Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-17

these WORDS family spoken:
he sent them in pursuit. ! knew he
meant to do It, but l could not get to
XIII him. So l followed them. But thou
art her lover: do thou protect her now
Her! Rache1?' Kenkenes cried Who
art thou?''
'Atsu- once her taskmaster always her"
the voice died away.
Where is she?" Kenkenes implored. I'm
the name of thy gods, go not yet, Where
is she?'
The lips parted In answer. but no sound
came. The arm went up as if to point,
but 1t fell limp without indicating direction.
away
Sobbing. wild with anxiety and grief.
kenkenes shook the inert body. pleading
frantically for some sign to guide him to
Rachel But there was response, for
the dead speak not out of Amenti.
At last Kenkenes laid the body down and
stood UP. 1t had come to him very plainly
that. but for Atsu. already these dead SER
vftors would have been beyond overtaking
In pursuit of his love- Though a worshiper
of Israels God, Kenkenes was still Egyp-
tan in his instincts. The man who
had died to save Rachel he could not bury
uncomned In a grave of sand, where the
natural processes of dissolution would de-
stroy him utterly. His and Rachefs debts
TO Atsu were great, and the demand was
made upon him now to discharge all that
was possible in the one act Of caring for
the dead soldiers remains. kenkenes could
not bear the body back to the group he
had left about the king, for he had a mis-
sion which concerned all the living who
were dear to him. Furthermore the sky
was threatening, the desert was a terrible
place during high winds. and he dared
not delay.
Suddenly a thought struck him Travel
ers and seafaring men had told him that
there were settlements along the Red sea.
Might he not go forward. on his way after
Israel. till he found one of these?
He led the largest horse past the dead
servitors, and persuading it to stand. lift
ed the body of Atsu upon Its back. With
difficulty he mounted. and supporting the
limp burden with one arm turned again
toward the southeast.
AS he went forward. Kenkenes media ted
on the signs Of this recent and tragic
event. He had searched throughout the
length and breadth of Goshen for Rachel
and none had seen her or heard of her
since she had fed from Har-hat into the
desert, eight months before he had seen
her last. Israel was more ignorant of the
whereab outS of Rachel than he. He could
not tell whether Har-hat knew where she
was. could he guess from the position
of the fighters in which direction the ser
wants had meant to ride. The tracks of
their horses were not to be discovered in
the great trampled roadway Israel had
made.
OF this thing Kenkenes was sure. II
Rachel We're with Israel she had Joined 1t
after he had left Goshen. In that case he
was going to her. to ask after her safety,
when he incurred after all Israel. If she
were still in Egypt he would stop Har-
hats search forever. This recollection add
ed to his determination and intensified his
zeal.
At the beginning of the great fields of
grass he came upon little hamlet. 1t
was considerable distance inland, and the
chief industry of the people could have
been only the gathering of sedge for hay,
or the curing of herb and root for medl-
cines. Some of the villagers were in sight
but the most of them were out In the direo-
LII l.l,o
grass.
In the course of the past years events
Kenkenes had learned to be a cautious and
skillful fugitive. He did not care to be
caught and taxed with the death of the
man whose body he bore. The village
shrine was the structure nearest to him.
1t was built of sun-dried brick. with three
walls the fourth side open to the sunrise.
Kenkenes dismounted and reconnotered.
The shrine was empty. and none of the
villagers was near
He lifted the dead man from the horse
and bore the body into the sanctuary. Be
fore the image of Athor was long table
cverlaid with a slab of red sandstone. Here
the offerings were left ana here kenkenes
laid Atsu. a true sacrifice to the love deity.
Reverently the young man closed the eyes
and Strengthened the chilling limbs. Co
ing into his patrimony Of jewels sewn in
his belt. he took an emerald. and putting
1t in the hands. crossed them above the
breast. Then he laid his mantle over the
bier.
At the threshold he found soft stone
and with that he wrote upon the head of
the long table the name of the dead man.
and Mendes. his native city. Under this
he wrote further to the villagers, charging
them. in the name of the goddess. to care
for the body reverently and return ii to
the tomb of Atsus fathers. Having made
note of the emerald as remuneration for
their labors. he completed the inscription
without signature
Thus he insured the safety and preserva-
ton of the bones of Atsu, and in the eye of
the average Egyptian he had served the
soldier well. But kenkenes was not salts
fed
AS he left the shrine he muttered with
trembling lips:
BLESS him! The fate is not kind which
gratitude There must be. because of the
great Gods business, some especial bless
ing laid up for Atsu.''
In the time he had spent in the sanctuary
sun shone obscurely. To the east
tumbled and darkening masses which
gathered even he looked and Joined till
they stretched in a vast and unilumined
sweep about the horizon. The wind had
died and the heat bathed him in perspira-
ton
Once again his eyes sought the pillar and
found it above him, still somewhat to the
east. yet in form unchanged. in hue I'M
dimmed. Something within him associated
the column Of cloud with Israel and 1srael's
God
He went to his horse and found him
terrified and unmanageable. After vain
efforts to soothe the creature he walked
away a little space. clasping his hands.
20 Thou mysterious God! BY these
tokens Thy hand is upon the earth and
upon the heavens. Even as Thou hast
shielded me thus far, withdraw not Thy
sheltering hand from about me. Thy
SHIPPER in this, Thy latest hour of mys-
terry"
He skirted the village. now filing with
frightened peasants and took the path OF
Israel.
1t led In a sOutheasterly direction toward
a far-off hill. barely outlined through the
haze of the distance Meanwhile the dark
ness settled and over the sea the somber
bastion of cloud heaved its sooty bulk up
the sky The air stagnated, and the whole
desert was soundless.
A round and tumbled mass. blue-black,
but attended by copper-colored rack, de-
tached itself from a shelf-like sstratum Of
cloud and elongating, seemed to descend
to the surface of the sea. Daylight went
out instantly and prolonged moan came
from the distant east. Binding flashes of
lightning illuminated the whirling mass
and almost absolute darkness fell after
each bolt Out Of the inky midnight toward
the east came an embarrassing sound of
a maddened sea- gathering In volume and
fury and menace. Kenkenes flung himself
on his face and waited.
He did not have long to walt
IL IL - s-wlxk