Mexico weekly ledger., 1890-01-09

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IL solid mass of mighty pyramid that
lowered over US! The heaviness Of her
swoon had smoothed away all the false
ness of her face, and naught was left
but the stamp divine Of woman's richest
loneliness, softened by shadows Of the night
and dIgnifed by the cast Of deathlike sleep.
] gazed upon her and all my heart went out
to her; it seemed that l did but love her
more because Of tho depth Of the treasons
wherein had sunk to reach her, and be-
cause OF the terrors we had outfaced to-
Gether. Weary and spent with fears and
the pangs Of guilt, my heart sought hers
for rest, for now she alone was left to me.
She had sworn to wed me also, and with
the treasure we had won we would make
Egypt strong and free her from her foes,
and all should yet be we'll Ahi could
have seen the picture that was to be, how,
and in what place and circumstances, once
egaln this very woman's head should be
did upon my knee, pale with that cast Of
deathi Ahi could I have seenl
chafed her hand between my hands. /
bent me and kissed her on the lips, and she
woke. She woke with little sob of fear
O shiver ran down her delicate limbs; and
with wide eyes she stared upon my face.
"Ah, 1t Is thou!n she said. 81 mind me-
thou hast saved me from that horror
haunted placei' And she threw her arms
about my neck and drew me to her and
kissed me. "Come, love-" she said, 'let us
be going! l am sore athirst, and-ah!
so very wearyi The gems, too, they ohafe
my breast! Never was wealth SO hardly
wonl Come, let US be going from the
shadow of this ghostly spot! See the faint
lights glanclng from the wing Of Dawn!
How beautiful they are, and how sweet to
Ankn in, nf
Night, did think to look upon the blush of
dawn againl Ahi I can see the face Of
that dead slave yet, with the Horror hang
ing to his beardless chini Bethink theel-
there he'll sit forever-there-with the
horrorl Come; where may we find waterf
would give an emerald for a cup OF waterl"
aAt the canal at the borders OF the titled
land below the temple Of Horemku-it is
close at hand" answered. 'If any see
tus, we will say that we are pilgrims who
have lost our way at night among the
tombs Vail thyself closely, therefore,
cleopatra; and beware lest thou dost show
taught of those gems about thee"
| So she vailed herself, and lifted her on
Ito the ass which was tethered close at hand.
I'VE walked slowly through the sand till we
Icame to the place where the symbol OF the
IGod Horemku. fashioned as mighty sphinx
crowned with the royal crown of Egypt,
looks out in majesty across the land, his
eyes ever fixed upon the East. Even as we
walked the first arrow of the rising sun
quiverrd through the gray air, striking
upon Horemku's lips of holy calm. Then the
light gathered and grew upon the cleaning
sides of twenty pyramids, and, like prom
ise of Life TO Death, rested on the portals oi
ten thousand tombs Then from his horizon
bed Royal Ra rose up in pomp, and 1t was
day.
And passing the temple Of granite and oi
,alabaster that was built before the days o1
lChufu, to the glory Of the majesty Of Hor.
lemlu, we descended the slope and came te
the water of the canal. There we drank;
and sweeter was that draught of muddy
water than all the choicest wine Of Alex
andria. Also we washed the mummy dust
and CRIME from our hands and brows and
made us clean. Aud as she bathed her
neck, STOPPING over the water, one Of the
great emeralds slipped from Cleopatra's
breast and fell into the water, and 1t was
but by chance that at length found 1t in
the mire. Then, once more, / lifted Cleo
fpatra on to the beast, and slowly, for was
very weary, we marched back to the banks
lof Sihor, where our craft was. And having
at length come thither. seeing no one save
some few peasants going out to labor on the
lands, turned the ass loose In that same
field where we had found him, and we
boarded the craft while the crew were yet
sleeping. Then, waking them, we bade
them make all sail, saying that we had left
the eunuch to sojourn awhile behind us, as
in truth we had. So we sailed, and the
gems, with such OF the ornaments OF gold
as we could bring hither, we hid away.
Four days and more We spent in coming
to Alexandria, for the wind was for the
most part against Us; and they were happy
Idaysl At first, indeed. Cleopatra wal
somewhat silent and heavy at heart, fol
what she had seen and felt in the womb oi
tho pyramid weighed her down. But soor
her imperial spirit awoke and shook the
burden from her breast and she became
iherself again-now gay, now learned; now
loving and now cold; now queenly and now
la1together simple-ever chan ging as tht
winds Of heaven, and, Ms the heaven, deep
oeauteous and unsearchablel
] Night after night for those four unhapp,
nights, the last happy hours I ever was u
know, we sat hand In hand upon the decl
and heard the waters lap the vessels side
and watched the soft football Of the mool
as she trod the depths Of the Nile. Their,
I'VE sat and talked Of love, talked Of ou
trusrriago and all that we would do. Also
ldrew up plans Of war and Of defense agains
the Roman, which now we had the mean
Ito carry out; and she approved them
Esweetly saying that what seemed good i
tue was good to her. And so all too swiftl,
passed the days. y those nights upon tn
Nilei their memory haunts me yeti Dea'
are those dear nights, dead is the moo
that lit them and lost in the wide salt SCI
are the waters which rocked Us on thei
,nreasti For all things end tn darkness ap