Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-12
CHAPrER xxIr-continued.

If Rachel had been near she would have
replied to him. The alternatives he had to
choose as her possible fate were death in
the Nile or capture by Unas. The one he
fought away from him wildly, the other
made him frantic. And the realization OF
his own helplessness, with tae picture OF
her distress at that moment, crushed him.
A tangle of wind-mown reeds tripped him
and pitched him to his knees among the
high marsh growth.
He did not rise.
The babe in pain cries to his mother; the
man in his maturity may outiyrow the sus-
ceptibilty to tears. but he never outwears
the want of a stronger spiri. upon which
to call in his hour of distress.
Kenkenes fell on his knees and prayed.
20 Thou, who art somewhere behind the
phantom gods that we have raised! TO
whom all prayer ascendS by nany-charted
paths; Thou who canst spread this sooty
night across the morning skies and turn to
milk the bones of men. Thou who didst
undo my surest plans, who dost mock my
boosted power. who hast stripped me till
my feeble self is barred to me even in this
dreadful night; Thou who vast Tending
hand about her; who art her only succor
now-to whom she prays-and by that sign,
Thou Very God bow to Thee.
MY lips are stiff at prayer to such as
Thou. But what need of my tongues bash
ed Interpretation of that which I would
SeS' 40 >ANO --S -
unto Thee?
Il have run my course without craving
Thine aid, and 10! here have l ended-a
voice appealing through the night-no
more.
Now, wilt Thou heed an aliens plea;
wilt Thou know a stranger petitioning be-
fore Thy high and holy place? How shall
I win Thine ear? Charge me with any
mission, weigh me with lifetime of pen
ances, strip me of power everlastingly, but
grant me leave to supplicate Thy throne.
mot for myself do 1 pray, o Hidden God!
Not one jot would I overtax Thy bounty
toward me beyond the sufferance OF my de-
votion. But for her 1 pray-for her, out
somewhere in this unlifting gloom her ten
der maidenhood uncomforted--w1th nlght,
with death, with long dishonor threatening
her. Attend her, o Thou August Warden!
Let her not cry out to Thee In vain! BE
Thou as wall about her, as 8. light before
her, as firm path beneath her feet. 10
Thou as Thou wilt with me. Lo! l offer
up myself ransom for hel-myself-all
l have! Take her from me, deny mine eyes
the sight of her forever, blot ne wholly out
of her heart, yield me over to the wrath
of mine enemies, and to Thine unknowable
vengeance thereafter; but save her, Great
God! save her from her enemy!
"Dost Thou hear me, o Holy Mystery? Is
there no sign, no manifestation that Thou
dost attend?
Nay, but know that Thou nearest me:
By my faith in Thy being l know it, LORD!
Peace fell on him and he slept.
The mid-morning sun shone in his face
before he awakened.
He leaped to his feet, cramped and stiff
fened by his long Inactivity, and looked
about him. Near by was disturbed spot
of wide circumference. Here had the strug-
gle taken place. Here, also some of the
sand was stained with the blood of the Nu-
bian who had been wounded by Rachel
Fresh footprints led toward the water
He followed them with a wildly beating
heart. There were marks of a little
sandal. At the Nile edge the deep line cut
by a keel was still visible in the wet sand.
His own boat and the other were gone. All
other signs had been obliterated, for the
wind had been busy during the darkness
Across the cultivated land, or rather the
land which would have been wheat-covered
but for the locuStS, he saw the huts of rus
tics, and to each of these he went, asking
of the pallid and terror-stricken tenants II
Rachel had come to them. Gaining no infor
nation, he went next to Masaarah, appeas-
ing his hunger with succulent roots plucked
from the loan beside the river. The quar-
ries were deserted, the pocket In tie val
ley where the Israelites had pitched their
tents was as solitary as it had ever been
There was no place here to shelter the lost
girl
Slowly Kenkenes made his way to Mem
phis.