Chapter 57

WHEN he left Fayum the pharaoh and his retinue advanced southward a number of days up the Nile, surrounded by a throng of boats, greeted by shouts, and covered with flowers.

On both banks of the river, on a background of green fields, extended an unbroken series of huts of the people, groves of fig trees, groups of palms. Every hour appeared the white houses of some village, or a larger place with colored buildings, and the immense pylons of temples.

On the west the wall of the Libyan hills was outlined not very distinctly; but on the east the Arabian line approached ever nearer to the river. It was possible to see clearly the steep, jagged cliffs, dark, yellow or rose colored, recalling by their forms the ruins of fortresses or of temples built by giants.

In the middle of the Nile they met islands which had risen from the water as it were yesterday, but were covered with rich vegetation today and were occupied by birds in countless numbers. When the noisy retinue of the pharaoh sailed near, the frightened birds flew up and, circling above the boats, joined their cries with the mighty sound of people. Above this all hung a transparent sky and light so full of life that in the flood of it the black earth assumed a brightness, and the stones rainbow colors.

Time passed, therefore, pleasantly for the pharaoh. At first the incessant cries irritated him somewhat, but later he grew so, accustomed that he turned no attention to them. He was able to read documents, take counsel, and even sleep.

From a hundred and fifty to two hundred miles above Fayum on the left bank of the Nile is Siut, where Ramses XIII took a rest of two days. He was even obliged to halt there, for the mummy of the late pharaoh was still in Abydos, where they were making solemn prayers at the grave of Osiris.

Siut was one of the richest parts of Upper Egypt. At that place were made the famous vessels of white and black clay, and there they wove linen. It was also the chief market-place to which people brought goods from the oases scattered throughout the desert. There besides was the famous temple of the jackal-headed god, Anubis.

On the second day of his stay in that place the priest Pentuer appeared before Ramses. He was the chief of that commission sent to investigate the condition of the people.

"Hast Thou news?" inquired the sovereign.

"I have this, O holiness, that all the country blesses thee. All with whom I speak are full of hope, and say, 'His reign will be a new life for Egypt.'."

"I wish," replied Ramses, "my subjects to be happy; I wish the toiling man to rest; I wish that Egypt might have eight millions of people as aforetime and win back that land seized from it by the desert; I wish the laborer to rest one day in seven and each man who digs the earth to have some little part of it."

Pentuer fell on his face before the kindly sovereign.

"Rise," said Ramses. "But I have had hours of grievous sadness: I see the suffering of my people; I wish to raise them, but the treasury is empty. Thou thyself knowest best that without some tens of thousands of talents I cannot venture on such changes. But now I am at rest; I can get the needed treasure from the labyrinth."

Pentuer looked at his sovereign with amazement.

"The overseer of the treasure explained to me what I am to do," said the pharaoh. "I must call a general council of all orders, thirteen of each order. And if they declare that Egypt is in need the labyrinth will furnish me with treasure."

"O gods!" added he, "for a couple for one of the jewels which lie there it would be possible to give the people fifty rest days in a year! Never will they be used to better purpose."

Pentuer shook his head.

"Lord," said he, "the six million Egyptians, with me and my friends before others, will agree that Thou take from that treasure. But, O holiness, be not deceived; one hundred of the highest dignitaries of the state will oppose, and then the labyrinth will give nothing."

"They wish me, then, to beg before some temple!" burst out the pharaoh.

"No," replied the priest. "They fear lest that treasure house be emptied once Thou touch it. They will suspect thy most faithful servants, holiness, of sharing in the profits flowing from the labyrinth. And then envy will whisper to each of them: 'Why shouldst Thou not profit also?' Not hatred of thee, holiness, but mutual distrust, greed, will urge them to resistance."

When he heard this the pharaoh was calm, he smiled even.

