Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1900-04-26
THE SECOND ACT.
The Delusion of a Student of
Egyptian Antiquities.
BY OWEN OLIVER.


"Dr Strange has told you of my de-
luson,' he said. with an unmirthful
smile. LET us start from the delusion.
! cannot very well tell my story in any
other way"
He pushed his papers aside, leaned
back in the cozy reading chair and
folded his hands. This is the story:
-Four thousand years ago, when men
worshiped God under the name of Osi-
ris and Isis, | was Amenemhat ",
king in Ken, which you call Egypt.
My conquests and learning are craven
upon the great tablets but the scribes
left unsaid what should be unsad.
Therefore you win seek in vain for
mention of Numidea. the slave.
Felix, the trader, brought her from
over the Mediterranean. When she
stood before me- with flushed cheeks
and with tears in her pale blue eyes,
xii me, if thou wilt, O king" she
said tauntingly for in truth | love
thee not at allw \ whole month |
vooed her, disdaining force and she
said no more. Then she cast her eyes
upon Kales the captain of the guard,
and cared less than ever for me.
TAKE her to the deathsmen" | com
handed. "In the morning she shall
die" Lest should break kings
word l rode to the great temple far
away But | could not sleep for the
thought of her great blue eyes, wide
with fear. SO | rose and babe them
harness the swiftest horses to the light
est chariot, and Charmicles drove for
me, whose hand was lightest upon the
reins All the night we sped in the
moonlight with the sand flying in long
clouds behind us and the great pyra-
mid scowling upon us from afar
IF thou lovedst a slave, Charmicles,"
l asked, land she loved not thecY
'If | loved her little" he said
"haply she would perish, o lord"
"And if thou lovedst her much" He
looked at the moon fleeing through
the clouds for long time, and his face
grew sad
"If | loved her enough, o King per-
chance | should set her free"
| covered my head in my robe and
said nothing. Was | not racing the |
flying hours to open her prison doors? Z
Ra, the sun god, sprang up and s
laughed upon the land. and Charmicles ,
wiped the sweat from his brow and 1
ceased TO strike the horses as they
painted and struggled to the base of
the great pyramid, where the prison
was
And, behold, they had tortured her,
and she had died in the night!
SO | went back TO the temple and
dwelt alone. Presently | made a spell,
from my arts that | might be reborn
when she was reborn, and another
spell that died and none knew why.
So | fell asleep and slept 1000
years.
When | was newborn child, knew
none of these things, but one by one
they came back to me.
One evening my father held me upon
his knee and showed me quaint pic
ture book and trembled with vague
remembrance.
This is how people drew in Egypt
thousands of yesterdays ago" he said.
"The lines are all straight, because
they were cut upon stone See, these
are archers, and these are horses, and
this looks like a big bull"
touched the figure of Apis reverent-
ly with my hand.
This" | said, sis a god"
After leaving school l devoted my
self to Egyptian antiquities. They
seemed to present no difficulty to me.
and ! soon made a great name.
Then ! met NeriSsa. and for awhile I
studied no more. There was no one,
nothing else in all the world that mat
tered the least 10 me. | became her
accepted lover, and for few months 1
lived Ia paradise.
After this | had a strong fever In
the dreams and delirIum the past came
back to me- and when | was wen again
remembered. was Ameuemhat and
she was Numidea the blue eyed slave.
As had ordered by the spell, | was re-
born 10 live with her again. Kales, her
lover had known no spells, ] told my
self. So he was in the future or the
past perhaps by LOCO years. as the
gods had ordered, and She was not for
him, but for me The thought of her
wrong in The past made me wondrous-
~ tender of her, and she was always
gentle Yet l tortured myself that she
did act love me as I loved her. when
we are married, Il VIII come told
myself 1T shall come
one day ia the spring we were sit
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