Mexico weekly ledger., 1890-01-02

seated upon l.-n throne ci iGhe.n, accufSed be
he a'sc. Thus have r Menka.ra, the Osirian,
wr!tsea. Now to thee, who, sleeping IN tae
womb OF Sout, yet shall upon o time stand
over mo aud read 1 say judge thou! and /;
thou iUdgest Willy on thee shall fall this the
curse of Henka-ra, from which there IS no es-
c. pe. Greeting aud farewell
.'Thoa hast heard, . Cleop"tra," / said
so,emnly; now search thy heart; judge
thou, and for thine own sake judge justly"
She bent her head in thought.
u fear to do this thing" she said pres
emily. "Let Us hence"
sit is we'll" said, with tightening Of
the heart, and bent me to lift the wooden
nd. For l, too, feared.
.And yet what said the writingof the di-
vine Menka-ra?-'twas emeralds, was IL
not. And emeralds are now SO rare and
hard to como by! Ever did l love emer-
aids, aud never can | find them without
fiawn
"'Tis not matter of what thou dost love,
Cleopatra l said; "'tis matter of the
need OF khem and of the secret meaning Of
thy heart, which thou alune canst know"
Gay, surely, Harmachis; surelyl And is
not the need of Egypt greats There is 10
gold in the treasury. aud how can l defy the
Roman if have no goldi And have l not
sworn to thee that will wed thee and defy
the Roman; and do not swear it again
yea, even IN this solemn hour, with my hand
upon dead Pharaoh's hearth 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 I
take not the gems the Roman will surely
~
Pharaoh to whom the secret may be told.
Nay. let US away with fears and to the
work. Why dost look SO friShted! Having
pure hearts. .ssnaught is there to fear, Harma-
chis.'
Even as thou wilt" said again; ''for
thee 1t is to judge, since if thou judgest
falsely, on thee will surely fall the curse
from which there is no escape"
$50, HarmachIs. take Pharaoh's head and
will take his Oh, what an awful place
is this.n and suddenly she ciung to me.
'Methought saw shadow yonder in the
darkness, Methought that 1t did move
toward US and then straightway vanish !
Let US be going! Didst thou see naughtah
IT saw naught, Cleopatra; but mayhap 1t
was the Spirit of the divine Menka-ra, for
ever does the spirit hover round its mortal
tenement. Let US then be going; right
glad shall be to 60"
She made as though to start, then turned
back again and spoke once more.
"'Twas naught-naught but the mind
that in such house of Horror doth body
forth those shadowy forms Of fear it breads
to see. Nay, must look upon these en-
eralds indeed; if die, must lookl Come
to work. and STOPPING she with her own
hands lifted from the tomb one of the four
alabaster jars, each sealed with the craven
likeness of the heads of the protecting Gods,
that held the holy heart and entrails Of the
divine Menka-ra. But in those jars was
nothing found, save only what should be
there.
Then together we mounted on the sphinx
and drew forth with toll the body Of the
divine Pharaoh, laying it on the ground.
Now Cleopatra took my dagger, and with ii
cut loose the bandages which held the wrap
pings in their place, and the lotus flowers,
that had been placed therein by loving
hands, three thousand years before, fell
down upon the pavement. Then we searched
and found the end of the outer bandage
which was fixed in at the hinder part of the
neck. This we cut loose, for it was fas,
glued This done, we began to unrol the
wrappings Of the holy corpse Setting my
shoulders against the sarcophagus, sal
| upon the rocky floor, the body resting on
/ my knees, and, as turned it CleoL .tra un
wound the cloths; and awesome was the
task. Presently something fell out; 1t was
/ the scepter of the Pharaoh, fashioned OF
gold, and at the end thereof was pome
/ granate cut from single emerald.
| Cleopatra seized it and gazed thereon il
silence. Then once more we went on witt
our dread business. And ever as we I'm.
wound, other ornaments Of gold, such as
are buried with Pharaohs, fell from the
| wrappings-collars and bracelets, models
of sistra, and inlaid axe, and an image Of the
| holy Osiris and of the holy Khem. A
length all the bandages were unwound
and beneath we found a covering o.
roarsest linen; for in those days the
craftsmen were not SO skilled In mat
ters pertaining to the embalming of the
body as now they are. And on the liner
was written in an oval, 'tMenka-ra, Roya
| Son of the Sun" This linen we could II
no wise loosen, SO firm it held to the body
Therefore, faint with the great heat
choked with mummy dust and the odoi
Of spices, and trembling with fear Of ou
unholy task, wrought in that most lonesome
and holy place, we laid the body down, ant
with knife ripped away the last covering g
First we cleared its head, and now thu
face that no man had gaZed on for thre,
thousand years was open to our view /
was great face with bold brow yet
crowned with the Royal ur9us, beneath