my mother, a lady of Syria, is dead. 
 I will go to my uncle, Jabez the Levite.' 
 
 'Stand aside,' said Seti. 'The matter shall be seen 
 to later. Appear, O Ana the Scribe. Swear the oath 
 and tell us what you have seen of this man's death, 
 since two witnesses are needful.' 
 
 So I swore and repeated all this story that I have 
 written down. 
 
 'Now, Khuaka,' said the Prince when I had finished, 
 'have you aught to say?' 
 
THE BREAKING OF THE CUP 21 
 
 'Only this, O Royal One/ answered the captain 
 throwing himself upon his knees, ' that I struck you by 
 accident, not knowing that the person of your High- 
 ness was hidden in that long cloak. For this deed it is 
 true I am worthy of death, but I pray you to pardon 
 me because I knew not what I did. The rest is noth- 
 ing, since I only slew a mutinous slave of the Israelites, 
 as such are slain every day/ 
 
 'Tell me, O Khuaka, who are being tried for this 
 man's death and not for the striking of one of royal 
 blood by chance, under which law it is lawful for you 
 to kill an Israelite without trial before the appointed 
 officers of Pharaoh. 7 
 
 'I am not learned. I do not know the law, O Prince. 
 All that this woman said is false.' 
 
 1 At least it is not false that yonder man lies dead and 
 that you slew him, as you yourself admit. Learn now, 
 and let all Egypt learn, that even an Israelite may not 
 be murdered for no offence save that of weariness and 
 of paying back unearned blow with blow. Your blood 
 shall answer for his blood. Soldiers! Strike off his 
 head.' 
 
 The Nubians leapt upon him, and when I looked 
 again Khuaka's headless corpse lay by the corpse of 
 the Hebrew Nathan and their blood was mingled upon 
 the steps of the temple. 
 
 'The business of the Court is finished,' said the 
 Prince. 'Officers, see that this woman is escorted to 
 her own people, and with her the body of her father for 
 burial. See, too, upon your lives that no insult or 
 harm is done to her. Scribe Ana, accompany me hence 
 to my house where I would speak with you. Let 
 guards precede and follow me. J 
 
22 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 He rose and all the people bowed. As he turned to 
 go the lady Merapi stepped forward, and falling upon 
 her knees, said, 
 
 'O most just Prince, now and ever I am your serv- 
 ant/ 
 
 Then we set out, and as we left the market-place on 
 our way to the palace of the Prince, I heard a tumult of 
 voices rise behind us, some in praise and some in blame 
 of what had been done. We walked on in silence 
 broken only by the measured tramp of the guards. 
 Presently the moon passed behind a cloud and the 
 world was dark. Then from the edge of the cloud 
 sprang out a ray of light that lay straight and narrow 
 above us on the heavens. Seti studied it a while and 
 said, 
 
 'Tell me, O Ana, of what does that moonbeam put 
 you in mind?' 
 
 'Of a sword, O Prince,' I answered, 'stretched out 
 over Egypt and held in the black hand of some mighty 
 god or spirit. See, there is the blade from which fall 
 little clouds like drops of blood, there the hilt of gold, 
 and look! there beneath is the face of the god. Fire 
 streams from his eyeholes and his brow is black and 
 awful. I am afraid, though what I fear I know 
 not.' 
 
 'You have a poet's mind, Ana. Still, what you see 
 I see and of this I am sure, that some sword of ven- 
 geance is indeed stretched out over Egypt because of 
 its evil doings, whereof this light may be the symbol. 
 Behold! it seems to fall upon the temples of the gods 
 and the palace of Pharaoh, and to cleave them. Now 
 it is gone and the night is as nights were from the be- 
 ginning of the world. Come to my chamber and let us 
 
THE BREAKING OF THE CUP 23 
 
 eat. I am weary, I need food and wine, as you must 
 after struggling with that lustful murderer whom I 
 have sent to his own place.' 
 
 The guards saluted and were dismissed. We 
 mounted to the Prince's private chambers, in one of 
 which his servants clad me in fine linen robes after a 
 skilled physician of the household had doctored the 
 bruises upon my thigh over which he tied a bandage 
 spread with balm. Then I was led to a small dining- 
 hall, where I found the Prince waiting for me as though 
 I were some honoured guest and not a poor scribe who 
 had wondered hence from Memphis with my wares. 
 He caused me to sit down at his right hand and even 
 drew up the chair for me himself, whereat I felt 
 abashed. To this day I remember that leather -sea ted 
 chair. The arms of it ended in ivory sphinxes and on 
 its back of black wood in an oval was inlaid the name 
 of the great Rameses, to whom indeed it had once be- 
 longed. Dishes were handed to us only two of 
 them and those quite simple, for Seti was no great 
 eater by a young Nubian slave of a very merry face, 
 and with them wine more delicious than any I had 
 ever tasted. 
 
 We ate and drank and the Prince talked to me of 
 my business as a scribe and of the making of tales, 
 which seemed to interest him very much. Indeed one 
 might have thought that he was a pupil in the schools 
 and I the teacher, so humbly and with such care did he 
 weigh everything that I said about my art. Of matters 
 of state or of the dreadful scene of blood through which 
 we had just passed he spoke no word. At the end, 
 however, after a little pause during which he held up a 
 cup of alabaster as thin as an eggshell, studying the 
 
24 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 light playing through it on the rich red wine within, he 
 said to me, 
 
 t Friend Ana, we have passed a stirring hour to- 
 gether, the first perhaps of many, or mayhap the last. 
 Also we were born upon the same day and therefore, 
 unless the astrologers lie, as do other men and 
 women beneath the same star. Lastly, if I may say 
 it, I like you well, though I know not how you like me, 
 and when you are in the room with me I feel at ease, 
 which is strange, for I know of no other with whom it is 
 so. 
 
 'Now by a chance only this morning I found in some 
 old records which I was studying, that the heir to the 
 throne of Egypt a thousand years ago, had, and there- 
 fore, as nothing ever changes in Egypt, still has, a right 
 to a private librarian for which the State, that is, the 
 toilers of the land, must pay as in the end they pay for 
 all. Some dynasties have gone by, it seems, since 
 there was such a librarian, I think because most of the 
 heirs to the throne could not, or did not, read. Also 
 by chance I mentioned the matter to the Vizier Nehesi 
 who grudges me every ounce of gold I spend, as though 
 it were one taken out of his own pouch, which perhaps 
 it is. He answered with that crooked smile of his, 
 
 1 "Since I know well, Prince, that there is no scribe 
 in Egypt whom you would suffer about you for a single 
 month, I will set the cost of a librarian at the figure at 
 which it stood in the Eleventh Dynasty upon the roll 
 of your Highnesses household and defray it from the 
 Royal Treasury until he is discharged." 
 
 'Therefore, Scribe Ana, I offer you this post for one 
 month; that is all for which I can promise you will be 
 paid whatever it may be, for I forget the sum.' 
 
THE BREAKING OF THE CUP 25 
 
 'I thank you, O Prince/ I exclaimed. 
 
 ' Do not thank me. Indeed if you are wise you 
 will refuse. You have met Pambasa. Well, Nehesi is 
 Pambasa multiplied by ten, a rogue, a thief, a bully, 
 and one who has Pharaoh's ear. He will make your 
 life a torment to you and clip every ring of gold that at 
 length you wring out of his grip. Moreover the place 
 is wearisome, and I am fanciful and often ill-humoured. 
 Do not thank me, I say. Refuse; return to Memphis 
 and write stories. Shun courts and their plottings. 
 Pharaoh himself is but a face and a puppet through 
 which other voices talk and other eyes shine, and the 
 sceptre which he wields is pulled by strings. And if 
 this is so with Pharaoh, what is the case with his son? 
 Then there are the women, Ana. They will make love 
 to you, Ana, they even do so to me, and I think you 
 told me that you know something of women. Do not 
 accept, go back to Memphis. I will send you some 
 old manuscripts to copy and pay you whatever it is 
 Nehesi allows for the librarian/ 
 
 'Yet I accept, O Prince. As for Nehesi I fear him 
 not at all, since at the worst I can write a story about 
 him at which the world would laugh, and rather than 
 that he will pay me my salary.' 
 
 'You have more wisdom than I thought, Ana. It 
 never came into my mind to put Nehesi in a story, 
 though it is true I tell tales about him which is much 
 the same thing.' 
 
 He bent forward, leaning his head upon his hand, 
 and ceasing from his bantering tone, looked me in the 
 eyes and asked, 
 
 'Why do you accept? Let me think now. It is not 
 because you care for wealth if that is to be won here; 
 
26 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 nor for the pomp and show of courts; nor for the 
 company of the great who really are so small. 
 For all these things you, Ana, have no craving if 
 I read your heart aright, you who are an artist, 
 nothing less and nothing more. Tell me, then, why 
 will you, a free man who can earn your living, 
 linger round a throne and set your neck beneath 
 the heel of princes to be crushed into the common 
 mould of servitors and King's Companions and 
 Bearers of the Footstool?' 
 
 ( I will tell you, Prince. First, because thrones make 
 history, as history makes thrones, and I think that 
 great events are on foot in Egypt in which I would 
 have my share. Secondly, because the gods bring gifts 
 to men only once or twice in their lives and to refuse 
 them is to offend the gods who gave them those lives to 
 use to ends of which we know nothing. And thirdly' 
 
 - here I hesitated. 
 
 'And thirdly out with the thirdly for, doubtless, 
 it is the real reason.' 
 
 'And thirdly, O Prince well, the word sounds 
 strangely upon a man's lips but thirdly because I 
 love you. From the moment that my eyes fell upon 
 your face I loved you as I never loved any other man 
 
 - not even my father. I know not why. Certainly 
 it is not because you are a prince.' 
 
 When he heard these words Seti sat brooding and so 
 silent that, fearing lest I, a humble scribe, had been too 
 bold, I added hastily, 
 
 'Let your Highness pardon his servant for his pre- 
 sumptuous words. It was his servant's heart that 
 spoke and not his lips.' 
 
 He lifted his hand and I stopped. 
 
THE BREAKING OF THE CUP 27 
 
 'Ana, my twin in Ra,' he said, 'do you know that I 
 never had a friend? ' 
 
 'A prince who has no friend !' 
 
 'Never, none. Now I begin to think that I have 
 found one. The thought is strange and warms me. 
 Do you know also that when my eyes fell upon your 
 face I loved you also, the gods know why. It was as 
 though I had found one who was dear to me thousands 
 of years ago but whom I had lost and forgotten. Per- 
 haps this is but foolishness, or perhaps here we have 
 the shadow of something great and beautiful which 
 dwells elsewhere, in the place we call the Kingdom of 
 Osiris, beyond the grave, Ana.' 
 
 'Such thoughts have come to me at times, Prince. 
 I mean that all we see is shadow; that we ourselves are 
 shadows and that the realities who cast them live in a 
 different home which is lit by some spirit sun that 
 never sets.' 
 
 The Prince nodded his head and again was silent for 
 a while. Then he took his beautiful alabaster cup, and 
 pouring wine into it, he drank a little and passed the 
 cup to me. 
 
 ' Drink also, Ana,' he said, ' and pledge me as I pledge 
 you, in token that by decree of the Creator who made 
 the hearts of men, henceforward our two hearts are as 
 the same heart through good and ill, through triumph 
 and defeat, till death takes one of us. Henceforward, 
 Ana, unless you show yourself unworthy, I hide no 
 thought from you.' 
 
 Flushing with joy I took the cup, saying, 
 
 ' I add to your words, O Prince. We are one, not for 
 this life alone but for all the lives to be. Death, O Prince, 
 is, I think, but a single step in the pylon stair which 
 
28 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 leads at last to that dizzy height whence we see the face 
 of God and hear his voice tell us what and why we are/ 
 
 Then I pledged him, and drank, bowing, and he 
 bowed back to me. 
 
 'What shall we do with the cup, Ana, the sacred cup 
 that has held this rich heart-wine? Shall I keep it? 
 No, it no longer belongs to me. Shall I give it to you? 
 No, it can never be yours alone. See, we will break the 
 priceless thing.' 
 
 Seizing it by its stem with all his strength he struck 
 the cup upon the table. Then what seemed to me to be 
 a marvel happened, for instead of shattering as I thought 
 it surely would, it split in two from rim to foot. 
 Whether this was by chance, or whether the artist who 
 fashioned it in some bygone generation had worked the 
 two halves separately and cunningly cemented them to- 
 gether, to this hour I do not know. At least so it befell. 
 
 'This is fortunate, Ana/ said the Prince, laughing a 
 little in his light way. ' Now take you the half that lies 
 nearest to you and I will take mine. If you die first I 
 will lay my half upon your breast, and if I die first you 
 shall do the same by me, or if the priests forbid it be- 
 cause I am royal and may not be profaned, cast the 
 thing into my tomb. What should we have done had 
 the alabaster shattered into fragments, Ana, and what 
 omen should we have read in them? ' 
 
 'Why ask, O Prince, seeing that it has befallen other- 
 wise? ' 
 
 Then I took my half, laid it against my forehead and 
 hid it in the bosom of my robe, and as I did, so did Seti. 
 
 So in this strange fashion the royal Seti and I sealed 
 the holy compact of our brotherhood, as I think not 
 for the first time or the last. 
 
CHAPTER IH 
 
 USERTI 
 
 SETI rose, stretching out his arms. 
 
 'That is finished/ he said, 'as everything finishes, 
 and for once I am sorry. Now what next? Sleep, I 
 suppose, in which all ends, or perhaps you would say, 
 all begins. 7 
 
 As he spoke the curtains at the end of the room 
 were drawn and between them appeared the cham- 
 berlain, Pambasa, holding his gold-tipped wand cere- 
 moniously before him. 
 
 'What is it now, man?' asked Seti. /Can I not 
 even sup in peace? Stay, before you answer tell me, 
 do things end or begin in sleep? The learned Ana 
 and I differ on the matter and would hear your wis- 
 dom. Bear in mind, Pambasa, that before we are 
 born we must have slept, since of that time we remem- 
 ber nothing, and after we are dead we certainly seem 
 to sleep, as any who have looked on mummies know. 
 Now answer.' 
 
 The chamberlain stared at the wine flask on the 
 table as though he suspected his master of having 
 drunk too much. Then in a hard official voice he said, 
 
 'She comes! She comes! She comes, offering greet- 
 ings and adoration to the Royal Son of Ra.' 
 
 'Does she indeed?' asked Seti. 'If so, why say it 
 three times? And who comes?' 
 
 29 
 
3 o MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 'The high Princess, the heiress of Egypt, the daugh- 
 ter of Pharaoh, your Highness's royal half-sister, the 
 great lady Userti.' 
 
 'Let her enter then. Ana, stand you behind me. 
 If you grow weary and I give leave you can depart; 
 the slaves will show you your sleeping-place.' 
 
 Pambasa went, and presently through the curtail 
 appeared a royal-looking lady splendidly apparelled. 
 She was accompanied by four waiting women who fell 
 back on the threshold and were no more seen. The 
 Prince stepped forward, took both her hands in his 
 and kissed her on the brow, then drew back again, 
 after which they stood a moment looking at each 
 other. While they remained thus I studied her who 
 was known throughout the land as the 'Beautiful 
 Royal Daughter,' but whom till now I had never seen. 
 In truth I did not think her beautiful, although even 
 had she been clad in a peasant's robe I should have 
 been sure that she was royal. Her face was too hard 
 for beauty and her black eyes, with a tinge of grey in 
 them, were too small. Also her nose was too sharp 
 and her lips were too thin. Indeed, had it not been 
 for the delicately and finely-shaped woman's form be- 
 neath, I might have thought that a prince and not a 
 princess stood before me. For the rest in most ways 
 she resembled her half-brother Seti, though her coun- 
 tenance lacked the kindliness of his; or rather both of 
 them resembled their father, Meneptah. 
 
 ' Greeting, Sister,' he said, eyeing her with a smile in 
 which I caught a gleam of mockery. ' Purple-bordered 
 robes, emerald necklace and enamelled crown of gold, 
 rings and pectoral, everything except a sceptre why 
 are you so royally arrayed to visit one so humble as 
 
USERTI 31 
 
 your loving brother? You come like sunlight into the 
 darkness of a hermit's cell and dazzle the poor hermit, 
 or rather hermits/ and he pointed to me. 
 
 ' Cease your jests, Seti,' she replied in a full, strong 
 voice. 'I wear these ornaments because they please 
 me. Also I have supped with our father, and those 
 who sit at Pharaoh's table must be suitably arrayed, 
 though I have noted that sometimes you think other- 
 wise.' 
 
 ' Indeed. I trust that the good god, our divine par- 
 ent, is well to-night as you leave him so early.' 
 
 'I leave him because he sent me with a message to 
 you.' She paused, looking at me sharply, then asked, 
 'Who is that man? I do not know him.' 
 
 'It is your misfortune, Userti, but one which can be 
 mended. He is named Ana the Scribe, who writes 
 strange stories of great interest which you would do 
 well to read who dwell too much upon the outside of 
 life. He is from Memphis and his father's name was 
 - 1 forget what. Ana, what was your father's name? ' 
 
 'One too humble for royal ears, Prince,' I answered, 
 'but my grandfather was Pentaur the poet who wrote 
 of the deeds of the mighty Rameses.' 
 
 'Is it so? Why did you not tell me that before? 
 The descent should earn you a pension from the Court 
 if you can extract it from Nehesi. Well, Userti, his 
 grandfather's name was Pentaur whose immortal verses 
 you have doubtless read upon temple walls, where our 
 grandfather was careful to publish them.' 
 
 'I have to my sorrow and thought them poor, 
 boastful stuff,' she answered coldly. 
 
 ' To be honest, if Ana will forgive me, so do I. I can 
 assure you that his stories are a great improvement on 
 
32 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 them. Friend Ana, this is my sister, Userti, my 
 father's daughter though our mothers were not the 
 same.' 
 
 'I pray you, Seti, to be so good as to give me my 
 rightful titles in speaking of me to scribes and other of 
 your servants.' 
 
 'Your pardon, Userti. This, Ana, is the first Lady 
 of Egypt, the Royal Heiress, the Princess of the Two 
 Lands, the High-priestess of Amon, the Cherished of 
 the Gods, the half-sister of the Heir-apparent, the 
 Daughter of Hathor, the Lotus Bloom of Love, the 
 Queen to be of Userti, whose queen will you be? 
 Have you made up your mind? For myself I know no 
 one worthy of so much beauty, excellence, learning and 
 - what shall I add sweetness, yes, sweetness.' 
 
 i Seti,' she said stamping her foot, 'if it pleases you 
 to make a mock of me before a stranger, I suppose that 
 I must submit. Send him away, I would speak with 
 you.' 
 
 'Make a mock of you! Oh! mine is a hard fate. 
 When truth gushes from the well of my heart, I am 
 told I mock, and when I mock, all say he speaks 
 truth. Be seated, Sister, and talk on freely. This 
 Ana is my sworn friend who saved my life but now, for 
 which deed perhaps he should be my enemy. His 
 memory is excellent also and he will remember what 
 you say and write it down afterwards, whereas I 
 might forget. Therefore, with your leave, I will ask 
 him to stay here.' 
 
 'My Prince,' I broke in, 'I pray you suffer me to go. J 
 
 'My Secretary,' he answered with a note of command 
 in his voice, 'I pray you to remain where you are.' 
 
 So I sat myself on the ground after the fashion of a 
 
USERTI 33 
 
 scribe, having no choice, and the Princess sat herself on 
 a couch at the end of the table, but Seti remained 
 standing. Then the Princess said, 
 
 ' Since it is your will, Brother, that I should talk 
 secrets into other ears than yours, I obey you. Still' 
 here she looked at me wrathf ully ' let the tongue 
 be careful that it does not repeat what the ears have 
 heard, lest there should be neither ears nor tongue. 
 My Brother, it has been reported to Pharaoh, while we 
 ate together, that there is tumult in this town. It has 
 been reported to him that because of a trouble about 
 some base Israelite you caused one of his officers to be 
 beheaded, after which there came a riot which still 
 rages/ 
 
 ' Strange that truth should have come to the ears of 
 Pharaoh so quickly. Now, my Sister, if he had heard it 
 three moons hence I could have believed you almost.' 
 'Then you did behead the officer ?' 
 'Yes, I beheaded him about two hours ago.' 
 'Pharaoh will demand an account of the matter.' 
 'Pharaoh,' answered Seti lifting his eyes, 'has no 
 power to question the justice of the Governor of Tanis 
 in the north.' 
 
 'You are in error, Seti. Pharaoh has all power.' 
 ' Nay, Sister, Pharaoh is but one man among millions 
 of other men, and though he speaks it is their spirit 
 which bends his tongue, while above that spirit is a yet 
 greater spirit who decrees what they shall think to ends 
 of which we know nothing.' 
 'I do not understand, Seti.' 
 
 'I never thought you would, Userti, but when you 
 have leisure, ask Ana here to explain the matter to you. 
 I am sure that he understands.' 
 
34 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 'Oh! I have borne enough/ exclaimed Userti rising. 
 'Hearken to the command of Pharaoh, Prince Seti. 
 It is that you wait upon him to-morrow in full council, 
 at an hour before noon, there to talk with him of this 
 question of the Israelitish slaves and the officer whom 
 it has pleased you to kill. I came to speak other 
 words to you also, but as they were for your private 
 ear, these can bide a more fitting opportunity. Fare- 
 well, my Brother.' 
 
 'What, are you going so soon, Sister? I wished to 
 to tell you the story about those Israelites, and espe- 
 cially of the maid whose name is what was her 
 name, Ana?' 
 
 'Merapi, Moon of Israel, Prince,' I answered with a 
 groan. 
 
 'About the maid called Merapi, Moon of Israel, I 
 think the sweetest that ever I have looked upon, whose 
 father the dead captain murdered in my sight.' 
 
 'So there is a woman in the business? Well, I 
 guessed it.' 
 
 'In what business is there not a woman, Userti, even 
 in that of a message from Pharaoh. Pambasa, Pam- 
 basa, escort the Princess and summon her servants, 
 women everyone of them, unless my senses mock me. 
 Good-night to you, Sister and Lady of the Two 
 Lands, and forgive me that coronet of yours is some- 
 what awry.' 
 
 At last she was gone and I rose, wiping my brow 
 with a corner of my robe, and looked at the Prince who 
 stood before the fire laughing softly. 
 
 'Make a note of all this talk, Ana,' he said; ' there is 
 more in it than meets the ear.' 
 
 'I need no note, Prince,' I answered; l every word is 
 
USERTI 35 
 
 burnt upon my mind as a hot iron burns a tablet of 
 wood. With reason too, since now her Highness will 
 hate me for all her life.' 
 
 'Much better so, Ana, than that she should pretend 
 to love you, which she never would have done while 
 you are my friend. Women oftimes respect those 
 whom they hate and even will advance them because 
 of policy, but let those whom they pretend to love 
 beware. The time may come when you will yet be 
 Userti's most trusted councillor.' 
 
 Now here, I, Ana the Scribe, will state that in after 
 days, when this same queen was the wife of Pharaoh 
 Siptah, I did, as it chanced, become her most trusted 
 councillor. Moreover, in those times, yes, and even in 
 the hour of her death, she swore that from the moment 
 her eyes first fell on me she had known me to be true- 
 hearted and held me in esteem as no self-seeker. More, 
 I think she believed what she said, having forgotten 
 that once she looked upon me as her enemy. This in- 
 deed I never was, who always held her in regard and 
 honour as a great lady who loved her country, though 
 one who sometimes was not wise. But as I could not 
 foresee these things on that night of long ago, I only 
 stared at the Prince and said, 
 
 'Oh! why did you not allow me to depart as your 
 Highness said I might at the beginning? Soon or late 
 my head will pay the price of this night's work.' 
 
 'Then she must take mine with it. Listen, Ana. I 
 kept you here, not to vex the Princess or you, but for a 
 good reason. You know that it is the custom of the 
 royal dynasties of Egypt for kings, or those who will be 
 kings, to wed their near kin in order that the blood 
 may remain the purer.' 
 
36 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 'Yes, Prince, and not only among those who are 
 royal. Still, I think it an evil custom.' 
 
 'As I do, since the race wherein it is practised grows 
 ever weaker in body and in mind; which is why, per- 
 haps, my father is not what his father was and I am not 
 what my father is.' 
 
 'Also, Prince, it is hard to mingle the love of the sis- 
 ter and of the wife.' 
 
 'Very hard, Ana; so hard that when it is attempted 
 both are apt to vanish. Well, our mothers having 
 been true royal wives, though hers died before mine 
 was wedded by my father, Pharaoh desires that I 
 should marry my half-sister, Userti, and what is worse, 
 she desires it also. Moreover, the people, who fear 
 trouble ahead in Egypt if we, who alone are left of the 
 true royal race born of queens, remain apart and she 
 takes another lord, or I take another wife, demand that 
 it should be brought about, since they believe that 
 whoever calls Userti the Strong his spouse will one day 
 rule the land.' 
 
 ' Why does the Princess wish it that she may be a 
 queen? ' 
 
 'Yes, Ana, though were she to wed my cousin, 
 Amenmeses, the son of Pharaoh's elder brother Khae- 
 muas, she might still be a queen, if I chose to stand 
 aside as I should not be loth to do.' 
 
 'Would Egypt suffer this, Prince?' 
 
 'I do not know, nor does it matter since she hates 
 Amenmeses, who is strong-willed and ambitious, and 
 will have none of him. Also he is already married.' 
 
 'Is there no other royal one whom she might take, 
 Prince?' 
 
 ' None. Moreover she wishes me alone.' 
 
USERTI 37 
 
 6 Why, Prince?' 
 
 'Because of ancient custom which she worships. 
 Also because she knows me well and in her fashion is 
 fond of me, whom she believes to be a gentle-minded 
 dreamer that she can rule. Lastly, because I am the 
 lawful heir to the Crown and without me to share it, 
 she thinks that she would never be safe upon the 
 Throne, especially if I should marry some other woman, 
 of whom she would be jealous. It is the Throne she 
 desires and would wed, not the Prince Seti, her half- 
 brother, whom she takes with it to be in name her 
 husband, as Pharaoh commands that she should do. 
 Love plays no part in Userti's breast, Ana, which makes 
 her the more dangerous, since what she seeks with a 
 cold heart of policy, that she will surely find.' 
 
 'Then it would seem, Prince, that the cage is built 
 about you. After all it is a very splendid cage and 
 made of gold.' 
 
 'Yes, Ana, yet not one in which I would live. Still, 
 except by death how can I escape from the threefold 
 chain of the will of Pharaoh, of Egypt, and of Userti? 
 Oh!' he went on in a new voice, one that had in it both 
 sorrow and passion, ' this is a matter in which I would 
 have chosen for myself who in all others must be a 
 servant. And I may not choose!' 
 
 'Is there perchance some other lady, Prince?' 
 
 'None! By Hathor, none at least I think not. 
 Yet I would have been free to search for such a one and 
 take her when I found her, if she were but a fishergirl. ' 
 
 'The Kings of Egypt can have large households, 
 Prince.' 
 
 'I know it. Are there not still scores whom I should 
 call aunt and uncle? I think that my grandsire, 
 
38 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 Rameses, blessed Egypt with quite three hundred 
 children, and in so doing in a way was wise, since thus 
 he might be sure that, while the world endures, in it 
 will flow some of the blood that once was his.' 
 
 'Yet in life or death how will that help him, Prince? 
 Some must beget the multitudes of the earth, what 
 does it matter who these may have been? ' 
 
 1 Nothing at all, Ana, since by good or evil fortune 
 they are born. Therefore, why talk of large house- 
 holds? Though, like any man who can pay for it, 
 Pharaoh may have a large household, I seek a queen 
 who shall reign in my heart as well as on my throne, 
 not a "large household," Ana. Oh! I am weary. 
 Pambasa, come hither and conduct my secretary, Ana, 
 to the empty room that is next my own, the painted 
 chamber which looks toward the north, and bid my 
 slaves attend to all his wants as they would to mine/ 
 
 'Why did you tell me you were a scribe, my lord 
 Ana?' asked Pambasa, as he led me to my beautiful 
 sleeping-place. 
 
 'Because that is my trade, Chamberlain.' 
 
 He looked at me, shaking his great head till the long 
 white beard waved across his breast like a temple 
 banner in the faint evening breeze, and answered, 
 
 'You are no scribe, you are a magician who can 
 win the love and favour of his Highness in an hour 
 which others cannot do between two risings of the Nile. 
 Had you said so at once, you would have been differ- 
 ently treated yonder in the hall of waiting. Forgive 
 me therefore what I did in ignorance, and, my lord, 
 I pray it may please you not to melt away in the night, 
 lest my feet should answer for it beneath the sticks.' 
 
USERTI 39 
 
 It was the fourth hour from sunrise of the following 
 day that, for the first time in my life I found myself 
 in the Court of Pharaoh standing with other members 
 of his household in the train of his Highness, the 
 Prince Seti. It was a very great place, for Pharaoh 
 sat in the judgment hall, whereof the roof is upheld 
 by round and sculptured columns, between which were 
 set statues of Pharaohs who had been. Save at the 
 throne end of the hall, where the light flowed down 
 through clerestories, the vast chamber was dim al- 
 most to darkness; at least so it seemed to me entering 
 there out of the brilliant sunshine. Through this 
 gloom many folk moved like shadows; captains, nobles, 
 and state officers who had been summoned to the 
 Court, and among them white-robed and shaven 
 priests. Also there were others of whom I took no 
 count, such as Arab headmen from the desert, traders 
 with jewels and other wares to sell, farmers and even 
 peasants with petitions to present, lawyers and their 
 clients, and I know not who besides, though of all these 
 none were suffered to advance beyond a certain mark 
 where the light began to fall. Speaking in whispers 
 all of these folk flitted to and fro like bats in a tomb. 
 
 We waited between two Hathor-headed pillars in 
 one of the vestibules of the hall, the Prince Seti, who 
 was clad in purple-bordered garments and wore upon 
 his brow a fillet of gold from which rose the uraeus or 
 hooded snake, also of gold, that royal ones alone might 
 wear, leaning against the base of a statue, while the 
 rest of us stood silent behind him. For a time he was 
 silent also, as a man might be whose thoughts were 
 otherwhere. At length he turned and said to me, 
 
 "This is weary work. Would I had asked you to 
 
40 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 bring that new tale of yours, Scribe Ana, that we might 
 have read it together. ' 
 
 1 Shall I tell you the plot of it, Prince?' 
 
 'Yes. I mean, not now, lest I should forget my 
 manners listening to you. Look/ and he pointed to a 
 dark-browed, fierce-eyed man of middle age who passed 
 up the hall as though he did not see us, 'there goes 
 my cousin, Amenmeses. You know him, do you not? ' 
 
 I shook my head. 
 
 'Then tell me what you think of him, at once before 
 the first judgment fades/ 
 
 'I think he is a royal-looking lord, obstinate in 
 mind and strong in body, handsome too in his way/ 
 
 'Ml can see that, Ana. What else?' 
 
 'I think/ I said in a low voice so that none might 
 overhear, 'that his heart is as black as his brow; 
 that he has grown wicked with jealousy and hate and 
 will do you evil.' 
 
 ' Can a man grow wicked, Ana? Is he not as he was 
 born till the end? I do not know, nor do you. Still 
 you are right, he is jealous and will do me evil if it 
 brings him good. But tell me, which of us will tri- 
 umph at the last?' 
 
 While I hesitated what to answer I became aware 
 that someone had joined us. Looking round I per- 
 ceived a very ancient man clad in a white robe. He 
 was broad-faced and bald-headed, and his eyes burned 
 beneath his shaggy eyebrows like two coals in ashes. 
 He supported himself on a staff of cedar-wood, gripping 
 it with both hands that for thinness were Hke to those 
 of a mummy. For a while he considered us both as 
 though he were reading our souls, then said in a full 
 and jovial voice, 
 
USERTI 41 
 
 'Greeting, Prince.' 
 
 Seti turned, looked at him, and answered, 
 
 ' Greeting, Bakenkhonsu. How comes it that you are 
 still alive? When we parted at Thebes I made sure ' 
 
 'That on your return you would find me in my 
 tomb. Not so, Prince, it is I who shall live to look 
 upon you in your tomb, yes, and on others who are 
 yet to sit in the seat of Pharaoh. Why not? Ho! ho! 
 Why not, seeing that I am but a hundred and seven, I 
 who remember the first Rameses and have played with 
 his grandson, your grandsire, as a boy? Why should 
 I not live, Prince, to nurse your grandson if the gods 
 should grant you one who as yet have neither wife nor 
 child?' 
 
 'Because you will get tired of life, Bakenkhonsu, as 
 I am already, and the gods will not be able to spare 
 you much longer. ' 
 
 'The gods can endure yet a while without me, Prince, 
 when so many are flocking to their table. Indeed it 
 is their desire that one good priest should be left in 
 Egypt. Ki the Magician told me so only this morning. 
 He had it straight from Heaven in a dream last night/ 
 
 'Why have you been to visit Ki?' asked Seti, looking 
 at him sharply. 'I should have thought that being 
 both of a trade you would have hated each other.' 
 
 'Not so, Prince. On the contrary we add up each 
 other's account; I mean, check and interpret each other's 
 visions, with which we are both of us much troubled 
 just now. Is that young man a scribe from Memphis?' 
 
 'Yes, and my friend. His grandsire was Pentaur 
 the poet. ' 
 
 'Indeed. I knew Pentaur well. Often has he read 
 me to sleep with his long poems, rank stuff that grew 
 
42 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 like coarse grass upon a deep but half-drained soil. 
 Are you sure, young man, that Pentaur was your 
 grandfather? You are not like him. Quite a different 
 kind of herbage, and you know that is a matter upon 
 which we must take a woman's word.' 
 
 Seti burst out laughing and I looked at the old priest 
 angrily, though now that I came to think of it my 
 father always said that his mother was one of the 
 biggest liars in Egypt. 
 
 'Well, let it be,' went on Bakenkhonsu, 'till we find 
 out the truth before Thoth. Ki was speaking of you, 
 young man. I did not pay much attention to him, but 
 it was something about a sudden vow of friendship 
 between you and the Prince here. There was a cup 
 in the story too, an alabaster cup that seemed familiar 
 to me. Ki said it was broken. ' 
 
 Seti started and I began angrily, 
 
 'What do you know of that cup? Where were you 
 hid, Priest?' 
 
 'Oh, in your souls, I suppose,' he answered dreamily, 
 'or rather Ki was. But I know nothing and am not 
 curious. If you had broken the cup with a woman now, 
 it would have been more interesting, even to an old 
 man. Be so good as to answer the Prince's question 
 as to whether he or his cousin Amenmeses will triumph 
 at the last, for on that matter both Ki and I are curious.' 
 
 'Am I a seer,' I began again still more angrily, 'that 
 I should read the future? ' 
 
 'I think so, a little, but that is what I want to find 
 out/ 
 
 He hobbled towards me, laid one of his claw-like 
 hands upon my arm, and said in a new voice of com- 
 mand, 
 
USERTI 43 
 
 'Look now upon that throne and tell me what you 
 see there/ 
 
 I obeyed him because I must, staring up the hall at 
 the empty throne. At first I saw nothing. Then 
 figures seemed to flit around it. From among these 
 figures emerged the shape of the Count Amenmeses. 
 He sat upon the throne, looking about him proudly, 
 and I noted that he was no longer clad as a prince but 
 as Pharaoh himself. Presently hook-nosed men ap- 
 peared who dragged him from his seat. He fell, as I 
 thought, into water, for it seemed to splash up about 
 him. Next Seti the Prince appeared to mount the 
 throne, led thither by a woman, of whom I could only 
 see the back. I saw him distinctly wearing the double 
 crown and holding a sceptre in his hand. He also 
 melted away and others came whom I did not know, 
 though I thought that one of them was like to the 
 Princess Userti. 
 
 Now all were gone and I was telling Bakenkhonsu 
 everything I had witnessed like a man who speaks in 
 his sleep, not by his own will. Suddenly I woke up 
 and laughed at my own foolishness. But the other 
 two did not laugh; they regarded me very gravely. 
 
 'I thought that you were something of a seer/ said 
 the old priest, 'or rather Ki thought it. I could not 
 quite believe Ki, because he said that the young 
 person whom I should find with the Prince here this 
 morning would be one who loved him with all the 
 heart, and it is only a woman who loves with all the 
 heart, is it not? Or so the world believes. Well, I will 
 talk the matter over with Ki. Hush ! Pharaoh comes. ' 
 
 As he spoke from far away rose a cry of 
 
 'Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!' 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE COURT OF BETROTHAL 
 
 'LIFE! Blood! Strength I' echoed everyone in the great 
 hall, falling to their knees and bending their foreheads 
 to the ground. Even the Prince and the aged Baken- 
 khonsu prostrated themselves thus as though before 
 the presence of a god. And, indeed, Pharaoh Menep- 
 tah, passing through the patch of sunlight at the head 
 of the hall, wearing the double crown upon his head and 
 arrayed in royal robes and ornaments, looked like a 
 god, no less, as the multitude of the people of Egypt 
 held him to be. He was an old man with the face of 
 one worn by years and care, but from his person 
 majesty seemed to flow. 
 
 With him, walking a step or two behind, went Nehesi 
 his Vizier, a shrivelled, parchment-faced officer whose 
 cunning eyes rolled about the place, and Roy the High- 
 priest, and Hora the Chamberlain of the Table, and 
 Meranu the Washer of the King's Hands, and Yuy 
 the private scribe, and many others whom Baken- 
 khonsu named to me as they appeared. Then there 
 were fan-bearers and a gorgeous band of lords who 
 were called King's Companions and Head Butlers and 
 I know not who besides, and after these guards with 
 spears and helms that shone like gold, and black swords- 
 men from the southern land of Kesh. 
 
 But one woman accompanied his Majesty, walking 
 
THE COURT OF BETROTHAL 45 
 
 alone immediately behind him in front of the Vizier 
 and the High-priest. She was the Royal Daughter, 
 the Princess Userti, who looked, I thought, prouder 
 and more splendid than any there, though somewhat 
 pale and anxious. 
 
 Pharaoh came to the steps of the throne. The 
 Vizier and the High-priest advanced to help him up 
 the steps, for he was feeble with age. He waved them 
 aside, and beckoning to his daughter, rested his hand 
 upon her shoulder and by her aid mounted the throne. 
 I thought that there was meaning in this; it was as 
 though he would show to all the assembly that this 
 princess was the prop of Egypt. 
 
 For a little while he stood still and Userti sat herself 
 down on the topmost step, resting her chin upon her 
 jewelled hand. There he stood searching the place 
 with his eyes. He lifted his sceptre and all rose, 
 hundreds and hundreds of them throughout the hall, 
 their garments rustling as they rose like leaves in a 
 sudden wind. He seated himself and once more from 
 every throat went up the regal salutation that was the 
 king's alone, of - 
 
 'Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pha- 
 raoh !' 
 
 In the silence that followed I heard him say, to the 
 Princess, I think, 
 
 'Amenmeses I see, and others of our kin, but where 
 is my son Seti, the Prince of Egypt? ' 
 
 'Watching us no doubt from some vestibule. My 
 brother loves not ceremonials, ' answered Userti. 
 
 Then, with a little sigh, Seti stepped forward, fol- 
 lowed by Bakenkhonsu and myself, and at a distance 
 by other members of his household. As he marched 
 
46 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 up the long hall all drew to this side or that, saluting 
 him with low bows. Arriving in front of the throne he 
 bent till his knee touched the ground, saying, 
 
 'I give greeting, O King and Father/ 
 
 'I give greeting, Prince and Son. Be seated, 7 
 answered Meneptah. 
 
 Seti seated himself in a chair that had been made 
 ready for him at the foot of the throne, and on its 
 right, and in another chair to the left, but set farther 
 from the steps, Amenmeses seated himself also. At 
 a motion from the Prince I took my stand behind his 
 chair. 
 
 The formal business of the Court began. At the 
 beckoning of an usher people of all sorts appeared 
 singly and handed in petitions written on rolled-up 
 papyri, which the Vizier Nehesi took and threw into a 
 leathern sack that was held open by a black slave. 
 In some cases an answer to his petition, whereof this 
 was only the formal delivery, was handed back to the 
 suppliant, who touched his brow with the roll that 
 perhaps meant everything to him, and bowed himself 
 away to learn his fate. Then appeared sheiks of the 
 desert tribes, and captains from fortresses in Syria, and 
 traders who had been harmed by enemies, and even 
 peasants who had suffered violence from officers, 
 each to make his prayer. Of all of these supplications 
 the scribes took notes, while to some the Vizier and 
 councillors made answers. But as yet Pharaoh said 
 nothing. There he sat silent on his splendid throne of 
 ivory and gold, like a god of stone above the altar, 
 staring down the long hall and through the open doors 
 as though he would read the secrets of the skies be- 
 yond. 
 
THE COURT OF BETROTHAL 47 
 
 'I told you that courts were wearisome, friend Ana,' 
 whispered the Prince to me without turning his head. 
 'Do you not already begin to wish that you were back 
 writing tales at Memphis? ' 
 
 Before I could answer some movement in the throng 
 at the end of the hall drew the eyes of the Prince and 
 of all of us. I looked, and saw advancing towards the 
 throne a tall, bearded man already old, although his 
 black hair was but grizzled with grey. He was ar- 
 rayed in a white linen robe, over which hung a woollen 
 cloak such as shepherds wear, and he carried in his hand 
 a long thornwood staff. His face was splendid and very 
 handsome, and his black eyes flashed like fire. He 
 walked forward slowly, looking neither to the left nor 
 the right, and the throng made way for him as though 
 he were a prince. Indeed, I thought that they showed 
 more fear of him than of any prince, since they shrank 
 from him as he came. Nor was he alone, for after him 
 walked another man who was very like to him, but as 
 I judged, still older, for his beard, which hung down to 
 his middle, was snow-white as was the hair of his head. 
 He also was dressed in a sheepskin cloak and carried a 
 staff in his hand. Now a whisper rose among the 
 people and the whisper said, 
 
 'The prophets of the men of Israel! The prophets of 
 the men of Israel!' 
 
 The two stood before the throne and looked at 
 Pharaoh, making no obeisance. Pharaoh looked at 
 them and was silent. For a long space they stood thus 
 in the midst of a great quiet, but Pharaoh would not 
 speak, and none of his officers seemed to dare to 
 open their mouths. At length the first of the prophets 
 spoke in a clear, cold voice as some conqueror might do. 
 
48 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 'You know me, Pharaoh, and my errand.' 
 
 1 1 know you/ answered Pharaoh slowly, 'as well I 
 may, seeing that we played together when we were 
 little. You are that Hebrew whom my sister, she who 
 sleeps in Osiris, took to be as a son to her, giving to you 
 a name that means "drawn forth" because she drew 
 you forth as an infant from among the reeds of Nile. 
 Aye, I know you and your brother also, but your errand 
 I know not. ' 
 
 'This is my errand, Pharaoh, or rather the errand 
 of Jahveh, God of Israel, for whom I speak. Have 
 you not heard it before? It is that you should let his 
 people go to do sacrifice to him in the wilderness. ' 
 
 'Who is Jahveh? I know not Jahveh who serve 
 Amon and the gods of Egypt, and why should I let 
 your people go? ' 
 
 'Jahveh is the God of Israel, the great God of all 
 gods whose power you shall learn if you will not hearken, 
 Pharaoh. As for why you should let the people go, 
 ask it of the Prince your son who sits yonder. Ask 
 him of what he saw in the streets of this city but last 
 night, and of a certain judgment that he passed upon 
 one of the officers of Pharaoh. Or if he will not 
 tell you, learn it from the lips of the maiden who 
 is named Merapi, Moon of Israel, the daughter of 
 Nathan the Levite. Stand forward, Merapi, daughter 
 of Nathan. ' 
 
 Then from the throng at the back of the hall came 
 forward Merapi, clad in a white robe and with a black 
 veil thrown about her head in token of mourning, but 
 not so as to hide her face. Up the hall she glided and 
 made obeisance to Pharaoh, as she did so, casting one 
 swift look at Seti where he sat. Then she stood still, 
 
THE COURT OF BETROTHAL 49 
 
 looking, as I thought, wonderfully beautiful in that 
 simple robe of white and the veil of black. 
 
 ' Speak, woman, ' said Pharaoh. 
 
 She obeyed, telling all the tale in her low and 
 honeyed voice, nor did any seem to think it long or 
 wearisome. At length she ended, and Pharoah said, 
 
 'Say, Seti my son, is this truth? ' 
 
 'It is truth, O my Father. By virtue of my powers 
 as Governor of this city I caused the captain Khuaka 
 to be put to death for the crime of murder done by 
 him before my eyes in the streets of the city.' 
 
 'Perchance you did right and perchance you did 
 wrong, Son Seti. At least you are the best judge, and 
 because he struck your royal person, this Khuaka 
 deserved to die.' 
 
 Again he was silent for a while staring through the 
 open doors at the sky beyond. Then he said, 
 
 'What would ye more, Prophets of Jahveh? Justice 
 has been done upon my officer who slew the man of 
 your people. A life has been taken for a life according 
 to the strict letter of the law. The matter is finished. 
 Unless you have aught to say, get you gone. ' 
 
 'By the command of the Lord our God,' answered 
 the prophet, 'we have this to say to you, O Pharaoh. 
 Lift the heavy yoke from off the neck of the people of 
 Israel. Bid that they cease from the labour of the 
 making of bricks to build your walls and cities. ' 
 
 'And if I refuse, what then?' 
 
 'Then the curse of Jahveh shall be on you, Pharaoh, 
 and with plague upon plague shall he smite this land 
 of Egypt.' 
 
 Now a sudden rage seized Meneptah. 
 
 'What!' he cried. 'Do you dare to threaten me in 
 
50 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 my own palace, and would ye cause all the multitude 
 of the people of Israel who have grown fat in the land 
 to cease from their labours? Hearken, my servants, 
 and, scribes, write down my decree. Go ye to the 
 country of Goshen and say to the Israelites that the 
 bricks they made they shall make us aforetime and 
 more work shall they do than aforetime in the days of 
 my father, Rameses. Only no more straw shall be 
 given to them for the making of the bricks. Because 
 they are idle, let them go forth and gather the straw 
 for themselves; let them gather it from the face of the 
 fields.' 
 
 There was silence for a while. Then with one voice 
 both the prophets spoke, pointing with their wands to 
 Pharaoh, 
 
 ' In the Name of the Lord God we curse you, Pharaoh, 
 who soon shall die and make answer for this sin. 
 The people of Egypt we curse also. Ruin shall be 
 their portion; death shall be their bread and blood 
 shall they drink in a great darkness. Moreover, at 
 the last Pharaoh shall let the people go.' 
 
 Then, waiting no answer, they turned and strode 
 away side by side, nor did any man hinder them in 
 their goings. Again there was silence in the hall, 
 the silence of fear, for these were awful words that the 
 prophets had spoken. Pharaoh knew it, for his chin 
 sank upon his breast and his face that had been red 
 with rage turned white. Userti hid her eyes with her 
 hand as though to shut out some evil vision, and even 
 Seti seemed ill at ease as though that awful curse had 
 found a home within his heart. 
 
 At a motion of Pharaoh's hand the Vizier Nehesi 
 struck the ground thrice with his wand of office and 
 
THE COURT OF BETROTHAL 51 
 
 pointed to the door, thus giving the accustomed sign 
 that the Court was finished, whereon all the people 
 turned and went away with bent heads speaking no 
 words one to another. Presently the great hall was 
 emptied save for the officers and guards and those who 
 attended upon Pharaoh. When everyone had gone 
 Seti the Prince rose and bowed before the throne. 
 
 '0 Pharaoh/ he said, 'be pleased to hearken. We 
 have heard very evil words spoken by these Hebrew 
 men, words that threaten your divine life, O Pharaoh, 
 and call down a curse upon the Upper and the Lower 
 Land. Pharaoh, these people of Israel hold that they 
 suffer wrong and are oppressed. Now give me, your 
 son, a writing under your hand and seal, by virtue of 
 which I shall have power to go down to the Land of 
 Goshen and inquire of this matter, and afterwards 
 make report of the truth to you. Then, if it seems 
 to you that the People of Israel are unjustly dealt by, 
 you may lighten their burden and bring the curse of 
 their prophets to nothing. But if it seems to you that 
 the tales they tell are idle then your words shall stand. ' 
 
 Now, listening, I, Ana, thought that Pharaoh would 
 once more be angry. But it was not so, for when he 
 spoke again it was in the voice of one who is crushed 
 by grief or weariness. 
 
 'Have your will, Son,' he said. 'Only take with 
 you a great guard of soldiers lest these hook-nosed dogs 
 should do you mischief. I trust them not, who, like 
 the Hyksos whose blood runs in many of them, were 
 ever the foes of Egypt. Did they not conspire with the 
 Ninebow Barbarians whom I crushed in the great 
 battle, and do they not now threaten us in the name of. 
 their outland god? Still, let the writing be prepared 
 
52 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 and I will seal it. And stay. I think, Seti, that you, 
 who were ever gentle-natured, have somewhat too soft 
 a heart towards these shepherd slaves. Therefore I 
 will not send you alone. Amenmeses your cousin 
 shall go with you, but under your command. It is 
 spoken.' 
 
 'Life! Blood! Strength!' said both Seti and Amen- 
 meses, thus acknowledging the king's command. 
 
 Now I thought that all was finished. But it was 
 not so, for presently Pharaoh said, 
 
 'Let the guards withdraw to the end of the hall and 
 with them the servants. Let the King's councillors 
 and the officers of the household remain. ' 
 
 Instantly all saluted and withdrew out of hearing. 
 I, too, made ready to go, but the Prince said to me, 
 
 ' Stay, that you may take note of what passes. ' 
 
 Pharaoh, wafeching, saw if he did not hear. 
 
 1 Who is that man, Son? ' he asked. 
 
 'He is Ana my private scribe and librarian, O 
 Pharaoh, whom I trust. It was he who saved me from 
 harm but last night. ' 
 
 'You say it, Son. Let him remain in attendance on 
 you, knowing that if he betrays our council he dies. ' 
 
 Userti looked up frowning as though she were about 
 to speak. If so, she changed her mind and was silent, 
 perhaps because Pharaoh's word once spoken could 
 not be altered. Bakenkhonsu remained also as a 
 Councillor of the King according to his right. 
 
 When all had gone Pharaoh, who had been brooding, 
 lifted his head and spoke slowly but in the voice of one 
 who gives a judgment that may not be questioned, 
 saying, 
 
 'Prince Seti, you are my only son born of Queen 
 
THE COURT OF BETROTHAL 53 
 
 Ast-Nefert, royal Sister, royal Mother, who sleeps in 
 the bosom of Osiris. It is true that you are not my 
 first-born son, since the Count Ramessu' here he 
 pointed to a stout mild-faced man of pleasing, rather 
 foolish appearance 4s your elder by two years. 
 But, as he knows well, his mother, who is still with us, 
 is a Syrian by birth and of no royal blood, and there- 
 fore he can never sit upon the throne of Egypt. Is it 
 not so, my son Ramessu?' 
 
 'It is so, O Pharaoh,' answered the Count in a 
 pleasant voice, 'nor do I seek ever to sit upon that 
 throne, who am well content with the offices and 
 wealth that Pharaoh has been pleased to confer upon 
 me, his first-born. ' 
 
 'Let the words of the Count Ramessu be written 
 down,' said Pharaoh, 'and placed in the temple of 
 Ptah of this city, and in the temples of Ptah at Memphis 
 and of Amon at Thebes, that hereafter they may never 
 be questioned. ' 
 
 The scribes in attendance wrote down the words and, 
 at a sign from the Prince Seti, I also wrote them down, 
 setting the papyrus I had with me on my knee. When 
 this was finished Pharaoh went on. 
 
 'Therefore, O Prince Seti, you are the heir of Egypt 
 and perhaps, as those Hebrew prophets said, will ere 
 long be called upon to sit in my place on its throne.' 
 
 'May the King live for ever!' exclaimed Seti, 'for 
 well he knows that I do not seek his crown and dig- 
 nities.' 
 
 'I do know it well, my son; so well that I wish you 
 thought more of that crown and those dignities which, 
 if the gods will, must come to you. If they will it not, 
 next in the order of succession stands your cousin, 
 
54 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 the Count Amenmeses, who is also of royal blood 
 both on his father's and his mother's side, and after 
 him I know not who, unless it be my daughter and 
 your half-sister, the royal Princess Userti, Lady of 
 Egypt.' 
 
 Now Userti spoke, very earnestly, saying, 
 
 'O Pharaoh, surely my right in the succession, ac- 
 cording to ancient precedent, precedes that of my 
 cousin, the Count Amenmeses. ' 
 
 Amenmeses was about to answer, but Pharaoh lifted 
 his hand and he was silent. 
 
 ' It is a matter for those learned in such lore to dis- 
 cuss,' Meneptah replied in a somewhat hesitating 
 voice. 'I pray the gods that it may never be needful 
 that this high question should be considered in the 
 Council. Nevertheless, let the words of the royal 
 Princess be written down. Now, Prince Seti, ' he went 
 on when this had been done, 'you are still unmarried, 
 and if you have children they are not royal. ' 
 
 ' I have none, O Pharaoh, ' said Seti. 
 
 'Is it so?' answered Meneptah indifferently. 'The 
 Count Amenmeses has children I know, for I have 
 seen them, but by his wife Unuri, who also is of the 
 royal line, he has none. ' 
 
 Here I heard Amenmeses mutter, 'Being my aunt 
 that is not strange,' a saying at which Seti smiled. 
 
 'My daughter, the Princess, is also unmarried. So 
 it seems that the fountain of the royal blood is running 
 dry 
 
 'Now it is coming,' whispered Seti below his breath 
 so that only I could hear. 
 
 'Therefore,' continued Pharaoh, 'as you know, 
 Prince Seti, for the royal Princess of Egypt by my 
 
THE COURT OF BETROTHAL 55 
 
 command went to speak to you of this matter last 
 night, I make a decree ' 
 
 'Pardon, Pharaoh/ interrupted the Prince, 'my 
 sister spoke to me of no decree last night, save that I 
 should attend at the court here to-day. ' 
 
 'Because I could not, Seti, seeing that another was 
 present with you whom you refused to dismiss,' and 
 she let her eyes rest on me. 
 
 'It matters not/ said Pharaoh, 'since now I will 
 utter it with my own lips which perhaps is better. 
 It is my will, Prince, that you forthwith wed the 
 royal Princess Userti, that children of the true blood 
 of the Ramessides may be born. Hear and obey. ' 
 
 Now Userti shifted her eyes from me to Seti, watching 
 him very closely. Seated at his side upon the ground 
 with my writing roll spread across my knee, I, too, 
 watched him closely, and noted that his lips turned 
 white and his face grew fixed and strange. 
 
