CHAPTER XXXII.
Early on the following clay the dwarf Nemu went past the restored hut ofUarda's father--in which he had formerly lived with his wife--with aman in a long coarse robe, the steward of some noble family. They wenttowards old Hekt's cave-dwelling.
"I would beg thee to wait down here a moment, noble lord," said thedwarf, "while I announce thee to my mother."
"That sounds very grand," said the other. "However, so be it. But stay!The old woman is not to call me by my name or by my title. She is tocall me 'steward'--that no one may know. But, indeed, no one wouldrecognize me in this dress."
Nemu hastened to the cave, but before he reached his mother she calledout: "Do not keep my lord waiting--I know him well."
Nemu laid his finger to his lips.
"You are to call him steward," said he.
"Good," muttered the old woman. "The ostrich puts his head under hisfeathers when he does not want to be seen."
"Was the young prince long with Uarda yesterday?"
"No, you fool," laughed the witch, "the children play together. Rameriis a kid without horns, but who fancies he knows where they ought togrow. Pentaur is a more dangerous rival with the red-headed girl. Makehaste, now; these stewards must not be kept waiting!"
The old woman gave the dwarf a push, and he hurried back to Ani, whileshe carried the child, tied to his board, into the cave, and threw thesack over him.
A few minutes later the Regent stood before her. She bowed before himwith a demeanor that was more like the singer Beki than the sorceressHekt, and begged him to take the only seat she possessed.
When, with a wave of his hand, he declined to sit down, she said:
"Yes--yes--be seated! then thou wilt not be seen from the valley, but bescreened by the rocks close by. Why hast thou chosen this hour for thyvisit?"
"Because the matter presses of which I wish to speak," answered Ani;"and in the evening I might easily be challenged by the watch. Mydisguise is good. Under this robe I wear my usual dress. From this Ishall go to the tomb of my father, where I shall take off this coarsething, and these other disfigurements, and shall wait for my chariot,which is already ordered. I shall tell people I had made a vow to visitthe grave humbly, and on foot, which I have now fulfilled."
"Well planned," muttered the old woman.
Ani pointed to the dwarf, and said politely: "Your pupil."
Since her narrative the sorceress was no longer a mere witch in hiseyes. The old woman understood this, and saluted him with a curtsey ofsuch courtly formality, that a tame raven at her feet opened his blackbeak wide, and uttered a loud scream. She threw a bit of cheese withinthe cave, and the bird hopped after it, flapping his clipped wings, andwas silent.
"I have to speak to you about Pentaur," said Ani. The old woman's eyesflashed, and she eagerly asked, "What of him?"
"I have reasons," answered the Regent, "for regarding him as dangerousto me. He stands in my way. He has committed many crimes, even murder;but he is in favor at the House of Seti, and they would willingly lethim go unpunished. They have the right of sitting in judgment on eachother, and I cannot interfere with their decisions; the day beforeyesterday they pronounced their sentence. They would send him to thequarries of Chennu.
[Chennu is now Gebel Silsileh; the quarries there are of enormous extent, and almost all the sandstone used for building the temples of Upper Egypt was brought from thence. The Nile is narrower there than above, and large stela, were erected there by Rameses II. his successor Mernephtah, on which were inscribed beautiful hymns to the Nile, and lists of the sacrifices to be offered at the Nile- festivals. These inscriptions can be restored by comparison, and my friend Stern and I had the satisfaction of doing this on the spot (Zeitschrift fur Agyptishe Sprache, 1873, p. 129.)]
"All my objections were disregarded, and now Nemu, go over to the graveof Anienophis, and wait there for me--I wish to speak to your motheralone."
Nemu bowed, and then went down the slope, disappointed, it is true, butsure of learning later what the two had discussed together.
When the little man had disappeared, Ani asked:
"Have you still a heart true to the old royal house, to which yourparents were so faithfully attached?" The old woman nodded.
"Then you will not refuse your help towards its restoration. Youunderstand how necessary the priesthood is to me, and I have sworn notto make any attempt on Pentaur's life; but, I repeat it, he stands in myway. I have my spies in the House of Seti, and I know through them whatthe sending of the poet to Chennu really means. For a time they will lethim hew sandstone, and that will only improve his health, for he is assturdy as a tree. In Chennu, as you know, besides the quarries there isthe great college of priests, which is in close alliance with thetemple of Seti. When the flood begins to rise, and they hold the greatNile-festival in Chennu, the priests there have the right of takingthree of the criminals who are working in the quarries into their houseas servants. Naturally they will, next year, choose Pentaur, set him atliberty--and I shall be laughed at."