"If it be as Thou sayst, be at rest, beloved Pentuer. At this moment I understand exactly why Amon established the authority of the pharaoh and gave him superhuman power. For the purpose, seest thou, that a hundred, even of the most distinguished rascals, should not wreck the state."

Ramses rose from his armchair and added,

"Say to 'my people: Work and be patient. Say to the priests who are loyal: Serve the gods and cultivate wisdom, which is the sun of the universe. But those stubborn and suspicious dignitaries leave to my management. Woe to them if they anger me."

"Lord," said the priest, "I am thy faithful servant."

But when he had taken farewell and gone out care was evident on his face.

About seventy-five miles from Siut, higher up the Nile, the wild Arabian rocks almost touch the river, but the Libyan hills have pushed away so far from it that the valley at that point is perhaps the widest part of Egypt. Just there, side by side, stood Tibis and Abydos, two holy cities. There was born the first Egyptian pharaoh, Menes, there, a hundred thousand years before, were laid in the grave the holy relics of the god Osiris slain by Set (his brother Typhon) treacherously.

There, finally, in memory of those great events, the famous pharaoh Seti built a temple to which pilgrims came from every part of Egypt. Each believer was bound even once during life to bring his forehead to the blessed earth of Abydos. Truly happy was he whose mummy could make a journey to that place and halt even at a distance from the temple.

The mummy of Ramses XII spent two days there; for he had been a ruler noted for devotion. There is nothing wonderful in this, therefore, that Ramses XIII began his reign by rendering homage to the grave of Osiris.

Seti's temple was not among the oldest or most splendid in Egypt, but it was distinguished for pure Egyptian style. His holiness Ramses XIII, accompanied by Sem the high priest, visited the temple and made offerings in it.

The ground belonging to the edifice occupied a space of seventy-five hectares, on which were fish ponds, flower beds, orchards and vegetable gardens, besides the houses or rather villas of the temple priesthood. Everywhere grew poplars and acacias, as well as palm, fig, and orange trees which formed alleys directed toward the cardinal points of the world, or groups of trees of almost the same height and set out in order.

Under the watchful eyes of priests even the plant world did not develop according to its own impulses into irregular but picturesque groups; it was arranged in straight lines according to direction, or straight lines according to height, or in geometrical figures.

Palms, tamarinds, cypresses, and myrtles were arranged like warriors in ranks or columns. The grass was a divan shorn and ornamented with pictures made of flowers, not of any chance color, but of that color which was demanded. People looking from above saw pictures of gods or sacred beasts blooming on the turf near the temple; a sage found there aphorisms written out in hieroglyphs.

The central part of the gardens occupied a rectangular space nine hundred yards long and three hundred wide. This space was enclosed by a wall of no great height which had one visible gate and a number of secret entrances. Through the gate pious people entered the space which surrounded the dwelling of Osiris; this space was covered with a stone pavement. In the middle of the space stood the temple, a rectangular pile four hundred and fifty yards long and in width one hundred and fifty.

From the public gate to the temple was an avenue of sphinxes with human heads and lion bodies. They were in two lines, ten in each, and were gazing into each others' eyes. Only the highest dignitaries might pass between these sphinxes.

At the head of this avenue, and opposite the public gate, rose two obelisks or slender and lofty granite columns of four sides, on which was inscribed the history of the pharaoh Seti.

Beyond the obelisks rose the gate of the temple having at both sides of it gigantic piles in the form of truncated pyramids called pylons. These were like two strong towers, on the walls of which were paintings representing the visits of Seti, or the offerings which he made to divinities.

Earth-tillers were not permitted to pass this gate which was free only to wealthy citizens and the privileged classes. Through it was the entrance to the peristyle or court, surrounded by a corridor which had a multitude of columns. From this court, where there was room for ten thousand people, persons of the noble order might go still farther to the first hall, the hypostyle; this had a ceiling which rested on two rows of lofty columns, and there was space in it for two thousand worshippers. This hall was the last to which lay people were admitted. The highest dignitaries who had not received ordination had the right to pray there, and look thence at the veiled image of the god which rose in the hall of "divine apparition."

