Uarda : a Romance of Ancient Egypt — Complete

  CHAPTER XLV.

  Rameri had rushed off to summon the physicians, while Bent-Anat wasendeavoring to restore the rescued Uarda to consciousness, and hefollowed them into his sister's tent. He gazed with tender anxietyinto the face of the half suffocated girl, who, though uninjured, stillremained unconscious, and took her hand to press his lips to her slenderfingers, but Bent-Anat pushed him gently away; then in low tones thattrembled with emotion he implored her not to send him away, and told herhow dear the girl whose life he had saved in the fight in the Necropolishad become to him--how, since his departure for Syria, he had neverceased to think of her night and day, and that he desired to make herhis wife.

  Bent-Anat was startled; she reminded her brother of the stain thatlay on the child of the paraschites and through which she herself hadsuffered so much; but Rameri answered eagerly:

  "In Egypt rank and birth are derived through the mother and Kaschta'sdead wife--"

  "I know," interrupted Bent-Anat. "Nebsecht has already told us that shewas a dumb woman, a prisoner of war, and I myself believe that she wasof no mean house, for Uarda is nobly formed in face and figure."

  "And her skin is as fine as the petal of a flower," cried Rameri. "Hervoice is like the ring of pure gold, and--Oh! look, she is moving.Uarda, open your eyes, Uarda! When the sun rises we praise the Gods.Open your eyes! how thankful, how joyful I shall be if those two sunsonly rise again."

  Bent-Anat smiled, and drew her brother away from the heavily-breathinggirl, for a leech came into the tent to say that a warm medicated bathhad been prepared and was ready for Uarda. The princess ordered herwaiting-women to help lift the senseless girl, and was preparing tofollow her when a message from her father required her presence in histent. She could guess at the significance of this command, and desiredRameri to leave her that she might dress in festal garments; she couldentrust Uarda to the care of Nefert during her absence.

  "She is kind and gentle, and she knows Uarda so well," said theprincess, "and the necessity of caring for this dear little creaturewill do her good. Her heart is torn between sorrow for her lostrelations, and joy at being united again to her love. My father hasgiven Mena leave of absence from his office for several days, and I haveexcused her from her attendance on me, for the time during which wewere so necessary to each other really came to an end yesterday. I feel,Rameri, as if we, after our escape, were like the sacred phoenix whichcomes to Heliopolis and burns itself to death only to soar again fromits ashes young and radiant--blessed and blessing!"

  When her brother had left her, she threw herself before the image of hermother and prayed long and earnestly; she poured an offering ofsweet perfume on the little altar of the Goddess Hathor, which alwaysaccompanied her, had herself dressed in happy preparation for meetingher father, and--she did not conceal it from herself--Pentaur, thenshe went for a moment to Nefert's tent to beg her to take good careof Uarda, and finally obeyed the summons of the king, who, as we know,fulfilled her utmost hopes.

  As Rameri quitted his sister's tent he saw the watch seize and leadaway a little boy; the child cried bitterly, and the prince in a momentrecognized the little sculptor Scherau, who had betrayed the Regent'splot to him and to Uarda, and whom he had already fancied he had seenabout the place. The guards had driven him away several times from theprincess's tent, but he had persisted in returning, and this obstinatewaiting in the neighborhood had aroused the suspicions of an officer;for since the fire a thousand rumors of conspiracies and plots againstthe king had been flying about the camp. Rameri at once freed the littleprisoner, and heard from him that it was old Hekt who, before her death,had sent Kaschta and his daughter to the rescue of the king, that hehimself had helped to rouse the troops, that now he had no home andwished to go to Uarda.

  The prince himself led the child to Nefert, and begged her to allowhim to see Uarda, and to let him stay with her servants till he himselfreturned from his father's tent.

  The leeches had treated Uarda with judgment, for under the influence ofthe bath she recovered her senses; when she had been dressed again infresh garments and refreshed by the essences and medicines which theygave her to inhale and to drink, she was led back into Nefert's tent,where Mena, who had never before seen her, was astonished at herpeculiar and touching beauty.

  "She is very like my Danaid princess," he said to his wife; "only she isyounger and much prettier than she."

  Little Scherau came in to pay his respects to her, and she was delightedto see the boy; still she was sad, and however kindly Nefert spoke toher she remained in silent reverie, while from time to time a large tearrolled down her cheek.

  "You have lost your father!" said Nefert, trying to comfort her. "And I,my mother and brother both in one day."

