II
THE COMING OF PHARAOH
Presently, as she walked, Meriamun saw Rei the Priest and the veiledwoman at his side, and she saw on the woman's breast a red jewel thatburnt and glowed like a heart of fire. Then like fire burned the heartof Meriamun, for she knew that this was Argive Helen who stood beforeher, Helen whose shape she had stolen like a thief and with the mind ofa thief.
"Say," she cried to Rei, who bowed before her, "say, who is this woman?"
Rei looked at the Queen with terrified eyes, and spake in a voice ofwarning.
"This is that Goddess who dwells in the Temple of Hathor," he said. "Lether pass in peace, O Queen."
"In peace she shall pass indeed," answered Meriamun. "What saidestthou, old dotard? That Goddess! Nay, no Goddess have we here, but anevil-working witch, who hath brought woes unnumbered upon Khem. Becauseof her, men die month by month till the vaults of the Temple of Hathorare full of her slain. Because of her it was that curse upon curse fellon the land--the curse of water turned to blood, of hail and of terribledarkness, ay, and the curse of the death of the firstborn among whom myown son died. And thou hast dared, Rei, to bring this witch here to myPalace halls! By Amen if I had not loved thee always thy life shouldpay the price. And thou," and she stretched her hand towards the Helen,"thou hast dared to come. It is well, no more shalt thou bring evil uponKhem. Hearken, slave," and she turned to Kurri the Sidonian; "draw thatknife of thine and plunge it to the hilt in the breast of yonder woman.So shalt thou win freedom and all thy goods shall be given thee again."
Then for the first time Helen spake:
"I charge thee, Lady," she said in slow soft tones, "bid not thy servantdo this deed, for though I have little will to bring evil upon men, yetI may not lightly be affronted."
Now Kurri hung back doubtfully fingering his dagger.
"Draw, knave, draw!" cried Meriamun, "and do my bidding, or presentlythou shalt be slain with this same knife."
When the Sidonian heard these words he cried aloud with fear, for hewell knew that as the Queen said so it would be done to him. Instantlyhe drew the great knife and rushed upon the veiled woman. But as hecame, Helen lifted her veil so that her eyes fell upon his eyes, andthe brightness of their beauty was revealed to him; and when he saw herloveliness he stopped suddenly as one who is transfixed of a spear. Thenmadness came upon him, and with a cry he lifted the knife, and plungingit, not into her heart, but into his own, fell down dead.
This then was the miserable end of Kurri the Sidonian, slain by thesight of the Beauty.
"Thou seest, Lady," said Helen, turning from the dead Sidonian, "no manmay harm me."
For a moment the Queen stood astonished, while Rei the Priest mutteredprayers to the protecting Gods. Then she cried:
"Begone, thou living curse, begone! Wherefore art thou come here to workmore woe in this house of woe and death?"
"Fear not," answered the Helen, "presently I will begone and troublethee no more. Thou askest why I am come hither. I came to see him whowas my love, and whom but last night I should have wed, but whom theGods have brought to shame unspeakable, Odysseus of Ithaca, Odysseus,Laertes' son. For this cause I came, and I have stayed to look upon theface of her whose beauty had power to drive the thought of me from theheart of Odysseus, and bring him, who of all men was the greatest heroand the foremost left alive, to do a dastard deed and make his mightyname a byword and a scorn. Knowest thou, Meriamun, that I find thematter strange, since if all else be false, yet is this true, that amongwomen the fairest are the most strong. Thou art fair indeed, Meriamun,but judge if thou art more fair than Argive Helen," and she drew theveil from her face so that the splendour of her beauty shone out uponthe Queen's dark loveliness. Thus for awhile they stood each facingeach, and to Rei it seemed as though the spirits of Death and Lifelooked one on another, as though the darkness and the daylight stood inwoman's shape before him.
"Thou art fair indeed," said the Queen, "but in this, witch, has thybeauty failed to hold him whom thou wouldst wed from the most shamelesssin. Little methinks can that man have loved thee who crept upon me likea thief to snatch my honour from me."