Beyond the hall of "divine apparition" was the chamber of "tables of offering," where priests placed before the gods gifts brought by the faithful. Next was the chamber of "repose," where the god rested when returning from or going to a procession, and last was the chapel or sanctuary where the god had his residence.

Usually the chapel was very small, dark, sometimes cut out of one block of stone. It was surrounded on all sides by chapels equally small, filled with garments, furniture, vessels and jewels of the god which in its inaccessible seclusion slept, bathed, was anointed with perfumes, ate, drank, and as it seems even received visits from young and beautiful women.

This sanctuary was entered only by the high priest, and the ruling pharaoh if he had received ordination. If an ordinary mortal entered he might lose his life there.

The walls and columns of each hall were covered with inscriptions and explanatory paintings. In the corridor surrounding the peristyle were the names and portraits of all the pharaohs from Menes the first ruler of Egypt to Ramses XII In the hypostyle, or hall for nobles, the geography and statistics of Egypt were presented pictorially, also the subject nations. In the hall of "apparition" were the calendar and the results of astronomical observation; in the chamber of "tables of offering," and in that of "repose" figured pictures relating to religious ceremonial, and in the sanctuary rules for summoning beings beyond the earth and controlling the phenomena of nature.

This last kind of knowledge was contained in statements so involved that even priests in the time of Ramses XII did not understand them. The Chaldean Beroes was to revive this expiring wisdom.

Ramses XIII, after he had rested two days in the official palace at Abydos, betook himself to the temple. He wore a white tunic, a gold breastplate, an apron with orange and blue stripes, a steel sword at his side and on his head a golden helmet. The pharaoh sat in a chariot drawn by horses adorned with ostrich plumes, and was conducted by nomarchs as he moved slowly toward the house of Osiris, surrounded by his officers.

Whithersoever he looked: toward the field, the river, the roofs of houses, or even the limbs of tamarind and fig-trees there was a throng of people, and an unceasing shout which was like the roar of a tempest.

When he arrived at the temple the pharaoh stopped his horses and descended before the public gate. This act pleased the common people and delighted the priesthood. He passed on foot along the avenue of sphinxes and, greeted by the holy men, burned incense before the statues of Seti which occupied both sides of the main entrance.

In the peristyle the high priest turned the attention of his holiness to the splendid portraits of the pharaohs, and pointed out the place selected for that of Ramses. In the hypostyle he indicated to him the meaning of the geographical maps and statistical tables.

In the chamber of "divine apparition" Ramses offered incense to the gigantic statue of Osiris, and the high priest showed him the columns dedicated to the separate planets: Mercury, Venus, the moon, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The planets stood around statues of the sun god to the number of seven.

"Thou hast told me," said Ramses, "that there are six planets; meanwhile I see seven columns."

"The seventh represents the earth, which is also a planet."

The astonished pharaoh asked for explanation, but the sage was silent, indicating by signs that his lips were sealed on that subject.

In the chamber of the "tables of offering" was heard low but beautiful music, during which a solemn dance was given by a chorus of priestesses.

The pharaoh removed his golden helmet; next, his breastplate of great value, and gave both to Osiris, desiring that these gifts should remain in the treasury of the god, and not be transferred to the labyrinth.

In return for his bounty the high priest bestowed on the sovereign a most beautiful dancer fifteen years of age, who seemed greatly delighted with her fortune.

When the pharaoh found himself in the hall of "repose" he sat on the throne, and his substitute in religion, Sem, to the sound of music and amid the smoke of censers, entered the sanctuary to bring forth the divinity.

Half an hour later, to the deafening sound of bells, appeared in the gloom of the chamber a golden boat hidden by curtains which moved at times as if some living being were sitting behind them.