  "Kaschta was rough but, oh! so kind," replied Uarda. "He was always sofond of me; he was like the fruit of the doom palm; its husk is hard andrough, but he who knows how to open it finds the sweet pulp within. Nowhe is dead, and my grandfather and grandmother are gone before him, andI am like the green leaf that I saw floating on the waters when we werecrossing the sea; anything so forlorn I never saw, abandoned by all itbelonged to or had ever loved, the sport of a strange element in whichnothing resembling itself ever grew or ever can grow."

  Nefert kissed her forehead. "You have friends," she said, "who willnever abandon you."

  "I know, I know!" said Uarda thoughtfully, "and yet I am alone--for thefirst time really alone. In Thebes I have often looked after the wildswans as they passed across the sky; one flies in front, then comesthe body of the wandering party, and very often, far behind, a solitarystraggler; and even this last one I do not call lonely, for he can stillsee his brethren in front of him. But when the hunters have shot downall the low-flying loiterers, and the last one has lost sight of theflock, and knows that he never again can find them or follow them he isindeed to be pitied. I am as unhappy as the abandoned bird, for I havelost sight to-day of all that I belong to, and I am alone, and can neverfind them again."

  "You will be welcomed into some more noble house than that to which youbelong by birth," said Nefert, to comfort her.

  Uarda's eyes flashed, and she said proudly, almost defiantly:

  "My race is that of my mother, who was a daughter of no mean house; thereason I turned back this morning and went into the smoke and fireagain after I had escaped once into the open air--what I went back for,because I felt it was worth dying for, was my mother's legacy, which Ihad put away with my holiday dress when I followed the wretched Nemu tohis tent. I threw myself into the jaws of death to save the jewel, butcertainly not because it is made of gold and precious stones--for I donot care to be rich, and I want no better fare than a bit of bread and afew dates and a cup of water--but because it has a name on it in strangecharacters, and because I believe it will serve to discover the peoplefrom whom my mother was carried off; and now I have lost the jewel, andwith it my identity and my hopes and happiness."

  Uarda wept aloud; Nefert put her arm around her affectionately.

  "Poor child!" she said, "was your treasure destroyed in the flames?"

  "No, no," cried Uarda eagerly. "I snatched it out of my chest and heldit in my hand when Nebsecht took me in his arms, and I still had it inmy hand when I was lying safe on the ground outside the burning house,and Bent-Anat was close to me, and Rameri came up. I remember seeing himas if I were in a dream, and I revived a little, and I felt the jewel inmy fingers then."

  "Then it was dropped on the way to the tent?" said Nefert.

  Uarda nodded; little Scherau, who had been crouching on the floor besideher, gave Uarda a loving glance, dimmed with tears, and quietly slippedout of the tent.

  Time went by in silence; Uarda sat looking at the ground, Nefert andMena held each other's hands, but the thoughts of all three were withthe dead. A perfect stillness reigned, and the happiness of the reunitedcouple was darkly overshadowed by their sorrow. From time to time thesilence was broken by a trumpet-blast from the royal tent; first whenthe Asiatic prince
s were introduced into the Council-tent, then when theDanaid king departed, and lastly when the Pharaoh preceded the conqueredprinces to the banquet.

  The charioteer remembered how his master had restored him to dignityand honor, for the sake of his faithful wife; and gratefully pressed herhand.

  Suddenly there was a noise in front of the tent, and an officer enteredto announce to Mena that the Danaid king and his daughter, accompaniedby body-guard, requested to see and speak with him and Nefert.

  The entrance to the tent was thrown wide open. Uarda retired modestlyinto the back-ground, and Mena and Nefert went forward hand in hand tomeet their unexpected guests.

  The Greek prince was an old man, his beard and thick hair were grey, buthis movements were youthful and light, though dignified and deliberate.His even, well-formed features were deeply furrowed, he had large,bright, clear blue eyes, but round his fine lips were lines of care.Close to him walked his daughter; her long white robe striped withpurple was held round her hips by a golden girdle, and her sunny yellowhair fell in waving locks over her neck and shoulders, while it wasconfined by a diadem which encircled her head; she was of middle height,and her motions were measured and calm like her father's. Her brow wasnarrow, and in one line with her straight nose, her rosy mouth was sweetand kind, and beyond everything beautiful were the lines of her ovalface and the turn of her snow-white throat. By their side stood theinterpreter who translated every word of the conversation on both sides.Behind them came two men and two women, who carried gifts for Mena andhis wife.

  The prince praised Mena's magnanimity in the warmest terms.

  "You have proved to me," he said, "that the virtues of gratitude, ofconstancy, and of faith are practised by the Egyptians; although yourmerit certainly appears less to me now that I see your wife, for he whoowns the fairest may easily forego any taste for the fair."

