And when the white cliffs that proved him close to Memphis came
shouldering up from the northern horizon, he had forgotten the stranger
in the eager, trembling anticipations that possessed him.
[1] Seb--The Egyptian Chronos.
CHAPTER XXXIV
NIGHT
On the morning of the eighteenth day, immediately after sunrise, Rachel
came to the curtains over Masanath's door, and put them aside.
Within, she saw her hostess yet in her bed-gown, her hair disordered
and her tiny feet bare. She stood before a shrine of silver, the
statue of Isis in turquoise displayed therein, and an offering of
pressed dates before it. But there was no sign of devotion or humility
in the attitude of the Egyptian. One plump arm was stretched toward
the image and the hand was tightly clenched. Neither was there any
reverence in her voice.
Rachel dropped the curtain and waited. The words came distinctly
through the linen hangings.
"Thou false one![1] thou ingrate! Is it for this that every day I have
sent two fat ducks to the altar in thy name? Is it that I must be
separated from my beloved and wedded to the man I hate, that I have
prayed to thee day and night? Who hath been more faithful to thee and
whom hast thou served more cruelly? Mark thou! If thou darest to
cause this thing to come to pass, night nor day shall I rest until I
have found the bones of Osiris and scattered them to the four winds of
heaven! So carefully shall I hide them, so widely shall I scatter
them, that no help of Nepthys, Toth or Anubis shall let thee gather
them up again! Aye, I will do it, though I die in the doing and remain
unburied, I swear by Set! Remember thou!"
Rachel went softly away.
Pages:
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511