The priests prostrated themselves, and Ramses looked intently at the transparent curtains. One of these was turned aside and the pharaoh saw a child of rare beauty which looked at him with such wise eyes that the ruler of Egypt was almost afraid of it.

"This is Horus," whispered the priest. "Horus the rising sun. He is the son of Osiris and also his father, and the husband of his own mother, who is his sister."

The procession began, but only through the interior of the temple. In advance went harpers and female dancers, next a white bull with a golden shield between his horns, then two choruses of priests and high priests bearing the god, then choruses, and finally the pharaoh in a litter borne by eight priests of the temple.

When the procession had passed through all the corridors and halls of the temple, and the god and Ramses had returned to the chamber of repose, the curtain concealing the sacred boat slipped apart and the beautiful child smiled at the pharaoh.

After that Sem bore away the boat and the god to the chapel.

"One might become a high priest," said the pharaoh, who was so pleased with the child that he would have been glad to see it as often as possible.

But when he had gone forth from the temple and seen the sun and the throng of delighted people, he confessed in his soul that he understood nothing. He knew not whence they had brought that child, unlike any other child in Egypt, whence that superhuman wisdom in its eyes, nor what the meaning was of all that he himself had seen.

Suddenly he remembered his murdered son, who might have been as beautiful, and the ruler of Egypt wept in presence of a hundred thousand subjects.

"Converted! The pharaoh is converted!" said the priests. "Barely has he entered the dwelling of Osiris, and his heart is touched."

That same day one blind man and two paralytics, who were praying outside the walls of the temple, recovered health. The council of priests decided, therefore, to reckon that day in the list of those which were miraculous, and to paint a picture on the external wall of the edifice representing the weeping pharaoh and the cured people.

Ramses returned rather late in the afternoon to his palace to hear reports. When all the dignitaries had left the cabinet Tutmosis came in and said,

"Holiness, the priest Samentu wishes to pay thee homage."

"Well, let him come."

"He implores thee, lord, to receive him in a tent in the military camp; he asserts that the walls of the palace are fond of listening."

Before sunset, the pharaoh went with Tutmosis to his faithful troops and found among them the royal tent, at which Asiatics were on guard by command of Tutmosis.

In the evening came Samentu dressed in the garb of a pilgrim, and when he had greeted his holiness with honor, he whispered,

"It seems to me that I was followed the whole way by some man who has stopped not far from this tent, O holiness. Perhaps he was sent by the high priests."

At the pharaoh's command Tutmosis ran out, and found, in fact, a strange officer.

"Who art thou?" asked he.

"I am Eunana, a centurion in the regiment of Isis. The unfortunate Eunana. Dost Thou not remember me, worthiness? More than a year ago at the maneuvers near Pi-Bailos I discovered the sacred scarabs."

"Ah, that is thou!" interrupted Tutmosis. "But thy regiment is not in Abydos?"

"The water of truth flows from thy lips. We are quartered at a wretched place near Mena where the priests have commanded us to clear a canal, as if we were Hebrews or earthdiggers."

"How hast Thou appeared here?"

"I implored my superiors for a rest of some days, and like a deer thirsting for a spring I, thanks to the swiftness of my feet, have hurried hither."

"What dost Thou wish, then?"

"I wish to beg favor of his holiness against the shaven heads who give me no promotion because I am sensitive to the sufferings of warriors."

Tutmosis returned to the tent, ill-humored, and repeated the conversation to the pharaoh.

"Eunana?" repeated the sovereign. "Yes, I remember him. He caused us trouble with his beetles, but got fifty blows of a stick through Herhor. And Thou sayst that he complains of the priests? Bring him hither."

The pharaoh told Samentu to go into the second division of the tent.

The unfortunate officer soon showed himself. He fell with his face to the earth, and then kneeling, and sighing, continued,

"I pray every day at his rising and setting to Re Harmachis, and to Amon, and Re, and Ptah, and to other gods and goddesses, for thy health, O sovereign of Egypt! That Thou live! That Thou have success, and that I might see even the splendor of thy heel." [Authentic]

"What does he wish?" asked the pharaoh of Tutmosis, observing etiquette for the first time.