"Well considered!" said aid Hekt.
"I have taken counsel with myself, with Katuti, and even with Nemu,"continued Ani, "but all that they have suggested, though certainlypracticable, was unadvisable, and at any rate must have led toconjectures which I must now avoid. What is your opinion?"
"Assa's race must be exterminated!" muttered the old woman hoarsely.
She gazed at the ground, reflecting.
"Let the boat be scuttled," she said at last, "and sink with the chainedprisoners before it reaches Chennu."
"No-no; I thought of that myself, and Nemu too advised it," cried Ani."That has been done a hundred times, and Ameni will regard me as aperjurer, for I have sworn not to attempt Pentaur's life."
"To be sure, thou hast sworn that, and men keep their word--to eachother. Wait a moment, how would this do? Let the ship reach Chennu withthe prisoners, but, by a secret order to the captain, pass the quarriesin the night, and hasten on as fast as possible as far as Ethiopia. FromSuan,--[The modern Assuan at the first cataract.]--the prisoners may beconducted through the desert to the gold workings. Four weeks or eveneight may pass before it is known here what has happened. If Ameniattacks thee about it, thou wilt be very angry at this oversight, andcanst swear by all the Gods of the heavens and of the abyss, that thouhast not attempted Pentaur's life. More weeks will pass in enquiries.Meanwhile do thy best, and Paaker do his, and thou art king. An oath iseasily broken by a sceptre, and if thou wilt positively keep thy wordleave Pentaur at the gold mines. None have yet returned from thence. Myfather's and my brother's bones have bleached there."
"But Ameni will never believe in the mistake," cried Ani, anxiouslyinterrupting the witch.
"Then admit that thou gavest the order," exclaimed Hekt. "Explain thatthou hadst learned what they proposed doing with Pentaur at Chennu, andthat thy word indeed was kept, but that a criminal could not be leftunpunished. They will make further enquiries, and if Assa's grandsonis found still living thou wilt be justified. Follow my advice, ifthou wilt prove thyself a good steward of thy house, and master of itsinheritance."
"It will not do," said the Regent. "I need Ameni's support--not forto-day and to-morrow only. I will not become his blind tool; but he mustbelieve that I am."
The old woman shrugged her shoulders, rose, went into her cave, andbrought out a phial.
"Take this," she said. "Four drops of it in his wine infallibly destroysthe drinker's senses; try the drink on a slave, and thou wilt see howeffectual it is."
"What shall I do with it?" asked Ani.
"Justify thyself to Ameni," said the witch laughing. "Order the ship'scaptain to come to thee as soon as he returns; entertain him withwine--and when Ameni sees the distracted wretch, why should he notbelieve that in a fit of craziness he sailed past Chennu?"
"That is clever! that is splendid!" exclaimed Ani. "What is onceremarkable never becomes common. You were the greatest of singers--youare now t
he wisest of women--my lady Beki."
"I am no longer Beki, I am Hekt," said the old woman shortly.
"As you will! In truth, if I had ever heard Beki's singing, I should bebound to still greater gratitude to her than I now am to Hekt," said Anismiling. "Still, I cannot quit the wisest woman in Thebes without askingher one serious question. Is it given to you to read the future?Have you means at your command whereby you can see whether the greatstake--you know which I mean--shall be won or lost?"
Hekt looked at the ground, and said after reflecting a short time:
"I cannot decide with certainty, but thy affair stands well. Look atthese two hawks with the chain on their feet. They take their food fromno one but me. The one that is moulting, with closed, grey eyelids, isRameses; the smart, smooth one, with shining eyes, is thyself. Itcomes to this--which of you lives the longest. So far, thou hast theadvantage."
Ani cast an evil glance at the king's sick hawk; but Hekt said: "Bothmust be treated exactly alike. Fate will not be done violence to."
"Feed them well," exclaimed the Regent; he threw a purse into Hekt'slap, and added, as he prepared to leave her: "If anything happens toeither of the birds let me know at once by Nemu."
Ani went down the hill, and walked towards the neighboring tomb ofhis father; but Hekt laughed as she looked after him, and muttered toherself:
"Now the fool will take care of me for the sake of his bird! Thatsmiling, spiritless, indolent-minded man would rule Egypt! Am I then somuch wiser than other folks, or do none but fools come to consult Hekt?But Rameses chose Ani to represent him! perhaps because he thinks thatthose who are not particularly clever are not particularly dangerous.If that is what he thought, he was not wise, for no one usually is soself-confident and insolent as just such an idiot."