The Pharaoh And The Priest Part 115

"Look at it," said he.

But neither in the face nor in the posture of the colossus was there any change. One pharaoh had stepped over the threshold of eternity; another rose up like the sun, but the stone face of the G.o.d or the monster was the same precisely. On its lips was a gentle smile for earthly power and glory; in its glance there was a waiting for _something_ which was to come, but _when_ no one knew.

Soon the messengers returned from the ferry with information that boats would be waiting there.

Pentuer went among the palms, and cried,--

"Wake! wake!"

The watchful Asiatics sprang up at once, and began to bridle their horses. Tutmosis also rose, and yawned with a grimace.

"Brr!" grumbled he, "what cold! Sleep is a good thing! I barely dozed a little, and now I am able to go even to the end of the world, even again to the Soda Lakes. Brr! I have forgotten the taste of wine, and it seems to me that my hands are becoming covered with hair, like the paws of a jackal. And it is two hours to the palace yet.

"Happy are common men! One ragged rogue sleeps after another and feels no need of washing: he will not go to work till his wife brings a barley cake; while I, a great lord, must wander about, like a thief in the night, through the desert, without a drop of water to put to my lips."

The horses were ready, and Rameses mounted his own. Pentuer approached, took the bridle of the ruler's steed, and led, going himself on foot.

"What is this?" inquired the astonished Tutmosis.

He bethought himself quickly, ran up, and took Rameses' horse by the bridle on the other side. And so all advanced in silence, astonished at the bearing of the priest, though they felt that something important had happened.

After a few hundred steps the desert ceased, and a highroad through the field lay before the travellers.

"Mount your horses," said Rameses; "we must hurry."

"His holiness commands you to sit on your horses," cried Pentuer.

All were amazed. But Tutmosis recovered quickly, and placed his hand on his sword-hilt.

"May he live through eternity, our all-powerful and gracious leader Rameses!" shouted the adjutant.

"May he live through eternity!" howled the Asiatics, shaking their weapons.

"I thank you, my faithful warriors," answered their lord.

A moment later the mounted party was hastening toward the river.

CHAPTER L

We know not whether the prophets in the underground temple of the Sphinx saw the new ruler of Egypt when he halted at the foot of the pyramids, and gave information touching him at the palace, and if so how they did it. The fact is that when Rameses was approaching the ferry, the most worthy Herhor gave orders to rouse the palace servants, and when their lord was crossing the Nile all priests, generals, and civil dignitaries were a.s.sembled in the great hall of audience.

Exactly at sunrise Rameses XIII., at the head of a small escort, rode into the palace yard, where the servants fell on their faces before him, and the guard presented arms to the sound of drums and trumpets.

His holiness saluted the army and went to the bathing chambers, where he took a bath filled with perfumes. Then he gave permission to arrange his divine hair; but when the barber asked most submissively if the pharaoh commanded to shave his head and beard, the lord replied,--

"There is no need. I am not a priest, but a warrior."

These words reached the audience-hall a moment later; in an hour they had gone around the palace; about midday they had pa.s.sed through every part of the city of Memphis, and toward evening they were known in all the temples of the state, from Tami-n-hor and Sabne-Chetam on the north to Sunnu and Pilak on the south.

At this intelligence the nomarchs, the n.o.bility, the army, the people, and the foreigners were wild with delight, but the sacred order of priests mourned the more zealously the dead pharaoh.

When his holiness emerged from the bath he put on a warrior's short shirt with black and yellow stripes, and a yellow breast-piece; on his feet sandals fastened with thongs, and on his head a low helmet with a circlet. Then he girded on that a.s.syrian sword which he had worn at the battle of the Soda Lakes, and, surrounded by a great suite of generals, he entered with a clatter and clinking the audience-hall.

There the high priest Herhor stood before him, having at his side Sem, the holy high priest, Mefres, and others, and behind him the chief judges of Thebes and Memphis, some of the nearer nomarchs, the chief treasurer, also the overseers of the house of wheat, the house of cattle, the house of garments, the house of slaves, the house of silver and gold, and a mult.i.tude of other dignitaries.

Herhor bowed before Rameses, and said with emotion,--

"Lord! it has pleased thy eternally living father to withdraw to the G.o.ds where he is enjoying endless delight. To thee, then, has fallen the duty of caring for the fate of the orphan kingdom.

"Be greeted, therefore, O lord and ruler of the world, and, holiness, may thou live through eternity Cham-Sem-Merer-Amen-Rameses-Neter-haq-an."

Those present repeated this salutation with enthusiasm. They expected the new ruler to show some emotion or feeling. To the astonishment of all he merely moved his brow and answered,--

"In accordance with the will of his holiness, my father, and with the laws of Egypt, I take possession of government and will conduct it to the glory of the state and the happiness of the people."

He turned suddenly to Herhor and, looking him sharply in the eyes, inquired,--

"On thy mitre, worthiness, I see the golden serpent. Why hast thou put that symbol of regal power on thy head?"

A deathlike silence settled on the a.s.sembly. The haughtiest man in Egypt had never dreamed that the young lord would begin rule by putting a question like that to the most powerful person in the state, more powerful, perhaps, than the late pharaoh.

But behind the young lord stood a number of generals; in the courtyard glittered the bronze-covered regiments of the guard; and crossing the Nile at that moment was an army wild from the triumph at the Soda Lakes, and enamored of its leader.

The powerful Herhor grew pale as wax, and the voice could not issue from his straitened throat.

"I ask your worthiness," repeated the pharaoh, calmly, "by what right is the regal serpent on thy mitre?"

"This is the mitre of thy grandfather, the holy Amenhotep," answered Herhor, in a low voice. "The supreme council commanded me to wear it on occasions."

"My holy grandfather," replied the pharaoh, "was father of the queen, and in the way of favor he received the right to adorn his mitre with the ureus. But, so far as is known to me, his sacred vestment is counted among the relics of the temple of Amon."

Herhor had recovered.

"Deign to remember, holiness," explained he, "that for twenty-four hours Egypt has been deprived of its legal ruler. Meanwhile some one had to wake and put to sleep the G.o.d Osiris, to impart blessings to the people and render homage to the ancestors of the pharaoh.

"In such a grievous time the supreme council commanded me to wear this holy relic, so that the order of the state and the service of the G.o.ds might not be neglected. But the moment that we have a lawful and mighty ruler I set aside the wondrous relic."

Then Herhor took from his head the mitre adorned with the ureus, and gave it to the high priest Mefres.

The threatening face of the pharaoh grew calm, and he turned his steps toward the throne.

Suddenly the holy Mefres barred the way, and said while bending to the pavement,--

"Deign, holy lord, to hear my most submissive prayer."