The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1889-11-16

68lNy AOE 81 ASNASs 80
her. ~
AS 81, 81 Cleop answered, z'snot, \
ever even Tor thee and sfor the of Egypt
5cal1 I do this thin for #of All q ns sit
would bes the greatest sin. But this Az isS
ii WI III Tor me to do. II, as hered holder
III tlle s. secret, may, upon demand, show to
the ruling monarch of 4 Kehm the place
where the treasure lies, and show also the 3
warning that IS wri tten. And il, on seeing
and reading, the Pharaoh do deem that the
need of Khenl is SO sore and strait that IT IS
lawful for him TO brave the curseof the
dead and drawsthe treasure forth, II is well,
Tor on his head must rest the weig ht OF this
dread deed Three n1onarchs, 50 say the
records that have road, ave thus dared
to enter ia the time Of need. They were
the divine Queen Ha-ta su, that wonder
known to the Gods alone; her divine broth s
q Men -Kheper "a 4 Thotmes the Great)
and the divine Mi-amen (Rameses ID But
of these three majesties, not one when they
saw dared to touch, for, though sore their
need, it was not great enou gl to consecrate
the act. So. fearing lest the curse should fall
upon them, they went HENCE sqrrowing."
Ak little she thought, till at last her spirit
overcame her fear
CAT the least I will see with mine own
eyes, e she said. s s8
ut IS well,,' I answered. Then, stones
having been piled up on certain spot az
the base Of the pyramid to somewhat more
than the height of b man by me and the
ennuch who was with us, climbed on
them and searched for the secret mark, no
larger than leaf. And, with some
trouble, for the weather and the rubbing
of the sand had worn even the Ethiopian
stone, I found it. Having found it, l, in
/ Al Il Syl
certain fashion, pressed thereon Win ali
nv strength. Even after the lapse OF
wears unnumbered the stones swung round,
Showing little opening through which
man might scarcely creep AS it swung, a
mighty bat, such as I had never seen De-
fore for bigness, for his measure was tho
measure Of a hawk flew forth and for 9
moment lowered over Cleopatra, and then
in circles sailed slowly up and up till at the
last he was lost in the bright light of the
moon. WI
i. But Cleopatra uttered a cry of terror:
and the eunuch, who was watching, fell
down in fear, believing it to be the guar.
dian spirit Of the pyramid. And l, too.
feared, though naught said. For even
now [ do believe that twas the spirit o.
Menka-ra, the Osirian, who, taking on hlrn'
self the form Of a bat, flew forth from has
holy House in warning. 4.tA.
Awhile waited till the foul air should
clear from the passage Then drew 1ortl
the lamps and klndled them, and passed
them. to the number OF three. into the en-
trance Of the passage. This done. ] went to
the trusty eunuch, and, taking him aside,
I swore HIM by the living spirit OF Him who
sleeps at Abouthis that those things which
he was about to see he should not reveal
This he swore, trembling sorely, for he
was much afraid. Nor, indeed, did he re-
yea, them.
This being done, clambered through the
opening, taking with me a coil Of rope,
which wound around my middle, and
beckoned to Cleopatra to come. Making
fast the skirt Of her robe, she came, and
drew her through the opening, SO that at
length she stood behind me in the passage
which is lined with slabs Of granite. After
her came the eunuch, and he also stood in
the passage And then, having taken
counsel Of the plan of the passage that
I had brought with me, and which,
in signs that none but the initiated can
read, was copied from those ancient writ
ings that had come down to me through
one and-forty generations Of my predeces.
sors, the priests of this pyramid of Her, and
OF the worship of the Temple of the Divine
Menka-ra, the Osirian, l led the way through
that darksome place toward the utter 81
lence of the tomb Guided by the feeble
light Of our lamps we passed down the steep
incline, gasping in the heat and the thick,
stagnated air. Presently we had left the
region of the masonry and were slipping
down a gallery hewn in the living rock. For
twenty PAGES or more it ran steeply. Then
its slope lessened, and shortly we found our
selves in q chamber paihtsd white,Sso low
that 1, being tall, had scarce room to stand, .
but in length four PAGES and in breadth
three, and cased throughout with sculptuEed
panels. Here Cleopatra sank upon the AOoks
and rested awhile, overcome by the heat
and the utter darkness.
ssRise, ~ Lsaid. "Here we mast not lin \
ger, oriWe faint N
So she rose, and, passing hand in hand
through that chamber we found OURSELVES
face to face with almighty door of granite,
let down from the roof in grooves. And
once more I;S took counsel Of thas ptan,
pressed with my foot upon certain st,sie,sss
and waited. Then, suddenly and 5softly,
know not by WHAT eans, the mil hty mass
heaved itself from its bedpf living rock. We
passed beneath, and found ourselves face
to face with second door Of granite Again
pressed on certain spot, and of itself
this door swung wide, and we went
through, to find ourselves face to face with
9 third door, yet more mighty than the
twain through which we had won our way.
Following the secret plan, this door struck
with my foot upon certain spot, and slow
" it sank, as though at q word Of magic.
till its head was level with the floor Of
rock We crossed and gained another
passage which, descending gently for =
length Of fourteen PAGES, led us into great
chamber paved with black marble, moro
than nine cubits high By nine cubits broad,
and thirty cubits long. In this great mar
bic floor was sunk q great sarcophagus Of
granite, and on its lid were graved the
name and titles Of the Queen of Menka-ra
In this chamber, too, the air was more pure,
though by what means i came thitherI
know not. Az sSs sss5 85355 a
& "Is the treasure here gasped Cleopatra.
! u Nay III answered; t.follow me-. And
LED ei the way g gallery. which we entered
through an opening ii the floor of the great
chamber. sIt had been closed nv d trap &
doorsof stone, hut the door was open open
Creeping along this shat !, or passage, Tor
some 1 ten PAGES, came fat lena III to q
WeA l,'n. depth seven Making fast