 'I hear the command of Pharaoh/ he said in a low 
 voice making obeisance, and hesitated. 
 
 'Have you aught to add?' asked Meneptah sharply. 
 
 'Only, O Pharaoh, that though this would be a 
 marriage decreed for reasons of the State, still there is 
 a lady who must be given in marriage, and she my half- 
 sister who heretofore has only loved me as a relative. 
 Therefore, I would know from her lips if it is her 
 will to take me as a husband. ' 
 
 Now all looked at Userti who replied in a cold voice, 
 
 'In this matter, Prince, as in all others I have no 
 will but that of Pharaoh.' 
 
 'You have heard/ interrupted Meneptah impa- 
 tiently, 'and as in our House it has always been the 
 custom for kin to marry kin, why should it not be her 
 
56 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 will? Also, who else should she marry? Amenmeses 
 is already wed. There remains only Sap tab his 
 brother who is younger than herself 
 
 'So am I/ murmured Seti, 'by two long years/ but 
 happily Userti did not hear him. 
 
 'Nay, my father/ she said with decision, ' never will 
 I take a deformed man to husband. ' 
 
 Now from the shadow on the further side of the 
 throne, where I could not see him, there hobbled for- 
 ward a young noble, short in stature, light-haired like 
 Seti, and with a sharp, clever face which put me in 
 mind of that of a jackal (indeed for this reason he was 
 named Thoth by the common people, after the jackal- 
 headed god). He was very angry, for his cheeks were 
 flushed and his small eyes flashed. 
 
 'Must I listen, Pharaoh/ he said in a little voice, 
 'while my cousin the Royal Princess reproaches me in 
 public for my lame foot, which I have because my 
 nurse let me fall when I was still in arms?' 
 
 'Then his nurse let his grandfather fall also, for he 
 too was club-footed, as I who have seen him naked in 
 his cradle can bear witness,' whispered old Baken- 
 khonsu. 
 
 'It seems so, Count Saptah, unless you stop your 
 ears/ replied Pharaoh. 
 
 'She says she will not rnarry me/ went on Saptah, 
 'me who from childhood have been a slave to her and 
 to no other woman. ' 
 
 'Not by my wish, Saptah. Indeed, I pray you to go 
 and be a slave to any woman whom you will/ ex- 
 claimed Userti. 
 
 'But I say/ continued Saptah, 'that one day she 
 shall marry me, for the Prince Seti will not live for ever. ' 
 
THE COURT OF BETROTHAL 57 
 
 'How do you know that, Cousin?' asked Seti. 'The 
 High-priest here will tell you a different story. ' 
 
 Now certain of those present turned their heads 
 away to hide the smile upon their faces. Yet on this 
 day some god spoke with Saptah's voice making him a 
 prophet, since in a year to come she did marry him, in 
 order that she might stay upon the throne at a time 
 of trouble when Egypt would not suffer that a woman 
 should have sole rule over the land. 
 
 But Pharaoh did not smile like the courtiers; in- 
 deed he grew angry. 
 
 1 Peace, Saptah!' he said. 'Who are you that 
 wrangle before me, talking of the death of kings and 
 saying that you will wed the Royal Princess? One 
 more such word and you shall be driven into banish- 
 ment. Hearken now. Almost am I minded to de- 
 clare my daughter, the Royal Princess, sole heiress to 
 the throne, seeing that in her there is more strength 
 and wisdom than in any other of our House.' 
 
 1 If such be Pharaoh's will, let Pharaoh's will be done/ 
 said Seti most humbly. 'Well I know my own un- 
 worthiness to fill so high a station, and by all the gods 
 I swear that my beloved sister will nnpl no more faith- 
 ful subject than myself. ' 
 
 'You mean, Seti,' interrupted Userti, 'that rather 
 than marry me you would abandon your right to the 
 double crown Truly I am honoured. Seti, whether 
 you reign or I, I will not marry you. ' 
 
 'What words are these I hear?' cried Meneptah. 
 'Is there indeed one in this land of Egypt who dares 
 to say that Pharaoh's decree shall be disobeyed? 
 Write it down, Scribes, and you, O Officers, let it be 
 proclaimed from Thebes to the sea, that on the third 
 
58 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 day from now at the hour of noon in the temple of 
 Hathor in this city, the Prince, the Royal Heir, Seti 
 Meneptah, Beloved of Ra, will wed the Royal Princess 
 of Egypt, Lily of Love, Beloved of Hathor, Userti, 
 Daughter of me, the god/ 
 
 1 Life! Blood! Strength!' called all the Court. 
 
 Then, guided by some high officer, the Prince Seti 
 was led before the throne and the Princess Userti was 
 set beside him, or rather facing him. According to 
 the ancient custom a great gold cup was brought and 
 filled with red wine, to me it looked like blood. Userti 
 took the cup and, kneeling, gave it to the Prince, who 
 drank and gave it back to her that she might also 
 drink in solemn token of their betrothal. Is not the 
 scene graven on the broad bracelets of gold which in 
 after days Seti wore when he sat upon the throne, 
 those same bracelets that at a future time I with my 
 own hands clasped about the wrists of dead Userti? 
 
 Then he stretched out his hand which she touched with 
 her lips, and bending down he kissed her on the brow. 
 Lastly, Pharaoh, descending to the lowest step of the 
 throne, laid his sceptre, first upon the head of the Prince, 
 and next upon that of the Princess, blessing them both 
 in the name of himself, of his Ka or Double, and of the 
 spirits and Kas of all their forefathers, kings and queens 
 of Egypt, thus appointing them to come after him 
 when he had been gathered to the bosom of the gods. 
 
 These things done, he departed in state, surrounded 
 by his court, preceded and followed by his guards and 
 leaning on the arm of the Princess Userti, whom he 
 loved better than anyone in the world. 
 
 A while later I stood alone with the Prince in his 
 private chamber, where I had first seen him. 
 
THE COURT OF BETROTHAL 59 
 
 'That is finished/ he said in a cheerful voice, 'and I 
 tell you, Ana, that I feel quite, quite happy. Have 
 you ever shivered upon the bank of a river of a winter 
 morning, fearing to enter, and yet, when you did enter, 
 have you not been pleased to find that the icy water 
 refreshed you and made you not cold but hot? 
 
 'Yes, Prince. It is when one comes out of the water, 
 if the wind blows and no sun shines, that one feels 
 colder than before. ' 
 
 'True, Ana, and therefore one must not come out. 
 One should stop there till one drowns or is eaten 
 by a crocodile. But, say, did I do it well?' 
 
 'Old Bakenkhonsu told me, Prince, that he had been 
 present at many royal betrothals, I think he said 
 eleven, and had never seen one conducted with more 
 grace. He added that the way in which you kissed 
 the brow of her Highness was perfect, as was all your 
 demeanour after the first argument. ' 
 
 'And so it would remain, Ana, if I were never called 
 upon to do more than kiss her brow, to which I have 
 been accustomed from boyhood. Oh! Ana, Ana,' he 
 added in a kind of cry, 'already you are becoming a 
 courtier like the rest of them, a courtier who cannot 
 speak the truth. Well, nor can I, so why should I 
 blame you? Tell me again all about your marriage, 
 Ana, of how it began and how it ended.' 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE PROPHECY 
 
 WHETHER or no the Prince Seti saw Userti again be- 
 fore the hour of his marriage with her I cannot say, be- 
 cause he never told me. Indeed I was not present at 
 the marriage, for the reason that I had been granted 
 leave to return to Memphis, there to settle my affairs 
 and sell my house on entering upon my appointment as 
 private scribe to his Highness. Thus it came about 
 that fourteen full days went by from that of the holding 
 of the Court of Betrothal before I found myself stand- 
 ing once more at the gate of the Prince's palace, at- 
 tended by a servant who led an ass on which were 
 laden all my manuscripts and certain possessions that 
 had descended to me from my ancestors with the title- 
 deeds of their tombs. Different indeed was my re- 
 ception on this my second coming. Even as I reached 
 the steps the old chamberlain Pambasa appeared, run- 
 ning down them so fast that his white robes and beard 
 streamed upon the air. 
 
 1 Greeting, most learned scribe, most honourable 
 Ana/ he panted. ' Glad indeed am I to see you, since 
 every hour his Highness asks if you have returned, and 
 blames me because you have not come. Verily I be- 
 lieve that if you had stayed upon the road another day 
 I should have been sent to look for you, who have had 
 sharp words said to me because I did not arrange that 
 
 60 
 
THE PROPHECY 61 
 
 you should be accompanied by a guard, as though the 
 Vizier Nehesi would have paid the costs of a guard 
 without the direct order of Pharaoh. O most excellent 
 Ana, give me of the charm which you have doubtless 
 used to win the love of our royal master, and I will pay 
 you well for it who find it easier to earn his wrath/ 
 
 'I will, Pambasa. Here it is write better stories 
 than I do instead of telling them, and he will love you 
 more than he does me. But say how went the mar- 
 riage? I have heard upon the way that it was very 
 splendid.' 
 
 'Splendid! Oh! it was ten times more than splen- 
 did. It was as though the god Osiris were once more 
 wed to the goddess Isis in the very halls of heaven. 
 Indeed his Highness, the bridegroom, was dressed as a 
 god, yes, he wore the robes and the holy ornaments of 
 Amon. And the procession! And the feast that 
 Pharaoh gave! I tell you that the Prince was so over- 
 come with joy and all this weight of glory that, before 
 it was over, looking at him I saw that his eyes were 
 closed, being dazzled by the gleam of gold and jewels 
 and the loveliness of his royal bride. He told me that 
 it was so himself, fearing perhaps lest I should have 
 thought that he was asleep. Then there were the 
 presents, something to everyone of us according to his 
 degree. I got well it matters not. And, learned 
 Ana, I did not forget you. Knowing well that every- 
 thing would be gone before you returned I spoke your 
 name in the ear of his Highness, offering to keep your 
 gift.' 
 
 1 Indeed, Pambasa, and what did he say?' 
 
 'He said that he was keeping it himself. When I 
 stared wondering what it might be, for I saw nothing 
 
62 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 on him, he added, "It is here," and touched the pri- 
 vate signet guard that he has always worn, an ancient 
 ring of gold, but of no great value I should say, with 
 " Beloved of Thoth and of the King" cut upon it. It 
 seems that he must take it off to make room for 
 another and much finer ring which her Highness has 
 given him.' 
 
 Now, by this time, the ass having been unloaded by 
 the slaves and led away, we had passed through the 
 hall where many were idling as ever, and were come to 
 the private apartments of the palace. 
 
 'This way/ said Pambasa. 'The orders are that I 
 am to take you to the Prince wherever he may be, and 
 just now he is seated in the great apartment with her 
 Highness, where they have been receiving homage and 
 deputations from distant cities. The last left about 
 half an hour ago. 7 
 
 'First I will prepare myself, worthy Pambasa/ I 
 began. 
 
 'No, no, the orders are instant, I dare not disobey 
 them. Enter/ and with a courtly flourish he drew 
 a rich curtain. 
 
 'By Amon/ exclaimed a weary voice which I knew 
 as that of the Prince, 'here come more councillors or 
 priests. Prepare, my sister, prepare !' 
 
 'I pray you, Seti/ answered another voice, that of 
 Userti, ' to learn to call me by my right name, which is 
 no longer sister. Nor, indeed, am I your full sister/ 
 
 'I crave your pardon/ said Seti. 'Prepare, Royal 
 Wife, prepare P 
 
 By now the curtain was fully drawn and I stood, 
 travel-stained, forlorn and, to tell the truth, trembling 
 a little, for I feared her Highness, in the doorway, hesi- 
 
THE PROPHECY 63 
 
 tating to pass the threshold. Beyond was a splendid 
 chamber full of light, in the centre of which upon a 
 carven and golden chair, one of two that were set there, 
 sat her Highness magnificently apparelled, faultlessly 
 beautiful and calm. She was engaged in studying a 
 painted roll, left no doubt by the last deputation, for 
 others similar to it were laid neatly side by side upon 
 a table. 
 
 The second chair was empty, for the Prince was 
 walking restlessly up and down the chamber, his cere- 
 monial robe somewhat disarrayed and the uraeus circlet 
 of gold which he wore, tilted back upon his head, be- 
 cause of his habit of running his fingers through his 
 brown hair. As I still stood in the dark shadow, for 
 Pambasa had left me, and thus remained unseen, the 
 talk went on. 
 
 'I am prepared, Husband. Pardon me, it is you 
 who look otherwise. Why would you dismiss the 
 scribes and household before the ceremony was ended? ' 
 
 'Because they wearied me/ said Seti, 'with their 
 continual bowing and praising and formalities.' 
 
 'In which I saw nothing unusual. Now they must 
 be recalled.' 
 
 'Let whoever it is enter/ he exclaimed. 
 
 Then I stepped forward into the light, prostrating 
 myself. 
 
 'Why/ he cried, 'it is Ana returned from Memphis! 
 Draw near, Ana, and a thousand welcomes to you. Do 
 you know I thought that you were another high-priest, 
 or governor of some Nome of which I had never heard.' 
 
 'Ana! Who is Ana?' asked the Princess. 'Oh! Ire- 
 member that scribe - . Well, it is plain that he has 
 returned from Memphis/ and she eyed my dusty robe. 
 
64 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 'Royal One/ I murmured abashed, 'do not blame me 
 that I enter your presence thus. Pambasa led me here 
 against my will by the direct order of the Prince.' 
 
 'Is it so? Say, Seti, does this man bring tidings of 
 import from Memphis that you needed his presence in 
 such haste? ' 
 
 'Yes, Userti, at least I think so. You have the 
 writings safe, have you not, Ana? ' 
 
 'Quite safe, your Highness,' I answered, though I 
 knew not of what writings he spoke, unless they were 
 the manuscripts of my stories. 
 
 'Then, my Lord, I will leave you to talk of the tidings 
 from Memphis and these writings,' said the Princess. 
 
 'Yes, yes. We must talk of them, Userti. Also of 
 the journey to the land of Goshen on which Ana starts 
 with me to-morrow.' 
 
 'To-morrow! Why this morning you told me it was 
 fixed for three days hence. 
 
 'Did I, Sister I mean Wife? If so, it was because 
 I was not sure whether Ana, who is to be my chariot 
 companion, would be back.' 
 
 'A scribe your chariot companion! Surely it would 
 be more fitting that your cousin Amenmeses - 
 
 'To Set with Amenmeses!' he exclaimed. 'You 
 know well, Userti, that the man is hateful to me with 
 his cunning yet empty talk.' 
 
 'Indeed! I grieve to hear it, for when you hate you 
 show it, and Amenmeses may be a bad enemy. Then 
 if not our cousin Amenmeses who is not hateful to me, 
 there is Saptah.' 
 
 'I thank you; I will not travel in a cage with a 
 jackal.' 
 
 'Jackal! I do not love Saptah, but one of the royal 
 
THE PROPHECY 65 
 
 blood of Egypt a jackal! Then there is Nehesi the 
 Vizier, or the General of the escort whose name I for- 
 get.' 
 
 'Do you think, Userti, that I wish to talk about 
 state economies with that old money-sack, or to listen 
 to boastings of deeds he never did in war from a half- 
 bred Nubian butcher? ' 
 
 'I do not know, Husband.' Yet of what will you 
 talk with this Ana? Of poems, I suppose, and silliness. 
 Or will it be perchance of Merapi, Moon of Israel, 
 whom I gather both of you think so beautiful. Well, 
 have your way. You tell me that I am not to accom- 
 pany you upon this journey, I your new-made wife, 
 and now I find that it is because you wish my place to 
 be filled by a writer of tales whom you picked up the 
 other day your " twin in Ra" forsooth! Fare you 
 well, my Lord/ and she rose from her seat, gathering 
 up her robes with both hands. 
 
 Then Seti grew angry. 
 
 ' Userti,' he said, stamping upon the floor, 'you should 
 not use such words. You know well that I do not take 
 you with me because there may be danger yonder 
 among the Hebrews. Moreover, it is not Pharaoh's 
 wish.' 
 
 She turned and answered with cold courtesy, 
 
 'Then I crave your pardon and thank you for your 
 kind thought for the safety of my person. I knew not 
 this mission was so dangerous. Be careful, Seti, that 
 the scribe Ana comes to no harm.' 
 
 So saying she bowed and vanished through the 
 curtains. 
 
 'Ana,' said Seti, 'tell me, for I never was quick at 
 figures, how many minutes is it from now till the fourth 
 
66 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 hour to-morrow morning when I shall order my chariot 
 to be ready? Also, do you know whether it is possible 
 to travel from Goshen across the marshes and to return 
 by Syria? Or, failing that, to travel across the desert 
 to Thebes and sail down the Nile in the spring?' 
 
 'Oh! my Prince, my Prince,' I said, 'I pray you to 
 dismiss me. Let me go anywhere out of the reach of 
 her Highness's tongue.' 
 
 'It is strange how alike we think upon every matter, 
 Ana, even of Merapi and the tongues of royal ladies. 
 Hearken to my command. You are not to go. If it is 
 a question of going, there are others who will go first. 
 Moreover, you cannot go, but must stay and bear your 
 burdens as I bear mine. Remember the broken cup, 
 Ana.' 
 
 'I remember, my Prince, but sooner would I be 
 scourged with rods than by such words as those to 
 which I must listen. ' 
 
 Yet that very night, when I had left the Prince, I 
 was destined to hear more pleasant words from this 
 same changeful, or perchance politic, royal lady. She 
 sent for me and I went, much afraid. I found her in a 
 small chamber alone, save for one old lady of honour 
 who sat at the end of the room and appeared to be deaf, 
 which perhaps was why she was chosen. Userti bade 
 me be seated before her very courteously, and spoke 
 to me thus, whether because of some talk she had 
 held with the Prince or not, I do not know. 
 
 'Scribe Ana, I ask your pardon if, being vexed and 
 wearied, I said to you and of you to-day what I now 
 wish I had left unsaid. I know well that you, being of 
 the gentle blood of Egypt, will make no report of what 
 you heard outside these walls.' 
 
THE PROPHECY 67 
 
 ' May my tongue be cut out first/ I answered. 
 
 'It seems, Scribe Ana, that my lord the Prince has 
 taken a great love of you. How or why this came 
 about so suddenly, you being a man, I do not under- 
 stand, but I am sure that as it is so, it must be because 
 there is much in you to love, since never did I know the 
 Prince to show deep regard for one who was not most 
 honourable and worthy. Now things being so, it is 
 plain that you will become the favourite of his High- 
 ness, a man who does not change his mind in such 
 matters, and that he will tell you all his secret thoughts, 
 perhaps some that he hides from the Councillors of 
 State, or even from me. In short you will grow into a 
 power in the land and perhaps one day be the greatest 
 in it after Pharaoh although you may still seem 
 to be but a private scribe. 
 
 'I do not pretend to you that I should have wished 
 this to be so, who would rather that my husband had 
 but one real councillor myself. Yet seeing that it 
 is so, I bow my head, hoping that it may be decreed 
 for the best. If ever any jealousy should overcome me 
 in this matter and I should speak sharply to you, as I 
 did to-day, I ask your pardon in advance for that which 
 has not happened, as I have asked it for that which has 
 happened. I pray of you, Scribe Ana, that yoa will 
 do your best to influence the mind of the Prince for 
 good, since he is easily led by any whom he loves. 
 I pray you also being quick and thoughtful, as I see 
 you are, that you will make a study of statecraft, and 
 of the policies of our royal House, coming to me, if it 
 be needful, for instruction therein, so that you may be 
 able to guide the feet of the Prince aright, should he 
 turn to you for counsel.' 
 
68 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 1 All of this I will do, your Highness, if by any chance 
 it lies in my power, though who am I that I should 
 hope to make a path for the feet of kings? Moreover, 
 I vvould add this, although he is so gentle-natured, I 
 think that in the end the Prince is one who will always 
 choose his own path/ 
 
 'It may be so Ana. At the least I thank you. I 
 pray you to be sure also that in me you will always 
 have a friend and not an enemy, although at times the 
 quickness of my nature, which has never been con- 
 trolled, may lead you to think otherwise. Now I 
 will say one more thing that shall be secret between us. 
 I know that the Prince loves me as a friend and relative 
 rather than as a wife, and that he would not have 
 sought this marriage of himself, as is perhaps natural. 
 I know, too, that other women will come into his life, 
 though these may be fewer than in the case of most 
 kings, because he is more hard to please. Of such I 
 cannot complain, as this is according to the customs of 
 our country. I fear only one thing namely that 
 some woman, ceasing to be his toy, may take Seti's 
 heart and make him altogether hers. In this matter, 
 Scribe Ana, as in others I ask your help, since I would 
 be queen of Egypt in all ways, not in name only/ 
 
 1 Your Highness, how can I say to the Prince " So 
 much shall you love this or that woman and no more?" 
 Moreover, why do you fear that which has not and may 
 never come about? ' 
 
 ' I do not know how you can say such a thing, Scribe, 
 still I ask you to say it if you can. As to why I fear, 
 it is because I seem to feel the near shadow of some 
 woman lying cold upon me and building a wall of 
 blackness between his Highness and myself. ' 
 
THE PROPHECY 69 
 
 'It is but a dream, Princess.' 
 
 'Mayhap. I hope so. Yet I think otherwise. Oh! 
 Ana, cannot you, who study the hearts of men and 
 women, understand my case? I have married where 
 I can never hope to be loved as other women are, I 
 who am a wife, yet not a wife. I read your thought; 
 it is why then did you marry? Since I have told 
 you so much I will tell you that also. First, it is be- 
 cause the Prince is different to other men and in his 
 own fashion above them, yes, far above any with whom 
 I could have wed as royal heiress of Egypt. Secondly, 
 because being cut off from love, what remains to me 
 but ambition? At least I would be a great queen, as 
 was Hatshepu in her day, and lift my country out of 
 the many troubles in which it is sunk and write my 
 name large upon the books of history, which I could 
 only do by taking Pharaoh's heir to husband, as is my 
 duty.' 
 
 She brooded a while, then added, ' Now I have shown 
 you all my thought. Whether I have been wise to do 
 so the gods know alone and time will tell me.' 
 
 'Princess,' I said, 'I thank you for trusting me and 
 I will help you if I may. Yet I am troubled. I, a 
 humble man if of good blood, who a little while ago was 
 but a scribe and a student, a dreamer who had known 
 trouble also, have suddenly by chance, or some divine 
 decree, been lifted high in the favour of the heir of 
 Egypt, and it would seem have even won your trust. 
 Now I wonder how I shall bear myself in this new place 
 which in truth I never sought.' 
 
 'I do not know, who find the present and its troubles 
 enough to carry. But, doubtless, the decree of which 
 you speak that set you there has also written down 
 
70 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 what will be the end of all. Meanwhile, I have a 
 gift for you. Say, Scribe, have you ever handled any 
 weapon besides a pen?' 
 
 'Yes, your Highness, as a lad I was skilled in sword 
 play. Moreover, though I do not love war and blood- 
 shed, some years ago I fought in the great battle be- 
 tween the Ninebow Barbarians, when Pharaoh called 
 upon the young men of Memphis to do their part. 
 With my own hands I slew two in fair fight, though 
 one nearly brought me to my end, ' and I pointed to a 
 scar which showed red through my grey hair where a 
 spear had bitten deep. 
 
 'It is well, or so I think, who love soldiers better 
 than stainers of papyrus pith.' 
 
 Then, going to a painted chest of reeds, she took 
 from it a wonderful shirt of mail fashioned of bronze 
 rings, and a short sword also of bronze, having a golden 
 hilt of which the end was shaped to the likeness of the 
 head of a lion, and with her own hands gave them to 
 me, saying, 
 
 'These are spoils that my grandsire, the great 
 Rameses, took in his youth from a prince of the Khitah, 
 whom he smote with his own hands in Syria in that 
 battle whereof your grandfather made the poem. 
 Wear the shirt, which no spear will pierce, beneath 
 your robe and gird the sword about you when you go 
 down yonder among the Israelites, whom I do not 
 trust. I have given a like coat to the Prince. Let 
 it be your duty to see that it is upon his sacred person 
 day and night. Let it be your duty also, if need 
 arises, with this sword to defend him to the death. 
 Farewell.' 
 
 'May all the gods reject me from the Fields of the 
 
THE PROPHECY 71 
 
 Blessed if I fail in this trust/ I answered, and departed 
 wondering, to seek sleep which, as it chanced, I was 
 not to find for a while. 
 
 For as I went down the corridor, led by one of the 
 ladies of the household, whom should I find waiting 
 at the end of it but old Pambasa to inform me with 
 many bows that the Prince needed my presence. I 
 asked how that could be seeing he had dismissed me 
 for the night. He replied that he did not know, but 
 he was commanded to conduct me to the private cham- 
 ber, the same room in which I had first seen his High- 
 ness. Thither I went and found him warming him- 
 self at the fire, for the night was cold. Looking up 
 he bade Pambasa admit those who were waiting, then 
 noting the shirt of mail and the sword I carried in 
 my hand, said, 
 
 1 You have been with the Princess, have you not, 
 and she must have had much to say to you for your 
 talk was long? Well, I think I can guess its purport 
 who from a child have known her mind. She told 
 you to watch me well, body and heart and all that 
 comes from the heart oh! and much else. Also she 
 gave you that Syrian gear to wear among the Hebrews 
 as she has given the like to me, being of a careful 
 mind which foresees everything. Now, hearken, Ana; 
 I grieve to keep you from your rest, who must be weary 
 both with talk and travel. But old Bakenkhonsu, whom 
 you know, waits without, and with him Ki the great 
 magician, whom I think you have not seen. He is 
 a man of wonderful lore and in some ways not alto- 
 gether human. At least he does strange feats of 
 magic, and at times both the past and the future 
 seem to be open to his sight, though as we know neither 
 
72 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 the one nor the other, who can tell whether he reads 
 them truly. Doubtless he has, or thinks he has, some 
 message to me from the heavens, which I thought you 
 might wish to hear.' 
 
 'I wish it much, Prince, if I am worthy, and you will 
 protect me from the anger of this magician whom I 
 fear.' 
 
 'Anger sometimes turns to trust, Ana. Did you not 
 find it so just now in the case of her Highness, as I 
 told you might very well happen? Hush! They come. 
 Be seated and prepare your tablets to make record of 
 what they say.' 
 
 The curtains were drawn and through them came 
 the aged Bakenkhonsu leaning upon his staff, and with 
 him another man, Ki himself, clad in a white robe and 
 having his head shaven, for he was an hereditary priest 
 of Amon of Thebes and an initiate of Isis, Mother of 
 Mysteries. Also his office was that of Kherheb, or 
 chief magician of Egypt. At first sight there was 
 nothing strange about this man. Indeed, he might 
 well have been a middle-aged merchant by his looks; 
 in body he was short and stout; in face fat and smiling. 
 But in this jovial countenance were set two very strange 
 eyes, grey-hued rather than black. While the rest of 
 the face seemed to smile these eyes looked straight into 
 nothingness as do those of a statue. Indeed they were 
 like to the eyes or rather the eye-places of a stone 
 statue, so deeply were they set into the head. For 
 my part I can only say I thought them awful, and by 
 their look judged that whatever Ki might be he was 
 no cheat. 
 
 This strange pair bowed to the Prince and seated 
 themselves at a sign from him, Bakenkhonsu upon a 
 
THE PROPHECY 73 
 
 stool because he found it difficult to rise, and Ki, who 
 was younger, scribe fashion on the ground. 
 
 ' What did I tell you, Bakenkhonsu? ' said Ki in a full, 
 rich voice, ending the words with a curious chuckle. 
 
 'You told me, Magician, that we should find the 
 Prince in this chamber of which you described every 
 detail to me as I see it now, although neither of us 
 have entered it before. You said also that seated 
 therein on the ground would be the scribe Ana, whom 
 I know but you do not, having in his hands waxen 
 tablets and a stylus and by him a coat of curious mail 
 and a lion-hilted sword. ' 
 
 'That is strange/ interrupted the Prince, 'but for- 
 give me, Bakenkhonsu sees these things. If you, O Ki, 
 would tell us what is written upon Ana's tablets which 
 neither of you can see, it would be stranger still, that 
 is if anything is written. 7 
 
 Ki smiled and stared upwards at the ceiling. Pres- 
 ently he said, 
 
 'The scribe Ana uses a shorthand of his own that is 
 not easy to decipher. Yet I see written on the tablets 
 the price he obtained for some house in a city that is 
 not named it is so much. Also I see the sums he dis- 
 bursed for himself, a servant, and the food of an ass at 
 two inns where he stopped upon a journey. They are 
 so much and so much. Also there is a list of papyrus 
 rolls and the words, "blue cloak," and then an erasure.' 
 
 'Is that right, Ana?' asked the Prince. 
 
 'Quite right,' I answered with awe, 'only the words 
 " blue cloak," which it is true I wrote upon the tablet, 
 have also been erased.' 
 
 Ki chuckled and turned his eyes from the ceiling to 
 my face. 
 
74 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 1 Would your Highness wish me to tell you anything 
 of what is written upon the tablets of this scribe's 
 memory as well as upon those of wax which he holds 
 in his hand? They are easier to decipher than the 
 others and I see on them many things of interest. 
 For instance, secret words that seem to have been 
 said to him by some Great One within an hour, mat- 
 ters of high policy, I think. For instance, a certain 
 saying, I think of your Highnesses, as to shivering 
 upon the edge of water on a cold day, which when 
 entered produced heat, and the answer thereto. For 
 instance, words that were spoken in this palace when 
 an alabaster cup was broke. By the way, Scribe, that 
 was a very good place you chose in which to hide one 
 half of the cup in the false bottom of a chest in your 
 chamber, a chest that is fastened with a cord and 
 sealed with a scarab of the time of the second Rameses. 
 I think that the other half of the cup is somewhat 
 nearer at hand and turning, he stared at the wall where 
 I could see nothing save slabs of alabaster. 
 
 Now I sat open-mouthed, for how could this man 
 know these things, and the Prince laughed outright, 
 saying, 
 
 'Ana, I begin to think you keep your counsel ill. 
 At least I should think so, were it not that you have 
 had no time to tell what the Princess yonder may 
 have said to you, and can scarcely know the trick of 
 the sliding panel in that wall which I have never 
 shown to you. ' 
 
 Ki chuckled again and a smile grew on old Baken- 
 khonsu's broad and wrinkled face. 
 
 '0 Prince/ I began, 'I swear to you that never has 
 one word passed my lips of aught ' 
 
THE PROPHECY 75 
 
 'I know it, friend/ broke in the Prince, 'but it seems 
 there are some who do not wait for words but can read 
 the Book of Thought. Therefore it is well not to meet 
 them too often, since all have thoughts that should be 
 known only to them and God. Magician, what is your 
 business with me? Speak on as though we were alone.' 
 
 'This, Prince. You go upon a journey among the 
 Hebrews, as all have heard. Now, Bakenkhonsu and I, 
 also two seers of my College, seeing that we all love you 
 and that your welfare is much to Egypt, have separ- 
 ately sought out the future as regards the issue of this 
 journey. Although what we have learned differs in 
 some matters, on others it is the same. Therefore we 
 thought it our duty to tell you what we have learned.' 
 
 'Say on, Kherheb.' 
 
 'First, then, that your Highness's life will be in 
 danger.' 
 
 'Life is always in danger, Ki. Shall I lose it? If so, 
 do not fear to tell me.' 
 
 'We do not know, but we think not, because of the 
 rest that is revealed to us. We learn that it is not your 
 body only that will be in danger. Upon this journey 
 you will see a woman whom you will come to love. 
 This woman will, we think, bring you much sorrow 
 and also much joy.' 
 
 'Then perhaps that journey is worth making, Ki, 
 since many travel far before they find aught that they 
 can love. Tell me, have I met this woman? ' 
 
 'There we are troubled, Prince, for it would seem 
 unless we are deceived that you have met her often 
 and often; that you have known her for thousands of 
 years, as you have known that man at your side for 
 thousands of years.' 
 
76 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 Seti's face grew very interested. 
 
 'What do you mean, Magician? ' he asked, eyeing 
 him keenly. 'How can I who am still young have 
 known a woman and a man for thousands of years?' 
 
 Ki considered him with his strange eyes, and 
 answered, 
 
 'You have many titles, Prince. Is not one of them 
 "Lord of Re-births," and if so, how did you get it and 
 what does it mean?' 
 
 'It is. What it means I do not know, but it was 
 given to me because of some dream that my mother 
 had the night before I was born. Do you tell me what 
 it means, since you seem to know so much.' 
 
 'I cannot, Prince. The secret is not one that has 
 been shown to me. Yet there was an aged man, a 
 magician like myself from whom I learned much in my 
 youth Bakenkhonsu here knew him well who made 
 a study of this matter. He told me he was sure, be- 
 cause it had been revealed to him, that men do not live 
 once only and then depart hence for ever. He said 
 that they live many times and in many shapes, though 
 not always on this world, and that between each life 
 there is a wall of darkness.' 
 
 'If so, of what use are lives which we do not re- 
 member after death has shut the door of each of them?' 
 
 'The doors may open again at last, Prince, and show 
 us all the chambers through which our feet have wan- 
 dered from the beginning.' 
 
 'Our religion teaches us, Ki, that after death we live 
 eternally elsewhere in our own bodies, which we find 
 again on the day of resurrection. Now eternity, hav- 
 ing no end, can have no beginning; it is a circle. 
 Therefore if the one be true, namely that we live on, it 
 
THE PROPHECY 77 
 
 would seem that the other must be true, namely that 
 we have always lived.' 
 
 'That is well reasoned, Prince. In the early days, 
 before priests froze the thought of man into blocks of 
 stone and built of them shrines to a thousand gods, 
 many held that this reasoning was true, as then they 
 held that there was but one god/ 
 
 'As do these Israelites whom I go to visit. What 
 say you of their god, Ki? ' 
 
 'That he is the same as our gods, Prince. To men's 
 eyes God has many faces, and each swears that the one 
 he sees is the only true god. Yet they are wrong, for 
 all are true/ 
 
 'Or perchance false, Ki, unless even falsehood is a 
 part of truth. Well, you have told me of two dangers, 
 one to my body and one to my heart. Has any other 
 been revealed to your wisdom?' 
 
 ' Yes, Prince. The third is that this journey may in 
 the end cost you your throne.' 
 
 'If I die certainly it will cost me my throne.' 
 
 'No, Prince, if you live.' 
 
 'Even so, Ki, I think that I could endure life seated 
 more humbly than on a throne, though whether her 
 Highness could endure it is another matter. Then you 
 say that if I go upon this journey another will be 
 Pharaoh in my place.' 
 
 'We do not say that, Prince. It is true that our arts 
 have shown us another rilling your place in a time of 
 wizardry and wonders and of the death of thousands. 
 Yet when we look again we see not that other but you 
 once more filling your own place.' 
 
 Here I, Ana, bethought me of my vision in Pharaoh's 
 hall. 
 
78 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 'The matter is even worse than I thought, Ki, 
 since having once left the crown behind me, I think that 
 I should have no wish to wear it any more/ said Seti. 
 'Who shows you all these things, and how?' 
 
 'Our Kas, which are our secret selves, show them 
 to us, Prince, and in many ways. Sometimes it is by 
 dreams or visions, sometimes by pictures on water, 
 sometimes by writings in the desert sand. In all 
 these fashions, and by others, our Kas, drawing from 
 the infinite well of wisdom that is hidden in the being 
 of every man, give us glimpses of the truth, as they 
 give us who are instructed power to work marvels. ' 
 
 'Of the truth. Then these things you tell me are 
 true?' 
 
 'We believe so, Prince/ 
 
 'And being true must happen. So what is the use 
 of your warning me against what must happen? There 
 cannot be two truths. What would you have me do? 
 Not go upon this journey? Why have you told me 
 that I must go, since if I did not go the truth would 
 become a lie, which it 1 cannot? You say it is fated 
 that I should go and because I go such and such things 
 will come about. And yet you tell me not to go, for 
 that is what you mean. Oh! Kherheb Ki and Baken- 
 khonsu, doubtless you are great magicians and strong in 
 wisdom, but there are greater than you who rule the 
 world, and there is a wisdom to which yours is but as a 
 drop of water to the Nile. I thank you for your warn- 
 ings, but to-morrow I go down to the land of Goshen 
 to fulfil the commands of Pharaoh. If I come back 
 again we will talk more of these matters here upon the 
 earth. If I do not come back, perchance we will talk 
 of them elsewhere. Farewell.' 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE LAND OF GOSHEN 
 
 THE Prince Seti and all his train, a very great com- 
 pany, came in safety to the land of Goshen, I, Ana, 
 travelling with him in his chariot. It was then as now 
 a rich land, quite flat after the last line of desert hills 
 through which we travelled by a narrow, tortuous 
 path. Everywhere it was watered by canals, between 
 which lay the grain fields wherein the seed had just 
 been sown. Also there were other fields of green 
 fodder whereon were tethered beasts by the hundred, 
 and beyond these, upon the drier soil, grazed flocks of 
 sheep. The town Goshen, if so it could be called, was 
 but a poor place, numbers of mud huts, no more, in the 
 centre of which stood a building, also of mud, with 
 two brick pillars in front of it, that we were told was 
 the temple of this people, into the inner parts of which 
 none might enter save their High-priest. I laughed 
 at the sight of it, but the Prince reproved me, saying 
 that I should not judge of the spirit by the body, or of 
 the god by his house. 
 
 We camped outside this town and soon learned that 
 the people who dwelt in it or elsewhere in other towns 
 must be numbered by the ten thousand, for more of 
 them than I could count wandered round the camp to 
 look at us. The men were fierce-eyed and hook- 
 nosed; the young women well-shaped and pleasant 
 
 79 ' 
 
8o MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 to behold; the older women for the most part stout 
 and somewhat unwieldy, and the children very beauti- 
 ful. All were roughly clad in robes of loosely-woven, 
 dark-coloured cloth, beneath which the women wore 
 garments of white linen. Notwithstanding the wealth 
 we saw about us in corn and cattle, their ornaments 
 seemed to be few, or perhaps these were hidden from 
 our sight. 
 
 It was easy to see that they hated us Egyptians, 
 and even dared to despise us. Hate shone in their glit- 
 tering eyes, and I heard them calling us the 'idol- 
 worshippers' one to the other and asking where was 
 our god, the Bull, for being ignorant they thought that 
 we worshipped Apis (as mayhap some of the common 
 people do) instead of looking upon the sacred beast 
 as a symbol of the powers of Nature. Indeed they did 
 more, for on the first night after our coming they 
 slaughtered a bull marked much as Apis is, and in the 
 morning we found it lying near the gate of the camp, 
 and pinned to its hide with sharp thorns great num- 
 bers of the scarabaeus beetle still living. For again 
 they did not know that among us Egyptians this 
 beetle is no god but an emblem of the Creator, because 
 it rolls a ball of mud between its feet and sets therein 
 its eggs to hatch, as the Creator rolls the world that 
 seems to be round, and causes it to produce life. 
 
 Now all were angry at these insults except the 
 Prince, who laughed and said that he thought the 
 jest coarse but clever. But worse was to happen. It 
 seems that a soldier with wine in him had done insult 
 to a Hebrew maiden who came alone to draw water at 
 a canal. The news spread among the people and some 
 thousands of them rushed to the camp, shouting and 
 
THE LAND OF GOSHEN 81 
 
 demanding vengeance in so threatening a manner that 
 it was necessary to form up the regiments of guards. 
 
 The Prince being summoned commanded that the 
 girl and her kin should be admitted and state their 
 case. She came, weeping and wailing and tearing her 
 garments, throwing dust on her head also, though it 
 appeared that she had taken no great harm from the 
 soldier from whom she ran away. The Prince bade 
 her point out the man if she could see him, and she 
 showed us one of the bodyguard of the Count Amen- 
 meses, whose face was scratched as though by a woman's 
 nails. On being questioned he said he could remember 
 little of the matter, but confessed that he had seen the 
 maiden by the canal at moonrise and jested with her. 
 
 The kin of this girl* clamoured that he should be 
 killed, because he had offered insult to a high-born 
 lady of Israel. This Seti refused, saying that the of- 
 fence was not one of death, but that he would order 
 him to be publicly beaten. Thereupon Amenmeses, 
 who was fond of the soldier, a good man enough when 
 not in his cups, sprang up in a rage, saying that no 
 servant of his should be touched because he had offered 
 to caress some light Israelitish woman who had no 
 business to be wandering about alone at night. He 
 added that if the man were flogged he and all those 
 under his command would leave the camp and march 
 back to make report to Pharaoh. 
 
 Now the Prince, having consulted with the council- 
 lors, told the woman and her kin that as Pharaoh had 
 been appealed to, he must judge of the matter, and 
 commanded them to appear at his court within a 
 month and state their case against the soldier. They 
 went away very ill-satisfied, saying that Amenmeses had 
 
82 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 insulted their daughter even more than his servant 
 had done. The end of the matter was that on the 
 following night this soldier was discovered dead, 
 pierced through and through with knife thrusts. 
 The girl, her parents and brethren could not be found, 
 having fled away into the desert, nor was there any 
 evidence to show by whom the soldier had been mur- 
 dered. Therefore nothing could be done in the 
 business except bury the victim. 
 
 On the following morning the Inquiry began with 
 due ceremony, the Prince Seti and the Count Amen- 
 meses taking their seats at the head of a large pavilion 
 with the councillors behind them and the scribes, 
 among whom I was, seated at their feet. Then we 
 learned that the two prophets whom I had seen at 
 Pharaoh's court were not in the land of Goshen, 
 having left before we arrived 'to sacrifice to God in 
 the wilderness/ nor did any know when they would 
 return. Other elders and priests, however, appeared 
 and began to set out their case, which they did at great 
 length and in a fierce and turbulent fashion, speaking 
 often all of them at once, thus making it difficult for 
 the interpreters to render their words, since they 
 pretended that they did not know the Egyptian 
 tongue. 
 
 Moreover they told their story from the very be- 
 ginning, when they had entered Egypt hundreds of 
 years before and were succoured by the vizier of the 
 Pharaoh of that day, one Yusuf, a powerful and 
 clever man of their race who stored corn in a time of 
 famine and low Niles. This Pharaoh was of the 
 Hyksos people, one of the Shepherd kings whom we 
 Egyptians hated and after many wars drove out of 
 
THE LAND OF GOSHEN 83 
 
 Khem. Under these Shepherd kings, being joined 
 by many of their own blood, the Israelites grew rich 
 and powerful, so that the Pharaohs who came after 
 and who loved them not, began to fear them. 
 
 This was as far as the story was taken on the first 
 day. 
 
 On the second day began the tale of their oppres- 
 sion, under which, however, they still multiplied like 
 gnats upon the Nile, and grew so strong and numerous 
 that at length the great Rameses did a wicked thing, 
 ordering that their male children should be put to 
 death. This order was never carried out, because his 
 daughter, she who found Moses among the reeds of 
 the river, pleaded for them. 
 
 At this point the Prince, wearied with the noise and 
 heat in that crowded place, broke off the sitting until 
 the morrow. Commanding me to accompany him, 
 he ordered a chariot, not his own, to be made ready, 
 and, although I prayed him not to do so, set out un- 
 guarded save for myself and the charioteer, saying 
 that he would see how these people laboured with his 
 own eyes. 
 
 Taking a Hebrew lad to run before the horses as our 
 guide, we drove to the banks of a canal where the 
 Israelites made bricks of mud which, after drying in 
 the sun, were laden into boats that waited for them on 
 the canal and taken away to other parts of Egypt to be 
 used on Pharaoh's works. Thousands of men were en- 
 gaged upon this labour, toiling in gangs under the com- 
 mand of Egyptian overseers who kept count of the 
 bricks, cutting their number upon tally sticks, or some- 
 times writing them upon sherds. These overseers were 
 brutal fellows, for the most part of a low class, who 
 
84 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 used vile language to the slaves. Nor were they con- 
 tent with words. Noting a crowd gathered at one 
 place and hearing cries, we went to see what passed. 
 Here we found a lad stretched upon the ground being 
 cruelly beaten with hide whips, so that the blood ran 
 down him. At a sign from the Prince I asked what he 
 had done and was told roughly, for the overseers and 
 their guards did not know who we were, that during the 
 past six days he had only made half of his allotted tale 
 of bricks. 
 
 1 Loose him/ said the Prince quietly. 
 
 1 Who are you that give me orders? ' asked the head 
 overseer, who was helping to hold the lad while the 
 guards flogged him. ' Begone, lest I serve you as I 
 serve this idle fellow.' 
 
 Seti looked at him, and as he looked his lips turned 
 white. 
 
 'Tell him/ he said to me. 
 
 'You dog!' I gasped. 'Do you know who it is to 
 whom you dare to speak thus? ' 
 
 'No, nor care. Lay on, guard/ 
 
 The Prince, whose robes were hidden by a wide- 
 sleeved cloak of common stuff and make, threw the 
 cloak open revealing beneath it the pectoral he had 
 worn in the Court, a beautiful thing of gold whereon 
 were inscribed his royal names and titles in black and 
 red enamel. Also he held up his right hand on which 
 was a signet of Pharaoh's that he wore as his commis- 
 sioner. The men stared, then one of them who was 
 more learned than the rest cried, 
 
 'By the gods! this is his Highness the Prince of 
 Egypt!' at which words all of them fell upon their 
 faces. 
 
THE LAND OF GOSHEN 85 
 
 'Rise,' said Seti to the lad who looked at him, forget- 
 ting his pain in his wonderment, ' and tell me why you 
 have not delivered your tale of bricks.' 
 
 'Sir,' sobbed the boy in bad Egyptian, 'for two 
 reasons. First, because I am a cripple, see,' and he 
 held up his left arm which was withered and thin as a 
 mummy's, 'and therefore cannot work quickly. Sec- 
 ondly, because my mother, whose only child I am, is a 
 widow and lies sick in bed, so that there are no women 
 or children in our home who can go out to gather straw 
 for me, as Pharaoh has commanded that we should do. 
 Therefore I must spend many hours in searching for 
 straw, since I have no means wherewith to pay others 
 to do this for me.' 
 
 'Ana,' said the Prince, 'write down this youth's 
 name with the place of his abode, and if his tale prove 
 true, see that his wants and those of his mother are re- 
 lieved before we depart from Goshen. Write down 
 also the names of this overseer and his fellows and com- 
 mand them to report themselves at my camp to-mor- 
 row at sunrise, when their case shall be considered. 
 Say to the lad also that, being one afflicted by the gods, 
 Pharaoh frees him from the making of bricks and all 
 other labour of the State.' 
 
 Now while I did these things the overseer and his 
 companions beat their heads upon the ground and 
 prayed for mercy, being cowards as the cruel always 
 are. His Highness answered them never a word, but 
 only looked at them with cold eyes, and I noted that 
 his face which was so kind had grown terrible. So 
 those men thought also, for that night they ran away 
 to Syria, leaving their families and all their goods be- 
 hind them, nor were they ever seen again in Egypt. 
 
86 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 When I had finished writing the Prince turned and, 
 walking to where the chariot waited, bade the driver 
 cross the canal by a bridge there was here. We drove 
 on a while in silence, following a track which ran be- 
 tween the cultivated land and the desert. At length 
 I pointed to the sinking sun and asked if it were not 
 time to return. 
 
 'Why?' replied the Prince. 'The sun dies, but there 
 rises the full moon to give us light, and what have we to 
 fear with swords at our sides and her Highness Userti's 
 mail beneath our robes? Oh! Ana, I am weary of men 
 with their cruelties and shouts and strugglings, and I 
 find this wilderness a place of rest, for in it I seem to 
 draw nearer to my own soul and the Heaven whence it 
 came, or so I hope.' 
 
 'Your Highness is fortunate to have a soul to which 
 he cares to draw near; it is not so with all of us'; I 
 answered laughing, for I sought to change the current 
 of his thoughts by provoking argument of a sort that he 
 loved. 
 
 Just then, however, the horses, which were not of 
 the best, came to a halt on a slope of heavy sand. 
 Nor would Seti allow the driver to flog them, but com- 
 manded him to let them rest a space. While they did 
 so we descended from the chariot and walked up the 
 desert rise, he leaning on my arm. As we reached its 
 crest we heard sobs and a soft voice speaking on the 
 further side. Who it was that spoke and sobbed we 
 could not see, because of a line of tamarisk shrubs 
 which once had been a fence. 
 
 'More cruelty, or at least more sorrow/ whispered 
 Seti. 'Let us look.' 
 
 So we crept to the tamarisks, and peeping through 
 
THE LAND OF GOSHEN 87 
 
 their feathery tops, saw a very sweet sight in the pure 
 rays of that desert moon. There, not five paces away, 
 stood a woman clad in white, young and shapely in 
 form. Her face we could not see because it was turned 
 from us, also the long dark hair which streamed about 
 her shoulders hid it. She was praying aloud, speaking 
 now in Hebrew, of which both of us knew something, 
 and now in Egyptian, as does one who is accustomed to 
 think in either tongue, and stopping from time to time 
 to sob. 
 
 '0 God of my people/ she said, 'send me succour 
 and bring me safe home, that Thy child may not be left 
 alone in the wilderness to become the prey of wild 
 beasts, or of men who are worse than beasts.' 
 
 Then she sobbed, knelt down on a great bundle 
 which I saw was stubble straw, and again began to 
 pray. This time it was in Egyptian, as though she 
 feared lest the Hebrew should be overheard and under- 
 stood. 
 
 'O God,' she said, 'O God of my fathers, help my 
 poor heart, help my poor heart! 7 
 
 We were about to withdraw, or rather to ask her 
 what she ailed, when suddenly she turned her head, so 
 that the light fell full upon her face. So lovely was it 
 that I caught my breath and the Prince at my side 
 started. Indeed it was more than lovely, for as a 
 lamp shines through an alabaster vase or a shell of 
 pearl so did the spirit within this woman shine through 
 her tear-stained face, making it mysterious as the 
 night. Then I understood, perhaps for the first time, 
 that it is the spirit which gives true beauty both to 
 maid and man and not the flesh. The white vase of ala- 
 baster, however shapely, is still a vase alone; it is the 
 
88 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 hidden lamp within that graces it with the glory of a 
 star. And those eyes, those large, dreaming eyes 
 aswim with tears and hued like richest lapis-lazuli, oh! 
 what man could look on them and not be stirred? 
 
 'Merapi!' I whispered. 
 
 'Moon of Israel!' murmured Seti, ' rilled with the 
 moon, lovely as the moon, mystic as the moon and 
 worshipping the moon, her mother. 7 
 
 'She is in trouble; let us help her/ I said. 
 
 'Nay, wait a while, Ana, for never again shall you 
 and I see such a sight as this.' 
 
 Low as we spoke beneath our breath, I think the 
 lady heard us. At least her face changed and grew 
 frightened. Hastily she rose, lifted the great bundle 
 of straw upon which she had been kneeling and placed 
 it on her head. She ran a few steps, then stumbled 
 and sank down with a little moan of pain. In an in- 
 stant we were at her side. She stared at us affrighted, 
 for who we were she could not see because of the wide 
 hoods of our common cloaks that made us look like 
 midnight thieves, or slave-dealing Bedouins. 
 
 'Oh! Sirs,' she babbled, 'harm me not. I have 
 nothing of value on me save this amulet.' 
 
 'Who are you and what do you here?' asked the 
 Prince disguising his voice. 
 
 'Sirs, I am Merapi, the daughter of Nathan the 
 Levite, he whom the accursed Egyptian captain, 
 Khuaka, murdered at Tanis.' 
 
 'How do you dare to call the Egyptians accursed?' 
 asked Seti in tones made gruff to hide his laughter. 
 
 'Oh! Sirs, because they are I mean because I 
 thought you were Arabs who hate them, as we do. At 
 least this Egyptian was accursed, for the high Prince 
 
THE LAND OF GOSHEN 89 
 
 Seti, Pharaoh's heir, caused him to be beheaded for 
 that crime.' 
 
 'And do you also hate the high Prince Seti, Pha- 
 raoh's heir, and called him accursed?' 
 
 She hesitated, then in a doubtful voice said, 
 
 'No, I do not hate him.' 
 
 'Why not, seeing that you hate the Egyptians of 
 whom he is one of the first and therefore twice worthy 
 of hatred, being the son of your oppressor, Pharaoh?' 
 
 'Because, although I have tried my best, I cannot. 
 Also,' she added with the joy of one who has found a 
 good reason, 'he avenged my father.' 
 
 'This is no cause, girl, seeing that he only did what 
 the law forced him to do. They say that this dog of a 
 Pharaoh's son is here in Goshen upon some mission. 
 Is it true, and have you seen him? Answer, for we of 
 the desert folk desire to know.' 
 
 'I believe it is true, Sir, but I have not seen him.' 
 
 'Why not, if he is here?' 
 
 'Because I did not wish to, Sir. Why should a 
 daughter of Israel desire to look upon the face of a 
 prince of Egypt? ' 
 
 'In truth I do not know,' replied Seti forgetting his 
 feigned voice. Then, seeing that she glanced at him 
 sharply, he added in gruff tones, 
 
 'Brother, either this woman lies or she is none other 
 than the maid they call Moon of Israel who dwells 
 with old Jabez the Levite, her uncle. What think 
 you?' 
 
 'I think, Brother, that she lies, and for three rea- 
 sons,' I answered, falling into the jest. 'First, she is 
 too fair to be of the black Hebrew blood.' 
 
 'Oh! Sir,' moaned Merapi, 'my mother was a Syrian 
 
90 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 lady of the mountains, with a skin as white as milk, 
 and eyes blue as the heavens/ 
 
 'Secondly/ I went on without heeding her, 'if the 
 great Prince Seti is really in Goshen and she dwells 
 there, it is unnatural that she should not have gone to 
 look upon him. Being a woman only two things would 
 have kept her away, one that she feared and hated 
 him, which she denies, and the other that she liked 
 him too well, and, being prudent, thought it wisest not 
 to look upon him more/ 
 
 When she heard the first of these words, Merapi 
 glanced up with her lips parted as though to answer. 
 Instead, she dropped her eyes and suddenly seemed to 
 choke, while even in the moonlight I saw the red blood 
 pour to her brow and along her white arms. 
 
