CHAPTER XV
THE NIGHT OF FEAR
Then came the hail, and some months after the hail the locusts, andEgypt went mad with woe and terror. It was known to us, for with Ki andBakenkhonsu in the palace we knew everything, that the Hebrew prophetshad promised this hail because Pharaoh would not listen to them.Therefore Seti caused it to be put about through all the land that theEgyptians should shelter their cattle, or such as were left to them,at the first sign of storm. But Pharaoh heard of it and issued aproclamation that this was not to be done, inasmuch as it would be aninsult to the gods of Egypt. Still many did so and these saved theircattle. It was strange to see that wall of jagged ice stretchingfrom earth to heaven and destroying all upon which it fell. The talldate-palms were stripped even of their bark; the soil was churned up;men and beasts if caught abroad were slain or shattered.
I stood at the gate and watched it. There, not a yard away, fell thewhite hail, turning the world to wreck, while here within the gate therewas not a single stone. Merapi watched also, and presently came Ki aswell, and with him Bakenkhonsu, who for once had never seen anythinglike this in all his long life. But Ki watched Merapi more than he didthe hail, for I saw him searching out her very soul with those mercilesseyes of his.
"Lady," he said at length, "tell your servant, I beseech you, how youdo this thing?" and he pointed first to the trees and flowers within thegate and then to the wreck without.
At first I thought that she had not heard him because of the roar of thehail, for she stepped forward and opened the side wicket to admit apoor jackal that was scratching at the bars. Still this was not so, forpresently she turned and said:
"Does the Kherheb, the greatest magician in Egypt, ask an unlearnedwoman to teach him of marvels? Well, Ki, I cannot, because I neither doit nor know how it is done."
Bakenkhonsu laughed, and Ki's painted smile grew as it were brighterthan before.
"That is not what they say in the land of Goshen, Lady," he answered,"and not what the Hebrew women say here in Memphis. Nor is it what thepriests of Amon say. These declare that you have more magic than all thesorcerers of the Nile. Here is the proof of it," and he pointed to theruin without and the peace within, adding, "Lady, if you can protectyour own home, why cannot you protect the innocent people of Egypt?"
"Because I cannot," she answered angrily. "If ever I had such power itis gone from me, who am now the mother of an Egyptian's child. But Ihave none. There in the temple of Amon some Strength worked through me,that is all, which never will visit me again because of my sin."
"What sin, Lady?"
"The sin of taking the Prince Seti to lord. Now, if any god spokethrough me it would be one of those of the Egyptians, since He of Israelhas cast me out."
Ki started as though some new thought had come to him, and at thismoment she turned and went away.
"Would that she were high-priestess of Isis that she might work for usand not against us," he said.
Bakenkhonsu shook his head.
"Let that be," he answered. "Be sure that never will an Israelitishwoman offer sacrifice to what she would call the abomination of theEgyptians."
"If she will not sacrifice to save the people, let her be careful lestthe people sacrifice her to save themselves," said Ki in a cold voice.
Then he too went away.
"I think that if ever that hour comes, then Ki will have his share init," laughed Bakenkhonsu. "What is the good of a shepherd who sheltershere in comfort, while outside the sheep are dying, eh, Ana?"
It was after the plague of locusts, which ate all there was left to eatin Egypt, so that the poor folk who had done no wrong and had naughtto say to the dealings of Pharaoh with the Israelites starved by thethousand, and during that of the great darkness, that Laban came. Nowthis darkness lay upon the land like a thick cloud for three whole daysand nights. Nevertheless, though the shadows were deep, there was notrue darkness over the house of Seti at Memphis, which stood in a funnelof grey light stretching from earth to sky.
Now the terror was increased tenfold, and it seemed to me that all thehundreds of thousands of Memphis were gathered outside our walls, sothat they might look upon the light, such as it was, if they could do nomore. Seti would have admitted as many as the place would hold, but Kibade him not, saying, that if he did so the darkness would flow inwith them. Only Merapi did admit some of the Israelitish women who weremarried to Egyptians in the city, though for her pains they only cursedher as a witch. For now most of the inhabitants of Memphis were certainthat it was Merapi who, keeping herself safe, had brought these woesupon them because she was a worshipper of an alien god.