  Nefert blushed.

  "Your generosity," she answered, "does me more than justice at yourdaughter's expense, and love moved my husband to the same injustice, butyour beautiful daughter must forgive you and me also."

  Praxilla went towards her and expressed her thanks; then she offered herthe costly coronet, the golden clasps and strings of rare pearls whichher women carried; her father begged Mena to accept a coat of mail anda shield of fine silver work. The strangers were then led into the tent,and were there welcomed and entertained with all honor, and offeredbread and wine. While Mena pledged her father, Praxilla related toNefert, with the help of the interpreter, what hours of terror she hadlived through after she had been taken prisoner by the Egyptians, andwas brought into the camp with the other spoils of war; how an oldercommander had asserted his claim to her, how Mena had given herhis hand, had led her to his tent, and had treated her like his owndaughter. Her voice shook with emotion, and even the interpreter wasmoved as she concluded her story with these words: "How grateful I am tohim, you will fully understand when I tell you that the man who was tohave been my husband fell wounded before my eyes while defending ourcamp; but he has recovered, and now only awaits my return for ourwedding."

  "May the Gods only grant it!" cried the king, "for Praxilla is the lastchild of my house. The murderous war robbed me of my four fair sonsbefore they had taken wives, my son-in-law was slain by the Egyptiansat the taking of our camp, and his wife and new-born son fell into theirhands, and Praxilla is my youngest child, the only one left to me by theenvious Gods."

  While he was still speaking, they heard the guards call out and achild's loud cry, and at the same instant little Scherau rushed into thetent holding up his hand exclaiming.

  "I have it! I have found it!"

  Uarda, who had remained behind the curtain which screened the sleepingroom of the tent--but who had listened with breathless attention toevery word of the foreigners, and who had never taken her eyes off thefair Praxilla--now came forward, emboldened by her agitation, into themidst of the tent, and took the jewel from the child's hand to show itto the Greek king; for while she stood gazing at Praxilla it seemedto her that she was looking at herself in a mirror, and the idea hadrapidly grown to conviction that her mother had been a daughter of theDanaids. Her heart beat violently as she went up to the king with amodest demeanor, her head bent down, but holding her jewel up for him tosee.

  The bystanders all gazed in astonishment at the veteran chief, for hestaggered as she came up to him, stretched out his hands as if in terrortowards the girl, and drew back crying out:

  "Xanthe, Xanthe! Is your spirit freed from Hades? Are you come to summonme?"

  Praxilla looked at her father in alarm, but suddenly she, too, gave apiercing cry, snatched a chain from her neck, hurried towards Uarda, andseizing the jewel she held, exclaimed:

  "Here is the other half of the ornament, it belonged to my poor sisterXanthe!"

  The old Greek was a pathetic sight, he struggled hard to collecthimself, looking with tender delight at Uarda, his sinewy handstrembled as he compared the two pieces of the necklet; they matchedprecisely--each represented the wing of an eagle which was attached tohalf an oval covered with an inscription; when they were laid togetherthey formed the complete figure of a bird with out-spread wings, onwhose breast the lines exactly matched of the following oracular verse:

  "Alone each is a trifling thing, a woman's useless toy But with its counterpart behold! the favorite bird of Zeus."

  A glance at the inscription convinced the king that he held in his handthe very jewel which he had put with his own hands round the neck ofhis daughter Xanthe on her marriage-day, and of which the other half hadbeen preserved by her mother, from whom it had descended to Praxilla. Ithad originally been made for his wife and her twin sister who had diedyoung. Before he made any enquiries, or asked for any explanations, hetook Uarda's head between his hands, and turning her face close tohis he gazed at her features, as if he were reading a book in which heexpected to find a memorial of all the blissful hours of his youth, andthe girl felt no fear; nor did she shrink when he pressed his lips toher forehead, for she felt that this man's blood ran in her own veins.At last the king signed to the interpreter; Uarda was asked to tell allshe knew of her mother, and when she said that she had come a captiveto Thebes with an infant that had soon after died, that her father hadbought her and had loved her in spite of her being dumb, the prince'sconviction became certainty; he acknowledged Uarda as his grandchild,and Praxilla clasped her in her arms.

  Then he told Mena that it was now twenty years since his son-in-law hadbeen killed, and his daughter Xanthe, whom Uarda exactly resembled, hadbeen carried into captivity. Praxilla was then only just born, and hiswife died of the shock of such terrible news. All his enquiries forXanthe and her child had been fruitless, but he now remembered thatonce, when he had offered a large ransom for his daughter if she couldbe found, the Egyptians had enquired whether she were dumb, and that hehad answered "no." No doubt Xanthe had lost the power of speech throughgrief, terror, and suffering.

