Mexico weekly ledger., 1889-12-19

stay thy hand, Turn not that dagger
against thy breast; for If me thou mayst
not slay, by how muchthe more mayst thou
not Stay myself, . thou forsworn Priest
of Isisi Art thou, then, so eager 10 face
that outraged Majesty in Amentil With
what eyes, thinkest thou, will the Heavenly
Mother look upon her son who, shamed in
all things and false to his most sacred VOW,
comes to greet Her, his life-blood on his
handsf Where, then, will be the space for
thy atonement-if, indeed, thou mayst
atouei'
Then l could bear no more, for my heart
was broken within me. Alas! it was too
true-Id dared not die. To such a pass was
I come that l did not ever dare to diei l
flung myself upon the couch and wept-
wept tears of blood and anguish.
But Cleopatra came to me, and, seating
herself beside me, she stroye TO comfort
ne, throwing her arms about my neck.
may, Love, look up,' she said. sAll is
not lost for thee, nor am l angered against
thee. We did play mighty game; but as
| warned thee, l matched my woman's
magic against thine, and l have conquered.
But / will be open with thee. Both as
Queen and woman thou hast my pity-ay,
and more; nor do / love to see thee plunged
In sorrow. Well was it and right that thou
ItA1uo w wa oAA NAIN&S "a AhS
father seized, and the ancient liberty of
Egypt Myself as a lawful Queen had done
the same, nor shrunk from the deed Of
darkness whereto l was sworn. Therein,
then, thou hast my sympathy, that goes
ever out to what is great and bold. Well is
it also that thou shouldst grieve over
the greatness of thy fall. Therein,
then, as woman-as loving woman-thou
hast my sympathy. Nor is all lost. The
plan was f~oolish-for, as I hold, Egypt
never might have stood aIone, for though
thou hadst won the crown and country, as
without q doubt thou must have done. yet
was there the Roman to be reckoned with.
And for thy hope learn this:. Little am l
known. There is no heart in this wide land
that beats with q truer love for ancient
Khem than does this heart of mine; nay,
not thine own, Harmachis. But heavily
have l been shackled heretofore, for wars,
rebellions, envies, plots have hemmed me
in on every side, so that l might not serve
nv people as l would. But thou, Har-
tlachis, shalt show me how. Thou shalt be
my counselor and my love. Is it a little
thing, o Harmachis, to have won the heart
of Cleopatra, that h~eart-fie on thee!-that
thou wouldst have stilled? Ay, thou shalt
unite me TO my people, n together will we
reign, linking thus in one the new kingdom
and the old. Thus do all things work for
good-ay, for the very best-and thus, by
another and a gentIer road, shalt thou climb
to Pharaoh's throne.
''See thou this, Harmachis: thy treachery
shall be cloaked about as much as may be.
Was it, then, thy fault that a Roman
knave betrayed thy piansa that, thereon,
thou vast drugged, thy secret papers
stolen and their key guessed Will it,
then, be a blame to thee that, the great
plot being broken and those who built it
| scattered, thou, still faithful to thy trust,
| di.st serve thee of such means as Nature
| gave thee, and win the heart of Egypt's
| Queen, that, through her gentle love, thou
highest yet attain thy ends and spread
tn wings of power across the rolling Nllel
| Am l an il~l-counselor, thinkest thou,
/ Hafrnachisl"
lifted my head, and a ray of hope crept
into the darkness of my heart; for when
men fall they grasp at feathers. Then, for
tie first time, 1 spoke.
"And those with me-those who trusted
me-what of thems"
"Ay,' she answered, aAmenemhat, thy
father, the aged Priest of Abydos; and
Sepa, thy uncle, that fiery patriot, whose
| great heart is hid beneath so common a
shell of form; and
Methought she would have said Char
mion, but she named her not.
And many o~thers-oh, know them ALP
"Ayi" l said, "what of them2"
"See thou, Harmachis," she answered,
raising and placing her hand upon my arm,
'for thy sake I will show mercy to them.
No more will l do than must be done. l
swear by my throne and by all the Gods of
Egypt that not one hair of thy aged fathers
head shall be harmed by me; and, if it be
not too late, thy uncle Sepa will l also
spare, ay, and the others. 1 will not do as
did my forefather Epiphanes, who, when
the Egyptians rose against him, dragged
ATKINS, Pausiras, C~hesuphus and lrobash-
tus, bound to his chariot-uot as Achilles
dragged Hector, but yet living-round the
city walls. will spare them all, save the
Hebrews, if there be any Hebrews; for the
Jews 1 hate"
'sThere are no Hebrews" Isaid.
st is well,r she said, "for no Hebrew
will I ever spare. Am I then, indeed, so
cruel a women as they say? In thy list, o
Harmachis, were many doomed to die; and
[ have but taken the life of one Roman
knave, a double traitor, for he betrayed
both me and thee. Art thou not over.
whelmed, Harmachis, with the weight OF
mercy which l give thee, bec~ause-such are
q woman's re~asons-thou pieasest me-, Har.
UidcHlSi Nay, ny Seraplo! Sue duueu,
with a little laugh, "In change my mind; ]
will not give thee so much for nothing.
Thou shall buy it from me, and the price
shall De a heavy one-it shall be a kiss
Harmachis."
'Nay," l said, turning from that faiI
temptress, "the price is too heavy; I kis'
no more"
"Bcthink thee,'' she answered, with I
heavy frown. 'Bethink thee and choose
[ an but a woman, Harmachis, and one who
Is not won't to sue men. Do as thou wilt
but this | say to thee-if thou dost put mt
away, l viii gather up the mercy 1 have
melted out. Therefore, most virtuou:
priest, choose thou 'twixt the heavy burden
of my love and the swift death of thy aged
ia; or and of all those who plotted witt
hiri."
Ig.aaccd at her and saw that she was
angered, for her eyes shone and her bosom
heaved. SO, signing, l kissed her, thereby
setting the seal upon my shame and bond
age. Then smiling like the triumphant
Aphrodite of the Greeks, she went thence
bearing the dagger with her.
Not yet did 1 know how deeply l was be
trayed; or why I still was left to draw the
breath of life; or why Cleopatra, the tiger
hearted, had grown merciful. I did NO
know that she feared to slay me lest, 81
| strong was the plOb ana 30 IeeDl9 ner hOlC
upon the Double Grown, the tumult tina
might tread hard upon the tidings of n,
murder should-even when I was no more
shake her from the throne. l did not know
that because of fear and the weight O
policy only she slowed scant mercy II
those whom l had betrayed, or that becaus,
OF cunning and not for the holy sake o.
woman's love-though, in truth, she likeG
me well enough-she chose rather to bin
me TO her by the fbers of my heart. Ant
YET this will / say in her behalf: Ever
when the d~anger-cloud had melted from
her sky she kept her faith, nor, save Paulu:
and one other, did any suffer the utmos
penalty of death for their part in the grear
plot against Cleopatra's crown and dynasty
But many other things they suffered.
And so she went, leaving the vision of he
glory to strive with the shame and sorrow
Of my heart. Oh, bitter were the hour,
that could now no more be made light witt
prayer. For the link between me and tn,
!, Divine was snapped, and no more did Isl
commune with her Priest. Bitter were tn
hours and dark, but ever through thei
darkness shone the starry.eyes Of Cleopatra
and came the echo of her whispered love
Fornot yet was the cup of sorrow full. Stil
hope fingered in my heart, and almost couli
l Think that / had failed to sone highere end
find another and more fiowery path to tri
unlph.
For thus those do who wickedly deceive
themselves, striving to lay the burden o
their evil deeds upon b back of Fate, striv