The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1890-05-02

passing and not gfestJof II thore be . guile
within thy heart, then tho curse of Menksra
be on theeis On thee be the curse that shall
.suaite him Who breaks in upon tho dead!s t
1t must be remembered that the an
Gent Egyptians held the dead in greater
awe and sanctity than the living. After
death the body was still visited by the soul,
resurrection. Hence their care as to its
embalmment and the stupendous works
which they raised as tombs.
'On thee be the curse that. follows the traitori
On thee be the curse that smites him who out
RACES the majesty Of the Gods! Unhappy
shalt thou live, in blood and misery shalt thou
die, and in misery shalt thou be tormented
forever and forever! For, Wicked One, there
in Amenti shall we come face to facei
"And to the end OF the keeping OF this secret
have ], Menka-ra. set up o Temple Of my
Worship, the which I have tbuilt upon the
eastern side OF this my House OF Death. To the
hereditary High Priest Of this my Temple
shall it be made known from time to time.
And IL any High Priest that shall be, do reveal
THIS secret to another than the Pharaoh, or
Her who wears the Pharaoh's crown and is
seated upon the throne of Khem, accursed be
he also. Thus have l, Menks-ra, the Osirian,
written. Now to thee, who, sleeping in the
womb OF Nout, yet shall upon time stand
ONcT ut anu Tcdu, i say yuuSC anu IL
thou judgest evilly on thee shall fall this the
curse of Menka-ra, from which there is no es-
cape. Greeting and farewell"
"Thou hast heard, U 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
emily. "Let us hence"
sit is WELL" said, with tightening of
the heart, and bent me to lift the wooden
lid. For L, too, feared.
sand yet what said the writing Of the d.
vine Menka-ra?-'twas emeralds, was it
notl And emeralds are now so rare and
hard to come by! Ever did l love emer-
aids, and never can find them without q
flaw"
'Tis not a matter of what thou dost love,
l said; "'tis matter Of the
need of Kaem and of the secret meaning of
Thy heart, which thou alone canst know"
GAY, surely, Harmachis; surely! And is
not the need of Egypt great. There is 70
gold in the treasury and how can defy the
Roman if have no gold! And have / not
sworn to thee that l will wed thee and defy
he Roman; and do l not swear it again
yea, even IN this solemn hour, with my hand
AkOu uSou ucdIls n.y. HcTc 10
hat occasion whereof the divine Menka-ra
lid dream. Thou seest it is so, for else had
datasu or Rameses or some other Pharaoh
irawn forth the gems. But no; they left
hem to this hour because the time was not
ret come. Now it must be come, for if
AXE not the gems the Roman will surely
eze on Egypt, and then there will be no
pharaoh to whom the secret may be told.
Nay, let US away with fears and to the
work. Why dost look so frighted! Having
'ure hearts, .naught is there to fear, Harma-
his.n
''Even as thou wilt" said again; "for |
hee 1t is to judge, since if thou judgest |
alsely, on thee will surely fall the curse |
rom which there is no escape
$50, Harmachls. take PharaoG's head and |
will take his Oh, what an awful place |
5 this!" and suddenly she chung to me.
MethouGht saw a shadow yonder in the |
Methought that 1t did move |
oward US and then straightway vanish! |
.et US be goingl Didst thou see naughti"
81 saw naught, Cleopatra; but mayhap it |
Tas the Spirit of the divine Menka-ra, for |
yer does the spirit hover round its mortal |
enement. Let US then be going; right |
lad shall be to CO."
She made as though to start, then turned |
ack again and spoke once more.
"'Twas naught-naught but the mind /
hat in such house of Horror doth body |
orth those shadowy forms of fear it breads |
D see. Nay, l must look upon these en-
raids indeed; if die, must lookl Come
to work!" and STOPPING she with her own
ands lifted from the tomb one of the four
jars, each sealed with the craven
keness Of the heads of the protecting Gods,
hat held the holy heart and entrails of the
ivine Menka-ra But in those jars was
othing found, save only what should be
here.
Then together we mounted on the sphinx
nd drew forth with toll the body of the
wine Pharaoh, laying it on the ground.
low Cleopatra took my dagger, and with it
ut loose the bandages which held the wrap
ings in their place, and the lotus flowers,
nat had been placed therein by loving
ands, three thousand years before, fell
own upon the pavement. Then we searched
nd found the end of the outer bandage,
hitch was fixed in at the hinder part of the
eek. This we cut loose, for it was fast