 'Sir,' she gasped, 'why should you affront me? I 
 swear that never till this moment did I think such a 
 thing. Surely it would be treason/ 
 
 'Without doubt/ interrupted Seti, 'yet one of a sort 
 that kings might pardon/ 
 
 'Thirdly/ I went on as though I heard neither of 
 them, 'if this girl were what she declares, she would 
 not be wandering alone in the desert at night, seeing 
 that I have heard among the Arabs that Merapi, 
 daughter of Nathan the Levite, is a lady of no mean 
 blood among the Hebrews and that her family has 
 wealth. Still, however much she lies, we can see for 
 ourselves that she is beautiful/ 
 
 'Yes, Brother, in that we are fortunate, since with- 
 out doubt she will sell for a high price among the slave 
 traders beyond the desert/ 
 
 'Oh! Sir/ cried Merapi seizing the hem of his robe, 
 'surely you who I feel, I know not why, are no evil 
 
THE LAND OF GOSHEN 91 
 
 thief, you who have a mother and, perchance, sisters, 
 would not doom a maiden to such a fate. Misjudge 
 me not because I am alone. Pharaoh has commanded 
 that we must find straw for the making of bricks. 
 This morning I came far to search for it on behalf of a 
 neighbour whose wife is ill in childbed. But towards 
 sundown I slipped and cut myself upon the edge of a 
 sharp stone. See,' and holding up her foot she showed 
 a wound beneath the instep from which the blood still 
 dropped, a sight that moved both of us not a little, ' and 
 now I cannot walk and carry this heavy straw which I 
 have been at such pains to gather.' 
 
 ' Perchance she speaks truth, Brother/ said the 
 Prince, 'and if we took her home we might earn no 
 small reward from Jabez the Levite. But first tell me, 
 Maiden, what was that prayer which you made to the 
 moon, that Hathor should help your heart? ' 
 
 'Sir/ she answered, 'only the idolatrous Egyptians 
 pray to Hathor, the Lady of Love. 7 
 
 'I thought that all the world prayed to the Lady of 
 Love, Maiden. But what of the prayer? Is there 
 some man whom you .desire? ' 
 
 'None,' she answered angrily. 
 
 'Then why does your heart need so much help that 
 you ask it of the air? Is there perchance someone 
 whom you do not desire? ' 
 
 She hung her head and made no answer. 
 
 'Come, Brother,' said the Prince, 'this lady is weary 
 of us, and I think that if she were a true woman she 
 would answer our questions more readily. Let us go 
 and leave her. As she cannot walk we can take her 
 later if we wish.' 
 
 'Sirs,' she said, 'I am glad that you are going, since 
 
9 2 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 the hyenas will be safer company than two men who 
 can threaten to sell a helpless woman into slavery. 
 Yet as we part to meet no more I will answer your 
 question. In the prayer to which you were not 
 ashamed to listen I did not pray for any lover, I prayed 
 to be rid of one.' 
 
 'Now, Ana,' said the Prince bursting into laughter 
 and throwing back his dark cloak, ' do you discover the 
 name of that unhappy man of whom the lady Merapi 
 wishes to be rid, for I dare not.' 
 
 She gazed into his face and uttered a little cry. 
 
 'Ah!' she said, 'I thought I knew the voice again 
 when once you forgot your part. Prince Seti, does 
 your Highness think that this was a kind jest to prac- 
 tise upon one alone and in fear? ' 
 
 'Lady Merapi,' he answered smiling, 'be not wroth, 
 for at least it was a good one and you have told us 
 nothing that we did not know. You may remember 
 that at Tanis you said that you were affianced and 
 there was that in your voice . Suffer me now to 
 tend this wound of yours.' 
 
 Then he knelt down, tore a strip from his ceremonial 
 robe of fine linen, and began to bind up her foot, not 
 unskilfully, being a man full of strange and unexpected 
 knowledge. As he worked at the task, watching them, 
 I saw their eyes meet, saw too that rich flood of colour 
 creep once more to Merapi's brow. Then I began to 
 think it unseemly that the Prince of Egypt should play 
 the leech to a woman's hurts in the desert, and to won- 
 der why he had not left that humble task to me. 
 
 Presently the bandaging was done and made fast 
 with a royal scarabaeus mounted on a pin of gold, 
 which the Prince wore in his garments. On it was cut 
 
THE LAND OF GOSHEN 93 
 
 the uraeus crown and beneath it were the signs which 
 read 'Lord of the Lower and the Upper Land/ being 
 Pharaoh's style and title. 
 
 'See now, Lady/ he said, 'you have Egypt beneath 
 your foot/ and when she asked him what he meant, he 
 read her the writing upon the jewel, whereat for the 
 third time she coloured to the eyes. Then he lifted 
 her up, instructing her to rest her weight upon his 
 shoulder, saying he feared lest the scarab, which he 
 valued, should be broken. 
 
 Thus we started, I bearing the bundle of straw be- 
 hind as he bade me, since, he said, having been gathered 
 with such toil, it must not be lost. On reaching the 
 chariot, where we found the guide gone and the driver 
 asleep, he sat her in it upon his cloak, and wrapped her 
 in mine which he borrowed, saying I should not need 
 it who must carry the straw. Then he mounted also 
 and they drove away at a foot's pace. As I walked 
 after the chariot with the straw that fell about my ears, 
 I heard nothing of their further talk, if indeed they 
 talked at all which, the driver being present, perhaps 
 they did not. Nor in truth did I listen who was en- 
 gaged in thought as to the hard lot of these poor 
 Hebrews, who must collect this dirty stuff and bear it 
 so far, made heavy as it was by the clay that clung 
 about the roots. 
 
 Even now, as it chanced, we did not reach Goshen 
 without further trouble. Just as we had crossed the 
 bridge over the canal I, toiling behind, saw in the clear 
 moonlight a young man running towards us. He was 
 a Hebrew, tall, well-made and very handsome in his 
 fashion. His eyes were dark and fierce, his nose was 
 hooked, his teeth were regular and white, and his long, 
 
94 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 black hair hung down in a mass upon his shoulders. 
 He held a wooden staff in his hand and a naked knife 
 was girded about his middle. Seeing the chariot he 
 halted and peered at it, then asked in Hebrew if those 
 who travelled had seen aught of a young Israelitish 
 lady who was lost. 
 
 1 If you seek me, Laban, I am here,' replied Merapi, 
 speaking from the shadow of the cloak. 
 
 'What do you there alone with an Egyptian, Mer- 
 api?' he said fiercely. 
 
 What followed I do not know for they spoke so 
 quickly in their unfamiliar tongue that I could not 
 understand them. At length Merapi turned to the 
 Prince, saying, 
 
 'Lord, this is Laban my affianced, who commands 
 me to descend from the chariot and accompany him as 
 best I can.' 
 
 ( And I, Lady, command you to stay in it. Laban 
 your affianced can accompany us. 7 
 
 Now at this Laban grew angry, as I could see he was 
 prone to do, and stretched out his hand as though to 
 push Seti aside and seize Merapi. 
 
 'Have a care, man/ said the Prince, while I, throw- 
 ing down the straw, drew my sword and sprang be- 
 tween them, crying, 
 
 'Slave, would you lay hands upon the Prince of 
 Egypt?' 
 
 ' Prince of Egypt ! ' he said, drawing back astonished, 
 then added sullenly, 'Well what does the Prince of 
 Egypt with my affianced? ' 
 
 ' He helps her who is hurt to her home, having found 
 her helpless in the desert with this accursed straw/ I 
 answered. 
 
THE LAND OF GOSHEN 95 
 
 'Forward, driver/ said the Prince, and Merapi 
 added, l Peace, Laban, and bear the straw which his 
 Highness's companion has carried such a weary way/ 
 
 He hesitated a moment, then snatched up the bundle 
 and set it on his head. 
 
 As we walked side by side, his evil temper seemed to 
 get the better of him. Without ceasing, he grumbled 
 because Merapi was alone in the chariot with an 
 Egyptian. At length I could bear it no longer. 
 
 'Be silent, fellow,' I said. 'Least of all men should 
 you complain of what his Highness does, seeing that 
 already he has avenged the killing of this lady's father, 
 and now has saved her from lying out all night among 
 the wild beasts and men of the wilderness.' 
 
 'Of the first I have heard more than enough,' he 
 answered, 'and of the second doubtless I shall hear 
 more than enough also. Ever since my affianced met 
 this prince, she has looked on me with different eyes 
 and spoken to me with another voice. Yes, and when 
 I press for marriage, she says it cannot be for a long 
 while yet, because she is mourning for her father; her 
 father forsooth, whom she never forgave because he 
 betrothed her to me according to the custom of our 
 people.' 
 
 'Perhaps she loves some other man?' I queried, 
 wishing to learn all I could about this lady. 
 
 'She loves no man, or did not a while ago. She 
 loves herself alone.' 
 
 ' One with so much beauty may look high in marriage.' 
 
 'High!' he replied furiously. 'How can she look 
 higher than myself who am a lord of the line of Judah, 
 and therefore greater far than an upstart prince or any 
 other Egyptian, were he Pharaoh himself?' 
 
96 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 'Surely you must be trumpeter to your tribe,' I 
 mocked, for my temper was rising. 
 
 'Why?' he asked. 'Are not the Hebrews greater 
 than the Egyptians, as those oppressors soon shall 
 learn, and is not a lord of Israel more than any idol- 
 worshipper among your people?' 
 
 I looked at the man clad in mean garments and foul 
 from his labour in the brickfield, marvelling at his in- 
 solence. There was no doubt but that he believed what 
 he said; I could see it in his proud eye and bearing. 
 He thought that his tribe was of more import in the 
 world than our great and ancient nation, and that he, 
 an unknown youth, equalled or surpassed Pharaoh him- 
 self. Then, being enraged by these insults, I answered, 
 
 ' You say so, but let us put it to the proof. I am but 
 a scribe, yet I have seen war. Linger a little that we 
 may learn whether a lord of Israel is better than a 
 scribe of Egypt.' 
 
 ' Gladly would I chastise you, Writer,' he answered, 
 'did I not see your plot. You wish to delay me here, 
 and perhaps to murder me by some foul means, while 
 your master basks in the smiles of the Moon of Israel. 
 Therefore I will not stay, but another time it shall be 
 as you wish, and perhaps ere long.' 
 
 Now I think that I should have struck him in the 
 face, though I am not one of those who love brawling. 
 But at this moment there appeared a company of 
 Egyptain horse led by none other than the Count 
 Amenmeses. Seeing the Prince in the Chariot, they 
 halted and gave the salute. Amenmeses leapt to the 
 ground. 
 
 'We are come out to search for your Highness/ he 
 said, 'fearing lest some hurt had befallen you.' 
 
THE LAND OF GOSHEN 97 
 
 'I thank you, Cousin, 5 answered the Prince, 'but the 
 hurt has befallen another, not me/ 
 
 'That is well, your Highness/ said the Count, study- 
 ing Merapi with a smile. * Where is the lady wounded? 
 Not in the breast, I trust.' 
 
 'No, Cousin, in the foot, which is why she travels 
 with me in this chariot/ 
 
 ' Your Highness was ever kind to the unfortunate. I 
 pray you let me take your place, or suffer me to set this 
 girl upon a horse.' 
 
 'Drive on/ said Seti. 
 
 So, escorted by the soldiers whom I heard making 
 jests to each other about the Prince and the lady, as I 
 think did the Hebrew Laban also, for he glared about 
 him and ground his teeth, we came at last to the town. 
 Here, guided by Merapi, the chariot was halted at the 
 house of Jabez her uncle, a white-bearded old Hebrew 
 with a cunning eye, who rushed from the door of his 
 mud-roofed dwelling crying he had done no harm that 
 soldiers should come to take him. 
 
 'It is not you whom the Egyptians wish to capture, 
 it is your neice and my betrothed/ shouted Laban, 
 whereat the soldiers laughed, as did some women who 
 had gathered round. Meanwhile the Prince was help- 
 ing Merapi to descend out of the chariot, from which 
 indeed he lifted her. The sight seemed to madden 
 Laban, who rushed forward to tear her from his arms, 
 and in the attempt jostled his Highness. The captain 
 of the soldiers he was an officer of Pharaoh's body- 
 guard lifted his sword in a fury and struck Laban 
 such a blow upon the head with the flat of the blade 
 that he fell upon his face and lay there groaning. 
 
 'Away with that Hebrew dog and scourge him! ' cried 
 
9 8 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 the captain. 'Is the royal blood of Egypt to be 
 handled by such as he? 7 
 
 Soldiers sprang forward to do his bidding, but Seti 
 said quietly, 
 
 'Let the fellow be, friends; he lacks manners, that 
 is all. Is he hurt? ' 
 
 As he spoke Laban leapt to his feet and, fearing 
 worse things, fled away with a curse and a glare of hate 
 at the Prince. 
 
 'Farewell, Lady/ said Seti. 'I wish you a quick 
 recovery.' 
 
 'I thank your Highness/ she answered, looking about 
 her confusedly. 'Be pleased to wait a little while that 
 I may return to you your jewel.' 
 
 'Nay, keep it, Lady, and if ever you are in need or 
 trouble of any sort, send it to me who know it well and 
 you shall not lack succour.' 
 
 She glanced at him and burst into tears. 
 
 'Wh^ do you weep?' he asked. 
 
 'Oh! your Highness, because I fear that trouble is 
 near at hand. My affianced, Laban, has a revengeful 
 heart. Help me to the house, my uncle.' 
 
 'Listen, Hebrew/ said Seti, raising his voice; 'if 
 aught that is evil befalls this niece of yours, or if she is 
 forced to walk whither she would not go, sorrow shall 
 be your portion and that of all with whom you have to 
 do. Do you hear? ' 
 
 'O my Lord, I hear, I hear. Fear nothing. She 
 shall be guarded carefully as as she will doubtless 
 guard that trinket on her foot.' 
 
 'Ana/ said the Prince to me that night, when I was 
 talking with him before he went to rest, 'I know not 
 
THE LAND OF GOSHEN 99 
 
 why, but I fear that man Laban; he has an evil 
 eye/ 
 
 'I too think it would have been better if your High- 
 ness had left him to be dealt with by the soldiers, after 
 which there would have been nothing to fear from him 
 in this world/ 
 
 'Well, I did not, so there's an end. Ana, she is a 
 fair woman and a sweet.' 
 
 'The fairest and the sweetest that ever I saw, my 
 Prince/ 
 
 'Be careful, Ana. I pray you be careful, lest you 
 should fall in love with one who is already affianced/ 
 
 I only looked at him in answer, and as I looked I be- 
 thought me of the words of Ki the Magician. So, I 
 think, did the Prince; at least he laughed not un- 
 happily and turned away. 
 
 For my part I rested ill that night, and when at last 
 I slept, it was to dream of Merapi making her prayer 
 in the rays of the moon. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE AMBUSH 
 
 EIGHT full days went by before we left the land of 
 Goshen. The story that the Israelites had to tell was 
 long, sad also. Moreover, they gave evidence as to 
 many cruel things that they had suffered, and when 
 this was finished the testimony of the guards and others 
 must be called, all of which it is necessary to write 
 down. Lastly, the Prince seemed to be in no hurry to 
 be gone, as he said because he hoped that the two 
 prophets would return from the wilderness, which they 
 never did. During all this time Seti saw no more of 
 Merapi, nor indeed did he speak of her, even when the 
 Count Amenmeses jested him as to his chariot com- 
 panion and asked him if he had driven again in the 
 desert by moonlight. 
 
 I, however, saw her once. When I was wandering 
 in the town one day towards sunset, I met her walking 
 with her uncle Jabez upon one side and her lover, 
 Laban, on the other, like a prisoner between two 
 guards. I thought she looked unhappy, but her foot 
 seemed to be well again; at least she moved without 
 limping. 
 
 I stopped to salute her, but Laban scowled and 
 hurried her away. Jabez stayed behind and fell into 
 talk with me. He told me that she was recovered of 
 her hurt, but that there had been trouble between her 
 
 100 
 
THE AMBUSH 101 
 
 and Laban because of all that happened on that even- 
 ing when she came by it, eiidii?g h his cncoa.tr with 
 the captain. 
 
 'This young man seems to be of a jealous nature/ I 
 said, 'one who will make a harsh husband for any 
 woman.' 
 
 'Yes, learned scribe, jealously has been his curse from 
 youth as it is with so many of our people, and I thank 
 God that I am not the woman whom he is to marry.' 
 
 'Why, then, do you suffer her to marry him, Jabez?' 
 
 'Because her father affianced her to this lion's whelp 
 when she was scarce more than a child, and among us 
 that is a bond hard to break. For my own part,' he 
 added, dropping his voice, and glancing round with 
 his shifting eyes, 'I should like to see my niece in some 
 different place to that of the wife of Laban. With her 
 great beauty and wit, she might become anything 
 anything if she had opportunity. But under our 
 laws, even if Laban died, as might happen to so violent 
 a man, she could wed no one who is not a Hebrew.' 
 
 'I thought she told us that her mother was a Syrian.' 
 
 ' That is so, Scribe Ana. She was a beautiful captive 
 of war whom Nathan came to love and made his wife, 
 and the daughter takes after her. Still she is Hebrew 
 and of the Hebrew faith and congregation. Had it not 
 been so, she might have shone like a star, nay, like the 
 very moon after which she is named, perhaps in the 
 court of Pharaoh himself. 
 
 'As the great queen Taia did, she who changed the 
 religion of Egypt to the worship of one god in a bygone 
 generation,' I suggested. 
 
 'I have heard of her, Scribe Ana. She was a won- 
 drous woman, beautiful too by her statues. Would 
 
102 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 that you Egyptians could find such another to turn 
 your hearts to a purer faith and to soften them towards 
 us poor aliens. When does his Highness leave the land 
 of Goshen?' 
 
 'At sunrise on the third day from this.' 
 
 'Provision will be needed for the journey, much pro- 
 vision for so large a train. I deal in sheep and other 
 foodstuffs, Scribe Ana.' 
 
 'I will mention the matter to his Highness and to the 
 Vizier, Jabez.' 
 
 'I thank you, Scribe, and will be in waiting at the 
 camp to-morrow morning. See, Laban return's with 
 Merapi. One word, let his Highness beware of Laban. 
 He is very revengeful and has not forgotten that sword- 
 blow on the head.' 
 
 'Let Laban be careful,' I answered. 'Had it not 
 been for his Highness the soldiers would have killed 
 him the other night because he dared to offer affront to 
 the royal blood. A second time he will not escape. 
 Moreover, Pharaoh would avenge aught he did upon 
 the people of Israel.' 
 
 'I understand. It would be sad if Laban were killed, 
 very sad. But the people of Israel have One who can 
 protect them even against Pharaoh and all his hosts. 
 Farewell, learned Scribe. If ever I come to Tanis, 
 with your leave we will talk more together.' 
 
 That night I told the Prince all that had passed. 
 He listened, and said, 
 
 'I grieve for the lady Merapi, for hers is like to be a 
 hard fate. Yet,' he added laughing, 'perhaps it is as 
 well for you, friend, that you should see no more of her 
 who is sure to bring trouble wherever she goes. That 
 woman has a face which haunts the mind, as the Ka 
 
THE AMBUSH 103 
 
 haunts the tomb, and for my part I do not wish to look 
 upon it again/ 
 
 ' I am glad to hear it, Prince, and for my part, I have 
 done with women, however sweet. I will tell this 
 Jabez that the provisions for the journey will be bought 
 elsewhere.' 
 
 ' Nay, buy them from him, and if Nehesi grumbles at 
 the price, pay it on my account. The way to a He- 
 brew's heart is through his treasure bags. If Jabez is 
 well treated, it may make him kinder to his niece, of 
 whom I shall always have a pleasant memory, for 
 which I am grateful among this sour folk who hate us, 
 and with reason.' 
 
 So the sheep and all the foodstuffs for the journey 
 were bought from Jabez at his own price, for which 
 he thanked me much, and on the third day we 
 started. At the last moment the Prince, whose mood 
 seemed to be preverse that evening, refused to travel 
 with the host upon the morrow because of the noise 
 and dust. In vain did the Count Amenmeses reason 
 with him, and Nehesi and the great officers implore 
 him almost on their knees, saying that they must 
 answer for his safety to Pharaoh and the Princess 
 Userti. He bade them begone, replying that he would 
 join them at their camp on the following night. I also 
 prayed him to listen, but he told me sharply that what 
 he had said he had said, and that he and I would journey 
 in his chariot alone, with two armed runners and no 
 more, adding that if I thought there was danger I could 
 go forward with the troops. Then I bit my lip and was 
 silent, whereon, seeing that he had hurt me, he turned 
 and craved my pardon humbly enough as his kind 
 heart taught him to do. 
 
io 4 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 'I can bear no more of Amenmeses and those officers/ 
 he said, 'and I love to be in the desert alone. Last 
 time we journeyed there we met with adventures that 
 were pleasant, Ana, and at Tanis doubtless I shall find 
 others that are not pleasant. Admit that Hebrew 
 priest who is waiting to instruct me in the mysteries 
 of his faith which I desire to understand.' 
 
 So I bowed and left him to make report that I had 
 failed to shake his will. Taking the risk of his wrath, 
 however, I did this for had I not sworn to the Prin- 
 cess that I would protect him? In place of the runners 
 I chose two of the best and bravest soldiers to play 
 their part. Moreover, I instructed that captain who 
 smote down Laban to hide away with a score of picked 
 men and enough chariots to carry them, and to follow 
 after the Prince, keeping just out of sight. 
 
 So on the morrow the troops, nobles, and officers 
 went on at daybreak, together with the baggage car- 
 riers; nor did we follow them till many hours had gone 
 by. Some of this time the Prince spent in driving 
 about the town, taking note of the condition of the 
 people. These, as I saw, looked on us sullenly enough, 
 more so than before, I thought, perhaps because we 
 were unguarded. Indeed, turning round I caught 
 sight of a man shaking his fist and of an old hag spitting 
 after us, and wished that we were out of the land of 
 Goshen. But when I reported it to the Prince he only 
 laughed and took no heed. 
 
 1 All can see that they hate us Egyptians/ he said. 
 'Well, let it be our task to try to turn their hate to 
 love. ' 
 
 'That you will never do, Prince, it is too deep-rooted 
 in their hearts; for generations they have drunk it in 
 
THE AMBUSH 105 
 
 with their mother's milk. Moreover, this is a war of 
 the gods of Egypt and of Israel, and men must go 
 where their gods drive them/ 
 
 'Do you think so, Ana? Then are men nothing but 
 dust blown by the winds of heaven, blown from the 
 darkness that is before the dawn to be gathered at 
 last and for ever into the darkness of the grave of night?' 
 
 He brooded a while, then went on, 
 
 'Yet if I were Pharaoh I would let these people go, 
 for without doubt their god has much power and I 
 tell you that I fear them.' 
 
 'Why will he not let them go?' I asked. 'They are 
 a weakness, not a strength to Egypt, as was shown at 
 the time of the invasion of the Barbarians with whom 
 they sided. Moreover, the value of this rich land of 
 theirs, which they cannot take with them, is greater 
 than that of all their labour.' 
 
 'I do not know, friend. The matter is one upon 
 which my father keeps his own counsel, even from the 
 Princess Userti. Perhaps it is because he will not 
 change the policy of his father, Rameses; perhaps 
 because he is stiff-necked to those who cross his will. 
 Or it may be that he is held in this path by a madness 
 sent of some god to bring loss and shame on Egypt.' 
 
 'Then, Prince, all the priests and nobles are mad 
 also, from Count Amenmeses down.' 
 
 'Where Pharaoh leads priests and nobles follow. 
 The question is, who leads Pharaoh? Here is the 
 temple of these Hebrews; let us enter.' 
 
 So we descended from the chariot, where, for my 
 part, I would have remained, and walked through the 
 gateway in the surrounding mud wall into the outer 
 court of the temple, which on this the holy seventh 
 
io6 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 day of the Hebrews was full of praying women, who 
 feigned not to see us yet watched us out of the corners of 
 their eyes. Passing through them we came to a door- 
 way, by which we entered another court that was 
 roofed over. Here were many men who murmured as 
 we appeared. They were engaged in listening to a 
 preacher in a white robe, who wore a strange shaped 
 cap and some ornaments on his breast. I knew the 
 man; he was the priest Kohath who had instructed 
 the Prince in so much of the mysteries of the Hebrew 
 faith as he chose to reveal. On seeing us he ceased 
 suddenly in his discourse, uttered some hasty blessing 
 and advanced to greet us. 
 
 I waited behind the Prince, thinking it well to watch 
 his back among all those fierce men, and did not hear 
 what the priest said to him, as he whispered in that 
 holy place. Kohath led him forward, to free him from 
 the throng, I thought, till they came to the head of the 
 little temple that was marked by some steps, above 
 which hung a thick and heavy curtain. The Prince, 
 walking on, did not see the lowest of these steps in the 
 gloom, which was deep. His foot caught on it; he 
 fell forward, and to save himself grasped at the cur- 
 tain where the two halves of it met, and dragged it 
 open, revealing a chamber plain and small beyond, in 
 which was an altar. That was all I had time to see, 
 for next instant a roar of rage rent the air and knives 
 flashed in the gloom. 
 
 'The Egyptian defiles the tabernacle!' shouted one. 
 'Drag him out and kill him!' screamed another. 
 
 ' Friends/ said Seti, turning as they surged towards 
 him, 'if I have done aught wrong it was by chance 
 
 He could add no more, seeing that they were on him, 
 
THE AMBUSH 107 
 
 or rather on me who had leapt in front of him. Al- 
 ready they had grasped my robes and my hand was 
 on my sword-hilt, when the priest Kohath cried out, 
 
 'Men of Israel, are you mad? Would you bring 
 Pharaoh's vengeance on us? ' 
 
 They halted a little and their spokesman shouted, 
 
 'We defy Pharaoh! Our God will protect us from 
 Pharaoh. Drag him forth and kill him beyond the 
 wall!' 
 
 Again they began to move, when a man, in whom I 
 recognised Jabez, the uncle of Merapi, called aloud, 
 
 'Cease! If this Prince of Egypt has done insult to 
 Jahveh by will and not by chance, it is certain that he 
 will avenge himself upon him. Shall men take the 
 judgment of God into their own hands? Stand back 
 and wait awhile. If Jahveh is affronted, the Egyptian 
 will fall dead. If he does not fall dead, let him pass 
 hence unharmed, for such is Jahveh's will. Stand 
 back, I say, while I count threescore/ 
 
 They withdrew a space and slowly Jabez began to 
 count. 
 
 Although at that time I knew nothing of the power 
 of the god of Israel, I will say that I was filled with 
 fear as one by one he counted, pausing at each ten. 
 The scene was very strange. There by the steps stood 
 the Prince against the background of the curtain, his 
 arms folded and a little smile of wonder mixed with 
 contempt upon his face, but not a sign of fear. On 
 one side of him was I, who knew well that I should 
 share his fate whatever it might be, and indeed de- 
 sired no other; and on the other the priest Kohath, 
 whose hands shook and whose eyes started from his 
 head. In front of us old Jabez counted, watching the 
 
io8 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 fierce-faced congregation that in a dead silence waited 
 for the issue. The count went on. Thirty. Forty. 
 Fifty oh! it seemed an age. 
 
 At length sixty fell from his lips. He waited a 
 while and all watched the Prince, not doubting but 
 that he would fall dead. But instead he turned to 
 Kohath and asked quietly if this ordeal was now 
 finished, as he desired to make an offering to the 
 temple, which he had been invited to visit, and begone. 
 
 'Our God has given his answer/ said Jabez. ' Ac- 
 cept it, men of Israel. What this Prince olid he did by 
 chance, not of design. ' 
 
 They turned and went without a word, and after I 
 had laid the offering, no mean one, in the appointed 
 place, we followed them. 
 
 ' It would seem that yours is no gentle god, ' said the 
 Prince to Kohath, when at length we were outside the 
 temple. 
 
 'At least he is just, your Highness. Had it been 
 otherwise, you who had violated his sanctuary, al- 
 though by chance, would ere now be dead. ' 
 
 'Then you hold, Priest, that Jahveh has power to 
 slay us when he is angry? ' 
 
 'Without a doubt, your Highness as, if our 
 Prophets speak truth, I think that Egypt will learn 
 ere all be done, ' he added grimly. 
 
 Seti looked at him and answered, 
 
 'It may be so, but all gods, or their priests, claim the 
 power to torment and slay those who worship other 
 gods. It is not only women who are jealous, Kohath, 
 or so it seems. Yet I think that you do your god in- 
 justice, seeing that even if this strength is his, he 
 proved more merciful than his worshippers who knew 
 
THE AMBUSH 109 
 
 well that I only grasped the veil to save myself from 
 falling. If ever I visit your temple again it shall be 
 in the company of those who can match might against 
 might, whether of the spirit or the sword. Farewell.' 
 
 So we reached the chariot, near to which stood 
 Jabez, he who had saved us. 
 
 'Prince,' he whispered, glancing at the crowd who 
 lingered not far away, silent and glowering, 'I pray 
 you leave this land swiftly for here your life is not safe. 
 I know it was by chance, but you have denied the 
 sanctuary and seen that upon which eyes may not 
 look save those of the highest priests, an offence no 
 Israelite can forgive.' 
 
 'And you, or your people, Jabez, would have denied 
 this sanctuary of my life, spilling my heart's blood and 
 not by chance. Surely you are a strange folk who 
 seek to make an enemy of one who has tried to be your 
 friend.' 
 
 'I do not seek it/ exclaimed Jabez. 'I would that 
 we might have Pharaoh's mouth and ear who soon 
 will himself be Pharaoh upon our side. O Prince of 
 Egypt, be not wroth with all the children of Israel 
 because their wrongs have made some few of them 
 stubborn and hard-hearted. Begone now, and of your 
 goodness remember my words. ' 
 
 1 1 will remember, ' said Seti, signing to the charioteer 
 to drive on. 
 
 Yet still the Prince lingered in the town, saying that 
 he feared nothing and would learn all he could of this 
 people and their ways that he might report the better 
 of them to Pharaoh. For my part I believed that 
 there was one face which he wished to see again before 
 he left, but of this I thought it wise to say nothing. 
 
no MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 At length about midday we did depart, and drove 
 eastwards on the track of Amenmeses and our com- 
 pany. All the afternoon we drove thus, preceded by 
 the two soldiers disguised as runners and followed, as 
 a distant cloud of dust told me, by the captain and his 
 chariots, whom I had secretly commanded to keep us 
 in sight. 
 
 Towards evening we came to the pass in the stony 
 hills which bounded the land of Goshen. Here Seti 
 descended from the chariot, and we climbed, accom- 
 panied by the two soldiers whom I signed to follow us, 
 to the crest of one of these hills that was strewn with 
 huge boulders and lined with ridges of sandstone, 
 between which gullies had been cut by the winds of 
 thousands of years. 
 
 Leaning against one of these ridges we looked back 
 upon a wondrous sight. Far away across the fertile 
 plain appeared the town that we had left, and behind 
 it the sun sank. It would seem as though some storm 
 had broken there, although the firmament above 
 us was clear and blue. At least in front of the town 
 two huge pillars of cloud stretched from earth to heaven 
 like the columns of some mighty gateway. One of 
 these pillars was as though it were made of black 
 marble, and the other like to molten gold. Between 
 them ran a road of light ending in a glory, and in the 
 midst of the glory the round ball of Ra, the Sun, 
 burned like the eye of God. The spectacle was as 
 awesome as it was splendid. 
 
 'Have you ever seen such a sky in Egypt, Prince?' 
 I asked. 
 
 ' Never/ he answered, and although he spoke low, 
 in that great stillness his voice sounded loud to me. 
 
THE AMBUSH in 
 
 For a while longer we watched, till suddenly the 
 sun sank, and only the glory about it and above re- 
 mained, which took shapes like to the palaces and 
 temples of a city in the heavens, a far city that no mortal 
 could reach except in dreams. 
 
 'I know not why, Ana/ said Seti, 'but for the first 
 time since I was a man I feel afraid. It seems to me 
 that there are omens in that sky and I cannot read 
 them. Would that Ki were here to tell us what is 
 signified by the pillar of blackness to the right and the 
 pillar of fire to the left, and what god has his home in 
 the city of glory behind, and how man's feet may walk 
 along the shining road which reaches to its pylon gates. 
 I tell you that I am afraid; it is as though Death were 
 very near to me and all his wonders open to my mortal 
 sight.' 
 
 'I too am afraid/ I whispered. 'Look! The pillars 
 move. That of fire goes before; that of black cloud 
 follows after, and between them I seem to see a count- 
 less multitude marching in unending companies. See 
 how the light glitters on their spears! Surely the god 
 of the Hebrews is afoot.' 
 
 'He, or some other god, or no god at all, who knows? 
 Come, Ana, let us be going if we would reach that 
 camp ere dark.' 
 
 So we descended from the ridge, and re-entering the 
 chariot, drove on towards the neck of the pass. Now 
 this neck was very narrow, not more than four paces 
 wide for a certain distance, and, on either side of the 
 roadway were tumbled sandstone boulders, between 
 which grew desert plants, and gullies that had been 
 cut by storm-water, while beyond these rose the sides 
 of the mountain. Here the horses went at a walk 
 
ii2 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 towards a turn in the path, at which point the land 
 began to fall again. 
 
 When we were about half a spear's throw from this 
 turn of a sudden I heard a sound and, glancing to the 
 right, perceived a woman leaping down the hillside 
 towards us. The charioteer saw also and halted the 
 horses, and the two runner guards turned and drew 
 their swords. In less than half a minute the woman 
 had reached us, coming out of the shadow so that the 
 light fell upon her face. 
 
 'Merapi!' exclaimed the Prince and I, speaking as 
 though with one breath. 
 
 Merapi it was indeed, but in evil case. Her long 
 hair had broken loose and fell about her, the cloak 
 she wore was torn, and there were blood and foam upon 
 her lips. She stood gasping, since speak she could not 
 for breathlessness, supporting herself with one hand 
 upon the side of the chariot and with the other pointing 
 to the bend in the road. At last a word came, one only. 
 It was: 
 
 1 Murder !' 
 
 'She means that she is going to be murdered,' said 
 the Prince to me. 
 
 'No,' she panted, 'you you! The Hebrews. Go 
 back!' 
 
 'Turn the horses!' I cried to the charioteer. 
 
 He began to obey helped by the two guards, but 
 because of the narrowness of the road and the steepness 
 of the banks this was not easy. Indeed they were 
 but half round in such fashion that they blocked the 
 pathway from side to side, when a wild yell of ' Jahveh ' 
 broke upon our ears, and from round the bend, a few 
 paces away, rushed a horde of fierce, hook-nosed men, 
 
THE AMBUSH 113 
 
 brandishing knives and swords. Scarcely was there 
 time for us to leap behind the shelter of the chariot 
 and make ready, when they were on us. 
 
 'Hearken/ I said to the charioteer as they came, 'run 
 as you never ran before, and bring up the guard behind! ' 
 
 He sprang away like an arrow. 
 
 'Get back, Lady/ cried Seti. 'This is no woman's 
 work, and see here comes Laban to seek you/ and he 
 pointed with his sword to the leader of the murderers. 
 
 She obeyed, staggering a few paces to a stone at the 
 roadside, behind which she crouched. Afterwards she 
 told me that she had no strength to go further, and in- 
 deed no will, since if we were killed, it were better 
 that she who had warned us should be killed also. 
 
 Now they had reached us, the whole flood of them, 
 thirty or forty men. The first who came stabbed the 
 frightened horses, and down they went against the 
 bank, struggling. On to the chariot leapt the Hebrews, 
 seeking to come at us, and we met them as best we 
 might, tearing off our cloaks and throwing them over 
 our left arms to serve as shields. 
 
 Oh! what a fight was that. In the open, or had we 
 not been prepared, we must have been slain at once, 
 but, as it was, the place and the barrier of the chariot 
 gave us some advantage. So narrow was the road- 
 way, the walls of which were here too steep to climb, 
 that not more than four of the Hebrews could strike 
 at us at once, which four must first surmount the chariot 
 or the still living horses. 
 
 But we also were four, and thanks to Userti, two of us 
 were clad in mail beneath our robes four strong 
 men fighting for their lives. Against us came four of 
 the Hebrews. One leapt from the chariot straight at 
 
ii4 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 Seti, who received him upon the point of his iron sword, 
 whereof I heard the hilt ring against his breast-bone, 
 that same famous iron sword which to-day lies buried 
 with him in his grave. 
 
 Down he came dead, throwing the Prince to the ground 
 by the weight of his body. The Hebrew who attacked 
 me caught his foot on the chariot pole and fell forward, 
 so I killed him easily with a blow upon the head, 
 which gave me time to drag the Prince to his feet 
 again before another followed. The two guards also, 
 sturdy fighters both of them, killed or mortally wounded 
 their men. But others were pressing behind so thick 
 and fast that I could keep no count of all that hap- 
 pened afterwards. 
 
 Presently I saw one of the guards fall, slain by Laban. 
 A stab on the breast sent me reeling backwards; had 
 it not been for that mail I was sped. The other guard 
 killed him who would have killed me, and then him- 
 self was killed by two who came on him at once. 
 
 Now only the Prince and I were left, fighting back 
 to back. He closed with one man, a very great fellow, 
 and wounded him on the hand, so that he dropped his 
 sword. This man gripped him round the middle and 
 they rolled together on the ground. Laban appeared 
 and stabbed the Prince in the back, but the curved 
 knife he was using snapped on the Syrian mail. I 
 struck at Laban and wounded him on the head, dazing 
 him so that he staggered back and seemed to fall over 
 the chariot. Then others rushed at me, and but for 
 Userti's armour three times at least I must have died. 
 Fighting madly, I staggered against the rock, and 
 whilst waiting for a new onset, saw that Seti, hurt by 
 Laban's thrust, was now beneath the great Hebrew 
 
THE AMBUSH 115 
 
 who had him by the throat, and was choking the life 
 out of him. 
 
 I saw something else also a woman holding a 
 sword with both hands and stabbing downward, after 
 which the grip oi the Hebrew loosened from Seti's 
 throat. 
 
 ' Traitress!' cried one, and struck at her, so that 
 she reeled back hurt. Then when all seemed finished, 
 and beneath the rain of blows my senses were failing, 
 I heard the thunder of horses' hoofs and the shout of 
 1 Egypt! Egypt!' from the throats of soldiers. The 
 flash of bronze caught my dazed eyes, and with the 
 roar of battle in my ears I seemed to fall asleep just as 
 the light of dav departed. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 SETI COUNSELS PHARAOH 
 
 DREAM upon dream. Dreams of voices, dreams of 
 faces, dreams of sunlight and of moonlight and of 
 myself being borne forward, always forward; dreams 
 of shouting crowds, and, above all, dreams of Merapi's 
 eyes looking down on me like two watching stars from 
 heaven. Then at last the awakening, and with it 
 throbs of pain and qualms of sickness. 
 
 At first I thought that I was dead and lying in a 
 tomb. Then by degrees I saw that I was in no tomb 
 but in a darkened room that was familiar to me, 
 my own room in Seti's palace at Tanis. It must be so, 
 for there, near to the bed on which I lay, was my own 
 chest filled with the manuscripts that I had brought 
 from Memphis. I tried to lift my left hand, but 
 could not, and looking down saw that the arm was 
 bandaged like to that of a mummy, which made me 
 think again that I must be dead, if the dead could 
 suffer so much pain. I closed my eyes and thought or 
 slept a while. 
 
 As I lay thus I heard voices. One of them seemed to 
 be that of a physician, who said, 'Yes, he will live and 
 ere long recover. The blow upon the head which has 
 made him senseless for so many days was the worst of his 
 wounds, but the bone was but bruised, not shattered 
 or driven in upon the brain. The flesh cuts on his 
 
 116 
 
SETI COUNSELS PHARAOH 117 
 
 arms are healing well, and the mail he wore protected 
 his vitals from being pierced. ' 
 
 'I am glad, physician/ answered a voice that I 
 knew to be that of Userti, l since without doubt, had it 
 not been for Ana, his Highness would have perished. 
 It is strange that one whom I thought to be nothing 
 but a dreaming scribe should have shown himself so 
 brave a warrior. The Prince says that this Ana killed 
 three of those dogs with his own hands, and wounded 
 others. ' 
 
 'It was well done, your Highness/ answered the 
 physician, 'but still better was his forethought in pro- 
 viciing a rear-guard and in despatching the charioteer 
 to call it up. It seems to have been the Hebrew lady 
 who really saved the life of his Highness, when, for- 
 getting her sex, she stabbed the murderer who had him 
 by the throat. ' 
 
 'That is the Prince's tale, or so I understand/ she 
 answered coldly. 'Yet it seems strange that a weak 
 and worn-out girl could have pierced a giant through 
 from back to breast.' 
 
 * 'At least she warned him of the ambush, your High- 
 ness.' 
 
 'So they say. Perhaps Ana here will soon tell us 
 the truth about these matters. Tend him well, physi- 
 cian, and you shall not lack for your reward. ' 
 
 Then they went away, still talking, and I lay quiet, 
 filled with thankfulness and wonder, for now every- 
 thing came back to me. 
 
 A while later, as I lay with my eyes still shut, for 
 even that low light seemed to hurt them, I became 
 aware of a woman's soft step stealing round my bed 
 and of a fragrance such as comes from a woman's robes 
 
n8 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 and hair. I looked and saw Merapi's star-like eyes 
 gazing down on me just as I had seen them in my 
 dreams. 
 
 1 Greeting, Moon of Israel/ I said. 'Of a truth we 
 meet again in strange case. ' 
 
 'Oh!' she whispered, 'are you awake at last? I 
 thank God, Scribe Ana, who for three days thought 
 that you must die. ' 
 
 'As, had it not been for you, Lady, surely I should 
 have done I and another. Now it seems that all 
 three of us will live.' 
 
 'Would that but two lived, the Prince and you, 
 Ana. Would that / had died,' she answered, sighing 
 heavily. 
 
 'Why?' 
 
 'Cannot you guess? Because I am an outcast who 
 have betrayed my people. Because their blood flows 
 between me and them. For I killed that man, and he 
 was my own kinsman, for the sake of an Egyptian 
 I mean, Egyptians. Therefore the curse of Jahveh is 
 on me, and as my kinsman died doubtless I shall die 
 in a day to come, and afterwards what? ' 
 
 'Afterwards peace and great reward, if there be 
 justice in earth or heaven, O most noble among women. ' 
 
 'Would that I could think so! Hush, I hear steps.. 
 Drink this; I am the chief of your nurses, Scribe Ana, 
 an honourable post, since to-day all Egypt loves and 
 praises you. ' 
 
 'Surely it is you, lady Merapi, whom all Egypt 
 should love and praise,' I answered. 
 
 Then the Prince Seti entered. I strove to salute 
 him by lifting my less injured arm, but he caught my 
 hand and pressed it tenderly. 
 
SETI COUNSELS PHARAOH 119 
 
 'Hail to you, beloved of Menthu, god of war/ he 
 said, with his pleasant laugh. 'I thought I had hired 
 a scribe, and lo! in this scribe I find a soldier who might 
 be an army's boast. ' 
 
 At this moment he caught sight of Merapi, who had 
 moved back into the shadow. 
 
 'Hail to you also, Moon of Israel/ he said bowing. 
 'If I name Ana here a warrior of the best, what name 
 can both of us find for you to whom we owe our lives? 
 Nay, look not down, but answer. ' 
 
 * Prince of Egypt, ' she replied confusedly, ' I did but 
 little. The plot came to my ears through Jabez my 
 uncle, and I fled away and, knowing the short paths 
 from childhood, was just in time. Had I stayed to 
 think perchance I should not have dared.' 
 
 'And what of the rest, Lady? What of the Hebrew 
 who was choking me and of a certain sword thrust that 
 loosed his hands for ever?' 
 
 'Of that, your Highness, I can recall nothing, or 
 very little, ' then, doubtless remembering what she had 
 just said to me, she made obeisance and passed from 
 the chamber. 
 
 'She can tell falsehoods as sweetly as she does all 
 else/ said Seti, when he had watched her go. 'Oh! 
 what a woman have we here, Ana. Perfect in beauty, 
 perfect in courage, perfect in mind. Where are her 
 faults, I wonder? Let it be your part to search them 
 out, since I find none.' 
 
 'Ask them of Ki, O Prince. He is a very great 
 magician, so great that perhaps his art may even 
 avail to discover what a woman seeks to hide. Also 
 you may remember that he gave you certain warnings 
 before we journeyed to Goshen. ' 
 
120 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 1 Yes he told me that my life would be in danger, 
 as certainly it was. There he was right. He told me 
 also that I should see a woman whom I should come to 
 love. There he was wrong. I have seen no such 
 woman. Oh! I know well what is passing in your 
 mind. Because I hold the lady Merapi to be beautiful 
 and brave, you think that I love her. But it is not so. 
 I love no woman, except, of course, her Highness. 
 Ana, you judge me by yourself/ 
 
 1 Ki said "come to love," Prince. There is yet time.' 
 
 'Not so, Ana. If one loves, one loves at once. 
 Soon I shall be old and she will be fat and ugly, and how 
 can one love then? Get well quickly, Ana, for I wish 
 you to help me with my report to Pharaoh. I shall 
 tell him that I think these Israelites are much op- 
 pressed and that he should make them amends and 
 let them go.' 
 
 'What will Pharaoh say to that after they have just 
 tried to kill his heir?' 
 
 'I think Pharaoh will be angry, and so will the 
 people of Egypt, who do not reason well. He will not 
 see that, believing what they do, Laban and his band 
 were right to try to kill me who, however unwittingly, 
 had desecrated the sanctuary of their god. Had 
 they done otherwise they would have been no good 
 Hebrews, and for my part I cannot bear them malice. 
 Yet all Egypt is afire about this business and cries out 
 that the Israelites should be destroyed.' 
 
 'It seems to me, Prince, that whatever may be the 
 case with Ki's second prophecy, his third is in the way 
 of fulfilment namely that this journey to Goshen 
 may cause you to risk your throne. ' 
 
 He shrugged his shoulders and answered, 
 
SETI COUNSELS PHARAOH 121 
 
 'Not even for that, Ana, will I say to Pharaoh what 
 is not in my mind. But let that matter be till you 
 are stronger.' 
 
 'What chanced at the end of the fight, Prince, and 
 how came I here? ' 
 
 'The guard killed most of the Hebrews who remained 
 alive. Some few fled and escaped in the darkness, 
 among them Laban their leader, although you had 
 wounded him, and six were taken alive. They await 
 their trial. I was but little hurt and you, whom we 
 thought dead, were but senseless, and senseless or 
 wandering you have remained till this hour. We 
 carried you in a litter, and here you have been these 
 three days.' 
 
 'And the lady Merapi?' 
 
 ' We set her in a chariot and brought her to the city, 
 since had we left her she would certainly have been 
 murdered by her people. When Pharaoh heard what 
 she had done, as I did not think it well that she should 
 dwell here, he gave her the small house in this garden 
 that she might be guarded, and with it slave women to 
 attend upon her. So there she dwells, having the 
 freedom of the palace, and all the while has filled the 
 office of your nurse. ' 
 
 At this moment I grew faint and shut my eyes. 
 When I opened them again, the Prince had gone. 
 Six more days went by before I was allowed to leave 
 my bed, and during this time I saw much of Merapi. 
 She was very sad and lived in fear of being killed by 
 the Hebrews. Also she was troubled in her heart 
 because she thought she had betrayed her faith and 
 people. 
 
 'At least you are rid of Laban,' I said. 
 
122 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 ' Never shall I be rid of him while we both live,' 
 she answered. 'I belong to him and he will not loose 
 my bond, because his heart is set on me. ' 
 
 'And is your heart set on him?' I asked. 
 
 Her beautiful eyes filled with tears. 
 
 'A woman may not have a heart. Oh! Ana, I am 
 unhappy, ' she answered, and went away. 
 
 Also I saw others. The Princess came to visit me. 
 She thanked me much because I had fulfilled my 
 promise to her and guarded the Prince. Moreover she 
 brought me a gift of gold from Pharaoh, and other 
 gifts of fine raiment from herself. She questioned 
 me closely about Merapi, of whom I could see she was 
 already jealous, and was glad when she learned that 
 she was affianced to a Hebrew. Old Bakenkhonsu came 
 too, and asked me many things about the Prince, the 
 Hebrews and Merapi, especially Merapi, of whose 
 deeds, he said, all Egypt was talking, questions that I 
 answered as best I could. 
 
 'Here we have that woman of whom Ki told us/ 
 he said, ' she who shall bring so much joy and so much 
 sorrow to the Prince of Egypt. ' 
 
 'Why so?' I asked. 'He has not taken her into his 
 house, nor do I think that he means to do so.' 
 
 'Yet he will, Ana, whether he means it or not. For 
 his sake she betrayed her people, which among the 
 Israelites is a deadly crime. Twice she saved his life, 
 once by warning him of the ambush, and again by 
 stabbing with her own hands one of her kinsmen who 
 was murdering him. Is it not so? Tell me; you 
 were there. ' 
 
 'It is so, but what then?' 
 
 'This: that whatever she may say, she loves him; 
 
SETI COUNSELS PHARAOH 123 
 
 unless indeed, it is you whom she loves,' and he looked 
 at me shrewdly. 
 
 'When a woman has a prince, and such a prince to 
 her hand, would she trouble herself to set snares to 
 catch a scribe? ' I asked, with some bitterness. 
 
 'Oho!' he said, with one of his great laughs, 'so 
 things stand thus, do they? Well, I thought it, but, 
 friend Ana, be warned in time. Do not try to conjure 
 down the Moon to be your household lamp lest she 
 should set, and the Sun, her lord, should grow wroth 
 and burn you up. Well, she loves him, and therefore 
 soon or late she will make him love her, being what 
 she is.' 
 
 'How, Bakenkhonsu?' 
 
 'With most men, Ana, it would be simple. A sigh, 
 some half-hidden tears at the right moment, and the 
 thing is done, as I have known it done a thousand 
 times. But this prince being what he is, it may be 
 otherwise. She may show him that her name is gone 
 for him; that because of him she is hated by her people, 
 and rejected by her god, and thus stir his pity, which is 
 Love's own sister. Or mayhap, being also, as I am 
 told, wise, she will give him counsel as to all these 
 matters of the Israelites, and thus creep into his heart 
 under the guise of friendship, and then her sweetness and 
 her beauty will do the rest in Nature's way. At least 
 by this road or by that, upstream or downstream, 
 thither she will come. ' 
 
 'If so, what of it? It is the custom of the kings of 
 Egypt to have more wives than one.' 
 
 'This, Ana; Seti, I think, is a man who in truth will 
 have but one, and that one will be this Hebrew. Yes, 
 a Hebrew woman will rule Egypt, and turn him to the 
 
124 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 worship of her god, for never will she worship ours. 
 Indeed, when they see that she is lost to them, her 
 people will use her thus. Or perchance her god himself 
 will use her to fulfil his purpose, as already he may have 
 used her.' 
 
 1 And afterwards, Bakenkhonsu?' 
 
 ' After wards who knows? I am not a magician, 
 at least not one of any account, ask it of Ki. But I 
 am very, very old and I have watched the world, and 
 I tell you that these things will happen, unless - 
 and he paused. 
 
 ' Unless what?' 
 
 He dropped his voice. 
 
 I Unless Userti is bolder than I think, and kills her 
 first or, better still, procures some Hebrew to kill her 
 say, that cast-off lover of hers. If you would be 
 a friend to Pharaoh and to Egypt, you might whisper 
 it in her ear, Ana. ' 
 
 'Never!' I answered angrily. 
 
 I 1 did not think you would, Ana, who also struggle 
 in this net of moonbeams that is stronger and more 
 real than any twisted out of palm or flax. Well, nor 
 will I, who in my age love to watch such human sport 
 and, being so near to them, fear to thwart the schemes 
 of gods. Let this scroll unroll itself as it will, and when 
 it is open, read it, Ana, and remember what I said to 
 you this day. It will be a pretty tale, written at the 
 end with blood for ink. Oho! 6-ho-ho!' and, laugh- 
 ing, he hobbled from the room, leaving me frightened. 
 
 Moreover the Prince visited me every day, and even 
 before I left my bed began to dictate to me his report to 
 Pharaoh, since he would employ no other scribe. The 
 substance of it was what he had foreshadowed, namely 
 
SETI COUNSELS PHARAOH 125 
 
 that the people of Israel, having suffered much for 
 generations at the hands of the Egyptians, should now 
 be allowed to depart as their prophets demanded, and 
 go whither they would unharmed. Of the attack upon 
 us in the pass he made light, saying that it was the evil 
 work of a few zealots wrought on by fancied insult to 
 their god, a deed for which the whole people should not 
 be called upon to suffer. The last words of the report 
 were: 
 
 ' Remember, O Pharaoh, I pray thee, that Amon, 
 god of the Egyptians, and Jahveh, the god of the Isra- 
 elites, cannot rule together in the same land. If both 
 abide in Egypt there will be a war of the gods wherein 
 mortals may be ground to dust. Therefore, I pray 
 thee, let Israel go.' 
 
 After I had risen and was recovered, I copied out 
 this report in my fairest writing, refusing to tell any of 
 its purport, although all asked, among them the Vizier 
 Nehesi, who offered me a bribe to disclose its secret. 
 This came to the ears of Seti, I know not how, and he 
 was much pleased with me about the matter, saying he 
 rejoiced to find that there was one scribe in Egypt who 
 could not be bought. Userti also questioned me, and 
 when I refused to answer, strange to say, was not angry, 
 because, she declared, I only did my duty. 
 
 At last the roll was finished and sealed, and the 
 Prince with his own hand, but without speaking, laid 
 it on the knees of Pharaoh at a public Court, for this he 
 would trust no one else to do. Amenmeses also 
 brought up his report, as did Nehesi the Vizier, and 
 the Captain of the guard which saved us from death. 
 Eight days later the Prince was summoned to a great 
 Council of State, as were all others of the royal House, 
 
126 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 together with the high officers. I too received a sum- 
 mons, as one who had been concerned in these matters. 
 
 The Prince, accompanied by the Princess, drove to 
 the palace in Pharaoh's golden chariot, drawn by two 
 milk-white horses of the blood of those famous steeds 
 that had saved the life of the great Rameses in the 
 Syrian war. All down the streets, that were filled with 
 thousands of the people, they were received with shouts 
 of welcome. 
 
 'See/ said the old councillor Bakenkhonsu, who was 
 my companion in a second chariot, 'Egypt is proud 
 and glad. It thought that its Prince was but a 
 dreamer of dreams. But now it has heard the tale of 
 the ambush in the pass and learned that he is a man 
 of war, a warrior who can fight with the best. There- 
 fore it loves him and rejoices.' 
 
 'Then, by the same rule, Bakenkhonsu, a butcher 
 should be more great than the wisest of scribes.' 
 