"If she who is the love of Egypt's heir would but sacrifice to Egypt'sgods, these horrors would pass from us," said they, having, as I think,learned their lesson from the lips of Ki. Or perhaps the emissaries ofUserti had taught them.
Once more we stood by the gate watching the people flitting to andfro in the gloom without, for this sight fascinated Merapi, as a snakefascinates a bird. Then it was that Laban appeared. I knew his hookednose and hawk-like eyes at once, and she knew him also.
"Come away with me, Moon of Israel," he cried, "and all shall yetbe forgiven you. But if you will not come, then fearful things shallovertake you."
She stood staring at him, answering never a word, and just then thePrince Seti reached us and saw him.
"Take that man," he commanded, flushing with anger, and guards spranginto the darkness to do his bidding. But Laban was gone.
On the second day of the darkness the tumult was great, on the third itwas terrible. A crowd thrust the guard aside, broke down the gates andburst into the palace, humbly demanding that the lady Merapi would cometo pray for them, yet showing by their mien that if she would not comethey meant to take her.
"What is to be done?" asked Seti of Ki and Bakenkhonsu.
"That is for the Prince to judge," said Ki, "though I do not see how itcan harm the lady Merapi to pray for us in the open square of Memphis."
"Let her go," said Bakenkhonsu, "lest presently we should all go furtherthan we would."
"I do not wish to go," cried Merapi, "not knowing for whom I am to prayor how."
"Be it as you will, Lady," said Seti in his grave and gentle voice."Only, hearken to the roar of the mob. If you refuse, I think that verysoon every one of us will have reached a land where perhaps it is notneedful to pray at all," and he looked at the infant in her arms.
"I will go," she said.
She went forth carrying the child and I walked behind her. So did thePrince, but in that darkness he was cut off by a rush of thousands offolk and I saw him no more till all was over. Bakenkhonsu was with meleaning on my arm, but Ki had gone on before us, for his own ends as Ithink. A huge mob moved through the dense darkness, in which here andthere lights floated like lamps upon a quiet sea. I did not know wherewe were going until the light of one of these lamps shone upon the kneesof the colossal statue of the great Rameses, revealing his cartouche.Then I knew that we were near the gateway of the vast temple of Memphis,the largest perhaps in the whole world.
We went on through court after pillared court, priests leading us bythe hand, till we came to a shrine commanding the biggest court of all,which was packed with men and women. It was that of Isis, who held ather breast the infant Horus.
"O friend Ana," cried Merapi, "give help. They are dressing me instrange garments."
I tried to get near to her but was thrust back, a voice, which I thoughtto be that of Ki, saying:
"On your life, fool!"
Presently a lamp was held up, and by the light of it I saw Merapi seatedin a chair dressed like a goddess, in the sacerdotal robes of Isis andwearing the vulture cap headdress--beautiful exceedingly. In her armswas the child dressed as the infant Horus.
"Pray for us, Mother Isis," cried thousands of voices, "that the curseof blackness may be removed."
Then she prayed, saying:
"O my God, take away this curse of blackness from these i
nnocentpeople," and all of those present, repeated her prayer.
At that moment the sky began to lighten and in less than half an hourthe sun shone out. When Merapi saw how she and the child were arrayedshe screamed aloud and tore off her jewelled trappings, crying:
"Woe! Woe! Woe! Great woe upon the people of Egypt!"
But in their joy at the new found light few hearkened to her who theywere sure had brought back the sun. Again Laban appeared for a moment.
"Witch! Traitress!" he cried. "You have worn the robes of Isis andworshipped in the temple of the gods of the Egyptians. The curse of theGod of Israel be on you and that which is born of you."
I sprang at him but he was gone. Then we bore Merapi home swooning.
So this trouble passed by, but from that time forward Merapi would notsuffer her son to be taken out of her sight.
"Why do you make so much of him, Lady?" I asked one day.
