So he drew back, wondering much; and, bidding farewell to the aged priest, he went with Rei, the Master Builder, through the town of Tanis, where the Apura were still spoiling the people of Khem, and he came to the Palace where he was lodged. Here he turned over in his mind how he might see the strange woman of the temple, and yet escape the baths of bronze. There he sat and thought till at length the night drew on, and one came to summon him to sup with Pharaoh in the Hall.
Then he rose up and went, and meeting Pharaoh and Meriamun the Queen in the outer chamber, passed in after them to the Hall, and on to the da?s which he had held against the rabble, for the place was clear of dead, and, save for certain stains upon the marble floor that might not be washed away, and for some few arrows that yet were fixed high up in the walls or in the lofty roof, there was nothing to tell of the great fray that had been fought but one day gone.
Heavy was the face of Pharaoh, and the few who sat with him were sad enough because of the death of so many whom they loved, and the shame and sorrow that had fallen upon Khem. But there were no tears for her one child in the eyes of Meriamun the Queen. Anger, not grief, tore her heart because Pharaoh had let the Apura go. For ever as they sat at the sad feast there came a sound of the tramping feet of armies, and of lowing cattle, and songs of triumph, sung by ten thousand voices, and thus they sang the song of the Apura:--A lamp for our feet the Lord hath litten, Signs hath He shown in the Land of Khem.
The Kings of the Nations our Lord hath smitten, His shoe hath He cast o'er the Gods of them.
He hath made Him a mock of the heifer of Isis, He hath broken the chariot reins of Ra, On Yak?b He cries, and His folk arises, And the knees of the Nation are loosed in awe.
He gives us their goods for a spoil to gather, Jewels of silver, and vessels of gold;For Yahveh of old is our Friend and Father, And cherisheth Yak?b He chose of old.
The Gods of the Peoples our Lord hath chidden, Their courts hath He filled with His creeping things;The light of the face of the Sun he hath hidden, And broken the scourge in the hands of kings.
He hath chastened His people with stripes and scourges, Our backs hath He burdened with grievous weights, But His children shall rise as a sea that surges, And flood the fields of the men He hates.
The Kings of the Nations our Lord hath smitten, His shoe hath He cast o'er the Gods of them, But a lamp for our feet the Lord hath litten, Wonders hath he wrought in the Land of Khem.
Thus they sang, and the singing was so wild that the Wanderer craved leave to go and stand at the Palace gate, lest the Apura should rush in and spoil the treasure-chamber.
The King nodded, but Meriamun rose, and went with the Wanderer as he took his bow and passed to the great gates.
There they stood in the shadow of the gates, and this is what they beheld. A great light of many torches was flaring along the roadway in front. Then came a body of men, rudely armed with pikes, and the torchlight shone on the glitter of bronze and on the gold helms of which they had spoiled the soldiers of Khem. Next came a troop of wild women, dancing, and beating timbrels, and singing the triumphant hymn of scorn.
Next, with a space between, tramped eight strong black-bearded men, bearing on their shoulders a great gilded coffin, covered with carven and painted signs.
"It is the body of their Prophet, who brought them hither out of their land of hunger," whispered Meriamun. "Slaves, ye shall hunger yet in the wilderness, and clamour for the flesh-pots of Khem!"
