e was brought. Then he drank,
and he fell upon his knees before the Queen, for he knew not Pharaoh.

"Thy tidings!" she cried. "Be swift with thy tidings."

"Let the Queen pardon me," he said. "Let her not be wrath. These are my
tidings. A mighty host marches towards the city of On, a host gathered
from all lands of the peoples of the North, from the lands of the
Tulisha, of the Shakalishu, of the Liku, and of the Shairdana. They
march swiftly and raven, they lay the country waste, naught is left
behind them save the smoke of burning towns, the flight of vultures, and
the corpses of men."

"Hast done?" said Meriamun.

"Nay, O Queen! A great fleet sails with them up the eastern mouth of
Sihor, and in it are twelve thousand chosen warriors of the Aquaiusha,
the sons of those men who sacked Troy town."

And now a great groan went up to heaven from the lips of those who
hearkened. Only Meriamun spoke thus:

"And yet the Apura are gone, for whose sake, ye say, came the plagues.
They are fled, but the curse remains, and so shall things ever be with
us while yon False Hathor dwells in Khem."

III

THE BED OF TORMENT

It was nightfall, and Pharaoh sat at meat and Meriamun sat by him. The
heart of Pharaoh was very heavy. He thought of that great army which now
washed to and fro on the waters of the Sea of Weeds, of whose number
he alone had lived to tell the tale. He thought also of the host of the
Apura, who made a mock of him in the desert. But most of all he brooded
on the tidings that the messenger had brought, tidings of the march
of the barbarians and of the fleet of the Aquaiusha that sailed on the
eastern stream of Sihor. All that day he had sat in his council chamber,
and sent forth messengers east and north and south, bidding them gather
the mercenaries from every town and in every city, men to make war
against the foe, for here, in his white-walled city of Tanis, there were
left but five thousand soldiers. And now, wearied with toil and war, he
sat at meat, and as he sat bethought him of the man whom he had left to
guard the Queen.

"Where, then, is that great Wanderer, he who wore the golden harness?"
he asked presently.

"I have a tale to tell thee of the man," Meriamun answered slowly, "a
tale which I have not told because of all the evil tidings that beat
about our ears like sand in a desert wind."

"Tell on," said Pharaoh.

Then she bent towards him, whispering in his ear.

As she whispered