"Because I would love him well while he is here, Friend," she answered,"but of this say nothing to his father."
A while went by and we heard that still Pharaoh would not let theIsraelites go. Then the Prince Seti sent Bakenkhonsu and myself to Tanisto see Pharaoh and to say to him:
"I seek nothing for myself and I forget those evils which you would haveworked on me through jealousy. But I say unto you that if you will notlet these strangers go great and terrible things shall befall you andall Egypt. Therefore, hear my prayer and let them go."
Now Bakenkhonsu and I came before Pharaoh and we saw that he was greatlyaged, for his hair had gone grey about his temples and the flesh hung inbags beneath his eyes. Also not for one minute could he stay still.
"Is your lord, and are you also of the servants of this Hebrew prophetwhom the Egyptians worship as a god because he has done them so muchill?" he asked. "It may well be so, since I hear that my cousin Setikeeps an Israelitish witch in his house, who wards off from him all theplagues that have smitten the rest of Egypt, and that to him has fledalso Ki the Kherheb, my magician. Moreover, I hear that in payment forthese wizardries he has been promised the throne of Egypt by many fickleand fearful ones among my people. Let him be careful lest I lift him uphigher than he hopes, who already have enough traitors in this land; andyou two with him."
Now I said nothing, who saw that the man was mad, but Bakenkhonsulaughed out loud and answered:
"O Pharaoh, I know little, but I know this although I be old, namely,that after men have ceased to speak your name I shall still holdconverse with the wearer of the Double Crown in Egypt. Now will you letthese Hebrews go, or will you bring death upon Egypt?"
Pharaoh glared at him and answered, "I will not let them go."
"Why not, Pharaoh? Tell me, for I am curious."
"Because I cannot," he answered with a groan. "Because somethingstronger than myself forces me to deny their prayer. Begone!"
So we went, and this was the last time that I looked upon Amenmeses atTanis.
As we left the chamber I saw the Hebrew prophet entering the presence.Afterwards a rumour reached us that he had threatened to kill all thepeople in Egypt, but that still Pharaoh would not let the Israelitesdepart. Indeed, it was said that he had told the prophet that if heappeared before him any more he should be put to death.
Now we journeyed back to Memphis with all these tidings and made reportto Seti. When Merapi heard them she went half mad, weeping and wringingher hands. I asked her what she feared. She answered death, which wasnear to all of us. I said:
"If so, there are worse things, Lady."
"For you mayhap you are faithful and good in your own fashion, but notfor me. Do you not understand, friend Ana, that I am one who has brokenthe law of the God I was taught to worship?"
"And which of us is there who has not broken the law of the god we weretaught to worship, Lady? If in truth you have done anything of the sortby flying from a murderous villain to one who loves you well, which I donot believe, surely there is forgiveness for such sins as this."
"Aye, perhaps, but, alas! the thing is blacker far. Have you forgottenwhat I did? Dressed in the robes of Isis I worshipped in the temple ofIsis with my boy playing the part of Horus on my bosom. It is a crimethat can never be forgiven to a Hebrew woman, Ana, for my God is ajealous God. Yet it is true that Ki tricked me."
"If he had not, Lady, I think there would have been none of us left totrick, seeing that the people were crazed with the dread of the darknessand believed that it could be lifted by you alone, as indeed happened,"I added somewhat doubtfully.
"More of Ki's tricks! Oh! do you not understand that the lifting of thedarkness at that moment was Ki's work, because he wished the people tobelieve that I am indeed a sorceress."
"Why?" I asked.
"I do not know. Perhaps that one day he may find a victim to bind to thealtar in his place. At least I know well that it is I who must paythe price, I and my flesh and blood, whatever Ki may promise," and shelooked at the sleeping child.
"Do not be afraid, Lady," I said. "Ki has left the palace and you willsee him no more."
"Yes, because the Prince was angry with him about the trick in thetemple of Isis. Therefore suddenly he went, or pretended to go, forhow can one tell where such a man may really be? But he will come backagain. Bethink you, Ki was the greatest magician in Egypt; even oldBakenkhonsu can remember none like to him. Then he matches himselfagainst the prophets of my people and fails."
