Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-11-07
CLEOPATRA.
Being an Account of the Fall and Vengeance of Harmachis, the
 Royal Egyptian.

! evcr!"
 ssWhere, then, is the treasures' she asked again. ''Here, indeed, is the body of tho divine Menka-ra but the flesh even of Pha- raohs is not gold, and if the face of this sphinx be gold, how may we move it?'
 For answer I bade her stand upon the sphinx and grasp the upper part of the cof- fin, while I grasped it's foot. Then, at my word, we lifted, and the lid of the case, which was not fixed, came away, and we set it upon the floor. Ana there in the case was the mummy of the Pharaoh, as three thou Sand years before it had been laid. A large mummy it was, and somewhat ungainly. Nor was 1t adorned with gilded mask, as is the fashion of our day, fer the head was wrapped in cloths yellow with age, which were made fast with pink aaxen bandages, whereunder were pushed the stems of lotus blooms. And on the breast, wreathed over with lotus flowers, lay plate of gold close ly written over with sacred writing. lifted up the plate, and, holding 1t to the light, read:
 II. Menka-ra, the Osrian, aforetime Pharaoh of the Land of Khcm, who in my day did live justly and ever walked in tho path marked for my feet by the decree of the Invisible, Who was the beginning and Is the end, speak from my tomb to theso who after me shall for an hour sit upon my Throne. Behold. ], Menka- rn, the Osirian. having in the days of my life been warned of a dream that Q time will come when Khem shall fear to fall into the hands Of strangers. and her monarch shall have great need of treasure wherewith to furnish armies to drive the barbarian back have out of my wisdom done this thing. For 1t having pleased tho protecting Gods to give mo wealth beyond any Pharaoh who has been since the days or Horus-thousands of cattle and geese, thou sands ot camels and asses, thousands of measures of corn, md hundreds of measures of gold and ssns-this wealth have l used sparingly, and that wnich remalns have bartered for prec ous stones, even fof emer- aids the most beautiful and largest that are in the world. These stones, then, have stored us against that day of the need of khem. But because as these have been, so there shall be, those who do wickedly on tAe earth, ana Who in the lust,of gain, might seize this wealth that have stored and put it to their uses. Behold, thou Unborn One, who in the fulness of time shalt stand above me Bad read this that have caused to be written, thus have stored the treasure: even among my bones, Therefore, o thou Unborn One sleeping in the womb of Nout, this say to thee! If thou indeed hast need of riches to save knem from the foes Of khem fear not and delay not, but tear me, the Osiran, from my tomb, loose my wrappings and rip the treasure from my breast, and all shall be well with thee; for this only do com mands ThaI thou dQst replace my bones within my hollow coffin. But If the ased be passing and no. great or If there be guile within thy heart, then the curse Of Menka "a be on thee! On thcc be the curse that shall smte him who breaks in upon the dead!+
 TX It must be remembered that the an- cient Egyptians held the dead in greater ava aud sanetity than the living. After death the body was still visited by the soul, and they looked forward to its personal resurrection. F.rnea their care as to it's embalmment and the stupendons works which they raised as tombs.
 ''On thee be the curse that follows the traitor! On thee be the curse that sinites him who out ra.es the majesty of the Gods! Unhappy shalt thou live, in blood and misery shalt thou die, and in misery shalt thou be tormentcd forever and forever! For, Wicked One there in Ameasi shall we como face to face!
 And to the end of the keepns of this secret have I, Menka,fa.' set up Temple Of my Worship, the which have built upon the eastern side of thls my House of Death. To the hereditary High Priest of this my Temple shall it be made known from time to time. And if any High Priest that shall be, do reveal this secret to another than the Pharaoh, or Her who wears the fhaEaoh's crown and is seated upon the throne of Khem, accursed be he also. Thus have l. Menka-ra, the Osirian, written. Now to thee, who, sleeping in the womb of Nout, yet shall upon Il time stand over me and read, I say, judge thoui and if thou judgest evilly on thee shall fall this the curse of Menka-ra, from which there is no es- cape. Greetng and farewell
 'sThou hast heard, D Cleopatra" l said solemnly; ''now search thy heart; judge thou, and for thine own sake judge justly"
 She bent her head in thought.
 II fear to do this thing;," she said pres ently. "Let us hence.''
 '.It is we'll" said, with a Tightening of the heart, and bent me to lift the wooden lid. For l, too, feared.
 "And yet what said the writing of the di- vine Menka-ra?-'twas emeralds, was it not! And emeralds are now so rare and hard to come by! Ever did l love emer- aids, and never can I find them without flaw"
 "'ris not a matter of what thou dost love, Cleopatra" I said; "'tis matter of the need of Khem and of the secret meaning of thy heart, which thou alone canst know"
 "Ay, surely, Harmachis; surely! And is not the need of Egypt greats There is TO gold in the treasury, and how can defy the Roman if have no golda And have l not sworn to thee that I will wed thee and defy the Roman and do not swear it again yea, even III this solemn hour, with my hand upon dead Pharaoh's heart? Why, here is that occasion whereof the divine Menka-ra did dream. Thou seest it Is So, for else had Hatasu or Rameses or some other Pharaoh drawn forth the gems. But no; they left them to this hour because the time was not yet come. Now it must be come, for if
 
 seize on Egypt, and then there will be no Pharaoh to whom the secret may be told. Nay, let us away with fears and to tho work. Why dost look so frighteds Having pure hearts, naught is there to fear, Harma- chis."
 'Even as thou wilt,"I said again; "for thee 1t is to judge, since if thou judg ,st falsely, on thee will surely fall the curse from which there is no escape" "So, Harmachls. take Pharaoh's head and will take his Oh, what an awful place is this !'' and suddenly she clung to me- 'Me thought saw shadow wonder in the darknessl Methought that 1t did move toward us and then straightway vanish! Let us be goingl Didst thou see naughtP
 II saw naugLt, Cleopatra; but mayhap it was the Spirit of the divine Menka-ra, for ever does the spirit hover round it's mortal | tenement. Let us then be going; right glad shall be to go.''
 She made as though to start then turned back again and spoke once more. "'Twas naught-naught but the m1nd that in such a house of Horror doth body | forth those shadowy forms of fear 1t dreads