The Pharaoh And The Priest Part 101

He came to himself, in a quarter of an hour, somewhat fresher. He gazed at the desert and cried out with delight: on the horizon a green country was visible,--water, many palms, and somewhat higher, a town and a temple.

Around him all were sleeping, both Asiatics and Libyans. But Pentuer, standing on a rock, had shaded his eyes with his hand and was looking in some direction.

"Pentuer! Pentuer!" cried Rameses. "Dost thou see that oasis?"

He sprang up and ran to the priest, whose face was full of anxiety.

"Dost thou see the oasis?"

"That is no oasis," said Pentuer; "that is the ghost of some region which is wandering about through the desert--a region no longer in existence. But over there--over there--is reality!" added he, pointing southward.

"Are they mountains?"

"Look more sharply."

The prince looked, and saw something suddenly.

"It seems to me that a dark ma.s.s is rising--my sight must be dulled."

"That is Typhon," whispered the priest. "The G.o.ds alone have power to save us, if only they have the wish."

Indeed, Rameses felt on his face a breath, which amid the heat of the desert seemed all at once hot to him. That breath, at first very delicate, increased, growing hotter and hotter, and at the same time the dark streak rose in the sky with astonishing swiftness.

"What shall we do?" asked Rameses.

"These cliffs," said the priest, "will shelter us from being covered with sand, but they will not keep away dust or the heat which is increasing continually. But in a day or two days--"

"Does Typhon blow that long?"

"Sometimes three and four days. But sometimes he springs up for a couple of hours, and drops suddenly, like a vulture pierced with an arrow. That happens very rarely."

The prince became gloomy, though he did not lose courage. The priest, drawing from under his mantle a little green flask, said,--

"Here is an elixir. It should last thee a number of days. Whenever thou art afraid, or feel drowsy, drink a drop. In that way thou wilt be strengthened and endure."

"But thou, and the others?"

"My fate is in the hands of the One. As to the rest of the people, they are not heirs to the throne of Egypt."

"I do not wish this liquid!" cried the prince, pushing away the little bottle.

"Thou must take it!" said Pentuer. "Remember that the Egyptian people have fixed their hopes on thee. Remember that on thee is their blessing."

The black cloud had covered half the sky, and the hot wind blew with such force that the prince and priest had to go to the foot of the cliff.

"The Egyptian people--their blessing?" repeated Rameses.

All at once he called out,--

"Was it thou who conversed with me a year ago in the garden? That was immediately after the manuvres--"

"That same day, when thou hadst compa.s.sion on the man who hanged himself through despair because his ca.n.a.l was destroyed," answered the priest.

"Thou didst save my house and the Jewess Sarah from the rabble who wished to stone her."

"I did," said Pentuer. "And soon after thou didst free the innocent laborers from prison, and didst not permit Dagon to torture thy people with new tribute."

"For this people," continued the priest in a louder voice, "for the compa.s.sion which thou hast always shown them I bless thee again to-day. Perhaps thou art the only one who will be saved here, but remember that the oppressed people of Egypt will save thee, they who look to thee for redemption."

Hereupon it grew dark; from the south came a shower of hot sand, and such a mighty wind rose that it threw down a horse that was standing in the open. The Asiatics and the Libyan prisoners all woke, but each man merely pressed up to the cliff more closely, and possessed by great fear remained silent.

In nature something dreadful was happening. Night covered the earth, and through the sky black or ruddy clouds of sand rushed with mad impetus. It seemed as though all the sand of the desert, now alive, had sprung up and was flying to some place with the speed of a stone whirled from the sling of a warrior.

The heat was like that in a bath: on the hands and feet the skin burst, the tongue dried, breath produced a p.r.i.c.king in the breast. The fine grains of sand burnt like fire sparks.

Pentuer forced the bottle to the prince's lips. Rameses drank a couple of drops and felt a marvellous change: the pain and heat ceased to torment him; his thought regained freedom.

"And this may last a couple of days?" asked he.

"It may last four," replied Pentuer.

"But ye sages, favorites of the G.o.ds, have ye no means of saving people from such a tempest?"

The priest thought awhile, and answered,--

"In the world there is only one sage who can struggle with evil spirits. But he is not here."

Typhon had been blowing for half an hour with inconceivable fury. It had become almost like night. At moments the wind weakened, the black clouds pushed apart; in the sky was a b.l.o.o.d.y sun, on the earth an ominous light of ruddy color. The hot stifling wind grew more violent, the clouds of sand thicker. The ghastly light was extinguished, and in the air were heard sounds and noises to which human ears are not accustomed.

It was near sunset, but the violence of the tempest increased, and the unendurable heat rose continually. From time to time a gigantic b.l.o.o.d.y spot appeared above the horizon, as if a world fire were coming.

All at once the prince saw that Pentuer was not before him. He strained his ear and heard a voice, crying,--

"Beroes! Beroes! If thou cannot help us, who can? Beroes! in the name of the One, the Almighty, who knows neither end nor beginning, I call on thee."

On the northern extremity of the desert, thunder was heard. The prince was frightened, since thunder for an Egyptian was almost as rare a phenomenon as a comet.

"Beroes! Beroes!" repeated the priest in a deep voice. Rameses strained his eyes in the direction of the voice, and saw a dark human figure with arms uplifted. From the head, the fingers, and even from the clothing of that figure, light bluish sparks were flashing.

"Beroes! Beroes!"

A prolonged roar of thunder was heard nearer; lightning gleamed amid clouds of sand, and filled the desert with lurid flashes.

A fresh peal of thunder, and again lightning.

The prince felt that the violence of the tempest was decreasing, and the heat also. The sand which had been whirled through the air began to fall to the earth now, the sky became ashen gray, next ruddy, next milk-colored. At last all was silent, and after a while thunder was heard again, and a cool breeze from the north appeared.

The Asiatics and Libyans, tormented by heat, regained consciousness.