  The joy of the king was unspeakable, and Uarda was never tired of gazingat his daughter and holding her hand.

  Then she turned to the interpreter.

  "Tell me," she said. "How do I say 'I am so very happy?'"

  He told her, and she smilingly repeated his words. "Now 'Uarda will loveyou with all her heart?'" and she said it after him in broken accentsthat sounded so sweet and so heart-felt, that the old man clasped her tohis breast.

  Tears of emotion stood in Nefert's eyes, and when Uarda flung herselfinto her arms she said:

  "The forlorn swan has found its kindred, the floating leaf has reachedthe shore, and must be happy now!" Thus passed an hour of the puresthappiness; at last the Greek king prepared to leave, and the wished totake Uarda with him; but Mena begged his permission to communicate allthat had occurred to the Pharaoh and Bent-Anat, for Uarda was attachedto the princess's train, and had been left in his charge, and he darednot trust her in any other hands without Bent-Anat's permission.Without waiting for the king's reply he left the tent, hastened
to thebanqueting tent, and, as we know, Rameses and the princess had at onceattended to his summons.

  On the way Mena gave them a vivid description of the exciting eventsthat had taken place, and Rameses, with a side glance at Bent-Anat,asked Rameri:

  "Would you be prepared to repair your errors, and to win the friendshipof the Greek king by being betrothed to his granddaughter?"

  The prince could not answer a word, but he clasped his father's hand,and kissed it so warmly that Rameses, as he drew it away, said:

  "I really believe that you have stolen a march on me, and have beenstudying diplomacy behind my back!"

  Rameses met his noble opponent outside Mena's tent, and was about tooffer him his hand, but the Danaid chief had sunk on his knees beforehim as the other princes had done.

  "Regard me not as a king and a warrior," he exclaimed, "only as asuppliant father; let us conclude a peace, and permit me to take thismaiden, my grandchild, home with me to my own country."

  Rameses raised the old man from the ground, gave him his hand, and saidkindly:

  "I can only grant the half of what you ask. I, as king of Egypt, am mostwilling to grant you a faithful compact for a sound and lasting peace;as regards this maiden, you must treat with my children, first withmy daughter Bent-Anat, one of whose ladies she is, and then with yourreleased prisoner there, who wishes to make Uarda his wife."

  "I will resign my share in the matter to my brother," said Bent-Anat,"and I only ask you, maiden, whether you are inclined to acknowledge himas your lord and master?"

  Uarda bowed assent, and looked at her grandfather with an expressionwhich he understood without any interpreter.

  "I know you well," he said, turning to Rameri. "We stood face to face inthe fight, and I took you prisoner as you fell stunned by a blow from mysword. You are still too rash, but that is a fault which time will amendin a youth of your heroic temper. Listen to me now, and you too, noblePharaoh, permit me these few words; let us betroth these two, and maytheir union be the bond of ours, but first grant me for a year to takemy long-lost child home with me that she may rejoice my old heart, andthat I may hear from her lips the accents of her mother, whom you tookfrom me. They are both young; according to the usages of our country,where both men and women ripen later than in your country, they arealmost too young for the solemn tie of marriage. But one thing above allwill determine you to favor my wishes; this daughter of a royal househas grown up amid the humblest surroundings; here she has no home, nofamily-ties. The prince has wooed her, so to speak, on the highway, butif she now comes with me he can enter the palace of kings as suitor toa princess, and the marriage feast I will provide shall be a right royalone."

  "What you demand is just and wise," replied Rameses. "Take yourgrand-child with you as my son's betrothed bride--my future daughter.Give me your hands, my children. The delay will teach you patience, forRameri must remain a full year from to-day in Egypt, and it will be toyour profit, sweet child, for the obedience which he will learn throughhis training in the army will temper the nature of your future husband.You, Rameri, shall in a year from to-day--and I think you will notforget the date--find at your service a ship in the harbor of Pelusium,fitted and manned with Phoenicians, to convey you to your wedding."

  "So be it!" exclaimed the old man. "And by Zeus who hears me swear--Iwill not withhold Xanthe's daughter from your son when he comes to claimher!"

  When Rameri returned to the princes' tent he threw himself on theirnecks in turn, and when he found himself alone with their surly oldhouse-steward, he snatched his wig from his head, flung it in the air,and then coaxingly stroked the worthy officer's cheeks as he set it onhis head again.