Then Helen bethought her of what Rei had said, that Meriamun loved theWanderer, and she spoke again:
"Now it comes into my heart, Egyptian, that true and false are mixed inthis tale of thine. Hard it is to believe that Odysseus of Ithaca couldwork such a coward deed as this, or, unbidden, seek to clasp thee to hisheart. Moreover, I read in thine eyes that thou thyself dost love theman whom thou namest dastard. Nay, hold thy peace, look not so wildlyon me whom thou canst not harm, but hearken. Whether thy tale be true orfalse I know not, who use no magic and learn those things only that theGods reveal to me. But this at the least is true, that Odysseus, whom Ishould have wed, has looked on thee with eyes of love, even in that hourwhen I waited to be made his wife. Therefore the love that but two daysagone bloomed in my heart, dies and withers; or if it does not, at leastI cast it from me and tread its flowers beneath my feet. For this doomthe Gods have laid upon me, who am of all women the most hapless, tolive beloved but loveless through many years, and at the last to loveand be betrayed. And now I go hence back to my temple shrine; but fearnot, Meriamun, not for long shall I trouble thee or Khem, and men shalldie no more because of my beauty, for I shall presently pass hencewhither the Gods appoint; and this I say to thee--deal gently with thatman who has betrayed my faith, for whatever he did was done for the loveof thee. It is no mean thing to have won the heart of Odysseus of Ithacaout of the hand of Argive Helen. Fare thee well, Meriamun, who wouldsthave slain me. May the Gods grant thee better days and more of joy thanis given to Helen, who would look upon thy face no more."
Thus she spake, and letting her veil fall turned to go. For awhile theQueen stood shamed to silence by these gentle words, that fell like dewupon the fires of her hate. But ere Helen had passed the length of aspear her fury burned up again. What, should she let this strange womango--this woman who alone of all that breathed was more beautiful thanshe, by the aid of whose stolen beauty she alone had won her love, andfor whose sake she had endured such bitter words of scorn? Nay, whileHelen yet lived she could find not joy nor sleep. But were Helen dead,then perchance all might yet be well, and the Wanderer yet be hers, forwhen the best is gone men turn them to the better.
"Close the gates and bar them," she cried to the men, who now streamedback into the hall; and they ran to do her bidding, so that before Helenreached the Palace doors, they had been shut and the gates of bronzebeyond had clashed like the shields of men.
Now Helen drew near the doors.
"Stay yon witch," cried the Queen to those who guarded them, and inwonder they poised their spears to bar the way to Helen. But she onlylifted her veil and looked upon them. Then their arms fell from theirhands and they stood amazed at the sight of beauty.
"Open, I beseech you," said the Helen gently, and straightway theyopened the doors and she passed through, followed by those who guardedthem, by the Queen, and by Rei. But one man there was who did not seeher beauty, and he strove in vain to hold back the doors and to claspHelen as she passed.
Now she drew near to the gates--
"Shoot the witch!" cried Meriamun the Queen; "if she pass the gates, bymy royal word I swear that ye shall die every man of you. Shoot her witharrows."
Then three men drew their bows mightily. The string of the bow of oneburst, and the bow was shattered, and the arrow of the second slipped ashe drew it, and passing downwards pierced his foot; and the shaft of thethird swerved ere it struck the breast of Helen, and sunk into the heartof that soldier who was next to the Queen, so that he fell down dead.It was the same man who had striven to hold to the doors and clasp theHelen.
Then Helen turned and spoke:
"Bid not thy guard to shoot again, Meriamun, lest the arrow find _thy_heart, for, know this, no man may harm me;" and once more she lifted herveil, and speaking to those at the gates said: "Open, I beseech you, andlet the Hathor pass."
Now their weapons fell from their hands, and they looked upon herbeauty, and they too made haste to open the gates. The great gatesclanged upon their sockets and rolled back. She passed through them, andall who were there followed after her. But when they looked, lo! she hadmingled with the people who went to and fro and was gone.
Then Meriamun grew white with rage because Helen whom she hated hadescaped her, and turning to those men who had opened the doors and thosewho had given passage of the gates, who yet stood looking on each otherwith dazed eyes, she doomed them to die.
But Rei, kneeling before her, prayed for their lives:
"Ill will come of it, O Queen!" he said, "as ill came to yonder Sidonianand to the soldier at thy feet, for none may work evil on this Goddess,or those who befriended the Goddess. Slay them not, O Queen, lest illtidings follow on the deed!"
Then the Queen turned on him madly:
"Hearken thou, Rei!" she said; "speak thus again, and though I haveloved thee and thou hast been the chief of the servants of Pharaoh,this I swear, that thou shalt die the first. Already the count is longbetween thee and me, for it was thou who didst bring yon accursed witchto my Palace. Now thou hast heard, and of this be sure, as I have spokenso I will do. Get thee gone--get thee from my sight, I say, lest I slaythee now. I take back thy honours, I strip thee of thy offices, I gatherthy wealth into my treasury. Go forth a beggar, and let me see thy faceno more!"
Then Rei held his peace and fled, for it were better to stand before alioness robbed of her whelps than before Meriamun in her rage. Thereonthe gates were shut again, and the captain of the gates was draggedbefore the place where the Queen stood, and asking no mercy and takinglittle heed, for still his soul was filled with the beauty of Helen asa cup with wine, he suffered death, for his head was straightway smittenfrom him.
