ndured to no
end. I die with them!"

Then it was that I saw the greatness of this woman's heart; for in the
dark, and notwithstanding the terrors we had passed and the awfulness of
our state, she clung to me and clambered on up that dread passage. On we
clambered, hand in hand, with bursting hearts, till there, by the mercy
or the anger of the Gods, at length we saw the faint light of the moon,
creeping through the little opening in the pyramid. One struggle more,
now the hole was gained, and like a breath from heaven, the sweet night
air played upon our brows. I climbed through, and, standing on a pile
of stones, lifted and dragged Cleopatra after me. She fell to the ground
and then sank down upon it motionless.

I pressed upon the turning stone with trembling hands. It swung to and
caught, leaving no mark of the secret place of entry. Then I leapt down
and, having pushed away the pile of stones, looked on Cleopatra. She had
swooned, and notwithstanding the dust and grime upon her face, it was so
pale that at first I believed she must be dead. But placing my hand upon
her heart I felt it stir beneath; and, being spent, I flung myself down
beside her upon the sand, to gather up my strength again.

CHAPTER XII

OF THE COMING BACK OF HARMACHIS; OF THE GREETING OF CHARMION; AND OF
THE ANSWER OF CLEOPATRA TO QUINTUS DELLIUS, THE AMBASSADOR OF ANTONY THE
TRIUMVIR

Presently I lifted myself, and, laying the head of Egypt's Queen upon my
knee, strove to call her back to life. How fair she seemed, even in her
disarray, her long hair streaming down her breast! how deadly fair she
seemed in the faint light--this woman the story of whose beauty and
whose sin shall outlive the solid mass of the mighty pyramid that
towered over us! The heaviness of her swoon had smoothed away the
falseness of her face, and nothing was left but the divine stamp
of Woman's richest loveliness, softened by shadows of the night and
dignified by the cast of deathlike sleep. I gazed upon her and all my
heart went out to her; it seemed that I did but love her more because of
the depth of the treasons to which I had sunk to reach her, and because
of the terrors we had outfaced together. Weary and spent with fears and
the pangs of guilt, my heart sought hers for rest, for now she alone was
left to me. She had sworn to wed me also, and with the treasure we
had won we would make Egypt strong and free her from her foes, and all
should yet be well. Ah!