 ' So he is, Ana, especially if the butcher be one of men. 
 The writer creates, but the slayer kills, and in a world 
 ruled of death he who kills has more honour than he 
 who creates. Hearken, now they are shouting out 
 your name. Is that because you are the author of cer- 
 tain writings? I tell you, No. It is because you killed 
 three men yonder in the pass. If you would become 
 famous and beloved, Ana, cease from the writing of 
 books and take to the cutting of throats.' 
 
 'Yet the writer still lives when he is dead.' 
 
 'Oho!' laughed Bakenkhonsu, 'you are even more 
 foolish than I thought. How is a man advantaged by 
 what happens when he is dead? Why, to-day that 
 blind beggar whining on the temple steps means more 
 to Egypt than all the mummies of all the Pharaohs, un- 
 
SETI COUNSELS PHARAOH 127 
 
 less they can be robbed. Take what life can give you, 
 Ana, and do not trouble about the offerings which are 
 laid in the tombs for time to crumble/ 
 
 'That is a mean faith, Bakenkhonsu.' 
 
 'Very mean, Ana, like all else that we can taste and 
 handle. A mean faith suited to means hearts, among 
 whom should be reckoned all save one in every thou- 
 sand. Yet, if you would prosper, follow it, and when 
 you are dead I will come and laugh upon your grave, 
 and say, "Here lies one of whom I had hoped higher 
 things, as I hope them of your master." 3 
 
 'And not in vain, Bakenkhonsu, whatever may hap- 
 pen to the servant.' 
 
 1 That we shall learn, and ere long, I think. I won- 
 der who will ride at his side before the next Nile flood. 
 By then, perchance, he will have changed Pharaoh's 
 golden chariot for an ox-cart, and you will goad the 
 oxen and talk to him of the stars or, mayhap of the 
 moon. Well, you might both be happier thus, and she 
 of the moon is a jealous goddess who loves worship. 
 Oho-ho! Here are the palace steps. Help me to de- 
 scend, Priest of the Lady of the Moon.' 
 
 We entered the palace and were led through the 
 great hall to a smaller chamber where Pharaoh, who 
 did not wear his robes of sta te, awaited us, seated in a 
 cedar chair. Glancing at him I saw that his face was 
 stern and troubled; also it seemed to me that he had 
 grown older. The Prince and Princess made obeisance 
 to him, as did we lesser folk, but he took no heed. 
 When all were present and the doors had been shut, 
 Pharaoh said, 
 
 'I have read your report, Son Seti, concerning your 
 visit to the Israelites, and all that chanced to you; and 
 
128 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 also the reports of you, nephew Amenmeses, and of you, 
 Officers, who accompanied the Prince of Egypt. Be- 
 fore I speak of them, let the Scribe Ana, who was the 
 chariot companion of his Highness when the Hebrews 
 attacked him, stand forward and tell me all that 
 passed.' 
 
 So I advanced, and with bowed head repeated that 
 tale, only leaving out so far as was possible any mention 
 of myself. When I had finished, Pharaoh said, 
 
 'He who speaks but half the truth is sometimes 
 more mischievous than a liar. Did you then sit in the 
 chariot, Scribe, doing nothing while the Prince battled 
 for his life? Or did you run away? Speak, Seti, and 
 say what part this man played for good or ill.' 
 
 Then the Prince told of my share in the fight, with 
 words that brought the blood to my brow. He told also 
 how that it was I who, taking the risk of his wrath, had 
 ordered the guard of twenty men to follow us unseen, 
 had disguised two seasoned soldiers as chariot runners, 
 and had thought to send back the driver to summon 
 help at the commencement of the fray; how I had 
 been hurt also, and was but lately recovered. When 
 he had finished, Pharaoh said, 
 
 'That this story is true I know from others. Scribe, 
 you have done well. But for you to-day his Highness 
 would lie upon the table of the embalmers, as indeed 
 for his folly he deserves to do, and Egypt would mourn 
 from Thebes to the mouths of Nile. Come hither.' 
 
 I came with trembling steps, and knelt before his 
 Majesty. Around his neck hung a beauteous chain of 
 wrought gold. He took it, and cast it over my head, 
 saying, 
 
 'Because you have shown yourself both brave and 
 
SETI COUNSELS PHARAOH 129 
 
 wise, with this gold I give you the title of Councillor 
 and King's Companion, and the right to inscribe the 
 same upon your funeral stele. Let it be noted. Re- 
 tire, Scribe Ana, Councillor and King's Companion/ 
 
 So I withdrew confused, and as I passed Seti, he 
 whispered in my ear, 
 
 'I pray you, my lord, do not cease to be Prince's 
 Companion, because you have become that of the 
 King/ 
 
 Then Pharaoh ordered that the Captain of the guard 
 should be advanced in rank, and that gifts should be 
 given to each of the soldiers, and provision be made for 
 the children of those who had been killed, with double 
 allowance to the families of the two men whom I had 
 disguised as runners. 
 
 This done, once more Pharaoh spoke, slowly and 
 with much meaning, having first ordered that all at- 
 tendants and guards should leave the chamber. I 
 was about to go also, but old Bakenkhonsu caught me 
 by the robe, saying that in my new rank of Councillor 
 I had the right to remain. 
 
 'Prince Seti,' he said, 'after all that I have heard, I 
 find this report of yours strange reading. Moreover, 
 the tenor of it is different indeed to that of those of the 
 Count Amenmeses and the officers. You counsel me 
 to let these Israelites go where they will, because of 
 certain hardships that they have suffered in the past, 
 which hardships, however, have left them many and 
 rich. That counsel I am not minded to take. Rather 
 am I minded to send an army to the land of Goshen 
 with orders to despatch this people, who conspired to 
 murder the Prince of Egypt, through the Gateway of 
 the West, there to worship their god in heaven or in 
 
i 3 o MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 hell. Aye, to slay them all from the greybeard down 
 to the suckling at the breast. 7 
 
 'I hear Pharaoh/ said Seti, quietly. 
 
 'Such is my will,' went on Meneptah, 'and those 
 who accompanied you upon your business, and all my 
 councillors think as I do, for truly Egypt cannot bear 
 so hideous a treason. Yet, according to our law and 
 custom it is needful, before such great acts of war and 
 policy are undertaken, that he who stands next to the 
 throne, and is destined to fill it, should give consent 
 thereto. Do you consent, Prince of Egypt? ' 
 
 'I do not consent, Pharaoh. I think it would be a 
 wicked deed that tens of thousands should be massa- 
 cred for the reason that a few fools waylaid a man who 
 chanced to be of royal blood, because by inadvertence, 
 he had desecrated their sanctuary.' 
 
 Now I saw that this answer made Pharaoh wroth, 
 for never before had his will been crossed in such a 
 fashion. Still he controlled himself, and asked, 
 
 'Do you then consent, Prince, to a gentler sentence, 
 namely that the Hebrew people should be broken up; 
 that the more dangerous of them should be sent to 
 labour in the desert mines and quarries, and the 
 rest distributed throughout Egypt, there to live as 
 slaves? ' 
 
 'I do not consent, Pharaoh. My poor counsel is 
 written in yonder roll and cannot be changed.' 
 
 Meneptah's eyes flashed, but again he controlled 
 self, and asked, 
 
 'If you should come to fill this place of mine, Prince 
 Seti, tell us, here assembled, what policy will you pur- 
 sue towards these Hebrews?' 
 
 'That policy, Pharaoh, which I have counselled in 
 
SETI COUNSELS PHARAOH 131 
 
 the roll. If ever I fill the throne, I shall let them go 
 whither they will, taking their goods with them/ 
 
 Now all those present stared at him and murmured. 
 But Pharaoh rose, shaking with wrath. Seizing his 
 robe where it was fastened at the breast, he rent it, and 
 cried in a terrible voice, 
 
 'Hear him, ye gods of Egypt! Hear this son of mine 
 who defies me to my face and would set your necks be- 
 neath the heel of a stranger god. Prince Seti, in the pres- 
 ence of these royal ones, and these my councillors, I 
 
 He said no more, for the Princess Userti, who till 
 now had sat silent, ran to him, and throwing her arms 
 about him, began to whisper in his ear. He hearkened 
 to her, then sat himself down, and spoke again, 
 
 ' The Princess brings it to my mind that this is a 
 great matter, one not to be dealt with hastily. It may 
 happen that when the Prince has taken counsel with her, 
 and with his own heart, and perchance has sought the 
 wisdom of the gods, he will change the words which have 
 passed his lips. I command you, Prince, to wait upon 
 me here at the same hour on the third day from this. 
 Meanwhile, I command all present, upon pain of death, 
 to say nothing of what has passed within these walls/ 
 
 'I hear Pharaoh/ said the Prince, bowing. 
 
 Meneptah rose to show that the Council was dis- 
 charged, when the Vizier Nehesi approached him, and 
 asked, 
 
 'What of the Hebrew prisoners, O Pharaoh, those 
 murderers who were captured in the pass?' 
 
 'Their guilt is proved. Let them be beaten with 
 rods till they die, and if they have wives or children, 
 let them be seized and sold as slaves/ 
 
 'Pharaoh's will be done!' said the Vizier. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE SMITING OF AMON 
 
 THAT evening I sat ill at ease in my work-chamber 
 in Seti's palace, making pretence to write, I who felt 
 that great evils threatened my lord the Prince, and 
 knew not what to do to turn them from him. The 
 door opened, and old Pambasa the chamberlain ap- 
 peared and addressed me by my new titles, saying that 
 the Hebrew lady Merapi, who had been my nurse in 
 sickness, wished to speak with me. Presently she came 
 and stood before me. 
 
 'Scribe Ana/ she said, 'I have but just seen my 
 uncle Jabez, who has come, or been sent, with a mes- 
 sage to me/ and she hesitated. 
 
 'Why was he sent, Lady? To bring you news of 
 Laban? ' 
 
 1 Not so. Laban has fled away and none know where 
 he is, and Jabez has only escaped much trouble as the 
 uncle of a traitress by undertaking this mission.' 
 
 'What is the mission?' 
 
 'To pray me, if I would save myself from death and 
 the vengeance of God, to work upon the heart of his 
 Highness, which I know not how to do ' 
 
 'Yet I think you might find means, Merapi/ 
 
 -save through you, his friend and counsellor/ 
 she went on, turning away her face. 'Jabez has 
 learned that it is in the mind of Pharaoh utterly to 
 destroy the people of Israel/ 
 
 132 
 
THE SMITING OF AMON 133 
 
 1 How does he know that, Merapi?' 
 
 'I cannot say, but I think all the Hebrews know. I 
 knew it myself though none had told me. He has learned 
 also that this cannot be done under the law of Egypt 
 unless the Prince who is heir to the throne and of full 
 age consents. Now I am come to pray you to pray 
 the Prince not to consent.' 
 
 1 Why not pray to the Prince yourself, Merapi 
 I began, when from the shadows behind me I heard 
 the voice of Seti, who had entered by the private door 
 bearing some writings in his hand, saying, 
 
 'And what prayer has the lady Merapi to make to 
 me? Nay, rise and speak, Moon of Israel/ 
 
 '0 Prince/ she pleaded, 'my prayer is that you will 
 save the Hebrews from death by the sword, as you 
 alone have the power to do.' 
 
 At that moment the doors opened and in swept the 
 royal Userti. 
 
 'What does this woman here?' she asked. 
 
 'I think that she came to see Ana, wife, as I did, and 
 as doubtless you do. Also being here she prays me 
 to save her people from the sword. ' 
 
 'And I pray you, husband, to give her people to the 
 sword, which they have earned, who would have 
 murdered you. ' 
 
 'And been paid, everyone of them, Userti, unless 
 some still linger beneath the rods, ' he added with a shud- 
 der. ' The rest are innocent why should they die? ' 
 
 'Because your throne hangs upon it, Seti. I say 
 that if you continue to thwart the will of Pharaoh, 
 as by the law of Egypt you can do, he will disinherit 
 you and set your cousin Amenmeses in your place, as 
 by the law of Egypt he can do. ' 
 
134 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 *I thought it, Userti. Yet why should I turn my 
 back upon the right over a matter of my private for- 
 tunes? The question is is it the right? ' 
 
 She stared at him in amazement, she who never 
 understood Seti and could not dream that he would 
 throw away the greatest throne in all the world to 
 save a subject people, merely because he thought that 
 they should not die. Still, warned by some instinct, 
 she left the first question unanswered, dealing only 
 with the second. 
 
 'It is the right/ she said, f for many reasons whereof 
 I need give but one, for in it lie all the others. The 
 gods of Egypt are the true gods whom we must serve 
 and obey, or perish here and hereafter. The god of 
 the Israelites is a false god and those who worship 
 him are heretics and by their heresy under sentence 
 of death. Therefore it is most right that those whom 
 the true gods have condemned should die by the swords 
 of their servants. 7 
 
 'That is well argued, Userti, and if it be so, mayhap 
 my mind will become as yours in this matter, so that 
 I shall no longer stand between Pharaoh and his 
 desire. But is it so? There's the problem. I will 
 not ask you why you say that the gods of the Egyptians 
 are the true gods, because I know what you would 
 answer, or rather that you could give no answer. 
 But I will ask this lady whether her god is a false god, 
 and if she replies that he is not, I will ask her to prove 
 this to me if she can. If she is able to prove it, 
 then I think that what I said to Pharaoh to-day 
 I shall repeat three days hence. If she is not able 
 to prove it, then I shall consider very earnestly of 
 the matter. Answer now, Moon of Israel, remem- 
 
THE SMITING OF AMON 135 
 
 bering that many thousands of lives may hang on 
 what you say.' 
 
 ' O your Highness, ' began Merapi. Then she paused, 
 clasped her hands and looked upwards. I think that 
 she was praying, for her lips moved. As she stood 
 thus I saw, and I think Seti saw also, a very wonderful 
 light grow on her face and gather in her eyes, a kind of 
 divine fire of inspiration and resolve. 
 
 'How can I, a poor Hebrew maiden, prove to your 
 Highness that my God is the true God and that the 
 gods of Egypt are false gods? I know not, and yet, 
 is there any one god among all the many whom you 
 worship, whom you are prepared to set up against 
 him?' 
 
 'Of a surety, Israelite/ answered Userti. 'There 
 is Amon-Ra, Father of the gods, of whom all other 
 gods have their being, and from whom they draw their 
 strength. Yonder his statue sits in the sanctuary of 
 his ancient temple. Let your god stir him from his 
 place! But what will you bring forward against the 
 majesty of Amon-Ra?' 
 
 'My God has no statues, Princess, and his place is 
 in the hearts of men, or so I have been taught by his 
 prophets. I have nothing to bring forward in this 
 war save that which must be offered in all wars 
 my life.' 
 
 'What do you mean?' asked Seti, astounded. 
 
 'I mean that I, unfriended and alone, will enter 
 the presence of Amon-Ra in his chosen sanctuary, and 
 in the name of my God will challenge him to kill me, 
 if he can. ' 
 
 We stared at her, and Userti exclaimed, 
 
 'If he can! Hearken now to this blasphemer, and 
 
136 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 do you, Seti, accept her challenge as hereditary high- 
 priest of the god Amon? Let her life pay forfeit for 
 her sacrilege/ 
 
 'And if the great god Amon cannot, or does not 
 deign to kill you, Lady, how will that prove that your 
 god is greater than he?' asked the Prince. 'Per- 
 chance he might smile and in his pity, let the insult 
 pass, as your god did by me. ' 
 
 1 Thus it shall be proved, your Highness. If naught 
 happens to me, or if I am protected from anything 
 that does happen, then I will dare to call upon my god 
 to work a sign and a wonder, and to humble Amon-Ra 
 before your eyes. ' 
 
 'And if your god should also smile and let the mat- 
 ter pass, Lady, as he did by me the other day when his 
 priests called upon him, what shall we have learned as 
 to his strength, or as to that of Amon-Ra? 7 
 
 '0 Prince, you will have learned nothing. Yet if 
 I escape from the wrath of Amon and my God is deaf 
 to my prayer, then I am ready to be delivered over 
 into the hands of the priests of Amon that they may 
 avenge my sacrilege upon me. ' 
 
 'There speaks a great heart,' said Seti; 'yet I am 
 not minded that this lady should set her life upon such 
 an issue. I do not believe that either the high-god of 
 Egypt or the god of the Israelites will stir, but I am 
 quite sure that the priests of Amon will avenge the 
 sacrilege, and that cruelly enough. The dice are 
 loaded against you, Lady. You shall not prove your 
 faith with blood. ' 
 
 'Why not?' asked Userti. 'What is this girl to 
 you, Seti, that you should stand between her and the 
 fruit of her wickedness, you who at least in name are 
 
THE SMITING OF AMON 137 
 
 the high-priest of the god whom she blasphemes and 
 who wear his robes at temple feasts? She believes in 
 her god, leave it to her god to help her as she has dared 
 to say he will. ' 
 
 'You believe in Amon, Userti. Are you prepared to 
 stake your life against hers in this contest? ' 
 
 'I am not so mad and vain, Seti, as to believe that 
 the god of all the world will descend from heaven to 
 save me at my prayer, as this impious girl pretends 
 that she believes. ' 
 
 'You refuse. Then, Ana, what say you, who are a 
 loyal worshipper of Amon? ' 
 
 'I say, O Prince, that it would be presumptuous of 
 me to take precedence of his high-priest in such a 
 matter. ' 
 
 Seti smiled and answered, 
 
 'And the high-priest says that it would be presump- 
 tuous of him to push so far the prerogative of a high 
 office which he never sought. ' 
 
 'Your Highness/ broke in Merapi in her honeyed, 
 pleading voice, ' I pray you to be gracious to me, and to 
 suffer me to make this trial, which I have sought, 
 I know not why. Words such as I have spoken can- 
 not be recalled. Already they are registered in the 
 books of Eternity, and soon or late, in this way or in 
 that, must be fulfilled. My life is staked, and I desire 
 to learn at once if it be forfeit.' 
 
 Now even Userti looked on her with admiration, but 
 answered only, 
 
 'Of a truth, Israelite, I trust that this courage will 
 not forsake you when you are handed over to the mer- 
 cies of Ki, the Sacrificer of Amon, and the priests, in 
 the vaults of the temple you would profane. ' 
 
138 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 1 1 also trust that it will not, your Highness, if such 
 should be my fate. Your word, Prince of Egypt. ' 
 
 Seti looked at her standing before him so calmly with 
 bowed head, and hands crossed upon her breast. 
 Then he looked at Userti, who wore a mocking smile 
 upon her face. He read the meaning of that smile 
 as I did. It was that she did not believe that he 
 would allow this beautiful woman, who had saved 
 his life, to risk her life for the sake of any or all 
 the powers of heaven or hell. For a little while 
 he walked to and fro about the chamber, then he 
 stopped and said suddenly addressing, not Merapi, 
 but Userti, 
 
 1 Have your will, remembering that if this brave 
 woman fails and dies, her blood is on your hands, and 
 that if she triumphs and lives, I shall hold her to be 
 one of the noblest of her sex, and shall make study of 
 all this matter of religion. Moon of Israel, as titular 
 high-priest of Amon-Ra, I accept your challenge on 
 behalf of the god, though whether he will take note of 
 it I do not know. The trial shall be made to-morrow 
 night in the sanctuary of the temple, at an hour that 
 will be communicated to you. I shall be present to 
 make sure that you meet with justice, as will some 
 others. Register my commands, Scribe Ana, and let 
 the head-priest of Amon, Roi, and the sacrificer to 
 Amon, Ki the Magician, be summoned, that I may 
 speak with them. Farewell, Lady.' 
 
 She went, but at the door turned and said, 
 
 'I thank you, Prince, on my own behalf, and on that 
 of my people. Whatever chances, I beseech you do 
 not forget the prayer that I have made to you to save 
 them, being innocent, from the sword. Now I ask 
 
THE SMITING OF AMON 139 
 
 that I may be left quite alone till I am summoned to 
 the temple, who must make such preparation as I 
 can to meet my fate, whatever it may be/ 
 
 Userti departed also without a word. 
 
 'Oh! friend, what have I done?' said Seti. 'Are 
 there any gods? Tell me, are there any gods? ' 
 
 'Perhaps we shall learn to-morrow night, Prince/ 
 I answered. 'At least Merapi thinks that there is a 
 god, and doubtless has been commanded to put her 
 faith to proof. This, as I believe, was the real message 
 that Jabez her uncle has brought to her. ' 
 
 It was the hour before the dawn, just when the night 
 is darkest. We stood in the sanctuary of the ancient 
 temple of Amon-Ra, that was lit with many lamps. 
 It was an awful place. On either side the great col- 
 umns towered to the massive roof. At the head of the 
 sanctuary sat the statue of Amon-Ra, thrice the size 
 of a man. On his brow, rising fom the crown, were two 
 tall feathers of stone, and in his hands he held the 
 Scourge of Rule and the symbols of Power and Ever- 
 lastingness. The lamplight flickered upon his stern 
 and terrible face staring towards the east. To his 
 right was the statue of Mut, the Mother of all things. 
 On her head was the double crown of Egypt and the 
 uraeus crest, and in her hand the looped cross, the sign 
 of Life eternal. To his left sat Khonsu, the hawk- 
 headed god of the moon. On his head was the cres- 
 cent of the young moon carrying the disc of the full 
 moon; in his right hand he also held the looped cross, 
 the sign of Life eternal, and in his left the Staff of 
 Strength. Such was this mighty triad, but of these 
 the greatest was Amon-Ra, to whom the shrine was 
 
i 4 o MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 dedicated. Fearful they looked towering above us 
 against the background of blackness. 
 
 Gathered there were Seti the Prince, clothed in a 
 priest's white robe, and wearing a linen headdress, but 
 no ornaments, and Userti the Princess, high-priestess 
 of Hathor, Lady of the West, Goddess of Love and 
 Nature. She wore Hathor's vulture headdress, and 
 on it the disc of the moon fashioned of silver. Also 
 were present Roi the head-priest, clad in his sacerdotal 
 robes, an old and wizened man with a strong, fierce face, 
 Ki the Sacrificer and Magician, Bakenkhonsu the 
 ancient, myself, and a company of the priests of 
 Amon-Ra, Mut, and Khonsu. From behind the 
 statues came the sound of solemn singing, though 
 who sang we could not see. 
 
 Presently from out of the darkness that lay beyond 
 the lamps appeared a woman, led by two priestesses 
 and wrapped in a long cloak. They brought her to 
 an open place in front of the statue of Amon, took 
 from her the cloak and departed, glancing back at 
 her with eyes of hate and fear. There before us stoo< 
 Merapi, clad in white, with a white wimple about her 
 head made fast beneath her chin with that scarabasus 
 clasp which Seti had given to her in the city of Goshen, 
 one spot of brightest blue amid a cloud of white. She 
 looked neither to right nor left of her. Once only she 
 glanced at the towering statue of the god that frowned 
 above, then with a little shiver, fixed her eyes upon the 
 pattern of the floor. 
 
 'What does she look like?' whispered Bakenkhonsu 
 to me. 
 
 'A corpse made ready for the embalmers, ' I answered. 
 
 He shook his great head. 
 
THE SMITING OF AMON 141 
 
 'Then a bride made ready for her husband/ 
 
 Again he shook his head. 
 
 'Then a priestess about to read from the roll of 
 Mysteries. ' 
 
 'Now you have it, Ana, and to understand what she 
 reads, which few priestesses ever do. Also all three 
 answers were right, for in this woman I seem to see 
 doom that is Death, life that is Love, and spirit that 
 is Power. She has a soul which both Heaven and 
 Earth have kissed. ' 
 
 'Aye, but which of them will claim her in the end?' 
 
 'That we may learn before the dawn, Ana. Hush! 
 the fight begins/ 
 
 The head-priest, Roi, advanced and, standing before 
 the god, sprinkled his feet with water and with perfume. 
 Then he stretched out his hands, whereon all present 
 prostrated themselves, save Merapi only, who stood 
 alone in that great place like the survivor of a battle. 
 
 'Hail to thee, Amon-Ra,' he began, 'Lord of Heaven, 
 Establisher of all things, Maker of the gods, who un- 
 rolled the skies and built the foundations of the Earth. 
 O god of gods, appears before thee this woman Merapi, 
 daughter of Nathan, a child of the Hebrew race that 
 owns thee not. This woman blasphemes thy might; 
 this woman defies thee; this woman sets up her god 
 above thee. Is it not so, woman? ' 
 
 ' It is so, ' answered Merapi in a low voice. 
 
 'Thus does she defy thee, thou Only One of many 
 Forms, saying "if the god Amon of the Egyptians be a 
 greater god than my god, let him snatch me out of the 
 arms of my god and here in this the shrine of Amon 
 take the breath from out my lips and leave me a thing 
 of clay." Are these thy words, O woman?' 
 
i 4 2 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 'They are my words, ' she said in the same low voice, 
 and oh! I shivered as I heard. 
 
 The priest went on. 
 
 'O Lord of Time, Lord of Life, Lord of Spirits and the 
 Divinities of Heaven, Lord of Terror, come forth now 
 in thy majesty and smite this blasphemer to the dust. ' 
 
 Roi withdrew and Seti stood forward. 
 
 'Know, O god Amon,' he said, addressing the statue 
 as though he were speaking to a living man, 'from the 
 lips of me, thy high-priest, by birth the Prince and Heir 
 of Egypt, that great things hang upon this matter here 
 in the Land of Egypt, mayhap even who shall sit upon 
 the throne that thou givest to its kings. This woman 
 of Israel dares thee to thy face, saying that there is a 
 greater god than thou art and that thou canst not harm 
 her through the buckler of his strength. She says, 
 moreover, that she will call upon her god to work a 
 sign and a wonder upon thee. Lastly, she says that 
 if thou dost not harm her and if her god works no sign 
 upon thee, then she is ready to be handed over to thy 
 priests and die the death of a blasphemer. Thy 
 honour is set against her life, O great God of Egypt, 
 and we, thy worshippers, watch to see the balance turn/ 
 
 'Well and justly put/ muttered Bakenkhonsu to 
 me. 'Now if Amon fails us, what will you think of 
 Amon, Ana?' 
 
 'I shall learn the high-priest's mind and think what 
 the high-priest thinks,' I answered darkly, though 
 in my heart I was terribly afraid for Merapi, and, to 
 speak truth, for myself also, because of the doubts 
 which arose in me and would not be quenched. 
 
 Seti withdrew, taking his stand by Userti, and Ki 
 stood forward and said, 
 
THE SMITING OF AMON 143 
 
 'O Amon, I thy Sacrifice!, I thy Magician, to whom 
 thou givest power, I the priest and servant of Isis, 
 Mother of Mysteries, Queen of the company of the 
 gods, call upon thee. She who stands before thee is 
 but a Hebrew woman. Yet, as thou knowest well, 
 Father, in this house she is more than woman, inas- 
 much as she is the Voice and Sword of thine enemy, 
 Jahveh, god of the Israelites. She thinks, mayhap, that 
 she has come here of her own will, but thou knowest, 
 Father Amon, as I know, that she is sent by the great 
 prophets of her people, those magicians who guide her 
 soul with spells to work thee evil and to set thee, Amon, 
 beneath the heel of Jahveh. The stake seems small, 
 the life of this one maid, no more; yet it is very great. 
 This is the stake, Father: Shall Amon rule the world, 
 or Jahveh. If thou fallest to-night, thou fallest for 
 ever; if thou dost triumph to-night, thou dost triumph 
 for ever. In yonder shape of stone hides thy spirit; 
 in yonder shape of woman's flesh hides the spirit of 
 thy foe. Smite her, O Amon, smite her to small dust; 
 let not the strength that is in her prevail against thy 
 strength, lest thy name should be defiled and sorrows 
 and loss should come upon the land which is thy 
 throne; lest, too, the wizards of the Israelites should 
 overcome us thy servants. Thus prayeth Ki thy 
 Magician, on whose soul it has pleased thee to pour 
 strength and wisdom.' 
 
 Then followed a great silence. 
 
 Watching the statue of the god, presently I thought 
 that it moved, and as I could see by the stir among 
 them, so did the others. I thought that its stone 
 eyes rolled, I thought that it lifted the Scourge of 
 Power in its granite hand, though whether these things 
 
144 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 were done by some spirit or by some priest, or by 
 the magic of Ki, I do not know. At the least, a great 
 wind began to blow about the temple, stirring our robes 
 and causing the lamps to flicker. Only the robes of 
 Merapi did not stir. Yet she saw what I could not see, 
 for suddenly her eyes grew frightened. 
 
 1 The god is awake, ' whispered Bakenkhonsu. ' Now 
 good-bye to your fair Israelite. See, the Prince trembles, 
 Ki smiles, and the face of Userti glows with triumph.' 
 
 As he spoke the blue scarabaeus was snatched from 
 Merapi's breast as though by a hand. It fell to the 
 floor as did her wimple, so that now she appeared with 
 her rich hair flowing down her robe. Then the eyes 
 of the statue seemed to cease to roll, the wind ceased 
 to blow, and again there was silence. 
 
 Merapi stooped, lifted the wimple, replaced it on her 
 head, found the scarabaeus clasp, and very quietly, as 
 a woman who was tiring herself might do, made it fast 
 in its place again, a sight at which I heard Userti gasp. 
 
 For a long while we waited. Watching the faces of 
 the congregation, I saw amazement and doubt on those 
 of the priests, rage on that of Ki, and on Seti's the 
 flicker of a little smile. Merapi's eyes were closed as 
 though she were asleep. At length she opened them, 
 and turning her head towards the Prince said, 
 
 1 high-priest of Amon-Ra, has your god worked his 
 will on me, or must I wait longer before I call upon my 
 God?' 
 
 ' Do what you will or can, woman, and make an end, 
 for almost it is the moment of dawn when the temple 
 worship opens.' 
 
 Then Merapi clasped her hands, and looking up- 
 wards, prayed aloud very sweetly and simply, saying, 
 
THE SMITING OF AMON 145 
 
 'O God of my fathers, trusting in Thee, I, a poor 
 maid of Thy people Israel, have set the life Thou 
 gavest me in Thy Hand. If, as I believe, Thou art the 
 God of gods, I pray Thee show a sign and a wonder 
 upon this god of the Egyptians, and thereby declare 
 Thine Honour and keep my breath within my breast. 
 If it pleases Thee not, then let me die, as doubtless for 
 my many sins I deserve to do. O God of my fathers, 
 I have made my prayer. Hear it or reject it according 
 to Thy Will.' 
 
 So she ended, and listening to her, I felt the tears 
 rising in my eyes, because she was so much alone, and 
 I feared that this god of hers would never come to save 
 her from the torments of the priests. Seti also turned 
 his head away, and stared down the sanctuary at the 
 sky over the open court where the lights of dawn were 
 gathering. 
 
 Once more there was silence. Then again that wind 
 blew, very strongly, extinguishing the lamps, and, as it 
 seemed to me, whirling away Merapi from where she 
 was, so that now she stood to one side of the statue. 
 The sanctuary was filled with gloom, till presently the 
 first rays of the rising sun struck upon the roof. They 
 fell down, down, as minute followed minute, till at 
 length they rested like a sword of flame upon the 
 statue of Amon-Ra. Once more that statue seemed to 
 move. I thought that it lifted its stone arms to pro- 
 tect its head. Then in a moment with a rending 
 noise, its mighty mass burst asunder, and fell in small 
 dust about the throne, almost hiding it from sight. 
 
 ' Behold my God has answered me, the most humble 
 of His servants/ said Merapi in the same sweet and 
 gentle voice. ' Behold the sign and the wonder!' 
 
146 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 ' Witch!' screamed the head-priest Roi, and fled 
 away, followed by his fellows. 
 
 1 Sorceress!' hissed Userti, and fled also, as did all the 
 others, save the Prince, Bakenkhonsu, I Ana, and Ki 
 the Magician. 
 
 We stood amazed, and while we did so, Ki turned to 
 Merapi and spoke. His face was terrible with mingled 
 fear and fury, and his eyes shone like lamps. Al- 
 though he did but whisper, I who was nearest to them 
 heard all that was said, which the others could not do. 
 
 'Your magic is good, Israelite/ he muttered, 'so 
 good that it has overcome mine here in the temple 
 where I serve.' 
 
 'I have no magic,' she answered very low. 'I 
 obeyed a command, no more.' 
 
 He laughed bitterly, and asked, 
 
 'Should two of a trade waste time on foolishness? 
 Listen now. Teach me your secrets, and I will teach 
 you mine, and together we will drive Egypt like a 
 chariot.' 
 
 'I have no secrets, I have only faith,' said Merapi 
 again. 
 
 'Woman,' he went on, 'woman or devil, will you 
 take me for friend or foe? Here I have been shamed, 
 since it was to me and not to their gods that the priests 
 trusted to destroy you. Yet I can still forgive. Choose 
 now, knowing that as my friendship will lead you to 
 rule, to life and splendour, so my hate will drive you to 
 shame and death.' 
 
 'You are beside yourself, and know not what you 
 say. I tell you that I have no magic to give or to 
 withhold,' she answered, as one who did not under- 
 stand or was indifferent, and turned away from him. 
 
THE SMITING OF AMON 147 
 
 Thereon he muttered some curse which I could not 
 catch, bowed to the heap of dust that had been the 
 statue of the god, and vanished away among the pillars 
 of the sanctuary. 
 
 ' Oho-ho ! ' laughed Bakenkhonsu. ' Not in vain have 
 I lived to be so very old, for now it seems we have a 
 new god in Egypt, and there stands his prophetess.' 
 
 Merapi came to the prince. 
 
 'O high-priest of Amon,' she said, 'does it please you 
 to let me go, for I am very weary?' 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 THE DEATH OF PHARAOH 
 
 IT was the appointed day and hour. By command of 
 the Prince I drove with him to the palace of Pharaoh, 
 whither her Highness the Princess refused to be his 
 companion, and for the first time we talked together of 
 that which had passed in the temple. 
 
 'Have you seen the lady Merapi?' he asked of me. 
 
 I answered No, as I was told that she was sick with- 
 in her house and lay abed suffering from weariness, or 
 I knew not what. 
 
 'She does well to keep there/ said Seti, 'I think 
 that if she came out those priests would murder her if 
 they could. Also there are others/ and he glanced 
 back at the chariot that bore Userti in state. 'Say, 
 Ana, can you interpret all this matter? 7 
 
 'Not I, Prince. I thought that perhaps your High- 
 ness, the high-priest of Amon, could give me light.' 
 
 'The high-priest of Amon wanders in thick darkness. 
 Ki and the rest swear that this Israelite is a sorceress 
 who has outmatched their magic, but to me it seems 
 more simple to believe that what she says is true; that 
 her god is greater than Amon.' 
 
 'And if this be so, Prince, what are we to do who are 
 sworn to the gods of Egypt?' 
 
 'Bow our heads and fall with them, I suppose, Ana, 
 since honour will not suffer us to desert them.' 
 
 148 
 
THE DEATH OF PHARAOH 149 
 
 'Even if they be false, Prince?' 
 
 'I do not think that they are false, Ana, though 
 mayhap they be less true. At least they are the gods 
 of the Egyptians and we are Egyptians.' He paused 
 and glanced at the crowded streets, then added, 'See, 
 when I passed this way three days ago I was received 
 with shouts of welcome by the people. Now they are 
 silent, every one.' 
 
 'Perhaps they have heard of what passed in the 
 temple.' 
 
 'Doubtless, but it is not that which troubles them 
 who think that the gods can guard themselves. They 
 have heard also that I would befriend the Hebrews 
 whom they hate, and therefore they begin to hate me. 
 Why should I complain when Pharaoh shows them the 
 way?' 
 
 'Prince,' I whispered, 'what will you say to Pha- 
 raoh?' 
 
 'That depends on what Pharaoh says to me. Ana, 
 if I will not desert our gods because they seem to be the 
 weaker, though it should prove to my advantage, do 
 you think that I would desert these Hebrews because 
 they seem to be weaker, even to gain a throne? ' 
 
 'There greatness speaks,' I murmured, and as we de- 
 scended from the chariot he thanked me with a look. 
 
 We passed through the great hall to that same cham- 
 ber where Pharaoh had given me the chain of gold. Al- 
 ready he was there seated at the head of the chamber 
 and wearing on his head the double crown. About 
 him were gathered all those of royal blood and the great 
 officers of state. We made our obeisances, but of these 
 he seemed to take no note. His eyes were almost 
 closed, and t<? me he looked like a man who is very 
 
150 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 ill. The Princess Userti entered after us and to 
 her he spoke some words of welcome, giving her his 
 hand to kiss. Then he ordered the doors to be closed. 
 As he did so, an officer of the household entered and 
 said that a messenger had come from the Hebrews who 
 desired speech with Pharaoh. 
 
 'Let him enter/ said Meneptah, and presently he 
 appeared. 
 
 He was a wild-eyed man of middle age, with long 
 hair that fell over his sheepskin robe. To me he looked 
 like a soothsayer. He stood before Pharaoh, making 
 no salutation. 
 
 ' Deliver your message and be gone/ said Nehesi the 
 Vizier. 
 
 'These are the words of the Fathers of Israel, spoken 
 by my lips/ cried the man in a voice that rang all 
 round the vaulted chamber. 'It has come to our ears, 
 
 Pharaoh, that the woman Merapi, daughter of 
 Nathan, who has refuged in your city, she who is 
 named Moon of Israel, has shown herself to be a pro- 
 phetess of power, one to whom our God has given 
 strength, in that, standing alone amidst the priests 
 and magicians of Amon of the Egyptians, she took no 
 harm from their sorceries and was able with the sword 
 of prayer to smite the idol of Amon to the dust. We 
 demand that this prophetess be restored to us, making 
 oath on our part that she shall be given over safely to 
 her betrothed husband and that no harm shall come to 
 her for any crimes or treasons she may have committed 
 against her people.' 
 
 'As to this matter/ replied Pharaoh quietly, 'make 
 your prayer to the Prince of Egypt, in whose household 
 
 1 understand the woman dwells. If it pleases him to 
 
THE DEATH OF PHARAOH 151 
 
 surrender her who, I take it, is a witch or a cunning 
 worker of tricks, to her betrothed and her kindred, 
 let him do so. It is not for Pharaoh to judge of the 
 fate of private slaves. ' 
 
 The man wheeled round and addressed Seti, saying, 
 
 'You have heard, Son of the King. Will you 
 deliver up this woman?' 
 
 'Neither do I promise to deliver her up nor not to 
 deliver her up/ answered Seti, 'since the lady Merapi 
 is no member of my household, nor have I any authority 
 over her. She who saved my life dwells within my 
 walls for safety's sake. If it pleases her to go, she can 
 go; if it pleases her to remain, she can remain. When 
 this Court is finished I give you safe-conduct to appear 
 and in my presence learn her pleasure from her lips/ 
 
 'You have your answer; now be gone/ said Nehesi. 
 
 'Nay/ cried the man, 'I have more words to speak. 
 Thus say the Fathers of Israel: We know the black 
 counsel of your heart, Pharaoh. It has been re- 
 vealed to us that it is in your mind to put the Hebrews 
 to the sword, as it is in the mind of the Prince of 
 Egypt to save them from the sword. Change that 
 mind of yours, O Pharaoh, and swiftly, lest death fall 
 upon you from heaven above/ 
 
 'Cease! 7 thundered Meneptah in a voice that stilled 
 the murmurs of the court. 'Dog of a Hebrew, do you 
 dare to threaten Pharaoh on his own throne? I tell 
 you that were you not a messenger, and therefore 
 according to our ancient law safe till the sun sets, 
 you should be hewn limb from limb. Away with him, 
 and if he is found in this city after nightfall let him be 
 slain!' 
 
 Then certain of the councillors sprang upon the man 
 
i 5 2 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 and thrust him forth roughly. At the door he wrenched 
 himself free and shouted, 
 
 1 Think upon my words, Pharaoh, before this sun 
 has set. And you, great ones of Egypt, think on them 
 also before it appears again.' 
 
 They drove him out with blows and the doors were 
 shut. Once more Meneptah began to speak, saying, 
 
 'Now that this brawler is gone, what have you to 
 say to me, Prince of Egypt? Do you still give me 
 the counsel that you wrote in the roll? Do you still 
 refuse, as heir to the Throne, to assent to my decree 
 that these accursed Hebrews be destroyed with the 
 sword of my justice? ' 
 
 Now all turned their eyes on Seti, who thought a 
 while, and answered, 
 
 'Let Pharaoh pardon me, but the counsel that I 
 gave I still give; the assent that I refused I still re- 
 fuse, because my heart tells me that so it is right to do, 
 and so I think will Egypt be saved from many troubles. ' 
 
 When the scribes had finished writing down these 
 words Pharaoh asked again, 
 
 'Prince of Egypt, if in a day to come you should 
 fill my place, is it still your intent to let this people of 
 the Hebrews go unharmed, taking with them the 
 wealth that they have gathered here?' 
 
 'Let Pharaoh pardon me, that is still my intent/ 
 
 Now at these fateful words there arose a sigh of 
 astonishment from all that heard them. Before it had 
 died away Pharaoh had turned to Userti and was 
 asking, 
 
 'Are these your counsel, your will, and your intent 
 also, O Princess of Egypt? ' 
 
 'Let Pharaoh hear me/ answered Userti in a cold, 
 
THE DEATH OF PHARAOH 153 
 
 clear voice, 'they are not. In this great matter my 
 lord the Prince walks one road and I walk another. 
 My counsel, will, and intent are those of Pharaoh.' 
 
 'Seti my son/ said Meneptah, more kindly than I 
 had ever heard him speak before, 'for the last time, 
 not as your king but as your father, I pray you to con- 
 sider. Remember that as it lies in your power, being 
 of full age and having been joined with me in many 
 matters of government, to refuse your assent to a 
 great act of state, so it lies in my power with the assent 
 of the high-priests and of my ministers to remove you 
 from my path. Seti, I can disinherit you and set 
 another in your place, and if you persist, that and no 
 less I shall do. Consider, therefore, my son/ 
 
 In the midst of an intense silence Seti answered, 
 
 'I have considered, O my Father, and whatever be 
 the cost to me I cannot go back upon my words. ' 
 
 Then Pharaoh rose and cried, 
 
 ' Take note all you assembled here, and let it be pro- 
 claimed to the people of Egypt without the gates, that 
 they take note also, that I depose Seti my son from his 
 place as Prince of Egypt and declare that he is removed 
 from the succession to the double Crown. Take note 
 that my daughter Userti, Princess of Egypt, wife of 
 the Prince Seti, I do not depose. Whatever rights and 
 heritages are hers as heiress of Egypt let those rights 
 and heritages remain to her, and if a child be born of 
 her and Prince Seti, who lives, let that child be heir 
 to the Throne of Egypt. Take note that, if no such 
 child is born or until it is born, I name my nephew, 
 the Count Amenmeses, son of my brother Khaemuas, 
 now gathered to Osiris, to fill the Throne of Egypt 
 when I am no more. Come hither, Count Amenmeses.' 
 
154 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 He advanced and stood before him. Then Pharaoh 
 lifted from his head the double crown he wore and for 
 a moment set it on the brow of Amenmeses, saying as 
 he replaced it on his own head, 
 
 'By this act and token do I name and constitute 
 you, Amenmeses, to be Royal Prince of Egypt in place 
 of my son, Prince Seti, deposed. Withdraw, Royal 
 Prince of Egypt. I have spoken/ 
 
 'Life! Blood! Strength!' cried all the company 
 bowing before Pharaoh, all save the Prince Seti who 
 neither bowed nor stirred. Only he cried, 
 
 'And I have heard. Will Pharaoh be pleased to 
 declare whether with my royal heritage he takes my 
 life? If so, let it be here and now. My cousin Amen- 
 meses wears a sword.' 
 
 'Nay, Son/ answered Meneptah sadly, 'your life is 
 left to you and with it all your private rank and your 
 possessions whatsoever and wherever they may be.' 
 
 'Let Pharaoh's will be done,' replied Seti indiffer- 
 ently, 'in this as in all things. Pharaoh spares my 
 life until such time as Amenmeses his successor shall 
 fill his place, when it will be taken.' 
 
 Meneptah started; this thought was new to him. 
 
 ' Stand forth, Amenmeses, ' he cried, ' and swear now 
 the threefold oath that may not be broken. Swear by 
 Amon, by Ptah, and by Osiris, god of death, that never 
 will you attempt to harm the Prince Seti, your cousin, 
 either in body or in such state and prerogative as remain 
 to him. Let Roi, the head-priest of Amon, administer 
 the oath now before us all.' 
 
 So Roi spoke the oath in the ancient form, which 
 was terrible even to hear, and Amenmeses, unwillingly 
 enough as I thought, repeated it after him, adding 
 
THE DEATH OF PHARAOH 155 
 
 however these words at the end, 'All these things I 
 swear and all these penalties in this world and the world 
 to be I invoke upon my head, provided only that when 
 the time comes the Prince Seti leaves me in peace upon 
 the throne which it has pleased Pharaoh to decree to 
 me.' 
 
 Now some there murmured that this was not enough, 
 since in their hearts there were few who did not love 
 Seti and grieve to see him thus stripped of his royal 
 heritage because his judgment differed from that of 
 Pharaoh over a matter of State policy. But Seti only 
 laughed and said scornfully, 
 
 'Let be, for of what value are such oaths? Pharaoh 
 on the throne is above all oaths who must make answer 
 to the gods only and from the hearts of some the gods 
 are far away. Let Amenmeses not fear that I shall 
 quarrel with him over this matter of a crown, I who in 
 truth have never longed for the pomp and cares of 
 royalty and who, deprived of these, still possess all 
 that I can desire. I go my way henceforward as one 
 of many, a noble of Egypt no more, and if in a day 
 to come it pleases the Pharaoh to be to shorten my 
 wanderings, I am not sure that even then I shall 
 grieve so very much, who am content to accept the 
 judgment of the gods, as in the end he must do also. 
 Yet, Pharaoh my father, before we part I ask leave 
 to speak the thoughts that rise in me.' 
 
 1 Say on, ' muttered Meneptah. 
 
 ' Pharaoh, having your leave, I tell you that I think 
 you have done a very evil work this day, one that is 
 unpleasing to those Powers which rule the world, 
 whoever and whatsoever they may be, one too that will 
 bring upon Egypt sorrows countless as the sand. I 
 
i 5 6 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 believe that these Hebrews whom you unjustly seek to 
 slay worship a god as great or greater than our own, 
 and that they and he will triumph over Egypt. I be- 
 lieve also that the mighty heritage which you have 
 taken from me will bring neither joy nor honour to 
 him by whom it has been received. ' 
 
 Here Amenmeses started forward, but Meneptah 
 held up his hand, and he was silent. 
 
 'I believe, Pharaoh alas! that I must say it- 
 that your days on earth are few and that for the last 
 time we look on each other living. Farewell, Pharaoh 
 my father, whom still I love mayhap more in this hour 
 of parting than ever I did before. Farewell, Amen- 
 meses, Prince of Egypt. Take from me this ornament 
 which henceforth should be worn by you only/ and 
 lifting from his headdress that royal circlet which 
 marks the heir to the throne, he held it to Amenmeses, 
 who took it and, with a smile of triumph, set it on his 
 brow. 
 
 1 Farewell, Lords and Councillors; it is my hope that 
 in yonder prince you will find a master more to your 
 liking than ever I could have been. Come, Ana, 
 my friend, if it still pleases you to cling to me for a 
 little while, now that I have nothing left to give.' 
 
 For a few moments he stood still looking very earn- 
 estly at his father, who looked back at him with tears 
 in his deep-set, faded eyes. 
 
 Then, though whether this was by chance I cannot 
 say, taking no note of the Princess Userti, who gazed 
 at him perplexed and wrathful, Seti drew himself up and 
 cried in the ancient form, 
 
 'Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pha- 
 raoh!' and bowed almost to the ground. 
 
THE DEATH OF PHARAOH 157 
 
 Meneptah heard. Muttering beneath his breath, 
 'Oh! Seti, my son, my most beloved son!' he stretched 
 out his arms as though to call him back or perhaps to 
 clasp him. As he did so I saw his face change. Next 
 instant he fell forward to the ground and there lay 
 still. All the company stood struck with horror, only 
 the royal physician ran to him, while Roi and others who 
 were priests began to mutter prayers. 
 
 'Has the good god been gathered to Osiris?' asked 
 Amenmeses presently in a hoarse voice, 'because if it 
 be so, I am Pharaoh. ' 
 
 'Nay, Amenmeses,' exclaimed Userti, 'the decrees 
 have not yet been sealed or promulgated. They have 
 neither strength nor weight. ' 
 
 Before he could answer the physician cried, 
 
 'Peace! Pharaoh still lives, his heart beats. This 
 is but a fit which may pass. Begone, every one, he 
 must have quiet.' 
 
 So we went, but first Seti knelt down and kissed his 
 father on the brow. 
 
 An hour later the Princess Userti broke into the room 
 of his palace where the Prince and I were talking. 
 
 'Seti,' she said, 'Pharaoh still lives, but the physi- 
 cians say he will be dead by dawn. There is yet time. 
 Here I have a writing, sealed with his signet and wit- 
 nessed, wherein he recalls all that he decreed in the 
 Court to-day, and declares you, his son, to be the 
 true and only heir of the throne of Egypt. ' 
 
 'Is it so, wife? Tell me now how did a dying man 
 in a swoon command and seal this writing?' and he 
 touched the scroll she held in her hand. 
 
 'He recovered for a little while; Nehesi will tell you 
 
158 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 how,' she replied, looking him in the face with cold 
 eyes. Then before he could speak, she added, ' Waste 
 no more breath in questions, but act and at once. The 
 General of the guards waits below; he is your faithful 
 servant. Through him I have promised a gift to every 
 soldier on the day that you are crowned. Nehesi 
 and most of the officers are on our side. Only the 
 priests are against us because of that Hebrew witch 
 whom you shelter, and of her tribe whom you befriend; 
 but they have not had time to stir up the people nor will 
 they attempt revolt. Act, Seti, act, for none will 
 move without your express command. Moreover, no 
 question will be raised afterwards, since from Thebes to 
 the sea and throughout the world you are known to be 
 the heir of Egypt.' 
 
 'What would you have me do, wife? 7 asked Seti, 
 when she paused for lack of breath. 
 
 'Cannot you guess? Must I put statecraft into 
 your head as well as a sword into your hand? Why 
 that scribe of yours, who follows your heels like a 
 favoured dog, would be more apt a pupil. Hearken 
 then. Amenmeses has sent out to gather strength, 
 but as yet there are not fifty men about him whom 
 he can trust.' She leant forward and whispered 
 fiercely, ' Kill the traitor Amenmeses all will hold it 
 a righteous act, and the General waits your word. 
 Shall I summon him?' 
 
 'I think not,' answered Seti. 'Because Pharaoh, 
 as he has a right to do, is pleased to name a certain 
 man of royal blood to succeed him, how does this make 
 that man a traitor to Pharaoh who still lives? But, 
 traitor or none, I will not murder my cousin Amen- 
 
THE DEATH OF PHARAOH 159 
 
 'Then he will murder you.' 
 
 'Maybe. That is a matter between him and the 
 gods which I leave them to settle. The oath he swore 
 to-day is not one to be lightly broken. But whether 
 he breaks it or not, I also swore an oath, at least in my 
 heart, namely that I would not attempt to dispute 
 the will of Pharaoh whom, after all, I love as my father 
 and honour as my king, Pharaoh who still lives and 
 may, as I hope, recover. What should I say to him 
 if he recovered or, at the worst, when at last we meet 
 elsewhere? ' 
 
 ' Pharaoh never will recover; I have spoken to the 
 physician and he told me so. Already they pierce his 
 skull to let out the evil spirit of sickness, after which 
 none of our family have lived for very long.' 
 
 'Because, as I hold, thereby, whatever priests and 
 physicians may say, they let in the good spirit of death. 
 Ana, I pray you if I ' 
 
 'Man,' she broke in, striking her hand upon the 
 table by which she stood, 'do you understand that 
 while you muse and moralise your crown is passing 
 from you?' 
 
 'It has already passed, Lady. Did you not see me 
 give it to Amenmeses?' 
 
 ' Do you understand that you who should be the great- 
 est king in all the world, in some few hours if indeed 
 you are allowed to live, will be nothing but a private 
 citizen of Egypt, one at whom the very beggars may 
 spit and take no harm?' 
 
 'Surely, Wife. Moreover, there is little virtue in 
 what I do, since on the whole I prefer that prospect 
 and am willing to take the risk of being hurried from an 
 evil world. Hearken,' he added, with a change of tone 
 
160 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 and gesture. 'You think me a fool and a weakling; a 
 dreamer also, you, the clear-eyed, hard-brained states- 
 woman who look to the glittering gain of the moment 
 for which you are ready to pay in blood, and guess 
 nothing of what lies beyond. I am none of these 
 things, except, perchance, the last. I am only a man 
 who strives to be just and to do right, as right seems to 
 me, and if I dream, it is of good, not evil, as I under- 
 stand good and evil. You are sure that this dream- 
 ing of mine will lead me to worldly loss and shame. 
 Even of that 7 am not sure. The thought comes to me 
 that it may lead me to those very baubles on which you 
 set your heart, but by a path strewn with spices and 
 with flowers, not by one paved with the bones of men 
 and reeking with their gore. Crowns that are bought 
 with the promise of blood and held with cruelty are apt 
 to be lost in blood, Userti.' 
 
 She waved her hand. 'I pray you keep the rest, 
 Seti, till I have more time to listen. Moreover if I 
 need prophecies, I think it better to turn to Ki and 
 those who make them their life-study. For me this is 
 a day of deeds, not dreams, and since you refuse my 
 help, and behave as a sick girl lost in fancies, I must see 
 to myself. As while you live I cannot reign alone or 
 wage war in my own name only, I go to make terms 
 with Amenmeses, who will pay me high for peace/ 
 
 1 You go and do you return, Userti?' 
 
 She drew herself to her full height, looking very 
 royal, and answered slowly, 
 
 'I do not return. I, the Princess of Egypt, cannot 
 live as the wife of a common man who falls from a 
 throne to set himself upon the earth, and smears his 
 own brow with mud for an uraeus crown. When your 
 
THE DEATH OF PHARAOH 161 
 
 prophecies come true, Seti, and you crawl from your 
 dust, then perhaps we may speak again.' 
 
 * Aye, Userti, but the question is, what shall we say? ' 
 
 'Meanwhile,' she added, as she turned, 'I leave you 
 to your chosen counsellors yonder scribe, whom 
 foolishness, not wisdom, has whitened before his time, 
 and perchance the Hebrew sorceress, who can give you 
 moonbeams to drink from those false lips of hers. 
 Farewell, Seti, once a prince and my husband.' 
 
 'Farewell, Userti, who, I fear, must still remain my 
 sister.' 
 
