The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1907-06-12

G z
chel would begin to expect
him. and he could not hope to reach
Memphis by that tine She should not
wait an hour longer than necessary.
He would get the signet that night and
return by the swiftest boat obtainable
On Thebes. The dawn should find him
on the way to Memphis.
He entered the streets Of the Libyan
suburb Of the holy city and passed
through it to the scattering houses set
outside the thickly settled portion and
nearer to the metropolis. At the por-
aal of the most pretentious of these
aoeses he knocked and was admitted.
He was met presently in the cham
Der of guests by an old man, gray hair
ed and bent. This was the. keeper OF
The tomb Of Rameses the Great.
.I an the son of Mentu," he said,
ssthy friend anu the friend of the in
comparable Pharaoh. Perchance thou
dost remember me-"
tT remember Mentu," the old man
replied after a space that might have
been spent IN ruminat5on or in collect
ing his faculties to speak.
.sHe decorated the temb of Rameses,"
Che young man continued.
ssAye. I remember I watched him
often at the work"
esThou knowest how the great king
loved him
The old man bent his head in assent
He was given signet by Rameses,
and on the jewel was testimony of roy
al favor which should ortlire the Pha-
raoh and Mentu himself 1t was lost.
But the place in which it was lost is
small and I would search for It
again
BY this time the old mans face had
become inquiring.
There IS need for the signet now. It
Ivas lost in the tomb Of the incom-
parable Pharaoh. May I not visit the
crypt? I would go this very night"
9he keepers face sobered, and he
shook BIS head.
ssDeny me not, I pray thee Ken
kenes eareete5 earnestly. Never was
grea ter stake upon the saving Of
tine taan In this strait. which is tie
peri Of s;pofiess womanhood. can
go alone. There is 10 need that thou
ssheniG.st waste IN Aear Of fay needed
sleep FOR me- pledge thee shall con-
,auct myself without thee as should
beneath thine eye and none need ever
know I went alone"
The ancient keeper weakened at the
.-sarnestness of the young man.
Cast thou open the gates?'
1a7e not forgotten from the daily
practice that was mine for many
weeks
Then go, and let no man know Ct
this.
Kenkeaes thanked him gratefully and
went at once
IL chambers bewn in solid rock the
nons-ehs Of the eighteenth and nine
aeenth centuries were enton1bed. All
along the walls of the gorge nature had
secured The sacred resting place Of the
soveresgns against trespaSs from the
end and sides Of the chasm. and Egypt
had dutifuily srreng1l ened tie one
weak point in the fortitcation-the en-
rance-by the gateway Of granite. But
there was no vigilance OF guards. Who
soever kaez- how to open the gates
laigle cater tie vai.ay The secret Of
tie l53ts was known only among tAe
members Of the royal family and the
court. To kenkenes. whose craft as a
seulr.3- had taught him the intricate
devices used 10 closing toalbs, the open
ing OF tl2se gates was simple.
lie let himself into the valley and.
4elosi.. the valves behind him, went Up
The lortgous gorge, darSened by the
sshadovs Of the walls. He continued
past tie saouth of the valleys southern
arm. wherein We're entombed the kings
of tie eighteenth dynasty. Here. in
this or3en space. be could see the cir
cling bats. which before he could only
bear &,3ove his head. Somewhere among
sae rocks up the noo2iit hollow an owl
aootel. But the tombs he sought were
a the upper end of the main ravine.
With trembling hands he pushed the
aocrs. rough with inscriptions, and the
great stone valves swung ponderously
za.ward, the bronze pins making no
sound as they turned in the sockets.
keakenes entered and closed the por-
GaIs behind him.
Instantly all sound of the outside
worn was cut of-the sound Of the
vind, the chafng of the sands on the
}aills above. the movement and cries
of night birds, beasts and insects. 40
solute stiffness and original night sur
eounded hira.
With al speed he lighted his lamp.
but the aar;ng fame Illuminated only
& little space in the brooding. lowering
bsackuess about him.
He moved forward, his path only
discovered to him, step by step as the
light advanced. the sumptuous frescoes
done by the hand of his father enaers
tng one detail at a tine. The solemn