"His holiness is pleased to inquire what thy wish is?" repeated Tutmosis.

The deceitful Eunana, remaining on his knees, turned toward the favorite, and said,

"Thou art the ear and eye of the land; Thou givest delight and life, hence I will answer thee as at the judgment of Osiris: I have served in the priests' regiment of the divine Isis ten years; I have fought six years on the eastern boundary. Men of my age are commanders of thousands, but I am only a centurion. I receive blows of sticks at command of the god-fearing priests. And why is such injustice done me? In the day-time I think of books, and at night I read them, since the fool who leaves books as quickly as a gazelle takes to flight is of low mind; he is like the ass which receives lashes, like the deaf man who does not hear, and with whom one must speak with his fingers. In spite of my love for science I am not puffed up with my own knowledge, but I take counsel with all, for from each man it is possible to learn something, and I surround with my esteem worthy sages."

The pharaoh moved impatiently, but listened on, knowing that an Egyptian considered garrulousness as his duty and the highest honor to superiors.

"This is what I am," said Eunana. "In a strange house I look not at women. I give my attendants to eat what is proper, but when my turn comes I dispute not about the division. I have a face which is satisfied at all times, and in presence of superiors I act respectfully. I never sit in the presence of an older man standing; I am not forward, and without invitation I go not into other men's houses. I am silent touching that which my eyes see, for I know that we are deaf to men who use many words.

"Wisdom teaches that the body of a man is like a granary full of various objects. Therefore, I choose at all times the good that is in me and express it. I keep the bad shut up in my person. The deceits of other men I repeat not, and as to that which is committed to me I always accomplish it in the best manner possible.

"And what is my reward?" finished Eunana, raising his voice; "I suffer cold, I go in rags, I am not able to lie on my back, it is so beaten. I read in books that the priestly order rewards valor and prudence. Indeed! that must have been at some other time, and very long ago. For the priests of today turn from men of ability and drive strength and valor out of the bones of officers."

"I shall fall asleep in presence of this man," said the pharaoh.

"Eunana," said Tutmosis, "his holiness is convinced that Thou art expert in books, but tell now in as few words as possible what thy wish is."

"An arrow does not go so quickly to its mark as my request will fly to the divine feet of his holiness," replied Eunana. "The service of the shaven heads has so disgusted me, the priests have filled my heart with such bitterness, that if I am not transferred to the army of the pharaoh, I shall pierce myself with my own sword, before which the enemies of Egypt have trembled more than one time and more than a hundred times. I would rather be a decurion, nay a simple warrior of his holiness than a centurion in priestly regiments; a pig or a dog may serve them, but not a believing Egyptian!"

Eunana uttered the last words with such mad anger that the pharaoh said in Greek to Tutmosis,

"Take him to the guard. An officer who does not like the priests may be of use to us."

"His holiness, the lord of both worlds has given command to receive thee into his guard," repeated Tutmosis.

"My health and life belong to our lord. May he live through eternity!" exclaimed Eunana, and he kissed the footstool beneath the feet of the pharaoh.

Eunana, now made happy, moved backward, falling on his face after every couple of steps, and left the tent, blessing his sovereign.

"His garrulousness irritated me," said Ramses. "I must teach Egyptian soldiers and officers to speak briefly, not like learned scribes."

"May the gods grant that to be his only failing," whispered Tutmosis, on whom Eunana had made a bad impression.

Ramses summoned Samentu.

"Be at rest," said he to the priest. "That officer who came after thee was not following. He is too stupid for commissions of that sort. But a heavy hand may be used in case of necessity. Well, now, tell me what inclined thee to such cautiousness?"

"I know, almost, the road to the treasure chambers in the labyrinth," said Samentu.

