Mexico weekly ledger., 1889-11-14

~" forth to meet it. For 1 longed
y to overthrow the foreigner, to set
Egypt free, to mount the throne that was
heritage, and cleanse the temples Of
Gods. Twas fain for the struggle, and
never doubted of its end. I looked into
the mirror, and saw triumph written on
my brows. The future stretched a path Of
glory from my feet-ay, glittering with
glory like Sihor in the sun 1 communed
with my Mother Isis; l sat within my
chamber and took counsel with my hearti
I planned new temples; 1 revolyed great
laws that I would put forth for my peoples
veal; and in my ears rang the shouts of ex.
ultatlon that should greet victorious Pha
raoh On his throne.
But still q little while / tarried al
Abouthis, and, having been commanded SO
to do, let my hair, that had been shorn, grow
again long and black as the ravens wing,
instructing myself meanwhile in all manly
exercises and feats of arms. Also, for Q
purpose that shall oe seen, l perfected my
self In that magic art of the Egyptians and
the reading Of the stars, in which things,
indeed, l already had great skill.
Now, this was the plan that had been
built up. My uncle Sepa had, for awhile,
left the Temple Of On, giving out that his
health had failed him. Thence he had
moved down to q house in Alexandria, to
gather strength, as he said, from the
breath of the sea, and also to learn for HIM
self the wonders of the great Museum and
the glory of Cleopatra's Court. There it
was planned tina l should join him, for
there. at Alexandria, the egg Of the plot
was Matching. Accordingly, when at last
the came, all things being pre-
pared, i made me ready for the journey
md pasSal into INV fatharsa chanhQr RI IN
,ceive his blessing ere went. There sat
the old man, as once before he sat when he
rebuked me because l went out to Stay the
Lion, his long white beard resting on the
table of stone and sacred writings in his
hand. When l came in he rose from his
seat n would have knelt, crying: Hail,
Pharaoh! ~ but 1 caught him by the hand.
sit is not meet, my father" l said.
sit is meet,' he answered. 1T is meet
that l should bow me before my King. But
be it as thou wilt. And so thou goest,
Harmachisf My blessing go with thee, o
my son, n may those whom I serve grant
1t to me that my old eyes may, indeed, be-
hold thee on the thronei Long have I
searched, striving, o Harmachis. to read
the future that shall be, but naught can I
learn by all my wisdom. 1t is hid from me,
and at times my heart fails me. But hear
this: There is danger in thy path, and it
comes in the form Of man Long AVE I
known II, and therefore hast thou been
called to the worship of the heavenly Isis,
who bids her votaries put away the thought
Of woman till such time as she shall think
well to slacken the rule. o my son, ]
would that thou vert not so strong and fai,
stronger and fairer, indeed, than any man
In Egypt, as a King should be-for in that
strength and beauty may lie a cause OF
stumbling. Beware, then, of those witches
Of Alexandria, lest, like a worm, some one
Of them creep into thy heart and eat its
secret out"
ssHaye 10 fear, my father" 1 answered,
frowning; my thought is set on other
things than red lips and smiling eyes.n
at Is good be answered; $50 may it be.
fall. And now farewell. When next We
meet, may it be in that happy hour when,
with all the Priests Of the Upper Land, ]
move down from A.bouthis to do my homage
TO Pharaoh on his throne"
So ! embraced him, and went. Alas! ]
little thought how we should meet again.
Thus it came about that once more ]
passed down the Nile, travelling as a man
Of no estate. And to such as were curious
about me it was given out that I was the
adopted son of the High Priest of Abouthis,
AaNiHs pCCh uEoukut up W Tue pEltSLuDtu,
and that l bad at last refused the service
of the Gods, and chosen TO go to Alexan,
dria to seek my fortune. For, be it remem.
bored, ] was by all those who knew not the
truth still held to be the grandson Of the
old wife, Atoua.
On the tenth night, sailing with the wind
we reached the mighty city of Alexandria
the city of q thousand lights. Above theu
all lowered the white Pharos, that wonder
OF the world, from the crown whereof
light like the light of the sun blazed GU
across thew waters of the harbor to guild,
mariners on their way across the wine-darl
sea. The vessel, for 1t was night, havin,
been most cautiously made fast to the quay
~disembarked and stood wondering at th,
vast mass of houses. and confused by tn,
clanor Of many tongues. For here all PEG
Piles seemed TO be gathered together, eacl
speaking after the fashion Of his own land
And as l stood a young man came ani
touched me on the shoulder, asking me IL
was from Abouthis and named Harmachis
I said, "Yea" Thereon, bending over me
he whispered the secret pass wordi into min,
ear, and, reckoning to two slaves, bad,
them bring my apparel from the ship. Thi.
they did, fighting their way through th,
crowd OF porters who were clamor
ing for hire. Then I followed hin
sdown the quay, which was bordered witt
drinking places, where all sorts Of me,
we're gathered, tippling wine and watchinI
the dancing OF women, some of whom wer,
but scantily arrayed. and some not arraye,
tatall And so we went through the lamp-li
houses, till at last we reached the shore O
the great harbor, and turned to the RICH
fslong a wide way paved with granite an,
lbordered by strong houses, having ~cloister
lin front of them, the like of which I ha
never seen. Turning once more to th
fright, we came to squieter portion Of tn
lofty, where, save for parties Of strollin
Jewellers, the streets were still. Present.
fmy guide halted ct q house built OF whit
Istone. We passed In, and, crossing q sma
courtyard, entered . chamber where thsr
was . light. And here at last / found m
uucie Sepa, most glad TO see me SAT,
When I had washed and eaten he told u
that all things wtnt well, aud that as "
here was no thought of evil at the Cour
3arther, he said, it having come to the 60,