to seek
the counsel of That thou knowest,' and she touched the golden snake
which she had won.

"Then I threw myself on the earth at her feet, and clasped her knees,
crying, 'My daughter, my daughter, sin not this great sin. Nay, for all
the kingdom of the world, wake not That which sleepeth, nor warm again
into life That which is a-cold.'

"But she only nodded, and put me from her,"--and the old man's face grew
pale as he spoke.

"What meant she?" said the Wanderer.

"Nay, wake not _thou_ That which sleepeth, Wanderer," he said, at
length. "My tongue is sealed. I tell thee more that I would tell
another. Do not ask,--but hark! They come again! Now may Ra and Pasht
and Amen curse them; may the red swine's mouth of Set gnaw upon them in
Amenti; may the Fish of Sebek flesh his teeth of stone in them for ever,
and feed and feed again!"

"Why dost thou curse thus, Rei, and who are they that go by?" said the
Wanderer. "I hear their tramping and their song."

Indeed there came a light noise of many shuffling feet, pattering
outside the Palace wall, and the words of a song rang out triumphantly:

The Lord our God He doth sign and wonder,
Tokens He shows in the land of Khem,
He hath shattered the pride of the Kings asunder
And casteth His shoe o'er the Gods of them!
He hath brought forth frogs in their holy places,
He hath sprinkled the dust upon crown and hem,
He hath hated their kings and hath darkened their faces;
Wonders He works in the land of Khem.

"These are the accursed blaspheming conjurors and slaves, the Apura,"
said Rei, as the music and the tramping died away. "Their magic is
greater than the lore even of us who are instructed, for their leader
was one of ourselves, a shaven priest, and knows our wisdom. Never do
they march and sing thus but evil comes of it. Ere day dawn we shall
have news of them. May the Gods destroy them, they are gone for the
hour. It were well if Meriamun the Queen would let them go for ever, as
they desire, to their death in the desert, but she hardens the King's
heart."

VII

THE QUEEN'S VISION

There was silence without at last; the clamour and the tread of the
Apura were hushed in the distance, dying far away, and Rei grew calm,
when he heard no longer the wild song, and the clashing of the timbrels.

"I must tell thee, Eperitus," he said, "how the matter ended between the
divine Prince and Meriamun. She bowed her