The pharaoh shook his head.

"That is a difficult task," said he in a low voice. "I ran an hour through various halls and corridors, like a mouse chased by a cat. And I confess that, not merely did I not understand that road, but I could not have even escaped from the place unattended. Death in the sunlight may be pleasant, but death in those dens, where a mole would lose its way! Brr!"

"Still we must find that road and master it," said Samentu.

"But if the overseers themselves give the necessary part of the treasure," inquired the pharaoh.

"They will not do that while Mefres, Herhor, and their confederates are living. Believe me, sovereign, the question for those dignitaries is to roll thee in swaddling clothes, like an infant."

Ramses grew pale from anger.

"Unless I wind them in chains! How wilt Thou discover the way?"

"Here in Abydos, in the grave of Osiris, I found the whole plan of the road to the treasure," said Samentu.

"But how didst Thou learn that it was here?"

"Inscriptions in my temple of Set explained that to me."

"When didst Thou find the plan?"

"When the mummy of thy eternally living father, O holiness, was in the temple of Osiris. I accompanied the revered relics and while on night service in the hall of 'repose' I entered the sanctuary."

"Thou shouldst be a general, not a high priest!" cried Ramses, laughing. "And now Thou understandest the way of the labyrinth?"

"I have understood it this long time, now I have taken indications for guidance."

"Canst Thou explain it to me?"

"Of course, at the right time, I will even show thee a plan, holiness. That way," continued Samentu, "passes in zigzags four times through the whole labyrinth; it begins on the upper story and ends in the lowest place underground, and has a number of other twists. That is why it is so long."

"And how couldst Thou go from one hall to another when there is such a multitude of doors in them?"

"On every door leading to the object there is a portion of this sentence: 'Woe to the traitor who tries to penetrate the supreme secret of the state and to stretch forth a sacrilegious hand toward the treasure of the gods. His remains will be like offal, and his soul, torn by its sins, will wander without rest, through dark places.'"

"And that inscription does not terrify thee?"

"But, holiness, does the sight of a Libyan spear terrify thee? Threats are good against common people, but not against me, who am able myself to write curses still more dreadful."

The pharaoh fell to thinking.

"Thou art right," said he. "A spear will not harm him who knows how to ward it off, and a deceitful road will not lead astray the sage who knows the word of truth. But how wilt Thou manage to make stones in the wall move apart before thee, and columns change into doors of entrance?"

Samentu shrugged his shoulders contemptuously.

"In my temple," replied he, "there are imperceptible entrances even more difficult to open than those in the labyrinth. Whoso knows the key to a mystery can go everywhere, as Thou hast said justly, O holiness."

Ramses rested his head on his hand and continued thinking.

"I should be sorry," said he, "if misfortune were to meet thee on the way."

"In the worst event I shall meet death, and does not death threaten even a pharaoh. Besides, didst Thou not march to the Soda Lakes boldly, though Thou wert not sure of returning? And, lord, think not," continued the priest, "that I must pass over the same distance as other men who visit the labyrinth. I shall find nearer points, and in the course of one prayer to Osiris I can reach a place which Thou wouldst only reach after thirty prayers."

"But are there other entrances?"

"There are, most assuredly, and I must find them. I shall not enter as Thou didst, by the main gate or in the daytime."

"How then?"

"There are external doors which I know and which the wise overseers of the labyrinth leave unguarded. In the court the watches are not numerous and they trust so much to the care of the gods, or to the fear of the people that they sleep in the night time most frequently. Besides, the priests go to pray in the temple three times between sunset and sunrise, but the guards perform their devotions in the open air. Before one prayer is finished I shall be in the edifice."

"And if Thou go astray?"

"I have a plan."

"But if the plan is imperfect?" asked the pharaoh, unable to hide his anxiety.