 Then he watched her go, and turning to me, said, 
 
 'To-day, Ana, I have lost both a crown and a wife, 
 yet strange to tell I do not know which of these ca- 
 lamities grieves me least. Yet it is time that fortune 
 turned. Or mayhap all the evils are not done. Would 
 you not go also, Ana? Although she gibes at you in 
 her anger, the Princess thinks well of you, and would 
 keep you in her service. Remember, whoever falls in 
 Egypt, she will be great till the last.' 
 
 'Oh! Prince,' I answered, 'have I not borne enough 
 to-day that you must add insult to my load, you with 
 whom I broke the cup and swore the oath? ' 
 
 'What!' he laughed. 'Is there one left in Egypt 
 who remembers oaths to his own loss? I thank you, 
 Ana/ and taking my hand he pressed it. 
 
 At that moment the door opened, and old Pambasa 
 entered, saying, 
 
 'The Hebrew woman, Merapi, would see you; also 
 two Hebrew men.' 
 
 'Admit them,' said Seti. 'Note, Ana, how yonder 
 old time-server turns his face from the setting sun. 
 This morning even it would have been "to see your 
 
162 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 Highness," uttered with bows so low that his beard 
 swept the floor. Now it is "to see you" and not so 
 much as an inclination of the head in common cour- 
 tesy. This, moreover, from one who has robbed me 
 year by year and grown fat on bribes. It is the first of 
 many bitter lessons, or rather the second that of her 
 Highness was the first; I pray that I may learn them 
 with humility.' 
 
 While he mused thus and, having no comfort to offer, 
 I listened sad at heart, Merapi entered, and a moment 
 after her the wild-eyed messenger whom we had seen 
 in Pharaoh's Court, and her uncle Jabez the cunning 
 merchant. She bowed low to Seti, and smiled at me. 
 Then the other two appeared, and with small salutation 
 the messenger began to speak. 
 
 'You know my demand, Prince/ he said. 'It is 
 that this woman should be returned to her people. 
 Jabez, her uncle, will lead her away.' 
 
 'And you know my answer, Israelite/ answered 
 Seti. 'It is that I have no power over the coming or 
 the going of the lady Merapi, or at least wish to claim 
 none. Address yourself to her.' 
 
 'What is it you wish with me, Priest?' asked Merapi 
 quickly. 
 
 'That you should return to the town of Goshen, 
 daughter of Nathan. Have you no ears to hear?' 
 
 'I hear, but if I return, what will you of me?' 
 
 'That you who have proved yourself a prophetess 
 by your deeds in yonder temple should dedicate your 
 powers to the service of your people, receiving in return 
 full forgiveness for the evils you have wrought against 
 them, which we swear to you in the name of God.' 
 
 'I am no prophetess, and I have wrought no evils 
 
THE DEATH OF PHARAOH 163 
 
 against my people, Priest. I have only saved them 
 from the evil of murdering one who has shown himself 
 their friend, even as I hear to the laying down of his 
 crown for their sake.' 
 
 'That is for the Fathers of Israel and not for you 
 to judge, woman. Your answer? ' 
 
 'It is neither for them nor for me, but for God only/ 
 She paused, then added, 'Is this all you ask of me?' 
 
 'It is all the Fathers ask, but Laban asks his affi- 
 anced wife.' 
 
 'And am I to be given in marriage to this assas- 
 sin?' 
 
 'Without doubt you are to be given to this brave 
 soldier, being already his.' 
 
 'And if I refuse?' 
 
 'Then, Daughter of Nathan, it is my part to curse 
 you in the name of God, and to declare you cut off and 
 outcast from the people of God. It is my part to 
 announce to you further that your life is forfeit, and 
 that any Hebrew may kill you when and how he 
 can, and take no blame.' 
 
 Merapi paled a little, then turning to Jabez, asked, 
 
 'You have heard, my uncle. What say you?' 
 
 Jabez looked round shiftily, and said in his unctuous 
 voice, 
 
 'My niece, surely you must obey the commands of 
 the Elders of Israel who speak the will of Heaven, 
 as you obeyed them when you matched yourself 
 against the might of Amon.' 
 
 'You gave me a different counsel yesterday, my 
 uncle. Then you said I had better bide where I was.' 
 
 The messenger turned and glared at him. 
 
 'There is a great difference between yesterday and 
 
164 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 to-day/ went on Jabez hurriedly. 'Yesterday you 
 were protected by one who would soon be Pharaoh, 
 and might have been able to move his mind in favour 
 of your folk. To-day his greatness is stripped from 
 him, and his will has no more weight in Egypt. A 
 dead lion is not to be feared, my niece.' 
 
 Seti smiled at this insult, but Merapi's face, like 
 my own, grew red, as though with anger. 
 
 'Sleeping lions have been taken for dead ere now, 
 my uncle, as those who would spurn them have dis- 
 covered to their cost. Prince Seti, have you no word 
 to help me in this strait? ' 
 
 'What is the strait, Lady? If you wish to go to 
 your people and to Laban, who, I understand, is 
 recovered from his hurts, there is naught between you 
 and me save my gratitude to you which gives me the 
 right to say you shall not go. If, however, you wish 
 to stay, then perhaps I am still not so powerless to 
 shield or smite as this worthy Jabez thinks, who still 
 remain the greatest lord in Egypt and one with those 
 that love him. Therefore should you desire to remain, 
 I think that you may do so unmolested of any, and 
 least of all by that friend in whose shadow it pleases 
 you to sojourn.' 
 
 'Those are very gentle words,' murmured Merapi, 
 'words that few would speak to a maid from whom 
 naught is asked and who has naught to give. ' 
 
 'A truce to this talk,' snarled the messenger. 'Do 
 you obey or do you rebel? Your answer. ' 
 
 She turned and looked him full in the face, saying, 
 
 'I do not return to Goshen and to Laban, of whose 
 sword I have seen enough.' 
 
 'Mayhap you will see more of it before all is done. 
 
THE DEATH OF PHARAOH 165 
 
 For the last time, think ere the curse of your God and 
 your people falls upon you, and after it, death. For 
 fall I say it shall, I who, as Pharaoh knows to-day, 
 am no false prophet, and as that Prince knows also.' 
 
 *I do not think that my God, who sees the hearts 
 of those that he has made, will avenge himself upon a 
 woman because she refuses to be wedded to a murderer 
 whom of her own will she never chose, which, Priest, 
 is the fate you offer me. Therefore I am content 
 to leave judgment in the hands of the great Judge of 
 all. For the rest I defy you and your commands. 
 If I must be slaughtered, let me die, but at least let 
 me die mistress of myself and free, who am no man's 
 love, or wife, or slave.' 
 
 'Well spoken!' whispered Seti to me. 
 
 Then this priest became terrible. Waving his arms 
 and rolling his wild eyes, he poured out some hideous 
 curse upon the head of this poor maid, much of which, 
 as it was spoken rapidly in an ancient form of Hebrew, 
 we did not understand. He cursed her living, dying, 
 and after death. He cursed her in her love and hate, 
 wedded or alone. He cursed her in child-bearing or 
 in barrenness, and he cursed her children after her to 
 all generations. Lastly, he declared her cut off 
 from and rejected by the god she worshipped, and 
 sentenced her to death at the hands of any who could 
 slay her. So horrible was that curse that she shrank 
 away from him, while Jabez crouched upon the ground 
 hiding his eyes with his hands, and even I felt my 
 blood turn cold. 
 
 At length he paused, foaming at the lips. Then, 
 suddenly shouting, ' After judgment, doom!' he drew 
 a knife from his robe and sprang at her. 
 
i66 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 She fled behind us. He followed, but Seti, crying, 
 'Ah, I thought it,' leapt between them, as he did so 
 drawing the iron sword which he wore with his cere- 
 monial dress. At him he sprang and the next thing 
 I saw was the red point of the sword standing out 
 beyond the priest's shoulders. 
 
 Down he fell, babbling, 
 
 'Is this how you show your love for Israel, Prince?' 
 
 'It is how I show my hate of murderers,' answered 
 Seti. 
 
 Then the man died. 
 
 'Oh!' cried Merapi wringing her hands, 'once more 
 I have caused Hebrew blood to flow and now all this 
 curse will fall on me. ' 
 
 'Nay, on me, Lady, if there is anything in curses, 
 which I doubt, for this deed was mine, and at the 
 worst yonder mad brute's knife did not fall on you.' 
 
 'Yes, life is left if only for a little while. Had it 
 not been for you, Prince, by now, I - ' and she 
 shuddered. 
 
 'And had it not been for you, Moon of Israel, by 
 
 now I ' and he smiled, adding, 'Surely Fate 
 
 weaves a strange web round you and me. First you 
 save me from the sword; then I save you. I think, 
 Lady, that in the end we ought to die together and 
 give Ana here stuff for the best of all his stories. 
 Friend Jabez,' he went on to the Israelite who was 
 still crouching in the corner with the eyes starting 
 from his head, 'get you back to your gentle-hearted 
 people and make it clear to them why the lady Merapi 
 cannot companion you, taking with you that carrion 
 to prove your tale. Tell them that if they send more 
 men to molest your niece a like fate awaits them, but 
 
THE DEATH OF PHARAOH 167 
 
 that now as before I do not turn my back upon them 
 because of the deeds of a few madmen or evil-doers, 
 as I have given them proof to-day. Ana, make ready, 
 since soon I leave for Memphis. See that the Lady 
 Merapi, who will travel alone, has fit escort for her 
 journey, that is if it pleases her to depart from Tanis.' 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE CROWNING OF AMENMESES 
 
 Now, notwithstanding all the woes that fell on Egypt 
 and a certain secret sorrow of my own, began the 
 happiest of the days which the gods have given me. 
 We went to Mennefer or Memphis, the white-walled 
 city where I was born, the city that I loved. Now no 
 longer did I dwell in a little house near to the enclosure 
 of the temple of Ptah, which is vaster and more 
 splendid than all those of Thebes or Tanis. My home 
 was in the beautiful palace of Seti, which he had.in- 
 herited from his mother, the Great Royal Wife. 
 It stood, and indeed still stands, on a piled-up mound 
 without the walls near to the temple of the goddess 
 Neit, who always has her habitation to the north of 
 the wall, why I do not know, because even her priests 
 cannot tell me. In front of this palace, facing to the 
 north, is a great portico, whereof the roof is borne 
 upon palm-headed, painted columns whence may be 
 seen the most lovely prospect in Egypt. First the 
 gardens, then the palm-groves, then the cultivated 
 land, then the broad and gentle Nile and, far away, 
 the desert. 
 
 Here, then, we dwelt, keeping small state and almost 
 unguarded, but in wealth and comfort, spending our 
 time in the library of the palace, or in those of the 
 temples, and when we wearied of work, in the lovely 
 
 168 
 
THE CROWNING OF AMENMESES 169 
 
 gardens or, perchance, sailing upon the bosom of the 
 Nile. The lady Merapi dwelt there also, but in a 
 separate wing of the palace, with certain slaves and 
 servants whom Seti had given to her. Sometimes we 
 met her in the gardens, where it pleased her to walk 
 at the same hours that we did, namely before the sun 
 grew hot, or in the cool of the evening, and now and 
 again when the moon shone at night. Then the three 
 of us would talk together, for Seti never sought her 
 company alone or within walls. 
 
 Those talks were very pleasant. Moreover they 
 grew more frequent as time went on, since Merapi 
 had a thirst for learning, and the Prince would bring 
 her rolls to read in a little summer-house there was. 
 Here we would sit, or if the heat was great, outside 
 beneath the shadow of two spreading trees that 
 stretched above the roof of the little pleasure-house, 
 while Seti discoursed of the contents of the rolls and 
 instructed her in the secrets of our writing. Some- 
 times, too, I read them stories of my making, to which 
 it pleased them both to listen, or so they said, and I, 
 in my vanity, believed. Also we would talk of the 
 mystery and the wonder of the world and of the He- 
 brews and their fate, or of what passed in Egypt and 
 the neighbouring lands. 
 
 Nor was Merapi altogether lonesome, seeing that 
 there dwelt in Memphis certain ladies who had Hebrew 
 blood in their veins, or were born of the Israelites and 
 had married Egyptians against their law. Among these 
 she made friends, and together they worshipped in 
 their own fashion with none to say them nay, since 
 here no priests were allowed to trouble them. 
 
 For our part we held intercourse with as many as 
 
170 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 we pleased, since few forgot that Seti was by blood 
 the Prince of Egypt, that is, a man almost half divine, 
 and all were eager to visit him. Also he was much 
 beloved for his own sake and more particularly by 
 the poor, whose wants it was his delight to relieve to 
 the full limit of his wealth. Thus it came about that 
 whenever he went abroad, although against his will, 
 he was received with honours and homage that were 
 almost royal, for though Pharaoh could rob him of 
 the Crown he could not empty his veins of the blood of 
 kings. 
 
 It was on this account that I feared for his safety, 
 since I was sure that through his spies Amenmeses 
 knew all and would grow jealous of a dethroned prince 
 who was still so much adored by those over whom of 
 right he should have ruled. I told Seti of my doubts 
 and that when he travelled the streets he should be 
 guarded by armed men. But he only laughed and 
 answered that, as the Hebrews had failed to kill him, 
 he did not think that any others would succeed. 
 Moreover he believed there were no Egyptians in the 
 land who would lift a sword against him, or put poison 
 in his drink, whoever bade them. Also he added these 
 words, 
 
 'The best way to escape death is to have no fear of 
 death, for then Osiris shuns us/ 
 
 Now I must tell of the happenings at Tanis. Pha- 
 raoh Meneptah lingered but a few hours and never 
 found his mind again before his spirit flew to Heaven. 
 Then there was great mourning in the land, for, if he 
 was not loved, Meneptah was honoured and feared. 
 Only among the Israelites there was open rejoicing, be- 
 
THE CROWNING OF AMENMESES 171 
 
 cause he had been their enemy and their prophets had 
 foretold that death was near to him. They gave it out 
 that he had been smitten of their God, which caused the 
 Egyptians to hate them more than ever. There was 
 doubt, too, and bewilderment in Egypt, for though his 
 proclamation disinheriting the Prince Seti had been 
 published abroad, the people, and especially those who 
 dwelt in the south, could not understand why this 
 should have been done over a matter of the shepherd 
 slaves who dwelt in Goshen. Indeed, had the Prince 
 but held up his hand, tens of thousands would have 
 rallied to his standard. Yet this he refused to do, 
 which astonished all the world, who thought it marvel- 
 lous that any man should refuse a throne which would 
 have lifted him almost to the level of the gods. Indeed, 
 to avoid their importunities he had set out at once for 
 Memphis, and there remained hidden away during the 
 period of mourning for his father. So it came about 
 that Amenmeses succeeded with none to say him nay, 
 since without her husband Userti could not or would 
 not act. 
 
 After the days of embalmment were accomplished the 
 body of Pharaoh Meneptah was carried up the Nile 
 to be laid in his eternal house, the splendid tomb that 
 he had made ready for himself in the Valley of Dead 
 Kings at Thebes. To this great ceremony the Prince 
 Seti was not bidden, lest, as Bakenkhonsu told me 
 afterwards, his presence should cause some rising in 
 his favour, with or without his will. For this reason 
 also the dead god, as he was named, was not suffered 
 to rest at Memphis on his last journey up the Nile. 
 Disguised as a man of the people the Prince watched 
 his father's body pass in the funeral barge guarded 
 
i 7 2 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 by shaven, white-robed priests, the centre of a splendid 
 procession. In front went other barges filled with 
 soldiers and officers of state, behind came the new 
 Pharaoh and all the great ones of Egypt, while the 
 sounds of lamentation floated far over the face of the 
 waters. They appeared, they passed, they disap- 
 peared, and when they had vanished Seti wept a 
 little, for in his own fashion he loved his father. 
 
 'Of what use is it to be a king and named half- 
 divine, Ana/ he said to me, l seeing that the end of such 
 gods as these is the same as that of the beggar at the 
 gate?' 
 
 'This, Prince/ I answered, 'that a king can do more 
 good than a beggar while the breath is in his nostrils, 
 and leave behind him a great example to others.' 
 
 'Or more harm, Ana. Also the beggar can leave a 
 great example, that of patience in affliction. Still, if 
 I were sure that I should do nothing but good, then 
 perhaps I would be a king. But I have noted that 
 those who desire to do the most good often work the 
 greatest harm.' 
 
 'Which, if followed out, would be an argument for 
 wishing to do evil, Prince.' 
 
 'Not so/ he answered, 'because good triumphs at the 
 last. For good is truth and truth rules earth and 
 heaven.' 
 
 ' Then it is clear, Prince, that you should seek to be 
 a king.' 
 
 'I will remember the argument, Ana, if ever time 
 brings me an opportunity unstained by blood/ he an- 
 swered. 
 
 When the obsequies of Pharaoh were finished, Amen- 
 meses returned to Tanis, and there was crowned as 
 
THE CROWNING OF AMENMESES 173 
 
 Pharaoh. I attended this great ceremony, bearing 
 coronation gifts of certain royal ornaments which the 
 Prince sent to Pharaoh, saying it was not fit that he, as 
 a private person, should wear them any longer. These 
 I presented to Pharaoh, who took them doubtfully, de- 
 claring that he did not understand the Prince Seti's 
 mind and actions. 
 
 'They hide no snare, O Pharaoh,' I said. 'As you 
 rejoice in the glory that the gods have sent you, so the 
 Prince my master rejoices in the rest and peace which 
 the gods have given him, asking no more.' 
 
 'It may be so, Scribe, but I find this so strange a 
 thing, that sometimes I fear lest the rich flowers of this 
 glory of mine should hide some deadly snake, whereof 
 the Prince knows, if he did not set it there.' 
 
 'I cannot say, O Pharaoh, but without doubt, al- 
 though he could work no guile, the Prince is not as are 
 other men. His mind is both wide and deep.' 
 
 'Too deep for me/ muttered Amenmeses. 'Never- 
 theless, say to my royal cousin that I thank him for his 
 gifts, especially as some of them were worn, when he 
 was heir to Egypt, by my father Khaemuas, who I 
 would had left me his wisdom as well as his blood. Say 
 to him also that while he refrains from working me 
 harm upon the throne, as I know he has done up to the 
 present, he may be sure that I will work him none in 
 the station which he has chosen.' 
 
 Also I saw the Princess Userti who questioned me 
 closely concerning her lord. I told her everything, 
 keeping naught back. She listened and asked, 
 
 'What of that Hebrew woman, Moon of Israel? 
 Without doubt she fills my place.' 
 
 'Not so, Princess,' I answered. 'The Prince lives 
 
174 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 alone. Neither she nor any other woman fills your 
 place. She is a friend to him, no more/ 
 
 'A friend! Well, at least we know the end of such 
 friendships. Oh! surely the Prince must be stricken 
 with madness from the gods!' 
 
 'It may be so, your Highness, but I think that if the 
 gods smote more men with such madness, the world 
 would be better than it is.' 
 
 'The world is the world, and the business of those 
 who are born to greatness is to rule it as it is, not to 
 hide away amongst books and flowers, and to talk folly 
 with a beautiful outland woman, and a scribe however 
 learned/ she answered bitterly, adding, 'Oh! if the 
 Prince is not mad, certainly he drives others to mad- 
 ness, and me, his spouse, among them. That throne 
 is his, his; yet he suffers a cross-grained dolt to take his 
 place, and sends him gifts and blessings.' 
 
 ' I think your Highness should wait till the end of the 
 story before you judge of it.' 
 
 She looked at me sharply, and asked, 
 
 'Why do you say that? Is the Prince no fool after 
 all? Do he and you, who both seem to be so simple, 
 perchance play a great and hidden game, as I have 
 known men feign folly in order to do with safety? Or 
 has that witch of an Israelite some secret knowledge in 
 which she instructs you, such as a woman who can shat- 
 ter the statue of Amon to fine dust might well possess? 
 You make believe not to know, which means that you 
 will not answer. Oh! Scribe Ana, if only it were safe, 
 I think I could find a way to wring the truth out of you, 
 although you do pretend to be but a babe for innocence.' 
 
 'It pleases your Highness to threaten and without 
 
THE CROWNING OF AMENMESES 175 
 
 'No,' she answered, changing her voice and manner, 
 'I do not threaten; it is only the madness that I have 
 caught from Seti. Would you not be mad if you knew 
 that another woman was to be crowned to-morrow in 
 your place, because because - ' and she began to 
 weep, which frightened me more than all her rough 
 words. 
 
 Presently she dried her tears, and said, 
 
 ' Say to my lord that I rejoice to hear that he is well 
 and send him greetings, but that never of my own wish 
 will I look upon his living face again unless indeed he 
 takes another counsel, and sets himself to win that 
 which is his own. Say to him that though he has so little 
 care for me, and pays no heed to my desires, still I 
 watch over his welfare and his safety, as best I may.' 
 
 'His safety, Princess! Pharaoh assured me not an 
 hour ago that he had naught to fear, as indeed he fears 
 naught.' 
 
 'Oh! which of you is the more foolish,' she exclaimed 
 stamping her foot, 'the man or his master? You be- 
 lieve that the Prince has naught to fear because that 
 usurper tells you so, and he believes it well, because 
 he fears naught. For a little while he may sleep in 
 peace. But let him wait until troubles of this sort or 
 of that arise in Egypt and, understanding that the 
 gods send them on account of the great wickedness 
 that my father wrought when death had him by the 
 throat and his mind was clouded, the people begin to 
 turn their eyes towards their lawful king. Then the 
 usurper will grow jealous, and if he has his way, the 
 Prince will sleep in peace for ever. If his throat 
 remains uncut, it will be for one reason only, that I 
 hold back the murderer's hand. Farewell, I can 
 
176 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 talk no more, for I say to you that my brain is afire 
 and to-morrow he should have been crowned, and I 
 with him, ' and she swept away, royal as ever, leaving 
 me wondering what she meant when she spoke of 
 troubles arising in Egypt, or if the words were but 
 uttered at hazard. 
 
 Afterwards Bakenkhonsu and I supped together at 
 the college of the temple of Ptah, of which because of 
 his age he was called the father, when I heard more of 
 this matter. 
 
 ' Ana, ' he said, 'I tell you that such gloom hangs over 
 Egypt as I have never known even when it was thought 
 that the Ninebow Barbarians would conquer and en- 
 slave the land. Amenmeses will be the fifth Pharaoh 
 whom I have seen crowned, the first of them when 
 I was but a little child hanging to my mother's robe, 
 and not once have I known such joylessness.' 
 
 'That may be because the crown passes to one who 
 should not wear it, Bakenkhonsu/ 
 
 He shook his head. 'Not altogether. I think 
 this darkness comes from the heavens as light does. 
 Men are afraid they know not of what.' 
 
 'The Israelites,' I suggested. 
 
 'Now you are near to it, Ana, for doubtless they 
 have much to do with the matter. Had it not been 
 for them Seti and not Amenmeses would be crowned 
 to-morrow. Also the tale of the marvel which the 
 beautiful Hebrew woman wrought in the temple yon- 
 der has got abroad and is taken as an omen. Did 
 I tell you that six days gone a fine new statue of the 
 god was consecrated there and on the following morn- 
 ing was found lying on its side, or rather with its head 
 resting on the breast of Mut?' 
 
THE CROWNING OF AMENMESES 177 
 
 'If so, Merapi is blameless, because she has gone 
 away from this city/ 
 
 'Of course she has gone away, for has not Seti gone 
 also? But I think she left something behind her. 
 However that may be, even our new divine lord is 
 afraid. He dreams ill, Ana/ he added, dropping his 
 voice, 'so ill that he has called in Ki, the Kherheb,* 
 to interpret his visions.' 
 
 'And what said Ki?' 
 
 'Ki could say nothing or, rather, that the only 
 answer vouchsafed to him and his company, when 
 they made inquiry of their Kas, was that this god's 
 reign would be very short and that it and his life 
 would end together.' 
 
 'Which perhaps did not please the god Amenmeses, 
 Bakenkhonsu?' 
 
 ' Which did not please the god at all. He threatened 
 Ki. It is a foolish thing to threaten a great magician, 
 Ana, as the Kherheb Ki, himself indeed told him, look- 
 ing him in the eyes. Then he prayed his pardon and 
 asked who would succeed him on the throne, but Ki 
 said he did not know, as a Kherheb who had been 
 threatened could never remember anything, which in- 
 deed he never can except to pay back the threatener.' 
 
 'And did he know, Bakenkhonsu?' 
 
 By way of answer the old Councillor crumbled some 
 bread fine upon the table, then with his finger traced 
 among the crumbs the rough likeness of a jackal- 
 headed god and of two feathers, after which with a 
 swift movement he swept the crumbs onto the floor. 
 
 'Seti!' I whispered, reading the hieroglyphs of the 
 
 * " Kherheb " was the title of the chief official magician in ancient 
 Egypt. 
 
178 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 Prince's name, and he nodded and laughed in his 
 great fashion. 
 
 'Men come to their own sometimes, Ana, especially 
 if they do not seek their own/ he said. 'But if so, 
 much must happen first that is terrible. The new 
 Pharaoh is not the only man who dreams, Ana. Of 
 late years my sleep has been light and sometimes I 
 dream, though I have no magic like to that of Ki.' 
 
 'What did you dream?' 
 
 'I dreamed of a great multitude marching like 
 locusts over Egypt. Before them went a column of 
 fire in which were two hands. One of these held 
 Amon by the throat and one held the new Pharaoh 
 by the throat. After them came a column of cloud, 
 and in it a shape like to that of an unwrapped mummy, 
 a shape of death standing upon water that was full 
 of countless dead.' 
 
 Now I bethought me of the picture that the Prince 
 and I had seen in the skies yonder in the land of Goshen, 
 but of it I said nothing. Yet I think that Bakenkhonsu 
 saw into my mind, for he asked, 
 
 'Do you never dream, Friend? You see visions 
 that come true Amenmeses on the throne, for 
 instance. Do you not also dream at times? No? 
 Well, then, the Prince? You look like men who 
 might, and the time is ripe and pregnant. Oh! I 
 remember. You are both of you dreaming, not of the 
 pictures that pass across the terrible eyes of Ki, but 
 of those that the moon reflects upon the waters of 
 Memphis, the Moon of Israel. Ana, be advised by 
 me, put away the flesh and increase the spirit, for in 
 it alone is happiness, whereof woman and all our joys 
 are but earthly symbols, shadows thrown by that 
 
THE CROWNING OF AMENMESES 179 
 
 mortal cloud which lies between us and the Light 
 Above. I see that you understand, because some 
 of that light has struggled to your heart. Do you 
 remember that you saw it shining in the hour when 
 your little daughter died? Ah! I thought so. It was 
 the gift she left you, a gift that will grow and grow 
 in such a breast as yours, if only you will put away the 
 flesh and make room for it, Ana. Man, do not weep 
 -laugh as I do, Oho-ho! Give me my staff, and 
 good-night. Forget not that we sit together at the 
 crowning to-morrow, for you are a King's Companion 
 and that rank once conferred is one which no new 
 Pharaoh can take away. It is like the gift of the spirit, 
 Ana, which is hard to win, but once won more eternal 
 than the stars. Oh! why do I live so long who would 
 bathe in it, as when a child I used to bathe in Nile?' 
 
 On the following day at the appointed hour I went 
 to the great hall of the palace, that in which I had 
 first seen Meneptah, and took my stand in the place 
 allotted to me. It was somewhat far back, perhaps 
 because it was not wished that I, who was known to 
 be the private scribe of Seti, should remind Egypt of 
 him by appearing where all could see me. 
 
 Great as was the hall the crowd filled it to its 
 furthest corners. Moreover no common man was 
 present there, but rather every noble and head-priest 
 in Egypt, and with them their wives and daughters, 
 so that all the dim courts shone with gold and precious 
 gems set upon festal garments. While I was waiting 
 old Bakenkhonsu hobbled towards me, the crowd 
 making way for him, and I could see that there was 
 laughter in his sunken eyes. 
 
i8o MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 'We are ill-placed, Ana/ he said. ' Still if any of 
 the many gods there are in Egypt should chance to 
 rain fires on Pharaoh, we shall be the safer. Talking 
 of gods, ' he went on in a whisper, 'have you heard what 
 happened an hour ago in the temple of Ptah of Tanis 
 whence I have just come? Pharaoh and all the 
 Blood-royal save one walked according to custom 
 before the statue of the god which, as you know, should 
 bow its head to show that he chooses and accepts the 
 king. In front of Amenmeses went the Princess 
 Userti, and as she passed the head of the god bowed, 
 for I saw it, though all pretended that they did not 
 see. Then came Pharaoh and stood waiting, but it 
 would not bow, though the priests called in the old 
 formula, "The god greets the king." 
 
 'At length he went on, looking as black as night, 
 and others of the blood of Rameses followed in their 
 order. Last of all limped Siptah and, behold! the 
 god bowed again. ' 
 
 'How and why does it do these things/ I asked, 'and 
 at the wrong time?' 
 
 'Ask the priests, Ana, or Userti, or Siptah. Per- 
 haps the divine neck has not been oiled of late, or too 
 much oiled, or too little oiled, or prayers or strings 
 may have gone wrong. Or Pharaoh may have been 
 niggard in his gifts to that college of the great god 
 of his House. Who am I that I should know 
 the ways of gods? That in the temple where I 
 served at Thebes fifty years ago did not pretend 
 to bow or to trouble himself as to which of the 
 royal race sat upon the throne. Hush! Here comes 
 Pharaoh.' 
 
 Then in a splendid procession, surrounded by princes, 
 
THE CROWNING OF AMENMESES 181 
 
 councillors, ladies, priests, and guards, Amenmeses and 
 the Royal Wife, Urnure, a large woman who walked 
 awkwardly, entered the hall, a glittering band. The 
 high-priest, Roi, and the chancellor, Nehesi, received 
 Pharaoh and led him to his throne. The multitude 
 prostrated itself, trumpets blew and thrice the old 
 salute of 'Life! Blood! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! 
 Pharaoh! ' was cried aloud. 
 
 Amenmeses rose and bowed, and I saw that his 
 heavy face was troubled and looked older. Then he 
 swore some oath to gods and men which Roi dictated 
 to him, and before all the company put on the double 
 crown and the other emblems, and took in his hands 
 the scourge and golden sickle. Next homage was 
 paid. The Princess Userti came first and kissed 
 Pharaoh's hand, but bent no knee. Indeed first she 
 spoke with him a while. We could not hear what was 
 said, but afterwards learned that she demanded that 
 he should publicly repeat all the promises which her 
 father Meneptah had made to her before him, con- 
 firming her in her place and rights. This in the end 
 he did, though it seemed to me unwillingly enough. 
 
 So with many forms and ancient celebrations the 
 ceremony went on, till all grew weary waiting for that 
 time when Pharaoh should make his speech to the 
 people. That speech, however, was never made, 
 for presently, thrusting past us, I saw those two 
 prophets "of the Israelites who had visited Meneptah 
 in this same hall. Men shrank from them, so that 
 they walked straight up to the throne, nor did even the 
 guards strive to bar their way. What they said there 
 I could not hear, but I believe that they demanded 
 that their people should be allowed to go to worship 
 
182 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 their god in their own fashion, and that Amenmeses 
 refused as Meneptah had done. 
 
 Then one of them cast down a rod and it turned to 
 a snake which hissed at Pharaoh, whereon the Kherheb 
 Ki and his company also cast down rods that turned 
 to snakes, though I could only hear the hissing. Af- 
 ter this a great gloom fell upon the hall, so that men 
 could not see each other's faces and everyone began to 
 call aloud till the company broke up in confusion. 
 Bakenkhonsu and I were borne together to the door- 
 way by the pressure of the people, whence we were glad 
 enough to see the sky again. 
 
 Thus ended the crowning of Amenmeses. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE MESSAGE OF JABEZ 
 
 THAT night there were none who rejoiced in the streets 
 of the city, and save in the palace and houses of those 
 of the Court, none who feasted. I walked abroad in 
 the market-place and noted the people going to and 
 fro gloomily, or talking together in whispers. Pres- 
 ently a man whose face was hidden in a hood began 
 to speak with me, saying that he had a message for 
 my master, the Prince Seti. I answered that I took 
 no messages from veiled strangers, whereon he threw 
 back his hood, and I saw that it was Jabez, the uncle 
 of Merapi. I asked him whether he had obeyed the 
 Prince, and borne the body of that prophet back to 
 Goshen and told the elders of the manner of the man's 
 death. 
 
 'Yes/ he answered, 'nor were the Elders angry 
 with the Prince over this matter. They said that 
 their messenger had exceeded his authority, since 
 they had never told him to curse Merapi, and much 
 less to attempt to kill her, and that the Prince did 
 right to slay one who would have done murder before 
 his royal eyes. Still they added that the curse, having 
 once been spoken by this priest, would surely fall upon 
 Merapi in this way or in that. ' 
 
 'What then should she do, Jabez? 7 
 
 'I do not know, Scribe. If she returns to her 
 
 183 
 
i84 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 people, perchance she will be absolved, but then she 
 must surely marry Laban. It is for her to judge.' 
 
 1 And what would you do if you were in her place, 
 Jabez?' 
 
 'I think that I should stay where I was, and make 
 myself very dear to Seti, taking the chance that the 
 curse may pass her by, since it was not lawfully de- 
 creed upon her. Whichever way she looks, trouble 
 waits, and at the worst, a woman might wish to 
 satisfy her heart before it falls, especially if that heart 
 should happen to turn to one who will be Pharaoh/ 
 
 'Why do you say "who will be Pharaoh, " Jabez?' 
 I asked, for we were standing in an empty place 
 alone. 
 
 'That I may not tell you/ he replied cunningly, 
 'yet it will come about as I say. He who sits upon the 
 throne is mad as Meneptah was mad, and will fight 
 against a strength that is more than his until it over- 
 whelms him. In the Prince's heart alone does the 
 light of wisdom shine. That which you saw to-day 
 is only the first of many miracles, Scribe Ana. I 
 can say no more. ' 
 
 'What then is your message, Jabez?' 
 
 'This: Because the Prince has striven to deal well 
 with the people of Israel and for their sake has cast 
 aside a crown, whatever may chance to others, let 
 him fear nothing. No harm shall come to him, or to 
 those about him, such as yourself, Scribe Ana, who 
 also would deal justly by us. Yet it may happen 
 that through my niece Merapi, on whose head the 
 evil word has fallen, a great sorrow may come to 
 both him and her. Therefore, perhaps, although 
 setting this against that, she may be wise to stay in the 
 
THE MESSAGE OF JABEZ 185 
 
 house of Seti, he, on the balance, may be wise to turn 
 her from his doors.' 
 
 'What sorrow? 7 I asked, who grew bewildered with 
 his dark talk, but there was no answer, for he had gone. 
 
 Near to my lodging another man met me, and the 
 moonlight shining on his face showed me the terrible 
 eyes of Ki. 
 
 'Scribe Ana/ he said, 'you leave for Memphis to- 
 morrow at the dawn, and not two days hence as you 
 purposed/ 
 
 'How do you know that, Magician Ki?' I answered, 
 for I had told my change of plan to none, not even to 
 Bakenkhonsu, having indeed only determined upon it 
 since Jabez left me. 
 
 'I know nothing, Ana, save that a faithful servant 
 who has learned all you have learned to-day will hurry 
 to make report of it to his master, especially if there is 
 some other to whom he would also wish to make report, 
 as Bakenkhonsu thinks.' 
 
 'Bakenkhonsu talks too much, whatever he may 
 think/ I exclaimed testily. 
 
 'The aged grow garrulous. You were at the crown- 
 ing to-day, were you not?' 
 
 'Yes, and if I saw aright from far away, those He- 
 brew prophets seemed to worst you at your own trade 
 there, Kherheb, which must grieve you, as you were 
 grieved in the temple when Amon fell.' 
 
 'It does not grieve me, Ana. If I have powers, 
 there may be others who have greater powers, as I 
 learned in the temple of Amon. Why therefore should 
 I feel ashamed? ' 
 
 'Powers!' I replied with a laugh, for the strings of 
 my mind seemed torn that night, 'would not craft be a 
 
186 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 better word? How do you turn a stick into a snake, a 
 thing which is impossible to man? ' 
 
 1 Craft might be a better word, since craft means 
 knowledge as well as trickery. "Impossible to man!" 
 After what you saw a while ago in the temple of Amon, 
 do you hold that there is anything impossible to man 
 or woman? Perhaps you could do as much yourself/ 
 
 'Why do you mock me, Ki? I study books, not 
 snake-charming. ' 
 
 He looked at me in his calm fashion, as though he 
 were reading, not my face, but the thoughts behind it. 
 Then he looked at the cedar wand in his hand and gave 
 it to me, saying, 
 
 1 Study this, Ana, and tell me, what is it.' 
 
 'Am I a child/ I answered angrily, 'that I should not 
 know a priest's rod when I see one? ' 
 
 'I think that you are something of a child, Ana/ he 
 murmured, all the while keeping those eyes of his fixed 
 upon my face. 
 
 Then a horror came about. For the rod" began to 
 twist in my hand and when I stared at it, lo! it was a 
 long, yellow snake which I held by the tail. I threw 
 the reptile down with a scream, for it was turning its 
 head as though to strike me, and there in the dust it 
 twisted and writhed away from me and towards Ki. 
 Yet an instant later it was only a stick of yellow cedar- 
 wood, though between me and Ki there was a snake's 
 track in the sand. 
 
 'It is somewhat shameless of you, Ana/ said Ki, as he 
 lifted the wand, 'to reproach me with trickery while 
 you yourself try to confound a poor juggler with such 
 arts as these.' 
 
 Then I know not what I said to him, save the end of 
 
THE MESSAGE OF JABEZ 187 
 
 it was that I supposed he would tell me next that I 
 could fill a hall with darkness at noonday and cover a 
 multitude with terror. 
 
 Suddenly his face and voice changed. 
 
 'Let us have done with jests/ he said, ' though these 
 are well enough in their place. Will you take this rod 
 again and point it to the moon? You refuse and you 
 do well, for neither you nor I can cover up her face. 
 Ana, because you are wise in your way and consort 
 with one who is wiser, and were present in the temple 
 when the statue of Amon was shattered by a certain 
 witch who matched her strength against mine and 
 conquered me, I, the great magician, have come to ask 
 you whence came that darkness in the hall to-day? ' 
 
 'From God, I think,' I answered in an awed whisper. 
 
 'So I think also, Ana. But tell me, or ask Merapi, 
 Moon of Israel, to tell me from what god? Oh! I 
 say to you that a terrible power is afoot in this land 
 and that the Prince Seti did well to refuse the throne of 
 Egypt and to fly to Memphis. Repeat it to him, Ana/ 
 
 Then he too was gone. 
 
 Now I returned in safety to Memphis and told all 
 these tidings to the Prince, who listened to them 
 eagerly. Once only was he greatly stirred; it was 
 when I repeated to him the words of Userti, that never 
 would she look upon his face again unless it pleased 
 him to turn it towards the throne. On hearing this 
 tears came into his eyes, and rising, he walked up and 
 down the chamber. 
 
 'The fallen must not look for gentleness/ he said, 
 'and doubtless, Ana, you think it folly that I should 
 grieve because I am thus deserted.' 
 
i88 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 'Nay, Prince, for I too have been abandoned by a 
 wife and the pain is unforgotten.' 
 
 'It is not of the wife I think, Ana, since in truth her 
 Highness is no wife to me. For whatever may be the 
 ancient laws of Egypt, how could it happen otherwise, 
 at any rate in my case and hers? It is of the sister. 
 For though my mother was not hers, she and I were 
 brought up together and in our way loved each other, 
 though always it was her pleasure to lord it over me, 
 as it was mine to submit and pay her back in jests. 
 That is why she is so angry because now of a sudden I 
 have thrown off her rule to follow my own will where- 
 by she has lost the throne/ 
 
 'It has always been the duty of the royal heiress of 
 Egypt to marry the Pharaoh of Egypt, Prince, and 
 having wed one who would be Pharaoh according to 
 that duty, the blow cuts deep.' 
 
 'Then she had best thrust aside that foolish wife of 
 his and wed him who is Pharaoh. But that she will 
 never do; Amenmeses she has always hated, so much 
 that she loathed to be in the same place with him. 
 Nor indeed would he wed her, who wishes to rule for 
 himself, not through a woman whose title to the crown 
 is better than his own. Well, she has put me away 
 and there's an end. Henceforth I must go lonely, un- 
 less unless Continue your story, friend. It 
 
 is kind of her in her greatness to promise to protect one 
 so humble. I should remember that, although it is 
 true that fallen heads sometimes rise again/ he added 
 bitterly. 
 
 'So at least Jabez thinks, Prince/ and I told him 
 how the Israelites were sure that he would be Pharaoh, 
 whereat he laughed and said, 
 
THE MESSAGE OF JABEZ 189 
 
 'Perhaps, for they are good prophets. For my part 
 I neither know or care. Or maybe Jabez sees advan- 
 tage in talking thus, for as you know he is a clever 
 trader.' 
 
 'I do not think so,' I answered and stopped. 
 
 'Had Jabez more to say of any other matter, Ana? 
 Of the lady Merapi, for instance?' 
 
 Now feeling it to be my duty, I told him every word 
 that had passed between Jabez and myself, though 
 somewhat shamefacedly. 
 
 'This Hebrew takes much for granted, Ana, even as 
 to whom the Moon of Israel would wish to shine upon. 
 Why, friend, it might be you whom she desires to touch 
 with her light, or some youth in Goshen not Laban 
 or no one.' 
 
 'Me, Prince, me!' I exclaimed. 
 
 ' Well, Ana, I am sure you would have it so. Be ad- 
 vised by me and ask her mind upon the matter. Look 
 not so confused, man, for one who has been married 
 you are too modest. Come tell me of this Crowning.' 
 
 So glad enough to escape from the matter of Merapi, 
 I spoke at length of all that had happened when Phar- 
 aoh Amenmeses took his seat upon the throne. When 
 I described how the rod of the Hebrew prophet had 
 been turned to a snake and how Ki and his company 
 had done likewise, the Prince laughed and said that 
 these were mere jugglers' tricks. But when I told of 
 the darkness that had seemed to gather in the hall and 
 of the gloom that filled the hearts of all men and of the 
 awesome dream of Bakenkhonsu, also of the words 
 of Ki after he had clouded my mind and played his 
 jest upon me, he listened with much earnestness and 
 answered, 
 
190 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 'My mind is as Ki's in this matter. I too think that 
 a terrible power is afoot in Egypt, one that has its 
 home in the land of Goshen, and that I did well to re- 
 fuse the throne. But from what god these fortunes 
 come I do not know. Perhaps time will tell ;us. 
 Meanwhile if there is aught in the prophecies of these 
 Hebrews, as interpreted by Jabez, at least you and I 
 may sleep in peace, which is more than will chance to 
 Pharaoh on the throne that Userti covets. If so, this 
 play will be worth the watching. You have done your 
 mission well, Ana. Go rest you while I think over all 
 that you have said/ 
 
 It was evening and as the palace was very hot I went 
 into the garden and making my way to that little 
 pleasure-house where Seti and I were wont to study, I 
 sat myself down there and, being weary, fell asleep. 
 When I awoke from a dream about some woman who 
 was weeping, night had fallen and the full moon shone 
 in the sky, so that its rays fell on the garden before 
 me. 
 
 Now in front of this little house, as I have said, grew 
 trees that at this season of the year were covered with 
 white and cup-like blossoms, and between these trees 
 was a seat built up of sun-dried bricks. On this seat 
 sat a woman whom I knew from her shape to be Merapi. 
 Also she was sad, for although her head was bowed and 
 her long hair hid her face I could hear her gentle sighs. 
 
 The sight of her moved me very much and I remem- 
 bered what the Prince had said to me, telling me that 
 I should do well to ask this lady whether she had any 
 mind my way. Therefore if I did so, surely I could not 
 be blamed. Yet I was certain that it was not to me 
 
THE MESSAGE OF JABEZ 191 
 
 that her heart turned, though to speak the truth, 
 much I wished it otherwise. Who would look at the 
 ibis in the swamp when the wide-winged eagle floated 
 in heaven above? 
 
 An evil thought came into my mind, sent by Set. 
 Suppose that this watcher's eyes were fixed upon the 
 eagle, lord of the air. Suppose that she worshipped 
 this eagle; that she loved it because its home was 
 heaven, because to her it was the king of all the birds. 
 And suppose one told her that if she lured it down to 
 earth from the glorious safety of the skies, she would 
 bring it to captivity or death at the hand of the snarer. 
 Then would not that loving watcher say: 'Let it go 
 free and happy, however much I long to look upon it/ 
 and when it had sailed from sight, perhaps turn her 
 eyes to the humble ibis in the mud? 
 
 Jabez had told me that if this woman and the 
 Prince grew dear to each other she would bring great 
 sorrow on his head. If I repeated his words to her, 
 she who had faith in the prophecies of her people 
 would certainly believe them. Moreover, whatever 
 her heart might prompt, being so high-natured, never 
 would she consent to do what might bring trouble on 
 Seti's head, even if to refuse him should sink her soul 
 in sorrow. Nor would she return to the Hebrews 
 there to fall into the hands of one she hated. Then 
 perhaps I - . Should I tell her? If Jabez had not 
 meant that the matter must be brought to her ears, 
 would he have spoken of it at all? In short was it 
 not my duty to her, and perhaps also to the Prince 
 who thereby might be saved from miseries to come, 
 that is if this talk of future troubles were anything 
 more than an idle story. 
 
I 9 2 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 Such was the evil reasoning with which Set as- 
 sailed my spirit. How I beat it down I do not know. 
 Not by my own goodness, I am sure, since at the 
 moment I was aflame with love for the sweet and 
 beautiful lady who sat before me and in my foolishness 
 would, I think, have given my life to kiss her hand. 
 Not altogether for her sake either, since passion is very 
 selfish. No, I believe it was because the love that I 
 bore the Prince was more deep and real than that 
 which I could feel for any woman, and I knew well 
 that were she not in my sight no such treachery would 
 have overcome my heart. For I was sure, although 
 he had never said so to me, that Seti loved Merapi 
 and above all earthly things desired her as his com- 
 panion, while if once I spoke those words, whatever 
 my own gain or loss and whatever her secret wish, 
 that she would never be. 
 
 So I conquered, though the victory left me trembling 
 like a child, and wishing that I had not been born to 
 know the pangs of love denied. My reward was 
 very swift, for just then Merapi unfastened a gem from 
 the breast of her white robe and held it towards the 
 moon, as though to study it. In an instant I knew it 
 again. It was that royal scarab of lapis-lazuli with 
 which in Goshen the Prince had made fast the bandage 
 on her wounded foot, which also had been snatched 
 from her breast by some power on that night when the 
 statue of Amon was shattered in the temple. 
 
 Long and earnestly she looked at it, then having 
 glanced round to make sure she was alone, she pressed 
 it to her lips and kissed it thrice with passion, mut- 
 tering I know not what between the kisses. Now 
 the scales fell from my eyes and I knew that she loved 
 
THE MESSAGE OF JABEZ 193 
 
 Seti, and oh! how I thanked my guardian god who 
 had saved me from such useless shame. 
 
 I wiped the cold damp from my brow and was 
 about to flee away, discovering myself with as few 
 words as might be, when, looking up, I saw standing 
 behind Merapi the figure of a man, who was watching 
 her replace the ornament in her robe. While I hesi- 
 tated a moment the man spoke and I knew the voice 
 for that of Seti. Then again I thought of flight, 
 but being somewhat timid by nature, feared to show 
 myself until it was too late, thinking that afterward 
 the Prince would make me the target of his wit. 
 So I sat close and still, hearing and seeing all despite 
 myself. 
 
 'What gem is that, Lady, which you admire and 
 cherish so tenderly? 7 asked Seti in his slow voice that 
 so often hid a hint of laughter. 
 
 She uttered a little scream and springing up, saw him. 
 
 'Oh! my lord/ she exclaimed, 'pardon your servant. 
 I was sitting here in the cool, as you gave me leave to 
 do, and the moon was so bright that I wished to 
 see if by it I could read the writing on this scarab.' 
 
 Never before, thought I to myself, did I know one 
 who read with her lips, though it is true that first she 
 used her eyes. 
 
 'And could you, Lady? Will you suffer me to try?' 
 
 Very slowly and colouring, so that even the moon- 
 light showed her blushes, she withdrew the ornament 
 again and held it towards him. 
 
 'Surely this is familiar to me? Have I not seen it 
 before?' he asked. 
 
 'Perhaps. I wore it that night in the temple, your 
 Highness.' 
 
194 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 ' You must not name me Highness, Lady. I have 
 no longer any rank in Egypt.' 
 
 'I know because of my people. Oh! it was 
 noble/ 
 
 ' But about the scarabaeus - -' he broke in, with a 
 wave of his hand. ' Surely it is the same with which the 
 bandage was made fast upon your hurt oh ! years ago? ' 
 
 'Yes, it is the same/ she answered, looking down. 
 
 'I thought it. And when I gave it to you, I said 
 some words that seemed to me well spoken at the 
 time. What were they? I cannot remember. Have 
 you also forgotten?' 
 
 'Yes I mean no. You said that now I had 
 all Egypt beneath my foot, speaking of the royal 
 cartouche upon the scarab.' 
 
 'Ah! I recall. How true, and yet how false the 
 jest, or prophecy. 7 
 
 ' How can anything be both true and false, Prince? ' 
 
 'That I could prove to you very easily, but it 
 would take an hour or more, so it shall be for another 
 time. This scarab is a poor thing, give it back to me 
 and you shall have a better. Or would you choose 
 this signet? As I am no longer Prince of Egypt it is 
 useless to me.' 
 
 'Keep the scarab, Prince. It is your own. But I 
 will not take the ring because it is - 
 
 ' useless to me, and you would not have that 
 
 which is without value to the giver. Oh! I string 
 words ill, but they were not what I meant.' 
 
 'No, Prince, because your royal ring is too large 
 for one so small.' 
 
 'How can you tell until you have tried? Also that 
 is a fault which might perhaps be mended,' 
 
THE MESSAGE OF JABEZ 195 
 
 Then he laughed, and she laughed also, but as yet 
 she did not take the ring. 
 
 'Have you seen Ana?' he went on. 'I believe he 
 set out to search for you, in such a hurry indeed that 
 he could scarcely finish his report to me.' 
 
 'Did he say that?' 
 
 'No, he only looked it. So much so that I suggested 
 he should seek you at once. He answered that he was 
 going to rest after his long journey, or perhaps I said 
 that he ought to do so. I forget, as often one does, on 
 so beauteous a night when other thoughts seem nearer.' 
 
 'Why did Ana wish to see me, Prince?' 
 
 'How can I tell? Why does a man who is still 
 young want to see a sweet and beautiful lady? 
 Oh! I remember. He had met your uncle at Tanis 
 who inquired as to your health. Perhaps that is 
 why he wanted to see you.' 
 
 'I do not wish to hear about my uncle at Tanis. 
 He reminds me of too many things that give pain, 
 and there are nights when one wishes to escape pain, 
 which is sure to be found again on the morrow.' 
 
 'Are you still of the same mind about returning to 
 your people?' he asked, more earnestly. 
 
 ' Surely. Oh ! do not say that you will send me hence 
 to ' 
 
 'Laban, Lady?' 
 
 'Laban amongst others. Remember, Prince, that 
 I am one under a curse. If I return to Goshen, in 
 this way or in that, soon I shall die.' 
 
 'Ana says that your uncle Jabez declares that the 
 mad fellow who tried to murder you had no authority 
 to curse and much less to kill you. You must ask 
 him to tell you all.' 
 
196 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 'Yet the curse will cling and crush me at the last. 
 How can I, one lonely woman, stand against the might 
 of the people of Israel and their priests? ' 
 
 'Are you then lonely?' 
 
 'How can it be otherwise with an outcast, Prince?' 
 
 'No, it cannot be otherwise. I know it who am 
 also an outcast. 1 
 
 'At least there is her Highness your wife, who doubt- 
 less will come to comfort you/ she said, looking 
 down. 
 
 'Her Highness will not come. If you had seen 
 Ana, he would perhaps have told you that she has 
 sworn not to look upon my face again, unless above 
 it shines a crown/ 
 
 'Oh! how can a woman be so cruel? Surely, Prince, 
 such a stab must cut you to the heart, ' she exclaimed, 
 with a little cry of pity. 
 
 'Her Highness is not only a woman; she is a Prin- 
 cess of Egypt which is different. For the rest it 
 does cut me to the heart that my royal sister should 
 have deserted me, for that which she loves better 
 - power and pomp. But so it is, unless Ana dreams, 
 It seems therefore that we are in the same case, both 
 outcasts, you and I, is it not so? ' 
 
 She made no answer but continued to look upon the 
 ground, and he went on very slowly, 
 
 'A thought comes into my mind on which I would 
 ask your judgment. If two who are forlorn came 
 together they would be less forlorn by half, would 
 they not?' 
 
 1 It would seem so, Prince that is if they remained 
 forlorn at all. But I do not understand the riddle.' 
 
 'Yet you have answered it. If you are lonely and 
 
THE MESSAGE OF JABEZ 197 
 
 I am lonely apart, we should, you say, be less lonely 
 together/ 
 
 1 Prince/ she murmured, shrinking away from him, 
 'I spoke no such words.' 
 
 'No, I spoke them for you. Hearken to me, Merapi. 
 They think me a strange man in Egypt because I have 
 held no woman dear, never having seen one whom I 
 could hold dear. 7 Here she looked at him searchingly, 
 and he went on, ' A while ago, before I visited your land 
 of Goshen Ana can tell you about the matter, for 
 I think he wrote it down Ki and old Bakenkhonsu 
 came to see me. Now, as you know, Ki is without 
 doubt a great magician, though it would seem not so 
 great as some of your prophets. He told me that he 
 and others had been searching out my future and that 
 in Goshen I should find a woman whom it was fated I 
 must love. He added that this woman would bring 
 me much joy/ Here Seti paused, doubtless remember- 
 ing this was not all that Ki had said, or Jabez either. 
 'Ki told me also/ he went on slowly, 'that I had al- 
 ready known this woman for thousands of years.' 
 
 She started and a strange look came into her face, 
 
 'How can that be, Prince?' 
 
 'That is what I asked him and got no good answer. 
 Still he said it, not only of the woman but of my friend 
 Ana as well, which indeed would explain much, and 
 it would appear that the other magicians said it also. 
 Then I went to the land of Goshen and there I saw a 
 woman ' 
 
 'For the first time, Prince?' 
 
 'No, for the third time.' 
 
 Here she sank upon the bench and covered her eyes 
 with her hands. 
 
ig8 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 ' and loved her, and felt as though I had loved 
 
 her for "thousands of years." 
 
 'It is not true. You mock me, it is not true!' she 
 whispered. 
 
