hes to
what heights and depths a woman who has loved and hated can rise and
fall for the sake of her love and her hate.

"And now, my Nefer," she went on, throwing her clinging arms round his
neck again, "now, good-night! Go and dream of me as I will dream of
thee, and remember that, though mortals may plan, the gods decide. We
may try to paint the picture, but the outline is drawn by their hands
and may not be changed by ours. But, so far as this matter is concerned,
I swear by the Veil of Isis, by these sacred kisses of ours, and by the
Uraeus Crown of the Three Kingdoms, that, rather than be sold as a
priceless chattel to grace the triumph of Menkau-Ra, I will give myself,
as others did in the old days, to be the bride of Father Nile. Remember
that, and remember, too, that, whatever the outward seeming of things
may be, I am thine and thou art mine, as it was, and is, and shall be,
until the Peace of all Things shall come."

* * * * *

Then the dream-vision changed from moonlight to sunlight, from night to
morning; for it was the dawn of the day that was to see, as all men
believed, the gorgeous ceremony of the nuptials of the daughter of
Rameses with Menkau-Ra, the Mohar, chief of the House of War and
mightiest of all the warriors of the Land of Khem, now that Rameses had
passed from the black banks of the Nile to the shores of Amenti, and his
mummy was waiting the summons of the High Gods which should recall it to
life in the fulness of time and the dawn of the Everlasting Peace.

Never had even the Land of Khem seen a fairer dawn. The East shone in
silver, blushed into amethyst, and flamed in gold as the Restorer of all
things rose bright and glorious in sudden splendour over the City of the
White Wall. Standing on the flat roof of the temple of Ptah, he looked
about him in the first flush of this morning which had just dawned, big
with fate, not only for him and his beloved, but also for the Land of
Khem, and perchance for the world.

The great river was spreading its annual blessings over the land. The
waters were broadening out into wide shining sheets, and the slow, soft
music of their rippling was stealing along the great water-walls of the
temples and palaces which formed the river-front of Memphis. Only a week
ago the victorious armies of Khem had brought their spoils and their
prisoners across the eastern frontier. There had been fruit, bread, and
flesh, and wine for the