"But, holiness, if Thou obtain not the treasures of the labyrinth? If the Phoenicians change their minds and refuse the promised loan? If the army be hungry, and the hopes of the common people be deceived? Be pleased to believe me, lord," continued the priest, "that I amid the corridors of the labyrinth shall be safer than Thou in thy kingdom of Egypt."

"But the darkness the darkness! And the walls which one cannot break through, and the depth, and those hundreds of ways in which he who enters must lose himself. Believe me, Samentu, a battle with men is amusement, but a conflict with darkness and doubt that is dreadful."

"Holiness," answered Samentu, smiling, "Thou dost not know my life. At the age of twenty-five I was a priest of Osiris."

"Thou?" asked Ramses, with astonishment.

"I, and I will tell at once why I passed to the service of Set. They sent me to the peninsula of Sinai to build a small chapel for miners. The labor of building continued six years. I, had much free time and wandered among mountains, examining the caves in them.

"What have I not seen in those places! Corridors so long that it took hours to pass through them, narrow entrances through which if a man passes he must crawl on his stomach; chambers so immense that in each a whole temple might find room sufficient. I saw underground rivers, lakes, crystal chambers, dens totally dark in which no man could see his own hand, again others in which there was as much light as if a second sun had been shining there.

"How often have I been lost in countless passages, how often has my torch gone out, how often was I approaching an unseen precipice? I have passed many days in subterranean places, living on parched barley, licking the moisture from wet rocks, not knowing whether I should ever see this upper world again.

"But I gained experience. My vision grew sharp and I even came to love those underground regions. And today when I think of the childish recesses of the labyrinth I am ready for laughter. Edifices built by men are like mole-hills when compared with the immense structures reared by those silent and invisible earth spirits.

"But once I met a dreadful thing which brought me to change my position. West from the quarries of Sinai is a group of ravines and mountains among which subterranean thunders are heard frequently, the earth trembles, and flames are seen sometimes. I was made curious, so I went there for a longer visit. I sought, and, thanks to an inconsiderable opening, I discovered a whole chain of immense caves under the arches of which it would be possible to place the largest pyramid.

"When I wandered into those places I was met by a smell of putrefaction, a smell so strong that I wished to flee from it. But, conquering myself, I entered the cave whence it came, and beheld Imagine, lord, a man with legs and arms shorter by one half than ours, but thick, awkward, and with claws at their extremities. Add to this figure a broad tail, flattened at the side, indented like the comb of a cock, a very long neck, and on it a dog's head. Finally, dress this monster in armor covered on the back with carved spikes. Now imagine that figure standing on its feet with arms and breast resting against a cliff."

"That was something very ugly," put in Ramses; "I should have killed it immediately."

"It was not ugly," answered Samentu, shaking himself. "For think, lord, that monster was as tall as an obelisk."

Ramses made a movement of displeasure.

"Samentu," said he, "it seems to me that Thou didst visit thy caves in a dream."

"I swear to thee, holiness, by the life of my children!" exclaimed the priest, "that I speak truth. Yes; that monster in the skin of a reptile covered with a scaly armor, if lying on the ground, would with its tail be fifty paces long. In spite of fear and repulsion I returned a number of times to that cave and examined the creature most carefully."

"Then it was alive?"

"No, it was dead. Dead a very long time, but preserved like our mummies. The great dryness of the air preserved it, and perhaps some. salt of the earth unknown to me.

"That was my last discovery," continued Samentu. "I went no more into caves, for I meditated greatly. 'Osiris,' said I, 'creates lions, elephants, horses, and Set gives birth to serpents, bats, crocodiles; the monster which I met is surely a creation of Set, and since it exceeds everything known by us under the sun, Set is a mightier god than Osiris.'

"So I turned to Set, and on returning to Egypt fixed myself in his temple. When I told the priests of my discovery they explained to me that they knew a great many monsters of that sort."