Rei, watching from afar, groaned aloud, then turned and left the Palace,but the Queen called to the soldiers to slay on. Even as she calledthere came a cry of woe without the Palace gates. Men looked each oneach. Again the cry rose and a voice without called, "Pharaoh is comeagain! Pharaoh is come again!" and there rose a sound of knocking at thegates.
Now for that while Meriamun thought no more of slaying the men, butbade them open the gates. They opened, and a man entered clad in raimentstained with travel. His eyes were wild, his hair was dishevelled, andscarce could his face be known for the face of Pharaoh Meneptah, it wasso marred with grief and fear.
Pharaoh looked on the Queen--he looked upon the dead who lay at herfeet, then laughed aloud:
"What!" he cried, "more dead! Is there then no end to Death and thenumber of his slain? Nay, here he doth work but feebly. Perchance hisarm grows weary. Come, where are _thy_ dead, Queen? Bring forth thydead!"
"What hath chanced, Meneptah, that thou speakest thus madly?" asked theQueen. "She whom they name the Hathor hath passed here, and these, andanother who lies yonder, do but mark her path. Speak!"
"Ay, I will speak, Queen. I have a merry tale to tell. Thou sayest thatthe Hathor hath passed here and these mark her footsteps. Well, I cancap thy story. He whom the Apura name Jahveh hath passed yonder by theSea of Weeds, and there lie many, lie to mark His footsteps."
"Thy host! Where is thy host?" cried the Queen. "At the least some areleft."
"Yes, Queen, _all_ are left--all--all--save myself alone. They drift toand fro in the Sea of Weeds--they lie by tens of thousands on its banks;the gulls tear their eyes, the lion of the desert rends their flesh;they lie unburied, their breath sighs in the sea gales, their bloodsinks into the salt sands, and Osiris numbers them in the hosts of hell.Hearken! I came upon the tribes of the Apura by the banks of the Sea ofWeeds. I came at eve, but I might not fall upon them because of a veilof darkness that spread between my armies and the hosts of the Apura.All night long through the veil of darkness, and through the shriekingof a great gale, I heard a sound as of the passing of a mightypeople--the clangour of their arms, the voices of captains, the stamp ofbeasts, and the grinding of wheels. The morning came, and lo! before methe waters of the sea were built up as a wall on the right hand and theleft, and between the walls of water was dry land, and the Apura passedbetween the walls. Then I cried to my captains to arise and followswiftly, and they did my bidding. But the chariot wheels drew heavily inthe sand, so that before all my host had entered between the waters, theApura had passed the sea. Then of a sudden, as last of all I passed downinto the path of the ocean bed, the great wind ceased, and as it ceased,lo! the walls of water that were on either side of the sea path felltogether with noise like the noise of thunder. I turned my chariotwheels, and fled back, but my soldiers, my chariots, and my horses wereswallowed; once more they were seen again on the crest of the blackwaves like a gleam of light upon a cloud, once a great cry arose to theheaven; then all was done and all was still, and of my hosts I alone wasleft alive of men."
So Pharaoh spoke, and a great groan rose from those who hearkened. OnlyMeriamun spoke:
"So shall things go with us while that False Hathor dwells in Khem."
Now as she spoke thus, again there came a sound of knocking at the gatesand a cry of "Open--a messenger! a messenger!"
"Open!" said Meriamun, "though his tidings be ill, scarce can they matchthese that have been told."
The gates were opened, and one came through them. His eyes stared widein fear, so dry was his throat with haste and with the sand, that hestood speechless before them all.
"Give him wine," cried Meriamun, and wine was brought. Then he drank,and he fell upon his knees before the Queen, for he knew not Pharaoh.
"Thy tidings!" she cried. "Be swift with thy tidings."
"Let the Queen pardon me," he said. "Let her not be wrath. These are mytidings. A mighty host marches towards the city of On, a host gatheredfrom all lands of the peoples of the North, from the lands of theTulisha, of the Shakalishu, of the Liku, and of the Shairdana. Theymarch swiftly and raven, they lay the country waste, naught is leftbehind them save the smoke of burning towns, the flight of vultures, andthe corpses of men."
"Hast done?" said Meriamun.
"Nay, O Queen! A great fleet sails with them up the eastern mouth ofSihor, and in it are twelve thousand chosen warriors of the Aquaiusha,the sons of those men who sacked Troy town."
And now a great groan went up to heaven from the lips of those whohearkened. Only Meriamun spoke thus:
"And yet the Apura are gone, for whose sake, ye say, came the plagues.They are fled, but the curse remains, and so shall things ever be withus while yon False Hathor dwells in Khem."