 'It is true for if I did not know it then, I knew it 
 afterwards, though never perhaps completely until 
 to-day, when I learned that Userti had deserted me 
 indeed. Moon of Israel, you are that woman. I 
 will not tell you/ he went on passionately, 'that you 
 are fairer than all other women, or sweeter, or more 
 wise, though these things you seem to me. I will 
 only tell you that I love you, yes, love you, whatever 
 you may be. I cannot offer you the Throne of Egypt, 
 even if the law would suffer it, but I can offer you the 
 throne of this heart of mine. Now, Lady Merapi, 
 what have you to say? Before you speak, remember 
 that although you seem to be my prisoner here at 
 Memphis, you have naught to fear from me. What- 
 ever you may answer, such shelter and such friend- 
 ship as I can give will be yours while I live, and never 
 shall I attempt to force myself upon you, however 
 much it may pain me to pass you by. I know not the 
 future. It may happen that I shall give you great 
 place and power, it may happen that I shall give you 
 nothing but poverty and exile, or even perhaps a 
 share in my own death, but with either will go the 
 worship of my body and my spirit. Now, speak. ' 
 
 She dropped her hands from her face, looking up at 
 him, and there were tears shining in her beautiful eyes. 
 
 ' It cannot be, Prince, ' she murmured. ' 
 
 'You mean you do not wish it to be?* 
 
 'I said that it cannot be. Such ties between an 
 Egyptian and an Israelite are not lawful. ' 
 
THE MESSAGE OF JABEZ 199 
 
 'Some in this city and elsewhere seem to find them 
 
 so.' 
 
 'And I am married, I mean perhaps I am married 
 at least in name.' 
 
 * And I too am married, I mean ' 
 
 'That is different. Also there is another reason, 
 the greatest of all, I am under a curse, and should 
 bring you, not joy as Ki said, but sorrow, or, at the 
 least, sorrow with the joy. ' 
 
 He looked at her searchingly. 
 
 'Has Ana ' he began, then continued, 'if so what 
 lives have you known that are not compounded of 
 mingled joy and sorrow? ' 
 
 ' None. But the woe I should bring would outweigh 
 the joy to you. The curse of my God rests upon me 
 and I cannot learn to worship yours. The curse of 
 my people rests upon me, the law of my people divides 
 me from you as with a sword, and should I draw close 
 to you these will be increased upon my head, which 
 matters not, but also upon yours/ and she began to sob. 
 
 'Tell me/ he said, taking her by the hand, 'but one 
 thing, and if the answer is No, I will trouble you no 
 more. Is your heart mine? ' 
 
 ' It is, ' she sighed, ' and has been ever since my eyes 
 fell upon you yonder in the streets of Tanis. Oh! 
 then a change came into me and I hated Laban, 
 whom before I had only misliked. Moreover, I too 
 felt that of which Ki spoke, as though I had known 
 you for thousands of years. My heart is yours, my 
 love is yours; all that makes me woman is yours, 
 and never, never can turn from you to any other man. 
 But still we must stay apart, for your sake, my Prince, 
 for your sake.' 
 
200 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 'Then, were it not for me, you would be ready to 
 run these hazards ?' 
 
 1 Surely! Am I not a woman who loves?' 
 
 'If that be so/ he said with a little laugh, 'being of 
 full age and of an understanding which some have 
 thought good, by your leave I think I will run them 
 also. Oh! foolish woman, do you not understand that 
 there is but one good thing in the world, one thing in 
 which self and its miseries can be forgot, and that thing 
 is love? Mayhap troubles will come. Well, let them 
 come, for what do they matter if only the love or its 
 memory remains, if once we have picked that beauteous 
 flower and for an hour worn it on our breasts. You 
 talk of the difference between the gods we worship and 
 maybe it exists, but all gods send their gift of love upon 
 the earth, without which it would cease to be. More- 
 over, my faith teaches me more clearly perhaps than 
 yours, that life does not end with death and therefore 
 that love, being life's soul, must endure while it endures. 
 Last of all, I think, as you think, that in some dim way 
 there is truth in what the magicians said, and that long 
 ago in the past we have been what once more we are 
 about to be, and that the strength of this invisible tie 
 has drawn us together out of the whole world and will 
 bind us together long after the world is dead. It is not 
 a matter of what we wish to do, Merapi, it is a matter of 
 what Fate has decreed we shall do. Now, answer again. ' 
 
 But she made no answer, and when I looked up 
 after a little moment she was in his arms and her 
 lips were upon his lips. 
 
 Thus did Prince Seti of Egypt and Merapi, Moon of 
 Israel, come together at Memphis in Egypt. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE RED NILE 
 
 ON the morrow of this night I found the Prince alone 
 for a little while, and put Mrn in mind of certain 
 ancient manuscripts that he wished to read, which 
 could only be consulted at Thebes where I might 
 copy them; also of others that were said to be for 
 sale there. He answered that they could wait, but I 
 replied that the latter might find some other purchaser 
 if I did not go at once. 
 
 'You are over fond of long journeys upon my busi- 
 ness, Ana/ he said. Then he considered me curiously 
 for a while, and since he could read my mind, as in- 
 deed I could his, saw that I knew all, and added in a 
 gentle voice, 
 
 'You should have done as I told you, and spoken 
 first. If so, who knows ' 
 
 'You do, Prince/ I answered, 'you and another.' 
 
 ' Go, and the gods be with you, friend, but stay not 
 too long copying those rolls, which any scribe can do. 
 I think there is trouble at hand in Egypt, and I shall 
 need you at my side. Another who holds you dear 
 will need you also/ 
 
 'I thank my lord and that other, ' I said, bowing, and 
 went. 
 
 Moreover, while I was making some humble pro- 
 vision for my journey, I found that this was needless, 
 
 201 
 
202 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 since a slave came to tell me that the Prince's barge 
 was waiting to sail with the wind. So in that barge 
 I travelled to Thebes like a great noble, or a royal 
 mummy being borne to burial. Only instead of wail- 
 ing priests, until I sent them back to Memphis, mu- 
 sicians sat upon the prow, and when I willed, dancing 
 girls came to amuse my leisure and, veiled in golden 
 nets, to serve at my table. 
 
 So I journeyed as though" I were the Prince himself, 
 and as one who was known to have his ear was made 
 much of by the governors of the Nomes, the chief men 
 of the towns, and the high priests of the temples at 
 every city where we moored. For, as I have said, 
 although Amenmeses sat upon the throne, Seti still 
 ruled in the hearts of the folk of Egypt. Moreover, 
 as I sailed further up the Nile to districts where little 
 was known of the Israelites, and the troubles they were 
 bringing on the land, I found this to be so more and 
 more. Why is it, the Great Ones would whisper in 
 my ear, that his Highness the Prince Seti does not hold 
 his father's place? Then I would tell them of the 
 Hebrews, and they would laugh and say, 
 
 'Let the Prince unfurl his royal banner here, and 
 we will show him what we think of the question of 
 these Israelitish slaves. May not the Heir of Egypt 
 form his own judgment on such a matter as to whether 
 they should abide there in the north, or go away into 
 that wilderness which they desire?' 
 
 To all of which, and much like it, I would only 
 answer that their words should be reported. More I 
 did not, and indeed did not dare to say, since every- 
 where I found that I was being followed and watched 
 by the spies of Pharaoh. 
 
THE RED NILE 203 
 
 At length I came to Thebes and took up my abode 
 in a fine house that was the property of the Prince, 
 which I found that a messenger had commanded 
 should be made ready for me. It stood near by the 
 entrance to the Avenue of Sphinxes, which leads to 
 the greatest of all the Theban temples, where is that 
 mighty columned hall built by the first Seti and his 
 son, Rameses II, the Prince's grandfather. 
 
 Here, having entrance to the place, I would often 
 wander at night, and in my spirit draw as near to 
 heaven as ever it has been my lot to travel. Also, 
 crossing the Nile to the western bank, I visited that 
 desolate valley where the rulers of Egypt lie at rest. 
 The tomb of Pharaoh Meneptah was still unsealed, 
 and accompanied by a single priest with torches, I 
 crept down its painted halls and looked upon the sar- 
 cophagus of him whom so lately I had seen seated in 
 glory upon the throne, wondering, as I looked, how 
 much or how little he knew of all that passed in Egypt 
 to-day. 
 
 Moreover, I copied the papyri that I had come to 
 seek, in which there was nothing worth preserving, 
 and some of real value that I discovered in the ancient 
 libraries of the temples, and purchased others. One of 
 these indeed told a very strange tale that has given me 
 much cause for thought, especially of late years now 
 when all my friends are dead. 
 
 Thus I spent two months, and should have stayed 
 longer had not messengers reached me from the Prince 
 saying that he desired my return. Of these, one 
 followed within three days of the other, and his words 
 were, 
 
 'Think you, Scribe Ana, that because I am no more 
 
204 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 Prince of Egypt I am no longer to be obeyed? If so, 
 bear in mind that the gods may decree that one day 
 I shall grow taller than ever I was before, and then be 
 sure that I will remember your disobedience, and make 
 you shorter by a head. Come swiftly, my friend, for 
 I grow lonely, and need a man to talk with.' 
 
 To which I replied, that I returned as fast as the 
 barge would carry me, it being so heavily laden with 
 the manuscripts that I had copied and purchased. 
 
 So I started, being, to tell truth, glad to get 
 away, for this reason. Two nights before, when I was 
 walking alone from the great temple to the house, a 
 woman dressed in many colours appeared and accosted 
 me as such lost ones do. I tried to shake her off, but 
 she clung to me, and I saw that she had drunk more 
 than enough of wine. Presently she asked, in a voice 
 that I thought familiar, if I knew who was the officer 
 that had come to Thebes on the business of some 
 Royal One and abode in the dwelling that was known 
 as House of the Prince. I answered that his name was 
 Ana. 
 
 'Once I knew an Ana very well/ she said, 'but I 
 left him.' 
 
 'Why?' I asked, turning cold in my limbs, for al- 
 though I could not see her face because of a hood she 
 wore, now I began to be afraid. 
 
 'Because he was a poor fool,' she answered, 'no man 
 at all, but one who was always thinking about writings 
 and making them, and another came my way whom I 
 liked better until he deserted me. ' 
 
 'And what happened to this Ana?' I asked. 
 
 'I do not know. I suppose he went on dreaming, or 
 perhaps he took another wife; if so, I am sorry for her. 
 
THE RED NILE 205 
 
 Only, if by any chance it is the same that has come to 
 Thebes, he must be wealthy now, and I shall go and 
 claim him and make him keep me well/ 
 
 'Had you any children?' I asked. 
 
 ' Only one, thank the gods, and that died thank 
 the gods again, for otherwise it might have lived to 
 be such as I am/ and she sobbed once in a hard fashion 
 and then fell to her vile endearments. 
 
 As she did so, the hood slipped from her head and I 
 saw that the face was that of my wife, still beauteous 
 in a bold fashion, but grown dreadful with drink and 
 sin. I trembled from head to foot, then said in the 
 disguised voice that I had used to her. 
 
 ' Woman, I know this Ana. He is dead and you were 
 his ruin. Still, because I was his friend, take this and 
 go reform your ways/ and I drew from my robe and 
 gave to her a bag containing no mean weight of gold. 
 
 She snatched it as a hawk snatches, and seeing its 
 contents by the starlight, thanked me, saying, 
 
 1 Surely Ana dead is worth more than Ana alive. 
 Also it is well that he is dead, for he is gone where the 
 child went, which he loved more than life, neglecting 
 me for its sake and thereby making me what I am. 
 Had he lived, too, being as I have said a fool, he would 
 have had more ill-luck with women, whom he never 
 understood. Farewell, friend of Ana, who have given 
 me that which will enable me to find another husband, ' 
 and laughing wildly she reeled off behind a sphinx 
 and vanished into the darkness. 
 
 For this reason, then, I was glad to escape from 
 Thebes. Moreover, that miserable one had hurt me 
 sorely, making me sure of what I had only guessed, 
 namely, that with women I was but a fool, so great 
 
206 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 a fool that then and there I swore by my guardian god 
 that never would I look with love on one of them again, 
 an oath which I have kept well whatever others I may 
 have broken. Again she stabbed me through with 
 the talk of our dead child, for it is true that when that 
 sweet one took flight to Osiris my heart broke and in 
 a fashion has never mended itself again. Lastly, I 
 feared lest it might also be true that I had neglected 
 the mother for the sake of this child which was the 
 jewel of my worship, yes, and is, and thereby helped 
 her on to shame. So much did this thought torment 
 me that through an agent whom I trusted, who be- 
 lieved that I was but providing for one whom I had 
 wronged, I caused enough to be paid to her to keep 
 her in comfort. 
 
 She did marry again, a merchant about whom she had 
 cast her toils, and in due course spent his wealth and 
 brought him to ruin, after which he ran away from her. 
 As for her, she died of her evil habits in the third year 
 of the reign of Seti II. But, the gods be thanked she 
 never knew that the private scribe of Pharaoh's cham- 
 ber was that Ana who had been her husband. Here I 
 will end her story. 
 
 Now as I was passing down the Nile with a heart 
 more heavy than the great stone that served as anchor 
 to the barge, we moored at dusk on the third night by 
 the side of a vessel that was sailing up Nile with a 
 strong northerly wind. On board this boat was an 
 officer whom I had known at the Court of Pharaoh 
 Meneptah, travelling to Thebes on duty. This man 
 seemed so much afraid that I asked him if anything 
 weighed upon his mind. Then he took me aside into 
 a palm grove upon the bank, and seating himself on 
 
THE RED NILE 207 
 
 the pole whereby oxen turned a water wheel, told me 
 that strange things were passing at Tanis. 
 
 It seemed that the Hebrew prophets had once more 
 appeared before Pharaoh, who since his accession had 
 left the Israelites in peace, not attacking them with 
 the sword as Meneptah had wished to do, it was thought 
 through fear lest if he did so he should die as Menep- 
 tah died. As before, they had put up their prayer 
 that the people of the Hebrews should be suffered to 
 go to worship in the wilderness, and Pharaoh had 
 refused them. Then when he went down to sail upon 
 the river early in the morning of another day, they 
 had met him and one of them struck the water with 
 his rod, and it had turned to blood. Whereon Ki 
 the Kherheb and his company also struck other water 
 with their rods, and it turned to blood. That was six 
 days ago, and now this officer swore to me that the 
 blood was creeping up the Nile, a tale at which I 
 laughed. 
 
 1 Come then and see, ' he said, and led me back to his 
 boat, where all the crew seemed as fearful as he was 
 himself. 
 
 He took me forward to a great water jar that stood 
 upon the prow and, behold! it seemed to be full of 
 blood, and in it was a fish dead, and stinking. 
 
 ' This water, ' said he, ' I drew from the Nile with my 
 own hands, not five hours sail to the north. But now 
 we have outsped the blood, which follows after us. 
 Look again,' and taking a lamp he held it over the 
 prow of the boat and I saw that all its planks were 
 splashed as though with blood. 
 
 'Be advised by me, learned scribe,' he added, 'and 
 fill every jar and skin that you can gather with sweet 
 
208 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 water, lest to-morrow you and your company should 
 go thirsty, ' and he laughed a very dreary laugh. 
 
 Then we parted without more words, for neither of 
 us knew what to say, and about midnight he sailed on 
 with the wind, taking his chance of grounding on the 
 sandbanks in the darkness. 
 
 For my part I did as he bade me, though my rowers 
 who had not spoken with his men, thought that I was 
 mad to load up the barge with so much water. 
 
 At the first break of day I gave the order to start. 
 Looking over the side of the barge it seemed to me as 
 though the lights of dawn had fallen from the sky into 
 the Nile whereof the water had become pink-hued. 
 Moreover, this hue, which grew ever deeper, was 
 travelling up stream, not down, against the course of 
 nature, and could not therefore have been caused by 
 red soil washed from the southern lands. The barge- 
 men stared and muttered together. Then one of 
 them, leaning over the side, scooped up water in the 
 hollow of his hand and drew some into his mouth, 
 only to spit it out again with a cry of fear. 
 
 1 Tis blood,' he cried. 'Blood! Osiris has been 
 slain afresh, and his holy blood fills the banks of Nile.' 
 
 So much were they afraid, indeed, that had I not 
 forced them to hold to their course they would have 
 turned and rowed up stream, or beached the boat and 
 fled into the desert. But I cried to them to steer on 
 northwards, for thus perhaps we should sooner be 
 done with this horror, and they obeyed me. Ever as 
 we went the hue of the water grew more red, almost to 
 blackness, till at last it seemed as though we were 
 travelling through a sea of gore in which dead fish 
 floated by the thousand, or struggled dying on the 
 
THE RED NILE 209 
 
 surface. Also the stench was so dreadful that we must 
 bind linen about our nostrils to strain the foetid air. 
 
 We came abreast of a town, and from its streets 
 one great wail of terror rose to heaven. Men stood 
 staring as though they were drunken, looking at 
 their red arms which they had dipped in the stream, 
 and women ran to and fro upon the bank, tearing their 
 hair and robes, and crying out such words as 
 
 ' Wizard's work! Bewitched! Accursed! The gods 
 have slain each other, and men too must die ! ' and so 
 forth. 
 
 Also we saw peasants digging holes at a distance 
 from the shore to see perchance if they might come to 
 water that was sweet and wholesome. All day long 
 we travelled thus through this horrible flood, while the 
 spray driven by the strong north wind spotted our 
 flesh and garments, till we were like butchers reeking 
 from the shambles. Nor could we eat any food be- 
 cause of the stench from this spray, which made it to 
 taste salt as does fresh blood, only we drank of the 
 water which I had provided, and the rowers who had 
 held me to be mad now named me the wisest of men; 
 one who knew what would befall in the future. 
 
 At length towards evening we noted that the water 
 was growing much less red with every hour that 
 passed, which was another marvel, seeing that above 
 us, upstream, it was of the colour of jasper, whereon 
 we paused from our rowing and, all defiled as we 
 were, sang a hymn and gave thanks to Hapi, god of 
 Nile, the Great, the Secret, the Hidden. Before sun- 
 set, indeed, the river was clean again, save that on 
 the bank where we made fast for the night the stones 
 and rushes were all stained, and the dead fish lay in 
 
210 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 thousands polluting the air. To escape the stench 
 we climbed a cliff that here rose quite close to Nile, 
 in which we saw the mouths of ancient tombs that 
 long ago had been robbed and left empty, purposing 
 to sleep in one of them. 
 
 A path worn by the feet of men ran to the largest 
 of these tombs, whence, as we drew near, we heard the 
 sound of wailing. Looking in, I saw a woman and 
 some children crouched upon the floor of the tomb, 
 their heads covered with dust who, when they per- 
 ceived us, cried more loudly than before, though with 
 harsh dry voices, thinking no doubt that we were rob- 
 bers or perhaps ghosts because of our bloodstained 
 garments. Also there was another child, a little one, 
 that did not cry, because it was dead. I asked the 
 woman what passed, but even when she understood 
 that we were only men who meant her no harm, she 
 could not speak or do more than gasp ' Water ! Water ! ' 
 We gave her and the children to drink from the jars 
 which we had brought with us, which they did greedily, 
 after which I drew her story from her. 
 
 She was the wife of a fisherman who made his home 
 in this cave, and said that seven days before the Nile 
 had turned to blood, so that they could not drink of it, 
 and had no water save a little in a pot. Nor could they 
 dig to find it, since here the ground was all rock. Nor 
 could they escape, since when he saw the marvel, her 
 husband in his fear had leapt from his boat and waded 
 to land and the boat had floated away. 
 
 I asked where was her husband, and she pointed 
 behind her. I went to look, and there found a man 
 hanging by his neck from a rope that was fixed to the 
 capital of a pillar in the tomb, quite dead and cold. 
 
THE RED NILE 211 
 
 Returning sick at heart, I inquired of her how this 
 had come about. She answered that when he saw 
 that all the fish had perished, taking away his living, 
 and that thirst had killed his youngest child, he went 
 mad, and creeping to the back of the tomb, without 
 her knowledge hung himself with a net rope. It was a 
 dreadful story. 
 
 Having given the widow of our food, we went to 
 sleep in another tomb, not liking the company of those 
 dead ones. Next morning at the dawn we took the 
 woman and her children on board the barge, and rowed 
 them three hours' journey to a town where she had a 
 sister, whom she found. The dead man and the child 
 we left there in the tomb, since my men would not de- 
 file themselves by touching them. 
 
 So, seeing much terror and misery on our journey, 
 at last we came safe to Memphis. Leaving the boat- 
 men to draw up the barge, I went to the palace, 
 speaking with none, and was led at once to the Prince. 
 I found him in a shaded chamber seated side by side 
 with the lady Merapi, and holding her hand in such a 
 fashion that they reminded me of the life-sized Ka 
 statues of a man and his wife, such as I have seen in 
 the ancient tombs, cut when the sculptors knew how to 
 fashion the perfect likenesses of men and women. This 
 they no longer do to-day, I think because the priests 
 have taught them that it is not lawful. He was talk- 
 ing to her in a low voice, while she listened, smiling 
 sweetly as she ever did, but with eyes, fixed straight 
 before her that were, as it seemed to me, filled with 
 fear. I thought that she looked very beautiful with 
 her hair outspread over her white robe, and held back 
 from her temples by a little fillet of gold. But as I 
 
212 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 looked, I rejoiced to find that my heart no longer 
 yearned for her as it had upon that night when I had 
 seen her seated beneath the trees without the pleasure- 
 house. Now she was its friend, no more, and so she 
 remained until all was finished, as both the Prince and 
 she knew well enough. 
 
 When he saw me Seti sprang from his seat and came 
 to greet me, as a man does the friend whom he loves. 
 I kissed his hand, and going to Merapi, kissed hers also 
 noting that on it now shone that ring which once she 
 had rejected as too large. 
 
 'Tell me, Ana, all that has befallen you/ he said in 
 his pleasant, eager voice. 
 
 'Many things, Prince; one of them very strange and 
 terrible,' I answered. 
 
 'Strange and terrible things have happened here 
 also,' broke in Merapi, 'and, alas! this is but the be- 
 ginning of woes.' 
 
 So saying, she rose, as though she could trust herself 
 to speak no more, bowed first to her lord and then to 
 me, and left the chamber. 
 
 I looked at the Prince and he answered the question 
 in my eyes. 
 
 'Jabez has been here,' he said, 'and filled her heart 
 with forebodings. If Pharaoh will not let the Israelites 
 go, by Amon I wish he would let Jabez go to some 
 place whence he never could return. But tell me, 
 have you also met blood travelling against the stream 
 of Nile? It would seem so,' and he glanced at the 
 rusty stains that no washing would remove from my 
 garments. 
 
 I nodded and we talked together long and earnestly, 
 but in the end were no wiser for all our talking. For 
 
THE RED NILE 213 
 
 neither of us knew how it came about that men by 
 striking water with a rod could turn it into what 
 seemed to be blood, as the Hebrew prophet and Ki 
 both had done, or how that blood could travel up the 
 Nile against the stream and everywhere endure for a 
 space of seven days; yes, and spread too to all the 
 canals in Egypt, so that men must dig holes for water 
 and dig them fresh each day because the blood crept in 
 and poisoned them. But both of us thought that this 
 was the work of the gods, and most of all of that god 
 whom the Hebrews worship. 
 
 'You remember, Ana/ said the Prince, 'the message 
 which you brought to me from Jabez, namely that no 
 harm should come to me because of these Israelites 
 and their curses. Well, no harm has come as yet, ex- 
 cept the harm of Jabez, for he came. On the day 
 before the news of this blood plague reached us, Jabez 
 appeared disguised as a merchant of Syrian stuffs, all 
 of which he sold to me at three times their value. He 
 obtained admission to the chambers of Merapi, where 
 she is accustomed to see whom she wills, and under 
 pretence of showing her his stuffs, spoke with her and, 
 as I fear, told her what you and I were so careful to 
 hide, that she would bring trouble on me. At the 
 least she has never been quite the same since, and I 
 have thought it wise to make her swear by an oath, 
 which I know she will never break, that now we are one 
 she will not attempt to separate herself from me while 
 we both have life.' 
 
 'Did he wish her to go away with him, Prince? ' 
 'I do not know. She never told me so. Still I am 
 sure that had he come with his evil talk before that day 
 when you returned from Tanis, she would have gone. 
 
2i 4 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 Now I hope there are reasons that will keep her where 
 she is.' 
 
 'What then did he say, Prince?' 
 
 'Little beyond what he had already said to you, that 
 great troubles were about to fall on Egypt. He added 
 that he was sent to save me and mine from these 
 troubles because I had been a friend to the Hebrews, in 
 so far as that was possible. Then he walked through 
 this house and all round its gardens, as he went reciting 
 something that was written on a roll, of which I could 
 not understand the meaning, and now and again pros- 
 trating himself to pray to his god. Thus, where the 
 canal enters the garden and where it leaves the garden 
 he stayed to pray, as he did at the well whence drinking 
 water is drawn. Moreover, led by Merapi, he visited 
 all my cornlands and those where my cattle are herded, 
 reciting and praying until the servants thought that he 
 was mad. After this he returned with her and, as it 
 chanced, I overheard their parting. She said to him, 
 
 '"The house you have blessed and it is safe; the 
 fields you have blessed and they are safe; will you not 
 bless me also, O my Uncle, and any that are born of 
 me?" 
 
 'He answered, shaking his head, "I have no com- 
 mand, my Niece, either to bless or to curse you, as did 
 that fool whom the Prince slew. You have chosen 
 your own path apart from your people. It may be 
 well, or it may be ill, or perhaps both, and henceforth 
 you must walk it alone to wherever it may lead. Fare- 
 well, for perhaps we shall meet no more." 
 
 'Thus speaking they passed out of earshot, but I 
 could see that still she pleaded and still he shook his 
 head. In the end, however, she gave him an offering, 
 
THE RED NILE 215 
 
 of all that she had I think, though whether this went 
 to the temple of the Hebrews or into his own pouch I 
 know not. At least it seemed to soften him, for he 
 kissed her on the brow tenderly enough and departed 
 with the air of a happy merchant who has sold his 
 wares. But of all that passed between them Merapi 
 would tell me nothing. Nor did I tell her of what I 
 had overheard.' 
 
 ' And then, ?' 
 
 'And then, Ana, came the story of the Hebrew 
 prophet who made the water into blood, and of Ki and 
 his disciples who did likewise. The latter I did not be- 
 lieve, because I said it would be more reasonable had 
 Ki turned the blood back into water, instead of making 
 more blood of which there was enough already/ 
 
 'I think that magicians have no reason.' 
 
 'Or can do mischief only, Ana. At any rate after 
 the story came the blood itself and stayed with us 
 seven whole days, leaving much sickness behind it be- 
 cause of the stench of the rotting fish. Now for the 
 marvel here about my house there was no blood, 
 though above and below the canal was full of it. The 
 water remained as it has always been and the fish 
 swam in it as they have always done; also that of the 
 well kept sweet and pure. When this came to be 
 known thousands crowded to the place, clamouring 
 for water; that is until they found that outside the 
 gates it grew red in their vessels, after which, although 
 some still came, they drank the water where they 
 stood, which they must do quickly/ 
 
 4 And what tale do they tell of this in Memphis, 
 Prince?' I asked astonished. 
 
 ' Certain of them say that not Ki but I am the 
 
216 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 greatest magician in Egypt never, Ana, was fame 
 more lightly earned. And certain say that Merapi, 
 of whose doings in the temple at Tanis some tale 
 has reached them, is the real magician, she being an 
 Israelite of the tribe of the Hebrew prophets. Hush! 
 She returns.' 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 KI COMES TO MEMPHIS 
 
 Now of all the terrors of which this turning of the 
 water into blood was the beginning in Egypt, I, Ana, 
 the scribe, will not write, for if I did so, never in my 
 life-days should I, who am old, find time to finish the 
 story of them. Over a period of many, many moons 
 they came, one by one, till the land grew mad with 
 want and woe. Always the tale was the same. The 
 Hebrew prophets would visit Pharaoh at Tanis and 
 demand that he should let their people go, threatening 
 him with vengeance if he refused. Yet he did refuse, 
 for some madness had hold of him, or perhaps the god 
 of the Israelites laid an enchantment on him, why I 
 know not. 
 
 Thus but a little while after the terror of blood came 
 a plague of frogs that filled Egypt from north to south, 
 and when these were taken away made the air to stink. 
 This miracle Ki and his company worked also, sending 
 the frogs into Goshen, where they plagued the Is- 
 raelites. But however it came about, at Seti's palace 
 at Memphis and on the land that he owned around it 
 there were no frogs, or at least but few of them, al- 
 though at night from the fields about the sound of 
 their croaking went up like the sound of beaten drums. 
 
 Next came a plague of lice, and these Ki and his 
 companions would have also called down upon the 
 
 217 
 
218 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 Hebrews, but they failed, and afterwards struggled 
 no more against the magic of the Israelites. Then 
 followed a plague of flies, so that the air was black with 
 them and no food could be kept sweet. Only in Seti's 
 palace there were no flies, and in the garden but a few. 
 After this a terrible pest began among the cattle, 
 whereof thousands died. But of Seti's great herd 
 not one was even sick, nor, as we learned, was there a 
 hoof the less in the land of Goshen. 
 
 This plague struck Egypt but a little while after 
 Merapi had given birth to a son, a very beautiful child 
 with his mother's eyes, that was named Seti after his 
 father. Now the marvel of the escape of the Prince 
 and his household and all that was his from these 
 curses spread abroad and made much talk, so that 
 many sent to inquire of it. 
 
 Among the first came old Bakenkhonsu with a 
 message from Pharaoh, and a private one to myself 
 from the Princess Userti, whose pride would not suffer 
 her to ask aught of Seti. We could tell him nothing 
 except what I have written, which at first he did not 
 believe. Having satisfied himself, however, that the 
 thing was true, he said that he had fallen sick and could 
 not travel back to Tanis. Therefore he asked leave 
 of the Prince to rest a while in his house, he who had 
 been the friend of his father, his grandfather, and his 
 great-grandfather. Seti laughed, as indeed did the 
 cunning old man himself, and there with us Bakenkhon- 
 su remained till the end, to our great joy, for he was 
 the most pleasant of all companions and the most 
 learned. As for his message, one of his servants took 
 back the answer to Pharaoh and to Userti, with the 
 news of his master's grievous sickness. 
 
KI COMES TO MEMPHIS 219 
 
 Some eight days or so later, as I stood one morning 
 basking in the sun at that gate of the palace gardens 
 which overlooks the temple of Ptah, idly watching the 
 procession of priests passing through its courts and 
 chanting as they went (for because of the many sick- 
 nesses at this time I left the palace but rarely), I 
 saw a tall figure approaching me draped against the 
 morning cold. The man drew near, and addressing 
 me over the head of the guard, asked if he could see 
 the lady Merapi. I answered No, as she was engaged 
 in nursing her son. 
 
 'And in other things, I think,' he said with meaning, 
 in a voice that seemed familiar to me. 'Well, can I 
 see the Prince Seti?' 
 
 I answered No, he was also engaged. 
 
 'In nursing his own soul, studying the eyes of the 
 lady Merapi, the smile of his infant, the wisdom of the 
 scribe Ana, and the attributes of the hundred and one 
 gods that are known to him, including that of Israel, 
 I suppose/ said the familiar voice, adding, 'Then can 
 I see this scribe Ana, who I understand, being lucky, 
 holds himself learned. ' 
 
 Now, angered at the scoffing of this stranger (though 
 all the time I felt that he was none), I answered 
 that the scribe Ana was striving to mend his lack 
 of luck by the pursuit of the goddess of learning in 
 his study. 
 
 'Let him pursue,' mocked the stranger, 'since she 
 is the only woman that he is ever likely to catch. Yet 
 it is true that once one caught him. If you are of his 
 acquaintance ask him of his talk with her in the 
 avenue of the Sphinxes outside the great temple at 
 Thebes and of what it cost him in gold and tears.' 
 
220 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 Hearing this I put my hand to my forehead and 
 rubbed my eyes, thinking that I must have fallen into 
 a dream there in the sunshine. When I lifted it again 
 all was the same as before. There stood the sentry, 
 indifferent to that which had no interest for him; 
 the cock that had moulted its tail still scratched in 
 the dirt; the crested hoopoe still sat spreading its 
 wings on the head of one of the two great statues of 
 Rameses which watched the gate; a water-seller in the 
 distance still cried his wares, but the stranger was gone. 
 Then I knew that I had been dreaming and turned to 
 go also, to find myself face to face with him. 
 
 'Man,' I said, indignantly, 'how in the name of 
 Ptah and all his priests did you pass a sentry and 
 through that gate without my seeing you?' 
 
 'Do not trouble yourself with a new problem when 
 already you have so many to perplex you, friend Ana. 
 Say, have you yet solved that of how a rod like this 
 turned itself into a snake in your hand?' and he threw 
 back his hood, revealing the shaved head and the 
 glowing eyes of the Kherheb Ki. 
 
 'No, I have not/ I answered, 'and I thank you,' for 
 here he proffered me the staff, 'but I will not try the 
 trick again. Next time the beast might bite. Well, 
 Ki, as you can pass in here without my leave, why 
 do you ask it? In short, what do you want with me, 
 now that those Hebrew prophets have put you on 
 your back?' 
 
 'Hush, Ana. Never grow angry, it wastes strength, 
 of which we have so little to spare, for you know, being 
 so wise, or perhaps you do not know, that at birth the 
 gods give us a certain store of it, and when that is 
 used we die and have to go elsewhere to fetch more. 
 
KI COMES TO MEMPHIS 221 
 
 At this rate your life will be short, Ana, for you squan- 
 der it in emotions/ 
 
 'What do you want?' I repeated, being too angry 
 to dispute with him. 
 
 'I want to find an answer to the question you asked 
 so roughly: Why the Hebrew prophets have, as you 
 say, put me on my back?' 
 
 'Not being a magician, as you pretend you are, I 
 can give you none, Ki.' 
 
 'Never for one moment did I suppose that you 
 could,' he replied blandly, stretching out his hands, 
 and leaving the staff which had fallen from them 
 standing in front of him. (It was not till afterwards 
 that I remembered that this accursed bit of wood stood 
 there of itself without visible support, for it rested 
 on the paving-stone of the gateway.) 'But, as it 
 chances, you have in this house the master, or rather 
 the mistress of all magicians, as every Egyptian knows 
 to-day, the lady Merapi, and I would see her. ' 
 
 'WTiy do you say she is a mistress of magicians?' 
 I asked indignantly. 
 
 'Why does one bird know another of its own kind? 
 Why does the water here remain pure, when all other 
 water turns to blood? Why do not the frogs croak 
 in Seti's halls, and why do the flies avoid his meat? 
 Why, also, did the statue of Amon melt before her 
 glance, while all my magic fell back from her breast 
 like arrows from a shirt of mail? Those are the 
 questions that Egypt asks, and I would have an 
 answer to them from the beloved of Seti, or of the god 
 Set, she who is named Moon of Israel.' 
 
 'Then why not go seek it for yourself, Ki? To you, 
 doubtless, it would be a small matter to take the form 
 
222 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 of a snake or a rat, or a bird, and creep or run or fly 
 into the presence of Merapi.' 
 
 ' Mayhap it would not be difficult, Ana. Or, better 
 still, I might visit her in her sleep, as I visited you on a 
 certain night at Thebes, when you told me of a talk 
 you had held with a woman in the avenue of Sphinxes, 
 and of what it cost you in gold and tears. But, as it 
 chances, I wish to appear as a man and a friend, and 
 to stay a while. Bakenkhonsu tells me that he finds 
 life here at Memphis very pleasant, free too from the 
 sicknesses which just now seem to be so common in 
 Egypt; so why should not I do the same, Ana?' 
 
 I looked at his round, ripe face, on which was fixed 
 a smile unchanging as that worn by the masks on 
 mummy coffins, from which I think he must have 
 copied it, and at the cold, deep eyes above, and shiv- 
 ered a little. To tell truth I feared this man, whom 
 I felt to be in touch with presences and things that 
 are not of our world, and thought it wisest to with- 
 stand him no more. 
 
 1 That is a question which you had best put to my 
 master Seti who owns this house. Come, I will lead 
 you to him/ I said. 
 
 So we went to the great portico of the palace, passing 
 in and out through the painted pillars, towards my 
 own apartments, whence I purposed to send a message 
 to the Prince. As it chanced this was needless, since 
 presently we saw him seated in a little bay out of 
 reach of the sun. By his side was Merapi, and on a 
 woven rug between them lay their sleeping infant, at 
 whom both of them gazed adoringly. 
 
 1 Strange that this mother's heart should hide more 
 might than can be boasted by all the gods of Egypt. 
 
KI COMES TO MEMPHIS 223 
 
 Strange that those mother's eyes can rive the ancient 
 glory of Amon into dust!' Ki said to me in so low a 
 voice that it almost seemed as though I heard his 
 thought and not his words, which perhaps indeed I 
 did. 
 
 Now we stood in front of these three, and the sun 
 being behind us, for it was still early, the shadow of 
 the cloaked Ki fell upon the babe and lay there. A 
 hateful fancy came to me. It looked like the veiled 
 form of an embalmer bending over one new dead. 
 The babe felt it, opened its large eyes and wailed. 
 Merapi saw it, and snatched up her child. Seti too 
 rose from his seat, exclaiming, ' Who comes? ' 
 
 Thereon, to my amazement, Ki prostrated himself 
 and uttered the salutation which may only be given 
 to the King of Egypt: 'Life! Blood! Strength! Pha- 
 raoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!' 
 
 'Who dares utter those words to me?' said Seti. 
 ' Ana, what madman do you bring here? ' 
 
 'May it please the Prince, he brought me here,' I 
 replied faintly. 
 
 'Fellow, tell me who bade you say such words, than 
 which none were ever less welcome.' 
 
 'Those whom I serve, Prince.' 
 
 ,' And whom do you serve? ' 
 
 'The gods of Egypt.' 
 
 'Then, man, I think the gods must need your 
 company. Pharaoh does not sit at Memphis, and 
 were he to hear of them ' 
 
 'Pharaoh will never hear them, Prince, until he 
 hears all things.' 
 
 They stared at each other. Then, as I had done by 
 the gate Seti rubbed his eyes and said, 
 
224 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 ' Surely this is Ki. Why, then, did you look other- 
 wise just now?' 
 
 'The gods can change the fashion of their messenger 
 a thousand times in a flash, if so they will, O Prince.' 
 
 Now Seti's anger passed, and turned to laughter. 
 
 'Ki, Ki/ he said, 'you should keep these tricks for 
 Court. But, since you are in the mood, what salu- 
 tation have you for this lady by my side? ' 
 
 Ki considered her, till she who ever feared and 
 hated him shrank before his gaze. 
 
 1 Crown of Hathor, I greet you. Beloved of Isis, 
 shine on perfect in the sky, shedding light and wisdom 
 ere you set.' 
 
 Now this saying puzzled me. Indeed, I did not 
 fully understand it until Bakenkhonsu reminded me 
 that Merapi's name was Moon of Israel, that Hathor, 
 goddess of love, is crowned with the moon in all her 
 statues, that Isis is the queen of mysteries and wisdom, 
 and that Ki who thought Merapi perfect in love and 
 beauty, also the greatest of all sorceresses, was liken- 
 ing her to these. 
 
 'Yes,' I answered, 'but what did he mean when he 
 talked about her setting?' 
 
 'Does not the moon always set, and is it not some- 
 times eclipsed?' he asked shortly. 
 
 ' So does the sun,' I answered. 
 
 'True; so does the sun! You are growing wise, 
 very wise indeed, friend Ana. Oho ho!' 
 
 To return: When Seti heard these words, he laughed 
 again, and said, 
 
 'I must think that saying over, but it is clear that 
 you have a pretty turn for praise. Is it not so, Merapi, 
 Crown of Hathor, and Holder of the wisdom of Isis?' 
 
KI COMES TO MEMPHIS 225 
 
 But Merapi, who, I think, understood more than 
 either of us, turned pale, and shrank further away, 
 but outwards into the sunshine. 
 
 'Well, Ki,' went on Seti, ' finish your greetings. 
 What for the babe?' 
 
 Ki considered it also. 
 
 'Now that it is no longer in the shadow, I see that 
 this shoot from the royal root of Pharaoh grows so 
 fast and tall that my eyes cannot reach its crest. 
 He is too high and great for greetings, Prince.' 
 
 Then Merapi uttered a little cry, and bore the child 
 away. 
 
 'She is afraid of magicians and their dark sayings/ 
 said Seti, looking after her with a troubled smile. 
 
 'That she should not be, Prince, seeing that she is 
 the mistress of all our tribe.' 
 
 'The lady Merapi a magician? Well, after a fashion, 
 yes where the hearts of men are concerned, do 
 you not think so, Ana? But be more plain, Ki. It is 
 still early, and I love riddles best at night.' 
 
 'What other could have shattered the strong and 
 holy house where the majesty of Amon dwells on earth? 
 Not even those prophets of the Hebrews as I think. 
 What other could fence this garden round against the 
 curses that have fallen upon Egypt?' asked Ki earn- 
 estly, for now all his mocking manner had departed. 
 
 'I do not think she does these things, Ki. I think 
 some Power does them through her, and I know that 
 she dared to face Amon in his temple because she was 
 bidden so to do by the priests of her people.' 
 
 'Prince,' he answered with a short laugh, 'a while 
 ago I sent you a message by Ana, which perhaps other 
 thoughts may have driven from his memory. It was 
 
226 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 as to the nature of that Power of which you speak. 
 In that message I said that you were wise, but now I 
 perceive that you lack wisdom like the rest of us, for 
 if you had it, you would know that the tool which 
 carves is not the guiding hand, and the lightning which 
 smites is not the sending strength. So with this 
 fair love of yours, and so with me and all that work 
 marvels. We do not the things we seem to do, who 
 are but the tool and the lightning. What I would 
 know is who or what guides her hand and gives her 
 the might to shield or to destroy/ 
 
 'The question is wide, Ki, or so it seems to me who, 
 as you say, have little wisdom, and whoever can 
 answer it holds the key of knowledge. Your magic is 
 but a small thing which seems great because so few 
 can handle it. What miracle is it that makes the 
 flower to grow, the child to be born, the Nile to rise, 
 and the sun and stars to shine in heaven? What 
 causes man to be half a beast and half a god and to 
 grow downward to the beast or upward to the god 
 - or both? What is faith and what is unbelief? Who 
 made these things, through them to declare the pur- 
 poses of life, of death, and of eternity? You shake 
 your head, you do not know; how then can I know who, 
 as you point out, am but foolish? Go get your answer 
 from the lady Merapi's self, only mayhap you will 
 find your questions countered.* 
 
 Til take my chance. Thanks to Merapi's lord! 
 A boon, Prince, since you will not suffer that other 
 name which comes easiest to the lips of one to whom 
 the Present and the Future are sometimes much alike.' 
 
 Seti looked at him keenly, and for the first time with 
 a tinge of fear in his eyes. 
 
KI COMES TO MEMPHIS 227 
 
 'Leave the Future to itself, Ki/ he exclaimed. 
 ' Whatever may be the mind of Egypt, just now I hold 
 the Present enough for me/ and he glanced first at 
 the chair in which Merapi had been seated and then 
 at the cloth upon which his son had lain. 
 
 'I take back my words. The Prince is wiser than 
 I thought. Magicians know the future because at 
 times it rushes down upon them and they must. It is 
 that which makes them lonely, since what they know 
 they cannot say. But only fools will seek it. ' 
 
 1 Yet now and again they lift a corner of the veil, Ki. 
 Thus I remember certain sayings of your own as to 
 one who would find a great treasure in the land of 
 Goshen and thereafter suffer some temporal loss, and 
 I forget the rest. Man, cease smiling at me with 
 your face and piercing me through with your sword- 
 like eyes. You can command all things, what boon 
 then do you seek from me?* 
 
 'To lodge here a little while, Prince, in the company 
 of Ana and Bakenkhonsu. Hearken, I am no more 
 Kherheb. I have quarrelled with Pharaoh, perhaps 
 because a little breath from that great wind of the 
 future blows through my soul; perhaps because he 
 does not reward me according to my merits what 
 does it matter which? At least I have come to be of 
 one mind with you, O Prince, and think that Pharaoh 
 would do well to let the Hebrews go, and therefore no 
 longer will I attempt to match my magic against theirs. 
 But he refuses, so we have parted.' 
 
 ' Why does he refuse, Ki?' 
 
 'Perhaps because it is written that he must refuse. 
 Or perhaps because, thinking himself the greatest of 
 all kings instead of but a plaything of the gods, pride 
 
228 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 locks the doors of his heart that in a day to come the 
 tempest of the Future, whereof I have spoken, may 
 wreck the house which holds it. I do not know why 
 he refuses, but her Highness Userti is much with him/ 
 
 'For one who does not know, you have many reasons 
 and all of them different, O instructed Ki, 7 said Seti. 
 
 Then he paused, walking up and down the portico, 
 and I who knew his mind guessed that he was wonder- 
 ing whether he would do well to suffer Ki, whom at 
 times he feared because his objects were secret and 
 never changed, to abide in his house, or whether he 
 should send him away. Ki also shivered a little, as 
 though he felt the shadow cold, and descended from 
 the portico into the bright sunshine. Here he held 
 out his hand and a great moth dropped from the roof 
 and lit upon it, whereon he lifted it to his lips, which 
 moved as though he were talking to the insect. 
 
 'What shall I do?' muttered Seti, as he passed me. 
 
 'I do not altogether like his company, nor, I think, 
 does the lady Merapi, but he is an ill man to offend, 
 Prince/ I answered. 'Look, he is talking with his 
 familiar.' 
 
 Seti returned to his place, and shaking off the moth 
 which seemed loth to leave him, for twice it settled on 
 his head, Ki came back into the shadow. 
 
 'Where is the use of your putting questions to me, 
 Ki, when, according to your own showing, already you 
 know the answer that I shall give? What answer shall 
 I give? ' asked the Prince. 
 
 ' That painted creature which sat upon my hand just 
 now, seemed to whisper to me that you would say, O 
 Prince, "Stay, Ki, and be my faithful servant, and use 
 any little lore you have to shield my house from ill."' 
 
KI COMES TO MEMPHIS 229 
 
 Then Seti laughed in his careless fashion, and replied, 
 
 'Have your way, since it is a rule that none of the 
 royal blood of Egypt may refuse hospitality to those 
 who seek it, having been their friends, and I will not 
 quote against your moth what a bat whispered in my 
 ears last night. Nay, none of your salutations re- 
 vealed to you by insects or by the future,' and he gave 
 him his hand to kiss. 
 
 When Ki was gone, I said, 
 
 'I told you that night-haunting thing was his 
 familiar.' 
 
 'Then you told me folly, Ana. The knowledge that 
 Ki has he does not get from moths or beetles. Yet 
 now that it is too late I wish that I had asked the lady 
 Merapi what her will was in this matter. You should 
 have thought of that, Ana, instead of suffering your 
 mind to be led astray by an insect sitting on his hand, 
 which is just what he meant that you should do. Well, 
 in punishment, day by day it shall be your lot to look 
 upon a man with a countenance like like what? ' 
 
 'Like that which I saw upon the coffin of the good 
 god, your divine father, Meneptah, as it was prepared 
 for him during his life in the embalmer's shop at Tanis/ 
 I answered. 
 
 'Yes,' said the Prince, 'a face smiling eternally at the 
 Nothingness which is Life and Death, but in certain 
 lights, with eyes of fire.' 
 
 On the following day, by her invitation, I walked 
 with the lady Merapi in the garden, the head nurse 
 following us, bearing the royal child in her arms. 
 
 'I wish to ask you about Ki, friend Ana,' she said. 
 'You know he is my enemy, for you must have heard 
 
2 3 o MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 the words he spoke to me in the temple of Amon at 
 Tanis. It seems that my lord has made him the guest 
 of this house oh look ! ' and she pointed before her. 
 
 I looked, and there a few paces away, where the 
 shadow of the overhanging palms was deepest, stood 
 Ki. He was leaning on his staff, the same that had 
 turned to a snake in my hand, and gazing upwards like 
 one who is lost ir f thought, or listens to the singing of 
 birds. Merapi turned as though to fly, but at that 
 moment Ki s^w us, although he still seemed to gaze 
 upwards. 
 
 ' Greeting, O Moon of Israel/ he said bowing. 
 'Greeting, Conqueror of Ki!' 
 
 She bowed back, and stood still, as a little bird 
 stands when it sees a snake. There was a long silence, 
 which he broke by asking, 
 
 'Why seek that from Ana which Ki himself is eager 
 to give? Ana is learned, but is his heart the heart of 
 Ki? Above all, why tell him that Ki, the humblest of 
 your servants, is your enemy?' 
 
 Now Merapi straightened herself, looked into his 
 eyes, and answered, 
 
 'Have I told Ana aught that he did not know? Did 
 not Ana hear the last words you said to me in the tem- 
 ple of Amon at Tanis? ' 
 
 'Doubtless he heard them, Lady, and therefore I am 
 glad that he is here to hear their meaning. Lady Mer- 
 api, at that moment, I, the Sacrificer to Amon, was 
 filled not with my own spirit, but with the angry 
 spirit of the god whom you had humbled as never 
 before had befallen him in Egypt. The god through 
 me demanded of you the secret of your magic, and 
 promised you his hate, if you refused. Lady, you have 
 
KI COMES TO MEMPHIS 231 
 
 his hate, but mine you have not, since I also have his 
 hate because I, and he through me, have been worsted 
 by your prophets. Lady, we are fellow-travellers in the 
 Valley of Trouble.' 
 
 She gazed at him steadily, and I could see that of all 
 that passed his lips she believed no one word. Mak- 
 ing no answer to him and his talk of Amon, she asked 
 only, 
 
 'Why do you come here to do me ill who have done 
 you none? ' 
 
 'You are mistaken, Lady/ he replied. 'I come here 
 to refuge from Amon, and from his servant Pharaoh, 
 whom Amon drives on to ruin. I know well that, if 
 you will it, you can whisper in the ear of the Prince and 
 
 presently he will put me forth. Only then ' and 
 
 he looked over her head to where the nurse stood rock- 
 ing the sleeping child. 
 
 'Then what, Magician?' 
 
 Giving no answer, he turned to me. 
 
 'Learned Ana, do you remember meeting me at 
 Tanis one night?' 
 
 I shook my head, though I guessed well enough 
 what night he meant. 
 
 'Your memory weakens, learned Ana, or rather is 
 confused, for we met often, did we not?' 
 
 Then he stared at the staff in his hand. I stared 
 also, because I could not help it, and saw, or thought 
 I saw, the dead wood begin to swell and curve. This 
 was enough for me and I said hastily, 
 
 'If you mean the night of the Coronation, I do re- 
 call ' 
 
 'Ah! I thought you would. You, learned Ana, who 
 like all scribes observe so closely, will have noted how 
 
232 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 little things such as the scent of a flower, or the 
 passing of a bird, or even the writhing of a snake in 
 the dust often bring back to the mind events or 
 words it has forgotten long ago.' 
 
 1 Well what of our meeting? ' I broke in hastily. 
 
 'Nothing at all or only this. Just before it you 
 were talking with the Hebrew Jabez, the lady Merapi's 
 uncle, were you not?' 
 
 ' Yes, I was talking with him in an open place, alone. ' 
 
 'Not so, learned Scribe, for you know we are never 
 alone quite. Could you but see it, every grain of 
 sand has an ear. ' 
 
 'Be pleased to explain, O Ki.' 
 
 'Nay, Ana, it would be too long, and short jests 
 are ever the best. As I have told you, you were not 
 alone, for though there were some words that I did 
 not catch, / heard much of what passed between you 
 and Jabez.' 
 
 'What did you hear?' I asked wrathfully, and next 
 instant wished that I had bitten through my tongue 
 before it shaped the words. 
 
 'Much, much. Let me think. You spoke about 
 the lady Merapi, and whether she would do well to 
 bide at Memphis in the shadow of the Prince, or to 
 return to Goshen into the shadow of a certain I 
 forget the name. Jabez, a well-instructed man, said 
 he thought that she might be happier at Memphis, 
 though perhaps her presence there would bring a 
 great sorrow upon herself and another.' 
 
 Here again he looked at the child, which seemed to 
 feel his glance, for it woke up and beat the air with 
 its little hands. 
 
 The nurse felt it also, although her head was turned 
 
KJ COMES TO MEMPHIS 233 
 
 away, for she started and then took shelter behind 
 the bole of one of the palm-trees. Now Merapi said 
 in a low and shaken voice, 
 
 'I know what you mean, Magician, for since then 
 I have seen my uncle Jabez.' 
 
 'As I have also, several times, Lady, which may 
 explain to you what Ana here thinks so wonderful, 
 namely that I should have learned what they said 
 together when he thought that they were alone, which, 
 as I have told him, no one can ever be, at least in 
 Egypt, the land of listening gods 
 
 'And spying sorcerers,' I exclaimed. 
 
 < And spying sorcerers, ' he repeated after me, 
 
 1 and scribes who take notes, and learn them by heart, 
 and priests with ears as large as asses, and leaves that 
 whisper and many other things.' 
 
 1 Cease your gibes, and say what you have to say,' 
 said Merapi, in the same broken voice. 
 
 He made no answer, but only looked at the tree 
 behind which the nurse and child had vanished. 
 
 'Oh! I know, I know,' she exclaimed in tones that 
 were like a cry. 'My child is threatened! You 
 threaten my child because you hate me.' 
 
 'Your pardon, Lady. It is true that evil threatens 
 this royal babe, or so I understood from Jabez, who 
 knows so much. But it is not I that threaten it, any 
 more than I hate you, in whom I acknowledge a fellow 
 of my craft, but one greater than myself that it is my 
 duty to obey.' 
 
 'Have done! Why do you torment me?' 
 
 ' Can the priests of the Moon-goddess torment Isis, 
 Mother of Magic, with their prayers and offerings? 
 And can I who would make a prayer and an offering-'' 
 
234 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 'What prayer, and what offering?' 
 
 'The prayer that you will suffer me to shelter in 
 this house from the many dangers that threaten me 
 at the hands of Pharaoh and the prophets of your 
 people, and an offering of such help as I can give 
 by my arts and knowledge against blacker dangers 
 which threaten another.' 
 
 Here once more he gazed at the trunk of the tree 
 beyond which I heard the infant wail. 
 
 'If I consent, what then?' she asked, hoarsely. 
 
 'Then, Lady, I will strive to protect a certain little 
 one against a curse which Jabez tells me threatens 
 him and many others in whom runs the blood of 
 Egypt. I will strive, if I am allowed to bide here I 
 do not say that I shall succeed, for as your lord has 
 reminded me, and as you showed me in the temple of 
 Amon, my strength is smaller than that of the prophets 
 and prophetesses of Israel.' 
 