"But did he fail, Lady? What they did he did, sending among theIsraelites the plagues that your prophets had sent among us."
"Yes, some of them, but he was outpaced, or feared to be outpaced atlast. Is Ki a man to forget that? And if Ki chances really to believethat I am his adversary and his master at this black work, as becauseof what happened in the temple of Amon thousands believe to-day, will henot mete me my own measure soon or late? Oh! I fear Ki, Ana, and I fearthe people of Egypt, and were it not for my lord beloved, I would fleeaway into the wilderness with my son, and get me out of this hauntedland! Hush! he wakes."
From this time forward until the sword fell there was great dread inEgypt. None seemed to know exactly what they dreaded, but all thoughtthat it had to do with death. People went about mournfully looking overtheir shoulders as though someone were following them, and at nightthey gathered together in knots and talked in whispers. Only the Hebrewsseemed to be glad and happy. Moreover, they were making preparationsfor something new and strange. Thus those Israelitish women who dweltin Memphis began to sell what property they had and to borrow of theEgyptians. Especially did they ask for the loan of jewels, saying thatthey were about to celebrate a feast and wished to look fine in the eyesof their countrymen. None refused them what they asked because all wereafraid of them. They even came to the palace and begged her ornamentsfrom Merapi, although she was a countrywoman of their own who had showedthem much kindness. Yes, and seeing that her son wore a little goldcirclet on his hair, one of them begged that also, nor did she say hernay. But, as it chanced, the Prince entered, and seeing the woman withthis royal badge in her hand, grew very angry and forced her to restoreit.
"What is the use of crowns without heads to wear them?" she sneered, andfled away laughing, with all that she had gathered.
After she had heard that saying Merapi grew even sadder and moredistraught than she was before, and from her the trouble crept to Seti.He too became sad and ill at ease, though when I asked him why he vowedhe did not know, but supposed it was because some new plague drew near.
"Yet," he added, "as I have made shift to live through nine of them, Ido not know why I should fear a tenth."
Still he did fear it, so much that he consulted Bakenkhonsu as towhether there were any means by which the anger of the gods could beaverted.
Bakenkhonsu laughed and said he thought not, since always if the godswere not angry about one thing they were angry about another. Havingmade the world they did nothing but quarrel with it, or with other godswho had a hand in its fashioning, and of these quarrels men were thevictims.
"Bear your woes, Prince," he added, "if any come, for ere the Nile hasrisen another fifty times at most, whether they have or have not been,will be the same to you."
"Then you think that when we go west we die indeed, and that Osiris isbut another name for the sunset, Bakenkhonsu."
The old Councillor shook his great head, and answered:
"No. If ever you should lose one whom you greatly love, take comfort,Prince, for I do not think that life ends with death. Death is the nursethat puts it to sleep, no more, and in the morning it will wake again totravel through another day with those who have companioned it from thebeginning."
"Where do all the days lead it to at last, Bakenkhonsu?"
"Ask that of Ki; I do not know."
"To Set with Ki, I am angered with him," said the Prince, and went away.
"Not without reason, I think," mused Bakenkhonsu, but when I asked himwhat he meant, he would not or could not tell me.
So the gloom deepened and the palace, which had been merry in its way,became sad. None knew what was coming, but all knew that something wascoming and stretched out their hands to strive to protect that whichthey loved best from the stroke of the warring gods. In the case of Setiand Merapi this was their son, now a beautiful little lad who could runand prattle, one too of a strange health and vigour for a child of theinbred race of the Ramessids. Never for a minute was this boy allowed tobe out of the sight of one or other of his parents; indeed I saw littleof Seti in those days and all our learned studies came to nothing,because he was ever concerned with Merapi in playing nurse to this sonof his.
When Userti was told of it, she said in the hearing of a friend of mine:
"Without a doubt that is because he trains his bastard to fill thethrone of Egypt."
But, alas! all that the little Seti was doomed to fill was a coffin.