hou...."

He strode to the fore of the altar and flung his hands high. A shrill
shout from his thin lips cut the uneasy murmuring short.

"Hearken! Aten will not torture His own priestess! He will not maim
those who have sworn their lives to Him!"

The silent crowd waited for his next words. He screamed savagely.

"His High Priest must perform the rite! Aten has appointed me to be
His instrument of vengeance!"

A gleam of unholy exultation was in his narrowed eyes. His face
worked: he thrust a hand inside his ornate ceremonial vestment.

"By Divine Will," he cried, "this knife in my hand is the knife in the
God's hand!"

And he whipped a long blade from the robe.

Never before had such a ceremony been held in the Temple of Aten, the
Sun God. Never before had the hand of the god paused above the living
sacrifice and deliberately risen again without tasting blood. It was
miracle upon miracle; half-bewildered, Pharaoh Shabako and the herd of
common people alike waited for what would come next, their High
Priest's savage words somewhat reassuring them that all was correct.

They saw him clench his dagger tightly and with slow steps advance to
the side of the helpless girl. Glaring down at her, he swung the blade
high. It poised directly over her heart. It would not torture her,
Taia knew: it was death that she read in the High Priest's eyes. She
closed her own, and thought of the stranger; she breathed a silent
prayer to him. She waited.

"In Aten's name!" screamed Hrihor, and brought the dagger down.

* * * * *

At that second the sharp roar of a sudden explosion thundered through
the Temple, and the startled worshippers saw, slowly trickling from
the right eye of Aten, a curling streamer of gray smoke. They did not
know what had happened. And not until, after a moment of fearful
silence, they saw the expression on Hrihor's face change to great
surprise, and saw his right hand relax and drop the dagger to the
floor, did they comprehend that he had been struck down.

He clutched at his side, staggered, twisted round, and fell full
length before the feet of the god whose representative he was.

A frightened woman close to the altar saw a dark red stain on his
robe, and a scream from her lips pierced out:

"He is dead! Killed by Aten--whose eyes have looked death! Oh!"

She flung herself flat on the floor, and the others, back to the
soldiers in the rear, did likewise. The pri