 'And if I refuse?' 
 
 'Then, Lady,' he answered in a voice that rang like 
 iron, ' I am sure that one whom you love as mothers 
 love will shortly be rocked in the arms of the god 
 whom we name Osiris.' 
 
 'Stay,' she cried and, turning, fled away. 
 
 'Why, Ana, she is gone,' he said, 'and that before 
 I could bargain for my reward. Well, this I must find 
 in your company. How strange are women, Ana! 
 Here you have one of the greatest of her sex, as you 
 learned in the temple of Amon. And yet she opens 
 beneath the sun of hope and shrivels beneath the 
 shadow of fear, like the touched leaves of that tender 
 plant which grows upon the banks of the river; she 
 who, with her eyes set on the mystery that is beyond, 
 
KI COMES TO MEMPHIS 235 
 
 whereof she hears the whispering winds, should tread 
 both earthly hope and fear beneath her feet, or make 
 of them stepping stones to glory. Were she a man she 
 would do so, but her sex wrecks her, she who thinks 
 more of the kiss of a babe than of all the splendours 
 she might harbour in her breast. Yes, a babe, a 
 single wretched little babe. You had one once, did 
 you not, Ana?' 
 
 'Oh! to Set and his fires with you and your evil 
 talk/ I said, and left him. 
 
 When I had gone a little way, I looked back and 
 saw that he was laughing, throwing up his staff as he 
 laughed, and catching it again. 
 
 'Set and his fires/ he called after me. 'I wonder 
 what they are like, Ana. Perhaps one day we shall 
 learn, you and I together, Scribe Ana. ' 
 
 So Ki took up his abode with us, in the same lodgings 
 as Bakenkhonsu, and almost every day I would meet 
 them walking in the garden, since I, who was of the 
 Prince's table, except when he ate with the lady Mer- 
 api, did not take my food with them. Then we would 
 talk together about many subjects. On those which 
 had to do with learning, or even religion, I had the 
 better of Ki, who was no great scholar or master of 
 theology. But always before we parted he would plant 
 some arrow in my ribs, at which old Bakenkhonsu 
 laughed, and laughed again, yet ever threw over me 
 the shield of his venerable wisdom, just because he 
 loved me I think. 
 
 It was after this that the plague struck the cattle of 
 Egypt, so that tens of thousands of them died, though 
 not all as was reported. But, as I have said, of the 
 herds of Seti none died, nor, as we were told, did any of 
 
236 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 those of the Israelites in the land of Goshen. Now 
 there was great distress in Egypt, but Ki smiled and 
 said that he knew it would be so, and that there was 
 much worse to come, for which I could have smitten 
 him over the head with his own staff, had I not feared 
 that, if I did so, it might once more turn to a serpent in 
 my hand. 
 
 Old Bakenkhonsu looked upon the matter with an- 
 other face. He said that since his last wife died, I 
 think some fifty years before, he had found life very 
 dull because he missed the exercises of her temper, and 
 her habit of presenting things as these never had been 
 nor could possibly ever be. Now, however, it grew in- 
 teresting again, since the marvels which were happen- 
 ing in Egypt, being quite contrary to Nature, reminded 
 him of his last wife and her arguments. All of which 
 was his way of saying that in those years we lived in a 
 new world, whereof for the Egyptians Set the Evil One 
 seemed to be the king. 
 
 But still Pharaoh would not let the Hebrews go, 
 perhaps because he had vowed as much to Meneptah 
 who set him on the throne, or perhaps for those other 
 reasons, or one of them, which Ki had given to the 
 Prince. 
 
 Then came the curse of sores afflicting man, woman, 
 and child throughout the land, save those who dwelt in 
 the household of Seti. Thus the watchman and his 
 family whose lodge was without the gates suffered, 
 but the watchman and his family who lived within the 
 gates, not twenty paces away, did not suffer, which 
 caused bitterness between their women. In the same 
 way Ki, who resided as a guest of the Prince at Mem- 
 phis, suffered from no sores, whereas those of his Col- 
 
KI COMES TO MEMPHIS 237 
 
 lege who remained at Tanis were more heavily smitten 
 than any others, so that some of them died. When he 
 heard this, Ki laughed and said that he had told them 
 it would be so. Also Pharaoh himself and even her 
 Highness Userti were smitten, the latter upon the 
 chee 1r ., which made her unsightly for a while. Indeed, 
 Bakenkhonsu heard, I know not how, that so great 
 was her rage that she even bethought her of returning 
 to her lord Seti, in whose house she had learned 
 people were safe, and the beauty of her successor, 
 Moon of Israel, remained unscarred and was even 
 greater than before, tidings that I think Bakenkhonsu 
 himself conveyed to her. But in the end this her 
 pride, or her jealousy, prevented her from doing. 
 
 Now the heart of Egypt began to turn towards Seti 
 in good earnest. The Prince, they said, had opposed 
 the policy of the oppression of the Hebrews, and be- 
 cause he could not prevail had abandoned his right to 
 the throne, which Pharaoh Amenmeses had purchased 
 at the price of accepting that policy whereof the fruits 
 had been proved to be destruction. Therefore, they 
 reasoned, if Amenmeses were deposed, and the Prince 
 reigned, their miseries would cease. So they sent 
 deputations to him secretly, praying him to rise against 
 Amenmeses and promising him support. But he would 
 listen to none of them, telling them that he was happy 
 as he was and sought no other state. Still Pharaoh 
 grew jealous, for all these things his spies reported to 
 him, and set about plots to destroy Seti. 
 
 Of the first of these Userti warned me by a messen- 
 ger, but the second and worse Ki discovered in some 
 strange way, so that the murderer was trapped at the 
 gates and killed by the watchman, whereon Seti said 
 
238 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 that after all he had been wise to give hospitality to Ki, 
 that is, if to continue to live were wisdom. The lady 
 Merapi also said as much to me, but I noted that al- 
 ways she shunned Ki, whom she held in mistrust and 
 fear. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE NIGHT OF FEAR 
 
 THEN came the hail, and some months after the hail 
 the locusts, and Egypt went mad with woe and terror. 
 It was known to us, for with Ki and Bakenkhonsu in 
 the palace we knew everything, that the Hebrew 
 prophets had promised this hail because Pharaoh 
 would not listen to them. Therefore Seti caused it 
 to be put about through all the land that the Egyptians 
 should shelter their cattle, or such as were left to them, 
 at the first sign of storm. But Pharaoh heard of it 
 and issued a proclamation that this was not to be done, 
 inasmuch as it would be an insult to the gods of Egypt. 
 Still many did so and these saved their cattle. It was 
 strange to see that wall of jagged ice stretching from 
 earth to heaven and destroying all upon which it fell. 
 The tall date-palms were stripped even of their bark; 
 the soil was churned up; men and beasts if caught 
 abroad were slain or shattered. 
 
 I stood at the gate and watched it. There, not a 
 yard away, fell the white hail, turning the world to 
 wreck, while here within the gate there was not a 
 single stone. Merapi watched also, and presently 
 came Ki as well, and with him Bakenkhonsu, who for 
 once had never seen anything like this in all his long 
 life. But Ki watched Merapi more than he did the 
 hail, for I saw him searching out her very soul with 
 those merciless eyes of his. 
 
 239 
 
240 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 'Lady,' he said at length, Hell your servant, I 
 beseech you, how you do this thing?' and he pointed 
 first to the trees and flowers within the gate and then 
 to the wreck without. 
 
 At first I thought that she had not heard him be- 
 cause of the roar of the hail, for she stepped forward 
 and opened the side wicket to admit a poor jackal that 
 was scratching at the bars. Still this was not so, for 
 presently she turned and said, 
 
 'Does the Kherheb, the greatest magician in Egypt, 
 ask an unlearned woman to teach him of marvels? 
 Well, Ki, I cannot, because I neither do it nor know 
 how it is done.' ; 
 
 Bakenkhonsu laughed, and Ki's painted smile grew 
 as it were brighter than before. 
 
 'That is not what they say in the land of Goshen, 
 Lady, ' he answered, ' and not what the Hebrew women 
 say here in Memphis. Nor is it what the priests of 
 Amon say. These declare that you have more magic 
 than all the sorcerers on the Nile. Here is the proof 
 of it,' and he pointed to the rum without and the peace 
 within, adding, 'Lady, if you can protect your own 
 home, why cannot you protect the innocent people of 
 Egypt?' 
 
 'Because I cannot,' she answered angrily. 'If ever 
 I had such power it is gone from me, who am now the 
 mother of an Egyptian's child. But I have none. 
 There in the temple of Amon some Strength worked 
 through me, that is all, which never will visit me again 
 because of my sin.' 
 
 'What sin, Lady?' 
 
 'The sin of taking the Prince Seti to lord. Now, 
 if any god spoke through me it would be one of 
 
THE NIGHT OF FEAR 241 
 
 those of the Egyptians, since He of Israel has cast 
 me out.' 
 
 Ki started as though some new thought had come 
 to him, and at this moment she turned and went away. 
 
 ' Would that she were high-priestess of Isis that she 
 might work for us and not against us/ he said. 
 
 Bakenkhonsu shook his head. 
 
 'Let that be,' he answered. 'Be sure that never will 
 an Israelitish woman offer sacrifice to what she would 
 call the abomination of the Egyptians.' 
 
 'If she will not sacrifice to save the people, let her 
 be careful lest the people sacrifice her to save them- 
 selves,' said Ki in a cold voice. 
 
 Then he too went away. 
 
 'I think that if ever that hour comes, then Ki will 
 have his share in it,' laughed Bakenkhonsu. 'What is 
 the good of a shepherd who shelters here in comfort, 
 while outside the sheep are dying, eh, Ana?' 
 
 It was after the plague of locusts, which ate all there 
 was left to eat in Egypt, so that the poor folk who had 
 done no wrong and had naught to say to the dealings 
 of Pharaoh with the Israelites starved by the thous- 
 and, and during that of the great darkness, that 
 Laban came. Now this darkness lay upon the land 
 like a thick cloud for three whole days and nights. 
 Nevertheless, though the shadows were deep, there was 
 no true darkness over the house of Seti at Memphis, 
 which stood in a funnel of grey light stretching from 
 earth to sky. 
 
 Now the terror was increased tenfold, and it seemed 
 to me that all the hundreds of thousands of Memphis 
 were gathered outside our walls, so that they might 
 look upon the light, such as it was, if they could do 
 
242 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 no more. Seti would have admitted as many as 
 the place would hold, but Ki bade him not, saying, 
 that if he did so the darkness would flow in with them. 
 Only Merapi did admit some of the Israelitish women 
 who were married to Egyptians in the city, though for 
 her pains they only cursed her as a witch. For now 
 most of the inhabitants of Memphis were certain that 
 it was Merapi who, keeping herself safe, had brought 
 these woes upon them because she was a worshipper 
 of an alien god. 
 
 'If she who is the love of Egypt's heir would but 
 sacrifice to Egypt's gods, these horrors would pass 
 from us,' said they, having, as I think, learned their 
 lesson from the lips of Ki. Or perhaps the emissaries 
 of Userti had taught them. 
 
 Once more we stood by the gate watching the people 
 flitting to and fro in the gloom without, for this sight 
 fascinated Merapi, as a snake fascinates a bird. Then 
 it was that Laban appeared. I knew his hooked nose 
 and hawk-like eyes at once, and she knew him also. 
 
 'Come away with me, Moon of Israel,' he cried, 
 'and all shall yet be forgiven you. But if you will not 
 come, then fearful things shall overtake you.' 
 
 She stood staring at him, answering never a word, 
 and just then the Prince Seti reached us and saw him. 
 
 'Take that man, ' he commanded, flushing with anger, 
 and guards sprang into the darkness to do his bidding. 
 But Laban was gone. 
 
 On the second day of the darkness the tumult was 
 great, on the third it was terrible. A crowd thrust 
 the guard aside, broke down the gates and burst into 
 the palace, humbly demanding that the lady Merapi 
 would come to pray for them, yet showing by their 
 
THE NIGHT OF FEAR 243 
 
 mien that if she would not come they meant to take 
 her. 
 
 'What is to be done?' asked Seti of Ki and Baken- 
 khonsu. 
 
 'That is for the Prince to judge/ said Ki, 'though I 
 do not see how it can harm the lady Merapi to pray for 
 us in the open square of Memphis/ 
 
 'Let her go/ said Bakenkhonsu, 'lest presently we 
 should all go further than we would/ 
 
 'I do not wish to go/ cried Merapi, 'not knowing 
 for whom I am to pray or how.' 
 
 'Be it as you will, Lady/ said Seti in his grave and 
 gentle voice. 'Only, hearken to the roar of the mob. 
 If you refuse, I think that very soon every one of us 
 will have reached a land where perhaps it is not need- 
 ful to pray at all/ and he looked at the infant in her 
 arms. 
 
 ' I will go, ' she said. 
 
 She went forth carrying the child and I walked be- 
 hind her. So did the Prince, but in that darkness he 
 was cut off by a rush of thousands of folk and I saw him 
 no more till all was over. Bakenkhonsu was with me 
 leaning on my arm, but Ki had gone on before us, for 
 his own ends as I think. A huge mob moved through 
 the dense darkness, in which here and there lights 
 floated like lamps upon a quiet sea. I did not know 
 where we were going until the light of one of these 
 lamps shone upon the knees of the colossal statue of 
 the great Rameses, revealing his cartouche. Then I 
 knew that we were near the gateway of the vast temple 
 of Memphis, the largest perhaps in the whole world. 
 
 We went on through court after pillared court, 
 priests leading us by the hand, till we came to a shrine 
 
244 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 commanding the biggest court of all, which was packed 
 with men and women. It was that of Isis, who held 
 at her breast the infant Horus. 
 
 'O friend Ana,' cried Merapi, 'give help. They are 
 dressing me in strange garments/ 
 
 I tried to get near to her but was thrust back, a 
 voice, which I thought was that of Ki, saying, 
 
 'On your life, fool! 7 
 
 Presently a lamp was held up, and by the light of it 
 I saw Merapi seated in a chair dressed like a goddess, 
 in the sacerdotal robes of Isis and wearing the vulture 
 cap 'headdress beautiful exceedingly. In her arms 
 was the child dressed as the infant Horus. 
 
 ' Pray for us, Mother Isis,' cried thousands of voices, 
 'that the curse of blackness may be removed.' 
 
 Then she prayed, saying, 
 
 'O my God, take away this curse of blackness from 
 these innocent people,' and all of those present, repeated 
 her prayer. 
 
 At that moment the sky began to lighten and in less 
 than the half of an hour the sun shone out. When 
 Merapi saw how she and the child were arrayed she 
 screamed aloud and tore off her jewelled trappings, 
 crying, 
 
 'Woe! Woe! Woe! Great woe upon the people of 
 Egypt!' 
 
 But in their joy at the new found light few hearkened 
 to her who they were sure had brought back the sun. 
 Again Laban appeared for a moment. 
 
 'Witch! Traitress!' he cried. 'You have worn the 
 robes of Isis and worshipped in the temple of the gods 
 of the Egyptians. The curse of the God of Israel be 
 on you and that which is born of you.' 
 
THE NIGHT OF FEAR 245 
 
 I sprang at him but he was gone. Then we bore 
 Merapi home swooning. 
 
 So this trouble passed by, but from that time for- 
 ward Merapi would not suffer her son to be taken out 
 of her sight. 
 
 'Why do you make so much of him, Lady?' I 
 asked one day. 
 
 'Because I would love him well while he is here, 
 Friend/ she answered, 'but of this say nothing to his 
 father. 7 
 
 A while went by and we heard that still Pharaoh 
 would not let the Israelites go. Then the Prince Seti 
 sent Bakenkhonsu and myself to Tanis to see Pharaoh 
 and to say to him, 
 
 'I seek nothing for myself and I forget those evils 
 which you would have worked on me through jealousy. 
 But I say unto you that if you will not let these stran- 
 gers go great and terrible things shall befall you and all 
 Egypt. Therefore, hear my prayer and let them go.' 
 
 Now Bakenkhonsu and I came before Pharaoh and 
 we saw that he was greatly aged, for his hair had gone 
 grey about his temples and the flesh hung in bags be- 
 neath his eyes. Also not for one minute could he stay 
 still. 
 
 'Is your lord, and are you also of the servants of this 
 Hebrew prophet whom the Egyptians worship as a god 
 because he has done them so much ill?' he asked. 'It 
 may well be so, since I hear that my cousin Seti keeps 
 an Israelitish witch in his house, who wards off from 
 him all the plagues that have smitten the rest of Egypt, 
 and that to him has fled also Ki the Kherheb, my magi- 
 cian. Moreover, I hear that in payment for these wiz- 
 ardries he has been promised the throne of Egypt by 
 
246 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 many fickle and fearful ones among my people. Let 
 him be careful lest I lift him up higher than he hopes, 
 who already have enough of traitors in this land; and 
 you two with him.' 
 
 Now I said nothing who saw that the man was mad, 
 but Bakenkhonsu laughed out loud and answered, 
 
 1 Pharaoh, I know little, but I know this although I 
 be old, namely, that after men have ceased to speak 
 your name I shall still hold converse with the wearer 
 of the Double Crown in Egypt. Now will you let 
 these Hebrews go, or will you bring death upon Egypt?' 
 
 Pharaoh glared at him and answered, f l will not let 
 them go.' 
 
 'Why not, Pharaoh? Tell me, for I am curious.' 
 
 'Because I cannot,' he answered with a groan. f Be- 
 cause something stronger than myself forces me to 
 deny their prayer. Begone!' 
 
 So we went, and this was the last time that I looked 
 upon Amenmeses at Tanis. 
 
 As we left the chamber I saw the Hebrew prophet 
 entering the presence. Afterward a rumour reached 
 us that he had threatened to kill all the people in 
 Egypt, but that still Pharaoh would not let the Isra- 
 elites depart. Indeed, it was said that he had told the 
 prophet that if he appeared before him any more he 
 should be put to death. 
 
 Now we journeyed back to Memphis with all these 
 tidings and made report to Seti. When Merapi heard 
 them she went half mad, weeping and wringing her 
 hands. I asked her what she feared. She answered 
 death, which was near to all of us. I said, 
 
 /If so, there are worse things, Lady.' 
 For you mayhap who are faithful and good in your 
 
THE NIGHT OF FEAR 247 
 
 own fashion, but not for me. Do you not understand, 
 friend Ana, that I am one who has broken the law of 
 the God I was taught to worship?' 
 
 'And which of us is there who has not broken the 
 law of the god we were taught to worship, Lady? If 
 in truth you have done anything of the sort by flying 
 from a murderous villain to one who loves you well, 
 which I do not believe, surely there is forgiveness for 
 such sins as this.' 
 
 'Aye, perhaps, but, alas! the thing is blacker far. 
 Have you forgotten what I did? Dressed in the robes 
 of Isis I worshipped in the temple of Isis with my boy 
 playing the part of Horus on my bosom. It is a crime 
 that can never be forgiven to a Hebrew woman, Ana, 
 for my God is a jealous God. Yet it is true that Ki 
 tricked me/ 
 
 'If he had not, Lady, I think there would have been 
 none of us left to trick, seeing that the people were 
 crazed with dread of the darkness and believed that it 
 could be lifted by you alone, as indeed happened/ I 
 added somewhat doubtfully. 
 
 ' More of Ki's tricks ! Oh ! do you not understand that 
 the lifting of the darkness at that moment was Ki's 
 work, because he wished the people to believe that I 
 am indeed a sorceress.' 
 
 'Why? 'I asked. 
 
 'I do not know. Perhaps that one day he may find 
 a victim to bind to the altar in his place. At least I 
 know well that it is I who must pay the price, I and my 
 flesh and blood, whatever Ki may promise,' and she 
 looked at the sleeping child. 
 
 'Do not be afraid, Lady,' I said. 'Ki has left the 
 palace and you will see him no more.' 
 
248 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 ' Yes, because the Prince was angry with him about 
 the trick in the temple of Isis. Therefore suddenly 
 he went, or pretended to go, for how can one tell 
 where such a man may really be? But he will come 
 back again. Bethink you, Ki was the greatest ma- 
 gician in Egypt; even old Bakenkhonsu can remember 
 none like to him. Then he matches himself against 
 the prophets of my people and fails.' 
 
 'But did he fail, Lady? What they did he did, 
 sending among the Israelites the plagues that your 
 prophets had sent among us. ' 
 
 'Yes, some of them, but he was outpaced, or feared 
 to be outpaced at last. Is Ki a man to forget that? 
 And if Ki chances really to believe that I am his ad- 
 versary and his master at this black work, as because 
 of what happened in the temple of Amon thousands 
 believe to-day, will he not mete me my own measure 
 soon or late? Oh! I fear Ki, Ana, and I fear the people 
 of Egypt, and were it not for my lord beloved, I would 
 flee away into the wilderness with my son, and get me 
 out of this haunted land! Hush! he wakes/ 
 
 From this time forward until the sword fell there was 
 great dread in Egypt. None seemed to know exactly 
 what they dreaded, but all thought that it had to do 
 with death. People went about mournfully looking 
 over their shoulders as though someone were following 
 them, and at night they gathered together in knots 
 and talked in whispers. Only the Hebrews seemed to 
 be glad and happy. Moreover, they were making 
 preparations for something new and strange. Thus 
 those Israelitish women who dwelt in Memphis began 
 to sell what property they had and to borrow of the 
 Egyptians. Especially did they ask for the loan of 
 
THE NIGHT OF FEAR 249 
 
 jewels, saying that they were about to celebrate a 
 feast and wished to look fine in the eyes of their country- 
 men. None refused them what they asked because 
 all were afraid of them. They even came to the 
 palace and begged her ornaments from Merapi, al- 
 though she was a countrywoman of their own who had 
 showed them much kindness. Yes, and seeing that 
 her son wore a little gold circlet on his hair, one of 
 them begged that also, nor did she say her nay. But, 
 as it chanced, the Prince entered, and seeing the woman 
 with this royal badge in her hand, grew very angry 
 and forced her to restore it. 
 
 'What is the use of crowns without heads to wear 
 them?' she sneered, and fled away laughing, with all 
 that she had gathered. 
 
 After she had heard that saying Merapi grew even 
 sadder and more distraught than she was before, 
 and from her the trouble crept to Seti. He too be- 
 came sad and ill at ease, though when I asked him 
 why he vowed he did not know, but supposed it was 
 because some new plague drew near. 
 
 'Yet,' he added, 'as I have made shift to live through 
 nine of them, I do not know why I should fear a tenth.' 
 
 Still he did fear it, so much that he consulted Baken- 
 khonsu as to whether there were any means by which 
 the anger of the gods could be averted. 
 
 Bakenkhonsu laughed and said he thought not, since 
 always if the gods were not angry about one thing 
 they were angry about another. Having made the 
 world they did nothing but quarrel with it, or with 
 other gods who had a hand in its fashioning, and of 
 these quarrels men were the victims. 
 
 'Bear your woes, Prince/ he added, 'if any come, 
 
250 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 for ere the Nile has risen another fifty times at most, 
 whether they have or have not been, will be the same 
 to you/ 
 
 'Then you think that when we go west we die in- 
 deed, and that Osiris is but another name for the sun- 
 set, Bakenkhonsu.' 
 
 The old Councillor shook his great head, and an- 
 swered, 
 
 'No. If ever you should lose one whom you greatly 
 love, take comfort, Prince, for I do not think that life 
 ends with death. Death is the nurse that puts it to 
 sleep, no more, and in the morning it will wake again 
 to travel through another day with those who have 
 companioned it from the beginning.' 
 
 'Where do all the days lead it to at last, Baken- 
 khonsu?' 
 
 'Ask that of Ki; I do not know/ 
 
 'To Set with Ki, I am angered with him/ said the 
 Prince, and went away. 
 
 'Not without reason, I think/ mused Bakenkhonsu, 
 but when I asked him what he meant, he would not or 
 could not tell me. 
 
 So the gloom deepened and the palace, which had 
 been merry in its way, became sad. None knew what 
 was coming, but all knew that something was coming 
 and stretched out their hands to strive to protect that 
 which they loved best from the stroke of the warring 
 gods. In the case of Seti and Merapi this was their 
 son, now a beautiful little lad who could run and prattle, 
 one too of a strange health and vigour for a child of 
 the inbred race of the Ramessids. Never for a minute 
 was this boy allowed to be out of the sight of one or 
 other of his parents; indeed I saw little of Seti in 
 
THE NIGHT OF FEAR 251 
 
 those days and all our learned studies came to nothing, 
 because he was ever concerned with Merapi in playing 
 nurse to this son of his. 
 
 When Userti was told of it, she said in the hearing 
 of a friend of mine, 
 
 1 Without a doubt that is because he trains his bastard 
 to fill the throne of Egypt.' 
 
 But, alas! all that the little Seti was doomed to 
 fill was a cofHn. 
 
 It was a still, hot evening, so hot that Merapi had 
 bid the nurse bring the child's bed and set it between 
 two pillars of the great portico. There on the bed he 
 slept, lovely as Horus the divine. She sat by his side 
 in a chair that had feet shaped like to those of an 
 antelope. Seti walked up and down the terrace be- 
 yond the portico leaning on my shoulder, and talking 
 by snatches of this or that. Occasionally as he passed 
 he would stay for a while to make sure by the bright 
 moonlight that all was well with Merapi and the 
 child, as of late it had become a habit with him to 
 do. Then without speaking, for fear lest he should 
 awake the boy, he would smile at Merapi, who sat 
 there brooding, her head resting on her hand, and 
 pass on. 
 
 The night was very still. The palm leaves did not 
 rustle, no jackals were stirring, and even the shrill- 
 voiced insects had ceased their cries. Moreover, the 
 great city below was quiet as a home of the dead. 
 It was as though the presage of some advancing doom 
 scared the world to silence. For without doubt doom 
 was in the air. All felt it down to the nurse woman, 
 who cowered close as she dared to the chair of her 
 
252 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 mistress, and even in that hea^ shivered from time 
 to time. 
 
 Presently little Seti awoke, and began to prattle 
 about something he had dreamed. 
 
 'What did you dream, my son?' asked his father. 
 
 'I dreamed, 7 he answered in his baby talk, 'that a 
 woman, dressed as Mother was in the temple, took me 
 by the hand and led me into the air. I looked down, 
 and saw you and Mother with white faces and crying. 
 I began to cry too, but the woman with the feather cap 
 told me not as she was taking me to a beautiful big 
 star where Mother would soon come to find me.' 
 
 The Prince and I looked at each other and Merapi 
 feigned to busy herself with hushing the child to sleep 
 again. It drew towards midnight and still no one 
 seemed minded to go to rest. Old Bakenkhonsu ap- 
 peared and began to say something about the night 
 being very strange and unrestful, when, suddenly, 
 a little bat that was flitting to and fro above us fell 
 upon his head and thence to the ground. We looked 
 at it, and saw that it was dead. 
 
 'Strange that the creature should have died thus/ 
 said Bakenkhonsu, when, behold! another fell to the 
 ground near by. The black kitten which belonged to 
 little Seti saw it fall and darted from beside his bed 
 where it was sleeping. Before ever it reached the 
 bat, the creature wheeled round, stood upon its hind 
 legs, scratching at the air about it, then uttered one 
 pitiful cry and fell over dead. 
 
 We stared at it, when suddenly far away a dog 
 howled in a very piercing fashion. Then a cow began 
 to bale as these beasts do when they have lost their 
 calves. Next, quite close at hand but without the 
 
THE NIGHT OF FEAR 253 
 
 gates, there arose the ear-curdling cry of a woman in 
 agony, which on the instant seemed to be echoed from 
 every quarter, till the air was full of wailing. 
 
 1 Oh, Seti! Seti!' exclaimed Merapi, in a voice that 
 was rather a hiss than a whisper, 'look at your son!' 
 
 We sprang to where the babe lay, and looked. He 
 had awakened and was staring upward with wide- 
 opened eyes and frozen face. The fear, if such it were, 
 passed from his features, though still he stared. He 
 rose to his little feet, always looking upwards. Then 
 a smile came upon his face, a most beautiful smile; 
 he stretched out his arms, as though to clasp one who 
 bent down towards him, and fell backwards quite 
 dead. 
 
 Seti stood still as a statue; we all stood still, even 
 Merapi. Then she bent down, and lifted the body of 
 the boy. 
 
 'Now, my lord,' she said, 'there has fallen on you 
 that sorrow which Jabez my uncle warned you would 
 come, if ever you had aught to do with me. Now the 
 curse of Israel has pierced my heart, and now our 
 child, as Ki the evil prophesied, has grown too great 
 for greetings, or even for farewells/ 
 
 Thus she spoke in a cold and quiet voice, as one 
 might speak of something long expected or foreseen, 
 then made her reverence to the Prince, and departed, 
 bearing the body of the child. Never, I think, did 
 Merapi seem more beautiful to me than in this, her 
 hour of bereavement, since now through her woman's 
 loveliness shone out some shadow of the soul within. In- 
 deed, such were her eyes and such her movements that 
 well might it have been a spirit and not a woman who 
 departed from us with that which had been her son. 
 
254 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 Seti leaned on my shoulder looking at the empty bed, 
 and at the scared nurse who still sat behind, and I felt 
 a tear drop upon my hand. Old Bakenkhonsu lifted 
 his massive face, and looked at him. 
 
 ' Grieve not over much, Prince/ he said, 'since, ere 
 as many years as I have lived out have come and gone, 
 this child will be forgotten and his mother will be for- 
 gotten, and even you, O Prince, will live but as a name 
 that once was great in Egypt. And then, Prince, 
 elsewhere the game will begin afresh, and what you 
 have lost shall be found anew, and the sweeter for its 
 sheltering from the vile breath of men. Ki's magic is 
 not all a lie, or if his is, mine holds some shadow of 
 the truth, and when he said to you yonder in Tanis 
 that not for nothing were you named Lord of Re- 
 births/ he spoke words that you should find comfort- 
 able to-night/ 
 
 'I thank you, Councillor/ said Seti, and turning, 
 followed Merapi. 
 
 'Now I suppose we shall have more deaths,' I ex- 
 claimed, scarcely knowing what I said in my sorrow. 
 
 'I think not, Ana/ answered Bakenkhonsu, 'since 
 the shield of Jabez, or of his god, is over us. Always 
 he foretold that trouble would come to Merapi, and to 
 Seti through Merapi, but that is all.' 
 
 I glanced at the kitten. 
 
 'It strayed here from the town three days ago, Ana. 
 And the bats also may have flown from the town. 
 Hark to the wailing. Was ever such a sound heard 
 before in Egypt?' 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 JABEZ SELLS HORSES 
 
 BAKENKHONSU was right. Save the son of Seti alone, 
 none died who dwelt in or about his house, though 
 elsewhere all the first-born of Egypt lay dead, and the 
 first-born of the beasts also. When this came to be 
 known throughout the land a rage seized the Egyptians 
 against Merapi who, they remembered, had called 
 down woe on Egypt after she had been forced to pray 
 in the temple and, as they believed, to lift the darkness 
 from Memphis. 
 
 Bakenkhonsu and I and others who loved her 
 pointed out that her own child had died with the rest. 
 To this it was answered, and here I thought I saw the 
 fingers of Userti and of Ki, that it was nothing, since 
 witches did not love children. Moreover, they said 
 she could have as many as she liked and when she 
 liked, making them to look like children out of clay 
 figures and to grow up into evil spirits to torment 
 the land. Lastly, people swore that she had been 
 heard to say that, although to do it she must kill her 
 own lord's son, she would not on that account forego 
 her vengeance on the Egyptians, who once had treated 
 her as a slave and murdered her father. Further, 
 the Israelites themselves, or some of them, mayhap 
 Laban among them, were reported to have told the 
 Egyptians that it was the sorceress who had bewitched 
 Prince Seti who brought such great troubles on them. 
 
 255 
 
4 256 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 So it happened that the Egyptians came to hate 
 Merapi, who of all women was the sweetest and the 
 most to be loved, and to her other supposed crimes, 
 added this also, that by her witcheries she had stolen 
 the heart of Seti away from his lawful wife and made 
 him to turn that lady, the Royal Princess of Egypt, 
 even from his gates, so that she was forced to dwell alone 
 at Tanis. For in all these matters none blamed Seti, 
 whom everyone in Egypt loved, because it was known 
 that he would have dealt with the Israelites in a very 
 different fashion, and thus averted all the woes that had 
 desolated the ancient land of Khem. As for this 
 matter of the Hebrew girl with the big eyes who 
 chanced to have thrown a spell upon him, that was his 
 ill-fortune, nothing more. Amongst the many women 
 with whom they believed he filled his house, as was the 
 way of princes, it was not strange that one favourite 
 should be a witch. Indeed, I am certain that only 
 because he was known to love her, was Merapi saved 
 from death by poison or in some other secret fashion, 
 at any rate for a while. 
 
 Now came the glad tidings that the pride of Pharaoh 
 was broken at last (for his first-born child had died with 
 the others), or that the cloud of madness had lifted 
 from his brain, whichever it might be, and that he 
 had decreed that the Children of Israel might depart 
 from Egypt when and whither they would. Then the 
 people breathed again, seeing hope that their miseries 
 might end. 
 
 It was at this time that Jabez appeared once more 
 at Memphis, driving a number of chariot horses, 
 which he said he wished to sell to the Prince, as he did 
 not desire them to pass into any other hands. He was 
 
JABEZ SELLS HORSES 257 
 
 admitted and stated the price of his horses, according 
 to which they must have been beasts of great value. 
 
 'Why do you wish to sell your horses?' asked Seti. 
 
 'Because I go with my people into lands where there 
 is little water and there they might die, O Prince.' 
 
 'I will buy the horses. See to it, Ana,' said Seti, al- 
 though I knew well that already he had more than he 
 needed. 
 
 The Prince rose to show that the interview was 
 ended, whereon Jabez, who was bowing his thanks, 
 said hurriedly, 
 
 'I rejoice to learn, O Royal One, that things have 
 befallen as I foretold, or rather was bidden to foretell, 
 and that the troubles which have afflicted Egypt have 
 passed by your dwelling.' 
 
 'Then you rejoice to learn a falsehood, Hebrew, 
 since the worst of those troubles has made its home 
 here. My son is dead,' and he turned away. 
 
 Jabez lifted his shifty eyes from the floor and glanced 
 at him. 
 
 'Prince,' he said, 'I know and grieve because this 
 loss has cut you to the heart. Yet it was no fault of 
 mine or of my people. If you think, you will remem- 
 ber that both when I built a wall of protection about 
 this place because of your good deeds to Israel, O Prince, 
 and before, I warned, and caused you to be warned, that 
 if you and my niece, Moon of Israel, came together a 
 great trouble might fall on you through her who, hav- 
 ing become the woman of an Egyptian in defiance of 
 command, must bear the fate of Egyptian women.' 
 
 'It may be so,' said the Prince. 'The matter is not 
 one of which I care to talk. If this death was wrought 
 by the magic of your wizards I have only this to say 
 
258 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 that it is an ill payment to me in return for all that 
 I have striven to do on behalf of the Hebrews. Yet, 
 what else could I expect from such a people in such a 
 world? Farewell.' 
 
 'One prayer, Prince. I would ask your leave to 
 speak with my niece, Merapi.' 
 
 'She is veiled. Since the murder of her child by 
 wizardry, she sees no man/ 
 
 'Still I think she will see her uncle, O Prince.' 
 
 'What then do you wish to say to her?' 
 
 'O Prince, through the clemency of Pharaoh we poor 
 slaves are about to leave the land of Egypt never 
 to return. Therefore, if my niece remains behind, it is 
 natural that I should wish to bid her farewell, and to 
 confide to her certain matters connected with our race 
 and family, which she might desire to pass on to her 
 children.' 
 
 Now, when he heard this word 'children' Seti 
 softened. 
 
 'I do not trust you,' he said. 'You may be charged 
 with more of your Hebrew curses against Merapi, or 
 you may say words to her that will make her even un- 
 happier than she is. Yet if you would wish to see her 
 in my presence ' 
 
 ' My lord Prince, I will not trouble you so far. Fare- 
 well. Be pleased to convey ' 
 
 'Or if that does not suit you,' interrupted Seti, 'in 
 the presence of Ana here you can do so, unless she re- 
 fuses to receive you.' 
 
 Jabez reflected for a moment, and answered, 
 
 'Then in the presence of Ana let it be, since he is a 
 man who knows when to be silent.' 
 
 Jabez made obeisance and departed, and at a sign 
 
JABEZ SELLS HORSES 259 
 
 from the Prince I followed him. Presently we were 
 ushered into the chamber of the lady Merapi, where 
 she sat looking most sad and lonely, with a veil of 
 black upon her head. 
 
 ' Greeting, my uncle,' she said, after glancing at me, 
 whose presence I think she understood. 'Are you the 
 bearer of more prophecies? I pray not, since your 
 last were over true/ and she touched the black veil with 
 her finger. 
 
 'I am the bearer of tidings, and of a prayer, Niece. 
 The tidings are that the people of Israel are about to 
 leave Egypt. The prayer, which is also a command, is 
 that you make ready to accompany them ' 
 
 'To Laban?' she asked, looking up. 
 
 'No, my niece. Laban would not wish as a wife one 
 who has been the mistress of an Egyptian, but to play 
 your part, however humble, in the fortunes of our 
 people/ 
 
 'I am glad that Laban does not wish what he never 
 could obtain, my uncle. Tell me, I pray you, why 
 should I hearken to this prayer, or this command? ' 
 
 ' For a good reason, Niece that your life hangs on 
 it. Heretofore you have been suffered to take your 
 heart's desire. But if you bide in Egypt where you 
 have no longer a mission to fulfil, having done all that 
 was sought of you in keeping the mind of your lover, 
 the Prince Seti, true to the cause of Israel, you will 
 surely die.' 
 
 'You mean that our people will kill me?' 
 
 'No, not our people. Still you will die/ 
 
 She took a step towards him, and looked him in the 
 eyes. 
 
 'You are certain that I shall die, my uncle?' 
 
2 6o MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 f l am, or at least others are certain. 7 
 
 Now she laughed; it was the first time I had seen 
 her laugh for several moons. 
 
 * Then I will stay here, ' she said. 
 
 Jabez stared at her. 
 
 'I thought that you loved this Egyptian, c who in- 
 deed is worthy of any woman's love, ' he muttered into 
 his beard. 
 
 ' Perhaps it is because I love him that I wish to die. 
 I have given him all I have to give; there is nothing 
 left of my poor treasure except what will bring trouble 
 and misfortune on his head. Therefore the greater 
 the love and it is more great than all those pyra- 
 mids massed to one the greater the need that it 
 should be buried for a while. Do you understand?' 
 
 He shook his head. 
 
 1 1 understand only that you are a very strange 
 woman, different from any other that I have known/ 
 
 'My child, who was slain with the rest, was all the 
 world to me, and I would be where he is. Do you 
 understand now?' 
 
 'You would leave your life, in which, being young, 
 you may have more children, to lie in a tomb with 
 your dead son?' he asked slowly, like one astonished. 
 
 l l only care for life while it can serve him whom I 
 love, and if a day comes when he sits upon the throne 
 how will a daughter of the hated Israelites serve him 
 then? Also I do not wish for more children. Living 
 or dead, he that is gone owns all my heart; there is 
 no room in it for others. That love at least is pure 
 and perfect, and having been embalmed by death, 
 can never change. Moreover, it is not in a tomb that 
 I shall lie withjiim, or so I believe. The faith of these 
 
JABEZ SELLS HORSES 261 
 
 Egyptians which we despise tells of a life eternal in 
 the heavens, and thither I would go to seek that which 
 is lost, and to wait that which is left behind awhile.' 
 
 'Ah!' said Jabez. 'For my part I do not trouble 
 myself with these problems, who find in a life temporal 
 on the earth enough to fill my thoughts and hands. 
 Yet, Merapi, you are a rebel, and whether in heaven 
 or on earth, how are rebels received by the king against 
 whom they have rebelled?' 
 
 ' You say I am a rebel, ' she said, turning on him with 
 flashing eyes. 'Why? Because I would not dishonour 
 myself by marrying a man I hate, one also who is a 
 murderer, and because while I live I will not desert 
 a man whom I love to return to those who have done 
 me naught but evil. Did God then make women to 
 be sold like cattle of the field for the pleasure and the 
 profit of him who can pay the highest?' 
 
 ' It seems so, ' said Jabez, spreading out his hands. 
 
 'It seems that you think so, who fashion God as 
 you would wish him to be, but for my part I do not 
 believe it, and if I did, I should seek another king. 
 My uncle, I appeal from the priest and the elder to 
 That which made both them and me, and by Its 
 judgment I will stand or fall.' 
 
 ' Always a very dangerous thing to do,' reflected 
 Jabez aloud, 'since the priest is apt to take the law 
 into his own hands before the cause can be pleaded 
 elsewhere. Still, who am I that I should set up my 
 reasonings against one who can grind Amon to powder 
 in his own sanctuary, and who therefore may have 
 warrant for all she thinks and does?' 
 
 Merapi stamped her foot. 
 
 'You know well it was you who brought me the 
 
262 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 command to dare the god Amon in his temple. It 
 was not I ' she began. 
 
 'I do know,' replied Jabez waving his hand. 'I 
 know also that is what every wizard says, whatever his 
 nation or his gods, and what no one ever believes. 
 Thus because, having faith, you obeyed the command 
 and through you Amon was smitten, among both the 
 Israelites and the Egyptians you are held to be the 
 greatest sorceress that has looked upon the Nile, and 
 that is a dangerous repute, my niece.' 
 
 'One to which I lay no claim, and never sought/ 
 
 4 Just so, but which all the same has come to you. 
 Well, knowing as without doubt you do all that will 
 soon befall in Egypt, and having been warned, if you 
 needed warning, of the danger with which you yourself 
 are threatened, you still refuse to obey this second 
 command which it is my duty to deliver to you?' 
 
 ' I refuse. ' 
 
 'Then on your own head be it, and farewell. Oh! 
 I would add that there is certain property in cattle, 
 and the fruit of lands which descends to you from your 
 father. In the event of your death 
 
 'Take it all, my uncle, and may it prosper you. 
 Farewell.' 
 
 ' A great woman, friend Ana, and a beautiful, ' said the 
 old Hebrew, after he had watched her go. ' I grieve that 
 I shall never see her again, and, indeed, that no one 
 will see her for very long; for, remember, she is my 
 niece of whom I am fond. Now I too must be going, 
 having completed my errand. All good fortune to 
 you, Ana. You are no longer a soldier, are you? 
 No? Believe me, it is as well, as you will learn. My 
 homage to the Prince. Think of me at times, when 
 
JABEZ SELLS HORSES 263 
 
 you grow old, and not unkindly, seeing that I have 
 served you as best I could, and your master also, who 
 I hope will soon find again that which he lost awhile 
 ago.' 
 
 'Her Highness, Princess Userti,' I suggested. 
 
 'The Princess Userti amongst other things, Ana. 
 Tell the Prince, if he should deem them costly, that 
 those horses which I sold him are really of the finest 
 Syrian blood, and of a strain that my family has owned 
 for generations. If you should chance to have any 
 friend whose welfare you desire, let him not go into the 
 desert soldiering during the next few moons, especially 
 if Pharaoh be in command. Nay, I know nothing, but 
 it is a season of great storm. Farewell, friend Ana, 
 and again farewell/ 
 
 'Now what did he mean by that?' thought I to my- 
 self, as I departed to make my report to Seti. But no 
 answer to the question rose in my mind. 
 
 Very soon I began to understand. It appeared that 
 at length the Israelites were leaving Egypt, a vast 
 horde of them, and with them tens of thousands of 
 Arabs of various tribes who worshipped their god and 
 were, some of them, descended from the people of the 
 Hyksos, the shepherds who once ruled in Egypt. That 
 this was true was proved to us by the tidings which 
 reached us that all the Hebrew women who dwelt in 
 Memphis, even those of them, who were married to 
 Egyptians, had departed from the city, leaving be- 
 hind them their men and sometimes their children. 
 Indeed, before these went, certain of them who had 
 been friends visited Merapi and asked her if she were 
 not coming also. She shook her head as she replied, 
 
 'Why do you go? Are you so fond of journeyings 
 
264 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 in the desert that for the sake of them you are ready 
 never again to look upon the men you love and the 
 children of your bodies?' 
 
 ' No, Lady,' they answered, weeping. ' We are happy 
 here in white-walled Memphis and here, listening to 
 the murmur of Nile, we would grow old and die, 
 rather than strive to keep house in some desert tent 
 with a stranger or alone. Yet fear drives us hence.' 
 
 'Fear of what?' 
 
 'Of the Egyptians who, when they come to under- 
 stand all that they have suffered at our hands in return 
 for the wealth and shelter which they have given us for 
 many generations, whereby we have grown from a 
 handful into a great people, will certainly kill any 
 Israelite whom they find left among them. Also we 
 fear the curses of our priests who bid us to depart.' 
 
 'Then I should fear these things also,' said Merapi. 
 
 'Not so, Lady, seeing that being the only beloved of 
 the Prince of Egypt who, rumour tells us, will soon be 
 Pharaoh of Egypt, by him you will be protected from 
 the anger of the Egyptians. And being, as all know 
 well, the greatest sorceress in the world, the over- 
 thrower of Amon-Ra the mighty, and one who by 
 sacrificing her child was able to ward away every plague 
 from the household where she dwelt, you have naught 
 to fear from priests and their magic.' 
 
 Then Merapi sprang up, bidding them to leave her 
 to her fate and to be gone to their own, which they did 
 hastily enough, fearing lest she should cast some spell 
 upon them. So it came about that presently the fair 
 Moon of Israel and certain children of mixed blood 
 were all of the Hebrew race that were left in Egypt. 
 Then, notwithstanding the miseries and misfortunes 
 
JABEZ SELLS HORSES 265 
 
 that during the past few years by terror, death, and 
 famine had reduced them to perhaps one half of their 
 number, the people of Egypt rejoiced with a great joy. 
 
 In every temple of every god processions were held 
 and offerings made by those who had anything left to 
 offer, while the statues of the gods were dressed in fine 
 new garments and hung about with gar landings of 
 flowers. Moreover, on the Nile and on the sacred 
 lakes boats floated to and fro, adorned with lanterns 
 as at the feast of the Rising of Osiris. As titular high- 
 priest of Amon, an office of which he could not be de- 
 prived while he lived, Prince Seti attended these dem- 
 onstrations, which indeed he must do, in the great 
 temple of Memphis, whither I accompanied him. 
 When the ceremonies were over he led the procession 
 through the masses of the worshippers, clad in his 
 splendid sacerdotal robes, whereon every throat of the 
 thousands present there greeted him in a shout of thun- 
 der as 'Pharaoh!' or at least as Pharaoh's heir. 
 
 When at length the shouting died, he turned upon 
 them and said, 
 
 ' Friends, if you would send me to be of the company 
 that sits at the table of Osiris and not at Pharaoh's 
 feasts, you will repeat this foolish greeting, whereof our 
 Lord Amenmeses will hear with little joy.' 
 
 In the silence that followed a voice called out, 
 
 'Have no fear, O Prince, while the Hebrew witch 
 sleeps night by night upon your bosom. She who could 
 smite Egypt with so many plagues can certainly shelter 
 you from harm;' whereon the roars of acclamation went 
 up again. 
 
 It was on the following day that Bakenkhonsu the 
 aged returned with more tidings from Tanis, where he 
 
266 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 had been upon a visit. It seemed that a great council 
 had been held there in the largest hall of one of the 
 largest temples. At this council, which was open to all 
 the people, Amenmeses had given report on the matter 
 of the Israelites who, he stated, were departing in their 
 thousands. Also offerings were made to appease the 
 angry gods of Egypt. When the ceremony was fin- 
 ished, but before the company broke up in a heavy 
 mood, her Highness the Princess Userti rose in her 
 place, and addressed Pharaoh. 
 
 'By the spirits of our fathers/ she cried, 'and more 
 especially by that of the good god Meneptah, my 
 begetter, I ask of you, Pharaoh, and I ask of you, 
 people, whether the affront that has been put upon 
 us by these Hebrew slaves and their magicians is one 
 that the proud land of Egypt should be called upon to 
 bear? Our gods have been smitten and defied; woes 
 great and terrible, such as history tells not of, have 
 fallen upon us through magic; tens of thousands, from 
 the first-born child of Pharaoh down, have perished in 
 a single night. And now these Hebrews, who have 
 murdered them by sorcery, for they are sorcerers all, 
 men and women together, especially one of them who 
 sits at Memphis, of whom I will not speak because she 
 has wrought me private harm, by the decree of Pharaoh 
 are to be suffered to leave the land. More, they are 
 to take with them all their cattle, all their threshed 
 corn, all the treasure they have hoarded for generations, 
 and all the ornaments of price and wealth that they 
 have wrung by terror from our people, borrowing that 
 which they never purpose to return. Therefore I, 
 the Royal Princess of Egypt, would ask of Pharaoh, 
 is this the decree of Pharaoh?' 
 
JABEZ SELLS HORSES 267 
 
 'Now/ said Bakenkhonsu, 'Pharaoh sat with hang- 
 ing head upon his throne and made no answer.' 
 
 'Pharaoh does not speak/ went on Userti. "Then 
 I ask, is this the decree of the Council of Pharaoh and 
 of the people of Egypt? There is still a great army in 
 Egypt, hundreds of chariots and thousands of foot- 
 men. Is this army to sit still while these slaves depart 
 into the desert there to rouse our enemies of Syria 
 against us and return with them to butcher us?' 
 
 'At these words/ continued Bakenkhonsu, ' from all 
 that multitude there went up a shout of "No." 
 
 'The people say No. What saith Pharaoh?' cried 
 Userti. 
 
 There followed a silence, till suddenly Amenmeses 
 rose and spoke, 
 
 ' Have it as you will, Princess, and on your head and 
 the heads of all these whom you have stirred up let 
 the evil fall if evil comes, though I think it is your 
 husband, the Prince Seti, who should stand where 
 you stand and put up this prayer in your place.' 
 
 'My husband, the Prince Seti, is tied to Memphis 
 by a rope of witch's hair, or so they tell me,' she sneered, 
 while the people murmured in assent. 
 
 ' I know not, ' went on Amenmeses, ' but this I know 
 that always the Prince would have let these Hebrews 
 go from among us, and at times, as sorrow followed 
 sorrow, I have thought that he was right. Truly 
 more than once I also would have let them go, but ever 
 some Strength, I know not what, descended on my 
 heart, turning it to stone, and wrung from me words 
 that I did not desire to utter. Even now I would let 
 them go, but all of you are against me, and, perchance, 
 if I withstand you, I shall pay for it with my life and 
 
268 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 throne. Captains, command that my armies be made 
 ready, and let them assemble here at Tanis that I 
 myself may lead them after the people of Israel and 
 share their dangers.' 
 
 Then with a mighty shouting the company broke 
 up, so that at the last all were gone and only Pharaoh 
 remained seated upon his throne, staring at the ground 
 with the air, said Bakenkhonsu, rather of one who is 
 dead than of a living king about to wage war upon his 
 foes. 
 
 To all these words the Prince listened in silence, 
 but when they were finished he looked up and asked, 
 
 'What think you, Bakenkhonsu?' 
 
 'I think, O Prince,' answered the wise old man, 'that 
 her Highness did ill to stir up this matter, though 
 doubtless she spoke with the voices of the priests and 
 of the army, against which Pharaoh was not strong 
 enough to stand.' 
 
 'What you think, I think,' said Seti. 
 
 At this moment the lady Merapi entered. 
 
 'I hear, my lord,' she said, 'that Pharaoh purposes 
 to pursue the people of Israel with his host. I come 
 to pray my lord that he will not join himself to the 
 host of Pharaoh.' 
 
 'It is but natural, Lady, that you should not wish 
 me to make war upon your kin, and to speak truth I 
 have no mind that way,' replied Seti, and, turning, 
 left the chamber with her. 
 
 'She is not thinking of her kin but of her lover's 
 life,' said Bakenkhonsu. 'She is not a witch as they 
 declare, but it is true that she knows what we do not.' 
 
 'Yes,' I answered, 'it is true.' 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 THE DREAM OF MERAPI 
 
 A WHILE went by; it may have been fourteen days, 
 during which we heard that the Israelites had started 
 on their journey. They were a mighty multitude who 
 bore with them the coffin and the mummy of their 
 prophet, a man of their blood, Vizier, it is reported, 
 to that Pharaoh who welcomed them to Egypt hundreds 
 of years before. Some said they went this way and 
 some that, but Bakenkhonsu, who knew everything, 
 declared that they were heading for the Lake of Croco- 
 diles, which others name Sea of Reeds, whereby they 
 would cross into the desert beyond, and thence to Syria. 
 I asked him how, seeing that at its narrowest part, 
 this lake was six thousand paces in width, and that the 
 depth of its mud was unfathomable. He replied that 
 he did not know, but that I might do well to inquire of 
 the lady Merapi. 
 
 'So you have changed your mind, and also think 
 her a witch/ I said, to which he answered: 
 
 'One must breathe the wind that blows, and Egypt 
 is so full of witchcraft that it is difficult to say. Also 
 it was she and no other who destroyed the ancient 
 statue of Amon. Oh! yes, witch or no witch, it 
 might be well to ask her how her people purpose to 
 cross the Sea of Reeds, especially if Pharaoh's chariots 
 chance to be behind them.' 
 
 269 
 
270 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 So I did ask her, but she answered that she knew 
 nothing of the matter, and wished to know nothing, 
 seeing that she had separated from her people, and 
 remained in Egypt. 
 
 Then Ki came, I know not whence, and having made 
 his peace with Seti as to the dressing of Merapi in the 
 robes of Isis which, he vowed, was done by the priests 
 against his wish, told us that Pharaoh and a great host 
 had started to pursue the Israelites. The Prince asked 
 him why he had not gone with the host, to which 
 he replied that he was no soldier, also that Pharaoh 
 hid his face from him. In return he asked the Prince 
 why he had not gone. 
 
 Seti answered, because he had been deprived of his 
 command with his other officers and had no wish to 
 take share in this business as a private citizen. 
 
 'You are wise, as always, Prince/ said Ki. 
 
 It was on the following night, very late, while the 
 Prince, Ki, Bakenkhonsu and I, Ana, sat talking, that 
 suddenly the lady Merapi broke in upon us as she had 
 risen from her bed, wild-eyed, and with her hair flowing 
 down her robes. 
 