Samentu drew breath, then continued,

"Shouldst Thou desire to visit our temple at any time, holiness, I will show thee wondrous and terrible beings in coffins: geese with lizards' heads and bats' wings. Lizards like swans, but larger than ostriches, crocodiles three times as long as those which live now in the Nile, frogs as bulky as mastiffs. Those are mummies, or skeletons found in caves and preserved in our coffins. People think that we adore them, but we merely save them from decay and examine their structure."

"I shall believe thee when I see them myself," replied the pharaoh. "But tell me, whence could such creatures come?"

"The world in which we live, holiness, has suffered great changes. In Egypt itself we find ruins of cities and temples hidden in the earth deeply. There was a time when that which is now Lower Egypt was an arm of the sea, and the Nile flowed through the whole width of our valley. Still earlier the sea was here, where this kingdom is now. Our ancestors inhabited the region which the western desert has taken. Still earlier tens of thousands of years ago the people were not as we are, they rather resembled monkeys, but they knew how to build huts, they had fire, and they used stones and clubs in fighting.

"There were no horses in those days, nor bulls; while elephants, rhinoceroses and lions were three or even four times as large as those beasts are in our time.

"But enormous elephants were not the first creatures. Before them lived immense reptiles: flying, swimming, and walking. Earlier than the reptiles in this world there were only snails and fish, and before them only plants, but plants such as exist not at present."

"And still earlier?" inquired Ramses.

"Still earlier the earth was empty and void, and the spirit of God moved over the waters."

"I have heard something of this," said Ramses, "but I shall not believe it till Thou show me mummies of monsters which, as Thou sayst, are in thy temple."

"With permission, holiness, I will finish what I have begun," said Samentu. "When I saw that immense body in the cave at Sinai fear seized me, and for two years or more I entered no cave of any kind. But when priests of Set explained to me the origin of such wonderful creatures my alarm vanished and curiosity rose up in place of it. I have no pleasanter amusement today than to wander in subterranean places and search for ways amid darkness. For this reason the labyrinth will not cause me more trouble than a walk through the pharaoh's garden."

"Samentu," said the sovereign, "I esteem thy marvelous daring and thy wisdom; Thou hast told me so many curious things that indeed I myself have conceived a wish to examine caves, and some time I will even go with thee to Sinai. Still I have fears as to thy conquest of the labyrinth, and in every event I will summon an assembly of Egyptians to empower me to use its treasures."

"That will do no harm," replied the priest. "But none the less will my labor be needed, since Mefres and Herhor will never consent to yield the treasure."

"And art Thou sure of success?" inquired Ramses persistently.

"Since Egypt is Egypt," said Samentu, "there has not been a man who had such means to win victory as I have. This encounter is for me not even a struggle, but an amusement. Darkness terrifies some men; I love darkness and can even see in the midst of it. Others are unable to guide themselves among the numerous chambers and corridors; I shall do that very easily. Besides, the secrets of opening hidden doors are unknown to other men, while I know them thoroughly.

"Had I nothing beyond what I have recounted I should discover the ways of the labyrinth in one month or in two, but I have besides a detailed plan of those passages and I know the expressions which will lead me from hall to hall. What then can hinder me?"

"Still doubt is concealed at the bottom of thy heart; Thou didst fear that officer who seemed to pursue thee."

The priest shrugged his shoulders.

"I fear nothing and no man," replied he with calmness, "but I am cautious. I provide against everything, and I am prepared even for this, that they may seize me."

"Dreadful tortures would await thee in that case!" whispered Ramses.

"No tortures. I shall open a door directly from the subterranean chamber of the labyrinth to the land of endless light."

"And wilt Thou not be sorry for me?"

"Why should I? I aim at a great object; I wish to occupy Herhor's place."

"I swear that Thou shalt have it."

"Unless I perish," added Samentu. "But if I go along precipices to mountain summits, and in that wandering my foot slips and I fall, what does it signify? Thou, lord, wilt care for the future of my children?"

"Go forward," said Ramses. "Thou art worthy to be my foremost assistant."