 'I have dreamed a dream!' she cried. 'I dreamed 
 that I saw all the thousands of my people following 
 after a flame that burned from earth to heaven. They 
 came to the edge of a great water and behind them 
 rushed Pharaoh and all the hosts of the Egyptians. 
 Then my people ran on to the face of the water, and it 
 bore them as though it were sound land. Now the 
 soldiers of Pharaoh were following, but the gods of 
 Egypt appeared, Amon, Osiris, Horus, Isis, Hathor, 
 and the rest, and would have turned them back. Still 
 they refused to listen, and dragging the gods with them, 
 
THE DREAM OF MERAPI 271 
 
 rushed out upon the water. Then darkness fell, and 
 in the darkness sounds of wailing and of a mighty 
 laughter. It passed, the moon rose, shining upon 
 emptiness. I awoke, trembling in my limbs. Inter- 
 pret me this dream if you can, O Ki, Master of Magic.' 
 
 1 Where is the need, Lady,' he answered, awaking 
 as though from sleep, 'when the dreamer is also the 
 seer? Shall the pupil venture to instruct the teacher, 
 or the novice to make plain the mysteries to the high- 
 priestess of the temple? Nay, Lady, I and all the 
 magicians of Egypt are beneath your feet/ 
 
 'Why will you ever mock me?' she said, and as she 
 spoke, she shivered. 
 
 Then Bakenkhonsu opened his lips, saying, 
 
 'The wisdom of Ki has been buried in a cloud of 
 late, and gives no light to us, his disciples. Yet the 
 meaning of this dream is plain, though whether it be 
 also true I do not know. It is that all the host of 
 Egypt, and with it the gods of Egypt, are threatened 
 with destruction because of the Israelites, unless one 
 to whom they will hearken can be found to turn them 
 from some purpose that I do not understand. But to 
 whom will the mad hearken, oh! to whom will they 
 hearken? ' and lifting his great head, he looked straight 
 at the Prince. 
 
 'Not to me, I fear, who now am no one in Egypt/ 
 said Seti. 
 
 'Why not to you, Prince, who to-morrow may be 
 everyone in Egypt? ' asked Bakenkhonsu. ' Always you 
 have pleaded the cause of the Hebrews, and said that 
 naught but evil would befall Egypt because of them, 
 as has happened. To whom, then, will the people 
 and the army listen more readily ?' 
 
272 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 'Moreover, O Prince/ broke in Ki, 'a lady of your 
 household has dreamed a very evil dream, of which, 
 if naught be said, it might be held that it was no 
 dream, but a spell of power aimed against the majesty 
 of Egypt; such a spell as that which cast great Amon 
 from his throne, such a spell as that which has set a 
 magic fence around this house and field.' 
 
 1 Again I tell you that I weave no spells, O Ki, who 
 with my own child have paid the price of them.' 
 
 1 Yet spells were woven, Lady, and as has been known 
 from of old, strength is perfected in sacrifice alone,' 
 Ki answered darkly. 
 
 'Have done with your talk of spells, Magician,' 
 exclaimed the Prince, 'or if you must speak of them, 
 speak of your own, which are many. It was Jabez 
 who protected us here against the plagues, and the 
 statue of Amon was shattered by some god. ' 
 
 'I ask your pardon, Prince,' said Ki bowing, 'it was 
 not this lady but her uncle who fenced your house 
 against the plagues which ravaged Egypt, and it was not 
 this lady but some god working in her which overthrew 
 Amon of Tanis. The Prince has said it. Yet this 
 lady has dreamed a certain dream which Bakenkhonsu 
 has interpreted although I cannot, and I think that 
 Pharaoh and his captains should be told of the dream, 
 that on it they may form their own judgment.' 
 
 'Then why do you not tell them, Ki?' 
 
 'It has pleased Pharaoh, O Prince, to dismiss me 
 from his service as one who failed and to give my office 
 of Kherheb to another. If I appear before the face of 
 Pharaoh I shall be killed.' 
 
 Now I, Ana, listening, wished that Ki would appear 
 before the face of Pharaoh, although I did not believe 
 
THE DREAM OF MERAPI 273 
 
 that he could be killed by him or by anybody else, 
 since against death he had charms. For I was afraid 
 of Ki, and felt in myself that again he was plotting 
 evil to Merapi whom I knew to be innocent. 
 
 The Prince walked up and down the chamber as 
 was his fashion when lost in thought. Presently he 
 stopped opposite to me and said, 
 
 'Friend Ana, be pleased to command that my chariots 
 be made ready with a general's escort of a hundred 
 men and spare horses to each chariot. We ride at 
 dawn, you and I, to seek out the army of Pharaoh and 
 pray audience of Pharaoh/ 
 
 'My lord/ said Merapi in a kind of cry, 'I pray you 
 go not, leaving me alone. ' 
 
 'Why should I leave you, Lady? Come with me 
 if you will.' She shook her head, saying, 
 
 'I dare not. Prince, there has been some charm 
 upon me of late that draws me back to my own people. 
 Twice in the night I have awakened and found myself 
 in the gardens with my face set towards the north, and 
 heard a voice in my ears, even that of my father who 
 is dead, saying, 
 
 '"Moon of Israel, thy people wander in the wilder- 
 ness and need thy light." 
 
 'It is certain therefore that if I came near to them I 
 should be dragged down as wood is dragged of an eddy, 
 nor would Egypt see me any more.' 
 
 'Then I pray you bide where you are, Merapi/ 
 said the Prince, laughing a little', 'since it is certain 
 that where you go I must follow, who have no desire 
 to wander in the wilderness with your Hebrew folk. 
 Well, it seems that as you do not wish to leave Memphis 
 and will not come with me, I must stay with you/ 
 
274 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 Ki fixed his piercing eyes upon the pair of them. 
 
 'Let the Prince forgive me/ he said, 'but I swear it 
 by the gods that never did I think to live to hear the 
 Prince Seti Meneptah set a woman's whims before 
 his honour.' 
 
 'Your words are rough/ said Seti, drawing himself 
 up, 'and had they been spoken in other days, mayhap, 
 Ki- 
 
 'Oh! my lord,' said Ki prostrating himself till his 
 forehead touched the ground, 'bethink you then how 
 great must be the need which makes me dare to speak 
 them. When first I came hither from the court of 
 Tanis, the spirit that is within me speaking through 
 my lips gave certain titles to your Highness, for which 
 your Highness was pleased to reprove me. Yet the 
 spirit in me cannot lie and I know well, and bid all 
 here make record of my words, that to-night I stand 
 in the presence of him who ere two moons have passed 
 will be crowned Pharaoh.' 
 
 'Truly you were ever a bearer of ill- tidings, Ki, 
 but if so, what of it? ' 
 
 'This your Highness: Were it not that the spirits 
 of Truth and Right compel me for their own reasons, 
 should I, who have blood that can be shed or bones 
 that can be broken, dare to hurl hard words at him 
 who will be Pharaoh? Should I dare to cross the will 
 of the sweet dove who nestles on his heart, the wise, 
 white dove that murmurs the mysteries of heaven, 
 whence she came, and is stronger than the vulture of 
 Isis and swifter than the hawk of Ra; the dove that, 
 were she angry, could rend me into more fragments 
 than did Set Osiris?' 
 
 Now I saw Bakenkhonsu begin to swell with inward 
 
THE DREAM OF MERAPI 275 
 
 laughter like a frog about to croak, but Seti answered 
 in a weary voice, 
 
 'By all the birds of Egypt with the sacred crocodiles 
 thrown in, I do not know, since that mind of yours, 
 Ki, is not an open writing which can be read by the 
 passer-by. Still, if you would tell me what is the 
 reason with which the goddesses of Truth and Justice 
 have inspired you - 
 
 'The reason is, Prince, that the fate of all Egypt's 
 army may be hidden in your hand. The time is short 
 and I will be plain. Deny it as she will this lady here, 
 who seems to be but a thing of love and beauty, is the 
 greatest sorceress in Egypt, as I whom she has mas- 
 tered know well. She matched herself against the 
 high god of Egypt and smote him to the dust, and has 
 paid back upon him, his prophets, and his worshippers 
 the ills that he would have worked to her, as in a 
 like case any of our fellowship would do. Now she 
 has dreamed a dream, or her spirit has told her that 
 the army of Egypt is in danger of destruction, and I 
 know that this dream is true. Hasten then, O Prince, 
 to save the hosts of Egypt, which you will surely need 
 when you come to sit upon its throne.' 
 
 'I am no sorceress,' cried Merapi, 'and yet alas! 
 that I must say it this smiling-featured, cold-eyed 
 wizard's words are true. The sword of death hangs 
 over the hosts of Egypt! ' 
 
 'Command that the chariots be made ready,' said 
 Seti again. 
 
 Eight days had gone by. It was sunset and we drew 
 rein over against the Sea of Reeds. Day and night we 
 had followed the army of Pharaoh across the wilderness 
 
276 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 on a road beaten down by his chariot wheels and 
 soldiers, and by the tens of thousands of the Israelites 
 who had passed that way before them. Now from the 
 ridge where we had halted we saw it encamped beneath 
 us, a very great army. Moreover, stragglers told us 
 that beyond, also encamped, was the countless horde 
 of the Israelites, and beyond these the vast Sea of 
 Reeds which barred their path. But we could not see 
 the Israelites or the water on the further side of them 
 for a very strange reason. Between these and the 
 army of Pharaoh rose a black wall of cloud, built as it 
 were from earth to heaven. One of those stragglers 
 of whom I have spoken, told us that this cloud travelled 
 before the Israelites by day, but at night was turned 
 into a pillar of fire. Only on this day, when the army 
 of Pharaoh approached, it had moved round and come 
 between the people of Israel and the army. 
 
 Now when the Prince, Bakenkhonsu, and I heard 
 these things we looked at each other and were silent. 
 Only presently the Prince laughed a little, and said, 
 
 'We should have brought Ki with us, even if we 
 had to carry him bound, that he might interpret this 
 marvel, for it is sure that no one else can. 7 
 
 'It would be hard to keep Ki bound, Prince, if he 
 wished to go free/ answered Bakenkhonsu. 'More- 
 over, before ever we entered the chariots at Mem- 
 phis he had departed south for Thebes. I saw him 
 go.' 
 
 'And I gave orders that he should not be allowed to 
 return, for I hold him an ill guest, or so thinks the 
 lady Merapi/ replied Seti with a sigh. 
 
 'Now that we are here what would the Prince do?' 
 I asked. 
 
THE DREAM OF MERAPI 277 
 
 1 Descend to the camp of Pharaoh and say what we 
 have to say, Ana.' 
 
 'And if he will not listen, Prince?' 
 
 'Then cry our message aloud and return/ 
 
 'And if he will not suffer us to return, Prince?' 
 
 'Then stand still and live or die as the gods may 
 decree.' 
 
 'Truly our lord has a great heart!' exclaimed Baken- 
 khonsu, 'and though I feel over young to die, I am 
 minded to see the end of this matter with him,' and 
 he laughed aloud. 
 
 But I who was afraid thought that 0-ho-ho of his, 
 which the sky seemed to echo back upon our heads, 
 a strange and indeed a fearful sound. 
 
 Then we put on robes of ceremony that we had 
 brought with us, but neither swords nor armour, and 
 having eaten some food, drove on with the half of our 
 guard towards the place where we saw the banners of 
 Pharaoh flying about his pavilion. The rest of our 
 guard we left encamped, bidding them, if aught hap- 
 pened to us, to return and make report at Memphis 
 and in the other great cities. As we drew near to the 
 camp the outposts saw us and challenged. But when 
 they perceived by the light of the setting sun who it 
 was that they challenged, a murmur went through 
 them, of 
 
 'The Prince of Egypt! The Prince of Egypt!' for so 
 they had never ceased to name Seti, and they saluted 
 with their spears and let us pass. 
 
 So at length we came to the pavilion of Pharaoh, 
 round about which a whole regiment stood on guard. 
 The sides of it were looped up high because of the heat 
 of the night which was great, and within sat Pharaoh, 
 
278 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 his captains, his councillors, his priests, his magicians, 
 and many others at meat or serving food and drink. 
 They sat at a table that was bent like a bow, with their 
 faces towards the entrance, and Pharaoh was in the 
 centre of the table with his fan-bearers and butlers be- 
 hind him. 
 
 We advanced into the pavilion, the Prince in the 
 centre, Bakenkhonsu leaning on his staff on the right 
 hand, and I, wearing the gold chain that Pharaoh Men- 
 eptah had given me, on the left, but those with us re- 
 mained among the guard at the entrance. 
 
 'Who are these?' asked Amenmeses, looking up, 
 'who come here unbidden?' 
 
 'Three citizens of Egypt who have a message for 
 Pharaoh,' answered Seti in his quiet voice, 'which we 
 have travelled fast and far to speak in time.' 
 
 'How are you named, citizens of Egypt, and who 
 sends your message?' 
 
 'We are named, Seti Meneptah aforetime Prince of 
 Egypt, and heir to its crown; Bakenkhonsu the aged 
 Councillor, and Ana the scribe and King's Companion, 
 and our message is from the gods.' 
 
 'We have heard those names, who has not?' said 
 Pharaoh, and as he spoke all, or very nearly all, the 
 company rose, or half rose, and bowed towards the 
 Prince. 'Will you and your companions be seated 
 and eat, Prince Seti Meneptah? ' 
 
 'We thank the divine Pharaoh, but we have already 
 eaten. Have we Pharaoh's leave to deliver our mes- 
 sage? ' 
 
 'Speak on, Prince.' 
 
 'O Pharaoh, many moons have gone by, since last 
 we looked upon each other face to face, on that day 
 
THE DREAM OF MERAPI 279 
 
 when my father, the good god Meneptah, disinherited 
 me, and afterwards fled hence to Osiris. Pharaoh 
 will remember why I was thus cut off from the royal 
 root of Egypt. It was because of the matter of these 
 Israelites, who in my judgment had been evilly dealt 
 by, and should be suffered to leave our land. The 
 good god Meneptah, being so advised by you and 
 others, Pharaoh, would have smitten the Israelites 
 with the sword, making an end of them, and to this he 
 demanded my assent as the Heir of Egypt. I refused 
 that assent and was cast out, and since then, you, O 
 Pharaoh, have worn the double crown, while I have 
 dwelt as a citizen of Memphis, living upon such lands 
 and revenues as are my own. Between that hour and 
 this, O Pharaoh, many griefs have smitten Egypt, and 
 the last of them cost you your first-born, and me mine. 
 Yet through them all, O Pharaoh, you have refused to 
 let these Hebrews go, as I counselled should be done at 
 the beginning. At length after the death of the first- 
 born, your decree was issued that they might go. Yet 
 now you follow them with a great army and purpose to 
 do to them what my father, the good god Meneptah, 
 would have done, had I consented, namely to de- 
 stroy them with the sword. Hear me, Pharaoh!' 
 
 'I hear; also the case is well if briefly set. What 
 else would the Prince Seti say?' 
 
 'This, O Pharaoh. That I pray you to return with 
 all your host from the following of these Hebrews, 
 not to-morrow or the next day, but at once this 
 night.' 
 
 'Why, O Prince?' 
 
 'Because of a certain dream that a lady of my house- 
 hold who is Hebrew has dreamed, which dream foretells 
 
2 8o MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 destruction to you and the army of Egypt, unless you 
 hearken to these words of mine.' 
 
 'I think that we know of this snake whom you have 
 taken to dwell in your bosom, whence it may spit 
 poison upon Egypt. It is named Merapi, Moon of 
 Israel, is it not? ' 
 
 'That is the name of the lady who dreamed the 
 dream/ replied Seti in a cold voice, though I felt him 
 tremble with anger at my side, 'the dream that if 
 Pharaoh wills my companions here shall set out word 
 for word to his magicians/ 
 
 'Pharaoh does not will it,' shouted Amenmeses 
 smiting the board with his fist, ' because Pharaoh 
 knows that it is but another trick to save these 
 wizards and thieves from the doom that they have 
 earned.' 
 
 'Am I then a worker of tricks, O Pharaoh? If I had 
 been such, why have I journeyed hither to give warn- 
 ing, when by sitting yonder at Memphis to-morrow, 
 I might once more have become heir to the double 
 crown? For if you will not hearken to me, I tell you 
 that very soon you shall be dead, and with you these* 
 and he pointed to all those who sat at table ' and 
 with them the great army that lies without. Ere you 
 speak, tell me, what is that black cloud which stands 
 before the camp of the Hebrews? Is there no answer? 
 Then I will give the answer. It is the pall that shall 
 wrap the bones of every one of you.' 
 
 Now the company shivered with fear, yes, even the 
 priests and the magicians shivered. But Pharaoh 
 went mad with rage. Springing from his seat, he 
 snatched at the double crown upon his head, and 
 hurled it to the ground, and I noted that the golden 
 
THE DREAM OF MERAPI 281 
 
 uraeus band about it, rolled away, and rested upon 
 Seti's sandalled foot. He tore his robes and shouted, 
 
 1 At least our fate shall be your fate, Renegade, who 
 have sold Egypt to the Hebrew witch in payment of 
 her kisses. Seize this man and his companions, and 
 when we go down to battle against these Israelites 
 to-morrow after the darkness lifts, let them be set 
 with the captains of the van. So shall the truth be 
 known at last.' 
 
 Thus Pharaoh commanded, and Seti, answering 
 nothing, folded his arms upon his breast and waited. 
 
 Men rose from their seats as though to obey Pharaoh 
 and sank back to them again. Guards started for- 
 ward and yet remained standing where they were. 
 Then Bakenkhonsu burst into one of his great laughs. 
 
 'O-ho-ho, 7 he laughed, 'Pharaohs have I seen come 
 and go, one and two and three, and four and five, but 
 never yet have I seen a Pharaoh whom none of his 
 councillors or guards could obey however much they 
 willed it. When you are Pharaoh, Prince Seti, may 
 your luck be better. Your arm, Ana my friend, and 
 lead on, Royal Heir of Egypt. The truth is shown to 
 blind eyes that will not see. The word is spoken to 
 deaf ears that will not hearken, and the duty done. 
 Night falls. Sleep ye well, ye bidden of Osiris, sleep 
 ye well!' 
 
 Then we turned and walked from that pavilion. At 
 its entrance I looked back, and in the low light that 
 precedes the darkness, it seemed to me as though all 
 seated there were already dead. Blue were their 
 faces and hollow shone their eyes, and from their 
 lips there came no word. Only they stared at us as 
 we went, and stared and stared again. 
 
282 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 Without the door of the pavilion, by command of 
 the Prince, I called aloud the substance of the lady 
 Merapi's dream, and warned all within earshot to 
 cease from pursuing the people of Israel, if they would 
 continue to live to look upon the sun. Yet even now, 
 although to speak thus was treason against Pharaoh, 
 none lifted a hand against the Prince, or against me 
 his servant. Often since then I have wondered why 
 this was so, and found no answer to my questionings. 
 Mayhap it was because of the majesty of my master, 
 whom all knew to be the true Pharaoh, and loved at 
 heart. Mayhap it was because they were sure that 
 he would not have travelled so far and placed himself 
 in the power of Amenmeses save to work the armies 
 of Egypt good, and not ill, and to bring them a message 
 that had been spoken by the gods themselves. 
 
 Or mayhap it was because he was still hedged about 
 by that protection which the Hebrews had vowed to 
 him through their prophets with the voice of Jabez. 
 At least so it happened. Pharaoh might command, 
 but his servants would not obey. Moreover, the 
 story spread, and that night many deserted from the 
 host of Pharaoh and encamped about us, or fled back 
 towards the cities whence they came. Also with 
 them were not a few councillors and priests who had 
 talked secretly with Bakenkhonsu. So it chanced that 
 even if Pharaoh desired to make an end of us, as per- 
 haps he purposed to do in the midnight watches, he 
 thought it wisest to let the matter lie until he had 
 finished with the people of Israel. 
 
 It was a very strange night, silent, with a heavy, 
 stirless air. There were no stars, but the curtain of 
 
THE DREAM OF MERAPI 283 
 
 black cloud which seemed to hang beyond the camp 
 of the Egyptians was alive with lightnings which ap- 
 peared to shape themselves to letters that I could not 
 read. 
 
 1 Behold the Book of Fate written in fire by the hand 
 of God!' said Bakenkhonsu, as he watched. 
 
 About midnight a mighty east wind began to blow, 
 so strongly that we must lie upon our faces under the 
 lea of the chariots. Then the wind died away and we 
 heard tumult and shoutings, both from the camp of 
 Egypt, and from the camp of Israel beyond the cloud. 
 Next there came a shock as of earthquake, which threw 
 those of us who were standing to the ground, and by 
 a blood-red moon that now appeared we perceived 
 that all the army of Pharaoh was beginning to move 
 towards the sea. 
 
 'Whither go they?' I asked of the Prince who clung 
 to my arm. 
 
 'To doom, I think,' he answered, 'but to what doom 
 I do not know. ' 
 
 After this we said no more, because we were too 
 much afraid. 
 
 Dawn came at last, showing the most awful sight 
 that was ever beheld by the eye of man. 
 
 The wall of cloud had disappeared, and in the clear 
 light of the morning, we perceived that the deep waters 
 of the Sea of Reeds had divided themselves, leaving a 
 raised roadway that seemed to have been cleared by 
 the wind, or perchance to have been thrown up by the 
 earthquake. Who can say? Not I who never set 
 foot upon that path of death. Along this wide road 
 streamed the tens of thousands of the Israelites, passing 
 
284 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 between the water on the right hand, and the water 
 on the left, and after them followed all the army of 
 Pharaoh, save those who had deserted, and stood or 
 lay around us, watching. We could even see the 
 golden chariots that marked the presence of Pharaoh 
 himself, and of his bodyguard, deep in the heart of the 
 broken host that struggled forward without discipline 
 or order. 
 
 4 What now? Oh! what now?' murmured Seti, and 
 as he spoke there was a second shock of earthquake. 
 Then to the west on the sea there arose a mighty wave, 
 whereof the crest seemed to be high as a pyramid. It 
 rolled forward with a curved and foaming head, and 
 in the hollow of it for a moment, no more, we saw the 
 army of Egypt. Yet in that moment I seemed to see 
 mighty shapes fleeing landwards along the crest of the 
 wave, which shapes I took to be the gods of Egypt, 
 pursued by a form of light and glory that drove them 
 as with a scourge. They came, they went, accom- 
 panied by a sound of wailing, and the wave fell. 
 
 But beyond it, the hordes of Israel still marched 
 upon the further shore. 
 
 Dense gloom followed, and through the gloom I saw, 
 or thought I saw, Merapi, Moon of Israel, standing 
 before us with a troubled face and heard or thought 
 I heard her cry, 
 
 I 0h! help me, my lord Setil Help me, my lord Setil* 
 
 Then she too was gone. 
 
 'Harness the chariots!' cried Seti, in a hollow voice. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 THE CROWNING OF MERAPI 
 
 FAST as sped our horses, rumour, or rather the truth, 
 carried by those who had gone before us, flew faster. 
 Oh! that journey was as a dream begotten by the evil 
 gods. On we galloped through the day and through 
 the night and lo! at every town and village women 
 rushed upon us crying, 
 
 'Is it true, O travellers, is it true that Pharaoh and 
 his host are perished in the sea? ' 
 
 Then old Bakenkhonsu would call in answer, 
 
 1 It is true that he who was Pharaoh and his host are 
 perished in the sea. But lo! here is he who is Pharaoh/ 
 and he pointed to the Prince, who took no heed and 
 said nothing, save, 
 
 1 On! On!' 
 
 Then forward we would plunge again till once more 
 the sound of wailing died into silence. 
 
 It was sunset, and at length we drew near to the 
 gates of Memphis. The Prince turned to me and 
 spoke. 
 
 1 Heretofore I have not dared to ask/ he said, 'but 
 tell me, Ana. In the gloom after the great cliff of water 
 fell and the shapes of terror swept by, did you seem to 
 see a woman stand before us and did you seem to hear 
 her speak? ' 
 
 'I did, Prince.' 
 
286 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 'Who was that woman and what did she say?' 
 
 'She was one who bore a child to you, O Prince, 
 which child is not, and she said, "Oh! help me, my lord 
 Seti. Help me, my lord Seti!" ' 
 
 His face grew ashen even beneath its veil of dust, 
 and he groaned. 
 
 'Two who loved her have seen and two who loved 
 her have heard, ' he said. 'There is no room for doubt. 
 Ana, she is dead!' 
 
 ' I pray the gods ' 
 
 'Pray not, for the gods of Egypt are also dead, 
 slain by the god of Israel. Ana, who has murdered 
 her?' 
 
 With my finger I who am a draughtsman drew in 
 the thick dust that lay on the board of the chariot 
 the brows of a man and beneath them two deep eyes. 
 The gilt on the board where the sun caught it looked 
 like light in the eyes. 
 
 The Prince nodded and said, 
 
 'Now we shall learn whether great magicians such 
 as Ki can die like other men. Yes, if need be, to learn 
 that I will put on Pharaoh's crown.' 
 
 We halted at the gates of Memphis. They were 
 shut and barred, but from within the vast city rose a 
 sound of tumult. 
 
 'Open!' cried the Prince to the guard. 
 
 'Who bids me open?' answered the captain of the 
 gate peering at us, for the low sun lay behind. 
 
 'Pharaoh bids you open.' 
 
 'Pharaoh!' said the man. 'We have sure tidings 
 that Pharaoh and his armies are slain by wizardry in 
 the sea.' 
 
 'Fool!' thundered the Prince, 'Pharaoh never dies. 
 
THE CROWNING OF MERAPI 287 
 
 Pharaoh Amenmeses is with Osiris but the good god 
 Seti Meneptah who is Pharaoh bids you open/ 
 
 Then the bronze gates rolled back, and those who 
 guarded them prostrated themselves in the dust. 
 
 'Man,' I called to the captain, 'what means yonder 
 shouting? ' 
 
 'Sir/ he answered, 'I do not know, but I am told 
 that the witch who has brought woe on Egypt and by 
 magic caused the death of Pharaoh Amenmeses and his 
 armies, dies by fire in the place before the temple.' 
 
 'By whose command?' I cried again as the chariot- 
 eer flogged the horses, but no answer reached our ears. 
 
 We rushed on up the wide street to the great place 
 that was packed with tens of thousands of the people. 
 We drove the horses at them. 
 
 'Way for Pharaoh! Way for the Mighty One, the 
 good god, Seti Meneptah, King of the Upper and the 
 Lower Land!' shouted the escort. 
 
 The people turned and saw the tall shape of the 
 Prince still clad in the robes of state which he had 
 worn when he stood before Amenmeses in the pavilion 
 by the sea. 
 
 'Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Hail to Pharaoh!' they cried, 
 prostrating themselves, and the cry passed on through 
 Memphis like a wind. 
 
 Now we were come to the centre of the place, and 
 there in front of the great gates of the temple burned a 
 vast pyre of wood. Before the pyre moved figures, in 
 one of whom I knew Ki dressed in his magician's robe. 
 Outside of these was a double circle of soldiers who 
 kept the people back, which these needed, for they 
 raved like madmen and shook their fists. A group of 
 priests near the fire separated, and I saw that among 
 
288 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 them stood a man and a woman, the latter with dis- 
 hevelled hair and torn robes as though she had been 
 roughly handled. At this moment her strength seemed 
 to fail her and she sank to the ground, lifting her face 
 as she did so. It was the face of Merapi, Moon of 
 Israel. 
 
 So she was not dead. The man at her side stooped 
 as though to, lift her up, but a stone thrown out of the 
 shadow struck him in the back and caused him to 
 straighten himself, which he did with a curse at the 
 thrower I knew the ? voice at once, although the 
 speaker was .disguised. 
 
 It was that of Laban the Israelite, he who had been 
 betrothed to Merapi, and had striven to murder us in 
 the land of Goshenf What did he here? I wondered 
 dimly. 
 
 Ki was speaking. 'Hark how the Hebrew cat spits,' 
 he said. 'Well, the cause has been tried and the ver- 
 dict given, and I think that the familiar should feed the 
 flames before the witch. Watch him now, and per- 
 haps he will change into something else." 
 
 All this he said, smiling in his usual pleasant fashion, 
 even when he made a sign to certain black temple 
 slaves who stood near. They leapt forward, and I saw 
 the firelight shine upon their copper armlets as they 
 gripped Laban. He fought furiously, shouting, 
 
 'Where are your armies, Egyptians, and where is 
 your dog of a Pharaoh? Go dig them from the Sea of 
 Reeds. Farewell, Moon of Israel. Look how your 
 royal lover crowns you at the last, O faithless ' 
 
 He said no more, for at this moment the slaves 
 hurled him headlong into the heart of the great fire, 
 which blackened for a little and burned bright again. 
 
THE CROWNING OF MERAPI 289 
 
 Then it was that Merapi struggled to her feet and 
 cried in a ringing voice those very words which the 
 Prince and I had seemed to hear her speak far away by 
 the Sea of Reeds 'Oh! help me my lord Seti I Help 
 me, my lord Setlf Yes, the same words which had 
 echoed in our ears days before they passed her lips, or 
 so we believed. 
 
 Now all this while our chariots had been forcing their 
 way foot by foot through the wall of the watching 
 crowd, perhaps while a man might count a hundred, 
 no more. As the echoes of her cry died away at length 
 we were through and leaping to the ground. 
 
 ' The witch calls on one who sups to-night at the 
 board of Osiris with Pharaoh and his host/ sneered Ki. 
 ' Well, let her go to seek him there if the guardian gods 
 will suffer it, 7 and again he made a sign to the black 
 slaves. 
 
 But Merapi had seen or felt Seti advancing from the 
 shadows and seeing flung herself upon his breast. He 
 kissed her on the brow before them all, then bade me 
 hold her up and turned to face the people. 
 
 'Bow down. Bow down. Bow down! 7 cried the 
 deep voice of Bakenkhonsu. 'Life! Blood! Strength! 
 Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! 7 and what he said the 
 escort echoed. 
 
 Then of a sudden the multitude understood. To 
 their knees they fell and from every side rose the an- 
 cient salutation. Seti held up his hand and blessed 
 them. Watching, I saw Ki slip towards the darkness, 
 and whispered a word to the guards, who sprang upon 
 him and brought him back. 
 
 Then the Prince spoke: 
 
 'Ye name me Pharaoh, people of Memphis, and 
 
2 9 o MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 Pharaoh I fear I am by descent of blood to-day, though 
 whether I will consent to bear the burdens of govern- 
 ment, should Egypt wish it of me, as yet I know not. 
 Still he who wore the double crown is, I believe, dead 
 in the midst of the sea; at the least I saw the waters 
 overwhelm him and his army. Therefore, if only for 
 an hour, I will be Pharaoh, that as Pharaoh I may 
 judge of certain matters. Lady Merapi, tell me, 
 I pray you, how came you to this pass?' 
 
 'My lord,' she answered, in a low voice, ' after you 
 had gone to warn the army of Pharaoh because of that 
 dream I dreamed, Ki, who departed on the same day, 
 returned again. Through one of the women of the 
 household, over whom he had power, or so I think, 
 he obtained access to me when I was alone in my cham- 
 ber. There he made me this offer: 
 
 '"Give me," he said, "the secret of your magic 
 that I may be avenged upon the wizards of the He- 
 brews who have brought about my downfall, and upon 
 the Hebrews themselves, and also upon all my other 
 enemies, and thus once more become the greatest man 
 in Egypt. In turn I will fulfil all your desires, and 
 make you, and no other, Queen of Egypt, and be your 
 faithful servant, and that of your lord Seti who shall 
 be Pharaoh, until the end of your lives. Refuse, and 
 I will stir up the people against you, and before ever 
 the Prince returns, if he returns at all, they who be- 
 lieve you to be an evil sorceress shall mete out to you 
 the fate of a sorceress. " 
 
 'My lord, I answered to Ki what I have often told 
 him before, that I had no magic to reveal to him, I who 
 knew nothing of the black arts of sorcery, seeing that 
 it was not I who destroyed the statue of Amon in 
 
THE CROWNING OF MERAPI 291 
 
 the temple at Tanis, but that same Power which since 
 then has brought all the plagues on Egypt. I said, 
 too, that I cared nothing for the gifts he offered to 
 me, as I had no wish to be Queen of Egypt. My lord, 
 he laughed in my face, saying I should find that he was 
 one ill to mock, as others had found before me. Then 
 he pointed at me with his wand and muttered some 
 spell over me, which seemed to numb my limbs and 
 voice, holding me helpless till he had been gone a long 
 while, and could not be found by your servants, 
 whom I commanded in your name to seize, and keep 
 him till your return. 
 
 'From that hour the people began to threaten me. 
 They crowded about the palace gates in thousands, 
 crying day and night that they were going to kill me, 
 the witch. I prayed for help, but from me, a sinner, 
 heaven has grown so far away that my prayers seem 
 to fall back unheard upon my head. Even the serv- 
 ants in the palace turned against me, and would not 
 look upon my face. I grew mad with fear and lone- 
 liness, since all fled before me. At last one night 
 towards the dawn I went on to the terrace, and since no 
 god would hear me, I turned towards the north whither 
 I knew that you had gone, and cried to you to help me 
 in those same words which I cried again just now be- 
 fore you appeared/ (Here the Prince looked at me 
 and I Ana looked at him.) 'Then it was that from 
 among the bushes of the garden appeared a man, hid- 
 den in a long, sheepskin cloak, so that I could not see 
 his face, who said to me, 
 
 '"Moon of Israel, I have been sent by his Highness, 
 the Prince Seti, to tell you that you are in danger of 
 your life, as he is in danger of his, wherefore he cannot 
 
292 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 come to you. His command is that you come to him, 
 that together you may flee away out of Egypt to a 
 land where you will both be safe until all these troubles 
 are finished/ 
 
 1 "How know I that you of the veiled face are a true 
 messenger?" I asked. "Give me a sign." 
 
 'Then he held out to me that scarabaeus of lapis- 
 lazuli which your Highness gave to me far away in the 
 land of Goshen, the same that you asked back from me 
 as a love token when we plighted troth, and you gave 
 me your royal ring, which scarabaeus I had seen in 
 your robe when you drove away with Ana. ' 
 
 'I lost it on our journey to the Sea of Reeds, but 
 said nothing of it to you, Ana, because I thought the 
 omen evil, having dreamed in the night that Ki ap- 
 peared and stole it from me,' whispered the Prince to 
 me. 
 
 '"It is not enough," I answered. "This jewel may 
 have been thieved away, or snatched from the dead 
 body of the Prince, or taken from him by magic. " 
 
 'The cloaked man thought a while and said, "This 
 night, not an hour ago, Pharaoh and his chariots were 
 overwhelmed in the Sea of Reeds. Let that serve as a 
 sign." 
 
 ' "How can this be?" I answered, "since the Sea of 
 Reeds is far away, and such tidings cannot travel 
 thence in an hour. Get you gone, false tempter. " 
 
 ' "Yet it is so," he answered. 
 
 ' "When you prove it to me, I will believe, and come. " 
 
 ' "Good," ' he said, and was gone. 
 
 'Next day a rumour began to run that this awful 
 thing had happened. It grew stronger and stronger, 
 until all swore that it had happened. Now the fury 
 
THE CROWNING OF MERAPI 293 
 
 of the people rose against me, and they ravened round 
 the palace like lions of the desert, roaring for my blood. 
 Yet it was as though they could not enter here, since 
 whenever they rushed at the gates or walls, they fell 
 back again, for some spirit seemed to protect the place. 
 The days went by; the night came again and at the 
 dawn, this dawn that is past, once more I stood upon 
 the terrace, and once more the cloaked man appeared 
 from among the trees. 
 
 '"Now you have heard, Moon of Israel," he said, 
 "and now you must believe and come, although you 
 think yourself safe because at the beginning of the 
 plagues this, the home of Seti, was enchanted against 
 evil, so that none within it can be harmed." 
 
 ' "I have heard, and I think that I believe, though 
 how the tidings reached Memphis in an hour I do not 
 understand. Yet, stranger, I say to you that it is not 
 enough. " 
 
 'Then the man drew a papyrus roll from his bosom 
 and threw it at my feet. I opened it and read. The 
 writing was the writing of Ana as I knew well, and the 
 signature was the signature of you, my lord, and it was 
 sealed with your seal, and with the seal of Bakenkhonsu 
 as a witness. Here it is,' and from the breast of her 
 garment, she drew out the roll and gave it to me upon 
 whom she rested all this while. 
 
 I opened it, and by the light of torches the Prince, 
 Bakenkhonsu, and I read. It was as she had told us 
 in what seemed to be my writing, and signed and sealed 
 as she had said. The words ran: 
 
 ' To Merapi, Moon of Israel, in my house at Memphis. 
 
 'Come, Lady, Flower of Love, to me your lord, to 
 whom the bearer of this will guide you safely. Come 
 
294 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 at once, for I am in great danger, as you are, and to- 
 gether only can we be safe. ' 
 
 ' Ana, what means this? ' asked the Prince in a terrible 
 voice. ' If you have betrayed me and her 
 
 'By the gods/ I began angrily, 'am I a man that I 
 should live to hear even your Highness speak thus 
 to me, or am I but a dog of the desert?' 
 
 I ceased, for at that moment Bakenkhonsu began to 
 laugh. 
 
 ' Look at the letter !' he laughed. ' Look at the letter/ 
 
 We looked, and as we looked, behold the writing on 
 it turned first to the colour of blood and then faded 
 away, till presently there was nothing in my hand but a 
 blank sheet of papyrus. 
 
 'Oho-ho!' laughed Bakenkhonsu. 'Truly, friend 
 Ki, you are the first of magicians, save those prophets 
 of the Israelites who have brought you Whither 
 have they brought you, friend Ki?' 
 
 Then for the first time the painted smile left the face 
 of Ki, and it became like a block of stone in which were 
 set two angry jewels that were his eyes. 
 
 'Continue, Lady/ said the Prince. 
 
 'I obeyed the letter. I fled away with the man 
 who said he had a chariot waiting. We passed out 
 by the little gate. 
 
 ' "Where is the chariot? " I asked. 
 
 '"We go by boat," he answered, and led the way 
 towards the river. As we threaded the big palm grove 
 men appeared from between the trees. 
 
 ' "You have betrayed me," I cried. 
 
 ' "Nay," he answered, "I am myself betrayed." 
 
 'Then for the first time I knew his voice for that of 
 Laban. 
 
THE CROWNING OF MERAPI 295 
 
 'The men seized us; at the head of them was Ki. 
 
 1 "This is the witch," he said, "who, her wickedness 
 finished, flies with her Hebrew lover, who is also the 
 familiar of her sorceries." 
 
 'They tore the cloak and the false beard from him 
 and there before me stood Laban. I cursed him to 
 his face. But all he answered was, 
 
 1 "Merapi, what I have done I did for love of you. 
 It was my purpose to take you away to our people, 
 for here I knew that they would kill you. This ma- 
 gician promised you to me if I could tempt you from 
 the safety of the palace, in return for certain tidings 
 that I have given him." 
 
 1 These were the only words that passed between us 
 till the end. They dragged us to the secret prison of 
 the great temple where we were separated. Here all 
 day long Ki and the priests tormented me with ques- 
 tions, to which I gave no answer. Towards the even- 
 ing they brought me out and led me here with Laban 
 at my side. When the people saw me a great cry 
 went up of "Sorceress! Hebrew witch!" They broke 
 through the guard; they seized me, threw me to the 
 ground and beat me. Laban strove to protect me but 
 was torn away. At length the people were driven 
 off, and oh! my lord, you know the rest. I have 
 spoken truth, I can no more/ 
 
 So saying her knees loosened beneath her and she 
 swooned. We bore her to the chariot. 
 
 'You have heard, Ki,' said the Prince. 'Now, what 
 answer? ' 
 
 'None, Pharaoh/ he replied coldly, 'for Pharaoh 
 you are, as I promised that you should be. My spirit has 
 deserted me, those Hebrews have stolen it away. That 
 
296 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 writing should have faded from the scroll as soon as it 
 was read by yonder lady, and then I would have told 
 you another story; a story of secret love, of betrayal 
 and attempted flight with her lover. But some evil 
 god kept it there until you also had read, you who 
 knew that you had not written what appeared before 
 your eyes. Pharaoh, I am conquered. Do your will 
 with me, and farewell. Beloved you shall always be 
 as you have always been, but happy never in this 
 world.' 
 
 '0 People/ cried Seti, 'I will not be judge in my own 
 cause. You have heard, do you judge. For this wiz- 
 ard, what reward? ' 
 
 Then there went up a great cry of ' Death! Death 
 by fire. The death he had made ready for the inno- 
 cent!' 
 
 That was the end, but they told me afterwards that, 
 when the great pyre had burned out, in it was found 
 the head of Ki looking like a red-hot stone. When the 
 sunlight fell on it, however, it crumbled and faded 
 away, as the writing had faded from the roll. If this 
 be true I do not know, who was not present at the time. 
 
 We bore Merapi to the palace. She lived but three 
 days, she whose body and spirit were broken. The 
 last time I saw her was when she sent for me not an hour 
 before death came. She was lying in Seti's arms bab- 
 bling to him of their child and looking very sweet and 
 happy. She thanked me for my friendship, smiling the 
 while in a way which showed me that she knew it was 
 more than friendship, and bade me tend my master 
 well until we all met again elsewhere. Then she gave 
 me her hand to kiss and I went away weeping. 
 
THE CROWNING OF MERAPI 297 
 
 After she was dead a strange fancy took Seti. In 
 the great hall of the palace he caused a golden throne to 
 be put up, and on this throne he set her in regal gar- 
 ments, with pectoral and necklaces of gems, crowned like 
 a queen of Egypt, and thus he showed her to the lords of 
 Memphis. Then he caused her to be embalmed and 
 buried in a secret sepulchre, the place of which I have 
 sworn never to reveal, but without any rites because 
 she was not of the faith of Egypt. 
 
 There then she sleeps in her eternal house until the 
 Day of Resurrection, and with her sleeps her little son. 
 
 It was within a moon of this funeral that the great 
 ones of Egypt came to Memphis to name the Prince as 
 Pharaoh, and with them came her Highness, the Queen 
 Userti. I was present at the ceremony, which to me 
 was very strange. There was the Vizier Nehesi; there 
 was the high-priest Roi and with him many other 
 priests; and there was even the old chamberlain Pam- 
 basa, pompous yet grovelling as before, although he 
 had deserted the household of the Prince after his dis- 
 inheritance for that of the Pharaoh Amenmeses. His 
 appearance with his wand of office and long white 
 beard, of which he was so proud because it was his 
 own, drew from Seti the only laugh I had heard him 
 utter for many weeks. 
 
 'So you are back again, Chamberlain Pambasa,' 
 he said. 
 
 'O most Holy, most Royal,' answered the old 
 knave, 'has Pambasa, the grain of dust beneath your 
 feet, ever deserted the House of Pharaoh, or that of 
 him who will be Pharaoh? ' 
 
 'No/ replied Seti, 'it is only when you think that he 
 
29 8 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 will not be Pharaoh that you desert. Well, get you to 
 your duties, rogue, who perhaps at bottom are as hon- 
 est as the rest.' 
 
 Then followed the great and ancient ceremony of the 
 Offering of the Crown, in which spoke priests disguised 
 as gods and other priests disguised as mighty Pharaohs 
 of the past; also the nobles of the Nomes and the chief 
 men of cities. When all had finished Seti answered: 
 
 'I take this, my heritage,' and he touched the double 
 crown, 'not because I desire it but because it is my 
 heritage, and I know that while I live I must do my 
 duty, as I swore that I would to one who has departed. 
 Blow upon blow have smitten Egypt which, I think, had 
 my voice been listened to, would never have fallen. 
 Egypt lies bleeding and well-nigh dead. Let it be 
 your work and mine to try to nurse her back to life. 
 For no long while am I with you, who also have been 
 smitten, how it matters not, yet while I am here, I who 
 seem to reign will be your servant and that of Egypt. 
 It is my decree that no feasts or ceremonial shall mark, 
 this my accession, and that the wealth which would 
 have been scattered upon them shall be distributed 
 among the widows and the children of those who per- 
 ished in the Sea of Reeds. Depart!' 
 
 They went, humble yet happy, since here was a 
 Pharaoh who knew the needs of Egypt, one too who 
 loved her and who alone had shown himself wise of 
 heart while others were filled with madness. Then 
 her Highness entered, splendidly apparelled, crowned 
 and followed by her household, and made obeisance. 
 
 1 Greeting to Pharaoh, ' she cried. 
 
 'Greeting to the Royal Princess of Egypt/ he 
 answered. 
 
THE CROWNING OF MERAPI 299 
 
 'Nay, Pharaoh, the Queen of Egypt.' 
 
 Bv Seti's side there was another throne, that in which 
 he had set dead Merapi with a crown upon her head. 
 He turned and looked at it a while. Then, he said, 
 
 'I see that this seat is empty. Let the Queen of 
 Egypt take her place here if so she wills. ' 
 
 She stared at him as if she thought that he was 
 mad, though doubtless she had heard something of 
 that story, then swept up the steps and sat herself 
 down in the royal chair. 
 
 'Your Majesty has been long absent/ said Seti. 
 
 'Yes,' she answered, 'but as my Majesty promised 
 she would do, she has returned to her lawful place at 
 the side of Pharaoh never to leave it more.' 
 
 'Pharaoh thanks her Majesty,' said Seti, bowing low. 
 
 Some six years had gone by, when one night I was 
 seated with the Pharaoh Seti Meneptah in his palace 
 at Memphis, for there he always chose to dwell when 
 matters of State allowed. 
 
 It was on the anniversary of the Death of the First- 
 born, and of this matter it pleased him to talk to me. 
 Up and down the chamber he walked and, watching 
 him by the lamplight, I noted that of a sudden he 
 seemed to have grown much older, and that his face 
 had become sweeter even than it was before. He was 
 more thin also, and his eyes had in them a look of one 
 who stares at distances. 
 
 'You remember that night, Friend, do you not,' 
 he said; 'perhaps the most terrible night the world 
 has ever seen, at least in the little piece of it called 
 Egypt.' He ceased, lifted a curtain, and pointed to a 
 spot on the pillared portico without. 'There she sat,' 
 
300 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 he went on; 'there you stood; there lay the boy and 
 there crouched his nurse by the way, I grieve to 
 hear that she is ill. You are caring for her, are you 
 not, Ana? Say to her that Pharaoh will come to 
 visit her when he may, when he may.' 
 
 'I remember it all, Pharaoh.' 
 
 'Yes, of course you would remember, because you 
 loved her, did you not, and the boy too, and even me, 
 the father. And so you will love us always when we 
 reach a land where sex with its walls and fires are for- 
 gotten, and love alone survives as we shall love you.' 
 
 'Yes/ I answered, 'since love is the key of life, and 
 those alone are accursed who have never learned to 
 love/ 
 
 'Why, accursed, Ana, seeing that, if life continues, 
 they still may learn?' He paused a while, then went 
 on: 'I am glad that he died, Ana, although had he 
 lived, as the Queen will have no children, he might 
 have become Pharaoh after me. But what is it to be 
 Pharaoh? For six years now I have reigned, and I 
 think that I am beloved; reigned over a broken land 
 which I have striven to bind together, reigned over a 
 sick land which I have striven to heal, reigned over a 
 desolated land which I have striven to make forget. 
 Oh! the curse of those Hebrews worked well. And I 
 think that it was my fault, Ana, for had I been more of 
 a man, instead of casting aside my burden, I should 
 have stood up against my father Meneptah and his 
 policy and, if need were, have raised the people. Then 
 the Israelites would have gone, and no plagues would 
 have smitten Egypt. Well, what I did, I did because 
 I must, perhaps, and what has happened, has hap- 
 pened. And now my time comes to an end, and I go 
 
THE CROWNING OF MERAPI 301 
 
 hence to balance my account as best I may, praying 
 that I may find judges who understand, and are 
 gentle.' 
 
 'Why does Pharaoh speak thus?' I asked. 
 
 'I do not know, Ana, yet that Hebrew wife of mine 
 has been much in my mind of late. She was wise in 
 her way, as wise as loving, was she not, and if we 
 could see her once again, perhaps she would answer the 
 question. But although she seems so near to me, 
 I never can see her, quite. Can you, Ana?' 
 
 'No, Pharaoh, though one night old Bakenkhonsu 
 vowed that he perceived her passing before us, and 
 looking at me earnestly as she passed.' 
 
 'Ah! Bakenkhonsu. Well, he is wise too, and loved 
 her in his fashion. Also the flesh fades from him, 
 though mayhap he will live to make offerings at both 
 our tombs. Well, Bakenkhonsu is at Tanis, or is it 
 at Thebes, with her Majesty, whom he ever loves to 
 observe, as I do. So he can tell us nothing of what he 
 thought he saw. This chamber is hot, Ana, let us 
 stand without.' 
 
 So we passed the curtain, and stood upon the portico, 
 looking at the garden misty with moonlight, and talk- 
 ing of this and that about the Israelites, I think, 
 who, as we had heard, were wandering in the deserts of 
 Sinai. Then of a sudden we grew silent, both of us. 
 
 A cloud floated over the face of the moon, leaving the 
 world in darkness. It passed, and I became aware 
 that we were no longer alone. There in front of us 
 was a mat, and on the mat lay a dead child, the royal 
 child named Seti; there by the mat stood a woman 
 with agony in her eyes, looking at the dead child, the 
 Hebrew woman named Moon of Israel. 
 
302 MOON OF ISRAEL 
 
 Seti touched me, and pointed to her, and I pointed 
 to the child. We stood breathless. Then of a sudden, 
 stooping down, Merapi lifted up the child and held it 
 towards its father. But, lo! now no longer was it 
 dead; nay, it laughed and laughed, and seeing him, 
 seemed to throw its arms about his neck, and to kiss 
 him on the lips. Moreover, the agony in the woman's 
 eyes turned to joy unspeakable, and she became more 
 beautiful than a star. Then, laughing like the child, 
 Merapi turned to Seti, beckoned, and was gone. 
 
 'We have seen the dead/ he said to me presently, 
 'and, oh! Ana, the dead still live! 1 
 
 That night, ere dawn, a cry rang through the palace, 
 waking me from my sleep. This was the cry : 
 
 'The good god Pharaoh is no more! The hawk 
 Seti has flown to heaven!' 
 
 At the burial of Pharaoh, I laid the halves of the 
 broken cup upon his breast, that he might drink there- 
 from in the Day of Resurrection. 
 
 Here ends the writing of the Scribe Ana, the Coun- 
 sellor and Companion of the King, by him beloved. 
 
 THE END 
 
THE ALLAN QUATERMAIN ROMANCES 
 
 FINISHED 
 
 By SIR H. RIDER HAGGARD. With colored frontispiece and 
 
 dust wrapper. Crown 8vo. $1.50 net. 
 
 This book forms the third of the trilogy of which " Marie " 
 and " Child of Storm " are the first two parts. It narrates, through 
 the mouth of Allan Quatermain, the consummation of the venge- 
 ance of the wizard Zikali upon the royal Zulu house of which 
 Senzangacona was the founder and Cetewayo the last representa- 
 tive who ruled as king. 
 
 MARIE 
 
 By SIR H. RIDER HAGGARD. With colored frontispiece and 
 
 other illustrations. Crown 8vo. $1.50 net. 
 
 The story of Allan Quatermain's first love, Marie Marais 
 " Throughout the book runs a tender, beautiful and moving love 
 story. . . . Marie is Quatermain's wife only a little while, and 
 then she makes the great sacrifice. . . . The time is far back, 
 when the Boers began the great trek from Cape Colony, and the 
 author says that in main all the historical parts of his story are 
 true." New York Times. 
 
 " We are disposed to regard ' Marie ' as one of the most 
 exciting and interesting of all that cycle of romances which are 
 concerned with that mighty hunter, Allan Quatermain." Special or. 
 
 CHILD OF STORM 
 
 By SIR H. RIDER HAGGARD. With colored frontispiece and 
 
 other illustrations. Crown 8vo. $1.50 net. 
 
 " An unusual story of the Zulus in all their superstitious mad- 
 ness and blood-stained grandeur; of the time of the Impis and 
 the witch-finders and the rival princes of the Royal House. The 
 story of the fascinating and wicked Mameena is here told by 
 Allan Quatermain and is the second of the three romances referred 
 to in the Editor's notes to Sir Rider Haggard's lately published 
 1 Marie.' " 
 
 " Now that the Zulus are no longer a reigning nation and are 
 doomed to go the way of all savage tribes, the trilogy of which 
 ' Child of Storm ' is a part, ought to have an enduring value aside 
 from its extraordinary romantic interest." Minneapolis Journal. 
 
 LONGMANS, GREEN & CO. NEW YORK 
 
THE ALLAN QUATERMAIN ROMANCES 
 
 KING SOLOMON'S MINES 
 
 By SIR H. RIDER HAGGARD. Crown 8vo. $1.50 net. 
 
 A romance that fairly bristles with excitement from beginning 
 to end. The story of the quest of King Solomon's Ophir, full of 
 sensational fights, blood-curdling perils and extraordinary escapes. 
 
 THE IVORY CHILD 
 
 By SIR H. RIDER HAGGARD. With illustrations. Crown 8vo. 
 
 $1.60 net. 
 
 "... it is enough to say that when Allan Quatermain, in 
 the opening sentence of his narrative, speaks of this as ' one of 
 the strangest of all the adventures which have befallen me in the 
 course of a life, that so far can scarcely be called tame or hum- 
 drum/ he is well within the mark . . . handled in Sir Rider 
 Haggard's best manner." The Spectator London. 
 
 ALLAN QUATERMAIN 
 
 By SIR H. RIDER HAGGARD. With 20 illustrations and a 
 
 portrait. Crown 8vo. $1.35 net. 
 
 "Haggard has created one of the outstanding characters of 
 contemporary fiction, Allan Quatermain." New York World. 
 
 ALLAN'S WIFE, and Other Tales 
 
 By SIR H. RIDER HAGGARD. With 34 illustrations. Crown 
 8vo. $1.35 net. 
 
 ALLAN AND THE HOLY FLOWER 
 
 By SIR H. RIDER HAGGARD. With 12 illustrations. Crown 
 
 8vo. $1.50 net. 
 
 This highly imaginative story has to do with Allan's search, in 
 company with an American physician, for a unique flower of mar- 
 velous beauty and priceless value, presided over in the wilds of 
 South Africa by a " white goddess " and guarded by a monstrous 
 ape revered by the natives as a god. In the tale of the search 
 Sir Rider Haggard finds abundant opportunity for those touches 
 of mystery and incidents of breathless adventure that have made 
 his "Allan Quatermain" series so popular with two generations. 
 
 "The series of romances about Allan Quatermain . . . will 
 some day be read even as the great series by Dumas is read. ..." 
 Cleveland Plain Dealer. 
 
 LONGMANS, GREEN & CO. NEW YORK 
 
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